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

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Messages - DrTechman42

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31
Is there a way to save edit the output of the Laboratory industry? The current roll made it barely usable for the planet and I hope to change it somehow.

I've figured it out. To all those who shall venture after me: go into the save file, search "Ancient Laboratory" and locate the long string just underneath. That string contains the ref id that you search next and you get all you need. Just change the output.

32
Suggestions / Re: "Explorer" contact type
« on: December 23, 2021, 11:07:42 AM »
Finally got to play around the new update. The 'show hyperspace currents' thing should definately last longer than half a cycle. Maybe multiple cycles (2-3). Otherwise it is going to be nearly useless. Good expeditions last around a cycle and being able to plan your route is a good thing.

If we are going more fictional then how about a bait for the larger current-creating ghosts? Make it an ability with limited uses, it spawns the ghost at the point where you've activated it and then you can use it to create your personal slipstream (to go exactly where you want to go). Would be fun, but would be weird for vanilla. A nice idea for a mod though.

33
Suggestions / Re: "Explorer" contact type
« on: December 11, 2021, 10:23:50 AM »
Came up with another one for 25-50 relations
Neutrino detector upgrade.
Basically the Mk-2 Neutrino mod, but vanilla and for a limited period of time. (Due to usage of highly radioactive materials that just decay into being useless?). Eliminating false positives surely helps exploring and allows the player to complete the missions from the contact more efficiently, thus the contact has the motivation to provide us this service.
The time limit part is to be debated as it may become rather annoying if the period is too short.

34
Suggestions / Re: "Explorer" contact type
« on: October 08, 2021, 02:26:23 AM »
Yeah, I’ve forgotten how the loot is calculated. Faster depletion on the very first iteration of tech-mining can lead to interesting results.

Another idea:
Low relations (0-25)
Ask for a map of hyperspace currents. Pay some amount of money and you are given either a partial or a full map of the new currents. Maybe the area of the sector that is revealed is based on either on the importance or the relations? Like, the more resources the contact has (importance) or the more resources the contact can receive from you (relations) the more area is revealed.

35
Suggestions / Re: "Explorer" contact type
« on: October 04, 2021, 10:57:19 AM »
Another idea: people have been asking for an upgrade to the Tech-mining for a long time. Maybe these two can interact with one another? The contact may have some specialists to spare that could boost the efficiency of the industry. The ruins depliting slower? Improving the chance of getting better loot?

36
Mods / Re: [0.95a] Mayasuran Navy 8.3.5 RC2
« on: October 04, 2021, 10:53:47 AM »
Knight Chase, you've been asking for ship feedback, right? May I bring your attention to the Excalibur? I feel like something is wrong about it's flux dissipation. Even if you max out vents it cannot sustain continuous firing from the railgun. A ship that is built with a single weapon in mind is not capable of firing it without overloading. It just feels weird.

On a semi related note, I've talked to Alex on twitter and he says that he plans to remove the Ranged Mastery skill. And, considering the fact that Nebulosa now does not have it's railgun, how abot a specialised capital ship who's gimmick would be being as far from the enemy as possible? Mayasura is about big integrated guns now. So how about an even bigger gun than an Excalibur? With some fun low-scale side effects like in Superweapons Arsenal (physics going wild due to all the energy in play)? Maybe with a ship system like the Neutrino Corp. Jackhammer (you stay still, but get some damage and range boost for a small period of time)?

It's just a wish though, as I hate being close to the enemy. There is nothing noble in getting your crew get killed due to hull damage. Now that Nebulosa is different it's either using the Paragon as a flagship (no fun) or getting close and personal (ethical problems). Mostly what I'm asking for is to keep in mind a possible need for rebalance due to Ranged Mastery skill going out of the window.

Thanks for a great mod! May Mairaath be green again!

37
Suggestions / Re: "Explorer" contact type
« on: October 02, 2021, 09:43:06 PM »
I don't believe you can get missions from scanning coronal hypershunts, and that would be lore-breaking considering nobody else except the Hegemony and Tri-Tach leaders know about them.

And yet I’ve got a couple. Maybe it was a bug though as I remember it happening before the patches for .95. Then the research stations would be the highest tier?

