Fractal Softworks Forum

Starsector => Mods => Topic started by: Cycerin on August 19, 2012, 07:45:39 PM

Title: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 19, 2012, 07:45:39 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/U3S39yE.jpg)
[NOT YET COMPATIBLE WITH LATEST STARSECTOR VERSION] (https://bitbucket.org/thegneissplace/brdy/downloads/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards%200.9.5a.zip)
Mod version 0.9.5a
NOTE: Requires GraphicsLib Download here. (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=10982)
NOTE: Requires MagicLib Download here. (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=13718)
Also requires LazyLib (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=5444.0)
Compatible with Nexerelin, Vesperon Combine

(http://i.imgur.com/gGWw1E5.png?1)

Adds the Blackrock Drive Yards Corporation, an unscrupulous corporate faction-state that has isolated itself in the southeast fringe of the Core Worlds. This mod includes a massive amount of new ships, weapons and other content, is fully compatible with GraphicsLib with shader maps and other content, and integrated with Nexerelin.

click to view screenshots:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/h92JSdS.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/H6fgcX3.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/6l3r1tz.png)
[close]



GAMEPLAY INFO/TIPS:

Blackrock ships have bad to mediocre shields, average armor, good flux stats, excellent mobility, lots of firepower, and mix all weapon types. Every Blackrock ship has a built-in boost to active flux vent rate, meaning they can easily reset flux if given a breather: something you'll want to be doing often, due to the low endurance afforded by your shields.

They are excellent at crushing valuable targets and picking apart slow, but powerful ships. On the other hand, they struggle in fights where they can't find any breathing room for hit-and-run attacks, or against a numerically superior enemy that can flank and surround them. Using the faction's weapons, ships can be built for either high risk/high reward play, or low risk/low reward play. Certain ships break the mold and afford different playstyles.



(http://i.imgur.com/PzZc77d.png)



MISC/EXTRAS:
MUSIC:
Mod Soundtrack by me (Click)
(http://i.imgur.com/NYPESMC.jpg) (https://soundcloud.com/fastland/sets/blackrock-drive-yards)

CREDITS:

Created by cycerin (design, sprites, sfx and music, implementation etc)

Code contributions from Dark.Revenant, LazyWizard, Sundog and Trylobot

Portraits and other art contributions from MShadowy and MesoTroniK

Writing by cycerin with some stuff from Dark.Revenant as well

Also, I'd like to thank:

Uomoz
Histidine
EnderNerdcore
LazyWizard
MesoTroniK
Tartiflette
Slaktus

and also Alex and the SS modding community for being great and always being an amazing resource for me and everyone else who likes tinkering around with 2d spaceships

Thank you so much to everyone who has brought me feedback and helped improve the mod since 2012!


Blackrock Drive Yards is a work in progress!

The content from Blackrock Drive Yards belongs to me unless otherwise credited or stated, and you can consider it licensed under Creative Commons / Attrib / Noncommercial for all rights and purposes.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Wriath on August 19, 2012, 08:23:35 PM
Those things are very cool, look a bit like the link missing between mid and high tech ships.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Trylobot on August 19, 2012, 08:52:00 PM
This is fantastic work. Your post has been instantly converted to the status of Mod and suitably moved over to the "Mods" subforum. Congratulations and welcome to the modding community of Starfarer! When you have a playable download available I will happily add you to the Index as well.

More! 8)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Brainbread on August 19, 2012, 09:39:10 PM
Coming from a background of playing Battleships Forever and building ships (since 2007) I decided to take some of my old BSF designs, refurbish them in photoshop, and turn them into SF vessels. Soon after, I realized it would be cool to have a faction too, with custom weapons, and custom ship systems, and so on, and so on...

After starting work a few days ago, so far I have a frig, destroyer and cruiser. The garish version of the destroyer is for a hunter-killer fleet consisting solely of elite destroyers (this baby's mostly engines.. I'd love to have a modded burn drive for it that doesn't disable maneuvering, but merely hinders it)

(http://i.imgur.com/ZKaXR.png)
[Scarab, Desdinova, Desdinova II, Nevermore]

Having some trouble implementing my faction in the campaign and so on, but all the ships are up and running. Hopefully I'll have a download up soon! In the meantime, feedback and questions is more than welcome!

With the change to Maneuvering Jets (the speed increase + stacking with 0 flux bonus, unless I've gone crazy), that might be a viable option for your ship!

Also, they look fantastic.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: FlashFrozen on August 19, 2012, 09:52:31 PM
Or you can take the burndrive ( and preferably rename it something else/make it your own), in the ship_systems.csv and delete the True from the noturning column but it'll leave most of your turning intact but it'll feel like it turns sluggishly since your going in the forward direction mostly.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Archduke Astro on August 20, 2012, 02:42:18 AM
Or you can take the burndrive ( and preferably rename it something else/make it your own), in the ship_systems.csv and delete the True from the noturning column but it'll leave most of your turning intact but it'll feel like it turns sluggishly since your going in the forward direction mostly.

That should be a 5-star modding move -- smooth as velvet.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Vensalir on August 20, 2012, 03:27:33 AM
Those ships look great, can't wait to see the rest  :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Sproginator on August 20, 2012, 04:00:23 AM
Holy buggernuggetspaghettimonster!?!?! Those sprites are sublime! Can't wait to see more
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 20, 2012, 07:58:00 AM
Trylobot, did you only do that to put pressure on me to deliver more? ;D I love the appreciation, this seems like a great community.

I ended up doing what FlashFrozen said, it works like a charm. The ship is an absolute monster when player-piloted, but the AI can't quite use it for the intended purpose (big plays, driveby shootin', and making Dominators feel insecure about their broad backsides)

(http://i.imgur.com/GdpEk.jpg)

The Desdinova-class Fast Destroyer is a marvel of optimized technology. Lacking the reach and resources needed to mass-produce phase technology, Blackrock still required a flexible mid line option that can outmaneuver other destroyers and avoid fighter wings. The result is a design that has mobility unheard of for a hull of its size - bristling with Blackrock-custom ballistic guns and sporting a gas-bleeding flux core built directly into the engine, this menacing, insectoid vessel is rapidly becoming the talk of private military contractors everywhere.

(http://i.imgur.com/0d99i.png)

The special Arcjet Burner disengages the shield generator from the shield emitter and feeds excess flux from the entire shield powerplant into the drives, venting the resulting energy out with the engine torch to produce an astonishing volume of temporary acceleration. Magnetic coils that run alongside the flame catch and redirect instabilities, allowing the crew to maneuver the ship even at peak specific thrust. While Tri-Tachyon techs snort derisively and offer that it would have been better to simply implement a phase displacer or skimmer, it remains to be seen if this straight-forward approach will allow Blackrock to contend with high-tech destroyers.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: xenoargh on August 20, 2012, 08:21:31 AM
Beautiful work, looking forward to more, more!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Brainbread on August 20, 2012, 08:58:07 AM
Trylobot, did you only do that to put pressure on me to deliver more? ;D I love the appreciation, this seems like a great community.

I ended up doing what FlashFrozen said, it works like a charm. The ship is an absolute monster when player-piloted, but the AI can't quite use it for the intended purpose (big plays, driveby shootin', and making Dominators feel insecure about their broad backsides)

The Desdinova-class Fast Destroyer is a marvel of optimized technology. Lacking the reach and resources needed to mass-produce phase technology, Blackrock still required a flexible mid line option that can outmaneuver other destroyers and avoid fighter wings. The result is a design that has mobility unheard of for a hull of its size - bristling with Blackrock-custom ballistic guns and sporting a gas-bleeding flux core built directly into the engine, this menacing, insectoid vessel is rapidly becoming the talk of private military contractors everywhere.

The special Arcjet Burner disengages the shield generator from the shield emitter and feeds excess flux from the entire shield powerplant into the drives, venting the resulting energy out with the engine torch to produce an astonishing volume of temporary acceleration. Magnetic coils that run alongside the flame catch and redirect instabilities, allowing the crew to maneuver the ship even at peak specific thrust. While Tri-Tachyon techs snort derisively and offer that it would have been better to simply implement a phase displacer or skimmer, it remains to be seen if this straight-forward approach will allow Blackrock to contend with high-tech destroyers.

Anyone who doesn't include descriptions on their ships is missing out. You could have just told us what the ship was for, its intended role, but that might garner only a "neat". Now I want to fly the damn thing =P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Thule on August 20, 2012, 09:14:49 AM
Fantastic sprites. The screenshots are really good too. Quite immersive.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: armoredcookie on August 20, 2012, 10:40:09 AM
This is very very impressive :D
What techniques did you use in photoshop to make those accents and alterations?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 20, 2012, 11:03:06 AM
Everything in the book, really. Pixel by pixel editing, gradient washes, photo filters to get the desired color tone, and lots of highlighting and shadowing with soft light/vivid light paintbrush.

Anyone who doesn't include descriptions on their ships is missing out. You could have just told us what the ship was for, its intended role, but that might garner only a "neat". Now I want to fly the damn thing =P

I love fluff, and I love technobabble. Expect more of that. And flying. Expect some of that too. Eventually.

Updated OP with logo.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: mendonca on August 20, 2012, 12:18:37 PM
Everything about this is so cool, the sprites, the 'technobabble', the screenshots, the logo, the new system ...

I hope you realise the bar you have set yourself for your subsequent work  :D

Very much looking forward to more!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Rybread on August 20, 2012, 06:55:04 PM
Ooooh, the ship sprites look reaeeaaalllly pretty.  :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 21, 2012, 06:00:53 AM
Thank you, guys!

Working on refining the Nevermore now. I gave it a built-in weapon, the Antimatter Lance... if you look at the entire ship, you can tell the entire front is built around something, with huge capacitor rods and a glowing external flux radiator.

Ideally I'd want to be able to make the hardpoint glow like this, but no matter how I scale the image, it seems hell-bent on moving the entire sprite upwards on the ship to compensate for anything I add further down.

(http://i.imgur.com/1CF53.png)

Fluff comes after the ship is 100% done. But rest assured, when it comes to fighting the Nevermore-class Advanced Cruiser, you don't want a frontal confrontation.

In the meantime, I am implementing a fighter wing and some other stuff, and still trying to figure out what's wrong with my campaign-related files. I'm absolute crud at scripting, so if anyone would like to join this project as a scripter, or just add me on skype or something to slowly guide me along and patiently pat me on the head when I figure out what the magic words do, feel free.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Upgradecap on August 21, 2012, 06:03:28 AM
I really, really, and i mean REALLY love these sprites. Thumbs up for you. :D

(You know, we could use someone like you, hehe XD)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: FlashFrozen on August 21, 2012, 06:10:07 AM
hardpoint sprites are positioned higher up than turrets which are centered, to fix this make your hardpoint sprite have extra blank space  so for example:

your turret weapon would be centered if it's size/resolution was 48x48

to get the same centered look/lower you have to make a hardpoint sprite that's like (as an example) 48x96 but with the actual weapon starting from the bottom.

Check this topic I've done before, http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=3302.msg49313#msg49313 (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=3302.msg49313#msg49313)

Atleast this is if I think is what your talking about xP
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: zakastra on August 21, 2012, 07:39:05 AM
Good grief, but those look *fantastic* They seem to fit very well in-universe which is not an easy feat. I applaud your work, commend your dedication, and demand you provide us with... *Ahem* ... MOAR
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 21, 2012, 07:58:04 AM
You're right man, I just added like 700px of extra negative space and it's starting to look more like it should.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: MShadowy on August 21, 2012, 08:08:46 AM
I remember seeing the Nevermore (great name, by the by) on the SA thread.  These things look brilliant, and you've definitely pushed the limits--and have shown marvelous expertise with--the BSF ship creation tool and a bit of post processing.  I'm a bit envious of how good you've gotten these things looking, and not just on the skill you've shown with the toolset you've used.  The concept and the quality of their execution is very high; I'm not sure I can meet it.

Now just to wait and hope for release, because these look rather fun to fly.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: FlashFrozen on August 21, 2012, 08:23:01 AM
You're right man, I just added like 700px of extra negative space and it's starting to look more like it should.

Thanks!

No problem, but as with everyone else, MOAR!  :D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Uomoz on August 21, 2012, 09:01:59 AM
I can help you with scripts and stuff :).
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 21, 2012, 10:17:25 AM
I remember seeing the Nevermore (great name, by the by) on the SA thread.  These things look brilliant, and you've definitely pushed the limits--and have shown marvelous expertise with--the BSF ship creation tool and a bit of post processing.  I'm a bit envious of how good you've gotten these things looking, and not just on the skill you've shown with the toolset you've used.  The concept and the quality of their execution is very high; I'm not sure I can meet it.

Now just to wait and hope for release, because these look rather fun to fly.

Hey, thanks buddy. I've spent a LOT of time in the BSF ship maker. And I fully intend them to be both balanced and fun to fly. All aspects of the design of this faction are important to me.

(http://i.imgur.com/EUIQc.jpg)

also: http://i.imgur.com/SJe9z.png

I'll shoot you a PM, Uomoz!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: robokill on August 22, 2012, 07:27:22 PM
Great love these things to death.
I was wondering what kind of hangar space will they have.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 23, 2012, 04:58:36 AM
The Nevermore will have a little hangar space (it has a drone bay)

Apart from that, I intend to make a destroyer that basically is a huge flight deck and huge engines. Blackrock fighters are BIG:

(http://i.imgur.com/1NIHi.png)

Hand drawn, these. As I get more proficient with this sort of thing, I think I'll start using BSF less.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: WKOB on August 23, 2012, 05:05:16 AM
Cute. I do really like the way you glaze the BSF bits.

The Krait reminds me of someone. (http://spacepiratesandzombies.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Grasshopper)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 23, 2012, 05:11:18 AM
I never played SPAZ, it's actually inspired by the Defender from Escape Velocity. : D (but I can't find any pictures of it anywhere)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: robokill on August 23, 2012, 06:36:28 AM
speaking of spaz i think you should make the cargo ship a cruiser size version of the freighter for freightering ;)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: medikohl on August 23, 2012, 08:06:28 PM
I remember seeing the Nevermore (great name, by the by) on the SA thread.  These things look brilliant, and you've definitely pushed the limits--and have shown marvelous expertise with--the BSF ship creation tool and a bit of post processing.  I'm a bit envious of how good you've gotten these things looking, and not just on the skill you've shown with the toolset you've used.  The concept and the quality of their execution is very high; I'm not sure I can meet it.

Now just to wait and hope for release, because these look rather fun to fly.
yeah but my nevermore was a bit different

Spoiler
(http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr20/medikohl/starfarer/nevermore.png)
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: GUNINANRUNIN on August 23, 2012, 08:51:33 PM
You are my role model.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: medikohl on August 23, 2012, 10:55:00 PM
You are my role model.
not me I hope
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 24, 2012, 07:58:52 AM
Thanks to help I recieved from DAT Uomoz, a campaign integration is underway. Right now I'm implementing the Revenant-class Support Cruiser and the two fighters, and after that, I'm going to make a few missions and a campaign integration, and put up a download, so I can begin balancing the faction a bit more.

(http://i.imgur.com/VtaJe.png)

Revelicious!

Also, medikohl, I think that guy meant SA as in "somethingawful", where I first posted that ship before registering here. I might be wrong though.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Uomoz on August 24, 2012, 08:02:47 AM
I exchanged poor java knowledge for good music.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: MShadowy on August 24, 2012, 08:48:31 AM
Also, medikohl, I think that guy meant SA as in "somethingawful", where I first posted that ship before registering here. I might be wrong though.

You are correct; though I'm not a member of the somethingawful forums, I do tend to visit the gaming boards from time to time when it's allowed, largely because it tends to be a good place to keep informed on the coming of games I might otherwise miss.  Like, say, Starfarer, which I probably I would never have heard of if I hadn't seen it posted in a combined SPAZ/starfarer thread.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 26, 2012, 09:19:08 AM
Currently setting up some missions, while balancing the ships to match up well against vanilla opposition.

So far, here are the Blackrock ship systems:
Desdinova: Arcjet Burner - after the first time you see a Desdie ram into a wolf at 350 speed, then shotgunning the poor frig in the face with its Squall Cannons at it spins out of control overloaded from the impact, you will never want to deploy any other destroyer, ever again.

Nevermore: Lucifer Generator - Overload the Nevermore's complex generator system for 3 seconds, locking the steering thrusters and main engines, disabling shields, and giving double energy weapon damage for a short duration. Generally speaking, this system has hard synergy with the built-in Antimatter Lance, and lets you truly put out the hurt on ships if you are skilled at aiming and anticipating enemy movement. See a frig that's close to overloading? Pop that sucker! (provided you are a true baller)

Revenant: Barracuda Drones - Heavy combat drones that excel at destroying overloaded vessels. Featuring two light mortars and a vulcan, these aggressive drones can tear through armor and hull, but are not especially good against shielded fighters, or at destroying missiles. They are also unshielded and only have a thin armor coat to protect themselves.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: robokill on August 26, 2012, 11:42:52 AM
what about the frigate i haven't heard no nothing at all on it.

ps are the offsided turrents intentional on the carrier
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 26, 2012, 11:55:01 AM
Still figuring it out, really. So far the idea is oversized weapons/downsized defense, but as for the ship system, right now it just has Active Flares.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Killian on August 26, 2012, 07:04:58 PM
God dammit Cyc stop showing off. :P

Good ol' BRDY!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 27, 2012, 09:50:55 AM
BIRDY never dies!

(http://i.imgur.com/9tykC.png)

Repurposed from a never-popular class of mining vessel built by Blackrock before it began specializing in military hulls, the Gonodactylus-class Destroyer is a nasty brute that chews through the enemy with its cannon batteries, only to turn around and show them its other, equally ugly cheek when they begin venting.

Featuring a built-in Hammerclaw Impact Bolter originally used to break up asteroids, the Gonodactylus can put self-propelled solid tungsten slugs deep inside enemy hulls when their defenses are down. This has given the oddly-shaped destroyer quite a menacing reputation, and Blackrock prides themselves on being able to turn practical equipment into deadly weapons of war in a time where resources and good engineering work are both scarce.



The only problem with this thing is that the AI hates it and keeps crashing it into asteroids and other hulls, and doesn't really ever turn around to use the other side's weapon when it should. At least it knows which broadside is the most powerful.

I might have to resort to giving it a built-in weapon with a less prohibitive flux cost or something to entice the AI to use it. And if I give it any weapon with too long range (even a harpoon MRM), it begins behaving like a fire support ship and is, generally, quite useless for it.

Anyway, if I can't ever get it to work as an assault vessel, I'm just giving up and mirroring the arm with 4 gun hardpoints so I can turn it into a dedicated point defense vessel or something. The AI REALLY dislikes asymmetry.

Another question I have regarding this: The Revenant does not register as a carrier for use with "rally carrier group" in the fleet UI, even though it has a flight deck. Likewise, I can't get any Desdinova kit to register as a "strike" vessel. Is it possible to hard-code the game into recognizing this?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Brainbread on August 27, 2012, 10:07:42 AM
BIRDY never dies!

(http://i.imgur.com/9tykC.png)

Repurposed from a never-popular class of mining vessel built by Blackrock before it began specializing in military hulls, the Gonodactylus-class Frigate is a nasty brute that chews through the enemy with its cannon batteries, only to turn around and show them its other, equally ugly cheek when they begin venting.

The only problem with this thing is that the AI hates it and keeps crashing it into asteroids and other hulls, and doesn't really ever turn around to use the other side's AM blaster when it should. At least it knows which broadside is the most powerful.

I might have to resort to giving it a built-in weapon with a less prohibitive flux cost or something to entice the AI to use it. And if I give it any weapon with too long range (even a harpoon MRM), it begins behaving like a fire support ship and is, generally, quite useless for it.

Anyway, if I can't ever get it to work as an assault vessel, I'm just giving up and mirroring the arm with 4 gun hardpoints so I can turn it into a dedicated point defense vessel or something. The AI REALLY dislikes asymmetry.

Another question I have regarding this: The Revenant does not register as a carrier for use with "rally carrier group" in the fleet UI, even though it has a flight deck. Likewise, I can't get any Desdinova kit to register as a "strike" vessel. Is it possible to hard-code the game into recognizing this?

First of all, its gorgeous. As for the carrier rally, Alex recently changed the "flag" so that heavily armed ships like Ventures and Odyssey's, though they have Flight Decks, wouldn't flag as a carrier -they are a battleship first, carrier second. So if you want it to flag as such, you'd have to prolly cut down its armaments a bit, or just manually assign that ship to a carrier rally (if you didn't know, you can manually assign any ship to whatever tasks they are illsuited for).

As for disliking Asymmetry, the AI dislikes perfect Bi-Lateral symmetry even less. Have you seen them fly a Conquest? :) But in order to get them to use their "weak" side, they'd probably have to be damaged on the "good" side before their recognize the firepower.

For crashing into stuff, I'd check the collision radius on the ship? It might be a little bit off (or need to be bumped up). Alternatively, you might have given the ship too much "mass", which would make the other AI move to try avoiding it (smaller ships move out of the way of bigger ships, not vice versa).


So, when're we gonna see mission to pilot these beauties? :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 27, 2012, 10:18:37 AM
Cool, I'll double check that. As for the missions, I'm working on them! I've been doing balance at the same time, which also takes time. I currently have a rather challenging one where you have to kill an Onslaught, a Venture and an Enforcer plus escorts with two Desdinova, a Revenant, and two wings of Locusts. Took me quite a few tries to get it down, had to play around with refitting my Desdie a lot.

The other one is a slugfest between some tri-tachs and a fairly sized BRDY fleet, where you flagship a Nevermore. Landing your AM Lance shots is pretty important in order to win it.

If people aren't too fussy about the polish on things, I can probably have a download up pretty shortly.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: KriiEiter on August 27, 2012, 10:22:44 AM
Glad to finally see another person using BSF sprites to their potential.

Usually when people try to sprite with them they forget about shading and the fact that you can rotate/chop up pieces to your hearts content.

Great work man!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Amazigh on August 27, 2012, 11:19:13 AM
Another question I have regarding this: The Revenant does not register as a carrier for use with "rally carrier group" in the fleet UI, even though it has a flight deck. Likewise, I can't get any Desdinova kit to register as a "strike" vessel. Is it possible to hard-code the game into recognizing this?

It might not have enough flight decks to register as a carrier.
To register as a full on carrier a ship need to have at least a minimum number of flight decks for its hull size, frigates/destroyers need 1, cruisers need 2 and capships need 3. At least that's how I remember it going.

Love your ships by the way, the slight asymmetry that some have is really neat.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 27, 2012, 03:08:42 PM
Thanks a lot! ;D You have encouraged me to try to get a release out fast.

EDIT: Alex answered this one, and it isn't currently possible. Said he'd put it on his todo list. Does anyone know if you can make a MIRV produce a sound effect when the second stage of the missile fires? fireSoundOne and fireSoundTwo seem to have zero effect.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on August 28, 2012, 01:18:45 PM
<removed nonexistent DL link>
Features three missions - A challenging one, a hard one, and a random one that lets you play around with the ships.
Also features a rudimentary campaign implementation thanks to Uomoz - very much a work in progress.
[/center]

Tear into the missions, boys, and post some recounts of your meanest Nevermore snipes!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Brainbread on August 28, 2012, 05:26:00 PM
Lets seee so far.

Krait Heavy Bombers have 1 Armor

Revanent: Tactical Variant has 121 out of 120 Points


Thats for "bugs" at least. The Gondactylus are awesome; tons of armour, good shields, fairly fast, and good weapon slots (I'd say they're a bit underpriced for FP?). The heavy fighters are cool. Like tiny frigates, and seem to do a good job overall.

As for the rest of the ships; they have painfully bad shields. 1.2, 1.1, 1.35 Damage->flux makes them very susceptible to missiles, as unlike most factions, you can't just eat the missiles on your shields.

For the missions, I keep exploding my ships on missiles in the Hegemony one, and I've maxed out at 50% on the Tri-Tach one. Sniping works well enough, but the lack of map control with the fleet makes taking and keeping points all but impossible. I'll keep at it though. I like the Antimatter Blaster and the Ship System for it; they make for a difficult but reward ship to use.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on August 28, 2012, 06:10:24 PM
Thanks for the feedback! It's so cool to finally hear what people think about all the spreadsheet nerdery I've been doing.

As for the bad shield ratios, consider it a designed weakness. Blackrock ships have several inherent strengths that I had to find a way to counterbalance. I had this post laid out as a draft for some time, and now is a good time to put it out here.



Both the Tri-Tachyon and Hegemony missions are designed to be quite hard though, so if you want a good score, you'll have to put in an effort ;D

In the Hegemony mission, you'll also have to place your Revenant well and protect it so you can keep repairing your fighters. If you don't have any ships to distract the HMS Rajah with, there's no way you can hurt it. But the goddamn Desdie can OUTRUN missiles. I've activated the burners and just done a U-turn towards the enemy with all the missiles still trailing me, and then taken out his engines, only to vent just in time and soak the missiles with my shield. I almost got my ship blown up because I kept doing tiny fistpumps and cocking my head back to hiss "yesssss" through my teeth
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: DSMK2 on August 28, 2012, 06:33:57 PM
It's nice to see my ancient sprites in there, especially since they've been put to good use :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Wriath on August 28, 2012, 07:35:51 PM
The ships not available for sale in the campaign intentionally or did I somehow mess something up?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Amazigh on August 28, 2012, 08:03:42 PM
Love the mod so far, looks like it's gonna be awesome when it's finished

A couple of things I noticed when playing around with your ships:
the Squall cannons muzzle flash looks a bit silly, maybe give it a slightly narrower angle.
The Antimatter Lance is so satisfying to fire, with all those lovely effects and THAT SOUND, I love that thing.
the Hammerclaw is pretty interesting, the really short primary phase can make it a bit difficult to use at times.
some variants haven't got their PD weapons set to autofire as default which can be mildly annoying.
also the "desdinova_fastattack" variant fails to load ingame for me, no error, but doesn't appear in either the codex or the refit menu.

But overall it's a really good looking mod.

The ships not available for sale in the campaign intentionally or did I somehow mess something up?
It seems that the station is not set up to sell the ships yet.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Alex on August 28, 2012, 08:08:27 PM
Didn't have a lot of time with it, but just a bit of quick feedback.

First of all, great stuff overall. Kept getting killed in both of the first two missions, but was progressing so I'm quite sure they're doable. The ships feel very distinct - the Arc Jet burners and the mobility on the destroyer give a neat feel, sort of like a Tempest of the destroyer world.

The cruiser (? flagship in first mission) is great, too - love the Antimatter Lance, and pairing it with the Lucifer system is a fun thing to try to get to work right. I didn't quite manage, but it seems like if you do, the results would be quite worth it.


The projectiles for the Squall Cannon look scaled-up and a bit pixelated - I'd change up the graphics to something else, maybe even a full-on energy bolt like the Onslaught's built-in TPC, or just a new, higher-resolution bullet graphic altogether. The gun has a great feel to it, though, but also seems too strong for a small slot. IMO, would be more appropriate power-wise for a medium, or small with a much longer cooldown.

(I'm guessing you probably based it on the AM Blaster in terms of keeping it balanced - but it's got superior stats in some very important areas (range, higher rate of fire, *much* less flux headroom needed to fire), and more importantly, it's paired with shield-busting kinetics, where the AM Blaster is usually not, due to flux concerns. Consider that a Harpoon does 750 damage per shot - not *that* much more - and it's much easier to counter, where these things are so fast they're almost guaranteed hits when shields so much as flicker down. I get that it's part of the whole package of fragile + superior firepower, so maybe just raising the OP cost somewhat would do. Obviously, just my opinion here, don't feel obligated to change it if you feel otherwise.)


The sound for the Arc Jet has the built-in deactivation, so if you start a burn and then pause the game/switch to the command UI/etc, it'll finish playing out and sound like it shuts off. You probably want to separate the sounds into activation/loop/deactivation - take a look at burndrive.system for how it does it.

The new sounds are really nice, btw. Adds a whole new feeling of freshness to the ships.

Looking forward to seeing where this goes!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Amazigh on August 28, 2012, 08:15:17 PM
What Alex said made me remember something I was going to say about the Squall Cannon, it should probabally have quite a bit less ammo it seems to have quite a lot for a small weapon of it's power, 40 or lower would be a reasonable amount imo.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Brainbread on August 28, 2012, 09:52:40 PM
Tried it out again. Swapped missile slots for more caps and vents (the missiles don't really seem to have much value when compared to Squall Cannons). Replaced the MG's on the Revanant with Squall Cannons and Rail Guns to help clear Hegemony everything, and let the AI handle the Squall's on the cap. Pulled a 90% this time around, and am absolutely loving the ships.

They're fast, stylish, and they have interesting systems! I also learned that Arc Jetting right behind an Onslaught who just used their own Burn Drive does not work. As you go significantly further than they do, then you crash into their engines and explode because of massive hull damage from it.

Still fun though. I can't wait to see them when they're all tweaked out and campaign playable. They feel like... High Performing Mid-Line ships, which is a great nice. Current mid-line ships feel like they are caught between two extremes and can't perform well in either, whereas the Blackrock Ships took the idea of being a Hybrid and made it into a thing. They don't feel like, "Neither Hi or Low Tech" but a new kind of tech all together.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Psycho Society on August 28, 2012, 11:04:39 PM
This is a really cool mod. I love the smoke effect on the antimatter lance and squall cannon. Absolutely in love with the ship aesthetic too.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Acolnahuacatl on August 29, 2012, 01:55:05 AM
Going to echo what Alex et al. said about the squall cannon being a bit too powerful right now, but otherwise the mod is very well-balanced, fun to play, and aesthetically appealing. Nice work!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on August 29, 2012, 05:30:53 AM
Ah man, YOU GUYS! I'm so glad you like it.

The Squall Cannons are basically supposed to to be Ballistic AM Blaster-esque weapons. I have half-considered building them into the Desdinova at one point in order to skip the balance concerns resulting from letting any ship equip them. But what Alex said is very true, too, I could simply have made them Medium with more OP cost. They are a last-minute addition to the mod, though, and as such they lack a lot of polish. Gonna have to take a look at them again.

Either they will be Medium guns with much more flux cost, and I will give the Desdinova two forward-firing built-in versions with less flux cost, or I'll rebalance the whole thing. Open to suggestions too!

Quote
The cruiser (? flagship in first mission) is great, too - love the Antimatter Lance, and pairing it with the Lucifer system is a fun thing to try to get to work right. I didn't quite manage, but it seems like if you do, the results would be quite worth it.

It feels like hitting a homerun, basically.

Quote
It's nice to see my ancient sprites in there, especially since they've been put to good use

Dude, they're great. I owe a lot to those sprites!

As for the campaign and the station not selling ships, I really haven't done much in that department yet. It'll come, though.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Piroton on August 29, 2012, 05:51:03 AM
Yes! It's the legendary Cycerin!

Fantastic work. I love the style you've brought over from your old BSF stuff. That was, and still continues to be amazing. I'm looking forward to more from you :D

Also, how did you manage to get the sprites to work properly? I can't seem to get mine right ._.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Uomoz on August 29, 2012, 06:20:52 AM
As for the campaign and the station not selling ships, I really haven't done much in that department yet. It'll come, though.

We can work on that as soon as I get back from Uni buddy.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on August 29, 2012, 12:30:02 PM
Also, how did you manage to get the sprites to work properly? I can't seem to get mine right ._.

Haha, thanks! Its cool to put all the ships I made back then to use. What do you mean by sprites? Are we talking Battleships Forever here, or implementing ships in Starfarer?

Meanwhile: (http://i.imgur.com/FFqC4.png)

I actually have two huge Blackrock ships from my BSF days, but I decided to implement this one first because it has a better layout for putting down hardpoints.

As for the other one:
(http://i.imgur.com/dJhl7.jpg)

(Guest starring the ship that would become the Scarab)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Piroton on August 29, 2012, 02:47:55 PM
I'd really like to get my stuff implemented into Starfarer as a mod too, so any help you could give me about this would be really appreciated.

Is that a BSF Metagame 1 loadout I see there on your ship? :D
(I used to participate in that too, as guilee186)

But hot dang, that is amazing colourwork you've done there.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: calvin1211 on August 30, 2012, 07:03:04 AM
IIRC the BDY ships were in the BSF metagame 1. Though I've never seen the Sachumodo before.
And damm, Cyc, these are really good. The editing makes them fit really well into Starfarer's art style.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Vensalir on August 30, 2012, 12:50:45 PM
Just tried out your mod and.. Well, I'll just be blunt.

SO MUCH WIN !

Beautiful sprites, balanced ships and sniping frigates with the AM lance is pure pleasure. Excellent sound effects, too ! Can't wait to see more  ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on August 30, 2012, 01:32:56 PM
Is that a BSF Metagame 1 loadout I see there on your ship? :D
(I used to participate in that too, as guilee186)

Damn, I didn't know there were still people around who remember that. All the stuff we did out of love for that game... (and all the huge bloated projects that died before they could take off)

Piroton/guilee, go read the tutorials in the sticky! That's basically what I did, then I downloaded Trylobot's ship editor and messed around with it until it worked. And if you're going to clean up BSF screenshots in photoshop, make sure you set a pure white background first so its easy for photoshop/gimp to select and remove it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: GUNINANRUNIN on August 30, 2012, 03:34:31 PM
Gee, I didn't know the Gods themselves made threads on Starfarer!
Whats that? You're not a God?
Haha! You kidder! :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: mendonca on August 31, 2012, 12:43:35 AM
Finally made some time to play this last night, and can't really add anything much other than has already been said.

I love the Desdinova, got a chance to have a spin with this thing in the Simulator (I didn't summon the spirit to take on the 'hard' mission). And yeah, the squall cannon is really cool but possibly a bit OP in its current incarnation.

The Nevermore is super, super cool. I love the lucifer thingy and it feels very cool to pop an overloading Tempest in conjunction with the antimatter cannon. I probably won't be able to do that again in a hurry.

I might suggest dropping the ammo count on the cannon, as I never felt as if my ammo was ever really limited. The way I was using the ship, firing and then backing off a bit, with the ammo recharge rate as it is I was never below 3 on this. Maybe if it was nudged down to 3 you would feel slightly more precious about using it, and would add a bit of a 'do I or don't I' feel to firing the thing.

I don't need to say it but I will anyway, the sprites, sounds, and effects are awesome.

Also I felt the variants on the Gondactylus were a bit sub-optimal. Not sure the bank of 3 vulcans is a sensible choice (one alone would provide decent PD and still cover the same general area, freeing up the other two points for perhaps a different role) and 3 autocannons (as opposed to 3 dual autocannons) would be significantly more flux efficient with perhaps a small drop in effectiveness, giving 6 OP to play with elsewhere.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Piroton on August 31, 2012, 01:39:30 AM
Damn, I didn't know there were still people around who remember that. All the stuff we did out of love for that game... (and all the huge bloated projects that died before they could take off)

Piroton/guilee, go read the tutorials in the sticky! That's basically what I did, then I downloaded Trylobot's ship editor and messed around with it until it worked. And if you're going to clean up BSF screenshots in photoshop, make sure you set a pure white background first so its easy for photoshop/gimp to select and remove it.
Even then, your shipmaking skills were far beyond a couple of notches above mine. Mine still look cluttered. Also, I still miss all the crazy designs we submitted for the metagame, and all our bloated projects (which took forever to move forward)

Haha, I'm trying this out now. I must say, I don't have anywhere near the patience or the kind of photoshop skills you have, so this is going to get really bumpy, seeing as school commitments keep me from having too much free time or the drive to work on independent projects.

Also, for some weird reason the Metagame shipmaker arcalane built for us doesn't seem to want to accept my white background.
Makes me kinda sad, so I've had to make do with substandard wine-red.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on August 31, 2012, 05:44:30 AM
Finally made some time to play this last night, and can't really add anything much other than has already been said. [...]

Valuable feedback though, I concur on many points you raised, and I have some ideas already for upcoming changes.

Quote
Also I felt the variants on the Gondactylus were a bit sub-optimal. Not sure the bank of 3 vulcans is a sensible choice (one alone would provide decent PD and still cover the same general area, freeing up the other two points for perhaps a different role) and 3 autocannons (as opposed to 3 dual autocannons) would be significantly more flux efficient with perhaps a small drop in effectiveness, giving 6 OP to play with elsewhere.

Well, feel free to post some alternative variants if you can make them work. In my experience, 3x duals with the ammo feeder active just made my Gonoes unable to keep their flux in check in a straight firefight, and the vulcans make the ship basically immune to missiles while providing some of the most ridiculous anti-hull damage in the game. Not only that, but they eat drones and fighters alive. That's the thinking behind the kit, at least.

Also, just as an aside, it was your Dugong that gave me the inspiration to make an asymmetrical ship.

To be honest I had difficulties coming up with good fits for the ship because of how erratically the AI is prone to acting if it gets too much room for interpretation. :D

Quote from: Piroton
Also, for some weird reason the Metagame shipmaker arcalane built for us doesn't seem to want to accept my white background.
Makes me kinda sad, so I've had to make do with substandard wine-red.

Are you sure you saved it as a .bmp? I dont think Shipmaker will accept anything else for backgrounds.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: mendonca on August 31, 2012, 05:54:18 AM
Well, feel free to post some alternative variants if you can make them work.

Yeah, I'll have a play about. To be honest I'm not going off too much evidence on this, didn't get a chance to watch them very closely (too frightened about everything else that was going on  :D).

It's probably more based on 'what I would have done'.

I'll see if I can have a play and offer something more constructive - or perhaps even rescind my statement :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on August 31, 2012, 08:27:15 AM
That would be awesome. Play my mod more. Play it... FOREVER.

Working on a phase ship, the Nadir.

(http://i.imgur.com/ZlzRq.png)

The phase coils are different from the ones we are used to, because they are built into a bigger surface area of the ship. I'm just working on making the ship look more like it's built around those coils, and on connecting it all into one big "circuit". Basically digging grooves into the ship. Ingame it looks ok so far but I'm far from finished.

Paint job's also going to be darker but I'm leaving that for when the phase coils and hardpoints and all that jazz are nice and finished.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Trylobot on August 31, 2012, 08:46:05 AM
Cycerin you're on a level above. Top-notch work all around. I have only (admittedly useless, to you) positive feedback regarding the playability of the missions you've released so far, and the ship designs are wicked cool.

Rule of cool forever!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on August 31, 2012, 08:55:41 AM
Thanks, man! I couldn't have done it without your incredible ship editor.

Rule of cool forever!

This basically summarizes everything I try to do here.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: MShadowy on August 31, 2012, 09:01:04 AM
Well, rule of cool definitely works for a lot of things, heh.  Nice work on the Nadir.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: hadesian on August 31, 2012, 02:33:19 PM
DAMMIT DYSPRAXIA
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 01, 2012, 11:49:51 AM
DAMMIT DYSPRAXIA

Ah - not having an easy time of it trying to do the lucifer/am lance combo?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 07, 2012, 07:54:57 PM
Now that school's back in full force and whatnot, the mod has taken a back seat. Still putting in work here and there though. Put together a new ship alongside working on the Nadir, this one being much easier to complete:

(http://i.imgur.com/lNnLz.png)

The Mantis-class frigate is a dedicated attack vessel, capable of fielding a multitude of missile weapons and hard to intercept due to its enormous engines.

I was thinking I'd make a new type of rocket launcher that would go well with this ship: one that would be much faster and more accurate than the Annihilator, but with smaller salvoes and damage output. Could see the Desdinova fitted with similar weapons to great effect.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Brainbread on September 07, 2012, 10:08:28 PM
Maybe a Sabot-type rocket (a two-stage). A small cluster of dumbfire shells that go out in a clump, and then launch themselves at the target when near enough for explosive damage?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Sweetraveparty on September 08, 2012, 08:08:16 PM
SO BEAUTIFUL! MY GOD
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: WKOB on September 08, 2012, 11:19:27 PM
Alright, question for you.

While I love the Gonydactylus, both in concept and how it plays, I'm not sure I understand the built-in weapon; it seems fairly useless?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: hadesian on September 09, 2012, 02:34:21 AM
DAMMIT DYSPRAXIA

Ah - not having an easy time of it trying to do the lucifer/am lance combo?
Actually, spriting at all.
You do know what dyspraxia is, right? It's a handwriting/coordination disorder. For the most part it's wrecked my handwriting alone, I can touch type way rather fast, though that probably derives from a laptop in school.

I couldn't ever draw... :(
But I know what I want my stuff to look like. Which makes it even worse.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: WKOB on September 09, 2012, 02:51:09 AM
Hand eye coordination doesn't have that much to do with this type of artwork at the end of the day. It's all post processing.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: hadesian on September 09, 2012, 03:42:17 AM
Hand eye coordination doesn't have that much to do with this type of artwork at the end of the day. It's all post processing.
It does for me.
Look, it's really hard for me to convey how difficult it is to draw anything without extreme patience, way too much time and so much hard work for something that could only be a couple hundred pixels in size.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 09, 2012, 07:09:14 AM
Hand eye coordination doesn't have that much to do with this type of artwork at the end of the day. It's all post processing.

My post processing involves a ton of pixel by pixel editing and painting onto the ships, though. But he's got a point. BSF shipmaker and filtering in photoshop are both things that dont take tons of coordination/where you can nudge stuff into place with the arrow keys.

As for the built-in weapon, it's basically a sabot SRM that does high explosive damage and moves faster once it takes off. Use it to damage venting ships without having to close in too far, or to force people to raise shields if you run mostly autocannons.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: harrumph on September 09, 2012, 08:18:46 AM
More feedback for you!

The mod is fabulous overall. All of the playable ships are super fun (well, the Revenant not so much, but carriers rarely are), the missions are well-balanced and challenging, the sound effects are awesome, everything looks gorgeous, and it all fits in surprisingly well with the vanilla content while filling a bunch of heretofore unfilled niches—it's just outstanding work all around. The Nevermore really stands out, though. The ship is an absolute dream, a perfect glass cannon, difficult but extremely satisfying to use well. Brilliant use of a built-in weapon and a cool new ship system. Blasting a Wolf or Tempest apart when he vents, thinking he's just outside your range, could hardly be more satisfying.

That said, I don't think you should go overboard with built-in weapons; it'd be a shame to make the squall cannon a Desdinova exclusive, especially considering that there's no HE counterpart to the heavy MG (a hard-hitting, short-ranged medium kinetic ballistic gun). The Hammerclaw is (in my opinion) also unnecessary as a built-in piece of the Gonodactylus; I don't think it'd be a balance problem to make that weapon or a similar one (maybe a beefed-up version of the rocket launcher you're planning for the Mantis?) universally available. The Gonodactylus would be well-served by a flexible (medium?) missile slot, too—I'm sure the AI would have an easier time with it—although I guess it'd spoil part of the lore. That ship, by the way, is totally weird and very satisfying to fly when you manage to use it effectively.

The Revenant, apart from not being particularly interesting to pilot, is too expensive FP-wise: an Odyssey is only one point more expensive and outclasses the Revenant in every possible respect except for speed. As a one-on-one combatant, the Revenant is certainly stronger than a Venture, but as part of a fleet I think they each have their strengths and weaknesses, with the Venture obviously providing more valuable fire support options than the Revenant. As it stands, I think the Revenant should be closer to 13 FP than 17, but maybe you could rework it? It's a cool design; it should have something to really set it apart from the other carriers.

The Locust and Krait are the only not-so-good parts of the mod. Nothing wrong with the art, and I like the concept of the Locust (I'm not sure the Krait is really distinct enough from the existing torpedo bombers), but both ships need some serious tweaking. Shields on strike craft are kind of a mixed blessing, putting the ships in great danger of being overloaded. With their 1.0 shield efficiency, a Krait or Locust will take 550 shield damage from a single HVD shot (and they're such big targets, compared to a Dagger or Xyphos, that they actually do get hit by big guns—not that they don't get overloaded by small guns all the time too). Considering that the Locust, with all guns firing, burns 490 flux per second while barely dissipating a quarter of that, and you have a recipe for disaster—it's at full flux in under three seconds, and almost anything will overload it. Even just to use all of its guns effectively, the Locust needs a higher flux capacity; I think it'd be better off without shields at all, with heavier armor to compensate. Might be better with fewer and/or lower-flux weapons, too. The Krait, since its weapons barely use any flux, doesn't fare as badly as the Locust (which is practically useless in its current state), but it is still very easy to overload.

Sorry if that got a little negative (apparently, that's my MO—and what else would you expect from a guy who calls himself harrumph, right?); I really do think it's an awesome mod and I can't wait to see it grow and improve!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 09, 2012, 12:48:57 PM
Thanks a ton for the awesome praise and feedback.

And man, negative feedback is usually the most valuable - provided it's written at length. Negative oneliners are profoundly unhelpful.

I admit to having had some trouble balancing the fighters. The Krait went back and forth between being a superheavy unshielded fighter and being the bomber it currently is, but neither felt quite "right". The Locust fares well when its delegated to killing enemy fighters, but it has trouble absorbing shots that would have slipped inbetween smaller fighters. I have half-considered turning it into a frigate instead, thoughts on that?

As for the gono, the reason it has a built-in weapon that works the way it does, is because the AI can't pilot it if it has a medium missile slot. I've tried everything, but if it has a sabot SRM pod or proxy launcher, it never fires them, and if it has a Harpoon, it tries to stay out of close range and slowly waste its shots on nothing in particular. Likewise, a fixed hardpoint containing a gun of some sorts also never gets used.

The Revenant is expensive because it basically comes with a free fighter wing - its drones. Being basically completely unbombable when its drones are up, and being able to sic them on a frigate or fighter wing to instantly destroy it, the ship is deceptively powerful in my opinion. It's also fast, fairly well shielded, and can be kitted out with a surprisingly powerful weapons package. I might consider dropping it a few notches down on the FP scale, but I certainly think it outperforms the other mid-size carriers in the game.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: harrumph on September 10, 2012, 02:43:30 PM
I admit to having had some trouble balancing the fighters. The Krait went back and forth between being a superheavy unshielded fighter and being the bomber it currently is, but neither felt quite "right". The Locust fares well when its delegated to killing enemy fighters, but it has trouble absorbing shots that would have slipped inbetween smaller fighters. I have half-considered turning it into a frigate instead, thoughts on that?

Well, I think a big, gun-heavy fighter wing is unique in a way that a frigate probably wouldn't be (although there are surprisingly few ballistic-oriented vanilla frigates), and besides, how can you have something called the Locust be a single ship? We need swarms of them! In fact, adding a third Locust to each wing would increase their survivability quite a bit (and if you had to resize the art, being smaller would make them less vulnerable too), although you'd still have to do something about the ship's flux problems. How do you envision them functioning in combat, kind of like tiny frigates that can be repaired by a carrier? Are they primarily an anti-fighter escort, or should they be harassing larger ships? (The needler suggests the latter, but then their armament is pretty mixed.)

It's a shame that giant torpedoes cover up the Krait art, by the way. Did you ever try making it a non-missile-based strike craft? Mounting an AM blaster or something similar on a fighter might be crazy, but it would definitely be different, and it'd fit well with the faction's tactical rubric. Balancing would be tricky, but since it's a fighter wing at least you wouldn't have to worry about the player exploiting it (well, not through direct control). A hardpoint mount for the weapon and poor maneuverability for the ship might be a good start? The shields would obviously have to go, too.

Quote
As for the gono, the reason it has a built-in weapon that works the way it does, is because the AI can't pilot it if it has a medium missile slot. I've tried everything, but if it has a sabot SRM pod or proxy launcher, it never fires them, and if it has a Harpoon, it tries to stay out of close range and slowly waste its shots on nothing in particular. Likewise, a fixed hardpoint containing a gun of some sorts also never gets used.

Weird! It's not so bad with the Hammerclaw, all things considered (every now and then it just randomly takes a shot in the absolute wrong direction, but hey, sometimes I do too), and it's actually quite good about swinging its broadside around to ward off frigates and the like.

Quote
The Revenant is expensive because it basically comes with a free fighter wing - its drones. Being basically completely unbombable when its drones are up, and being able to sic them on a frigate or fighter wing to instantly destroy it, the ship is deceptively powerful in my opinion. It's also fast, fairly well shielded, and can be kitted out with a surprisingly powerful weapons package. I might consider dropping it a few notches down on the FP scale, but I certainly think it outperforms the other mid-size carriers in the game.

The drones make an effective PD screen for the Revenant, but they're pretty easy to pick off (they have short-range weapons, and the carrier itself doesn't have much long-range punch) and, unlike an actual fighter wing, they can't be replenished indefinitely. I find that when they're set to "free roam," rather than swarming effectively, they just sort of wander off and get swatted in twos and threes. (I might be doing something wrong.) In any event, the Revenant only has two medium weapon mounts—with MGs or autocannons mounted forwards, it can chew up enemy shields, but then it can't really finish the job; you could stick a bunch of assault guns (or squall cannons) up there, but then you'd have a hard time breaking through the shields of even a destroyer. It's a solid ship, definitely a tough nut to crack, but it's not very scary to go up against, and much less interesting to fly than the other BRDY ships. Maybe longer-range weapons on the drones? More medium guns on the cruiser?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Wyvern on September 10, 2012, 02:54:56 PM
My personal fitting for the Revenant involved a flak cannon (Or was it dual flak?  I forget.), a heavy blaster, and some light needlers; the combination seemed to work fairly well at destroying enemy frigates, even in reasonably large numbers, and the needlers complement its drones nicely.  Still not that great against anything its size, but that's ok - it's a carrier, after all.

The Gonodactylus, though... I tried three or four different setups, and eventually just gave up on getting any use out of the hammerclaw; my final configuration was three light needlers and an assault chaingun.  (Would've preferred a heavy mauler, but the AI had a tendency to sit at extreme range and try to bring down enemy shields with just the mauler.  Not so bright.  The shorter range of the chaingun fixed that problem.)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 10, 2012, 10:21:10 PM
The idea behind the Locust is that it's supposed to be like a corvette that can be serviced at a flight deck and operates in pairs. Lore-wise, being constructed in a certain way to facilitate this, it's almost impossible to refit. So the Locust is a highly flexible small craft that can assault other fighters or bombers, harass larger ships, and its size results from having to carry an assortment of weapons to perform its role.

What I'll probably do is turn the Krait into a heavy fighter that flies in wings of 3, and make Locusts slightly slower and with a more effective flux/shield stat setup. I'll make a dedicated strike fighter later on. Right now I'm actually slowly working my way up in Uomoz' Corvus (it works with Blackrock mod) using a captured Revenant, an Enforcer, a Rickshaw and a Hound, and I honestly still feel the Revenant's drones are quite worthwhile. It can refabricate them slowly over time too, like the Tempest. Microing your drones is supposed to be the appeal of manually piloting a Revenant, so I made them squishy yet armed to the teeth. They eat low-tech ships alive, and having 8 light mortars and 4 vulcans munching away at a big ship from behind adds up really fast. I just saw a Wolf trying desperately to teleport away from four of those drones only to get slowly taken apart by them after overloading from a HV driver shot. Hounds, Buffalos and Lashers are fish food. Love dem barracudas personally.

Anyway, as you can tell from looking at the Revenant's graphics, it used to have a large ballistic slot. I might end up giving it back that one. Should help it stand out a bit and give it more useful loadout options. If I did that then the current ballistic slot would become the medium energy slot instead.

I don't really like the side sponson guns on the Scarab and I'll probably take them off, unless someone's completely in love with them for whatever reason. The entire frigate is supposed to be quite adaptable and with a generous armament, and it fits that bill quite well right now, but.. ugh. Those sponsons dont jive with me.

I still have a lot of balancing work to do. :D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: WKOB on September 11, 2012, 06:20:11 PM
The sponsons are the most effective PD positions in my experience.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 12, 2012, 09:06:44 AM
Yeah they work well with vulcans or light MGs on it. The current stock attack variant for the Scarab is using a turreted squall cannon, two ir pulse lasers, and two light MGs and it works fairly well. My main beef with the sponsons is that it looks silly with certain stock turrets on it.

Did some rebalancing and Uomoz helped me get a station inventory going, so Blackrock is now pretty playable in the corvus campaign. Gonna make some weapons next, Blackrock is in the weapons business after all, not just in the shipmaking biz. :)

Here's the Desdinova firing its new Squall Cannons:

(http://i.imgur.com/404uR.png)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: ramondarkdemon on September 12, 2012, 09:25:32 AM
Holy mother of epicness  ;)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 14, 2012, 11:52:09 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/xUNFK.png)

Still don't know what ship system to give it. Was considering some sort of weapon activated through the ship system controls, or an incredibly superpowered EMP system that wrecks everything that gets too close to it. This ship is supposed to be on the threat level of a Paragon and is definitively no walkover.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Talkie Toaster on September 14, 2012, 12:34:05 PM
The engines look pretty intimidating, and the front looks seriously well armed in comparison to the back. So... to tie in with the advanced maneuvering jets in the previous ships, how about a maneuvering jet that also fires 'beams' from the engine mounts? So when your cap ship gets swarmed and your poor rear weapon coverage bites, you have an 'emergency escape' button that also deals a bunch of damage? It might be a bit close to the burn drive though, even if it has the opposite aim.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 14, 2012, 01:01:45 PM
A Kzinti Lesson Dispenser? :D It's too good not to consider. I just had an idea, though... will get back to the thread in a bit.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Piroton on September 14, 2012, 08:44:14 PM
Crap me, that Meta1 Ship turned into such a beauty.

I'd suggest a Maneuvering Jets-like thing which greatly increases your strafe rate - that'll make for a great escape/flank tool.

BUT YES YES YES THE SYSTEM BATTLESHIP YES
/fanboying

Honestly though that glow is sexy, sexy stuff. I'm looking forward to this.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 15, 2012, 07:04:57 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/AVJEk.png)

Took its sweet time to draw that missile launcher, but yeah. The ship system is going to be a Macross Missile Massacre. This ship has the usual Blackrock setup of good flux, enormous weapon capacity, inefficient shields. The missile array is a good thing to use when you need breathing room to vent flux or if you are surrounded by annoying strike frigates.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Alex on September 15, 2012, 08:03:14 AM
Very cool, looking forward to seeing it in-game :)

About the system - you may want to reconsider using a weapon as a system, as you won't be able to get the AI to use it. As the player, you also wouldn't see weapon arcs, ammo counts, etc - it's just not meant for that usage. If you want the weapon to be a unique part of the ship, I'd suggest making it a built-in one (like the Onslaught's TPCs).

For the system itself, I think it's a good idea to look at the role of the ship and give it something that either makes it better at it, or shores up a glaring weakness. Given the BRD "glass cannon" theme, a Fast Missile Racks type system - to use in conjunction with the built-in missile launcher, if you go that route - might work. Or something similar to the Accelerated Ammo Feeder, but for missiles (that'd work better if the missile weapon wasn't bursty, but just had lots of missiles and a decent RoF). A last-ditch defensive measure could work, too.

Just suggestions/thoughts, obviously. I definitely wouldn't put a real weapon in the system slot, though, not if you care about the AI being able to use the ship.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 15, 2012, 08:15:02 AM
Ah, I figured I could hack it into using it if I gave a flare launcher that fired homing missiles the EMP AI, since it's supposed to have a similar "role" to the EMP system in combat. Won't that work? My fallback option was to turn it into a built-in weapon, but I somehow think that makes it less cool. :c

And the reason I wanted to make it a system was because I could make a truly ludicrous missile barrage, something that you might reasonably have to disable the ship's shields and weapons to properly target and unleash.

I might give it a maneuvering jets-esque system or give it more missile slots and do something like what you said. I think it's important to get the big ships "right" since they're basically the poster boys for a faction. The Onslaught, Conquest and Paragon are both extremely cool and well executed in their own ways. Sometimes it's hard to find niches that the game hasn't already covered.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Alex on September 15, 2012, 08:37:14 AM
Ah, I figured I could hack it into using it if I gave a flare launcher that fired homing missiles the EMP AI, since it's supposed to have a similar "role" to the EMP system in combat. Won't that work? My fallback option was to turn it into a built-in weapon, but I somehow think that makes it less cool. :c

That won't work - it'll crash the game. The EMP AI expects an EMP system. And don't let the Onslaught hear you saying it's less cool!

And the reason I wanted to make it a system was because I could make a truly ludicrous missile barrage, something that you might reasonably have to disable the ship's shields and weapons to properly target and unleash.

Well, functionally it could be exactly the same, regardless of whether it's a system or a weapon. And since a built-in weapon is restricted to that hull only, you don't have to worry about it ending up on some other, unintended ship.

I think it's important to get the big ships "right" since they're basically the poster boys for a faction. The Onslaught, Conquest and Paragon are both extremely cool and well executed in their own ways. Sometimes it's hard to find niches that the game hasn't already covered.

Yeah... thanks, glad you think so :) I've got to say you've done an admirable job of that so far - the ships feel different and fresh, but not overpowered.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 15, 2012, 08:44:52 AM
Oh Alex, you are the gentlest crusher of dreams.  ;D

And yeah, finding niches and trying to hack ship systems into doing novel things is challenging and fun. I play a lot of Dota 2, so I like trying to come up with ways a concept can feel "almost overpowered" and yet still have counters.

I think the strafe jet system Piroton suggested would be interesting, if it can be done. Part of the reason I wanted it to be a system, is because I could set one little hidden "system" weapon for each missile pod and have each of them participate in the barrage, sort of like flare launchers work (unless I missed something)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Alex on September 15, 2012, 08:51:02 AM
And yeah, finding niches and trying to hack ship systems into doing novel things is challenging and fun. I play a lot of Dota 2, so I like trying to come up with ways a concept can feel "almost overpowered" and yet still have counters.

That seems like a good way to arrive at something fun.


Part of the reason I wanted it to be a system, is because I could set one little hidden "system" weapon for each missile pod and have each of them participate in the barrage, sort of like flare launchers work (unless I missed something)

Hmm. You could still do that with a built-in, though - I'm not sure what the issue you're seeing is. I guess part of it would be that they could get assigned to whatever groups the player wanted, is that it?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on September 15, 2012, 09:15:20 AM
Yeah, it feels sort of messy and not as cohesive as it could have been. I think I'll find a way to pull it off though.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: WKOB on September 16, 2012, 01:48:11 AM
You could make a single weapon mounted in the middle of the ship and then go nuts with barrel off-sets.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: HeliosRX on October 07, 2012, 10:45:12 PM
Great mod!
Could you possibly make it fully campaign integrated for the next release? I want to use the Desdinova in the proper campaign!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: maximilianyuen on October 07, 2012, 10:56:22 PM
superb graphic, gonna try it soon
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on November 25, 2012, 08:00:57 PM
Hey guys, it's been a while. My uni subjects don't pass themselves.  :'(

Here's a tentative list of changes for the next release, which is going to be fully campaign integrated!


I'm gonna have to devote myself to clearing up a few mysteries, such as:
- will I understand enough of the new modding possibilities to be able to do some cool *** I was thinking about doing?
- am I going to survive my finals?
- what is love?
- baby don't hurt me
- don't hurt me
- no more
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Kaitol on November 25, 2012, 10:35:05 PM
Love is Nevermore.

Or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the Lucifer
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 01, 2012, 10:41:33 AM
:D

Alright, I'm settling into a pretty comfortable identity for most of the ships now. The new Krait is a 8FP mid-speed heavy fighter, with an enormous anti-ship armament but no shields. The Locust is now called the Locust Gunship and is an escort frigate that features multiple small turrets for dealing with fighters and shooting down enemy missiles. The Scarab and Gonodactylus are now much slower, especially the Gonodactylus, who was meant to be a brutal damage sponge from the beginning. I'm going to go back to experimenting with how the AI handles an asymmetrical hardpoint instead of a built-in weapon for it, but for the time being, the AI seems to handle the ship.

I also went through and revised the engine slots on a lot of the ships and did some other minor touch-ups.

The big work now will consist of getting the Sachumodo release-ready, I think I'm going to postpone the Phase Cruiser for the time being. There's too little distinguishing it from the Doom at the moment.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Talkie Toaster on December 01, 2012, 12:25:22 PM
Sounds great, though it's a shame the Nadir isn't making it in- had you still not decided on a system for it?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 01, 2012, 07:03:23 PM
It had High Energy Focus but it felt too much like shoehorning the ship. Besides, like I said, it still basically only did what the Doom does. I might make a phase destroyer instead, since that niche is (for now) untapped by stock ships.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cosmitz on December 03, 2012, 04:08:27 AM
Awesome work, really high quality and sensible design. How's the talk to getting the faction in Uomoz's compilation going?  :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 06, 2012, 02:37:34 AM
Haven't talked to Uomoz about it much. Either way, right now you can just use both mods at the same time with no problems.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Uomoz on December 06, 2012, 03:40:32 AM
I'd like to integrate it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 06, 2012, 07:49:13 AM
Yeah, I think that would be cool. After I wrap up this next release!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Reshy on December 06, 2012, 12:01:04 PM
This is Vanilla balanced right?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 06, 2012, 12:24:35 PM
Yeah.

edit:
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/MNs9x.png)
[close]
Say hello to the Kurmaraja. Whoever guesses what the hexagonal lattice is for (gameplay-wise) wins a dota 2 invite! (i have like 10 of them at this point)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Erick Doe on December 06, 2012, 01:35:46 PM
Gameplay wise? Probably a ship system. It may create a reflective barrier (fortress shield), or launch drones. Kind of reminds me of a beehive. Whatever it is for, it looks really good.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Uomoz on December 06, 2012, 01:37:05 PM
I think I'll win this one. But I have 30 dota2 invites already.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 06, 2012, 01:40:46 PM
Mr. Doe is onto something... for the record, Uomoz is disqualified due to Circumstances. And like he says, already sitting on a pile of dota 2 invites, the size of which would make even the most battle-hardened garena feeder cry bitter, salty tears.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cosmitz on December 06, 2012, 01:43:24 PM
If it launches plates of armor off your ship as projectiles, that'd be impractical, but awesome as hell.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: zakastra on December 06, 2012, 01:48:14 PM
That Sprite is phenomenal. All my Kudos. ALL OF THEM.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Reshy on December 06, 2012, 02:22:34 PM
Anti-Energy Armor?  Energy magnification?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Erick Doe on December 06, 2012, 02:24:00 PM
Anti-Energy Armor?  Energy magnification?

Wouldn't it be neat if those plates would replace themselves, like a regenerative armour? Kind of how sharks get their teeth replaced.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Reshy on December 06, 2012, 02:26:56 PM
Anti-Energy Armor?  Energy magnification?

Wouldn't it be neat if those plates would replace themselves, like a regenerative armour? Kind of how sharks get their teeth replaced.


So basically it channels aperture science?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Wyvern on December 06, 2012, 03:56:51 PM
Well, due to engine limitations, the ones we see in the screenshot can't be drones or weapons - too many slightly different panel graphics, plus if they were weapons, that'd be a nightmare to set weapon groups when tinkering with ship variants.

That said, I could see them as the on-ship representation of a set of (probably regenerating) shield / ablative armor drones - things that, when launched, orbit around your ship and provide some extra defense by just being in the way.

The best alternative I can come up with is that it's some sort of superweapon (EMP of dooom!) or maneuverability booster; imagine hitting 'f' and having every single hexagon light up with an engine flare...
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: zakastra on December 07, 2012, 04:27:04 AM
I'm thinking either a Beehive barrier shield, Phasing out an opposing ship, or some sort of swarm weapon
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: TheHappyFace on December 07, 2012, 04:39:39 AM
a massive missle launcher which can fire once every battle. each one of the hexagons will fire one small missle.
probaply the game will lag as hell ,but wo cares about that when everything dies.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Lordzias on December 07, 2012, 06:11:29 AM
Escape pods.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: sdmike1 on December 07, 2012, 09:25:02 AM
Ya, i'm going to have to go with some kind of armor... UPDATE!!!  :P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Kaitol on December 07, 2012, 06:07:11 PM
Given the name and appearance, its clearly an ultimate defensive system. Given how little you can screw with armor currently, I'm also supposing its shield based. Perhaps it a creates an invisible drone or drones that have their own massive shields to fake extra shield systems? Or is it more like the fortress shield system? I imagine given your track record its something relatively unique and customized to the specific ship.

Perhaps an invulnerability shield that disables weapons? Or is that too simple... a shield that reflects projectiles? (is that even possible in the engine?)

It could be an anti-missile system, but that seems too narrow for an overall defensive ship....
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: K-64 on December 07, 2012, 06:13:22 PM
I'm going to guess it's some kind of "hull polarisation" system, similar to the fortress shield, but differs in the fact that its damage resistance buff is attributed to the ship's hull/armour
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 07, 2012, 09:18:32 PM
It's been a bit more than a day since I posted the ship, so I'm going to end the "contest" here. Many of you either had really good ideas, really good ideas that are (to my knowledge) impossible (unless you are LazyWizard, maybe?) but I still got a ton of free good ideas

Anyway:
Quote
The best alternative I can come up with is that it's some sort of superweapon (EMP of dooom!)
Wyvern wins, because of his suspicion that it's related to some sort of energy emitter system. It's going to be that, or if it turns out unsatisfactory, or I get coding help, I'm going to try for some sort of novel defensive system instead. (Kaitol touched upon some of those ideas, specifically the reflective shield, but I figured it's mechanically impossible too, so)

Wyvern, if you want that Dota 2 invite, send me your steam ID or mail address on PM. Woo! EDIT: Wyvern doesn't want the invite. You know what, I'll give away all three, all my peeps already play the game anyway. Three first to PM me get invites.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: silentstormpt on December 10, 2012, 05:06:43 AM
Im releasing a new version of the Star Control mod later today, check out the system weapon on the ship Probe is using and see if you like it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 10, 2012, 09:16:14 AM
Hmm, after I asked Alex about EMP with multiple points of origin, I have reconsidered. If I can get help with the coding, I'm going to make a reflective shield instead (which is apparently possible to make now). Considering to release the mod with a temporary ship system on the Kurma for the time being.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/QqV4B.png)
[close]
Anyway, I made a custom engine style for the faction. Also, that's the new Solenoid Quench Gun, a long-range weapon that murders incoming fighters/missiles at low transversal velocities and offers constant, accurate harassment to lightly armored targets.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Axiege on December 11, 2012, 05:56:58 PM
Your ships are awesome, every single one of them, would very much like to use this mod in my next LP
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 12, 2012, 12:20:46 AM
That would be awesome! Just wait until the next version gets released, please.

EDIT: http://imgur.com/a/tOKsO an imgur album with all the current ships slated for the next release.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Axiege on December 12, 2012, 07:33:10 AM
Wow, that Kurmaraja... What's your ETA? I wanted to begin recording asap.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 12, 2012, 08:13:12 AM
Probably during the weekend.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Thule on December 12, 2012, 08:14:16 AM
How do get the details done, are you blowing them up in resolution first and then add shadows and highlights?

Would love to have a little insight on your workflow, because the results are really awesome.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 12, 2012, 08:47:17 AM
Thanks :)

Well, it's pretty uncomplicated... For the bigger ships, I first piece together a mashup in BSF that makes for the overall shape and attention grabbing parts of the ship. Then I take a screenshot and clean it up in Photoshop until I'm left with a transparent background. I zoom in and create a feeling of depth by changing little things, shading or highlighting, adding in details where needed, working with the sprite's final size usually, so I guess you could call it pixel art. The fighters and the Locust were done entirely as pixel art in photoshop, as are all the weapon and missile sprites. I don't really do any sketches beforehand, I find it's easier to work within the limitations of the medium (although if I had a stylus instead of a mouse, I might've painted in large scale and then resized it like the official art dude does)

For my older ships, most of the work was done in BSF, but I'm changing them more and more in photoshop as we go. For instance, the start of the Kurmaraja was this, a ship I made for Battleships Forever in 2009, using white-on-black sprites I drew myself:

Spoiler
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a350/cycerin/SACHYBP.png)
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a350/cycerin/BFscreen04.png)
[close]

I couldn't find the original ship schematic in my BSF folder, so I inverted the colors of the "blueprint" picture and cleaned it up in Photoshop until I had something resembling a greyscale line-art drawing I could start drawing on top of.

I keep a set of swatches in photoshop that make up the overall color scheme and use those as a guide while I finish up the ships. I find I use pretty much every tool in photoshop, but mostly I shade/highlight and draw things with the pencil, brush and line tool. I used to apply gradient washes to the entire ship, but I don't do that anymore. Usually I shade with the presumption that there is a light source above and slightly to the front of the ship, and add light sources here and there to provide a focus of attention.

Been drawing for quite a long time, but I rarely have the time to make anything now. I think the most recent thing I drew on paper was this, earlier this summer :P
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/YbfCd.jpg)
(it's Leshrac from Dota 2)
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Reshy on December 12, 2012, 09:46:01 AM
I just had an interesting idea for the mirror plates that appear on the ship.


The idea is that they're a bunch of 'hidden' beam lasers that cost 0 flux to fire, but only are active when the ship has more than 66% flux.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: silentstormpt on December 12, 2012, 10:25:16 AM
Heres the emp type of weapon that i wanted to show you, it does damage instead of emp so its custom made to be an actual weapon:

Spoiler
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/32263294/screenshot055.png)
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Reshy on December 12, 2012, 10:47:50 AM
Heres the emp type of weapon that i wanted to show you, it does damage instead of emp so its custom made to be an actual weapon:

Spoiler
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/32263294/screenshot055.png)
[close]


Can you make it come from several different points?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: silentstormpt on December 12, 2012, 10:53:59 AM
No, the only way to do so is making several weapon points on the hull with SYSTEM and HIDDEN stats with this shipsystem and tune down the damage and flux cost.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 12, 2012, 11:32:08 AM
I tried that way before I scrapped the concept. Doesn't matter how many hidden system weapons the ship has, it will still only fire from one of them.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: silentstormpt on December 12, 2012, 11:51:16 AM
I tried that way before I scrapped the concept. Doesn't matter how many hidden system weapons the ship has, it will still only fire from one of them.

Sorry but they do work...
Spoiler
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/32263294/screenshot045.png)
[close]
*.hull
Code
"weaponSlots": [
    {
      "angle": 0.0,
      "arc": 0.0,
      "id": "WS0001",
      "locations": [
        91.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "BUILT_IN"
    },
    {
      "angle": 0.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0002",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 30.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0003",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 60.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0004",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 90.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0005",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 120.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0006",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 150.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0007",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 180.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0008",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 210.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0009",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 240.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0010",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 270.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0011",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 300.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0012",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    },
    {
      "angle": 330.0,
      "arc": 1.0,
      "id": "WS0013",
      "locations": [
        0.0,
        -0.0
      ],
      "mount": "HIDDEN",
      "size": "LARGE",
      "type": "SYSTEM"
    }
  ],
ship_data.csv:
Quote
Marauder,kohrah_marauder,Marauder,marauder_fried_system,15,15000,300,1000,,80,0,150,400,100,50,50,3500,NONE,,,,,,,21,42,100,100,1,1,1,37500,,200019
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 12, 2012, 12:20:18 PM
Yeah, now try that with EMP.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: FlashFrozen on December 12, 2012, 12:49:13 PM
Confusion between Drones with emp subsystems and multiple emp emitters on a ship as a subsystem I take it? :P Multiple emitters on one ship have no effect, only one fires, that's why you have to include a drone system with each drone having an emitter for 'multiple' emps.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: silentstormpt on December 12, 2012, 01:03:57 PM
Confusion between Drones with emp subsystems and multiple emp emitters on a ship as a subsystem I take it? :P Multiple emitters on one ship have no effect, only one fires, that's why you have to include a drone system with each drone having an emitter for 'multiple' emps.

That dear sir, is simply genius.

Create invisible drones, make it stay still on top of the ship, give them the EMP system
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Reshy on December 12, 2012, 01:24:47 PM
Works with shields too if you want to say have phase cloak and shields at the same time.  Or if you want an 'Onion' shield that has several weak layers meant to absorb large infrequent hits rather than smaller ones.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 12, 2012, 01:27:23 PM
Confusion between Drones with emp subsystems and multiple emp emitters on a ship as a subsystem I take it? :P Multiple emitters on one ship have no effect, only one fires, that's why you have to include a drone system with each drone having an emitter for 'multiple' emps.

That doesn't accomplish what I want to do. I don't want the ship to constantly have an EMP effect active, and you couldn't make the drones occupy fixed positions on the ship that actually make it look like that's where the EMP is emitted from (the plates). It's a clever trick though.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Reshy on December 12, 2012, 01:33:12 PM
Is there a way to make temporary drones?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: FlashFrozen on December 12, 2012, 01:37:23 PM
Well, You can't perfectly keep the drones aligned to points on the ship ( you can come close but it's still based on orbits so... circles and stuffs.) but a really hacky way of doing it is to have the invisble drones have a really long cooldown on their emp weapons to the point they'll realistically only use it once, then you have to recall the drones to refresh the emp subsytem and then relaunch them, to use the emp agains.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Wyvern on December 12, 2012, 01:39:51 PM
Well... actually... it'd be a pain, but I think you could.

Key points:
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Thule on December 13, 2012, 06:40:11 AM
Thanks for the insight Caycerin.

I am curious what you come up with next.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: silentstormpt on December 13, 2012, 07:09:13 AM
On the thread about misc shipsystems, theres a code for hull regeneration, the idea of for example a fortress shield that instead of creating a super shield its possible to make a regenerative shield that regens your flux while using (toggle with a activation time limit and a cd), you can also make light animations coming out of the ship by adding engines with 0 alpha (invisible) then when you activate the shipsystem you change it to visible (same way the burn engine system works visually only)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 13, 2012, 10:30:12 AM
The hacks people are coming up with are really cool.

(http://i.imgur.com/JvEWI.png)

Two Desdinovas sporting new weapons. Play the mod later to find out what they do.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: harrumph on December 13, 2012, 11:14:51 AM
But what if we want to play the mod now?!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 13, 2012, 12:27:39 PM
NO FUN ALLOWED
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Uomoz on December 13, 2012, 01:07:26 PM
Too much naga.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cosmitz on December 13, 2012, 05:13:27 PM
NO FUN ALLOWED


.. Do you play Guild Wars2 and are a member of /v/? If not, just ignore this post. Thank you for your cooperation.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 14, 2012, 01:12:05 AM
Neither. That isn't... where that comes from.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 17, 2012, 10:06:00 AM
Well damn, turns out orange is the new BRDY color, because I've been flirting with orange details for a long time and it's easier to use as a faction color.
(http://i.imgur.com/fs08y.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/dztZC.png)
Personally, I think it looks better. Also, I re-did detailing on the Desdinova and finished off an altogether esoteric list of ship names for the faction.
Check the OP for the rest of the ships. Re-wrote the introduction text too so it flows better. :)

Also, this. http://soundcloud.com/fastland/theme-from-blackrock
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Axiege on December 17, 2012, 11:01:42 AM
Is the download updated? :D

EDIT: Also, that song is really really cool ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 17, 2012, 11:17:10 AM
I'm still waiting on a few things before I can push out the new download, unfortunately. I'll PM you when I release it. :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Axiege on December 23, 2012, 06:30:01 AM
Where'd you go? D:
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 23, 2012, 06:44:51 PM
To IRLand, to my flat in Finalsville, at Christmas Street. *cough* Gonna try to finish things up between xmas and new year's eve, but the battleship never feels polished enough for my tastes. I also want to implement resupply fleets first.

The longer I wait though, the more balanced and polished things get.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Axiege on December 23, 2012, 07:47:40 PM
IRL? Where's that  ???
(first time I read that I actually read Ireland...)

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like I'm trying to rush you, definitely understand why things would be more busy, just getting close to running out of material from the first LP D:
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Wyvern on December 23, 2012, 08:08:19 PM
IIRC, IRL = In Real Life

On topic, I'm also looking forward to this.  But no rush; I've got plenty of other things to be doing in the meantime.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Axiege on December 23, 2012, 10:23:53 PM
IIRC, IRL = In Real Life

You mean, you can just go back to real life? D: (I knew, sarcasm doesn't translate well to text, knowing that hasn't stopped me from trying to use it yet though :P )

I think I may be taking a break for this week anyway for the same reasons, your mod so far is fantastic looking, I wouldn't want you to start rushing and sacrifice the quality.

Also, any chance you'd leak some details on the Kurmaraja? ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 25, 2012, 01:09:11 PM
Well, it's a battlecruiser. It's fast for its size, and has a respectable ordnance capacity, but it's flimsier and lighter than a full-blown battleship. It's also a major nuisance to ballistic-heavy enemies, because it has a gravity projection field that gradually slows down and stops projectiles, effectively lessening their range and making bomb-using enemies miserable. This field is intended to act as support for the player's fleet. One thing it can do just to give an example, is make sure that other ships have an easier time evading the fire of large enemy battleships, who would otherwise easily outrange smaller vessels.

I'm still working on the balancing of the field, but it's turning out pretty sweet. Making the AI smarter about using it and finding effective limitations will have to come later... right now, it's somewhat hard to avoid it being flat out useless/overpowered, but I want it to feel cool and useful.

Thanks a ton to LazyWizard for making all this work. ;D

Now for something I'd like opinions on: Would you like to see the Nevermore with steering thrusters as a ship system, rather than the Lucifer Generator? I feel like it would be a much cooler, more imposing ship if it was more focused on quickly being able to use its devastating frontal firepower in a new direction. It's not like the AM lance doesn't do a lot of damage already, and the AI is utter crap at using the Lucifer Generator.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Axiege on December 25, 2012, 03:18:34 PM
Those 2 systems are so far opposite each other, I would almost like having 2 versions of the same ship. The Lucifer Generator is a really cool skill-based idea, but I guess it would be better to go with maneuvering thrusters if you can only have one, and the AI is better with that... Imagine if the AI was good at using the Lucifer Generator though...
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 26, 2012, 09:37:15 AM
I made a custom maneuvering jets system that operates in quick bursts of speed and stores charges like the Phase Skimmer. It REALLY makes the Nevermore much, much more useful and fun to pilot. I might bring back the Lucifer generator concept as a "siege mode" for a long-range destroyer I want to make later on.

But really, things are getting to a point where the faction feels quite polished, and it's more approachable to players too.

The major challenge when doing all this stuff is to avoid breaking the AI.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Axiege on December 26, 2012, 09:44:51 AM
That does sound fun, turning in quick bursts of speed to quickly re-aim the AM Lance. I was thinking of vanilla maneuvering thrusters before but I like this idea better.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Amazigh on December 26, 2012, 02:41:21 PM
I made a custom maneuvering jets system that operates in quick bursts of speed and stores charges like the Phase Skimmer. It REALLY makes the Nevermore much, much more useful and fun to pilot. I might bring back the Lucifer generator concept as a "siege mode" for a long-range destroyer I want to make later on.
Both of these sound like Really good ideas.
The Siege mode could boost damage, disable Movement, but allow greatly reduced [5-10%] turning [the turning would be to make it easier for the AI to use]
The inability to turn that the Lucifer grants might have been a large part of what made it so hard for the AI to use it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 27, 2012, 01:15:09 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/PUyO2.png)
Desdinova pilots across the galaxy have reported experiencing "significant" joy at the unveiling of the new Arcjet Thrusters. One helm officer reported, "My men will finally stop skinning me about how much those burners got us thrown into Buffalo wrecks and space rocks".
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Axiege on December 27, 2012, 02:06:03 PM
That is really cool, but may I suggest you make the engine trails a bit thicker?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 27, 2012, 02:13:34 PM
When the thrusters fire, the engine nozzles contract. Lengthening the engine flames and narrowing them. It looks good in motion.

But I'm going to move the engines a bit further up. I never noticed that gap before I lowered the alpha on the engine flares
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Axiege on December 27, 2012, 02:27:10 PM
Oooh that does sound even more cool. I especially (already) liked the trails coming out from the sides. Overall I love the aesthetic of the faction.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Piroton on December 28, 2012, 01:53:35 AM
Hot dang, Cycerin, those new desdinova burners are amazingly sexy. Idea of 'compressed exhaust' for greater thrust, I presume? On the other hand, the side thrusters' exhaust look just a little too spindly to be exhaust trails, but maybe that's just me.

On the other hand, what about the converted systems battleship? I see the Gravitic Impeder has taken a new form in the subsystem you made. That's pretty awesome, but how did you get it to do that? (I can't code for peanuts)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on December 28, 2012, 05:05:27 AM
Thanks. ;D Ask LazyWizard! I've just done slight modifications to his work on the impeder system.

It does what it's supposed to right now, but it still needs more work down the road. The AI is unaware of impeding effects on projectiles, for instance a ship will keep its shield raised if there are Annihilator rockets that have been stopped by the impeder, and are are hovering somewhere, on an original vector heading for the shielded ship. If a ship is shooting projectiles that stop short of the shields, the defending ship keeps shields up, and the firing ships also don't move closer to compensate.

All fancy new mechanics break the game a little bit, tbh.

As for ship rebalancing in general, the Nevermore is now a frontal attack ship rather than the glass cannon it used to be. It's still a glass cannon, but now it can actually fight up close due to the better shield ratio, and its new stock variants/balancing reflects this. I don't want to turn it into a kiting ship, although it can be refitted for that purpose if the player wants to. It's still vulnerable to strike craft.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Lopunny Zen on January 04, 2013, 11:17:32 AM
Hey when do you think these ships will be available to buy in campaign if you dont mind me asking?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - First version release!
Post by: Cycerin on January 05, 2013, 02:48:54 PM
Right
F*ckin'
Now.

DOWNLOAD VERSION 0.20!!! (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip)

Changelog:

0.20:
SHIPS:
- Added Kurmaraja-class Battlecruiser
- Added Cetonia-class Freight Courier
- Added Squilla-class Bomber
- Added Serket-class Phase Fighter
- Added Mantis-class Attack Frigate

- Redesigned Nevermore-class Cruiser
// Nevermore is now a close-up combat ship rather than a kiting vessel.
- Redesigned Locust-class Frigate.
// Locust now a frigate, instead of a fighter.
- Rebalanced Scarab, Mantis, Desdinova, Krait and Revenant.
// Desdinova, Nevermore and Scarab now use custom Burst Maneuvering Jets.

WEAPONS:
- Added Solenoid Quench Gun
- Added Antiplasma Blaster
- Added Ironweaver Chaingun
- Added Shard Autocannon
- Added Ichneumon Assault Gun
- Added Quill Rocket Launcher
- Added Fury-class Torpedo
- Added Achilles MRM rack and Pod
- Added Argus Particle Beam
- Added Squall Cannon graphics.

- Added Blackrock station inventory
- Added Blackrock supply fleets
- Added Blackrock Strike Force combat fleet
- Added extra comm strings

SHIP SYSTEMS:
- Added Burst Maneuvering Jets
- Added Gravitic Impeder
Replaced Lucifer Generator with Burst Maneuvering Jets
Replaced Arcjet Burners with Desdinova-custom Burst Maneuvering Jets

MISC:
- Added custom ship names.json
- Added custom engine flare
- Changed faction color to orange
- Changed all sprites to use orange paint decals instead of bright green ones.
- Rebalanced all stock variants.


And with this release, I have a request to you all: Take screenshots! I want some sick screenshots to put in the OP. Bonus if they are of things blowing up.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Spardok on January 05, 2013, 02:53:04 PM
54.1a or 54a? :0
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 05, 2013, 02:54:36 PM
I'm 99% sure it runs on both, but why not use the latest patch?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Spardok on January 05, 2013, 02:55:41 PM
I'm asking to make sure I can run it on the latest patch ;).
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 05, 2013, 03:02:55 PM
Ah. It sure does! Save compatibility with earlier versions of the mod is probably broken to hell and back, though. Some old custom variants in mission saves might also crash the game, possibly, due to reshuffling of weapon slots... not sure.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Axiege on January 05, 2013, 03:04:45 PM
Yay! Sorry for making you feel rushed, that was really not my intention, I wasn't even in that much of a hurry myself.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 05, 2013, 03:12:49 PM
Hey, we're all indie game fans here. I've long internalized the Soon™ mantra as the major guideline for my modding efforts.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: LazyWizard on January 05, 2013, 03:29:48 PM
I'm loving the mod so far. Excellent sound and graphics work. :)

I think the Fury-class torpedo might be too good, though. It's significantly faster than the Reaper for the same OP cost and 7/8 of the damage. My Wolves have never been so effective! ;)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Spardok on January 05, 2013, 05:28:20 PM
I would like to start off saying (not sure if we can curse on here?) your sprites are #$@#*%$ AMAZING! Very attentive to detail and the colors are beautiful and vibrant. The designs feel very futuristic and techy as well.

Now onto the criticism!:

- [Ichneumon Assault Gun] I feel this gun doesn't really have a place with the Light Assault Gun. I would suggest making it a HE equivalent of the Light Needler by bumping OP cost to 8 and range to 850/900, possibly even adding another 25/50 ammo.

- [Argus Particle Beam] Being only 2 OP points higher than the Heavy Burst Laser It feels pretty powerful. Even though it is fragmentation damage it still does around 325 dps to shields/armor and completely tears apart hull with the same range decimating fighter and bomber wings. It fires at double the speed and has near 20% increased recharge (assuming the stats are all correct). Honestly I have no idea what to suggest doing here :/

- [Interdiction Array] Feels like all it's doing is changing ballistic projectiles to purple.

<will edit/add more as I play through>
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 06, 2013, 06:21:15 AM
Thanks for the feedback! I'm really glad you like the sprites, a lot of care went into making them.

Let me try to clarify a bit around why the weapons are the way they are and what I am trying to accomplish.
The Ichneumon AG is supposed to be equal in power to the Light AG, but more focused on burst damage. Vanilla gameplay in Starsector makes a point out of the risk of trying to finish off overloaded ships: small ships usually need to get close to them in order to deal HE damage, while larger ones get the luxury of being able to threaten from range. I don't want every BR ship to be a kiting ship, I want them to use the mobility to dart in and out of combat and deal their damage more or less up-close. That's why the Shard and Ichneumon fire bursts of projectiles.

However, I had considered to create a weapon that deals light mortar-style DPS at higher flux cost, and has 900-ish range. A sort of light artillery cannon for sneaky Locust and Mantis variants. A HE light needler should have enormous flux costs or OP costs or it would make every other small sized assault weapon superfluous.

The Argus is supposed to be the best alternative for destroying missiles and low-tech fighters if you have the flux and OP. It very easily wastes flux if it fires on enemy shields due to the damage type and huge flux costs. But if you have an Argus PD, you are very, very safe from enemy missiles. That is my design philosophy for it, at least - if it needs readjustment in line with this idea, then I'm more than willing to make them. And iirc frag damage is 25% against armor and shields, so your calculations are off. :)

If you want to see just how much more effective the Heavy Burst Laser is at actually hurting enemy ships than the Argus, arm a ship with a single Argus/Heavy Burst Laser (use the Desdinova) and then try to kill a Buffalo II using no other weapons in the simulator. It takes almost twice as long to kill it using the Argus. And this is an unshielded ship that mainly uses hull to soak damage.


The Interdiction Array is very experimental currently. However it does more than simply tint enemy projectiles. It stops missiles dead in their tracks if the engine has burned out (like Annihilators) and makes Hellbores, Arbalests, Assault Chainguns and such useless because the AI does not move closer to compensate for the projectile falloff. Ideally the system should force ships to fight much closer, but right now the AI does not seem aware of changes to projectile speed brought on by a stat mod.

LazyWizard: I thought the Fury did 2500 damage, not 3500... I think it probably overshadows the Reaper a bit in this case. I'll make some adjustments!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Spardok on January 06, 2013, 11:24:14 AM
Let me try to clarify a bit around why the weapons are the way they are and what I am trying to accomplish.
The Ichneumon AG is supposed to be equal in power to the Light AG, but more focused on burst damage. Vanilla gameplay in Starsector makes a point out of the risk of trying to finish off overloaded ships: small ships usually need to get close to them in order to deal HE damage, while larger ones get the luxury of being able to threaten from range. I don't want every BR ship to be a kiting ship, I want them to use the mobility to dart in and out of combat and deal their damage more or less up-close. That's why the Shard and Ichneumon fire bursts of projectiles.

However, I had considered to create a weapon that deals light mortar-style DPS at higher flux cost, and has 900-ish range. A sort of light artillery cannon for sneaky Locust and Mantis variants. A HE light needler should have enormous flux costs or OP costs or it would make every other small sized assault weapon superfluous.

Following that design philosophy you definitely got the IAG to where it should be then. Certainly acts like a burst version of the LAG. I was probably a bit too lenient on only increasing the OP cost to 8 instead of 9 or 10 with no additional flux costs.

The Argus is supposed to be the best alternative for destroying missiles and low-tech fighters if you have the flux and OP. It very easily wastes flux if it fires on enemy shields due to the damage type and huge flux costs. But if you have an Argus PD, you are very, very safe from enemy missiles. That is my design philosophy for it, at least - if it needs readjustment in line with this idea, then I'm more than willing to make them. And iirc frag damage is 25% against armor and shields, so your calculations are off. :)

If you want to see just how much more effective the Heavy Burst Laser is at actually hurting enemy ships than the Argus, arm a ship with a single Argus/Heavy Burst Laser (use the Desdinova) and then try to kill a Buffalo II using no other weapons in the simulator. It takes almost twice as long to kill it using the Argus. And this is an unshielded ship that mainly uses hull to soak damage.


Assuming the dps on the weapon listed is accurate for burst, 1294 * .25 = 324 a fair bit higher than HBL's 275 against armor/shields. And 1294 against unarmored/unshielded. Though of course this all assumes the stat page for the weapon is calculated accurately. (I know some weapons in other mods have not been) I don't know how great it would be against capital ships though, it would tear fighters apart like tissue paper.

The Interdiction Array is very experimental currently. However it does more than simply tint enemy projectiles. It stops missiles dead in their tracks if the engine has burned out (like Annihilators) and makes Hellbores, Arbalests, Assault Chainguns and such useless because the AI does not move closer to compensate for the projectile falloff. Ideally the system should force ships to fight much closer, but right now the AI does not seem aware of changes to projectile speed brought on by a stat mod.

Long range and short range Ballistics were still hitting me while turned on even while backing off, and missiles from far ranges were still smacking into me. Wish I could fraps it but alas my computer is a piece of garbage. It may have been because I was running on .54a and not .54.1a, though I would think that would have given me an error if it couldn't obtain the status to apply.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 06, 2013, 11:52:50 AM
When in doubt about whether or not the tooltips are right, check it in the simulator. The burst damage of the Argus against armor is closer to... 80 or something, according to the damage numbers that pop up in-game. If anything, the weapon is sort of underpowered for the cost/overshadowed by the HBL.

And I know that the gravitic impeder system is buggy. It's not a simple matter to make it work better, though, but I have some ideas. I'll probably need help from a person who is very good at Java. *glances innocently over at LazyWizard*

Need to test the reflector shield code after the patch too, since it's supposed to work now...
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Spardok on January 06, 2013, 12:03:20 PM
Sustained is down to I believe 62 if I remember correctly against armor/shields vs HBLs 82 (too busy continuing to droll over Ni No Kuni videos to check lul). With burst at 110 vs armor/shields (I think that's lower than HBL) Which is probably why you see that against capital ships. While S/M is doubled and a 20% increase in recharge so the actual "burst" gets out faster but sustained would be way lower. I never thought it was fantastic against capital ships, just a tad bit powerful against fighter wings.

The IA is certainly a cool and unique subsystem, really can't wait till all the bugs get ironed out of it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 07, 2013, 03:58:09 PM
Oh yeah, you're right of course. The 80 ish is from a single zap. Anyway, my point is that how it wastes flux against other ships is the designed weakness here. You are basically investing 15 OP into it to crap on enemy fighters and missiles, and a dual flak is still arguably better at the same thing (but hampered by ammo/cant hit at high transversals)

About the IA: Yeah, glad you like it. It'll probably be a little while, though. :(
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Chancellor Meatsteak on January 07, 2013, 05:34:25 PM
One of the frigates (the Scarab I believe) has two light ballistic hardpoints with a fairly wide arc of fire. The problem is any weapon put on them turns very slowly, presumably because its a hardpoint. It appears that if you want a weapon with an arc above fifteen or so degrees you have to make it a turret.

The Burst Maneuvering Jets (which could probably be just shortened to Burst Jets) seem to be more useful for accelerating yourself to a high speed then coasting to where you need to be than quickly maneuvering. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing, just seems unintentional and probably better suited as solely the domain of the Desdinova's Arc Jets. Perhaps you could forcibly limit the ships speed after the burst jets finish firing.

On the subject, I kind of liked the Nevermore's old ship system better. I feel as though the concept of the ship built around an extremely heavy energy weapons fits better as an artillery support ship rather than a close up brawler, especially since the addition of the Antiplasma Blaster makes the newer-version of the Nevermore's weapon less unique, though I suppose its change to being something the AI can actually use is a fair trade.

The short range kinetic weapons, the Solenoid Quench Gun and the Shard Autocannon, are not very useful. Sure their bursts are fairly strong, but not nearly strong enough to justify the greatly lowered DPS or range. For instance, the Solenoid Quench Gun fires a shot once every three seconds, has a range of 500, and only does a pitiful 143 DPS; in order to be more useful than a Heavy Autocannon the ship wielding it would have to be able to get into range, fire a shot, and retreat out of Heavy Autocannon range in the span of only three seconds; and if a ship is fast enough to do that it could easily just equip a Heavy Machinegun, which does a whopping 320 DPS. The high explosive counterparts to these weapons, the Ichneumon Assault Gun and the Squall Cannon, are useful however; the Ichneumon because it's flux efficient, the Squall because of its low OP cost and the way armor damage is calculated, and both because a strong burst is actually meaningful for high explosive weapons since it allows them to better take advantage of situations where shields are only momentarily dropped or facing the wrong way. The Shard could probably be repurposed as the that 'long range mortar' you were thinking about making (the selection of light kinetics fill most niches I feel).

The Ironweave Chaingun is also not terribly useful, it does not have a high DPS and ironically its higher accuracy than the Vulcan actually makes it even less likely to hit missiles since it require more precision to strike its target, as well it is not functionally very different from the other light ballistic PD available. Perhaps it could be a sort of miniature flak cannon, with a higher rate of fire but much less damage per shot and a much smaller explosive radius than the medium version.



In general, however, the mod is extremely well done and very fun to play. I particularly like the new Desdinova, nothing quite like darting around at 400 speed with a pair of Squall Cannons.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 07, 2013, 05:56:50 PM
Man, thanks for an extremely comprehensive feedback post! This is what I NEED right now.

Quote
One of the frigates (the Scarab I believe) has two light ballistic hardpoints with a fairly wide arc of fire. The problem is any weapon put on them turns very slowly, presumably because its a hardpoint. It appears that if you want a weapon with an arc above fifteen or so degrees you have to make it a turret.

Hell, I had no idea. I'll make them into turrets.

Quote
The Burst Maneuvering Jets (which could probably be just shortened to Burst Jets) seem to be more useful for accelerating yourself to a high speed then coasting to where you need to be than quickly maneuvering. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing, just seems unintentional and probably better suited as solely the domain of the Desdinova's Arc Jets. Perhaps you could forcibly limit the ships speed after the burst jets finish firing.

Yeah, in order to not make the ship immediately brake as the effect fades out (the burst jet stat mods derive from the effectLevel of the system which fades from 1 to 0 and most of the Burst Jet effect happens as fade-out rather than active time) I had to remove the usual clampdown that is built in to the base Maneuvering Jets system. The side effect is that the braking-down of the ship after a burst is based on its deceleration stat. I thought it clunky to start coding something to aid braking them down and liked the coasting side-effect personally - I disagree with the statement that they are more useful for coasting than than they are for quick maneuvering. The Nevermore would be completely useless if it couldn't reposition or turn with the Burst Jets.

I'll experiment more with it, though - I really want burst jet ships to move in a twitchy manner. It's like a more "analog" approach to what a phase skimmer does. :P

Quote
On the subject, I kind of liked the Nevermore's old ship system better. I feel as though the concept of the ship built around an extremely heavy energy weapons fits better as an artillery support ship rather than a close up brawler, especially since the addition of the Antiplasma Blaster makes the newer-version of the Nevermore's weapon less unique, though I suppose its change to being something the AI can actually use is a fair trade.

Personally, I find the new Nevermore more satisfying to pilot, it's still very much a floating energy cannon, but one that tries to get in your face rather than hovering at the edges. The fact that the AI just killed itself by activating the old lucifer generator randomly was also a big factor in deciding to replace it.

About the weapons, I rather agree with most of your points. The Shard does some weak EMP damage with forces a greater tradeoff when tanking it on your armor. I considered amping up this EMP damage after I found I usually replaced Shards with either MGs or needlers on my iron mode campaign setups... the other change I have been considering is to make it fire a fan-shaped blast of flechettes, so it becomes like a "shotgun needler" that doubles as a great manual screen against incoming missiles. Any thoughts you have about this are quite welcome!

The Ironweave was sort-of a last minute addition. I'm going to take a better look at it, because it's quite pitiful unless used in very large numbers right now.

Overall, I feel that BR should have its own kinetic weapon option. The Shard should be better than the MG at close-up, efficient kinetic damage, but lose the PD aspect. The Solenoid Quench Gun is already quite useful, it's terrifying for shielded frigates due to the enormous projectile speed and single shot damage - but I've considered upping the damage a bit.

Probably going to make dual mounted ichneumons and shards as a higher-OP cost small weapon option down the road too.

Any other suggestions? How do you feel about the Mantis, Gonodactylus, Serket, Krait and whatnot?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Dog on January 07, 2013, 07:01:42 PM
Man, it's been a long time since I've posted, but whatever ;)
Cycerin, this mod is seriously fantastic.  I installed it alongside Uomoz's Corvus, and I quickly fell in love with the Desidnova.  That thing is a beast, like, incredibly so.  I found myself buying one just to try it out, and holy cow is it amazing.  Thanks to character upgrades, it now has flux capacity on the same level as some capital ships, and it can tear apart Neutrino ships, which is really saying something.  I guess it would be best to either bump up the fleet points dramatically on this thing, or make it far more expensive.  It's just a little too good for its cheap price and low FP.

The new Nevermore is also really good.  It feels well balanced, and is incredibly satisfying to use.  The antimatter lance deals damage like nothing else, and the burst jet systems are great.  My new favorite tactic is to burst jet the second I get on the field, get going up to 260-270 speed, and just fly into enemy fleets guns blazing.  It makes me feel like the ship is dropping from FTL speed right into the middle of a battle and is oh so satisfying.  This ship is a much better brawler now, and when it's kitted out with squalls and the antiplasma blasters, it can threaten full fleets on its own.

The Kuruamaraja is interesting, and I like it, but due to the current AI issues, is mostly useless.  It just fires up the IA immediately, and then just builds up flux and gets overloaded by a frigate.  I opted to switch it over to a long range artillery cruiser, by giving it two mass drivers and two Cains from the Interstellar Federation mod.  It fits the niche well, and it becomes not totally useless due to the buggy AI. 

The mantis is a hilarious little bugger, and is tons of fun.  Its cheap, expendable, and makes for a great harasser.  I'd suggest removing one of the energy turrets on that thing, as it has way too much firepower for such a small ship.

The Revenant feels very well balanced and smooth, so excellent job there. 

The sprites are friggin' fantastic, with only one exception.  The Kuruamaraja is rather underwhelming right now.  The Interdiction Array is soooo cool looking, but the back of the ship feels too small or short.  It makes the ship appear top heavy and unbalanced.  Just my personal opinion, and it's still a great looking ship, so huge props there.

The new guns are great, but as stated previously, the Solenoid gun kind of sucks  :-\.  Its short range limits its use to frigates, and even then, it doesn't hit hard enough to be worth the OP cost. The squalls are beautiful, as very few medium mount high explosive weapons actually exist, and they are quite satisfying to use.  This sounds kind of whiny, but they sound much wimpier than in previous versions, where they had a sharp and dangerous retort, just my personal opinion, feel free to ignore it.

Overall, you created a fantastic mod, and I can't thank you enough for it.  Keep up the good work.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Chancellor Meatsteak on January 07, 2013, 08:55:24 PM
I disagree with the statement that they are more useful for coasting than than they are for quick maneuvering. The Nevermore would be completely useless if it couldn't reposition or turn with the Burst Jets.

Ah, of course. Most of my experience with the Burst Jets come from using the Scarab, which is maneuverable enough to not need Burst Jets to turn quickly; I didn't use Nevermore quite as much since I preferred to fly the Desdinova. Still feels that it encroaches on the Arc Jet's ground a bit too much, but that is not a big deal.

the other change I have been considering is to make it fire a fan-shaped blast of flechettes, so it becomes like a "shotgun needler" that doubles as a great manual screen against incoming missiles. Any thoughts you have about this are quite welcome!

Sounds good. I think the 'shotgun effect' should be ridiculously exaggerated, it should have at the very least a 45 degree arc of fire but be capable of very high firepower if all projectiles hit at once, which would only ever happen at point blank range. The idea of an ultra close combat weapon is something I find highly appealing, and probably unique enough to not even need the EMP effect.

The Solenoid Quench Gun is already quite useful, it's terrifying for shielded frigates due to the enormous projectile speed and single shot damage - but I've considered upping the damage a bit.

While it certainly is effective against frigates that is not really much of an accomplishment, and they still aren't as effective against them as any of the other medium kinetics with perhaps the exception of the Heavy and Arbalest Autocannons. As a comparison, the Hypervelocity Driver has slightly worse damage per shot, DPS, and flux efficiency but nonetheless remains useful because it has a very long range (twice that of the Solenoid) and also carries a hefty EMP payload, making it reasonably effective whether or not the enemy has their shields up. Perhaps you could turn it into a kinetic shotgun like above, though the graphics don't quite fit that. Alternatively, you could emphasize the burst aspect by making it a weapon that fires an interruptable about four second long burst with an about six second long cooldown (I believe this is possible; if I'm not mistaken the Thumper and Storm Needler work by firing a "burst" that lasts longer than you can fire and can be stopped by releasing the fire button); that way you get to have a weapon with a long enough cooldown such that a quick ship is realistically capable of using to dart in, fire a burst, and dart out without making it capable of instantly overloading every ships' shields or requiring too much flux to actually use.

How do you feel about the Mantis, Gonodactylus, Serket, Krait and whatnot?

Given how light the Locust is it could probably stand to cost an FP or two less, but more importantly it (and as I'm sure you are aware) it needs a unique ship system to stand out. Perhaps a set of weak, regenerating drones; or maybe a really short but intense version of the burn drive.

The Gonodactylus is quite effective and has a very fun and unique weapons arrangement, though I find I don't use its Hammerclaw Impact Bolter very much since it is only a single light missile and it feels odd to group with other light missiles. I'd probably the Hammerclaw more if was a medium equivalent weapon (say by firing a burst of three 500 damage versions of the missile) and the current light missile slot replaced with an energy weapon, for either PD use or an Antimatter Blaster. Its ship system doesn't make it feel quite as special as the other BRDY ships but it serves its purpose just fine.

I haven't got the chance to play with the rest of the ships very much, will get back to you on that when I do.

Incidentally I just realized that the shortened form of BlackRock Driveyards (BRDY) is read as "birdy".

Spoiler
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_D_Z-D2tzi14/S_YsWwytRYI/AAAAAAAAC8s/rJegHvxY2UI/s320/bird.png)
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 08, 2013, 09:15:50 AM
Dog: I know, right? When you have a few 10-pointers in Tech and Combat, you can kill Onslaughts easily with a well-piloted Desdinova. It's pretty insane. Then again, I would be perfectly capable of doing the same things with a Medusa, so I feel that the ship is where it should be right now.

I'm really glad you're having fun playing the mod. ;D

Based on all your feedback I'm going to start working on some new weapons/rebalancing. I have some very good ideas floating around after all this talk.

Regarding the Locust: I think it's fine minus the lack of a unique ship system. For 5FP you get a very capable escort ship that can seriously punish fighters that try to cap and deal tons of kinetic damage to shields when equipped with MGs. It's one of the best anti-fighter frigates in the game currently, especially considering the FP cost.

Regarding the Shrimp: Let's just say I have... plans for the Hammerclaw.

Regarding the Scarab: I'll probably make the ship overall more tough and cumbersome, to emphasise use of the ship system. Besides, it's quite fat-looking and larger than most frigates, so it should be somewhat resilient.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Jonlissla on January 08, 2013, 11:02:54 AM
Great mod, really excellent art. If you put your ships in line next to the vanilla fleets I wouldn't know which vessels were official and which were fanmade, it's that good. Really looking forward to future updates. Too bad you had to remove the Lucifer Generator, it looked great in concept.

Some feedback on the ships;

Scarab
As Meatsteak wrote, those two hardpoints at the front of the ship are rather awkward. As suggested, make them into turrets instead, or let the hardpoints have a much more narrow field of fire. Other than that the ship is reasonably balanced.

Mantis
Expensive, although it lives up to its description. Surprisingly effective with a pair of Quill launchers up front. They feel balanced enough.

Gonodactylus
Only ship I sold after a few battles. Stats were nice, but pretty much all of its weapons are located at the side of the ship which made it a tad tricky to engage enemies. The inbuilt missile launcher was a cool feature but it didn't really carry the ship for me. Ship system felt out of place, why put a accelerated ammo feeder on a mining ship? Would prefer a group of drones instead, or maybe the equivalent to a terminator drone.

Serket
One seriously expensive fightercraft. Its armament reflects its cost however so I feel it is at a right place. Phase Cloak makes them tricky to destroy.

Krait
They live up to the name of heavy fighter. A quality > quantity version of the Warthog, but I'm not sure who would win in a duel. Could use a small nerf by boosting its FP from 7 to 8, their firepower is quite outstanding.

Squilla
Best bomber I've seen, and most likely the best in the game now. Could use a nerf to its speed, since combined with its shields it becomes ridiculously effective at killing pretty much everything.

Locust
Never used it, but judging from its stats I'd rather pick a Lasher. Haven't tried it out yet so take that comment with a grain of salt.

Desdinova
Jesus Christ how horrifying, with the correct loadout you can take out pretty much everything aside from capital ships. Costs as much as a Falcon but is instead twice as good. Keep the price and FP but lower the speed.

Nevermore
Can spit forth a blue laser of death. Feels like it's in a good place now. No other comments.

Revenant
Really impressed with this carrier. I like it, alot. It has a good ship system and is well-rounded to suit most tasks as its description implies. Have no complaints about it.

Kurmaraja
Has a real cocktease for description I can tell you that. Once I finally got the chance to pilot it I noticed it was quite... underwhelming to be honest. It's brutally expensive and has odd weapon placements and sizes. One thing I really got annoyed by was the very back of the ship. It feels very inconsistent, you have a ship with a fair amount of ballistic weapons and all of a sudden, two small tiny energy mounts at its rear? Same thing goes with the universal, you have a set of six small mounts running along the top/middle of the ship, and two of them are universal weapon mounts. Once again, it feel inconsistent.

And finally...

Manuevering Jets
Just like Meatsteak wrote, I found myself using this system just to "surf" along the map. I politely disagree that the Nevermore needs it to use the Anti-Matter Lance properly, I did just fine without it. You fight one small battle on the map, press F and W with the correct timing, and slowly glide across the battlefield for the next fight. It looks very out of place when you see a cruiser outrun a Hound. I don't see the point of this ability to be honest. My suggestion is that you give the Nevermore the vanilla M. Jets and give the Scarab and Desdinova something else.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Might come back with some more.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: harrumph on January 09, 2013, 03:18:15 AM
Ahh, Cycerin, you do not disappoint. Awesome work all around.

Criticism, compliments, and riffing on other people's comments, in no particular order:

I agree with LazyWizard about the Fury: it's too much of a simple upgrade to the Reaper. I'll double down on that and say that I don't like the Squilla either—again, too much of an undifferentiated upgrade. Way faster, tougher hull and armor, no omni shield but a much higher flux capacity; it basically just makes the Dagger obsolete. If you tinker with the Fury, that might help to set the Squilla apart, but I don't think just reducing the torpedo's damage will be enough.

I think the fighters are in a good place (it's always a little hard to tell, since you never control them directly). The Krait seems to get the job done in a pretty balanced way, strong against fighters and frigates, tough enough to hang against bigger ships in a support role, but never too overpowering. It is awfully heavily armed on paper, but I think flux keeps that in check. The Serket is a vicious little bastard; the combination of high speed with a phase cloak seems to make them damn near invincible—I don't think I've ever lost a single fighter, no less a whole wing. I actually like that, though; they're very expensive and not outrageously overarmed, and it's a relief not to worry about losing crew. The rockets are a nice touch, giving them a little punch against big ships without tipping the balance in a dogfight or against frigates.

I'll second Meatsteak re: the new Burst Maneuvering Jets; I don't think they're quite where they should be. In open space, you can crank a Desdinova up to like 600 speed (depending on skills, hullmods, etc.), which is fun but not very sensible. The way they work in a nebula is cool, and, from the sounds of it, more like what you had in mind: a sort of low-tech phase skimmer. If it's possible to force the ship back down to its normal cruising speed at the end of a burn, as happens in a nebula, I think you should try that. Otherwise I'd say give the Nevermore a pure maneuvering system to help aim the main gun (maybe tie in energy weapon damage or something) and more traditional jets, as on the Eagle/Falcon, for the others.

I also agree with Meatsteak about the new kinetic weapons—bursty short-range kinetics don't really suit Starsector's shield mechanics; every time you scoot back out of range, the enemy can just drop shields and dissipate that flux. What you want from a kinetic weapon is the ability to keep up constant pressure from a distance, ideally beyond the range of most of your enemy's weapons…so if I learned one thing from trying out different weapon configurations with the BRDY ships, it's that the vanilla Light Needler is completely insane (basically a medium weapon in a small slot), and there's rarely a reason to mount anything else for the shield-breaking role. I propose that you just adopt the all-powerful Light Needler as the official kinetic weapon of BRDY—all hail our new Light Needler overlords, etc. etc. and so forth. Besides, more kinetic weapons is really the last thing the game needs; there are as many vanilla kinetics as there are all other ballistics combined (and that's counting the three varieties of bombs).

If you're looking for ideas for new ballistics to implement, I'd say that frag weapons are quite under-represented (I like Meatsteak's idea of turning the Ironweaver into a micro-flak gun of some kind) and there's probably still room for more medium HE types alongside the (excellent) Squall Cannon.

Elsewhere among the weapons: I like the Argus and the Antiplasma Blaster, although I think it's a bit odd that the latter has better range than any of the existing non-beam medium energy weapons. Maybe take it down to 550 or 600 and boost the damage to compensate? Or would that move it too close to the Mining Blaster?

Quills are awesome, if maybe a teensy bit OP—note that, despite being more accurate and (I think) faster-firing, they actually do more total damage per rack than Annihilators do (but they cost more, too, so maybe fair enough—and they are super fun to use). I'm not sure what to make of the Achilles; it seems awfully expensive for basically just being a weaker, more reliable Sabot. I haven't played with it much, though—it has EMP, right? Does it have a decent chance of causing the new EMP arc effect?

Back to the ships: the Mantis is an absolute monster, my new favorite ship. After fumbling around in a Lasher/Wolf/Vigilance for a while, it's an absolute joy to just fly straight up against a Hound and pound six rockets into its hull, point-blank. It probably needs a nerf, to be honest—maybe a slight reduction in speed, or making the shield frontal—but if it doesn't get one, I certainly won't complain. Great-looking ship, too. Out of curiosity, how did you intend to balance this one? The fluff text implies that the missile-heavy armament is supposed to limit its endurance, but I've had no problems in that regard (and I've been running around with Quills on the universal mounts).

I'll also leap to the defense of the Kurmaraja, which I like a lot, visually and functionally—I've been using one as a flagship. With all due respect to Jonlissla, I actually think the weapon layout is excellent—strong coverage forward and aft, plenty of flexibility with your weapon choices, but also quite restrained, not some completely bananas setup with thirty-seven different turrets. It's actually fairly similar to the Dominator in terms of total firepower, with the Dominator have the edge in medium missile mounts, but the Kurmaraja having the advantage of mounting all its guns as turrets. My one quibble is that the fields of fire for the two missile mounts don't overlap, but in practice it's not really a problem.

Even with the Interdiction Array only in a half-functional state, I've found the Kurmaraja to be a lot of fun. It's by far the fastest ship to mount large ballistic weapons, and whereas the Dominator, Onslaught, and Conquest all have more or less limited fields of fire, the Kurmaraja can aim freely; with Entoptic Rangefinding (or whatever that perk is called), an ITU, and the IA, you can outrange anything in the game, and with those big engines you can move fast enough to maintain that range advantage.

Depending on how the Interdiction Array ends up working, though, the Kurmaraja might end up being a little too well-rounded. I might have misinterpreted the idea behind the IA, but I imagine that, fully functional, it's going to make the Kurmaraja untouchable from long (1000+?) range, forcing enemy ships to come in close. Being (insanely) fast and well-equipped to fight at long range, the Kurmaraja ought to become an awesome anti-capship platform. You'd want its weakness, then, to be smaller ships, right? If strike frigates or fighters get in close, they should be able to chew it apart (I imagine that phase frigates and Hyperions should be the nastiest threats). As it stands, though, the omni-shield, good maneuverability, and all-round weapons coverage mean that even a frigate that sneaks up on my Kurmaraja's stern can't accomplish much. A change to the shield, or maybe just removing two of the rear-facing ballistic mounts, might be enough to solve that potential problem.

Onward! I think the Nevermore is in a really excellent place, balance-wise and fun-wise; it's not easy to use effectively, but really satisfying when everything clicks.

I like the Revenant at 13 FP—it's more fragile than the Venture, and doesn't have the same potential for long-range support, but it's much stronger in close combat. Those Barracudas really can chew a ship apart, given the chance. There's an idea for a new weapon, actually—how about a heavy variant of the Ion Cannon, with 700 range or so? Stick a bunch of needlers on the Revenant's bow, give it an ITU and an Ion Cannon on the medium energy slot, and you can keep the enemy's shields down while using the new Ion Cannon EMP arc thingy to suppress their PD.

Both destroyers are very heavily armored; it works, lore-wise and functionally, for the Gonodactylus, but for the Desdinova I think it's a problem—other people have suggested boosting its FP cost, but I think you should bring down its armor instead, make it more of a glass cannon. As for the shrimp, to be honest, I'm not a fan, but I'll withhold judgement until you've revealed the secrets of the new Hammerclaw.

The Locust is fine, I think. Not every ship needs to be whiz-bang-flashy, and as it stands the Locust would actually make a very good starting ship—it's quite strong not just against fighters but 1-on-1 against other frigates too, especially slower ones. Still, it wouldn't hurt to either knock one FP off the price tag or crank the speed up just a wee bit to emphasize its strength in that department.

The Scarab's good, too. Very nicely balanced, with the crappy shield and poor PD coverage matched against the strong hull and heavy armament.

And I think that's everything!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: mendonca on January 09, 2013, 03:54:10 AM
The Locust is fine, I think. Not every ship needs to be whiz-bang-flashy, and as it stands the Locust would actually make a very good starting ship—it's quite strong not just against fighters but 1-on-1 against other frigates too, especially slower ones. Still, it wouldn't hurt to either knock one FP off the price tag or crank the speed up just a wee bit to emphasize its strength in that department.

Was playing a bit of U's C 16.5 with BRDY add-on, and due to financial difficulties and a propensity for being destroyed rather easily, found myself in a Locust for a short while.

It's a decent ship, can cope adequately against evenly matched Pirates and it's certainly an interesting balance. I found myself wanting for a missile or two, and thought long and hard about quickly trading it in for a Lasher.

The two energy mounts are very useful, though, and with a LRPD and a Tac Laser, can kite e.g. a Lasher or a Hound adequately enough and should be able to cope with light missile threats. It can just about sustain a light Needler in the front mount (with a bit of care in flux management). It can't pack a lot of OP though on top of this, and I think that it probably IS a little bit underpowered for the cost.

It's a bit slow, with a too small shield and limited firepower to really justify being a burst concentrating ship IMHO. Not sure what could change this ... more speed, or more flux dissipation and switching the front hard mount to energy (encouraging an AM blaster?).

If it is supposed to be more range support, maybe more flux dissipation could encourage the prospect of mounting two Light Needlers? (at the minute I don't feel like I would dare do this due to the flux generation).

Maybe these things make sense, maybe they don't, but hope they help a little bit :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 09, 2013, 05:21:28 AM
If you get some points in Technology, it becomes very feasible to mount some needlers on the Locust. It's more of a close support/fighter killer frigate than an assault ship. I think the ship needs something truly unique though, but so far, I'm at a lack of ideas... I'm glad to hear your ruminations, though, mendonca, and I agree with most of it.

I don't have time to go through and quote-dissect all of you all's feedback, but I have to say that I read it all several times and I LOVE getting feedback like this. The praise and criticism is equally useful, and knowing you've played and enjoyed the mod is the best part.

Quote
I also agree with Meatsteak about the new kinetic weapons—bursty short-range kinetics don't really suit Starsector's shield mechanics; every time you scoot back out of range, the enemy can just drop shields and dissipate that flux. What you want from a kinetic weapon is the ability to keep up constant pressure from a distance, ideally beyond the range of most of your enemy's weapons…

Just want to say something about this, though - there's nothing wrong with bursty kinetic weapons, as long as you have missiles or longer-ranged HE weapons to punish your opponent for venting or trying to dissipate the flux in between bursts. If you don't like the BRDY weapon philosophy, there's nothing wrong with using stock kinetics - but my goal with everything is to make sure the faction is clearly differentiated from the stock factions in most departments. I am totally going to make more HE guns, though!

I've already made several adjustments to the mod internally in keeping with your feedback and my own experiences - I'm going to at least have a polish and rebalance release out in time for the next UsC version (which is going to be f'n sweet, by the way) but depending on real-life workload I may also have the time to squeeze in a few new features, like the new Hammerclaw.

As for the Shrimp, it's not a mining ship, it's a mining ship whose blueprint has had modifications done to it, turning it into a model of combat/utility vessel. The original mining ship is lost to the ages, but I might actually resurrect it if I need a mining ship for the eventual campaign layer. My dream implementation of the Hammerclaw will probably be very hard to realize, but if you've ever played Pudge in Dota/Dota II, you'll instantly know what I'm thinking about.

In other news, I'm starting to work on a different faction that will, for the time being, act as an antagonist to Blackrock. Picture a moon overrun with grey goo. Picture the grey goo starting a fierce internal evolution, hastened by curious exploration ships being consumed and disassembled by the oceans of nanomachines. Picture strange, ship-like "lifeforms", like multicellular creatures spawned from a primordial soup, flying out into the Sector in search of more ships to disassemble...

And gameplay-wise, picture hulking, slow vessels accented by huge swarms of little drones, with very few ships approaching frigate-size.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: EnderNerdcore on January 09, 2013, 12:53:23 PM
In other news, I'm starting to work on a different faction that will, for the time being, act as an antagonist to Blackrock. Picture a moon overrun with grey goo. Picture the grey goo starting a fierce internal evolution, hastened by curious exploration ships being consumed and disassembled by the oceans of nanomachines. Picture strange, ship-like "lifeforms", like multicellular creatures spawned from a primordial soup, flying out into the Sector in search of more ships to disassemble...

And gameplay-wise, picture hulking, slow vessels accented by huge swarms of little drones, with very few ships approaching frigate-size.
Love this idea. That'll make point-defense very, very important.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Jonlissla on January 09, 2013, 01:56:04 PM
but depending on real-life workload I may also have the time to squeeze in a few new features, like the new Hammerclaw.

I wouldn't mind the addition of some lighter fightercraft similar to the Talon. Would really improve the overall fleet composition.

Quote
And gameplay-wise, picture hulking, slow vessels accented by huge swarms of little drones, with very few ships approaching frigate-size.

Could be tricky if you're outmanuevered and end up with very little FP available in a battle, but a interesting concept nontheless. To make the faction less one-sided in terms of ship systems I presume you will add different drones for these ships? Speaking of which, is it possible to have several different ships as drones? I recall that the Mothership in the Ironclad mod has both these beam platforms as well as smaller drones. Would make for some very interesting gameplay.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: zakastra on January 09, 2013, 02:35:44 PM
You can make drones with smaller drones as the drones ship systems ... Well, they dont have to be smaller, but it makes sense, nothing to stop you having A tiny little Terminator attack drone made into a frigate, which spawns a tempest with a drone system that spawns an Aurora Which spawns a paragon.....

... Someone needs to make a russian dolls mod, hihi

More seriously, Huge tanky regenerating slabs of programmable nanomatter with frigate sized drones on several thousand unit roam ranges would be very scary. The Core ships would *Seem* Easy to outmaneuver, but if each has a guardian swarm or 3-4 frigates its another matter entirely, especially if these get cranked out terminator drone style every minute or so, Obviously they would lose out on capping FP's quickly, but would be able to slowly drift to the objectives and then turtle, Whilst their drones harrass the light units initially deployed.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 09, 2013, 02:51:04 PM
Could be tricky if you're outmanuevered and end up with very little FP available in a battle, but a interesting concept nontheless. To make the faction less one-sided in terms of ship systems I presume you will add different drones for these ships? Speaking of which, is it possible to have several different ships as drones? I recall that the Mothership in the Ironclad mod has both these beam platforms as well as smaller drones. Would make for some very interesting gameplay.

When I said drones, I mean as in CPU ships. They will be fighter wings, and the fighters will use drone shipsystems to exceed the max fighter wing size.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: silentstormpt on January 10, 2013, 07:45:57 AM
Just to remind that, with the new Decorative weapons, it also added a huge amount of possibilities for scripted weapons, you might come up with a few interesting ideas and cant make them yourself, post them
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 12, 2013, 08:52:54 AM
Just a little update, I'm well underway with the balance/polish update. Managed to squeeze in the kinetic buckshot weapon too, the Splinter Volleygun, and some other stuff. More to come. But balance input, please!

Spoiler
Changelog:
 0.21:
 
MISC:
- All Burst Jet-type systems generate a small amount of flux, meaning they no longer stack with 0-flux speed boost unless you have Helmsmanship skills
- Burst Jet-type systems generate more temporary speed

SHIPS:
 Desdinova:
 - Reduced armor to 500.
 - Increased FP cost to 13.
 - Increased deceleration
 - Increased shield upkeep slightly.
 Mantis:
 - Reduced HP by 100.
 
WEAPONS:
 - Added Splinter Volleygun
~
 Solenoid Quench Gun:
 - Increased damage to 450.
 - Slightly lowered projectile speed.
 - Increased range to 700 and flux cost to 600
 - Slightly lower refire rate
 Shard Autocannon:
 - Increased damage,
 - Increased EMP damage,
 - Slightly increased range.
 Argus Particle Beam:
 - Increased charges to 4
 - Lowered range to 450
 - Increased damage slightly
 - Increased flux cost slightly
 Quill Rocket Launcher:
 - Reduced damage to 250
 Fury-class Torpedo:
 - Reduced damage to 2500
 Antiplasma Blaster:
 - Reduced proj speed
 Achilles MRM/Pod:
 - Reduced OP by 1
 Squall Cannon:
 - Increased OP by 1
Ironveaver Chaingun:
- Increased proj speed, increased damage
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: conorano on January 12, 2013, 01:09:55 PM
when will the update be out?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 13, 2013, 03:29:32 AM
Sometime before UsC updates, hopefully.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 13, 2013, 10:31:03 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/Ioryd.png)

How could Blackrock possibly not have an Apogee equivalent?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Jonlissla on January 13, 2013, 10:46:44 AM
How could Blackrock possibly not have an Apogee equivalent?

As always, really stellar artwork. This one is a bit whiter than the others, is it to signify that it is a exploration vessel perhaps?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 13, 2013, 11:12:17 AM
Thanks. It's also supposed to be older than most of the Blackrock vessels, so yeah, I wanted it to look a bit separate. A bit millenium falcon-offwhite.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: conorano on January 13, 2013, 01:33:22 PM
Let me guess, the system will be some kind of temporary range boost?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 14, 2013, 02:33:40 PM
Let's say I'm considering different options.

First large weapon! Solenoid Quench Cannon. (http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a350/cycerin/SolenoidQuenchCannon_zps9c3fd01f.gif)

Also, thanks to EnderNerdcore, the AI is now drastically better at using Blackrock systems, who are themselves drastically better!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Dog on January 14, 2013, 06:43:39 PM
Let's say I'm considering different options.

First large weapon! Solenoid Quench Cannon. (http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a350/cycerin/SolenoidQuenchCannon_zps9c3fd01f.gif)

Also, thanks to EnderNerdcore, the AI is now drastically better at using Blackrock systems, who are themselves drastically better!

Now that is a sweet new gun!  The new update looks awesome, keep up the solid work Cycerin!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Kommodore Krieg on January 16, 2013, 05:09:55 PM
Your sprites are still, in my opinion, the absolute best in this modding community, and I say that with respect to all those other modders who do fine work of their own.  Very nicely done. 
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 18, 2013, 04:19:37 AM
Thanks a lot, Krieg. I really appreciate that. Note that I owe a lot to BSF community spriters like Kaelis, DSmk2 and HorseMonster. I wonder what even happened to Kaelis, he would totally love this game... most of the BSF old block would.

Thanks to LazyWizard I now have a script that perfectly controls the Solenoid Quench Cannon animation. I'm also working on further refinements of the Burst Jet system with EnderNerdcore.

I've also done some changes to the Shard that I'm curious about people's reactions to. I've turned it into a sort of suppression weapon - it fires low-damage (40 per shell) kinetic rounds to 600 range, and the shells also do 40 EMP damage with a high-procchance lightning discharge. Basically it forces the enemy to choose between flux buildup and EMP damage, but the weapon itself has a large flux buildup and low DPS. My other idea was to have a chance for the Shard to explode on impact dealing Energy damage, like a sort of critical hit that makes it occasionally punish the enemy for tanking the projectiles on armor - but I don't have the coding skills to make that work right now.

I like this approach better than the EMP approach, because it makes the weapon work more as a direct attack weapon and seems more unique and satisfying conceptually.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: sdmike1 on January 18, 2013, 07:49:40 AM
Dam that gun is going to be so sweet in game 8)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 20, 2013, 10:35:18 AM
Speaking of guns: (http://i.imgur.com/JrdIo5f.gif) SQUALL BATTERY. (http://i.imgur.com/JrdIo5f.gif)

(http://i.imgur.com/jkr04nj.png)

Three squall cannons. One large mount. 20 Ordnance points. Immeasurable destruction.

Mostly spent time trying to get rid of the coasting bug on the burst jets with EnderNerdcore and rebalancing the faction's ships, weapons and variants, but I had to make this.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Brainbread on January 23, 2013, 09:52:33 AM
So, I've been trying out the capital ship, and found it to be... well. Not sure what role its supposed to fill. Two large ballistic slots and its other armaments don't feel like enough for a 19 FP ship. At the same time, the faction has a ton of different fighters, and its only carriers are very expensive to deploy for that role, without swapping into another factions ships.

An increase of 3 or 4 FP on the capital ship, plus 2 Flight Decks would go really far in making the ship have a specific role (close support carrier, like the other carriers!). Just my 2 cents. Maybe with the new guns, it'll be a more combat-orientated ship! Or if there was a third large slot :D

Other than that, I absolutely love Blackrock Drive Yards. The ships are gorgeous, the systems are fun and engaging, and the weapons feel like they have a real impact. Did I mention they're gorgeous and fun? I've been using BDY ships exclusively in my playthrough, but I had to start using a Conquest to give the fleet some capital ship firepower.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: EnderNerdcore on January 23, 2013, 11:45:35 AM
So, I've been trying out the capital ship, and found it to be... well. Not sure what role its supposed to fill. Two large ballistic slots and its other armaments don't feel like enough for a 19 FP ship. At the same time, the faction has a ton of different fighters, and its only carriers are very expensive to deploy for that role, without swapping into another factions ships.
Keep in mind the ship system on that ship is not fully working in the current available release.
In the next version the system (plus the AI for if you're not piloting it) are significantly more functional and make it feel like more of a true cap ship.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 26, 2013, 09:35:46 AM
This changelog is growing way too huge. What the hell is wrong with me.

But more importantly:
(http://i.imgur.com/ttO2XVC.png)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Romeo_One on January 26, 2013, 09:42:19 AM
Well that certainly is a big missile(?)!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: theSONY on January 26, 2013, 11:07:34 AM
according to weapon rande its jackhammer or anything like that
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Thule on January 26, 2013, 12:46:44 PM
Triple A - Awesome As Always
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 26, 2013, 12:57:54 PM
It's got a pretty long range, the range on the screenshot just looks weird cause it's a collage.

Other things: Burst Jets now works without bugs and correctly clamps down on movespeed. The cap ship now only has one large slot, but is faster and has better coverage. Had to do it, the new gravitic impeder is just too good. Hold out for the Sachumodo if you want a cap ship that can kill Onslaughts alone.

Nerfed the Desdinova down to 90 base movespeed, use the ship system to move fast. It's still really agile, though, sick if piloted correctly. Just not completely untouchable anymore (burst jets can't reverse anymore (http://i.imgur.com/1sBuVs6.gif))

The most important change is probably the fact that the Shard is now a legit weapon choice. It has a chance to cause a little plasma explosion when it hits hull or armor, so the enemy gets punished for lowering shields to tank the kinetic damage. It's a very interesting allrounder weapon for ships with high flux/OP and I'm gonna make a dual mount for medium slots.
The new cruiser, the Stenos, can launch a single drone called the Sentinel Drone that has one ironweaver chaingun and a shard AC, plus an omnishield. Having it out boosts your sensor range and the cleverness of the autofire algorithm. It's good for harassment and soaking missiles, basically a cute lil' buddy to have around.

(http://i.imgur.com/xCu7r1s.png)

The Solenoid Quench Gun has much more range and refire rate now, making it a sort of medium slot version of the Railgun. Its perk is the extreme projectile speed.

Hmm, what else..

There is a new small kinetic weapon, basically a shotgun that instantly overloads small ships if you get up close. It's nasty as hell and fun to use.

The ironweaver chaingun isn't useless anymore. It's a version of the Vulcan that is more effective at actually attacking stuff and less effective at panic defense against missiles, with higher flux buildup.

Things I'm still unhappy with:
Scarab shipsystem
Locust shipsystem
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Tarkets on January 27, 2013, 11:12:13 AM
For some reason the idea of an on-hit effect never really occurred to me until now, that's super neato
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 27, 2013, 03:43:45 PM
Pretty sweet avatar you got going on there
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Tarkets on January 27, 2013, 08:56:18 PM
sometimes a man labors for years for the right avatar sometimes fate smiles upon you
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: ValkyriaL on January 27, 2013, 11:15:14 PM
I sure worked an eternity for mine. ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 28, 2013, 04:10:13 AM
Congratulations ???

So anyway, expect a day or two of bugfixing now, and then the release will probably coincide with UsC 17. Looks like there are some bugs to root out and probably a few last minute balance adjustments.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 30, 2013, 05:17:59 AM
Just posting to say that I'm using Uomoz' dev versions of USC 17 as a testing platform for the newest release. If you want to help test the next iteration of Blackrock content, you can head over to his thread and download it. I will upload my release here (and update the OP) after USC 17 is finished.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Brainbread on February 12, 2013, 09:39:08 AM
So, I am loving the capital ship now. Though I have one suggestion/ask. The front two missile slots don't have any overlap with each other. Though this is   ok, it would be a lot more effective, and a lot less frustrating if they did. With four Quill's, the middle two Universal Slots run out much more quickly than the front two, as they have limited effectiveness when firing at targets in front of the ship.

In order to max the effectiveness, I've been waggling my mouse left and right across the front arc of the ship to actually fire all of them. Would it be possible to rotate them so they cover the front of the ship, just so we don't deal with that?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 16, 2013, 03:14:31 PM
Yeah, I made the missile slots point at 45 degree angles a while ago. :)

Blackrock now has more energy weapons!

(http://i.imgur.com/1Y9ChpZ.png)

The "Voidspear" Plasma Discharge Emitter is a complex particle beam that easily melts enemy armor and hull, but is ineffective against force fields. It has a monstrous energy consumption, but with enough capacitors, a strongly reduced version can also be mounted in small energy slots.

Oh, and you can get rack-mounted Furies now.

In other news, I've made a custom ship for my fleet in UsC 17. It's an ancient vessel that started out as one of the first Nevermore-class cruisers ever produced, taken from Blackrock during a daring raid by Tri-Tachyon contractors. It has fallen from captain to captain and been repaired in countless battles, but Blackrock has never reclaimed it... until now. Currently in the hands of an infamous mercenary captain, the "Stormcrow" has recently had its failing engine replaced with Arcjet systems from Desdinova-class destroyers, and the unstable Antimatter Lance, with its cooling rods and all, was laboriously extracted from the ship and replaced with hardpoints for ballistic weapons, accidentally resulting in a much higher reactor output and maneuverability.

(http://i.imgur.com/pZMaavg.png)

So yea, capture this thing in Uomoz's Corvus 17 and you can produce it from the Omnifactory!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: theSONY on February 16, 2013, 04:15:17 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/pZMaavg.png)
the center looks very hypnotic
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Brainbread on February 17, 2013, 10:41:25 AM
Jesus that looks amazing. I want all of them.

Anyways! A little suggestion from playing the hell out of BRDY ships. I'm think that the Quills do too much damage per rocket. 250x3, more so with multiple linked rockets wrecks everything under the sun.

I don't think there is a single ship that I've mounted any other small rocket system on, once I've acquired Quills. In my own versions, I've dropped the damage down to 175x3 - they are very accurate (unlike the dumbfire rockets), they are very fast, and they can easily overwhelm PD.

A good example of them being ridiculous is on those huge clunky Hegemony/Pirate destroyers, with four missile slots on the front. Firing 12 quills at once one-shots a lot of ships, regardless of shields.

So anyways, thats my suggestion. I'm loving the hell out of everything in the fleet (Hunters and Scarabs tend to get themselves stuck and killed a lot, though). Especially the Phase Fighters. Very, very, very survivable and fun <3
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2013, 06:43:29 AM
Great input, Brainbread. I've been thinking the same thing re: quills for a while now, I'll probably take them down to around 150-175 damage or reduce the missile speed. I think the spamminess is the fun part of Quills though, so I'll probably just nerf the damage. : D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2013, 08:42:12 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/sE2qG5g.png)

The Scarab, reworked. It's supposed to be from around the same time as the Stenos, so I've changed it to reflect that. It also has one fixed small universal mount at the front now.

Overall, it's slower, tougher, and has more firepower. It still only has a sh*t-ratio 180 front shield for defense, but it can easily force other frigates into an unwinnable standoff with its frontal power and burst jets.

I also redesigned all the variants.

(http://i.imgur.com/UOJEaAm.png)
(Close Support, Assault, Fire Support, Point Defense)

Really happy with this, as I felt the Scarab just.. didn't feel as authentic as the other ships. It has more of a personality now.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Brainbread on February 18, 2013, 09:42:15 AM
Looks gorgeous, Cycerin!

Anything in the works for other large battery weapons? And please do not make any medium or large quills. I think that'd break the game -_-
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2013, 09:58:33 AM
Not sure, man! Any suggestions?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Brainbread on February 18, 2013, 11:34:41 AM
Large Explosive Weapon with long range, less damage than Quench Cannon. Long charge up (like the anti-matter on that other destroyer, which's name I forget). I'm sort of a fan of extremely fast moving projectiles, hence my love for the medium and large slot weapons for BRDY. Something to give long-range support. I'm also a huge fan of EMP on explosive weapons.

Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Uomoz on February 18, 2013, 04:14:52 PM
Projectile speed is usually a very underrated OP stat for a weapon. many mods have projectile speed averages way above vanilla already.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2013, 04:19:55 PM
If I made another large weapon, it would probably be one intended to siege other capital ships with. Something like a Hellbore cannon with longer range, but lower DPS and possibly an interesting on-hit effect or some other gimmick.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 21, 2013, 09:12:06 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/Bx0X3rT.png)

Next up, the Desdinova. I thought it looked like it was much smaller than it really was, somehow. It looks sleeker and more interconnected now, as well as more high-tech. Just like the no-nonsense, highly efficient killing machine it is!

(http://i.imgur.com/lWGbC82.jpg)

Spoiler
Desty Nova approves.
(http://oi51.tinypic.com/141712o.jpg)
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: theSONY on February 21, 2013, 09:25:26 AM
looks awesome BUT are the new ver gonna replace old ones or they gonna be both versions like v1(old) & v2(new) ?
(http://i.imgur.com/Bx0X3rT.png)


[/quote]

looks nice but somehow i liked the 3 blue dots at front of an old one, looks less symmetric

PS: now your mod is OFFICIAL in Chinese community

                                                                                                                        ::)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Lordzias on February 21, 2013, 09:26:14 AM
Desdinova... I knew I seen that name somewhere... :P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 21, 2013, 09:27:33 AM
These are replacements.

Well I figured the three "lenses" on the front of the old one don't scale well. If they were sensor domes, they were several meters across, etc. But yeah, it's very symmetrical now - I want it that way, though, to make the Nevermore and Desdinova stand out from the "older" Blackrock ships like the Locust, Scarab and Stenos that are decidedly asymmetrical.

PS: What? Chinese? Official? Could you.. link me or something?

Quote
Desdinova... I knew I seen that name somewhere...

Heheh. I love Alita. Also, the song Astronomy by Blue Öyster Cult, which is probably where Yukito Kishiro got it from.

"Call me Desdinova
Eternal light
These gravely digs of mine
Will surely prove a sight"
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: zakastra on February 21, 2013, 09:40:26 AM
Desdinova... I knew I seen that name somewhere... :P

Yes, Its been gently bugging me for weeks, and now I know why.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: theSONY on February 21, 2013, 10:52:32 AM
PS: What? Chinese? Official? Could you.. link me or something?
http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2174399183

well maybe not so  "official" because you didn't post it in there but your name is in there blah blah blah ...
now your work has cross the oceans (or half a globe) to spred the joy yey :D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 21, 2013, 12:16:39 PM
Whoa, that's really cool. I love the garbled google translations too:
Quote
Ah boat really exquisite passing ship Tucao under their own their own painting with PS completely three-dimensional large flat wood

 ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 23, 2013, 11:14:30 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/UmoEtnS.jpg)

Here's the 15-minute pen sketches I did of the Desdinova and Scarab before I re-drew the sprites. Never really intended for anyone to see this, but what's the harm?

Might go sit down and do a proper drawing of them in perspective once, but I'm hopeless at mechanical perspective drawing. This should get the general "idea" across, though...

Spoiler
Someday I'll make David do it for me *slowly turns towards the camera, grins maniacally*
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: ValkyriaL on February 23, 2013, 11:39:16 AM
With that sketch, i think you should PM David about it, im sure he would be happy to sketch it for you, if hes got time.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - !!v0.20 RELEASED!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 23, 2013, 12:06:24 PM
It would be cool, but I'm quite sure he's got a lot of more important things on his plate.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on February 24, 2013, 08:26:55 AM
Right people, v0.30 is out. Check the updated OP for new ship list and the new download link.

Spoiler
0.30:
GENERAL:
- Changed all sound effects that had superfluos stereo channels to mono, and changed all intentionally stereo sound effects to mono.
As a result, the sound effects in this mod will now overlap more cleanly and not overload the game's sound engine in large battles.
Did slight modifications to all sound effects (normalization, variations, cutting and shuffling, etc) during this batch
- How did this patch become so huge? Seriously. Someone delete this game from my drive and save me from myself.

SHIPS:
- Tons of minor balance readjustments once again, some of which I've probably forgotten to list here.
- Added Stenos-class Exploration Cruiser
- Added Typheus-class Pocket Carrier (Destroyer)
 Desdinova:
 - Visual update
 - Reduced max speed to 90.
 - Increased HP to 5000.
 - Increased FP cost to 13.
 - Reduced accel/decel.
 - Increased Ordnance Points to 105.
 - Slight readjustments across the board.
 // Remains to be seen if it's in a good spot, but feels right.
 Mantis:
 - Reduced HP by 100.
 - Reduced top speed by 10.
 - Reduced acceleration and deceleration slightly.
 // Same here.
 Nevermore:
 // Yet more rebalancing to get the Feel right after Burst Jet changes...
 - Increased HP to 8500.
 - Slightly increased shield efficiency.
 - Slightly increased shield arc.
 - Increased shield upkeep to 0.45
 - Medium turrets now point in the ship's facing.
 - Reduced acceleration, and deceleration and turn rate.
 Squilla:
 - Lowered max speed, increased shield efficiency.
 Gonodactylus:
 // Much love has been vested upon the Shrimp.
 - Added a rear-facing small ballistic turret
 - Improved weapon arcs to grant wider coverage
 - Changed the Hammerclaw to function as an enormous kinetic missile. 2 shots per fight. Much largeness.
 - Changed ship system to Arcjet Burners, a modified version of the original Desdinova system.
 - Increased OP to 70.
 Kurmaraja:
 - Increased top speed and handling
 - Changed rear large ballistic turret to medium universal turret
 - Changed front missile slot angles to 45 degrees
 Scarab:
 - New sprite. Now looks more like it comes from the same period as the Stenos. More asymmetry!
 - Added a new weapon slot.
 - OP increased to 55.
 - Max speed decreased.
 - Changed side sponson hardpoints to turrets
 - Rear energy turrets now point to each side of the ship for greater coverage
 - Slight readjustments across the board.
 Locust:
 - Increased HP by 100
 - Increased Maxspeed to 165
 - Increased Armor by 30
 - Increased Ordnance Points to 35
 - Increased Max Flux to 2300
 - Increased Flux Dissipation to 210
 
 SHIP SYSTEMS:
 Burst Jets:
 - Can no longer use the bug that allows you to coast at 500+ speed for minutes at a time.
 - Can no longer decelerate or reverse using Burst Jets.
 - Burst Jets now correctly clamp speed at a fixed rate.
// Burst Jets made burstier.
 Desdinova Burst Jets:
 - Max charges lowered to 2.
 Sentinel Drone:
 - Added the Sentinel Drone system for the Stenos and Typheus. Launches a single drone armed with a Shard AC and Ironweaver MG, protected by an omni shield.
 Having the Sentinel Drone out grants +50% autofire accuracy and +30% sensor range.
 Interdiction Array:
// Increased Interdiction Array efficiency, added custom Interdiction Array AI, removed locked flux buildup from the system
 
WEAPONS:
 - Added Splinter Volleygun (Small, Ballistic)
 // Close-ranged small Kinetic gun that fires a fan-shaped blast of flechettes.
 - Added Solenoid Quench Cannon (Large, Ballistic)
 // Enormous kinetic cannon with large range and relativistic projetile speed.
 - Added Squall Battery (Large, Ballistic)
 // Three squall cannons on a single turret. That's two more chances to create space orphans and space widows per salvo!
 - Added Dual Shard Autocannon (Medium, Ballistic)
 // In case you just can't get enough Shards.
 - Added Fury-class Torpedo Rack (Small, Missile)
 // In case you... yeah.
 - Added "Voidspear" Plasma Discharge Emitter (Medium, Energy)
 // Beam weapon that deals HE damage. Melts fighters and unshielded targets. Enormous flux consumption. Bad against shields.
 - Added Pulsed Plasma Discharge Emitter (Small, Energy)
 // Same, but more geared towards use as an AM blaster-type strike weapon. Cannon turn, regardless of mounting type.
~
 Solenoid Quench Gun:
 - Reduced damage, increased fire rate.
 - Slightly lowered projectile speed.
 - Increased range to 650
 - Increased flux buildup
 Shard Autocannon:
 // Completely redesigned!
 - New sprite/graphics
 - Lowered damage
 - Lowered projectile speed
 - Increased range.
 - Added chance to deal Energy damage when striking hull/armor
 - Increased flux buildup
 Argus Particle Beam:
 - Increased charges to 4
 - Lowered range to 450
 - Increased damage slightly
 - Increased flux cost
 Quill Rocket Launcher:
 - Reduced damage to 150
 Fury-class Torpedo:
 - Reduced damage to 2500
 Antiplasma Blaster:
 - Reduced proj speed to 700.
 - Increased flux consumption slightly
 Achilles MRM/Pod:
 - Reduced OP by 1
 - Now fires three smaller sabots instead of one large. Damage adjusted accordingly, but slightly bigger if all three hit.
// Probably going to recieve the Shard on-hit effect when the bug preventing missiles from having on-hit effects gets fixed.
 Squall Cannon:
 - Increased OP by 1
 - Increased flux consumption
Ironveaver Chaingun:
- New graphics
- New sound
- Now fires bursts. Increased proj speed, increased damage, increased flux cost, increased range.

MISC:
- Changed faction spawn rates and fleet compositions. Now spawns a massive combat fleet featuring a Kurmaraja occasionally, as well as desdinova/mantis hunter fleets.
- Changed faction dialogue yet again.
- Added more ship names to the faction
- Changed some strings
- Adjusted base variants.
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: sdmike1 on February 24, 2013, 10:38:55 AM
!!!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: hairrorist on February 24, 2013, 11:50:09 AM
One last question--does this mod suffer from the same vanilla bug where stations stop acquiring goods and ships after a short time?  I hate having to cheat myself millions of credits to buy out all the useless *** they acquire for every station every two months or so of playtime.  It takes a long time in Vanilla and the number of stations in this mod will make it very long indeed.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: theSONY on February 24, 2013, 11:51:18 AM
lol, i hope Uomoz's didnt miss that in his mod collection  ;D
BTW cant wait to check that out
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on February 24, 2013, 11:55:15 AM
One last question--does this mod suffer from the same vanilla bug where stations stop acquiring goods and ships after a short time?  I hate having to cheat myself millions of credits to buy out all the useless *** they acquire for every station every two months or so of playtime.  It takes a long time in Vanilla and the number of stations in this mod will make it very long indeed.

Not quite sure, I haven't personally encountered that bug.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Chronosfear on February 26, 2013, 12:40:36 PM
Hi there,
just tried out your mod a second time because now it´s included to oumoz . So I thought, I had to leave a comment.  8)

I like your design of all your ships and especially the "burst maneuvering jets" of the Scarab which makes it an awesome frigate :)
Also the proc of the "Shard Autocannons" makes those very cool and a unique sort of weapon. love them. great idea!

but :) ...
i think , that the ship system of your "Kurmaraja battlecruiser" is cool but to weak at the moment in comparison with other ship systems.
It does stop missiles, but only slow ones , so most of them don´t get influenced enough by that system, even when trying to evade them.
It might need a little buff and therefore a limited uptime.

best regards.
Chronosfear

Edit : ok seen it trys to stop bullets ,too .. but also to weak i think :)

Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: ssthehunter on February 26, 2013, 05:49:52 PM
This mod is amazing, however personally, I think you should add a flagship class ^^; (sorry, its just that I think all of these ships are amazing, but im wondering what a supercapital would be like)  Also, the gravitational system on the battleship is kinda weak, all its stopped for me before are the machine gun rounds from fighters....
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: sdmike1 on February 26, 2013, 07:22:07 PM
Hi there,
just tried out your mod a second time because now it´s included to oumoz . So I thought, I had to leave a comment.  8)

I like your design of all your ships and especially the "burst maneuvering jets" of the Scarab which makes it an awesome frigate :)
Also the proc of the "Shard Autocannons" makes those very cool and a unique sort of weapon. love them. great idea!

but :) ...
i think , that the ship system of your "Kurmaraja battlecruiser" is cool but to weak at the moment in comparison with other ship systems.
It does stop missiles, but only slow ones , so most of them don´t get influenced enough by that system, even when trying to evade them.
It might need a little buff and therefore a limited uptime.

best regards.
Chronosfear

Edit : ok seen it trys to stop bullets ,too .. but also to weak i think :)


Personally i think it is vastly overpowered, I regularly have fights where i never have to raise my Shields lol
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Dog on February 26, 2013, 07:27:04 PM
This mod is amazing, however personally, I think you should add a flagship class ^^;

If you check inside of your mod folder, you will find a mysterious ship named the Sachumundo.  This may be the ship you are looking for.

Cycerin: after fooling around in the Stormcrow, I've found the lack of real big stompy gun for BRDY.  Might I suggest a large, slow projectile speed, high damage, high flux cannon.  Something more along the lines of the Vanilla Plasma Cannon, or a sort of midway point between the Plasma Cannon and the SQC.  Other weapons don't really give the Stormcrow much punch, and I'm obsessed with using Blackrock weapons everywhere.  On the surface, it seems rather similar to Squall Batteries, but I've found that the battery is outpaced quickly by superior weapons.  Throw a little Blackrock flair in and you could have a big angry new gun.  Anyway, solid mod, keep up the outstanding work!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Brainbread on February 26, 2013, 08:44:59 PM
Since I'm not a modder, and I don't know what is/isn't possible, is it possible to make a gun that fires a heavy kinetic, then immediately fires a heavy explosive round afterwords?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on February 27, 2013, 06:16:35 AM
Brainbread, I'm pretty sure that isn't possible. Weapon damage types are hardcoded, only on-hit effects let you mess with them.

I'm loathe to design a whole heap of large weapons, because right now there are exactly two Blackrock ships that can mount them. I see your point, though.

So I've been playing a lot of USC lately, with the "hostile to all, omnifactory only" setting, and I'm pretty happy with this faction's balance overall at this point. Are there any ships that feel too powerful or too weak? Having killed everything up to a Nevermore with frig escort using nothing but 2 lashers, a few hounds and a few Echo-class scouts (ifed), the designed weaknesses seem pretty okay to exploit for the player right now.

I'm thinking I'll probably make a phase ship next. I also want to have a throwaway frigate for the faction, they're so much fun... a 3fp or 4fp frig without a shield generator, but fast as *** and with decent weaponry. Also considering to make a Nevermore version that has an enormous plasma emitter as the built-in version and functions as a subcapital, but I'm gonna be cautious about making a ton of nigh-identical ships.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Brainbread on February 27, 2013, 06:31:23 AM
I've noticed that Auto-completing against the Pocket Carriers results in... pretty much losing any fleet. Its to the point where if there is a single pocket carrier, I can't auto-complete the fight or I will lose almost everything.

Not sure exactly whats doing this, but its frustrating as all hell >.<
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: zakastra on February 27, 2013, 10:44:23 AM
Well if its any consolation, auto-resolve is probably going to be removed in the next starsector patch, so I'd take this as a wonderful opportunity to not use it.

...Waitaminute! that's not comforting at all!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: ValkyriaL on February 27, 2013, 11:17:11 AM
That's not good, i really can't be arsed fighting every single fleet i come across.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: ssthehunter on February 27, 2013, 03:10:47 PM
thats... thats a horrifying concept.  I really hope its not going to be removed.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on February 28, 2013, 09:49:29 AM
I guess if it was removed, it would be replaced by a better mechanic. I'm pretty sure Alex understands that nobody wants to fight a lone Hound with their 100fp fleet. The idea behind removing autocomplete, the way I see it, comes with the increased opportunity cost to deploying ships and the idea of wanting to ensure that there is a good reason to treat smaller battles seriously as they will be fought with smaller task forces, unless you want to invest resources into getting all your capital ships combat ready in order to swat a single frigate. Along with a general focus on more evenly matched, less one-sided combat. No reason for a player who has Onslaughts to seek out and fight small fry... when they could use them to siege an enemy factory planet for political power.

But this is a derail, people, take it to the blogposts thread.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: conorano on February 28, 2013, 02:29:16 PM
are you still taking weapon requests if so i have one here (i have more but i need to know if you want to know them first)

i was thinking about a medium variant of the tachyon lance only with high explosive damage and maybe a small emp chance. it would have low damage but long range and good rate of fire. it could be used as a good support weapon.just trowing an idea out there you can change it as you like.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Sandremo on February 28, 2013, 03:25:01 PM
That's not good, i really can't be arsed fighting every single fleet i come across.

I concur! There are times when i'm flying around with my massive freespace 2 fleets and i see a pirate "Armada" which is like 80% destroyed having only 2 carriers and 1 fighter wing charging right at me shouting "HAVE AT THEE!"

Okay the last part was in my imagination but you get the drift... i hope.

-Sandremo
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 01, 2013, 08:25:12 AM
i was thinking about a medium variant of the tachyon lance only with high explosive damage and maybe a small emp chance. it would have low damage but long range and good rate of fire. it could be used as a good support weapon.just trowing an idea out there you can change it as you like.

Sounds like the Plasma Discharge Emitter to me! Add Advanced Optics and you've basically got it. I've briefly considered adding some sort of beam effect to it, though.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on March 01, 2013, 09:52:48 PM
Any chance of us getting a battlecruiser of some sort, slow ponderous, yet awesomely powerful?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Jonlissla on March 02, 2013, 12:17:06 AM
As always, excellent ship sprites and design. The balance is alot better this time around, and no surfing around at a speed of 600 with a cruiser. The faction is in a good place now, but it feels as if it's missing a few things. Is it possible for you to add a lighter fightercraft similar to the Talon, and perhaps a larger, heavier capital ship?

Also, it feels as if every ship has different versions of Manuevering Jets. For the Nevermore, I can understand the design, and I guess the Desdinova is about close-combat mobility, but what about the Scarab?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 02, 2013, 08:04:48 AM
Any chance of us getting a battlecruiser of some sort, slow ponderous, yet awesomely powerful?

You already have a battlecruiser - the Kurmaraja. The definition of a battlecruiser is a ship with the speed and protection of a cruiser, but the armament of a battleship, by the way. ;)

A slow, ponderous, enormously powerful vessel isn't in the Blackrock spirit, so to speak.. there will be a ship that is situationally more powerful than the Kurmaraja, though. But it will take a while for me to get everything I want about that ship to feel right. Picture a teleporter that only works at 0 flux coupled with a built-in weapon that causes enormous destruction in a close radius around the ship. Now picture that on a ship the size of an Onslaught - except it's a Blackrock ship, so its weapons are all close-range burst damage. That is the Sachumodo.

Quote
but it feels as if it's missing a few things. Is it possible for you to add a lighter fightercraft similar to the Talon, and perhaps a larger, heavier capital ship?

Also, it feels as if every ship has different versions of Manuevering Jets. For the Nevermore, I can understand the design, and I guess the Desdinova is about close-combat mobility, but what about the Scarab?

What's planned right now is a corvette - basically a 3fp frigate that functions more or less like a Hound. I am also going to make a phase destroyer and a second capital ship. I might also make research variants of ships, like a prototype Desdinova or prototype Nevermore that has to be captured or earned as a reward for gaining favor with the faction. I really want, for instance, to make a Nevermore that has a toggle Lucifer generator as well as a toggle superpowered Plasma Discharge Emitter for hyper-risky glass cannon play, but I don't want to touch the current version of the ship, which I feel has settled into a nice niche.

As for the Maneuvering Jets, the Scarab and Nevermore use the exact same shipsystem. It just handles differently due to the ship stats. However, the Desdinova's system is indeed focused on twitchier movement, I also wanted to keep it separate simply to give the ship some flair.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on March 02, 2013, 09:45:00 AM
Any chance of us getting a battlecruiser of some sort, slow ponderous, yet awesomely powerful?

You already have a battlecruiser - the Kurmaraja. The definition of a battlecruiser is a ship with the speed and protection of a cruiser, but the armament of a battleship, by the way. ;)

A slow, ponderous, enormously powerful vessel isn't in the Blackrock spirit, so to speak.. there will be a ship that is situationally more powerful than the Kurmaraja, though. But it will take a while for me to get everything I want about that ship to feel right. Picture a teleporter that only works at 0 flux coupled with a built-in weapon that causes enormous destruction in a close radius around the ship. Now picture that on a ship the size of an Onslaught - except it's a Blackrock ship, so its weapons are all close-range burst damage. That is the Sachumodo.

Quote
but it feels as if it's missing a few things. Is it possible for you to add a lighter fightercraft similar to the Talon, and perhaps a larger, heavier capital ship?

Also, it feels as if every ship has different versions of Manuevering Jets. For the Nevermore, I can understand the design, and I guess the Desdinova is about close-combat mobility, but what about the Scarab?

What's planned right now is a corvette - basically a 3fp frigate that functions more or less like a Hound. I am also going to make a phase destroyer and a second capital ship. I might also make research variants of ships, like a prototype Desdinova or prototype Nevermore that has to be captured or earned as a reward for gaining favor with the faction. I really want, for instance, to make a Nevermore that has a toggle Lucifer generator as well as a toggle superpowered Plasma Discharge Emitter for hyper-risky glass cannon play, but I don't want to touch the current version of the ship, which I feel has settled into a nice niche.

As for the Maneuvering Jets, the Scarab and Nevermore use the exact same shipsystem. It just handles differently due to the ship stats. However, the Desdinova's system is indeed focused on twitchier movement, I also wanted to keep it separate simply to give the ship some flair.

Just seems like Kurmaraja just seems a little underwhelming I guess maybe because its ability isn't working?

And I just realized that Sachumodo has a picture in the data files, I like it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Jonlissla on March 02, 2013, 10:54:57 AM
Just seems like Kurmaraja just seems a little underwhelming I guess maybe because its ability isn't working?

It works, and it's very powerful.

What's planned right now is a corvette - basically a 3fp frigate that functions more or less like a Hound.


Will it count as a fighter, hence the word 'corvette'? I wouldn't mind another light frigate but we already have the Mantis fulfilling that role quite nicely.

Quote
I also wanted to keep it separate simply to give the ship some flair.

Personally it felt as if all the ships I used had manuevering jets. Granted, while I used all the ships, I mostly piloted the Scarab, Desdinova and Nevermore, so I guess it's more of a personal experience of mine. Does the Scarab need it though? What about a pair of drones which have a large shield radius to act as support instead of giving it more mobility?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Alfalfa on March 02, 2013, 03:12:05 PM
Hello, I'm loving this mod.  I haven't played Starsector with mods much largely because everything looks out of place next to the stellar vanilla artwork, but your ships fit right in both mechanically and aesthetically.

For your phase cruiser, why not some variation of the burst thrusters you can use in phase cloak?  Coast up to your target while phased, burst jet through him and turn, then unload.  You could make it slower than the Doom to compensate, or give it a decent flux cost to make it tricky to pull off without overloading.  Alternatively, I like using the 0-flux boost and/or maneuvering jets to get to high speeds then coast past enemies and do strafing runs, allowing me to vent safely afterwards; you could have a system like the burn drive that doesn't throttle your speed down when it's done, allowing you to do high speed, difficult to target bombing runs.  I don't think the AI would like that one though.

I've been thinking that it would be interesting to have ways to weaponize flux.  For the Sachumodo, instead of having it activate at 0 flux, perhaps you could make it so it deals damage proportional to the amount of stored flux and overloads.

Finally, I have to know, because it's been driving me crazy: what the hell is the Lucifer generator?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: conorano on March 03, 2013, 12:28:41 AM
the lucifer generator was the first shipsystem of the nevermore. it was a timed ability that completely locked your engines down so it made you unable to move in any way except for the velocity you had. but on the bright side, you would get like 2 or 3 times more energy weapon damage. it was meant for the nevermores built in weapon
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 03, 2013, 03:27:23 AM
To Alfalfa: Well, it's going to be a phase destroyer, not a phase cruiser. And I had actually considered a weaponized flux venting system for that ship - an emergency flux vent that damages the ship slightly, does damage to everything in close range, etc. I'm worried that burst jets would be too good on a phase ship, it would be very fun to pilot though. Glad you're enjoying the mod.

The Sachumodo in the files is a very outdated sprite and the final ship probably won't look much like that at all. :)

Been pondering adding two more turrets to the Nevermore - one small ballistic turret on each flank, pointing sideways with a 120-160 degree arc. Thoughts?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Chronosfear on March 03, 2013, 06:40:51 AM
First i thought the the shipsystem of your BC Kurmaraja is not strong enough, but hell it is. the system reduces any ballistic damage depending on the impactspeed/power left. So it´s not a missile defense as i thought in the first place :)
Maybe the system could also affect asteroids and dead ships ? or even ships getting to close ( like missiles ) because it should affect anything in it´s range :)

Nevermore with 1 more guns on each side would be awesome. the port and starboard sides are it´s real weakness in my opinion.

Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: LazyWizard on March 03, 2013, 07:16:17 AM
Something to note about the Kurmaraja's gravity field is that it becomes more powerful the closer the projectile is to the center of the ship. So those using it to block projectiles from the side will have far more luck than those using it to protect the front or back, due to the shape of the ship.

Cycerin: I'd be willing to rewrite the Kurmaraja's ship system if you want. If I recall correctly, it was a quick replacement system since the API hooks necessary for the original idea weren't implemented yet. :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Alfalfa on March 03, 2013, 03:53:37 PM
the lucifer generator was the first shipsystem of the nevermore. it was a timed ability that completely locked your engines down so it made you unable to move in any way except for the velocity you had. but on the bright side, you would get like 2 or 3 times more energy weapon damage. it was meant for the nevermores built in weapon

Oh thank you, that explains it.  I saw posts about how good it could be, how people would miss it, how it might come back in the future, et cetera, but not a word as to what it actually was!

To Alfalfa: Well, it's going to be a phase destroyer, not a phase cruiser. And I had actually considered a weaponized flux venting system for that ship - an emergency flux vent that damages the ship slightly, does damage to everything in close range, etc. I'm worried that burst jets would be too good on a phase ship, it would be very fun to pilot though. Glad you're enjoying the mod.

The Sachumodo in the files is a very outdated sprite and the final ship probably won't look much like that at all. :)

Been pondering adding two more turrets to the Nevermore - one small ballistic turret on each flank, pointing sideways with a 120-160 degree arc. Thoughts?

Well, if it's a destroyer, depending on its loadout it might not be too powerful with burst jets.  That flux venting system sounds good, though.  Being surrounded with high flux is pretty much a death sentence for phase ships in my experience, unless it has crazy venting, and I tend to prefer capacitors over vents on phase ships.

Aw, I thought the Sachumodo looked boss, but I'm sure you'll come up with something great.

As for the Nevermore, I'm currently using it as my flagship in my Blackrock fleet and haven't had much trouble with missiles, though that could just be the dual flaks being awesome.  I doubt a couple small turrets on a cruiser would unbalance it though.

Serket fighters are fantastic, by the way.  I think they're the most survivable fighters in the game, which is a big consideration for me.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Jonlissla on March 04, 2013, 05:06:52 AM
Been pondering adding two more turrets to the Nevermore - one small ballistic turret on each flank, pointing sideways with a 120-160 degree arc. Thoughts?

Not necessary if you ask me. It feels like it's in a solid place now. Wouldn't mind if it had the High Energy Focus subsystem though, it would be a perfect match.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: EnderNerdcore on March 04, 2013, 07:14:22 AM
Been pondering adding two more turrets to the Nevermore - one small ballistic turret on each flank, pointing sideways with a 120-160 degree arc. Thoughts?

Not necessary if you ask me. It feels like it's in a solid place now. Wouldn't mind if it had the High Energy Focus subsystem though, it would be a perfect match.
God no, the Nevermore's current ship system is perfect and is the reason I use it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 04, 2013, 04:56:47 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/3VJBKHr.png)

The new Sachumodo. Still a work in progress, both sprite and ship, but... this is pretty much the final shape.

(http://i.imgur.com/YXgWaeT.png)

The Robberfly-class Corvette, a 3fp frigate without a shield, fast and with a highly efficient flare launcher.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: sdmike1 on March 04, 2013, 08:25:19 PM
Well it is different, i don't know if that is a good thing yet but it certainly is different :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Brainbread on March 05, 2013, 09:15:58 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/3VJBKHr.png)

The new Sachumodo. Still a work in progress, both sprite and ship, but... this is pretty much the final shape.

Cycerin. Stop it. I'm having enough trouble playing any faction other than Blackrock, and this is just making it harder (though, I will admit. The frigates and non Serjit fighters feel like they're made of glass near the endgame, as does the Desindova. So I generally stick with the Carriers and Nevermores).

And I still haven't got my hands on the special edition Nevermore (I've killed that fleet a dozen times, its *** me off xD)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 05, 2013, 09:25:12 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/p9FPK7u.jpg)

I also touched up the Nevermore sprite recently, it looks a bit better now. The added turrets make it much less vulnerable to flanking by frigates, but the ship still has the base ordnance points. Might increase it to 155.

(http://i.imgur.com/u0NUpHD.png)

Wouldn't say the Desdinova feels glassy in the player's hands, with a well skilled character and enough kinetic weapons you can easily ruin high-tech ships. Extended shields is actually really good on it if you spec Technology and have the requisite OP - the AI can do fairly well with it then, but can quickly screw up with a glass cannon setup that a player might use well.

Was wondering if its shield would do with a wider base radius or if the ship should simply be given a tad more HP, its so easy to kill it when it's AI-piloted.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: HeliosRX on March 05, 2013, 05:38:21 PM
I gotta say, I absolute love this mod!

That said, I absolutely loath the changes you've made to the coolest and most useful ship system I've ever run across in Starsector. First, we had the amazing Arc Jet Burner, which I ended up slapping onto any modded ship without a preinstalled ship system because it was so good. Then, you nerfed it to the Burst Maneuvering Jets, which were still really useful and cool (and kind of balanced by the fact that you couldn't steer after reaching maximum momentum). And now it's lost most of its wonderful utility and all of its great lore, since
A) If I recall correctly, It's no longer fueled by shunting flux into an awesome system from the shield generators or something.
B) You can't infinitely coast if you time your acceleration really well.

In my eyes, B) was the primary use for such a ship system and it's what BRDY such a great threat at lower ship tiers. I highly doubt nerfing it was necessary, and now the Desdinova is just 'regular' instead of being a super-speed badass.

Please consider changing the system back. I'm addicted to the faction, so it just kinda sucks when the best ship is nerfed.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 05, 2013, 07:26:10 PM
First off I'm really happy that you've played and enjoyed my mod for so long. ;D

Well, the arcjet burner remains - the Gonodactylus is using it. The reason for this is the same as why Enforcers, Onslaughts etc. have Burn Drive and not Tempests - a slow, predictable ship suddenly becoming fast and unpredictable is more fun to play as and against than a fast ship that becomes even faster and thus impossible to avoid. That said, you can assume that the Arc Jet Thrusters for the Desdinova still work in a similar way lore-wise - the ship is built around the engines, after all. If you want a Desdinova with Arcjet Burners, all you have to do is change some stuff in the spreadsheets. ;0 I'd still say the Desdinova is quite far from regular, though - if you want to be a speed monster, you can spec your character accordingly and it is the fastest overall destroyer in the game.

I took out the coasting on the burst jets (it was quite an ordeal to accomplish, given how thrust works in the game) because it's kind of silly to deploy a cruiser first and just bully every single enemy frigate far out of being able to cap any nodes. There needs to be tradeoffs, unfortunately, for things to have balance, but nobody is stopping you from modding my mod to your own tastes. The feature was never intended in the first place, and I didn't realize what people were talking about in the thread until I accidentally discovered it on my own.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: MShadowy on March 05, 2013, 09:21:35 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/3VJBKHr.png)

The new Sachumodo. Still a work in progress, both sprite and ship, but... this is pretty much the final shape.

Edit:  Nevermind, I somehow conflated the Sachimodo and Kumaraja.  Looking at them I'd say your redesign is actually generally quite improved.  Though I'm not so sure about the spines poking out of the side.

Quote
(http://i.imgur.com/YXgWaeT.png)

The Robberfly-class Corvette, a 3fp frigate without a shield, fast and with a highly efficient flare launcher.

Nifty little ship.  I definitely like the hull shape on her.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Alfalfa on March 05, 2013, 11:12:23 PM
I've been playing around with the Kurmaraja's gravity field code and I've finally come up with something respectable that works closer to actual gravity (or actual reversed gravity that is).

Code
public class GravityField implements ShipSystemStatsScript
{
    private static float FIELD_RANGE = 1000f;
    private static float FIELD_STRENGTH = 0.00000005f;
    private static float FIELD_STRENGTH_CONSTANT = 6f;
    private static float FIELD_STRENGTH_SQUARED = 3f;
    private static boolean MUTUAL_GRAVITY = false;
    private static boolean GRAVITY_PROPORTIONAL_TO_MASS = false;
    private static float PROPORTIONAL_GRAVITY = 0.1f;
    private static float INVERSE_GRAVITY = 10000f;
    private static float DISTANCE_WEIGHT = 1f;
    //private static Color FIELD_COLOR = Color.CYAN;
    private static Color FIELD_COLOR = new Color(142, 112, 248); // some color idk
   
    @Override
    public void apply(MutableShipStatsAPI stats, String id, State state, float effectLevel)
    {
        ShipAPI ship = CombatUtils.getOwner(stats);

        if (ship == null)
        {
            return;
        }
       
        Vector2f velocity;
        Vector2f shipvelocity;
        Vector2f gravvelocity = new Vector2f();
        Vector2f direction = new Vector2f();
        Vector2f curlocation;
        Vector2f shiplocation;
        CombatEntityAPI current;
        float curdistance;       
        float gravforce;
        List workdamnit = CombatUtils.getCombatEngine().getProjectiles();
        //workdamnit.addAll(CombatUtils.getCombatEngine().getShips());
        //workdamnit.addAll(CombatUtils.getCombatEngine().getAsteroids());
        for (Iterator iter = CombatUtils.getCombatEngine().getProjectiles().iterator();
                iter.hasNext();)
        {       
       
            current = (CombatEntityAPI) iter.next();
            curdistance = CombatUtils.getDistance(current, ship) * DISTANCE_WEIGHT;
           
            if ((current.getOwner() == ship.getOwner()) || (curdistance > FIELD_RANGE))
            {
                // Don't affect friendly projectiles
                continue;
            }
           
            velocity = current.getVelocity();
            shiplocation = ship.getLocation();
            curlocation = current.getLocation();
           
            if (GRAVITY_PROPORTIONAL_TO_MASS) {
            gravforce = (float) (PROPORTIONAL_GRAVITY * ((ship.getMass() * current.getMass()) / Math.pow(curdistance, 2)));
            }
            else {
            gravforce = (float) (INVERSE_GRAVITY * (ship.getMass() / (Math.pow(curdistance, 2) * current.getMass())));
            }
           
           
            direction.x = curlocation.x - shiplocation.x;
            direction.y = curlocation.y - shiplocation.y;
           
            gravvelocity.x = gravforce * (direction.x / curdistance);
            gravvelocity.y = gravforce * (direction.y / curdistance);
           
            if (MUTUAL_GRAVITY)
            {
            shipvelocity = ship.getVelocity();
            shipvelocity.set(shipvelocity.x - gravvelocity.x * (current.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())), shipvelocity.y - gravvelocity.y * (current.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())));
            velocity.set(velocity.x + gravvelocity.x * (ship.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())), velocity.y + gravvelocity.y * (ship.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())));
            } else {
            velocity.set(velocity.x + gravvelocity.x, velocity.y + gravvelocity.y);
            }
           
            //velocity.x += gravvelocity.x;
            //velocity.y += gravvelocity.y;
           
        }
       
        for (Iterator iter = CombatUtils.getCombatEngine().getShips().iterator();
        iter.hasNext();)
{       

        current = (CombatEntityAPI) iter.next();
           
            if (current.getOwner() == ship.getOwner()) {
           
            continue;
           
            }
           
            if (((ShipAPI) current).isFighter())
            {
           
            for (Iterator iter2 = ((ShipAPI)current).getWingMembers().iterator();
                iter2.hasNext();)
        {       
       
                current = (CombatEntityAPI) iter2.next();
                    curdistance = CombatUtils.getDistance(current, ship) * DISTANCE_WEIGHT;
                   
                    if (curdistance > FIELD_RANGE) {
                   
                    continue;
                   
                    }
                   
                    velocity = current.getVelocity();
                    shiplocation = ship.getLocation();
                    curlocation = current.getLocation();
                   
                    if (GRAVITY_PROPORTIONAL_TO_MASS) {
                    gravforce = (float) (PROPORTIONAL_GRAVITY * ((ship.getMass() * current.getMass()) / Math.pow(curdistance, 2)));
                    }
                    else {
                    gravforce = (float) (INVERSE_GRAVITY * (ship.getMass() / (Math.pow(curdistance, 2) * current.getMass())));
                    }
                   
                   
                    direction.x = curlocation.x - shiplocation.x;
                    direction.y = curlocation.y - shiplocation.y;
                   
                    gravvelocity.x = gravforce * (direction.x / curdistance);
                    gravvelocity.y = gravforce * (direction.y / curdistance);
                   
                    if (MUTUAL_GRAVITY)
                    {
                    shipvelocity = ship.getVelocity();
                    shipvelocity.set(shipvelocity.x - gravvelocity.x * (current.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())), shipvelocity.y - gravvelocity.y * (current.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())));
                    velocity.set(velocity.x + gravvelocity.x * (ship.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())), velocity.y + gravvelocity.y * (ship.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())));
                    } else {
                    velocity.set(velocity.x + gravvelocity.x, velocity.y + gravvelocity.y);
                    }
        }
           
            }
           
            curdistance = CombatUtils.getDistance(current, ship) * DISTANCE_WEIGHT;         
           
            if (curdistance > FIELD_RANGE)
            {
                // Don't affect friendly projectiles
                continue;
            }
           
            velocity = current.getVelocity();
            shiplocation = ship.getLocation();
            curlocation = current.getLocation();
           
            if (GRAVITY_PROPORTIONAL_TO_MASS) {
            gravforce = (float) (PROPORTIONAL_GRAVITY * ((ship.getMass() * current.getMass()) / Math.pow(curdistance, 2)));
            }
            else {
            gravforce = (float) (INVERSE_GRAVITY * (ship.getMass() / (Math.pow(curdistance, 2) * current.getMass())));
            }
           
           
            direction.x = curlocation.x - shiplocation.x;
            direction.y = curlocation.y - shiplocation.y;
           
            gravvelocity.x = gravforce * (direction.x / curdistance);
            gravvelocity.y = gravforce * (direction.y / curdistance);
           
            if (MUTUAL_GRAVITY)
            {
            shipvelocity = ship.getVelocity();
            shipvelocity.set(shipvelocity.x - gravvelocity.x * (current.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())), shipvelocity.y - gravvelocity.y * (current.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())));
            velocity.set(velocity.x + gravvelocity.x * (ship.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())), velocity.y + gravvelocity.y * (ship.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())));
            } else {
            velocity.set(velocity.x + gravvelocity.x, velocity.y + gravvelocity.y);
            }             
   
}
       
        for (Iterator iter = CombatUtils.getCombatEngine().getAsteroids().iterator();
        iter.hasNext();)
{       

        current = (CombatEntityAPI) iter.next();
            curdistance = CombatUtils.getDistance(current, ship) * DISTANCE_WEIGHT;
           
            if ((current.getOwner() == ship.getOwner()) || (curdistance > FIELD_RANGE))
            {
                // Don't affect friendly projectiles
                continue;
            }
           
            velocity = current.getVelocity();
            shiplocation = ship.getLocation();
            curlocation = current.getLocation();
           
            if (GRAVITY_PROPORTIONAL_TO_MASS) {
            gravforce = (float) (PROPORTIONAL_GRAVITY * ((ship.getMass() * current.getMass()) / Math.pow(curdistance, 2)));
            }
            else {
            gravforce = (float) (INVERSE_GRAVITY * (ship.getMass() / (Math.pow(curdistance, 2) * current.getMass())));
            }           
           
            direction.x = curlocation.x - shiplocation.x;
            direction.y = curlocation.y - shiplocation.y;
           
            gravvelocity.x = gravforce * (direction.x / curdistance);
            gravvelocity.y = gravforce * (direction.y / curdistance);
           
            if (MUTUAL_GRAVITY)
            {
            shipvelocity = ship.getVelocity();
            shipvelocity.set(shipvelocity.x - gravvelocity.x * (current.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())), shipvelocity.y - gravvelocity.y * (current.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())));
            velocity.set(velocity.x + gravvelocity.x * (ship.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())), velocity.y + gravvelocity.y * (ship.getMass() / (ship.getMass() + current.getMass())));
            } else {
            velocity.set(velocity.x + gravvelocity.x, velocity.y + gravvelocity.y);
            }
   
        }
    }

The replicated portions deal with ships and asteroids, respectively.  I had a more elegant implementation but concatenating the entity lists produced horrific lag.  The constants at the top allow you to modify the effects in various ways.  It's currently set so the force is inversely proportional to an object's mass, counter to how gravity typically functions.  The other way makes capital ships bounce off the field, which looks a bit silly.  I'm a bit tired now so I'll leave it at that.  If anyone is curious about anything regarding this I can answer your questions tomorrow.

Sachumodo looks mean, by the way.  Definitely more in-line with a Paragon or Onslaught than the old one.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 07, 2013, 09:09:32 AM
Thanks for the appreciation Shadowy! Regarding the Kurma's system, I am of the opinion that there currently isn't anything wrong with it. However I'm talking to LazyWizard about a possible redesign.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Sandremo on March 07, 2013, 09:12:31 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/3VJBKHr.png)

The new Sachumodo. Still a work in progress, both sprite and ship, but... this is pretty much the final shape.

(http://i.imgur.com/YXgWaeT.png)

The Robberfly-class Corvette, a 3fp frigate without a shield, fast and with a highly efficient flare launcher.

 /piff (From ragnarok online :P) I want! <3

-Sandremo
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: theSONY on March 07, 2013, 10:03:06 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/3VJBKHr.png)

The new Sachumodo. Still a work in progress, both sprite and ship, but... this is pretty much the final shape.

(http://i.imgur.com/YXgWaeT.png)

The Robberfly-class Corvette, a 3fp frigate without a shield, fast and with a highly efficient flare launcher.
i got I have mixed feelings about this
i like your ships designs & the whole mod it self
but there is something that disturb's  me in this ship, somehow it don't fit to the rest of the ships, i dunno maybe its just me
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: conorano on March 07, 2013, 10:19:18 AM
i quite like the sachumodo, only i feel a heavy weapon slot or a built-in is missing... is this a cruiser?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: sirboomalot on March 07, 2013, 01:05:59 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/3VJBKHr.png)

The new Sachumodo. Still a work in progress, both sprite and ship, but... this is pretty much the final shape.

(http://i.imgur.com/YXgWaeT.png)

The Robberfly-class Corvette, a 3fp frigate without a shield, fast and with a highly efficient flare launcher.
i got I have mixed feelings about this
i like your ships designs & the whole mod it self
but there is something that disturb's  me in this ship, somehow it don't fit to the rest of the ships, i dunno maybe its just me

I think the difference is that the Sachumodo is a lot wider than the rest of this mod's ships, though it doesn't really bother me all that much. As for the robberfly class, I like it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 07, 2013, 01:23:22 PM
i quite like the sachumodo, only i feel a heavy weapon slot or a built-in is missing... is this a cruiser?

It will have a built-in weapon. It also has four large weapon slots.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: conorano on March 07, 2013, 01:25:49 PM
It does? Aah now i see it. I thought those were mediums ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Alfalfa on March 07, 2013, 03:00:11 PM
Thanks for the appreciation Shadowy! Regarding the Kurma's system, I am of the opinion that there currently isn't anything wrong with it. However I'm talking to LazyWizard about a possible redesign.

Oh, I've grown quite fond of the Kurmaraja, that's why I was experimenting with it.  The system I made introduces some interesting behaviours, though.  It's about as effective as the original against projectiles, although heavy projectiles such as Hellbore rounds are difficult to deflect.  Faster missiles such as Sabots and Harpoons can power through it, Pilums are just barely stopped, and it's very amusing watching an Onslaught overload itself by throwing its swarm of Annihilator missiles back in its teeth.  The effects on fighters are significant as well, with bombers being held mostly at bay and others suffering from reduced agility.

