Topic: Talon v1.0 Released!

[Scottris]

Fellow Descent fans, it give me great pleasure to announce the release of my little 6dof shooter. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally out! I want to thank those who have provided feedback and support, and especially those who have helped me beta test the game. It's come a long way in the past couple of months. Work is not finished, though. This is an Early Access release, because there are still some enhancements and improvements to be made. More maps, more game modes, new features are planned, but this need not keep anyone from enjoying the game! So go ahead, click the shiny button below and get your copy now!

Happy holidays!

[-<WillyP>-]

Congratulations!

This is a very enjoyable game, in many ways it is very similar to Descent multiplayer. I've played in the beta a bit, and the game runs well, has a very nice 'Descenty' feel to it, and the developer is very involved with and responsive to the players.

I highly encourage every fan of Descent multiplayer to take a closer look.

[Kaiaatzl]

Seconded (and not just because I worked on the music ).
I got a chance to play Talon on LAN with a couple of friends during the beta, and it is incredibly fun -- even better against real people than it is against bots (and the bots themselves are still pretty fun to play against).  The cloaking device adds a depth to the gameplay that even D3 multiplayer didn't have.  It's a really amazing job done on a really great game and especially a really great christmas present to the Descent community (and I think to gamers in general).

[-<WillyP>-]

Did I forget to mention, the music is really good, too?

[PyroJockey]

Maybe I'm being overly cautions, but in this day and age they are asking for a lot of personal information for a simple $15 PayPal purchase.

[Scottris]

It is an unfortunate consequence of the "one size fits all" customer order form that the merchant software uses. I don't like that it requires any more information than absolutely necessary, and I am doing what I can to correct this.

[Scottris]

Changes have been made to the order process and it should now require less information if you are ordering via paypal.

[PyroJockey]

Changes have been made to the order process and it should now require less information if you are ordering via paypal.

Much better, but don't bother calling my phone number unless you want to make a reservation at a Sheraton hotel. 

[Scyphi]

Techpro and I have been test playing it for a gaming fest this New Years. Though I have to admit that I don't share the same interest in the music as WillyP does (sorry), it's been pretty fun. Very Descent-like, yet at the same time not just straight Descent; you can't play it like any other Descent game, it has too many new elements to it, so it has a challenging edge to it even for an experienced Descent player (not that I'm THAT experienced).

I did note that the terrain stage was all fun and good, especially since I noticed that gravity DOES apply to your gameplay (neat little effect, that, sets its gameplay apart from the other maps) but without fail, after awhile the fight always veers up into the sky away from the terrain, and then it's just too wide and open and there's nothing to dodge and weave behind. I wish the gameplay could be forced closer to the ground, so you would have to navigate through the terrain's features, like the canyons and buildings...like you would in a terrain-based D3 level. I would also think this would give the player the chance to play with that gravity effect and use it to their advantage more, whereas now it's just more of a neat effect that enhances the experience, but doesn't REALLY affect gameplay all that much.

But other than that, it's a great game, especially if you're real big on the multiplayer games. You can really feel the attention to detail that has been placed in this game, things the player wouldn't normally stop to consider.

[TechPro]

It is definitely geared for multiplayer, however I (personally) think it has great potential for singleplayer mode as well, but I don't think that is in development for it.

In my server hosting settings, at first I toned down the AI Bot "skill" level and while the "Bot players" moved around good, they were pretty random and didn't shoot at you much.   Then I set the skill level to High and chose a closed in Capture map ... and the Bots killed me quickly and repeatedly.   So... for what it's worth.

The default music selection was good and well suited for the game plus it had obvious Descent characteristics.  You can customize your music selection, but I didn't find any means to add your own music choices.   After a while of hearing the music it comes with, I'll probably be turning the music off all the time, then run a separate player in the background.

One of the maps is a "BattleCube" which is basically a large cube and all the ships are moving around inside.  The thing that is significantly different is the small cubes tumbling around inside the big cube, providing temporary cover or sometimes blocking your shots.

I especially liked the idea of being able to "reload" your ship.  When you run out of weaponry, you pull into a designated location and hit the "power down" button.  While your ship "settles" (if there is gravity in effect), you weaponry payload and energy is reloaded.  It's also a chance to change what weapons you're carrying.

The "power down" option option allows your ship to fall in areas with gravity.  If you're on a terrain map and above the surface a bit, hitting the power down causes your ship to fall to the surface... until you power back up.

The Cloak option is nice, however you're not allowed to use your weaponry while cloaked... which some players may dislike.  Since you can turn the cloak off and on whenever you want, at any time ... I think it's wise to have the weaponry restriction while cloaked.   Star Trek fans may equate this to the Klingon cloak (cannot fire while cloaked).

