Explanation, then possibly unrelated questions.

[SixZero]

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So I've been playing this game on and off for a little over a week.(Browsing this forum since day two or three.)
The AI ships die, these screenshots were just of my most drastic survival/win so far. The big capitol ship things die as well(I like to zip circles around their nose till they explode). I have about a 95-98% survival rate now, once in a while I'll screw up countermeasures(I've always used one or two per missile, even before I had the timing about perfect), too close together and die, but it's increasingly more rare(yay practice). This is all in my mammoth.
Okie... so... questions now.

1: Is there anything harder AI-wise? Or have I pretty much crushed the living daylights out of the hardest stuff I'll experience from them?

2: What specific military ranks are the combat frames unlocked at?(For all my perusing I can't seem to find the answer to this one. Though I expected it to be on here.)

3: I get about 1-2 frames per second when a menu is open, or about 5-10 when a massive lump of text comes into the window in top-left. Both issues immediately fix themselves if I close the menu, or click the little close button that removes the text. Any ideas what might cause this? Ever heard a report of something similar? It's been consistent since the first time I opened the game.

Relevant system information;(More on request)
Processor: Pentium4 2.66ghz
RAM: 2gig
GPU: Nvidia 6200, 512mb
Steam running.


4: I've read that beams are for shield reduction, and particle weapons are for hull damage. Two-in-one question: I have the 4th beam and I realize the next one up is a large step, but, does it really make that much of a difference in making this viable? And if the goal is to get a middle-rank particle with assumed less w-power drain for the range, why can't I just run both at once, if the goal is to burst fire anyway to keep energy levels up?

5: Is my use of the full 3d overzealous? Am I wasting my time? Sometimes I like to 'strafe' up or down, or in other directions, or things in between, just to mix things up.

[Maarschalk]

Hi SixZero, welcome to the game and forum!.....Hope to see you out there some time!.....

1. About other challanges in the game there are plenty. A challange is only a challange when you do not know the solution.
Once you know the solution it is no longer a challange! So if you have not done wormhole jumping through a black hole and have not read any hints or spoilers on how to do is you can try that!....Also there is the Landing on Earth contest!....etc....etc....:P

2. http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8915

3. Your Systems specs are on the border for decent frame rates, so this might be the cause of the low frame rates!

4. Range and cycle rate may be more important then anything else in particle weapons choice depending on your ship and fighting style and differes for PvP and AIs fights. Pay attention to your weapons range and speeds allways!

5. I do not understand this question. But if you are reffering to Graphics Card settings I would say Yes!

[Marvin]

5. After the first pass, the last thing you should be worried about is pitch orientation. Notice that enemy ships attack from different vantage points, both horizontal and vertical. If a Red decides that it's better to run away so as to live and fight another day, you could easily be chasing the guy high or low, up or down.

[Capt_Caveman]

I think your pc may be the problem
my pc only gets 15-35 fps with many performance tweaks.
and my pc specs are as follows;

CPU Make and Model: pentium 4HT northwood 3.0 GHz
front bus speed 400mhz
Installed Memory: 2.56 GB DDR pc3200
Available Physical Memory 2.1 GB
Video Card : ati radeon hd 4670 1gb ddr3 agp
Sound : creative sound blaster audigy
Hdd: C: 400gb sata d: 160gb ata 133
O.S. win xp pro sp3 32 bit

[49rTbird]

For harder AI you might try the ones in the outer systems and even Vonari Space.

[SixZero]

3 again: Why would I have frame rate enough for combat, but not menus? Is there a large increase in sys. requirements when one is up?

5 again: Does that mean it's viable to just go with a c14 particle/c5 beam setup and just be careful with the energy gauge?

And thank you for the welcome and the fully answered questions.

[Edited on 2-15-2012 by SixZero]

[Vice]

The 6200 is probably your bottleneck for performance. It's a low end card that will likely struggle with multiple surface rendering/text. You could try a driver update, but it may not help much. Make sure AA hasn't been applied in the Nvidia control panel as that could also impact performance significantly.

[Busch]

Hey SixZero. Welcome aboard! One of the many beautys and freedoms of this game/sim is in your ability to choose. And not be locked into a particular/specific weapons combo. Admittedly, the C-14 Phantom cannon coupled with the C-5 Fusion laser have a definite/measureable impact on your energy reserves/distribution. There are methods to finagle this to advantage. Energy bias is one of the more relevant issues, especially in combat situations. Looks like you've got a great start there.

See ya out there!