Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Save/Load UI, Autosave, Intel Map Markers, and More (04/10/24)
For some reason, bounties can and will chase down other enemy fleets that get near. Hell, even patrols will chase them down if they spot them with their transponder off. So, yea. They'll leave their spot now (which I actually like - forces you to look around).
Yeah... that's so that they will attack the player when they come near. Might just need to script it so they *only* attack the player and not anybody else.
(Side note: "downgrade to a smaller slot to get a weapon with different utility" is a design thing from way back. It hasn't been adhered to strictly, but something like "ACG, Mauler, downgrade to LAG if you want a generic" is part of that. Again, the idea is to encourage more varied loadouts. Lack of available LAGs notwithstanding...)
@Voyager: it's a fair point, especially as it pertains to not getting any guns for certain slots (i.e. small HE ballistic, energy mediums) when they exist and aren't the sort of top-tier that needs to be harder to get.
Regarding the medium slots, I think it gets a little more interesting. Should there be a go-to, average HE medium ballistic? There are workable alternatives - using missiles for HE, using an Arbalest for its high per-shot damage, etc. I think there's an argument to be made that *as long as you can still create viable loadouts*, gaps in weapon roles promote more interesting ship designs. Sure, you could just slap on generic HE 1 and generic kinetic 2 and you're good to go, but... well.
It's not entirely an accident, for example, that there are lots of HE missiles. On the flipside, there aren't many kinetic missiles, but there are more ballistic options there.
Also, assault chaingun costs too much flux. Putting more than one on an Enforcer is not very smart even with Safety Override, and you should think twice before putting one on a Hammerhead. If I do not plan to use Safety Override on a ship, Heavy Mauler is the only viable medium HE, and with the damage lowered, it is not as good as it used to be for all-purpose assault. (Mauler is still good if you really need the range.)
Also agreeing that the current implementation of the Investigation system is sorta nutty in how punitive it is. It makes sense for the Tri-Tachs to get violent around some Hegemony toady, but most of the other factions aren't in shooting conflicts with each other and there's a pretty serious line between "mistrust" and "shoot on sight". It's also pretty bad from a gameplay perspective because the primary effect is cutting back drastically on the amount of stuff you can do. 3/5 factions won't pay out for bounties and won't let you run their missions (and trying to tick up reputation between investigations sure isn't going to be fruitful), but since most of them aren't enemies with the people you work for you don't even have anything to gain by going after them. Instead you just try to stay out of their way and spend more time sitting around waiting for stuff to do that you can actually get paid for.
Yeah, looking at this for the .1 release. Need more carrot to go with the stick, and probably a bit less stick in the first place.My Jangala jump point is also stationary.Are named jump points (like Jangala Jump Point) Supposed to be stationary or are they supposed to move with the planet? As mine are staying in one place
Are you guys sure? And this is in vanilla? Because that would make no sense whatsoever and would make me incredibly confused. The Jangala Jumppoint, in particular, is supposed to keep pace with Jangala - and does, as far as I can see. And since the orbiting mechanism is the same as for other things that orbit, well, refer to "confused" part.Just in case its been buried in all the suggestions: Great update Alex! I've had a blast playing so far, and I think I speak for the community when I say that we have so many suggestions/criticisms because we are excited!
Thank youDefinitely hasn't been buried - I'm very happy with how this update has been received overall, and I appreciate all the suggestions. They make a big difference - even if I don't end up doing the specific thing, it'll often spark another idea, etc. And there are of course some rough pieces that need pointing out so they can be fixed and/or polished up.
It's reasonably fair during early game. You make a mistake, you pay for it. But later on? The Harpoon party become absurd, one ship overload? 30 Harpoons immediately fly to instagib it. The more ships that can mount Harpoons, the more dangerous the spam become. The community battle tournament that happened a while ago proved quite spectacularly that some missiles become exponentially dangerous in large numbers, lrms especially. In my late-game campaign where battles have a lot of ships, it's a bit like that as well. And it can be quite frustrating when you're the victim.
Yeah, I can see dropping vents if you want SO as a "speed boost at the cost of peak time" option, rather than a dissipation boost. But it's a lot of dissipation to give up, and Augmented Engines + SO may well be overkill, while ITU is kind of pointless with SO. In any case, I'm excited to see how this turns out
Ballistics are more flux-efficient, but low-tech ships have way worse flux stats and more weapon mounts to spend flux on.
There seems to be a glitch of some kind the number of ships in the variety of them is much more limited than it was last version.
Changes as of September 24, 2014
- Wolf, Lasher frigates: now have frontal shields, to better work with their front-facing firepower
- Pilum: improved top speed and acceleration. Can still be dodged effectively, just harder. Deadly vs non-omni-shield frigates w/o PD
Very interesting post. This update is looking amazingRight now, you can only get hit with a toll once every 30 days within any given system. I'll probably change it so that it's once a month per system per faction, though - otherwise, it's exploitable, as you could get stopped on purpose by a faction that doesn't consider your cargo illegal and then have free reign for a month.I may not be interpreting this correctly, but wouldn't that still be exploitable anyway? Couldn't you get yourself inspected by the Hegemony in Corvus while you have nothing to hide, then move as much contraband as you want to the orbital dockyard for an entire month without any risk?
Seems to me like it should be based entirely on chance. That way there's always an unpredictable risk of inspection.
When I play Onslaught as Combat/Technology, I go almost total offense. I load up on Storm Needlers, Heavy Maulers, and Annihiliators for offense; and Vulcans and three dual Flak Cannons for defense. Hullmods are Expanded Magazines, ITU and anything related to speed. (If I have fewer OP, I use Hellbores and Heavy Needlers instead, but the AI does better with Storm Needlers and Heavy Maulers.) In the Onslaught's case, the best defense is to kill the enemy before it can get into range and shoot back.