Looks to be fun.   Not a Descent replacement, but definitely Descent like.

[Scottris]

I wish the gameplay could be forced closer to the ground, so you would have to navigate through the terrain's features, like the canyons and buildings...like you would in a terrain-based D3 level.

This can be done, it's all in how you build the map. Each map defines a flight ceiling, and there's nothing stopping a map builder from building up mountain walls and setting that ceiling below the top of the mountains.

You can really feel the attention to detail that has been placed in this game, things the player wouldn't normally stop to consider.

Thanks for noticing.

It is definitely geared for multiplayer, however I (personally) think it has great potential for singleplayer mode as well, but I don't think that is in development for it.

I have long wanted to make objective-based single player campaign missions in Talon similar to those found in flight sims. The only reason I haven't is due to the effort involved and my time/budget constraints. Multiplayer maps are easier to build, and you get arguably more mileage out of them; plus I do love multiplayer. Hopefully Talon does well, and I can afford to invest in expanding it, including some good single player content.

Thinking about it again, I remember that I really used to love the search-and-destroy missions in the original Novalogic Comanche game. That type of single player mission is much easier to build than more complex story/objective driven types, so there's a better chance I could put something like that together. I will look into it as soon as time allows.

The "power down" option option allows your ship to fall in areas with gravity.  If you're on a terrain map and above the surface a bit, hitting the power down causes your ship to fall to the surface... until you power back up.

There is another advantage of powering down, if circumstances permit. When your ship is powered down, you do not show on enemy radar. This could potentially be used to hide and catch an opponent off-guard. It's risky, though, because your shields will be down and they will need time to recharge when you power up.

Star Trek fans may equate this to the Klingon cloak (cannot fire while cloaked).

Yeah.. that's where the idea came from, and I think it's a good mechanic because it requires you to make the tactical choice to hide or attack. I think it's also good for multiplayer because it's less annoying to be on the receiving end of (kinda sucks getting attacked by an invisible opponent); and you have to consider both sides when designing for multiplayer (not an easy task sometimes).

[Kaiaatzl]

I love the cloak...
I'm sure I could come up with a single-player plotline if you want help.  I somehow managed to become the head writer on Sol Contingency so I seem to have something more than music to offer.

[TechPro]

We (myself, Scyphi, his two younger brothers, and his sister) on New Years Eve spent a couple hours playing Talon and had a really good time.  We did, however, notice one "problem" of sorts...

After playing Talon for a while, we couldn't pilot our Pyro's in Descent 3 very well at all... at least until after we adjusted.  The problem?  The pitch axis in Descent 3 is like a plane's stick control (pull back to angle up, push forward to angle down) but in Talon it's reversed.  Thankfully, you can set your controls in Talon to invert the pitch axis.  After doing that, I can easily jump from Talon to Descent (or vice versa) without having to "adapt" at all.

Something other Descent players may want to keep in mind.

[Scyphi]

...unless those other Descent players have their pitch axis in Descent reversed already too, because I KNOW you can do that, I just don't remember where the darn control for it is...

This can be done, it's all in how you build the map. Each map defines a flight ceiling, and there's nothing stopping a map builder from building up mountain walls and setting that ceiling below the top of the mountains.

Well, hopefully we'll see something like that soon, then.

I love the cloak...

Likewise, and I think it's handled very well. You can either hide, or fight, but not both. And you can't hide forever either, although why you'd want to in Talon I wouldn't know, since you can't score without fighting back and you can't do that while cloaked.

I'm sure I could come up with a single-player plotline if you want help.  I somehow managed to become the head writer on Sol Contingency so I seem to have something more than music to offer.

Heh, I find that funny, because those guys were trying to recruit me for a whole bunch of other things except writing, which is definitely my forte (although I may not advertise that much on the Descent forums, so maybe that's why). Kept turning them down either because I wasn't confident I could dedicate the time to it, or didn't have the skills to meet demand as much as they apparently believed, but if they had asked if I wanted to help write, I would've JUMPED at the chance. Oh well.

Point is, is that I'm willing to offer to help write a single player campaign as well if interested. I have a few ideas that have long been bouncing around in my head that'd fit well for a 6dof game and could be made to fit Talon with some tweaking, or could come up with something entirely new if prompted.

[Kaiaatzl]

Lol, well, I'm not looking for additional writers on Sol Contingency yet.  I will be very soon though.
I don't see Sol Contingency and Talon as competitors because the two games are focused on very different things.  Which is why I have no problem working on both of them.