[Dilmah G]

Thanks for taking the time to make the review.

I've been thinking about trying to get it VA'd, and it would benefit a lot because of the intensity of the action making it hard to read at the same time as you've mentioned. Mjn wrote a guide on getting campaigns VA'd, so when I find the time to do it I'll see what I can do.

Should have an update out by this time next week with fixes for the bugs that you, Mjn and Dilmah have raised. 

- The intense furball dogfights are admittedly exciting, but they also feel unbalanced. You typically only have one or two wings of fighters at your disposal--sometimes not even full wings--and if you have any capship support, they've usually been shot to pieces by the time they get to you. The Shivans badly outnumber you in almost every engagement. Again, this is something that makes sense given the state of the Alliance at this point in the story, but the end result is missions that are very busy, with the player too occupied with dogfighting to pay attention to any snippets of (unvoiced) dialogue that are scrolling by; in any given mission, you can expect to rack up 20 kills or more, because there are so many enemies to go around. In Shepherds, you always, always feel overwhelmed.

Working as intended! (mostly, but more reason for me to get this VA'd  )

*cough cough* Your boy also did a guide you might find helpful! That aside, I'm all about VA-ing if you're willing to put in the work.

[Colt]

*cough cough* Your boy also did a guide you might find helpful! That aside, I'm all about VA-ing if you're willing to put in the work.

Sweet! I've just read through it and it will be incredibly helpful. Bookmarked. 

Probably a little ambitious, but I'll see if I can get the VAing process started by the end of the year (or at least after I've completed most of my fredding commitments).

[redmagejoe]

Oh hai. Don't mind me, just going to stream this and Walls starting this weekend. Also I would be thrilled to VA again.

[Colt]

Update 1.1.0 has been released!

Much of these changes/fixes are the result of player feedback. Thank you. 

Changelog:

Hidden Text: Show

-Remove in-game pilot audio messages. You won't have to hear your wingman scream into your ears about how their crate is about to blow.
-Various typo fixes.
-Adjusted volume of several music tracks.
-Updated Demon model with fixed main beam turret hit registration. Will be removed when the next FSU release comes.
-M2: Adjust Scorpio arrival time.
-M3: Fixed earlier mission message being sent when restarting at checkpoint.
-M4: Unscanned cargo containers are markboxed.
-M5: Add a safety key to turn off weapons/afterburners at mission start (Shift+N), as well as briefing text that mentions this.
-M8: Remove sexp guardian for Psi wing Seths "flaps", as these subsystems will be removed in the next FSU release.
-M8: Add an awardable medal for saving all escape pods.
-M9: Fixed medal not being awarded despite the text saying so.
-M10: Fixed enemy wings not jumping/jumping out too late between the first and second combat stages.
-M10: Andromalius' final stage now properly displays damage sustained from earlier in the mission (ex. Sensor damage not carrying over).

[ShivanSlayer]

During the scanning mission, the Rakshasa in the beginning is impossible to scan in time because you have to face it at an oddly specific angle for the scanner to work. It always moves out of my scanning field and by the time I get it back where I can scan it, it jumps out

[Dilmah G]

*snip*

That M5 change is ****ing e l i t e. I cannot tell you how many times I accidentally failed that mission.

[ShivanSlayer]

*snip*

That M5 change is ****ing e l i t e. I cannot tell you how many times I accidentally failed that mission.

That scanning mission is a pain, but nowhere near as bad as the one in Vasudan Imperial Special Forces branch in Scrolls of Atankharzim, where you have to scan a Demon, a Ravana, and a Lucifer as well as try to scan multiple cruisers and a corvette under a time limit after which super tough Gorgon fighters come after you that you have to lure into range of an AWACs to take down safely, all in a thick nebula.

[Colt]

Just released a small hotfix (1.1.1) that should fixes the overly-large HUD when playing without the optional HUD package.

During the scanning mission, the Rakshasa in the beginning is impossible to scan in time because you have to face it at an oddly specific angle for the scanner to work. It always moves out of my scanning field and by the time I get it back where I can scan it, it jumps out

If you can get ahead of it and below, you should be able to scan it but it is indeed tough. I'll look into making it jump out a little later, and probably also slow the Hypnus down a bit to give the player a bit more time to do this.

[Goober5000]

Also try to disable subsystem targeting.  Having one targeted will narrow your scan FOV.

[Colt]

Another hotfix (1.1.2) is being uploaded to Knossos. Fixes both some faulty behavior with the safety switch in M5 and a typo in M1.

[0rph3u5]

Just finished it!

Job well done, Colt - Definitive recommendation for everyone else!

[Colt]

Thanks! 

[CT27]

Overall an excellent campaign.  Great work Colt.


I do have a couple questions:

1-In regards to what you said about cross mission events in the OP of this thread:  I understand what you said about saving an allied cruiser being helpful later, but how did destroying the gas miners in mission 2 change things?  I destroyed them but didn't see explicit implications later on (or maybe there was but I just missed it).  What mission does destroying the gas miners affect?

2-I'm not asking for a release date since it's presumably a long way off relatively, but based on the post-credits sequence...

Spoiler:

will part three be called "Olympus"

?

[Colt]

Thanks 

1-In regards to what you said about cross mission events in the OP of this thread:  I understand what you said about saving an allied cruiser being helpful later, but how did destroying the gas miners in mission 2 change things?  I destroyed them but didn't see explicit implications later on (or maybe there was but I just missed it).  What mission does destroying the gas miners affect?

In the case of mission 2, destroying the miners will weaken some of the Shivan fighter wings in the next mission (ex. the five Maras that support the Aeshmas attacking the Amun's radar are replaced with only two craft)

2-I'm not asking for a release date since it's presumably a long way off relatively, but based on the post-credits sequence...

Spoiler:

will part three be called "Olympus"

?

Spoiler:

Yup! And while yes I can't give a release date for it, I do intend to fully work on it after other FRED commitments are fulfilled, which I hope to apply what I learn from these projects to Olympus. 

[CT27]

Out of curiosity, are you the same 'Colt' that's been participating in IllFatedGaming's (aka Redmagejoe) Youtube playthrough/commentary on Aftermath:  Reboot?

[Colt]

Out of curiosity, are you the same 'Colt' that's been participating in IllFatedGaming's (aka Redmagejoe) Youtube playthrough/commentary on Aftermath:  Reboot?

[ryanchealth]

Giving this one a try but how do you change Transponder Frequency in the first mission?

[Colt]

Giving this one a try but how do you change Transponder Frequency in the first mission?

Check Options>Controls>Misc and go down until you see "(Multiplayer) Observer Zoom to Target", and it'll be whatever key you have setup for it. I goofed on making sure the game display what key the player has binded for it, but I plan to get this fixed. 

[ryanchealth]

Awesome!  Thank you!  I really miss Space-Sims from the 90's and Early 2000's.  These new MMO's get so boring without a story!

[Mobius]

I've just finished it. 

Congratulations, Colt, for delivering yet another exquisite campaign - you found the right balance between many things, both in terms of gameplay and storytelling, and your solo-work does really deserve some credit. I don't want to spoil anything in this post, so I'll be rather vague with respect to one of the things that impressed me the most in Shepherds: I really like how you described, portrayed and managed a certain Shivan ship that quickly gained and maintained the role of villain throughout the campaign. Definitely not something we see every day in the vast realm of fan-made FreeSpace projects.