Puzzle Quest Galactrix

[Hansey]

I didn't see this posted already, so I thought I'd give a heads up - there is a playable web demo of Puzzle Quest Galactrix available here (http://games.yahoo.com/free-games/puzzle-quest-galactrix). I believe this is due out next month.

It took me at least 10 games before I won one, so I can already see the "cheating AI" accusations on the horizon, hehe.. but it's good fun. I loved Puzzle Quest and will definitely be picking this up.

[Talisker]

Would be nice if the demo wasn't so damned small.

Edit: Fixed (http://l.yimg.com/jh/games/web_games/d3/puzzle-quest-galactrix/puzzle-quest-galactrix.swf)!

Biggest problem with the game -- I don't quite understand which way the gems are going to move after I clear them out, especially when I clear out multiple chains at once. They don't always go the way I think they will.

Hexagons aren't as casual-friendly as grids; this game won't be anywhere near as well-received as Puzzle Quest was.

[BobJustBob]

Biggest problem with the game -- I don't quite understand which way the gems are going to move after I clear them out, especially when I clear out multiple chains at once. They don't always go the way I think they will.

Ditto. Also the trident laser ends your turn even though it specifically says it won't end your turn.

[porousnapkin]

That was a lot of fun. The blocks coming in from seemingly random angles seems to push the game a little more towards luck based, which bothers me a bit. On the other hand, I felt like my per-turn choices were more numerous and more interesting than in Puzzle Quest. The shield system was a really interesting twist.

I lost horribly a few times, then won a game without taking a single point of damage. It sort of made me feel like it wasn't an understanding of the mechanics that pushed me to victory, but I do think that helped. It was a feeling I would get in Puzzle Quest as well and still loved it, so I guess that's okay.

[porousnapkin]

Oh, one more quick gameplay note the instructions don't seem to point out: Getting 30 "grey points" fully restores your shield. Did anyone figure out if purples have any sort of similar effect?

[PeterGinsberg]

I need to give it more time to give it a fair shake, but it is a weird decision to move to hexes. Maybe it's one of those things that starts to feel like second nature once you've played for a while, but right now I'm just confused.

I actually attempted to make a falling pieces web game with hex based tiles at one point. I totally failed (although the game launched, heh). I think hexes maybe just aren't meant for this kind of puzzle game.

[Jamie Madigan]

It really bothers me that I can't figure out which direction the blocks will shift after I get a match. That seems to rob it of a LOT of the skill required.

[Jamie Madigan]

Wait, I just figured out the block shifting pattern. It goes in a clockwise pattern. First round, upper left to bottom right. Then upper right to bottom left. Then Bottom right to upper left. Then bottom left to upper right. So cool, I'm glad it's predictable. But only if you pay attention.

[peacedog]

20 purple = extra turn.

[Marcus]

So this is coming out for every system but the PSP and Wii?

[MSUSteve]

Thanks for the link. I really enjoyed playing even though the General beat me more than I beat him.

[Quaro]

Why put you against a guy with the same abilities? The original PC Puzzle Quest demo was fantastic. Also it's nuts that there's isn't a simple arrow on the screen that shows you which way the blocks will go.

[Jamie Madigan]

After playing several more games of this, I think I'm ready to say I really don't like it. At least what's shown in the demo. I don't like the hex-based board, or the way the direction of the block "falling" changes. It's too hard to tell which direction things are going to go and how to line up combos. Seeing an opportunity for a nice cascade in PQ was a lot of fun. The board layout was simple and perfect. It's just not clicking here.

[BobJustBob]

It turns out we're all retarded. The blocks fall in the same direction as the piece you move. That's it.

[russellmz00]

do the mines increase in damage if they get shifted?

i'm not enjoying it as much as puzzle quest since the future hex positions are harder to visualize. i lost count of the number of times i looked at a map with some mines, correctly intuited the way the gems were going to shift, made my pick to avoid 3 in a row mines for the ai to match, and then watched as i realized i perfectly set up the ai to match 3 in a row mines.

[Hansey]

It turns out we're all retarded. The blocks fall in the same direction as the piece you move. That's it.

Thanks for figuring that out - that makes it much easier to strategize. It's still trickier than vanilla PQ of course, but at least you can work with it.

Interesting that if you know which two pieces you want to swap, you have to make the decision which piece to select first, since that will affect where the new gems fall.

[Tom Chick]

It turns out we're all retarded. The blocks fall in the same direction as the piece you move. That's it.

Ha, that's awesome. I was pulling my hair out trying to follow Thrrpt's "clockwise" theory!

-Tom

[nabeel]

Thanks for the link, I have been looking forward to this. It seems a little more messier, in terms of mechanics, and I think Popcap have been wise to avoid going the hex-based route (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172144). However it still seems like it will be interesting to play.

[PeterGinsberg]

It turns out we're all retarded. The blocks fall in the same direction as the piece you move. That's it.

Wow, I feel dumb. At least I have company.

I know this was just a web demo, but you think they could have squeezed that into the help?

[Morkilus]

Do the 4-of-a-kinds get you anything?

[Hansey]

Do the 4-of-a-kinds get you anything?

They don't appear to. It seems that the only way to get extra turns is either getting 5 in a row or matching purples.. a stack of 30 (or is it 20?) purples gets you an extra turn.

[Staff Sergeant]

A super nova gets an extra turn too, although I don't know how to get a super nova, it was one of those turns where blocks were exploding for like a minute straight.

[Sten Friberg]

Do the 4-of-a-kinds get you anything?

No, but 5-of-a-kind gives you an extra round. And those five don't need to be in a straight line, a V-formation works just as well.

[forgeforsaken]

It turns out we're all retarded. The blocks fall in the same direction as the piece you move. That's it.

I'm not sure how you all missed that.

[Reldan]

I enjoy the demo quite a bit. The one weakness of the original was that I thought the puzzle mechanic got boring after a while due to a lack of depth. It was always just - scan for a 5x; scan for a 4x; scan for skulls; scan for a multiplier; else, do something that doesn't give the opponent any of the above.

The hex grid and the ability to control the slide combine to add a substantial amount of depth. Also, limiting the number of things that toss out extra turns is smart.

I'll probably be picking this one up.

[Lazy Shiftless Bastard]

No, but 5-of-a-kind gives you an extra round. And those five don't need to be in a straight line, a V-formation works just as well.

Sadly not always true. I have gotten 5-of-a-kind several times with no bonus turn. Also, this game just kicks my ass over and over without me ever coming close to victory so far.

[Quaro]

I like the changed board mechanics a lot. It's too bad the demo powers are pretty boring though.

[Staff Sergeant]

It's a little too random for my tastes. Without altering my play style I alternated between getting completely owned by the AI and completely owning the AI. I can't imagine playing an RPG format of this and not getting really frustrated when the computer gets a SUPER NOVA purely by luck and gets all of its bars filled followed by a 30 damage mine set that ends a match that had been going my way.

[Talisker]

I don't particularly care for the hexagons, the mine damage values seem skewed a bit too high, the demo powers are dull, I keep thinking "this just isn't anywhere near as good as Puzzle Quest, it's gonna flop".

... but I keep playing the demo anyway. I think it's 'cause I want to win it at least once.

[Jab]

It did feel a bit too random to me too, somehow I got a massive chain with pure luck from gems coming in and devastated the AI. I also noticed that according to the text, the laser said it would not end your turn, but it did when the AI used it. Seeing as how I loved Puzzle Quest I'll have to get this too, the question is what platform? I have the DS version of PQ, and it did have some bugs with it, is this coming to the PC at the same time?

[Alan Friesen]

It did feel a bit too random to me too, somehow I got a massive chain with pure luck from gems coming in and devastated the AI. I also noticed that according to the text, the laser said it would not end your turn, but it did when the AI used it. Seeing as how I loved Puzzle Quest I'll have to get this too, the question is what platform? I have the DS version of PQ, and it did have some bugs with it, is this coming to the PC at the same time?

As far as I know, it's supposed to come out for PC first and almost all other consoles later. I'm dithering between the PC release (bigger screen!) and the DS release (more convenient, touch mechanics).

[Reldan]

So far I've won 2 out of the 3 games I've played. Part of the strategy is finding matches where the resulting shift cannot possibly give the opponent an opportunity to match mines. You can't control what tiles come in from outside the playfield, but you can control where they'll end up.

[Staff Sergeant]

...and if tiles from the outside form more matches then you lose control over anything. In one of the games I got a NOVA but ended up worse off for it because it set the computer up for a 20-30 damage mine set and killed me. Great, my bars are filled, but I'm dead.

[RepoMan]

That happens in the original Puzzle Quest too. Let the board get too touchy, and a cascade you miss can hose you. Nothing new there.

Sounds like a demo is the way to go with this game.

[Quaro]

I loved playing a crazy warrior build in the original where every item was a +skull item, and you get the thing that gives you 50% extra chance of another turn when you do at least 10 damage. You fill the board with skulls and start getting endless free turns and win really quickly usually, but by massively increasing the skulls the chance that you suddenly give your opponent a massive skull cascade is way up there too. Either way it meant the battles were quick -- optimized for wins for minute rather than win %.

[Tim James]

Won on my first try, by luck I guess. One NOVA and the computer left me two easy bomb matches in plain sight. Maybe it was confused about which direction the pieces fall.

I hope the music is good. Will definitely pick it up on sale, but I still have the first game to get through.

[Misguided]

I've been playing the demo obsessively for a few days now. While I really like it, this game won't sell nearly as well as the original PQ did, IMO. The move to the hexagonal board might appeal to those like myself that relish the challenge, but I think it's going to put off the more casual players. The appeal to both casual and more hardcore folks is what made the first game such a phenomenon.

Btw, the demo fight takes place in space. There will be fights that take place in the orbit of a planet. In those cases, the blocks will be pulled by the planet's gravity and always fall the same way. I think a match like that might have been a better choice for the demo as evidenced by the first page of this thread.

[Talisker]

I think a match like that might have been a better choice for the demo as evidenced by the first page of this thread.
Stating "the blocks fall the same direction as the piece you move" in the instructions would've cleared that up. It's a pretty rough demo, unfortunately.

[Misguided]

...and if tiles from the outside form more matches then you lose control over anything. In one of the games I got a NOVA but ended up worse off for it because it set the computer up for a 20-30 damage mine set and killed me. Great, my bars are filled, but I'm dead.

You, know, I think this is a great point. I think if I were testing this in beta, I might have suggested that they have a Nova give the extra turn and let super nova fill everything instead. That way, you'd never have that frustration of "woohoo! my bars are full! Oh crud, I'm dead." ANother option would be to have shields get fortifified on a nova.

At first I really struggled to win, my success rate was probably about 20-25%. A big part of that was difficulty in recognizing one particular type of stone arrangement. This is a little tough to represent in ascii but I'll try:

From this:
O–O–O–O–O–O–
–O–O–O–*–O–O
O–O–O–O–O–O–
–O–O–*–O–O–O
O–O–O–*–O–O–

To this:
O–O–O–O–O–O–
–O–O–O–*–O–O
O–O–O–*–O–O–
–O–O–*–O–O–O
O–O–O–O–O–O–

Since I've learned to recognize that type of arrangement more effectively, I'm now winning the majority of fights.

[MSUSteve]

So you can shift the bottom * straight up? Realizing that might help me win as well.

[Misguided]

So you can shift the bottom * straight up? Realizing that might help me win as well.

Yeah. It's a little weird to see in the ascii. But basically you have two like stones touching and a third matching one off to the side. You can't move the third to connect to the first two, which is what my brain keeps wanting to do, but can make a line of three *in a different orientation* by moving one of the touching pair.

[Staff Sergeant]

ASCII art aside, suffice to say that the hexes can be swapped with any hex touching one of its sides: top, top-right, top-left, bottom, bottom-right, bottom-left.

The ASCII combined with what you are saying sort of makes it look like the corner is on the top and sound like you can swap with tiles that aren't touching each other, but the corners are on the sides and you can only swap if they are touching each other.

EDIT: I tried to draw in Paint what I wanted to say but I fail at drawing hexes. Just take a screenshot of Misguided's diagram, rotate it 90 degrees either way and you will get what the board actually looks like and what he is actually saying.

[Therlun]

Am I the only one who liked Puzzle Quest for its light RPG approach and revisit of the Warlords world? I didn't know it used that universe and was really surprised to play in a familiar world. I still remember conquering the 4 other knightly orders in Darklords rising and laughing about the terrible live-action cut scenes, especially in contrast to the well done "picture-cut scenes" (different campaigns).
I still remembered fighting in for the Wizard Isles and fighting in a royal civil war...

While I don't hate the match-3 system it very quickly became boring to me.
I always wished the fights would end fast so I can continue my tour of the "Darklords Rising" world.

I have the same issue with Galaxtrix. I really like the art and the movement in a space environment. I wish there would be a trading game or an adventure or RPG with that art and that scenario.
But I'm bored by the match-3 stuff already... and this is no casual hate as I like it as a time waster.
I just don't want it in a "real game" and Galactrix looks so much like one. :/

[Telefrog]

I really like Puzzle Quest, but this demo didn't really hit the sweet spot for me. The hexes are just too difficult for me to deal with.

[Tortilla]

I am disappointed this won't be coming out for PSP. I had PQ for both PSP and DS and far preferred the PSP version.

[Bahimiron]

I was mostly disappointed that it was pretty much six-directional Bejeweled. When I first saw screenshots, I made the assumption that where Puzzle Quest was RPG Bejeweled, this would be RPG Hexic. My bad assumption, but it prevented me from really enjoying this.

Which is all for the best, I suppose. My love affair with Puzzle Quest ended in a bitter, hateful divorce.

[Gendal]

Can't wait. The original PQ was responsible for sucking down massive amounts of my time, hoping this sequel does the same. The demo seems fine to me, it's just the basic game, for me the fun of PQ came from all the customization you could do.

[Jab]

Does the Pc version have multiplayer? I think that might edge out the Pc version for me, as I would have loved to play PQ multiplayer with my fully leveled characters.

[Demolira]

I saw today that a PC downloadable version of the demo came out. It's a bit more in depth than the flash demo:

http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/01/22/download-puzzle-quest-galactrix-demo/

[Gendal]

I saw today that a PC downloadable version of the demo came out. It's a bit more in depth than the flash demo:

http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/01/22/download-puzzle-quest-galactrix-demo/

This is the full PC demo for Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, the science fiction themed puzzle role-playing game hybrid. The demo includes single player campaign and instant action modes. However, players will not be able to save their heroes, advance past level 5, or travel to more than the first few star systems. The full game is expected to release in February.
Couldn't download it fast enough. Since there is no PSP version I will probably just get it for PC unless the DS version is a large upgrade from the PQ version. Ideally I would like an iPhone version that doesn't suck but apparently that's just not going to happen.

[Jason Lutes]

After playing the extended demo for a bit, I'll certainly be buying it as soon as it's available. Factional relationships and the trading mechanic are the two additions that might make this one a little deeper than PQ. The complete lack of penalty for failure (beyond lost time) still bugs me, but I love the basic gameplay.

For those who are confused by gems falling from all sides, there's a piece of shipboard equipment available for purchase, a Newtonian gravity generator or somesuch, that makes them all fall from top to bottom when you activate it.

[Tortilla]

I played the demo around for a bit, and was upset that it could be beaten so quickly. Then I looked at the clock and realized I'd just wasted three hours dinking around in a warm happy PQ trance.

This game still has the good old PQ magic, which mean it will own my life for two months after release. :(

[tiohn]

The demo moved this from "I'll check it out at some point" to "Hellz yea! Let's do this!" for me.

Being colorbind, I REALLY need them to differentiate between the blue and purple tiles though. I feel like I have to squint and concentrate much harder to tell the symbols apart.

[ElGuapo]

I've been playing Puzzle Quest for the DS and it's all a bit too random for me. You, or your opponent, get these huge chains before anyone can react. It also seems way too hard on the default difficulty ... and changing the difficulty clearly just gimps the AI, which is no fun.

I like all the inventory management and capturing things and researching spells and such, but it's not nearly as fun as the version on my cell phone. It just seems very random. Did I maybe pick the wrong class? (Druid)

[Drastic]

Definitely a large random factor still--perhaps even larger due to the added directions incoming falling chains can land and result in. I lost the first fight against the second pirate because it made one match that turned the board into a series of explosions that I swear went on for a full minute and only ended because my hull went away at the end.

[Scrax]

Is the PSP version of Puzzle Quest functional? I seem to remember something significant being broken in one of the versions.

[Tortilla]

Is the PSP version of Puzzle Quest functional? I seem to remember something significant being broken in one of the versions.

It's actually the best version as far as I'm concerned.

The allies system was broken, so you didn't get the ally bonuses. Given that the ally bonuses were fairly minor and would only activate randomly and only once in while, that's not a big deal. What the PSP and DS versions do have is some fun horribly overpowered skill combos to play with. Later versions of PQ such as the one on XBLA capped the max effect of certain skills and cooldown timers before a skill could be reused. The DS/PSP original versions place no such restrictions on the player so it's possible to have a ton of fun building sick combos and blowing up the AI opponents. Given how tough a fight the final boss was, I don't think I would have found that fight tolerable sans sick combos actually. I still had to try many times.

[Tortilla]

I've been playing Puzzle Quest for the DS and it's all a bit too random for me. You, or your opponent, get these huge chains before anyone can react. It also seems way too hard on the default difficulty ... and changing the difficulty clearly just gimps the AI, which is no fun.

I like all the inventory management and capturing things and researching spells and such, but it's not nearly as fun as the version on my cell phone. It just seems very random. Did I maybe pick the wrong class? (Druid)

The game is very random in the early going because your abilities are too feeble to have much effect on the outcome on the fight. You are basically just playing bejeweled against the AI and hoping for skulls.

Later in the game the skills and items combine to give you the power to start using various tactics to control the game, even from the first few turns. This is a lot more fun, at least to me, because it involves a lot more more clever planning and strategy and a lot less random luck.

[Xemu]

The 360 version is the definitive one, IMO. Downloadable content, no horrible bugs like in the PSP and DS versions.

[Tortilla]

The 360 version is the definitive one, IMO. Downloadable content, no horrible bugs like in the PSP and DS versions.

Bah, all the cool stuff was nerfed. Gimme the buggy versions any day!

[Xemu]

Back on topic to Galactrix, the full PC demo has turned me around 100% on this. Can't wait until it comes out... I'm starting to grok the mechanic and having all the metagame stuff makes such a huge difference.

[porousnapkin]

I was a little put off by the longer demo. I'm honestly not sure why. I enjoyed the shorter demo quite a bit. I hated the hacking mechanic, which was more than half the demo, so that could be a big part of it. The game also sort of felt like it set up what the basic equipment slots are, and I have this fear that the only difference between lasers is a higher cost and a bigger boom. The level-up mechanic didn't really compel me to care about leveling much because none of the bonuses seemed that exciting.

I think my biggest issue is the visual style of the map struck EVE and Space Rangers 2 chords so heavily. This game just doesn't compare to those in terms of complexity at all, and I didn't expect it to, but the visuals tricked me into comparing them and feeling disappointed. I also was really put off by the writing. I guess I can dig cheesy fantasy but hold sci-fi to a higher standard? No idea why it was an issue in this game and not the last, but the overdrama was too much for me.

