Fractal Softworks Forum

Starsector => General Discussion => Topic started by: Kahabut on February 25, 2012, 03:19:25 PM

Title: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Kahabut on February 25, 2012, 03:19:25 PM
This is an attempt to put common questions and answers in one place, along with as much wisdom as the group of us can come up with.  Please add/correct details as you can.  Thank you.  

Feel free to ask further questions.

FAQ about development and everything surrounding the game
Spoiler
I lost my game key! What can I do to get it back?
That's no problem. First you might want to check in your email client if the original email with the code is still there. Search for "bmt micro".

If you can't find it there you can send a mail directly to keys [at] bmtmicro [dot] com.
Give them your information (in particular the email you used to order the game), describe your problem and they will help you.

If you got the game still installed on a windows computer you can also read it out of the registry:
Spoiler
You open the registry editor if you type regedit in the command console (or the search function). Then follow the path HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\javaSoft\Prefs\com\fs\Starfarer ->serial
Your serial number is separated by slashes ( / ).
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When will the game be finished?
The official answer is: Soontm! What that really means is that there is no officially planned release date as of yet. The game will be in development until the team decides it is ready.

When will the next release come out?
The answer is the same as for the final game: As soon as it's ready. We have learned from experience that there is no use in asking all the time or pressurize. Normally there are a few month between releases.

Can my computer run the game?
Yes! Well, it's likely, Starsector is not a very demanding game. You should have a graphics card with at least 256MB of memory, better 512MB (onboard works). Users have reported well playable framerates with specs as low as a mobile 1.6 GHz dualcore and 1GB RAM. If you bought a mid-range PC or Laptop before 2008 you should be fine. This is of course not an official guarantee, only practical advice.

Is there a demo?
No, and at the moment there are no concrete plans to release one. This might change at some point in the future, though. To get a good impression of the game I would recommend one of the various let's plays on youtube, for example by faiter (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=4157.0).

Will there be multiplayer?
No. Fractal Softworks is a small developer team with limited capacities. They decided to focus all their energy on the single-player aspect of the game to make it as good as possible. By now there are many technical and game design barriers, too.

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FAQ about Gameplay
Spoiler
There are effectively 2 game modes.  Campaign mode, and missions, they are entirely separate.  

Missions are available from the main menu, they generally consist of a scenario battle with specific goals and specific fleets on both sides.  You can refit your fleet before combat if you so choose.  Some missions (random battle) have randomly generated fleets, you can try out just about anything this way.  

Most of this FAQ is about starting a new campaign.


What ships can I get to start with and which one is the best?
The starting ships are Wolf, Lasher, Vigilance, Hound or the Shuttle. The re-start (if you die) ships are Shuttle/Dram/Hound.  Which Ship you get depends on the second choice you make for your Characters personal history.

Spoiler
The Wolf (choose 'quartermaster') is often considered the most powerful of the starting ships, but is hard to control.  It has initially no PD, a somewhat temperamental shipsystem, and struggles against shielded foes due to its reliance on beams.

The Lasher ('adjutant in the Hegemony Navy') is much more newbie-friendly. It comes with three PD weapons, an easy to figure out system, and has the most flexible mount type (there's a ballistic weapon for nearly every role).

The Vigilance ('helmed a patrol ship') is also a good choice given the right initial skill choices and weapon loadout, but again, probably not something a newbie will be able to figure out.

The Hound ('something else') should be avoided unless you put your initial skill points into unlocking the Frontal Shield Generator hullmod. The first thing you'll want to do is get a wing of Talons to increase your survivability slightly.

The Shuttle (always a choice) is a 'just in case' ship - it says so right in the code - and outside of a bug with a custom character creation plugin, I would only imagine it being used for self-imposed challenges.
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How do I get more stuff?
You can buy ships, items, weapons, and crew from the Hegemony station (brown).  You can also get weapons, ships and items from combat (more later).

How do I pick up 1 item?  How do I pick up part of a stack of items?
Press shift and left click on the stack, this will pick up one item for each click.  Press shift and hold left click a slider will appear and you can select from 1 to 500 (max stack size).  

How do I progress further?  I'm stuck!
This can be a complicated answer, but the short version is that you need to grind small combats with mostly pirate ships (red) until you can afford to expand your fleet and take on larger targets.  

What are the different weapon types?
There are Energy weapons, Ballistic weapons, Missile weapons.  

What are the different damage types?
Kinetic: 200% vs Shields, 50% vs Armor
Explosive: 50% vs Shields, 200% vs Armor
Energy:100% vs Shields and Armor
Fragmentation: 25% to shield and Armor but often with Area damage
All weapons do 100% to hull

What are the different slots for on my ship?
Blue circles are Energy slots.  
Yellow squares are Ballistic weapons
Green squares are Missile slots
Grey multishape are "universal"

The number of shapes (square,circle, etc) represents the size of the slot.  2 medium, 3 is large, 1 is small.  

Why is my fleet so slow?
Your fleet speed is based on the slowest ship in your fleet + the number of ships in your fleet.  The more ships, the more you slow down.  This applies to fighter wings as well, but for them the effect can nullified if enough hangar space is available. See "travel speed" in ship stats.  

How do I repair my ships?
Your ships will automatically repair themselves outside of combat.  You must have CREW and SUPPLIES for this to happen.  Fighters will only repair if they are in a hangar, if your fleet has no hangar space, your fighters never repair.  Additionally, fighters can be repaired in mid combat if you have any ship with a flight deck.  You can not currently buy repairs at the station, or anywhere else.  It's just a matter of time.  You can install a hull mod to cut the time in half, if you are badly damaged.  

How does the capture mechanic work?  What is boarding?  What are marines for?
After combat is over you get a wrap up screen, it shows the state of your fleet, and the enemies.  If you disabled any ship in the enemy fleet, and you WON the combat as well, you have a chance (say roughly 10%) of being able to board the enemy ship.  If this happens you are presented with buttons on the ship, which are, Board/Scrap.  If you mouse over the ship, you can see how much crew remains, if it's more than you have marines, you probably don't want to try and board the ship, in which case you can scrap it for salvage.  (2:1 Marines:crew is suggested)  ALSO: If the enemy surrenders, (surrender is written across the ship), you can board it for NO COST (IE: you won't lose any marines, no matter how much crew they have).  

Inventory, what is this stuff for?  Why doesn't my inventory ever show 0 units?  
After combat you will get a chance to loot the dead ships.  You can get weapons, fuel and supplies.  Currently fuel is not used and is therefore a resource just to sell for credits.  Supplies are used by your ships to make repairs.  Weapons are rather obviously used on your ships to blow things up. If you go over your maximum you will have increased maintenance cost, if you surpass it by more than 50% you get the risk of having accidents in your fleet. You can of course sell anything you aren't using, if you want.


Who are these other ships?
Brown fleets are Hegemony.  It is not wise to start a fight early in your progression.  
Blue fleets are Tri-Tachyon.  Also not wise to start a fight early on with them.  
Red fleets are pirates.  They start aggro to you, and pretty much everyone else.  This is your main fodder early on.  Find small single/2-3 ship fleets and cut them up.  
Grey fleets are Independents.  They start neutral to you and are another possible source of explosions and loot.  

How does faction relations work?
You start neutral to everyone except the pirates.  You can't increase your standing with anyone, but if you attack any faction you lose standing and they will fire at you on site (if they can catch you).  The station will trade with you no matter what your standing is, but it can be tricky to get past the fleets nearby if you aggro the Hegemony faction (brown).

I saw some ships do weird things in combat, suddenly becoming faster or teleporting or spewing lightning. What's that all about and how can I do it, too?
You probably saw a ship use a special System. Every ship has a System, but they do very different things. What System a ship has is listed in its description, to know what it actually does you have to go to the codex and look it up. Or you can just try it out.  To activate a system you have to hit F.
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Tips & Tricks
Spoiler

Manual
If you find something unclear in the game, read the manual! It can help to clear up a lot of questions. It also contains tips and tactics for combat and background information about the game lore. The inofficial manual is actually more up to date at the moment. Here's a link (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=4594.0).

Mods
There are some top notch mods with beautiful graphics available for this game already. Take a look at the mod index (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=177.0).

Dev Mode
Dev mode gives you several extra features.  It removes the limit on zooming out, so you can get a view of the entire battlefield/solar system if like.  It also allows you to CTRL+click and take direct control of any ship in the game, including enemies.  (don't cheat now)
To turn on Dev mode go to this directory Starsector\starsector-core\data\config\ and open the settings.json file.  Near the top, find "devmode=false" and change it to "devmode=true". Use textpad or another Text editor.  Do not use Word, excel or Wordpad, the file will most likely not save properly.  

Resolution
The menus inside the game have a fixed resolution of 1024×768. If you have a screen with a very high resolution (say 1920x1080 and above), they might appear small. If you have trouble reading small text it might be worth a try to lower the resolution a bit, for example to 1600x900. That makes the menus appear bigger without degrading the graphical quality of the game noticeable.

Blogposts
There are a lot of very interesting articles in the development blog (http://fractalsoftworks.com/blog/). For example there are articles about the lore (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2011/02/21/the-state-of-affairs/), the art (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2011/05/10/assembling-the-fleet/) and the thought process (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2011/11/22/crew-management-and-you/) behind many gameplay aspects. You can filter the posts by category.
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Please ask/answer/correct anything you see here, or that you can think of.
Thank you to Fractal Softworks, and the community.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Dreyven on February 25, 2012, 03:34:43 PM
What are the different damage types?
Kinetic: 200% vs Shields, 50% vs Armor
Explosiv: 50% vs Shields, 150% vs Armor
Energie:100% vs Shields and Armor
Fragmentation: 25% to shield and Armor but often with Area damage


just to add something usefull


/vote for sticky
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: ArthropodOfDoom on February 25, 2012, 05:05:51 PM
You will want to include the damage types and their percentages against the hull, because armor and hull are separate.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Iscariot on February 25, 2012, 05:10:21 PM
You can start with pretty much any frigate I believe. I've started with the Brawler and the Tanker before.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: arwan on February 25, 2012, 05:12:56 PM
the start ships are different than the re-start ships and you cant start with any ship..

***edit***

...The starting ships are Wolf/Lasher/Brawler/Vigilance, and the re-start ships are Shuttle/Dram/Hound. ...

i edited parts of the quote out to just show the point i wanted it was originally a response to me saying i started with a shuttle.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Dreyven on February 25, 2012, 05:35:52 PM
You will want to include the damage types and their percentages against the hull, because armor and hull are separate.

well... every weapon deals 100% against hull, so i don't know if that's necessary... but yeah, might aswell
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Iscariot on February 25, 2012, 05:49:35 PM
the start ships are different than the re-start ships and you cant start with any ship..

***edit***

...The starting ships are Wolf/Lasher/Brawler/Vigilance, and the re-start ships are Shuttle/Dram/Hound. ...

i edited parts of the quote out to just show the point i wanted it was originally a response to me saying i started with a shuttle.

Yeah, I figured as much. Oh well. The Brawler should still be on the list though. Still by far the worse starting ship.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Kahabut on February 25, 2012, 06:00:30 PM
Updated with new info.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Spaceman on February 25, 2012, 06:34:38 PM
Feel free to delete this.

I know this sounds stupid but.... how do I refit my fleet before a mission?

I can do it in the campaign, there's that awefully handy button that says 'refit' on it. I can also press R but for the mission's I can't for the life of me figure out how to do it. The first post says you can 'if you choose'

If it's possible that is. The last hurrah is giving me a headache I can't get a good score on it and I'd like to try out swarmers on my vigilance frigs to sort out that early fighter spam
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: arwan on February 25, 2012, 07:29:06 PM
can we get a sticky up in here. LOL... and possibly have the moderators help keep it updated if they see things that should be added in the comments.. would be really sweet.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SeaBee on February 25, 2012, 08:42:28 PM
can we get a sticky up in here. LOL... and possibly have the moderators help keep it updated if they see things that should be added in the comments.. would be really sweet.
I don't see why not. Great information here!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Kahabut on February 26, 2012, 12:28:22 PM
Feel free to delete this.

I know this sounds stupid but.... how do I refit my fleet before a mission?

I can do it in the campaign, there's that awefully handy button that says 'refit' on it. I can also press R but for the mission's I can't for the life of me figure out how to do it. The first post says you can 'if you choose'

If it's possible that is. The last hurrah is giving me a headache I can't get a good score on it and I'd like to try out swarmers on my vigilance frigs to sort out that early fighter spam
Once you have selected the mission on the left side of the menu, the right hand side starts filling with a breifing.  If you left click in the briefing window, it will finish instantly, and at the bottom, it shows your fleet, and the enemy fleet.  Along with a button that says "refit".  Clicking it takes you to the fitting window for your fleet.  When you are done making changes, just hit the exit button (upper right), and play the mission.  You can also reset the configuration with another button. 
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Spaceman on February 26, 2012, 12:39:57 PM
Thanks
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: ClosetGoth on February 26, 2012, 01:34:54 PM
With regards to slot type, missile slots have diamonds to represent them, not squares (I know that geometrically it is the same, but we generally think of diamonds as having vertices facing up, down, right, and left, while squares have edges facing those directions).

Also, I think you should mention that hardpoints turn slower than turrets, and that they are planned to have things like range and accuracy bonuses in the future.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Iscariot on February 26, 2012, 04:18:44 PM

Once you have selected the mission on the left side of the menu, the right hand side starts filling with a breifing.  If you left click in the briefing window, it will finish instantly, and at the bottom, it shows your fleet, and the enemy fleet.  Along with a button that says "refit".  Clicking it takes you to the fitting window for your fleet.  When you are done making changes, just hit the exit button (upper right), and play the mission.  You can also reset the configuration with another button. 

I'm not a noob, so this is particularly embarrassing, but I see no such button on my screen. I've been wanting to mess around with the Conquest's loadout, but I can't because in my campaign it isn't available for purchase. I've disabled my old 0.35a Junk Pirates mod, but that doesn't seem to have made the button appear.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: arwan on February 26, 2012, 04:41:27 PM

Once you have selected the mission on the left side of the menu, the right hand side starts filling with a breifing.  If you left click in the briefing window, it will finish instantly, and at the bottom, it shows your fleet, and the enemy fleet.  Along with a button that says "refit".  Clicking it takes you to the fitting window for your fleet.  When you are done making changes, just hit the exit button (upper right), and play the mission.  You can also reset the configuration with another button. 

I'm not a noob, so this is particularly embarrassing, but I see no such button on my screen. I've been wanting to mess around with the Conquest's loadout, but I can't because in my campaign it isn't available for purchase. I've disabled my old 0.35a Junk Pirates mod, but that doesn't seem to have made the button appear.

pretty sure its a dev mode option. because i dont have a refit button either and i dont have dev mode on.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Spaceman on February 26, 2012, 05:39:58 PM

Once you have selected the mission on the left side of the menu, the right hand side starts filling with a breifing.  If you left click in the briefing window, it will finish instantly, and at the bottom, it shows your fleet, and the enemy fleet.  Along with a button that says "refit".  Clicking it takes you to the fitting window for your fleet.  When you are done making changes, just hit the exit button (upper right), and play the mission.  You can also reset the configuration with another button. 

I'm not a noob, so this is particularly embarrassing, but I see no such button on my screen. I've been wanting to mess around with the Conquest's loadout, but I can't because in my campaign it isn't available for purchase. I've disabled my old 0.35a Junk Pirates mod, but that doesn't seem to have made the button appear.

I yeah I just checked there is no button that says refit, could you do a screenprint and show me?

sorry.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Reapy on February 27, 2012, 05:55:32 PM
Might want to also include that ctrl + a / d will strafe without tracking the mouse.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: PandamanPete on March 20, 2012, 06:36:01 PM
Thanks for the info, it was a useful tip for early-on strategy when I first started playing. :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: supamanu on March 21, 2012, 04:39:53 PM
Well I've just purchased the game and after doing the tutorials and one mission I decided to try out the campaign since that's the main reason I bought the game-in-progress.

Ah, well, it has been a rather painful and disappointing experience  :(

First off... a tiny bit of hand-holding would be nice, I felt alone and helpless not knowing what to do. But I guess that will come in later versions.

So, after poking around I realized the only thing I could really do is pick a fight. After a few defeats against pirates who always outmanoeuvre or outnumber me, I finally found a lone pirate and managed to survive (he retreated, couldn't catch up). Seconds later, a small pirate group jumps me, no way to run away or avoid the fight, and I got whipped.

So, I'd appreciate some help on how to survive more then a few minutes into the game because I'm not feeling the love here.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vmxa on March 21, 2012, 04:51:02 PM
There are several youtube vids that show the very start of campaigns. What they have done is to look for easy targets till they got some fighters. Speed can be an issue. If you have one of the slow vessels to start, sell it for a faster one like a lasher or wolf.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Iscariot on March 21, 2012, 04:51:28 PM
Well I've just purchased the game and after doing the tutorials and one mission I decided to try out the campaign since that's the main reason I bought the game-in-progress.

Ah, well, it has been a rather painful and disappointing experience  :(

First off... a tiny bit of hand-holding would be nice, I felt alone and helpless not knowing what to do. But I guess that will come in later versions.

So, after poking around I realized the only thing I could really do is pick a fight. After a few defeats against pirates who always outmanoeuvre or outnumber me, I finally found a lone pirate and managed to survive (he retreated, couldn't catch up). Seconds later, a small pirate group jumps me, no way to run away or avoid the fight, and I got whipped.

So, I'd appreciate some help on how to survive more then a few minutes into the game because I'm not feeling the love here.
What ship are you starting out in? How big of a fleet are you choosing to engage?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: supamanu on March 22, 2012, 01:43:03 AM
Don't remember, besides it changes every time I restart the campaign. As for size fleet I engage, I try and avoid everything larger than 1, but sometimes a bigger pirate fleet chooses to engage me and I can't seem to do anything about it since they are faster than me.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vmxa on March 22, 2012, 06:27:29 AM
I think a couple of things are needed down the line to deal with weak start and the lack of suitable targets and the later lack of fleet speed to catch smaller fleets. One way is to have difficult levles, so you can have different sets of ships and universe. That could deal with some issues. The long sessions of running around trying to find a fight would still be an issue.

Maybe two or three galactic locations, where you start in a weak one and find few large fleets (just a few to defend planets and stations). You eventually get strong enought to earn a means to go to the next location and face larger fleets and finally a last one that is the hardest. I don't know, but for sure a method to reduce the long dead times chasing half way across the map is needed. Your fleet gets progessively slower as it grows and it gets harder to engage anyone.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Iscariot on March 22, 2012, 10:31:10 AM
Don't remember, besides it changes every time I restart the campaign. As for size fleet I engage, I try and avoid everything larger than 1, but sometimes a bigger pirate fleet chooses to engage me and I can't seem to do anything about it since they are faster than me.

They shouldn't be faster than you, and if you start with a ship that isn't a Lasher or Wolf, you should sell it off at the Hegemony station to GET a Lasher or Wolf. Personally, I prefer the Lasher.

You should also be able to singlehandedly take fleets of up to 3 units comfortably. Some advice regarding fighting multiple opponents:

1) Isolate! Pick the squishiest enemy, and go for them first. In my experience, in regards to the pirate fleet, this usually means going for the Hound or Buffalo, since neither has shields. A few harpoon missiles will sink a Buffalo, but don't use your missiles on the Hound, since they're usually too fast for their own good. The logic here should be obvious, you're fighting 1v3, so you should attempt to even the odds as quickly as possible.

2) Autofire! If it's a turret and not a missile weapon, it is probably a good idea to set it to autofire. This isn't about questioning your aim, it's about pouring on as much firepower as possible. Since you can't shoot more than one weapon group, let the computer handle as much as possible.

3) System map! Look at your system map (TAB) FREQUENTLY! Don't get caught off guard, and if things get dangerous, fly back to the Hegemony station. Sell all the fuel you get for free money, and make sure you have a decent number of marines for boarding. Early on, this is how you'll get more ships.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Mandabar on May 02, 2012, 02:09:28 PM
I think someone needs to update this thread. At the least update info about accidents and cargo capacity being over DOES matter now.

Also shortcuts and Shift U for autopilot/ Shift + # of weapon group for auto fire.

Also mention the new refit purchase items mechanics.
Instant refit/repair at stations
Repair not available at station that you are hostile to.

Perhaps some flight advice on how to play the game? I know I could use it, I generally suck at everything but 1v1/2
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: icepick37 on May 02, 2012, 02:25:21 PM
Find your play style and don't pick fights you can't win. That's my advice. Some people are really good at kiting, others tanking. You kind of have to find your balance and the right ship and loadout. Takes patience, but it's fun to do, so who really cares.

Keep your fleet clustered if you are out numbered, then you'll pick the enemy fleet apart as they come to you.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Sanguinus on May 07, 2012, 12:42:09 AM
On the map screen the fleets are marked by triangles with the bigger fleets comprised of bigger triangles. Some of the smallest triangle fleets are actually made up of a buffalo cruiser, a few frigates and a few fighters. The size of the triangle is very misleading with regards to this specific fleet, so always make sure of the fleet by mousing over it.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: cardgame on May 07, 2012, 12:38:48 PM
TotalBiscuit has a nice introduction to the game in 0.50 state, most of which still applies today. Engage small fleets, run from the bigger ones. You can find their size by mousing over as has been mentioned. Nothing is faster than you are if you only have the one ship; you should be going approximately 300 (speed unit) with engines operating at 100%.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: NikolaiLev on May 22, 2012, 08:31:09 AM
I recommend an explanation of "Hard Flux" be added to this guide, as it's an unintuitive, unexplained feature a lot of people seem to run into.

If you don't know, damage absorbed by shields is considered Hard Flux, as opposed to flux generated by weapons fire.  Hard flux can only be dissipated while the shields are down.  It is indicated by the notch on the flux bar.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: CrashToDesktop on May 29, 2012, 06:13:41 AM
A few fixes, there is no longer a brawler as a starting ship.
Green diamonds are missiles slots
Explosive does 200% against armor now (I think)
TT station mod is done for. ;D
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: DoBeL on June 19, 2012, 10:38:19 AM
hi, i'm new in starfarer and have a little question about our main ship in campaign mode
it's possible to change our main ship ?? (actually a charon, but i want my Matton as main ship :x)

thanks
DoBeL
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: FlashFrozen on June 19, 2012, 10:54:52 AM
When on the campaign map, hit F to open up the fleet tab, and the G to designate which ship you want to be flying in.

This doesn't work when your in a station, so you have to be out and about flying around to change.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: DoBeL on June 19, 2012, 11:14:04 AM
thanks FlashFrozen ;-)

and another question, an IRC channel exists for starfarer ? (or not)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: FlashFrozen on June 19, 2012, 11:24:04 AM
It exists, but whether or not anybody still uses it is beyond me :P

http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=264.0 (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=264.0)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Rinso on August 05, 2012, 02:58:57 AM
I'm sorry...but is there only one star system in campaign mode? I found fuel, which allows to "hyperspace travel", but I don't know how. And one more question: character, officers and outpost tabs are not active. Is it okay?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: hadesian on August 05, 2012, 06:05:44 AM
I'm sorry...but is there only one star system in campaign mode? I found fuel, which allows to "hyperspace travel", but I don't know how. And one more question: character, officers and outpost tabs are not active. Is it okay?
Yes, these are all features coming soon
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: CrashToDesktop on August 05, 2012, 10:45:43 AM
Anyone mind updating the OP to say HE damage does 200% versus armor?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Sunday on September 06, 2012, 01:42:06 PM
I'm a semi-newbie, though I have been playing for a while, it's just been off and on.

My question is: what does fortress shield do, exactly? Why is it good? Just a stronger shield or something? I did some searches, but I can't really find out exactly why it's supposed to be good.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: CrashToDesktop on September 06, 2012, 01:43:57 PM
Makes your shield 10-times more effiecient (for example, a shield with 1.0 effiecency takes 100% damage.  With fortress shield on, it take just 10% damage), and makes you vent SOFT flux much more quickly.  It also builds up constant HARD flux, which cannont be vented without lowering shields.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: harrumph on September 09, 2012, 03:17:08 AM
Because of that soft-flux dissipation, the fortress shield allows the Paragon to stay in combat with shields up waaay longer than other big ships can. When a Conquest or Onslaught is firing all its weapons, it maxes out flux in a matter of seconds and has to drop shields. The Paragon, instead of dropping them, can switch them to fortress mode, wait for all the soft flux to dissipate, and then go back to regular shields and pound out a few more seconds of fire. You can repeat this several times in a fight; it allows the Paragon to absolutely crush other capital ships in one-on-one (or even one-on-two or one-on-three) combat.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: DelicateTask on September 18, 2012, 11:44:08 AM
This works especially well with the Autopulse Lasers. They charge up while you're fortress shield-ing, and then you can turn it off and give the enemy a facefull of pain.

