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Post by pendell on Nov 17, 2013 9:57:30 GMT -5
""Do you have sufficient space on your device? A solid internet connection? " Several hundred megabytes of space and I downloaded several kindle books over a 4GL onto the phone. So I believe the answer to both your questions is yes.
I'm late, so I'll try to answer fallen's questions this afternoon.
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Post by pendell on Nov 16, 2013 18:11:20 GMT -5
"Thanks for supporting Templar Assault. Are you able to load the game on your device? I would use the Play application on your device and avoid the web one, if that helps."
I ... don't understand what you're telling me.
Clicking on the Templar assault button on the Star Traders main menu Takes me to the google playstore. I've already bought the game, so the playstore prompt says "install". I press install. It says "installing..."
But it never gets further. It's still there today, and it's been 24 hours.
There is no record of the application in the 'settings/apps/' on my device and there is no shortcut. It looks to me as if the installation is failing.
All assistance welcome!
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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Post by pendell on Nov 15, 2013 15:46:59 GMT -5
So here I am playing a bounty hunter for House Thulun. I have rank 18 with them and rank 1 with everyone else except Rychert, with whom I am a wanted criminal.
Anyways, four times now I have run a mission for devaltos against independent star traders and Thulun has demoted me a rank for "faction oath violated".
Double checked the faction conflicts . Thulan and De Valtos are not currently in any kind of conflict. This only happens with De Valtos. I can still run missions for Cadar without a problem.
Might the mission actually be against Thulun? But this has happened four separate times over multiple years. I have a hard time believing ALL of the missions were secretly against Thulun. What gives? Once you rise up high enough in rank, you get punished for taking a job for another faction? Then why doesn't Thulun get angry when I run a mission for Cadar Syndicate?
Also, I gave into temptation and purchased templar assault. I went to the playstore and told it to 'install'. I still have it marked as 'installing' despite the fact that I have had the game for multiple days. I've uninstalled a ton of kindle books using the 4gl connection so I know my connection's fine. What gives?
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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Post by pendell on Oct 21, 2013 10:03:52 GMT -5
You're welcome! I'm glad you liked it!
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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Post by pendell on Oct 15, 2013 20:26:50 GMT -5
So I'm trying to understand the different ship types. I've read the spreadsheet, and I think these are the general rules of thumb:
Starter: My First Ship. Supposed to give you minimal capability at the beginning of the game. 'Nuff said!
Merchant: Emphasizes moving high cargo volume at minimum cost. Big cargo holds but smaller crews (to keep down the fuel consumption), minimal guns and torpedoes. Very few fast/quick merchants. Designed to move high volumes of cargo in green space, and surrender when approached by other ships.
Military: These big bruisers are designed to engage and destroy any ship that dares to fight it. Large crews (for boarding), lots of guns and lots of torpedoes. Very few fast/quick military ships exist. Fuel economy is likewise nonexistent, because their job is dominance, not pursuit.
Pirate: A pirate ship is designed to be a little bit of everything. It needs to be fast enough to overhaul a merchant ship or outrun a warship but not at the expense of cargo space. It needs to have enough cargo space to make looting profitable but not so much as to make the ship wallow. It needs to be able to force a merchant to surrender or to drive off the occasional bounty hunter but not so overgunned as to destroy the ship. Torpedoes are minimal because you need a few to discourage pesky pursuers, but again, if you're using torpedoes on a merchant you're driving down the salvage value and risking destruction of the ship. Finally, fuel economy is at a premium because you may be on station for a long, long , time.
Smuggler: These ships are intended to deliver small, highly valuable cargoes in the face of opposition. Consequently, there are few smugglers that aren't fast. Maneuverability is medium or better, but it can be sacrificed because if a smuggler isn't running away from a fight, it's doing something wrong. Smugglers have some of the highest engines-to-hull ratio, and consequently the highest sails-to-hull ratio as well, to bring some measure of fuel economy to compensate for the many, many engines. Some torpedoes to drive off persistent pursuers, but guns are not critical. A middling-to-small cargo hold because you don't smuggle bulk. Run away from everyone, deliver the cargo, run away. Delivery in 30 minutes or it's free.
Bounty: Something needs to capture the smuggler, and that is what the bounty ship is designed for. The two purposes of a bounty ship are: To catch up to the quarry, and then disable or board it. Bounty ships and smuggler ships can be interchangeable. Middling to small cargo size, since bounty money comes from contracts, not from trade. Maximum speed to catch up with smugglers or pirates, lots of guns to sweep the decks or disable the engines. Crew is middling because you need boarders, but not so many as to sacrifice fuel economy. Thus, the bounty ship is the opposite of a warship in that it's job is pursuit, not dominance.
