StarControl Forums
'Cause why the hex not?..
Stardock, please, no 3MB update. Thanx!
Looking good so far. Very interested to see for myself how the new Super Melee handles. You can't convey some things even in video.
Brad, you know what would be cool? If you live-streamed your engineers or artists screen (no sound). 1 person per day. Give us, Founders, the password to the stream. Voila. No need for monthly updates even....
I don't have much to comment on this cycle, and I don't want to make assumptions about the viewing perspective of the second SuperMelee image...
So I'll focus on two things....
Why did you guys get rid of the Spathi and UrQuan ships behind the Tywom?
And why did you guys change the Tywom from being members of the Glorious PC Master Race to being part of the Filthy Console Peasant caste? Consoles? Power Glove? SDCards? Doritos and Mountain Dew?
Who doesn't have like 32GB of RAM these days? I mean they give away DDR4 sticks in Kinder Suprises and Crackerjack boxes 
The # of programmers and artists actually kinda surprised me. I thought there would be more employees but I guess you're just ultra efficient with stuff!
I'm a bit suprised by now that mulit-threaded programming wasn't more ubiquitous as a skillset? I mean I remember back in the day finding something with a heartbeat to do low-latency/real time programs was hard. Are we just not teaching this or something? Or is it more that people with that skill set are basically going to Google/Amazon/Oracle?
Possibly a IP issue given that from what has been said previously the official races are still owned by Activision. Thus while it was 'cool' to put it in before, maybe the lawyers freaked out or something. Activision isn't a bear you want to poke.
The above is just speculation. Maybe they'll show up later
SuperMelee DLC - Give your SuperMelee ships a boost with the new Moutain Dew 420 BlazIT Doritos pack. You will receive 20 Moutnain Dew boosters which increase your shields by 500%. You'll also get 50 Doritos boosters increase your damage by 200% for 1 minute.
Console Peasant DLC - Happy to announce cross platform Super Melee between PC and console. Console players with this DLC pack will have a 100% damage bonus against PC Master Race opponents.
T-Bag DLC - PC DLC only. When you defeat a console opponent using the Console Peasant DLC booster, you will trigger a unique animation where your ship will T-Bag the opposing ship. The animation is 1 minute long and is unskippable on the console. PC Master Race players can of course skip this animation. This DLC is free to all PC Master Race players
They didn't get rid of those. The image is cropped. You can still see (partially) Spathi decoy sphere.
I'm really digging Xraki dialog music.
Not a lot to comment on this go around. Interesting to see the curtain lifted a little and see why the decisions that are being made are made. Not worried about the current requirements..Stardock has proven in the past that they can optimize. Starting off with a "fetch quest"? Gotta start with something to get the game rolling. SC2 started with "blow up that thing then go fetch". I don't see a problem. Looking forward to a possible, maybe there's a chance to try out Melee.
I think the game needs to find a happy medium between accessibility and performance. Like Rise of the Tombraider, the game can have reasonable starting specs to play decently but advanced options for those people with 3 SLIed 1080 GTXes that want to see every water molecule in the clouds orbiting a mountain.
Cropped = Gotten rid of.
You forgot Aim Assist. Gotta have Aim Assist. 
Thank you Stardock for the January Update. My thoughts:
Included Music
I like the music a lot. It's very reminiscent of StarCon2 and felt like "coming home" in a game sense. Very very well done and I am looking forward to hearing more as the game gets nearer to release (or you release more in a monthly update).
Engine Discussion
I'm not a programmer so I can't speak to this section. It sounds like you have a lot of difficulties and I'm pleased to hear that you're working through them. I agree that building your own engine seems to have been the sensible choice. You don't saw when the staff switcheroo is happening. but google tells me that the GC3 expansion is meant to come out in about 3 weeks, so I guess that means it's not long until there are a lot more people available to work on SC. That's awesome!
