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Badger
Stripey Forest Dweller
Joined: 18 Mar 2002
Posts: 924
Location: UK |
I think I might have fragged my first Khaak! 
You might say, "What do you mean.. you think.. you either did, or you didn't"
But in reply I would ask if any of you really think for a moment that any aspect of this game would be as straight forward as yes or no, black or white when it comes down to the voyage of the Badger.
I had just made enough money to buy my first 100% self earned ship. A second Merc, the "Infinite Wisdom" now joins the "Badgers Paw" in my trading fleet.
So saving and patting myself on the back for a job well done, I decided to quit the game. But I pressed ESC to many times and found myself outside the station in my Disco.
I was just about to quit anyway, when I realized that there were two Khaak ships attacking the station I had just left!
I haven't seen so few at one time before, so I thought I'd see if I could get their attention before I finished playing.
I fell in behind one of the little devils at speed 90 and waited for him to hold a straight course for a moment. My plan was to throw a whole bunch of Wasp missiles up his tailpipe, hopefully overwhelming his shields and letting me blast him with my little pop gun lasers. (I still have the guns and shields I started with.)
Well the plan seemed to be going ok. Three missiles streaked away and scored hits. I didn’t notice how much the shield might have gone down, because I was too busy dodging the triple laser beam jobbie that he started throwing my way without seeming to have to bother with the traditional inconvenience of turning to face me.
My paltry shield was overwhelmed immediately and I only just managed to get out of the way in time.
A moment later I fell in behind him again. Another three missiles away and my finger locked once more on the gun trigger.
That was all she wrote though, as I was switched suddenly to the dreaded outside view knowing that any second my poor "Heart of Gold" was going to be scattered to the winds of space.
But.......
At that moment my pc chose to lock up! Anyone remember the episode of the Simpsons, where Homer is just about to beat Bart at arcade boxing for the first time and Marge yanks the power cord? Uh-huh? Similar feeling.
Here's the thing though. In front of my ship, frozen for posterity (or at least till I rebooted) was the beginnings of an animation for a yellow/orange (sorry, colour blind) explosion!
Now I suppose it might have been the Heart of Gold exploding, but I don't remember seeing that colour before and I've seen my ship fly apart plenty of times.
So what do you think? Would it have been a kill? How many Wasps does it take to kill these little pointy swine anyway? Can the Disco do it? Eh?
Badger
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"Ducks are Dumb!" Badger-2005. Go ahead... quote me! |
Fri Feb 27, 2004 5:19 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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It depends on what class of Khaak ship it was. The M5s fold like paper... the M3s have 75,000 shields, however.
I'm spending more time protecting my trading ships (I have three solar power plants) from Khaak raiders than doing anything else, currently. Irritating, but not as much as losing 1 million worth of traders in 15 minutes earlier today.
I don't use missiles... too expensive for my tastes... so I don't know how much damage they would do to a 75,000 shield ship.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Sat Feb 28, 2004 8:06 am |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
Had to break my self-imposed exile briefly to ask about this:
Mogul dte's Memoranda:
I was sitting in the Goner Temple after yet another rebirth (should tell you where I was in the story, in case that matters). Upon leaving, Disco Fever picked up an "unknown object" on her scanners. Now keep in mind that it did not say "unknown ship", nor did it show the blip as hostile-- we've not forgotten the lessons of the late, and much lamented, Admiral dte. Thinking this might be a stray Samsonite full of non-sequentially numbered credits sadly lacking an owner, I was moved to investigate. Imagine my surprise when I found that the object was, in fact, moving at a high rate of speed. My scanners returned garbled nonsense when trying to determine just what I was chasing. Note that the nonsense did not match up with the "largely unknown ship details" Admiral dte reported during his fatal encounter with the Khaak.
As many of you know, proper etiquette is to slow down prior to going thru a jumpgate. I've never felt constrained to follow this stricture (do I look like an autopilot?) , which allowed me to get very close to my mysterious quarry. For those of you familiar with X-Com, this thing was a dead ringer for the single-"man" alien scout ship: a squat little cone with a flashing red light at its pinnacle. Yes folks, I found me a classic UFO that must have taken a wrong turn in rural Kentucky. All attempts at communication failed; my radio "honked" at me as if laughing at the mere suggestion. I'm embarassed to admit that I closed a little too quickly and rammed the little bugger, knocking out my boost extension. I continued to chase thru 2 more jump gates.
