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1

Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.97a (Released) Patch Notes

« on: February 07, 2024, 06:12:15 PM »

Conversely, I was disappointed when my Luddic problems ended when I plopped down Mining on my colony to rake in Organics for the supply chain.

Luddic Majority is framed in a strange way, though. You wouldn't necessarily expect the flow of immigrants from Luddic worlds to be greater than the flow of all other polities put together. If you did, they probably wouldn't want to admit that they were Luddic, due to the stigma of leaving the faith. It might be more convenient for gameplay related purposes if perhaps the Church sent missionaries to Habitable worlds, instead. A sort of ideological counterpoint to the strictly cutthroat privateering of Tri-Tachyon. Then, perhaps the threat generated by such worlds would be regulated by how many 'heavy industries' you have on the planet, where threat would be reduced (or extinguished) by enough heavy industries on habitable worlds.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the crises and my ability to interact with them. I'm glad that they'll end up being a bit less 'front-loaded' in the future, too.

edit: whoops, put the slash outside the bracket, italics forever

2

Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.97a (Released) Patch Notes

« on: February 03, 2024, 06:49:00 PM »

WARNING THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN TAGGED IN VIOLATION OF HEGCOMSEC ORDNANCE 3-BRAVO-42

Spoiler

Hyperspace good. Happy place.

Ship go faster.

Happy.

happiness is not tolerated under HEGCOMSEC ORDNANCE 3-BRAVO-42

What have you done, you gave us all unlimited power.

But seriously, I'm not even in a moderate hurry to complete Galatia anymore. I'm just having too much fun slipping to and fro. It's become something of a welcome, meditative change of pace between goings-on, in my experience. Ironically, I've 'slowed down', so to speak, to just 'go with the flow'. 

[close]

3

General Discussion / Re: Neutrino detector needs a rework or outright removal

« on: January 28, 2024, 07:33:50 PM »

The only time I use the Neutrino Detector is when I'm hunting for slipstreams in hyperspace, and only then if I'm not carrying enough material to build a sensor array and scan for one.

I've tried to make it work well for me, but it's faster to just do search patterns and pop active scans. Like intrinsic, I've rarely discovered things I otherwise wouldn't have,  It can technically work "reliably" if you divine the fake signals and use it in tandem with active scans while conducting search patterns, but at that point why even bother? It's just a slightly longer range sensor sweep by then.

If it functioned more like an active directional sonar or radar, providing static returns, at regular intervals, and at longer ranges - while gradually 'burning away' false signals - I think it'd be more satisfying to use. There would still be some skill to it (i.e. painting a correct direction while moving your fleet), and might even be fun, in its own way. By being directional, you wouldn't be able to burn away all the false signals in one swoop, keeping up a bit of mystery.

Seems a lot more interesting than cluttering the sensor with unavoidable false signals or just blatantly ignoring the false reading mechanic altogether. More of an 'emitter' or 'sensor' than a 'detector' though, I guess. Semantics.

4

General Discussion / Re: Another balance discussion (Falcons, Eagles and Ordos, oh my!)

« on: January 25, 2024, 07:20:29 PM »

I mean, how much can one talk about a Buffalo? Other ships, like the Eagle, would be lit up like a PK hitting Maxios.

Here I am, lurking and keeping up-to-date with ongoing discussions as 0.97 looms, and I see this. COMSEC, eat your heart out!

Too soon, man.

Too soon.

Spoiler

I laughed.

[close]

Spoiler

I like the Eagle in a support role. 2x Gravies + 1x Ion B + HVDs and stir well with fleet comp. Delicious and viable at any stage of the game! If you're feeling sassy you can season it with Converted Hanger to taste and get up to shenanigans.

[close]

Spoiler

So really silly question.  Anyone ever put ITU on an SO Eagle along with a Gunnery Implant Officer?  I may need to try this.

If we're all complaining about the energy mount position on the Eagle being too far back (its roughly 100 range units from the central medium energy to the front of the ship, and about 145 range units to the shield), why don't we slap on ITU and Gunnery Implants on an SO Eagle to compensate?

Heavy Blaster range would go from 450+0.25*150=487.5, to 450+0.25*480=570, for a real 82.5 range boost.

Actually, that is better max range to the front shield arc than an SO Champion has with a Plasma cannon without GI and ITU.  Plasma cannon mount to front of a champion is like 55 range units, and to the shield is like 105.