[Hansey]

Thanks for the link to the new PC demo!

I just finished it, and wow, what a difference from the flash web demo. I'm definitely even more excited for this now. I like the little mini games, but then I really enjoyed those in Puzzle Quest as well. My only problem now is deciding whether to get the PC version or the DS version. ;)

[Jab]

Does anyone know if there will be a retail edition of the PC version like with the first PQ , or will it be download only? I checked Amazon and Gamestop and they only have listings for the DS version.

[nabeel]

Ooh, didn't notice the proper PC demo link. Very nice indeed, it's definitely more interesting within the context of the actual game.

[UncleSmoothie]

Really enjoyed the demo. I may be in danger of buying this game for 3 platforms as I did the last one.

[BobJustBob]

I actually like the full demo less than the web demo. The new puzzle game is a nice change but the full structure is disappointingly identical to Puzzle Quest.

[UncleSmoothie]

If Bob doesn't like it, then I am further reassured in my positive assessment.

[BobJustBob]

I liked Puzzle Quest and I like this. But I expect more from a sequel.

[Xemu]

Anyone know when the various versions are out? A few places list late February but I can't tell if that's only the DS version.

[Therlun]

This game just doesn't compare to those [] in terms of complexity at all, and I didn't expect it to, but the visuals tricked me into comparing them and feeling disappointed.

That's what I said before playing the demo judging only screenshots/movies. The Demo further enhanced this feeling.

While the freedom and movement actually is pretty shallow, it looks and feels pretty good and well done. Having everything channeled into variations of match-3 just seems so much like wasted potential...

[Cubit]

Looks like this is up on Impulse for $19.99

[Tortilla]

What, the full game? Already?

MUST GET IMPULSE NOW!!

Oh wait, no, it just went up for pre-order as far as I can tell.

Don't tease a PQ addict like that man!

[Cubit]

Sorry, sorry everyone. Its just the pre-order. False alarm. The front page feature didn't say pre-order, just "buy now"

[BobJustBob]

Oh, sweet. The press release made it sound like it was only going to be on the publisher's DD service. Back on the list!

[Xemu]

Damnit, false alarm! Agh!

[EvilIdler]

Quit bumping this thre...damn, now you got me doing it too :(

Can we expect a simultaenous multi-platform release for this one, or will it be PC first this time around?

[Tom Chick]

Stupid bumpers! You guys are such jerks, doing this to me. So I'm posting this. Ha, see how you like it!

-Tom

[Gendal]

Good to hear it's on Impulse, I like to keep my purchases between them or Steam these days.

[Don Quixote]

Quit bumping this thre...damn, now you got me doing it too :(

Can we expect a simultaenous multi-platform release for this one, or will it be PC first this time around?

Seems like I heard it's out on XBLA in the next two weeks...

You know how unreliable the XBLA dates are, though.

[Tortilla]

Everything I've been able to dig up seems to indicate simultaneous multi platform. The Impulse release date and the XBLA release date and the gamestop.com release date for the DS version seem to be identical at any rate.

I've never pre-ordered anything off a direct download game service, anyone know how this works for impulse? If I just leave my PC and Impulse running on the release date, will I come home to Galactrix all downloaded and installed and ready to play?

[Pogue Mahone]

Well, since we're all bumping this without any real cause, why not: I decided to bull through the original PQ over the weekend to clear the way for this one. I really liked the original, but I definitely lean toward the sci-fi end of things so this is one I'm definitely looking forward to. I played the demo, and I notice that I definitely find it harder to predict how things will chain, which I got pretty good at from the first. No doubt a little practice will put things right.

[Brian Seiler]

So, to people who may have tried it, is this game a little more skill focused than the prior? The part of Puzzle Quest that drove me to screaming fits was the way that the computer would but ultra-lucky eight move combinations. It took me something like seven tries to get into the game without it stomping me with one of those in my shimpy game infancy, before I had enough hit points to reasonably sit one out.

[Tim James]

I think one or two people have commented on lucky streaks in Puzzle Quest. Maybe.

[Tortilla]

So, to people who may have tried it, is this game a little more skill focused than the prior? The part of Puzzle Quest that drove me to screaming fits was the way that the computer would but ultra-lucky eight move combinations. It took me something like seven tries to get into the game without it stomping me with one of those in my shimpy game infancy, before I had enough hit points to reasonably sit one out.


I recall what you were talking about early on in PQ, and at least with the demo is seems Galactrix is more forgiving. The whole concept of shields that regenerate means that one isn't quite as screwed if the AI goes on a lucky streak and inflicts huge damage. Come from behind wins after getting in a hole like that were almost impossible in PQ but I've done it a time or two in the Galactrix demo.

[Tim James]

Also there are more game modes that are you against the board. Still luck involved (and if that bothers you, go play something else) but your adversary isn't going to slaughter you necessarily.

[Brian Seiler]

I don't mind that luck is involved - what pissed me off so hard about Puzzle Quest was that I was something like fifth level, making what sure looked like the best move on the board, and then the spider or whatever I was fighting would whip off a fifty seven move combo or whatever that killed me, I wouldn't know what I did wrong, and the game is telling me I lose like I'M the asshole. It took me something like ten tries before I started a character that got up to the point where those sorts of lucky breaks don't just grind you into the dirt.

From what it sounds like, though, this game has taken the appropriate steps to mitigate that to some extent.

[Alan Au]

I'm still amused by people who complain about cheating AI in Puzzle Quest. That is, the strings of lucky drops and multiple-move combos are usually caused by outrageous enemy stats, equipment, and spells rather than by anything the AI is doing.

For example, here are the lists of enemy-only abilities and enemy-only equipment:
http://www.d3publisher.us/Walkthroughs/Puzzle_Quest_PSP_DS.pdf

- Alan

[Brian Seiler]

Well, to my credit, I'm not complaining so much about it cheating as I am about the game not being robust enough to survive either side getting lucky at the lower levels of the game, which I consider to be objectively bad design. Once I got to a somewhat higher level, the impact wasn't so severe, but the first few times I tried to play the game, basically all I got was a middle finger and a fart sound, which these rechargeable shields and better come-from-behind ability should nicely address. I hope. Because I wanted to enjoy Puzzle Quest, and I got there eventually, but it was a tough thing to do that, had I had anything else to do that weekend, I never would have bothered going through.

Either way, I'm guessing that this is probably going to be a buy for me when it releases.

I didn't know that document existed, though - that's at least moderately awesome of them to publish.

[Xemu]

I'm also trying to finish up PQ before Galactrix comes out, but Lord Bane is just kicking my ass up and down the street. Grim!

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm also trying to finish up PQ before Galactrix comes out, but Lord Bane is just kicking my ass up and down the street. Grim!

I had the exact same problem on Sunday, Xemu, probably spent three hours on him alone. It may not help you since I was using a warrior build, but I found that the spell that I took off an Ogre Mage (can't remember the name) that randomly spawns +5 skulls usually was good for setting off huge chain reactions that knocked him down pretty well. That plus the spell that turns red bricks into skulls was great for chain reactions too, but I think that's warrior specific and may not work for you.

[Mysterio]

That plus the spell that turns red bricks into skulls was great for chain reactions too, but I think that's warrior specific and may not work for you.

Bricks? Are you playing Puzzle Quest or Breakout? ;-)

(If asked, I'll claim I have no idea what Breakout is, as to prevent others from ascertaining my true age.)

[Alan Au]

So yeah, I'm also replaying Puzzle Quest with a new character right now to fill in some missing parts of my collection. It's actually because of a problem with the design--some enemies can only be captured (and their spells learned) during the "Quest" mode if you defeat them a few times in "Choose Opponent" mode first. The extended manual that I linked earlier explicitly mentions this.

If you're playing on the DS, the Warrior is by far the most effective class to use. Even Lord Bane goes down pretty quickly when you turn half of the board into skulls. Unfortunately, the XBLA version was nerfed (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=39081), so you'll have to win the old-fashioned way (by maximizing your hitpoints and extra-damage equipment).

- Alan

[Freezer-TPF-]

I'm also trying to finish up PQ before Galactrix comes out, but Lord Bane is just kicking my ass up and down the street. Grim!

I got stuck on him as well. I came sort of close a few times but gave up after several tries. I probably need to research some additional equipment/spells and/or just get lucky with getting a few key spells through his resistance at the right time, but I'm not overly motivated to grind out the finish. I'm playing as a Wizard.

[russellmz00]

I'm also trying to finish up PQ before Galactrix comes out, but Lord Bane is just kicking my ass up and down the street. Grim!

cheap trick: if you captured a few cities, just do a tour of the map for a bit and get some quick cash. then donate to the temple to up your stats.

[XPav]

I took me a while to beat Lord Bane. I had to resort to gold farming to buy stats, crafting some items, learning the "eat half health" spell, and a lot of luck.

I never did follow any sort of build strategy for my Knight though, and I got tired of the combos that the knight could do. Ooo look, I get XP. YAWN. Just too lazy to restart the game.

[Xemu]

I did eventually beat him last night -- got a lucky early chain that let me cast Revenant at the beginning of the fight, more or less. That plus a few Berserks and Deathbringers gave me a win, though it was pretty darn close.

Now I just have to figure out how to start working on the expansion boss chain.

[SpoofyChop]

So Gamestop delivered this to me today.

So far it's awesome! It's a bit hard to get used to the new drop directions though.

[Tortilla]

So Gamestop delivered this to me today.

So far it's awesome! It's a bit hard to get used to the new drop directions though.

The fuck, gamestop is breaking street date on this one? Now I have to call around all the stores in town and see if I can get my fix early!

STOP TORMENTING PQ JUNKIES!

