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

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Author Topic: Starsector 0.65a (Released) Patch Notes  (Read 257963 times)

TaLaR

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #105 on: September 24, 2014, 11:50:19 PM »

Why have them at all now if they lost most of their main purpose? How USEFUL is ONE more burn speed? Have you ever tried to catch up to a ship when you are one point faster? How long did that take in?  With how little burn speeds differ, you need about a +3 difference to reach your target in a reasonable amount of time...

I think better way to fix player getting bored, is allowing higher time multipliers. For example up to 1000% with gradual increase, X-series style...
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kazi

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #106 on: September 24, 2014, 11:57:26 PM »

AAAGH I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED FOR THIS UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!

The most exciting changes imo are the ship skins (given that every mod is making Buffalo style freighter conversions nowadays), beamFireOnlyOnFullCharge setting, planet night-time lights, and removal of the burn speed penalty after battles. From just looking at the patchnotes, I don't think there's a single change I disagree with.

Only thing I might suggest taking a look at before the update is the "Stabilized Shields" hullmod. The way it currently works, it sees automatic use on any ship where Stabilized Shields is cheaper than an equivalent amount of vents (like the Apogee or Sunder, for instance). Although it's not OP or anything, it seems a little too easy to get access to, requiring only a 1 point investment into Applied Physics. Maybe move it up a little bit in the skill tree to make it require a bit more dedication to get (like rank 3-5 or something)?

@Midnight Kitsune - The navigation skill is there for a reason. Also the practice of attaching 4 tugs to an atlas or paragon seems a little game breaking/silly. I never use tugs and I have no problem catching things.

@TaLaR - Yeah, a x4 multiplier would be fantastic!

@Uomoz - I still see the appeal in a mod like UsS. People will always want a good mod compilation to play, its a bit overwhelming to have to simply look through the entire list of mods in the forum. UsS was probably the first mod I downloaded when I started playing for that very reason. And your mod has increased difficulty and a sensible blueprints system. I like that.
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Hopelessnoob

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #107 on: September 25, 2014, 12:26:05 AM »

Anything that just adds an arbitrary amount of time till I get from point A to point B is just an annoyance so adding in faster acceleration would be great. Being unable to catch fleets is fine, taking 5 minutes to go from Corvus to Askondia is just annoying. More time acceleration would be great.
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Midnight Kitsune

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #108 on: September 25, 2014, 12:40:34 AM »

@Midnight Kitsune - The navigation skill is there for a reason. Also the practice of attaching 4 tugs to an atlas or paragon seems a little game breaking/silly. I never use tugs and I have no problem catching things.
That still doesn't answer my question: What use are these things if they are only going to provide ONE burn speed MAX? Also, it has already been stated that Navigation is already a must buy skill
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Tartiflette

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #109 on: September 25, 2014, 12:48:20 AM »


Modding:
  • Added ship "skins"
    • Way to define a slightly different hull based on an existing hull
    • Defined in data/hulls/skins
    • A skin can:
      • Set a new sprite/name/description
      • Remove and/or modify weapon slots
      • Remove engine slots
      • Add/remove built-in hullmods and weapons

I think this is my favorite item so far... I was about to try and make a dialog to change your ships built-in weapons, or add extra armor at the cost of speed, but this simplify it all! I hope we can change skin easily and add a price tag on it?

Because why have 4 ships (probably more with the new possibilities that are coming) when you can have 4 skins:
Spoiler
[close]
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Zudgemud

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #110 on: September 25, 2014, 12:50:16 AM »

I read the patch notes but I didn't see anything about this, but will it be possible to specialize factions towards certain commodities (for example via average abundance or price)?

And will there be a way for haulers to be nerfed in terms of smuggling capacity in a similar way to how the new hullmod works, ie extra thin cargohold?

And could you make cargoholds discriminate specific items, such that for example my faction's hauler could only carry supplies and fuel but no commodities? Or maybe only supplies, fuel, an "energy cells" commodity and guns?

I'm so stoked about this patch, its gonna be awesome :)
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Debido

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #111 on: September 25, 2014, 01:01:57 AM »

Quote
Hmm. I think that type of thing might fit in better along with more dedicated mechanics for, well, that type of thing. This feels a little tacked on, since your relationship level doesn't necessarily reflect how "beaten down" the faction is.

I see what you mean, these mechanics would need to be expanded on, and yes include their own levels of faction suppression, and possibly other aspects of faction relationships. I suppose with different levels of suppression you get different mercenaries after you, different items you can buy and sell and different time before ships respawn. You could ultimately have the level of completely suppressed, that is the station/faction no longer fights back.

This could tie into a sort of mechanic for stations and planets you own that are under attack. An enemy fleet hovers/orbits around a station or planet with the status of 'attacking' or 'suppressing', and you get a notification of the event in progress, and your control over it measurably goes down over time until you fend off the attacker.

