54: Footprints in Moondust
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
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What an unforeseen intersection, the discovery of determinism in a game where the player is only an observer. Since it was mentioned in no less than two articles I fired up Noctis to see the insanity for myself. That is the loneliest game I've ever played.
I remember reading about Noctis back when I had a crappy computer. Resolved to play it later and subsequently forgot about it. Thank you for reminding me - and it was an excellent historical perspective on determinism (though I personally have brought myself to some degree of understanding of the concept, and where specifically that lies will probably end up derailing this thread).
It's definitely not the easiest game to learn, that's for sure.
I'm really not sure why it took you 15 minutes to reach a planet that was only 24 "dyams" away. That shouldn't have taken more than a few seconds. I believe you, of course, but I don't know enough about the game to explain what may have happened.
The "need recal" message just means your present local target and remote target are in different star systems. Redesignate your remote target by aiming at the star whose system you are in, selecting "set remote target" from the Flight Control Drive menu, and then double-right-clicking on the star. Your local target is like a subset of your remote target, so when they suffer a disconnect, the ship's computer gets confused.
To descend to the surface of a planet, enter into orbit around it and select "deploy surface capsule" from the "flight control drive" menu. Then go to the three small screens on the right side of the bridge; the one on the far right will show an image of the planet's surface. Use the arrow keys to choose a target, and then press Enter.
Use the help signal if you accidentally run out of fuel. The other ship will give you a slight boost. That's the extent of its purpose, though. It's just a way to ensure you don't accidentally become stuck (for too long) while playing.
Hope that helps. Once you get the hang of things, you should be planet-hopping in no time.
I'm really not sure why it took you 15 minutes to reach a planet that was only 24 "dyams" away. That shouldn't have taken more than a few seconds. I believe you, of course, but I don't know enough about the game to explain what may have happened.
The "need recal" message just means your present local target and remote target are in different star systems. Redesignate your remote target by aiming at the star whose system you are in, selecting "set remote target" from the Flight Control Drive menu, and then double-right-clicking on the star. Your local target is like a subset of your remote target, so when they suffer a disconnect, the ship's computer gets confused.
To descend to the surface of a planet, enter into orbit around it and select "deploy surface capsule" from the "flight control drive" menu. Then go to the three small screens on the right side of the bridge; the one on the far right will show an image of the planet's surface. Use the arrow keys to choose a target, and then press Enter.
Use the help signal if you accidentally run out of fuel. The other ship will give you a slight boost. That's the extent of its purpose, though. It's just a way to ensure you don't accidentally become stuck (for too long) while playing.
Hope that helps. Once you get the hang of things, you should be planet-hopping in no time.
I'm sure this thread is long, long dead. I'm new to Escapist, and am reading old issues at random.
Still, I wanted to say that I'm an ardent determinist.
Yes, I find it depressing.
Yes, I find that it undercuts any deeper "meaning" to existence.
It still makes perfect sense to me, and is thus far, the only thing that's ever made much sense to me.
/Edit: I wanted to mention, but forgot. I really enjoyed the article, and fully intend on checking Noctis out. It sounds amazing.
Still, I wanted to say that I'm an ardent determinist.
Yes, I find it depressing.
Yes, I find that it undercuts any deeper "meaning" to existence.
It still makes perfect sense to me, and is thus far, the only thing that's ever made much sense to me.
/Edit: I wanted to mention, but forgot. I really enjoyed the article, and fully intend on checking Noctis out. It sounds amazing.
There's no statute of limitations on excellent contributions. Thanks for sharing.Geoffrey42 said: