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Topic: Better than banter: OUR single favorite ship (Read 70213 times)
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Holocat
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While I agree that against some ships the Cruiser can be used as a attrition vessel, I disagree that it has both *effective* long and short range weapons. The laser is not a effective short range weapon. Startlingly good defense once you use it properly (for instance, you can neutralize an entire spathi's main gun spread if you activate your laser at the right time, or other rapid-fire, weak pellet guns. It's an excersize in twitch though, and not a casual thing.)
I am, ultimately on the side that this ship is a more tactical vessel than simply an attrition vessel; It is a stand-off ship that has neither high speed or a way to discourage people from closing, these weaknesses being torturously shown when against ships such as the former Guardian. Therefore, to use it effectively it requires the Leyland maneauver, which is itself dangerous. The Mycon are similar in this respect, but their main weapon is MUCH, MUCH more dangerous up close, making it that much more dangerous to close with.
Note that when I say 'attrition' vessel, I mean that a vessel that used in numbers can, even in unskilled hands, cause disproportionate casualties. A good example would be the Avatar, or any assault of battleship, such as the Ur-Quan vessels.
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Draxas
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Hey, I never said that the laser was an *effective* short range weapon, just that it homed in on targets. Is it a good idea to use the Cruiser as a battering ram? No way. But a novice, who would have no experience flying even more complicated and more tactical ships, would be pleased with the Cruiser's ability to inflict at least some damage against most vessels.
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Deus Siddis
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Of course it is an effective close ranged weapon, it hits instantly (so the arilou can't beat you, ever) it blocks enemy shots, it is turreted and it can't miss. But it isn't the be-all-end-all of close ranged weapons either, nor is it good against all foes.
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Death 999
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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The umgah is hardly helpless against autonomous fighters.
First step, fly away a bit so they approach slowler. Then turn so you're not facing straight backwards, but off to the side a bit. That wipes out one of the sides. Then zip backwards and turn the other way... there goes the other side.
This is best against massed fighters, so it may help to use a little introductory zip to the side so they get closer to each other.
Also, you need to be pretty good with the timing on the zip, because the wing you don't attack first can get some shots in if you dawdle or get greedy trying to kill more of the fighters on the first side.
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Draxas
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Practically, yes, that seems pretty likely. However, according to the background story, they're just the best that our engineers could throw together on short notice before the war escalated.
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Terrell
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As far as theme music goes I like the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za (both the original and the remixes), The Utwig, (Ultimate Embarrasment and Shame Remix), Arilou (most recent remix), the Yehat, and the Shofixti best, though I do like most of the rest of them too.
Best voice Probably the Kzer-za though I do like talking to the Yehat a lot as well.
Worst voice: Utwig (just way too whiny for my taste)
Victory tunes best: Kzer-za, Thraddash (remix), Human, Syreen, Androsynth.
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Holocat
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Practically, yes, that seems pretty likely. However, according to the background story, they're just the best that our engineers could throw together on short notice before the war escalated.
And let's face it, it's not a bad job, all things considered. 
Since i'm feeling facetious, I'll comment that I like the Kzer-Za and Yehat comm music the most. Stylish. The Spathi and Pkunk are next with that irreverant beat, and the starbase music comes next for that industrial feel.
A couple more facetious comments, this time almost on topic!
There are things other than raw numbers that make something easy or hard. Some of these things can be quite odd. For me, and for instance:
Spathi: I have a hard time using this ship's primary weapon, but I find that this is because I have a hard time trying to determine where the exact front of the ship is, particularly when i'm turning it about, this way and that. it's often not nessisary to use it, and probably unadvisable, but sometimes, you have to.
Kor-Ah: I can't fight this ship easily... near noon. Because it's black and with screen glare on top of it it's really hard to see.
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« Last Edit: June 30, 2006, 05:30:29 am by Holocat »
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Holocat
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I hate the fury. That was another prize ship of one of my opponents in my childhood playing group, which made battling it a chore.
That brings me up to another point in starcontrol that was problematic; I only ever found two sets of keys where two players could jam them all down without keyjamming. It wasn't comfortable, but it was nessisary. Particularly with this ship, where you often have the thrust, turn, fire and special keys down all at once.
Why? Early on one of my friends discovered that if he held down his special key, his opponent couldn't turn right. Eeeeeevil.
The fury was another dueling ship (popular in pkunk vs. pkunk matches because the ressurection threw a lot of doubt to who would win) but unlike avatar dueling I didn't join in.
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Draxas
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Ugh, I hated the keyjamming effect. Thankfully, we had a setup where you could only keyjam yourself back on our ye olde 486e, but it was still a nuisnace... And as far as that went, the keyjamming combos were different for my friend's computer, and another friend's computer... It seemed to be pretty random, almost as if it were unique to each keyboard (which was, if I recall, how it was described back in the old key configuration utility included with the DOS version).
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