Forged Alliance Forever

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-20T03:23:13+02:00

Maybe they improved the UI but last time I tried the spherical worlds just gave me headaches. Move around a bit and north is not pointing in the same direction anymore, which made (for me) finding my way around my worlds a massive pain. I found no obvious way to reset the view so that I can find my stuff without losing it.

Press N to align north. There's also an option in the settings to force it to always look north, but most disable it as different angles can help you to see different strategies on the map. Honestly if something like this put you off PA you really need to take a look at PAT -- a huge amount of work has gone into it and Uber says their UI team have been swamped over the last year implementing all the changes. It shows!

Statistics: Posted by Combo — 20 Aug 2015, 03:23

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-20T02:57:59+02:00

Legion Darrath wrote:
The very fact that PA: Titans exists and isn't just an update is another negative memory.

well it is.

... for kickstarters. many FAF players had high hopes for PA and were kickstaters wern't they?

anywho no need to get all hot about this topic. I was merely sharing the news.

I personally ain't all that enthusiatic about it.

It's really a lot of good news in one package we'd been waiting to the point of loosing hope on. but it ain't FA big in terms of a package.

it's mostly a big "yes" to experimentals a relief on balance and a glory hour for many many modders on PA who's mods have been made vanilla.

but if any of ya'll are interested I just completed my titans mod for supcom icons : https://forums.uberent.com/threads/rel- ... d-d.69647/

and Cola_colin just "completed" his minimap mod : https://forums.uberent.com/threads/rel- ... map.68808/

more steps in this direction and heck you might even see a FA UEF race mod and factions mod, ect...

Statistics: Posted by tatsu — 20 Aug 2015, 02:57

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-20T00:29:36+02:00

Combo wrote:
Spherical worlds work just fine in an RTS. They've been done before in games like Populous and they work well in PA and add strategic depth. No more hiding in an artificial corner, you have to take care of defenses 360 degrees. Flat maps contribute to the kind of late game stalemates and 2-3 hour long games that make everyone tired!

Positive reviews for Titans outnumber negative ones 4:1. The negative reviews are predominantly kickstart backers who have grievances against Uber etc. i.e. nothing to do with this game.

Maybe they improved the UI but last time I tried the spherical worlds just gave me headaches. Move around a bit and north is not pointing in the same direction anymore, which made (for me) finding my way around my worlds a massive pain. I found no obvious way to reset the view so that I can find my stuff without losing it.

Yes I know there was probably a key binding for that, but keyboard shortcuts shouldn't be known before your first game to do basic tasks. (did they finally add an iddle engineer tooltip, or do you still have to press a key).

PA's UI gave me memories of installing hard core linux distros 15 years ago and browsing their forum to find out how to plug a mouse or mount a drive, who needs icons and plug&play when you can open a console and type shit ....

All the fans of PA ask others to treat the game as if it was a freeware developped by buddies in a garage. I'm sorry but the launch price wasn't that far to that of a AAA game (until they were forced to cut the price), and I just never saw a commercial product so unfinished. I still can't get over the "solo campaign", the broken AI (I had several skirmishes where the AI actually literrally stood there) and the fan made tutorials ....

Not ready to make a leap of faith and assume that now it's a finished product ... just have to pay again.

Statistics: Posted by Zoram — 20 Aug 2015, 00:29

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T23:59:42+02:00

The very fact that PA: Titans exists and isn't just an update is another negative memory.

Statistics: Posted by Legion Darrath — 19 Aug 2015, 23:59

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T23:56:50+02:00

I'm saying that whatever bad experiences are associated with PA, put them aside and try PA: Titans. It has come a LONG WAY from that initial release that seared negative memories for many ks backers.

Statistics: Posted by Combo — 19 Aug 2015, 23:56

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T23:38:39+02:00

Populous is more of a buildings and god-game than a swarms of unit game like PA. Avenues of attack are very limited compared to PA. Setons clutch would be just another brawler map if the 'air slot' player could be attacked in the back, the separated oceans have also contributed vastly to the unique gameplay of setons clutch.

@Combo:
However, what are you trying to do? Are you trying to convince everyone that despite their disappointing experience with PA they in fact like the game?

Statistics: Posted by Valki — 19 Aug 2015, 23:38

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T23:14:54+02:00

Spherical worlds work just fine in an RTS. They've been done before in games like Populous and they work well in PA and add strategic depth. No more hiding in an artificial corner, you have to take care of defenses 360 degrees. Flat maps contribute to the kind of late game stalemates and 2-3 hour long games that make everyone tired!

