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Thread: So this is what we all waited for?
Broog
Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:29 am
#14
Just read some of the other posts (written while I was writing mine). I will stick with it mainly because I just bought it and I am paid for the next 3 months lol.
I would like to know what gets better down the road though. I hear a lot of people running something called "duty" missions. Is that the same deal as these pilot trainer missions where I have to be on the ground to get the mission, load into space, fly around aimlessly, fight for like 2 minutes, then go back home?
This week I also purchased GTA:San Andreas. So far I have not warmed up to it as much as Vice City which had me rolling from the get-go. This one is still fun but I have not seen as much stuff to do other than the missions (yes eating and haircuts and buying diff clothes and working out is nice, but nothing compares to when I first bought Vice City and just jacked everyone left and right then found some Rampage icons now THAT was fun) but I know as the game goes on it will come.
Now when you first turn on GTA there is a bit of loading time maybe 1-2 minutes or so lets say... and then you play. And in 90 minutes of playing GTA I will get 88 minutes of fun playtime. In 90 minutes of JTL last night I got about 10 minutes of fun playtime because a lot of it was flying (slowly) to nav points far away, lag, and loading time.
I understand they are different games and that JTL is a persistent world and an online game and it will never be as fast paced as a standalone, non-online video game. I just have a hard time with my limited play time sitting in front of the monitor watching lag and loading screens.
Hopefully it does get better I just dont know if I have the patience to spend hours on end to get to the upper-tier JTL.
winddrake
Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:36 am
#15
Broog I would highly recommend just fixing your PC. It sounds like your biggest problem is really your computer being too slow. Adding a faster cpu and more memory works wonders.
GarricSinclair
Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:38 am
#16
Broog, I can relate to your problem as I had a very similar intiial experience in beta, but take this from me: it will improve, quickly.
I get the impression you're a novice Alliance Pilot, that means you're already certified for a new Z-95 - get a crafted one, and stick some looted or customised engines in it - you'll definitely notice a distance. Persevere with the first few missions to get your skill box (doesn't take too long when you get used to it) and start doing duty missions, which is basically an endlessly looping mission in space so you can fight for as long as you like until you're destroyed or you cap out on xp and have to go back to train/repair etc. That should answer your "30 minutes of waiting, 2 minutes of fighting" issue.
Broog
Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:39 am
#17
winddrake wrote:
Broog I would highly recommend just fixing your PC. It sounds like your biggest problem is really your computer being too slow. Adding a faster cpu and more memory works wonders.
Thanks winddrake. I have been putting off buying a brand new PC for a bit now and probably in a month or two I am going to get a new machine, so I am sure that will fix my loading time/lag problems right up.
I am glad to hear there is that continuous mission type of thing that sounds cool. I enjoyed being in Space I just hated having to go back to ground all the time. If I can just fight until my ship is hanging together by a thread that will make me happy.
Broog
Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:40 am
#18
GarricSinclair wrote:
Broog, I can relate to your problem as I had a very similar intiial experience in beta, but take this from me: it will improve, quickly.
I get the impression you're a novice Alliance Pilot, that means you're already certified for a new Z-95 - get a crafted one, and stick some looted or customised engines in it - you'll definitely notice a distance. Persevere with the first few missions to get your skill box (doesn't take too long when you get used to it) and start doing duty missions, which is basically an endlessly looping mission in space so you can fight for as long as you like until you're destroyed or you cap out on xp and have to go back to train/repair etc. That should answer your "30 minutes of waiting, 2 minutes of fighting" issue.
Awesome I will! Thanks for the advice.
jassi007
Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:41 am
#19
from what I understand, you can just launch into space and blast baddies. You get xp and loot, but it won't help you advance through the pilot tier because advancement is tied to missions. So yes, you can launch it to space and just tool around. If you want a hyperdrive, you have to ditch that noob ship and buy a player made chasis. I'm picking up JTL today but I already picked up my novice ship player made chasis so I can use loot and a hyperdrive when I want. I'll get the noob ship so I have something with guns until I get my first loot pieces. Also if you have the yacht, just check space out with it. Nothing can shoot you, so feel fee to drive right up to a TIE fighter and go "nyah nyah-nyah nyah!" 