If you have the time you should play around with it a bit; for inspiration, if nothing else.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: HeliosRX on March 07, 2013, 04:39:56 PM
First off I'm really happy that you've played and enjoyed my mod for so long. ;D

Well, the arcjet burner remains - the Gonodactylus is using it. The reason for this is the same as why Enforcers, Onslaughts etc. have Burn Drive and not Tempests - a slow, predictable ship suddenly becoming fast and unpredictable is more fun to play as and against than a fast ship that becomes even faster and thus impossible to avoid. That said, you can assume that the Arc Jet Thrusters for the Desdinova still work in a similar way lore-wise - the ship is built around the engines, after all. If you want a Desdinova with Arcjet Burners, all you have to do is change some stuff in the spreadsheets. ;0 I'd still say the Desdinova is quite far from regular, though - if you want to be a speed monster, you can spec your character accordingly and it is the fastest overall destroyer in the game.

I took out the coasting on the burst jets (it was quite an ordeal to accomplish, given how thrust works in the game) because it's kind of silly to deploy a cruiser first and just bully every single enemy frigate far out of being able to cap any nodes. There needs to be tradeoffs, unfortunately, for things to have balance, but nobody is stopping you from modding my mod to your own tastes. The feature was never intended in the first place, and I didn't realize what people were talking about in the thread until I accidentally discovered it on my own.

Thanks for the explanation, I believe I understand the background of the issue and the justification for the fix now. I personally loved running around in a superfast destroyer that required some decent trajectory planning to use properly, but I understand how detrimental that can be to game balance.

That said, I have nearly no experience with modifying the necessary files. Can you please tell me what I need to edit in order to remove the max speed clamp?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on March 07, 2013, 04:42:32 PM
Thanks for the appreciation Shadowy! Regarding the Kurma's system, I am of the opinion that there currently isn't anything wrong with it. However I'm talking to LazyWizard about a possible redesign.

Oh, I've grown quite fond of the Kurmaraja, that's why I was experimenting with it.  The system I made introduces some interesting behaviours, though.  It's about as effective as the original against projectiles, although heavy projectiles such as Hellbore rounds are difficult to deflect.  Faster missiles such as Sabots and Harpoons can power through it, Pilums are just barely stopped, and it's very amusing watching an Onslaught overload itself by throwing its swarm of Annihilator missiles back in its teeth.  The effects on fighters are significant as well, with bombers being held mostly at bay and others suffering from reduced agility.

If you have the time you should play around with it a bit; for inspiration, if nothing else.

Is there anyway of increasing the strength of the field?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: SainnQ on March 07, 2013, 07:32:22 PM
Is the Sachumodo a Capital by any chance? And if so is there any particular ETA?

Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: banehunter on March 07, 2013, 07:37:25 PM
Is the Sachumodo a Capital by any chance? And if so is there any particular ETA?



Indeed good sir, if I can draw your attention to the 4 large ballistic points I think you will understand your sillyness. Oh btw is this in the newest build of Uomoz's Corvus 17.1?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: SainnQ on March 07, 2013, 08:01:37 PM
Is the Sachumodo a Capital by any chance? And if so is there any particular ETA?



Indeed good sir, if I can draw your attention to the 4 large ballistic points I think you will understand your sillyness. Oh btw is this in the newest build of Uomoz's Corvus 17.1?

Spare me! I haven't been playing long enough to be able to recognize turret sizes at a glance.  :P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: banehunter on March 07, 2013, 08:15:05 PM
i quite like the sachumodo, only i feel a heavy weapon slot or a built-in is missing... is this a cruiser?

It will have a built-in weapon. It also has four large weapon slots.
:P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Alfalfa on March 07, 2013, 09:28:29 PM
Is there anyway of increasing the strength of the field?

Yes, with the current settings changing the constant INVERSE_GRAVITY will alter the field strength.

For reference, an explanation on the constants:

    private static float FIELD_RANGE = 1000f;
This sets at what range the field will begin to have an effect on objects.  Depending on the other settings, the effect is likely to be negligible at this distance.

    private static float FIELD_STRENGTH = 0.00000005f;
    private static float FIELD_STRENGTH_CONSTANT = 6f;
    private static float FIELD_STRENGTH_SQUARED = 3f;
These are the original field strength constants and ones for previous implementations I made.  They are all unused in this iteration.

    private static boolean MUTUAL_GRAVITY = false;
This determines whether the Kurmaraja is affected by the gravitational forces it generates.  If so, the force is split depending on the respective masses of the Kurmaraja and what it is affecting.  Produces some odd results due to the disproportionate mass of projectiles to ships (missile surfing is quite entertaining ;)) and the implementation of engine thrust (which negates the force entirely).

    private static boolean GRAVITY_PROPORTIONAL_TO_MASS = false;
This determines whether the field operates as a direct reversal of normal gravity (where greater masses generate greater forces) or whether the force is inversely proportional to the objects mass.  Given the original function of the field I have it set to the inverse so it is more effective against projectiles and less so against ships.

    private static float PROPORTIONAL_GRAVITY = 0.1f;
    private static float INVERSE_GRAVITY = 10000f;
These are the field strengths of the proportional to mass and inversely proportional implementations, respectively, and are what you were looking for.

    private static float DISTANCE_WEIGHT = 1f;
This is simply a constant to scale the effect of distance to your taste.

I'm not trying to foist this off on anyone, by the way.  I simply found the idea of the system intriguing, wanted to test the limits of what could be done with it, and was pleased enough with the result that I wanted to share it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 08, 2013, 10:41:58 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/NDJpaL5.png)

Begin gratuitously evil and pulpy teaser:

"How are we going to find crewmen that are willing to serve aboard this thing? You're talking unavoidable gamma ray exposure, ambient lacerations to DNA... I'd put crew life expectancy around two months at most. Not even Deadbloods are going to want to climb into the airlocks on this... this vessel. You cancelled the job yourself, first time around, Sir - although, I don't mean to imply-"

Roland Augustmoon leaned forward in his chair, aged synthetic wood creaking in protest. His eyes met the Chief Designer's, who had to blink. The twin pinlights, those orbs - too *small* for their sockets, their attention always accompanied with a hypersonic keening. Familiarity didn't make it easier to deal with.

The model hovered over the table surface in an exploded view - pieces fitting together perfectly, joined by the metaphasic flux conduits that streamed out from the generator and filled the entire vessel. A spaceship, he knew, that would inevitably poison the life out of its crew.

Augustmoon's finger tapped the desktop as he spoke. "We don't deal in moral absolutes here at Blackrock, chief designer. Are you suggesting that there is some sort of tradeoff here that... we shouldn't be prepared to make?"

"N-no, Sir. I'm just saying that it will be an enormous resource drain on any fleet willing to accept the obvious risks. Why would we want to strain our lines of production with a new blueprint, when we already have the base model in steady production, with combat protocols already trialed in live combat, the Sector already spreading rumors-"

"The Nevermore guarantees nothing. Only this can guarantee that capital ships become a liability in the Sector. This is everyone's loss, and everyone's gain, Mr. Wondermere. This proves that we are through with being intimidated. It will be like a sword hanging over their heads, tied by a thin string, ready to snap."

"What do you mean, Sir?"

If Roland Augustmoon still had eyelids, he would have squinted. "An ancient idiom. You understand what I'm implying."

The Chief Designer nodded quickly, and gathered his papers with both arms.

"I will notify the committee, then... and call a meeting in two hours," he said.

He could feel Augustmoon's gaze creeping up the nape of his neck as he waited for the doors to slide open.

"Like a sword hanging over all our heads," he thought, exhaling in relief as he stepped outside into the dry air.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: conorano on March 08, 2013, 10:51:04 AM
this one looks much more.. fat XD i do like it though, but it needs to be durable.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 08, 2013, 10:55:22 AM
It's situationally as powerful as a battlecruiser, but classed as a cruiser. Also, it does not replace the current Nevermore.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: conorano on March 08, 2013, 11:07:39 AM
well this all looks promising. have you ever continued work on your drone faction or is that not on the agenda any time soon? if thats no project for you anymore i would like to see a blackrock drone support ship. maybe with long ranged lasers or something (yes im obsessed with long ranged wapons thats why i keep asking things like that  ;D)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: zakastra on March 08, 2013, 11:56:53 AM
Can We get some coders to make it actively kill crew in normal running conditions without any damage required? That would be a superb trade-off of power verses utility
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: FlashFrozen on March 08, 2013, 12:17:22 PM
Hehe with a backstory like that, I'm almost surprised it isn't named Damocles :P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 08, 2013, 12:33:25 PM
Funnily enough, its built-in weapon is named the Sword of Damocles!

zakastra: Eventually I'd like to make custom accidents for the ship involving crew loss.

All in all, in these little snippets of lore, I hope the ruthlessness of Blackrock Drive Yards is coming through. Megacorporations... never the good guys.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on March 08, 2013, 03:42:33 PM
Is there anyway of increasing the strength of the field?

Yes, with the current settings changing the constant INVERSE_GRAVITY will alter the field strength.

For reference, an explanation on the constants:

    private static float FIELD_RANGE = 1000f;
This sets at what range the field will begin to have an effect on objects.  Depending on the other settings, the effect is likely to be negligible at this distance.

    private static float FIELD_STRENGTH = 0.00000005f;
    private static float FIELD_STRENGTH_CONSTANT = 6f;
    private static float FIELD_STRENGTH_SQUARED = 3f;
These are the original field strength constants and ones for previous implementations I made.  They are all unused in this iteration.

    private static boolean MUTUAL_GRAVITY = false;
This determines whether the Kurmaraja is affected by the gravitational forces it generates.  If so, the force is split depending on the respective masses of the Kurmaraja and what it is affecting.  Produces some odd results due to the disproportionate mass of projectiles to ships (missile surfing is quite entertaining ;)) and the implementation of engine thrust (which negates the force entirely).

    private static boolean GRAVITY_PROPORTIONAL_TO_MASS = false;
This determines whether the field operates as a direct reversal of normal gravity (where greater masses generate greater forces) or whether the force is inversely proportional to the objects mass.  Given the original function of the field I have it set to the inverse so it is more effective against projectiles and less so against ships.

    private static float PROPORTIONAL_GRAVITY = 0.1f;
    private static float INVERSE_GRAVITY = 10000f;
These are the field strengths of the proportional to mass and inversely proportional implementations, respectively, and are what you were looking for.

    private static float DISTANCE_WEIGHT = 1f;
This is simply a constant to scale the effect of distance to your taste.

I'm not trying to foist this off on anyone, by the way.  I simply found the idea of the system intriguing, wanted to test the limits of what could be done with it, and was pleased enough with the result that I wanted to share it.

So what file would be edited to do the changes, the subsytem file?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Thule on March 08, 2013, 04:23:51 PM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/NDJpaL5.png)

"How are we going to find crewmen that are willing to serve aboard this thing? You're talking the whole load here - potential gamma ray exposure, ambient phasic bleed lacerations to DNA... I'd put crew life expectancy around two months at most. Not even Deadbloods are going to want to climb into the airlocks on this... this torture instrument! You cancelled Project Lucifer yourself, Sir - although I don't mean to imply-"

Roland Augustmoon leaned forward in his ostentatious chair, unimaginably expensive woodwork from Lodestone's resource-rich past creaking in protest. It wasn't a sight you could get used to easily - those charismatic, crow's feet-lined eyes... and then the cold light shimmering from within, those orbs - too *small* for their sockets, silently observing you. The chief designer swallowed, making a noise that easily filled the room.
The ship model hovered over the table surface in an exploded view - pieces fitting together perfectly, joined by the metaphasic flux conduits that streamed out from the Lucifer Generator and filled the entire vessel. A spaceship, he knew, that would inevitably poison the life out of its crew.

"We don't deal in moral absolutes here at Blackrock, chief designer. Are you suggesting that there is some sort of tradeoff here that... we shouldn't be prepared to make?"

"N-no, Sir Augustmoon. I'm just saying that it will be an enormous resource drain on any fleet willing to accept the obvious risks. Why would we want to strain our omnifacs with a new blueprint, when we already have the Nevermore line in steady production, with combat protocols already trialed in live combat, the Sector already spreading rumors-"

"The Nevermore guarantees nothing. Only this can guarantee... that capital ships become a liability in the Sector. This is everyone's loss, and everyone's gain, Mr. Wondermere. This proves that we are done being intimidated by the snivelling Tri-Tachyon hypocrites and their Domain battlestations. It will be like a sword hanging over their heads, tied by a thin string, ready to snap."

The Chief Designer nodded quickly, and gathered his papers, eager to leave the room.

"I will notify the committee, then... and call a meeting in two hours," he said.

He could feel Augustmoon's gaze creeping up the nape of his neck as he waited for the doors to slide open.

"Like a sword hanging over all our heads," he thought, closing his eyes as he stepped outside into the dry air.
[close]

Wow, great, really great.....it's great.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: sdmike1 on March 10, 2013, 07:21:29 AM
Funnily enough, its built-in weapon is named the Sword of Damocles!
Yesssssss!!!!2122321qefa!!

That is so great! lol (not necessarily funny just a feeling of great joy)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Alfalfa on March 14, 2013, 03:12:14 PM
I want that.  I need that.  Crew be damned.

So what file would be edited to do the changes, the subsytem file?

Go to the mod folder, then to data\shipsystems\scripts, open GravityField.java, and replace the apply function with mine.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: arcibalde on March 14, 2013, 03:31:49 PM
I just drop by to say that Nevermore is my favorite ship in UC. I usually go for biggest but this dude... It's just... DAMN! SO damn good man. It can shoot, it can push ships, it can push wrecks and kill someone with it... So fun  ;D  And that gun, o boy that gun is so wort every single crew lost do to overloading.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on March 14, 2013, 03:54:51 PM
I want that.  I need that.  Crew be damned.

So what file would be edited to do the changes, the subsytem file?

Go to the mod folder, then to data\shipsystems\scripts, open GravityField.java, and replace the apply function with mine.

Thank you much for the info, greatly appreciate it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Trylobot on March 15, 2013, 12:56:57 AM
Cycerin, you are a credit to the modding community. Great work here, all around.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 18, 2013, 08:33:31 AM
Thanks a lot Trylo. I wouldn't have been able to get very far without your ship editor. ;)

So in other news, I just tweaked the faction some more. Ironweaver has a new sprite and now fires twin bullets from both barrels at the same time. It does more DPS, has a bigger chance of hitting incoming missiles and builds a tad more flux. The Desdinova's ship system now provides a longer burst of thrust, doesn't have charges anymore and just a straight cooldown like the Burn Drive for better UI feedback. I also changed the sound effect of the Arcjet Thruster... AGAIN.

I'm also playtesting and working on the Nevermore B and the Sachumodo.

(http://i.imgur.com/F5EF00M.jpg)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: sdmike1 on March 18, 2013, 09:13:08 AM
It is so beautiful :'(
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on March 18, 2013, 12:21:22 PM
When can I has?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: theSONY on March 18, 2013, 01:07:33 PM
When can I has?
i don;t like the red beam ;/ maybe its just "the picture" & it will be better looking in the game
ow & the ship looks like cyber dreads sam fisher from the future :D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: SainnQ on March 18, 2013, 01:36:34 PM
Y'know I really underestimated the lethality of Quench cannons, untill I could mount more then 2 at a time.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 18, 2013, 03:18:31 PM
Yeah. The alpha strike is extremely useful against smaller ships. I'm wondering if I might have to bump up the OP cost to handicap quench gun based outfits a bit.. or lower the range.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Uomoz on March 18, 2013, 03:48:46 PM
Alpha strike is OP in general balance. That's why it's actually very rare in vanilla (am blaster and missiles generally).
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 18, 2013, 04:33:47 PM
Pretty much.. or ammo-capped harshly, like the Venture's sabot/harpoon + fast missile racks wombo combo.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on March 23, 2013, 04:51:49 AM
Just a suggestion for the Solenoid Quench cannon, since it has an animation of it cooling down, why not have the animation close when the gun is ready to be fired again, and while it can't fire have the heat shields open?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 23, 2013, 09:09:55 AM
The firing chamber needs to close to re-fill with ferrofluid.  ;)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: MShadowy on March 23, 2013, 09:44:09 AM
When can I has?
i don;t like the red beam ;/ maybe its just "the picture" & it will be better looking in the game
ow & the ship looks like cyber dreads sam fisher from the future :D

Well, I think it could be looking better, though I do kind of like that red.  It feels a bit too uniform, perhaps.  Well, we'll how it looks when we can play around with it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on March 23, 2013, 02:44:36 PM
The firing chamber needs to close to re-fill with ferrofluid.  ;)


Ah I understand now.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Fantastic Chimni on March 25, 2013, 02:33:47 PM
I cant wait for the next release of this mod, and the nevermore is just so much fun to jump around with. I will also say I like how the thrusters work on it. Not sure if its intentional, but the fact that they make it go everywhere but away from the enemy gives me a bit of a feeling that the nevermore should never be retreating.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on March 25, 2013, 04:44:04 PM
So....when can I has?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Brainbread on March 27, 2013, 06:41:16 AM
Can you increase the upkeep on the Phase Fighter's cloak? For 10 OP, they're one of the most frustrating and difficult things to kill. Even more so if you're using Ballistic Weapons. The only really effective method I've had of killing them is having ships loaded out with Burst PD weapons. Everything else is too slow to tag them.

So in short, I think their phase cloak is too good. They're scary to fight against (they do a ton of damage if they aren't idiots and miss with their Quills), and too difficult to kill compared to pretty much any other ship.

So thats all. Love them to death otherwise =P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 27, 2013, 10:55:09 AM
What I'll probably do is give them Pulsed Plasma Emitters instead, so they need to expend flux to hurt large targets to a greater extent... or a variant of the quill that has less ammo and fires one rocket at a time. We'll see how it pans out, they are still a fighter wing that costs the same as a high-end destroyer in deployment points.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Wyvern on March 27, 2013, 12:51:43 PM
Hm.  For a competing viewpoint, I find them a bit of a nuisance, but not a serious threat.  Then again, I tool around in a Gedune cruiser with maxed combat & tech skills, hardened & extended shields, etc., so, err, I don't find high end destroyers to be serious threats either.

I do agree that their phase cloak upkeep seems a bit low, but they make up for that by randomly de-phasing so I can kill them (CEPC turrets work well enough for me), so...

I'd think that increasing phase upkeep, flux capacity, & speed, along with giving them some flux-hungry weaponry (AM blaster, or IR Pulse Laser, or the like) might be good... but I'd like to see them move in, hit a target, move out to vent, and I'm not sure the AI is smart enough to do that.  Worth some playing around, but the current state isn't bad.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 27, 2013, 03:24:53 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/7g9ixg3.png)

Meanwhile: small Arguses.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: FireBlitz8404 on March 28, 2013, 09:23:10 PM
Regarding the Kurmaraja-class Interdictor Battlecruiser
Can someone please explain to me what the Interdictor Array does?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on March 28, 2013, 09:36:23 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/7g9ixg3.png)

Meanwhile: small Arguses.

man, ill never get over just how good and cool looking your ship are
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: ValkyriaL on March 29, 2013, 06:19:32 AM
Regarding the Kurmaraja-class Interdictor Battlecruiser
Can someone please explain to me what the Interdictor Array does?

It stops all ballistic projectiles with gravity before they hit your ship, missiles and energy weapons are not affected.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: sini002 on March 29, 2013, 06:25:32 AM
Regarding the Kurmaraja-class Interdictor Battlecruiser
Can someone please explain to me what the Interdictor Array does?

It stops all ballistic projectiles with gravity before they hit your ship, missiles and energy weapons are not affected.

it works on swarmer missiles too, but that's because they dont have fuel to propel themselfs
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 30, 2013, 12:06:51 PM
Made medium-sized Ironweaver, also go to the OP for a little promo picture. ;)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on March 30, 2013, 01:00:36 PM
i mentionned it in another thread, but i'd also like to say it here in person.

your mod is currently my personall favorite.

big fat bucket of high-fives to you my good sir  8)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Psigun on March 30, 2013, 01:59:19 PM
It would be cool if Blackrock Drive Yards could make it into the base game somehow, I think it fits in with the Hegemony and Tri-Tach well. There are a lot of good fan-made factions, but I am an especially big fan of BDY.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on March 30, 2013, 02:21:16 PM
It would be cool if Blackrock Drive Yards could make it into the base game somehow, I think it fits in with the Hegemony and Tri-Tach well. There are a lot of good fan-made factions, but I am an especially big fan of BDY.

funny, i was wondering the same. almost scared that i might not be able to play BRDY when starsector goes gold :P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 30, 2013, 02:39:12 PM
Thanks a lot, guys. I don't think I'll stop updating this mod, though.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on March 30, 2013, 03:10:07 PM
Thanks a lot, guys. I don't think I'll stop updating this mod, though.

thats actually very nice to know. i was wondering how/if many modders would keep updating theire mod as the game expands more and more and go gold
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Fantastic Chimni on March 30, 2013, 07:01:09 PM
Thanks a lot, guys. I don't think I'll stop updating this mod, though.

I really hope so, and when the campaign is integrated fully I really want to see your faction in it. I like it the most out of any of the fan made factions there is, it just feels like it fits, artwork and gameplay style.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on March 31, 2013, 05:58:28 PM
I'm constantly tinkering with the balance in the dev builds, although I'm not doing anything major until CR gets patched in. But to help ease that along, I'd enjoy reading some posts about what you players think defines and should define Blackrock's gameplay, in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Ships and weapons and ship systems all taken into account.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on March 31, 2013, 07:55:22 PM
I'm constantly tinkering with the balance in the dev builds, although I'm not doing anything major until CR gets patched in. But to help ease that along, I'd enjoy reading some posts about what you players think defines and should define Blackrock's gameplay, in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Ships and weapons and ship systems all taken into account.

what defines BRDY ships. visually id say its the shape and color scheme. i have no clue how to qualify it, but your ship have an exotic and coherent look between each other that just fits, the high details and little color marker adds a lot to this.

i'd say the solenoid quench weaponry and burst maneuvering systems are also pretty iconic of your faction
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Brainbread on March 31, 2013, 08:18:06 PM
I'm constantly tinkering with the balance in the dev builds, although I'm not doing anything major until CR gets patched in. But to help ease that along, I'd enjoy reading some posts about what you players think defines and should define Blackrock's gameplay, in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Ships and weapons and ship systems all taken into account.

The general vibe I get when I play with Blackrock ships is that they are maneuverable, dangerous, and fragile. The Desindova being the most obvious example. Lots of firepower, easily overloaded if it gets into a head on fight, but shines when it can hit a flank on pretty much any ship. The amount of burst damage the ships can push out is terrifying.

High flux costs on weapons but good damage is a nice trade, especially with ships that have a low max flux and not the greatest shields (I'd like to see their shields be a little less efficient, to be honest. The ships are, in their current state, much better than vanilla equivalents for the most part. The capital ship feels significantly less useful than pretty much any of the basic capital ships, or compared to the special edition Nevermore which is a terrifying death machine that knows no god).

Annnnnd I think the Gondactylus should have a price increase, due to it being pretty damn good and also cheap to buy early game.

Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Doogie on March 31, 2013, 08:28:44 PM
Cycerin you should return to bsf, we miss you. :(
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: FireBlitz8404 on March 31, 2013, 08:54:54 PM
It would be cool if Blackrock Drive Yards could make it into the base game somehow, I think it fits in with the Hegemony and Tri-Tach well. There are a lot of good fan-made factions, but I am an especially big fan of BDY.

funny, i was wondering the same. almost scared that i might not be able to play BRDY when starsector goes gold :P

I was lucky enough to pick this faction and ended up loving it. ;)
Keep up the good work 8)
My personal favorite faction.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Psycho Landlord on March 31, 2013, 09:01:58 PM
I'm constantly tinkering with the balance in the dev builds, although I'm not doing anything major until CR gets patched in. But to help ease that along, I'd enjoy reading some posts about what you players think defines and should define Blackrock's gameplay, in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Ships and weapons and ship systems all taken into account.

BRDY Ships emphasize high speed, low drag mentality taken to it's logical conclusion. Several Blackrock ships working in tandem will run rings around any enemy force, whittling them down and working them into a position where the BR ships can deliver a hammer blow and get the hell out before any sort of reprisal can be mustered. It's pretty obvious, when you look at BR ship systems - no fancy armor buffs, no fort shields or anything of the type, but you have a hell of a lot of systems to aid you in avoiding being hit in the first place. Even the Kurmaraja - a battlecruiser, a class not exactly known for it's dancing abilities - has a system built around nullifying enemy attacks as opposed to tanking them.

BRDY ships aren't just ships with big guns and big engines, that's too simple and easy to exploit. BRDY ships are fast, maneuverable, powerful, sure, but most importantly, they are designed to work in tandem with one and other to control the battlefield and force their opponent into a *** situation. When faced with opponents capable of denying them large amounts of space to maneuver through and set up attacks, like, say, a Conquest with tons of rapid-fire suppression weaponry, they stumble a bit. But if allowed free reign of the combat zone, BRDY is very, very hard to hit, very very hard to tank, and as a result, extremely hard to stop.

Also they look kickass and big spinal mounted guns will never not be cool
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on April 03, 2013, 11:37:53 AM
Erhm...ok so im not sure this is the place to post this but i got the problem mostly with BRDY ships.
Im playing a game as BRDY right now, with a small fleet composed of a kurmaraja, a nevermore and a desdinova.
I man the kurmaraja but im getting weird behaviors from the other two...
The desdinova keeps charging headlong against ships (even tho sometime its obvious the other is much stronger) while the nevermore is being a cowardly bloke that keeps lagging behind.
Theyre also both lowering theire shield at inapropriate times (they have plenty of flux) or just exposing theire flanks in really stupid moments (the desdinova was attacked by 2 ships from the same direction once and it just spinned around, exposing its flank. it didint even moved its omni shield O_o)
Is it just the game being derpy ?

My last problem might be intended tho, my favorite ships to use are the krait, the scarab, the desdinova, the nevermore and the kurmaraja.
But the way the station resupply is weird. its overflowing with mantis with almost no scarabs and it hasent resupplied a single desdinova nor nervermore since i bought the only 1 of each.
In fact, the only reason i have even more than 1 scarab/desdinova is because im receiving a lot of them in the UsC player resupplying fleet (and it gave me 4 stenos but not a single nevermore either).
Am i just being extremely unlucky ?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on April 03, 2013, 12:08:17 PM
Resupply is random. If you haven't gotten the ships you want, you're being unlucky. Use the Omnifactory to restock a specific ship type if you're playing UsC.

Also, I can't do much about the game AI not always acting ideally. Nevermore/Desdinova sometimes charge into danger due to burst jets being based on maneuvering jets but acting completely different, and if I had access to the AI scripts for maneuvering jets/burn drive I could probably take a look at this (not nearly knowledgeable enough to do it from scratch), but the other stuff are behaviors I have zero control over as a modder. Just as a vanilla gameplay tip, if you don't want ships to charge into danger, you should tell them to escort you or order them to attack a specific target. Managing the AI is part of mastering the game.

Introducing new things always has a risk of making the AI do weird things, I suspect this will be easier to mitigate as more API options open up.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on April 03, 2013, 12:32:27 PM
Resupply is random. If you haven't gotten the ships you want, you're being unlucky. Use the Omnifactory to restock a specific ship type if you're playing UsC.

Also, I can't do much about the game AI not always acting ideally. Nevermore/Desdinova sometimes charge into danger due to burst jets being based on maneuvering jets but acting completely different, and if I had access to the AI scripts for maneuvering jets/burn drive I could probably take a look at this (not nearly knowledgeable enough to do it from scratch), but the other stuff are behaviors I have zero control over as a modder. Just as a vanilla gameplay tip, if you don't want ships to charge into danger, you should tell them to escort you or order them to attack a specific target. Managing the AI is part of mastering the game.

Introducing new things always has a risk of making the AI do weird things, I suspect this will be easier to mitigate as more API options open up.

i kinda wanted to avoid using the omnifactory, not get used to it and such since uumoz plans on maybe taking it off/changing it drastically. that and since i only have 1 kurmaraja/nevermore and very few of the other classes i like, i'd be losing on my favorite ships for a moment (but thats just a personal issue)

as for the AI, i used to always tell them to escort me, but they were still acting weird (altho to a less apparent extent). i assumed it was just part of some escorting-related AI thingy.

oh well, if you say you cant do anything about it :/

otherwise, keep the good work ! im loving the balance of maneuverability and power your ships have.
And idk why some people diss the kurmaraja, i find it awesome  ;D

by the way, what does interdictor array do ? i cant even find it in the codex ?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Taverius on April 04, 2013, 01:25:58 AM
Nevermore/Desdinova sometimes charge into danger due to burst jets being based on maneuvering jets but acting completely different, and if I had access to the AI scripts for maneuvering jets/burn drive I could probably take a look at this (not nearly knowledgeable enough to do it from scratch), but the other stuff are behaviors I have zero control over as a modder.
I take it the same effect but based on the Burn Drive is not an option? The AI there definitely does look-ahead, so it would be a better fit if possible.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on April 04, 2013, 02:31:05 PM
phyrex: It brakes down projectiles. Energy weapons are unaffected. Given how often this question gets asked, I really have to write that Codex entry...

Taverius: That's an interesting idea, but then the AI would stop using it to reorient itself, I think. Which would lead to even more problems. Besides, eventually I can probably just interpret a burn drive-style lookahead anyway.

In other news resident art fiend MShadowy drew this kickass perspective Nevermore sketch. Got the underside right too based on vague descriptions. I might ink and clean it up later on for some splash screen related action or a more ridiculous version of the "blueprint" in the OP.

(http://i.imgur.com/qvR1TpO.jpg)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on April 04, 2013, 03:12:51 PM
phyrex: It brakes down projectiles. Energy weapons are unaffected. Given how often this question gets asked, I really have to write that Codex entry...

Taverius: That's an interesting idea, but then the AI would stop using it to reorient itself, I think. Which would lead to even more problems. Besides, eventually I can probably just interpret a burn drive-style lookahead anyway.

In other news resident art fiend MShadowy drew this kickass perspective Nevermore sketch. Got the underside right too based on vague descriptions. I might ink and clean it up later on for some splash screen related action or a more ridiculous version of the "blueprint" in the OP.

(http://i.imgur.com/qvR1TpO.jpg)

you mean like it slows down projectile ? or you made a mistake and meant "break" in which case do you mean it basicly nullify ballistic guns ? now sure i get it.

and holy moly ! that sketch is awesome ! times two for me since the nevermore is my favorite
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on April 04, 2013, 04:31:05 PM
Try it out in the simulator against a Dominator that has annihilators. Then you'll quickly see what it does. :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on April 04, 2013, 07:13:01 PM
Try it out in the simulator against a Dominator that has annihilators. Then you'll quickly see what it does. :)

so by projectiles you meant missiles AND ballistic ? or just missiles ?

edit : scratch that, alright i see what you mean
pretty cool but not sure its as useful in a mixed fleet
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Taverius on April 04, 2013, 07:50:39 PM
So I've been playing this pretty solidly non-stop for some days ... aaaand iits aaaweeesssoooomeeee ...

Mantis: Nothing much to say here except that its got its fuel per light year set at 0, which isn't a problem now but you might want to touch that since it'll get used eventually ...

Scarab: Either its a little too slow, or the shield a little too inefficient. Or both. Its hard to hit and run when you can't run and you can't stay. I mean, you can still prawn things left and right no issue with care don't get me wrong, but if I put double quills and such on a Wolf I'll do it easier faster better for 1FP less. Double noticeable if you hand it to the AI, the 'rabs get damaged every other fight while the wolves never need a repair.

Stenos: Trade some shield efficiency for some shield upkeep, or up the flux capacity. I get it that relatively inefficient shields are a faction trait, but as it is in combination with minuscule flux capacity its just too much. That 'trait' is up so far I'm having more success with long range weapons and a targeting core on it and just sitting outside range, which is not how BRDY should be played!
The 2 front Universals are a little gimped - since they can't turn at all, they cant even aim for a single spot, which means 1 of 2 nearly always misses. Here's an interesting idea - make each one able to turn in ... 1-1.5 degrees? Guesstimating here. Enough so that they can aim for the same spot at 5-600 distance, but they'd still shoot at separate places closer up. Don't make them turn out at all.
Otherwise a solid ship, and figuring out that the Large Ballistic mount is about 100 'units' behind the front mounts means you can do some fun weapon synergies :3

Nevermore: The fun never ends! Especially if you mount Antiplasma Blasters, Solenoid Quench Cannons and Fury Torpedos! :D Also, expanded magazines = 3 charges for the lance.
I can't help but think though how much /more/ fun I could have if those front missile mounts were universals, because then I could put Ichneumons in there. But that may be because I'm overall not a fan of missiles, apart from the Quill. But yeah, essentially I'll always want all missile slots to be universal slots, so you can have the option to trade a bigger magazine for flux usage.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on April 05, 2013, 01:51:25 PM
WTB Stormcrow with the Nevermore's main gun.....lol
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on April 05, 2013, 03:52:21 PM
I might actually make a new built-in weapon for the Stormcrow at some point. ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on April 05, 2013, 04:01:50 PM
the stormcrow ? what ship is that ?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on April 05, 2013, 07:03:28 PM
This one.
(http://i.imgur.com/wNi2Saa.png)

Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on April 05, 2013, 07:10:28 PM
This one.
(http://i.imgur.com/wNi2Saa.png)



oh. i was confused, its not named on the OP
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on April 05, 2013, 09:12:18 PM
Its on page one with ship descriptions
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on April 05, 2013, 09:29:42 PM
Its on page one with ship descriptions

yeah, the sprite is, the name isint there. its only marked as "unknown"
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on April 05, 2013, 11:20:51 PM
There is an in-game Codex too. Or you could have searched the thread for "Stormcrow" to find my post about it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on April 05, 2013, 11:59:50 PM
There is an in-game Codex too. Or you could have searched the thread for "Stormcrow" to find my post about it.

i sadly am still playing on an old version of UsC that dosent have it yet :P codex wouldnt have helped. strangely enough (in retrospective), it never occured to me that the stormcrow could have been that ship either :P

but anyways. dosent matter anymore
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on April 06, 2013, 10:41:09 AM
Why would you not play USC 17? :P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on April 06, 2013, 11:14:19 AM
Why would you not play USC 17? :P

oh, i meant i have v17 and i havent updated to v17.1

i have a good BRDY game in v17 that is well complemented with player convoy, which were removed in v17.1

you're not gonna tell me the stormcrow is in v17 are you ?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: silentstormpt on April 06, 2013, 11:15:55 AM
I'd like to see the lightning arc effect being used on overloaded ships. Just overlaid here and there, a few discharges now and then, from one point on the ship's hull to another.

Code
package data.scripts.plugins;

import com.fs.starfarer.api.combat.CombatEngineAPI;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.combat.DamageType;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.combat.EveryFrameCombatPlugin;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.combat.ShipAPI;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.input.InputEventAPI;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.util.IntervalUtil;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.List;
import org.lwjgl.util.vector.Vector2f;

public class ArcEffectOnOverload implements EveryFrameCombatPlugin
{
        private CombatEngineAPI engine;
    
        public void init(CombatEngineAPI engine) {
            this.engine = engine;
        }

private IntervalUtil interval = new IntervalUtil(0.5f, 1f); //set the time you want the arc to happen
        public void advance(float amount, List<InputEventAPI> events) {
{
            if (engine.isPaused()) {
                return;
            }

                //Advances the interval.
                interval.advance(amount);

                //When the interval has elapsed...
                if (interval.intervalElapsed())
                {
                    List ships = engine.getShips();
                    Iterator it = ships.iterator();

                    while (it.hasNext())
                    {
                        ShipAPI ship = (ShipAPI) it.next();
                        
                        if (ship.isHulk()) {
                            continue;
                        }
                        
                        if (ship.getFluxTracker().isOverloaded())
                        {
                            Vector2f point = new Vector2f(ship.getLocation());

                            point.x += (ship.getCollisionRadius() / 2f) * (((float) Math.random() * 2f) - 1);
                            point.y += (ship.getCollisionRadius() / 2f) * (((float) Math.random() * 2f) - 1);
                            
                            //spawns one arc.
                            engine.spawnEmpArc(ship,point,ship,ship,DamageType.OTHER,0f,0f,100000f,"hit_shield_beam_loop",12f,new Color(155,100,25,255),new Color(255,255,255,255));
                        }
                    }
                }
}

    }
}

Ok heres a solution, change it at your liking, note that the "hit_shield_beam_loop" is not a correct sound (meaning it wont play anything), so set one if you want to.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on April 06, 2013, 11:36:18 AM
Why would you not play USC 17? :P

oh, i meant i have v17 and i havent updated to v17.1

i have a good BRDY game in v17 that is well complemented with player convoy, which were removed in v17.1

you're not gonna tell me the stormcrow is in v17 are you ?

Why would you assume it wasn't? Like I said, search the forums next time. Everything about the ship is in my posts that mention it here and in the USC thread. But yes, it's in v17 and you can only get it by capturing it from a certain boss spawn. It's not possible to get it outside of USC funnily enough.

@ Silentstormpt

I saw your post earlier! I just forgot to mention it. I'm going to try it out.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: silentstormpt on April 06, 2013, 01:31:11 PM
Just posted the code on this thread instead, since it makes more sense, the code i based on Psiyon's.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Taverius on April 06, 2013, 04:58:21 PM
Why would you not play USC 17? :P
Technically accomplished mod, but it makes Corvus too busy and chaotic for my tastes.

Too many factions with wildly varying graphical styles in various states of balance crammed into a tiny system. I really dig the allegiance system, the bosses and all of that, but I prefer to cherry-pick my factions.

Right now its just BRDY+Junk+Valkyrians+Omnifac here.



Anyways, back on topic, I feel like there's a hole for something like a Dual Squall Cannon. I keep wanting a 550-ish range explosive medium ballistic, and the single Squall really doesn't do a whole lot more dps than an Ichneumon. Keep the range, drop turn rate and accuracy a bit ... you could make it alternate the shots between the barrels so the single-strike stays the same? I find myself mounting Heavy Maulers when I utterly don't need the range just for the DPS without the grievous accuracy of the Assault Chaingun.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on April 14, 2013, 12:36:34 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/OwAoA2x.png)

Updated Gonodactylus sprite a bit. Also made the auxiliary engines inactive when the ship system isn't on.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on April 14, 2013, 01:05:26 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/OwAoA2x.png)

Updated Gonodactylus sprite a bit. Also made the auxiliary engines inactive when the ship system isn't on.

wow, the ship looks much more massive...
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: theSONY on April 14, 2013, 01:23:47 PM
here's one for you: why Desdinova-class Advanced Destroyer have similar size Scarab-class Frigate on the battle map/stations ect. ? is there any way to fix this ?
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/WbRV2Iy.png?1?1118)
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: silentstormpt on April 14, 2013, 07:00:25 PM
here's one for you: why Desdinova-class Advanced Destroyer have similar size Scarab-class Frigate on the battle map/stations ect. ? is there any way to fix this ?
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/WbRV2Iy.png?1?1118)
[close]

I think it has to do with the icon ship sizes
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on April 16, 2013, 05:10:19 PM
That's just how the game scales them.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Uomoz on April 16, 2013, 06:10:16 PM
Stop discussing while you doto.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on April 16, 2013, 06:13:00 PM
Drow Ranger can be played with one finger anyway. *** AR
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Reshy on May 31, 2013, 07:03:25 PM
The Desdinova destroyer can't regain engines when it's blown out.  They just re-disable the instant they're repaired.  Is that intended?  (This one had Unstable Injector and Augmented Engines)


(http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/633033939558846527/A4B3FAB8322496A00D2A3994C6EFC31F6ACD3AB0/)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Silver Silence on June 01, 2013, 03:03:49 AM
I think it's because you're also trying to use the maneuvering jets. There is an issue with using jets just as engines start to come back online which causes the engines to flameout again. Personally, I'd call it a feature, don't push your engines right into the red just after fixing them. "You just managed to start walking again? Great! Now do the 100m sprint". Though I thought the bug appeared because it was the activation of several more engines (as the Eagle, Falcon and Conquest do have special engines only active during maneuvers or while at cruise speed).
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Reshy on June 01, 2013, 11:50:43 AM
I think it's because you're also trying to use the maneuvering jets. There is an issue with using jets just as engines start to come back online which causes the engines to flameout again. Personally, I'd call it a feature, don't push your engines right into the red just after fixing them. "You just managed to start walking again? Great! Now do the 100m sprint". Though I thought the bug appeared because it was the activation of several more engines (as the Eagle, Falcon and Conquest do have special engines only active during maneuvers or while at cruise speed).


The problem is that when an AI controls the ship they always use the jets the second it comes back online.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on June 01, 2013, 11:58:33 AM
It's a bug with the core game that affects engine mod systems. If you use the system the instant the engines repair, you get a second flameout. I think Alex knows about it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Alex on June 01, 2013, 11:59:39 AM
Right, aware and fixed for 0.6a.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on June 01, 2013, 12:04:44 PM
Since the thread got revived, I guess I might as well make some sort of statement re: mod development: right now, I'm busy with my finals and moving back to Norway, so I'll probably leave the mod be until the next version is released.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Silver Silence on June 01, 2013, 01:09:00 PM
I think it's because you're also trying to use the maneuvering jets. There is an issue with using jets just as engines start to come back online which causes the engines to flameout again. Personally, I'd call it a feature, don't push your engines right into the red just after fixing them. "You just managed to start walking again? Great! Now do the 100m sprint". Though I thought the bug appeared because it was the activation of several more engines (as the Eagle, Falcon and Conquest do have special engines only active during maneuvers or while at cruise speed).


The problem is that when an AI controls the ship they always use the jets the second it comes back online.

Unless the Desdinova is a part of your fleet and you're not personally flying it, it's probably best to assume control (http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/20710103/images/1347561308449.png) and stop letting the AI get your ships massacred.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Reshy on June 01, 2013, 04:09:14 PM
I think it's because you're also trying to use the maneuvering jets. There is an issue with using jets just as engines start to come back online which causes the engines to flameout again. Personally, I'd call it a feature, don't push your engines right into the red just after fixing them. "You just managed to start walking again? Great! Now do the 100m sprint". Though I thought the bug appeared because it was the activation of several more engines (as the Eagle, Falcon and Conquest do have special engines only active during maneuvers or while at cruise speed).


The problem is that when an AI controls the ship they always use the jets the second it comes back online.

Unless the Desdinova is a part of your fleet and you're not personally flying it, it's probably best to assume control (http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/20710103/images/1347561308449.png) and stop letting the AI get your ships massacred.

It does that when under AI control, I just showed this because it's easier than trying to show it in an actual battle.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: jeffg10 on June 10, 2013, 09:46:44 PM
is this something we need to know of? :O
*edit* sorry i couldn't get pictures working so i had to add them as attachments (Sorry!)

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: sdmike1 on June 15, 2013, 02:46:17 PM
Very cool.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on June 18, 2013, 02:11:13 AM
Yeah, that was gonna be a thing way back then, now it might not become a thing. We'll see.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Silver Silence on June 18, 2013, 04:05:09 AM
If it turns into anything like the Serket Phase Fighter......

MRW... (http://i.imgur.com/mgf0p.png)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: ValkyriaL on June 18, 2013, 04:31:30 AM
Silver, for the love of god, use imgur, i can't see any image you link. :-\
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Silver Silence on June 18, 2013, 04:36:45 AM
As a pony picture in the region of 4k by 4k pixels, I think I will stick to using URLs
Not everyone likes ponies.
And I really don't think the mods approve of pictures that are ~4000 pixels tall.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Thule on June 18, 2013, 04:42:58 AM
With imgur you can resize every uploaded image, you can even post a convinient thumbnail of your pic
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on June 18, 2013, 07:43:34 AM
I'm actually thankful if you leave that as an URL so I can pretend it links to something else. ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Uomoz on June 18, 2013, 12:21:47 PM
I'm actually thankful if you leave that as an URL so I can pretend it links to something else. ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Silver Silence on June 18, 2013, 05:22:08 PM
Point still stands, I'll be a very happy bunny/pony if a new phase ship joins the BlackRock fleet and handles life as well as the Serkets do.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on July 12, 2013, 08:06:42 AM
The Serkets are going to have to go through a rebalance due to the fighter changes, but then again, so it is with almost every other Blackrock ship.

One of the things I've been thinking about is using the new natural deceleration of ships that move over their top speed to replace the awkward coding of the current Burst Jet-ish systems, so I can go back to the way it was before, where you could make your ship move like a fish jetting back and forth.

The Desdinova will be changed to degrade over combat time using CR. It's a prototype destroyer and it's meant to crush the enemy decisively, or cripple a target and then escape. This will create a more comfortable niche for it alongside the Gonodactylus and allow me to keep it comparatively powerful without forcing it to be a ship that gets crippled the moment the player makes a mistake.

We'll see how much of the next Blackrock version is new content and how much is simply making the old stuff work with the new Starsector patch. I'll probably make one parity patch ASAP and then release another one later with new stuff in it.

Behind the scenes, work has started on the soundtrack to the mod. :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on July 12, 2013, 12:23:57 PM
The Serkets are going to have to go through a rebalance due to the fighter changes, but then again, so it is with almost every other Blackrock ship.

One of the things I've been thinking about is using the new natural deceleration of ships that move over their top speed to replace the awkward coding of the current Burst Jet-ish systems, so I can go back to the way it was before, where you could make your ship move like a fish jetting back and forth.

The Desdinova will be changed to degrade over combat time using CR. It's a prototype destroyer and it's meant to crush the enemy decisively, or cripple a target and then escape. This will create a more comfortable niche for it alongside the Gonodactylus and allow me to keep it comparatively powerful without forcing it to be a ship that gets crippled the moment the player makes a mistake.

We'll see how much of the next Blackrock version is new content and how much is simply making the old stuff work with the new Starsector patch. I'll probably make one parity patch ASAP and then release another one later with new stuff in it.

Behind the scenes, work has started on the soundtrack to the mod. :)

the desdinova change is gonna be VERY interesting imo. that ship has always been so strong, using the CR that way will make for an interesting twist
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on July 12, 2013, 06:13:27 PM
When can I has?

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/F5EF00M.jpg)
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Gothars on July 13, 2013, 02:07:19 AM
@ Shield: Please use spoiler tags for big pictures.


We'll see how much of the next Blackrock version is new content and how much is simply making the old stuff work with the new Starsector patch. I'll probably make one parity patch ASAP and then release another one later with new stuff in it.

Behind the scenes, work has started on the soundtrack to the mod. :)

It's great to see that you keep developing this mod, it's already so nice and polished with the beautiful sprites, detailed background lore and fine tuned balancing. Can't wait to be able to actually visit the Blackrock system with Blackrock and Lodestone.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Nanostrike on July 15, 2013, 10:21:00 PM
I like the Locust, but with it's default loadout, it's pretty anemic on the damage front against anything but fighters.

Is it meant to mix vanilla weapons and blackrock ones to get the most effectiveness out of it?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on July 18, 2013, 05:02:54 AM
It's meant to be a good frigate against fighters as well as a good escort for bigger ships. If you want firepower there are two other frigates for you to use, the Scarab and Mantis.

Currently, you can probably get the most out of it by mixing weapons, but some weapons and rebalancing in the dev version might make it overall more interesting to use if you only stick to Blackrock content. I was thinking it could benefit from having a different ship system, but it's hard to figure out what that should be.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Gotcha! on July 18, 2013, 06:52:59 AM
I've started a war against your faction and it's only now I see how detailed everything is. I also love that sudden strafe thing they do.
Very nice! /envy
Also a faction that'll never disappear from my mods folder. :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on July 18, 2013, 10:06:32 AM
my favorite faction ever, i hope you keep maintaining it as the games gain in complexity
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Nanostrike on July 18, 2013, 10:23:07 AM
It's meant to be a good frigate against fighters as well as a good escort for bigger ships. If you want firepower there are two other frigates for you to use, the Scarab and Mantis.

Currently, you can probably get the most out of it by mixing weapons, but some weapons and rebalancing in the dev version might make it overall more interesting to use if you only stick to Blackrock content. I was thinking it could benefit from having a different ship system, but it's hard to figure out what that should be.

It's decent at chasing down fighters, but the Corvettes seem to be better at that.  The thing that really throws me off is it having 2 energy and 2 ballistic slots.  Shard Autocannons are no-brainers for the Ballistics, but I can't seem to find any effective Small Energy weapons in your faction weapons.  Any suggestions?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on July 18, 2013, 01:17:15 PM
The corvettes will be a lot like Hounds. The Locust is more comparable to a Lasher. That said, there are going to some new energy weapons in the next build. Up until now, the faction's stock variants have included vanilla energy weapons because I haven't really made anything faction-specific for them to use. ;o

Quote
my favorite faction ever, i hope you keep maintaining it as the games gain in complexity
Quote
I've started a war against your faction and it's only now I see how detailed everything is. I also love that sudden strafe thing they do.
Very nice! /envy
Also a faction that'll never disappear from my mods folder. Smiley

Thanks, you two! I haven't tried out your stuff yet, Gotcha, but I will for sure when I get around to development again. It looks very impressive.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Nanostrike on July 18, 2013, 02:37:48 PM
Yeah, it's probably my second favorite faction in Excelerin (My favorite being the Valkyrians.  Dunno why, just like them!).

I love the burst maneuvering thrusters and a lot of the weapons.  Just needs more weapon variety, IMO.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: HELMUT on July 18, 2013, 02:50:40 PM
BRDY already got a lot of ballistics weapons and missiles. But yeah, they lack some small energy guns. I usually fit them with LR PD laser or burst PD laser. Work well enough.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on July 31, 2013, 03:48:39 AM
Due to the new possibilities with ship styles, when the patch drops, I'm going to further differentiate the visual theme of the faction. Some ideas I've had are a small lens flare for the Nevermore's reactor, differently colored shields, different engine sounds, etc. The differences won't be so big as to get jarring or obtrusive, but they'll add more flair.

I'm thinking about fire orange or pale green (same as engine flare) for the shield color.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Thule on July 31, 2013, 06:06:12 AM
I am really exited about the new modding stuff too. Can't wait to implement ringshape engines and custom sounds for the engine (i have the engine sounds since the first version of TL ;) )

I guess fire orange shields will suit your faction really well, would add to the slightl insectoid feeling. The possibility of custom colored shields makes me rethink the concept of TL, as the main
reason for going shieldless was the inability to change the colors of the shields.

Love your faction, keep awesome ;)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on July 31, 2013, 07:38:18 AM
Yeah man, I can't wait to see what you'll do with this too. ;D Ring engines is going to be so good. And you can use the new code to even make directional thrusters for any area on the ship.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on July 31, 2013, 12:13:59 PM
Due to the new possibilities with ship styles, when the patch drops, I'm going to further differentiate the visual theme of the faction. Some ideas I've had are a small lens flare for the Nevermore's reactor, differently colored shields, different engine sounds, etc. The differences won't be so big as to get jarring or obtrusive, but they'll add more flair.

I'm thinking about fire orange or pale green (same as engine flare) for the shield color.

Personally, with your ships having plating of orange color and the engines exhaust being green, i think pale green shield would fit better.
Kinda like a theme : physical things have the orange highlight and energy-based thing have the green highlight"

thats just my opinion tho.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on August 02, 2013, 07:38:09 AM
I kind of agree with that, although Blackrock has kind of sh*tty shields so I'm tempted to go with a "cruder" color than mint green.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on August 02, 2013, 08:14:04 AM
I kind of agree with that, although Blackrock has kind of sh*tty shields so I'm tempted to go with a "cruder" color than mint green.

I think thats unnecessary. Its not like your ship's shields have to differentiate themselve like the vanilla one
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on August 05, 2013, 09:58:44 AM
(http://i.minus.com/iXZMC8hHCLDhi.gif)

Work has resumed. So far I'm just playing to get a feel for things again, but I'm having fun making some gifs in the process.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: MShadowy on August 05, 2013, 10:01:42 AM
Yeeees.  Very good news.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on August 05, 2013, 10:11:54 AM
(http://i.minus.com/iIJAcopUIqZgW.gif)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Tarkets on August 05, 2013, 11:49:38 AM
Makin pew shweee shweee PAKOOM noises with my mouth irl
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Gotcha! on August 05, 2013, 12:08:03 PM
I am so fond of your ships' special abilities. Now I'm far away and now I'm in your face!
Kudo's, Cycerin.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: mendonca on August 05, 2013, 12:20:21 PM
Poor little Medusa.  :(
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: GruntyThrst on August 05, 2013, 01:25:11 PM
I am so fond of your ships' special abilities. Now I'm far away and now I'm in your face!
Kudo's, Cycerin.

Also handy for dodging those pesky little mini nebulas in your way.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Silver Silence on August 05, 2013, 05:28:08 PM
Makin pew shweee shweee PAKOOM noises with my mouth irl

Is "PAKOOM" the sound of the Lance firing?  :D

Also, how do you edit weapon files. I kinda wanna trim the Lance's muzzle smoke and make it more of a flash than long lasting smoke. It just looks weird when I would dive in with the jets while charging the Lance, fire it mid jet-burst, slow down and yet the smoke careens off into the distance.

In that last .gif, you can see where the Nevermore turns to the side a little, abandoning the puff of smoke. Most blackrock guns have a similar.... I wouldn't call it an issue, but just a nitpick of mine.... where the smoke puff lasts long enough that the ship can leave it behind.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on August 06, 2013, 05:55:30 AM
Makin pew shweee shweee PAKOOM noises with my mouth irl

How did you figure out the secret to my creative process
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Gotcha! on August 06, 2013, 05:59:50 AM
Aha! I always use BADABANG. Maybe that's why I find my mods lacking.
I'm going to add some PAKOOM to them.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on August 06, 2013, 08:58:49 AM
@Cycerin How do you make your sounds? Free sounds are so lame, as are the paid ones too. I don't have a mixing program though, only audacity. XD
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on August 06, 2013, 09:03:00 AM
I use a combination of recording, synthesis and sampling in a digital audio workstation: most of it is done in FL Studio, FL Studio's Edison plugin, and Audacity (Paulstretch is fantastic). Also, Audacity has multiple tracks so per definition it's a mixing program.

If you want to make your own sound effects you need to learn a lot of the same things electronic musicians need to know. The easiest thing would be to simply mix other sound effects together until you have something that doesn't sound like its parts. The harder approach is to use synthesis, effects and recording to create something completely from scratch.

Longer version of that amlance gif trying to use gifcam as a literal camera
Too bad I couldn't capture the Stenos shelling the battlecruiser from the other side but can't make the window too large or I'll end up with 30mb gifs
(http://i.minus.com/igL1ft4koKoeG.gif)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Uomoz on August 06, 2013, 10:42:03 AM
SS sure is a f**ing pretty game. Amazing gif.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Thule on August 06, 2013, 10:48:31 AM
SS sure is a f**ing pretty game. Amazing gif.

Wow, awesome gif indeed.
Instantly downloaded GifCam, tried it out and couldn't figure out what "colorcode" you used. Mine looked always hideous.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: MShadowy on August 06, 2013, 12:11:23 PM
Holy crap that is amazing.  Incredibly shot, Cyc!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on August 06, 2013, 02:22:04 PM
SS sure is a f**ing pretty game. Amazing gif.

Wow, awesome gif indeed.
Instantly downloaded GifCam, tried it out and couldn't figure out what "colorcode" you used. Mine looked always hideous.

Quantize or Nearest seems to always do the trick for me.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on August 30, 2013, 10:51:41 AM
SS sure is a f**ing pretty game. Amazing gif.

Wow, awesome gif indeed.
Instantly downloaded GifCam, tried it out and couldn't figure out what "colorcode" you used. Mine looked always hideous.

Quantize or Nearest seems to always do the trick for me.

Have you thought about making some energy based destroyers/cruisers? Just out of curiosity have you also thought about some more energy based weapons or strictly stick with the more ballistic based route?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: angrytigerp on August 30, 2013, 01:31:38 PM
Just thought I'd drop in and mention that Blackrock ships are the bee's knees. I'm rocking a Desdinova-Class in a Uomoz run and it is one of the best sub-capital ships I've ever run.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: phyrex on August 30, 2013, 01:59:16 PM
Just thought I'd drop in and mention that Blackrock ships are the bee's knees. I'm rocking a Desdinova-Class in a Uomoz run and it is one of the best sub-capital ships I've ever run.

cycerin mentionned before the desdinova was meant to be a hyper efficient prototype ship. i think he mentionned somewhere he might use the frigate CR system to it (the one where it goes down over time) to represent its prototype nature
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 02, 2013, 03:40:15 AM
I had a mind to make a phase destroyer with energy/ missile weapons, and there are currently three energy weapons in the internal build that aren't in the release build: a beam that does heavy HE damage at high flux cost, a small version of the Argus PD Beam, and one that's still on the drawing board.

And the Desdinova is indeed going to become unreliable in protracted engagements. Think of it as a shock weapon you deploy to try to blitz an engagement into a quick victory or draw. If you are expecting a protracted engagement, it might not be that much worth deploying, unless you are crazy good at piloting it...

In return for its unreliability, the ship is probably going to have the ability to reverse using Burst Jets back.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Sabaton on September 02, 2013, 11:38:30 PM
 Been plaiyng this game for a while and I thought I'd stop by to tell you how cool your faction is. Love the desindova, because it's a fast& furious kind of ship with the firepower to threaten even cruisers and such. Maxing the combat skills can turn it in a real monster, thou you gotta be careful about flanking because of the narrow shield.
 The nevermore is also a beast, the main gun is fun and satisfying to use, great for sniping and as a finisher, and adding double anyplasma blasters, fury torpedoes and solenoid guns turns it into a real heavy hitter.
 Finally the cap ship: nice design and cool unique system, great for sniping and breaking off for venting or a get away, making up for the lack of firepower compared to vanilla cruisers, decently fast and agile by default.
 They can all be turned into really self sufficient ships via the red skill tree, never felt like I need more firepower or speed, can take a bashing if needed to vent in the middle of an enemy crowd.
 Looking forward to seeing this mod grow.
 Also: what are those two screen shots a few pages ago? What's that thing that looks like a Nevermore? And are you planning to add a battleship?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 03, 2013, 10:23:35 AM
Thanks for chipping in, I enjoyed reading your thoughts.

Aah, those are, respectively, a second capital ship and an anti-capital/planetary siege version of the Nevermore. I'm still holding off working on them until I get some java assistance and the new patch to work with.

If anyone has name suggestions for the capital ship, throw them at me. I'm sure you've noticed Blackrock has a pretty esoteric naming theme so far... I was actually considering on consolidating them a bit. Less random shoutouts, more crustacean/insect-themed stuff. But it's hard to stick with Nature sometimes!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Silver Silence on September 03, 2013, 11:38:16 AM
Make a ship, call it the crab and give it modified burst jets that do not affect forward or backwards motion but allow for incredibly fast sideways motion......
Or is that too obvious?  :P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Doogie on September 03, 2013, 12:09:39 PM
Easy, the Carcinos, named after the crab that nipped at the heel of Heracles.
You should make it have incredible forward fire, and give it strafing jets. Or whatever the hell you want. But definitely stick with that name.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on September 03, 2013, 12:14:27 PM
Nautilus
Krill
Fauna

Just a few to tide you over
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 03, 2013, 12:57:37 PM
Easy, the Carcinos, named after the crab that nipped at the heel of Heracles.
You should make it have incredible forward fire, and give it strafing jets. Or whatever the hell you want. But definitely stick with that name.


I really like this one. Also, if people hate it, they can start calling it "cancerboat" or whatever. :P
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Doogie on September 03, 2013, 07:33:26 PM
See? Us Wyrdysm people are on a brainwave or something.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: MShadowy on September 03, 2013, 08:18:57 PM
Easy, the Carcinos, named after the crab that nipped at the heel of Heracles.
You should make it have incredible forward fire, and give it strafing jets. Or whatever the hell you want. But definitely stick with that name.


I really like this one. Also, if people hate it, they can start calling it "cancerboat" or whatever. :P

Sounds like it'd be fun to me, but that's most of your ships, heh.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: NITROtbomb on September 03, 2013, 08:27:13 PM
whoot more blackrock ships :D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Nick XR on September 07, 2013, 11:45:26 PM
Just started playing this and wanted to say I'm really impressed with the quality of the ships and weapons.  The detail is amazing!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Uomoz on September 08, 2013, 05:15:20 AM
Just started playing this and wanted to say I'm really impressed with the quality of the ships and weapons.  The detail is amazing!

In my opinion, the most polished and balanced faction, maybe tied with SHI.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Shield on September 08, 2013, 11:49:11 AM
Just started playing this and wanted to say I'm really impressed with the quality of the ships and weapons.  The detail is amazing!

In my opinion, the most polished and balanced faction, maybe tied with SHI.

Yeah all it needs is just a bit more of faction related weapons on par with the vanilla weapons and it is platinum, right now its gold, but could be platinum :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 08, 2013, 11:57:34 PM
I've got a lot of stuff, both on the drawing board and in the dry dock, when it comes to new ships, new weapons, new details and new mechanics. :)

Here's a list of the current new weapons in the internal build:

IW Battery (medium fragmentation gun, dual mounted version of the now double-barrelled Ironweaver)
Argus PD (small energy weapon, single beam version of the medium Argus PD, which has been renamed Argus PD Array)
Plasma Discharge Emitter (medium energy beam that deals HE damage)
Pulsed Plasma Discharge Emitter (small energy beam that cannot turn, and deals HE damage)
I'm also considering turning the Volley Gun into an energy weapon that fires a "wave" of interlocking projectiles that deal Kinetic damage. If so, I'm going to rename it something fancy.

There's also a few new ships: the Robberfly-class Corvette and the Karkinos-class Battleship, as well as the triclops Nevermore that has been posted here before, although that one needs a lot of work.

I might as well also reveal that I've been slowly replacing old sound effects, inspired by StianStark's recent overhaul. I decided to emphasize punchiness, uniqueness and a slightly more minimalist vibe, but I think most people will find the new approach more satisfying.

These are all things I've been able to work on without the new patch features, but obviously, the arrival of the new patch is going to bring both new features and heavy rebalancing on all fronts. Don't get too attached to anything that isn't absolutely iconic of the faction.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: MShadowy on September 09, 2013, 06:41:31 AM
Eeexcellent.  I'm looking forward to what you come up with.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: ValkyriaL on September 09, 2013, 08:01:19 AM
Il be looking forward to blowing the new ships up. ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Sunnyko on September 09, 2013, 08:42:56 PM
Small nitpick, and sorry about this, but you may want to add two zeros or atleast one to your blueprint of the nevermore under the weight. O_o

Even for space aloys that is super light, a nimitz class carrier which is 332.8 meters long clocks in at 100,000 tones.

That aside, love your mod and I cant wait for the new stuff. :D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: ValkyriaL on September 09, 2013, 09:35:23 PM
Starsector is a game, not reality, so just because something is as big or bigger doesn't mean it weights about the same, at least not with the current mechanics in here. ::) nevermore weights 1600 mass in game, so it does the same on the blueprint.

(Mass is more a factor to determine how much damage you deal/take with ramming/crashing into asteroids, having a "realistic" mass would kill you before you even leave the starting grid.)

---> Me thinking it was cool and tried his schematic idea. http://i.imgur.com/G9rvIHy.png
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Sunnyko on September 09, 2013, 09:43:11 PM
Ohhhh, so its what the mass is in the games code.  :P

I thought it was suposed to be the actual weight for some reason, sorry.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: SainnQ on September 10, 2013, 03:36:40 AM
Small nitpick, and sorry about this, but you may want to add two zeros or atleast one to your blueprint of the nevermore under the weight. O_o

Even for space aloys that is super light, a nimitz class carrier which is 332.8 meters long clocks in at 100,000 tones.

That aside, love your mod and I cant wait for the new stuff. :D

I'm not sure this genre of Sci-Fi lends credence to such levels of science facts. It's not Hard-Sci :/
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: MesoTroniK on September 10, 2013, 03:41:32 AM
Mass also effects how hard Exigency Incorporated Repulsor Fields and beams push your ships.

Well if we are including mod vs mod and not mod vs vanilla mechanics...
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 10, 2013, 03:57:34 AM
Hmm, I just realized it's sort of incongrous to list the ingame mass there. Maybe we should try figuring out what the ship's actual mass would be?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: MesoTroniK on September 10, 2013, 04:02:43 AM
I've thought about ways to do that in some sort of accurate manner, but in the end it would be to much work trying to even estimate the volume of a ship and the density of the materials.

Instead I just look at the closest vanilla ship to the class and adjust it from there based on my gut feeling.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Erick Doe on September 10, 2013, 04:23:05 AM
Just base your weight around vanilla values. Like stated above somewhere, weight is little more than a deciding factor of which ship can push what ship out of the way.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Sunnyko on September 10, 2013, 01:56:19 PM
Just add 2 zero's maybe?

Make it comparable to a Nimitz class carrier +60%

Since I would assume it is built much denser, since it is not a carrier craft, and the crew of 140 would lend to much atomization, and a dense hull construction for more armor?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Voyager I on September 10, 2013, 03:29:51 PM
Starsector is a game, not reality, so just because something is as big or bigger doesn't mean it weights about the same, at least not with the current mechanics in here. ::) nevermore weights 1600 mass in game, so it does the same on the blueprint.

What is Verisimilitude?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Doogie on September 10, 2013, 11:14:03 PM
Not gonna lie, I'm super excited to see what the Karkinos looks like.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 14, 2013, 04:16:26 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/u2viyLF.jpg)

Back on track. Gonna try orange shields too.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Sabaton on September 15, 2013, 02:45:20 AM
 Nice, theres still something missing tho, I think in vanilla you have like a faint overlapping shield layer over the ship, yours seems to lack that, also I don't think orange would go well, it wouldn't match the engines and wouldn't blend in with the ship. 
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 15, 2013, 07:42:01 AM
Things I've done so far:

SOUNDS:
- Custom engine loops for all Blackrock ship sizes
- Custom flux sounds for all Blackrock ships
- Remade a ton of ship system/ship weapon sounds

REBALANCING
- Added all 0.6a-relevant ship stats
- Hull HP cut by 10% and armor increased by 10% (roughly) for all Blackrock combat ships
- Flux vent rate lowered by 30% and flux capacity lowered by roughly 15% for all ships
- Added built-in hull mod to all Blackrock ships: Blackrock Flux Core (Doubles active flux vent rate)
- Added CR decay to desdinova and all frigates
- Made all ships a tiny bit more agile
- Burst Jets now work like they used to do, but it's impossible to coast
- A zillion small adjustments everywhere

NEW CONTENT
- Custom hull spec for all blackrocks (pale green shields, etc)
- Gale Cannon. 900 range squall cannon with slow refire rate. Costs 13 OP to mount. Good as a support weapon on a Scarab or Gonodactylus.
- Spark Drive. New ship system for the Locust. A microteleporter with short delay.
- Linear Pulse Gun - small energy weapon that deals kinetic damage
- PDE /PPDE - beam weapon that deals HE damage
- Argus Particle Beam - small fragmentation beam, medium variant with 3 arguses still exists
- Shredder Battery (ironweaver renamed to shredder, 4 barrels on one medium turret)
- Karkinos-class Monitor
- Robberfly-class Corvette

MISC THINGS / WHAT'S NEXT:
- Renamed the Ironweaver MG to Shredder MG
- Uomoz is working on a star system for Blackrock using ModPlugin
- I really need someone to give me a hand with some semi-complicated java stuff

Looks like I'll do a release soon and then a bigger more polished one down the road. I will probably cut unfinished content from said release, including the Karkinos, unless I get java help so I can do what I want with it. I need playtesting and balance feedback so the sooner people get updated content to play with, the better :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Taverius on September 15, 2013, 08:19:52 AM
- Flux vent rate lowered by 30% and flux capacity lowered by roughly 15% for all ships
- Added built-in hull mod to all Blackrock ships: Blackrock Flux Core (Doubles active flux vent rate)
Iiiinteresting :D

- Shredder Battery (ironweaver renamed to shredder, 4 barrels on one medium turret)
<Wilhelm Scream>! I thought it was one the cooler weapon names out there. D:

Also shredder sounds like it would work better on the Volley Gun.

P.S. If you rename the Ichneumon we shall have a reckoning ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: sirboomalot on September 15, 2013, 04:56:09 PM
- Shredder Battery (ironweaver renamed to shredder, 4 barrels on one medium turret)
<Wilhelm Scream>! I thought it was one the cooler weapon names out there. D:


I also kinda liked the ironweaver, it was a fitting name for the gun, what caused the change?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 15, 2013, 05:31:19 PM
Sort of long weird name for a simple weapon I guess. Dont worry, I'll use the name somewhere else. Besides, shredder is more apt for how the weapon feels now.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Alfalfa on September 15, 2013, 07:19:52 PM
What kind of Java help do you need Cycerin?  I'd love to help if I can.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 16, 2013, 01:51:20 PM
Mainly ship systems scripting.

(http://i.imgur.com/wiO9KgQ.jpg)

Working on Blackrock's home system. Uomoz implemented it using the new ModPlugin format.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Silver Silence on September 16, 2013, 02:10:42 PM
The "Ironweaver Heavy Assault Chaingun". The IHAC. I HACk.

No?
Okay.  :(


Also that nebula is giving me the finger, Cycerin.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Sabaton on September 16, 2013, 02:23:18 PM
 Heheheh, what can you do when the universe hates you?
 Edit: or perhaps he put that there to empathize how inhospitable the black rock system is. ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: SpaceRiceBowl on September 16, 2013, 03:48:36 PM
I want this naowww  :o
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: singlespace on September 16, 2013, 06:52:34 PM
Me too. Blackrock is my go to mod.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Alfalfa on September 16, 2013, 08:12:52 PM
Mainly ship systems scripting.

Well, I did mess around a bunch with the Kurmuraja's ship system, so I could certainly take a look.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Taverius on September 16, 2013, 08:39:30 PM
Eta Carinae always makes an impression :D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Vinya on September 16, 2013, 08:50:12 PM
.. that nebula is giving me the finger, Cycerin.

To the sig it goes!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: JWill on September 16, 2013, 09:29:39 PM
Mainly ship systems scripting.

Well, I did mess around a bunch with the Kurmuraja's ship system, so I could certainly take a look.

I'd love to take a look too, if you end up not working on this.  I've been itching to play with Starsector scripting for a while, and contributing to such a great mod would be awesome!

I've been working with java for several years now, so I could probably help with a ship systems script.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 17, 2013, 03:29:42 AM
Eta Carinae always makes an impression :D

I've got half a mind to edit it so you can't tell it's Eta Carinae as easily, but then again, it is a gorgeous nebula.

JWill and Alfalfa, I wouldn't mind putting you two to work. If you two got skype that would be great. PM me
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 17, 2013, 05:41:09 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/rIzO9go.jpg)

The system continues to take form. What is it, you ask? Only a gas giant overrun by nanomachines.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Silver Silence on September 17, 2013, 05:50:16 AM
Grey goo is bad for your health, mmkay
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Uomoz on September 17, 2013, 06:09:44 AM
You guys need to hear the new sounds
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Taverius on September 17, 2013, 06:12:03 AM
nanomachines.
Spoiler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7kNrIn8H32c (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7kNrIn8H32c)
P.S. Spoilery if you haven't played MGS4 and want to, I guess ...
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: MShadowy on September 17, 2013, 06:46:46 AM
Alright, things are starting to look delectably neat, Cyc.  I'm really looking forward to the next release!

nanomachines.
Spoiler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7kNrIn8H32c (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7kNrIn8H32c)
P.S. Spoilery if you haven't played MGS4 and want to, I guess ...
[close]

Spoiler
Metal Gear?!
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Taverius on September 17, 2013, 07:03:19 AM
Spoiler
Metal Gear?!
[close]
Nanomachines.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Doogie on September 18, 2013, 02:08:03 PM
Any preview of the Karkinos? I would love to see what you can do, being one of the old gods of Wyrdysm.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: etherealblade on September 18, 2013, 10:22:32 PM
Any preview of the Karkinos? I would love to see what you can do, being one of the old gods of Wyrdysm.

Um I've played bsf and have known some of the legendary ships for years....but what is the Karkinos? I never heard of it.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 19, 2013, 01:59:18 AM
The Karkinos has been posted a long time ago. The sprite has actually been finished for ages, but I haven't been able to do the ship system yet/mod development took a break this summer

Anyway, reposting (bottom one): http://i.imgur.com/F5EF00M.jpg
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: cell on September 19, 2013, 03:10:26 AM
http://i.imgur.com/F5EF00M.jpg

your mod is truly on a level of its own. sprites / sounds / weapons are all top notch.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: etherealblade on September 19, 2013, 04:30:37 AM
The Karkinos

That ship is epic and really completes the fleet. Are dem new advanced energy weapons I see on that thing? :o

Also breaks are good. They help rejuvenate inspiration and help prevent burnout. Once can get bored if he spends more time modding a game than playing the game.  

I too have much love and appreciation for this mod.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 19, 2013, 05:15:11 AM
The weapons are good old Solenoid Quench Cannons. They are ridiculously nasty when you field 4 of them, almost makes me want to code diminishing returns on the weapon.

Thank you so much for enjoying the mod ;D it makes it so rewarding to keep investing all this effort in it!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Taverius on September 19, 2013, 06:00:09 AM
The weapons are good old Solenoid Quench Cannons. They are ridiculously nasty when you field 4 of them, almost makes me want to code diminishing returns on the weapon.
I miss my alpha-strike Raven with SQCs so much :D

ram-fire-overload-fire-boosh-repeat

I called it the 'Dramatic Pause' because of the long RoF pauses when it seemed like nothing was happening :D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: etherealblade on September 19, 2013, 06:27:57 AM
The weapons are good old Solenoid Quench Cannons.
Oh yes i've seen how nasty they can be. I was thinking. Interested in doing antimatter energy torpedos? Basically Its a like an energy weapons that fires a slower moving ball of energy and have massive explosion like that of powerful missile. Then again...I think your faction is more about hyperadvanced projectile warfare?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Taverius on September 19, 2013, 07:12:43 AM
The weapons are good old Solenoid Quench Cannons.
Oh yes i've seen how nasty they can be. I was thinking. Interested in doing antimatter energy torpedos? Basically Its a like an energy weapons that fires a slower moving ball of energy and have massive explosion like that of powerful missile. Then again...I think your faction is more about hyperadvanced projectile warfare?
I've never been happy with how energy missiles have been handled in mods. They usually have no ammo limit and guidance, which somehow doesn't feel like it lines up with the tech level in Starsector.

I'd love a well done guided energy missile and unguided torp though. You can balance that out with lower DPS easy enough - they become more of a main/support weapon rather than a finisher like Harpoons and Reapers.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 19, 2013, 07:16:43 AM
I wanna make a homing energy weapon that's like the Gaitori Homing Pulse from ARES at some point. Those things were nasty as ***. Probably wont see it on Blackrock ships though.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: SpaceRiceBowl on September 19, 2013, 03:38:14 PM
Man, these ships are gonna be fun as hell to fly and shoot
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Plasmatic on September 20, 2013, 08:54:21 AM
I might just be blind but I can't find anywhere in the last couple pages (currently 34 pages in total)or in the OP where it says what version of Starsector it works with..

I have no idea if BDY 0.3 is for 0.54.1 or 0.6a?

Would probably be helpful to many just adding that in the OP.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Cycerin on September 20, 2013, 10:50:09 AM
Right, that's the version number of the mod itself. It works with .54 and up but hasnt been patched FOR 0.6a yet (All the posts in the last pages have been about content im working on right now)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: x Daedalus on September 21, 2013, 07:06:13 AM
I can't wait.

Spoiler
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/72c4b1f8592f4539eafabfab3a2b3ac3/tumblr_mltlwpGPKt1sojn6ro1_500.gif)
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards - v0.30
Post by: Ishman on September 22, 2013, 06:49:46 PM
Solenoid Quench Cannons

MY. OH. MY.

All props to you for knowing what these are, and I'm looking forward to your update. You've got good taste in media :3

Also, ehrmahgerd another person who likes Ares. Give a guess where I took my name from.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 23, 2013, 03:10:49 AM
Ehehe. Well, it's not only a Gunnm shoutout, it's also simply a convoluted name for "accelerator cannon". And we all like convoluted names. I've had a lot of entertainment out of seeing people refer to the Kurmaraja as "kormana", "Kurojo", "Kurmaruma" and basically everything under the sun that isn't "Kurma" or "kurmaraja." ;D

Ares is also an insanely underrated game that suffered under an awful publisher until Ambrosia got ahold of it.

ANYWAY.

I just took a lot of BRDY frigs under the chopping block.

Scarab lost Burst Jets and now has the Sentinel Drone instead. The Mantis has Burst Jets and its hardpoints have changed. (but don't worry, you can still rock 2x rockets on the front)
The Locust has a teleporter that "stutters" you in your current vector, which makes it a lot more evasive.

Currently, the breakdown is a lot like this:
Locust: Workhorse frig, good for chasing, point capping and overall combat duty, relatively undemanding out of combat. Like an inbetween of a Wolf and Lasher.
Robberfly: A pair of souped up engines and three weapon mounts tacked on to a reactor. No shield. Like a more aggressive Hound, except it hardly has any logistical demands/benefits.
Scarab: A slow, huge frigate with ample cargo hold and a very heavy weapons capacity, that is expensive to deploy, but beneficial to your fleet out of combat. Very slow CR decay.
Mantis: High-performance frig. Think Tempest, Hyperion.

Also, the Sentinel drone now has one Shard and one small Argus beam, the Krait has a pair of Ichneumons and a Shredder, and the Serket has two Linear Pulse Cannons and a Shredder. The Cetonia is going to fill a Mule-like role in BRDY fleets and a bigger freighter is in the works for civilian heavy lifting.

Also touched up fighter sprites:
(http://i.imgur.com/TNqCQKb.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/cc2Dwmc.png)

Thoughts? :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Taverius on September 23, 2013, 03:33:53 AM
Sounds fine. I never had any major complaints with the frigates, and these changes don't seem like they will cause any.

The only thing that ever bothered me was that the 2 universals on the nose of the Stenos didn't have the 5 degrees mobility necessary for them to shoot the same spot.
I always felt that was unnecessary cruelty to the pilot.

P.S. Yer gonna need a whole lot more civilian ships to be a complete faction in 0.6.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 23, 2013, 09:35:20 AM
Yep. Making civilian ships can be fun, though.

But for now, the Mantis got a facelift.

(http://i.imgur.com/VSGdZDt.jpg)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Taverius on September 23, 2013, 10:16:53 AM
That's a gorgeous little thing :D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: phyrex on September 23, 2013, 10:28:45 AM
jeebus krakendoodly cheesestake devil, that is awesome.

So, just to be sure, is your mod 0.6 compatible ? (just to be sure)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Shoat on September 23, 2013, 11:13:49 AM
Yep. Making civilian ships can be fun, though.

But for now, the Mantis got a facelift.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/VSGdZDt.jpg)
[close]

But... it's .. it's ... IT'S NOT SYMMETRICAL! AARARRARARARRARASRASRASRARfnvr pkg

On some ships whose design is completely asymmetrical I can tolerate that, but this ... part of it is symmetrical and the other isn't. It's too much for me to handle.


Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to tell you to change your design. Thankfully I can just adjust the position of the weapon mounts myself to bring my OCD to peace.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: x Daedalus on September 23, 2013, 01:22:22 PM
jeebus krakendoodly cheesestake devil, that is awesome.

So, just to be sure, is your mod 0.6 compatible ? (just to be sure)

it's not yet; but hopefully soon.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 24, 2013, 10:42:50 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/t6QkBvi.gif)

Yes, it is ingame, the gif compression just makes the rest of the ship look static.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: doodlydee on September 24, 2013, 11:11:38 AM
It looks very menacing, cant wait to try it out or fight it
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Doogie on September 24, 2013, 12:10:19 PM
It might be able to benefit from some larger armor covering on the whiter spots. It would cut down on the clutter a lot. However, I can't exactly see it so I could be incredibly wrong.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Thule on September 24, 2013, 03:09:03 PM
beautiful sprite
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: ssthehunter on September 24, 2013, 04:39:48 PM
RAMMING SPEED.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Gotcha! on September 24, 2013, 05:17:59 PM
Blinking lights! Awesome. :) Looks very menacing.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: MShadowy on September 24, 2013, 05:42:39 PM
It does indeed.  The Kakarinos is awesome.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on September 24, 2013, 06:16:07 PM
You bring up a good point Cycerin. Should all ships technically have navigation lights? Kinda like in the latest Star Trek movies. (minus the gratuitous lens flares.)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Shield on September 24, 2013, 06:43:46 PM
GIMME!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Erick Doe on September 24, 2013, 06:44:36 PM
Spoiler
(http://www.nauticaldecorstore.com/cw4/images/product_expanded/portstrbd12touchlamp.jpg)
[close]

A red port light and a green starboard light.  :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cosmitz on September 25, 2013, 02:48:14 AM
This mod really needs to be added to the main game. It's just so high quality and polished.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 25, 2013, 04:52:49 AM
It might be able to benefit from some larger armor covering on the whiter spots. It would cut down on the clutter a lot. However, I can't exactly see it so I could be incredibly wrong.

Yeah, it does look very cluttered when you zoom it out. Going to do something about that. :)

And I'll add these lights to all ships eventually, plus assorted other greeblies.

In other news my friend Erlend doodled up some Blackrock logotypes. The brutalistic ones are probably close to what I'll end up having.

Spoiler
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23502117/blackrock.png)
[close]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Taverius on September 25, 2013, 05:14:33 AM
The more abstract ones remind me of the stuff Designer's Republic did for Wipeout/Wipeout XL
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: phyrex on September 25, 2013, 10:06:54 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/V2LTuqN.png)

That would be my favorite personally
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: MShadowy on September 25, 2013, 10:28:50 AM
It's mine as well, but ultimately it's Cyc's call.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Silver Silence on September 25, 2013, 10:51:00 AM
I like the variant just above the one that Phyrex pointed out. The stylised "BLACK"
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: ValkyriaL on September 25, 2013, 11:15:42 AM
BRDY gets so much love and praise, i'm so jelly. :-[

Anyone, finally seeing the Karkinos (sachumondo) complete makes my competitive side come to life. :o
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: joey4track on September 25, 2013, 02:56:17 PM
I agree with Phyrex
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Thule on September 25, 2013, 04:07:42 PM
Finally a logo for BRDY ;)
Unfortunate the readability (is that a word?) is really not that good if you zoom out.

Maybe go for a more stylized and abstract approch as seen on the vanilla logos?
Can only imagine what BRDY looks like as a logo with their essence shown in two or three colors.
Depends of whether you stick to a logotype rather than a single logo as seen by vanilla factions.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 26, 2013, 06:20:29 AM
Glad you like it. That is indeed the logo I'm going to work out of.

Thule, you gave me a really nice idea. I need to get the transparent vector graphics from the guy and then I'm going to try a logotype with stylized letters/a sort of tricolor emblem, and a variation on the current title. There's no need to be limited to one logo or one logotype.

The fun idea here is that it's both a corporate brand AND something that has basically assumed the identity of the prime mover in the politics of the system in which said corporation originated.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Doogie on September 26, 2013, 07:47:39 AM
The fun idea here is that it's both a corporate brand AND something that has basically assumed the identity of the prime mover in the politics of the system in which said corporation originated.
So...just a regular corporation then?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Thule on September 26, 2013, 10:52:31 PM
When i did my research to make the thule logo i came around those japanese town logos. They are mindblowingly good.
Maybe they'll inspire your, if not they are just beautifull ;)

http://pinktentacle.com/2010/04/50-japanese-town-logos-with-kanji/
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Lifeforce on September 27, 2013, 12:57:06 AM
Hi there, iv'e got some problems with your mod since i use 0.6

Code
100327 [Thread-6] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.D  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Spec of class [com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.L] with id [missile_medium] not found
java.lang.RuntimeException: Spec of class [com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.L] with id [missile_medium] not found
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.entities.ship.A.J.<init>(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.super.new(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.super.Ô00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.super.Ô00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.super.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.super.new.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.B.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.new.øÒÒ000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.oOOO.super.new(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.D.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)

And

Code
48180 [Thread-6] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.D  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Spec of class [com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.L] with id [beam_light_loop] not found
java.lang.RuntimeException: Spec of class [com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.L] with id [beam_light_loop] not found
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.entities.ship.A.G.<init>(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.fleet.FleetMember.instantiateForCombat(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatFleetManager.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatFleetManager.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatFleetManager.deploy(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.ai.admiral.DeploymentManager.void.null(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.ai.admiral.DeploymentManager.Õø0000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.ai.admiral.DeploymentManager.ôø0000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.ai.admiral.BaseBattleStrategy.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.ai.admiral.AdmiralAI.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatFleetManager.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.return.øÒÒ000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.oOOO.super.new(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.D.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)


Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Thule on September 27, 2013, 01:21:25 AM
looks like issues due to the new id's introduced to the sounds.json in .6.
And as far as i can recall cycerin hasnt released a .6 compatible versionor has he?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on September 27, 2013, 06:56:03 AM
Not yet, but can we all wait patiently... I think?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Taverius on September 27, 2013, 07:00:23 AM
wait patiently
Negatory. *spazzes out*
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Uomoz on September 27, 2013, 07:10:22 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/nidKRo9.png)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 27, 2013, 07:10:59 AM
Don't torture 'em, Uomoz.

Since most of the features I want are on the backburner due to lack of java expertise, I'm going to release the 0.6a compatible version with the new stuff soon. Minus certain things that aren't ready yet.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: MShadowy on September 27, 2013, 08:38:08 AM
Ooh!  Ooh!  Can I torment them instead?

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/yzDvaSG.png)
[close]

[karking further intensifies]
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on September 27, 2013, 08:49:29 AM
The Mod Gods be cruel, yea, what can we poor folk do?  :'(
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Destroyer140 on September 27, 2013, 09:00:09 AM
Hi there, iv'e got some problems with your mod since i use 0.6

Code
100327 [Thread-6] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.D  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Spec of class [com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.L] with id [missile_medium] not found
java.lang.RuntimeException: Spec of class [com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.L] with id [missile_medium] not found
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.entities.ship.A.J.<init>(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.super.new(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.super.Ô00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.super.Ô00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.super.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.super.new.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.B.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.new.øÒÒ000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.oOOO.super.new(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.D.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)

And

Code
48180 [Thread-6] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.D  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Spec of class [com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.L] with id [beam_light_loop] not found
java.lang.RuntimeException: Spec of class [com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.L] with id [beam_light_loop] not found
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.entities.ship.A.G.<init>(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.fleet.FleetMember.instantiateForCombat(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatFleetManager.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatFleetManager.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatFleetManager.deploy(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.ai.admiral.DeploymentManager.void.null(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.ai.admiral.DeploymentManager.Õø0000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.ai.admiral.DeploymentManager.ôø0000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.ai.admiral.BaseBattleStrategy.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.ai.admiral.AdmiralAI.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatFleetManager.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.return.øÒÒ000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.oOOO.super.new(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.D.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)

I can add that the second type of crash happens when trying to fit an Argus Particle Beam, haven't seen the first one tho. Hope this helps in fixing it quicker :)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 27, 2013, 09:21:16 AM
That is because the mod tries to use an old core-game sound effect. To fix it, go comment out the fireSound entry in the weapon file. Of course, it's fixed in the upcoming version.

(http://i.minus.com/ijBmQlWdFARtI.gif)

Blackrock for 0.6a is coming.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: doodlydee on September 27, 2013, 10:19:12 AM
You are killing me with these teasers
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: x Daedalus on September 27, 2013, 01:24:56 PM
Please, oh god, Please T_T
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: mendonca on September 27, 2013, 02:23:48 PM
Incredible :)

Poor Lasher never stood a chance ...   :'(
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Uomoz on September 27, 2013, 02:26:37 PM
The best thing is, that ship is not overpowered! It fair good vs other capital ships, but an onslaught wins (AI vs AI). As much awesome the Kark is, it's still balanced. As always cyc's ships fill a well rounded niche. That's a good job.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 27, 2013, 02:48:39 PM
Thanks, but jury's still out on if it's overpowered or not. Then again, I like to go a little bit crazy with this one, since after all, it's a capital ship, and capital ships are supposed to be a little crazy.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: ValkyriaL on September 27, 2013, 02:56:38 PM
 ::) I like your way of thinking with capital ships, thats the logic i use when i make mine. ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 27, 2013, 03:00:28 PM
What's the fun otherwise? ;D
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Wyvern on September 27, 2013, 03:05:19 PM
Don't torture 'em, Uomoz.

Since most of the features I want are on the backburner due to lack of java expertise, I'm going to release the 0.6a compatible version with the new stuff soon. Minus certain things that aren't ready yet.
Out of curiosity, which features are those that are being backburnered?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 27, 2013, 03:08:56 PM
Basically, a perfect implementation of the Karkinos' Scalar Deracinator ship system, but thanks to LazyWizard I have it 90% of how I want it to be. all hail the wizard

The other stuff is mostly detail and polish, but I have a lot of ambitiously crazy things planned for the future.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Destroyer140 on September 27, 2013, 07:17:45 PM
For those who have "[missile_medium]" and "[beam_light_loop]" related crashes, I threw together a patch for the current BETA v0.30 (0.54 and up) release for those who would still like to play without crashes but didn't knew how to fix it: http://www.mediafire.com/download/pnb98eziibdfynr/BRDY_Weapon_fix_0.6.rar

All you need to do is extract the 3 files to "Starsector\mods\Blackrock Drive Yards\data\weapons" and over write the 3 file.

This should fix the crash related to the Achilles Misiles (and pod version of it) and the Argus Particle Beam.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Ishman on September 27, 2013, 11:34:24 PM
Running lights are pretty neat. Now all we need is vapor trails from launched missiles due to outflowing gas.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Gotcha! on September 28, 2013, 05:15:27 AM
That ship is looking mighty fine indeed. *thumbs up*
It scares the living daylights out of me though.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 28, 2013, 11:36:17 AM
(http://i.minus.com/i7OHZcYcg8Fye.gif)
(http://i.minus.com/ibsj9HaaOpIfvH.gif)
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: cell on September 28, 2013, 11:45:43 AM
that ship looks incredible! what does its system do?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: MShadowy on September 28, 2013, 11:46:11 AM
awesome!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 28, 2013, 11:52:34 AM
that ship looks incredible! what does its system do?

Teleportation with a long cooldown. When you arrive, everything nearby gets blasted with energy damage and EMP.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Sabaton on September 28, 2013, 11:54:40 AM
 Hehe, you weren't joking when you said you wanted to do something crazy with it.
 How far can you teleport? And what's the damage radius?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 28, 2013, 11:57:16 AM
1250 units, and the damage radius is exactly what you see on the gif with the explosion. Also, everything gets pushed away from the ship, most notably fighters, who get pretty screwed up.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Uomoz on September 28, 2013, 11:58:50 AM
Don't torture 'em, Uomoz.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Sabaton on September 28, 2013, 12:01:42 PM
 So it can be used for wrecking stuff and/or running away. S.W.E.E.T!
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 29, 2013, 06:00:09 AM
(http://i.minus.com/i21Uad6a8jOUk.gif)

Havin fun fighting the Blackrock Sovereignity Fleet. Wrapping up everything now.
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Weh on September 29, 2013, 12:09:15 PM
Oh man, I am so hyped for this.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 29, 2013, 03:07:06 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/f2O3xYh.png)
DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK FOR STARSECTOR 0.6a! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock+Drive+Yards.zip)
Requires LazyLib (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=5444.0)

(http://i.minus.com/ijBmQlWdFARtI.gif)
Mod version 0.4

Changelog:
0.4:

- Rebalanced just about everything related to gameplay and ship slots/stats
- Redid every sound effect
- Custom hull spec
- Added built-in hullmod to all Blackrock ships. Doubles active flux vent rate.
- Added Karkinos, Robberfly, PDE, PPDE, Linear Pulse Gun, Gale Cannon, Shredder Battery, Argus PD Beam
- Old Burst Jets are back
- Greeblies everywhere
- Explore Gneiss, the home system of Blackrock Drive Yards!
- Say "Did something else" twice in the campaign start dialog to start as Blackrock!
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Doogie on September 29, 2013, 03:10:59 PM
Pure and utter joy is surging through my veins.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: MShadowy on September 29, 2013, 03:14:41 PM
Eeeexcellent!
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 29, 2013, 03:15:40 PM
Just need to give shoutouts to LazyWizard once again for making crazy cool gameplay possible and lending a helping hand despite being a busy man.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Magician on September 29, 2013, 03:34:01 PM
I can't describe how awesome are those new sounds and visuals. They are space-like, alien-like, simply awesome. Even new logo is perfect. Time to play some Starsector.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cosmitz on September 29, 2013, 03:40:29 PM
Can't wait to play this in Uomoz.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Vayra on September 29, 2013, 03:57:00 PM
I love you, Cycerin.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: doodlydee on September 29, 2013, 03:58:11 PM
SUPER!!! I cant wait to try it out
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: SpaceRiceBowl on September 29, 2013, 03:59:45 PM
ERMAHGHAD!  :D :D :D :D :D :D
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dogpot on September 29, 2013, 04:03:30 PM
Yay, been spamming F5 half the evening. Thanks for the mod, amazing quality.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: doodlydee on September 29, 2013, 04:16:54 PM
I have to say I LOVE IT!!!
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: x Daedalus on September 29, 2013, 04:55:14 PM
Yes! :D
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dogpot on September 29, 2013, 05:11:58 PM
Potential crash bug found. Click the Desdinova Codex entry (the '?' button) in the 'F'leet menu. Sometimes works properly the first time but crashes when you exit and click the button again. 100% reproducible on my box.

Spoiler
Code
5594535 [Thread-6] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.D  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull variant [exported_variant_desdinova_a90ef979-ad25-40a8-99b2-abd4c061db7b] not found!
java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull variant [exported_variant_desdinova_a90ef979-ad25-40a8-99b2-abd4c061db7b] not found!
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.for.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.fleet.FleetMember.super.float$Object(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.fleet.FleetMember.<init>(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.fleet.FleetMember.<init>(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.codex.ui.C.<init>(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.codex.ui.E.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.codex.ui.E.do.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.codex.ui.E.øo0000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.B.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O00o.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.F.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.newsuper.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.new.øÒÒ000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.oOOO.super.new(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.D.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Turdicus on September 29, 2013, 06:27:02 PM
Nice, I'm new here so I'm curious if this mod plans on getting support within Exerelin? I noticed some blackrock strings in some of Zaphide's scripts so it did at one point.

Gonna have a go testing this wonderfulness out
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: FlashFrozen on September 29, 2013, 07:37:38 PM
Just wondering, is the Blackrock flux core supposed to be installable on any ship? =o
Double venting is always welcome on an onslaught x)

But yeah Amazing improvements all round, gotta stare at them blinky lights some.
Also of note, love planet verge, though I kinda wish the huge debris ring rotated a little more.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: valefore on September 29, 2013, 08:20:28 PM
Yay!!!
And Kudos to the awesome logo! The Green Orange box looks really cool with BlackRock. I personally disliked the sun symbols cause they reminded me of the imperial japanese flag... so Yay!
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dragar on September 29, 2013, 09:16:30 PM
Got a crash during gameplay, says the Blackrock Personnel convoy/fleet couldn't be found.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Ishman on September 30, 2013, 01:05:38 AM
Fabulous release!

Just wanted to point out that the tonnage of that 327m long craft in the top post is off by an order of magnitude though. Presuming dimensions of 327 meters by 70 by 70, it's got a density of one kilogram per square meter, about the same density as aerogel.

Might want to up the tonnage by an order of magnitude to something more similarly sized like a Nimitz class carrier, which weighs ~100,000 tons.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 30, 2013, 03:20:44 AM
Oh yeaaaah. Never bothered to fix it to be more in-universe as opposed to a boneheaded copy/paste from the .csv... until now.

Got a crash during gameplay, says the Blackrock Personnel convoy/fleet couldn't be found.

Do you have a starsector.log report?

Just wondering, is the Blackrock flux core supposed to be installable on any ship? =o
Double venting is always welcome on an onslaught x)

Uuuh, shouldn't be possible except for in missions/the dev mode variant editor, where I can't really do anything to prevent it. Do you mean in the campaign?
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 30, 2013, 05:17:39 AM
Hahaha. Oh yeah, I remember the chuffy Scarabs.

That's mainly because slot types don't affect what a fighter does, except they have to exist and have a swivel radius/heading and be hidden or not. You can still say that a missile slot will hold an energy weapon if you want. Next update the game won't even list what slots a fighter has, because they can never be refitted anyway.

So basically I changed the weapons from what they used to be, and haven't been arsed to clean it up yet because it has no bearing on gameplay. :) Heh, Serkets sh*tting Quills all over the place was a bit broken. Their current Linear Pulse Guns mean that they need to build flux if they want to hurt something.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Vayra on September 30, 2013, 05:27:25 AM
I have to say, I'm not sure about forcing the player to start in Gneiss. Not only does it seem to happen regardless of if you choose BRDY or NO_BRDY at character creation, respawning there is really inconvenient especially early on. You'll end up using a big chunk of your respawn supplies and fuel to get back to a system with things to fight, and you don't necessarily respawn with much money to buy more unless you were rich when you died.

Everything else is fantastic though! I think the Locust is my new favorite ship to fly personally, and I especially love the sounds. I might add that your soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/fastland/) that the "hypothetical theme song" is hosted on is full of really good stuff, and makes an awesome soundtrack for flying around and blowing up spaceships. :)
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 30, 2013, 05:40:10 AM
Thanks a lot! I am playing through the campaign now and enabled Kadur and some other stuff, going to be fun to see how it ends up.

Respawning is supposed to suck, though. But Gneiss will contain things to fight in the future. That huge ominous grey planet isn't just for show.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Vayra on September 30, 2013, 05:49:42 AM
Make sure you grab the new version (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=6649), then. ;) I just implemented the BRDY integration I messaged you about a while back, so let me know how that strikes you whenever you take a look at it.

And re: Gneiss being full of things to fight, I can't wait! Will we get to see some of those "pseudolife entities" from the lore?  :)
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Borgoid on September 30, 2013, 05:57:47 AM
Sheesh the Nevermore isn't messing about anymore with its new Blackrock Flux Core ( Curse you unintentional rhymes)

Feels like I'm flying around a Neutrino ship if I tack on flux resistant conduits and Safety Override. Go go gadget Heavy Blasters.

Great update, everything feels a lot more fun to fly, with possibly the exception of the Gonodactylus which still feels like a three legged cow with a cannon strapped to it.

Big fan of the Sunfire PDE, nice to see an energy weapon that benefits from increased fire rate.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 30, 2013, 06:05:05 AM
And re: Gneiss being full of things to fight, I can't wait! Will we get to see some of those "pseudolife entities" from the lore?  :)
Well, might as well hype a bit about the distant future of the mod.

Space monsters, basically. Uchuu Kaiju stuff. You will see swarming, pale, glittering creatures being vomited out of gashes in the bodies of pale behemoths of comet ice and lattice metal. Screaming energy rays thrown out of the mouths of void creatures who look like Rorschach blots of twisted obsidian. And insane human splinter groups who worship these creatures as demigods who will deliver them from the dystopic reality of the Sector. This is what Blackrock has to deal with, and you'd be crazy if you think the Hegemony or any other Sector power wants to touch it with a ten foot pole.

Is all of this just an excuse to go completely crazy with modding? Yes.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Chronosfear on September 30, 2013, 06:13:36 AM
1st note : Yay BRDY is back !!!1111  ;D

2nd note : did the interdiction array got an improvement or kurmaraja at all ?
 

... because i think it´s even more awesome then it already was in 0.54 :)





Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 30, 2013, 06:14:06 AM
No, that's one of the future things I'm going to be looking at. Kurmaraja is still strong though :P
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Borgoid on September 30, 2013, 06:15:28 AM
In other news, Cycerin should probably start writing sci-fi horror.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Chronosfear on September 30, 2013, 06:18:31 AM
No, that's one of the future things I'm going to be looking at. Kurmaraja is still strong though :P

then the difference must be the BRDY hull mod .. so freaking fast :)
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 30, 2013, 06:19:36 AM
I think I might have slightly buffed the engine stats on that corncob... hmm. Oh well. Damn, if I wrote a complete changelog for this version I think my brain would have melted halfway in.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Ishman on September 30, 2013, 07:10:55 AM
And re: Gneiss being full of things to fight, I can't wait! Will we get to see some of those "pseudolife entities" from the lore?  :)
Space monsters, basically. Uchuu Kaiju stuff. You will see swarming, pale, glittering creatures being vomited out of gashes in the bodies of pale behemoths of comet ice and lattice metal. Screaming energy rays thrown out of the mouths of void creatures who look like Rorschach blots of twisted obsidian. And insane human splinter groups who worship these creatures as demigods who will deliver them from the dystopic reality of the Sector. This is what Blackrock has to deal with, and you'd be crazy if you think the Hegemony or any other Sector power wants to touch it with a ten foot pole.

Come now, is it not every man's dream to stand together in a United Front against the Enemy? Hand in hands, we shall let them taste the Actinic fury of our mastery over the fundamental forces of the universe!

Catching some of the references you've strewn about in your descriptions (Gamma level AI? IS CAN HAS LIGHTHUGGER?) I'd love to see some more homages to exotic tech weaponry. (Bladder mines, conjoiner drives used as a weapon, quark weaponry, and a few other fundamental particles like the muon and meson as penetrating weaponry)

DID I MENTION THAT I AM IMMENSELY ENJOYING ALL YOUR REFERENCES TO SOME OF MY FAVORITE SCI-FI SERIES?!
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dragar on September 30, 2013, 07:22:29 AM
Here's the crashlog:

2740510 [Thread-6] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.D  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Fleet id [personnelConvoy] not found for faction [blackrock_driveyards]
java.lang.RuntimeException: Fleet id [personnelConvoy] not found for faction [blackrock_driveyards]
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.oOoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.Ó00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.createFleet(Unknown Source)
   at data.scripts.world.BRConvoySpawnPoint.spawnFleet(BRConvoySpawnPoint.java:46)
   at data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint.advance(BaseSpawnPoint.java:61)
   at data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint.advance(BaseSpawnPoint.java:45)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.BaseLocation.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.A.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.new.øÒÒ000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.oOOO.super.new(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.D.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 30, 2013, 07:39:15 AM
And re: Gneiss being full of things to fight, I can't wait! Will we get to see some of those "pseudolife entities" from the lore?  :)
Space monsters, basically. Uchuu Kaiju stuff. You will see swarming, pale, glittering creatures being vomited out of gashes in the bodies of pale behemoths of comet ice and lattice metal. Screaming energy rays thrown out of the mouths of void creatures who look like Rorschach blots of twisted obsidian. And insane human splinter groups who worship these creatures as demigods who will deliver them from the dystopic reality of the Sector. This is what Blackrock has to deal with, and you'd be crazy if you think the Hegemony or any other Sector power wants to touch it with a ten foot pole.

Come now, is it not every man's dream to stand together in a United Front against the Enemy? Hand in hands, we shall let them taste the Actinic fury of our mastery over the fundamental forces of the universe!

Catching some of the references you've strewn about in your descriptions (Gamma level AI? IS CAN HAS LIGHTHUGGER?) I'd love to see some more homages to exotic tech weaponry. (Bladder mines, conjoiner drives used as a weapon, quark weaponry, and a few other fundamental particles like the muon and meson as penetrating weaponry)

DID I MENTION THAT I AM IMMENSELY ENJOYING ALL YOUR REFERENCES TO SOME OF MY FAVORITE SCI-FI SERIES?!

A little googling later... heh, I actually haven't read Revelation Space. Most of my literary shoutouts go to Cordwainer Smith, David Brin, Larry Niven, Peter Watts and Iain Banks. Then you can add a bunch of nods or inspirations that point to assorted games, comics, manga and anime on top of that. :) And apart from that, I simply invent a lot of sh*t.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Taverius on September 30, 2013, 08:15:50 AM
I actually haven't read Revelation Space.
You oughta, its good stuff.

Since we're talking of shout-outs, when making example crafts for KSP's B9 Aerospace pack I named them Heinlein, Strugatsky, Bradbury, Vonnegut, Vance and Haldeman. Still looking for one I can name Banks.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Gothars on September 30, 2013, 09:58:43 AM
Let me just say, I love how well you incorporated peak time into your balancing. Especially the Desdinova, I always wanted to play it fast and overly aggressive but knew it wasn't the way to get the most out of it. Now it's the perfect way to play it!

Exited for where the mod is going  :)
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dragar on September 30, 2013, 11:14:28 AM
Can't play with BRDY till that bug I posted about gets fixed because every time Blackrock's personnel convoy spawns it CTDs.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Gotcha! on September 30, 2013, 01:49:42 PM
Starting a new game automatically puts the player in Blackrock's system. When the player dies this happens as well.
Any chance this'll get fixed?

Edit: To be clear: This happens when you decide not to go with Blackrock at game start.


Other than that, well, no words necessary. :)
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Chronosfear on September 30, 2013, 01:54:52 PM
Just bought a Karkinos and i must say the sound of the Scalar Diracinator is so *words can´t descripe*  :o
The effect really fits to that also. I fear this ship !
A bit slow for BRDYs .. well it has to have some sort of weakness ;)

The balancing at all seems quite good already.
Can´t steamroll everything at least until you´re high leveled and then it doesn´t matter much which ship to choose.

though i like their style of play : hit fast and hard then run away.
I prefer that over pure staying power.




Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Borgoid on September 30, 2013, 02:29:02 PM
The Karkinos's Turbo Encapulator ( Its real name is too hard to type) is pretty crazy, I've been carving through Qamar Caliphate fleets like a hot knife through a lepper, poor bastards.

Have to say that the Blackrock Flux Core is a bit much on the capitals, the Karkinos in particular has SoOoOo much dps if you're willing to vent in combat, which usually isn't an issue because you can overload a Paragon in seconds.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 30, 2013, 02:44:15 PM
I'll probably end up implementing bonuses based on hull size for the Flux Core.

Anyway, having some fun doodling up and solidifying the space monsters. Gneiss is very empty right now. I'm pretty sure Verge will be teeming with weird creepy crawlies down the road for recruits to shoot down the stragglers that escape.

Beyond that, I'll throw in some temporary pirate presence when I do the bugfix/balance patch.

(http://i.imgur.com/9Z2fSCr.jpg)

(yes, it's a space monster-nevermore)

What do we know about the void beasts?
- They are cellular, but not organic. Organization on the lowest level is nanomechanical.
- They seem to be completely self-sufficient, highly aggressive, internally competitive and predatory, with a keen interest in sapient or sophont lifeforms.
- They are motile, cunning, and capable of adaption, but do not show any capacity to communicate or form complex behaviors ( Note: ? ? ? ? ? ? have propensity for long-term organization on the level of ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?.)
- Land or atmosphere-based pseudolife size range stretches from microscopic to 20-30m in length.
- Space-capable pseudolife can reach sizes rivalling capital ships - Dimension-tunnelling pseudolife can reach sizes rivalling ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: HELMUT on September 30, 2013, 03:14:16 PM
Eh, funny, i am currently working on something similar. Space crystals lifeforms and stuffs.

I'm looking forward to discover Gneiss local fauna.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 30, 2013, 03:29:08 PM
Fix patch for the missing fleet spec crash (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock+Drive+Yards.zip)
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on September 30, 2013, 04:33:54 PM
Hehehe... I saw the secret content! *CENSORED* is very useful for testing out my stuff... as well as yours!!!
Anyways, I really love the new sounds. Good job with the mixing and foley and whatnot!
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Gothars on September 30, 2013, 04:42:14 PM
You might want to change the faction color from yellow to something that is a little more distinguishable from the hegemony color.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Sproiet on September 30, 2013, 06:41:21 PM
I agree with Gothars, I threw like 8 mods together and there was a huge 'arena' like starsystem and saw orange and was like "Nice! Blackrock are included in this duel!" but no, just Hegemony  :(
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: x Daedalus on September 30, 2013, 11:54:47 PM
Iain Banks.

I -was- wondering where all the catchy culture-esque ship names were coming from :3
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on October 01, 2013, 02:41:34 AM
You might want to change the faction color from yellow to something that is a little more distinguishable from the hegemony color.

Yeah, Hegemony brightened a bit this patch and it sorta made it a bit confusing... orange is the faction's color, though, so I don't know what to do about it. Maybe I could darken the color even further or desaturate it.

Blackrock Drive Yards itself is mostly concerned with its brand, but since it is basically synonymous with Blackrock Interstellar Authority, the faction which rules Gneiss, we can look at their flag (courtesy of my friend Anthony):

(http://i.imgur.com/bDiZxkQ.jpg)

And as you can see, orange is the predominant theme. I will find a way to tweak it though.

Iain Banks.

I -was- wondering where all the catchy culture-esque ship names were coming from :3

Hee hee. He emboldened me to just go crazy and throw weird names everywhere.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Turdicus on October 01, 2013, 12:17:03 PM
First time seeing the Nevermore in action and the Antimatter Lance is SO COOL. Very well done sir hands down the coolest weapon ever implemented into SS so far. I have yet to see all of your weapons yet but very nice mod
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Gotcha! on October 01, 2013, 12:30:04 PM
Two things:
- (Minor) Your space station is occupying a part of the planet it's orbiting. Maybe you done it on purpose, but personally I don't think it looks good, nor vanilla.
- I think you might have missed my earlier post. Players always end up in your system when starting a new game or respawning.
This is regardless of the option you choose at game start.

Other than that, very nice, but I expected nothing less. Your ships look terrifying, yet seem to be nicely balanced. And I love the background of your system too. Damn fine work.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Erick Doe on October 01, 2013, 03:20:04 PM
Maybe these can help you decide on a faction colour?
Spoiler
(http://www.seducingwithstyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/orange.png)

(http://nettehargreaves.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/pantone-orange-1.jpg)
[close]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Shades_of_orange
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Hyph_K31 on October 01, 2013, 05:17:28 PM
That is a surprisingly useful link... Thank you, even though it wasn't for me!  ;D
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: etherealblade on October 02, 2013, 01:03:42 AM
Anyway, having some fun doodling up and solidifying the space monsters.

OMG....Did he just say he was throwing in space monsters!?
He did.  :o...................
Spoiler
(http://kristamoore.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/yes-man1.jpg)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Gothars on October 02, 2013, 04:23:57 AM
It has probably been answered earlier in this thread, but can someone please explain to me what the interdiction array does exactly and in what tactical situations it should be used? From my observations it slows down ballistic projectiles, but only small ones (that are quite harmless anyway) are slowed down enough to actually not hit me. What is the point?
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: ValkyriaL on October 02, 2013, 04:34:12 AM
it slows down ballistic projectiles

enough to actually not hit me.

^ you said it yourself :P
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Uomoz on October 02, 2013, 04:44:13 AM
It has probably been answered earlier in this thread, but can someone please explain to me what the interdiction array does exactly and in what tactical situations it should be used? From my observations it slows down ballistic projectiles, but only small ones (that are quite harmless anyway) are slowed down enough to actually not hit me. What is the point?

I think it as a support ship, while those projectiles are not much against a cap ship, those could be shots to frigates or fighters. Also is a very good system against annihilators :D
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Vayra on October 02, 2013, 04:44:57 AM
IIRC it slows them gradually but continuously, so the farther away the firing ship is the more of an effect it will have. Also, the ship it's on is fairly maneuverable for a capital, so if you try to maneuver either away from the source of fire (effectively giving it more distance to slow the projectiles) or out of the line of fire (because they'll be slower) it's even better. Also, every little bit helps.

Of course, it's at its most helpful against things that are already slow and that you really don't want to get hit by. Plasma cannons and Reaper torpedos come to mind -- I'm pretty sure it works on all projectiles, not just ballistics?
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: LazyWizard on October 02, 2013, 04:46:46 AM
It's most useful at longer ranges where it basically negates range-extending hullmods. You're also almost completely immune to Annihilator spam. It's actually pretty powerful if you use it right, especially since the AI doesn't know it can't hit you and will happily waste most of its ammunition against the field. ;)
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on October 02, 2013, 05:15:50 AM
It's a kiting tool. For those who aren't well versed in gaming slang, it means keeping your distance to an enemy, dictating the range of the engagement to where it's in your favor and to the enemy's detriment. Archetypical example is a mage running away and casting frostbolt over and over at a warrior who desperately wants to close in to melee range in WoW.

Since the Interdiction Array doesn't actually slow your enemy, but just their projectiles, it works by tricking the AI into wasting flux trying to get to you when the shots stop just short of your hull. Playing the Kurmaraja is a matter of constantly choosing whether you need to raise shields to take a hit, or if you can use the more flux-saving method of keeping the Interdiction Field up and slowly whittling things down. If you master this, you can easily kill ships that would normally wipe the floor with you, such as the Onslaught.

BUT. I have had plans to redesign the system for a long time, because it seems like many players find it confusing and unsatisfying to use. Also, a mechanic that tricks the AI is inherently somewhat cheesy, if you ask me.

The idea I want the most is to make it a long-recharge system that instantly near-freezes any ship in the AoE. Frigates get braked down and cannot turn, cruisers and capital ships can strain against it. Any non-energy projectile is instantly stopped. This has an unlimited duration, but very, very rapidly builds soft flux, and as soon as you toggle it off, it has a cooldown.
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Gothars on October 02, 2013, 05:30:23 AM
Thanks for the explanation, guys! I will try to use it that way, sounds good.

Your new plans sound even more exiting Cycerin, hope you can pull it off.



Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Chronosfear on October 02, 2013, 06:50:30 AM
That thing can even stop heavy weapons like a hellbore round or those nasty rockets
Its all about movement then !
and can give your PD more time to shot incoming missiles ( works well agains pillums ) ;D

no, please don´t change it.
just add a better description. I love the shipsystem as it is .. You just need some time with it to get the "feeling" for it  :D

Spoiler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZApWD0SM70
[close]
just a quick battle i´ve done some minutes after this post, but you probably see how well this system can perform vs most ballistics threads ::)


Edit : Kurmaraja vid added in spoilers
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Magician on October 02, 2013, 10:46:11 AM
I have mixed feelings about redesign. On the one hand it sounds interesting and a little more aggressive, which is interesting. On the other hand I think that old system is one of the most beautifull in Starsector. Its very creative. Which is why its difficult to grab the essence of this system and use it properly without any experience.
I can't ask to change your decisions, but it will be a little sad if old Kurmaraja will be completely removed from BR lineup. (Though lore wise it is an interesting twist - old prototype could only stop projectiles in very short range, while new prototype is able to affect even ships)
Title: Re: [0.6a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: HELMUT on October 02, 2013, 10:59:54 AM
Yep, i also like the Kurmaraja interdiction array as it is. And just look at Chronosfear's video, it's pretty awesome stuff, wouldn't change it for anything. Your idea is good as well but maybe for another Blackrock ship then? Probably some kind of weird prototype. Kurmaraja stuff is already pretty experimental technology, freezing everything in a radius is a step even further ahead of this.

Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on October 03, 2013, 10:09:57 AM
Blackrock patch. (http://www.mediafire.com/?cd1m4a2ryrych51)

Changelog:
0.42
*This patch will break save files*
- Changed some hull ids to have the brdy_ prefix: this enables me to ensure Blackrock Flux Core can't be installed on non-Blackrock ships in missions (thanks FlashFrozen)
- Added a small Pirate presence to Gneiss to make it more forgiving for new players
- Fixed bug where you'd always respawn in Gneiss if the mod was installed
- You now longer start in Gneiss if you select Blackrock in the starting dialog, but you will respawn there. Inavoidable consequence of the fix
- New Shard Cannon sound effect
- Changed Robberfly system to Burst Jets + small armor and maneuverability buff
- Increased shield upkeep for all Blackrock hulls
- Lowered shield efficiency for all Blackrock hulls
- Slightly reduced armor of all Blackrock hulls
- Other tiny nerfs here and there. Faction felt too strong
- Added ship system descriptions and a tiny bit more Karkinos lore
- Added some name generation ***
- Added some WIP portraits
- Fixed Kurmaraja repair cost
- Fixed resupply bug (Thanks Vayra aka The Good Professor)
- Fixed bug where WIP weapon would get spawned by trade fleet
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cr0wnxx on October 03, 2013, 12:14:15 PM
Hi, thanks for the mod and the update, but

since the new update i cant start a new campaign because i get following error:

74607 [Thread-6] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.String  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull variant [scarab_Hull] not found!
java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull variant [scarab_Hull] not found!
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.L.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.fleet.FleetMember.super.float$Object(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.fleet.FleetMember.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.fleet.FleetMember.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.fleet.CargoData.addMothballedShip(Unknown Source)
   at data.scripts.world.vayraBRDYInterface.initConvoys(vayraBRDYInterface.java:92)
   at data.scripts.VayraModPlugin.initVayra(VayraModPlugin.java:54)
   at data.scripts.VayraModPlugin.onNewGame(VayraModPlugin.java:111)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.OoOO.dialogDismissed(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.float.dismiss(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.impl.I.dismiss(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.H.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.privatesuper.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.F.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.OoOo.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.OoOO.??000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.super.oOOO.?00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.String.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)


It seems Blackrock Drive Yards has become uncompatible to Kadur Theocracy(it wasnt before)
I hope you can fix it :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Vayra on October 03, 2013, 12:51:56 PM
Yeah, I'll have an update to my mod in a few minutes to restore integration.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Taverius on October 03, 2013, 12:54:11 PM
Would be wonderful if you added package version information back to the thread title so we don't have to read the thread to check for updates, Cycerin :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cr0wnxx on October 03, 2013, 01:07:23 PM
Yeah, I'll have an update to my mod in a few minutes to restore integration.

wow thats great, thanks :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Vayra on October 03, 2013, 01:42:41 PM
Kadur Theocracy (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=6649.0) should properly integrate BRDY again now.

Loving the changes btw, Cycerin. :) The new Robberfly feels much more fun, like an insane Blackrock Hound that wants to get directly into the face (or engines) of the enemy and blow them up with a PPDE or a Linear Pulse Gun.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Grug on October 03, 2013, 02:20:23 PM
I just wanted to let you know, that this is quite literally my favourite faction mod on the forums. I love what you've done with backing up your lore, creating the system, adding fluff text to the weapons, what have you. I look forward to what you do with the mod, and have confidence that it'll be great fun. Space monsters are always fun.

Although I may not like to FLY BRDY ships, I do occaisionally buy their weapons systems, and a handful of their strike craft, because it's difficult to argue with their effectiveness. The reason I have your mod installed, is because they're a deep and interesting faction, rivalling and even beating the current factions in the game (hegemony, et, al.) They add a depth and flavour to the Starsector universe that isn't currently available.

Now that event texts are added though, I'd love to see how you could incorporate this into the BRDY system, and other systems- allowing the player to rout or assist BRDY in various operations across the sector.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Taverius on October 03, 2013, 03:39:16 PM
Ah btw Cycerin, the starting Locust that you hand out has 20 crew out of a possible 18 and marines on top ... probably want to adjust those numbers? :D

Also, whoa, Squilla wings are ruinously expensive to maintain! 46 supplies per deploy (cr*count / repair/day * supplies/day) compared to 16 for Tridents and 18 for Daggers?

P.S. BRDY needs a tug :)
P.P.S. Also a fuel transport.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Kothar on October 03, 2013, 04:14:04 PM
Is the Mantis supposed to only regen 5% CR per day instead of 15% like most frigates? I can't quite tell from the description if it's supposed to be super expensive to deploy like the Hyperion, but right now it seems really high to me. Even the Desdinova regens 8% per day.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on October 03, 2013, 06:03:34 PM
Both of those are unintended. I'll have a look at it later.

I just wanted to let you know, that this is quite literally my favourite faction mod on the forums. I love what you've done with backing up your lore, creating the system, adding fluff text to the weapons, what have you. I look forward to what you do with the mod, and have confidence that it'll be great fun. Space monsters are always fun.

Although I may not like to FLY BRDY ships, I do occaisionally buy their weapons systems, and a handful of their strike craft, because it's difficult to argue with their effectiveness. The reason I have your mod installed, is because they're a deep and interesting faction, rivalling and even beating the current factions in the game (hegemony, et, al.) They add a depth and flavour to the Starsector universe that isn't currently available.

Now that event texts are added though, I'd love to see how you could incorporate this into the BRDY system, and other systems- allowing the player to rout or assist BRDY in various operations across the sector.

VVVV VVVV Sperg warning VVVV VVVV
Glad to hear you enjoy the lore, did you have fun reading the little blurbs I added to this patch? It's fun to write, sort of low-expectations material given what this is, but fun nonetheless. I've made it up as I went along - starting just with the no nonsense, Blackwater-esque brand name, which has its roots in the Battleships Forever Metagame 5 years ago, where players created corporations that designed ships used by the other players through the GM. Since then, I've made some adaptions to keep it fun and sort of ease it into the Starsector universe- the problem here is how to fit an enormous arms and spacecraft company into a setting where society is decaying rapidly and nobody understands how to develop new technologies. I realized it could quickly get silly if I just blew it over entirely, and I like Starsector too much to simply pretend the ground rules aren't there... so in the end, I figured BRDY is pre-collapse, a weird event gave them their flavor and also created THE ENEMY that makes'em tic. The details mostly stem from wanting to throw homages to stuff I like and concepts that fascinate me (humanity weakly holding on to a dystopic existence, brave thick-eyebrowed pilots who sign up to blast space monsters, Von Neumann probes, the idea that most of the traits of "life" as we know it could be divorced from organic chemistry and blown into a fantastic and mind blowing scale)

Its funny how, in this picture, all the power players in the Sector are people who were somehow weirdly untouched by the Collapse - the Hegemony are powerful because they were a Domain sleeper fleet, the Tri-Tachyon are powerful simply because they are more or less exactly what they were before everything went to hell, and BRDY was a minor business based on a crapsack world until something from the great beyond upset everything and caused the planetary government in the system to become synonymous with the brand of the arms dealers and spaceship producers who prevented everything from being overwhelmed.

Nobody wanted to touch Gneiss, nobody had time to, and in time, Blackrock Drive Yards grew, unopposed on its home turf, being able to relentlessly integrate both forgotten and new knowledge into its existing designs, securing infrastructure and food for its barren systems by unscrupulously dealing in volatile technologies to any planet that had the trading power and freedom to accept it: angering the other major powers beyond belief. Whatever planetary government that ruled Lodestone and Blackrock before the planet became synonymous with the corporation that carries its name, has long since become a weak, faded memory - a running joke, consumed and fed upon by the churning gears of history. Now, Blackrock sustains itself through a mix of political pressure and outright threats - "if we don't keep it in check, who will?" In one way, it's just hypocrisy - the void beast is both the greatest problem Blackrock faces as a cohesive entity, as well as the faction's greatest natural resource. Tri-Tachyon fleets constantly clash with Blackrock fleets during attempts to retrieve and analyze void beast carcasses, and the Hegemony seek to contain the internal cabals most loyal to Gneiss itself as close to the system as possible, to prevent Blackrock from splitting the Sector further.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Shield on October 03, 2013, 09:56:02 PM
Spoiler
15319 [Thread-6] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.String  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Error compiling [data.missions.BRDY_randomvs.MissionDefinition]
java.lang.RuntimeException: Error compiling [data.missions.BRDY_randomvs.MissionDefinition]
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.scripts.ScriptStore$1.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: Compiling unit "data/missions/BRDY_randomvs/MissionDefinition.java"
   at org.codehaus.janino.JavaSourceClassLoader.generateBytecodes(JavaSourceClassLoader.java:212)
   at org.codehaus.janino.JavaSourceClassLoader.findClass(JavaSourceClassLoader.java:164)
   at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:307)
   at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:248)
   ... 2 more
Caused by: org.codehaus.commons.compiler.CompileException: File data/missions/BRDY_randomvs/MissionDefinition.java, Line 140, Column 59: "DEFEND" is neither a method, a field, nor a member class of "com.fs.starfarer.api.fleet.FleetGoal"
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compileError(UnitCompiler.java:9403)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.reclassifyName(UnitCompiler.java:6319)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.reclassify(UnitCompiler.java:6224)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.getType2(UnitCompiler.java:4948)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.access$135(UnitCompiler.java:4947)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler$17.visitAmbiguousName(UnitCompiler.java:4733)
   at org.codehaus.janino.Java$AmbiguousName.accept(Java.java:2223)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.getType(UnitCompiler.java:4743)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.findMostSpecificIInvocable(UnitCompiler.java:6968)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.findIMethod(UnitCompiler.java:6869)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.findIMethod(UnitCompiler.java:6768)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compileGet2(UnitCompiler.java:3553)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.access$63(UnitCompiler.java:3552)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler$11.visitMethodInvocation(UnitCompiler.java:2967)
   at org.codehaus.janino.Java$MethodInvocation.accept(Java.java:2831)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compileGet(UnitCompiler.java:2993)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compileGetValue(UnitCompiler.java:4017)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compile2(UnitCompiler.java:2413)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.access$38(UnitCompiler.java:2412)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler$8.visitMethodInvocation(UnitCompiler.java:2381)
   at org.codehaus.janino.Java$MethodInvocation.accept(Java.java:2831)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compile(UnitCompiler.java:2407)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compile2(UnitCompiler.java:1426)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.access$8(UnitCompiler.java:1425)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler$5.visitExpressionStatement(UnitCompiler.java:926)
   at org.codehaus.janino.Java$ExpressionStatement.accept(Java.java:1447)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compile(UnitCompiler.java:946)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compileStatements(UnitCompiler.java:972)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compile(UnitCompiler.java:2083)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compileDeclaredMethods(UnitCompiler.java:851)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compileDeclaredMethods(UnitCompiler.java:832)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compile2(UnitCompiler.java:528)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compile2(UnitCompiler.java:421)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler$3.visitPackageMemberClassDeclaration(UnitCompiler.java:376)
   at org.codehaus.janino.Java$PackageMemberClassDeclaration.accept(Java.java:765)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compile(UnitCompiler.java:383)
   at org.codehaus.janino.UnitCompiler.compileUnit(UnitCompiler.java:352)
   at org.codehaus.janino.JavaSourceClassLoader.generateBytecodes(JavaSourceClassLoader.java:210)
   ... 5 more
[close]

i keep getting this error
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Trylobot on October 03, 2013, 10:32:21 PM
Yeah, one of the mission enums was removed from the API. I got hit with that myself.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on October 03, 2013, 10:50:57 PM
If ya know any cut'n'paste skills like me... :( ... then you can open up the missions file in the mod and edit the mission.java file. Look for a DEFEND and replace it with an ATTACK.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Taverius on October 03, 2013, 10:53:43 PM
If you get that error you're running an old version of the mod ...
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Shield on October 04, 2013, 12:06:30 AM
If you get that error you're running an old version of the mod ...

Just downloaded the newest version still the same problem.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Vayra on October 04, 2013, 02:09:58 AM
VVVV VVVV Sperg warning VVVV VVVV

this is perfect please keep posting forever

Although, I wouldn't exactly call the Hegemony untouched by the Collapse given that it's grown far beyond its originations as a Domain sleeper fleet and was only really able to gain power due to the Collapse occurring. But I get your point about them all having strong roots in the pre-Collapse universe, and I love your writing.  :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 05, 2013, 08:01:23 AM
How does Blackrock feel, balance-wise, for those who've had time to play with things after the recent patch? My opinion is still on the "they're a tiny bit too strong" side, but I'd like to get some feedback.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Gotcha! on October 05, 2013, 08:20:55 AM
I have no idea how the creator of the Codex calculates stuff, but according to his latest version your mod has an overall score of 1.20, where 1 would be perfectly balanced.

Anyway, my own experience is that that score seems right.
I really have a fun time fighting against your faction. They are challenging and tougher than vanilla, but it doesn't feel like they're tearing me apart without any effort from their side. I think it's fine as it is. :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Taverius on October 05, 2013, 08:39:38 AM
They feel good so far.

I'm kinda wary of trying to go for total parity with stock ... the change to the % bonuses for the ordnance points skills has made some stock ships work like some ships did/do in EVE, where lazy balancing meant lots of slots, which would make it too powerful, so lets balance it by making it impossible to use all of them. Which of course doesn't balance it all but merely means most setups are terrible on it and a very few are godly.

If anything, I would say the ships in general are fine, possibly some of the large-alpha weapons might need a tiny bit of a nerf because of how alpha strike affects overload and bleed through on armor etc. Those are always hard to account for properly.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Carroy on October 05, 2013, 08:50:37 AM
How does Blackrock feel, balance-wise, for those who've had time to play with things after the recent patch? My opinion is still on the "they're a tiny bit too strong" side, but I'd like to get some feedback.

I think they are pretty well balanced, they do have huge amounts of killing power but any mistakes can cost you your ship. I would say the reason that they feel slightly to strong is because the ship systems that are in Blockrock ships are more powerful to their vanilla counterpart if applicable.

And while they feel strong in your own hands, I wouldn't even let the AI retreat with a Blackrock ship.  ;)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Taverius on October 05, 2013, 01:20:39 PM
By the way Cycerin, is it intended that the Sunjet PPDE does not regenerate charges? Cause that's ... very strange for an energy weapon ...

P.S. You probably want to add ANTI_FTR to the energy PD weapons so the AI treats them as it does the stock Burst/Guardian PD.

P.P.S. might wanna check the station supply script, I think this maaaaaay be too many capital ships:

Spoiler
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/42665548/Starsector/Screenshot_1.png)
[close]

P.P.S. On balance:
The Squall weapons are too flux efficient. Its true the DPS is low (like most BRDY weapons) and so is the range, but the alpha strike is ~twice the second-best in its class.
On the other hand, the Solenoid Quench Cannon feels plinky. For 14% more alpha than a Gauss, at the same OP cost, I get less than a third of the DPS, less range and flux efficiency that's essentially twice as bad. I'd also love a quad shard, but that's another issue.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on October 05, 2013, 03:42:38 PM
I actually think the pre-balance changes for all the weapons felt about right - as a faction the blackrock ship's are very dangerous if you let them into range, but the low flux capacity and high venting makes them pretty easy to fight with high alpha setups on your fleet.

Though some of the large weapons felt a bit on the weak side, similar range to medium and low slot weapons, barely improved flux efficiency, low dps, and average alpha for a large increase in OP cost? Might as well slap another sunjet on instead and spend the OP on more flux capacity/vents.

The sunjets and the shard cannons particularly feel absolutely AMAZING to use.

Those furious explosions on impact with armor are a joy to see.

With the large inefficiency in most vanilla ship configurations, the blackrock ships feel too strong, but they're a nice fun fight with ship layouts I've designed - however I've noticed that except for black rock capital ships, they simply cannot handle phase ships - even in the abysmal hands of an AI pilot - whether I'm against or piloting a blackrock fleet.

Have I mentioned how much I love the argus PD Line? IT ACTUALLY STOPS SALAMANDERS FROM MAKING TENDER LOVE TO MY ENGINES!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Taverius on October 06, 2013, 01:13:51 PM
By the way; ship system drones are not supposed to run down the peak CR counter when they're out doing nothing, but the one for the Scarab does.

The Tempest has the correct behaviour, i.e. if you put the drone out and its not shielding or shooting the peak timer doesn't run down. Not sure how Alex is doing it, but I doubt its too involved.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on October 06, 2013, 07:08:12 PM
Also, are you going to update the shiplist pictures with the "phase ship", "rrrr", and robberfly?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Taverius on October 06, 2013, 10:38:34 PM
Ah, another thing!

You're still using DP the old way when it comes to the Cetonia - since it doesn't limit the amount of ships in a fleet, these days it should only be used as a measure of combat ability to help the enemy admiral AI make correct decisions viz. engage/flee.

Looking at the mounts it has and the OP it has, 6 looks about right, like the Tarsus, compared to the current 8.

Personally I think the civ ships in the stock files already have too high DP values, the Tarsus certainly isn't equal to 6DP worth's of frigate in a fight, but that's another issue. :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 07, 2013, 04:59:08 AM
Thanks for the balance feedback, everybody! It's highly useful to me.

Also, are you going to update the shiplist pictures with the "phase ship", "rrrr", and robberfly?

Outdated or non-implemented content isn't going in the OP. ??? Thanks for reminding me to remove those from the folders, actually, and to add the Robberfly.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on October 07, 2013, 11:56:08 AM
Ah well, I was hoping to see them soon, they look amazing. Looking forward to more, this is such a joy to play with.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Taverius on October 07, 2013, 12:45:10 PM
Hmm, an anti-fighter launcher that fires the secondary projectiles from the Achilles might be interesting :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on October 07, 2013, 03:17:54 PM
I'm interested in what Cycerin has planned for a BRDY tugship :3
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 08, 2013, 03:56:00 AM
Glad you enjoy it Ishman. Well, civilian ships take priority now, and I'm gonna make a third large-slot weapon. Either a large, revolving Shard Artillery that fires larger-caliber shards, or a sort of huge volley gun that fires shards instead of inert slugs.

Internally I just gave the Robberfly a tiny bit more flux dissipation, a tiny bit more agility, and changed the rear turret to an universal slot. You can make a lot of crazy Robberfly setups now, my personal favorite is one with two Quills and expanded missile racks.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Magician on October 11, 2013, 07:29:41 AM
Recently I found some spare time to play mods and I really enjoyed new BRDY. Especially how drastically changed all frigates. If in older versions I considered most BRDY frigates as mostly situational starting ships, which I should replace as soon as possible, now they are a big part of my fleet along with cruisers and capitals. I can't stress enough how much more fun I have now with BRDY frigates.

Also I don't know if that was intentional all pure luck, but CR timers are perfect in some sense. Even if I stomp enemy in small battles, my ships end up with almost completely exhausted CR timer. Of course in bigger battles they run out of CR time long before battle is ended, but they still have impact and at this point of the battle I usually already don't mind that. It just seems so perfect that these timings match how my battles go.

Anyway, thanks for your work!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 11, 2013, 05:26:49 PM
That's great to hear! I spent a lot of time trying to find a niche for each frigate, and I think removing the burst jets from the Scarab and giving it to other ships was the best move of 'em all.

Just rebalanced a bit on Blackrock to further reward close range hit n run and discourage Shard-based kiting setups. They are still viable if you invest heavily in it, but no longer flat out better than higher risk setups. Oh, and I went through the missions and changed things to keep them challenging.

Misc stuff so I remember it for the changelog:

Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Shield on October 12, 2013, 05:19:19 PM
Spoiler
Hello Sir! I just Cant Express how much i Love this mod! It has really Brightened up my onslaught, Speaking of which, I dont know How to put up files to download, Wait, I think i can copy...
Dear CEO of Blackrock;
I am here to present a Request from the Hegemony navy: Using Systems from
your greatest and finest, Like NeverMore Beta, And StormCrow, The Devils
Wives, I would like A Onslaught with a Blackrock look and Colour systems as such
If this is too much, I would be happy to return my request, I would call it
Onslaught S6 Prototype (Shorten Please!) It would include the Visual Flux Core
you see on every of your finest, The Scalar Flux conduit Around a Large weapon:
GSVPT (Giant Super Voltaic Plasma Cannon) A larger array of engines, And so on.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:
X4 Achilles MRM Pod :)
X7 Solenoid Quench Gun :)
X5 Solenoid Quench Cannon :)
X5 Gale Cannon :)
X8 Ichneumon Attack gun :)
X4 Duel Shard Cannon :)
X3 Shredder MG :)
Duel Sword of Damocles (Or Nevermore Antimatter thingy) Replacing Thermal Pulse Array
X1 Onslaught Beta Built Around Super Voltaic Plasma Cannon (Giant EMP Slug)
INTERNAL SYSTEMS (Systems) :
Omni Shields... CHECK
Extended Shields... CHECK
Blackrock Flux Core.. CHECK
Scalar Flux Conduit.. Please?
EXTERNAL SYSTEMS (Looks and weapon Systems,
 Duplicates are How many their are ) :
HEAVY ARMOUR
FLUX DISTRIBUTOR
ADVANCED TURRET GYROS
ARMOURED TURRETS
SOLENOID COLLECTOR
SOLENOID RADIATOR
SOLENOID COMPRESSOR
SOLENOID IGNITER
SOLENOID ACCELERATOR
SOLENOID DISTRUBUTOR
SOLENOID ELECTRIFICATION
SOLENOID EXPLOSIVE
OMNI GENERATOR
HEAVY BRDY CHEMICAL ENGINES
HEAVY BRDY CHEMICAL ENGINE INGITER
AIR COMPRESSOR
AIR DISTRIBUTOR
SOLAR ENERGY ARRAY
TURRET GYRO CLAW
TURRET GYRO DOCK CLAMP
ONSLAUGHT BUILT AROUND DUAl SWORD OF DAMOCLES AND GSVPC
SHARD STORAGE
MRM STORAGE
GALE STORAGE
ICHNEUMON STORAGE
SHREDDER 100 CAL STORAGE
HULL EMP DRIVE
HYPER DRIVE
POWER PLANT EJECTOR SRB
POWER PLANT CLAMP
LUCIFER ARRAY
LUCIFER VEINS
ANTIMATTER ACCELERATOR
EXTREME POWER STOWAGE
140000 VOLT CORE BUILT ON LUCIFER ARRAY
FIGHTER BAY 1
FIGHTER BAY 2
FIGHTER BAY 3
FIGHTER BAY 4
FUEL STORAGE: 2000 GALLONS OF UNDISTERBED ANTIMATTER
ELECTRIC CLAMPS FOR REFILLING OF REPAIR BOTS, SCOUT BOTS AND FIGHTERS
FRIGATE CLAMPS


SECTOR 6 ONSLAUGHT BASED SUPER CAPITAL: GO.


So that is my coded Request, Thankyou CEO, And If you please take this
Into mind as a prototype, Not Urgent, Not Too late (If you know what I
Mean) and Part Of the BRDY Special Division (Maybe Make A new station That
Only Elite Blackrocks Can Buy From, Like Buying a VERY expensive card to get in if you are already part of BRDY navy,
Like something 1M, Or 500K) So, If you please.
The Machines Cost Would be around 800K Fully Armed, Nevermore Beta would be
450K, StormCrow 500K, It Would be AMAZING if you took this into mind, I will love you forever if you actually do this, My hopes arent high, Nobody should feel bad, Im just suggesting, BUT that was my letter and I am ;

GGMC, Anyone Notices Uomoz' Prodigous? DONT GET THE MOD IT WILL RUIN THE GAME  ;D
[close]

Dual not duel...proper grammar or I can't take you seriously.

And what is Uomoz's Prodigous???
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: SpaceRiceBowl on October 12, 2013, 05:23:43 PM
Man, thats a mouthful
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Piemanlives on October 12, 2013, 10:22:26 PM
Can weapon information be found anywhere?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on October 13, 2013, 12:40:30 AM
Some more thoughts on your ballistic weapon balance Cycerin - most of the medium/small (except the solenoid quench gun, range is way too short) weapons seem vanilla balanced (I'll play with the reduced shard cannon effectiveness but that seems iffy, they're the best supplemental weapon for raising flux in BRDY's arsenal) except for a near universal lack of ammo.

There's a handful of vanilla ballistics (PD all) that will actually run out of ammo within a minute if you hold down the fire button, you've got 3 or 4 guns that will last MORE than a minute. Most vanilla balanced ballistics can shoot for 2 1/2 minutes at base ROF with no increased ammo hullmod.

BRDY ballistics should either see about 50% increase in effectiveness or DOUBLED ammo supply (small sunfires seem especially limited since they can't turn, and don't regenerate - though HE burst in a small slot that is not a missile is admittedly fantastic).
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Wunder on October 13, 2013, 01:18:50 AM
Spoiler
Hello Sir! I just Cant Express how much i Love this mod! It has really Brightened up my onslaught, Speaking of which, I dont know How to put up files to download, Wait, I think i can copy...
Dear CEO of Blackrock;
I am here to present a Request from the Hegemony navy: Using Systems from
your greatest and finest, Like NeverMore Beta, And StormCrow, The Devils
Wives, I would like A Onslaught with a Blackrock look and Colour systems as such
If this is too much, I would be happy to return my request, I would call it
Onslaught S6 Prototype (Shorten Please!) It would include the Visual Flux Core
you see on every of your finest, The Scalar Flux conduit Around a Large weapon:
GSVPT (Giant Super Voltaic Plasma Cannon) A larger array of engines, And so on.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:
X4 Achilles MRM Pod :)
X7 Solenoid Quench Gun :)
X5 Solenoid Quench Cannon :)
X5 Gale Cannon :)
X8 Ichneumon Attack gun :)
X4 Duel Shard Cannon :)
X3 Shredder MG :)
Duel Sword of Damocles (Or Nevermore Antimatter thingy) Replacing Thermal Pulse Array
X1 Onslaught Beta Built Around Super Voltaic Plasma Cannon (Giant EMP Slug)
INTERNAL SYSTEMS (Systems) :
Omni Shields... CHECK
Extended Shields... CHECK
Blackrock Flux Core.. CHECK
Scalar Flux Conduit.. Please?
EXTERNAL SYSTEMS (Looks and weapon Systems,
 Duplicates are How many their are ) :
HEAVY ARMOUR
FLUX DISTRIBUTOR
ADVANCED TURRET GYROS
ARMOURED TURRETS
SOLENOID COLLECTOR
SOLENOID RADIATOR
SOLENOID COMPRESSOR
SOLENOID IGNITER
SOLENOID ACCELERATOR
SOLENOID DISTRUBUTOR
SOLENOID ELECTRIFICATION
SOLENOID EXPLOSIVE
OMNI GENERATOR
HEAVY BRDY CHEMICAL ENGINES
HEAVY BRDY CHEMICAL ENGINE INGITER
AIR COMPRESSOR
AIR DISTRIBUTOR
SOLAR ENERGY ARRAY
TURRET GYRO CLAW
TURRET GYRO DOCK CLAMP
ONSLAUGHT BUILT AROUND DUAl SWORD OF DAMOCLES AND GSVPC
SHARD STORAGE
MRM STORAGE
GALE STORAGE
ICHNEUMON STORAGE
SHREDDER 100 CAL STORAGE
HULL EMP DRIVE
HYPER DRIVE
POWER PLANT EJECTOR SRB
POWER PLANT CLAMP
LUCIFER ARRAY
LUCIFER VEINS
ANTIMATTER ACCELERATOR
EXTREME POWER STOWAGE
140000 VOLT CORE BUILT ON LUCIFER ARRAY
FIGHTER BAY 1
FIGHTER BAY 2
FIGHTER BAY 3
FIGHTER BAY 4
FUEL STORAGE: 2000 GALLONS OF UNDISTERBED ANTIMATTER
ELECTRIC CLAMPS FOR REFILLING OF REPAIR BOTS, SCOUT BOTS AND FIGHTERS
FRIGATE CLAMPS


SECTOR 6 ONSLAUGHT BASED SUPER CAPITAL: GO.


So that is my coded Request, Thankyou CEO, And If you please take this
Into mind as a prototype, Not Urgent, Not Too late (If you know what I
Mean) and Part Of the BRDY Special Division (Maybe Make A new station That
Only Elite Blackrocks Can Buy From, Like Buying a VERY expensive card to get in if you are already part of BRDY navy,
Like something 1M, Or 500K) So, If you please.
The Machines Cost Would be around 800K Fully Armed, Nevermore Beta would be
450K, StormCrow 500K, It Would be AMAZING if you took this into mind, I will love you forever if you actually do this, My hopes arent high, Nobody should feel bad, Im just suggesting, BUT that was my letter and I am ;

GGMC, Anyone Notices Uomoz' Prodigous? DONT GET THE MOD IT WILL RUIN THE GAME  ;D
[close]

Dual not duel...proper grammar or I can't take you seriously.

And what is Uomoz's Prodigous???
Super Giant Omega Dreadnaught, Basically, 120 burst PD lasers, 30 guardians, 8 Autopulse lasers, and alot more, but if you want to be god, go ahead, Btw Changed Dual, Thanks :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 13, 2013, 11:35:14 AM
... Noted, GGMC.

In the meantime, we've got a new firing effect for the PDEs, with help from Trylo:

(http://i.imgur.com/humVTZ3.gif)

I've also been tinkering with balance and the engine flare effects and a lot of miscellaneous blah. Ishman, I'm probably going to bump up the ammo here and there, but when you play Blackrock, you don't aim to outlast anyway, so it's sort of intentional that I want to force the player to make the most out of their time. And Shards will still be useful, their damage and proj speed is a tiny bit higher which makes the hits really matter once you are in medium as opposed to long range.

I decided to increase CR active time on most ships by 20-30 secs or so to make up for the fact that it goes down enormously fast with Burst Jet spam.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Taverius on October 13, 2013, 12:26:55 PM
I decided to increase CR active time on most ships by 20-30 secs or so to make up for the fact that it goes down enormously fast with Burst Jet spam.
The drones too - stock drones don't decrease the counter unless they're firing or shielding, but the scarab's does so continuously. I noticed that earlier bit might have forgot to mention it.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 13, 2013, 12:37:40 PM
No, I took note when you mentioned it, just forgot to say so. I'm going to take a look at it before the next release, thanks for the report. :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Withering on October 13, 2013, 03:18:47 PM
Hypothetical Theme Song From Blackrock Driveyards: The Animated Series
https://soundcloud.com/fastland/theme-from-blackrock

Wow. Really liking these sounds. :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Weh on October 13, 2013, 04:30:19 PM
I'm not the only one who thinks the Solenoid Quench Cannon is a little underwhelming am I?
Not to cherrypick or anything, but it just sounds and looks so powerful for it to add a measly 800 to the flux counter. It just comes off as a weapon that would devastate shields and armor alike.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 13, 2013, 04:39:02 PM
Hmm, I personally disagree. It's an almost instant hit at enormous range, with four of them on the Karkinos you can freely eliminate or overload anything destroyer-size or lower. The closest comparable weapon, the Gauss cannon, does more damage over time, but the shots are much harder to hit. There is more to a weapon than the tooltip numbers. If anything, I'd call the weapon almost too strong.

Hypothetical Theme Song From Blackrock Driveyards: The Animated Series
https://soundcloud.com/fastland/theme-from-blackrock

Wow. Really liking these sounds. :)

Glad you like it! Actually, there will be a theme for the mod more in keeping with the Starsector vibe down the road, but I'm not concerned with the soundtrack while there are so few ways to integrate music in the game.

Also, I bring you nevermore.gif

(http://i.minus.com/ib0WxuTEOgvAa8.gif)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Taverius on October 13, 2013, 09:29:56 PM
SQC and Antiplasma?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Trylobot on October 13, 2013, 10:10:55 PM
Also, I bring you nevermore.gif

That is the most badass SS gif I've seen yet. I can never capture anything cool with Gifcam. Takes a real pro to play while that clunky frame is in the way, lol.

Also, Cycerin: I just uploaded Nomads 0.9.4 with all your sounds :) It's really satisfying.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: NightmareOwl on October 13, 2013, 11:57:18 PM
Sunfires + Nevermore = The End, Love them, thank you so much
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 14, 2013, 04:56:20 AM
SQC and Antiplasma?

My personal favorite Nevermore setup. Fury racks, Antiplasma x2, squall cannons, and then some volley guns or shard cannons. Most burst damage you can get in the game without using Reapers and fast missile racks, you just use Hold Fire/weapon group juggling to wait for the right moment.

Also, I bring you nevermore.gif

That is the most badass SS gif I've seen yet. I can never capture anything cool with Gifcam. Takes a real pro to play while that clunky frame is in the way, lol.

Also, Cycerin: I just uploaded Nomads 0.9.4 with all your sounds :) It's really satisfying.

Awesome!! Going to go download it now. Also, gifcam is easy to use if you pre-record. I mean, I wasn't piloting that ship and fiddling with Gifcam at the same time. ; D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Taverius on October 14, 2013, 06:43:24 AM
My personal favorite Nevermore setup. Fury racks, Antiplasma x2, squall cannons, and then some volley guns or shard cannons. Most burst damage you can get in the game without using Reapers and fast missile racks, you just use Hold Fire/weapon group juggling to wait for the right moment.
Interesting.

The Fury racks are a given, of course, but I run shredders on the front smalls, and either Antiplasma/Squall or SQG/Sunfire.

The SQG/Sunfire is slightly less impressive against destroyers - it doesn't overload as hard - but its much better against cruisers and caps, and the Sunfires are hilarious on frigates and fighters. Plus between the SQG projectile's speed and the beams its really hard to miss.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 14, 2013, 06:52:38 AM
Yeah, it's more reliable, which is why I mostly put the Advanced variant with SQGs and sunfires in the hands of AI fleets. However the potential for big plays is very high with the aforementioned setup. Antiplasmas are quite cumbersome, but devastating when they are used correctly.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Trylobot on October 14, 2013, 07:41:05 AM
... if you pre-record. I mean, I wasn't piloting that ship and fiddling with Gifcam at the same time. ; D

MIND = BLOWN
(http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/mind_blown.gif)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 14, 2013, 07:46:04 AM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/bDsZsTi.gif)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Uomoz on October 14, 2013, 08:27:15 AM
GIF FOLDER = INCREASED!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 14, 2013, 02:25:24 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/sr7DqeE.png)

Stenos redesign. It's time to explore!

The Stenos can now field two Sentinel Drones at the same time, and has a medium universal turret on the side away from the large hardpoint instead of two small ballistic hardpoints. The turret below that has also been changed to an energy turret.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on October 14, 2013, 02:44:42 PM
Wow! Lookin' sexy, as ever!
How long did it take you to assemble all of the parts for the BSF editor?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 14, 2013, 02:46:02 PM
I draw by hand nowadays, in photoshop. I think I started with some of Kaelis' old sprites on this one, but I more or less just sketch, assemble it as a collage and then draw over it. Haven't used BSF in ages.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on October 14, 2013, 08:57:20 PM
Nice redesign - I like the slot changes quite a lot.

I'd actually use the Stenos as my piloted ship in any fights below capital brawling as I love the slot layout, 3 sunfires in the top slots, SQG in the large, and shards everywhere else.

Great ship to fly, probably my favorite after the karkinos.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Weh on October 14, 2013, 09:40:06 PM
Hmm, I personally disagree. It's an almost instant hit at enormous range, with four of them on the Karkinos you can freely eliminate or overload anything destroyer-size or lower. The closest comparable weapon, the Gauss cannon, does more damage over time, but the shots are much harder to hit. There is more to a weapon than the tooltip numbers. If anything, I'd call the weapon almost too strong.


Yeah, you're right. I didn't take those into consideration.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Trylobot on October 15, 2013, 11:18:23 AM
Love the new Stenos sprite, cyc.

Also, FYI: I'm seeing a lot of complaining about your mod on the Exerelin thread, mostly clueless end users trying to get it to work; and since Zaphide doesn't want to include static copies of all mods, he requires those users to make local modifications to get some mods to work together. Since I know you care about production value, I feel I should point out that it's entirely possible to make the incompatibility that's causing them so much pain turn transparent with a few additions to your CharacterCreationPluginImpl:
http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=7136.0

You will want to rename your class from "CharacterCreationPluginImpl" to something unique also, to distinguish between it and Exerelin. I've found that most end-users prefer playing with these curated compilations to adding/removing individually, so it's worth all our time to increase compabitibility.

Peace ~

P.S.: You may also need to look at:
https://github.com/Trylobot/ss-nom/blob/master/data/scripts/TheNomadsModPlugin.java   and
https://github.com/Trylobot/ss-nom/blob/master/data/scripts/misc/Utils.java    for the can_be_loaded function

Which prevents an unwanted sector generation call in Exerelin.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 16, 2013, 08:10:34 AM
Thank you, Zaphide has been PMing me about it too and I'm gonna sort it out for the next release.

(http://i.imgur.com/9fT51Lh.png)

In other news, I redid the Typheus too (god that thing was ugly) and started sketching out a support cruiser, intended to fill a gemini/venture-type role. The Revenant will instead be redesigned and fill the role of Tactical Cruiser more dedicatedly, which I'll get to at some point later.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Gothars on October 16, 2013, 08:20:07 AM
You're a real artist.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: MShadowy on October 16, 2013, 09:28:24 AM
Dat support cruiser... oh, thats gonna be loverly, particularly as it sounds a bit like my favorite general type of ship -- a combat carrier.

I'm not sure why I like those so much, but I do.  Definitely doesn't hurt that she's looking to be a beautiful ship as well.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Trylobot on October 16, 2013, 10:16:39 AM
Cool ship concept, can't wait to see it finished.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: zakastra on October 16, 2013, 12:39:57 PM
You continue to amaze. hot damn. this is why half the playerbase consider your ships cannon
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cosmitz on October 16, 2013, 12:56:34 PM
And they're so balanced they could be. Playing an Exelerin campaign now and i find them TOO balanced. Especially when facing 10% CR deployment uber shielded Neutrino ships.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Doogie on October 16, 2013, 02:16:57 PM
Hmm, that new carrier doesn't seem to fit the Blackrock build style much so far. It's great, but it looks kind of out of place, especially among the two it's pictured by. Perhaps make it look more elongated vertically would help?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 17, 2013, 07:49:20 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/FeOFyKB.jpg)

How about now, Doogie?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on October 17, 2013, 08:02:31 AM
It's wonderful! Although, the right hand extension looks like a char grilled steak...  :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 17, 2013, 08:18:17 AM
Haha yeah, I think I might fade the lattice armor back a little bit. ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Morion on October 17, 2013, 08:21:17 AM
Wow! Fast. Cool ships and mod overall.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Uomoz on October 17, 2013, 08:49:08 AM
DAT Blackrock logo. This is my favourite BR ship by design hands down (Venture, anyone?).
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: MShadowy on October 17, 2013, 08:54:44 AM
Already liked the sillhouette of that carrier, now I like her even more.  She's turning out gorgeously Cyc.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Jonlissla on October 17, 2013, 08:55:15 AM
You continue to amaze. hot damn. this is why half the playerbase consider your ships cannon

Same here, I think Alex should incorporate this mod into the official game, or atleast hire you as an artist.

Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Uomoz on October 17, 2013, 08:56:33 AM
You continue to amaze. hot damn. this is why half the playerbase consider your ships cannon

Same here, I think Alex should incorporate this mod into the official game, or atleast hire you as an artist.



SHOTS FIRED
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Doogie on October 17, 2013, 10:03:31 AM
@Cycerin, it's absolutely beautiful, but I still think it's shape doesn't quite fit with the traditional elongated ship shapes that BRDY uses.
Regardless I like it a lot.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Trylobot on October 17, 2013, 10:52:24 AM
I think it's hawt
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: phyrex on October 17, 2013, 12:49:48 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/FeOFyKB.jpg)

How about now, Doogie?

Damn you, murderer !
You made me choke on my sandwhich from all the awesomeness. You trying to kill me or somethin' ?

 ;D amazing
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Sabaton on October 18, 2013, 04:43:45 AM
the right hand extension looks like a char grilled steak...  :D

 I second that, where's the ketchup.   :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Wunder on October 18, 2013, 10:22:15 AM
Pwease?

EDIT: sorry Bout' That, I ment the Mod Uomoz' Corvus.

Also, The Nevermore Beta Looks Sleek.
I wuv it.
Just to find it.
Is there a Way of a SubGame to test any ship? Simulator Is, well, already Answered for Cliffhangers but Nothing else Unfortunately.

The Stormcrow is still in the files. Don't spam down the thread please. :)

(http://i.imgur.com/eGqa47P.png)

Finished up the Convergence-class Support Cruiser.
Lookin Tidy and Snazzy! Just fed up of replacing my saves  ;D

(Feeling of Flying Nevermore) 'Believe it or not, Im walking on air, Ive Never (HA) felt so free'ee'ee, up and away and away and away  who could it be (could it be)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 18, 2013, 10:52:35 AM
The Stormcrow is still in the files. Don't spam down the thread please. :)

(http://i.imgur.com/eGqa47P.png)

Finished up the Convergence-class Support Cruiser.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Talkie Toaster on October 18, 2013, 12:06:04 PM
That was fast!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: phyrex on October 18, 2013, 01:10:17 PM
looks great
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on October 18, 2013, 08:55:11 PM
Any plans for large slot energy/missile weapons from BRDY?

A fire support missile with Ichenumon sub-munitions, perhaps? Or something wilder, like sunfire spitting missiles!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Borgoid on October 18, 2013, 08:59:36 PM
Or something wilder, like sunfire spitting missiles!

This. A thousand times this.

A MIRV that shatters into half a dozen little missiles that all fire a Sunfire at the target from various angles before fizzling?

Full body tingles.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 19, 2013, 04:35:34 AM
I would love to do that, hahaha. Seems hard, though.

I have some large weapons planned/sketched out, although BRDY ships completely lack Large slots that aren't Ballistic so I'd have to give them some more Universal slots. I'm gonna share them so I can see what you guys think.

- Ironweaver Cannon: A huge volley gun that fires shards
- Sunstorm PDE - three PDEs on a converging turret, or just one enormous one
- Linear Pulse Battery - four linear pulse guns on one mount, so you can murder everything at point blank range
Also new medium missiles:
- Quill Battery - A pod with large ammo reserves that fire in sequence like the Annihilator pod
- Possibly some kind of "finisher" MRM, although Furies are good at this they can't be used on support ships all that well.

I also want to make some minor variations of weapons as "research projects" for BRDY questlines in the future. You'd get to develop a variation of a weapon/ship as a reward and then have industrial rights to manufacture, use and sell it. Stuff like a medium sized linear pulse, Gale Battery, dual Ichneumon, etc etc.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on October 19, 2013, 06:23:29 AM
A) Ironweaver Cannon: Sounds fantastic, shards are such a fun line of weaponry to use.
B) Sunstorm PDE: Tri-barreled sunstorm sounds like a rockingly good time - but why not go for both? An assault and support variation - one for dueling capitals and another for long range support.
C) Linear Pulse Battery: This sounds deliciously evil for frigates and destroyers with large mounts that have hit and run playstyles (Desdinova comes to mind as something that'd benefit enormously from a LPB pattern)
D) Quill Battery: More high ammo missile weapons are always appreciated!

For your finisher MRM, you could go with something like a Sunflare that has an HE aoe explosion so it deals a devastating amount of damage to multiple armor sections (BRDY techs point two sunfire emitters at each other inside a munitions case, are not disappointed with results).

YES, MORE WEAPON TYPES, MORE! It's nice to have a good selection of weapons for your ships - especially on ones that are either slot limited or OP limited. I'd love to see some higher OP version BRDY variants as well, the most you've got is 9 OP for small ballistic, 8 for small energy, 6 for small missile, 13 for med ballistic, 15 for med energy, 15 for med missile, and 25 for large ballistic.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Lopunny Zen on October 19, 2013, 06:42:57 AM
The team is great its just they need a carrier with 3-4 flight decks...i mean there trying to be more advanced...then why do all their carriers have one flight deck. I am a carrier commander and i like to have alot of fighters so can you plz make a carrier with 3-4 flight decks?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 19, 2013, 08:37:44 AM
I don't really see how # flight decks directly corresponds with "advancedness" when it comes to a faction. However, the Convergence will have 2 flight decks.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Shield on October 19, 2013, 01:43:55 PM
definetely a triple barrel sunfire yo
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Magician on October 19, 2013, 02:10:11 PM
Again have to state obvious. BRDY frigates and destroyers are among of the deadliest things in space. I played Uomoz's mod and there were few times when BRDY ships gave me quite hard time. Single sneaky Mantis was able to almost kill my flagship cruiser. And bombers and phase fighters are very hard to deal with.

But I'd like to see some improvements for Gonodactylus. While I am not sure about other aspects of this ship, his claw-missile feels very lacking. Probably in hands of player it may be usefull, but in hands of AI its another story. I can understand ammo/damage numbers. But this missile is more fragile than other missiles of similiar class. It is painfull to watch when Gonodactylus fires his single-ammo special weapon and this missile explodes under PD fire without any effort. While other missiles survive PD fire.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Weh on October 19, 2013, 08:07:33 PM
An assault and support variation - one for dueling capitals and another for long range support.
Oh man, a massive PDE meant for fighting capitals? :o
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Wunder on October 20, 2013, 02:21:14 AM
Maybe a new affect colour for the larger 1 barrel PDE or something like that.
Maybe moving parts for it.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 21, 2013, 04:45:53 AM
Again have to state obvious. BRDY frigates and destroyers are among of the deadliest things in space. I played Uomoz's mod and there were few times when BRDY ships gave me quite hard time. Single sneaky Mantis was able to almost kill my flagship cruiser. And bombers and phase fighters are very hard to deal with.

But I'd like to see some improvements for Gonodactylus. While I am not sure about other aspects of this ship, his claw-missile feels very lacking. Probably in hands of player it may be usefull, but in hands of AI its another story. I can understand ammo/damage numbers. But this missile is more fragile than other missiles of similiar class. It is painfull to watch when Gonodactylus fires his single-ammo special weapon and this missile explodes under PD fire without any effort. While other missiles survive PD fire.

Yeah, I bumped up the HP of the Hammerclaw so it can't really realistically ever be shot down by PD, but would still die if it struck a Reaper or something. As for the Gonodactylus, it's a sturdy and low-maintenance ship that carries a devastating "ace in the sleeve" in the form of its hammerclaw and ability to rapidly charge in and out of battle. Piloting it takes some practice but can be strangely rewarding. I might give it a bit more cargo space in the campaign.

In other news Trylobot has been making an animation script for me to make the AM Lance even cooler, and I'm going to figure out a way to make the damage component of the Scalar Deracinator work properly.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Morion on October 21, 2013, 11:17:44 AM
Hi Cycerin, lately I have plaid with Blackrock mostly, and it's just great. First time I tried it, it seemed overpowered to me. But now I think it's pretty balanced, and it's good to hear that you going to change that AI can't use properly.

Were is one bad thing that happened to me. While playing Blackrock with Exerelin two times I got lags and "outofmemory" error when tried to save game. May be it coincidence, but I got it when was refiting Destinova.

Spoiler
3561425 [Thread-6] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Loading image graphics/backgrounds/background1.jpg into existing tex id 315
3561697 [Thread-6] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Loaded 504,93 MB of texture data so far
3561698 [Thread-6] INFO  com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/backgrounds/background1.jpg (using cast)
3711340 [Thread-6] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine  - FP1: 11, FP2: 17, maxFP1: 80, maxFP2: 120
3845011 [Thread-6] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine  - FP1: 11, FP2: 12, maxFP1: 95, maxFP2: 105
4698899 [Thread-6] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Saving to ..\\saves/save_ExelBR_3795173154787570618...
5039229 [Thread-6] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.String  - java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
   at java.lang.AbstractStringBuilder.<init>(AbstractStringBuilder.java:45)
   at java.lang.StringBuffer.<init>(StringBuffer.java:91)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.path.PathTracker.peekElement(PathTracker.java:131)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.io.path.PathTracker.getPath(PathTracker.java:169)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.AbstractReferenceMarshaller.convert(AbstractReferenceMarshaller.java:53)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.TreeMarshaller.convertAnother(TreeMarshaller.java:58)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.AbstractReferenceMarshaller$1.convertAnother(AbstractReferenceMarshaller.java:84)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter.mars hallField(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:229)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter$2.writeField(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:208)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter$2.<init>(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:171)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter.doMa rshal(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:116)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter.mars hal(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:72)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.AbstractReferenceMarshaller.convert(AbstractReferenceMarshaller.java:69)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.TreeMarshaller.convertAnother(TreeMarshaller.java:58)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.AbstractReferenceMarshaller$1.convertAnother(AbstractReferenceMarshaller.java:84)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter.mars hallField(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:229)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter$2.writeField(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:208)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter$2.<init>(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:171)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter.doMa rshal(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:116)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter.mars hal(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:72)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.AbstractReferenceMarshaller.convert(AbstractReferenceMarshaller.java:69)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.TreeMarshaller.convertAnother(TreeMarshaller.java:58)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.TreeMarshaller.convertAnother(TreeMarshaller.java:43)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.AbstractReferenceMarshaller$1.convertAnother(AbstractReferenceMarshaller.java:88)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.collections.AbstractCollectionConverter.wri teItem(AbstractCollectionConverter.java:64)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.collections.CollectionConverter.marshal(CollectionConverter.java:55)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.AbstractReferenceMarshaller.convert(AbstractReferenceMarshaller.java:69)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.TreeMarshaller.convertAnother(TreeMarshaller.java:58)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.core.AbstractReferenceMarshaller$1.convertAnother(AbstractReferenceMarshaller.java:84)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter.mars hallField(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:229)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter$2.writeField(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:208)
   at com.thoughtworks.xstream.converters.reflection.AbstractReflectionConverter$2.<init>(AbstractReflectionConverter.java:171)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Magician on October 21, 2013, 12:48:51 PM
Were is one bad thing that happened to me. While playing Blackrock with Exerelin two times I got lags and "outofmemory" error when tried to save game. May be it coincidence, but I got it when was refiting Destinova.
Its probably because your game doesn't have enough memory available. Apparently when saving, and during some other operations, game requests big chunk of memory.
In Starsector folder you can change in vmparams file Xmx512m to Xmx1024m(this will increase max size of available memory for game up to 1024 Mb). And because you are using Exerelin mod, you want to be sure that Exerelin and every other activated mod has in its settings "compressSaveGameData":true(in older versions its usually false, so check it. usually its right here MODname/data/config/settings.json). It will make saves smaller which will help too.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Morion on October 24, 2013, 10:51:52 AM
Thanks Magician, I know about it and going to try it. I just ryed to find cause of lags that I got while was playing Exerelin with Kadur and Blackrock.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Wunder on October 25, 2013, 11:57:51 AM
Again have to state obvious. BRDY frigates and destroyers are among of the deadliest things in space. I played Uomoz's mod and there were few times when BRDY ships gave me quite hard time. Single sneaky Mantis was able to almost kill my flagship cruiser. And bombers and phase fighters are very hard to deal with.

But I'd like to see some improvements for Gonodactylus. While I am not sure about other aspects of this ship, his claw-missile feels very lacking. Probably in hands of player it may be usefull, but in hands of AI its another story. I can understand ammo/damage numbers. But this missile is more fragile than other missiles of similiar class. It is painfull to watch when Gonodactylus fires his single-ammo special weapon and this missile explodes under PD fire without any effort. While other missiles survive PD fire.
Yeah, I bumped up the HP of the Hammerclaw so it can't really realistically ever be shot down by PD, but would still die if it struck a Reaper or something. As for the Gonodactylus, it's a sturdy and low-maintenance ship that carries a devastating "ace in the sleeve" in the form of its hammerclaw and ability to rapidly charge in and out of battle. Piloting it takes some practice but can be strangely rewarding. I might give it a bit more cargo space in the campaign.

In other news Trylobot has been making an animation script for me to make the AM Lance even cooler, and I'm going to figure out a way to make the damage component of the Scalar Deracinator work properly.
WIth my new and well buffed Gonodactylus, I can truly be a bully pirate, taking on hammerheads is easy, I take down their shields with my SQG and Iche Guns, then, I have my own way of killing, I get far away while their overloaded, stick burst thrust on, turn left and ram good'old hammerclaw in there, I fire it while embedded in the hull, then, the hammerhead is vaporized.

JOB DONE  8)
I am a violent player who is as insane and overpowered as a Bushi Destroyer.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Doogie on October 27, 2013, 03:35:18 PM
^I am 90% sure Neutrino already has something like that.

EDIT* and so does Nomads
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Shield on October 27, 2013, 06:43:10 PM
But its something way special
and too overpowered
And too many OP points to use on any other ship (950)
And too much power can even if turned take out and destroy many onslaughts, Testing was 5
I smashed through a fortress shield
That paragon is now a broadside capital

Why when you can just edit the files and do it yourself.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Wunder on October 28, 2013, 02:36:54 AM
I cant draw. ;D
Oh well.
I'll stick to whats coming
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 29, 2013, 11:51:14 AM
Sounds like you should just make your own mod, GGMC :P It sounds guaranteed to be entertaining.

So I'm working on Blackrock again - doing some polish here and there. Writing some descriptions, keeping it gameplay-centric and concentrating the fluff for those who care about it in the sections that only show up in the Codex.

Spoiler
SHARD CANNON:
A solid all-round weapon. Shoots kinetic penetrators that also have a chance to explode for Energy damage against armor/hull.

The most fruitful and unexpected result of Blackrock's attempts to reverse-engineer the Domain phase cloak, the Shard is a fairly brittle projectile by most standards: crystalline in composition, it has a low rate of penetration against armor. However, each Shard is fashioned in a special reactor that constantly displaces the growing crystal between p-space and n-space. The result is that each Shard carries a vibration across universes, even when removed from the factory. When such a projectile hits a shield barrier, it causes additional strain to the enemy inertial dampener - on top of that, if a Shard shatters and lodges itself inside a foreign material, the disrupted standing wave can cause a backlash in n-space, as twisted particles return to the universe as antimatter and subsequently annihilate. A major drawback is that no Shard will shatter in the same way, and thus, only a small portion of hits will generate an destructive reaction. Still, the Shard Cannon is a staple on most Blackrock vessels for midrange combat.

Independent researchers sometimes attempt to jury-rig standard autocannons to accept Shards as ammunition. The end results are usually... higly unprofitable.
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on October 29, 2013, 12:09:57 PM
Fabulous lore, looking forward to more of it!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: HELMUT on October 29, 2013, 03:36:58 PM
Bomb bays are rather crude weaponry when you look at it. I'm not sure BRDY high-tech standard would bother with that kind of low-tech armament. And in some ways, they already got the Quill launcher even if it lack the punch of the Annihilator (Edit: and obviously the Fury).

But i like your idea of a big EMP bomb. Actually, the idea of the bomb bay become interesting and not that low-tech (hell, Neutrinos use bomb bays on their Drache), it's just that the problems with that kind of weapon is that it is usually difficult to use without blowing yourself with the splash damage. I can already see a Desdinova, charging straight with its booster on to release a point blank bomb right in the enemy face and getting its engine disabled by the blast.

Still it's seems interesting, i'm curious how Cycerin would handle the idea.

Oh by the way, about the shard cannon. How does actually work the explosion system? Is it random? And when it explode, what damage does it do?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Shield on October 29, 2013, 03:39:10 PM
Loving the lore except my dumb ass doesn't know the difference between p-space and n-space. 

You know what Blackrock needs but doesn't yet have?  Bombs.  Most of your ships are about mobility (except for the Kurmaraja) but you don't have any faction-specific bombs for me to take advange of BRDY's mobility advantage with.  I'm stuck with vanilla Annihilators and Cluster Bombs on my Desdinova(s).  Starsector in general could use a heavy EMP bomb or something, what is the Blackrock corporation doing with Bose-Einstein condensates these days?

Fury torpedo...
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on October 29, 2013, 04:49:04 PM
Loving the lore except my dumb ass doesn't know the difference between p-space and n-space.  

Normal space and phase space. :)

Bomb bays are rather crude weaponry when you look at it. I'm not sure BRDY high-tech standard would bother with that kind of low-tech armament. And in some ways, they already got the Quill launcher even if it lack the punch of the Annihilator (Edit: and obviously the Fury).

As long as it's impractical and cool, it fits. I've been meaning to make a proximity charge-type weapon for a while now. More missiles in general. The only true support missile for BRDY is the Achilles, which has recently been buffed into usefulness, but still isn't good for assaulting ships or finishing them off.

Quote
Oh by the way, about the shard cannon. How does actually work the explosion system? Is it random? And when it explode, what damage does it do?

There's a roughly 20% chance the shard will explode and deal 125-200 Energy damage if it hits hull or armor on an enemy ship.

Also, BRDY doesn't use a lot of EMP weapons. This is mainly because they are completely worthless against a void beast, and the research just isn't being done! Plasma weapons are, however, excellent at cauterizing pseudoflesh: the Fury, PDE, Antiplasma, Linear Pulse and AM Lance sort of work off the same technology. I think a bomb weapon would be a type of plasma charge.

Actually that sounds rad. Small and medium plasma charge launchers.

Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 03, 2013, 08:15:43 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/crF57ng.png)

Blackrock has successfully developed a military-grade, destroyer-sized phase cloak. Look out for the Asura-class Monitor in the future!

While the phase cloak is inefficient, the ship design compensates: on each flank of the vessel, three prominent capacitors can store excess flux. In a pinch, the capacitors can then be shut off from the reactor circuit and ejected into space, allowing an instant drop in hard flux. This allows the ship to pump out lethal amounts of damage if unchecked, thanks to its built-in Linear Pulse Cannon.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Sproiet on November 03, 2013, 09:16:40 AM
Yay, I was beginning to sadden over the fact that BRDY only has really 1 great destroyer, the Desdinova is great as well, but it's more of a pursuit ship in my eyes.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 03, 2013, 09:30:43 AM
I'm making a few adjustments to the Gonodactylus as well.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Taverius on November 03, 2013, 07:08:04 PM
You can never have too many fun destroyers, imo.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Morion on November 05, 2013, 10:38:08 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/crF57ng.png)

Blackrock has successfully developed a military-grade, destroyer-sized phase cloak. Look out for the Asura-class Monitor in the future!

While the phase cloak is inefficient, the ship design compensates: on each flank of the vessel, three prominent capacitors can store excess flux. In a pinch, the capacitors can then be shut off from the reactor circuit and ejected into space, allowing an instant drop in hard flux. This allows the ship to pump out lethal amounts of damage if unchecked, thanks to its built-in Linear Pulse Cannon.

Phase cloak ship! It's that I lacked so much when was fighting with Tri-Tachion last time. And again with interesting implementation. I will look forward to play with this new toy. Also it would be good to see some frigate as well.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Shield on November 05, 2013, 10:43:03 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/crF57ng.png)

Blackrock has successfully developed a military-grade, destroyer-sized phase cloak. Look out for the Asura-class Monitor in the future!

While the phase cloak is inefficient, the ship design compensates: on each flank of the vessel, three prominent capacitors can store excess flux. In a pinch, the capacitors can then be shut off from the reactor circuit and ejected into space, allowing an instant drop in hard flux. This allows the ship to pump out lethal amounts of damage if unchecked, thanks to its built-in Linear Pulse Cannon.
maybe blackrock could sign a contract with neutrino to create a phase ring
It works with capitals and cruisers!

No...everything you want is something that has a ridiculous amount of weapon slots, ordinance points, and is just plainly too good, why do you suggest such ridiculous ships in every mod thread?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 06, 2013, 05:08:28 AM
So far it seems like the next version will include Exerelin integration bugfixes, a new AM lance particle effect by Trylobot, some sound edits, variant edits and rebalancing for the Robberfly and Gonodactylus, and the Convergence-class. There has been a LOT of polish done in intermittent bursts since the last release.

Next in line after that is differentiating the Convergence and Revenant, adding more weapons, and working on the phase ship. The Revenant will probably become a "drone cruiser" and focus on defense, standing out among the Blackrock roster for its different take on battle tactics. The Convergence will be the standby big carrier option for Blackrock fleets, backed up by the Typheus, but the Revenant might keep a flight deck.

Re: what I did with the Gonodactylus, it now has a frontal universal turret between the "eyes" and another missile turret on the claw side, as well as slightly more OP. It feels like it's in a pretty solid spot right now, as the fleet's "workhorse", so to speak - flexible and with a good ace-in-the-sleeve weapon when outmatched.

The new weapons I'm going to add first will be plasma charge launchers and the Ironweaver Cannon, the large-size shard shotgun.

Oh, and I'll probably add the Eschaton-class Heavy Freighter sometime after christmas too.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 06, 2013, 10:18:47 AM
Post away, I love posts like those. Just be aware that yeah, a lot of stuff has been touched already, like weapon ranges being slightly lower across the board and efficiency/power a bit higher to compensate, and misc. stuff about ship and weapon stats.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: etherealblade on November 07, 2013, 12:19:04 AM
First off amazing updates...I'm so anticipating their release.

Also..on a side note, were you still planning on throwing in them space monsters? O.o ???
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 07, 2013, 02:07:05 AM
That's going to be an enormous amount of work and not something I can throw in on a whim. :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: etherealblade on November 07, 2013, 04:26:16 AM
oh so it hadn't left concept stages.... :-[. It is something you'd need a enormous amount of inspiration and effort to generate from scratch...aka...what you just said. Thanks for the reply. The Gneiss monsters still would be a cool idea if you ever felt inclined. I find it interesting that you mention whims and such as if you forgot you were the one that mentioned the idea in the first place. Still =D I love your work and Thank you for sharing!

Reference: (Just so it doesn't look like I just pulled that out of no where and completely offtopic).
Spoiler
I'll probably end up implementing bonuses based on hull size for the Flux Core.

Anyway, having some fun doodling up and solidifying the space monsters. Gneiss is very empty right now. I'm pretty sure Verge will be teeming with weird creepy crawlies down the road for recruits to shoot down the stragglers that escape.

Beyond that, I'll throw in some temporary pirate presence when I do the bugfix/balance patch.

(http://i.imgur.com/9Z2fSCr.jpg)

(yes, it's a space monster-nevermore)

What do we know about the void beasts?
- They are cellular, but not organic. Organization on the lowest level is nanomechanical.
- They seem to be completely self-sufficient, highly aggressive, internally competitive and predatory, with a keen interest in sapient or sophont lifeforms.
- They are motile, cunning, and capable of adaption, but do not show any capacity to communicate or form complex behaviors ( Note: ? ? ? ? ? ? have propensity for long-term organization on the level of ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?.)
- Land or atmosphere-based pseudolife size range stretches from microscopic to 20-30m in length.
- Space-capable pseudolife can reach sizes rivalling capital ships - Dimension-tunnelling pseudolife can reach sizes rivalling ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Wunder on November 07, 2013, 12:43:41 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/crF57ng.png)

Blackrock has successfully developed a military-grade, destroyer-sized phase cloak. Look out for the Asura-class Monitor in the future!

While the phase cloak is inefficient, the ship design compensates: on each flank of the vessel, three prominent capacitors can store excess flux. In a pinch, the capacitors can then be shut off from the reactor circuit and ejected into space, allowing an instant drop in hard flux. This allows the ship to pump out lethal amounts of damage if unchecked, thanks to its built-in Linear Pulse Cannon.
maybe blackrock could sign a contract with neutrino to create a phase ring
It works with capitals and cruisers!

No...everything you want is something that has a ridiculous amount of weapon slots, ordinance points, and is just plainly too good, why do you suggest such ridiculous ships in every mod thread?

first of all, im still getting used to the mod thread but Im leaving you'll be happy to know
Everybody is creative at some point of their life.
Second of all you are extremely rude to people you dont like and want them to leave anyway
So think before you say, I have had enough, I take all my ridiculous ideas back, Im just a nobody in this forum anyway, so happy days!
The Good old bloody mod forums are safe because My 'evil ' reign is over, middle finger to you.
Also, If you look back, all my ideas are gone, so good for you, I dont fill this place up
So to add it all up, you are a horrible person who has just made a commited forum dweller to leave.


Hope your happy.





Oh look, I can talk!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Shield on November 07, 2013, 02:45:43 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/crF57ng.png)

Blackrock has successfully developed a military-grade, destroyer-sized phase cloak. Look out for the Asura-class Monitor in the future!

While the phase cloak is inefficient, the ship design compensates: on each flank of the vessel, three prominent capacitors can store excess flux. In a pinch, the capacitors can then be shut off from the reactor circuit and ejected into space, allowing an instant drop in hard flux. This allows the ship to pump out lethal amounts of damage if unchecked, thanks to its built-in Linear Pulse Cannon.
maybe blackrock could sign a contract with neutrino to create a phase ring
It works with capitals and cruisers!

