Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N7 16-Dec-2023 Flying Tiger, Hidden Tentacle

[dftruf]

This is just my opinion:

1. Games which requires spoilers (small or big) are badly designed.

2. Frustration from chasing game spoilers is something very different than frustration from advancing in game skills.

3. Good games distinguish between tactical and strategical aspects with regard to time pressure.

4. Good games give possibility to dynamically change time pressure, by player's choices and skills, not by rigid scripts.

5. Good games don't need advertisements.

I see around a lot of games which trying to ease my game experience and spare from frustration. When such attempts finally reach its destination another game becomes another casual pressure-free munch.

XPiratez will never attract 1000000x more players this is niche product by nature. The best way of further development for XPiratez is being XPirates and follow XPirates' developer vision. If you want to attract 1000000 new players you need to invest $1000000 into promo campaign and release game in Eastern Asia region, China I mean.

At the moment I don't see why the story of native insurgent group on backwater planet should be freed from the time pressure. The response to protagonists' activity determined by factors far beyond player's control which makes course of events mostly predefined until the major bifurcation point which is victory game end.

[Interdictor]

I must admit I'm not fully aware about mentioned spoilers topic likely I'm just not experienced player enough. But from my personal game experience difficulty progression seems both challenging and not too pressing, giving player some space for mistakes, experiments and roleplay. In early stage you even receive some tips like "you need more brainers" for example. From this point I consider difficulty balance satisfactory and I also see its further improvement by updates. The game also have difficulty levels, I personally play on medium one.

Make another game which entirely rolls around player.. what for? For this case and this lore scripting concept itself is fair enough. Even if it consists some time limitations if any. I personally consider certain parts of current scenario unrealistically soft and giving ungrounded advantages but anyway. Sort of sandbox could be adequate for trivial mutant group but not for "chosen ones" contesting world evil powers. By the plot your free life comes to end when govs arrive to your hideout and then the story begins.

The point 5 is fundamentally wrong as independently from product qualities potential consumer should be firstly informed about product's existence and advantages. XPiratez is not a casual game and fitting it to generic or casual gamers' tastes will not give anything. Just in theory the playerbase might be increased by involving more players who might like the game but remained uninvolved while the target group itself is naturally narrow.

And I'm not speaking here about how increasing project popularity might harm development process or endanger the project existence itself. If the freeware project is popular enough to keep developer motivated it is going well.

[dftruf]

Thanks for wide reply.
I see now more clearly that x-piratez developers prefer anti-sandbox style.
Do You know any x-com mod which is in sandbox style?

... For this case and this lore scripting concept itself is fair enough. ...

[Interdictor]

I'm not even close authorized to speak from the name of mod development. All above is my own consideration regarding my vision and impression. For example if mod developer adds more sandbox element in update I would support this too. The most I care is primate of author vision as it is vital for project's success and uniquity.

UPD: I don't play other x-com mods actually. But I presume that initial design of X-Com influence story-like approach to development.

[Jimboman]

I'm no expert by a long-shot, but I've been playing XCOM & TFTD style games since the original Laser Squad back in the late 1980's, on an Amstrad 464 with a 4-track cassette drive that took ages to load a level!

To me Piratez, and Solarius's Xcom-files, are worthy additions to the original game, unlike the modern XCOM with is just another run & shoot game without a lot of the strategic Geosphere elements that make the game worth playing.  Admittedly I like the house-keeping aspects of making ammo, building ships etc. so I might in a minority!

Modern games are made for the attention-deficit kids of today who don't want to spend the time to build-up their character's stats by slogging through 'bug-hunt' (or Humanist safe-house type) missions or interrogating prisoners to find the clues to move the game on to the next level.  Even then a lot of games nowadays are 'released' in a barely beta state just to make money.  Then there's the 'loot-boxes' that can only be obtained by paying cash.

It would be a shame if Piratez was 'toned-down' to please the modern game-players as it would lose a lot of the core players, and I'm sure Dioxine isn't that kind of developer anyway judging by the way the game has become more involved and complex as it's evolved over the years.

So, yes, it could get 1000s of players by toning down the strategic elements and making it more action-orientated, but it would lose what makes the game worth playing in the first place.

[Xylon666Darkstar]

Do not change X-Piratez to please anyone of current age, who don't get the core concept of the dev's design of gameplay.

Same for X-Files.

It wouldn't be the same game for the dev going outside of their original vision for the sake of pleasing a current crowd that cannot change their own habits/routines/mindset to play x/y/z games.

[DarthTheIII]

I will say I have not enjoyed the expansion of base attacks that has been going on as the game has updated.  This isn't a difficulty complaint, I just find base defences to be the most annoying type of missions, and once you get to boss rank and start getting spammed with government base attacks it really put me off my last campaign.  The sky ninjas update was the first example of this, but they are not a problem anymore due to all the changes they went through.

