Topic: Any impressions on the new Beta Build 351?

[Magnum357]

I was wondering, do any of you guys think the new Beta Build 351 plays different then the 1st Beta Patch?  I haven't played on GSA yet, but it seems the new Beta Patch feels different then before.  This is a good thing in my opinion, the ships seem too fly slower in the game and not as maneuverable.  Am I right on the assumtion?

Was their other changes too the game besides just bug fixes?

[Pestalence]

Ship turn arcs were adjusted as well as firing arcs added to the game.. however, none of the stock ships firing arcs were adjusted. IIRC there was also an adjustment to impulse as well

[Magnum357]

I see.  I like the adjustments so far.  I think they will help against all those Klingon players on GSA where they are extremely hard too hit with their fast moving vorcha's and such.  I think I'm going too like this new Beta patch.

[Age]

    How can I save my Varitions of ships I refitted in the game after unistalling the game and deleting the game folder.There is a way is there or will I have to make them up all over agian.I hope not it took me awhile to make them up but if I have I guess I will I not doing this untill I get that list back from you Pestalence take your though.I did DL 2036 and it a really good patch like 2552 is both are great but I will be uninstalling EAW after I get that list back and do share it with the commmunity aswell as that film you know.
 Thanks Pestalence  

[Joey]

Dear Ladies and GentleGamers,I've been playing as "The Borg" after Installing the 351 Build Patch. And,What I've noticed so far,is the the "Day in the Life" Mission is missing. Oh,you get automatically taken to the hex,in question,and you have all the before hand messages telling you to go assimilate the race in question. However,when you get to the hex only the second planetary mission is in the hex,not the primary one. If anyone else is having this same problem,please let me know how you solve it. Thank You for your time,folks. Joseph L. Rand.(RJLRand@aol.com)  

[Pestalence]

The mission script is incorporated in the v500 and v531.. same mission script... it sould be working...

was this after doing a complete reinstall of SFC 3..  after deleting the SFC 3 game folder off your system?

just wondering as it was working on my end.. before i packaged it up.... the patch shows the mission to be included.. and it install correctly.. so I am not sure what the problem could be.. please post the exact methods of how you installed v531.. Thanks...

 

[feargusf]

If the storyline mission doesn't actually show up in the Missions screen, just move around the adjoining hexes, it will show up. There is a setting, used on the D3 mainly, that doesn't allow missions in hexes with enemy planets, bases or ships.  

[Joey]

Dear Pestalence,I removed S.F.C.III from my harddrive using the Add/Remove Programs,just like it said in the "ReadMe Doc"of the 351 Patch. This was yesterday(4-24-2004). It didn't dawn on me,until today,(4-25-2004)that you are supposed to leave the last Beta Patch(v500)on your harddrive. I kept getting "Unhandled Exception Error" messages when I tried to use the 351 Patch by itself. When I put the two Patches together,the game ran,however,even though I was automatically taken to the hex were the "Day in the Life",Borg mission,was supposed to be,the second planetary mission was in the hex,but the primary mission("A Day in the Life"-Borg)was not. That,Sir,is basically my problem. And,By the Way,The Planetary Mission is still too lopp sided in favor of the A.I. It gangs up on you and "Wolf Packs" you to death. However,Thank You for your time,Sir. Joseph L. Rand.(RJLRand@aol.com)  

[Pestalence]

As soon as I get my game sorted out, i will run a test to confirm this and add it to our bug list now so others in the Beta Test Team can confirm...

Thanks for the heads up.
 

[Age]

  Hi Pestalence it is not that often you get a Dear Pestalence in here is it.This is really showing respect to you not that I don't  

[Pestalence]

Heck you should see my email on any given day... lol.... plus the other sites i am a Moderator on.. plus all the other SFC Forums that i do CS on... I constantly have 6 windows open along with messenger and outlook express.. not counting making installers in the background and / or playing and testing SFC game series....

Just a little bit going on at my end...