Actually, I'd just say that the Autopulse lasers are the best thing you can put on your Paragon. Tachyon Lances do nothing to capital ships and shields, and the Plasma Cannons won't fire at high flux. Plus, the extra ordinance points allow you to add Expanded Magazines, increasing the number of shots fired from the Autopulse from 15 to 22! I've tried the Tachyon and Plasma weapons versus Onslaughts and barely survived, yet I can 1v1 one using Autopulses without a scratch.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Pepek on September 20, 2012, 04:18:09 PM
I have really newbie question... So when I'm buying the game I am going to get a key that is going to work each time I am re-installing system, changing computer and getting new update?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: CrashToDesktop on September 20, 2012, 04:57:33 PM
Input the kep once, and it'll stay that way for the whole time you have the game.  New updates, reinstall, etc. no need to input it again.  If you're installing it on a new computer, then you need the key.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Faiter119 on September 21, 2012, 07:12:21 AM
I have really newbie question... So when I'm buying the game I am going to get a key that is going to work each time I am re-installing system, changing computer and getting new update?

Itl work no matter what, so save it!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Faiter119 on September 30, 2012, 12:53:37 PM
Protip: Save your activation key in a document so you dont lose it!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Hyph_K31 on September 30, 2012, 01:08:03 PM
Or, save the page with the key as a PDF, that's what I did.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: ArkAngel on October 13, 2012, 10:48:04 AM
is there a answer to the question- How do i stop losing my fleet due to other fleets spawning on top of my fleet and then killing me? i just lost a my new apogge and my other cruiser can't remember which to this... help would be apreciated.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Alex on October 13, 2012, 11:59:19 AM
Hi, and welcome to the forum :)

is there a answer to the question- How do i stop losing my fleet due to other fleets spawning on top of my fleet and then killing me? i just lost a my new apogge and my other cruiser can't remember which to this... help would be apreciated.

Well, spawns are generally in easily-identifiable locations - over a specific planet, orbital station, etc. So it's a matter of knowing those and not hanging out right where a more powerful fleet can spawn. They also can't engage for a few seconds after spawning, so you may be able to get away if you react quickly enough.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: maximilianyuen on October 13, 2012, 12:33:44 PM
is there a answer to the question- How do i stop losing my fleet due to other fleets spawning on top of my fleet and then killing me? i just lost a my new apogge and my other cruiser can't remember which to this... help would be apreciated.

on top of everything else, save. a. lot. always work ;D
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: andreboom on November 28, 2012, 04:01:19 PM
Im wondering if you get more credits from comepletely destroying ships or just disableing them. Thanks in advance, trying to grind for some tri-tachyon ships ;)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: hairrorist on November 30, 2012, 02:20:18 PM
Is Fleet Logistics supposed to increase your fleet size points or deployment points?  If its fleet points as the description suggests, it seems to be broken.
Also: Annhiliator rockets are ridiculously good!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Alex on November 30, 2012, 02:27:17 PM
It's fleet points. Seems to be working, except for a bug (fixed in dev version) where spending points in it and then resetting doesn't remove the fleet points.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: hairrorist on December 01, 2012, 03:49:02 PM
I think I added the points to logistics, then reset them to try to figure out what the skill actually changed.  So if there was a bug where resetting points doesn't remove the bonus fleet points from that skill, it explains why my fleet point numbers matched before & after.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: hairrorist on December 02, 2012, 12:50:37 AM
So what's the deal with stations not restocking ships?  I vaguely remember this being an issue a few builds ago but I stopped playing SF for a long while.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Faiter119 on December 02, 2012, 05:09:25 AM
They do, but there is a cap. And the supply fleets have to arrive.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: hairrorist on December 02, 2012, 10:23:33 AM
So how can I get ships to restock?  They're out of everything and stuffed with junked ships I captured.  Nothing spawns anymore.  Weapons keep getting restocked, but not ships.  I'm talking about no restock from level 20 to level 50.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Sonlirain on December 02, 2012, 10:59:29 AM
So how can I get ships to restock?  They're out of everything and stuffed with junked ships I captured.  Nothing spawns anymore.  Weapons keep getting restocked, but not ships.  I'm talking about no restock from level 20 to level 50.

They do restock in my game... all but the pirates.

Hegemony has 3 onslaughts and 2 Atlas.
Tri has 2 Pargons and 2 Ody

Only the pirates capital tab stay empty since i bought that lone conquest it was stocked with.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Faiter119 on December 02, 2012, 11:22:45 AM
So how can I get ships to restock?  They're out of everything and stuffed with junked ships I captured.  Nothing spawns anymore.  Weapons keep getting restocked, but not ships.  I'm talking about no restock from level 20 to level 50.

They only restock when there is space for more ships, so you will have to buy some of the ships and move them to the player station or something.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: hairrorist on December 02, 2012, 11:34:42 AM
In such an elegantly implemented game that is an atrocious and annoying design decision.

"Well thanks for stopping by guys, but we're not interested in buying any of your shiny new and highly desirable tri-tach ships at the moment even though there's an extremely wealthy gentleman that's promised to spend his entire life savings and stops by every two months for four years.  We're STOCK FULL of all these incredible and valued badly damaged wrecks.  It's raining savings!  Hey, can I interest you in forty platoons of these amazing Talon fighters?  What's that?  No, they don't fly.  They'd make a great fixer-upper project for that do-it-yourself interstellar warship engineer in all of you.  No?  Fine, suit yourself.  These babies practically sell themselves.  Yeah, I know, they've been on my lot for four years.  I still don't want any new ships.  I've got a good feeling about this month!"
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Faiter119 on December 02, 2012, 12:23:34 PM
In such an elegantly implemented game that is an atrocious and annoying design decision.

"Well thanks for stopping by guys, but we're not interested in buying any of your shiny new and highly desirable tri-tach ships at the moment even though there's an extremely wealthy gentleman that's promised to spend his entire life savings and stops by every two months for four years.  We're STOCK FULL of all these incredible and valued badly damaged wrecks.  It's raining savings!  Hey, can I interest you in forty platoons of these amazing Talon fighters?  What's that?  No, they don't fly.  They'd make a great fixer-upper project for that do-it-yourself interstellar warship engineer in all of you.  No?  Fine, suit yourself.  These babies practically sell themselves.  Yeah, I know, they've been on my lot for four years.  I still don't want any new ships.  I've got a good feeling about this month!"

Yeah I know but what is he going to do? Take infinite ships, that dosnt seem realistic. Sell ships, would kinda suck if one of the rare ships you have bees saving up for suddenly got sold...

The current system is kinda illogical, and I guess it will be replaced at some point.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Alex on December 02, 2012, 12:48:46 PM
In such an elegantly implemented game that is an atrocious and annoying design decision.

Fair enough, but I wouldn't call it a "design decision" :) More of a band-aid in the current implementation of the campaign, which is far from being the "real" one.

It's kind of an annoying problem - if you don't limit/clean up, there are issues with long-term games - memory, performance, etc. If you do, how? So, I punted on it until the "how" part becomes more clear in the context of the larger campaign mechanics.


Edit: Oh, btw - there's a mod (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=3650.0) that handles this. Pretty sure it'll require a new game, though.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: hairrorist on December 02, 2012, 05:35:46 PM
Ha, thanks for replying Alex.  What I meant was that in a game with a very elegant and intuitive design, that minor flaw stuck out like a sore thumb :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Alex on December 02, 2012, 05:43:46 PM
Ha, thanks for replying Alex.  What I meant was that in a game with a very elegant and intuitive design, that minor flaw stuck out like a sore thumb :)

Thanks - no worries, I didn't take it the wrong way :) I understand it's probably pretty frustrating to put lots of time into a character and then have this happen and put a brake on your progress.

Btw, if you turn on devMode (edit data/config/settings.json, set "devMode":true), you can press 'L' repeatedly to gain a bunch of XP, and 'K' to gain credits. Wouldn't recommend playing in that mode in general, but you can do that, then save & restart the game in normal mode.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: hairrorist on December 04, 2012, 10:58:01 PM
Yeah, my bandaid for your bandaid involved giving myself about 30 million credits or so and cleaning out the inventory for all the stations.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Alex on December 05, 2012, 08:08:04 AM
:)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: hairrorist on December 05, 2012, 02:09:07 PM
Hah, no it was kind of comical having a fleet larger than the sun.

I was just thinking--depending on how you have planet inventories coded, a quick fix that should (in theory) be easy to code would be to force convoys to dump their entire delivery every time, and if it would overflow the system inventory limits, just delete the oldest items in stock.  If you don't have a variable for item delivery date, it would also work to delete items at random, starting with ships that aren't at full health and items that are most common.  If rarity isn't a variable, then a hardcoded preference for 'tac lasers' and the like would work.

But yeah.  "In theory" a one fix hour translates from the ancient language of the code monkies to "almost definitely at least six hours, likely a week and possibly all the time that is left in the universe."
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Montavious on December 21, 2012, 12:41:55 AM
What is the Industry skill for? Is it even usable yet?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: arcibalde on December 21, 2012, 01:40:35 AM
What is the Industry skill for? Is it even usable yet?
Not yet usable but it will be.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on January 09, 2013, 06:00:08 PM
I updated the FAQ with non gameplay related Q&A (and some overall care), if you have ideas for any more of those let me know.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: mkire on January 15, 2013, 10:15:35 AM
which of the questions will get me tech skills/aptitude or a wolf? i stink at using hounds and i don't want to invest in combat skills because i like tech better
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: LazyWizard on January 15, 2013, 02:08:40 PM
which of the questions will get me tech skills/aptitude or a wolf? i stink at using hounds and i don't want to invest in combat skills because i like tech better

The ship is chosen by your answer to the second question. The Wolf is given if you choose to have been a quartermaster on an Independent warship. This choice also gives you one point in Navigation.

If you want a Wolf, I would recommend choosing "Did something else" for your first choice and Quartermaster for your second, as this gives you the most customization options for your character. :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Zenos Ebeth on January 15, 2013, 02:28:01 PM
which of the questions will get me tech skills/aptitude or a wolf? i stink at using hounds and i don't want to invest in combat skills because i like tech better

The ship is chosen by your answer to the second question. The Wolf is given if you choose to have been a quartermaster on an Independent warship. This choice also gives you one point in Navigation.

If you want a Wolf, I would recommend choosing "Did something else" for your first choice and Quartermaster for your second, as this gives you the most customization options for your character. :)

Maybe this is slighty OT , but don't you guys think that , unless you are playing for the first time and haven't read a guide , there is no reason not to pick the wolf ? Maybe that jus my opinion / preference of play style , but it seems far superior to the other ships you can get.
If i remember right you can get a lasher , a dram tanker , a wolf , or a shuttle ( funnily enough , it's the rarest ship in the game because no station sells it , the only way to obtain it is to choose it as your first ship , or get it via random chance when your fleet it destroyed.)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Faiter119 on January 15, 2013, 02:39:00 PM
I actually tend to go for the Lasher, it seems to have more late game use and the system makes it really powerful early game. The wolf tends to be good as well, but it dosnt have the massive devastative power of the Lasher. Put 2 dual mgs and you will devastate any frigate and some destroyers up close. Combine that with some HG and the enemy will die in the blink of an eye. The wolf dosnt really have the staying power and pure firepower the Lasher has. The Wolf is usually easier to survive with, but the Lasher is super lethal in the right hands.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: LazyWizard on January 15, 2013, 02:43:23 PM
Maybe this is slighty OT , but don't you guys think that , unless you are playing for the first time and haven't read a guide , there is no reason not to pick the wolf ? Maybe that jus my opinion / preference of play style , but it seems far superior to the other ships you can get.
If i remember right you can get a lasher , a dram tanker , a wolf , or a shuttle ( funnily enough , it's the rarest ship in the game because no station sells it , the only way to obtain it is to choose it as your first ship , or get it via random chance when your fleet it destroyed.)

I don't think it's really OT. Choosing the right ship is something a newbie would have a hard time with, especially since the answers don't really give you a hint as to what they unlock.

Personally, I think the Lasher ('adjutant in the Hegemony Navy') is much more newbie-friendly. The CS Wolf ('quartermaster') has no PD, a somewhat temperamental shipsystem, and struggles against shielded foes due to its reliance on beams. The Lasher comes with three PD weapons, an easy to figure out system, and has the most flexible mount type (there's a ballistic weapon for nearly every role).

The Vigilance ('helmed a patrol ship') is also a good choice given the right initial skill choices and weapon loadout, but again, probably not something a newbie will be able to figure out.

The Hound ('something else') should be avoided unless you put your initial skill points into unlocking the Frontal Shield Generator hullmod. The first thing you'll want to do is get a wing of Talons to increase your survivability slightly.

The Shuttle (always a choice) is a 'just in case' ship - it says so right in the code - and outside of a bug with a custom character creation plugin, I would only imagine it being used for self-imposed challenges.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Zenos Ebeth on January 15, 2013, 02:54:40 PM
I actually tend to go for the Lasher, it seems to have more late game use and the system makes it really powerful early game. The wolf tends to be good as well, but it dosnt have the massive devastative power of the Lasher. Put 2 dual mgs and you will devastate any frigate and some destroyers up close. Combine that with some HG and the enemy will die in the blink of an eye. The wolf dosnt really have the staying power and pure firepower the Lasher has. The Wolf is usually easier to survive with, but the Lasher is super lethal in the right hands.

I guess it comes down to opinion , i prefer the wolf because it has really good shield , and the phase skimmers give it the mobility edge over the other frigates , which i guess matters more to me now since the beggining of every battle is basicly "cap the points ,cap the points ,cap the points ,cap the points ,cap the points !!!" i also  disagree withlate game use , a close support wolf will tear fighters apart , the only reason i lost my beloved wolf i started with was because the ai though it was a good idea to make it take on a dominator on it's own :(.

@Lazy wizard

the wolf has PD , it has three small slots that come with tactical lasers if i remember right , but i have to agree that it is less effective with the default setup agaisn't shielded target due to over-reliance on beams , ship system was so useful for me , the number of times a slasher though it could get away from me to vent because i was slower , then be quite surprised when i appeared right next to it and unloaded all of my missiles. :p

i'd guess for someone new to the game the lasher is more forgiving , it's play style being resumed to " shoot until shield over load , then fire missiles". But i'll always have the sweet spot for the try tach ships.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on January 15, 2013, 03:18:31 PM
Great discussion, changed that part of the FAQ :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: LazyWizard on January 15, 2013, 04:40:43 PM
Why is my fleet so slow?
Your fleet speed is based on the slowest ship in your fleet + the number of ships in your fleet.  The more ships, the more you slow down.  This applies to fighters/bombers/interceptors as well.  See "travel speed" in ship stats.

You should probably mention that squadrons don't slow you down if there is sufficient hangar space for them (a fleet of one carrier and several wings will go at the travel speed of the carrier, in other words).

From the .52a patch notes:

Miscellaneous:
  • Changed fleet speed calculation
    • Based on slowest ship in the fleet
    • Size based penalty only caused by ships not sufficiently faster than the slowest ship, and capped at 20%
    • Fighter speed penalty weighted by hangar space (0 when not over)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Winnebago Jones on February 01, 2013, 08:52:21 AM
Do we have anywhere that has a list of all ships/weapons in game? Like a wiki type page?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on February 01, 2013, 09:12:07 AM
Hey Jones :)

You can find a list of all ships and weapons in the game itself, in the Codex. You can access it from the start menu or during the campaign from the pause menu.


There is a wiki here (http://starfarer.thegamewiki.com/wiki/Main_Page), but it is not cared for and very incomplete(which is a pity btw).
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Winnebago Jones on February 01, 2013, 10:41:32 AM
Thanks for the quick reply!

I was hoping for something out of game. I don't have it installed on my work machine. I have not played this in a couple months and am amazed by all the changes. I decided to finally make a forum account. (Almost my one year since buying this fun game. Ha!)

I'll check out the Wiki and think about working on it.

Edit: nevermind, apparently my work IP is not liked for editing purposes.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Vilu on February 04, 2013, 03:09:54 AM
Bought the game yesterday and so far loving it! :)

Mods
There are some top notch mods with beautiful graphics available for this game already. Take a look at the mod index (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=177.0).

Any suggestions? As i'm not 100% sure what i'm looking for, knowing few that might be worth checking out would help a little.

Question(s):
To me it looks like missiles are there as a additional firepower, instead of the main source of damage. So is it possible build up a setup that uses them as main source for damage? If not possible (with the current ships and module layouts or because how they are implemented), is it something that will come / is planned with future updates?

What can i say, i love missiles in SPAZ and EVE. But it's not the end of the world if i cannot focus mainly on them :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Pelly on February 04, 2013, 03:36:39 AM
Bought the game yesterday and so far loving it! :)

Mods
There are some top notch mods with beautiful graphics available for this game already. Take a look at the mod index (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=177.0).

Any suggestions? As i'm not 100% sure what i'm looking for, knowing few that might be worth checking out would help a little.

Question(s):
To me it looks like missiles are there as a additional firepower, instead of the main source of damage. So is it possible build up a setup that uses them as main source for damage? If not possible (with the current ships and module layouts or because how they are implemented), is it something that will come / is planned with future updates?

What can i say, i love missiles in SPAZ and EVE. But it's not the end of the world if i cannot focus mainly on them :)

No, there are setups that have a lotalota missiles, it just depends on what you do/play like for example there is the Buffalo, Condor and Gemini there are frigates that have "strike" variants, fast ships with a torpedo and limited firepower.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Cycerin on February 04, 2013, 04:13:51 AM
Use a Vigilance with Pilums and Fast Missile Racks and put points into the missile skill. Then later upgrade to a Venture. That's basically as close as you get to primarily missile-based offense.

Also ships with Annihilator Pods.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: ApetureUnicorn on May 06, 2013, 02:08:51 AM
WOW this really helped thanks ;) :D :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: ApetureUnicorn on May 06, 2013, 02:12:57 AM
hey how do you change your commanding ship? (not while in combat)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: FloW on May 06, 2013, 02:17:22 AM
hey how do you change your commanding ship? (not while in combat)
You should be able to change it in the "Fleet" window. There should be a button on the lower right side that says "Designate Flagship".
Click it once, then on the ship you want as your Flagship.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: ApetureUnicorn on May 07, 2013, 03:53:44 AM
oh great thanks    :D
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Phaeton on May 17, 2013, 10:05:05 PM
Hello! It is wonderful game, I just love it. Please tell me, how can I change leading ship in campaign? I want to pilot mighty cruiser, not destroyer.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: PerturbedPug on May 17, 2013, 10:09:15 PM
I believe that after you leave a station it is available as something like "Designate Flagship" twoards the right bottom.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Phaeton on May 17, 2013, 10:25:58 PM
Omg answered a post ago, shame on me :)
Thanks!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Phaeton on May 20, 2013, 01:30:58 AM
Hello again! This game is wonderful. Now I'm playing campaign and have a little question. How can I obtain cool stuff like tri-tachyon advanced fighters with shields? They don't sell them. Must I wait (21 lvl now) or what should I do? Same for Atlas.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: FloW on May 20, 2013, 01:47:25 AM
If they don't sell them, you can always try to board them.

If that's not an option (maybe no fleet has them): Resupply convoys should bring in new ships as well. However each station has a maximum of 50 ships (total, not per category).
So if a station is full on ships, buy some and drop them in the abandoned storage facility or convert them into supplies. The Atlas is available at the Hegemony Shipyard, the fighters at the Tri-Tachyon Station. So just buy a bunch of new ships and do whatever with them. In time you should get what you are looking for.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Sproginator on May 20, 2013, 02:21:32 AM
Check the pirate station, they have all kinds of stuff :D
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Thaago on May 20, 2013, 01:55:58 PM
The pirate station has the good ballistic weapons too - heavy maulers, needlers, HVD's.... everything a growing enforcer needs :P
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Silver Silence on May 20, 2013, 07:25:42 PM
Thaago?
Hang on, was you playing GoIO earlier? I saw a Thaago on the ship I was crewing earlier. You had to pilot the ship because our captain was god awful

*totally offtopic*
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Megas on June 16, 2013, 01:10:31 PM
Will the finished game have global win and/or lose conditions?

For example: "You conquered sector. Hegemony has fell. All base are belong to you. Game Over!"
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on June 16, 2013, 01:42:30 PM
No, most likely not. It's a sandbox game.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Megas on June 16, 2013, 07:13:07 PM
Sandbox games can have win/lose conditions that (may) end the game.  Such games do not care how said conditions are fulfilled.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Nanostrike on June 16, 2013, 08:00:14 PM
Protip: The Brawler, despite it looking and sounding cool, sucks unless you do one of two things:

1) Wait until you have some larger ships it can escort (Enforcers are good for this)

2) Wait until you have Augmented Engines (So it can actually catch things occasionally!), Flux-Resistant Conduits (Salamanders are your BANE), and Insulated Engines (Again, almost exclusively to counter Salamanders).




It's a decent ship if it can get in close and dish out the pain while a ship is distracted.  But freaking Salamanders almost hard-counter it.  If you try to spin around and block them, you leave your tail open for enemy fire, and if you ignore them, you WILL get hit.  It's annoying.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: naufrago on June 16, 2013, 09:44:23 PM
Don't really have any experience with the Brawler, but how I deal with Salamanders in other ships is take advantage of the fact that it aims for engines initially. After they think they can hit your engines, Salamanders stop caring where they hit and just try to hit you.

If your ship is facing up (for the sake of keeping directions clear) and the missile is coming at you in a clockwise direction, strafe right when the missile is to your right (viceversa for counterclockwise). This will cause it to miss your engines and swing around in a tight circle. As soon as the missile passes by your engines, go reverse and/or to the left (reverse and/or to the right for counterclockwise). This will cause it to swing around your left side (right side for counterclockwise) and hit you in the face, where hopefully you have shields.

That should allow you to deal with most Salamanders without turning away from your target. Bit of a tricky situation if you have Salamanders coming at you from both sides, though- one I don't think the Brawler has the maneuverability to get itself out of.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: PCCL on June 16, 2013, 11:12:42 PM
the brawler is a heavy weapon platform that can kill the thing right in front of it with great efficiency, but is near useless otherwise.

it's maneuverability does mean it can't hold its own against ships its own size, so yeah, get it something to escort, like a destroyer. I have my brawler watching my hammerhead's back (,it conveniently plugs the hole on the hammerhead's shield) and a vigilance for light support as my standard battle squadron for midline
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Nanostrike on July 05, 2013, 10:27:14 PM
Well, I haven't given up on the Brawler yet.  However, it takes a significant investment into the Combat tree to make it effective.

First off, you NEED Damage Control Rank 5 for the 50% EMP Damage Reduction.  You also need as many points in Evasive Maneuvers as you can get.  A combination of those two will get you significantly reduced damage on your engines, to the point where it'll take at least 3 Salamanders to get a Flameout.

Also, as much as you can get in the speed-boosting one (I forget it's name) will help.


I've been doing okay with that, dual Heavy Maulers, and a destroyer to back me up (And provide PD support)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Mattk50 on August 14, 2013, 03:51:31 PM
I just realized, do any ships other than your own get the combat aptitude bonuses? Not YOUR bonuses, but does an elite crew for example have some more combat aptitude skills rather than just the better ai and etc? And enemy ships, are they always at the baseline without any combat skills at all or?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on August 14, 2013, 04:39:29 PM
I just realized, do any ships other than your own get the combat aptitude bonuses? Not YOUR bonuses, but does an elite crew for example have some more combat aptitude skills rather than just the better ai and etc? And enemy ships, are they always at the baseline without any combat skills at all or?

At the moment the player is the only one with skills. There are plans to give enemy admirals skills from the same selection the player has. Then there will be officers who will possibly have some kind of skill bonus associated with them, too. AFAIK neither will be in the next update, though.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Big_H on September 24, 2013, 10:38:51 AM
Is there a ship spreadsheet anywhere? There's a ship list on the wiki, but short of opening up every page and looking at the stats, there's no way (that I've seen) to quickly compare multiple ships.

For example I'm currently trying to keep a fast fleet, so I'd like to see at a glance which ships are fastest, what benefits others offer, and whether it's worth going with a slower speed to get those benefits; all without having to open a dozen tabs and jumping between them for an hour.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Cosmitz on September 24, 2013, 01:40:57 PM
It's been a LONG while since i've modded, but if i remember correctly, all shipstats are in \Starfarer\starsector-core\data\hulls in a file called ship_Data.csv which you can open with Excel or OpenOffice Spreadsheet, comma delimited. The weapons are around somewhere aswell.. just search for *.csv's in Starsector's folder and you should have all you need.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Big_H on September 24, 2013, 06:44:29 PM
Thanks I'll check it out.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: muttiman on October 17, 2013, 12:43:43 PM
this might be a stupid question but how do I board empty stations? my ally is just sucking all of them  and my race has just 1-.-

Ps: found nothing with search function
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on October 17, 2013, 01:20:40 PM
Are you playing with a mod?

Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: muttiman on October 18, 2013, 07:17:55 AM
yes, Exerelin and some additional races
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on October 18, 2013, 02:03:41 PM
Please post your question in the Exerelin thread then. I would help you but I have no idea myself of that mod.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Nitram99 on October 31, 2013, 04:37:05 PM
Will this game be on Steam, like on Steam Greenlight?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: ciago92 on October 31, 2013, 04:54:22 PM
I think the overall answer is maaaaaaaaaaaaybe but much further down the line when it's closer to a completed project. I'll see if I can dig up the quote from Alex

From the Frequently Made Suggestions thread:

Steam Greenlight is a great platform for indie games and its likely that Starsector will eventually use it (or other means to get on Steam). That time, however, has not yet come. Starsector still needs a bit to mature, I'm sure when it's ready the developers will make their move on steam. Here's what the lead developer said about the idea:

Quote from: Alex on August 03, 2012, 16:50:50
"Guys - I appreciate the thought, but I really don't feel like Starsector is ready for this kind of exposure. Please don't do anything on my behalf to make that happen - I think it could end up causing serious problems, both for the development of the game, the community, and, indeed, my mental health :) "

See also http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=5371.msg84155#msg84155 (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=5371.msg84155#msg84155) by David, the art designer.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Deathven on November 03, 2013, 06:04:00 PM
Wow, I actually needed to look into this! Last time I played it was still Starfarer!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Attacker on January 10, 2014, 08:05:55 PM
About "I lost my game key! What can I do to get it back?"

Can the forum add a function that bind a key with a forum ID?
Then I can get my key in my forum ID
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Nuxes on February 03, 2014, 08:57:20 PM
Hey guys, I'm new to the game and have a noob question.  I see AI ships using some kind of afterburner to escape from battle, how do I activate mine to catch up to them?  I don't see anything listed on the key guide http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=5670.0 (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=5670.0)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: xenoargh on February 03, 2014, 09:09:58 PM
You can't activate the "afterburner"; it's the Travel Drive, used to fly long distances.  If ships can activate that, you're just not going to be able to catch them, period (except in Dev Mode, where you can hit P, heh).
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on February 04, 2014, 12:49:31 AM
Hey guys, I'm new to the game and have a noob question.  I see AI ships using some kind of afterburner to escape from battle, how do I activate mine to catch up to them?  I don't see anything listed on the key guide http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=5670.0 (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=5670.0)

While you can't catch up to anything that way, you can still activate the afterburner to escape yourself, by pressing enter near (and facing towards) the map border. I'll add that to the key map. You can catch up to fleeing ships if you enter into an escape scenario, following a regular fight.

Some ships (Enforcer, Dominator, Onslaught, Cerberus, Tarsus) also have a burndrive as a special system, you can activate that by pressing F.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Creepin on February 20, 2014, 11:32:04 PM
I tend to run most of my battles on autopilot ("S" hotkey on all my ships), so this always was bugging me: are skills restricted to "piloted ship" apply to a ship having captain icon assigned to no matter be it on autopilot or not, or only to a ship which is actually piloted manually by WASD?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on February 21, 2014, 02:34:38 AM
Hi!

The current flagship gets the skill bonuses whether you pilot it or not. You should still try piloting yourself though, it's really fun and you get better all the time :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Tecrys on February 21, 2014, 02:51:52 AM
They apply to your flagship while it is on autopilot as well.

The game checks for the flagship, no matter if you steer it yourself or let the autopilot handle it.

Edit: Oh, Gothars was quicker or did I overlook that? Anyways, piloting yourself is a lot of fun!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Creepin on February 21, 2014, 05:13:59 AM
Thanks a lot for the explanation folks!

I like manual control as a concept, being a fan of StarCon series and the like, but I prefer to have my cup of Starsector as rather strategic experience, to be enjoyed without tactical intertference. However, the more I play, the more I find myself claiming direct control because of totally weird unfathomable AI decisions based on reasons non-obvious for me ;D
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: GruntyThrst on March 07, 2014, 06:31:44 PM
I'm doing a series of video tutorials for Starsector because why not? I promise bad editing, lots of awkward pauses and 'uhm'img, occasional salty language, and statements of dubious credibility. If that hasn't turned you off the idea yet, here's a playlist link (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw7MJMt9EM2VqvQlnAagnglDqqXnSmq_8&feature=c4-feed-u).
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on March 09, 2014, 04:34:33 AM
Nice! I'm sure that will be helpful to new players. One little correction at minute 2 of the second video: the AI does actually account for manually fired weapons by turning off your shields. You can only be overloaded by enemy fire. Also, you did not mention EMP damage, which is the Salamader's primary damage.

By the way, do you happen to have any idea when the SA forum paywall will come down again?

Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: aPhilRa on August 17, 2014, 09:00:06 AM
I feel stupid for asking this again, but I cannot for the life of me find a way to change the flagship of my fleet. Some posts from May 2013 said something about a button in the lower right corner (of the fleet window I presume), but there's no button for me.

I'm playing the campaign and use the latest version without any mods so far.

Plz halp :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on August 17, 2014, 09:15:32 AM
Click on an empty portrait. I know, it was difficult for me the first time too.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: aPhilRa on August 17, 2014, 04:52:30 PM
Click on an empty portrait. I know, it was difficult for me the first time too.
Wow, I didn't see that...I DID NOT see that!

Had to make a screenshot to clarify.

(http://i.imgur.com/bX8ZoSF.png)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: FasterThanSleepyfish on August 17, 2014, 04:54:28 PM
Yep! Lood luck fellow commander.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Debido on August 18, 2014, 06:12:23 AM
For some reason it's not intuitive...it makes sense once you figure it out. I'm wondering if it would be more intuitive if the current captains face is 'ghosted' over the portrait area when rolling over the area.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: tchan on November 06, 2014, 07:56:49 AM
Hi!  I tried searching for a similar question but it only came up once and it didn't help me :P

I got 0.65.1a installed, with LazyLib 2.0b and Console Commands 2.0 WIP 7 working in the mods, but when I put in Tore Up Plenty or Haiigaran Descendants, I get an error called JSONObject["logo"] not found. 

The thread I found had a guy ask what this was, and another person responded that he needed to add ""logo":"graphics/factions/your-faction-logo.png","  to every faction in the mod.

But I dont know how to do that.  What do I download?  What file do I edit?  Wheres the faction thing?  I looked at the modding resources and I'm just overwhelmed @_@;

Hope this is the correct section to post.  >_>

Thanks for any replies :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Ubik on November 06, 2014, 08:20:47 AM

[0.6.2a] Hiigaran Descendants v1.1.0 ... that means it is for the 0.6.2a version of the game, not for the most recent 0.65.1a, guess that's why it wont work.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Regularity on November 08, 2014, 04:47:45 PM
Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I had a question: I often see pirate fleets transform into mercenary (independent) ones. What's the reasoning behind this? Does attacking them after they "transform" count as hostility towards the pirate or independent faction? Do fleets ever transform from independent back to pirate?'

Edit: Another question: What are the mechanics on how often ship markets get new stock? Is it based on time? (Weekly, monthly) Or is stock swapped based on distance travelled, or if you've jumped to a different system?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Histidine on November 09, 2014, 09:20:14 PM
Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I had a question: I often see pirate fleets transform into mercenary (independent) ones. What's the reasoning behind this? Does attacking them after they "transform" count as hostility towards the pirate or independent faction? Do fleets ever transform from independent back to pirate?'
Refer to this thread (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=8537.0) :)
Short version: If attacked, they get you a rep hit with the faction they belonged to at the time of the combat (so make sure they ain't grey before you click the engage button!) I recall Alex saying somewhere that this is to prevent the smuggler from getting blown up by patrols at the destination, but I can't find the post...

Quote
Edit: Another question: What are the mechanics on how often ship markets get new stock? Is it based on time? (Weekly, monthly) Or is stock swapped based on distance travelled, or if you've jumped to a different system?
Too busy to find a reference right now, but it refreshes on visiting the ship market, with a 1 month cooldown.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Velox on December 06, 2014, 05:19:24 PM

Hello all!  I've been lurking here for a bit and finally registered because I'm liking this game more than almost anything I've come across in recent memory.  I (as I'm sure many of you did, if you're old enough) enjoyed SPAZ and distantly, distantly before that, Start Control 2, and I'm awfully happy to see something in the same vein.  I only found out about the game because of an animated signature .GIF I saw as someone's forum signature somewhere that was fascinating enough that I really wanted to know what it was from.  I zoomed way in and searched on the things I could make out of the low-res mess - "Assault Battleship"?  Cool stuff, but no joy.  "Flux Capacitors" .. well, obvious results there.  I was about to give up and tried the only other thing I could read, the "star sector" in the top right that I assumed was just a generic map coordinate thing, or something similar.  Let's hear it for chance.

Alex, thank you for making this!  I'm delighted to have discovered it and impressed by your commitment to quality (the only crash I've ever seen was with saved variants!)  I'll be eagerly suffering through the update cycles with everyone else from here on out.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Alex on December 06, 2014, 05:42:28 PM
Thanks for the kind words, happy you're enjoying the game :) Nice to read the story of how you discovered it, that's pretty cool!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Cosmitz on December 10, 2014, 01:51:22 PM
I'll be eagerly suffering through the update cycles with everyone else from here on out.


We're glad to have you. If you've been around the block in the gaming-communities you might find that the little go-between we have here on the forum with the lead dev, Alex, is something fresh and we like it that way. :) Hope to see you around, feel at home, try out some mod compilations or start off with just one mod.. they're all /great/ quality and make Starsector feeling ever bigger when you finally master the vanilla.

Welcome to Starsector!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: mebutinspace on March 19, 2015, 12:57:11 PM
Quick question, apologies if its been answered before:

Do I need 1 flight deck per fighter wing? I tried using 2 fighters and 1 flight deck and one of my squadrons ran away. Is this because they need their own flight deck?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Aeson on March 19, 2015, 01:16:42 PM
Do I need 1 flight deck per fighter wing? I tried using 2 fighters and 1 flight deck and one of my squadrons ran away. Is this because they need their own flight deck?
No. Each flight deck can handle one fighter at any given time, and fighter groups are eliminated from the battle when the last active fighter in a fighter wing is destroyed if there are no fighters in that wing being prepared in a flight deck, being repaired in a flight deck, or being rearmed in a flight deck.

The number of flight decks you want to have depends a bit on the kinds of fighter groups you have. Piranhas, Daggers, and Tridents return to flight decks to rearm after every run, which means that using them requires that you provide a relatively large number of flight decks. Heavy fighters like the Xyphos and Gladius tend to stay on the field for a long time, and so place a relatively light load on your flight decks, and as a result you would tend to have a relatively small number of flight decks.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Getrax on April 10, 2015, 07:36:45 PM
New too, and so far im having a blast.

Im still struggling to keep my head over water, ive gotten a heavy cruiser, two destroyers, and a tanker, but it seems im not strong enough to tackle the really big bounties yet, but the smaller ones pay juuuuust enough so i can afford fuel and supplies..is there a way of making moneys easier, beside food shortages? I really really dont want to trade just so i can do pew pew.

Also, how is StarSector+? I´ve heard a lot of good, but is it worthwile as noob or does it ratchet up the difficulty even more?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Xanderzoo on April 10, 2015, 07:37:42 PM
Starsector+ is supposed to be more difficult, but I don't really think it is. I definitely think it's more fun--and it significantly improves the explosions. :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: merciless on April 10, 2015, 09:01:10 PM
am sorta slow and new to the game... could someone please show me how to patch the game to the latest version?  will be much appreciated.  Wonderful game, I thank you.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Alex on April 10, 2015, 09:07:46 PM
Hi - you just go here (http://fractalsoftworks.com/preorder/), download the latest version for your system, and install it. There's no auto-updater or anything like that.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Shuka on April 11, 2015, 04:44:17 PM
I have a question about burn speed on the campaign map. In addition x I had 1 capital ship and 1 tug that gave me a burn speed of 6, and when I buy an additional capital ship my burn speed drops to 5. So I buy another tug to get to burn speed of 6, but it stays at 5.

I also have overdrive shunts and the skill that gives burn speed to capital ships. My fleet probably has 8-10 other ships that are all at 6 burn or higher.

Is this because my fleet is so large? I figured 2 capital ships was probably pushing it, its just so much fun though haha.

Edit - I realized one of my cap ships was burn 4 and the other burn 5, and that explains that. Apologies
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Shuka on April 13, 2015, 04:55:21 PM
I have another question (sorry for the double post)

When a bunch of messages pop up on the left side of the screen, sometimes I can't read all of them before they fade away. Some of them I can press "e" and pull up intel to read them, but not all of them appear there. Is there some way to read them after they fade? Or some way to make them not fade when I hit pause maybe?

Thanks in advance, and this game friggin rules. And so do the modders, what a nice community.

Also is it possible to take over stations like in nexerelin?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TJJ on July 11, 2015, 07:28:42 AM
I have a question about burn speed on the campaign map. In addition x I had 1 capital ship and 1 tug that gave me a burn speed of 6, and when I buy an additional capital ship my burn speed drops to 5. So I buy another tug to get to burn speed of 6, but it stays at 5.

I also have overdrive shunts and the skill that gives burn speed to capital ships. My fleet probably has 8-10 other ships that are all at 6 burn or higher.

Is this because my fleet is so large? I figured 2 capital ships was probably pushing it, its just so much fun though haha.

Edit - I realized one of my cap ships was burn 4 and the other burn 5, and that explains that. Apologies

Burn speed of the fleet = burn speed of slowest ship in the fleet.
Each tug accelerates the slowest ship in the fleet by +1.
Tugs no longer stack; a ship can only be accelerated by 1 tug.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: KingHan on December 02, 2015, 08:18:13 AM
I'be looked around and searched in forums but I have not found any guide to how I can mine asteroids and gas giants? I equip mining lasers to my ships and select asteroids but nothing happens and I remember in previous versions all I had to do was select the asteroid. Then wait.

Do I have to have those mining pods too??
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Thaago on December 02, 2015, 08:21:38 AM
There is no mining currently in the base game - there used to be a mod that implemented it, but it is out of date. I do not know whether the current large mods (SS+ and/or Nexerelin, Uomoz) have plans to put it in. They have not yet been updated for the latest version yet either (its only been a week or two :D)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: KingHan on December 02, 2015, 08:23:51 AM
Oh you know what you're right. I remember now it was exelerin that had it. Thanks!!!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: KingHan on December 02, 2015, 08:25:35 AM
How do I level up in forums? And can I see my progress somewhere?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: silentstormpt on December 02, 2015, 09:37:30 AM
Well, you post....  :P
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: icepick37 on December 05, 2015, 09:08:35 AM
Here's a tip I have:

If you find yourself in a bind with no money, no supplies and no fuel, and you have already liquidated all your exess assets like guns (I have found myself in this situation often lately), your crew are a great untapped resource.

I hit up a black market and sold all of my elite crew (sorry homies), to replace them with greenies (they'll level up), as well as enough left over money to restock so I could get a nearby bounty and get out of the hole I had slowly dug for myself.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Cosmitz on December 06, 2015, 03:25:46 AM
Actually, a better tip for that would be 'always have a backup ship/fleet stored somewhere. In Eve terms, never fly what you can't afford to lose.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Ranakastrasz on December 07, 2015, 07:16:39 PM
Actually, a better tip for that would be 'always have a backup ship/fleet stored somewhere. In Eve terms, never fly what you can't afford to lose.
That is at least half of the reason why early game is so difficult. The other half is that you are pretty much outnumbered initially, and have to find small bounty fleets, or else existing battles with bounty fleets. That, or try to trade, which is nearly futile.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: nuclear_ash on December 21, 2015, 12:34:21 PM
How can I place a wing of slow-burning craft into fast-burning carrier? Citadel's craft from mod and Heron, for example.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: sini002 on December 22, 2015, 03:22:33 PM
Heeeeeeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeeeee, i am unable to hire officers, whats required? i've got a wolf-class frigate with no captain so i thought i would get it an officer to test it out. But i can't hire any of the ones i find  :-\  ???
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Cik on December 22, 2015, 03:27:47 PM
you need to use the open a comm link button when docked with a station. each will have a few nonhelpful station personalities, the ones you are looking for say 'mercenary officer'

not every station will have them and they cost money to hire (in proportion to their level)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Dri on December 22, 2015, 04:15:58 PM
How can I place a wing of slow-burning craft into fast-burning carrier? Citadel's craft from mod and Heron, for example.

Don't think you can - wings move independent of the carrier at all times. Slow burn fightercraft is a strange design choice...
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: jakartablessed on December 26, 2015, 10:21:17 PM
Quick question:

Why is it that when I buy 50 supplies at 54 credits each, the actual price (~611 credits) is far less than the nominal price I get by using a calculator (2700 credits)?

Adding units one at a time, I notice that the 50th unit adds just a few credits to the overall price, while the first unit adds the nominal price.

I'm not very good with math, so it took a while for me to notice this very unintuitive feature. What is going on here, and why?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Weltall on December 26, 2015, 10:52:39 PM
Quick question:

Why is it that when I buy 50 supplies at 54 credits each, the actual price (~611 credits) is far less than the nominal price I get by using a calculator (2700 credits)?

Adding units one at a time, I notice that the 50th unit adds just a few credits to the overall price, while the first unit adds the nominal price.

I'm not very good with math, so it took a while for me to notice this very unintuitive feature. What is going on here, and why?

The less the demand for the item, the lower the price. Stations buy at the highest price only one ton or a handful of tons of cargo. Slowly their need for the specific commodity lessens and along the money they offer for it.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Achataeon on December 27, 2015, 03:22:58 AM
Yep. The UI currently doesn't intuitively show this change in price. Best clue you have of this happening is when you double-check all of your transactions, which is annoying.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: jakartablessed on January 02, 2016, 01:58:45 AM
Quick question:

Why is it that when I buy 50 supplies at 54 credits each, the actual price (~611 credits) is far less than the nominal price I get by using a calculator (2700 credits)?

Adding units one at a time, I notice that the 50th unit adds just a few credits to the overall price, while the first unit adds the nominal price.

I'm not very good with math, so it took a while for me to notice this very unintuitive feature. What is going on here, and why?

The less the demand for the item, the lower the price. Stations buy at the highest price only one ton or a handful of tons of cargo. Slowly their need for the specific commodity lessens and along the money they offer for it.

Thanks, I figured it might be something like this. But I don't understand why it affects the price of things I purchase as well as things I sell. Not that I'm complaining about cheap supplies, exactly. I'd just love to know how it works.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Weltall on January 02, 2016, 02:07:30 AM
Thanks, I figured it might be something like this. But I don't understand why it affects the price of things I purchase as well as things I sell. Not that I'm complaining about cheap supplies, exactly. I'd just love to know how it works.

In the next update an indication of how much you pay or get paid for each item will be added. So you will not have to do math thankfully anymore, since you will be able to see the amount you get paid for each item :)

This is a screenshot Alex shared;
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/ZUP8B8N.png) (http://i.imgur.com/ZUP8B8N.png)
[close]

You can see what I am talking about on the left, where it shows the current transaction~
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: nitebullet on January 03, 2016, 11:59:47 AM
copy pasted from my reddit post
/
Hi. I used to play the game back when it was called Starfarer (3.X). I would load up mods with different weapons and ships and go all guns blazing.

I started playing again since yesterday and I've been trying to learn new content. I've also set up myself with a couple of mods (Starsector+, Nexerelin and a few other faction mods).

here's my problem with the faction relationship feature:

I like trying out new military weapons and ships, but most of it are locked unless I have a good relationship with X faction. With 7 factions (including weapons and ships) I became irritated cause I did not have access right from the start. I have spent last 5 hours doing trades (as Blackrock Drive yard faction) to meet the relationship requirements, but the processs is just tedious and slow. I just can't see myself doing the same thing for all other factions just to try new weapons out...

Anyone care to help me out ?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Unbroken on January 03, 2016, 12:23:14 PM
copy pasted from my reddit post
/
Hi. I used to play the game back when it was called Starfarer (3.X). I would load up mods with different weapons and ships and go all guns blazing.

I started playing again since yesterday and I've been trying to learn new content. I've also set up myself with a couple of mods (Starsector+, Nexerelin and a few other faction mods).

here's my problem with the faction relationship feature:

I like trying out new military weapons and ships, but most of it are locked unless I have a good relationship with X faction. With 7 factions (including weapons and ships) I became irritated cause I did not have access right from the start. I have spent last 5 hours doing trades (as Blackrock Drive yard faction) to meet the relationship requirements, but the processs is just tedious and slow. I just can't see myself doing the same thing for all other factions just to try new weapons out...

Anyone care to help me out ?

In Nexerelin, the easiest way to raise your rep with a faction is to drop some money on Agents (they're the figures wearing blue, they'll be with the crew and marines in the trade window), then go to Special Functions (when docked to the faction you want to improve your rep with) > Deploy Agent > Raise Relations and hope you don't get a critical failure. Agents, from what I've seen, tend to be around 1000 credits/person.

This won't get you a commission directly, but if you're already in a faction and want access to another faction's stuff without actually joining them, raising your rep like this will increase the odds that the two will form an alliance. If they do, you are a winner - you automagically get a commission with any allies of your current faction.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Rathorn on April 09, 2016, 05:48:47 PM
Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and Starsector in general, and I had a quick question. What determines whether or not you get a monthly salary from the faction you join? I've poked around on the forums and can't find anything. I'm currently playing with Nexerilin, SS+, and Diable Avionics (Loving it btw) Ive started over with a new game a few times to try different things, and I've noticed that faction relations are kinda random even if you don't have that option enabled, and sometimes I get a monthly salary from my faction, sometimes I don't. Thanks in advance :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Histidine on April 09, 2016, 06:12:39 PM
Salary payments from your faction are in Nexerelin. Your faction needs to be alive to pay it out (at least one planet/station), i.e. it doesn't happen if you take the free start option (or the own faction option in Corvus mode).

Corvus mode also has somewhat different starting relationships from non-Corvus mode.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Rathorn on April 09, 2016, 06:24:21 PM
Salary payments from your faction are in Nexerelin. Your faction needs to be alive to pay it out (at least one planet/station), i.e. it doesn't happen if you take the free start option (or the own faction option in Corvus mode).

Corvus mode also has somewhat different starting relationships from non-Corvus mode.

Right, it's just that the salary from your starting faction (i.e. Diable Avionics) can really help out in the beginning, at least for the first 2-3 months for me. I'm not playing with Corvus mode enabled, And I've started a few new games trying to figure out what's going on. It just seems random, some games I start up and I get a monthly salary, some games I start up and I don't.  ???
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Histidine on April 09, 2016, 09:16:31 PM
There's a bug in older versions of Nexerelin (anything before 0.7.4d) where it won't pay salaries if you set the number of factions at start to anything other than "all" (and will likely affect things such as starting relationships as well, though I didn't specifically confirm this).
Other than that, I don't know what might be causing non-payment, unfortunately. If someone can reliably reproduce it I can look into it.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Rathorn on April 09, 2016, 10:43:03 PM
There's a bug in older versions of Nexerelin (anything before 0.7.4d) where it won't pay salaries if you set the number of factions at start to anything other than "all" (and will likely affect things such as starting relationships as well, though I didn't specifically confirm this).
Other than that, I don't know what might be causing non-payment, unfortunately. If someone can reliably reproduce it I can look into it.

Just checked and I didn't realize I was running an older version, that took care of it :) thanks!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on April 10, 2016, 12:20:49 PM
There's a bug in older versions of Nexerelin (anything before 0.7.4d) where it won't pay salaries if you set the number of factions at start to anything other than "all" (and will likely affect things such as starting relationships as well, though I didn't specifically confirm this).
Other than that, I don't know what might be causing non-payment, unfortunately. If someone can reliably reproduce it I can look into it.

Just checked and I didn't realize I was running an older version, that took care of it :) thanks!
Get Version checker man! (see my sig) It is a goddess send!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Rathorn on April 10, 2016, 04:14:47 PM

[/quote]
Get Version checker man! (see my sig) It is a goddess send!
[/quote]

Will do. Got the game a few days ago and I was too busy drooling to notice the new version was out :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: N7Commander84 on September 04, 2016, 03:21:51 PM
Hello! I'm still somewhat new to the game and I have a problem that's preventing me from really enjoying it. I'm having issues running the starsector plus mod. I have changed to 64 bit java and have memory set to 5MB (-Xms5120m -Xmx5120m) as described in the Out of Memory? Use 64-bit Java! Instructions Inside + Video forum.
the game starts up, but displays improperly on the main menu. it works just fine when i actually start a game, until i get into a battle. the tactical map works fine, but when i try to pilot, the ship graphics are not there, and there are afterimages of the aiming and flux/hull HUD. If there's anyone that can help me resolve this I'd truly appreciate it.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Alex on September 04, 2016, 06:11:09 PM
Hi - for the future, modding-related support requests should go here:
http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?board=14.0

For this particular issue, I suspect your graphics drivers don't properly support whatever OpenGL features Starsector+ requires. Your best bet (assuming your drivers are up-to-date) is probably to turn off Starsector+'s graphical features from... I think it's the SSP_OPTIONS.ini file.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: MesoTroniK on September 04, 2016, 06:18:35 PM
A quick correction, you want to go to the GraphicsLib mod folder and open the GRAPHICS_OPTIONS.ini and try setting "enableShaders": to false.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Alex on September 04, 2016, 06:19:44 PM
He did mention using Starsector plus, so I was going off that. But, yes, thank you - good to mention that as well to cover all the bases.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: dk1332 on December 06, 2016, 03:00:13 AM
Hello, new guy in the block. I love this game that I upgraded my PC just for the sake of playing this game. Well...its not as good enough to handle the stress of using factions that heavily rely on graphicslib (gonna need buy me some RAM upgrades and prolly slave myself away to get a better graphics card). But its good enough to play 10 mod factions.

