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16

Bug Reports & Support / Nonexistent hullmod fit into a mission ship causes glitchy behaviour

« on: April 06, 2015, 03:26:43 AM »

Add a hullmod with a mod, fit the hullmod to a ship in a mission, remove the mod. The mission's briefing will fail to load, some strange glitchiness will occur (like a different mission starting than what is selected) and it cannot be recovered without reinserting the mod, because you can't get to the refit screen to remove the offending hullmod. Nonexistent weapons case the loadout to revert to stock, I assume it's just an oversight that this doesn't happen for hull mods.

17

Modding / The armor damage resistance formula

« on: April 05, 2015, 02:28:07 AM »

Does anyone know what the actual formula is? How does maxArmorDamageReduction in settings.json factor into it? (scaling factor? cap?) Is is possible to mod it, beyond that one setting?

18

General Discussion / Sabot SRMs

« on: April 02, 2015, 08:49:11 AM »

On a note slightly similiar to the Lasher thread: wow, those suck. I've been playing some missions recently, and many ships in there come with Sabots. And they're really not useful at all, even in those restricted loadouts.

If you fire one up close, it'll immediately get targeted by PD and shot down before it deploys.

If you fire one from a distance, it'll spread out and most of the projectiles will miss.

Even if it connects, it's very easy for the AI to just drop shields and take it on armor with minimal damage, and because the exact timing of when the sabots deploy is unpredictable, it's extremely difficult to reliably sneak in HE damage during that gap.

Their ammo is very limited, so you couldn't rely on them as your only shieldbreaker even if they were effective.

In short, I don't see any reason to use Sabots on any loadout, ever.

What ideas do you have for a more useful shieldbreaker missile? I'd imagine something that launches at high velocity with good tracking, and before impact explodes into a spread-out cloud of needler-like projectiles. More reliable, because it avoids the awkward hovering of Sabots, and it gives a wider window for shooting because the cloud is a threat to shields for a little longer.

19

Bug Reports & Support / Shield toggle keyboard binding unresponsive when mouse button is also bound

« on: March 22, 2015, 05:03:32 AM »

If you have both a mouse button and a keyboard button bound to "toggle shields", then the keyboard button will not work reliably. The first press in a battle will be ignored, as will the first press after being overloaded (and presumably other states that disable shields).

It doesn't matter which binding is primary and which is secondary. It works fine when only the keyboard button is bound. The mouse button always works fine.

20

Suggestions / More Weapon Group settings

« on: March 15, 2015, 02:16:43 PM »

Some simple additions that could make the combat less clumsy and easier to manage.

1. Instant fire

When weapon group is marked as "Instant fire", pressing its button immediately fires it instead of selecting it. The previously selected grop remains selected.

Very useful for torpedoes and other strike weapons, greatly reducing time required to fire them which is crucial for their effectiveness, and reducing interruption in firing primary weapons.

2. Selective vs. opportunistic autofire

A "selective" weapon group, when on autofire, fires only at the selected target. If it can't fire at it, it won't fire at all. An "opportunistic" group has the current behaviour. If no target is selected, a selective group doesn't fire.

Useful for high-flux weapons such as heavy blasters that you don't want taking potshots at random targets.

3. Shield or armor focus

A group with shield focus will not bother firing at armor, unless it's heavily damaged. A group with armor focus will not bother firing at shields, unless target is at very high flux. A group with neither behaves as now.

The AI adjustments here are a little more involved than in others, but I think it should be easy enough. It doesn't need to be perfect, even approximate will help a lot.

Very useful with extremely specialized weapons that are wasted against some types of protection, such as Needlers or PDEs (from BRDY).

----

I think these options would greatly improve the player's feeling of control of their own ship. I often experience frustration when I fly a ship with many different weapon groups and I see most of them functioning suboptimally in ways that would be very simple to fix.

21

Suggestions / Give fighters CR timers

« on: March 02, 2015, 09:40:39 AM »

Now that all ships have one, this inconsistency is even more glaring. When even a massive battleship manned by hundreds of people can only stay in battle for 10 minutes, how does it make sense that a tiny 1-man fighter can fight indefinitely as long as it doesn't take any hits?