 

[Age]

   Not that it is my business but how many computers do have btw I saw the posting where you mention AlienWare Labtop.That is some Labtop    

[Pestalence]

I only have my laptop.. that's it.. mine is a Toshiba, however i am about to buy an Alienware Area 51 Mobile Extreme.. fitted out with top of the line stuff including the 4.3GHZ CPU and 2 GHZ PC 3200 DDR RAM.. the system I am buying is almost $6500.00

a nice little toy that makes my current one look like a 10 year old piece of junk.. and my current system can handle anything thrown at it as it is.. lol...

anyhow.. it is only this machine.. Toshiba Satellite 5205-s705, Windows Media Center Edition 2004, P IV 2.4 GHZ CPU with 1 GIG PC 2100 DDR RAM and NVidia GeForce FX 5600 with 64 MB DDR Vid RAM.
 

[Age]

    You can do what you said in your other posting with only one labtop thats amazing six windows at once.How can you handle all that information coming at you.I have to log out to go to another forum I am on and go to home put it search and wait for it to come up and logon to that one.If I want to go to SFC2.net there is a link at my home on this forum.  

[Pestalence]

On all the Forums i am on.. I use the option to automatically log me in.. that way i don't have to re-enter my info each time.. saves a lot of time..

also all the pages that I go to I save as Favorites.. in Internet Explorer, to save a site as a favorite, go to the site, then in the menu bar at the top, click on Favorites and select Add To Favorites.. and click OK.. now when you wat to go back to the site.. just click on Favorites again and select the site from the list. Very simple and quick.
If you never click Log Out.. your system and the board will auto log you out when you leave the site or close the window.. and if you had Auto Login set, you will automatically be logged in by your system when you go back to that site, even using favorites or using search.

hope that this helps.


 

[Pestalence]

Here is a screen shot of my typical desktop when i am starting to get busy...



 

[Age]

    What program is that where the Enterprise or F-CA and the ISC ship is in looks interesting.I see that you have office 2003.I see this forum in there aswell.

    I don't log in Automatically for secruity reasons or is that ok.I do know about my favorourites mine is about has full as it will get with all the sites I visit but there are few that I not visiting that much I may remove them.

  All of this with one simple labtop all the uploading and dowloading that you do.How did you make those pics for me about packing up a shiplist.  

[RAGE Cyberbeer]

Hey Magnum(man) I assume from iCop.  Long time no see.  I've been playing on GSA with the new patch a lot and here are some of my thoughts.

Thank god for the bug fixes.  No more locking up at the done screen!! The game seems to be more stable, and I think plasma lag is gone which is awesome!  I still find that my warp core gets damaged very easily, and of course Legendary officers die rather quickly, and sometimes not at all.  AI borg now last longer now that they fix thier engines, which is kewl specially in battlefests.

For individual races the romulans got a much needed bost in plasma hit %.  Maybe some of the myo flying raptors will disappear and more plasma ships will be flown.  I flew a raptor yesterday with this loadout.

1 forward myo
2 forward TypeH-plasmas
2 Forward Dizzy 4's standard recharge.
Type 1 shields on the sides and back, type 4 in front
Warp 9, thrust 9, impulse 3.

I was able to overcharge everything, and when I decloaked very close to an akira and killed it in one shot.  OUCH!!  In the same game I took out a Galaxy with type 8 shields in 3 shots.  By the end of the game my hull was down to 30% and I was down an ops officer.

Feds as usualy recieved minimal help with a +1 on proxies.  I'm not a big user of proxies, maybe they are used more in the dynaverse but I somehow doubt it.  Feds play as they did before with one huge difference.  Thier main tactic against a klingon was called Warp and Torp.  This is now void.  Since a well built vorcha has upto 4 forward firing dizzes all overcharged and with Leg officers, a Akira who warps and torps gets slammed with atmost 80 pts of damage.  As with SFC2, I think feds were treated unfairly in this new patch.  Though I am glad I no longer fly only fed.

Klingons...what can I say?!!?  HOLY #(*% I could kick some serious @$$ with them before, now I hardly need to try.  Tracking dizzies I thought would be a nice addition, however at this point I find it a bit to much.  A good klingon was feared on GSA, and I never needed help winning with them before, now they are very, very difficult to beat with a fed ship.  The best klink ship I have is this loadout.

