Eternal Silence Impressions

[smokeythebear]

Say what you thought about the just released mod here...

For me it was pretty good except for some game destroying lag. Ill just sum up what I thought in a list.

PROS:
+amazing inf weapons that were pretty unexpected (remote control deployable guns, the flamethrower is great and the ion cannon was fun too)
+A lot of detail in the ships and interiors
+good gameplay concepts
+space combat works really well
+tons of little features(weapon melee, target selection, alt fire modes)
CONS:
-Most servers have lag issues that make this great game unplayable
-invading enemy ships needs to be smoother (land and take off "triggers" so its on autopilot maybe?? ships crashing around in the hangar seem to cause lag)
-needs an inf only map so I can try out all the guns

 

[Death.Trap]

I noticed that when you fly against like, the cruiser you lag like hell till you get your ship completely out of it. Its pretty annoying.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Yep I noticed that too

 

[Acepilotf14]

Ugh.. It was so dissapointing...

 

[smokeythebear]

I think the main problem was they tried to fit in so much stuff without making the core gameplay smooth...sure napalm is great but if the server crashes who cares

 

[theroadtonowhere]

looked really cool
wasn't really cool
gay

 

[hungryduck]

hopefully once they work all the kinks about, it will get a lot better.

 

[Mr. Ed]

I had a couple of really good rounds yesterday with about 12 people on the server and it was pretty fun. Other than the glitches already mentioned, the one thing I found a little annoying was how wide open the red hanger is. It's way too easy to defend. I found that half my team would be invading the blue base and the rest would just be in the hanger and slaughtering anything that came through. With the blue base a lot of the time there's ships sitting in there for you to hide behind and you stand a better chance of getting through. That was my experience anyway.

 

[MultiVaC]

The lag really kills it. I couldn't even play, people were warping around like crazy. Other problems I noticed were an irritating chat bug that made messages appear twice, and at one point a gigantic thing appeared in our hangar, apparently it's possible for some moron to fly inside the 3D skybox. I didn't really get to try out the game, the lag in the servers I played in stopped the show. Everything looked great and it was fun to fly the ships, but it was so unplayable that many people won't come back unless they fix it soon. Like it or not, this mod community is not forgiving.

 

[Beerdude26]

On servers without lag, it's pretty fun. But you still need people who can actually fly the ships into the enemy hangar and take it over. And that's where the gameplay stopped for me.

 

[Shinobi]

you guys have to remember this is just the first release.. look at all the MMORPGS that had lag issues when they came out and that was done by a team with a budget and really powerful servers..

releasing a beta like this is the only real way to do an accurate stress test.. I'm sure in the future those issues will be resolved

as for me I agree that docking the enemy's ship needs to be a bit easier

 

[smwScott]

It's pretty cool. The server I played on didn't have much lag, but I did get catapulted into the skybox once. The biggest problem was that no one knew how to play, including me. The furthest I got was managing to smash the ship into the enemies hangar at full speed, then getting shot up trying to figure out how to get out. I got the space combat aspect of it halfway down though, pretty simple but still fun. I imagine the game will get a lot better once there's more people playing.

 

[Mr. Ed]

There was an odd bug in a game I just had where everyone spawned in the wrong base. It was kinda weird. That red base is just way too easy to defend though, I don't think I've seen a team take it yet.

 

[MultiVaC]

Ok, so I finally played on a server without lag and it was pretty fun. The biggest gameplay flaw I noticed is that there's nothing stopping people from getting in ships and flying around shooting other ships until they die, and repeating the process the entire time. I was on a 20 person server and most of the time there wes 1 guy one each team attacking the enemy ship, 3 camping in the hangars and the rest fighting in space. There needs to be something to make people want capture the spawn points. People will always do what's the most fun, and right now that means dogfighting.

 

[Lucid]

Ok, so I finally played on a server without lag and it was pretty fun. The biggest gameplay flaw I noticed is that there's nothing stopping people from getting in ships and flying around shooting other ships until they die, and repeating the process the entire time. I was on a 20 person server and most of the time there wes 1 guy one each team attacking the enemy ship, 3 camping in the hangars and the rest fighting in space. There needs to be something to make people want capture the spawn points. People will always do what's the most fun, and right now that means dogfighting.

Yeah, it's pretty irritating.

Two or three people are doing all the work of capping spawns, while everyone else is dogfighting. D:

 

[Betelgeuze]

Its amazing for a first release! Play on a server with no lag and its fun as hell. Also this is new for everyone, but some people are getting used to this mod and are getting pretty good at it too. Only a couple of days after the release people start playing mods the way they should.

 

[venturon]

There are a bunch of Australian servers up that are relatively lag-free and playing is just a blast. Obviously the mod needs work, but for the first release it's very good.

 

[Mr. Ed]

There are a bunch of Australian servers up that are relatively lag-free and playing is just a blast. Obviously the mod needs work, but for the first release it's very good.

Yeah, I haven't really had a lagged match on the aussie servers yet, but I also haven't had a match with more than 16 players.

