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1

Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.65.2a (In Development) Patch Notes

« on: December 24, 2014, 11:31:02 AM »

So.... is Alex going to be uploading an update tomorrow? A Christmas miracle?

Last I checked, Santa isn't real.

You don't know what you're talking about.

Santa was born Saint Nicholas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas in 270 CE and died 343 CE. Jesus resurrected him soon thereafter, and ever since Santa's been living in Norway. Norway feared a Russian attack on Santa and joined NATO in 1949 to protect him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_NATO. By 1950 the USA had installed anti-air defenses in Svalbard to defend his toy factory against a possible Russian attack and all was calm until NORAD uncovered a secret plot by the Russians to down Santa's slay while he was heading to West Berlin. Since then, NORAD has been tracking Santa with its best radar and satellites http://www.noradsanta.org/ and has prevented numerous Russian intercepts.

If I don't get Starsector 0.65.2a I'll send a letter to Putin to ask him why he scared Santa away this year.

2

Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.65.2a (In Development) Patch Notes

« on: December 22, 2014, 06:12:16 AM »

If we have combat timers why would we have things like ammo? 2 mechanics that stand for the exact same thing.

Ammo does not function as a good combat timer mechanic because it mostly affects ballistic-based ships.

Here's what it does:

• It impacts the feel of ballistic weapons and differentiates them from energy weapons.
• There is a psychological component to ammo that grows the more the weapons are used.
• Ammo is presently an important factor in choosing between some ballistic weapons (e.g. Light Dual Autocannon vs. Railgun, Flak vs. Dual Flak, Hypervelocity vs. Heavy Needler, Heavy Autocannon vs. Heavy Needler, Vulcan Cannon vs. LMG, Gauss vs. Mjolnir, etc.)
• Mods bring a lot more weapons to the game, and many of those weapons are ammo-restricted.

I think that some of the changes to be introduced in this update are here mainly to simplify and standardize the gaming experience, and not to remove unnecessary, or to improve otherwise broken game mechanics.

3

Mods / Re: [0.65.1a] Interstellar Imperium v1.6

« on: December 22, 2014, 02:38:00 AM »

Didn't notice that about Perinthus.  I'll pull it slightly closer to the sun.
Traian is meant to be on top of the rings.  Guess I'll move it slightly further out.

Cheers!

The Leviathan is a combat frieghter; bring it into battle!  It's an excellent supporting ship for a destroyer fleet; with a tug and augmented engines it can cruise along at burn 5 and lend a huge amount of cargo/fuel space.  It has destroyer-tier firepower in combat, but tanks like a cruiser.

The Ballista LRM is more expensive because it has more overall killing potential, and scales up better.  Try getting a whole fleet shooting Ballistae at once: it becomes a cloud of death capable of wiping out anything with its shields down.

Got it, I'll experiment with these some more.

An Atlas provides 2000 cargo and 400 fuel for 6.5 supplies; overall, this is 307.7 cargo and 61.5 fuel per logistics point.  A Buffalo, by comparison, provides 142.9 cargo and 42.9 fuel per logistics point.  A Hermes provides 96.2 cargo and 57.7 fuel per logistics point.

These numbers change if you add on Logistical Conservation: an Atlas remains at 307.7 / 61.5, a Buffalo increases to 235.3 / 70.6, and a Hermes increases to 188.7 / 113.2.  As you can see, this makes smaller freighters more competitive, but doesn't make the Atlas obsolete.  This is actually the intended effect of the hull mod.

While this assessment is factual, it is not exhaustive. Please check the file to see my point... and it's a similar story with tankers.

http://www.filedropper.com/starsector_1

The Falcon art is not exactly my problem.  What do you expect me to do, redraw it?

IDK, just mentioning it because it also affects the Falcon (I).

Edit: small fix in the file

4

Mods / Re: [0.65.1a] Interstellar Imperium v1.6

« on: December 21, 2014, 12:33:49 PM »

A couple of notes:

Mostly an opinion, but Byzantium and Perinthus come too close to each other every revolution.  

If the Olympus MIRV rocket isn't destroyed in-combat, the game crashes at the end of the battle.

The Leviathan is a nice looking ship. I see it as Atlas+Ox+Lasher+Dram. The only problem of the jack-of-all-trades approach is that while it performs great on its own, I've found no use for it in a fleet setting (a sad thing given that it's pretty). Maybe it could also be an Avalon (a very expensive to deploy Avalon)?

This is more related to SS+:

The Logistical Conservation skill is a bit too OP for some frigates and destroyers. I can run the numbers if you'd like, but the general observation is that with Logistical Conservation in the equation, the Atlas is now rendered largely useless, as some destroyers and frigates can compete in every regard while being much faster.

