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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 - Megas

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10516
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« on: October 19, 2015, 06:30:13 PM »
Ah, Megas going off with his Cruisers and Capture orders.  I feel like it would make the game a lot more flexible, even if it's not used by too many people.  Simply adds more possibilities and eliminates the moments of frustration when the throws you a curve ball like that.
It would make a cruiser-only fleet easier to use, especially if I use Falcons as scouts.  And sometimes, I would like a cruiser to go to a point and steal it from puny enemy ships, if the cruiser is fast and close enough, or is the only other ship I have on the map.

10517
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« on: October 19, 2015, 06:12:25 PM »
With Safety Override hullmod and officers that can get Helmsmanship 10 (and Falcon getting more mounts to be competitive), cruisers can be optimized to be seriously fast.  Can we have cruisers obey the Capture order?

10518
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« on: October 19, 2015, 04:32:49 PM »
Re: Small slots
Depends on the weapons the small slots can use.  Railgun and needler are great, but needs a similarly long-ranged HE or big damage energy weapon to complement it, and there are not any such small non-kinetic weapons of matching range (missiles do not count because they have low ammo).  LAG is decent.  Energy weapons are either too short-ranged (bolts) or hard-countered by shields (beams) if not backed up by other weapons.

Currently, speed and shot range are among the most important combat stats (for those who want to solo fleets with smaller ships), and medium and large ballistics are the best at shot range.

10519
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« on: October 19, 2015, 02:12:10 PM »
MIRV changes sound like it has become the heavy Harpoon.
Oh man, it's rather monstrous now.
More monstrous than Cyclone Reaper?  If not, I will probably stick with Cyclone Reapers for my flagship.  MIRVs is what I give to the less competent AI, or to a Conquest when I cannot turn it without disrupting the broadsides' firing.  Since MIRVs will not regenerate, I will probably downgrade to Pilums instead, unless the new large missile weapons are better.  (I tend to build ships for endurance and kiting, and limited ammo interferes with that.)

10520
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« on: October 19, 2015, 01:39:45 PM »
Question:  Is the new Assault Chaingun considered a PD weapon like the Heavy Machine Gun?

10521
Announcements / Re: Starsector 0.7a (In Development) Patch Notes
« on: October 19, 2015, 01:28:22 PM »
Assorted comments:

Streamlining end-of-combat sounds good.  75% CR back does seem like an incentive to over-deploy, but then again, I like chain-battling, which is why I over-deploy to spread the CR hit to everyone.

Does fighting Luddic Path affect reputation with the Luddic Church?  If not, yay!  More targets to fight!

Yay!  No more toll trolls.  No need to fool them anymore (by running away immediately after a scan starts).

MIRV changes sound like it has become the heavy Harpoon.

"Safety Overrides" sounds like it could be a dream for various playstyles, especially vent-spammers who load up on Heavy Blasters, depending on the stat mods and hullmod cost.

So it seems Assault Chaingun has become the HE counterpart to the Heavy Machine Gun.  I am a bit sad there is no 800 range compliment to the Heavy Autocannon/Needler.

Missile racks becoming cheaper sounds good.  I almost never use them because 5 OP was too much, especially when Annihilators were more effective for less.

IR Pulse Laser becoming cheaper is good.  Now I have a choice to sacrifice range for accuracy in case of universals.  I would probably still pick ballistics over IR pulse laser due to better range and no windup, but at least it is no longer a blatant no-brainer.

It seems high-end energy weapons are simply more range and +50% DPS over medium counterparts.

It is about time Ion Cannon got cheaper flux usage now that it lost flux supercharge bonus.

Heavy Mauler might have needed the nerf, though HVD may appear even more attractive.  Main reason to get Mauler over the more accurate HVD was the extra DPS (and fire rate for some ships).

I like that the (standard) Falcon will get two small energy mounts.  It will truly become a little Eagle instead of a bigger Hammerhead with less firepower.

P.S. It is about time ships piloted by super soldiers were worth more XP.  Earning less (than double) XP from Combat 10 monsters than easier old Hegemony defense fleets was a rip-off!  It might help even up the combat-trade disparity of XP gains.

