I'll never get to fly for the Gay Pride faction? I feel kinda sad now.
wat
Just a heads-up: I'm going to be releasing a smaller update hopefully later today or tomorrow. There was a crapload of work that needed to be done to bring it into the beta stage, and I decided to cut it into two releases. This next one will be Alpha 4, and next will be Beta 1.
This update will have:
-Mercenary system.
-Paychecks.
-2 portraits for each major faction, + a new version of Tysia.
-A full 3-way war with the Kraskae Treaty Alliance now involved.
-New KTA ships + weapons.
-Updated UI graphics.
Big content dump:
Spoiler
Final few portraits:
EC:
Thiiei:
And here's the contract icons for the mercenary system:
Coalition Contract:
Contract termination:
Thiian Contract:
Contract Termination:
Standard Paycheck (varies by color):
So, how do the merc system and paychecks work?
A:
The mercenary system allows you to fight under the banner of either Thiiei or the Coalition. In order to sign a contract, go to the station of the entity you wish to fight for. Pick up the contract, and put it in your cargo--after the in-game day changes, the contract will be signed, and the opposing faction will become hostile to you. (Meaning if you work for Thiiei, the Coalition will become hostile once the contract is signed.) As long as you are working for them, you will receive a paycheck about once a month, valued at 12,000 credits. You can cash in paychecks at any station. You are able to terminate the contract at any time--just go back to that station, and put the "Terminate Contract" item in your cargo. After one in-game day, you will no longer work for your faction, and you will no longer receive paychecks. The opposing faction will still remain hostile to you for a bit of time, but they will eventually call off the hunt for you (You're a mercenary--why kill you when they can hire you to kill your former employers?). Once the opposing faction has returned to neutral status with you, you may choose to work for them if you wish. In addition to paychecks from working for a faction, you will always receive a somewhat smaller paycheck from Ceni Six once every little-less-than-a-month, so long as you do not betray them.
Be warned: if you attack either Thiiei or the Coalition without a contract with their opposing faction, you will be labeled as
permanently hostile, and no contracts will be able to be signed with them. If you choose to work for the other faction, also be aware that after you terminate a contract with them, the faction you attacked originally will NOT regain neutrality with you.
All of the above was accomplished with a metric fuckton of "if" statements.
So, yeah. Soon.