Anyway, I have questions regarding on "teleporting" ships e.g. Diable Avionic's Maelstrom and Pandemonium class.
1. How do control on where I can teleport to? I nearly died several times using this ship sub-system due to  warping around randomly when I use it. The only time I can "manually" teleport is by charging towards an enemy to unload my weapons at it.
2. What are the suggested weapons/strategy to counter this threats, especially frigates with this sub-system? I've tried using swarming tactics on such ships but my chance on killing them are like 40-60% (maybe I just suck?).

P.S. Sorry if my English sucks, its not my 1st language :-\
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Tartiflette on December 06, 2016, 03:08:37 AM
For Diable's ship, they teleport forward in your velocity direction, facing either your target or a ship nearby if you don't have one.
No special tactics needed other than waiting them to spend all their charges before unloading your main weapons.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: dk1332 on December 06, 2016, 03:22:49 AM
For Diable's ship, they teleport forward in your velocity direction, facing either your target or a ship nearby if you don't have one.
No special tactics needed other than waiting them to spend all their charges before unloading your main weapons.

That was a quick reply  ;D

I think I understand it more or less. I'm gonna try it later.

But what about the enemies that seems like they don't run out of charges (or they seem like it), like those frigates from Corvus Scavengers that can warp really far away and vice-versa? I even tried using a vapor-class frigates with speed mods + maneuvering jets to chase them down but they can still perform hit and run tactics till they escape. ???
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: King Alfonzo on December 06, 2016, 01:35:07 PM
That was a quick reply  ;D

I think I understand it more or less. I'm gonna try it later.

But what about the enemies that seems like they don't run out of charges (or they seem like it), like those frigates from Corvus Scavengers that can warp really far away and vice-versa? I even tried using a vapor-class frigates with speed mods + maneuvering jets to chase them down but they can still perform hit and run tactics till they escape. ???

In that case I suggest long range weaponry, like tactical lasers, rail guns, maulers, gauss cannons, etc. That way even if they try to attack you, you can keep up the pressure. Alternatively, you can use strike weapons like phase lances to quickly punish them when they get in close. Yet another alternative is to use fighters; if you have Diable installed, then you have a huge variety of useful fighter wings which can distract and hurt such hit and run tactics, just make sure you have a carrier on hand.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: dk1332 on December 06, 2016, 06:34:21 PM

In that case I suggest long range weaponry, like tactical lasers, rail guns, maulers, gauss cannons, etc. That way even if they try to attack you, you can keep up the pressure. Alternatively, you can use strike weapons like phase lances to quickly punish them when they get in close. Yet another alternative is to use fighters; if you have Diable installed, then you have a huge variety of useful fighter wings which can distract and hurt such hit and run tactics, just make sure you have a carrier on hand.


I'll try some of those weapons...though I avoid using gauss cannons. As for fighters. I am using them as part of my swarming tactics. I even use phase bombers and 3-4 Valiant fighter wings with 6 frost wings and a lot of broadswords but they can still get away with little scratches here and there.

Anyway, I think should stop posting here and make a thread of my own.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Seth on January 02, 2017, 02:53:49 PM
Two quick question:
1. Is there a way to set by default maximum camera zoom out in combat somewhere in config files or settings?
2. What's the general idea after fleet cap differentiation in combat? Like, say, why every combat doesn't start with 150/150 fleet cap if mine and enemy fleets can't be deployed in full, rather advantage of deployment points goes to one with bigger fleet? Isn't it a little unbalanced?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: BobHound on February 10, 2017, 12:02:16 AM
Hello!

After a long time not playing, I've returned to have a look. I really enjoy everything that's been added over the years! I'm trying to get back into the ol' Onslaught and have been raising my reputation with the Hegemony slowly (at 50 atm.). I keep reading about "commissions" and that they're available from military stations in the Hegemony, but I can't find them. Are they random spawns? Do they require a certain reputation or fleet size to get? No matter where I go I can't seem to get one from the hegemony! What gives?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on February 10, 2017, 01:11:53 AM
Hello!

After a long time not playing, I've returned to have a look. I really enjoy everything that's been added over the years! I'm trying to get back into the ol' Onslaught and have been raising my reputation with the Hegemony slowly (at 50 atm.). I keep reading about "commissions" and that they're available from military stations in the Hegemony, but I can't find them. Are they random spawns? Do they require a certain reputation or fleet size to get? No matter where I go I can't seem to get one from the hegemony! What gives?
You need a certain amount of rep and then you need to click on the coms option (press 1 when you first land on a heg planet) and then select the mission tab. The commission should in the list of missions
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: BobHound on February 10, 2017, 02:50:43 AM
Huh! I'm currently at 50 positive rep, and have checked the mission tabs on several planets! It's always just different transport / procurement missions.

Edit: I figured it out! I assumed my downloaded 0.7 version was up to date, which it was not. Now I am commissioned to the Hegemony. Onslaught here I come!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on February 10, 2017, 12:30:49 PM
Huh! I'm currently at 50 positive rep, and have checked the mission tabs on several planets! It's always just different transport / procurement missions.

Edit: I figured it out! I assumed my downloaded 0.7 version was up to date, which it was not. Now I am commissioned to the Hegemony. Onslaught here I come!
Get version checke and you shall never miss another update again!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on April 25, 2017, 12:48:55 PM
Um, I made dis.
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/ly4yBXE.jpg)
[close]
I'll make tomorrow corrected version again right now, hopefully it's final.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Histidine on April 25, 2017, 09:44:00 PM
Um, I made dis.
Ha, nice quick guide!
And nice subtle commentary about how half the missile weapons on wiki are still missing their images
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on April 26, 2017, 12:53:26 AM
Fun fact: I was tired when correcting it for the last time and I tried to download atropos rack from wiki. Except there wasn't one.  :P
I'm thinking about making page by page guide to ships, but I think it's best to make separate page for civilian ships comparison, while combat ships will remain on ship-size pages.
I don't think I'm much more awake right now...
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on April 26, 2017, 04:06:03 AM
My goodness I love that @SCC. XD
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on April 27, 2017, 01:39:37 PM
Spoiler
(http://i.imgur.com/vwc4cZp.jpg)
[close]
Mudskipper pls
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Dri on April 27, 2017, 02:02:19 PM
Handy chart! I knew I was a fan of the Colossus for a reason!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on April 27, 2017, 02:23:47 PM
Sorta low burn, but overall best or second best in efficiency. What saddens me though is that mule and gemini have very low efficiency. Wayfarer is 2/3 as efficient as Shepherd (the closest to combat vs dedicated frigate freighter), while mule and gemini are roughly 36% and 28% as efficient in comparison to buffalo/tarsus. Even at 0.5 ratio they should have 350 and 450 capacity or 5 supply upkeep. I'm not sure if 2 mules could compare in combat capacity to one combat destroyer, though 2 geminis have a better chance... except their monthly maintenance is bigger than that of 2 hammerheads. Perhaps it's bugging just me.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gothars on April 27, 2017, 02:32:24 PM
Very good chart!


What saddens me though is that mule and gemini have very low efficiency. Wayfarer is 2/3 as efficient as Shepherd (the closest to combat vs dedicated frigate freighter), while mule and gemini are roughly 36% and 28% as efficient in comparison to buffalo/tarsus.

That's not a fair comparison, though. Shepherd(drones+salvage&surveying) and Wayfarer (weapons) are both far from dedicated freighters, there are just none of those on the frigate tier. So it's not that Mule and Gemini are inefficient for half-freighters, they are just the first tier that can be directly compared to dedicated freighters.

Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Cosmitz on April 27, 2017, 03:24:43 PM
Gemini could really use some shield efficiency or speed. It's terribly underwhelming and saddening to see if anything bad comes within the same zip code as it.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on April 27, 2017, 11:06:03 PM
That's not a fair comparison, though. Shepherd(drones+salvage&surveying) and Wayfarer (weapons) are both far from dedicated freighters, there are just none of those on the frigate tier. So it's not that Mule and Gemini are inefficient for half-freighters, they are just the first tier that can be directly compared to dedicated freighters.
I agree that my comparison wasn't much fair, but I don't think their combat capabilities excuse their low efficiency. I think I'll make a dedicated thread someday.
By the way: there aren't tankers on the chart because their efficiency is straight-forward (bigger is more supply efficient, all burn the same amount of fuel per capacity), but liners are because of mudskipper.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on May 02, 2017, 12:00:18 AM
Hi,

A few questions please...

1. how do you order fighters to perform actions against a specific target?

2. how can you see the last price of a given commodity on a planet you visited? Should I take a paper and make notes? Some planets produce a given good and I would like to have a reminder that 'planet X produces good Y' but as far I can tell, this is not possible.

3. Do you manage to play ironman? Each time I try, at a given point I get caught by a pirate fleet and I'm trashed. You can't just hope to win 100% of the time, whatever the odds, so how you manage to never lose your fleet in ironman? Do you keep some ships in reserve in an abandoned station in case something goes wrong?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on May 02, 2017, 02:29:55 AM
1. If you mean when you're piloting a carrier, they follow targeted ship and you can withdraw them by clicking "z".
2. This is tricky, since supposedly game keeps note 5 or so last times you were buying or selling a commodity on a market, but it doesn't always work, so... Pen & paper is your friend most of the time. Also, checking market production remotely isn't (yet?) possible.
3. I guess it's practice teaching you what not and what to do to avoid fights you can't win. I can't really answer that since I'm not playing on ironman, too many bugs as of now. :P
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on May 02, 2017, 02:38:14 PM
Hmm. I have noticed some outdated advices in first post. Will they be fixed, will a new thread be made or is it going to be left as is?
Additionally I'd like to ask if moderators could include links to those two docs, if they are good enough, to make ship choosing & fitting a little easier and clearer for newcomers.
Ship guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KaEMSCvH7CeB76wLKj0e5tn9jn6NjPJcNvciTbbQ1nM/edit?usp=sharing
Weapon guide*: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uFJ62AZOx9xjSCWUA-4f-u7jJqSQBjb7ZngFu6m7T4w/edit?usp=sharing
*Yes, this is more or less text version of pic I've shown a while ago, albeit a bit more complete.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: arwan on May 06, 2017, 05:32:49 AM
is there a video out there of the neutrino detector in action somewhere. i would like to see how it works before i dedicate a point or more into that skill.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on May 06, 2017, 05:40:26 AM
is there a video out there of the neutrino detector in action somewhere. i would like to see how it works before i dedicate a point or more into that skill.

Not that I know of, but it's not that hard to understand. The basic principle is that it'll put a blue circle around your ship, and you'll see pings as jagged lines - almost like the "bleeps" on a heart monitor - pointing in the general direction of objects. The size and frequency of the "bleeps" or "pings" represents how large the object is.

If I'm honest, the usage is explained fairly well in the ability tooltip. It can be finnicky to use because it will give false readings sometimes (pings that don't actually point to anything), but I've found it fun to use for helping find stuff.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: arwan on May 06, 2017, 06:10:51 AM
and to me you did a better job explaining it than what i got in the in game tool tip by describing what it does better with the
Quote
...The basic principle is that it'll put a blue circle around your ship, and you'll see pings as jagged lines - almost like the "bleeps" on a heart monitor - pointing in the general direction of objects. The size and frequency of the "bleeps" or "pings" represents how large the object is.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on May 06, 2017, 06:14:19 AM
Have a tip: false reading always point the same way, so if you want to filter them out check in 2 locations if some spikes point the same way. Basically triangulation (I wish it would be implemented in game, though).
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on May 06, 2017, 03:45:32 PM
Have a tip: false reading always point the same way, so if you want to filter them out check in 2 locations if some spikes point the same way. Basically triangulation (I wish it would be implemented in game, though).

Furiously takes notes
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Allectus on May 13, 2017, 03:00:31 PM
3. I guess it's practice teaching you what not and what to do to avoid fights you can't win. I can't really answer that since I'm not playing on ironman, too many bugs as of now. :P

I always keep a backup fleet stored somewhere with a reserve of fuel, supplies, and crew.

If I'm playing nexerelin (in version 0.72, it has not been updated for 0.8 yet) I usually start with a mining fleet so that I can build income safely and use the proceeds from that to buy a two frigates and a combat freighter.  When I take that 3 ship group out for light bounties I leave the mining ships in storage.  If I'm successful in light bounty hunting I move up to a cruiser/destroyer with a few (new) frigates, while storing the light combat fleet. I then continue building in this way, leaving behind interim fleets in storage to regress back to in case something goes wrong.

Knowing when to retreat, and getting good at it, is also critical.

In 0.8, without nexerelin, your best bet is probably survey/salvage as a final fall back.  Either way, always have a back up plan that is fairly safe.  It takes a LOT longer to build up to an end game fleet since you generally end up leaving half of your ships behind at any given point, but even that slow build is much, much faster than restarting the game over and over again hoping that this time you'll be lucky enough to win 100% of your fights....
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: A.Winge on May 15, 2017, 11:05:26 AM
3. I guess it's practice teaching you what not and what to do to avoid fights you can't win. I can't really answer that since I'm not playing on ironman, too many bugs as of now. :P
In 0.8, without nexerelin, your best bet is probably survey/salvage as a final fall back.  Either way, always have a back up plan that is fairly safe.  It takes a LOT longer to build up to an end game fleet since you generally end up leaving half of your ships behind at any given point, but even that slow build is much, much faster than restarting the game over and over again hoping that this time you'll be lucky enough to win 100% of your fights....

I'm adding a clarification, as it took me a while to realize this:  any Market with Purchased Storage or Abandoned Station where you can store weapons, you can also store Ships.  Note the Store button is in the upper-right hand side of the Ship purchase menu, and the "Sell" button tooltip changes to "Store" when you have that selected.  Aside from truly awful clunkers (your definition will vary on what is aweful), it is probably better to play chipmunk and store your old ships rather than sell them.  The same goes for weapons, even common ones.

Edit:
This is also a good way to set aside high fuel-consumption ships if you are simply trying to make cash Surveying/Scavenging, and don't want to transition to a high-end fleet yet.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: First Offense on June 15, 2017, 11:40:32 AM
Is there any place to find out where your stored ships/materials are? I found a battlecruiser of some sort and a Mora, put them in storage since I was still poor at the time and couldn't afford the fuel/crew/supplies necessary, and now for the life of me can't remember where I put them. I figured if there isn't I'll probably just savescum and jump to each inhabited planet to find them if necessary, but an alternative would be nice.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on June 15, 2017, 12:16:17 PM
2 ways, both involve Console Commands mod (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=4106.0).
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: nathanebht on July 10, 2017, 05:37:50 PM
3. I guess it's practice teaching you what not and what to do to avoid fights you can't win. I can't really answer that since I'm not playing on ironman, too many bugs as of now. :P

I always keep a backup fleet stored somewhere with a reserve of fuel, supplies, and crew.

If I'm playing nexerelin (in version 0.72, it has not been updated for 0.8 yet) I usually start with a mining fleet so that I can build income safely and use the proceeds from that to buy a two frigates and a combat freighter.  When I take that 3 ship group out for light bounties I leave the mining ships in storage.  If I'm successful in light bounty hunting I move up to a cruiser/destroyer with a few (new) frigates, while storing the light combat fleet. I then continue building in this way, leaving behind interim fleets in storage to regress back to in case something goes wrong.

Knowing when to retreat, and getting good at it, is also critical.

In 0.8, without nexerelin, your best bet is probably survey/salvage as a final fall back.  Either way, always have a back up plan that is fairly safe.  It takes a LOT longer to build up to an end game fleet since you generally end up leaving half of your ships behind at any given point, but even that slow build is much, much faster than restarting the game over and over again hoping that this time you'll be lucky enough to win 100% of your fights....

I'm really having fun with nexerelin and several additional mods in Ironman mode. Already lost key expensive ships in close battles or when fleeing. I'd suggest a cheaper approach than what you described.

Retain any useful salvage ships with 1 or 2 of the less critical dmods. Drop them off at some convenient storage location that you have other reasons to visit. Also retain enough money on hand to bring those ships up to functioning. Never spend all of your cash on current activity. Keep an emergency fund. Also don't sell your salvaged weapons, store those too.

If the worst happens to your active fleet. Bring up enough from your salvaged to earn money via missions or surveys. Using dmod ships is very cost effective and storing excess ships and weapons is free or almost free.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Seth on August 11, 2017, 10:43:46 PM
Quick questions:
1. Is there a way to turn off save backup function?
2. How do I turn off minimap? (I believe Alex said how, but I forgot...)
3. Is there a way to start combat with max zoom out?

Upd:
Found out how to turn off radar, and I guess I can set max zoom in combat by changing this:
"minCombatZoom":0.5 to 2.0, but I won't be able to zoom in. No way to add default zoom value for this?

And save backup still bugs me, didn't found any way to shut it down. =/
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: MattD on October 18, 2017, 05:14:44 PM
Is there any way to increase the chance I'll be able to recover my defeated opponent's ships after combat? Are certain weapons more likely to result in disabled versus destroyed ships, and is there any way to increased the odds that a disabled ship will be recoverable?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on October 18, 2017, 09:52:42 PM
Is there any way to increase the chance I'll be able to recover my defeated opponent's ships after combat? Are certain weapons more likely to result in disabled versus destroyed ships, and is there any way to increased the odds that a disabled ship will be recoverable?

Via combat methods, there's no way to ensure a ship you kill will be salvageable. However, there are several character skills in the Industry tree that affect this very thing! I'm fuzzy on the names of each one, but there's definitely one that increases the recovery chance of hostile and friendly ships and weapons in post-combat.

Not sure if there are any ways other than that in-game, but if it's still not enough for you, I believe there is a setting in the game config that allows you to set the chance of ships being recoverable to whatever you want.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: MattD on October 22, 2017, 07:17:15 AM
Is there any way to increase the chance I'll be able to recover my defeated opponent's ships after combat? Are certain weapons more likely to result in disabled versus destroyed ships, and is there any way to increased the odds that a disabled ship will be recoverable?

Via combat methods, there's no way to ensure a ship you kill will be salvageable. However, there are several character skills in the Industry tree that affect this very thing! I'm fuzzy on the names of each one, but there's definitely one that increases the recovery chance of hostile and friendly ships and weapons in post-combat.

Not sure if there are any ways other than that in-game, but if it's still not enough for you, I believe there is a setting in the game config that allows you to set the chance of ships being recoverable to whatever you want.

Great, thank you! I do have that Industry skill--level 2 of Recovery Operations--but wasn't sure if it applied to disabled enemy ships, or just my own. And I had just had successive bounty fights against a Paragon, an Astral, and two Cathedral ships, with none recoverable. :'( So I was grumpy and wondering if I could be doing something more. But I've been happy with the vanilla power curve, so don't want to change settings. I'll just keep at it until I get lucky.

Cheers!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on October 22, 2017, 01:44:46 PM
No problem, happy to help.  ;)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Shuka on June 01, 2018, 10:12:13 AM
This is probably the wrong place to ask, but I tried googling this info and searching the forums and I can't figure it out.

I am having some trouble with kill fleets, I can beat them but its very difficult and I usually lose a couple few destroyers. Its gotten to the point where I just try to outrun them because it seems like no matter how many I kill, another is right around the corner.

Are they part of the base game or is it something introduced by a mod? Is there a way to disable them? Thanks for any info. Its a great challenge but it seems way too frequent.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Goumindong on June 01, 2018, 11:18:05 AM
Pretty sure they're introduced by a mod. Nexelerin i believe.

I don't see anything about Vengeance Fleets in the official patch notes but i do see stuff there. Vengeance Fleets should be relatively rare(If you kill them) because killing them doens't count to add to their spawning. But if you don't kill the fleet its still coming for you... unless it kills you i believe.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on June 01, 2018, 04:27:27 PM
"Vengeance Fleets" and "Kill Fleets" are a part of the Nexerelin mod. As you may have noticed, they start spawning when you're hostile enough to a faction. AFAIK they recently got their spawn rates nerfed, but can still be a tough opponent. If you aren't comfortable fighting them, then there's no shame in running away. They meant to punish you for making lots of enemies - perhaps try making some friends in the sector and using their fleets to back you up?

Otherwise, if you want to remove the mechanic entirely, I think you can go into Nexerelin's mod folder and find "exerelin_config.json", open it with something like Notepad, and set the "enableRevengeFleets" value to 0 (it defaults to 2):

Code
"enableRevengeFleets" = 2,  # 0 = disabled, 1 = only on hard mode, 2 = always (point generation halved on not-hard)

Hope this helps!

Spoiler
<-- Not an authority on editing config files, especially mod ones.
[close]
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Shuka on June 06, 2018, 10:34:21 AM
Thank you very much guys, vengeance fleets is definitely what it was.

And you were right about relations, I started with an SRA commission and they were constantly fighting with other factions till they had only 1 market (planet) left.

I started desperately capping every pirate and junk pirate port in an attempt to keep my faction alive, and every pirate market captured gave me +5 rep to their enemies, and lo and behold things quieted down when relations with everyone crept into "inhospitable."

I did disable the kill fleets though, they were coming one right after the other, at some point 2 were chasing me and I said frig this.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: kaeden_dourhand on June 14, 2018, 02:12:59 AM
Hi, I'm a new player, picked up this game to scatch my mount and blade itch. I was recommended to play vanilla first before diving into the mods. The question is, when should I switch to using mods?

I've done a lot of prospecting/surveying and returned to civilization with over a million credits in the bank, enough to buy the hegemony's prized battleship if I wanted to. What are some of the 'end game' activities you can pursue? Blow up one of those remnant battlestations? Is it possible to conquer other systems? I'm not bad at setting goals for myself (like in warband), but the game isn't really telling me what's possible to do out there. I'd like to give some of the late game stuff a shot before I switch to modded content.

Cheers!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TaLaR on June 14, 2018, 03:17:15 AM
Once you've beaten maxed out remnant battlestation, there are no other significant challenges vanilla can offer.
Conquering systems is something you can do in Nexelerin, not vanilla.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Spess Mahren on September 01, 2018, 04:12:20 PM
Does anyone know the details of the travel drive in combat mechanic? Sometimes my ship enters via a full travel drive, sometimes the drive suddenly cuts out, in others it never activates in the first place. I can't seem to piece it together on my own.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SafariJohn on September 01, 2018, 05:37:59 PM
There was a problem with ships colliding with asteroids while burning in, so now they cut their travel drive early if there is an obstacle. Also, the first wave of ships spawn farther forward than successive waves.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Spess Mahren on September 11, 2018, 04:14:58 PM
Is there any guides on how to pilot ships with broadsides and/or omni-shields? I just can't to seem to grasp how to do it while still being in control, right now I just end up flailing and relying entirely on auto fire. Advice would be nice if there isn't any kind of guide anywhere.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Wyvern on September 11, 2018, 04:46:47 PM
I just end up flailing and relying entirely on auto fire.
That sounds about right!  Generally speaking, there are two ways to go with omni shielded ships: put everything on autofire, or spend most of your time treating it as a front shield that you can, in an emergency, rotate to cover other directions (at which point, well, it's an emergency - the fact that you aren't getting useful weapons fire at the same time isn't relevant.)

I'll also note that, especially for larger ships, it's often faster to turn your shield off and then back on in a different direction than to wait for it to rotate.

For an example: the Aurora has a 180 omni shield.  If I don't have a front shield conversion installed, I generally play as if that were a 180 front shield, using the normal rotate-ship-to-point-at-cursor gameplay, and only adjusting shield angle in special cases.  Back when the wolf had an omni shield, I'd do the same, only adjusting it when there were salamanders incoming.

By contrast, ships like the Conquest, I tend to worry about navigation & shield positioning, and leave weapons control down to "what enemy ship do I have targeted" and "which weapon groups have I turned on or off".
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Megas on September 11, 2018, 05:15:09 PM
Piloting ships with omni shields can be tricky, maybe awkward if you do not use keyboard for movement (or if you have small hands), but it can be done with practice, and it works great if you can do it.  Such ships tend to strafe and rely on momentum to glide, not unlike playing and using trick moves in a classic FPS.  Probably as tricky as... punching out the cyberdemon in MAP32 in Doom2.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TaLaR on September 12, 2018, 12:01:34 AM
Is there any guides on how to pilot ships with broadsides and/or omni-shields? I just can't to seem to grasp how to do it while still being in control, right now I just end up flailing and relying entirely on auto fire. Advice would be nice if there isn't any kind of guide anywhere.

I pilot Conquest on QWEASD (QE to rotate, rest as usual) with weapons autofiring (at R-selected target) and use mouse to control shield. Since you can't put shields on auto (and I doubt I would want to if it was possible, AI keeps shield up too much) that's the only way to cover all necessities.

