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211

Mods / Re: [0.95a] Beyond The Sector - Endless Randomized Systems

« on: January 23, 2023, 02:38:15 PM »

Just wrote this for someone in the unnoficial discord & they pointed out that it'd be helpful for this thread -
here's a console command that'll remove any BTS-added systems & hopefully save you from the slipstream crash, though you'll have to keep the mod enabled.

Code

        runcode
        import com.fs.starfarer.api.Global;
        import com.fs.starfarer.api.campaign.StarSystemAPI;

        boolean removedAnything = false;
        for (StarSystemAPI system : Global.getSector().getStarSystems()) {
            if (system.getLocation().getX() == Float.MAX_VALUE) {
                Global.getSector().removeStarSystem(system);
                removedAnything = true;
            }
        }
        Console.showMessage(removedAnything);

212

Suggestions / Re: Disabled Ship = Escape Pods, not Boom

« on: January 23, 2023, 08:58:19 AM »

Edgy.

yeah, this lol.
Rusty edge had a neat idea (though it probably wouldn't be used by players, it does make sense) & it would make for some nice visual flair, but everyone else in this thread is being annoyingly edgy.

213

Modding / Re: Misc modding questions that are too minor to warrant their own thread

« on: January 22, 2023, 09:37:32 AM »

Huh, that's very odd. Nothing comes to mind immediately as a problem. If you have a minimal snippet of code I can run somewhere (i.e. probably pasting it into some existing intel item) to reproduce this behavior, I can take a look!

the issue also shows up when fighting a large enough fleet, ships in the list will still be mouse-overable even if they've been scrolled off the bottom of the main visible area

214

Modding / Re: Misc modding questions that are too minor to warrant their own thread

« on: January 17, 2023, 11:37:25 AM »

I'm trying to figure out how to make universal mounts capable of mounting any smaller weapon- the json doesn't seem to have anything to fix it, does anyone have any ideas as to how? Did I just blatantly miss something?

as far as I know you just can't, mounts can only mount smaller weapons that are the same type (and only one size down).

215

General Discussion / Re: Not trying to jinx anything, but...

« on: January 17, 2023, 11:35:13 AM »

As for whether or not the PCL's need to be toned down, it sort of depends. It's a player tactic, not something that the general AI can use, and it takes some practice for the player to use it well. So it's kind of like phase ships in that sense. So it's a bit debatable whether or not it needs to be adjusted.

Imo one of the main problems with the PCL is that it's basically a player-only weapon; the idea of having weapons that are plain just worse / outright useless for the AI doesn't sit right with me.

I also did another PCL vs hellbore test, this time vs a "full tank" onslaught- heavy armour, armoured weapon mounts, shield shunt on the ship & impact mitigation + polarised armour on the officer.
This time I didn't even need to trim the clips down, the PCL's was a crisp twelve seconds while the hellbore took 32 to deal any hull damage. The main reason for the difference was innacuracy as far as I could tell, hellbore shots were flying every which way while the PCL was always hammering the same few armour cells.

As for any potential changes I've only really got 2 suggestions, one simple and one a little wacky -

the simple one is to just give it some not-insignificant recoil so the damage gets spread around; it's supposed to be a minelayer anyway, let it cover a wider area!
the wacky one is the classic : just make it deal frag damage for instant balance!^tm. it'd let it lean more into PD while still keeping most of the DPS. maybe up the ammo to 75 as well so shots are less "wasted"

216

Suggestions / Re: Poison gameplay loop; (by design)

« on: January 17, 2023, 07:33:05 AM »

Sid Meier also said that "given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of a game", which is what I think you've done here.
Frankly, I'm impressed that you found this "exploit", I wouldn't be surprised if you're the only player to ever do it- I'd never thought of using support doctrine like this till reading the thread.

And this brings me to the second half of the quote I mentioned - "one of the responsibilities of designers is to protect the player from themselves."
I broadly agree with FooF & BCS; there is no problem to fix here, you can either just not care (because seriously, 4.9333...% extra damage is meaningless) or achieve the same result through different means (crew training, combat endurance, hull restoration + smods, etc), you've just found a perticularly tedious way to get there.
any changes to any of the mechanics here would be meaningless, at worst they'd be getting rid of an interesting strategy- using an officer to get the +ammo from missile spec without taking the skill yourself, you have to decide if that boost is worth losing out on an extra officered ship - & at best they'd be so carefully specific that they'd be fixing exactly one "problem" that (as far as I know) only one person has ever encountered.

and don't even get me started on "playing optimally" - arguably there is no such thing as optimal play in starsector because there's no set end goal.

though I do agree with you on the mission side of things, a few types of missions (particularly spysat deployments) are just permanent no-takes for me because they're basically always targeting planets that are a PITA to get to undetected; they deserve a looking at.
... but I don't think that your solutions actually offer any interesting decisions (for the mission and skills), they mostly just add extra steps to things that are already doable.

217

Modding / Re: Misc modding questions that are too minor to warrant their own thread

« on: January 16, 2023, 05:36:47 AM »

Is there a way I can intercept damage to a shield right before it is applied and modify it? If so, has the damage at that point already been affected by any damage modifiers based on damage type, shield efficiency or other things?


I want to create a different type of shield where it doesn't create flux when hit but there is a total amount of damage it can take per battle before shutting down.

make damageTakenModifier listener & add it to the target ship, they get run before hits get fully processed.

218

General Discussion / Re: Just a little question about systems expertise.