Positive reviews for Titans outnumber negative ones 4:1. The negative reviews are predominantly kickstart backers who have grievances against Uber etc. i.e. nothing to do with this game.

Statistics: Posted by Combo — 19 Aug 2015, 23:14

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T22:28:56+02:00

I backed PA, just after the kickstarter - I definitely paid my idiot tax.

But I learned two important things:

Spherical worlds don't work for RTS games that involve individual unit control.
Don't support kickstarters, or early access, and pre-order with caution. - It disrupts the games market.

I am genuinely happy about "funding research into the RTS genre". We didn't know whether or not spherical worlds would work, and now, we do. All future RTS developers will now know that they shouldn't try that, and I am happy to have paid a part of that knowledge.

However, I don't feel that Uber really cared.
The game I played during the Alpha was pretty much the game I played 1 month ago when a friend enthusiastically announced he bought PA. (his enthusiasm lasted a good 3 games btw) The games user interface was slightly improved, I definitely noticed some things went better. Moving around the world, however, was the same nightmare.
The orbital play was kinda nice... Retreating to another planet when losing on the current planet was kinda nice. Unit spam was the same uninspiring chaos.

All in all, I find that Supreme Commander 2 was a better attempt at a successor to Forged Alliance. SC2 was better especially in intention, but even in execution compared to PA.

I am somewhat interested in PA:TITANS I must admit, but I don't feel pressured by the "2 months 66% discount", I believe it will go for 80% or 90% discount at a steam sale soon enough.
(Also, for €12, I'd rather buy Supreme Commander 2)

Statistics: Posted by Valki — 19 Aug 2015, 22:28

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T21:54:26+02:00

Actually I went through a 'Seton's phase' and played exclusively Seton's for months on end in 1600+ only games. What I described is accurate at high level play -- it's literally decided by ASF spam and typically ends with a strat snipe or acu cybran snipe. Yes it's a lot of fun and it's epic, but I think PA:titans has a lot of appeal for FA players.

Statistics: Posted by Combo — 19 Aug 2015, 21:54

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T21:40:49+02:00

A late game on Seton's usually ends up as ASF spam + T3pgen/mass fab spam with the game typically ending with a t3 strat bomber snipe or a cybran acu laser snipe.

PA: Titans really shines here imho. I've played quite a few games now and have already seen: -

-- Players winning the game by stealthily building the T3 Halley(s) on an asteroid and changing its trajectory to destroy a planet (having first removed the ACU to a different planet)

-- Players building five T3 Catalyst structures (need huge eco for this) on the death star to activate its laser and shoot down planets

-- An epic drop of t2 land unit spam onto an enemy's base through an orbital experimental transporter

-- Bad scouting allowing one player to build a T4 (Atlas) on an enemy's planet using orbital fabricators

-- A player developing enormous eco by dominating the orbital fight around a gas planet and constructing multiple orbital oil and gas rigs (+36 mass and +9000 energy each).

Plus some familiar gameplay we've seen in FA, like nuclear missiles and snipes of the nuclear defense structures, strat bomber snipes, and loser ACUs hiding somewhere instead of accepting defeat (instead of hiding under the sea, they can leave to another planet or asteroid etc). Basically it's a lot of fun.

Statistics: Posted by Combo — 19 Aug 2015, 21:40

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T21:19:40+02:00

Legion Darrath wrote:
You can't compare a 6/10 rating to a 9/10 rating when the 6 is the result of twelve THOUSAND people and the 9 is from a meager 200.

I'm pretty sure in a month or so the rating will still be high. I say this because I've been playing it quite a bit and think it's great!

Statistics: Posted by Combo — 19 Aug 2015, 21:19

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T19:53:23+02:00

If you can get Luxy to stream a BH vs petric game on this I will buy it.

Statistics: Posted by Cuddles — 19 Aug 2015, 19:53

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T19:41:39+02:00

And steam reviews don't mean much at all.

Statistics: Posted by JaggedAppliance — 19 Aug 2015, 19:41

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T19:30:43+02:00

You can't compare a 6/10 rating to a 9/10 rating when the 6 is the result of twelve THOUSAND people and the 9 is from a meager 200.

Statistics: Posted by Legion Darrath — 19 Aug 2015, 19:30

Re: Titans the extention to PA just released

2015-08-19T18:57:22+02:00

Planetary Annihilation on Steam -- Rating: 6/10 - ‎12,145 reviews

Planetary Annihilation: TITANS on Steam -- Rating: 9/10 - ‎202 reviews (one day post release)

This clearly isn't the flawed PA game that disappointed people a year ago. This is shaping up to be an RTS worthy of our attention imho

Statistics: Posted by Combo — 19 Aug 2015, 18:57