This obviously is sluggish and lacks precision, but good enough for a Capital. Broadside frigates (from mods) are pretty much unpilotable by definition.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Spess Mahren on September 17, 2018, 03:35:24 AM
Two questions, first I noticed on the battlescape its more or less a coin flip whether or not the information tab will give me full information on a enemy ship or will just show a blank stock ship, what determines getting detailed data? Secondly does a factions relations with other factions effect the imports and exports of their markets? Playing nex and was giving some holdings to the pathers so I can actually see pather fleets and I'm not sure if I can tell if a market is worth keeping or not from a stability perspective immediately.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: restore on December 18, 2018, 04:21:59 PM
This is probably somehow stupid question, but where should i find battleship class blueprints? I found that special legion carrier and got some other from combat, yet i would like to produce them as i cant buy them. Lets say i want that huge cargo ship from hegemony, should i raid their planets? What is generally best way to obtain these if, lets say, i dont want to make hegemony hostile - can these be taken even from faction that is not selling them?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on December 18, 2018, 09:05:58 PM
I believe you can do a "stealth" raid, by raiding a planet/market while your transponder is off - if I recall the blog post correctly, you still take a reputation hit (of course), but it doesn't make you instantly hostile to the faction. So that could be an option if you're looking to attack "friendly" factions.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Cosmitz on December 22, 2018, 07:02:50 AM
Is there any guides on how to pilot ships with broadsides and/or omni-shields? I just can't to seem to grasp how to do it while still being in control, right now I just end up flailing and relying entirely on auto fire. Advice would be nice if there isn't any kind of guide anywhere.

I have just gotten and set-up my Conquest in my 9.0 playthrough and i talk a bit about fitting it, flying it and how i manage weapons on it, and you see a bit of (to be fair, underwhelming) combat. But i'm hoping to get into bigger messes. :)

Core part is, ignore turn-to-mouse. The ship is so relatively slow to maneuver, especially with Heavy Armor, that you just don't get enough out of it, and also lose the ability to point the shield where you want (flick on/off, not turn, since it moves so slowly). Autofiring is most times recommended on a ship where you have to manage quite a few things such as this. Technically you may want strafing keyed up but eh, it falls under what you think you need.

 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_EBAc6XSf0&index=22&list=PLiXRuDp9kPDwfXfZtHhXgjT7LPJS3PvZ-)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: StarScum on May 20, 2019, 08:20:14 PM
Is there any way to detach a ship from your fleet and transfer cargo? I want to smuggle some high priced items in my Hound without the rest of the fleet weighing me down.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on May 20, 2019, 11:06:13 PM
You have to store the rest of your fleet at a market's Storage somewhere, leaving just the ships you want to fly around with. There's currently no way to "divide" your fleet aside from that.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: StarScum on May 21, 2019, 04:07:53 AM
It seems like a big oversight that you can't even do something so basic. Isn't this game close to being feature complete, its in .9.1. already.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on May 21, 2019, 06:17:02 AM
Dev isn't keen on allowing the player to control more than one fleet.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: StarScum on May 21, 2019, 06:32:11 AM
Dev isn't keen on allowing the player to control more than one fleet.
But you aren't controlling more than one fleet, you're breaking off part of your fleet to control while the rest just holds position. Your colony spawns patrols and trade caravans, doesn't it? Isn't that controlling more than one fleet?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: StarScum on May 25, 2019, 09:43:04 AM
When you have a colony that produces a certain good, will it prioritize supplying your other colonies industries with their goods to keep them running or export them no matter what?

Is there any strategic advantage to producing every resource possible from ore to spaceship hulls?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on May 25, 2019, 10:03:51 AM
When you have a colony that produces a certain good, will it prioritize supplying your other colonies industries with their goods to keep them running or export them no matter what?
It does both at the same time.
Is there any strategic advantage to producing every resource possible from ore to spaceship hulls?
Satisfying demands of your colonies gives you up to 50% upkeep reduction, at 100% in-faction supply.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: StarScum on May 25, 2019, 10:58:21 AM
When you have a colony that produces a certain good, will it prioritize supplying your other colonies industries with their goods to keep them running or export them no matter what?
It does both at the same time.
Is there any strategic advantage to producing every resource possible from ore to spaceship hulls?
Satisfying demands of your colonies gives you up to 50% upkeep reduction, at 100% in-faction supply.
Is there any transportation to take into account or will the resources from my fringe mining colony appear magically at my core world main colony?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on May 25, 2019, 12:51:37 PM
From your perspective, it's all done automatically. There will be trade fleets connecting those colonies and if something happens to them, those colonies will get temporary shortages and accessibility penalties.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: StarScum on May 26, 2019, 10:04:13 AM
I know the Operations Center doesn't work if your character isn't on the ship, but does it work if your flagship is not currently deployed on the battlefield?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on May 26, 2019, 10:32:44 PM
Is it possible to remove the (D) of a ship, through advanced refitting method? I'm using Nexerellin mod, if it helps (and add content)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Oblivion on May 26, 2019, 10:50:08 PM
Is it possible to remove the (D) of a ship, through advanced refitting method? I'm using Nexerellin mod, if it helps (and add content)


Not sure what you mean by “advanced refitting method” but (D) mods can be removed by clicking “Restore” at the bottom-left hand side of the screen. If you mean removing individual (D) mods however, there isn’t a way to do that.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on May 28, 2019, 05:33:28 AM
Ok, I saw the button! Wow it costs a lot!

How can I apply a ship loadout (I made) to another one? It starts to get old when you have 10+ ships of a given type.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gotcha! on May 28, 2019, 06:34:44 AM
Ok, I saw the button! Wow it costs a lot!

How can I apply a ship loadout (I made) to another one? It starts to get old when you have 10+ ships of a given type.
You go to the ship you outfitted, then click on Autofit. In that screen there are 4 variant slots.
Click on an empty one (or, if not available, remove an existing one and then click the empty spot).
Then click on the Current Variant.
Now you can go back to your other ship, open Autofit and select your own design.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Cosmitz on May 28, 2019, 08:16:17 AM
It costs a lot (more than base hull cost from shop) to offset the 'search' for a specific ship in shop in pristine condition, or the hassle of making it youself.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on May 28, 2019, 11:32:06 AM
Thanks for the template setup!

Is Nav Relay bonus limited to 10% I have deployed 8 Drone Tenders each having one, so in theory I should have received 16%. Now I understand it would be abusable if not capped.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Oblivion on May 28, 2019, 07:45:41 PM
Is Nav Relay bonus limited to 10% I have deployed 8 Drone Tenders each having one, so in theory I should have received 16%. Now I understand it would be abusable if not capped.


I believe there’s a skill in either the leadership or technology tree which increases the cap to either 15 or 20. But I'm pretty sure it’s in the leadership tree.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on May 28, 2019, 08:04:56 PM
Ok, although I'm not speaking of the bonus from taking the POI on the map, but from the mod you add on ships. Does it go to the same cap/ability?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Oblivion on May 29, 2019, 04:53:01 AM
Pretty sure it does.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on May 30, 2019, 10:52:26 AM
What would be the point of not using the black market in a pirate base?

Some systems don't have com relay. But they don't have 'stable orbit' (I don't recall the exact name) to place one either. Does it means they are stuck permanently here? i.e no market price you can check? This is a bit bothersome, game wise.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Oblivion on May 30, 2019, 08:15:03 PM
For me it’s pretty much a given to buy/sell from the black market. There's really no downside to doing it.


Can't remember if any of the vanilla hand crafted systems do this, but this does mean you'll never be able to check the prices.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on May 31, 2019, 01:27:27 PM
Is the saved game editable? Some of the systems (random generation) have no stable orbit for com relay and such and that's a bit of a bother, gameplay wise.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Avanitia on May 31, 2019, 01:32:55 PM
Is the saved game editable? Some of the systems (random generation) have no stable orbit for com relay and such and that's a bit of a bother, gameplay wise.

Download console commands and paste this into the console:

Spoiler
Code
runcode PlanetAPI star = ((StarSystemAPI) $loc).getStar(); if (star != null) { $loc.addCustomEntity(null, null, "stable_location", "neutral").setCircularOrbitPointingDown(star, VectorUtils.getAngle(star.getLocation(), $playerFleet.getLocation()), MathUtils.getDistance(star.getLocation(), $playerFleet.getLocation()), 180f); }
[close]

This spawns stable location where your fleet currently is.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on May 31, 2019, 10:33:48 PM
It works, that's awesome!

May I ask how I can rename a planet?
And add an abandoned station?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Avanitia on June 01, 2019, 09:26:14 AM
I'm actually not sure about the latter - I guess the same code works, but would have to replace the "stable_location" with station's ID? I didn't write that code though, so I don't really know.

As for renaming a planet - if it's just a planet in the system, you can change its name when you're making a colony on it.
When it's a colony already - left-click its name in colony management screen (the one you can see industries in, etc)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on June 01, 2019, 10:50:32 AM
Ok thanks... I'll try.

What's the purpose of a 'High Value Prisoner'. I can sell it for 5000 but I can't exchange it for some points of relation at my local starbase.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on June 01, 2019, 11:31:13 AM
POWs are a Nexerelin feature. You can ransom them for money, return them to a given faction to improve your standing with it or you can sell them as slaves to the less law-abiding factions.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on June 01, 2019, 10:39:34 PM
Oh ok, I guess I'll ask to ask into the dedicated thread. Because it is not clear to which faction he belongs and how to get relationship from him (and not money).

That's strange that there is ZERO information remaining on the map or anywhere once you find a Pirate or Luddic Path station in a system. Why is that? Are we supposed to take notes on a paper?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Goumindong on June 01, 2019, 11:00:54 PM
If you find a lirate base or luddic path base and do not destroy it it should show up on the information screen under luddic path or pirates respectively
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on June 02, 2019, 03:06:53 AM
I'll check, thanks.

I tried to add a terraforming station with the Consol Command but got a null pointer exception... Any idea?

runcode PlanetAPI star = ((StarSystemAPI) $loc).getStar(); if (star != null) { $loc.addCustomEntity(null, null, "asharu_platform", "neutral").setCircularOrbitPointingDown(star, VectorUtils.getAngle(star.getLocation(), $playerFleet.getLocation()), MathUtils.getDistance(star.getLocation(), $playerFleet.getLocation()), 180f); }
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on June 13, 2019, 09:39:46 PM
What is the usage of the 'Abandoned Spacedock', you can't interact with it?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on June 13, 2019, 10:48:08 PM
What is the usage of the 'Abandoned Spacedock', you can't interact with it?

Flavour and lore, first and foremost.

There are a few abandoned stations that have storage submarkets, but only three in the vanilla sector if I recall correctly can be used in this way (Asharu's Abandoned Terraforming Platform is the best example), while the rest, maybe half a dozen, have no interaction besides the dialogue screen. Mods may add a few more.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on June 16, 2019, 09:00:02 AM
If I settle a colony then lose it, what happens to ships in storage? Same question for fuel?
Thanks.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on June 16, 2019, 09:37:05 AM
Everything in storage of that colony is lost.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: vorpal+5 on June 16, 2019, 12:49:13 PM
Thanks.

I don't understand why the [Redacted] that we find stay dormant even when they are detecting my fleet (they turn blue what's more).
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Oblivion on June 16, 2019, 09:52:29 PM
I don't understand why the [Redacted] that we find stay dormant even when they are detecting my fleet (they turn blue what's more).


They don’t “turn” blue. It’s just because they get close enough that you can identify them.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Stormlock on July 22, 2019, 10:54:46 AM
Silly question: How to I delete intel from my map/log? It's getting cluttered with things like locations of class 2 planets I don't care about at all.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Seifer on July 24, 2019, 03:59:19 AM
Hello there  :)

So I've seen this part "Tips & Tricks" telling us the text would be smaller in higher resolution. I'm building a Zen 2 pc (my first build, so excited ^_^), and I wonder if I will be alright playing at 1440p ? If not I'll just downscale at 1600x900 I guess ^^ I'm very anxious about how much ram will be needed for all the mods I'll enable for the resolution I'll play on, as I've always been starving ram-wised on my laptop (6g ram, including 2g for Windows) and Vram too as I had a Nvidia GT630M with 1g Vram. Do you think going from 6g ram to 16g ram should be plenty ? Also going from GT630M 1g Vram to RX 5700XT 8 Vram is enough or should I go for the Radeon VII ? xD I'd really like to play the game with a nice resolution (I don't know what the sweetspot is), with enough ram and Vram for something like 25 factions + a lot of addon mods (Nexerelin, portrait pack, combat radar, etc). Also I'm upgrading from Intel i7-2670QM to Ryzen 7 3700X, so I guess it should be enough for all these mods. Would I be fine with this rig ? Also is the fps in the game locked at 60, and is there any gain having higher ? I wonder how much fps I would get with the rig (cpu and gpus at stock with 16g 3200Mhz CL14 ram). For science :P

Thanks in advance ! Have a good day o/
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Kayo on August 06, 2019, 03:20:14 PM
How do I build cytosanctums?

If I'm not supposed to be able to, is there a setting/mod to fix that?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SapphireSage on August 06, 2019, 07:38:58 PM
You can only find cryosanctums out on the fringes. You get the structure for your colony so long as you build a colony within the same system as the cryosanctum. IIRC, there are only 2 max in a given sector gen, but you can use dev mode to help locate them on the map easily. The names of systems with cryosanctums will be a unique color while in dev mode.

Alternatively, it may be possible to use Console Commands in combination with the "RunCode" command to make code that will spawn a cryosanctum on player location.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on August 06, 2019, 09:48:23 PM
Cryosanctum is a building unique to Nomios and you can't build it at all.
Cryosleeper is a different thing, of which indeed are only two in a given sector, but instead of creating a lot of harvested organs, it increases the population growth a lot.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Kayo on August 07, 2019, 11:00:23 AM
Cryosanctum is a building unique to Nomios and you can't build it at all.
Cryosleeper is a different thing, of which indeed are only two in a given sector, but instead of creating a lot of harvested organs, it increases the population growth a lot.

Do you know of a way to make it buildable? I know I can remove the "unboardable" tag on ships to make them obtainable, I was hoping there was something similar that applies to buildings that I wouldn't have much trouble with.

Side question, I heard of boarding quite frequently on this forum but I've never experienced this myself. Has this mechanic been removed?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Kayo on August 07, 2019, 11:16:55 AM
You can only find cryosanctums out on the fringes. You get the structure for your colony so long as you build a colony within the same system as the cryosanctum. IIRC, there are only 2 max in a given sector gen, but you can use dev mode to help locate them on the map easily. The names of systems with cryosanctums will be a unique color while in dev mode.

Alternatively, it may be possible to use Console Commands in combination with the "RunCode" command to make code that will spawn a cryosanctum on player location.

Do you know the command for it? :D
Also, if I console command spawn one for a planet in a system, will it still spawn more on other planets within that system too?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Agile on August 13, 2019, 12:45:44 PM
Cryosanctum is a building unique to Nomios and you can't build it at all.
Cryosleeper is a different thing, of which indeed are only two in a given sector, but instead of creating a lot of harvested organs, it increases the population growth a lot.

Do you know of a way to make it buildable? I know I can remove the "unboardable" tag on ships to make them obtainable, I was hoping there was something similar that applies to buildings that I wouldn't have much trouble with.

Side question, I heard of boarding quite frequently on this forum but I've never experienced this myself. Has this mechanic been removed?

In the current version, boarding is the act of taking ships after combat is over. Some ships are only disabled during combat, hence recoverable (albeit with some d-mods, which reduce effeciency, fuel, etc.)

In other versions, boarding let you use marines to board ships, but it was abused from what I heard, so it was removed in favor of recovering ships after battle.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Hank Hill on August 22, 2019, 08:28:31 PM
Hey hey people seth sent me. I was wondering if there was a way to increase the players fleet size cap. I was wanting to do a rediculous planet seige with like 50 frigates
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on August 22, 2019, 09:09:25 PM
The settings.json file in \Starsector\starsector-core\data\config\ will allow you to change the fleet cap
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Hank Hill on August 22, 2019, 09:37:15 PM
The settings.json file in \Starsector\starsector-core\data\config\ will allow you to change the fleet cap
[Quote/]
Is there any program i should use to read the file? Also im not sure the correct line to search. I don't see any info on this topic when i look arround lol
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Midnight Kitsune on August 22, 2019, 10:07:43 PM
Notepad can work. Or Notepad++.
The line in the document is "maxShipsInFleet":30,
Change that 30 to 50 and you are good to go
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Hank Hill on August 23, 2019, 01:40:24 AM
Thank you based god
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: MilitaryAaa on August 23, 2019, 07:52:20 PM
So I accepted a mission to find and scan a derelict ship in a system, is it supposed to be so god damn frustrating? I've been scanning everywhere top to bottom left to right for the thing for the past hour but absolutely nothing. All I'm being told it that it's "some" distance away from the center of the system. This is maddening.

EDIT: Nevermind. Found it.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Agile on August 24, 2019, 02:34:50 PM
So I accepted a mission to find and scan a derelict ship in a system, is it supposed to be so god damn frustrating? I've been scanning everywhere top to bottom left to right for the thing for the past hour but absolutely nothing. All I'm being told it that it's "some" distance away from the center of the system. This is maddening.

EDIT: Nevermind. Found it.

Go to the technology skill tab, invest at least 1 point into it, then invest 1 point into the Scanning tech skill.

This will give you Neutrino detector, which creates a bubble around you and then creates small "arrows" towards anything of interest thats big enough to be caught on sensors (this includes big objects like the star(s) in a system, planets, and of course, orbital habitats / pods / research stations).

This, as well as the tool tip that tells you the approximate location of a exploration item (survey ship / drone) will help you find what your looking for.

Hope that helped, despite you finding it, so you have a better chance finding the next one your looking for if you get another mission.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Kat on August 25, 2019, 03:07:48 AM
Something I found out yesterday, that I don't remember it being mentioned in the tutorials, is that in some battles, you can deploy some of your ships in different locations.

E.g. in a pursuit of a fleeing force, you can deploy frigate-sized ships on the left or right of the battle zone. Click on your frigate ships during deployment, and it will change from "deploy" to "deploy left" then "deploy right".

This should probably be made more obvious.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: GigaVivian on August 27, 2019, 02:15:20 AM
Heya half a newbie question, and half a personal problem with part of the game. So I found my 2nd colony, rather foolishly I now see in Hegemony claimed system. The planet was between 4-5 rank, recently lost by the Independents, I settled there first thinking the Hegemony wouldn't care that much but also because of the ABUNDANT farm land and many mining resources... however Hegemony of course went apeshit and wItHoUT deClaRing wAr set out to BOMB THE PLANET in saturation Bombing detachments. Since I was not completely foolish and had a competent fleet, I was able to defend it from like 3 over time seprate bombing attacks... Then a strong one came with 4 stars and it's looking like I'm gonna have to let it die.


Finally to the question, (with old but idk how old and annoying to go back to old saves); Is there any ways to save it, or majorly mitigate the losses? When I have not enough money to bribe them or enough good relationship (only got my 3rd colney less than a cycle/year after this 2nd one. and the Hegemony are only 17 favorable since I've been defending this whole time). By now seems like unless I strike back in full war, I was delaying the inevitable anyway

2nd, the problem...wHy iS thIS a ThINg that thE factions can just do!!!? Specifically I mean bombing your colonies without literally everyone else freaking out on them horribly, like they would for you ever Saturation Bombing, even pirate or Ludic path planets. Even Lore wise, how are the Hegemony "good bois" ok with destroying a planet of over thousands just because it's in the wrong place? All despite sortive liking and trading with the owner (my) faction??? Without Nexerelin it seems like none of the factions do this at all with eachother, right?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Agile on August 27, 2019, 06:10:34 AM
Heya half a newbie question, and half a personal problem with part of the game. So I found my 2nd colony, rather foolishly I now see in Hegemony claimed system. The planet was between 4-5 rank, recently lost by the Independents, I settled there first thinking the Hegemony wouldn't care that much but also because of the ABUNDANT farm land and many mining resources... however Hegemony of course went apeshit and wItHoUT deClaRing wAr set out to BOMB THE PLANET in saturation Bombing detachments. Since I was not completely foolish and had a competent fleet, I was able to defend it from like 3 over time seprate bombing attacks... Then a strong one came with 4 stars and it's looking like I'm gonna have to let it die.


Finally to the question, (with old but idk how old and annoying to go back to old saves); Is there any ways to save it, or majorly mitigate the losses? When I have not enough money to bribe them or enough good relationship (only got my 3rd colney less than a cycle/year after this 2nd one. and the Hegemony are only 17 favorable since I've been defending this whole time). By now seems like unless I strike back in full war, I was delaying the inevitable anyway

2nd, the problem...wHy iS thIS a ThINg that thE factions can just do!!!? Specifically I mean bombing your colonies without literally everyone else freaking out on them horribly, like they would for you ever Saturation Bombing, even pirate or Ludic path planets. Even Lore wise, how are the Hegemony "good bois" ok with destroying a planet of over thousands just because it's in the wrong place? All despite sortive liking and trading with the owner (my) faction??? Without Nexerelin it seems like none of the factions do this at all with eachother, right?

You can do two things.

One, abandon the colony RIGHT after killing off a raid. You can re-settle it later when you either have a better fleet, or can wipe out the Hegemony in the area and have enough cash to settle and pay for several military bases so that you can secure the system as your own.

Two, take a commission with the Hegemony. If your commissioned, you can colonize worlds in the same faction your commissioned with no problem.

The other thing you can do, which you probably can't do if your fleet is too weak to fight off hegemony saturation bomb fleets, is to go to Hegemony's military planets and disrupt / raid them if they have a orbital works. If they have a pristine nanoforge, raid them. This will take the forge from them, drastically dropping the quality of their ships. Disrupting their orbital / heavy industry completely means they will, at best, send *** Venture fleets at you which you SHOULD be able to kill off, and after the disruption ends, you should be making enough money to afford to invest into your colonies.

Hope that helps.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: GigaVivian on August 27, 2019, 02:49:06 PM

You can do two things.

One, abandon the colony RIGHT after killing off a raid. You can re-settle it later when you either have a better fleet, or can wipe out the Hegemony in the area and have enough cash to settle and pay for several military bases so that you can secure the system as your own.

Two, take a commission with the Hegemony. If your commissioned, you can colonize worlds in the same faction your commissioned with no problem.

The other thing you can do, which you probably can't do if your fleet is too weak to fight off hegemony saturation bomb fleets, is to go to Hegemony's military planets and disrupt / raid them if they have a orbital works. If they have a pristine nanoforge, raid them. This will take the forge from them, drastically dropping the quality of their ships. Disrupting their orbital / heavy industry completely means they will, at best, send *** Venture fleets at you which you SHOULD be able to kill off, and after the disruption ends, you should be making enough money to afford to invest into your colonies.

Hope that helps.
Hm yes that helped did help a bit, sounds like I'll have abandon it. There is a pretty good pay out since what I was doing was soft turtle with this colony, pretty much invested in industries and got back most of my monies worth from them before this final raid. I didn't invest into defenses (for this 2nd colony) in any way cause I thought I could keep fighting the overtime bomb fleets and that I had no (strong/relevant unlike prate and Ludic path) enemies yet.

Still have the 2nd problem/question of basically about why they can do that no problem in the first place. See original post for my full question on that.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: writeru on August 27, 2019, 08:12:20 PM
Hey guys, I'm having trouble at trying to use mods. They are not appearing on the launcher.

I did allocate more ram for the mods first. Then I downloaded some mods and extracted on the mods folders.

But as I mentioned, they don't appear on launcher.

Just for test reasons I deleted everything in the mods folders and extracted only lazylib,  it's like this now.

https://puu.sh/Eaqm1/ff045fc92f.png

you can see that there is no extra folder, it's my computer/HD/mods/modsname

What is happening?  I did delete the .rar archive after extracting it, so it's not on the mods folders.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on August 28, 2019, 12:35:53 AM
Normally the Starsector folder should be inside a folder called "Fractal Softworks", in your Programs folder. ??? Did you move the game files after installing? Not saying that's the reason mods aren't appearing in the launcher, but it might help narrow it down.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Agile on August 28, 2019, 08:15:03 AM

You can do two things.

One, abandon the colony RIGHT after killing off a raid. You can re-settle it later when you either have a better fleet, or can wipe out the Hegemony in the area and have enough cash to settle and pay for several military bases so that you can secure the system as your own.

Two, take a commission with the Hegemony. If your commissioned, you can colonize worlds in the same faction your commissioned with no problem.

The other thing you can do, which you probably can't do if your fleet is too weak to fight off hegemony saturation bomb fleets, is to go to Hegemony's military planets and disrupt / raid them if they have a orbital works. If they have a pristine nanoforge, raid them. This will take the forge from them, drastically dropping the quality of their ships. Disrupting their orbital / heavy industry completely means they will, at best, send *** Venture fleets at you which you SHOULD be able to kill off, and after the disruption ends, you should be making enough money to afford to invest into your colonies.

Hope that helps.
Hm yes that helped did help a bit, sounds like I'll have abandon it. There is a pretty good pay out since what I was doing was soft turtle with this colony, pretty much invested in industries and got back most of my monies worth from them before this final raid. I didn't invest into defenses (for this 2nd colony) in any way cause I thought I could keep fighting the overtime bomb fleets and that I had no (strong/relevant unlike prate and Ludic path) enemies yet.

Still have the 2nd problem/question of basically about why they can do that no problem in the first place. See original post for my full question on that.

Yeah its inconsistent, but my "lore" behind it is when you, the player, saturation bomb its like a start up colony deciding to nuke America. Its just seen as "wrong" because your this little weakling new to the galactic scene, and if you do it to one person, what stops you from doing it to others?

If you don't have a colony, even worse; your a upstart who is trying to destroy the status quo which unites the other factions against you.

