Disappointing End :-(

[Chris Steadman]

Having traveled to sector 53, on easy setting, and finished the game with my own planet, I decided to play for real and move up to the intermediate setting.

Ten hours+ into the new game I thought I was doing pretty well. Then I jumped into sector 16. I was immediately challenged by three Devourer (?) ships that I had never seen before. I was stripped of shields (650) and then armour(100)in about half a dozen shots. I had nothing I could do. Game over. Very disappointed. Very loathed to invest further time in a game that terminates me without offering any options, dumping me right in front of opponents that were obviously streets ahead of me technologically.

[ibol]

Devourers have the following description: "Apocalyptic Planet Eater!"Run first, ask questions later.
I would guess that in the targeting readout they were registering a threat of about 999%. (They also have the slowest speed in the game. RUN!)

Also, you are free to play without perma-death. That's why I made it an option. Having already won once, you've earned the justification.

[Lord Felix]

It's a really great game.

You can play with Permadeath off.

Or you can figure out how to play with Permadeath on but with save and reload enabled.

[Lord Felix]

Incidentally, I got killed by Devourers more than once, but I've had my revenge.

You don't even need big shields or armor, although of course that helps. You just need two decent range 4 weapons. They're slow and have a weapon with a range or only 2 or 3. Just circle around them, outside their firing range, and plink them to death.

[Chris Steadman]

Originally Posted by Lord Felix

It's a really great game.

You can play with Permadeath off.

Or you can figure out how to play with Permadeath on but with save and reload enabled.

Yes, I know how to do that but it kind of misses the point of playing with permadeath on.

Originally Posted by ibol

Devourers have the following description: "Apocalyptic Planet Eater!"Run first, ask questions later.
I would guess that in the targeting readout they were registering a threat of about 999%. (They also have the slowest speed in the game. RUN!)

Also, you are free to play without perma-death. That's why I made it an option. Having already won once, you've earned the justification.

I guess that I didn't explain the situation well enough. I couldn't even run. I was in the middle of three of them. I tried running but whichever way I went it brought me closer to one of them as the other two 'chased' me.

I have no problem playing with perma-death on, but I did feel, strongly, that there was nothing I could have done. It was an exponential leap in game violence that I was, obviously, not prepared for. Perhaps I allowed myself to become, over two games, too comfortable with opponents the likes of Pirates and Gruffs, but it would have been nice if the game had dropped some hints of what needed to prepared for.

It will be a while before I try the game again.

[Dubious]

I can understand Chris' position. It's not so much the dying that bothers as the feeling of "not even a saving throw?! I could have made the same game out of tossing a coin: heads, I live; tails, I'm dead." Dying because I pushed things too hard is on me. Dying because I never had a chance to even spot the potential problem with no way out: that's "not fun".

My guess is the design chose to eliminate such situations from the "Easy" game. It can be too discouraging to someone trying it out. (Which, in my opinion is most people playing on "Easy".) Especially if it happens too early in the game. But such "no possible win" situations are never fun. The problem with "Perma-death" is that you don't get the change to re-try and learn from your mistakes. Perhaps it's worth pointing out if the game is any more difficult on Perma-death than "Hard" without? Then expectations might be more in line with reality.

-Dubious-

[Kazeto]

And in the end, that is why it's a good idea to carry around a stealth “device” early on. Those aren't good for combat but they can potentially save you in a situation like that one.

But yeah, I know it feels bad to die in the game to what feels like a sucker-punch. It's really bad luck and honestly it very rarely happens that you get into situations like this, and generally stuff like that isn't a problem in later sectors (not to say it doesn't happen, but a warp breach module plus a cooldown 10 warp drive plus an officer with faster recharge means you can get out of there to safety without much trouble). The only thing you can do is either recover from it or rage, that's how games in this genre are.

[Chris Steadman]

I restarted this afternoon. I was kinda missing the game.

When I jumped to sector two, it happened again! Well, nearly. A combo of two Gruff & a Pirate ship this time; they had nearly stripped my armour to destruction, but luckily this time there were some nearby nebula.

I'm now in sector six and still alive ;-)

[Cyberis]

Glad you gave it another shot Chris. I've been in similar situations even on easy when four pirates blew me out of the sky as soon as I jumped into sector 5 and I nearly ate it in sector 27 when three limoquee ships decided I was too close and no matter which way I turned I was getting shot. 600 shield and 485 of my 550 armor were history. Somehow I shook them off and fortunately was able to craft new armor which was a lot cheaper than the 675k hull repair bill. As in life, you never know what's in the next sector and sometimes it really is game over. Fortunately this is just a game that gives you a chance to try again, albeit from the beginning. I agree that a cloak can be your friend, even early in the game though it takes up two cargo. Also, a weapon with good range is sometimes better than one with good damage. Same goes for quick cooldown.

[Chris Steadman]

I'm glad too.

Played some more today and had fun after encountering Whitespace for the first time