No...everything you want is something that has a ridiculous amount of weapon slots, ordinance points, and is just plainly too good, why do you suggest such ridiculous ships in every mod thread?

first of all, im still getting used to the mod thread but Im leaving you'll be happy to know
Everybody is creative at some point of their life.
Second of all you are extremely rude to people you dont like and want them to leave anyway
So think before you say, I have had enough, I take all my ridiculous ideas back, Im just a nobody in this forum anyway, so happy days!
The Good old bloody mod forums are safe because My 'evil ' reign is over, middle finger to you.
Also, If you look back, all my ideas are gone, so good for you, I dont fill this place up
So to add it all up, you are a horrible person who has just made a commited forum dweller to leave.


Hope your happy.





Oh look, I can talk!

I don't want you to go away I would honestly rather you make your own mod as opposed to asking other "Vanilla" balanced mod makers to make it so, I honestly I don't think I came off too rough or mean, I asked a legit question.  But you can tweak the files and add OP points if you need to.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 07, 2013, 02:57:19 PM
Both of you stop derailing the thread. ::) I agree that GGMC should start modding.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Shield on November 07, 2013, 04:01:35 PM
Both of you stop derailing the thread. ::) I agree that GGMC should start modding.

Speaking of the thread, when is the next version going to be out so i can play around with that carrier?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on November 07, 2013, 04:22:00 PM
Ooo, I know the answer to that one!

"When it's done."
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 07, 2013, 05:53:17 PM
I refuse to let the mod take priority over my exams, so yeah, when it's done.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: NanoMatter on November 07, 2013, 06:36:36 PM
By any chance does anyone have 0.54a version?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Gothars on November 08, 2013, 08:39:07 AM
I refuse to let the mod take priority over my exams, so yeah, when it's done.

Good on you, and good luck with those exams.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: rada660 on November 08, 2013, 08:59:07 AM
I love this mod. I keep playing it with Exelerin ( just to my annoyance, the battlecruiser and battleship never seem to appear in my stations! D: )

To wonder if more ship type will be available soon? Sure, after when you are done with your real life! :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Sproiet on November 08, 2013, 06:17:36 PM
Alright so I've seen a Karkinos...but....I had a sector to myself. Zap did say that capitals and super cruisers show up when you own a whole sector to your faction.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: rada660 on November 08, 2013, 06:19:05 PM
Alright so I've seen a Karkinos...but....I had a sector to myself. Zap did say that capitals and super cruisers show up when you own a whole sector to your faction.

Well *** xD

I'm used to play with only one sector. With 21 planets 10 belts and 35 stations with all the compatible factions xD

<_<

>_>
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 09, 2013, 02:54:39 PM
Resupply is entirely random. I don't really know much about how Zaphide handles it in Exerelin, but the baseline mod uses a randomized approach. The first ship to Gneiss could have a Karkinos in it or it could have three Robberflies and some Shredders. :P This is obviously not a satisfactory approach for the long haul, but it's how it works in vanilla, too.

While I finish up the patch, here's the retouched Gonodactylus (check out the frontal turret and extra missile turret) and a little fluff.
(http://i.imgur.com/u0lYVD7.png)



"Havin' this big laugh about becoming destroyer crew, are we? All fired up about the "shrimp clause" - how the IA won't let an independent contractor captain anything higher than a 3rd or 4th generation Gonodactylus?

Yeah, it gets a bad rep 'cause kids like you look at it and see where your ambitions end, but you're thankless. I lost mine when we got ambushed by a Tri-Tach phase group. I drifted back into a Yardie patrol clamped to half a piece of a turret module. Heatsinks all handling my suit's load through physical contact... all in an induced coma, should've died in the blowout... but here I am. Then there was an old helmsman I talked to on Lodestone, deep in his cups... told me about how he was wrecked in a belt somewhere deep into the nest. He'd opened the main console, poked around for a day and found still-active survey programs that worked with the main sensors. Found himself a hollow asteroid, some old privateer hideout - few rotten suits with bones in them, weeks of rations, and a dry nano-kiln. It kept him alive until they saw the beacon. You get my point? These things are one-of-a-kind. Blackrock wants to keep us in them for good reasons: they work, and they last, and you try to find me a shield that won't throw sparks trying to stop a Hammerclaw. What would you idiots do on the comm bridge of a Nevermore? Paint the view screens with anti-static?

(http://i.imgur.com/3WbcRtw.jpg)

It's a special machine. Tow cables became boarding latches, survey sensors turned into targeting arrays - but they kept the armored crew quarters, impact-proof drive assemblies, and the Mark IV Asteroid Impactor. They kept the cozy hab nexus and the rugged cargo holds and the conveyor belts in the main bay. It's all a big joke. Three cruddy rock handlers, stitched together and upgraded for a hundred years, and it's still better than Domain tech. So you fools start counting chips to the day you're Shrimp crew.

And no, we don't get too attached to the **** things."
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on November 09, 2013, 04:03:53 PM
My god, it's beautiful.

You've got a touch for descriptive writing - that last piece of fluff feels like an excerpt from the front page of a good sci-fi novel.

Hope you spend some time on more long-form descriptions like that!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 09, 2013, 06:13:50 PM
Thanks a lot. I find writing is hard to get a grip on, sometimes it feels like you've written the most ridiculous thing in the world and then the next day when you read it again, it flows well and paints images in your head.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on November 09, 2013, 08:36:08 PM
Oh I know that feeling, I've dipped my hand into writing a few science fiction short story's and excerpts of ideas I've had - and it's amazing how something can shift under your feet when you look at it the second time.

You think you've penned utter gold, and when you proofread it the next day you wonder if the person who wrote this was hitting the medicine cabinet too hard; or you realize what you thought you wrote has no resemblance to what you actually wrote, but it's actually better that way. It's a tricky thing, but playing with words is damn satisfying once you KNOW you've forged a mastery of wordsmithing.

I also know how much motivation it provides when someone enjoys your work enough that they can't offer any critiques (YOU WRITE GOOD).
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 10, 2013, 10:11:23 AM
Thanks a lot Ishman ;D I feel a bit more confident about my writing now.

(http://i.minus.com/iBhBDRyd9RJKU.gif)

Shoutouts to Trylobot for making this firing effect with me. Soon, we might also have a solution for the annoying bug that lets you charge the AM Lance even when it has 0 ammo. The explosion effect is a frankenstein of particle system code I've taken from here and there, thanks to Valk for letting me use some stuff!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on November 10, 2013, 10:24:26 AM
I have noticed that any gun with a long charge up can spam its charge sound until your ears bleed. I would love that fix if it was in vanilla too.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Trylobot on November 11, 2013, 11:52:00 AM
+1  I hope it's fixed for Vanilla also. I think Alex knows about it / is already planning it at some point.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a UPDATE!] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 12, 2013, 07:36:22 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/2mgZgQ4.png)

Testing the Asura's Flux Ejectors. Is there any way I could make it first use the canisters on the left side, and then on the right side?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Trylobot on November 12, 2013, 08:22:45 AM
Yeah absolutely. One way that would be absolutely fail-proof would be to set up 6 weapon slots of type SYSTEM, and equip the canisters as weapons on all of them, giving them a very specific naming convention; something like flux_ejector_0 through flux_ejector_5 - that way you can have the AI script use them in sequence without caring how many there are (you just loop through the weapons by name until it fails to return, that's your signal to cycle back to 0).

Another way might be to define one weapon with 6 barrels that fire ALTERNATING. Not sure if there's any downsides to that method really.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 12, 2013, 08:34:14 AM
Aye, I think the first method probably sounds like it gives the most control.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 12, 2013, 01:03:08 PM
The chargeup sound bug has actually been fixed for 0.6.2a, its right in the patchnotes. I think it doesnt fix the fact you can charge a weapon that has 0 charges.

(http://i.imgur.com/1pVYtpy.jpg)

Asura-class Monitor, sans weapons. In the end I decided it was too fat-looking and needed a slightly differentiated color scheme from other BR ships since it's a phase ship. Also did away with the built-in weapon for now.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: zakastra on November 13, 2013, 04:56:31 AM
That is one beautiful beast of a ship. Bravo sir. Bravo.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 13, 2013, 09:22:08 AM
(http://i.minus.com/iVJCbyx1zP2YP.gif)

Blackrock phase cloaks are pretty inefficient when it comes to flux usage, however, the ship's main engines can work in phase space, making the ship noticeably faster while submerged.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: rada660 on November 13, 2013, 09:27:56 AM
Looks AAAAWESOME :D

Blackrock is maybe my fav mod in the pack, on how the ship are made and their unique weaponry :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: HELMUT on November 13, 2013, 09:30:25 AM
Cycerin, doing awesome job as usual. And you were right about changing the phase ship, your first version looked a bit too fat for BRDY vessel.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: rada660 on November 13, 2013, 09:33:32 AM
Not to forgot how he display his stuff! He's maybe one of the few that display his content in meaningful GIFs. Not only screenshots! :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: phyrex on November 13, 2013, 11:22:54 AM
(http://i.minus.com/iVJCbyx1zP2YP.gif)

Blackrock phase cloaks are pretty inefficient when it comes to flux usage, however, the ship's main engines can work in phase space, making the ship noticeably faster while submerged.

awesome ! as if that hadent been said already a thousand times  ::)

but what is the lore for BRDY phase cloak to be so inefficient ?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: rada660 on November 13, 2013, 11:24:13 AM
I'd say the same as for the shield issues.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: phyrex on November 13, 2013, 11:24:55 AM
I'd say the same as for the shield issues.

which was ?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: rada660 on November 13, 2013, 11:26:50 AM
I think when he said about shield also inefficient, Blackrock use their brutal force, while doing hit and run.

Like a trade off from lack of defence gives lot of firepower and manoeuvrability.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 13, 2013, 12:02:42 PM
Energy shielding is one of the Domain of Man's greatest achievements in military technology. Blackrock has basically reverse-engineered their way up to par, but cannot figure out how to make efficient shields, so they have to rely on their efficient powerplants, engines and weapons.

It's the same with the phase cloak and phase systems - a lot of weird weapons came out of trying to replicate the underlying tech behind a phase cloak, like the Shard, the AM Lance, and finally the Scalar Deracinator. Now that they have phase cloaks working, it still doesn't work quite the same way as it does on Domain vessels, but Blackrock has designed around it.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 13, 2013, 05:48:42 PM
Loving your work as usual, restarted a save to not include exerelin, and have re-discovered that the Karkinos is pure ridiculousness. Have been able to beat EVERY other capital or battleship class in the game so far - the scalar deracinator plus many HE weapons and high venting rate makes me a very, VERY happy Lieutenant. :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on November 13, 2013, 08:25:46 PM
The beauty of it is, the Karkinos is not the most powerful with the AI. Only the player can take control of it's true potential... Eh, that is the case with most ships though.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Doogie on November 13, 2013, 09:01:58 PM
These ships just give me so much BSF nostalgia, yet they fit into Starsector so perfectly. I can't quite put this intense feeling of satisfaction into words. I am all in favor of this faction being integrated into the base game.
Keep up this high quality.
Oh, and maybe you could add a small mining drone wing for Exerelin? Tis would be a small thing that would do so much for lore and gameplay alike.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 14, 2013, 02:08:40 AM
Ooh, custom mining drone wings... *drools* I wonder how Blackrock would do theirs? moar lasers? defensive weapons?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 14, 2013, 07:01:57 AM
Thank you so much guys. I'm not good at responding to praise, but I really appreciate it.

(http://i.imgur.com/g5CSyqz.png)

Ironweaver Cannon. Yep. It's a 30 OP volley gun that shoots shard buckshots.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on November 14, 2013, 08:50:17 AM
m.bisonyes.jpg
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 14, 2013, 12:13:00 PM
^seconded. :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 21, 2013, 02:05:25 AM
So far, this release changes almost everything about the mod. It's going to be pretty significant. I'm only saying that because I sat down to write the changelog and don't even know where to begin. I need to start writing it during the work process itself. :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: ValkyriaL on November 21, 2013, 03:15:01 AM
I guess i'm not the only one who forgot about the changelog >.> didn't even have one till like version 1.0
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: x Daedalus on November 23, 2013, 11:19:00 AM
Cycerin, this only gets more and more glorious.

I can't wait to get a Karkinos in my new saves :3
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 27, 2013, 06:14:59 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/zUCa33W.png)

We call it Revenant, because it was built from the scraps and remnants of what we lost during the Collapse and the Upheaval.

For all those bitter years of fighting off the monsters and rustbucket task forces, and the decades of resisting espionage and internal corruption from Corporate agents, the Revenant was the sole line cruiser available to Blackrock IA due to the near-impossibility of getting Eagle and Dominator blueprints out of the Sector. Nobody had foreseen that assembly on the scale of a cruiser could be done without a complete, intact Autofactory and orbital wetdock.

These days, the endlessly upgraded cruiser serves as the backbone of Blackrock system patrols. As the Nevermore-class becomes a more and more mundane sight in the Sector, the venerable Revenant has started increasingly falling into the hands of rogue agents and privateers.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Zudgemud on November 27, 2013, 01:09:47 PM
Please make your Karkinos frigate, and please please make it symmetrical, I could not take the pain of it being another Gonodactylus. :(
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Doogie on November 27, 2013, 01:28:20 PM
The Karkinos is already implemented, and it's a capital vessel, not a frigate.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Zudgemud on November 27, 2013, 02:03:35 PM
The Karkinos is already implemented, and it's a capital vessel, not a frigate.

On another forum I frequent he talked about possibly making a frigate with the same type of teleport+emp system that the karkinos has, for me that sounds awesome so I'm just poking at him to actually make it because I sure as hell want to fly it (please make it symmetrical).  :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 27, 2013, 02:12:30 PM
Asymmetry is the future! At least, according to Blackrock.

We'll see about the Scalar frigate. ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 27, 2013, 02:59:18 PM
scalar…frigate?? :O WANT!!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Psigun on November 27, 2013, 03:35:53 PM
Interest piqued. ;D

Asymmetry is the future! At least, according to Blackrock.

We'll see about the Scalar frigate. ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on November 28, 2013, 12:47:07 AM
LINE SHIPS ARE BEST SHIPS, OLD TECH IS NEW TECH.

Like how the Iowa class battleships are still the only reasonable means of overwhelming fire-support (and oh my is it ever, VWs filled with explosives raining from the sky is soul-quaking terror) and thus a 70 year old design is only replaced by a yet to be built railgun equipped destroyer (which is admittedly even more horrifying when paired with a nuclear reactor capable of supplying 64 megawatts TEN TIMES PER MINUTE for the capacitors resulting in a projectile that delivers 10 megajoules of kinetic energy to a 5 meter accuracy at distances of 200 nmi (370km).
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Garmine on November 28, 2013, 10:39:57 AM
Asymmetry is the future! At least, according to Blackrock.

Assymmetry FTW! I love it! :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 29, 2013, 03:16:41 AM
Rediscovering the joy that is piloting the Desdinova. Gale cannons have to be some of my favourite weapons in the entire game. I like to roll around with a bunch of frigates as well, some from other factions. The Scarab has to take pride of place next to the Des. though. The combination of a Gale cannnon (did I make it clear enough that I like those? :P) and a Sunjet on the front is despicable against pirates. I load it up with Capacitors and either Stabilised or Hardened shields and it tanks damage unbelieveably well.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 29, 2013, 08:27:17 AM
That's awesome. Yeah, the Gale is so satisfying to use against unshielded ships, or for sneaking in a direct hit on a distracted vessel. That's more or less what the weapon is for.

(http://i.imgur.com/uQPzlyP.png)

The new Revenant in all its asymmetrical glory. It still has a flight deck and the Barracuda Drones. Unlike the Convergence, it's a drain on your fleet, instead of being a "backbone" for it.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 29, 2013, 11:13:52 AM
:O it's… it's…. BEAUTIFUL. Are those universal mounts on the front, or are they missiles? And what's that small mount on the port side?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 29, 2013, 12:31:06 PM
Thanks! Both front hardpoints are universal. ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 29, 2013, 12:45:52 PM
muah ha ha ha ha!! I smell Sunjet PDEs >:)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on November 29, 2013, 01:09:36 PM
Any plans for more missile types Cycerin? I'd really like some more complementary stuff for medium and large slots. I'm lusting after those heavy versions of the gale, shard, and sunfire as well, perfect for a signature weapon on a destroyer or cruiser.

The asymmetrical Revenant is looking fantastic, though I'm surprised by the lack of backwards facing point defense mounts that seem a blackrock signature for protecting those vulnerable engines (your PD is SO DAMN GOOD).
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 29, 2013, 03:50:38 PM
you must be missing the TWO argus PD lasers...
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on November 29, 2013, 04:34:56 PM
Yes, only two.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 29, 2013, 06:13:53 PM
meh, it has fighter support, maybe drones, and those other small turrets - there's one on the port bow and a shredder on the starboard aft.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 30, 2013, 05:21:29 AM
The three quills on the broadside are universals. You can make a fairly decent PD ship... actually you can fit almost anything on it, it's extremely flexible. But while the PD is arguably lacking, the ship has no uncovered flank if you kit it accordingly, and the Barracuda Drones and 180 omni shield shore up the rest.

Also, since when doesn't two arguses basically stop any and all missiles from hitting your engines? : p

I have new missiles planned, but a few of them require some coding acrobatics I can't currently handle on my own. I might add one as a placeholder, though.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 30, 2013, 08:14:41 AM
Yeah, what IS that small mount on the port side, the one facing downwards? It looks like a new weapon...
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 30, 2013, 08:31:52 AM
It's a Linear Pulse Gun, new sprite. :)

In other news.
(http://i.imgur.com/odk3srx.jpg)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: ValkyriaL on November 30, 2013, 08:39:31 AM
I smell a scalar deracinator on crack.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: HELMUT on November 30, 2013, 09:40:42 AM
The Convergence, the Asura, the new Revenant and now this one. That's gonna be a big BRDY update.

For the new missiles acrobatics, you should ask MesoTroniK. Weird missiles scripts is his job after all.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 30, 2013, 10:06:49 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0q7-hbuM_4

Just taped this. Most of the unreleased content is in it. Enjoy!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: mendonca on November 30, 2013, 10:37:15 AM
Imaginos. Awesome. Blackrock is great at naming stuff.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on November 30, 2013, 10:39:49 AM
Just another unimaginative Battle Angel Alita/BOC shoutout. But hey, it ends in -nos which goes well with the Karkinos since they both have deracinators.

E: for the new page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0q7-hbuM_4
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on November 30, 2013, 11:09:58 AM
pure, unadulterated win. Also, subbed. :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: MShadowy on November 30, 2013, 05:57:25 PM
Indeed,  this is lookin mighty fine.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: HELMUT on December 01, 2013, 06:55:13 AM
A phase teleport frigate, cool. The Asura looks interesting as well, though it seems prone to overload a lot. I winced at 13:40.

BTW, isn't the Asura supposed to have a Flux Ejectors system? I didn't saw you using it in the video, the zoom is pretty far so i might have missed it though.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on December 01, 2013, 08:29:25 AM
The flux ejector system isn't implemented yet, so the Asura just has active flares and slightly better flux stats than it would have with the intended system.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on December 01, 2013, 07:05:49 PM
Flare system! Ah, my mortal enemy - limited uses, limited applicability, doesn't even work very well, it's the trifecta of filler for a ship that'd otherwise be too good with something useful.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: etherealblade on December 05, 2013, 01:30:34 AM
Flare system! Ah, my mortal enemy - limited uses, limited applicability, doesn't even work very well, it's the trifecta of filler for a ship that'd otherwise be too good with something useful.

Righto...however...If he's been fiddling with some of Daimaski's flare codes....That would end up making them a whole lot more useful.

Oh wow...he's updating his 1st post.......we know what this means  :o :) ;) :D ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on December 06, 2013, 06:52:53 AM
Hahah, I do that all the time. Sorry for getting your hopes up.

All of these ships are either new or have changed. Some changed fundamentally, others subtly, both in terms of gameplay, balance and the sprites. I think Cetonia/Typheus fans (if there are any) will appreciate the considerable makeover those ships have gotten.

IMAGINOS
(http://i.imgur.com/paD5fYp.png)
REVENANT
(http://i.imgur.com/MhBqzA6.png)
BULWARK DRONE
(http://i.imgur.com/FyVvWJ3.png)
CONVERGENCE
(http://i.imgur.com/4tNu5gj.png)
CETONIA
(http://i.imgur.com/7w2bETO.png)
TYPHEUS
(http://i.imgur.com/9j4x9vm.png)
SCARAB
(http://i.imgur.com/F7jwv4X.png)
DESDINOVA
(http://i.imgur.com/y1fXhVG.png)
NEVERMORE
(http://i.imgur.com/ZxybAcK.png)



In addition to that, we have some new/changed weapons.

SHARD GUN
- A smaller version of the Shard Cannon that fires continously with low range. You've seen it on the Sentinel Drone, but now it can be mounted on anything.
MICRO ARGUS
- 5OP Argus Beam with long recharge time.
VOIDSPEAR SRM/POD
- A plasma missile that needs to be charged before firing, building flux. Short range, powerful engine, deals energy damage. A very flexible missile.
LINEAR PULSE GUN
- Changed to simply be a low range high ROF energy weapon. Brutal at close range, insane flux demands.
QUILL ROCKET LAUNCHER
- More ammo, rockets accelerate slower, lower damage. More of a suppression weapon now.

Some misc *** I did yesterday:
- The Karkinos' inner medium mounts are now universals
- The campaign now uses a completely random variant selector thanks to Uomoz
- Changed campaign faction color
- Added lots of codex lore especially for Karkinos havers
- All the *** I'm forgetting to list here
- Get hype.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on December 06, 2013, 08:01:47 AM
SO CLOSE TO FULL SHARD LOADOUTS, SO CLOSE.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on December 06, 2013, 10:34:52 AM
Do you really need shard PD? ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Gothars on December 06, 2013, 10:57:32 AM
Oh wow, the Convergence is so sexy!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: HELMUT on December 06, 2013, 11:06:34 AM
No wonder people say BRDY should be implemented by Alex in Vanilla Starsector, they look gorgeous.

Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on December 06, 2013, 03:15:43 PM
damn right. I cannot WAIT to play this. All of the new ships! ALL OF THEM! :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Ishman on December 06, 2013, 11:19:55 PM
Perhaps not really need, but want? Oh my, yes.

The Sharp Bit Towards Enemy must fly.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on December 07, 2013, 01:51:51 AM
"Fly me closer, I want to hit them with my Sunjets!"
-BRDY sponsored Captain Ashlis
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on December 07, 2013, 10:51:00 AM
Ok, I have one irksome thing holding me back from releasing. The Kurmaraja AI has stopped working, so AI ships will never use the ship system. If someone has enough java competence to help me take a look at this, drop me a PM asap so I can work it out.

The Asura will be released with the placeholder system. Sorry about that, but I'm sure you don't *really* mind that much. :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on December 07, 2013, 03:54:53 PM
Nevermind that, Trylobot to the rescue.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on December 08, 2013, 02:40:52 AM
Just dropping by to say the latest Blackrock release is already in the USS patch (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=1799.0) Uomoz uploaded yesterday. The standalone mod will be updated and changelog published later today.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Mazuo on December 08, 2013, 03:53:03 AM
Great news to hear.  Been checking on this probably daily for a while now.  Really enjoy this mod, keep up the good work.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.42
Post by: Cycerin on December 08, 2013, 04:32:09 AM
New release! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip)

Big thanks to Trylobot for all the java assistance/work he's put into the content in this release.

Spoiler
Blackrock Drive Yards Changelog - Mod Version 0.5

General:
NEW CONTENT
New ship - Imaginos-class Dimensional Frigate
A frigate with a Scalar Deracinator, nuff said
New ship - Convergence-class Support Cruiser
A venture-esque cruiser with two flight decks
New ship - Asura-class Monitor
A phase ship on the interim between destroyer and cruiser, features the Flux Ejector system for high-pressure combat
New ship system - Bulwark drone
New ship system - Flux Ejector
New ship system - Scalar Deracinator (small)
New weapon - Shard Gun
New weapon - Micro Argus
New weapon - Voidspear SRM
New weapon - Ironweaver
Revenant, Typheus, Cetonia and Stenos redesigns
Campaign now uses a completely random Variant selector - each ship spawned can be any stock variant
New mission: BRDY Big Battle - a huge fight vs a vanilla fleet. Features absolutely all BRDY content in one mission.
Redesigned Kurmaraja Interdiction Array - now slows ships and completely stops ballistic projectiles and missiles. AI now activates the system as appropriate.
Added a bunch of variants
REDESIGNED CONTENT
Updated all ship sprites with custom turret mounts and misc adjustments
Changed a huge bunch of sound effects and added new ones
Changed all variants
Rebalanced all ships/weapons to varying degrees
Changed Cetonia and Typheus sprite/loadout
Added aux engines to Krait fighter for burst jetting
Changed Nevermore rear turret to 360 and moved to middle of ship
Added more turret mounts to Gonodactylus
Stenos redesign
Changed middle medium mounts on Karkinos to be medium universals
Changed faction color
Renamed Antiplasma Blaster to Scalaron Blaster
Added a bunch of Codex lore and simplified descriptions to focus more on gameplay
Added particle effect to AM Lance chargeup
Added particle effect to AM Lance explosion
Changed Linear Pulse Gun sprite, effect and stats
Changed Fury-class torpedo to deal Energy damage and require flux to fire
Plasma missiles (Fury and Voidspear) have a custom explosion effect and sound
MISC/FIXES:
Fixed Exerelin integration
Fixed Sentinel Drone behavior
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Gothars on December 08, 2013, 05:13:39 AM
This is almost as exiting as a new release of the main game! Thanks for your hard work :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on December 08, 2013, 06:01:36 AM
^ seconded, with a vengeance! :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 08, 2013, 10:04:29 AM
You're welcome. Now.. give me the feedback... ALL of the feedback
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Piemanlives on December 08, 2013, 10:07:35 AM
Question, is this a save breaker?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 08, 2013, 10:11:51 AM
Not quite sure. It might be, due to the campaign variant selector script.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Runoved on December 08, 2013, 10:56:09 AM
New ships are very interesting and beautiful, however as well as the old ones. Can not wait to try them in action. At first glance the new design seems darker, more gothic. Although it is possible so intended. Have to see how it will looks in motion.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 09, 2013, 04:16:43 AM
Thanks! I think I've slowly made "old" Blackrock ships grittier over time, come to think of it.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: felixsimon on December 09, 2013, 01:55:35 PM
Hmmm... Do you need to manually add new ships/variants in exrelin world/blackrock_driveyards file for them to appear in exrelin games?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: ValkyriaL on December 09, 2013, 02:03:05 PM
perhaps you should ask Zaphide that? :I
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Zaphide on December 09, 2013, 03:40:09 PM
Hmmm... Do you need to manually add new ships/variants in exrelin world/blackrock_driveyards file for them to appear in exrelin games?

perhaps you should ask Zaphide that? :I

Yes you will need to add the new variants to the Exerelin/data/world/factions/blackrock_driveyards.faction file, specifically the exerelinGenericFleet definition, if you want them to appear in your current game.

The next version of Exerelin will already have them in it (but will not be save-compatible unfortunately) :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 10, 2013, 06:54:15 AM
Do you suppose my new variant randomizer could be implemented into Blackrock's Exerelin fleets, Zaphide?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: PixiCode on December 10, 2013, 12:53:47 PM
Fantastic looking update, loving your design and gameplay as always! Out of all the factions that I've tried out, Blackrock is the most fun to play ((And the most overpowered for the player <.< I regularly use the Desdinova to destroy both vanilla and other faction ship cruisers with little to no damage to the destroyer in question XD with full damage enabled. Don't even get me started on the Karkinos... ^^;;))

I'm not entirely sure if this is the right place to put this question - and if it isn't then feel free to delete it or ask me to edit out this part, but here we go! I'm not sure if this is Blackrock's fault since I have many other faction mods and Exerelin running in tandem, but lately I've experienced two freezes upon using the (large) Scalar Deracinator in the version before v0.5. These freezes began recently, I had used the Scalar Deracinator a lot before it began freezing my computer, and I don't know what criteria are necessary for the freeze to happen as the freeze does not happen until I've used Scalar Deracinator a few times. Regardless, the freeze happens right when the battleship is about to teleport to its destination, not when the scalar deracinator is activated. There's no java error log that pops up or anything; it's just a sudden freeze.

Would you happen to know anything about this? I run Starsector by running an edited starsector-core starsector.batch file and using the mods folder within the starsector-core folder. I have this edited .batch file set at -Xms512m -Xmx5g on a computer with 16 gigabytes of ram, and the OS i use is Windows 7. I have no idea if I have 64bit java installed, because I use firefox and firefox only has a 32 bit version, so I tried to manually install java 64 bit on top of my java 32 bit installation?... I really have no idea what I did, but I guess it's working since java can't normally use more than 4g of memory. My computer IS 64 bit.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 10, 2013, 01:53:36 PM
Hmm, it *could* be a sound related issue. The sound effect for the explosion is in stereo which is technically not supported by Starsector's engine, but 99% of the time, it works fine. Try to boot the game with sound checked off in the starting dialog and see if it changes anything.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Zaphide on December 10, 2013, 05:05:32 PM
Do you suppose my new variant randomizer could be implemented into Blackrock's Exerelin fleets, Zaphide?

Yeah I think so. I think MShadowy uses a variant randomizer as well so I could implement both :)

It is a shame their isn't something like ShipAPI.getPossibleVariantsForHull() or Global.getSector().getVariantsForHullId(String hullId) method that would return a string list/array of all the possible variants for that hull. I will add this to the API request thread :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on December 11, 2013, 12:38:48 AM
Oh man, I'd forgotten you had asked for feedback - been having a lot of fun with the new stuff.

I'm really liking the new ironweaver, though all the front loaded weapons in your mod make it especially overpowered in the hands of a player as compared to the ai - The Desdinova's relatively large selection of forward facing mounts, generous OP supply, and insane maneuverability from arc jets is especially egregious of this I noticed, loaded up with 4-6 shotties, blaster in the energy, it's capable of soloing the large majority of ships that don't have omni shields or extremely efficient shield values. Some serkets acting as distractions against the ai blob of ships let's you fearlessly dip in and out, removing frigates and destroyers in moments. And running is incredibly easy except against beam weapons, since you can retreat faster than all non-mod missiles while venting, and have your shield up to take the retaliatory fire on empty flux reserves at a safe distance for potential overload.

Too bad the AI's largely incapable of that dance like a butterfly sting like a bee tactics, making a lot of the better human piloted fit utterly useless in the hands of the AI - that previous build i mentioned gets an AI piloted Desdinova about one frigate kill before it becomes a glowing husk as it has no concept of how to take advantage of its superior mobility to retreat, it attempt to brawl with things it has absolutely no business dealing with (sitting in front of two dominators and a bevy of fighter craft in an especially sad incident).

Anyways, faction still seems vanilla balanced on the slightly weak side (those flat 1 shield ratios on almost every ship noticeably contribute) except in player hands, and that applys to juuuuust about all modded facs.

ALSO THAT QUAD PULSE GUN STILL SOUNDS PRETTY GREAT.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on December 11, 2013, 01:29:48 AM
What quad pulse gun? :O
While I'm here - I've recently tried out the Imaginos. Holy. Crap. That thing is ridiculous. I can pretty much solo a pirate armada with it. I'm liking the linear pulse gun more and more - it's so useful in every scenario.
loving that you made a rapid fire version of the shard cannon - the constant DPS is great for shield suppression.
I have noticed that BR is lacking in a light fighter or interceptor. even with major PD, I still get my carriers killed because the Krait are too slow to respond properly to threats, and too useful in a fight for escort duty. Squilla have no real PD capability, and Serket can't tank damage (and again, are too useful in a fight.)
I second what ishman said about the Desdinova. It's the perfect "boxing" destroyer, and I like to call mine "The Rabid Dog", loading it up with a pair of Gale or squall cannons, 6 shard guns, an argus array and a Sunjet in the front. The shards massacre the enemy shields, and then I let them have it with the HE burst damage (preferably to the engines :P) It's also a nightmare for retreating ships. Oh, did I mention what a joy it is to fly? :D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 11, 2013, 05:19:11 AM
Thank you both for the awesome feedback. ;D

While I agree that the Desdinova is very powerful, I think it's in a good spot since the AI is so unreliable with it. Anything I could personally do in a Desdinova, I could easily do in an AM blaster based Medusa, or even a glass cannon Sunder. Especially with Combat or Technology levels. Neither of those ships suffer from CR decay or the Desdinova's ridiculous supply consumption, either.

I have noticed that BR is lacking in a light fighter or interceptor. even with major PD, I still get my carriers killed because the Krait are too slow to respond properly to threats, and too useful in a fight for escort duty. Squilla have no real PD capability, and Serket can't tank damage (and again, are too useful in a fight.)


Funny you should say that, one of the things that didn't make it into this release is the Diptera-class interceptor. I guess I'll release it along with a polish patch soonish.

(http://i.imgur.com/SVbM21d.jpg)

The quad pulse gun is one of the heavy energy weapon ideas that were thrown around earlier. I personally don't know if Blackrock needs a large energy weapon. I guess if I made some large slots into Universals here and there, but that would remove the ability to put medium guns into large slots on a few ships, and force me to do a lot of variant shuffling once again. Maybe in the future.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on December 11, 2013, 05:35:00 AM
Oh no, I'm not telling you to change them, I bloody love flying them - if anything, they're too weak since the only one who can pull out their full performance is a player. The AI just fails miserably with them, over and over. It's also pretty expensive and NOT EXACTLY DURABLE with its main advantage being overwhelming burst firepower and maneuverability - things the AI is very very bad utilizing correctly.

I'd still love to get a few Large BRDY energy weapons like that sunfire and PD mount.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 12, 2013, 04:23:07 AM
Yeah, doubt much can be done for the AI Desdinova until a hypothetical future in which burst jet AI can get massively tuned up. It can be surprisingly potent at times, though.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on December 12, 2013, 07:48:44 AM
Yeah, but those moments are more of a "Holy ***, the AI didn't put its pants on its head!".
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on December 13, 2013, 03:03:14 AM
I like to set a pair of gondolactlyus gundylatic gonedy SHRIMP to escort the dessie. They've got the tanky-ness to take needless hits, and gives the enemy AI more destroyers to worry about. Seeing them ram things to death "by accident" is hilarious. :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 13, 2013, 05:47:39 AM
It's the best when they ram something and fire the Hammerclaw at the same time. So savage.

(http://i.imgur.com/p6F4gAF.png)

Playing a little Exerelin convinced me to finish up the Eschaton-class Superfreighter.

The sprite still needs cleanup and such, but it's ingame. I think I'll make a new mission introducing it and the new interceptors.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Dex on December 13, 2013, 06:57:00 AM
Cycerin, when i first encountered your ships in some mod pack some time ago (i forget which, and when, but some pedant will tell me) i thought they were a bit fugly, fiddly and wetpaperhanky weak. My Eventide (i miss you Dante...) ate them as a snack.

Between snacks

Now, they are one of my favourites in terms of performance and my favourite in terms of aesthetic.

Bravo, sir.

you take your cookie and your bow
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: ValkyriaL on December 13, 2013, 09:41:07 AM
Wish i had one =( only thing i'm missing more or less to have a complete fleet complement.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Doogie on December 13, 2013, 11:35:42 PM
I demand you make a faction specific mining wing for Exerelin!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on December 14, 2013, 12:28:55 AM
Trying to force creativity is never good.

-Sarah McLachlan

Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Trylobot on December 14, 2013, 10:17:04 AM
Eschaton = pure awesome, great job on this.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Piemanlives on December 15, 2013, 12:42:09 AM
Trying to force creativity is never good.

-Sarah McLachlan

I had no idea who this even was until I walked into the electronics department and found one of her CD's.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 15, 2013, 07:55:41 AM
Glad you like the Eschaton.

I gave this ol' boy a little facelift, too:

(http://i.imgur.com/7rte59L.png)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on December 15, 2013, 10:29:26 AM
That ship just looks disgustingly good. Well done. Though the Kurmaraja has always seemed like it should have some internal beam weapons in the front, or beam PD in the cells, just as part of that aesthetic.

I also do miss the triangle of glowing blue dots in between the small and medium weapon mount at the bottom of the ship, and the diamond of red dots below the engines. Though I can't actually see the latter location of the ship thanks to the engine glow.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 15, 2013, 12:15:44 PM
Thanks  :) I actually took that detail out, hmm. Maybe I could put it somewhere else. I need to fix a few other minor things anyway.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 18, 2013, 05:38:36 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/frGQzW4.png)
Did you know that Kurmaraja is one name for the mythological turtle seen in chinese, hindu and native-american cosmology, that carries the entire world on its back?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on December 18, 2013, 06:17:23 AM
in the same way that this ship carries an entire battle group on its back? :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 18, 2013, 07:02:09 AM
More related to its ability to brake an unlimited amount of massive objects.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on December 18, 2013, 09:21:57 AM
GLOWY DOTS, I LIKE GLOWY DOTS!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: HELMUT on December 18, 2013, 11:48:30 AM
Cycerin, i would be curious to see the evolution of your ships since the BSF editor variant. You reworked some of them countless time since then. Just curious to see how they changed with time.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Doogie on December 18, 2013, 12:42:29 PM
Here's his old BSF thread. (http://www.wyrdysm.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4674)

IIRC, a lot of this stuff was from the BSF metagame, which unfortunately got deleted a while back.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 18, 2013, 12:55:39 PM
Heh, the old Nevermore. Too bad the metagame thread is gone. I don't even remember what was in it.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: PixiCode on December 18, 2013, 06:13:33 PM
Hey Cycerin, I've been playing your faction more and the Imaginos, and I have not been experiencing any more crashes with the Scalar Deracinator, though I haven't used the Karkinos' deracinator in awhile.

In other news...
(http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/w652/Renikiya/screenshot000_zps89c8dc24.png)

Rather than playing Exerelin, I've switched to Uomoz's Sector: Journey 1.1 in the meantime, which has Blackrock Drive Yards as a faction in it. I'm not entirely sure if this is a problem unique to the Uomoz mod collection, the Imaginos has been having consistent scalar deracinator feedback issues. The screenshot included above is the aftermath of a scalar deracinator use that put the frigate within about 200 range of the fighter. For whatever reason, there seems to be a feedback whenever the frigate teleports close to something. I'm not sure if this is intended or not, but there's not a completely discernible pattern to it. While it only happens when I teleport close enough to a ship to damage it with the scalar deracinator, it does not always happen no matter how far or close to the ship I teleport to. In fact, just after making that screenshot I got into another battle and ended up not having ANY scalar deracinator feedback against fighters and larger ships.

I believe the pattern is that some battles will always cause feedback if you teleport too close, and other battles won't cause them at all. Er... I don't know. Just curious is all, I guess.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 18, 2013, 06:44:42 PM
Cool that you've been playing Blackrock.

That backlash is sort of part of the Deracinator. It's certainly not intentional (as per how I asked LazyWizard to code the system) but I find it adds flavor and risk, so I kept it. It means you need to very carefully pick your teleport destination if you want to completely avoid risk, but lets you have the option of playing ballsy and taking out enemy engines and fighter wings. It's volatile. It may or may not ruin your day - such is the price you have to pay for instant teleportation (disclaimer: if you do it through a roundabout way learned from studying space monsters, instead of the Domain's sensible, clean method)

I plan to cut it down from actual damage to mere EMP feedback though, in which case you can nullify it by fitting your ship with resistant flux conduits (this also helps at the moment, anyway). This may or may not be related to me losing too many Imaginoses to this.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: PixiCode on December 18, 2013, 06:49:31 PM
Oh, cool. I thought it could be a really cool sort of feature that adds more flavor to the BDY, but I do not recall the ability for the Imaginos and the description of the ship itself mentioning anything about this feedback, so I was uncertain if it was a feature at all. I wouldn't even have mentioned it if yesterday my Imaginos didn't get completely disabled 5 times in a row in one battle, spinning around like Vader's Advanced Tie Fighter in Episode I, lol. Though it was certainly funny the first few times. Since it happened again today I wanted to figure out what the dealio was.

I guess maybe mentioning it somewhere in the Imaginos description would be good? Unless i'm just blind and dumb and missed a disclaimer entirely D:
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: LazyWizard on December 18, 2013, 06:50:55 PM
Hmm, the Deracinator is just a normal phase teleporter system under the hood, and the extras added onto it are set to explicitly ignore the player ship, so that shouldn't be happening. :(

Edit: oops, found the problem. I was setting the wrong variable at one point, so the 'ignore player' code wasn't actually ignoring the player after the first iteration. I'll write a quick fix and send it to Cycerin. :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 18, 2013, 06:54:33 PM
It's very much happening, LW : P I think it might happen if an EMP arc draws on the player ship while trying to connect with a target.

Could you take a look at it? I'd appreciate a way to neuter this effect while keeping the flavor, and allowing me to make it more damaging to enemy ships without making it a complete and utter hazard to your fleet. (Im looking at you, Karkinoses)

EDIT: I'll PM you.  :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: PixiCode on December 18, 2013, 10:28:03 PM
So I've been using the Imaginos more, and fitted it with a Reaper launcher and 2 antimatter blasters rather than those 3 linear pulses.

(http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/w652/Renikiya/screenshot001_zps62e31ed6.png)

The destroyer was summoned after the Imaginos killed off the destroyers and all but one of the frigates, and even then the Imaginos did most of the damage to the cruisers. It's like a hyper-hyperion or whatever that Tri-T frigate is with the teleportation.

I guess that's the power of expansion epoch ships, huh? XD
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on December 19, 2013, 03:29:18 AM
I find that replacing the frontal linear pulse gun with a sunjet is ridiculously effective. I can get massive DPM from the LPGs and a pair of shard guns on the back of the frigate, while augmenting that with the occasional insane burst damage from the sunjet. The potential for rapid strike manouvres is ridiculous, and I have killed many a cruiser by jumping in, at the rear, destroying the engines and pummeling the shield, then porting out and venting (I find that hull mods are actually less helpful - in this case - than loading up on vents and capacitors) Circle strafing is also fun :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 19, 2013, 08:30:06 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/0uUwMAF.png)  old > (http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a350/cycerin/karkinos_zps6ecc1e4c.png)

Kark touchup.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: HELMUT on December 19, 2013, 08:48:34 AM
Sometimes you just need more glowy dots. Also it seems even wider than the old version.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 19, 2013, 09:27:48 AM
 ;D If your ship doesn't look like a concert stage, you ain't doin it right.

Yeah, I wanted to make it look more thickly plated and also extend the whole feeling that the ship has some kind of barely contained internal energy.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: ValkyriaL on December 19, 2013, 09:36:49 AM
So THATS why it blows up in pretty colors?? =D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on December 19, 2013, 10:41:04 AM
oooh, me likey :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on December 19, 2013, 04:10:28 PM
So, been doing some playing. I have a review now!

These are the ships I have seen/used so far. Spoiler'd, honking huge wall of sentences!

Spoiler
Krait Fighter Wing: Good support fighter, but still pretty flimsy when facing the big guns. They can really hurt if you don't watch your back.

Robberfly Tactical Corvette: Wow, this thing is actually really good considering it has no shields. It can easily dodge most shots, but I never played against any beam factions so far.

Locust Frigate: This is an excellent general frigate, perfectly balanced too. It has just the right amount of weaponry for a shotgun, a linear pulse gun, a mini-sunjet and an argus.

Mantis Frigate: I feel a bit conflicted on this one. It is a really great frigate that is perfect for any fast firepower, but at the same time it is really delicate in the field of battle, and the CR recovery rate is abysmal without a friendly station. 2 linear pulse guns and a scalaron blaster make it really nasty.

Scarab Heavy Frigate: A nice and dependable frigate. They are not really that fast, but they can sure hold their own in the field of battle.

Imaginos Frigate: Wow, a really Hyperion like frigate. The only qualm I have with it is that the teleporting is not that great, damages your ship and does not do much damage to the enemy ship at all. (you did say you were going to fix it)  I never used it much due to the cost of its upkeep and repair rate.

Typheus Destroyer: Not much criticism here, but I did notice that for a destroyer, four small mounts are pretty underwhelming.

Gonodactylus Destroyer: A really good favorite of mine, my fleet consisted mostly of these. I like the fact that it can catch up with most freighters in a pursuit mission. It also goes good with the new plasma missiles! Dependable, durable and powerful. I also like how you made the player decide between the universal medium mount being an assault weapon, or a PD weapon.

Desidnova Destroyer: A great classic. The only thing I am reluctant about is the supply cost, but that is intentional.

Nevermore Cruiser: Wow. Nothing to say. <3

Stenos Cruiser: I don't like this one for a few reasons. I is not very powerful in battle, and most destroyers give it a good run for it's money. Speaking of money, I guess the cheap cost reflects its strength, but the supplies a day kinda make it not worth it in the long run. I immediately changed back to a Nevermore just a few fights after I purchased one of these. (I think it might need an art update too, its very bleached looking compared to the rest of the Blackrock fleet!)

Revenant Cruiser: Never saw much, but its relatively fragile compared to other ships of its size.

Convergence Cruiser: You might want to rename it as a support carrier. It can't do much else, really, and lacks the long range missiles that other carriers would have in vanilla.

Kurmajara Interdictor: A very fun ship to play as! It can't really face another capital in battle, but it is the bane of cruisers and destroyers. A great close support vessel overall.

Karkinos Battleship: I love the Scalar system, its so great. The only thing I don't like is the ship is SO D*MN SLOW when it has the shields up, and can get easily overwhelmed after it teleports.
[close]
It was fun playing BR, and it will remain checked mod list fo'ever!



Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: ValkyriaL on December 19, 2013, 05:32:04 PM
So, been doing some playing. I have a review now!

These are the ships I have seen/used so far. Spoiler'd, honking huge wall of sentences!

Spoiler
Krait Fighter Wing: Good support fighter, but still pretty flimsy when facing the big guns. They can really hurt if you don't watch your back.

Robberfly Tactical Corvette: Wow, this thing is actually really good considering it has no shields. It can easily dodge most shots, but I never played against any beam factions so far.

Locust Frigate: This is an excellent general frigate, perfectly balanced too. It has just the right amount of weaponry for a shotgun, a linear pulse gun, a mini-sunjet and an argus.

Mantis Frigate: I feel a bit conflicted on this one. It is a really great frigate that is perfect for any fast firepower, but at the same time it is really delicate in the field of battle, and the CR recovery rate is abysmal without a friendly station. 2 linear pulse guns and a scalaron blaster make it really nasty.

Scarab Heavy Frigate: A nice and dependable frigate. They are not really that fast, but they can sure hold their own in the field of battle.

Imaginos Frigate: Wow, a really Hyperion like frigate. The only qualm I have with it is that the teleporting is not that great, damages your ship and does not do much damage to the enemy ship at all. (you did say you were going to fix it)  I never used it much due to the cost of its upkeep and repair rate.

Typheus Destroyer: Not much criticism here, but I did notice that for a destroyer, four small mounts are pretty underwhelming.

Gonodactylus Destroyer: A really good favorite of mine, my fleet consisted mostly of these. I like the fact that it can catch up with most freighters in a pursuit mission. It also goes good with the new plasma missiles! Dependable, durable and powerful. I also like how you made the player decide between the universal medium mount being an assault weapon, or a PD weapon.

Desidnova Destroyer: A great classic. The only thing I am reluctant about is the supply cost, but that is intentional.

Nevermore Cruiser: Wow. Nothing to say. <3

Stenos Cruiser: I don't like this one for a few reasons. I is not very powerful in battle, and most destroyers give it a good run for it's money. Speaking of money, I guess the cheap cost reflects its strength, but the supplies a day kinda make it not worth it in the long run. I immediately changed back to a Nevermore just a few fights after I purchased one of these. (I think it might need an art update too, its very bleached looking compared to the rest of the Blackrock fleet!)

Revenant Cruiser: Never saw much, but its relatively fragile compared to other ships of its size.

Convergence Cruiser: You might want to rename it as a support carrier. It can't do much else, really, and lacks the long range missiles that other carriers would have in vanilla.

Kurmajara Interdictor: A very fun ship to play as! It can't really face another capital in battle, but it is the bane of cruisers and destroyers. A great close support vessel overall.

Karkinos Battleship: I love the Scalar system, its so great. The only thing I don't like is the ship is SO D*MN SLOW when it has the shields up, and can get easily overwhelmed after it teleports.
[close]
It was fun playing BR, and it will remain checked mod list fo'ever!





It's >KURMARAJA< I don't think a single person has ever got it right. =I
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Grug on December 19, 2013, 05:57:58 PM
What a shame.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on December 19, 2013, 06:10:04 PM
Hey, it's a simple spelling mistake. Lay off, will y'all?!?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Grug on December 19, 2013, 06:26:17 PM
Valk likes to dispense snark. Don't let it get to you. Great review though!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Piemanlives on December 19, 2013, 11:23:51 PM
I sometimes like to privately refer to Valk as "The Snark Master."
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: kazi on December 20, 2013, 12:50:42 AM
Yeah, I wanted to make it look more thickly plated and also extend the whole feeling that the ship has some kind of barely contained internal energy.

Hah, this is literally the exact way I have been trying to paint my ships.

Also, I am blown away by how fast you continue to update this mod.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 20, 2013, 11:31:27 AM
Thanks for the comprehensive review Foxer! I really appreciate such detailed feedback. And I really enjoy the fact you like the Gonodactylus, sometimes I wonder if I'm the only guy who actually buys 'em.

Yeah, I wanted to make it look more thickly plated and also extend the whole feeling that the ship has some kind of barely contained internal energy.

Hah, this is literally the exact way I have been trying to paint my ships.

Also, I am blown away by how fast you continue to update this mod.

Well, I've gotten a pretty good workflow going. It's really easy to get work done as soon as inspiration strikes these days, so one hour of work or so every day is quite easy to pull off.

In other news LazyWizard did some great adjustments to the Deracinator code which allows me to make it more damaging (specifically, more damaging to large ships that spread the EMP arcs around without making the system oneshot all fighters and frigates)

The system will still damage your own ships if you aren't careful, but it will rarely result in more than a disabled weapon and some blackened armor plating.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: N7Sniper84 on December 21, 2013, 10:23:53 PM
Hmmm... Do you need to manually add new ships/variants in exrelin world/blackrock_driveyards file for them to appear in exrelin games?

I've been trying to figure this out myself. When I try starting a new game, none of the new ships appear. What steps do I take in order for them to appear?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] <UPDATE!> Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Zaphide on December 22, 2013, 12:53:31 AM
Hmmm... Do you need to manually add new ships/variants in exrelin world/blackrock_driveyards file for them to appear in exrelin games?

I've been trying to figure this out myself. When I try starting a new game, none of the new ships appear. What steps do I take in order for them to appear?

You can manually add the new ships by adding the new variants to the exerelinGenericFleet definition in mods/Exerelin/world/factions/blackrock_driveyards.faction.

Otherwise, I will have an update to Exerelin out soon that will have the new BRDY ships (among other things) :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: N7Sniper84 on December 22, 2013, 01:11:22 AM
Okay. I'll be sure to try it out when I get off work. I appreciate you replying as fast as you did, too.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on December 28, 2013, 07:38:01 AM
Small change: just bumped the Solenoid Quench Gun to 11 OP, increased range and made its fire rate and flux buildup slightly higher. Also removed the pointless STRIKE, USE_VS_FRIGATES hint from it so it can be used to pop fighters and bombers. Overall, a slightly more powerful weapon and not as overshadowed by the volley gun and dual shard.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on December 28, 2013, 11:55:47 PM
YAY!

I'd already tweaked all of its stats upwards in my personal copy (along with halving the supply cost for all of your ships, they are so hungry) but even then I still liked the dual shard more for any brawling ship, especially since the AI currently seems really bad about supporting with long-range weapons when it's on YOUR team and not the other for some reason.

Edit: Seriously though, I'm really tired of seeing my fleet ships get into ramming range of something with multiple emp drones circling it when I've made sure to equip him with minimum 800 range weapons and ITU, ballistic/beam range boosts, AND manuverability hullmods. I hope alex does a pass on the AI engagement priorities again and just throws out his current code because it does dumb things WAY too often. It's like every ship on your team is getting dominator AI right now instead of being Muhammad Ali.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: HELMUT on December 29, 2013, 08:05:38 AM
Good choice on the Solenoid, it was pretty much an inferior kinetic weapon compared to the shard guns and even the vanilla Hvel.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Trylobot on December 30, 2013, 12:39:00 PM
I hope alex does a pass on the AI engagement priorities again and just throws out his current code because it does dumb things WAY too often. It's like every ship on your team is getting dominator AI right now instead of being Muhammad Ali.

In Alex's defense, he can't be expected to tune the AI for every possible modded ship that it is possible to create. In my mind, the AI does an excellent job with the vanilla ships, and mostly great on modded ships.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 01, 2014, 05:41:12 AM
AI tweaks will be one of the most polishy polish parts of designing the faction, to be honest. I think that with some of the AI hooks Officers will use, Alex might let us modders affect the behavior of our faction ships a bit more.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: NanoMatter on January 03, 2014, 06:52:28 AM
Best Mod since starsector, Now make a super battleship like the giant one in the Valkyrian Mission Star Destroyer
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Lopunny Zen on January 03, 2014, 07:54:58 AM
the team is really damn good...unique abilities and design is in tip top shape....but there is one thing holding this team back a little bit and that makes the team kinda lackluster...they dont have a dedicated carrier...for a high tech team you would expect a bigger shipe with 3 or more flight decks but like the Valkyrie mod it lacks a decent or great carrier for the large expensive fighter count...i mean yeah there is the carrier/slash cargo carrier but that is what all large carriers are but have more flight decks...this team needs a larger carrier....and the design would look brilliant with this kind of team....fantastic team if the carrier is added...otherwise i usually avoid playing them since i like going fighter heavy
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: HELMUT on January 03, 2014, 08:09:28 AM
The Typheus is a pretty good light carrier, better than the Condor at least. In the cruiser class, the Convergence does the job better than most carriers of its size. Sure it's not an Astral, but it doesn't cost an arm in supply consumption and logistic points like the TT capital ship. Also BRDY don't have much fighters to begin with.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 03, 2014, 08:12:31 AM
I'd say three carrier options is more than enough for a faction with two (soon to be three) fighters. :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Lopunny Zen on January 03, 2014, 10:54:40 PM
well id say make a 3 deck carrier and add more fighters...this faction doesnt have a dedicated fighter or corvette and those seem to be all the rage.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 04, 2014, 05:42:56 AM
Hmm? There is a dedicated fighter. Two actually. The Krait and Serket. But Blackrock isn't a fighter-centric faction, it's a frigate-centric faction. You'll still have interceptors, heavy fighters, phase fighters and torpedo bombers, and three types of carriers.

E: Actually, the Eschaton has a flight deck, so make that four.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Lopunny Zen on January 04, 2014, 10:15:28 AM
i know but im curious on what this teams fighter loadout would be seeing as the frigates and up are cool...plus every faction has a large carrier so why not these people?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: ValkyriaL on January 04, 2014, 10:29:54 AM
Bcuz they are special. XD
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Doogie on January 04, 2014, 10:47:16 AM
i know but im curious on what this teams fighter loadout would be seeing as the frigates and up are cool...plus every faction has a large carrier so why not these people?

Because large carriers are overrated. Having frigate/destroyer sized carriers that aren't this huge liability if destroyed are definitely the way to go. The Nomads do the same thing.

Also, BRDY fighters are powerful enough to not require too many replacements.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 08, 2014, 07:00:30 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/iHC7B2H.jpg)
(http://i.minus.com/ioGPm9RG4zdFs.gif)

Finally got xeno's buckshot code working thanks to help from MesoTroniK and by looking at kazi's implementation in the mayorate mod.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Lopunny Zen on January 08, 2014, 12:32:15 PM
wtf are you talking about...those carriers suck...and they have a big one...one so big hardly anything stands a chance...the cityship so yeah they have one too :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 08, 2014, 01:04:14 PM
If you feel Blackrock carriers don't suit your playstyle, you can use stuff from other factions. I have zero plans of adding more carriers to the faction.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Lopunny Zen on January 08, 2014, 01:21:40 PM
make the bigger one have 2 flight decks then...that seems fair
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 08, 2014, 01:36:19 PM
What? The Convergence *has* 2 flight decks.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Doogie on January 08, 2014, 01:37:28 PM
make the bigger one have 2 flight decks then...that seems fair
What's fair is that it's not your mod and that he can do what he wants. Don't like how many flight decks a Typheus has? Get another one.


Also, the Convergence exists.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Lopunny Zen on January 08, 2014, 01:39:26 PM
whats fair is that you dont have an attitude with me...its not yours either...im just making suggestion
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Doogie on January 08, 2014, 01:41:40 PM
whats fair is that you dont have an attitude with me...its not yours either...im just making suggestion

Except I'm defending the decision of the maker here. And your "suggestions" are sounding more like demands.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Shield on January 08, 2014, 10:36:14 PM
whats fair is that you dont have an attitude with me...its not yours either...im just making suggestion

Why not make your own mod?


But I would like to see a Super Capital from Blackrock if at all possible, Ponderous, Heavy armor, well armed, but mainly just something that exudes the epitome of their tech.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on January 09, 2014, 01:33:03 AM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/iHC7B2H.jpg)
(http://i.minus.com/ioGPm9RG4zdFs.gif)
[close]
Finally got xeno's buckshot code working thanks to help from MesoTroniK and by looking at kazi's implementation in the mayorate mod.

It's glorious. Going to apply it to the smaller shotgun type weapons as well?

... more shard weaponry, I compel thee by the power of pretty explosions!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sabaton on January 09, 2014, 01:37:56 AM
 I don't see Black Rock using super capitals, they rely on hit and run tactics, plus with their sub par shield efficiency it would be an easy target.
 In other notes, seeing how carriers seem to be the rage I have yet to see a carrier/fighter centric faction.
 And finally, Cycerin, I confess that I'm in love with the Asura, beastly ship!

 Edit: Ishman, I agree shard weapons are awesome, but too many of them would be dull, Black Rock comes from a nanite infested system, surely they can come up with crazier stuff.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on January 09, 2014, 01:44:17 AM
Well Cycerin's already mused over a large variety of other weapons to add earlier on in this thread if you feel like checking through it.
Butnoseriouslyireallylikeshardweaponry

Edit: Oh and is the bug-fix with no Scalar Deracinator self-damage on jump coming out soon? Because I'm still having difficulty using the imaginos thanks to that frequent self-kill (and getting all my sunfires disabled on jump with the Karkinos makes me sad).
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on January 09, 2014, 10:59:40 AM
oh you like sun fires on the Karkinos as well, do you? You dirty, dirty HE laser beam user :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: ValkyriaL on January 09, 2014, 11:21:35 AM
Super-caps is more something I would do... right?? >.>
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 09, 2014, 11:42:02 AM
Well Cycerin's already mused over a large variety of other weapons to add earlier on in this thread if you feel like checking through it.
Butnoseriouslyireallylikeshardweaponry

Edit: Oh and is the bug-fix with no Scalar Deracinator self-damage on jump coming out soon? Because I'm still having difficulty using the imaginos thanks to that frequent self-kill (and getting all my sunfires disabled on jump with the Karkinos makes me sad).

I sort of like the idea of a built-in, huge Shard slug throwing weapon. Like imagine single-shot Shards with a long cooldown that hit like a truck and cause a much bigger explosion if they explode. The Stenos would be a good candidate for something like that...

As for the coming patch, I mostly need to look over campaign stuff and polish some sprites first, and then I can release. The buckshot script and IRL stuff was holding me up.

Spoiler
Did anyone read the codex blurbs I added last patch?
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Mazuo on January 09, 2014, 02:08:33 PM
I assume I did as I usually check over all the ones I can find.  But it's been a little while since I played and can't be sure.  As for the shard weapon idea, I'll admit I like the tiny shard weapons or large cannons still firing a lot of small shards better just with their conceptually unstable payloads.  I guess what I took from the few notes on the phasic rounds made me think they're tough to create and keep from destabilizing.  If it's more just the former that they're a challenge to fabricate but they're quite stable sitting in an ammo hold, go for it.  Honestly, go for it anyway as I still just love a kinetic weapon with a random element of destruction to it.

You simply can't let kinetic rounds graze your hull when facing Blackrock.

While I'm remembering my last playthrough at all, I do recall I thought Fury torpedo damage might want to be lowered by anywhere from 10-25%.  Love the flux charge-up on them, but even a fully healthy ship with shields prepared can't really take one and not be crippled aside from very large ship classes.  Because they move as well as they do, I just think they should still pack a wallop, but more to ships whose defenses are already under duress, not so much to completely fresh vessels.  Big fan of the new buckshot animation you posted and I'll chime in too that I'm interested in seeing the deracinator optimization come in.  I never used the Karkinos as much as I wanted to as it seemed to suffer a lot from the distortions it created.  Plus as I'll talk about below, I let the AI run the show a lot of times and it is not very hesitant about teleporting next to ships in its own fleet.  Ideally I'd like it to consider those ramifications, but can understand if it's not a priority.

As for AI issues mentioned a couple pages back, I'll admit I'm one of the very few that doesn't really like piloting ships in Starsector and really lets the fleet run on autopilot with direction here and there.  The Nevermores are great at it and while Desdinovas sometimes suicide charge, I think it fits with their firepower and tempermental nature.  The only ships I can remember at the moment having issues in Blackrock were the Kuramaja not understanding how to use its interdictor which I believe has been adjusted and somewhat poor performance from the various carriers.  Even when sufficient weapons were placed on them to destroy an inferior target, they have a tendency to just choose to run and since they don't really have the speed to get away, it doesn't make for a great strategy.  Looking forward to the next patch.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on January 09, 2014, 09:23:09 PM
I loved the codex blurbs that I found (the karkinos one was particularly great)!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Shield on January 10, 2014, 09:43:24 AM
Super-caps is more something I would do... right?? >.>

No you make super duper cooper capital ships with like 100 weapons, I was just thinking along the lines of something slightly bigger than the karkinos
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: HELMUT on January 10, 2014, 11:54:48 AM
I loved the codex blurbs that I found (the karkinos one was particularly great)!

Same, additional lore is always welcome. Just have some trouble sometimes understanding all the pseudo-science stuff. Then again, saying it work with magic wouldn't bother me either.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 12, 2014, 11:15:14 AM
Just added two Blackrock hullmods that can only be installed on faction ships. One is designed to make ships less likely to become crippled by crossfire, and the other increases weapon damage and proj speed but lowers weapon range. The first one is mostly just there to make the AI perform better with standard variants, but it's quite useful overall.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Doogie on January 12, 2014, 11:49:05 AM
Extra weapon damage + Desdinova = pure, glorious sex.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 13, 2014, 12:48:54 AM
It's pretty nice for glass cannon setups, the OP cost is pretty steep if you wanna combine it with ITU to offset the range penalty.

The other hullmod just overall makes the ship more forgiving of piloting errors - less EMP damage taken, more engine and weapon health, and slightly improved repair time.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 16, 2014, 09:08:51 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/NvS0e3i.png)

Have you ever thought "man, the Scalaron Blaster and Solenoid Quench Cannon are cool, but the waiting between shots is killin' me..."? Well, thanks to IRRESPONSIBLE SCIENCE, you may now hit a button and instantly fire again. Several times! Only on Stenos™
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on January 16, 2014, 09:24:57 AM
HNGRH THAT BRIDGE IS GODAMNED MASTERFUL.

Also, I love the details you've added in - the blue dots erywhar, the orange stripes, the greevling patterns and so on look amazing - though there's a bit of a jarring transition along the top and bottom of that light orange central segment, and the left portion of same-segment looks a bit odd. But no seriouslyit'sglorious.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: HELMUT on January 16, 2014, 10:02:41 AM
Honestly i have a small preference for the old Stenos, the lighter colors made it clear that it wasn't a dedicated warship, a bit like the Apogee. Also i had a soft spot for the boxy prow.

Good call for the new ship system though, the Stenos was somewhat underwhelming compared to other BRDY cruisers. With this system we'll be able to craft some new weird armament layout.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Mazuo on January 17, 2014, 12:59:39 AM
Why must you tempt us so?   :P

Really need all this new stuff to play with.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 17, 2014, 06:28:45 AM
I feel it too HELMUT, but I'm already getting used to this one. ;D The different color scheme reflects the higher degree of militarization. The Stenos is an incredibly dangerous glass cannon now - it can pump out almost Nevermore-level burst damage in an ideal situation. It also has excellent PD, as well as a deep flux pool. So far it seems like the AI does well with a lot of small-duty weapons to keep missiles and fighters at bay and then two or three weapons that combo well with the cooldown reset to deal long-range burst damage. You can also stick 3 Scalaron Blasters on it for truly hilarious burst (i changed the S. Blaster a tiny bit to make it less of a no-brainer to put on this ship)

Also making a built-in weapon for the Imaginos (the front hardpoint has been a placeholder)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on January 18, 2014, 04:56:28 AM
I'd like to see some built-in EMP or Lance like weapons in the spars jutting out the front of the Gonodactylus, Desdinova, Asura, and revenant. Those've always looked like they should be ancillary hardpoints for a support weapon to me. Also, I love dem pointy bits - more ships should look like something it'd hurt to grasp.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 18, 2014, 11:53:02 AM
Yeah, I agree :)

Whipping up a lot of stuff right now. The Scalar Deracinator now works as intended, according to the original design idea! Which means, you are vulnerable while charging, you don't see where the ship's destination is, and the explosion on arrival is extremely dangerous... and now it actually discerns between ally and enemy! It feels really good right now. Deracinator ships have been adjusted to compensate for this.

Also made a 14 op medium energy weapon: The Scalaron Repeater, less situational than the others, and added a similar but more powerful, short-range weapon to the Imaginos.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on January 18, 2014, 12:34:42 PM
Oh you tease, this sounds fantastic!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 18, 2014, 02:58:45 PM
(http://i.minus.com/iuQ1fol41ww3G.gif)

New Deracinator. No warning, fewer teamkills (well, a friendly little sting is part of the package)

(http://i.minus.com/iFB5Dz1JU2cGC.gif)

This is what I mean when I say the Deracinator is intended for "aggressive play"... also, the Rift Cannon is pretty tiiiits.

Bonus:
http://gfycat.com/FlashyCoarseBandicoot
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Piemanlives on January 18, 2014, 03:31:29 PM
Suddenly cruiser
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: etherealblade on January 19, 2014, 10:24:23 PM
hmm...I like the tactical aspect of faster teleport...but...I liked that build up animation a whole lot. I'll mourn it for a whole 5 seconds before using the new awesome adds to tear my enemies to shreds.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on January 20, 2014, 02:14:13 AM
Oh yeah. The capital-sized teleport FELT like you were teleporting a capital ship, but annihilating my enemies in a cloud of awesome sounds like it'll make up for it. In spades.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 20, 2014, 02:51:10 AM
Nothing's changed about the buildup. You are just vulnerable while charging now.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: etherealblade on January 20, 2014, 05:53:10 AM
Well..Unless you could make it to where keep both...have the build up so it looks like you see where its going to teleport.....only for it to pop up somewhere else entirely....that way it looks like it's going to teleport forward but then have it green flash behind the enemy ships...
Other wise just the green flash is no different and unorigional from the tritachyons teleport.
Sorry, it's not that I dont appreciate an update in fighting prowress...I just love that animation a hella lot and had to mention an idea I randomly had.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 20, 2014, 06:56:51 AM
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. :0 The only things that have changed about the Deracinator are:
- You don't see a growing, green image where the target location is
- Shots don't pass through your ship harmlessly while the teleportation is charging anymore
- The explosion upon arrival is more damaging, and does not hurt allies as badly anymore. It also never damages yourself.

I've considered to have a growing vortex of particles appear at the target location like 100-200 milliseconds before the actual arrival, though, but that will require more scripting down the road.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: NanoMatter on January 20, 2014, 05:33:55 PM
Make a giant super cap that in bigger than Valks like 10 KM long! Like a boss fleet...
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on January 20, 2014, 06:08:32 PM
The people have spoken Cycerin! They don't read a damn word you type.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 20, 2014, 06:50:51 PM
Would you rather I spend my precious future modding time making cool space monsters for the Yardies to fight, or that I spend it to make a glorified, redundant space codpiece to participate in slugfests with other mod factions? (I tend to assume that Blackrock exists in a vacuum with the vanilla factions - what use is there for something stronger than the Karkinos then?)

Speaking of mod progress, I just fixed all the csv values and I've done some funky stuff with the Imaginos to keep it in line (it no longer has a shield! Have fun with that. (you will)

Need to sort out some more adjustments and fix a bug with the campaign before I can release. Guess I'll put up a dev version tomorrow.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Toxcity on January 20, 2014, 07:02:39 PM
I'd rather see the monsters that the Nevermore is based on, since Blackrock has a pretty good variety of ships.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on January 20, 2014, 07:19:26 PM
Obviously those of us not asinine and needy chumps want to see more of the work you want to create - since we've appreciated so much of it so far.

Also those sketches of the spessmonstahs you've teased are :3
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Mazuo on January 20, 2014, 08:12:15 PM
No shield?  I'm intrigued.  I really want to see the new hullmods in action too.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: etherealblade on January 20, 2014, 11:33:13 PM
Would you rather I spend my precious future modding time making cool space monsters for the Yardies to fight?

Yes Please. I support space monsters 1000000%. Didn't know you were still planning on that..or was this a joke?

Also, I misunderstood, about the karkinos. It's not worth further explaining my idea because it sounds what you did was really awesome already. Thanks Cycerin. 8D

@Ishman
I'm going to take it that you mean we shouldn't be nitpicking but being greatful for his awesome mod?
Yes I'm very grateful and his mod is one of my top favorite. Not only that but he's a modder that is always approaching the next horizon of possiblity. We are blessed indeed.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sabaton on January 21, 2014, 02:14:03 AM
 You left the battleship without a shield? ??? Well it isn't much of a loss given that BR ships are for shock and awe tactics anyway.
 Will the frigate have the same same fate? It could make scalar ships a class of their own, just like phase ships, and speaking of phase ships, will the Asura ever get some company, or is it an oddity in the BR ranks?
Edit:
 My bad. Should glue the monitor to my face. But question still stands, will the Asura ever get a sibling or is it forever alone?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 21, 2014, 04:50:14 AM
I was making a false dichotomy as a joke, not fishing for praise... not going to make a super-cap though, it's a ton of work making large ships and in this case it would be a wasted effort when I already made three capital ships.

You left the battleship without a shield? ???

Imaginos. The frigate. :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Tecrys on January 21, 2014, 05:25:09 AM
Would you rather I spend my precious future modding time making cool space monsters for the Yardies to fight?

Yes Please. I support space monsters 1000000%.

Space monsters are coming, my friend. Making my own mod for those, actually has nothing to do with Blackrock, just saw your post and thought I'd give you a little teaser.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/EKEE7wT.png)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 21, 2014, 06:53:09 AM
Nice, zergy stuff. I think my space monsters will have a sort of Gunbuster-esque vibe to them. Also gotta read some more Peter Watts to prime my brain.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Doogie on January 21, 2014, 10:26:00 AM
I'm not sure I like the concept of organic space monsters (don't get me wrong though, the sprite is amazing). Cycerin, your experiment-gone-wrong-sentient-nanobot swarm monster idea was, to me, a much more beautiful alternative.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Tecrys on January 21, 2014, 10:45:13 AM
Na, don't worry. No alien stuff coming from me, those ships are genetic engineered by a corporation.

Imagine Try Tachion but for genetics.

Edit: There willl be a thread for lore and the mod itself.
When? When it's ready ...
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Doogie on January 21, 2014, 10:46:52 AM
^Then you should add armor plates and some mechanical bits too. Because that's sick.
If you care for more brainstorms and such, let's take this to PM. We shouldn't distract from the beauty of Cycerin's wonderful faction.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: ValkyriaL on January 21, 2014, 10:48:31 AM
i want giant slimy screaming antimatter space worms that spit death and consume ships. ::)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on January 21, 2014, 11:29:50 AM
I KNEW you were a 'Nid player at heart :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 21, 2014, 12:12:46 PM
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip

Here's the dev version. Campaign is still messed up (it works, but char creation prompt is a bit weird due to the difficulty selection added in 0.6.2a) Please playtest the mission "End Times", it has the new Imaginos in it as well as an Eschaton. You'll need to press Reset on all brdy missions or they'll crash due to the new Stenos and Imaginos .shp and variants. Saves with Stenos and Imaginos in them will also break horribly. Sorry 'bout that.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: xenoargh on January 21, 2014, 12:27:37 PM
Gunbuster?  Wow, that was a long time ago. 

I'd forgotten how cool the ship designs were (http://www.gearsonline.net/series/gunbuster/ships/) (although I must say that I'm not a fan of the Gunbuster itself- compared to Robotech or Voltron or Dougram or even, erm, that Gundam thing, it's rather boring).

I may just have to do a couple of similar ships soonish, just to see how they feel in SS :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Psycho Landlord on January 21, 2014, 06:09:22 PM
I think my space monsters will have a sort of Gunbuster-esque vibe to them.

This statement right here? Awesome.

Also gotta read some more Peter Watts to prime my brain.

And this one here? Terrifying. Now I'm thinking of AU-length shoals of Rorschach.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: etherealblade on January 21, 2014, 11:08:31 PM
Man...he just mentioned Gunbuster to one of the biggest super robot fans there is.  ;D
Those monsters are some really great reference material for space monsters.

Spoiler

(http://expoexpo.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/zw.jpg)

http://monsterarchives.proboards.com/thread/2058
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/526/vlcsnap2012100523h51m22.png
For more reference
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 22, 2014, 09:12:07 AM
Gunbuster had pretty great monster design, yeah. Pretty abstract looking but still "creature-like". I'm not going to make CRABS IN SPACE.

Any feedback on the dev version?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Dex on January 22, 2014, 10:22:53 AM
LIKE the new imaginos, though it has a weakness against beams (as probably intended)

The deracinator is now actually a dangerous weapon!

The... escatchon? is funtional as it is, yet to try the new Karkinos or stenos.

Did you just change the Revenant to the sentinel drones from barracuda? or did i imagine that was the case initially?

Good work.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Vinch on January 22, 2014, 12:42:04 PM
Another good desings for monster looking ships are Shivans from Freespace https://www.dropbox.com/s/hvs8i0dtv8zggtd/screen0386.jpg

a bit "crabs" in space though ;)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 23, 2014, 09:36:56 AM
Awesome to hear about your experiences playing that mission.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/zY4SRH8.jpg)
[close]

That's my best score so far, it seems like the best approach is to just make everything cluster around the Eschaton so that nothing gets surrounded and picked off, and then go around flanking the backsides of the midline ships one by one. Another approach that seems to work is to go on a lone-wolf crusade against the enemy carriers so that the Piranhas stop respawning.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Gothars on January 23, 2014, 10:40:39 AM
I beat that mission yesterday, great fun  :)

(http://i.imgur.com/Q9GdUAR.jpg)

The trick is to use the Scalar Deracinator to pulverize fighter formations. I also changed the weapons to three AM-Blasters. And think a dispersed fleet is helpful, since it leads to more isolated enemies which are easier to pick off (you're the only real offensive power here after all).


I'd say that the Imaginos-class is definitely overpowered though, it's much stronger than the Desdinova or Hyperion. Feels kinda arcady. Which is fun, but I'm not sure I'd still call it vanilla balanced.

Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on January 23, 2014, 11:09:50 AM
That's only in the hands of a player though, the AI's still abysmal at utilizing any high mobility ships (my many, many replaced Desdinova's from console command addship will attest to that) though at least this one can't overload in the hands of the AI :U
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 23, 2014, 11:42:04 AM
Damn Gothars, well played. :)

Well, this is a dev version and I've had some thoughts similar to what Gothars brought up. Kinda hard to balance it though because it has both extreme mobility and extreme short-range firepower. If I give it less HP it also becomes highly liable to dying to exploding ships. I think that maybe giving it a tad less armor and replacing some universal slots with missile slots could do it.

I could also give it less PD, but that kinda makes it frustrating. I guess the lamest (and most effective) solution is to just smack a really strict CR timer on it. When the hullmod repairs you, CR ticks down, too, so I've given it a rather gracious timer to make up for that, but I could change it. You'd still get to go on a complete rampage until it ticks down, and it's not exactly the hardest ship to retreat when you enter malfunction levels (so long as the Deracinator doesn't go offline)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: xenoargh on January 23, 2014, 12:25:13 PM
You could make the shields go up instantly after a teleport; that'd allow it to be pretty fragile but survive bum-rushing right next to a ship and causing a detonation.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Dragar on January 23, 2014, 01:02:56 PM
Honestly the Imaginos is fine, pretty much any somewhat good ship is a *** wreaker in the hands of the player. Like the hyperion or any of the damage geared phase ships, or pretty much any cruiser or destroyer once you get up there in combat level. Though in the hands of the AI high mobility low armor ships tend to die often because the AI has a problem with combat venting, to the point where I pretty much never give the AI control over the Imaginos, Destinova, Nevermore or Asura. Hell even Karkinos's tend to end up exploding if I don't put the range boosting mod on them.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: MesoTroniK on January 23, 2014, 01:33:32 PM
The Imaginos is great fun, but may be a little too much even under AI control... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgRvWuyVb-4&feature=youtu.be)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Gothars on January 23, 2014, 01:50:21 PM
I think that maybe giving it a tad less armor and replacing some universal slots with missile slots could do it.

Sounds good, and maybe you could increase the main weapons damage somewhat, while decreasing its fire frequency (or ammo) drastically. That way it would be more of a capital ship headhunter, concentrating its missiles and main weapon on a few worthy targets' weakpoints, instead of jumping all over the place and engaging every target of opportunity with full force.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 23, 2014, 03:10:24 PM
I'm gonna try that and make the deracinator actually build some flux again too.

You could make the shields go up instantly after a teleport; that'd allow it to be pretty fragile but survive bum-rushing right next to a ship and causing a detonation.
It's a shieldless ship, though, that's why it's a problem in the first place. Unless there is some way to create a puppet shield that only exists momentarily?

The Imaginos is great fun, but may be a little too much even under AI control... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgRvWuyVb-4&feature=youtu.be)

Oh dear, other shieldless ships are kinda food for it...
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Uomoz on January 23, 2014, 03:15:22 PM
Oh boy... xD

That video was amazing! I might need to bump up imaginos' rarity to the roof in UsS though.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: MesoTroniK on January 23, 2014, 03:31:46 PM
Oh dear, other shieldless ships are kinda food for it...

Hey they deflected a few Rift Cannon shots :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Dragar on January 23, 2014, 05:09:19 PM
That just makes me wonder what the Hyperion would be like with Blackrock weaponry, and yeah other shieldless ships are food for it because sunjets ruin armor.(and that new weapon too from the looks of it) Hence why when I roll the BRDY frigate doom fleet I give all the ships at least one Sunjet. Its pretty funny. Till a bunch of em explode because they did something stupid. Though yeah lowing the armor a little bit so that its even more of a glass cannon would probably be good.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 24, 2014, 08:20:31 AM
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip

Imaginos changes:
- Changed two Universal slots to missile slots, adjusted variants accordingly (Please reset missions)
- Decreased armor and hull
- Decreased max speed
- Increased agility
- Increased flux cost of Deracinator activation
- Slighly longer Deracinator chargeup
- Slightly slower Deracinator recharge
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: xenoargh on January 25, 2014, 01:09:30 PM
Quote
It's a shieldless ship, though, that's why it's a problem in the first place. Unless there is some way to create a puppet shield that only exists momentarily?
No, but you could set damage to the ship to nearly-zero for that frame that it's active, instead.  Should work.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 25, 2014, 03:12:44 PM
I've been trying out the Asura this morning and I notice that the Weapon Flux/sec entry in the Refit screen shows -50000 plus my actual flux/sec.

Side-effect of how the Flux Ejector is coded. Should probably be fixable somehow, but I haven't looked at it yet.

Quote
It's a shieldless ship, though, that's why it's a problem in the first place. Unless there is some way to create a puppet shield that only exists momentarily?
No, but you could set damage to the ship to nearly-zero for that frame that it's active, instead.  Should work.

This seems to already be the case, at least a lot of the time. It's not 100% guaranteed, though. Either way I think I overestimated how problematic this might be.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: etherealblade on January 28, 2014, 12:08:01 AM
I can 2nd that issue with the equip and unequip of ship mods. However...
I feel it's balanced just fine. The only thing I'd do is make it more expensive so you can't get it as early. I'm fine with balancing but please by no means nerf the fun that is the IMAGINOS. I like to have the enemy too distracted with my other ships to notice the imaginos's mayhem. However if I were to just deploy it by itself it can get overwhelmed very easily. I must say I'm a bit biased, but then again, atm Blackrock is the only faction I play. So I need to try fighting against blackrock with other ships to see the other side of the fence. Man I love these ships...
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on January 29, 2014, 05:12:59 AM
Hmm, no, I agree with a lot of Pesci's points. I think a little less Deracinator damage and a little toned-down flux stats, along with another slight armor nerf and a price hike, should keep the ship in line.

As for the phase damage, it's just something that's always been a bug with the system. Easy to add a little code to prevent it.

I've had a cold the past week and a half, so I've been taking a break from modding. Haven't gotten to write a changelog and actually officially release yet... then again, it's nice to get some feedback to spend more time polishing the Imaginos, so I don't mind that much in the end.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: etherealblade on January 29, 2014, 09:41:46 PM
Ah...I see what you mean now about the deracinator dmg.  ;D
I hope you get better. Over here where it never snows, it's sleeting. I'm sure the sudden change in temperature is causing colds to pop up around the work place.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Lolpingu on January 31, 2014, 05:05:27 AM
These are some REALLY nice-looking ships!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Chaos Farseer on January 31, 2014, 04:23:37 PM
First post by a fairly long-time observer over here. I'd like to open up by saying that Blackrock is my favorite mod by far, and it's lots of fun playing around with the uniqueness of each ship. Specifically, the Karkinos is my new best friend.

Now, I was trying to show a friend that the Onslaught kills everything in front of it, and I decided to fight it with the Karkinos and not use the Deracinator. Problem was, the Onslaught got annihilated. Since then I've been trying to see how far the Karkinos can go, and after a few hours of testing I built a variant which has defeated every vanilla ship 1v1 without teleporting and without character skills.
2 Ironweaver Cannons on the inner mounts
2 Solenoid Cannons on the outer mounts
2 Gale Cannons on the medium universals
2 Sunfire PDEs on the medium energy mounts
Small universals empty
All remaining mounts filled with the biggest PD weapons available (4 Shredder Batteries, 2 Argus Particle Beams, 6 Shredders)
Heavy Armor
10 Capacitors, 16 Vents
This setup also allows the player to almost ignore all missiles entirely (except Sabots, for some reason) and slaughter fighters.
Btw, the Paragon was the hardest to beat reliably. All of the default variants lost to the Onslaught due to a lack of PD (again, no teleporting). Doom takes forever.

Point of the story is, though, that the Karkinos can take on every vanilla ship and win, without teleporting. As much of a joy it is to use in its current state, I suspect it might be a bit overpowered.
I just wanted to bring this up. Whether or not you modify it is up to you. Good day!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on January 31, 2014, 10:51:15 PM
###Rant incoming!###

I beg to differ, but the Karkinos is the biggest block of tripple-pressed steel-composite alloy in the sector. My  experience is that the Karkinos must be played with extreme skill and caution. Its massive outline screams "Torpedo Me!" from any direction, and the speed of the poor thing only makes it worse. These are my qualms, but there are more than those which I feel are exclusive to me.

  I realize that the Karkinos is like a giant glass cannon, (compared to other capital ships) due to the inconvient fact that if just one reaper/harpoon/salamander, gets through, half the d*mned weapons get knocked out longer than it takes for me to write this rant. Maybe that's just an exaggeration, but the entire ship is literally covered in easily disableable weapons. If one missile gets through, the entire area is even more vulnerable to missiles, due to the fact that the PD is taken offline. It can't even move out of the way of the said torpedo, now that I think about it.

But don't get me wrong, I love the Karkinos. It is just not a good ship for all pilots to use. Too many things can go wrong if you're not watching carefully. Also, sometimes the AI is just perfect for these ships, but the Karkinos is hard to take seriously when not in an adept player's control. (Storm needlers, anyone?) Overall, it is a mildy underwhelming capital ship that an Onslaught would replace almost any day (In my fleet).
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 01, 2014, 06:52:32 AM
Thanks for weighing in, both of you. My personal opinion is that the Karkinos is too strong at the moment. Its firepower, mobility and 1600 armor makes it extremely dangerous. Even with a front shield. I'm going to look at it long and hard before I release this version officially.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: TheNewCongalala on February 01, 2014, 08:56:28 AM
Heya Cycerin.
                   i have been really enjoying your mod but a while ago (few days) it suddenly stopped working. it seems to have problems finding Brdy_stormcrow and Brdy_stormcrow_cyc hulls/Ids. i've deleted it and re downloaded the mod but i still get the same problem.

this is the error i get for the Brdy_stomrcrow_cyc

13436 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Loading blackrock faction
13455 [Thread-5] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull variant or fighter wing with id: [brdy_stormcrow_cyc] not found!
java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull variant or fighter wing with id: [brdy_stormcrow_cyc] not found!
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.FleetCreationSpec.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.Ó00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.new(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.OooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.oOOO.A.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

don't know what i've done  to upset it :/.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Chaos Farseer on February 01, 2014, 01:37:15 PM
I realize that the Karkinos is like a giant glass cannon, (compared to other capital ships) due to the inconvient fact that if just one reaper/harpoon/salamander, gets through, half the d*mned weapons get knocked out longer than it takes for me to write this rant. Maybe that's just an exaggeration, but the entire ship is literally covered in easily disableable weapons. If one missile gets through, the entire area is even more vulnerable to missiles, due to the fact that the PD is taken offline. It can't even move out of the way of the said torpedo, now that I think about it.
That's what motivated me to cover it in PD in the first place. I'd suggest you try it out with more shredders; perhaps that will solve your missile problem. You could also try giving it the Omni-Shield Emitter to cover it during torpedo runs.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 01, 2014, 06:40:12 PM
Thanks for the well-written, comprehensive feedback, Pesci. I really really appreciate it.

Now that I've got every single Blackrock ship in my current campaign, I've noticed a possible balance issue with the new Ironweaver megashardshotgun.  Specifically, its range.  The projectiles take a really long time to fade away, making its usable range more than five times its listed range.  The Ironweaver can fire farther than the default radar can show ships!  I really don't think a Shard shotgun is supposed to have more than twice the range of an Antimatter Lance or Solenoid Quench Cannon.

Yeah, this is a side effect of the new buckshot script, and it's something I haven't fixed yet. The fadeout time isn't supposed to be like that.

Quote
I wouldn't say the Karkinos is terribly imbalanced as much as it is uneven.  It's as lethal to your own fleet as the enemy in the hands of the AI, thanks to the AI not realizing how much damage the Deracinator does to the Nevermore I'm piloting when it teleports next to me to get that pirate Lasher off my tail, sending the Nevermore spinning out of control with half its weapons disabled.  The Deracinator also sometimes hits the Karkinos.  I find this happens most often when I teleport really close to an enemy capital ship with its shields up.  I guess the bow wave of torn spacetime bounces off the enemy's shields or something?

Hmm, you aren't supposed to get dumpstered by allied deracination anymore, except for the freak accident where a Kark literally parks on top of your ship (and that's something I've seen twice ever, and both times I laughed out loud)

If this happened while playing one of the two recent builds then I guess I need to adjust some numbers. You really aren't supposed to take any hurtful damage from friendly deracinators unless you were already completely crippled and armorless, in which case one weapon or so might be EMP'd offline. Or you might die if you had like 20 hp left and zero armor anywhere. Which I think is fine. Give those ships a wide berth if you are in that kind of situation. If you want clean, no-pain teleportation, Tri-Tachyon™ corporation offers alternatives. : >

Quote
Blackrock Driveyards is at the moment my favorite mod faction and it feels almost vanilla balanced.  However, there's couple of minor but fleetwide imbalances.  First, BRDY does not properly value mobility.  Mobility is a valuable commodity in vanilla Starsector, but BRDY ships seem to have everything their vanilla counterparts do, plus a little extra.  There are three tech levels in vanilla, and BRDY feels like the level four tech level.  While everybody else in the dying galaxy is running as fast as they can just to stay where they are, BRDY is strolling casually ahead.  Their "our vents are better than yours period" free hullmod exacerbates this as well; a BRDY cruiser with full vents dumps its full flux load in the time it takes the vanilla frigate of your choice to do the same.

I disagree that BRDY "sits outside" vanilla balance. Mostly they just play like glorified midtech ships. However, I agree that the flux hullmod is a bit ridiculous, especially when combined with skills or the flux conduits hullmod... and that it has inflated faction strength slightly, over time. The idea behind the hullmod was that it makes up for the ships' bad shield ratios and bad flux stats by letting you play very aggressively and venting under fire.

As it turned out, the AI does not do this often enough, but the player can make good use of it. Since then, there has been a bit of power creep as I adjusted things to make the AI competitive. I still think the faction is fairly balanced, but I am probably going to end up making the hullmod less powerful, and other things here and there. I think adding more CR timers might cut it, and would reflect the comparative "youth" of the tech compared to Domain tech. Another thing I've intended to do is force the player to field smaller fleets through supply consumption.

Designing within the limitations of the AI is hard sometimes, because you can do things that feel amazing in the hands of the player, but end up being mostly a handicap in the hands of the AI. Which has given me a lot of respect for what Alex has accomplished with the vanilla ships.

Heya Cycerin.
                   i have been really enjoying your mod but a while ago (few days) it suddenly stopped working. it seems to have problems finding Brdy_stormcrow and Brdy_stormcrow_cyc hulls/Ids. i've deleted it and re downloaded the mod but i still get the same problem.

Hey, glad to hear you enjoy the mod. :) The stormcrow and nevermore B have been removed from the recent builds. They were outdated content that I feel don't really serve any purpose in the mod.

The stormcrow was just made as a boss ship for an old Uomoz' Corvus build. (which is why its variant has like three times as much stuff on it as the ship's actual OP limit allows) It hung around in Exerelin without me knowing for a while - and even then, now its role as an elite ship has been supplanted by the Asura and Imaginos, which are much more fun to pilot anyway, and the Nevermore B's ideas were eventually recycled into other ships.

I'm sorry about that, but I decided to take a hard stance on this because if a ship exists in the mod, but isn't functionally part of it, it serves no purpose but to remind me that I have outdated, nonfunctional content hanging around in my own files.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: slyn4ice on February 01, 2014, 06:48:27 PM
Hey, first off - love the mod. I am playing the Uomoz sector and have some opinions/bugs i want to discuss.

First of all I have been getting crashes when I use the battleship's Scalar Deracinator. Game freezes (screen still shows game) and there is a popup under the game I cannot see, I have to click at random to close it and thus closing the game or just kill it with task manager. Funnily enough the log shows nothing. This is the last few lines of the log after the latest crash:
Code
1107611 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Saving to ..\\saves/save_Obstruction_4095793114097459909...
1115105 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Finished saving
1197401 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Saving to ..\\saves/save_Obstruction_4095793114097459909...
1203484 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Finished saving
1250719 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine  - FP1: 150, FP2: 181, maxFP1: 320, maxFP2: 380
1349491 [Thread-5] INFO  data.shipsystems.scripts.DeracinatorStats  - Started State.IN
1510921 [Thread-5] INFO  data.shipsystems.scripts.DeracinatorStats  - Started State.IN
1566185 [Thread-5] INFO  data.shipsystems.scripts.DeracinatorStats  - Started State.IN
1693192 [Thread-5] INFO  data.shipsystems.scripts.DeracinatorStats  - Started State.IN
1743325 [Thread-5] INFO  data.shipsystems.scripts.DeracinatorStats  - Started State.IN
2173769 [Thread-5] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Loading image graphics/backgrounds/background4.jpg into existing tex id 318
2174015 [Thread-5] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Loaded 378.68 MB of texture data so far
2174016 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/backgrounds/background4.jpg (using cast)
2174016 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine  - FP1: 0, FP2: 445, maxFP1: 280, maxFP2: 420
2174019 [Thread-5] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Loading image khs_graphics/backgrounds/background2.jpg into existing tex id 318
2174302 [Thread-5] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Loaded 390.68 MB of texture data so far
2174303 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Cleaned buffer for texture khs_graphics/backgrounds/background2.jpg (using cast)
2714213 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Saving to ..\\saves/save_Obstruction_4095793114097459909...
2720529 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Finished saving
2758703 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine  - FP1: 133, FP2: 24, maxFP1: 420, maxFP2: 280
2811106 [Thread-5] INFO  data.shipsystems.scripts.DeracinatorStats  - Started State.IN
2858955 [Thread-5] INFO  data.shipsystems.scripts.DeracinatorStats  - Started State.IN

This has happened 3-4 times for about 4 hours of gameplay with the battleship. It happens right when the ship is half visible in the new location it is jumping in.

The second thing I want to mention is the absolutely destructive heavy escort AI for the Interdictor. It's almost like the AI is not aware of the dimensions of the ship resulting it in pretty much wrecking any other friendly ship around just so it can position itself around the escort target. I've just pretty much given up on it unless i'm driving. Not sure if that is a mod issue or a Starsector issue. In any case, wanted to share and say thanks for your work.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: slyn4ice on February 01, 2014, 08:29:27 PM
Actually, the Scalar bug is increasing in frequency. Just happened 4 times in the last hour. Weird.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: TheNewCongalala on February 02, 2014, 08:05:47 AM
Hey, glad to hear you enjoy the mod. :) The stormcrow and nevermore B have been removed from the recent builds. They were outdated content that I feel don't really serve any purpose in the mod.

The stormcrow was just made as a boss ship for an old Uomoz' Corvus build. (which is why its variant has like three times as much stuff on it as the ship's actual OP limit allows) It hung around in Exerelin without me knowing for a while - and even then, now its role as an elite ship has been supplanted by the Asura and Imaginos, which are much more fun to pilot anyway, and the Nevermore B's ideas were eventually recycled into other ships.

I'm sorry about that, but I decided to take a hard stance on this because if a ship exists in the mod, but isn't functionally part of it, it serves no purpose but to remind me that I have outdated, nonfunctional content hanging around in my own files.

sooo... deleted the brdy_stormcrow and thats fixed that one but i can not find the Brdy_stormcrow_cyc and how can i get rid of it?

Edit: ahh just re-read what you said. looks like ill have to look into the exrelin files then
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Zaphide on February 02, 2014, 03:05:02 PM
Hey, glad to hear you enjoy the mod. :) The stormcrow and nevermore B have been removed from the recent builds. They were outdated content that I feel don't really serve any purpose in the mod.

The stormcrow was just made as a boss ship for an old Uomoz' Corvus build. (which is why its variant has like three times as much stuff on it as the ship's actual OP limit allows) It hung around in Exerelin without me knowing for a while - and even then, now its role as an elite ship has been supplanted by the Asura and Imaginos, which are much more fun to pilot anyway, and the Nevermore B's ideas were eventually recycled into other ships.

I'm sorry about that, but I decided to take a hard stance on this because if a ship exists in the mod, but isn't functionally part of it, it serves no purpose but to remind me that I have outdated, nonfunctional content hanging around in my own files.

sooo... deleted the brdy_stormcrow and thats fixed that one but i can not find the Brdy_stormcrow_cyc and how can i get rid of it?

Edit: ahh just re-read what you said. looks like ill have to look into the exrelin files then

Ah I have been meaning to change this for a while now  :-[

You can edit the data/world/factions/blackrock.faction file in the Exerelin mod and replace this:
Code
"exerelinEliteFleet":{
           "displayName":"Exerelin Elite Fleet",
           "maxFleetPoints":100,
           "daysWorthOfSupplies":[30, 50],
           "lyWorthOfFuel":[0, 0],
           "extraCrewPercent":[80, 80],
           "marinesPercent":[20, 20],
           "ships":{
               "brdy_stormcrow_cyc":[0, 1],
           },
       },

with this:
Code
"exerelinEliteFleet":{
           "displayName":"Exerelin Elite Fleet",
           "maxFleetPoints":100,
           "daysWorthOfSupplies":[30, 50],
           "lyWorthOfFuel":[0, 0],
           "extraCrewPercent":[80, 80],
           "marinesPercent":[20, 20],
           "ships":{
               "brdy_karkinos_assault":[0, 1],
           },
       },

and that should have the desired effect :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: TheNewCongalala on February 02, 2014, 03:12:16 PM
Thanks Zaph. greatly appreciated
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 03, 2014, 03:34:03 AM
Actually, the Scalar bug is increasing in frequency. Just happened 4 times in the last hour. Weird.

That is very strange. The shipsystem does not crash on my rig, but the log is puzzling... I'd have to ask Alex.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on February 04, 2014, 03:33:48 AM
Besides the Karkinos' very powerful subsystem, I feel a LOT of its power is actually hidden rather than specifically anything wrong with its stats. Check it out in the variant viewer and compare with the onslaught and you'll immediately notice the difference: 9/10ths of every weapon on the Karkinos can range on anything directly in front of it, while none of the onslaught's broadside weapon arcs quite have the range for directly in front of it (and also every last onslaught setup is turbo derp with the weapons).

The onslaught can field way more firepower but isn't capable of focus firing a single target into obliteration and moving onto the next like the Karkinos, it has a similar flaw to the conquest in having to distribute its explosive goodies across a grab-bag of targets.

Or at least, I think that's the main thing for why the Karkinos feels the strongest of the vanilla balanced capitals, since it's what you as a player look for - the ability to really quickly annihilate whatever you are pointed at right this instant, and then move onto the next, and the one thereafter, and ad nauseum until the enemy fleet is space dust.

But also it really helps that every Onslaught variant is ***.

Edit: Oh, and there aren't any slots wasted on missiles, which are all awful wastes of OP for the dps they (never) deliver. So that'd be one way to bring it more in line with vanilla capitals, cripple it by changing a few hardpoints into missiles.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sabaton on February 04, 2014, 04:19:10 AM
 I think Ishman nailed it.
 But please don't desecrate this awesome ship in such a way. It's just too good for that.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: slyn4ice on February 04, 2014, 07:15:23 AM
Actually, the Scalar bug is increasing in frequency. Just happened 4 times in the last hour. Weird.

That is very strange. The shipsystem does not crash on my rig, but the log is puzzling... I'd have to ask Alex.

Actually I narrowed it down a little further. In my fleet I have the Karkinos and 5 Rattlesnakes (Nomad cruisers i believe). The crash only happens when the Rattlesnakes are shooting their fusion torpedoes - as in, they are on the screen with the ship. If I jump with the Karkinos right at the beginning of the battle all is good. I will try to do some more tests and see if the issue persists.

Edit: I was just about to report no problems, had one battle where jumping caused no problems even in battle. Went into another battle right after and boom, jump crashed the game right at the heat of battle. I will try to eliminate the Rattlesnakes and see if I get crashes without them. Besides the log (which gives no useful info) what else do you need me to send you? Any way to enable more debug messages to trace the error?

Edit 2: Well, played exactly the same battle as previous crash but without the rattlesnakes - no problem whatsoever. So very weird.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 04, 2014, 10:14:07 AM
Run the mod alone, latest version, and with no other mods enabled, then see if it still occurs.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: slyn4ice on February 04, 2014, 12:38:23 PM
Run the mod alone, latest version, and with no other mods enabled, then see if it still occurs.

Hey, running only latest Uomoz and LazyLib. I don't have the Blackrock installed separately since it comes with Uomoz. Is there a newer version of Blackrock not yet included in Uomoz?
Anyways, I will do a clean install maybe tomorrow and let you know if that fixed it.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 04, 2014, 03:25:25 PM
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip

There's just this dev version so far. Well, it could be some weird interaction inherent to USS, but I don't know. I haven't been able to reproduce it.

Been working on more balancing lately. I think I'll spend a little extra time polishing before I release this. Note: above link is still the same as the imaginos nerf devpatch.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 05, 2014, 09:34:36 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/N067Kt1.png)

Adjusted the Asura. Pretty happy with how it looks now. When me and Trylo sort out the bug that sometimes makes the Flux Ejector unable to remove hard flux, it will be pretty much finished.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on February 05, 2014, 10:07:13 AM
I actually quite like both versions of the Asura, will you be keeping the darker and slimmer model around? Also do you have any more thoughts on the Karkinos' balance?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 05, 2014, 10:54:32 AM
The old sprite is outdated because the new one has two extra phase coils.

Yeah, it's being revised just like everything else is. I have a few decent ideas as to how to keep it in line.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Raigir on February 05, 2014, 11:23:04 AM
The old sprite is outdated because the new one has two extra phase coils.

Yeah, it's being revised just like everything else is. I have a few decent ideas as to how to keep it in line.

Two extra phase coils representative of the inefficiency of them requiring more than the norm to be added to keep it stable, while the downside being rapid build up of flux? It's a nice touch to the history/story of the asura if you intended that, still cool if not.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 05, 2014, 11:34:04 AM
Yep. The Doom only needs 4 phase coils, the Asura needs 5, and its cloak is half again as efficient as the latter. Quantity trying to make up for lower quality. ; P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sabaton on February 05, 2014, 02:44:34 PM
Yep. The Doom only needs 4 phase coils, the Asura needs 5, and its cloak is half again as efficient as the latter. Quantity trying to make up for lower quality. ; P

 That and the fact that the Doom is a cruiser while the Asura is a destroyer further points out that handicap.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Zudgemud on February 06, 2014, 03:08:00 AM
Run the mod alone, latest version, and with no other mods enabled, then see if it still occurs.

My phasecloak with AOE damage also cause rare and seemingly random crashes.
As I built my cloak from your scalar teleport I think this might be related. What I personally have encountered is that the crashes seem to happen when fighting with ships carrying flak or AOE effect weapons, but this might just be conformational bias on my part and I have not dug deeper into it.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on February 06, 2014, 06:33:42 PM
Absolutely loving this mod so far. The dev versions are just whetting my appetite for more.

Also, seconding the love for the Gonodactylus! That thing is a fantastic flagship, good for zipping around the battlefield and taking potshots at every unshielded surface you see. Shrimpin' ain't easy, but it's ridiculously fun.

If you're planning any more ships, I'd like to humbly request a Voidspear-armed bomber. They're a great support missile, and while the Squilla is a perfectly adequate torpedo bomber, it would be nice to have something better rigged for pursuit (and void-beast hunting).
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Raigir on February 06, 2014, 10:53:15 PM
Absolutely loving this mod so far. The dev versions are just whetting my appetite for more.

Also, seconding the love for the Gonodactylus! That thing is a fantastic flagship, good for zipping around the battlefield and taking potshots at every unshielded surface you see. Shrimpin' ain't easy, but it's ridiculously fun.

If you're planning any more ships, I'd like to humbly request a Voidspear-armed bomber. They're a great support missile, and while the Squilla is a perfectly adequate torpedo bomber, it would be nice to have something better rigged for pursuit (and void-beast hunting).

The shrimp is a darn fine work horse if ever there was one. No brdy fleet is complete without an escort of gonodactylus.

It definitely feels that there is one thing still missing in the missile category for Brdy, a solid heavy LRM platform. So far they've got the supportive achilles, the well-rounded voidspear, your quill assault rockets, and smart torpedoes. Only thing missing is LRMs and a ship to really make such a missile system shine on. I get the feeling that in the current state Brdy consider missiles a supplement to standard armament rather than a primary source of firepower (except slightly less so for support ships, but their not gung-ho to begin with). It would be nice if, perhaps some courageous brdy engineers actually had designed an attempt at a missile oriented ship along with the heavy long range missiles to accompany it.

I didn't mention the hammerclaw because it's just...well...special :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: ValkyriaL on February 07, 2014, 10:24:39 AM
Almost beat Gothars.... not really. ::)

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/YodXoIa.png)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 08, 2014, 04:27:12 AM
GJ Valk!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip

New DEV.

Spoiler
- Removed shield from Squilla-class bomber, added burst jet system to it, replaced Shredder MG with micro Argus
- Reduced flux capacity and increased flux dissipation for Sentinel Drones
- Changed Blackrock Flux Core to be 100/75/60/50% extra vent rate, down from 100% flat
- Reduced Repair rate bonus on Blackrock Assault hullmod
- Reduced armor of all Blackrock ships
- Reduced shield arc of all Blackrock ships
- Nerfed shield ratio of Karkinos and Kurmaraja
- Various Karkinos readjustments
- Changed Scalar Deracinator damage to be roughly 40% less damage and 50% more EMP damage
- Slightly increased Deracinator charge times
- Increased Deracinator flux buildup, made steering, firing, acceleration impossible while charging it, Deracinator now builds hard flux on the Karkinos
- Changed End Times mission description
- Reduced Fury Torpedo movement speed slightly
- Reduced Revenant turn speed and flux dissipation
- Adjusted Asura weapons loadout
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 08, 2014, 12:25:11 PM
The IW thing isn't a balance thing, it's a bug that needs fixing, and so far I haven't been able to look at it.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: TheNewCongalala on February 09, 2014, 05:46:22 PM
Heya Cycerin,
                   another problem i've noticed is that your hull mods (like the Blackrock targeting suite) are not showing up in the refit menus.  I do have these mods running.

Syndicate asp
BRDY (of course)
Exrelin
Hiigaran
Interstellar federation
TUP v5
tradewinds
Kadur theocracy
Valkyrians
nomands
gendune
neutrino
Weapons pack 0.32
omnifactory
and Lazy lib

as far as i know their all up to date with current versions.

just thought you would like to know, and if there is a quick fix to it. that would be greatly appreciated :D. just finally got my hands on an Imaginos. that ship is beastly despite having no shields.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 11, 2014, 10:41:24 AM
^ I'll take a look at it. It could simply be the fact that there are too many hullmods, a lot of those mods add custom ones.

I've been redesigning some ships/sprites and denoising them to remove visual clutter. The Revenant feels very good right now.

Spoiler
(http://i4.minus.com/jbqXuBlSOpHzZG.jpg)
(http://i7.minus.com/j3ihXZXi7ItGZ.jpg)
(http://i.minus.com/ieVyOADqHbMww.png)
(http://i.minus.com/it3sckorUcGvn.png)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Shield on February 11, 2014, 09:20:57 PM
^ I'll take a look at it. It could simply be the fact that there are too many hullmods, a lot of those mods add custom ones.

I've been redesigning some ships/sprites and denoising them to remove visual clutter. The Revenant feels very good right now.

Spoiler
(http://i4.minus.com/jbqXuBlSOpHzZG.jpg)
(http://i7.minus.com/j3ihXZXi7ItGZ.jpg)
(http://i.minus.com/ieVyOADqHbMww.png)
(http://i.minus.com/it3sckorUcGvn.png)
[close]

If I may ask how long have you been kitbashing/creating spaceships for games? Because honestly these are some of the best ship designs besides ones that are actually in games I have ever seen.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sundog on February 11, 2014, 10:35:29 PM
Shield, would you kindly tell me what game has ships sexier than BR and where to buy it?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 12, 2014, 05:58:04 AM
2007 or so, I guess, when it comes to spriting and making 2D spaceships. Then some stuff from way back, school notebook doodles and whatnot... but I guess that doesn't count. ;D

I highly recommend getting Photoshop if you do all your spriting with raster graphics. Especially, Content Aware Fill and Content Aware Resize is very useful when you're cleaning up a ship. I think if you kitbash exclusively and don't feel comfortable drawing, those functions will be even more useful.

Spoiler
(http://i.minus.com/jckGzBEAijEtF.png)
(http://i.minus.com/jPRfdC4sPeLDN.png)
[close]

Couldn't resist tweaking them some more. I think they're pretty much golden now. I feel bothered by the conflict of pixel thin and brushstroke-like outlines still, but that's just a problem with my artstyle I'll have to gradually work out.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Zudgemud on February 12, 2014, 01:58:54 PM
I feel bothered by the conflict of pixel thin and brushstroke-like outlines still, but that's just a problem with my artstyle I'll have to gradually work out.

Cool, I didn't notice that before but now I cant unsee it (http://fi.somethingawful.com/images/smilies/emot-v.gif)

This smiley needs to be on all forums everywhere.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Erick Doe on February 12, 2014, 02:49:24 PM
Quote
This smiley needs to be on all forums everywhere.

In my day we called him pacman. And we liked it!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Chaos Farseer on February 13, 2014, 01:17:09 PM
I tried the most recent DEV version; just stopping by to say that the Karkinos can't solo the Onslaught without the Deracinator anymore. Rotating the medium ballistic slots was a clever way to change the PD coverage. I think that means you've succeeded in rebalancing so far.
I noticed that the Karkinos rotates a lot easier than it accelerates. It's kind of weird, but not crucial.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 13, 2014, 01:45:56 PM
Good to hear. Ship got a lot of straight-up stat nerfs as well, but so did almost every BRDY ship. There's been a fair bit of power creepage since 2012.

The Karkinos has a lot of steering thrusters, but its considerable mass is tough to lug around. Plus, the inertia of having to transport an inter-dimensional vortex around in realspace constantly. enough justification?

Recent changes: Cosmetic weapons are additively blended, the Kurmaraja has a new animation for when it uses its ship system, and the most important change of all: The Hammerclaw now transfers force to whatever it hits.

No, this has nothing to do with me getting to despoil Sundog's amazing scripts.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sundog on February 13, 2014, 02:10:17 PM
Oh, good! I'd hate to think anyone was benefiting from reading my scripts  :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Mazuo on February 13, 2014, 03:49:56 PM
Oh god, can't wait to see it hit some unfortunate frigate.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: TheNewCongalala on February 14, 2014, 09:32:49 AM
^ I'll take a look at it. It could simply be the fact that there are too many hullmods, a lot of those mods add custom ones.

I've been redesigning some ships/sprites and denoising them to remove visual clutter. The Revenant feels very good right now.

Spoiler
(http://i4.minus.com/jbqXuBlSOpHzZG.jpg)
(http://i7.minus.com/j3ihXZXi7ItGZ.jpg)
(http://i.minus.com/ieVyOADqHbMww.png)
(http://i.minus.com/it3sckorUcGvn.png)
[close]

ok. ill see what i can cut out then, im thinking its probably the extra weapons pack since that adds about 5-6 extra hull mods. haven't seen that first ship before or is that a redesign of the Kurmaraja?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Mazuo on February 14, 2014, 02:18:27 PM
It's the Eschaton superfreighter.  One of my new favorites for the capacity, good overall defense and having such a good look to match with a Blackrock fleet so I can dump the Atlas.  As for the hullmods, just running the latest dev version that was linked in this thread, I don't see them as available either.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Mazuo on February 14, 2014, 06:57:13 PM
I actually wasn't aware of the line about joining Blackrock on character creation since I was loading an old save, but tried it myself and no luck either.  I don't expect the Imaginos regenerative hull to be selectable anyway, but that targeting suite and assault fitting I've just never seen available.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Dragar on February 14, 2014, 10:06:13 PM
Yeah there are suppose to be 3 hull mods that you can put on Blackrock ships but they arn't selectable for some reason.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 15, 2014, 12:58:20 PM
Hmm, I must have messed something up with the code that's supposed to make it unavailable to non-Blackrock ships.

I think I'm going to release this version officially once I iron out that bug, the Ironweaver bug, and the Flux Ejector bug.

Meanwhile, new portraits for interacting with the faction:

(http://i.imgur.com/ooJBs2L.png)  (http://i.imgur.com/qnMBlHX.png)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2014, 05:05:53 AM
http://gfycat.com/AlertJaggedCavy

(http://i.imgur.com/psZfuyR.png) (http://i.imgur.com/smPUuda.png)

Sundog and I have been busy. Meet the Scalar Rejector. Any projectile nearby gets sucked in, turned into energy, and then unleashed on anything nearby. This is what right clicking as the Imaginos does now.

The damage done is proportional to how much damage what you sucked in would have caused. This means frag is weighed less than energy and so on. If you manage to catch an AM blaster shot, or something like a solid TPC salvo... yeah, it's glorious.

Yes, the other aspects of the ship are being nerfed to compensate. ;)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2014, 06:16:58 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_4HsOvl2D4

^ pro click
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Tecrys on February 18, 2014, 06:34:03 AM
That is utterly amazing!

And really unique, I wish I could code stuff like that ...

Is that in the current version of Blackrock?

I think I can reverse engineer the rightclick mechanic to use for a unique shield mechanic for BGE.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to use the whole system but making my ships heal a slight bit on a right click would be pretty cool and fitting for the faction.
Also I could rebalance my ships a little bit downward if I had that.

Would you mind?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2014, 06:52:09 AM
Not at all. It's Sundog's code, anyway, so it's his call!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Gothars on February 18, 2014, 07:42:46 AM
Wow, both concept and execution are absolutely astonishing! Never seen anything like that before, the next best thing that comes to mind is goddamn Kirby. I think it would be worth to base an entire new faction on that concept. Props to Sundog and Cycerin!

e/ Can you jump before rejecting the absorbed fire? For example absorbing an Onslaught's fire and then jumping to its rear to take out the engines with the collected energy?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: HELMUT on February 18, 2014, 07:56:51 AM
And more importantly, can the AI use this trick effectively? Would be cool to see the enemy Imaginos jumping on your reaper torpedo to regurgitate it on you. Also can it absorb beam weaponry?

Oh and the rift cannon looks awesome.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2014, 07:59:37 AM
Thanks a lot guys, I'm glad you are as excited about this as we are, haha!

If you want to help test the Scalar Rejector/Imaginos out, here's the dev build:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.7z

e/ Can you jump before rejecting the absorbed fire? For example absorbing an Onslaught's fire and then jumping to its rear to take out the engines with the collected energy?

The release happens at the end of the phase out, so the only control you have is how you move while phased, which is difficult because the ship controls are locked as soon as you activate it.

You can obviously use friendly projectiles along in the mixture, but they have half the multiplier of enemy projectiles. It's still quite effective to turn two Fury torpedoes and a Rift Cannon salvo into a huge AoE blast, however.

And more importantly, can the AI use this trick effectively? Would be cool to see the enemy Imaginos jumping on your reaper torpedo to regurgitate it on you. Also can it absorb beam weaponry?

The AI uses it as a normal phase cloak, which means that more often than not, it ends up absorbing and returning fire. Beams just pass through harmlessly, but you can catch energy projectiles.

Currently the damage absorbtion mults are 0.3 frag, 1.0 energy/kinetic, and 0.9 HE.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Dragar on February 18, 2014, 08:44:40 AM
Hubris: The #1 Killer of Imaginos's.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Tecrys on February 18, 2014, 09:29:07 AM
That is an error related to a changed or deleted variant or the weapon slot of the Imaginos has been renamed.

You can fix that easily with the ship editor or you change the variant file according to the hull file.
My guess is a renamed weapon slot.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2014, 09:41:38 AM
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that. The Imaginos has changed sufficiently to break saves... you might crash on mission selection too, if so, go to Fractal Softworks\Starsector\saves and delete the Imaginos variants saved therein under relevant missions. There is no need to edit variants, the new stock variants are already updated.

You might be able to fix it by editing the save file itself and changing the Imaginos variant you're flying, but I've never tried that myself.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Lopunny Zen on February 18, 2014, 10:56:18 AM
does the imaginos still have that phased tele friendly fire....because when the computer uses it it ruins everything friendly around them...
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: mendonca on February 18, 2014, 11:32:42 AM
Sundog / Cycerin, that's so cool :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2014, 11:51:50 AM
Dont be powertrippin too much, I'll probably end up nerfing the thing a bit before I release this version officially... Might make the projectile absorption build flux, so you'd overload if you got too greedy (and logically, die a horrible death shortly after)

does the imaginos still have that phased tele friendly fire....because when the computer uses it it ruins everything friendly around them...

Live version one does iirc, dev version one doesn't

Sundog / Cycerin, that's so cool :)

 ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sundog on February 18, 2014, 02:18:33 PM
Nice video Cycerin. That shows it off well  :)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on February 19, 2014, 10:32:12 AM
Pew. Pew.

*saves old BRDY data files and waits patiently to modify new ship versions into El Gunboat IV: The Reckoning*
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Lopunny Zen on February 20, 2014, 12:27:57 PM
dev version?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Silver Silence on February 21, 2014, 07:43:47 AM
I would love to see a larger ship, cruiser or batlteship sized with an upscaled version of that wondrous system with a longer suck-in window, more destructive potential and suitably pitch-altered suck sounds and even more satisfying booms.

(http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/351/c/6/seal_of_approval_by_magnaen-d5oa99s.jpg)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 25, 2014, 08:04:36 AM
Moooore sprrriiitess

(http://i.imgur.com/POidWoH.png)(http://i.imgur.com/Nax5rzl.png)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Tecrys on February 25, 2014, 08:28:19 AM
Those glass panels on the Imaginos look absolutely awesome!

But I think blue is the better fitting colour but that's just my oppinion.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 25, 2014, 08:40:14 AM
Thanks :) I'm experimenting with different colors. There's also a pulsating light effect ingame now.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on February 25, 2014, 08:51:02 AM
NO, THAT OTHER GUY IS CLEARLY WRONG, TEAL IS THE SUPERIOR COLOUR FOR EXPERIMENTAL SHIPS.

And yeah, that glass effect is sexy beyond belief.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Silver Silence on February 25, 2014, 10:21:31 AM
I like the dark blue, personally....

Glass panels?....  ???
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 25, 2014, 02:58:17 PM
Not glass. :P
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Tecrys on February 25, 2014, 03:49:13 PM
Is it not supposed to be glass then?

But it looks like glass, you can see right through it just like one of those reinforced glass panels which are slightly greenish.

If it's not supposed to be glas, oh well ... my bad
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Mazuo on February 25, 2014, 04:48:54 PM
I like the blue better myself, but it'd be nice if variants could show up in stations if that's possible.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 27, 2014, 04:45:35 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnWDI-fL6oc

Meso made another video showing off the most-recent Imaginos build.

The move the AI pulls around 1 min is hilarious.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Nanao-kun on February 27, 2014, 10:09:32 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnWDI-fL6oc

Meso made another video showing off the most-recent Imaginos build.

The move the AI pulls around 1 min is hilarious.
Is... Is that Imaginos absorbing projectiles and regenerating armor with it!?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: mendonca on February 27, 2014, 10:43:30 AM
That video made me think it would be cool if there were negative ramifications to not being able to discharge the absorbed energy into another object, maybe instead of 'where's my cool green arc?' fizzle, the Imaginos has to discharge via itself, raising flux and possibly overloads.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on February 27, 2014, 11:42:55 AM
Oh no, it's worse than you think. The Imaginos regenerates armor ALREADY.

God I love that little ship, it's so, so cool.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Doogie on February 28, 2014, 11:46:29 AM
I adore these. That Azura sprite is just absolute perfection, and the green on the Imaginos help it stick out as the monster it is.
Perhaps you could do a unique color scheme thing for each of the other specialty BRDY ships, such as the Nevermore or Desdinova? Regardless, very well done.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: HELMUT on February 28, 2014, 12:42:00 PM
Not glass. :P

Crystals armor plates stolen from those guys?

(http://i.imgur.com/9Z2fSCr.jpg)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Nanao-kun on February 28, 2014, 01:19:18 PM
Crystalline Unobtainium Alloy.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on February 28, 2014, 01:19:52 PM
Fine fine, let me be more technically correct: What looks like glass. Did you really need me to call it Corundum?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on February 28, 2014, 06:41:45 PM
That's a more likely source of weird transparent material
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: GruntyThrst on March 01, 2014, 03:27:14 AM
Maybe it's magic! Space magic.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sabaton on March 01, 2014, 06:59:52 AM
 The work of Sauron I tell you!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on March 01, 2014, 07:54:20 AM
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.7z

New dev version, the Imaginos is reaching completion now, going to polish a few more things and then release. Give me some feedback on the mission End Times with the new Imaginos.

Saves containing custom Imaginos variants will break again. This is the last time, I promise.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Gothars on March 01, 2014, 11:18:58 AM
Give me some feedback on the mission End Times with the new Imaginos.

Fun! If the concept behind Blackrock is to trade toughness for mobility and overwhelming firepower, the Imaginos is really the epitome of that principle. Got 70 percent on the first try (http://i.imgur.com/NPXdm0W.png), got to see about increasing that later. Best moment: Absorbing both AM-Blasts from the Afflictor and shocking it down to 10% hull.  

I would maybe replace the Doom with something else, phase ships really don't seem a suitable opponent for the Imaginos (no real way to pressure). Except if you can catch those torpedoes...


Got to try the ship in the campaign to see if the logistic stats are enough to consider it vanilla balanced. It's tons of fun, anyway.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Uomoz on March 01, 2014, 11:36:14 AM
Give me some feedback on the mission End Times with the new Imaginos.

Got 70 percent on the first try

Gothar immediately promoted to the God Tier Plays Archive. Welcome, G-God.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on March 01, 2014, 11:53:46 AM
Very well played. You should stream sometime. ;D

The Doom is mostly there as a big "if you forget me, I'll kill your Eschaton" factor, but if you have to, you can just deflect its torpedoes away, which means you do have an ability to pressure it. You just can't easily destroy it.

Logistics stats will put it on the level of a battlecruiser, roughly, with additional strain in the form of very harsh hyperspace fuel consumption and repair rate. I feel like this is a fair tradeoff for the potential damage you can deal in that ship, and how it can turn the crossfire of an entire fleet battle against the enemy... in theory

It'll also cost a ton, almost twice as much as a Nevermore.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on March 01, 2014, 02:37:13 PM
Sounds fantastic. I've always been a fan of accentuating something's differences by enhancing it's strengths and weaknesses. Something's a problem because it's too mobile? Well let's make it even MORE mobile but susceptible to counters; EMP resistance - NERFED, Shields - NERFED, Armor - NERFED.

That sorta thing.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Gothars on March 01, 2014, 05:27:00 PM
Very well played. You should stream sometime. ;D

The Doom is mostly there as a big "if you forget me, I'll kill your Eschaton" factor, but if you have to, you can just deflect its torpedoes away, which means you do have an ability to pressure it. You just can't easily destroy it.

Thanks :) I'd like to record a video some time, any free software to recommend?

My Problem with the Doom is that is introduces a big portion of luck into the mix - if it get's deployed early you can't do anything about it killing some of your ships (without ignoring everything else), if it get's deployed late you are lucky. Something like a Dominator with Reapers would be  more consistent, and still a threat to the Eschaton. Which is not much of an issue anyway, since you can always retreat it.

By the way, the Brawler is the second most dangerous ship after the Doom, if you ever want to up the difficulty more of those would be a good starting point.



Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on March 02, 2014, 04:14:34 PM
Just use OBS (Open Broadcaster Software), it's what me and Uomoz use. Set it to local-only and then "stream", you will basically just record raw video + sound out of what you're doing. Then you can upload that straight to youtube if you want. c:

Yeah, those Maulers are a pain to deal with. I'll think about it, the mission is still fairly challenging for all but the most technical players, I'd say. As for the Doom, it'll probably stay for flavor reasons, or possibly get replaced by something more annoying, like a Hyperion and Tempest. A Dominator's just fuel on the fire for an Imaginos, so it would actually make the mission way, way easier... also goes against the flavor of it being a merc fleet attacking under false flags that has to get away before Blackrock IA shows up to glass their asses.

Just reviewed campaign stuff, I might put in a new star system (Solace) with this patch actually. Most logistics values make sense now, not 100% happy with fleet comps but it will suffice. Just wondering about when to spawn an Imaginos. Probably in the Sovereignty Fleet mostly.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Dragar on March 02, 2014, 05:55:24 PM
yeah it makes the most since for imaginos's to be in the big fleets. Because I'd doubt they'd be able to keep themselves going in small ones.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on March 03, 2014, 05:09:39 PM
Cant sleep so I updated the OP with a few tips on how to play specific ships. If you guys feel like I missed anything you've personally discovered, feel free to chip in.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on March 03, 2014, 08:05:41 PM
General advice could use expanding: You should mention that for a LOT of your guns, their actual efficacy is way higher than their listed DPS/Burst thanks to some of your clever scripts. I'm REALLY fond of those on-hit effects incidentally. I don't remember which one has the random EMP damage potential but that one was pretty sweet. I'd emphasize this as a lot of blackrock weaponry (except the sunfires) look outright worse on paper (not in-game that's for sure, SO PURTY) than vanilla weapons, let alone some of the interesting things from other mods.

As for piloting Blackrock ships - invest in hull mods and pilot skills that increase your flag ship's manuverability so you can weave in and out of your fleet duking it out - for your allied ships you want to focus on anything that'll help the AI survive since they're REALLY bad at taking advantage of blackrock strengths ~most~ of the time (sometimes they're clever enough to leave you flabbergasted but the vast majority of the time they're just going to eat reapers).

Individual ships: The desdinova is dumb, so dumb, in a burst configuration - if they don't blot out the skies with fighters or missiles then you should be able to dismantle any fleet without capitals in it with a solo desdi. So much love for desdi with stenos backup & serket harassment.

The asura's fantastic for following a ship in brawling configuration with a captain who wants to be driven closer to hit them with his sword - duck into phase and fly through your ship, the enemy ship, then unload into their engines to give your brawler an all he can eat buffet.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: TheNewCongalala on March 04, 2014, 01:20:12 PM
with the new changes i do like. the Imaginos now with that alt ability is just crazy, still bits of a steep side for logistics but its a damn fine ship for early game, or late game if your into piloting it (doesn't seem do well controlled by AI against some of the other mod factions like neutrino).

Weapons wise, small and medium weapons of the black-rock are just simply amazing, shard weaponry is a reliable damage source for any situation and the sunjet PDE (the one that can turn) grills unshielded ships. my particular favorites though is those Scalar repeaters good range nice ammo pools to just burst things down to zilch. however, i fell like the Large scale weapons just don't cut it in comparison to other faction weapons. Ironweaver for the slot its on is fantastic for tiny ships or just putting up a flak wall for missiles (probably one of the best ways to deal with Missile ships). but the Solinoid cannon (i know ive spelt that wrong will correct it at a later date) just does not provide that bang for the buck so to say. so quite often i end up equipping my Krakinos with other faction weapons (Kadur theocracy Demolisher and redeemer take it to OP levels).

I feel like Black rock is missing a front-line destroyer. the desdinova is a good pursuer there is not that many destroyers can be rigged to go as fast as that can, but it lacks in serious combat where some of the more hardier heavy hitting destroyers just obliterate it from existence (if there's another and ive missed it please enlighten me). i would like something bit more sturdy in addition to it, but that is my opinion. *EDIT* just discovered the hammer-claw and that's closer to what i was looking for.

The asura is great in theory but to me its not a viable ship for people starting out. its not even a worthwhile phase ship in my opinion comparing it to other phase ships of similar class size. i do like it's lore and showing that phase tech is not quite optimal for blackrock, it feels like a show room model of what black-rock can do with phase tech, im sure theres people who can use it brilliantly but i just don't like it, maybe if it had a different ability or a unique weapons on it i could get behind it.

otherwise just love the rest especially the Krait fighter wings probably one of the best fighters I've used.

there's my 2 cents, haven't tried end times recently but i'm expecting to get something higher then 35%
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on March 06, 2014, 09:54:40 AM
Thanks for the great feedback guys.

The secret to using the Asura well is to abuse its mobility, which is much higher than any other phase ship. It also has way more firepower than even the Doom, especially with character skills. I'm considering to give it a small missile hardpoint or two to round it out a bit.

The frontline destroyer is the Gonodactylus, for the most part. I buffed it a bit just now and increased the price a tiny bit. For the most part it's exactly like an Enforcer in your fleets.

I just finished a polish pass on sound effects, descriptions and whatnot. The Squilla-class bomber has been replaced with the Vespa-class bomber... which is almost identical, except it has burst jets, no shield, and a micro argus for defense.

Also a bunch of other stuff I forgot. Oh yeah! I'm adding music, new portraits, and I made this new banner for the OP.

(http://i.imgur.com/U3S39yE.jpg)
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on March 06, 2014, 12:56:57 PM
*throws money at screen*

When do I get to support you as a full time game developer?!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sabaton on March 06, 2014, 10:03:13 PM
 So you're a music creator now? Intriguing.
 But I have to ask, how will your mod handle the upcoming trade system? Will you have your own goods, events, etc?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on March 07, 2014, 05:33:32 AM
I've been making music since a decade before I started drawing spaceships. :P I'll handle trade when it gets here. BR will have its own events.

*throws money at screen*

When do I get to support you as a full time game developer?!

*tugs collar* In a wondrous hypothetical future.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Gothars on March 07, 2014, 12:12:09 PM
Mh, there seems to be some kind of bug in damage calculation of the Imaginos' phase absorption ability. I just destroyed a (full health) Falcon and a Shade after sucking in nothing but a few fighter bullets. Also, I can reliably destroy a wing of Broadswords while passing by sucking in the missiles and machine gun fire they throw at me.

If you can give me another tip about a good tool to cut the videos recorded wit OBS I'll show it to you :)

Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sundog on March 07, 2014, 01:25:28 PM
I'll look into that soon. A video of the issue with the Falcon and Shade would be very useful. Do you know of a way to reliably reproduce it?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Gothars on March 07, 2014, 02:49:49 PM
I'll look into that soon. A video of the issue with the Falcon and Shade would be very useful. Do you know of a way to reliably reproduce it?

Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DEZi0Rod7U&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DEZi0Rod7U&feature=youtu.be)

Don't know how to reproduce that, though I'm pretty sure there were other cases with strange damage output, just not so obvious.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Sundog on March 07, 2014, 04:21:55 PM
Many thanks Gothars. I think I found the issue thanks to your info, but I'll have to do some testing to make sure.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Gothars on March 15, 2014, 08:43:33 AM
Here's a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVg2sGjIF8M&feature=youtu.be) of the End Times mission, if anyone is interested. I hope you don't mind me posting that here, Cycerin.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on March 15, 2014, 08:57:28 AM
Nice to see how you do things. What do you think about the balance/gameplay of Blackrock as a faction?
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Gothars on March 15, 2014, 09:39:53 AM
I am very, very happy with the gameplay. The fast and super aggressive profile is just my stile. It just conveys such great sense of agency. The danger here is of course to drift into arcade territory, but I don't think that has happened as of yet.

I haven't played Blackrock extensively in the campaign, so I can't say too much about balancing. It seems that all the rabid monster ships (Desdinova, Nevermore, Asura, Imaginos)  are restricted by horrendous logistic demands. I'd say CR was really a blessing here, I could not imagine any way to get so fun and powerful ships in the game, while still maintaining balance, without it.
I also really like that these elite ships are grounded by a less bloodthirsty core fleet (like the Gonodactylus and Scarab). I'd recommend to keep it that way and not turn Blackrock into a fleet of super sport cars. I'd imagine there's the temptation to make every ship awesome, but then no ship would stand out and the whole faction would lose plausibility.


e/ One thing about the balance, I think the Shard Cannon is somewhat OP. From the stats it looks OK, but it feels much better. Low flux cost, great at bringing down and even overloading shields, at the same time highly effective against fighter and frigate armor; for me it totally invalidates other small kinetic weapons.
If you want to keep it that way I'd think about making it hard to find, otherwise it might help to change the shard explosion damage to EMP or something.

Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on March 16, 2014, 05:54:05 AM
Nice, thanks for the feedback. I have been wondering about the Shard. It can be a liability sometimes due to the range/flux against high tech ships, but as an overall weapon, it's very effective. Kinda considering to give it a tiny bit worse accuracy and a tiny bit higher flux cost.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Ishman on March 16, 2014, 08:35:03 AM
Pleasings to give more shard weaponry, we lovessss the shardssss
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: AnimeHeretic on March 16, 2014, 12:46:02 PM
I'm more keen on a large slot sunfire. Change the two forward large ballistic slots on the karkinos to energy and make it happen!
 ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Cycerin on March 18, 2014, 05:54:32 AM
We'll see... large energy weapons are cool.

Thanks to Trylobot's hard work, the Flux Ejector for the Asura finally works as intended. Sundog has also been polishing the Imaginos' scripts and I feel about ready to release very soon. I'm going to do a polish pass and write the changelog, and then we're go.
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: AnimeHeretic on March 19, 2014, 02:40:35 PM
HYPE

I love your ships. Keep up the good work!
Title: Re: [0.6.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.5
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 21, 2014, 05:20:42 PM
If I wanted to use the dev version with Exerelin, what would I need to do? I can see there's a new ship, so I would need to add that to Exerelin's BRDY generic fleet right?

I'll probably need to make sure the variants match up...
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Cycerin on March 21, 2014, 05:30:59 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/U3S39yE.jpg)
DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK FOR STARSECTOR 0.6.2a! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip)

Mod Version 0.6
General:

NOTES:
This version will break savegames that have variants of changed ships in them. Missions with custom variants in them will also break unless you reset the mission, or remove the variants from your saves folder.

CONTENT:
- New ship: Eschaton-class Superfreighter
- New ship: Dipteron-class Interceptor
- Added three music tracks (Blackrock, Stellar Rust, Magnetic Caress)
- Added new mission to showcase the Imaginos and Eschaton (End Times)
Imaginos redesign!
- The Imaginos now works as follows: no shield, regenerating armor, right-click activates a new secondary system: SCALAR REJECTOR.
This system is active for slightly less than a second and builds flux rapidly. While active, you are phased out and suck in and convert missiles, energy bolts and bullets into energy.
At the end of the duration, this energy is unleashed as blast of lightning, hitting nearby enemies for EMP and Energy damage based on the absorbed damage.
- The Imaginos now has five built-in weapons: Four miniature PD beams, and the RIFT CANNON, a hard-hitting close-range weapon. To compensate, it lost all weapon mounts save for a turreted Small Universal.
The Imaginos also has new ship sprite, sounds and visual effects.
Revenant redesign!
- The revenant has a shiny new sprite and Arcjet Burner instead of drones.
Stenos redesign!
- The Stenos has a new sprite, new weapons loudout, and a new system: HYPERCOOLED AUTOLOADER.
When activated, this ship system builds flux and resets the cooldown of ALL WEAPONS.
Asura redesign!
- The Asura has a new sprite and slightly different weapons layout.
Kurmaraja redesign!
- The Kurmaraja has a heftier loadout now, and the Interdiction Array lights up when the system is active. New ship sprite.
Squilla-class Bomber replaced with Vespa-class Bomber
- The Vespa-class Bomber is outwardly similar to the Squilla, but has a micro Argus and single Fury torpedo, no shield, and burst jets.
New weapon - Scalaron Repeater
New weapon - Voidspear SRM Pod
New sound effects for a bunch of stuff I forgot what aaah help, at least 50% of sounds.json is different now so there's that. Notably, flux and engine sounds have been altered.
- Added some new portraits and descriptions
- Denoised and touched up all ship sprites.
REBALANCING
All ships have been rebalanced to make the faction more cohesive and balanced.
Rebalanced weapons slightly. Underused weapons have been buffed and overpowered weapons have been nerfed. I recommend people to take a look at the Solenoid Quench Gun.
Changed Sunjet PDE to work like a small version of the Sunfire PDE (Can turn)
Antiplasma Blaster renamed to Scalaron Blaster. Damage lowered, reload time improved.
Scalar Deracinator: The Scalar Deracinator no longer shows where the ship will end up, and you will be hit by incoming fire while charging.
Adjusted all logistics values and prices for 0.6.2a
Adjusted stock variants
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 21, 2014, 05:38:58 PM
Oh man. Right after I post about using the dev version, Cycerin comes in!
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Ishman on March 21, 2014, 06:10:16 PM
Wait, arcjet burners on the Revenant? Oh boy, time to try that out as my go-to for running down those cowardly AI!

Such content
very excite
much wow
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 21, 2014, 06:16:35 PM
Now to figure out how to use this with Exerelin. Maybe I'll just wait for an updated build of it on the github/bitbucket.

Nevermind, the current build on bitbucket already has the changes for this new version it seems. Wasn't written down.

Needed to edit Squilla to Vespa in the exerelin mod.

Now to play!
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: kazi on March 22, 2014, 12:28:50 AM
I really, really like the music, especially the Magnetic Caress track (the drumline, bass synth, and sidechaining are excellent).

A couple (hopefully helpful) comments:
-I'd consider reducing the music volume to about 60% of what it is now. iirc the vanilla tracks are very quiet so they don't drown other stuff out (only really an issue in battles). Not really a huge issue, but your tracks may possibly seem really loud when they are shuffled with the vanilla ambient track. I haven't actually checked this for your mod ingame (since it requires listening for a long time to check) but ran into this issue with my stuff, so take this with a grain of salt.
-There is a massive amount of clipping at 1:50 in the "Blackrock" ambient track.
-I want to see the full face of the guy in your male portrait but the suit gets in the way.  :(
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Kazzthal on March 22, 2014, 12:36:35 AM
One of my personal favorites :)

Thank you Lord Cycerin, you do a fantastic job there !

EDIT: This error apeared while loading with exerelin :(

java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull spec [brdy_stormcrow] not found!
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.OOoO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.HullVariantSpec.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.õ00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.new(Unknown Source)

EDIT 2 : I'm no programer or so, but I found that the data for the Stormcrow hull in the "ship_data.csv" is missing... I will give it some values tho :P

Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 22, 2014, 01:50:27 AM
One of my personal favorites :)

Thank you Lord Cycerin, you do a fantastic job there !

EDIT: This error apeared while loading with exerelin :(

java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull spec [brdy_stormcrow] not found!
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.OOoO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.specs.HullVariantSpec.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.õ00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.new(Unknown Source)


I don't think the Stormcrow is even still in the new version.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Kazzthal on March 22, 2014, 01:56:58 AM
Then why Exerelin is asking for it?

It is the first time this happens to me with both this mods

EDIT: Tha game is still crashing because of the Stormcrow & NevermoreB  ???
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 22, 2014, 02:05:33 AM
Then why Exerelin is asking for it?

It is the first time this happens to me with both this mods

EDIT: Tha game is still crashing because of the Stormcrow & NevermoreB  ???
What version of Exerelin are you using? 0.632 isn't updated for this version anyway. The dev build on bitbucket is better, but still requires you to edit the faction file to replace Squilla with Vespa.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Kazzthal on March 22, 2014, 02:16:39 AM
I am using that version of exerelin, I had to eliminate the BRDY mod folder & place it again, It now gives me the error you mentioned earlier about the Squilla wing

Thankx by the way.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Cycerin on March 22, 2014, 04:21:20 AM
Yeah, any Exerelin version must be manually edited to remove outdated references until Zaphide catches up.


-There is a massive amount of clipping at 1:50 in the "Blackrock" ambient track.

Intentional, actually. ;D

To elaborate, the entire track is fed through a huge signal chain intended to replicate the distortion you'd get out of listening to an old VHS, or a typical 1970s reverb/tape signal chain. The distortion is intended to feel like part of a vast, broken soundscape. Glad you like the soundtrack so far though. I feel like some places I might have gone overboard on the "coloring" of the mix, but the vision is for the soundtrack to be very warm, broken-down and synth-based.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Cycerin on March 23, 2014, 08:39:20 AM
I have to admit, I have no idea what you're talking about, Craig.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Taverius on March 23, 2014, 08:47:42 AM
So I'm playing this again, both in Exerelin and Uomoz.

Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Cycerin on March 25, 2014, 05:25:10 AM
Any problems with Exerelin are out of my reach. All weapons are used by variants at this point, so they should spawn. For a 100% exerelin experience you'll have to wait for Zaphide to catch up.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Mazuo on March 25, 2014, 09:30:38 PM
Love the new interdiction effect, still experimenting with its new loadout in combat.  Stenos seems a lot better, still not completely winning me over but the autoloader is very useful at times.

The nanolattice armor mod on the Imaginos states it can't be combined with any armor mods, but currently heavy armor can be placed on it.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Lopunny Zen on March 26, 2014, 03:21:25 AM
I thought corvettes were able to dock in carriers...in alot of other mods this is true...maybe in the future it might be able too?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Taverius on March 26, 2014, 03:53:06 AM
That's because in most mods Corvettes are large fighters, here the robberfly is a very small frigate.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Cycerin on March 26, 2014, 04:14:50 AM
I have no plans of making the Robberfly repairable in carriers.

The nanolattice armor mod on the Imaginos states it can't be combined with any armor mods, but currently heavy armor can be placed on it.

Damn, forgot to fix that. Thanks for the report.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: sarducardun on April 02, 2014, 08:28:35 AM
I'm getting a sqiulla fighter wing not found error upon starting campaign. I re-downloaded the mod to no avail.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Nanao-kun on April 02, 2014, 12:06:14 PM
I'm getting a sqiulla fighter wing not found error upon starting campaign. I re-downloaded the mod to no avail.
Are you using any other mod? You might be using Exerelin, which will require you to edit the faction file in the Exerelin folder. Change Squilla to Vespa.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Cycerin on April 04, 2014, 07:12:59 AM
Please clarify which mods you are running when posting bug reports. :)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: SpaceRiceBowl on April 04, 2014, 12:07:43 PM
I'm pretty sure its the Kadur causing the crash
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: DIEHARD25 on April 09, 2014, 10:58:16 PM
Nice mod, Cyceryn ;)

Blackrock is my favorite faction in Starsector. Incredible sprites, sir!

Best regards, Konstantin
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Kotatsu on April 19, 2014, 01:12:14 PM
Yeah I am getting the same error as the other guy in previous post.
It says that it's missing some hull brdy_squilla. I am using the mod Exerelin btw and all other mods work respectively together.
Just not this one. I can't seem to understand what the person said by modifying something in the faction file. I can't find squilla anywhere.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Nanao-kun on April 19, 2014, 02:29:25 PM
Yeah I am getting the same error as the other guy in previous post.
It says that it's missing some hull brdy_squilla. I am using the mod Exerelin btw and all other mods work respectively together.
Just not this one. I can't seem to understand what the person said by modifying something in the faction file. I can't find squilla anywhere.
You'll want to use the Exerelin dev version, since the current 0.632 is outdated.

https://bitbucket.org/Zaphide/exerelin/overview

If you look to the right, there's a download button.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Cycerin on April 20, 2014, 01:36:43 PM
https://soundcloud.com/fastland/desdinova

mod news today, I made this track after playing USS at night in the space of a day, and DR has been helping me polish the faction in relation to the SS+ integration, which means there'll be a polish release of BRDY soon too.

Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on April 20, 2014, 02:20:26 PM
Dat song tho. Good to listen to while working  ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Nanao-kun on April 20, 2014, 02:37:27 PM
https://soundcloud.com/fastland/desdinova

mod news today, I made this track after playing USS at night in the space of a day, and DR has been helping me polish the faction in relation to the SS+ integration, which means there'll be a polish release of BRDY soon too.


Is that the Desdinova's theme song?

I wonder how Imaginos and Nevermore sound.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Taverius on April 20, 2014, 04:28:50 PM
Nevermore sound.
I always thought of it like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEizJ-TWua0).
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: JDCollie on April 22, 2014, 11:14:37 AM
Nevermore sound.
I always thought of it like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEizJ-TWua0).

Awwwww yeah. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without the Nevermore. That thing has been my flagship for so long that I feel almost naked without it. Even in Uomoz, I just run with a Nevermore as my primary, a Scarab as my mopping up ship (I'd use a Desdinova, but the logistics profile is almost as expensive as the Nevermore, thus negating the purpose of a mopping up ship :P  ) and a hound or two for storage and boarding purposes.

Easily my favorite ship in all of modded Starsector :D

Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Cycerin on April 23, 2014, 06:49:08 AM
You could think of it as inspired by the ship or whatever. I might make more down the road.

Void beast update:
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/HdVHU0s.jpg)

Have some crappy concept art written on tax papers. Work continues on figuring out what Void Beasts are going to be like. So far I've had a lot of fun making a bunch of audio for them. Their "vocalizations" have settled on a comfortable artistic direction right now, sort of like an animal made out of tortured machinery voicing its discontent.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/voidbeastsfxteaser.mp3

Here's a bunch of attack/misc sound concepts along with some vocalizations.
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: ValkyriaL on April 23, 2014, 08:37:27 AM
I also have the Void beats death screech that you gave me, shiez its loud and scary.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Sabaton on April 23, 2014, 09:58:17 AM
They sound just like the geth buzzing, full of meaning for the other members of the race, ear raping for the rest...
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Cycerin on April 24, 2014, 05:44:20 PM
http://www.twitch.tv/cycerin/c/4126483

Some mantis pilotin' in USS dev
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: spudcosmic on May 01, 2014, 07:24:49 AM
Is it possible to disable this mod's soundtrack? I think removing the sounds.json file would also disable all of the ship sound effects too. Personally I think that mod soundtracks should be separate downloads.

Edit: Just wanted to say I figured it out by editing the sounds.json and removing the custom soundtrack part of it.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: llama on May 06, 2014, 07:55:14 AM
Cool mod~ (http://i.minus.com/ijQOGw8I0Nqbp.gif)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Cycerin on May 06, 2014, 03:30:25 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/kl6TOfv.png)

Something for the next release: The Scorpion-class Destroyer.

It flies a lot like a huge Scarab, and features the powerful Stinger Drone, which essentially is a self-propelled, miniaturized Gale Cannon.

Is it possible to disable this mod's soundtrack? I think removing the sounds.json file would also disable all of the ship sound effects too. Personally I think that mod soundtracks should be separate downloads.

Edit: Just wanted to say I figured it out by editing the sounds.json and removing the custom soundtrack part of it.

I'll provide a music-less version with the next release.

Cool mod~ (http://i.minus.com/ijQOGw8I0Nqbp.gif)

Nice. Nevermores are amazing with combat spec.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Ishman on May 06, 2014, 06:19:30 PM
That blue glow under-lighting the nose of the ship... Hnrgh.

Also that looks like an AMAZING complement to BRDY fleet comps, as they don't have any large ships to anchor fights around until you get to the Karkinos, which is not exactly something you can field multiples of without completely overkilling the enemy. I discount the Gondactylus because of the Ai's turbo derp handling of lopsided batterys.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Taverius on May 06, 2014, 11:08:26 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/kl6TOfv.png)

Something for the next release: The Scorpion-class Destroyer.

It flies a lot like a huge Scarab, and features the powerful Stinger Drone, which essentially is a self-propelled, miniaturized Gale Cannon.
Oh awesome.

I mentioned before I felt the need for a Scarab-equivalent dessy, and it looks awesome to boot :D
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Lopunny Zen on May 11, 2014, 06:27:09 AM
very nice...though quite honestly i think the robberfly should be a type of fighter wing....since its staple to have corvettes be single or double wing fighter wings...otherwise it seems useless because why would i use that over the stronger fighters that CAN repair and dock themselves. If the corvette could dock i would definitely buy it but as of now its just a pile of tinfoil waste over the frigates which are the same price almost
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on May 11, 2014, 02:41:44 PM
I typically use Robberflies to stiffen point-capping fighter forces, actually. They're a good low-cost screening unit, and if you need to, you can install a shield generator on them.

EDIT: and now that I've had a chance to play with the new version, Dart SRMs turn Robberflies into fighter-mincing machines.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on May 12, 2014, 06:01:31 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/HPfzQsW.jpg)

DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK 0.6.5! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip)
!!! Important note: This mod now requires ShaderLib by DarkRevenant in addition to LazyLib. !!!


NOTES: Mod is now dependent on the mod ShaderLib by DarkRevenant in addition to LazyLib. Download here. (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=7958.0) To run Blackrock Drive Yards, you need to install the separate mod ShaderLib.

Changelog:

0.6.5
General:

- Added dynamic lights support for all BRDY content
- Added anisotropic flare effects to Deracinator systems
- Added Scorpion-class Destroyer and Stinger Drone
- Added Dart SRM/ Light Dart SRM
- Added Quill Rocket Pod
- Renamed Achilles MRM to Ajax MRM and Revenant-class Cruiser to Knight-class Cruiser
- Rebalanced many ships and weapons
- Renamed Solenoid Quench Cannon to Ferrocannon
- Renamed Solenoid Quench Gun to Ferrogun
- Changed Scalaron Repeater to be a constant-fire weapon
- Changed Quill Rockets to be kinetic weapons with the Shard crit mechanic + new appearance/sound
- Changed Fury-class Torpedo engine style
- Lowered the volume of the Magnetic Caress combat music track
- Updated Typheus sprite/ship
- Updated a few other sprites
- Updated some descriptions
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Lopunny Zen on May 17, 2014, 04:15:51 PM
That's because in most mods Corvettes are large fighters, here the robberfly is a very small frigate.

I know it is but noone uses it...its kinda worthless...what this faction needs is a single ship corvette that can dock and refit...the powerhouse of the fighter/bomber wings....something expensive but would help a Carrierneer as the leader of the fighters. A buffed robberfly seems like it would perform just that role as this seems to be one of the few mods to have something like that....it would be nice to see
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: Euqocelbbog on May 17, 2014, 10:24:57 PM
That's because in most mods Corvettes are large fighters, here the robberfly is a very small frigate.

I know it is but noone uses it...its kinda worthless...what this faction needs is a single ship corvette that can dock and refit...the powerhouse of the fighter/bomber wings....something expensive but would help a Carrierneer as the leader of the fighters. A buffed robberfly seems like it would perform just that role as this seems to be one of the few mods to have something like that....it would be nice to see

Nah, the Robberfly is a great ship if you outfit it and use it right. I find that a Light Needler and some hard-hitting weaponry make it a fantastic strike ship. Otherwise, it fills its intended role as an expendable skirmish ship perfectly fine.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on May 17, 2014, 10:37:02 PM
Its also one of the best capture ships in game for chases.

I always keep 2 in fleet regardless of the fleet makeup.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Lopunny Zen on May 17, 2014, 10:50:38 PM
eh you have better options and the blackrock theme sucks...i can give you a better theme from an old game that would suit them if you like
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6 - NEW VERSION RELEASED
Post by: sarducardun on May 18, 2014, 01:48:52 AM
That's because in most mods Corvettes are large fighters, here the robberfly is a very small frigate.

I know it is but noone uses it...its kinda worthless...what this faction needs is a single ship corvette that can dock and refit...the powerhouse of the fighter/bomber wings....something expensive but would help a Carrierneer as the leader of the fighters. A buffed robberfly seems like it would perform just that role as this seems to be one of the few mods to have something like that....it would be nice to see

Nah, the Robberfly is a great ship if you outfit it and use it right. I find that a Light Needler and some hard-hitting weaponry make it a fantastic strike ship. Otherwise, it fills its intended role as an expendable skirmish ship perfectly fine.

With a technology character mount an LPG on it.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on May 18, 2014, 02:32:13 AM
The Robberfly rules, it costs nothing and can be really effective. To state the obvious, not every ship in the game can be amazing, because then no ship would stand out.

eh you have better options and the blackrock theme sucks...i can give you a better theme from an old game that would suit them if you like

Lmao, yes, the mod could truly prosper under your guidance.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Gothars on May 18, 2014, 09:47:42 AM
@Lopunny Zen: you've got an PM

I had to delete some posts, sorry to everyone who tried to help.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on May 19, 2014, 04:30:36 AM
http://gfycat.com/AgreeablePlaintiveHippopotamus

A knockoff Desdinova is still a Desdinova, apparently. (not cool after you run out of missiles)

(might reduce the amount of missiles this thing can mount)

Spoiler
Rebel BRDY faction? Pirate knockoff? Not telling yet.
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Psycho Landlord on May 19, 2014, 01:20:56 PM
(might reduce the amount of missiles this thing can mount)

This is a terrible idea. Add more. Let the Circus begin.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Lopunny Zen on May 20, 2014, 11:04:24 AM
really...deleting my comments....well...facts are facts and i wanted to help but if you want to laugh at me for trying to be honest and help and be sarcastic then fine you can fail on your own in this mod..
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: ValkyriaL on May 20, 2014, 11:24:17 AM
Considering this is the most popular mod on the forum, and hes got this far without your help, i don't think he's going to need it. ::)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on May 20, 2014, 11:47:56 AM
If we're all deluded and blind to your genius, blow our minds by making your own mod. Nothing's stopping you from tweaking BRDY to your own specifications either. I must admit I fail to see the value in most of your suggestions, though, but I do read them.

If your posts had a different tone, and some actual argumentative weight to them, people would leave you alone.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: MShadowy on May 20, 2014, 11:59:17 AM
really...deleting my comments....well...facts are facts and i wanted to help but if you want to laugh at me for trying to be honest and help and be sarcastic then fine you can fail on your own in this mod..

Please try not to remain at level of such insightful commentary as "the blackrock theme sucks", submitting music someone else has made, and complaining about something being not to your tastes.  You've not really given anyone any reason to treat your opinion as carrying much weight.  As was mentioned in the number of posts Gothars removed, you are actually bad at critique, seeing as actual critique genuinely tells the recipient something meaningful that could potentially be used to avoid the same pitfalls in the future.

The only thing in which this might be said to be the case is what you've said about the Robberfly, and that is merely your opinion; an opinion with which Cycerin, and many others besides, clearly disagrees.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: MesoTroniK on May 20, 2014, 12:02:09 PM
Lopunny, BRDY is considered to be one of the most popular, polished, and fun faction mods around. Your "criticisms" of them are based on your own opinions that not a single other person shares. Why is this? Maybe instead of saying how every mod sucks and how they should be changed, maybe you should mod them yourself and retain these changes on your own computer. If you intend to keep advising people on their work, wording it in constructive non abrasive manners would go a very long way to having it taken seriously.

Or better yet make your own mod, it is your world and you are the creator; the only limit is your imagination.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Hashmander on May 20, 2014, 06:37:18 PM
Amazing mod. There seems to be a problem with blackrock hullmods though; can't seem to load the optional BRDY hullmods after you take them off a ship.

Edit: the problem seems to be with the mod's hull_mods.csv file. Change unlocked to TRUE for the assault and targeting suite and they become available
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on May 21, 2014, 03:02:51 AM
Weird, I can swear I fixed that last version. Might have something to do with the forking me and DR have been doing. Thanks for the report! And for anyone else, you can indeed fix it by opening hull_mods.csv and changing that field to TRUE.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: JDCollie on May 21, 2014, 08:03:54 AM
If we're all deluded and blind to your genius, blow our minds by making your own mod. Nothing's stopping you from tweaking BRDY to your own specifications either. I must admit I fail to see the value in most of your suggestions, though, but I do read them.

If your posts had a different tone, and some actual argumentative weight to them, people would leave you alone.
I'm still waiting with bated breath for the Lolpunny Zen mod revelation. I'm sure we will all be devastated by it's earth (or star)-shattering brilliance, balance, and ingenuity. Until then however, I'm going to slog through Cycerin's (obviously inferior, but what can we do) efforts.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Erick Doe on May 21, 2014, 08:07:31 AM
WARNING!

Several posts have already been removed to avoid this thread from getting derailed any further. Let's get back to discussing Blackrock Drive Yards and let's refrain from making personal attacks or baiting for responses.

Thank you.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cathair on May 22, 2014, 05:17:23 PM
I like flying Robberflies a lot- someone once said that they're as close as you can get to piloting a fighter in Starsector, and that's how I feel about them.

I don't use more than a couple for chase/mop-up duties in my fleets, though, because the AI is terrible at using them. I don't know what makes the AI want to continually charge at things and fight at about a third of their weapons' effective range in an unshielded piece of tinfoil, but I want it to stop.  :(

Same holds true of many Blackrock ships, like the poor Gonodactylus, which (in my experience) is frequently outperformed by the good ol' Enforcer in the AI's hands. Especially if that Enforcer has Blackrock guns on it.  ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: IRID1UM on May 23, 2014, 12:07:23 PM
Hi,
I got this error twice, any thoughts what causes it? I'm using a whole lot of other factions aswell, maybe they remove a location where BRDY fleets spawn?
Thanks
Spoiler
2509714 [Thread-5] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  - java.lang.NullPointerException
java.lang.NullPointerException
   at data.scripts.world.blackrock.BRSpawnPoint.rndSystem(BRSpawnPoint.java:62)
   at data.scripts.world.blackrock.BRSpawnPoint.spawnFleet(BRSpawnPoint.java:38)
   at data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint.advance(BaseSpawnPoint.java:61)
   at data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint.advance(BaseSpawnPoint.java:45)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.BaseLocation.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.A.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.B.ØÓÒ000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.oOOO.A.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on May 26, 2014, 06:40:21 AM
Thanks for the report, fixed it for the next release.

Same holds true of many Blackrock ships, like the poor Gonodactylus, which (in my experience) is frequently outperformed by the good ol' Enforcer in the AI's hands. Especially if that Enforcer has Blackrock guns on it.  ;D

I'd give the Gonodactylus another chance after the recent patches, it's one of the fastest/most mobile destroyers in the game with Arcjet Burners, and also probably the most durable with its 6000 hull/ 800 armor (the Enforcer has 5000/750), the odd weapon layout keeping these considerable strengths somewhat in check. When equipped with lots of rockets/missiles, it becomes a very powerful fire support platform, and you can also use the central turret for PD if you want to make a more reliable AI Gonodactylus.

Take the Shrimp into your hearts  :'(
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on May 26, 2014, 06:53:33 AM
I've always liked the Gonny as a player ship, but the AI abysmal at asymmetrical ships - the gonny does better than others because the side guns can nearly or just about fire forward, but it still spends a lot of time rotating to bring them about and then going nope nope nope and rotating back and then trying to bring them about again and so on.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on May 26, 2014, 07:09:59 AM
For the most part, the AI attempts to face targets, because all turrets except the rear turret can fire forwards. It used to be much worse, when it was an actual broadsider.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on May 26, 2014, 09:29:16 AM
Its better, yeah. Its still great fun as a player ship :D

Haven't played that much with the new version (in SS+) ...

Loving the scorpion so far (waiting on the description essay :D) though I find it surprisingly inflexible as far as setups. interesting ship!

Still not grokking the new Kurmaraja - I am less effective in it than the old one, which I never found to be an upgrade over a Nevermore.

'Frank View of Exchanges' guh ... words ... in ... wrong ... order! And I can't make ship names that long as a player - I shall never fly the BRS We Haven't Met But You're A Great Fan Of Mine D:
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on May 26, 2014, 10:04:53 AM
Hahahah. That one is almost inexcusable, I must admit. Evil. Worst Banks tribute ever.

Yeah the Scorpion is strange - in spite of having 3 medium universals, you pay a high price for specializing it too much. Which again means it can lead to some highly interesting fleet roles. It's very new still so I'm interested in feedback on it.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Nanao-kun on May 26, 2014, 11:09:57 AM
Hahahah. That one is almost inexcusable, I must admit. Evil. Worst Banks tribute ever.

Yeah the Scorpion is strange - in spite of having 3 medium universals, you pay a high price for specializing it too much. Which again means it can lead to some highly interesting fleet roles. It's very new still so I'm interested in feedback on it.
I actually like the Scorpion a lot. It looks great, it's plenty fun, and I enjoy having it as my flagship.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on May 26, 2014, 11:33:59 AM
I'll post anything I notice abut the Scorpion, but it looks pretty well balanced as it is.

I did notice the Gonny is somewhat less useful in SS+ due to how hard it is to get a hold of burn-speed enhancements at the stage of the game where a sturdy, low-upkeep destroyer with a decent cargo is so attractive - I found burn 4 to be a little crippling on the map. I want a BRDY tug :P
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on May 27, 2014, 02:55:52 AM
English isn't my first language, but in the Hammerclaw description, shouldn't it say 'is a useful shock weapon' instead of 'is an useful shock weapon'?

Also, Large Gale Battery plox :D
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Mazuo on May 27, 2014, 03:07:47 AM
You're correct, though I can't say I ever noticed it.  "It's is not undergoing repairs" in the base game I've found grating though, heh.  As for the large gale, I want one and fear it at the same time.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on May 28, 2014, 07:39:38 AM
"It's is not undergoing repairs" in the base game I've found grating though, heh.  As for the large gale, I want one and fear it at the same time.
It might be better if it was some gatling array thingy to prevent distant triple gale alpha ... maybe?

In other news, I found a setup the AI is pretty happy with on the Gonny. Its still not very good with the HClaw or the burn jet, but those are issues with comparable vanilla functionality too. The Scorp is overall a better ship for the AI to fly, I think.

Finally found a Stenos setup I'm happy with, and I'm very happy with it indeed. 2 sunjets, a squall battery and 2 scalaron blasters make short work of pretty much anything ... took a while to 'see' the arcs to ensure I had good enough PD coverage to protect the wet napkins it calls armor.

Now if only I can find another 50 or so OP so I can slap in bulkheads - because I always take some hull damage with it - engine and thruster mods - because it handles like a stricken oil tanker with a broken rudder ...

Still, a much more interesting ship compared to the old one with the drone, and I'd be hard pressed to decide if I'd rather fly a Nevermore or a Stenos now, so well done Cycerin :D

I am still failing at finding a use for the Ironweaver. I haven't found a ship where I'm not better served by putting a Squall Battery in there instead and using Ferroguns or Scalarons to burst shields, since the effective range is the same. Any suggestions?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Shield on May 28, 2014, 11:43:02 AM
Ironweaver on a Onslaught is beautiful
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on May 29, 2014, 10:16:22 AM
Ironweaver on a Onslaught is beautiful
Maybe, I like to fly 'faction' fleets using only 'faction' weapons where possible, so I've only tried it on BRDY ships.

@Cycerin: Something is slightly off with the Asura sprite; whenever I fly it - which is often - my eye is drawn to the engine flames coming right out of the rear phase coils.

I think I'm starting to 'see' the Kurmaraja, but I'm also starting to think the shield damage conversion is unnecessarily punishing on it. As it is both caps are pretty awful at being shot at and require subsystem use for active avoidance, they could stand being differentiated some in that respect.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Ishman on May 29, 2014, 12:28:54 PM
Technically the karkinos had been tankier than an Onslaught for quite awhile (I don't remember the exact stat differentiation since cycerin's last balance pass though) but the positioning of it's weapons has always resulted in rolling blackouts across most any area it takes damage - for me at least.

And I've always found the ironweaver to be REALLY strong in knife fights with a manuverable vessel when you don't feel you can spare the flux spikes that come with scalarons, or you want to be able to disassemble more ships with it (also the ironweaver uses cycerin's on hit-effects so it's listed dps is a lot lower than it actually is). Of course my favoring of it might just be because I often just use it to swat annoying bomber groups or fighters. Man I hate being the victim of a well-aimed bombing run :U
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Mazuo on May 29, 2014, 10:19:10 PM
I've only been using it a while, but mounted on an Asura the burst damage of the Ironweaver can really catch ships off-guard.  Followed by some Scalaron Blaster fire, very unhappy enemies.  I think I'd prefer the Ferrocannon with its lower OP cost, but it lacks the excellent shard damage and its fire rate is nearly 3 times slower with only a little more kinetic damage to compensate.  It's a tough balancing act, but I think it could use a little more love even with its sniping potential.  I need to use it a lot more though to really see.

It's a goofy build, and I'm not really sure how effective it is, but I've been using the Scorpion with triple Scalaron Repeaters.  Something does seem off with its listed numbers though as it really doesn't seem possible it's generating as much flux as it says it does.  The damage numbers on the weapon itself may be a touch low as even with the AI holding down the trigger on 3 of them and most shots connecting, shield systems do not seem to be as under as much pressure as I'd think they should be.  It appears to be a lesser version of the Rift Cannon, so a little more punch would be nice.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on May 29, 2014, 10:39:37 PM
I've only been using it a while, but mounted on an Asura the burst damage of the Ironweaver can really catch ships off-guard.  Followed by some Scalaron Blaster fire, very unhappy enemies.  I think I'd prefer the Ferrocannon with its lower OP cost, but it lacks the excellent shard damage and its fire rate is nearly 3 times slower with only a little more kinetic damage to compensate.  It's a tough balancing act, but I think it could use a little more love even with its sniping potential.  I need to use it a lot more though to really see.

I tried it out, but found double Ferrocannons and Squall Battery gave me marginally better shield popping with much better killshots on armor, plus more flux efficiency, plus 10 OP to play with for extra Flux/Mods.

Its pretty much the only (applicable) ship where I don't use Scalaron Blasters as main weapons.

It's a goofy build, and I'm not really sure how effective it is, but I've been using the Scorpion with triple Scalaron Repeaters.  Something does seem off with its listed numbers though as it really doesn't seem possible it's generating as much flux as it says it does.  The damage numbers on the weapon itself may be a touch low as even with the AI holding down the trigger on 3 of them and most shots connecting, shield systems do not seem to be as under as much pressure as I'd think they should be.  It appears to be a lesser version of the Rift Cannon, so a little more punch would be nice.
I've found it a little underwhelming too.

I too tried it out on my scorpions, but ended up with a shredder battery in the middle, 2 scalaron blaster, and 2 voidspears.

The RoF is a bit painful at times but even the AI can keep pretty much anything destroyer-sized or small in perma-overload with it.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Mazuo on May 29, 2014, 11:31:20 PM
It gets me back to wondering if blasters are simply too wonderful or the others need improvement.  Fury torps seem just about perfect now where they're scary but not capable of vaporizing targets by themselves.  Things like the Antimatter Lance and the blasters though are so powerful that shields up or down, you're in trouble when they fire at you.

I'll have to try the ferrocannons paired with a squall battery.  I neglect both weapons far too often.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on May 30, 2014, 02:18:01 AM
More of an issue with your other energy options being underwhelming, I think.

Sunfires are nice in theory nice, except you pay as much as a Gale to mount something with 250 less range and less dps. Lets not even compare them to Squalls. Sunjets compare about as well to INMs.

Repeaters don't give the shield pressure you expect, and against most subcapitals Dual Shards have more DPS at the same effective range for less OP and much better flux. Against armor they're also pretty meh because you can't aim for that chunk of armor you've blown off.

Blasters, on the other hand, are a perfectly viable competitor to Ferroguns and Squalls and Dual Shards - compared against each they're rather finely balanced in pros and cons, and since you so often have to split between energy and ballistic, its just so attractive to:

End result, when I'm looking at ballistic/ballistic or ballistic/universal I go squalls/ferroguns (Asura), but since the option is so often energy/universal or energy/ballistic, Blasters is it, because they're the only ones on parity with the ballistic weapons they share a ship with.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on May 31, 2014, 03:29:02 PM
Hmm, the blasters might be a tiny bit too powerful after I made them fire more shots per minute. Will have to think about that one. This is really useful feedback. :)

Ferroguns are generally worth the OP now?

The Repeater will probably get tweaked a bit more. I'm considering lowering the range on it and increasing the damage.

Here's a fun little snippet of the new Deracinator distortion shaders. Going to be tweaked more in the future.
http://gfycat.com/MadKindChimneyswift
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: HELMUT on May 31, 2014, 03:38:05 PM
Balloon Karkinos!

Honestly i don't know about the charge-up, seems a bit silly. The pop up however looks good.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on May 31, 2014, 04:04:15 PM
The chargeup is a bit weird at the moment, so it'll probably be changed. I like the impact a lot, though.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on June 01, 2014, 02:09:08 AM
Ferroguns are generally worth the OP now?
I'd say so.

They're somewhat less attractive on BRDY ships themselves because their advantage cards compared to Dual Shards or Blasters for shield popping is flux efficiency while doing it, and BRDY ships aren't generally suited to the kind of drag-out fight where that matters very much, but as far as weapon-to-weapon comparison yeah. Ferrocannons not so much.

On the Asura, where I find being able to stay submerged for longer is a big plus, they're my anti-shield weapon of choice.

Most missiles are pretty good too ...

I don't like giving Quills to AI ships because unlike Annihilators they'll get shot at live, active ships still able to move and generally miss a whole lot, but that's not an issue with the weapon itself.

The Ajax is not quite there yet - the turn rate is too low to reliably hit the engine on anything small that's facing you, and they're too slow to catch up to fleeing frigates at a greater range than Voidspears can. Against anything larger, you're better off unloading Furys on them.

I do want medium-mount Dart and Fury launchers :)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: HELMUT on June 01, 2014, 03:11:45 AM
Ferroguns are better than Shard cannons when you attempt to overload the target's shield. The AI is pretty good at raising and lowering it when under pressure, the shard gun use a stream of bullet that usually allow the AI to react fast enough to lower its shield but it rarely see it coming with a Ferrogun.

Ferroguns are better when boated, then you can really make an "overloader" boat and disabling all the key targets on the battlefield. Letting other ships dealing with the armor. Not as versatile as a shard boat though. Did this with a "ferro-enforcer" and was constantly hunting shielded ships to overload them.

For the Ajax, it's probably the most infuriating thing i ever encountered in Uomoz mod. Fast and very hard to intercept, that's the main reason i never chase BRDY freighters in this mod.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on June 01, 2014, 09:05:30 AM
[shamelessselfpromotion]If only you had a Citadel Nova-class cruiser. Super durable engines, Power Cruise and a Supernova array make it a great chase ship!
[/shamelessselfpromotion]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Ishman on June 01, 2014, 10:52:50 AM
Shard cannons can be outright used against armor though - I still don't really like where the ferrocannon is, similarly ranged large weapon mounts have better dps profiles (if not as reliable a burst spike to overload with since the projectile is so much faster than comparable guns) and there are much longer ranged weapons as well. Especially at the OP cost, I don't like it, and would rather have some railguns/needlers in small slots supporting squall batterys in my large. Gauss cannons on my support ships are still more attractive as long range support fire.

Blasters feel like they're perfect as they are right now, but I'd bump the OP cost up a bit more, you can get a lot of very dangerous alpha strikes out of them with magazines and combat skills.

I'd still like a few more medium missile mount options, as it is I use the quill rocket pod everwhere it'll fit (SHARDS HNRGH) because I can't stand wasting the OP on MRM pods :U only useful on destroyers/frigates where you're planning on killing ONE capital ship, as otherwise every other small (non-missile) weapon in the game has more total dps.

The dart is also a REALLY nice use of those normally useless small missile slots (I'm going to be honest and say the only times I see annihilator rockets hit anything are when it's me eating them or fighters using them, can't stand these either, so much dps going into deep space (I'm really bad at blowing torpedoes I equip on the first cruiser sized thing I see))


EDIT: Also, pleasings 2 haves a large quill rocket variant? I Have A Need to create an ENTIRELY shard based fleet (SHARD ENERGY WEAPONS?!).
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Mazuo on June 01, 2014, 11:49:25 PM
I've pretty much done a 180 on Quills ever since they became Kinetic.  Used to hate them, now put them on nearly every ship that can field a few.  Help immensely with beating on shields and if they get through they're not ineffective as the extra damage can knock out systems and do a fair chunk of hull damage.  AI ships do like to try and fire them at fighters though which I'm not sure can be helped.  It's not entirely worthless, they do get lucky hits, but I'd rather save the ammo for larger targets.

Darts I really love the performance, but I'm not sold on the aesthetic or the OP cost (3/6 sounds better to me).  For whatever reason they just don't mesh in my mind with the other BRDY weaponry.  Not sure if they just need different trails or flux buildup on firing or what.  Or nothing at all and I'm crazy, that's an option too.  The Ajax I haven't fielded in enough battles to truly assess, but the low ammo counts and how frequently they're shot down leaves me unimpressed to not put something else in their place.  Remind me a lot of the base Salamanders which I never liked much either.  That could be simply personal preference however.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: sarducardun on June 07, 2014, 08:39:29 AM
Got this running 0.6.5 with a lot of other mods, it occurred randomly while I was still lv1. Had this issue with an earlier version yesterday too but I assumed that was due to not updating.

java.lang.NullPointerException
   at data.scripts.world.blackrock.BRSpawnPoint.rndSystem(BRSpawnPoint.java:62)
   at data.scripts.world.blackrock.BRSpawnPoint.spawnFleet(BRSpawnPoint.java:38)
   at data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint.advance(BaseSpawnPoint.java:63)
   at data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint.advance(BaseSpawnPoint.java:46)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.BaseLocation.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.A.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.B.ØÓÒ000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.oOOO.A.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: ValkyriaL on June 07, 2014, 10:21:24 AM
What mods are you running?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: sarducardun on June 07, 2014, 10:45:35 AM
Mods:
ASP
BRDY
combat radar
eleutheria
exi
hiigran
JP
lzy lib
leading pip
neutrino
Nihil
SHI
Gedune
nomads
TUP
valk
weapons pack
Shaderlib basic
zorg

all up to date.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: TimeDiver on June 07, 2014, 12:06:04 PM
Got this running 0.6.5 with a lot of other mods, it occurred randomly while I was still lv1. Had this issue with an earlier version yesterday too but I assumed that was due to not updating.

Spoiler
java.lang.NullPointerException
   at data.scripts.world.blackrock.BRSpawnPoint.rndSystem(BRSpawnPoint.java:62)
   at data.scripts.world.blackrock.BRSpawnPoint.spawnFleet(BRSpawnPoint.java:38)
   at data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint.advance(BaseSpawnPoint.java:63)
   at data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint.advance(BaseSpawnPoint.java:46)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.BaseLocation.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.A.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.B.ØÓÒ000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.oOOO.A.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
[close]

Yeah, I got this one too; Cycerin replied a page back, that this bug got fixed in the next (as-yet-unreleased) version, but Dark.Revenant fixed the bug indepedently in the latest version (v1.4.3) of Starsector+, which overrides BDY's + other supported mods native scripts with its own, including the buggy one in question.

So loading Starsector+ alongside your current mod setup (YIKES!) may resolve that particular error (likely requires a new campaign), but might make the game harder; quite a few fleets will be leveled and have randomized loadouts, and stability might still be an issue (depending on whether you run a 64-bit OS+64-bit Java).
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: sarducardun on June 07, 2014, 12:36:42 PM
Yea, the system runs uomoz so it 'should' wun SS+ too, so long as it doesn't clash with anything else, most likely candidate for that is the weapons pack. I kept meaning to try SS+ out anyways, this is as good a time as any.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on June 10, 2014, 10:45:41 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/TxCz8iZ.png)

Sunstorm PDE.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: ValkyriaL on June 10, 2014, 11:35:21 AM
I can smell the amount of broken fun and crying enemies that weapon is going to bring.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on June 10, 2014, 01:16:04 PM
Nobody can hear you weep in space.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on June 10, 2014, 01:25:46 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/TxCz8iZ.png)

Sunstorm PDE.
Large mount, I presume?

See now I want the big mount on the Stenos to be a uni, cause I don't enjoy flying caps much.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on June 10, 2014, 01:42:02 PM
Stenos might get a large universal instead of ballistic. We'll see. There will be a few large universals across the board now, though, and possibly more slot changes.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on June 10, 2014, 05:53:51 PM
Heck, why don't you go all "Citadel" on the Stenos and make a lot of mounts on the universals! It is, after all, a weapons testing ship, and Blackrock has diverse weapon families it needs to test together for SCIENCE!
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: GeometryPrime on June 14, 2014, 08:22:28 PM
Posted this earlier, but is there any way to make the new system show up in a save that was started before the mod? feels weird to have the mod but never use any ships from it.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: CrashToDesktop on June 14, 2014, 08:29:47 PM
No, you can't.  The system is created when the save file is created (as well as fleet spawning, I believe, but don't quote me).  So you can't do that.  Once you have created a save, can't be changed.

You can always enable dev mode, start a new save with the mods you want, and give yourself everything you need to get back to the status of your old save file.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on June 15, 2014, 07:12:45 AM
More content = forsake your old saves. That's just how it works, sorry. :(

Been making a normal map for the Karkinos, material map to come. I'm also tweaking the sprites as I do this to save myself work down the road. Still, I think it looks amazing.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/tIQ1Sbb.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/HtNEH9c.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/XvdhLjk.jpg)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: GeometryPrime on June 15, 2014, 12:05:57 PM
No, you can't.  The system is created when the save file is created (as well as fleet spawning, I believe, but don't quote me).  So you can't do that.  Once you have created a save, can't be changed.

You can always enable dev mode, start a new save with the mods you want, and give yourself everything you need to get back to the status of your old save file.
Crap. Can you tell me how to enable dev mode?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: CrashToDesktop on June 15, 2014, 01:12:33 PM
Go to "Starsector/starsector-core/config" and open the the "settings.json"  On Line 10, change "false" to "true" and voila, dev mode is enabled.  It doesn't affect save files.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: GeometryPrime on June 15, 2014, 04:29:41 PM
Go to "Starsector/starsector-core/config" and open the the "settings.json"  On Line 10, change "false" to "true" and voila, dev mode is enabled.  It doesn't affect save files.
What do you use to open a .json file, and what do I do to edit the save?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Nanao-kun on June 15, 2014, 06:46:49 PM
What do you use to open a .json file
Notepad++ is pretty decent.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on June 16, 2014, 04:07:35 AM
Mods have to be designed from the ground up to continue from past saves, otherwise it's literally impossible. Blackrock needs to be part of a game from the start to work properly. The best thing to do is start anew in dev mode, give yourself money and exp, and then you won't have to go from the very start... still, it won't be the same, so I just advise you to let go of your current save and start fresh. There's no comfortable way to carry your stuff over 100%.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on June 23, 2014, 06:32:04 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/lazvdN9.png)

Mystery bow elevation shot. Guess which ship.
Spoiler
credit: Mshadowy
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: ValkyriaL on June 23, 2014, 06:38:21 AM
Karkinos, without a doubt.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on June 23, 2014, 06:49:50 AM
Revenant?

Either that or the Typheus.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Tartiflette on June 23, 2014, 07:23:23 AM
I'd say it's an upside down Typheus. It looks like a flight deck, and the two cylinder on the botom could be the ones on top of the Typheus sprite. (that or a Taiidan Saarkin Cho-class carrier)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Erick Doe on June 23, 2014, 07:31:05 AM
It can only be the Karkinos. No other ship has those antennae sticking out the sides. Unless that's where Mshadowy took some artistic freedom.  :)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on June 23, 2014, 07:32:30 AM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/LCkA1fi.png)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Taverius on June 23, 2014, 07:44:13 AM
Well hot damn, I like the central capacitor looking things in the middle of the right one :)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on June 23, 2014, 08:19:02 AM
That's the bottom.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: MShadowy on June 23, 2014, 08:21:48 AM
That's the bottom.

Yeah; currently working on the angles on this for a larger project.  It's partially for a background element and partially to help me visualize the shape of the hull.

And partially because it's just cool.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: ValkyriaL on June 23, 2014, 08:29:00 AM
Called it, how can people mistake that for anything else? ???
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: NCMagic on June 24, 2014, 11:45:04 AM
Ehm, I don't know if it's a bug since this isn't up to date with starsector +, but the starsystem blackrock drive yards normally shows up in, isn't there when I'm running it with Valkyrians and starsector +.
The weapons are in the trading hub (Sindrian Diktat).
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Sabaton on June 25, 2014, 06:51:32 AM
What about that pirated Deshindova you were teasing a while back>
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on July 26, 2014, 10:13:50 AM
Doing some travel + work on professional projects right now, and all my modding efforts have been involved in my joint project with DR (Knights Templar) during the summer, so work on Blackrock has been going quite slowly for a while.

I intend to drop a polish/content patch for Blackrock during August, though, and while feedback in the Mod Feedback Polls have been glowing, there seems to be a consensus that BR is still too powerful as a faction. I intend to do some more adjustments to bring it more in line with vanilla, although as a high-tech faction, individual ships must still remain powerful and specialized. To this end, any detailed feedback will be very useful.