TL;DR they have a bigger stick and more money then you so they hate you for trying to take them down a peg.

But yeah, personally, I understand your gripe; it makes no sense that they can sat bomb you but they don't do anything to the Independents, and sat bombing in general nets you HUGE debuffs but no debuffs for them.

Game logic is all I can say.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: writeru on August 28, 2019, 08:46:18 AM
Normally the Starsector folder should be inside a folder called "Fractal Softworks", in your Programs folder. ??? Did you move the game files after installing? Not saying that's the reason mods aren't appearing in the launcher, but it might help narrow it down.

I didn't move it. I installed it directly into my backup drive. Actually I think that was the problem, after trying some things I decided to unistall the game and install it again on my main drive and I managed to make the mods appear. So it looks like somehow installing the game in another place caused it?


But anyway, it's solved now. Thanks for the game, it's great!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: GigaVivian on August 29, 2019, 06:03:16 PM
Yeah its inconsistent, but my "lore" behind it is when you, the player, saturation bomb its like a start up colony deciding to nuke America. Its just seen as "wrong" because your this little weakling new to the galactic scene, and if you do it to one person, what stops you from doing it to others?

If you don't have a colony, even worse; your a upstart who is trying to destroy the status quo which unites the other factions against you.

TL;DR they have a bigger stick and more money then you so they hate you for trying to take them down a peg.

But yeah, personally, I understand your gripe; it makes no sense that they can sat bomb you but they don't do anything to the Independents, and sat bombing in general nets you HUGE debuffs but no debuffs for them.

Game logic is all I can say.

Ah thanks again, makes things seem a little better with that point but still a little of an unfair problem. Even gameplay-wise it's so the player can't pick out the best planets as soon as they become de-civilized naturally. As, if my colony was left to be, it was easily going to be one of the (single, not joint) best food producing planets in the sector, with almost no defences needed as the Hegemony were friendly big brothers to me. But nah unless you are actually part of their Family (commissioned by them); They will have NONE of the player starting a new colony in "their" system... Any other faction, even pirate planets in "our system" we will just give a hard time, but not BOMB their whole populated planet like we would to the player. DX

Also your TL;DR and the situation, makes the factions sound like a buncha Si-Fi Yakuza clans butting heads but only freaking out on the clanless new big-heads that poke their heads into their big-boy turf systems. XD

Hmhm but all horribly unfair stuff like this makes choosing to destroy them all to end a playthrough, all the more satisfying. >:D
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Irlbbbagt on September 08, 2019, 08:55:27 PM
This might be the wrong place to ask this but I'll give it a try.

I recently stumbled upon this game and it looks really cool.  However, I am a bit sensitive about my digital privacy and don't like software data mining, phoning home, tracking, etc.  I tried to find the EULA for Starsector but couldn't, so I figured I'd ask;

Are there any privacy concerns with Starsector?

Based on what I've seen I doubt it, but it's good to know for sure.  Thanks for the help!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on September 08, 2019, 11:39:47 PM
I tried to find the EULA for Starsector but couldn't, so I figured I'd ask;

Are there any privacy concerns with Starsector?

I'd be highly surprised. The only information the game gets from you (aside from whatever mods you install and changes you make to the config) is your access key when you first launch the game after installing it. It's a small development team and they're very highly respected by the community, in general.

Regardless, if it helps settle your thoughts, I'll upload the license file included in the game's core files for you to peruse. https://bitbucket.org/AxleMC131/starsector_modding/downloads/LICENSE.txt (https://bitbucket.org/AxleMC131/starsector_modding/downloads/LICENSE.txt)

Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Irlbbbagt on September 14, 2019, 01:11:57 PM

I'd be highly surprised. The only information the game gets from you (aside from whatever mods you install and changes you make to the config) is your access key when you first launch the game after installing it. It's a small development team and they're very highly respected by the community, in general.

Regardless, if it helps settle your thoughts, I'll upload the license file included in the game's core files for you to peruse. https://bitbucket.org/AxleMC131/starsector_modding/downloads/LICENSE.txt (https://bitbucket.org/AxleMC131/starsector_modding/downloads/LICENSE.txt)

Thanks for the answer and the eula!  I think I'll give the game a try.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: easytarget on September 17, 2019, 10:38:35 AM
Just picked up the game and plan to dive in tonight.

I know in advance I'll have a bunch of simple questions that have been asked countless times and would love to be steered to a sub-forum if one exists where noobs can ask and get answered the same obvious questions that have been asked before w/o cluttering up and annoying folks who've seen'em all before. ;)

And if this is that place just let me know.

Edit: Ok, well, don't mind me I'll just let myself out.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Agile on September 17, 2019, 06:02:32 PM
Just picked up the game and plan to dive in tonight.

I know in advance I'll have a bunch of simple questions that have been asked countless times and would love to be steered to a sub-forum if one exists where noobs can ask and get answered the same obvious questions that have been asked before w/o cluttering up and annoying folks who've seen'em all before. ;)

And if this is that place just let me know.

Edit: Ok, well, don't mind me I'll just let myself out.

This is basically it, but id steer you towards the Unofficial Discord.

It has a channel called #newcommer-academy and is used a lot (and tends to be answered really quickly) about general questions. The tutorial(s) and missions ingame should give you a head start, and ill also point you towards JDCollie's tutorials on youtube (they are pretty in depth and he has a new player lets play that shows a proof of concept of how to play the game from the very start) which can be located on his youtube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiEiC0lXiqcZYsBQC3ts0UA
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: easytarget on September 17, 2019, 09:05:04 PM
Thanks man!!  Appreciate it.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: neverpayingforthisgame on September 29, 2019, 09:38:23 AM
is there any *** way to know if a inhabited planet/station can trade before *** spendinbg all your fuel and supplies getting there only to it being a useless try tachion colony?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Agile on September 29, 2019, 09:46:06 AM
is there any *** way to know if a inhabited planet/station can trade before *** spendinbg all your fuel and supplies getting there only to it being a useless try tachion colony?

Umm.

You can check by looking up the star map and hovering over where you are heading; it will show you the color of the colonies, which blue being Tri Tachyon, orange being Hegemony, yellow being Persean League, etc. If thats not enough, you can hold left click and then open star map (I think thats what its called) and you can then hover of a colony and it will tell you what faction it is.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SlaveToArmok on October 09, 2019, 02:07:12 AM
Can someone explain to me how production/import/export actually work? I just checked my colonies and my main planet produces 10 ore, uses 8 in refining but the tooltip says it still exports 10 units of ore?
Also, what counts as "the highest local source of supply"?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Agile on October 09, 2019, 05:26:34 AM
Can someone explain to me how production/import/export actually work? I just checked my colonies and my main planet produces 10 ore, uses 8 in refining but the tooltip says it still exports 10 units of ore?
Also, what counts as "the highest local source of supply"?

The economy is simplified.

By that I mean instead of producing x goods then consuming x goods, your industries produce and DEMAND things instead. By that I mean if you produce 6 metals, and a industry demands 6 metals, you have satisfied the demand of the industry that needed 6 metal.

For example, patrol station needs 2 heavy armaments and your heavy industry makes 2 heavy armaments; this supplies the demand of the patrol station so it works at 100 percent, but the heavy industry can ALSO ship out that 2 heavy armaments because it meets the demand of the patrol station, not the consumption. Aka the items the heavy industry makes are not CONSUMED, they are DEMANDED.

This, theoretically, means if you have a planet that makes enough products in its industry to fulfill the demand of ALL INDUSTRIES of ALL your planets, you no longer need to import, which saves costs; which also ties into the "highest local source of supply"; aka the planet you own that gives the highest level of goods that supplies your demands. If you don't have a planet that supplies enough goods to meet the demands of another planet you own, you will instead import; which reduces profits.

JDCollie does an entire video on it that explains it better here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDnQ-ZiFyEk&t=1640s
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Klokinator on October 31, 2019, 09:59:20 AM
Simple question: I have a colony, and I've built a makeshift comm relay and nav buoy. However, I've seen upgraded versions of both in other sectors. How do I upgrade mine? Or is that impossible?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on October 31, 2019, 09:28:12 PM
Simple question: I have a colony, and I've built a makeshift comm relay and nav buoy. However, I've seen upgraded versions of both in other sectors. How do I upgrade mine? Or is that impossible?

It's not possible to upgrade structures, no. The Domain-Era structures you can find are (story-wise) leftover from the Domain exploration of the sector, and built using technologies that don't exist anymore... or something like that. Gameplay-wise, they're a cool thing to find, and make a system more desirable as a colony location since they're objectively better than the Makeshift structures you can build yourself.

The downside is that you can't change the type of structure without destroying it, so if you dismantle a Domain-Era Comm Relay because you'd rather have a Nav Buoy there instead, the Nav Buoy will be makeshift, and you can't re-instate the Domain-Era tech.

Check out the blog post on objectives (as well as pirate bases etc.) for the whole detailed explanation: http://fractalsoftworks.com/2018/06/12/pirate-bases-raids-and-objectives/ (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2018/06/12/pirate-bases-raids-and-objectives/)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Klokinator on November 01, 2019, 02:30:26 AM
I actually found a sector with habitable planets and all three types of domain era structures. Very cool, now I know to target that sector next for colonization.

Another question:

I placed a custom order with my colony to create some ships. I was under the impression that they would arrive in my colony's storage at the end of the month, but it's been several months after the order concluded and they aren't there. Am I missing something?

(https://i.imgur.com/uG4mRIK.png)

Like here, where will these 9 Wasp Wings go at the end of the month? Will they arrive in the storage of Klokkus Prime? (My best colony name, let's be honest)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Klokinator on November 01, 2019, 11:15:53 PM
I figured out the answer to my previous question. I didn't realize the newly built ship hulls had been added, since they didn't have any special designation and appeared broken at first glance.

New question.......... how do I tell what day/month it is ingame, and how long until my next income drop, end of the month colony costs, and so on? I have looked for but couldn't find an indicator for the ingame date anywhere.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Scorpixel on November 02, 2019, 01:03:18 AM
I figured out the answer to my previous question. I didn't realize the newly built ship hulls had been added, since they didn't have any special designation and appeared broken at first glance.

New question.......... how do I tell what day/month it is ingame, and how long until my next income drop, end of the month colony costs, and so on? I have looked for but couldn't find an indicator for the ingame date anywhere.

Isn't that always in the top left corner? The "date" with a progression bar, and "month" "day" just below? Also Cycle is the year, the game starting at cycle 206, the beginning of the cycle being the great collapse.

Income results arrive the first of each month.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Klokinator on November 02, 2019, 03:17:46 AM
How did I miss that? I play at 1440p, so I guess the tiny text makes this stuff hard to see lol. Thanks.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: 9001 on November 08, 2019, 01:28:56 AM
Can anyone recommend any other faction mods similar in quality level to Interstellar Imperium? 
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: flamin_shotgun on November 13, 2019, 11:39:45 AM
I find that I can't trade with pirates sometimes. The market data says that this pirate base, Umbra, is having a shortage and is willing to pay alot for these goods, but there is no trade goods option in the menu.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Histidine on November 14, 2019, 04:10:07 AM
I find that I can't trade with pirates sometimes. The market data says that this pirate base, Umbra, is having a shortage and is willing to pay alot for these goods, but there is no trade goods option in the menu.
What does the dialog text say? Generally if it's blocking you from trading, it's because it's a hostile faction and your transponder is on.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: shrek_luigi on January 04, 2020, 12:21:35 PM
if god loves us, why did he create cosmic lightening storm s to destroy all our space ships
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on January 04, 2020, 12:44:18 PM
if god loves us, why did he create cosmic lightening storm s to destroy all our space ships

... Are you referring to hyperspace storms?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Smartfolk on January 09, 2020, 07:56:53 AM
Made a newbie economy guide check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgN7MjXARfg
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: NoMoTalk on January 09, 2020, 08:36:40 PM
I just started this game with a mode. I press wsad & the ship doesn't move. WTH do I need to do? Is there something I'm missing? Like do you have to start the engines or something?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on January 09, 2020, 10:19:48 PM
I just started this game with a mode. I press wsad & the ship doesn't move. WTH do I need to do? Is there something I'm missing? Like do you have to start the engines or something?

What mod? (I'm assuming by "mode" you meant "mod")

What kind of scenario were you in where you were flying the ship? Was it a single mission, one of the tutorials, or in the campaign?



Hindsight auto-debug: If you just started a new campaign game (and you skipped the campaign tutorial because otherwise you would know this), the game starts in the CAMPAIGN view, as opposed to the COMBAT view which is where you control a single ship with W-A-S-D. In the campaign view though, you move your whole fleet by clicking on a point in space with the left mouse button.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Rasip on January 13, 2020, 02:55:16 PM
I just started this game with a mode. I press wsad & the ship doesn't move. WTH do I need to do? Is there something I'm missing? Like do you have to start the engines or something?

Click where you want to move in the regular map. WASD is used to control your ship in combat. Right clicking on the map sets a waypoint your ships will fly to.

Do the tutorial...
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: addzz120 on January 24, 2020, 08:41:35 AM
I'm amazed any of you guys got this game to work. Full screen resolution issues, when finally a workaround it done, i do the very early mission of "salvage atleast 2 ships", upon immediately salvaging them "you're out of the 300 supplies you just had in your hold 15 seconds ago", "warning no supples" "warning" "scuttle ships" warning.....
gets to station....no supplies. Game ends.

0/10 would not do again.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on January 24, 2020, 11:45:02 AM
I'm amazed any of you guys got this game to work. Full screen resolution issues, when finally a workaround it done, i do the very early mission of "salvage atleast 2 ships", upon immediately salvaging them "you're out of the 300 supplies you just had in your hold 15 seconds ago", "warning no supples" "warning" "scuttle ships" warning.....
gets to station....no supplies. Game ends.

0/10 would not do again.

... Are you asking for help? I was under the impression you had no desire to further play this game. If you're looking for advice then I admire your dedication, and we'll be happy to walk you through what's bothering you! (If that's not the case, I must ask that you refrain from inserting a complaint you aren't expecting a response to into a thread that exists for helping new players get started.)

I'd very much like to know more about your early campaign play, I've never had any difficulty with the beginning of the campaign tutorial missions, and while I've seen a few other people saying that had problems, they've never been on the scale you're talking about. If you ARE asking for help, would you be able to explain in detail where your problems with the missions started?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: addzz120 on January 25, 2020, 06:15:55 AM
This was before, having read this thread i find it utterly baffling how people get the game to work.
I had a few more attempts before it was refunded and the above is what happened. The tutorial mission asked me to salvage atleast two ships...i do. I even hired extra crew like it said. Then all my supplies were gone and the ships started getting damaged and it told me to scuttle them. Why on earth would anyone put a tutorial in place like that is beyond me.

After that i decided to just play a full game.

"go here and kill this guy for a bounty" Ok this MUST be easy, the game mode is on easy, fly for 10 seconds....pirates,no problem...killed them.
Fly again....pirates, again no problem.
Then I just jump into the system where the target is and get a massive pirate fleet come after me.....flee fails. Forced to fight 3 powerful ships my own ships retreat and i get blasted to hell.
This....this is easy mode?

I couldn't ask for help because the game is fundamentally broken. If i can't flee, and i have to fight, please enlighten me. HOW CAN I POSSIBLE DO ANYTHING WHEN MY OWN FLEET RUNS OFF.

I really did spend 4 hours (after 2 hours of screen res fixing) before the refund so you can't know me for trying. I'm simply staggered at how I'm meant to play against overwhelming odds.
I#ve probably annoyed you so I'll leave it at that. Having said that though, my brother had a go too and encountered the same issues. Constantly dying and fleets i cannot possible hope to deal with.
Also when going after the bounty the waypoint disappeared so i could no longer persue? That with the game not saving at the same point just makes it totally unworkable.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Rasip on January 25, 2020, 12:21:46 PM
A, if you don't have enough people or enough cargo space you burn through supplies much faster.

B, bounties tell you what you will be fighting and the game assumes you paid attention in the tutorial so you will know you can't take on a much larger fleet of bigger ships.

C, easy mode increases the damage your ships do and reduces the damage they take.

D, the game supports most common resolutions, if you have a weird screen with a nonstandard resolution that is on you not the dev.

E, bounties have a time limit. If you are too slow that is on you. Most give you 120 days.

F, bounty hunting requires you to have a decent fleet of ships in good condition. If you are taking tiny fleets of busted up ships with garbage weapons against pirates that is your mistake.

Stop by the bars at the stations/planets. You can often get cargo carrying jobs that provide the cargo and pay you 20-50k once you have a couple freighters you can make 120k or more off a single run.

Do exploration/salvaging missions to make money and get better weapons or even advanced ships if you are lucky.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on January 25, 2020, 02:09:17 PM
Well I'm very sorry to hear about the issues you're having. However it's quite uncalled for to say "I don't know how anyone can play this," because believe me, you're the first person I'm hearing about having issues this severe and this game has a pretty big playerbase at the moment. The game is not "fundamentally broken", sorry to say it.

There's not much I can add onto what Rasip has said above. As far as your newly-salvaged ships immediately consuming all your supplies, that shouldn't happen if you picked up all the supplies provided to you at the station as well as the extra crew, even if you were making field repairs on the way back. Bounty missions give you intel on the biggest contents of the target fleet, so you don't go rushing into death, and bounty fleets can be taken out by other AI fleets if you take too long to reach them. Easy mode is merely a damage taken decrease and damage dealt increase for friendly ships, no other major mechanical changes.

It is worth noting that Starsector is not a particularly easy game, and it isn't for everyone. It's always disheartening to hear about someone finding it unplayable, but that's just the way things are - you can't please everyone in the world. Hey, look on the bright side, you still get a commendation for trying and your feedback is still useful! And you never know, maybe one day when the game is finished you might come back to it and find it playable.

All the best for your future gaming endeavours. ;)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Naz on February 09, 2020, 05:52:11 AM
Sometimes when i use phase skimmer on my Wolf i explode instantly. Why is that happening?
I am not bumping into any ships. Maybe its some rockets/projectiles, but starter pirates cant 1shot a wolf in tutorial. Maybe its collision with drones or fighters?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SafariJohn on February 09, 2020, 07:35:50 AM
I would guess you are skimming into Harpoon missiles. And/or you are already low on hull since it takes 2-3 Harpoons to kill a Wolf.

You can't collide with drones/fighters unless they are dead or their engines are out.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: StarScum on February 09, 2020, 06:19:11 PM
When you're at the point you find 3 Phaeton's don't quite cut it for fuel, should you just get more or invest in a Prometheus? I'm using Grand Sector and getting two the end of the sector and back is quite a challenge...
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on February 10, 2020, 09:06:18 PM
Sometimes when i use phase skimmer on my Wolf i explode instantly. Why is that happening?
I am not bumping into any ships. Maybe its some rockets/projectiles, but starter pirates cant 1shot a wolf in tutorial. Maybe its collision with drones or fighters?

I would guess you are skimming into Harpoon missiles. And/or you are already low on hull since it takes 2-3 Harpoons to kill a Wolf.

^ I concur with that possibility. Watch out for errant missiles before you jump.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Naz on February 12, 2020, 03:03:35 AM
Yea, it must be rockets. Thanks, lads
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: StarScum on February 14, 2020, 11:42:58 PM
Is there any benefit to having a planet contain a complete production chain? for example, would you get a bonus if you had a planet have mining, refining and heavy industry? What about a production chain in a sector?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: easytarget on February 15, 2020, 09:06:50 AM
Time for complete noob question.

Played the hell out of this, and just noticed I'm on .9 and the game is now on .91a.

How do I update to latest version?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on February 15, 2020, 11:50:11 AM
Time for complete noob question.

Played the hell out of this, and just noticed I'm on .9 and the game is now on .91a.

How do I update to latest version?

Complete reinstall. Starsector's game folder has an Uninstaller program in it, run that and then download the game afresh from the website. The uninstaller by default preserves your user data, so it won't delete saves, mods or screenshots, but if you're paranoid then feel free to back them up anyway (I usually do).

Important note: If you are using mods, MAKE SURE YOU UPDATE THOSE TOO. Despite the jump from 0.9 to 0.9.1 being pretty minor, there are still factors that can make mods of conflicting versions not work, or at least behave badly, so it's best practise to update. Keep an eye out for mod updates that will break saves.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: easytarget on February 16, 2020, 02:47:08 PM
Thanks for the quick response, updating now!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Jaiden on February 22, 2020, 02:09:18 PM
How do you evac your flagship from combat if you're controlling it? I had to retreat from a larger force after damaging it significantly and barely got out with less than 5-10% hull remaining after setting the flagship to autopilot and praying as I watch it slowly evac
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Thaago on February 22, 2020, 03:16:51 PM
If you fly to the bottom of the map (in a normal battle) and turn to face near downwards, a glowing 'press enter to retreat' (or something like that) appears on the screen. When it does, press enter and your ship will burn out.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Jaiden on February 23, 2020, 01:46:59 AM
turn to face near downwards, a glowing 'press enter to retreat' (or something like that) appears on the screen. When it does, press enter and your ship will burn out.

Weird, I didn't see anything like that, but then again I was panicking as I was the last one out vs 6 ships, so I probably missed it. I play at 4k as well so until ui scaling is in the notification was probably small.

Thanks, I'll test it out against some weaker pirates

Edit: Found it, it's above the main hud at the bottom left.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Astran on February 29, 2020, 06:37:33 AM
Hi there, just bought the game and I'm really excited to try it out but before starting a new game I would like to know if there are any mods you guys would recommend to new players.

Other than that ty for the guide.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: pand on February 29, 2020, 06:55:42 AM
Hi,
I'm on Ubuntu 14 with Unity. When running the game in max resolution, it's fine. When running it in any smaller resolution, 1280x800 or 1280x720 (I've edited "resolutionOverride" thanks to some 9 year old post :) ), I see my system menu and title bar/system bar on the front. What can I do to fix this?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Grievous69 on February 29, 2020, 06:56:49 AM
Hi there, just bought the game and I'm really excited to try it out but before starting a new game I would like to know if there are any mods you guys would recommend to new players.

Other than that ty for the guide.
Personally I'd recommend just playing the vanilla game for the first playthrough since there's a lot to take in. There are some QoL mods that people seem to suggest to new players but honestly you will know what you need after playing for a while.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: sogriffin on February 29, 2020, 11:50:36 AM
I'm a newbie as well and I agree with Grievous69, just play vanilla for a while, this game can be brutal.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on February 29, 2020, 01:23:29 PM
Yup, 100% agree: first time players should always start with pure vanilla. Mods in SS tend to change major aspects, and can often make the game much harder. Starsector is a pretty hard game already, you really want to try it with vanilla first to make sure it's for you. And it's not a game like Skyrim where you NEED mods to make it good - this game ain't even out of development and it's already epic.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TaylorItaly on March 01, 2020, 03:43:01 PM
So i build a Intelligence Command Centre.

Sometimes these give me an hint to an hidden base ; is there a chart or message-screen , where i can read about those
given hints ?

Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on March 01, 2020, 09:05:06 PM
So i build a Intelligence Command Centre.

Sometimes these give me an hint to an hidden base ; is there a chart or message-screen , where i can read about those
given hints ?

This is a feature of the SCY Nation mod, you'd be better asking in that mod's thread.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TaylorItaly on March 02, 2020, 03:51:55 AM
Oh , sorry . :o
Thanx for the reply! ;)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: yyptcw on March 15, 2020, 06:52:18 AM
Great thread. Thanks.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: killtime101 on March 15, 2020, 03:50:20 PM
I have a question more or less about game versions, does it auto detect for updates, or will I have to uninstall and reinstall it to update the game?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: pedro1_1 on March 15, 2020, 06:17:37 PM
I have a question more or less about game versions, does it auto detect for updates, or will I have to uninstall and reinstall it to update the game?

the game does not auto-detect for new versions, and you will need to create a new save for a version update, since there are changes that break saves from one version to another
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: unobtrusiveSpacefarer on March 19, 2020, 06:06:02 AM
Hi everyone.

Been playing for a bit. Got a few colonies setup.

Am constantly getting targeted by pirates. Literally. A raid will barely have been beaten back when another one comes up.
Destroying a base gets me a few days of peace, then another one will get set up, usually in the same f*ing system, and I'm back to square 1.

What do?

Will the pirates ever stop coming? Do I need to get my standing with them up from -100? Are there mods that put a finite cap on the amount of pirates in the universe?

Thanks everyone.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: GigaVivian on April 10, 2020, 10:50:11 PM
Hi everyone.

Been playing for a bit. Got a few colonies setup.

Am constantly getting targeted by pirates. Literally. A raid will barely have been beaten back when another one comes up.
Destroying a base gets me a few days of peace, then another one will get set up, usually in the same f*ing system, and I'm back to square 1.

What do?

Will the pirates ever stop coming? Do I need to get my standing with them up from -100? Are there mods that put a finite cap on the amount of pirates in the universe?

Thanks everyone.
The only ways to really stop a faction from attacking you is to ally them (which can take a long time, even longer if you are not playing a Nexerelin mod game) or... completely genocide them from the sector! By destroying all their known planets, then hunting down the last of their bases >NOT recommended< as bombing planets will just make the other, even bigger factions hate you, regardless of who you are bombing.

