Topic: Two Questions and comments

[grey one]

1)   Is there any way to keep the game from kidnapping you? In the Rom campaign I'm stuck in the lower left corner (BTW Would it have that hard to put some numbering indications on the blasted grid) and can't get to a star base between missions. I finally got the final mission with a beat up ship and can't get to a base to repair structural damage. I gave up and went on to the Fed campaign. 3rd mission I'm trying to upgrade and keep getting dragged away. I got in to a base and the thing tried to grab me and crashed the machine.
2)    Is there any kind of FAQ that tells the relative power, range damage etc of weapons? This Phaser 9,10, 11 etc. stuff just doesn't cut it. Come on, you are supposed to be an Academy trained officer. When I was in the army I knew difference between 75, 90, 105 and 155 mm tubes in terms of range, damage potential etc not just that the 90 mm tube was bigger than a 75 mm tube.
3)   This is the poorest manual for a complex game that I have ever seen. I realize that printing a physical is expensive but that doesn't excuse an equally pathetic PDF version on the disk. A text file with tables would have been a vast improvement.
4)   I still like the game.
 

[llama_6t9]

1) You can't stop the game from grabbing you, but if you make it to a starbase you can click refit and stay there, and you won't be moved until after you leave the refit screen no matter what messages you get.
2) No. You don't need to know. This game is meant to be more like the T.V series, and you never hear Picard say, "Take us to range 3 and fire for the damage we want" He just says fire. You don't really need to know.
3) You learn pretty much everything you need to know in the first two, and they cover all you need to know even if you're a beginner.
4) Me too  

[Robb Stark]

Quote:

2) No. You don't need to know. This game is meant to be more like the T.V series, and you never hear Picard say, "Take us to range 3 and fire for the damage we want" He just says fire. You don't really need to know.

How cynical.

Taldren has admitted it was a mistake to keep the numbers hidden from the general public.  When the first patch comes through, I expect you will begin to see some good documentation from them - they have indicated that they will begin releasing the stats.

Meanwhile, try this link:

http://www.strategyplanet.com/sfc/sfc3/info_fed_ships.shtml

This provides at least a starting point, although there is much which is not answered.  Some of the more dilligent players have been doing all sorts of tests, bless 'em, but I don't know if those results are compiled in a single FAQ-like form somewhere.
 

[llama_6t9]

i don't think you NEED to know. the game isn't as detailed as the one's before it, and i think that's better in its own way. i've never had trouble with my weapons just because i didn't know the range. i admit, i was pissed off at first, but i pretty quickly found out its not neccesary.

[3dot14]

Quote:

How cynical.

As the author of the aforementioned page (at strategyplanet) I have to echo llama's sentiment.

It's not essential to the game play to know the specific information regarding weapons. A hazy "big, bigger and biggest" will do just fine.I can now see what Taldren was intending with SFC3.

In SFC3, the concepts of tangible math fomulae are entirely done away with. Even if given the formulae for AV, and range decay, there is simply no way to calculate the result in SFC3 as in SFC2.

There are no more range brackets, no more hit%, no more fixed damage decay. Even the loading time is streamlined. (no more plasma downloading, or anti-trickle loading) The information left is not worth remembering.

It maybe nice to know, but it has no bearing of any consequence in combat. Ever since I compiled that information out of the gf files (note gf files, NOT in combat), I don't think I consulted even ONCE for the purpose of preparing for a game... (Unlike my SFC1/2 reference cards which are/were always handy.)

[grey one]

1)   Is there any way to keep the game from kidnapping you? In the Rom campaign I'm stuck in the lower left corner (BTW Would it have that hard to put some numbering indications on the blasted grid) and can't get to a star base between missions. I finally got the final mission with a beat up ship and can't get to a base to repair structural damage. I gave up and went on to the Fed campaign. 3rd mission I'm trying to upgrade and keep getting dragged away. I got in to a base and the thing tried to grab me and crashed the machine.
2)    Is there any kind of FAQ that tells the relative power, range damage etc of weapons? This Phaser 9,10, 11 etc. stuff just doesn't cut it. Come on, you are supposed to be an Academy trained officer. When I was in the army I knew difference between 75, 90, 105 and 155 mm tubes in terms of range, damage potential etc not just that the 90 mm tube was bigger than a 75 mm tube.
3)   This is the poorest manual for a complex game that I have ever seen. I realize that printing a physical is expensive but that doesn't excuse an equally pathetic PDF version on the disk. A text file with tables would have been a vast improvement.
4)   I still like the game.
 

[llama_6t9]

1) You can't stop the game from grabbing you, but if you make it to a starbase you can click refit and stay there, and you won't be moved until after you leave the refit screen no matter what messages you get.
2) No. You don't need to know. This game is meant to be more like the T.V series, and you never hear Picard say, "Take us to range 3 and fire for the damage we want" He just says fire. You don't really need to know.
3) You learn pretty much everything you need to know in the first two, and they cover all you need to know even if you're a beginner.
4) Me too  

[Robb Stark]

Quote:

2) No. You don't need to know. This game is meant to be more like the T.V series, and you never hear Picard say, "Take us to range 3 and fire for the damage we want" He just says fire. You don't really need to know.

How cynical.

Taldren has admitted it was a mistake to keep the numbers hidden from the general public.  When the first patch comes through, I expect you will begin to see some good documentation from them - they have indicated that they will begin releasing the stats.

Meanwhile, try this link:

http://www.strategyplanet.com/sfc/sfc3/info_fed_ships.shtml

This provides at least a starting point, although there is much which is not answered.  Some of the more dilligent players have been doing all sorts of tests, bless 'em, but I don't know if those results are compiled in a single FAQ-like form somewhere.
 

[llama_6t9]

i don't think you NEED to know. the game isn't as detailed as the one's before it, and i think that's better in its own way. i've never had trouble with my weapons just because i didn't know the range. i admit, i was pissed off at first, but i pretty quickly found out its not neccesary.

[3dot14]

Quote:

How cynical.

As the author of the aforementioned page (at strategyplanet) I have to echo llama's sentiment.

It's not essential to the game play to know the specific information regarding weapons. A hazy "big, bigger and biggest" will do just fine.I can now see what Taldren was intending with SFC3.

In SFC3, the concepts of tangible math fomulae are entirely done away with. Even if given the formulae for AV, and range decay, there is simply no way to calculate the result in SFC3 as in SFC2.

There are no more range brackets, no more hit%, no more fixed damage decay. Even the loading time is streamlined. (no more plasma downloading, or anti-trickle loading) The information left is not worth remembering.

It maybe nice to know, but it has no bearing of any consequence in combat. Ever since I compiled that information out of the gf files (note gf files, NOT in combat), I don't think I consulted even ONCE for the purpose of preparing for a game... (Unlike my SFC1/2 reference cards which are/were always handy.)