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

Author Topic: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.  (Read 7874 times)

ZeroEffort89

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Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« on: November 20, 2016, 11:48:56 AM »

I just started playing and I love the game so far. Might end up as one of my all time favourite games. I started playing as a trader and I cant wait for the upcoming economy overhaul! So I wont comment on the state of the economy as it is now. :)
I do have some other simple suggestions that I think would be easy to implement and would enhance the game.


Hotkeys/UI
When using a hotkey to for example access the character screen by pressing "C" it would be nice that in addition to exiting the screen by pressing escape I could press "C" again. Or "E" again to exit the intel screen etc. Other points about the UI is it would be good to have an interactive map with more info, however I think I saw something about this in a dev blog post so ill just mention that quickly.

Passing time/waiting
When docked at stations and planets it would be very handy to have an option to wait and pass time, preferably with reduced supply consumption. When being chased by pirates and seeking shelter at a planet. I cant wait for them to leave. They will stay in the same position when I leave, and attack me directly.
This would also be handy if you want to pass some time and wait for the markets to change or new bounties to show up without having to roam or orbit spending a lot of supplies.
On the same subject it would be cool if when you were orbiting or stationed in empty space, suppy consumption would be reduced, would be justified by the ships not being in active use. This way i could hide or hang out in orbit, while waiting for an ambush etc.

Skills
Im sure Alex has some awesome plans for the upcoming trade and industry skills. But here are some skills i would like to see, and I think would be nice to see in the trade/industry section.

A skill that reduces tarrifs by a percent or more for each level, making honest trading a bit more viable and giving some more opportunities for it.

A skill that reduces negative reputation when trading with an enemy of a faction. I know I can use black markets, but trying to be an honest trader it really narrows down the possible trade opportunities.

A skill that makes black market deals more covert for smugglers.

Talking about smugglers it would also be nice to have a skill that affects sensors.
With these skills I think that roleplaying/buiding a trader character og stealth character would be viable while not breaking the game.


I wanted to keep this short and simple but being so excited by finding and playing this gem of a game I get a little carried away.
Keep up the good work!








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Serenitis

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2016, 12:09:29 PM »

Hotkeys/UI
When using a hotkey to for example access the character screen by pressing "C" it would be nice that in addition to exiting the screen by pressing escape I could press "C" again. Or "E" again to exit the intel screen etc.
This. So much this. I would love this so much.
Sadly I don't think it will happen as Alex iirc has expressed a dislike for this behaviour. :(
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Midnight Kitsune

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2016, 12:22:49 PM »

One tip about the black market you might not know: You can help cover your tracks by buying and selling goods on the normal markets. You can hover your mouse over the black market icon and it should tell you how high the suspicion level is. Note though that you can't completely remove suspicious.
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ZeroEffort89

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2016, 12:29:01 PM »

Thanks I know this.  ;D
Really cool feature. All the smuggling/trade details in this game are awesome. Its just that the sectors economy isnt that good but with the upcoming overhaul im sure trading will be much better. And with the trading skill tree as well. =)
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Sy

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2016, 02:57:29 PM »

welcome to the forum! :]

good suggestions, and i expect we will see at least the 2nd one at some point, in some form. possibly even with the next update, seeing as how battle stations will become a thing. if stations could actively defend nearby fleets against pirates and hostile factions, waiting probably wouldn't even be necessary.

regarding the skills: i think Alex wants to keep trading as something that's only profitable through taking advantage of current events that cause large price changes. he doesn't want grindy going back and forth between the same two markets to be profitable. i like the ideas for reduced reputation penalties and black market suspicion, though.

and regarding the map: yeah, it's very.. basic, at the moment. it's been around since before there was any hyperspace or sensor mechanics, and i would be very surprised if it'll make its way into the finished game in its current form. i'm guessing it'll be completely redone at some point, but (like the probable codex overhaul and eventual campaign tutorial) Alex might want to wait until all the major features and gameplay mechanics are in place.
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ZeroEffort89

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2016, 07:13:09 PM »

Thanks  :D

Yeah im totally onboard with the idea of event trading! And im sure trading will be much better after the next update so maybe its not that relevant.
However seing the tariffs are at 30% now. Spending 10 points to get them to 20% wouldnt break that in my opinion. Considering you are spending skill points and have to be lvl 20 to get there. 20% tarrifs would still mean events are necessary, however more events would be profitable for the trader character. I also like the RPG character building aspect of leveling up a pure trader =)

Just have to say the community here is great. I joined the discord server too and got tons of help with info and mods.
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Megas

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2016, 10:11:52 AM »

Currently, event trading is not all that it is cracked up to be.  All that means is you store your commodities at some victim-prone market, then when the event inevitably occurs, pull your stock out of your storage rat-hole and sell!  Of course, this assumes you trade primarily for credits and not XP.  Instead of a simple buy-and-sell loop, you buy-check-buy-check-buy-check (oh, event!)-sell!

