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Post by saibotlieh on Jun 10, 2016 9:14:40 GMT -8
Good to know that you like it. If you have problems with the enemy shields in MoA, I highly recommend to buy all the Union Frigates you can get. Their Shield Jam ability is really helpful to counter the shield spamming.
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Post by saibotlieh on Apr 26, 2016 6:01:49 GMT -8
A wonderful idea. Thank you for doing this. Its a shame that the updated sprites can't be brought in for the FA/MoA parts, but even still this is very impressive and I am sure not an easy feat. I second blackhead and hope that you will continue to stay with us far into the future. Actually the updated sprites can be used, just it will look very odd when the beach sprites are needed, ATM when the bug hunt is over, I'm planning to have a few options where you can use old/new sprites and if useing New can skip the beach scenes. With that done the only noticeable difference would be the hangar, as the new hangar has ryders showing. Thanks for the encoragement! I intend to have more available soon! Wouldn't there also be problems with special spirits like Icari holding a gun, Sola on the Sharr' Lac, Chigara with lab coat and/or notebook and so on? Also, if I remember correctly, there are no spirits of the girls in plug suits, but I might be wrong on that one. Anyhow, very nice work indeed. Unfortunately I didn't have any time so far to test this and maybe see if my mods are compatible, but Blackhead is already doing a good job I'd say.
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Post by saibotlieh on Apr 1, 2016 10:57:17 GMT -8
This mod adds Ceran Corvettes as additional ships available in the store (like the Mining Union Frigate or the Alliance Cruiser). The corvette is armed with lasers, missiles and assault guns and offers additional flak. Not playtested for balance so far, so might either make life too easy or be close to useless, buy on your own risk. How to install:For MoA:- Download the "Mod_SL_Cera_Corvette_MoA" zip file - Unzip the zip files - Put both the file "Mod_SL_Cera_Corvette_MoA.rpy file" and the folder "Mod" into the "...\Sunrider\game" folder of your Sunrider installation For LD:- Download the "Mod_SL_Cera_Corvette_LD" zip file - Unzip the zip files - Put both the file "Mod_SL_Cera_Corvette_LD.rpy file" and the folder "Mod" into the "...\Sunrider Liberation Day\game" folder of your Sunrider LD installation I have uploaded the SketchUp (skp) file of the ship as well in case somebody wants to tamper with the model a bit. I created it out of the Cera Gunboat model combined with some parts of the Sunrider model. Of course anybody is welcome to use and/or modify these files to their liking. Enjoy
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Post by saibotlieh on Mar 25, 2016 7:34:29 GMT -8
A bit more diversity in the missions would certainly be welcome, as well as in the strategies that can be used to solve them. The heavy destroyer idea is nice, but I think it looks a bit forced, as it sole purpose is to work against the bulk defense tactic, and I think as well that it might be just "to late to the party", since it will only be useful once it is in point range, and at that point even 3500 HP should not be too much of a problem to be taken out for a bulk defense set-up, especially if one had some turns time before to clean out other enemy ships.
In order to get player use different strategy (without being force by the mission setting), one can either punish the overused strategy, like you are trying to, or reward the lesser used one (or a combination of both). At the moment I would see it as rather unfair to just punish the defense strategy without making others more feasible. From my experience, every unit (except the Phoenix) that is not part of the bulk defense is dead within one or two turns, so for me it is so far a no-brainer to not go for this strategy. However, if the units evasion rate or it chance to hit the enemy would increase being not in a thight formation, it might be a different story. Another alternative would be that a lot more weapons would do some kind of splash damage, but get much less effective against single targets than they are at the moment.
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Post by saibotlieh on Mar 21, 2016 6:33:47 GMT -8
Ava's strict enforcement of such regulations aboard the Sunrider seems to point to the Cera Space Force having indeed had those regs regarding relationships and active duty (though I admit you could argue she enforced it harder then any officer normally would). And at the same time, I really doubt Kayto went out with anyone else - wandering eye, maybe, but never actually committing. He also wouldn't exactly be in a situation where he'd expressly want or need to go out with someone else either, like he was in the Sunrider series - though in all honesty, the implication seems to be that he clings to her based off their interactions in the series. Thing is though that the Chigara relationship WAS rather flawed - perhaps not necessarily in concept but certainly in execution and implementation. Plus, what I'm using is in fact based on what we know of Kayto thus far - it's not really "speculation" so much as "current information." There's no real evidence to suggest Kayto ever got into a serious relationship after Ava between her enlistment and the start of FA. Plus, you can't actually speculate at all unless you know something about the characters to speculate off of. Sorry, wanted to say "I am certainly not saying that the execution of the relationship with Chigara was not flawed", sometimes even small words can be really important... Anyhow, I would guess that the Cera Space Force regulations on relationships are pretty similar to modern western army regulations, so no relationship stuff during active duty and with closely related colleagues (like on the same ship), but one is free to pursue it otherwise. So Kayto certainly could have had other relationships, and I would guess he had since that what most people do during their twenties, but none that had a deeper impact on him (since he never thinks back to somebody else than Maray and Ava). So yeah, I think you are right if you argue about high-impact relationships, but not about relationships in general.
