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MicroJak Admiral
Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 2315 Location: London, UK
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Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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Cyclops
Quote: | cyclops (class 3 ship)
sends out a disruptor carrier wave, that destroys 100 class one ships |
Revised version:
Quote: | cyclops (class 3 ship)
This ship send out a deadly wave, which destroys 100 class one ships of any kind. The Cyclops is commonly used in swank fleets, and has the power to launch mass destruction on class 1 based fleet setups. |
Cruiser
Quote: |
cruiser (class 3 ship)
heavy battleship with an effective torpedo-defense-system. each cruiser destroyes one incoming torpedo (see warcruiser) |
Revised version:
Quote: | cruiser (class 3 ship)
The cruiser is the main class 3 ship. Cruisers can be useful in class 3 battles, however they are very weak against class 1 and 2 ships such as penguins and destroyers. If one cruiser fights 100 destroyers, the outcome would be a loss of one crusier and one destroyer, because the cruiser can only fight one ship, while 100 destroyers together would eliminate the cruiser. Every race can build cruisers and they are a good benchmark for other class 3 ships in terms of AP/LP. |
Cloak Generator
Quote: | cloak generator (class 4 ship)
a huge station that orbits your planet and surrounds it with a cloaking shield. |
Revised version:
Quote: | Cloak Generator (class 4 ship)
The cloak generator surrounds your planet with a cloaking shield, so that players are unable to attack you. This ship is very useful if you are going on holiday, or want time to research more technologies. Due to the high amount of manpower needed, you will not be able to attack anyone while the ship is active. |
Spore Generator
Quote: | sporator (class 1 ship)
the sporator is spreading a spore cloud around all class 1 and class 2 ships, they are all getting +0/+1 and all other sporators in your fleet explode (caution! self destruction!) |
Revised version:
Quote: | Sporator (class 1 ship)
A sporator is effective in raising the lifepoints of your class 1 and class 2 ships. In battle, they will raise the lifepoints of such ships like the destroyer, the fighter and the eagle by 1, which can be very useful against the threat of apollo cruisers, which do 10 damage to 10 class 2 ships. For instance, if a normal destroyer (with 10LP) had a sporator in its fleet, it would become immune to the apollo cruiser becuase it would have one extra lifepoints (11LP). Only one sporator can be in any fleet and any additional sporators will be destroyed. (Caution - Self Destruction!) |
Evaporator
Quote: | evaporator (class 1 ship)
the evaporator emits a high frequency holo-beam to absorb an enemy's energy whenever it gets modified. as a result it redirects the energy into a holo-drain device that destroys one enemy vessel
The evaporator is an intergalactic ship with quad ion-emitting engines for thrust. created on a secluded pre-warp, in top secret move by the Eray Command Nexus, the ship was a retaliatory step against recent strategic moves made by opposing governments. with an increase in flagships dominating the use of more mobile fighters, the battles consisted of sheer power rather than overwhelming the enemy by mass units. to gain back the initiative in mobility and faster production, the evaporator was brought into light. knowing that the larger ships used stronger armor, a different approach was needed to penetrate the ships without increasing the size of the evaporator. in a breakthrough, a lone researcher discovered that they could absorb, emit, and weaken the enemy from the enemy's own weapon. by using a plasmic modulator and a modified Xoutory crystal armor, the evaporator can absorb some of the attack and then use the energy to power up a subspace, frequency holo-beam to disturb the opposing ship's shields. while the enemies try to remodulate their shields, the evaporator uses the remaining energy to activate a holodrain device that destroys the enemy ship. There are two transistors for the holodrain device as the evaporator can be attacked by two common weapons. one is by brute force and the other is some type of energy weapon that tries to destroy or modify the enemy ship. in any case, the holodrain device compensates by shifting transistors to forcefully rearrange the energy source to power the holodrain device.
in battle simulations, this ship proved valuable in situations where a lack of other smaller ships was present. thus, being able to attack the larger ships. logically, if a smaller ship tried to attack the evaporator, the evaporator will have a smaller retaliatory force to strike back due to the fact that it can only redirect power.
although the ship has been used to destroy bases, the ship failed because the small arms, these buildings were equipped with, were not enough to scratch the extremely tough armor. so, use against buildings is discouraged. |
Revised version:
Quote: | Evaporator (class 1 ship)
These ships destroy a ship of any class if it gets modified. Therefore it is very effective against swank setups and is often described as a 'swanker's worst nightmare'. Such ships such as the cyclops and apollo cruiser, which modify to destroy other ships, will be eliminated against an evaporator. 20 evaporators vs. 20 cyclops, will result in a loss of 20 cyclops. It is an excellent ship, and also has the ability to completely destroy ships which do not modify on their own. |
_________________
Quote: | When you're good you're very good, but when you're bad you're better. |
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ilofuyci 2nd Rear Admiral
Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 195 Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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You're not correcting spelling mistakes, and you're not describing the ships; you're giving strategies.
