Press and hold on enemy ships and a little popup displays their shield fore / aft defence / weakness. It's not the clearest thing isn't the world.
Thanks Skoptic, that's a great help. For anyone else blundering through this, it's worth watching this http://youtu.be/KHNtAwfzTZs It will save you a lot of time in the long run.
Wow! Bought this a while ago but never got tound to playing. Must have been craving something more immediate. But seriously, how on earth did I let this one slip past me?! This is amazing - absolutely love it. They really have nailed the (admittedly daunting but really intuitive once you get your head round it) control UI, the versatility of the 3D camera including options to view in 2D horizontal & vertical planes, just the right balance of ship micromanagement including the power level and shield balancing interfaces and presets - plus, keeping the number of ships down to a sensible and manageable level but still giving that perception that you're in the middle of huge space battle. And the graphics are spot on - ship details, backgrounds, the lot. And as for the reviews slating the audio?! Wtf? I've heard a lot, lot worse from other games in the past - there is nothing wrong with gunfire sounds here at all. Talk about being picky! Would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys TBS games or just something with a bit more depth to sink your teeth in to. It runs perfectly at high graphics setting on my iPad Air too. #
Since when is Slitherine doing sales? Maybe in 1,5 - 2 years, but Slitherine is not known for quick sales of their new stuff.
It was half price about a week ago. The current $22.99 is too much imo for the difficult control system you need to get around before you can begin enjoying this. Not saying any other control system would be better, but just saying a slog of $22.99 plus ghastly controls is imo not worth it. Edit: I feel I should clarify this a little: the high price and the controls and finicky nature of this may leave some feeling a little cheated if they are not prepared for it. It's totally all about manipulation your ships using a finicky control system that, I must add, does get the job done at the end of the day. So yeh. There was a sale, and it was a week ago at half price. This far out from Christmas and any potential sale again, wouldn't be a bad idea to wait and see, if you did have your eye on this.
Not to start an argument but I'm really not understanding this 'finicky' control system everyone is going on about?! Personally speaking, I find it very intuitive and would struggle to find a better system for handling movement through a 3D plane using touch screen controls. I'm finding that the normal free view camera works great with a bit of practice and when it doesn't give me what I need, easily switching between the different camera positions (ie horizontal, vertical plane etc) solves any confusion. Had this been a seat of the pants, tactical arcade shooter with time limits for making your move, then I could perhaps understand the frustration - but as it is, you have as long as you want to set up your next play and really think it through. Makes it feel very strategic, as if you really are in charge of a space fleet - all be it, like a massive virtual training machine because let's be honest, in real life, you would only have seconds to make these decisions! As for the rest of the UI - really don't see how it's daunting as some have said. To me, the layout makes perfect sense considering the amount of options available and they are all very intuitive. The engine/shield/weapon power distribution is very clever and the shield power sliders are brilliant (all be it, I've seen similar systems in other games over the years). Add to that the preset selections allowing quick power balance adjustments and it becomes a breeze to command your own star fleet. Completely understand you may feel differently Talbs and acknowledge everyone is entitled to their own opinions - just feel that this game has been given a bit of flack by reviewers and gamers alike for the finicky controls and sounds, and I wanted to try to offset that with a different opinion. On another note though - I completely agree the full price is a bit steep but only in comparison to other iOS games. It's fairly reasonable if you compared it to similar titles on PC/Steam but I would expect it to be less on mobile platform. Would definitely consider paying a lower price and then purchasing dlc though.