38
Suggestions / "Explorer" contact type
« on: October 02, 2021, 11:02:36 AM »
   Every contact is devoted to a certain playstyle. You like trading and interacting with the economy? Go to the Trader. Smuggling? Underworld has got you covered. Bounty hunting? The sector is filled with those who deserve death and the Military contact is happy to make you the executioner.
   This being said, rifling through the trash left from the Domain is just as important part of any playthrough (for me at least) but it doesn't have it's own contact. Here I'll try to come up with a few mission types for these contacts (and I really hope that you, dear reader, will aid me in this endeavour) following these guidelines:
  • Starsector is at it's best during combat and the game should lead the player into more fighting.
  • Every other contact is sustainable (you can ask them for missions indefinitely) and Explorer should be no different.
  • The bar is filled with possible outcomes and adding more will make it extremely difficult to find those you need.

   How should the player find this contact?
I really don't want to make the bar even more bloated so I think that the contacts should appear during common exploration contracts. After you finish the scan you have to send the data back, right? And there will be some human being to recieve it. Some of those "Exploration Coordinators" (recievers) may be in need of some adventuring captain. In order to determine the quality of contact the game should take both the distance and the scanned object into account. Scanning a coronal hypershunt should always lead to someone important while probes and planets should not.

   Low relations (0-25)
1) The same thing but with a twist. You also take probe/planet scanning missions but these will have significantly more drone protection. There is a reason why this mission is offered to you, after all. The reward should scale accordingly.
2) The Academician mission but on a significantly smaller scale. You get some blueprints but nothing as important as an alpha core or capital ships. You'll still have to shoot some drones though.

    Favorable relations (25-50)
1) Scanning some dangerous stuff. Remnant nexus? Cryosleepers? Derelicts in medium/high danger systems? This will make the player to change their fleet. Stealthy phase ships? Fast small frigates and interdiction pulses? There are many ways to do this.
2)Type 1 from low relations but with some guaranteed loot like beta cores or minor colony items?

    Friendly relations (50-75)
1) The academician mission but on a larger scale? More drones to fight but the loot is still inferior. That mission is unique for a reason. Thus it makes a unique mission repeatable but more difficult and with less loot.
2) Shooting down some specific Remnant ordo for analysis. You get the loot and the reward, they get the data. This should be a high level threat.

    Cooperative relations (75-100)
1) Lets imagine that there were some advanced Domain interstellar automated stations. Like motherships but a bit different. Since the collapse they were up to themselves and are sometimes sighted here and there with significant drone escort. They linger in a system for a while and then move somewhere else.
The contact may lead you to these structures to get some specific data and you go there to get some very advanced loot. The game is to spawn these structures thus making exploration inexhaustible and making the contact sustainable. Here the game can unleash hell onto the player and make it a very difficult fight. But the spoils are worth it: guaranteed colony items and maybe something on top. The time limit is also explained: the station will move somewhere else if you aren't fast enough.


Most of the ideas come from the time when I was pitching a research mechanic. Developing something totally new seems to be lore-unfriendly (I strongly disagree though, the Tessaract is definately post-collapse). This idea is all about scavenging what is left.
Hope that you'll like this and that there will be some more mission ideas. I was unable to achieve a satisfactory amount on my own.

39
Mods / Re: [0.95a] Industrial.Evolution 2.2.f - Campaign content expansion
« on: September 04, 2021, 11:36:15 PM »
Hello, I'd like to report a couple of bugs that I've found.
1) The bonus from the ancient lab nullifies on save load. In my case the steps to recreate are: restore the lab, plant a beta core and get +3, save, load and it's back to base value. Gets reset when I remove and place back the beta core.

2) The Restoration Nanites are in the pool of the artifacts that the historian can tell you about. It was sad to spend many story points and to be greeted with "you shouldn't have this"

Other than that, thanks for the mod! Can't imagine playing Starsector without it.

40
Hello, I'd like to report a bug with the [Redacted] contact. The dialogue that you get at "welcoming" stage. The "I beg your pardon" option does not go anywhere, you just press it a number of times and recieve no reaction from the game. The second option works just fine. I've looked through the log but it didn't show anything about the dialogue.

41
Hello, I'm getting a CTD when shooting from the remnant gauss cannon with an error text of "Fatal: Texture [trails_trail_zappy] from category [fx] not found. Check starsector.log for more info"
The log:
Spoiler
256789 [Thread-3] ERROR com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain  - java.lang.RuntimeException: Texture [trails_trail_zappy] from category [fx] not found
java.lang.RuntimeException: Texture [trails_trail_zappy] from category [fx] not found
   at com.fs.starfarer.settings.StarfarerSettings.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.settings.StarfarerSettings.?00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.settings.StarfarerSettings$1.getSprite(Unknown Source)
   at data.scripts.plugins.MagicAutoTrails.createTrailSegment(MagicAutoTrails.java:143)
   at data.scripts.plugins.MagicAutoTrails.advance(MagicAutoTrails.java:132)
   at com.fs.starfarer.title.Object.L$Oo.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.B.super(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advanceInner(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatEngine.advance(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatState.traverse(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.state.AppDriver.begin(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.combat.CombatMain.main(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher.o00000(Unknown Source)
   at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$1.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
[close]

The actual png is indeed named differently, but I'm not sure if it will fix everything. What do I have to edit to fix is (what file is responsible for the trail)?

