Bay 12 Games Forum

I think the crusader rights got separated somehow, which is why the games never tied together more.

There was some sort of fluff in one of the Crusader games that the teleporters you saw in the late game were based on experimental technology developed on Citadel station... and indeed whats-his-name was rocking a personal teleporter device.

one of those "we shouldn't have introduced this technology" sorts of things, since now its canon and its absence is awkward to explain.

That's the problem with sequels and crossovers, too much shit to keep track of and keep suspension of disbelief.  Start a new IP, and you have a clean slate with no baggage like "where are the teleporters" or "if we had energy shields back then, why dont we..." or any other number of throw away references to obscure tech that could trivially solve a problem if a similar tool was in the maintenance locker.

There wasn't a reason that puke had to play the way he/she did.

Haha.  Fallen London calls me a 'person of mysterious and indistinct gender'.  Next we'll all be singular 'they's, or 'ze' or 'zim'  Do you have to choose between 'zim' and 'zer' though?  How does that work?  What a bizarre world of tolerance and acceptance this is, I love it.

The guys creating this seem to be past-masters of the "play how you want, but we'll provide the challenges" style of gameplay.

For sure, these guys have the credentials.  This is why I am most excited about it.  Will it feel like SS1?  i SEROUSLY doubt it.  Will it be uniquely awesome in its own way?  I am rather optimistic that it will.

I can't imagine anything recapturing the feeling of SS1.  I ended the game with lots of extra ammo and explosives, but that was because resource scarcity felt like a real thing and I was compelled to hoard. 

It felt great coming up on the final level, having snuck through and played conservatively most of the way, having gone through the security deck without engaging hardly anything... and then being able to really unload the heavy weapons  on the bridge. 

I think that level was supposed to be "race past the hoard and get to a cybertermanal" but I was a walking arsenal and was able to throw in tons of bombs and follow up with a freaking lead hose of bullets.

I never did unlock that one room with the retnal scanner that you needed the guy's severed head for.  I searched all over for it, but must have blown it up with a grenade by accident.

The whole thing, having all the human encounters dangled in front of you and then yanked away just before you met them (always sort of knowing in the back of your head that you'd never meet another "living" person)... The confrontation with the Executive, not just exciting because he was a miniboss and the guy whom you helped cause all the problems, and to whom you owe your cybernetics, etc etc... but also because he was the only other living thinking independent person on the entire station.

And all the little victories... Every time you thwarted the AI, it had another plan.  the radios, the laser, the hydroponic decks, every time you fought a hard earned victory, there was something else.  And the station was a real living place you had to move through.  I'm glad SS2 kept that idea, that the levels were not just linear levels but were sort of laid out logically and you would need to sometimes back-track to do different jobs.

I played it before the voice pack came out, and when I got the voice pack and heard the voices on the logs, and the Shodan talking.. there were physical chills running down my spine.

SS2 was a cool game, but it just didn't do any of that.  The initial Shodan reveal, maybe a little.  But it didn't carry through the game at all.

Honestly, I'm not sure it is even possible for SS3 to nail that feeling.  the bar might be raised, people might have different expectations of plot, one might not be able to suspend disbelief for the graphics.  I am able to get into Mechwarior 1 much easier than I am able to get into Mwchwarior 4, these days.  The simplicity of the graphics allow me to put aside some of the absurdities of the setting, which is possibly why I like beautiful ASCII games like DF, and CoQ, and Cogmind (though the later two have pixel art sprites these days).

I will be watching this space, though.  Will probably buy the game, regardless.

And don't forget, Night Dive is doing the SS1 remake!  and GOG has the original SS1 remastered (basically a tuned up version of the fan-made SS-Portable) that you can play!

What would be better though, rather than remakes and sequels, if someone wrote a fresh story with their own new ideas.  I mean, I get that a brother has to eat and they're marketing essentially 'fresh' ideas in a tried and true package that should sell better just because it has the SS name on there... I'd just be happier if the whole package was fresh and original, even if it was still action-hacker vs AI.

It added the player and Golden Axe to my collection, as well as Jet Set Radio.

I have fond memories of JSR on the Dreamcast, but probably wont install it again until I get a controller.. maybe one of the steam ones.

Golden Axe... relived the nostalgia for that when MAME was a big thing over 15 years ago.  I'd probably fire up the old arcade emulators again before installing this stuff on Steam for PC... Just something about a the unported experience seems more 'True' though for all I know the PC port just has a stripped down version of MAME running under it.

Ah, the good old days, back when ToME was still middle earth themed, and much more recognizable as a 'band variant.

How does this compare to, say MAngband?  or PWMangband?

okay, the Corporate Espionage missions?  Borked.

I have gotten two of them, so far.  First one, I initially missed the ship but manged to locate it after it left the system and came back.  I didn't get credit for scanning it, though, and it pretty much vanished after that.  I checked my save file to find its location, and as soon as I entered that system I got credit for the scan (did not hit 'S' again).

Second time I got one, I got credit for the scan as soon as the target came within range of my scanners.  Was just waiting in the system for it, and I got the popup window before I even hit 'S'.  makes me wonder if I even needed the scanner installed in the first place?

But the FW missions actually make proper use of scanning, so it must work at some level.  Will have to compare the mission parameters in the data files.

you can only move in cardinal directions

I have not tried the latest version, but it looks like this is in:

The screenshot three posts above yours mentions 9-directional movement, with or without a numpad.

It's been one year in-game and all I've got is a freighter. How do you all progress so fast?

Got hooked and played non stop for a few days.  Not the sort of behavior I would recommend emulating. 

I flew around in a shuttle for a *long* time, and then upgraded to one of those black manta-ray looking things with the heavy-laser turrets.  Flew that for the first few campaign missions and then picked up a mule as soon as I had the cash.

Since I was flying passenger ships for the first bit, it was a huge relevation when the larger cargo missions unlocked after I got the larger ship.

There are a few things burried like that:  escort missions and pirate bounties are tied to combat performance, so unless you have a combat rating of 6 (greater than 6?) you dont get the higher paying escort missions.

There is also a special ship that you can pickup a mission to get once your combat rating is at 9, (if you stop on the right world after your combat rating is up there, and you get no notice about it before hand so it is more like an easter-egg) but I am at the end of the campaign and my combat rating is only an 8.

Honestly, my 4 full-kit Bactrain's with late-game tech are a match for most things, so unlocking that special ship does not have much appeal any more.  If it happened sooner, or if I knew to work towards it, that probably would have been better.

endgame ship stuff:

edit: i did just find the han though.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

their lore is pretty dumb, somehow despite all the humans nobody has thought to report back on the discovery of an alien race. Also the "we are peaceful and have surpassed all our problems but we still need to give you something to shoot so there are evil han up north"

You actually get a bit more lore from them later.  You can bribe those guys in the north to land, and pick up some of their perspective.  And if you run missions for them (have to bring them a few special items before they trust you enough to give you missions) you'll get some other interesting back story that isnt quite as dumb as "here are some evil ones to shoot".

They tie in with another encounter, and through that you learn more about their contact with humans.  So, while it is still a bit silly, it isnt as dumb as it seems at first.