"There is an air of tragedy about Noctis . As I peer from the narrow confines of my helmet, my natural excitement at gazing upon features that nobody has ever seen before is always muted by the knowledge that nobody ever will see them, except for me." Phil Scuderi explores space and the meaning of free will in Footprints in Moondust.

Footprints in Moondust

What an unforeseen intersection, the discovery of determinism in a game where the player is only an observer. Since it was mentioned in no less than two articles I fired up Noctis to see the insanity for myself. That is the loneliest game I've ever played.

I remember reading about Noctis back when I had a crappy computer. Resolved to play it later and subsequently forgot about it. Thank you for reminding me - and it was an excellent historical perspective on determinism (though I personally have brought myself to some degree of understanding of the concept, and where specifically that lies will probably end up derailing this thread).

It's annoying though!

I spent quarter of an hour slowly moving towards a planet, 24 units away. I arrive. I can see it. But when I chose select local target it says "Recal needed" and when I chose the dropship thing it says "Error". ARRGG. LET ME ON THE PLANET! I CAN SEE IT THERE!

Nothing in the manual about recal needed. I reset the system etc. Nothing. I don't want to have to go and try again. It takes ages to get to a planet.

Also it's not that lonely. I did a help signal and another craft came round and orbited round me. Didn't do anything though.

It's definitely not the easiest game to learn, that's for sure.

I'm really not sure why it took you 15 minutes to reach a planet that was only 24 "dyams" away. That shouldn't have taken more than a few seconds. I believe you, of course, but I don't know enough about the game to explain what may have happened.

The "need recal" message just means your present local target and remote target are in different star systems. Redesignate your remote target by aiming at the star whose system you are in, selecting "set remote target" from the Flight Control Drive menu, and then double-right-clicking on the star. Your local target is like a subset of your remote target, so when they suffer a disconnect, the ship's computer gets confused.

To descend to the surface of a planet, enter into orbit around it and select "deploy surface capsule" from the "flight control drive" menu. Then go to the three small screens on the right side of the bridge; the one on the far right will show an image of the planet's surface. Use the arrow keys to choose a target, and then press Enter.

Use the help signal if you accidentally run out of fuel. The other ship will give you a slight boost. That's the extent of its purpose, though. It's just a way to ensure you don't accidentally become stuck (for too long) while playing.

Hope that helps. Once you get the hang of things, you should be planet-hopping in no time.

I'd just like to say this was a fantastic article. I think I'll have to read Olaf Stapledon's 'The Star Maker' again. And maybe I should try Noctis again too.

- Z

Thanks a lot, Zap. I'm always glad to hear of another Stapledon fan.

I'm sure this thread is long, long dead. I'm new to Escapist, and am reading old issues at random.

Still, I wanted to say that I'm an ardent determinist.

Yes, I find it depressing.

Yes, I find that it undercuts any deeper "meaning" to existence.

It still makes perfect sense to me, and is thus far, the only thing that's ever made much sense to me.

/Edit: I wanted to mention, but forgot. I really enjoyed the article, and fully intend on checking Noctis out. It sounds amazing.

Geoffrey42:
I'm sure this thread is long, long dead. I'm new to Escapist, and am reading old issues at random.

There's no statute of limitations on excellent contributions. Thanks for sharing.