 

[Gordon-Shepherd]

I havent really lagged at all.. space combat needs to be worked on, but I cant put my finger as to why..

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Yeah, I haven't really had a lagged match on the aussie servers yet, but I also haven't had a match with more than 16 players.

That's because it only starts lagging once you start getting over 16 players.

Just a note, we should have a patch either this week or hopefully the next week at the very latest to address the lag.

It was just an oversight on our part to not include a Network LOD, and we have that in, so we should have a relatively lag-free mod once the patch is out

 

[NeonSpyder]

All in all, the mod is a blast to play. I have lots of nice things to say, but a few qualms as well.

The absolutely best feature of the mod is the dogfighting. When it doesn't lag, spacefighting is crazy-hectic, upsidedown-spin-it-around nightmare of missiles and colourful plasma-type death. Just the way I like it.

The spacefighting is very smooth when it's not lagging, and it's really my favourite part.

The reason that I'm not so inclined to the infantry combat is because it still feels a little... 'funny' to me. It's just a bit more arcade-y then what I expected... I was expecting a bit more of the slow-ish tactical movement akin to Battlefield, compared to what felt a bit more like AVP... but faster. That's just the way it 'feels'.

I think the variety of weapons and their usage is very cool though, flamethrower, grenade launcher, railgun etc etc. Maybe not 'unique' but fun classics anyway, and used in a pretty novel way (remote railgun comes to mind).

In my limited experience, the Machinegun feels WAY overpowered compared to say, the tankbuster. Though that might just be because I'm not using the other guns properly.

Anywho, all I really wanted to say is that I really like the mod, and I really like where it's going to end up, (more maps, more ships(?), more balancing of guns and... stuff... )

Regardless it's really fun to dogfight!

 

[Mr. Ed]

I was expecting a bit more of the slow-ish tactical movement akin to Battlefield, compared to what felt a bit more like AVP... but faster. That's just the way it 'feels'.

I agree with that, it feels kinda like a deathmatch in the bases sometimes. That said, I've had a few well coordinated assaults and they've gone down a treat. I'm dying for this week to be over so I can get back into this fantastic mod, stupid work.

 

[Kebean PFC]

What I lamented the lack of was a large, slow ship that carries like, 8 guys. Becuase flying the fighter and ditching it inside the enemy ship just feels wrong. I'd also like the hangar forcefeilds turned off. It is annoying not to be able to shoot a ship as long as it darts in and out of the forcefeild.

What would also be cool is a ship with a back seat position that can fire a missle that has X amount of fuel and is controlled by the player. Also a place where you can dock to be re-armed.

I was flying (I have SAitek X-52 controllers) and I ran out of ammo and the only way to get a resupply was to ditch the plane.

My thoughts,

 

[Crispy]

No mods are perfect first time round. If the core gameplay is good and the team set themselves realistic and frequent release targets, the niggling aspects can be ironed out. Even if people are put off by their first impressions they'll return if word spreads that the mod is fun to play, its down to the ES community and mostly its dev team to keep at it and not give up. I for one would hate to see ES fall by the wayside when it has so much potential.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

About multi-person ships: They will come, but not anytime soon unfortunately.

About reloading ammo: It's going to be in an upcoming patch (I would guess October-ish)... You will be able to fly near a friendly capship and it should give you ammo and health.

I also agree that I want the infantry fighting to feel more tactical. This is just my personal opinion though. Unfortunately, we have a lot bigger fish to fry, and this will have to be put on the backburner because the infantry as of now still work, just not as nicely as we want them.

Anyways, new maps are of course in progress (we just wanted to focus on this one release map rather than have 3 half-assed piece of junk maps). One of them that has me excited is a Destroyer vs Destroyer map.

To give you an idea of how awesome it will be, right now the current map has a Frigate in it, the smallest of the ships and is about 350m long. Destroyers have two hangers and are ~500-550m long! Thus, that one map will have four hangers total. It should be frickin intense.

Obviously though, we won't put any of those space-heavy maps until all of the lag is fixed (should be within a few days, maybe two weeks at the very very very latest).

 

[MultiVaC]

I also agree that I want the infantry fighting to feel more tactical. This is just my personal opinion though. Unfortunately, we have a lot bigger fish to fry, and this will have to be put on the backburner because the infantry as of now still work, just not as nicely as we want them.

I think the infantry is one of the most pressing problems, besides major technical problems like the lag. It's probably as simple as lowering run speed and increasing weapon damage a lot overall. One clip from the SMG or Tank Buster doesn't seem to kill someone, making the MG extremely dominant. Maybe I'm just missing, but I can't tell. There desperately needs to be some way of knowing if you're hitting someone, at least some blood. Those three simple things would make infantry combat on par with other mods. Infantry is half the game, and right now it's not really fun. That should make it a pretty high priority.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Well I have the patch notes actually for our first patch in front of me, and reducing infantry running speed is on the list, as well as tweaks to the MG.

