<!--quoteo(post=256803:date=May 13 2008, 06:58 PM:name=Pieter Boelen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pieter Boelen @ May 13 2008, 06:58 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=256803"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->None of us have CoAS, so we don't really know. star.dat sounds like it might have to do with the StarForce copyright protection. That's not good. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="
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Is there any chance you might be able to give us some sort of user review of the game? We'd be very interested what it'll be like. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/w00t.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="
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Righty.... forgot <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="
" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> But if anyone is good at identifying compression methods in files and/or decompressing them let me know <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="
" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> Im not much of a programmer (YET! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/diomed.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":dio" border="0" alt="diomed.gif" /> ), so someone with a bit more experience in assembly/hex would be a blessing.
I've managed to get this so far: resource0.dat and resource1.dat have a header starting with SFFS which some n00bish googling pointed to being StarForce File System... :S:S:S however neither star.dat nor hic.dat had that header. But dont worry about starforce.... ahm .... a friend told me <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="
" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> that a good image + Y.A.S.U. will do the trick.....
About the review... well its a defnite possibility. I haven't gotten that far into the game yet, being a native russian speaker i still prefer my pirates to speak YARR english. I can say some things already now (may be inaccurate in my comparison to AoP cause it was a while since i played that):
On the technical side:
1) Its not very resource demanding (apart from the massive 8gb it takes up) and a lot more stable. Alt tabbing out of the game works like a charm. Loading times i feel also improved significantly.
2) Although it originated as a mod, there is not a slightest trace of it being one. Sounds are great, the modelling is just the way it should be, low polygon yet the eye doesn't go wanting.
Gameplay:
1) The fencing has been slightly redone. There is an option that allows you to load your gun during combat(selected when chosing difficulty). The parry (i believe?) was replaced with a piercing strike/parry however i havent gotten my head around that one yet. Health regeneration is WAAAAAAY slower. Enemies are now smart enough to regularly resort to healing potions and will not hesitate to blow a hole in you should you chose to hop/run away from them.
2) There seem to be 3 story lines with 3 different characters that you can follow and each can be followed just the way you like it. There is more than one way to do the same quest e.g. or you can not do it at all.
3) Just lots more of everything, NPC's ships weapons, quests, jungles, dungeons.
4) More events, like the bloody rats on the ship that keep eating my supplies....
5) Smarter NPC's at sea. Yes they are watching you.... They can see the class of your vessle and how many youre aboard, and they won't hesitate to board your ass.
6) On the negative side.... Too much freedom, and too little description. Yes it's non-linear gameplay, but god dammit sometimes you've got to run aorund for half an hour looking for some guy who looks just like every other dam guy. And no more of those nice glowing exclamation marks...
7) The leveling system has been redone altogether. Its more of a morrowind-like approach. The more you do something the better you get at it. Though im still not 100% on how it all works, ill comment more on that once i can get further than rank 4
.
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="8)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" /> Less customizable difficulty settings and instead more customizable characters. A slide-bar for how fast a character will level with experienced has been added.
9) I would also like to comment on the sexist approach of the game as there is not a single female playable character
.
10) OOOH alomost forgot. The game speed controlls are now built in for those of you who hate wasting time. I remember this was already present in some mod. Just use + and - keys to speed up or slow down the game.
Ok ill wrap it up now. ahmmmm just ask if you have any questions.
I must add thet im slightly ashamed of my fellow countrymen for doing to us what hollywood does to europe. You shouldn't have to wait 6-12 months after the release of the product to be able to purchase it, solely because you reside in another part of the world. I also doubt it was a coincidence that the dialog files are now neatly tucked away somwhere where the sun don't shine (hopefully though its nothing reverse engineering can't solve). Also the constant issue of modding tools... Even if im thankful for what we do get, it is perhaps the best pirate game franchise to date, i still think they could have handled a lot of it with more class.
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