Disco Fever had a higher top speed than Conehead, such that I could recover the ground I lost from being out-accelerated in (strangely enough) the amount of time it took to wizz across each sector to the next gate. I could then approach for a closeup when he slowed for each jumpgate.
Well, after this much time, I was getting a bit frustrated. I got the legal department on the horn, and we decided I could pull off a claim of self-defense as long as there weren't any witnesses, so I blasted the bugger. I braced myself for the response. Bracing. Bracing. Bracing. He just flew thru the next gate. So I repeated the procedure, blasting him while he lined up for the next gate in his escape. He never shot back. Finally, in sector Duke's Vision, I'd done enough damage to slow him down. Figuring I could claim a nice salvage price with the National Enquirer, I tried to radio over surrender terms. Honk. Well, heck. Radio silence, eh? Fine. I blasted him. The ship went boom, and I heard a little sound that reminded me of a dying yelp. I guess, in space, I can hear you scream.
And so, expecting some incredible reward for my trans-galactic pursuit, I looked for something floating in the wreckage. Enough credits to buy a dozen fully functional SPP's? The blueprints for an uber-weapon? Pirate treasure map? Faberge Easter Egg? Jimmy Hoffa's body?
Nuttin. Zero. Zippo. Nil. Nada.
Friends, Argons, Countrymen, lend me your comm frequency. What in the bajeezus was that?
----------------
While my emotional stability has recovered a bit from the other day, the causes of my distress haven't changed, so I'll be concentrating on them for a bit. I'll probably peek in to see if anyone answers this, but I'm going to force myself to stay away for a bit. This place is far more fun than all the other junk, and it's just too easy to hide here and not work on the junk.
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Sun Feb 29, 2004 5:35 pm |
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Badger
Stripey Forest Dweller
Joined: 18 Mar 2002
Posts: 924
Location: UK |
quote:
Originally posted by dteowner
I'll probably peek in to see if anyone answers this, but I'm going to force myself to stay away for a bit. This place is far more fun than all the other junk, and it's just too easy to hide here and not work on the junk.
Come dte, come back into our little "X2" world. Come my pretty.... there's sweets and toffee apples and gingerbread, and allllll freeeeeeeee today!
Badger
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"Ducks are Dumb!" Badger-2005. Go ahead... quote me! |
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Sun Feb 29, 2004 10:48 pm |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
That was an entertaining read, dte - looks like Badger's skills are rubbing off. What is it about a space sim that makes such good reading?
Anyway, that was a UFO. Truth to tell, I don't know much about them (I've always been in a slow ship whenever I've encountered him). He's been in the series since X:BTF and as far as I know, he's just a space oddity - something to add a little interest.
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Editor @ RPGDot |
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Sun Feb 29, 2004 11:09 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
I killed ET??? 
Fortunately, a poor trading decision (ignore any evidence to the contrary- weapons do not a good cargo make) prompted me to back up to my save at the Goner Temple, so he's back. Or rather, he never appeared in the first place.
@Badger: *rolls up newspaper* Bad Badger! Bad! 
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 12:13 am |
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Cm
Sentinel of Light
Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 5209
Location: Missouri USA |
I have to put my two cents in and say that while I don't have the game, I feel like I am watching a movie with all the good stories in here.
_________________
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Member of Worshippers of the Written Word=
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
Mark Twain
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 1:04 am |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
Last night I said goodbye to my faithful little Disco, and traded up to a brand, spanking new Nova!! Now all I have to do is figure out how to use it while my traders (Merc and Manta) service my one little SPP and make me millions (I hope). So far, I keep running out of crystals. When I approached a couple of Pirates, they ran away; not very sociable are they? Any practical advice for someone like me with a VERY slow trigger finger and even slower reaction time?
_________________
If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 7:55 am |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
Congrats on the Nova! Are you looking to kill or capture pirates?
Where is your SPP, which ship is buying and what price have you set for crystals?
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Editor @ RPGDot |
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:30 am |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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The Nova is incredibly tricky to use... it requires excellent reflexes and a strafe drive unless you LIKE loosing a vast amount of components to pirate ships screaming as they mess a turn up and slam into you (happens with every ship, but seeing as how a max rudder optimized nova will turn 90 degrees with the slighest touch of the button it's very easy to misjudge).
