Fractal Softworks Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

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

Pages: 1 ... 53 54 [55] 56 57 ... 116

Author Topic: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes  (Read 639265 times)

Midnight Kitsune

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 2846
  • Your Friendly Forum Friend
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #810 on: April 20, 2017, 04:08:35 PM »

Very first play through of the tutorial got hung up on the salvage ship section. Even after salvaging/pounding everything (I detonated the Condor), The mission never completed. On a second playthrough, I noticed that after adding the Condor to my fleet, the exclamation point over the planet went away. Perhaps you should be more explicit that you should take every ship available?
I actually did and it didn't advance even after quicksaving
Logged
Help out MesoTroniK, a modder in need

2021 is 2020 won
2022 is 2020 too

Alex

  • Administrator
  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 23987
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #811 on: April 20, 2017, 04:13:13 PM »

Very first play through of the tutorial got hung up on the salvage ship section. Even after salvaging/pounding everything (I detonated the Condor), The mission never completed. On a second playthrough, I noticed that after adding the Condor to my fleet, the exclamation point over the planet went away. Perhaps you should be more explicit that you should take every ship available?

I need to look into this - iirc you need to salvage 3 ships or so. Ohhh... I think I know what the problem might be - if the ships don't end up with any d-mods (which there's a slight chance of?) then it might not count them. Not 100% sure, though, will look into it.

Speaking of: the fleet you leave the tutorial with (in addition to the credits, weapons, skill points, etc.) is leaps and bounds superior than the quick start.  I get you can get a decent ship at start in the tutorial with the 30k credits but flying around with 6-7 ships at "start" is a huge leg up in the early game. I'm not sure if I should say "bravo!" (which I will anyway: the tutorial is fantastic) or "tutorial is pretty much mandatory."

Hmm - but the ships you get are... let's be generous and say "not very good". Plus they need fuel, making further exploration/bounty hunting/fringe missions more expensive to outfit for.

Edit: also, thank you!
Edit #2: you can also go back to Galatia and grab those ships w/o doing the tutorial.

Is the number actually going down, or is it just because it says "degrading readiness"? I *suspect* it's saying "degrading readiness" but the number isn't going down (which is still an issue if that's the case, that's definitely confusing.)
It was actually going down when I took the screenshot, but a couple of seconds later it stopped. The interesting thing is there was a ship I was running away from that wasn't in my sensor range, and I think it was just on the edge of being visible. There might be a slight mismatch in visual range vs in-combat range.

The "degrading readiness" indicator did not go away even after the CR number stopped going down.

Ok, thank you - yeah, the range in the fog of war is inexact sometimes, and iirc CR takes a second or two to stop ticking down in any case.



The Flash Bomber's description states it uses proximity charges that "employs the principles of the phase cloak". Is this purely flavour or has the prox. charge launcher changed in some way? The description of the weapon itself doesn't seem to suggest any changes.

Purely flavor.


The damage type explanations for Energy and Fragmentation both mention hull damage, but it doesn't for Explosives and Kinetics. Given that hull damage is always 100% it's probably unnecessary information anyway, although might be worth adding it to everything for the sake of new players? Either way seems fine.

I'll probably leave it as-is, then - I think the current descriptions are fine.

The Devastator Cannon's description keeps mentioning frag damage and how terrible it is against armour, but given it's actually Explosive it seems like it would be reasonable against armour. Granted I haven't actually tried it out yet, so it may be as terrible as the description keeps telling me.
The Harbinger's new description has a minor typo: last line of first paragraph, "Everything that can possible can wrong does".

Adjusted, thank you.


Is there a point to the Salvage Rig when the Shepherd has the exact same hullmod and is just generally a lot more useful?

Well, it's +25% vs +10% for the Shepherd.

