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[Sy]

I kinda disagree. Isn't "they hate each other, but can't go to open war" the perfect scenario to hire a third party (the player) to do some dirty jobs? Of course not with public bounties, but something more subtle. Otherwise they wouldn't need you at all but do the smashing themselves.

i like the idea of faction-exclusive bounty jobs as well, but maybe it would be a better fit (in terms of gameplay) as part of the mission-system, requiring good standing to be able to accept or even see the mission.

[gruberscomplete]

Alex, I've gotta complain.

This update makes SS incredibly lonely. its a good theme but you know... if you make 500k credits in 15 minutes it ruins the game somehow, since it means nothing if you are so rich and there are so few fleets.

So I set number of fleets to 5000 along with 2000 pirates and 1800 mercenaries and the game is slow now(serious lag).

so... yeah.

[Dri]

Id imagine the number of fleets is the same as in the older versions of Starsector or perhaps even higher. Its just that you can't see them from across the entire system anymore.

[Jonlissla]

I'd love to see a mission that hires you as a mercenary to follow around a fleet for a period of time and assist it in combat as necessary. You get to choose your battles, but bonus earnings are dependent on how much you did, and if you didn't do enough it will be considered failed.

Or be hired as a privateer, and receive a letter of marque. As of now it doesn't feel like you're part of a faction, it's more like you're kissing someones butt in order to get fancy ships and guns.

I would really love to see more mercenary or sellsword kind of content. Let's say that by doing certain feats like taking on a much bigger fleet than your own, you build a sort of global reputation, and factions will want to hire you to do jobs alá Shadowrun style. Basically being able to do work without tying yourself to a faction.

May I ask, did you play in Iron mode? Because, my experience was that I felt like this "no money worries" zone was approaching several times, but then every time a setback hit me and I was forced to rebuild my fleet, pay a major bribe or spent ridiculous amounts for repairs. Because of those setbacks (which probably had me reloading reloading if not for Iron mode) my progression of wealth, fleet and skills is reeeelatively balanced.

No, I generally don't like Iron Man playthroughs unless the game feels balanced around it. Darkest Dungeons for example is a game I enjoy a lot despite it being very roguelikish, but I feel that losing a character there, despite high level and skills, isn't as much of a setback compared to, say, XCOM, or in this case Starsector. If you lose your fleet you not only lose a humongous chunk of credits, but that's fine since money is relatively easy to come by, what's more importantly for me is that you now have to spend a equally humongous time in order to find the proper ships and weapons again. For me this is a incredibly boring chore.

Still, I am tempted to do a IM game. If you lose your fleet you can build a new better one, with other ships and other loadouts which is sort of a start of a whole new adventure.

[Alex]

So I set number of fleets to 5000 along with 2000 pirates and 1800 mercenaries and the game is slow now(serious lag).

I'm shocked, I tell you!

... shocked that it ran at all with those settings, that is

(Yeah, it's about the same as before, but sensors. I'll keep an eye on how it feels, though.)

[xenoargh]

Congratulations!  I'll give a review when I have enough time to look it over in detail

[Sy]

is there currently any reason for the player to use the new Civilian Transport ships? they do have some cargo capacity, but a lot less than actual freighters. i suppose you would use them if you want to have several hundreds Marines with you, but that seems a little overkill.

a bit of a shame, since i really like their sprites. at least i get to see them in battle as a Pirate every now and then, though. ^^

[Wyvern]

Having now played a bit farther, I'm going to put myself in the "SO doesn't need a nerf" camp.  It's great when you're starting out, but I've found myself just not using it anymore as my own character skills have gotten to the point where I don't need it - and the OP cost + reduced combat time just make it not worth the price tag right now.

[Clockwork Owl]

is there currently any reason for the player to use the new Civilian Transport ships? they do have some cargo capacity, but a lot less than actual freighters. i suppose you would use them if you want to have several hundreds Marines with you, but that seems a little overkill.

a bit of a shame, since i really like their sprites. at least i get to see them in battle as a Pirate every now and then, though. ^^

Frigate version has 50% more cargo capacity than a Hermes.

[dragoongfa]

So played this version for a few hours and all I have to say is that I am ready to invest in industrial level sector shaping

My one complaint is the marine price of boarding. So far I boarded two frigates both with an assault force of 100 marines. The first had 4 crew still alive and the other one had 2. The first frigate cost me 24 marines, the second 34. 

Its a good thing that there are two planets from which we can get marines cheap or the whole deal would be raw.

[Serenitis]

About 6 hours in now and I finally have a non-terrible ship - in other words something bigger than a frigate. (Because I don't like those due to being spectacularly bad at flying them. I am the best at space!)
And it's not too bad now. Enforcer; how I love thee....

But seriously this is really something that needs looking at.
Imagine a new player comes in, tries this and has to push themselves through several hours of the most frustrating and tedious space themed cat-and-mouse cargo simulator with added repeated reloading pleasure.
How many of those newbies are just going to drop it right there and never look back? Not everyone is a masochist.

One of the things I really liked about the previous release was that unless you did something obviously silly it was pretty easy to get yourself started by picking on small pirates and smugglers.
You could see where you were, where you needed to be, what was a threat, and what was a target. It was simple. It was pretty forgiving. And it really helped the game to get flowing much quicker.
My previous starts have had me up-and-running inside an hour. But this.... Was not a fun experience.

