Master_Xan

Update: Conducted first battle tests with Scimitar. Wow, talk about a slow fighter. Also, I'm having problems getting the AI to remain in a battle with me, I'm not 100% sure it's from the single Scimitar squad I have, will do more testing. At this point, they just run away, so I haven't even gotten to use the thing yet. In my other game, never got the Empire to build Scimitar squads, but I need another game to actually prove that to be a possibility considering how badly I beat them up early on in the last one. Maybe I just missed it, but I never saw a message saying that Ewings had been researched. I just randomly found it in my construction menu. Also, the Empire CAN build Scimitars right out of the gates. (Or, um, right out of the yards. Yeah.) I'll have to test to see if the AI will build them immediatly or not, but at least I confirmed that the human can. Potential problem here, but since I haven't had any tests to confirm it its nothing tangable yet: the Scimitar squads are very fast to build compared to Alliance fighters, almost half the time. Considering they have shields, this could make them too easy to build and keep alive. Then again, they are soooo slow, maybe the shields won't keep them alive as much as they do Defenders, which would effectively balance the faster build time. Again, since I can't get the computer to stay in battle long enough to see how they fair, I don't know for sure. I'm thinking of making my own starting conditions to run some of these AI battle tests (much faster than playing through a game until Ewings are reasearched), more on that Monday. Just fyi, I'm going to be balancing these tests with my work schedule, my already pitiful social life, and my beta testing of another game (Avernum 4, very awesome). This just means that when I start the beta of A4 next week, I'll have to split time 50/50, so I won't get as much testing done here. Anywho, more testing from me on Monday, when I set the LAN up and do some battle tests.

Ack, erm, definately MR. Xan. While I definately want there to be a Mrs. Xan, I am not her. And she doesn't exist yet. And I doubt she'd like to be called Mrs. Xan anyway. And somehow I find it hard to believe that too many women out there are fanatically involved in an old Star Wars game, particularly one that was almost a cultish thing even when it was new. But since I know there are/could be a few such women, let me ask you this: do they live in SOUTH DAKOTA?!? That's right ladies and gents, I live in the middle of nowhere, a place so barren that I'm doing good if I change ten feet in elevation during a 100 mile drive. And if I see trees, I'm doing really, really good indeed... unless they are farmer trees, planted for a windbreak. Then it just confirms my worst fear: They really do come in pink. (Editor's Warning: that has absolutely no bearing on the subject at hand. Don't hurt yourself too much by thinking about it. And while I don't have an editor either, I think it would be cool. So long as they, erm, never edit anything. Yeah.) If you're looking for really great quotes, watch some of the Firefly episodes. Those are some of the best one-liners I've ever heard. Even better is when they are taken in context. "I wish you a happy life and hundreds of fat children." ah... I crack myself up.

Nice, very nice. Must say I find most (if not all) video game models to be too... sharp, I guess is the word. Too defined, like coloring inside the black lines. Your model is softer, and that makes it more realistic. The day you convince the game companies to do something of a similar style, I will follow Darth Tofu's example and give you a bow. And probably some nice cookies. All great artists deserve cookies. Heck, even the not so great artists deserve cookies. Ah, but I digress. For now, I'll give you a hearty, virtual pat-on-the-back. And if you do another sweet model, perhaps for a KOTOR 2 girl like Handmaiden, I'll even go so far as to give you a picture of some yummy looking cookies. Mmm, cookies...

Yeah, I know I really shouldn't tell just anybody that I'm the Master of Time and Space, but sometimes it just sort of slips out. Oh, wait, you mean the OTHER part of my sig, don't you? (That's actually a quote taken directly from my high school calculus teacher. Funny guy, Big Bad Billy Settles was.) If Jedi is taken, there's always Padawan...