4 dizzy 4's standard all forward firing
2 Polarons

Enough power to overcharge everything, cept shields, but I have none on the ship.  WIth this ship before the patch I was able to break down type 10 shields in one shot and able to give 5-35% hull damage to a hull against ships with lesser shields.  I am sorry to say but I believe tracking dizzies is a little to much.  I also built a vorcha for an experiment.  Type 4's in the front, all type 2's in the back.  Played a 5 way FFA, and destroyed 3 of the ships and won they game.  Before the patch I mighta won, but I would have had to work a lot harder for it.

Borg, I dont play so someone else can review them.  Again I will state I play all races, and my fleet on GSA is a "pirate" fleet.  Many of my fleetmates feel the same way about the patch.  Feel free to join us on GSA anytime.  The fleet name is Shadow Squad, and my GSA name is ]SS[Cyberbeer.

Jolan Tru, QaPla, and Goodbye.

[Magnum357]

Yes, I do agree with you.  After playing several games on GSA, I find that fighting against Klingons with fed ships is extremely difficult.  I like the fact that warping now is dangerous (Dizzes can hit a lot better now) but overall, feds seemed too be very weak now.  

I like the fact that turn modes and speed have dropped in the game.  Results in more tactical manuevering and much harder for ships too out maneuver incoming fire.  Also, long range fighting is a must now.  Getting close is not good anymore unless you know the other guy is recharging his weapons.  

[Ravok]

 I  like the fact that the AI ships seem to fight a little smarter.
 But I'm pretty sure this has been brought up before, Guys you have to do some thing about ships self destructing for no reason!! This is annoying as heck!! This most always happens when you attack planets or bases( right when you need them most!!!) I have heard this happens to keep the AI from overpopulating the map but jeez! Cant you get them to just leave your fleet between missions instead. you cant rely on them at all.
 1 more thought, later on in the game When you have enough prestige to finally buy that DN of your dreams and your crew is all Legendary or very close to it, all you get to fight are FF and Cl s they are all there is it seems.Sure you can go hunting all over the map looking for something worthy, But it really is a waste of time. this kills the game for me at this point as there is really no challenge whatsoever. Or any thing to strive for.
 This plus the lack of other races is killing the replayabity i allways enjoyed with EAW & OP.
   

[Magnum357]

Another concern I have are between Romulan and Disruptor Dizzes.  Now that Klingons have their Disruptors track Warping ships much better then before, are their any advantages of using the Beam type Romulan Disruptors?  Just seems like they equivlent now and I don't see an advantage between one too the other.

[Age]

   I would like to know if any of you are noticing bugs in the 531 patch yet.I haven't DL it yet I just want to see if there are any bugs in it if there are please tell the Moderators about it or PM Ann.I was wondering aswell is that transporter bug gone away I know it was fixed in the 1.01 beta but this seems to be a better patch than that one or do you need the 1.01 beta aswell.It seeems to be a bit more chellenging now just like EAW and OP .    

[Magnum357]

So far, it seems this new Beta patch is more stable then before.  But I have only played on GSA and have not tried out the Dynaverses yet.  I'm sure they are still a some bugs, but they seem too be only minor ones thus far.  

The biggest concern right now that I have is Balance issues.  Plasmas hit more frequently, tripple fire is more common with Legendary officers (never did like the feature myself), and Klingon Dizzies can track warping ships.  I agree with other aswell, the Klingons are down right frightening then before.    

[Joey]

Dear Pestalence,Have you found the time to test my Bug,yet? And,By the way,Where is your "Bug List" located? Thank You for your time,Sir. Joseph L. Rand.(RJLRand@aol.com)  

[Pestalence]

The bug report forums is the one that says SFC 3 Bug Reports.

Also, recap exactly what is happening with your game so that other testers can look at it as well as myself...

Thanks.
 

[Age]

    That should make those Romulans very nervous it is a good thing that Federation are allies with them.  

[Joey]

Dear Pestalence,Sir,I forgot to mention that my O.S. is Windows98 not Windows XP so I don't have a "Disable Visual Themes" to "Unclick" in my "Properties". Thank You for your time,Sir. Joseph L. Rand.(RJLRand@aol.com)  

[Age]

   I think you have a recruit here Pestalence he even says Dear and Sir yes a youg EFF in the making.You most tell him though to fire fisrt and ask questions latter.  

