I’d like to take a moment to talk about the development of narratives in the last update, and maybe in the game in general. I should note: this is a process post, not a lore-dump. So this is about how I went about coming up with these ideas and implementing them, not what Baikal Daud’s favorite flavor of ice cream is. More on anti-lore later. But yeah, I’m dying to talk about all of this but I have to play it fairly close to my chest to avoid spoiling what we’ve got in mind for the long game.
Two things first.
1. As anyone who’s written creative fiction knows, it’s terrifying to work on something for over a year and then show it off to who-knows how many thousands of people all at once. Especially in a field you’re not really ‘proven’ in (though, uh, arguably this feeling was far more pronounced with the introduction of the Galatia missions. There, yes, I was legitimately freaking out a bit. This time, much more confident and comfortable.
… Nonetheless, not everyone is going to like what you do. But I’ve been in games for, what, almost 15 years? And shipped at least one trainwreck. C’est la Vie! Regardless: You’ve all been very kind.
2. And: I know you guys want narrative payoff for the hanging plot threads at the end of Galatia, for the Gates, and now for the fate of the Church and Askonia. And I want to give them to you! But we have to do it when we have the mechanics in place to do it right. I know that sucks to hear, but I think playing the long-game will pay off. (- I think the narrative slow-burn that eg. Andor did was really, really smart because the payoff was fantastic. I have no idea how Disney executives approved that show and let them get away with what they did.)
Oh yeah, this is going to have spoilers for v0.96 story missions. You’ve been warned!
Update (5/20/23): a hotfix for a number of bugs, a few balance and QoL tweaks, and a return of the Pegasus to most of its former glory. Full list of changes here; please re-download the game using the links below.
Update (5/13/23): a hotfix for a number of assorted bugs, significant changes to the Hostile Activity mechanic (aimed at both dialing it down and increasing its interactivity), and number of other changes and improvements.
Update (5/6/23, 2:00pm EST): a hotfix for a crash when viewing the Hostile Activity intel in some circumstances.
Update (5/5/23, 3:15pm EST): a hotfix for a crash when viewing the Gilead shrine intel after visiting the shrine.
Starsector version 0.96a is now out!
Take on new missions exploring the story of the Luddic Church and the Sindrian Diktat
Cut deals Warlord Kanta’s pirates or Luddic Path fanatics to stop their attacks… though peace may come at a high price
Fly new ships, including 5 new capital-class hulls and numerous smaller vessels
Acquire new weapons, including a lineup of missiles that shoot lasers (“Directed Energy Munitions”)
Face faction fleets with distinct identities driven by the new ships and weapons
Deal with hostile activity at your colonies and master hyperspace navigation using the new “Event” system
Build hullmods into ships to gain unique bonuses
Additional illustrations, portraits, descriptions and encounters help bring the Sector to life
In addition to these, there are a slew of smaller changes and addition, including balance adjustments, bugfixes, modability improvements – along with a new exploration music track, and faction music for the Persean League!
The full patch notes, and the comment thread, are here.
You can download the new version here:
(Alternate download links, please try the above first: WindowsMacLinux)