What about that pirated Deshindova you were teasing a while back>

Not quite sure what's going to happen there.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Dragar on July 26, 2014, 10:51:36 AM
In that picture of the Karkinos, the left one; ...is it me or does it have a face in the middle of the ship? Above the core that glows ingame.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Doogie on July 26, 2014, 10:53:03 AM
In all honesty, Blackrock ships are nearly perfect as is. The ships are beautifully designed to be specialized, and that has made me almost always gravitate towards this faction in any game I start. They are also quite fun to fight against, especially now that there are generalized ships like the Scarab or Scorpion in there.
All in all, I'd say that this mod doesn't need any help.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Lolpingu on August 11, 2014, 02:16:50 AM
I love this faction the color scheme, ship designs and weapons are spot on.
However, I do have one problem with it - the weapons do have a fairly high flux buildup, which makes for some EXTREMELY problematic teammates.
The AI refuses to vent flux unless it is absolutely sure that it will not take any fire while doing so - however, it also makes liberal use of it's weapons regardless of their flux buildup. This means that not only is the AI not taking advantage of the Blackrock flux core to vent in combat, but it's also constantly overloading because it can't manage flux properly. This makes Blackrock teammates die left and right.
Consequently, it also makes fighting Blackrock ships ridiculously easy because they just charge in, fire all their weapons, build up a ton of flux and then get overloaded by a brief salvo from my ships, at which point it's already over.
This unfortunately makes the Blackrock faction a bit on the weak side, when compared to other factions, even the vanilla ones.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: HELMUT on August 11, 2014, 03:24:07 AM
Just out of curiosity, what ship were you piloting? Also what skill you leveled?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: sarducardun on August 11, 2014, 03:48:01 AM
Who were you fighting too, that makes a massive impact, especially with factions like exigency.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Lolpingu on August 11, 2014, 06:07:28 PM
3 Krakinos(es?), supported by 2 Nevermores, one of which I pilot. No fighters (the fighters are severely undergunned for their size). Some auxiliary ships for cargo, flight decks and troop transport which I won't bother mentioning.
Invested most of my points into technology, which means that my ships are equipped with the highest amount of flux-related upgrades possible without compromising too much firepower. The rest went into logistics.
Even then, the buggers are incapable of venting flux at the right time, and spend most of the battle floating about with nearly-overloaded flux capacitors that they won't vent. 
As for the ships I fight - just about every faction that's compatible with exerelin. The list is long, so I won't write it down here.

As for the ships I've used AGAINST the Blackrock - I found just about any capital ship to be capable of singlehandedly killing an entire Blackrock combine fleet (or whatever the name of the largest fleet of this faction is)
Sajuuk, Hildolfr, Core, Vatican, Behemoth etc etc etc
Engaging Blackrock fleets with an entire fleet is a joke, unfortunately. 

Either the AI needs to be altered to vent more liberally (AKA, play the ships to their strengths), or the weapons need to generate less flux.
That, or make a dreadnought-sized ship that will be strong enough to hold on it's own in solo missions so that you don't have to rely on your fleet too much.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: MesoTroniK on August 11, 2014, 08:50:56 PM
"No fighters (the fighters are severely undergunned for their size)."
BRDY fighters are quite good imo.

"Sajuuk, Hildolfr, Core, Vatican, Behemoth etc etc etc"
Those are all very overpowered ships.

"Either the AI needs to be altered to vent more liberally (AKA, play the ships to their strengths), or the weapons need to generate less flux."
Altering the AI is more or less impossible very difficult in the manner you are suggesting.

"That, or make a dreadnought-sized ship that will be strong enough to hold on it's own in solo missions so that you don't have to rely on your fleet too much."
That is wishful thinking ;)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: JDCollie on August 11, 2014, 10:38:35 PM
3 Krakinos(es?), supported by 2 Nevermores, one of which I pilot. No fighters (the fighters are severely undergunned for their size). Some auxiliary ships for cargo, flight decks and troop transport which I won't bother mentioning.
Invested most of my points into technology, which means that my ships are equipped with the highest amount of flux-related upgrades possible without compromising too much firepower. The rest went into logistics.
Even then, the buggers are incapable of venting flux at the right time, and spend most of the battle floating about with nearly-overloaded flux capacitors that they won't vent. 
As for the ships I fight - just about every faction that's compatible with exerelin. The list is long, so I won't write it down here.

As for the ships I've used AGAINST the Blackrock - I found just about any capital ship to be capable of singlehandedly killing an entire Blackrock combine fleet (or whatever the name of the largest fleet of this faction is)
Sajuuk, Hildolfr, Core, Vatican, Behemoth etc etc etc
Engaging Blackrock fleets with an entire fleet is a joke, unfortunately. 

Either the AI needs to be altered to vent more liberally (AKA, play the ships to their strengths), or the weapons need to generate less flux.
That, or make a dreadnought-sized ship that will be strong enough to hold on it's own in solo missions so that you don't have to rely on your fleet too much.


Your experience vastly departs from my own with BRDY, but then again I play them in Uomoz's, which is (in my opinion) generally very well balanced.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on August 11, 2014, 11:28:46 PM
the fighters are severely undergunned for their size

Out of curiosity, what not undergunned fighters do you usually use? Bushi? Valkyrian?

Also, your vision of capitals is seriously distorted. Your request for a supreme rolf-stomping capital is game breaking and bypasses a lot of content. Firstly, capitals are meant to be the trump cards of battles, and Alex has stated they will be very logistically burdensome to use in the future. Your idea of a single capital ship able to solo an entire fleet breaks the original purpose of capitals entirely. Why would you use anything but capitals? Enemy factions would have to run a fleet of 6 capitals too, because cruisers, destroyers, frigates and fighters just wouldn't work anymore. Losing crusiers or capitals against an Hegemony SDF all part of the dystopian, realistic and challenging aspect Alex is aiming for.

That brings me to my next point; when capitals become the bread and butter of fleets, what is the purpose of smaller ships? They would all become cash cows for more money, since they cannot hurt you and your ultra capital. The entire combat in Starsector would become something like you piloting a Medusa through a herd full of Buffalo MKI freighters. Admittedly, the endgame ROFLstomp phase currently a problem in vanilla, but capital ships shouldn't be the shortcut to the end of Starsector's campaign progression.

In short, your demands are unrealistic and game breaking. Mods like Blackrock claim to be vanilla balanced because they don't have a "dreadnought-sized ship capable of holding its own in solo missions" against endgame fleets. If your Karkinos can, don't worry, because future updates will mostly likely give modder the ability to put even more serious logistical/political/frequency handicaps on such powerful crafts.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on August 12, 2014, 08:31:27 AM
While I think those complaints aren't coming from a vanilla balanced standpoint, Dark_Revenant has cooked up an ai attachment linked to the Blackrock hullmod that makes ships more likely to vent, so this long-standing design problem with the faction is actually going to be remedied, finally.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: ValkyriaL on August 12, 2014, 09:17:53 AM
BRDY fighters are very strong indeed. but coming to them from valkyrian fighters, its a different world entirely.

my fighters are extremely strong, you won't find much out there smaller than a destroyer or high tier frigate that can stop one of my highest tier fighter wings, but good luck sustaining them in a long fight, you can't replace them because they are so expensive and rare, and they are dispatched off quickly since they cost so much to deploy and repair. with great power comes a great price tag as they say. ;)

BRDY fighters are behind my fighters in terms of power, but they don't have the logistic drawback that mine does (not that i know of)
a krait is basically one of my corvettes, their bombers are INSANE, and their phase fighters are just straight up unfair, and if they die, you can replace them with 2 more. :)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on August 16, 2014, 05:49:20 PM
(http://imgur.com/kquCiIx.jpg)

I've been working on my Imaginos piloting lately and compiled some useful tips for flying it. Yes, the patch is still coming. In the mean time though, here's some reading.

The Dimensional frigate is one of the most atypical ships you can pilot in Starsector right now. To recap, the Imaginos' features are:

E: Scalar Deracinator - teleports to target location after a short delay, during which the ship is vulnerable. Upon arrival, the ship deals a modest amount of EMP and Energy damage to anything nearby. The system has two charges and can be fired off twice in short succession, the charges then regenerate.
Right mouse: Scalar Rejector  - phases out, boosting speed and maneuverability for roughly one second. Nearby projectiles and missiles are sucked in and absorbed, and a burst of damage is released once you unphase, with damage based on the damage value of the absorbed projectiles. Damage dealt is always Energy and EMP. Fragmentation and kinetic damage is weighed less than energy and HE. The Imaginos glows when the Rejector is online. When it's on cooldown (four seconds) the ship goes dark until it recharges.
Built-in Weapon: Rift Cannon - a fixed, large energy weapon that charges briefly, then shoots a burst of slow-moving, short-range energy bolts. These bolts can be sucked in by your Rejector to act as fuel for the resulting discharge. Leading the enemy and using your own momentum to propel your shots further is vital in order to maximize the efficiency of this weapon. Because it fires a burst of energy bolts rather than one large shot, it's better against shields and hull than armor, but it will still devastate frigate and destroyer armor.
Built-in Hullmod: Nanolattice Armor - While the ship lacks a shield, it can regrow armor over time. This armor regeneration causes your peak CR time to tick down and is less effective the higher your flux level is. If you want to get the most out of this ability, you need to vent early and often to keep your flux low.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/K79dlnJ.jpg)
[close]
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/UKPXhPI.jpg)
[close]
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/OJ5rQ1D.jpg)
[close]

Strengths:
Escaping, harassing weak ships, AoEing fighter wings, clearing out missiles, disabling frigates and destroyers, crippling capital ships, protecting allied big targets, and capping objectives
Weaknesses:
Precise, hard-hitting weapons, like the Tachyon Lance, Phase Beam, Heavy Mauler, AM Blaster, Heavy Blaster, etc. Your armor regeneration won't help you and two or three unlucky hits can kill you, or force you to waste a lot of CR regrowing armor or dodging around. EMP can also be troublesome. The Imaginos also doesn't do a whole lot of sustained damage, killing a tough target like the Enforcer can take more than a minute. This makes it a better fleet ship than solo ship.

Off the top of my head, here are all the weird tricks/techniques I've discovered so far:

Rift Cannon Trick:
The Deracinator disables all weapons while active, but if you start charging your Rift Cannon right before you activate the Deracinator, you can actually get off half the salvo before you teleport away. Occasionally useful while retreating to squeeze in extra damage, or to look like you're some kinda pro or some sh*t.
Extended Rejector:
By exploiting the fact that phase ships cannot unphase inside an enemy vessel, you can extend your Rejector duration and keep absorbing shots by skirting the insides of an enemy ship. This is most useful against big ships with a permanent weak spot, such as the Dominator or Onslaught. If done correctly, you will be pushed out by your high flux level naturally, and all the EMP arcs from the Rejector will hit the closest armor tiles once you unphase, dealing a vast amount of concentrated damage.
Shield Breaker:
Frontal shields will take a vast amount of damage from the Deracinator explosion if you position yourself at the front of the vessel. This seems to be because the shield absorbs every single EMP arc generated by the system. This makes it a valid decision to teleport IN FRONT of ships like the Eagle in certain situations.
Shot Deflection:
The Scalar Rejector begins sucking in projectiles in a much bigger radius than the actual radius in which shots get converted into energy. This allows you to redirect missiles into enemy ships. Most useful against enemy torpedoes and bombs, if you position yourself so the torpedoes will be sucked to the side and into a hapless ship.
Rejector Cancel:
You can interrupt the chargeup of your Deracinator by using the Rejector. This can be useful sometimes, if you're about to be fried by an Antimatter Blaster, for instance.

Have fun flying the thing and chime in if you discovered any tricks/bugs. :)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: LB on August 21, 2014, 09:09:43 PM
I've been getting the following regularly, every 5-10 minutes:
Code
1988280 [Thread-5] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  - java.lang.NullPointerException
java.lang.NullPointerException
at data.scripts.world.blackrock.BRSpawnPoint.rndSystem(BRSpawnPoint.java:67)
at data.scripts.world.blackrock.BRSpawnPoint.spawnFleet(BRSpawnPoint.java:43)
at data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint.advance(BaseSpawnPoint.java:63)
at data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint.advance(BaseSpawnPoint.java:46)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.BaseLocation.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.A.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.B.ØÓÒ000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.oOOO.A.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

Code
StarSystemAPI rnd = Global.getSector().getStarSystems().get((int) ((float) Global.getSector().getStarSystems().size() * (float) Math.random()));
in BRSpawnPoint.rndSystem() is assigning an invalid system, apparently? Error is on the next line,
Code
if (rnd.getStar().getName().equals("Gneiss"))
I'm using the modified JAR provided by Starsector+.

It's always Blackrock every time causing this, which seems a little odd because probably at least one other mod I have installed should have a similar random system selection somewhere.

I've noticed when using the console addon that in the system list (when entering "jump" with no arguments) there's one with a blank name listed between Neutrino's Corona Australis and Nihil's Noll system, so it looks like "... Corona Australis,  , Noll, ...". Occasionally I also get things like "The pirates have formed a horde and are pillaging  system!", but it doesn't cause the game to crash. I haven't gotten around to isolating exactly which mod is adding that blank system. Related, perhaps?

This forum has a marquee tag? What is this, 1996?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Dark.Revenant on August 21, 2014, 09:15:44 PM
You are absolutely correct that those are related.  That line is throwing a NPE because the star doesn't have a name.  Whoever created that script must have (reasonably) assumed that all stars have names, which don't just return null when fetched.

This is a pretty easy fix, just by putting a null check or two in there:
Code
        if (rnd != null && rnd.getStar() != null && rnd.getStar().getName() != null && rnd.getStar().getName().equals("Gneiss")) {
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: LB on August 21, 2014, 11:44:29 PM
...Wouldn't returning an empty string be much more reasonable than returning null?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on August 25, 2014, 04:14:48 PM
Thanks for the report.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/Q6gaacE.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/Pm83Qdm.png)
[close]

Just brushing up some details. Scalaron weapons now have some cyan detail in addition to the mint green, and the Imaginos has a different engine.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Shield on August 26, 2014, 05:37:34 PM
WTB super capital ship...lol
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: ValkyriaL on August 27, 2014, 08:39:52 AM
WTS Super-Capital. buyout only!

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/jtoJnMh.png)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: SpaceRiceBowl on August 27, 2014, 09:18:45 AM
I sorta want that ship to happen  :o
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: JDCollie on August 27, 2014, 12:55:35 PM
. . . and their phase fighters are just straight up unfair, and if they die, you can replace them with 2 more. :)
I hate those little ***. I'm not sure I've ever even killed one.


. . . though I can say with some certainty that they've killed me. :(


Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Darloth on August 27, 2014, 01:23:44 PM
Hmm, I liked the mint green.

I wonder what a mixture of those two shades would look like, or, if it's not processor-killingly expensive to animate, would it be possible to have them flickering between the two?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on August 28, 2014, 06:46:43 AM
It's already a mixture of the two. :)

I won't ever make a supercap for BRDY. It just doesn't fit within the framework of starsector.

If you're curious as to why:

1) Supercaps are hard to make interesting from a gameplay perspective. If the size upscale is to be validated in terms of power, a supercap on the field reduces destroyers, frigs and possibly many cruisers to "spectators" that can't really accomplish much when the supercap is on the field.
2) Game mechanics make supercaps inherently buggy. Range finding gets buggier the more rod-shaped the ship is, and collisions upon burning into the battle etc. become a concern
3) It's an absolute ton of work. Time I'd rather spend making other content.
4) Subjectively, I find supercaps are boring to pilot and play against.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: JDCollie on August 28, 2014, 10:30:51 AM
4) Subjectively, I find supercaps are boring to pilot and play against.
This. So much this.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Sabaton on August 28, 2014, 12:04:02 PM
The 2 combat cap ships Black Rock already has are bonkers on their own and teleporting battleships are as good as they get.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: ValkyriaL on August 28, 2014, 12:20:30 PM
another prob with supers is they they are very easily surrounded and disposed off, meaning they don't really live up to their massive cost and maintenance.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Shield on August 28, 2014, 01:01:58 PM
another prob with supers is they they are very easily surrounded and disposed off, meaning they don't really live up to their massive cost and maintenance.

Just means you didn't build them right, from my military experience our big ass ships laid down long range power from afar if anything got close to them, frigates and destroyers took care of that, I don't mean make a super god mode powerful ship, make it right, lots of long range firepower needs to be protected by frigates/destroyers/cruisers.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: ValkyriaL on August 28, 2014, 01:28:07 PM
"building them right" is irrelevant when faced by numerous cruisers and destroyers, they get around you because you simply aren't fast enough to stay at range, my mission "King's bane" should make this fact very obvious.

Supers are generally just too expensive to run effectively in starsector, no matter how many guns they have, theres only so much they can do, id rather pick 2-3 cruisers over a super as you would get many times the mobility for the same amount of firepower, bombers will absolutely DECIMATE capital ships of this size as well.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on September 10, 2014, 07:11:50 AM
Finishing up the update this week, mainly cosmetic changes, polishes and bugfix. There's one new weapon though, the Sunstorm PDE.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/mbKQ0sj.jpg)

Seen here on this random karkinos
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Mazuo on September 10, 2014, 07:34:09 AM
Was missing my RDA of fiery beams of death, so this pleases me.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Bjørn_in_the_Sector on September 10, 2014, 07:36:25 AM
WANT. So much want. explosive damage beams ftw.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Jc on September 10, 2014, 10:50:00 AM
Get an error in Exerelin newest dev version as of 9-10-2014

Code
Fatal:Fleet id [exerelinEliteFleet] not found for faction [blackrock_driveyards]

Code
64229 [Thread-5] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Fleet id [exerelinEliteFleet] not found for faction [blackrock_driveyards]
java.lang.RuntimeException: Fleet id [exerelinEliteFleet] not found for faction [blackrock_driveyards]
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.oOoO.?0000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.createFleet(Unknown Source)
at exerelin.EventAddObjectToStorage.addEliteShipToStorage(EventAddObjectToStorage.java:86)
at exerelin.SectorEventManager.triggerEvent(SectorEventManager.java:61)
at exerelin.skills.scripts.FleetDeploymentPerk1.apply(FleetDeploymentPerk1.java:13)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CharacterStats.refreshCharacterStatsEffects(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CharacterStats.increaseSkill(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.oOoo.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O00oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.F.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O00oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.floatsuper$Oo.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.floatsuper.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.oOoo.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O0OO.E.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.K.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O0OO.if.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.A.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.B.??00(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.oOOO.A.?0000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

There are 2 different files I've been looking into
blackrock_driveyards.json and blackrock_driveyards.faction

neither of them mention anything about elite fleets.

Im not sure if this is a bug on exerelin side or if its a bug on blackrock side. Not sure how to fix it i tried copying the *.faction file from blackrock mod folder to exerelin. Didnt work.

This happens when i max out fleet deployments in exerelin to 10.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: ValkyriaL on September 10, 2014, 11:23:58 AM
Exerelin as a whole is extremely outdated, you'd be lucky to find ANY mod that isn't going to throw errors like that by now.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Erick Doe on September 10, 2014, 01:00:24 PM
Exerelin as a whole is extremely outdated, you'd be lucky to find ANY mod that isn't going to throw errors like that by now.

I wouldn't call it "extremely" outdated. A few mods have released newer versions since Exerelin was last updated. You'll be fine if you get the exerelin compatible versions of those mods.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: JohnDoe on September 10, 2014, 03:56:45 PM
I feel that the Scarab is a little bit overpowered. In practice it bests most frigates in an 1v1, and can often stand on its own in a fight against most destroyers, much thanks to the Sentinel Drone. And 200 cargo capacity is over the line. Most battle barges and combat freighters in the destroyer classification don't have 200 cargo. The logistics profile is above average (slightly less than 5 supplies/battle), but still way below some of the high tech frigates'. In AI's hands it'll only be a nuisance, as AI's venting timing leaves much to be desired, but in players' hands it is in my opinion among the best early game flagship choices.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.5 - With ShaderLib Dynamic Lighting
Post by: Cycerin on September 11, 2014, 06:02:30 AM
The Scarab is good against light frigates and destroyers, but due to its large size, poor shield, and relative slowness, it's a sitting duck in a battlefield dominated by bigger threats. I feel like it's in a good place.

The cargo levels for all ships have been adjusted down, as they haven't been tweaked again after a SS+ related change to cargo levels (this is a side effect of BRDY not having a separate SS+ fork)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on September 11, 2014, 05:07:20 PM
Patch is live.
Download HERE (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip)

E: hotfixed in Version Checker (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=8181.0) compatibility, redownload if you use it

Changelog:

0.6.6

- Added Sunstorm PDE (Large Energy)
- Added new Ferrogun sprite, Squall Battery sprite, and Ironweaver sprite
- Changed Stinger Drones to stay in front of the Scorpion when idle, and roam farther
- Changed Burst Jet sound effect
- Changed some large slots from Ballistic to Universal on the Karkinos, Kurma etc
- Added material maps and normal maps for all BRDY content for use in ShaderLib. Thanks DarkRevenant!
- Changed Scalaron effects to incorporate more colors (S. repeater, S. blaster, Rift Cannon, Deracinators, etc)
- Changed Imaginos engine style
- Changed Squall and Gale cannon shots to be more subtle, but with longer trails
- Changed Dart SRM engine color
- Adjusted down all cargo levels from wrongly inflated levels
- Adjusted a bunch of ship stats slightly
- Changed all PDE weapons. PDE weapons now have slightly more range and damage as a whole. Their beams travel more slowly, causing them to deal significantly more damage up close, but minimal damage from afar. Also touched up their visual effect.
- Fixed a bug with world generation that interferred with starsector plus integration
- Fixed a bug with world generation
- Fixed an oversight with buckshot spawning scripts that prevented the Volley Gun and Ironweaver from benefiting from mutable stats (ITU, Blackrock Targeting Suite, etc)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: JohnDoe on September 11, 2014, 08:33:47 PM
Nevermore's supplies/battle nerfed to 73 from 25 :o
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on September 12, 2014, 01:50:16 AM
It's too powerful for 25 supplies/battle. A player piloted Nevermore can easily win back three or four times that amount.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Aklyon on September 12, 2014, 09:20:20 AM
That sounds like quite the big change though.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Sabaton on September 12, 2014, 09:22:46 AM
 It's reasonable, isn't the Nevermore supposed to be an EXperimental design?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on September 12, 2014, 10:04:12 AM
Not really, just a very advanced one. It's pretty much tried and tested, but newer than a lot of other Blackrock ships.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Toxcity on September 12, 2014, 04:10:48 PM
I really like the new sprite for the Gale Battery. Looks much heavier.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on September 13, 2014, 09:02:53 AM
I'm glad, that was the idea. I also changed its firing cycle slightly to make it feel weightier. Tiny bit more DPS, less burst damage when massed.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on September 14, 2014, 08:42:41 PM
Yeah, with the Sunstorm (which I'm loving so far) filling the role of burst/shock large HE, having the Squall Battery deliver a more metered fire is nice.

- New Ferrogun sprite is delightful, but doesn't read quite as clearly as the old - perhaps a slightly thicker barrel between the recoiling sleeves?
- Quills are becoming one of my favorite weapons - they're excellent in shield-suppression. The pod version makes an especially nice support weapon on a Scorpion.
- All the PDE weapons are more challenging to use now, but feel much more satisfying when you manage to snipe some exposed hull past the edge of a shield.
- The last few revisions have really upped my appreciation for the Volley Gun. That thing is beastly and wrong, and I love it.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: k2arim99 on September 15, 2014, 03:13:52 PM
5260877 [Thread-5] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  - java.lang.NullPointerException
java.lang.NullPointerException
   at data.scripts.weapons.BaseAnimateOnFireEffect.advance(BaseAnimateOnFireEffect.java:45)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.entities.ship.oOOO.J.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.systems.G.Ô00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.systems.G.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.entities.Ship.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.refit.A.ÔOÒ000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.refit.A.class(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.refit.OoOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.refit.private.Öo0000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.refit.private.OÓÓ000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.refit.A.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.refit.A.dialogDismissed(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.K.dismiss(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.impl.I.dismiss(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.refit.WeaponPickerDialog.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O00oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.F.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O00oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.floatsuper$Oo.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.floatsuper.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.D.int.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.K.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.refit.WeaponPickerDialog.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.p.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.OoOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.B.ØÓÒ000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.oOOO.A.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
when putting ferrocanon in arcade ship of starsector+
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Makaan on September 25, 2014, 03:14:03 PM
Hello there Guys, I am new to the Exerelin Mod, but I found myself enjoying my time with the Blackrock Ships! Truly inspiring design and these weapons ... man so cool!
I love how most of the Ships are offering 100% different Variants. Most of the Vanilla ships are reduced to 50% Ballistics and 50% Energy ... One thing I never understood.
Blackrock has a massive amount of Ballistic Slots and with that be said, a lot of different Ballistic Weapons to choose from. I can make a Destinova a fast attack cruiser, or agile artillery ship... everything is possible.. I really love that :)

Oh, and the music to that faction is quite cool, too :)


One thing that is unclear about Blackrock, and so it is unclear for the Exerelin Campaign - Does Blackrock have any dedicated Freighters (except for the Super Freighter) and Troop Transports???
Zorg killed all of my factions Fleets and took all my bases ... So my Fleet is the last of Blackrock in the sector .. but im not done, I try to get myself Troop Transports and Freighters to try a comeback. But despite my temporal situation ... I never saw a Troop Transport or usual Freighter ... And buying the standart Troop Transport which the Hegemony uses is almost impossible due to the fact that you cannot buy any other faction`s ships at their bases. The only possibility is to wait that your faction "gathers" other faction`s ships.


EDIT: Okay I saw that Blackrock has a Destroyer Hull as Freighter. The CETONIA-Class.

Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on September 25, 2014, 04:50:12 PM
Hmm, I'll take a look at that bug.

Hey Makaan, glad you're enjoying the mod. Yeah, the two current dedicated freighters are the Cetonia and Eschaton. Next version will focus on civilian/utlity ships given the new campaign content. :) I also need to take a fresh look at Exerelin integration since Zaphide has just returned to active development.

- New Ferrogun sprite is delightful, but doesn't read quite as clearly as the old - perhaps a slightly thicker barrel between the recoiling sleeves?

Noted!
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Makaan on September 26, 2014, 11:34:13 AM
Hi!

Cool for your quick answer :)

I totally missed that I was using BRDY Mod 0.5.0 ... now I loaded your newest 0.6.6 and it says

"Fatal: Ship hull variant or fighter wing with id: [brdy_stormcrow_cyc] not found!"


I reinstalled .. no change. anyone?

Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Asauski on September 26, 2014, 01:49:57 PM
You deleted the folder of the old version?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Makaan on September 26, 2014, 02:35:40 PM
You deleted the folder of the old version?

not when I first tried it. There I just putted the new stuff into the old folder. Then I had this message coming up. So I thought about deleting all the Black Rock Stuff and re-unzip it again. Still the message..
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: ValkyriaL on September 26, 2014, 03:35:31 PM
Always..Always always, delete old mod folders, when you update.

stormcrow_cyc is an old Exerelin error if im not mistaken.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Makaan on September 26, 2014, 04:52:45 PM
Aye Sir,

Guessed that by myself with the deleting thing...

Now I think im gonna update the whole stuff tomorrow .. coz Im running on extremly low versions. Blackrock was 0.5 now it is 0.6.6.

Same goes for Exerelin, Bushi, Citadel .. (Damn they looked so ugly in my version! Now with the new version they are completely different)

Well, I`ll let ya know if there is any trouble with the new stuff :)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on September 26, 2014, 05:17:32 PM
Try the latest Exerelin with the latest Blackrock.

Like Blackrock Drive Yards? Like the Karkinos? Check out this rendition by our very own MShadowy!
Spoiler
(http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2014/269/a/e/karkinos_by_mshadowy-d80lmt1.png)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Makaan on September 27, 2014, 12:05:25 PM
Heya!

So I made a major update of all my mods. Poor Citadel mod has made my game crashing so I had to uncheck it to successfully star a new campaign. Started with my beloved Mantis :) damn, what a nice little ship. I saw you changed the guns a bit. The Ferrogun is cool, tho :)

What I like with most BR-Ships is that there is a good mix of vsShield and vsArmor Weapons .. like the Mantis. Another thing I like about Blackrock is that asymmetrical ship hulls! You shud make an asymmetrical Capital :)

Oh, and do you guys have an idea for a Troop Transport? I really look into an assault transport-stylish vessel. something with a Desdinova-nose and room for several marine squads which looks like an assault ramp or somethign similar :D.



One thing i do not understand about the new Exerelin Mod version is - Why their wiped the possibility to start with a Freighter and Troop Carrier, to choose your start position ? Now I start in open space, with a tiny frigate and low fuel.. And I have no idea where Black Rock has settled ... any ideas?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Makaan on September 28, 2014, 01:07:01 PM
Hi again!

I just wonder, since you guys have experience in modding stuff ( not only experience .. i mean the Blackrock Mod seems to be the most high quality yet available), is there anything that can force A.I. ships to turn their ships 90 degrees to use a broadside maneouvre? for example - having a Ship with 4 cannons left, 4 cannons right but only a few light weapons to the front .. Can you force the A.I. to use the side weaponry in prime, instead of its fore weapons?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Aklyon on September 29, 2014, 01:10:11 PM
I'm not a modder, but perhaps if the ship can't fire directly forward, it will turn until it has a usable angle of fire?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Toxcity on September 29, 2014, 02:20:54 PM
Hi again!

I just wonder, since you guys have experience in modding stuff ( not only experience .. i mean the Blackrock Mod seems to be the most high quality yet available), is there anything that can force A.I. ships to turn their ships 90 degrees to use a broadside maneouvre? for example - having a Ship with 4 cannons left, 4 cannons right but only a few light weapons to the front .. Can you force the A.I. to use the side weaponry in prime, instead of its fore weapons?


This should probably go in this thread http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=5061.0 (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=5061.0).
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on October 06, 2014, 01:53:34 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/sEOj0mO.png)

Something I'm working on for the next patch, the Silverfish.
A high-end civilian frigate made by Blackrock for export and internal use, it's got powerful engines, a decent cargo hold, and three turrets that can converge on targets effectively.

Spoiler
Since it's kind of a homage to the Starbridge from EVN, it'll have a few skins floating around - militarized Blackrock version, smuggler version, etc
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Alphascrub on October 06, 2014, 03:00:00 PM
So I know it may not exactly fit into the hit and run style of Blackrock designs. But is there a chance we will ever see some long range missiles from BDY anytime soon? Or maybe kind of a phase frigate? I love the Aurora but given its support profile I find it hard to justify its use in early fleets. That being said the special ability that the Aurora has is pretty great to, any chance of seeing that on some other ships? Maybe not even phase ships?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on October 07, 2014, 06:38:45 AM
Do you mean the Asura? Phase ships on Blackrock are kind of an oddity. I might have an idea for how to make them stand out more in the future.

Right now the only long-range missile available is the Ajax, so I have some ideas for possible LRMs/more exotic missiles down the road.

So the Silverfish is gonna be the first ship in this mod to take advantage of the new Ship Skins mechanic in the upcoming SS patch, which lets you have slightly different versions of a single ship that can share variants and share the same name.

(http://i.imgur.com/l7qVPqf.png)

The Blackrock-issue Silverfish, which features two additional hardpoints and is tougher. It's a separate ship class.

(http://i.imgur.com/v5AsOAW.png)

The Modified Silverfish, which has slightly more tuned engines, a bigger cargo hold, and worse shields. It's a skin.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Taverius on October 07, 2014, 11:34:23 AM
Since it's kind of a homage to the Starbridge from EVN, it'll have a few skins floating around - militarized Blackrock version, smuggler version, etc
Starbridge :D
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Alphascrub on October 07, 2014, 02:48:01 PM
Do you mean the Asura? Phase ships on Blackrock are kind of an oddity. I might have an idea for how to make them stand out more in the future.

Right now the only long-range missile available is the Ajax, so I have some ideas for possible LRMs/more exotic missiles down the road.


Uh yea sorry. Not sure where I got Aurora, especially since I got on starsector right after making the post and used an Asura. Basically I love your ships and enjoy your missiles system and torpedoes and would be thrilled to see a evil little frigate based around using swarms of missiles while still having a BRD venting system. However as far as balancing something like that I wouldn't really know where to start.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Chaos Farseer on October 07, 2014, 03:51:20 PM
I think you can put 200 quill missiles on a Mantis? It's not what I'd normally associate with missiles, but those universal mounts may be just what you're looking for.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Alphascrub on October 07, 2014, 05:15:40 PM
I think you can put 200 quill missiles on a Mantis? It's not what I'd normally associate with missiles, but those universal mounts may be just what you're looking for.

You have a good point. Maybe I should look into it a bit more. Could be right what I want right under my nose.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on October 07, 2014, 05:56:57 PM
The Silverfish gets a big thumbs-up from me; it's very pretty.

I think you can put 200 quill missiles on a Mantis? It's not what I'd normally associate with missiles, but those universal mounts may be just what you're looking for.

You have a good point. Maybe I should look into it a bit more. Could be right what I want right under my nose.

it's 180/314 (without/with Expanded Missile Racks, assuming you fill every universal slot). Here's what I tried:
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/n6HWWNf.png)
[close]

Actually pretty decent in the simulator; you have to lead your target a lot, but even a single volley will put the hurting on anything it connects with.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Alphascrub on October 07, 2014, 10:22:27 PM
The Silverfish gets a big thumbs-up from me; it's very pretty.

I think you can put 200 quill missiles on a Mantis? It's not what I'd normally associate with missiles, but those universal mounts may be just what you're looking for.

You have a good point. Maybe I should look into it a bit more. Could be right what I want right under my nose.

it's 180/314 (without/with Expanded Missile Racks, assuming you fill every universal slot). Here's what I tried:
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/n6HWWNf.png)
[close]

Actually pretty decent in the simulator; you have to lead your target a lot, but even a single volley will put the hurting on anything it connects with.

I'm one of those dishonorable people who uses the mod gives me target leads when I target something.

Edit: Wow. This type of setup is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I pretty much use this setup exclusively whenever I have to chase down retreating fleets.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on October 08, 2014, 06:35:38 AM
That def. is a nasty Mantis. Especially considering you can accelerate the rockets further by burst jetting.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Jonlissla on October 08, 2014, 08:31:15 AM
Speaking about rockets, since Alex is buffing pretty much every missile in the game, will you do the same to BDY missiles?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on October 08, 2014, 08:32:37 AM
I'll def. be adjusting things, but how remains to be seen. BRDY missiles already solve a few of the flaws of vanilla missiles (mainly, hit success), so we'll see.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on October 08, 2014, 02:17:00 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/jQnCkKG.png)

Something I'd like to do in the future is have really rare ships in the game that only show up as the flagship of a powerful NPC fleet, or possibly as a reward for reaching the upper echelons of a faction's hierarchy/completing a specific scenario. One good example would be this prototype Nevermore.

Spaceworthy, armed, and armored, the 00-series Cruiser is an exceedingly rare sight, a research hull never intended for battle, but nonetheless equipped for it. Nobody knows what became of the few remaining models that haven't been converted. Lacking the Antimatter Lance of the modern Nevermore, this curious beast still packs a massively powerful set of engines, thick armor, and a potent battery of weapons. The frontal hardpoint allows for a large weapon to be built in, and the auxiliary engines enable maneuvers that no other cruiser could possibly attempt. Of course, due to the lack of a Dimensional Engine, the ship's powerplant underperforms compared to its modern incarnation.

Spoiler
It's important to note that this isn't strictly speaking a more powerful Nevermore. It's actually less powerful, depending on what you're looking for. The point is to let the lucky (or obsessive) player have access to something unique.
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Sabaton on October 11, 2014, 01:56:19 AM
 Me gusta, I'm sure all the other players do too. Everyone likes unique stuff.

 So I'm guessing this hull is from the early days when they encountered those nano-space beasts?
  
 Heh, I wonder what an early karkynos or imaginos would play like....
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Nanao-kun on October 11, 2014, 08:58:44 PM
Does that lack of an Antimatter Lance mean a free Large Hardpoint?

Would love to shove that Arondight Accelerator on it.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Alphascrub on October 12, 2014, 09:23:05 PM
Does that lack of an Antimatter Lance mean a free Large Hardpoint?

Would love to shove that Arondight Accelerator on it.

(http://i.imgur.com/jQnCkKG.png)

 The frontal hardpoint allows for a large weapon to be built in


It would seem so. Unless I'm misunderstanding what he said before.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Aklyon on October 13, 2014, 10:01:39 AM
A prototype nevermore? Oooh.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Alphascrub on October 15, 2014, 10:21:28 AM
Uh... So I feel like everyone would selected Space Monsters and Weapons, more than they would select one by itself. Because you obviously need new shiny weapons to kill new shiny or not shiny space monsters.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Nanao-kun on October 15, 2014, 10:53:50 AM
The question of course, is whether or not we get to play as the Space Monsters. :P
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Chaos Farseer on October 15, 2014, 11:14:32 AM
Blackrock has a strong weapon set and ship variety already, but it'd be great to see more of Blackrock's lore. Granted, the lore would be tied to the space monsters, and everyone likes space monsters.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Doogie on October 15, 2014, 11:33:30 AM
I think simply saying "more" is appropriate, and leave the rest to your good judgement, Cycerin.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Sabaton on October 15, 2014, 11:48:02 AM
 I think ship and weapon wise, the faction has no need for that. Maybe some dedicated tankers at the most.

 Space monsters were one of your ideas anyway, really looking forward to them. Give us a few missions to omnomnom ships as them, but unable to capture in campaign as it would seem forced from a lore perspective. ( Wayland Utani fails every time they try to tame Xenomorphs).

 When I see sub-factions I think of pirates mostly, what would you mean by sub-factions? An elite branch of mercs/spec-ops?

 More conversations variety would be nice.

 A portrait of those aliens that were assimilated into BR society?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Gothars on October 15, 2014, 01:09:46 PM
If you think you can make space monsters that are up to the standard of the mod, Cycerin, then I would be very interest in them. But that will be hard, the standard is... well, the highest. Sector is not very well suited to display organic entities, so you'd need a good concept.

Otherwise I'd say: Wait what other paths of advancement the new update will open up.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on October 15, 2014, 04:50:17 PM
I mean, the first priority for the mod will always be to fill whatever new types of content the core game has to offer. But I def. want to wrap some more worldbuilding/expanding the scope of things into that, and that could involve space monsters. It'll be a lot of work though.

I also wish I could make that poll multiple-choice..
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on October 15, 2014, 10:40:32 PM
I mean, the first priority for the mod will always be to fill whatever new types of content the core game has to offer. But I def. want to wrap some more worldbuilding/expanding the scope of things into that, and that could involve space monsters. It'll be a lot of work though.

Whatever you're up for is fine. The mod as it stands is pretty great.

I also wish I could make that poll multiple-choice..

I voted 'monsters' because my gut feeling is that doing the monsters will drive the creation of new weapons and ships naturally; it offers fun possibilities for specialized utility ships (pseudoflesh harvesters? secure nanomass tankers?). I also feel like, barring some of the possible fill-ins you've mentioned (like a Gale Battery, a large Linear Pulse weapon, or a medium INM turret, etc), the weapons suite is a complete and very generous spread to choose from as-is.

It's also ridiculous amounts of work, too, so if you want to put it off, I understand why.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: kazi on October 16, 2014, 12:00:21 AM
Aside from the portraits, most everything in this mod goes above and beyond the other stuff in this forum. You should remedy that. I know I was one of only two people to vote for it, but I think Blackrock could use a few more portraits (maybe 4?) in a unified art style to make things seem a bit more polished.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Gothars on October 16, 2014, 09:34:52 AM
I also wish I could make that poll multiple-choice..

Done. There are three votes and the option to change them now, PM me if you want something different.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Toxcity on October 19, 2014, 09:12:22 AM
Could you please include the sensor/ autoaim boost that the sentinel drone gives its host ship in the shipsystem description?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on October 22, 2014, 04:17:32 AM
I'll do that.

Alright, in wake of the new core game content I'm having to rethink a few things about where I want to take this entire business. Mainly I'm scrapping the two-faction idea and just having the only faction be Blackrock Drive Yards the megacorporation. As soon as I actually get stuff running in-game again, I'll think about how to set up a meaningful economy as well. There'll probably be an independent and pirate holdout in Gneiss at the very least. I might also add Solace, the second BRDY system, sooner than I thought.

The new custom campaign entities will certainly allow me to make Gneiss a much more interesting system. Eventually, systems near Gneiss and potentially some other places will trade in a few custom commodities as well.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cyan Leader on October 22, 2014, 10:35:34 AM
Make sure to add opposing vanilla faction stations in BRDY systems so we can have an easier time raising the reputation. I'm playing the campaign right now and I wanted to raise the Tri-Tacyon's reputation by destroying Church fleets, but unfortunately since there isn't a single system where they are both present that turned out to be very hard to do, I had to settle by attacking the Hegemony instead since they share a system.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Alphascrub on October 24, 2014, 10:14:08 AM
Make sure to add opposing vanilla faction stations in BRDY systems so we can have an easier time raising the reputation. I'm playing the campaign right now and I wanted to raise the Tri-Tacyon's reputation by destroying Church fleets, but unfortunately since there isn't a single system where they are both present that turned out to be very hard to do, I had to settle by attacking the Hegemony instead since they share a system.

I concur with this. Considering the amount of ships that each factions spawn now per system I don't think it would be to big of a deal to have a multiple enemy factions for BRD to deal with. Especially considering that A) pirates like to pirate equally from everyone and B) Tri-tachyon and BRD seem to have a very violent past. Also obviously church *** no like space scientists , obvious enemies of BRD.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Aklyon on October 24, 2014, 11:18:04 AM
I also agree.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on October 24, 2014, 01:39:42 PM
That's been the plan for a long time. Actually, in Uomoz' Sector there has always been a pirate base in Gneiss, I just completely forgot that it's only in USS...

The campaign layer is going to recieve a lot of attention going forward.

(http://i.imgur.com/JKTuKOt.png)

Guess what the Blackrock logo symbolizes. Hint: it's an orbital object.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Nanao-kun on October 24, 2014, 04:55:47 PM
Is it a Hyperion Orbital Bombardment Station? :P

But yeah, it's probably a station.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Sabaton on October 25, 2014, 01:21:56 AM
 Of course it's an orbital station, what else?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cycerin on October 25, 2014, 06:04:16 PM
Spoiler
Orbital mirror. For terraforming. Part of the faction's past, now abstractified so much it's just become a logo.
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Cyan Leader on October 26, 2014, 06:08:25 AM
Are you sure it's not a black rock?  :D
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Luna on October 28, 2014, 05:13:56 PM
Perhaps the orbital mirror is BASED off a big black rock! :O
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: TartarusMkII on November 01, 2014, 05:46:39 PM
Hiya, I am just putting this link here for the author of the mod to look at. I hope it can help, and I'd really appreciate it!

http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=8552.0

It is in regards to the current issue of having to edit files to get factions to work, from the perspective of an end-user.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on November 02, 2014, 10:53:19 AM
Tartarus, Blackrock isn't even updated for 0.65a.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Ishman on November 03, 2014, 04:21:13 PM
Speaking of terraforming mirrors, one thing that's eluded my understanding of the sector verse is the total lack of near-solar orbit Mirror arrays.

I mean, sure, you've got the sector verse's neat array of power creating devices - but all of them consume precious and valuable resources to output their tremendous energies to fuel the many ongoing endeavors of a space-faring society.

Whereas with mirrors, it's just a flat and (on human scales) infinite sustained function of the total surface area of mirrors you have in orbit, and their distance from the star. (inverse-square law)

Also, mirrors in space are INCREDIBLY easy to make - melt one nickel-iron asteroid, vaporizing the volatiles in the process - same for one siliceous asteroid. After you've got a ball of molten metal and glass, you use controlled vaporization via collimated light to act as a rocket motor and spin them up - the rotational forces pulling them out into discs (carefully controlled, of course, to maintain even thickness) and then you join the two still-molten discs together to create a modern metal-backed mirror with an IMMENSE surface area.

Two one-km asteroids (final melt diameter) becomes a mirror with a surface area of 104,000km^2 at 5cm thickness.

At a distance of 57 x 10^9m, (mercury orbit) and with equivalent luminosity of our sun, that provides 9116.4 w/m^2.

The end result is for every 2km^3  of asteroid combined into a mirror, and de-orbited to mercury distance (you can, of course, go even closer for more intensity) you get a 9.1 gigawatts of energy per square kilometer of mirror - that's 0.76th of the power of the space shuttle on launch, or half of the peak electric power of the Three Gorges Dam.

Thus, the total energy received by that one addition to the mirror system is 9.481 x 10^20 watts. That is, 5400 times the energy received by the Earth from the sun (which is 173,000 terrawatts (173 pettawatts)).

This is a PHENOMENAL amount of energy to play around with - and all it requires is small station keeping thrusters attached to the mirrors to keep photon pressure from pushing them off course and out of alignment. The entire self-replicating operation could be overseen by a simple program using positional tracking data of the mirrors to melt more asteroids to create more mirrors to melt more asteroids (using optical and other sensor data to properly turn the rocks into mirrors).

Incidentally you also get more minerals and metals daily than that which has been used by all of human civilization up to this point.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Talkie Toaster on November 03, 2014, 05:29:03 PM
Speaking of terraforming mirrors, one thing that's eluded my understanding of the sector verse is the total lack of near-solar orbit Mirror arrays.

I mean, sure, you've got the sector verse's neat array of power creating devices - but all of them consume precious and valuable resources to output their tremendous energies to fuel the many ongoing endeavors of a space-faring society.

Whereas with mirrors, it's just a flat and (on human scales) infinite sustained function of the total surface area of mirrors you have in orbit, and their distance from the star. (inverse-square law)

Also, mirrors in space are INCREDIBLY easy to make - melt one nickel-iron asteroid, vaporizing the volatiles in the process - same for one siliceous asteroid. After you've got a ball of molten metal and glass, you use controlled vaporization via collimated light to act as a rocket motor and spin them up - the rotational forces pulling them out into discs (carefully controlled, of course, to maintain even thickness) and then you join the two still-molten discs together to create a modern metal-backed mirror with an IMMENSE surface area.

Two one-km asteroids (final melt diameter) becomes a mirror with a surface area of 104,000km^2 at 5cm thickness.

At a distance of 57 x 10^9m, (mercury orbit) and with equivalent luminosity of our sun, that provides 9116.4 w/m^2.

The end result is for every 2km^3  of asteroid combined into a mirror, and de-orbited to mercury distance (you can, of course, go even closer for more intensity) you get a 9.1 gigawatts of energy per square kilometer of mirror - that's 0.76th of the power of the space shuttle on launch, or half of the peak electric power of the Three Gorges Dam.

Thus, the total energy received by that one addition to the mirror system is 9.481 x 10^20 watts. That is, 5400 times the energy received by the Earth from the sun (which is 173,000 terrawatts (173 pettawatts)).

This is a PHENOMENAL amount of energy to play around with - and all it requires is small station keeping thrusters attached to the mirrors to keep photon pressure from pushing them off course and out of alignment. The entire self-replicating operation could be overseen by a simple program using positional tracking data of the mirrors to melt more asteroids to create more mirrors to melt more asteroids (using optical and other sensor data to properly turn the rocks into mirrors).

Incidentally you also get more minerals and metals daily than that which has been used by all of human civilization up to this point.
Bear in mind though one of the big themes in Starsector is the dependence on autofactories and external infrastructure over local knowledge. The Domain could easily just ship in autofac recipes for generic fusion reactors to the colonies and have them all set up by untrained colonists as and when needed, without needing huge investments of time and talent to figure out where to position the mirrors, where to beam power, how to manage the power grids...
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: Ishman on November 03, 2014, 05:53:03 PM
Who'd want to live in an uncontrolled planetary environment instead of a nice safe box inside other boxes inside an inflated metal asteroid spun up into an O'neil Cylinder with kilometers thick walls capable of absorbing many, many, strikes from antimatter weaponry, while retaliating with directed columns of light capable of dumping out enough energy to vaporize a 10,000 strong fleet of 300m long ships inside of a minute?!

Also relativistic kinetic bombardment sucks when you're exposed to the direct and indirect effects of a wrecked biosphere - tidal waves and hypercanes and super volcanoes, oh my.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: MShadowy on November 03, 2014, 06:25:03 PM
Who'd want to live in an uncontrolled planetary environment instead of a nice safe box inside other boxes inside an inflated metal asteroid spun up into an O'neil Cylinder with kilometers thick walls capable of absorbing many, many, strikes from antimatter weaponry, while retaliating with directed columns of light capable of dumping out enough energy to vaporize a 10,000 strong fleet of 300m long ships inside of a minute?!

Also relativistic kinetic bombardment sucks when you're exposed to the direct and indirect effects of a wrecked biosphere - tidal waves and hypercanes and super volcanoes, oh my.

Funnily, this kind of thing still leaves me with my impression that the Domains colonial policy was primarily considered on ensuring that there was little to no risk of an independence movement successfully taking root before any other concerns, despite that lost government now being described as a democracy.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6 - Updated!
Post by: PerfectDeath on November 04, 2014, 08:31:58 AM

Whereas with mirrors, it's just a flat and (on human scales) infinite sustained function of the total surface area of mirrors you have in orbit, and their distance from the star. (inverse-square law)

Also, mirrors in space are INCREDIBLY easy to make - melt one nickel-iron asteroid, vaporizing the volatiles in the process - same for one siliceous asteroid. After you've got a ball of molten metal and glass, you use controlled vaporization via collimated light to act as a rocket motor and spin them up - the rotational forces pulling them out into discs (carefully controlled, of course, to maintain even thickness) and then you join the two still-molten discs together to create a modern metal-backed mirror with an IMMENSE surface area.

Two one-km asteroids (final melt diameter) becomes a mirror with a surface area of 104,000km^2 at 5cm thickness.


How many years of bad luck would you get breaking that mirror? =P
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Sir Goose on November 05, 2014, 06:01:43 PM
I have to say, this faction mod is my all time favorite out of all the factions that I've seen in Star Sector so far. I can't wait for the update to 6.5! Keep up the awesome work!
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Cycerin on November 06, 2014, 04:38:24 AM
Thanks a lot! I'm a bit busy these days, so I'm not quite sure when I'll have the mod working again, but I do want to try looking at it soon.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Doogie on November 06, 2014, 09:33:13 AM
Cycerin, due to your distaste for the missile buff, will we see an even more monstrous PD come from BRDY sometime in the future?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Cycerin on November 07, 2014, 03:03:59 AM
The intention is to keep PD competitive, apart from that I have no agenda.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Alphascrub on November 08, 2014, 02:45:39 AM
The intention is to keep PD competitive, apart from that I have no agenda.

In other words until missile systems of all sorts are toned down BRY might be one of the best place to get PD that is actually suitable to it cause/purpose. As it stands right now most of the base PD systems, are extremely lack luster. The basic energy pd (normal sized, Large, and burst) are definitely terrible when it comes to shooting down anything beyond a harpoon or two.

Edit: Clarity and question. Cycerin just of curiosity, do you plan letting BRY have a presence in multiple system? With some faction mods it can be a bit of a struggle to get reputation with them, especially if you use combat to reach those ends.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Regularity on November 13, 2014, 05:05:03 PM
Hi! I use Blackrock as part of the Starsector+ modpack (which combines several mods together). And I don't know if this issue has been brought up before, but Blackrock's economy seems a bit overpowered than anyone else's by a large margin. For example, you can usually buy supplies for half of what you can get them in Corvus (normally the cheapest/largest supply producer in vanilla Starsector), and the same for fuel in comparison to Askonia (again, normally the cheapest/largest supplier in vanilla). It also overproduces other goods and sells them cheaper than every other sector, though not to the same extreme as 50% off the next cheapest planet like with fuel and supply. It's a massive boon for anyone looking to profit from trade... to the point of feeling like an exploit.

I suspect the issue is the combination of it's 10^8 population and extremely high stability, probably due to Blackrock fleets being deadly enough to wipe out any pirate that dares even look at a trade route. Have you considered nerfing the Anar economy, or is it unparalleled might intended due to the faction's backstory?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Nanao-kun on November 13, 2014, 05:06:06 PM
Hi! I use Blackrock as part of the Starsector+ modpack (which combines several mods together). And I don't know if this issue has been brought up before, but Blackrock's economy seems a bit overpowered than anyone else's by a large margin. For example, you can usually buy supplies for half of what you can get them in Corvus (normally the cheapest/largest supply producer in vanilla Starsector), and the same for fuel in comparison to Askonia (again, normally the cheapest/largest supplier in vanilla). It also overproduces other goods and sells them cheaper than every other sector, though not to the same extreme as 50% off the next cheapest planet like with fuel and supply. It's a massive boon for anyone looking to profit from trade... to the point of feeling like an exploit.

I suspect the issue is the combination of it's 10^8 population and extremely high stability, probably due to Blackrock fleets being deadly enough to wipe out any pirate that dares even look at a trade route. Have you considered nerfing the Anar economy, or is it unparalleled might intended due to the faction's backstory?
Not Blackrock. You're talking about Shadowyards.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Regularity on November 13, 2014, 05:27:27 PM
Oops. Sorry! I feel like a moron.  :o

I was actually reading the description Blackrock ship in the codex window while I was typing up the post, and must have mixed them up in my head. Love the art for those ships, by the way. Good work.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Cycerin on November 15, 2014, 07:01:42 AM
I'm planning on having some independent + pirate presence in Gneiss with the next release in order to make things more interesting in the system. I might also put a Blackrock base in a different vanilla system to make faction warfare more practical.

Here's something to listen to while you wait, to steel yourself to subvert and escape this rotten Sector: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/blackrock%20theme%20redux.mp3
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Oathseeker on November 15, 2014, 11:20:53 AM
God I can't wait! I'm lost without my blackrock fleet!
Also I'm vary glad to hear about the second station for more conflict, I really wish all systems had several factions. Whats the point of war if you don't get profitses when invading a system? And the AI hardly ever raids systems (though I thnk II adresses that?).
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Alphascrub on November 15, 2014, 02:13:03 PM
God I can't wait! I'm lost without my blackrock fleet!
Also I'm vary glad to hear about the second station for more conflict, I really wish all systems had several factions. Whats the point of war if you don't get profitses when invading a system? And the AI hardly ever raids systems (though I thnk II adresses that?).

I actually don't mind it as much as I did before. I've been exploring other ships lately. Especially a few from shadowyards and the mayorate. They both add a good flavor and I will enjoy have a multitask fleet in the future. For example, I really like mayorate basic frigates, they are cheap as hell and expendable while they maintain decent firepower with their built in weapon. I like to center them around a morning star from the shadowyards which posses pretty dam good range with its sensor drones and medium energy mount. Being able to mount blackrock weapons on them in the future will only make them better and throwing in a few BRD gunships into the mix will make a really strong early mixed fleet without to much of a massive cost.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: uzsibox on November 17, 2014, 06:18:58 AM
man i miss my nevermore :\
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Aklyon on November 17, 2014, 10:42:54 AM
man i miss my nevermore :\
So do I!
Although I've had some fun maknig a fleet without a piloted Nevermore, I still want to use one again :)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Alphascrub on November 17, 2014, 11:32:33 AM
man i miss my nevermore :\
So do I!
Although I've had some fun maknig a fleet without a piloted Nevermore, I still want to use one again :)

I miss my locust swarm more... 5-6 Locust rocking 2 volley guns/1 sunfire pde rest of everything put in cacitors a few other bonuses. Bye bye dominator. Of course I would probably have to do some changes here because missiles are a bit crazy right now but still.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Cycerin on November 17, 2014, 03:22:52 PM
It would be shaming the name if Locusts didn't work well in swarms...  ;D
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on November 17, 2014, 04:50:29 PM
man i miss my nevermore :\
I've never used the Nevermore. Or the Dessinova... *ducks behind Fort Shield*
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Alphascrub on November 17, 2014, 07:16:20 PM
man i miss my nevermore :\
I've never used the Nevermore. Or the Dessinova... *ducks behind Fort Shield*

Honestly... The Nevermore was great, the Dessinova was fun, and the Imagainos was freaken awesome. But I miss my space shrimp (Gonodactylus).
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Oathseeker on November 18, 2014, 04:04:58 AM
What? No love for the increadible Asura? Lying in wait for those pesky shields to drop, and when they do, kill them all!
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Sabaton on November 18, 2014, 05:53:27 AM
What? No love for the increadible Asura? Lying in wait for those pesky shields to drop, and when they do, kill them all!

 They are blind to the truth. Unlike us.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: uzsibox on November 18, 2014, 08:36:18 AM
man i miss my nevermore :\
I've never used the Nevermore. Or the Dessinova... *ducks behind Fort Shield*
nevermore bitter :\

comon cycerin we dying here <3
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: JohnDoe on November 18, 2014, 08:43:57 AM
Not sure if I still want to use Nevermore with the current high deployment cost though...
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Oathseeker on November 19, 2014, 12:47:19 AM
nevermore bitter :\

Bitter, maybe, never licked it. But better? No!

comon cycerin we dying here <3

I'm pretty sure I've gone into full blown withdrawl ;)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Alphascrub on November 19, 2014, 09:47:15 PM
What? No love for the increadible Asura? Lying in wait for those pesky shields to drop, and when they do, kill them all!

 They are blind to the truth. Unlike us.

Asura is fun but I don't like the cost of deploying one on a regular basis. Also I'm just not into phase ships as much as I used to be. I like fast ships. Fast is good. Like tempest with augmented engines fast. Imaginos is fast, but has pretty high deployment costs and is expensive. Locust swarm is fast, and evil and cheap and fast.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Cycerin on November 24, 2014, 01:28:47 PM
Good news: I got Blackrock working in the campaign again. Still a lot of work to do, but I'll get there.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: mendonca on November 24, 2014, 02:09:20 PM
Cool  :)

Can't wait to see what you have in store for us.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Cycerin on November 24, 2014, 07:23:56 PM
I don't want to disappoint, so I'm gonna hold off on putting out a dev release until I have something to show for it.
Spoiler
Please Understand.
[close]

Wrote a weapon blurb for the OP just under the ships since the "weapon information to be added later" there has been taunting me for over a year
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Asauski on November 25, 2014, 12:10:52 PM
what are the new features of this mod :)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Alphascrub on November 25, 2014, 11:14:28 PM
what are the new features of this mod :)

There aren't any at the moment. Its not in ready .65 yet.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: JohnDoe on November 27, 2014, 03:05:52 AM
My 0.65 experience will never be complete without BRDY ;)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Sabaton on November 27, 2014, 05:42:40 AM
 So many people suffering from withdrawal...
 I've been using this occasion to get back to vanilla SS and am having a blast.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Cycerin on December 10, 2014, 01:08:53 PM
I've been annoyingly busy this autumn, but things are starting to wrap up now. I've been slowly working on Blackrock now and then, right now I'm approaching a complete set of new hull style sounds, and I've got a (horribly unstable) economy going.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Mazuo on December 10, 2014, 10:01:07 PM
As urgently as I want to play my favorite faction in SS+ again, yeah, don't burn yourself out.  Hope the changes are going well and look forward to seeing your progress.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Archang31 on December 11, 2014, 01:51:52 PM
I can't start starsector with the latest edition of the driveyards because it causes it to crash and display fatal:0 index:0
help?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Mazuo on December 11, 2014, 02:03:39 PM
Blackrock isn't updated yet for the latest version of Starsector.  Please read at least the title of the mod thread for version info if not the recent posts discussing how it's not updated yet before trying to use the mod.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Archang31 on December 12, 2014, 05:48:47 AM
oh. lol. i had read the title but i didnt know what version this was. can't wait for the update!
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Cycerin on January 08, 2015, 04:24:19 PM
blackrock: Happen.

Things are on their way much thanks to DarkRevenant's help and cattle prodding

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/rl64V7g.jpg)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: angrytigerp on January 08, 2015, 05:00:18 PM
blackrock: Happen.

Things are on their way much thanks to DarkRevenant's help and cattle prodding

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/rl64V7g.jpg)
[close]

That description, though ¯\_(#)_/¯
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Luna on January 08, 2015, 05:06:33 PM
I started laughing really hard at that description. I have no idea why, but that's just really awesome.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Spenz on January 08, 2015, 05:32:02 PM
You know what is really going to be funny though; by the time you are finished porting the mod to the new patch, the next patch will probably be released, breaking every mod all over again  :D

I would keep the old version for blackrock though.  Love your mod.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Sabaton on January 09, 2015, 09:38:24 AM
Good to see their home system still has that creepy background, was making it to look unwelcoming always a plan?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Uomoz on January 09, 2015, 04:32:22 PM
I have #faith you'll release BR soon!
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Velox on January 09, 2015, 04:46:37 PM

I've heard SO much about this mod at this point (lots of "noooooo! how will I live without my <x>!!!!" type posts, etc) that I'm starting to get super curious.  It sounds like there's a goodly bit of added content, is it more in the "lots of additional flavors of existing things and SUPER MEGA KILL KILL SHIPS" camp or more like "really interesting mechanics with great balance"?  Intriguing!
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: angrytigerp on January 09, 2015, 06:22:02 PM

I've heard SO much about this mod at this point (lots of "noooooo! how will I live without my <x>!!!!" type posts, etc) that I'm starting to get super curious.  It sounds like there's a goodly bit of added content, is it more in the "lots of additional flavors of existing things and SUPER MEGA KILL KILL SHIPS" camp or more like "really interesting mechanics with great balance"?  Intriguing!

BDY ships are very nimble. Burst Jets kept me using a (Blackrock) Nevermore in my most recent Exerelin playthrough a few months ago, even though the bulk of my fleet was Valkyrians -- despite having higher-OP options available, it was just too agile to give up0.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Velox on January 09, 2015, 06:34:08 PM

So how does someone with no experience whatsoever in Starsector modding help fix it?  :P

if thing.dependency < 6.5:
     thing.newerversion(6.5)

?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: angrytigerp on January 09, 2015, 06:49:18 PM

So how does someone with no experience whatsoever in Starsector modding help fix it?  :P

if thing.dependency < 6.5:
     thing.newerversion(6.5)

?

You would have to help Cycerin rewrite fleet generation lists and rules to account for trade, defense, patrol, bounty, and attack fleets; and help construct an economy for the Blackrock home system. Those are two things, at any rate.

I'm just gonna go ahead and leave this one to the professionals, really.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Spenz on January 09, 2015, 07:18:49 PM
yeah the .65 patch broke everything, then essentially salted the earth so that the old code could never take seed again.  Mod-makers are essentially having to rewrite things mods scratch, thus is why the mod races to play went from 20+ to.....7?
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Dark.Revenant on January 09, 2015, 07:56:02 PM
Actually, not very much had to be rewritten.  The difficulty is just wrapping your head around it and creating new artwork for market conditions, stations, etc.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Velox on January 09, 2015, 09:47:41 PM
Actually, not very much had to be rewritten.  The difficulty is just wrapping your head around it and creating new artwork for market conditions, stations, etc.

This ... sounds oddly like something I'd enjoy.  Except the artwork - my grandmother was an oil painter and my little sister inherited every bit of it, dammit. 
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Aklyon on January 10, 2015, 11:34:09 AM
I started laughing really hard at that description. I have no idea why, but that's just really awesome.
So did I. :)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Cycerin on January 17, 2015, 08:03:50 AM
Getting all the fancy stuff in there.

You can't tell how far the structures reach into the atmosphere, nor can you say for certain how far you are from the surface. The thick clouds make it impossible to gauge the distance. Now and then, a light pierces the fog outside the window and forces you to squint, strobing as it slowly fades away.

Corporate colors line the halls in the stylish-but-utilitarian market district. The endless droning of the latest Blackrock news broadcast masks the dull thrum of starship engines that can be heard through the walls. Regular intercom announcements break up the monotony, just as security checkpoints segregate different sections of the market - a symptom of the troubled times you live in. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/blackrock%20market%20theme.mp3)

(http://i.imgur.com/AaOVYcp.png)
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Uomoz on January 17, 2015, 06:17:45 PM
its fappening!
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: Shield on January 19, 2015, 04:20:53 PM
its fappening!

Whoa there Admiral keeps those pants on homie.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: MShadowy on January 20, 2015, 05:48:24 PM
Awww yiiiisssss.
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: ValkyriaL on January 21, 2015, 03:03:38 AM
I think i feel something closly related to... deep admiration... Aahhh~
Title: Re: [0.6.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.6.6
Post by: angrytigerp on January 21, 2015, 09:17:59 AM
I think i feel something closly related to... deep admiration... Aahhh~
Speaking of which, Valk, any chance we'll get to fly glorious red and white triangles of death ere the 0.65 cycle is up, or are you in "wait and see" mode?
Title: Re: [0.6.5a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED!!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 22, 2015, 04:02:27 PM
Alright, we're here. It's been a lot of work, but DarkRevenant helped me get it done a lot faster than I'd have been able to on my own. Thanks, DR!

(http://i.imgur.com/U3S39yE.jpg)
DOWNLOAD BRDY FOR STARSECTOR 0.65.1a! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip)

Changelog:
0.7.0

- Added Silverfish-class Combat Freighter, Silverfish-B and Mod Silverfish
- Added Nevermore 00-class Cruiser
- Updated campaign layer to the new standard
- Added all related content
- Added more content to Gneiss system and refurbished old content
- Changed a bunch of descriptions
- Changed Scalaron Repeater sound effect
- Changed some variants to include more weapons
- Nerfed Blackrock Flux Core to 80/60/50/45% extra vent rate
- Nerfed Burst Jet and Arcjet Thruster charge regeneration rate
- Slightly decreased passive flux dissipation for most combat vessels
- Renamed Ajax MRM back to Achilles MRM
- Took out combat music for now
- Probably some stuff I forgot

Enjoy and report any bugs!
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Tartiflette on January 22, 2015, 04:08:32 PM
So it begins...
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: ahrenjb on January 22, 2015, 04:28:19 PM
Awesome news! My 0.65 universe is filling up quick.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Toxcity on January 22, 2015, 04:37:15 PM
Yessssssss!!!
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: asianoob on January 22, 2015, 04:54:31 PM
Thank you good sir.
Everyday I would come back from work and check if the mod was updated, and it's going to be a good night for me!
Thank you again!!!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Nanao-kun on January 22, 2015, 05:35:46 PM
Any chance for a non-mediafire link? I've been having problems with it lately, and only getting about 8 or so KB/s.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 22, 2015, 05:38:38 PM
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip

Here you go. Should be up in 10 mins from this post
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Nanao-kun on January 22, 2015, 05:39:40 PM
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip

Here you go. Should be up in 10 mins from this post
Thank you!
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Mazuo on January 22, 2015, 07:57:51 PM
Oh god, yes!  Thanks Cycerin and DR.  Will be trying this out ASAP.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: NightfallGemini on January 22, 2015, 11:31:19 PM
*yesssssssssssssss*
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Sabaton on January 23, 2015, 02:01:45 AM
 As someone who favors small, frigate only strike groups the Silverfish series has become an instant favorite for me.
 They can carry more cargo and fuel than a Cerberus, run just as fast, put up a fight (the B variant can spank just as well as a Lasher), and above all they have a shield! And all that for some armor reduction.
 With the right configuration the B variants can even replace combat frigs. So nasty.

 But why did you choose to jam a weapon in the 00 Series large slot instead of leaving it open for customization?
Title: Re: [0.6.5a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED!!!
Post by: JohnDoe on January 24, 2015, 04:31:15 AM
Alright, we're here. It's been a lot of work, but DarkRevenant helped me get it done a lot faster than I'd have been able to on my own. Thanks, DR!
THANK GOD
ALLAHU AKBAR
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on January 24, 2015, 04:35:54 AM
Welp, looks like the stoners are happy getting their Crackrock Drive Yards back again
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Histidine on January 24, 2015, 04:37:24 AM
WOOOOOOO

(BTW: Is it me or is the Desdinova sprite annoyingly small in the UI (ship picker, etc.)? It looks like a frigate.)
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Silver Silence on January 24, 2015, 05:48:22 AM
Could be that the Desdinova's antennae elongate it's profile and as such, the actual mass of the ship in the center seems smaller in the preview window. Shouldn't be too much issue if you come to recognize her profile, though.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 24, 2015, 06:09:41 AM
Man, love having everybody playing the mod again. All these reactions...

WOOOOOOO

(BTW: Is it me or is the Desdinova sprite annoyingly small in the UI (ship picker, etc.)? It looks like a frigate.)

That's always been a problem, and I assume it's indeed because the sprite has a lot of "empty space" in it.

Welp, looks like the stoners are happy getting their Crackrock Drive Yards back again

Blackbong Dank Yards is back in action.

But why did you choose to jam a weapon in the 00 Series large slot instead of leaving it open for customization?

Holdover from when it was supposed to be a ship skin. I will probably change that in the future. It's also because I didn't want to give it more ordnance points. The ship is pretty much just an easter egg btw, it's got a ridiculously small chance to appear and it isn't really better than a Nevermore, arguably worse in fact due to how powerful the AM Lance is.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Venatos on January 26, 2015, 02:40:35 PM
YES! my favourite faction is back! PRAISE THE MAKER(of this mod)! i was waiting for SS+ 2.5 for a new start, but now i cant wait anymore! ;)
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 28, 2015, 10:05:14 AM
So far initial changes for the next version are:

Silverfish (all models): Shield from 180 to 90 degrees
Adjusted the tech tiers of various BRDY weapons to make access less irritating at the start of the game (why are Quills everywhere, but the lower-tech Dart SRM and similar-tech Voidspear SRM almost impossible to find?) BRDY now sell a lot of size small weapons more willingly.
Spinal Gale Cannon (Stinger Drone built-in) damage from 280 to 260
Faction name with article to The Blackrock Drive Yards Corporation
Illegal commodities are now harvested organs and hand weapons

Planned features at the moment:

New system with a three-way war between the Hegemony, Tri-Tachyon and Blackrock.
Weird artifacts floating around in Gneiss.
Super-annoying EMP weapon (possibly)
An LRM (possibly)
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Nanao-kun on January 28, 2015, 02:41:01 PM
Noooooooo my 360 degree front shield!

 :P
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: orost on January 28, 2015, 02:48:50 PM
Just popping in to say I really like the looks and the mechanics of this faction. I'm having tons of fun with my Desdinova. Also the music is quite fantastic, although it's too distinctive to be playing all the time so I put in the vanilla music back in alongside it.

pls no LRM though. Those things are universally incredibly obnoxious. If one more shows up in my game I'll have to quit Starsector. Or mod some LRMs out and stop complaining. Yeah, that'll work better.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: ahrenjb on January 28, 2015, 02:59:49 PM

...Faction name with article to The Blackrock Drive Yards Corporation


Eh, really? Blackrock Drive Yards has better punch to me than when drawn out with "The" and "Corporation". Feels bloated and unnecessary.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: MesoTroniK on January 28, 2015, 03:04:23 PM
pls no LRM though. Those things are universally incredibly obnoxious. If one more shows up in my game I'll have to quit Starsector. Or mod some LRMs out and stop complaining. Yeah, that'll work better.

What if they are a new kind of LRM, that just isn't something you spam like Pilums or other mod ones? But instead have special flight paths, damage types, submunitions or whatever designed to be more specialized.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: orost on January 28, 2015, 03:17:50 PM
I'm skeptical. I feel that whenever a projectile, beam or missile travels more than 2000 units of distance (what are the units of distance?) its damage type is instantly converted to "annoyance". If it can hit me from farther away than I can see zoomed out all the way and with the mouse cursor at the edge of the screen, I want to throw it and its "NO FUN ALLOWED" attitude out of the window. There. I had my little rant.

But maybe Cycerin et al can surprise me with a lovely, unique LRM that will shatter my preconceptions. They've done harder things in this mod already.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on January 28, 2015, 03:22:53 PM
See, I like Pilums, because they tell me where carriers are. Then I just have to Burst Jet my way over there and kill them.

I wouldn't mind some kind of EMP/Kinetic LRM, or a Plasma Harpoon for spearing void-whales.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Blaze on January 28, 2015, 03:41:24 PM
I think Soren has the right idea, a single shot LRM that's fired at the beginning of combat to give the firing fleet the initiative. An aggressive first strike fits BR's doctrine.

Perhaps an AOE effect that spread slowing fields? It'd probably be a real annoyance to code though. So perhaps just stick to EMP/Kinetic damage.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Tartiflette on January 28, 2015, 04:13:31 PM
There has been many ideas shared between modders about "minefields" or "acid clouds" or any damage over time effect in an area. And each time they have been shelved for the same reason: there is no way to make the AI aware of these zones and force it to avoid them. The autopilot is not even aware of the vanilla nebulaes! So a damaging one that your allies fly through like lemmings is a recipe for frustration... Otherwise it would have been done long ago, it's quite simple to code.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on January 28, 2015, 10:40:49 PM
So far initial changes for the next version are:

Silverfish (all models): Shield from 180 to 90 degrees
What do you have against full shield coverage...
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Sabaton on January 29, 2015, 05:06:31 AM
So far initial changes for the next version are:

Silverfish (all models): Shield from 180 to 90 degrees
What do you have against full shield coverage...

The Silverfish series was a bit too good with that.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: MesoTroniK on January 29, 2015, 07:18:19 PM
The main issue with bombs is that the AI is totally incapable of using them unless they are on bombers.

It might in theory be possible to make an autofire AI that would make them only drop the bombs if it would be thrown at the target effectively like a player ship or bomber strike craft does, but that would be very difficult to make.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on January 29, 2015, 11:21:36 PM
Silverfish:  There's already plenty of discussion about nerfing these, but how about diversifying them?
I think one way you could make someone grab a Silverfish instead of a mod or B variant is to keep the normal SF's shield arc where it is. So you choose either firepower or protection, not both
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 30, 2015, 12:28:51 PM
Oh and a very important change, I forgot to add High Maintenance hullmods for the Desdinova, Asura and Imaginos, so that'll be included. *tugs collar*

The Silverfish is losing the 180 shields simply because it's too good. I have an idea for how to differentiate the standard Silverfish and Mod Silverfish a bit now that they are separate hulls (Were originally going to be skins)

I also have a pretty fun idea for a hullmod up and coming.

Thanks for the amazingly comprehensive feedback Pesci, I really enjoyed reading it and you bring up some valid points. The Blackrock hullmods should be usable in the campaign provided you are using a BRDY ship, but I haven't ran the mod without SS+ in a while, so I'm gonna double check that. Either way, in SS+ you need to unlock the hullmods by speccing into specific skills - Blackrock Assault Fitting is under Damage Control and Blackrock Targeting Suite is under Target Analysis iirc.

So far my idea for a BRDY LRM is a missile that works something like the old Sabot SRM, by shooting a plasma charge at the target once it gets close enough. This should make it bad against smaller targets, but have a higher chance of evading the PD of larger targets. The missiles themselves will be comparatively easier to shoot down while they are travelling to the target.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: ahrenjb on January 30, 2015, 02:26:02 PM
I've got some ideas for the Mod Starbridge Silverfish, can't hurt to throw them out there.

Decrease the cargo hold size, fairly significantly. Maybe down to 125. Increase flux dissipation by a bit, like the B-class. Bump the armor up, but leave the hull, or even decrease it slightly. Improve the shield a little. Increase minimum crew. Increase speed. Make the recovery cost a little more taxing, maybe even shorten the peak CR timer by a bit. Maybe tweak CR stats. Maybe fuel use. Eliminate the three small turret mounts in the central hull, replace them with 1 medium universal turret and 1 small universal turret in front of that. Add two small energy hardpoints fixed straight forward to the rear sides of the ship. Increase OP accordingly. Give it blue accents instead of the orange accents of the B model and current Mod. Make it relatively rare and expensive compared to the other Silverfish.

These changes I feel would distinguish the Mod Silverfish enough from the Standard and B models, while retaining the overall feel as a jack of all trades ship. It would be better in combat, but a little more expensive to run, while carrying a little less cargo. Ultimately this balance would have to be played with a bit and my balance changes might be way off, but I figured it couldn't hurt to throw this out there.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Cyan Leader on January 30, 2015, 03:04:49 PM
I for one hope to see the Silverfish various skin ideas applied to other hulls. Maybe it'll be a good opportunity to see the Imaginos system in another ship, experimental hull maybe?
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Cycerin on January 30, 2015, 06:36:06 PM
It *is* tempting to basically turn the Mod Silverfish into a Mod Starbridge.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on January 30, 2015, 07:34:38 PM
It *is* tempting to basically turn the Mod Silverfish into a Mod Starbridge.

I say go for it; maybe for purely visual reasons, make the wingtip mounts built-in INMs?
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: OOZ662 on February 01, 2015, 01:12:46 AM
So far I adore everything about this mod, shrimpmissile and Nevermore sniping most of all. That is, except the Mako-class fighters. The concept seemed pretty cool at first, but then I remembered (through re-experience) that fighters don't collide...they simply float through you before parking on your aftside and unloading into it. Not really sure how to counter that other than flying in such a way as to have a destroyer directly behind me at all times...
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: MesoTroniK on February 01, 2015, 01:14:34 AM
The Mako fighter is from the Citadel mod.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: OOZ662 on February 01, 2015, 01:16:33 AM
Pff, well, never mind then. It really looks like a BRDY model. Back to sneaking Antimatter Lances past raising shields.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Taverius on February 02, 2015, 05:12:25 AM
It *is* tempting to basically turn the Mod Silverfish into a Mod Starbridge.
Yeesssssss
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Taverius on February 05, 2015, 02:09:56 PM
New system with a three-way war between the Hegemony, Tri-Tachyon and Blackrock.
Argh this please. I've been spending hours sitting around Gneiss with nothing but 4-frigate pirate spawns popping up, and all the bounties are on the other side of the sector :P



Edit: I've been using BRDY weapons in my Expansion-Epoch ship game because stock medium energy weapons are so ... boring after playing BRDY. Some feedback, weapons-only:

Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 06, 2015, 09:44:41 AM
I don't really want to make more large weapons, if I make one it'd probably be a large missile since BRDY currently has zero of those.

Quote
it was always more attractive to run scalarons + squalls/gales instead of shard/ferro + PDE

I disagree, one setup is more flux efficient than the other by a massive margin and does almost as much overall damage. It depends on what you prefer. PDEs are more cumbersome now but they still give very reliable anti-armor, and the Sunstorm PDE has the perk of being a large anti-armor weapon that does equally well against targets of all sizes. :) A ferro + pde Karkinos is possibly the best anti-frigate setup you can get.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Taverius on February 06, 2015, 03:56:05 PM
PDEs are more cumbersome now
I guess my main beef is the AI doesn't know about the beam speed thing, so it hangs out at max range and pokes enemies with the tip of the beam ...

P.S. So I've tried the silverfish(es) and I don't see what all the hullabaloo is about - what setup are you guys using?
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: NightfallGemini on February 10, 2015, 11:33:40 PM
It's particularly the Silverfish mod with the extra missile mounts that I run with. 3 Tactical Lasers and some Swarmers are what I use on mine. I just let the AI tackle and soften stuff with them so I can fly in and get the kill. In a frigate pack it's frighteningly effective and it just gets better the more points into technology you get.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on February 11, 2015, 08:06:39 AM
*wonders how long it will take Crackyards to update this time...*
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Nanao-kun on February 11, 2015, 09:37:22 AM
*wonders how long it will take Crackyards to update this time...*
Don't worry, I'm sure "Blackbong Dank Yards" will be back soon. :P
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.0 - UPDATED !!!
Post by: Cycerin on February 12, 2015, 09:00:11 AM
I'm already working on the update, it shouldn't take that long.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 12, 2015, 10:03:09 PM
Hell, I sat up all night again. EDIT: hold on, reuploading, had to fix something

DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK FOR STARSECTOR 0.65.2a! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip)

Changelog:

v0.7.1

NOTE: due to variant/ship changes, old saves probably won't load into this version. Sorry!
- Compatible with latest Starsector version again
- Added powwwwerrrrful new music: Market music, Friendly music, Hostile encounter music
- Adjusted music volumes
- Fixed a bug with abrupt stopping of music playback
- Changed Silverfish and Silverfish-B shield arcs to 90 degrees, from 180 degrees
- Changed frontal turret arc of all Silverfish to 160 degrees
- Added shielded cargoholds hullmod to Mod Silverfish, changed shields to front shield, side turrets to Ballistic, edited sprite, and added two fixed built-in INM Assault Guns to the sides.
- Changed stats of Silverfishes somewhat
- Wrote proper Mod Silverfish description
- Added ammo/clip mechanic to all ballistics
- Buffed energy weapon damage by ~25% across the board to match vanilla changes
- Made PDEs pierce and damage missiles and rockets
- Made AM Lance pierce missiles and rockets, but left damage unbuffed.
- The side pointing turrets on the Nevermore's middle are now fixed missile hardpoints.
- Added regenerating charges to Scalaron Repeater and lowered the ammo slightly. Lowered projectile speed and flux per shot. Increased damage and shot deviation. The overall vision is for it to act like a suppression weapon that can be fired at length, rather than as a high-flux and high-damage general use weapon. So use it against something that will eat all the shots and it will be very effective, but missing a 2-second burst against a frigate won't leave your ship at 80% flux anymore.
- Added CONSERVE_1 tip to Quill Rocket Launcher, AI and autofire should leave a little ammo for clutch plays now.
- Fixed Typheus rear mounts position
- Increased Imaginos turn rate and turn accel
- Changed Blackbong Dank Yards illegal commodities from drugs and hand weapons to organs and hand weapons.
- Fixed missile quadtrails to look better
- Fixed bug that disallowed use of Blackrock hullmods in the campaign when SS+ is not installed
- Added large universal hardpoint to the 0-Series Nevermore, and added 15 additional ordnance points to the ship. Also changed mounts a bit and edited sprite to match.
- Added High Maintenance hullmods to Imaginos, Desdinova and Nevermore. Sorry, no fun allowed.
- Increased Achilles MRM ammo and buffed main missile and MIRV health slightly, as well as frag damage dealt by the MIRVs. now acts as a high-performance heatseeker with limited ammo in contrast to the salamander. They should be worth the OP even compared to endless regen Salamanders, and can actually hurt/kill ships: each missile also deals ~500 damage to shields before shield strength calculation if all three MIRVS connect, and a brutal 1500 hull damage should they perfectly hit an armorless spot on the enemy ship.
- Changed a Locust in the End Times mission to a Silverfish B and removed the enemy Doom-class, mission should be beatable again now
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: OOZ662 on February 12, 2015, 11:10:54 PM
- The side pointing turrets on the Nevermore's middle are now fixed missile hardpoints.
Nuuu me point defence
- Added High Maintenance hullmods to Imaginos, Desdinova and Nevermore. Sorry, no fun allowed.
Dear lord, the Nevermore CR per deployment was already a supply vacuum...Rooks, Castles, and freighters ahoy
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 12, 2015, 11:24:34 PM
Less PD, more explosions.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Taverius on February 12, 2015, 11:37:06 PM
Less PD, more explosions.
Nah, less Argus, moar Darts.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 13, 2015, 06:54:48 AM
https://soundcloud.com/fastland/sets/blackrock-drive-yards

The mod's soundtrack is on Soundcloud, just added two new tracks from this patch.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Histidine on February 13, 2015, 07:22:39 AM
Wait, there was a Doom in End Times? (I don't see it in my v0.7)
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Agalyon on February 13, 2015, 07:53:14 AM
- Added High Maintenance hullmods to Imaginos, Desdinova and Nevermore. Sorry, no fun allowed.
Ehhhhh... I really dont agree with that. The Imaginos makes sense, but the Desdinova and Nevermore are just really good ships, and not indomitably good ships either. But anyway, thanks for the speedy update. I was waiting to play till Blackrock was updated, lol.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 13, 2015, 08:05:28 AM
IMO it's entirely warranted, especially now that the Nevermore has 4 small missile hardpoints. The problem is player skills, I have to add something to make the playing field a tiny bit more even due to how broken those ships can be in a decent player's hands.

Wait, there was a Doom in End Times? (I don't see it in my v0.7)

I removed it in 0.7 but forgot to put it in the notes.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Aklyon on February 13, 2015, 08:23:12 AM
Augh, the Nevermore's supply cost now noooooo...


especially now that the Nevermore has 4 small missile hardpoints.
...though I can see how that would effect things with the regenamander, yeah.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 13, 2015, 08:25:05 AM
Screw the regenamander, the new Achilles can kill ships on its own. :P
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Aklyon on February 13, 2015, 08:31:07 AM
Screw the regenamander, the new Achilles can kill ships on its own. :P
I haven't tried it yet! :P
Otherwise I probably would've put that there, it sounds like a pretty worthy missile.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Agalyon on February 13, 2015, 08:34:07 AM
IMO it's entirely warranted, especially now that the Nevermore has 4 small missile hardpoints. The problem is player skills, I have to add something to make the playing field a tiny bit more even due to how broken those ships can be in a decent player's hands.
I definitely understand that, but wouldn't it make more sense just to crank up the CR per deployment? And I'm not really sure buffing them then adding high maintenance is the right direction if you already think they're too crazy. There are so many taxes in this game in this game already, and basically no way to offset the cost of high maintenance. I understand you probably don't want to change the ship and the way its used, but if you want to discourage its use by holding a sword over the players head for just carrying it, I feel like that's close to the same thing. If you want it not to be used, I think there's got to be a better way than this. I wanted to avoid using myself as an example, but for me personally, the combined CR per deployment and high maintenance makes me not want to use it at all, when I was first attracted to it basically because it seemed like a cool ship.

Just for transparency, I've only played with both ships a few times, and haven't used them extensively. I can see that they have the potential to be quite strong, I just don't feel like this is much of a limiter, more of an annoyance.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 13, 2015, 08:51:25 AM
I totally understand where you're coming from, and we'll see if it works out or not. I feel like really powerful, high-tech ships should require you to make an investment of support craft to carry supplies, as well as making you pay an opportunity cost. The campaign is very easy as it is, and the cost of running the ship can be offset by using efficient ships elsewhere. High Maintenance might be excessive, but when I tested it, I could still break even. You are not even penalized for being active, given that High Maintenance only kicks in when the ship is idle at full CR%.

The problem with the Desdinova and Nevermore is that both of them have Hyperion Syndrome, where they can easily outmaneuver the AI and obliterate ships that other ships of their size class wouldn't be able to touch. Once I get a Nevermore in the campaign, I very rarely lose battles, nor do I lose the ship itself - it's very easy to retreat with it. The point isn't really to impose a limiter, because there are none in a single-player game. If you wanted, you could mod the Nevermore to have unlimited burst jet ammo and cost 2 supplies/day. The point is to create a feeling of weight and cost, to sell the concept of the ship through both its designed strengths and weaknesses.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Agalyon on February 13, 2015, 09:04:24 AM
I totally understand where you're coming from, and we'll see if it works out or not. I feel like really powerful, high-tech ships should require you to make an investment of support craft to carry supplies, as well as making you pay an opportunity cost. The campaign is very easy as it is, and the cost of running the ship can be offset by using efficient ships elsewhere. High Maintenance might be excessive, but when I tested it, I could still break even. You are not even penalized for being active, given that High Maintenance only kicks in when the ship is idle at full CR%.

The problem with the Desdinova and Nevermore is that both of them have Hyperion Syndrome, where they can easily outmaneuver the AI and obliterate ships that other ships of their size class wouldn't be able to touch. Once I get a Nevermore in the campaign, I very rarely lose battles, nor do I lose the ship itself - it's very easy to retreat with it. The point isn't really to impose a limiter, because there are none in a single-player game. If you wanted, you could mod the Nevermore to have unlimited burst jet ammo and cost 2 supplies/day. The point is to create a feeling of weight and cost, to sell the concept of the ship through both its designed strengths and weaknesses.
Alright, Ill try using them a little before I judge anymore. Not sure if I want to wait for SS+, templars, and other mods still, not sure how long its going to be. My original save is basically too big to play on 65.1a so I'm basically sitting here till something happens. Thank you for your understanding, I hope I didn't come across as rude.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Death_Silence_66 on February 13, 2015, 10:34:38 AM
While doing some tests, it seems that AI controlled Imaginos class frigates don't fire their Rift cannons.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 13, 2015, 02:04:37 PM
Thank you for your understanding, I hope I didn't come across as rude.

Hell no. And feedback is always appreciated.

While doing some tests, it seems that AI controlled Imaginos class frigates don't fire their Rift cannons.

They get weird in 1v1s or when under pressure because their evasive actions and venting cancel the Rift Cannon chargeup. I have fiddled with the idea of making the Rift Cannon different for a while to address this, but I've yet to think of a satisfying design. What I might end up doing is forcing it to work similarly to the Autopulse Laser and eliminating the chargeup, but the chargeup is an interesting part of how the ship feels.
Title: Re: [0.65.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Tommy on February 13, 2015, 02:20:02 PM
Hey Cycerin, update the thread title with the current version :)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 13, 2015, 02:28:55 PM
Done, thanks.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Histidine on February 13, 2015, 04:54:25 PM
One mildly screwy thing about High Maintenance (though I only really felt it with Templar ships) is that it incentivizes the player to deploy ships with them regularly. You're going to be bleeding supplies no matter what you do, so you may as well use it and pay a 100% supply cost to Smite the Foe instead of 25% to have it sit idle in reserves.

Anyway, if it goes on Hyperion it makes sense to also go on Imaginos and probably Desdinova and Nevermore. Also fits with the lore.
On the other hand, those latter two are in many ways destroyer/cruiser versions of the Tempest, and that one doesn't have High Maintenance.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Agalyon on February 13, 2015, 05:09:56 PM
One mildly screwy thing about High Maintenance (though I only really felt it with Templar ships) is that it incentivizes the player to deploy ships with them regularly. You're going to be bleeding supplies no matter what you do, so you may as well use it and pay a 100% supply cost to Smite the Foe instead of 25% to have it sit idle in reserves.

Anyway, if it goes on Hyperion it makes sense to also go on Imaginos and probably Desdinova and Nevermore. Also fits with the lore.
On the other hand, those latter two are in many ways destroyer/cruiser versions of the Tempest, and that one doesn't have High Maintenance.
You know, I was contemplating making some allusion to the tempest/medusa in my rant, but in the end I didn't. Not to say that I think what you're saying is wrong, far from it. Having extensively used both the Medusa and the Tempest, its safe to say they are strong. But strong is hard to define in a single player game. Builds are somewhat narrow as they come on the Medusa, more so on Tempest, at least if you want to do the crazy stuff people rave about. Not sure about the Desdinova and the Nevermore. In a way, their mobility is what gives them the edge they have, but on the other hand, that kind of is blackrocks thing. Hard to say if having mobility AND power on a dedicated attack, 1v1 me-esque destroyer/cruiser is worth high maintenance. If it is strictly better than most every other ship in its class, maybe. But I can't make that kind of claim without lots of testing.

But yeah. About the High Maintenance vs CR per deployment thing, that's pretty much what I was thinking. I feel like really high CR per deployment would feel better, even if it cost me about the same.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 13, 2015, 05:13:21 PM
The reason why I added High Maintenance and not steeper deployment cost, is because I don't want to penalize actively fighting with the ships more than I already do. In fact it just makes sure the optimal approach when using the ships is to win battles without taking hull damage, which IMO is the best way to ensure that skilled players are rewarded. High Maintenance looks very dramatic but it's actually not a huge factor. Anyone who's taken the time to get really comfortable piloting either of those ships can attest that it's worth the cost. :)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Kerak on February 14, 2015, 06:25:29 AM
Desdinova and Nevermore are two of my favorite ships to play with in the whole game...and I use A LOT of mods.

Love your work, Cycerin.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Agalyon on February 14, 2015, 12:03:01 PM
So wait, does this work without shader lib? Or is the old shader lib fine on the new starsector?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Dark.Revenant on February 14, 2015, 12:40:20 PM
ShaderLib remains compatible.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Agalyon on February 14, 2015, 01:53:56 PM
Gotcha
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Flying_Whale on February 15, 2015, 12:49:08 AM
Hello. Added Blackrock to 0.65.2a. The mod is great....my favorite)
That's the second time I start a singleplayer (previous ended at 46 level) and I can not find Karkinos. Nowhere. Neither in Blackrock fleets, nor in any other. It never appears at the corporate market...
Is there something I should do to get the ship???
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 15, 2015, 06:23:18 AM
There's no way to get a specific capital ship in the game other than waiting for it to appear or capturing one.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Aklyon on February 15, 2015, 06:41:21 AM
Or finagling one out of the void with console commands, but thats not exactly ingame.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Ahne on February 15, 2015, 07:11:32 AM
I really like the lore,the design and the ships but the in-build cannons for example in the nevermore is complete overpowered, if you have enough techs/hullmods to install those ships are way too strong with their insane 120flux superior burst damage in-build cannons. The Photonbeam cannons from the interstellar imperium are way more balanced in terms of burst damage/flux costs. I really like to use your ships in my fleet but as long as there is no option to deactivate that op in-build cannons i don't use them.

Sad
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Aklyon on February 15, 2015, 07:52:15 AM
Well, theres the prototype 00-Nevermore, if you're that against its primary weapon, despite the supply costs. Its a bit rare however. ;)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Shoat on February 15, 2015, 10:33:52 AM
I really like the lore,the design and the ships but the in-build cannons for example in the nevermore is complete overpowered, if you have enough techs/hullmods to install those ships are way too strong with their insane 120flux superior burst damage in-build cannons. The Photonbeam cannons from the interstellar imperium are way more balanced in terms of burst damage/flux costs. I really like to use your ships in my fleet but as long as there is no option to deactivate that op in-build cannons i don't use them.

Sad

Almost all of the time, the ships with built-in weapons (nevermore/imaginos) are only going to be the flagship that is piloted by YOU personally (because they're hard to get, expensive to maintain and easy to lose if piloted incompetently). In that case you can just decide not to use the built-in weapon and your problem's solved.
If you have a fleet big enough to just have nevermores and imaginos' as normal AI fleet-members then you have already won the campaign and it will not make much of a difference whether or not you can forbid your AI pilots from using the built-in weapons.


More importantly you already have the ability to solve your problem completely: this game (and, thus, all of it's mods) are very open.
There are always Options. If YOU find something to be not quite like you'd enjoy most, it's up to YOU to personalize your installation of the game.
In this case, just open the mod's weapon_data.csv, go to the antimatter lance's entry and then change whatever you deem to be inexcusably OP.

If you are unwilling to do that yourself then you'll have to live with what the designer (in this case Cycerin) finds best. And for fragile and expensive specialty ships which really only do well when directly controlled by the player, the Nevermore and Imaginos are decently balanced.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Ahne on February 15, 2015, 11:01:32 AM
As i mentioned in my post that i'm talking about a high level captain with very many hullmods to install available, with those and some easy orders in-fight i can, as i also mentioned, go with my little 4-5 ship attack "fleet" head on with 36+ ship armadas and win without losing one crew member while controlling my battleship and do the rest of my cruisers be controlled by the AI. I have tested many different cruisers for my fleet as supports for my battleship and your called "fragile" nevermore cruiser from the blackrock faction is one of the BEST cruisers i can get to tank a shitload of enemys at the same time while delivering insane amount of damage especially with the inbuild cannon. There a some cruisers who have insane abilities to get fitted to be able to tank so many ships at once and have enough firepower to also deal enough damage in payback situation, i have compared the stats,the hardpoints,the OP's, the hull mods,the mobility,the systems and the overall possibility of the weapon who can be installed and my conclusion is that the nevermore counts to the best cruisers even controlled by the AI and its not "fragile" when equipped and fitted right. I hope you understand that i wish that the overall balance for everyone is the way to go and not to only fit your own expectations of the mod and change them for yourself.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Toxcity on February 15, 2015, 11:56:46 AM
Considering you're playing a high level captain, the Nevermore's tankiness may be a result of you pumping points into technology skills (unless you went combat and leadership only).
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Aklyon on February 15, 2015, 12:05:26 PM
High-level captains tend to be stronger in general. More bonuses, more hullmods, more stats, more credits to field the supplies needed for whatever you're throwing around.

And both the nevermore and the imaginos don't really compare to the Crystanite Ancient Destroyer class Soldier Alpha for OPness, though as far as I know the ship can't show up in the campaign outside of the console. It has no shield and no PD (though if you're piloting it, the phase skimmer-style ship system might count as a sorta-PD), but it has armor regen as a hullmod and if that ship isn't overloaded it will rip a pirate armada to shreds singlehandedly once its facing the right direction. The biggest problem with that ship is it has no real cargo/fuel capacity to speak of at less than 20.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Ahne on February 15, 2015, 12:06:45 PM
Thats for sure, the potential for many ships increases exponentially with your captains level and the spended skillpoints in the right skills. Some ships are awesome even with a low level captain but don't get extrem value out of a high level skill tree and some others are strong with some weaknesses "for example the nevermore and its small shield arc etc" but gain extrem value with increasing the right skills and get more Ordnance points and hull mods/weapons available. I guess that the skilltree and the developing factor of the increasing skills and the resulting impact on your ships is not carefully considered in the design and balancing of ships.

But thats an overall problem and not restricted to the cool blackrock faction mod.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 15, 2015, 12:19:02 PM
Seems that the ship isn't overnerfed after all. I've always maintained that it's very powerful, which is why I've slowly brought its stats down over the past 2 years. Anyway, I will say that I can mostly accomplish the same things in an Aurora, and that goes for AI controlled ships as well. Swap a Nevermore for an Aurora and your fleet power should stay roughly the same, the Nevermore is just flashier which makes it feel broken if the enemy fleet can't deal with it.

Having a lot of Combat/Technology aptitude compounds the problem and allows for very cheesy, powerful loadouts, which sadly shore up the ship's weaknesses very quickly and make it easy for it to get out of bad situations. Not quite sure what to do about that.

One change I've considered for the Nevermore is to nerf the ammo regen of the built-in weapon and lower its projectile speed again.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Ahne on February 15, 2015, 12:23:47 PM
Hehe, i have also an aura cruiser in my fleet. One nevermore and one to two imperial Eagle cruisers. My flagship is a imperal caesar class battleship. Thats my deploy fleet to fight 36+ ship encounters and win without 1 crew member die. I play ironman with full damage and didn't died even 1 time in starsector+. I have tested many many different cruiser with many different specs to find, for now, my ideal cruisers to support my battleship in combat.


Yes it's very hard to balance stuff and keep the flavour, my main concern is that the inbuild weapon has a extrem low flux generation, with a comparable flux generation per shot like the photonbeam cannon from the imperium it would be way less tanky, because the AI is not able to control the weapon very good and just shoots around when its "recharged".
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Agalyon on February 15, 2015, 02:00:36 PM
Seems that the ship isn't overnerfed after all. I've always maintained that it's very powerful, which is why I've slowly brought its stats down over the past 2 years. Anyway, I will say that I can mostly accomplish the same things in an Aurora, and that goes for AI controlled ships as well. Swap a Nevermore for an Aurora and your fleet power should stay roughly the same, the Nevermore is just flashier which makes it feel broken if the enemy fleet can't deal with it.

Having a lot of Combat/Technology aptitude compounds the problem and allows for very cheesy, powerful loadouts, which sadly shore up the ship's weaknesses very quickly and make it easy for it to get out of bad situations. Not quite sure what to do about that.

One change I've considered for the Nevermore is to nerf the ammo regen of the built-in weapon and lower its projectile speed again.
I pretty much agree with this. The Nevermore and Aurora end up with mostly the same levels power, depending on the loadout. I think the Nevermore certainly is flashier, and the built in weapon probably feels more powerful than it really is because its "free." Torpedo's accomplish basically the same thing, probably with more projectile speed as well, and you can put those on anything.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 15, 2015, 02:04:48 PM
Yes it's very hard to balance stuff and keep the flavour, my main concern is that the inbuild weapon has a extrem low flux generation, with a comparable flux generation per shot like the photonbeam cannon from the imperium it would be way less tanky, because the AI is not able to control the weapon very good and just shoots around when its "recharged".

That's basically why it has a very low flux cost, the AI was unable to manage it and the ship just felt too much like it HAD to be player-piloted in order to not be an enormous waste.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Ahne on February 15, 2015, 02:21:23 PM
Quote
That's basically why it has a very low flux cost, the AI was unable to manage it and the ship just felt too much like it HAD to be player-piloted in order to not be an enormous waste.

Exactly thats why i have posted some ideas, that we need more option in the weapons groups menue, in the suggestion forum.
If we had an option to really disable weapons to use by the AI it would be way easier to balance certain in-build weapons and other stuff.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Talkie Toaster on February 15, 2015, 04:39:23 PM
This version is pretty great, though the shotgun weapons seem a tad underpowered- I didn't really notice their flux production, so it may be that they're just intended to be very efficient?

Are there any plans to expand the campaign content? It's thematic that BRDY are enemies with the Luddites but I've not been able to figure out a way to get any credit for destroying them. Adding the occasional Lud raiding party into Gneiss or, conversely, adding techmining missions to hostile systems (that'd give you the chance to get credit for kills as you'd be in sensor range of a BRDY ship) would be neat.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 15, 2015, 05:04:41 PM
What I have planned is another system that has constant interaction between Tri-Tachyon, Hegemony and Blackrock. You should be able to see Luddite trade fleets there sometimes too, although the fact that BRDY and the Luddites are mutually hostile is mostly flavor. Basically though, I want the new system to be a very fun, active place you can go when you're stacked on resources and looking for trouble, and because the factions are all enemies of enemies you will rapidly stack rep against two factions and gain it with one by fighting or trading there, like Corsica from II.

The shotguns seem fine to me!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Delta7 on February 15, 2015, 05:55:17 PM
1. thanks for updating the mod, im not fond of the new SS update (i actually liked the limited ammo mechanic) but it compresses save files which makes the game playable when modded, and quite frankly, i LOVE your ships.
2. so you come from the BSF forums too? that would explain why all your ships are so badass XD i built a few BSF ships of my own, but i never did have a WFTU (DGW) faction of my own. any chance you could turn some of my BSF ships into SS ships? if you do, you can do basically anything you want with them, maybe add them as a secondary faction that comes with BDR, or a separate mod entirely. i even have a couple of fighter sprites (and can easily make more) that you can use if you want. you might have to remove the weapons before spriting it, but... that shouldnt be too hard: http://www.wyrdysm.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=5073&mode=view
http://www.wyrdysm.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7279&start=30 the downloads are all at various points in that thread. my older ships are crap (skip them), but some of my newer ones are ok-ish, edit as needed.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: orost on February 15, 2015, 06:05:55 PM
Suggestion: the big slow-firing cannons (Gale and such) need more visible projectile graphics and/or impact effects. I say this because to properly use weapons with low rate of fire and high damage, you need to see clearly if it hit or not, and whether it hit shields or armor, so you can gauge how effective you are being with them and adjust. Examples of weapons that are very good in this regard are Antimatter and Scalaron Blasters with their highly visible projectiles. Right now, I struggle to see Gale shells and their impacts among the chaos of battle and it makes using them somewhat frustrating.

I play with Shaderlib off, it doesn't work with my GPU, so I'm sorry if it actually looks better with it on!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: EI on February 15, 2015, 06:37:25 PM
>-<

This ships look awesome to play with, and they are... It's just that they keep killing my ships like flyswatters that... hmph.

At least my drones can take care of them soon enough. c:
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on February 15, 2015, 07:12:56 PM
1. thanks for updating the mod, im not fond of the new SS update (i actually liked the limited ammo mechanic) but it compresses save files which makes the game playable when modded, and quite frankly, i LOVE your ships.
2. so you come from the BSF forums too? that would explain why all your ships are so badass XD i built a few BSF ships of my own, but i never did have a WFTU (DGW) faction of my own. any chance you could turn some of my BSF ships into SS ships? if you do, you can do basically anything you want with them, maybe add them as a secondary faction that comes with BDR, or a separate mod entirely. i even have a couple of fighter sprites (and can easily make more) that you can use if you want. you might have to remove the weapons before spriting it, but... that shouldnt be too hard: http://www.wyrdysm.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=5073&mode=view
http://www.wyrdysm.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7279&start=30 the downloads are all at various points in that thread. my older ships are crap (skip them), but some of my newer ones are ok-ish, edit as needed.
Wait wait wait, first you say
or maybe im too used to the BSF forums where even the mid grade shipbuilder's creations would be considered top of the line ships by SS standards. and maybe that's part of why i want to convert all those beautiful BSF spaceships and factions into actual SS mod factions...
and then you want one of THE BEST mod artists out there to do all the work of turning your BS ships into useable SS sprites? And for free too?! If yours and other BS ships are SOOOOO GOOD compared to SS's ships, then why don't you just use them as is or convert them yourself!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Protonus on February 15, 2015, 07:37:06 PM
2. so you come from the BSF forums too? that would explain why all your ships are so badass XD i built a few BSF ships of my own, but i never did have a WFTU (DGW) faction of my own. any chance you could turn some of my BSF ships into SS ships? if you do, you can do basically anything you want with them, maybe add them as a secondary faction that comes with BDR, or a separate mod entirely. i even have a couple of fighter sprites (and can easily make more) that you can use if you want. you might have to remove the weapons before spriting it, but... that shouldnt be too hard: http://www.wyrdysm.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=5073&mode=view
http://www.wyrdysm.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7279&start=30 the downloads are all at various points in that thread. my older ships are crap (skip them), but some of my newer ones are ok-ish, edit as needed.

It's not really that hard converting your ships into SS. Take a screenshot of your weaponless ships, crop the background off it and attach weapon mounts into it.

Using Photoshop/GIMP would simply fix your problem.

But honestly, never compare BSF ships to SS ships in here, the differences are too much to compare and so are the statuses of both games.

>-<

This ships look awesome to play with, and they are... It's just that they keep killing my ships like flyswatters that... hmph.

At least my drones can take care of them soon enough. c:

And this is where you're off to. I hope your Valentines doesn't affect your personal ideals to take over each "modiverse" with your ever "imposing" fleet of flying termites or maybe you are getting adjusted to feel a lot happier with other modders in here, but I guess I should digress this kind of conversation and pretend I'm not here.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: OOZ662 on February 15, 2015, 09:28:25 PM
The kinetic shotgun felt like it worked fine for me in 0.65.1a (going through withdrawls waiting on the SS+ update for 2a). It's not something you want to use as a main gun on a smaller ship, but it shines as a secondary to either spray-and-annoy at a bit of distance or to punch a shield out in a knife fight.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: DefiasOne on February 16, 2015, 12:09:33 AM
Hello,

Is the combat music supposed to play only when fighting Blackrock ? Currently I hear no music in tactical combat mode.
As a side note how do you add music to SS, specifically the tactical combat mode ?

Any plans on adding regenerating missile launchers? As it stands the regenerating pillums and salamanders are quite OP for any fleet formation, though it makes sense having a dedicated PD frigate tag along with you now.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Shoat on February 16, 2015, 02:59:42 AM
What I have planned is another system that has constant interaction between Tri-Tachyon, Hegemony and Blackrock. You should be able to see Luddite trade fleets there sometimes too, although the fact that BRDY and the Luddites are mutually hostile is mostly flavor. Basically though, I want the new system to be a very fun, active place you can go when you're stacked on resources and looking for trouble, and because the factions are all enemies of enemies you will rapidly stack rep against two factions and gain it with one by fighting or trading there, like Corsica from II.

You mean it'll be sort of like the good ol' times when everyone was cramped into corvus?
Because, to be honest, I liked that a lot better than the current (more realistic) "you're in space, most of it is empty, everything's spread out, deal with it" feeling we have going on now.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Aklyon on February 16, 2015, 07:51:42 AM
What I have planned is another system that has constant interaction between Tri-Tachyon, Hegemony and Blackrock. You should be able to see Luddite trade fleets there sometimes too, although the fact that BRDY and the Luddites are mutually hostile is mostly flavor. Basically though, I want the new system to be a very fun, active place you can go when you're stacked on resources and looking for trouble, and because the factions are all enemies of enemies you will rapidly stack rep against two factions and gain it with one by fighting or trading there, like Corsica from II.

You mean it'll be sort of like the good ol' times when everyone was cramped into corvus?
Because, to be honest, I liked that a lot better than the current (more realistic) "you're in space, most of it is empty, everything's spread out, deal with it" feeling we have going on now.
It certainly sounds like a fun system to be in once its put together :)
Right now for me its mostly '...ah, theres no one in Gneiss besides blackrock again. Guess I'll sell them the metal I've accumulated while I'm here...'

Also, comparing the lance to a torpedo sounds pretty right to me, heartofdiscord. Both of them have the same feeling if you miss with it, but I'd still prefer the nevermore for the fanciness though, since like you said, torps can be on anything.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: HELMUT on February 16, 2015, 01:21:32 PM
BTW, anybody noticed that Blackrock is the first faction mod to finally breach the 100 page limit on the forum? Congratz Cyc.

In my mind, it's what happen when there's a recreational drugs glut on Blackrock, they design new stuffs.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/2HgQ0V2.png)
[close]

The BRS Crack and Hoes, or BRDY in a nutshell.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Nanao-kun on February 16, 2015, 01:25:03 PM
BTW, anybody noticed that Blackrock is the first faction mod to finally breach the 100 page limit on the forum? Congratz Cyc.

In my mind, it's what happen when there's a recreational drugs glut on Blackrock, they design new stuffs.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/2HgQ0V2.png)
[close]

The BRS Crack and Hoes, or BRDY in a nutshell.
Are those... two large weapon slots? Either way, that looks pretty cool.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Cycerin on February 16, 2015, 01:31:46 PM
That's just awesome. you glorious bastard (http://i.imgur.com/JSFKwoe.gif)

I'd say it looks more like 2 AM Lances
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Aklyon on February 16, 2015, 04:00:03 PM
Yeah, double lance.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Doogie on February 16, 2015, 09:05:06 PM
That thing should also have an instant overload.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: OOZ662 on February 16, 2015, 09:33:12 PM
Or use flux ejection tanks as limited ammunition.

Or, not necessarily...but it's a concept I think is really cool but underused.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: orost on February 16, 2015, 11:02:55 PM
Hmm... a weapon with limited ammuntion that can still fire after it runs out, but at a dramatically increased flux cost?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Histidine on February 17, 2015, 05:32:24 AM
I agree, Nevermore crack is great and all but us Desdinova smokers need our fix too!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Sabaton on February 17, 2015, 12:30:31 PM
That thing needs to be added, I mean just look like it, the Nevermore already has a weaker version of it, why not a crazy over engineered one?

(Nervously ingests more Nevermore crack)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: NightfallGemini on February 18, 2015, 02:23:33 PM
BTW, anybody noticed that Blackrock is the first faction mod to finally breach the 100 page limit on the forum? Congratz Cyc.

In my mind, it's what happen when there's a recreational drugs glut on Blackrock, they design new stuffs.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/2HgQ0V2.png)
[close]

The BRS Crack and Hoes, or BRDY in a nutshell.

The Nevermore was already a Wing Gundam in ship form. This thing should oneshot anything that gets in its way.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.2 - RC2 update
Post by: Cycerin on February 19, 2015, 08:58:46 AM
DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK FOR STARSECTOR 0.65.2aRC2! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip)

Changelog:

0.7.2

Combat polish:
- Removed ammo for most weapons, kept the clip mechanic for some weapons as a flavor/balancing element
- The following weapons keep ammo for gameplay reasons: Shard weapons, Ferrogun/cannon, Gale cannon
- The following weapons keep ammo for mechanical reasons: Volley Gun
- Increased Mod Silverfish maneuverability slightly
- Changed INM Assault Gun: Range increased to 650, damage decreased by 15 per shot, recharge time lowered to 1.9 seconds. The old design had problems pressuring armor due to the long interval per bursts, making it ineffective on frigates as enemy ships usually could keep shields lowered between bursts, and it was not worth 6 OP compared to the 5 OP Assault Gun. The new design also synchs up well with Shard Cannon barrages.
- Dual Shard Cannon range increased by 100
- Shard Cannon range increased by 50
Slightly more hit success for the Shard weapons, to justify their ammo
- Ferrogun range increased by 50 and cooldown decreased by 0.05, also due to ammo restriction
- Added regenerating charges to Scalaron Blaster, but lowered starting charges to 25
- Lowered Achilles Stage 2 MIRV damage to 400 frag from 500 frag
- Made Quill Rocket disappear immediately after the engine flames out, like Annihilators
- Hammerclaw: increased turn acc slightly
- Scorpion nerfs: Armor lowered by 50, Stinger Drone shields from 0.2 hardness to 0.5 hardness and their HP from 500 to 450
- Desdinova: Armor lowered from 620 to 600, Flux cap increased from 6500 to 6700
- Nevermore: Antimatter Lance proj speed from 1200 to 950 and damage from 2500 to 2400
- Micro Argus PD: OP lowered from 5 to 4
- Shard Gun: Range from 475 to 500
- Slightly increased the chance of Serkets appearing in fleets/markets
- Updated some strings
- Stenos: Slightly lowered shield upkeep
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.1 - Patch Out !
Post by: Sabaton on February 19, 2015, 09:43:41 AM
BTW, anybody noticed that Blackrock is the first faction mod to finally breach the 100 page limit on the forum? Congratz Cyc.

In my mind, it's what happen when there's a recreational drugs glut on Blackrock, they design new stuffs.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/2HgQ0V2.png)
[close]

The BRS Crack and Hoes, or BRDY in a nutshell.

The Nevermore was already a Wing Gundam in ship form. This thing should oneshot anything that gets in its way.



Yeaaaa, no. By SS+ standards two consecutive AML shots can't/barely will? even overload your average Enforcer by themselves. Plus this thing looks like it lost 2 medium energy and 2 small missile hardpoints making it much more dependent on precision and vulnerable to swarming/fast craft. I can totally see this as a dedicated cap ship hunter.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.2 - RC2 update
Post by: nightinerr on February 19, 2015, 11:17:04 AM
I'm getting the message:
Fatal: org/dark/shaders/util/ShaderLib
Cause: org.dark.shaders.util.ShaderLib
check starsector.log for more info

the log file doesn't tell me anything about the error.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.2 - RC2 update
Post by: Cycerin on February 19, 2015, 12:36:10 PM
1) Do you have the Starsector 0.65.2.a RC2 version that came out a few days ago?
2) Do you have the latest ShaderLib and is it enabled?
3) Did you do a clean install last time you patched Starsector?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.2 - RC2 update
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on February 19, 2015, 02:10:32 PM
Played a round over lunch, and the Shard weapons are noticeably more effective. They're now much more solid generalist weapons - I no longer feel like mounting railguns on everything, there's genuine competition. Me likey.

The Mod Silverfish is a classy lady who's got it where it counts.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.2 - RC2 update
Post by: orost on February 20, 2015, 03:21:15 PM
What am I missing about the Fury torpedo?

Every other BRDY weapon seems to be useful in its way, but I can't imagine a scenario where I'd willingly take a Fury over a Reaper. The utility is roughly equivalent - the same total damage, better hit success and the ability to split it as pros, flux cost and lesser synergy with Missile Specialization as cons. Energy damage type, but that's more of a sidegrade than an advantage. They're about equal, I'd say. But the Fury costs 6 OP against Reaper's 2 - why would I ever use it?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.2 - RC2 update
Post by: Cycerin on February 20, 2015, 04:27:22 PM
It depends on if you're playing SS+ really. The Reaper is way less powerful in SS+, so the Fury's speed becomes a better asset, and effectively gives it better range. Also, the 6 OP Fury is 2x Fury, the 2OP one is 1x.

Another factor is that the Fury is more useful on fast ships like BRDY frigates, because its greater launch speed lets it not inherit your angular velocity and go off course.

Generally I'd use the Reaper against very fortified targets like capital ships and low tech cruisers and up, and the Fury against smaller, faster or more shield-reliant targets.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.2 - RC2 update
Post by: Wyvern on February 20, 2015, 04:35:36 PM
It's also worth noting that, when the Fury was originally designed (several Starsector versions ago), Reapers were much slower and harder to hit with - similar to how they are in SS+ now, but even more so.  At the time, I used Fury torpedos as my go-to torpedo option, simply because I could actually make the Fury torps hit without having to close to shield-ramming range to have a chance.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.2 - RC2 update
Post by: Sproginator on February 21, 2015, 11:26:04 AM
I'll be honest, this always was and remains to be my favourite set of ships/weapons out of all the mods :) Add THAT to your quote list hehe
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on February 21, 2015, 06:47:40 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/WGM7w7z.jpg)

DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK 0.7.3! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip)
Explore a new system between Gneiss and Corvus. The focal point of a three-way cold war between Blackrock, The Hegemony and The Tri-Tachyon Corporation, with a pesky Pirate hideout profiteering from the chaos, Rama is a massive, politically unstable binary star system with lots of things to see and do. No more camping in Gneiss trying to eke out reputation gains!

Changelog:
v.0.7.3:
- Added the Rama system
- Moved Gneiss further out
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Aklyon on February 21, 2015, 07:00:47 PM
No more camping in Gneiss trying to eke out reputation gains!
Huzzah!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on February 21, 2015, 07:03:17 PM
Rama is also a good place to kill brdy as you can rep with TT and Heg at the same time. But selling off goods anywhere will make the other factions dislike you.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Agalyon on February 21, 2015, 09:08:35 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/WGM7w7z.jpg)

DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK 0.7.3! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/cd1m4a2ryrych51/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards.zip)
Explore a new system between Gneiss and Corvus. The focal point of a three-way cold war between Blackrock, The Hegemony and The Tri-Tachyon Corporation, with a pesky Pirate hideout profiteering from the chaos, Rama is a massive, politically unstable binary star system with lots of things to see and do. No more camping in Gneiss trying to eke out reputation gains!

Changelog:
v.0.7.3:
- Added the Rama system
- Moved Gneiss further out
I assume this breaks saves?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on February 21, 2015, 09:45:44 PM
Sadly, yeah. But you can use Save Transfer as always.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Protonus on February 21, 2015, 09:48:06 PM
Well, this is awkward.

We both released star systems today.

I might visit yours sometime Maybe we can work together sometime...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Agalyon on February 22, 2015, 02:46:39 AM
I noticed the scaleron repeater's displayed flux per second is significantly less than what it actually is. Not sure if its displaying the consistent usage rather than burst, or what.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Nanao-kun on February 22, 2015, 07:47:47 AM
I noticed the scaleron repeater's displayed flux per second is significantly less than what it actually is. Not sure if its displaying the consistent usage rather than burst, or what.
It's likely talking about consistent usage. So, not very accurate.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on February 23, 2015, 03:34:40 PM
I noticed the scaleron repeater's displayed flux per second is significantly less than what it actually is. Not sure if its displaying the consistent usage rather than burst, or what.

It's something that happened with the recent ammo change. Flux usage displayed is now usage when running on empty.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on February 25, 2015, 09:16:08 AM
Curious about feedback w/r/t how Rama evolves during long campaigns.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Ahne on February 25, 2015, 09:26:23 AM
I will test for sure when my beloved mods are all updated and i can start a new game in ss+.

I'm hyped about all the good stuff!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: OOZ662 on February 25, 2015, 01:56:21 PM
Curious about feedback w/r/t how Rama evolves during long campaigns.

Very long story short, 7ZIP ate my save in a roundabout way, so I've been coming back from scratch and am only up to Shrimp-level. So far I've kept to Gneiss so I don't have to hassle with faction fleets chasing me, but once I get a decently supported Nevermore set up I'll head into the brawl. Though mine'll be a bit biased by the Interstellar Imperium occasionally rolling up and besieging the place.

EDIT because I hate making two posts in a row:

This looks and behaves like one of the last things you ever want to see barreling at you if you're in a ship and made of meat. The volley guns dump the shields in 1-2 shots, the Sunjet tears the armor off where you're pointing, the Pulsar sputters the armor off where you aren't pointing, then the sheer volume of fragmenting rounds from the quad Shredder MGs and dual-dual Hailfire Chainguns turn the inside of the ship into meatloaf. Also Salamander MRMs because :salamanders:. The rated weapon flux seems misleading as it's very, very difficult to overload this thing without taking a cruiser or EMP torpedoes to the face. The only downsides are you ought to have something covering your aft, and you have to be close. If you call that a downside.
Spoiler
(http://s26.postimg.org/ar7axw55l/BRDY_Facemelter.png)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on February 25, 2015, 11:28:20 PM
I find that you can get away with no PD at all on a Desdinova if you run a lot of fighters for top cover; I wouldn't recommend it, but it works.

My go-to lately has been this:
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/vnVaLMU.png)
[close]

But this is also really fun, running on the same general logic as OOZ's loadout:
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/m69Wmfb.png)
[close]

And this is what's up if you want a PD-less all-Shard all-star:
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/drzyDac.png)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: jeffg10 on February 26, 2015, 09:34:45 AM
Curious about feedback w/r/t how Rama evolves during long campaigns.
Help! it would seem that my game only crashes when i start a campagain with blackrock installed, i loved blackrock with the previous version of the game and would love you to look at this crash log i attached to the reply. I'm not a modder for this game so i have no idea what any of this stuff means.  ???
Edit: The i tried to upload the log with the post but it kept erroring out so have this part of the error log:
Spoiler
128880 [Thread-5] INFO  org.lazywizard.lazylib.LazyLib  - Running LazyLib v2.01 for Starsector 0.65a
128880 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.loading.LoadingUtils  - Loading JSON from [lazylib_settings.json]
128881 [Thread-5] INFO  org.lazywizard.lazylib.LazyLib  - Setting log level to WARN
128919 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id pt_advmaneuveringjets_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128919 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id pt_ammofeed_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128919 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id pt_bastionshield_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id ob_breeze_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id ob_chimera_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id fox_citadelphase_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id cubeboost_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id ms_drivecharger_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id eth_phasecloak_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id flarelauncher_fighter_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id pt_mary_emp_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id pt_ambassadorfocus_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id traveldrive_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128920 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id inferniuminjector_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128921 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id CitadelEMPSystem_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128921 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id ob_mollusc_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128921 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id pt_myrtenaster_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128921 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id sun_ice_advphasewarp_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128921 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id sun_ice_phasecloak_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128921 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id sun_ice_phasecloak_drone_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128921 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id brphasecloak_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128921 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id sun_ice_phaseshift_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128921 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id sun_ice_phasewarp_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128921 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id sun_ice_phasewarp_fighter_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128922 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id crys_blue_refractor_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128922 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id pt_roidragedrive_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128922 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id lucifergenerator_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128922 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id scalarcloak_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128922 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id pt_scuttlemite_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128922 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id ob_tick_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
128923 [Thread-5] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Loading [graphics/particlealpha32sq.png] as texture with id [fs.common/graphics/particlealpha32sq.png]
128929 [Thread-5] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Loaded 494.90 MB of texture data so far
128930 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Cleaned buffer for texture graphics/particlealpha32sq.png (using cast)
129124 [Thread-5] DEBUG com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader  - Loading [graphics/backgrounds/background4.jpg] as texture with id [graphics/backgrounds/background4.jpg]
144228 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0OO  - Error loading mission preview
java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull variant [hound_Assault] not found!
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.O00O.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.o0oO.getFleetPointCost(Unknown Source)
   at data.missions.BRDY_randomvs.MissionDefinition.generateFleet(MissionDefinition.java:163)
   at data.missions.BRDY_randomvs.MissionDefinition.defineMission(MissionDefinition.java:120)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.o0oO.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0OO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.ooOO.new.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.ooOO.A.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.O0OO.I.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.B.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.B.void.class$super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.A.oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
146786 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0OO  - Error loading mission preview
java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull variant [hound_Assault] not found!
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.O00O.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.o0oO.getFleetPointCost(Unknown Source)
   at data.missions.BRDY_randomvs.MissionDefinition.generateFleet(MissionDefinition.java:163)
   at data.missions.BRDY_randomvs.MissionDefinition.defineMission(MissionDefinition.java:120)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.o0oO.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0OO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.ooOO.new.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.ooOO.A.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.O0OO.I.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.B.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.B.void.class$super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.A.oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
148817 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0OO  - Error loading mission preview
java.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull variant [hound_Assault] not found!
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.O00O.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.o0oO.getFleetPointCost(Unknown Source)
   at data.missions.BRDY_randomvs.MissionDefinition.generateFleet(MissionDefinition.java:163)
   at data.missions.BRDY_randomvs.MissionDefinition.defineMission(MissionDefinition.java:120)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.o0oO.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0OO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.ooOO.new.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.ooOO.A.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.O0oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.O0OO.I.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Q.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.B.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.B.void.class$super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.A.oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
185519 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine  - FP1: 0, FP2: 3395, maxFP1: 200, maxFP2: 300
313648 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Reading save data from [..\saves\save_ICOmenTark_585487707485039846\descriptor.xml]
313760 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Reading save data from [..\saves\save_OmenTil_7533153759480023277\descriptor.xml]
313821 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Reading save data from [..\saves\save_Test_9176859909358158328\descriptor.xml]
313854 [Thread-5] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager  - Reading save data from [..\saves\save_vamp_7054156477349640830\descriptor.xml]
386904 [Thread-5] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Texture [urban03] from category [illustrations] not found
java.lang.RuntimeException: Texture [urban03] from category [illustrations] not found
   at com.fs.starfarer.settings.StarfarerSettings.Ó00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.BaseCampaignEntity.setInteractionImage(Unknown Source)
   at data.scripts.world.blackrock.rama.Rama.generate(Rama.java:49)
   at data.scripts.world.blackrock.BRGen.generate(BRGen.java:21)
   at data.scripts.BRModPlugin.initBR(BRModPlugin.java:56)
   at data.scripts.BRModPlugin.onNewGame(BRModPlugin.java:38)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.B.dialogDismissed(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.oO0O.dismiss(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.impl.J.dismiss(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.if.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.thisnew.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.null.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O0Oo.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.B.void.class$super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.A.oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.O0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on February 26, 2015, 09:57:15 AM
Love those variants. People should post more stuff like that.

jeffg10: Are you 100% sure you're playing with the latest version of BR, and that you aren't using a save from an outdated version of the game?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: jeffg10 on February 26, 2015, 11:12:46 AM
Love those variants. People should post more stuff like that.

jeffg10: Are you 100% sure you're playing with the latest version of BR, and that you aren't using a save from an outdated version of the game?
i'm not using any saves i'm trying to make a new one, also yes i re-downloaded it and tested it just before posting.
but like i said every time i try and attach the full crash log it errors out so tell me if there are any other parts you need from it.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on February 26, 2015, 11:29:34 AM
Well, it seems like your game is trying to load missing assets, eg. the pre-ship skins hound variant and an illustration that came with 0.65.2a. Are you absolutely sure you're using the latest versions of everything and that you didnt overwrite the older version of Starsector with the new one when you ran the install?

The newest version of Starsector is 0.65.2.a RC2
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: jeffg10 on February 26, 2015, 12:16:40 PM
Well, it seems like your game is trying to load missing assets, eg. the pre-ship skins hound variant and an illustration that came with 0.65.2a. Are you absolutely sure you're using the latest versions of everything and that you didnt overwrite the older version of Starsector with the new one when you ran the install?

The newest version of Starsector is 0.65.2.a RC2
I re-installed SS and it gave me a new error, something about not being able to spawn a templar fleet so i un-installed the knights templar mod and now the game works great!  :)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on February 26, 2015, 05:38:35 PM
This is so minor I hesitate to bring it up, but the Thalm Listening Post claims that it has 10^2 population, yet it has never had less than a thousand crew available for hire between the Black and Regular Market tabs.

That only means there are 100 permanent residents there. Any crew and marines are probably not permanent.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 01, 2015, 10:39:41 PM
Made a new mission for the next version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dd4uqcGPPg

Not pictured: the 12 losses before this round
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Histidine on March 02, 2015, 05:35:24 AM
OH YEAH

Not pictured: the 12 losses before this round
Still way better than Duel of the Century. Screw that mission, seriously; if I never have to see an AI Hyperion with AM Blasters again it will be too soon ::)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: JohnDoe on March 02, 2015, 03:17:43 PM
Made a new mission for the next version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dd4uqcGPPg

Not pictured: the 12 losses before this round

It's a strategic loss for BRDY because it'll cost them more to resupply the Karkinos than it takes for Hegemony to rebuild their whole fleet.

Also, dig that EVE Online music.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Tartiflette on March 02, 2015, 03:58:59 PM
Depend on what they were fighting for I guess
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Unfolder on March 02, 2015, 04:06:54 PM
Please limit the length of the ship descriptions to one page, and limit the amount of chaff/become a better writer. The lobster ship is a particularly egregious example of eye rollingly bad writing.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 02, 2015, 04:17:46 PM
Please limit the length of the ship descriptions to one page, and limit the amount of chaff/become a better writer. The lobster ship is a particularly egregious example of eye rollingly bad writing.
In your eyes, perhaps. I thought it was interesting.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Taverius on March 02, 2015, 04:24:20 PM
Please limit the length of the ship descriptions to one page, and limit the amount of chaff/become a better writer. The lobster ship is a particularly egregious example of eye rollingly bad writing.
Nobody touches the shrimp, on pain of pain.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Mazuo on March 02, 2015, 04:29:20 PM
Uh, no, can't disagree more.  The ship descriptions are great.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Euqocelbbog on March 02, 2015, 04:34:26 PM
Please limit the length of the ship descriptions to one page, and limit the amount of chaff/become a better writer. The lobster ship is a particularly egregious example of eye rollingly bad writing.

Please limit your shitposting tia
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 02, 2015, 04:38:51 PM
Please limit the length of the ship descriptions to one page, and limit the amount of chaff/become a better writer. The lobster ship is a particularly egregious example of eye rollingly bad writing.

If you don't allow yourself to write bad things & learn from it, how do you become a better writer?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: jeffg10 on March 02, 2015, 04:58:33 PM
could you make a version of BR without shaderlib? i have shaderlib installed but not turned on (disabled in the config) and i seem to get a crash any time the BR stuff would normaly use the shader (like when warping exc.) the problem is that when i do have the shader on it kills my computer and my FPS ( 1 - 3 FPS)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 02, 2015, 04:59:31 PM
I've been meaning to look into how to make it an option rather than a dependency (a. la SCY). It'd probably be a very large effort though, so it might be easier to address the problem directly.

Can you post the crash log or put it on pastebin?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: jeffg10 on March 02, 2015, 05:05:52 PM
I've been meaning to look into how to make it an option rather than a dependency (a. la SCY). It'd probably be a very large effort though, so it might be easier to address the problem directly.

Can you post the crash log or put it on pastebin?
i looked at my mods and realised that my shaderlib is vastly out of date so that may just be the problem (going to install the new one now, but thanks for the imediate help. that's you i think your awesome, well that and the beautiful mod you created)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on March 02, 2015, 10:19:11 PM
I've been meaning to look into how to make it an option rather than a dependency (a. la SCY). It'd probably be a very large effort though, so it might be easier to address the problem directly.

Can you post the crash log or put it on pastebin?
i looked at my mods and realised that my shaderlib is vastly out of date so that may just be the problem (going to install the new one now, but thanks for the imediate help. that's you i think your awesome, well that and the beautiful mod you created)
One thing I might suggest is the mod version checker. It will tell you when your mods are out of date and which ones are out of date
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: WKOB on March 03, 2015, 12:24:13 AM
Please limit the length of the ship descriptions to one page, and limit the amount of chaff/become a better writer. The lobster ship is a particularly egregious example of eye rollingly bad writing.
Please limit your shitposting tia
No kidding, has he ever posted anything of any level of contribution?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Aklyon on March 03, 2015, 07:22:36 AM
Not that I can think of.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 08, 2015, 11:23:55 AM
Yeah, basically that. If one market has taken over the system and so on. It'd be real helpful.

(http://i.imgur.com/ihiFcfl.png)

New ship, the Megaceras-class Armed Courier. Sprite's not 100% final.

It's a freight ship designed for the Sector as opposed to hailing from safer days, so it's basically a destroyer with a big cargo/crew/fuel capacity but a logistics footprint that's above that of a combat destroyer or freighter of similar strength. It's got good engine stats without a mobility system and a drone bay with small Shredder-armed drones. It's also compact.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: ValkyriaL on March 08, 2015, 11:42:23 AM
That looks more Templar than BRDY to me. :-\
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: jeffg10 on March 08, 2015, 12:01:09 PM
hey, I don't mean to incroach again but do you know of a way to raise the ingame memory above 1024m without the game freaking out? (refusing to start)
I run it on a 64 bit windows 7 computer and despite several attempts to raise it above 1024m in the vmparams file the game freaks and does not even start when i run the file, this has led to a lot of out of memmory errors (i think that's whats doing it?) but i can't find a single solution any where on the forum,  I would ask in the I.T. secton of the forum but last time i did that the results where less then stellar.... besides since it's a mod related problem (exceeding the max memmory) they would mostlikely just tell me to go but the modding forum  :-\
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Taverius on March 08, 2015, 12:43:45 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/ihiFcfl.png)

New ship, the Megaceras-class Armed Courier. Sprite's not 100% final.

It's a freight ship designed for the Sector as opposed to hailing from safer days, so it's basically a destroyer with a big cargo/crew/fuel capacity but a logistics footprint that's above that of a combat destroyer or freighter of similar strength. It's got good engine stats without a mobility system and a drone bay with small Shredder-armed drones. It's also compact.

Looks nice! A BRDY mule-alike then?

Any chance of a cruiser in the Scarab/Scorpion vein that's both combat-focused & safe to hand over to the AI? I love the Sthenos to bits but its a bit do-or-die for computer control.

hey, I don't mean to incroach again but do you know of a way to raise the ingame memory above 1024m without the game freaking out? (refusing to start)
I run it on a 64 bit windows 7 computer and despite several attempts to raise it above 1024m in the vmparams file the game freaks and does not even start when i run the file, this has led to a lot of out of memmory errors (i think that's whats doing it?) but i can't find a single solution any where on the forum,  I would ask in the I.T. secton of the forum but last time i did that the results where less then stellar.... besides since it's a mod related problem (exceeding the max memmory) they would mostlikely just tell me to go but the modding forum  :-\
You need to make the game run on 64-bit java, as it comes with 32-bit java by default.

Dark.Revenant has plenty of info on that on the SS+ thread.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Sabaton on March 08, 2015, 02:40:50 PM
That looks more Templar than BRDY to me. :-\

Independent contractor? Got the same feeling.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 08, 2015, 02:51:37 PM
The ship needs color correction and shading etc. to blend in with the other sprites.

Okay, these prices were collected over a couple of weeks in January of Cycle 212 on a level 46 character with reputation between 95-100 with BRDY, TriTach, and Hegemony.  All these prices are from the civilian market only, not the military market or black market, although I will get those too if it will help any.  Naturally I can't collect all the prices at the same time because Rama is so huge it takes a week or more to travel from one market to the next.

Staalo has a stability of 4, and I see food shortages here more than any other planet in the system.
There are 329 supplies going for 77 credits, 45 fuel going for 177, 116 food going for 115, 727 green crew for 47, 28 regular crew for 95, and 3 veteran crew for 190.

Moria has a stability of 6, this is counting a -1 from smuggling which doesn't seem to go away because a year or more ago I bought some Sunfires and Sunjets off the black market here.
There are 655 supplies going for 50 credits, 87 fuel going for 156 credits, 89 food for 105, 1724 green crew for 34, 155 regular crew for 68, 29 veterans for 137, and 3 elites for 274.

Thalm has a stability of 6 and gets its trade disrupted more than any other planet.
There are 49 supplies going for 56, 111 fuel going for 166, 29 food going for 80, 1423 green crew for 42, 91 regular crew for 85, and 9 veterans for 170.

The system seems to have stabilized from the wild swingy way the balance of power was shifting in the early levels.  At least, I'm not seeing the price of supplies on Jangala going from 40 to 100 from one week to the next like I did for the first few months of game time unless Jangala itself has a "trade disruption" event.

If you want I will sit in Rama for a few months and count how many events each location gets.

Nice, good to know! That's fairly good. Strange how they all stabilized so well.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 08, 2015, 09:54:50 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/P7KlWf7.png)

Megaceras w/ some shredder drones. The overall shape of the ship will probably recieve some more work before I'm done
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Doogie on March 08, 2015, 11:57:13 PM
Hawt.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 09, 2015, 12:38:05 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/CC19LJS.png)

Near-final.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Ahne on March 09, 2015, 01:39:51 PM
Looks nice man!

I think the style fits in.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: jeffg10 on March 09, 2015, 03:30:06 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/CC19LJS.png)

Near-final.
yea, I think it looks better with the little vertical / horizontal slat vents. just something to break up the solid white and make it look less like a Templar ship. Awesome ship so far!  :)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 09, 2015, 04:31:04 PM
Looks great!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Sabaton on March 10, 2015, 02:25:44 AM
 This will compliment the silverfish just fine, Cetonia replacer much?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Talkie Toaster on March 10, 2015, 07:02:16 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/CC19LJS.png)

Near-final.
The white boxes on the wings seem to pop out quite a bit- they don't feel like they're a feature of the surface.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 10, 2015, 11:34:40 AM
It's not a Cetonia replacement, the Cetonia is a freighter with high base burnspeed, and this is an overpriced multirole ship that doubles as a fast light freighter and a survivable light destroyer. It's very fast for a destroyer, has a decent shield by BRDY standards (0.9) and lots of Universal small slots, making it a lot like a huge Silverfish. Bad news though, you'll have to pay 5 supplies/day for that 200 cargo space, 5 burn and Hammerhead-like combat performance. The starting idea was to create something like the Argosy from Escape Velocity 1.

The white boxes on the wings seem to pop out quite a bit- they don't feel like they're a feature of the surface.

Yeah, it's one of the things that need some further polish. Apart from that, I'm glad you like the sprite! It's becoming a challenge to evolve my art style while still keeping the faction cohesive. A lot of things I used to do a lot, I never do anymore, like using black outlines - the engame might be to have to redo all the older sprites, which I don't look forward to that much...

Here's the WIP changelog for 0.7.4, by the way:

Spoiler

0.7.4
- Added Megaceras-class Combat Freighter and Shredder Drones system
- New Impossible-difficulty Mission: Awakening the Beast
- Imaginos changes:
- Rift Cannon revamp: prefire delay to 0.05 seconds (from 0.95 seconds) and lowered damage per shot from 215 to 110. Now operates like the Autopulse laser on a charge-limited system (this is mainly to make the ship better in AI hands and less clunky to pilot)
- Reduced the EMP damage done by the Rift Cannon, and instead changed the Imaginos' built-in beams.
- Built-in beams deal energy + EMP damage + different look/sfx and some other changes. Good for up-close knife fighting.
- Increased overall damage done by the Imaginos' Scalar Rejector, especially when you get a massive explosion, but lowered emp damage
- Slightly lowered Scalar Deracinator (small) damage and emp damage
- Increased Imaginos supplies/day by 0.5
- Changed Ferrocannon: 15% less shot damage, ~20% lower cooldown between shots, ~15% lower flux per shot (This is to make it less powerful when you field 4 of them on the Karkinos, and more powerful if you have one or two)
- Nerfed Achilles MRM ammo to 5 for 6op version and 12 for 12op version, fragmentation damage to 350 per MIRV from 400, and MIRV health down to 180 from 240. Increased refire delay to 10 seconds.
- Lowered charge replenish rate for Stenos Autoloader system to 0.1 from 0.2 ( 10 seconds per charge)
- Increased Stenos flux dissipation by 10, lowered flux capacity by 400
- Increased Stenos hull strength by 500
- Added regenerating ammo to 8OP Dart SRM launcher that lets it fire at roughly 50% dps when empty, but not to the 4OP one. Also boosted ammo on the 4OP Dart SRM by 30%.
- Increased Knight flux cap by 100
- Lowered Karkinos flux dissipation by 50
- Fixed some descriptions in Rama
- Made BRDY engines slightly warmer in color
- Added CR timers to BRDY capital ships
- Changed Cetonia stats to be a more clean cut freighter now that Megaceras exists
- Adjusted Convergence sprite
- New INM Assault Gun sfx
- Polished Gale Cannon sfx
- Adjusted some Imaginos sound/hullstyle things
- Adjusted Imaginos and Karkinos variants
- Adjusted some ship mass values
[close]

Things that might make it into this version:
- Cetonia redesign (sprite/ship)
- New small ballistic weapon
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Mazuo on March 10, 2015, 08:59:26 PM
All the notes there look really good.  Especially like the Rift Cannon and Ferrocannon rebalancing and some of the SFX changes I expect to improve upon what was already quite good.

While we're speaking of the Cetonia and freighters in general, is it the base game or BRDY that makes them so hesitant to get in a fight?  It's been a little while since I last played with either a Cetonia or Typheus, but even direct orders to intercept or engage were frequently ignored to the point of not even getting close enough to snipe with longer range weapons.  I know they shouldn't knife-fight unless they just can't get away from a faster ship, but they seemed really reluctant to even participate which can be rough early game when you need a little extra firepower and screening for your frigates.

I'm going off some fading memories though, so let me know if I'm confused in how they currently behave.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 10, 2015, 09:03:55 PM
Alex actually changed that in the most recent patch, civilian ships will now actually fight if ordered to do so. It makes shuttle swarms very good early game, among other things
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: orost on March 14, 2015, 03:40:06 PM
Since it's impractical to integrate mods into the starting options, I whipped up a minor mod to enable starting with Blackrock.

Download link (http://grzybek.mydevil.net/p/p/blackrockstart.zip)

Requires Console Commands (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=4106.0)

Usage: install and enable like any other mod, start a new game with any starting option and type "BlackrockStart" into the console.

It will move you to Blackrock, adjust faction relationships appropriately and replace your fleet with a Strike Scarab. It will not remove any extra credits or weapons your starting option might have given you. If that bothers you, pick a starting option that doesn't provide any.

@Cycerin: are there any mod factions that, when they are included, Blackrock is hostile to or friendly with? If so, could you please provide a list? I will then add the appropriate relationship adjustments.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 17, 2015, 01:41:43 PM
Cool. No, Blackrock only starts hostile to the factions that hate almost everyone in the game, such as Templars, Junk Pirates etc. Also I believe both me and Kazi agreed that Mayorate should be hostile to Blackrock, but I don't remember.

I've been using a lot of Darts lately.  Even at twice the price of the Swarmers, they're great for a few things.  Obviously they slaughter most fighter wings but they're also decent at hitting exposed hull as a finishing weapon, and their amazing speed and tracking not only gets them through light ballistic PD that would get a lot more Swarmers or Salamanders, it also lets them catch those especially fast vanilla targets like Tempests or burn driving Cerberuses.  I don't use them on frigates, but larger craft that lack the speed to catch retreating ships get Darts to make sure anything they beat gets destroyed, not just defeated.  Their range is deceptively long too, as they last for a long time after they burn out.

Have you considered buffing the Sunfire any in light of the new addition of the Phase Lance?  I think the Phase Lance may get a nerf, but as it stands it's a good deal more powerful generally than the Sunfire for less OP.  The Sunfire has a tad more range and more DPS only against armor, but fires a tiny bit slower and of course is nearly useless against shields.  I like the look and feel and sound of the Sunfire, but any time I want to equip one the Phase Lance is tempting me with added EMP, energy damage instead of HE, and a cheaper cost.  I understand if for thematic reasons you want an ultra-specialized beam weapon that noticeably underperforms the more generalist vanilla competition though.  I do end up going with the Sunfire but only because its color complements the BRDY color scheme instead of clashing with it.

Despite the lesser range of the Shard Gun, its continuous fire seems to work a lot better for suppression or countering phase ships than the Shard Cannon, plus it has better DPS.  I'd swap the OP cost for the Gun and the Cannon.

Thanks for the feedback yo.

It'll please you to know the big Dart launcher is getting slowly regenerating ammo in the next patch. 8op is quite the overinvestment for frag missiles, but this should make it attractive as a "filler" weapon. I've been taking a look at Shard weapons recently so the Shard Gun/Cannon is going to be changed to ensure one is worth the extra OP. Ideally it'll be like so:
Shard Gun: Damage, bad range, inaccurate, efficient
Shard Cannon: Suppression, long range, accurate, less efficient

As for the PDEs, HE damage type ensures they still stand out from the Phase Lance, but I've slightly increased their burst duration so they do more damage from max range.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/7Bj7sQD.png)
[close]

Here's a new weapon I'm working on. Also the curvy Desdinova is back.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: frogbones on March 19, 2015, 05:55:05 AM
Fine jobs, looking forward to it all.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Xanderzoo on March 20, 2015, 08:52:00 PM
Would it be all right if I were make a mission mod using ships from the Blackrock Drive Yards? I would link to your mod and credit you, of course.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 22, 2015, 10:52:21 PM
Go ahead.

Even bigger temp. changelog:


Spoiler
Changelog:

0.7.4
- Added Megaceras-class Combat Freighter and Shredder Drones system
- Added Scalaron Pulse Launcher, a weapon that fires homing energy pulses.
- New Impossible-difficulty Mission: Awaking the Beast. Save a station from an attacking fleet with your lone Karkinos. How gneiss of you!

\\\Imaginos changes:
- Rift Cannon revamp: prefire delay to 0.05 seconds (from 0.95 seconds) and lowered damage per shot drastically. Now operates like the Autopulse laser on a charge-limited system - this is mainly to make the ship better in AI hands and less clunky to pilot.
- Reduced the EMP damage done by the Rift Cannon
- Built-in beams are now called S-Beams and deal energy + EMP damage + different look/sfx.
- Increased overall damage done by the Imaginos' Scalar Rejector, especially when you get a massive explosion, but lowered emp damage
- Slightly lowered Scalar Deracinator (small) damage and emp damage
- Increased Imaginos supplies/day by 0.5
\\\Hullmod changes:
- Added new Blackrock-only Hullmod: Blackrock Drive Conversion. Increases 0-flux Boost by 30, max. speed by 5% and max. burn by 1. Lowers turn rate and deceleration by 20%. Does not stack with other engine mods.
- Changed Blackrock Assault Fitting. Bonuses are now 50% EMP resist, 15% extra hull integrity, and 25% faster weapon/engine repair speed. Fixed a bug that made the original hullmod not actually lower repair speeds.
OP cost adjusted down to 5/10/15/25
- Blackrock Sensor Suite renamed to Blackrock Strike Suite. Bonus/Drawback from 10% to 15%.
- New icons for all BRDY hullmods
\\\ Weapon changes:
- Removed ammo from all BRDY ballistic weapons. Tooltips are ultra confusing and bugged with regards to the regenerating ammo, and it was an irrelevant balancing mechanic all in all.
- Increased buckshot projectile count from 18 to 20 for Volley Gun and Ironweaver ADC
- Lowered Volley Gun per-volley damage to 500 total, decreased cooldown between shots to 3 seconds.
- Lowered Ironweaver ADC cooldown to 2.5 seconds, decreased crit chance by 5%.
- Voidspear SRM: Flux/missile to 200 from 170, flight time to from 5 to 6, added DO_NOT_AIM AI Hint
- Changed Ferrocannon: 15% less shot damage, ~25% lower cooldown between shots, ~15% lower flux per shot (This is to make it less powerful when you field 4 of them on the Karkinos, and more powerful if you have one or two)
- Rewrote Shard weapon tooltips to include specific by-the-numbers information on the crit mechanic
- Increased DPS of Shard Cannon and Dual Shard Cannon slightly. Increased range by 50 for both weapons.
- Increased DPS of Shard Gun slightly, but lowered the range to 500.
- Nerfed Achilles MRM ammo to 5 for 6op version and 12 for 12op version, fragmentation damage to 350 per MIRV from 400, and MIRV health down to 180 from 240. Increased refire delay to 10 seconds.
- Added regenerating ammo to 8OP Dart SRM launcher, but not to the 4OP one. Also boosted ammo on the 4OP Dart SRM by 30%.
\\\ Misc changes:
- Lowered charge replenish rate for Stenos Autoloader system to 0.1 from 0.2 ( 10 seconds per charge)
- Increased Stenos flux dissipation by 10, lowered flux capacity by 400
- Increased Stenos hull strength by 500
- Increased Knight flux cap by 100
- Lowered Karkinos flux dissipation by 50 and lowered shield arc to 160 from 180. Reduced maneuverability slightly.
- Increased Nevermore flux dissipation by 20
- Increased Kurmaraja flux dissipation by 50
- Krait fighter: Changed formation type to make sure both fighters fire at the same target more often
- Fixed some descriptions in Rama
- Made BRDY engines slightly warmer in color
- Added CR timers to BRDY capital ships
- Changed Cetonia stats to be a more clean cut freighter now that Megaceras exists
- Adjusted Convergence sprite
- New INM Assault Gun sfx
- Edited Gale Cannon sfx
- Adjusted some Imaginos sound/hullstyle things
- Adjusted ship variants to account for new content and changes
- Adjusted some ship mass values that were erroneously high for the ship's class
[close]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Xanderzoo on March 22, 2015, 10:54:46 PM
:) Great! Thank you! :)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: kazi on March 23, 2015, 03:00:10 AM
Cool. No, Blackrock only starts hostile to the factions that hate almost everyone in the game, such as Templars, Junk Pirates etc. Also I believe both me and Kazi agreed that Mayorate should be hostile to Blackrock, but I don't remember.

More or less. The Mayorate folks were meant to be hostile to most mod factions so you'd either have a new set of ships to beat up on (that would hopefully pose slightly more of a challenge to modded ships than vanilla), or a diverse set of enemies if you sided with them. Plus probably my favorite method of balancing is buying up a whole bunch of Blackrock ships and going on a rampage through Rasht. Speaking of which, I need to update my mod at some point...  :P

Quote from: Cycerin
Yeah, it's one of the things that need some further polish. Apart from that, I'm glad you like the sprite! It's becoming a challenge to evolve my art style while still keeping the faction cohesive. A lot of things I used to do a lot, I never do anymore, like using black outlines - the engame might be to have to redo all the older sprites, which I don't look forward to that much...

I don't think it's actually possible to make the Nevermore any cooler than it already is lol...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Silver Silence on March 23, 2015, 05:08:38 AM
Initially didn't like the look of that Ferrocannon tweak, though I didn't see the -25% as +firerate just "ohgod, it's a womp". I still think they're weird guns. Animation doesn't quite go with the speed of the gun because the animation is MUCH faster than the gun can shoot and the animation gives me the impression of these kinetic strike weapons that just hit like runaway freight trains. I have not yet successfully used BRDY ships against Templar fleets with more than just a couple Jesuits or Paladins(? (the all-purpose Templar destroyer).  The long-range guns don't quite do the deeps I'd like (the Ferrocannon was like 130? It's low to me given alternatives like the Gauss Cannon or the Mk 9/IX) and BRDY's tradition of in-your-face, well the Templar do much better murdering with their Rhon and Longinus lasers than the BRDY with their hit-and-run style. Even using the Karkinos' teleport aggressively or defensively has not worked for me yet. Aggressive, can successfully jump a Jesuit and kill it before it does much, but the following Templar let loose the hounds of war Clarents. Defensive, can't quite vent a maxed Karkinos' even with Resistant Flux and 75 vents fast enough to avoid taking a free barrage of Clarents. PD is not robust enough to deal with 6+ Clarents at once. Will keep experimenting to see if I can use a BRDY ship with only BRDY weapons to knock off a Templar fleet with a capital or a couple cruisers in it. Regenerating ammo in more missile launchers will always be a plus. I generally just don't equip them at all because I never feel a weapon that's empty after the first couple ships is worth it. The recent changes has meant most ships I use get smothered in Ballistae now for long-range missiles going everywhere, otherwise it still gets pumped into vents/caps/hullmods for more prolonged battery fire with actual guns. I guess my experiences should be taken with a pinch of salt considering the choice of enemy I'm determined to go up against with BRDY.


Cool. No, Blackrock only starts hostile to the factions that hate almost everyone in the game, such as Templars, Junk Pirates etc. Also I believe both me and Kazi agreed that Mayorate should be hostile to Blackrock, but I don't remember.

More or less. The Mayorate folks were meant to be hostile to most mod factions so you'd either have a new set of ships to beat up on (that would hopefully pose slightly more of a challenge to modded ships than vanilla), or a diverse set of enemies if you sided with them. Plus probably my favorite method of balancing is buying up a whole bunch of Blackrock ships and going on a rampage through Rasht. Speaking of which, I need to update my mod at some point...  :P


For some time, the Valkyrians were the faction I'd go smash my face against for a gud fite. Now it's the Templar. I wonder how those two factions would compare. I imagine Valks could wipe the floor with most Templar ships by sheer volume of fire but then again, Jesuits emp-phasing through the Valks and getting behind them would surely spell the end of any Valk ship due to ridiculous immobility on the part of the Valkyrians.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: HELMUT on March 23, 2015, 10:21:38 AM
The new re-balanced Valkyrians aren't as strong as they were, they can't really go toe to toe with Templars ships, unless we're talking about the bosses ships.

After playing with the Templars quite a bit in Nexerelin and a very long campaign against BRDY, i can say Blackrock don't have many answers to the white bricks of death.

BRDY weapons tends to have shorter range than vanilla and getting close to a Templar ship with no shield to overload is not a good idea. On top of that you don't have the shield efficiency nor the armor to survive the encounter.

The biggest weakness of the Templars are missiles. Their built in PD system is pretty underwhelming and they rarely use the integrated point defense AI hullmod (which work very well with their weapons BTW). Unfortunately the biggest missiles BRDY can mount are the voidspears (perhaps the scalaron pulse?), which aren't strong or spammy enough to threaten them. Strapping a bunch of Gauss cannons and lrms is probably the best bet against a Templar fleet. Kitting is the only strategy i can see working against them. You can still try to go ninja on them with a fast ship but i doubt even the fastest BRDY crafts can outrun Clarents.

Speaking of Clarents, having a phase ship in your fleet is a must to bait those. The Asura isn't exactly the best at this due to its limited phase cloak but it's better than trying to tank a bunch of Clarents with your shield.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: orost on March 23, 2015, 12:16:38 PM
I have some complaints about the large weapons. Ferrocannon seems extremely underpowered, with DPS that would be on the lower side even for a medium weapon. Accuracy and muzzle velocity are nice, but hitting doesn't mean much when the hit does so little - it has little effect on anything bigger than a frigate. I use Mk IX Autocannons on my Karkinos instead. Also its sustained DPS is for some reason higher than peak DPS.

Ironweaver ADC also feels very weak (not that much better than a volley gun, a small weapon!) but I think something's off about it in general, because its DPS and flux stats in the stat card are completely absurd (more than 2000 for both) and obviously untrue.

The Squall Battery actually plays fine, but its displayed DPS is incorrect (about one third of what I think it should be, as if it were counting only one barrel).
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Silver Silence on March 23, 2015, 03:16:34 PM

BRDY weapons tends to have shorter range than vanilla and getting close to a Templar ship with no shield to overload is not a good idea. On top of that you don't have the shield efficiency nor the armor to survive the encounter.


Well, they DO have a shield but it can take SO much gawd damned punishment that they can walk through anything short of repeated Gauss Cannon hits and almost completely ignore it.


The biggest weakness of the Templars are missiles.


Hrm... I think I have a bunch of salvaged Exigency missiles laying around at one of the stations, at SHI's Euripedes in Anar because of that crazy market capacity they've got going on there. Might have to try flooding the map with mini-missiles.


....but it's better than trying to tank a bunch of Clarents with your shield.


I can attest to this. Even Neutrino ships cannot hold against Clarents well, especially when an Archbishop is around and the Teuton attacks are endless. If you're in fighting range or at least visual range of the Archbishop, Teutons literally just leave their carrier, dump their missiles on you then go nestle themselves back inside the carrier. Just about the only PD that works is anything akin to Burst PD. It does the damage fast enough but it can still only take down 1-2 missiles at best due to overkill and the brief pause in switching to new targets. The Burst Repeater Beam, which I believe comes from SCY, is amazingly good. 15 shots with expanded magazines, that reload as fast as the vanilla Burst PD can fire is great. However, the really good range of 800 also makes them pretty unwieldy as they have better range than most medium slot weapons despite being a small and have only marginally shorter range than capital ship guns. They constantly waste shots on actual ships and the Templar really do not care for any beam weapons except their own.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Tartiflette on March 23, 2015, 03:53:07 PM
*note to nerf the burst repeater beams a bit*
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 23, 2015, 04:03:44 PM
*note to nerf the burst repeater beams a bit*
The 800 range makes it a bit hard to use. So yeah.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Silver Silence on March 23, 2015, 05:49:28 PM
@Tartiflette

If there is a weapon tag that enforces missile PD only, that could work. Then other stats could be left be and OP could maybe get knocked up a bit. Then you have an expensive solution to missile defense, assuming ALL you want out of that slot is premium missile defense. As it stands right now, the repeater beams can be used as dual-purpose weapons in frigate-frigate combat as it's highly unlikely a frigate will spit out enough missiles to overwhelm the repeaters, providing a viable anti-ship weapon that outranges most frigates' guns but is really heavy on the flux for frigates to use for any length of time. Then they get more unwieldy as you get into bigger fights with higher missile volumes and the fact that they probably still outrange your actual guns forcing you into fights with flux already built up unless you actively toggle them as and when, instead of simply leaving them autofiring all the time. In capital ship fights, the fact that their range only just lags behind weapons like the HAG, the Mk IX or the Mjolnir while outranging the Autopulse means they start firing almost the same time your main guns do and beams do little to ships of this size unless you really go overboard (see beam Paragon or Templar Longinus) and the ones that can't even withstand repeater beams are likely also the ones that aren't suited to combat anyway so at this point, they're only depleting their charges unnecessarily and driving your flux up.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Megas on March 29, 2015, 07:12:00 PM
Some incomplete feedback:

I did not examine Blackrock as much as I did the Templars, since Blackrock is a bigger mod, and I have memory problems when I run this with Nexerelin, but here goes...

Out of all of the faction mods available, Blackrock is probably the best overall long-standing quality mod.  It has a distinct style, has plenty of quality custom content, is reasonably balanced, and it has not died (yet).

Weapons:
The biggest winner are the Argus beam series.  Burst PD on a budget, and excellent missile defense, especially with Advanced Optics.  Micro PD is even available in Open Market, and a great buy for those with Advanced Optics.

The other standout is Scalaron repeater, which is destructive and fills a niche none of the standard weapons do - a high-performance, high DPS medium weapon.  Its lesser cousin, the blaster, would be lackluster if it did not behave like an unlimited antimatter blaster.  Good when you need spike damage, but not as much as standard blasters for general brawling.

Most of the weapons, whatever they are, are slightly inferior alternatives of standard weapons.  Either they underperform in some way (range or DPS) or cost more OP than necessary.  If I have a choice between standard or Blackrock, I choose standard.  However, many Blackrock weapons are acceptable alternatives when standard weapons are unavailable.  For example, I want railgun but have none, I use shard cannon.  I want light assault gun, but have none, I use INM.

None of the Blackrock missiles stand out, and since none of them regenerate or outperform Reapers, I have no reason to use them over standard missiles, ever.

Some Blackrock weapons are real losers:

Ships:
Aside from performance, the ships have a distinct style.  They appear as enemy bug ships you expect to see from Namco's Galaxian/Galaga series.

I did not play with every one since I did not have enough weapons for all, and did not spend much time grinding for goodies.  The Blackrock ships I like to play with most so far are Nevermore and (especially) Asura.

Asura has excellent stats and mounts.  I was skeptical about its ship system (Flux Ejector), but after a few fights, it proved its worth.  it is very powerful if you need to remove flux at a critical time but cannot waste time to vent.  Pop off some tanks, and it is ready to fight some more.

Nevermore feels fast and strong for a cruiser, but not too overpowered, and is surprisingly fragile if I am not careful.  It feels like an Aurora that does not need Reapers to devastate fleets.

Gonodactylus is strange but effective.  Feels like an alternative Enforcer or Hammerhead.  Give it light assault guns on its left, railguns in the front and back, and Salamanders on its right, and it can brutalize ships.

I thought I might have fun piloting an Imaginos, but discovered that ship is a pain to pilot.  Its main weapon is slow, short-ranged, and an overall pain to use.  Not much can be done to customize the Imaginos.  I just mount a railgun and the usual best standard hullmods (Augmented Engines, ITU, the usual suspects) and call it a day.  It may seem like a Hyperion clone, but it is not.  The rejector special is novel (and cutting-edge when introduced), but not very useful as a trump card.

Question:  Why do the capitals have unlimited peak performance?  Ships like Karkinos can guarantee a win by fleeing and outlasting any ship it cannot outgun until the enemy rots from CR decay.

I read things about Desdinova, but did not get a chance to test drive it due to lack of weapons.  No more comments on ships for now.

Hullmods:
I have little use for the custom hullmods that can be bought.  Targeting Suite guts shot range, a big no-no (except maybe if I use standard long-ranged ballistics like HVD or Gauss).  Assault Fitting seems okay, but I need the OP more than its benefits.

I generally stick with Augmented Engines, Hardened Subsystems, ITU, and Resistant Flux Conduits for just about anything with OP to spare.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 29, 2015, 09:32:42 PM
Thanks for the praise n feedback. I appreciate it. A lot of the concerns you bring up have already been looked at for the upcoming patch, other things not so much, but you should take a look at this changelog:

Spoiler
0.7.4
- Added Megaceras-class Combat Freighter and Shredder Drones system
- Added Scalaron Pulse Launcher, a weapon that fires homing energy pulses.
- New Impossible-difficulty Mission: Awaking the Beast. Save a station from an attacking fleet with your lone Karkinos. How gneiss of you!

\\\Imaginos changes:
- Rift Cannon revamp: prefire delay to 0.05 seconds (from 0.95 seconds) and lowered damage per shot drastically. Now operates like the Autopulse laser on a charge-limited system - this is mainly to make the ship better in AI hands and less clunky to pilot.
- Reduced the EMP damage done by the Rift Cannon
- Built-in beams are now called S-Beams and deal energy + EMP damage + different look/sfx. Good for knife fighting.
- Increased overall damage done by the Imaginos' Scalar Rejector, especially when you get a massive explosion, but lowered emp damage
- Slightly lowered Scalar Deracinator (small) damage and emp damage
- Increased Imaginos supplies/day by 0.5
\\\Hullmod changes:
- Added new Blackrock-only Hullmod: Blackrock Drive Conversion. Increases 0-flux Boost by 30, max. speed by 10% and max. burn by 1. Lowers turn rate and deceleration by 10%. Does not stack with aug. engines, unstable injector, etc
- Changed Blackrock Assault Fitting. Bonuses are now 50% EMP resist, 15% extra hull integrity, and 25% faster weapon/engine repair speed. Fixed a bug that made the original hullmod not actually lower repair speeds. OP cost adjusted down to 5/10/15/25.
- Blackrock Sensor Suite renamed to Blackrock Strike Suite. Now gives 15% damage boost to all weapons, 10% less flux cost for all weapons, 15% range reduction on ballistic/energy.
- New icons for all BRDY hullmods
\\\ Weapon balance changes:
- Removed ammo from all BRDY ballistic weapons. Tooltips are ultra confusing and bugged with regards to the regenerating ammo, and it was an irrelevant balancing mechanic all in all.
- Increased buckshot projectile count from 18 to 20 for Volley Gun and Ironweaver ADC
- Lowered Volley Gun per-volley damage to 500 total, decreased cooldown between shots to 3 seconds.
- Lowered Ironweaver ADC cooldown to 2 seconds, decreased crit chance by 5%. Overall much higher DPS and suppression factor.
- Voidspear SRM: Missile HP to 200 from 180, Flux/missile to 200 from 170, flight time from 5 to 6, added DO_NOT_AIM AI Hint (will autofire from offset mounts now)
- Ferrocannon: New shot damage: 750 \ New shot cooldown: 4 seconds \ New flux/shot: 1200 \ New range: 900 (This is to make it less powerful when you have 4 of them on the Karkinos, and more powerful if you have one or two, overall, the weapon does more DPS)
- Ferrogun damage to 300 from 320 and range to 800 from 750, this is to differentiate it from the Dual Shard and make it better at close support
- Rewrote Shard weapon tooltips to include specific by-the-numbers information on the crit mechanic
- Increased DPS of Shard Cannon and Dual Shard Cannon. Increased range by 50 for both weapons. Increased proj speed slightly. Adjusted flux/dps ratio. Now slightly less efficient but just as damaging as AC vs shields, with the added bonus of the anti armor crit mechanic.
- Damage of Shard Cannon/Dual Shard Cannon crit from 250 max to 200 max.
- Increased DPS of Shard Gun, but lowered the range to 500. Roughly on par with IR Pulse for overall performance now, but more responsive and probably better vs. armor.
- Nerfed Achilles MRM ammo to 5 for 6op version and 12 for 12op version, fragmentation damage to 350 per MIRV from 400, and MIRV health down to 160 from 240. Increased refire delay to 10
seconds. Small Achilles now regenerates 1 missile per minute and medium one regenerates 2 missiles per minute.
- Added regenerating ammo to 8OP Dart SRM launcher, but not to the 4OP one. Also boosted ammo on the 4OP Dart SRM
- Antimatter Lance: Now does 2500 Energy damage and zero EMP damage. New bullet sprite, slightly adjusted impact effect.
- Fury-class Torpedo: Launch speed increased by 20 and damage increased by 250
- PDE weapons (All): Longer burst length to make it more likely to catch a ship lowering shields. Better flux efficiency. Slightly improved turn speed.
\\\ Other changes:
- Added on-hit effect to Scalaron Blaster (same as Scalaron Pulse) with new sfx
- Shard Cannon / Dual Shard Cannon sprite + barrel + muzzle flash fixups
- Kurmaraja flux dissipation increased by 150 and flux capacity increased by 500.
- Lowered charge replenish rate for Stenos Autoloader system to 0.1 from 0.2 ( 10 seconds per charge)
- Increased Stenos flux dissipation by 10, lowered flux capacity by 400
- Increased Stenos hull strength by 500
- Increased Knight flux cap by 100
- Lowered Karkinos flux dissipation by 50 and lowered shield arc to 160 from 180. Reduced maneuverability slightly.
- Increased Nevermore flux dissipation by 20
- Increased Kurmaraja flux dissipation by 50
- Krait fighter: Changed formation type to make sure both fighters fire at the same target more often
- Made BRDY engines slightly warmer in color
- Added CR timers to BRDY capital ships
- Changed Cetonia stats to be a more clean cut freighter now that Megaceras exists
- Adjusted Convergence sprite
- New INM Assault Gun sfx
- Edited Gale Cannon sfx
- Adjusted some Imaginos sound/hullstyle things
- Adjusted ship variants to account for new content and changes
- Adjusted some ship mass values that were erroneously high for the ship's class
- PDE beams are now a more yellow-green color like the other BRDY plasma weapons
- Fixed interactions with TwigLib content, courtesy of DarkRevenant
- Fixed some descriptions in Rama
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I only really disagree with two things in your post:
- I really think the Imaginos needs to be piloted like an Imaginos and not a Hyperion, which sounds vague, but the ships really are extremely different despite superficial similarities. The right click only becomes a trump card once you are in the thick of a fight, where you never want to be in a Hyperion. My WIP changes should make it feel a lot better to pilot.
- Shredders are amazing PD weapons, especially when you have several covering the same arc. Better than the Vulcan in numbers, worse when covering a ship's flank on its own due to the reload. Also great anti-fighter/anti-hull.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Histidine on March 30, 2015, 05:24:40 AM
Aren't the big selling points of the Shredder longer range + the spread and the faster projectiles meaning it can hit a missile or fighter flying perpendicular to the line of fire (unlike the LMGs, which really love to create a stream trailing the target uselessly)? Although I think the Vulcan doesn't suffer from the latter problem as much as MGs do.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Megas on March 30, 2015, 06:46:36 AM
When I need reliable ballistic PD to stop Salamanders and the like, I need it!  Shredder's intermittent bursts kill it for missile defense.  I do not care if it has better range or other stats if it costs more than Vulcan but cannot stop missiles reliably.  I have seen multiple times when the Shredder did not shoot (i.e., fired its burst but failed to stop the missile), and Salamanders struck my ship.  It is about as reliable as standard machine guns in missile defense.  Vulcan is more reliable (it is not perfect, but I had better results with Vulcan than either Shredder or standard LMGs), and costs less OP.  As for multiple Shredders, most frigates can only use one or two guns for PD, so more than two covering each other is often not an option.  Even if it had more mounts, I still prefer Vulcan because of cheaper OP cost.  If I want a multipurpose weapon instead of dedicated PD, I will use LMG which is even cheaper than Vulcan!

I am aware Imaginos is not like the Hyperion.  I tried to pilot the Imaginos as it is, but I do not like it.  It is built as a melee fighter in a game where ships should try to outrange or outgun (or escape) the enemy, but Imaginos is poor at both.  The biggest problem with Imaginos is its awkward main gun.  Its shot speed is about as slow as a Hellbore Cannon, and its range is atrocious.  I need to hug my target to do significant damage, with a fragile ship with no shield or phase cloak.  No shield makes it very squishy despite armor regeneration.  I suppose I could use its rejector as a temporary fortress shield as I flee.  Imaginos does not feel like a Hyperion competitor despite similar costs.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Mazuo on March 30, 2015, 10:21:49 AM
While I'm not extremely impressed with Shredders, I've had the opposite experience with missile defense.  Vulcans have more reliably connected at times, but the missile can still make it through.  Seems more often than not when a Shredder hits incoming missiles they're actually stopped.

As for the Imaginos, I think you're simply looking for a style that isn't what Blackrock is going for.  They mostly want to dive in, land some hits and get out and not sit back with long-range weapons.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Megas on March 30, 2015, 11:18:06 AM
As for the Imaginos, I think you're simply looking for a style that isn't what Blackrock is going for.  They mostly want to dive in, land some hits and get out and not sit back with long-range weapons.
No, most of the Blackrock warships can be fitted and worked as standard ships.  Actually, even better - Blackrock ships tend to have better mobility and more universal slots than standard ships, and backed up by good stats.  I can load up on the very best weapons and have nasty Blackrock kiting machines.  Asura is practically a phase Dominator in a destroyer chassis, with nearly the mobility of a Medusa.  Nevermore is like an strange Aurora/Eagle hybrid that can snipe with maulers and beams (Aurora is stuck with missiles and short-ranged blasters), and can blast ships with renewable main gun instead of limited Reapers.

I do not want to think what kind of damage Blackrock ships can do with Templar weapons, especially with Rhons, Sentenias, and Galatines.

Imaginos is a weird beast.  Most of its weapons are built-in, and its main gun has horribly short range and also difficult to aim (slow shots, mediocre accuracy).  With only one small mount, it cannot be customized much.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Doogie on March 30, 2015, 11:48:38 AM
The Imaginos is the most MLG pro ship there is though. Because it isn't easy to pilot doesn't mean its not effective. A skilled Imaginos pilot can destroy a virtually unlimited amount of enemy vessels, restrained only by its CR timer.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Mazuo on March 30, 2015, 02:07:23 PM
I'm not saying you can't be very effective with standard tactics with Blackrock ships, Megas.  I do that a lot myself.  I'm saying you can't judge the Imaginos to be flawed because it's not designed to stand and take a beating or be mobile artillery.

I mostly fly battles with even just the AI and while it surely gets itself blown up from time to time, when it does things right it is a scary ship even without a human driving it.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 30, 2015, 04:12:47 PM
Maybe Megas is simply incompatible with the Imaginos. Can't be a hardcore, top 0.1% player at everything. :P
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 30, 2015, 05:24:22 PM
The Hyperion is going to be better than the Imaginos 99% of the time if you're looking for a flagship that can do a ton of heavy lifting in a 20-logistics fleet. It does however have a role in bigger fleets, you can for instance build a fleet entirely around your Imaginos by making sure you are spamming LRMs and have reliable AI-piloted line ships that can distract the enemy for you. It's going to be easier to get used to in the next patch, though, as I'm making its abilities less "on rails" and more responsive.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Megas on March 30, 2015, 05:26:57 PM
Re: Shredder
I tried the Shredders again, on a Lasher.  Shredder is to Tactical Laser plus IPDAI as Vulcan is to PD Laser.  Shredder's spread is a double-edged sword.  It can catch things others can miss, but it can miss enough and fail to stop something directly infront of it that more focused weapons can shoot down.  Shredder is better long range PD, but unreliable against looping Salamanders at short range, just like Tactical Laser vs. PD Laser.

Re: Imaginos
It is powerful, and can wreak some serious damage, but it is unforgiving to use.  It is not as powerful as Hyperion, and needs to rely on the enemy's firepower to catch up to the Hyperion.  It cannot solo as much as the Hyperion because it cannot carry as much firepower.  Unless Imaginos gets some lucky absorbs with the rejector, Imaginos can probably kill two ships in the time it takes Hyperion to kill three, and that does not count Reapers (which Hyperion can carry more of).  One Hyperion cannot solo the largest fleets by itself.  I do not see Imaginos soloing fleets that a Hyperion cannot.

Imaginos has an advantage against ships with low firepower or mostly kinetics, which regenerating armor is powerful against.  It is weak against enemies that fire high-damage, non-kinetic shots (such as heavy blasters).  While the Imaginos can teleport, its main gun has a long windup, making it impossible to teleport to some unshielded enemy and smite it before its shields are raised.

The rejector is cute, and looks ferocious after it absorbs lots of stuff... but it seems to do little more than mass EMP ships.  Rejector can destroy tons of fighters, but other ships seem to take little or no damage even after I absorb more than a dozen Pilums, several Hellbore or HAG shots, and what not and unleash a gigantic light show.  It is definitely no Templar Priwen Burst.

Quote
Megas, try the Linear Pulse Gun in the Imaginos.  You want to get in and mix it up with the Imaginos, it's not a ship for plinking away at range.
I did, and I still prefer Railgun over Linear Pulse Gun because Railgun has more range and it is more effective against shields.  Linear Pulse Gun is better if the enemy is a Dominator or Onslaught, but not an enemy with an omni shield.

I am still not fond of piloting the Imaginos.  It is a pain to use, and unforgiving with mistakes.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: orost on March 30, 2015, 05:45:00 PM
Imaginos is poor as a solo ship because it's supposed to be a support ship that keeps enemy ships disabled and distracted so that the rest of your fleet can easily sweep them up. It's not a direct competitor to the Hyperion in solo combat.

I agree that it's rather obnoxious to use, though.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 30, 2015, 06:48:35 PM
Re: Imaginos
The rejector is cute, and looks ferocious after it absorbs lots of stuff... but it seems to do little more than mass EMP ships.  Rejector can destroy tons of fighters, but other ships seem to take little or no damage even after I absorb more than a dozen Pilums, several Hellbore or HAG shots, and what not and unleash a gigantic light show.  It is definitely no Templar Priwen Burst.

A consequence of overnerfing. It's been changed with the recent update, the Rejector now does more damage and less EMP, similar to when it was first introduced. The Rift Cannon is now also like the Autopulse Laser mechanics-wise, instantly shoots when you press the button and is limited by regenerating charges. I did a lot of work this patch to make the ship less flimsy in AI hands, which as a bonus effect makes it more fluid and forgiving to pilot in the player's hands.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Megas on March 30, 2015, 07:34:46 PM
Some more comments:

Just noticed Asura gains +75 or so speed while phased.  This makes the Asura really fast - and deadly.

Finally tried a Desdinova, and it plays much like a Medusa if it had ballistics instead of energy weapons and jets instead of the skimmer.  Give the Desdinova some Needlers, Maulers, Salamanders, and Burst PD and it can simply kite and kill, often without getting shot back.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on March 31, 2015, 02:26:45 AM
Re: Volley Guns... I didn't get the Volley Gun until I tried mounting one coaxially with a Squall and linking them in the same fire group. The flechettes are just a bit faster than the Squall round, so they whack the shield and then you have a nice followup wad of HE damage. It's a bit specialist, but the evil little hate-sprayer does have a valid and extremely satisfying role.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Schwartz on March 31, 2015, 02:45:37 AM
Might as well put down my impressions on this mod since I've been playing with it a while.

Design: Best in class. Love the ships, guns, weapon effects. Pretty much all of it. The Knight and Eschaton aren't quite as crisp; you notice in some spots that they've been drawn.

Balance: Pretty well-balanced, though not as 'conservative' as vanilla. BRDY seems to have a thing for nasty surprises and burst damage. I never feel quite at ease fighting these guys, which makes them my favourite opponents.

Weapons: I disagree with Megas here, Scalaron Blaster is amazing. Burst damage is almost impossible to counter and the Blaster shines here. Could probably be balanced with higher flux, it's too easy right now slapping these bad boys on phase ships. They take exactly as long to reload as Mayorate's Flux Torpedo and the combo is just as nasty as it gets. Squall and Gale Cannons are fun to use on sniper frigates. For some reason I've never been too interested in the PD, except for situations where OP was at a premium and I used Micro Argus PD.

Ships: Yep, Asura is a bit too good. With the flux speed bonus, it just breezes through nebulae and tends to get to the enemy even before all but the fastest fighter wings. I prefer it to Shadowyards' Scylla for the speed and generous weapons loadout. Could probably do with a 'High Maintenance' like the Desdinova, considering it feels equally over-tuned. In Uomoz I started out with a Scarab frigate once and it's always kept me alive. NPC Kurma and Gonodactylus are a pain in the ass to fight.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Megas on March 31, 2015, 06:12:13 AM
Scalaron Blaster is only good because it works as an unlimited antimatter blaster, and the AI flux management is bad enough that it is vulnerable to overloads from high-damage burst attacks, such as antimatter blaster, 3x mining blaster (from Sunder), 2x gauss cannon (from Dominator), or... scalaron blaster.

Scalaron Blaster's DPS is poor enough that it is not very good for killing things quickly.  Its fire rate is slow and you cannot afford to miss much.  Its main use is to exploit AI faults.  Also possibly useful to enable vent spam if your dissipation is slow enough that it cannot use higher DPS weapons to full effectiveness.

I agree that Asura is very powerful, maybe more than Desdinova.  At least Asura feels like an upgraded Desdinova to me.  Asura is probably my favorite Blackrock ship to pilot.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on March 31, 2015, 05:47:28 PM
The other bonus of the Scalaron Blaster compared to the AM Blaster is its longer range, which can add up to a pretty respectable range on a larger ship. It gives you AM Blaster-type burst damage on ships that would never mount one.

Huh, I straight up FORGOT to add High Maintenance to the Asura when I added it to the other elite ships. That's dumb, adding it to the changelog...

What do you feel about the way Blackrock ships are balanced, Megas, Schwartz? W/r/t bad shields being made up for by inherently better vent rates?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on March 31, 2015, 10:14:10 PM
Ever since you added High Maintenance to the the Desinova and the Nevermore, I've flat out stopped using them as they are NOT Hyperion tier powerful and thus are not worth the constant drain of supplies. I will also do the same with the Asura next update as well. The Desi, Asura and Nevermore are not worth 1.375, 1.875, and 2.5 supplies per day they drain from me. Most of the time these ships would DOUBLE my daily supply drain and as someone that lives off of combat drops, that is not acceptable especially when there are alternative ships that DON'T have such daily costs
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: OOZ662 on March 31, 2015, 10:54:48 PM
On the other hand, my fleet is generally a Nevermore with a carrier and fighter support. I wouldn't dream of living off drops, but punching people in the face with a ball of antimatter makes it worth it to me. Just means I have two Cetonia in the fleet instead of one.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: orost on March 31, 2015, 11:08:17 PM
Well, if you live off nothing but drops, that's a choice you make and I think then you have to accept that you will have to give up the most expensive options in favor of something more efficient.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on March 31, 2015, 11:12:57 PM
but punching people in the face with a ball of antimatter makes it worth it to me.
My Reaper Aurora says hi.

Well, if you live off nothing but drops, that a choice you make and I think then you have to accept that you will have to give up the most expensive options in favor of something more efficient.
And yet I fly mostly high tech ships, the most expensive option in game to use, and refuse to use most low tech PoS
And the Reaper Aurora is very similar in terms of how it fights compared to the Nevermore
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: OOZ662 on March 31, 2015, 11:23:41 PM
but punching people in the face with a ball of antimatter makes it worth it to me.
My reaper aurora says hi.

