Universal Dangerous (a.k.a Null Space)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by violentv, Dec 20, 2011.

  1. binaryhelix

    binaryhelix Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2011
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    Thanks for the link, it gives us some possible ideas at least.

    Had to look up some of these answers...


    - is there any penalty for stacking modules (energy, e-war, tanking etc.)?
    No.


    - about the falloff range - is it like in Eve, where the falloff is only beyond the optimal range or is it on both sides of the optimum (closer and above)?
    Only beyond (done without graphing it, but it's definitely only one direction)


    - are the prices on Hub stations 10% higher?
    It's more complicated than that - the price depends on how far away the good is made, although not all goods are treated that way.


    - what is the use of cmb ammo? Is it better than specialized damage ammo? (Hope not...)
    Combo ammunition will exact damage against each damage type - the proportions vary among weapons, but in no case is it superior to specialized ammunition on an ideal target with no resistance


    - is sig radius related to the damage taken or only with the locking range/speed?
    Signature radius affects damage for missiles, as well as locking and also turret aiming


    - still don't understand how locking/number of targets works. If I lock on (and shoot) 2-3 targets, will my weapons fire on all simultaneously or will switch to the 2nd after the 1st is done and so on?
    A targeted module will target the current selection that was in place when it started until the module is restarted with a different current selection

    - What does laser auto aim do?
    The laser will aim at the trajectory of whatever ship has the smallest angle of inflection from your ship's forward movement, within its narrow range.

    - What's the difference between control sensitivity and touch control sensitivity? In terms of effects, I mean...
    This may be more complicated than it needs to be. Control Sensitivity applies to most input methods (across several platform types) and has a linear effect on how movement is handled. Touch Sensitivity only applies to touch movements (dpad, touch slide input methods) and has a logarithmic effect on the input (so movements close to "center" are smoother and further away are accelerated, based upon this setting).

    I think the lag is from the 3x laser shots in the Poseidon and gravity bomb, so we'll see about improving that in the next update.

    The laser auto aim makes it a lot easier to hit enemies in front of you using the laser. You can turn this option off by setting the Laser Auto Aim Range to 0 or the left-most position. Or make it more challenging by setting it lower but not totally off.

    We made the module list in the Contacts optionally since it can really overwhelm new players. Advanced players can turn it on. (It's on by default for iPad size screens.)

    The green square is useful if you are fighting against enemies of the same type since it tells you what the camera is looking at.
     
  2. sakinnuso

    sakinnuso Well-Known Member

    Sep 2, 2010
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    Shader problem on iPad 3...

    Was pumped to get my new iPAD and start back into Dangerous. Loaded it up and something seems wrong with the shader. White/blank spaces seem to be on parts of every model! Doh!

    Looking forward to an update. I started GoF II HD again and it really just doesn't compare. Although it looks prettier, there's something about the depth of Dangerous that keeps me....
     
  3. binaryhelix

    binaryhelix Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2011
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    This is a bug with how Unity handles the shader with iOS 5.x and it seems to afflict the new iPad, too. We're going to take a close look at this problem and see if we can't fix it by using an alternate shader for those cases.

    Glad you found the game outside the storyline missions entertaining! The intention was to make an open world where you could do whatever you wanted, even ignoring the storyline missions.

    I'm a big sci-fi nut, and Andrew (the coder) is more into arty films, so I got to do the writing duties this time around. I like to infuse a bit of hard science with sci-fi mumbo jumbo like on the Star Trek series. And a bit of irreverent humor. :) There is obviously some inspiration from the original Foundation and the Robot series by Asimov. I also tried to broach the topic of slavery on a more serious and personal level, what it really means to be human, and what the universe is really about.

    Good point on thrust. It's probably more correct to say that "thrust" is the desired speed.

    Most storyline quests tell you exactly where you need to go, but there are some that don't, so perhaps a quest summary would be a good thing to add.

    We got reports that the same shader issue exists with the new iPad, so we're going to work on this problem. In the meanwhile, you can turn off "space lights" and the "fancy shader" option inside the station's System>options menu. Unfortunately, the issue is caused by a bug in Unity's handling of our metallic shader implementation on iOS 5.x, so some of it is outside our control unless we can find a workaround shader.

    Considering how polished GoF2 is, that's a big compliment. Thanks!
     
  4. binaryhelix

    binaryhelix Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2011
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    OK, we submitted 1.0.7 which has a shader fix for the iPhone 4S, iPad 2, and the new iPad. For those devices, Dangerous uses a diffuse shader that works with the space lights. It looks pretty nice. Hopefully Apple can approve it quickly.

    The full and lite versions are now also available on the Amazon Appstore if anyone has a Kindle Fire and wants to try it out.
     
  5. binaryhelix

    binaryhelix Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2011
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    OK, 1.0.7 is now live. Please let us know if you still have shader problems on a newer device, etc.
     
  6. athros

    athros Well-Known Member

    Nov 13, 2011
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    #326 athros, Mar 28, 2012
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2012
    Looks great on my iPad 2! Well done!!!

    What other bugfixes were there?
     
