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[ScriptWolf]

V5.2 is now up!

[nenjin]

Oh shi-

[ScriptWolf]

Having some problems downloading net gain through desura is throwing a fit when i try to install any ideas ?

[nenjin]

Uninstall the current version (but do NOT remove it from your Desura account.) Then re-install.

[ScriptWolf]

Uninstall the current version (but do NOT remove it from your Desura account.) Then re-install.

damn it i miss clicked and accidently removed when trying to uninstall T.T help ? please and thank you

[nenjin]

Uninstall the current version (but do NOT remove it from your Desura account.) Then re-install.

damn it i miss clicked and accidently removed when trying to uninstall T.T help ? please and thank you

You may have to go back to your emails and find the activation link for the Net Gain Prototype. Rooting around in Desura is also probably required. I've done it before, but I can't remember the process I used to re-add it. It is possible though.

[ScriptWolf]

hmm i think i need to get sent it again by sparkbolt ? gah cant remember >,<

[sparkbolt]

search your email for "Desura" or "net gain", should pull up something. if all else fails, send me a message on Desura and I'll pull up the CD Key for that account.


Hopefully this should be the last of the stupid desura conflicts for now, their updater had some problems with changed I made in the last build so sometimes it needs the previous content to be deleted.


the mac desura-client version seems to still be messed up, waiting for their response.

[ScriptWolf]

Desura is being stupid and not letting me do anything i think i sent you a mail on desura are you Sintua on desura spark ?

Also what's new in 5.2 and any new features ?

[sparkbolt]

no new features, more tweaking.

[nenjin]

Taking some time to sit down with NG again, so here we go:

-I'm seeing 0 level challenges show up. Bug? (Objective: Collection Information. Challenge: Reason(0) )

-I seem to recall in previous versions that the game music would play if the game wasn't the window that had focus, or if it was minimized. Seems that's changed? I prefer to be able to minimize the game while missions are running, ect.... and listen to the music while I do other stuff.

-On the main menu screen, I think the missions button should have some indicator that missions are currently in progress. A little clock icon, slightly pulsing glow, somethin'.

-Had a tense moment: my Admin kept completely blowing their cracking role despite all reason: 3 times in a row! But the consequences each time played directly into both my techies skills. The game knife edges delightfully between unfailable challenges and risky gambits.

-Unfortunately, my budget woes continue. Within the first 10 minutes, my budget for the department dropped by 65%. It's steadily creeping back up after that, but all my petty cash has gotten eaten up covering the shortfall, and hiring has been a no-go. Glad I snagged two new ops when I did, right at the start of the game.

-I see you got the mission abort option in there now. Many thanks.

-When do your choices of plots and missions refresh? As soon as you cancel the mission and start a new one? I find myself sort of shopping now for missions with the risk level I can live with, which isn't too bad, as it gives you a reason to slow down play.

-It's cool watching the associations between cell members form. Ironically, my two female techies have the highest loyalty to each other, outside of themselves and the Corp that is. Neat!

-Right now I seem to get by on a minimum of five cell members. I pick up a Driver and another computer-affiliated profession and that seems to get me through about 40% of the plots I generate with a small margin for failure. Least used of the default professions by far? Duelist. But I suppose they're there for when you actually foul up.

[sparkbolt]

-I'm seeing 0 level challenges show up. Bug? (Objective: Collection Information. Challenge: Reason(0) )

Known Bug! Submit a report, I'll make sure to stamp that one out in the next conflict pass.

-I seem to recall in previous versions that the game music would play if the game wasn't the window that had focus, or if it was minimized. Seems that's changed? I prefer to be able to minimize the game while missions are running, ect.... and listen to the music while I do other stuff.

This was a choice with the last build: I have the option to make the game run while in "background mode", which I usually set to default since that's how I like to play my strategy games (europa universalis on one monitor, tv shows/internet in the other!). I know this isn't the norm for most games though so I wasn't sure if I should turn it off or not. I think I'll change it back to always running next build.

-On the main menu screen, I think the missions button should have some indicator that missions are currently in progress. A little clock icon, slightly pulsing glow, somethin'.

very true, this is intended to happen once those core buttons become gui elements on that main screen instead of just buttons in that starting menu. closer to (but not exactly like) the ones in the mockup pictures, it'll show if you got things running. Then you can click on it and it'll pull up your missions, each button showing what's going on in that mission.

