Nebulous Fleet Command: space rts, physics, lan, multiplayer, z axis

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

It's available as of today.  $19.99.  And here I am stuck at work all weekend. 

[SirAndrewD]

I'm curious to hear what kind of content it has on EA release.  I'm considering pulling the trigger but might wait a bit.

[Jarhead0331]

The game is f*cking awesome.

Shut up and buy it. 

[Skoop]

Yeah, it looks pretty good.  Recreating expanse battles are probably worth the 20 bucks.  Imagine if 4x games had this level in their tactical battles.

[Destraex]

$30 for me, which is pretty much what I got WARNO for.
Although I cannot justify it right now. I am fairly sure I will get this before it leaves early access.
It really depends if any of my regular time zone gaming mates is willing to grab it with me.

I look forward to watching youtube reviews of this one before pulling the trigger. WARNO kinda has me bummed as the content in early access means that even though 3 other friends have it. We kinda run out of steam in it because of the lack of early content and some of the mechanics that are simply inferior to SD2. So burnt out on early access at the moment.

What I really did not like about NFC (nebulous fleet command) was that the maps seemed very "fish tanky" and claustrophobic. Like they revolved around the obstacles one might put into a fish tank to keep the fish occupied. The Asteroid belt thing needs to be expanded on to be more homeworld like. With a lot of open spaces. Perhaps it already has expanded in this fashion? I used to love the homeworld map that had the radiation field in it, the asteroids, but very open space apart from that.

Hope to get this one soon.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Can't remap controls.  Lame.

[Destraex]

How many maps are there and what do they look like? All crowded with Asteroids?

[The_Admiral]

I am not sure it is really relevant, especially early on in the absence of an actual campaign. I mean by that, that the core focus right now is on the systems and the way they interact with each others. Maps won't be much different from what they are right now, I surmise, and they weren't either in Homeworld, for instance - where obviously art was phenomenal in order to convey an order of grandiose, but at the end of the day were all about obstacles, nebulas and resources floating in the void.

It is, simply put, a 3D CMO in space - I don't know how to put it better in regard of the complexity of the combat systems modeled - and as such, it is no different from an AShM duel in the north Atlantic. It is actually to some extent way deeper and varied in regard of possibilities due to the release of the constrains put on the simulation by history & realism. Not saying you should absolutely enjoy it. But if you can't enjoy it in its current form, it's better not to make yourself suffer much further, because that's possibly mostly how it will be.

On the other end, you might take a liking to the way the designer talks about his baby on his channel, where he posted a large number of dev diaries, explaining his choices - which might make better sense then. Don't hesitate to pay him a visit over there at Youtube ;)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ftSDxGEANHiOBamB69bUg/videos

[CaptainKoloth]

One of the things that drives me crazy in games like this is when I can't figure out what is going on do to what I'd describe as poor logging. Does this game have functionality equivalent to, say, Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts in which when I get hit I know by whom and what weapon, and I know whether my weapons connected, or do I end up guessing, as in e.g. Children of a Dead Earth where I had no idea what the heck was actually happening in the battle?

[The_Admiral]

Well, if your sensors are in no position or ability to report the position of an enemy, you will be kept in the dark as far as where a weapon might be coming from. Just like in modern naval combat, it is very possible that your first contact with the adversary will be warheads heading your way if they have been keeping tabs on you, even if you haven't. There are many ways to detect and counter detect the enemy, and don't worry the AI doesn't cheat, but it is easy to make mistakes as a human player if you are not fully aware of all the implications of using some of your devices, especially those which emit an active signature of any sort. It's part of the charm  ;)
Lot of player feedback is available, but it can get messy very quickly - not unlike, say, Command. These are games where learning to read the tactical display is the difference between death and... lesser death? 

[Jarhead0331]

Well, if your sensors are in no position or ability to report the position of an enemy, you will be kept in the dark as far as where a weapon might be coming from. Just like in modern naval combat, it is very possible that your first contact with the adversary will be warheads heading your way if they have been keeping tabs on you, even if you haven't. There are many ways to detect and counter detect the enemy, and don't worry the AI doesn't cheat, but it is easy to make mistakes as a human player if you are not fully aware of all the implications of using some of your devices, especially those which emit an active signature of any sort. It's part of the charm  ;)
Lot of player feedback is available, but it can get messy very quickly - not unlike, say, Command. These are games where learning to read the tactical display is the difference between death and... lesser death? 

