Hey folks, I was taking a very close look at the orbital launcher during a slow orbital game, and noticed a few things: First, it doesnt use all the necessary parts that are incorporated into it. That is, the tower doesnt actually stabilize the rocket, the Payloads don't have a cowling to protect from the hypersonic speeds of orbital launch, and there isnt anything really cool about it besides woooo we went to space! Second, it just doesnt feel like the launcher from the videos - I dont know, maybe thats because its the nuke launcher, but I wish when I saw it I was like WHOAAA a ROCKET PAD. Right now it just feels like another squarish building with some towers and green parts that shoots massive rockets into the sky. Not that that isnt awesome, it just doesnt FEEL AWESOME. If you get my meaning. Are there any plans to improve on the launcher design in the near/not so distant future? Thanks!
I too would like to see the orbital pad be improved, maybe the stabilization arm can properly hold whatever is being built, and the rocket can slide out from the silo that appears to be below the launch pad. Maybe there isn't a silo, but i keep seeing doors under the rocket for some reason. But the stabilization arm could hold the thing being build until it's done, at which point the doors under the launch pad open and the base of the rocket comes out, attaches to the bottom of the (whatever is being built) and launches after the doors have closed behind it. That's what I see happening at any rate. Also, when are they gonna fix halleys? I still get the glitch with the particle effects for the rocket thrusters.
Considering it doesn't function quite as seen in the Visualization it's hard to say if anything strictly needs to be changed yet, thought that was primarily in regards to the Lander rather than the rest of Orbital. Mike
One of the things I liked about the original visualisation was the apparent acknowledgement of differing gravity wells: the main rocket gantry really looked like it was powering out of atmo at escape velocity, whilst the engineers leaving the small, atmosphereless moon only needed small thrusters. This would also affect gameplay, giving further incentive to colonise larger numbers of smaller asteroids and moons. It's been confirmed we'll see this to an extent with the unit cannon, I hope the same becomes true with transporting units between bodies.
I find the Astraeus to be completely illogical; why does it needs to be launched into orbit by a large rocket if it lands immediately after that for picking up an unit, and then return in space without the slightest difficulty?
The current unit roster in general is quite basic, but enough to make the game functional enough for beta testing. This includes orbital. I think the Astraeus is simply there to give us basic planet hopping, so the functionality the team implements can be tested. (Such as: orbital movement, interplanetary movement, planet colonisation, planet smashing, etc...) I'm sure it's just a placeholder in it's current form.
Lol.. Good point. I guess robots like spectacle, big rockets, and launching things into space. Just like we do.
Regarding OP's worries..I dont know... every time i see a unit launching into orbit in the horizon, i'm amazed how truly amazing this game looks already, and it's only going to get better. I am highly skeptical of marketing/visualization trailers, but Uber has done great work, i think the game lives up to the awesome of the trailer. Even in its current state.
Hrmph, well personally I find having a pretty effect just for the sake of a pretty effect to cheapen the experience, I'd rather find beauty in the functionality. However, I wouldn't be at all surprised (in fact I almost expect) to see uber changing how orbital launchers work in the upcoming orbital overhaul. The old cry of 'beta is beta' rings out once more...
Certainly.. though fun factor is a perfectly valid argument when it comes to video games, including visuals. In fact it is the primary one. Form follows fun. Of course visual clutter is always a concern, but that is why I like the art direction of the game, with its overall clean, toylike look..it is also why I am skeptical about making the units smaller, which is what many people seem to want. Large units relative to terrain features makes the game more visually readable.
Well I think that most of us are just asking on an update as to what there thinking about for the Astraeus and Orbital...... But they did say the are redesigning the entire Orbital system.... so this could be interesting as to what they do with all of the planet hopping and stuff...... Love this!!!!!!! So funny.... lol lol lol!!!!!!!