« on: January 14, 2023, 03:07:48 AM »

Does the system expertise skill affect the damper field that replaces the shield on the vanguard? Or does it only affect its burn drive?

it affects both, just tested it -
with sysex it takes 10s to regen a charge of damper field (3s while active, 7s while not active regen), withough sysex it takes 20s to regen a charge

219

Mods / Re: [0.95.1a-RC6] The Xhan Empire, version 2.4 Thousand Eyes

« on: January 14, 2023, 02:56:17 AM »

Question: if I'm not starting as one of Xhan empire who would me Contact to start building rerations with them?

they don't have any special contacts to give you an easy in, you'll have to do bar missions until the game descides to give you one

220

General Discussion / Re: Not trying to jinx anything, but...

« on: January 13, 2023, 06:31:37 AM »

Sorry for being a noob, but I have zero experience with this weapon. I think I even forgot it existed. Please share your best PCL builds for general use such as fighting Remnants. How to use it? Does the 4x PCL Onslaught work well?

I don't really do remnant fights because I don't find them interesting, but I usually use this build for an onslaught I'm piloting.
most of the damage comes from the pcls, the mjolnir is bsically there as anti-frigate emotional support and for when they run out of ammo.

and yeah heh, last update the PCL was a fairly ordinary pd weapon, though it generally wasn't great because it was a limited ammo pd weapon competing with stuff like the sabot & harpoon.

large image, my onslaught build

[close]

(And I'll get back to you on that after some concrete testing BCS, but I'd like to see a falcon with 4 hellbores and nothing else solo the zigg)

EDIT : I have returned after some extremely unscientific testing!
I fired a pcl & hellbore at the onslaught-equivalent target from target practice, then lined up the clips in window 11's awful builtin video editor (some abominable piece of software called clipchamp) & cut them down to be from when the first hit connected to when hull damage started being dealt.
The hellbore, A large ballistic weapon that costs 750 flux to fire, did it in 6.21 seconds.
The PCL, A medium missile weapon that costs no flux to fire, did it in exactly 3 seconds.
I think that the problem here is obvious.

as for the range / speed concerns, they're definitely a problem, but in my experience the PCL is about as reliable as the hellbore (if not more so); both struggle with hitting things at range that aren't standing stock still but the PCL is better at hitting smaller targets up close.
though yeah, the limited ammo can be a problem in longer battles, but I've never been in a situation where I was out of ammo and still had most of a battle to fight.

221

General Discussion / Not trying to jinx anything, but...

« on: January 13, 2023, 02:37:22 AM »

Has the proximity charge launcher received any changes in-dev?
Not that it deserves any, per-se, but it's stats are currently a little wacky for a pd weapon imo; 500 he per-shot, one shot per second & a pretty solid ammo reserve, it's basically a better hellbore with added fighter-clearing (while you've got ammo).

admittedly it being a pd weapon does restrict it's usefulness on AI ships, but something like 4 pcls on a player driven onslaught will just shred anything through sheer DPS.

EDIT : actually yeah nah they're disgustingly good, they definitely deserve the nerf bat.
vladokapuh just posted this in the unnoficial discord, it's also doable with no officer.

222

General Discussion / Re: I'm trying to play first tutorial- how do I get to galaxy map?

« on: January 13, 2023, 01:38:42 AM »

how do i get to galaxy map?



and why can't i leave the starting system?

you can open the map of the sector by pressing tab then q (or the map button at the bottom of the screen then the "sector button at the top left")

and yeah, you're locked in the starting system for the tutorial, it shouldn't take too long to leave

223

Modding / Re: Misc modding questions that are too minor to warrant their own thread

« on: January 12, 2023, 12:20:56 PM »

How can I get all projectiles within a certain range of a specific missile?

Also, do projectiles have mass like a ship?

for the projectiles check, something like this should work

Code

            //use whatever for the missile
            //getCheckIterator gets everything in a square area centered on the first param

            MissileAPI missile = null;          
            Iterator<Object> iter = engine.getAllObjectGrid().getCheckIterator(missile.getLocation(), width, height); 
            while (iter.hasNext()) {
                Object next = iter.next();
                if (next instanceof DamagingProjectileAPI) {
                    //yada yada do your stuff here
                    //will need to do a second distance check in here if you want to make sure it's a circular area instead of a square
                }
            }

and no, projectiles have no mass.

224

Bug Reports & Support / Re: How to ensure downloaded version is most up to date?

« on: January 09, 2023, 12:43:18 PM »

Just wondering how to know if you have the most updated version of starsector installed? I'm pretty sure I have with 0.95.1a-RC6 but there's mods looking for 0.95.1a-RC9 and 0.95.1a-RC12....

if you've got version checker (or nexerelin), you'll get a message every time you open a save. otherwise just check the forums, the "news" thing at the top left of the page will generally point to the latest release
(and modders usually only change the big number when updating a mod, the RC doesn't actually matter for compatibility)

225

Modding / Re: Misc modding questions that are too minor to warrant their own thread

« on: January 07, 2023, 10:43:33 AM »

Hey Alex, could you add a way for ships to house drone-fighters only. Currently the only way is through the automated ship hullmod and there's nothing in the hullmod itself that governs this so I'm guessing it's handled elsewhere.

It would be nice if we could, for example, remove the mining pods from the Shepherd and upgrade it to carry wasps... or worse...

You can do this yourself already; make a FighterOPCostModifier listener that checks for the auto_fighter tag or similar, if it doesn't find the tag set the op cost to 10k (I'd imagine automated ship basically does this behind the scenes)
the fighter / weapon op cost mod listeners are super powerful tools, you can mess around with them to do basically anything to op costs