Most of the point of this game is to try new things, and to figure out what works and what does not.
I am very much against recommending ships for people to use.
Keep the descriptions as they are. Just tell what they do, not what they're good for.
Let the player discover that. _________________ "On tue un homme, on est un assassin. On en tue des millions, on est un conquérant. On les tue tous, on est Dieu"
~
"Kill a man and you're a murderer, kill many and you're a conqueror, kill them all, you're a god"
Jean Rostand 1894-1977 |
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MicroJak Admiral
Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 2315 Location: London, UK
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:07 am Post subject: |
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But do the players discover that?
No.
How the hell are you supposed to figure out that an evaporator is a good offense against swank fleets with:
'The evaporator is an intergalactic ship with quad ion-emitting engines for thrust. created on a secluded pre-warp, in top secret move by the Eray Command Nexus, the ship was a retaliatory step against recent strategic moves made by opposing governments.'
Hell, I only found what evaps did today, and that was because al12 told me, and the same goes for noobs.. you're only going to learn if somnebody tells you, so why not have all these useful tactics in the help section in the first place?
Say all you want, if I asked 20 noobs, 19 would say the manual is vague and it doesn't help. The game is meant for playing, but somewhere along the line you've gotta learn that the best way to get these setups in place is to teach them.
Sure, they can 'practice'.. but how long are they going to last 'practicing' without getting annoyed at their negative evo and playing some other game that helps them in a better, and a faster way. Just look at the player count if you need proof.
And yes, I have created the spelling mistakes. What I stated was a redraft, if you would've read carefully. _________________
Quote: | When you're good you're very good, but when you're bad you're better. |
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ilofuyci 2nd Rear Admiral
Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 195 Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:56 am Post subject: |
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MJ wrote: | And yes, I have created the spelling mistakes. |
Aha! Noted.
And you know better than to call me for not reading carefully. I understand you want to re-craft some of the descriptions, as some are a bit vague. But I disagree with giving pointers on how to use the ships.
I hate to do this, but come on. Using yourself isn't the greatest of examples, is it?
You've really sorted things out, recently, but back in the day, it really isn't surprising you had to be told what things did what. I'd probably venture Trooper had to tell you several times. I know I had to, when you were in WFS, after getting booted from NS, for the same reason. And you still often didn't get it.
But that's all in the past.
I may not be the best example, either, but back when I started, I read through the manual and could quite easily see what would be good where. I rapidly figured out what ships to use against what others, and could always see what I did wrong.
Not saying I didn't get hints and pointers from friends and enemies; that's what alliances are for, but I could divine most of the uses for ships on my own.
I think most people can.
So I am against stating "do this, do that" in the ship description, as it will limit creativity. Players won't have the need to experiment with different combinations, if they're just following the cookbook instructions.
And sometimes, being creative and trying new things is the best strategy there is.
No to hints in descriptions! _________________ "On tue un homme, on est un assassin. On en tue des millions, on est un conquérant. On les tue tous, on est Dieu"
~
"Kill a man and you're a murderer, kill many and you're a conqueror, kill them all, you're a god"
Jean Rostand 1894-1977 |
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ilofuyci 2nd Rear Admiral
Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 195 Location: Seattle, WA, USA
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:21 am Post subject: |
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The edit button is missing. I can't edit the last post, so sorry about the DP.
When I say I looked at and understood the manual, I refer to the battle syntax. What the ship actually did.
I feel the description should be based solely on that, and not exposition, or backstory. That is nice, if you want it, but anyone who wants to understand what a ship actually does will look at the battle syntax.
Perhaps that should be emphasized.
Because sure, reading some goofball story about kazuulans and e-rays and stolen tech won't help you fly.
The description should clearly interpret what the battle syntax shows.
What the ship does.
You shouldn't include what the ship is generally used for.
Let the player discover that. If they aren't willing to think about it, fine. They'll lose, until they are willing to figure it out, or ask for help.
Welcome to the jungle. _________________ "On tue un homme, on est un assassin. On en tue des millions, on est un conquérant. On les tue tous, on est Dieu"
~
"Kill a man and you're a murderer, kill many and you're a conqueror, kill them all, you're a god"
Jean Rostand 1894-1977 |
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Inatic Commander
Joined: 18 Jan 2009 Posts: 82 Location: California
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:52 am Post subject: |
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MicroJak wrote: |
Hell, I only found what evaps did today, and that was because al12 told me, and the same goes for noobs.. you're only going to learn if somnebody tells you, so why not have all these useful tactics in the help section in the first place?
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i agree with what your doing microjak, it would be so much more useful to have a section like this in the manual for newbies like me who do not know what the importance of certain ships are. i had no idea what the evaps did lol.