[SpoofyChop]

Yeah their page says it's available in a number of my local stores...I was surprised. Impulse is holding to the 24th looks like.

[SpoofyChop]

I should mention I'm talking about the PC version.

[SpoofyChop]

Wow! 5000 posts!

[Tortilla]

Yeah their page says it's available in a number of my local stores...I was surprised. Impulse is holding to the 24th looks like.

They do seem to be, which is seriously f'd up since it was actually the PC direct download version I wanted. I guess I should have pre-ordered through gamestop. :(

[Talisker]

Is there a confirmed XBLA date for this yet?

[Xemu]

OMGWTFBBQ!!! I'll have to check local Gamestops tomorrow....

[Gendal]

Damn, no Galactrix@Gamestop within a 100 miles of here. That's a shit load of Gamestops too.

Probably a good thing, I hate Gamestop and I love Impulse, but neither is going to get in my way of Galactrix.

[tiohn]

I can verify that the Gamestop closest to me had a copy until 15 minutes ago.

[Xemu]

Just got the last copy at the Gamestop in Carrolton, TX. From talking to the guy at the largest Gamestop in the Dallas area, he said the DS version is street dated but the PC version is not. He then helpfully proceeded to check the inventories of other Gamestops in the area to see if any had them, so that might be useful for other people looking for it early...

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x64/xemu22/n545447177_2205603_7798.jpg

[Jab]

Is the pc version going to be up on Steam or on their website, or is the pc version retail only?

[SpoofyChop]

After playing some more I have a few observations (possible spoilers?):

The puzzle aspect game itself seems quite a bit more challenging than the original in some ways. There's a lot more ways to move so there's always more potential for making awesome or crappy moves.

They've added a ton of cool interactions the original didn't have. Opening jumpgates, crafting, and mining for instance. They all have their own slightly different flavor.

I really hate contraband. I don't ever want it and when I do get it accidentally it's like a race to get to an inventory menu before I encounter a local cop :(

The main villain is annoying.

All in all it's a fantastic game so far!

[SpoofyChop]

Is the pc version going to be up on Steam or on their website, or is the pc version retail only?

It's on the new Stardock digital platform Impulse.

[tiohn]

I mostly like it so far, but constant jumpgate hacking is just nightmarishly tedious.

[Gendal]

I mostly like it so far, but constant jumpgate hacking is just nightmarishly tedious.
Those are the timed events? I dislike those, though at least with the original Puzzle Quest you could put them off till you became more comfortable with the play mechanics. Galactrix if I am not mistaken dumps them on you much earlier.

[Quaro]

Do your items/skills/ships effect the Jumpgate hacking? The thing I disliked about forging and some other minigames in the first game was that you didn't get to use your character with all the interesting abilities and choices, it was just a fixed matchfest. Training your mount ruled -- it was timed, but using your actual character.

[UncleSmoothie]

Impulse tantalizingly says "GET IT NOW" on their listing for PQG, but when you add it to your shopping cart it is revealed to be a pre-order item. Pity, I was looking forward to wasting a rainy day on this.

[Alan Au]

Do your items/skills/ships effect the Jumpgate hacking? The thing I disliked about forging and some other minigames in the first game was that you didn't get to use your character with all the interesting abilities and choices, it was just a fixed matchfest. Training your mount ruled -- it was timed, but using your actual character.
The other thing that *really* bothered me with the timed puzzles was the problem where a match-4/5 would obscure the field with "reward" text for a couple of seconds.

- Alan

[Tom Chick]

You guys are big babies if you're complaining about the LeapGate hacking! You only have to do it once, and if you hate it, you don't even have to do it everywhere. Just open up some major routes and play accordingly.

Besides, most of the LeapGate hacking is a matter of simply trying a couple of times until you get a good starting situation. Even the hard hacking challenges can literally fall into place with only a few moves.

What's more, I maintain that the LeapGate hacking is an important part of helping you learn their weird zero-G match-3 system. A little timed pressure works wonders to train your brain to see patterns one move in advance.

-Tom

[peacedog]

Impulse tantalizingly says "GET IT NOW" on their listing for PQG, but when you add it to your shopping cart it is revealed to be a pre-order item. Pity, I was looking forward to wasting a rainy day on this.

Yeah, it's bullshit. We should sue Stardock.

[Marcus]

I want this game. I want it now.

[Tortilla]

Me too, but I generally keep the twitching under control unless somebody bumps this thread again.

It's a good thing I can't find a torrent of this game, or I'd be tempted to break my own rule against downloading games. Though to forestall the inevitable criticism, downloaded or not I'd still buy two copies of course.

[Kryten]

It sounds like distribution for this game is as broken as it was for the original game. The XBLA version was dated for 25/02 but has now moved to TBA and there's still no word (either way) on a PSP version. Oh well, at least the Impulse version is available to foreigners :)

[LionelThompson]

I woke up and was at the office at 7am excited to purchase this today, wallet pulled out and Impulse loading. Only then, when I saw it was still in pre-order status, did I realize today is only the 23rd. Since my hopes and dreams were crushed, I'm bumping this up to spread the misery. Hurry up tomorrow already!

[tiohn]

My biggest gripe so far is still the hacking puzzles. I've lost them several times because the matching cascades take so damn long. I'll have 15 seconds, one match left to make, and even have three tiles perfectly lined up for the final match, but then that second-to-last match will have caused a 16 second cascade that runs out the remainder of my time and I have to do it all over again. In fact, the stupid timed puzzles almost had me ready to give up on the game yesterday morning, but I gave it a shot again last night and the puzzles seem to have finally clicked for me. Now I can successfully complete the medium difficulty timed challenges in one or two tries, and I have enough of the map unlocked that I don't have to do five of them every time I want to complete a mission. Getting a couple of better ships and working out some nice combos with hardware certainly helps up the fun factor.

[Xemu]

Yeah, I was a bit torn on getting the PC version expecting I would also buy the XBLA version in a few days, but now that the XBLA version is indefinitely delayed...

[Tortilla]

Yeah, I was a bit torn on getting the PC version expecting I would also buy the XBLA version in a few days, but now that the XBLA version is indefinitely delayed...

The PC version is dirty cheap too. This is the type of game I would have gladly paid $49.99 for and the PC version is going for $19.99 MSRP.

I'm going to buy myself the PC version (with tablet PC, it's sort of like the deluxe DS experience) and the DS version for my wife just to forestall any fighting over the game. At $50 for two copies it's a quite reasonable expense.

[SpoofyChop]

tiohn, I agree that the cascade=screwed phenomenon is frustrating.

So far I'm spending a fair bit of time on the hacking puzzles and it's a bit annoying but I agree that they become easier. Like Tom said, at least you only have to do it once per jumpgate and you don't even need to open all of them

[tiohn]

Except that the jumpgates will randomly close and need to be re-hacked. Luckily, it doesn't appear to happen terribly often.

[Cubit]

I picked this up at my local Gamestop today, and am looking forward to trying it out. I never played the original puzzle quest, so we'll see.

[Tom Chick]

Except that the jumpgates will randomly close and need to be re-hacked. Luckily, it doesn't appear to happen terribly often.

Whoa, really? I haven't seen this at all. Are you sure you didn't screw up somehow? So far, every LeapGate I've hacked has stayed open, and I've played a fair bit (I'm level 18).

-Tom

[Marcus]

How is the DS version? I would assume someone has played it by now.

[tiohn]

Whoa, really? I haven't seen this at all. Are you sure you didn't screw up somehow? So far, every LeapGate I've hacked has stayed open, and I've played a fair bit (I'm level 18).

-Tom

I am utterly certain. The manual even mentions this. At level 19, I think I've had five that have needed to be rehacked.

[Tim James]

The manual even mentions this.Tom Chick doesn't read manuals.

[tiohn]

Tom Chick doesn't read manuals.

Does Tom Chick know anything about Psi abilities? I've got 400,000,000 psi points and nothing to do with them.

[Tom Chick]

Hmm, hey guys, look what Tom Chick found on the third page of the four-page manual!


Remember that LeapGates do not stay open forever after Hacking it once, they will randomly disengage and must be Hacked again.


Does Tom Chick know anything about Psi abilities? I've got 400,000,000 psi points and nothing to do with them.

Tom Chick knows that there's a quest chain that gives you your Psi abilities (it's one of the earliest story quests you'll get, and it involves "the lost") because Tom Chick is currently trying to beat a Vortraag cruiser blocking the fifth of seven Psi abilities. However, having tried a couple of builds to no avail, Tom Chick has concluded that we're going to need a bigger boat, so he is about to fall back.

Tom Chick can also tell you that you need to look a little farther and wider for ship equipment, because Tom Chick just found an awesome weapon in Vortraag space. The Psi Amplifier uses 1-10 points of Psi points and delivers a point of damage for each point. It only uses 6 points of CPU power, freeing up weapon power for actual weapons.

-Tom Chick

[Tortilla]

Question for those who have the game already. Does galactrix have some analogue to PQ's temple where money can be used to purchase stats directly? Or is it stats from leveling up purely this time around?

[Tom Chick]

No temple equivalent that I've found so far, although there are definitely a few gameplay hooks that I haven't uncovered yet. But the real money sink seems to be new ships.

Also, stats work very differently. In fact, everything works very differently. This is a lot more than just a reskinning of the Warlords version!

-Tom

[jeff3f]

I want an iPhone port of the original. And give me Chromatron too while they're at it.

