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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 - ahrenjb

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31
Suggestions / Re: Make cheating in iron mode - harder -
« on: May 24, 2017, 10:57:36 AM »
This would be too punitive in the event of a crash or something like that.

Ultimately, it seems that you're asking for a crutch to punish you for rage quitting. I don't believe that's something that lies within the responsibility of a single player game. Stick to your own rules, don't expect the game to force you to play the way you tell yourself you want to while doing whatever you can to circumvent it.

32
Mods / Re: [0.8a] Neutrino Corp. (v. 1.84RC1)
« on: May 18, 2017, 04:18:02 PM »
I feel like the sprites for the various versions of the Piledriver need a rework. The cargo one is ok, but still shares the same problem as the rest of them. It's a little tooo stick-like. The carrier version especially, the forward arm needs to be like, 50-100% wider to look natural with the way flight decks are integrated in the rest of the game.

Also, 3 is just too many for that size carrier.

33
Mods / Re: [0.8a] The Knights Templar 0.9.8
« on: May 18, 2017, 02:20:31 PM »
Thanks for the update DR.

Started a new campaign included Templars and haven't noticed any issues. The Templar fleets roaming around space are a persistent threat, but there doesn't seem to be an overabundance of them or anything.

Priwen Burst not working on (D) model ships was a good call, I think. Templar ships are a little more available due to the new mechanics is 0.8 and they'd just be too powerful if they were fully functional. The extreme cost of restoration, often more than what it would cost to purchase and fit a capital, is a good offset to this.

I salvaged a Bulwark (D) and it's strong enough even with a mediocre weapons fit to give my fleet a real edge. The 300,000 cost of restoration is high, but I'm glad to pay it anyway.

34
Mods / Re: [0.8a] Interstellar Imperium 1.16.0
« on: May 18, 2017, 02:15:58 PM »
I've been playing with II since DR pushed the 0.8a update out, and I haven't had any issues.

I'm running a pretty good list of mods, but only the well maintained, good quality ones from established mod makers. I've had no crashed, slow downs, or issues.

I guess it needs to be said, thanks Dark.Revenant for your work! Love having II around, whether I'm running their ships in my fleet or clashing with them in orbit.

35
General Discussion / Re: Favorite ships of 0.8?
« on: April 24, 2017, 03:51:26 PM »
I haven't had a chance to run some of the newcomers in my fleet yet, notably the Legion, but I think my favorite has to be the Drover.

Small, easy to come by, and understated. It's not a ship that screams powerhouse. With a good officer and pair of fighter wings though, it turns into a tough little bugger. I've lost Medusas, Enforcers, Sunders, Herons, and every variety of frigate I've gotten my hands on. I still have yet to lose a Drover in any fight that wasn't a total loss. With the built in ship system it can field a lot of firepower, and excels at cleaning up small Remnant fleets in short order. I used to manually pilot my flagship in every single fight. In 0.8, more and more often I find myself deploying carriers and destroyers, sitting back and issuing commands from the tactical screen and watching the light show.

I'm cycling all manner of things through my fleet to get a feel for this version, but I strongly suspect that if I start another campaign I might end up with 4-5 Drover based fleet. These things are great.

36
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« on: April 24, 2017, 03:31:16 PM »
Stabilizing caches is too expensive. Looks like this has already been addressed by others, so I won't wheeze on about it.

I'm not sure what the disconnect so many people are having with the Colossus sprite is. I think it's amazing. Looks old. Looks tough. Looks like a bulk freighter. One of my favorite things about it is actually the turret mounts. They look actually recessed or carved into the hull, while in my opinion too many of the ships look great, but the weapons look like they're just sitting on top. Every place there's a turret on the Colossus, it looks like it's supposed to be there. Like the ship was designed that way.

