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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Topics - Sly

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Suggestions / Printing the Date on More Screens
« on: August 30, 2023, 08:46:28 PM »
This is a small UI/QoL thing. It would be nice if the date was printed on the map screen and on the intel screen. It doesn't need to be especially obvious or central, and I'm not really concerned with the 'day's progress' bar.

I often find when I'm exploring hyperspace that I use the map fairly often to plot fresh courses and reference new slipstream information, and during these stops I'll go to check the date to see how far away the tide swap is. Sometimes I'll remember to look at the date on the navigation screen, but muscle memory over so many years is a pain. If I'm hunting for bounties and/or have multiple missions, I'll also reference the intel screen as well, checking my destinations.

I suppose I could train myself to pause every time before I access the map or intel screens, but that's two button presses that aren't really necessary, strictly speaking.

It'd save me a small amount of regular annoyance. Does anyone else feel the same way?

2
Bug Reports & Support / Slipstream bug
« on: May 12, 2023, 09:34:16 PM »
What appears to be a small bug with an otherwise normal slipstream. Has a little gap that, at least as I was rubbernecking on my way by, seemed off. So, I pulled over.

It doesn't cause a serious problem, but I figured you'd want to know all the same.

Those dang space potholes!!!!!!


3
Suggestions / Minor Emergency Burn QoL Tweak
« on: January 25, 2023, 01:08:11 PM »
About half the time I use Emergency Burn I don't really need it to last for the whole duration. If I had the ability to shut it down early by pressing my Emergency Burn Hotkey again, returning my fleet to 'standard' burn, it'd be a happy convenience. In this way, I could begin restoring Combat Readiness earlier or quickly reduce my Sensor Profile with much tighter timing, in order to attempt to shake hostiles.

What I'm not suggesting is that the cooldown for E.B. be altered at all - the procedure should still require the same amount of downtime to execute again, whether or not you cancel it early. Could pull some hotshot maneuvers more easily, but not cheese 'micro-burns' that could result from altering the cooldown. I'm pretty sure no-one would want to eat that kind of CR loss without the Industry skill, though. Moot point, anyway.

Thoughts?

4
Suggestions / Salamander Type-2: Anti-Phase Missile
« on: September 21, 2021, 05:31:55 PM »
I've posted this in a couple other threads, but for more visibility I figure I ought to just make a suggestion thread for it.

I agree unquestionably that any countermeasure dealing direct damage to a ship under phase cloak is unacceptable for a gross of reasons I have no intention of going into here. Additionally, I agree that in 0.95a skills that affect phase ships are extreme, again for reasons laid out by other esteemed members of the community. Finally, given Alex's immaculate track record, I have a strong belief he will create an excellent end state in the next release.

All that being said, I still wholeheartedly suggest the following:

It's a bit odd that there's absolutely no anti-phase weaponry in Starsector - at all. A prototype modification to the venerable Salamander Missile would fit thematically within the growing lore of the game and provide a bit of relief for fleets dealing with Phase Ships. The Prototype being:

The Salamander Type-2, an otherwise stat-for-stat copy of the original Salamander with an additional cost of 1 OP. It only targets ships that are under cloak. Naturally, it *only* targets Phase Ships - but only while cloaked. When it strikes, it functions identically to an ordinary Salamander, inflicting EMP to whatever systems within the AoE of the missile strike. This would ideally apply to engines, but a crafty pilot could instead eat it on any face they choose - or simply uncloak to evade it entirely.

Being struck at low flux would be a mild inconvenience, but against something like an Afflictor or a Harbinger that have already fired their burst, it could be fatal. Additionally, striking true on a Doom might mean it couldn't retreat in time to avoid a long range salvo from a few angry Cruisers or Capitals. At the very least, it could cripple some of its forward facing firepower for a brief period.

In my opinion, this sort of soft touch countermeasure is the sort of addition Starsector needs. I can't say yet how fast P-Ships will be in the next patch, so it may be necessary to increase the RoF of the Type 2 to match the time dilation of P-Ships, in order to match the increased OP cost and how quickly a P-Ship will recover. Frankly, I'd be excited to see it at all with a Salamander's base RoF. Naturally, an MRM version would be icing on the cake.

A potential issue I can see is using an ordinary Salamander, or Ion Beam and a Type-2 in concert with one another to keep P-Ships locked down. However, given the fact that P-Ships are the ones who choose engagements, and given that P-Ships would still have multiple options for dealing with a Type-2, I don't see it being a major problem. The whole point is to mildly suppress P-Ships and run down their PPT, after all.

As someone who loves to pilot Phase Ships, I would welcome the occasional added wrinkle a Type-2 to would give me.

5
Suggestions / Shepherd and Civilian Drones, 0.95
« on: March 31, 2021, 05:42:11 PM »
The Shepherd - and it's larger cousin the Venture - don't often find a place in my fleet. When they do, it's usually for their utility rather than their combat potential. The Shepherd is at least somewhat helpful as an auxiliary PD escort for slow ships and the Venture is a tough center with good PD or fire support potential, but now they have a serious issue.

The latest patch (0.95) introduces some skills that become more limited as you expand the number of hangers in your fleet. The drones the Venture and the Shepherd can launch are counted toward that total. Frankly, I'd rather throw Surveying Equipment on a Colossus and forget about the two of them so I can field another carrier.

My proposal is simple: civilian ships like the Shepherd and Venture with built-in "low performance" drones shouldn't count towards your hanger limit, nor should they benefit from fleet-wide bonuses from associated skills. If you want them to for whatever insane reason, you can militarize them and gain the bonuses. I have no idea why you would, though.

As it stands now, they're literally and figuratively taking up my hanger space.

6
Bug Reports & Support / [0.9a RC9] Game crashes when colony is abandoned.
« on: November 18, 2018, 11:53:10 PM »
After the save loads, go to the Command (Colony) screen, then select Sapporo. Abandon the colony, then attempt return to the Command (Colony) screen by using the key Shortcut. The game should crash to desktop with a Fatal: null error.

Save and log are zipped for your convenience.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1cqbxg5fr2rhtbb/saves_0.9a-RC9_colony-abandon-crash.7z?dl=0

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