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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Messages - StahnAileron

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136
Suggestions / Re: Variants saving universally
« on: May 22, 2012, 10:32:58 PM »
Couldn't they just do something like a Global Export/Import system were you can only export a variant if it conforms to the stock OP limits then?

Over-OP designs would be locked-in to the current save game while the stock-conformant design would be allowed to be accessed from any savegame. If the current limitation is just whether the ships is over OP or not, I can't see why they can't work around that a little. Now, if there's gonna be a skill that let's you RAISE the actual OP count on a vessel, I can see some difficulty there. Still, in that case, can't they just compare the tweaked OP level to the stock OP level of the hull to determine if it can be exported for global use?

On the other side of things, letting players export designs (esepcially if done via individual files for each design) could allow simple sharing of ship designs within the community as well. ^_~

137
Suggestions / Re: Multiple Fleets and Main Character Headquaters
« on: May 22, 2012, 10:10:19 PM »
Right now, the ONLY reason I want to split my fleet off is to send off newly captured ships I don't used back to the abandoned station so I don't have to do it myself. Being able to call in reinforcements/replacement vessels from the station would be nice as well. While split and heading to/from you, the fleets would be suspectible to attack and losses before docking/merging. All encounters would be auto-resolves with maybe a player command set when initial deployed, like Aggressive, Defensive, Evasive, and Situational (i.e. fleet captain AI decide the stance/tactics to use during an encounter bases on fleet comparisions.)

Probably be able to select cargo loads as well. Remote resupplying at risk of losing the cargo fleet you set up. Dumping off excess ships over your FP limit to immediately cut down supply use (or accident chances) versus possibly losing your new prize(s) during transit.

There have been sveral times when I wish I could adust the make-up of my fleet without having to travel all the way back to the station. (e.g. I've been camping the Tri-Tach planet/station and my station is on the opposite side of the sun.)

138
Suggestions / Re: Radar and scanners......
« on: May 21, 2012, 03:12:16 PM »
Realistically, planetary feature are on another scale compare to a gun mount on a ship. Unless that ship is HUGE, you'd only be able to tell it's there, not what's on it. And in reality, space makes hiding stuff QUITE easy because you need to know WHERE to look. If space made things so easy to find, explain to me how we keep finding NEW objects we never spotted before? Even within our solar system. Keep in mind much of what we find is also significantly larger than a ship. (Unless vessels in Starfarer lore are on the Star Wars scale of kilometers-long [Super] Star Destroyers and Death Stars, which I doubt.)

Yes, I know it's a game. But you should realize that too and not use real life examples to justify your argument if you're not quite using them correctly. ::)

To be honest, I'm wondering if they'll implement a "detection range" stat to ships in the game, at least for comabt. Right now, every ship has the same detection range. I find it hard to believe a small squad of fighters can see as far as an exploration ship. I'm curious if there will be specialized vessels in the game, like how we currently have cargo and fuel ships. A combat-mode AWACS-type ship would be interesting to have and exploit. ("Information is ammunition.")

I'll shut up now. I wanna keep this kinda short. ;D

139
Suggestions / Re: Missile/Torepedo Armor
« on: May 21, 2012, 02:28:41 PM »
Depends on how big the AI lead bonus that hullmod would add. If it's minimal (like 5%-10%), I think you can get away with a token OP cost. It's mainly a mod to help the player. The AI bonus is just there just so it's not completely useless when weapons are not directly under the player's control. (Be it for auto-fire weapons on the player's ship or completely AI-controlled ships.)

The real worth in OP cost should be more in line with how much tha player-focus features (targeting line, visual cues) are worth. You can scale the AI lead ability to that OP cost afterwards to give it some worth outside player use.

140
Suggestions / Re: Missile/Torpedo Armor
« on: May 21, 2012, 08:42:56 AM »
It's worth noting that PD weapons have become more effective in most iterations, while the Reaper and Atropos torpedoes have remained relatively static. There may be some merit to buffing the armour of said torpedoes to make them a more dangerous and less easily defeated strike weapon, as they were in earlier versions. At the moment I find that they are only really dangerous to cruisers and capitals when overloaded.

Also, the Atropos needs a similar speed buff to the Reaper, as when used at the moment it barely registers as a threat, mostly due to the fact it's slow as molasses in winter.

Well, I think the real intent of the torpedos was to give smaller ships (frigates and destroyers) a better chance of taking on larger vessels on their own or providing heavier strike support. Unfortunately, the "Flux Venting" bug is compounding a few issues with torpedo usage on part of the AI. Because of that bug, the AI loses out on one of the most opportune times to launch the torpedoes (especially Reapers): when an enemy vessel is venting flux.

