Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!super!udel!princeton!njin!rutgers!apple!well!ewhac
From: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Carrier Command, help
Summary: Me too; it's frustrating.
Message-ID: <6775@well.UUCP>
Date: 9 Aug 88 08:03:25 GMT
References: <62535@sun.uucp>
Reply-To: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Organization: :noitazinagrO
Lines: 100
Quote: "Yesterday, I was....  No, that wasn't me."  -- Steve Wright

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")
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