3rd is easiest but takes some preparation, just improve the colney defenses until pirates are too weak to do anything to your colonies. Then you don't really have to care about them. Best to have a nice big fleet of your own before starting colonies, then protecting them personally until they can defend themselves. (you don't have to guard the system(s) constantly, just get back when the raids count down) Lastly when you finally do have those defenses but attract bigger enemies, lure them around the map until your patrols dog pile them, then you go in last. If you go in before the patrols do, they just can't enter the fight at all, as the outside game does not keep running as a battle is going.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: GigaVivian on April 10, 2020, 10:56:37 PM
I've got my own problem to ask too. Some of my fighters are not engaging the enemy even when I switch from Regroup to Engage with Z. It's weird as half of my fighters do, the Intercepter wing, but my Support wing stays by my ship, despite their Engagement/Support range being the same. Is it because of their role? Even the AI/autopilot can't make them attack.

Edit: Answered my own question by changing their roles and tag in their wing_data.csv from Support to fighter, now they are attacking, problem solved.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on April 11, 2020, 01:37:04 AM
I've got my own problem to ask too. Some of my fighters are not engaging the enemy even when I switch from Regroup to Engage with Z. It's weird as half of my fighters do, the Intercepter wing, but my Support wing stays by my ship, despite their Engagement/Support range being the same. Is it because of their role? Even the AI/autopilot can't make them attack.

Edit: Answered my own question by changing their roles and tag in their wing_data.csv from Support to fighter, now they are attacking, problem solved.

That's, ah, not a problem with the game, that's how Support fighters work. You may wish to change that back. (It's the AI tag, the thing in caps, that affects it.)

Support fighters are designed to stay near allied vessels and provide fire support from a distance. They aren't intended to venture forwards on their own and attack of their own volition. Note that you can target friendly ships and order your fighters to Engage, and support fighters will go and escort the ally.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: ChewySTL on April 27, 2020, 11:30:57 AM
I recently discovered and purchased Starsector for my MacBook Pro. I just wanted to drop a thank you to the developers and for this thread for helping newbies to the game like myself. This game is an awesome tactical starship sandbox game that runs flawless and requires very little hardware resources to play. If I had one request, it would be to hopefully see it ported to the iPad in the future. If I could play it on my iPad I'd probably never put it down or get any work done. Great game and a great community.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: ISS Rubber Ducky on May 02, 2020, 01:44:49 AM
I was wondering if the game scales the fleets of factions, pirates and bounties. 
Spoiler
Do they get bigger as your fleet gets bigger?  Do they get better ships as you get better ships? Is it based on time, or your level? Does it have nothing to do with you at all? I was doing the pirate bounties and I picked up one of those Legion ships as salvage in a system (not a prize of war) and not long after the personal bounties are all 200k+ with much larger fleets than me and multiple capital ships.  I'd just like some idea why it's happening because I can't really make money doing combat now and would like to go back to the fairly even fights that (for me) are win some lose some instead of being 4 and 5 stars that lock me out of bounty hunting.   
[close]
If it's time based or something I guess I need to get faster on my next run because I'm hemorrhaging money at this point.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on May 02, 2020, 01:51:43 AM
Bounties scale based on how many of them you complete and slightly on how much time passed. The scaling is fairly wonky at the moment. You can try living off system bounties for some time (pirate raids can get huge) or go after pirate bases that go for below 200k credits (those are fairly easy to deal with).
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: dead_hand on May 02, 2020, 12:11:18 PM
Bounties scale based on how many of them you complete and slightly on how much time passed. The scaling is fairly wonky at the moment. You can try living off system bounties for some time (pirate raids can get huge) or go after pirate bases that go for below 200k credits (those are fairly easy to deal with).

+1 to this. Watch the intel screen carefully. Sometimes pirates antagonize systems inhabited by multiple factions and it can happen that they both post a bounty in the same system. You get paid 2x :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gordon_Freeman00 on May 10, 2020, 01:17:15 AM
Hey. Sorry to ask in this thread. Will tell you please. Previously, the game had a mod that added a faction of parasites. They captured ships and changed them. They did not have shields, but had powerful armor and acid weapons. Is there a similar mod now?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Mondaymonkey on May 10, 2020, 01:22:05 AM
Quote
They captured ships and changed them. They did not have shields, but had powerful armor and acid weapons.

Smells like a Space Pirates and Zombies game.

Are you sure it was a SS?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Gordon_Freeman00 on May 10, 2020, 01:46:08 AM
Quote
They captured ships and changed them. They did not have shields, but had powerful armor and acid weapons.

Smells like a Space Pirates and Zombies game.

Are you sure it was a SS?
Yes, it was an early version of the game. Then it was one star system. But that fraction was interesting.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Havoc on May 23, 2020, 03:46:10 AM
hi, are there more skills than missile specialization working with missiles?

Advanced Countermeasures?
Target Analysis?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on May 23, 2020, 10:00:59 AM
No, it's just Missile Specialisation. However, all weapon buffs from skills (except for weapon range) apply to missiles even if you don't take Missile Specialisation.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Havoc on June 01, 2020, 01:37:47 AM
thx
is +dmg to shields also working with sabots?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Mondaymonkey on June 01, 2020, 02:12:00 AM
Can not be sure, but i think they are. However, difference is not too hight.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on June 01, 2020, 05:16:17 AM
If a skill doesn't specify which weapon it affects, it affects all weapons, including missiles.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Burvjradzite on June 23, 2020, 10:41:57 PM
Hello. Is this thing on? Ok.
So I've heard from several posts that ships can have not only aggressive type depend on officers or orders, but also a size kind of ai? Is it true that frigate with, say, same stats of destroyer, will act differently? I do a quick search in config and ship data in the game directory and didn't find any frigate_ai or destroyer_ai. I ask because I want to change destroyer ai to frigate ai to shrike and see how will it behave.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on June 23, 2020, 11:06:04 PM
Hello. Is this thing on? Ok.
So I've heard from several posts that ships can have not only aggressive type depend on officers or orders, but also a size kind of ai? Is it true that frigate with, say, same stats of destroyer, will act differently? I do a quick search in config and ship data in the game directory and didn't find any frigate_ai or destroyer_ai. I ask because I want to change destroyer ai to frigate ai to shrike and see how will it behave.

1) I don't believe this is a thing, though I could be wrong. Ship AI is highly complicated and affected by lots of fundamental features, but I have never heard anywhere that the hullsize of a ship affects its AI in anyway. The one exception for this is fighters ("FIGHTER" being its own hullsize), which have a unique AI - or, well, several AIs depending on the type of fighter - for their flight and attack patterns. Regular warships though, I don't think hullsize directly affects AI.

2) This isn't really a fitting question for this thread. It's certainly not a newbie question. You'd be better off asking this in the Modding (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?board=3.0) category, as far as "what happens when I modify X vanilla files".*



*By the way, I strongly do NOT recommend modifying vanilla files unless you know exactly what you're doing, and certainly not in this way. Whether hullsize affects AI usage of a ship or not, it certainly affects other factors - first and foremost the cost and availability of hullmods, which will heavily affect the balance of a ship like the Shrike. If you are having trouble with a Shrike not being aggressive enough (and putting an Aggressive or Reckless officer on board isn't cutting it), then you either need to adjust the weapons it's carrying - which also affects AI - or give it some "Eliminate" orders in combat.

(Honestly I'm surprised to hear someone having this issue, since most of what I hear about the Shrike from people is that it's already TOO aggressive and dies way too easily by overextending. ??? )
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on June 23, 2020, 11:46:38 PM
AI is general purpose, the same for all ships in the game (save for fighters, as Axle explained).
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Burvjradzite on June 24, 2020, 11:51:11 AM
Hello. Is this thing on? Ok.
So I've heard from several posts that ships can have not only aggressive type depend on officers or orders, but also a size kind of ai? Is it true that frigate with, say, same stats of destroyer, will act differently? I do a quick search in config and ship data in the game directory and didn't find any frigate_ai or destroyer_ai. I ask because I want to change destroyer ai to frigate ai to shrike and see how will it behave.

1) I don't believe this is a thing, though I could be wrong. Ship AI is highly complicated and affected by lots of fundamental features, but I have never heard anywhere that the hullsize of a ship affects its AI in anyway. The one exception for this is fighters ("FIGHTER" being its own hullsize), which have a unique AI - or, well, several AIs depending on the type of fighter - for their flight and attack patterns. Regular warships though, I don't think hullsize directly affects AI.

2) This isn't really a fitting question for this thread. It's certainly not a newbie question. You'd be better off asking this in the Modding (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?board=3.0) category, as far as "what happens when I modify X vanilla files".*



*By the way, I strongly do NOT recommend modifying vanilla files unless you know exactly what you're doing, and certainly not in this way. Whether hullsize affects AI usage of a ship or not, it certainly affects other factors - first and foremost the cost and availability of hullmods, which will heavily affect the balance of a ship like the Shrike. If you are having trouble with a Shrike not being aggressive enough (and putting an Aggressive or Reckless officer on board isn't cutting it), then you either need to adjust the weapons it's carrying - which also affects AI - or give it some "Eliminate" orders in combat.

(Honestly I'm surprised to hear someone having this issue, since most of what I hear about the Shrike from people is that it's already TOO aggressive and dies way too easily by overextending. ??? )
I have three shrikes steady, aggressive and reckless - all for science purposes. Steady one stays afk, reckless is never put down shields and get killed for that reason. Aggressive is ok. I noticed frigates a lot more often lower-up-lower-up their shields
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AxleMC131 on June 24, 2020, 11:05:08 PM
I noticed frigates a lot more often lower-up-lower-up their shields

That's likely due to having lower flux stats in general, or being inherently more mobile and able to back off more easily - the AI very much likes to drop shields when it feels safe, and since frigates tend to be very "back and forth" in their combat movements, the AI therefore gets a lot of alternating states between safe and unsafe.

If you were to take the Shrike and give it a system like Manoeuvring Jets - which lets it move BACKWARDS or even sideways, instead of just forwards as with Plasma Burn - I would theorize that it will behave more like a frigate as described above, moving in and out of a fight more frequently.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: nanohard on July 19, 2020, 01:00:16 PM
The info in the original post is outdated. It's seven years later. I just bought this game and as far as I can tell (may be wrong) the last update was about one year ago. Is the game abandoned? After seven years it's still in alpha. This info would be useful on the original post as an edit, if that's possible to do. Just my two cents with a question attached.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SafariJohn on July 19, 2020, 01:41:13 PM
You are right, the OP is way outdated. The last game version was a year ago because Alex is the only developer. If you look at the forum boards, particularly Bug Reports & Support, you will see there is a lot of activity and development is still in full swing.

I expect the next update (0.9.5) will be in about 6-9 months. You can see some cool stuff that it will include on the blog https://fractalsoftworks.com/blog/ and Alex's twitter https://twitter.com/amosolov

There's also lots of cool mods to explore once you've figured out vanilla.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on July 20, 2020, 05:53:53 AM
Considering how long Alex has been developing it, the next update is going to be closer to 0.10 than 0.9.5.
Updates take long, because Alex is just one guy and he's perfectionist(ish).
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: montaropdf on July 22, 2020, 05:14:54 AM
Hello,

Could anybody help with starting a career of explorator, I just don want to be that famous bounty hunter or this mercenary working for the hegemony?

I encounter difficulties to catch the mechanic of the game with the exploration missions, especially with regards to supplies and fuels.

How to start the game? Should I go straight away with exploration or should I blast every single pirate in sight for some bucks and loot, during a game year or 2?

Maybe more generic questions:
- should I salvage every single ship I can?
- should I grow indefinitely my fleet, I suppose the answer is no, but finding the right mix is not easy, and maybe, there is to much information to gather :(.

Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Mondaymonkey on July 22, 2020, 08:31:37 AM
Hello,

Could anybody help with starting a career of explorator, I just don want to be that famous bounty hunter or this mercenary working for the hegemony?

I encounter difficulties to catch the mechanic of the game with the exploration missions, especially with regards to supplies and fuels.

How to start the game? Should I go straight away with exploration or should I blast every single pirate in sight for some bucks and loot, during a game year or 2?

Maybe more generic questions:
- should I salvage every single ship I can?
- should I grow indefinitely my fleet, I suppose the answer is no, but finding the right mix is not easy, and maybe, there is to much information to gather :(.

1. You can pick any starting option. Will not change everything.
2. First thing to do - buy a Drum and fuel it. You should have enough cash for this. And go explore your first mission.
3. More than a half of your fleet is always logistic ships (tankers, freighters, salvage rigs, etc).
4. Use few combat ships. One capital or two cruisers - is your ceiling. Add a bunch of effective frigates and destroyers - and that it, you can not feed more. Make your ships as effective as you can. Some combat ships are more useful, than other: Apogee is a flying sensor array, just as Omen, Venture is cheap tanky option, Shepard is cheap and boost your exploring potential, but obsolete fast. Some ships are just very good, so you can counter much larger fleets with few your ships: Tempest, Sunder, Hammerhead, Eagle, Falcon. Use minimum of fighters or use unmanned fighter wings, as you unable to replace crew casualties in deep space away of core.
5. Always have decent cargo/fuel capacity. Use hullmods to your ships to increase this. (if ship is civilian - together with "militarized subsystems" to remove penalty).
6. Have a "salvaging" skill lvl3. Mandatory. Also you better have two salvage rigs in your fleet and 150-250 heavy machinery aboard to salvage effectively. Yes, you have to salvage all the objects you see, but do not recover ships, unless you really want to use it. Salvage each debris field a couple of times.
7. You might have ability to fight small pirates and derelict defenders, but you shouldn't chase them. Speed and invisibility are better to you, than fighting.
8. Surveying a planet can cost huge amount of supplies and require a lot of crew. If you wish to do this for profits - have some "surveying equipment" ships.
9. Consider to take some faction's commission to have stable monthly income. Useful for couple year long expeditions.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: montaropdf on July 22, 2020, 09:33:28 AM
Thank you for the clear point by point explanation. That way it is already clearer to me.

Quote
6. Have a "salvaging" skill lvl3. Mandatory. Also you better have two salvage rigs in your fleet and 150-250 heavy machinery aboard to salvage effectively. Yes, you have to salvage all the objects you see, but do not recover ships, unless you really want to use it. Salvage each debris field a couple of times.

By salvaging I was meaning recovering. sorry for the lack of precision.

Have now to experiment and have a look in the codex to get to now better the various types of ship class.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: nanohard on July 23, 2020, 08:43:16 PM
You are right, the OP is way outdated. The last game version was a year ago because Alex is the only developer. If you look at the forum boards, particularly Bug Reports & Support, you will see there is a lot of activity and development is still in full swing.

I expect the next update (0.9.5) will be in about 6-9 months. You can see some cool stuff that it will include on the blog https://fractalsoftworks.com/blog/ and Alex's twitter https://twitter.com/amosolov

There's also lots of cool mods to explore once you've figured out vanilla.

Thanks so much for the info. This is "THE game" I've been looking for, for so, so long. I jumped right into the mods. Ermergerd, what a beautiful game.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Headcripple on August 20, 2020, 02:25:35 PM
Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I've been looking for a certain mod and I can't find it anywhere. It let's you look at item the item prices across the map, along with some other things in the intel menu.

screenshot here: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/drkimk3oyvc3sfy/unknown.png (https://dl.dropbox.com/s/drkimk3oyvc3sfy/unknown.png)

Maybe it's just a feature I'm missing somehow? Maybe it was something that used to be in the game that got changed? I don't know, but it's something I'd like to have if at all feasible.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SafariJohn on August 20, 2020, 03:29:22 PM
That is not a mod. That is the old version of the intel menu. Currently there is no equivalent for price checking AFAIK
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Headcripple on August 21, 2020, 12:38:20 PM
That is not a mod. That is the old version of the intel menu. Currently there is no equivalent for price checking AFAIK
Ah, alright. I guess Shadowy Broker (download here (https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=17877.0)) and the current price checking you can do with comm relays will work, thanks anyway though.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: authenticasian on September 13, 2020, 08:33:56 PM
Can someone explain to me how production/import/export actually work? I just checked my colonies and my main planet produces 10 ore, uses 8 in refining but the tooltip says it still exports 10 units of ore?
Also, what counts as "the highest local source of supply"?

The economy is simplified.

By that I mean instead of producing x goods then consuming x goods, your industries produce and DEMAND things instead. By that I mean if you produce 6 metals, and a industry demands 6 metals, you have satisfied the demand of the industry that needed 6 metal.

For example, patrol station needs 2 heavy armaments and your heavy industry makes 2 heavy armaments; this supplies the demand of the patrol station so it works at 100 percent, but the heavy industry can ALSO ship out that 2 heavy armaments because it meets the demand of the patrol station, not the consumption. Aka the items the heavy industry makes are not CONSUMED, they are DEMANDED.

This, theoretically, means if you have a planet that makes enough products in its industry to fulfill the demand of ALL INDUSTRIES of ALL your planets, you no longer need to import, which saves costs; which also ties into the "highest local source of supply"; aka the planet you own that gives the highest level of goods that supplies your demands. If you don't have a planet that supplies enough goods to meet the demands of another planet you own, you will instead import; which reduces profits.

JDCollie does an entire video on it that explains it better here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDnQ-ZiFyEk&t=1640s

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around some supply and demand discrepancies,

so my main issue is why demand can be partially met through goods that are produced on the same planet but it can't be partially met when being imported from in-faction imports. for example in my current game my planet requires 6 units of drugs and itself produces 4 (largest producer in my colony) units so the tool-tip says +2 desired import volume. On the other hand a planet has 7 units of supplies and heavy machinery and I have another planet producing 5 of each but I'm still importing 7 units of each from out of faction (+7 desired import volume)

Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: enrich235 on October 05, 2020, 07:01:10 PM
is there a reason why fragmentation is described differently from high explosive and kinetic damage.
Why doesn't it say: 200% vs hull 50% vs armor. Might be easier to get an idea of how good a weapon is.

Also is there an explanation for armor calculation?
It seem you have to crack the armor before you can do any damage to the hull. But from what I understand you dont need to crack all the armor and that you do a portion of your damage to both armor and hull if armor is low enough.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on October 06, 2020, 07:08:19 AM
Because that way, fragmentation damage wouldn't deal 100% damage to hull, which would be inconsistent with every other damage type.

As for armour: armour is divided into cells, each with individual "health bar". Projectiles striking any point on the hull also deal damage to surrounding cells. So long cells still have some armour, the damage will be dealt to armour, but if the armour is gone, damage will be done to hull instead. If you strike some cells with armour and some without, you will deal some armour damage and some hull damage.
Spoiler
Armor Cells

Armor isn’t a single value on your ship, it’s actually made up of a grid (“cells”) that cover the hull. Any particular point has the Total Armor Value available to it at the start of a fight but cells lose their armor as they take damage, drawing from the immediate cells around them.
 
Since the technical side is, well, technical, hear it from the source:

Quote from: Alex
…the resulting armor value can go all the way up to the listed armor value for the variant. Also, the cell that was hit, plus the eight surrounding cells, contribute 2x as much to the effective armor value as the 12 cells on the outside. In effect the hit area looks like this:

 111
12221
12221
12221
 111

Cells marked 1 have their armor contribution halved; cells marked 2 contribute their full amount. The starting armor in each cell is 1/15th of the listed armor value.

So, for a hit vs undamaged armor, with the base armor value A, you get:
9 * A / 15 + 0.5 * (12 * A /15) = 15 * A / 15 = A

What this means is that cells are working together to provide the Total Armor Value but as cells degrade, they no longer can contribute as much. Since the outside cells (the “1s”) only contribute half their armor, they are also losing armor half as quickly, giving a more graded decline in armor under sustained fire. On the other hand, a single missile or Torpedo can wipe out every point of armor affected if there isn’t enough armor to mitigate it.
[close]
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Feuerholz on November 21, 2020, 03:32:05 AM
I noticed on my colonies in the second system i have stability "-1 No active comm relay in-system" despite there being one. What's going on?

[Edit]
Does the comm relay have a limited range in-system? Because now the bonus applies without intervention.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on November 21, 2020, 07:18:19 AM
The bonus doesn't have in-system range as far as I know. You just have to have a comm relay. If it was built recently, then it might have been the game not updating the state yet.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Feuerholz on November 22, 2020, 08:37:55 AM
It's happening again. No active comm relay in-system it says on all three colonies despite the relay sitting right in the middle of them. It also wasn't just built recently, but i believe i already rebuilt it at the beginning of the colonization of that system when i had the same issue (not quite sure anymore).

Anyone know what could be going on? Maybe it's a bug?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Feuerholz on November 23, 2020, 01:38:47 AM
Sorry for the double post, but this definately is a bug, and i also would like to ask a few more questions.
Regarding the bug, i can safely reproduce the issue by reloading my current save a couple times, most of the time the comm relay will not be there, but - for some odd reason - if i dock with the planet i'm currently at, exit the planet menu and then reload via the "load game" menu (not quickload) the comm relay will definately be there.

And the reason i even noticed this now in this detail leads me to my second question: One of the colonies affected by that malfunctioning comm relay is loosing money because of a recent raid by the Persean League and subsequent unrest. However i didn't even realize the colony was raided until i saw the red numbers in the colony management screen. Is there any way to make news like that stick a little longer, maybe make them important, or notice me of the problems at that colony? I feel like alot of the notifications go unnoticed because of their quantity and how fast they disappear.

Furthermore, i'm now getting regular raids by pirates and the main factions alongside the usual expeditions. At this point with two colonized system with three colonies each (only one free port, no AI cores, industries spread across the colonies to avoid Pathers) the babysitting is getting kinda frustrating. It seems almost all i do is run around micromanaging the threats, then following this up by improving my lost standings with even more bounty hunting (would like to trade for a change, but the tariffs...). The stability on my colonies is fine usually (10+) but the Persean League raid shows how fast this can turn around, though granted it's a younger system that might not have had the defences necessary if the fleet was big enough.
So how do i best play this? What's the goal here, where do i go? I feel like i'm going to loose colonies without my intervention. Do i need ground defenses against raids despite having planetary shields? So far i only built the shields for ground defense points.

And lastly, i recently finished the red planet mission and i'm wondering if there's more of the campaign i just didn't stumble upon yet. If there is, could someone tell me in a non-spoilery way?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on November 23, 2020, 03:11:23 AM
And the reason i even noticed this now in this detail leads me to my second question: One of the colonies affected by that malfunctioning comm relay is loosing money because of a recent raid by the Persean League and subsequent unrest. However i didn't even realize the colony was raided until i saw the red numbers in the colony management screen. Is there any way to make news like that stick a little longer, maybe make them important, or notice me of the problems at that colony? I feel like alot of the notifications go unnoticed because of their quantity and how fast they disappear.
You get special sound effect whenever you get colony threatening news. Other than that, you can only really check the intel, tab "colony threats" every now and then. If your colony is far away, it will take a substantial time for major faction expeditions to arrive at your colony.

Furthermore, i'm now getting regular raids by pirates and the main factions alongside the usual expeditions. At this point with two colonized system with three colonies each (only one free port, no AI cores, industries spread across the colonies to avoid Pathers) the babysitting is getting kinda frustrating. It seems almost all i do is run around micromanaging the threats, then following this up by improving my lost standings with even more bounty hunting (would like to trade for a change, but the tariffs...). The stability on my colonies is fine usually (10+) but the Persean League raid shows how fast this can turn around, though granted it's a younger system that might not have had the defences necessary if the fleet was big enough.
So how do i best play this? What's the goal here, where do i go? I feel like i'm going to loose colonies without my intervention. Do i need ground defenses against raids despite having planetary shields? So far i only built the shields for ground defense points.
Just a single free port is enough to send Luddic Church and Hegemony your way, so I'm not sure it's worth it. Pathers are currently bugged and only give -1 stability penalty, that's a small penalty and not worth trying to stay beneath notice. Other than that, there's only the standard formula: do your colonies have space stations built, do your colonies have military bases (patrol HQ provides almost nothing). I personally don't build planetary shields, since ground defences or heavy batteries typically turn out to be enough, while also providing stability bonus. In the worst case, you can take a comission with one of the factions to stop them from throwing expeditions at you.

