A Bug and Question

[DarkStar]

I have been trying the Interstellar Trader demo. I did have a question, and some comments.

It seems that once you buy something from one planet, and go back the same items are not for sale. If this is the case is it just luck that you can make money? You never seem to know what is going to be for sale so how can you plan what you are going to buy? Why does the inventory change so fast?

So far in the games I have played the pirates take all my stuff and kill all my ships. I can't seem to get enough money to buy ships to protect myself.

I did find a bug. When the demo ended it didn't change my screen rez back to the one I had before I started the game. I guess it's not really a bug but is kinda a pain in the butt when all your desktop icons move and you have to change it back by hand. I guess it might be fixed if and when a patch is released.

Also if you don't mind me asking, how are sales so far? I saw on your website you are working on Version 2 of this game. What new things are you going to add and change?

Overall the games are pretty fun. The only downfall I see is that people that want 'eye candy' are not going to like these games. Even some simple animation might help. There is alot of gameplay, which is what counts (IMHO).

[Taz-in-Space]

Darkstar, I have downloaded the demo and found that buying protection from the pirates is worth a lot in the beginning. You can still get attacked, but the rate is much less.
Also visit the Planetary Governers, sometimes they will give you money and other stuff.
One Last tip: save your loose cash in the bank before leaving a planet - pirates can't take the cash if it's in the bank!

[DarkStar]

Thanks for the tips, Taz-In-Space. I will give them a try on my next game.

[StormcloudCreations]

DarkStar: The inventory on a planet does change just about every turn. It isn't just luck, though; rates on average for an item can vary quite a bit from planet to planet. Look for planets with single digit prices to buy at, and higher selling prices to sell at.

Ships can help early on, as can Pirate Contracts early on (mentioned by Taz), which will greatly lessen pirate attacks, and also as Taz said, pirates can't steal money in the bank (one of its purposes aside from the interest) until you can build a defense. Of course, you can count this a risk of doing business, and save that money for quick ship upgrades and items. There are many paths and strategies you can use.

Yes, there is a bug on some systems with the Trader demo that can cause it not to switch res's back properly. I believe the full Version fixes this problem, and all of the other demos shouldn't have this problem.

Sales here on Shrapnel? Not sure, though i've gotten lots of e-mails and compliments from people here, so I assume interest at least is fairly high. I hope anyway.

I think there's just enough eye candy in the games to where people won't dismiss them outright because of POOR graphics at least, especially for the kind of price the Thunder Pack features. I've actually been complimented on the graphic design and look of the games a lot of times. I'ts true there no fancy 3D cut-scenes or anything like that, which IMHO, eats up disk space and most people end up skipping it after the first time viewing it.

And yep (especially on Shrapnel), gameplay is what really counts in the end.

Thanks for your thoughts! If you have any other gameplay questions, write me here or e-mail me and i'll be happy to help out.

[StormcloudCreations]

Just so everyone who might read this thread knows: The full retail Version submitted to Shrapnel of Trader DOES FIX the screen resolution not changing back bug. ONLY the demo is affected by this.

Thanks!

[sachmo]

Originally posted by StormcloudCreations:


And yep (especially on Shrapnel), gameplay is what really counts in the end.

Ahhh...I love when developers say that! I wonder if that is the reason why most of the games I enjoy playing don't require a 3D video card?

[StormcloudCreations]

Agreed, sachmo...I really think many developers and game designers need to start going back to the basics. Fancy graphics can make for a good initial "oooh!" factor, but truly fun and interesting gameplay is what really keeps a game on a hard drive for a long time. I think many larger developers these days have forgotten that.

Heck, I still have an original Commodore 64 that I fire up once in awhile when I crave cool gameplay (though those load times are murder compared to my Pentium 1.6 Ghz).

[DarkStar]

I love my C-64. I play most of the old games using an emulator. Those disk load times are way to long. Of course, not as long as the tape drive. My first C-64 game was Telengard from Avalon Hill. It used to talk forever to load, I really loved that game...