New version .858 (Solar Map Usability Improvements)

[x4000]

Release notes: http://arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=The_Last_Federation_Alpha_Release_Notes#Alpha_Version_.858

Restart steam to force a quicker update if you like.

This one has a bunch of stuff to make life easier for you on the solar map in particular.  It doesn't get at quests yet (sigh), but it does a lot of things to streamline your experience in other ways.  Less clicking between tabs, better performance with large numbers of fleets, easier access to certain information like race descriptions, fixing that issue with no races attributed to so many actions, lots of improvements to the way that pause works (for those who like to play cautiously in particular), and so on.

Enjoy!

[x4000]

New testers!

gonekrazy3000
Mazza
rchaneberg
sieferdarkstar
madpinger
Kinderino
Ibix5
jonasan
king_of_cutlery
mianpi
MayhemMike
TheGreatZero
ExMudder

You will all have PMs from me shortly...

[Professor Paul1290]

Did something happen to the computer voice?

I don't think heard her since the patch before this one.

[Misery]

I'll get to the solar map feedback soon enough, but first:

Combat, this has achieved perfection.  At least by my book, no further alterations are necessary.  Though, if expansions should become a thing with this game, and I sure as heck hope it goes that way, a few added enemy ship types would be pretty good.  The current ones have good variance but more is not a bad thing!

I dunno how many people here have seen the highest difficulty, or the kinds of movements and such necessary to get somewhere in it, and because it's bloody awesome, I'm going to put up a video of a battle in it later tonight.  It's easier than me explaining things. 

Suffice it to say though, the top difficulty has earned it's name.  Though it depends on the battle;  if enemies are more focused on your allies, it's a bit easier to not die, but you of course then have priority selection to worry about.   But it gets... interesting.... when they're all focused on you.


EDIT:  Ok, no, not QUITE perfect.

More testing and I ran into a problem that I'd figured would show up sooner or later:  Lack of abilities can make a battle take a REALLY long time.  Not a good thing.

I'll have a video of the lunacy up soon enough, but.... First battle of the game, and it takes **50** minutes.  This being because I had to do EVERYTHING without using any abilities whatsoever.

I havent tried the smuggling missions yet, but I"m guessing they are so much worse as to be unplayable.  I'm expecting AT LEAST 3 times the amount of time needed to beat this mission.

Seriously, these should be turned on for anything that isnt a Burlusk warlord battle.   Not having them doesnt so much increase the challenge as it does simply increase the time needed.

As much as I enjoy playing on this difficulty, these simply take too long for it to be viable.  The smuggling missions will take bloody forever...  Granted, missions AFTER this shouldnt be TOO much of a problem, but still.

There's also the issue of enemy flagships having WAY too many fighters of various sorts to spawn.... it almost seems infinite. 


EDIT:  Mantis ticket for this issue here: http://www.arcengames.com/mantisbt/view.php?id=13951

[x4000]

@Professor Paul1290: I cut out a ton of those, all the ones that were playing too frequently.

@Misery: That is awesome news!  Super glad to hear that, heh.   And not a moment too soon, right?  I'd rather this be now than at the 11th hour.  I've put in changes that should make you even happier in the next version, which is now out.

[Chthon]

Did something happen to the computer voice?

I don't think heard her since the patch before this one.

I love how everyone calls it "The Computer Voice."

Females, or female voices, used to deliver warnings or announce base status have colloquially been known as "Bitching Betties" since as early as World War II.  Male voices likewise were known as "Barking Bobs."  If you would like to be polite, why not just call her "Betty" and be done with it.  A lot easier to say and type than "The Computer Voice." 

[x4000]

Her name is "Ally."

[Professor Paul1290]

@Professor Paul1290: I cut out a ton of those, all the ones that were playing too frequently.

This might be an odd suggestion, but if it's still possible to get more recordings, it might be nice to get some more "generic" and "monotone" sounding clips that can be used more often without being annoying.
Short and monotone notifications like "transaction complete", "connection established", or "weapons fire detected" (if you're on a planet or outpost where there is currently fighting) tend to be heard more as audio notifications rather than character dialogue so most people don't find them as potentially annoying.

Longer clips with more human-like tone should probably be saved for more infrequent and important events. (as it is now I guess)

I say that because I think having the voice very rarely might be awkward too. Suddenly the voice comes up and you're like "Wait, who the heck is this?".

[x4000]

It's true on the rarity thing, but then again we had some taunts with the AI in AI War and that worked out okay.  Getting more recordings would be... problematic.  We had a ton of scheduling issues getting the first ones done.

[Chthon]

Her name is "Ally."

Are you certain?  We all know how that worked out in AI War.

Anyways, I just don't want to sit here an call it "The Computer Voice" all day long.  Any name is better than that.

[x4000]

Her name is "Ally."

Are you certain?  We all know how that worked out in AI War.

Anyways, I just don't want to sit here an call it "The Computer Voice" all day long.  Any name is better than that.

No, I mean, that's actually the voice actress's name.   I'm sure of it, haha.  But in terms of the name of your computer companion in general, I just think of it as Computer -- hear it like Captain Picard addressing it.  Computer is constantly snarking at you throughout the game in the text, just not as much in the audio.