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Written by DrMistry   
Thursday, 21 January 2010 12:08

A-ha!  Just a quick post - I've just nailed the last of the Code4 crashes, so now it's just the tutorial audio, trial tutoral and a few final minor tweaks.  In regard to the docking process - following some reviewer feedback, I'm going to set a condition that you're "not going too fast" when you want to dock, and from feedback on here there'll also be a "safe zone" around the stations where everyone's weapons (yours included) are disabled.  I'm thinking about a small tweak to the enemy ship behaviour to stop them zooshing by you so close that you can't rotate around and keep them in view - not a difficult thing to arrange but I think it will help combat be a little more manageable.

So, looks like today will be the last "major" day of coding.  Friday and all over the weekend we'll be testing both here and via the XNA club.  Next week we'll be off to peer review for release testing, and we'll see what happens from there!

Regards,
Mike
 

Comments  

 
+1 # Grimnirsson 2010-01-21 13:30
Good news Mike
 
 
+1 # Mike Bergenstjerna 2010-01-21 13:55
Yep, we're almost there :) Read a review of the game today (http://www.gamedot.co.uk) which was a little bit of a stinger, but he's quite right about the controls. Happily, the new control models are waaaaaay better...
 
 
+2 # Grimnirsson 2010-01-21 18:01
LOL, what's that? Just a 'well-I-don't-like-it-because-I-suck-a-bit-at-the-controls-and-CoDMW2-has-way-better-graphics-and-generally-I-don't-like-that-sort-of-space-games-and-never-played-Elite-anyway' essay for those who never played the game, or a review? Did I mention that I don't agree with almost anything said in that 'review'? No? Then let me say it: I don't know what game that guy played, apparently it was not Space Pirates.

Grim
 
 
+1 # Mike Bergenstjerna 2010-01-21 18:45
Hehehe that's excellent mate, thanks for making me laugh ;) Of course I can't seem arrogant and say that myself...I did wonder a bit about some of the things he said but hey, you stand up and someone's going to shoot at you. That's the life of the game developer!
 
 
+1 # Grimnirsson 2010-01-21 19:00
Ya know, so many folks out there are writing reviews and then you go play the game for yourself and start scratching your head like 'what's up? Did s/he really play the game?' Maybe that's the reason we started our own websites and reviews LOL
Don't lose any sleep over it Mike, what you are doing there is great, it's dedication, it's a game made by a gamer for gamers, it's wasting time on a [censored]in' GAME - and doing that is cool, simple as that. Many folks out there are waiting for Elite 4 it seems and it will be available on Xbox Live...
Everybody has the right to not like a game and say it, but that 'review' was neither accurate nor fair - it's like these folks who are giving me bad reputation for being aggressive...in CoD Modern Warfare 2 ('WTF? He's shooting back? That son of a bitch...'
 
 
+1 # Helen Hodson 2010-01-21 19:01
Great news about the Code 4 crashes - took you no time at all, really! ;p

Quite a harsh review I thought from gamedot.co.uk - there were a couple of things where I could see their point, but on others I thought they were way off the mark. And why the comparison with XBLA games, not XBLIG? Strange...

Anyway - great that you are almost there, can't wait for the new and improved SPfT :)
 
 
+1 # Hiimori 2010-01-21 19:24
Wow, the review was quite harsh. It's unfair to compare the game to Arcade games; if you had the etat and manpower of a Battlefield 1943 or Puzzle Quest Galactix or Shadow Complex, you could easily create the most stylish Sci-Fi-Trade-Sim-Space-Combat shooter out there. There's a reason why MS invented the Indie games section and reviews should honor the fact that games published in that section are exactly what the name indicates: created by INDEPENDENT developers (some more, some less ambitious). SP is certainly an outstanding game on the Indie market and I think it's the largest and most complex game in this field. I don't understand why the review author ignores this fact and whines about the controls and graphics - compared to Arcade games.

Btw, I like the Space Pirates graphics and I don't think the galaxy is vast and empty - as the author indicates. On the contrary, there are enough nebulas and other astronomical phenomenons to provide for an authentic space feeling.
 
 
+1 # Mike Bergenstjerna 2010-01-22 01:50
Yea the thing about space being "empty" kind of threw me to be honest. There are better than 25,000 particles in each star system! I think people just don't know where to "put" the game - it's not a casual game, or an arcade game, or something like a platformer which people can "get hold of" from the first second. I personally think gamers are smart enough to get to grips with Space Pirates - as you guys have prooved! We're not really going to sell that many games since we won't be able to return to the "new releases" list on the dash, but there are a lot of reviewers waiting for Version 2 to write their articles so we have some hopes of reasonable sales :)
 
 
0 # Evan 2010-01-22 12:20
Yay! Now I get to use missiles

That sucks that you won't be able to go back in to the "new arrivals" tab on the service. That's how I find out about games. Maybe you can get to the "top rated" tab though. It really is an ambitious Indie game. And if only the niche players, who seek it out, are the ones downloading it, your ratings will skew high.

And yeah, it's a weird game to categorize. It's casual, and yet it's not. It's a really big complicated casual game. Arcadey space sim.

And space is definitely NOT empty. I would almost say it's too full, but I think the density lends itself to the style of gameplay. I mean, I can't think of a space game with more dense space. So, what is that guy drawing his comparison from?
 
 
0 # Mike Bergenstjerna 2010-01-22 14:05
:) You guys always give me a lift, you're the greatest fans in the universe! Almost ready to go to peer review - A weekend of saturation testing and we should be good to go. The XNA guys have been really supportive so we *might* get through for the end of next week but I'd rather we take our time and get a real testing workout than skip on fast and have more problems.
 
 
0 # Slade 2010-01-25 06:20
i been playing it since i bought it and its fun as hell even with the crashing and crazy ability to sell food fer a few hundred thou XD i cant wait to see it when its runnin nice and smooth
 

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