I was po'd because I thought this came out already--I went to BB and no dice over the weekend. I did score a couple of other good games on sale though (Banjo and Saint's row). I "forgot" to pick up TurboTacks (this software usually costs me far more than all the other programs I've ever bought combined). So this means I need to go back after work tomorrow and get the damned puzzle quest game. I'm miffed that it's impossible to find the first puzzle quest game anywhere--you'd think that'd be an easy quick buck for them. Just re-issue it (on DS) for the last few weeks, people would buy it. I was an XBOX live customer, I most definitely would have purchased a $20 copy of PQ1 for the DS). Especially if it had the expansion built in. Sheesh.

[Cubit]

I want an iPhone port of the original.

There is one. Wasn't too great at release, but they've updated since then.

[jeff3f]

There is one. Wasn't too great at release, but they've updated since then.

Oh. Thanks for the heads up. I guess I meant a port that's not a STFA port... :(

I'm buying for DS I guess!

[UncleSmoothie]

So I'm sitting in a boardroom in San Francisco, and probably will be for another couple of hours. I'm really hoping that when I get back to my hotel I can get in a game or two of PQG.

Anybody have any idea if this is unlocking on Impulse at midnight EST? Or any particular time at all? I couldn't find any data on Impulse, or Stardock's site or forums.

This game is really bringing out the rarely-reared obsessive fanboy in me.

[Tortilla]

Ditto. I'm ashamed to admit I'm compulsively checking impulse every 20 minutes to see if it's downloadable yet.

[UncleSmoothie]

Thank you Kraaze, for showing me that I'm not alone in my inexplicable preoccupation.

Where are you even looking on Impulse? The game's info page to see if the pre-order button turns into a "purchase" button?

[Tortilla]

I threw in the pre-order this morning, so now I just have impulse running and I'm whacking F5 to refresh the "my games" page.

Once it shows up and I can start downloading, I'm sure I'll post :)

[Jab]

Any word if there is any kind of copy protection on the retail version?

[routlaw]

Any word if there is any kind of copy protection on the retail version?

100% sure my retail version has the no activation style "disc in the drive" Securom after having a minor nit with the game and my optical drive when I bought it.

[peacedog]

Still showing as a preorder for me (in the shopping cart).

[LionelThompson]

Still showing as a preorder for me (in the shopping cart).

I want to support Brad, but I can buy it from GamersGate now. Why can't this be some kind of auto-trigger to be available at midnight?

[SwampIrish]

I want to support Brad, but I can buy it from GamersGate now. Why can't this be some kind of auto-trigger to be available at midnight?

Yea, his loss. Downloading from GamersGate now.

[Tortilla]

I'll give impulse till a bit before lunch break, since I've got to go to work today anywayd won't be able to play until lunch. If impulse can't come through by then, well, then, sorry Stardock. Not delivering a game on 7am of the release day is unconscionable when your competitors all are doing it.

[peacedog]

Tis moot for me; I won't be able to play until after work. So impulse it is.

[Gendal]

Cynicide over at SA (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3060144&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=3#post357080368) posted a nice summation of a talk he attended today/yesterday/whatever down under:

I'm back from the talk that Steve Fawkner and his team gave about Galactrix. I picked out a few interesting bits.

He doesn't like random name generators any more after demonstrating one of their products to a teenage magazine, when the reviewer started playing it generated the name "Molestor".

Puzzle Quest Galactrix is their first game to have a dedicated sound engineer work on it. Before then Steve usually handled all the audio himself.

There were two AI's developed for Galactrix, one that's a lot better at reading the board and a slightly nerfed version. Due to processor constraints with the DS the better AI was not enabled but you can reenable it on PC if you hack around in the LUA files. I'm going looking for it once the game has finished downloading from Gamers Gate.

The game has systems named after places on earth, New Australia for example. New Africa was in the game until a QA tester pointed out it was the name of a militant animal rights group. It was changed to New Etheopia but in the meantime a designer had coded in a quest where you steam food from pirates in that system. Since they didn't catch it before the game went out there is a quest in the game where you steal food from New Etheopia.

Steve showed half a dozen prototypes for Galactrix that were scrapped that included shooting lasers at coloured icons to make patterns and a Zuma clone.

Their next game will probably be a puzzle game but he'd like to do a proper RPG or strategy game.

It was quite an interesting talk, apparantly they went to some lengths to get the game as similar as possible design wise across all platforms, this included porting LUA to the DS.
Still laughing at the random name generator and New Ethiopia mission.

[MSUSteve]

So it's not going to be on XBLA today?

[Tortilla]

Gah, this is officially driving me nuts. I decided I wouldn't wait anymore so I went to gamersgate to get PQG. Nope, they are rejecting both of my credit cards for some reason. Oh and the local gamestops don't have any retail copies in stock yet.

Why couldn't this game have been on nice reliable steam instead of crappy services like gamers gate or impulse?

[LionelThompson]

Gah, this is officially driving me nuts. I decided I wouldn't wait anymore so I went to gamersgate to get PQG. Nope, they are rejecting both of my credit cards for some reason. Oh and the local gamestops don't have any retail copies in stock yet.

Why couldn't this game have been on nice reliable steam instead of crappy services like gamers gate or impulse?

Weird, that happened to me too. I had to call the credit card company and then all was well.

[Tim James]

Without getting into a digital download service war, isn't Steam just as annoying when it comes to release times? They frequently wait until the afternoon, leaving gamers antsy all morning and ready to head out to the store.

All these services need to step up and be ready for 12am releases.

[Tortilla]

Weird, that happened to me too. I had to call the credit card company and then all was well.


Ditto, apparently something about gamersgate sets off fraud alarms at credit card companies. My download is just finishing though, so I'll be playing soon.

The other fun part of calling the bank was that they did confirm that stardock has charged my card for Galactrix, despite Impulse still showing it as a pre-order. So I'm going to have some fun later trying to get them to reverse that charge I'm sure.

[Morberis]

Without getting into a digital download service war, isn't Steam just as annoying when it comes to release times? They frequently wait until the afternoon, leaving gamers antsy all morning and ready to head out to the store.

All these services need to step up and be ready for 12am releases.


Yeah it is :\

Also, the Impulse version is ready to go!

Edit: Woo that's fast - 700kb/s, which is far better than I've ever gotten with Steam

[André Costa]

I never used Impulse before.

I ordered PQ:Galactix this morning ... do i get an email saying it's available or will it show up on the "My Games" tab?

EDIT: Just got the email. 2.2MB/s here :)

[Gendal]

Yeah it is :\

Also, the Impulse version is ready to go!

Edit: Woo that's fast - 700kb/s, which is far better than I've ever gotten with Steam
I thought that was some kind of sick joke on your part, but I just got an email saying they charged me, and sure enough, it's available now.

Also, 700kb/s? Try 3.5MB/s.

Huh, it downloaded it faster than it took to type all that.

[UncleSmoothie]

My Impulse download is proceeding at 165kb/sec. But I'm also at work, as it were. ;) Hopefully the IT guys don't come down here and ask "what the hell is Impulse?" in front of everybody.

Looking forward to playing tonight.

[Harkonis]

I got this from Impulse and am having pretty constant lockups and freezes with hard drive access pretty steady.

[Jason Lutes]

The Leapgates are indeed tedious. Also, the writing is frakking awful. Otherwise, lots of goodness to be had so far.

[Tim James]

Listen, jerks. Do you want to walk those 100 million light years, or do you want to spend a few minutes hacking a leapgate? I rest my case.

[Tortilla]

I'm still an hour or so from lunch break, but I couldn't resist firing it up stealthily and playing around a bit. So far I'm just re-doing the things I've done already in the demo, so I'm skipping cutscenes and so forth. I did feel badass because I won my first fight against the pirate shuttle in one move. Sometimes the board just gives you a lucky setup. Of course I'd have been pissed if the AI nailed me in one move, so perhaps I shouldn't gloat too much.

P.S. This game is a killer app for tablet PCs. All the usability of the DS stylus and decent portability coupled with all the high res graphical goodness of the PC.

[Cubit]

Steam version is live.

[Rod Humble]

The Leapgates are indeed tedious. Also, the writing is frakking awful. Otherwise, lots of goodness to be had so far.

Ok good news on the jumpgates. The game uses LUA scripting and all the jumpgate times are listed in the assets.zip under scripts so it should be fairly easy to remove the silly timers. I will give it a shot tonight.

[Jab]

Thank you Cubit and just as I was finishing up a lousy L4D match too, has anyone had a chance to play multiplayer yet?

[tiohn]

Ok good news on the jumpgates. The game uses LUA scripting and all the jumpgate times are listed in the assets.zip under scripts so it should be fairly easy to remove the silly timers. I will give it a shot tonight.

You, sir are my HERO.

[flyinj]

Has anyone picked up the DS version? I'm hearing it has bad load times and slowdown?

[Tortilla]

You, sir are my HERO.

Amen to that, I'm not very far and the jump gate hacking is already getting a little grating. I don't want to drop into mod mode just yet though, there's a chance it'll be more acceptable if I can tune up my skillz.

[tiohn]

Amen to that, I'm not very far and the jump gate hacking is already getting a little grating. I don't want to drop into mod mode just yet though, there's a chance it'll be more acceptable if I can tune up my skillz.

If I could just tack 5 or 10 seconds onto each challenge, I'd be happy. Although I did beat my first 'difficult' hack last night, so I guess I am getting better. I do know that the timed hacking has made me far better at finding matches than I ever was in the original PQ.

[Jab]

One question, I'm noticing a small delay on the pc version after I match some gems before I get whatever bonuses or attack damage added. Is this normal for the pc version or is there a way to speed this up?

[flyinj]

Ah, answered my question:



Galactrix is an absorbing experience, but I wish it ran more smoothly on the DS. Gems shift around in a herky jerky manner on the puzzle field and the insignificant visual effects displayed when making a match sometimes don't even bother to show up. This is a big game in terms of length and variety of gameplay, but the visuals really shouldn't give the DS too much trouble. There isn't any animation, just sprites sliding around.

