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 ... 10 11 [12] 13 14 ... 90

Author Topic: Starsector 0.7a (Released) Patch Notes  (Read 574362 times)

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #165 on: June 25, 2015, 12:33:29 PM »

On the trails thing... have you considered using a geometry shader and just maintaining long points lists? 

From your description, it sounds like each trail is requiring a lot of math steps to smooth out and deal with various issues, and it's (usually) cheaper to simply allow for a single segment per frame and simply cull frames faster for some trails (say, fast-movers where you might have hundreds of segments active if they take several seconds to fade out). 

The cost issue there can really be mitigated by merely sending in sets of points, start width and segment decay values to a geometry shader.  Then you're merely getting the new point, aging all the points and the shader handles creating the first / last segments and fades them out. 

Then points lists can be de-coupled from engines per se; they can be started / killed whenever engines aren't in forward motion, and if they're per-frame, the results should be pretty smooth.  Even if we're talking dozens of ships and missiles, the CPU load's small and the GPU-side stuff is very cheap, because it's not doing any big trig.

With one segment per frame, you generally won't have issues with severe angles between three points causing weirdness, too.

Really wish I had time to build an example of this for this engine right now, but RL is being a little extra-harsh timewise lately :)
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

Alex

  • Administrator
  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 23987
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #166 on: June 25, 2015, 12:49:19 PM »

Well, for one, not using shaders for anything, and not planning to start this late in the game :) For two, I really think this is the sort of thing that seems easier than it is. For example, I think creating one segment per frame might lead to *more* problems, not less, if the points are moving (and they are). I mean, you'd still be constructing some kind of geometry in the shader based on the point + width list, whether it's implicit (i.e. in a fragment shader) or explicit, right? And the problems come up when trying to construct a reasonable-looking geometry based on the points + widths. I don't see where the problems magically go away when using a shader, though it's very possible I'm missing something - my experience with shaders is very limited.
Logged

Gothars

  • Global Moderator
  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 4403
  • Eschewing obfuscatory verbosity.
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #167 on: June 25, 2015, 01:47:56 PM »

It'd be neat if getting a Lasher felt like a major accomplishment, for example. It feels like that stage of the game passes by too quickly at the moment.


*vigorous nodding*  ;D
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.

SatchelCharge

  • Lieutenant
  • **
  • Posts: 96
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #168 on: June 25, 2015, 01:52:23 PM »

I do like the small-scale stuff myself, though, so ultimately I'd like to extend that feeling you get before your war machine "kicks in" and you can afford anything and steamroll everything.

Yeah, I've seen the discussion, I think. Then you could make ships much harder to acquire, too - more expensive, rare, etc. It'd be neat if getting a Lasher felt like a major accomplishment, for example. It feels like that stage of the game passes by too quickly at the moment.

Agree agree agree  :)
Logged

PCCL

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 2016
  • still gunnyfreak
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #169 on: June 25, 2015, 02:17:00 PM »

Quote
It'd be neat if getting a Lasher felt like a major accomplishment, for example. It feels like that stage of the game passes by too quickly at the moment.

I like the sound of that... The concern, however, is we're still gonna be killing other people's lashers basically every day of the week.

if anything the difficulty of acquiring a ship should be proportional to the difficulty of losing one.
Logged
mmm.... tartiflette

Megas

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 12118
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #170 on: June 25, 2015, 06:08:10 PM »

Do not forget weapons.  I rather lose a Lasher than a railgun or light needler.  Some weapons are rarer than some ships.
Logged

Clockwork Owl

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 790
    • View Profile
    • Starsector South Korean Community
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #171 on: June 26, 2015, 06:22:28 AM »

Indeed... How come a Tri-Tachyon military market doesn't have an AM Blaster.
Logged

obo

  • Ensign
  • *
  • Posts: 12
  • Since 2012
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #172 on: June 26, 2015, 11:58:29 AM »

When can we download the latest version?  ;)
Logged

Gothars

  • Global Moderator
  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 4403
  • Eschewing obfuscatory verbosity.
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #173 on: June 26, 2015, 12:56:33 PM »

When can we download the latest version?  ;)

Sometime "soon"... but I think not very soon. Exact dates can't be had, unfortunately.



