The Drunken Lizard Pub

quasimodo wrote:Let me know what the combat controls are like. If you have to control movement/camera with one hand and hit multiple buttons quickly with the other hand its not a game for me.

blatherbeard wrote:oK, im pretty sure im hooked.

complex but not hard, simple but not easy.

Once i got hang of the controls to fire an fly, i was on a rampage. now that i know i need to equip weapons, im good LOL

so far, fun factor is high, learning curve is high but not retarded high.

You can move your ship by pointing and clicking (and holding) as well. When you hold down the mouse button, your thrusters turn on and your ship starts moving in the direction of your cursor. Releasing the left mouse button shuts off the thrusters and your ship stops.

Alternatively, you can go to Game Options and turn on the "Thruster Cursor" option. When it's on, toggling on the thrusters with the W key makes the ship always move in the direction of your mouse cursor without you needing to hold down the mouse button. If you left click while in this mode, it automatically shuts off the thrusters by default but there's an option to change that too if desired. This is how I like to play. You can still use the A and D keys while the thrusters are off in this mode to pivot your ship while stationary or to make sharper turns.

When attacking, the skill keys will automatically aim at a valid targest nearest to your mouse cursor so like Bluddy said, most battles will involve hitting the 1 key. If you hold down the skill key, it will keep shooting for you until the target is down but you need to hit the skill key again to attack a new target.

quasimodo wrote:Thanks DL that was exactly what I needed to know. It sounds like I might be able to handle the movement/combat so I will give it a try.

Dragonlady wrote:And BW, I'm not pimping someone else game. I'm just passing time till YOUR game comes out.

Dragonlady wrote:..update.
Drox Operative is out of Beta and now complete game is done. Of course tweaking here and there continues as players find or complain about things.
Demo available. Forum is full of enthusiastic players/new comers.
here's a link: http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/Overview.html

IJBall wrote:

Dragonlady wrote:..update.
Drox Operative is out of Beta and now complete game is done. Of course tweaking here and there continues as players find or complain about things.
Demo available. Forum is full of enthusiastic players/new comers.
here's a link: http://www.soldak.com/Drox-Operative/Overview.html

Question to anyone who knows:

How does this game compare to Ambrosia's Escape Velocity series?

I'd be interested in picking up a new game in the vein of the EV series, but when I glanced at the Drox Op. page at Soldak, it looked pretty dissimilar so I decided not to give it a whirl (at least not until I have a lot more free-time).

So, is it a lot like Escape Velocity? Or not so much?...

(P.S. I wish Ambrosia would take up the EV series again, and take it to the next level... )

IJBall wrote:]
Question to anyone who knows:

How does this game compare to Ambrosia's Escape Velocity series?

I'd be interested in picking up a new game in the vein of the EV series, but when I glanced at the Drox Op. page at Soldak, it looked pretty dissimilar so I decided not to give it a whirl (at least not until I have a lot more free-time).

So, is it a lot like Escape Velocity? Or not so much?...

(P.S. I wish Ambrosia would take up the EV series again, and take it to the next level... )

They're quite different, there's only a few key resemblances:

* Combat is action-based
* Top down, 360-degree free-scrolling perspective
* Space is divided into solar systems that you can freely travel between.
* You can trade equipment with credits at friendly planets.

But that's pretty much it. Escape Velocity's entire focus is different. You basically start up a new character, get involved in some prefabricated quest line, and see it through to completion while upgrading your ship (even changing ship chassis) and equipment. Then, start a new character to find other quest lines. Planet ownership does not change hands. There's no diplomacy interface between races so no need for rumor mongering. Planets don't have a true economy so no point in sabotaging them. There's some semblance of dynamic quests, but they're much simpler: take cargo x to random planet y, move a passenger, destroy a ship, ect. No significant quest consequences because there's no 4X game trappings at all. Escape Velocity has a commodity trading system as one way to make money, like a standard Elite clone.

Dragonlady wrote:Not many remember Escape Velocity over on the other forum but finally got an answer. Hope it helps.

quasimodo wrote:Let me know what the combat controls are like. If you have to control movement/camera with one hand and hit multiple buttons quickly with the other hand its not a game for me.