The interface also causes problems, which is discouraging because the touch screen should be ideal for this type of game. It is controlled entirely with the stylus: touch the screen where you want your ship to fly, touch the gems you want to swap, and touch menu items to make selections. But the game has trouble reading some touches. When entering a leapgate, for instance, a menu will pop up on top of your ship asking if you want to use the gate. On too many occasions I would tap "yes," but the game thought I was tapping somewhere else in the galaxy I wanted to fly to instead. So off my ship would go and I'd have to maneuver back to the leapgate and try again. It's not really a big deal -- if it only happened once. But this is a recurring problem with Galactrix on DS.

Another interface issue is that, because the system map is so big, it can't be displayed in its entirety. That means you have to use your stylus to drag it around the touch screen somewhat aimlessly looking for your next destination. It would have been nice if we could zoom out to view the entire map and tap where we want to go.

My final gripe is that navigating menus takes too long. Opening the menu and toggling pages causes the screen to go black while the game loads, and too much time is spent waiting for the game to retrieve basic information. Players should be able to view their status and items at a glance.


That's extremely disappointing. I guess I'm getting the PC version now. Damn I wanted to have it be portable instead...

[Morberis]

One question, I'm noticing a small delay on the pc version after I match some gems before I get whatever bonuses or attack damage added. Is this normal for the pc version or is there a way to speed this up?

I get that too.

And oh god I hate those gates, so many times I've failed because it keeps launching off combos. I had a difficult gate 1 gem away, easily gotten but it combo'd for 8 seconds!! Gahh, still can't stop playing though.

[tiohn]

Ah, answered my question:



That's extremely disappointing. I guess I'm getting the PC version now. Damn I wanted to have it be portable instead...

The PC version has the same issue with the map, and although there is a "zoomed out" view, it doesn't display system names.
In general, I feel like everything with navigating the menus takes one or two clicks more than necessary, but these are pretty minor issues in a game that is otherwise a whole hell of a lot of fun.

[UncleSmoothie]

I liked the leapgates in the demo, I thought they were challenging.

Ran the game for 15 minutes while I was on a conf call - the game scaled the graphics down for my netbook so that the ships were just glowing dots with trails and the locations had no icons. Bare bones, but totally playable on a very low-spec system

[Cubit]

Does the retail version have DRM? I picked it up, and the install was really clean. Not even a cd key or anything.

[Morberis]

I liked the leapgates in the demo, I thought they were challenging.

They're not bad in small doses like they used it in Puzzlequest but going through 6 gates is just a pain.

[routlaw]

Does the retail version have DRM? I picked it up, and the install was really clean. Not even a cd key or anything.

I mentioned it above-it's got the non activation version, "disc in the drive" version of Securom on it.

[Cubit]

I mentioned it above-it's got the non activation version, "disc in the drive" version of Securom on it.

Cool, thanks.

[Tortilla]

I got my email from Impulse telling me my pre-order was available and my purchase had gone through. Bit of a pickle for me, since I'd already purchased and downloaded the game from gamers gate.

I wrote them back and asked for a refund since I'd never downloaded/activated the game from Impulse and they gave it to me pretty promptly. So Impulse gets -1 point for bungling pre-order releases of a hotly anticipated game, but +2 points for prompt and courteous customer service. Despite losing my sale this time, I suspect they are more likely to get my business in the future.

In other news, I'm wondering if I should follow the plot or wander around. I've started wandering since the original PQ would never let you wander too far off task in the early game but PQG seems to be offering me side quest trees everywhere I go. Any suggestions from the more experienced players?

[Jason Lutes]

Puzzle Quest Galactrix is their first game to have a dedicated sound engineer work on it. Before then Steve usually handled all the audio himself.
It really shows. PQ is impressive for a 1-man job, but the sound effects in PQ:G are really hitting the right spots.

[Drastic]

It'd be real nice if the leapgate hacking paused the timer while cascades were in progress. I think I shortened my lifespan by a year by watching the final match I needed be...right...there!...while the timer counted down to zero while useless matches were being made for five seconds straight. On a difficult gate. That I haven't gotten that close on again yet.

[Tim James]

Don't have the game yet, but I wonder if that countdown timing during cascades is scripted too.

[Quaro]

Ooooo, does the LUA scripting mean PQG mods?

[Rod Humble]

Ok good news on the jumpgates. The game uses LUA scripting and all the jumpgate times are listed in the assets.zip under scripts so it should be fairly easy to remove the silly timers. I will give it a shot tonight.

OK I am at work so I cant send a mod file out but if you want to do it yourself by the tedious brute force method here ya go.

Find assets.zip in the game directory and back it up (no -really- back it up, keep an orginal).

now explore it and edit the zip file directly or extract and copy back into the zip your editied files, whichever is easier for you

look under scripts\jumpgates

there are 96 files called j000 through j096

open them with wordpad

within each one there is a time number, change it to what you want (I added a zero).

save each file after you edit and copy back into zip or close archive

boot up game with the new timers.

[flyinj]

Ooooo, does the LUA scripting mean PQG mods?

Well, there is a "mods" folder that the game creates in the save folder.

[flyinj]

OK I am at work so I cant send a mod file out but if you want to do it yourself by the tedious brute force method here ya go.

Find assets.zip in the game directory and back it up (no -really- back it up, keep an orginal).

now explore it and edit the zip file directly or extract and copy back into the zip your editied files, whichever is easier for you

look under scripts\jumpgates

there are 96 files called j000 through j096

open them with wordpad

within each one there is a time number, change it to what you want (I added a zero).

save each file after you edit and copy back into zip or close archive

boot up game with the new timers.

Awesome job!

The main draw of Puzzle Quest was no matter who you were fighting or what you were doing, you were always getting something for your character (experience, etc). The jumpgates give you nothing but frustration.

[Rod Humble]

Awesome job!

The main draw of Puzzle Quest was no matter who you were fighting or what you were doing, you were always getting something for your character (experience, etc). The jumpgates give you nothing but frustration.

Totally agree. By the way it -seems- according to this link

http://forums.infinite-interactive.com/showthread.php?t=4551

like if you move out the zip file the game will access the unzipped folder which makes doing the above mod a lot easier . I havent tried it yet but it makes sense.

Anyways I will put something user friendly together tonight.

[Damien Neil]

Has anyone picked up the DS version? I'm hearing it has bad load times and slowdown?

I'm getting on a plane this evening, and could really use some Puzzle Quest to keep my company during the flight. Alas, everyone seems to list the DS version as not coming out for another two days.

[Tom Chick]

OMG, haxx0rz! I swear you guys editing the LUA files to break the LeapGate minigame are such hateable hackbabies! LeapGates are the gametax for exploring the map. Also -- and I'm not just saying this because I've hacked so damn many LeapGates and would like a bit of commiseration -- the LeapGate hacking really will improve your Galactrix skills. It's done wonders "training" my brain for the zero-G match system, which I hated at first.

Fortunately, I'm playing on the DS and can't give in to such temptations. It took me nearly twenty tries to get through one of the harder LeapGates at the end of quest chain. Once I got there, the reward was worth it. And unlike you cheat0rzes, I earned it fair and square!

The slowdown on the DS doesn't bother me at all, because it's always clear what's going on. The load screens are a bit annoying, but really, you can't beat the DS as the perfect platform for this kind of game. I haven't switched my DS off since I put Galactrix into the slot. I just play, and then sleep it for as long as I can resist the temptation to play some more.

-Tom

[Tortilla]

Awesome job!

The main draw of Puzzle Quest was no matter who you were fighting or what you were doing, you were always getting something for your character (experience, etc). The jumpgates give you nothing but frustration.

Gotta call you out on that one friend, I recall quite a bit of frustration in PQ trying to learn skills from captured monsters or crafting items, both of which gave nothing if failed.

[Tim James]

...the LeapGate hacking really will improve your Galactrix skills. It's done wonders "training" my brain for the zero-G match system, which I hated at first.It would be kind of funny if we hear everyone complaining in a few weeks that the zero-G hex matching system is now too hard.

[Xemu]

So still no word on when the XBLA version of this hits, eh? I just lost all my PC version progress in an HD crash and I'm trying to decide whether to replay or just wait...

[CLWheeljack]

Tom, since you're playing it on the DS, do you have any comments on the quoted IGN review's complaints about the wonkiness / apparent low production values?

Basically, I'm wondering if any of the quality of life issues are worse than the first Puzzle Quest's. On paper they probably looked like big complaints, but they were forgotten almost immediately when actually playing the game. If there's nothing worse than that, I'll happily buy the DS version.

[Tom Chick]

The stylus wonkiness has virtually no effect on the gameplay. So you mis-tap and have to open the menu again. Big whoop. Worst case scenario? You might not make it out of the system before a hostile ship jumps you. But since you can pretty much cancel out of any battle, I'm not sure why it's an issue, much less why it merits an entire paragraph in a review, followed by a pronouncement that "it's not a big deal".

Anyway, I've got psionic cloaking now, so no one's going to catch me on the odd occasional mistap!

On the DS, the loading screens are a pain in the ass and the visuals are definitely boiled down, but if that's the price I pay to play Puzzle Quest on the perfect platform, so be it.

-Tom

[slantz]

So still no word on when the XBLA version of this hits, eh?
My guess is that it failed certification. This is why developers generally don't give firm dates for XBLA titles until very close to release when they've officially passed cert. If a game fails, it generally takes between 2-4 weeks before it's fit back in the schedule.

All I know is that it had better not get rescheduled for March 11...

[Jason Lutes]

Rod Humble is da man. And Tom. while you're certainly right that hacking improves zero-g matchin' skill, that is one gamer tax I am eager to evade. I'm happy to hack every single gate once, but having them close up on me after I've hacked them is bad design!