-Had a tense moment: my Admin kept completely blowing their cracking role despite all reason: 3 times in a row! But the consequences each time played directly into both my techies skills. The game knife edges delightfully between infailable challenges and risky gambits.

yeah I'm probably going to have to do some design changes to sharpen that knife edge... it's difficult because the escapes and original plots are supposed to be the meat of the "are you good enough" challenge, so getting into a conflict means you've fucked up and is supposed to serve as a kind of punishment for failure. conflicts should be survivable (unlike currently), but with heat systems and such they might still mean the collapse of the mission: if you're screwing up enough to get heat and make things harder, then continuing a more difficult mission is likely to result in more failure, so you'll tend to only continue if the exposure was more of a fluke.

-Unfortunately, my budget woes continue. Within the first 10 minutes, my budget for the department dropped by 65%. It's steadily creeping back up after that, but all my petty cash has gotten eaten up covering the shortfall, and hiring has been a no-go. Glad I snagged two new ops when I did, right at the start of the game.

Yeah, budgets are still wonky. There's actually an impressive formula in place to calculate budget changes but I dont think it got implemented properly so I'll have to dig through strange code and change it... but either way, we'll see how things shake out with the new economic system; should be more stable.

-I see you got the mission abort option in there now. Many thanks.

Roger!

-When do your choices of plots and missions refresh? As soon as you cancel the mission and start a new one? I find myself sort of shopping now for missions with the risk level I can live with, which isn't too bad, as it gives you a reason to slow down play.

Choice of missions is dependent on intel. Choice of plots is supposed to be mostly "fixed" per mission so you have to work with your options, though obviously you can currently scrap the mission to reset and get new plots.

-It's cool watching the associations between cell members form. Ironically, my two female techies have the highest loyalty to each other, outside of themselves and the Corp that is. Neat!

It's mostly a 'trick' atm since there's limited input on that system, but it is slowly expanding and linking into new things. it'll get a lot more love in the next operatives iteration which should be soonish.

-Right now I seem to get by on a minimum of five cell members. I pick up a Driver and another computer-affiliated profession and that seems to get me through about 40% of the plots I generate with a small margin for failure. Least used of the default professions by far? Duelist. But I suppose they're there for when you actually foul up.

Yeah, the duelist is the guy you hope you don't have to use, but you bring along in case. Well,  ideally. with the current lethal conflicts they don't make much of a difference.. they might once response teams are added.

[nenjin]

So a thought occurred to me last night, while my team was failing spectacularly at everything.

Say you have these requirements for mission plots:

-2 kinds of hackers
-a driver
-a spy
-a gymnast
-a interrogator

If you create 5 cells to put that stuff in an all assign them to the same mission, and one of the cells gets their cover blown...

Are all cells pulled into that conflict, or just all members of the cell that fucked up?

[sparkbolt]

There's only 1 cell per mission, so they'd all be together. *but* I'm making it so only the person who fucked up (and maybe someone else if he really fucked up) is "exposed" in the followup conflict, so any nearby cell members can still help from covert status. That's all part of the conflict iteration though: a conflict between two sides, members flipping between exposed, hunted, covert with different engagement options depending on status+skills. E.G., a covert hacker can run support, exposing enemies. An unexposed fighter can ambush exposed rivals. tracked operatives can work on losing their tail, engage the enemy directly, or try to set up ambushes/traps. faces have to be exposed to use their social skills, giving you the option to attempt to shmooze your way out of it and put your face at risk, or try to leave him in the background to keep him alive.


I'm actually about to make a big test change to operatives... Net Gain arose from Pen and Paper, and in an odd "Getting away from"/"Returning to" design process, I'm redesigning operative skills to be more intuitive. It's difficult because I want to keep the variety that we all love, but as a broker you should be able to evaluate an operative fairly well at a glance.
Also as it is there are certain "Special" skills that are used in the mechanics while others arent, and the player never knows what. this was by design (just like in P+P, you have your dodge skill and your plane repair skill), but I'm not liking it in practice.
So I'm both leaving behind the old P+P skill list while embracing some of my more eccentric ideas for the original P+P at the same time, streamlining the skills, changing the details over into an old concept of "specialties", etc.


Given there's no saving and any operatives you do get tend to die in bloody messes, I think now might be a good time to test such a drastic change to the fellas.


P.S. Please forgive my use of the male generic when I type. It's faster for me to not trip over the "gender neutral and grammatically incorrect 'they'" every time, and I try to make sure to keep it fair in any actual written materials I put out.

[ScriptWolf]

Thank you for the key help spark sorry my slow replys work is killing me right now

But how fares the development ?

One more thing. After reading your post on your forums ( I plan on replying there as well ) I'm not to keen on the idea of you streamlining the operatives skills I liked it when there were a lot more. I can see the plus side to the cut down but I think once you have the stream lined skills fully implemented you should start to add more back in

No skills focused on explosives now I'm sad