It feels like that stage of the game passes by too quickly at the moment.


Another approach besides lengthening the early frigate phase would be to give reasons to (temporarily) revert to it. For example restricted zones were only small/civilian fleets may operate. Or just missions that require you to be inconspicuous. Or this old idea about using a frigate to get help after your fleet has run out of fuel in some remote system.
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.

Megas

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 12118
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #174 on: June 26, 2015, 01:18:03 PM »

There is a reason to go back to a lone frigate late in the game.  If you lose too much reputation due to food glut or smuggling, go to Corvus or some other pirate infested system, take a lone Wolf or other 5 DP frigate, hunt down every last pirate scout, and kill them for reputation.  Scouts run away if you have more than 10 or so DP worth of ships, but not if you have a frigate or two.
Logged

Megas

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 12118
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #175 on: June 27, 2015, 09:21:09 AM »

Well, I wasn't so much thinking of the late- or end-game, but more looking for a good reason to not try to get "as many ships as possible, as fast as possible".
I missed this but...

I have a reason to not get as many ships fast as possible.  I love my max Combat/Technology skills so much, I max them first in every game.  I cannot stand how weak skill-less ships are to the point that I refuse to play missions anymore.  I totally ignore all other skills until Combat and Technology are max.  By then, experience gains are slow and I already raised relations to the max, so I better get more ships or else level grinding will be hideously slow, slower than a big fleet can earn.  Of course, the problem with no Leadership, aside from slower XP gain, is player is stuck with so few ships (and cannot even use battleships) and must chain flagships to kill the enemy.
Logged

Gothars

  • Global Moderator
  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 4403
  • Eschewing obfuscatory verbosity.
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #176 on: June 28, 2015, 10:29:33 AM »

I have a reason to not get as many ships fast as possible.  I love my max Combat/Technology skills so much, I max them first in every game.

That reason will be gone with the update, since you won't need skills to have a big fleet anymore. Hence my concern.


In the end, I hope there will just be a lot of little in-universe benefits in going with a small fleet. People reacting differently to you and many cracks and crevices you can slip through only with a small fleet.


That said, one mechanic I can envision is a negative relationship between fleet size and chance to repair disabled ships. Small fleets are more likely to recover disabled ships than big fleets.



« Last Edit: June 28, 2015, 10:37:44 AM by Gothars »
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.

SafariJohn

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 3010
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #177 on: June 28, 2015, 05:24:36 PM »

That said, one mechanic I can envision is a negative relationship between fleet size and chance to repair disabled ships. Small fleets are more likely to recover disabled ships than big fleets.

That doesn't really make any sense.

However, the same effect could be accomplished by tying chance of ship recovery to crew skill. It will always be easier to have elite crews for fewer ships than more.

IIRC, fighter wings get more replacements based on the eliteness of their crews, so there would be some parallelism there.

Edit: Hmm, might make sense to use the same mechanic to determine which enemy ships could be taken as prizes. The rest of boarding/salvaging enemy ships would still need a rework, but it's a start.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2015, 05:42:31 PM by HartLord »
Logged

Shedovv

  • Lieutenant
  • **
  • Posts: 61
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #178 on: June 29, 2015, 11:35:26 AM »

*reads about hard cap on fleet size*

Can that stuff be edited via fiddling with game files? If not then I have another question.

Can I get a refund? I didn't buy this game to run tiny it's bitsy fleets. I always go big. D:
« Last Edit: June 29, 2015, 12:21:29 PM by Shedovv »
Logged

736b

  • Lieutenant
  • **
  • Posts: 87
    • View Profile
Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #179 on: June 29, 2015, 12:15:15 PM »

Right. It's just the game's way of saying, "don't have that many ships, ok?" Intentionally gamey and without any in-lore justification. It's a small and clear rule, and seems a fair tradeoff for the amount of cleanup it allows. It *is* configurable through settings.json, though.
Logged
Pages: 1 ... 10 11 [12] 13 14 ... 90