Anyway, youve probably got something even more elegant and grand in the pipeline, Hm, 0.67?
Hm, anyway I'm sure there are lots of mechanics planned or in the works
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kazi

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #112 on: September 25, 2014, 01:07:13 AM »

@Midnight Kitsune - The navigation skill is there for a reason. Also the practice of attaching 4 tugs to an atlas or paragon seems a little game breaking/silly. I never use tugs and I have no problem catching things.
That still doesn't answer my question: What use are these things if they are only going to provide ONE burn speed MAX? Also, it has already been stated that Navigation is already a must buy skill

+1 burn speed is a HUGE deal. I can catch anything if I'm +1 faster than them (just by taking a more direct route to its target, being clever about hyperspace use to travel across a system, or just straight-up running them down). The only way I can see this hurting players is if they were abusing tugs to make capitals catch literally anything they wanted. The navigation skill is nice only during the early game when you're attempting to catch really fast frigates with destroyers and things... its really not as essential as you make it out to be. Sometimes I don't even take it.

You shouldn't be able to intercept/chase anything with capitals. Period. Otherwise it turns into an effortless steamroll.
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Okim

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #113 on: September 25, 2014, 01:12:59 AM »

Quote
Modding:
ʉۢAdded ship "skins"?Way to define a slightly different hull based on an existing hull
   ?Defined in data/hulls/skins
   ?A skin can:?Set a new sprite/name/description
    ?Remove and/or modify weapon slots
    ?Remove engine slots
    ?Add/remove built-in hullmods and weapons

Alex, can you please elaborate how this one works? And probably post an example if you can :)

LazyWizard

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #114 on: September 25, 2014, 01:37:26 AM »

Back when .6a was in development you released the WIP starfarer api a bit early so modders could get a head start on supporting the massive changes in that patch. Would you consider doing so again since it's looking like .65a will be an even bigger compatibility breaker than .6a?
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JohnDoe

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #115 on: September 25, 2014, 02:07:36 AM »

...
Made fleet movement slightly less inertial (2x acceleration)
...
Hell yeah!
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Gothars

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #116 on: September 25, 2014, 04:15:52 AM »

Wow, that's a lot of bullet points  :D

Really glad to see that you're still polishing combat, the AI and missile changes should mix things up again. (I'm just afraid that the Cerberus is completely at the mercy of missiles now.)

But of course I'm most excited to see the campaign shifting away from battle grinding being the only way of progression. I can't wait to try out every trader playstile I can think of  ;D

Oh, and... did you really double weapon end engine health again, so it's now quadrupled? Or did you just forget that you already listed that change in the June update?



(And a rather late suggestion about this:
Quote
The pips on the weapon arc indicator will glow red when there's a danger of friendly fire
They could glow yellow when neutral objects (asteroids, wrecks) obstruct the fire path.)



Only thing I might suggest taking a look at before the update is the "Stabilized Shields" hullmod. The way it currently works, it sees automatic use on any ship where Stabilized Shields is cheaper than an equivalent amount of vents (like the Apogee or Sunder, for instance). Although it's not OP or anything, it seems a little too easy to get access to, requiring only a 1 point investment into Applied Physics. Maybe move it up a little bit in the skill tree to make it require a bit more dedication to get (like rank 3-5 or something)?

Yeah, at the moment you only have to do some math to know if its worth it, plus a rough estimate of how much time your shields will spend activated. Not an interesting choice.
Maybe if the upkeep cost reduction were much greater (99%, so the speed penalty is preserved?) but the shield activation speed would be severely reduced (to 20%?)? Then equipping this hullmod would force you to plan ahead further, make you stronger while you're in control but weaken you against surprises.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2014, 09:59:45 AM by Gothars »
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mendonca

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #117 on: September 25, 2014, 04:29:21 AM »

Sounds so great.

I am also salivating at the Lasher / Wolf frontal shield change and the impact pilums (pila?) are going to have on their rear ends.

Don't know why that stands out amongst all the other things, but it does :)

Adds interest to the choice of frigate, I guess. At the minute Lashers and Wolves are a safe option in so many ways.
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Erick Doe

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #118 on: September 25, 2014, 05:29:20 AM »

Quote
Removed speed penalty after winning battle

But... why?  :-[

That way you can just keep on farming smaller fleets, without fear of a bigger fleet catching you after battle. The way I see it, the hit to burnspeed after winning a battle means you have to carefully pick your targets. Which to me adds to the fun of the game. And from a roleplaying stand point, I think even a victorious fleet first has to get back into formation again, and prepare to fly off at full burn speed. It only stands to reason that such preparations take some time.
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Histidine

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #119 on: September 25, 2014, 05:34:39 AM »

The shielded cargo hullmod makes me think: if the customs patrol doesn't trust you (maybe you've been caught smuggling before, or they've been swamped with illegal goods lately), they should insist on a boarding inspection. Obviously much harder to hide contraband from, and if you decide to fight after letting them on, you've got armed marines on your ship that could mess your crew/CR levels up or even take it over entirely.

Or is that too unfun a mechanic?
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