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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Planet Search Overhaul (07/13/24)

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Messages - serp

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1
General Discussion / Re: I don't understand the combat AI
« on: April 12, 2024, 08:44:05 AM »
A lot of things being said here. It's pretty complicated and it can't easily be boiled down in forum posts because of how many variables compound on each other.

The real answer is that if you want to understand the AI, you just have to grind it up yourself, repeatedly testing out ideas against different fleets; there are mods that can facilitate this, and the upcoming sim update will make a big difference in ease of use. I doubt that the dev knows nearly as much as some of the forumers here who have done this to an unsettling extent, with their tournaments and ordo showoffs.

2
Suggestions / Re: Integrating the Independents and Nova Maxios
« on: April 09, 2024, 07:52:18 PM »
TBH the existence of pirate and path worlds in the core is far more conspicuous.

Extremely this, and I still wouldn't want a solution like the OP's to be applied to them.

Also, the struggle of the independents to remain as such in the face of the Hegemony's subjugation of innocent worlds, then the League's formation, and the cancerous competition between them is a good part of the game's lore, it reminds you that neither of those bodies were the default state of things before the collapse; I have no idea why you'd want to just lump them into the formal factions, it's like the most boring, worst *** thing to do. The correct thing is in fact to do some extra work on their abstracted faction to give each world/grouping a little more independence and flavor. So yeah, it will never happen with the glacial development rate, but hopefully Alex doesn't take OP's idea either.

3
Suggestions / Re: Clear indication of fleets operating independently
« on: March 31, 2024, 12:14:40 PM »
It's quite hard to tell which fleets in your colony system are just regular independent mercs and prospectors and which are commerce raiders. The same goes for a bunch of other specialist fleets, in quests etc.
It'd be helpful if there was a clearer way to identify which fleets are 'non-faction-faction' ones. Some kind of modification to the border, a floating icon beneath or over the centre of the fleet, or something like that would be helpful.
Commerce raiders are literally named such. There's no ambiguity there. All non independent fleets in your system are either trader convoys or crisis fleets. And for independents they are either mercs, traders, or the aforementioned commerce raiders. You just need to read the name of the fleet.

No. This is a good idea. When I'm looking for the satbomb fleet in the system it departs from, I don't want to have to assume and accidentally engage it when it's supported by patrols (the fighting of whom will cause a declaration of war). There should be a clearer indicator than the fleet names.

4
Suggestions / Re: Steal and/or Manufacture/Install solar shields?
« on: March 30, 2024, 09:58:44 AM »
There are uninhabited worlds, often in Remnant systems, that have stellar mirrors and shades. These can be colonized - you can also satbomb (or otherwise deciv) inhabited planets and then settle the ashes.

The stellar shades and mirrors are enormous, expertly-positioned, and calibrated for their specific systems. Moving them from system to system is a task beyond what anything in the sector is capable of.

You have, in this game, access to what are described as self replicating fabricators of inconceivable precision that actually build themselves before they build  other things. It is insane to suggest that you couldn't disassemble and reconstruct and position a shade or mirror with the help of an alpha and time spent hauling.

They're inaccessible to the player for either flavor, to add to that "dark age after the golden" feel, or just for balance cuz those shades are *** sweet and too good to be shuffled around.

5
Suggestions / Re: Dark Mirror Fleet Encounter
« on: March 29, 2024, 08:44:32 PM »
honestly, I think this kind of horror is what's being hinted at in the game, though not with so much malice, so it's not a terrible idea-minus the shrieks and giggles lol.

In my headcanon, what's being insinuated is that travel through hyperspace (especially while using gates, presumably), is leaving some sort of half-formed echoes of the travelers, like shades of people and ships, and that it's a moral conundrum because they're in pain or something
it's also hinted that hyperspace allows for time travel. As you find many ships out there with desynchronised dates on their computers. Including the secret Remnant and secret animate floating husk encounter.

So, it'd be funny if you accidentally found two fleets from the AI Wars fighting each other. Tri-Tachyon and Hegemony at their peaks. With even XIV Legions being present. But before you reach them, they disappear.

But that could be too unsubtle.

you know, you could be right, and that all the spooky stuff is just time travel, making my idea is nonsense. I guess you also have the classic Hyperion-derived "Ultra-AI is existing in an ethereal medium and you're infringing on it with you gate BS" idea (though in the books it was the opposite of infringement); anyway, I can't connect motes with time travel, so I maybe it has to be supported by some other spookier ***. I should go into rules and search for every mention of "hyperwaves", usually that's the most redactedest stuff.

6
Suggestions / Re: Steal and/or Manufacture/Install solar shields?
« on: March 29, 2024, 08:34:21 PM »
Is it a balance thing that this isn't player-affectable?

I think it is mainly just Alex doesn't want to deal with adding/removing the mirrors/shades.

the player can add and remove lamps, stations are virtually indistinguishable as objects, and you can give Kanta's station a similar orbiting little decal radiant.

