Manual disappointment

LintMan · #1 November 11th, 2000, 08:03 AM

I just got to check out the html manual, and I'm pretty disappointed, unfortunately. :-(

I'm not talking about it being hard to get a hard copy from the HTML Version... I'm bummed about the manual's contents.

Basically, the html manual contains high-level descriptions of the major aspects, and a blurb about all the various windows, but unless I'm missing something, it seems completely lacking in technical details. There seems to be little information in the manual that wasn't already in the in-game help.

I mean things like
- how are a planets # of facilities and cargo space calculated?
- how are to-hit %s calculated in tactical combat?
- Are the effects of multiple facilites of a given type cumulative? (ie: recplication centers)
- The .bmp images in the manual do not display correctly using Netscape. (I can see them fine using Explorer).
- What kinds of events can happen? Are they all bad?
- How exactly are the assorted racial bonuses you can spend racial poins on applied?
- And the biggest missing things: the technology tree and list of facilities and components. I had hoped the manual would show the tree and give detailed specs/info on all the facilities and components.

I can find some of this info out from digging through the text files, but that's a pain in the butt.

Malfador Machinations · #2 November 13th, 2000, 07:05 PM

There are thousands of particular questions that no ordinary manual can cover. We were intending to post all of these to our web site as people send them in.

We wil be adding a technical details site to the web page to address your questions.

Aaron

Richard · #3 November 13th, 2000, 07:43 PM

That's the bad part about having a game this wide open, no manual could have realistically handled all of the data that needed to be represented.

But the html manual that was supplied though I think comes close

.

------------------
Sarge is coming...

Richard Arnesen
Director of Covert Ops
Shrapnel Games
http://www.shrapnelgames.com

thedalus · #4 November 13th, 2000, 07:55 PM

>What kinds of events can happen? Are they all bad?

Bwa,nooo, only the type that makes your home-system sun go supernova in 30 turns

Kinde bummer when it is the only system you got

Richard Link · #5 November 13th, 2000, 08:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Richard:
That's the bad part about having a game this wide open, no manual could have realistically handled all of the data that needed to be represented.

But the html manual that was supplied though I think comes close .

That`s a strange position Richard, the Games too complex and deep for a Manual so you don`t need one...

I don`t think the HTML Help file, for that`s what it is, even comes close.

Are we to take you post to mean there is _no_ intention on your part or Malifador to provide a PDF printable Manual to this Game ?

BTW: SE III seems to have needed, and players benifited from, and Malifador provided,a full 300+ page PDF format printedable manual.

This is a major issue IMO.

Ferendra · #6 November 13th, 2000, 08:58 PM

Me too, me too

I guess there are a lot of players who
would like to know how things are calculated.
And furhtermore, more and more question will
pop up in our minds, the longer we play.

Shouldn�t we somehow collect the most important ones here ?

Greetings
Ferendra

Richard · #7 November 13th, 2000, 09:22 PM

No my point is that the currenty html file is just as long as you specify for SE3. The problem is even with that extensive of a manual it still does not hit everything possible.

I think basic gameplay info (IE enough to get you into the game) should always be in a printed manual (which I think we covered) and the more expansive topics should be in the html help files we setup.

------------------
Sarge is coming...

Richard Arnesen
Director of Covert Ops
Shrapnel Games
http://www.shrapnelgames.com

Resident Alien · #8 November 14th, 2000, 03:09 AM

I think people are being a bit harsh with their criticism of the html manual.

To me it looks top class for the player who hasn't been playing SE3 for years and hasn't been playing the demo for months.

What we need is a technical appendix, or expert player guide, which goes into the subtle points, setups and strategies of the game.

I expect that the player communitity will soon start putting this together accross the various web sites out there. To expect this in the game manual is asking for more than is likely to be delivered in any commercial game.

Just my 2c worth.

quote:
Originally posted by Richard:
No my point is that the currenty html file is just as long as you specify for SE3. The problem is even with that extensive of a manual it still does not hit everything possible.

I think basic gameplay info (IE enough to get you into the game) should always be in a printed manual (which I think we covered) and the more expansive topics should be in the html help files we setup.

JimBones · #9 November 16th, 2000, 01:26 AM

I was expecting a full manual--I don't mind printing it out as we did for SEIII--but this is a disappointment. And yes, I saw the Posts about piracy but once again paying customers are hurt so supposed pirates are thwarted. In my youth I pirated a few games but never really played them and certainly never considered buying them. I got'em to take a look. I now own hundreds of original games in boxes.

Psitticine · #10 November 16th, 2000, 05:37 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Resident Alien:
I think people are being a bit harsh with their criticism of the html manual.

To me it looks top class for the player who hasn't been playing SE3 for years and hasn't been playing the demo for months.

What we need is a technical appendix, or expert player guide, which goes into the subtle points, setups and strategies of the game.

I expect that the player communitity will soon start putting this together accross the various web sites out there. To expect this in the game manual is asking for more than is likely to be delivered in any commercial game.

Just my 2c worth.

Well put! I just want to pipe in and say I feel the same way. I could do with some more "under the hood" info, but have I spared any playtime to really worry about the manual?

Nope.

I've looked up a few things in the HTML manual, found my answers, and that was that. Expansion and more detail is always nice, and I also vote for idea to add an ingame access feature for it, but otherwise, put me down as cool with it.