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1

Suggestions / Feature Request: Set Flagship In Initial Deployment

« on: September 17, 2013, 01:06:58 PM »

First of all, great work on 0.6a Alex, it's been fun testing out all the new mechanics, sounds, etc.

With the new CR system, it's become necessary to be more selective about deploying your fleet so as not to waste supplies on an enemy that can be easily defeated, particularly regarding whether or not to deploy a capital ship that'll be expensive to restore to combat-ready state.

With that in mind, I think providing the option to select an alternate flagship in the initial deployment screen (if the currently-set flagship is not initially deployed) would be a good idea. It avoids the tackiness of having to wait for your command pod to catch up to the rest of the ships (even worse now that all the ships initially boost in), and also avoids having to enter the fleet management screen right before you anticipate a battle to do a swap (which is what I do now).

Just a minor bit of streamlining.

2

General Discussion / [.53.1a] Eagle Loadouts

« on: August 22, 2012, 10:06:08 AM »

With the newly-improved Maneuvering Jets, the Eagle is really something (it's a close call whether the Eagle or Dominator is my favorite cruiser).

With all its forward-focused weapons, you can unleash a massive amount of firepower and pinpoint it on one location, easily cutting through armor. That said, what loadouts are you guys using?

Here's mine:
2x HVD, on left & right ballistic hardpoints
3x Phase Beam
5x Burst PD, three on front and two in rear

And ITU.

Middle ballistic hardpoint empty, two small missile slots empty. All extra points into vents.

I find it works very well at overloading and disarming ships with all the EMP damage, and the rest of my fleet can then unload missiles to quickly cut down the armor. The three Phase Beams work well in a pinch too, seeing as they do energy damage.

I've been experimenting with filling the front middle ballistic slot and removing the two rear Burst PD, but then flux balance and Salamanders become much more of an annoyance, respectively.

Thoughts?

3

Suggestions / Two Battle-Related Suggestions

« on: May 17, 2012, 06:53:18 PM »

Two suggestions I've thought of after playing Starfarer for the last couple months, both related to battle mechanics.

1.- A "Hardcore" Mode without Pausing Function in Battle: In reality, a fleet admiral doesn't get to pause the battle midway and "instantly" redirect all his forces. It would be interesting if there was an option (either standalone or incorporated into a combined "Hardcore/Realism" mode) to allow for only the time freeze during initial ship deployment. This would model being able to set the strategy for the battle, and then having to adjust on-the-fly during the battle.

This could be coupled with other "hardcore" features such as auto-saving upon ending any battle, so you can't just reload if a battle ends unfavorably--but that's not the subject of this post.

I'll admit, I thought of that when hypothesizing a possible multiplayer variant of Starfarer revolving only around battles (no campaign): this would neatly resolve the problem that pausing would create in a face-to-face battle with another human

2.- Accruing Command Points (CP) Over Time: In certain large battles (especially with the Hegemony Defense Fleet), it's more likely than not for the player to run out of CPs by the end of the battle, and having to watch as fighters dive helplessly into an Onslaught's Flak Cannons.

This feels frustrating and a bit unrealistic, and often I resort to letting the AI momentarily take back a buoy so I can recapture it.

Instead, I propose the idea of granting, say, 3/4 of the CPs that are given per buoy in 0.52.1, but then having each buoy contribute a CP every minute or so (or an appropriately balanced number, depending on type of buoy) as long as you retain control over it.

Likewise, a commander's character skill in commanding fleets can contribute to a higher initial starting CP value and a higher base (as in, not aided by buoys) CP regeneration rate.


Constructive criticism very welcome

4

Suggestions / Flameout Duration Too Long?

« on: February 21, 2012, 01:52:59 AM »

I like most of the tweaks that have been made since 0.35 in terms of combat mechanics, with the exception of the extraordinarily long flameout duration (and to a degree, the weapon disability duration, but that's far less of an issue). This is a bit too easily exploited on both the AI and human fleets.

For instance, in Dire Straits: I was able to single-handedly take down a Medusa using the Hammerhead by scoring a flameout when it was distracted by my Hound. Then, since the Medusa's momentum was carrying it straight forward without turns, I proceeded to continuously overload the shield that he directed to cover his engine while he was immobile and strike his engine again, triggering another flameout. Repeated about 4-5 times, and I had then taken out a much stronger destroyer that I would have to avoid back in 0.35.

Another example, from Predator or Prey: The Wasp wings, which could almost be ignored by the Dominator back in 0.35, will continuously strafe my engine, triggering an almost-continuous flameout. If I am unlucky enough to have some sideways momentum, I will spin and due to the frontal shields of the Dominator, be unable to block the nonstop Hurricanes from the Astral. That, and I will be nowhere near close enough to the Astral to deploy my Reapers.

I think either (or both) of two tweaks could be made to make flameouts more balanced:

• The flameout duration could be cut in half
• One would have to take a significant impact to the engine area to trigger a flameout (ie, the minimal damage by a Wasp wing would not trigger a flameout, whereas a Salamander missile would)

Personally, I think the latter is the more important change, as intuitively it's a bit improbable to think that a tiny drone wing could keep a much larger ship disabled indefinitely. I would venture to say that such a change to the weapon-disabling system would also balance the game as well.

Thanks for bearing with me through this lengthy post!

5

Suggestions / A Few Miscellaneous Suggestions...

« on: February 04, 2012, 08:18:38 PM »

Amazing work, Fractal Softworks team! I'm really, really, really impressed with how the game is so far. There's already a ton of replay value just for the battles themselves.

From my few days of playing Starfarer, though, I do have two quick suggestions. Both are pretty minor, though.

1.- Hold Fire Button: Yes, I know it's possible to hold fire effectively by taking manual control of all the weapon systems, but I think it's a really useful command for some strategies, and would also help respond to near-overloads.

2.- More Battles on the Main Screen: Only ships flying by? Pfttt! It'd be nice to see some small sorties play out on the main menu screen, or at the very least, have the AI ships use their point defense against the rocks that they're currently flying into. Overall, an understandably minor point though.

While swimming laps, I did think of a couple others, but I've since forgotten them. I'll post in this thread again if I think of any more

6

General Discussion / The Last Hurrah

« on: February 04, 2012, 08:09:57 PM »

First, I'd like to say that I'm definitely not regretting buying the alpha two days ago. This game is just as amazing as I thought it would be, reading the blog, poring over the ship and weapon descriptions, and seeing TotalBiscuit's video!

I've since beaten all nearly all the missions with an over 70% score... except The Last Hurrah. For some reason, I just can't nail it, what with the lack of torpedo bombers/bombers on my side and the Onslaught + assault destroyers on the other.

Any tips from the more experienced? Thanks!