Fan-Made Battlestar Galactica Sim Finally Launches

Firia

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Sep 17, 2007
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I grabbed it, and yeah, it's pretty solid! complex space flight sim breaks my brain, and I forgot how awesome Freespace was. But damn! I'm gonna keep at it! :D
 

Narcogen

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Jul 26, 2006
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chozo_hybrid said:
Narcogen said:
The Mac version is already out; I've downloaded and played it. The announcement merely notes that Mac *system requirements* have not been written yet, but would be roughly similar to the PC system requirements.
What are the controls like, do you have to use every button the on keyboard (classic wing commander style) or is it a bit simpler, because the million button control schemes always put me off these games.
Seems to be the former. Also, the tutorials and configuration screens all assume you're using a PC; a lot of references to the "alt" key, for which you have to substitute "option", which is no big deal, but some other arrangements that seem awkward on a Mac keyboard.

The targeting controls alone seem to use half a dozen keys or more; engines and speed-matching easily another half-dozen. After that I decided I need more time to absorb everything and put the game away for the moment.
 

Aeshi

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Dec 22, 2009
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It's pretty fun but very short (5 missions long, and one of those is optional) and can get frustrating due to the fact that some of the missions have objectives you're apparently supposed to fail*, which means most of the time you can just ignore objectives because if it's one you're actually meant to complete your AI wing-men will usually do it themselves anyway.

Also the AI is kinda dimwitted (I've seen fighters crash into their Carriers multiple times)

Ion 1 WILL get away to report your position, the Fuel Tanker WILL be destroyed refueling the Theseus and you CANNOT actually dock with the Prometheus to escape the Cylons when the Theseus goes down.
 

adamant_2001

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Sep 5, 2012
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Actual forced failures are not as frequent as you imply:
In Mission 6 Ion will escape, that one is true. In mission 4 those wings you can actually intercept before they jump (it is hard) and they make the later waves a little easier.

However, the tylium tanker *can* survive. The crew will opt to abandon and scuttle it since it lacks an FTL drive. But you can take out the waves of Raiders. It's very hard, but a bonus objective.

Similarly you *can* land on Prometheus, it is not a forced failure and there is an alternative ending.

We've been careful to make long dialog skippable and optional and try to make the player feel engaged even in situations where things for continuity reasons have to be more or less out of their control.
 

chozo_hybrid

What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets.
Jul 15, 2009
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Narcogen said:
chozo_hybrid said:
Narcogen said:
The Mac version is already out; I've downloaded and played it. The announcement merely notes that Mac *system requirements* have not been written yet, but would be roughly similar to the PC system requirements.
What are the controls like, do you have to use every button the on keyboard (classic wing commander style) or is it a bit simpler, because the million button control schemes always put me off these games.
Seems to be the former. Also, the tutorials and configuration screens all assume you're using a PC; a lot of references to the "alt" key, for which you have to substitute "option", which is no big deal, but some other arrangements that seem awkward on a Mac keyboard.

The targeting controls alone seem to use half a dozen keys or more; engines and speed-matching easily another half-dozen. After that I decided I need more time to absorb everything and put the game away for the moment.
I decided to give it a go, and I like it. The basic movement and shooting is simple enough, most of the targeting stuff sticks in my head, but with practice I feel I have been getting better.

adamant_2001 said:
Actual forced failures are not as frequent as you imply:
In Mission 6 Ion will escape, that one is true. In mission 4 those wings you can actually intercept before they jump (it is hard) and they make the later waves a little easier.

However, the tylium tanker *can* survive. The crew will opt to abandon and scuttle it since it lacks an FTL drive. But you can take out the waves of Raiders. It's very hard, but a bonus objective.

Similarly you *can* land on Prometheus, it is not a forced failure and there is an alternative ending.

We've been careful to make long dialog skippable and optional and try to make the player feel engaged even in situations where things for continuity reasons have to be more or less out of their control.
You one of the guys that made this? Just wanted to say, I think it's awesome. I've never played an actual space combat kind of game like this and am slowly getting used to it, but I'm having a blast and am enjoying it so far!
 

