New Player - Glitch & Suggestions

[Baddieus]

First off I would like to write that I really-really like this game and how the inertial flight seems to be more accurate as to what my imagination thinks actual space flight would be like. As I am new to this game and only have 60ish hours playing, I have not discovered everything to do or to find. That being said, I wanted to report a minor glitch, and offer some suggestions for improvement from my initial playtime.

The Minor Glitch –

During training and looking through the control options it is reported that the [ & ] keys are to control the shield/weapon power balance. In my game the [ key is not registering, and the keys that control this feature are the ] & \\ keys. I am on a new HP desktop (Win8) using the standard keys & mouse out of the box. I tested my [,], & \\ keys in a notepad and they are typing these characters as expected. Also in the control options the \\ key is to toggle the outside flight mode? But due to the glitch, I do not seem to have this option beyond using “v�, unless I re-map the\\ control set. (Not a problem for an experienced gamer)

Improvement Suggestions –

Requiring to dock at a station for mission offers is a bit tedious, so I would like to be able to comm a station to see what is offered both for missions and for available inventory to see if docking is worth my efforts. Other than carry cargo missions, most could be initiated from a fly-by rather than requiring that the player dock to do so, especially when it seems better to save in-flight rather than being docked at a station. Also, the ability to re-arrange on-board cargo without being docked would be helpful too.

The ability to comm other ships in the area for other than trade would be a nice addition. Options on this could be:

=They could offer to hire the player for a single combat mission instead of the player hiring them.

=“We lost a ship from the convoy … go check on them� … once found it could be a fight, they could have had a fuel leak and request transfer of some from the player, or they were hijacked and left a particle trail to follow, or pickup survivors and drop at a station.

=A cargo delivery option where the hiring ship ejects freight to be picked up & delivered.

=Scout a set of coordinates for debris from a former battle site, or crashed ship on a planet, or rumors of a hidden planet, or a hidden cave in an asteroid … (I’m sure multiple minds can come up with more)

= A request for a fuel transfer, an option for price negotiation due to their need, and a corresponding reputation increase or decrease based on how helpful or greedy the player was.

Here are some other missions idea’s … more things to do:

=Cleaning Solar Array’s has its use, but having an array appear in the middle of dark space just for a mission is not very realistic. I would have multiple arrays in the space near a star permanently, where they would be most effective, and this would cause the player to fight the heavy gravity to conduct the cleaning, thereby making this mission a bit more challenging. Also, they might need someone to visit 3 (or more) of them to collect the stored energy & deliver it to a station or ship.

=Clean a station to brighten it up or clean a stationary capital ship to make it shiny. (temporary effect).

=A mission to visit multiple mining ships in an asteroid field to retrieve a load of minerals for delivery.

=Locate an enemy fleet in a gas cloud (or anywhere) & relay their hiding place in X:, Y:, & Z: format.

= Set a satellite in orbit of a planet or a spy satellite in enemy territory

2D vs 3D -

After getting acclimated to the environment, having only visited a dozen or so sectors, I can’t help but notice on a zoomed out map that the majority of the locations are all on more of a 2D plane, which makes me wonder if exploring up or down is even necessary? Most galaxy’s are viewed as a flat spiral, but they are a few hundred or even a few thousand stars deep as well as being billions or trillions of stars around. Granted it makes locating things easier, but making the universe more 3D would make it more interesting for me.

Exploring –

So, I went about 40 squares out of the central Sapphire area, staying on the 2D sector plane, all around it, and pretty much found the same thing in each sector (nothing). Here on Earth we can find planets around stars with our limited scanning/tracking technology, so I would like to be able to engage a long range scanning device that would fill-in the blank areas of the map for 8-12 sectors distance or more in all directions. (including up & down if there is anything to find there.) I’ve noticed that upon entering sectors never visited there are some planets/stations/fields mapped in the distance, but I did not visit those areas yet so I’m assuming it’s pre-programmed map data. Pretty much I’m looking for a way to know which direction to head in without having to visit a forum or guide, or a limit on sectors that makes jumping to each little quadrant or whatever it is called worth the time it will take to do so.

I suppose that is enough from a new player … thanks for reading and/or responding.

-Baddieus-

[Vice]

Hello and welcome. For the key inputs, that is indeed strange behavior. A few possibilities come to mind. First, Windows 8 is still pretty new and something in it or a driver may have altered the scancode assignments for keys compared to Windows XP, Vista, and 7. This could result in the same key returning a different value in Windows 8 versus previous versions of Windows, but only for programs and games the depend on scancodes. This would be the first reported instance of such an issue occuring on Windows 8, but much stranger things have happened with that OS

Are you using the Steam version or direct download? Did you download anything else for the game, such as a mod or other custom game files? What happens when you try to remap the energy function to the '[' key? Does that key then show in the configure controls > keys/buttons menu or does a different key show when you press the '[' key to map it?