[Magnum357]

I was wondering, do any of you guys think the new Beta Build 351 plays different then the 1st Beta Patch?  I haven't played on GSA yet, but it seems the new Beta Patch feels different then before.  This is a good thing in my opinion, the ships seem too fly slower in the game and not as maneuverable.  Am I right on the assumtion?

Was their other changes too the game besides just bug fixes?

[Pestalence]

Ship turn arcs were adjusted as well as firing arcs added to the game.. however, none of the stock ships firing arcs were adjusted. IIRC there was also an adjustment to impulse as well

[Magnum357]

I see.  I like the adjustments so far.  I think they will help against all those Klingon players on GSA where they are extremely hard too hit with their fast moving vorcha's and such.  I think I'm going too like this new Beta patch.

[Age]

    How can I save my Varitions of ships I refitted in the game after unistalling the game and deleting the game folder.There is a way is there or will I have to make them up all over agian.I hope not it took me awhile to make them up but if I have I guess I will I not doing this untill I get that list back from you Pestalence take your though.I did DL 2036 and it a really good patch like 2552 is both are great but I will be uninstalling EAW after I get that list back and do share it with the commmunity aswell as that film you know.
 Thanks Pestalence  

[Joey]

Dear Ladies and GentleGamers,I've been playing as "The Borg" after Installing the 351 Build Patch. And,What I've noticed so far,is the the "Day in the Life" Mission is missing. Oh,you get automatically taken to the hex,in question,and you have all the before hand messages telling you to go assimilate the race in question. However,when you get to the hex only the second planetary mission is in the hex,not the primary one. If anyone else is having this same problem,please let me know how you solve it. Thank You for your time,folks. Joseph L. Rand.(RJLRand@aol.com)  

[Pestalence]

The mission script is incorporated in the v500 and v531.. same mission script... it sould be working...

was this after doing a complete reinstall of SFC 3..  after deleting the SFC 3 game folder off your system?

just wondering as it was working on my end.. before i packaged it up.... the patch shows the mission to be included.. and it install correctly.. so I am not sure what the problem could be.. please post the exact methods of how you installed v531.. Thanks...

 

[feargusf]

If the storyline mission doesn't actually show up in the Missions screen, just move around the adjoining hexes, it will show up. There is a setting, used on the D3 mainly, that doesn't allow missions in hexes with enemy planets, bases or ships.  

[Joey]

Dear Pestalence,I removed S.F.C.III from my harddrive using the Add/Remove Programs,just like it said in the "ReadMe Doc"of the 351 Patch. This was yesterday(4-24-2004). It didn't dawn on me,until today,(4-25-2004)that you are supposed to leave the last Beta Patch(v500)on your harddrive. I kept getting "Unhandled Exception Error" messages when I tried to use the 351 Patch by itself. When I put the two Patches together,the game ran,however,even though I was automatically taken to the hex were the "Day in the Life",Borg mission,was supposed to be,the second planetary mission was in the hex,but the primary mission("A Day in the Life"-Borg)was not. That,Sir,is basically my problem. And,By the Way,The Planetary Mission is still too lopp sided in favor of the A.I. It gangs up on you and "Wolf Packs" you to death. However,Thank You for your time,Sir. Joseph L. Rand.(RJLRand@aol.com)  

[Pestalence]

As soon as I get my game sorted out, i will run a test to confirm this and add it to our bug list now so others in the Beta Test Team can confirm...

Thanks for the heads up.
 

[Age]

  Hi Pestalence it is not that often you get a Dear Pestalence in here is it.This is really showing respect to you not that I don't  

[Pestalence]

Heck you should see my email on any given day... lol.... plus the other sites i am a Moderator on.. plus all the other SFC Forums that i do CS on... I constantly have 6 windows open along with messenger and outlook express.. not counting making installers in the background and / or playing and testing SFC game series....

Just a little bit going on at my end...