With that said, generally added features that make the gamplay loop "worse" are almost always adjusted as future updates go through and the game is playtested by us.  Which is completly fair in this kind of mod, I'm not expecting someone to playtest a whole xpiratez campaign for every update.

[Nalca]

I just find base defences to be the most annoying type of missions

I agree, and that's why you need to build defenses in you base. A few flak cannon, and hop, free fireworks above your base.
And if they manage to survive the first phase, you still have big turrets inside your base ! Blowing up your ennemies, theirs dogs, your turrets and sometimes yours gals !

Seriously, build defenses in every base, it's really help with those tedious missions. The fastest base mission is one that don't need to be done.

[Mathel]

What I really hate about base defence are the slaves. In my main bases, I have thousands of slaves.

Each turn, about 1% of all slaves wake up to fight alongside you. That means that with 2000 slaves, by turn 3 when the proper engagement starts, there are 60 civilian side units going around.

[Solarius Scorch]

What I really hate about base defence are the slaves. In my main bases, I have thousands of slaves.

How on Earth???

None of my saves has more than 100 slaves, and I am trying to make as many as possible.

[Zesty]

Personally my only grave annoyance with Xpiratez is how often new bases seem to get attacked before I can reasonably set up to defend them. Like I start building on March 1st and then Apr 2nd an attack comes. If you didn't build living quarters immediately you're screwed, if you didn't send over soldiers/weapons immediately you're screwed, if you tried to hire new soldiers on Apr 1st then they haven't arrived yet and you're screwed, and fighting off base assaults early game when the map is only 2 or 3 rooms with 30+ enemies in it is a special kind of hell. Maybe I'm unlucky but it feels like an asshole RNG move that kills 1/3rd to 1/2 of my bases. If attacks on new/small bases could be toned down against it'd be nice.

[Mathel]

How on Earth???

None of my saves has more than 100 slaves, and I am trying to make as many as possible.

Lots and lots of captures, over a long time. Enemies surrendering really helps.
When I say slave, I mean any slave type, not just basic slaves.

My current save, on 6th March 2607 has in my first base:
101 Squires
448 Slaves
13 Slave Maids
98 Slave Lashers
50 Slave Gladiatrices
121 Slave Specialists
49 Slave Taskmasters
1 Slave Witch
94 Slave Halfwits
50 Uber Maids

Which, as it turns out is not thousands, just 1025. But it still is a lot.
In total, between all bases, I have 1766 slaves, perhaps 80% in the two assault bases.

[DarthTheIII]

Personally my only grave annoyance with Xpiratez is how often new bases seem to get attacked before I can reasonably set up to defend them. Like I start building on March 1st and then Apr 2nd an attack comes. If you didn't build living quarters immediately you're screwed, if you didn't send over soldiers/weapons immediately you're screwed, if you tried to hire new soldiers on Apr 1st then they haven't arrived yet and you're screwed, and fighting off base assaults early game when the map is only 2 or 3 rooms with 30+ enemies in it is a special kind of hell. Maybe I'm unlucky but it feels like an asshole RNG move that kills 1/3rd to 1/2 of my bases. If attacks on new/small bases could be toned down against it'd be nice.

I've been playing piratez for like 5 years or so, and most of my grief comes from trying to play "new" piratez like it was before sky ninjas got overhauled.  My old strategy was to throw up plantation bases asap, because a bunch of peaseants with shotguns was enough to defend against prety much any base defence for the first year or so.  Now that there's more "midgame" base defences I've swapped to maxing runts for early profit, and only get plantation bases rolling once I've got plenty of explosives.  For my next campagin I'm going to delay getting to Boss rank until flak cannons are up and see how it feels.  I do wish there was some sort of warning about not getting to boss rank before you are ready, something similar to the warning about messing with the narlocks.  That or making family ties a bit easier to get to would mostly fix my problem with the current government crackdown at boss rank thing.  In my last campaign I managed to reach boss rank like 8 months in, getting raided by governemnt elites with boom guns ended badly

[DarthTheIII]

Also what ship type do government crackdowns come in, is it ordinators?  And do base crackdown ships follow the crashing at half health rule?

[zombieguy223]

Also what ship type do government crackdowns come in, is it ordinators?  And do base crackdown ships follow the crashing at half health rule?

Govt crackdowns (Govt Enmity) use Ordinators for the base assault, yes.

My understanding of the mechanics is that when the ship is in final approach and engaged by the base defences, it must be fully destroyed (100% health depletion). Base defences cannot cause a ship to crashland, either they destroy it completely, or not at all. You can cause a crackdown ship to crashland if you shoot it down with interceptor craft before it reaches the base, then it will follow the 50% health crash rule.