TLF Version 1.606-1.608 Released (Credit Bombardment)

[nas1m]

I'm excited to see the betrayal mode change (obviously I'm also appreciative of the note in the changelog, even though you do all the real work. Things like uploading a save or making a suggestion are quite modest in comparison), and I'm looking forward to testing it out later.

I wish you the best, with whatever real-life event that needs your attention. I think I can speak for myself and others in saying that with the effort and commitment you put into your gaming duties you are more than deserving of a little flexibility in working hours, and that you have the understanding and support of happy customers who wish you well.

A week or two is a very short time, it only feels longer because of the unparalleled, unyielding and intense update schedule you keep and the high standards to which you judge your work. Don't be too hard on yourself. The same goes for everyone.

Seconded, as usual . Take your time, Chris!
We'll be here when you get back .

[nas1m]

Just got some playtime with 1.608.
Some notes:
- Obscura might be way too weak early game now: 15979
- The Orbital Bombing hostile dispatch likely needs a nerf, especially with regard to the Obscura:15980
- Obscura apparently like to conduct Andor elections - go figure: 15981
- The hive queen still is a moody gal: 15982
- Still quite a bit of UI-related iffyness related to Obscura in combat: 15983


At least the first two might warrant a look before Chris is back.

[Mick]

In my game, I noticed hive queen mood swings happening quite a lot. Would that have anything to do with why the Thoraxians did so terrible? They ended up getting taken over without my influence at all.

[Misery]

Not related to the patch, but since I dont wanna e-mail Chris directly while he's busy with other stuff, just a quick progress report, the Burlust Warlord stuff is now 1/3rd complete.  That whole "shifting" concept (or whatever it should be called) has turned out to be a great idea, this one will be... interesting. 

[keith.lamothe]

Not related to the patch, but since I dont wanna e-mail Chris directly while he's busy with other stuff, just a quick progress report, the Burlust Warlord stuff is now 1/3rd complete.  That whole "shifting" concept (or whatever it should be called) has turned out to be a great idea, this one will be... interesting.

Glad to hear it   We've been really impressed by the patterns overall thus far.

"I call this one... 'Warlord saw your puny ship and sneezed milk all over the dashboard'."

[Misery]

Mostly done.... one last bit to go, and I think I'll do that later tonight, or tomorrow night.   Probably tonight.

Gonna show a quick screenshot this time, because the way this one turned out, it ends up making for very good screenshots.





That's the "mid" pattern, the "low" one is next up for design. Not as hard to deal with as it might look.  The Obscura were designed with difficulty in mind... the Burlusts do need to be strong, but not as tough as those guys, yet still look impressive.  Most players should be able to handle these guys.  Well, without TOO much trouble, anyway...

The green shots are constant; the other 4 colors are chosen at random, the chosen color firing along with each green shot.  After a time each set turns around and does something.  Incidentally, I'm tired of numbers now.

[keith.lamothe]

Incidentally, I'm tired of numbers now.

I'm surprised you've been able to tolerate my half-baked xml schema thus far

Looking good

[Teal_Blue]

Really looking very cool Misery, i'm looking forward to getting overwhelmed, haha. Really, really nice work, looks really great!
Thanks for all the hard work.

[Misery]

Incidentally, I'm tired of numbers now.

I'm surprised you've been able to tolerate my half-baked xml schema thus far

Looking good

Actually it's worked out very well so far; if you guys are going ahead with that shmup game idea this next year still, you've got a very good base there overall (if that's what you're going to use for it). It's been pretty easy to use.  The only tough parts is when I'm trying to get something to happen but clearly dont have the right numbers in there, so it of course then does exactly what I DONT want it to do...

Really looking very cool Misery, i'm looking forward to getting overwhelmed, haha. Really, really nice work, looks really great!
Thanks for all the hard work.

Nah, that one wont be too overwhelming.  It being one of the main ways to interact with the Burlust and all.  Actually for once I'm wondering if it might be too easy, which is rare for anything I make.  It's actually been tougher to make BECAUSE I need to keep the difficulty dialed down this time, haha.  While still being interesting.

[NickAragua]

I'm definitely digging the fact that dispatches are now actually effective. Was able to pull some Skylaxians out of an environmental tailspin thanks to it and get the Thoraxians (!) to join a federation. Bastards were one planet short of forming a fear empire.

[Misery]

Yeah, the dispatches are working much better now.  Can actually DO something about RCI problems.

Right now the only problems are the fact that the Thoraxian queen has totally lost it, and there's a bunch of funky balance issues in combat.  Some of which are ship-based and probably my doing (argh the tweaking, it begins), others are related to certain abilities (triple range is WAY too powerful in it's current state).

The bit with the queen is definitely the biggest issue though.  Mood swings.... so many....

[Misery]

The Burlust Warlords are finished!  Ahh, that took longer than I thought it would.  I think it came out well though.

I've sent an e-mail to Chris with all of that, though Yahoo is barely even functional at the moment (sigh), so hopefully it actually sent and didn't corrupt the files or something.... blasted thing is nearly killing itself just trying to check the "sent messages" list.  ...which it then failed to do.   It'd be nice if it could work fully and correctly for 5 minutes here.

[x4000]

Misery: I did get your email, and I look forward to delving into it on Monday.  Exciting stuff!

[Misery]

Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

....except for the part where I didn't balance/tweak/do something with damage values whatsoever (wheras I did with the Obscura each time) with this, as this one is so much harder to gauge properly. With the Obscura ships I generally figured "Yeah, this thing is ready to be added at this point probably" when it was finished, but not this one.

I'll probably keep messing with that over the weekend, so I might chuck a different set of files at you on Monday.

[x4000]

Sweet!