If you don't mind looking at it, I suppose expanded racks are enough to get through a battle if one doesn't heave the torps around like I do antimatter shots.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on March 31, 2015, 11:30:34 PM
but punching people in the face with a ball of antimatter makes it worth it to me.
My reaper aurora says hi.

If you don't mind looking at it, I suppose expanded racks are enough to get through a battle if one doesn't heave the torps around like I do antimatter shots.
Yeah, I do agree that the Aurora is ugly...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Megas on April 01, 2015, 07:40:42 AM
Re: Blackrock balance
I have not played Blackrock enough to know.  The only ship I noticed (so far) that seems to vent faster than standard is the Desdinova, but that is because I put no capacitors on it, and it overloads easily if under fire.  This is why I put Needlers and Maulers on it so I can outrange the enemy and do not get shot at in the first place; something I cannot do with the Medusa.

Asura seems overpowered for a destroyer.  Extremely fast, better firepower than Sunder (because ballistics are better than most energy weapons; for example, Mjolnir outperforms all heavy energy weapons overall).


Re: Scalaron Blaster
The range is better, but the DPS is so bad for a medium non-beam energy weapon that if it is range I want, I will take something that uses ballistics instead.  +50 range over heavy blaster/pulse laser is nice, but not if I give up over 300+ DPS by not using Heavy Blaster, which also costs 12 OP.


Re: High Maintenance on Blackrock ships.
I can understand it on Imaginos for fluff reasons, despite being inferior to Hyperion.  That said, Imaginos should not cost as much DP (and possibly other stats) as Hyperion.  15 DP is a big deal when hunting small fleets and trying to stay 40 DP or less to avoid objectives.

Not sure about Desdinova.  It is basically a ballistics version of the Medusa, and it seems stronger only because ballistics are generally superior to energy weapons.  While it vents quickly, it has a weak shield, and it is prone to overloads if it has no capacitors.  It also has short peak performance (180 seconds) akin to a high-tech frigate.  Even Medusa has 300 seconds.

I can understand Asura getting High Maintenance, if its Logistics cost gets lowered to 6 or 7.  It is extremely fast while phased, and can focus almost Dominator-level firepower at the enemy.  Asura is very powerful and can solo fleets.  However, if it gets High Maintenance, consider lowering Logistics a bit.  I thought its 7.5 Logistics cost (and 30% CR deployment cost) was because it lacked High Maintenance.  Asura also has short peak performance, 210 seconds.

Nevermore may not be strong enough to deserve High Maintenance although I can see why.  It is very fast for a cruiser, with burn 4 and high top speed plus mobility system to make it even faster.  It has a deadly main gun, and flexible weapon options.  It can hit hard like an Aurora at times, and kite like an Eagle.

High Maintenance is a big deal once ships exceed destroyer size, especially if you cannot buy tons of supplies due to factions hating you (e.g., you try to play as a Templar).


Re: Other
Living off of drops is useful if too many factions hate you, or if you are struggling with low cash or supplies.

Assuming Missile Specialization 10, 44 Reapers (requires Expanded Missile Racks) for an Aurora is enough to nuke most, if not all, fleets in the campaign, though not enough to kill all ships in the simulator.  Aurora has enough Reapers that it can use Cyclone Reaper as a primary weapon - just point and shoot like any other gun.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on April 01, 2015, 02:09:24 PM
Megas: every single Blackrock ship gets a substantial venting boost that stacks with Resistant Flux Conduits from the Blackrock Flux Core built-in hullmod. Synergizes so well with mobility.

The Asura is not really a destroyer in Starsector terms. A closer comparison would be the Heavy Destroyer ship class from Ares, a large ship that uses overwhelming firepower to dominate the opposition. The reason it is a destroyer is because I don't want the player to use cruiser-grade ITU with it. Logistics, size and power-wise, it's like a light cruiser, or at least that's the intention.

After much deliberation, l'm gonna remove High Maintenance from the Nevermore and Desdinova. Realizing how equally broken the Aurora can be does make me feel like it's silly to add such a steep penalty for using the ship, and I did some close comparisons piloting a Medusa and Desdinova and decided it wasn't worth the tradeoff there either.

- Added High Maintenance to Asura, lowered Asura supply/day to 7
- Removed High Maintenance from Nevermore, lowered peak performance time back down to 360 seconds, increased CR per deployment to 25%
- Removed High Maintenance from Desdinova

But the Asura is going to be stuck with High Maintenance. Its the biggest glass cannon in the game, a ship that can kill practically anything provided it doesn't take the brunt of enemy retaliation - you can stick a completely ridiculous loadout on it like a Plasma Cannon and 3 Repeaters and still fire it for ages provided you chew through the Flux Ejector charges.

I'm leaving for Prague for a week tomorrow night so I'm going to try to get the new version up before then. Any last-minute suggestions would have to come now. :)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on April 01, 2015, 03:04:46 PM
After much deliberation, l'm gonna remove High Maintenance from the Nevermore and Desdinova.
F*** YES! *does happy dance*
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Euqocelbbog on April 01, 2015, 03:59:49 PM
Honestly I never really noticed the high maintenance on the Desdinova and Nevermore as it's mainly a penalty for having the ship in your fleet and not deploying it constantly. If you're not fighting strong fleets fighting constantly then there's not much reason to bring ships like the Desdinova and Nevermore along.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Megas on April 01, 2015, 04:02:10 PM
I know of the Blackrock Core builtin, but so far, I have not noticed it much, except on Desdinova.  I optimize venting speed for many ships, and many vent fast when I vent thanks to Power Grid Modulation 5, max vents, and (often) Resistant Flux Conduits.

Asura is a monster.  High Maintenance seems justified.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.3 - New star system!
Post by: Cycerin on April 01, 2015, 04:10:51 PM
Honestly I never really noticed the high maintenance on the Desdinova and Nevermore as it's mainly a penalty for having the ship in your fleet and not deploying it constantly. If you're not fighting strong fleets fighting constantly then there's not much reason to bring ships like the Desdinova and Nevermore along.

That's also part of why I'm removing it, it wasn't a super big deal in the first place, but it was annoying, cluttered the UI slightly, and for a lot of players the exact opportunity cost of using High Maintenance ships is a bit unclear.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon!
Post by: Cycerin on April 01, 2015, 09:55:08 PM
Get version 0.7.4! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/ny5uwo55nx81o1p/Blackrock_Drive_Yards_0.7.4.zip)

(http://i.imgur.com/8GnCC2h.png?1)

Main additions:

Changelog:

Spoiler
0.7.4
- Added Megaceras-class Combat Freighter and Shredder Drones system
- Added Scalaron Pulse Launcher, a weapon that fires homing energy pulses.
- New Impossible-difficulty Mission: Waking the Beast. Save a station from an attacking fleet with your lone Karkinos. How gneiss of you!

\\\Imaginos changes:
- Rift Cannon revamp: prefire delay to 0.05 seconds (from 0.95 seconds) and lowered damage per shot. Now operates like the Autopulse laser on a charge-limited system - this is mainly to make the ship better in AI hands and less clunky to pilot.
- Reduced the EMP damage done by the Rift Cannon
- Changed built in beams for more damage output vs ships
- Increased overall damage done by the Imaginos' Scalar Rejector, especially when you get a massive explosion, but lowered emp damage
- Slightly lowered Scalar Deracinator (small) damage and emp damage
- Supplies/day increased by 0.5
\\\Hullmod changes:
- Added new Blackrock-only Hullmod: Blackrock Drive Conversion. Increases 0-flux Boost by 30, max. speed by 10% and max. burn by 1. Lowers turn rate and deceleration by 10%. Does not stack with aug. engines, unstable injector, etc
- Changed Blackrock Assault Fitting. Bonuses are now 50% EMP resist, 15% extra hull integrity, and 25% faster weapon/engine repair speed. Fixed a bug that made the original hullmod actually lower repair speeds. OP cost adjusted down to 5/10/15/25.
- Blackrock Sensor Suite renamed to Blackrock Strike Suite. Now gives 15% damage boost to all weapons, 15% less flux cost for all weapons, 15% less weapon range.
- New icons for all BRDY hullmods
\\\ Weapon balance changes:
- Removed ammo from all BRDY ballistic weapons. Tooltips are ultra confusing and bugged with regards to the regenerating ammo, and it was an irrelevant balancing mechanic all in all.
- Increased buckshot projectile count from 18 to 20 for Volley Gun and Ironweaver ADC
- Lowered Volley Gun per-volley damage to 500 total, decreased cooldown between shots to 3 seconds.
- Lowered Ironweaver ADC cooldown to 2 seconds, decreased crit chance by 5%. Overall much higher DPS and suppression factor.
- Voidspear SRM: HP from 180 to 200, Flux/missile from 170 to 200, flight time from 5 to 6, added DO_NOT_AIM AI Hint (will autofire from offset mounts now)
- Ferrocannon: New shot damage: 750 \ New shot cooldown: 4 seconds \ New flux/shot: 1200 \ New range: 900 (This is to make it less powerful when you have 4 of them on the Karkinos, and more powerful if you have one or two, overall, the weapon does more DPS)
- Ferrogun damage to 300 from 320 and range to 800 from 750, this is to differentiate it from the Dual Shard and make it better at close support
- Rewrote Shard weapon tooltips to include specific by-the-numbers information on the crit mechanic
- Increased DPS of Shard Cannon and Dual Shard Cannon. Increased range by 50 for both weapons. Increased proj speed slightly. Adjusted flux/dps ratio. Now slightly less efficient but just as damaging as AC vs shields, with the added bonus of the crit mechanic.
- Damage of Shard Cannon/Dual Shard Cannon proc from 250 max to 200 max.
- Increased DPS of Shard Gun, but lowered the range to 500. Roughly on par with IR Pulse for overall performance now, but probably better vs. armor.
- Nerfed Achilles MRM ammo to 5 for 6op version and 12 for 12op version, fragmentation damage to 350 per MIRV from 400, and MIRV health down to 160 from 240. Increased refire delay to 10 seconds. Small Achilles now regenerates 1 missile per minute and Medium one regenerates 2 missiles per minute.
- Added regenerating ammo to 8OP Dart SRM launcher, but not to the 4OP one. Also boosted ammo on the 4OP Dart SRM
- Antimatter Lance: Now does 2500 Energy damage and zero EMP damage. New bullet sprite, slightly adjusted impact effect.
- Fury-class Torpedo: Launch speed increased by 20 and damage increased by 250
- PDE weapons (All): Longer burst length to make it more likely to catch a ship lowering shields. Slightly better flux efficiency. Slightly improved turn speed.
- Scalaron Blaster cooldown decreased by 2 seconds. Damage decreased by 50.
\\\ Misc changes:
- Added on-hit effect to Scalaron Blaster (same as Scalaron Pulse) with new sfx
- Shard Cannon / Dual Shard Cannon sprite + barrel + muzzle flash fixups
- Kurmaraja flux dissipation increased by 150 and flux capacity increased by 500.
- Lowered charge replenish rate for Stenos Autoloader system to 0.1 from 0.2 ( 10 seconds per charge)
- Increased Stenos flux dissipation by 10, lowered flux capacity by 400
- Increased Stenos hull strength by 500
- Increased Knight flux cap by 100
- Lowered Karkinos flux dissipation by 50 and lowered shield arc to 160 from 180. Reduced maneuverability slightly.
- Increased Nevermore flux dissipation by 20
- Increased Kurmaraja flux dissipation by 50
- Krait fighter: Changed formation type to make sure both fighters fire at the same target more often
- Made BRDY engines slightly warmer in color
- Added CR timers to BRDY capital ships
- Changed Cetonia stats to be a more clean cut freighter now that Megaceras exists, also changed designation to Freighter
- Adjusted Convergence sprite
- New INM Assault Gun sfx
- Edited Gale Cannon sfx
- Adjusted some Imaginos sound/hullstyle things
- Adjusted some ship mass values that were erroneously high for the ship's class
- PDE beams are now a more yellow-green color like the other BRDY plasma weapons
- Added High Maintenance to Asura, lowered Asura supply/day to 7
- Removed High Maintenance from Nevermore, lowered peak performance time to 360 seconds, increased CR per deployment to 25%
- Removed High Maintenance from Desdinova
- Changed a lot of variants to accomodate the rebalancing
- Edited some descriptions, rewrites + new content
- Fixed interactions with TwigLib content, courtesy of DarkRevenant
- Fixed some descriptions in Rama
[close]

I'm releasing it a bit early so I'll have time to address anything gamebreaking before I leave.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon!
Post by: OOZ662 on April 02, 2015, 01:10:19 AM
Is there a reason the Convergence-class isn't flagged as a carrier? As in it doesn't respond to Carrier Rally command points and cannot fit SS+'s Expanded Flightdecks hullmod. I assume it also means it's more willing to head into the battlecenter instead of skirting it in AI hands, though I haven't played with it enough yet to notice.

EDIT: A note to people directly updating saves; the High Maintenance hull mod will still be fitted to ships that previously had it, but can be removed in refit for free.

EDIT2: The BRDY Drive Conversion is not increasing burn speed on my Convergence.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon!
Post by: sotanaht on April 02, 2015, 02:08:34 AM
Is there a reason the Convergence-class isn't flagged as a carrier? As in it doesn't respond to Carrier Rally command points and cannot fit SS+'s Expanded Flightdecks hullmod. I assume it also means it's more willing to head into the battlecenter instead of skirting it in AI hands, though I haven't played with it enough yet to notice.

EDIT: A note to people directly updating saves; the High Maintenance hull mod will still be fitted to ships that previously had it, but can be removed in refit for free.

EDIT2: The BRDY Drive Conversion is not increasing burn speed on my Convergence.

I had the same problem with Shadowyard's Charybdis.  Is there any way to fix it myself?  No matter how heavily armed, I still want my carriers to stay on the edge of battle, plus that hullmod would really help.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon!
Post by: orost on April 02, 2015, 02:14:46 AM
Adding "CARRIER" to the "hints" column in ship_data.csv should do it.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon!
Post by: Schwartz on April 02, 2015, 04:15:50 AM
My Blackrock Assault Fitting still states: 50 EMP Resist, 75% weapon/engine health bonus, 25% weapon/engine repair speed reduction. It also costs 12 OP on a destroyer. I've been loading a previous save; do I need to start a new game for everything to fit into place?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon!
Post by: Cycerin on April 02, 2015, 04:31:08 AM
I removed that a while ago, because the ship is supposed to be a battle carrier like the Venture. You cannot fit expanded flight decks on ships without the CARRIER hint.

Uploading a hotfix for the missing burn level bonus now, I also forgot to upload up-to-date source previously.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/ny5uwo55nx81o1p/Blackrock_Drive_Yards_0.7.4.zip

My Blackrock Assault Fitting still states: 50 EMP Resist, 75% weapon/engine health bonus, 25% weapon/engine repair speed reduction. It also costs 12 OP on a destroyer. I've been loading a previous save; do I need to start a new game for everything to fit into place?

Are you running SS+
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon!
Post by: Schwartz on April 02, 2015, 04:32:08 AM
Yeah, I am.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon!
Post by: Cycerin on April 02, 2015, 04:34:32 AM
The new hullmods wont work with SS+ until it's patched.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Schwartz on April 02, 2015, 04:59:01 AM
Alright, I'll play this ungodly aberration until then. Doesn't seem to be breaking anything. ;)

Megas (and others), what do you put on your Asura? I've experimented with a bunch of loadouts, but never seem to be able to get past heavy burst damage builds for my phase ships. I assume you'd still fit 2x Antimatter on phase frigates?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on April 02, 2015, 05:04:42 AM
The new hullmods wont work with SS+ until it's patched.
That could explain why the burn speed wasn't being applied (and still isn't). Hope I didn't have you fix something that wasn't broken. ;D I will be adding the CARRIER hint on my own though as my carriers are always rearline missile artillery because I'm terrible at keeping frigates from passing my Nevermore. I'm unsure of giving the AI a Kurmaraja and whether they'd know what to do with it...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on April 02, 2015, 05:15:56 AM
Nah, the burn speed bonus was actually missing.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Megas on April 02, 2015, 07:40:07 AM
I have max Combat and Technology, and much OP to play with.

Large universal, Mjolnir.  Compared to plasma cannon, it has more range, better efficiency, lower OP cost, and almost as much DPS (plus EMP).  Great for all-around beatdown; decent, if not great, shield-cracker.

Medium univerals, Heavy Mauler.  Long-range, good against armor and hull.  Mjolnir and Light Needlers take care of shields.

Small univerals, Light Needler, for long-range.

Missiles, either Salamanders or Reapers.  I do not remember which.

Energy slots, (Argus) Burst PDs for anti-missile.

Hullmods are Augmented Engines, Hardened Subsystems, Integrated Targeting Unit, and Resistant Flux Conduits.

Rest of the OP goes to vents, then capacitors.

I build many of my ships as long-range kiting machines, if possible.  Asura is fast and can kite.


Now that ballistics are unlimited and beams got more range, I tend to go for brawl-and-kite loadouts on phase frigates.  For example, Afflictor gets ACs and LAGs, Shade gets Light Needlers and Tactical Lasers.  I treat phase cloak as imitation fortress shield.  The problem with AM blasters is it is mostly a flagship configuration, and I prefer to use capitals or overpowered monsters like Hyperion.  Asura qualifies as an overpowered monster, though not quite as much as Hyperion.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on April 02, 2015, 03:09:19 PM
Try an Afflictor with four Shard Cannons, an Argus, and ITU :D. You only have to uncloak long enough to fire a burst - which is just wrong, in terms of how much damage you can do without taking any in return.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Megas on April 03, 2015, 06:16:13 AM
Try an Afflictor with four Shard Cannons, an Argus, and ITU :D. You only have to uncloak long enough to fire a burst - which is just wrong, in terms of how much damage you can do without taking any in return.
I usually play without mods, so Shard Cannon Afflictor is usually not an option.  For standard weapons, that is why I use autocannons and light assault guns.  They fire instantly, their ranges match, and the mixed damage types compliment each other.  They are more AI friendly too; AM blaster Afflictor hesitates too much when piloted by AI.  If I needed to spend more OP for Blackrock weapons, I probably would use Shard Cannon and INMs.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on April 03, 2015, 09:15:28 AM
Had a chance to play around with the new version last night. Some feedback:

- New Shard weapons are much more powerful, more distinct roles. The Shard Gun is really excellent against phase ships - shuts them down hard.
- Not sure how I feel about the Megaceras yet - still feeling out the weapons layout. The bright orange panels on the forward wings are a little much, I think.
- Really disappointed with the change to the AM lance projectile. I feel like it breaks the unwritten principle that imminent danger to the ship (like Reapers, say) should be something you can see coming. It also detracts from the visceral satisfaction of nailing other ships with it. Your mod, your call, but I think it was a bad one.

Otherwise I'm delighted - the Scalaron Pulse is a fun, unique weapon, shades of EVO's SAD Modules and Ares' gunship weapon.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Schwartz on April 03, 2015, 09:47:21 AM
I ended up putting Light Needlers on my Shade frigates also. Combat trials to be done, but they seem to be doing well as shield-breaker support for my pair of Tartaruses.

The Mjolnir didn't sit right with me on the Asura. I don't kite so much as dodge and weave right through the crowd, as you can pull off some crazy stunts with a nimble phase ship like this. But having all non-PD, non-missile weapons in one group means that Mjolnir exhausts itself too quickly (often dealing with shields), and in a large engagement it doesn't reload quickly enough to continue to pull its weight. Maybe you do that differently, but it would get too fiddly having several main groups with my playstyle. Replacing the Mjolnir with a Hephaestus did work well though.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Megas on April 03, 2015, 10:23:30 AM
Mjolnir does not need to reload.  It will keep firing as long as you have flux to spare.  The only standard non-missile weapons that regenerate in the latest Starsector are autopulse laser and Onslaught's TPC.

I like Mjolnir because it is a true all-rounder, if you have the OP and flux to spare.  If not, or you cannot find Mjolnir, HAG or even Hellbore is a good alternative, but that means I need to replace the Maulers with either HVDs (and give up DPS) or Heavy Needlers (and give up range).

Asura can be outfitted and played almost like a Dominator, except it is faster and missing a few weapons.  It can dodge stuff, but why go through the risk of getting shot when you do not need to.  That is, if I can smash and outrange the enemy, why would I want to get within weapons range of the enemy?  That does not mean I will only use weapons with the most range, or else I would mount Gauss Cannon and plink with it only; probably a bad idea with Asura's low peak performance.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Schwartz on April 03, 2015, 10:37:33 AM
Ohh, I guess SS+ does some modifications to the Mjolnir. Yeah, looking at the stats on the Starsector Wiki, I'd probably do just fine using Mjolnir as my main gun. It's more situational in SS+.

Re: Kiting. I suppose that's true if you don't field NPC ships on your side, but for fleet-on-fleet, kiting becomes a bit redundant since if you're not getting hit, someone else is probably getting hit instead. Dispatching enemies quickly works better here. As such, my Asura hullmods are Heavy Armour, Thrusters, Unstable Injector and Resistant Flux Conduits. But your weapons loadout still works fine.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Megas on April 03, 2015, 10:57:57 AM
Standard Mjolnir.  I do not play SS+, as I cannot allocate the 2 GB required for SS+ (and other mods).  I cannot run Blackrock for long in Nexerelin before the game hangs or crashes due to insufficient memory.

I tend to field ships either alone (chain-flagships) or in overwhelming numbers (for maximum CR% recovery after standing down).  When I field Asura, it usually fights alone.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: orost on April 03, 2015, 11:02:52 AM
Megas, have you tried again since 2a? I play SS+ with three extra factions and it works just fine with 1.5 GB. In fact, sometimes I accidentally use the wrong launcher and launch the default configuration of built-in 32-bit java and 1GB memory and it oten works for a couple hours before it crashes. It really has imporved a lot.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Megas on April 03, 2015, 11:18:13 AM
My (offline) machine does not have Java-64, so I am stuck with whatever the Starsector installer provides.  I have not tried to allocate more than 1 GB recently, though when I tried before, it would not work.  My machine has 8 GB and 64-bit OS, so I would allocate more if I could.

I do not have a gpu, so ShaderLib effects are disabled (but the mod is enabled for mods that need it, like Blackrock).

When I run Nexerelin, the only faction I tried so far that did not have problems was Knights Templar.  Blackrock loads, but sooner or later, my game hangs or crashes.  I tried loading Valkyrians but cannot, even with no other unnecessary mods.  Loading bar goes all the way, but screen never changes.

So far, if I want to use mods, I load very few at a time.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: CrashToDesktop on April 03, 2015, 12:09:04 PM
My (offline) machine does not have Java-64, so I am stuck with whatever the Starsector installer provides.  I have not tried to allocate more than 1 GB recently, though when I tried before, it would not work.  My machine has 8 GB and 64-bit OS, so I would allocate more if I could.

I do not have a gpu, so ShaderLib effects are disabled (but the mod is enabled for mods that need it, like Blackrock).

When I run Nexerelin, the only faction I tried so far that did not have problems was Knights Templar.  Blackrock loads, but sooner or later, my game hangs or crashes.  I tried loading Valkyrians but cannot, even with no other unnecessary mods.  Loading bar goes all the way, but screen never changes.

So far, if I want to use mods, I load very few at a time.
Good lord, he plays mods when he's not busy being a munchin (or maybe he just does both and I never thought about that before).

So, your offline OS is 64-bit (if I read that right)?  If you do have another machine with internet connect, even for a few minutes a day, there's a 64-bit offline version of Java available to download from the website.  Means you can download the entire 64-bit java version from the website and not have to go to the internet to grab the rest of the files.  Get that .exe file into a USB drive and transfer it to the offline computer.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Megas on April 03, 2015, 03:30:51 PM
I have played mods for various games over the years.  I prefer to stick with standard for most games, except for mods I make.  In case of Starsector, I especially prefer to stick with standard until the game is officially done.  Building a single character in Starsector takes a good chunk of my free time, unless I cheat via dev mode.  That does not mean I will not play mods occasionally.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on April 03, 2015, 03:39:18 PM
I have played mods for various games over the years.  I prefer to stick with standard for most games, except for mods I make.  In case of Starsector, I especially prefer to stick with standard until the game is officially done.  Building a single character in Starsector takes a good chunk of my free time, unless I cheat via dev mode.  That does not mean I will not play mods occasionally.
You can use the console commands and save transfer mods to transfer your save from one save game to the other
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: CrashToDesktop on April 03, 2015, 06:52:29 PM
I have played mods for various games over the years.  I prefer to stick with standard for most games, except for mods I make.  In case of Starsector, I especially prefer to stick with standard until the game is officially done.  Building a single character in Starsector takes a good chunk of my free time, unless I cheat via dev mode.  That does not mean I will not play mods occasionally.

Have you tried what I said at some point, Megas?  Just curious if that'll work or not.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on April 04, 2015, 03:45:25 AM
Would anyone mind explaining to me how the Scalar Deracinator actually works? I've taken my Karkinos into four or five different battles now and come out with a tiny fragment of hull remaining each time because I don't understand how this thing works strategically besides just being a teleporter. At what point does it "suck things in?" I've yet to notice it even do anything upon activation or "firing," and only once noticed anything on "landing" when a Lasher under pressure from my fighters was pushed to overload when I landed vaguely near it.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: orost on April 04, 2015, 05:15:56 AM
It doesn't suck anything in, you're confusing it with the Scalar Rejector, the right-click ability of the Imaginos. Deracinator is just a teleport that does a little damage on arrival.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Megas on April 04, 2015, 05:21:54 AM
@ TheSoldier:  I had very little time to actually play any game since your last post (and what little free time I had went to Transcendence, not Starsector).  Even if I had time, I am very reluctant to add Java-64 on my machine just for a single game.  I am not hardcore enough to care about having every last mod or feature for a game that is still an alpha.  Standard base game of Starsector runs fine without new bells-and-whistles.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Tommy on April 04, 2015, 05:22:37 AM
That's exactly right.

Land vaguely near enemies and you will damage them. The effect is more pronounced with frigates or less armored bigger ones.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cathair on April 04, 2015, 12:40:46 PM
It does far more damage to shields than it does to armor- at least in 0.7.3, I haven't played with it yet in the new version. It can reliably overload other battleships if you hit their shields with the shockwave, but don't expect any fireworks if you land beside something with decent armor that has its shields down.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on April 04, 2015, 07:08:01 PM
It does EMP and energy damage to nearby ships, as Cathair says it's good at overloading shields, but it can also kill ships that are near dead and holding up a shield in the opposite direction. This is very useful for finishing off a ship in the Imaginos as it will dodge the death explosion damage.


Otherwise I'm delighted - the Scalaron Pulse is a fun, unique weapon, shades of EVO's SAD Modules and Ares' gunship weapon.

Originally was gonna have the SFX be a combo shoutout to those two weapons but I felt it was too much, even for someone as obsessed with nostalgia as me
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on April 04, 2015, 07:16:51 PM
As I seem to tend to for some reason, I had some thoughts while absolutely exhausted from lack of sleep.

First, if not using a randomized sector map, Gneiss is in a really good spot both physically and with the super-sun lore for a medium-scale Independent food planet. Not something as whacko as the one in Eos, but maybe hovering around 2,000-5,000 units of food. Though if that would dump the entire economy or something, I don't know.

Second, it'd be really cool if the Asura's flux ejector cans showed an overload effect when kicked out with flux in them, but it's probably not worth the coding since I'm guessing they'd have to be spawned as tiny ships like II's supermissiles.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on April 04, 2015, 08:52:23 PM
@ TheSoldier:  I had very little time to actually play any game since your last post (and what little free time I had went to Transcendence, not Starsector).  Even if I had time, I am very reluctant to add Java-64 on my machine just for a single game.  I am not hardcore enough to care about having every last mod or feature for a game that is still an alpha.  Standard base game of Starsector runs fine without new bells-and-whistles.
Yeah, I'm calling you out on your BS. It would take you FIVE damn minuets to install java on that machine and you would only have to do it once. Are you lazy or just incompetent? You have a truly much better machine and you refuse to use it because of that...
And hell, you CAN use 32 bit java as long as you don't use too many mods and certain mods. (Like II) Here is the list of what I use:
SS+, BRDY, Radar, Console, Exi, Lazylib, ShaderLib, Omnifactory, Save transfer, Templars, Mayorate, Version checker, and a personal mod is what I use
ALL of that on the DEFAULT, included settings. I get ZERO Out of Memory errors!
This is also on a craptop that has a slow duel core CPU and an integrated graphics card. I would kill to have a nice gaming desktop like you currently have Megas
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Megas on April 05, 2015, 07:59:44 AM
You can call out whatever you want.  I neither need to defend myself to anyone nor derail Cycerin's topic anymore with this side chatter.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on April 05, 2015, 09:30:10 AM
Otherwise I'm delighted - the Scalaron Pulse is a fun, unique weapon, shades of EVO's SAD Modules and Ares' gunship weapon.

Originally was gonna have the SFX be a combo shoutout to those two weapons but I felt it was too much, even for someone as obsessed with nostalgia as me

Yeah, leave some nostalgia porn for the rest of us.

What I'd really like, now that I've had a chance to play with it some more, is a medium version (anything that'll fit on the Stenos' medium universal mount, so I can fit more than just two on the front and spam them like mad with the autoloader). They're extremely powerful in groups, but you really have to commit across several hulls to get a good shoal of wiggly green tadpole bombs.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Silver Silence on April 05, 2015, 12:54:35 PM
"A good shoal of wiggly green tadpole bombs" is how one user describes a missile swarm.  :D
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on April 06, 2015, 04:49:44 AM
Well, given that's what they look like...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Sabaton on April 10, 2015, 01:28:43 AM
 :o
 Lucky you!
 Putting rarity ships in this mod was such a nice touch.
 I think another Nevermore special edition would be nice, one with 2 Am lances, that could be used to hunt down capital ships.
 Wink wink nudge nudge
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Tartiflette on April 10, 2015, 02:01:04 AM
You mean, the Helmut edition one from there (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=1131.msg129767#msg129767)? ? ? ::)
(http://i.imgur.com/2HgQ0V2.png)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Sabaton on April 10, 2015, 04:35:50 AM
 I was trying to be smooth, then you came rolling in like a boulder.  ::)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Tartiflette on April 10, 2015, 04:41:09 AM
Indeed, but not that many people knows about it.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Silver Silence on April 10, 2015, 07:31:26 AM
I didn't know about those sprites and damn, that regal gold Templar ship and the hulking Vatican... mass look pretty awesome. I wouldn't mind that light blue Bushi ship either. Oh and hey, Antediluvians! You guys remember those? I remember those. I haven't seen the Antediluvians in ages.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Sabaton on April 10, 2015, 09:35:19 AM
 I remember the antedeluvians. I remember how compact their ships were, how just one frigate could fire dozens of guns, how weak their guns were.

 I remember how much I liked blowing them up as I was chasing them all over Corvus. How much simpler the game was then.

edit:
 Alas, lets not hijack the thread.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on April 10, 2015, 09:38:47 AM
The best part of Antediluvians was the tiny tiny torpedoes that were almost impossible to spot that blew up in a giant cyan explosion. Oh how I raged when I lost my flagship to that.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Sabaton on April 10, 2015, 11:28:04 AM
The best part of Antediluvians was the tiny tiny torpedoes that were almost impossible to spot that blew up in a giant cyan explosion. Oh how I raged when I lost my flagship to that.

Ouch, I reckon it was something expensive.
What was your flagship?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on April 10, 2015, 04:55:11 PM
Given how squirrely a Desdinova is to begin with, this (http://i.imgur.com/5IgEWWS.png) scares me a bit.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Megas on April 15, 2015, 08:31:28 AM
Played the new version a few days ago.  I did a casual playthrough in Nexerelin (aside from Imaginos in a mission since stations would not spawn it), not a thorough QA examination.

The main gun on Imaginos is much easier to use, and it is fast enough to blast ships after teleportation just like Hyperion can with blasters.

Megaceras seems okay, aside from possibly excessive top speed.  Feels much like a mule.

Scalaron Pulse Launcher is nice.  Slow, but does some serious damage on a hit.  Feels like an energy mini-Pilum.  The only (minor) problem is I have hit myself with them on my faster ships.  If I have OP to spare, I use this.

Now that Achilles regenerate, they have replaced Salamanders as my go-to missile choice.  Achilles may be somewhat overpowered, as they seem to be balanced against old Salamanders when they used to do 500 damage to hull.

Darts may regenerate, but like Swarmers, are too weak to be useful aside from killing a few wings before ammo is gone.  Also, AI does not fire them at everything.  I will stick with Achilles or Scalaron missiles instead.

New descriptions on Shard weapons is very useful.  Simply put, I underestimated what critical hits did.

Shard Cannon is top-tier, and easily competes with Railgun.  Same OP range, same range, one has perfect accuracy and the other has no windup and explosive shots.

Other weapons (aside from gems like Argus PD and Scalaron repeater) still remain alternatives to use if the best standard weapons are not available.  For example, I use not use Ferrogun, Gale, or Squalls if I have Needlers, HVDs, and Maulers, but I might if the only standard guns I have are junk like Thumpers and Assault Chaingun.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on April 25, 2015, 06:06:53 PM
Thanks for the feedback Pesci and Megas. Sounds like a lot of the changes worked out well, I'm relieved. We'll see how the Megaceras pans out, it's pretty weird with the lack of a single Medium slot, but it lets you be pretty creative with outfits provided you have access to a wide range of weapons.

The extra tooltip info is kind of a mess. A lot of weapons with scripted hit effects deal a tiny bit extra damage if they don't hit shields, due to initially being copies of the Shard crit. I'll probably make them all do zero extra damage and simplify the tooltips. Next patch will contain more polish, and I intend to create some more promo material/a more well-structured OP in the near future, too.

In other news I added a donation button to the OP. I've been at this mod for around three years, and I can't spend as much time modding as I used to, 'cause things have gotten tighter the past year. Having more financial freedom would give me more time for my own projects. I always felt like I shouldn't accept money for doing something like this, but I realized the other day I've worked harder at this mod than I've worked at many of the actual formal jobs I've held in my life. And the mod itself will always be free. Any support is greatly appreciated, and a big contribution would have to be rewarded somehow, but for the time being I don't want to make a big deal out of this. Mod development will continue even if there's no money in it, as long as Starsector remains a great game to make content for. I just realized I want there to be an option for those who wanna support the mod.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on April 26, 2015, 07:31:39 AM
I don't know about donations specifically, but you don't need a Paypal account to make a payment through them unless you're directly transferring from a checking account. Maybe not even then; been a couple years since I checked.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on April 26, 2015, 09:54:23 AM
If I could discern what portion of the URL refers to the encryption system and which points to the account to donate to I'd just toss you a link, but their vocabulary isn't very clear. You could just try changing to a US URL; take whatever you get when you click it and change it to paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/

It's kinda fun seeing some other service screwing up with language. I've had a GMail account for longer than I can remember and merged it as soon as Google bought YouTube, and yet sometimes YouTube randomly decides I get to explore another language through their emails for that day. Generally German, rarely others.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on April 26, 2015, 10:04:44 AM
For some weird reason my donation page was in Norwegian. It should be in English now. Also you don't need an account to pay using paypal, just to recieve payments. Same as when paying online at any website. Unless something changed really recently.

But seriously, thanks Pesci. (: It's really cool to hear that. I used to mod C&C Generals too, and the biggest mod I worked on (ShockWave) wanted to bring back all the cut content from Zero Hour. If you still have the game installed you might wanna check it out!

Quote
Are you realistically going to put the Void Beasts in the mod any time in the near future, like this year?  The little cartoon devil on my left shoulder says that you've decided that stuff is beyond the scope of the mod and you'll get around to it "someday" (never) when you get more time.

Well, I haven't talked about the space monsters in a long time. They're something I've wanted to do since I first played Starsector. Kinda where I want to go when I take this mod to the next level. I already did some work charting out how I'd do it, how things would look, why it would be fun to play, audio and sprite concepts, etc. Because the campaign layer has lacked important tools, and because the existing content still needed a lot of work to meet my own standards, I haven't done a single thing related to them in-engine yet.

I find the ideas I have too cool to give up on, but it'll also be a ton of work. You may have noticed that BRDY has never climbed above 1.0 version number, and that's because I only consider the mod "1.0" when all its discussed, planned or promised content is in. I never really expected this mod to be "released" in that sense until Starsector is also basically a finished game. So same pace of development.

Also I was thinking I'd change to accepting donations through Bandcamp in the future, when the mod's soundtrack is more complete. Donate any sum and get drm free album in any format, incl. lossless, yada yada, along with some other digital stuff.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on April 26, 2015, 12:28:49 PM
Haha, awesome. It was such a huge and messy mod, really. Any good idea or any piece of decent work someone had thrown together was considered. In the end, it became an enormous undertaking. All I did for that mod was sound effects and some concept art, it was a large team.

People still play it, actually. Hunter (the lead developer) still gets a bunch of emails about Shockwave stuff. The same people are still modding Generals, amazingly enough. They've been working on Rise of the Reds for years and years, and I think a new release of that is around the corner.

And believe me, nobody wants to see space monsters happen more than I do. :)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: doofball13 on April 30, 2015, 04:10:36 PM
Hey, new to the forum but a long-time lurker.

I've been playing a lot of BRDY as a part of Nexerlin/SS+ lately, and really enjoying it. Just want to say, kudos on making a faction that is (IMO) both interesting and at-home within the Starsector universe. No gallingly different, out-of-place ships or weapons- just interesting variety from vanilla in a fairly balanced, cohesive, and most importantly, stylish additional faction.

All that being said, I'd like to offer a little (nitpicky) feedback:

First, the Scalaron Pulse Launcher seems at least a little too strong right now. Between the regenerating ammo, decent damage, low flux cost, good range, EMP and extra damage when hitting armor... It has too many advantages for the slower speed disadvantage to matter. It also seems exceedingly tough right now; enemy PD seems to have serious trouble shooting down pulses, especially in bursts of three or larger swarms from many Scalarons firing at once.

Also, the shard weapons could use a little buffing, imo. They do great vs shields, but against armor I would rather use, for example, a Hypervelocity Driver/Railgun than a Heavy Shard Cannon/Shard Cannon. The extra energy RNG mechanic does help a little vs. armor, but they still fire lots of low-damage projectiles which just can't keep up in armor damage compared to the high-damage low fire-rate projectiles of a Hypervelocity Driver. Basically they shred hull and shields enough to be worth the slot, but other weapons do that just as well in addition to having an EMP utility and better damage against armor. And the Large slot shard weapon- Ironweaver ADC iirc?- is very underwhelming. Again, it has good shield damage- but so does a Gauss Cannon, from a longer range, whilst still stripping armor better and delivering EMP.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Tartiflette on April 30, 2015, 04:31:06 PM
stuff
While I agree wholeheartedly with your first point, I think the shard weapons are quite good as they are. Thee are the kind of weapons that scale veeeery well in numbers: 2 aren't worth much but 6 or more suddenly are both deadly against shields and quite efficient against armors thanks to the "hidden" random damage.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on April 30, 2015, 05:14:12 PM
Thanks for chiming in. I kinda agree that the SPL needs some adjustment. Shard weapons are fine for the moment and that includes the Ironweaver, going to allow for more time to get a feel for what the recent changes did.

Your comparison with the Gauss Cannon is off, I think - the Ironweaver both deals more DPS at medium-close range and especially against armor it's vastly superior. It's not good at max range, though.

E: Also like Tartiflette points out, if you stack Shard weapons, they get way more powerful.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cathair on May 01, 2015, 03:44:51 AM
Also, the shard weapons could use a little buffing, imo. They do great vs shields, but against armor I would rather use, for example, a Hypervelocity Driver/Railgun than a Heavy Shard Cannon/Shard Cannon. The extra energy RNG mechanic does help a little vs. armor, but they still fire lots of low-damage projectiles which just can't keep up in armor damage compared to the high-damage low fire-rate projectiles of a Hypervelocity Driver. Basically they shred hull and shields enough to be worth the slot, but other weapons do that just as well in addition to having an EMP utility and better damage against armor. And the Large slot shard weapon- Ironweaver ADC iirc?- is very underwhelming. Again, it has good shield damage- but so does a Gauss Cannon, from a longer range, whilst still stripping armor better and delivering EMP.

If you're using the latest version, I disagree with this as well, and I had a strong dislike for Shard weapons prior to their recent buffs. I'm a big fan of Railguns and I think Shard cannons compete with them pretty well for Small hardpoints right now- to me they seem to have noticeably better performance vs armor in exchange for slightly less shield damage. Sure, they struggle against the heaviest armor, but so do railguns or any other kinetic weapon. I suppose it helps that I'm usually either using 3+ at once, or using them in conjunction with something heavier in a medium mount.

I do tend to favor HVDs over dual shards for medium slots, but to me it feels like a playstyle choice more than an objective one. The much higher dps of the dual shard lets it do things the HVD can't, especially in cases where a ship has only one medium mount.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: doofball13 on May 01, 2015, 01:34:49 PM
Woops, I mixed up Mjolnirs and Gauss Cannons. My bad.

Anyway, I know that the numbers show shard weapons should have better DPS, but that's not the experience I'm having.

Although, most of my experience is from fighting heavily armored Onslaughts and Imperium ships- maybe the shard weapons pull ahead when the armor levels aren't ridiculous? Maybe the issue I have with them has to do with armor-stripping on exceedingly tough ships, and not with DPS against ships with standard armor?

I'll give shard weapons another shot.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Tartiflette on May 01, 2015, 01:53:50 PM
I'll give shard weapons another shot.
Try a shard only Scarab/Desdinova/Nevermore fleet and you'll never go back to HDVs ^^
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on May 02, 2015, 05:08:05 AM
I've been using Shard/Scalaron (Blaster and Repeater both, depending) and Railgun/Squall setups in the current version - both do about the same amount of damage, but the former feels much more general-purpose. Where Shard weapons really shine is punching up against fast, high-tech ships; an all-Shard Scarab can maul a Tempest, and the Ironweaver is scary-good for area suppression of shielded fighters.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: doofball13 on May 04, 2015, 01:45:36 AM
Yeah, after more testing, I realize I underrated Shard weapons. It does take them longer to effectively strip armor- but not that much longer, and they shred enemy ships much faster once the armor is gone.

The Ironweaver especially seems to have problems with distributed damage against armor- A Mjolnir cannon is more effective at that. But an Ironweaver is so much more effective if you can strip that armor another way- like with an accompanying salvo of Scalaron Blaster shots- that it ends up being more than worth it.

Also- my god, does it make popping shields easy at close range.

The SCPL is definitely broken though. Outfitting a cruiser for missile spam should not let me take out a SS+ Citadel one-on-one. Then again, maybe that is the fault of other mod makers for having so many small missile/ small universal mounts.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 06, 2015, 01:39:28 PM
Its a bit too reliable for a weapon intended to act as a PD screen and pressure weapon. Im going to nerf its tracking somewhat, and lower the starting ammo and regenerating ammo. I'm also adding a medium version.

Quality of life change: The pulses will self-destruct once they lose AI, so they won't slam into your own ships anymore.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: ahrenjb on May 07, 2015, 10:03:59 AM
Recently decided to load up on the current versions of mods and do a final play through with the current game release, after playing for a bit I felt like I had to chime in.

Cycerin, this latest version of BDY is far and away the best yet. I love it. I feel like all the weapons and concepts have matured and been refined to a point where they mesh perfectly with any other well balanced mod. I always included BDY in my universe, but never spent much time playing their ships or equipment until now. Joint SCY / BDY fleets have become my go-to this play.

Also, love love LOVE the new Mod Silverfish. The codex description gave me a solid laugh. Cheers.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: NightfallGemini on May 07, 2015, 08:08:34 PM
Oh wow, I never noticed the Mod-SF's new description. Pretty great, gotta say.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 08, 2015, 09:44:52 AM
I'm glad you enjoyed it :D

Cycerin, this latest version of BDY is far and away the best yet. I love it. I feel like all the weapons and concepts have matured and been refined to a point where they mesh perfectly with any other well balanced mod.

Thats great to hear. Its really satisfying to see all those years of incremental development coming together.

Here's a WIP ship I've been working on recently:

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/8y6RfcU.png)

Still missing a rather important visual cue, actually.

Whoever guesses what it is/what its abilities will be, gets recognized with a stern, manly nod
[close]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: ValkyriaL on May 08, 2015, 09:48:32 AM
Im guessing a drone carrrier, with a nose cannon.... Close? :-\

could also be a larger Imaginos,

or a smaller Karkinos.



..No good?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Nanao-kun on May 08, 2015, 10:29:30 AM
The shape looks kinda awkward, particularly the bottom of it. Not sure how to say it unfortunately.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on May 08, 2015, 10:30:16 AM
I'm thinking some kind of mobility system thanks to what looks like massive wing engines
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on May 08, 2015, 10:46:32 AM
Tell me they're warp nacelles...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: doofball13 on May 08, 2015, 01:57:11 PM
Can it phase through enemies like a Templar Jesuit?

Because ever since I saw that pretty blue Schism Drive murder a ship, I've desperately wanted the same ability on a more balanced ship. Perhaps a BRDY ship?

Other than that, I don't know. It has some interesting little armor detailing- little bits interlaced together, much like the hexagons on a Kurmaraja, just more organically shaped. Is that a hint to what it does? Something like the interdiction array?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 08, 2015, 05:18:08 PM
Kinda semi-close all over. It's in the same vein as the Imaginos in terms of doing crazy stuff, but it won't be exactly the same.

The shape looks kinda awkward, particularly the bottom of it. Not sure how to say it unfortunately.

Try?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Nanao-kun on May 08, 2015, 06:29:25 PM
Kinda semi-close all over. It's in the same vein as the Imaginos in terms of doing crazy stuff, but it won't be exactly the same.

The shape looks kinda awkward, particularly the bottom of it. Not sure how to say it unfortunately.

Try?
It kinda gives me the impression of it standing up, with those as it's big stubby feet.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Histidine on May 08, 2015, 06:59:36 PM
The shape looks kinda awkward, particularly the bottom of it. Not sure how to say it unfortunately.

Try?
It kinda gives me the impression of it standing up, with those as it's big stubby feet.
... and that thing between the prongs is its head, tilted upwards. Thanks, cannot unsee giant anime robot now.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Mazuo on May 08, 2015, 07:11:57 PM
Doesn't really match the tried-and-true Blackrock hulls so I'll assume it's some wonky prototype that will probably excel dramatically at maneuverability and/or have a special built-in system but kinda stink as a common fleet member either through upkeep costs or durability.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: sirboomalot on May 08, 2015, 09:25:18 PM
The shape looks kinda awkward, particularly the bottom of it. Not sure how to say it unfortunately.

Try?
It kinda gives me the impression of it standing up, with those as it's big stubby feet.
... and that thing between the prongs is its head, tilted upwards. Thanks, cannot unsee giant anime robot now.
It even has knee-joints and hand-cannons... Could make it into an extra-effective marine?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Zudgemud on May 09, 2015, 02:20:21 AM
The shape looks kinda awkward, particularly the bottom of it. Not sure how to say it unfortunately.

Try?
It kinda gives me the impression of it standing up, with those as it's big stubby feet.
... and that thing between the prongs is its head, tilted upwards. Thanks, cannot unsee giant anime robot now.
Oh god, now I see it too :(

As for what it does I assume the ship flit around with a startrek like warp, and kills stuff with a blast where it ends up.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 09, 2015, 07:16:47 AM
Christ, I can't unsee it either. I'll probably edit the shape of the engines etc.

It has two built-in weapons and it won't have a shield. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra7M5ESW0c8

Video from stream yesterday. The VOD from yesterday has like 2 hrs of gameplay. www.twitch.tv/cycerin
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Gothars on May 09, 2015, 07:34:12 AM
Has it something like sails or wings?  The arms look like they might extend and reveal something of the sort.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Megas on May 09, 2015, 04:52:45 PM
New ship looks like a modified Nevermore headpiece, much like the Brawler resembles a Hammerhead headpiece.  It will probably have a vicious main gun similar to the Nevermore's, and maybe a mobility ship system of some kind.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Talkie Toaster on May 11, 2015, 02:09:34 PM
Kinda semi-close all over. It's in the same vein as the Imaginos in terms of doing crazy stuff, but it won't be exactly the same.

The shape looks kinda awkward, particularly the bottom of it. Not sure how to say it unfortunately.

Try?
It kinda gives me the impression of it standing up, with those as it's big stubby feet.
When you say that, it does give vague Gunbuster (http://www.slashattack.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/gunbuster4.png) vibes.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: NightfallGemini on May 12, 2015, 06:42:55 PM
Quote
It even has knee-joints and hand-cannons... Could make it into an extra-effective marine?


Some Twiglib-based Outlaw Star hands would be very silly and own a lot.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on May 13, 2015, 10:33:33 AM
Some Twiglib-based Outlaw Star hands would be very silly and own a lot.

You're not the first person to think of this. (I promise to share if we make any headway.)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 18, 2015, 03:27:26 PM
http://gfycat.com/ExhaustedMiserlyFairyfly

Spoiler
HOMING REIZA

BRDY BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAM
[close]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on May 18, 2015, 03:29:25 PM
It's always good to have at least one madman in a modding community.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 18, 2015, 03:29:57 PM
Two. DR was the one who made this crazy *** possible. ;)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Nanao-kun on May 18, 2015, 04:26:25 PM
Woah.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 18, 2015, 04:59:43 PM
http://gfycat.com/AggressiveDelightfulHairstreakbutterfly

Scalar Repulsor. Turns nasty incoming fire into friendly Scalaron Pulses!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Nanao-kun on May 18, 2015, 06:31:34 PM
The green wave released right before the Pulses are released looks kinda awkward.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Histidine on May 19, 2015, 06:39:38 AM
> ship that looks like robot
> spammy ribbon trail missiles

Getting some major Strike Suit Zero vibes here!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Blaze on May 19, 2015, 12:51:00 PM
My first thoughts were Raystorm, but that was way back in the PS1 era so...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 19, 2015, 06:39:26 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/5MYlC3m.png)

Its one of my goals that you will be able to judge a ship's strength based on how glowy it looks. I still have some adjustments I'd like to try out with the sprite, but this is pretty close to the final version.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: NightfallGemini on May 19, 2015, 07:31:08 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/5MYlC3m.png)

Its one of my goals that you will be able to judge a ship's strength based on how glowy it looks. I still have some adjustments I'd like to try out with the sprite, but this is pretty close to the final version.

You will ride forever in Valhalla, shiny and chrome.

Seriously this thing owns.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: doofball13 on May 20, 2015, 04:29:31 PM
You will ride forever in Valhalla, shining and chrome.
FTFY

Yeah, looks awesome. The weapons are great... But I'm still hoping for a mobility ship-system to go with the Scalar Repulsor. I feel like that brat at the toy store that isn't satisfied with a single toy and instead needs a whole set...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: NightfallGemini on May 22, 2015, 01:06:10 AM
Could have sworn I heard it the other way. Either way, awesome. :v
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on May 23, 2015, 04:49:43 PM
Really looking forward to this.

I've found a few more graphics glitches (the Squall hardpoint being off-center, the Serket's phase coils misaligned) and fixed them in my copy - would you like me to send those along as with the Kark turret fix, etc? It's no big deal for me either way, I tag the files so I can swap them over in the next version, but I imagine everyone else will appreciate them.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 24, 2015, 07:08:14 AM
Sure, send them over.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Serenitis on May 26, 2015, 01:59:03 AM
Finally got round to getting into this, and.... It's beautiful. :infinitecatstare:
Fantastic work everywhere.

This thing though, is murder made manifest.
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a350/cycerin/asura_zps0ea50f33.png)
That speed boost cloak pretty much temporarily turns you into a weeping angel.
You here <blink> now you're here <blink> now you're right there and things die. Eject flux, repeat.
It is awesome.

Good thing it comes with such a heavy flux penalty, otherwise you'd be almost invicible.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 26, 2015, 12:46:58 PM
^ Glad you're enjoying it. The Asura is indeed a pretty crazy ship, and it'll stay crazy, although it will be less common in the upcoming version.

(http://i.imgur.com/BBbdqm5.png)

Near-final Morpheus sprite
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on May 26, 2015, 02:04:49 PM
I once had a thought that the Asura flux ejector cans would look really cool if they were crackling like an overloaded ship does, especially if it were more violent looking with more flux in the can. But, it's probably not worth the coding effort.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Schwartz on May 26, 2015, 02:46:38 PM
Please don't make the Asura any more uncommon in fleet lineups. Markets - sure. They rarely show up in fleets and I love fighting (and capturing) them.

Edit: Yeah, I still use SS+.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Dark.Revenant on May 26, 2015, 05:45:43 PM
Fleet commonality in SS+ (which I alone manage) will remark as-is.  The ship is possibly too common in vanilla though.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on May 27, 2015, 09:38:55 AM
Asura and Morpheus appearances will probably be split 50-50 with the end goal of a total representation of "elite" destroyers similar to the Asura of the current version
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Ahne on May 28, 2015, 06:25:41 AM
That new Morpheus ship sprite looks very polished and great! I wan't wo fly it right now ^^.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Histidine on May 30, 2015, 11:06:02 PM
Ferrogun tooltip still says "ammo loader can fall behind during long engagements."
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: cardgame on June 07, 2015, 02:01:00 PM
Is there a mirror for this mod? If not, can there be? Mediafire is a total prick recently, enter the captcha to authorize DL and it just takes me back to step 1, enter the captcha, or to a third party fishy site. In short I can't download this.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on June 07, 2015, 03:41:30 PM
This should do the trick. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards%200.7.4.zip)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cyan Leader on June 13, 2015, 02:56:13 PM
The Morpheus may just be best community created ship yet if it is as fun to play it as it looks.

How ready is she?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on June 13, 2015, 04:03:18 PM
The Morpheus may just be best community created ship yet if it is as fun to play it as it looks.
How ready is she?
He keeps procrastinating with SSB on his new WiiU instead of getting us our crackrock!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on June 14, 2015, 05:41:46 AM
Don't leak confidential mod chat info plz ;)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on June 14, 2015, 03:35:24 PM
Don't leak confidential mod chat info plz ;)
I'll stop when I get my next hit of crackrock!
Spoiler
I kid of course. I won't be leaking anything else unless authorized.
[close]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Sabaton on June 15, 2015, 12:07:21 AM
Don't leak confidential mod chat info plz ;)
I'll stop when I get my next hit of crackrock!
Spoiler
I kid of course. I won't be leaking anything else unless authorized.
[close]


You should lay off the crack for a while, try other things for a change.

Oh, and drugs are bad mkay.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on June 21, 2015, 08:03:12 AM
My PC is more or less dying, so no update until I figure out how to fix it, or get a new PC
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on July 04, 2015, 08:23:54 AM
Just a little update, I have recovered from losing my boot drive (didnt lose any mod stuff, just a bunch of sentimental crap and miscellaneous stuff) so might resume working soonish.

Also, Mshadowy drew a pretty sweet Desdinova for a commissioner (not me) so take a look at that:

(http://img11.deviantart.net/fdbd/i/2015/181/8/e/burst_drive_by_mshadowy-d8x2vnr.jpg)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Flying_Whale on July 06, 2015, 08:18:11 AM
That's good) Argus PD array, 2 squall cannons)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on July 07, 2015, 06:00:34 PM
The big guns? I think they're Ferroguns (:
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Flying_Whale on July 08, 2015, 11:51:24 PM
Argus particle beam on the front. Shard guns and achilles missiles (I don't think it's voidspear). And traditional shredders on the top =)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Delta7 on July 09, 2015, 01:15:22 PM
wow, that pic of the des is sweet!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: MesoTroniK on July 31, 2015, 02:13:10 AM
If your computer can't run ShaderLib, disable it through shaderSettings.json in the ShaderLib folder, but keep the mod enabled.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on July 31, 2015, 11:57:36 AM
Question: have any of you beat Waking the Beast without refitting the Karkinos?

Working on a new mission with the Morpheus.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Histidine on August 03, 2015, 07:31:33 AM
Question: have any of you beat Waking the Beast without refitting the Karkinos?
I'd written it off as impossible, but now that you mentioned it, I decided to go and try it...

Spoiler
yeah baby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khf2wajXDBs

Never shall I speak ill of Ferrocannons again!
[close]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on August 03, 2015, 08:04:24 PM
Well played. That double kill was nice, good example of how good 1-shot torps are. Also good idea manually controlling the PDEs.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on August 03, 2015, 09:43:37 PM
My sound card hates the Deracinator sound effect so much that it screws it even in YouTube videos. ;D Was going to post about how I must not be alone because it crackled heavily at the end of the first jump in the video, but watched it a second time and it didn't...the glories of budget miniturized hardware.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cyan Leader on August 12, 2015, 04:04:16 PM
How is the Morpheus doing?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on August 13, 2015, 06:01:03 AM
It's coming together. Work has been slow lately 'cause I have to prioritize, sadly.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on September 04, 2015, 09:54:36 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/YImoqAf.png)

Deadrock Graveyards update, a ship getting a makeover (guess which)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on September 04, 2015, 10:20:29 AM
Seems too symmetrical to be The Shrimp...

But, that does remind me, has anyone found success with the Knight? I can't really figure out what to do with it. The ship itself doesn't fit my piloting style very well, and the AI does atrociously stupid things with it generally involving using the burn drive to run headlong into a superior force. Or, in one case, managing to survive with half its hull left then scuttling itself on the back end of my Karkinos chasing the last enemy destroyer. I feel like with its numerous undersized mounts that it could be a great ranged support vessel if it didn't hurl itself directly at (and into) its foes.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Roflzozicals on September 04, 2015, 10:49:51 AM
I'm gonna say Stenos
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on September 04, 2015, 11:50:38 AM
Seems too symmetrical to be The Shrimp...

But, that does remind me, has anyone found success with the Knight? I can't really figure out what to do with it. The ship itself doesn't fit my piloting style very well, and the AI does atrociously stupid things with it generally involving using the burn drive to run headlong into a superior force. Or, in one case, managing to survive with half its hull left then scuttling itself on the back end of my Karkinos chasing the last enemy destroyer. I feel like with its numerous undersized mounts that it could be a great ranged support vessel if it didn't hurl itself directly at (and into) its foes.

Well, you're in luck...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: OOZ662 on September 04, 2015, 12:18:49 PM
Well...I hope it keeps its flight deck. ;D
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: Cycerin on September 05, 2015, 11:31:59 AM
Yeah, it will. It'll probably get skins, too, as it's supposed to be a very old and successful ship class.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4 - New ship! New weapon! (Hotfixed)
Post by: DanJSC on September 10, 2015, 06:33:42 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/YImoqAf.png)

Deadrock Graveyards update, a ship getting a makeover (guess which)

Deadrock Graveyards sounds like a great name for a infected/zombie ship mod.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on September 16, 2015, 06:36:26 AM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/fwKqyPK.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/dV3NVdh.jpg)
[close]
[anime sfx]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on September 16, 2015, 06:38:11 AM
A Wave Motion Gun and Macross Missile Massacre? Sure, why not?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Flying_Whale on September 16, 2015, 12:57:20 PM
It would be nice to reduce length of that strange missile traces.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on September 16, 2015, 01:04:12 PM
Those are homing lasers. But yeah, maybe a little bit.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: SafariJohn on September 16, 2015, 01:12:32 PM
Homing lasers is quite an oxymoron.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: MesoTroniK on September 16, 2015, 02:58:18 PM
https://youtu.be/rjJJ9TnR17c
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on September 16, 2015, 03:54:45 PM
Now I'm sad that there isn't a standalone clip of the Nadesico firing her gravity blast cannon within easy reach on YouTube.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on September 18, 2015, 12:10:42 PM
http://www.twitch.tv/cycerin/v/16619969

Randomly ended up discussing the Morpheus and showing it off in some more detail while streaming today, kind of in the final balancing phase right now so good time to reveal some of my thinking

E: I guess i could do a proper presentation later on actually, its not as hard to play and talk at the same time as I thought it would be
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Gothars on September 18, 2015, 03:11:39 PM
Piloting a shmup endboss sounds rad, can't wait. Glad that you don't wait for .7a with the update, btw  ;)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on September 19, 2015, 01:56:18 AM
Yeah I've never intended to wait for .7a but life has frankly been a b*tch lately so time hasn't been as abundant as I'd liked
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 03, 2015, 05:36:10 PM
Im not seeing high maintence in the files for desdinova and nevermore, am I missing something or was that changed?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 03, 2015, 05:49:18 PM
Yeah, after some deliberation I took it back out for both ships.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on October 03, 2015, 10:48:31 PM
Yeah, after some deliberation I took it back out for both ships.
Thank the Goddess...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 06, 2015, 08:52:21 AM
Well, development is still going slow but I want to have something out during October, whether or not I can do that depends on the scope. I'm interested in what people would like to see the most, the Knight rework or a Desdinova rework. The Desdinova is going to become quite a bit smaller (Roughly the size of a Hammerhead) and lose some of its weapons. In return, it will be more reliable in AI hands, harder to hit, and overall slicker. Think Medusa, you would like to pilot one, but you also wouldn't mind handing it over to the AI. Right now the ship is overgunned, oversized, and has "Conquest syndrome" - often dies in stupid ways when not player-controlled.

The question is which one to prioritize.

I could also put those features off until the next version, and just release a patch with the current balance changes, polish and the Morpheus. If I were to do that, I would def. be able to get it out during October.

Spoiler
Also, I'll find something to do with the old Desdinova sprite, whether it simply ends up as a bounty in SS+ I still dont wanna throw it out completely.
[close]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on October 06, 2015, 08:56:25 AM
While I can find fun things to do with the Desdinova, I've never had success with the Knight. I'd like to see it redone first.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Gothars on October 06, 2015, 09:41:25 AM
I'd second prioritizing the Knight. While slimming down the Desdinova sounds interesting, the Knight just has more growth potential.

Maybe the old Desdinova could be reworked into a light (patrol) cruiser?

Yeah I've never intended to wait for .7a but life has frankly been a b*tch lately so time hasn't been as abundant as I'd liked

Hope things are going better for you soon :)



Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Nanao-kun on October 06, 2015, 10:17:29 AM
I'd also prefer the Knight to be prioritized over the Desdinova.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 06, 2015, 10:40:25 AM
I'd second prioritizing the Knight. While slimming down the Desdinova sounds interesting, the Knight just has more growth potential.

Maybe the old Desdinova could be reworked into a light (patrol) cruiser?

Hmm. I'd rather make something from scratch, but something with a similar hull size could be fun. Down the road.

Quote
Hope things are going better for you soon :)

Thanks, man. : )
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 06, 2015, 11:53:29 AM
Yeah, after some deliberation I took it back out for both ships.
Neato. The changes to the Desdinova sound good, and the Morpheus looks really cool as well. I'd love to see an october update, but don't rush yourself. And yeah, keep the desdinova sprite, even if its just an SS+ boss.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: zoe_zucchini on October 09, 2015, 03:01:33 PM
Well, development is still going slow but I want to have something out during October, whether or not I can do that depends on the scope. I'm interested in what people would like to see the most, the Knight rework or a Desdinova rework. The Desdinova is going to become quite a bit smaller (Roughly the size of a Hammerhead) and lose some of its weapons. In return, it will be more reliable in AI hands, harder to hit, and overall slicker. Think Medusa, you would like to pilot one, but you also wouldn't mind handing it over to the AI. Right now the ship is overgunned, oversized, and has "Conquest syndrome" - often dies in stupid ways when not player-controlled.

The question is which one to prioritize.

I could also put those features off until the next version, and just release a patch with the current balance changes, polish and the Morpheus. If I were to do that, I would def. be able to get it out during October.

Spoiler
Also, I'll find something to do with the old Desdinova sprite, whether it simply ends up as a bounty in SS+ I still dont wanna throw it out completely.
[close]

This all sounds pretty cool! I hope to see all those weird old unfinished ships from previous versions(that are no longer in the files) come back as bounties, along with the old desdinova.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Sy on October 09, 2015, 09:36:53 PM
The question is which one to prioritize.
i'd also like to see the Knight rework first.

the Desdinova changes sound good, i always felt it had too many guns and ordnance points for a destroyer, especially one with that kind of mobility. and giving the ai the ability to control one decently as well would be a nice bonus, although hopefully 0.7 will make suicidal behaviour much less common anyway.

but the Knight is one of only two BRDY ships i never really liked (along with the Convergence).

also, since this is my first post here, i just wanna say: OMG, this mod is so gooood! and it keeps getting better! :O
actually, that's true for this modding community as a whole. the amount and quality of mods here -- for a game still in alpha! -- is mind-boggling.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: NightfallGemini on October 10, 2015, 09:14:16 AM
I second the bounties suggestion, especially if it can be done with SS+'s unique bounty system. :o
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: 174gjc on October 16, 2015, 12:34:05 PM
I decided to remake some of Cycerin's old unused sprites into ships for my own enjoyment- I turned the Stormcrow sprite into a stealth cruiser (ridiculously OP) and into what Cycerin said it was originally intended to be (A rare ballistic version of the Nevermorew), and I also took an old capital ship sprite and made it functional, if a bit overpowered for a non-shielded ship.


If you would like to take a look, I'll put the ships up here for people to look at. Mostly I haven't done any modding before, so making some ships in Starsector seemed like a good place to start, and they turned out fairly well. (All credit for Console Commands goes to LazyWizard and all normal BRDY ships are Cycerin's as well as the sprites for the "new" ships.)

You'll need console commands (*The mod) to use them though- they aren't campaign integrated. Mostly these ships are intended for Cycerin to see if he would like to use them in any way. The console commands mod by LazyWizard is included for convenience.

WARNING: NOT VANILLA BALANCED (some ships are severely overpowered, and some are made as a joke. Namely the Hammer-class and Krait Dragon-class ships (variations on the Stormcrow). That is definitely not intended for vanilla gameplay, but the Damask-class (the capital ship) and the Stormcrow (The Cruiser/Destroyer) can be played without extreme imbalance to the gameplay.)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6x5zt4ddjs5nusf/AABxO3NB4-4HAvaJw9j-plkoa?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6x5zt4ddjs5nusf/AABxO3NB4-4HAvaJw9j-plkoa?dl=0)

Have fun, and feel free to tell me what you think.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: doodlydee on October 16, 2015, 05:21:06 PM
174gjc you should probably ask Cycerin if it is all right with him before you post that here
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: LB on October 16, 2015, 08:11:02 PM
You should perhaps leave the self-righteous IP crusading to the content owners, who are unlikely to need your help.

I played a bit with the Krait Dragon. Spark Drive plus phase cloak on a large ship is pretty terrifying, but if it had fair flux stats and mounts it would probably be a cool ship to include in a campaign.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: 174gjc on October 16, 2015, 08:55:48 PM
It's not intended to be any offense to Cycerin- just a conceptual set of ships that he can use as he likes. I'm more than willing to remove it if he asks me to do so.


It is his mod and sprites, after all.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Gothars on October 17, 2015, 04:03:59 AM
@174gjc: If you want to use and modify content of another user, and post it in his thread, you should ask permission before publishing it, not wait for him to forbid or allow it afterwards. I have removed the link for now, I will replace it when and if Cycerin gives permission.


You should perhaps leave the self-righteous IP crusading to the content owners, who are unlikely to need your help.

doodlydee posted a valid and friendly suggestion that did not warrant such a response.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 17, 2015, 04:24:26 AM
Well, I don't have any use for re-implemented content that I scrapped long ago. Props for taking the time to do it, though, I had fun trying them out. I don't care if you share the edits as long as you make it clear it's an edit, which you have.

Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: 174gjc on October 17, 2015, 07:28:09 AM
Thanks Cycerin. If you have any other sprites you scrapped, I'm happy to remake them and put them in the edit.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: D00D on October 17, 2015, 10:19:40 AM
I seem to have a bug where the more advance ships are not avaliable for sale. I can only buy the command cruiser, nevermore at max. Haven't seen the Asura, battleship or superfreighter. My Allied fleets are not spawning them as well.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 17, 2015, 10:31:27 AM
I seem to have a bug where the more advance ships are not avaliable for sale. I can only buy the command cruiser, nevermore at max. Haven't seen the Asura, battleship or superfreighter. My Allied fleets are not spawning them as well.
I'm tempted to say that that just sort of "happens," because starsector has an infamous tendency to simply not spawn certain ships and weapons, like the conquest and storm needlers. But come to think of it, I've played mod since its release and I have literally never seen an Asura. So idk, maybe something is up with that. However, I do see the superfreighter all the time, so maybe its something with your copy. Have you tried deleting your mod and re-downloading it? Nothing should happen to your save.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on October 17, 2015, 10:56:40 AM
The Asura is the triangular phase destroyer with the dumpable flux cans, right? In four playthroughs (three exclusively shopping with BRDY) that went to max level I've seen two for sale and none in space. I've never attacked BRDY though, so the latter is biased.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 17, 2015, 02:44:24 PM
The Asura is the triangular phase destroyer with the dumpable flux cans, right? In four playthroughs (three exclusively shopping with BRDY) that went to max level I've seen two for sale and none in space. I've never attacked BRDY though, so the latter is biased.
BRDY only huh? How do you build rep with them? I always have a hard time with that.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on October 17, 2015, 02:47:00 PM
Same as any other; kill pirates until rep freezes then slam a food shortage to both get most of the money needed to massively upgrade the fleet and tip the rep over the hump. If no shortages or trade disruptions happen, it's down to grinding along until you can murder a big enough pirate fleet to tip the rep.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 18, 2015, 01:37:39 AM
Same as any other; kill pirates until rep freezes then slam a food shortage to both get most of the money needed to massively upgrade the fleet and tip the rep over the hump. If no shortages or trade disruptions happen, it's down to grinding along until you can murder a big enough pirate fleet to tip the rep.
I think maybe having as many mods as I have on reduces the number of pirates somehow, either by proxy of simply dying to the many fleets hostile to them, or by not having room to spawn. There never seem to be many pirate fleets around, especially compared to a vanilla play through.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Tartiflette on October 18, 2015, 01:44:35 AM
I'm pretty sure there are just as many in both cases, but are spread in a much larger sector.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 18, 2015, 02:10:15 AM
I'm pretty sure there are just as many in both cases, but are spread in a much larger sector.
Interesting, maybe that's it. I should probably just cut a few mods.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on October 18, 2015, 03:18:16 AM
Well, my mod list (http://s26.postimg.org/q56n6e6xl/SS_Mods.png) isn't exactly tiny (at least, it's a miracle it runs on 1300MB of heap RAM), however only one full BRDY playthrough and my current full midline playthrough were with Nexerelin (with default universe settings). A few short SCY attempts and other fiddlings in there too. I seem to recall that without Nexerelin, BRDY's system has a pirate station in it. With it, odds are high they'll be present in a system together somewhere. If not, capturing a station is a good way to push relationships forward. :P
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: D00D on October 18, 2015, 05:37:56 PM
Hmm, this is weird. I'm playing with Nexalin and it seems that certain BRDY ships are phased out after a period of time. I started a fresh playthough and I can buy everything but an Asura. However, when they are knocked down to 2 markets and when I'm lvl 20+, everything heavier than a superfreighter was phased out. I only saw 1 interdictor in the reserve fleet. Is that a feature of Nexalin (but this only happens with BRDY) or is there a 'tech level' that BRDY got knocked down of?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Omnicast on October 19, 2015, 02:38:07 AM
Alright so just downloaded SS a couple of days ago then of course I modded the crap out of SS and out of all the faction mods out there... right now I'm absolutely love BRDY. The ships are amazing. The music is amazing. The lore seems to be well done (I usually don't pay much attention to this, but when I read the description for the Karkinos... I squealed... just a little bit). The drones are really cool. Love the shading. Some of the weapons are really epic.

The only other faction I really like would be the Templars. That's pretty much only for how over powered their weapons and ships are. I dislike the faction's color theme though... red/blue-cyan/yellow/white?!?

Anyways BRDY has really cool stuff and I currently have a fleet consisting of mostly BRDY ships. I feel that something is missing... OH RIGHT there's barely any utility ships! Can we please see a new line of utility ships? Such as a brand new BRDY TUG! Or how about a brand new BRDY Construction Rig? Why not a BRDY Mobile HQ? What about a capital utility ship? Combines everything in one amazing package!

Also this isn't a Utility ship, but I'd really love to have some sorta small missile only barge... or a capital ship just so I can shove as many Scalaron Pulse Launchers onto it as possible... I'd love to fill the entire battlefield with tiny green glowing orbs of death. =)

If that missile ship isn't possible... I'll just have to get the Olympus-class Launcher then. =/

Thanks for the awesome mod! I hope to see even more epic updates from you in the future.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Schwartz on October 19, 2015, 03:27:09 AM
There is one. Scorpion destroyer has 3 medium universals and 2 small missile mounts. Pack it full of missiles and watch the carnage. And it still has 2 cannon drones on top of that.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 19, 2015, 04:17:19 AM
AI feel that something is missing... OH RIGHT there's barely any utility ships! Can we please see a new line of utility ships? Such as a brand new BRDY TUG! Or how about a brand new BRDY Construction Rig? Why not a BRDY Mobile HQ? What about a capital utility ship? Combines everything in one amazing package!

Also this isn't a Utility ship, but I'd really love to have some sorta small missile only barge... or a capital ship just so I can shove as many Scalaron Pulse Launchers onto it as possible... I'd love to fill the entire battlefield with tiny green glowing orbs of death. =)
The Kurmaraja is sort of like a capital utility ship, its very unique and certainly not a typical front line fighter, and neither is the Karkinos. And the reason why there aren't tugs and construction rigs for every faction is because there has to be some kind of side grade or upside to using the vanilla ones, or its just bloat, and there isn't much in the way of interesting things one can do with tugs and construction rigs besides straight number increases, which isn't always a good idea.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Histidine on October 19, 2015, 04:27:50 AM
Hmm, this is weird. I'm playing with Nexalin and it seems that certain BRDY ships are phased out after a period of time. I started a fresh playthough and I can buy everything but an Asura. However, when they are knocked down to 2 markets and when I'm lvl 20+, everything heavier than a superfreighter was phased out. I only saw 1 interdictor in the reserve fleet. Is that a feature of Nexalin (but this only happens with BRDY) or is there a 'tech level' that BRDY got knocked down of?
Nexerelin doesn't touch fleet compositions directly.

Checking my current game (207.2.1, level 37) at the local Blackrock capital I see one Eschaton in the open market, and two Karkinosi, one Nevermore and one Desdinova in the military market, and one Desdinova in the black market. (This is with SS+)

My best guess is the low market stability is keeping the high-level ships from spawning? ( mine is at stability 8 )
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 19, 2015, 11:18:23 AM
Re: the above discussion: Usually the best way to build BRDY rep is to grind enemy fleets in Rama/Sita. (Hegemony, TT, Pirates) Don't really have any tips beyond that, and to use trading to your advantage.

Rare or capital ships only spawn in stable (8+) markets except for fringe cases. And it's always random.

Thanks for the awesome mod! I hope to see even more epic updates from you in the future.

Thanks for the post, praise and feedback! There might be a medium Scalaron Pulse Launcher coming up in the future, so look out for that. : )
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 19, 2015, 12:11:13 PM
Re: the above discussion: Usually the best way to build BRDY rep is to grind enemy fleets in Rama/Sita. (Hegemony, TT, Pirates) Don't really have any tips beyond that, and to use trading to your advantage.
Man its been so long.. what are the breakpoints for rep exactly? I think you stop getting generic trade rep at 50 right? I know you still get some rep for kills after 50, but not full. Sometimes, if you don't kill enough it doesn't change. Bounty rep never changes, and station bounty rep never changes as well right?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Taverius on October 19, 2015, 03:34:21 PM
There might be a medium Scalaron Pulse Launcher coming up in the future, so look out for that. : )
I for one welcome our Scalaron overlords. Still want that Gale Revolver Cannon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolver_cannon) for a large mount mate to the ferrogun :)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 19, 2015, 03:46:04 PM
I do love that idea. Might give it a shot at some point in the future.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: D00D on October 19, 2015, 05:58:32 PM
Re: the above discussion: Usually the best way to build BRDY rep is to grind enemy fleets in Rama/Sita. (Hegemony, TT, Pirates) Don't really have any tips beyond that, and to use trading to your advantage.

Rare or capital ships only spawn in stable (8+) markets except for fringe cases. And it's always random.


No wonder they don't spawn, my sector's pretty much in constant anarchy.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: zoe_zucchini on October 19, 2015, 07:37:47 PM
I absolutely love that revolver cannon idea, maybe make it actually use the magazine mechanics and give it incredible burst HE damage with a long reload?

Might be a bit difficult for the AI to use though.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Taverius on October 20, 2015, 05:08:00 AM
I absolutely love that revolver cannon idea, maybe make it actually use the magazine mechanics and give it incredible burst HE damage with a long reload?

I thought a revolver cannon would be good because it gives Cycerin lots of room to balance it - a gale battery like a squall battery would frankly be too much HE at once at too big a range, while a revolver cannon can either fire constantly but really slowly like a glacial machine gun, or fire bursts of arbitrary size at arbitrary speeds at arbitrary intervals and still be believable.

It also makes sense mechanically - the large squall is a battery designed for volume of fire, while a gale would be designed for ranged precision.

I will also admit that I want for it because:

a) it sounds badass
b) I just want one of these (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mauser_BK-27_LKCV.jpg) on my ships
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 20, 2015, 06:46:06 AM
Since Alex posted wip patchnotes, I'mma do the same.

Spoiler
Changelog:

0.7.5
New ship:
- Added the Morpheus-class, a Destroyer-sized Dimensional Engine ship (there's one for each size now!) that packs the power and cost of a capital ship into a destroyer-sized package
 Main Weapon: 1x Void Buster - Fires a sustained beam of raw energy after a 1.1s chargeup, ship is slowed and gains 50% damage resistance while firing - weapon is temporarily disabled if fired at max. flux
 Secondary Weapons: 8x Arclight LFO - Fires beams of energy that curve in on enemy targets - 3 charges that regenerate, can be increased with Expanded Magazines
 Tertiary Weapons:
 Scalaron Beams 5x built-in PD that can be used as knife fighting weapons
 4x Small Universal
 Ship System: Slip Jets - Grants burst of speed and accel, forces ship to move forward or sideways
 Right-click System: Scalar Repulsor - phase out and suck in projectiles in a forward 180 radius, then convert them to homing pulses
 Built-in Hullmods: BRDY Dimensional Engine, Nanolattice Armor, High Maintenance
Balance and other changes:
- Lowered top speed bonus of Burst Jets by ~10% and Desdinova Burst Jets by ~25%
- Lowered vent rate boost of Blackrock Flux Core (Now: 60%/50%/40%/30%)
- New hullmod: Blackrock Dimensional Engine - replaces Blackrock Flux Core for Imaginos, Morpheus, Nevermore, Karkinos - 10% higher vent rate than Flux Core + other functions in the future (what might it beee?)
- Rewrote a bunch of descriptions/fleshed out others
- Lowered flux dissipation slightly (5-10%) for most BRDY ships
- Shard Gun, Shard Cannon, Dual Shard Cannon: New SFX
- Voidspear SRM/Pod:
 Increased damage to 700 from 650
 Increased missile HP by 30 (to 230)
 Increased EMP damage to 500
 Lowered flux/shot to 150 from 200
 Made missiles slightly more agile
- INM Assault Gun: Increased proj speed by 100
- Scalaron Blaster: Lowered damage from 1200 to 1000
- Quill Rocket Launcher: Decreased proj damage by 20 and increased ammo by 10
- Quill Rocket Pod: Decreased proj damage by 20 and increased ammo by 20
- Changed Dart SRM engine style to Plaaaasma Greeeen
- Scalaron Pulses now explode when they burn out, range decreased in order to not waste ammo on autofire
 Lowered Scalaron Pulse damage to 400 (From 450)
- Edited Kurmaraja, Scorpion engine locations
- Karkinos:
 Shield Arc from 160 to 90 degrees
 Shield Upkeep from 0.5 to 0.4
 Armor increased from 1300 to 1400
- Changed Burst Jet sound effect
- Achilles MRM is now named Achilles LRM to reflect its long range
- Lowered Achilles LRM submunition HP by 20
- New Volley Gun SFX, increased Volley Gun damage by 10% and lowered flux/shot by 10%. Increased range by 50
- Scorpion: lowered armor by 50 and flux dissipation by 10
 Lowered Stinger Drone proj speed by 200, HP by 50 and armor by 25
- Megaceras: lowered speed by 10
- Locust has been reworked:
 Lowered speed by 20
 Increased accel, decel and turn accel significantly
 Increased flux capacity by 100, dissipation by 10
 Changed shield efficiency to 0.9 (from 1)
 Changed shield type to a 300 degree frontal shield
 Lowered Spark Drive charges to 3, lowered charge regen rate
 Increased distance, decreased randomness of Spark Drive teleport
[close]

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/dPLPEOq.jpg)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Gothars on October 20, 2015, 07:46:13 AM
Oh wow, that picture totally looks like the sun has turned into a tentacle monster trying to eat space ships :o  Really cool effect, though.

Are you still aiming for a pre-0.7 release? Might turn into a bit of a race (with a Pyrrhic victory if you make it).
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on October 20, 2015, 02:21:49 PM
I don't think I'd be able to resist the concept of a space sixshooter with a few seconds reload.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 20, 2015, 02:56:20 PM
Oh wow, that picture totally looks like the sun has turned into a tentacle monster trying to eat space ships :o  Really cool effect, though.

Are you still aiming for a pre-0.7 release? Might turn into a bit of a race (with a Pyrrhic victory if you make it).

I'm still aiming for it, yeah. People need something to get them through this dark pre-patch time.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on October 20, 2015, 02:57:49 PM
And post-patch, pre-all-the-mods-updating time. ;D
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Sy on October 20, 2015, 03:30:54 PM
you could make a Gale Revolver with regenerating charges, able to fire either continuously at around the same rate as the medium version or store up to ~3 charges for burst dmg. maybe that'd make it too similar to the Squall Battery, but Squall should still have significantly higher dps, with Gale having higher (and more controlled) burst in addition to the longer range. that'd also make it pair very well with Ferrocannons, even better than the medium version already does.

And post-patch, pre-all-the-mods-updating time. ;D
i actually kinda like that time, gives me a good reason to do a pure vanilla run again! it's hard to resist all those shiny mod ships and weapons, but a mod-less playthrough makes me really appreciate ships like Lasher or Medusa^^

all the new stuff in 0.7 would also make a full-on pirate run a lot more interesting, i think. trying to ambush traders, but with the risk of patrols joining in to defend them.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 20, 2015, 03:45:03 PM
Oh man, the medusa is crazy and it always will be. I know its a meme at this point, but its my go to. I'm trying to get into using blackrock ships and their fleet tactics lately though.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Sy on October 20, 2015, 04:03:58 PM
Oh man, the medusa is crazy and it always will be.
it is! but when i have ships like Mantis, Asura, Desdinova, Nevermore, etc. available, it usually gets sidelined. and even when i do get myself a Medusa flagship with BRDY installed, it still gets fitted with Shards and Sunjets/fires, just because those have such satisfying sounds! :D
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Megas on October 20, 2015, 05:00:49 PM
Most Blackrock ships are easy to use.  Their hulls, when combined with the best standard weapons, are generally murderous kiting machines.

Desdinova is much like a ballistics version of the Medusa, and ballistics are usually superior to energy.  Still, I find Medusa easier to use than Desdinova, and I think Medusa may have more peak performance (very important if you want to solo harder fleets).

I like Asura and Nevermore.  Asura is overpowered; it is like an extra-fast Dominator in a destroyer chassis.  Nevermore combines the best features of Aurora and Eagle.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on October 20, 2015, 06:14:53 PM
I tend to run one large ship with a couple smaller escorts, a carrier, and a load of fighters whenever I play SS. BRDY still holds on well with those tactics; a large ship dodging but generally staying in contact while lighter ones support and skirmish (as the AI doesn't really kite). I usually have a carrier with a Scarab escort then either a Desdinova with two Scarabs or a Nevermore or Karkinos with two Scorpions. It does mean that the super high-tech tinfoil boats such as the Asura don't get much use on my end, though.

Damn, thanks for reminding me. I completely forgot to nerf the Asura.

*snort*
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 20, 2015, 06:32:25 PM
Damn, thanks for reminding me. I completely forgot to nerf the Asura.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Toxcity on October 20, 2015, 06:35:58 PM
What's with the changes to the locust? Not mad or anything just wondering.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 21, 2015, 04:34:15 AM
Gives it a better niche among brdy frigs (only one with a front shield) and makes it better at what it was already good at, eg. fighter clearing, surviving longer than other cheap frigs

It's called the Locust-class Gunship for a reason, being that it's not a general-purpose frigate, but a specialized ship. This is an attempt to solidify what that specialization means.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 21, 2015, 01:48:17 PM
So I have a question, does the Nevermore-00 actually spawn in the shop?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on October 21, 2015, 01:49:19 PM
About as often as the Asura in my experience.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 21, 2015, 02:03:42 PM
About as often as the Asura in my experience.
:'( I've never seen an Asura for sale, lmao
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on October 21, 2015, 02:05:55 PM
I didn't realize a few pages had already gone by since that discussion, but yeah, neither of them are particularly common things. Especially in unstable space.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Agalyon on October 21, 2015, 02:14:52 PM
I didn't realize a few pages had already gone by since that discussion, but yeah, neither of them are particularly common things. Especially in unstable space.
Yeah I saw that bit about 8 stability. I didn't know that. I think its usually 6-7 on mine. I just thought it was weird because I see the Imaginos all the time, but none of the other rare ships. Who knows, I'm sure it will come up sometime.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on October 30, 2015, 06:32:16 AM
The big drop looks to be close, so I'm holding off on patching BRDY until afterwards. Instead, I'll take some more time to polish and implement stuff.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on October 30, 2015, 09:05:36 AM
The big drop looks to be close, so I'm holding off on patching BRDY until afterwards. Instead, I'll take some more time to polish and implement stuff.
NOOOOOOOO!!!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on October 30, 2015, 09:48:55 AM
The big drop looks to be close, so I'm holding off on patching BRDY until afterwards. Instead, I'll take some more time to polish and implement stuff.
NOOOOOOOO!!!

I'm kinda used to it now. ;D
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: FooF on November 02, 2015, 02:23:27 PM
Sorry if this has been addressed but a much appreciated QoL improvement would be to accurately depict the flux cost of the Scalaron Repeater. The in-game tooltip says 140 flux/sec but it's actually just shy of 560 flux/sec when going full auto.

I'd like to know what I'm getting into when I mount one. ;)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Schwartz on November 02, 2015, 03:48:00 PM
Since this kinda went under in the Templar thread:

How do the Shard weapons apply their bonus damage? Does it slip by the Lattice Shield or not?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 02, 2015, 04:01:25 PM
Shard weapons check for the presence of Lattice Shield before they roll for the damage to be applied. So they won't work until Lattice Shields are down.

Sorry if this has been addressed but a much appreciated QoL improvement would be to accurately depict the flux cost of the Scalaron Repeater. The in-game tooltip says 140 flux/sec but it's actually just shy of 560 flux/sec when going full auto.

I'd like to know what I'm getting into when I mount one. ;)

Take it up with Alex. I might simply remove the charges from that weapon, it adds little and presents an annoying problem (the flux tooltip)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Toxcity on November 02, 2015, 08:31:17 PM
It wasn't in the patchnotes, so I was wondering if you were going to change any weapon slots on any ships to HYBRID?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Tartiflette on November 03, 2015, 01:24:38 AM
I think at some point he though about making the flux display consistent with damage one with burst DPS (sustained DPS). Don't know if he had time though. Maybe for 0.7.1a?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 03, 2015, 11:35:12 AM
It wasn't in the patchnotes, so I was wondering if you were going to change any weapon slots on any ships to HYBRID?

Yeah, I have some planned. The Karkinos and Locust are the first that come to mind.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Adraius on November 03, 2015, 06:31:03 PM
Sorry if this has been addressed but a much appreciated QoL improvement would be to accurately depict the flux cost of the Scalaron Repeater. The in-game tooltip says 140 flux/sec but it's actually just shy of 560 flux/sec when going full auto.
Waaait... so the in-game tooltip's flux/sec is based on when the weapon is out of stored charges and firing shots as they are created, not their burst!?  If so, that's insane, it's completely misleading on weapons like the Autopulse Laser.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: mangalore on November 08, 2015, 09:34:13 AM
Thanks for this nice looking well rounded mod! I enjoy a lot of the ships and style of weapons.

Only thing I'm not quite sure is the asymmetry of weapon slots at least on some designs. E.g. on bigger, slower ships like the Knight. I cannot point my finger on it but I somehow find them rather inconvenient which is weird since I like the vanilla Odyssey so it's not asymmetry per se. Would prefer symmetric designs on those.

Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 08, 2015, 12:01:35 PM
I hear you, which is part of the reason the Knight is going on the chopping block. Although the Knight can actually broadside 3 medium ballistics at a time, even though the slot layout makes this fact not readily apparent.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: xenoph2 on November 13, 2015, 06:17:47 AM
Are there any up to date mirrors for the Download file?

The mediafire link does not load at all.  :-[
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 13, 2015, 07:54:54 AM
It works fine here, strange.

Here's a mirror though. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards%200.7.4%20%281%29.zip)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: xenoph2 on November 13, 2015, 10:11:31 AM
It works fine here, strange.

Here's a mirror though. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards%200.7.4%20%281%29.zip)


Cheers!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: mangalore on November 16, 2015, 11:13:41 AM
I hear you, which is part of the reason the Knight is going on the chopping block. Although the Knight can actually broadside 3 medium ballistics at a time, even though the slot layout makes this fact not readily apparent.

The Desdinova and later the Kumaraja probably are my favorite flagships. Although currently playing Nexerlin as the Mayorate I decked myself out with BRDY destroyers (in this case Scorpions) and every Desdinova I can find. A bunch of those plus a bunch of Mayorate Cimeterras can create a lot of mayhem.

I hope you find a spot for the Knight in a different configuration. I like the design visually, I just found the weapon configuration not to my playstyle aka on various designs don't have a feeling on how to tweak the weapons for a specific tasks.

Have never seen a Nevermore anywhere to get my hands on.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Ali on November 16, 2015, 12:14:48 PM
I like the knight! It's one of my fav cruisers, spec loaded out with plenty shard weaponry!  ;D

Hope IF, it has to be adjusted it's for a re-fit rather than the scrap pile!  :-\

Hope to see more BRD content from this AAA mod in the furture! with less nerfs!! ;)

AL.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 17, 2015, 01:44:28 PM
@mangalore: I'm glad to hear that. Sorry about the Nevermores though, sounds like bad luck.

@Ali: Haha, I'm sorry about the nerfs. I just want the mod to hit that sweet spot where it's a bit more challenging, and ultimately more satisfying, to make things work in combat. It's cool to hear someone actually enjoys the Knight - don't worry, I'm going to keep the "spirit" of the ship well intact through the redesign. And I might find a use for the old sprite.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Ghoti on November 18, 2015, 10:38:34 AM
balancing is super hard, and it's hard as an author to not make your mod awesome, cause you poured a lot of time into it. So I sympathize there.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: 174gjc on November 19, 2015, 02:07:03 PM
As soon as he released the update for the mod to make it compatible with the new update for the game I'm going to go back and make my edit for the mod compatible with .7 as well as find a use for the Knight sprite, because Cycerin appears to be getting ready to toss it.

Should be fun.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 21, 2015, 12:26:30 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/h8EhCAL.jpg)

Rama lookin good with a new corona
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: 174gjc on November 21, 2015, 12:41:30 PM
Any ideas on exactly what they changed about the .ship files and .csv files other than the new contrail sizes?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Sy on November 21, 2015, 02:09:06 PM
wow. running out of fuel in hyperspace and coming out on top of that star looks like it would really hurt!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Aklyon on November 21, 2015, 02:16:07 PM
These mods and their new solar corona pics. They look pretty nice!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 22, 2015, 06:05:18 AM
So I ran into this strange conundrum. Excited to check SO on a BRDY ship, I make a variant, and...

Well: http://imgur.com/a/4bnk8

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/f63rDOz.jpg)
[close]

I've tried tweaking the color to be more saturated, so far the only result is a slightly warmer white as opposed to a complete 255/255/255 white. I guess I need to go to more drastic measures, but I don't want to lose my engine color!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Toxcity on November 22, 2015, 06:28:22 AM
That's the price you must pay for your murder machine. :P
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Oathseeker on November 22, 2015, 09:31:45 AM
I recall you saying something about striving to being able to tell how strong a brdy ship is by how shiny it is... Wouldn't this fit that ambition?
But I guess a good way of avoiding this problem is to stop breaking the game and lock out SO for brdy :p

Whoops, forgot that active venting is now disabled for SO.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Toxcity on November 22, 2015, 10:22:31 AM
To be fair about the engine color change, it's there so that the player knows that the ship has SO (which is important considering all the buffs that come with that).
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: FooF on November 22, 2015, 02:01:38 PM
I assume SO will essentially negate the BR Drive Core that comes standard? I mean, BRDY was always about active venting and all... :P
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 22, 2015, 02:28:42 PM
My current stance is to simply allow SO for BRDY ships. It's a meaningful tradeoff because BRDY venting is a big part of the ships' strengths and you voluntarily give it up completely. You can also make some truly insane close range ships with BRDY Strike Suite and SO...
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Oathseeker on November 23, 2015, 06:21:24 AM
You can also make some truly insane close range ships with BRDY Strike Suite and SO...

One of the many reasons I check this thread more frequently then I checked the announcement thread before .7a came out ;)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Surge on November 23, 2015, 06:50:25 AM
I'm going to be having desdinova nightmares again I see.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 24, 2015, 02:16:32 AM
Gneiss.

(http://i.imgur.com/0z0Uuek.jpg)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Gothars on November 24, 2015, 02:18:25 AM
Neiss!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 24, 2015, 06:16:17 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/E1FVDWY.jpg)

Thanks to Tartiflette and DR, I managed to get a custom BRDY SO color going. It looks subtle, but it's noticeable in-game due to the prominent smoke trails. Dimensional Engine ships have their own engine color. As the only SO-compatible glowy ship with green engines, the Nevermore gets its own unique engine color with SO.

Neiss!

Arrgh
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Unbroken on November 24, 2015, 08:14:35 AM
My current stance is to simply allow SO for BRDY ships. It's a meaningful tradeoff because BRDY venting is a big part of the ships' strengths and you voluntarily give it up completely.

What about the Asura? With the flux ejector system, I never thought of it as a ship you'd want to actively vent with unless it was necessary or you had the time and space to do so.

An Asura with SO and a Power Grid 10 officer for the 20% hard flux dissipation, particularly when using lots of torpedoes, an Ironweaver and a Scalaron Blaster would be terrifying (for the 140 sec of PP you'd get), although it will gorge itself on your fleet's supplies after every battle.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Sy on November 24, 2015, 08:34:06 AM
the 20% hard flux dissipation is only for shields, phase cloaks simply get -30% flux cost. and the Flux Ejector removes a flat amount (afaik) so doesn't benefit from SO. in fact, since half the benefit of SO is massively increased dissipation, Flux Ejector would probably weaker, relatively speaking, compared to loadouts without SO.

but i still agree that Asura with SO sounds pretty crazy... it's already a great ship to play aggressively.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 24, 2015, 03:59:46 PM
Yeeeah, the Asura is not going to keep its current incarnation. Don't worry though, it will still be powerful. Just not *silly*.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 24, 2015, 07:38:04 PM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/bVit9A0.jpg)
[close]

BWEEEEEEEEEEEE
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: OOZ662 on November 24, 2015, 07:40:49 PM
Dear lord
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: CrashToDesktop on November 24, 2015, 07:44:00 PM
Good god of the sector, talk about beam spam. o.O
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Oathseeker on November 25, 2015, 04:13:52 AM
Yeeeah, the Asura is not going to keep its current incarnation. Don't worry though, it will still be powerful. Just not *silly*.

That's like Mozart saying he's going to change Die Zauberflöte to be less silly, or Einstein changing his mind about the theory of general relativity.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Aklyon on November 25, 2015, 05:08:51 AM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/bVit9A0.jpg)
[close]

BWEEEEEEEEEEEE
:)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Sy on November 25, 2015, 05:56:36 AM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/bVit9A0.jpg)
[close]

BWEEEEEEEEEEEE
@_@

so even more universal mounts for the Karkinos now? or did you change some ballistic ones to energy?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 25, 2015, 07:14:05 AM
Yeeeah, the Asura is not going to keep its current incarnation. Don't worry though, it will still be powerful. Just not *silly*.

That's like Mozart saying he's going to change Die Zauberflöte to be less silly, or Einstein changing his mind about the theory of general relativity.

Christ almighty. I'll take it.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/bVit9A0.jpg)
[close]

BWEEEEEEEEEEEE
@_@

so even more universal mounts for the Karkinos now? or did you change some ballistic ones to energy?

The Karkinos' two universal large became hybrid instead, but so did the ballistics.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Sy on November 25, 2015, 07:25:20 AM
The Karkinos' two universal large became hybrid instead, but so did the ballistics.
oh right, you mentioned something about that. neat!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Oathseeker on November 25, 2015, 07:49:19 AM
The Karkinos' two universal large became hybrid instead, but so did the ballistics.

Losing the ability to spam torpedos is hardly a loss when you can make things evaporate by looking at them in a slightly dissaproving manner.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: 174gjc on November 25, 2015, 10:42:32 AM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/bVit9A0.jpg)
[close]

BWEEEEEEEEEEEE

I'm going to put that Karkinos up against my Elite Conquest that I made... I can hardly wait until you release it, because I only play .7 now and it isn't compatible.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Sy on November 25, 2015, 10:53:04 AM
I can hardly wait until you release it, because I only play .7 now and it isn't compatible.
i don't think any of us play anything other than .7 now, this update just added and improved sooo many things, it would be really hard to go back again. but i actually kinda enjoy playing without (content) mods again for a change, makes me appreciate vanilla ships and loadouts a lot more :]
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Taverius on November 25, 2015, 02:07:31 PM
Yeeeah, the Asura is not going to keep its current incarnation. Don't worry though, it will still be powerful. Just not *silly*.

That's like Mozart saying he's going to change Die Zauberflöte to be less silly, or Einstein changing his mind about the theory of general relativity.

Christ almighty. I'll take it.
Great, now I have to call my next Asura "Papageno". Thanks for that ._.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Maelstrom on November 25, 2015, 08:04:03 PM
The Karkinos' two universal large became hybrid instead, but so did the ballistics.

Losing the ability to spam torpedos is hardly a loss when you can make things evaporate by looking at them in a slightly dissaproving manner.


XD gold!"!!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Baqar79 on November 25, 2015, 11:57:18 PM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/bVit9A0.jpg)
[close]

BWEEEEEEEEEEEE

I only managed to get in a short bit of time to try your mod before the 0.7 release (Was only familiar with vanilla up until a few weeks ago; love the ship designs!). 

I'm reminded of this scene: https://youtu.be/PWDZ5ewJbXM?t=14  :D
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 28, 2015, 07:35:43 AM
http://imgur.com/a/Nw3I0
http://imgur.com/a/JoHKk

Mshadowy cooking up some portraits in exchange for music.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Sy on November 28, 2015, 08:11:55 AM
nice. the expression of the last dude is golden xD

this one (http://i.imgur.com/Ifp1Fh1.png) immediately made me think "Asuka?!". i wonder if that's intentional.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cik on November 28, 2015, 10:11:37 AM
rei best girl
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Sy on November 28, 2015, 12:22:58 PM
definitely! (http://i.imgur.com/3DMaWri.png) /brofist

you know, Rei in suit would totally fit the Templar color scheme. i think it's only fair, if BRDY gets Asuka.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Tacticalchutney on November 29, 2015, 06:39:00 PM
I've been using this mod for a long time and I just wanted to say thanks for all your hard work. This is my favorite Starsector mod by far.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: zoe_zucchini on November 29, 2015, 09:36:25 PM
Really diggin' the portraits, mshadowy has done some great work! Can't wait for this and SS+ to get updated so I can play again!
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on November 30, 2015, 06:20:07 AM
Small change to the Nevermore 00: a spinal weapon instead of a modular universal. It's a large caliber Gale-type cannon with a low projectile speed, but longer range than the AM Lance. Unlimited ammo and a simple 3 second cooldown lets you do some punishing kiting with this ship, but it requires precise prediction against faster targets. Deals HE with a slight EMP component.

Note that because the 00 has Blackrock Flux Core instead of Blackrock Dimensional Engine, it now vents slower than the standard Nevermore, and lacks the sensor signature increase, so they're set slightly further apart than before.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/HA3GGtJ.png)
[close]

Really diggin' the portraits, mshadowy has done some great work! Can't wait for this and SS+ to get updated so I can play again!

They're turning out really great. Mshadowy has a great feel for the faction's identity and overall design language.

I've been using this mod for a long time and I just wanted to say thanks for all your hard work. This is my favorite Starsector mod by far.

Thank you. :D
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: FooF on November 30, 2015, 06:58:16 AM
IIRC, in the BRDY lore, the 00 was the precursor to the Nevermore, right? It would stand to reason that it is a bit lower tech and has a more conventional primary weapon. I will say, however, that the large universal in the 00 gave it a ton of viable loadouts. I will pour out a libation for my Iron Weaver 00 that could melt the face off of just about any capital ship.

(P.S. Speaking of large universals, how is the Asura coming? It's currently god-tier but you said you were toning it down or similar language.)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Serenitis on November 30, 2015, 12:08:24 PM
http://imgur.com/a/JoHKk

Mshadowy cooking up some portraits in exchange for music.

lol
The dude with the ciggy has a tiny Blackrock mirror stuck to his cheek.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: 174gjc on November 30, 2015, 07:37:34 PM
Haha, you should see what I did to the Asura stats when I put them on the Stormcrow sprite a while back. God-tier Asura of present BRDY was as dangerous as a gnat in comparison.

Now I'm just waiting on Cycerin to release .7 so I can bring it back, else I'll have to update everything I put on it (BRDY engines and such) into a separate mod folder. Or just update all of BRDY, which I have no idea how difficult that might be.

On a separate note, I did work on a kitbash of the Stormcrow into a new ship that I like, I'll probably never let anyone try it because it's derived from Cycerin's original sprite.

(http://i.imgur.com/xvFZZBd.png)

It is fun to play with though.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Takion Kasukedo on December 01, 2015, 03:55:31 AM
RYOKEN.

On a side note, that thing looks very fun to use, but can't be.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on December 01, 2015, 05:44:45 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/cqhzEGw.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/msfz2q0.png)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: 174gjc on December 01, 2015, 07:33:54 PM
The armor/suits on those guys is pretty nice... But it might be better in a greyer tone instead of white.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cik on December 02, 2015, 12:35:27 AM
first guy is jet, no joy on the second one though. probably also an anime reference.

if the guy has time he should take some inspiration from nadesico.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on December 02, 2015, 05:17:47 AM
First one is a reference, but not an anime reference. Second one I have no idea.
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Gothars on December 02, 2015, 05:41:21 AM
Wow, those look awesome. On their own, but especially in context with their faction. Shouldn't the background be black, though?
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Cycerin on December 02, 2015, 05:57:49 AM
Wow, those look awesome. On their own, but especially in context with their faction. Shouldn't the background be black, though?

Yeah, they aren't final, though, need to downscale, "wash" and add backgrounds. These are the raw drawings from Mshadowy. :)
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: Bastion.Systems on December 03, 2015, 04:18:55 AM
Mshadowy is such a pro artist, I really enjoy the style  ;D
Title: Re: [0.65.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.7.4
Post by: tanith on December 03, 2015, 06:16:40 PM
First one is a reference, but not an anime reference.

Kevin Stewart?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 06, 2015, 08:26:23 PM
Alright, it's time to drop the new BRDY. Have fun!

(http://i.imgur.com/QnuMizj.png)

DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK FOR STARSECTOR 0.7.1a! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/7rfgtakc6ohr709/Blackrock_Drive_Yards_0.8.zip)

Mirror (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards%200.8.zip)

Changelog:

Spoiler
0.8
//Major changes:
- Updated ship stats to the new format
- Updated BRDY faction data to the new format, changed portrait and name selections and misc. strings
- Updated the mod's star systems to use terrain, also added some more content, renamed some things, rewrote strings, and adjusted star locations in hyperspace

//New ship:
- Added the Morpheus-class Destroyer: a ship that shares some of the Imaginos' mechanics, but focuses on overwhelming firepower rather than finesse
 Main Weapon: 1x Void Buster - Fires a sustained beam of raw energy after a 1.1s chargeup
- Ship is slowed and gains 50% damage resistance while firing
- Weapon is temporarily disabled if fired at max. flux
 Secondary Weapons: 8x Arclight LFO - Fires beams of energy that curve in on enemy targets - 3 charges that regenerate, can be increased with Expanded Magazines
- Tertiary Weapons:
 5x built-in PD that can be used as knife fighting weapons
 4x Small Universal turrets
- Ship System: Slip Jets - Grants burst of speed and accel, forces ship to move forwards or strafe
- Right-click System: Scalar Repulsor - phase out and absorb projectiles in a forward 180 radius, then convert them into homing pulses
- Built-in Hullmods: BRDY Dimensional Engine, Nanolattice Armor, High Maintenance

//Balance and other changes:
- Added a couple of new portraits
- Rewrote a bunch of descriptions/fleshed out others
- Lowered flux dissipation slightly (5-10%) for most BRDY combat ships
 - This is mostly due to power creep with officers
- Asura: Now a cruiser
 - Top speed lowered to 70
 - Accel/decel roughly halved
 - Flux capacity decreased by 500
 - Phase cloak efficiency slightly improved
 - Stock variants adjusted
- Renamed Squall Cannon to Gale Cannon, Gale Cannon to Extended Gale Cannon, and Squall Battery to Gale Battery (Blame the Squall MLRS)
- Lowered flat top speed bonus of Burst Jets by ~15% and Desdinova Burst Jets by ~25%
 - Added a 5% derived max speed boost to Burst Jets, meaning the boost scales slightly rather than being static (frigs go faster)
- Changed Burst Jet sound effect
- Lowered vent rate boost of Blackrock Flux Core (Now: 60%/50%/40%/30%)
- New hullmod: Blackrock Dimensional Engine - replaces Blackrock Flux Core for Imaginos, Morpheus, Nevermore and Karkinos
 - Keeps pre-nerf Flux Core vent boost
 - Gives affected ship 100% larger sensor signature
- 0-Series Nevermore: Now has a new built-in weapon, the Raze Cannon, a heavy HE artillery gun
 - Ordnance Points decreased to 145
 - Shield Arc decreased to 180
 - Speed decreased to 85
 - Armor increased to 900
 - Flux Dissipation decreased to 400
- Nevermore: Speed decreased to 70
- Shard Gun, Shard Cannon, Dual Shard Cannon: New SFX
- Imaginos' Rift Cannon: Changed the way the recoil works so that you can now tap out a small burst of shots to deal accurate damage at medium-long range.
 - You still need to wait for recoil to reset, so it does less damage than spraying up-close.
 - Damage decreased to 95 from 100
- Scalaron Repeater: No longer has charge regen, has limited charges but in practice cant run out before CR does (unless on capital ships)
- Voidspear SRM/Pod:
 Increased damage to 700 from 650
 Increased missile HP by 30 (to 230)
 Increased EMP damage to 500
 Lowered flux/shot to 150 from 200
 Made missiles slightly more agile
- INM Assault Gun: Increased proj speed by 100
- Scalaron Blaster: Lowered damage from 1200 to 1000
- Quill Rocket Launcher: Decreased proj damage by 20 and increased ammo by 10
- Quill Rocket Pod: Decreased proj damage by 20 and increased ammo by 20
- Changed Dart SRM engine style to ~Plazzma Green~
- Scalaron Pulses now explode when they burn out, range decreased in order to not waste ammo on autofire
 Scalaron Pulse homing made less reliable
 Lowered Scalaron Pulse damage to 400 (From 450)
 Lowered Scalaron Pulse charge regen rate to 0.05 from 0.075
 Lowered Scalaron Pulse missile HP to 600 from 800
 Increased Scalaron Pulse speed by 10
- Edited Kurmaraja, Scorpion engine locations
- Silverfish/variants: Slightly decreased cargo capacity
 - Comprehensive stat changes for more emphasis on armor and speed instead of shield tanking, especially for the Mod Silverfish
- Karkinos:
 Shield Arc from 160 to 90 degrees
 Shield Upkeep from 0.45 to 0.4
 Armor from 1300 to 1400
- Achilles MRM is now named Achilles LRM to reflect its long range
 - Changed launcher sprite to load single missiles, like the Salamander
- Lowered Achilles LRM submunition HP by 20
- New Volley Gun SFX, increased Volley Gun damage by 10% and lowered flux/shot by 10%. Increased range by 50
- Scorpion: lowered armor by 50 and flux dissipation by 10
 Side medium turrets are Hybrid instead of Universal
 Lowered Stinger Drone proj speed by 200, HP by 50 and armor by 25
- Megaceras: lowered speed by 10
- Locust has been reworked:
 Lowered speed by 20
 Increased accel, decel and turn accel significantly
 Increased flux capacity by 100, dissipation by 10
 Changed shield efficiency to 0.9 (from 1)
 Changed shield type to a 220 degree frontal shield
 Lowered Spark Drive charges to 3, lowered charge regen rate
 Increased distance, decreased randomness of Spark Drive teleport
 All turret slots are now Hybrid
- Scarab: Sentinel Drone free roam range decreased to 600 from 700
 - Changed the 2 ballistic/2 energy turrets to Small Hybrid
 - Lowered Flux Dissipation by 20
- Some more brdy ship_names.json entries
- Fixed hullmods to emphasize stat changes in yellow like vanilla hullmods
- Added the Morpheus and 0-Series Nevermore to the Big Battle mission
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Sy on December 06, 2015, 09:45:08 PM
\o/

i should reeeaaally sleep right now, though..... <_<
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Ionise on December 06, 2015, 09:56:18 PM
AH HELL YEAH!
?( ^.^)?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: JohnDoe on December 06, 2015, 10:22:06 PM
Thanks for the update!

Glad to see the deployment cost being brought in line with the vanilla stuff, especially for the Nevermore.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Sy on December 07, 2015, 08:38:03 AM
@Cycerin: you forgot a few of the hybrid mount changes in your changelog, like for Karkinos and Eschaton.

haven't gotten to play yet, but just from looking at the codex, the Eschaton seems pretty op now. the Atlas had some serious nerfs, with removed flight deck, civilian grade hullmod, burn speed differences becoming a lot more important and maybe even with the changes to Augmented Engines. i really like that there are some proper military freighters in BRDY, which is something i'm missing in vanilla, but i think the advantages of the Eschaton are too many and too large:
for all of that, 25% smaller cargo capacity and a bit higher maintenance seems barely worth mentioning. i think at the very least, its burn speed should be in line with Atlas and Prometheus, especially with access to BR Drive Conversion. significantly higher maintenance and fuel consumption could also help.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Wyvern on December 07, 2015, 09:01:42 AM
Hm.  Can agree with arguments on the burn speed & possibly sensor strength / signature.  Don't much care about fuel capacity myself, so ./shrug.  On the combat ability front, though, I suspect the Eschaton's improvements over the Atlas are just irrelevant; I'd love to see a large freighter that - like the smaller Mule - is occasionally worth actually deploying outside of a retreat scenario - but I don't think the Eschaton manages that.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Sy on December 07, 2015, 09:22:08 AM
right, the combat advantages are not nearly as big a deal as they would be on a ship you actually want to deploy in battle. i just think it shouldn't have those combat benefits and significant campaign benefits. the fuel capacity is probably the least of those, but 500 less cargo capacity also isn't really a big deal when you have a fleet with superfreighters.

as for real combat freighters, i'd like to see more of those in general as well. but military transports (ships that are still dedicated freighters/tankers/troop-transports, but with miliary grade hulls and systems) also fit well into the sector, i think. having ships that are cheap to manufacture and maintain is important, but so is having ships that can properly defend themselves in an emergency. the major factions, including the Independents, could even have dedicated military transport fleets, designed to break through blockades, or to operate in systems with high pirate activity or open faction hostilities.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: DanJSC on December 07, 2015, 09:58:06 AM
Not sure if this is linked to any mod, but i only seem to get a blank screen with music playing, i can blindly press buttons but nothing seems to fix it.
Using BRDY with only Lazy & Shaderlib. I usually play in 1920x1090 borderless window but going full screen doesn't seem to change anything.

EDIT: Turns out allocating more memory to SS fixed this. I figured it already active but it seems SS reset the jre folder, didn't account for that.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: CaveBacon on December 07, 2015, 01:47:42 PM
Quote
as for real combat freighters, i'd like to see more of those in general as well.

I agree!  This is part of the reason that I'm so pleased with the Tiandong mod, which is more or less composed of existing ships converted into combat freighters.

I haven't played as BRDY recently enough to see how well the Megaceras fits this role.  I liked running a Knight as my logistics support ship, because of its versatility: it had decent capacity for both cargo and fuel, had a flight deck, was worth fielding in combat if you had ships to support it, and was relatively cheap for a cruiser.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Euqocelbbog on December 07, 2015, 02:40:07 PM
Looks awesome, can't wait to try it out when I get home.

Rip asura
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: ciago92 on December 07, 2015, 08:21:03 PM
Not sure if your mod of SS+ but whenever I take a commission with Blackrock I keep getting yelled at for not being hostile to "Knights of Ludd". I'm hostile to both displayed Ludd factions (church and path) so I'm not sure where I'm going wrong here.  Will post in SS+ as well.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on December 07, 2015, 09:08:04 PM
Not sure if your mod of SS+ but whenever I take a commission with Blackrock I keep getting yelled at for not being hostile to "Knights of Ludd". I'm hostile to both displayed Ludd factions (church and path) so I'm not sure where I'm going wrong here.  Will post in SS+ as well.
It is a bug with Nexe. Look there for help
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 08, 2015, 04:47:08 AM
Hmm yeah, the Eschaton wasn't supposed to have such a high burnspeed. Going to fix that in the next update, and do some more combat testing. It's an OK carrier in a mixed fleet right now, but it still dies to bombers or any kind of focused attack really hard. To be honest, I didn't look at it too hard when updating all the ship stats. It's supposed to be inbetween the Atlas and the II cap combat freighter.

The main thing is that the Eschaton has no missiles, so if you want it to actually participate in combat, it needs to put itself into danger. Given it has one of the worst accel/decel stats in the entire game, that can go bad quite fast. But with a timid officer, it could serve as a supplemental carrier that fends off enemy fighters and frigs.

The Eschaton is one of those ships where it has combat utility mostly for the sake of the player fighting it, rather than for the sake of the player using it themselves.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: 603bill on December 08, 2015, 11:01:22 AM
Was messing around with the plasma cannon in the sim on BRDY ships with the strike suite, and it seems the hullmod now reduces weapon flux costs to %15 of the original and not reducing it by %15.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on December 08, 2015, 12:16:22 PM
Aww yeah that's my jam right there. Loving the new Shard and Volley Gun SFX.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 08, 2015, 12:42:32 PM
Was messing around with the plasma cannon in the sim on BRDY ships with the strike suite, and it seems the hullmod now reduces weapon flux costs to %15 of the original and not reducing it by %15.

That is... really dumb. Let me check.

E: Yep, it's borked. Dunno how that happened. Going to have a hotfix out soon.

Aww yeah that's my jam right there. Loving the new Shard and Volley Gun SFX.

Hehe, was wondering if some people would find it jarring compared to the softer old sfx (which has been in there since 2013 after all)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Toxcity on December 08, 2015, 12:58:44 PM
The new Locust feels like a weird fusion of the Lasher and the Wolf. I like it for what it is now, but is there any chance there will be a ship with the old Spark Drive. It was pretty cool, and nice for dodging enemy projectiles/missiles (if a bit annoying to fight against).
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: ciago92 on December 08, 2015, 03:02:15 PM
Not sure if your mod of SS+ but whenever I take a commission with Blackrock I keep getting yelled at for not being hostile to "Knights of Ludd". I'm hostile to both displayed Ludd factions (church and path) so I'm not sure where I'm going wrong here.  Will post in SS+ as well.
It is a bug with Nexe. Look there for help

Don't have Nexe installed, will check to see if fix still relevant.

I see something about commenting out lines of code, but as I don't have Nexerline installed I'm not sure how that'll help. I have BRDY, Interstellar Imperium, LazyLib, MusicLib, Neutrion, ShaderLib, and SS+ installed.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Sy on December 08, 2015, 03:12:36 PM
Hmm yeah, the Eschaton wasn't supposed to have such a high burnspeed. Going to fix that in the next update, and do some more combat testing.
:]
Hehe, was wondering if some people would find it jarring compared to the softer old sfx (which has been in there since 2013 after all)
i like the new ones, but i think i still liked the old ones more.

Don't have Nexe installed, will check to see if fix still relevant.
do you have the latest (3rd) vanilla hotfix installed? i think there was something about the Knights of Ludd in the notes.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Histidine on December 09, 2015, 06:10:58 AM
While you're changing things, Corvus mode compatibility for Nexerelin (see the thread OP for mod plugin details) would be nice.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: hunters1 on December 09, 2015, 05:29:19 PM
cant tell which mod is causing it if any but BDY patrols keep chasing me saying i dont have my transponder on when i do
EDIT: i think this is a base game bug because it only happened to that one fleet and never again
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: 174gjc on December 09, 2015, 08:19:00 PM
Hey Cycerin- do I still have your permission to post my edit of your mod here? (It now includes one kitbash of your old Stormcrow sprite into a new ship that looks like this:

(http://i.imgur.com/5yYslC5.png)





)

I just wanted to check, as I don't know if you would consider that sprite up to your stringent quality control standards. I would not want to publish a derivative work without your permission.

For those interested in some old sprites, two of these sprites are old ones Cycerin never used, and one is a kitbash:
http://imgur.com/a/29jO2
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: 174gjc on December 09, 2015, 08:20:59 PM
I might downsize it as well, seems to have a few artifacts on the edges that I don't particularly like.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 09, 2015, 08:58:19 PM
I don't care, but why do you go like

Quote
Hey Cycerin- do I still have your permission to post my edit of your mod here?
Quote
I just wanted to check, as I don't know if you would consider that sprite up to your stringent quality control standards. I would not want to publish a derivative work without your permission.

in the same post where you're posting it, after posting about this several times prior, rather than PMing me first. Strikes me as a kind of pointless gesture
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: JohnDoe on December 09, 2015, 09:52:08 PM
cant tell which mod is causing it if any but BDY patrols keep chasing me saying i dont have my transponder on when i do
EDIT: i think this is a base game bug because it only happened to that one fleet and never again

You can't just turning off and then turning back on transponders right under their eyes. Of course they would tell you to turn on transponders at all times.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: hunters1 on December 10, 2015, 09:37:26 AM
when using commision from BDY i keep losing points for not being hostile with knights of ludd is this because BDY still has them on their list even tho their not in the game anymore? or because the base game still has it in the code even if they dont exist? cant keep them capped out at 100 because of this
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: shuul on December 10, 2015, 02:45:27 PM
That is very strange, I love every aspect of this faction, but there is only one thing why I really play as member of it in Nexerelin.... its music...

Spoiler
offtopick: BRDY - have no idea why it reminded me, but if you like anime, watch Birdy the Mighty
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: OOZ662 on December 10, 2015, 02:50:05 PM
Blackrock has my favorite music of any of the mods I've used. At least if it hasn't changed since the 0.65 version.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: 174gjc on December 10, 2015, 05:42:30 PM
That's not exactly what I meant, I intended to get your permission to post the actual ship with the others in a playable format.

Next time I will PM you first with the sprite.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 11, 2015, 05:07:54 AM
You can go ahead and post it, I just don't see the point in being unsure about it when I already told you I was fine with the whole thing last time.

when using commision from BDY i keep losing points for not being hostile with knights of ludd is this because BDY still has them on their list even tho their not in the game anymore? or because the base game still has it in the code even if they dont exist? cant keep them capped out at 100 because of this

This is a bug with the core game. I believe SS+ fixes it.


Blackrock has my favorite music of any of the mods I've used. At least if it hasn't changed since the 0.65 version.
Blackrock has my favorite music of any of the mods I've used. At least if it hasn't changed since the 0.65 version.

Ahh, thanks. That means a lot to me.

On a different note, anyone tried the Morpheus yet?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cyan Leader on December 11, 2015, 10:11:29 AM
I had to cheat it in (removed 400k from my bank while I did it to be a little fair) because I couldn't find one and really wanted to try it out. Upgraded from a Desdinova.

Well, what can I say, the ship delivers. Bounties that I had a lot of trouble with the Desd are now much, much easier. Reminds me of the earlier days of the Imaginos. It is also surprisingly tough, I got in situations that I was sure I was going to end up dead but they didn't even take half the hull, I guess the Nano armor really is doing wonders.

I'm running it with SO too, not sure if it is wise but it is how I'm running pretty much every ship that isn't a cruiser. The slots are used up by two AM Blasters on the front and two missile mounts on the far sides (Harpoons at the moment, but will upgrade to Clarents since I'm running Templars).

I don't use the laser a lot though. I mean, it's good, but the homing lasers are so effective that I can take targets from a distance without risking myself (though the 50% resistance is very helpful). I even installed that prism system to increase the range of the beam but I still use it sparingly.

I also got it at a high level already (~40) so I'm unsure how it fares at lower levels, but then again it will always take some good time to find this ship.

Overall the ship delivers in what I've come to expect from BRDY: a fun and different playstyle.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Nanao-kun on December 11, 2015, 10:24:21 AM
I had to cheat it in (removed 400k from my bank while I did it to be a little fair) because I couldn't find one and really wanted to try it out. Upgraded from a Desdinova.

Well, what can I say, the ship delivers. Bounties that I had a lot of trouble with the Desd are now much, much easier. Reminds me of the earlier days of the Imaginos. It is also surprisingly tough, I got in situations that I was sure I was going to end up dead but they didn't even take half the hull, I guess the Nano armor really is doing wonders.

I'm running it with SO too, not sure if it is wise but it is how I'm running pretty much every ship that isn't a cruiser. The slots are used up by two AM Blasters on the front and two missile mounts on the far sides (Harpoons at the moment, but will upgrade to Clarents since I'm running Templars).

I don't use the laser a lot though. I mean, it's good, but the homing lasers are so effective that I can take targets from a distance without risking myself (though the 50% resistance is very helpful). I even installed that prism system to increase the range of the beam but I still use it sparingly.

I also got it at a high level already (~40) so I'm unsure how it fares at lower levels, but then again it will always take some good time to find this ship.

Overall the ship delivers in what I've come to expect from BRDY: a fun and different playstyle.
Doesn't SO reduce weapon range drastically though?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Ghoti on December 11, 2015, 10:24:27 AM
Quote
On a different note, anyone tried the Morpheus yet?

it is the most anime thing about BRDY.

and that's saying something.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: OOZ662 on December 11, 2015, 10:25:45 AM
Doesn't SO reduce weapon range drastically though?

Any range over 400 gets curbed not much further past it.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Zenobious on December 11, 2015, 10:28:27 AM
On a different note, anyone tried the Morpheus yet?
Like Cyan Leader I cheated it in just to try it out.

It's pretty cool. At first I was worried about taking too many hits since it lacks shields, but the nano-armor keeps it going strong as long as you can finish fights quickly before they get through to your hull. The shield-replacement projectile-sucker thing is very fun to use; I like that it gets more effective the more enemies you have on the screen and the more dangerous the fight is. That encourages risky gameplay which might otherwise be avoided by just spamming the long-range LFO beams (which look awesome, by the way). It feels great being able to jump in to save a crippled friendly from an enemy's finishing shots by sucking up their fire!

Like Cyan I found the main beam-cannon a bit underwhelming, and only really used it as a finisher on crippled ships while the LFOs were reloading. The wind-up time and short range compared to the LFOs (which appear to travel much farther than their stated range -- not sure if this is intentional or if I am miscalculating things?) make it less useful in combat.

Also, the slip drive feels pretty weak. It's not *bad* but it feels much less powerful than even the default maneuvering jets on many vanilla ships or other ones in the BRDY fleet, like the Desdinova. I was imagining something more like those when I first flew it, and was a bit disappointed when I tried it out. It's not that the Morpheus needs a better maneuvering drive to be a good ship, as it is excellent already; more that it seems like a stylistic mismatch when the top-of-the-line prototype's booster is less effective than those on "normal" ships. As it seems like a larger version of the Imaginos, I was expecting something more like the smaller ship's system.

Overall though, very fun to fly. As this is my first post on the forums I should congratulate you on making such a great mod that it makes me want to join and post just to review your ships!  ;D
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Megas on December 11, 2015, 10:54:33 AM
I cannot run Blackrock normally anymore.  I can run it in devmode, though.  I guess I will need to try 64-bit java someday, but I am not done playing with standard yet, and I have sidelined other stuff doing so.

I checked missions for Morpheus.  After trying it, my first impressions is that it may be a kiting cheese machine.  I had no problem killing a stock Onslaught with an unskilled Morpheus.  The LFOs may seem abusive.  They hurt quite a bit, and they hit for hard flux damage on shields.  I have considered just hanging back and spam LFOs until the shield is ready to overload, then move in for the kill.  Maybe LFOs shots could hit for soft flux only; they are thematically beams.  (Technically, I bet they are invisible missiles that leave a bright ribbon trail.)

The main laser (void buster?) is powerful, but I did not use it much, due to short range and reduced mobility.  I mostly spammed LFOs and the variant rejector.

It will be a while before I can test a fully skilled Morpheus and see how it really stacks with other skilled ships.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cyan Leader on December 11, 2015, 11:04:31 AM
Agreed with the Slip Drive note, maneuverability wise it seemed like a sizable downgrade when I moved from the Desdinova (and other early ships for that matter). I have a feeling it is better at changing momentum but it is overall less useful.

Also I need to say something about both the Desdi and the Morpheus,

They spin.

Oh god they spin.

If you take an unlucky hit close to your back, be it a Salamander that slipped by or a fighter wing with EMP fire, you are done. They get very hard to control and spin absurdly fast, killing your positioning and 90% of the time ensuring a loss. Is this intended? Maybe it is an SO thing.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 11, 2015, 11:54:48 AM
Thanks for all the comprehensive feedback, wow. This is soooo useful.

Some points:

- The Slip Jets are indeed more situational than Arc Jet Thrusters. This is intentional, as I wanted to make it involve more effort to kite in the Morpheus. Note that if you turn 90 degrees and strafe away, you can still back away like with normal Burst Jets. The Slip Jets' advantage over standard Burst Jets is the near instant speed change and nearly inertialess maneuvering. "Pound for pound", it's a more powerful system than Burst Jets, especially because you are impossible to hit with torpedoes or slow shots while you still have charges (Can always dodge)
A big reason why it feels less powerful is probably because charges regen slower than on the Desdinova. Probably going to bring it up a tiny bit.

Thematically, the Imaginos and Karkinos use Dimensional Engines to power ship systems while the Nevermore needs it for the AM Lance. The Morpheus uses it for the weapons, and instead has Slip Jets, a more "practical" solution. It would be too much bullsh*t even for BRDY to have one ship capable of all that. :P

- Arclight LFO... probably too powerful. Megas you bring up a good point with the soft flux, I'll see what I can do. I dont want the ship to be about kiting, I want it to be about tearing things up with the Void Buster, and managing the Arclight LFO's ammo to annihilate smaller targets or provide on-demand burst.

- Void Buster is fine, I think - it gives you a flat 50% damage resistance while firing and does almost 1k damage per second. With it, you can get into slugfests against HE damage and win, something which is impossible in an Imaginos. Still, I guess I'll bring it up a bit with a tiny DPS boost since I'm adjusting the LFOs down.

As this is my first post on the forums I should congratulate you on making such a great mod that it makes me want to join and post just to review your ships!  ;D

Haha, thanks a lot! Welcome to the forums.

If you take an unlucky hit close to your back, be it a Salamander that slipped by or a fighter wing with EMP fire, you are done. They get very hard to control and spin absurdly fast, killing your positioning and 90% of the time ensuring a loss. Is this intended? Maybe it is an SO thing.

This is an extreme version of what happens to a Hound when you shoot out one engine. It's just a perk of how the game is coded and I can't really do much about it. However, if you don't try to move after half your engines get knocked out, you won't spin either.

I guess engines that are only activated by systems shouldn't count for this. I'll ask Alex if it can be changed.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cyan Leader on December 11, 2015, 12:48:57 PM
Good changes, I'd love to see some buffs to the beam but the ship is powerful enough as is.

But maybe you could take the current stats and increase them a bit and have a boss ship variant? If there is one thing BRDY is sorely missing is boss ships for SS+.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Megas on December 11, 2015, 01:25:25 PM
I would probably build the Morpheus toward long range spam of LFOs and maybe other stuff.  Without skills, I did not bother looking for ways to abuse sniping.  However, despite poor DPS, LFOs are burst-y and effective enough to hang back and kite as if armed with homing HVDs.  I would certainly add Advanced Optics (and the obligatory ITU) to extend Void Buster and attack from afar when I can.

Morpheus seems much sturdier than Imaginos.  If I take damage, I will back off and let armor regenerate.  Actually, I did just that against my test fight with an Onslaught.  Combined with other Morpheus features, Onslaught did not have much of a chance.

Morpheus sort of reminds me of the Orz Nemesis (from Star Control 2).
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Sy on December 11, 2015, 03:48:33 PM
i've only tested the Morpheus in the simulator/mission, but i mostly agree with what has been said already. bringing Arclight LFOs down a bit to reduce long range / kiting capabilites and maybe improving the Void Buster a bit to compensate sounds like a good idea.
Slip Jets seem fine to me as they are. while i do feel that (even with their advantages) they are a bit less useful / powerful than Burst/Arc Jets, i don't think that's a bad thing. there are enough BRDY ships with those already, and i like that the Morpheus has a system that allows some quick combat maneuvers without making it quite as easy to disengage or kite.

overall, i like the Morpheus a lot. the Imaginos always seemed really cool, but in reality, i just lack the skill (or practise?) to pilot it effectively. ^^
the Morpheus has the same kind of unique and flashy high-tech fireworks that favor being in the thick of a large battle and that can (more so than player piloted ships in general) single-handedly turn said battle in your favor, but without the constant risk of loosing the incredibly rare and expensive ship to any small carelessness or misjudgement. i don't know if that means the ship is actually op, but it definitely is a lot of fun to use!

one thing i would like to see improved is the feedback for when the Scalar Repulsor comes off cooldown. the current cues look and sound very nice, but neither of them is easily noticeable during combat, especially with stuff like the Void Buster firing at the time. maybe something visible at the back of the ship (where Void Buster + ShaderLib doesn't mask everything glowy) would help.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 11, 2015, 04:02:52 PM
^What I'll probably do is just draw a small indicator pip, like the ones used in Exigency and Templars. I've been meaning to do that for a while, but I always forget.

Tenative changes:

  Arclight LFO: Charge regen rate decreased to 0,125 from 0,15, damage decreased by 10, flight time decreased by 2 seconds (Range now approximates the given one, ~1100 units)
  Void Buster: Damage per second increased by 50
  Slip Jets: Charge regen increased to 0.10 from 0.09

As for whether or not the Morpheus is OP, I feel quite comfortable that it isn't, given that it has a price tag and upkeep investment just short of a capital ship, but features the CR timer of a frigate, and a nasty 40% CR per deployment. Taking hull damage in a Morpheus is a nice way to make fighting unprofitable.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on December 11, 2015, 06:18:04 PM
Quick question: Are we going to get a modular version of the LFO?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on December 11, 2015, 11:56:27 PM
Played with it, found more or less what others did: LFOs are great, Void Buster needs more time in the limelight. Toying with the LFOs got me rebalancing the support missiles on something of mine (extra-bursty seems to work well; very low recharge/reload rates are a good balancing mechanism for built-ins).

Slip Jets are really interesting. I enjoy the synergy of them with the Void Buster particularly, it's a very different piloting headspace.

(I dunno about modular LFOs, but I would really love a Medium Scalaron Pulse Launcher.)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Sy on December 12, 2015, 12:46:07 AM
^What I'll probably do is just draw a small indicator pip, like the ones used in Exigency and Templars. I've been meaning to do that for a while, but I always forget.
sounds good!
Quote
As for whether or not the Morpheus is OP, I feel quite comfortable that it isn't, given that it has a price tag and upkeep investment just short of a capital ship, but features the CR timer of a frigate, and a nasty 40% CR per deployment. Taking hull damage in a Morpheus is a nice way to make fighting unprofitable.
mhm. it's great that there are so many stats and mechanics in starsector for that sort of balancing, that allow ships that are incredibly powerful for their size in direct combat without making all other ships obsolete. :]

(I dunno about modular LFOs, but I would really love a Medium Scalaron Pulse Launcher.)
+1
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: zoe_zucchini on December 12, 2015, 09:20:25 AM
Cycerin, have you considered buffing the nevermore 00's raze cannon in some fashion? I was messing around with it last night, and it wasn't a very fun weapon to use at all. Not very flashy, the projectile was far too slow, damage felt pretty anemic considering how sluggish the projectile went(not to mention the range felt like such overkill when I struggled to hit anything smaller than a battleship, and I'd like to think I'm decent enough at the game after 3 years), and I felt like I was focusing way too much on actually being able to hit things with it and not on all the pretty explosions and ships.

I know it's not necessarily meant to be a serious top tier ship but I brought the projectile speed up to 950 to put it between the gale & extended gale cannons and it feels a lot funner & more natural to fly, like a larger scale version of running a mantis with an extended gale cannon.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 12, 2015, 10:53:15 AM
^ Yeah, I'll probably do something like that, as I have felt more or less the same thing. :)

Modular LFO is not likely to happen. Too powerful, so it would have to be a large energy weapon. Maybe in the future when you can properly gate access to powerful and rare ships/weapons.

And fluff-wise it's part of the Morpheus and requires a triple-core dimensional engine to function. The Morpheus is guiding the beams itself, through extending force-fields into space. It's not a fire-and-forget weapon. You couldn't have a modular AM Lance without shrinking the head of a Nevermore down to turret size, and it's the same thing here.

Medium SPL is happening, just need to figure out how to balance it.

Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Ghoti on December 12, 2015, 11:07:13 AM
Is the scaleron blaster meant to be so good? It's the best medium energy assault weapon in my game right now. It's currently 610 flux per shot, even at 1220 it's still an amazing weapon (which is what I have it set to right now... maybe should be more?)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on December 12, 2015, 11:16:11 AM
I had a thought in the shower about LFO/Guided Linear Pulse missiles, that might be something to look into. I'm trying it out as a homing-laser torpedo, so I can send that along if you'd like to play with it and see if it gives you ideas.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 12, 2015, 12:20:08 PM
Is the scaleron blaster meant to be so good? It's the best medium energy assault weapon in my game right now. It's currently 610 flux per shot, even at 1220 it's still an amazing weapon (which is what I have it set to right now... maybe should be more?)

It's too good right now, precisely because it's too noncommittal for the firing ship. It's on the list for the next patch.

I had a thought in the shower about LFO/Guided Linear Pulse missiles, that might be something to look into. I'm trying it out as a homing-laser torpedo, so I can send that along if you'd like to play with it and see if it gives you ideas.

Thanks, but I don't really intend to do anything along those lines for the mod. The SPL is the only guided modular energy weapon in the mod, and I wanna keep it that way. :) Make something standalone?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Roflzozicals on December 12, 2015, 06:33:32 PM
Any word on that Knight class revamp you so deviously teased us with?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Psilous on December 13, 2015, 09:18:48 AM
My vote is for a couple more stations or outposts. I may even go in and add them myself. I'm getting tired of the faction relations leaving me in the middle of nowhere without any way of resupplying, it really is starting to destroy any ability to run a strategy. Maybe an out post in Habrisil or something.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: OOZ662 on December 13, 2015, 11:25:48 AM
I do run Starsector on a quite low-end computer, but I've noticed Gneiss is by far the hardest system for me to load. On entering a jump point the game pauses for 3-5sec and it's common for me to CTD as I enter, I assume from being out of memory. I'm not sure what specifically about Gneiss causes this as it doesn't seem to have much more to it when compared to other systems except perhaps the way Blackrock and its nearby objects are all chained to one market.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 13, 2015, 12:23:28 PM
Knight is still being worked on, albeit slowly.

I do run Starsector on a quite low-end computer, but I've noticed Gneiss is by far the hardest system for me to load. On entering a jump point the game pauses for 3-5sec and it's common for me to CTD as I enter, I assume from being out of memory. I'm not sure what specifically about Gneiss causes this as it doesn't seem to have much more to it when compared to other systems except perhaps the way Blackrock and its nearby objects are all chained to one market.

That is really strange. ??? I'm going to look into it.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Tartiflette on December 13, 2015, 12:32:33 PM
I do run Starsector on a quite low-end computer, but I've noticed Gneiss is by far the hardest system for me to load. On entering a jump point the game pauses for 3-5sec and it's common for me to CTD as I enter, I assume from being out of memory. I'm not sure what specifically about Gneiss causes this as it doesn't seem to have much more to it when compared to other systems except perhaps the way Blackrock and its nearby objects are all chained to one market.
Do you also use Scy or Shadowyard, and in that case do you have the same problem in their systems? It could come from the high rez ring textures we use.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: OOZ662 on December 13, 2015, 01:43:08 PM
I do run Starsector on a quite low-end computer, but I've noticed Gneiss is by far the hardest system for me to load. On entering a jump point the game pauses for 3-5sec and it's common for me to CTD as I enter, I assume from being out of memory. I'm not sure what specifically about Gneiss causes this as it doesn't seem to have much more to it when compared to other systems except perhaps the way Blackrock and its nearby objects are all chained to one market.
Do you also use Scy or Shadowyard, and in that case do you have the same problem in their systems? It could come from the high rez ring textures we use.

I don't at the moment, but I'll shuffle things around to check in a few minutes.

EDIT: I experience a drop in frame rate when passing through the fluffy ring in Acharon, but otherwise it and Tartarus behave normally (curse SCY's systems spawning on the edges of space!). I jumped into Gneiss again to check that having different mods loaded (I disabled Tiandong and Imperium to enable SCY) wouldn't change the result, and it crashed on me. :P Given the log's spam about JPEG, I'm guessing it does have to do with a texture, but I'm the opposite of an expert. It appears to be the same log that came about the previous times it crashed, I just never saved it until now as I'm sadly used to running out of memory.

Spoiler
143252 [Thread-5] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain  - java.lang.RuntimeException: javax.imageio.IIOException: Insufficient memory (case 4)
java.lang.RuntimeException: javax.imageio.IIOException: Insufficient memory (case 4)
   at com.fs.starfarer.util.ReplaceableSprite.update(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.BackgroundAndStars.renderBG(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.BaseLocation.renderBG(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.renderBG(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignState.render(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.BaseGameState.traverse(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: javax.imageio.IIOException: Insufficient memory (case 4)
   at com.sun.imageio.plugins.jpeg.JPEGImageReader.readImage(Native Method)
   at com.sun.imageio.plugins.jpeg.JPEGImageReader.readInternal(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.imageio.plugins.jpeg.JPEGImageReader.read(Unknown Source)
   at javax.imageio.ImageIO.read(Unknown Source)
   at javax.imageio.ImageIO.read(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader.o00000(Unknown Source)
   ... 10 more
[close]

EDIT2: Now I'm kinda embarrassed; turns out I thought "Fear machine" from Exigency (which I have due to MusicLib) was a Blackrock song. But, I do still enjoy hanging out on the market screen of a Blackrock post to listen to that music, too.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Gezzaman on December 13, 2015, 10:35:33 PM
When will blackrock work in Corvus Mode with Nexerelin?

I miss this faction
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 14, 2015, 08:22:03 AM
^ Next patch.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: OOZ662 on December 14, 2015, 09:09:55 AM
I seem cursed to always have the last post on a page when I intend to go back and edit it. :-\ So, just noting that my post on the last page has some more details, if you're interested and hadn't seen it. If other people aren't experiencing it, it's probably not a big deal; I'm running the game on a formerly-polished turd, after all.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Mudanzas Valencia on December 14, 2015, 07:44:07 PM
the diptheron fighter wing recovery rate is 0.25%? way too low? forget a decimal?

if error, what is it supposed to be? so i can mod it myself and keep using them.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Troika on December 15, 2015, 12:06:08 AM
Check to make sure you don't have more fighter wings than flight decks, that can cause huge slowdown in fighter CR recovery.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 15, 2015, 06:18:02 AM
the diptheron fighter wing recovery rate is 0.25%? way too low? forget a decimal?

if error, what is it supposed to be? so i can mod it myself and keep using them.

All CR rates are currently wrong due to a massive oversight, set it to 2 or 3
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Nanao-kun on December 15, 2015, 04:14:12 PM
So the Strike Suite hullmod (I think that's what it was called) mistakenly reduces flux cost to 15%? Is there any way to fix this while waiting for the patch?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Wyvern on December 15, 2015, 04:22:49 PM
So the Strike Suite hullmod (I think that's what it was called) mistakenly reduces flux cost to 15%? Is there any way to fix this while waiting for the patch?
*blink* Oh!  That's probably why that one Blackrock deserter bounty I fought was so incredibly dangerous compared to vanilla bounties!
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Nanao-kun on December 15, 2015, 04:32:21 PM
So the Strike Suite hullmod (I think that's what it was called) mistakenly reduces flux cost to 15%? Is there any way to fix this while waiting for the patch?
*blink* Oh!  That's probably why that one Blackrock deserter bounty I fought was so incredibly dangerous compared to vanilla bounties!
Yeah, with that kind of bug, it would make them comparable to the Templars. :P
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 15, 2015, 04:51:46 PM
So the Strike Suite hullmod (I think that's what it was called) mistakenly reduces flux cost to 15%? Is there any way to fix this while waiting for the patch?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/BR.jar

This should patch it, also includes Void Buster updates
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Nanao-kun on December 15, 2015, 05:16:45 PM
So the Strike Suite hullmod (I think that's what it was called) mistakenly reduces flux cost to 15%? Is there any way to fix this while waiting for the patch?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/BR.jar

This should patch it, also includes Void Buster updates
Oh, nice!
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 15, 2015, 05:25:17 PM
Replace BR.jar with that in Blackrock Drive Yards/jars
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Mudanzas Valencia on December 15, 2015, 07:03:46 PM
if you're doing hotfixes, i don't suppose you can post a stop gap hull xcell to repair the CR weirdness  XD
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 15, 2015, 07:29:45 PM
Yeah, good point:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/ship_data.csv
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Mudanzas Valencia on December 15, 2015, 07:32:18 PM
aaaaa, what a cool community
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Taverius on December 15, 2015, 08:45:15 PM
I haven't played in a while so I was looking through the hull codex like I usually do after a long break.

When I clicked on the shrimp it damn near brought a tear to my eye - don't you ever change the damn fool thing, I can't wait to get back into one.

Anyways more relevantly:

Nevermore desc:

... break from the crew compartments, who sometimes build up a static ... - pretty sure that should be 'which' or 'that'?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 15, 2015, 09:25:53 PM
Nice catch.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Troika on December 16, 2015, 02:24:12 AM
It's worth noting that while the Blackrock system does not spawn in Corvus Mode currently, the ships do in various m arkets.. I believe you can also just start as a Blackrock character and then capture a market to get access to stuff as usual.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: OOZ662 on December 16, 2015, 04:55:48 AM
It's worth noting that while the Blackrock system does not spawn in Corvus Mode currently, the ships do in various m arkets.. I believe you can also just start as a Blackrock character and then capture a market to get access to stuff as usual.

Blackrock is known to be Corvus Mode incompatible.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cik on December 16, 2015, 04:58:01 AM
was that always the case? i could have sworn there was a BRDY system around a red giant in .6x somewhere.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cycerin on December 16, 2015, 06:25:10 AM
^ Im not sure what that has to do with Corvus mode, you are probably thinking about the Rama system. : )
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cik on December 16, 2015, 07:55:37 AM
am i an idiot?

nexerelin has a corvus mode that is not using generated systems.. so named i'd guess because corvus was in it

so if i'm not mistaken and that the BRDY system was a thing, why is it not in corvus mode?

does that mean it's in SS+ but not nexerelin and if so why

i'm confused
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Tartiflette on December 16, 2015, 08:33:21 AM
am i an idiot?

nexerelin has a corvus mode that is not using generated systems.. so named i'd guess because corvus was in it

so if i'm not mistaken and that the BRDY system was a thing, why is it not in corvus mode?

does that mean it's in SS+ but not nexerelin and if so why

i'm confused
Because to make your mod compatible with Nexerelin you have to tell it to NOT generate it's system if Nexerelin is active. Corvus Mode require to make an exception to that rule, it's not complex but since it's a relatively new feature Cycerin has yet to implement it. And it's planned for the next Blackrock update.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Cik on December 17, 2015, 03:02:20 AM
ahk. didn't realize it was an involved process

no worries either way
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: ROFLtheWAFL on December 17, 2015, 04:09:13 PM
Getting a fatal: null crash every time I try to run starsector with Blackrock installed. I've got 0.7.1a, latest Lazylib, Shaderlib, and Starsector+. I also have Interstellar Imperium, Tiangdong Heavy Industries, Common Radar, and Autosave mods installed. Game works fine with them, but the moment I try to run with Blackrock, it crashes after loading.

This is the warning/error part of the starsector.log after the crash:
Spoiler
162344 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id flarelauncher_fighter_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id traveldrive_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id inferniuminjector_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id brphasecloak_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id skimmer_drone_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id lucifergenerator_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id scalarcloak_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id scalarrepulsor_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162838 [Thread-5] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain  - java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
   at sun.misc.Unsafe.allocateMemory(Native Method)
   at java.nio.DirectByteBuffer.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at java.nio.ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(Unknown Source)
   at org.lwjgl.BufferUtils.createByteBuffer(BufferUtils.java:60)
   at com.fs.starfarer.util.O0OO.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.ResourceLoaderState.init(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on December 17, 2015, 04:32:01 PM
Getting a fatal: null crash every time I try to run starsector with Blackrock installed. I've got 0.7.1a, latest Lazylib, Shaderlib, and Starsector+. I also have Interstellar Imperium, Tiangdong Heavy Industries, Common Radar, and Autosave mods installed. Game works fine with them, but the moment I try to run with Blackrock, it crashes after loading.

This is the warning/error part of the starsector.log after the crash:
Spoiler
162344 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id flarelauncher_fighter_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id traveldrive_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id inferniuminjector_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id brphasecloak_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id skimmer_drone_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id lucifergenerator_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id scalarcloak_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162345 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore  - Description with id scalarrepulsor_SHIP_SYSTEM not found
162838 [Thread-5] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain  - java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
   at sun.misc.Unsafe.allocateMemory(Native Method)
   at java.nio.DirectByteBuffer.<init>(Unknown Source)
   at java.nio.ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(Unknown Source)
   at org.lwjgl.BufferUtils.createByteBuffer(BufferUtils.java:60)
   at com.fs.starfarer.util.O0OO.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.ResourceLoaderState.init(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
[close]
Looks like you need 64 bit java my friend!
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: ROFLtheWAFL on December 17, 2015, 06:21:50 PM
Looks like you need 64 bit java my friend!

Okay, can you tell me how to get it? First I went and got the 64-bit Chrome beta, so I could download 64-bit Java. Tried running Starsector, fatal: null crashed again. So I went and downloaded the 64-bit JRE v8, installed it, and tried Starsector again. Another fatal: null crash. The starsector.log shows the same error as before.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: MesoTroniK on December 17, 2015, 06:32:30 PM
http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=8726.0
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: ROFLtheWAFL on December 17, 2015, 07:26:49 PM
http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=8726.0

That did it. Thanks for the help!
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.0
Post by: Doc Schnabel on December 22, 2015, 11:19:41 AM
Because to make your mod compatible with Nexerelin you have to tell it to NOT generate it's system if Nexerelin is active. Corvus Mode require to make an exception to that rule, it's not complex but since it's a relatively new feature Cycerin has yet to implement it. And it's planned for the next Blackrock update.

Is that change something that players can do locally in the meantime, or is it locked up in the JAR?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1
Post by: Cycerin on December 22, 2015, 09:18:01 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/Y75CTSV.jpg)

Download here (http://www.mediafire.com/download/j4qe62b08vmgowq/Blackrock+Drive+Yards+0.8.1.zip)

mirror (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards%200.8.1.zip)

Changelog:

Spoiler
0.8.1

- Added support for Nexerelin Corvus Mode
- Moved Rama system
- Adjusted CR/day recovery stat across the board, was way lower than intended for most ships, and too high for some outliers. This will have a MASSIVE impact on campaign gameplay, if you had noticed how slow CR was to get back for BRDY fleets.
- Added another portrait
- Morpheus: Nerfed Arclight LFOs a bit to emphasize close-range combat and toggling autofire to use LFO more strategically, eg. you will want to turn autofire off, wait for charges to come back, and then nuke a target.
  Arclight LFO: Charge regen rate decreased to 0,125 from 0,15, damage decreased by 10, flight time decreased by 2.2 seconds (Range now approximates the given one, ~1100 units)
  (Note: for the time being, the Arclight LFO always conserves one ammo on autofire, due to vanilla behavior that I haven't figured out how to circumvent. To deal with this, manually fire the weapon group.)
  Void Buster: Damage per second increased by 100 and flux/second decreased by 100, firing now longer modifies turn rate acceleration (raw turn rate is still lowered, but not nearly as much as before)
- Eschaton: Decreased max. burn to 6, increased supply/month to 18
- Robberfly: This ship was due for some general buffs, as I feel like the power creep of both vanilla and mod SS has left it wanting.
  Increased Hull by 400 (now 1800), Armor by 65 (now 325), Max speed by 5, Turn Acceleration by 30 (now 165), max. Flux by 100 (now 1200) and Flux Dissipation by 10 (now 150)
  Now comes with Shielded Cargo Holds
- Silverfish: Shield arc adjusted to 80 from 90, armor increased to 280 from 250, cargo capacity lowered to 100 from 150
- Mod Silverfish: Flux Dissipation increased by 10
- Gale Cannon: Improved fire rate slightly, accuracy now degrades more when firing at max. fire rate
- INM Assault Gun: Flux/shot lowered by 5, cooldown between bursts lowered by 0.1, SFX changed
- Scalaron Blaster: Damage lowered to 900, flux/shot increased to 1000, base ammo decreased to 15
- Increased Raze Cannon proj speed
- Fixed bug with BRDY Strike Suite
- Reverted to old Scalaron Pulse Beam SFX (imaginos, morpheus built-in PD)
- Polished Shard Cannon/ Shard Gun SFX
- Polished ship explosion SFX
- Slight visual tweak to Burst Jets and Slip Jets
- Tweak to Bharata market
- Shortened Blackrock Drive Yards faction name with article (Now simply "Blackrock Drive Yards)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: MShadowy on December 22, 2015, 09:23:11 PM
Yeeeeesss

Time for a very Crackrock Christmas.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: StarSchulz on December 22, 2015, 10:11:50 PM
"- Added support for Nexerelin Corvus Mode"

thank you.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1
Post by: Gezzaman on December 22, 2015, 10:44:59 PM

- Added support for Nexerelin Corvus Mode


YESSSSSS finally.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on December 23, 2015, 01:48:56 AM
Nuuu, mah blasters!

Apart from that, thank you for the wonderful xmas present ^^

There's still a total lack of large-mount gale revolver cannons tho :p
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on December 23, 2015, 06:49:12 AM
Haven't even got the new one downloaded all the way yet, but I wanted to mention a use I had for the Robberfly in my current campaign.  With a Timid officer combined with Front Shields and Unstable Injectors they can outmaneuver anything and take a few hits at a time while grabbing any free objectives away from the main battle.  I put Achilles or Salamanders on this setup to harass from a good distance.  Another thing they can do well is quick strikes.  With Harpoons or Voidspears they are great strike craft that I bring into the battle at the moment they're needed and then retreat them once they've dumped their missiles into the target.  They got even better once I found some Clarents off the Templars I'm trying for the first time now that I've got my Shaderlib issue sorted out.

Still have yet to find a Morpheus.

Very interesting use of Robberflies. I hope you'll enjoy the buffs it got this patch!

As for the Blaster, I playtested a lot after the nerfs and it still feels very powerful. It just isn't completely non-committal now. I didn't like how it felt like a no-brainer compared to most other medium energy weapons.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on December 23, 2015, 09:46:50 AM
Yeah the blasters are still good.

I just want them to stay good because I love that 'SPRAAAANG' sound ^^

Also because its a skillshot weapon against frigates and that's just fun :D
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: JohnDoe on December 23, 2015, 09:56:36 AM
But is it AM Lance fun? ::)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on December 23, 2015, 03:00:24 PM
Well, I usually run 3 ScBlaster and 2 Ferroguns on my nevermore on the same group as the AM lance, so to me blaster fun and am lance fun are the same thing. :D

I'm sure I won't be able to tell the difference, its been a month or two.

Edit: apparently the Imaginos' warp can damage you through phase, interesting. Is that intended?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: StarSchulz on December 25, 2015, 11:32:13 PM
So, i never had the chance to pilot these ships for myself as i was still trying to figure out most of the other faction mods. sometimes i encountered them, but as they died quickly i didn't think much of them. I never quite understood why they were called the Whiterock crack yards, at least, until this update. i decided, hey, that new portrait looks awesome! i think ill try it out with the proper theme... but what i have witnessed is absolutely horrifying. [ large screenshot warning ]

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/YAgN6UP.png)

6 shard cannons, and 4 of the sunjet type beams. WHAT HAVE I DONE?? IT ONE SHOTS EVERYTHING
[close]

I don't think i can pilot any other ship. it just won't live up to the insanity.


While making this i realized, i missed a small energy hardpoint. so, i am not even using it to the maximum of its power. I was actually disappointed they didn't have the fast destroyer, the desdinova on sale. oh how i was wrong.

Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: OOZ662 on December 25, 2015, 11:35:16 PM
I've never been a fan of the Stenos, as I've always had too much fun thumping things with the Nevermore's antimatter lance. Plus they seem to be rarer on the market. With the new sensor system in the game I might have to give one a try.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: StarSchulz on December 25, 2015, 11:37:38 PM
The ship system is ridiculous - you get to basically fire the death rays 3 times in a row.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Kanil on December 26, 2015, 02:02:43 AM
The Stenos is crazy awesome. Triple Scalaron Blaster is my favorite loadout, it just utterly mauls things.

Of course it just got nerfed, so maybe Cycerin would consider making the ballistic slot hybrid to compensate? ;D
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: HELMUT on December 26, 2015, 09:58:37 AM
An early game Sthenos with this loadout is pretty amazing, shards weapons and PDE are ideals for pirate hunting. However it'll rapidly reach its limit against bigger opponents with officers. The Sthenos lack the mobility of the Nevermore and is the most fragile Blackrock cruiser. Later on, it's a good idea to give it long range weaponry to support your fleet, as it'll won't hold very long on the frontline.

It really becomes stupid with other mods weapons though. If you can get your hands on a Mayorate flux torpedo or even a large Templar weapon, then you can start doing a lot of stupid, fun things.

Edit : speaking of which :

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/WNuycw4.png)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: StarSchulz on December 26, 2015, 12:29:20 PM
oh my. i hadn't thought of that. ha. hahahahhaa!
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: StarSchulz on December 26, 2015, 10:42:06 PM
... I bought a Morpheus. Enough said.  8)

Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on December 27, 2015, 12:55:44 PM
If anybody feels the need for a ridiculous troll fit; one Silverfish Bomber is funny, three or four is great, and up around ten, a little broken:
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/MDimdjj.png)
[close]

(A solid argument for the Hybrid slot if ever there were one, but for now, really good; they'll haul a decent load of cargo en masse and you just retreat them when they run out of ammo.)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: OOZ662 on December 27, 2015, 01:19:46 PM
I don't think the ITU affects missiles, so you can stuff a couple more vents/caps on it too.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on December 28, 2015, 05:46:24 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/OA0iHbr.png) (http://i.imgur.com/txearbv.png)
 
(http://i.imgur.com/KCMkJYi.png) (http://i.imgur.com/4ZIbXjY.png)

Meso found a cool upscale algorithm. (http://waifu2x.udp.jp/) Does a real good job minus some aliased edges.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Nanao-kun on December 28, 2015, 09:30:14 AM
Ah, waifu2X. It's definitely a useful thing. It's more for anime style images and such though (like my avatar), doesn't work nearly as well outside that focus.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Bastion.Systems on December 28, 2015, 09:43:17 AM
Waifu2X is *** magic, ages ahead of the algorithms that Photoshop uses.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: OOZ662 on December 28, 2015, 01:25:24 PM
Shoot, being a Danbooru-ite (don't Google that at work ;D) I could have told ya about that one a long time ago. Didn't think of it.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: StarSchulz on December 28, 2015, 01:39:00 PM
Considering the morpheus i have already eats fleets for breakfast, would one of that size eat templar fleets for lunch?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: MesoTroniK on December 28, 2015, 02:26:22 PM
Ah, waifu2X. It's definitely a useful thing. It's more for anime style images and such though (like my avatar), doesn't work nearly as well outside that focus.

While that is true, even outside what it is actually made to upscale it still does a better job of it than any other algorithm... Unless you are doing classic pixel art.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Nanao-kun on December 28, 2015, 02:47:18 PM
Ah, waifu2X. It's definitely a useful thing. It's more for anime style images and such though (like my avatar), doesn't work nearly as well outside that focus.

While that is true, even outside what it is actually made to upscale it still does a better job of it than any other algorithm... Unless you are doing classic pixel art.
"doesn't work nearly as well" doesn't imply it works worse than others. ;)

But yeah, it's still better than any others I've seen.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: StarSchulz on December 28, 2015, 02:50:17 PM
I ran one of my ships through it. smooths things out a bit for sure.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/AX6B8wO.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/trE69fG.png)
[close]

Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on December 29, 2015, 07:22:30 PM
Hmk, so the Krait continues to not impress. Is there some way to use it so its not just a large, slow, expensive crew-grinder?

Also, I see your Silverfish Missile Spam, and raise:

(http://i.imgur.com/ZVs37pl.png)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on December 29, 2015, 07:37:23 PM
Kraits need to be mixed in with interceptors and bombers. They do massive, ridiculous amounts of damage when unchecked but they don't really have a place outside of a fighter-centric fleet. When used in swarms and backed up by stuff like Broadswords or Serkets, they demolish cruisers and destroyers.

I'll be making a new fighter soonish to encourage more fighter heavy BRDY fleets. It's a support fighter.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on December 29, 2015, 08:37:19 PM
Fair enough - I tend to run mixed fleets at best so Serkets and the occasional Dipteron escort is what I limit myself to, as Vespas also fair poorly without cover swarms.

P.S. I'm having a really hard time getting my blackbong dankyards rep up, as they never seem to set up any bounties in rama or gneiss.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on December 29, 2015, 09:17:37 PM
Yeah, I wanted to insert BRDY markets in some other systems this patch but didn't have time for it. Consider playing with Steiner Foundation mod to make things easier until then.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on December 29, 2015, 11:41:45 PM
BRDY in more systems would be great, but its more of an issue of the BRDY markets seemingly never generating 'kill all enemies of faction in system' bounties which makes grinding rep glacial as its entirely trade-based, until they let you join battles (at which point you can stalk brdy fleets in rama and it all goes much faster).

Maybe because there's never enough enemy fleets harassing the BRDY markets? The pirate planet in gneiss barely makes any fleets, and Rama is so humoungous tt/hg fleets never get all the way there.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: StarSchulz on December 29, 2015, 11:51:39 PM
It might be the nexerelin talking, but for me Preclusion at one point had 5 pirate armadas ravaging the gneiss system. Too bad i was only in a frigate at the time!  :'(
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: LittleFatSunshine on December 30, 2015, 01:09:07 PM
I'm getting a crash when attacking fleets sometimes. It was suggested it's a brdy issue:

Code
ava.lang.RuntimeException: Ship hull variant [exported_variant_brdy_desdinova_e4286165-589b-4029-9585-0a043d8ecb0d] not found!
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.super.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.loading.SpecStore.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.settings.StarfarerSettings$1.getVariant(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.api.impl.campaign.fleets.FleetFactoryV2.getPointsForVariant(FleetFactoryV2.java:597)
at org.histidine.chatter.combat.ChatterCombatPlugin.pickRandomMemberFromList(ChatterCombatPlugin.java:461)
at org.histidine.chatter.combat.ChatterCombatPlugin.playIntroMessage(ChatterCombatPlugin.java:432)
at org.histidine.chatter.combat.ChatterCombatPlugin.advance(ChatterCombatPlugin.java:504)
at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.o0oO$Oo.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.oOOO.new.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatState.traverse(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)



Installed mods:

    Blackrock Drive Yards
    Combat Chatter
    LazyLib
    MusicLib
    Nexerelin
    ShaderLib
    Starsector Plus
    Version Checker


Version checker tells me they are all up to date.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on December 30, 2015, 01:58:11 PM
re Waifu2X: that thing is amazing! o_O

sorry for the kinda off-topic question, but does anyone know a way to use it with pics that are above 3mb (other than reducing filesize of the original image)?

Vespas also fair poorly without cover swarms.
imo, the problem isn't with the Vespas themselves, but with the Fury torpedos. a while back, before the vanilla missile rebalance, they were pretty great for hitting small/fast targets due to their high speed. but with the Reaper buffs, the two now share the same speed. slightly higher damage against shields and some emp damage just isn't really worth the sacrifice of a huge amount of damage against hull, let alone armor, even disregarding the (admittedly small) flux cost as additional drawback.

i think Furies need significantly increased speed or damage, or some other advantage (slight tracking? high health? high emp damage? kinetic damage?) to make them -- at least situationally -- worth using over Reapers, and to make Vespas worth using over Daggers.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Bastion.Systems on December 31, 2015, 04:34:12 AM
Waifux2 runs natively on Linux with an Nvidia card supporting their CUDA framework (any newer Nvidia card), installation and use is described on their github https://github.com/nagadomi/waifu2x  (https://github.com/nagadomi/waifu2x). There is a windows port, but it's a lot of hassle and terribly slow, so it would be easier to create a Linux VM than try to use it.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on December 31, 2015, 05:27:32 AM
ty!
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 01, 2016, 08:46:53 AM
- Changed Fury Torpedoes:
 Damage increased to 2400 from 2250
 Max speed increased to 475 from 400, launch speed to 350 from 300, flight time decreased so distance travelled is the same
 Explosion Radius now matches visual explosion radius
 Full AoE damage Radius decreased by 5
 Projectile Hitbox slightly increased
 Flux/launch to 300 from 200

Feels good ingame so far.

I decided to buff the speed and overall usability some more instead of simply buffing damage. I want the Fury to be the most proactive torpedo, as in you will want to use it on targets that still have options available in order to weaken or overload them, rather than saving them for overloaded or vulnerable targets.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 01, 2016, 02:02:11 PM
The Turdler.

Spoiler
Dunno yet
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on January 01, 2016, 03:13:34 PM
- Changed Fury Torpedoes:
sounds good :]
Quote
I decided to buff the speed and overall usability some more instead of simply buffing damage. I want the Fury to be the most proactive torpedo, as in you will want to use it on targets that still have options available in order to weaken or overload them, rather than saving them for overloaded or vulnerable targets.
yeah, that's how i used them before the Reaper buffs, i like them having a unique role with focus on speed.

What are you going to call the Scarab once Alex releases the new version?
how about Hornet? it's pretty big and it can really hurt. ^^
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 01, 2016, 09:22:53 PM
I don't really see an issue with keeping the name, but you could just call it beetle.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Serenitis on January 02, 2016, 04:08:41 AM
What are you going to call the Scarab once Alex releases the new version?

If you want to keep the insecty feel a possibility is Ateuchus, which is the genus scarab beetles belonged to before it was changed round.

For the Egypty feel theres two, Khepri who was god of the sunrise, and beetles rolling balls of dung around was OBVIOUSLY symbolic of this and reincarnation. Also had a beetle for a head.
And the beetles themselves were called Kheprer.

But who knows really?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on January 02, 2016, 05:36:15 AM
I don't really see an issue with keeping the name
considering they share not only their name but also their rather specific Heavy Frigate classification, it could get really confusing, especially to newer players. if one was a frigate and one a cruiser or something like that, it probably would be less of an issue.

Ateuchus
that sounds good! and very Blackrock-y somehow. has a similar ring to Dipteron, Typheus and Desdinova, at least to me.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 02, 2016, 08:41:30 AM
Way offtopic now but I looked in alex's post list and didn't see anything about this new scarab, link anyone?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: MShadowy on January 02, 2016, 09:16:25 AM
It's on his twitter (https://twitter.com/amosolov/status/678318230096781312).
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Adraius on January 02, 2016, 12:36:55 PM
^ I really like the name Vespa.  Brings to mind something a bit speedier than the Scarab is, maybe, but could work.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Adraius on January 02, 2016, 12:56:09 PM
Damn.  I thought it sounded familiar.  I don't use fighters myself, so I don't know them well.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 03, 2016, 12:15:48 AM
BRDY IBB ship shower though: a shrimp with 2 missile pontoons (and thus 2 Hammerclaws) and a missile autoforge :3
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: HELMUT on January 03, 2016, 08:52:24 AM
A while ago, i would have said Blackrock couldn't "deathball" very well like the Imperium/Exigency usually do. BRDY don't have many defensive ships and their main way of surviving is by overloading/killing the enemy first or disengaging fast enough.

The idea of the deathball is straightforward, the whole fleet is escorting a "flagship", it would form a defensive formation where enemies couldn't approach safely and even less stay close. The deathball would then lazily float around the battlefield, killing anything that get too close. Imperium do this with their combination of heavy armor and long range firepower, Exigency do it with missile spam and the "catching teleporter" of the Irithia. A bit like this :

Spoiler
(http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RapeRadius.jpg)
[close]

But then, Morpheus happened.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/5ViIVtl.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/I6Hhyzq.png)
[close]

One thing i noticed in my previous Blackrock campaigns, is that the Morpheus "vacuum cloak" have a fairly large area of effect, which is handy to save your team-mates under heavy fire. With enough of those, not only i can massively reduce the enemy firepower, i can also use it against them.

Several Morpheus chaining their vacuum cleaners make the fleet more or less immune to damage. And even if the enemy still manage to land some hits, the Morpheus can regenerate its armor with its cloak, making them fairly durable. For attacking, the Arclights LFOs are pretty long range, homing, and regenerate their ammo, which is very good for this tactic. And of course, there's the missiles (?) things it can fire after absorbing projectiles.

The Kurmaraja in my fleet had two roles. The first one is an additional "security" with its interdiction array, in case the Morpheus cloaks were still on cooldown. The other one was to "feed" my Morpheus with additional missiles that can repair armor and damage the enemy. I went with a large Ballista from II, but i'm not sure what would be the most "nutritive" for the fleet.

It works very well, everything smaller than a destroyer will get obliterated at the start of the fight by the LFOs. And while bigger targets will survive a bit longer, they can't effectively use their firepower at the risk of getting the feedback from the Morpheus.

There are two weaknesses with this fleet. The obvious one is to find so many Morpheus, given it's a very rare (and expensive) sight. The second is the CR limit, even with hardened subsystems, they can't last as long as cruisers and the supply bill after the battle hurt. The situation can get quite tricky when several enemy fleets joins the battle.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 04, 2016, 01:32:08 AM
Mmm now that the Scalaron Blaster is not such a no-brainer, can we get its shots to go through missiles instead of getting taken out?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 04, 2016, 08:19:08 AM
^Probably not, if the AM blaster doesn't get this luxury, the S. blaster shouldn't either.

@HELMUT: Damn, that's a lot of Morph. Did you console them in or something? You must have had some serious luck in the markets otherwise.

That's a really cool fleet, but the upkeep must be enormous. ;D

Also, you have misunderstood the way the armor repair works: It's not dependent on the right-click system. It's a passive effect that's active at all times provided damage has been taken, and the only cost it has is peak active time, but it gets less effective based on your current flux level, practically stopping at around 70-80%. At 0% flux, a Morpheus can tank through a surprising amount of incoming HE damage, especially with rotation to spread armor loss. The armor repair is mechanically identical between the Imaginos and Morpheus.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Denebio on January 04, 2016, 09:47:43 AM
Hey there!
Well i encountered a slight problem with blackrocks .... i am getting this annoying pop up that i am not hostile to knights of ludd (faction doesnt exist enymore in game right ?). Tried to start a new game but again got this problem only after commision to BRDY. I am not getting those with another enemy factions of Ludds after commision .... Help any one ? Pretty please ? (It's annoying cuz i am loosing my faction points every 30 in-game days :/)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Wyvern on January 04, 2016, 09:57:12 AM
I've been finding the new Scalaron Blaster to be pretty meh.  Mostly due to low shot speed.  It just doesn't have that *pow* feel it used to, where you fire and there's an immediate result.  Instead, you shoot, and then you watch your shot sorta drift lazily outwards...

@Denebio The Knights of Ludd issue is a vanilla problem - you'll get the same issue with a... I think it's Tri-Tachyon commission in vanilla Starsector?  Though I imagine it's something Cycerin could fix as well.
Edit: Actually, you should be able to fix this yourself via the console commands plugin - there's a command in there to set your relation to a specific faction.  I'm not sure what the actual command would be, but it should be possible to work it out using console command's help features along with using it to list faction IDs.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Ceebees on January 04, 2016, 10:00:21 AM
The Knights of Ludd problem will happen with most comissions, vanilla or not. The general recommendation is to use the console commands mod to set yourself hostile to them.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Denebio on January 04, 2016, 10:02:27 AM
Strange ... patch notes of vanilla state that problem was fixed :<

Console mod is still operational ?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Wyvern on January 04, 2016, 10:05:16 AM
Strange ... patch notes of vanilla state that problem was fixed :<

Console mod is still operational ?
Nope, vanilla "fix" was to a "bug" that caused you to go hostile to the Knights of Ludd upon accepting a comission.  Which resulted in the worse bug of losing rep for not being hostile with them.  That's fixed for .7.2, but we don't even have patch notes for that yet.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Denebio on January 04, 2016, 10:19:16 AM
Ok i managed to ignore the problem thanks to your hints guys.
Anyway correct command in console mod is:
adjustrelation knights_of_ludd -100
Should work with any possible mod as faction name is untouched :)
Thanks a bunch!
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 04, 2016, 04:03:58 PM
I've been finding the new Scalaron Blaster to be pretty meh.  Mostly due to low shot speed.  It just doesn't have that *pow* feel it used to, where you fire and there's an immediate result.  Instead, you shoot, and then you watch your shot sorta drift lazily outwards...

Shot speed hasn't changed at all, and afaik hasn't changed since I first made the weapon. I may have tinkered with it slightly at one point, but if so it was a while ago and not significant.

However I decreased damage quite significantly the last 2 patches.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Toxcity on January 04, 2016, 05:14:53 PM
Even with the nerf the Scalaron Blaster is still good (just not a no-brainer anymore). Don't forget, it still has its On-hit EMP effect which can easily disable most destroyers.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 04, 2016, 11:47:55 PM
Ya, my issue is that unlike am blaster shots, which are tiny, scblaster shots are huge, and any ship with annihilator pods is essentially immune until it runs out.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: NightfallGemini on January 05, 2016, 07:38:42 PM
Most annihilator pod equipped stuff I run into has them front-facing only. Try to flank them and let the blasters rip.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Wyvern on January 05, 2016, 08:56:01 PM
I've been finding the new Scalaron Blaster to be pretty meh.  Mostly due to low shot speed.  It just doesn't have that *pow* feel it used to, where you fire and there's an immediate result.  Instead, you shoot, and then you watch your shot sorta drift lazily outwards...
Shot speed hasn't changed at all, and afaik hasn't changed since I first made the weapon. I may have tinkered with it slightly at one point, but if so it was a while ago and not significant.
Earliest version of BRDY (for Starsector 0.6.2a) I can find has a scalaron blaster speed of 655 versus the current 600, so it's about 10% slower.  But when I actually load up that old version of Starsector, it becomes clear that I must be remembering its speed with the increased projectile speed perk and comparing that to its speed without.  Sorry about the false alarm.  ...I would like to see it move a bit faster, though; the antimatter blaster, for contrast, has a shot speed of 1000.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 06, 2016, 12:50:34 AM
Mmm. I think now that the SCblaster is firmly only for overloading shields and piercing armor, some QoL could come and not break balance, but its such a powerful weapon maybe just let it sit for a while? I know I've whined about various things about it but sleeping on it a night I think its best to wait a bit on it.

M2C, I've always liked the skillshot aspect that comes from the low velocity, and I'd rather have a larger number of charges or a higher recharged/minute.

Anyway, I'm lvl 65 in my current playthrough and I feel qualified to give feedback on some other weapons-related matters.


After some thinking I do in fact believe there is a place for a revolver extended gale in a large mount - the Hellbore does high burst and high-dps at the cost of velocity, and the Heph does high dps and velocity with low burst, but there's nothing in the 900 range that does high velocity and high burst at the cost of dps, which a gale that's just firing at 2x the rof the medium mount would handily cover.

Other interesting spots left:

Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: OOZ662 on January 06, 2016, 01:01:38 AM
I actually like the Ferrocannon for its accuracy. Will tend to destroy frigates in a sniper-rifle-esque fashion before they get in their own weapons range of my Karkinos while still being able to shove larger opponents into long overloads after the Dual Shards and Heavy Neeedlers get the brunt of their capacitors loaded. I've never found a nice place for an Ironweaver.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 06, 2016, 01:47:21 AM
I actually like the Ferrocannon for its accuracy. Will tend to destroy frigates in a sniper-rifle-esque fashion before they get in their own weapons range of my Karkinos while still being able to shove larger opponents into long overloads after the Dual Shards and Heavy Neeedlers get the brunt of their capacitors loaded. I've never found a nice place for an Ironweaver.

 I was about to make this post, lol.  The hypervel is great for those bigger ships who are slow, but it does cost alittle more ordinance and the ferroguns projectile is super fast (and cool looking :P) which makes a more rounded gun in my opinion.  Ive seen those things pop fighters because the projectile is so fast, where as the hypervels projectile isn't slow by any means, but its not ridiculously fast like the ferroguns.  I WOULD like to see alittle more damage on ferroCANNONS though.  They are so many better options than ferrocannon if your looking for kinetic or even energy based dps, and would like to use this gun more often because its aesthetically amazing.  Favorite all around gun is shard cannon/dual shard cannon, good dps and flux cost, good on frigates/destroyers and some cruisers, and that 18% chance for extra damage is really nice.  Love the sound effects and animation too.  Keep up the great work Cycerin.

  On a side note were there any changes to the Scarab recently?  On my new playthrough I found Scarabs to vastly outclass any other frigate I came across (I have most of the compatible factions installed here) with just a basic setup of 1x quill 2x shard cannons 2x any decent point defense and and of course, the dual shard cannon (or even just a missile rack if you want to be really flux effecient), these things are destroying every frigate and some destroyers I put them against with thier ordinance and drone.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: HELMUT on January 06, 2016, 02:19:06 AM
The Ferro-weapons have one main advantages over the HVD, which isn't shown in the stats. Its projectile speed is faster, preventing the AI to react to shots. It's fairly common for the AI to "see" incoming HVD slugs coming at them and lowering their shields in time, not so much when it's a Ferrogun/cannon.

A while back, i loved to fly a ferro-boat flagship. I never killed anything, but i could offer to the rest of my HE loaded fleet a buffet of absolutely helpless, overloaded enemy ships.

For the Ironweaver, it felt very niche to me. It's pretty good against anything that rely heavily on shields but have relatively weak armor underneath, like most tri-tachyons ships other than the Paragon. Other than that? Not so much. Heavily armoured ships can usually ignore the "crits" of the Ironweaver, at least for a while.

The only BRDY ships that can properly use it are the Karkinos and Asura. The Asura is probably the best for it though. The Ironweaver is pretty good at ripping apart smaller targets, and the Asura is good at chasing those small targets. The Karkinos is better at "backstabbing" enemy capital ships, and the short ranged Ironweaver seems designed to work well in those situations. But then again, heavy armor counters pretty hard all the shard based weapons. It's a fairly situation weapon, unlike the all around FerroGale combo.

ProdigyToby, Shards weapons tends to rip apart anything without too much armor, and Scarabs can mount a huge amount of those (plus their drones). A scarab swarm is unsurprisingly deadly early game, but you'll eventually have to get something else when high-level heavy cruisers can bath in shards rains and eat your frigates in all impunity.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 06, 2016, 02:53:36 AM
  ProdigyToby, Shards weapons tends to rip apart anything without too much armor, and Scarabs can mount a huge amount of those (plus their drones). A scarab swarm is unsurprisingly deadly early game, but you'll eventually have to get something else when high-level heavy cruisers can bath in shards rains and eat your frigates in all impunity.

  Oh I know I can't use them forever, but in their ship tier of frigates they are so dominant.  They can deal with pretty much any frigate pretty easily, and kite some destroyers or outright kill them.  You can mount a ferrogun or sledge cannon on them and they can deal with Tempest frigates as well.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 06, 2016, 04:46:27 AM
Oh I know I can't use them forever, but in their ship tier of frigates they are so dominant.  They can deal with pretty much any frigate pretty easily, and kite some destroyers or outright kill them.  You can mount a ferrogun or sledge cannon on them and they can deal with Tempest frigates as well.

I've always been a fan of an extended gale on a scarab's centre mount myself, though a sledge works just as well or better. Especially in the early game, either of those lets scarabs swat any fast, poorly shielded frigates right out of the sky.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 06, 2016, 05:09:13 AM
Oh I know I can't use them forever, but in their ship tier of frigates they are so dominant.  They can deal with pretty much any frigate pretty easily, and kite some destroyers or outright kill them.  You can mount a ferrogun or sledge cannon on them and they can deal with Tempest frigates as well.

I've always been a fan of an extended gale on a scarab's centre mount myself, though a sledge works just as well or better. Especially in the early game, either of those lets scarabs swat any fast, poorly shielded frigates right out of the sky.

  Extended gale is also very very good, either of them works really.

  On a different subject, I would like to talk about BRDY pre capital ships (because I have no issues with the Karkinos, I find it very good.), I cannot figure out any configuration for these ships that perform well.  I feel like The Gonodactylus class destroyer needs some buffs.  Its base flux capacity and dissipation simply struggles to support the weapons that are native to the BRDY of ships.  I found it very strange some of its configurations it comes with are very, for the lack of a better word, bad.  The close combat configuration for example, one looking at that would thinking "Okay it has shard guns, fury torps, etc" the things you would normally find on a BRDY ship.  The problem is, four shard guns on that ship simply does not work.  Shard guns/cannons/dual have a pretty high flux cost when used, and four of them is outright insane to even consider taking out into the field, you would overload yourself just from firing three of these, much less four and just forget about trying to mitigate any damage with your shield.  I'm bringing this up because the knight class cruiser suffers in the same way.  It has two medium slots, which you would think to yourself "lets put two dual shard cannons in there and BRDY it up" but the knight simply cant support that at all, and like the Gono, it has a configuration with that setup.  I have tested configurations for these two class of ships for about two hours on a character who has maxed ordinance and flux skills etc, even going so far as to reduce its weaponry in favor of trying to keep its flux stable but it has been a headache.  The only configurations I have found the knight to perform adequately in its own class vs other cruisers are configurations that use missiles so it can bypass its flux problem.  Thats no fun though, is it :P?  I want my Knight/Gono class ships to be able to use those shard series of weapons and still be able to fight other ships without overloading itself in seconds.  Other configurations I have tried involved using ferroguns or sledge/gale cannons in those medium slots but the dps is very low for a cruiser, but at least it wasnt overloading itself.  I understand that they have a blackrock flux core they come with, which is great, but ultimately it does not really help this issue I am currently experiencing because the knight is too slow to kite.  On a less serious matter, thier weapon mounts are very strange (The gono has to lean left to give a ship its full ordinance, and the knight has to sort of lean to the right.) which is okay, but look at how beautiful the Desdinova is in comparison, and its flux issues are not as prevalent, but still exist with the Desdinova and nevermore/stenos ships.  
  TLDR: Please buff the Knight and Gono class ships flux cap/dissipation

  If anyone can help me out with some good configs with these ships I would be very grateful.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 06, 2016, 05:42:06 AM
You say anything else bad about the shrimp, Imma have to beat you up, son.

