Fri Mar 07, 2003 11:35 pm
Since I've been floating in and out of these forums since Starlancer was new to the market, I also admit to being disillusioned with the so-called Neural Net flying after all the hype it's had at TLR. In combat I was also expecting more tactical and less point and shoot. I certainly expected a lot more than simple mouse control that was used back in the days of Elite on the Atari ST so it's nothing new.
I must say though, the auto pilot is a step up with it's object avoidance built in but that's the only thing that stands out as being different in that respect.
I also expected a bigger storyline than 13 missions. That says it is being marketed purely for it's ability to continue after the missions are completed. I would also have preferred to see a similar diversity of missions that you see in Elite FE. Transporting goods and packages and taking passengers as well as the shoot this and kill that missions but all across a wider playing area, maening you may have to go into Rheinhart space to transport something for someone in Liberty. Also specific times so you are on a schedule to be somewhere by 1am to deliver the goods to John Doe.
Overall, I give it a straight 10 for graphics, ( a l ot of great work has gone into this part) and an 8 for size (since Elite, although mapped out for you, was far bigger even that many years ago but FL is bigger than similar games on the market today). I'd give it a 3 for control because it does require an extreme amount of practice and could lead to boredom before proficiency for many people.
Gameplay, I can't really comment on since I've only played the demo but it left me very unimpressed with what I've seen so far. It may not be mission specific but I'd hardly call it a true freeform game.
And Finally, the Neural Net... What Neural Net? Oh, you mean the Auto pilot... I'd say 7 (an extra 2 points over average because of the collision avoidance).
@Croweater. Don't hold your breath for Elite 4, it may not ever happen. DB has too many fingers in too many pies and not enough staff to do it all. He's also more interested in palm pilot games and conversions to plam top systems right now. No news about E4 for the last 5 years, not even a sniff of what's to come or what's been done so far stinks of a shelved game.
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My idea of an OS is one that operates the system, not a self contained package of every piece of software ever invented.
Edited by - tryst on 07-03-2003 23:40:57
I must say though, the auto pilot is a step up with it's object avoidance built in but that's the only thing that stands out as being different in that respect.
I also expected a bigger storyline than 13 missions. That says it is being marketed purely for it's ability to continue after the missions are completed. I would also have preferred to see a similar diversity of missions that you see in Elite FE. Transporting goods and packages and taking passengers as well as the shoot this and kill that missions but all across a wider playing area, maening you may have to go into Rheinhart space to transport something for someone in Liberty. Also specific times so you are on a schedule to be somewhere by 1am to deliver the goods to John Doe.
Overall, I give it a straight 10 for graphics, ( a l ot of great work has gone into this part) and an 8 for size (since Elite, although mapped out for you, was far bigger even that many years ago but FL is bigger than similar games on the market today). I'd give it a 3 for control because it does require an extreme amount of practice and could lead to boredom before proficiency for many people.
Gameplay, I can't really comment on since I've only played the demo but it left me very unimpressed with what I've seen so far. It may not be mission specific but I'd hardly call it a true freeform game.
And Finally, the Neural Net... What Neural Net? Oh, you mean the Auto pilot... I'd say 7 (an extra 2 points over average because of the collision avoidance).
@Croweater. Don't hold your breath for Elite 4, it may not ever happen. DB has too many fingers in too many pies and not enough staff to do it all. He's also more interested in palm pilot games and conversions to plam top systems right now. No news about E4 for the last 5 years, not even a sniff of what's to come or what's been done so far stinks of a shelved game.
--
My idea of an OS is one that operates the system, not a self contained package of every piece of software ever invented.
Edited by - tryst on 07-03-2003 23:40:57