Thank you for trying to help people learn instead of letting us figure it out like others would like. |
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MicroJak Admiral
Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 2315 Location: London, UK
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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Inatic your post is music to my ears .
Ilofuyci, this is what I see. Spacetrace is losing 50 or so players a year because it is a very difficult game to grasp. The only way we are going to get the numbers up again is by making the game easier to play.
If I didn't learn how the ships worked, if Inatic didn't learn how the ships worked, then it is no suprise that new players are quitting the game over a vague and unhelpful manual. And 'trying things out'? Well, let's look at it this way - how long is it going to take for you to 'try out' every single ship? It will take you at least 3 evos.. almost a year - which new player is going to want to keep losing battles for 300 days?
Spacetrace cannot keep going the way it is. Something has got to give. Newbs need better help and faster help, otherwise we are just going to keep losing players and inevitably the game is going to go into demise. Enough said. _________________
Quote: | When you're good you're very good, but when you're bad you're better. |
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admin Board Admin
Joined: 09 Jan 2002 Posts: 2938
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Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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MJ,
i added your Spore generator and Evaporator descriptions to the according topics in "all existing technologies"
maybe you can write some more of these descriptions in that forum, that would be perfect |
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T2 Admiral
Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 1398 Location: Ontario
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 12:49 am Post subject: |
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I can see both points above me however, I tend to side partly on the side of MJ.
For instance, the descriptors of a given ship should emphasize attributes of the ship perhaps in BOLD letters.
Take the evap for instance, the fact that it must be MODIFIED or it works like a regular fighter should be emphasized. Ships that will MODIFY a Evaporator is Sporator or Cyclops
Above example may not be technically correct and used for purpose of example only in this post.
At least , then it draws attention to the fact that battle syntax should be read but for those who are just starting, very few actually read the syntax.
After interest is generated in a ship, a new player may then go back and try to unbderstand the syntax.
The forum discussions really helps as well to understanding how a ship works.
So.... give a new player enough info to try the ship out successfully but don't take the thrill out of discovery either |
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admin Board Admin
Joined: 09 Jan 2002 Posts: 2938
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:25 am Post subject: |
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Inatic wrote: | it would be so much more useful to have a section like this in the manual for newbies like me who do not know what the importance of certain ships are. | if you write explanations in the forum "all existing technologies" then these are shown automatically in the details page of a ship in the forum
for example:
http://manual.spacetrace.org/tec.php?details=1&tec_id=8&techname=commando-fighter&lang=en
there you see the forum part at the bottom. thats automatically generated by the forum topic about the commando-fighter in "all existing technologies"
so go for it!
everybody write hints in the "all existing technologies" forum |
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colinthecorgi 1st Rear Admiral
Joined: 30 Nov 2007 Posts: 273
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Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:37 am Post subject: |
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graze reactor
(0/10) 20 – improved computer technology
breeds up to 7 grazers (7/10) untill it gets shot. (caution! self destruction!) T
until is spelled with one l, right? _________________ Running the P since 2007 |
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admin Board Admin
Joined: 09 Jan 2002 Posts: 2938
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 11:56 am Post subject: |
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thx |
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Cloudgatherer 2nd Rear Admiral
Joined: 29 Dec 2011 Posts: 177 Location: Florida, USA
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 8:09 am Post subject: |
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admin wrote: | zenachi wrote: | there are TONS of spelling/grammar mistakes everywhere | really?
please tell us every mistakes you see.
(we try to write proper english) |
Is this still relevant? Frankly, I was under the assumption that you guys really didn't care too much about grammatical errors and typos. If you would still be interested, I am willing to devote a little of my time to cleaning up the various English texts from the manual in which I find mistakes. (There are still ALOT) In my opinion, it would help the game look a little more professional and polished; atleast to qwerky, perfectionist players such as myself. Only thing is, I will have a hard time adjusting to using all lowercase letters. That always did irk me.
I could just correct the grammer and spelling or perhaps, if you guys want, I could spice up some of the rather lackluster texts aswell. _________________
"One of God's own rejects. Some sort of high-powered mutant, not even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, but too rare to die." |
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spacetrace Board Admin
Joined: 24 Dec 2001 Posts: 1624
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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help avways appreaciated |
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admin Board Admin
Joined: 09 Jan 2002 Posts: 2938
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Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:24 am Post subject: |
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sure, great! go for it.
please register at the wiki there you can directly correct the manual pages.
in the wiki we use upper and lowercase grammar. so you won#t have a problem there.
maybe one dav, when we find the time, we will correct all the lowercase stuff in the game too. but it should be consistent inside the game: all lowercase or all correct case.
it is a lot of work to change all the texts in the game, you can help us there, if you enter 'none' as language in your preferences
see:
www.spacetrace.org/?lang=none |
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