3 shard guns, a gale, 2 achilles pods, 2 shredders and an argus. Basically the perfect destroyer.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 06, 2016, 05:52:30 AM
You say anything else bad about the shrimp, Imma have to beat you up, son.

3 shard guns, a gale, 2 achilles pods, 2 shredders and an argus. Basically the perfect destroyer.

  :P, your configuration is good, especially the achilles missiles, really messes with other destroyers.  A properly fitted basic hammerhead I find is more efficient at destroying things.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: TaLaR on January 06, 2016, 05:57:50 AM
Perfect destroyer seat is already occupied - it's Desdinova. Best speed and weapon package in DE class, can't beat that.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 06, 2016, 06:02:02 AM
Perfect destroyer seat is already occupied - it's Desdinova. Best speed and weapon package in DE class, can't beat that.

  Its actually the scorpion.  3 med slots, two drones.  How can the other destroyers even compete.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Megas on January 06, 2016, 06:09:09 AM
I gave the Gonodactylus standard weapons.  I remember giving it Light Assault Guns, Railguns, and Salamanders.  It was effective at brawling.

Desdinova is like a ballistic-version of Medusa with jets instead of skimmer.  Use long-range ballistics and kite-and-snipe things to death.

I generally prefer standard weapons over Blackrock's; the best tend to be cheaper and/or more effective in some way.  Blackrock weapons are acceptable substitutes if I cannot get the best stock weapons.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 06, 2016, 06:24:33 AM
I gave the Gonodactylus standard weapons.  I remember giving it Light Assault Guns, Railguns, and Salamanders.  It was effective at brawling.

Desdinova is like a ballistic-version of Medusa with jets instead of skimmer.  Use long-range ballistics and kite-and-snipe things to death.

I generally prefer standard weapons over Blackrock's; the best tend to be cheaper and/or more effective in some way.  Blackrock weapons are acceptable substitutes if I cannot get the best stock weapons.

  I think thats the main problem.  Blackrock weapons are slightly ineffective for their credit/flux cost, but still pretty good and fun to use.  For true optimization alot of BRDY weapons aren't too good.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: TaLaR on January 06, 2016, 06:31:40 AM
Its actually the scorpion.  3 med slots, two drones.  How can the other destroyers even compete.
Scorpion is slow and due to hands off nature of it's ship system boring to pilot. Decent for AI, but not something I'd ever consider as player ship. It also has critical flaw of burn speed 8 - meaning it can not be used in DE-based fleet.

As for weapons:

Crystal shard weapons are good on hardpoint-centered frigates (Mantis), when you have hard time finding similar enough pair of HE + kinetics (in terms of range and projectile speed). Also decent on AI ships, since they have no concept of explicit damage type management.

Volley gun is simply excellent - yes, range is somewhat short, but efficiency is unmatched and even frigate's shield is generally big enough to catch most projectiles.

Scalaron blaster was good pre-nerf, especially when in already flux-stressed build, not sure about it's usefulness now.

HE beams are also quite good and have no vanilla equivalent.

Large Ferrogun can be used on Capitals, when you simply can not afford yet another flux hog. It gets frigates overloaded while storm needler is busy spinning up.

Other than these I usually use vanilla/other mod weapons.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 06, 2016, 07:02:54 AM
Its actually the scorpion.  3 med slots, two drones.  How can the other destroyers even compete.
Scorpion is slow and due to hands off nature of it's ship system boring to pilot. Decent for AI, but not something I'd ever consider as player ship. It also has critical flaw of burn speed 8 - meaning it can not be used in DE-based fleet.

As for weapons:

Crystal shard weapons are good on hardpoint-centered frigates (Mantis), when you have hard time finding similar enough pair of HE + kinetics (in terms of range and projectile speed). Also decent on AI ships, since they have no concept of explicit damage type management.

Volley gun is simply excellent - yes, range is somewhat short, but efficiency is unmatched and even frigate's shield is generally big enough to catch most projectiles.

Scalaron blaster was good pre-nerf, especially when in already flux-stressed build, not sure about it's usefulness now.

HE beams are also quite good and have no vanilla equivalent.

Large Ferrogun can be used on Capitals, when you simply can not afford yet another flux hog. It gets frigates overloaded while storm needler is busy spinning up.

Other than these I usually use vanilla/other mod weapons.

  volley guns are amazing, yes.  The new scalaron blaster is pretty bad now, skip it.  Yeah the scorpion is slow but it really does not matter much, other than the burn speed.  you put two ferroguns on there and a sabot mrm, maybe 2x torps or achillis and it can kill pretty much ANYTHING.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 06, 2016, 07:06:45 AM
Nice, a storm of posts and feedback. ;D

Good Knight loadout: tons of Scalaron Pulse launchers and PD, 2 Ferroguns

Good Shrimp loadout (player piloted): 3x Fury rack, exp. missile racks, your choice of guns

Good Shrimp loadout (AI piloted): 3x Voidspear, exp. missile racks, pref. missile officer, shard cannons, ITU and any medium gun. Kills destroyers and frigs by the truckload.

Knight is not meant to be a player piloted powerhouse ship. It's like a Venture except faster. Loadout should emphasize missiles and range. The turret layout is the ship's intentional handicap because it's a survivable, cheap cruiser with a flight deck that can still kill frigs and destroyers easily. The Knight can broadside to shoot 3 mediums at a target and has the capacity to spam finisher missiles or SPLs. Naturally, don't use it ever if you don't intend to have fighters in your fleet.

The Close Combat variant works because the Gonodactylus is as survivable as an Enforcer, if not more so. You will want to lower shields often in that ship, and vent whenever you can get away with it. In 1v1 some torpoedoes and hammerclaw lets you win most of the time. With max. torpedo build on a maxed out character, you can kill almost anything in the game 1v1.

BRDY weapons have to fill niches vanilla weapons don't fill, because vanilla weapons tend to be the straight-forward solution to a problem. However, BRDY weapons have one strength vanilla weapons lack: Burst damage. Use the hold fire mechanic a lot when flying BRDY ships, to let loose one overwhelming volley of shots. BRDY weapons are good for pure hit 'n' run. If you want to kite or minmax, use vanilla weapons like HVDs.

The hidden strength of Ferrogun/Ferrocannon is indeed the near-hitscan projectile speed, which makes them extremely deadly against frigates and destroyers, or when combined with other sources of burst damage. The kinetic damage over time is otherwise not as good as the alternatives, but they do have the dubious advantage of high per-shot damage, which helps against armor.

Scalaron Blaster is still good, don't count it out.

Re: Taverius, I feel like the weapons you listed are in a good spot right now and won't be touching them. I was thinking of lowering the OP cost of Ironweaver a little bit, though. I decided to give the Scalaron Repeater fixed, limited charges because 1) It's a unique position for a weapon to be in at this point in the game where everything is ammoless and 2) It gives an easy, unambigous tooltip value for flux/second whereas all other charge mechanics give confusing, contradictory information. Lastly, the ammo count is so high that you will realistically only run out of charges on a cruiser or capital ship in extraordinarily long battles, and even then, you could prevent this with Expanded Mags.

Internally since last time, I've been buffing Quill rockets, which are now actually useful even in AI hands.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 06, 2016, 07:16:57 AM
Good Shrimp loadout (AI piloted): 3x Voidspear, exp. missile racks, pref. missile officer, shard cannons, ITU and any medium gun. Kills destroyers and frigs by the truckload.

Knight is not meant to be a player piloted powerhouse ship. It's like a Venture except faster. Loadout should emphasize missiles and range. The turret layout is the ship's intentional handicap because it's a survivable, cheap cruiser with a flight deck that can still kill frigs and destroyers easily. Naturally, don't use it ever if you don't intend to have fighters in your fleet.

  The shrimp refers to the Gono right?  does it have 3 missile slots?  I thought it was two.   

  I feel like the Knight SHOULD be a powerhouse though.  The thing BRDY is lacking is a good brawler ship, when I was looking for one in its series of ships, I saw "knight" and saw how fat it was and naturally thought "well okay its a big ship with varied turret mounts, this is supposed to be a frontline ship." hell even its special system is particularly good at just jumping into the fray, everything just pointed at frontline ship to me when I read about it.  However, if the actual creator is saying it should be used as ANOTHER long ranged/kitey BRDY ship then I guess I can't really argue with that then huh? :P.  I would really like to see some kind of powerhouse brawler ship from BRDY, of course sacrificing some dps for that capability, which I thought the Knight was "supposed" to be, because it appeared to fit that criteria.  If the Knight is supposed to be used in that particular fashion, I will pick a faster/more maneuverable ship that has a system that supports that function.  I still wish BRDY had a "tank" like ship though to round out their fleet, that isnt the end game Karkinos.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 06, 2016, 07:30:08 AM
Well - why would a ship with a flight deck be a powerhouse/brawler ship?

BRDY won't cater to every niche in the game. If it did, the faction's identity would be eroded. It becomes like picking flavors of ice cream. Do you want the Dominator.. or the BRDY Dominator? What an exciting choice. The Knight is tanky, though, and the redesign will probably include a flight deck-less offshoot more geared towards player agency.

Ironically most BRDY ships reward up-close and personal loadouts, you just need to get back out at some point.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 06, 2016, 07:38:20 AM
Well - why would a ship with a flight deck be a powerhouse/brawler ship?

BRDY won't cater to every niche in the game. If it did, the faction's identity would be eroded.

  Well its obviously not, but like I said, I just feel like it would be a cool idea to have at least one ship of that kind of "niche" in the BRDY arsenal, but thats just my opinion and personal desire.  I guess the question we should be asking is "why does the knight have a flight deck at all?".  If I was thinking about fighters I would go straight to the convergence with its superior flight decks and similar offensive capabilities to the Knight.  The Knight is in a strange position with its one flight deck and mediocre battle capability, my personal opinion is, for the sake of more variety and fun, the knight should just not have a flight deck since the Convergence fills that role of a fighter ship, and it should have its own "niche" it fills.  If you feel like BRDY doesn't need to fill that niche then obviously I have no right to say anything about that.  I love your mod and its design as of right now, except for those instances I mentioned earlier, I was just putting my own feedback on here about an idea I had regarding a cruiser that I feel like could be much better and better open up more strategic fleet options for your faction.  Thanks for creating this mod by the way.  ;D

 
Quote
Do you want the Dominator.. or the BRDY Dominator? What an exciting choice. The Knight is tanky, though, and the redesign will probably include a flight deck-less offshoot more geared towards player agency.

  A BRDY Dominator?  That IS an exciting option for players, isn't it?  Im sure from what I've seen so far you could come up with something very fun and awesome in regards to that topic, I fully endorse the BRDY Dominator.  The knight is hull tanky sure, its flux is the problem, it cannot really "tank".  I wouldn't look as removing the flight deck something geared towards player agency, more like "more options" agency.  I'm not just suggesting "Just buff the Knight"  I of course would also suggest removing some of its turrets to balance it out and offset the buff it would get to its base systems, if that was the case.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Megas on January 06, 2016, 07:51:27 AM
Quote
HE beams are also quite good and have no vanilla equivalent.
Actually, the larger ones do - phase lance and the updated tachyon lance.  Phase lance may only be energy damage, but it outperforms the medium HE beam (unless Cycerin powered it up sufficiently since I last played pre-Morpheus Blackrock).

Tachyon Lance, admittedly, is a lemon now for its OP cost.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 06, 2016, 07:53:28 AM
 A BRDY Dominator?  That IS an exciting option for players, isn't it?  Im sure from what I've seen so far you could come up with something very fun and awesome in regards to that topic, I fully endorse the BRDY Dominator.  The knight is hull tanky sure, its flux is the problem, it cannot really "tank".  I wouldn't look as removing the flight deck something geared towards player agency, more like "more options" agency.  I'm not just suggesting "Just buff the Knight"  I of course would also suggest removing some of its turrets to balance it out and offset the buff it would get to its base systems, if that was the case.

It already exists, it's called the Punisher, is in SS+, and I made it. :D
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 06, 2016, 08:02:16 AM
 A BRDY Dominator?  That IS an exciting option for players, isn't it?  Im sure from what I've seen so far you could come up with something very fun and awesome in regards to that topic, I fully endorse the BRDY Dominator.  The knight is hull tanky sure, its flux is the problem, it cannot really "tank".  I wouldn't look as removing the flight deck something geared towards player agency, more like "more options" agency.  I'm not just suggesting "Just buff the Knight"  I of course would also suggest removing some of its turrets to balance it out and offset the buff it would get to its base systems, if that was the case.

It already exists, it's called the Punisher, is in SS+, and I made it. :D

  Did you really?  That thing is sick.  It even sort of has the Knights special system of propelling it forward, although it doesnt cover as much distance as the Knights xD.  The single Medium missile mount right in the middle is a nice touch, makes a great spot for my Sabot MRM.  I guess for the moment I can pretend that BRDY contracted this type of ship for the front line in their fleets in my current playthrough :P.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: TaLaR on January 06, 2016, 08:29:23 AM
Quote
HE beams are also quite good and have no vanilla equivalent.
Actually, the larger ones do - phase lance and the updated tachyon lance.  Phase lance may only be energy damage, but it outperforms the medium HE beam (unless Cycerin powered it up sufficiently since I last played pre-Morpheus Blackrock).

Tachyon Lance, admittedly, is a lemon now for its OP cost.

Yeah, medium one is maybe not as useful due to Phase lance, plus HE beams have additional drawback with slow travel time (substantial part of burst is wasted at max range). Light one is still decent.

Didn't use large one much, because playing with other mods I had access to true monster of large HE beams - Deva Heavy CAS beam (Shadowyard, I think). 4k HE burst damage makes any armor meaningless.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 06, 2016, 09:27:15 AM
Quote
HE beams are also quite good and have no vanilla equivalent.
Actually, the larger ones do - phase lance and the updated tachyon lance.  Phase lance may only be energy damage, but it outperforms the medium HE beam (unless Cycerin powered it up sufficiently since I last played pre-Morpheus Blackrock).
Phase Lance is 188 Energy DPS, with a 1k burst and 500 emp.

Sunfire is 168 HE DPS, with a 1k burst.

I would not say the PL outperforms the sunfire - the sunfire is essentially twice as effective vs armor and half vs shields.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Megas on January 06, 2016, 09:57:39 AM
Phase Lance was 200+ DPS last time I looked.

I tried them both (on a Nevermore).  Phase Lance performed better.  I think Phase Lance might have cost less OP too.

Another thing:  The Blackrock HE beams take a while to reach full distance, and might have a longer burst.  Phase Lance travels very quickly.  Not Guardian PD fast, but close.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: OOZ662 on January 06, 2016, 10:21:43 AM
The problem I've had with the Knight is its burn drive. It behaves exactly as you say until the knucklehead turns on the burner and throws himself into the middle of a slugfest. The last Knight I used had its armor stripped off at range but survived, and as I relaxed and let go of the keyboard after a big showdown with a heavy capital the Knight came burning in and suicided on the wreck.

I haven't tried it with officers yet, but given the unique bounty Heron with its maneuvering jets hauls straight at the enemy until it gets close enough to switch to backing away with its timid officer, I don't think the same AI would survive when stuck burning forward.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 06, 2016, 01:17:59 PM
Phase Lance was 200+ DPS last time I looked.
Nope, 188.

Well, the PL is better on any AI ship just because otherwise they will fire sunbeams at shields >_>

On my flagships I use the HEs.

The problem I've had with the Knight is its burn drive. It behaves exactly as you say until the knucklehead turns on the burner and throws himself into the middle of a slugfest. The last Knight I used had its armor stripped off at range but survived, and as I relaxed and let go of the keyboard after a big showdown with a heavy capital the Knight came burning in and suicided on the wreck.

I haven't tried it with officers yet, but given the unique bounty Heron with its maneuvering jets hauls straight at the enemy until it gets close enough to switch to backing away with its timid officer, I don't think the same AI would survive when stuck burning forward.

That's an issue with any lock-on movement system - the AI doesn't know how to vent-cancel, let alone how to judge distances properly.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 06, 2016, 01:27:20 PM
The main difference between the Phase Lance/Tach Lance and the PDE weapons is that PDEs generally are much more flux-efficient, especially against armor. For the Phase Lance vs. Sunfire PDE, it's 1200 vs 605 flux/sec. This makes the PDE line less committal, but less effective as a straight-up assault weapon (you need to mix with kinetic or other damage, but if you do, they are extremely effective)

PDE + Ferro is a great combination and a good way to divvy up the ballistic and energy slots on a lot of brdy ships, if you need something that can deal with armor.

PDEs also burn rockets and missiles really well in a crossfire because the beam is huge.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Megas on January 06, 2016, 01:47:48 PM
Phase Lance was 200+ DPS last time I looked.
Nope, 188.
Actually, yes.  Unmodded Phase Lance DPS is 217, burst damage is 1250.  I guess you are playing SS+ or some other mod that "rebalances" weapons.

EDIT:  Just checked Sunfire PDE.  Not only is DPS less (under 200), but it also costs 12 OP instead of Phase Lance's 10 OP.  The only redeeming thing about the Sunfire is the 700 range.  That is not enough for me to spend two more OP than Pulse Laser or Phase Lance.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 06, 2016, 04:49:08 PM
Well yeah, I'm not gonna play without SS+ :P

Anyway, again - its HE damage, so its 336 dps with a 2k burst vs armor, that being the entire point. Imma stop now :D
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: JohnDoe on January 06, 2016, 08:59:34 PM
Will there be SS+ unique ships based on BRDY hulls in the future? :)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: OOZ662 on January 06, 2016, 09:05:51 PM
I'm not sure I'd like to have to fight a Blackrock ship multiplied by the craziness modifier used on the SS+ ships.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 07, 2016, 08:33:49 PM
-good shrump-

Nice. Squall Gale Cannon variants always get points from me. I like to go with 5 small ballistics in the nose and flank turrets, then stick a Shredder Battery on the medium slot and go 100% knife fighting.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on January 07, 2016, 10:39:22 PM
-good shrump-
Nice. Squall Gale Cannon variants always get points from me. I like to go with 5 small ballistics in the nose and flank turrets, then stick a Shredder Battery on the medium slot and go 100% knife fighting.

Yeah, I run a fair few of those too in my fleets, for flux efficiency. But this is harder hitting against low-tech ships, always a must.

As a general rule, I think the Gale is the best medium slot choice on any Blackrock ship with lots of ballistic slots, provided you have enough small slots for kinetics to back it up. A Mantis with two Volley Guns and a Railgun can rock a Gale like nothing else:
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/DP4VYdL.png)
VGs and Gale in the same fire group, so on manual control, pow! instant armor hole with every trigger pull.
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: AeusDeif on January 08, 2016, 03:36:57 AM
hey, quick question, is there a way to tweak how rare these ships are in game, specifically in markets? I like the mod but want to keep a predominantly low-tech feel, so I thought it'd be nice to make BRDY tech harder to find.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Wyvern on January 09, 2016, 10:59:33 AM
Oh hey, speaking of weapons - I was just digging through the files, trying to figure out why the argus PD systems felt so much weaker than they used to.  And I found some things of note:

The first is that these weapons never got buffed when increased damage from high flux was removed from the game.

The second is that - for reasons I do not fully understand - they underperform against moving targets; an Argus Particle Beam, with its current stats, should be able to take out a salamander missile in two hits (same as burst PD); in actual practice, it requires three.  It looks like this has something to do with the autofire AI not tracking properly - when I add sufficient range mods for it to shoot at a salamander that's still on a straight line approach, it does manage to kill the missile in the expected two shots.

Testing against ships demonstrates some additional foibles.  The big one is that the game engine only calculates beam damage in tenth-of-a-second ticks; so when the Argus PD Array (for example) is "supposed" to fire for .28 seconds for a total burst damage of ~308, it actually only fires for .2 seconds, for a total burst damage of ~220.  (And no, I have no idea why the Codex claims that weapon "should" be doing 235 damage per burst; it's clearly not.)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 09, 2016, 11:04:34 AM
That's due to the way alex altered the way PD beam weapons aim in 0.7 - it seems to punish burst beams with extremely short fire durations.

I've been thinking of ways to combat it but I need to consider options a bit further.

Interesting with the tick mechanic though, I actually wasn't aware of that.

hey, quick question, is there a way to tweak how rare these ships are in game, specifically in markets? I like the mod but want to keep a predominantly low-tech feel, so I thought it'd be nice to make BRDY tech harder to find.

You would need to spend a lot of time tweaking BRDY variants, as well as fleet compositions in the .faction file, which would have undesireable side-effects. So not really.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Adraius on January 09, 2016, 11:08:07 AM
Oh hey, speaking of weapons - I was just digging through the files, trying to figure out why the argus PD systems felt so much weaker than they used to.  And I found some things of note:

The first is that these weapons never got buffed when increased damage from high flux was removed from the game.

The second is that - for reasons I do not fully understand - they underperform against moving targets; an Argus Particle Beam, with its current stats, should be able to take out a salamander missile in two hits (same as burst PD); in actual practice, it requires three.  It looks like this has something to do with the autofire AI not tracking properly - when I add sufficient range mods for it to shoot at a salamander that's still on a straight line approach, it does manage to kill the missile in the expected two shots.

Testing against ships demonstrates some additional foibles.  The big one is that the game engine only calculates beam damage in tenth-of-a-second ticks; so when the Argus PD Array (for example) is "supposed" to fire for .28 seconds for a total burst damage of ~308, it actually only fires for .2 seconds, for a total burst damage of ~220.  (And no, I have no idea why the Codex claims that weapon "should" be doing 235 damage per burst; it's clearly not.)
Oh wow, I thought I was just crazy.  I've noticed the Argus line of weaponry underperforming as well.  The beams seem to sometimes "slip past" missiles on a guided approach - even very slow missiles, IIRC.  Good to hear you're aware of the issue. =)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: AeusDeif on January 09, 2016, 01:44:45 PM
hey, quick question, is there a way to tweak how rare these ships are in game, specifically in markets? I like the mod but want to keep a predominantly low-tech feel, so I thought it'd be nice to make BRDY tech harder to find.

You would need to spend a lot of time tweaking BRDY variants, as well as fleet compositions in the .faction file, which would have undesireable side-effects. So not really.

I appreciate the answer. Mind me asking what the side-effects would be?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 09, 2016, 01:53:37 PM
Side effects would be that all brdy fleets and markets are completely different. The generation of ships and weapons is now chiefly based on the .faction file of the faction owning the market, and the variants of the ships referred to in that file, then modified by stability.

Thanks for the prompt bug report (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=10564.msg179572#msg179572) Wyvern! I'm glad to see that it was a bug so that the Argus line can stay viable.

For the time being I think I'll tweak a few things so that they work better until the patch hits, then revert.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Snrasha on January 10, 2016, 01:58:59 AM
Question:
I can add Morpheus in special list in a utility mod, who if defeated(and disabled) have big chance of have a boarding this ship?
If no, a other special ship? If no, again, thank you.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 13, 2016, 03:50:47 PM
So I got bored and decided to sit and get shot at by a Caesar with nothing but PD on my Onslaught, because I wanted to figure out which PD was best. This did not solve my boredom issue.

Anyways, I'm still playing - and its certainly empirical and not scientific - but the Shredder Battery (10 OP) doesn't feel noticeably better than an el-cheapo Flak Cannon (8 OP) at missile-PD. It might even be slightly worse. It is however noticeably better than the Heavy Machine Gun (also 10 OP).

Can't comment on balance here, just presenting my results :)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on January 13, 2016, 04:37:25 PM
i think the primary advantage of the Shredder Battery is that it absolutely murders ships when hitting exposed hull. and it's probably also better against fightercraft, at least the slow/large kind that are reliably hit even without the proximity fuse.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 15, 2016, 07:38:15 AM
  Is anyone else getting a weird bug where any weapon group with a scalaron blaster enters battle with autofire turned off?  I was wondering why some of my weapons weren't firing and it appears that even though in the refit screen my weapon groups are set to autofire, those with scalaron automatically turn off when entering battle? 
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 15, 2016, 07:58:19 AM
Weird, not happening here. Unless you mean on AI ships - they never set ScBs to autofire.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: HELMUT on January 15, 2016, 07:59:42 AM
I got something like that too but it's not linked to mods. It seems to happen when you let the AI take control of your flagship, it will disable autofire on some weapon group, even when you take back control of it. It can happen when you give an order to your fleet on the command screen and accidentally include your flagship (which automatically engage auto-pilot).
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 15, 2016, 09:26:53 AM
Yeah, because the AI makes its own decisions about autofire. Sometimes these decisions are questionable, but considering the random variants in SS+ its better than it not doing it.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 15, 2016, 02:18:40 PM
Weird, not happening here. Unless you mean on AI ships - they never set ScBs to autofire.

  That might be it.  at the begining of battle I order all of my ships around including mine, then retake control of it once its in the position i want.  So the AI turns off Scalarons?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 15, 2016, 04:02:10 PM
The AI makes its own decisions regarding autofire, and it never leaves a group that's only ScBs turned on - its probably set not to autofire Strike weapons.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Hazard on January 17, 2016, 03:29:00 AM
I'm not sure if this is a known bug, but Ferrocannon projectiles act a little strangely when fired while your ship is very nearly or completely off-screen. Either the beam flickers by very quickly, or doesn't appear at all, depending on how far away the camera is from your ship. The weapon hits correctly and has the right travel time, short as it is, but something doesn't work quite right with the graphic. A base game issue, perhaps?

Edit: This seems to be specific to the Ferrocannon. It doesn't happen with Ferroguns, and after swapping their ranges and projectile speeds, it still only occurs with Ferrocannons.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 21, 2016, 05:45:46 PM
Strange perk of how the bullets are drawn I think, they're basically normal bullet sprites stretched horribly that use a perk of how the game renders projectiles. I'm not sure what I can do about this but I'll look into it.

On the BRDY news front, development has been slow as I'm busy working on Interstellar Imperium stuff for DR and got busy irl. I've been tweaking and polishing a few things, though.

Here's a few things:

- Arcjet Burner system being changed to differentiate it from Burn Drive (Now allows very slight turning and strafing, as well as being shorter in duration and cooldown - closer to Burst Jets than before in overall concept)
- Quill Rockets, Fury Torpedo buffed, Quills especially will be a lot more useful than before and actually competes with Annihilators
- More sound effect polish
- Ironweaver OP decreased from 30 to 28, should make the weapon less of a punishing commitment
- Going to work on more BRDY campaign presence! At least one more market.
- Misc balance tweaks
- More portraits.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Megas on January 23, 2016, 08:01:48 PM
I expected Karkinos to be a powerful ship, but the Kurmaraja was a surprise.  Kurmaraja is a speed demon for a capital, and it feels like a mini-Onslaught if it is configured as such.  Four dual flak cannons stop a lot of missiles and beats up weakened ships, and Vulcans and Argus guard the rear.  Four Light Needlers, a Heavy Mauler, and Mjolnir is enough to blast anything, and Pilum and/or Scalaron Launchers tack on bonus damage.

The interdiction system freezes obnoxious frigates for the kill.  Handy at times.

I may post simulator smasher configurations for Karkinos and Kurmaraja later; I am out of time now.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: JohnDoe on January 24, 2016, 12:15:42 AM
More markets are always good :P. One thing that slightly puts me off about Corvus mode in Nexerelin is how spread out the systems are (some are off the chart in the intel screen), and that most of the systems have only a small number of markets which belong to even smaller number of factions. There just aren't enough interesting things happening.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: JohnDoe on January 24, 2016, 04:21:20 AM
By the way brdy_sentinel_drone.ship has one mismatched bracket at the end.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Megas on January 24, 2016, 08:53:16 AM
Blackrock simulator smashers below.

Karkinos
Capacitors:  0
Vents:  52
Weapons:  2x Shard Cannon, 2x Argus Particle Beam, 2x Heavy Burst Laser, 2x Heavy Mauler, 4x Mjolnir Cannon, 4x Vulcan Cannon, 4x Light Needler, 4x Dual Flak Cannon
Hullmods:  Augmented Engines, Extended Shields, Hardened Subsystems, Integrated Targeting Unit, Resistant Flux Conduits

Mjolnir, Heavy Mauler, and Light Needlers are an effective, long-ranged, and vent-spam friendly combination that works on everything, and Karkinos can focus-fire more than standard ships.  Most other mounts are dedicated to some form of anti-missile PD.  Dual Flak Cannons protect the sides and rear.  Vulcans and beams protect the front; Argus in small mounts is better anti-missile than burst PD, but heavy burst PD is cheaper in medium mounts.  Shard Guns/Cannons near the two rear dual flak deal with pesky frigates that try to attack from behind.

In one-on-one fights, Karkinos destroys whatever is in front of it.

Shield arc is short, and Extended Shields help block things that cannot be stopped by PD weaponry.


Kurmaraja
Capacitors:  0
Vents:  47
Weapons:  1x Mjolnir Cannon, 1x Heavy Mauler, 1x Pilum LRM Launcher, 2x Scalaron Pulse Launcher, 2x Argus Particle Beam, 2x Vulcan Cannon, 4x Dual Flak Cannon, 4x Light Needler
Hullmods:  Augmented Engines, Front Shield Emitter, Hardened Subsystems, Integrated Targeting Unit, Resistant Flux Conduits

Kurmaraja cannot equip as much of the Mjolnir/Mauler/Needler trio that Karkino or even Dominator can, but it is enough to work with, and four Dual Flak Cannons provide excellent coverage to the front and sides, and can pile even more damage if the enemy is close enough.  Vulcan and Argus guard the rear.  Pilums and Scalaron launchers are slow and long-ranged, and they pile more damage when they can.

Default omni shield is slow (bad when defending against a Tachyon Lance or other sudden attacks) and does not have great coverage.  Front Shield Emitter makes the shield faster and provide much better coverage.


EDIT:  I sometimes mix Shard Gun and Shard Cannon.  The one with 700 range, not 500, is top-tier.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Megas on January 24, 2016, 02:55:13 PM
Got a chance to try Morpheus with max skills, and it is extremely powerful.  With armor boosting skills, it is not hard to win without taking hull damage.  Much of its power comes from the built-in systems and weapons.  Configuring the Morpheus is straightforward:  Mount four shard cannons for anti-shield and better anti-armor than standard kinetics; slap the hullmods Augmented Engines, Hardened Subsystems, Integrated Targeting Unit, and Resistant Flux Conduits; and throw the rest of the OP into vents.  About the only thing it cannot do is solo the entire simulator.  Morpheus can take out up to fifty or so ships singlehandedly before CR decays too much, so it can still solo many fleets in the game.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: grinningsphinx on January 25, 2016, 07:25:04 PM
The one system that lets you reload everything and quickly re-fire is never used by the AI..like...never.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: sycspysycspy on January 29, 2016, 02:08:33 AM
The one system that lets you reload everything and quickly re-fire is never used by the AI..like...never.
Do you mean Stenos's system? That ship should never be given to AI, it's too defenseless. it can burst a lot of damage in the blink of an eye but it's kinda suicidal even for players.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: HELMUT on January 29, 2016, 05:17:15 AM
The Stenos does uses its system, but only when its flux is low (under 20/30%), which is why weapons with high flux generation like the plasma cannon are pretty much never reloaded.

The AI also always keep 1 autoloader charge available, not sure why.

It can be used as an AI ship, but not outfitted like an alpha strike murderer you would use as a flagship. Giving it a large missile launcher isn't a bad idea, even if it can't reload it with its system, at least it can stay far away and survive. It's not ideal though, and it's usually better to pay a bit more (twice) to get Kurmaraja instead, especially if its for the AI.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: JohnDoe on January 29, 2016, 05:55:38 AM
I put a ROLAND on my Stenos.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: grinningsphinx on January 29, 2016, 01:48:49 PM
Flux demands are brutal for templar stuff....P9 ships can use them, and the occasional BRD and Shadowyards.....Trying to use them on Imperium stuff was painful:)>
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Gezzaman on January 29, 2016, 03:16:28 PM
Rhon Lasers, Longinus laser and Clarents are the only things i find placable on non templar ships to be used reliably.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 29, 2016, 03:32:40 PM
The Stenos is going to have its ship system redesigned in the future. I'll probably use the autoloader system on a ship that's built around it (due to a built in weapon and somesuch)

The Stenos is going to become the BRDY artillery ship.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 29, 2016, 05:46:22 PM
I kind of get why, and artillery works nicely for such a fragile ship, but on the other hand I really enjoy flying the current Stenos, so *sniff*

What kind of artillery system? I still remember the range drones it had originally.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Kanil on January 30, 2016, 07:17:59 PM
The Stenos is perfect as-is, so I'm not looking forward to it being changed... and giving the system to a ship with a built in weapon sounds like it'll limit your options. I suppose it'd be easier to balance, though.

Any planned modifications to the Stenos beyond the system? If not, then I don't really need to complain about something I can easily adjust on my own copy.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 31, 2016, 01:55:14 PM
The problem with the existing system is that in order to get any use out of it, you are restricted to a tiny selection of weapons, with the added annoyance of how if anyone designs a mod weapon chiefly limited by cooldown, it becomes broken on the Stenos. The Stenos is fun with the right loadout, but the system would be better on a ship that's guaranteed to get intuitive use out of it

The current idea for the new system is to give projectile speed, damage, and range modified by current flux level for a duration. It would give a minuscule boost even at 0% flux in case you needed it, but at 90% flux the boost would be quite large. Overall the system would be useful if you just pop it, so that there wouldn't be any point gimping the Stenos by giving it flux hungry weapons to "game" the design.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 31, 2016, 04:31:28 PM
  I never really saw any issue with the current Stenos to be honest, the new system concept sounds interesting to mess around with in the simulator though.  I wouldn't use it in a normal playthrough of course, I find any kind of system that requires risk to be good (in this case having to have flux to make it worthwhile) simply not worth it when you're trying to manage the economics of a fleet, on top of that Blackrock ships are very fragile and under gunned with strange hardpoints compared to how you can optimize their vanilla counterparts.  In response to the "problem" you're talking about, if its too "unintuitive" to make use of, I would argue its too "unintuitive" to get any truly worthwhile use out of the majority of the BRDY fleet aside from the obvious strong hulls such as the morpheus, scarab, mantis and to some extent the Karkinos (kind of expensive).  These ships have always been sort of VERY situational for me, and have never felt like it was a real easy choice to make to pick one of them up.

  I'm not necessarily saying its a bad thing, they all have their purposes and roles (except the Knight) and in this case of the Stenos I always found it a pretty versatile cruiser, with the capability to lay down some heavy capital ship destruction with some sort of torpedo launcher in its large slot which could be reloaded.  The new system you are describing, unless it is very powerful, sounds too risky to atempt to make use of on an already very risky fragile BRDY hull and flux capacity.  I would put a cautious officer in the new Stenos (I find myself often having to put all my cautious officers in BRDY ships) and maybe turn it into some kind of long range fire support ship?  I would have to run some simulator with it.  Or I could just get a dominator or eagle instead since im probably trying to make money in the playthrough.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on January 31, 2016, 04:40:18 PM
Cycerin, something minor I noticed looking into something else - vanilla single-mount torps have a refire rate of 6/minute, while the single fury has a refire of 60/minute like the doubles.

Only matters with missiles 5 but it does make a difference then.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on January 31, 2016, 04:46:23 PM
The new system you are describing, unless it is very powerful, sounds too risky to atempt to make use of on an already very risky fragile BRDY hull and flux capacity.

I completely understand what you're saying, but

Quote
Overall the system would be useful if you just pop it, so that there wouldn't be any point gimping the Stenos by giving it flux hungry weapons to "game" the design.

The flux based bonus would be a bonus, and you don't have to be near death to be around 50% flux.

The rest of what you're saying seems like an interesting counterpoint to my own experience with BRDY ships. There are a lot of ships you can use that are as least as resilient as vanilla options and easy to manage in the AI's hands - the Scorpion was designed specifically with this in mind. For my playstyle, the faction's design has bigger payoff than most vanilla ships

E: (but that's not really a coincidence)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: ProdigyToby on January 31, 2016, 05:32:15 PM
The new system you are describing, unless it is very powerful, sounds too risky to atempt to make use of on an already very risky fragile BRDY hull and flux capacity.

I completely understand what you're saying, but

Quote
Overall the system would be useful if you just pop it, so that there wouldn't be any point gimping the Stenos by giving it flux hungry weapons to "game" the design.

The flux based bonus would be a bonus, and you don't have to be near death to be around 50% flux.

The rest of what you're saying seems like an interesting counterpoint to my own experience with BRDY ships. There are a lot of ships you can use that are as least as resilient as vanilla options and easy to manage in the AI's hands - the Scorpion was designed specifically with this in mind. For my playstyle, the faction's design has bigger payoff than most vanilla ships

E: (but that's not really a coincidence)

  Yes I forgot to mention the scorpion.  That is definitely one of the better ships, but iirc the reason I rarely used it was because the burn speed is 8 iirc?  I think 9 is where I prefer my destroyers.  I tried to use the Desdinova but that thing is a logistical nightmare.  It has way more weapon slots than it can possibly support with its flux capacity and even with the max allowed 40 ordinance points into vents it struggles to support a 2x ferrogun (a flux effecient weapon) and 4x volley gun (the MOST flux efficient and overpowered weapon in the BRDY arsenal.) setup.  Whats worse is it will use its arc jet thrusters in the hands of AI to get in front of your fleet and engage the enemy by itself, and promptly overflux itself and die before your other ships have a chance to get there, for the cost of 20 supplies per deployment.  Right now im experimenting with removing two of those volley guns for a whopping 2x ferrogun and 2x volleygun setup (with nothing in the back two smalls of course) and it holds up decently vs other vanilla destroyers (sunder etc, an 11 supply cost ship) but still comes close to overfluxing itself if the sunder happens to attack it back, so you can forget about the dream of having those two dual shard cannons on it :(.  The other destroyer with the missile is good as well, if you once again, skip adding a weapon or two in its small slots to make it survivable.  That was of course on my maxed simulator character so if you don't have decent skills you cant do half of what I'm talking about.  The "Fast Attacker" loadout the desdinva comes with has a base 684 flux dissipation and a 1740 flux operating cost (you could probably lower that to 1500 or so if you assume the back two smalls aren't firing as those are pd slots imo.).  Something is definitely going to get killed fast alright.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: JohnDoe on January 31, 2016, 05:50:23 PM
There are a lot of ships you can use that are as least as resilient as vanilla options and easy to manage in the AI's hands - the Scorpion was designed specifically with this in mind.

AI handles Scarab and Scorpion very well due to them being drone ships (and thus messes with opponent AI's targeting and positioning), but BRDY really lacks a cruiser that the player can reliably delegate to AI officers and rely upon (Knight is kinda undergunned).

Based on my observation mobility ship systems and flux-intensive systems (including reloaders) aren't really AI's strong point.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: HELMUT on February 01, 2016, 05:06:24 AM
ProdigyToby, Blackrock ships (especially the Desdinova) aren't flux neutral by design, you can't just fly them like a Sunder and keeping the pressure on the target. Hit & run tactics with big alpha strikes are what they are the best at thanks to their numerous weapon mounts and mobility.

Kill/overload, back off, and vent (they got a bonus with active venting) and get back for the finishing blow. Even the AI is "reasonably" good at it, at least in SS+. A Desdinova is rarely a good idea as an AI ship anyway, extremely expensive and quite fragile. A long range Desdi with a cautious officer can kinda works though, it won't let itself be caught easily.

Oh, and i managed to make the Knight works. Yes, pretty much everyone had that "Eww..." reaction when they opened the refit screen on the Knight and saw its weird loadout. But in the end, it's an all around better (but more expensive) Venture and should be expected to perform as such. Fitting it as a Scalaron pulse boat with Ferroguns does the job, an Achilles boat isn't a bad either as it can keep the enemy ships constantly on their toes, and leave them vulnerable for the rest of the fleet.

Of course, it's a carrier, and given the current state of fighters, it's going to fall off during very late game. But until then, it's a fairly efficient way to field fighters in battle and provide a reasonable amount of long-range firepower, which is why i tends to prefer it over the (even more expensive) Convergence.

Also, i like the Stenos new system. It's not as fancy as the previous one but given the AI tendency to screw it, i think it's better. It feel like a very passive system that will "add" to the ship, rather than the AI trying to play around it and take risks.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Delta7 on February 03, 2016, 01:44:27 PM
to cycerin: sorry if this off topic, but i found some of your music on newgrounds, loved it :D
i first heard some of it in carpe universium from the BSF forums, your stuff is awesome man.

also, BRDY is very definetly one of my favorite mods, and i even recently tracked down a few of your old BSF ships :3
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: cjuicy on February 03, 2016, 05:50:39 PM
Ha!!! I CAME FOR THE SHRIMP SCRAPPY!!! XD....


Sorry about that... I love the mod btw.... Shard Guns/Cannons and Shredder MG's FOR DAYZ.
Also, have you considered making a giant Robberfly. Not literally GIANT, but like a bigger bro. I'd laugh my posterior rump cavity off if I saw an Onslaught burn by a ludicrous amount of reapers. I love the speed your mod's ships usually have. Lightspeed was sooo last cycle. It's ludicrous speed now.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Adraius on February 03, 2016, 11:17:59 PM
BTW, has the Scarab been officially renamed?  The name Golem popped into my head today and seemed apt.  Not bug-themed, but not all their ships follow that pattern.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Gezzaman on February 04, 2016, 10:03:47 PM
Ye since in the near future 0.7.2 will have an official ship called scarab, pretty sure this one will need to be modified
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 07, 2016, 07:42:45 AM
Haha thanks re: the music, that's cool. Yeah BRDY actually came from the BSF forum metagame, I think I coined the faction name and designed the first ships in like 2008/9. Since it was supposed to be an arms and ship supplier, the name was quickly decided on as a generic "corporate" sounding thing.

Oh, and i managed to make the Knight works. Yes, pretty much everyone had that "Eww..." reaction when they opened the refit screen on the Knight and saw its weird loadout. But in the end, it's an all around better (but more expensive) Venture and should be expected to perform as such. Fitting it as a Scalaron pulse boat with Ferroguns does the job, an Achilles boat isn't a bad either as it can keep the enemy ships constantly on their toes, and leave them vulnerable for the rest of the fleet.

While I am redesigning the knight entirely, it really isn't bad in its current iteration. It can broadside to the right using its 3 medium ballistic turrets, it has the capability to mount large amounts of missiles or beams for support duty, and otherwise is a much faster alternative to the Venture that gives your fleet storage and fighters.

The Scarab is being renamed. Currently leaning on Weevil, all brdy frigs except the Imaginos are currently insects, so I don't wanna mess with that
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Doogie on February 07, 2016, 08:33:07 PM
Potential names to replace the Scarab

Reduvius (the name of the assassin-bug family)
Horntail
Cicada
Tarantula-Hawk (AKA mini fallout Cazadores)
Wasp (eh, too generic)
Sphingidae (colloquially known as the hawk moth)
Leafwing

I personally like Tarantula-Hawk or Horntail. The name "Weevil" doesn't really capture the power that the frigate has.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: sirboomalot on February 08, 2016, 12:01:33 AM
If you wanted to change it while keeping it the same you could go for something like Chrysina; though that loses out on any meaning the name itself might provide...
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Serenitis on February 08, 2016, 01:54:35 PM
If you wanted to change it while keeping it the same you could go for something like Chrysina; though that loses out on any meaning the name itself might provide...
Ateuchus.
Loses no meaning whatsoever. (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a224/Tifi78/Smilies/crossarms_zps5652b772.gif)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 09, 2016, 04:09:40 PM
I like Cicada but I'm sort of settling on Weevil because it needs to be a beetle, giving it some more consideration though.

(http://i.imgur.com/5FEQ6vO.png)

Working on the destroyer that will be the counterpart to the Scorpion.

Desdinova will recieve the designation Heavy Destroyer, become less common, and recieve a few changes, along with a future sprite/layout cleanup.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Ceebees on February 09, 2016, 05:24:36 PM
Given that the class for that displays as "Heavy _ Destroyer", i'm looking forward to the return of the Heavy Metal Destroyer after the Asura was bumped up to a cruiser.

Also, it might not be a specific type of beetle like the scarab or cicada, but might i cast Adephaga into the Ring of Consideration?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 09, 2016, 05:54:53 PM
Most of these suggestions have way too many syllables, I want to keep it simple like "Scarab"
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cyan Leader on February 09, 2016, 06:04:48 PM
Are you making the Desdinova not a fast destroyer anymore? It's its strongest selling point.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Doogie on February 09, 2016, 06:39:13 PM
You could always keep the name and change the spelling to "skarab" since it's just an alliteration of a Greek word.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 09, 2016, 06:52:49 PM
Are you making the Desdinova not a fast destroyer anymore? It's its strongest selling point.

God no
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cyan Leader on February 09, 2016, 07:07:15 PM
Good to hear, it might be my favorite BRDY ship. I'd love to see a boss variant one day.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Achataeon on February 09, 2016, 07:11:47 PM
I'd love to see a boss variant one day.

What if that happened to the Imaginos. Or the Morpheus. Or maybe even those Nevermores. God help us all...
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Zenobious on February 09, 2016, 08:39:28 PM
I like Cicada but I'm sort of settling on Weevil because it needs to be a beetle, giving it some more consideration though.

Firefly? Longhorn? Darkling? Glowworm? Whirligig?

Personally I'm fond of "Firefly", it helps that it has a neat history (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Firefly) of military (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Firefly) usage (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBB_Lampyridae)... although now that I look at the last link, "Lampyridae" sounds pretty cool as well, but I suppose it breaks your syllable rule too.

Quote
Working on the destroyer that will be the counterpart to the Scorpion.

Desdinova will recieve the designation Heavy Destroyer, become less common, and recieve a few changes, along with a future sprite/layout cleanup.

Can't wait to see both the new destroyer and the updated Desdinova!  ;D
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on February 09, 2016, 10:52:01 PM
@ Cycerin: Whoa, that silhouette looks awesome. Can you tell us anything about what kind of ship it is?

I'd love to see a boss variant one day.

What if that happened to the Imaginos. Or the Morpheus. Or maybe even those Nevermores. God help us all...

I've said it before, but I want boss shrimps. Two of them, one with 2 right pontoons, slow with some missile system, and one with 2 left pontoons, fast with a 'moar dakka' system.

Tell me that ain't perfect and I'll threaten violence :P

Also: Boss Karkinos
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Achataeon on February 09, 2016, 11:00:29 PM
Also: Boss Karkinos

Heh. A Karkinos with max skills can mount 4 Arondight Accelerators and just dominate. It's literally the perfect anti-capital ship. It's even capable of forcing a Paragon to its knees, driving it's flux up ridiculously quick even with the Paragon's fortress shields.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Takion Kasukedo on February 10, 2016, 04:29:40 AM
Hmm, guess I gotta post a video of my Kirk setup soon...
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 10, 2016, 07:50:35 AM
I don't really have plans to make 'boss ships', with the limited time I have available for modding lately - as cool as it would be. Most of my efforts lately have been focused on consolidating the faction's designs so that the most powerful ships stand out less and have less exaggerated strengths and weaknesses.

@ Taverius - the new destroyer is going to be fast, compact, and focused on forward firepower. Lots of hardpoints, not many turrets. I have some interesting ideas I want to explore, so the design isn't set in stone yet. I might make two versions of it, one with a built-in weapon. It's not a Dimensional Engine ship. : )

Hmm, guess I gotta post a video of my Kirk setup soon...

Captain Kark
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on February 10, 2016, 10:49:13 PM
Sounds like my kind of ship.

I'm also, kind of, looking forward to the changed Sthenos, just because having a cruiser I can give to the AI and have them be good at is nice :)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 13, 2016, 10:39:04 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/yGs4HNw.png)

Treshold makes it look like there's a demonic panther skull
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on February 13, 2016, 12:08:42 PM
Looks more canine to me but freaky anyway - I like it!
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Achataeon on February 15, 2016, 05:36:52 AM
Ooh. Hardpoints. Looks like it's inspired by the new phase destroyer we're getting.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 15, 2016, 07:23:22 AM
Burst jets, 2 M Hybrid hardpoints, 1 M Universal hardpoint. 3 S Hybrid turrets.

Not the flashiest ship, but very satisfying and reliable. Supply/deployment and maintenance is quite forgiving. It feels like a BRDY spin on the Hammerhead, but it has 600 armor and a narrow front shield with 0.9 efficiency and low upkeep. Can be combined with Scorpions for a nice destroyer fleet.

I've been sketching out some utility ships today, 3 frig-sized ones. Aphid-class Tanker, Ant-class Courier, and a yet-unnamed Scoutship. Might be able to squeeze in at least one of these in the next patch, perhaps more.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 15, 2016, 01:27:41 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/ZSJCVgj.png)

Near-final Eurypterus sprite
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 15, 2016, 01:49:56 PM
looks awesome! and very 3d-y.

do you plan on releasing it anytime soon, or do we have to wait until all the things you mentioned you were working on are done? ^^


on another note, i fought a lot of fleets with BRDY ships recently for pretty much the first time (because usually i go all BRDY myself when i play with mods) and i think the Cetonia needs a nerf. specifically, it's too good at escaping unharmed in pursuit battles, with little or no escort.
as i mentioned before, i do like that BRDY has actual military transports; ones that are still proper transports (as opposed to combat freighter hybrids) but aren't just free loot pinatas when forced to fight/flee and don't suffer the civilian sensor penalties. it's probably the type of ship i'd like to see most added in vanilla. but i feel the Cetonia is too good. with good base speed, a powerful speed system, decent shield & armor, and relatively strong defensive weaponry, it's very difficult to disable them before they reach the top of the map, even with a strong pursuit force. the only disadvantage compared to Tarsus or Buffalo is a little higher maintenance/deployment cost (double cost, actually, but "little" as in "just 3 supplies more").
i think their Arc Jet Burner is the main problem. it's just too much speed, for too long, with too little cooldown. and they should maybe also have some campaign disadvantage, like a bit reduced cargo capacity or increased fuel consumption, to partly make up for their military hull.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Toxcity on February 15, 2016, 04:10:53 PM
To be fair to the Cetonia, the Hegemony Buffalo isn't supposed to have a Civilian-Hull hullmod on it. Though I suppose the Cetonia has more advantages.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 15, 2016, 04:33:36 PM
yeah, having a "militarized" ship with civilian sensors is a bit weird..

i also think it's a shame that there aren't more versions of the Tarsus. seems like the ideal freighter to use for semi-military alterations, since it's very low tech (meaning cheap and reliable) but already pretty tough for a civilian ship. some additional weapon mounts for defense (like small missiles for salamanders) and better engines could turn it into quite the blockade-runner. same for the Phaeton.
and with the amount of piracy and constant near-open war between major factions in the sector, i'd think getting some transports that have a chance to survive if a battle goes bad would be high priority.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on February 16, 2016, 01:02:14 AM
Yeah there's a small bug with the hegemony auxiliary skin of the buffalo - it removes 'civilian_hull' (does not exist) instead of 'civgrade'. You can fix it yourself if it bothers you - I did.

Back on topic I think the Cetonia is fine.

Double supply might seem little in the mid-end game - until you actually want to use one in a small fleet, and realize that yes, it actually matters that you can get twice as much cargo for the same price.

If anything, right now the price of the Cetonia has an adverse effect on BRDY AI fleets - while you can't catch their haulers in pursuit they also spend much more of their fleet budget than normal into cargo.



Also, whoa loving that sprite. Is it supposed to remind me of a bark scorpion or other arachnid?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 16, 2016, 08:15:15 AM
i think even with a nerf, the doubled supply cost of the Cetonia would be justified. it will still be much faster than vanilla freighters even with reduced speed, it will still have better defenses, it will still have the advantage of military sensors, and it will still be able to use SO and BRDY specific hullmods. even that last point by itself is already a significant advantage.

i just did a quick test in the simulator: a Cetonia with SO and BRDY Drive Conversion can go from the bottom edge of the simulator map to the top in 1min 13sec. for comparison, a Tempest with both SO and AE (which is, i believe, the fastest a vanilla ship can be without skills, unless you count the Hyperion's teleporter) takes 58sec. a Medusa with the same loadout needs 1min 24sec, even with Skimmer use.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on February 16, 2016, 08:34:19 AM
Its not worth the supply price as it is, imo ... yeah its survivable but the most important part of a cargo ship is the cargo/supply and cargo/fuel ratios, and they're bad on the cet - which is why I never use them.

Plenty of other even more uncatchable cargo ships out there when you start looking at mods, all (mostly) properly balanced by abstruse supply/fuel costs like the cet.

If you're willing to pay premium, you can get the cet - though that's only worth if you never savescum and are willing to waste OP on PD and defence rather than MOAR CARGO - otherwise you can get what, 2.5x the cargo per monthly supply with a hegemony buffalo, also with military hull/sensors, and at a similarly advantageous ratio of cargo per fuel/ly?

Buffalo's a better ships basically always :D
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 16, 2016, 08:49:10 AM
well, yeah... if you never actually play out pursuit battles instead of just loading, then getting a ship that's much more useful for escaping in pursuit battles is probably not a sensible investment. :P

for balancing, i think it needs to be assumed that these battles happen. otherwise, why even bother giving the ships weapon mounts, ship systems, armor stats and the like?
plus, it's also a problem for playing against BRDY fleets, which is why i noticed for the first time now just how crazy good the Cetonia is at escaping even my Tempest and Wolfs with pursuit-battles-only loadouts.

but thanks for the tip about the buggy Buffalo skin. fixed it for myself as well now, and you're right, it does make at least the sensor advantage of the Cetonia feel less out of place.


edit: in case i came across as demanding, i really don't mean to tell Cycerin to balance his mod purely based on how i feel. ^^ i think, overall, he does a great job of making sure all the ships and weapons are as close to vanilla in power as possible, while also keeping them very unique and interesting. i just wanted to share my new impressions.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 16, 2016, 02:36:15 PM
Cetonias are a bit nerfed next version due to Arcjet Burner changes making them better for combat maneuvers than escape, plus I finally got around to making a change I alluded to in the description but didn't actaully implement (slightly higher hyperspace fuel consumption than other freighters)

Also, whoa loving that sprite. Is it supposed to remind me of a bark scorpion or other arachnid?

Hint in the name
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 16, 2016, 03:02:34 PM
Cetonias are a bit nerfed next version due to Arcjet Burner changes making them better for combat maneuvers than escape, plus I finally got around to making a change I alluded to in the description but didn't actaully implement (slightly higher hyperspace fuel consumption than other freighters)
oh yeah, i remember wondering what was up with that description. these changes sound good. :]

btw, how do you pronounce "Cetonia"? ^^
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 16, 2016, 03:17:07 PM
No idea. ;D "See-ton-ee-a"?

(http://i.imgur.com/L3t3y90.png)

Ancient, powerful, and unimaginably expensive to operate. Now with a fresh makeover!

The Desdinova is quite a bit different now. It has a lot more inertia - while it's still ridiculously fast, in the end, it's a massive brick jetting around on massive amounts of thrust.

Maneuvering it requires more forethought now, because you have to commit when you decide to go in.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 16, 2016, 03:50:49 PM
No idea. ;D "See-ton-ee-a"?
guess i'll just go with Ke-tone-ya, then..
Quote
Ancient, powerful, and unimaginably expensive to operate. Now with a fresh makeover!
/drool

i love the new sprite. looks both sleek and heavy somehow, and the bridge being a much more prominent feature now looks great. the rear hardpoints look kinda fragile though.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on February 17, 2016, 08:29:13 AM
Holy moly that's sexy. Will it still have the old awkward mix of angles on the middle mounts?

Oh and yeah I looked up the name hah - a sea scoprion. Cool!

And uh ... being Italian I automatically default to latin pronunciation of unknown words.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 17, 2016, 09:45:24 AM
The two small ballistic turrets at the back are now Hybrid and point backwards. The front ballistic hardpoints had their arc increased to 10 from 5, and the front ballistic turrets had their arcs decreased to 120. The front energy turret is now universal, so you can put another missile there if you like, or more ballistics. The medium energy turret was moved forward a little.

Basically, 90% of the ship's firepower is directed straight forward, but it now has a tiny bit more rearward PD coverage, or even room for rear firepower if that floats your boat.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Nanao-kun on February 17, 2016, 01:01:10 PM
I pronounced it "Seh-toh-nee-ah".

Loving both sprites too, of course.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Adraius on February 17, 2016, 09:02:58 PM
I pronounced it "Seh-toh-nee-ah".
I second this one. =)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Mr. Nobody on February 18, 2016, 12:53:45 AM
Assuming I hat the idea in second place in the pool also get approved: what kind of save monsters can we expect to see?

Because I don't know if it's a bug or not but
Spoiler
i did see in the pause menu a alien looking OMNOMNOMNOM ship, same ship was also posted in a contest
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 18, 2016, 04:49:32 AM
Tsee-too-nyaaaa~~ ^_^
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 18, 2016, 07:49:03 AM
Assuming I hat the idea in second place in the pool also get approved: what kind of save monsters can we expect to see?

Because I don't know if it's a bug or not but
Spoiler
i did see in the pause menu a alien looking OMNOMNOMNOM ship, same ship was also posted in a contest
[close]

Not entirely sure I understand what you're talking about, but space monsters are on hold indefinitely due to limited time. It would be a huge undertaking.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: HELMUT on February 18, 2016, 07:58:09 AM
The Omnomnom is a joke ship from P9, not Blackrock.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Hazard on February 19, 2016, 07:06:46 AM
After considerable consideration, I'm firmly of the opinion that the world needs more ferrofluid accelerators. Perhaps a dual Ferrocannon with doubled fire rate, more range and greater power? Twice the animation goodness with more bang for your buck!

On a serious note, to my eyes the Ferrocannon is the most visually appealing weapon among all of the vanilla and mod content I've seen. Would be nice to have a third weapon in the family, is all. :)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 19, 2016, 07:28:12 AM
How about Ferrocannon: Super Soaker Edition - sprays magnetic fluid at the enemy, totally Soakin' em! Radical!

Jokes aside, though, it's one of my personal favorite weapon families too, and I would have created more if it wasn't so redundant. If anything there might be room for a small, 8 OP ferro... smallgun?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on February 19, 2016, 02:54:35 PM
Well, there's no M kinetic in the 450-700 range - in vanilla anyway - so I've often through about a 'sawn-off-barrel' ferroblaster.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 19, 2016, 11:20:40 PM
a smaller Ferrogun, with higher projectile speed and damage per shot as the Railgun, but lower dps and efficiency, would be nice.

and i'm still hoping to see a large Extended Gale Revolver or something. the medium sized ones work very well in combination with Ferroguns and -cannons, but there's no large HE weapon in BRDY (or vanilla) that fits that niche.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on February 20, 2016, 02:12:27 PM
I'd like to see the jury-rigged off-brand Ferroguns mentioned in the Codex description ;). I always felt like the Volley Gun was pretty clearly the small weapon of that family; it fills the same role with slightly different flavor.

It could be really interesting, though. Maybe as a built-in on the Serket? I wonder how many of the phase ship changes could/should be applied to phase fighters.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 20, 2016, 02:15:57 PM
Small ferroguns would be sort of redunant, sadly. I'll think about it.

Currently working on a new small energy weapon aimed at close support, the Particle Lance. It will deal pulsed kinetic + emp damage, but it doesn't have the range of the tac laser and graviton.

I'm not quite sure what'll happen to the Serket with the phase changes. Gonna have to playtest for sure.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 21, 2016, 11:45:46 AM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/KbImPbX.png)
[close]

BRDY lacked a safe, low impact small energy option so there's this now. Disregard the bugged front hardpoint alignment on the Megaceras.

Stats aren't entirely final, but the overall design of the weapon is something like this.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 21, 2016, 02:27:37 PM
neat. looks like the perfect weapon for a Locust swarm.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 22, 2016, 06:16:20 PM
neat. looks like the perfect weapon for a Locust swarm.

It's a good weapon to use if you want to make more survivable brdy frigs, and it's not too bad on bigger ships either. A Scarab Weevil with 4 of them is a nasty close support ship. Gets rid of annoying threats like Wolves, bombers and fighters.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: JohnDoe on February 24, 2016, 05:24:15 AM
Wonder how well it doubles as a PD weapon with IPDAI.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 24, 2016, 08:15:20 AM
Not very well, since it fires 13 bursts a minute as of my current version.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 24, 2016, 08:53:54 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/2zPhBzM.png)

Doing a pass of all the weapon sprites. Not finished with the scalaron blaster sprite yet, it's proving to be kind of a challenge : 0
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on February 25, 2016, 04:26:05 AM
Oooh, its got Shirow-style Bunny Ears! I like :D
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: McMatthew on February 25, 2016, 06:09:26 PM
Just a quick question. Does the strike suite mod and the ordnance skill affect weapon' critical damage, such as the shard weapons and sledge gun?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Surge on February 26, 2016, 12:33:49 PM
So what are you gonna rename the Scarab to?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: McMatthew on February 26, 2016, 04:43:09 PM
I say we march over to the 7.2 patch notes and show that punk Alex what happens when you mess with the modding community. Who's with me!
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 27, 2016, 12:37:09 PM
Currently working on weapon slot covers, phase ship rebalancing and other 0.7.2a stuff. Plus a tuneup/cleaning/redesign of the Nevermore and its sprite.

Just a quick question. Does the strike suite mod and the ordnance skill affect weapon' critical damage, such as the shard weapons and sledge gun?

Not 100% sure about this

So what are you gonna rename the Scarab to?

Weevil
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Toxcity on February 27, 2016, 12:44:43 PM
I'm sensing time control shenanigans in the Nevermores future.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Surge on February 27, 2016, 12:52:33 PM
A temporal shell cruiser or capital would be right up BRDY's lane of high-tech insanity.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on February 27, 2016, 01:42:14 PM
I'm sure the Dankermore will be as fun as it used to be. I have faith in you.

So long as you don't mess with the shrimp. NOBODY TOUCHES THE SHRIMP.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 27, 2016, 02:46:47 PM
I'm not changing any fundamental things about the Nevermore, just polishing it, updating the sprite and turret layout, etc. It's the oldest BRDY ship and I have no plans of fundamentally altering how it works.

Might do something time scale-related for the Stenos, however.

Preview:

(http://i.imgur.com/typARVd.png)

Still have a lot to do. Working on this ship is basically a nightmare...

(http://i.imgur.com/p0ytUvZ.png)

And here are some slot covers. The small hardpoint ones will be changed.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Toxcity on February 27, 2016, 03:20:46 PM
Wow, you work fast! Good job on those slot covers.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Mr. Nobody on February 28, 2016, 10:37:48 AM
So i tried that one Phase ship with a lot of inbuilt weapons thinking "Nice! A good Phase Ship that i don't have to outfit!"

You can all imagine my face when it completely annihilated a pair of frigates and a bunch of fighter.
Holy damn! I don't want to imagine a Cruiser or a Capital version
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 28, 2016, 11:51:40 AM
those slot covers fit the color scheme very well, but they look a bit.. blurry compared to the rest of the ship.

So i tried that one Phase ship with a lot of inbuilt weapons thinking "Nice! A good Phase Ship that i don't have to outfit!"

You can all imagine my face when it completely annihilated a pair of frigates and a bunch of fighter.
Holy damn! I don't want to imagine a Cruiser or a Capital version
are you talking about the Morpheus? i don't think it really counts as a phase ship, its defense just works too differently (despite technically being a unique kind of phase cloak). that ship is supposed to be incredibly powerful for its size, since it costs as much as a capital ship, yet has the peak performance time of a frigate.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 28, 2016, 05:59:46 PM
those slot covers fit the color scheme very well, but they look a bit.. blurry compared to the rest of the ship.

Good call, gave them a round with a sharpening filter.

(http://i.imgur.com/K7Xe07a.png)


A relic from the Exodus, this destroyer is as fast as it is large and powerful. A logistical nightmare, vulnerable to strike weapons, the Desdinova has survived more than six attempts at decommissioning due to its undeniable usefulness as a shock weapon and heavy interceptor.

In recent years, the hull has been modernized for continued use in the Sector. Ostensibly created and then maintained by Blackrock to 'deal with internal threats', the Desdinova is one of the most gratuitous warships ever designed. It's a well-known piece of Corporate trivia that this destroyer packs enough raw thrust to de-orbit large space platforms on its own; a feat which has actually been performed in the past. While decades of modernization have made up for some of the hull's biggest problems, originally, the Desdinova-class was not designed to survive more than 4-5 sorties before being broken down for its core components.

A titanic array of Arcjet engines propel the ship's great bulk during its signature bone-rattling combat maneuvers. Primarily known for catching and annihilating frigates and destroyers, this ship is also capable of avoiding most ships it cannot duel, making it enormously useful in the right hands. While it consumes more hyperspace fuel than any other destroyer - not to mention the intensive, expert maintenance required to keep it running - the Desdinova can tear apart more than enough targets to make up for its flaws.


What's this foreboding new hullmod, though?
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/fPnAy3U.png?1)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Surge on February 28, 2016, 06:04:54 PM
Anyone who would try and decommission a Desdinova has never seen one of those things in action.
They're like the Tempest of destroyers, very fast, annoying, generously armed, with just good enough flux stats to leverage all that firepower effectively.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 28, 2016, 06:06:49 PM
You'll find the new Desdinova has a great deal less in common with the Tempest than before. :P
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Taverius on February 28, 2016, 06:17:34 PM
So basically the new Desdi is a Pinto with a JATO booster welded to the boot?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Achataeon on February 28, 2016, 06:28:55 PM
So basically the new Desdi is a Pinto with a JATO booster welded to the boot?

I see what you did there.

So Overtuned Drive Systems increase max speed but decrease maneuverability? De-orbiting space stations does need a lot of thrust, after all (from my KSP experience hehe)
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on February 28, 2016, 06:44:42 PM
So basically the new Desdi is a Pinto with a JATO booster welded to the boot?

: D More like a seagoing warship with a few Saturn-Vs strapped to it.

So Overtuned Drive Systems increase max speed but decrease maneuverability? De-orbiting space stations does need a lot of thrust, after all (from my KSP experience hehe)

It's a hullmod that increases all engine damage taken by 200%, and incurs 25% greater CR loss from hull damage during combat.

The Desdinova is much less maneuverable than before, but that's done through stat changes and ship system changes. It has much more inertia, but speed is mostly unchanged, meaning you will actually go further on one Arcjet charge than before, especially if you hold W and don't strafe.

The other main change is that it's way more durable. It gained 1500 hull and 100 armor.

Ramming can be quite viable with the Desdinova now due to its increased mass. You can push annoying ships out of the battle if you flame them out first, even a Hammerhead can be sent hurtling quite far away.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Nanao-kun on February 28, 2016, 07:04:24 PM
"packs enough raw thrust to de-orbit large space platforms on its own"

Woah.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Surge on February 28, 2016, 07:07:14 PM
The other main change is that it's way more durable. It gained 1500 hull and 100 armor.
So it gained an ablative frigate strapped to the bow?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Sy on February 29, 2016, 12:07:04 AM
Good call, gave them a round with a sharpening filter.
\o/

the new Desdinova description sounds cool, i love when there's some more lore and fluff that fits in with the ship.

It's a hullmod that increases all engine damage taken by 200%, and incurs 25% greater CR loss from hull damage during combat.
so, a Desdinova with Unstable Injector takes 7 times normal engine damage? O:

So it gained an ablative frigate strapped to the bow?
best use for a Hermes i've ever seen.
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Ceebees on February 29, 2016, 02:08:08 AM
The most minute of nitpicks, but i'm fairly sure individual ships are decommissioned and classes are retired. Also, i still miss the prow feelers.

That aside, a more durable Desdinova sounds like the deadliest idea of the year so far. Can't wait to get my grubby hands on one!
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Mr. Nobody on February 29, 2016, 06:44:17 AM

So i tried that one Phase ship with a lot of inbuilt weapons thinking "Nice! A good Phase Ship that i don't have to outfit!"

You can all imagine my face when it completely annihilated a pair of frigates and a bunch of fighter.
Holy damn! I don't want to imagine a Cruiser or a Capital version
are you talking about the Morpheus? i don't think it really counts as a phase ship, its defense just works too differently (despite technically being a unique kind of phase cloak). that ship is supposed to be incredibly powerful for its size, since it costs as much as a capital ship, yet has the peak performance time of a frigate.
[/quote]

The big one with the spiky bits.

And I just read "phase cloak" on the blueprint, never thought it would be a unholy engine of destruction like that

--edit:
How much does the big explosion-plus-a-million-homing-bolts thing scale? Is there a cap or absorbing a entire II Apocalypse MIRV allows me to wipe out half of the battlefield?
Title: Re: [0.7.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.1 - Updated
Post by: Cycerin on March 01, 2016, 07:28:48 AM
Looking at possibly patching tonight, need to see how it goes, but my plan is to get it out today or tomorrow.

The other main change is that it's way more durable. It gained 1500 hull and 100 armor.
So it gained an ablative frigate strapped to the bow?

Many robberflies were sacrificed to bring you these upgrades...

How much does the big explosion-plus-a-million-homing-bolts thing scale? Is there a cap or absorbing a entire II Apocalypse MIRV allows me to wipe out half of the battlefield?

There's a cap, but it's quite hard to reach it.

The most minute of nitpicks, but i'm fairly sure individual ships are decommissioned and classes are retired.

Good catch, fixed.

E: Got shaders in for the new sprites

(http://i.imgur.com/gGWw1E5.png?1)
Title: Petch release! 0.8.2!
Post by: Cycerin on March 01, 2016, 04:35:11 PM
After a lot of turns in the simulator...

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/fIEBk6J.png)
[close]

It's time to get this patch out!

(http://i.imgur.com/E1YWPSF.png)

DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK FOR STARSECTOR 0.7.2a! (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards%200.8.2.zip)

0.8.2

Long polish changelog this time, plus some content. Main changes are the Desdinova and Nevermore, there's one new weapon, one new ship, and several weapons recieved a sprite overhaul. The Dart SRM, Quill Rocket and Fury Torpedo have been buffed/changed.

Enjoy : D

Changelog:

Spoiler
- Added Eurypterus-class Destroyer, a front-loaded and fast destroyer intended as an economical, solid option like the Scorpion, but focused on speed instead of staying power.
- Added Particle Lance, 5 OP small energy beam that does kinetic + EMP damage in bursts. A support weapon that scales well in numbers, but even one Particle Lance can add some extra pressure for little flux.
- Desdinova sprite, stats and description changed, details below
- Updated weapon sprites: Scalaron Blaster, Gale/Extended Gale, Shard Cannon/Dual Shard/Shard Gun, Shredder, INM Assault Gun
- Added weapon slot covers
- Buffed Fury Torpedoes:
 Damage increased to 2400 from 2250
 Max speed increased to 475 from 400, launch speed to 350 from 300, flight time decreased so distance travelled is the same
 Explosion Radius now matches visual explosion radius
 Full AoE damage Radius decreased by 5
 Projectile collision radius slightly increased
 Flux/launch to 300 from 200
- Changed Quill rockets:
 Quills were not competitive with Annihilators and only worked in niche fleets where you spammed large numbers of them. These changes make them reliable and viable as a flux-neutral anti shield option.
 Speed and launch speed greatly increased (Autofire will now score some hits on slow frigates - Lashers etc.)
 Ammo increased by 10 for the launcher and 20 for the pod
 Spread/rocket from 2 to 10
 Proj HP increased by 10
 Can no longer fire over allied ships
- BRDY Assault Fitting: EMP Resistance bonus increased from 50% to 60%
- Shard Cannon/Dual Shard Cannon: Flux/Shot increased from 67 to 70, fire rate very slightly lowered, cooldown very slightly increased
- Shard Gun: Flux/Shot increased from 30 to 33
- Volley Gun: Total flux to fire increased by 80, total damage/volley decreased by 80 (now 480 damage @ 420 flux)
- Scalaron Blaster: Damage increased by 50, Refire delay increased by 0.5 sec, inaccuracy increased by 2 degrees, flux/shot increased by 250
  Scalaron Blaster now uses its own on-hit script that deals 10% of the shot's energy damage and 25% of the shot's EMP damage as an extra EMP arc
  Previously, it was using the Scalaron Pulse on-hit script that dealt 25% of the shot's energy damage, making the weapon deceptively powerful (Could deal as much as 1600 damage in one shot against hull)
  Tooltip now clarifies on-hit effect
- Argus PD Array: Damage slightly increased
- PDE weapons: DPS decreased by ~5-10% to make up for vanilla bug fix that causes HE damage to properly count for beam armor damage reduction
- Megaceras: Flux dissipation decreased by 20, speed increased by 5, acceleration/deceleration slightly decreased
- BRDY phase cloak: Speed boost removed, mechanically identical to standard phase cloak
- Asura: Max speed increased by 5, cloak upkeep/start cost slightly decreased
- Desdinova:
 Designation now Heavy Destroyer
 Added Overtuned Drives built-in hullmod: Engines take 2x more damage in combat, ship suffers 25% more CR loss from hull damage taken
 Arc Jet Thrusters: New SFX. Inertia increased. Can now keep more speed longer from holding W after accelerating. Speed is lost more rapidly if strafing. Changing directions rapidly is generally less effective. Gains less deceleration.
 Base Value increased by 10k credits
 Mass increased, acceleration, deceleration and turnrate heavily decreased, max. speed decreased by 5
 Hull increased by 1500 (to 6000)
 Armor increased by 100 (to 750)
 Flux Capacity increased by 200, Shield Upkeep decreased to 0.3
 Fuel/ light year increased by 2
 Peak performance increased by 30 sec. (To 210 seconds)
 Changed Desdinova turrets: Side small ballistic turrets are now Small Hybrid, angles changed (can no longer converge with the other turrets, covers sides/back), rear Medium turret moved forward
 Frontal ballistic turret arcs slightly decreased, front energy changed to Universal
- Silverfish-B: Ship System changed to Spark Drive, max. speed decreased by 5
- Nevermore:
  Sprite and layout update
  Frontal medium ballistics turned into Small Hybrid turrets, frontal Small Ballistic turrets and rear Small Energy turrets turned into Hybrids, midship Medium Energy turrets turned into Medium Hybrid turrets
  Hull increased by 500, Armor increased by 150, shield arc increased by 10 degrees, shield upkeep decreased by 0.05
  Antimatter Lance cooldown decreased by 1 sec
  Fuel/light year increased by 1, CR% to deploy increased by 5
- 0-Series Nevermore: Shield Upkeep decreased by 0.10
- Knight: Shield Upkeep decreased by 0.15
- Mantis: Hull increased by 100
- Locust: Shield Upkeep decreased by 0.10, accel/decel increased by ~70, Flux Dissipation increased by 10
- Convergence: Shield Upkeep decreased by 0.10, added regen to Bulwark Drone ship system
- Gonodactylus: Cargo Capacity increased by 10
- Cetonia: Fuel/light year increased by 1
- Spark Drive: No longer costs flux or stops flux dissipation
- Dart SRMs:
  New firing sounds and redesign:
  8 OP Dart SRM renamed to Dart SRM Launcher
  Proj HP lowered from 85 to 50, now does 50 EMP damage, damage lowered to 135 from 140
  Dart SRM Launcher now fires a continuous volley of 18 missiles up from 2x3, cooldown increased by 1 sec, ammo regen increased to 0.5, now reloads clips of 18
  Light Dart SRM now fires a continuous volley of 9 missiles up from 1x3, ammo regen increased to 0.25, now reloads clips of 9
  These changes aim to make them better as a PD screen and overall suppression weapon
  Dart SRM Launcher ammo increased to 126, Light Dart SRM ammo increased to 72
  Fixed Dart SRM AI to prioritize fighters over other targets properly
- Scalaron Repeater: Range lowered by 100, emp/shot lowered by 10, chargeup increased by 0.05 seconds, damage/shot increased by 5, proj. speed increased to 650
- Arclight LFO: Lowered speed slightly
- Achilles MRM Stage 2 Missiles: Slightly improved tracking
- Ironweaver ADC: Ordnance Points lowered to 28 from 30
- Arcjet Burner: Duration and cooldown decreased - now allows slight steering while active
- Gale Cannon, Gale Battery & Extended Gale Cannon: New SFX (Sounds similar to old ones but better)
- Fixed unintended Burst Jet visual change
- Renamed Scarab-class Heavy Frigate to Weevil-class Heavy Frigate due to vanilla name conflict
- Renamed Kurmaraja ship system from Interdiction Array to Scalar Inhibitor due to vanilla name conflict
- Shredder MG now simply named Shredder
- Replaced approx 60% of Desdinova spawns in campaign with Eurypterus spawns
- Updated a few missions
- Updated a few descriptions
- Added one portrait
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New update!
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 01, 2016, 04:36:54 PM
It's here!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New update!
Post by: Toxcity on March 01, 2016, 06:14:13 PM
The new Scalaron Blaster sprite looks great. The barrels for the Gale and Extended Gale look a bit strange compared to their base Sprites though.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New update!
Post by: Taverius on March 01, 2016, 06:51:06 PM
Loving the Eurypterus - fun little ship. Spoiler: my setup uses blasters :D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New update!
Post by: Cycerin on March 02, 2016, 07:44:15 AM
: D

I'm fond of the base Assault variant, simply because it uses Shredder Batteries as direct weapons

The new Scalaron Blaster sprite looks great. The barrels for the Gale and Extended Gale look a bit strange compared to their base Sprites though.

Bah, I knew I was forgetting something. Goddamn black pixels, bane of my existence.

Anyone tried the new Dart SRM yet? It's quite a trip compared to the old one.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New update!
Post by: Ali on March 02, 2016, 09:33:47 AM
Lots of nice additions there!

Am gna miss the nevermores in my fleet not bein able to roll dual medium shard cannons & dual blasters now thou!  :'(

Hope more buff's / ships / weps are on the horizon!!  ;D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New update!
Post by: Cycerin on March 02, 2016, 10:05:06 AM
Thanks! There's always stuff on the horizon. ;)

The aim with the Nevermore changes is to make the ship slightly less cheesy when optimized, as well as making it coast less soft flux and be more resilient, so that it's better in AI hands. Overall, it's actually not much weaker than before. Check out the new Advanced stock variant for an example of what the new Nevermore can do.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Taverius on March 02, 2016, 11:55:04 AM
The updated NVM is still plenty strong yeah. It just relies more on the spinal now, rather than having the spinal be the support to you medium mounts.

Btw, more and more I think it should have expanded mags built-in and that OP removed.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Cycerin on March 02, 2016, 12:01:01 PM
That would take the satisfaction out of knowing exp. mags is strong on the ship, no?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Taverius on March 02, 2016, 12:07:04 PM
I feel that argument, but I think the one module that makes the AML nearly 50% better being built-in is a stronger argument.

I mean, realistically any NVM build without mags is second-class and you always put it on anyway, so while there's a small cool factor in 'yeah ive put on this hullmod that makes it all better' practically speaking it might as well be built-in - I know if I was in charge of that in the real world I'd have made the engineers making them build it in, especially now that the lance has a much stronger impact overall on the strength of the ship.

Still, that's after flying it since the early days and I've gone back & forth on it, but I though I'd voice it out.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Megas on March 02, 2016, 12:28:46 PM
The last time I played Nevermore, before 0.7.2, I relied mostly on Phase Lance, Maulers, and Light Needlers are my primary attacks, and used the main gun opportunistically, like missiles for other ships.  I did not use Expanded Magazines on Nevermore back then.

Cannot say for sure with the updated Nevermore until I try it (which will be a while due to lack of time to play even standard 0.7.2 seriously).
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Cycerin on March 02, 2016, 12:42:35 PM
Exp mags makes the ship far better at hit-and-run. If you want to focus 100% on kiting or full on assault, it might not be worth it. That's the balance I'm looking for, ideally.

But perhaps that balance has been tilted a bit after the changes? I still wouldnt get exp. mags on a Nevermore with 4 shard cannons and 3 dual shards, for instance.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Nanao-kun on March 02, 2016, 06:46:41 PM
I don't remember if they'd always been like this or I just didn't notice until now, but every so often phasing in the Morpheus has no effect on approaching missiles, bullets, or beams. I just lost one because the half dozen harpoons I'd hoped to absorb hit me while phased instead.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Achataeon on March 02, 2016, 07:29:25 PM
I don't remember if they'd always been like this or I just didn't notice until now, but every so often phasing in the Morpheus has no effect on approaching missiles, bullets, or beams. I just lost one because the half dozen harpoons I'd hoped to absorb hit me while phased instead.

I think it only absorbs stuff from the front. So you'd actually have to spin around while phased if you want to protect yourself. I may be wrong though.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Cycerin on March 02, 2016, 10:12:57 PM
That's good, thanks for the feedback. : )

I don't remember if they'd always been like this or I just didn't notice until now, but every so often phasing in the Morpheus has no effect on approaching missiles, bullets, or beams. I just lost one because the half dozen harpoons I'd hoped to absorb hit me while phased instead.

It's a bug introduced by the new phase mechanics, you need to manually set the ship's collision state now. I'll have a fix for it out soonish.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: AnimeHeretic on March 03, 2016, 08:12:38 AM
I've posted in this thread before but it's been a very long time.

First I just wanted to say, Cycerin, I applaud you for creating what has been, and still is, my absolute favorite mod for starsector.  You're sprites are amazing, your ships unique, your weapons and special abilities a sight to behold and a joy to use.  I've been playing with the Morpheous as my personal ship and it is the most fun I've ever had playing starsecter in all the years and characters I've had to remake.

Second, some questions.  What exactly does LFO stand for? Very curious.  And also what type of weapon are they considered for game mechanics?  Are they missiles and therefore use missile related skills, or are they ballistic and use ballistic related skills?

Thanks in advance!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Cycerin on March 04, 2016, 07:32:12 AM
Thanks a lot, that makes my day. Really. : )

LFO stands for Laser Filament Operator. It's a reference to Low Frequency Oscillator, a pretty central concept in synthesizers.

They are considered missiles, I believe. Although they gain ammo from Expanded Magazines due to the weapon mount type being ENERGY. I need to investigate this a bit closer, actually...
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Zenobious on March 06, 2016, 09:44:11 AM
Took the Desdinova out for for some testing. I miss the feeler-antennae on the front... the new mandibles just aren't quite as cool. That's definitely the only thing I miss, though; the ship's new handling and performance seems a lot more interesting and suited to the fluff description. It's got a weighty, powerful feel to it, like a beefy muscle car. Knocking around frigates and even other destroyers with its mass and velocity is a lot of fun, the only downside being losing all my forward armor when I accidentally ram an asteroid with the shields down at over 400 su. And the overall quality of the sprite has definitely improved -- I can't wait to see what you've got in store for the other ships!

I thought I would miss the medium ballistic slots on the Nevermore, but in practice it doesn't seem to matter as much as I worried it would. Still a great cruiser, and almost as fun to fly as the new Desdinova. I agree that it seems to help the AI out, as previously when I ran into enemy Nevermores they seemed to be piling on way too much soft flux and thus easily overloaded or ignored.

The new destroyer is less exciting, but probably only because it has to compete with the Desdinova and Nevermore for my attention -- a comparison that would leave most ships feeling underwhelming. It's a solid addition to the destroyer lineup, though; I like ships with heavy forward firepower and good maneuverability, and it fits that quite nicely.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 06, 2016, 07:42:17 PM
Recently installed the mod, here's my first impressions after two days or so of play.

Generally the ships are really fun to fly. I refuse to believe that the Desdinova is a heavy destroyer. She's a light cruiser wearing skimpy clothing one size too small. I get the feeling that the Karkinos was never intended to have 4 Mjollnir Cannons fit onto it; that kind of overlapping forward firepower is very hard for anything to deal with, and since you don't need much else in the way of murderguns you can wrap the thing in Shredder Batteries. Which aren't terrible at killing things either, actually. I haven't seen any of the Eurypterus-class destroyers; are you sure they're in the game?

I don't think anything is too powerful, except maybe the Dart SRM. I stick it in every single small slot I can. It's kind of crazy good, maybe too good. The Dart SRM only gets better as you get more and more of them in a fleet, and when you start mixing and matching ships from other mods you can get stuff like the Diable Avionics Maelstrom battlecruiser with 8 Dart SRMs on top of the built-in Micro Missile Array… R.I.P. all fighters and frigates and light destroyers and my framerate.

I don't think the Nevermore needs to have Expanded Magazines be a built-in hullmod. I've outfitted mine with 4x Shard Cannon, 3x Sunfire PDE, 4x Dart SRM, 2x Shredder, and it works very well. I mostly use the spinal cannon vs other cruisers, and there's usually not so many of those that I need a third shot before one has recharged. Also, if you make Exp Mags a built-in and remove 7 base OP, you won't get the +30% OP from tech bonuses on that 7 OP, so it'd just be a minor nerf even for people who always run Exp Mags.

The Scorpion seems a little bit terrible. The most glaring issue is that it's got 8 burn speed for basically no reason, forcing it to spend 15 OP on an engine upgrade just to keep up with a typical burn 9 fleet. It's not an incredibly powerful destroyer. I'd say it's better than the Enforcer but significantly more expensive to deploy and maintain, yet still strictly inferior to the Medusa. So what gives? Why is it so slow?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Cycerin on March 08, 2016, 06:44:46 AM
Quote
I agree that it seems to help the AI out, as previously when I ran into enemy Nevermores they seemed to be piling on way too much soft flux and thus easily overloaded or ignored.

Noice. I really wanted to improve that.

The only reason the Desdinova is a destroyer is because I don't want people sticking cruiser-grade ITU on it.

Quote
I haven't seen any of the Eurypterus-class destroyers; are you sure they're in the game?

Yep. Dunno if they'll spawn with SS+ since integration hasn't been updated.

I'm keeping a close eye on the Dart SRM. Might end up making them more vulnerable to PD, as well as a higher cooldown between salvoes.

The Scorpion is far from terrible. I might consider making it burn 9, since it's a historically strong ship which may have been sacked with an unfair nerf (very few destroyers are indeed lower than burn 9)

Its main power comes from the drones, which add significant survivability when the ship is under fire, venting or overloaded, acting as an "ablative defense", and providing firepower when the ship is not being focused. In player hands, microing the drones to keep them alive and venting intelligently makes it even stronger. A line of 2-3 scorpions is very hard to break.

Would like more opinions on this.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Taverius on March 08, 2016, 06:53:40 AM
I think the scorp would be fine at burn 9 - its a strong ship but its vanilla-strong, not needing-a-significant-downside strong.

Burn 8 feels like a leftover from the old navigation skill days to me.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 08, 2016, 08:17:14 AM
I've been looking through the codex of 7 faction mods worth of ships and the only other destroyer-size ships with burn 8 or lower are support ships, support ships converted into combat ships, Junk Pirates ships with ludicrous amounts of armor, and (D) hulls. The Scorpion is not in good company. Now, I don't think it's a bad ship in combat (which is why I said it was only a little bit terrible :P), but 8 burn speed is a very severe campaign downside, and removing that downside does have effects on its combat performance.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Megas on March 08, 2016, 08:45:46 AM
Depends on fleet composition.  If player has cruisers (or bigger) in the fleet and Augmented Engines available, then a Scorpion that can achieve burn 9 with Augmented Engines is not a problem.  It is problem if you want a burn 10 fleet.  That said, I get annoyed with destroyers with base burn of 8 and frigates with base burn of 9.

I consider Augmented Engines must-have for nearly every ship, both for top speed in combat and burn speed in campaign.  Lately, I put Augmented Engines even on Hyperion to maintain burn 11 in a frigate-only fleet.  (I will take it off soon once I have bigger ships in my fleet permanently.)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Cycerin on March 08, 2016, 08:48:59 AM
No, after thinking about it and reading the feedback, I think the Scorpion could stand to be burn 9.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Abyz on March 08, 2016, 09:03:34 AM
Throw a cpl boosters on the Sprite to make yourself feel better! Excellent mod btw... I envy your graphical art ability bud.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Toxcity on March 08, 2016, 09:12:55 AM
It's a small thing, but I really like the slot covers. Wish more mods had custom ones.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Cyan Leader on March 09, 2016, 10:25:53 AM
There is definitely something up with the availability of the Eurypterus-class with SS+. Refreshed the market 20 times in a row, got several Asuras, Nevermore Class zeros and even Morpheuses, but not a single one of the new destroyer. It's not even supposed to be rare, is it?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Cycerin on March 09, 2016, 01:13:14 PM
Pretty much settled on bumping the Scorpion up to burn 9 now, thanks for all the valuable feedback!

There is definitely something up with the availability of the Eurypterus-class with SS+. Refreshed the market 20 times in a row, got several Asuras, Nevermore Class zeros and even Morpheuses, but not a single one of the new destroyer. It's not even supposed to be rare, is it?

As I said, SS+ will not reflect the current BRDY update until the specific implementation of BRDY in SS+ is updated.

Regarding the Dart SRM, I haven't even had a chance to play with it yet, but I've bought every Light Dart I see.  A small weapon mount Itano Circus, NINE individual undodgeable homing missiles packing nearly the explosive power of a rubber band (one of the really thick rubber bands like you get on a bunch of broccoli, not one of those wussy tan rubber bands, mind you), the Light Dart makes up for in volume what it lacks in power.  It does less sheer damage against almost anything than the equally expensive Swarmer, but unlike the Swarmer it slowly replenishes ammunition.  It's practically missile PD with the amount of shots it puts into space.  Despite being slightly weaker than the Swarmer, I think this weapon needs a bump up to 5 OP to be truly vanilla balanced.  Oh and the new sound is nice too, but I hardly noticed the sound, I was too busy marking out for a missile weapon more spammy than the Annihilator.

I'm toning it down a bit, specifically the ammo regen is being halved. I'm also slightly increasing the cooldown between volleys. I think that should make it fine in the end, while the missiles are impossible to avoid, they are also completely predictable unless fired from very close range, while the swarmer tends to snake its way around small frigate shields.

If you think the light Dart is a portable Itano Circus, you should get your hands on the 8 OP version...
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Schwartz on March 09, 2016, 01:27:41 PM
I think the Quill is also a tad too strong now. I started using Quills in as many loadouts as I could fit them, and that's usually a bad sign. You have large ammo reserves and kinetic damage that also threatens armour. It just puts tremendous pressure on the AI, and its short reaction time causes frequent overloads. Maybe I'm biased because most of my officers have Missile Spec, but Quill could stand to be a little weaker. Less speed maybe?

That aside, I like the subtle touches. The new weapon sprites are cool, and Asura is probably better suited to be a small cruiser, considering what you get.

Oh, also the Serket doesn't have any of the new phase hullmods. I realize there's no such standard for fighters, but I saw them on the Lightning from SS+.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 09, 2016, 01:42:01 PM
What would putting Delicate Machinery on phase fighters even do? They don't run out of peak time.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Schwartz on March 09, 2016, 02:14:30 PM
I don't know, but I think they do contribute slightly to sensor stats?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Surge on March 09, 2016, 02:25:47 PM
Would be an interesting mechanic if each individual replacement fighter had a peak time and afterwards it had to return to the carrier and be replaced, but it's a nerf that fighters do NOT need right now.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Cycerin on March 09, 2016, 02:51:10 PM
Noted re: Quills, will take another look.

I'm not putting phase hullmods on the Serket, which would accomplish nothing. I'm more interested in feedback about their gameplay. The Terminator Drone got drastically worse with the phase cloak changes, but I feel like Serkets might still be quite annoying (if not unkillable anymore)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: AnimeHeretic on March 09, 2016, 07:58:30 PM
Question:

Why does the Desdinova have high maintenence now?

It seems a tad overkill.

While the ship is strong in the right situation, it still dies horribly if you make even a slight mistake.  It already has very high maintenence and deployment costs, and overtuned drive systems compounds on top of that.  It just seems a bit much, even if the ship is above average in player hands.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 09, 2016, 08:12:38 PM
Question:

Why does the Desdinova have high maintenence now?

It seems a tad overkill.

While the ship is strong in the right situation, it still dies horribly if you make even a slight mistake.  It already has very high maintenence and deployment costs, and overtuned drive systems compounds on top of that.  It just seems a bit much, even if the ship is above average in player hands.
It… doesn't? Seriously, I've got the most recent version of the mod and I'm looking at my Dessie right now, it doesn't have the High Maintenance hullmod.

Are you thinking of the Asura?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: AnimeHeretic on March 09, 2016, 08:30:48 PM
Question:

Why does the Desdinova have high maintenence now?

It seems a tad overkill.

While the ship is strong in the right situation, it still dies horribly if you make even a slight mistake.  It already has very high maintenence and deployment costs, and overtuned drive systems compounds on top of that.  It just seems a bit much, even if the ship is above average in player hands.
It… doesn't? Seriously, I've got the most recent version of the mod and I'm looking at my Dessie right now, it doesn't have the High Maintenance hullmod.

Are you thinking of the Asura?

I....yes it d-.......huh...

I'm either drunk, blind, or stupid.  Disregard me lol.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 09, 2016, 11:46:14 PM
So, I find the Knight to be a very confusing ship, it is billed and behaves like a proper cruiser but it's weapons and stats are more befitting of a carrier, and even then it has neither the flight decks nor the agility to be effective as a support vessel. So I've been stuck with a ship that seems to struggle in a straight fight with any kinetic damage focused destroyer and can be easily kited, to the point where most of my successes come from simply outlasting the enemy's CR, which is cripplingly expensive for me because that attrition is hard on me as well.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 10, 2016, 05:42:23 AM
It's roughly similar to a Venture in terms of utility/power. Would you flagship a Venture? Probably not.

That said, it has good armor, and can have either excellent PD coverage or excellent missile spam. The 3 mediums can broadside together.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 10, 2016, 05:49:01 AM
I suppose it's more of a Nexerlin problem then, as Nexerlin offers the Knight as a super fast start flagship.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 10, 2016, 05:58:36 AM
That's weird. In that case, I would give the Knight to an officer and pilot a good frigate instead, using the Knight to arm some fighters and carry missiles.

Well, the ship is getting redesigned anyway.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Histidine on March 10, 2016, 06:15:35 AM
I just threw it in there because I didn't want Convergence or Nevermore (or Asura, lol) as a starting ship.
Stenos was my other choice and I'll change to that if people think it's a good idea. (Cyc?)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 10, 2016, 07:39:16 AM
Aah, tricky. I think a Stenos might work if you want the cruiser to belong to the player then. Alternatively, give the player a Knight in their fleet, some wings, and an Eurypterus flagship. (dont recall how strong those fleets are supposed to be)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Megas on March 10, 2016, 07:47:28 AM
Quote
It's roughly similar to a Venture in terms of utility/power. Would you flagship a Venture? Probably not.
I have before, at least before 0.7 gave it crippling low burn speed and officers made fighters mostly obsolete.  Venture was a good ship to use.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 10, 2016, 07:56:39 AM
I like the Venture a lot, and actually think it's really sad that its burn speed is so low. I actually wonder if eventual campaign changes will give cost-efficient, solid ships with low burn a niche.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 10, 2016, 02:18:16 PM
The Venture would be much more appealing if there was any good excuse for running a sizable merchant convoy with no major military hardware, but as you need military hardware to provide it with fighters and by the time you're shopping for cruisers you almost always have a commission it's kind of a red headed stepchild that not even the AI likes to use.

At least mining in Nexerlin kinda gives it a good use.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 10, 2016, 04:57:34 PM
Bug report: If you start the Dart SRM's firing cycle before you activate the Karkinos' ship system, the Shinespark Desecrator, it'll continue to launch Darts while the Scintillating Demolisher is charging. Given that weapons systems are supposed to be disabled while the Starlight Destroyer is charging, it probably shouldn't continue launching Darts.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 10, 2016, 05:36:03 PM
I'll take a look at the Outhouse Obliterator and see if I can do anything about that.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2 - New 0.7.2a update!
Post by: Achataeon on March 10, 2016, 06:51:30 PM
...Dart SRM's...
...Karkinos'...
...Shinespark Desecrator...
...Scintillating Demolisher...
...Starlight Destroyer...

Was there an Awesome Names Convention that I missed or what?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 11, 2016, 03:33:13 AM
God it's DotA2's Outworld Destroyer all over again. Nobody could get poor Overbeat Deadhorse's name right after they changed it.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 11, 2016, 07:26:41 PM
Are there any plans to include up-sized variants of the particle beam? I'm running a quad particle build on a phase destroyer and right now and suddenly very interested in what I could do with a heavier particle beam on something like a karkinos.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 12, 2016, 09:57:54 AM
Maybe, maybe not. I think it would be too strong against light targets as a medium, but then again the Phase Lance exists. I have some other weapon ideas in the works.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 12, 2016, 10:44:06 PM
Alright Im failure. A terrible person. An annoying person. Please dont hate me but....

How is the BRDY compatibility patch for SS+ coming? I'm sorry I love your mod and I'm trying to play some single player SS+ and to be honest my universe is terribly drab with only 4 player factions especially when Blackrock isn't one of them.

On a less gushy annoying note I was wondering if Blackrock has any plans different hard-point fits on some its current ships. I really like how the silverfish has different setups even if some are civilian/none militaristic. I would really like to try some differently setups on a few ships. Like a locusts with a 2x small missiles slots for example (teh dart swarms), or a more combat focused weevil (this used to be called a Scarab I thought) bristling with small weapon mounts and more armor and less under-powered shield generator if this is still the case. You probably see what I'm getting at. I also completely understand if something like this isn't possible for balance/time constraints. No pressure just curious.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: TaLaR on March 12, 2016, 10:47:59 PM
@Alphascrub

I have no problems using SS+ with BRDY right now.
In fact, it seems that SS+ page simply wasn't updated: it states that BRDY 0.81 needs compat update, but current version is 0.82.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 13, 2016, 07:52:21 AM
How is the BRDY compatibility patch for SS+ coming? I'm sorry I love your mod and I'm trying to play some single player SS+ and to be honest my universe is terribly drab with only 4 player factions especially when Blackrock isn't one of them.

I can't do anything about this, you need to wait until SS+ is updated again if you want the new content with SS+. Note that BRDY will still run, it just won't spawn any of the stuff that came in 0.8.2

As for the slots, I'm pretty set on slot type/count for the frigs at this point, and don't want to bloat out the mod with variants either. The exception is if I make BRIA (elite subfaction) skins for certain ships.

I might make a missile-oriented frigate in the future, though.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Serenitis on March 13, 2016, 09:18:35 AM
Missile launcher.
Spits out a dumbfire thing at a decent clip with a long range and a proximity fuse.
When the fuse triggers it explodes and pukes out a load of Darts.
thusly.... (https://youtu.be/f-uhi_qIgSU?t=85) [/scooby doo wavy hands]

Darts are awesome.

Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 13, 2016, 09:57:15 AM
I hope you aren't so cruel as to make most of the missile frigate's weapons fixed side mounts.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 13, 2016, 10:36:44 AM
I hope you aren't so cruel as to make most of the missile frigate's weapons fixed side mounts.

Well...

In other news, crap sketch of Cetonia redesign
(http://i.imgur.com/1b2MIKs.jpg)

Tend to sneakily draw these at work
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 13, 2016, 10:42:14 AM
Well there be an accompanying redesign for the Typheus or will you just change the lore?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 13, 2016, 11:21:50 AM
Probably just change the lore, but we'll see.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 13, 2016, 11:35:01 AM
I can't do anything about this, you need to wait until SS+ is updated again if you want the new content with SS+. Note that BRDY will still run, it just won't spawn any of the stuff that came in 0.8.2

As for the slots, I'm pretty set on slot type/count for the frigs at this point, and don't want to bloat out the mod with variants either. The exception is if I make BRIA (elite subfaction) skins for certain ships.

I might make a missile-oriented frigate in the future, though.

It seems my assumptions have gotten away with me. Thank you for being patient with me and getting back to me so quickly.

Ship Bloat is also a pretty understandable reason as to why to many variants would be a bad thing. As for the missile orientated frigate I'm excited to see what you come up with.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Taverius on March 13, 2016, 11:52:26 AM
I approve of the guy with the glorious moustache in the middle of the ship.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on March 13, 2016, 02:29:00 PM
Missile launcher.
Spits out a dumbfire thing at a decent clip with a long range and a proximity fuse.
When the fuse triggers it explodes and pukes out a load of Darts.
thusly.... (https://youtu.be/f-uhi_qIgSU?t=85) [/scooby doo wavy hands]

Darts are awesome.
There already IS a missile similar to this: The Kestros LRM from Exigency! It fires two LRMs that explode into 20 MMMs (the built in missiles on Exi ships) a piece for a total of 40
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 13, 2016, 02:38:12 PM
I once had a Victory with 4 Kestros....oh god it was beautiful.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on March 13, 2016, 07:33:59 PM
In other news, crap sketch of Cetonia redesign
looks cool, but so does the current Chituneya. why not make a new transport? there's a serious lack of cruiser-sized freighters in Starsector, imo. :/
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Toxcity on March 13, 2016, 08:03:26 PM
Not to be nitpicky, but is there really a need for a missile-oriented frigate? A Silverfish(-B), Weevil, or Mantis can perform that role without too much trouble. Their peak times aren't even a problem considering most missiles have limited ammo.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 13, 2016, 10:28:06 PM
Not to be nitpicky, but is there really a need for a missile-oriented frigate? A Silverfish(-B), Weevil, or Mantis can perform that role without too much trouble. Their peak times aren't even a problem considering most missiles have limited ammo.

I've used the Mantis for missile based setups in the past. It works pretty well and for rockets (quills &/or annihilators) setups its special can almost act as additional velocity for a rocket. The real thing I guess I wouldn't mind seeing is a frigate designed with missiles/rockets in mind. Something that has a special ability that boost them directly. Like a BRD version of fast racks or maybe even a frigate that can burn CR to create new rockets/missiles or create massive amounts of flux to refill its missile/rocket reserves. Both of those idea are obviously very balance intensive so they should be noted with a grain of salt. Sorry all my post feel kind of pushy, and I don't want that. Will try to articulate better in the future.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on March 14, 2016, 01:28:57 AM
can burn CR to create new rockets/missiles
yeah, that went really well, last time. :3

i agree though, more missile-ships that have systems designed to make low ammo less of an issue would be nice.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 14, 2016, 04:28:10 AM
Well I mean if you wanted a frigate that can regen missile ammo I reckon it would need a monster power core, so we're looking at double or triple the usual frigate pricetag for the same level of durability, a cooldown on the ability so you can't just spam torpedoes, a general lack of a supporting weapons, and finally a really high flux spike from using the ability that basically requires you to instantly vent afterwards.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 14, 2016, 11:00:29 AM
Well I mean if you wanted a frigate that can regen missile ammo I reckon it would need a monster power core, so we're looking at double or triple the usual frigate pricetag for the same level of durability, a cooldown on the ability so you can't just spam torpedoes, a general lack of a supporting weapons, and finally a really high flux spike from using the ability that basically requires you to instantly vent afterwards.

In general I would be fine with all of that. That being said I didn't really think about torpedos, Thats a huge issue, last thing I want is a frigate that can end a destroyer or cruiser with torpedo staying power alone.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on March 14, 2016, 01:52:34 PM
obviously the system would need to have major drawbacks, yeah. it can't be something you can just spam whenever (which is actually true for the vast majority of ship systems). but i don't think it necessarily means the frigate needs to be three times as expensive as others, that depends entirely on what the system actually does, how powerful it can be, and what limitations it has -- not to mention the basic stats of the ship itself.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 14, 2016, 05:37:07 PM


Well...

In other news, crap sketch of Cetonia redesign
(http://i.imgur.com/1b2MIKs.jpg)

Tend to sneakily draw these at work

I like how it looks very similar to the Eschaton super-freighter. You can see the design jump in either direction and it keeps things well themed. Also if you decide to make a smaller frigate sized freighter again it would probably be pretty easy for you to downsize the look yet again and still get something that looks very Blackrock. Also I'm pretty jealous that you can draw something on a crappy piece of notebook paper that makes most artwork I've ever done look like preschool scribbles.

obviously the system would need to have major drawbacks, yeah. it can't be something you can just spam whenever (which is actually true for the vast majority of ship systems). but i don't think it necessarily means the frigate needs to be three times as expensive as others, that depends entirely on what the system actually does, how powerful it can be, and what limitations it has -- not to mention the basic stats of the ship itself.

Yea the system would be a big deal. It would probably honestly make or break the ship. Honestly after thinking about it I feel like I asked to much. Base mantis is extremely flexible and can do pretty decent as a missile support ship. Its an interesting thing to study ship design philosophy with tho. Kind of made me think just how hard it could be to develop a balanced ship.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 15, 2016, 03:40:57 AM
Yeah balance can be a ***, I don't have to actually worry about it but I've been tossing ideas for a faction mod around for my big bin of "ideas I will never be able to realize" and I keep coming to the question of "well this is cool and all but will it be even remotely useful?" and "that seems a bit strong, how are you going to balance that?" and it's a very fine line that is very hard to strike until you have the product up and running to see how it will work.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cyan Leader on March 16, 2016, 06:24:53 AM
What are some good loadouts for the Asura? Especially for the AI.

I tried one with Scalaron Blasters but it keeps missing the shots.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Abyz on March 16, 2016, 07:18:55 AM
I just discovered the missile boat Asura... It's great! 4x darts, 2x Achilles pods, 1 large missile launcher of your choice, expanded missile racks and eccm package.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 16, 2016, 11:39:49 AM
I just discovered the missile boat Asura... It's great! 4x darts, 2x Achilles pods, 1 large missile launcher of your choice, expanded missile racks and eccm package.

Pretty expensive missile boat.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Abyz on March 16, 2016, 12:02:06 PM
It is.... But I like to make a living running a solo ship, so it's useable. PD laser in the small energy, and a powerful blaster in the med energy with all those missiles is a blast. I ignored the Asura for the longest, but it's a fun ship. Sprite-wise it's not as awesome as some of the other blackrock ships... Kinda flat, but I can't design graphics at all so... <3 BRDY
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Ceebees on March 16, 2016, 06:01:34 PM
I just discovered the missile boat Asura... It's great! 4x darts, 2x Achilles pods, 1 large missile launcher of your choice, expanded missile racks and eccm package.

Alternately...
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/V1dn5Ia.png)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Weltall on March 16, 2016, 09:06:22 PM
*goes through spaceship list and sees Omnomnomnom class ship* .... I am glad I have never met this >.>
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 18, 2016, 07:16:04 AM
I just discovered the missile boat Asura... It's great! 4x darts, 2x Achilles pods, 1 large missile launcher of your choice, expanded missile racks and eccm package.

Alternately...
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/V1dn5Ia.png)
[close]

You monster. Nobody asked for this.

Spoiler
srsly tho disgusting
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Taverius on March 18, 2016, 07:21:03 AM
Whoa, that's um - that's something allright.

*goes through spaceship list and sees Omnomnomnom class ship* .... I am glad I have never met this >.>

Not from BRDY - P9 I think.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Megas on March 18, 2016, 07:56:17 AM
Asura was my favorite Blackrock ship back when it used to be a destroyer and when Morpheus did not exist.  It was tier 1 overpowered.  I geared it up much like a Dominator (i.e., Mjolnir, Maulers, Needlers) and wrecked stuff from afar.  It played much like an extra-fast Dominator with one less heavy mount.

I have not played Blackrock since 0.7.2 came out, mostly due to time constraints - not enough time for standard, let alone modded, games now.  I have no idea how the cruiser-classed Asura plays today.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 18, 2016, 08:20:28 AM
Might as well post about what I've been up to.

- Campaign adjustments - Gneiss now has an extra BRDY station ( no military market ) orbiting Verge, and Preclusion (the pirate planet) is orbiting on its own in the outskirts of the system. Might add more stuff to the system depending on time, according to my long-term plans
- Krait Heavy Fighter now has a fighter version of Dart SRM
- Working on 4 new pieces of content - a scoutship (superlight destroyer), a support fighter wing, a new medium energy weapon - the Particle Rifle, and a medium missile mount for Fury Torpedoes
- Balance, fixes and polish as usual
- Polish pass on portraits, adding light sources, redrawing and increasing contrast so they fit in more with the game
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 18, 2016, 08:52:12 AM
>particle rifle
OH CYCERIN YOU'VE MADE ME THE HAPPIEST CAPTAIN IN THE SECTOR.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 18, 2016, 02:42:15 PM
I just liked the name. Don't expect it to be a reference to anything. :x which is a funny thing to say when it comes to this mod actually i lied it's an ARES reference
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 18, 2016, 03:40:38 PM
I mean there are a lot of different franchises that use "particle" weapons so even if it was a reference it would be nigh impossible to say to what.
Though if we're doing particle weapon references can the large slot version be called the Particle Projection Cannon?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 18, 2016, 04:50:37 PM
^ The weapo isn't planned to be a medium version of the Particle Lance.

Lol, thanks for the feedback as always Pesci. I have nerfed the Dart in the dev version, but I think I need to add some additional measures. I just wish eternal death upon Missile Specialization, really.

The Silverfish-B can also mount a max. of 3 missiles now. 5 missiles is too much for a frigate.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 18, 2016, 07:36:06 PM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/mGdV0id.png)
[close]

Ever wanted to kill ships using Argus beams? Well, with this weapon you can. It's kind of the same thing. Except not really.

Charge mechanic, long range, inefficient. Extremely fast shots. Sounds like the yellow lasers from ARES.

Gonna change the shots to look less like bullets, but ingame it doesn't look or feel like a ballistic so the color is probably fine
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: OOZ662 on March 18, 2016, 08:59:07 PM
I figure you're still iterating, but the black parts of those rifles really stand out. At first I thought the black part was the whole gun before my eyes adjusted to it; was like, "why is he using a water spigot for a gun sprite?"
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Taverius on March 18, 2016, 10:19:15 PM
I just wish eternal death upon Missile Specialization, really.
This; its so incredibly broken and makes balancing missiles so hard - the skill rework can't come too soon.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 19, 2016, 01:21:31 AM
Finally took a commission with BRDY so I could access the high-level gear so I was able to play around with the full Dart and not just the light model.  Cramming five of them on a Silverfish-B with Expanded Missile Racks and a Missile Spec 10 pilot is insane.  A lovely three-second missile corkscrew firehose that can overwhelm most destroyers' PD and shields through sheer volume of projectiles, not to mention making the new TriTach ships and the old favorites (Tempest, Hyperion, Wolf) into irrelevant jokes.  Add Target Analysis 10 and a Dart Spam Silverfish-B can beat most Dominator loadouts and even an Eagle in a straight fight before its missile racks run dry.  Most matchups are easier with linked fire to maximize the amount of missiles on the screen at once, but if going up against the newer deadlier phase ships, alternating fire means never not having a continuous stream of missiles destroying the phase ships' pathetic armor from every direction at once.  This hard-counters the Doom and the Asura and I've even managed to beat a Martyr with one, although that took actually manuevering my ship and choosing shots, not just holding down the fire button mindlessly.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/8mlQa6J.gif)
[close]

I was never in danger from this poor guy.  I didn't need to vent because his Sabots were vaporized by the missile stream.  To be fair, this GIF shows the fourth or fifth time I launched a volley.

Darts also suffer from the same problem that the Ironweaver used to, the high speed and long life of the projectiles mean that they are lethal well after they leave their supposed "effective" range.  In the player's hands they can inflict serious damage on offscreen enemy ships before the AI ever realizes it's supposed to raise its shields.

I'm the guy asking for a missile frigate here and this I try this and holy crap this is stupid strong. Like dam they tear through fighters, anything dclass in seconds and most anything that isn't a stronger than a vanilla destroyer in no time at all. I mean I thought this is what I wanted until I watch these two little guys rip apart an Imperium Eagle with just the two of them. These are pretty crazy, again coming from a guy who asked for a missile frigate. That was foolish. Not only do these work amazingly well but they have been part of the mod for a super long time like right in front of me.  :-\


- scoutship (superlight destroyer), new medium energy weapon - the Particle Rifle, and a medium missile mount for Fury Torpedoes


Just like *** made my night.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 19, 2016, 09:25:08 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/Y3qHYiz.png)

Been postponing it forever but this is the Karkinos redesign preview. It will have 3 converging large mounts, but one is a central hardpoint. It loses the 4 small universals, and the rear large turrets become mediums. All in all, its firepower is not greatly impacted against large targets, but it will be much harder to pop frigates and destroyers. As a compensation, the ship's armor will recieve a small buff. I am still working all of this out though, so it will take a while to figure out exactly what to do. As has been the case with 90% of brdy changes the past year, my end goal is to make the ship better in AI hands and less OP in player hands, while still making it more interesting for the player.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: TaLaR on March 19, 2016, 10:03:02 AM
Karkinos is one of ships I buy whenever I can get one, and is one of the best flagship options. But yes, it's OP and probably deserves a nerf.

Armor increase is certainly *not* an interesting compensation though. It already has enough armor as long as you don't let reapers or similar threats hit, and no armor can help against that. (I suppose it still works, if it's just for AI's benefit)

Faster/Multi-charge/More aoe damage/absorb damage on charge for more AOE/ teleportation is what I'd be more happy to see. It also needs to telegraph target location, like most other TP systems.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Abyz on March 19, 2016, 10:16:37 AM
Too much nerf and I'll have to bounce the Templars off my mod list! <3 my darts!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 19, 2016, 11:44:39 AM
^ The weapo isn't planned to be a medium version of the Particle Lance.

Lol, thanks for the feedback as always Pesci. I have nerfed the Dart in the dev version, but I think I need to add some additional measures. I just wish eternal death upon Missile Specialization, really.

The Silverfish-B can also mount a max. of 3 missiles now. 5 missiles is too much for a frigate.
.....you make me so very sad...
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 19, 2016, 01:55:42 PM
Been postponing it forever but this is the Karkinos redesign preview. It will have 3 converging large mounts, but one is a central hardpoint. It loses the 4 small universals, and the rear large turrets become mediums. All in all, its firepower is not greatly impacted against large targets, but it will be much harder to pop frigates and destroyers. As a compensation, the ship's armor will recieve a small buff. I am still working all of this out though, so it will take a while to figure out exactly what to do. As has been the case with 90% of brdy changes the past year, my end goal is to make the ship better in AI hands and less OP in player hands, while still making it more interesting for the player.
That sounds very similar to an Onslaught with slightly better turret coverage and no TPCs. I mean, the Karkinos is already quite similar design-wise to the Onslaught, so I'm a bit worried they might become too similar and BRDY's capital won't feel much like a unique BRDY ship.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 19, 2016, 04:11:22 PM
The Onslaught can converge a max of 2 large turrets, and isn't known for having the ability to disengage or engage with overwhelming efficiency.

All I'm changing about the Karkinos is 1) its ability to nuke anything in the game in a few seconds with an optimized character, and the cheesiness of having 4 converging large turrets. Two giant design problems that have been annoying me for ages.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 19, 2016, 05:15:01 PM
The Onslaught can converge a max of 2 large turrets, and isn't known for having the ability to disengage or engage with overwhelming efficiency.

All I'm changing about the Karkinos is 1) its ability to nuke anything in the game in a few seconds with an optimized character, and the cheesiness of having 4 converging large turrets. Two giant design problems that have been annoying me for ages.
Well, alright. I'm gonna miss the small universal slots, though.

Put Dart SRMs on literally everything
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 19, 2016, 11:14:47 PM
The Onslaught can converge a max of 2 large turrets, and isn't known for having the ability to disengage or engage with overwhelming efficiency.

All I'm changing about the Karkinos is 1) its ability to nuke anything in the game in a few seconds with an optimized character, and the cheesiness of having 4 converging large turrets. Two giant design problems that have been annoying me for ages.

Seems like a reasonable change. Honestly some of the BRD ships might be to powerful, I would say the changes you made to the nevermore were a good idea considering just how often regardless of what faction I was playing or trying to primarily use the Nevermore kept ending up being my personal ship. In other words maybe I was using it because it all the time because it was outshining other ships of a similar model. Maybe I just liked the antimatter gun. Hard to say, and I do want to clarify just because I use a ship all the time doesn't mean I think its op, could be the ship is just that reliable and fits my play style. 

Personally I find ships like the Krakinos/onslaught to be really large and cumbersome to start with so I usually don't use anything like them as a flagship (Personal) so to speak. So changes that make them less (Over?) powerful for players and better in the hands of AI is fine with me. Besides maybe these changes could drive down the operating cost of a Krakinos slightly?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cyan Leader on March 19, 2016, 11:58:58 PM
Be careful on making too many changes due to highly optimized characters, eventually the skill revamp will come and many of these changes will be based on odd data.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 20, 2016, 07:58:53 AM
I have finally gotten my hands on not only a Morpheus, but also a Karkinos, and a Nevermore, as such I feel obligated to offer some feedback.

Nevermore: This thing is bloody bananas, I went kinda light on weapons because it allowed me to be effectively flux neutral even with my shields up, so I just sit on anything smaller than an onslaught until the ferroguns and quills overload it, then the sunjets and antimatter lance eat it. This is thing an IDEAL flagship for me, the burst jets allow it to maneuver better than some frigates in short bursts and make it a very hard ship to flank, never mind I can quickly engage, disengage, chase, or shift the ship's considerable momentum around completely at will. I literally cannot think of any better way for a strike cruiser like this to function except MAYBE moving the side missiles to the front. Consequentially as the Nevermore has been so gosh dern PERFECT I have refused to set foot in the Kark and Morpheus personally and just handed them off to high level aggressive officers.

Karkinos: Very good frontal firepower, I recall it struggling in duels but I have enough scorpions to cover it pretty readily so it doesn't get overwhelmed, I don't see much use out of the Solar Defibrillator probably because the AI is less reckless than me, though it seems to be quite the asset when the AI does use it. Very satisfied with it all in all.

Morpheus: I honestly don't know, it's insanely flashy and I find myself enraptured by the sheer lightshow it puts out but by and large it either instantly vaporizes a target or seems to plink away ineffectually. It is however surprisingly handy in a large fleet setting as its tendency to sit on the side with the frigates and devour incoming munitions seems to appreciably extend the lifespan of otherwise fragile ships like the Weevil and Robberfly.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 20, 2016, 08:05:04 AM
Thanks for the feedback.

The Karkinos should never struggle in duels. One jump and you have the enemy at a complete disadvantage. AI, though? AI = disappointment.

Be careful on making too many changes due to highly optimized characters, eventually the skill revamp will come and many of these changes will be based on odd data.

I only playtest in baseline, and always have. The problems caused by player skills are too numerous and diverse to bother combating directly, all the changes I make are due to some kind of fundamental problem.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 21, 2016, 11:08:02 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/PcNFI6i.png)

Just a lil preview of the new kark. It's turning out to be a lot more work than expected, but I'm really excited about how it's gonna turn out.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Abyz on March 21, 2016, 11:59:53 AM
Niiiiiice
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Taverius on March 21, 2016, 02:58:27 PM
I like it, looks nice and organic - the current sprite is a bit too busy.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 21, 2016, 04:33:27 PM
Thanks :D

Yeah, it's a lot cleaner now. I did away with the large hardpoint, the AI can't deal with a mix of hardpoints and turrets like that. So it has 3 converging 90 degree large hybrids, and the rest of the turret layout is being changed according to that.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 21, 2016, 10:28:34 PM
Feedback; IMN Assault Gun, Volley Gun, Shard Cannon & Gun
(Yea I know I'm super late to the party)

IMN Assault Gun.

Pros: The three shot burst of the weapon delivers a certain level of control that can be effective when firing at specific locations on a ship. Its also very cheap to buy and doesn't require a large amount of op to mount.

Cons: This damage seems a little weak. It generates huge amounts of flux, its very ineffective vs shields (I understand its intended to be) and for its flux generation its damage seems anemic. I found it hard hitting base hounds and cerbs in a simulator environment and in the actual game many other weapons seem to be more effective in its role as a non-shielded target strike weapon.

Conclusion: I won't use these guns when almost anything else is available. I might be using them incorrectly but overall other weapons seem to do it better and with less management.

Volley Gun

Pros: High burst vs shields, low flux generation, easy to use and just overall really satisfying. When uses in large numbers (3-5) they are extremely effective at overloading shields of frigates and destroyers and even much large variants of ships given enough time.

Cons: Cool-down time, Weak against armor and lowish range but honestly if these factors didn't exists they wouldn't be very balanced.

Conclusion: This thing acts exactly like a space shotgun should, its short ranged, highly effective at overwhelming static target shields and they have a slow firerate to compensate. I like these a lot and when it comes to strike frigates or small swarming ships they are hard to ignore in both the refit screen and when used against a medium sized target with large numbers. Personally I love setting locust swarms up armed with these. Give me five locusts and with two volley guns and sunjet each and there isn't a destroyer in the system that shouldn't be worried (unless maybe your a Templar but those guys are just op). I would be really excited to see a medium mount variant of this weapon but I also understand it would probably be pretty problematic to balance.

Shard Cannons/Guns

Pros: Great vs shields, easy to control, decent projectile speed, primary a kinetic weapon but has a nice effect vs armor. Moderate Op cost.

Cons: Moderate Flux generation, Burst weapon (Cannon), Low range (Gun). Again these cons are what balance this weapon.

Conclusion: This is a great all around and flexible weapon, these are my go to ballistic anti shield weapons in a lot of situations. They can be uses on frigates quite effectively as a primary dps weapon and in a pinch is can be a very decent PD weapon even if you aren't the one behind the controls. Overall I think one of the biggest strong points of this weapon is that it really doesn't have very many weak-points and its a pretty decent jack of all trades. If anything it might be to strong at times.

(Shard) Guns to Cannon comparison. The gun is a automatic short range weapon, like a submachine gun minus any sort of inaccuracy or ammo limit. This thing was made for DPS.  The Cannon has the range and more burst and is better fitted on your slower more heavy small ships. Basically if your small and fast like a Mantis or a Locust you probably want the shard gun but if your slower and not quite as nimble (like a Weevil) you probably want a shard cannon. Overall I find myself very attached to the gun more than the cannon but that just me.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on March 22, 2016, 01:31:41 AM
^ i agree with pretty much everything.

not a huge fan of the IMN, but then i'm also not really a fan of the vanilla small HE ballistic weapons either.

i find VG is especially great against very maneuverable enemies, or on your own ships that have trouble hitting targets while strafing at high speeds, since it's almost impossible to straight up miss whatever you're shooting at.

SG/SC are just straight up my favorite small ballistic weapons. SG has poor range and SC has poor efficiency, but their unique combination of kinetic damage with anti-armor procc makes them ideal as primary weapons for ships that don't really have enough weapon mounts to get powerful kinetic weapons and HE weapons at the same time, and punishes enemies on high flux for lowering their shield, even if there isn't any HE damage ready to follow-up. plus, their shot and explosion SFX somehow just feel incredibly satisfying. ^_^
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Megas on March 22, 2016, 06:03:06 AM
I prefer to use Light Assault Gun to IMN for OP cost alone.  IMN is basically a LAG that costs 1 more OP.

I do not remember why I do not use Volley Gun.  I suppose Volley Gun is ballistic's answer to AM Blaster.  If I use ballistics, I want to kite so that ships do not get shot at.  The best defense is never getting shot back in the first place because the enemy cannot do so.  OP is at a premium for smaller ships.

Shard <xxx>.  One of them has short range, possibly comparable to IR Pulse Laser.  I consider that one useless (although I have not tried it lately since Safety Override was introduced).  The one with 700 range is great, and I use it instead of railgun when accuracy is less of a concern, or my ship is stuck with kinetics and need the criticals to do more armor damage.  For example, Morpehus has four light slots.  Only kinetics have 700 range.  I mount the shard weapons on Morpehus for anti-everything.  I prefer railgun slightly over the shard weapon due to better accuracy, but sometimes, the shard weapon is more useful (criticals, no windup).  The 700 range shard weapon is one of the relatively few Blackrock weapons that compete with the best standard weapons.

When I play Blackrock, I almost ignore Blackrock weapons in favor of standard weapons (or other mods' if they are more overpowered).  So far, I have not combined Blackrock with other mods, except in Exerelin long ago when Blackrock was eliminated early (no chance to fight them much).
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: TaLaR on March 22, 2016, 07:02:30 AM
Fully agree on INM with Megas.

Volley gun was good (ok, maybe too good) pre nerf at around 100/200 cost/dps. But at 140/160 for 9 OP it's just not worth using. Many kinetic weapons bring similar efficiency at better range for less OP. Burst factor alone is not a sufficient compensation. Plus it's horrible against armor (low dmg projectiles spread out over large area) and produces very short overloads.

Shard Cannon is one of best weapons for small ballistic slot, suitable pretty much anywhere.
Shard gun is ok for AI use on fast frigates that have problems with accuracy due to their own movement during Cannon burst.

When playing Blackrock, I tend to just stack as many shard cannons (small and med) as I can + argus beams for pd. Heavy maulers as optional HE.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 22, 2016, 07:50:39 AM
Thanx for all the feedback, nice to get it in such detail.

I've been planning on redoing the INM AG for a while, but I think I might just push it forward for the next patch, instead of procrastinating. Basically, what I want to do is give it an ammo mechanic, and then give it excellent performance during bursts, offset by anemic DPS while firing on full auto for extended time. Basically the perfect hit'n'run version of the LAG, but with the added bonus of pounding anything into dust if you have many enough/added ability to punish overloads or venting.

I think the Volley Gun is in a good spot right now. I might shave off some flux/fire to make it better on frigs again, but I don't want to touch it otherwise.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Doogie on March 22, 2016, 08:16:32 AM
I mostly go with Megas on the volley gun. However, if I ever have a Desdinova, I will load that thing up with volley guns for maximum anti-shield lulz.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Megas on March 22, 2016, 10:51:58 AM
I would have put needlers on Morpheus, except I discovered that four needlers took too much OP away from other things I needed more, either ITU or flux stats (capacity and/or vents) needed to support the main gun.  Thus, for anti-shield, it was either railgun or shard cannon for my Morpheus.

Morpheus with max skills is crazy strong.  It can solo any standard fleet single-handedly (but not multiple endgame fleets in a huge expanded battle).
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 22, 2016, 03:56:58 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/IrrnxHS.png)

Crab 2.0
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Abyz on March 22, 2016, 04:24:32 PM
 :o
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ValkyriaL on March 22, 2016, 04:32:27 PM
Now she looks a lot more like a real battleship, thick heavy armor all around.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 23, 2016, 12:28:48 AM
Looks pretty sweet, and less visually busy than the previous Karkinos to boot. A lot of mod ships look great, but they often have so much greebling it can be hard to tell what their weapons load-out is at a glance.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Taverius on March 23, 2016, 12:30:33 AM
Very nice!

Biggest plus of the new look - it doesn't look like a butterfly anymore.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on March 23, 2016, 02:44:36 AM
looks great! and heavier, with better armor-plating and fewer exposed components. like ValkyriaL said, more befitting a real battleship.

only critizism i've got is that it lost a little of that "there is powerful, destructive dimensional-energy-anomaly-stuff barely contained inside this ship" feeling. the green exhaust port thingies look a bit too much like just fancy green lights, particularly the ones at the front. and the shine of what i assume is the central flux core that is illuminating the surrounding area seems weaker.

well, and i personally prefer the silverish grey over the brownish grey, but that's obviously completely subjective. i do like that your recent sprites seem to have a more noticeable and consistent color sheme, though. :]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 23, 2016, 12:48:28 PM
Hmm, I hear you on that. I still need to do some tweaking anyway.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Ceebees on March 23, 2016, 03:39:12 PM
Looking very nice indeed.

Although, i was thinking that with the changes, it might still be neat to give SS+'s IBB a legacy kark - particularly if it was, say, a quad-mjolnir build with a twitchier Sanguine Decivilizer. Call it 'Thor' maybe  ;D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 24, 2016, 08:45:36 AM
I just noticed that the Screaming Disintegrator doesn't damage friendly ships; I'm not sure if that's a bug or not, so I'm reporting it anyway. I can see how it would be intended, so the AI doesn't blow up its own fleets by teleporting around at the start of battle, but I don't think that plasma from the explosion dimension would care about IFF signals.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Dark.Revenant on March 24, 2016, 08:50:35 AM
I just noticed that the Screaming Disintegrator doesn't damage friendly ships; I'm not sure if that's a bug or not, so I'm reporting it anyway. I can see how it would be intended, so the AI doesn't blow up its own fleets by teleporting around at the start of battle, but I don't think that plasma from the explosion dimension would care about IFF signals.

It's a common trick to avoid complicated AI issues.  The Templars use it for their Priwen Burst mechanic, for example.

Noteworthy exception: The II TITAN does not care about friendly fire; it will nuke your own fleet just as easily.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Ahne on March 24, 2016, 09:20:42 AM
Quote
Noteworthy exception: The II TITAN does not care about friendly fire; it will nuke your own fleet just as easily.

And in my eyes thats the really fun part about it, you have a risk to damage your own ships when using some pretty strong mechanics/weapons etc.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 24, 2016, 10:03:10 AM
Something to consider when balancing the Karkinos is that the Strike Suite can be used with ITU, and while the ITU range bonus increases with ship size, the Strike Suite range malus does not. A 15% range decrease on a capital ship that gets +50% range is much less noticeable than on a frigate that only gets +10% range. Perhaps the Strike Suite range malus should scale with ship size, like the ITU range bonus does?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Wyvern on March 24, 2016, 10:06:48 AM
Something to consider when balancing the Karkinos is that the Strike Suite can be used with ITU, and while the ITU range bonus increases with ship size, the Strike Suite range malus does not. A 15% range decrease on a capital ship that gets +50% range is much less noticeable than on a frigate that only gets +10% range. Perhaps the Strike Suite range malus should scale with ship size, like the ITU range bonus does?
Disagree.  The scaling range bonus from ITU is there because larger ships really need more range; there's a reason that SS+, for example, bakes in a portion of the range boost.

Similarly, consider what happens if a ship doesn't install the ITU; if the Strike Suite's range penalty scaled with ship size, that would make it all but unusable on larger ships without ITU.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on March 24, 2016, 10:12:18 AM
And in my eyes thats the really fun part about it, you have a risk to damage your own ships when using some pretty strong mechanics/weapons etc.
i can see why it's fun for such a highly specialized ship/weapon, but the Karkinos is BRDY's primary capital ship. it would probably be a bad idea to give it a system that would endanger your own ships just by having one in your fleet.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 24, 2016, 11:12:25 AM
I just noticed that the Screaming Disintegrator doesn't damage friendly ships; I'm not sure if that's a bug or not, so I'm reporting it anyway. I can see how it would be intended, so the AI doesn't blow up its own fleets by teleporting around at the start of battle, but I don't think that plasma from the explosion dimension would care about IFF signals.

The Nightmare Defibrillator used to damage friendlies, but it was really annoying to deal with.

I haven't really felt that Strike Suite its OP when comboed with ITU even on the Karkinos, since it's a vast amount of OP that isn't being used on other stuff. I'd rather just increase the OP cost than nerf any stats, for the reason Wyvern pointed out. But like I said, doesn't feel broken to me.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 24, 2016, 12:09:52 PM
The Nightmare Defibrillator used to damage friendlies, but it was really annoying to deal with.

I haven't really felt that Strike Suite its OP when comboed with ITU even on the Karkinos, since it's a vast amount of OP that isn't being used on other stuff. I'd rather just increase the OP cost than nerf any stats, for the reason Wyvern pointed out. But like I said, doesn't feel broken to me.
I can see how it would have been, especially getting the AI to not kill its own fleets with it.

Strike Suite is 25 OP on the Kark, but it pays for itself in vents alone. When firing 4 Mjolnirs (2133 flux/second) the 15% weapon flux cost reduction saves you 319.95 flux/second. That's 32 OP worth of vents in dissipation. The Kark build I'm using has 3917 weapon flux/sec, so when everything is firing that's 587.55 flux/second saved, or 59 OP worth of vents. It's subtle; it doesn't show up in the refit screen calculations and you're paying attention to other things when in combat, but it's powerful. -15% range is quite the downside, but it's mitigated somewhat by ITU and the Kark can easily close the range with its ship ability. +15% damage is quite the upside with how armor/overload mechanics work, and helps the Kark ensure it can kill whatever it warps into, which is very important for the Kark's playstyle.

What I'm trying to say is that the Strike Suite is a significant boost to the Kark's already strong offense, the Kark's mobility goes a long way towards mitigating the range malus, and the sheer number of guns on the Kark makes the Strike Suite worth more flux/second than an equivalent number of vents, so I think the Strike Suite should probably have a stronger downside on capital ships. If that's boosting the amount of OP it costs on capital ships, that's fine with me.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 24, 2016, 12:59:08 PM
Oh sorry you mentioned Mjolnirs so I automatically don't care about your post

Spoiler
I'll take a closer look at it, might have to fine-tune it a bit 'cause a flat bonus across all ship sizes is very nice for me to deal with, but it often doesn't work well in Starsector.
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: TaLaR on March 24, 2016, 01:07:48 PM
Strike suit : without other bonuses it is 1.15/0.85 ~ 35% weapon efficiency boost. Less, but still quite impressive even if skills stack additively(not sure).
It's often better idea flux-wise then simply adding vents, and a no-brainer if you already maxed vents.

 -15% range gets compensated by Targeting Implants (must-have on player and every officer anyway).

As a result, I use it on most of my BRDY ships.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Wyvern on March 24, 2016, 01:37:52 PM
Honestly, the Strike Suite is deliberately designed to emphasize the BRDY standard hit-and-run tactics.  That it does so should really come as no surprise.

Since it can only be installed on BRDY hulls, I consider it to be more of a perk of the hull and less of a thing that might be balanced on its own.

Plus, see also revised Karkinos; you're not going to be putting 4x Mjolnir on there anymore.

Besides, -15% range, even if it's somewhat compensated for by other hull mods and skills, still means you'll always be outranged by similar ships that didn't (or couldn't) use that hull mod.  One possible change is (if it isn't already implemented this way), making the strike suite a .85 range multiplier rather than a -15%.  What's the difference?  Consider a weapon with 1000 range.  +50% from skills, +50% from capital ITU, -15% from Strike Suite = +85% = 1850 range.  On the other hand, a .85 multiplier would end up with .85 * ( 1000 + 100% ) = 1700 range.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 24, 2016, 02:29:31 PM
Yeah, the Kark will only have 3 large weapons, but it'll have 2 more medium weapons. Flux-wise I think that works out about the same, depending on what you put in the slots. I was using the Mjolnirs as an example; sub in whatever weaponry you prefer onto your Karkinos, and if you've got above 1666.66 total weapon flux/sec, the Strike Suite pays for itself in vents.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Megas on March 24, 2016, 03:10:40 PM
When I play Karkinos, I play it like an Onslaught.  Outrange the enemy as much as I can, and save the teleporter for an (Angband-style) escape.  Blast the enemy with the classic long-ranged and vent-spam friendly Mjolnir+Mauler+Needler combo, and defend against missiles with dual flak and beams.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Taverius on March 24, 2016, 04:55:39 PM
#youredoingitwrong
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: HELMUT on March 24, 2016, 05:15:59 PM
#youredoingitwrong

There's no wrong way in a sandbox game. The kiting Karkinos isn't as flashy as the striker one, but it still works.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 24, 2016, 05:41:30 PM
Ait, what I'll do is just make it mutually exclusive with ITU and Dedicated Targeting core and rebalance the hullmod from there.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 24, 2016, 06:07:13 PM
Ait, what I'll do is just make it mutually exclusive with ITU and Dedicated Targeting core and rebalance the hullmod from there.
I considered suggesting this. I decided against it because I thought it was too crazy. But you're actually doing it, you absolute madman.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Megas on March 24, 2016, 07:08:56 PM
Currently, not much can stand up to four Mjolnir plus additional ballistics focus-fired at a target.  Although, a big swarm can be a problem (and that is where wall-hugging and lots of dual-flak help, which Karkinos is not as quite as good at as Onslaught.)

The upcoming mount changes will tone down Mjolnir abuse on Karkinos.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 24, 2016, 08:28:25 PM
Ait, what I'll do is just make it mutually exclusive with ITU and Dedicated Targeting core and rebalance the hullmod from there.
I considered suggesting this. I decided against it because I thought it was too crazy. But you're actually doing it, you absolute madman.

Allabout making them interesting choices.

Now 20% more dps/less soft flux from firing, 10% less weapon range, mult so it stacks less favorably with gunnery implants perk. 8/15/25/35 OP cost. No ITU or DTC.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: JohnDoe on March 24, 2016, 08:43:35 PM
Still compatible with SO right?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Abyz on March 24, 2016, 11:17:06 PM
<3 more damage.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Taverius on March 25, 2016, 02:27:50 AM
#youredoingitwrong

There's no wrong way in a sandbox game. The kiting Karkinos isn't as flashy as the striker one, but it still works.
Twitter hashatgs outside of twitter should be automatically taken as sarcastic Helmut :D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Mr. Nobody on March 25, 2016, 07:23:01 AM
Question: if/when Void Beast get implemented (maximum optimism here) what can we expect from them?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ValkyriaL on March 25, 2016, 09:41:26 AM
Think the Orion Guardinan and the space beasts from Masters of Orion, huge space monsters that wrecks ALL of the *** and makes scary noices while doing it. ::)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Abyz on March 25, 2016, 11:05:10 AM
On that note I vote for space beasts!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Adraius on March 25, 2016, 12:16:33 PM
Honest question: why are people so interested in battling space monsters that likely only have have 1-2 'weapons', don't have flux or shields, and are mainly HP sacks to grind down before their bite attack or "organic laser" does the same to you?  It seems like space monsters would not possess many of the mechanics that makes Starsector combat fun.

I'm talking out of my ass on unsupported assumptions here, to be clear.  I don't know Cycerin's ideas, and I'm sure it's possible to design cool space monsters with unique, scripted mechanics that are fun to fight and require a different approach from starship combat.  But that sounds like an absolute ton of dev time and work, and I'd much rather continue seeing new, interesting ships and weapons in this mod. =)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on March 25, 2016, 12:27:08 PM
i think the Morpheus' abilities would work rather well for space monsters. it's got defense, unique weapon stuff, punishing a player for being careless when it uses its cloak-thing, etc.

not saying space monsters should just be big Morpheus, but i do think there's plenty of room in SS to design interesting enemies that do not use the normal ship mechanics.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Wyvern on March 25, 2016, 12:45:11 PM
I'd much rather continue seeing new, interesting ships and weapons in this mod.
I'd much rather see space monsters, personally; BRDY already has a full set of ships and weapons capable of filling any niche, and I don't really think it needs more.  What is it missing that would be filled in by a new weapon or ship?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Mr. Nobody on March 25, 2016, 12:53:59 PM
Honest question: why are people so interested in battling space monsters that likely only have have 1-2 'weapons', don't have flux or shields, and are mainly HP sacks to grind down before their bite attack or "organic laser" does the same to you?  It seems like space monsters would not possess many of the mechanics that makes Starsector combat fun.

I'm talking out of my ass on unsupported assumptions here, to be clear.  I don't know Cycerin's ideas, and I'm sure it's possible to design cool space monsters with unique, scripted mechanics that are fun to fight and require a different approach from starship combat.  But that sounds like an absolute ton of dev time and work, and I'd much rather continue seeing new, interesting ships and weapons in this mod. =)

Less armed, less armored, unshielded, hyper Sphincter Discombobulator spammy monster-karkinos?

Also, it might be a 1.1 addition (ie: i have done everything shipwise, let's work on the embellishments)

P.s. i'd propose for them to spawn randomly somewhere in the sector/hyperspace (preferably near other fleets) in a way that seems they were exiting hyperspace (wrblblblblb ships appearing) combined with a Satined Deflorator effect (damage ships and cause CR loss on the tac map (is it even possible?)).
Obviouly it would need a ""wind up time" so that the player can realize what's happening and at least try to move out of the way.

Also a minor (once-in-a-blue-moon) chance for bigger BRDY ships to blow up catastrophically and tear reality a new hole allowing for all sort of nasties to spawn mid combat could be a nic(h)e .config option
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Abyz on March 25, 2016, 12:56:31 PM
Are there any BRDY boss ships is SS+?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 25, 2016, 04:08:53 PM
Nope.

Honest question: why are people so interested in battling space monsters that likely only have have 1-2 'weapons', don't have flux or shields, and are mainly HP sacks to grind down before their bite attack or "organic laser" does the same to you?  It seems like space monsters would not possess many of the mechanics that makes Starsector combat fun.

I would never create something as basic and dull as that. But space monsters will take an enormous effort to get right, effort I currently reserve for improving the mod in less time-consuming ways. Just updating the Karkinos, playtesting 1 new weapon, and fixing various balance issues, gameplay things, campaign issues and polishing all that took almost all of last week.

I disagree that all ship niches are filled in BRDY. There are a lot of badly designed ships like the Asura and Knight that are due for a CULLING, too, and will be replaced by better content.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Soda Savvy on March 25, 2016, 04:49:18 PM
I voted Space Monster just because. But honestly ships, refinements, bug fixes, and other content are the more important thing. If however you do bother with the SM idea, make it a toggle perhaps? Without one it would be like a permanent switch from Battletech to Babylon 5 every time I boot up BDY for a campaign. I like both, but not always at the same time.


Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 25, 2016, 07:09:40 PM
The Knight is indeed is a really awkward spot where it's an asymmetrical cruiser conquest that gives up the missiles for a flight deck. You could make it a formidable fleet cruiser but you'd have to scrap pretty much everything about it except the shape and flight deck.

The Asura I would definitely like to see remain in some capacity, it's a very interesting ship I think, a phase strike cruiser with far more staying power than a phase ship has any right to have, though I wouldn't object to it getting a redesign like the kark is getting.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on March 25, 2016, 10:18:36 PM
I voted for weapons because Blackrock has a major dearth of medium and large missile weaponry. For medium missiles, you've got the Achillies and the Voidspear, and there's no large missile weaponry at all. Admittedly there's very few BRDY ships with slots that can even mount medium or large missiles, but still.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: cjuicy on March 27, 2016, 05:49:58 PM
The Sthenos is quite OP in some situations. I killed an Onslaught using it, without backup. It might just be the Scalaron Blasters on it, though. I also had a Tornado MIRV in the large slot, but barely used it.
Side note: Conquests are a bit harder, since they can turn. My best "joust" left me with a third of my HP. A Paragon was strangely quick to die.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 27, 2016, 07:18:13 PM
A player cruiser killing an Onslaught isn't TOO crazy, Onslaughts can be easily consigned to giant XP pinatas by any sufficiently mobile cruiser or even destroyer. Hell I have a friend who claims to be able to solo them with a strike Scarab.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: TaLaR on March 27, 2016, 09:51:16 PM
Most non-civilian ships (frigates included) that can get behind an Onslaught, can kill it (under player control).
As even more extreme case, there was a topic about killing sim Onslaught with Buffalo mk2. Though it required specific tactics and was quite difficult to execute.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Dubby on March 28, 2016, 05:37:49 AM
I would like to see some kind of medium/large mounted long-range scalaron pulse. Perhaps a multiple stage torpedo, where regular scalaron pulses are released in sequence or in a burst at the end. Moderate speed, but considerable range? Perhaps if the torpedo can detonate at a specific distance from a/any target.

I also would like to see some kind of rook-tug hybrid ship.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Dudley Dickerson on March 28, 2016, 08:16:58 AM
Really surprised that music has the lowest amount of votes. I guess most people play with their own music since the soundtrack currently in the game is extremely lacking.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Tartiflette on March 28, 2016, 11:14:50 AM
Really surprised that music has the lowest amount of votes. I guess most people play with their own music since the soundtrack currently in the game is extremely lacking.
Probably because the faction already has a complete soundtrack.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 28, 2016, 04:54:12 PM
I don't want to add more music yet, but I wouldn't mind making another ambient track to add some variety. Time is the main limiting factor, I do really enjoy making music for my own sake. (https://soundcloud.com/fastland)

I would like to see some kind of medium/large mounted long-range scalaron pulse.

You're in luck.

New patch now has several redesigned and several new weapons.
Particle Rifle (new)
Fury Torpedo Launcher (new)
Rage SRM (new)
Heavy Scalaron Pulse Launcher (new)
INM Assault Gun (redesigned)
Voidspear MRM (redesigned)
In addition, almost every weapon has recieved some kind of minor or major polish, and there's more stuff regarding ships too.

It's taking a while to playtest all this stuff, though.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Abyz on March 28, 2016, 06:02:34 PM
I heart you. *hi five for quality*
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on March 28, 2016, 08:00:05 PM
Rage SRM (new)
O:

what does it do?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Dark.Revenant on March 28, 2016, 08:09:10 PM
Rage SRM (new)
O:

what does it do?

it does nothing
yep, nothing
doesn't that make you mad?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 28, 2016, 08:24:27 PM
No what'll make me mad is when SS+ gives a ship 3 of them and I shout "NO. LET THE SHIP GENERATOR TRY AGAIN, IT *** UP." because the fight just isn't fun anymore.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 28, 2016, 11:31:44 PM

Particle Rifle (new)
Fury Torpedo Launcher (new)
Rage SRM (new)
Heavy Scalaron Pulse Launcher (new)
INM Assault Gun (redesigned)
Voidspear MRM (redesigned)


(https://media.giphy.com/media/11oRLY4FRk2s36/giphy.gif)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on March 29, 2016, 10:16:36 AM
it does nothing
yep, nothing
doesn't that make you mad?
OUTRAGEOUS!!

*goes back to Fury-spam*
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 29, 2016, 11:05:19 AM
It's a short-range finisher missile that does HE. Very good against destroyers and cruisers, can miss frigates unless you aim really well.

Voidspears are now more similar to Hornets, with more ammo, weaker and slower missiles, different launcher sprites.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Abyz on March 29, 2016, 12:53:53 PM
RIP my sweet, sweet voidspears...
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on March 29, 2016, 12:58:31 PM
i think the Voidspear changes sound good, they felt too much like just "Harpoons with energy damage" to me.

maybe i'll feel the same way about the Rage, but either way i'll get at least one interesting 'new' missile, so yay! ^^
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Adraius on March 29, 2016, 04:47:54 PM
I'm glad to see a new guided (I assume it's guided?) SRM in the game.  I think the space for fast but short-range guided missile weapons is somewhat underexplored in Starsector. (possibly due to potential power in frigate duels?) The idea of getting up close to deliver a powerful missile volley greatly appeals to me.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cyan Leader on March 29, 2016, 11:12:25 PM
Curious, considering you hate the missile skills (with good reason) and Alex already stated that they will be removed/heavily reworked, are you balancing your stuff towards lvl0 now or are you offsetting everything because of it?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Tartiflette on March 30, 2016, 12:15:43 AM
I'm glad to see a new guided (I assume it's guided?) SRM in the game.  I think the space for fast but short-range guided missile weapons is somewhat underexplored in Starsector. (possibly due to potential power in frigate duels?) The idea of getting up close to deliver a powerful missile volley greatly appeals to me.
It's unexplored because MRM are already bloody fast and decently ranged. Atropos with ECCM are almost as fast as a Hellbore shot! (not even mentioning skills).
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 30, 2016, 05:27:25 PM
^ Which is dumb if you ask me. Harpoons are so annoying in vanilla precisely because offscreen ships will sh*t 15 of them the moment something overloads. Adding some opportunity cost or at least keeping range at around max. a screen length for missiles that can seriously punish overloads is generally a good idea.

*works on insane Morpheus changes*
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Mr. Nobody on March 30, 2016, 11:14:15 PM
Speaking of the Morpheus:

The Imaginos is pure AoE
The Morpheus is The Circus
Would a cruiser sized one be a directed beam/blast? And a capital?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Tartiflette on March 31, 2016, 12:21:53 AM
^ Which is dumb if you ask me. Harpoons are so annoying in vanilla precisely because offscreen ships will sh*t 15 of them the moment something overloads. Adding some opportunity cost or at least keeping range at around max. a screen length for missiles that can seriously punish overloads is generally a good idea.

*works on insane Morpheus changes*
Totally agree with you here! The latest changes to missiles made venting as much a death sentence as overloading and seriously diminished the tactical aspect of the game (at least until you get a fleet big enough to have some cover while venting). I understand why it has been done though, making ammo limited missiles worthwhile next to regen missiles... But that's treating the symptoms not the cause and ultimately making things worse.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Mr. Nobody on March 31, 2016, 12:45:24 AM
And they called me mad for slapping Safety Overrides on every single ship in my fleet.
The forum really needs a "smug" emoji
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: TaLaR on March 31, 2016, 12:52:40 AM
Totally agree with you here! The latest changes to missiles made venting as much a death sentence as overloading and seriously diminished the tactical aspect of the game (at least until you get a fleet big enough to have some cover while venting).
Vent spam is still as dominant as it was, just don't try to vent big flux reserves with comparatively small vent speed. It is mostly something to do between your and enemy shots.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Hazard on March 31, 2016, 06:27:50 AM
For some reason it only just now occurred to me that BRDY soundtrack is bloody gorgeous. So yeah, even though I voted for ships, weapons and campaign features, I really wouldn't mind if we got some new tracks instead. ;)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on March 31, 2016, 07:49:51 AM
Hey, glad you enjoy it. Pretty sure I'll be adding more stuff in the future, too. Depends on what's being done with music in vanilla as patches go forward.

Speaking of the Morpheus:

The Imaginos is pure AoE
The Morpheus is The Circus
Would a cruiser sized one be a directed beam/blast? And a capital?

I was thinking a directed energy weapon for the cruiser and a heavy teleport with aoe damage for the capital hehh
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Mr. Nobody on March 31, 2016, 11:34:56 AM
Hey, glad you enjoy it. Pretty sure I'll be adding more stuff in the future, too. Depends on what's being done with music in vanilla as patches go forward.

Speaking of the Morpheus:

The Imaginos is pure AoE
The Morpheus is The Circus
Would a cruiser sized one be a directed beam/blast? And a capital?

I was thinking a directed energy weapon for the cruiser and a heavy teleport with aoe damage for the capital hehh

Not to tell you how to do your job but while watching someone play Battlefleet Gothic i suddenly got a idea.
What if the Capital special is half a frontal forcefield and half a massive speed burst? The more damage absorbed, the higher the speed (although the distance traveled would remain either the same or scale much more slowly than the speed).
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Surge on March 31, 2016, 11:37:01 AM
It'd be an interesting high-risk high-reward ship similar to the Templar Paladin but unlike the Paladin the AI would be unable to use it effectively.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Mr. Nobody on March 31, 2016, 12:11:44 PM
It'd be an interesting high-risk high-reward ship similar to the Templar Paladin but unlike the Paladin the AI would be unable to use it effectively.

How difficult would it be to make a custom AI for that ability?
Idk how it would look in code but in pseudocode:

IF Ability is Charged and Amount Of Firepower > X
Activate Ability
Turn towards nearest enemy in Y° arc

Also: if it ever get a IBB version i propose to make it look like a quarterback (or whatever guy in American Football is the "tackle the other guy" guy)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: MShadowy on March 31, 2016, 01:23:15 PM
Y'know guys, I'm pretty sure he was saying that those ships already exist (i.e the Karkinos and the Nevermore)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Alphascrub on March 31, 2016, 03:00:05 PM
Y'know guys, I'm pretty sure he was saying that those ships already exist (i.e the Karkinos and the Nevermore)

Winner winner chicken Dinner.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Mr. Nobody on April 01, 2016, 04:52:06 AM
Quote from: Spurdo
Fug
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on April 01, 2016, 02:06:21 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/utwtDe4.png)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Mr. Nobody on April 02, 2016, 04:52:17 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/utwtDe4.png)

That's a weapon though, not the result of a Phase Cloak bathed in radioactive waste and gaining superpowers.

Whatever, cool is cool.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on April 02, 2016, 08:27:30 AM
I took screenshots at the most intense part of flickering/strobing, so it looks a bit glowier than it really is. Still, the beam scales with flux level now, (from 50% to 150% of listed DPS) and becomes monstrous right before you reach 100% flux and trigger the emergency shutdown.

If I can get OBS to work again I might record some video later tonight.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on April 02, 2016, 11:37:34 AM
I'm finding the slot layout on the Stenos awkward to use. The forward medium energy is only barely able to hit ships directly of it; if they're very slightly to the left it won't fire. I'd also like to be able to put more Ferroguns/HVDs on it than I currently can. My ideal loadout would be 4 HVDs and a Sunstorm, but I can't do that due to the unusual lack of Ballistic slots for a BRDY ship. On the other hand, the Scalaron Blaster is an Energy weapon, and it's also very good on this ship. I think that a lot of mods do overuse multi-weapon-type slots, but the Stenos' build variety would really benefit from having more Hybrid slots.

While I'm talking about the Ferrogun, it's a bit underwhelming compared to the HVD. They're used in the same way, with practically the same flux cost, but the HVD has 200 more range, slightly higher DPS, almost as much per-shot damage and a bonus 400 EMP damage, while being only 2 OP more expensive: 13 compared to the Ferrogun's 11. I don't think the Ferrogun's increased projectile speed differentiates them enough. Similarly, compared to the Ferrocannon the Gauss Cannon has slightly lower per-shot damage, a slower projectile, and slightly decreased flux efficiency (0.5833 dam/flux compared to the Ferrocannon's 0.6441 dam/flux), but 300 more range and more than twice the fire rate for the same OP cost. The Ferrogun line doesn't seem to have a different enough role compared to their vanilla counterparts to merit the significant range penalties and other downsides.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on April 02, 2016, 12:29:22 PM
i think the Ferrocannon's projectile speed is enough to make it a viable alternative to Gauss Cannon or other large kinetic weapons. it performs poorly in battles between large ships, but the high damage per shot and projectile speed make it very powerful against small/fast ships: the projectile speed means dodging a shot or deactivating shields when on high flux are very difficult, and the damage per shot means overloads last for a long time and even armor isn't nearly as effective as against most kinetic weapons.

but i agree that the Ferrogun feels underwhelming. with projectile speed and damage per shot closer to vanilla weapons, it misses more often, causes overloads with lower frequency and duration and is countered more effectively by armor.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Tartiflette on April 02, 2016, 12:47:20 PM
Given a lot of BRDY weapon are high up there compared to vanilla, I'm perfectly okay if some are more average.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on April 02, 2016, 01:09:26 PM
The Ferrogun is perfectly viable. Comparing it to the HVD, the HVD costs more OP and is more liable to miss close-mid range targets. If you want a cheap, flux-efficient way to destroy frigates and cause overloads, it's hard to beat the Ferrogun. I'm not going to overbuff weapons that are fine.

Quote
but i agree that the Ferrogun feels underwhelming. with projectile speed and damage per shot closer to vanilla weapons, it misses more often, causes overloads with lower frequency and duration and is countered more effectively by armor.

It doesn't miss more often - it has near hitscan projectile speed with combat skills. In my experience, it causes more overloads than any other medium projectile weapon. No vanilla kinetic medium does 300 damage per hit, which is why the Ferrogun is very good at crushing frigate armor.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on April 02, 2016, 01:42:20 PM
The Ferrogun is perfectly viable. Comparing it to the HVD, the HVD costs more OP and is more liable to miss close-mid range targets. If you want a cheap, flux-efficient way to destroy frigates and cause overloads, it's hard to beat the Ferrogun. I'm not going to overbuff weapons that are fine.

Quote
but i agree that the Ferrogun feels underwhelming. with projectile speed and damage per shot closer to vanilla weapons, it misses more often, causes overloads with lower frequency and duration and is countered more effectively by armor.

It doesn't miss more often - it has near hitscan projectile speed with combat skills. In my experience, it causes more overloads than any other medium projectile weapon. No vanilla kinetic medium does 300 damage per hit, which is why the Ferrogun is very good at crushing frigate armor.
The HVD does 275 kinetic damage per hit; the Ferrogun's per-shot advantage is negligible. The Ferrogun is more flux inefficient than the HVD, which is quite inefficient already; it has lower DPS and does no EMP damage for the same amount of flux/sec. 11 OP is the same cost as the Ion Pulser; I consider that above average for a medium weapon, and cheap to be less than 10 OP. It certainly has a very high projectile speed and its per-shot damage is comparable to vanilla weaponry, but every other aspect of the weapon is sub-par compared to vanilla.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on April 02, 2016, 01:47:22 PM
Why are you phrasing it as if the weapon's biggest strengths are just a perk of its design? The entire weapon is balanced around the fact that it has near-hitscan projectile speed. I didn't realize the HVD was that close numerically, but I still won't change the weapon as it currently stands. Because you can stack several Ferroguns on a lot of BRDY ships, it's balanced around ships comboing it with itself or several other weapons that benefit from bursty kinetic damage.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Sy on April 02, 2016, 01:50:53 PM
It doesn't miss more often
i meant "compared to the Ferrocannon", not "compared to vanilla weapons". FG does have high projectile speed, but still not as crazy high as FC.

it was intentional that i said FG "feels underwhelming"; that's simply the impression i got from my own (mostly simulator based) playtesting. i almost always end up using Dual Shard, some vanilla weapon or even Volley Gun instead. but i know my personal experience might not necessarily accurately reflect the actual numbers.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on April 02, 2016, 02:15:01 PM
Why are you phrasing it as if the weapon's biggest strengths are just a perk of its design? The entire weapon is balanced around the fact that it has near-hitscan projectile speed. I didn't realize the HVD was that close numerically, but I still won't change the weapon as it currently stands. Because you can stack several Ferroguns on a lot of BRDY ships, it's balanced around ships comboing it with itself or several other weapons that benefit from bursty kinetic damage.
I'm disputing the idea that near-hitscan projectile speed is the be-all and end-all. It's good, but I don't feel it can carry a weapon that's inferior in almost every other aspect. And the Ferrogun isn't alone in having very high projectile speeds; Needler projectiles are almost as fast, and the only areas the Light Needler is inferior to the Ferrogun in are per-shot damage (not per-burst damage, the LN does 500 kinetic over the whole burst) and recoil. The Light Needler can't strip off frigate armor nearly as fast, but neither it nor the Ferrogun are going to be the only guns on a ship.

You can stack several HVDs on a lot of vanilla ships. The Enforcer in particular can mount 5 of them if you disregard PD, more realistically 2 or 3. The Hammerhead can mount 2 that will fire like 4 for short periods of time. And, well, I'm pretty sure every single weapon in the game benefits from being used with other weapons with bursty kinetic damage. Overloads are good. The Ferrogun isn't particularly special in being a weapon that's good at building up hard flux and causing overloads. It causes long overloads, but the HVD causes overloads nearly as long, and other weapons with higher kinetic DPS cause overloads more quickly.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Dark.Revenant on April 02, 2016, 05:02:21 PM
Why are you phrasing it as if the weapon's biggest strengths are just a perk of its design? The entire weapon is balanced around the fact that it has near-hitscan projectile speed. I didn't realize the HVD was that close numerically, but I still won't change the weapon as it currently stands. Because you can stack several Ferroguns on a lot of BRDY ships, it's balanced around ships comboing it with itself or several other weapons that benefit from bursty kinetic damage.
I'm disputing the idea that near-hitscan projectile speed is the be-all and end-all. It's good, but I don't feel it can carry a weapon that's inferior in almost every other aspect. And the Ferrogun isn't alone in having very high projectile speeds; Needler projectiles are almost as fast, and the only areas the Light Needler is inferior to the Ferrogun in are per-shot damage (not per-burst damage, the LN does 500 kinetic over the whole burst) and recoil. The Light Needler can't strip off frigate armor nearly as fast, but neither it nor the Ferrogun are going to be the only guns on a ship.

You can stack several HVDs on a lot of vanilla ships. The Enforcer in particular can mount 5 of them if you disregard PD, more realistically 2 or 3. The Hammerhead can mount 2 that will fire like 4 for short periods of time. And, well, I'm pretty sure every single weapon in the game benefits from being used with other weapons with bursty kinetic damage. Overloads are good. The Ferrogun isn't particularly special in being a weapon that's good at building up hard flux and causing overloads. It causes long overloads, but the HVD causes overloads nearly as long, and other weapons with higher kinetic DPS cause overloads more quickly.

The HVD is probably slightly better than the Ferrogun without skills.  I'd say the Ferrogun is pretty balanced.

With skills, the HVD is way better than the Ferrogun, and is actually better than all the other medium/small ballistic weapons.  It's even better than the Mark IX, a large weapon!

So, what you're noticing is less a matter of the Ferrogun being underpowered, it's more that the weapon you're comparing it to is overpowered.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Cycerin on April 03, 2016, 07:26:38 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/9ESEJ6G.jpg)

DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK DRIVE YARDS 0.8.5! (http://www.mediafire.com/download/zqpvowrmqqmgw36/Blackrock_Drive_Yards_0.8.5.zip)

Karkinos update, Morpheus update, 5 brand new weapons, campaign adjustments, weapon adjustments, ship adjustments, lots of juicy new scripted bullsh*t and more.


Changelog:


Spoiler
Changelog:

0.8.5
>> Due to the Karkinos redesign, saves containing a Karkinos will be broken unless you use Save Transfer. You may crash on mission load if you have a custom variant for that mission - if so, go into the saves folder in the Starsector directory and delete the folder relevant to that mission.


- Added special script to all Dimensional Engine ships (Imaginos, Morpheus, Nevermore, Karkinos) that causes an anomalous reaction when the ship is disabled. (Thanks DR!)
- Added Particle Rifle, medium energy weapon. 10 OP, deals Fragmentation damage, with an extra bit of Energy damage against hull/armor. A decent addition to any loadout, it has some interesting quirks too.
- Added Rage SRM/Pod, 4 OP/10 OP HE finisher missile rack. Fires swift, punishing and weakly guided SRMs that easily defeat point defense, but are unreliable against faster targets.
- Added Fury Torpedo Launcher, 9 OP Medium Fury Torpedo platform. Does not cost flux like smaller Furies, but has longer cooldown.
- Added Heavy Scalaron Pulse Launcher - fires bigger Scalaron Pulses that last longer, hurt more, and are harder to shoot down. 14 OP.
- Added custom hullmod for Morpheus/Imaginos that describes their defensive system and replaces High Maintenance (same effect, saves hullmod space)
- Adjusted Gneiss system
  * Preclusion moved to outer system orbit
  * New Blackrock station in orbit around Verge added: Vigil Station, an old and large space habitat, home to researchers and a large underclass of refugees, dissidents and prisoners
- Karkinos: New sprite, turret layout significantly changed and stats changed.
  * Armor increased by 150 (Now 1550)
  * Shield upkeep lowered by 0.5
  * Turn rate/accel very slightly decreased
  * OP decreased by 5 (Less weapon mounts)
  * Flux Dissipation decreased by 50
  * Scalar Deracinator flux/use from 0.125 to 0.190 and cooldown from 30 to 35 sec. Damage increased by ~15%
  * These changes aim to make the ship more well-rounded and less OP. The old Karkinos had access to too much focused firepower in player hands, but was fairly easy to kill in AI hands.
- Morpheus: Significantly changed
  * Void Buster: Now scales with ship's flux level: All the weapon's visuals and audio scale, as well as the beam's damage. Slowdown and damage resistance also scale with flux level.
  * Damage is 50% at 0% flux and 150% at 100% flux. This also affects any beam weapons mounted on the ship.
  * Range adjusted to 600, DPS is 1000 and flux/sec is 1300
  * Adjusted ship system effect/engines to prevent spinout bug, now has a trippy looking afterimage effect
  * Changed stats; Supply/month increased by 5, Hull decreased by 500, Combat Speed increased by 10, Flux Dissipation decreased by 10, Flux Capacity decreased by 100
  * Lowered Arclight LFO effective range to ~ 900, lowered flux/shot by 35
  * Lowered Void Buster range to 600, increased dps by 100 and flux/sec by 200
- BRDY Strike Suite Hullmod: Redesigned.
  * Now mutually exclusive with Integrated Targeting Unit and Dedicated Targeting Core. Serves to enable offensive, hit-and-run focused playstyles.
  * Now yields 20% flux usage bonus and damage bonus
  * Now yields 10% multiplicative weapon range loss (stacks less favorably with Gunnery Implants 5 perk/ SS+ hull size range bonus than before)
  * OP costs adjusted to 8/15/25/35
- INM Assault Gun: Redesigned
  * Uses clip mechanic. Similar fire rate to before when firing sustained, massively improved fire rate when firing from full clip.
  * Massive DPS while firing from full magazine, low but efficient dps sustained.
  * Projectile look adjusted
  * SFX adjusted
- Voidspear SRM - Renamed to Voidspear MRM
  * Redesigned as a general pressure missile to reflect how the AI uses it. Rage SRM is the faction's new finisher missile.
  * OP changed to 6/12 for rack/pod, ammo increased, speed decreased, HP decreased
  * Damage adjusted, flight time increased
  * Now does 1-100 extra HE damage on hull/armor hit
  * Launcher sprites changed
- Dart SRMs:
  * Ammo regen halved (to 0.1/0.2 ammo/sec)
  * Damage lowered by 5, No longer deals EMP damage
  * Increased cooldown between bursts by 1 sec for both
  * Added 10/20 flux/missile cost (Those autoloaders don't drive themselves!)
  * Lowered missile speed by 5%
  * Increased velocity damping factor for missile AI (less jerky)
- Gale Battery: Now feels more like a mix of both Gale weapons.
  * Range increased by 200 (now 900), cooldown decreased by 0.2 seconds
  * Damage increased to 500, flux/shot decreased to 550
  * Inaccuracy for subsequent shots slightly increased
- Ferrocannon: Changed to be more like a big version of the Ferrogun, instead of a pure alpha strike weapon.
  * 600 dmg/shot, 800 flux/shot, 3.5 sec cooldown
- Ferrogun: Slightly increased efficiency. Flux/shot rounded down to 400
- Lowered Quill Rocket speed slightly and decreased ammo by 5/10 for launcher/pod
- Fury torpedo: Speed increased by 25, damage increased by 100
  * Added 0.3 second arming time, increased flameout/fadeout speed after flight time expires
- Scalaron Pulse Launcher: Lowered range by 400 to better match effective range in practice, wasting less ammo
- Achilles LRM: Adjustments to make the mirvs more reliable
- Krait Heavy Fighter: Sprite adjusted
  * Krait now has one Dart SRM Rack: a fighter-only version of Dart SRM. Fires 4 darts every 9 seconds.
- Fixed bug with Morpheus and Imaginos right-click introduced by 0.7.2a that didn't correctly make ship intangible while active (wasn't invulnerable as before)
- Increased Scorpion burn level by 1 (Now 9)
- Particle Lance: Increased damage and emp/sec to 200, increased Flux/Sec to 200, increased cooldown by 0.1 sec
  * Changed beam color
- Increased Nevermore-0 hull by 500 (Now 8500)
- Increased Asura base price, changed Asura large mount to Hybrid
- Silverfish-B: Side turrets are now Hybrid, rather than Universal
- Scalaron Repeater: Damage increased by 5, max. spread increased by 2, proj. speed increased by 50
- Desdinova: Max burn decreased by 1 (now 9)
- Volley Gun: Cooldown decreased by 0.2 sec, flux/volley decreased by 20
- Gale Cannon: Cooldown decreased by 0.3 sec, damage decreased by 10
- Extended Gale Cannon: Cooldown decreased by 1 sec, damage decreased by 50
- Sunstorm PDE: Underestimated impact of vanilla bug fix, damage/sec decreased from 1200 to 950
- Shredder/Shredder Battery: OP decreased by 1 (to 4/9)
- Knight: Flux Dissipation increased by 50
- Kurmaraja: Slot types changed (more hybrids)
- Eschaton: Added 2 hidden small missile hardpoints, changed medium and small turrets to Hybrids
  * Decreased Fuel Capacity by 400 and Cargo Capacity by 300
  * Increased OP by 10
  * Increased Armor by 150
  * Increased Flux Dissipation by 50 and Flux Capacity by 1000
  * Increased supplies/mo to by 4
  * Added CARRIER/COMBAT hints rather than CIVILIAN
- Convergence: Added CARRIER/COMBAT hints
- Stenos: Large hardpoint turned into Hybrid
- Fixed contrail colors in campaign
- Updated every portrait with a polish/edit pass to look closer to vanilla and more distinct
- Adjusted a metric ton of variants
- Removed unused Linear Pulse Gun script and clarified tooltip
- Adjusted some SFX
- Very minor ship stat tweaks here and there
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: sycspysycspy on April 03, 2016, 08:25:45 PM
AWESOME!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 03, 2016, 10:23:00 PM
wow, so much stuff! very interesting changes all around.

is the "anomalous reaction" just a cosmetic addition, or does it have any gameplay effects?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 03, 2016, 11:46:40 PM
does it have any gameplay effects?

Yes.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: NightKev on April 04, 2016, 01:40:20 AM
wow, so much stuff! very interesting changes all around.

is the "anomalous reaction" just a cosmetic addition, or does it have any gameplay effects?
Pretty sure it's similar (though probably not identical) to how Templar ships have a tendency to explode violently when disabled, dealing a large amount of damage to anything within the vicinity. I haven't had a chance to test out my theory yet, but it seems likely considering who he mentioned in the changelog as having helped with the script :P.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: radekplug on April 04, 2016, 02:52:28 AM
i got error Fatal: Ship Hull [brdy_karkinos] variant [mission_BRDY_best_ship_0]: slot id [WS0045] not found for weapon [brdy_ag]. this error has accurd when i choose msion with kanrikos. this error is caused by walking the beast mission.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.2
Post by: Tartiflette on April 04, 2016, 03:30:52 AM
i got error Fatal: Ship Hull [brdy_karkinos] variant [mission_BRDY_best_ship_0]: slot id [WS0045] not found for weapon [brdy_ag]. this error has accurd when i choose msion with kanrikos. this error is caused by walking the beast mission.
>> Due to the Karkinos redesign, saves containing a Karkinos will be broken unless you use Save Transfer. You may crash on mission load if you have a custom variant for that mission - if so, go into the saves folder in the Starsector directory and delete the folder relevant to that mission.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: radekplug on April 04, 2016, 05:33:43 AM
thanks evryting works now
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Mr. Nobody on April 04, 2016, 05:39:23 AM
wow, so much stuff! very interesting changes all around.

is the "anomalous reaction" just a cosmetic addition, or does it have any gameplay effects?
Pretty sure it's similar (though probably not identical) to how Templar ships have a tendency to explode violently when disabled, dealing a large amount of damage to anything within the vicinity. I haven't had a chance to test out my theory yet, but it seems likely considering who he mentioned in the changelog as having helped with the script :P.

Or maybe.
Just maybe.

Spoiler
Void beasts everywhere
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Achataeon on April 04, 2016, 06:43:14 AM
Void beasts everywhere

Upon explosion, a dimensional engine would open up a rift in time-space and allow a horde of void beasts to ravage everything and everyone.
VOID BEASTS CONFIRMED
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 04, 2016, 08:17:38 AM
Yes.
Pretty sure it's similar (though probably not identical) to how Templar ships have a tendency to explode violently when disabled, dealing a large amount of damage to anything within the vicinity.
that's what i was thinking as well, yeah. guess i'll have to test it. ^^

Upon explosion, a dimensional engine would open up a rift in time-space and allow a horde of void beasts to ravage everything and everyone.
Hegemony commander who just ordered a bomber strike against that enemy flagship is like "oh... whoops."
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Mr. Nobody on April 04, 2016, 09:32:09 AM
Yes.
Pretty sure it's similar (though probably not identical) to how Templar ships have a tendency to explode violently when disabled, dealing a large amount of damage to anything within the vicinity.
that's what i was thinking as well, yeah. guess i'll have to test it. ^^

Upon explosion, a dimensional engine would open up a rift in time-space and allow a horde of void beasts to ravage everything and everyone.
Hegemony commander who just ordered a bomber strike against that enemy flagship is like "oh... whoops."

So, if Void Beasts are Demons and the Hegemony is the Imperium of Man... Who are BRDY then?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Tartiflette on April 04, 2016, 09:44:03 AM
So, if Void Beasts are Demons and the Hegemony is the Imperium of Man... Who are BRDY then?
Who else than the Eldars?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: SierraTangoDelta on April 04, 2016, 11:15:13 AM
Who else than the Eldars?
ELDARS?

I AM ANGRY

ANGRY ABOUT SPACE ELVES
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 04, 2016, 12:10:27 PM
Oh dear, not reality-shattering portals to the Warp!

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/PD48l3W.gif)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 04, 2016, 02:18:05 PM
but reality-shattering portals to the warp are fuuunn! don't you like fun?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Toxcity on April 04, 2016, 05:37:16 PM
Any particular reason that the Medium Fury is 9 OP? It seems on par with all the other missile launchers.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Dark.Revenant on April 04, 2016, 05:51:48 PM
It has a lot lower total damage than a reaper tube.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cyan Leader on April 04, 2016, 06:49:36 PM
Is it still semi-incompatible with SS+? As in new stuff not in shops, etc.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 04, 2016, 06:59:16 PM
Thanks for the feedback Soren!

SS+ is fully integrated with the new BRDY now.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Marcus Garvey on April 05, 2016, 06:45:57 AM
I'm a little sad the Karkinos lost half its small center mounted universals, used to love stuffing quad PDEs and furies in there.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 05, 2016, 09:36:10 AM
It was fun, but I think ultimately it was a bit unnecessary. Enabled some cheesy torpedo builds or builds with weapons from other mods too.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: taerkar on April 05, 2016, 04:42:51 PM
Got this crash upon trying to enter the system Marut during a SS+/Nexelrin game. Is this a Blackrock file it's looking for as it wants it in a BR/

477377 [Thread-4] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Error loading [graphics/BR/backgrounds/obsidianBG (2).jpg] resource, not found in [D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Starsector Plus,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Blackrock Drive Yards,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Combat Chatter,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\DIABLEAVIONICS,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Interstellar Imperium,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\JP_RC_255,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\LazyLib,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Neutrino corp,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\New Galactic Order 1.04c,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Nexerelin,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\SCY,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\shadow_ships,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Templars,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\TwigLib,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Version Checker,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\MusicLib,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\ShaderLib,../starfarer.res/res,CLASSPATH]
java.lang.RuntimeException: Error loading [graphics/BR/backgrounds/obsidianBG (2).jpg] resource, not found in [D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Starsector Plus,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Blackrock Drive Yards,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Combat Chatter,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\DIABLEAVIONICS,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Interstellar Imperium,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\JP_RC_255,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\LazyLib,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Neutrino corp,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\New Galactic Order 1.04c,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Nexerelin,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\SCY,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\shadow_ships,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Templars,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\TwigLib,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\Version Checker,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\MusicLib,D:\StarSector\starsector-core\..\mods\ShaderLib,../starfarer.res/res,CLASSPATH]
   at com.fs.util.C.Object(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.util.C.Ô00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader.String(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.graphics.TextureLoader.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.util.ReplaceableSprite.update(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.BackgroundAndStars.renderBG(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.BaseLocation.renderBG(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.renderBG(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignState.render(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.BaseGameState.traverse(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$1.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

I deleted every folder for mods that updated recently so there shouldn't be any version conflicts. Unless I missed something of course.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 05, 2016, 06:10:53 PM
Aah, I cleaned out the folders for unused assets recently. I didn't realize Nexerelin would look inside BRDY for that file, instead of having it itself.

If you want to fix it, make a dummy image (clone another) named that in the proper directory.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Huginn on April 06, 2016, 10:58:55 AM
Hey! Love this faction mod! The only gripe i have with it maybe is the lack of some better missile weaponry and more diversity in ship classes the sizes of cruisers or above!

Anything planned for upcoming updates on these things? Would really like to know!

Thanks for the great mod!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 06, 2016, 11:44:11 AM
Thanks, glad you enjoy it. : )

Yeah, updating and adding ships is an ongoing process. I have 2 frig size utility ships planned, the Asura cruiser is getting reworked, and then I will probably add one more cruiser at the very least. I have no plans to add more capitals, but I will revamp the Kurmaraja at some point.

Did you try the new missiles I just added, btw? Any feedback on those?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Abyz on April 06, 2016, 12:12:08 PM
I'm loving the new missiles and weapons. Kickin a
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Mr. Nobody on April 06, 2016, 12:14:44 PM
Kurmaraja

Karkinos or...?

Spoiler
please be the latter
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Alphascrub on April 06, 2016, 12:53:58 PM


Did you try the new missiles I just added, btw? Any feedback on those?

Haven't given the new finishes much of a shot yet. But the new voids are pretty great for frigates who want to have a missile with decent ammo count over the course of a fight or two. As long as you keep your targets smaller than a destroyer they seem pretty effective.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Huginn on April 06, 2016, 01:39:31 PM
Thanks, glad you enjoy it. : )

Yeah, updating and adding ships is an ongoing process. I have 2 frig size utility ships planned, the Asura cruiser is getting reworked, and then I will probably add one more cruiser at the very least. I have no plans to add more capitals, but I will revamp the Kurmaraja at some point.

Did you try the new missiles I just added, btw? Any feedback on those?

I have actually not tried the Asura yet when thinking about it, because i havent had the opportunity to buy it yet. I feel like one of my most personal issues are the seemingly odd placement of hardpoints for weapons and their area coverage(Stenos Class).

Adding abit more variation to end-game might be something positive. (capital ship or different cruisers)

What are the names of these missiles? I dont think ive seen anything else but the Scalaron Pulse Launcher and some other missiles that dont even seem to do damage.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Achataeon on April 06, 2016, 09:32:50 PM
Anyone else thinks that the Knights Templar is just BRDY, but they came back from the future? The newest BRDY ships, Imaginos and Morpheus, are nearing the Knights Templar level of technology. Main difference is that BRDY ships need an external power source (the projectiles) to power their scalaron rejector/disruptor whereas the Knights Templar's technology has advanced to the point wherein they can use the flux levels of their ships to generate a Priwen Burst. Probably coincidental, but still. Pretty freakin' cool. Mad props to the modders. They really deserve more praise than what's given them.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Alphascrub on April 06, 2016, 09:49:28 PM
Any feedback?
Yea, quote sniping. This is general feedback on a few things, no particular order, just what I've played with so far.

New Rage missiles are pretty great. They seem to be extremely effective when used in pairs. Putting four missiles downrange with one quick is great and they are quite satisfying. I'm currently using them on a couple of shrimp with a railgun/ferro setup. For me its given the space shrimp a bit of life again. Honestly these are a great addition the mod. The pod version is also great for midsized ships to. Seriously this one of the more enjoyable missile systems I've used this far. I can't really put a finger on it but it just seems to work for me.

The new medium fury rack is great but kind of hitches for me. I'm used to the flux cost on the standard racks and while not having it on the larger medium pod is great I would happily trade the lack of flux build for a system that constructs ammo for some of those longer fleet battles. Overall I still think its a great addition.