As much as I hate to admit this, because it feels like I'm asking for my favorite toy to be taken away, I think the Spark (I think that's the name, the little [REDACTED] one with the burst laser) interceptor is OP. A single drover with a carrier skilled officer and two wings of these will completely dominate 3-5 frigates. In fact, most of the time now when fighting smaller fleets I'll just deploy a pair of herons or drovers equipped with them, open up the command screen, sit back and watch all the red indicators disappear into white circles. Two wings of them will destroy most frigates in a single pass or so. It's incredibly satisfying to watch, and I'm certainly going to be fitting an Astral with a full load of them as soon as I get my hands on one.

Since we're talking about carriers, now that I've had the chance to play with them more I don't think I'll have a fleet without one again. In 0.7.2a, I would use carriers to provide escort fighters for ships with poor PD at most. They didn't feel particularly effective no matter how many wings you had, and every wing took up valuable fleet space. Now they are easier to command, feel more effective, and including a carrier in my fleet isn't a huge commitment of my available ship slots. The Drover is a FANTASTIC little ship. With two decent wings and its ship system, you can put a lot of power on the field. It's quick enough to stay out of trouble, and when fitted with 2 x Dual Machine Guns and 2 x Salamanders, is one of the most survivable ships in my fleet.

The new content has been fun too, even if it's obviously just a teaser of things to come. I'm so glad we're getting to the actual content phase of development now. I had a fleet consisting of 3 capitals, 5 cruisers, and 5 destroyers completed wiped by a full blown [REDACTED] [REDACTED] with a max level [REDACTED] commander. That was a surprise. It's been a while since I found anything I couldn't dominate with a single capital plus a handful of support vessels.

I can say that I haven't run into any obvious bugs, which is typical of FSW in general.

Availability of certain hulls and weapons is still a matter of arcana and luck, but the new salvage mechanics play perfectly into that.

That's enough long winded drivel for now. Truth is, as much as I like the release and all the great things it adds, there isn't a whole lot to say about it. That's a good thing, though, because it's the best version of "more of the same". Same game, same feel, bigger better and more complete than ever before. Another (few) rungs on the ladder to being a complete game. I'm going to try to keep my proselytizing to a minimum until release though.

37
General Discussion / Re: your best random salvaged ship findings
« on: April 24, 2017, 02:15:30 PM »
I haven't run into any motherships or stations yet. Any level / fleet size requirement or places I should go poking around?
For stations, look for warning beacons that put out two or three pings. 2 pings is an officerless station. 3 is an officered one. Sadly they battlestations don't regen...


Annnd I ran into an officered [REDACTED] that completely wiped my fleet, including 3 capital class warships and 3 cruiser class carriers. Pretty impressive.

38
General Discussion / Re: your best random salvaged ship findings
« on: April 23, 2017, 11:42:15 AM »
I haven't run into any motherships or stations yet. Any level / fleet size requirement or places I should go poking around?

39
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« on: April 23, 2017, 11:31:06 AM »
So I'm well into a fresh vanilla campaign in the new version now. Level 19, 4 officers levels 5-10, and a small but tough little fleet built around destroyer class vessels.

So far, really loving this release. All the new content (that I've encountered so far) is great, it's nice to see the sector "blooming" into a real living world. Tankers and freighters are almost mandatory for most fleets now, which is great. The new ships that I've used are all interesting and balanced. Seriously, the fact that it's as hard as it is to choose between Condors, Drovers, and Gemini's is a good sign. All depends on how you want to set up the rest of your fleet to fit the individual capabilities of each, etc.

I was skeptical about the new fighter mechanics when I read the patch notes, but withheld judgement until I could actually try it myself. I'm totally convinced now it was a move in the right direction. Early game, light salvage and small bounties were my bread and butter. Right now, survey and sensor missions have been the best way for me to make a living. As I build relationships and funds, I'm going to transition to a more combat oriented fleet and start looking for fights.

As for the art, it's definitely apparent that Davids art style has developed over the years. That said, nothing feels out of place. The old repair gantry sprite was one of the few that felt like it didn't fit, and even that's been replaced now. It's developing into a gorgeous, but still "cute" game.

I'll probably post some final impressions once this campaign has run its course and I'm fairly confident I've rooted out all the new content.

