Messages

16

Gameplay / Re: Calculating distance

« on: August 19, 2013, 01:24:25 pm »

I did some googling and found something brilliant:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coincidence_rangefinder

This is an old, low-tech device used to find ranges for artillery and such back in WWII.

http://youtu.be/wXRtj4Hripo

I think this would make an awesome addition to the game as a pilot tool. You could use it to find the range of a given target, which you could then relay to your gunners. The disadvantage in comparison to the spyglass is that you wouldn't be able to zoom in and out and that you couldn't spot with it. This would also fit with the thematic feel of the game world.

Controls would be simple: right click to use, and use the scroll wheel to line up the images.

17

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Be able to change colors of cosmetics.

« on: August 18, 2013, 07:58:00 pm »

High
Altitude
Transportation
Simulator

In all seriousness, being able to alter the look of our swag would be nice.

Not too rushed about it though.

18

Gameplay / Greased Rounds -- can we make this a little more . . . realistic?

« on: August 18, 2013, 02:30:03 am »

Before you link or quote the "Authenticity vs. Realism" thread (which I've read), hear me out . . .

The Greased Rounds' main feature is a higher rate of fire. The clip was made larger so it didn't just run out suddenly, which makes sense. What doesn't make sense is the decreased damage and projectile speed (I mean, we're using the same rounds, just greased, right?) and the decreased turn speed (how would the rounds have any effect on the turning rate of the gun?).

Personally, to make this more believable, I'd completely drop the previous three debuffs and then increase the jitter (faster rate of fire = less control over the gun) and increase the reload time (the gun needs to cool down before you load another clip, and larger clips are just heavier). This would give the greased rounds the purpose of unloading an entire clip as fast as possible into an enemy for a moment of very high dps, but at the price of decreased accuracy (most effective at short range) and a long reload time (ultimately to where the overall dps is exactly the same as normal ammo).

There are other ammo types that teeter on or are past the edge of my willing suspension of disbelief, but I figured I'd just tackle them one at a time, starting with the worst first.

19

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Please Change the Default Goldfish Loadout

« on: August 16, 2013, 06:16:32 pm »

Well obviously it wouldn't let them join a game and there would be a warning window that tells them they haven't fully loaded their ship yet

20

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Suggestion: Better crew reactions/interactions in combat

« on: August 16, 2013, 05:41:57 pm »

This may be a little tangential but we are working on an in-game communication system similar to radio commands in traditional FPS (but better and easier and faster to use).  It will help crews work better especially if they don't have voice OR do not speak your language (the main reason why we're doing this).

So we'll have commands that make our in-game characters say phrases and stuff? That's pretty awesome!

Could you give us a list of some of the commands that you'll be including?

21

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Please Change the Default Goldfish Loadout

« on: August 16, 2013, 05:22:25 pm »

What if all ships started with no loadout? It would at least force players to actually choose weapons for their ships.

I wouldn't be surprised if some new players had no idea that they could change their loadouts.

22

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Displaying fields of fire.

« on: August 16, 2013, 05:18:46 pm »

I just want to be clear: I don't think ANY of us suggested having the fields of fire display as part of the HUD. That would just be silly.

We were suggesting it for the ship customization screen.

23

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Displaying fields of fire.

« on: August 15, 2013, 05:24:01 pm »

Agreed -- this would be very helpful. Though the pitches and yaws of every weapon are available online, there is no way to visualize it when customizing a ship. Such a view would allow players to easily see any weapon blind-spots or overlaps.

I would also add the ability to rotate the view of your ship up and down so all manner of viewing angles are available. Left-right motions of the mouse would rotate it like it already does, while up-down motions would tilt it.

24

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Marking Indicator/Box Color

« on: August 15, 2013, 05:11:13 pm »

Yeah, it is kinda tough to see, and it doesn't really catch your eye.

I'd like it if it kinda pulsed/faded between black and white continuously (not like an outright strobe -- just a gentle, fading pulse with a period of 1-2 seconds). The white would help it stand out against dark/nighttime backgrounds, while the black would help it stand out against bright/daytime backgrounds. The fading would help it to catch your eyes in spite of any busyness on screen.

In addition, I think it would be cool to have an indicator icon pop-up on the edge of your screen when a fellow crewman or allied crewman spots an enemy ship that's out of your FoV. (Obviously it would be replaced with the normal box indicator when it comes into view.) Of course, I can understand if this would be a little much for some people and would be fine with not having it.

25

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Tutorials NOT optional

« on: August 15, 2013, 04:47:05 pm »

First thing I did when I downloaded the game a few weeks ago was take all the tutorials. While it did clarify some things, it wasn't nearly as in-depth as I was expecting it to be.

Still, the hat was nice

26

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: more diverse mines

« on: August 15, 2013, 11:11:46 am »

I first read that as:

"Cue everyone shooting Chewbaccas at allies"

27

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Ingame UI Suggestions

« on: August 13, 2013, 03:19:25 pm »

Even as a new player, I definitely like the cleaner more immersive UI look. However, I do agree that an unsuccessful spot could either mean it's a friendly or an enemy that you're technically not supposed to be able to see.

I think a good compromise would be this: if you attempt to spot a ship and that ship is a friendly, then it will simply flash a team-color X on the ship for 2-3 seconds and then fade out. That way, you know for sure that it's a friendly and not an enemy that's in some technical hiding spot (even though you can clearly see it).

28

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Phobos Mine Launcher: variable launching distance

« on: August 12, 2013, 06:32:28 pm »

Do the special rounds also change the amount of damage and other special properties? Or is it only affected by the projectile speed modifier?

29

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Phobos Mine Launcher: variable launching distance

« on: August 12, 2013, 02:30:52 pm »

This is the part where I regret even attempting to take my original idea and "balance" it or make it interesting.

Really, all I want to be able to do is just drop mines in place -- no launching great distances or lobbing at ships. I just wanna poop them in place. I attempted to incorporate that into something that would allow both the pooping and the flinging for the sake of creative minelayers, but honestly all I really care for is the pooping. Hell, we can completely lose the lobbing of mines for all I care. I just want to lay mines like a normal minelaying ship

30

Feedback and Suggestions / Phobos Mine Launcher: variable launching distance

« on: August 12, 2013, 03:53:51 am »

My biggest frustration with the Mine Launcher is the inability to vary how far mines are launched and deployed. I'd like to see a function incorporated that allows you to do so. I see it working like this:

The longer you hold down the mouse button, the further it launches. A quick click will drop the mine and deploy its balloon almost immediately (0.5s), while holding down the mouse button to maximum will launch it the full distance before deploying the balloon (3.5s). It would take 3 seconds for the launcher to charge to maximum launching distance -- 1 second for every second added to the balloon deployment delay.

Depending on balance issues, the actual arming of the mine's warhead may need some changes if this function was added. Personally, I'd like mines to always arm 0.5 to 1 seconds after the balloon deploys, no matter how far the mine is launched. Thus, a "dropped" mine would arm in 1 to 1.5 seconds, while a fully launched mine would arm in 4 to 4.5 seconds.

Another factor that would most likely have to be adjusted would be the reloading time of the launcher. Currently it is 4 seconds, but with this function added, where it takes additional time to launch the full distance, it might be reasonable to take the time down to 3 or even 2 seconds.

This function would make minelaying less dependent on the position of the ship, allowing gunners to drop mines precisely where they want to. It would also open up some interesting gameplay options, where an airship could drop mines immediately behind them to shake off a pursuing enemy or quickly lay a few mines as they cross the path of a less maneuverable airship.