570-100=470 > 512-55=457

Anyways, I was thinking about this while trying out an SO Champion run.  I stole the SO Champion design from Mishrak's video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJqrZNlS7Ew

I won't say the champions had a strong performance, but they got the job done.  I do think the lack of PD may have caused some minor AI issues, as they would sometimes back off in the presence of missiles or Flash bomber bombs despite having zero flux.  Of course the Radiant AI also had problems when I convinced some bombers to drop bombs behind it, and it decided to shield against nearby bombs instead of the Champion right in front of it.

Overall, SO ships don't provide long distance pressure, and with fewer of them (9 vs 5 because of the huge DP disparity) the line didn't last long and certainly become some form of furball.  Also, having a single cruiser distracted by a single frigate was a non-trivial amount of force elsewhere.  They were individually sturdier, but still certainly needed to back off just like the Falcons when they got fluxed up by a Radiant dumping into them.

Also noticed that Falcons are slightly faster at grabbing waypoints than SO Champions at the start.

Battle report is attached.  Actual battle time reported was 294 seconds for SO Champions, compared to the Falcon's 272, although some of that may have been setup taking a tad bit longer.  Still was fun, and I finally resisted the temptation to get my Afflictor blown up.

[close]

This man afflicts. Thanks for the tests, seeing the Eagle with SO in CQB gave me conniptions, but the videos were lovely.

Beam grid is nice when I'm flying an afflictor because it clears out all the fighters and missiles for me. Makes for much easier piloting.

This man also afflicts.

tips hat

Afflicionados.

5

Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.96.1a (In Development) Patch Notes

« on: January 10, 2024, 05:32:59 PM »

In principle, I agree with the idea of assigning 1 OP per Hammer.

At the same time, torpedoes have the lowest combat accuracy among all weapons in the game, especially when used by the AI. A torpedo that misses a target or is intercepted has next to no value at all. Ideally, a weapon like the Hammer Barrage or Cyclone Launcher will hit with every torpedo and cause maximum possible damage, but practically speaking that virtually never happens.

Reapers seem to be in a pretty good place right now, but the Hammers really suffer from a lack of ammunition, IMO. They're so small, cheap, and ubiquitous, I don't think anyone would bat an eye if the magazine sizes were larger.

6

Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.96.1a (In Development) Patch Notes

« on: January 10, 2024, 08:25:24 AM »

There's so much good stuff coming up that it's hard to choose anything in particular to highlight. Very excited!

As for the Wendigo, what I always wanted was to weld two gremlins together and bathe in the unholy light of two prototype phase coils at the same time. I, uh, imagine you have to be pretty strange in the head to serve on something like the Wendigo for long. Or be very disliked by your CO.

I feel like a huge part of why it's so outstandingly good now is the ammo count - the weapon by itself is great, but being able to very comfortably give up EMR and get the extra OP from that - compared to other missile options - is IMO what skews the value all out of proportion.

I remember talking about this awhile back when missiles were being discussed. Can't the Cyclone output something like 2.6x the amount of total damage compared to the Hammer Barrage? In base ammo capacity, even before MS or EMR. I don't think I've ever worried about running out of Reapers while using a Cyclone. It's not busted or overpowered, but there's a huge divide between the Hammer Barrage and the Cyclone.

If you think the Cyclone has too much ammunition, I'd suggest reducing the total by 6 to 14, giving it somewhere close to 2x the total damage of a Barrage. But, you could also achieve similar results by increasing the total number of torpedoes in the Hammer barrage by 8 to 28. That's a 30%~ reduction in ammunition for the Cyclone or a 40% increase in ammo for the Hammer.

I'd humbly suggest that in the case of the Hammer Barrage, it wouldn't hurt to give it two more bursts at base capacity. Then, at least it would be capable of outputting roughly half the total damage of a Cyclone, and fit a little better in line with the idea of a fully realized, militarized version of the Hammer. In the same vein, in that event, it couldn't hurt to give the Jackhammer another burst as well. Maybe tweak the refire delay of both to taste?

Either that, or reduce the OP cost of the Jackhammer and Barrage to half that of the Typhoon and Cyclone. In my opinion, a Hammer is a little less than half as good as a Reaper, and the OP cost could reflect that instead.

7

Blog Posts / Re: Colony Crises

« on: November 30, 2023, 05:59:56 PM »

Just bully phase ships with beams and pilums. It's not that hard.

Thunders.

If you are fast enough to sit atop a phase ship and strong enough to keep it phased, it is already dead as soon as it unphases.

All effective in my experience, but YMMV, I guess. As SafariJohn says, it's all about pressure. Keep constant pressure on phase ships, and they die.

Even the Ziggle. It's very unlikely to happen in the hands of a skilled player, yes, but that's how you initially kill it. Pressure and alpha strikes.