Adding to this, the game models system damage and destruction. Each ship has basic radar panels that can be destroyed in combat. If this happens, the ship will be blind in the quadrant covered by the damaged or destroyed panel. The ships can also mount more powerful detection radar, signal and electronic systems that can also be damaged or destroyed in battle, having obvious consequences.

[The_Admiral]

[ArizonaTank]

Damage modeling looks from the screenies like a 3d version of Airships...but in space. That would be a great thing.

Purchased.

[Destraex]

I am not sure it is really relevant, especially early on in the absence of an actual campaign. I mean by that, that the core focus right now is on the systems and the way they interact with each others. Maps won't be much different from what they are right now, I surmise, and they weren't either in Homeworld, for instance - where obviously art was phenomenal in order to convey an order of grandiose, but at the end of the day were all about obstacles, nebulas and resources floating in the void.

It is, simply put, a 3D CMO in space - I don't know how to put it better in regard of the complexity of the combat systems modeled - and as such, it is no different from an AShM duel in the north Atlantic. It is actually to some extent way deeper and varied in regard of possibilities due to the release of the constrains put on the simulation by history & realism. Not saying you should absolutely enjoy it. But if you can't enjoy it in its current form, it's better not to make yourself suffer much further, because that's possibly mostly how it will be.

On the other end, you might take a liking to the way the designer talks about his baby on his channel, where he posted a large number of dev diaries, explaining his choices - which might make better sense then. Don't hesitate to pay him a visit over there at Youtube ;)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ftSDxGEANHiOBamB69bUg/videos

I disagree that the homeworld maps were the same. I know the default homeworld maps fairly well and they were not usually just one large obstacle. Generally their was a lot of empty space between them obstacles. That space was used to form up in, hide in and fight in. Additionally the resource asteroids would be gobbled up leaving you in empty space. Most times larger ships dwarfed obstacles like asteroids.
The map I have seen in nfc is just one huge stack of very large asteroids that dwarf ships. I would equate the nfc map I have seen to a city map in any other game. Is there currently more than one map? Lest I have missed something?

[Jarhead0331]

I am not sure it is really relevant, especially early on in the absence of an actual campaign. I mean by that, that the core focus right now is on the systems and the way they interact with each others. Maps won't be much different from what they are right now, I surmise, and they weren't either in Homeworld, for instance - where obviously art was phenomenal in order to convey an order of grandiose, but at the end of the day were all about obstacles, nebulas and resources floating in the void.

It is, simply put, a 3D CMO in space - I don't know how to put it better in regard of the complexity of the combat systems modeled - and as such, it is no different from an AShM duel in the north Atlantic. It is actually to some extent way deeper and varied in regard of possibilities due to the release of the constrains put on the simulation by history & realism. Not saying you should absolutely enjoy it. But if you can't enjoy it in its current form, it's better not to make yourself suffer much further, because that's possibly mostly how it will be.

On the other end, you might take a liking to the way the designer talks about his baby on his channel, where he posted a large number of dev diaries, explaining his choices - which might make better sense then. Don't hesitate to pay him a visit over there at Youtube ;)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ftSDxGEANHiOBamB69bUg/videos

I disagree that the homeworld maps were the same. I know the default homeworld maps fairly well and they were not usually just one large obstacle. Generally their was a lot of empty space between them obstacles. That space was used to form up in, hide in and fight in. Additionally the resource asteroids would be gobbled up leaving you in empty space. Most times larger ships dwarfed obstacles like asteroids.
The map I have seen in nfc is just one huge stack of very large asteroids that dwarf ships. I would equate the nfc map I have seen to a city map in any other game. Is there currently more than one map? Lest I have missed something?

Yes. There are multiple skirmish maps, including at least one that is in deep open space, but given how sensors and weapons work, this turns into very uninteresting fights where the winner is usually either more powerful in terms of numbers and hulls or simply lucky. In open space, it is quite literally a shooting gallery where there is no place to hide. The asteroids, on the other hand, can block sensors and help mask vessels, particularly if they are running silent. In addition, certain missile systems can be launched and sent around obstacles with waypoints, before switching to active radar mode and looking for targets. The space terrain definitely adds much more complexity and rewards the strategic player who can capitalize on the strengths of his systems while exploiting the weaknesses of his enemy.