  7. binaryhelix

    binaryhelix Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2011
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    Excellent!

    I believe minor ones not gameplay-specific. We've had some reports of routed ships occasionally getting stuck, so we're tracking that down for the next update.
     
  8. awp69

    awp69 Well-Known Member

    Oct 30, 2009
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    Intriqued by this game, but wondering about the pricing strategy. It's dropped by $1 each of the last three days.

    I'm thinking it'll go down to the $4.99 price it's hit a few times in the past before going back up. Just kind of strange way to go about a sale.
     
  9. binaryhelix

    binaryhelix Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2011
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    We raised it up to $9.99 when we found out the shader bug afflicted new iPads. We didn't want unhappy customers, so the thinking was this would force potential buyers to be more serious and read the app description carefully where we stated a work-around. Now that the fix is in, the "normal" price is $6.99 though we may have a sale down to $4.99 on occasion.

    The market seems to respond to price drops, so we're also experimenting on the best way to get exposure for the game, etc. Maybe we should just announce upcoming sales in the app description and on forums.
     
  10. Howard

    Howard Well-Known Member

    Dec 24, 2008
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    Tutorial?

    Is there a short tutorial for getting started with this game? I bought it but am having trouble learning how to play.
    Thanks a lot,
     
  11. athros

    athros Well-Known Member

    Nov 13, 2011
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    #331 athros, Mar 29, 2012
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2012
    Where are you getting hung up? I'll keep an eye on the thread and answer what I can. I'm at work, so there might be some delays.
     
  12. The tutorial is at the beggining, you can't skip it. Re-start the game.
     
  13. athros

    athros Well-Known Member

    Nov 13, 2011
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    He might be getting hung up on the tutorial. It has certainly happened up thread.
     
  14. dclose

    dclose Well-Known Member

    Nov 20, 2011
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    Thanks for the explanation! My husband was thinking about buying this app, but when he researched it he saw all the pricing ups and downs. He didn't bother purchasing, saying that in his experience with other apps, frequent price changes were often a sign of a game about to go freemium, something he hates. I emailed your explanation to him, and he's feeling a lot better about making a purchase.
     
  15. Howard

    Howard Well-Known Member

    Dec 24, 2008
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    Thanks guys. I will restart the game and try again. I must have messed up the first time.
     
  16. xStatiCa

    xStatiCa Well-Known Member

    Aug 4, 2009
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    I was confused too initially but the post below helped a lot. It was the basics that I was hung up on. Probably because it was hard to pay 100% attention to the tutorial with kids around :).

    http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2151633&postcount=268
     
  17. FRS

    FRS Well-Known Member

    Oct 11, 2011
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    Sorry if this is answered in the tutorial...

    ... but I've been away for the game for some time while waiting for updates to fix some of the problems. Thanks to the Devs for their ongoing efforts! Anyway, is there a way to un-target targets once you've selected and targeted them? I can't seem to figure out a way to turn off targeting.

    Thanks much!
     
  18. binaryhelix

    binaryhelix Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2011
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    Not sure what you're trying to do here...

    If you want your weapons to stop shooting, just touch the spinning modules again. (Then pick a new target, lock if necessary, and activate the module again.)

    If you want to change to a new target, remember to stop the modules first if it is active by touching the spinning module. Then use the bottom right select-target icon to pick a new target. It will cycle through the targets in the Contacts. Or you can touch the ship icon on the Contacts to pick it directly. Then hit the lock button to start locking it. Once the lock icon changes from yellow to red, it means that the target is locked.

    Remember that your weapons will shoot at the current target when you engage that weapon. The current target is identified by the outline over the ship icon in the Contacts.

    Note that you can lock a ship even if it is not selected. Just touch the green lock icon next to that ship.


    So short-hand:

    to use a module: select a target, lock if necessary, tap module to start (it spins)
    to stop using a module: tap the module (it stops spinning)
    to change targets: tap the ship icon directly or use the change-selection at the bottom right. Note that changing target selection does not affect modules that are already active.
    to lock any ship: tap the green lock icon next to the ship icon
    to lock the currently selected ship: tap the big lock icon at the bottom right
     
  19. FRS

    FRS Well-Known Member

    Oct 11, 2011
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    Thanks for the reply, I guess I was trying to unlock a target. It makes little sense to me to not be able to unlock a target?
     
  20. binaryhelix

    binaryhelix Well-Known Member

    Oct 15, 2011
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    Most combat ships have a healthy number of locks. There is no way to unlock at the moment short of docking or warping away (or getting ECM jammed by an enemy). We considered adding a way to unlock by tapping the lock icon(s) on an already locked ship, but have not had any requests for it except yours. Typically, I lock only enemies and some allies if I have a remote repair module.

    We've also considered adding a skill that adds more locks to any ship. Do you find yourself running out of locks a lot? What ship are you flying? What is your current locking strategy?

    Some other ideas floating around are auto-locking enemies, or auto-locking those that lock you (but this would include friendlies with remote repair). The problem with these ideas is that you could run out of locks more easily if you don't prioritize your targets.
     

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