 

[Age]

   Not that it is my business but how many computers do have btw I saw the posting where you mention AlienWare Labtop.That is some Labtop    

[Pestalence]

I only have my laptop.. that's it.. mine is a Toshiba, however i am about to buy an Alienware Area 51 Mobile Extreme.. fitted out with top of the line stuff including the 4.3GHZ CPU and 2 GHZ PC 3200 DDR RAM.. the system I am buying is almost $6500.00

a nice little toy that makes my current one look like a 10 year old piece of junk.. and my current system can handle anything thrown at it as it is.. lol...

anyhow.. it is only this machine.. Toshiba Satellite 5205-s705, Windows Media Center Edition 2004, P IV 2.4 GHZ CPU with 1 GIG PC 2100 DDR RAM and NVidia GeForce FX 5600 with 64 MB DDR Vid RAM.
 

[Age]

    You can do what you said in your other posting with only one labtop thats amazing six windows at once.How can you handle all that information coming at you.I have to log out to go to another forum I am on and go to home put it search and wait for it to come up and logon to that one.If I want to go to SFC2.net there is a link at my home on this forum.  

[Pestalence]

On all the Forums i am on.. I use the option to automatically log me in.. that way i don't have to re-enter my info each time.. saves a lot of time..

also all the pages that I go to I save as Favorites.. in Internet Explorer, to save a site as a favorite, go to the site, then in the menu bar at the top, click on Favorites and select Add To Favorites.. and click OK.. now when you wat to go back to the site.. just click on Favorites again and select the site from the list. Very simple and quick.
If you never click Log Out.. your system and the board will auto log you out when you leave the site or close the window.. and if you had Auto Login set, you will automatically be logged in by your system when you go back to that site, even using favorites or using search.

hope that this helps.


 

[Pestalence]

Here is a screen shot of my typical desktop when i am starting to get busy...



 

[Age]

    What program is that where the Enterprise or F-CA and the ISC ship is in looks interesting.I see that you have office 2003.I see this forum in there aswell.

    I don't log in Automatically for secruity reasons or is that ok.I do know about my favorourites mine is about has full as it will get with all the sites I visit but there are few that I not visiting that much I may remove them.

  All of this with one simple labtop all the uploading and dowloading that you do.How did you make those pics for me about packing up a shiplist.  

[RAGE Cyberbeer]

Hey Magnum(man) I assume from iCop.  Long time no see.  I've been playing on GSA with the new patch a lot and here are some of my thoughts.

Thank god for the bug fixes.  No more locking up at the done screen!! The game seems to be more stable, and I think plasma lag is gone which is awesome!  I still find that my warp core gets damaged very easily, and of course Legendary officers die rather quickly, and sometimes not at all.  AI borg now last longer now that they fix thier engines, which is kewl specially in battlefests.

For individual races the romulans got a much needed bost in plasma hit %.  Maybe some of the myo flying raptors will disappear and more plasma ships will be flown.  I flew a raptor yesterday with this loadout.

1 forward myo
2 forward TypeH-plasmas
2 Forward Dizzy 4's standard recharge.
Type 1 shields on the sides and back, type 4 in front
Warp 9, thrust 9, impulse 3.

I was able to overcharge everything, and when I decloaked very close to an akira and killed it in one shot.  OUCH!!  In the same game I took out a Galaxy with type 8 shields in 3 shots.  By the end of the game my hull was down to 30% and I was down an ops officer.

Feds as usualy recieved minimal help with a +1 on proxies.  I'm not a big user of proxies, maybe they are used more in the dynaverse but I somehow doubt it.  Feds play as they did before with one huge difference.  Thier main tactic against a klingon was called Warp and Torp.  This is now void.  Since a well built vorcha has upto 4 forward firing dizzes all overcharged and with Leg officers, a Akira who warps and torps gets slammed with atmost 80 pts of damage.  As with SFC2, I think feds were treated unfairly in this new patch.  Though I am glad I no longer fly only fed.

Klingons...what can I say?!!?  HOLY #(*% I could kick some serious @$$ with them before, now I hardly need to try.  Tracking dizzies I thought would be a nice addition, however at this point I find it a bit to much.  A good klingon was feared on GSA, and I never needed help winning with them before, now they are very, very difficult to beat with a fed ship.  The best klink ship I have is this loadout.