RozhlokLightningskull
Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:50 am
#20
Its not fair to compare this game to the X-Wing series. Its not that. Get that out of your head. This doesn't come from ANY developers who even worked on that project. Most of the space sim guys that worked on JTL were from Wing Commander.
In the X-Wing series a TIE was a TIE and an X-Wing was an X-Wing. They were all the same. Here there is a huge difference between a Tier I and II TIE and a Teir IV TIE. There's a huge difference between a starter ship weapon capicator (determines re-fire rate) and a Mark IV capicator.
You're in the starter missions now, with a starter ship. Consider it the tutorial. Everything is in slow motion. Its to help get folks who haven't been playing the X-Wing series and other space-sims for the past 12 years a feeling for how this type of game works.
Things to look foward to: customizing your ship. Getting better and badder equipment. Collecting and using the astromech commands (this will allow you to distribute power to your ship's systems like engine, weapons, shields and reactor) much like you could do from the get go in the X-Wing series.
I flew through the first four missions on my lunch break (out of Moeina), which is about an hour. From there I can run duty missions until I'm 1111 and ready to move to the second tier. Duty missions are never ending missions where you can just keep on going without going back to the ground to get more. For example the destroy mission will give you a waypoint. When you reach the waypoint a couple waves of TIEs will spawn. You destroy them all and you get another waypoint. You keep on going until you say you are done.
My advice: give it time. Get used to how the system works. Its different from the X-Wing series and the mechanics don't even fit into what we know from SWG, so its confusing. I think we are so used to the devs making things "not fun" that we get confused when they actually do make something fun and challenging.
Taram_Polluck
Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:55 am
#21
You are in a STARTER ship. The STARTER ships SUCK. Get off yer but, fork out some cash, and buy yourself a Z95 chassis from a Master Shipwright (get a 10k mass one or you'll regret it). Get said shipwrite to make you weapons, etc too or you won't be able to go anywhere.
Then go in space and you'll see a HUGE difference.
Did I mention that you're in a STARTER ship?
There are several things that make ships better:
Engines:
Note: just buying an engine doesn't mean the ship will perform. One of the REALLY cool things about the way they implemented the ships in this game is that you can tweak the hell out of certain features. You can fly a rocket that steers like a drag racer or you can get a performance ship that turns on a dime but doesn't accellerate very fast. Or you can get one that goes 0-60 in 1.6 seconds, steers like a dream but doesn't break 390mps. It all depends on what YOU are comfortable with. Engines are customizeable down to the smallest detail on control and it takes a lil while to figure out what works best for you.
Be patient, get OUT of that starter ship, and go have fun. Even a Z95 player made is better than the starter (but remember what I said about making sure it's got 10k mass or you won't have room for all the equipment you'll need).
Then go in space and you'll see a HUGE difference.
Did I mention that you're in a STARTER ship?
There are several things that make ships better:
Engines:
Note: just buying an engine doesn't mean the ship will perform. One of the REALLY cool things about the way they implemented the ships in this game is that you can tweak the hell out of certain features. You can fly a rocket that steers like a drag racer or you can get a performance ship that turns on a dime but doesn't accellerate very fast. Or you can get one that goes 0-60 in 1.6 seconds, steers like a dream but doesn't break 390mps. It all depends on what YOU are comfortable with. Engines are customizeable down to the smallest detail on control and it takes a lil while to figure out what works best for you.
Be patient, get OUT of that starter ship, and go have fun. Even a Z95 player made is better than the starter (but remember what I said about making sure it's got 10k mass or you won't have room for all the equipment you'll need).
Message Edited by Taram_Polluck on 10-29-2004 11:03 AM
Broog
Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:57 am
#22
RozhlokLightningskull wrote:
Its not fair to compare this game to the X-Wing series. Its not that. Get that out of your head. This doesn't come from ANY developers who even worked on that project. Most of the space sim guys that worked on JTL were from Wing Commander.
In the X-Wing series a TIE was a TIE and an X-Wing was an X-Wing. They were all the same. Here there is a huge difference between a Tier I and II TIE and a Teir IV TIE. There's a huge difference between a starter ship weapon capicator (determines re-fire rate) and a Mark IV capicator.
You're in the starter missions now, with a starter ship. Consider it the tutorial. Everything is in slow motion. Its to help get folks who haven't been playing the X-Wing series and other space-sims for the past 12 years a feeling for how this type of game works.
