DS #3439: Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (USA)

[Joey Ravn]

Doesn't matter. I did in depth tests of the game also using save states and I could show precisely that the AI does cheat. It uses a random number generator to determine how strongly it cheats. When it decides to cheat it selects from a bunch of possibilities ( all likely good or bad ) the one which chains through down falling jewels. A behavior you can only do if you code the AI to look at the jewels to come. I'm sorry to disappoint you people but the AI in this game is clearly and undeniably cheating. And as a game dev I condemn anybody creating a cheating AI since a cheating AI shows the programmers lack of skill to write a proper AI.

So, the AI does cheat, eh? But wait, that can't be true! moo422 said that was shenanigans. She-na-ni-gans. How can you win against that well based, non-biased argument? [/sarcasm]

PS: Gosh, this game is terrible slow, even for a puzzle game. I guess CotW isn't that bad now.

 

[subanark]

The PC version is a bit of a resource hog. My laptop plays civ4 better than this game (which means I have to boot my main computer into Windows to run this). There are fewer random encounters than in the original (and a subquest you can do to get rid of all of them). In addition to ship battles which are a lot like PQ1, there is mining where you can get raw materials to sell or to use in crafting that basically give you a board with a lot of blank pieces and challenges you to match a certain number of each resource with fewer and fewer resources being added back in each time you match. In order to move from one solar system to another you have to open the hyper gate, which is a timed game where you are given a color to match, and then another and another ect.... Hyper gates will occasionally close down so you are penalizes for running all over the map. Haggling works by trying to remove all as many pieces from the board as possible (they are replaced with blanks). Crafting (you get crafting plans from defeated enemies) replaces any match you make with a ship part that you can match to get, however blank spaces liter the area and some times bio hazards appear which cannot be swapped (but can be matched).

Usually the game is rather tedious until you are able to get a good combo of moves. For instance I've got a modified laser that does damage without any recharge time, and a move that maxes out all my energy reserves (but a 6 turn recharge), this way I don't run out of energy and I only need to match in order to wait for the recharge. Much better compared to your initial equipment a basic laser that does 5-8 damage depending on your reserves and a 3 turn recharge.

 

[cubin']

The loading, lag when switching to menus/looking at your stats etc. is pretty bad.

The game is great apart from the slow loading and sluggish GUI. I'm impatient with this sort of thing. I shouldn't have to wait 5 seconds to simply look at my missions then another 5 to wait while it autosaves and returns to the previous screen.

Seriously...text and simple graphics, my game boy colour was faster.

I was on my 6th cup of coffee when I tried it out so maybe I'll give it another go. Thank god there's a pc version.

 

[Mythrix]

Too bad, I was considering trying this game... Maybe I'll skip it after all. I do already have a bunch of games I wanted to try.

 

[IBNobody]

This game is wearing out faster than the first one. Since they added shields (match blue gems to basically heal yourself), battles take longer.

 

[Porkdish]

This game is wearing out faster than the first one. Since they added shields (match blue gems to basically heal yourself), battles take longer.

More than balanced by directional 'drop' control, and extra turn requires 5 now. You don't recover a lot of shields any way.

What's tedious is hacking the gates all the time. They should have loaded that mini-game with bonuses and made it optional.

 

[mixinluv2u]

i have a question, when you are mining, do you get anything if you complete it by filling all the minerals?

say when i enter an asteroid and begin mining, it'll say 0/20, 0/16, and 0/3 for the 3 different kinds of minerals. do i get anything if i complete it by filling all 3? or does that just indicate the maximum amount that i am able to get each time?

 

[concealed identi]

i have a question, when you are mining, do you get anything if you complete it by filling all the minerals?

say when i enter an asteroid and begin mining, it'll say 0/20, 0/16, and 0/3 for the 3 different kinds of minerals. do i get anything if i complete it by filling all 3? or does that just indicate the maximum amount that i am able to get each time?

Yeah you get a bonus...but a lot of the time it's too much for your ship to carry anyway unless you have a transport ship or something.

 

[IBNobody]

This game is wearing out faster than the first one. Since they added shields (match blue gems to basically heal yourself), battles take longer.

More than balanced by directional 'drop' control, and extra turn requires 5 now. You don't recover a lot of shields any way.

What's tedious is hacking the gates all the time. They should have loaded that mini-game with bonuses and made it optional.

That's not balanced out. Shields mean you have to waste a turn collecting them so that the AI doesn't collect them.

 

[Porkdish]

I never bother collecting the blue and have no troubles. 99% of the time any blue the opponent gathers is destroyed by a shot from your most basic of weapons meaning they've wasted a chance to gather anything of value on their turn.

In truth I find battles to be 150% to 300% faster than cotw.

 

[Mbmax]

WHY ARE THE TOUCH CONTROLS SO UNRESPONSIVE
IT'S RUINING THIS GAME FOR ME

Seriously, it feels like they didn't even test it.
Fuck the DS version, I'm going to wait until it comes to XBLA.

Same here. This bug is a well known bug in homebrew scene and "normally" has been fixed in last libnds.
Is this mean this commercial game use old version of devkit pro libnds ?

Borka thread talking about that.

 

[Falco20019]

you have to waste a turn collecting them so that the AI doesn't collect them.

i've played it some hours, and the AI DO collect shield-gems if he needs some protection.

but the loading times...

 

[netaware]

This is a fun game, even with the AI slowness and the touchscreen problem. Does anyone know where i could get a game guide online?
I am having problems figuring why i can craft some items, but some i cannot. does it matter which solar system you try crafting in?

 

[Leamonde.Halcyon]

Do you have the required cargo items for each crafting?

 

[netaware]

yes but it says that there will be duplicates? I thought the purpose was to get the blue line all the way across

 

[halljames]

Just a note about this. I tried it on the DS Lite using my Supercard, and the touchscreen controls were awful, to actualy try and click on some of the menus was almost impossible.

I have just tried this again on my new DSi, and there doesn't seem to be any touchscreen problems, it all works flawlessly. Very strange.

 

[megawalk]

the controls yes. strange ? lolz no. a bigger screen means bigger touch xD
thats your explanation

 

[halljames]

I agree that the bigger touchscreen might make it easy to click on some of the menus, but the game has gone from being totally unplayable on the DS Lite, to perfect on the DSi.

When playing on the DS Lite, it would suffere from constantly being unable to click on the "Get Missions" option, which resulted in your ship flying away from the planet over and over again. It was very hit and miss.