Hey guys,
the idea behind crusade is great!
BUT...
you really should have used at least the founders for beta testing. There are lots of bugs already reported in other threads. I´d like to point out some problems I encountered from the view of a modder. Fact is, you guys provided us mainly with a plattform to make our own custom game. It was a bit work with xml coding but it was ok. We where able to mod nearly everything. So when crusade was anounced with all his tools to make your own races with shipstyles easier, I was really happy about it. Then I saw what we got. A halfdone, broken, useless tool. If you try to make your own shipstyle, its not possible. You can do it for a custom race, but you dont get an xml file on its own for a stand allone shipstyle. Also, there is no way to choose your preview ship. Its allways the one you had chosen from the list when you start building your race. I thought your tool would make it easier for me to create shipstyles but in fact its useless. I still have to do it the old way by editing xml files. So why is it a problem for me? Why not to use the tool? Beacause if you want to change starbases and shipyards, you are limited to the in game stuff. AND when you look at the special ships, (like carriers, support, survey, scout) you find out, there is only one ship to choose. For a carrier you can only choose a cargo ship for the drone carrier. So ALL of your carriers are called drone carrier or whatever you name them and have the same cargo template look. Same for support. ALL my support ships are beam support, no matter what they equipped. Its just annoying!
There should be a funktion in the shipdesigner to create shipstyles!
I even tried to get my own race running in crusade and had to realize, that I cant use the pictures I used to portrait them earlier, because the lines
<LeaderImageFG>MAC_FG.png</LeaderImageFG>
<LeaderImageBG>MAC_BG.png</LeaderImageBG>
are no longer valid. The same for the starting ships. They simply dont show up on start. Its bad if its a key feature of your race.
The Techtree in the game needs either a zoomout function or it should be scaled down. Its impossible to get an overview. I have to scroll around, fore and back to be able to compare techs or equipment. By the way, a general overview on techs you can get from different traits would be nice. My first impression of the game is that all the races have the same techs. With only one or two exceptions. The different and uniqe techtrees made the races uniqe. Now it feels like only the names have changed.
And last but not least, what is the point in equipment like the prototype Antimatter Missile? All weapons are using some resources now and its not even better then other missile launcher. For comparsion;
Sparrow (available before prototype) Antimatter cost 1 Mass 5.4 Damage 2 Threat 0.3
Prototype Antimatter Missile Antimatter cost 2 Mass 4.8 Damage 2 Threat 1.5
Harpoon (same tech as prototype) Antimatter cost 1 Mass 5.1 Damage 4 Threat 0.9
That doesnt make sense.