Things to look foward to: customizing your ship. Getting better and badder equipment. Collecting and using the astromech commands (this will allow you to distribute power to your ship's systems like engine, weapons, shields and reactor) much like you could do from the get go in the X-Wing series.
I flew through the first four missions on my lunch break (out of Moeina), which is about an hour. From there I can run duty missions until I'm 1111 and ready to move to the second tier. Duty missions are never ending missions where you can just keep on going without going back to the ground to get more. For example the destroy mission will give you a waypoint. When you reach the waypoint a couple waves of TIEs will spawn. You destroy them all and you get another waypoint. You keep on going until you say you are done.
My advice: give it time. Get used to how the system works. Its different from the X-Wing series and the mechanics don't even fit into what we know from SWG, so its confusing. I think we are so used to the devs making things "not fun" that we get confused when they actually do make something fun and challenging.
Thanks for the advice, Roz. I do have to say I feel a lot better about JTL after reading the constructive replies in this thread. I was pretty disgusted last night when I logged out. I am looking forward to playing a little tonight. Now if I can just get my sound to work properly I will be all set.
Sewoo
Fri Oct 29, 2004 8:08 am
#23
Lag is not an issue at all for me. I'm having fun playing, I think it's a great game. This is a HUGE step forward forthe game.
Believe me, I am the first person to offer desenting opinon to the devs. I was on their case all during Beta (who knows if they read any of them). They really, really did everything they could to give us (the testers) our due. They listened, made A LOT of changes and pushed out a much, much more solid product than the ground game, when it released.
It's not a flame bro, but your rig is the source of most of your ill. Games take bleeding edge systems to run. Systems that are updated regularly with new hardware. High Quality gaming costs a lot of money and is a contant black hole that you throw money at - if you want to play the games as they appear on the box.
I have written before of "lag" versus "framerate". Lag is when you click the attack button and a few seconds pass before your on screen avatar does anything. Framerate is the slow down most people complain about. Frame rate can appear as lag on your machine because your computer is choking trying to try the scene you are looking at and can actually be a bit behind on drawing what is actually happening in real time. If you want to play the game in all it's glory you have to have top of the line specs - and the cash to pay for it all.
I have a AMD 3.2 64, 1 gig 800 mhz ram, SATA RAID array, SB Audigy ZS and a ATI Radeon 9800 XT (256 MB) and I still have to turn down some options to get the framerate I want.
Lag versus framerate.
RozhlokLightningskull
Fri Oct 29, 2004 8:45 am
#24
About your rig:
You don't need a state of the art system like the guy above has to run SWG at a good clip. My machine at home is good (not top of the line, anymore). But, for the most part my computer here at work is crap. Athlon 800, GeForce4 MX-440 /w 64MB of RAM, but, the game is more than playable since I upgraded from 512MB to 768MB of RAM. That extra 256MB made a huge difference on my machine here at work. Memory is pretty cheap looking into upgrading to 1 GB of RAM and you should be going a lot smoother. That's the most bang for you buck, IMO, for SWG.
BigRay
Fri Oct 29, 2004 8:57 am
#25
Broog wrote:
BigRay: People like you really need to go away. This forum is for JTL discussion, which is exactly what I was doing with my post. I am not trying to tell people not to buy the game but I am discussing my experience and frustrations with it. In part I am hoping maybe to get some advice to make the game more enjoyable (maybe there is some way to get missions without docking that I dont know, for example), and in part I was critiquing the expansion. Your comments of "no one is holding you here" is foolish and serves no purpose. As I had already stated I am paid through January 2005. If my subscription ended in 2 weeks then yes I would cancel.
No
What needs to go away is people that whine because the game doesn't play the way they want it to play. Got a problem with your sound? That's a valid complaint. Don't like the design decisions in the game? That's your problem and as I clearly mentioned earlier, if you don't like it nobody's begging you to stay.
Aeleon_DinTaal
Fri Oct 29, 2004 8:57 am
#26
"There is no point to trying to outmaneuver someone on your tail because you simply can't." I can break tier 2's in my starter ship and tier 3's in my upgraded Z-95. Maybethe combatisn't assimple as you though, hmm?