All of the Dart Changes were really probably needed. I was killing *** cruisers with Dart boats (good change to silverfish-b as well not to tempt me into do in this anymore lol) with minimal cost and no real risk involved ect. Honestly they are still in a super good place and I still use them help overwhelm pd systems so the bigger meaner missile systems can get in without a problem. Hell who am I kidding these are still great.

The Krait changes honestly are very strong, these guys were good before now they are even better.

The gale battery changes are pretty decent as well I just struggle to actually mount it on any blackrock ships.

Voidspears are great middle of the road weapon for smaller ships that are looking for a good general use missile. Overall this one seems ok I just think some players might not realize that this isn't just intended for when you drop shields. Its intended for pressure whenever you need it, from dropping shields to hitting em when the shields are down.

Particle Rifle... these are great really. I feel like they are extremely useful for your AI ships that may have poorflux management at the strangest of times. Overall i found this to be a very general purpose weapon. My biggest complaint so far is the appearance of the projectile, and believe me that is a very very small compliant. Like a hey I just won a Yellow Ferrari, now I'm gonna *** about the fact that isn't black.

Quill changes... not completely excited about this change but hey there were strong not for damage but because how much you could just free spam thing. This might bring them a bit more inline. Especially until missile spec gets kicked in the bloody teeth (We could probably just remove the jaw and start from scratch here)

Random Ship Feedback

Locust: Quite aware this ship wasn't directly changed by the patch but I gotta say I'm still really enjoying these little guys for early saves. They are cheap, fast, great in groups and can very easily outmaneuver about anything.  Four Hybrid mounts let them have a flexible load-out.... blah who am I kidding Volley Locust is the only Locust for me.

Anyway Haven't touched the new Krak or the Morpheus yet and honestly I probably won't have much feedback for them because I just lack experience actually using them personally.



Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 08, 2016, 06:36:40 AM
Great feedback, thanks. I'm glad the Particle Rifle is being recieved well, I had some trouble tuning the weapon after settling on the initial design. It really is great for dealing with fast, annoying targets and punching down wounded ships, though. ZEW ZEW ZEW ZEW
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Alphascrub on April 08, 2016, 03:16:48 PM
Great feedback, thanks. I'm glad the Particle Rifle is being recieved well, I had some trouble tuning the weapon after settling on the initial design. It really is great for dealing with fast, annoying targets and punching down wounded ships, though. ZEW ZEW ZEW ZEW

Its really good at shredding shielded fighters/bombers. Hell even with shield they don't hold out that well. I combined it will the autonomous ship mods on a few frigates and its pretty great for dedicated fighter hunters, especially on the SS+ Sickle.

Edit: Its great for other things to but I just love having ships that can shave the enemy fighter population down to size. Personally I use it the most on my AI controlled Nevermore and a few Scorpions.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 09, 2016, 01:01:41 PM
just noticed that the Karkinos' description still mentions "four heavy turrets".

also, i think that "only one in nine projects lead to spaceworthy hulls" is a little over the top, as cost efficiency seems to be a big deal in the sector. even if BRDY is more willing than most other factions to spend a comparatively large amount of resources on its ships, due to their unique capabilities, i feel using a battleship that costs almost ten times as much to produce as other capitals doesn't seem like a sensible decision. :D
BRDY is still supposed to be an ultimately profit-oriented corporation, right?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 09, 2016, 01:07:59 PM
Well, the construction starts with the most difficult piece (dimensional engine) so the ones that fail are just recycled, or used for other things. "Igniting" the engine and then ensuring that it's stable is the process that leads to project failures. You don't really end up with a bunch of useless sort-of-karkinos hulks cluttering up the shipyards. Plus, the Karkinos is really useful. I haven't gotten around to it, but I want to give it the ability to (with a few days of chargeup time and a CR hit at the start) warp your fleet into hyperspace from anywhere.

One in nine might be a bit of a low figure, though, but I spend maybe too little time quality checking these descriptions.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 09, 2016, 01:30:39 PM
ah, that seems more reasonable then. the way it's worded ("most get scrapped because they do not meet safety specifications") sounded to me as if almost finished ships would routinely get decommissioned after all-encompassing safety checks.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: JohnDoe on April 10, 2016, 04:17:02 AM
warp your fleet into hyperspace from anywhere

Oh god, please do so. My pinkie hurts from having to hold down Shift key when travelling
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Brunel on April 13, 2016, 08:27:06 AM
Hi, just tried this mod, with a bunch of others, and wow man, its style is by far my favourite! love the colours the overall quality, everything.

I just want to ask,  people, how do you use the Asura?
Like, before the Asura, my flagship was a Desdinova, with shard cannons, rage missiles and a particle beam, and it was the op-est thing I experiened in the game (maybe a bit too op with the instant armor wrecking rage missiles?) I could literally blow destroyers and cruisers up faster than they could come at me, even a hegemony is 3 missiles (out of 33) and like 10 seconds.
Now, I saw the Asura, and fell in love with it, its unique look and feel, but I can't for the life of me figure out an effective load out, especially not one that comes close to pay for its maintenance, so any tips?

PS reading back, I love the Karkinos idea! :D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Schwartz on April 13, 2016, 08:43:42 AM
Go with 1x Mjolnir, 2x Mauler, 2x Light Needler and take it from there. Energy slots are nice for PD.

I haven't used it much ever since it became a cruiser, but it can still snipe quite well with that loadout. Back when I didn't know better (didn't know how cheesy it was, anyway) I used it for burst damage. But easy overloads get boring, and phase cloak limits lend themselves more to sustained damage.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on April 14, 2016, 01:50:09 PM
The Rage SRM is perfect. I don't say that sort of thing a lot, but it's perfect. It's clearly designed as a finisher missile, and it works amazingly in that role while not being crazy-spammable like the Harpoon. I'm enjoying using it a lot.

The new Kark's mechanical design is cleaner. The intention of the ship is better conveyed, its purpose is manifest and palpable. It divides the universe in two; what is directly in front of it, and what is not. I think the issue with the old Kark was not so much that it had 45° of 4 Large slot coverage, but that it had 180° of 3 Large slot coverage.

The Voidspear changes are interesting. The starting frigate I got was a Expanded Missile Racks + ECCM Mantis with 1 medium Voidspear, 2 quills, 1 shard gun and 2 shredders. It worked surprisingly well in the half-dozen frigate scale battles you find in the earlygame. I'm considering buying some Archers and putting together a Voidspear spam fleet just to see if it can actually work.

The Particle Rifle is cool. It's good at shooting down fighters, pressuring small ships, and generally finishing stuff off, but I don't think I'd use a ship with Particle Rifles as the only weaponry. It's a weapon that needs support, but it's good at what it does.

The Dart nerfs were necessary, and it's still a very good SRM.

I like the new Gale Battery. 900 range is much more appropriate for a large ballistic, and it works very well on the Stenos. If only BRDY had some sort of 900 range kinetic weaponry to go with it, hint hint :^)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 14, 2016, 04:57:54 PM
Thx for feedback, glad you're enjoying the new stuff/changes. The old kark actually informed a lot of balance decisions for the large brdy weapons (stupidly enough) so changing it let me buff/change them more freely.

I've been thinking of a new small kinetic weapon, but the Ferrogun is the closest companion to gales you can get for the time being (don't ~really~ want 900 range kinetic kiteboats to be encouraged)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Taverius on April 14, 2016, 05:07:13 PM
I'm kind of sad we won't get a revolver gale cannon tho :D

Btw, what happened to the Knight, still plannint to un-awkwardize it? (yes, that's a word now)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: pretzalcoatl on April 14, 2016, 08:49:43 PM
\data\hulls\brdy_sentinel_drone.ship has an extra ,} at the end
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 15, 2016, 12:07:06 PM
^Thanx

I'm kind of sad we won't get a revolver gale cannon tho :D

Btw, what happened to the Knight, still plannint to un-awkwardize it? (yes, that's a word now)

Who says you won't? But yeah large weapons are not really worth the investment until there are more ships with large slots.

Im not sure what to do with the Knight right now. I'll probably just update the sprite, alter the layout to make it a dedicated broadsider with 1 cannon broadside, 1 missile flank and 1 flight deck area, and then add a new cruiser instead.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Abyz on April 15, 2016, 02:35:39 PM
I like the sound of that! Did I read earlier that you plan on updating the Asura sprite as well? Love that ship.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Achataeon on April 16, 2016, 12:07:32 AM
Is it possible to have a sideward shield? Kind of like a frontal shield, but on its side, locked in place. I think that'd give a new twist in broadside ships.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Alphascrub on April 16, 2016, 12:27:22 AM
Is it possible to have a sideward shield? Kind of like a frontal shield, but on its side, locked in place. I think that'd give a new twist in broadside ships.

I would think it would be.... a omni shield might be more practical though, or as a special ability.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 17, 2016, 10:10:18 PM
I like the sound of that! Did I read earlier that you plan on updating the Asura sprite as well? Love that ship.

The Asura is going on the chopping block at some point.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Taverius on April 17, 2016, 10:11:34 PM
Nuuuu :<
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Alphascrub on April 18, 2016, 01:41:31 AM
IMN Assault Gun feedback.

IMN assault gun is pretty great now. I feel like the weapon is actually usable and really has  a great place in the world of BRDY hit run tactics. I haven't really used the on anything to big but they seem to be really really great on frigate v frigate combat. Especially when you have an enemy frigate who keeps turning their shields on and off to avoid overload, not mention its just very punishing in general now and is a great burst weapon. I actually find them to be a bit more reliable than sunjets on small ships.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Achataeon on April 18, 2016, 06:51:13 AM
Quote
I would think it would be.... a omni shield might be more practical though, or as a special ability.

Ship System: Shield Lock

Lock your omni shield in place for an increase in shield arc/efficiency.


I'm just really hoping for something cool planned for the big old daddy Knight cruiser. I always try to use it but it's really outshined by the Stenos, because its fighters aren't really that useful at the moment.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 18, 2016, 10:48:57 AM
Ship System: Shield Lock

Lock your omni shield in place for an increase in shield arc/efficiency.
if it's for a dedicated broadside ship, it could just create a temporary new shield-like barrier that covers both flanks, but disables normal shields while active.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 18, 2016, 02:53:26 PM
Alex tried shield locking and dismissed it at some point in the past for various reasons, hacking it in from a modder's perspective would probably yield even worse results. And anyway I personally dont see why it would be interesting.

I'm just really hoping for something cool planned for the big old daddy Knight cruiser. I always try to use it but it's really outshined by the Stenos, because its fighters aren't really that useful at the moment.

I find fighters to be the perfect tool for a brdy-only fleet, personally, as being outnumbered and not having enough distractions nullifies a lot of brdy's strengths. Having knights around to keep them in combat is quite cost-effective. It's mostly vanilla fighters that aren't useful, a lot of mods bring quality fighters to the table that are well worth the supplies.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 19, 2016, 05:58:13 AM
the Convergence is actually my least favourite BRDY ship. it's as slow (both in an out of combat) as a capital and costs as much to field and deploy as 3 Typheus(es?), yet still has only as many flight decks and about as much weaponry as 2 of them. and the Bulwark Drone seems weak simply because its size means it gets shot down very easily. a bit of extra cargo and fuel capacity is not enough to make up for these shortcomings, imo.

the speed is the biggest issue, to me. i always use either a few Typheus or a Heron instead, since those do a much better job at providing flight decks and missile support close to the battle lines while still being mobile enough to stay out of trouble if enemies decide to come after them. a Convergence usually needs to stay far away from enemies, since it can not quickly back off again.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Chronosfear on April 19, 2016, 07:26:17 AM
Feedback : Particle Rifle

I really love that weapon. The sprite looks very cool and the "bullet" speed fits perfectly to hit the targets intended to hit.
It´s really deadly for fighters and puts enormous pressure on frigates.
Also it can be very devastating versus everything once the armor is stripped off.
This is my favorite weapon for my fighter hunter ships and often used on carriers , since the are the prime target for fast ships like frigates and fighters.
( BTW : My review is based on a combat skilled character )

Also, I agree that the Convergence needs some love ( since i love the sprite )
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Wyvern on April 19, 2016, 08:32:14 AM
Re: Convergence.  Much like "combat freighters", I'd love to see a bit more combat ability on a "combat carrier".  A good example of what I expect from a ship that advertises itself as a combat carrier would be the Venture and Odyssey ships.  For combat freighter, my favorite is the Apogee.  I'd love to see more ships along those lines - things that are worth deploying into combat on their own merits.

For another example, I keep looking at the Eschaton and thinking "This should have a bit better flux stats, a bit more armor, and those three medium weapon slots should be large slots,* and then suddenly it'd be worth fielding - still wouldn't be a real capital thanks to the lack of supporting / secondary weaponry, but it could actually go out there and make a difference in a fight."

_____
* Edit: And ordnance points scaled up some as well, of course.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Silver Silence on April 19, 2016, 09:32:51 AM
I always look at the Eschaton and think it should be a battlecruiser or something because seeing it in the market, I don't see any obvious cargo crates or those big Phaeton tanker pieces that make me think "oh, that's a freighter".



I find fighters to be the perfect tool for a brdy-only fleet, personally, as being outnumbered and not having enough distractions nullifies a lot of brdy's strengths. Having knights around to keep them in combat is quite cost-effective. It's mostly vanilla fighters that aren't useful, a lot of mods bring quality fighters to the table that are well worth the supplies.

Does it still count if a fleet is mostly (http://puu.sh/oocuc/35f3719d0b.jpg) an angry swarm of BRDY Serkets? Phase makes them amazing fast-cap units as well as making them pretty survivable and they also amusingly use it to land for repairs as quicky as possible. And if you just throw enough of them on the field they tickle just about anything that doesn't have exceptional laser PD to death (http://puu.sh/oocHU/a6ecfa46fb.jpg).
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Chronosfear on April 19, 2016, 09:45:14 AM
I always look at the Eschaton and think it should be a battlecruiser or something because seeing it in the market, I don't see any obvious cargo crates or those big Phaeton tanker pieces that make me think "oh, that's a freighter".



I find fighters to be the perfect tool for a brdy-only fleet, personally, as being outnumbered and not having enough distractions nullifies a lot of brdy's strengths. Having knights around to keep them in combat is quite cost-effective. It's mostly vanilla fighters that aren't useful, a lot of mods bring quality fighters to the table that are well worth the supplies.

Does it still count if a fleet is mostly (http://puu.sh/oocuc/35f3719d0b.jpg) an angry swarm of BRDY Serkets? Phase makes them amazing fast-cap units as well as making them pretty survivable and they also amusingly use it to land for repairs as quicky as possible. And if you just throw enough of them on the field .
 (http://puu.sh/oocHU/a6ecfa46fb.jpg=they tickle just about anything that doesn't have exceptional laser PD to death[/url)

Release Hell! BRDY Serkets are one of the coolest hottest fighters around the modiverse. Your fleet seems pure fun.
I´m currently running a Diable Fighter Fleet which is aweseome, too
BTW : I remember your Battleship from the "old" days  :'( and miss those ships. how did you get it ( or the mod back in working order )
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Silver Silence on April 19, 2016, 11:08:05 AM
I only have the ships and weapons but in Nexerelin, that seems to be enough to make them appear around the place. Just landed at a size 4 Independant market that had two Hadrons on the open market. The ships and weapons are pretty much in working order, you can move all the necessary info from ifed to any particular mod or the core files and they should work. It's just a few minutes with Notepad++ and a spreadsheet program. I was tempted to put everything from Ascendancy into my game but I fear for my load times. Plus Ascendancy did it's balance a little differently if I remember correct, not sure how well they'd fare in the vanilla modiverse.

And Diable fighters, I've given Valiants a go because come on, space fighter jets that transform into EVE's Ogres (http://puu.sh/oohMB/dc154dbf33.jpg) but they do tend to get shot up quite a bit more than Serkets because of their inability to phase and buzz around to a new attack angle like gnats with guns. I did also try Lightning phase bombers and I strongly feel that those things not having a souped up version of the lightning gun as their strike weapon so their pilots can yell "Lightning bolt!" is a missed opportunity and in the ridiculously big blob fights that occur in Nexerelin when invasion and strike fleets all butt heads together, I can just arbitrarily run out of my ability to give orders and they start getting really derpy trying to take on ships with a single Burst PD. Even without orders, Serkets work pretty well and I can always click the lot of them and tell them to run down a ship if they're doing that thing where the AI doesn't want to get close enough to engage this lone fleeing ship because the tailguns might hurt them. At least with fighters, I can deploy more when the AI acts up, as opposed to a few hundred thousand credits on a new cruiser, weapons and crew.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 19, 2016, 12:36:36 PM
Re: Convergence.  Much like "combat freighters", I'd love to see a bit more combat ability on a "combat carrier".
yeah, that would be nice. something like a large missile mount for support and enough durability and smaller mounts to reliably deal with a few fighters or frigates.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Wyvern on April 19, 2016, 02:04:35 PM
Re: Convergence.  Much like "combat freighters", I'd love to see a bit more combat ability on a "combat carrier".
yeah, that would be nice. something like a large missile mount for support and enough durability and smaller mounts to reliably deal with a few fighters or frigates.
That's actually a different thing than I was asking for - a traditional carrier would have a large missile mount or two (see: Astral), and be intended to stay in the back and toss around fire support.  I'd be looking more for energy or ballistic mounts for a ship that can fight in the front lines - maybe not as well as a dedicated combat vessel, but at least durable enough to be worth fielding without fighters involved.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 - Update out! (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 19, 2016, 03:45:50 PM
ah, okay. sorry about that. ^^

i'd be fine with either, although i think the sprite doesn't really look like a ship that's supposed to fight at the front lines.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Histidine on April 20, 2016, 03:05:30 AM
Here's something I did for fun:
(http://i.imgur.com/BBbdqm5.png)
Forlorn Dreams (https://www.dropbox.com/s/7nd6ixcnkspx9pw/forlorndreams_v1.zip?dl=0)

It's Forlorn Hope except you play as a Morpheus instead of a Paragon. To install: extract into /mods, over the current BRDY v0.8.5 folder.

Note: Very hard even if you know what you're doing. Try not to rage.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 22, 2016, 03:24:14 PM
i found a small bug that's caused by ships having fractional deployment costs, specifically the Eurypterus' 9.5 in this case. Alex replied that fractionals aren't supported (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=11017.0), so you should probably change it to just 9 or 10.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 22, 2016, 04:25:00 PM
The Asura works fine on my end. The speed boost was removed, but the phase cloak uses the same stat script as vanilla phase cloaks.

i found a small bug that's caused by ships having fractional deployment costs, specifically the Eurypterus' 9.5 in this case. Alex replied that fractionals aren't supported (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=11017.0), so you should probably change it to just 9 or 10.

Thanks for finding that out. What do you think, is the Eurypterus worth 9 or 10?

Here's something I did for fun:
(http://i.imgur.com/BBbdqm5.png)
Forlorn Dreams (https://www.dropbox.com/s/7nd6ixcnkspx9pw/forlorndreams_v1.zip?dl=0)

It's Forlorn Hope except you play as a Morpheus instead of a Paragon. To install: extract into /mods, over the current BRDY v0.8.5 folder.

Note: Very hard even if you know what you're doing. Try not to rage.

Lol im gonna try this later. also you used the old morpheus sprite : (
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on April 22, 2016, 09:36:52 PM
Thanks for finding that out. What do you think, is the Eurypterus worth 9 or 10?
I'd say 9 at most to me...
To be honest, I don't know how to use this ship right. Narrow shield, only three frontal medium hardpoints for your main firepower, maneuverable especially compared to other BRDY ships
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 23, 2016, 04:02:37 AM
Asura's working fine for me as well. are you sure you're not just getting confused by using it as player-piloted ship? ^^


i'd say the Eurypterus deserves a 10, compared to Shrimp's 9 and Scorpion's 13 (although i also feel the Scorpion is overprized compared to the other two BRDY and the four vanilla destroyers).

i use mine as artillery with two Hypervelocity Drivers and an Extended Gale. that's less firepower than something like an Enforcer could bring, but the high base speed and mobility system make it very good at kiting even fast targets, and avoiding getting surrounded. although the Extended Shields hullmod is still pretty much necessary, mostly because of missiles like the Hurricane MIRV that can just bypass the narrow shield and can't be stopped entirely by just two small PD mounts.

i think two Dual Shards + some missile also works nicely.

the ship does however have the issue of the ai not being able to properly handle multiple hardpoint weapon groups. my setup works well with HVDs and Gales grouped together, as they have identical projectile velocity and almost identical range, but it can be a problem for other combinations of non-missile weapons. maybe either the two hybrids or the universal should be changed from hardpoint to a narrow turrent arc?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: OOZ662 on April 24, 2016, 03:02:38 PM
Is the Particle Rifle meant to have a weird ammo count? Two clips of 6 for 16 shots so it actually "reloads" three times.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on April 25, 2016, 01:01:16 PM
It kinda ended up in that weird spot due to continous balance tweaks. I might change it to make sure it sums up more elegantly. But most of the time, you won't notice this ingame.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: OOZ662 on April 25, 2016, 01:59:24 PM
Well, that's why I ask instead of stating, because I know most people aren't as weird as me. ;D I never noticed it until I was staring at the stats because it just sits on the back of my Nevermore in an auto group plinking things all day.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 29, 2016, 11:13:44 AM
sooo... i've been using a few Knights for a bit now and.. i don't know what to think anymore. ^^
i've long considered Knight my 2nd least fav BRDY ship (after Convergence! as i've mentioned a few times already :3) but i gave it another chance now, mostly because i think the sprite actually looks really cool.

the much-criticized turret layout is rather strange, but i can see a certain charm in it. it's somewhere between "awkward" and "creative". let's call it "unconventional". :p
i think the two energy and the small starboard ballistic turrets are the main flaws, i've mostly just left them empty. i suppose they could be used for dedicated broadside loadouts, but those don't synergize well with the Arc Jet Burner, the ai has some trouble with handling them in general, and it would sacrifice the one thing that Knight is pretty good at: swarms of small missiles.
i still found a few loadouts that i like, generally using the frontal hardpoints and at least one of the frontal medium turrets for ballistic firepower (Light Needlers + Extended Gale, Volley Guns + short Gale, or even Shard Guns + Shredder Battery) and the other four universals for missiles that aren't too limited by ammo (like Scalaron Pulses, obviously, or Salamanders). the remaining ballistic turrets are PD.

i always use fighter-heavy fleets, even in vanilla (with increased ship cap) and a BRDY lineup with SS+ balance works very well with swarms of Serkets and Kraits. so having a few carriers right at the frontline that are also able to take and deal about as much damage as an additional destroyer, seems like a good idea. and with Wing Command skill and Expanded Flight Decks hullmod they can take in, rearm and launch Vespas at crazy speeds, effectively flinging near-endless chains of Fury torpedos in all directions.

so for a while now i thought i actually do like Knights after all! \o/


but... :[

for some reason they seem to have serious suicidal tendencies. at first i assumed it was just bad luck, but after several lost Knights, i doubt that's the case. despite now being piloted by cautious officers with skills and loadouts focused on weapon range and mobility, they still keep getting themselves into trouble, only backing off when it's already too late.
the really frustrating thing is that i've been using two Gonodactylus(es?) with short-range loadouts and aggressive officers (and the same Arc Jet Burners) with great success. they were the first combat ships i added to my fleet, i'm now lvl 63, and only once did one of them get disabled. iirc, there were only three other battles total where one of them fell below 50% hull.

i'm not quite sure what's causing this behaviour, but my best guess would be that it's a combination of a) cruiser class, b) carrier hybrid and c) ship system.
despite aggressive officers, the Gonodactylus seem to be a lot more careful about engaging enemies while outnumbered or against large ships. they do burn right into enemies on occassion, but usually only when they can easily deal with whoever awaits them at their target destination.
i believe the ai considers Knights as normal combat cruisers (as they are neither civilian ships nor dedicated carriers) and as such consistently overestimates their strength, not taking into account that roughly half their value comes from the flight deck. that causes them to burn into more dangerous situations more often, and not back off as quickly when things start going badly.

i can think of two solutions to this issue:
1) forcing the ai to consider them as destroyers to better match their actual combat power. i have no clue about coding, so i don't know if this is even possible, but -- assuming my above guesses are correct -- it might solve the problem quite neatly.
2) changing their ship system. giving them Burst Maneuvering Jets, for example, would likely allow them to better advance towards enemies without getting overwhelmed, and to retreat more effectively once that does happen. on the other hand, it would mean they'd lose part of what differentiates them from many other BRDY ships. :/
alternatively, a system like the dual Sentinel Drones of Eschaton or Bulwark Drone of Convergence would also remove their most reckless charges, and provide some distraction for enemies. and i think drones would also fit the carrier hybrid theme.

as it stands now, i think i'll have to 'downgrade' back to Typheus. those don't provide flight decks right in the thick of the battle and don't add much firepower by themselves (not to mention they just don't feel quite as badass), but at least they're very good at staying out of trouble.

and maybe we do get that Knight revamp at some point! ^_^
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: HELMUT on April 29, 2016, 12:53:07 PM
There's also the possibility that your Knights aren't reacting well to the weapons you're giving them. Even steady officers will usually try to take advantage of their longer range weapons, but if you give them some short ranged guns at the same time, they'll also try to use those, at the risk of getting out of position.

My AI controlled Knights only direct weapons were the dual medium turrets at the prow, always fitted with long range guns. Because everything else were either PDs or missiles, the AI only had those twin mediums to take in account in a direct fight, and kept its distance accordingly. I'm not sure what you added on the sides, but mounting a non-pd weapon, like a Sunjet for exemple, can screw with the AI.

Also keep in mind that the Gono is as tough as the Knight in the armor department, and noticeably faster, so they can disengage quicker if things go awry. Which may explain their surprising survivability in your campaign compared to the slower Knights.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on April 29, 2016, 02:12:11 PM
that's what i thought initially. my first loadouts were very similar to my Gonos', with Volley or Shard Guns in the hardpoints, a short Gale, missiles on the sides. hullmods and steady officer skills mostly for durability. since my Gonos faired very well with that, and Knight has almost identical durability, offensive power and ship system, i expected my Knights to be quite good at surviving. that didn't work.

but this is my current loadout:

(http://i.imgur.com/KhmdHLK.jpg)

Light Needlers, Extended Gale, Scalaron Pulses and PD. all on individual weapon groups. officer skill and SS+ balance give a total of +45% range on top.

yet it keeps literally ramming head first into things at full burn, right before getting completely overwhelmed by the now surrounding enemies. higher level of Evasive Action would likely help a bit with being able to back off more easily, but it won't solve the problem of getting into situations that are obviously a bad idea from the get-go.


that said, third battle now after writing the long post, and one of my Shrimps managed to ram into the last remaining enemy ship, an Apogee, right as it exploded. that didn't go so well either..... <__<
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 01, 2016, 09:16:50 AM
i decided to experiment a bit and changed the system of my Knights to dual Sentinel Drones. and i gotta say, they are sooo much less suicidal now! :D

i haven't lost a single one since i made the change, despite enemy fleets becoming ever larger and stronger. a couple times i ordered one to retreat after it had taken some serious damage, but they don't seem to be getting into situations where they'll just get completely overwhelmed anymore. i think just removing the Arc Jet Burners made already a big difference by itself, and having some drones to distract and pressure nearby enemies is a nice bonus.

giving them dual Sentinel Drones might well be overpowered, i think it's a really strong system. on the other hand, Weevil and Typheus have single drones despite being frigate and destroyer, and the Eschaton has the duals despite still being a dedicated freighter, albeit a military one. maybe the Convergence' Bulwark Drone would be a better fit; it doesn't add much power by itself, but is still good at keeping its host ship out of trouble.

in any case, i can now safely say: i do actually like my Knights. there's certainly room for improvement, particularly in the turret layout, but it's a cool ship nonetheless. =)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on May 02, 2016, 11:53:30 AM
yeah the case of burn drive derived systems is a tough nut to crack, they are very fun in player hands, can lead to funny situations in enemy AI hands, but they are often frustrating in allied AI hands.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 02, 2016, 12:20:06 PM
yeah, i've noticed similar problems with Paladins as well. even though they're tough Templar ships, they charge right into their death quite frequently.

related: ships getting to close to dying enemies (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=11050.msg187798#msg187798)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Dark.Revenant on May 02, 2016, 12:51:03 PM
The Paladin charge and all its strengths and weaknesses are deliberate.  It actually uses a custom AI that causes the ship to use the charge more.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 02, 2016, 01:30:59 PM
i guessed as much. well, not the part about the custom AI, but them being aggressive and reckless, as it fits with the Templar theme.

in the case of a normal hybrid carrier though, it's probably not a good idea. ^^
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: HuoShengdi on May 06, 2016, 06:04:33 PM
I'm noticing a bug with the Kurmaraja's Interdiction system: it doesn't seem to be affecting missiles properly anymore. Ballistic projectiles and ships are still slowed but missiles fly right by at normal speed.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on May 06, 2016, 09:28:53 PM
Any projectile that generates its own thrust will be mostly unaffected, this is how it has always worked. It only stops burnt-out missiles or rockets that only burn for a short duration before they go ballistic.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Ali on May 06, 2016, 10:47:39 PM
Is there any plans to increase charges on Argus PD? like how vanilla burst pd got extra charges recently?

Hopin BRD tech stays superior to vanilla!!  ;D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: HuoShengdi on May 07, 2016, 12:54:05 AM
Any projectile that generates its own thrust will be mostly unaffected, this is how it has always worked. It only stops burnt-out missiles or rockets that only burn for a short duration before they go ballistic.

Ah, I see, previously I'd been testing the Kurmaraja vs Onslaughts, which only have Annihilator rockets, so that might have skewed my perception of the system.

I don't see why it would basically stop fighters in their tracks but not missiles, though.

EDIT: After some more testing, I've noticed that it has a much more pronounced effect on low-thrust missiles like the Pilum and Ballista. I think it was mainly the high-thrust harpoons (probably fired from a ship with a high missile skill officer) that made me think the system wasn't working properly.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on May 07, 2016, 02:18:19 AM
I don't see why it would basically stop fighters in their tracks but not missiles, though.

Dunno, that's just how it works.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: ValkyriaL on May 07, 2016, 02:25:28 AM
maybe a fighters mass vs its engine power is to low to escape the system? while a missile weights nothing with a powerful engine out the back.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: ProdigyToby on May 07, 2016, 01:59:37 PM
  So what was the point of voidspear missile change?  I used to use these as a generic missile to add some extra dps, now they are completely something different.  If you try to use these in a close range situation (I think the description says its a close support missile?) they literally fly in a slow arc in front of your ship in groups of 4 like "hey shoot us down".  If you try to use them vs anything with more than one decent point defense maybe like 1 or 2 missiles will actually make it, and they also feel like they do a lot less damage.  The only time ive seen these new voidspears do anything useful is when using them from a pretty decent range (so they can do that silly arc at a safe range) and hitting a larger ship because of their new slow speed.  Even then the damage is pretty mediocre (4 of these hitting a sunder did about 15% shield damage?  Which was quickly regenerated), and very bad vs hulls.  I thought they were fine before, they had a purpose, which was just extra on command dps when you needed it, now they are so awkward and ineffective, unless maybe you manage to hit something with like 12 of them or something. 

  I really like the new destroyer.  Decent tanky-ness, its fast, you can put shredders on there to be a good support ship.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Amazigh on May 07, 2016, 05:25:35 PM
  If you try to use these in a close range situation (I think the description says its a close support missile?)
I think this is your main mistake, "close support" in starsector refers to engaging at say, 1000 distance at minimum, so you'll be out of range of their close range heavy hitting weapons, but can provide support with your longer range weapons.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 07, 2016, 05:49:20 PM
as Amazigh says, "close support" is pretty much exactly what you are describing the missiles are useful for.

Starsector has a bit of a missile problem in general, and things like Harpoons are the main culprits. the old Voidspears were very similar in that respect. so now they are more of a support missile, while the new Rage SRMs are powerful damage dealers that still mostly manage to avoid the issues of Harpoons & co.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: ProdigyToby on May 07, 2016, 08:50:00 PM
as Amazigh says, "close support" is pretty much exactly what you are describing the missiles are useful for.

Starsector has a bit of a missile problem in general, and things like Harpoons are the main culprits. the old Voidspears were very similar in that respect. so now they are more of a support missile, while the new Rage SRMs are powerful damage dealers that still mostly manage to avoid the issues of Harpoons & co.

  Those rage SRM are not that great either.  The damage is okay, their accuracy is questionable, but there is already a better vanilla option.  I guess you're right though, they do avoid the "problem" of Harpoons I guess, in that Harpoons are a solid choice all around, whereas the rage SRM makes you think twice about buying it.  Frankley I dont see a point in them, if your going to increase the risk of damage to your hull by getting close enough for these missiles to hit (and you have to be VERY close because these things lose fire in like one second) then they SHOULD do more damage than the Harpoons, which are a medium range missile.  Right now the harpoon offers better damage than the SRM rage without the increase in risk because of its range.

  Im sure most people have already played vanilla and are getting tired of it already and thus come to this forum to mod their game for something different, which Is why I make my best effort to see if I can make these modded weapon systems and ships work, but alot of the time I just go back to the vanilla systems because they are just more tried, true, and effective.  I feel like modders are afraid to make something just alittle bit too strong (maybe theres some kind of modder council or something and they will get voted off :P) when the whole point of modding, in my opinion, is to make the game more fun and increase the longevity.  I want the SRM rage and the other modded weapon systems to feel "impactful" at least, and its not what I get when I use the new Voidspear or these new SRM, they are obviously tuned very finely to not overshadow the vanilla options, which is good "balanced" design.  They are alittle too tuned though, to the point where the vanilla option kinda feels like the best choice even though you went through the trouble of downloading the mod for something different.  Im just ranting at this point though, getting off topic.  I think the aesthetics of this particular series of ships is amazing, although they feel alittle underwhelming at the moment, especially in the hands of the AI who cant make use of how these ships are designed. 
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Tartiflette on May 08, 2016, 12:04:39 AM
   You see, the core of the problem is that vanilla balance usually covers a very wide spectrum (http://i.imgur.com/5So7wul.jpg). The difference between a (D) Hound and a Hyperion is mindbogglingly large, so is the difference between an Arbalest and a HVD, or an Assault Chaingun and a Heavy Mauler... The issue here is that missiles are the exception.

   A large portion of them are very efficient, wildly available, and placed very high up there in term of punch you get for your OP spent (way too much powerful imo). Harpoons, Sabots, Reapers, Atropos, Annihilator Pods, Typhoons, Tornadoes, Cyclones, Locusts... All those are already terrific weapons systems, that leaves very little room for modders to add new missiles: even if they are only slightly more efficient than their closest vanilla counterpart in a specialized area, they instantly becomes overpowered.

   Since most modded factions' lore require faction specific weapons to fill every role instead of using directly the vanilla ones, they then have to use sub-par equivalent with a twist to make them interesting. And in the end I think most of those modded missiles are actually more balanced next to other types of weapons compared to vanilla missiles.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Alphascrub on May 08, 2016, 02:11:41 AM
 So what was the point of voidspear missile change?  I used to use these as a generic missile to add some extra dps, now they are completely something different.  If you try to use these in a close range situation (I think the description says its a close support missile?) they literally fly in a slow arc in front of your ship in groups of 4 like "hey shoot us down".  If you try to use them vs anything with more than one decent point defense maybe like 1 or 2 missiles will actually make it, and they also feel like they do a lot less damage.  The only time ive seen these new voidspears do anything useful is when using them from a pretty decent range (so they can do that silly arc at a safe range) and hitting a larger ship because of their new slow speed.  Even then the damage is pretty mediocre (4 of these hitting a sunder did about 15% shield damage?  Which was quickly regenerated), and very bad vs hulls.  I thought they were fine before, they had a purpose, which was just extra on command dps when you needed it, now they are so awkward and ineffective, unless maybe you manage to hit something with like 12 of them or something. 

  I really like the new destroyer.  Decent tanky-ness, its fast, you can put shredders on there to be a good support ship.

I feel like the change made voidspear more of a general purpose missile. Their cheap,  and can put pressure on shields and do damage to armor If a ship is already close to overload then these can push it over the edge rather it be from PD systems or it actually hit the shields... In return some AI will allow the missile to take a hit rather than overload. Basically in mind mind the voidspear is an excellent thing when you want to throw it at a target and create pressure. One way or the other when used properly it can fit a number of roles and function pretty well in those roles. Its far from the best missile but its still pretty great in general purpose.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on May 08, 2016, 03:15:20 AM
I'm not going to change a balanced weapon to be better than vanilla equivalents in all situations - it's okay if there are some weapons offered by the faction that are preferrable to vanilla weapons in many situations, but not all the weapons should be like that. This is also because faction mods offer both content for the player to use as well as an additional enemy - fighting the faction should be unique in its own way and not completely overwhelming, with opportunity for counterplay. But anyway what I'm concerned with is finding niches and enabling an interesting tradeoff, so like you say, think twice before buying it. If a weapon has no arguable worth whatsoever, then it needs fixing, but I don't feel there are any cases like that in the mod currently.

I think the new Voidspear is good as a pressure weapon in a lot of situations, especially with missile spec and when backed up with long range ballistic weapons.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 08, 2016, 05:59:12 AM
Right now the harpoon offers better damage than the SRM rage without the increase in risk because of its range.
actually, Rage SRMs have higher damage than Harpoons. the small version fires double 600 damage missiles, compared to Harpoons' single 750. and although they lack range and maneuverability, they also have higher speed, which makes them harder to shoot down and more suited as dedicated "finisher"-missiles. overall i prefer using Rages now, at least on ships i pilot myself.

i don't think Rages are better than Harpoons, but they better fit what i want out of limited ammo high explosive missiles on my flagship. the fact that they don't feel as stupidly unfair (as they don't work as well in large swarms, and require better timing and aiming) as Harpoons do in some cases is a nice bonus, to me.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: ProdigyToby on May 08, 2016, 09:04:07 AM
   You see, the core of the problem is that vanilla balance usually covers a very wide spectrum (http://i.imgur.com/5So7wul.jpg). Snip
  That probably IS the problem now that I think about it.  Vanilla missiles might just be too damn good already.

I feel like the change made voidspear more of a general purpose missile. Their cheap,  and can put pressure on shields....
  Really?  I feel like they do very little damage now, and just have trouble surviving to reach their target.  The damage on armor is very questionable though, feels very weak.  The old Voidspear felt more general purpose because it went straight for the target for some general purpose energy damage.

I'm not going to change a balanced weapon to be better than vanilla equivalents in all situations - it's okay if there are some weapons offered by the faction that are preferrable to vanilla weapons in many situations, but not all the weapons should be like that. This is also because faction mods offer both content for the player to use as well as an additional enemy - fighting the faction should be unique in its own way and not completely overwhelming,
  I dont think that will ever be the case because the AI just throws ships into the fray with disregard to how they are designed, so Blackrock tends to be one of the easier factions for me to deal with.  One of the issues I see with the voidspear is that in addition to not doing a great deal more damage than a vanilla alternative, its also unsafer to use because of its behavoir when its fired.  What was the intention in having it do its very unique arc?  Sometimes its so strange because when you fire it up close it starts going crazy and just does these turns in space for a good twenty seconds before it hits its target.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on May 23, 2016, 04:44:04 AM
No, the weird maneuvering that occasionally happens is an unforeseen effect of lowering the missiles' maneuverability. I need to look into it for the next patch, but I haven't really had much time for modding lately.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 23, 2016, 06:52:30 AM
i've noticed another little weirdness with Voidspears: ships firing them at long range, mainly carriers that try to stay away from all enemy ships, seem fond of venting flux after firing only one or two of the four missiles from a Voidspear Pod, which interrupts the firing of the salvo. i imagine that's just an unfortunate combination of long range, flux cost and firing in salvos rather than single missiles.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on May 23, 2016, 08:34:56 AM
I'll probably just remove the flux cost from them actually, it leads to weird *** like that, and doesn't meaningfully impact gameplay that much otherwise, except meaning ships cant 0-flux when firing them.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: HellBent on May 23, 2016, 09:28:43 AM
Best looking, most fun and just damn best mod faction out there.
Need more good ships like that.
Only feedback would give is that the advanced destroyer is not worth the very high deployment cost in battles and strike craft appear VERY rarely in blackrock systems
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: TaLaR on May 23, 2016, 10:57:57 AM
Only feedback would give is that the advanced destroyer is not worth the very high deployment cost in battles

Nope, totally disagree here.
Desdinova is the ultimate playership (all mods included) in terms of having best combination of mobility, firepower and range. The only other comparable ship is IBB Stheno (which may be actually superior overall), but it's an unique.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 23, 2016, 11:44:55 AM
i agree on Desdinova, but "that advanced destroyer" might mean Morpheus. i don't think that needs a buff either, but it might feel underpowered (for it's very high cost) to newer players, as it takes a bit of practise and a large fleet around it to make full use of its special abilities.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: TaLaR on May 23, 2016, 10:13:23 PM
i agree on Desdinova, but "that advanced destroyer" might mean Morpheus. i don't think that needs a buff either, but it might feel underpowered (for it's very high cost) to newer players, as it takes a bit of practise and a large fleet around it to make full use of its special abilities.

Missed that possibility :'(.
Morpheus is too narrowly specialized for my taste:
- it is good against smaller and same-size ships, especially ones without 360 degree shields (which is most of them)
- since it's builtin missiles can not be reasonably dodged, it is perfect counter to mobility-reliant ships like Desdinova/Medusa, but such ships aren't too much trouble under AI's control anyway.
- Not so good against Capitals with their huge flux and health pools. If enemy still is not flux maxed after triple missile burst + adsorb attack, Morpheus can't do much past this point.
- Also very weak against Cruisers/Capitals with decent beam weapons.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 24, 2016, 07:37:15 AM
yeah, powerful beam weapons like Tachyon Lance or the new High Intensity Laser seem to be Morpheus' hard counter. i think the inbuilt armor hullmod should have some beam damage reduction. the ship system helps getting out of trouble when targeted, since those beams tend to have very low turret turn speed, but it's still an issue if you're trying to do damage.

but otherwise i think Morpheus does fine against large ships -- just not in a straight 1v1. it's extremely effective at overwhelming enemies that are already under some pressure from other allied ships, even if that pressure wouldn't otherwise amount to any noteworthy damage done. and a strong blast from the "absorb attack" (like when several torpedos are sucked in) can put huge pressure on pretty much anything that isn't a Paragon.

also keep in mind that Morpheus' absorb ability can be used as powerful support when one of your own ships is in trouble. getting rid of a missile/torpedo salvo or providing a couple crucial seconds of negated enemy fire can really mean the difference between a dead cruiser and one that's ready to keep on fighting after a short flux vent.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: HellBent on May 24, 2016, 09:21:27 AM
Only feedback would give is that the advanced destroyer is not worth the very high deployment cost in battles

Nope, totally disagree here.
Desdinova is the ultimate playership (all mods included) in terms of having best combination of mobility, firepower and range. The only other comparable ship is IBB Stheno (which may be actually superior overall), but it's an unique.

I think it's too expensive to command in battles. For the same price I can field a 2 hangar carrier with 4 advanced wings: it costs 20 deployment
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: HELMUT on May 24, 2016, 09:53:05 AM
I think it's too expensive to command in battles. For the same price I can field a 2 hangar carrier with 4 advanced wings: it costs 20 deployment

I personally don't have to think very long to choose between a small carrier group and a Morpheus. We're talking about a ship that can take down entire fleets here.

Even an AI controlled Morphy can go through hell and back with a Damage Control/Evasive Action/Power Grid officer. And i'm not talking about the cheese potential of a player controlled one.

Granted, it's probably more expensive to maintain/repair in the long run, and riskier if you run into a beam-party as Sy said. But other than that, i can't think of a reason not to take a Morpheus in your fleet.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Megas on May 24, 2016, 10:03:59 AM
Player controlled Morpheus can kill about fifty ships before CR decays to critical.  Great for a destroyer as fast as a frigate.  A good cruiser (like a Dominator) can kill up to about eighty ships, and a good battleship (or a Templar Paladin) can solo more than a hundred ships.

All assumes max Combat and Technology.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 24, 2016, 10:52:40 AM
I think it's too expensive to command in battles. For the same price I can field a 2 hangar carrier with 4 advanced wings: it costs 20 deployment
i'd say, if used right, a Desdinova can absolutely be as powerful as a 2 flight deck carrier + 4 fighter wings. its combination of mobility, durability and firepower makes for an amazing flagship. the main drawback is its low peak performance time.
if you're talking about AI controlled Desdinovas, i would agree. you're probably better of with the carrier group, or getting a pair of the other BRDY destroyers. but that's more a fault of the AI than the ship itself.

on a sidenote: which carrier/wings are you talking about? i think 2 flight deck carriers generally cost about 20 deployment points all by themselves, and 4 advanced fighter wings should be another ~10 on top of that.

I personally don't have to think very long to choose between a small carrier group and a Morpheus.
i believe he's talking about Desdinova now. Morpheus costs 35 DP.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: TaLaR on May 24, 2016, 08:04:57 PM
Desdinova is the most expensive DE, but it brings pretty much Cruiser-grade firepower.

Max skills player controlled Desdinova can keep killing arbitrary number of simultaneously deployed fighters till CR timer drops to malfunction levels (which is quite long at 100CR + hardened subsystems). I wasn't big fan of fighters even before ship systems and skills introduction, and as they exist right now, they are mostly punching bags.
If you take hullmods, skills and mobility system into account, even fastest fighters have fairly small speed advantage over Desdinova. They simply get swatted before they manage to close the weapon range gap.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: King Alfonzo on May 24, 2016, 10:51:35 PM
Desdinova is the most expensive DE, but it brings pretty much Cruiser-grade firepower.

I think this is a key feature of Blackrock; they have ships that behave a class above them, but ONLY if the player is using them. The Imaginos Frigate is Destoyer level, the Desdinova and Morpheus Destroyers are Cruiser level, the Asura cruiser is Capital level, and the Karkinos is practically broken. But the key thing is that this really only applies in the hands of the player; A good, player-lead fleet can take out 400 K deserter fleets which are nothing BUT these ships quite easily.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cyan Leader on May 24, 2016, 11:22:13 PM
Desdinova is the most expensive DE, but it brings pretty much Cruiser-grade firepower.

I think this is a key feature of Blackrock; they have ships that behave a class above them, but ONLY if the player is using them. The Imaginos Frigate is Destoyer level, the Desdinova and Morpheus Destroyers are Cruiser level, the Asura cruiser is Capital level, and the Karkinos is practically broken. But the key thing is that this really only applies in the hands of the player; A good, player-lead fleet can take out 400 K deserter fleets which are nothing BUT these ships quite easily.

I don't see that as a good thing. It makes the faction disappointing to fight against if their ships aren't properly used by enemy commanders. Don't get me wrong, I still really like BRDY, but having too big of a gap between the AI and the player isn't that much of a good thing. Encountering a Morpheus, an Asura or a Karkinos in the wild should be a tense fight and not a pushover because the AI can't handle them.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: TaLaR on May 24, 2016, 11:35:01 PM
Well, they are certainly fun to pilot, that's a big positive in my book.
Of course I'd like to see AI handling these ships better (as well as every other ship, while we are at it), but general AI improvement doesn't sound as something within scope of a faction mod. Vanilla has ships that live up to even smaller part of their potential under AI control, like Hyperion.
AI customization for handling ship systems might be within scope though, currently BRDY ships just seem to burn mobility system charges whenever available, instead of any attempt at tactical usage.

EDIT: I don't mean that SS AI is bad in general - it's better than what we can see in pretty much any other 2d space game. But it doesn't come anywhere close to an experienced player.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on May 25, 2016, 06:02:07 AM
AI has become slightly better with a slew of ships, but yeah, it's not the same thing. Still, I design ships that I find fun to fly and that has always been my #1 goal with this mod.

I wouldn't call the Karkinos "practically broken" after the changes. Try playing Waking the Beast again with the new Karkinos.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Megas on May 25, 2016, 06:40:11 AM
I consider Desdinova much like a Medusa that uses ballistics instead of energy weapons, and ballistics are better, or least have much more range (that hits for hard flux), than energy.  Unless Desdinova changed significantly recently, it can have flux problems with low capacity and cannot shield tank if forced to do so.  It is powerful because it can kite-and-snipe with ease.

The old Karkinos was roughly on par with Onslaught and Paragon at soloing the simulator.  Old Karkinos could focus-fire weapons better than standard ships, but it was easier to die if you mess up badly.  Teleport was best used as an escape button, and if that did not get it out of trouble, Karkinos takes damage.  Meanwhile, Onslaught has tons of PD and armor (and long-range firepower), and Paragon can hide behind a shield then alpha-strike with full autopulse lasers when safe.  (I have not played new Karkinos, so I do not know how strong it is compared to older version.)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Abyz on May 25, 2016, 01:51:23 PM
What I'm enjoying about using several of the mod factions is the fact that several of them feel like unique faction, BRDY included. I don't feel like there's much wrong with how they play.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Starasp on May 25, 2016, 11:16:08 PM
I would actually argue that the Mimir from Shadowyards is a better investment than the Karkinos simply because the AI is far better at keeping the Mimir alive. That on top of the fact that the Mimir is a pretty well armed capital to begin with helps a lot too.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: TaLaR on May 25, 2016, 11:24:03 PM
Mimir is a fun ship to pilot too, but it is incomparable to pre-nerf Karkinos in terms of raw firepower (don't have much experience with post-nerf version). Lack of ballistic medium slots also means limited pd.
As far as staying alive - both are ok, simply due to being capitals with good stats, but neither uses their ship system anywhere near optimally.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on May 26, 2016, 04:19:30 AM
Best use of the Karkinos system is to escape from one situation while simultaneously landing yourself in a spot where you can immediately kill a now crippled enemy ship. This is really important in Waking the Beast, for the record.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Megas on May 26, 2016, 05:19:57 AM
Mimir is good, but not quite up to par as Onslaught, Paragon, and old Karkinos.  I would put Mimir equal or slightly above Kurmaraja (I do not remember if that got changed too), both above Odyssey and Conquest.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 26, 2016, 11:31:33 AM
i think this might've been the most frustrating battle an Onslaught captain ever had to fight...

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/EhOXsT5.jpg)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on May 26, 2016, 12:20:59 PM
The "rusty spoon" variant Robberfly
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 26, 2016, 12:31:33 PM
yup. and that whole fleet probably costs less than two Tachyon Lances. :D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Orikson on May 26, 2016, 07:27:04 PM
yup. and that whole fleet probably costs less than two Tachyon Lances. :D

Nice, is that how Robberfly-class is supposed to be used? Can you tell me what were they equipped with? And what hull mods were present? Did you have officers on them? And if so, what skills do they have?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 27, 2016, 08:26:30 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/HpAaK9Q.jpg)

all 10 were piloted by officers, but with different skills. i think the most useful skills are Gunnery Implants for range, Helmsmanship and/or Evasive Action for yet more mobility, and Target Analysis for double damage to weapons and engines (which also counts for emp damage!). the only really important part is that you don't wanna use cautious (or timid, obviously) officers, as the swarming tactic only works when they aren't afraid to engage the much larger enemy. steady is probably best.

this setup was just for some fun in the simulator, using them in large battles i'd probably give them one Shredder or (Micro) Argus. they can dodge most missiles pretty well, but every now and then they screw up. a bit more durability from skills or hullmods might also be a good idea, although in that simulator battle none of the Robberflies took any hull damage, and they didn't need the Hardened Subsystems either.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Kevin Flemming on May 27, 2016, 08:33:23 AM
That's pretty amazing. I always avoided the Robberfly, as I had a string of bad luck with them always being destroyed early on. But after seeing that, I might fire up a BRDY game sometime and take a massive fleet of them out lol.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: CaptainWinky on May 27, 2016, 09:10:28 AM
I sometimes keep a Robberfly in my fleet and fly it myself as a pursuit ship.  The AI tends to lose Robberflies when I let them use one.  If you have enough points in Technology you can get a front shield generator to help with survivability and still have enough OPs for decent weapons, Integrated Targeting Unit, etc.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 27, 2016, 09:15:39 AM
That's pretty amazing. I always avoided the Robberfly, as I had a string of bad luck with them always being destroyed early on. But after seeing that, I might fire up a BRDY game sometime and take a massive fleet of them out lol.
yeah, i feel the AI changes of recent patches helped a lot with frigate survival rate in general, as did the introduction of officers. and Particle Lance + Gunnery Implants + hullmods allow them to engage safely at well over 1k range.

that said, i can't say how well they'll fare in large battles, haven't tested that. yet. ^_^
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Kevin Flemming on May 27, 2016, 10:22:40 AM
yeah, i feel...
...tested that. yet. ^_^

I generally avoid Frigates, Corvettes and whatnot. If I've had some luck, tend to go straight to Destroyers mainly for their survivability. Even a low-level Officer (or myself) can survive with a half-decent one. But this definitely sounds like something fun to try. Perhaps shop around to get 20-25 of them, or even MORE lol, then see how long they can survive. Something to spend those end-game creds on, I suppose. ;D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 27, 2016, 11:11:20 AM
i imagine it really needs a large number to work, as both Robberfly's low survivability and Particle Lance's soft flux damage to shields rely on the swarm of allies. getting some BRDY fighter wings into the mix would probably help as well.

20-25? sounds about right. :3
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Surge on May 27, 2016, 12:16:55 PM
I've always had a soft spot for the fly. After basically losing my entire fleet save for one I went to the nearest station and bankrupted myself buying a second and fitting it identical to the first. With those ballistic loadouts and shields I actually managed to keep those two ships alive and running until I was back up to sizeable fleet battles and one of them died heroically. A good officer and a front shield can make the robberfly pretty potent.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Kevin Flemming on May 27, 2016, 01:32:03 PM
I've always had...
...robberfly pretty potent.

My soft spot is for the Conquest. Practically in-love with that thing. I actually get excited when one appears in the shops lol.

BRDY-and-small-ship-wise, it has to be the Locust for me. Had a bunch of them in one game and they held their own very well. Some didn't have Officers though and were a little spazzy. :D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Surge on May 27, 2016, 01:49:25 PM
Oh yes the Locust is great. The Robberfly needs some high level engineering love but the Locust is just a solid ship out of the box.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: TaLaR on May 27, 2016, 08:28:25 PM
Locust is fine, but current meta is simply against using a lot of small ships. You have only 10 officers and about 200 points of DP pool to distribute (ships without officers don't stand a chance in officer-dominated battlefield and are fodder). So you want each of them to have more impact in battle, which means most of them piloting at least DE, maximum 2-3 powerful frigates.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 28, 2016, 08:33:36 AM
the 10 officer limit and vanilla's 25 ships limit are both problematic. personally, i've just started cheating officers in, precisely because the vanilla system pushes you towards always using as many large ships as possible. i find mixed fleet compositions a lot more interesting, but without officers, anything smaller than a heavy cruiser just becomes cannon fodder in late game.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Orikson on May 28, 2016, 09:25:37 AM
the 10 officer limit and vanilla's 25 ships limit are both problematic. personally, i've just started cheating officers in, precisely because the vanilla system pushes you towards always using as many large ships as possible. i find mixed fleet compositions a lot more interesting, but without officers, anything smaller than a heavy cruiser just becomes cannon fodder in late game.

Thanks for the tips and the layout for the Robberfly squad.

Yeah, I do think finding officers in for that squad and to field other ships would be problematic given the limit. Might reduce the Robberfly squad to 5 for cheesy plays and chase. Late game is tough without capitals and cruisers. Destroyers that aren't robust would get annihilated too.

Maybe I'll field in some nice capitals and 1 capital carrier, with 5 officers focused on fulfilling the role I want for each capital and 5 others for the Robberfly squad. Maybe I'll set aside some capital ships orientated for the skill set
 of range poking. Any suggestions on ships similar to Robberfly so I can give the officers a good ship in times of need?

Any other interesting ideas you can give us?

Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Kevin Flemming on May 28, 2016, 10:52:13 AM
the 10 officer...
...in late game.

I altered the settings to allow 50 Officers and 100 ships. Not that I ever use that many, it's just nice to have that buffer and not have to rely on the console the whole time lol.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 28, 2016, 11:27:21 AM
Any suggestions on ships similar to Robberfly so I can give the officers a good ship in times of need?

Any other interesting ideas you can give us?
i don't think slapping some Particle Lances on a swarm of Robberflies really qualifies me for giving out valuable tactical advice. :D

but anyway, i'd say Stenos and Kurmaraja fit the roles of large ships with similarities to Robberfly. they're both rather squishy but highly maneuverable for their size-class, both work well with long-range beams like Tachyon Lance and neither rely too much on missiles -- unless you use their universal mounts for that, which you can also do on Robberfly. if you wanna stick to BRDY weapons only, Ferrocannons and Extended Gale Cannons also make for good long-range firepower, although they lack the EMP component.

if Robberflies turn out to be too squishy in real battles, you can try a Locust swarm with a similar loadout instead. putting a Front Shield Generator on the Robberflies would likely work as well, but i feel it kinda goes against what makes the ship unique. if i want a fast frigate with shield, might as well go with Locust or Mantis.


other interesting ideas? hmm. two loadouts i've had quite a bit of success with recently:

tank Gonodactylus, with aggressive officer skilled for mobility and durability.
(http://i.imgur.com/gyFtQJo.jpg)
with officer skills, they are tougher than most cruisers, but still very maneuverable. their short-range weaponry and aggressive officer make them very good at getting right into the enemy's face and drawing fire onto themselves. and the Shredder Battery demolishes anything with exposed hull.

and disabler Weevil, with steady officer skilled for mobility and (EMP) damage. in case you haven't seen it before, the Heavy Ion Blaster in the central mount is from Starsector+.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ggl99rZ.jpg)
they aren't really powerful by themselves, but do a great job at pressuring and disabling even large enemies, making it much easier for your other ships to do real damage.


as you might have noticed, i'm a big fan of EMP weapons in general. ^^ many of my loadouts focus on kinetic damage and include some kind of ion weapon. it doesn't kill enemies quickly, but i think it's good for keeping my own ships from taking too much damage while my flagship can rack up the kills.

it's just nice to have that buffer and not have to rely on the console the whole time lol.
agreed. :]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Surge on May 29, 2016, 03:53:08 PM
the 10 officer...
...in late game.

I altered the settings to allow 50 Officers and 100 ships. Not that I ever use that many, it's just nice to have that buffer and not have to rely on the console the whole time lol.
Want.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Iridescens on May 31, 2016, 09:58:37 AM
Hi there!
First of all, thanks @Cycerin for this great mod! Now to sad bits.
Caught some error recently about BRDY weapons referencing TEM_LatticeShield of Knight Templars. The case is that "TEM_LatticeShield" should be imported as "import data.scripts.hullmods.TEM_LatticeShield;" and not as "import data.hullmods.TEM_LatticeShield;" (.scripts. part is missing). This led to crashes upon being strucked by BRDY weapons on any occasion.
Small fix for you, big deal for anyone not familiar with IDE.
Hope to get your attention. Thanks!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on May 31, 2016, 11:03:59 AM
Hi there!
welcome! :]

in case you missed it, Dark.Revenant already posted a temporary fix for that issue in the Knights Templar thread.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Iridescens on May 31, 2016, 11:46:32 AM
Oh, well then, silly me. As an excuse, I was literally stunned by the sheer amount of great mods, so I rushed to install pretty much of 'em, which left little time to search for a fix (I made one by myself, btw)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Serenitis on June 04, 2016, 12:34:28 PM
I've played with BRDY for ages, but I've never really used a lot of thier ships.
However I just (barely) managed to clear a 300k Tri-Tach bounty with my babby Enforcer and timid missile spammers and somehow managed to trip a boarding event for the enemy flagship - a Nevermore.

I covered it in ballistics and now there simply isn't a (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a224/Tifi78/Smilies/stare_zpsf6149260.gif) big enough. It does not suit my playstyle all that well and it is still a complete beast that just kicks everything (so far) in the daddy bags.

Cycerin, you have created a terrible masterpiece....
Thank you!

Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on June 16, 2016, 04:46:06 AM
I currently don't have my computer set up due to moving and other real life bullsh*t so I won't be able to patch that aforementioned bug (or do anything modding-related) for a while.

Haha, you're welcome Serenitis. Provided you manage to cover your weak spot, it's not hard to make the ship work. It really only gets tricky with extremely aggressive, soft flux-heavy loadouts designed to nuke ships in a few volleys.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Orikson on June 16, 2016, 05:33:13 AM
I currently don't have my computer set up due to moving and other real life bullsh*t so I won't be able to patch that aforementioned bug (or do anything modding-related) for a while.


Just some simple (& complicated) questions, how long do you think it'll take to adjust a mod by going through its files? And do you expect a long down time for mods when the new update comes out whenever it does? Also, what are the possible plans for BRDY outpost?

Can I ask some tips on how to modify files or adjust them to current (or latter standards) for my own use? I want to modify the Citadel (for my own testing and knowledge) to make it playable, because it looks cool and a pity its on hiatus.
Title: Re: This is madness!
Post by: Orikson on June 17, 2016, 12:33:19 AM
*Runs into topic panting*  Did somebody say Nevermore?

BRDY ships excel at combining combat mobility with sickening amounts of burst damage.  The Nevermore's one weakness is its relatively undefended aft zone, and most of my builds try to take that into account.  Alternately, I can assign a couple of Serket wings and/or a Knight, or even another Nevermore to escort my own flagship and wipe out dozens of enemy ships.  I have taken a fleet of these four Nevermore variants up against anything and everything from the vanilla campaign and a dozen mod factions and come out on top.  Sorry in advance for the zoom not matching, I took these pictures as I acquired the craft in my current playthrough, not all at the same time.

"Kryptoformer" Nevermore-0
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/arhDyca.jpg)
[close]

This is designed to fight battleships and very heavily armored cruisers.  It works particularly well against Templars except that it can't really handle heavy Clarent barrages.  In trying various loadouts before I settled on this one, I found that the very slow travel speed of the Sun beams make Integrated Targeting Unit and Advanced Prisms much less useful than on vanilla beams because Sun beams take so long to get to their maximum range that they only do a fraction of their actual damage, so I don't even try for range, I settle for doing apocalyptic damage to anything vaguely in front of my ship.

"Conventionalist" Nevermore
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/H2wIkWN.jpg)
[close]

Normally I try to be thematic and use mod faction weapons on that faction's ships.  This is a reversal of that, using vanilla weapons only to make a cruiser which is moderately effective against any possible target, but not specialized to fight anything in particular.

"Cactus Grappler" Nevermore
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/P9N4XJ2.jpg)
[close]

The idea behind this build is simple, more shots in space than raindrops in a hurricane.  Fielding two of these at once gives me noticeable screen slowdown when everything is fired, not that I notice with my eyes closed.  (This build plays fine with my eyes closed.)  Fragmentation damage can work fine against all but the thickest armor if you spew enough of it.  This demolishes small targets, obliterates drone swarms, counters titanic missile barrages, and is also my first choice against heavy shield tanks to max out their flux levels.  As fun as this is to fly, it's also the best loadout to give my most trusted captain to escort my flagship because any AI pilot type will use it correctly.

"Blast Processing" Nevermore
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/t4fuPqu.jpg)
[close]


This build strives to be completely unfair to the AI by stacking abusive amounts of burst damage.

Nice. Can you outline what weapons you've used? I'm bad at identifying them from the screenshots.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on August 01, 2016, 07:50:36 AM
I like all of those loadouts. (somehow missed that post completely!)

Especially the use of Particle Rifles and Volley Guns. :v

I might drop a quality of life/fix update for brdy soon, gonna look at some buggy weapons like Voidspears. Btw, has the addition of the new station in Gneiss affected campaign gameplay to any extent?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Grizzlyadamz on August 06, 2016, 09:14:09 AM
Just wanted to say: The Gonodactylus is freakin perfect. In fact if I didn't love it so much I'd probably say it needs a nerf

Good cargo/personnel/fuel, respectable shield, tanky as hell, incredible burst capability, frigate-competetive speed & turn-rate, maintenance/deployment costs don't break the bank, and the AI is quite proficient with it.
Not to mention it's mining-certified, and the BRDY drive conversion lets it keep up with 10-burn frigate fleets without investing 7 AP into tech.

Is there a better low-mid-tech destroyer?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on August 06, 2016, 11:41:30 AM
^ i agree completely. i used to not like it at due to its asymmetrical design and lack of medium-mount firepower, but it's now actually one of my favorite destroyers in the game! it's relatively cheap, it makes for an amazing tank while still being quite dangerous by itself, and it has good campaign-stats as well (even more so with its Nexerelin mining capabilities). aaand it's pretty, in a rusty-old-mining-shrimp kind of way. ^_^

i honestly do think it needs a nerf. specifically, i think it's way too maneuverable for being so durable. it makes sense for a former mining ship to be built for both dodging and withstanding asteroid hits, but the combination makes it just too good at staying alive while still drawing a lot of enemy fire to itself (at least in a player fleet).

i'd say the speed and Arc Jet Burner are fine, but maneuverability should be reduced significantly. also maybe reduce shield efficiency (it already has great armor, and it's supposed to be a rather low-tech civilian conversion, right?) and/or slightly reduce its firepower, like removing one of the portside small mounts and a small amount of OP.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Grizzlyadamz on August 06, 2016, 01:08:50 PM
What if we remove the shield altogether?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: HELMUT on August 06, 2016, 01:28:25 PM
I dunno, the Gono is pretty good when played right but not that good. In the same category, i personally prefer the more polyvalent Enforcer, it tends to be a safer bet during late game.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Grizzlyadamz on August 06, 2016, 02:00:15 PM
I disagree.
The variants of the enforcer available in the sim never caused me any problems.
Most frigates I used had weapon ranges >500, and they could steadily melt through the Enforcers' armor & kite them down. The Enforcer just doesn't have the speed/range to be a pressing threat.
Unlike the Sunder/Hammerhead, which at least had enough range to keep frigs at bay.

The Gonodactylus though, whew. The default sim-build for that is probably scarier than either of those- it's got speed, armor, PD, range & damage.
Getting one of my own, and it handily brought down any of the other destroyers I faced (I think my char is lvl 15, so I don't have any lvl-10 combat/tech abilities and only ~9% extra OP).

If you want polyvalent, this thing seems a lot better to me, as it eats both slow destroyers & fast frigs for lunch.

How does the Enforcer do against frigs in the late-game?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: HELMUT on August 06, 2016, 03:18:01 PM
I disagree.
The variants of the enforcer available in the sim never caused me any problems.

You can't just assume the strength of a ship depending on the sim variants only, especially the Enforcer's crappy base variants. Try it with a bunch of different weapons like a mix of flak, HVDs and harpoons, it's a good blend of range and firepower which matters throughout the campaign. As for frigates, they're usually an afterthought when you reach late game anyway. Cruisers and capital ships are the big game changers you have to keep in check later on, and unlike the Enforcer, the Gonodactylus isn't that great at engaging something bigger than itself.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on August 06, 2016, 03:25:01 PM
The sim variant Enforcers are bad. A player fleet Enforcer would usually run 3 weapons (HVD and mauler) and 2 PD, or perhaps the greedier frontal flak + 2 mauler 2 HVD variant with max range spec. An Enforcer like that can be almost impossible to approach for anything smaller than a cruiser, if it lies within a formation of other ships. The Gonodactylus is actually more survivable than the Enforcer owing to its superior shield/flux stats, comparable toughness and greater agility. But offensively, the Enforcer can do more from greater range, giving it an extra layer of safety, especially against cruisers and above as HELMUT points out. It really depends on your fleet, if you are not deathballing then a random Gonodactylus is probably a better investment than a random Enforcer, since Enforcers can quickly become useless if they are out of position.

E: Shrimp might be a little too efficient for its cost, but its awkward weapon layout will always make it slightly unreliable compared to symmetrical destroyers. It's really easy to attack the ship from its rear or from the flank with the Hammerclaw on it. But I've been thinking of making the ship more ungainly, now that its ship system has gotten pretty good. I might end up changing the ship system to a maneuvering jets esque approach and then making the ship really slow when the system is disengaged. I think it would sell the concept of the ship better. Then I'll put Burner on some new ship (say, a blockade runner/scoutship?)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on August 06, 2016, 04:29:32 PM
in a tanking role at least, Shrimp beats Enforcer easily. it has even more armor, a much better shield, and its maneuverability still allows it to easily disengage from anything larger than a frigate once its flux does get high. that combination also allows it to engage larger targets quite effectively, actually.

Enforcer might have more firepower, but not by too much, unless you entirely forgo PD.
Enforcer is also better at is long-range kiting, due to it's medium mounts. but even that is only true against slow targets; frigates, most other destroyers and even quite a few cruisers are faster than Enforcer.

edit:
I might end up changing the ship system to a maneuvering jets esque approach and then making the ship really slow when the system is disengaged. I think it would sell the concept of the ship better.
i like that idea. the "really heavy but really powerful burst jets" worked out great for the new Desdinova, imo. it would be nice if the AI would be a bit more conservative with its system charges though, it just seems to use them whenever they're available (same issue with vanilla Maneuvering Jets). would be nice if it kept one for when it really needs to back the *** off right *** now. ^^
Quote
blockade runner
yes, please! O:

that's the one ship role i'd like most to be added in vanilla. if i ever do make my own ships, the first is gonna be a cruiser sized blockade runner / military freighter.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Grizzlyadamz on August 06, 2016, 04:48:34 PM
I've been thinking of making the ship more ungainly, now that its ship system has gotten pretty good. I might end up changing the ship system to a maneuvering jets esque approach and then making the ship really slow when the system is disengaged. I think it would sell the concept of the ship better.

That makes me nervous, as the shrimp's speed (coupled with the striking power) is what I like about it the most, but it does make sense.


that's the one ship role i'd like most to be added in vanilla. if i ever do make my own ships, the first is gonna be a cruiser sized blockade runner / military freighter.
Yeah that's kinda what the Gono is right now. Except with a greater focus on combat & a lesser focus on freight-running.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Tartiflette on August 07, 2016, 12:19:19 AM
Even with all the mods I'm running, the Enforcer is still my Go-to destroyer for the AI. With a few skills it is terrific in duos of Aggressive/SO/Chaingun/Machineguns supported by a Steady/HVD/Maulers.

In my latest playthrough, my SO aggressive one was the only ship I have that has never been destroyed or even in danger despite taking on whole fleets by itself.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on August 07, 2016, 06:43:41 AM
In my latest playthrough, my SO aggressive one was the only ship I have that has never been destroyed or even in danger despite taking on whole fleets by itself.
i had a similar experience with two Gonos. they were the first combat ships in my fleet besides the flagship, and despite using a very short-range loadoud (Shard Guns, Shredder Battery and Ion Cannon) i only lost one throughout the playthrough.

SO Enforcers are pretty awesome, but in late game their low PPT becomes a problem (though that likey depends on fleet composition).
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on August 14, 2016, 10:03:46 AM
Even with all the mods I'm running, the Enforcer is still my Go-to destroyer for the AI. With a few skills it is terrific in duos of Aggressive/SO/Chaingun/Machineguns supported by a Steady/HVD/Maulers.

In my latest playthrough, my SO aggressive one was the only ship I have that has never been destroyed or even in danger despite taking on whole fleets by itself.

The Enforcer is really funny as a "missile sponge" with a loadout full of Hailfire Chainguns in an aggressive officer with shield bypass and max survivability. The enemy will usually waste almost all their finisher missiles on it.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: borgrel on August 24, 2016, 05:57:49 AM
/me does a happy dance

i just found an imaginos frigate for the first time ......
i thought i liked the morpheus

this is better!
many thanks cycerin
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Megas on August 24, 2016, 06:13:50 AM
Gonodactylus is effective, no worse than Hammerhead (probably better than Hammerhead).  It can brawl effectively with LAGs, railgun/light needler, and a few Salamanders or other to mess with targets.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: HuoShengdi on August 24, 2016, 11:13:42 PM
/me does a happy dance

i just found an imaginos frigate for the first time ......
i thought i liked the morpheus

this is better!
many thanks cycerin

The Imaginos is too fragile for my tastes, I play pretty aggressively and always end up overextending myself and suiciding it. The Asura, on the other hand...
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on August 25, 2016, 02:51:50 AM
The Imaginos is too fragile for my tastes, I play pretty aggressively and always end up overextending myself and suiciding it. The Asura, on the other hand...
same here. never could get Imaginos to work properly. Morpheus is much less susceptible to dying instantly when i screw up, and easier to deal damage with.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: TaLaR on August 25, 2016, 03:09:33 AM
Imaginos feels a lot like formal Hyperion equal, but with huge caveats that make it much less useful.

Defensively it's sort of teleportation is not very useful due to vulnerable charge-up.
Offensively, while it can get behind enemy shield, it doesn't have any suitable weapons to capitalize on opening (as Hyperion with Heavy Blasters can).
Plus it pops when something with HE weapons looks at it funny.

It is original in many ways, but just nowhere near cost-effective.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Tartiflette on August 25, 2016, 03:52:21 AM
The Imaginos is most efficient as an anti-missiles back handed slap, and is quite a hard counter to Exigency or Diable Avionics.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on August 25, 2016, 04:36:49 AM
It's not at all designed to be a formal Hyperion equal. If it was, I would have given it a shield, and more modular weapons. It's designed to be unusual, challenging and fun to fly most of all, and secondarily as a hard counter to heavy swarm/spam tactics, since there is no direct answer to that in the game otherwise, apart from proximity charges/heavy flak spam. Area of effect attacks are quite rare in Starsector, and the Imaginos has two powerful AoEs.

If you do want to use it as a flagship in a mixed fleet, the best way to do it is to stick with your fleet, instead of lone-wolfing like the Hyperion. That way you can negate enemy missiles, use your system to deal heavy hard flux to shields, etc. I see no real way to solo in the Imaginos, you need a shield and more CR.

Quote
Offensively, while it can get behind enemy shield, it doesn't have any suitable weapons to capitalize on opening (as Hyperion with Heavy Blasters can).

With player skills and expanded mags, you can deal significant damage to most ships this way, if not enough to kill outright, then at least to cripple. And most people seem to miss the secondary use of Scalar Deracinator, which is to deal significant hard flux to enemy shields. Warping in front of an Eagle twice is almost enough to overload it outright.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: TaLaR on August 25, 2016, 06:37:13 AM
It's not at all designed to be a formal Hyperion equal. If it was, I would have given it a shield, and more modular weapons. It's designed to be unusual, challenging and fun to fly most of all, and secondarily as a hard counter to heavy swarm/spam tactics, since there is no direct answer to that in the game otherwise, apart from proximity charges/heavy flak spam. Area of effect attacks are quite rare in Starsector, and the Imaginos has two powerful AoEs.

If you do want to use it as a flagship in a mixed fleet, the best way to do it is to stick with your fleet, instead of lone-wolfing like the Hyperion. That way you can negate enemy missiles, use your system to deal heavy hard flux to shields, etc. I see no real way to solo in the Imaginos, you need a shield and more CR.

Imaginos under player control is certainly viable against fighter swarms , but not really a hard counter in same way as flak wall is, because Imaginos requires decent skill to pull it off. So it doesn't really work as AI ship.
It is also not best pick for player, since player's involvement is most important against largest threats.

Quote
Offensively, while it can get behind enemy shield, it doesn't have any suitable weapons to capitalize on opening (as Hyperion with Heavy Blasters can).

With player skills and expanded mags, you can deal significant damage to most ships this way, if not enough to kill outright, then at least to cripple. And most people seem to miss the secondary use of Scalar Deracinator, which is to deal significant hard flux to enemy shields. Warping in front of an Eagle twice is almost enough to overload it outright.

Valid tactics against frontal shield ships, but you still have to play flux tug-of-war against omni. Hyperion with Heavy Blasters completely bypasses any shields, that's quite different.

I'm not saying every frigate has to be a Hyperion, but Imaginos costs almost as much, without being nearly as effective in most combat scenarios.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on August 25, 2016, 08:14:01 AM
I'm not saying every frigate has to be a Hyperion, but Imaginos costs almost as much, without being nearly as effective in most combat scenarios.

I don't see the problem with that. It's one of those ships that requires some dedication to get the most out of it, which is by design. You can stomp the AI completely with far worse ships than the Imaginos. But I could perhaps buff its logistics slightly. It's not like I don't want people to fly the thing.

E: But overall the point of the Imaginos (and why I'm hesitant to change it) is that it's hard to pilot and offers an alternative playstyle - if you don't like that playstyle and the drawbacks, just use a different ship. if the ship was just flat out super strong in every situation, I wouldn't feel satisfied with it.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Megas on August 25, 2016, 08:48:53 AM
If Imaginos costs as much to use as Hyperion, I probably would not use it if Hyperion is available.  Imaginos, powerful as it is, is not as safe and effective as Hyperion.  Imaginos does not need to be all-powerful, but it should not cost as much as a competitor (and vanilla) ship that is all-powerful.

That said, Alex could indirectly whack Hyperion depending on upcoming game changes.

EDIT:  Then again, costs do not matter so much in the campaign given commissions and possibly rarity.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: TaLaR on August 25, 2016, 10:59:48 AM
Costs may mean not much in vanilla campaign, but they do in Nexelerin, where reputation is not a problem. Imaginos is more expensive than a Desdinova (one of absolute best player-ships, all mods included...), or several Mantis frigates.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on September 05, 2016, 07:43:39 AM
Costs may mean not much in vanilla campaign, but they do in Nexelerin, where reputation is not a problem. Imaginos is more expensive than a Desdinova (one of absolute best player-ships, all mods included...), or several Mantis frigates.

Well, if you give the fluff some thought, why does it even exist? It's an experimental ship, mostly used for very specific combat scenarios, esoteric research, and technology testing. The Morpheus came later, and uses the same technology with higher potency, being a better combat ship in every way. If the campaign had more hooks, I would heavily gate access to it in a storyline (as well as its successor - perhaps even make the morph's existence a result of player actions, a la the Aurora Thunderforge in EVN.)

Since I cant do that, I decided to just make it fairly rare and very expensive to use, so that you'll only want to use it if you find it to be worth the hassle, so to speak. In the meantime, you are free to modify data in the .csv files to make it any cost and logistics stats that you want.

Speaking of this, future updates of BRDY will probably center on utility and low-tech ships - there's several "tech levels" inside the mod, with some ships like the Robberfly, Knight and Gonodactylus tending towards the low-tech end of the spectrum, and some ships like the Nevermore handling more like high-tech ships, and then the shieldless experimental vessels. I want to solidify the look and feel of the older vessels in the mod, and add some more sturdy, economic "anvil" ships to round out fleet choices and make the AI BRDY more interesting as an enemy.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: DownTheDrain on September 05, 2016, 02:45:09 PM
Speaking of this, future updates of BRDY will probably center on utility and low-tech ships

Err... utility, sure, but low-tech?

As far as I'm concerned the Scorpion and Gonodactylus handle the slower, more anvilish side pretty well. Plus there's plenty of options from vanilla and other mods, while I couldn't name a single other destroyer that comes close to the Desdinova in terms of being awesome but not unbalanced.

Of course I understand that you want to flesh out your own faction, without planning around what everybody else is doing, but as a player I'd much rather have a few more Nevermores and Mantises than additional slow, low-tech options that I can get from many, many other factions as well.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: King Alfonzo on September 05, 2016, 05:54:02 PM
I dunno, I kind of like the idea of BRDY techmining, and while they find some awesome stuff, some of the stuff isn't going to be awesome. But due to how difficult and valuable the tech is anyway, they're going to use it. What's more, the low-tech stuff will probably be a lot more durable (the Gonodalyctus blurb talks about this) or add character and history to the faction (the knight and Nevermore-0) or just introduce a new play style or fills a niche (the Robberfly, the Scorpion). Overall I'm looking forward to it.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on September 05, 2016, 06:22:29 PM
Speaking of this, future updates of BRDY will probably center on utility and low-tech ships

Err... utility, sure, but low-tech?

As far as I'm concerned the Scorpion and Gonodactylus handle the slower, more anvilish side pretty well. Plus there's plenty of options from vanilla and other mods, while I couldn't name a single other destroyer that comes close to the Desdinova in terms of being awesome but not unbalanced.

Of course I understand that you want to flesh out your own faction, without planning around what everybody else is doing, but as a player I'd much rather have a few more Nevermores and Mantises than additional slow, low-tech options that I can get from many, many other factions as well.


I dont mean literal low-tech
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: DownTheDrain on September 05, 2016, 08:30:28 PM
I actually love the lower-tech Blackrock ships; tooling around in a Mod Silverfish backed up by a Shrimp with a couple of Robberfly escorts feels really good.

Oh don't get me wrong, I like the Mod Silverfish as well, that's a very solid choice for a light combat freighter.
The Robberfly not so much but that's mostly because there are better BRDY frigates available.

I dont mean literal low-tech

That's good to hear, although it is more the anvil part that has me worried. BRDY is kind of the peak of mobile, hard hitting ships for me, so naturally I'd love to see a few more of those.
Of course your average Nevermore is rather expensive to deploy and the AI would probably do a better job with cheaper and sturdier options, so I fully understand where you're coming from. I rarely get to fight Blackrock fleets since I usually cozy up to them to get access to their goodies which may skew my perspective.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Requal on September 08, 2016, 09:20:34 PM
Since the text hasn't changed I guess it doesn't work with Graphicslib since shaderlib is still shown in red?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on September 08, 2016, 09:59:35 PM
Since the text hasn't changed I guess it doesn't work with Graphicslib since shaderlib is still shown in red?
It works with graphics lib now as Shaderlib is now discontinued
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on September 15, 2016, 07:10:28 AM
Thanks for pointing that out, edited the OP.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Zeni on November 02, 2016, 02:00:59 AM
Hello everyone!

Dont mind me, but I havent been able to exactly work out where the BRDY ships are obtainable in the main campaign, or if you can even get them there.
I have looked around, but havent been able to find any information .

Any tips?  ;D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on November 02, 2016, 02:11:05 AM
Hello everyone!

Dont mind me, but I havent been able to exactly work out where the BRDY ships are obtainable in the main campaign, or if you can even get them there.
I have looked around, but havent been able to find any information .

Any tips?  ;D

A few quick but stupid questions:
1: Do you have LazyLib and GraphicsLib enabled?
2: Do you have the mod enabled in the launcher?
3: How are you launching SS? Are you using the executable or the batch file (makes a console window pop up)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on November 02, 2016, 02:53:23 AM
Hello everyone!
hi and welcome! :)

if you're having trouble getting the mod to work, just refer to Kitsune's post and ignore this one. ^^
if you've already got it working and are just looking for info on where to buy BRDY stuff: their primary market is Blackrock (linked with Lodestone and Port Augustmoon) in their Gneiss homesystem. Vigil Station is another, civilian market in that same system. and the smaller Bharata in the Rama system also sells some BRDY military hardware.

(http://i.imgur.com/Zyu50Da.jpg)

...that's assuming you are playing in the vanilla/Corvus sector. if you're using the Nexerelin mod with random sector generation, you'll have to look a bit harder: i think the easiest way to check where to find any faction's current markets is through the map tab (center top) of the "Intel" screen. pointing with your cursor at a star system on that map will show a tooltip with all markets in that system, along with what faction they belong to, and whether they're military markets (you won't find most combat ships and weapons on open/civilian markets).
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Zeni on November 02, 2016, 02:57:26 AM
The mod is working as far as I know, I can play missions and read about the ships in game, just couldn't find where to buy them.
The mod is selected in the launcher, but I am playing an existing saved game from before I installed the mod. Should I be starting a new one?
The sectors Gneiss does not appear on my map, maybe an indicator that I haven't installed properly?

Thanks for the help!!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Zeni on November 02, 2016, 04:19:16 AM
A new game did the trick! My mistake!  :P
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on November 02, 2016, 05:51:17 AM
ah, yeah. the sector itself (star systems, planets, etc) is only generated once when you start a new game, so newly added locations won't show up in an existing campaign, and removing content can cause problems.

there are two utility mods that provide an alternative to starting an entirely new game, though:

1) Save Transfer (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=8950.0) lets you, as the name implies, transfer things like your current fleet, inventory, credits, reputations and character experience into a new game. because it actually creates a new game and basically just copies things from another save, it should spawn all the content from all mods you currently have enabled (hope i'm right on this.. never actually tried it myself. :D i think this mod's main purpose is to allow updating or removing mods without breaking everything). it won't recreate the current game 100%, since that's kind of the point, but it allows keeping the important stuff.

2) Console Commands (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=4106.0) allows adding ships or weapons directly to your fleet, basically through cheat commands. since your issue is just that there are no BRDY markets from which you could buy their ships, this still lets you use them in your current game. if just cheating isn't to your liking, you can do something like spawning a new ship in return for removing credits (through another command of this mod) roughly similar to what the ship would've cost you if you had bought it legitimately.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Zeni on November 02, 2016, 02:12:04 PM
Thanks for the tips, I think i will start a new game, but remove all my credits. I didnt know I could do that! I just want to keep my character. Also randomly, level 50 is the maximum yeah? is it possible to go higher?

 :D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on November 02, 2016, 03:07:30 PM
Thanks for the tips, I think i will start a new game, but remove all my credits. I didnt know I could do that! I just want to keep my character. Also randomly, level 50 is the maximum yeah? is it possible to go higher?

 :D
There is no hard cap on levels (I'm at around 98 thanks to save transfer) but there is a soft cap around 40 or 50 IIRC. You can edit what gets transferred and what doesn't through arguments. (IE. loadsave -credits (if that is the right command) would reset your credits to new game levels)
One note: Save transfer needs console commands to work.

Some other utility mods that I would suggest are Version Checker (check my sig) Common Radar (here: http://bit.ly/1cXUkNW ) and Autosave (here: http://bit.ly/1QR4cgx )
-Version Checker because it tells you when a mod (and even SS itself!) is updated
-Common Radar because it lets you keep better eye on your ships in combat without having to constantly visit the Tac Map
-Autosave because it can remind you to save as SS has no autosave. And while it CAN autosave for you, I wouldn't suggest it as SS's save times are pretty slow...
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Zeni on November 02, 2016, 05:00:23 PM
Again, thanks for the help and recommendations. Now that I can use these delicious BRDY ships in my campaign I will be adding in these other mods.
It took me awhile to find out why the console would not open, then I realized that it works through a separate mod.  ;)
I would maybe suggest mentioning it in the save transfer mod page, or maybe it was just me being slow. Its all good.

Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on November 02, 2016, 05:15:29 PM
Again, thanks for the help and recommendations. Now that I can use these delicious BRDY ships in my campaign I will be adding in these other mods.
It took me awhile to find out why the console would not open, then I realized that it works through a separate mod.  ;)
I would maybe suggest mentioning it in the save transfer mod page, or maybe it was just me being slow. Its all good.
Save transfer DOES state that it needs console (and LazyLib) to work. Look near the top of the page
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Zeni on November 02, 2016, 09:58:04 PM
Totally my bad, anyhow its all working fine now.  :D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Zeni on November 05, 2016, 01:34:26 AM
I have to say, the Mantis is fast becoming one of my favorite ships. The (default?) fit with the two quill launchers, shard cannons and gauge cannon works really, really well.
I find I have a large number of OP spare, any suggestions into mods that fit with the "hit fast and hard" gameplay that works so well?
I hear so many good things about the Desdinova as well, but the Mantis just has that sweet, sweet mobility.

Great mod, fits my play style like a charm!!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on November 05, 2016, 12:38:26 PM
Augmented Engines is great on pretty much any ship. if that's not available, Unstable Injector or Blackrock Drive Conversion can fill a similar role. Auxiliary Thrusters is probably overkill on Mantis, and Safety Overrides isn't really viable for anything other than dedicated pursuit-battle loadouts, due to the short Peak Performance Time. Insulated Engine Assembly doesn't give any mobility by itself, but it reduces the risk of an engine flameout, which can be rather devastating to a ship as reliant on mobility as Mantis. Resistent FLux Conduits can help with that as well, and increases active flux venting speed a bit.

Desdinova is one of the best player flagships in the modiverse, i think. it still has amazing mobility for its size, and strong firepower, without being as fragile as many other fast ships. main drawbacks are its cost (cruiser level) and short PPT (frigate level). although because of its greater reliance on the ship system for mobility, it can be a bit more difficult to fly.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on November 05, 2016, 02:33:44 PM
Desdinova is a bit like a big mantis, it is really powerful but also punishes mistakes hard (you lose extra CR after combat from taking hull damage, and engines take 2x damage meaning you cant really fit unstable injector, and also need to watch your engines constantly)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on November 18, 2016, 05:23:58 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlr6PuZlK3g

Working on some new stuff again.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Absolutecero on November 18, 2016, 10:50:02 PM
Neat a short range High impact energy weapon.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: The2nd on November 19, 2016, 06:07:30 AM
Neat a short range High impact energy weapon.

Looks to me like a long range kinetic weapon. But I agree in that it looks neat.
First thought after that video is me wanting to ditch one shredder, replace the Voidspears with Sunjet PDE and turn that Lasher into slag once the flux is up  ;D

Stats would interest me, especially how it compares to a Ferrocannon.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on November 19, 2016, 06:46:10 AM
The Voidspears are because I've tinkered with their AI and wanted to see if someone would notice : > Not finished with them yet.

Ferrocannon is more efficient, higher DPS, and has near-hitscan projectile speed, but costs more OP. And it's a large mount.

This weapon (Bolide Heavy Artillery) has 100 more range, and is a 15 OP cost medium. Unlike the Ferrocannon/gun, it can miss shots a lot of the time thanks to its 450 proj speed. Burst jetting backwards while firing will make your shots about as fast as a proximity charge, burst jetting forward will make them on par with a HVD or mauler. Plus the fact you can sling them sideways as well.

Current stats are 600 kinetic/shot and 900 flux/shot, 150 dps / 225 flux/s, 1000 range, 1 degree min spread and 4 max spread with 2 increased spread/shot, 90 non-regenerating ammo, 4 sec reload. Deals 100-200 extra frag on impact whether it hits shield or not.

The potential performance from this weapon is great, but hitting every shot is hard unless you are shooting at a big target.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: The2nd on November 19, 2016, 09:11:20 AM
I've never really used Voidspears so I don't have a point of reference.

This weapon (Bolide Heavy Artillery) has 100 more range, and is a 15 OP cost medium. Unlike the Ferrocannon/gun, it can miss shots a lot of the time thanks to its 450 proj speed. Burst jetting backwards while firing will make your shots about as fast as a proximity charge, burst jetting forward will make them on par with a HVD or mauler. Plus the fact you can sling them sideways as well.

Now that is really neat. Watching with hindsight it's kinda obvious that you are almost always boosting forward with a shot. Can the AI handle it? It seems to have problems with projectiles influenced by ship velocity as can be seen by SO frigates equipped with Reapers.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on November 19, 2016, 11:19:19 AM
the AI has trouble with the Jet Boost systems in general, and even with vanilla Maneuvering Thursters. i think it just uses them whenever they come off cooldown, even if they're mostly wasted.

maybe we'll get an improved AI with the upcoming Plasma Jets system, since i imagine that will have the same problem.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on December 01, 2016, 02:46:04 AM
Now that is really neat. Watching with hindsight it's kinda obvious that you are almost always boosting forward with a shot. Can the AI handle it? It seems to have problems with projectiles influenced by ship velocity as can be seen by SO frigates equipped with Reapers.

It handles it OK, mostly I would stick the weapon on slower, more stable ships if it's going to be used by the AI.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Elaron on December 23, 2016, 02:05:49 PM
Just want to say that I love this mod! Desdinova and Nevermore are highly rewarding to fly, and fit well with my general play-style, while the amount of work you and your collaborators have put into it shows with the quality of the art and other assets.

I've been beating my head on the "Wake the Beast" mission, having a hard time with the missiles and the frigates (almost any amount of missiles overwhelmed the stock Kark's point defense, while the frigates' were aggressively moving to my rear, where there's almost nothing that can deal with them).

Eventually, I gave up on the stock fit, and came up with a configuration that allowed me to finish the mission:

Spoiler
(https://www.erjholton.org/images/wakenthebeastfit.png)
[close]

Which allowed me to get the following result:
Spoiler
(https://www.erjholton.org/images/wakenthebeast.png)
[close]

It's cheesy of me to use Maximized Ordnance, I know, so I'll be trying again with a trimmed-down version.

Once again, thank you, and I look forward to what you accomplish next with the mod!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on December 23, 2016, 03:05:56 PM
Eventually, I gave up on the stock fit, and came up with a configuration that allowed me to finish the mission:
i also always put a lot more PD on Karkinos than the default variants have. can't avoid all missiles just with teleporting. ^^

that screenshot shows that your GraphicsLib is acting up, btw, causing some weird color shifts. it did the same for me and a few others, i think it's an issue with the recent geforce drivers. you'll probably wanna set "enablePostProcess" to false, in \Starsector\mods\GraphicsLib\GRAPHICS_OPTIONS.ini until it gets fixed.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Elaron on December 23, 2016, 08:12:27 PM
Eventually, I gave up on the stock fit, and came up with a configuration that allowed me to finish the mission:
i also always put a lot more PD on Karkinos than the default variants have. can't avoid all missiles just with teleporting. ^^

Yeah. The stock fit wasn't even stopping lone pairs of Salamanders properly. Deeply frustrating.

that screenshot shows that your GraphicsLib is acting up, btw, causing some weird color shifts. it did the same for me and a few others, i think it's an issue with the recent geforce drivers. you'll probably wanna set "enablePostProcess" to false, in \Starsector\mods\GraphicsLib\GRAPHICS_OPTIONS.ini until it gets fixed.

Thanks for the tip. Definitely been happening since I installed the most recent nVidia drivers. I rarely bother to update them as most of these point releases are just optimizations for games I haven't bought, so I'm a bit irritated that I did on this occasion. It's especially noticeable on Shadowyards ships.

So, this adjusted fit

Spoiler
(https://www.erjholton.org/images/wakenthebeast2fit.png)
[close]

managed, after a couple of attempts, to give me a result:

Spoiler
(https://www.erjholton.org/images/wakenthebeast2.png)
[close]

Damn those frigates, especially that Wolf with long-range beams, are irritating. Would definitely rather have a Nevermore for that mission.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on December 24, 2016, 01:06:53 AM
Yeah. The stock fit wasn't even stopping lone pairs of Salamanders properly. Deeply frustrating.
to be fair, Salamanders aren't really a good way to judge general PD effectiveness, because their flight path is so different from almost all other missiles. beams (especially burst ones) are very good at stopping them, but most ballistic PD is not, despite the fact that ballistic PD is usually preferable against most missiles that actually head directly for your ship in a more or less straight line.

Shredders are pretty good against most missiles. but i still like having at least the front of capital ships and some cruisers defended by one or two medium PD weapons.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on January 10, 2017, 12:15:58 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/Udtxgem.png)

Patch coming soon with redesigned Knight, two new weapons, and various fixes, changes and polish.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Doogie on January 10, 2017, 12:54:22 PM
Cool :D

Gives off a bit of a Knights Templar vibe, which makes sense cause you made those.
Gonna have fun playing with that thing.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on January 10, 2017, 02:27:17 PM
 ;D

It's probably the overall tankiest brdy ship except for the Karkinos, at 900 armor, 9000 hull. And it focuses mainly on missiles, with two medium composite hardpoints and 4 small missile hardpoints. The rest is an even coverage of small hybrid turrets. Ship system is Heavy Maneuvering Jets, which is inbetween burst jets and normal m. jets in terms of mechanics
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Gothars on January 10, 2017, 03:01:22 PM
I like the heavy armor around the middle with the slight hint of a feather/wing like structure a lot. What are the two yellowish square structures at the front? Flight decks?

The only part I don't like is the bridge, half of the time it somehow looks tilted upwards to my eyes.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on January 10, 2017, 03:40:22 PM
Glad you like it. Yea, flight decks. Just one flight deck though, gameplaywise.

Damn, I can see that about the bridge though. I actually have an idea.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Histidine on January 11, 2017, 05:03:40 AM
Too bad it can't be re-renamed to Revenant...

(http://i.imgur.com/OJPYlWc.png)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on January 11, 2017, 11:11:33 AM
the front looks like the head of a slug to me.. ^^

other than that, it's great! i'll probably use it with a loadout similar to shrimp, with lots of durability hullmods & skills and close range firepower, for maximum INYOURFACEyness.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on January 11, 2017, 11:53:12 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/NSXTtEP.png)

Approaching finalness now
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Sy on January 11, 2017, 01:07:02 PM
oh nice, it looks less slug-y now.

and those spread-out Darts also look a lot cooler than the old ones!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.5 (04.04.2016)
Post by: Cycerin on January 11, 2017, 03:51:42 PM
its certainly a way to make things more interesting.

Also just realized i announced this knight revamp in like.. 2015. Well, here it is!
Title: BRDY 0.8.6 released!
Post by: Cycerin on January 12, 2017, 08:25:29 AM
DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK 0.8.6! (https://www.mediafire.com/?963s6awrsecx153)

Changelog 0.8.6:
Spoiler

- Reworked Knight completely, new sprite/ship/stats (This will break saves, use Console Commands to manually add any Knights you had that are lost on save transfer)
- Hammerclaw (Gonodactylus weapon): Now unguided, otherwise the same, reload time greatly increased to mitigate Missile Spec perk brokenness
- Gonodactylus: Acceleration, deceleration and turnrate heavily decreased, price increased to 22000
- Gonodactylus, Knight: Ship system changed to Heavy Maneuvering Jets, a powerful but shorter duration version of Maneuvering Jets that grants more speed
- Added Bolide Heavy Artillery
- Added Comet Light Artillery
- Desdinova Ordnance Points lowered by 5, from 115 to 110, Deceleration lowered by 10%
- Scalaron Repeater turn speed increased by 4, from 13 to 17
- Gale Cannon (10 OP version) range increased from 550 to 600
- Argus weapons (Particle Beam, Micro, Array): Beam duration set to 0.2 instead of 0.18, which makes the weapon more consistent due to tick mechanics
* Micro Argus PD: Now costs 0 flux to fire, allowing it to be fired while keeping 0-flux boost.
* The 7 OP Argus now cleanly kills 150-hp missiles, whereas the 4 OP Argus needs two shots. 7 OP Argus charge regen lowered to reflect this. 4 OP Argus charge regen increased.
* The end result is that the Micro Argus is more efficient against weak missiles, the Argus is more efficient against MRMs and finisher missiles, and the Array is overall more effective.
- Voidspear MRM: New custom guidance AI. Missiles don't swerve drunkenly anymore, instead tend to approach the target unpredictably and circle it.
* Refire delay increased to 14 (was 8), ammo increased by ~30%
* Damage lowered to 400 (was 500), now deals 400 EMP damage per hit
* Flux/missile increased to 175 (was 150)
* Missile appearance slightly adjusted
- Quill Rocket Pod: Burst size doubled (to 8), cooldown increased by 3 seconds (now 7)
- Quill Launcher/Pod: Firing range increased to 1200 to better match rocket's actual effective range (was 1000)
- Dart SRM: New custom guidance AI that spreads the missiles out slightly more. Acts more as a "heatseeker", not locking on if targets are out of the missile's seek range.
- Scalar Rejector (Imaginos right-click): Kinetic absorption multiplier increased by 0.05 (from 0.95 to 1.0), base explosion damage increased by 50
- Scalaron Pulse: AI slightly adjusted to be less erratic, especially when used with ECCM hullmod
- Linear Pulse Gun: Range increased to 450 (from 375), EMP damage removed (was 30), flux/shot decreased to 65 (was 70)
- Scorpion: Stinger Drones now hang out on each side of the ship, blocking less incoming damage but dying less in return
- Stinger Drones now come with 2 replacements instead of 1
- BRDY Drive Conversion: Now incompatible with Safety Overrides due to excessive fastness
- Robberfly: Max. flux increased to 1500 (was 1200)
- Imaginos: Armor increased/rounded up to 250 (from 230)
- Krait: Hull reduced to 650 (was 700)
- Stenos:
* mount types changed (more Hybrids!)
* Armor increased by 150 (to 650)
* Flux cost of ship system decreased by 10%
* Hull increased by 500 (to 8000)
- Convergence: Shield Efficiency changed to 0.9 (was 1.0)
- Bulwark Drone (Convergence Ship System): Hull increased to 1000 (was 800), shield radius reduced to 180 (was 360)
* Weapons changed: Now has two Dart SRM Racks (Fighter version of Dart SRM), and one Particle Lance instead of the Shredder
- Changed Dimensional Engine shutdown explosion SFX (subtler)
- Changed 0-flux engine boost activation SFX
- Rage SRM: New SFX
- INM Assault Gun: New SFX, stats and projectile appearance slightly adjusted
- Particle Lance: Color adjusted, damage rounded up to 270, cooldown increased by 0.1 seconds
- Changed BRDY phase cloak color to cyan-green (was white due to long standing laziness)
- Burst Maneuvering Jets: Now simply called "Burst Jets"
- Shredder Drones: Now slowly regenerates lost drones
- Changed ship system engine gfx for Robberfly and Gonodactylus
- Added running light deco weapons to most ships that were missing them
- Adjusted credit values of weapons/ships across the board to be rounder values and more in line with vanilla
- Adjusted Blackrock Flux Core AI script to make ships more conservative about venting flux if there is incoming damage
- Removed "random vs BRDY" mission until I have time to reimplement it properly
- Removed old Knight and all occurrences of and references to it (brdy_revenant)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 - UPDATED! (12.01.2017)
Post by: Nick XR on January 12, 2017, 09:39:27 AM
Sweet, looking forward to trying out the changes!
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 - UPDATED! (12.01.2017)
Post by: Sy on January 12, 2017, 11:06:05 AM
awesome changes all around. aside from the new Knight and much needed shrimp changes, the Voidspear changes are my favorite. i didn't really like that before, they were too weak to be used for burst damage but also too quickly emptied to be reliable support over the course of a battle. lower firing rate and higher ammo fixes this quite nicely. :]

just a quick note: the Bulwark Drone keeps firing its Micro Argus at ships, even when it's not in range to hit anything! i assume they are linked with the Darts or Particle Lance in weapon groups. ^^
and Heavy Maneuvering Jets appear to have no description... yet. :P
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 - UPDATED! (12.01.2017)
Post by: Morbo513 on January 12, 2017, 10:34:27 PM
I have to congratulate you on this mod, I can't believe I played SS for an entire year without trying it. The ships look great, are fun to use and challenging to fight without being unbalanced; the backstory, system design and music, it's all great. What I'd most like to see more of is corvettes and gunships (In Starsector in general as well as the mod). I really like the Robberfly, so much so that they comprise 90% of my fleet. They're very versatile and can punch well above their weight especially in numbers, but they trade massive vulnerability for their speed and relative firepower. This is some A-Grade stuff, thanks for putting in the time and effort to make it.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 - UPDATED! (12.01.2017)
Post by: Nick XR on January 12, 2017, 11:39:26 PM
Yeah, this too is my favorite faction.  Every time I play SS+ with lots of factions I think to myself "This time I'll try the other ships".  4 hours later I've got a fleet of 4 Nevermores and am trying to get more... 
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 - UPDATED! (12.01.2017)
Post by: Seth on January 14, 2017, 04:35:15 AM
Wanna chime in too, great update, thank you, author. BRDY is my favorite faction too, ships are amazing, especially Convergence, Scorpion, Karkinos, Eschaton and new Knight, all are simply outstanding.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 - UPDATED! (12.01.2017)
Post by: Gezzaman on January 21, 2017, 11:29:49 PM
ive played BRDY for a long time but this is the first time im having problems with an update..

it keeps saying "Fatal: Ship hull spec [brdy_revenant] not found! check starsector.log for more info."

when i disable the mod everything works... any ideas?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 - UPDATED! (12.01.2017)
Post by: Orikson on January 21, 2017, 11:59:30 PM
ive played BRDY for a long time but this is the first time im having problems with an update..

it keeps saying "Fatal: Ship hull spec [brdy_revenant] not found! check starsector.log for more info."

when i disable the mod everything works... any ideas?

The latest version removed any instances related to that 'revenant' reference.

Have you updated BRDY to the latest one?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 - UPDATED! (12.01.2017)
Post by: Gezzaman on January 22, 2017, 12:49:39 AM
Ye i have.

i always unzip it into the mods folder and say overwrite all.

ill try deleting the whole BRDY folder and redo it i guess
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 - UPDATED! (12.01.2017)
Post by: Gezzaman on January 22, 2017, 01:03:17 AM
works now after I deleted the old mod and unziped the new one. thanks
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 - UPDATED! (12.01.2017)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on January 22, 2017, 01:13:04 AM
works now after I deleted the old mod and unziped the new one. thanks

Yeah, you should ALWAYS delete the entire mod and then bring in the new one
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: NightKev on February 08, 2017, 05:12:26 PM
Looks like there's a bug with the new Comet Light Artillery weapon's projectile getting destroyed by means other than ship impact (cf this post (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=7372.msg198117#msg198117) and the one after it). At least I think it's that weapon, it's the only one with a "CometOnHitEffect.java" file of the mods I have.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on February 22, 2017, 02:57:21 PM
Very delayed feedback for 0.8.6:

The new Knight design is very pretty. It looks like a bulky ship that can take a lot of punishment, and for a BRDY ship it can, but it's a bit undergunned. It's got a lot of small mounts, but only two mediums and they're hardpoints so far from each other they only start overlapping at 1000 SU. Giving it too many more mounts might start stepping on the Nevermore's toes a bit, so I'd give it another flight deck, maybe two if you want to get crazy about it. That would dovetail nicely with the fighter changes in 0.8, giving BRDY a gunboat/carrier along the lines of the Mora. If you want to give it more guns, though, I'd really like it if the central mount was upped to a medium for 360° PD coverage.

The Bolide and the Comet are confused as to whether they're main guns or supplementary guns. As far as I can tell, the point of putting limited ammunition on guns is to force them into being a supplementary weapon, a powerful weapon that you should only be firing some of the time and that should probably not be the only weapon on a ship, sort of like missiles or the Antimatter Blaster. Having a gun with limited ammunition, but more than enough ammunition for very extended engagements defeats the point of limiting their ammo. Even without Extended Magazines, the Comet has enough ammo to constantly fire for 5 whole minutes, and the Bolide can fire for almost 7; by then everything smaller than a cruiser is out of CR anyway. Either they should have significantly lower ammo and higher fire rate so they're a powerful gun you can only bring out against specific targets worth using the ammo on, or the ammo count should be removed entirely and the stats balanced around that. As it is, the limited ammunition doesn't matter for anything smaller than a cruiser, because the ship will break down before the gun runs out of ammo.

I like the Voidspear changes a lot. They're like the unholy spawn of a Salamander and a Hornet, and I love them so much. I had to stop using my Voidspear Archers because they kept running too far forward and getting themselves killed in large battles, but while I was using them they were very effective at long-range pressure. Voidspears work best in large amounts so you kind of have to build a fleet around having Voidspears on all of your ships, but single medium universal mounts being common on BRDY ships make it both possible to do so and effective when you do.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on February 23, 2017, 04:31:41 AM
Thanks for the feedback, and thanks to everyone who chimed in on the last page. I read and appreciate it all even though I don't respond right away

As for the limited ammo on the Bolide and Comet its mostly a psychological thing to make each shot feel more important, eg. a question of feel rather than as a balancing tool, since constantly toggling autofire on a weapon is something most people will agree is tedious. You have enough reason to toggle-fire Bolides as it is given the autofire AI's propensity for wasting shots.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: BuckCake on February 23, 2017, 08:17:33 AM
Inspired by the first tournament, is it possible to do a playthrough and potentially conquer the sector with nothing but robberflies?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: cjuicy on February 23, 2017, 11:21:25 PM
Robberfly-mageddon. Oh my.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: OOZ662 on February 24, 2017, 01:48:23 AM
Just about anything's possible if you try hard enough. Patience and peak active time being the limiters.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on February 24, 2017, 01:50:35 AM
Just about anything's possible if you try hard enough. Patience and peak active time being the limiters.
And the 25 ship limit
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: NightKev on February 24, 2017, 01:56:06 AM
Just about anything's possible if you try hard enough. Patience and peak active time being the limiters.
And the 25 ship limit
Unless you use SS+ or change the config file yourself.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Embercloud on March 03, 2017, 01:01:22 AM
Getting an error on boot.

"brdy ship hulls revenant not found"
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Orikson on March 03, 2017, 01:08:12 AM
The revenant was what BRDY's Knight was identified before.

To avoid this error (since that thing does not exist anymore), delete the mod and do a fresh installment.

Just merging files and not deleting the previous folder is a common cause for errors with mods (and I mean a lot).
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Embercloud on March 03, 2017, 01:10:25 AM
The revenant was what BRDY's Knight was identified before.

To avoid this error (since that thing does not exist anymore), delete the mod and do a fresh installment.

Just merging files and not deleting the previous folder is a common cause for errors with mods (and I mean a lot).

Thanks I'll try that
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: BuckCake on March 03, 2017, 06:21:09 AM
You should always delete the old files before updating mods anyway.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on April 25, 2017, 12:24:29 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiLE48rBri4

Got brdy running on 0.8 (not campaign yet), having fun making some new fighters. This particular combo is super good against frigs apparently
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Sy on April 25, 2017, 12:56:18 PM
Rage bombers!! @_@

also, did you buff Comet projectile speed? i haven't played much with those yet, but weren't they supposed to be super slow? ^^
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Inventor Raccoon on April 25, 2017, 03:00:23 PM
Rest in peace, all enemy frigates.

Was going to ask if you're going to make drones into built-in fighters and give the carriers another system but you know what, that can stay without Reserve Deployment if that's fine hahah.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on April 26, 2017, 04:34:30 AM
The plan right now is to keep existing drones as ship system because a) its less work and b) fighter drones would need to be nerfed as they are inherently more dangerous and less, well, drone-like and dumb. Sentinel drones are meant to be mostly defensive, so it's not really a problem if they hang out around the mothership a lot and act predictably. It also means I don't have to add flares or another replacement ship system. I do, however, plan on doing something with the Megaceras and Stenos involving built in wings.

Rage bombers!! @_@

also, did you buff Comet projectile speed? i haven't played much with those yet, but weren't they supposed to be super slow? ^^

600 speed atm, Bolide are the super slow one. Comets are a small weapon and need to be at least token use against smaller targets. I nerfed their flux/damage ratio slightly since last time.

Here are the new fighter sprites so far:

Nadir Defense Fighter
(http://i.imgur.com/cNpM9kw.png) (http://i.imgur.com/cNpM9kw.png) (http://i.imgur.com/cNpM9kw.png)
Front shield, Light Burst Cannon, 2x Tackler Heavy Autocannon, Decoy Flares

Taipan Heavy Interceptor
(http://i.imgur.com/i3IAASD.png) (http://i.imgur.com/i3IAASD.png)
Nose-mounted Focused Particle Lance, 1x Voidspear MRM, Dart SRM Rack

Mosquito Missile Bomber
(http://i.imgur.com/3IU0UbA.png) (http://i.imgur.com/3IU0UbA.png) (http://i.imgur.com/3IU0UbA.png)
1x Rage SRM, Fighter Burst Jets

Other changes:
Dipterons are now 5/wing and claw formation
Kraits no longer have Darts
Vespas are 2 per wing and may need other changes due to friendly fire risk of Fury Torps
Various stat adjustments
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: SainnQ on April 26, 2017, 04:50:03 AM
I look forward to this, 8a is so starved of ship/armament variety IMO.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on April 26, 2017, 05:10:13 AM
Yea its strange to go back to just the vanilla set after being used to the endless variety of heavily modded SS.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: RandomnessInc on April 26, 2017, 05:32:28 AM
Still waiting for space monsters  ;)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Tartiflette on April 26, 2017, 05:39:45 AM
Still waiting for space monsters  ;)
http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=7842.msg131046#msg131046 (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=7842.msg131046#msg131046)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on April 26, 2017, 05:57:57 AM
Still waiting for space monsters  ;)

It will take a lot of time and effort, but I think the framework of the game is getting to a point where its possible to do something like that. I still want to do it, I just don't know when I'll have time.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: adimetro00 on April 26, 2017, 06:35:49 AM
Still waiting for space monsters  ;)

It will take a lot of time and effort, but I think the framework of the game is getting to a point where its possible to do something like that. I still want to do it, I just don't know when I'll have time.
Will you do it like the [REDACTED]?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Sy on April 26, 2017, 09:18:03 AM
Sentinel drones are meant to be mostly defensive, so it's not really a problem if they hang out around the mothership a lot and act predictably.
you can easily do that with the new fighter mechanics as well though. vanilla Mining Pods' engagement range is set to 0, so they do not leave the carrier at all (or rather, not further than fighters that are set to Regroup, which i think is about the same range as most drone systems used to have), and Xyphos are set to "support"-behaviour, so they can escort an allied ship at 4k range but do not follow an Engage command onto an enemy target.

so a built-in Bulwark drone 'wing' could be made to always stay close to the carrier, even as modular fighters from said carrier engage enemies at long range.

(i can certainly understand not wanting to mess with all that now though, and having to come up with suitable replacement systems.)

Quote
Here are the new fighter sprites so far:
those look amazing! O:
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: HELMUT on April 26, 2017, 09:37:46 AM
While i do like the Taipan and Mosquito, i'm not sure about the Nadir, the two large ACs looks weird. The sprites "works", but feels a bit strange to me, kinda like your older BSF Blackrock sprites. Maybe some more conventional, thinner barrels instead of the fat arms? I'm not sure.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Sy on April 26, 2017, 10:20:15 AM
Maybe some more conventional, thinner barrels instead of the fat arms? I'm not sure.
i think they look good. the style of these arms signals "tough & defensive" more so than "big gunz!!1", to me.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Axisoflint on April 26, 2017, 06:36:11 PM
Still waiting for space monsters  ;)
http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=7842.msg131046#msg131046 (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=7842.msg131046#msg131046)

I'd never seen that... thing before.. and now I can't unsee that it looks like something I wouldn't talk about in polite company.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on April 30, 2017, 09:12:55 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVf_wW45m9g

Accidentally caused a chain reaction in this script
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Psycho Landlord on April 30, 2017, 09:40:40 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVf_wW45m9g

Accidentally caused a chain reaction in this script

Even in death, BRDY will *** you up with unsafe science.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Hazard on April 30, 2017, 09:52:25 AM
It's not a bug, it's a feature. ;)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Mr. Nobody on April 30, 2017, 10:33:23 AM
The only logical conclusion to this is a ship specifically made to exploit this behavior by suiciding into enemy lines
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Sy on April 30, 2017, 10:42:22 AM
i'm disappointed that only a single piece of each new split continued the chain reaction. :(
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on April 30, 2017, 11:26:13 AM
i'm disappointed that only a single piece of each new split continued the chain reaction. :(

Well, this way it looks like that's the piece with the dimensional engine in it, kinda cool. But probably not keeping this.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Zonor on May 01, 2017, 01:29:52 AM
Any timeline when the best faction mod will be ready for 0.8?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Dark.Revenant on May 01, 2017, 02:00:16 AM
Any timeline when the best faction mod will be ready for 0.8?

I'm sorry; I don't think ORI will be updated for 0.8a :(
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Kali666 on May 01, 2017, 04:26:28 AM
Any timeline when the best faction mod will be ready for 0.8?

I'm sorry; I don't think ORI will be updated for 0.8a :(


Giff 0.8 plx, Blackcock DY is easily my favourite faction, and I find it hart to play the game without it tbh
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on May 02, 2017, 03:10:20 AM
Probably 8.1 for BRDY 'cause I don't feel like rushing out a compatibility update when I have so many half finished things going on, finite time to work on it, etc. Don't worry, it'll be quite soon anyway.

I'm working on the new fighters, revamping the Stenos, retooling the Kurmaraja into having some carrier capacity, finalizing 2 new weapons, and revising every stat in the mod atm. I would like to put more ships on the chopping block as well but it will have to wait.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Kali666 on May 02, 2017, 05:56:36 AM
Probably 8.1 for BRDY 'cause I don't feel like rushing out a compatibility update when I have so many half finished things going on, finite time to work on it, etc. Don't worry, it'll be quite soon anyway.

I'm working on the new fighters, revamping the Stenos, retooling the Kurmaraja into having some carrier capacity, finalizing 2 new weapons, and revising every stat in the mod atm. I would like to put more ships on the chopping block as well but it will have to wait.

Take your time my man ;^)

PS I love the sound of the Sunjet weapons
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on May 02, 2017, 10:31:12 AM
Thanks, had a lot of fun making those. :v

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Zhw_Lr8_Q

This is also in the next version. 800 range, high DPS, high flux. Oh yeah and the Eurypterus has 1 large hybrid, 2 small composite now instead of the 3 front mediums.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Psycho Landlord on May 02, 2017, 11:22:41 AM
Awesome. I've always had a tendency to go heavy on Shards since they look awesome in massed volleys, so I'm looking forward to slapping a few of those on a Kark and turning it into the boss of a bullet hell game.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Sy on May 02, 2017, 11:23:53 AM
yesss, more shardsss! @_@
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: FooF on May 02, 2017, 12:03:04 PM
Yeah, I tended to put the Ironweaver on my big "Shard" ships because it matched thematically but that thing was...ahem...ungainly at distance. Looking forward to MEGASHARD.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: WKOB on May 02, 2017, 12:36:00 PM
Well, this way it looks like that's the piece with the dimensional engine in it, kinda cool. But probably not keeping this.
What a shame, I really like it and that's exactly how I saw it. When the experimental BRDY drives go down, they go down hard. :D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: King Alfonzo on May 02, 2017, 07:24:17 PM
Spoiler
So how long until we have a 'dadadadadah' cannon?
[url] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf3TkVBI6Xg)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on May 03, 2017, 12:03:00 PM
Spoiler
Never, as Snoop got KIA.
[close]

(http://i.imgur.com/wAJJbtR.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/C9Mt6F7.png)

Couple more retouched sprites/ships.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Psycho Landlord on May 03, 2017, 02:54:52 PM
I really like that Kumaraja redux.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: NightfallGemini on May 03, 2017, 11:04:47 PM
i'm disappointed that only a single piece of each new split continued the chain reaction. :(

Well, this way it looks like that's the piece with the dimensional engine in it, kinda cool. But probably not keeping this.

I think it'd kick ass as a random chance. Not sure just how OP that explosion is since in the past I've always steered clear of exploding BRDY caps, but it *looks* really cool.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on May 04, 2017, 01:40:06 AM
The only dangerous one is the Karkinos, which can EMP most modules on nearby ships and even kill some nearby weak or damaged frigs/destroyers. The Nevermore can also do some collateral, but the others are mainly an annoyance.

I really like that Kumaraja redux.

Im glad, it recieved 2 fighter bays and lost some weapons and stats. The two side turrets are Universals now, rather han Hybrids, so it can mount a more missile-centric loadout.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on May 06, 2017, 06:29:56 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/YkUqGMH.png)

Got inspired, managed to squeeze in a whole new ship! Hawkmoth-class Heavy Tanker.

Fuel appropriate for a cruiser-sized tanker, combat performance about on par with a Venture (but faster). A proper combat tanker that you can usually deploy into battle and get some mileage out of - plus you don't want to send frigs against this bastard unless you're packing a lot of torps.

The Shredders are built-in and have endearingly bad turret arcs.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Bastion.Systems on May 06, 2017, 06:33:50 AM
Looks pretty. More organic than most Blackrock designs.

(Mandatory: update when?!)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Morbo513 on May 06, 2017, 08:57:15 AM
Man I can't wait. I never really got round to playing with the cruisers and capitals in 0.72.
You mentioned some ships were on the chopping block, which ones would they be?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Sy on May 06, 2017, 12:45:47 PM
an actual combat tanker hybrid, yay! \o/

looks great as well, particularly the kinda mean-looking bridge and nose, and the unique engines and rear section layout.

do you know already what ship system it's gonna have?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on May 07, 2017, 03:48:47 AM
Thanks bois

Man I can't wait. I never really got round to playing with the cruisers and capitals in 0.72.
You mentioned some ships were on the chopping block, which ones would they be?
Well, Stenos, Megaceras, Convergence, but all the adjustments ended up being less significant than I thought. Not touched the Convergence yet though.

an actual combat tanker hybrid, yay! \o/

looks great as well, particularly the kinda mean-looking bridge and nose, and the unique engines and rear section layout.

do you know already what ship system it's gonna have?
It's gonna have Arcjet Burner, which combines with its ~2.5k mass and 1k armor for a ship you don't want to be slowly kiting in a lone destroyer
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Sy on May 07, 2017, 05:48:13 AM
It's gonna have Arcjet Burner, which combines with its ~2.5k mass and 1k armor for a ship you don't want to be slowly kiting in a lone destroyer
nice. :]

hmm... random idea: you could turn one of the Silverfish versions from combat freighter into combat tanker as well. the base version has the highest cargo capacity, the Mod version has the Shielded Cargo Holds, and the B version could fulfill a tanker role instead. that would give it a unique role in small exploration or merchant fleets, besides the slightly increased combat power from the base version.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on May 09, 2017, 12:45:06 PM
Hmm, it's an interesting idea, idk, if I do add more tankers I'll probably just make a small utility ship that happens to have some fuel capacity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VWmwlyV7J0

So if you take the temporal field and just make it really short and powerful it becomes reaaal good.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: cjuicy on May 09, 2017, 01:40:40 PM
I love that little ship. Putting the small particle weapons and an INM assault gun makes for a deceivingly angry little ship.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: SainnQ on May 09, 2017, 01:42:20 PM
Pls sir, may we have .8a BDY D:
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on May 09, 2017, 06:37:23 PM
Pls sir, may we have .8a BDY D:
Just hold on. It'll be released within six months.
UNATCO? No. Savage.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: AxleMC131 on May 09, 2017, 07:10:56 PM
So if you take the temporal field and just make it really short and powerful it becomes reaaal good.

As Calodine rightly discovered.  ;D http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=12110.0
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: adimetro00 on May 09, 2017, 08:07:15 PM
I've always read that abbreviation as "Birdie". Call me strange but that sounds pretty familiar.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: NightfallGemini on May 10, 2017, 03:08:42 AM
Hmm, it's an interesting idea, idk, if I do add more tankers I'll probably just make a small utility ship that happens to have some fuel capacity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VWmwlyV7J0

So if you take the temporal field and just make it really short and powerful it becomes reaaal good.


Oh my god. Please let that be the new Spark Drive. It looks so damn cool.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Giblodyte on May 10, 2017, 04:23:30 AM
That tanker/cruiser looks sweet. Always more fun to have a ship that can do some actual fighting.

Also this mod rules, can't wait for the update.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Mr. Nobody on May 10, 2017, 08:57:02 AM
Hmm, it's an interesting idea, idk, if I do add more tankers I'll probably just make a small utility ship that happens to have some fuel capacity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VWmwlyV7J0

So if you take the temporal field and just make it really short and powerful it becomes reaaal good.

Spoiler
ZA WARUDO
TOKI WO TOMARE!!
.....Soshite, toki ga ugoki desu...
MUDA DA
WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
[close]

Sorry, it had to be done
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: ArthropodOfDoom on May 20, 2017, 12:34:05 AM
Can't wait for that sweet, sweet Nevermore action. Is BRDY delayed until 0.8.1, or is it there a ton of magnificent new content you're perfecting?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Ionise on May 20, 2017, 09:41:33 PM
Starsector really doesn't feel complete without BRDY
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on May 21, 2017, 01:01:31 PM
I'd have liked to have it out already, but I decided to improve and add a lot of content instead of just doing a compatibility update. Although "compatibility" here involved a lot of content updating in the first place so

https://pastebin.com/vrZU8aip

Here's the badly formatted current changelog :v
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Omnicast on May 21, 2017, 02:07:43 PM
Take your time buddy! No rush.

If you don't mind... can I request a Capital Utility ship?

I feel there isn't enough utility ships at cruiser and capital size. I'm not talking about freighters. I'm looking for ships and do towing or fleet buffing inside/outside of combat. Almost all the capital ships are combat orientated. Except for that one ship in that Seeker mod... giant ass farming ship hehehe.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: MCWarhammer on May 22, 2017, 01:28:20 AM
Take your time buddy! No rush.

I want to echo this. This is one of my favorite mods and I'm excited to see it polished. Thanks a lot for all the hard work you've put into it.  :)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Bash on May 22, 2017, 03:35:30 PM
But...  8) It's also a good idea to share an compatible mod update to let us mess arround with potential issues or balances ;)
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Ali on May 23, 2017, 12:52:04 AM
I've got Mod-Nevermore & Mod-Karkinos on my xmas list.. Bit of a long shot bt just maybe!?  ;D

A brd battlecruiser like the odyessy might b nice too!  ;D
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on June 05, 2017, 12:05:00 PM
So lil' development update, I'm busy as hell but things are coming together and I'm now in a phase where whenever I work on the mod I'm just consolidating stuff and making it ready for release.

Significant things since last time:
- Kurmaraja is a 4-deck carrier now
- Lots of stuff
- I fcked around with everything
- It should be ready soon
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: cjuicy on June 05, 2017, 12:22:06 PM
- Kurmaraja is a 4-deck carrier now
Should I be this excited? Or is there a harsh drawback to 4 decks?
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Wyvern on June 05, 2017, 12:27:16 PM
Ooh, detailed in-progress patch notes there!  Looking forward to this whenever "soon" arrives; Blackrock is one of my favorite mods.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on June 05, 2017, 12:29:02 PM
- Kurmaraja is a 4-deck carrier now
Should I be this excited? Or is there a harsh drawback to 4 decks?

It lost a little non-fighter muscle, but ultimately it now competes with stuff like the Legion and Astral for the same logistical footprint so not much
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: cjuicy on June 05, 2017, 12:40:55 PM
- Kurmaraja is a 4-deck carrier now
Should I be this excited? Or is there a harsh drawback to 4 decks?

It lost a little non-fighter muscle, but ultimately it now competes with stuff like the Legion and Astral for the same logistical footprint so not much
Nice. I'll definitely give it a looksie when Blackrock updates. I also look forward to the large shard cannon option.
Title: Re: [0.7.2a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.8.6 (12.01.2017)
Post by: mangalore on June 07, 2017, 08:26:04 AM
- Kurmaraja is a 4-deck carrier now
Should I be this excited? Or is there a harsh drawback to 4 decks?

It lost a little non-fighter muscle, but ultimately it now competes with stuff like the Legion and Astral for the same logistical footprint so not much

I really liked its aesthetic as a sleek fast battleship though. From the Onslaught over the Paragaon to the Karkinos most battleships tend to look kind of pudgy as they are usually made as wide as long for engine economy reasons, I guess.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on June 07, 2017, 10:09:55 AM
Alright, let's go.

DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK FOR STARSECTOR 0.8.1a! (https://www.mediafire.com/?4kmroly7ong8mjd)

Changelog here (https://pastebin.com/fhbRFEB8)

(http://i.imgur.com/aFWBG4l.png)

Nexerelin compatibility is accounted for etc. Decided to release rather than sit and try to endlessly polish all the stuff I added, let me know if anything breaks horribly and have fun.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Ghoti on June 07, 2017, 10:14:07 AM
there it is.

Thanks for your hard work man, looking forward to a new game.

...

why'd you have to do this at the start of my work day...  :'(
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Hussar on June 07, 2017, 10:44:37 AM
I was about to start a new one. Perfect timing :D

Thank you!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 07, 2017, 10:57:17 AM
WOOT

and here i had just decided to do a run without any of the usual major faction mods...
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: JDCollie on June 07, 2017, 12:55:38 PM
And just like that, I'm hunting for a Nevermore.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Taverius on June 07, 2017, 02:54:41 PM
Update Cool! :D

Massive Nevermore shield nerf, uncool! D:

O well, its not I'm capable of playing without BrokeBack Dong Yards anyway :D
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 07, 2017, 03:19:19 PM
Massive Nevermore shield nerf, uncool! D:
i like the change. with the armor increase, it actually gained staying power against anything in front of it, but has to be more careful about how to position itself to avoid getting flanked.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Alphascrub on June 07, 2017, 07:43:41 PM
Update Cool! :D

Massive Nevermore shield nerf, uncool! D:

O well, its not I'm capable of playing without BrokeBack Dong Yards anyway :D

Honestly its a freaking godlike ship anyway, dont get me wrong but I realized a long time how powerful it was ever every campaign had a momment where I was controlling the Nevermore. More often than not I would pick it over capital ships. Hell I would argue its old unnerfed state was pretty much like being in a capital.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on June 07, 2017, 08:18:08 PM
Update Cool! :D

Massive Nevermore shield nerf, uncool! D:

O well, its not I'm capable of playing without BrokeBack Dong Yards anyway :D

Honestly its a freaking godlike ship anyway, dont get me wrong but I realized a long time how powerful it was ever every campaign had a momment where I was controlling the Nevermore. More often than not I would pick it over capital ships. Hell I would argue its old unnerfed state was pretty much like being in a capital.
Don't forget though that was in .72 when skills were stupid OP
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Alphascrub on June 08, 2017, 09:39:06 AM
Update Cool! :D

Massive Nevermore shield nerf, uncool! D:

O well, its not I'm capable of playing without BrokeBack Dong Yards anyway :D

Honestly its a freaking godlike ship anyway, dont get me wrong but I realized a long time how powerful it was ever every campaign had a momment where I was controlling the Nevermore. More often than not I would pick it over capital ships. Hell I would argue its old unnerfed state was pretty much like being in a capital.
Don't forget though that was in .72 when skills were stupid OP

This is a good point to make sense I haven't really played since then, look I've got an excuse to play one now.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on June 08, 2017, 10:48:21 AM
Yea I'm curious about how things pan out in the new ecosystem as my own time to campaign test has been incredibly limited. Also any feedback on the new fighters is very welcome!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: sirboomalot on June 08, 2017, 01:10:11 PM
Spoiler
209506 [Thread-4] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Error loading [data/weapons/brdy_plance_ftr.wpn] resource, not found in [C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\AAA_Starsector_FX_mod,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Anime Pack,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Arkandian,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Arsenal Expansion 1.3.7,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Artefact,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Autosave,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\barrage,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\BetterBeginning_v0.3,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Blackrock Drive Yards,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Combat Alarm Sounds,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Combat Chatter,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Common Radar,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Dassault-Mikoyan Engineering,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\DIABLEAVIONICS,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\DisassembleReassemble_v0.5,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\AAA_EZFaction,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\ExplorerSociety,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\GKSec,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Hegemony Expeditionary Auxiliary,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\IBO Mobile Suits,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Ifed Legacy,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Interstellar Imperium,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\LOGH,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\LazyLib,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Looters,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Messy Portrait Pack,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Neutrino corp,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Nexerelin,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Omnifactory,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\ORA,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Portrait pack,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Power Dolls,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\ATX,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\SCY,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Shadowyards,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Ship and Weapon Pack,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Simulator Overhaul,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Templars,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\ss-nom,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Tore Up Plenty,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Tyrador Safeguard Coalition,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Tyrador Safeguard Coalition-Nexrelin Patch,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Underworld,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\UnknownSkies,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\UpgradedRotaryWeapons,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Useable [REDACTED],C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\GraphicsLib,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Discount Ships,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\prv Starworks,../starfarer.res/res,CLASSPATH]
java.lang.RuntimeException: Error loading [data/weapons/brdy_plance_ftr.wpn] resource, not found in [C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\AAA_Starsector_FX_mod,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Anime Pack,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Arkandian,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Arsenal Expansion 1.3.7,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Artefact,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Autosave,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\barrage,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\BetterBeginning_v0.3,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Blackrock Drive Yards,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Combat Alarm Sounds,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Combat Chatter,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Common Radar,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Dassault-Mikoyan Engineering,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\DIABLEAVIONICS,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\DisassembleReassemble_v0.5,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\AAA_EZFaction,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\ExplorerSociety,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\GKSec,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Hegemony Expeditionary Auxiliary,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\IBO Mobile Suits,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Ifed Legacy,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Interstellar Imperium,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\LOGH,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\LazyLib,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Looters,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Messy Portrait Pack,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Neutrino corp,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Nexerelin,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Omnifactory,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\ORA,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Portrait pack,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Power Dolls,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\ATX,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\SCY,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Shadowyards,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Ship and Weapon Pack,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Simulator Overhaul,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Templars,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\ss-nom,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Tore Up Plenty,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Tyrador Safeguard Coalition,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Tyrador Safeguard Coalition-Nexrelin Patch,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Underworld,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\UnknownSkies,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\UpgradedRotaryWeapons,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Useable [REDACTED],C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\GraphicsLib,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\Discount Ships,C:\Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector8\starsector-core\..\mods\prv Starworks,../starfarer.res/res,CLASSPATH]
   at com.fs.util.Object.Ó00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.util.Object.Ô00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.LoadingUtils.return(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.LoadingUtils.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.LoadingUtils.Ø00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.settings.StarfarerSettings$1.loadJSON(Unknown Source)
   at data.scripts.fx_SharedLib.getBeamColors(fx_SharedLib.java:40)
   at data.scripts.plugins.FX_Plugin.advance(FX_Plugin.java:216)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.K$Oo.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.A.new.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advanceInner(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.TitleScreenState.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.BaseGameState.traverse(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$1.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
[close]
Was starting a new game of nexerelin with a bunch of mods and randomizing the starter ships for the pirates when this bug happened.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Shyguy on June 08, 2017, 01:14:52 PM
Spoiler
   at com.fs.util.Object.Ó00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.util.Object.Ô00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.LoadingUtils.return(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.LoadingUtils.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.loading.LoadingUtils.Ø00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.settings.StarfarerSettings$1.loadJSON(Unknown Source)
   at data.scripts.fx_SharedLib.getBeamColors(fx_SharedLib.java:40)
   at data.scripts.plugins.FX_Plugin.advance(FX_Plugin.java:216)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.ooOO.K$Oo.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.A.new.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advanceInner(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.TitleScreenState.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.BaseGameState.traverse(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$1.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
[close]

That chunk looks similar to what i've been getting trying to load a save with blackrock on it, i'll be back once I check a few things out.

Scratch that, it's not Blackrock causing it.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 08, 2017, 01:17:56 PM
haven't gotten a chance to try the new fighters yet, but Vespas seem quite a bit too strong or too cheap (in terms of OP).

they're slightly cheaper than Daggers, but 2 Furies per wing are much more powerful than 3 of the new Atropos (no tracking, but slightly faster, almost twice the hitpoints per torpedo, almost twice the damage per wing + some EMP). Vespas lack the shield, but make up for it by being significantly tougher, armed with light PD, and faster. and having (almost) equal replacement time per fighter also means a wing is replaced significantly faster.

Furies dealing energy rather than HE damage can be a disadvantage, but even against armor 2 Furies do about equal damage to 3 Atropos. and against anything with shields, Furies are obviously that much more powerful.
i'd say their focus on energy should, if anything, be counted as a bonus. there are already many options (both in vanilla and in the modiverse) for HE bombers, whereas Vespas have the potential to fulfill a unique role, with similarly unique potential synergy with other fighters. that doesn't make them stronger, per se, but it can make them worth getting over other bombers of equal strength.

overall, i don't think they need massive stat changes, if they're brought in line with Tridents in terms of OP cost and replacement time. or they get a light version of the normal Furies, closer to Atropos in overall power (i'd be sad to see the normal, modular Furies nerfed significantly though).


oh yeah, and i did try Mosquitos a little bit, i think they're great! nowhere near the damage potential of 'real' bombers, but good at actually hitting things, and a solid choice for their low OP cost. basically the perfect early-game bomber.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Chronosfear on June 08, 2017, 02:00:04 PM
Hi,
here you go :

Dipteron Interceptor
Nice if you let it stay close to your ship. But on the open field i dislike the burst behavior of the weapon itself.
So overall its a decent interceptor. High burst damage at first contact, misses to often in a real close combat situation.

Mosquito Light Bomber
I like it, its use are lighter targets like destroyers or slower frigates or bigger ships if already stripped of most of their armor.
The high speed makes them reliable even without any other weapon or heavy armor.
Overall a good light bomber that needs backup more then other bombers.

Nadir Escort Wing
It looks nice. :D and does it job well. Have another carrier with them and they probably always escort the player ship.
With my carrier style fleet i find them with 14 OP to expensive. ( so I cant say anything helpful about it )

Taipan Heavy Interceptor
In my first engagements i often used them. Armament sounded well rounded and reliable. With high speed and hull
I thought this is the Wing to escort your bombers. But later I did not use them anymore. The beam weapon is its biggest flaw
in my opinion. I prefer wings that continuously deal hard flux damage to soften the target for my bombers.
My personal change would be : slower, and give it the a decoy flare launcher.  ::) ( with 12 OP then )

Krait Heavy Fighter
Honestly currently my favorite wing. ( maybe OP ? )
Its though and well armed and still relative fast.
currently this is my bomber escort wing. ( and faster if they use the ship system )
The shredder and micro argus pd system takes care of interceptors and missiles
to clear the way for my bombers.

Vespa Heavy Bomber
A upgraded to the Mosquito. The big brother of the mosquito wing.
Id say its a good bomber if you want cruiser and up destroyed.
If I got a bigger carrier, I equip one mosquito and one Vespa wing with an escort

Serket Phase Figher
Very expansive on the OP side. But so cool.
Your only fighter that deals "real" kinetic damage. ( if I did not miss something )
I like to use the them against other fighter and they whip the floor with them.
But against destroyers and up with decent pd they falter.
I prefer use them on a secondary carrier for smaller engagements.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

So in short :
I think the Krait is a bit to strong ( change/remove system? )
While the Taipan looks a bit weak to me.
Maybe the dipteron might need an adjustment like a custom shredder without burst but
with continuously fire. ( but still really not sure about that -> since it is something unique and cool about your pd weapons and also about this wing )

And last but not least :
I am happy your mod is back. One of the best. Thank you.

Chronosfear
                    









Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on June 08, 2017, 02:20:08 PM
Whoa thanks for the feedback, nice and comprehensive : )

Re: Taipans, they are not intended as a bomber escort, but as a specialized option to tackle and cripple annoying targets like wolves and other high-end frigates, and to offer general support when mixed into a large fighter deployment. Although this leaves them with the same problem as the Thunder, I want to wait and see how they pan out (HEH)
While the beam deals soft flux, it is a constantly firing, more powerful Particle Lance so its effect can be deceptively strong.
Re: Kraits, yeah agree that they're strong, a small speed nerf should get them more in line
Re: Vespas, it's not hard to follow Alex's reasoning for why he did away with big unguided torpedoes on bombers in 0.8. But the Fury is kind of iconic to me on them so I wanted to keep it. Probably going to go with an OP increase on these so they remain powerful but becomes harder to get a premium escort for them.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 08, 2017, 03:20:42 PM
i also initially thought Kraits are OP, from looking at their stats and loadout, but on the other hand... Warthogs. ._.

those are even tougher, harder to hit with many weapons because of being smaller, have 3 fighters per wing, and though they are slower and not quite as damaging, they also have the Decoy Flares that make them powerful strike support craft if timed correctly. Alex said he might nerf them a bit, but also probably only through increased OP cost -- which Krait already have. so if Kraits need a nerf, i don't think it should be a big one.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Andimar on June 09, 2017, 05:32:35 AM
My feedback:

First, I must say it feels good to play with BlackRock again. I bought Starsector some 4 or 5 years ago, when it was first made available for purchase, and your mod has since become my favorite by a significant margin, and that's saying something when considering the wealth of talented modders on these boards (Tartiflette ftw!).
I think it had been 1 year and a half since I last got my hands on the Nevermore... I was giddy with joy when I first did yesterday after such a long time. :P

By the way... Is the Nevermore B no longer a thing? :(

I see a few BlackRock weapons still have an ammunition count. Are these legacy elements meant to be changed or there by design (The Medium Scalaron Blaster for instance) ?

The fighters:

The Krait does feel much much powerful than every other fighter you have available from BlackRock in my experience. But some are just as good if not better already in the base game (warthog indeed says hello) so I can't blame you. Fighters in every mod feel pretty damn OP in general. If I wanted to min max I would only ever get carriers in this version of the game.

The Mosquito feels maybe a little weak. My mosquitos seemed to have trouble getting back to my carriers quickly enough for a refill. It might have had to do with their extreme speed; they turned around their motherships for a while before actually docking/

The Vespa missed their torpedoes on immobile, large ships 2/3 of the time. That's... quite an extreme miss rate. Seemed to me the speed/manoeuvrability of the craft was the issue again. They couldn't properly align with their targets before firing.

I didn't really try the others yet, so I'll do that before I say more. :)

Congrats with the mod, again.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 09, 2017, 10:14:56 AM
after trying Serkets + Kraits combo, i now also think that maybe something there does need a nerf... :D

i agree reducing Kraits' mobility would probably be the way to go (their burst jet engines look really cool though, so i'd prefer a base speed reduction over removing the system), and maybe take away one of their two PD weapons. Micro Argus might also be more fitting for Serkets in place of their Shredders, since the latter actually adds quite a bit of anti-ship potential in addition to defense.


The Mosquito feels maybe a little weak. My mosquitos seemed to have trouble getting back to my carriers quickly enough for a refill. It might have had to do with their extreme speed; they turned around their motherships for a while before actually docking
i haven't noticed that docking issue so far, though i haven't really payed close attention either. as for them being a little weak, they could maybe do with a replacement time reduction, 12 seconds is a bit high for a wing of 3 with their low durability and OP cost. i think they're strong enough when they don't get shot down too quickly though, and a significant durability increase wouldn't quite fit with their 'budget light bomber' theme, imo.

Quote
The Vespa missed their torpedoes on immobile, large ships 2/3 of the time. That's... quite an extreme miss rate. Seemed to me the speed/manoeuvrability of the craft was the issue again. They couldn't properly align with their targets before firing.
that's been an issue pre-0.8 as well. their torpedos being a bit faster than average somewhat made up for it, but their high strafing speeds can be a hindrance. in my experience, this can be mostly negated by giving them good strike vectors, as in not parking their parent carrier right next to the target, or not making them escort an allied ship and fire at any target that gets close. but of course that's difficult now when not piloting the carrier yourself, since you can't even give them direct rally & strike commands on the tactical map anymore. :/

would be a shame if they'd need to get the same torpedo tracking that vanilla bombers have now, but similarly if they'd need to be made much slower, since both of these differences help distinguish them now. but it might be necessary, if they can't be made to more accurately take their own velocity into account when aiming even at stationary targets..
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Absolutecero on June 09, 2017, 09:17:47 PM
Have you ever thought of giving the gonodactylus a reloading hammer claw it doesn't have to bee fast. I just thought that since the torpedo is build in could reload for heavy mining and fighting.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Phearlock on June 09, 2017, 11:01:47 PM
Even having 2 from the missile skill back in 0.72 was pretty powerful. The Gonodactylus is my favorite budget-destroyer and is in a pretty good spot. And I'd argue you don't need more than 2. It has enough OP to fit expanded missile racks, and can run it's built-in hammerclaw + 3 more small missile making it a respectable pocket-missile destroyer that still has some bite left after expending its torps/missiles.

Consider that, with a load of 3 torpedo launchers and the hammerclaw, you can fairly easily overload and then burst down enemy cruisers that find themselves at 50% or so flux. Once that's done, you've basically expended your destroyers missiles for a cruiser, which is a good trade. And can scoot around murdering frigates with your ship system and acceptable ballistic broadside.

It doesn't need to regerate.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Absolutecero on June 09, 2017, 11:14:15 PM
Fair enough. Just a suggestion I had if it's op to have more then one missile I will make do.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: HuoShengdi on June 10, 2017, 12:13:00 AM
I think the Desdinova could use a bit of a speed and maneuverability boost. In its current incarnation it feels downright sluggish when the arc jets are off cooldown, especially its turning speed. It practically requires that you have the +maneuverability pilot skill or auxiliary thrusters to be able to swat down flanking frigates.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 10, 2017, 10:53:33 AM
I think the Desdinova could use a bit of a speed and maneuverability boost. In its current incarnation it feels downright sluggish when the arc jets are off cooldown, especially its turning speed.
that slugging feeling is intentional. in an earlier version, it had a lot better base meneuverability, but was also quite a bit more fragile. it is supposed to be a heavy destroyer now, and it has both the armor and the weapons to deserve that designation.

i find this version of the Desdinova a lot more satisfying to fly. it still has amazing mobility compared to other ships with comparable durability and firepower, but requires a bit more thought put into positioning, and timing of the Jet charges; it's not quite as trivial anymore to dodge a torpedo or back off to avoid being surrounded, if you've just used the Jets to close in for a kill.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: cjuicy on June 10, 2017, 01:15:19 PM
I think the Desdinova could use a bit of a speed and maneuverability boost. In its current incarnation it feels downright sluggish when the arc jets are off cooldown, especially its turning speed.
that slugging feeling is intentional. in an earlier version, it had a lot better base meneuverability, but was also quite a bit more fragile. it is supposed to be a heavy destroyer now, and it has both the armor and the weapons to deserve that designation.

i find this version of the Desdinova a lot more satisfying to fly. it still has amazing mobility compared to other ships with comparable durability and firepower, but requires a bit more thought put into positioning, and timing of the Jet charges; it's not quite as trivial anymore to dodge a torpedo or back off to avoid being surrounded, if you've just used the Jets to close in for a kill.
I agree. It makes you think on when and where to use the jets to scoot around. It makes for a greater challenge.
And remember kids, having a challenge is fun!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Lopunny Zen on June 10, 2017, 03:05:36 PM
Yeah why is it when I enable this mod the Bounties have them too. Kinda seems off balance and there is always more of them then you and ruins the lore since are these ships supposed to be hard to come by and arent blackrock secretive? Also there still needs to be a very large carrier for this faction like the astral in a way
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 10, 2017, 06:21:25 PM
pirates use pirate-specific versions of Blackrock ships, not the standard ones.

and no, not all standard Blackrock ships are supposedly rare or secret either, lorewise. like Tri-Tachyon, they're a profit oriented corporation as much as a major political and military faction, so they sell some of their hardware to individuals or in places that will likely not create a risk for Blackrock. they're probably not gonna sell a Karkinos or Morpheus, but the shrimp is based on a previously civilian mining ship that i would think wasn't a heavily guarded military asset, and Weevil's description (iirc) actually mentions being popular with independent captains.

i do agree that the new Blackrock pirate ships are a bit too common though. Robberflies especially seem abundant, and are actually really good compared to many other (D) or (P) ships.


as for a "very large carrier", Kurmaraja now has 4 fighter bays, similar to Legion. that's not quite Astral level, but it's not too far off either. more ships are always nice, but i don't think Blackrock "needs" a dedicated pure carrier capital, and capital ships in general take a looot of work to make, due to their size.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on June 10, 2017, 10:25:42 PM
I don't think Blackrock should ever get a dedicated carrier ship, just because they've also got the BRDY engine hullmod. If you put that on something along the lines of an Astral and you've also got Helmsmanship 3, you could kite around with 6 fighter wings at +80 speed. You can already do that with the Kurmajara, run around at 150 speed or so and pick enemy fleets apart with your fighters, but it's only got 4 fighter wings so it can't kill everything with fighters alone. Most things, sure, but not everything.

Also what did you do to my beautiful Stenos where did all the weapon slots go?!?!?!?!?!?!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Lopunny Zen on June 11, 2017, 06:23:28 PM
Well get rid of the speed bonus with the carrier and give it fighter bonuses or shield ones
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Psycho Landlord on June 11, 2017, 06:59:43 PM
Blackrock having a dedicated carrier vessel, a ship that is by definition a near-static long range strike platform, would make next to no sense thematically. They're a fast moving hit and run based shock attack fleet. The Kurmaraja is already a ridiculous battlecarrier. They don't need a super carrier, at all.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on June 11, 2017, 07:14:20 PM
I'm frankly surprised the Kurmaraja got as many decks as it did. (Grateful, mind you, it's a really unique battlecarrier, but it came out of left field.)

Well get rid of the speed bonus with the carrier and give it fighter bonuses or shield ones

You've been here a while, you're rude and pushy, and you have highly specific tastes. Why not start your own mod?

I'm rude and pushy with highly specific tastes, but I take it out on my code and not the forum, so inexplicably, people almost like me.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Krelian on June 11, 2017, 09:08:22 PM
First time playing with this mod... and decided to begin in this faction (in nexerelin). I must say, the art is awesome. The pics were not representative of the beautiful sprites this ships have. really enjoying this.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on June 12, 2017, 12:26:21 PM
Glad to hear that : D

I'm reducing the incidence of pirate BRDY ships in an upcoming QoL/adjustment patch, among other things. Thanks for all the feedback so far.

Re: Vespas, their Furies are actually turreted to aid in aiming. In general, bomber aim is inherently imperfect with dumbfire weapons and that's just something I cannot fix if I want them to keep using Furies, which I do. As for Mosquitos, I have not noticed any buggy behavior related to landing on carriers, and if there was, it would not be related to speed (since their accel/decel is high)

I am going to do a pass of all the fighters based on feedback and my own playtesting.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Chronosfear on June 12, 2017, 12:27:34 PM
Hi,
some more minor feedback

Krait
The Wing is OP. I have taken the Kurmaraja (was and still is my favorite BRDY Ship ) with 4 Wings of Kraits ( Carrier spec of curse ) and only PD weapons with some Darts as frigate pest control.
So my only real offensive power were my Kraits. And they are... I´ve taken a 350-400k pirate bounty fleet ( including only very small amount of carriers on the enemy side ) with an Onslaught and some decent other cruiser class ships with high level officers as you might guess. And I did it without taking to much damage myself. Especially after taking care of those sneaky frigates  8)
I think removing speed is not the way to go. Also i would not like to have him weaker (  ::) ;D ) its much needed : Maybe remove one of its HE Guns or give him custom ones with longer clip load times.

I don't think that the officers of the AI take to many useless skill for the ship they are piloting ( since most of them now got uses )

Desdinova
Honestly my favorite destroyers now. Still fast ( very nice shipsystem ) nice frontal firepower. Yet got some weakness so you need to be aware of aaaand of curse : beautiful
Fun to fly and also fun to fight ( also pirates got to many of them, but thats another story )

Moth
Nice tanker here. Can really be of some use in combat like the description says. My fleet now includes one :)
Now I just need and armored/combat support cargotransport. The eschaton is to large for me.

Convergence
To slow and expensive carrier to take to combat ( adding very slow rate of turn and speed declassifies it for me )
I prefer to take Typheus in every situation ( due to faster speed its nearly as save ) and with less cost, some more can be deployed.
Might need a improvement.

Gonodactylus
Not a review : But i laughed my ass of off a few times already : Ouch to late, that torpedo is going to hurt , hits my armor and bounces off and continues to spin around until it runs out of speed.
Happened a bunch of times already ( is the single shot missile bugged in AI hands )

Robberfly
God, that thing is fast. I think of giving it the frontal shield gen, deploy a few of them and use it to bring disorder into enemy lines. ( havent tried yet )
Havent tried it in 0.72, so not sure if I'm going to now. But could be fun.


Chronosfear


 

 
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Morbo513 on June 12, 2017, 01:08:44 PM
Speaking of the incidence of ships, I'm having real trouble finding Mantises in markets, both in Nex' Corvus and random generated modes. If there are any, I buy them, but they're never replaced it seems. Using Dynasector as well if that makes a difference.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: AxleMC131 on June 12, 2017, 02:57:37 PM
Re: Vespas, their Furies are actually turreted to aid in aiming. In general, bomber aim is inherently imperfect with dumbfire weapons...

*Furiously takes notes*
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Lopunny Zen on June 12, 2017, 04:54:34 PM
I'm frankly surprised the Kurmaraja got as many decks as it did. (Grateful, mind you, it's a really unique battlecarrier, but it came out of left field.)

Well get rid of the speed bonus with the carrier and give it fighter bonuses or shield ones

You've been here a while, you're rude and pushy, and you have highly specific tastes. Why not start your own mod?

I'm rude and pushy with highly specific tastes, but I take it out on my code and not the forum, so inexplicably, people almost like me.
Well maybe people need to get their *** together and use common sense. We havent been using that and look how the world turned out...like ***. So no sometimes I am going to get *** off because thats all people listen too half the time. It is LOGICAL to have a large dedicated carrier and IN FACT even the naval warfare switched to them for their fast hard strikes with faster crafts and hard to detect. Maybe you need to have a large fighter fleet deal with a problem. I am mad nad pushy because I am passionate about things changing for the better and people put up a fight for that.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 12, 2017, 05:45:17 PM
I am mad nad pushy because I am passionate about things changing for the better and people put up a fight for that.
as Soren said, you're always welcome to create your own mod, in your own design. then you don't have to deal with people "putting up a fight" against what you feel the mod should be like. feedback for other mod-authors is, generally speaking, appreciated, but telling someone else that their mod "needs" something you want, isn't really the way to go -- especially when several other people who also happen enjoy that same mod disagree with you.

sidenote: "it is logical" (or "it is realistic", or anything else alongs those lines) usually just isn't a great indicator for what makes a good game or mod. that's not to say it can't be an argument at all, but if it's the first/primary argument, that's almost certainly not a good sign.
and regardless of whether it would make sense in a real naval setting or not, mod factions having their own theme or playstyle (like Blackrock's focus on highly mobile fleets and hit-and-run tactics) is good for the game, because it adds more choices and variety. if every faction had every kind of ship and every kind of weapon, the modiverse would be a whole lot more boring.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: AxleMC131 on June 12, 2017, 06:09:00 PM
It is LOGICAL to have a large dedicated carrier and IN FACT even the naval warfare switched to them for their fast hard strikes with faster crafts and hard to detect. Maybe you need to have a large fighter fleet deal with a problem.

Fact: Blackrock is not based on modern naval warships.

If you want that, you'd better click on this funny little image below:
 V
 V
 V
 V
 V
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Igncom1 on June 12, 2017, 06:10:39 PM
Neither is starsector in most respects.

Carriers are only powerulf currently becuse it makes the AI crap their pants and PD is so short ranged.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Alex_P on June 12, 2017, 07:07:34 PM
I love the new Hawkmoth. It felt like a serious upgrade when I added one to my fleet of trashy little scrounger-frigates. I've deployed it in plenty of battles since (armed with tac lasers and an HVD), and it pretty much works as advertised in the Codex. Feels super solid without eclipsing even the runtiest of your dedicated combat vessels. Real fun to look at, too!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Takion Kasukedo on June 12, 2017, 07:51:26 PM

Taipans, they are not intended as a bomber escort, but as a specialized option to tackle and cripple annoying targets like wolves and other high-end frigates, and to offer general support when mixed into a large fighter deployment. Although this leaves them with the same problem as the Thunder, I want to wait and see how they pan out (HEH)
While the beam deals soft flux, it is a constantly firing, more powerful Particle Lance so its effect can be deceptively strong.
Re: Kraits, yeah agree that they're strong, a small speed nerf should get them more in line
Re: Vespas, it's not hard to follow Alex's reasoning for why he did away with big unguided torpedoes on bombers in 0.8. But the Fury is kind of iconic to me on them so I wanted to keep it. Probably going to go with an OP increase on these so they remain powerful but becomes harder to get a premium escort for them.


Now I know that I was using the Taipan Interceptors wrong.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Alphascrub on June 13, 2017, 01:57:14 PM
I love the new Hawkmoth. It felt like a serious upgrade when I added one to my fleet of trashy little scrounger-frigates. I've deployed it in plenty of battles since (armed with tac lasers and an HVD), and it pretty much works as advertised in the Codex. Feels super solid without eclipsing even the runtiest of your dedicated combat vessels. Real fun to look at, too!

Yea its very strong for early game fleets. Takes care of your fuel carting needs early and honestly can compete with lots of destroyers. Its boost might be a bit strong, I've actually hit enemy frigates with it and just completely destroyed them without much damage to the Hawk itself. Probably wondering how but my fleet runs tons of Achilles, pretty much every ship. Honestly it feels more like a cruiser in terms of staying power than a destroyer, but at any rate I really like it. Its deployment cost seems just about right as well, you could probably bump it up a bit and maybe.

In an unrelated topic, I'm not sure if this is vanilla (I think it is and I know it didn't come from BRDY) but being able to add hangar bays to certain blackrock ships like the nevermore might be a bit strong. Maybe its not the hangars themselves but the effectiveness fights/bombers in general right now.  Idk this might be an entire game balance perspective, basically the right fighter massively increase point defense, or insures you have torpedoes to bring to bare. Just a thought not really a compliant but I'm curious what others think.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Alex_P on June 13, 2017, 04:37:08 PM
Its boost might be a bit strong, I've actually hit enemy frigates with it and just completely destroyed them without much damage to the Hawk itself.
One time, I was flying a Mantis and my own Hawk knocked me down to like 3% hull by ramming me with its boost. Respect the arcject.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 13, 2017, 06:11:33 PM
Honestly it feels more like a cruiser in terms of staying power than a destroyer, but at any rate I really like it. Its deployment cost seems just about right as well, you could probably bump it up a bit and maybe.
i believe its staying power is meant to be cruiser level, and even on the heavier side when it comes to Blackrock hardware. but its offensive power is on destroyer level, or even a bit below that.

i agree it might be a little bit too good all-in-all, but i'd first reduce its fuel capacity before other nerfs. currently it carries 1200, as much as two Phaetons, which seems a bit much even for a cruiser-sized combat tanker. i think something like 900 would be more fitting. that's still as much as three Drams, enough to supply a sizeable fleet with just one Hawkmoth. and using two or three would suffice for all but the largest fleets on the longest exploration journeys, which i'd say is justified considering they aren't 'dead' ship slots like pure tankers would be.

Quote
In an unrelated topic, I'm not sure if this is vanilla (I think it is and I know it didn't come from BRDY) but being able to add hangar bays to certain blackrock ships like the nevermore might be a bit strong. Maybe its not the hangars themselves but the effectiveness fights/bombers in general right now.  Idk this might be an entire game balance perspective, basically the right fighter massively increase point defense, or insures you have torpedoes to bring to bare. Just a thought not really a compliant but I'm curious what others think.
the makeshift fighter bay hullmod is vanilla, yeah. i don't think it's overpowered, as it has significant penalties compared to normal fighter bays, and also costs quite a bit. sure you get pretty good PD as well as a bit of kinetic firepower by installing a Nadir wing on a Nevermore, but it also takes ~30 OP to get it. a Dipteron wing cuts that total OP cost in half, but its low durability combined with the replacement speed penalties of the hullmod makes that setup very vulnerable to be taken out while under pressure from enemy fire.

installing bombers of any kind with that hullmod is generally not worth it, because the makeshift fighter bay completely lacks the crucial ability to resupply returning out-of-ammo bombers near instantaneously.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Alphascrub on June 14, 2017, 08:13:13 AM

i believe its staying power is meant to be cruiser level, and even on the heavier side when it comes to Blackrock hardware. but its offensive power is on destroyer level, or even a bit below that.

Yea this is what I meant to say. Its flux capacity is beyond that of many vanilla and mod destroyers so even with its firepower being lower than that of many smaller ships it has the endurance to out dps them in the long run.


i don't think it's overpowered, as it has significant penalties compared to normal fighter bays, and also costs quite a bit. sure you get pretty good PD as well as a bit of kinetic firepower by installing a Nadir wing on a Nevermore, but it also takes ~30 OP to get it. a Dipteron wing cuts that total OP cost in half, but its low durability combined with the replacement speed penalties of the hullmod makes that setup very vulnerable to be taken out while under pressure from enemy fire.
installing bombers of any kind with that hullmod is generally not worth it, because the makeshift fighter bay completely lacks the crucial ability to resupply returning out-of-ammo bombers near instantaneously.

I should also clarify that I'm actually using a nevermore-oo which has some mounts (small front energy) I'm basically ignoring some of them so I can use the hullmod. I'm for the most part sacrificing  OP for dipper wings/shoring up weakpoints on certain ships.  Ships that are vulnerable to strike craft like the nevermore vastly increase they performance with the help of PD defense not tied to their flux. Nadir + standard nevermore = I can vent almost anytime I want and not have to worry about incoming missiles or torpedoes. Also 10 op per destroyer is a small price to pay to have 10 diper wings swarming your front lines. As for the bit about bombers I didn't know that, but it makes sense.

I see your point tho, 30 OP is quite a bit to sacrifice on any ship in the end the whole bit about using Nadir to cover for aggressiveness venting is not only a pretty niche thing but  something only a player would probably do properly....sometimes.

Speaking of the incidence of ships, I'm having real trouble finding Mantises in markets, both in Nex' Corvus and random generated modes. If there are any, I buy them, but they're never replaced it seems. Using Dynasector as well if that makes a difference.

Actually I'm in the same boat. I was thinking this might be related to Nex or Dynasector as well. I can't really speculate on what causes it, could just  be a simple value or the fact that there is truly tons of ships out there and you might have just gotten unlucky with what showed up in the market. Take the Zabrus for example. I went from seeing none, and was right about to console one and then bam market had like 4.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on June 14, 2017, 09:01:00 AM
Sorry for not replying in detail here, I read everything though!

The Hawkmoth is a middling cruiser (think Venture), and its combat performance should not be compared to destroyers. Cruisers should almost always outmuscle destroyers pound-for-pound, but the Hawkmoth is still easy to take down given a destroyer that uses strike weapons. That said, I think its fuel capacity might be high given its combat performance (plus I keep underestimating just how good beefiness is post 0.8...) so I am going to take a closer look at that. I would rather downgrade its logistical impact than make it weaker, since there is a pretty delicate balance there - either you are too wary of risking an important logistical asset on the frontline, or it's a combat ship that happens to have a bunch of benefits attached to it for no real tradeoff. I have some good adjustments in mind.

Re: Kraits, they're taking a hit, and I'm doing a pass of all the fighters currently.

Re: Ship selection, I have not noticed anything abnormal with the Mantis myself, but markets can be fickle and you will see widely varying results from market to market or run to run sometimes.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Morbo513 on June 14, 2017, 10:25:36 AM

Re: Ship selection, I have not noticed anything abnormal with the Mantis myself, but markets can be fickle and you will see widely varying results from market to market or run to run sometimes.
I dunno, it feels in every game (I've started multiple in the last few days), both the Mantis and the Zabrus are extremely rare. In roughly 20 hours of gameplay I've seen a grand total of 2 Mantises for sale, one of them being black market, and maybe 4 non-pirate Zabruses. That includes several military markets conquered (for BR) on Nexerelin that I'd been checking regularly (Corvus mode, so including Blackrock and Rama). Someone mentioned on the discord to increase their commonality within fleet generation - This is done in the .faction file right? I changed each of the values next to brdy_mantis_XXXX to 10 but it didn't make a difference.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Lopunny Zen on June 14, 2017, 04:35:55 PM
When are the blackrock going to give out bounties more. Only have seen 1 ever
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 14, 2017, 07:08:57 PM
When are the blackrock going to give out bounties more. Only have seen 1 ever
i'm pretty sure bounty frequency isn't tied to faction. they either give out bounties (like most major factions), or they don't (like pirates or Templars). you do get increased frequency from your commission faction though.

i'm currently doing a Tri-Tachyon run, and i've already seen several Blackrock bounties. but that's RNG for you.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Alex_P on June 14, 2017, 11:35:20 PM
When are the blackrock going to give out bounties more. Only have seen 1 ever
Bounties are selected randomly-ish from all the factions. So the more faction mods you run, the less likely you are to get bounties for any one particular faction. Blackrock's definitely set up to serve bounties (I just did one yesterday), but RNG and a lot of faction mods will make them pretty inconsistent.

You can compensate for this by increasing the value of MaxPersonBounties in settings.json. It's pretty easy to make a personal mini-mod that just tweaks a few variables like that without any real coding.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: JDCollie on June 16, 2017, 11:09:04 AM
Not sure if this is a Blackrock issue or a problem on my end (and it doesn't seem to be affecting gameplay) but I'm getting an error with Version Checker when it gets to Blackrock.

Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/fsn85JH.png)
[close]

Like I said, no clue if it even is a problem for you to worry about, but figured I'd post it just in case.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Cycerin on June 16, 2017, 11:20:29 AM
Nah that's my fault, dropbox's update to public folders *** it up and I haven't bothered finding a replacement yet.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Lopunny Zen on June 16, 2017, 10:20:29 PM
I see that a lot of ships are carrier hybrids which is cool but the dedicated carrier pilots and officers are kinda of stuck in a bind. Having to be good with weapons and fighters can take a lot of points
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Plejaren on June 17, 2017, 02:24:03 AM
Hey! im new to modding Starsector, i tried to download your mod but my computer wont let me move the file to the starsector mod file! can you please help me?
Title: Re: Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on June 17, 2017, 03:45:49 AM
Hey! im new to modding Starsector, i tried to download your mod but my computer wont let me move the file to the starsector mod file! can you please help me?
Check your file permissions. If Starsector is installed in program files (and it probably is), you'll need to be an administrator to alter it.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Alex_P on June 17, 2017, 10:56:29 AM
I'm really digging the Kumaraja as a "balanced" carrier platform. You can field a really good mix of guns, missiles, and fighters on one ship. It feels very "cruiser-like" but there's definitely enough staying power to justify it as a real capital.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on June 17, 2017, 02:01:14 PM
I see that a lot of ships are carrier hybrids which is cool but the dedicated carrier pilots and officers are kinda of stuck in a bind. Having to be good with weapons and fighters can take a lot of points
that's not unique to Blackrock though. vanilla also has several hybrid ships, as well as Converted Hangar hullmod.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Lopunny Zen on June 17, 2017, 02:15:11 PM
but converted hangars are a sub carrier and they have low fighter capacity
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: DinoZavarski on June 21, 2017, 02:28:33 AM
Hi

When playing with this mod i was constantly getting messages in the log that there is no "emp" line in ""behavior":"MIRV" section of "data/weapons/proj/achilles_stage1.proj".

According to weapon_data.csv Achiles EMP damage is supposed to be equal to it's normal damage, so i added ' "emp":350, ' (equal to the "damage": value). Is this what it was supposed to be?
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Megas on June 21, 2017, 09:17:31 AM
I have not played this in a while.  Last time I played it, Morpheus was new, Weevil was named Scarab, and Karkinos had four large mounts.  Just tried this for 0.8.1 (soon after finishing Nexerelin).  Some comments:

Some of the portraits have improved, especially the original one that now resembles Agent Smith from the Matrix films.  That one meshes with standard portraits better.  It is probably my favorite one to use if I want a Blackrock affiliated character.

Weapons
Feel mostly the same as before.  Ironweaver changed, but it does not look like anything I want to use if I have better, which remains the case for most Blackrock non-missile weapons.  Many Blackrock weapons are good enough alternatives to use if you do not have the best standard weapons.  There are few that compete with the best, such as the Shard Cannon.

A few toys caught my attention...
Comet Light Artillery has limited ammo, but that does not matter for ships whose peak performance will expire sooner than when ammo runs out.  A bit of a flux hog for its cost and DPS, but useful for ships that need its 900 range because 800 range from Light Needler is not enough.

The upsized Bolide is too slow all-around.  Much rather use HVD.

The medium Particle Rifle.  800 range energy.  Lets high-tech ships hit for hard flux from further back, but the sustained DPS is low enough that it is not practical to rely on it.  Aurora killed Eagle somewhat painlessly with these, but most perk performance ticked away by the time of the kill.  Better to use something more efficient.

I remember the 8 OP Dart, but I do not remember if the Light Dart is new or not.  Nice for 4 OP regenerator, especially since Salamanders are not as effective as they used to be.

I remember the Light SPL, but not the heavy version.  It seems the light SPLs are easy to shoot down now, so I need the heavy one to do what Light used to do.

Fighters
Mosquito Dipteron, whatever the interceptor with the Shredder is called, is about as weak as Wasps, but at least they cost no OP to install.  Still would use Talons over these any day.

Kraits are overpowered.  They kill things about ten seconds faster than Warthogs can (at least with Convergence vs. Falcon, and Astral vs. Onslaught), and six from an Astral can kill a lone Onslaught with only Expended Deck Crew hullmod for support.  No skills required.  I wonder if I can solo the simulator with Astral with six Kraits, now that Remnant fighters lost their power? (Hint:  Not grinding a new game to find out.)

Sekrets about about as powerful as Warthogs, but cost much more OP.  Not bad per se, but bested by alternatives.

Ships
Most of them are straightforward to use.  Load up on complimentary ballistics when possible, then kite-and-snipe.

Desdinova is still powerful.  I cannot load it up with as many weapons as it used to take, but comets, maulers, and a needler can still wreck things, and this feels more mobile than Medusa.

Eurypterus resembles Sunder in design.  I like to use it as a flying Mjolnir mount that stomps other destroyers.

Gonodactylus feels about as sluggish as an Enforcer now, and just like with Enforcer, fighting SIM Hammerhead is a bit of a pain.  Other Blackrock destroyers are easier to use.

Morpheus is a pain to use against anything bigger than it (though it crushes small ships).  It costs as much as a capital, but without the old skills, it is a shadow of its old self.  The AI can probably pilot it better than I can.

Typheus, like Drover and Scintilla, forget about weapons, use two Kraits, run away, and watch things die fast.

Asura, how the mighty have fallen.  Its phase cloak is a hog, making it hard to go far while cloaked, and it is hard to brawl with sub-1000 range weapons without taking damage, though it does a better job at brawling than Doom due to more shot range.

Knight, all I did was mount two HVDs and four Tactical Lasers and waited for Kraits to do the heavy lifting.

Nevermore remains effective and straightforward to use.  Needlers up front, Maulers behind them.

Stenos, I do not remember playing this ship much before.  After trying it, it is effective with Tachyon Lance, HVD, and Needlers.  Its system works well with Tachyon Lance.  Fire lance, and after it is done, use system and fire another beam.

Karkinos.  This is the first time I played it since it got three large mounts.  Still quite powerful.  I just mount three tachyon lances and a bunch of dual flak, HVDs, and light needlers and watch things die.  It can put so much hard flux on shields with kinetics, then Tachyon Lances will do bad things with or without shields up.

Kurmaraja is another powerful ship.  It is an excellent sniper.  All it needs to kill things on its own is two heavy maulers and a Gauss Cannon, and it can kite-and-snipe well enough even without the fighters.  Fighters make it even better.

That is all for now.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Megas on June 24, 2017, 03:53:40 PM
I just finished a game of Nexerelin with few mod factions added, with Blackrock one of them.  Some quick comments about Blackrock in my playthrough:

Without easy access to the best weapons, Blackrock alternatives are more attractive.  I used Shredders and the heavier battery upgrade because I could not find enough Vulcans and Flak to keep up with demand.  Similarly, INM Assault Guns are the open market version of LAG, and I have used several.

Gonodactylus (P) was plentiful, cheap, and disposable.  I threw several at the enemy.

I used Mosquitos as cheap bombers.  They are fast, but they did not seem to do too much damage.

I prefer the Nevermore prototype over the stock modern version because the prototype has more shot range and better mounts (can use more dual flak to defend better).  The modern version can kill a bit faster, but like Aurora, it has to get close to enemies to hit with antimatter lance.  The prototype can hang back and snipe at things more easily.  The prototype also seems less clumsy and more forgiving to use.  I trust the AI with the prototype more than with the stock version.  With a narrow shield, it needs the flak and extra shot range to defend a bit better.

Karkinos really has a narrow shield.  I have not dared to let the AI use it, not when it has my rare weapons on it.  When I pilot it, it does bad things to the enemy.  A hail of kinetics to bash shields, followed by two or three tachyon lances to hurt ships; plus occasional teleporting to bypass (or overload) defenses.  Karkinos was my primary flagship for the second half of the game.  I wanted a Paragon flagship, but I did not find one until it was too late before the game was won.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Alphascrub on June 29, 2017, 07:12:22 PM
Note: I haven't played Star-sector since around .72a sorry if this feedback is a bit dated or has been covered elsewhere. It will also probably be a bit inconclusive as I haven't had a chance to really play as much as I used to.


Desdinova

The Desdinova is a great ship but I feel it might need a few tweaks somewhere. Outfitting it is an issue for me and its low run-time pretty much requires hardened subsystem and it cant really afford to run other hullmods. The only place in my fleet I can find for one is an interceptor under my direct control, basically I load it up with torpedoes and burst weapons and hunt down fleeing targets after a large battle. Unfortunately that's about it.  The problem for me seems to be that for the price of the Desdinova I can run two Gonodactylus and outfit them with whatever is at hand, and flex them into most any roll. They can take just as much of beating as the Desdinova, they fight longer and just about as hard as the Desdinova considering its OP restraints. If I don't want the Gonods I can run two Eurypterus instead which honestly seem to do what the Desidinova does better. Yea the Eury cant take the beating at the same level of beating as the Desidinova and its more vulnerable to strike craft but its still much cheaper and that large mount makes it really flexible. The AI also seems to perform better in both the Gonodactylus and the Eurypteru, I feel this has to do with the amount of OP you have to work with in terms of ship systems and armament.  No I don't think this a case of the two aforementioned destroyers  being OP, I think this is a case of the Desdinova like the Morpheus took some pretty big hits with the new skill system.

As to what I would change on the Desidnova? I came up with three ideas, one simple, one moderate, one extreme. Basically the first one would be boosting its OP, possibly removing some its weapon mounts, the rear missiles, and making the small frontal ballistics more flexible (uni or hybrid) and or allowing for some wider firing arcs on the mounts themselves. I know removing mounts seems strange but I seem to struggle outfitting all the slots meaningfully as it is. While I'm not against running empty slots on ships to get what I want it just seems like the balance cost of those slots could be used elsewhere.

The other idea I had was move its designation from "Heavy Destroyer" to "Light Cruiser" since its already kind of there in cost moving it there in terms of designation could allow with some flexing of its cost, OP, weapon mounts, possibly boosting its run time, ect. While this would be an extreme measure it could really allow it to be a more balanced craft.

The last thing i came up with was some kind of built in weapon system. Considering BRDY already has I think three ships with these I think you probably understand pretty well how hard they can be to balance. That being said it could be an answer if you have some ideas floating around.

Final note, my reasoning could be ***. I struggled to load out an imperial legionary today as well, so it might just be me. Maybe I'm expecting to much?

Locust


I really like the new drive system on these guys, and while I miss the old blink drive I think that more the novelty of having 5 jumps than anything else. Cheap, fast, good at chasing down light targets and scary in numbers. I don't see them very often anymore and it when I do its often the pirate variant.

Zabrus


Not to be to simple here but these guys are like a high tech lasher to me. Their runtime is a bit low but they can really bring the pain with their new system and they aren't to expensive to run. They are vulnerable to strike craft (what isnt now days) but the AI uses their system to great effect it seems and they are quite good as midround reinforcements or chasing things down after a battle. Overall I think they were a great addition to blackrock and really fit the ideology of hit and run tactics.

Weevil
 
If the Zabrus was something I considered a high tech lasher than the Weevil is what I consider a high tech heavy lasher. Extremely flexible mounts, decent speed, decent arcs on the omni shields and a tough little drone. Its also one of the only frigates I feel comfortable letting the AI run a heavy blaster on. Frankly its my favorite general purpose frigate. It honestly might be slightly to good considering how cheap it is to run.







Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: jn_xyp on June 30, 2017, 09:00:23 AM
I'm so excited to try the new upgrade, but it is pretty hard for me to access the download link from China. It seems like the *** blocked the Mediafire.com. :'(
If possible, can you provide a mirror of the mod file? Thank you very much. ;) ;)
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Drokkath on July 04, 2017, 02:12:29 AM
Well, guess it's finally time for me to blindly dive into this mod finally but slowly, my usual procedure is to have the mod's faction roaming about and around in-game and in turn see what they have from combat to weaponry to flying and eventually see and try something out, see what I like. Have lurked and looked at this mod before but not in-game.
And since currently Tiangong and Exigency haven't updated yet it leaves a window of opportunity for me to try this one out and see what all the rage is this mod all about from my own perspective.

Mainly just pitching in to say just all that and also that I'm starting a new playthrough with lore-friendly and default art-friendly mods only. So, after wiping out the religious factions from Luddic Path to Luddic Church and then the infamous Templars who I also blasted apart by my mighty Doombore cannon on my impervious Dramlord along with Desolator Lasers/Particle-beams and Desolator Swarmer TEHL (Target Everything Hostile Liberally) Launchers and its desolating missiles filled with rage and hatred. A fitting poetic end of sorts to those religious factions who's worlds I claimed as a pirate and as a Khorne's rival, MWHAHAH!!! :D

Sorry, got carried away with my in-game RPG elements I created and had there.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Outro on July 08, 2017, 11:31:16 PM
Crash:
4845282 [Thread-4] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Error loading [data/weapons/brdy_plance_ftr.wpn] resource, not found

There's no brdy_plance_ftr.wpn in the weapons folder, but there is a br_plance_ftr.wpn and nothing in csv references it, so I just renamed the br to brdy.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: etherealblade on July 09, 2017, 05:47:00 PM
I sorta drifted away SS some time around when the morpheus was in being teased. Gawd is it amazing :o! Always have been one of my favorite factions, always will.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Drokkath on July 10, 2017, 12:45:29 PM
I'm impressed with Scorpion-class so far, its standard loadout I spawned with one of the Nexerlin's start options blasts anything I've started out with before right out of the water vacuum of space. Wasn't sure about wanting to have the Scalaron Repeater on auto-fire at first but a few tests later and I don't mind having it on auto-fire.

I don't have the ship personalized in-depth as a separate vessel because the extra hullmod boosters I have in my personal modpack make it go faster and be tougher enough to make it enjoyable for myself. A wonderful first impression of the mod for me. Liking the green shields, green engine/thruster plumes and paler green of the weaponry fire.

First few moments of mine with the mod's faction start was basically with my kind of brutish DPS heavy vessel I didn't even expect to have in my hands to try out and that is awesome in my book.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Bad_Idea on July 16, 2017, 11:18:52 AM
Been testing out this mod with Nexerelin for a while now and i love the ships it adds - the Weevil being my favourite thus far, such a nasty little ship when operated in pairs...

One thing i found kind of odd was the lack of BDRY ships in the (no faction) random mode new game menu of nexerelin and thus decided to pick out some ships that (i think) should pop up there.

Should anyone want it - here's the player_npc.faction file i created:
Spoiler
Code
{
"shipRoles":{

"escortSmall":{
"scarab_attack":8,
"brdy_robberfly_light":12,
            "brdy_robberfly_strike":12,
"brdy_silverfish_mod_p_retrofit":3,
"brdy_robberfly_p_strike":5,
"brdy_robberfly_p_harasser":5,
},
"escortMedium":{
            "brdy_silverfish_mod_standard":5,
"brdy_silverfish_mod_p_retrofit":1,
"brdy_zabrus_p_attack":1,
"brdy_zabrus_p_support":1,
},

"combatSmall":{
"brdy_silverfish_mod_p_retrofit":4,
"brdy_robberfly_p_strike":6,
"brdy_robberfly_p_harasser":6,
"brdy_zabrus_p_attack":1,
"brdy_zabrus_p_support":1,
},
},
},
Did i just mod a mod?
[close]
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: OzarMidrashim on July 17, 2017, 08:10:15 PM
Version Checker spits errors about Blackrock Drive Mod "failed to load master version file from URL..."
link "https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/cyc_brdy.version" is dead
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on July 17, 2017, 09:10:50 PM
Version Checker spits errors about Blackrock Drive Mod "failed to load master version file from URL..."
link "https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/cyc_brdy.version" is dead
This is because of Dropbox's changes to public folders, which was what BRDY used for VC.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: OzarMidrashim on July 17, 2017, 11:32:12 PM
Version Checker spits errors about Blackrock Drive Mod "failed to load master version file from URL..."
link "https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32517861/cyc_brdy.version" is dead
This is because of Dropbox's changes to public folders, which was what BRDY used for VC.