Most systems are on or near the galactic ecliptic, but there are many (uncharted) that are far above and below it on SY.

[Triton83]

Requiring to dock at a station for mission offers is a bit tedious, so I would like to be able to comm a station to see what is offered both for missions and for available inventory to see if docking is worth my efforts. Other than carry cargo missions, most could be initiated from a fly-by rather than requiring that the player dock to do so, especially when it seems better to save in-flight rather than being docked at a station.

You know how to jump straight into the docking bay, right?

Pretty much I’m looking for a way to know which direction to head in without having to visit a forum or guide, or a limit on sectors that makes jumping to each little quadrant or whatever it is called worth the time it will take to do so.

You can ask AI pilots for informations, sometimes they'll give you POI coordinates.

[Baddieus]

Howdy ....

"Are you using the Steam version or direct download? Did you download anything else for the game, such as a mod or other custom game files? What happens when you try to remap the energy function to the '[' key? Does that key then show in the configure controls > keys/buttons menu or does a different key show when you press the '[' key to map it?"

Steam, no mods, all files downloaded (did the 2Gb thing), attempts to remap to the [ key do nothing, as if that key is dead or missing, or not pressed. Running in Win7 compatibility did not fix the key thing either, but has resolved the CTD thing in the atmosphere as reported.

"You know how to jump straight into the docking bay, right?"

No ... I do not ... please share ...

"You can ask AI pilots for informations, sometimes they'll give you POI coordinates. "

I discovered this early this morning, one of them gave me a contraband Anti-Missile System worth about 4mil ... but I'm not selling

[Vice]

Ok, please download this test program:

http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmerce ... Config.zip

To install it, extract the file and place it in the game's save data folder (not the install folder). By default, the folder is c:\\sw3dg\\EvochronMercenary. Then start the program. It will display raw input data from your system. Press the keys that are not registering in the game and see what numerical value, if any, is displayed in the lower left corner of the program's window for each of those keys.

[Baddieus]

I got 145 when pressing the [ key.
] = 26, \\ = 27

[Vice]

That indicates the keys are at least returning values and are working, but their scancodes are confirmed wrong. 145 is an unknown value, which is likely why it doesn't appear on the config menu.

What is the make and model of the keyboard you are using and is it using the default Microsoft driver or a HP driver (if so, which version number)? Also, did you install the Windows Updates that rolled out for Windows 8 this week?

[Baddieus]

Well, the Device Manager labels it as Microsoft eHome MCIR 109 Keyboard. The driver shows to be a basic keyboard driver from 2006 ... on a 2012 system ... nice ... I'll go look for updates from HP & Windows ...

[Marvin]

"You can ask AI pilots for informations, sometimes they'll give you POI coordinates. "

I discovered this early this morning, one of them gave me a contraband Anti-Missile System worth about 4mil ... but I'm not selling

There are a number of responses you can expect from AI. Anything from a warning that you're being hunted to information on an uncharted section of space ... to passing off contraband.

[Vice]

Well, the Device Manager labels it as Microsoft eHome MCIR 109 Keyboard. The driver shows to be a basic keyboard driver from 2006 ... on a 2012 system ... nice ... I'll go look for updates from HP & Windows ...

Ah ok, that would explain it then. With that driver in use, some systems seem to encounter a situation where a key press is intercepted and a different (wrong) scancode is applied. This actually happened to another player a few years ago with a similar keyboard/driver setup, details here: http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5470

The problem seems to stem from improper scancode assignments, which breaks DirectX functionality for games. More information and options: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 0aa0f8f0bf

[Maarschalk]

Hi Baddieus, welcome to the game and forum!.....Hope to see you out there some time!.....

[Triton83]

"You know how to jump straight into the docking bay, right?"

No ... I do not ... please share ...

When you place your navpoint on the map, right click on stations or gates. Then set your pitch to 0 and your heading to 180, and jump.

180 is the easy one, but you can use other headings, depending on what you're jumping.
Trade stations : 36, 108, 180, 252, 324
Constructors : 0, 90, 180, 270
Gates : 0, 180
Carriers : 180
(pitch always to zero)

[Edited on 2/3/2013 by Triton83]

[Baddieus]

Thanks for the directions Lieutenant ... and the welcome Captain ... I'm sure I'll be picking your brains again in the near future ...