RE: PC gaming question...space battle game?

> From: ~ On Behalf Of Mark & Staci Drake
> Sent: 30 November 2003 03:04
> Subject: PC gaming question...space battle game?

> Since I have been playing a good bit of solo FT I was looking
> for something like it for the PC; after looking thru some PC
> gaming mags I have seen a few that may fit the bill but wish
> to consult the listers first for opinions.

As far as I know, Jon Davis's FT Java IS FT2 for the PC, and
any other Java platform that Jon's team have got it to run on.

> Homeworld 2

Cannot answer for the Trek franchises and I thought the 'Wars
titles you mention were all first-person space fighter sims.
HW swept the board in '99 without any boost from the film
industry. Yes, it's indirect but you can place your POV on
any vessel and ride an attack craft through an enemy formation
or hover over an enemy cruiser whilst your forces beam it into
a blinding fireball. If (like me) you don't like the RTS pace
then live on your pause key; you can check to see where and
what your forces are up to then switch the action back on to
give them new orders. Though if you play head-to-head.. well,
welcome to the real world.

Drawbacks: the plot is linear with no difficulty settings,
though you can fix this in generic skirmishes or by deliberately
making life more difficult for yourself ("I'm not having Taidan
trash in my fleet", or by actually doing what Fleet Intelligence
tells you to.)

HW:Cataclysm is more of the same for those who wanted more;
strike craft fuel is replaced by pilot experience and a minor
play balance issue is rather decisively fixed [1] but the
amazingly sexy AI voice-over from HW is dropped in favour of
a character I found positively irritating.

I re-equipped specifically for HW2 and man, it is fast. It
doesn't help that as soon as you finish off an episode the game
hands you any outstanding resources and hyperspaces you off to
the next bit of mayhem; no time to build, research or catch your
breath. I've dropped the scenario [2] in favour of playing
skirmish just to get my HW2 skills up to scratch.

For all of these and any other titles you consider, read up on
the specifications and make sure your system is (a) up to
scratch and (b) has a reasonably clean OS. The forums are full
of folk who tried to run these very demanding programs on piles
of rubbish. And one final tip; try to resist the walk-throughs
as long as you can, and put one down as soon as it helps you!

--------------------------------------------------------------

1. Those who have to prove they know please mail me off-list
   rather than post spoilers.

2. Yes, at episode 3. Don't rub it in.

Having blathered that little lot off, can anyone tell me if
MOO3 (pure strategy so out of Mark's criteria, and full of
bugs besides) has a tendency to drop all Shipyard designs
after the 23rd when a saved game is loaded?

Nathan "%#£*! WHERE'S THE PAUSE KEY GONE TO?" Girdler