40
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.8a (In Development) Patch Notes
« on: April 17, 2017, 01:19:58 PM »
Video games are for people who have finished their exams for good  :P . Post release (whenever that happens to be), I have regularly scheduled Starsector time ~7:30pm-11pm or so.

1-2 campaigns of vanilla, set it aside for a few months while the modding community catches up, and another cycle of campaigns while exploring all the new mechanics and how the mod makers have integrated them into their work. Then it's back to sporadic play while checking in on patch notes and blog posts waiting for the new update.

The game that keeps on giving, thanks mostly to Alex's undeniable perfectionism with each release cycle.

41
Discussions / Re: Anyone watching/watched The Expanse?
« on: March 01, 2017, 11:10:36 AM »
I actually just stared reading the Expanse book series, I'll probably try the show out once I've finished it. After finishing James Clavell's asian saga, and a crushing rendezvous with Vonneguts existential nihilism in Sirens of Titan, I'm really looking forward to some lighter near-future scifi. The beginning of Leviathan Wakes hasn't disappointed so far.

Mostly I'm just glad that "space" is entering popular culture as a topic again. I'm glad for anything that gets people talking about it.

42
Discussions / Re: Does anyone look into Ryzen?
« on: March 01, 2017, 10:54:26 AM »
I just can't take the hype seriously. I would love for AMD to be able to offer genuine competition to Intel and Nvidia, but I'm just not seeing it. In the meantime, the 10xx series and Kaby/Sky Lake are vetted performers.

Quote
+100000000... never worth it.  It's always obscenely over-priced, buggy and unstable, lol.  I remember my first water-cooled setup, and the mess that was...

See, I can't say I've experienced that problem at all. I got my (first ever, actually) new "home build" PC up and running in December. I splurged a little bit on it, with full watercooling and fairly high end hardware. The most trouble I had with anything was the motherboards LAN chipset. Getting all the cooling stuff set up and working right was tedious no question, but it's been entirely painless and stable since. Overclocking was straightforward and didn't take long. Granted, a few months isn't the longest test, but it's definitely a good start.

What issues did you have with yours?

43
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.8a (In Development) Patch Notes
« on: December 14, 2016, 08:20:10 PM »
Great stuff, Alex. Looking forward to playing this release. Seeing things like this unfold is the benefit of being an early adopter.

44
General Discussion / Re: Anyone else miss old Starfarer?
« on: June 12, 2016, 07:23:23 PM »
If you guys really want to play a game with no progression, and just want to get in spaceship fights, there's something called the console commands mod. It will eliminate all of those pesky things like "having to try" and "growing your resources" if you choose to use it that way.

45
General Discussion / Re: 4 years....
« on: April 29, 2016, 10:57:29 PM »
I've been waiting a long time, but I knew I would be, and I've certainly gotten more than my moneys worth out of the game already. The fact that I will continue to be able to enjoy subsequent versions is even better, and never once has Alex gone out of his way to actively market the game or set unrealistic guidelines for hype. This is something I really appreciate out of an early access project. He may be a perfectionist, he may set his own pace, but the quality of the work and stability of the game speaks volumes. Just read one of the blog posts if you're not sure what I mean. Every change, every mechanic is thought out and carefully fit into the larger picture of the game. The release schedule and inclusion of new features has also happened at a pretty consistent rate over the life of the project (at least as long as I've been following it) which is a rare thing on it's own in these types of projects.

Living with a software developer, I've gotten to see first hand what it's like to take even a small a project from concept to completion (even that being a relative term), and it's given me a huge amount of respect for the amount of work a project as ambitious as this represents for a single programmer. I watched four people work almost full time job hours over multiple months just to make a reasonable demonstration of an engine tech demo. It's not easy.

Quote from: Alex
All games aren't the same, you know? Starsector is big, and I want to do it right rather than just tick of all the feature boxes.

That pretty much says it all.

I'm very, very eager to play the complete version of this game. That doesn't take away from what I get out of it already. Sorry if this sounds too much like "Fractal Softworks Internet Defense Force", but I would hate to see this attitude become pervasive in the community.

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