There are no more Assault Fighters. :( I get why this is with the new fighter changes, but the tab still exists in the Codex. Also some more fighters might be better under "Support Fighters" (e.g. Claw, and previously Longbow), as it is it's just Xyphos: unless Support Fighters are now only meant to be long-ranged support.

Yeah, the Codex. The Codex. Needs an eventual overhaul just in general.


Something for the hotfix: If you sell degraded ships, you don't get paid the normal price for their weapons. I just sold a degraded Condor with 2 LPCs for 900 space bucks (which is a major annoyance in Iron Mode). Don't know how it is for normal ships.

Noted.

Alex, I think this is one reason why people are getting hung up in the ship salvage area: http://imgur.com/a/0u0zw
There is no indicator to quicksave after salvaging everything

Ahh, that could be it - although it shouldn't require you to quicksave. Hmm. I've gone through it like 10 times, but I've always recovered every ship (though it gives you the next stage before you do).


Good job Alex!
Very impressive expansion to the scope of the campaign!

Now pls nerf Harpoons; they're the single most obnoxious weapon to face in the very early game!
Incredibly easy for your ship to simply get 'deleted' by a barrage of them from 2 frigates. (whether or not you're overloaded)

Thank you!

I don't know about the Harpoons; there's lots of things you can do to avoid them and I think it's great that even early enemies have some teeth.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2017, 04:27:14 PM by Alex »
Logged

AxleMC131

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1722
  • Amateur World-Builder
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #812 on: April 20, 2017, 04:14:32 PM »

Oh god... Had to happen while I was asleep, didn't it?  ;D Good morning 0.8!
Logged

orost

  • Captain
  • ****
  • Posts: 436
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #813 on: April 20, 2017, 04:19:27 PM »

I'm having a lot of fun with the update, but one thing that detracts from the enjoyment a bit is fairly poor performance in campaign mode. With stock JRE, I was getting some stuttering and drops below 60 FPS in normal time, and severe stuttering with <40 FPS with shift held down. Switching to 64-bit JRE and giving it double memory helped significantly, but it's still not as good as I'd like, considering that this is a high-end system (i7-6700HQ, GTX 980M) and the game has no mods.

Combat is silky smooth though.
Logged

Alex

  • Administrator
  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 23987
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #814 on: April 20, 2017, 04:31:41 PM »

I'm having a lot of fun with the update, but one thing that detracts from the enjoyment a bit is fairly poor performance in campaign mode. With stock JRE, I was getting some stuttering and drops below 60 FPS in normal time, and severe stuttering with <40 FPS with shift held down. Switching to 64-bit JRE and giving it double memory helped significantly, but it's still not as good as I'd like, considering that this is a high-end system (i7-6700HQ, GTX 980M) and the game has no mods.

Combat is silky smooth though.

Hmm, that doesn't make a lot of sense. My system is probably worse and I don't get that - very occasional dips to below 60 with shift held down, at worst. And double memory should not help *at all* here.

Updating the graphics drivers may be worth a shot? Or just a reboot? Or closing other applications/browser tabs playing video/etc? This really seems abnormal, I wonder what's causing it.

I mean, yes, the campaign screen in hyperspace is probably the most intensive part of the game performance-wise, but that still doesn't explain what you're seeing.
Logged

Embolism

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 511
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #815 on: April 20, 2017, 04:32:49 PM »

A thought for new players.

In the tutorial it tells you to move up to the salvage field, but it doesn't tell you how. Press W? Up arrow? Left click? Right click? We've all played this game for ages so we know how things work, but a player completely new to SS probably won't. Saying "move up" makes me think of W/up arrow, but if you actually press W it changes the ability bar and then you can't press "Salvage".
« Last Edit: April 20, 2017, 04:34:41 PM by Embolism »
Logged

Alex

  • Administrator
  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 23987
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #816 on: April 20, 2017, 04:36:27 PM »

A thought for new players.