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Post by saibotlieh on Mar 21, 2016 1:31:20 GMT -8
Well, it's detailed that he went into the Space Force for Ava's sake and it seems more like and only just now gave it up after finally reaching her aboard the Sunrider and slowly deciding that maybe he ought to have let it go. It's never even so much as hinted that he'd pursued anyone else, either (in fact, spending years in the military - back when the Cera Space Force was still intact and there regs against it - would cement that). Also, I should point out that since it seems that Kayto and Ava were both virgins who had their first time together, it's hard to believe he ever got that far with anyone else prior to that - hell, even the shore-leave scene pointed more to Kayto's school crushes being rather one-sided. Additionally, I should point out the fact that Kayto as a whole was always portrayed as rather naive - he really does seem the type that would abstain from another relationship in the hope of at least finding out if the first one was salvageable, and the idea that it wasn't hit him so hard that it's arguably one of the biggest reasons he even ended up falling in so hard with Chigara in the first place (though the execution of that still lacked as that was practically the ONLY thing that there was to back it). Of course you can be right, but I might be right as well. He spends many years (10 I think) apart from Ava and while it is possible that he clings to his affection to her it can also be the case that he goes on. Also I would be surprised if the Cera Space Forces regulate against relationships of their members in general (like celibacy), they might forbid relationships with other members of the forces though. I am certainly not saying that the execution of the relationship with Chigara was flawed, in fact I am far from it, but I think it is problematic to prove ones point by using speculations. But I guess that is one of the problems of this whole argument, that there is just too much unknown about the characters that each one has to fill with their own interpretation of things.
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Post by saibotlieh on Mar 20, 2016 16:55:48 GMT -8
As far as we've seen, Kayto doesn't in fact have reasonable experience; the only actual relationship he ever seemed to be in was with Ava - and look how that turned out. (...) he joined the Cera Space Force purely because of Ava and his life's pretty much been hell since then. As far as I remember it is never mentioned how Kayto's life has been between the time Ava left high school and the start of the game, so I do not know if these points are really valid. He might in fact have had relationships during his time on the Space Force Academy and in fact also before Ava (she in fact mentions once or twice that he was pursuing various girls, but not how far he got with these relationships). While he is joining the Space Forces to meet up with Ava again originally, it is nowhere mentioned that he really holds this believe for the whole time or if it fades out over the 10 years (?) inbetween. His interest in Ava might have been reignited once he got to know that she will be his XO on the Sunrider. Again, just speculation.
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Post by saibotlieh on Mar 15, 2016 12:26:15 GMT -8
I think he'd be biased either way simply because he may become attached to Chigara as "the one person who won't ever judge him". Hell, I'm not even sure he has to be romantically involved with her to be biased towards her - you could make it brother/sister or close family, kinda like what your mod's done. Or, if you REALLY wanted to keep the romance vibe yet still try to solve the complaints, just have it so that Kayto can choose to hold back on committing fully to a romance - that they are in fact an item but Kayto just doesn't outright compound it/make it sexual yet for whatever reason, even if he does in fact want to at some point (he wants to wait till after the war to confess, he wants to take it "slow and right", he wants give them both something to come back to, he doesn't want to pressure Chigara, he doesn't want to commit fully until he's sure they're both still going to even be alive tomorrow, ect). The crazy thing is that it might have worked better had LibDay simply been LONGER and had more story to evolve it over. Had there been more time to develop things and better pacing - like an entire chapter/arc before they even had a first kiss, or that they don't start talking about raising kids until AFTER the Cera liberation actually "happens" and Chigara living there seems an imminent reality - it might have worked better. A "railroad romance" isn't usually regarded well when it comes to VN's, but there are times when it can actually be well-accepted - it just requires the romance not feel forced. I agree, a bit more time to evolve the relationship would have been good, which in the end is true as well for practical the whole rest of the story. Everything felt a bit cramped together, too much was happening at the same time and escalating too quickly. A smaller campaign or two before the Liberation Battle of Cera giving time for a smoother build-up would have worked much better I think.