P.S.: A carry-over from the old Falcon, some medium-sized ballistic weapons look funky when mounted on the Falcon (I) (e.g. Hypervelocity Driver)

P.S.: IMHO the Ballista LRM's cost could safely be brought down a bit. It's an alternative to the Pilum, with better dps, but runs out sooner, has worse tracking, and has less range.

P.P.S.: I'm not sure if this is intended, but Traian is covered by Serdica's ring.

5

Mods / Re: [0.65.1a] The Knights Templar v0.9.3f

« on: December 20, 2014, 07:05:45 AM »

Aw man, that Clarent bell toll sound is a favorite amongst the other modders...

Templars are generally meant to be fought with mixed fleets; using just bombers will not make for a very interesting experience.  Two very important hull mods are Automated Repair Unit and Resistant Flux Coils, if you want to do well.

...
Low-tech ships have to be prepared to tank EMP damage.  If you've got an onslaught, you must have Automated Repair Unit, Armored Weapons, Resistant Flux Coils, and Insulated Engine Assembly to minimize weapon downtime as much as possible.  Don't worry about dissipating your full firepower; you won't actually have all of your weapons online at the same time.

My issues with the Onslaught come from the lack of flank cover due to minimal frigate use (after discovery of immense frigate fragility vs. Priwen + self-destructs, not an issue with the upcoming changes). It's a failure by choice, but I'll look into your suggestions as well as see about adding a couple of frigates to cover my butt.

BTW, Automated Repair Unit costs about 5 supply for an Onslaught.

Priwen Bursts should not be any longer-range than they already are (seriously, the bigger ones fill almost the entire screen), and most certainly should not be anti-capital weapons. They're specifically designed to punish surround-and-swarm tactics (Templar ships are rather slow; if you use frigates, make sure you split them up as much as you can.  Similarly, they shouldn't auto-overload stuff.  That's just broken.

I can't do anything about the vanilla AI, but there is a phantom force that pushes ships away from impending core detonations.  I'll probably just make the detonations less deadly.

I understand that reasoning and the changes you mentioned bellow should adequately resolve my concerns. Thanks!

Paladins are not meant to retreat.  It's in their name.  In any case, they don't use the charge as often as they should, though, so if they use it more often it will shut down lots of kiting tactics and make them more of an in-your-face threat.

I figured as much...

The more frequent use of Holy Charge should also help multiple Paladins in slugfests. Presently it's quite easy to burst one down with Plasma cannons and a few Reapers before the others can really partake in the battle. Ideally now I'll see three Paladins, at 12, 4, and 8 o'clock.

Giga-salamanders would indeed solve kiting.  It would also solve moving in general.  If you want your ships to be able to actually use their engines ever, this is perhaps not the best idea.

Ye, that wasn't the best thought-out idea on my part. Better would have been an Arachne with rooting drones or a fighter wing or EDIT: or reverse gravity missiles or a reverse gravity beam (opposite of the Jupiter) or ... hopefully the Holy Charge changes resolve this for the folks who like to beam-kite.

That said, I have made the following changes:
- Holy Charge AI improved
- Slightly increased high explosive damage to Templar shields
- Priwen Burst EMP damage halved, but now deals hard flux damage in addition to everything else
- Templar reactor explosions deal kinetic damage, deal a third of the damage they used to, and inflict massive hard flux damage to those caught in the blast

Is the Priwen Burst hard flux damage 90% mitigated by the Paragon's Fortress Shield?

6

Mods / Re: [0.65.1a] Interstellar Imperium v1.6

« on: December 20, 2014, 02:45:02 AM »

Good point about the Babylon orbit.  I'll bring them closer.

I believe the jar contains .java files, which is the actual source code.  In order to compile your own jar, you need to set up a project with an IDE, import the source code, make your changes, compile, etc.  It would probably be easier for you to just make a separate mod that adds an abandoned station next to Babylon or something.

Sledge ammo will be infinite (like many other weapons) after the update, so I am not concerned.

I might be able to to throw in the AI I made for the Zero boss to handle the short range teleport the Maximus has. Should make it better in AI hands.

Edit: Actually, I'll add storage to Interstellar Bazaar, it'll just cost 500,000 credits instead of 5,000.

Cheers!

I'll postpone learning Java things to 2015 

7

Mods / Re: [0.65.1a] The Knights Templar v0.9.3f

« on: December 20, 2014, 02:32:39 AM »

First, the quality of the work is awesome - sfx is mostly great (imo minus missiles and holy charge (the latter reminisces of WoW too much for me)), and the conceptualization of defensive and offensive abilties, as well ship systems are awesome. I like the energy weapons akin to SG's Ancients' the most, oh, those smart projectiles! With that in mind...