4 dizzy 4's standard all forward firing
2 Polarons

Enough power to overcharge everything, cept shields, but I have none on the ship.  WIth this ship before the patch I was able to break down type 10 shields in one shot and able to give 5-35% hull damage to a hull against ships with lesser shields.  I am sorry to say but I believe tracking dizzies is a little to much.  I also built a vorcha for an experiment.  Type 4's in the front, all type 2's in the back.  Played a 5 way FFA, and destroyed 3 of the ships and won they game.  Before the patch I mighta won, but I would have had to work a lot harder for it.

Borg, I dont play so someone else can review them.  Again I will state I play all races, and my fleet on GSA is a "pirate" fleet.  Many of my fleetmates feel the same way about the patch.  Feel free to join us on GSA anytime.  The fleet name is Shadow Squad, and my GSA name is ]SS[Cyberbeer.

Jolan Tru, QaPla, and Goodbye.

[Magnum357]

Yes, I do agree with you.  After playing several games on GSA, I find that fighting against Klingons with fed ships is extremely difficult.  I like the fact that warping now is dangerous (Dizzes can hit a lot better now) but overall, feds seemed too be very weak now.  

I like the fact that turn modes and speed have dropped in the game.  Results in more tactical manuevering and much harder for ships too out maneuver incoming fire.  Also, long range fighting is a must now.  Getting close is not good anymore unless you know the other guy is recharging his weapons.  

[Ravok]

 I  like the fact that the AI ships seem to fight a little smarter.
 But I'm pretty sure this has been brought up before, Guys you have to do some thing about ships self destructing for no reason!! This is annoying as heck!! This most always happens when you attack planets or bases( right when you need them most!!!) I have heard this happens to keep the AI from overpopulating the map but jeez! Cant you get them to just leave your fleet between missions instead. you cant rely on them at all.
 1 more thought, later on in the game When you have enough prestige to finally buy that DN of your dreams and your crew is all Legendary or very close to it, all you get to fight are FF and Cl s they are all there is it seems.Sure you can go hunting all over the map looking for something worthy, But it really is a waste of time. this kills the game for me at this point as there is really no challenge whatsoever. Or any thing to strive for.
 This plus the lack of other races is killing the replayabity i allways enjoyed with EAW & OP.
   

[Magnum357]

Another concern I have are between Romulan and Disruptor Dizzes.  Now that Klingons have their Disruptors track Warping ships much better then before, are their any advantages of using the Beam type Romulan Disruptors?  Just seems like they equivlent now and I don't see an advantage between one too the other.

[Age]

   I would like to know if any of you are noticing bugs in the 531 patch yet.I haven't DL it yet I just want to see if there are any bugs in it if there are please tell the Moderators about it or PM Ann.I was wondering aswell is that transporter bug gone away I know it was fixed in the 1.01 beta but this seems to be a better patch than that one or do you need the 1.01 beta aswell.It seeems to be a bit more chellenging now just like EAW and OP .    

[Magnum357]

So far, it seems this new Beta patch is more stable then before.  But I have only played on GSA and have not tried out the Dynaverses yet.  I'm sure they are still a some bugs, but they seem too be only minor ones thus far.  

The biggest concern right now that I have is Balance issues.  Plasmas hit more frequently, tripple fire is more common with Legendary officers (never did like the feature myself), and Klingon Dizzies can track warping ships.  I agree with other aswell, the Klingons are down right frightening then before.    

[Joey]

Dear Pestalence,Have you found the time to test my Bug,yet? And,By the way,Where is your "Bug List" located? Thank You for your time,Sir. Joseph L. Rand.(RJLRand@aol.com)  

[Pestalence]

The bug report forums is the one that says SFC 3 Bug Reports.

Also, recap exactly what is happening with your game so that other testers can look at it as well as myself...

Thanks.
 

[Age]

    That should make those Romulans very nervous it is a good thing that Federation are allies with them.  

[Joey]

Dear Pestalence,Sir,I forgot to mention that my O.S. is Windows98 not Windows XP so I don't have a "Disable Visual Themes" to "Unclick" in my "Properties". Thank You for your time,Sir. Joseph L. Rand.(RJLRand@aol.com)  

[Age]

   I think you have a recruit here Pestalence he even says Dear and Sir yes a youg EFF in the making.You most tell him though to fire fisrt and ask questions latter.