Hybrid Issues

[Shrugging Khan]

Programming Games sound....marrrrrvellous.

It sounds like programming without having to learn about namespaces and classes and voiding and whatnot! IN SPACE!

[TechSY730]

They are indeed a lot of fun when I want to focus on strategy but not have to worry about logistics (other than perhaps character building) or execution, because the AI you write takes care of basically everything.

I know of another programming game where you pit "virtual robots" against each other. You literally implement a Java interface for your robot, and have to program everything, from movement behavior to how to shoot, target, and aim, though thankfully the community has created libraries containing implementations of the most common tasks. That game is of course way on the complex side of the AI script sophistication scale.

EDIT: If you want more examples, look at the page on TVtropes on programming games, found at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ProgrammingGame (Warning! TVtropes can be addictive. I take no responsibility for the number of hours wasted there.)

[Sunshine!]

I think Gratuitous Space Battles is a... bad game.  There are a lot of really poor design choices, balance issues, and the UI, as noted before, blows.

Here's one of the niggles that really bothers me - ships have weapons hardpoints that are linked into weapons batteries, but the weapons batteries are only for cosmetic effect.  Seriously?  That could have been a really cool aspect of the game if putting a weapon in a weapon battery slot made it do double damage (for a two-gun battery), while costing less than twice as much, making it a more efficient choice that can't target multiple ships.  Then you've got some design space where one race could have very few hardpoints but tons of weapons batteries, for example, or who knows what else.

Far too much effort is put into "making this look cool" without any real design thought behind the game.  Another one is one of the beam weapons has a description "There are many different kinds of beam weapons in the galaxy.  This one is purple."  Seriously?  That's the only notable thing about it, it's purple?

The unit commands never work, cruisers are way too slow, etc. etc.  It's just simply a bad game.

[zebramatt]

I think you might be taking it a little too seriously!

[Sir t]

But... IT HAS PRETTY EXPLOSIONS!!! DAKKA DAKKA!

[Sunshine!]

It doesn't even have pretty explosions!  The graphics are actually pretty boring!

And if you think I take it too seriously... I just want it to be fun, and for me, that includes a little depth and things working right.  I mean, I spent a couple hours on it and just decided it wasn't fun.  I was browsing through their forums a while back though, and those people take it too seriously, with painstakingly optimized fleets that actually end up being just two ships (anti-fighter frigate, anti-ship frigate).  If it's not possible to build a fleet that works by combining all three tiers of ship types, with a variety of layouts (see previous balance complaints), what's the point?

Also, the pilots mechanic.  wtf is that?  It takes the same amount of crew to run a tiny fighter as it does a massive cruiser?

[keith.lamothe]

I've actually happily spent a goodly number of hours on GSB.  More for mental relaxation than as an in-depth strategic or tactical challenge, but that didn't make it less fun in my case.  I agree that the concept and framework could have made for a truly great game (and the actuality falls short of that), but I don't think it's bad.

FWIW, the purple beams (iirc) also had the distinction of being one of the best anti-armor/structure but poorest anti-shield direct-fire weapons.  And the absurd level of min-maxxing you've seen (with only an anti-fighter frigate design and a anti-ship frigate design, etc) is only possible on scenarios with no supply limits (which function for modules like AIW's per-type ship caps do for ships, roughly).

[Shrugging Khan]

Argh, alright. Not going to spend money on it then :/

EDIT: If you want more examples, look at the page on TVtropes on programming games, found at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ProgrammingGame (Warning! TVtropes can be addictive. I take no responsibility for the number of hours wasted there.)

#
Too late man...I've already read it all. ALL OF IT. Every trope there is! Well, nearly. Because that page I hadn't stumbled across yet.

Thanks for the info 

[Sunshine!]

I spent 7 or 8 hours on it.  It was good for a little while until the design flaws caught up with the requirements of more rigorous fleet action.  I avoided the supply limit missions - it was already annoying enough to put a viable fleet together without supply limits, and constructing a fleet based on the supply limits while having to constantly jump back and forth between the construction screen and the actual mission info was super annoying and not worth it.

As for the purple beam - well, there were green and red beams as well that were pretty much identical (plus any race specific beams) that didn't need to be unlocked.

[superking]

star ruler w/ galactic armoury does everything that GSB does 9000000000000x better minus the ugly visuals

[Shrugging Khan]

Then GSB really is unplayable 

[Sunshine!]

Then GSB really is unplayable 

That's more true than you think, but more for the reason that it's a simulation where you tell things to do things and then it does them without your input.  So you're not so much playing a game as you are watching a movie that you just directed half of.

[Red Spot]

Far too much effort is put into "making this look cool" without any real design thought behind the game.  Another one is one of the beam weapons has a description "There are many different kinds of beam weapons in the galaxy.  This one is purple."  Seriously?  That's the only notable thing about it, it's purple?

The unit commands never work, cruisers are way too slow, etc. etc.  It's just simply a bad game.

There are games where it actually works. Where the lame sence of humor is what is making the game .. to an extend.
Try "Armed and Dangerous" for a good laugh

[Sunshine!]

Sacrifice is like that as well, with the sense of humor.