I never really understood the difference between 2D films and 3D ones till after I made this pair of blue and red transparencies. Even after watching 3D films in cinemas, I didn't understand how 2D films are actually... flat. Now I know what they mean when they say if you see things from one eye everything looks flat. When I watch 3D films on my monitor, there's a certain depth to it, like there is a space behind the screen where the things are actually happening.
Been trying out this indie game called Gratuitous Space Battles, or GSB. Title totally reminds me of Snakes on a Plane. I'M SICK OF THESE MOTHERFUCKING BATTLES IN MY MOTHERFUCKING SPACE! Okay, not really.
Despite the title of the game, it really isn't about flying a nifty little spaceship blasting away at enemy armadas ala Star Wars. The interesting thing about it is that once the battle starts, all the player does is watch. It's a somewhat unique concept IMO, though at the same time it feels like a potential space sim cut into half.
What I really do in the game is customize and place ships into the battlefield. HOMM veterans who remember the Tactics skill would have an idea of what it's like. In the later HOMM games, heroes with this particular ability can place their units in any position they wish on their side of the map in order to maximise their tactical advantage.
Similarly in GSB, I set cruisers, frigates and fighters anywhere in my side of the 2D battlefield according to their roles. In addition, I am able to choose the weapons, defence systems, shields and armours of these units, hence determining what they will do when the fight begins.
However, the only pre-battle intelligence I have on the enemy is their race, the size of the ships and their positions. Vital data like what armour and weapons they have will never be revealed even in battle, though I believe experienced players will be able to determine these by recognizing the looks of the weapons when they fire, how much damage they do and how much damage the enemy ships take when hit by certain weapons.
Three types of ships are available in this game, which have been stated 2 paragraphs before this. To add extra replay value seven races have also been created, which are the Federation, the Rebels, the Alliance, the Empire, the Tribe, the Order and the Swarm. All these races have very different hulls that greatly affect how their ships work.
For example, the ships of the Swarm are generally weak. This is offset by their universal speed bonus of 15% and cost reduction of 20%, making their ships harder to hit and cheaper to build. The Tribe, on the other hand, has hulls that are twice as strong as those of the other races. But with the effectiveness of all shields and armour on them halved, I'm not sure how this is supposed to be used to its advantage.
90% of the game is about customizing the fleet. Hence there is a wide selection of weapons for you to choose for each of the three classes of space warships, all with their own little details like how fast they fire, the strength of their shield penetration capabilities and such. Additional modules, as the weapons and stuff are called, can be unlocked using Honour points that you gain as you win battles. The smaller your fleet compared to the enemies', the more points you earn.
The biggest gun available without unlocking is the cruisers' Heavy Plasma Launcher which has a great range and does huge damage. The catch is that it takes forever to fire, requires many men and large amounts of energy to operate and misses moving targets easily. On the other end of the scale, we have the Fighter Laser Cannon. What it does is exactly what comes to mind when someone says, "Pew pew pew." Short-ranged, low-damage, cheap. What more can I say?
Defence in GSB isn't just about having the thickest armour or fastest-recharging shields, and especially so for the frigates and cruisers. Sneakier methods are included like the Guidance Scrambler Beam, which confuses incoming missiles to render them harmless. Certain shields are also particularly useful in certain situations, like the Reflective Shield which does as its name implies but only against light weapons.
The same can be said about offence. You can choose to go all Incredible-Hulk-style and pick the heaviest guns available, but other means of boosting your offensive capabilities are available if you feel like it. The Cruiser Tractor Beam, when employed, freezes those annoyingly agile enemy frigates and fighters so that your slow weapons can catch up and blast them to oblivion. Or you can choose to have an EMP installed that will, every once in a while, stun their ships' weapon systems to give your side a brief respite. These are just 2 of them.
Engines, power generators and crew modules (living space, crew capacity) are other important aspects of the customization process. Since everything requires energy and men to operate, you need to consider not just their effectiveness but also what you can afford. A ship can only take so many modules and to make things more complicated, they are heavy. Mass makes your ships harder to move, therefore requiring more powerful engines and even several of them to fly faster than a snail can crawl. And yes they need power too.
After such a long rant on the game, I'd like end it with a short review.
It's not that good a game. Great fun at first, then all the numbers just got me frustrated. Just when I'd designed the most powerful cruiser to ever fly in space, I realized I didn't have enough slots to get enough generators. If I used 2 slots for energy supply, I'd need to sacrifice something. This was followed by a stunning realization that my ship was only going to move faster than a cheetah... that's old, crippled and dead for 200 years. Things like that happen all the time, so just one battle can be rather tiring.
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