cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (08/03/88)
Ok, I shelled out the bucks for Carrier Command, the battle simulation
where you drive a carrier around, launch amphibious and airborne craft
and attempt to stop an enemy carrier. I have some difficultly with it
though. Since it came out for the ST first I have crossposted this to
the st newsgroup but followups will go back to amiga since those folks
are probably already familiar with this game.
So some questions :
1) You ``colonize'' islands by driving an amphibious craft onto
them and dropping a "constructor". Great, no problem there.
Unfortunately you have to drive the carrier over to each island
to be close enough to get to the beach. Fine, except the carrier
is slow, and it is running out of gas. End result, by the time
I had set up the third island, the enemy carrier had colonized
24. Clearly there is something here which I am not catching on
to. Then I had to sit around at the last island I had colonized
waiting for my network to manufacture some Gas for the carrier.
After a while the enemy carrier was bombing my other island
(he now had 48 islands under his control). So there must be
something I can do differently.
2) The controls on the craft are a joke, particularly because
you use the mouse to steer as well as control your speed, but
can't do both at the same time. Basically, you have to click it
into and out of pointer mode to change what you are controlling
(speed/direction) and while setting the speed the craft is often
driving into oblivion. Yuck.
3) When setting up and controlling the amphibious craft (or
airborne ones for that matter) each screen ``remembers'' the
last craft your were looking at (you have 4 each). This can
be a real pain when you are in the "loading" screen and loading
on bombs and stuff and then switch to the hanger screen to
leave the carrier *it switches the vehicle you are looking at
as well*. The end result was I loaded up Walrus 1 and ended up
driving Walrus 2 out the carrier and on to the beach only to
find it didn't have anything on board.
4) When attempting to shoot ``cruise'' missiles from the carriers
you have to launch a "viewing" drone to target the missle.
Unfortunately when I do that the viewing drone is looking straight
down at the ocean and not the island. As there are no interesting
targets in the ocean I waste a drone. Not only that I *cannot*
shoot anything on the island with a missle that way. And yet the
manual suggests that these missles are the only thing that can
penetrate a "command" center. So what do I do?
When I figure these out I am sure this game will be a lot more playable
but for now it is really frustrating.
--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.neil@cs.hw.ac.uk (Neil Forsyth) (08/04/88)
In article <62535@sun.uucp> cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) writes about his problems with the combat simulation game 'Carrier Command' and since the ripoff element in this game really gets under my skin: > (the enemy carrier now had 48 islands under his control). So there must be > something I can do differently. You could try selling your copy to someone else. Seriously though the technique is something along these lines but try various combinations. Restart the game. NOTE: A strategy game or you will never get any fuel. (BUG!) Go straight to the island named 'Isolus'. This takes some time so build an extension on your house while your waiting. When you get there shave, then put a base on the island. Move just out of range of the island and wait for the enemy carrier to attack the island then breeze in there and blow it to smithereens. Simple. The carrier puts up little or no resistance at all. > 2) The controls on the craft are a joke ... The game is a joke. >When I figure these out I am sure this game will be a lot more playable >but for now it is really frustrating. Sorry but you're going to be eternally frustrated. Get a proper game like Joust or Super Sprint instead. --Chuck McManis >uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com >These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you. _____________________________________________________________________________ / "I think all right thinking people in this country are sick and tired of \ ! being told that ordinary decent people are fed up in this country with ! ! being sick and tired. I'm certainly not and I'm sick and tired of being ! ! told that I am!" - Monty Python ! ! ! ! Neil Forsyth JANET: neil@uk.ac.hw.cs ! ! Dept. of Computer Science ARPA: neil@cs.hw.ac.uk ! ! Heriot-Watt University UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!neil ! ! Edinburgh ! ! Scotland ! \_____________________________________________________________________________/
Andrew@cup.portal.com (08/05/88)
I have experenved many of the same problems with Carrier Command!!!
My BIG problem is that I can not get the game to save. I have been using a
disk that i have formatted. It doesn't work. So I deleted all the Trashcan
files and it atill didn't work. Has anybody had any luch with a save? Do I
need to use a blank disk??