10522
General Discussion / Re: So no talk about the new weapons, huh?
« on: October 17, 2015, 03:15:18 PM »
It also helps that I spend a lot of time modding games, and I need to cheat to test my creations frequently.  I am too busy modding another game at the moment to think about starting a project for Starsector.  (Plus, I need to learn how to use a 3D modeler so I can make ships for both Transcendence and Starsector.)  Eventually, I should skip mods and just make my own game.

I have more fun smashing things as a virtual god while testing mods than I do playing a game honestly.

P.S.
If I played all my games with a mindset where "It's only fun if I curbstomp and win all the time", I would never pay for games because I'd only play through them once before throwing them away.
These days, I stick mostly to freeware or old classics I got at least ten years ago, whenever I am not busy trying to make something, which is rare for me now.

That is why I took a chance at buying Starsector for $10 years ago instead of waiting for a more finished product at a higher price.  Starsector is very good despite some flaws.

I got Starsector because it was nice piloting something that felt bigger than a space fighter, namely anything with multiple linked-fire weapons.  Ships in Star Control 2 feel like space fighters (even dreadnoughts like Ur-Quan), and unmodded Transcendence features only space fighters (i.e., no frigates or larger) as playerships.  Also, Starsector lets me command fleets.  Star Control 2 were duels of chain-flagships, and Transcendence is usually lonely you against everything.

10523
General Discussion / Re: So no talk about the new weapons, huh?
« on: October 17, 2015, 12:58:36 PM »
Pride or power, take your pick.

I have played Diablo II online enough to see how serious and competitive many players are, and if you want to compete, you need to compete at their level or don't bother.  Even before Diablo II, arcade fighting games like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Tekken had their share of cutthroat competition, and if I did not exploit top tier game elements, you lost your credits and you get to wait in line (because there were three or so other people waiting in line to challenge the winner) before you get to play again.  Even during the '80s, some games had exploits to help extend your game and/or get your initials on the high score, such as sitting on the middle ledge to spear pterodactyls in Joust.  Such an environment helped mold me into who some call munchkin that am I today.

10524
General Discussion / Re: So no talk about the new weapons, huh?
« on: October 17, 2015, 09:55:33 AM »
Re: Weapon comments from Linnis (and Thaago)
Well, you get what you pay for with Arbalest.  The stats may be sub-par compared to better options, but the weapon is effective enough to be usable (and useful... and dangerous when used against you), much like Mark IX, except you pay rock-bottom OP with this one.  The main thing that discourages me from using this is 700 range.  If Railgun was more common, I would probably use it instead (for better accuracy).  But since railgun is a bit rare, I occasionally use Arbalest instead, usually on an Eagle with three Heavy Blasters (needs all the OP it can get for maximum flux stats).  Arbalest is also readily available in open market.

Light Mortar... is cheap, and if there is a ship that can use it effectively, it would be the Lasher (and maybe Cerberus).  Light Mortar used to be useful in earlier versions when I can start as a Lasher or buy one after one fight, and I cannot get LAGs.  Now, thanks to increased ship costs and locked behind relations, the earliest I can get a Lasher is the suicide exploit at the start of the game, and doing that gives me a Lasher with LAGs and LMGs.  By the time I can acquire a Lasher any other way, I probably have acquired some LAGs, and there is no need for Mortars by that point.  Mortars are something to use if you cannot get LAGs or as an alternative for hybrids or civilians that are squeezed for OP.

Heavy Machine Gun is unreliable as PD, and totally outclassed by other alternatives.  Flak is better PD, and as murderous as Vulcan Cannon against hull.  Heavy Autocannon or even Arbalest are better all-purpose kinetics (more range, less OP cost).

Assault Chaingun is very bad.  In short, poor accuracy and range for what you pay for.  Needs better accuracy and range or cheaper OP cost.

10525
General Discussion / Re: So no talk about the new weapons, huh?
« on: October 17, 2015, 07:42:49 AM »
Disagree. This game loses all interest for me when I get "over the hump" and start decimating everything. Where is the challenge? It should take me longer than five minutes to outfit my ships with my favorite weapons.