The real shame is that this whole sensor getup is probably one of the coolest things I have seen in a game for ages and I can see it being something fun to play with once you're established, but it just makes the early game such a total drag.
I flat dislike the burn boost though. It doesn't seem to add anything other than micromanagement and frustration, and the AI can spam it relentlesly without worrying about the fuel use.
(The AI will have lower CR though, but this doesn't matter if it's 12-on-1.)

I've noticed something odd about the delivery missions as well.
There are rather a lot of requests for organs. Sometimes the boards are almost entirely organs and one maybe two for something more mundane.
This seems a bit.... Not right.
A bit more variety, and some slightly less "tight" time limits on some contracts would make this feature more or less perfect. Include all the commodities as well, not just the finished goods.

[Schwartz]

You know, the early game is hard, but it isn't much harder than the last version. Now you can at least bring a cargo hauler or another destroyer along with your frigate without turning into immediate pirate-fodder. Plus it's really easy to throw yourself into ongoing battles and be quite decisive in them even with just a single Wolf.

I came out okay in my first game, but it took a bunch of reloads. What surprised me most was how long it took to get out of that 'lone frigate hole' and be able to stand up to bounties for the first time. That's when the cash starts to roll in, but it is quite a bit of a hump. Maybe I shouldn't have made my first purchases be a Tarsus and a Mule.

Re: Emergency Burn. This would be way cooler as a toggle. I.e. you flick the switch and just keep burning away while your CR slowly depletes itself. Depending on how long you need to get away / catch a thing. The flat penalty Emergency Burn is too easy to game. See a bounty, turn around and make them burn after you - and they will. Bang. You get a lower-CR engagement at no cost.

[Sy]

Frigate version has 50% more cargo capacity than a Hermes.

but it

• is slower
• has way less PD and OP
• has lower hull & armor
• has no shield at all

and i believe it is actually rarer and more expensive as well.

plus, now that the Shepherd has the same burn level as those two, it's probably the best option for frigate-sized civilian craft. it's not quite as fast, but has more cargo capacity than even the Mudskipper and can still be really useful in battle, especially early on. it's also pretty cheap and easy to find, and even has a better cargo capacity to maintenance cost ratio than the Hermes.

Enforcer; how I love thee....

same here! i think this is the first time i've ever used an Enforcer as flagship, and i absolutely love it. the oversized weapons and heavy armor synergize incredibly well with SO, which also gets rid of its main drawback, lack of maneuverability.

[Megas]

When starting out, I feel almost blind.  By the time I see something nasty with my lone Wolf, it is often too late (not always enough time to react).  Active sensor burst is not a good idea.  If you see something, it sees you, and you are stuck... and dead when it reaches you!  It gets easier once I have a fleet and can see more.

Speaking of which, I think the penalty for Augmented Engines is too harsh.  Either reduced sensor range OR increased profile, NOT both.  Personally, I prefer just increased profile if I must eat a penalty.  Being nearsighted is aggravating.  Increased profile is an annoyance when I need to sneak, and going dark is a good idea then.

Too many missions ask for drugs, organs, and maybe hand weapons.  A bit less common but frequently seen are for exotic stuff like lobsters and luxury items.  Occasionally, I see missions for supplies or fuel.

[Alex]

But seriously this is really something that needs looking at.

Appreciate the feedback! This is one of those things where it feels like no matter how much the pirates get nerfed, it's never enough. Let's nerf them some more, then - modified the various (D) hullmods so that most pirates end up with quadruple the sensor profile (and something like twice the effective "detected at" range).

This should help, but the issue is still that starting out, the thing that gets you is needing to figure out how sensor mechanics work. Until you do, it's not going to go well. The second hurdle is needing some proficiency at frigate-flying; if you can't beat 2-3 (D) frigates in your starter Wolf, things get significantly more difficult as the range of viable targets shrinks dramatically.

Well, let's see how it goes. I think I'll take another look at early trade; seems like allowing the player easier ways to get a leg up in a non-combat way might side-step these issues entirely. Trade for a bit, upgrade to a destroyer, problem solved.

My one complaint is the marine price of boarding. So far I boarded two frigates both with an assault force of 100 marines. The first had 4 crew still alive and the other one had 2. The first frigate cost me 24 marines, the second 34. 

Its a good thing that there are two planets from which we can get marines cheap or the whole deal would be raw.

Yeah, going to look at this. There's something going wrong somewhere. It's supposed to be costly, but closer to a 1-1 or 2-1 casualty ratio.

I've noticed something odd about the delivery missions as well.
There are rather a lot of requests for organs. Sometimes the boards are almost entirely organs and one maybe two for something more mundane.
This seems a bit.... Not right.
A bit more variety, and some slightly less "tight" time limits on some contracts would make this feature more or less perfect. Include all the commodities as well, not just the finished goods.

Too many missions ask for drugs, organs, and maybe hand weapons.  A bit less common but frequently seen are for exotic stuff like lobsters and luxury items.  Occasionally, I see missions for supplies or fuel.

The missions are generated based on what's not available in close proximity (barring a bug or two that still needs fixing), so what commodity deliveries are on offer reflects a bit of a lack of specialization in the markets. Something we'll take a look at, certainly, but probably not for the .1 release.