Of course, there are exceptions. There are fast merchants and small warships. Any ship can be used in any role, though some are much less suited to it than others. But I think this captures the design philosophy and intent behind the different ship types.
Is this fair and reasonably accurate?
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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Post by pendell on Oct 13, 2013 20:17:22 GMT -5
Well, that was ... interesting. Cruising through independent space. Level 30 merchant with +100 all factions. Encounter an independent bounty hunter. I have no bounties outstanding, so they should ignore me. Click "ignore". Next screen show both the enemy ship and I moving away from each other. Evidently neither of us wanted this encounter. It as only at this point that I notice the enemy ship name - "Level 511 Hive". ... Bear in mind, this is on normal difficulty . .... Guess I'm just happy I didn't have a bounty on my head, eh? What do aliens do with the money, anyway? Minor laugh: "There has been a ban on clothing at Northpine." ... So I suppose Northpine camp is now Northpine nudist colony? Respectfully, Brian P.
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Post by pendell on Oct 11, 2013 8:02:37 GMT -5
Okay. Well, if it helps them track it down, it's happened to me twice in two different games, both at 'normal' difficulty. The aliens are flying ordinary human ships marked 'independent', don't seem markedly more difficult than a human ship of their class, and yield $25K in salvage.
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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Post by pendell on Oct 10, 2013 22:19:35 GMT -5
Okay, I have another question.
This is my 5th game. I'm flying as a merchant and doing much better, even though it's still "normal" difficulty. Anyway, here I am flying through a red sector when I have a contact. Independent, Small Freighter ...
"The Alien detests all life and shows no mercy"
...
I thought there weren't supposed to be any alien encounters on normal level?
And what are they doing in a small freighter? I thought the ultimate monstrosity would show up in some cataclysmic ship o' doom, not the Star Traders equivalent of a Honda Civic.
Anyway, it went down just like any other small freighter. 3 torpedoes, then close to gun range and blow out the engines. $25K salvage and the 'alien killer' achievement.
...
Is that supposed to happen? I thought aliens had their own ships and had some really tough AIs that made them all but impossible to kill with torpedoes and guns. It's as if a perfectly ordinary Small Freighter got relabelled "Alien". Is that supposed to happen? Or is that a bug?
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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Post by pendell on Oct 9, 2013 13:15:53 GMT -5
Thanks! In a future combat-oriented game I play, I will slaughter many Clan Steel Song ships in your honor.
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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Post by pendell on Oct 8, 2013 18:14:45 GMT -5
Thank you, everyone. Okay, so I'm free to set my own objectives. Not a problem. I *prefer* a universe with a main plot as well as open-ended exploration, but this'll do fine.
Some follow-up questions.
1) I did eventually get my character up to the 1 million mark, but towards the end of the game I was getting my head handed to me by every ship I encountered. Reading, I discovered that difficulty increases as the game does, so your character and ship must also improve or become unuseable.
Originally, I had upgraded my stats to 9, saw I could improve them no further, and went on to improving all the rest of my stats. I also stuck with my original starting ship throughout the game, the Vae Victis.
It was only later that I found improving the physical stats increased the trained stats as well. So if I bump my quickness to 10, I can get my pilot up to 10 as well. I suppose by having almost all my stats at 9 I set myself up for trouble in the late game, when levelling up is harder to do.
SO, my questions:
1) In battle, is it more important to have a good ship or a well-trained captain? Will a terrific ship see even a captain with mediocre stats through to victory, or can a well-trained captain turn even a garbage scow into the Terror Of Space? Both? Neither?
2) What do the stats max out at? I've already figured out the cost for a skill increases logarithmic-ally. But it makes a big difference in my planning if piloting and tactics tops out at , say, 50 instead of 20. 3) I saw in one of the posts that it is possible to see what the prices are for a commodity in every port I have visited. How do I get that? I'm playing on a droid. If this were a PC game I could open up Excel and have a spreadsheet opened while I played, but that's very inconvenient to do on a droid since all apps are full-screen. The Maker help anyone using anything like windows on a droid anyway.
Many thanks!
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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Post by pendell on Oct 7, 2013 14:03:11 GMT -5
Hello, I've googled and searched the boards and read the manual and I have a question that hasn't been answered. To wit, is there an objective to the game? Is there some sort of plot?
What I mean is, most open-ended games have a main plot as well as open-ended exploration. Privateer had the alien drone. Freelancer had the Nomads. Privateer 2 had the mysterious Kindred.
So I've been playing along on normal in my third game, and I've run up $300K, run some missions, made some friends, and turned House Thalun into a bitter, bitter enemy. My current stat is -164 or so: Legendary crime lord. And that's all well and good. But I ask: Is there some objective I should be aiming for? Or should I simply set an arbitrary goal ("unlock x achievements" , "earn a million credits") reach that goal, then start a new character?
Respectfully,
Brian P.
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