I'm wondering if there's more of the campaign i just didn't stumble upon yet.
No.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Feuerholz on November 23, 2020, 04:20:04 AM
Thanks for the clarifications! So, is there an endgame? There are two more constellations i need to explore but please don't tell me that's it while i thought i'm just in the middle of it...
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on November 23, 2020, 04:29:46 AM
Unfortunately, that really is it. Endgame isn't implemented yet.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Seth on December 10, 2020, 04:57:03 AM
Not sure if it's the right thread but anyway:
I use several awesome mods and get that funny line telling me that I'm doomed (in red, haha) unless I use version checker. Well, it's great mod but I really don't need it. Not sure if this message coming from one of the mods or core game functionality. So, how do I turn this thing off? It scares me every time, lol!
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Flying Dice on February 21, 2021, 07:04:41 PM
Thanks for the clarifications! So, is there an endgame? There are two more constellations i need to explore but please don't tell me that's it while i thought i'm just in the middle of it...
That's the point where you turn to Adjusted Sector to radically expand the size of the sector and increase the density of spoilers. If you have a decent rig you can make the map large enough that you need a specialized exploration fleet to reach the edge with several hundred more stars than vanilla. Combined with Nex for more involved factional conflict that can keep you busy much longer than a vanilla campaign.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Mortrag on March 26, 2021, 02:32:41 PM
-Deleted-

My mistake, found the screenshot file. I thought, you had to paste the screenshots manually in a document.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: jablonowski on March 28, 2021, 02:23:45 AM
Is there a guide for specific roles like salvage or exploration? Like what ships do I need and how to equip them? I suppose that running around with my basic fleet of one carrier and one destroyer and two drone tenders won't be efficient.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: h3lp3r on April 02, 2021, 03:57:38 AM
I've just started the first mission with the Galatian Academy. I'm supposed to recover an instrument package from a probe. I've done this type of mission before, but not for the academy. Where you need to go in the system is a yellow circle and an exclamation mark. But I've scoured the whole system and there's nothing in it. I have double checked that I'm in the right system too. Any idea what might be wrong?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Vind on April 04, 2021, 04:04:32 PM
Got same issue - mission just states probe without any location in the system.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Üstad on April 05, 2021, 01:33:36 PM
My ships with d-mods get autorepaired, which is sucks because I will appoint officers to them and use the d-mod skill thing. Any way to stop the autorepairs?

I added the d-mod with save editing, but it gets disappearing.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on April 06, 2021, 12:21:34 AM
It seems you got both Field Repairs and Derelict Contingent. Field Repairs automatically removes d-mods over time.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Üstad on April 06, 2021, 04:53:43 AM
Can I alter the Field repairs skill to get rid of that? If so how?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on April 06, 2021, 05:10:26 AM
You can't.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Üstad on April 08, 2021, 10:39:05 AM
I don't want full spoilers but I want to find the new [REDACTED] weapons, so far I had no luck. Any leads?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on April 08, 2021, 10:55:34 AM
Blue giants and supergiants.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Üstad on April 09, 2021, 04:08:52 AM
Blue giants and supergiants.
Found one but not enough weapons, do they respawn? Are there more of them? Let me be more clear, can I farm them?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on April 09, 2021, 04:13:50 AM
There's two of those big things. Alternstively, you can ask your contact for the harder bounties. Once you get past mercenaries and redacted, you should find more.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Üstad on April 11, 2021, 11:59:21 AM
There's two of those big things. Alternstively, you can ask your contact for the harder bounties. Once you get past mercenaries and redacted, you should find more.
Found one in a quest but couldnt get any more of them, not sure if this was intended. Also are there any very high leveled contacts or the high level is the maximum setting for them?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TuxedoCatfish on April 12, 2021, 04:37:31 PM
What triggers the "FOUL TOOL OF MOLOCH" interaction with Pather fleets rather than the usual thing where they ask for a tithe? In particular, is using [REDACTED] fighters enough to set them off by itself?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Histidine on April 12, 2021, 06:40:41 PM
What triggers the "FOUL TOOL OF MOLOCH" interaction with Pather fleets rather than the usual thing where they ask for a tithe? In particular, is using [REDACTED] fighters enough to set them off by itself?
Those specific words occur during a scripted encounter after completing the pirate mission where you buy the location of a blueprint.
There are a few other such post-mission encounters that can appear, for this mission type and others.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TuxedoCatfish on April 12, 2021, 06:51:46 PM
Ah, okay, thanks. I didn't have anything else in my fleet that was especially blasphemous so I was a little confused what they were so upset about, but that makes sense.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Nemestrinus on April 17, 2021, 01:05:15 AM
I feel guilty playing on easy. Should I play on normal even though I am kinda new to the game? Or continue on easy to learn most mechanics?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: robepriority on April 22, 2021, 11:56:43 AM
I feel guilty playing on easy. Should I play on normal even though I am kinda new to the game? Or continue on easy to learn most mechanics?

To be honest, since the campaign layer is as much logistics as it is battle strength, easy just adjusts stats a bit so you progress faster.
Start a normal playthrough when you feel like you're finished with the easy one.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: rabudo on April 29, 2021, 05:04:22 AM
Sorry for the question, I've checked the forum & google search and was unable to find the definitive answer.
Is it possible to capture Domain-era Mothership (derelict_mothership), those that spawn during world generation, using "Automated Ships" skill?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on April 30, 2021, 01:07:17 PM
It's impossible. They even are stations, technically, and not ships.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: v4l0rus on May 03, 2021, 10:55:46 AM
Since I've yet to find a Pristine Nanoforge in 0.95a, do they also cause pollution like the corrupted do?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: abiggerbyte on May 04, 2021, 02:48:33 PM
Since I've yet to find a Pristine Nanoforge in 0.95a, do they also cause pollution like the corrupted do?

Unfortunately, it does. Wonder why it's Pristine, hmmm....
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Mafa on May 21, 2021, 05:11:41 PM
I am frustrated with my Fleet. Since one or two weeks ago i got my second capital ship up and running and with that started fighting bigger battles. I dont understand how I am supposed to control whats happening in any meaningful way. My ships get pushed about the map, separated and encircled. Often I assign smaller Frigates and Cruisers to larger ships to keep them in groups - more than 3 ships tend to get all bunched up, though, hindering each other to get into position or retreat when Flux is about to max out. To top it all off: Command points are spent in about two minutes, leaving me to watch helplessly.

Ive been playing on-and-off since 2013. Im not a Pro, but I thougt I knew the basics. Am I missing something obvious? I found two XIV Legions - and I dont ever use them because I cant make my escorts stay in its (vulnerable) back for the life of it! My "cautious" Officer even likes to move slowly ever deeper into the hostiles instead of retreating. Hitpoints half down, Flux near max, with room to retreat behind him ... why?!? Moveorders didnt phase him either, only an "avoid"-command finally did, which caused my damage-dealers in the second row to back away as well. Man!

Where it helps i take direct control of my flagship to keep an opening in my formation closed, but as my fleet grew even bigger the holes are growing bigger as well. My ECM is apparently bad, which means the swarming is even worse. I invested in Skills and Augments to levitate that, but at this point it feels like im trying to shovel water with a sieve.

Is there a way to give direct orders like "stay here, dont move, face this way!"...?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: pairedeciseaux on May 21, 2021, 05:46:17 PM
Is there a way to give direct orders like "stay here, dont move, face this way!"...?

Have you tried to place 1 or 2 defense points using the appropriate order? Those can really help to keep your ships together. Later, if/when defense points are not useful anymore, remove them.

Other than that:

(if you provide your fleet composition and a sample enemy fleet encountered in those "bigger battles" that prove difficult, people might be able to give you better advices)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Mafa on May 22, 2021, 07:01:20 AM
Hey pairedeciseaux,

great tips, thank you very much! Especially #2 about pausing and giving several orders for one CP i wasnt really conscious about.

I tried to take some screenshots but somehow always ended up with screenshots of my Desktop - but with your tips I was able to hold up a bit better and found some more potential hints for others that might have similar troubles:

- When fighting bigger fleets consider fighting close to your aka the bottom border of the map and retreat Ships that start getting hull-damage, thus freeing Reinforcement-Points and send in new, fresh Reinforcements. Enemy Fleets are the strongest right at the begin of the match, but as single hostlies retreat or die to your ships the fight becomes more manageable. With this in mind it might be a good idea to start with the tankiest ships of your fleet and reinforce with nimbler Damagedealers to flank into the enemies Support at the rear. If you cant secure an overall win, consider retreating alltogether and regroup/repair to try again. I still need to test this, though.

- When assigning Weapon-groups, be aware that weapons of similar groups always seem to aim for the same target. Divving up an array of turrets into their own Weapongroups thereby allow them to engage individual targets. This may be especially helpfull with slower turning, higher damage turrets when dealing with lots of frigates or fighters. Or maybe with Broadside-ships that have Sets of weapons on both sides, I need to test later to understand how weapons of one group pointing in different directions behave.

- When dealing with lots of Fighters keep in mind that Point-defense Weapons seem to favor Missiles and Torpedoes over Fighters. With the short engagement-ranges of fighters missiles may often reach your shields before your PD-weapons can destroy the threats and loose further time turning to new targets. With that in mind it seems a better Idea to focus on the scrambling fighters, which non-PD-weapons actually do. They dont seem to discern between eg destroyers and Fighters and often target Fighters first anyways, since the tend to be closer.

These helped me a lot. I love Starsector. I hope in future the game will be more telling of the mechanics that make it such a complex experience. Visibility and effects in Sector, for example, is something else that I imagine being really hard to see for newer players.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: sunnystar_01 on May 23, 2021, 09:55:39 AM
Hi,

what is the recommended burn speed for mid-game? So far I've used a lot of Augmented Drive hull-mods to stay at 9 base burn speed. Now I've acquired an Odyssey and am somewhat reluctant to upgrade it with Augmented Drive (even with Story Points).

I'm doing so far lots of exploration missions, but am adding the occassional pirate (base) lately.

Cheers
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Mafa on May 24, 2021, 06:05:26 AM
I try to stay at 8. Higher is better, of course, but that is my personal threshold.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: sunnystar_01 on May 24, 2021, 08:03:18 AM
Thanks  :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Vio on May 28, 2021, 08:55:55 AM
How exactly is burn speed caluculated?
There are a bunch of buffs for it and they do not seem to stack.
Lets say my slowest ship has a maximum burn of 1.
And I take the Navigation perk for +1, install millitarized subsystems for +1, augmented drive fields +2 then i should have a maximum burn speed of 5 right?
Then when i activate my sustainend burn I should go as fast as 10 because it's a 100% increase.
But in game I somehow never reach my expected burn speed.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Histidine on May 28, 2021, 06:24:18 PM
How exactly is burn speed caluculated?
There are a bunch of buffs for it and they do not seem to stack.
Lets say my slowest ship has a maximum burn of 1.
And I take the Navigation perk for +1, install millitarized subsystems for +1, augmented drive fields +2 then i should have a maximum burn speed of 5 right?
Then when i activate my sustainend burn I should go as fast as 10 because it's a 100% increase.
But in game I somehow never reach my expected burn speed.
From the description, it sounds like the example ship should indeed be going at burn 10 with Sustained Burn, so I'm not sure what's happening.

Mouse over the burn bar, the tooltip tells you how it's computed.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SafariJohn on May 28, 2021, 09:13:22 PM
Your fleet will not go at maximum speed with Sustained Burn if you are holding the mouse button down near it. Something like it is trying to slow down to go to the point your mouse is at or something, idk.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Vio on May 29, 2021, 01:55:43 PM
From the description, it sounds like the example ship should indeed be going at burn 10 with Sustained Burn, so I'm not sure what's happening.

Mouse over the burn bar, the tooltip tells you how it's computed.

Thanks for the confirmation. Now I've got a grasp on how this works.
I overlooked some things.
Like this one "Increases the burn level of all non-militarized civilian-grade ships by 1".
So everything is as expected :)

Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: DraMaFlo on June 16, 2021, 10:54:55 PM
Can anyone explain what's the deal with Synergy weapon mounts?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Deshara on June 16, 2021, 11:02:23 PM
theres 3 hybrid mounts, one that mounts ballistic + missiles, one that mounts missiles + energy, one that mounts energy + ballistic. Synergy is one of them (Ive never memorized them), look at what tabs are highlighted at the top of the weapons list to see which hybrid ur looking at
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: DraMaFlo on June 16, 2021, 11:14:12 PM
theres 3 hybrid mounts, one that mounts ballistic + missiles, one that mounts missiles + energy, one that mounts energy + ballistic. Synergy is one of them (Ive never memorized them), look at what tabs are highlighted at the top of the weapons list to see which hybrid ur looking at
OK, thanks
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: LennStar on September 17, 2021, 01:49:00 PM
Where is the Galatian Academy?

I know this sounds like a "in the Galatia system duh" but I could not found it. In a youtube video it's around Pontus, but my pontus is empty.
Can that station be destroyed?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SafariJohn on September 17, 2021, 05:24:35 PM
It is around Pontus in the Galatia system and it can't be destroyed in-game.

The attached screenshot shows where it should be.

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: LennStar on September 17, 2021, 10:33:00 PM
It is around Pontus in the Galatia system and it can't be destroyed in-game.

The attached screenshot shows where it should be.

And in my game there is nothing.



[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on September 17, 2021, 11:39:30 PM
Have you updated Starsector to 0.95? You update is the way you install it, simply downloading a newer version of the installer.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: LennStar on September 17, 2021, 11:46:14 PM
Have you updated Starsector to 0.95? You update is the way you install it, simply downloading a newer version of the installer.
0.95a since I started.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: IonDragonX on September 18, 2021, 03:10:38 PM
Have you updated Starsector to 0.95? You update is the way you install it, simply downloading a newer version of the installer.
0.95a since I started.
Did you delete the old Starsector folder (but not the Mods folder) before installing the 0.95a? There are often errors if you try to "overlay" an old version.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on September 19, 2021, 01:40:33 AM
It should be enough not to have those mods enabled. If you play without mods and the academy is still gone, I think it would be best to send your save file to Alex.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TheTangy on October 18, 2021, 05:09:51 PM
Trying this game out again.  Planning on actually learning how to pilot this time.

But things move too fast for me right now in combat, how do I SLOW things down?  Wouldn't mind if it was at 15% speed really, at this stage.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Timid on October 18, 2021, 07:12:05 PM
Trying this game out again.  Planning on actually learning how to pilot this time.

But things move too fast for me right now in combat, how do I SLOW things down?  Wouldn't mind if it was at 15% speed really, at this stage.
Cap your FPS lower in setting.json in
Code
"fps":60, # fps only used if vsync is false
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TheTangy on October 18, 2021, 09:36:06 PM
Are you sure that will affect combat speed and not just reduce fps?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Timid on October 19, 2021, 04:03:47 AM
Are you sure that will affect combat speed and not just reduce fps?
It will affect ALL speed.

If you want JUST combat speed.
https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=13394.0 and modify to preferred speed.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: StarScum on November 11, 2021, 08:51:30 AM
Are the big squares or the little squares on the System map 2k x 2k large? I can't remember.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on November 11, 2021, 08:51:44 AM
The big ones.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: StarScum on November 11, 2021, 08:56:49 AM
The big ones.

And 'some distance away' from the system center means anywere from 3k-12k away, right?

That basically covers the entire system in that case...
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SafariJohn on November 11, 2021, 10:46:18 AM
Yeah, "some distance away" is 3k to 12k. If it ever says "in the outer reaches" then just walk away.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TrailPhantom on December 26, 2021, 10:26:27 AM
This is an attempt to put common questions and answers in one place, along with as much wisdom as the group of us can come up with.  Please add/correct details as you can.  Thank you. 

Feel free to ask further questions.

Can my computer run the game?
Yes! Well, it's likely, Starsector is not a very demanding game. You should have a graphics card with at least 256MB of memory, better 512MB (onboard works). Users have reported well playable framerates with specs as low as a mobile 1.6 GHz dualcore and 1GB RAM. If you bought a mid-range PC or Laptop before 2008 you should be fine. This is of course not an official guarantee, only practical advice.

Is there a demo?
No, and at the moment there are no concrete plans to release one. This might change at some point in the future, though. To get a good impression of the game I would recommend one of the various let's plays on youtube, for example by faiter (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=4157.0).


So i'm interested in buying the game. However these two things sort of concern me a bit. Mainly the type of thinking in the response to the concept of having a demo.
While reading the conceptual sys req's I'd assume I can probably run it. But one can't really be sure.
 Vram isn't actually the best indicator for GPU requirements. While it's certainly important, without knowing driver minimum compatibles (DirectX & OpenGL, etc.)
Having a demo available is not just about getting an impression of the game itself, outside of console demo's the factor of testing If/how well the game runs on your own system is a significant reason why people would want a demo.

From what it looks like though The Dev(s?) are pretty responsive in the forum here when it comes to technical issues. So Maybe i'll get solid answers before buying as to if the game will run okay for me.
If need be i can post my specs, but not sure if that should be in a separate thread.

Hopefully this doesn't come off rude, Just having a decade old computer comes with a lot of limitations. And i've definitely had some indie dev's just laugh and say "just get a better system".
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: JUDGE! slowpersun on December 26, 2021, 10:34:17 AM
Yeah, "some distance away" is 3k to 12k. If it ever says "in the outer reaches" then just walk away.

Dunno, Alex just confirmed in another thread that even survey missions for "outer reaches" should have destination (probe, ship, whatever) be within some mean distance to a stellar object, so even the stuff in outer reaches should still be nearish to something, not literally on edge of map somewhere.  Although how near could vary based on radial orbits and stuff...
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Jarolegon on December 31, 2021, 12:28:51 AM
I can't beat Forlorn Hope mission in new version. Tried multiple fits, including kiting tachyon lance sniper and plasma/autopulse brawlers, played with all old and some new approaches but i still lose. The biggest problem is dealing with onslaught, with ability to cancel burn drive he can be much more aggressive without ever overextending himself. And multiple buffs to eagle, falcon, dominator coupled with nerf to hardened shields don't help either. If anybody could record a video of successfully beating this mission in 0.95.1a i would really appreciate it.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AlexVBG on January 10, 2022, 09:14:55 PM
Hello everyone.
I want to buy this great game, and I see this:
https://puu.sh/IBSX0/7970f1d43b.png
Is it easier to make a purchase?
I'm not talking about Steam, but at least just a page where you need to enter a mailbox -> redirect to the bank page with payment (only card, date, cvv) -> payment -> a letter with a key in the mail. No extra scary pages (I'm sure it scares people off).
Thank you.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: IonDragonX on January 10, 2022, 11:44:50 PM
I want to buy this great game, and I see this:
https://puu.sh/IBSX0/7970f1d43b.png
Is it easier to make a purchase?
No. Fractal Softworks is a truly tiny studio and Starsector is still a pre-alpha.

The benefit of their purchase system is its practically impossible to lose your key. We've seen customers that lost their installation key almost 10 years ago, come back to the game and successfully ask the company for their key back.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: AlexVBG on January 11, 2022, 01:33:14 AM
The benefit of their...
Is it important for someone? Except those 5-10 people who lost the game because of their own actions?
The ability to more easily purchase the game (preferably in 1 click) will increase the number of purchases and the number of users, which in turn will increase the community in all aspects, as well as add profits to the developer himself, which will allow him to hire more people and stop being, for example, a tiny studio.
That's what's important.
Obviously, this is not the only reason for the spread of the game, but as an ordinary user, I can see this right now.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Timid on January 11, 2022, 05:38:16 AM
Is it important for someone? Except those 5-10 people who lost the game because of their own actions?
The ability to more easily purchase the game (preferably in 1 click) will increase the number of purchases and the number of users, which in turn will increase the community in all aspects, as well as add profits to the developer himself, which will allow him to hire more people and stop being, for example, a tiny studio.
That's what's important.
Obviously, this is not the only reason for the spread of the game, but as an ordinary user, I can see this right now.

It is just likely that Alex gets acceptable service without high transaction fees right now with this middleman. Switching to another middleman might just lose him money instead.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on January 11, 2022, 06:09:48 AM
Perhaps it's the age-old adage that you don't fix what isn't broken.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Prae255 on January 17, 2022, 05:37:56 AM
Before starting off and running head-first into a wall, how chill is the game?
Is it "at your own pace, take your time"
or
"after X turns/days/time, you'll better be well equipped and have a decent build or you'll get steamrolled into oblivion."

Played my share sandbox games and some let you do whatever, where as others will punish you if you aren't ready at some arbitrarily predefined point.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SCC on January 17, 2022, 05:54:20 AM
There is no time pressure, no. Bounties might scale faster than you can do them, but you can always so something else, or get contacts from military bounties, where you can choose the difficulty.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Prae255 on January 21, 2022, 12:22:53 AM
Well... turns out I'm a *** pilot, no tactical insight and overwhelmed by all the different armaments and stats.
So I've gathered a buncha ships, go with auto-fitting them and let the AI duke it out while enjoying the lightshow.

All in all, I'm having fun.
In my own way, I guess.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: IonDragonX on January 21, 2022, 05:12:14 AM
So I've gathered a buncha ships, go with auto-fitting them and let the AI duke it out while enjoying the lightshow.
You do you, boo. I'd advise you, for what its worth, to avoid using auto-fit. The results are random and usually bad weapon combinations.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Üstad on January 25, 2022, 05:27:59 AM
I'm considering buying a low end gaming pc.

A pc with:

Processor: i3 10100f 3.6 hz 4.3 ghz 6mb lga1200p

GPU: Gtx 1650 4GB 128 Bit

RAM: 2x8 GB 3200 Mhz

SSD: Does it matter?

I don't intend to install 50 different ship package&faction mods but I do intent to have slightly larger battle size and possibly fighter heavy battles. Will I get consistent ~50-60 FPS with these settings? How will fighter heavy battles with around 20 different fighters affect my PCs performance?

If this is a wrong place to ask I can make a thread in suitable sub-forum.  :)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Zdubfreelancer on January 26, 2022, 09:43:34 AM
where do i get a little technical support? have an issue from a fatal error , have a heavily modded game trying to pinpoint which mod is causing the issue
need to post a screenshot
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SafariJohn on January 26, 2022, 10:13:46 AM
Bug Reports and Support (Modded) https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?board=14.0
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: serp on February 03, 2022, 10:39:02 PM
How is the pather terrorist success chance calculated? Also, will having free port disabled decrease the chance, since the "independent" smuggler is, in fact, a smuggler, and maybe will get hostiled by one's dumb**** patrols?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Üstad on April 10, 2022, 04:42:57 PM
Does fleet size cap affects the AI? Like if I inrease the limit from 30 to 35 will their fleet size get bigger?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Excretusmaximus on May 18, 2022, 10:29:18 AM
Some of the things in the OP that are no longer available sound like they would have been a lot of fun.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SafariJohn on May 18, 2022, 04:23:38 PM
The only 2 major things I see mentioned that have been removed is boarding and fighters not requiring carriers. Boarding sucked and fighters work much better as carrier armament. I do miss the classic Hound with Talons combo, though.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: stevedaman1228 on June 08, 2022, 09:48:08 AM
So I've got a noob issue. I'm in the starting system and I did battle but now I've got a bunch of ships that need repairs and I keep running out of supplies trying to fix them. I mothballed some of my ships but now I'm losing the combat encounters with the starting pirates because my combat readiness is too low and I feel like im stuck in an loop of not having enough supplies to repair or upkeep my readiness. Am I screwed?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: SafariJohn on June 08, 2022, 11:26:59 AM
You can buy supplies at the Hegemony planet.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Dyledion on July 22, 2022, 07:45:12 AM
What exactly does campaign difficulty affect? Prices? Salvage? Combat? Upkeep?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Ruddygreat on July 22, 2022, 08:05:59 AM
What exactly does campaign difficulty affect? Prices? Salvage? Combat? Upkeep?

you have slightly higher sensor range (i wanna say +300), all of your ships take 25% less damage and you get 25% more rare loot from exploration (iirc)
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Beankoi on August 24, 2022, 11:38:56 PM
when you first open the tutorial, buy all the suplies, not some, ALL the get 3x as expensive when you leave so buy them all.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Sparrow on February 24, 2023, 10:50:38 PM
So will it eventually be released on Steam?  Just asking.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: TresayTerry3 on March 13, 2023, 09:29:48 PM
Is it a beginner's guide or beginners guide?

Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Etherimp on March 16, 2023, 11:02:12 AM
So will it eventually be released on Steam?  Just asking.

When the game is finished it will probably be released on Steam. Alex has said (in so many words) he doesn't want to rush getting the game on Steam because he wants to present a "finished" game, to give the game the best showing it can have.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Antichrist Hater on May 10, 2023, 08:38:58 PM
Does the elite point defense skill stack with the integrated point defense AI S-mod for non-pd small weapons?
IE a light dual auto cannon with 600 base range on the lasher with it's built in ballistic rangefinder + point defense elite skill+ integrated point defense AI S-mod = 900 range. Is this correct?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: andreas on June 14, 2023, 04:39:09 AM
hi how do i get the last version of the game looks like my game didn't do the last update
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: Horselover Manly on June 14, 2023, 04:46:17 AM
hi how do i get the last version of the game looks like my game didn't do the last update

To get the latest version of the game, go to this website: https://fractalsoftworks.com/category/releases/
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: captain_obvious on July 15, 2023, 06:24:33 PM
Hi all! The forum won't let me post anything bug reports in mod threads, it keeps telling me to message an admin which I've done - I didn't see instructions to make a post in a specific thread or anything before posting, did I miss something?
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: BaBosa on July 15, 2023, 07:35:07 PM
Does the elite point defense skill stack with the integrated point defense AI S-mod for non-pd small weapons?
IE a light dual auto cannon with 600 base range on the lasher with it's built in ballistic rangefinder + point defense elite skill+ integrated point defense AI S-mod = 900 range. Is this correct?
Ballistic rangefinder doesn’t increase the range of PD weapons so it stays at 600 with just smod IPDAI and goes to 800 with smod IPDAI and elite PD skill.
Title: Re: Newbie Guide Thread/ FAQ
Post by: erminal on March 19, 2024, 06:50:23 PM
How do I trigger the new story content? Just enter the Abyss? I've done the red planet quest.
I am playing with adjusted sector and some other mods, so something might be broken.