Signa

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Jul 16, 2008
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As much as I FUCKING HATED the show, this entices me enough to consider a download. Though if I'm going to boot up Freespace again, I'm going to finish it. I never beat FS2.
 

Aeshi

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Dec 22, 2009
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adamant_2001 said:
Actual forced failures are not as frequent as you imply:
In Mission 6 Ion will escape, that one is true. In mission 4 those wings you can actually intercept before they jump (it is hard) and they make the later waves a little easier.

However, the tylium tanker *can* survive. The crew will opt to abandon and scuttle it since it lacks an FTL drive. But you can take out the waves of Raiders. It's very hard, but a bonus objective.

Similarly you *can* land on Prometheus, it is not a forced failure and there is an alternative ending.

We've been careful to make long dialog skippable and optional and try to make the player feel engaged even in situations where things for continuity reasons have to be more or less out of their control.
I'll give you the benefit of a doubt regard regarding the Fuel Tanker since I never found a way to kill off the massive Zerg rush of Heavy Raiders but the Prometheus one is either impossible or bugged because I got inside the docking bay with 10 seconds to spare but even when I touched down nothing happened and when the timer hit 0 Prometheus just no-clipped through me. I'll try playing that mission a second time just to try and determine if it was a bug or just the game having trouble acknowledging a dock with a moving carrier
 

LordDPS

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Jun 4, 2010
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rembrandtqeinstein said:
Andy Chalk said:
voice acting at the triple-A level is usually pretty solid
I put forth every fully voiced Bethesda game, counting new vegas, as a counter example.

Come to think of it I can't think of any game in the last decade that had voice acting above the level of "tolerable". In fact over my gaming "career" I think the only one where the voice WoWed me was Planescape Torment.

Actually I take that back, Kotor 1 and 2 were both good. So yeah there were a couple in the last decade but I can't imagine the voice in this fan game being any worse than the relatively mediocre voice in other big games.
The Legacy of Kain series and Castlevania Lords of Shadow. both have excellent Voice Acting
 

Seneschal

Blessed are the righteous
Jun 27, 2009
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Ed. said:
Seneschal said:
Already downloading it.

In the meantime, I'm browsing their site, but I can't seem to find info on how much of a "sim" it is. From the trailer, I'd say it uses realistic newtonian movement, but I've yet to see a spaceflight sim that didn't overcomplicate the controls for it - like, controlling your ship with QWERASDFYXCV, one key for every thruster (?). I'm sure they've got something more elegant.
If its anything like BTRL (Precursor to this long story) you have WASDQE the mouse and a glide button that toggles if turning your ship should affect the direction of travel or simply rotate you around.
Yeah, you're spot-on.

For everyone that's wondering, the controls are surprisingly simple. You can sort of switch between newtonian spaceflight and atmospheric flight controls with a single button. The former, Glide Mode, leaves you drifting in one direction while being able to independently rotate in any other - so, for example, you can do a fly-by of a basestar while constantly pointing your weapons at it and shooting (but you won't be able to see where you're heading). The main flight mode is like classic dogfighting, and is explained as "computer assisted navigation" - it definitely helps to have an intuitive control scheme, and that you can change your trajectory by simply looking in another direction (banking, as befits a space sim, doesn't affect your movement; it merely rotates your view and maybe helps you dodge bullets).

And yes, the game has full-keyboard controls (divert power to shields/weapons/engines, change between five different view modes, adjust rate of fire, issue orders, target subsystems, etc.), but they aren't required. Targeting, movement, weapons and thrust control are everything you need.

EDIT: Oh, if it isn't clear from my post, I downloaded it and I love it. The voice-acting hiccups are only early-on and far between, everything is very top-notch and professional. The only hint that this isn't a mainstream big release is the number of options and key-bindings. Only a project unconcerned with widest-possible-appeal would have so many controls that you actually provide a Search function for them.

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention - I actually really like the story. The game continuing despite your failures and losses (except, of course, if you get blown up) gives it that feverish, desperate atmosphere like at the beginning of BSG. I expected it to be more about the flight simulation and the combat, but I really appreciate how much attention was given to the missions and the briefings.