Funny enough, I've yet to use Atropos torpedoes, so I can't readily comment on them. The lack of a Medium-mount variant of them makes me not want to use them currently. I'm using the GunRunners mod, so I'm usually in a Helios (2x Med Mssl mounts.) However, in the case of the Atropos, since they are guided, I can see them as slower and more heavily armored instead of speed boosted. On the other hand, upping their speed without improving their tracking can work as well. I'd actually ahve to start using them to be able to comment well on the matter though. Most of my remarks are regarding the Reapers.

141
Suggestions / Re: Missile/Torepedo Armor
« on: May 21, 2012, 06:34:04 AM »
I think they not only need more speed, but more acceleration and thrust power too.

Am I the only one who feels the effect of a ship's lateral motion has too much of an effect on not only missiles, but direct fire weapons as well?  I suppose this might be realistic, but it's certainly obnoxious, and makes maneuvering while using torpedoes nigh impossible.  This is a hidden weakness some people might not consider when thinking about the balance of torpedoes.

I'd only advocate an acceleration/thrust boost if they got a minor speed boost as well. This is only so they can reach top speed in the same amount of time as they do now.

As for inertia: I'm actually fine with it, especially with torpedos. With how devastating they can be, it adds a layer of skill and/or risk with using them. They are technically a high risk/high reward weapon (especially the Reapers), so taking into account your ship's movements relative to your target I think is a balancing measure versus their destructive power. I've missed hitting capital ships at near point-blank range due to being impatient and firing the torpedoes off before I stabilized my ship relative to the target. It's irritatingly frustrating, yes, but at the same time, it my own damn fault. Besides, torpedoes even as they are now are still overall better then the ballistic-mount bomb weapons that WHOLLY RELY on your ship's inertial for their speed.

If you want something to make hitting a target easier, request a targetting lead line that predicts the TRUE travel line of weapons. You can even make it a hull mod if need be:

  • ADVANCED TARGETTING SYSTEM - Advanced computers and software algorithms calculate the travel arc of weapons' fire, displaying their predicted path for players. (AI ships receive a small boost to accuracy.)

If you want to make it even more useful, it could take into account your target's current movement as well and provide a "FIRE!" advisory onscreen over the target as well whenever it thinks/knows you'll hit the target if you fire. OP cost would be minimal, I guess, maybe in line with the currently cheapest hull mods.

142
General Discussion / Re: A few noobish questions about .52a.1
« on: May 20, 2012, 08:45:13 PM »
The soft cap is 100. The hard cap for accidents to happen for any of the fleet stats is 150% of that stat's softcap. In this case, 150FP is the accident cap. Up to and including 150FP would just incur additional Supply overhead costs. 151FP and above will activate the chance for accidents.

143
Bug Reports & Support / Re: Crew Bonus to Travel Speed
« on: May 20, 2012, 07:07:18 PM »
DRATS! I was hoping it was a bug! ::)

Well, now I don't feel like I'm getting cheated out of +10 travel speed, but it would've been REALLY nice to have that extra travel speed. Oh, well...

144
Bug Reports & Support / Re: Cowardly Tempests
« on: May 20, 2012, 06:36:48 PM »
I haven't seen that before and I regularly run a full fleet of Tempests with a Hyperion as my flagship. I'll admit I'm using VERY custom Tempests (only a single Heavy Blaster with lots of Hull mods). I only really see problems with them when too many of the are attacking the same target (more than about 4 start to clutter the firing routine) or during the previously mentioned venting bug ("unintended chivalry").

145
Bug Reports & Support / Crew Bonus to Travel Speed
« on: May 20, 2012, 06:29:47 PM »
So elite crew is supposed to boost both travel and combat speed by the same percentage, correct? That's what the in-game tooltip says. So why is my Paragon only getting +1 to travel speed?

Another thread says that travel speed is calculated as:

SPDC/2 + 100 = SPDT

take combat speed divide it by 2 and then add 100.. you have travel speed.

I'm guessing since it's calculated on-the-fly, it's done as:

CREWB* SPDC/ 2 + 100 = SPDT

...instead of:

CREWB* (SPDC/ 2 + 100 = SPDT)

Give or take any rounding. Was this intended as it is currently or is the second formula what it's supposed to be? 116.5 vs 126.5 for a Paragon's travel speed is fairly significant. The same applies tro all the other ships' travel speeds. (e.g. Elite crew only give a +5 bonus to a Medusa: 150 base, 155 w/ Elite Crew.) According to the displayed in-game stats, we're technically missing 10 travel speed on each ship with elite crew.