Modding Tools
I like the look of the announced modding tools, and it sounds like there will be a lot of scope for the more creative among the fans. One notable lack is an editor to assist in making art assets, or do you simply make things like ships in a 3D modeller of your choice and then import them in via the Universe Maker?
Super Melee
I love the new screenshots of Super Melee, it looks awesome. Again, it takes me right back to SC2 which I am really pleased about - I'm stoked you decided to go with that option out of the ones you discussed a few months back.
The ships look nice, the zoom level looks about right for that "closeness of engagement" and although I have no real way to gauge it, it looks "smooth" if you know what I mean.
I can't speak to how it plays, but I have high hopes I'll be able to find out (hopefully) soon... coughcough... 
Story
Loved the breakdown of the story, although it feels fairly "typical" for the opening act of this kind of game. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not hugely "brave" if you get what I mean. Not that I'm saying I have a better idea, mind - there's a convention to how you teach people to play a game like this by letting them fly the ship, then learn about exploring a planet (finding the Tywom), then about mining to get resources and how to manage that side of the game, then you find a weapon and learn about combat. That's pretty much how a game such as this *has* to start as a kind of in-game tutorial. As a nostalgia trigger it feels a LOT like encountering Fwiffo on Pluto in StarCon2.
Summary
So all in all, it was a great monthly update, and I'm really looking forward to hearing playtest reports from people with the supermelee in a month or so, or being able to contribute to those reports myself maybe (again hint hint, cough cough and so on and so forth... )
Getting Modding Tools to pleb masses is the second best decision Stardock ever made after acquisition of SC trademark. I commend you on that!!
How do you pronounce Xraki? I'm going with Eh-ks-ruh-key meanwhile.
I want to watch you cry when it is revealed that they are the two syllable "zrah-key"
Question: Did anyone notice a difference between the currently given Drenkend, Tywom and Xraki themes and the previous versions? Because I didn't. Didn't open them in an audio editor but they're the same length and they sound the same.
Comment: Brad didn't say you'll be locked in to Sol for an hour just that some players could find stuff to do there for about an hour. You'll probably be able to leave once you finish the required 'tutorial' phase.
Comment: I'm gonna go with the "Zrah-Kee" pronunciation. X at the start of a word is pronounced like a Z. I just hope it will be fully voiced when it's done.
Question: Any chance of getting Mark Hamill, Alan Tudyk and John de Lancie like Master of Orion did?
Another question: Is Riku the only composer working on the game or is someone else also producing tracks?
Request: I would like to see actual numbers instead of bars, especially when it comes to crew, in the Melee and planet exploration segments. It's much more informative.
I want to watch you cry when it is revealed that they are the two syllable "zrah-key"
If it's not, you gonna have to post your own nudes.
^ Yes, some presented tracks need a bit more polish if not rework too.
I've also asked this before and would appreciate an answer. Seems like Riku is the only one confirmed. I know it's in good hands with him, but I still believe there should be other contributors to carry on the tradition of a variety of musical styles. SC2's soundtrack was so great because you had a bunch of people contributing their best efforts, rather than one person handling all of it.
Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting? 
I've also asked this before and would appreciate an answer. Seems like Riku is the only one confirmed. I know it's in good hands with him, but I still believe there should be other contributors to carry on the tradition of a variety of musical styles. SC2's soundtrack was so great because you had a bunch of people contributing their best efforts, rather than one person handling all of it.
I also think the tracks would benefit from some collaboration. You know what they're missing? They're missing funny sound effects of the aliens gibbering and sputtering and whatnot, in the background. Remember that?!
Thank you for all the information the story line sounds great so far , I hope there is a way to skip the hour in or location in later play but I understand learning the ropes the first time. as to it being a memory hog right now. I understand you needing to streamline but hell if you need testers let me know I have 32 gig and an 8 gig video. lol
I love the music by the way! I like just listening to it, it is a well updated version of the SC2 style.
Once you get through it the first time, we'd add a "Fast Start.." with some options so you can pick which chapter you want to start with.
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