Call me crazy, but I think you people are nuts. If you're playing against the computer, you don't need any of that. Put around 3 basic troops, say stormtroopers or Alliance regiments on normal planets, with 6 on production planets and 9 on HQ or Corescant. Put a shield to prevent bombardment, or if you're really doing things right, don't even bother with the shield. You don't need any more then one or two planets with 10+ shipyards, and you'll never need more then 6 training facilities on one planet. I rarely have more then 4 planets with training, and each has around 3-4 facilities. When the game starts up, hit the computer. Hard. As Alliance, take down the Imp planets that have strong garrisons. As Imps, simply do military bombardments on Alliance planets until the entire sector joins you. If you manage to get one (two on a large galaxy) sector(s) this way, you'll have the computer trying to catch up for 100 days or more, giving you all the time in the world to get ahead. After that, it's all over but the crying.

How about the rank of Jedi... It is, after all, a rank of sorts. And one of the original ones.

Strange, I too was playing a small galaxy on expert. Perhaps there is something different with the availability... i.e. when I play Empire, I can build Scimitars right off the get-go. But come to think of it, I never actually built one, just saw the picture in the construction window. I'll have to play a longer game to make sure they really do have them available before saying they aren't building them, but as of 250 days I haven't seen one at all, and I can espionage any system at this point. That and in that game, I kind of whooped them... I control all but 5 systems of the core worlds, and have since around day 150. The extra cost may be prohibitive for the AI in those circumstances. I'm also going to set up a more time effective test (LAN with my family's computer). I'll be able to do some serious stat testing that way, but I'll still have to do AI testing the normal way. All for when I get off work today...

Here's the latest update from me (and the final one for tonight). Switching the Awing/Ewing cards prevented the computer from handing me several Ewings at game start, but I got this error when I did switch the cards: String too long: Truncated! Whatever that means. As far as I can tell, it doesn't impact the game at all. To clarify with the graphic issue, the TIE and TIE Scimitar look ok, but the others would benefit from some work on the scaled down versions. As it takes some research to get to the Ewing, I still have yet to get them into battle. Unfortunately, the computer (who is Imperials for this matchup) doesn't build the Scimitars at all (remember I mentioned they had the option without any research?). Lots and lots of TIE Intercepters, but not a single Scimitar squadron yet. Tomorrow I'll test playing the Empire and see how they are, maybe discover the AI's fear in using them... On a completely unrelated note, I found out that a Corellian Corvette with Han as the Admiral can fight off a Carrack Light Cruiser one v. one...

The preliminary results are in, and here's the outcome: I like the new graphics, Ency entries, and how the stats look... no problems loading the cards. Minor spelling error in Tie Scimitars Ency entry (gra* word should be gre*) All the graphics are great for Ency, but didn't size down correctly for normal windows and in the construction windows. (edges are rough and pixelated rather then smooth) When the game begins, the computer gives you several Ewings (because the computer would normally give you Ywings, which have been replaced). To fix this, I plan on simply reordering the cards to get Awings and Ewings switched around. If this works, as I assume it will, I'll mention that in the next report. The Empire starts out capable of constructing TIE Scimitar squadrons. I assume the Scimitar is supposed to be researched? More to come later, as I begin the second faze of testing (actual combat!)

Righty-o, sounds good. Now that I'm off work, I'll begin testing... expect my initial results later tonight.

I too am testing this first group of fighters. Just in need of a little clarification, how are we testing the balance of just two fighters? Testing against each other, against other fighters, or against all ships? And more importantly, how are we testing these against other ships when we lack their data (i.e. we are balancing them against ships that won't exist in the final version...) After I know exactly what I'm comparing the new fighters to, I'll get to work. As for communication, PM me for email, YIM, or MSN info.