146
Suggestions / Re: Missile/Torepedo Armor
« on: May 20, 2012, 01:09:48 PM »
Most missiles in the game as it is now are weapons of opportunity: they're not designed/meant to be spammed (for the most part.) That's the reason they have limited ammo, high damage, and can be defended against 3 ways: evasion, deflection (i.e. shields), elimination (i.e. PD fire). They require some amount of skill and timing to use instead of just "spray and pray" techniques.

If they ever get boost in the name of survivability, I'd rather they get a small speed boost instead. I find it odd that some vessels, when outfitted for pure speed, can outrun missiles. (I think there should be a least ONE missile type that no ship can outrun.)

147
General Discussion / Re: Tachyon Lance and Odyssey spam
« on: May 19, 2012, 04:33:03 PM »
The problem with the Ody is the fact you can only ever train 2 TLs at on one target. The 3rd kinda gets wasted unless ther happens to be something else for it to shot within it's arc. Depending on the situation, you gte a Firepower efficieny of 6 or 9 OP per TL. You do make up for it in speed and easier targetting (since they are all turrets).

Paragon with 4 TLs is 6.25 OP per TL and can concentrate all 4 on one target or attack up to 3 targets at once. It also doubles as a meatshield if it becomes the focus of attention. You lose out on flexibility though, since 2 of the TLs are hardpoints. With the Paragon's low speed and agility, bringing the 2 hardpointed TLs can be a chore. You also concentrate more of the first from one point insetad of spreading it out more with the Ody's.

Well, either method is valid. I prefer the Paragon path since I can still plack plenty of firepower on it just in case it needs close range defense. The biggest problem I have is making sure my Paragons always have a clear line of fire, especially after the first wave of kills. Having a pack of Buffalo mk2s or freighters carcasses blocking the line of fire sucks when I still need/want to kill stuff behind them. I do space out my Paragons though, so usually at least one of them has a clear shot. (Otherwise I need to play bumperships with the dead ones and push them out of the way.)

148
General Discussion / Re: Tachyon Lance and Odyssey spam
« on: May 19, 2012, 01:46:26 PM »
Ships already shield automatically if the Lance so much as looks in their direction. Very useful for forcing the computer to raise shields to deny them the speed boost and prevents them from venting.

That only works if the Tachyon Lance(s) are within THEIR line of sight or field of view/detection. If I send a scout out ahead of my Paragons and spot the enemy ships first, they don't raise their shields against the incoming TL shots. Once some of their ships can detect my Paragons, then they keep their shields up against it. The enemy ships one seems to use their shields when they can both see the weapon and are within its firing range/arc. If they don't detect the weapon, they can't know if they are within its range or not to raise shields, it seems. It makes sense given the AI and gameplay mechanics.

They will usually raise the shields after the initial hit to deflect some of damage, but they drop the shields immediately after the shot. Repeat until they can see your TL ships or they die. Keeping your TL-armed ships of their detection range is the best way to fully exploit the TLs against the AI, IMHO.

149
Suggestions / Re: Narc Beacon?
« on: May 19, 2012, 08:36:03 AM »
It would still be a nice way to allow the player to somehow direct/concentrate long range fire support on a single target instead of letting the fleet fire at whatever happens to be closest to them at the moment. The current AI for the player fleet ships is horrible when it comes to targetting and attack priority. Hopefully it'll improve to the point where the ships are smart about who and when they target for attack smartly/intelligently so we don't need a NARC-type system for the player to use.

150
Suggestions / Re: Narc Beacon?
« on: May 18, 2012, 02:24:44 AM »
Acyually, we do have a missile boat, if a poor one: the Buffalo mk2.

This COULD possibly give the Buffalo some actual value (rather than just an easy to kill target and resale hull.) But yeah, given the missile weapon selection in the game and the spread of Missile mounts across vessels, there's not much of an ideal missile boat in the game (yet) to take full advantage of this. If we had more variety on the large missile launchers (other than the MIRV and Reapers), then the Astral, Conquest, Apogee, and Aurora could make for decent support fire vessels with a NARC-type support weapon. Otherwise, the best "missile boats" in the game are things like the Onslaught (4x Md Mssl), Dominator, and Oddessy (3x Md Mssl each). The Oddessy I can see in a support-fire role, but doing so for the Onslaught and/or Dominator would be a waste in those cases.

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