Disregard that one, The problem was solved after installing Trailer Moments.

42
Suggestions / Re: Players starting their own R&D
« on: April 30, 2020, 11:50:02 PM »
Sector here is just like any planet in Rimworld: you trapped here, but can research to break free.
This. We actually have multiple situations of collapse, like Kenshi and Rimworld, where R&D (or no D) still goes on. We are already capable of building a ship (after finding a blueprint) and proudly saying "I've built this!". Why not to make a step further and say "I've created and built this!"?

Right now, we have Economy, Warfare and Diplomacy (with the help of Nexerelin). Why not to add another layer?

Also, remember the quest for an academic that asks you to get him an Alpha core? Some stuff is going on already; we just can't interact with it.
We can go even deeper. We can create two paths: 1) go on your own 2) let the AI go on and use the result. 1) can take a huge amount of time and money; 2) can be faster and cheaper, but it could lead us to Crying Suns scenario.
 
What you're suggesting sounds more at-home in a 4x game.

You sound like that's something bad (made by the 2000+ hours in 4X gang)

43
Suggestions / Re: Players starting their own R&D
« on: April 29, 2020, 07:24:33 AM »
What is my army doing goofing off at my colonies?
Garrison?
I do understand the problem though. Here we are entering the part of lack of engagement/too much micromanagement. I (being a fanatical technophile) am more than capable of sinking hours into that mechanic just because it appeals to me so much.
Fetching? Maybe too much. Hunting exotic stuff in the red beacon star systems? That's the goal for a few paragons in a single fleet.

44
Suggestions / Players starting their own R&D
« on: April 29, 2020, 06:30:38 AM »
I understand that such suggestions have already been made, but the most recent one is six years old, so I wanted to see if anything has changed.

So, you have a colony that is a home to a few million people. You have established industry with ships full of goods flying here and there between the worlds of your faction. Why not to gather the brightest minds of these worlds and start a small Research and Development department and put all those vast ruins filled with Domain technology to use?

This being said, after a certain threshold for the infrastructure has been met, the player is given the ability to start refining (and maybe even creating something completely new) stuff. That should be an industry with significant upkeep (to justify the fact that the other factions aren’t doing this too) and that is only buildable on worlds that are large enough. You can start different projects that would enhance the efficiency of either the industry or the military. That could range from Stellaris-like +X% to something to some new and exotic mechanics.

For example: I want to invent a new weapon. First, I pay a substantial amount of money to start the process. Then I am given a statblock for the weapon and the ability to choose a model of the weapon. That could be a few models to choose from (just like the faction flags) and be completely cosmetic or the model could be defined by the stats of the weapon (too difficult to implement though). The stats can be made by using a points pool system and the amount of points can be varied depending on the funding of the R&D (if you want a true wunderwaffe that completely matches your playstyle you’d better be able to pay for it). Once you set up the project, the R&D should start posting you different missions to keep the project moving (we want it to be an engaging lategame experience, right?). Something like “Get us a bunch of transplutonics” or “Hey, there is a red danger beacon nearby, can you go there and scan a few ruins for us?” or “We need to learn more how do the [Redacted] work, can you please go and fight a few of them? Be sure not to destroy it before the scan completes.” (Forcing you to either to out maneuver or to tank all the damage in the process).

After you complete a project, in order to build something you have invented you will need to pay in resources, not only money. It is so because it is almost hand-made and not a simple blueprint that can be easily 3d printed. Maybe you could toss a few Alpha-cores for a few months to make a blueprint.

That’s it. I see it as a long-term investment of time and resources for the players to watch after with a reward that would be worth it. The player’s skills are also likely to affect the process. It also could be nice if there would be some interactions with the other factions. For example, a pirate lord says that he has what your R&D wants and agrees to sell it to you for a large sum of money. You come to an isolated star system far away from the core worlds only to be ambushed by that pirate “We’ve lied that we had had that thing, but you do have the money we want.”
 
Sorry for any mistakes in terms of English. Hope to hear your thoughts and additions.

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