LurchBrick Space Crusade PC game

[LurchBrick]

I haven't had a chance to play your missions yet but I plan on doing so this week some time.

The reason the Assault cannon (AC) works the way it does is to ensure the player chooses between shooting or melee. If the AC automatically placed targets on the aliens it could attack, then the player would know that they should not melee and should shoot as they are guaranteed a kill. By making it a manual choice to shoot, the player has to risk that they will roll high enough to kill the alien and thus miss out on melee attacking the alien.

[Anderas]

In the official computer game you were able to target an empty field with the assault cannon. After you did that, it was working like here.
I like the mechanic LurchBrick has implemented. It makes the AC on par with the other weapons strengthwise.

[Gold Bearer]

No I mean that the dice would be rolled after the player has left clicked on a target. Then they would have the choice of going for a weaker monster to start with to have more chance of getting a kill but less chance of scoring enough to kill both targets. That's how it worked in the official computer game, at least on the atari ST. You couldn't target an empty square. That's how it works in the boardgame as well I think but I'm not sure about that, it's been far too long. I didn't even remember a lot of the alien even cards, they weren't in the computer game. I agree that it makes the AC better balanced but I don't think the shooter should know whether he can kill a stonger enemy or not before he fires.

About the new version (loving the improvements):
Tarantulas don't block line of sight.

I think aliens should be able to move through unmanned tarantulas because it really messes them up when they can't.

Lower level dreadnaughts waste time trying to shoot tarantulas that they can't possibly damage.

A higher level dreadnaught destroyed a tarantula with its las cannon and took out the dreadnaught standing next to it whenn it could have targeted the two squares in front. There's other times when aliens kill other aliens but this isn't much of an issue and it's probably awkward to stop.

Dreadnaughts made with no weapons still have full life points, although maybe they should because they're still worth the same amount of points.

The assault cannon icon says you can't move after you've fired, I'm sure you can but I forgot to check.

[LurchBrick]

The board game had you roll the dice for the AC before you choose who to shoot at. Then, depending on your rolled score, you decide who to take out. Hence the description of the AC being that it's good for multiple weak enemies or concentrated on a single strong alien.

Tarantulas don't block line of sight. - I actually did have the tarantula blocking LOS early on but it caused a whole bunch of further issues due to the way I've got LOS working. Hence why I've left it the way it is. This is something I'll look at again when I start working on Eldar attack.

I like your idea of allowing aliens to move through unmanned tarantulas as this would solve a lot of the problems I have in the pathfinding code.

Dreads with full Health - This is a bug and will be fixed in the next update. They should only have 1 health.

The assault cannon icon says you can't move after you've fired - This warning should only appear after the AC marine has already moved at least one square but before they have fired at an alien. I'll check to make sure it does that and if not fix it for the next release.

[Gold Bearer]

New version of Factory Power Supply. It shouldn't be quite so difficult now. I haven't reduced the enemies but I've changed some of the reinforcement entry points so that the marines are less likely to get swamped at the bottle neck and it should be more of a steady stream of enemies. There's a new Perge link as well so it doesn't have to be renamed.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/ghj6190y11yzwgc/Assassination.msn
http://www.mediafire.com/download/2imeev4bmhbgi4v/Perge.msn
http://www.mediafire.com/download/lqxnkk61kub3fn3/Destroy_Plasma_Delivery_System.msn
http://www.mediafire.com/download/7mn72c2p2vz86b2/Factory_Power_Supply.msn

Dreads with full Health - This is a bug and will be fixed in the next update. They should only have 1 health.

Easy points then.

With the lower level dreadnaughts attacking unmanned tarantulas, I forgot to mention that they never use their missile launchers, can't remember if they try their bolters.

[Gold Bearer]

Dreadnaughts assaults cannons sound like they're jamming and don't fire projectiles if they don't score enough to kill the target.

Dreadnaughts don't try shooting tarantulas with their bolters but I think they still move as though they're shooting them when they have no heavy weapons.

I don't think dreadnaughts should go after unmanned tarantulas because they're closer.

I think tarantulas should give an armour value of four to anything standing on the gunners square as if they were the gunner.

A tarantula can't be fired in the same turn that a marine mans it any more, even if they haven't fired. I liked that you could do that.

[Gold Bearer]

http://www.mediafire.com/download/uskbyl4m2733j72/Dreadnaught_Factory_Complex.msn
The last mission. Factory Power Supply already knows to load this one. Bio Scanner is actually a little bit useful in this mission.

I don't think dreadnaughts should go after unmanned tarantulas because they're closer.

