Some observations

[Phoenix-D]

You can also turn on the grid (press G) I find it makes objects much easier to see because of the contrast.

Oh, and while you can't give yourself a million credits to start, you CAN lower the ship costs.

[Captain Kwok]

There are a number of cheat codes to help you out, but I don't think they work in the demo.

[General Woundwort]

Originally posted by Captain Kwok:
There are a number of cheat codes to help you out, but I don't think they work in the demo.

Real Space Empires players don't use cheat codes.

[clark]

I like the demo, so far. well, I liked it after I learned how not to crash into things and generally learn to fly.

In my newbie experience, I would have to say for battles, use F8, it is by far the best way to track an enemy and fire all your weapons up their engines!

Quick question, is there a way, or can it be modfied, so that we can customize the keyboard controls?

As is, I have a hard time manuevering AND slowing down, or speeding up, AND fighting. I have two hands, but I use the left for the weapons (1-4), and my right hand has to alternate between the speed keys ( [ ] ) and the righ-left keys.

Take a moment to see the layout of the keyboard to see how your right hand has to fly between these keys in the middle of a battle. It can get harry out there, so I might like to position the keys in a manner that is suitable to me. Just an idea.

Is there also a way to get the 'cargo' left over from battles to at least show up on the radar? Those things are hard to spot.

And a general question before I go, how does shielding and armor work? Do the shields only work on a particular side, or are the shields cumulative and protect the entire ship, no matter where they are placed (among the shield and armor ports).. i.e. does a shield on the right side protect on the left side too?

Oh yeah, one more, I notice that there is no difference between weapon strengths of different levels. A level 6 Beam weapon has the same damage rates as a level 1 beam weapon... is this just in the demo?

[Phoenix-D]

"Quick question, is there a way, or can it be modfied, so that we can customize the keyboard controls?"

Yes. Pres ESC, select the controls option.

"Is there also a way to get the 'cargo' left over from battles to at least show up on the radar? Those things are hard to spot."

Not that I know of. What I do is sit still and crank up the time scale. So the little flashing lights go faster, I notice them quicker.

"And a general question before I go, how does shielding and armor work? Do the shields only work on a particular side, or are the shields cumulative and protect the entire ship, no matter where they are placed (among the shield and armor ports).. i.e. does a shield on the right side protect on the left side too?"

Shields and armor only protect on the side they are on. Look in the lower right corner of your main screen- see the green and yellow bars? That's your shield/armor strength for that quadrent.

"Oh yeah, one more, I notice that there is no difference between weapon strengths of different levels. A level 6 Beam weapon has the same damage rates as a level 1 beam weapon... is this just in the demo?"

Look closer..at the end of the range scale. The way SF handles weapons seems a bit strange, but they do improve.

[clark]

Thanks for the reply!

However, I am confused about resetting the keyboard commands. I understand the ESC brings up the control panel options, and I understand clicking on "controls", but how on earth do you change the keyboard keys? I haven't seen anything that allows it, just a display of what the keys currently are.

What am I missing?

[Phoenix-D]

You click on the key you want to change, then press the new key.

So if you want speed up to be W instead of ], click on the ] and press W.

[clark]

Wonderful! Thank you for holding my hand. I think I will try to ride the bike on my own now!

[clark]

Alright, another mystery....

Can anyone explain the power requirments?

Right now, I can see different power plants that produce different amounts of energy. I think we start with a 25k plant, but I upped it to a 50k plant. I see some that are better coming in at 100k.

What do the different numbers mean, and what is ideal, and what is simply 'sufficient'? How is power used?

[Phoenix-D]

Power plants have two numbers: generation, and storage. The generation is the amount of power they make per time (not sure how much time) Storage is how much they hold maximum.

Each of your weapons uses power to recharge- ussually 10 units. If you run out of power, I'm not sure what happens; probably your weapons won't recharge, and you might slow down.