he still has to use vertex based models somewhere, with the pure math LT would grind to a halt (as he said himself somewhere).

so math -> vertices (gets stored somewhere too) -> graphics

and .obj is just plain vertex/connection data (afaik), so the middle format is likely to be pretty easily generated from .obj

...so I bought this.

Some of those youtubers are very good salesmen. That, and I'm a soft-sell.

Some first impressions:

• Lots here to remind one of Freelancer. There can be no doubt that this was by design, and I rather enjoy it.
• The soundtrack is excellent. Voice acting... ehhh not so much.
• I had to crank the graphics all the way down to lowest settings. This was humiliating both for me and my GPU, but the game is still satisfyingly shiny and runs smoothly enough.
• The tactical HUD overlay defaulted to N/A for a hotkey: I found this rather odd. Same for the hotkeys for power distribution, which get heavy use.
• I really like the shield-quadrants thing, which, coupled with limited arc weapon batteries, adds an easily understandable yet very engaging tactical layer to combat.
• Approaching this in the same way that I did Freelancer: "meh" to the campaign and pursue the trader career path. This approach works better here than in Freelancer, I must say.
• Those green ocean-currents-in-space --I'm not sure what they're s'posed to be called-- they're very cool! Kinda like X Rebirth highways minus the dumb minigame, and convincingly styled as anomalies rather than infrastructure.
• Thanks to goodness, no docking cut scenes-- in fact, no bother at all about docking.
• No formation autopilot for tagging along with NPC patrols though.
• Radio chatter isn't really a thing here, it seems.

It ain't Freelancer 2 (not to imply that they made any such claim).
But it is a pretty thing, and fun so far.
Another tide-me-over-'til-LT diversion, heh.

Thanks for that, Baile nam Fonn. Most informative I've been hovering over the purchase button on this one but I've managed to exercise some restraint (for a change). I'm so close to playing ED for real now that I would probably be wasting my money if I did decide to buy.

That's a very convincing review Baile, I'm going to go for it I think.

Pity about the chatter though!

Victor Tombs wrote:Thanks for that, Baile nam Fonn. Most informative I've been hovering over the purchase button on this one but I've managed to exercise some restraint (for a change). I'm so close to playing ED for real now that I would probably be wasting my money if I did decide to buy.

If you end up purchasing this, I'd love to hear your review on it. I'm in the same boat, and the idea that it is spiritually related to Freelancer has me wanting it but not yet enough to pony up the cash.

DWMagus wrote:If you end up purchasing this, I'd love to hear your review on it. I'm in the same boat, and the idea that it is spiritually related to Freelancer has me wanting it but not yet enough to pony up the cash.

Will do, DW. It's that Freelancer link that has me intrigued as well. Highly likely I will add it to the mountain of the unplayed but that will be of little use to you. I wish I had more time to explore everything that catches my eye.

Day 3.
21 hours played.
After considerable bottom feeding, I have landed a few very lucrative trades.
I am now captain of a freighter class ship, and I have fitted her well.
Her shields are strong, my valued officer lends her considerable speed.
I have begun to make regular incursions into hostile territory: the risks are high, but much is to be gained from salvaging those loot-bomb derelicts which litter the void.

My accounts have exploded into the millions.
I begin to dream of carriers and conquest.

Baile nam Fonn wrote:My accounts have exploded into the millions.
I begin to dream of carriers and conquest.

Sic semper tyrannis!

...what, too soon?

(Actually, I'm sort of looking forward to hearing how this story progresses now. )

Those green currents in space... They are like the damn owl from Zelda 64. One mistake and you are stuck in it!

Someone should make a scumbag steve meme with the riftway.

I sort of want to get this, but also sort of don't. Save for a few days of an eve trial, I'm a space game virgin, and want LT to be my first.

AbhChallenger wrote:Those green currents in space... They are like the damn owl from Zelda 64. One mistake and you are stuck in it!

Someone should make a scumbag steve meme with the riftway.

Riftways, ya. They're fun to 'surf', but it's a double-edged sword, or an untamed mount, so to speak. That's what makes them feel like a force of nature.

Better that than wandering too close to a wormhole though: in worst cases it'll spit you out into an ambush, at best it will spoil the beautiful seamlessness of travel with a glorified loading screen.

---

Hyperion wrote:I sort of want to get this, but also sort of don't. Save for a few days of an eve trial, I'm a space game virgin, and want LT to be my first.

Aww that's sweet.

I agree, you should wait.

Flatfingers wrote:

Baile nam Fonn wrote:My accounts have exploded into the millions.
I begin to dream of carriers and conquest.

Sic semper tyrannis!

...what, too soon?

(Actually, I'm sort of looking forward to hearing how this story progresses now. )

My best guess? Forget I'm in a freighter -> blow up -> load up last autosave -> rinse & repeat ad nauseam.

I hate steam so I've missed this so far but it sounds like it may be worth getting and according to this post:

http://www.starpointgemini.com/forum/sh ... 7#pid13377

It's happily coming to GoG so I'll likely pick it up there.

Well, after spending about 50 hours in earnest on it...

It's not bad. But there are warts. Many warts.

The balancing is pretty bad at the moment, half the ship systems are either superfluous or not properly implemented (like NPC carriers that carry no fighters...), the campaign difficulty level is, well, unequal at best (one mission in particular requires what is basically exploit abuse to beat) and the voice acting is bad. There's also numerous bugs in pretty much every aspect of the game. And don't get me started on the blueprint system, someone definitely didn't do the math there...

...that said, the combat is fun, the visuals are nice and the system (yeah, it's just one system, but hey, it's a big one...) is big and varied. It's a decent title to pass the time until one of the big boys gets released, and LGM is working hard to fix the problems and improve the game. I expect that 3-4 months down the line, it'll be "pretty good", if a little shallow.

-Hardenberg

Hardenberg wrote:[Spot-on critical evaluation]

Can you mine in this game and do trading runs?