Spoiler

Anecdotally, I suggested a sub-type (or automatic sub-mode, when targeting phased ships) of Salamanders that operated only in p-space, did no damage, and only disabled ship systems. It simply wasn't justified after the nerf: unskilled AI phase ships would've been eaten alive by a weapon like that, and skilled AI phase ships wouldn't have been much better off. For a player phase ship with all the requisite skills, it would've been too tedious to deal with and suck all the fun out of operating a phase ship.

Hmm, although... the issue would've largely been resolved if being struck by a phased "EMP" missile reduced a phased ship's flux level to zero instantly, or reduced it by some large fixed percentage, perhaps over a short amount of time. Testing would tell, I'm sure. Shame I didn't think of it before. Just throw some weapons grade hand-wavium at why it does what it does because p-space is weird and it might've worked out.

A missile strike wouldn't force you out of p-space, but it would be inconvenient if you didn't manage to evade. If phased Salamanders behaved like phase ships - slowing down over time - they'd even be simpler to evade than an ordinary Salamander, especially by a player.

The Ziggle is slow, though. Way too slow to evade. So, I suppose the motes it has would need to be able to target phased Salamanders. It'd be an interesting bonus to operating a Zig, anyway.

Can't think of a softer weapon counter to phase ships than that. At least, not one that's actually effective.

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8

Blog Posts / Re: Colony Crises

« on: November 25, 2023, 03:42:48 PM »

More of a human face to the (former) Hostile Activity system, that's awesome! Complete with milestones and benefits. It seems like the natural bookend to the system, perhaps sharing similarities in some ways with Hyperspace Topography, in essence. I think that's a good thing, disparate mechanics sharing similarities at a base level. Makes them easier for new players to grasp.

Speaking of Hyperspace Topography... I'm chomping at the bit to get my hands on the new hyperspace traversal mechanics.

Gotta go fast.

9

Suggestions / Re: Better ways to get strong enemy fleets

« on: September 06, 2023, 06:30:04 PM »

Spoiler

The game already rewards you for fighting larger fleets with smaller ones and with fewer officers, you know. For example bonus xp, and skill DP caps. There's a reason why I and other high level players don't bring 30 capitals to fight Remnant stacks. Why not invest in mechanics like that if you feel more incentive to use smaller fleets in the endgame is needed, rather than add extra rules about what's not allowed in the sandbox.

Edit: dang it broke my vow of not engaging in arguments anymore. Note to self: Alex will figure it out what he wants to do, better to focus on generating content that's fun.

[close]

I don't think friendly discussion is 'arguing', so I think you're all clear?

The bonus to XP is nice, of course. If I'm not receiving 300~% bonus XP throughout my playthrough, I'm not feeling especially satisfied, either with the level of difficulty or the reward compelling enough for fighting one vs. many.

As for shaking up fleet/DP cap, well... there are already limitations at every level and type of play, most of them arbitrary. Starsector is certainly a sandbox, but it's absolutely laden with rules. If there's going to be a rule (i.e. 30 ships of any type and no more or you WILL PAY), then why not make it fun and make sense, too? In fact, if you read my proposal more closely, you'd certainly realize it would be possible to field even more ships in the end by investing in the skills and infrastructure necessary, pushing over the soft DP limit, and spending the extra supply to do it. I think it would be a fantastic crutch for new players entering the late game, and allow the player to engage in a game of numbers superiority over other lone fleets, if that's what they desire. More importantly, putting the focus on DP rather than a hard hull limit allows for a more robust and interesting diversity in ships available to deploy. Or... more of whatever you want, theoretically?

In the meantime, in the early-to-late mid game, smaller fleet sizes for everyone speeds the slog of combat along: you can choose, as a new player to engage smaller fleets piecemeal, or lure the escorts away, or as a veteran to engage the stack and fight the same kind of battle you're used to. Or... anything in-between since there are options, instead of one big monotonous fleet. We see this occasionally in some parts of the game, a larger fleet supported by one or two smaller fleets in defense of a planet or station.

All other considerations aside, and purely from a selfish perspective, it sounds fun to me. The player and their staff coming into their own and beginning to work together, establishing professional trust and improving efficiency, building up infrastructure to support their fleet, and so on. It's satisfying from a gameplay and a story perspective.

Anyways, I'm fairly certain continuing to talk about my idea is a moot point. I'm not sure about the likelihood of such a change being adopted, and it was fun to consider for a couple days, but I have to assume that's there's only a very small chance.

As for the endgame... if it isn't trivialized, then did you really learn anything along the way? The tools are all there, laid out for you. I guess that's why I prefer the journey, rather than the destination. If I'm just going to stand on the peak all alone and become bored, then I'd rather just start a new playthrough and crawl my way up from scratch, once again.