In the tutorial it tells you to move up to the salvage field, but it doesn't tell you how. Press W? Up arrow? Left click? Right click? We've all played this game for ages so we know how things work, but a player completely new to SS probably won't. Saying "move up" makes me think of W/up arrow, but if you actually press W it changes the ability bar and then you can't press "Salvage".

Excellent point; added an extra bit of info there.
Logged

Midnight Kitsune

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 2846
  • Your Friendly Forum Friend
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #817 on: April 20, 2017, 04:38:20 PM »

Alex, I think I know why the campaign isn't advancing: lack of D mods on your ships that you salvage. If someone takes the skill that reduces the chance of D mods on ships, it can make ships not have D mods and allow you to get 2 or more pristine ships, locking up the tutorial
Logged
Help out MesoTroniK, a modder in need

2021 is 2020 won
2022 is 2020 too

Alex

  • Administrator
  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 23987
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #818 on: April 20, 2017, 04:39:35 PM »

Alex, I think I know why the campaign isn't advancing: lack of D mods on your ships that you salvage. If someone takes the skill that reduces the chance of D mods on ships, it can make ships not have D mods and allow you to get 2 or more pristine ships, locking up the tutorial

That would do it, but can you even get 6 skill points by then? Seems like it'd be tough.
Logged

BillyRueben

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1406
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #819 on: April 20, 2017, 04:40:01 PM »

A few things:

First, good god Talons are dirty little bastards now.

Second, one of the combat skills (something countermeasures) has a description that says that the skill allows various defenses to excel in their roles, yet it boosts shields against high explosive and armor against kinetic. Is this supposed to be a case? If so, I find the skill description a little confusing.

Third, did you remove the pause at the end of the combat dialog? Was there one to begin with?

Lastly, is there any way to influence the new skills that your officer might learn? Kinda frustrating when you want an officer that can fly a really good fast attack frigate, but the game keeps insisting they get carrier skills.
Logged

Embolism

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 511
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #820 on: April 20, 2017, 04:42:37 PM »

A few things:

First, good god Talons are dirty little bastards now.

Second, one of the combat skills (something countermeasures) has a description that says that the skill allows various defenses to excel in their roles, yet it boosts shields against high explosive and armor against kinetic. Is this supposed to be a case? If so, I find the skill description a little confusing.

Third, did you remove the pause at the end of the combat dialog? Was there one to begin with?

Lastly, is there any way to influence the new skills that your officer might learn? Kinda frustrating when you want an officer that can fly a really good fast attack frigate, but the game keeps insisting they get carrier skills.

Well, the role of shields is to block explosive damage and the role of armour is to block kinetic damage, so the skill making them "excel at their role" seems pretty fitting (though the practical benefits of this skill is questionable I feel).

I agree the opposite might be more useful, but then it would be "covering their weaknesses", not "excel at their role".
Logged

orost

  • Captain
  • ****
  • Posts: 436
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #821 on: April 20, 2017, 04:43:47 PM »

Quote from: Alex
Hmm, that doesn't make a lot of sense. My system is probably worse and I don't get that - very occasional dips to below 60 with shift held down, at worst. And double memory should not help *at all* here.

Updating the graphics drivers may be worth a shot? Or just a reboot? Or closing other applications/browser tabs playing video/etc? This really seems abnormal, I wonder what's causing it.

I mean, yes, the campaign screen in hyperspace is probably the most intensive part of the game performance-wise, but that still doesn't explain what you're seeing.

Well, the double memory was just futureproofing for mods, I assume it was the 64-bit java that made the difference.

It's not too bad, but I'm flying around in Askonia with shift hovering at 55 FPS and there's clearly lots of jitter (I normally can't tell 45 and 60 FPS apart if both are consistent, but I can easily see the lack of smoothness here). Worlds better than it was before I replaced the JRE, though.

Reboot and closing stuff doesn't seem to have made a difference. Drivers are newest. Also I'm 100% sure I'm running the game on the dedicated GPU, because I'm playing it on an external monitor and programs on external monitors can't run on the integrated GPU at all.