I think he wouldn't allow it because he thinks it would be too good. I'll opine that it would be very good, though not in any harmful way...but Alex has kinda been cracking down hard on colonies for quite some time, and I don't think he'd even consider letting you move stellar shades around

7
General Discussion / Re: Alabaster drop manipulation
« on: March 29, 2024, 02:12:22 PM »
You will always get the large they have mounted
This isn't true either. It's possible to kill 2 tesseracts and only get 1 large weapon out of it.
This happened to me in my 0.96a game, and I felt ripped off.  Only got three larges total from both hypershunts.

It just happened to me like a week ago, current version. I will note that it occurred when both tess cruisers were equipped with the same large weapon.

8
General Discussion / Re: Shipping Disruptions: The Final Word
« on: March 28, 2024, 10:43:42 AM »

Disruptions are based on the relative strength of hostile and friendly forces in the target and the destination systems for a trade fleet. So you'd likely see more disruptions, though Galatia is not exactly a Hegemony bastion in terms of fleets etc, so it probably wouldn't be a huge increase.

Way late to ask this, but is this also how Pather terrorist smugglers work? With their chance for success being contested with how strong your patrols are? Except they're independent IIRC, I have no idea how that works. I know that there's a stability check if they do successfully land, but I assume your fleets try to stop them, too, so the more and bigger fleets/colonies in a single system, the better?

9
Here's something I've wondered but never tested: if you commit to the raid plan during your conversation with Gargoyle and Scylla, does it make a difference on the raid difficulty or add some new flag or something? I remember Gargoyle saying something like "wait a week" or somesuch

10
General Discussion / Alabaster drop manipulation
« on: March 27, 2024, 09:39:58 PM »
Is there a method that works nowadays? Savescumming obviously required, don't like that at all, but I've probably played throught the game 3-5 times since the dorito release, and I don't really want to just hope again that I get the weapons I want next time I play, it kinda sucks a big one to be disappointed at the end of the game. Yes, I know the worse ones were mostly buffed, but even so.

Otherwise I guess I just have to add them to my save or do a playthrough with some lame mod that gives them out like candy; would rather just savescum.

11
General Discussion / Re: Shipping Disruptions: The Final Word
« on: March 22, 2024, 02:07:43 PM »
well, I played around with colonizing a couple of systems with Pathers and/or pirates (Kumari has both, for instance), and even tho I didn't let my military mature cuz that would take forever or require commands/hax, the shipping disruptions came pretty fast. So that definitely seems to be something that sucks about colonizing core worlds, accessibility and convenience aside.

12
General Discussion / Re: Shipping Disruptions: The Final Word
« on: March 22, 2024, 10:34:21 AM »
Patrol strength does matter when you're not there, and offhand I can't see why you would avoid *all* disruption for having everything in the same system (unless it's a combination of less outside trade and stronger in-system patrols). You'd avoid some, for sure, if you're hostile with everyone else - if you're not relying on trade fleets from other systems coming in, they can't let you down by not showing up. Though smugglers would likely still try. And you're also missing out on a lot of accessibility and income if you do that, though.

If I take a commission, colonize a planet in a system neighboring their colonies (e.g. Tetra in Galatia), then leave the commission later and have trade with my former commissioner's enemies (like pirates or Tri-tachyon), will this cause constant trade disruptions? Also TYVM for replying ;)

13
General Discussion / Re: Shipping Disruptions: The Final Word
« on: March 22, 2024, 09:27:56 AM »
My original question when I started googling this was: "does being friends with or having pirates/pathers as neighbors (in the core) make trade worse?"

Now I wonder if the system is even capable of that, much less actually modelling it

14
General Discussion / Shipping Disruptions: The Final Word
« on: March 22, 2024, 08:44:59 AM »
Nothing prevents shortages. Even if you are 100% self-sufficient, traders from other factions will come, and get intercepted by pirates in hyperspace. Every lost fleet is -2 commodity, and it doesn't matter if the demand could have been met in-system even without this fleet at all. Patrol strength within the system doesn't matter much for simulated trade losses when you are away.

The only way I found is to be hostile with literally everyone so no convoys ever come and have all demand met within one system.

Is this seriously how disruptions work? It's the only post I've found anywhere after like 30 minutes of searching that suggests the poster actually tested it, rather than just squirting out some BS.

15
Suggestions / Re: Dark Mirror Fleet Encounter
« on: March 16, 2024, 11:11:10 PM »
honestly, I think this kind of horror is what's being hinted at in the game, though not with so much malice, so it's not a terrible idea-minus the shrieks and giggles lol.

In my headcanon, what's being insinuated is that travel through hyperspace (especially while using gates, presumably), is leaving some sort of half-formed echoes of the travelers, like shades of people and ships, and that it's a moral conundrum because they're in pain or something

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