Will it be enough to make Infantry as fun as space? We'll have to see... We're just taking baby steps

Also, for those of you who were worried about the flamethrower being an uber weapon on Aethra, then don't worry anymore! We're adding a small addition to Aethra (the "core"... Look in our screenshot galleries for pics of it actually) that should help ease this problem.

 

[MultiVaC]

That's good to know. It would be quite a feat to have infantry as fun as space and I think that will take a while, not because ES infantry gameplay lacks potiential, but because the space portion is outstanding.

 

[Crispy]

Personally I wouldn't get bogged down with fiddling about with the infantry weapons at this early stage, I'd concentrate instead on perfecting the flight model and minimising the lag issues. The space flight and combat is what makes your mod different so you should get that working as best is possible and only worry about fixing the game-breakers as far as the infantry combat is concerned. When people describe your mod it's not gonna be talking about the infantry combat, it's gonna be: "You know, the one where you get to fly ships in space on the Source engine!!!"

By all means you could try to put your team to work on solving as much as possible all at once but imo that'd just bog you down when what you want is clear cut, noticeable results, release after release. If people know you're releasing often you'll gain a lot of credibility and people will be more likely to stick with ES because they know its being fine-tuned and its worth caring about.

 

[NeonSpyder]

I just have to say some more things, because I'm very excited by the game, and I really can't wait until it gets older, bigger and better.

First I wanted to mention about the Destroyer Vs Destroyer map. It sounds awesome! I think everyone is looking forward to REALLY big ship-to-ship combat... and I was wondering Iced_Eagle, just how big are these ships going to get? Using the current frigate -> destroyer size increase as a base. Are you guys going to be setting up Carrier Vs Carrier maps? aaand say, Carrier VS 4-frigates.. and all sorts of iterations like that? What I'm trying to say is "How Big?"

Another point I wanted to make about that Destroyer VS Destroyer map, (and all maps in general) that as fun as space combat is, the only thing that could make space combat better is... space combat in an asteroid field! or a debris field of a ruined capital ship! Maaaybe 1-2 frigates vs 1-2 frigates fighting in the debris field of a big capital ship, like an "after the big battle cleanup" sort of thing.

I'm also looking forward to a troop-transport ship, and LOTS MORE FIGHTERS! I really hope you guys are planning on including more ships, I mean, as cool as the combat currently is, more ships can only make it better, heh. I like the differences between the Interceptor and the Heavy fighter already.... the interceptor is fast, manouverable and a bit flimsy, but it hits hard! good guns and lots of missiles... compared to the heavy fighter which is... still really fun.

The space combat really is the selling point of this mod. It is FUN, plain and simple. (Addictive even)

I think that eventually the infantry combat will correct itself into something really fun as time goes on. At the moment it feels a bit 'hit and miss' to me... overpowered guns (MG) or underpowered ones (everything else )... but the potential is there, I think it just needs tweaking and playtesting and whatnot.

All in all, it's really fun to play, and that's what counts. But that's not going to stop me from wanting to see it turn into something REALLY great.

 

[Kebean PFC]

Oh and one more thing:

Makeing the capital ship's guns "die" permanently. I think it should be set up so that a human can man the guns of a capital ship if they want, and the AI can do it at other times. But more importantly, increase the HP of the turret, but make it so that once they "die" they are out until say, an engineer can repair them.

Ohh, and manbe give the engineer class a spacesuit so they can walk on the surfaces of ships and fix them... that would be really cool.

I also like the idea of fighting through the debris of a ship, but only if a fighter takes damage from hitting something. Currently, it would just flip you around, but cause no damage, and it would be kinda pointless, becuase you lag incredibly when you hit something.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Just a note that it's currently on the board to let players take control of turrets eventually. Just not right now

Patch should be coming out very very very soon. It just needs to be tested and then we can get it out the door.

 

[Crispy]

Make sure you test it thoroughly, though. You've still got a bit of leeway before the novelty wears off and people are switched off for good, so use that time wisely to make the next patch work as well as possible.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Crispy - stating the obvious since 1969

 

[Pax]

Make sure you test it thoroughly, though. You've still got a bit of leeway before the novelty wears off and people are switched off for good, so use that time wisely to make the next patch work as well as possible.

Paragraph 1:34, Crispy's book of mod salvation.

Available to "quality" bookstores near YOU soon!

- Pax

 

[Asknoone]

Make sure you test it thoroughly, though. You've still got a bit of leeway before the novelty wears off and people are switched off for good, so use that time wisely to make the next patch work as well as possible.

Like, no wai.

 

[Crispy]

Like, no wai.

Ever play Natural Selection 1.04? My hope beyond hope is that when I say things like this people are incredibly patronised and that I do get sarcastic comments like "No wai!", etc. because I never want to see a 1.04-a-like again in my life (no Pax that isn't an invite )

 

[Zunni]

What was wrong with 1.04? It served the NS community fantastically til 2.0 came out. 1.03 had some issues, but 1.04 was pretty solid.

 

[Insano]

1.04 raped Crispy's mother and killed his father.