10

Suggestions / Re: Better ways to get strong enemy fleets

« on: September 05, 2023, 04:58:24 PM »

I'd be interested at least in seeing the results of modern Starsector having smaller fleets/soft DP cap adjustments on the campaign level. I'd want to try it out myself and get a feel for it, too. My initial reaction is a positive one, and that it might be fun to have more opportunities to avoid long slogs of combat with navigational/sensor trickery. 'Divide and Conquer' kind of stuff, using a small elite force to handle the smaller, quicker escort fleet(s) around the main fleet, then attacking it directly. You can kind of do that right now by engaging a fleet, fighting to a clean disengage, and then retreating. It's not really the same, though. There's no opportunity for salvage or ship recovery, and there's no opportunity to harass or pursue routed ships, either.

Or, as others are suggesting, simply specialize in leadership and engage them all en masse with your own proper doomstack anyway. Albeit, slightly smaller than is traditional, today.

It's very tempting to simply agree with the lower DP limit idea, but again, I wonder how it would actually look and feel in the game as it is today? And what essential changes would be necessary to see it through, to the benefit of players at all skill levels? There are plenty of excellent suggestions in this thread made for sources of passive DP that don't revolve around taking leadership skills, and when making progress it's always a nice feeling to "see numbers go up", in a sense. Much more concrete when that means adding tonnage to your battle group.

It doesn't need to be especially complex, right? Gain soft DP cap from leveling up, taking certain skills in Leadership and Industry, and creating certain colony structures (Waystation and Patrol HQ, referencing the single highest level of structure available). All things the player has direct, immediate, and obvious influence over. Maybe throw in upgrades for the Waystation called 'Fleet Anchorage' and 'Orbital Drydock' or some such if it doesn't feel like quite enough - mid/late game players definitely have money to sink into it - and throw in a special colony item to enhance it, like 'Domain Logisticarum Drone LPC' or something to that effect. I'd be shocked if there were people out there that didn't build Waystations, and it seems like a natural line of progression for an otherwise uninteresting and essential structure.

And if you really want to, add a possible skill for Administrators that is used when they're given governorship to boost fleet DP as well. I'm sort of ambivalent about this, though, since finding Officers and Administrators is random. Still, it would make possible high quality Administrators a little more diverse, overall.

In the end you can always just go over your soft DP cap, if you want, but pay more supplies the higher you go over the cap. Useful for surmounting particularly difficult challenges if you're having a lot of trouble, at the cost of credits.

I didn't expect to write quite so much about this, but it became more intriguing the more I read the thread. Definitely exciting, looking at the way fleet cap works. It just seems so organic and appropriate to address the system in this way. The one thing I'd consider cautioning about, though, is that progression is likely to be slowed, somewhat. Trips back from salvaging will be made more frequent when a fleet has less DP to spend on hauling around logistic ships like the Atlas and Prometheus. Still, with the upcoming changes to Hyperspace travel, I don't think that's as big a deal as it might be as Hyperspace exists right now. At least, in my opinion. Very subjective topic. Spicy, even.

Anyways, very interesting points from everyone involved in the Fleet cap discussion. Very interesting, indeed...

11

Blog Posts / Re: Wormholes and Sundry - Getting Around the Sector

« on: September 01, 2023, 05:38:26 PM »

Spoiler

There's a reason no one talks about the abyss. No doubt only the most insane or greedy Captains plumb its depths, they say, attracted by its onyx lucre. "But there's nothing there!" the officers always insist. But there is something there, isn't there? Something that calls to them, like music. Those that return are changed by it, wide-eyed and far away, telling anyone who'll listen about impossible shapes in the dark. Any Spacer with half a mind avoids them for fear of being touched by whatever they have, but sometimes a fresh crewman with mud still on their boots will stop and listen, and the whole cycle repeats itself, if they manage to come back alive... - Interview of a Former Long-Range Survey Captain, Madeira Station Promenade

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I like the lore blurb! The abyss sort of cements why the sector is completely cut off. Outside of gravity wells, hyperspace is not only prohibitively expensive to traverse but also terrifying. Pitch black, sensor ghosts everywhere, no heading to speak of...just blind groping in the dark.

Spoiler

"Knew a captain that went into the abyss 6 cycles ago. Wouldn't talk about it, so one time, me and some buddies got him proper nuked. He let slip he saw something out there. Immediately went dead-eyed. I've seen my fair share of vacuum shock but not like this. Heard he found Ludd and never left the ground again." - Veteran Spacer

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The lore practically writes itself! Enthusiasm is high for this one, I think. Thanks for sharing some of your own, I liked it. 