Definitely tricky. If you're not certain of your reflexes I highly recommend you do NOT take the rudder optimization beyond 20% or so. This makes it handle like the ships you're used to as opposed to handling like a Veritech from Robotech (though if you can handle it that can be an incredible advantage. A top speed of 175 is the only drawback, as it's not very good for sector defense against the Khaak.)
To blow things up nicely when there are no other traders around to scream at you for dispensing indescriminate ion cannon justice the best weapon combination is an ion cannon/beta plasma. To dogfight in close quarters with other neutrals or friendlies two beta plasma are the way to go.
Once you get 75,000 shields only the most dedicated Khaak cluster will give you pause. It's a wonderful feeling of invulnerability to hear 'warning... incoming missile' and then watch a half dozen light ships evaporate as a hornet missile slams into you sending shockwaves rippling through space... and leaving your ship's paint undamaged.
My Nova served me well. I haven't used it in a day or so... ever since I took the plunge and spent about 10 million credits (taking myself down to 615 credits from the 10 million it took me so long to accumulate is disheartening.. but I'm back up to 2.1 million after a day) and got myself a maxed out Paranid Nemisis.
Is Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa! one word or two?
Worth every hard earned credit to load it down with three shockwave cannons, point at a Khaak cluster and hit 'kill' and go to third person. Awesome.
Oh, and Phase Shockwave Cannons aren't all that overpowered. They're faster than other weapon types, but they are not allied ship friendly in the slighest, take a HELLISH amount of energy, are 500 thousand EACH, are slow, and absolutely suck at less than 500 meters range in combat. If I got rammed 12 to 15 times while attacking a base with three of them firing on all arcs then they're not THAT hot in my books. In fact, for accuracy and single opponent kill power three plasma cannons do a better job. PSG are crowd control weapons... and there are times when that is a handy thing indeed.
They can destroy a base nicely but I destroyed a pirate base with an ion cannon and a beta plasma cannon. I taped the control key down after I killed the 60 or so ships in the base and went and made dinner. Came back just in time to watch the station fall apart.
Need... more... money. More! I have four solar power plants running at full production and have taken to running factory inspection missions in a Pegasus. Top speed 1000, rudder control 200.... I have yet to manually fly it. Those are numbers for a computer to handle.
I've gotten several 100,000 a stop missions in that thing. It doesn't get much more lucrative than that... 5 sectors in 75 seconds on SETA x6 for 100,000 credits is more than 1000 credits a second. Sometimes I get missions for 100k for a factory in the same system, which is 10 seconds tops.
Finding those missions (that you qualify for) can take a while, though. It certainly shouldn't be a sole source of income, in my opinion.
1 M3 Nova - The Last Starfighter (seriously, look at the model)
1 M5 Discoverer - Scoutcraft One - Didn't have the heart to sell it
1 M6 Nemesis - Warbird - Kills all enemies in sectors I have presence in while
I run courier missions
1 TS Mercury - Capital Ship Outfitter (can dock, carries XL)
1 TS Vulture - Zen and the Art of Mining
1 M5 Pegasus - Warp 10 Coffin - Docks with Warbird
13 TP - Three for each factory, one spare
1 TP Iguana - Pirate Hunter - How I got a Nova. 50k shields, 300 speed it currently refuels Warbird
I'm currently saving for a Jump Drive equipped Boron Orca as a mobile star fortress (cheaper than a carrier, can hold enough ships for me, and is capable of mining). If remote jumping makes it into the game sometime it would be a thing of beauty. I want an Argon Mammoth ... but really if I saved 46 million I'd rather save the last 20 million needed to get a Titan... unless I thought the Mammoth could make me the cost of itself and the 20 million extra faster.
Which it couldn't. My Iguana paid for itself in a half hour. My Nova in about the same. My Nemesis will never pay for itself by way of profit (it overkills, not captures) earned ... but the peace of mind it can bring was worth the money (and periodic sector clearing of space lanes I have controlling interest in means less transport loss which is important as replacing a transport can cost up to 200,000... which is a not ignorable chunk of a SPP's profit margin.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 3:28 pm |
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Lintra
Elf Friend
Joined: 23 Apr 2002
Posts: 9448
Location: Bermuda, the triangle place with SANDY BEACHES |
Having never played the game, that still sounds like quite the fleet!