Yea, i immagine. Just pointing that out. You know those pesant lights you need to press for them to work? ...i just can't count how many times people stand on those each thinking "someone for sure pressed that button" ...same with every subject in the world...
Spoiler
...from corruption, cultism, psychopaths counterfeit human masquarade origin of evil and all ideas deforming minds to pedophiles in royal govermind...
[close]
So lets say...i just pointing out to not be this naive person who assumed to much ;-)
Mod is up to date, ofcourse.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Squish Cat on July 20, 2017, 07:08:03 PM
Are there more recent links to pictures of the Blackrock ships?  All the images have been blocked by Photobucket talking about 3rd party posting.  Even visiting the links directly don't show the ship, but instead the same image complaining about 3rd party posting.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: OzarMidrashim on July 21, 2017, 02:26:43 AM
Are there more recent links to pictures of the Blackrock ships?  All the images have been blocked by Photobucket talking about 3rd party posting.  Even visiting the links directly don't show the ship, but instead the same image complaining about 3rd party posting.

Its half over the forum topics. I do keep whole maintained folders with almost every screen...but thats from 0.7.2a times, and for 0.8.1a i got what you got.
They need to change site they host their screenshots.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Morbo513 on July 21, 2017, 04:41:30 AM
if I have better, which remains the case for most Blackrock non-missile weapons.  Many Blackrock weapons are good enough alternatives to use if you do not have the best standard weapons.  There are few that compete with the best, such as the Shard Cannon.

Agreed, but I find that part of the fun playing as BR. Very capable ships with decent weaponry, means you got things to work towards in optimising loadouts instead of having the very best from the get-go
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on July 21, 2017, 09:06:13 AM
Are there more recent links to pictures of the Blackrock ships?  All the images have been blocked by Photobucket talking about 3rd party posting.  Even visiting the links directly don't show the ship, but instead the same image complaining about 3rd party posting.
you can always just download the mod, and look at the actual sprites in the \Blackrock Drive Yards\graphics\BR\ships. i imagine Cycerin will update the OP with new links once we sees they're down.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: AxleMC131 on July 21, 2017, 03:22:06 PM
Are there more recent links to pictures of the Blackrock ships?  All the images have been blocked by Photobucket talking about 3rd party posting.  Even visiting the links directly don't show the ship, but instead the same image complaining about 3rd party posting.
you can always just download the mod, and look at the actual sprites in the \Blackrock Drive Yards\graphics\BR\ships. i imagine Cycerin will update the OP with new links once we sees they're down.

Just putting it out there, that kind of defeats the purpose of the forum thread, who's ultimate goal should surely be to lure players in and convince them to try the mod. The images are an advertisement. (Also there are people like me who don't download every mod they see, but still enjoy looking at mod threads and gawking at beautiful sprites *cough cough SHADOWYARDS cough* ...)
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: OzarMidrashim on July 21, 2017, 04:02:39 PM
Just putting it out there, that kind of defeats the purpose of the forum thread, who's ultimate goal should surely be to lure players in and convince them to try the mod. The images are an advertisement. (Also there are people like me who don't download every mod they see, but still enjoy looking at mod threads and gawking at beautiful sprites *cough cough SHADOWYARDS cough* ...)

WHAT!...

...You didn't downloaded SHADOWYARDS ?!?
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: AxleMC131 on July 21, 2017, 06:28:31 PM
WHAT!...

...You didn't downloaded SHADOWYARDS ?!?

I haven't downloaded lots of mods.  :-[ Doesn't mean I don't plan to use them in future. But at present I've been spending most of my Starsector time making mod content rather than playing mod content. Working full time (among other things) doesn't leave a lot of time for both sadly...
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on July 21, 2017, 08:31:33 PM
Just putting it out there, that kind of defeats the purpose of the forum thread, who's ultimate goal should surely be to lure players in and convince them to try the mod. The images are an advertisement. (Also there are people like me who don't download every mod they see, but still enjoy looking at mod threads and gawking at beautiful sprites *cough cough SHADOWYARDS cough* ...)
right, i didn't mean there shouldn't be proper pics in the thread. just that since the ones that are there seem to be currently broken, you can check them in the files if you're interested (and you don't even need to install the mod to look at its sprites), until Cycerin gets around to fixing it.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Orikson on July 22, 2017, 12:15:56 AM
cycerin's computer set up died, so it'll take a while before he can do modding stuff.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on July 22, 2017, 12:40:23 AM
WHAT!...

...You didn't downloaded SHADOWYARDS ?!?

I haven't downloaded lots of mods.  :-[ Doesn't mean I don't plan to use them in future. But at present I've been spending most of my Starsector time making mod content rather than playing mod content. Working full time (among other things) doesn't leave a lot of time for both sadly...
That sounds like someone else I know...
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: OzarMidrashim on July 22, 2017, 12:51:02 PM
WHAT!...

...You didn't downloaded SHADOWYARDS ?!?

I haven't downloaded lots of mods.  :-[ Doesn't mean I don't plan to use them in future. But at present I've been spending most of my Starsector time making mod content rather than playing mod content. Working full time (among other things) doesn't leave a lot of time for both sadly...
That sounds like someone else I know...

I hoped it would be clear, but apparently not enough.
I was joking, by presenting attention-focus on anything else than whole subject of sprites ;-) =P

Remember that periods to...its cyclical for creative persons with passion - but its important to recognize when making mod or even gaming transfers from fun in itself to tedious task and kinda "another work". Burn-up or slow-down can appear or dissapear in an instant depending on inspiration gauge, that every one need to recharge from time to time.

What i mean is...making food might fill your appetite...but it won't fill your belly.
Or...just go and blow some *** up! =P
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: AxleMC131 on July 22, 2017, 02:24:51 PM
Hehe, that's alright @OzarMidrashim, I had a feeling you were joking. ;) Just wanted to make my position clear.

I definitely don't want to be burning out on Starsector just yet, so working is actually beneficial because (in my workplace at least) I have a decent amount of time to think about stuff and come up with random new concepts.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Owl on July 25, 2017, 06:29:25 PM
not sure if it this is meant to be supported by version checker or not but I am getting an error, unfound link or something.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: LazyWizard on July 25, 2017, 07:41:38 PM
not sure if it this is meant to be supported by version checker or not but I am getting an error, unfound link or something.

It's because he was hosting the master version file in a public folder on Dropbox, but they dropped support for those folders a few months ago. He'll have to move the file to another site like GitHub or Bitbucket.

If/when you fix this, Cyc, you may also want to add this line to your .version file to allow opening the update thread from within Starsector:
Quote
"modThreadId":4018,
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Owl on July 26, 2017, 07:10:50 PM
Thanks for the reply
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: atreg on August 24, 2017, 02:31:46 PM
I'm not sure what the problem is, but my AI-controlled Knight cruisers seem to refuse to use the Rage SRM Pod. All it'll do is cycle between the two missile pods without firing them while plinking away with its guns, even against overloaded or shieldless ships. I don't have this problem if I give it any other missile for its medium slot, and changing pilot AI doesn't seem to help either.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Grizzlyadamz on November 01, 2017, 10:45:19 PM
Heh, didn't notice it last time I was playing with this mod but 'Expensive to field' should also probably be amongst the descriptors for this faction.
Many of the frigates, while good, cost as-much-as or more-than a destroyer to deploy in battle. Weevils & silverfish, 20 supplies/deployment with repairs taking 4 days. Mantis is !30! & 5 days. For comparison most frigates are 5-15, destroyers 15-25, cruisers 60-80, and rarely does it take more than 3 days to recover.
These frigs are great in combat so you'll be inclined to use them, but man do they chomp down on the winnings if you do.


Also how come it's gotten so quiet in here?
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on November 02, 2017, 04:24:53 AM
Weevils & silverfish, 20 supplies/deployment with repairs taking 4 days. Mantis is !30! & 5 days. For comparison most frigates are 5-15, destroyers 15-25, cruisers 60-80
you're confusing the Combat Readiness deployment cost with the supply deployment cost. the CR DP cost reduces the ship's current CR by the shown percentage, so a higher cost means the ship can fight fewer battles before running into malfunction issues. how many supplies it costs to recover that percentage of CR is an independent value, even though a related one.

that said, many of BRDY's ships are still on the expensive side in supply costs as well, just not by a large amount -- aside from Desdinova, Imaginos, and Morpheus. these 3 are much more expensive because they are also much more powerful than most ships of their size class, similar to vanilla Hyperion.


as for why there isn't much talk going on in this thread lately, i imagine it's because 1) the mod hasn't had any updates or news in a while, and 2) most people who feel like chatting about custom ship loadouts, balance, etc do so in the discord chat (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=11488.0), where they usually get a quick response to whatever they wanna share or ask.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Grizzlyadamz on November 03, 2017, 12:17:34 AM
Well that's the thing- they have the slightly-higher CR DP costs but they ALSO have low CR/day recovery speeds. So the supply/day recovery cost runs twice as long & expense-wise puts them a tier-higher.

Huh, that might just be a discord I actually use, thanks for pointing it out!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on November 03, 2017, 10:59:06 AM
Well that's the thing- they have the slightly-higher CR DP costs but they ALSO have low CR/day recovery speeds. So the supply/day recovery cost runs twice as long & expense-wise puts them a tier-higher.
that's not how it works. ^^ the shown supply recovery cost is per deployment, not per day spent recovering the lost CR. the time it takes to do so is already taken into account.

for example, a Wolf with 20% CR cost per deployment, 10% CR recovery per day, and 5 supply recovery cost per deployment will take 2 days to recover the CR lost from being deployed once, consuming 2.5 supplies per day.


sidenote: this does mean that two ships with identical supplies per deployment cost but differing CR per deployment costs will require differing total supplies to recover the same amount of CR, which matters for how much it costs to fully repair salvaged ships, since those always start at 0% CR (or up to 40%, with the related industry skill). this is because the total max CR of the ship that ends up costing more equals a larger number of battle deployments.

fortunately, the ship salvage panel (where you pick which ships you want to recover, and which you leave to be scrapped) already shows the total supply cost for fully repairing each individual ship, so you don't have to do any calculating for this yourself either.

Quote
Huh, that might just be a discord I actually use, thanks for pointing it out!
you're welcome! :]
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Grizzlyadamz on November 08, 2017, 10:04:47 PM
Came by again to say: I think stripping the guidance from the hammerclaw had an unintended consequence: seems like a third of the strikes are duds.
Especially the ones that strike the hull rather than a shield- unless it's a 90* hit it's likely to just 'deflect' and send them reeling, out of control but otherwise unharmed. (usually back into the safety of their formation)
Just watched a hammerhead 'catch' one with its prow, the missile and the destroyer both undamaged and now traveling together, the white oblong nestled like a giant egg amidst the bristles.


Btw, good to know, thanks for correcting me. Opens up my options a bit more when I'm not ruling out ships for the wrong reasons lol.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: A Random Jolteon on November 09, 2017, 07:42:15 AM
Came by again to say: I think stripping the guidance from the hammerclaw had an unintended consequence: seems like a third of the strikes are duds.
Especially the ones that strike the hull rather than a shield- unless it's a 90* hit it's likely to just 'deflect' and send them reeling, out of control but otherwise unharmed. (usually back into the safety of their formation)
Just watched a hammerhead 'catch' one with its prow, the missile and the destroyer both undamaged and now traveling together, the white oblong nestled like a giant egg amidst the bristles.


Btw, good to know, thanks for correcting me. Opens up my options a bit more when I'm not ruling out ships for the wrong reasons lol.
HAHAHA! I wish I saw that! XD I've sent a Onslaught back a good 3000+ (insert starsector distance here) because I hit the side. You can actually make it a strong battle tactic if it's the right situation!

I've had the same problems, I just kept forgetting to mention it.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on November 09, 2017, 11:25:36 AM
I think stripping the guidance from the hammerclaw had an unintended consequence: seems like a third of the strikes are duds.
i don't think that has anything to do with removing the guidance. rather, all missiles have a 50% (iirc) chance to not explode if they hit something after their engine has died. whether they regularly hit something while flamed out depends on travel time and the range at which the AI uses the missile, both of which are set individually in the ship stats file.

so if that happens often (and assuming it's not supposed to), either travel time should be increased or AI-use range should be decreased, to make the two line up better, even in situations where the enemy tries to back off after the missile has already been fired.
since Cycerin isn't really active here lately, you can easily make the change yourself, if it bothers you.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Grizzlyadamz on November 10, 2017, 04:34:38 AM
snip
HAHAHA! I wish I saw that! XD I've sent a Onslaught back a good 3000+ (insert starsector distance here) because I hit the side. You can actually make it a strong battle tactic if it's the right situation!

I've had the same problems, I just kept forgetting to mention it.
Hah, what by flanking with the gono? Sounds difficult now that it's slower.

I think stripping the guidance from the hammerclaw had an unintended consequence: seems like a third of the strikes are duds.
i don't think that has anything to do with removing the guidance. rather, all missiles have a 50% (iirc) chance to not explode if they hit something after their engine has died. whether they regularly hit something while flamed out depends on travel time and the range at which the AI uses the missile, both of which are set individually in the ship stats file.

so if that happens often (and assuming it's not supposed to), either travel time should be increased or AI-use range should be decreased, to make the two line up better, even in situations where the enemy tries to back off after the missile has already been fired.
since Cycerin isn't really active here lately, you can easily make the change yourself, if it bothers you.
Yep that does sound about right. Is it just the entry in weapon_data.csv?
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on November 10, 2017, 04:53:48 AM
Yep that does sound about right. Is it just the entry in weapon_data.csv?
yep. "range" is actual weapon range for non-missile weapons, but only affects AI-usage for missiles. and "flight time" in seconds is the other one.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: A Random Jolteon on November 10, 2017, 05:08:43 AM
snip
HAHAHA! I wish I saw that! XD I've sent a Onslaught back a good 3000+ (insert starsector distance here) because I hit the side. You can actually make it a strong battle tactic if it's the right situation!

I've had the same problems, I just kept forgetting to mention it.
Hah, what by flanking with the gono? Sounds difficult now that it's slower.
Onslaught did the flanking for me. XD Burn drived right beside me and blazed away at my Paragon. (who in turn was shooting at a robberfly...and not hitting the bloody thing)
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: NightKev on November 13, 2017, 07:31:05 PM
Are the Comet (Small Ballistic) and Bolide (Medium Ballistic) supposed to have limited ammunition?
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: MesoTroniK on November 13, 2017, 08:17:59 PM
Yes.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on November 14, 2017, 05:08:18 AM
their limited ammo doesn't doesn't really matter in practise, in my experience. with their slow rate of fire, they'd have to fire continuously for a long time to run out.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: facc00 on February 06, 2018, 08:05:09 PM
Most of the inital post pictures are no longer working.  I am starting a new play through and cannot figure what mod to start with (yes I have the majority of them)  But its there pictrures vs others pictures and this mod even though enabled in the game isnt being considered because I cannot see the ship catalog.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: Sy on February 07, 2018, 12:18:11 PM
Most of the inital post pictures are no longer working.  I am starting a new play through and cannot figure what mod to start with (yes I have the majority of them)  But its there pictrures vs others pictures and this mod even though enabled in the game isnt being considered because I cannot see the ship catalog.
cycerin is not very active currently, so those pics are not likely gonna get fixed anytime soon.

you can just download the mod and look at the actual ship sprites in the mod folder though. you can find them in \Blackrock Drive Yards\graphics\BR\ships.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.0 (07.06.2017)
Post by: facc00 on February 07, 2018, 12:46:16 PM
Most of the inital post pictures are no longer working.  I am starting a new play through and cannot figure what mod to start with (yes I have the majority of them)  But its there pictrures vs others pictures and this mod even though enabled in the game isnt being considered because I cannot see the ship catalog.
cycerin is not very active currently, so those pics are not likely gonna get fixed anytime soon.

you can just download the mod and look at the actual ship sprites in the mod folder though. you can find them in \Blackrock Drive Yards\graphics\BR\ships.

Thanks l will check that out!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Cycerin on March 23, 2018, 08:11:32 AM
Hey, it's been a while. Dropping a long-due fix/balance patch here - no new content, main changes are tweaks, balance, and a fix for the Version Checker file being bugged out by Dropbox's big change in 2017. Also, I went ahead and rehosted the pics in the OP.

DOWNLOAD (http://www.mediafire.com/file/5zhkqf0snd0k4zs)
Mod version 0.9.1
Changelog:
Spoiler
0.9.1
- Fixed version file dependency
- Increased Hammerclaw engine burn time so it's less likely to whiff
- Reduced incidence of pirate BRDY ships in generic pirate fleets
- Bolide Heavy Artillery: Frag damage on hit to 200-400 (was 100-200), projectile speed very slightly increased
- Comet Light Artillery: Slight stat adjustments, Frag damage on hit to 75-150 (was 50-100)
- Taipan Heavy Interceptor: Focused Particle Lance EMP DPS to 200 (was 120), Armor to 150 (was 100), Hull to 400 (was 450), Accel/Decel slightly buffed
* OP cost reduced to 9 (was 10)
* Dart SRM Rack now shoots 1 additional missile per burst (the fighter specific Dart version)
- Nadir Defense Fighter: OP cost reduced to 13 (was 14), Tackler HAC proj speed increased to 750 (was 700)
- Serket Phase Fighter: Roam range normalized to 4000 (was 5000)
- Hawkmoth Heavy Tanker: Fuel Capacity reduced to 900 (was 1200), Cargo Capacity reduced to 175 (was 250), Turn Acceleration/Turn Rate reduced by a small but significant amount
- Krait Heavy Fighter:
* Stat adjustments: Speed decreased to 160 (was 175), no longer has Resistant Flux Conduits (more vulnerable to EMP)
* Replaced twin INM Assault Guns with a comparable built-in weapon with less range, more inaccuracy and smaller magazines
* OP Cost increased to 15 (was 14)
- Vespa Torpedo Bomber: OP cost increased to 20 (was 16), HP changed to 350 (was 450)
- Reduced the base credits value of most large weapons somewhat
- Gale Battery: Flux/shot to 450 from 500
- Burst Cannon: Base Range to 650 from 700
- Ferrocannon: Flux/shot to 750 from 800
- Kurmaraja: Shipsystem renamed to Brakefield Emitter
* Kurmaraja Acceleration and Deceleration lowered slightly
- Stenos: Shield Ratio to 0.8 from 0.85, Shield Upkeep to 0.55 from 0.50
- Eurypterus: Shield Radius to 120 from 90
[close]
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: A Random Jolteon on March 23, 2018, 08:14:03 AM
HE LIVES!

Good job surprising me Cy. If I was drinking something I would be cleaning my device right now.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Dudok22 on March 23, 2018, 08:47:04 AM
Thanks for the update! Just in time for my new BRDY campaign
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Cycerin on March 23, 2018, 09:38:10 AM
: )

It's not a super exciting update, but it should take care of some stuff that was rushed out when I was getting all the 0.8 update stuff out last year.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Bastion.Systems on March 24, 2018, 07:31:14 AM
I can't believe it, it's alive!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Cycerin on August 10, 2018, 05:32:01 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/YtTjAPz.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/4s7SR6o.png)

I have been working on some new ships and weapons when I can find the time to do so. Release when? Depends on some s t u f f, but things mainly need to be playtested and polished, which ironically is what takes the longest time to do. Just letting you know the mod is more undead than strictly dead. :V
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Takion Kasukedo on August 10, 2018, 08:42:53 AM
Hmm, the first one has a Scalaron Flux Core, meaning it's likely to have some ability related to it. It's also considerably bulkier than a Desdinova, and very squat, so it'd be moderately surprising if it's a fast attack ship, taking in note that I think I have spotted some manoeuvring thrusters.

The 2nd one is far more built to take damage it seems, from the looks of it. In fact, thinking about it now, this looks like a new Cruiser/Capital developed for defensive roles or to bolster fleets. The other thing to note are the lack of carrier ports, meaning these are dedicated combat ships.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Sabaton on August 12, 2018, 04:55:50 AM
This mod is as polished and content rich as it gets, I don't know what you might add to it. Granted there was that thing you talked about years ago but it seemed a lot of hassle to actually do.

As for the ships, the second one looks like a Dominator had sex with a Knight, I reckon it will be a hold the line brick.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Cycerin on August 13, 2018, 05:27:34 PM
One's a brick, as in, a true, dedicated heavy cruiser brick, but with a few nasty surprises. The other is a light destroyer that has some fancy tech, but tones it down a little compared to the other exotic ships. I'm still workin out the details anyway.

Throwing in some new modular weapons as well, a new small ballistic and large energy.

Sprites:

(https://i.imgur.com/QfLJQJS.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/m2gbsox.png)

Imagine Rudy and Kreiger from the show Archer both giving their best "thank you" in chorus.  A few here and there is okay, but half of a random pirate fleet being Robberflies is more obnoxious than Templar gank fleets, at least I can run from Templars.

Honestly it's kind of impressive what a giant pain in the ass Robberflies are. Got to the point where I'd have a dedicated bugzapper ship with lasers to get them to *** off in the early game.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Sy on August 15, 2018, 01:12:27 PM
yay new content! the first looks a bit too freaky for my taste, but i love the brick! :]

and i agree on Robberflies.. compared to other shieldless ships, they are amazing as staying alive and being a pain. ^^
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: rashiakas on August 15, 2018, 06:39:35 PM
Wow these look amazing, like all your work. Can't wait to see them in action!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: A Random Jolteon on August 15, 2018, 07:40:36 PM
and i agree on Robberflies.. compared to other shieldless ships, they are amazing as staying alive and being a pain. ^^
At least they stay true to the "fly" bit of their name~  ;)
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Ali on October 01, 2018, 02:45:07 PM
Can't wait for the new update!!  ;D

Any plans to add a salvage / tug vessel at all?

& drones for those of us that don't like to lose crew!?  ;)

& a mod-dreadnaught for IBB!!??  ;D

Have seen 1 or 2 cool dreadnaught vessel's out there ( http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=13532.0 ), Blackrock's answer would surely be godly!!1  ;D
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: OmniScrewDriver on October 28, 2018, 05:49:14 AM
Are the Stenos' Neutrocyte drones supposed to be manned? Seems a bit weird, with them being flagged as drones and all.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: uzsibox on November 16, 2018, 11:27:19 AM
Update when? :D
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Cycerin on November 18, 2018, 05:20:44 AM
Updating for "barebones compatibility" is not a priority right now. I'd rather wait for the issues with getting mod content to interact with all the systems in 0.9 to be ironed out first, as well as finish the new content I have been tinkering with while waiting for 0.9.

Are the Stenos' Neutrocyte drones supposed to be manned? Seems a bit weird, with them being flagged as drones and all.

Nice catch! Fixed it.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Manic on November 29, 2018, 04:11:45 AM
Do we have an ETA for this excellent mod? I am actually holding back playing 0.9 alot since this is probably my best faction  ;)
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: dftst0 on November 29, 2018, 05:14:16 AM
Do we have an ETA for this excellent mod? I am actually holding back playing 0.9 alot since this is probably my best faction  ;)

Be patient, it will come eventually.

It isn't my place to say this, having worked on a total of zero projects, but while asking whether a mod will be updated is nice and tells the modder that their work is wanted, appreciated and all, I feel as if the "Will this be updated? / update when? / I REALLY need this mod" posts by multiple people can be seen as annoying and equivalent to the "are we there yet?" that children repeatedly ask during long road trips.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Manic on November 29, 2018, 05:30:35 AM
Do we have an ETA for this excellent mod? I am actually holding back playing 0.9 alot since this is probably my best faction  ;)

Be patient, it will come eventually.

It isn't my place to say this, having worked on a total of zero projects, but while asking whether a mod will be updated is nice and tells the modder that their work is wanted, appreciated and all, I feel as if the "Will this be updated? / update when? / I REALLY need this mod" posts by multiple people can be seen as annoying and equivalent to the "are we there yet?" that children repeatedly ask during long road trips.

Well i don't think i was being pushy. Was just asking IF we have a rough timeframe. Never demanded anything.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Rounin on November 29, 2018, 09:02:51 AM
Do we have an ETA for this excellent mod? I am actually holding back playing 0.9 alot since this is probably my best faction  ;)

Be patient, it will come eventually.

It isn't my place to say this, having worked on a total of zero projects, but while asking whether a mod will be updated is nice and tells the modder that their work is wanted, appreciated and all, I feel as if the "Will this be updated? / update when? / I REALLY need this mod" posts by multiple people can be seen as annoying and equivalent to the "are we there yet?" that children repeatedly ask during long road trips.

Stop treating the modder like a child, they can stand up for themselves if they feel someone is being pushy.  ;)
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: KailaRaZhu on December 05, 2018, 08:06:07 AM

It took me only 10 minutes to notice this mod was missing from my sector life... - pirates were distinctly less annoying  :(
My inner masochist awaits the day when the sun is blotted out by hordes of pirate Rubberfly's once more.

Your ships are unique and beautiful (in a slightly macabre/Alan Poe kind of way)
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Alphascrub on December 05, 2018, 01:07:20 PM

It took me only 10 minutes to notice this mod was missing from my sector life... - pirates were distinctly less annoying  :(
My inner masochist awaits the day when the sun is blotted out by hordes of pirate Rubberfly's once more.

Your ships are unique and beautiful (in a slightly macabre/Alan Poe kind of way)

I agree. I'm super excited to play the new update but I'm waiting for all my favorite mods to be up to date. I would rather wait patiently for the mods to come out and then do a play through since I seem to play SS in bursts of a 2-4 weeks here and there. On a completely off note I think it says a lot that with all the games out there now days Rimworld and Starsector are my most played and enjoyable games atm. They both offer a quality to me that "AAA" games don't seem to touch. While both games are great in their own right its the mods for me that really bring them to a new level. BDY is one of those mods that enrich the game for me. I'm more than happy to wait for an update no matter how long it takes.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Drake on December 15, 2018, 01:09:31 AM
By far my favourite mod faction for StarSector! I love everything about it! Keep up the good work! Thank you for making it & working on the update!  :)
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: uzsibox on January 08, 2019, 07:58:08 AM
I miss my nevermore :\
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: fatrat on January 08, 2019, 11:27:00 AM
I miss my nevermore :\

Quoth the raven nevermore. ;)

You will nevermore fly that ship again. XD

Still waiting for another update, just got to play 0.8 while waiting.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Sabaton on January 26, 2019, 01:15:14 PM
Lmao at all this Nevermore withdrawal. Don't worry junkies,  blackrock will come back, but after cycerin will give it a proper update and not just some barebones compatibility patch.

I for one hope for a br battlestation.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Alphascrub on January 26, 2019, 02:33:49 PM
Lmao at all this Nevermore withdrawal. Don't worry junkies,  blackrock will come back, but after cycerin will give it a proper update and not just some barebones compatibility patch.

I for one hope for a br battlestation.

Bah Nevermore... I miss the Locust & Robberfly. The swarms.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Ionise on January 28, 2019, 03:48:17 PM
Jonesing for this
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: A Random Jolteon on January 28, 2019, 08:25:09 PM
Hop on the Starsector Unofficial discord, and you might be able to catch a dev version of 0.9 Blackrock to get your Nevermore fill.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Alphascrub on January 29, 2019, 05:01:42 PM
Hop on the Starsector Unofficial discord, and you might be able to catch a dev version of 0.9 Blackrock to get your Nevermore fill.

Honestly I just joined the other day and from what I can see if you like starsector its a no brainer. Its like a newsfeed for everything starsector. I would reccomend everyone check it out, just search unofficial starsector discord and while I don't know anything about a dev version of blackrock it seems many mods release links there as well. You can see people design mods that don't appear to be out yet as well as just basic/advanced kitbashing. Hell its a great place to just talk about starsector or drops you get ect.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: uzsibox on February 01, 2019, 03:15:11 PM
Hop on the Starsector Unofficial discord, and you might be able to catch a dev version of 0.9 Blackrock to get your Nevermore fill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F4qzPbcFiA
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Morbo513 on February 08, 2019, 05:51:07 PM
When does BILLYSECTOR get an update?
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Embercloud on February 13, 2019, 06:00:11 AM
A blackrock station would be absolutely glorious. Really looking forward to seeing it.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: haloguy1 on February 14, 2019, 06:30:53 AM
Please update  ???

We all want it to release, but saying please update, wont make it come out any faster.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: teckieee on February 20, 2019, 09:21:14 PM
Hi, I got an error while loading the game. It says "fatal:com.fs.starfarer.api.campaign.econ.MarketAPI.setBaseSmugglingStabilityValue(I)V". I have the GraphicsLib, LazyLib and MagicLib and Nexerelin mod installed. Dont know how to fix this. Please help. Thanks!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Piemanlives on February 20, 2019, 09:38:50 PM
Hi, I got an error while loading the game. It says "fatal:com.fs.starfarer.api.campaign.econ.MarketAPI.setBaseSmugglingStabilityValue(I)V". I have the GraphicsLib, LazyLib and MagicLib and Nexerelin mod installed. Dont know how to fix this. Please help. Thanks!
It's not updated for .9 yet.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: teckieee on February 21, 2019, 05:42:48 AM
Hi, I got an error while loading the game. It says "fatal:com.fs.starfarer.api.campaign.econ.MarketAPI.setBaseSmugglingStabilityValue(I)V". I have the GraphicsLib, LazyLib and MagicLib and Nexerelin mod installed. Dont know how to fix this. Please help. Thanks!
It's not updated for .9 yet.

Oh, right. My bad. Thanks!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Nyghtrid3r on February 25, 2019, 08:24:23 AM
I'm going to try to formulate this as kind as I can, since I absolutely don't want to sound like jerk.
As a programmer I know coding takes work. I know that you want this to be great and you take pride in your mod.
I just want to voice my opinion here, ignore it if you want to, hate it, tell me to bugger off, it's all fair.

But I really would have preferred a haphazardly made compatibility update instead of waiting for so long... and I don't mean to say this to rush you, I just believe that many here think alike and this should be said, to give some feedback ya know?

Anyway, keep up the good work. Hope I got that across smoothly...
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Alphascrub on February 26, 2019, 02:00:10 AM
I'm going to try to formulate this as kind as I can, since I absolutely don't want to sound like jerk.
As a programmer I know coding takes work. I know that you want this to be great and you take pride in your mod.
I just want to voice my opinion here, ignore it if you want to, hate it, tell me to bugger off, it's all fair.

But I really would have preferred a haphazardly made compatibility update instead of waiting for so long... and I don't mean to say this to rush you, I just believe that many here think alike and this should be said, to give some feedback ya know?

Anyway, keep up the good work. Hope I got that across smoothly...

Here's my opinion. Be patient. He might have larger plans for his mod in 9.0 than just "compatibility update" and frankly he shouldn't feel rushed to get it out just to make everyone else happy. Ill break it down, if he did put out compatibility and it had bugs he would have to stop and use whatever free time he had to make/update and try and trouble shoot the problem. Kinda of like the random guy who didn't see the mod isn't up to date and came to the thread wondering why his game don't work. I've made a few mods for other games an frankly I can tell you pumping out content takes time but sometimes bug smashing can take forever. It can be painful and annoying and take lots of headaches and review to figure out whats going wrong. Then you got 30 little *** demanding you come fix your mod and that your life is invalid until you come fix/update your mod. Not calling you a ***, your at least being polite. He might be coding something completely new or different into the game. I mean there are multiple ships in BRDY are very unique compared to vanilla. Might be why the mod is so popular. Again you probably get what I'm saying by now. I would suggest making your own mod if you really want something to kill the time.

Anyway keep up the polite feedback and I hope this came across smoothly as well.

Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Cycerin on February 26, 2019, 04:34:19 AM
No probs... let me clarify what I posted last time, since I've been quiet lately. I had a lot of half-finished stuff strewn about going into Starsector 0.9a's release, and I decided to not prune and cut things from the mod in order to quickly make a compatibility update. More work that wouldn't be going towards actual content. I'd rather provide something that actually is different and better when people come back to it. I'm also actively avoiding posting teasers here as I want the next release to have some fun stuff to discover in terms of new/changed ships, weapons and other stuff.

For short, this "outage" is due to my interest in the mod, not due to a lack of it. If I didn't care I would probably view it as a chore and do bare-minimum release, and move on to other stuff.

Maybe you should just use this time to take a look at the other amazing mods on offer, and when you come back to BRDY, maybe you'll discover something new or things will feel more fresh as a result.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: bamzooki2 on February 26, 2019, 07:39:45 AM
No probs... let me clarify what I posted last time, since I've been quiet lately. I had a lot of half-finished stuff strewn about going into Starsector 0.9a's release, and I decided to not prune and cut things from the mod in order to quickly make a compatibility update. More work that wouldn't be going towards actual content. I'd rather provide something that actually is different and better when people come back to it. I'm also actively avoiding posting teasers here as I want the next release to have some fun stuff to discover in terms of new/changed ships, weapons and other stuff.

For short, this "outage" is due to my interest in the mod, not due to a lack of it. If I didn't care I would probably view it as a chore and do bare-minimum release, and move on to other stuff.

Maybe you should just use this time to take a look at the other amazing mods on offer, and when you come back to BRDY, maybe you'll discover something new or things will feel more fresh as a result.

This is extremely reasonable, reassuring and explains all your plans in a clear concise way.

So... When do we lynch him? I'LL BRING THE TORCHES!
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Shuka on February 28, 2019, 03:00:48 PM
Came for lynching, stayed for pizza party. Thanks for keeping us up to date about your dope mod.

I also miss it nightrider, lol.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Dabclipers on March 07, 2019, 11:49:16 AM
Can't wait to see what you got in store for us man, the stuff so far has been absolutely fantastic.  It was nice to come back so many years later and see my favorite mod still around, keep up the great work.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Cruis.In on April 07, 2019, 01:06:49 PM
anywhere to download the old version? need it for 0.8.1 I forgot to do save transfer, and I already overwrote all mods, now im trying to find the mods old versions I was using in my save, so I can get my save file to load, so I can then use copysave, and finally upgrade to 0.9
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: arwan on April 07, 2019, 04:30:36 PM
i have been holding off a new play through until this mod updates. its just that good.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Cruis.In on April 07, 2019, 06:57:34 PM
I just need the version before this one, one from 2017, so I can load back up my old game and continue playing. I don't like all the new changes and I don't feel like starting over. Unfortunately I had overwritten the blackrock mod when I installed this update, now I can't find the old version anywhere. I found old versions for all the other 6 mods I had. graphicslib,  lazylib, nexerlin, ship/weapon pack, imperium, dynasector…. now just need blackrock drive
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on April 07, 2019, 10:46:27 PM
You know that save transfer doesn't work in .9 right?
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Sy on April 08, 2019, 04:30:41 AM
anywhere to download the old version? need it for 0.8.1
I just need the version before this one, one from 2017
i think you got some things confused here.. the big download link in the OP still is for vanilla 0.8.1, because this mod hasn't gotten a release for 0.9 yet. vanilla 0.9 was released at the end of 2018, so the latest version of most mod releases for 0.8.1 was also sometime in 2018, not all the way back in 2017 when vanilla 0.8.1 got released. as it says in the threat title here, the latest Blackrock version for 0.8.1 was released on 23rd march of 2018.


always pay attention to the version number at the beginning of a mod's threat title, it shows for which vanilla version the latest mod release has been:

[0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)

you'll always wanna download the latest mod version for whichever vanilla version you're playing, not the mod version that was released right after the vanilla release.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Cruis.In on April 08, 2019, 07:24:24 AM
You know that save transfer doesn't work in .9 right?


oh snap! Will it ever? I hate starting over :(
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Tartiflette on April 08, 2019, 07:34:06 AM
Even if it gets updated (hopefully/eventually) it will never be able to transfer a save from 0.8 to 0.9. You may not be aware, but Vanilla now has accelerated starts that gives you a fleet and a cruiser right off the bat.

If you are dead set on using your previous character, your best bet is to install Console Command, give you a bunch of skill points, give you the right hulls and a couple milions credits to outfit them.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Cruis.In on April 14, 2019, 07:13:01 PM
ok cool. Can't wait for blackrock to be playable again, I really had a hard time against these ships when starting back out, but ive got a lot more experience now in fitting/flying/and command :)

I seriously want to smash these guys.
Title: Re: [0.8.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.1 (23.03.2018)
Post by: Octavus on May 13, 2019, 04:17:12 AM
Take your time with the release man I definitely understand modding is a lot of work, hope everything is going smoothly, cheers. :D
Title: Blackrock 0.9.5 released!
Post by: Cycerin on June 09, 2019, 07:00:31 AM
Blackrock's back.

(https://i.imgur.com/h92JSdS.png)

DOWNLOAD BLACKROCK FOR STARSECTOR 0.9.1a! (https://bitbucket.org/thegneissplace/brdy/downloads/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards%200.9.5a.zip)
IMPORTANT: Blackrock now requires MagicLib in addition to GraphicsLib and LazyLib. You can go download it here. (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=13718)
IMPORTANT: If you don't have the latest version of Starsector (0.9.1a RC8) the game may crash when attempting to draw projectiles from certain weapons.

I decided to cut some content I was working on to just get the update out while people are still playing 0.9.1.

The changelog is huge and can be read below. The main content additions or revamps are summarized above the spoiler.

- Added Dynastos-class Destroyer
- Added Antaeus-class Heavy Cruiser
- Added Dragonfly-class Heavy Gunship
- Added Straff Tactical Cannon, small ballistic weapon
- Added ESPADA Repeater, large energy weapon
- Added Thunderhead UAC, medium ballistic weapon
- Added Gridfire MRM/Pod, small and medium missiles
- Added Light Shredder, small ballistic weapon
- Added Hellbender-class Heavy Fighter
- Asura-class Cruiser was fundamentally redesigned
- Cetonia-class Freighter was redesigned
- Serket fighter turned into a rocket bomber



Spoiler
0.9.5
General:

- Starsector 0.9 and 0.9.1 related updates: campaign changes, .csv and tooltip stuff, blueprints, descriptions, all the other minor things.
- Base Value, Ordnance Points, FP, Supply/rec adjustments to many ships to bring in line with new vanilla standard (mostly reductions)
- Custom Venting AI disabled for all BR ships except Imaginos, Morpheus (vanilla vent AI has improved, on average makes AI-controlled ships less likely to die)
- A truckload of sound effects were edited or remade to better "mix" during a big battle, like the sound changes that were done in 0.9 for vanilla
- Added conditions/custom conditions to pregen planets in Gneiss and Rama, created new faction fleet doctrine with a greater emphasis on numbers and agression
  Markets vital to the faction will occasionally spawn more elite fleets comprised of a smaller number of more expensive ships in addition to the above
- Improvements and fixes for various code, mostly shipsystem scripts, AI scripts and missile AIs
- Nexerelin compatibility updated, deprecated stuff removed
- Added trail FX to certain projectiles, BRDY now requires MagicLib
 (This was mainly done to make Ferrocannon/Ferrogun look similar-but-cooler and simultaneously solve hit detection issues with them)
- Added support for the mod Vesperon Combine (content whitelist)

Content additions/major changes:

- Added Dynastos-class Destroyer
- Added Antaeus-class Heavy Cruiser
- Added Dragonfly-class Heavy Gunship
- Added Straff Tactical Cannon, small ballistic weapon
- Added Espada Particle Repeater, large energy weapon
- Added Thunderhead UAC, medium ballistic weapon
- Added Gridfire MRM/Pod, small and medium missiles
- Added Light Shredder, small ballistic weapon
- Added Hellbender-class Heavy Fighter
- Asura-class Cruiser was fundamentally redesigned
- Cetonia-class Freighter was redesigned
- Serket-class Phase Fighter redesigned, now Serket-class Rocket Bomber (Fires Quill rockets, no longer phases)
- Argus PD Array has been replaced with the Thermal Projector, a new medium energy point defense weapon
- Added BRDY Focused Shield Emitter hullmod
- Various fighter-specific and built-in weapons for new ships
- Added new campaign music track
- Various significant changes to existing ships and weapons; see below

Changes:

- Locust-class Gunship: Somewhat late, but renamed to Goblin-class Gunship to resolve name conflict with vanilla Locust SRM missile. Internal identifier is the same
- Megaceras: Ship system changed to Heavy Maneuvering Jets, Peak Performance Time correspondingly changed to 300 (was 420)
  Central small hybrid turret changed to medium hybrid, OP increased to 70 (was 65)
  Now features buit-in combat drone wing
  Slightly less cargo capacity
- Scorpion: Peak Performance Time changed to 360 (was 300), minor stat changes
  Stinger Drones now have built-in single barrel shredder turret pointing forwards
- Stenos: Shield efficiency to 0.75, Neutrocyte AEX drone now launches wing of 3 and comes with WSPR missiles
  Ordnance Points from 150 to 125, Base Value and supply/month lowered
- Mantis: Put on the chopping block
  Now has 1 medium and 2 missile hardpoints instead of universals, front turret changed to hybrid from ballistic
  Hull to 1750 (was 1500), Armor to 275 (was 250), Max. Flux to 2600 (was 2500)
  Peak Performance Time normalized to 180 (was 140)
  This is to differentiate its role from the Dragonfly, strangely this constraint yields overall stronger loadouts and a more reliable premium frigate
- Weevil: semi-redesigned as an utility campaign frigate, with logistics hullmods (it has been more or less supplanted by the Dragonfly as a combat frigate)
  Rear turrets changed to built-in Light Shredders, stats adjusted, comes with built-in Salvage Gantry and Surveying Equipment
- Zabrus: Peak Performance time to 210 (was 180), ship system changed to Heavy Maneuvering Jets
- Kurmaraja: FP and Base Value slightly increased, Ordnance Points lowered by 10
  Brakefield Emitter system now affects BALLISTIC_AS_BEAM projectiles by deflection, rather than having no effect on them, AI logic somewhat improved (thx DR!)
- Nevermore: Peak Performance time to 390 (was 360)
  Front Medium turret angles slightly changed to prevent sprite overlaps
  Antimatter Lance now pierces missiles, appearance adjusted
- Hawkmoth: Ordnance Points lowered by 10, supply/month and FP reduced a little
- Imaginos: Rift Cannon max charges to 10 (from 8)
- Typheus Light Carrier: has been buffed towards a more premium carrier, reflecting its importance given the lack of carrier options in BRDY
  Now has Heavy Maneuvering Jets instead of Sentinel Drone, has lower base speed and lower PPT
  Recieved buffs to flux cap, flux dissipation and 10 additional Ordnance Points, some slot changes
  Supply/rec and /month increased to 12 (was 10)
- Bolide/Comet: Redesigned, Comet is now a flat-out smaller version of the bolide, both weapons had 100 range shaved off. Changed to clip-ammo mechanic.
  Both weapons are now 1:1 flux ratio and very efficient medium range weapons, with high burst damage but low damage over time.
- Scalaron Repeater: OP Cost lowered to 12 (from 14), EMP Damage per hit increased to 80 (from 75), Chargeup lowered to 0.25 (was 0.5), max. recoil lowered to 12 (was 18)
  Changed to clip-based reload mechanic instead of finite ammo
- Burst Cannon: Now targets missiles by default (similar priority to Devastator Cannon), but cooldown was increased by 0.5 seconds, range lowered to 600 and inaccuracy increased.
- Quill Rockets (all weapons): Semi-redesigned, now more reliable overall and self-destruct treshold optimized to prevent weirdness
- Fury-class Torpedo Rack: Costs 4 OP (down from 5), but cooldown increased to 8 seconds, so both torpedoes can no longer be fired in quick succession
- INM Assault Gun: Initial ammo increased to 12 (was 9), ammo regen rate increased to 2.5 (was 2)
- Achilles LRM: Now has slightly higher replenish rate and 1 extra starting ammo (6), so the pod version is exactly 2x its existing ammo
  Now has a splitting SFX for the MIRV behavior
- Fury Torpedoes (all): Removed extra HE damage component from on-hit script
  Uses quadtrail instead of particles, color of engine tweaked to better differentiate from Rage SRM
- Heavy SPL: Now same fire rate (15 sec reload instead of 10) and ammoless like Light SPL
  Damage increased to 800 (was 700), proj. health slightly increased, accuracy slightly less ***
- PDEs (all): Stats rebalanced across the board, no ultra-major changes but should feel snappier and be slightly more reliable
- Dart SRM (all): AI now more "fire and forget" - will not always seek ship target; prioritize closer targets and any fighters over other targets
- Linear Pulse Gun: Flux/sec and damage/shot both slightly lower, new projectile look/color (purple) to differentiate from other weapons
- Ferrogun/Ferrocannon: Minor stat adjustments, projectile appearance adjusted with use of trails, projectile hitbox is now "short" which should reduce hit registration weirdness
  Now deals EMP damage per hit, should make them more useful overall, but not broken on the Karkinos
- Ironweaver ADC: OP cost reduced to 20 (was 25), Cooldown increased to 1 (was 0.8), range decreased to 650 (was 800), max. charges decreased to 4 (was 5)
  Ironweaver projectiles now only have a proximity fuse check vs missiles and bombs, increasing damage against large ships significantly as the projectiles will actually hit their hull
- Eschaton Superfreighter: Now has Heavy Maneuvering Jets shipsystem, and 2 built in drone wings
  Front missile hardpoints changed to Medium instead of Small, has built-in Nav Relay hullmod
  Has additional crew-carrying capability, making it better suited for colonization
  Minor stat adjustments
  Supply/month increased to 24 (was 22)
- Krait Heavy Fighter: Changed built-in HE cannons to a clone of normal INM Assault Gun with reduced shot damage (30 instead of 55) and 450 range instead of 600 range
  Now has a nose Light Shredder instead of normal Shredder
- Taipan Heavy Interceptor: Added ECCM Package for better missile performance
  Renamed built-in Achilles variant "Ajax SRM", adjusted stats slightly
  Increased Taipan max speed to 350 (was 330)
- Mosquito Missile Bomber: Increased max speed to 240 (was 200)
- Nadir Defense Fighter: Now has 2x fixed Light Particle Rifles as main weapons for chipping away at other fighters and damaged ships, retains Light Burst Cannon
- Dipteron Interceptor: Is now an unmanned drone fighter

Hullmods:
- Lowered the base regen factor of the Nanolattice Armor hullmod, slightly buffed base armor values of the Imaginos and Morpheus to compensate
- Nanolattice Armor no longer imposes any restrictions on which armor/hull hullmods can be installed alongside it
- BRDY Strike Suite: OP cost slightly lowered, damage and flux bonuses halved to 10%
  Now increases weapon range slightly depending on hullsize instead of lowering it (5/10/20/35%) and increases projectile speed by 25%
  Now incompatible with Safety Overrides in addition to ITU/DTC
- BRDY Assault Fitting: Renamed to Blackrock Systems Reinforcement, now increases Peak Performance Time by 20% instead of lowering repair times
  Hull bonus increased by 10% (to 25%)

Misc:
- Added crash on load for missing dependencies (LazyLib, GraphicsLib, MagicLib)
[close]
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Cyan Leader on June 09, 2019, 07:08:42 AM
Yes! Time to start a new run. Thank you for your hard work.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Oblivion on June 09, 2019, 07:28:20 AM
I can hardly believe my eyes. Update?!? Well it seems like my gaming session’s being extended.


Edit: Now i’m curious. What made you remove the old Asura in favor of the new one as opposed to just making the new one a different ship class?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: mendonca on June 09, 2019, 07:57:02 AM
Nice work!  :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: JadedTarget on June 09, 2019, 08:51:04 AM
That is a nice and large changelog.  Thank you for getting BRDY out there, Cycerin!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Ambient on June 09, 2019, 10:12:53 AM
AWWW YEEE
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: lethargie on June 09, 2019, 10:19:59 AM
Well I just had passed the initial bump of difficulty in a spacer start in a new game, but just  as I was reading that Blackrock updated my whole fleet spontaneously scuttled.
Guess I'll have to start a new game with Blackrock.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Bastion.Systems on June 09, 2019, 10:59:26 AM
*** yes, Blackrock ships are just so fun to pilot.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: .Wav on June 09, 2019, 11:25:48 AM
I just made an account to say thanks for this absolute masterpiece. I've been playing starsector since 2013 and this is probably one of the best mods out there.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: jeffg10 on June 09, 2019, 11:50:34 AM
Blackrock's back.

I would like to give the humblest and sincerest thank you for all of your hard work my good sir, i'm looking forward to this and hotly anticipating those new features sometime in the future!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Shoat on June 09, 2019, 12:16:52 PM
Now i’m curious. What made you remove the old Asura in favor of the new one as opposed to just making the new one a different ship class?

That's what a redesign is.
Imagine if in every game there were like ten different versions of each thing because the designers kept EVERY version of it in instead of just the version they like the most.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: uzsibox on June 09, 2019, 12:36:35 PM
Wholy *** its out now i can die happily
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Sundog on June 09, 2019, 03:10:48 PM
Bliss! Thanks for all your hard work!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Sy on June 09, 2019, 03:23:44 PM
yaaay! that entire changelog looks sweet. pretty much all the changes sound good to me, even in addition to all the shiny new toys.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Dudok22 on June 09, 2019, 03:42:37 PM
yooooo the wait was worth it!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: rashiakas on June 09, 2019, 04:06:28 PM
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Morbo513 on June 09, 2019, 06:30:31 PM
Wow, I wasn't expecting it so soon. I definitely wasn't checking the mods section every other day to see if it'd been updated.

I'm kinda sad about the Mantis losing its universal medium mount. It's my favourite ship to fly period, but I'm not a huge fan of piloting missile-boats. E-Gale cannon plus a couple volley-guns, or a Sunspear and shard-cannons were wonderful combinations for it. So of course, the first thing I did was change it back :v
Quote
- Mantis: Put on the chopping block
As you might expect though, this has me worried - Are you planning to remove it at some point, or is this in reference to the changes? Because I'd be severely disappointed were it to go.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Harpuea on June 09, 2019, 07:21:13 PM
The legends returned!!!!!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Alphascrub on June 10, 2019, 03:04:54 AM
E3 Sure was great this year... Keanu Reaves, Cyberpunk 2077, Blackrock mod for SS.

 ;D
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Kanil on June 10, 2019, 03:36:24 AM
I'm kinda sad about the Mantis losing its universal medium mount... a Sunspear and shard-cannons were wonderful combinations...
Yeah, I also enjoyed that combination immensely, a little reward for starting a new game as BRDY. But ultimately it's still a frigate, and doesn't serve as a player ship for more than a few fights, so I guess it doesn't matter too much...
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Hrothgar on June 10, 2019, 03:54:46 AM
My quest in BDY is to get 0-series Nevermore.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5 (09.06.2019)
Post by: Morbo513 on June 10, 2019, 04:50:11 AM
I'm kinda sad about the Mantis losing its universal medium mount... a Sunspear and shard-cannons were wonderful combinations...
Yeah, I also enjoyed that combination immensely, a little reward for starting a new game as BRDY. But ultimately it's still a frigate, and doesn't serve as a player ship for more than a few fights, so I guess it doesn't matter too much...
I almost exclusively use frigates as flagships
Title: Blackrock 0.9.5a - hotfix released!
Post by: Cycerin on June 10, 2019, 05:29:13 AM
Hotfix out, caught a crash with the Gridfire AI (thx Nia) and some other stuff.

Download it here. (https://bitbucket.org/thegneissplace/brdy/downloads/Blackrock%20Drive%20Yards%200.9.5a.zip)


0.9.5a

- Fixed a crash caused by the Gridfire MRM homing AI
- Fixed Blackrock-only hullmods appearing in multiple unintended hullmod categories
- Fixed Scalaron Blaster, ESPADA Repeater, Vajra Cannon and Antimatter Lance projectile visuals to their intended coolness

Note: If you don't have the latest version of Starsector (0.9.1a RC8) the game may crash when attempting to draw projectiles from these weapons and a few others.

Quote
- Mantis: Put on the chopping block
As you might expect though, this has me worried - Are you planning to remove it at some point, or is this in reference to the changes? Because I'd be severely disappointed were it to go.

The Mantis isn't going anywhere, but it's new iteration is here to stay. This change was made to reduce overlap with other frigates and for AI-friendliness reasons. But yeah it's easy to revert if you miss the old one.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: lethargie on June 10, 2019, 05:54:46 AM
Did you reuse the old asura sprite? Cause I always found that sprite to be super beautifull.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: AudaciousBS on June 10, 2019, 06:07:40 AM
Blackrock's out, YAY! Now 9.1 has all my favorite factions  ;D

Congrats on getting it out Cycerin. Maybe now the harassment about when you're going to update will die off a bit.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: asianoob on June 10, 2019, 11:39:12 PM
When 9.1 came out, I tried to play starsector, but I couldn't do it without my favorite mod. I been checking everyday for its release. TY Cycerin!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: vorpal+5 on June 11, 2019, 12:22:14 AM
I get an error when loaded alongside Nexerelin.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Hrothgar on June 11, 2019, 12:55:34 AM
I just had started run with nexerelin, BDY and ton of other mods, so you had did someting wrong. Probably not deleted a mod, just copied on it new version?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: vorpal+5 on June 11, 2019, 02:13:15 AM
I was missing GraphicLib, my bad.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Hrothgar on June 11, 2019, 02:49:50 AM
Told you.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ghoti on June 11, 2019, 05:05:23 AM
I hit a null pointer exception firing the antimatter lance of the Nevermore.

Ran into this while playing the Bow Down Nevermore mission.
Code
39141 [Thread-5] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain  - java.lang.NullPointerException
java.lang.NullPointerException
        at com.fs.starfarer.renderers.o0oO.o00000(Unknown Source)
        at com.fs.starfarer.combat.entities.MovingRay.render(Unknown Source)
        at com.fs.starfarer.combat.entities.MovingRay.render(Unknown Source)
        at com.fs.graphics.LayeredRenderer.render(Unknown Source)
        at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.render(Unknown Source)
        at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatState.traverse(Unknown Source)
        at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
        at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
        at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$1.run(Unknown Source)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Glad your back!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on June 11, 2019, 06:28:41 AM
If you are getting those crashes, it's likely that you dont have the latest Starsector hotfix (RC8) installed. That is a known issue with custom ballistic_as_beam proj in earlier versions of 0.9.1. I should have mentioned that with the hotfix post, gonna edit it
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ghoti on June 11, 2019, 07:47:40 AM
ah nuts, sorry for the noise.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: MesoTroniK on June 11, 2019, 11:29:44 PM
Version Checker is your friend...
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: namad on June 12, 2019, 03:34:08 PM
Hooray! Thanks! I'm gonna finally move from 0.9 to 0.9.1 now that i can throw my favorite shipmodpack in!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Dudok22 on June 13, 2019, 12:08:00 AM
Is anyone else experiencing the lack of BRDY weapons on their markets? It seems that many of the most iconic weapons never show up for sale. For example, normal Gale Cannons, Particle Rifles, Ferroguns, medium slot Shard cannons etc.  I tested it with ForceMarketUpdate command and none of those weapons showed up after updating the markets 15 times.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Hrothgar on June 13, 2019, 01:42:31 AM
It is normal that many higher value weapons are rarer. They will start coming later, or you can find then in Research Stations/caches , or find blueprints and make yourselves later.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Kanil on June 13, 2019, 02:37:31 AM
I also noticed that some weapons just never show up.

Kind of a blind guess, but they don't seem to produce anything exclusively in the BRDY Weapons Blueprint Package. Stuff that's in the general BP packages shows up, and stuff that has one off BPs seem to show up.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on June 13, 2019, 09:50:06 AM
Yeah, it's due to a missing tag... will do some stuff to fix that and other weapon availability factors in the upcoming hotfix. Thanks for letting me know.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: eidolad on June 14, 2019, 06:24:07 PM
Being somewhat new to StarSector I can only say as calmly as I can:  SOME COOL SHIP DESIGNS HERE


And a poll that asks:  might I want space dragons or other monsters.  Well by golly sign me up.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cyan Leader on June 16, 2019, 07:58:56 PM
The slow beam speed of the Sunjet/Sunstorm really bring those weapons down when used in capital ships, especially something like the Paragon or with Advanced Optics. By the time the beam reaches its target it will have already used over half of its effective lifetime, cutting damage by half. The Sunjet is completely worthless in such scenarios.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on June 16, 2019, 08:38:54 PM
Yeah, I think that's actually fine for the smaller Sunjet, but the Sunfire and Sunstorm could probably use a moderate/significant boost to duration, beam speed, or both. Nothing earth-shaking, but it seems like a good idea given how far ITU+Advanced Optics stretches the beam range on a capital. Hell, even cruisers can struggle a bit with them.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Sy on June 17, 2019, 03:34:46 AM
would it be possible for the beam speed to scale with range? so that mounting a Sunfire on a Dragonfly would still have noticeable delay between firing and the beam hitting a target at max range, but the same Sunfire wouldn't lose so much more effectiveness on a Paragon with AO firing at a target at max range.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: vorpal+5 on June 17, 2019, 12:20:46 PM
I don't see any redeeming quality to the Micro Argus PD. Please explain? :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ishman on June 17, 2019, 12:21:40 PM
Sunfires are the original balanced implementation of HE beams, but with alex adding stuff like the 500dps 1000 range 1 flux efficiency HIL and more high quality factions with relatively vanilla balanced HE energy weapons, it could probably use a few tweaks to be brought up to standard.

Still my favorite beam weapon <3

Edit: Vorpal the short answer is balance. If everything a mod adds is more powerful than vanilla and other vanilla balanced mods, it's just a god/cheat mod. Factions need to have clear weaknesses and strengths. And the Argus PD is very good at swatting away light pressure from fighters and missiles, but is overwhelmed by weight of mass of incoming fire. It's intentional that you need to sacrifice OP and some small weapon slots to fit integrated PDAI to defend against heavy missile pressure, as many BRDY ships can dodge the overwhelming majority of things like torpedoes with their mobility systems.

You should note that many of the weapons were designed and created for the state of the game 6+ years ago.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on June 17, 2019, 12:55:21 PM
I had the same feeling for a while about PDEs, realized that most of the time some other weapon is more worth the slot/OP investment.

I did some tweaking on the build and decided to rebalance all stats around longer burst duration and beamspeed for all three - should be far better in their intended role comboing with kinetic fire. The bigger weapons have longer range and duration and thus are better overall, but are a bigger slot investment. Gonna playtest and work on some other stuff alongside it to arrive at something that feels just right.

I don't see any redeeming quality to the Micro Argus PD. Please explain? :)

It's a burst-operated PD beam for 4 OP.

But it does have one unique strength, it costs no flux to fire and thus can be left firing without taking away your 0-flux boost. It's niche but it can be more relevant than you think.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Sy on June 17, 2019, 03:31:59 PM
after trying the Antaeus for a bit, i think that thing needs a nerf. ^^

overall i love that cruiser. beefy, decent firepower, good PD coverage, fun mobility system, and a cool sprite. i just think it's overtuned atm. the combination of (by BRDY standards) great armor, good shield effiency, great shield coverage, good flux stats, high OP, better maneuverability than i'd expect from such a brick, a unique built-in hullmod that gives weapon durability and flat range increase, and also not really expensive (for a heavy cruiser) on top of that.. i think it's too much.

letting it duel a Dominator in simulator (with my custom loadout, but all weapons and hullmods are either vanilla or BRDY), it absolutely wipes the floor with the balanced Dominator loadout. if i put my lvl 17 officer on it, it will happily facetank the simulator Onslaught and win a duel against it with only minor damage to armor/hull.

i'd prefer if it didn't entirely lose any of the things that make it good though. it's nice having a BRDY cruiser with good armor and decent shields, and still firepower and OP to match the heavy cruiser designation. so i'd suggest just giving it minor-ish nerfs more or less across the board, rather than big nerfs in any specific respects. something like so:
- OP 170 -> 160
- flux cap 10k -> 9k
- flux dissipation 550 -> 450
- shield efficiency 0.8 -> 0.9
- shield arc 180° -> 150° (so it can still get a bubble shield with Shield Conversion + Extended Shields)
- deployment cost 26 -> 30
- and maybe some nerfs to maneuverability, especially turn acceleration

armor and hull i'd keep as they are, to make it stand out more vs the other BRDY cruisers as the tanky one. shield, flux, and OP nerfs should already reduce its overall staying power a bit.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: lethargie on June 17, 2019, 07:11:45 PM
Wow, I tried it but wasn't so impressed, can you share your build?

Btw the new asura is fun to fly but absolutely cannot be used by the AI. They just flux lock themselves and never take the time to vent. And i still miss the old sprite, I remember using the phase asura even though i found it really bad just because it looked good.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Agalyon on June 17, 2019, 08:54:17 PM
Just wanted to drop in and say I've been playing with blackrock since it was first released and I'm beyond excited to have it back. I know you get harassed a lot for updates, but thank you for all the hard work. Seriously. On behalf of all the lurkers out there, its appreciated.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Sy on June 18, 2019, 09:11:46 AM
Wow, I tried it but wasn't so impressed, can you share your build?
sure, though i don't think it needs a super special loadout to do it. just one that can take a lot of shield damage without getting flux-locked too quickly, and one that can punish the Onslaught for venting. the Typhoons i use actually almost never get hits on the Onslaught (almost all the actual damage is done by the Shards and Sunfire) because its PD is just too strong. but they do prevent it from just venting while the Antaeus could easily punish it with double Reapers, whereas the officer-piloted Antaeus does have enough armor durability to make some aggressive vents even while under pressure from Annihilators.

this is the loadout i use in my campaign. it has the +10% OP from player skills, but isn't actually purpose-built specifically to counter an Onslaught. just a general beefy loadout designed to go toe-to-toe with other big guys, or otherwise act as a fleet anchor in large engagements:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/twbeOpC.jpg)
[close]
armor state after the duel:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/5hVYK9L.jpg)
[close]

this loadout is without the +10% OP, but more purpose-built to counter the Onslaught in a face-to-face duel, sacrificing some rear protection and weapon range that don't matter much in an engagement with only one enemy:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/SWQR2ny.jpg)
[close]
armor state after the duel:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/LtL1lZk.jpg)
[close]

in both cases, this is the officer i use. at lvl 20, with the +50% missile hp, the duel would likely be even more one-sided:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/qp7kL4F.jpg)
[close]

a couple things to note here:
- the armor damage taken isn't always that minor, often armor gets breached at the nose while venting under Annihilator fire, and taking some hull damage in the process. but it does still win the duel in most cases, and usually quite handily.
- the officer is obviously a huge advantage compared to the simulator Onslaught. however, i still think it shouldn't be able to win a duel by engaging the Onslaught directly from the front, especially not so easily, with having most of its armor and hull remaining afterwards in most attempts.
- yes, this is purely under AI control. i just started the simulator and deployed the Onslaught, then enabled autopilot.
- if pure AI control is not quite enough for an Antaeus loadout to win the duel, just giving an Eliminate command at the start can make a big difference, because it makes the Antaeus more willing to vent aggressively, and engage even while at high flux -- both of which can be very helpful against the Onslaught's weapon range superiority. this could also be counted as an unfair advantage against the simulator ship, but is an advantage the player can often make use of in actual battles as well. and these screenshots were made without that additional advantage.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ubik on June 18, 2019, 12:32:34 PM
Is there a problem with learning or applying BRDY specific hullmods?

So far I have found and learned 3 hullmods but when trying to modify my BRDY ships I fail to find those mods.

Or am I missing something?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on June 18, 2019, 01:14:55 PM
@Sy - I appreciate the detailed feedback! Together, I think the nerfs you proposed would make the Antaeus bad. Like, actually bad. However, I agree that it's overtuned, but not to the extent that these simulator scenarios appear to indicate. A drastic nerf would make the ship useless by virtue of being a giant target that naturally puts itself at the front of the line, in a faction where almost no other ship is capable of taking the heat for it when things go bad. I'm gonna be tweaking a few things (mainly the shield) and bump the supply footprint up to 30, I think.

Or am I missing something?

hmm you probably have the "Blackrock" hullmod tag deselected by default. Under the hullmod list when picking a hullmod, check if it's selected or not.

Just wanted to drop in and say I've been playing with blackrock since it was first released and I'm beyond excited to have it back. I know you get harassed a lot for updates, but thank you for all the hard work. Seriously. On behalf of all the lurkers out there, its appreciated.

Glad to hear it! I don't really know what else to say, but I really am happy to know people are having fun with the stuff I made.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ubik on June 18, 2019, 01:29:46 PM
hmm you probably have the "Blackrock" hullmod tag deselected by default. Under the hullmod list when picking a hullmod, check if it's selected or not.

Indeed, I had missed to check for the BRDY hullmod tag...  ::)

Ty for this mod with absolutely gorgeous ships btw.  :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: pairedeciseaux on June 18, 2019, 01:45:46 PM
This has also been my experience so far : Antaeus is a beast in AI hands.

In my current campaign, I lost several big ships - 1 Nevermore (AI), 1 Apogee (AI), 1 Karkinos (player) - while the Antaeus (AI) is fine, even after having close combat against T2 high tech station. Also it's probably the only non carrier cruiser in my fleet that didn't retreat at some point.

Mine currently has a mjolnir, 2 pulse lasers, 2 pilum launchers, 4 front facing vulcans, 2 front facing light machine guns, 2 front facing Railguns, 2 light dual machine guns on the sides and 1 vulcan on the back.

It's too early for me to give a fair balance assessment. It looks like the ship has the best from both Dominator and Aurora, in addition to the BRDY specifics and flexibility. It feels like a very good addition, especially as a kind of "Blackrock Dominator". Indeed the shield is probably too good: switch to a front shield ?

On another note I had the pleasure/terror to fight a strong BRDY fleet that had 4 Imaginos and 1 Morpheus doing their magic among a bunch of Karkinos, Kurmaraja, Nevermore and a lot of fighters. I'm not sure whether it's still a rare sight or whether those crazy ships got more common compared to what we had with Starsector 0.8.1.

By the way, good to have BRDY back!  8)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Schwartz on June 18, 2019, 02:59:20 PM
There's always the option of upping its logistics profile a bit. Not everything has to be nerfed into the ground. That said, I haven't gotten my hands on one yet!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Alphascrub on June 19, 2019, 04:34:56 PM
There's always the option of upping its logistics profile a bit. Not everything has to be nerfed into the ground. That said, I haven't gotten my hands on one yet!

I actually didn't get one until I got lucky with a BRDY blueprint I found on a random planet. In my current campaign I'm in a war with BRDY and shadowyards. Mainly they kept harassing a colony I have in the same system as both of them (random universe) and I got tired of it. Anyway this means I have a decent amount of blackrock weapons floating around on my ships and storage and I'm pretty much able to do any of the base autotfitting with it. The assault, saturation and defense and honestly they are all pretty good. Personally i prefer the assault setup for both personal use and AI. I'm in it relatively often now since I'm using the Excelsior or the imaginos a lot as my flag ships. They are fun to run around in and you can be really disruptive with them, unfortunatley I still make errors with them both often enough to need a new ship to finish the fight with. Antaeus has been great for that.

TBH I have no idea about balance. They feel good for BRDY. Its a frontline ship for a faction that doesn't really have one. I'm unsure of how to really go about balancing them. They don't seem crazy op to me but I can recognize they are strong. Especially in player hands. Then again what isn't? Maybe one thing that is quite strong about them is their vent speed? With personal combat traits, large amounts of vents, Resistant Flux Conduits and it being a blackrock ship it can nearly vent at any time while having armor and shield values that seem to pretty closely match a Dominator. Basically I'm more than willing to trade some hardflux with another ship because I know I can vent it vastly faster than they can, also with the armor the ship has its very easy to turn the shields off and passively vent while maintaining hardflux pressure on your enemy because of the shear number of HE/frag damage its unloads with its assault loadout. Maybe you could make Resistant Flux Conduits unavailable with GAIA? Could always build a little emp protection into it. Frankly I don't really know and I don't think I've used it enough judge.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: AnimeHeretic on June 26, 2019, 08:32:24 AM
Yeah, it's due to a missing tag... will do some stuff to fix that and other weapon availability factors in the upcoming hotfix. Thanks for letting me know.

Hello.  I love your mod!

I dont know anything about modding, but I managed to find the tag for the 0-series Nevermore that was preventing it from being on the market.

I cannot find the tag that is preventing weapons in the Blackrock Weapons Blueprint package from being on the market.  Could you direct me too it?

Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Dudok22 on June 29, 2019, 01:01:22 AM

Hello.  I love your mod!

I dont know anything about modding, but I managed to find the tag for the 0-series Nevermore that was preventing it from being on the market.

I cannot find the tag that is preventing weapons in the Blackrock Weapons Blueprint package from being on the market.  Could you direct me too it?

Thanks in advance.

Add "brdy_wep_bp" to the \mods\Blackrock Drive Yards\data\world\factions\blackrock_driveyards.faction file in the knownWeapons like this

Code
"knownWeapons":{
"tags":["brdy_com_bp", "brdy_mil_bp", "brdy_rare", "brdy_wep_bp"],
"weapons":[
],
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: AnimeHeretic on June 29, 2019, 10:05:36 AM

Hello.  I love your mod!

I dont know anything about modding, but I managed to find the tag for the 0-series Nevermore that was preventing it from being on the market.

I cannot find the tag that is preventing weapons in the Blackrock Weapons Blueprint package from being on the market.  Could you direct me too it?

Thanks in advance.

Add "brdy_wep_bp" to the \mods\Blackrock Drive Yards\data\world\factions\blackrock_driveyards.faction file in the knownWeapons like this

Code
"knownWeapons":{
"tags":["brdy_com_bp", "brdy_mil_bp", "brdy_rare", "brdy_wep_bp"],
"weapons":[
],

Thank you so much! got it working!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: dis astranagant on July 01, 2019, 06:48:42 PM
Thunderheads are rather flux hungry for what is basically just a slightly improved and more expensive HMG without pd hints.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Alphascrub on July 05, 2019, 03:03:59 PM
Thunderheads are rather flux hungry for what is basically just a slightly improved and more expensive HMG without pd hints.

Daka is fun though. Especially with ammo feeder. I also feel like it was designed for BRDY ships. Throw in on a dragonfly, sure you build flux fast but can vent very fast as well, the strike variant I think does it pretty well. That being said I generally only control frigates outside super frigates in the early game and I don't feel like the AI generally manages flux that well so I don't run Thunderhead Dragonfly.

I suppose it could be buffed but I'm really not sure it needs it. Its got more faster projectile speed, range and dps when compared to the HMG. Yea it cost 1 more OP but I think thats pretty marginal. Its somewhere between the HMG and the HAC. Adds flavor without being OP which I think is the goal.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: NightfallGemini on July 05, 2019, 09:25:39 PM
Yeah, it's due to a missing tag... will do some stuff to fix that and other weapon availability factors in the upcoming hotfix. Thanks for letting me know.

Hello.  I love your mod!

I dont know anything about modding, but I managed to find the tag for the 0-series Nevermore that was preventing it from being on the market.

I cannot find the tag that is preventing weapons in the Blackrock Weapons Blueprint package from being on the market.  Could you direct me too it?

Thanks in advance.

Out of curiosity, what tag did you edit to get the 0-Series to show up?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: ANGRYABOUTELVES on July 07, 2019, 05:23:37 PM
You can find the Gridfire Submunition blueprint by raiding Blackrock markets. Not the missile weapon, the submunition that it splits into.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Morathar on July 08, 2019, 06:55:17 AM
You can find the Gridfire Submunition blueprint by raiding Blackrock markets. Not the missile weapon, the submunition that it splits into.

On a somewhat related note, if you manually add brdy_wep_bp to the blackrock_driveyards.faction file (as described in an earlier post), then you can occasionally find "Gridfire Submunition" weapons for sale in Blackrock markets. The "weapon" has no image and cannot be equipped (as far as I know), but it looks like you could purchase one if you really wanted to...
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Alphascrub on July 08, 2019, 02:13:00 PM
Not sure if this is intended as a feature, maybe more ship emp weapons can do this but the Dynastos can hit phased ships with its core discharge. I would test this with other emp ships but I don't have any in my current campaign and I'm not running console commands because If its there I generally turn into a dirty cheater. This one just seem outside the realm of what the description of the special does.  Sorry if this is a feature or if its been covered before, just thought I would put it out there.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Agalyon on July 08, 2019, 08:29:45 PM
Out of curiosity, what tag did you edit to get the 0-Series to show up?
mod/data/hulls/ship_data.csv, and delete "no_drop" from the AS column from what you want to show up.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: pipai on July 09, 2019, 03:47:46 PM
Reporting a minor bug.

Doesn't load on linux, it seems like it's because the code assumes case-insensitive filenames from MagicLib. If you rename all the base_* files in graphics/magic/fx/ with BASE_*, the mod will load.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on July 09, 2019, 06:59:54 PM
Thanks for all the bug reports, got it fixed internally, just working on some more balance adjustments and some sprite updates before I release it.

Reporting a minor bug.

Doesn't load on linux, it seems like it's because the code assumes case-insensitive filenames from MagicLib. If you rename all the base_* files in graphics/magic/fx/ with BASE_*, the mod will load.

You should post that in the MagicLib thread.

Out of curiosity, what tag did you edit to get the 0-Series to show up?
mod/data/hulls/ship_data.csv, and delete "no_drop" from the AS column from what you want to show up.

About that: to my knowledge, no_drop only makes it so blueprints don't spawn in the wild corresponding with that ship - when no_drop is there, the only way to get the BPs is by raiding the market of a faction that knows it from the start. This is intentional for the rarest ships in the mod. It doesn't affect the spawn rate of ships in markets, but I've confirmed they do show up eventually. If you want the BPs to show up on research stations and the like, remove no_drop.

edit: Market spawning, however, is governed partly by default_ship_roles.json which also determines how often ships show up in fleets.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Agalyon on July 09, 2019, 07:46:22 PM
About that: to my knowledge, no_drop only makes it so blueprints don't spawn in the wild corresponding with that ship - when no_drop is there, the only way to get the BPs is by raiding the market of a faction that knows it from the start. This is intentional for the rarest ships in the mod. It doesn't affect the spawn rate of ships in markets, but I've confirmed they do show up eventually. If you want the BPs to show up on research stations and the like, remove no_drop.

edit: Market spawning, however, is governed partly by default_ship_roles.json which also determines how often ships show up in fleets.

Whoops, well. Sorry for the bad info, that makes sense actually. I'll check my own and try to get it back lined out again.

Edit: Actually, how DO you get the N-0 to show up? If im understanding this file correctly, it already should. Is it just hideously rare? I actually have a Morpheus but I've never seen a zero.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Flying_Whale on July 12, 2019, 12:57:05 PM
Hi. Why Blackrock markets sell only damaged ships? How to fix that?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on July 13, 2019, 07:20:37 AM
Sounds like the colony has had its Heavy Industry disrupted, bombed or sabotaged (or some other aspect of core gameplay)

Edit: Actually, how DO you get the N-0 to show up? If im understanding this file correctly, it already should. Is it just hideously rare? I actually have a Morpheus but I've never seen a zero.

It's just rare. Eventually it does show up in military markets (or even more rarely, as a derelict ship procedurally generated somewhere).
Right now, the rarest ships have no interesting ways to fall into player hands - because if I made them more common, they would also be more common in faction fleets, which is undesireable. But they do spawn - just rarely. Maybe in the future there will be quests or some other ways to get them.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Flying_Whale on July 13, 2019, 11:05:58 AM
And how do i restore their heavy industry? Should i sell them something?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: SapphireSage on July 13, 2019, 10:25:20 PM
Unless you have Nexerelin installed and they lost the market with the Heavy industry to an invasion, then all you need to do is wait until it recovers and make sure the planet doesn't decivilize (which happens if a planet is at 0 stability for the better part of a year).
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: SCC on July 16, 2019, 10:28:08 AM
Daka is fun though. Especially with ammo feeder. I also feel like it was designed for BRDY ships. Throw in on a dragonfly, sure you build flux fast but can vent very fast as well, the strike variant I think does it pretty well. That being said I generally only control frigates outside super frigates in the early game and I don't feel like the AI generally manages flux that well so I don't run Thunderhead Dragonfly.

I suppose it could be buffed but I'm really not sure it needs it. Its got more faster projectile speed, range and dps when compared to the HMG. Yea it cost 1 more OP but I think thats pretty marginal. Its somewhere between the HMG and the HAC. Adds flavor without being OP which I think is the goal.
It's range advantage is marginal for ships that can use Thunderhead effectively, projectile speed at this kind of ranges isn't very important, either, and it ultimately fails by being way less flux efficient than the HMG. Thunderhead's only significant advantage is that it won't turn to shoot at some unimportant stuff, like HMG does.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Null Ganymede on July 27, 2019, 12:17:24 AM
Pretty deep into a BRDY-only run (ships AND weapons) and I'm really impressed at how fun all the ships are to fly as flagships. Not just the obvious flagship bait superships - everything with the mobility skill and aggressive weapon layouts or oversized weapons works.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Alphascrub on July 27, 2019, 09:11:59 PM
Daka is fun though. Especially with ammo feeder. I also feel like it was designed for BRDY ships. Throw in on a dragonfly, sure you build flux fast but can vent very fast as well, the strike variant I think does it pretty well. That being said I generally only control frigates outside super frigates in the early game and I don't feel like the AI generally manages flux that well so I don't run Thunderhead Dragonfly.

I suppose it could be buffed but I'm really not sure it needs it. Its got more faster projectile speed, range and dps when compared to the HMG. Yea it cost 1 more OP but I think thats pretty marginal. Its somewhere between the HMG and the HAC. Adds flavor without being OP which I think is the goal.
It's range advantage is marginal for ships that can use Thunderhead effectively, projectile speed at this kind of ranges isn't very important, either, and it ultimately fails by being way less flux efficient than the HMG. Thunderhead's only significant advantage is that it won't turn to shoot at some unimportant stuff, like HMG does.

I can't really refute that. The range is as you say pretty marginal. After numerous testing using HMGs on my new ragtag salvage fleet I have to agree the HMG was much better than I was giving it credit for. I'm frankly unsure of where the thunderhead could be buffed. I kind of thought it would be interesting to turn into an energy weapon but ultimately thought the soft stats would probably be a better place to start. Giving it emp or frag could be interesting but that would make it very similar to a  shard gun, not saying that's a bad thing but I think the thunderhead exists entirely in its own realm of weapon type. If anything I would say a range bump and increase of dps to match is flux requirements might work or a decrease in flux to match its damage. But again I don't really make mods and to say that I'm educated in weapon balance beyond looking for op/power weapons to smash the ai with IS a stretch. 
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ambient on August 03, 2019, 02:16:53 PM
Hey Cycerin, love your work on this mod but I also have a question and some design feedback.
Is Blackrock going back to its aesthetic roots or are all the new ships to come going to look bulbous and round? I feel like the older stuff looked plain badass without being over the top, while all the newer stuff is a bit.....round? Right now I feel like there are two conflicting looks in this faction. Still fun as hell to play tho.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: mangalore on August 17, 2019, 09:47:01 AM
About that: to my knowledge, no_drop only makes it so blueprints don't spawn in the wild corresponding with that ship - when no_drop is there, the only way to get the BPs is by raiding the market of a faction that knows it from the start. This is intentional for the rarest ships in the mod. It doesn't affect the spawn rate of ships in markets, but I've confirmed they do show up eventually. If you want the BPs to show up on research stations and the like, remove no_drop.

edit: Market spawning, however, is governed partly by default_ship_roles.json which also determines how often ships show up in fleets.

Ok, was about to ask that. So given I have a Blackrock commission and maintain 100 relations while building my colonies and have my fleet full Blackrock my only way to get blueprints for my system forces is to go hostile against them?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: mathyou on August 17, 2019, 05:45:14 PM
I'm really enjoying the mod. Thanks for all the work on it.

I got a modspec for "BRDY Systems Reinforcement," but after learning it, I don't see it available to add to my Blackrock ships. Any ideas?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: AxleMC131 on August 17, 2019, 06:01:26 PM
I got a modspec for "BRDY Systems Reinforcement," but after learning it, I don't see it available to add to my Blackrock ships. Any ideas?

You may need to enable a mod tech tag in the hullmod screen. At the bottom of the list are a bunch of categories for sorting through hullmods. Faction-added hullmods tend to include a unique "tech" for that faction - there should be a "Blackrock" category you can select and enable, that should show the hullmod.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: mathyou on August 17, 2019, 06:29:48 PM
You may need to enable a mod tech tag in the hullmod screen. At the bottom of the list are a bunch of categories for sorting through hullmods. Faction-added hullmods tend to include a unique "tech" for that faction - there should be a "Blackrock" category you can select and enable, that should show the hullmod.

That did it, thanks!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: mangalore on August 18, 2019, 06:51:56 AM
Just to be sure. Is there a peaceful way to get Blackrock blueprints? Should some pop up as drops or none? The mod files seem to mark only some hulls as no_drop.

Is there a possibility to buy blueprints from Blackrock military or somewhere else?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Hrothgar on August 19, 2019, 02:37:23 AM
It is possible to find it in research station or exchange for other bp in prism freeport. Chance to buy from military? Maybe, but it's reaaally low.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Bishi on August 19, 2019, 04:57:30 AM
Hi, I've just experienced a crash and I think Blackrock might be to blame (my favourite mod btw ;) ):
I do run a ton of other mods though but I see that achilles is from BRDY
Code
1553862 [Thread-4] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.ui.impl.CargoTooltipFactory  - Error figuring out MIRV spec details for [achilles_mrm]
org.json.JSONException: JSONObject["emp"] not found.
at org.json.JSONObject.get(JSONObject.java:406)
at org.json.JSONObject.getDouble(JSONObject.java:445)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.impl.CargoTooltipFactory.o00000(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.impl.CargoTooltipFactory$3.createImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.impl.StandardTooltipV2Expandable.create(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.impl.StandardTooltipV2Expandable.beforeShown(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.showTooltip(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Objectsuper.public.super(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.Objectsuper.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.e$Oo.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.e.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.D.I.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.N.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.coreui.refit.WeaponPickerDialog.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.N.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.newui.O0oO.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.N.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.newui.Objectsuper.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.v.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.ui.o00OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignState.processInput(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.BaseGameState.traverse(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$1.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Hrothgar on August 19, 2019, 05:28:44 AM
How you update mod, do you delete old file and put new or you copy paste folder?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Bishi on August 19, 2019, 07:00:29 AM
How you update mod, do you delete old file and put new or you copy paste folder?

Delete old folder, do not overwrite
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Hrothgar on August 19, 2019, 07:21:19 AM
Mayby delete and download again i dont have problem and , well, last version is from 10.06 so it should work well for you too.

In worst scenario i can pack my version and sent it to you.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: mangalore on August 19, 2019, 10:13:56 AM
It is possible to find it in research station or exchange for other bp in prism freeport. Chance to buy from military? Maybe, but it's reaaally low.

Ah, okay, will keep looking then.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Racnor on August 26, 2019, 12:58:29 PM
Found this mod from the modlist of a certain infamous reviewer, and over time it has come to monopolize my fleet. I bought 2 scorpions to hold the line near the start, and with HVDs and a Heavy Ion Blaster, they outlived every destroyer I bought, vanilla or modded. True, they took ages to kill anything with only their drones as HE damage, but nothing in the same weight class could close on them without getting EMPed.

My current favorite AI ship is the knight, built on much the same philosophy; a pair of shard guns and HVDs to poke shields, a Xyphos LPC to zap enemy PD and keep fighters off my bombers, and a vespa to break armor. With the knight's usual engagement range, the vespa can reload very quickly.

For personal use, I have a Imagos with all the peak time, armor, and hull I can add. One question about it though, what determines have much each projectile eaten adds to the energy burst? Is it just damage of the projectile?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ambient on August 26, 2019, 01:48:56 PM
Found this mod from the modlist of a certain infamous reviewer, and over time it has come to monopolize my fleet. I bought 2 scorpions to hold the line near the start, and with HVDs and a Heavy Ion Blaster, they outlived every destroyer I bought, vanilla or modded. True, they took ages to kill anything with only their drones as HE damage, but nothing in the same weight class could close on them without getting EMPed.

My current favorite AI ship is the knight, built on much the same philosophy; a pair of shard guns and HVDs to poke shields, a Xyphos LPC to zap enemy PD and keep fighters off my bombers, and a vespa to break armor. With the knight's usual engagement range, the vespa can reload very quickly.

For personal use, I have a Imagos with all the peak time, armor, and hull I can add. One question about it though, what determines have much each projectile eaten adds to the energy burst? Is it just damage of the projectile?

Wait till you get a Karkinos in the right AI's hands
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on August 26, 2019, 04:38:34 PM
Lil dev update here, I'm working on a new release but I've been discovering more stuff to fix and doing some content polish, so it's taking some time 'cause I want to make sure it's the last update I'll need to do until I actually want to make new content or something that isnt fixes or polish in the future.

For personal use, I have a Imagos with all the peak time, armor, and hull I can add. One question about it though, what determines have much each projectile eaten adds to the energy burst? Is it just damage of the projectile?

Hey, I dunno if the mechanics of that have been exhaustively explained anywhere so let me give it a go off the top of my head..

Each absorbed projectile adds "power" to a multiplier based on its damage, and there is a base damage value for the explosion that is modified by the power, up to a cap. In addition to that, the damage of the energy burst is also modified by what it hits, so that it isnt disproportionally powerful against frigates or useless against larger ships. I recall this was partly done due to some weirdness with EMP arcs converging on small targets and being more powerful becuase they arent spread out. Finally, the system weighs damage types differently when calculating the power, so frag is reduced to 0.25x to prevent disproportionally big reward for just absorbing some PD fire (and due to how frag tends to be budgeted when people make weapons)

So the raw damage of what goes in is strongly related to the damage of what goes out but with a lot of necessary abstraction involved.

Credits to Sundog for working out this amazing implementation btw. After that, it took a lot of tweaking variables to get it to a point where it feels consistent and doesnt have lots of bad edge cases.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: AxleMC131 on August 26, 2019, 11:18:02 PM
Wow, I never realised the Imaginos' damage in/out calculation was quite so in-depth. That's extremely cool.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Morathar on August 27, 2019, 01:31:35 PM
I was recently poking through all of my downloaded mods while trying to track down a sector generation issue and noticed that several of the mods (including this one) have a condition_gen_data.csv file that still uses the old 0.9a format. In the Starsector 0.9.1a release, the condition_gen_data.csv file was updated with several renamed column headers and a new cat_hab5 column. I don't think the outdated version of the file is currently causing any problems (or at least it wasn't related to bug I was tracking), but I figured I should let you know just in case...
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Freor on August 27, 2019, 06:49:43 PM
Anyone else noticing that when playing with Nexerelin, Blackrock always loses its capital early on? I've had this happen in 5 consecutive runs so maybe its just me, but if it is a an issue other people are facing I would like for the planet Blackrock to be more fortified in a future update.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Alphascrub on August 27, 2019, 11:20:42 PM
Anyone else noticing that when playing with Nexerelin, Blackrock always loses its capital early on? I've had this happen in 5 consecutive runs so maybe its just me, but if it is a an issue other people are facing I would like for the planet Blackrock to be more fortified in a future update.

For me I tend to see Scy and BRDY butt heads early on. Scy generally takes the vigil and then the war ends. It might be because Scy's primary system is vast and frankly pretty powerful, then again scy doesn't generally have a lot of sub systems. Other than that I don't really see BRDY lose much. In my games for whatever reason they seem to side with the Ludic church a lot. Kind of an odd fit in my mind, but they're maybe something to it.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Malaise on August 28, 2019, 04:49:02 AM
Quote
Anyone else noticing that when playing with Nexerelin, Blackrock always loses its capital early on? I've had this happen in 5 consecutive runs so maybe its just me, but if it is a an issue other people are facing I would like for the planet Blackrock to be more fortified in a future update.

Ye. BRDY 90% of time loses capital to Scy and goes into decline. And I do not get to use their ships unless I ally with them and help at every turn.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Racnor on August 28, 2019, 05:29:41 AM
Found this mod from the modlist of a certain infamous reviewer, and over time it has come to monopolize my fleet. I bought 2 scorpions to hold the line near the start, and with HVDs and a Heavy Ion Blaster, they outlived every destroyer I bought, vanilla or modded. True, they took ages to kill anything with only their drones as HE damage, but nothing in the same weight class could close on them without getting EMPed.

My current favorite AI ship is the knight, built on much the same philosophy; a pair of shard guns and HVDs to poke shields, a Xyphos LPC to zap enemy PD and keep fighters off my bombers, and a vespa to break armor. With the knight's usual engagement range, the vespa can reload very quickly.

For personal use, I have a Imagos with all the peak time, armor, and hull I can add. One question about it though, what determines have much each projectile eaten adds to the energy burst? Is it just damage of the projectile?

Wait till you get a Karkinos in the right AI's hands
What officer type would you consider right for one?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Kastor on August 28, 2019, 06:15:59 AM
Quote
Anyone else noticing that when playing with Nexerelin, Blackrock always loses its capital early on? I've had this happen in 5 consecutive runs so maybe its just me, but if it is a an issue other people are facing I would like for the planet Blackrock to be more fortified in a future update.

Ye. BRDY 90% of time loses capital to Scy and goes into decline. And I do not get to use their ships unless I ally with them and help at every turn.

Yeah, three runs, three times lost capital to Scy.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Racnor on August 28, 2019, 01:00:20 PM
I haven't checked out scy yet and haven't had this problem. Blackrock has always kept at lest it's capital in my games, and not for lack of trying from the other factions.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ambient on August 28, 2019, 05:38:43 PM
Quote
What officer type would you consider right for one?

Timid and careless are cancer. Either go for an aggressive or steady one on an assault ship
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Taverius on August 28, 2019, 05:50:21 PM
Scaredy-cats work well on pure carriers and long range bombardment ships, though.

Blackdong dankyards doesn't reeeally have applicable ships though in a pinch they'll do on the big carrier with much a missiles if you load her with lrms.

I always fly the kark myself though, and keep a never, asura, shrimp or desdi i can switch into for smaller fights.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Nemo C on September 01, 2019, 08:41:24 PM
Hi all! I was wondering what your favorite ships were and how you use them.

I've started playing with some of this mod's ships recently and don't have much of an idea of what they're good at aside from things like the Anteaus or Scorpion.

I've tried the Asura but I'm not sure what it's supposed to be used against.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Taverius on September 02, 2019, 12:46:43 AM
If you want to git gud with Blackrock learn to fly the shrimp.

The Gonodactylus is one older ships in the fleet not only in lore but reality, and will learn you how to brdy by punishing you when you do it wrong in ways something like a scorpion or knight won't.

FYI Gonodactylus is the name of a Genus of Mantis Shrimp of the Smasher type, just like a real one to do well you need to learn how to smash.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Nemo C on September 03, 2019, 06:55:44 PM
BRDY Basics:
- Vent early, vent often.
- X key to hold fire for massive alpha strikes.
- Kill the little stuff first, then roll up the big stuff once the odds are in your favor.

The Desdinova, Nevermore, and Mantis are some of my favorite BRDY ships.
They all pretty much work like this; burst mobility coupled with the faction's signature fast venting and high burst/alpha damage means you get in, do some damage, then get out, vent, and repeat. Depending on your ability to time this cycle, you can flatly overwhelm anything that doesn't have the flux cap or armor to tank it. Bad shields mean you want to already be backing out as your flux approaches 75/80%; you can armor tank a bit, but expect to take some hull damage in any fair fight. So...

Make sure you don't fight fair.
On the fleet strategy level, Blackrock ships benefit from outnumbering an enemy either locally or fleet-to-fleet. Use speed and creative positioning to flank your enemy, kill off their lighter screening frigates and destroyers first, then start cornering and overwhelming cruisers and finally swarm capitals with fast, high-damage ships. Use mobility and vent speed to efficiently distribute damage you can't tank across your fleet. Blackrock weapons are designed for short, intense fights; that also means frigates and destroyers can 'punch up' with huge damage; a swarm of Blackrock frigates with Gale Cannons or Sunfires can quickly strip even capital armor. Even Shard Cannons can sand down armor, given time, and they overwhelm shield generators en masse.

Thanks for the advice!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Lolpingu on September 04, 2019, 03:20:15 PM
Hey, there seems to be a problem with the ferrogun and ferrocannon. They aren't appearing in any markets.
I tried to lower the tier and rarity to the minimum in weapon_data.csv and it didn't make a difference
Then I noticed that there's no .wpn file for either gun.
Same for gale battery.
I have no knowledge of modding starsector save for messing with weapon stats, so I don't know what are .wpn files, but I just thought that it might be the root of the problem since all the weapons that DO appear have a .wpn file.
Some help would be appreciated, triple ferrocannon karkinos is my fave :D
Edit: My mistake, seems like the ferros are referred to as "solenoid" in the files. Derp :P
Still, I've been playing for a while and still no ferros to be found anywhere. Something is off.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: radekplug on September 04, 2019, 10:16:05 PM
Do you try buleprints or fight their bigger ships it is posible that nexelin mess up markets, not blackrock mod it self.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Taverius on September 04, 2019, 10:50:22 PM
I've found ferros and a gale battery in my non-nex game.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: R.U.A on September 05, 2019, 03:33:35 AM
My friend met with a issue that dart SRM would chase phased ships, he wonder whether it's the SRM's feature or it's a bug.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Fokka on September 06, 2019, 08:23:32 AM
It's my first time to progress into warships and colonies, and I got Interdictor blueprint. Should I produce it as my fleet's carrier or should I go look for something like Astral? It will be twice as cheap for me, but Im concerned about lack of weapons and figher bays compared to other carriers.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Taverius on September 06, 2019, 09:14:42 AM
It's not a carrier, it's a battlecruiser. That's why it's cheaper than a full capital.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Fokka on September 06, 2019, 09:23:25 AM
It's not a carrier, it's a battlecruiser. That's why it's cheaper than a full capital.

It has burn level and supply consumption of battleship\carrier though. And by cheaper I mean that it costs less to produce on my own colony.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Lolpingu on September 06, 2019, 06:12:51 PM
Do you try buleprints or fight their bigger ships it is posible that nexelin mess up markets, not blackrock mod it self.
Nex could definitely be a problem. I'm also using Vayra's sector, not sure if can have any possible effect on markets but there it is

Also, I'm playing the faction rn and as any sensible Nex player would do, I abuse the "follow me!" function to take my faction's stompy patrol fleets and use them to smash stations and defense fleets. So, BRDY had loads of size 6+ military markets in my game, including a few captured HQs :D
As for blueprints, I've yet to find em. They're not part of the BRDY military blueprint package, so I assume they have to be found individually. 
Lastly, as I said, I abused the "follow me!" function quite a bit, so I've fought alongside several BRDY armadas and I kept an eye out for ferro-shots. Nothing.
Oh, and one more thing - I played with their rarity and tier so that they should basically appear as often as shredders, in open markets. Still nothing.
Weird.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Taverius on September 07, 2019, 03:08:54 AM
@Cycerin I'm not sure 2 small missile slots warrant the Cetonia having a full double the daily supply use of a Tarsus at 6/day vs 3, and a 50% fuel/ly surcharge on top.

Its actually weaker, defensively - better shields, but they're front-locked and thus useless in the only combat it will see, and the rest of the stats mainly balance out; better flux cap but weaker dissipation, better armor but weaker hull, the only standout is the speed which doesn't fully make up for the useless shields.

A mule is 7/day, and a Cetonia is pretty significantly weaker. Feels more like a 4 or a 5.

Edit: New asura is fun but its such a toy that its hard to justify keeping it around. I guess that balances the absurd damage output!

Still kinda ... ugh, there's no cruiser I really feel that does the 'line cruiser' thing well, the heavy is kinda meh. Yeah you have a large slot but it has to get close to use all those smalls anyway, really unsatisfying to build & use, I mean except when you press F, that's always fun. And the knight is still this sorta useful but wishy-washy thing that's on the slow side and with little range and poor flux. Its a strange world when a nevermore is the best line cruiser.

A man can get bored of spamming shard cannons on EVERY. SINGLE. SMALL SLOT. you know?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Zym on October 16, 2019, 06:14:55 PM
Great mod.

Some balance feedback:

I've been testing out Vespas with a multitude of carriers and they really are in a league of their own. Their speed allows them the highest DPS of all bombers I've tested while also cracking shields and armor equally well thanks to the fury torpedo's energy damage type and high per-hit damage. That they also sit at 20 OP a piece means it's hard to compete with them since every other competitor is either more expensive, slower or cannot deal with the multitude of threats that a Vespa can.

Their main weakness being that they are somewhat frail is often nullified by the system of the carrier using them, such as an Astral's teleportation system.

Some of my tests:
Astral vs Karkinos using 6 Vespas in the mission testing area: https://streamable.com/posmb
2 Astrals using 12 Vespas with Cathedral mine support vs 3 Remnant ordos at once (including a Nova at the end): https://streamable.com/oeein
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: CrixM on October 19, 2019, 01:57:19 AM
It's probably the fault of other mods, but a lot of the BRDY weapons won't ever spawn in markets, like the normal gale-cannon, large dart pod, IMN assault gun, voidspear MRMS, and a few others. I'm not sure what could be causing it.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Dudok22 on October 22, 2019, 06:48:01 AM
It's probably the fault of other mods, but a lot of the BRDY weapons won't ever spawn in markets, like the normal gale-cannon, large dart pod, IMN assault gun, voidspear MRMS, and a few others. I'm not sure what could be causing it.

It's a known bug, do this to fix it:


Add "brdy_wep_bp" to the \mods\Blackrock Drive Yards\data\world\factions\blackrock_driveyards.faction file in the knownWeapons like this

Code
"knownWeapons":{
"tags":["brdy_com_bp", "brdy_mil_bp", "brdy_rare", "brdy_wep_bp"],
"weapons":[
],
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: braciszek on October 29, 2019, 11:19:26 PM
I am addicted to this mod. BRDY ships and equipment favor a playstyle that i very much enjoy. With a Karkinos as my flagship, no capital ship's rear is safe from being obliterated. I typically favor controlling cruisers and capital ships, but the destroyers and frigates of BRDY are very fun to pilot with their ability to pack loads of firepower.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Starareo on December 09, 2019, 08:07:41 PM
Was going through ship_data.csv and it appears the Eschaton has the CARRIER, COMBAT hints instead of the Kurmaraja. Would this effect ship AI behavior?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Sunnyko on December 09, 2019, 10:40:51 PM
Any chance for support for commissioned crews?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: cathar on December 21, 2019, 04:49:10 AM
Hey, I'm working on a pirate reskin of the Karkinos for personal use in my pirate playthrough.

I am trying to recolor the effect of its teleport from green to red but can't get it right. I have recolored the fx pngs but it's still very much green. Which graphics/scripts do I need to edit to change the whole thing?

Not going to use this for a mod or anything by the way, just for my own playthrough and to learn some sprite editing. When I'm done you're welcome to use it if you like it of course.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Rezonga on February 12, 2020, 06:15:03 AM
Please make it so all the weapons and such show up in console commands when you search using brdy, It makes finding faction specific stuff so much easier when everything uses the same thing,
Some equipment cant be found by typing brdy, some only need the br, some equipment are just there by name like the voidspears, and a couple of weapons I couldn't find at all.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: mora on February 13, 2020, 12:23:21 AM
Please make it so all the weapons and such show up in console commands when you search using brdy, It makes finding faction specific stuff so much easier when everything uses the same thing,
Some equipment cant be found by typing brdy, some only need the br, some equipment are just there by name like the voidspears, and a couple of weapons I couldn't find at all.
Changing those breaks saves sadly, so it is very unlikely a modder will do that. Meanwhile, you can open up weapon_data.csv inside Blackrock Drive Yards\data\weapons folder and see every weapon ID.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: RoquetheRogue on February 14, 2020, 05:05:51 AM
Hello Cycerin and people!
This mod is decently crafted and even inspiring, some of the ships look amazing!

I have an issue with this mod, however, balancing issues, while playing it with NEX I think you were overly generous with BRDY Cycerin, their fleets are infinite and dangerous to colonies! BRDY isn't that huge to have like thousands of huge fleets, plus that Pristine Nano-Forge can even beat vanilla factions
I was comissioned into Tri-Tachyon and I took over the pirate Limbo planet in Rama, BRDY immediately took issue with me, despite it being a 3 factions planet, so they caused a war over it, they were at war with SCY and Kadur at the same time, the TTS garrison isn't that good, but what is the issue here is the amount of Fleets BRDY has!

I have a decent fleet, nothing that could stomp a station, but it can defeat most fleets, I must have destroyed easily 90 Blackrock drive yard fleets yesterday, they keep spewing out those medium Consortium Enforcers and huge System Protection Fleets as if it was that easy and minor patrols despite being constantly repulsed
They don't ceasefire either after taking so much attrition, not surprisingly, a Hegemony alliance declared war on Tri-Tachyon, so I'm fighting a senseless war with BRDY and defending against Hegemony at the same time, Hegemons can be repulsed back and take while to reconstruct, but BRDY constantly spawns huge fleets, these fleets have a inate ability to overpower Stations, any station, I was stalking Limbo and having recently built a Station there, Consortium Enforcer fleets that aren't even that capable of destroying Stations, (in game battle), can easily destroy stations if I don't join in to see them getting killed..

I could understand a lore reason for them to have like.. a huge army, but minor patrols being able to destroy stations is where I take issue.. is this a vanilla problem? can someone explain to me?
plus' F Hegedemonies satured my pristine nano-forge while I was busy in Rana

Blackrock Drive Yards does not have NEX diplomacy traits? is that a reason they can't Ceasefire?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ishman on February 14, 2020, 12:29:09 PM
Spoiler
Hello Cycerin and people!
This mod is decently crafted and even inspiring, some of the ships look amazing!

I have an issue with this mod, however, balancing issues, while playing it with NEX I think you were overly generous with BRDY Cycerin, their fleets are infinite and dangerous to colonies! BRDY isn't that huge to have like thousands of huge fleets, plus that Pristine Nano-Forge can even beat vanilla factions
I was comissioned into Tri-Tachyon and I took over the pirate Limbo planet in Rama, BRDY immediately took issue with me, despite it being a 3 factions planet, so they caused a war over it, they were at war with SCY and Kadur at the same time, the TTS garrison isn't that good, but what is the issue here is the amount of Fleets BRDY has!

I have a decent fleet, nothing that could stomp a station, but it can defeat most fleets, I must have destroyed easily 90 Blackrock drive yard fleets yesterday, they keep spewing out those medium Consortium Enforcers and huge System Protection Fleets as if it was that easy and minor patrols despite being constantly repulsed
They don't ceasefire either after taking so much attrition, not surprisingly, a Hegemony alliance declared war on Tri-Tachyon, so I'm fighting a senseless war with BRDY and defending against Hegemony at the same time, Hegemons can be repulsed back and take while to reconstruct, but BRDY constantly spawns huge fleets, these fleets have a inate ability to overpower Stations, any station, I was stalking Limbo and having recently built a Station there, Consortium Enforcer fleets that aren't even that capable of destroying Stations, (in game battle), can easily destroy stations if I don't join in to see them getting killed..

I could understand a lore reason for them to have like.. a huge army, but minor patrols being able to destroy stations is where I take issue.. is this a vanilla problem? can someone explain to me?
plus' F Hegedemonies satured my pristine nano-forge while I was busy in Rana

Blackrock Drive Yards does not have NEX diplomacy traits? is that a reason they can't Ceasefire?
[close]

None of this is an issue with BRDY - it's just how invasion fleets are in Nexerlin. I presume this is your first or second game of it, or you'd have experience with seeing that any invasion consists of half a dozen fleets the size of a pirate armada, except instead of crummy atlas Mk. II's they've got 10-15 of that faction's capitals.

I'm also presuming you haven't added many other mod factions, as Diable, SCY, II, DME, SRA, Neutrino, and Junk Pirates all have pristine nanoforges.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: RoquetheRogue on February 14, 2020, 01:27:14 PM
I used to be a textwall like you you, til I took a delete to the temple

Your presumptions are unfortunately wrong, I have been around, discord told me BRDY has these extra patrols because of their unique consortium building, which is like the Lion's in Askonia, my other issue was that minor patrols could RNG Stations and Fortresses and win which was a issue exarcebated by BRDY having extra patrols in the system of Rana

The the problem currently is more than that, it's because they can't call a ceasefire despite having several crushing defeats, they are not invading said system because they own it (which was added by this mod)
I have other Factions, Kadur, SCY, all active actors in that sub-sector of the Core Worlds, BRDY does not have those traits like all other factions in NEX, maybe they're not set for diplomacy? because someone told me factions in vanilla don't have the option to call for a ceasefire

Anyway, thank you for your time, I'll probably give up on that save and work better strategies.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Rezonga on February 20, 2020, 12:27:25 AM
Please make it so all the weapons and such show up in console commands when you search using brdy, It makes finding faction specific stuff so much easier when everything uses the same thing,
Some equipment cant be found by typing brdy, some only need the br, some equipment are just there by name like the voidspears, and a couple of weapons I couldn't find at all.
Changing those breaks saves sadly, so it is very unlikely a modder will do that. Meanwhile, you can open up weapon_data.csv inside Blackrock Drive Yards\data\weapons folder and see every weapon ID.
Well it's not like other modders haven't broken saves before, some of them seem to do it every 3 or so updates.
Well based on what others have said, The mod needs an update since some things just never appear in the market.
Might as well make the ID adjustments at the same time.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Vitya_Pinguinus on April 27, 2020, 06:15:26 AM
Whenever i research blackrock hull modification, it doesn't appear in the hull mod list, so i can't install it
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Wyvern on April 27, 2020, 09:44:26 AM
Whenever i research blackrock hull modification, it doesn't appear in the hull mod list, so i can't install it
Check that you've got the blackrock hull mod tag selected.  It'll frequently default to not, and then none of the mods show up.  (The ability to filter hull mods by tag is actually pretty useful when you have a lot of mods, but only if you actually know it's there.)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Vitya_Pinguinus on April 28, 2020, 01:39:24 AM
Whenever i research blackrock hull modification, it doesn't appear in the hull mod list, so i can't install it
Check that you've got the blackrock hull mod tag selected.  It'll frequently default to not, and then none of the mods show up.  (The ability to filter hull mods by tag is actually pretty useful when you have a lot of mods, but only if you actually know it's there.)
My god, you're right. Thank you so much for pointing that out :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cane on May 23, 2020, 12:17:55 AM
Hi, this is my favourite faction mod by a very long way. Everything about Blackrock is fantastic, and I commend you for your work on it.

I have, however, found something you should be aware of. Someone else noticed the same thing, on the previous page (https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=4018.msg268335#msg268335), and it appears to have gone unnoticed, so let me reiterate it here.

The Vespa is completely overpowered. It offers the most powerful unguided payload available outside of the Cobra Bomber, and it does so at several times the speed of its Reaper-class rival. The result is a torpedo dealing 2500 damage (plus 1500 EMP damage) travelling at speeds high enough to catch destroyers.

This alone is very strong, though not enough to be overpowered. In fact, the Vespa bombers are balanced in most cases through the following drawback:

Their flight path takes them directly into danger, so you are more likely to lose them than you are most other bombers. Even if they don’t die, their flight path leads them far away from your carrier, making them take a lot longer than most bombers to return to the ship. As a result of Vespas dying and taking a long time to return, your fighter reinforcement takes a beating. If you field Vespas, you spend a long time waiting for them to be ready again.

Unless you use the Vespas on the Astral.

Now you have 12 Vespas travelling faster than any other bomber, launching torpedoes faster than any other torpedo, each torpedo doing more damage than any other weapon save the Reaper, each torpedo almost impossible to evade and which PD systems can’t kill in time, fielded on a ship that can teleport the bombers straight back after they have finished their bombing run, completely negating the only weakness that renders them balanced.

12 Vespas. Dealing 30,000 damage. (https://streamable.com/posmb)

Two six-wing Vespa runs can kill an Onslaught from full shield and full health, and an officer-controlled Astral can land that 30,000 damage nuke over and over and over again.

This wasn’t playtested. It can’t have been.

To make the most of this broken combo, pair your Astral with a couple of lesser carriers using fighters and interceptors. These keep your Astral safe from enemy fighter wings, and they help by overloading the weapon and PD systems of your target enemy.

Well, at least you no longer have to Drover spam?

Anyway. Still, best mod ever. Sick work all around.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ishman on May 23, 2020, 09:23:59 AM
Spoiler
Hi, this is my favourite faction mod by a very long way. Everything about Blackrock is fantastic, and I commend you for your work on it.

I have, however, found something you should be aware of. Someone else noticed the same thing, on the previous page (https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=4018.msg268335#msg268335), and it appears to have gone unnoticed, so let me reiterate it here.

The Vespa is completely overpowered. It offers the most powerful unguided payload available outside of the Cobra Bomber, and it does so at several times the speed of its Reaper-class rival. The result is a torpedo dealing 2500 damage (plus 1500 EMP damage) travelling at speeds high enough to catch destroyers.

This alone is very strong, though not enough to be overpowered. In fact, the Vespa bombers are balanced in most cases through the following drawback:

Their flight path takes them directly into danger, so you are more likely to lose them than you are most other bombers. Even if they don’t die, their flight path leads them far away from your carrier, making them take a lot longer than most bombers to return to the ship. As a result of Vespas dying and taking a long time to return, your fighter reinforcement takes a beating. If you field Vespas, you spend a long time waiting for them to be ready again.

Unless you use the Vespas on the Astral.

Now you have 12 Vespas travelling faster than any other bomber, launching torpedoes faster than any other torpedo, each torpedo doing more damage than any other weapon save the Reaper, each torpedo almost impossible to evade and which PD systems can’t kill in time, fielded on a ship that can teleport the bombers straight back after they have finished their bombing run, completely negating the only weakness that renders them balanced.

12 Vespas. Dealing 30,000 damage. (https://streamable.com/posmb)

Two six-wing Vespa runs can kill an Onslaught from full shield and full health, and an officer-controlled Astral can land that 30,000 damage nuke over and over and over again.

This wasn’t playtested. It can’t have been.

To make the most of this broken combo, pair your Astral with a couple of lesser carriers using fighters and interceptors. These keep your Astral safe from enemy fighter wings, and they help by overloading the weapon and PD systems of your target enemy.

Well, at least you no longer have to Drover spam?

Anyway. Still, best mod ever. Sick work all around.
[close]

Astral's egregiously overpowered, any mod bomber can do the equivalent (seriously, just throw some other good bomber on to compare). The fury torpedo's ENERGY damage type confuses your impressions of it - it's effective enough against shields to force overloads and has enough per-hit damage to chew through the armor damage reduction calculation and expose bare hull - as is intended for it's all around nature.

Using mod weaponry outside of its faction is a silly comparison, it's simple to pair things together such that you remove weaknesses or enhance factional strengths to the point of something being broken.

Fighters are simply broken and shouldn't be used in balance discussions till the next version's changes are seen and mods update as needed.

Even more hilarious is the intimation that an entirely unscreened capital ship *should* be able to survive 12 wings of combined bombing damage output of *any* bomber that isn't a joke (piranha).

And just so we're clear about how broken fighters are - that astral's DP cost is *still* less effective than it's equivalent DP of drovers & sparks. Fighter Recall is bad, reserve deployment is broken.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Aereto on May 24, 2020, 10:08:21 PM
Spoiler
Hi, this is my favourite faction mod by a very long way. Everything about Blackrock is fantastic, and I commend you for your work on it.

I have, however, found something you should be aware of. Someone else noticed the same thing, on the previous page (https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=4018.msg268335#msg268335), and it appears to have gone unnoticed, so let me reiterate it here.

The Vespa is completely overpowered. It offers the most powerful unguided payload available outside of the Cobra Bomber, and it does so at several times the speed of its Reaper-class rival. The result is a torpedo dealing 2500 damage (plus 1500 EMP damage) travelling at speeds high enough to catch destroyers.

This alone is very strong, though not enough to be overpowered. In fact, the Vespa bombers are balanced in most cases through the following drawback:

Their flight path takes them directly into danger, so you are more likely to lose them than you are most other bombers. Even if they don’t die, their flight path leads them far away from your carrier, making them take a lot longer than most bombers to return to the ship. As a result of Vespas dying and taking a long time to return, your fighter reinforcement takes a beating. If you field Vespas, you spend a long time waiting for them to be ready again.

Unless you use the Vespas on the Astral.

Now you have 12 Vespas travelling faster than any other bomber, launching torpedoes faster than any other torpedo, each torpedo doing more damage than any other weapon save the Reaper, each torpedo almost impossible to evade and which PD systems can’t kill in time, fielded on a ship that can teleport the bombers straight back after they have finished their bombing run, completely negating the only weakness that renders them balanced.

12 Vespas. Dealing 30,000 damage. (https://streamable.com/posmb)

Two six-wing Vespa runs can kill an Onslaught from full shield and full health, and an officer-controlled Astral can land that 30,000 damage nuke over and over and over again.

This wasn’t playtested. It can’t have been.

To make the most of this broken combo, pair your Astral with a couple of lesser carriers using fighters and interceptors. These keep your Astral safe from enemy fighter wings, and they help by overloading the weapon and PD systems of your target enemy.

Well, at least you no longer have to Drover spam?

Anyway. Still, best mod ever. Sick work all around.
[close]

Astral's egregiously overpowered, any mod bomber can do the equivalent (seriously, just throw some other good bomber on to compare). The fury torpedo's ENERGY damage type confuses your impressions of it - it's effective enough against shields to force overloads and has enough per-hit damage to chew through the armor damage reduction calculation and expose bare hull - as is intended for it's all around nature.

Using mod weaponry outside of its faction is a silly comparison, it's simple to pair things together such that you remove weaknesses or enhance factional strengths to the point of something being broken.

Fighters are simply broken and shouldn't be used in balance discussions till the next version's changes are seen and mods update as needed.

Even more hilarious is the intimation that an entirely unscreened capital ship *should* be able to survive 12 wings of combined bombing damage output of *any* bomber that isn't a joke (piranha).

And just so we're clear about how broken fighters are - that astral's DP cost is *still* less effective than it's equivalent DP of drovers & sparks. Fighter Recall is bad, reserve deployment is broken.

Either way, I cannot help but watch the resulting carnage my faction fleet fields when I make the Vespa one of the bombers my faction uses after getting my hands on their blueprints. My flagship didn't get in on the early action in time, and they were just using cruiser carriers.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on May 26, 2020, 04:35:27 AM
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I think the Vespa needs adjustment but It's looking like the next update will come after the next vanilla update, 'cause I don't want to fork my wip stuff with the limited time and interest for Starsector modding I've had recently.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: mora on July 06, 2020, 12:04:20 PM
The 0-Series Nevermore is tagged as brdy-rare instead of brdy_rare (dash instead of underscore.) Because of this, the BRDY doesn't know it, making it unobtainable.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Chikanuk on July 07, 2020, 12:57:12 AM
Its maybe late, but i disagree with Vaspas being OP. With Astral many mod bombers is overpowered. Cuz imho its really hard to do mod wich will be balanced both on its own, with vanilla and with over mods at the same time (if not impossible).
Try Myrmidons for example (from Kadur mod if i remember correctly). With astral they 1shot any ship smaller than capital in one go, first torpedoes overcharge shield (even with pure HE damage) and rest just blow ship to pieces. And any capital with 50%+ flux will be destroyer in same way. In some late game fights i easy can deal 1k+ damage with this combo.
But put them on different carrier - and they suddenly become pretty mediocre, cuz they slow, cost 30 op and easy to target with big guns.
Sane with vespas - they pretty fragile and take wierd moving paths. Its just the fact, what astral negate weaknesses of most bombers.


P.S. I want space monsters!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Howkin on July 22, 2020, 04:37:41 PM
Any chance of support for Commissioned Crews (https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=16677.0) ?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Faeren on August 15, 2020, 03:04:37 PM
Small suggestion for the Hammerclaw, given it imparts so much force to the target that they are shoved backwards, it should also push back the Gonodactylus firing it.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ali on August 16, 2020, 04:12:50 AM
Missile does the knockback, not the ship, would not wan see that change sorry.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Faeren on August 20, 2020, 02:11:04 AM
Missile does the knockback, not the ship, would not wan see that change sorry.
Newton's third law.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: SirHartley on August 20, 2020, 02:28:36 AM
Missile does the knockback, not the ship, would not wan see that change sorry.
Newton's third law.

Missiles do not have recoil.
Since they have an engine assembly, they do not impart force onto a firing mechanism.

Of course, if the missile is ejected and then ignites, the ejection would cause recoil - but no more than a common gun, which also doesn't push back ships in Starsector to a noticeable degree.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Faeren on August 20, 2020, 02:24:37 PM
I stand corrected.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: SaberCherry on September 10, 2020, 11:07:05 AM
I was playing with this and Nexerlin and noticed that Blackrock ship prices are not affected by D-mods.  Other ship prices are, though.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Kaitol on September 13, 2020, 05:24:34 PM
So, recently decided to give BDY a proper playthrough with Nexerelin, since it's been almost a decade since the last time I gave it a thorough once-over, overall still great, still love the aesthetics (particularly the blinking lights and other lighting effects, very well done). There were a couple of minor things that bugged me though.

I've noticed the Imaginos kill itself from either full hull or close to it several times when using its ship system to teleport next to an enemy ship and both immediately exploding. I know it has resistance to ship explosions but it doesn't quite seem to be enough to save the AI from itself, so I usually just fly it myself in smaller battles or leave it undeployed. If possible I think adding a half-second of maybe 80% damage resistance after teleporting would probably solve it without unduly affecting balance? Unless your intention is for it to only really be a player-utilized ship.

This next one is a bit nit-picky, but I don't suppose there's any way to tweak things to disincentivize AI-controlled Blackrock fleets from deploying Hawkmoths and Eschatons instead of actual warships, is there? I've seen multiple fights they could have won if they'd just deployed their Karkinos at the start instead of a giant mass of Goblins, Robberflies, and logistics ships. Although the big example of this I'm thinking of might have partly been because the Eschaton was the flagship of the invasion fleet (despite not having an officer in command in battle, which is a little odd) and one Hawkmoth had an officer. I realize they're supposed to be reasonably capable combat ships, and it's great when they're in merchant fleets or can help out the fast patrols they're fueling, but in proper grand invasion and defense fleets, it's just kinda disheartening to see a pack of three Onslaughts charging forward and knowing you could have taken them on even terms if the AI had just bothered to deploy its capital ships, but they didn't, so you're just going to get hammered. I understand fleet selection might not be something people can really mess with, but I figured it was worth at least asking.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Alphascrub on September 21, 2020, 07:59:29 PM


I've noticed the Imaginos kill itself from either full hull or close to it several times when using its ship system to teleport next to an enemy ship and both immediately exploding. I know it has resistance to ship explosions but it doesn't quite seem to be enough to save the AI from itself, so I usually just fly it myself in smaller battles or leave it undeployed. If possible I think adding a half-second of maybe 80% damage resistance after teleporting would probably solve it without unduly affecting balance? Unless your intention is for it to only really be a player-utilized ship.



I cant speak for anyone else but whenever I use the Imaginos I generally use LRMs (Blot out the sun) to support it. Basically you fly with the LRMs and either use them as screening yourself or suck them in for a bit of damage. The AI seems to struggle with dealing incoming LRMs, Shooting you and shooting the LRMS. Its a bit risky cause you can pull LRMs into yourself with bad timing. Outsides of that it leaves the other ships unprepared for you jumping in out dropping damage into their unprotected rears as they generally consider the LRM swarms to be a greater threat than you. Your phase pull can even pull LRMS into them if time things just right. I use a ion cannon or a sunjet since between your speed, built in pd, and phase you shouldnt really need anymore defense. For me thats the most effective way to run the ship. It expensive to run but like most of BRDs ships pretty unique. The damage resistance your talking about might a bit much, but hey im not the one owns the mod so thats my two cents. Keep im mind the imaginos has probably one of the fastest vent rates in the entire game when combined with the right skills and hullmods. That alone is very powerful considering the ship and it special phase ability to absorb incoming damage and send it back at the enemy. It comes from a time where super frigates were all the rage in SS modding community. Its seen some balance passes like most if not all of the old super frigates that were created back then.
This is how I run it on my current play through. The playthrough is very modded in terms of factions and im running the all skilled up mod to uncap my levels.
(https://gyazo.com/017c58d046642d2ef8bce3a52f3d7c57)
https://gyazo.com/017c58d046642d2ef8bce3a52f3d7c57
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: SaberCherry on September 22, 2020, 05:47:26 PM
I'm running lots of carriers with variety of fighters, plus the Combat Analytics mod.  And so far, on any ship, Dipteron outperforms everything else in every battle.  On paper it looks like a slightly-better Talon with no OP cost or crew cost, but whether it's the Shredder's range or something else, it just beats everything.  E.g.  I've got an Astral with Spark, Lux, Piranha, Thunder, Ember, and Dipteron, and Dipteron wins in damage in each encounter.  Same on ships with other systems like Drover and Heron and some random non-vanilla carriers, whether competing with high-cost wings like Daggers or even  .  And it's particularly noticeable on Phaeton and Colossus, because the downsides of Converted Hangers (increased OP cost and crew losses) are completely negated by free drones.

Considering their performance, I'd still use them at a cost of 10 even if they were crewed, and maybe 15 uncrewed.  But maybe downgrading to a Light Shredder and raising the price to ~4 OP would fit better with its theme as being "Cheap and useful in swarms".
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on September 22, 2020, 06:13:01 PM
I bet you anything it's the weapon arc - most vanilla fighter weapons are fixed or have extremely small (5º) arcs - whereas most Blackrock fighters have 20º-30º weapon mounts. That means they can make a lot more marginal shots, and coupled with the burst-fire, higher projectile speed, and greater range, I could see that easily translating to a much higher average hit rate.

Now that BRDY includes a single-barrel Shredder, you can just swap it out in the files and see if halved firepower fixes anything.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: SaberCherry on September 22, 2020, 06:17:44 PM
I bet you anything it's the weapon arc - most vanilla fighter weapons are fixed or have extremely small (5º) arcs - whereas most Blackrock fighters have 20º-30º weapon mounts. That means they can make a lot more marginal shots, and coupled with the burst-fire, higher projectile speed, and greater range, I could see that easily translating to a much higher average hit rate.

Now that BRDY includes a single-barrel Shredder, you can just swap it out in the files and see if halved firepower fixes anything.
Oh, good suggestion, I'll try that and see if it changes the effectiveness.  I have not watched them closely in the simulator to see what's going on, but subjectively, in battle, it certainly seems like they are firing more often. 
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: SaberCherry on September 30, 2020, 04:44:39 PM
I bet you anything it's the weapon arc - most vanilla fighter weapons are fixed or have extremely small (5º) arcs - whereas most Blackrock fighters have 20º-30º weapon mounts. That means they can make a lot more marginal shots, and coupled with the burst-fire, higher projectile speed, and greater range, I could see that easily translating to a much higher average hit rate.

Now that BRDY includes a single-barrel Shredder, you can just swap it out in the files and see if halved firepower fixes anything.
That was indeed a very valuable post.  It was not immediately clear how to swap out one Shredder for the other because it used an alphanumeric code for the weapon - I probably could have looked it up, but instead, I changed the default 51.3 degree arc to 5.13 degrees.  That partially solved the problem.  Not totally - it's now kind of middle-of-the-pack, or maybe in the bottom 3rd, when competing with 8-12 OP manned fighters.  Still, a big improvement.  Next I'll try switching it to the Light Shredder as well.

I think fighters are very sensitive to projectile speed, though, because it is on the same order as fighter speed, and relative to the fighters' velocity rather than absolute, but it doesn't seem like the "should I fire now" calculations are done accordingly.  This is especially obvious for Warthogs armed with Light Mortars, which can't hit anything because it fires them while flying backwards and they simply don't make it to the target.  So high velocity weapons might make fighters much more deadly for purely AI reasons.  Sparks, with a sustained DPS of 64, don't seem particularly amazing on paper but they don't miss.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on October 01, 2020, 11:24:39 AM
Good posts, I think you're right about the Dipteron wing. 0 OP cost fighters need to be kind of trash to justify the fact you can just slap them on without thinking about it. I'll look it over and make adjustments to bring it in line. Might be the best call to make a reduced arc and single-barrel shredder as it will keep them reliable but greatly weaken their ship killing potential, I like keeping them OP free (or maybe bump to 1 OP cost, depending)

I would also think the large amount of raw, but often inconsequential frag damage inflates the numbers in the combat analytics mod a bit, but on the other hand I haven't used that mod much. But if you are using it as the main way to measure performance, I figured it was worth mentioning

I was playing with this and Nexerlin and noticed that Blackrock ship prices are not affected by D-mods.  Other ship prices are, though.

Bizarre, couldn't reproduce this one so I must have fixed it at some point
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Modo44 on October 01, 2020, 10:25:09 PM
Free "trash" drones" also a) allow for easy point defence saturation so your carriers can bring 100% Vespas, and 2) allow for way stronger builds on ships with 1-2 wing slots by simply saving OP while still bringing something. Free weapons of any kind tend to break balance.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Harmful Mechanic on October 02, 2020, 01:03:03 PM
I think the arc is fine, but bumping up the cost to 1 OP is a good idea because it solves the main issue of 0 OP fighters; one wing and many wings having the same cost. This way, with the single Shredder it's still useful to have one wing, and the cost scales with effectiveness. Lower DPS is offset by a higher hit rate and greater range... Should hit the sweet spot.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: SaberCherry on October 02, 2020, 09:54:11 PM
I would also think the large amount of raw, but often inconsequential frag damage inflates the numbers in the combat analytics mod a bit, but on the other hand I haven't used that mod much. But if you are using it as the main way to measure performance, I figured it was worth mentioning
The analytics mod takes type into account (or rather, it probably ignores type and just intercepts the numbers); you can see this because for example a single Hammer Torpedo hit will do 750 shield damage, but much more ship damage (it does not distinguish between armor and hull when tracking ship damage).  It's a really useful mod for evaluating performance; I just wish it could track the simulator, too.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: MesoTroniK on October 03, 2020, 12:23:01 PM
The analytics mod takes type into account (or rather, it probably ignores type and just intercepts the numbers); you can see this because for example a single Hammer Torpedo hit will do 750 shield damage, but much more ship damage (it does not distinguish between armor and hull when tracking ship damage).  It's a really useful mod for evaluating performance; I just wish it could track the simulator, too.
More like it constantly feeds you mis- and dis-information...

It cannot detect EMP arcs, AOE damage, scripted damage (even vanilla scripted damage), scripted submunitions, and does not handles beams against shields very well. The amounts of things it will not analyze correctly is simply staggering even just with vanilla, and even more so adding in mods.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Avanitia on October 03, 2020, 01:44:44 PM
Some weapons are bugged entirely as well.
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/i67zLmm.png)
[close]

As you can see here Plasma Cannon shows as if it dealt 0 damage, even though ship used it in battle to kill multiple enemy ships.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: IonDragonX on November 07, 2020, 11:06:19 AM
@Cycerin
I love the mod ever since I saw it on WadeStar's youtube promo.

Question: is it possible to start a campaign & have the Blackrock homeworld in a random location? Right now its to the SE of core but could it be NE, NW or SW? It would make new campaigns less predictable.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Sedrido on December 04, 2020, 10:22:27 PM
honestly the imaginos is WAY to frail for 12 dp  horrible flux armor and hull is not a good combination no matter how op its systems are as it is now it just gets bodied either make it able to take a couple hits so it can back off for another run or buff its flux efficency massivley so it can run around like a little gremlin and shoot its gun for more than a second or perhaps a little of both other than that its an amazing mod imo  :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Stealth on December 29, 2020, 02:18:09 PM
Is there a list of all ships available?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: ProfessionalHuman on March 30, 2021, 02:58:31 PM
Hello Cycerin! Thanks for all your hard work on this mod! I almost can't play without it. Is there any plans to update it for current version of the game (0.95a)?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: an_undesirable on March 30, 2021, 04:47:34 PM
Hello Cycerin! Thanks for all your hard work on this mod! I almost can't play without it. Is there any plans to update it for current version of the game (0.95a)?

Echoing this, I really enjoy playing with Blackrock and all the cool ships and weapons, hoping to see it in 0.95a!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cyan Leader on March 30, 2021, 07:04:50 PM
Yup, Blackrock is by far the best faction mod in my opinion. I would really appreciate if you could take the time to update it for us, please!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on March 30, 2021, 07:55:51 PM
Hey, I'm planning on updating for 0.9.5. I gotta finish polishing and consolidating the stuff from the sporadic work on the mod since last time + the compatibility, some nods to new features if I can make time, and inevitable bugfixing. So I don't really know how long it will take. Hopefully not too long.

Check out an upcoming ship in the meantime. ;D
(https://i.imgur.com/h5dnZBG.png)
The Ogre-class battlecruiser. No frills on this one, just Burst Jets, forward facing firepower and the ability to not fundamentally suck in AI hands, although I hope the shipsystem AI used on the new Hyperion can help the Karkinos in that regard... haven't checked yet.

Apart from that, the update will have the backlog of much needed fixes to broken things, updated sprites, reworked ships, fighters and weapons, and some cool new fluff like a custom impl of MagicThruster for all burst-jet ships that gives RCS thruster-style dynamic visuals while the system is active.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Concrete on March 30, 2021, 10:00:10 PM
Great news.
Though years passed between my initial purchase of Starsector and when I reinstalled it a few versions later to try it modded for the first time, it was seeing a short clip of game footage featuring BRDY that led me to investigate the game in the beginning.
AI issues aside, and while I'm enjoying playing vanilla for the first time in a long time; it just doesn't feel like Starsector without BRDY.
As I hadn't ever wandered the forums before now and came to check if there was any news here, thought I'd toss out my compliments while I'm at it.
Looking forward to seeing the changes, regardless of how long they take to cook up.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: dostillevi on March 30, 2021, 10:03:54 PM
Really excited to hear an update is in the works! This remains one of my favorite ship mods. It always has a place in my modlist.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Achilles42x on March 30, 2021, 11:05:21 PM
Hurray! Playing Vanilla and was hoping this one would come out so I can start a new game. New to the game but love the look
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Patrick Swayze on March 31, 2021, 05:38:10 AM
Hey, I'm planning on updating for 0.9.5. I gotta finish polishing and consolidating the stuff from the sporadic work on the mod since last time + the compatibility, some nods to new features if I can make time, and inevitable bugfixing. So I don't really know how long it will take. Hopefully not too long.

Check out an upcoming ship in the meantime. ;D
(https://i.imgur.com/h5dnZBG.png)
The Ogre-class battlecruiser. No frills on this one, just Burst Jets, forward facing firepower and the ability to not fundamentally suck in AI hands, although I hope the shipsystem AI used on the new Hyperion can help the Karkinos in that regard... haven't checked yet.

Apart from that, the update will have the backlog of much needed fixes to broken things, updated sprites, reworked ships, fighters and weapons, and some cool new fluff like a custom impl of MagicThruster for all burst-jet ships that gives RCS thruster-style dynamic visuals while the system is active.

That looks like an awesome chunky piece of kit!!

Question about the not too distant future release for BRDY.

Will you be balancing for fun and the things that make BRDY really stand out as a mod for a single player, or will you be balancing around the fleet based tournaments that happen for streamers?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: braciszek on March 31, 2021, 05:42:52 AM
BRDY was one of the first mods I've ever used, and it has since been one of my favorites. I look forward to when you are ready to release the 0.95a BRDY update.  :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Phoenixheart on March 31, 2021, 01:19:03 PM
Looking forward to the update, BRDY is one of my favorites as well.

Cycerin - I sent you a PM a while back, but I know the forum is not great at displaying that you have a message, I'm curious what your answer is!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Jabroni Pepperoni on April 03, 2021, 07:38:05 PM
I am PUMPED UP for this to be updated OHH YEEEAHH. BRDY is the CREAM that rises to the top, because IT IS the CREAM of the CROP

Seriously though I love this mod. Thanks for all the hard work and effort put into it.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Rap1d on April 04, 2021, 08:05:22 AM
Oh I can't wait! I love this mod so much.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Helldiver on April 04, 2021, 08:59:23 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/h5dnZBG.png)

That's a beefy ship, the sprite looks super good.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Dex on April 05, 2021, 10:38:17 AM
Yep, that battlecruiser is pretty sexy.

My question is this:

Does it have generous logistical stats like the odyssey?

I infer from 'Ogre' that its more 'hulk smash' than 'mom hold my icecream'

I see no evidence of drones or fighter bays, and i imagine you would have mentioned as such.

Anyway, im waiting for blackrock for my second run of 95, not saying this as a 'hurry up' but as a 'your mod is important'.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Tale on April 06, 2021, 11:00:19 PM
we wanna hunting quests for monsters !!! : D if you add it your mod will be the most unique here
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Sabaton on April 07, 2021, 08:03:04 AM
The framework added by the flying doritos would fit the nanomachines void beasts idea like a glove, any plans for that?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on April 07, 2021, 02:52:20 PM
There are no plans for that at the moment. Who knows though. I am keeping the scope low and manageable for the update, and low and manageable for future content and maintenance.

Modding requires that special surplus energy that I just don't have on most days, anymore. Right now, it's just something to plug away at now and then. And it'll stay that way for the foreseeable future.

And thanks, to everyone who posted just to show appreciation that the mod isn't dead ;D

I infer from 'Ogre' that its more 'hulk smash' than 'mom hold my icecream'

I mean, being a BC it's more bark than bite when it meets another big dog. But it's very efficient at being a battlecruiser. It's balanced around being mobile, but vulnerable to flanking. Stats are quite average across the board. Narrow front shield = biggest weakness. Built in PD (like Antaeus) = biggest perk.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Dex on April 07, 2021, 03:15:10 PM
mobile is my jam. Smash efficiency overhaul on that an blind jump into a neutron star.

Can you share the dp cost? i mean odyssey is 45.... and BR is traditionally a LITTLE expensive... 48?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: braciszek on April 07, 2021, 03:46:31 PM
I'm patient and I'm not going to ask much for an update. Bug fixes, balance changes, and some new faction gear that is the new BC is nice enough. I'm also very excited for the updated sprites. I don't know which ones you have remade - something like the convergence looks really nice but it's technically slanted to the left and not true top-down, which is off from everything else. Otherwise your art is great, and the new Ogre that you have posted is exemplary. I'm hoping some of the older sprites will have similar updated quality.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: ApolloStarsector on April 07, 2021, 05:47:14 PM
Hype for the update. Thanks Cycerin for the beautiful and much appreciated mod. We understand that you have a life and that it takes time and energy to mod/update :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Sabaton on April 07, 2021, 10:21:15 PM
There are no plans for that at the moment. Who knows though. I am keeping the scope low and manageable for the update, and low and manageable for future content and maintenance.

Modding requires that special surplus energy that I just don't have on most days, anymore. Right now, it's just something to plug away at now and then. And it'll stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Yeah, keeping it low is a good idea given how unstable development is... I mean every major update causes a ruckus.

And I feel you on the lack of energy, it ain't the 2010's anymore....hell yours and shadowy's mods are the only ones still around of all the older mods and they're rock solid as they are.

Good luck out there starfarer.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on April 08, 2021, 06:53:29 PM
Thanks again all. <3

mobile is my jam. Smash efficiency overhaul on that an blind jump into a neutron star.

Can you share the dp cost? i mean odyssey is 45.... and BR is traditionally a LITTLE expensive... 48?

I mean it isnt strictly final yet. I'm aiming for something close to the Odyssey though. 40-50. Depends on how strong it feels in testing

Quote
hell yours and shadowy's mods are the only ones still around of all the older mods

Yeah RIP to so many classic faction mods at this point. Junk Pirates I hope never dies though. That's liek the grandfather of all faction mods.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: joppe_k on April 09, 2021, 02:36:34 AM
There are no plans for that at the moment. Who knows though. I am keeping the scope low and manageable for the update, and low and manageable for future content and maintenance.

Modding requires that special surplus energy that I just don't have on most days, anymore. Right now, it's just something to plug away at now and then. And it'll stay that way for the foreseeable future.

And thanks, to everyone who posted just to show appreciation that the mod isn't dead ;D

Yeah, understandable! Creating and maintaining a big, popular mod can be a huge time and energy sink I'd imagine. IMHO Blackrock doesn't need a lot of new, shiny stuff; it's already got a wealth of awesome ships and content! I'd be happy with the most minimal of compatibility update to 0.95a and anything beyond that is just extra frosting on the Blackrock cake. :D
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: borgrel on April 10, 2021, 08:01:27 AM
Hammerclaw is currently a boobooo

909258 [Thread-4] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain  - java.lang.AbstractMethodError: data.scripts.weapons.HammerclawOnHitEffect.onHit(Lcom/fs/starfarer/api/combat/DamagingProjectileAPI;Lcom/fs/starfarer/api/combat/CombatEntityAPI;Lorg/lwjgl/util/vector/Vector2f;ZLcom/fs/starfarer/api/combat/listeners/ApplyDamageResultAPI;Lcom/fs/starfarer/api/combat/CombatEngineAPI;)V
java.lang.AbstractMethodError: data.scripts.weapons.HammerclawOnHitEffect.onHit(Lcom/fs/starfarer/api/combat/DamagingProjectileAPI;Lcom/fs/starfarer/api/combat/CombatEntityAPI;Lorg/lwjgl/util/vector/Vector2f;ZLcom/fs/starfarer/api/combat/listeners/ApplyDamageResultAPI;Lcom/fs/starfarer/api/combat/CombatEngineAPI;)V
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.entities.Missile.notifyDealtDamage(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.o0OO.A.O0OO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.o0OO.oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.o0OO.oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advanceInner(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatState.traverse(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$1.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
909641 [Thread-10] INFO  sound.O  - Creating streaming player for music with id [Exigency(3.0Remix).ogg]
909641 [Thread-10] INFO  sound.null  - Playing music with id [Exigency(3.0Remix).ogg]
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on April 10, 2021, 08:29:45 AM
Expected crash from API break due to 0.9.5a update to OnHitEffect (i mean, the mod isnt stated to work with 0.9.5 yet anyway)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: uzsibox on April 22, 2021, 10:24:44 AM
hello, when can we expect an update?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on April 22, 2021, 11:50:26 AM
When the update is ready ;)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: okj on April 23, 2021, 03:39:53 AM
Expected crash from API break due to 0.9.5a update to OnHitEffect (i mean, the mod isnt stated to work with 0.9.5 yet anyway)
Well played lol, the mod version tricked me
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Euripides on April 23, 2021, 09:29:30 AM
Someone else has already released a working version of blackrock, it's floating around in a megaupload somewhere
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Szasz on April 23, 2021, 01:04:04 PM
And thanks, to everyone who posted just to show appreciation that the mod isn't dead ;D
So here is more water to the ocean.

I personally think the looks, threat and the music of the introduced faction creates a superb atmosphere even if I decided to drop it due to the overloud immersion breaking yelling sound that the biggest ship makes.
Would absolutely use it again if that sound gets tweaked or updated to fall in line with, well, space tech.

Overloading enemies with beams is not a viable tactic in vanilla. Hit and run with them is outright impossible. BRDY brings that to life with risks if overreaching which is cool.

Regarding the poll: space monsters all the way. There is nothing organic lurking in the depths of space that would totally fit this mod. You all gotta love blasting tendrils and bleeding flesh that may even require vastly different louadouts/tactics.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: uzsibox on April 24, 2021, 01:09:34 AM
When the update is ready ;)

every day i refresh this page. its bookmarked. i cannot sleep all i ever think about is ramming with a nevermore.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cyan Leader on May 02, 2021, 06:37:21 AM
Update aside, any plans on making a Blackrock themed station?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: unlimitfai on May 03, 2021, 08:19:50 PM
Gotta say, your mod is probably my favourite amount all the factions mod in the forum  8) Keep up the good work!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: G-Prime on May 04, 2021, 05:54:00 PM
First post here, joined just to say that I love this mod so much I consider it every bit as necessary as Nexerelin. I can't play without it. I love your ships so much they make up the core of my fleet. The art is great, the music's fantastic, the weapons are cool, the ships are fun to pilot, and the flavor is just top-notch. I just love the concept of a corporation that is so concerned with whether they could, that they didn't think about whether they should; or to be more precise, thought about whether they should, then someone said "what are you, a ***?" and long story short they accidentally created artificial life by unleashing competing grey goo events on a gas giant that are so adaptable and viciously competitive that they've created an honest-to-god ecosystem and they're not entirely sure whether or not to nuke the entire surface, or just keep studying it and use the data for more nefarious ***.

My flagship is always a Nevermore. Because if your ship isn't basically a stripped-out Chevy van strapped to a reactor/main weapon that is powered by crimes against reality itself, why the *** are you bothering to show up?

Really looking forward to whatever you've got in store for the final release. That new ship looks great. ("We have a gap in our fleet doctrine" "Just strap a ****ton of guns to something and give it burst jets" "PROMOTE THAT MAN")
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Adventuredude on May 05, 2021, 10:13:42 AM
favorite mod for this game, I keep an install of 0.9.1a just to play this whenever I feel like it


KARKINOS!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: captshetz on May 13, 2021, 09:20:42 PM
And thanks, to everyone who posted just to show appreciation that the mod isn't dead ;D
So here is more water to the ocean.

I personally think the looks, threat and the music of the introduced faction creates a superb atmosphere even if I decided to drop it due to the overloud immersion breaking yelling sound that the biggest ship makes.
Would absolutely use it again if that sound gets tweaked or updated to fall in line with, well, space tech.

Overloading enemies with beams is not a viable tactic in vanilla. Hit and run with them is outright impossible. BRDY brings that to life with risks if overreaching which is cool.

Regarding the poll: space monsters all the way. There is nothing organic lurking in the depths of space that would totally fit this mod. You all gotta love blasting tendrils and bleeding flesh that may even require vastly different louadouts/tactics.

I created an account here to show support for BRDY!  I check the forums and the discord daily hoping for a BRDY update. Serious hype!!

As for the "yelling" the biggest ship makes, I think it is the hyperspace jump sound from the old Ambrosia software game "Ares," which seems like it has a lot in common with Starsector.

https://youtu.be/xlctP88_rvM?t=1543 (https://youtu.be/xlctP88_rvM?t=1543)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Phoenixheart on May 24, 2021, 02:11:56 PM
Huh, Ares looks like an early precursor to their Escape Velocity games, which I grew up playing as a wee lad.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: DownTheDrain on May 24, 2021, 04:54:57 PM
Every time I see this thread bumped I have a brief moment of excitement before realizing that it's not the update.
The v0.9.5a patch number in the title certainly doesn't help either.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ramiel on May 29, 2021, 06:15:31 PM
An awesome faction, but, WOW....that Karkinos is op....especially against Royal Azalea, it just devours their CR....
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Patrick Swayze on June 01, 2021, 09:49:27 AM
Awaiting that new chonky BRDY ship eagerly.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: filip1323 on June 06, 2021, 10:43:38 AM
Question, when is this mod going to be updated for 0.95a?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: filip1323 on June 06, 2021, 10:52:01 AM
Don t mind me I am stupid.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: rhiot on June 06, 2021, 10:27:26 PM
When I try to run this with the current version of Starsector (0.9.5a) the mod says it requires 0.9.1, and I cant tell it to load.  Is this an error with the updated mod itself? or have I done something wrong?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: DownTheDrain on June 06, 2021, 10:47:47 PM
When I try to run this with the current version of Starsector (0.9.5a) the mod says it requires 0.9.1, and I cant tell it to load.  Is this an error with the updated mod itself? or have I done something wrong?

Did you somehow miss all those posts begging for an update?

On a more serious note, Blackrock Drive Yards has not been updated for 0.95a yet. The "v0.9.5a" in the title is the version of the mod, not the version of the game it's built for. Kind of an unfortunate coincidence and you're not the only one that fell for it.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on June 07, 2021, 04:16:13 AM
The first thing in the thread title is [0.9.1.a], there is also (10.06.2019) showing the mod has not been updated in years. The download link in the OP says "Download blackrock for starsector 0.9.1a". I agree that the mod/game version overlap is confusing, but yeah... I didnt wanna edit the thread title cause that might cause someone else to think the update is out lmao

Edited the DL link in the OP to say not compatible with latest version.

And work is progressing on the update, just slowly. Life is life.

(https://i.imgur.com/2MVumil.png)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Tecrys on June 07, 2021, 07:00:30 AM
Very nice sneak peek!
Take your time, life and your health always comes first. Thank you for all your hard work  ;D
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: _Dividebyzero_ on June 07, 2021, 10:09:09 AM
Cycerin, Ive been following your awesome work (music, modding) since the days of Battleships Forever. I just wanted to say that your work has always been an inspiration to me. Take it easy and good luck with life. :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: ProfessionalHuman on August 01, 2021, 06:43:38 PM
New ships look cool! Can't wait for the update!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Muffinut on August 05, 2021, 01:15:42 AM
Want to chip in to say: this is the one mod I consider essential. Even if the faction gets wiped before any other in all my campaigns, this is by far my favorite faction. I'll play 0.95a when this is ready. Thank you!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Pinkledwrenis on August 18, 2021, 11:22:37 AM
I made an account just to agree with the previous poster. Blackrock is essential to any modded play through. With the release of .95 I have been waiting for Blackrock to update to start my run. BRDY is a must for anyone looking for additional factions to add to their game. Thanks for the great mod and I hope to see the update soon!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Nemo on August 30, 2021, 08:14:07 AM
So glad to hear that you're still working on an update! I love BRDY so much, so I'm really looking forward to playing with them in a new update!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Mira Lendin on September 03, 2021, 09:21:09 PM
Can't wait
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n4zkdfKUAE&ab_channel=JakeTran
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Algoul on September 07, 2021, 09:48:43 AM
God damn man, your soundtrack is good.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Punkinguy on September 08, 2021, 12:49:32 AM
Can't wait
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n4zkdfKUAE&ab_channel=JakeTran
I guess we really are headed into the starsector universe, cant wait to charge a paragon into a [REDACTED] in the future
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: GaldorOfNihelm on September 13, 2021, 12:57:28 PM
The first thing in the thread title is [0.9.1.a], there is also (10.06.2019) showing the mod has not been updated in years. The download link in the OP says "Download blackrock for starsector 0.9.1a". I agree that the mod/game version overlap is confusing, but yeah... I didnt wanna edit the thread title cause that might cause someone else to think the update is out lmao

Edited the DL link in the OP to say not compatible with latest version.

And work is progressing on the update, just slowly. Life is life.

(https://i.imgur.com/2MVumil.png)

Im looking forward to the update so much, Blackrock is by far my favorite faction and its such a shame to play the game without it, so im just patiently waiting before I start my next playthrough again, love your work, take your time man, youre doing amazing
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Ramiel on September 13, 2021, 04:45:05 PM
...out of curiosity, how would space monsters even work? There was an interesting mod that added snake-like ships and punching ships....would it be something like that?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: TalRaziid on September 14, 2021, 01:42:45 PM
In the hopes of not reading multiple pages back, does the 9.5a download work-but-its-buggy or not at all, or?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Killsode on September 14, 2021, 03:51:36 PM

In the hopes of not reading multiple pages back, does the 9.5a download work-but-its-buggy or not at all, or?

oh no, its not the version for starsector: 0.9.5a the mods version ITSELF is 0.9.5a
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Oni on September 14, 2021, 05:10:18 PM

In the hopes of not reading multiple pages back, does the 9.5a download work-but-its-buggy or not at all, or?

oh no, its not the version for starsector: 0.9.5a the mods version ITSELF is 0.9.5a
... That, is an impressive coincidence.  8)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: McTrigger on September 16, 2021, 09:25:24 PM
Yeah I fell for the thread mirage title too and made me re-install update all mods. Now I'm sad  :'(
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: Cycerin on September 25, 2021, 06:10:25 AM
Hey all. I've had to stop working on this for a while for personal, work and health reasons. :(

Sorry if this is disappointing news, it is to me as well. But that's life.

It warms to read your kind words and see that people miss the mod. I miss it too in a way, well, not the mod itself but just the feeling of being able to have fun working on it unburdened. I just wanna make some cool spaceships, weapons and sound effects, as I always have. In a way that's why BRDY became such an enduring mod, it was always just easier for me to channel some of that tinkering energy into it rather than start over with what I'd learned and make something with less constraints, even though I have wanted to do that at points.

But I think I've reached a tipping point now where all the old content's flaws bothers me to an extent that I can't just barrel on past it, and well... things required a lot more work than I anticipated. And that's just the piece of the puzzle that has to do with the mod itself. When you add external factors it just became impossible for me to keep going right now.

So I'll be back later.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: jyjakafe on September 25, 2021, 06:36:07 AM
Thank you for providing such a wonderful mod and so many hours of enjoyment to the community
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: lili on September 25, 2021, 08:00:10 AM
I hope everything goes well, I really like this mod!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: IonDragonX on September 25, 2021, 09:21:37 AM
Hey all. I've had to stop working on this for a while for personal, work and health reasons. :(  ... ... ... So I'll be back later.
I feel for you. "2020 & 2021" is all that need to be said. Here's to hoping that joy & energy returns to you. You go take care of real life and come back to the hobby later.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Sundog on September 25, 2021, 04:28:41 PM
<3
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: SpaceDrake on September 25, 2021, 09:51:35 PM
Yeah, like, whenever I see people saying things like "why aren't all the mods updated for .95 yet?!?!" my only reply is to gesture broadly. Anyone would be worn down by what's going on right now.

I hope your health and work situation improves, Cycerin! I'm very familiar with what it feels like to have work pressing in on you alongside, well, All This.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Alex on September 27, 2021, 10:36:34 AM
Good luck - wishing you all the best! Hope things calm down and improve in all the areas of your life that need it. <3

(It's sure been a couple of years for "external factors"...)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Psycho Landlord on September 27, 2021, 10:46:11 AM
Your mod is excellent and I'm very happy with the time I spent with it over the years. Please take care of yourself, friend.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on September 27, 2021, 11:34:42 AM
You all taking the time to drop by and say these things, it means a lot to me. Thank you.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Korczak on September 27, 2021, 12:14:21 PM
Hey, I'm not a regular in Starsector community, but I've been playing the game since it was called Starfarer. Since 0.95a was released, I have been checking this thread once or twice a week because I have great memories with your mod - it's excellent job. Thank you for all your efforts. I wish you all the best.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards v0.9.5a (10.06.2019) - Hotfix released
Post by: the volkflower on September 27, 2021, 09:07:44 PM
Hey all. I've had to stop working on this for a while for personal, work and health reasons. :(

Sorry if this is disappointing news, it is to me as well. But that's life.

It warms to read your kind words and see that people miss the mod. I miss it too in a way, well, not the mod itself but just the feeling of being able to have fun working on it unburdened. I just wanna make some cool spaceships, weapons and sound effects, as I always have. In a way that's why BRDY became such an enduring mod, it was always just easier for me to channel some of that tinkering energy into it rather than start over with what I'd learned and make something with less constraints, even though I have wanted to do that at points.

But I think I've reached a tipping point now where all the old content's flaws bothers me to an extent that I can't just barrel on past it, and well... things required a lot more work than I anticipated. And that's just the piece of the puzzle that has to do with the mod itself. When you add external factors it just became impossible for me to keep going right now.

So I'll be back later.

Take your time, that's all.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Patrick Swayze on September 28, 2021, 01:30:44 AM
Hey Cycerin,

...Look after yourself! Can't say I'm not sad to see BRDY (I pronounce that Brody in my head) go on hiatus but look after yourself. Burnout is tough, best to avoid it at all costs. I've been playing BRDY nearly as long as it's inception and its a staple amongst my used mods; I think it's legacy extends beyond the best of the mods into the very essence of StarSector itself. I really do hope BRDY exists for StarSector come v1.0 but I would much rather you use what energy you have into maintaining your personal and professional life in some seriously trying times. You've worked on BRDY much longer than some devs work on professional games and for that... I'm grateful. Thanks for the awesome grey, green and orange spaceships that I've spent more time playing with than some AAA space games.

Take care!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: MShadowy on September 29, 2021, 09:30:03 AM
Ah damn. I've been so busy I hadn't even realized this had happened. Take as long a break as you need, Cyc.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Ishman on September 30, 2021, 10:08:18 AM
Stay safe, stay happy, and take care of your mental health.

I hope conditions improve, but don't let working on this mod be a source of stress for you - your work's fantastic, and the satisfaction of having enjoyed it in the past is good nuff.

G'luck out there <3
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Concrete on October 01, 2021, 09:32:31 AM
Best of luck in all your endeavors, be they here or anywhere else. Taking a break is a worthy endeavor itself and one that is often overlooked. Be well.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Time4Miracle on October 02, 2021, 10:36:15 PM
I made a forum account just to say I love Blackrock and it has been my favorite faction mod since I discovered starsector. I've loved the many hours I spent piloting and playing with the ships and look forward to being able to do so again one day.

Thanks for a wonderful mod, wishing you the best of luck in everything you've got going on. Take care!

Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: LoweN on October 03, 2021, 08:27:54 PM
BRDY has always been my favorite mod. I wish you the best of luck with all the real life stuff you're dealing with.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: rashiakas on October 04, 2021, 08:52:47 AM
Still my favorite mod, from the beautiful sprites, the excellent sound effects and music, the innovative and fun ship systems - everything is on such a high level of quality it's insane that this is a free mod, so thank you very much for all your efforts and I hope you will find the time and passion for modding again!
Title: Weegee board says:
Post by: Network Pesci on October 04, 2021, 10:39:38 AM
Cycerin, I'm sorry to hear about this.  BRDY was my favorite mod of all time, and even if I never did get to fight them fellows on page 72, I still got my money's worth from that donation that one time.  Thanks for creating several full-priced mainstream triple-A games' worth of content for us, for free.  I said it before, BRDY was the Zero Hour to vanilla's Generals, the Shivering Isles to vanilla's Oblivion, and you handed it out like it was coupons.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: 6chad.noirlee9 on October 05, 2021, 04:29:09 AM
Well done and heres hoping for a future well do for all your endeavors.
Thanks for the great vibes and cool content.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: default on October 07, 2021, 01:58:56 PM
I don't mind that BRDY won't be updated in a long while. Everybody needs to walk away from things every now and again. We all have internal and external struggles. If you need to take a break, then do so. Here's to hoping it will be worked on at some point in the future, but take all the time you need.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Mira Lendin on October 07, 2021, 03:44:04 PM
The biggest plot twist here will be that once you decide to update this mod Alex will release the next version of SS
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: jeffg10 on October 24, 2021, 04:02:36 AM
Blackrock holds the distinguished honor of being one of the only mods I will ALWAYS grab, even if I have to risk the game crashing by jerry-rigging it or making other mods incompatible just to have it, it's just that good, and it will ALWAYS have the top place in my mods folder, and in my heart!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Mira Lendin on October 28, 2021, 10:05:15 AM
Whitepaper Stop Yard
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Muffinut on December 03, 2021, 08:32:08 PM
Another comment hopping on the "I love you and BDY" wagon. Whenever you update this, I'll be playing it again. One of the best mods of any game, and absolutely even deserves to be integrated into the base-game IMO.

e: just realized I made a comment to this effect a few months ago... seriously, I'll keep checking this post for updates for years to come.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Aklyon on December 16, 2021, 12:07:19 PM
Gonna B RDY to grab it once BRDY is back, but until then take your time Cycerin!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: MerryRaven on December 23, 2021, 09:02:25 AM
Get well soon, but take all the time you need  :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Flying_Whale on December 23, 2021, 12:25:53 PM
Sometimes, when my favorite faction mod will be updated, I'll open a bottle of nice and expensive tawny port)))
Anticipating that warm feeling. BRDY is still the best mod for me, despite the fact that it went a little bit away from providing "single-ship-kills-everything" gameplay (I really loved it)))
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: ApolloStarsector on December 28, 2021, 10:56:12 PM
Take care of yourself. I hope your health/life/work moves in a better direction. Kudos for making such a cool mod.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Maelstrom on December 29, 2021, 03:39:07 PM
Ah man I cant believe I missed this... I hope you get better Cycerin. Your work/art has helped me a lot during some hard times :)

Guess ill have to learn to update the mod myself at one point just to play it on the newest version of the game :P

Without black rock the sector feels a bit more empty
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Kadzin on January 23, 2022, 06:18:13 PM
Take care of yourself Cycerin, the sector will be here when you get better. And we will be waiting.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Greatgreengoo on February 03, 2022, 01:04:34 AM
This was one of the most well polished faction mods for Starsector. I hope to see an update eventually. No rush, just was one of my favs for the game
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Mira Lendin on February 03, 2022, 02:53:58 PM
The code in this mod is quite nightmarish to understand, let alone update, it's highly unlikely that anybody except the author and/or 2-3 skilled modders on this forum can update the mod.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Sebaa on February 16, 2022, 07:48:15 AM
I have recently managed to make myself a patchwork version of Blackrock for 0.95 that, for the time that I played with it so far, seems to be working fine.
If Cycerin would be alright with it I would upload it somewhere and put the link to it in the replies here.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Algoul on March 22, 2022, 09:28:37 AM
I have recently managed to make myself a patchwork version of Blackrock for 0.95 that, for the time that I played with it so far, seems to be working fine.
If Cycerin would be alright with it I would upload it somewhere and put the link to it in the replies here.
It would be nice, but of crs all we need is Cicerin permition. I hope he see your post.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Cycerin on March 22, 2022, 01:11:40 PM
Since this question keeps coming up and since I still can't work on the mod, I took some time to think about it today. I'm ok with independent compatibility patches, provided:

- Any such update should be made available with the understanding that I do not explicitly endorse it beforehand, and without the expectation of me vetting it before or after it gets uploaded
- It should have its own version number for clarity in case of any future, fork-induced, bug reporting complexity

Hope that makes sense. I don't want this to become an excuse to force the mod out of hiatus (eg. requiring my direct involvement and oversight) which is why I am taking this hands-off approach. There might be an official stopgap update at some point in the future too, but again, nothing has been locked in that this point, so this is what I'll do for now.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Sebaa on March 22, 2022, 03:26:22 PM
Since this question keeps coming up and since I still can't work on the mod, I took some time to think about it today. I'm ok with independent compatibility patches, provided:

- Any such update should be made available with the understanding that I do not explicitly endorse it beforehand, and without the expectation of me vetting it before or after it gets uploaded
- It should have its own version number for clarity in case of any future, fork-induced, bug reporting complexity

Hope that makes sense. I don't want this to become an excuse to force the mod out of hiatus (eg. requiring my direct involvement and oversight) which is why I am taking this hands-off approach. There might be an official stopgap update at some point in the future too, but again, nothing has been locked in that this point, so this is what I'll do for now.

This is nice to hear and I think a sensible approach.
Well, for anyone that wants to play with Blackrock in 0.95.1a I'll put the link to my patched version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vGXPTcAC1sFiwphizRN9TE-8hNU7h1wK/view?usp=sharing
It basically plays and functions the same as in 0.9.1a, just that it now works for 0.95.1a
I gave it its own, somewhat arbitrary version number, so that should cause no trouble.
It also needs GraphicsLib, MagicLib and LazyLib just like before.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dal on March 22, 2022, 07:06:57 PM
I'm also maintaining a copy that I ported and posted to the Discord earlier today. https://www.mediafire.com/file/m4eofbd569nzb6e/Blackrock_Drive_Yards_95b2.zip/file
It's a straight update from the most recent official version with a weapon and ship tag fix as well as some colony changes to prevent decivilization due to industry penalties. In the unexpected event anything breaks, lemme know.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Hashmander on March 23, 2022, 01:39:03 AM
This is nice to hear and I think a sensible approach.
Well, for anyone that wants to play with Blackrock in 0.95.1a I'll put the link to my patched version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vGXPTcAC1sFiwphizRN9TE-8hNU7h1wK/view?usp=sharing
It basically plays and functions the same as in 0.9.1a, just that it now works for 0.95.1a
I gave it its own, somewhat arbitrary version number, so that should cause no trouble.
It also needs GraphicsLib, MagicLib and LazyLib just like before.

I'm also maintaining a copy that I ported and posted to the Discord earlier today. https://www.mediafire.com/file/t2vbuxqfsugygsw/Blackrock_Drive_Yards.zip/file Just a straight update from the most recent version. In the unexpected event anything breaks, lemme know.

Super nice to hear that there's a working version out there now! Just noticed that both these are missing a fix to a known bug where some BDRY weapons don't spawn in markets.

In \mods\Blackrock Drive Yards\data\world\factions\blackrock_driveyards.faction you need to add the brdy_wep_bp tag:

Code
"knownWeapons":{
"tags":["brdy_com_bp", "brdy_mil_bp", "brdy_rare", "brdy_wep_bp"],
"weapons":[
],
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Sebaa on March 23, 2022, 04:22:09 AM
Super nice to hear that there's a working version out there now! Just noticed that both these are missing a fix to a known bug where some BDRY weapons don't spawn in markets.

In \mods\Blackrock Drive Yards\data\world\factions\blackrock_driveyards.faction you need to add the brdy_wep_bp tag:

Code
"knownWeapons":{
"tags":["brdy_com_bp", "brdy_mil_bp", "brdy_rare", "brdy_wep_bp"],
"weapons":[
],

Thanks for the heads up, should be fixed now.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dal on March 23, 2022, 03:42:29 PM
Good call, thanks. Tart is working on Nebulous stuff for the time being so I've posted my copy to the Discord's mod_updates channel. If you're coming from there with a bug report, please direct it to me. I'm not messing with any balance so feedback should still go here.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Bucket on March 23, 2022, 06:44:24 PM
I don't know what it was but the version post by Dal doesn't conflict with Adjusted Sector while Sebaa's does.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dal on March 24, 2022, 01:07:43 AM
Updated with some campaign fixes for my copy. https://www.mediafire.com/file/m4eofbd569nzb6e/Blackrock_Drive_Yards_95b2.zip/file

= 0.9.5b2 =
- Added an unofficial_changelog document to mod folder.
- To prevent premature decivilization because of too many industries:
   * The colonies Lydia and Preclusion have been upsized from 10^3 to 10^4.
   * Vigil station has lost its military base. It retains its patrol HQ.
   * Limbo has been upsized to 10^4 and had its military base exchanged for a patrol HQ.
   * Thalm Listening Post remains 10^3 but has lost its light industry.
   * Bharata no longer has a Heavy Industry facility.
   - Seeing these changes requires a new game this once. Sorry!
- Changed the 0-Series Nevermore from BRDY-Rare to BRDY_Rare. It may now spawn.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Havoc on March 24, 2022, 07:41:31 AM
hi, does it work with actual ss version?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Code00 on March 24, 2022, 09:05:17 AM
Thank you for extending this mods lifespam Dal. I got to experience this mod for the first time and I like it. Unique ships and all that.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dal on March 24, 2022, 01:14:09 PM
hi, does it work with actual ss version?

The mediafire link I've posted works with Starsector 0.95.1a-RC6. :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Maelstrom on March 24, 2022, 02:49:36 PM
I love how this gets revived on my birthday :P

Best present ever xD
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Havoc on March 26, 2022, 01:27:29 AM
really nice sounds and music
just started...
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: vok3 on March 26, 2022, 11:54:26 AM
I really like the music, except after the fiftieth time it starts playing.  The ambient space travel music, specifically.  The vanilla tune is really good in that you hardly even notice it but this one (the Blackrock specific one) becomes wearisome and it NEVER SHUTS UP.

How do I disable that music and re-enable the vanilla track?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Histidine on March 27, 2022, 07:52:45 AM
How do I disable that music and re-enable the vanilla track?
I think you could open Blackrock Drive Yards/data/config/sounds.json and comment out the unwanted tracks (put a # in front)

Though it's probably easier to just download and use the Audio Plus mod (which includes+uses the Blackrock tracks, but also a bunch of others).
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: shoi on March 27, 2022, 03:56:39 PM
wow dal very based  8)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: thiscattail on March 27, 2022, 11:55:51 PM
Thanks for the patched versions. Guess I'll have to throw my week's run and start a new one. Gotta have these badass Blackrock ships!  ;D
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Isaew on March 28, 2022, 01:46:32 AM
....
Well, for anyone that wants to play with Blackrock in 0.95.1a I'll put the link to my patched version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vGXPTcAC1sFiwphizRN9TE-8hNU7h1wK/view?usp=sharing
...

Thank you so much! This mod is awesome - ships, weapons, lore. Amazing
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Koranea on April 01, 2022, 06:35:10 AM
Thanks for the patched versions. Guess I'll have to throw my week's run and start a new one. Gotta have these badass Blackrock ships!  ;D

They are really nice, my favorite out all ships is the Heavy armed tanker, science ship and the medium freigther. Though dont really see large combat freighters, makes me wonder what a blackrock one would look like?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Ngst on April 03, 2022, 09:28:49 AM
Since this question keeps coming up and since I still can't work on the mod, I took some time to think about it today. I'm ok with independent compatibility patches, provided:

- Any such update should be made available with the understanding that I do not explicitly endorse it beforehand, and without the expectation of me vetting it before or after it gets uploaded
- It should have its own version number for clarity in case of any future, fork-induced, bug reporting complexity

Hope that makes sense. I don't want this to become an excuse to force the mod out of hiatus (eg. requiring my direct involvement and oversight) which is why I am taking this hands-off approach. There might be an official stopgap update at some point in the future too, but again, nothing has been locked in that this point, so this is what I'll do for now.

This is nice to hear and I think a sensible approach.
Well, for anyone that wants to play with Blackrock in 0.95.1a I'll put the link to my patched version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vGXPTcAC1sFiwphizRN9TE-8hNU7h1wK/view?usp=sharing
It basically plays and functions the same as in 0.9.1a, just that it now works for 0.95.1a
I gave it its own, somewhat arbitrary version number, so that should cause no trouble.
It also needs GraphicsLib, MagicLib and LazyLib just like before.
Thank you, Good job!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: captshetz on April 03, 2022, 06:24:47 PM
Many, many thanks for permission given to update this mod.  I started a new save with BRDY, and man have I missed this.  The weapons, sounds and music and general atmosphere are just all SO COOL.  Just wonderful.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Drmzsz7 on April 14, 2022, 08:17:17 PM
So they brdy unofficial, has a .idea folder. What is that? Also it doesn't show up in the mod list index when starting up starsector. No toggle to activate brdy.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: TalRaziid on April 22, 2022, 01:48:26 PM
Im glad permission was given for unofficial updates in the intermission, ive really missed this mod!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Bastion.Systems on April 23, 2022, 11:03:20 AM
very cool, praise Cycerin for giving permission for this.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Arcade_Allure on April 28, 2022, 05:01:16 PM
very cool, praise Cycerin for giving permission for this.

Indeed, praise be.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: envenger on June 14, 2022, 04:33:17 AM
Do the black rock high hazard system have any secrets?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: ApolloStarsector on June 14, 2022, 04:22:43 PM
Since this question keeps coming up and since I still can't work on the mod, I took some time to think about it today. I'm ok with independent compatibility patches, provided:

- Any such update should be made available with the understanding that I do not explicitly endorse it beforehand, and without the expectation of me vetting it before or after it gets uploaded
- It should have its own version number for clarity in case of any future, fork-induced, bug reporting complexity

Hope that makes sense. I don't want this to become an excuse to force the mod out of hiatus (eg. requiring my direct involvement and oversight) which is why I am taking this hands-off approach. There might be an official stopgap update at some point in the future too, but again, nothing has been locked in that this point, so this is what I'll do for now.

Based and moralpilled
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: ApolloStarsector on June 14, 2022, 04:28:14 PM
Thanks for the unofficial updated versions, Dal and Sebaa!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Solo on June 26, 2022, 04:14:46 AM
So happy to see this mod available again! ;D Is it safe to add the faction into an existing save game? Cause I just pick this game up again recently and sorta don't want to start a new game... :-\
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dal on June 28, 2022, 10:16:49 AM
So happy to see this mod available again! ;D Is it safe to add the faction into an existing save game? Cause I just pick this game up again recently and sorta don't want to start a new game... :-\

Hi! You may find blueprints and weapons from the faction, but they require a new game for their systems and colonies to spawn in.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: AdmiralRem on July 10, 2022, 05:07:52 AM
Not sure if this is happening to others but the Blackrock hull mods aren't working. I have come across them and right click to learn but then they don't show up in the list of hull mods. Playing with Nex and a bunch of other mods, so not sure if it's a compatibility issue or if it's a bug?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Ruddygreat on July 10, 2022, 06:23:28 AM
Not sure if this is happening to others but the Blackrock hull mods aren't working. I have come across them and right click to learn but then they don't show up in the list of hull mods. Playing with Nex and a bunch of other mods, so not sure if it's a compatibility issue or if it's a bug?

you need to select their filter in the refit screen, it'll probably be "blackrock driveyards"
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Admiral_hipper112 on August 30, 2022, 08:04:10 AM
Since this question keeps coming up and since I still can't work on the mod, I took some time to think about it today. I'm ok with independent compatibility patches, provided:

- Any such update should be made available with the understanding that I do not explicitly endorse it beforehand, and without the expectation of me vetting it before or after it gets uploaded
- It should have its own version number for clarity in case of any future, fork-induced, bug reporting complexity

Hope that makes sense. I don't want this to become an excuse to force the mod out of hiatus (eg. requiring my direct involvement and oversight) which is why I am taking this hands-off approach. There might be an official stopgap update at some point in the future too, but again, nothing has been locked in that this point, so this is what I'll do for now.

This is nice to hear and I think a sensible approach.
Well, for anyone that wants to play with Blackrock in 0.95.1a I'll put the link to my patched version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vGXPTcAC1sFiwphizRN9TE-8hNU7h1wK/view?usp=sharing
It basically plays and functions the same as in 0.9.1a, just that it now works for 0.95.1a
I gave it its own, somewhat arbitrary version number, so that should cause no trouble.
It also needs GraphicsLib, MagicLib and LazyLib just like before.

basedddddd thanks for making the patch can finally play this in the current ver havent seen this mod and im lookin forward to the ships that'll make me bully the hegemony even more
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Jet Black on August 30, 2022, 09:05:54 AM
I can't believe I have never tried this mod out. Does it add any quests or storyline to the game?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Killsode on August 31, 2022, 01:03:21 AM
I can't believe I have never tried this mod out. Does it add any quests or storyline to the game?

not that i remember, BDY was made before that support was added to starsector.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Taverius on September 24, 2022, 07:33:53 AM
Aww yisss, thanks for the unofficial patches, early game is just not the same without shrimp shenanigans  :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: SpaceDrake on September 24, 2022, 11:28:30 PM
I can't believe I have never tried this mod out. Does it add any quests or storyline to the game?

BRDY's inception was years and years before that was even possible in Starsector.

Hell, when BRDY was young, in-campaign missions period were still a bit of a question mark and at "what shape should these really take" territory. Bars didn't exist.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Volsungare on March 07, 2023, 04:32:55 PM
Will either of the patched versions work or is one prefered over the other?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dal on March 07, 2023, 04:55:12 PM
Will either of the patched versions work or is one prefered over the other?
I immodestly recommend mine because of the bugfixes. ^^'
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Ali on May 08, 2023, 01:28:24 AM
Praying for a .96 update here please!!!!  :D

Many thanks!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dal on May 08, 2023, 03:03:31 PM
Hello! I have updated BRDY to use the new MagicLib packages.

Blackrock Drive Yards 0.9.5b4: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i84vgLgF8xQQk5vjkrjyH-BfrZ1wfT7O/view?usp=sharing
BRDY Unofficial Balance Add-on: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o01S7okej1mTbliAD6Y010dq51QRsChe/view?usp=share_link (fixed mod_info 5/13)

For now please direct any bug reports my way. Enjoy :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: richardface on May 08, 2023, 09:17:06 PM
Hello! I have updated BRDY to use the new MagicLib packages.

Blackrock Drive Yards 0.9.5b4: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i84vgLgF8xQQk5vjkrjyH-BfrZ1wfT7O/view?usp=sharing
BRDY Unofficial Balance Add-on: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DIEO0dbuDqSrwooqIkXE0_kHTvT8Qy27/view?usp=sharing

For now please direct any bug reports my way. Enjoy :)

Crashes on starting new game IF you use nexelerin with your unofficial patch (many thanks for that also btw) AND you choose to randomize the core sector, here's the last bit of the log

185758 [Thread-3] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.loading.LoadingUtils  - Loading JSON from [ABSOLUTE_AND_CWD: null (data\campaign\econ/algebbar.json)]
185759 [Thread-3] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.econ.A  - Loading star system: kumarikandam.json
185759 [Thread-3] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.loading.LoadingUtils  - Loading JSON from [ABSOLUTE_AND_CWD: null (data\campaign\econ/kumarikandam.json)]
185761 [Thread-3] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.econ.A  - Loading star system: isirah.json
185761 [Thread-3] INFO  com.fs.starfarer.loading.LoadingUtils  - Loading JSON from [ABSOLUTE_AND_CWD: null (data\campaign\econ/isirah.json)]
186009 [Thread-3] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain  - java.lang.NullPointerException
java.lang.NullPointerException
   at com.fs.starfarer.api.impl.campaign.CoreLifecyclePluginImpl.tagLuddicShrines(CoreLifecyclePluginImpl.java:954)
   at com.fs.starfarer.api.impl.campaign.CoreLifecyclePluginImpl.onNewGameAfterEconom yLoad(CoreLifecyclePluginImpl.java:898)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.CampaignGameManager.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.TitleScreenState.dialogDismissed(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.public.dismiss(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.impl.L.dismiss(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.save.J.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.classnew.buttonPressed(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.I.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.I.processInput(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.ui.W.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.BaseGameState.traverse(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$1.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: TalRaziid on May 08, 2023, 10:51:30 PM
@Richardface I was trying to do derelict empire earlier, I’m pretty sure unofficial Nex patch random sector is solely at fault for the crash here.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: richardface on May 09, 2023, 01:19:53 AM
@Richardface I was trying to do derelict empire earlier, I’m pretty sure unofficial end patch random sector is solely at fault for the crash here.

You're right, get the same crash without Blackrock enabled, it's an issue with Nexelerin patch
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: AnXel LG on May 19, 2023, 02:36:43 PM
Hey Dal! First of all, many thanks for your unwavering support at keeping good O'le Blackrock in a combat ready status! It occurred to me, would it be possible if you guys could assign some NEXERELIN faction traits to this beloved and venerable fleet of space beauties? Which ones? That I will leave it to you to decide ;) Corporate & Technocratic maybe? Anyways, thanks again for your esteemed service to the Persean Sector. Burn Bright, liutenant!
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Legendsmith on May 20, 2023, 12:35:48 AM
It already has that? Unless it's somehow nonfunctional, but I checked the data files and it has alignment, indeed it already has corporate and technocratic, among some slight others.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: AnXel LG on May 20, 2023, 02:01:29 AM
Last time I checked (was v0.95.1a STARSECTOR) a few months back, the factions profile tab showed Blackrock Drive Yards without traits, but since I haven't tried v0.96a as of yet, I cannot confirm it has been implemented in the last compatibility patch Dal posted 2 days ago. (yeah, I know... I'm holding back until a few mods more get an update ;D ;D)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: FireBlitz8404 on June 13, 2023, 06:16:19 PM
My favorite running mod in this whole game.
Would love an update so I can phase my capitol ship behind them again.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: giganticats on July 30, 2023, 11:22:40 AM
Since this question keeps coming up and since I still can't work on the mod, I took some time to think about it today. I'm ok with independent compatibility patches, provided:

- Any such update should be made available with the understanding that I do not explicitly endorse it beforehand, and without the expectation of me vetting it before or after it gets uploaded
- It should have its own version number for clarity in case of any future, fork-induced, bug reporting complexity

Hope that makes sense. I don't want this to become an excuse to force the mod out of hiatus (eg. requiring my direct involvement and oversight) which is why I am taking this hands-off approach. There might be an official stopgap update at some point in the future too, but again, nothing has been locked in that this point, so this is what I'll do for now.

This is nice to hear and I think a sensible approach.
Well, for anyone that wants to play with Blackrock in 0.95.1a I'll put the link to my patched version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vGXPTcAC1sFiwphizRN9TE-8hNU7h1wK/view?usp=sharing
It basically plays and functions the same as in 0.9.1a, just that it now works for 0.95.1a
I gave it its own, somewhat arbitrary version number, so that should cause no trouble.
It also needs GraphicsLib, MagicLib and LazyLib just like before.

everyone who wants to continue using this mod in 0.96a just download this and change the version number
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: YukitoOnline on July 31, 2023, 11:08:38 AM
Since this question keeps coming up and since I still can't work on the mod, I took some time to think about it today. I'm ok with independent compatibility patches, provided:

- Any such update should be made available with the understanding that I do not explicitly endorse it beforehand, and without the expectation of me vetting it before or after it gets uploaded
- It should have its own version number for clarity in case of any future, fork-induced, bug reporting complexity

Hope that makes sense. I don't want this to become an excuse to force the mod out of hiatus (eg. requiring my direct involvement and oversight) which is why I am taking this hands-off approach. There might be an official stopgap update at some point in the future too, but again, nothing has been locked in that this point, so this is what I'll do for now.

This is nice to hear and I think a sensible approach.
Well, for anyone that wants to play with Blackrock in 0.95.1a I'll put the link to my patched version here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vGXPTcAC1sFiwphizRN9TE-8hNU7h1wK/view?usp=sharing
It basically plays and functions the same as in 0.9.1a, just that it now works for 0.95.1a
I gave it its own, somewhat arbitrary version number, so that should cause no trouble.
It also needs GraphicsLib, MagicLib and LazyLib just like before.

everyone who wants to continue using this mod in 0.96a just download this and change the version number
Many crashes?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Dal on August 01, 2023, 12:04:09 AM
Hello! I have updated BRDY to use the new MagicLib packages.

Blackrock Drive Yards 0.9.5b4: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i84vgLgF8xQQk5vjkrjyH-BfrZ1wfT7O/view?usp=sharing
BRDY Unofficial Balance Add-on: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o01S7okej1mTbliAD6Y010dq51QRsChe/view?usp=share_link (fixed mod_info 5/13)

For now please direct any bug reports my way. Enjoy :)

Please used the properly updated copy, it'll save us all some headaches. :)
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Judge Swagg on August 09, 2023, 02:20:23 AM
Does this work with 0.96a with the patch?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: YukitoOnline on August 09, 2023, 04:25:26 AM
Hello! I have updated BRDY to use the new MagicLib packages.

Blackrock Drive Yards 0.9.5b4: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i84vgLgF8xQQk5vjkrjyH-BfrZ1wfT7O/view?usp=sharing
BRDY Unofficial Balance Add-on: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o01S7okej1mTbliAD6Y010dq51QRsChe/view?usp=share_link (fixed mod_info 5/13)

For now please direct any bug reports my way. Enjoy :)

Please used the properly updated copy, it'll save us all some headaches. :)
Thanks comrade
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Gunfire007 on August 14, 2023, 04:35:04 PM
just dropped by to say that the Void Buster weapon system on the Morpheus is by far the coolest weapon out of any mod i've used. The sound, fx, and shut down system are just so damn clean man. That entire destroyer is just full of cool ***, especially the shockwave and volley it throws out.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: BFEL on August 23, 2023, 07:41:41 AM
Yeah @Gunfire007, Morpheus is my favorite ship. Its just such a zippy little thing with good damage potential, cool hullmods and can be used even without kitting it out if necessary. Just so much fun to watch, especially if you can get several of them, they'll shoot each other and absorb the shots for even more chaos.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: etlouis on September 11, 2023, 06:58:32 AM
Is this mod now part of the main code? It should be.
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: uzsibox on March 02, 2024, 03:49:23 PM
hey hey guys any update?
Title: Re: [0.9.1a] Blackrock Drive Yards
Post by: Brainwright on March 02, 2024, 09:55:14 PM
In the discord (https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=11488.0)

The current version is for .96, but you only need to edit the mod_info.json.