(Also, I just recovered a Prometheus from a random, very small debris field o_o)
Logged

Alex

  • Administrator
  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 23987
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #822 on: April 20, 2017, 04:51:39 PM »

Second, one of the combat skills (something countermeasures) has a description that says that the skill allows various defenses to excel in their roles, yet it boosts shields against high explosive and armor against kinetic. Is this supposed to be a case? If so, I find the skill description a little confusing.

The "role" of armor is to block kinetic damage, isn't it? I mean, I can sort of see how one would think offensively and consider armor's role as "to get mauled by high explosive damage", but...

Or am I missing something?

Third, did you remove the pause at the end of the combat dialog? Was there one to begin with?

Actually not sure.

Lastly, is there any way to influence the new skills that your officer might learn? Kinda frustrating when you want an officer that can fly a really good fast attack frigate, but the game keeps insisting they get carrier skills.

I think if one is judicious about when to pick a new skill and when to increase an existing one, one will end up with something reasonable most of the time, just given how the probabilities work out.

It's not too bad, but I'm flying around in Askonia with shift hovering at 55 FPS and there's clearly lots of jitter (I normally can't tell 45 and 60 FPS apart if both are consistent, but I can easily see the lack of smoothness here). Worlds better than it was before I replaced the JRE, though.

Reboot and closing stuff doesn't seem to have made a difference. Drivers are newest. Also I'm 100% sure I'm running the game on the dedicated GPU, because I'm playing it on an external monitor and programs on external monitors can't run on the integrated GPU at all.

Ok, that's just odd. I can't think of why the in-system frame rate would be any lower than it was before - in-hyperspace, *maybe*, but in-system? (For comparison: holding down shift near Sindria, while in a large fleet: 25% idle. GTX 680 and i7-3930K CPU.)

Maybe worth trying to run it on a non-external monitor for comparison? Also, fullscreen/not fullscreen could make a difference, perhaps. Another thing to try would be to change the affinity of the process to run on a different CPU core, and/or to tweak the priority.

(Also, I just recovered a Prometheus from a random, very small debris field o_o)

!!!

Logged

Gothars

  • Global Moderator
  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 4403
  • Eschewing obfuscatory verbosity.
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #823 on: April 20, 2017, 04:58:30 PM »

I just tried my first mission, The Last Hurrah.

OMG Fighters! And their missiles! Everywhere! Hundreds, swarms, swirling clouds, so fast, can't follow! Fun!

Not sure if this even winnable yet ;D


But, assuming things didn't change since the blogpost, the replacement rate is funky. I pilot a Heron. Fighters are on regroup orders, but my replacement rate just doesn't go up from 30%, even after about a minute of evading the enemy. Also, it kept going down after some time after I switched to regroup, which, supposedly, it should not.

edit/ It startet going up after I lost some regrouping fighters.



Logged
The game was completed 8 years ago and we get a free expansion every year.

Arranging holidays in an embrace with the Starsector is priceless.

stormbringer951

  • Commander
  • ***
  • Posts: 130
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #824 on: April 20, 2017, 05:03:51 PM »

Sustained burn seems to trivialise sneaking into markets. It doesn't seem to increase your sensor profile by an appreciable amount and you can use it to get away from large fleets guarding the market fairly easily. They can eat my space dust as I supercruise through at burn 19 with my transponder off, (very briefly) stop to buy a ship off the black market, then continue powering away at high burn before they even get underway.
Logged
Weapons Group Controls mod - deselect all weapon groups, hold-down hold-fire mode, toggle alternating/linked fire
Captain's Log - throw away your notepad: custom notes, ruins and salvageable reminders
Old Hyperion - for your dose of nostalgia
Adjustable Skill Thresholds - set fleet DP and fighter bay thresholds
Pages: 1 ... 53 54 [55] 56 57 ... 116