[Tom Chick]

Jason Lutes, you are weak. You will never survive in real outer space, where you can't simply edit a LUA file to evade Vortraag warships or reach the Leader of the Lost at his distant star. Also, ha ha, you can't play on the DS if you have to cheat to get through the LeapGates!

-Tom

[flyinj]

Sounds to me like you're in damage control mode because you invested too much time on your DS character to restart with the "superior" PC modded version, Tom ;)

[Tom Chick]

Shut up, shut up, shut up. I can't hear you, lalalalalalala!

-Tom

[LionelThompson]

I'm with you Tom, and I'm playing the pc version. I mean, these guys should just edit their player files to make them level 99. Hell, in my day, I had to make paper maps of dungeons and even now I can handle these locks without problem.

Damn kids want everything handed to them.

[Rimbo]

What does a DS cost nowadays? [looks it up] ...$130?

Still too rich for my blood. :( This might've been the thing that got me buying one.

[UncleSmoothie]

Hell, in my day, I had to make paper maps of dungeons and even now I can handle these locks without problem.


In MY day, we had to make our own paper! And make our own dungeons, too!

[TheWombat]

Gamestop called to say tomorrow afternoon for my two DS copies (myself, and my wife). We're big PQ fans and can't wait for this one too.

[BobJustBob]

Protip: If you want to name your character "Boobalicious" and are wondering why the game won't let you, there's a profanity filter in place. In plaintext of course. Open up Assets.zip and go to English\pc\Profanity.xml to comment out your swears of choice. That means you, Cockmeatsandwich.

[Morberis]

I think I'm coming around to the gates, as long as the difficult ones don't reset as difficult! Grrr.


OMG, haxx0rz! I swear you guys editing the LUA files to break the LeapGate minigame are such hateable hackbabies! LeapGates are the gametax for exploring the map. Also -- and I'm not just saying this because I've hacked so damn many LeapGates and would like a bit of commiseration -- the LeapGate hacking really will improve your Galactrix skills. It's done wonders "training" my brain for the zero-G match system, which I hated at first.


-Tom


I dunno personally I found that the crafting is what forced me to think and understand how everything works together. When trying out gates I was just clicking frantically trying to get everything to line up with no time to think hey if I click 2-1 everything will fall better than if I clicked 1-2. Because some of those crafting puzzles definately require you to make you plan out roughly how to make stuff fall to get new pieces where you want them and move pieces across the board.

[TriggerHappy]

I bought the Steam version this evening and it's crashed on me 4 or 5 times already on Vista 64. It saves after every successful hack/mission, so it's not SO bad, but it's getting annoying.

[Morberis]

I bought the Steam version this evening and it's crashed on me 4 or 5 times already on Vista 64. It saves after every successful hack/mission, so it's not SO bad, but it's getting annoying.

Odd I'm running it on Vista 64 also, Impulse version though, and it's been fairly smooth.

[jeff3f]

I'm upset because all the crap I read on the web and believed said this game would be on the store shelf today. But here I am, on the gd'd forums. I did play some xbox PQ1 though. Not the death angel PQ. I never finished it, I see, and I didn't get the expansion stuff either. How the hell am I supposed to fit all this puzzle questing in with my other disc based (ie 'real') games, not to mention my family and job? Job means money, and divorce means less money. It's a huge pickle, that's for sure.

Has anyone seen this game at retail in a B&M yet??? Wasn't it supposed to be out today???? Is this just a ploy to get us to buy the superior moddable PC version that's just a click and some expensive data entry away?

And what is Impulse?? I didn't think I was living in a cage, but apparently I am. [edit to add--don't answer this, I can google it myself]

[Morberis]

I'm upset because all the crap I read on the web and believed said this game would be on the store shelf today. But here I am, on the gd'd forums. I did play some xbox PQ1 though. Not the death angel PQ. I never finished it, I see, and I didn't get the expansion stuff either. How the hell am I supposed to fit all this puzzle questing in with my other disc based (ie 'real') games, not to mention my family and job? Job means money, and divorce means less money. It's a huge pickle, that's for sure.

Has anyone seen this game at retail in a B&M yet??? Wasn't it supposed to be out today???? Is this just a ploy to get us to buy the superior moddable PC version that's just a click and some expensive data entry away?

And what is Impulse?? I didn't think I was living in a cage, but apparently I am. [edit to add--don't answer this, I can google it myself]

Impulse is the digital distribution platform Stardock runs, similar to Steam. It's client based and isn't required to be running to run the games.

[Tortilla]

I bought the Steam version this evening and it's crashed on me 4 or 5 times already on Vista 64. It saves after every successful hack/mission, so it's not SO bad, but it's getting annoying.

I'm seeing the same thing in vista32. Not sure what's going on, it seems to be the bigger/longer battles that are triggering it for me. I'm in my first fight against a cruiser and it's crashed out of the fight like 3 times (and the other 3 times I lost) so that's mildly aggravating.

[Rod Humble]

tatt mod (timers are the tyranny)

Procedure:

1.) go into game directory and backup Assets.zip (put your copy somewhere safe)

2.) now extract the remaining copy of Assets.zip with directories right there. Delete the Assets.zip after extraction. Your folder will now look like this....
http://www.rodvik.com/rodgames/puzz.bmp

3.) now download this .zip file
http://www.rodvik.com/rodgames/tatt.zip

4.) now extract it to
\Program Files\D3 Publisher\Puzzle Quest Galactrix\Assets\Scripts\JumpGates
overwriting the files there.

5.) play game, it works with current save games no problem

All I did was increase the time tenfold, its possible to reduce the number of keys but that may impact gameplay later on so I didnt monkey with it. Might do if doing gates even without pressure timers becomes a chore.

I have tested a few gates and it seems to work fine but usual disclaimer, if/when this melts your hardrive its not my fault etc etc.

PM me if issues.

Tom you enjoy grinding away there on yer gates! ;)

By the way the modding stuff looks really neat!

[Tom Chick]

Why must you make Puzzle Quest: Galactrix a house of lies, Rod Humble!!!1!

By the way, I got to interview Steve Fawkner today (to be posted on Fidgit probably Thursday) and I tattled on you guys.

I was all, like, "hey, you know some guys are hacking into the LUA files and changing the time limit on the LeapGates". I figured he'd be all, like, "oh crap, we better get to work on a patch to fix that!". Instead, he was all, like, "yeah, we wanted it to be moddable for people so they can do what they want and we figure they'll be making Star Wars mods and stuff". And I was gonna be all, like, "but...but...but, dude, they're breaking teh game!", but then I got to think about flying the Millennium Falcon around and smuggling spice and trafficking in Gungan slaves and pet Ewoks, so I was all like, "oh, okay, cool".

-Tom

[Rod Humble]

Lol! Looking forward to reading it! Yeah its a pretty darn robust modding system they have. Its tempting go and add content (you can add items!).

p.s. pc gaming rocks.

[Qmanol]

I'm trying to decide whether to buy this game on Impulse or Steam. Is there still SecureROM on the Impulse version? Would I be able to install it on a flash drive and carry it around to play at any location? And would I be able to archive it and re-install without Impulse the next time I wipe out my windows install?

[Gendal]

I'm trying to decide whether to buy this game on Impulse or Steam. Is there still SecureROM on the Impulse version? Would I be able to install it on a flash drive and carry it around to play at any location? And would I be able to archive it and re-install without Impulse the next time I wipe out my windows install?
Nope, no DRM on Impulse at all, at least for this game. It's why I prefer Impulse to Steam or GamersGate, it's the best of both worlds. Like steam you have a nice client that can easily download and install any game you own any time from their servers, but like GamersGate* you can ignore the client app after the initial install, even uninstalling it if you want.

In this case I just tried out your scenario, I copied it to my thumbdrive and popped into my laptop which doesn't have Impulse on it thanks to a recent wipe. It ran fine right off the thumbdrive, though you need to be aware your save games are put in the Documents folder, and not in the application directory.

Man I sound like a Shill for Stardock.

*Yes, I know GamersGate got rid of their client.

[Qmanol]

OK, I just grabbed Impulse, and wow did Stardock get their client running nice and looking pretty! Makes Steam look like crap.

[Drastic]

Do mined-out asteroids stay that way for the rest of the game, or do they occasionally reset too? I'm wondering if I should be leaving them for later on when I've more options to craft stuff from raw materials, or simply strip-mining every system bare as I move through it.

[tiohn]

Do mined-out asteroids stay that way for the rest of the game, or do they occasionally reset too? I'm wondering if I should be leaving them for later on when I've more options to craft stuff from raw materials, or simply strip-mining every system bare as I move through it.

They reset. I think.

[Jason Lutes]

They reset. I think.

They do reset, after a time. I'm sure Rod could tell you how to make them constantly mine-able.

BTW, THANK YOU ROD!

[Sepiche]

Do mined-out asteroids stay that way for the rest of the game, or do they occasionally reset too? I'm wondering if I should be leaving them for later on when I've more options to craft stuff from raw materials, or simply strip-mining every system bare as I move through it.
From what I've read asteroids can be mined again after you mine three other asteroids.

[Drastic]

Sweet. Space...the renewable frontier!

And yup, thanks Rod! Though I think I'll have to delve and tweak--I really don't mind some time-pressure. There's some personal sweet spot to find on extending the timers a bit, and maybe if there's some way to increase the amount of bonus time matching the clock-jewels gives (to make it a more viable tactic to concentrate on rearranging the board for them).

In space, no one can hear you tweak (lua files).

[André Costa]

The only thing that is bothering me with the game so far is not being able to reset or cancel skill points allocation when you go to the train skills screen.