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Post by saibotlieh on Mar 13, 2016 8:09:25 GMT -8
I have spend some time creating a modification of the story to see if the story works without hooking up Chigara and Kayto, and from my point of view it does. I have uploaded the mod here if somebody is interested in it: www.gamefront.com/files/25549939/Mod_SL_CF.zip(Somebody know how to add files to a post here by the way?) It is a rather rough modification and I mainly removed stuff, but also and added smaller sections. Some parts still look a bit "too intimate", but there is only so much I can do without being able to alter the material given. I made sure to not add any new lines that would need voice over, but the modified sections are silent anyhow since I did not get the voices to work for me. To use the mod the unzipped Mod_SL_CF.rpy file needs to be in the "game" folder of Sunrider Liberation Day. To play only the modified sections open the renpy console in any loaded game with "shift+o" and type in "jump Mod_SL_CF". Anyhow, I don't think the main question here is if the Chigara-Kayto romance is necessary for Liberation Day to work, but if it is necessary for the bigger picture as a whole. I don't think it is much of a difference for most of the girls. Ava's distrust in Chigara comes from her emotional involvement with Kayto due to their past, Asaga's mainly from subconsciously noticing the danger Chigara represents due to being a prototype. In this aspect, I don't think it makes much of a difference for them in the future if Chigara and Kayto really hooked up or not, the main question rather is if they on their own overcame the distrust (Ava) or not (Asaga). Chigara's future character development will of course be more influenced by the romance. However, it is already hinted that her character might undergo quite some changes while being together with Alice in the mind stream, so, for example going down the yandere route could be explained in one way or the other. If the girls see Kayto as "damaged goods" due to the romance might be a topic, but I don't really think so. Now, to Kayto: Marx-93 makes some good points about how the events of the past chapters make Kayto pursue the romance, even if it borders self-destruction at this critical point in time. In LD, he not only fails to confine the growing turmoil within his crew, he actively adds to it by his actions. This guilt should certainly leave a big dent in his armor and change his character for the future. Also, his romance that ended in such tragedy could and should influence the romance the player (hopefully) can choose one day. In the end, going the route as it is in LD makes Kayto a much more diverse character, if we like him this way or not. Without the hook-up he stays to be somebody who basically does everything right. He is then right in trusting Chigara without being biased due to being romantically involved with her, which also makes Ava's and Asaga's jealously "more wrong". He could have been more cautious and worked more against the mistrust in his crew, but in the end the events in the final chapter are caused by Alice, not by him. Altogether he appears to be much less broken due to the past events and should also be so in the future. So in the end it boils down to how we like to see Kayto and how we feel about him. A problem I had was that till the end of MoA, I had the feeling I was playing as Kayto and, within the given boundaries, was able to make his choices. However, in LD this impression was quickly lost and I had to watch him doing things I did not like him to do. While I think that this is rather because of the change to the underlying concept of the game, one could also interpret it as the experience surely many of us went through at least once where we do things we know we shouldn't do and in fact like to act differently, but we do them anyway. Anyhow, bottom line is I liked the experience of MoA better, but I guess only future installments of Sunrider will tell if this romance and how it played out was necessary or not. For me, it was not necessary for LD to work, but again, I will have to wait for the big picture to reveal itself.
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Post by saibotlieh on Mar 11, 2016 14:03:51 GMT -8
(P.S. - BTW, what the hell was that last time? Why'd you say I attacked Wooly or something?) My best guess would be that he confused you with GeonteneArgon00 from the "The Legion - which choice fits better?" thread.
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Post by saibotlieh on Mar 10, 2016 14:36:13 GMT -8
I like the return of the ship-map and starmap. The former offers an interlude from the story, makes the whole game feel a bit less linear and is my place of choice for research & purchase, it felt rather wrong to do this during the VN parts or directly before a battle. The later gives a better feeling of the universe, where the different places of the story are located to each other and makes the side-quest real side-quests. And I like the return of the English voices. More options are always welcome. To the new story content: First, two flawed sentences: 8522 "I can't believe I just found like you like that!" 9439 "... I was merely in cold sleep for mere months."
I was rather okay with the original ending already, but I like the added content. It ends the game rather on a positive note than a grim one, which is nice. Also, the added information about Alice helps quite a bit to flash her character out a bit, might have been better placed in mid-game though. If there are plans to modify these parts of the game as well, maybe it could be added in form of flashbacks Alice has. Might not even need new voice files that way.
Judging from the extra information, should Alpha still be called "Prototype" Alpha in the end credits by the way?
It is nice to see more choices again, although some of them are rather simple like/no-like choices of a single character. I find the better choices are the ones where one has to decide between two characters, like for the "Chigara did / didn't betray us" one, which is in the end a choice between Chigara and Asaga. Also, you are really generous with affection points there, this might overshadow previous choices quite a bit.
While on the topic of choices, the choice to salvage the battle site or not could be made a bit harder if there is an advised intel cost added to the salvaging. Similar, saving the Havoc could cost some $.
Furthermore, the sprites of Alpha and Claude mismatched somehow, the same with Lynn and the other girls on the frighter. From my point of view, the mid-game is still the part that would need some beefing up. The amount of things that happen in LD is alright, but it might have been good to give them a bit more time to develop. One or two smaller campaigns before the Liberation Battle of Cera would have been nice, for example to gather more forces (the Cera gunboats come out of nowhere at the moment) and to flesh out the universe of Sunrider a bit more. Further, I would have liked one or two scenes with Cosette during her imprisonment. She was a rather big player in the first two episodes, so it felt a bit strange that nobody bothered about her anymore. One or two more scenes with Lynn wouldn't hurt either. Don't know if there are any plans to modified mid-game parts, I can certainly understand if not since that would shakes everything up quite a bit. Just wanted to put my view on this here. Altogether I'd like to add my thanks for providing this extra content, especially in such short time. I really appreciate the amount of work spend on this.
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