For the player who does not want to track commodities much, he can simply steadily stockpile fuel and supplies looted from combat, then when a market has a shortage, sell the excess for extra cash.  If the market does not want fuel or supplies anytime soon, no problem, your fleet needs fuel and supplies to live.

There is one buy-and-sell loop - personnel, especially marines!  Marines at Black Markets with zero stability cost only 233 credits, and no tariffs!  Only problem with that is it is more profitable to use such cheap marines to board ships you want to plunder instead of buying fresh hulls from a shipyard.
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Sy

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #7 on: November 23, 2016, 08:53:18 PM »

Yeah im totally onboard with the idea of event trading! And im sure trading will be much better after the next update so maybe its not that relevant.
However seing the tariffs are at 30% now. Spending 10 points to get them to 20% wouldnt break that in my opinion. Considering you are spending skill points and have to be lvl 20 to get there. 20% tarrifs would still mean events are necessary, however more events would be profitable for the trader character. I also like the RPG character building aspect of leveling up a pure trader =)
yeah, i get what you're saying. and i agree, just being able to specialize in trading would be nice pretty much regardless of how the individual skills look like (and there is an "honest trader" starting option, after all). :]
the skill system as a whole will get a revamp sometime soon™ though, so something that sounds good now might not work well with the new system (or it might work better, who knows).


sidenote: sorry for dampening your enthusiasm, but i don't think the upcoming economy changes will actually have a large impact on how you play the game as a trader. the way i understood it, they're mainly improving how things run in the background, not in a way that will greatly affect (most) players. although i guess they might pave the way for future additions/improvements that do affect player trading.
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Creepin

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2016, 12:50:09 AM »

I do have some other simple suggestions that I think would be easy to implement and would enhance the game.
Dream on :) I have been asking for a time acceleration toggle, instead of constantly holding a key until the finger literally in pain after pressing the damn shift for an hour straight, since bloody 2013! :P
« Last Edit: November 24, 2016, 12:54:36 AM by Creepin »
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Sy

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #9 on: November 24, 2016, 07:10:21 PM »

Dream on :) I have been asking for a time acceleration toggle, instead of constantly holding a key until the finger literally in pain after pressing the damn shift for an hour straight, since bloody 2013! :P
and i made a suggestion recently that was accepted in less than half an hour from when i posted its thread. \o/

it really just depends on whether Alex likes the idea, he certainly doesn't seem opposed to implementing suggestions coming from fans in general. some suggestions he rejects pretty much immediately, some he accepts pretty much immediately, and some he thinks and/or talks about for quite a while. he has said that he at least reads all suggestions, even if he doesn't post a response. so i'd say it's always worth a shot, if you think you have an idea that could improve the game.

but, uhm... i also have a hard time understanding why he seems so opposed to adding that time acceleration toggle option in particular, so i feel you there! :D
« Last Edit: November 24, 2016, 07:13:13 PM by Sy »
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Histidine

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2016, 03:45:11 AM »

Did Alex actually speak against it, or is this one of those "it doesn't annoy the dev personally enough to fix" things?
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Sy

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #11 on: November 25, 2016, 07:12:41 AM »

Did Alex actually speak against it, or is this one of those "it doesn't annoy the dev personally enough to fix" things?
he's stated (on several occasions, i think) he'd rather make changes that make travel less boring instead of further encouraging time acceleration, basically. which i think is great in principle, and the sensor & ability mechanics already helped a lot. but there's still plenty of uneventful travel, and i don't really see how small QOL changes like not having to keep the button pressed the whole time you want time accelerated, and/or increasing the acceleration a little (from 2x to ~3x) would be detrimental even if/when travel becomes more engaging. could even be done just through settings.json, if he doesn't want to change the default.

buuut ultimately we don't have much choice but to let him know what we think and trust that he knows what he's doing. and looking at the game as a whole clearly shows that he (usually :P) does.
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ZeroEffort89

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #12 on: November 25, 2016, 10:01:43 AM »

I would only want some kind of time compression while docked at a station or planet. Have any of you played Mount & Blade? I see alot of people say this game is similar in many ways. If you have I would like to see something similar to the option you have in M&B for waiting in towns. Basically you click the option from the list when you are in town and then the camera  goes back to the overworld view with the same time compression you can have when travelling and you pay less troop salary due to rest and recreation =)
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Megas

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #13 on: November 25, 2016, 10:03:59 AM »

It is like classic Doom and their clones.  Had to have the Shift key down constantly if you want to run, and you want to run because it was all upside (more speed) and no downside aside from holding a key down.  Later games had options for always run or reversal where running is default and holding key down was walking.

Starsector needs to allow player to always have time accelerated without requiring Shift key held down.  Even double speed on campaign map can be agonizingly slow at times.
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ZeroEffort89

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Re: Some simple suggestions and impressions from a new player.
« Reply #14 on: November 25, 2016, 10:17:48 AM »

Also nice if you could hold control to slow down time giving the player better reaction time when apporaching wormholes or other dangerous sites.
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