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

Author Topic: Tactical Speed  (Read 811 times)

basilhare

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Tactical Speed
« on: June 14, 2019, 05:16:23 AM »

Enjoying the game as a returning player. The game has really progressed since my initial play a couple of years ago. Very nice work! I listened to the Space Junkie Podcast from back in February and was fascinated by the discussion and how long Alex has worked on this fine game.

Q: In my trying to roleplay the game, I have been trying to use armed freighters vs. military ships. The mule is one of my favorites at my current "level" in the game. I do notice that in many cases in tactical combat, a planet appears in the middle of the map. My freighter just sits there unable to move, especially if shields are up. Is this an optical illusion (ie., the planet has no real affect and is just cosmetic) or am I trapped in a gravity well?


Can you use the mule for combat or is this futile and I need to go ahead and acquire a military ship as my flagship and have military escorts in my fleet. Again, doing this for RPG purposes.

Also, when you establish a colony is there some warning of impending attacks so that you have time to defend?

Thanks.
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Megas

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Re: Tactical Speed
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2019, 10:50:12 AM »

Planets in the background are harmless, they do nothing beyond looking pretty.

Mules are good as meat shields with modest attack power early in the game until you progress long enough to build your first colony.  They will not be of use for much longer afterwards.  Until then, a wall of Shrike (P), Enforcers, and Mules recovered from pirates will get the early-game combat job done.

If you really want an armed freighter style ship that is good for most of the game, then Apogee is the best ship for that job, and it is good enough to be useful for the entire game.  Even better, you can start the game as a Apogee, although it will be underequipped until you find better weapons.  It will not be an offensive powerhouse late in the game, but it is a great shield tank and it can survey and haul on the side.

You get a colony alert telling you how many days you have before they arrive.
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basilhare

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Re: Tactical Speed
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2019, 03:43:18 PM »

Much appreciated.
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Thaago

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Re: Tactical Speed
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2019, 04:26:18 PM »

As Megas said the planet is juts background. There is an intermediate layer of 'stars' or 'dust' though that can indicate the movement of the ship when there aren't other reference points. Also you can open the map with tab and unpause to watch movement.

When shields are up ships lose the 0 flux bonus, so move 50 speed slower.
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