Andy Lagodzinskiewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab) (08/09/88)
In article <62535@sun.uucp> cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) writes: >Ok, I shelled out the bucks for Carrier Command, the battle simulation >where you drive a carrier around, launch amphibious and airborne craft >and attempt to stop an enemy carrier. [ ... ] > > 1) You ``colonize'' islands by driving an amphibious craft onto > them and dropping a "constructor". Great, no problem there. > Unfortunately you have to drive the carrier over to each island > to be close enough to get to the beach. Fine, except the carrier > is slow, and it is running out of gas. End result, by the time > I had set up the third island, the enemy carrier had colonized > 24. Clearly there is something here which I am not catching on > to. [ ... ] Though I don't have any concrete proof, I suspect part of the magic is moving your stockpile island around. When you obtain an island for yourself, you designate it as the stockpile island, and all your goodies will get shipped there (after a time). If you feel that gas is important, then go into the supplies configuration menu and tell it that you want fuel production to be a high-priority item. The enemy carrier does seem to move with amazing speed, though. I was just barely able to keep up with it in action mode, and I got the impression that I was spending most of my time chasing my tail. > 2) The controls on the craft are a joke, [ ... ] Agreed. > you use the mouse to steer as well as control your speed, but > can't do both at the same time. [ ... ] Actually, you can use the arrow keys to increase and decrease your speed while using the mouse to steer the thing. However, I *DO* wish there was a way to switch weapons from the keyboard. Suddenly running out of laser shots, you have to click out of control mode, find the missile icon, click on it, click back into control mode, get back to where you were trying to go.... Oops, too late. You've been slimed. Try again, sucker. Argh. > This can > be a real pain when you are in the "loading" screen and loading > on bombs and stuff and then switch to the hanger screen to > leave the carrier *it switches the vehicle you are looking at > as well*. The end result was I loaded up Walrus 1 and ended up > driving Walrus 2 out the carrier and on to the beach only to > find it didn't have anything on board. > This is also real interesting when the mistakenly launched craft has no fuel, which means you have to re-dock it and launch the correct one, and all the while you're racing against the clock trying to get to the control center before it can rebuild the giant aircraft volcano. Argh. > 4) When attempting to shoot ``cruise'' missiles from the carriers > you have to launch a "viewing" drone to target the missle. > Unfortunately when I do that the viewing drone is looking straight > down at the ocean and not the island. As there are no interesting > targets in the ocean I waste a drone. Not only that I *cannot* > shoot anything on the island with a missle that way. And yet the > manual suggests that these missles are the only thing that can > penetrate a "command" center. So what do I do? > Turn the ass end of your carrier around to face the island and lauch a viewing drone. Now click the right mouse button to get a cross hair. When you see a target you like, click on it. A cruise missile will be launched and nail it. Unfortunately, viewing drones are not much use on large islands since they don't travel far enough. Argh. >When I figure these out I am sure this game will be a lot more playable >but for now it is really frustrating. > I feel the game has a lot of potential, but is hampered by user interface problems. The keyboard is not employed nearly as much as it should be. Forcing the use of the mouse to switch weapons can be lethal (to you). I might be flying around trying to kill an enemy aircraft, so I misile it. But I want to use my laser cannon to kill the missiles it's shooting at me. Switching in mid-stream like this in combat is next to impossible, unless you're Superman (and I ain't, last I checked). Autopilot also isn't as useful as it could be. The navigation is really dumb. It plots a straight line from where you are to where you want to go. If there's an object in the way (your carrier, for example), it just runs into it, damaging both you and the object you hit. You'd think there'd be some rudimentary collision avoidance. The supply drone is smart enough to find the back of your carrier without hitting it; why can't the AAV and the Mantas? Along similar lines, it would be nice if there were a "come home and dock" function. Just set it, and the AAV/Manta comes home and docks. Oh well. I think I've got it worse, since I have a 14MHz 68020, and everything happens so zarking *FAST*. Launch Manta, set up correct weapon, turn on radar, click into control mode just long enough to bank.... *BANG* You're dead. Please insert another quarter. If anyone has some tips, I'd like to hear them, too. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape INET: well!ewhac@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU \_ -_ Recumbent Bikes: UUCP: pacbell > !{well,unicom}!ewhac O----^o The Only Way To Fly. hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack") "Work FOR? I don't work FOR anybody! I'm just having fun." -- The Doctor
ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab) (08/09/88)
In article <7883@cup.portal.com> Andrew@cup.portal.com writes: >My BIG problem is that I can not get the game to save. I have been using a >disk that i have formatted. It doesn't work. So I deleted all the Trashcan >files and it atill didn't work. Has anybody had any luch with a save? Do I >need to use a blank disk?? > Rainbird is aware of this problem; it is a bug in the earliest copies of the game. Evidently, you send in your registration card and they'll inform you of an update. Either that or the dealer you bought it from will know the story. I found out about this on FAUG BBS. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape INET: well!ewhac@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU \_ -_ Recumbent Bikes: UUCP: pacbell > !{well,unicom}!ewhac O----^o The Only Way To Fly. hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack") "Work FOR? I don't work FOR anybody! I'm just having fun." -- The Doctor
Andrew@cup.portal.com (08/11/88)
Well, at least I know that it isn't me!! I was beginning to get a little tired of tring to get the game to save! thanks for the information. I am going to call Rainbird today, and yell at them. Will post the results!