12

Blog Posts / Re: Wormholes and Sundry - Getting Around the Sector

« on: August 31, 2023, 05:57:57 PM »

This stuff is definitely going to revolutionize how I approach hyperspace travel and take it to the next level. Reverse Polarity and Generate Slipsurge will make putting together the puzzle of hyperspace efficiency much simpler.

Badass.

Spoiler

There's a reason no one talks about the abyss. No doubt only the most insane or greedy Captains plumb its depths, they say, attracted by its onyx lucre. "But there's nothing there!" the officers always insist. But there is something there, isn't there? Something that calls to them, like music. Those that return are changed by it, wide-eyed and far away, telling anyone who'll listen about impossible shapes in the dark. Any Spacer with half a mind avoids them for fear of being touched by whatever they have, but sometimes a fresh crewman with mud still on their boots will stop and listen, and the whole cycle repeats itself, if they manage to come back alive... - Interview of a Former Long-Range Survey Captain, Madeira Station Promenade

[close]

13

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?

14

General Discussion / Re: Venture Mk. II Ordo Farming

« on: May 25, 2023, 11:28:05 AM »

Spoiler

Do you feel like you should be able to use the same ship that you can buy at any black market for everything in the game? Want to use just one civilian ship for haulin' and busting star fortresses? Need -500 surveying requirements on your Ordo farming fleet? Allow me to recommend the Venture Mk. II, a wonderful ship that can do anything in the game, without needing officers.  _{sorry it can't fight double Ordos, at least without officers, but you do gain a literal million exp for killing just one} I decided to farm Ordos using 225 DP of unofficered Ventures under AI control, and thought I'd share because it's pretty fun.

This is the first thing I've seen all week that made me laugh out loud. Shine on you crazy guy, with your silly, lumbering Venture mk.II fleet.

You find all kinds of fun stuff. I like that.

Thanks! It was fun. I really enjoyed doing something new again. I'll dedicate this next build to you.

Although, believe it or not, my build in the OP which I found grinding and grinding against Radiants in the simulator is surprisingly optimal. I have now spent another day's gaming time budget on trying to improve the build without investing more SP. It's been almost impossible. Here is a list of things I've tried

- Shorter range, more flux efficient weapons
- Literally every single bomber with DTA (this actually works with the Legion, you can get infinite Hammers, but not with the Venture apparently since there isn't enough anti-shield even with Longbows)
- Sarissa
- DTA Broadswords
- DTA Thunders
- Locust + Hammers
- Squalls and HE bombers / Hammers
- Improving the flux stats significantly at cost of range
- Removing Converted Hangar to improve flux stats and guns

None of these have improved the build. At all. In fact it does worse.

I have finally been able to improve it slightly though, taking a cue from the standard overpowered Gryphon build. Compared with the original build I replaced Reapers with Breaches that are linked with the HVDs in weapon groups. This causes the AI to not hesitate using them which improves performance. Additionally I removed Militarized Subsystems for ITU and caps for an IR Autolance to deal more hull damage.



This build can take out Ordos cleaner, with often only a few losses even against strong Ordos, with the same parameters of 25 Ventures and no officers. I think it could take out a double Ordo if only it didn't run out of missiles after killing one, since the start of the fight is usually very clean, even if there are Radiants coming in, so long as you use orders as in the OP. I don't really see a solution to this, though; the main solution is Missile Specialization but I can't have 25 officers.

These Ventures work great as backup though, I have farmed some SP (which I spent on the Legions) using 4 Legions with this fleet and then it's easily a double Ordo fleet when you place the Legions in the front line.

[close]

I've been playing around with breaches and the autolance, too! The damage potential isn't amazing at the start or mid-points of a battle, but if you have some chunky low-tech ships (Like the Ventures here) it starts to shine later on. Shame it isn't a hybrid weapon in a similar vein to the Mining Blaster, we might have an interesting alternative to the Thumper if it was. Kinda has that "hybrid weapon" vibe to it. "Low-tech" energy is kinda grungy in an appealing sort of way.

Nice showcase.

btw it's derelict operootions

15

General Discussion / Re: the 4 way choice in the skill points distribution is unfun

« on: May 23, 2023, 04:52:45 PM »

I'd encourage you to try the whole Dram thing if really want to, but I wasn't kidding when I said I thought it was incredibly boring. It's like playing a title crawl that just goes on, and on, and on...

You are one and half a year late to this revelation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEZrw6tkjfQ

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Haha, holy crap, we had the same idea around the same time. Great(?) minds think alike? That's hilarious. Thank you for sharing that with me.