I am avoiding using this mod, because battles have been a bit … boring. It is NOT the mod’s fault, but
the way it is balanced, combined with the (at present) lack of player-controlled ship/weapon construction do not lend themselves to the use of anything other than player-controlled Paragon + bomber fleets. Anything else and I have to clear stations out of ships after a few engagements and then have to figure out where to get all the weapons I want to spec my ships. Again, these wouldn’t be issues if I could build my own ships/weapons (basically have my own planet), but at present I only trust the AI with holding a couple of carriers at the bottom of the map (and rarely, with a Paragon).

The bomber wings I use end up being pretty useless after the first bombing run, as they wipe out too easily against super-flak and the Priwen Bursts… so a few minutes into a fight, it’s me slugging it out against a few Paladins, rinse and repeat. And no, I’m not beam-kiting, I prefer slugfest + no flux capacitors + maxed vent + quick (frontal+accelerated), hardened shields (imo slugfest is much more fun than beam-kiting, and brings risks to the engagement). I sometimes use other capitals, like speed-focused Conquests or well-geared Onslaughts, but neither of these do very well. I have to kite too much with the Conquests (again, a bit boring), and I’ve found the onslaughts need good cover on the flanks, which I don’t have because I don’t trust the AI with ships. 

So then I find myself thinking that this mod would have been awesome down the road, once Starsector matured a bit more. For now, and until then? A few suggestions:

Dealing with the unfeasibility of small-ship fleets, and with the overbearing Paragons.
•   Priwen bursts could use a rework. At present they annihilate wings and frigates and do nothing against the Templar’s nemesis, the Paragon. I say a little “thank you” every time a nearby Paladin uses its Priwen, as all it does is build flux and expose itself to a shot from my Plasma Cannons. I like how the Super EMP works on the Arcade ship. If the Priwen works something like that, it would be universally useful, while being more powerful than at present against the Paragon, and would not be such a bane to wing/frigate-based fleets. Bigger ships get longer-range Priwens and ta-da, balance.
•   AI ships don’t know to withdrawal far enough when a Templar ships explodes. I remember one of my Maximus and a couple of Lashers moving back a bit and dropping shields, only to get wiped out in the incoming explosion… I cried for my Maximus and stopped using Lashers.
•   Holy Charge could also use a rework… into what exactly, I don’t know... one of the Paladin’s problems I’ve found is that they can’t withdrawal to vent very well. Once they’ve built up their flux, they rarely get enough time to retreat and vent before they die… which brings me to:
•   Snearing those Kiters. Maybe with a missle. High-durability, high-ammo, ultra-fast, ultra-long range. Some EMP damage, but in effect, very much like an Archbishop’s drones. Something to stop those Paragons from acting like a Wolf.

Making ballistics viable.
•   In my eyes, an Onslaught is in many ways an equal of the Paragon (especially in SS+). That behemoth weapon platform can mount a plethora of ultra-high-tech ballistic weapons that should make any Paragon commander think twice before engaging. Yet, the Onslaught (and the Caesar and Conquest) does much more poorly against the Templars than does the Paragon. Hopefully the changes suggested above can reduce that apparent difference by making Ballistic-based ships relatively more viable. If not, then maybe slightly boost explosive damage to Templars. I want Onslaught-Archbishop slugfests!

8

Mods / Re: [0.65.1a] Interstellar Imperium v1.6

« on: December 18, 2014, 06:15:09 AM »

I've started an "Aetius" campaign with the Hegemony being the Huns, but I've found that Babylon has no storage to keep some spare ships, which breaks its use as a home port for me. After reading this thread, I've found out why (money exploits). BUT, since I'm not planning to exploit Byzantium's beefed-up resource production, I've been trying to add a storage facility back.

It's been proving to be a difficult task. Apparently the place to do it is in the II.jar file, which is, apparently, a zip file, which holds some .class files, which are, apparently, binaries, and I need some weird program do edit them properly because, apparently, I am not AI, soo... I've found such a program (Class Editor!), which comes in a file, with extension of .tar.gz, with both .tar and .gz being, apparently, some kind of zip thing that 7-zip can extract... sooooo now I'm finally inside that II.jar file, but I'm at a loss of how to actually add back storage to Interstellar Bazaar. I am, apparently, completely new to all of this. Any tips?

BTW, IMHO you should move Babylon even closer to Byzantium, to further reinforce that they combined make one entity, Interstellar Bazaar. I figured this out early on, but it feels a bit unnatural for them to be one entity and so far apart (the whole thing with space stations/planets being single entities doesn't make much sense to me, but hopefully they get differentiated down the line as Starsector matures to beta).

P.S.: Those Sledges could use a bit more ammo (i keep running out of ammo!). They're wonderfully balanced otherwise, and fill a niche that needed filling.

P.P.S.: The AI has problems with the Maximus, my new favorite frigate. It's mostly related to the use of its 5-charge, quick-recharge skimmer, which the AI seems to treat like a Hyperion's Phase Teleporter.