And they shouldn't bother at all if the whole squad is dead.

Now you can't type S in any of the text boxes because it takes a screenshot.

A dreadnaught killed the UM tarantula gunner from the front with its assault cannon by scoring four! It was a low level dreadnaught and I'm sure I saw the missile launcher dice roll lower before it so I don't think that's it.

I think there was only one new reinforcement with the alien task force alien event but I died before I could make sure. It's the only time it's happened and it was a dreadnaught so maybe it was blocking the square.

When an orc mechanic dies the sound effect is played when the target is hit instead of when the orc shoots.

You can't select the type of dreadnaughts or chaos marines for the kill the most aliens objective. I take it that it applies to all types. Maybe take away the point values and use the old dreadnaught blip image to show that.

[Gold Bearer]

The game froze. I took a screenshot. It didn't actually freeze, the little gadget that they have to destroy was still moving and the music was still playing. I gave it plenty of time but it stayed stuck. It was after the alien elite card so I think that's the problem. The orc had already been and didn't realise he had another turn. Stupid orc.

Stuck.JPG

This screenshot also shows another minor issue. Dreadnaughts that can move six only move five on their first turn if they're from a factory. The one on the left started on the 2. I don't know if they always do it but they do it a lot.

When I went to start a mission I couldn't select the chapters, there was nothing to select, the boxes weren't there so I had to ctrl/alt/del and start again.

It doesn't remember which order you put the marines any more.

A chaos marine with a missile launcher was revealed but didn't do anything. So the line of sight for revealing blips and for shooting must be slightly different. He still had movement left I think as well but he just stopped when he was revealed.

I don't think aliens are able to target the front square of a tarantula.

They waste shots on covered tarantula gunners that they can't possible kill (two white dice).

You can tell a blip is a dreadnaught when it opens doors that it's not next to.

I just noticed the red damage numbers aren't always right. It said 8 when the BA commander destroyed a bulkhead. I didn't see what he scored but it can't have been twelve. The next time it said 9, bulkhead again.

You can roll the assault cannon dice, then move and then shoot.

Tarantulas reveal blips in their line of sight, even if they're unmanned.

An 'Are you sure you want to end turn?' would be handy if you've still got chapters that haven't done anything.

[Gold Bearer]

Three new missions and an edited one so the new ones are part of the campaign. I haven’t tested Orc Assault yet but it should be okay, although I’ll probably use a new map for it and use that map for another mission in the final version.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/eeu58s8y73322be/Destroy_Plasma_Delivery_System.msn
http://www.mediafire.com/download/6bsbcrzqi4b3hy3/Prototype_Factory.msn
http://www.mediafire.com/download/d9x9kwdhvkx0447/The_Chaos_Cube.msn
http://www.mediafire.com/download/5mkd0kukc3mcdwo/Orc_Assault.msn

[LurchBrick]

When I went to start a mission I couldn't select the chapters, there was nothing to select. - The only time I've seen this occur is when a mission doesn't have it's docking claws or starting spots on vessel set up correctly. If this continues to happen, edit the mission and re-add any docking claws or reselect any starting spots.

It doesn't remember which order you put the marines any more. - I don't understand what you mean by this.

You can tell a blip is a dreadnaught when it opens doors that it's not next to. - This is what's supposed to happen. In the intro, you will see that when a marine is checking his scanner, he can tell that one of the blips is a Dreadnaught. Thus if you are watching the blips move, you should be able to tell which one is a Dreadnaught or not.

You can roll the assault cannon dice, then move and then shoot. - This is correct. Once you've rolled the dice, you will notice that you can't melee. Also as an example, if you have 2 targets and shoot one, then move, you will not be able to shoot at any more targets, thus you have to ensure that you shoot everything in sight before moving otherwise you will potentially waste shots.

An 'Are you sure you want to end turn?' would be handy if you've still got chapters that haven't done anything. - While there isn't a separate confirmation button for this, when you place the mouse over the end turn button, a warning will appear if you still have at least one marine who hasn't moved.

I think there was only one new reinforcement with the alien task force alien event - This event will add 2 reinforcements to the total number of reinforcement aliens, not spawn 2 reinforcements the turn it is displayed. e.g. if you have 5 alien reinforcements for the mission, a further 2 will be added.

I just noticed the red damage numbers aren't always right. It said 8 when the BA commander destroyed a bulkhead. I didn't see what he scored but it can't have been twelve. The next time it said 9, bulkhead again. - When attacking a bulkhead in melee, the red damage numbers will display what the Commander rolled, not what he rolled above the bulkhead's armour value.