It isn't so much the grind as the feeling of safety. I want to feel nervous when I take 1000 units of food from planet A to planet B. I want to feel like I might have to actually use that "Full Retreat" button in the corner sometimes. I feel like I don't play the "Escape" scenario enough from the escapee's side.
As I posted before, many may disagree (with me).  For me, challenge via grinding or fighting superior foe because I am underpowered is not fun.  Smashing everyone (wimps or other demigods alike) like a god of war, after achieving full power (offered by base game, no mods), is.  I have more fun after I get "over the hump".  Until then, it is a grind.  Simply put, I play games to smash things like an angry kaiju, and so-called challenges tend to get in the way of that.  I prefer to get full power anytime between from game start to half game done, then have opposition escalate from there.  I dislike numerous eleventh-hour powers.  I realize my idea of fun is... unorthodox.

I look at all the aggressive balancing and feel the need to remind you all that weapon and ship availability is not finalized, and that eventually a plasma gun will be much more difficult and expensive to obtain than a machine gun, and that difficulty will be a major part of gameplay, so it will be perfectly justified in being significantly superior to the machine gun. Let's not do what I like to call "balancing to the most boring common denominator". Right now it doesn't work well because availability is almost completely a non-factor, but once we have things like missions, exploration, blueprints, industry, research...?

Can you imagine an RPG game where end-game gear isn't allowed to be an upgrade from the rusty stick you start with, for "balance"? Not the same genre and it doesn't translate directly, but you know what I mean.
Balance should only be enough to prevent game-breakers and to give all options a purpose.  I like some unbalance because it makes things fun.  I played enough stale games where so-called balance was the primary design goal and religiously adhered to.

10526
General Discussion / Re: So no talk about the new weapons, huh?
« on: October 17, 2015, 05:52:53 AM »
Quote
Isn't a clear progression much more interesting, where the player can get better and better weapons over time?
No!  That is boring grinding.  The sooner I achieve max power, the better.  I want to fly around and smash things, not get stuck with kiddie gloves before I pay my dues for most of the game.  However, many people may disagree, and if the primary aim of the game for Fractal Softworks is to make money, masses should be given the grinding they crave.

Progression may be fine if it is justified by lore.  For so-called balance or other gaming tropes, not so much.

10527
General Discussion / Re: So no talk about the new weapons, huh?
« on: October 16, 2015, 06:47:21 PM »
Graviton beam adds nothing to a ship with kinetic ballistics.
For a brawler build I see no sense in investing in a flux hungry jack-of-all-trades weapon when I have more efficient ballistic specialists against shield and armor at my disposal. Better safe the OP for flux stats.
Graviton beam is not for killing shields.  It is to add +100 more damage (vs. hull, +50 vs. armor) and not get distracted by missiles because I have IPDAI.  Some damage from 1000 or 1200 range is better than none.  If I need more OP or I don't care about IPDAI letting missiles distract tactical lasers, I use more tactical lasers instead.

Heavy blaster is for yet more damage.  That said, I do not brawl with Conquest because Onslaught and Paragon do it better, and Dominator and Eagle do it cheaper.

If there was a basic 'do good damage efficiently at good range' energy weapon like almost every ballistic weapon is, why would you take a quirky weapon over it? You'd put that on all your ships, and your fleet would really be no different from your average low tech fleet. This is one of the main failings of mods like SS+ and especially nomads, I think - people see this missing role and add their own weapons in to fill it, but in the end it just replaces the whole variety of interesting vanilla energy weapons with what is basically another plain old ballistic weapon - even more plain, in fact, because it does energy damage and not kinetic or high explosive.
In case of universals, energy weapons are subpar, except for Heavy Blaster and maybe a few beams (and AM Blaster for flagships with no Missile Spec.)  I have no reason to use energy weapons instead of ballistics (or missiles).  For ships stuck with energy mounts, it is PD beams, Heavy Blaster, Pulse Laser (for Tempest), Phase Lance (only if Advanced Optics is available, otherwise it is trash because it is totally outclassed by pulse laser and heavy blaster), or bust.