P.P.S.: This is probably my favorite mod in terms of ship balance / fleet design / aesthetics. There really isn't much room for criticism, wonderful work!

9

Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.65.2a (In Development) Patch Notes

« on: December 13, 2014, 09:51:29 PM »

    Removed energy weapon bonus damage from high flux level
    Increased damage values for non-beam energy weapons by roughly 25% to compensate

I don't understand how the AI isn't using this mechanic - if the AI fires an energy weapon at higher flux, doesn't its weapon do more damage? Here there are too level of "use" - 1) the benefit is applied to the AI and 2) the AI can use the benefit tactically. I'm guessing 1) is true while 2) is not.

Regardless, I will miss this mechanic and the additional playstyles it allows. No more running around with my naked Sunder, timing autopulse burst + high-energy focus + flux damage boost while praying I'll avoid the incoming Reaper. No more finishing Paragon vs. Onslaught slugfests with an heroic shieldless assault, and certainly less reason for my Tempests to play like Hounds.

    Beam weapons:
        Standardized range to 1000 for most non-PD, from Tactical Laser to HIL

There are four offensive beam weapons. Three of these behave identically, with tactical variations coming mostly from range (being removed) and flux/dmg//sec. Instead of further standardizing this already-a-bit-bland category of weapons, I suggest the following (won't happen, but what the heck!):

Standardize beam weapons around joules, say 2 GJ, 4 GJ, and 8 GJ weapons and add a feature to allow easy beam wavelength remodulation - shorter wavelengths provide more damage, but reduced range, with the damage/range potential limited by the joule bracket of the weapon in question. Then have 2 or 3 beam weapon types - photon/energy & graviton/kinetic, and (maybe) explosive.

Then if you want the tactical advantages of a set of 1km-range beams, you can get that, but if you prefer the tactical advantages of range diversity, you can get that as well. Plus, customization!

        Increased range for PD Laser and LR PD Laser
        Slightly reduced OP cost for all beam weapons

Great!

       
        Tactical Laser, Graviton Beam, and Phase Beam are no longer interrupted by missiles

Great as long as the missiles in question can be manually targeted for destruction/get destroyed anyway.

        Greatly reduced fade in/out time for most beams

Great!

    Missiles:
        Salamander: both versions have unlimited ammo and require 20 seconds to reload
        Hurricane MIRV: regenerates 1 ammo every 20 seconds
        Pilum LRM: regenerates 1 ammo every 10 seconds

The way I deal with early-game Buffalos and speced Lashers is a combination of good helmsmanship and properly-timed aggression that results in a variety of a quick victory, slow victory, and defeat.

I don't know whether these changes make sense; it's the type of thing that you have to play with to be able to comment on... but I do think it reduces the flavor and defining characteristic of missiles.

    Ballistic weapons:
        Now have unlimited ammo, except for Bomb Bay
        Reduced OP cost of Light Dual MG

The two arguments I've seen in support of this are: 1) Ammo doesn't run out anyway, so it's a useless mechanic. 2) Ammo runs out in ballistic-based ships, whereas it doesn't in high-tech ships, an unfair advantage in prolonged battles.

RE: 1) Ammo does sometimes run out, and I consider that when choosing my weapon layout, and when picking when to fire and at what to fire. Also, just because it doesn't often run out doesn't mean the mechanic is 'useless', it certainly adds flavor, a "feel" if you like, to ballistic weapons.

RE: 2)I've read a number of good alternatives on this, with CR being a good late-battle balancer.

    Ships
        Destroyers and cruisers now have a peak effectiveness timer like frigates
            Roughly 5-7 minutes for destroyers and 7-9 for cruisers
            High-tech/faster ships have shorter timers

Makes sense... though CR doesn't make sense to me as implemented to begin with... my suggestion,

1. Ship loses CR per deployment and per time as is currently the case (but less-so than currently). This is a result of systems and crew being on standby for extended time.
2. Additionally, firing weapons/using engines/systems has a marginal negative effect on CR, that will cumulatively hit Hyperions (CR-costly transport)/frigates (costly 100% engine uptime) more in relation to other ships, allowing for the faster degradation.
3. CR degradation should affect all ships, but be much slower in capitals... realistically, capital systems and crew aren't immune from fatigue just because they're on a big ship, and gameplay-wise capitals will still long-outlast smaller ships, but not be perpetual fighting machines.

        Sunder: increased top speed, acceleration, and flux capacity. Reduced shield efficiency.
        Brawler/Shepherd: increased burn level by 1 (to 6)
        Condor: reduced supplies/day by 1 (to 4)

Sunder: Makes sense for an aggressive ship like the Sunder. Fits my playstyle perfectly.
Brawler/Shepherd: Makes sense. Will the Brawler lose its CR uniqueness?
Condor: Finally a reason to use that one!