Star Fleet 2010

As some people may or may not know Swords of the Stars II (for those who don’t know what II means, Swords of the Stars 2) was released today.. or was it?

I had the preorder on steam and at 10am AUEDT I got up installed the game.. only to realise it was not the ‘final’ version.. things where obviously missing, the launcher options screen defaulted to wacky screen sizes.. when you got into the game.. it ran like a dog with it’s menu screens.. and worse whole sections of those menu’s appeared.. missing, the Options screen.. didn’t work, the game ignores if you tell it to go full screen at start up.. so I went hunting online and at first could find nothing.. Kerberos the games producer appears to have a ‘problem’ with their website and forums where ‘technical’ support happens.. surprise surprise..

Eventually though after lots of swearing, I find out through Paradox’s site and twitter that.. Kerberos sent the wrong build to steam.. and it’s being fixed..

6 Hrs later a patch finally comes up on steam.. a hefty 3.9 GIG patch..

Alright I’m thinking Finally the ‘real’ game..

I open it up.. the Build Number looks the same.. I close it out.. I delete I reinstall.. the build number loos the same.. I go in.. again it ignores that i’ve told it to run FULL screen.. .. I wait for the fancy Cinematic intro.. there is none.. i watch as the inital load screen gives me some .. weird sound and then takes me into a extremly laggy main menu.. that seems to load 20x’s worse then the previous ‘beta’ release that wasn’t meant to be released.. I go to check the options…. I can’t.. it’s greyed out, I go to start a new game.. and click the Senario’s tab.. only it won’t work..

I get into the game.. and there are No tooltips.. nothing..

Does this review seem to be repeating itself? Because honestly for what was one of the longest awaited 4X games of the year.. Kerberos, Paradox and Steam deserve to be shot right now, it is CLEAR as DAY to any one who has looked at the game that is in customers hands that it is NOT completed, it’s a beta version being flogged off to customers for… $40USD, that’s right we have paid $40 USD for beta software..

And the responce from the Dev’s and the rest.. nothing..

Oh i can hear you now.. ‘get a refund if it sucks so bad’..

There is a problem there too.. that’s right.. STEAM, steam does NOT refund it’s products.. you brought it.. your stuck with it.. even if it’s.. SHIT.

Worst I’ve been looking forward to this game since it was announced.. but as it stands right now.. DO NOT BUY IT. Honsetly, I’m running a GT420 on windows 7 64 bit premium and 4 gig of ram Core i3 and it just is NOT playable..

So for a release day review.. I’m going to say:

Mars Engine 2 – Great visuals..
Playable – NOT.
Finished – NOT.
Overall Score – What the Hell where they thinking?

That’s right, Obsidian have lost my patronage and my money.. why? Because they took what should and could have been a great game and fucked it worse then they fucked even Neverwinter Nights up at the start.

I could forgive them for the complete change in game style with Dungeon Siege.. i could forgive them for the clunky clicking controls that feel like they where ported directly from a console.. which they where.. What I can’t forgive them for .. is the mess they made of the Multiplayer.

First off I do NOT want to have to be bound to some one else’s screen.. sorry this = SUCKFUL, it works on consoles, it DOES NOT work on PC games.. especially not Dungeon Hack and Slash

Secondly.. why the FUCK am I getting lag on a LAN game??

And lastly Why the FUCK am I bound on that multiplayer Camera again..

Everything I’ve read from Obsidian on it they try and say it was for the ‘hotswapping’ playing.. yeah that’s fine you dickheads, if your on a console!!!! Dungeon Siege was NEVER a CONSOLE game, christ.. and the lack of ability to move beyond where the other players are is KILLING me, literally.. I almost smashed my computer today while trying to play Co-Op with my Fiance.. why? Because i can’t back off from her to use my ranged abilities or get close when she’s backing off to use my melee abilities.. yeap we’re screwed.

So fuck it Obsidian you’ve lost a customer.. for good.

Well I’ve been waiting for Kinect since it was Project Natal.. and I must say, I’m not disappointed.. Normally I’d class myself in the ‘hardcore’ area but the Kinect games I have (adventures and sports) ain’t bad.. Ok so I work up more of a sweet then I would with a controller.. I have to get physical and oh yeah I can’t relie on the ‘perfect’ combo of buttons etc to get 100% every time.. but that’s part of what I like about it.

And I figure why not show people just how wacky Kinect makes you look..

So

with that said..

Here’s a video from Kinects P.O.V of me boxing.

http://2010.star-fleet.org/?attachment_id=442

These are some images from the Cataclysm Beta.. Shows some of the new regions and everything.

Just a heads up that I’m looking for people with some experience with the Unreal Engine 3 for the development of a Battletech/Mechwarrior like game using the UDK. If you are interested in such please feel free to contact me by dropping an email to Robert.Graham at bigpond dot com (replace at with @ and dot with . ) Game to be set either within the Battletech Mythos/Cronology or within a completely new universe based on team feedback.

-Regards

Rob Graham