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[Little]

This is fun!

[magellan]

Game looks interesting, but the learning curve is steep. 
Couple questions:
1) How do you buy stuff at the station?  I went to trading, hit "buy", choose the goods, and it popped up something that looked like a request for a number of goods to buy....but none of my keys (I tried them all) would change the number from 0.  I have a Japanese laptop (Japanese as in keyboard layout, not maker) so I suspect the problem may lie there...
2) What is the point of going to planets?  They seem like a good way to get killed, but I haven`t found anything valuable there yet, despite racking up a large number of deaths from  an impressive array of nasties.  (from Angry Avian to Armed Reptile)
Definitely looks fun tho.

Hi guys.
Let me just say for starters: I am awed by this thread! I am very glad it seems that some people have fun with this little thing!

the number selection thingy: reacts to + / - key up key down, key left key right, and to typing in the numbers directly. But the problem may lie somewhere else: Only light transporters start with cargo space. (The game really could tell you that when you try to buy. It should. It will. soonish)

Why you should land on planets: well... it's your job Of course you can become a trader or a pirate too but those occupations can be quite hazardous as well.

Generally it is not the first time i heard the thing about the learning curve. Personally i got the feeling that it all falls into place quickly after some figuring out of what stuff does, but any suggestion on  how i could improve that or hints at where the hurdles are would be most welcome!

Oh and there have been reports of people going blind after looking at the sourcecode. so you have been warned...

[ductape]

i agrre, this is quite fun.

not sure why...just is.

[niltrias]

Thanks for the feedback.  I was playing with a scout, and I didn`t realize that I didn`t have any cargo storage.  Tried it out again with a light cargo ship, worked out alright until I was blown away by space pirates.  heh.
How do you get jobs for exploring planets and whatnot?
And I`m not worried about the learning curve in the least bit.  I doubt you will find anyone who minds steep learning curves in the DF forums.  heh.

[magellan]

Well: when you are in a station and go into the office (and have biodata from killed aliens and/or mapdata from mapped planets and/or resources from ... found resources) they will give you money for it. Also maps from scans pay less than maps made by getting your boots dirty.
There are no "explore that planet over there" missions.

You are propably right that the folks here are quite tolerat to learning curves. Doesnt change the fact though that i would like to do anything possible to dampen that curve. Any hints in that respect are helpfull here. (it is all quite obvious to me, since i wrote that stuff. how should i know if it is obvious to others too?)

[niltrias]

Well, you could start by monitoring this thread and turning questions into a FAQ, then including that in the readme.  I`ll volunteer to help by mindlessly returning to this forum and asking for help anytime I get confused, instead of trying to figure it out by myself.  All in the name of good citizenship, of course.  Not laziness. lol.
But seriously, I`ll post when I get confused, since I just started the game today.  might give you some insight as to where people are having problems.  Or it might just give you some insight into what an idiot I am.  Either way, insight shall be gained!

[niltrias]

Another question for you:  how can I tell what equipment i have, like lasers rifles and what not?  Also, I can see my engines and scanners, but not what kind of shields I have.  How can I determine this?
THanks

[magellan]

Good idea!
you do that!

Ok: Right under the name of the ship right hand side there is HP and SP. HP=Hullpoints SP=Shieldpoints.
You can alos see your shieldgenerator when you press @ wich gives you a ship & equipment summary. Your awayteam always equips the best stuff it can find.

[Duke 2.0]

 A question:
 Mining equipment. How do I use it, and where? I assume in caves to get those minerals stuck in walls, but there is not apparent key for mining with a laser.

 But yes, awesome game. Seems the key is to get enough security members down so you can always struggle back to your ship. And only land on worlds that have atmosphere before you get the air tanks. And lots and lots of lights for those dark planets.

 Never really dicked about with space combat or trading. I was in space combat one during my first playthrough, but I didn't understand it went about in 'phases'.

[magellan]

Mining equipment:
Just fire at the walls. It gives you a bonus to your damage vs walls.

[wallish]

Here's a question: I found a stranded Heavy Scout on a planet and inspected it with 'I', which finished.  Is there a way to take this ship/switch to it or for now are they just "there"?

Also, is there a save function yet, even a roguelike save & quit only thing?

Awesome game though.  So much potential!

*edit*:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Fucking sandworms!!

[Drakale]

Nice to see you here Magellan :p I suspected you where a DF fan when i saw lava flooding telluric planets :p

Here is my wishlist for added features.
-Random alien physiology. Appearance may hint at aggressiveness.
-Dissecting Aliens with the I command. Yield biodata and consume oxygen/time, might anger other life forms.
-More details for crews, including their speciality etc... Give an incentive to train a specific crewmember instead of just hiring a better one.
-Set up a base of operation on a planet, may produce trading goods with time, or mine etc..

Really great game, keep at it 

[magellan]

Saving is cleverly hidden: Press S. though it only works in open space & on planets, since it triggers scanning otherwise. (and it is save & quit)

*slaps forhead*
It has escaped my notice that this actually isn't mentioned in the readme... needed 3 people to ask me before i double checked ... sry....

After inspecting you have to inspect it one more time for the final repairs. (wich may fail) and then you can jump ship. 

Also: agreed: there could be more corellation between monster description and behaviour. though the number of arms already affects their chance to pick stuff up

[chaoticag]

Eh, I managed to lose in four turns.
Maybe you should make sure that star systems with pirates on them don't spawn exactly one block north of the starting space station.

[magellan]

I have been wondering if and to what extend i should rig the early game (thinking about for example having the first x planets never being uniques)
Of course there is also the suspension of disbelief thing, with pirates and spacestation being neighbours. The thing here is that knowing where the pirates are from early and having them near a station has it's advantages. I'think i'll spoiler this just in case.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

They will run into merchants often there, wich thins out both herds, and you can control their growth better, shooting away early fighters  before they grow into battleships.

Hmmm... maybe this is one we could put into config, let the player decide if he wants a minimum save distance or not.