What do to when a planet REFUSES to fall to your all-powerful hand: 1) Sab the shields. If that fails, sab the troops THEN get the shields. If you can't take down the shields, it is unlikely you'll be able to capture a general, so try if you want, but don't expect much. 2) When sab fails, run a few espionage missions. You will often find hordes of people you didn't know were there, such as generals, spec ops forces, ect. This gives you a good idea of what you're up against, but doesn't help you take the planet directly. 3) Bombard the planet with a huge fleet. Use Y-Wings, B-Wings, and heavy-duty warships. This will overwhelm the shields, often resulting in heavy troop causalties, with further bombardments taking down the shield generators themselves. 4) If a sufficiently large fleet isn't available, or you're worried about taking losses from laser batteries, and they only have one shield generator you can still assault the planet directly with troops. Get some troopers with high attack ratings, like Wookies, and set a General in orbit with the fleet for best results. 5) If you can't sab them, can bombard them, and can't assault them into submission, there are still options. If you're Imperial, use a Death Star. Since you're not Imperial, you can *try* and do incite uprising missions, but this will almost certainly fail. Your next option, as the Alliance, is to... 6) Leave. You heard me, leave. If possible, do things to other planets in the sector which will impact the offending planet's political alignment in your favor. If not, then do whatever you can to draw them off the planet. If you're blockading the planet, they will never leave, so you should take out troops elsewhere (to make them send troops from the offending planet to others 'in need'). This will make it easier to run sab missions. 7) Your last hope is to destroy the rest of the players economy, making them loose from low maint. points. Or to simply avoid the planet altogether, which is a bad idea. Hope that helps...

Alright, I'm getting ready for my first foray into Rebellion, multiplayer style. What are the basic changes to gameplay? And my second question: what are some basic strategies for the Alliance? (I already saw the Empire post) Thanks

Here's what little I know, as I've picked up from other posts. The best way to play is either Himachi, or by using MSN Messenger. From MSN, if you find an opponent, you can launch easily enough. The Zone doesn't work, no page for Rebellion, and GameSpy Arcade has no players. So LAN, Himachi, or use MSN to launch.

Sign me up. Also, just curious, but what is it with all you people needing 1500 days to win on hard? Are you goofing with the files, or am I just crazy for winning with hard, reb or imps, huge galaxy, in around 1000 days? Sometimes quicker, depending on how I feel like playing. Oh, and see my other post (the "Wow" one) for my email and more info.

Alright, a new guy here trying to catch up. I got Rebellion years and years ago (back when it had "amazing" graphics). I've been playing it off and on ever since, and just happened to wander into this place. NO IDEA there was this kind of community still going. So just some basic questions on the Reloaded project that I failed to pick up from previous posts 1) How long have you guys been working on it? 2) What would a ROUGH estimate be on the completion (like in a percent)? I gather its rather far along, with all the GUI work you've done and judging from the screenshots. Close to a pre-alpha, or more like 'well, it looks good, now we need to finish the features and make it stop crashing whenever I sneeze'? And I realize its done when its done, I'm not looking for a date. Just what has already been accomplished. 3) How can I help? To clarify that last one, I would fail misserably with the voice acting on all but perhaps the last one (the imperial officer). I'm in the process of obtaining a mic, and then you can judge. Assuming this character is still in need of a voice, that is. My thought of where I could be most useful is in testing. I've beta tested for several games already (Spidweb Software titles, classic RPG style). While technically not a new game, it sounds like its been modified enough that it will need plenty of testing. I'd do fine with loosing saved games, resetting 50+ times a day, and most importantly, TRACKING DOWN BUGS. So when this project reaches a point where you need some additional testers, feel free to call on me. I'm unfortunately terrible with graphics, so no help there, and my current programming skills are... shall we say, lacking (though I'm working on it, give me some time). So this and the voice is probably the only help I can be, unless you need writing for story/encyclopedia/FAQ/whatever. So, um, yeah. If you feel like there's something else important here I need to know and might have missed, then feel free to mention it (unless it'll get the mods mad for wrong subforum, anyway). If you wish to ask me something or get me to test, try me at masterxan @ burntmail.com for the quickest responce. Edit: Just thought I'd mention, time is something I have, Rebellion is a game I like, and if you don't believe I've tested before go look at the credits (I'm in a few of them, http://www.spidweb.com).