[Therlun]

Too many cascades.
Being hit for 80 damage in the first round is no fun.
Denying an enemy his most important energy type and him then getting 50 of that energy in a cascade is dumb too.
The "fun" it generates when it is helpful to you does IMO not outweigh the frustration when it ruins a hard fought battle.

Its like Team Fortress 2 crits. You cant control it and it determines too many fights.
Like with the crits in that game there will probably many people who don't mind that. :(

Also: exiting the game requires 6 or so clicks... making alt+f4 the much better alternative.
Continuing your quest needs about the same amount of clicks.

Its fun.
Needs more polish.

[Morberis]

Does the AI in this cheat like it did in the original?

[slantz]

Does the AI in this cheat like it did in the original?
/facepalm

The AI does not and has not cheated in either game.

But if you insist it cheated in the first one, I'm sure you'll insist it cheats in this one too.

[tiohn]

Too many cascades.
Being hit for 80 damage in the first round is no fun.
Denying an enemy his most important energy type and him then getting 50 of that energy in a cascade is dumb too.
The "fun" it generates when it is helpful to you does IMO not outweigh the frustration when it ruins a hard fought battle.


That's pretty much the nature of randomness. I am also finding that as you get better ships and better equipment, the cascades don't hurt (nor help) nearly as much as simply using your equipment effectively.

[Morberis]

/facepalm

The AI does not and has not cheated in either game.

But if you insist it cheated in the first one, I'm sure you'll insist it cheats in this one too.


Ok it didn't cheat, but I had heard that the AI was given favorable gems drops which is why it always had those non-stop cascades in the original.

Though I can't seem to find the original article I had read that on and I keep coming back to the dev post on it so I guess I was wrong.

[flyinj]

Ok it didn't cheat, but I had heard that the AI was given favorable gems drops which is why it always had those non-stop cascades in the original.

Though I can't seem to find the original article I had read that on and I keep coming back to the dev post on it so I guess I was wrong.

I remember the opposite of that. The developer actually came in here and copy-pasted the source code for the AI, showing it didn't cheat or was given any favor.

It's all just random.

[Fugitive]

The designer's answers (http://www.modojo.com/features/20070606/235/interview_puzzle_quest_lead_designer_steve_fawkner/2/) to the previous PQ-AI-cheats allegations.

[Indierthanthou]

I remember the opposite of that. The developer actually came in here and copy-pasted the source code for the AI, showing it didn't cheat or was given any favor.

It's all just random.

I believe you are thinking about Brian Reynolds and Catan for Live Arcade. (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showpost.php?p=969700&postcount=136)

[Jab]

Have the developers put the pc manual up anywhere yet? Steam doesn't have a listing for it and there a few things I'm not sure of.

1. Your ability to equip items, I assume improving your gun, science, etc skills affect this but to what degree?

2. Is it better to keep materials for crafting or just sell them for cash?

[Hansey]

The designer's answers (http://www.modojo.com/features/20070606/235/interview_puzzle_quest_lead_designer_steve_fawkner/2/) to the previous PQ-AI-cheats allegations.

I'd seen Steve Fawkner's comments before about how the AI doesn't cheat, and to be honest, although I joked about it because it felt that way at times, I didn't really think it actually cheated anyway. But this comment was interesting:


One interesting thing the AI does is to bias its scores slightly higher towards the bottom of the board, because matching lower down tends to give more possibilities for cascades.

One thing I always noticed when playing Puzzle quest was that the AI would always "suggest" a move for me, but 8 times out of 10, if I took that move, it seemed to set up a huge cascade for him the next turn, or even just a match 3 the next turn which I could obviously see on the board. So I made it my practice to NEVER take the move the AI recommended. And what I noticed was that if I instead made a move that didn't change the board at all (cast a direct damage spell, for example), the AI would NOT take the supposed "best move" recommendation he made to me the previous turn! Hmm.

I'm sure that there's some programming that due to the types of mana the player might prefer over the mana type that the AI player needs, that it calculates "best moves" differently, but I always found the whole thing very suspicious. ;)

[Morberis]

Have the developers put the pc manual up anywhere yet? Steam doesn't have a listing for it and there a few things I'm not sure of.

1. Your ability to equip items, I assume improving your gun, science, etc skills affect this but to what degree?

2. Is it better to keep materials for crafting or just sell them for cash?

I got mine from Impulse and the manual is in the Galactrix folder in my start menu.

And I sell all my minerals because my cargo fills up all the time, if I need to get stuff for crafting I have a few systems with lots of asteroids to mine.


***SPOILER***




Beta Centauri has lots of asteroids with rarish minerals.

[Damien Neil]

One thing I always noticed when playing Puzzle quest was that the AI would always "suggest" a move for me, but 8 times out of 10, if I took that move, it seemed to set up a huge cascade for him the next turn, or even just a match 3 the next turn which I could obviously see on the board.

I am reasonably certain that the "suggested" move is just a random, valid move. It's not a suggestion, just an indication of where a valid move is if you aren't seeing one.

[Freezer-TPF-]

I'm trying to decide whether to buy this game on Impulse or Steam. Is there still SecureROM on the Impulse version? Would I be able to install it on a flash drive and carry it around to play at any location? And would I be able to archive it and re-install without Impulse the next time I wipe out my windows install?

I was trying to decide the same thing, as I plan to grab it tonight. Since it's a new release (and likely to get a few updates), I'm leaning towards Steam since game updates/patches seem to be available on Steam sooner than on Impulse. At least that's my impression from recent games like Hinterland, but I could be remembering that wrong.

[delirium]

The worst thing about hacking the warp gates is how the cascading eats up seconds on the clock. It's really frustrating when you're down to the last 10 seconds and inadvertently trigger a huge chain that runs the clock down.

[Lizard_King]

Does the AI in this cheat like it did in the original?
Because the direction the gems fall changes, I would argue Galactrix feels a lot less cheat-like than the original did. I know the feeling where moves seem to make sense only if you can see what's off screen, but for reasons I can't quite put my finger on (probably that I'm paying attention to a few more variables), it seems better in this respect.

[routlaw]

Because the direction the gems fall changes, I would argue Galactrix feels a lot less cheat-like than the original did. I know the feeling where moves seem to make sense only if you can see what's off screen, but for reasons I can't quite put my finger on (probably that I'm paying attention to a few more variables), it seems better in this respect.

Paying attention to the state of the gems on the board and the direction in which you hit your matches can really reduce the number of nasty mine-related surprises from off the board. I never throught the PQ AI was cheesy but I certainly swear less at the Galactrix one so far (25 levels in) than I did at the original.

[BobJustBob]

The worst thing about hacking the warp gates is how the cascading eats up seconds on the clock. It's really frustrating when you're down to the last 10 seconds and inadvertently trigger a huge chain that runs the clock down.

Yeah, it would be great if the game could be modded to fix that. I took a look at the files but couldn't find a quick way to do that. It would also be nice to give you some money or something for extra time left over.

[Cubit]

Yeah, it would be great if the game could be modded to fix that. I took a look at the files but couldn't find a quick way to do that. It would also be nice to give you some money or something for extra time left over.

Didn't someone post earlier in this thread how to do this?

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showpost.php?p=1647029&postcount=186

[Tom Chick]

God, I want to wring the necks of every one of you hateable hackbabies! Partly because I've been all over the universe and back by paying my hacktax fair and square, but mainly because U R all doing it wrong!!1!

-Tom

[BobJustBob]

Didn't someone post earlier in this thread how to do this?

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showpost.php?p=1647029&postcount=186

No, he's increasing the total time. I want to keep the original time but prevent the timer from counting down while matches are cascading.

[Jonathan Blow]

Guys, the thing about the hacking minigame is that you're supposed to play it differently than the other ones. That's why it is interesting.

Long cascades are *bad* in general because they eat so much time, so you want to avoid them. There's no benefit to making big patterns like 4- or 5-in-a-row. etc.

It's part of the game design!

[Hansey]

Guys, the thing about the hacking minigame is that you're supposed to play it differently than the other ones. That's why it is interesting.

Long cascades are *bad* in general because they eat so much time, so you want to avoid them. There's no benefit to making big patterns like 4- or 5-in-a-row. etc.

It's part of the game design!

I don't necessarily disagree here, except much of the time, you can't avoid them, since you don't know what is going to fill in from off screen.

I haven't found the hackgates to be much of a nuisance *yet*, but then again I haven't come close to opening them all yet.. but I do agree that it can be frustrating when you lose 15 seconds off the clock because of an unintentional supernova. On the other hand, I kind of like it when those same cascades actually manage to satisfy 3 gems in a row.. though that doesn't happen very often.

[Quaro]

Is there a minigame that's something like the mount training in the first one? That is, not an overall time limit, but limit on the time you get to decide each move and use in a regular combat where you use your character and skills and whatnot?

[Tom Chick]

Quaro, not that I've found. So far, the only timed challenges are the LeapGate hacking. I still have an empty crew member slot, however. No telling what kind of minigame -- if any -- is going to fit in there.

-Tom

[idrisz]

Quaro, not that I've found. So far, the only timed challenges are the LeapGate hacking. I still have an empty crew member slot, however. No telling what kind of minigame -- if any -- is going to fit in there.

-Tom

hmm strange I got full crew member already.

did you get the rumor mini game tom??

[drake113]

I'm seeing the same thing in vista32. Not sure what's going on, it seems to be the bigger/longer battles that are triggering it for me. I'm in my first fight against a cruiser and it's crashed out of the fight like 3 times (and the other 3 times I lost) so that's mildly aggravating.

Yeah, my Steam version is crashing on me every 30 minutes or so in Vista. It's extremely frustrating, especially considering it doesn't seem like it would be a particularly resource-intensive game. Is anyone experiencing this problem on the Impulse version?