10528
General Discussion / Re: So no talk about the new weapons, huh?
« on: October 16, 2015, 09:58:51 AM »
Re: Conquest
For the sniper, either Tactical Laser or Graviton Beam is good.  For the brawler, either Heavy Blaster or Heavy Burst PD is good.  Sure, it is not more long-range pain like another Mauler, but the energy options are fine.

P.S.
This comes back to a general point that, I think, is missed a lot when people are comparing energy and ballistic weapons. They don't usually compete for the same slots, so a comparison that doesn't take the ship mounting the weapons into account is not generally valid. Universal and hybrid slots mix this up, but are used sparingly for that reason.
If energy is bad enough that ballistics are always a better choice, that defeats the purpose of hybrid mounts (barring introduction of overpowered energy weapons from other mods).  I usually consider small or large universal slots a hybrid ballistic/missile slot because the energy options are outclassed by ballistics.  If Heavy Blaster was not so good, I would consider medium universals a mere ballistic/missile slot too.

10529
General Discussion / Re: So no talk about the new weapons, huh?
« on: October 16, 2015, 09:35:37 AM »
Unfortunately, niche weapons are, well... niche.  Effective fleets need few, if any, niche weapons.  They need weapons that kill, and the only way to kill is through hp damage.

10530
General Discussion / Re: So no talk about the new weapons, huh?
« on: October 16, 2015, 06:28:53 AM »
I agree with Schwartz.  With the exception of Heavy Blaster and maybe a few beams, I would use ballistics over energy almost every time.  Energy weapons need to be competitive with ballistics for hybrids (and universals) to work.

Small mounts:  For anti-missile, Vulcan.  For general PD, maybe some PD laser, maybe LMG, maybe Vulcan.  For assault, light AC, light assault gun, railgun, or light needler.  AM Blaster is useful as a Reaper substitute (for the flagship only) if you have no Missile Specialization.

Medium mounts:  For PD, (dual) flak cannon.  For everything else, lots of options, mostly ballistics but Heavy Blaster is the only reliable energy option that competes if I need DPS or type coverage more than range.

Heavy mounts:  All-purpose, Mjolnir if I have spare OP, Hellbore or HAG if I do not.  For dedicated kiting-and-sniping, Gauss Cannon.

P.S.
But is an Aurora really noticeably *better* than a properly kitted out Dominator?
Aurora actually works best as a missile ship.  Otherwise, it is slow, oversized Medusa without the Phase Skimmer.  It is squishy and has no shot range.  (If it uses beams for range instead, then it is hard-countered by most ships with shields.)  It is also a plump, juicy, and easy target for any ship with longer-ranged ballistics.

Dominator, and maybe Eagle, is more effective than Aurora, except maybe Reaper Aurora piloted by a player with max Missile Specialization.


P.P.S.
What makes ballistics better than energy weapons is generally a combination of superior range and, often, cheaper OP costs.  Compare non-beam energy weapon range to ballistic range.  Light energy is 400 or 500 range.  Ballistics are 600 for the medium-grade stuff, 700 for railgun, and 800 for needler.  Also IR pulse laser is 6 OP.  Light AC/LAG is 5, and railgun is 7.  For medium, energy range is 600.  Even the worst ballistics have 700 range, and the best have 1000.  For Heavy, Mjolnir!  24 OP (I think) with better stats than Plasma Cannon (30 OP), except DPS (533 vs. 600), which still exceeds Heavy Blaster.  If I cannot afford Mjolnir, Hellbore and HAG are almost as good, and they cost less OP (16 and 20 OP) - just need to remember to use another medium weapon not as good as Heavy Mauler to back up heavy high-explosives.


P.P.P.S.
For anti-missile, nothing beats Vulcan and Flak Cannons.  Flak Cannons are cheaper than Heavy Burst Laser too, and the usable beam PD costs more OP, whether builtin (LR PD laser, burst PD) or needs hullmods to be made effective (PD laser, tactical laser).

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