Is managing it all difficult, or are the AI routines pretty good?
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=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Just plain clueless= |
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 3:45 pm |
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Badger
Stripey Forest Dweller
Joined: 18 Mar 2002
Posts: 924
Location: UK |
Good grief Xen! I was patting myself on the back for finally being able to afford my second Merc with which I now have the three ships. How many hours have you put in?!
Great list of ship names by the way. You all know mine are;
Disco: Heart of Gold
Merc: Badgers Paw
Merc: Infinite Wisdom
What are the rest of you naming your ships and ..ahem... how sad are we?
Badger
_________________
"Ducks are Dumb!" Badger-2005. Go ahead... quote me! |
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 3:47 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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The game clock says 10 days or so.
Considering about 90% of that time is spent in SETA mode that would be about one real day. Some of that SETA was x10, though...
I'm guessing about 20 to 30 real hours. A good start to what I'd spend on CRPG for a review. That's attended hours... from time to time if company comes over I'll save and just hit SETA and close my door. If I was planning on putting 4 hours in had friends not come over then where's the harm of letting the game run itself for a few hours.
Don't do this without a reasonable bank account, though. The attrition on your transports is staggering ... as after four SETA hours it's like you being at the computer for 24 real hours never touching the SETA button (I dare anyone to play this game and never hit SETA). In 24 game hours a lot of carnage can be done to your fleet without you ready to jump in and at least try and save them. I've done four hour unattended SETA stints perhaps 5 times... and three have resulted with me coming back, looking at the ruins of my trade empire, shaking my head, and reloading the save game. Of course, the other two times did make me a few million credits... but it's nothing i couldn't have done had I actually played those four hours and not got into combat (which takes the longest but has a massive payoff).
Don't worry, Badger. Things will accelerate for you. Truly. Recall that I bought three TP with the money I got for stripping the shields from the TP I was loaned. You have a Disco and a Merc and now a second. I started with a Disco, a bashed up Merc sitting in drydock to buy more Expresses as I earned more money, and three max speed Expresses to do by bidding (one of which I was piloting). I traded a few hundred thousand credits worth of loot to buy....
My Split Iguana.... and from there it was a million credits in three hours of Pirate Hunting (ya-har!). Which was a factory, since I already had three Expresses for it... it was a low start up cost factory. My first factory gurgled out enough credits so that in another hour of pirate hunting I could buy a Nova. Which captured 12 ships an hour on average, each selling for 75 to 300k. While the two power plants made enough to buy a third plant and transports.
Then I made a million in an hour of mining. While my plants made enough to buy another power plant and the mining paid for transports for it.
Then I went back to capturing ships ... which made a mint as my factories churned away.
After a while it all snowballs.
Lintra: It WAS a pain when I was micromanaging traders at the start. After I bought factories of my own, though, with the proper trading software I don't even need to look at my trade ships anymore. Most things can be done automatically... I check my property screen every time I dock or slow down to go through a jump gate and keep things running smoothly.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 4:48 pm |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
Wow, Xen! I don't have time for a full post so I'll just say: v1.3 is due "soon" (famous last words) and includes jump commands...or you could download the Xai Jump Commands script if you're impatient.
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Editor @ RPGDot |
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 9:27 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
Geez. I was proud of the results of last night's extended session (about 5 hours, probably top 5 since the twins were born), but I can't hold a candle to Xen.
I sold Disco Fever for operating capital after I picked up my 2nd Manta. So my fleet right now sits at Mercury Cougar (the patched up freebie, I'll probably trade it in for another Manta once its wandering trade path gets over to Kingdom's End), Manta Core (my first, just 1MW shields for now), and Manta Ray (currently piloting, 5MW shields). I think I probably generated about a million credits during the entire session.
Corwin's campaigning got me to try out the Manta, and I love it. Much better than the Express, IMO. The extra cargo space is very nice, plus it can handle XL cargo. I like the cockpit, too, although I guess that's not really that big a selling point. It might be a little different for automated factory runs, but for micromanaged trading, I doubt it gets much better than the Manta.
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Mon Mar 01, 2004 11:57 pm |
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