Right now a bunch of fighters can exhaust a bigger ship to death if it doesn't have effective anti-fighter weapons. That's quite silly, it should be the other way around. Adding a CR timer would mean that it's only possible with a carrier support, which makes more sense.

I think the timer should be reset on carrier refit, and fighters should go for refit when their timer is running out. Or retreat, if there's no carrier.

22

Suggestions / Ships escorting a Conquest get in the way of broadsides

« on: February 20, 2015, 11:47:49 AM »

AI on escort assignment tends to stay to the sides of their escortee, which is normally good, but fails completely when the ship in question uses broadsides. Turning a Conquest to the side causes the escorting ships to swing around, getting in between the Conquest and the enemy. Meanwhile, escorts on the other side swing back behind the Conquest, becoming unable to provide fire support.

Since the Escort assigment is the only way to make ships stay in formation, it makes using a Conquest in a fleet context very difficult whenever a cohesive formation is needed. Amassing large amounts of command points and micromanaging the escorts is necessary. Perhaps an AI hint that indicates that a ship is designed for broadsides/circling engagements and that its orientation should be interpreted differently is in order?

23

Bug Reports & Support / Crash while docking at Sindria

« on: February 19, 2015, 02:35:50 PM »

Code

4078864 [Thread-5] WARN  com.fs.starfarer.campaign.rules.A  - Problem with command of class com.fs.starfarer.api.impl.campaign.rulecmd.OpenCoreTab: null
java.lang.IllegalStateException
	at java.util.ArrayList$Itr.remove(ArrayList.java:844)
	at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.comms.PlayerTransactionLineItemData.float.String(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.comms.IntelTabData.performCleanup(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.o00000(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.CampaignEngine.reportPlayerOpenedMarket(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O0OO.oooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.<init>(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O0OO.private.showCoreInternal(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O0OO.private.showCore(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.api.impl.campaign.rulecmd.OpenCoreTab.execute(OpenCoreTab.java:39)
	at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.rules.A.execute(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.rules.D.runScript(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.api.impl.campaign.rulecmd.FireBest.applyRule(FireBest.java:97)
	at com.fs.starfarer.api.impl.campaign.rulecmd.FireBest.execute(FireBest.java:47)
	at com.fs.starfarer.api.impl.campaign.rulecmd.FireBest.fire(FireBest.java:53)
	at com.fs.starfarer.api.impl.campaign.RuleBasedInteractionDialogPluginImpl.fireBest(RuleBasedInteractionDialogPluginImpl.java:110)
	at com.fs.starfarer.api.impl.campaign.RuleBasedInteractionDialogPluginImpl.optionSelected(RuleBasedInteractionDialogPluginImpl.java:142)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O0OO.private$1.o00000(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O0OO.super.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.OOO0.o00000(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.null.processInput(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.OOO0.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.interface.processInput(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O0OO.super.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.interface.processInput(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.oO0OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.O0OO.private.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.interface.processInput(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.dispatchEventsToChildren(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.s.processInputImpl(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.ui.interface.processInput(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.campaign.C.o00000(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.B.null.class$super(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.super.oOOO.Ò00000(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.combat.D.o00000(Unknown Source)
	at com.fs.starfarer.StarfarerLauncher$2.run(Unknown Source)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)

Died the instant I reached the station, the docking screen popped up but with no text. Heavily modded game (SS+, Templars, II, BRDY, Omnifactory). I've been told it's a vanilla issue. I wasn't able to reproduce.

24

Suggestions / Put "transfer command for this engagement" in the deploy menu.

« on: February 18, 2015, 02:00:44 PM »

"Transfer command..." is not needed the vast majority of the time, so it becomes something I click past automatically without thinking - even when it is necessary this time. Then I realize it on the deploy screen, grumble at myself in annoyance, transfer command in-battle and inevitably forget again the next time.

The solution is very simple - add a "transfer command" button on the deploy screen. Click a ship, click it, it's now flaghship, simple and easy. Eliminates a click from every engagement, eliminates a menu, eliminates the risk of forgetting to transfer command. Win-win-win.

25

Bug Reports & Support / Long weapon list + small screen = weirdness

« on: February 07, 2015, 01:50:55 PM »

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNOQO1VeuAo

[close]

Playing on Linux in 1366x786 resolution, on full screen.

26

General Discussion / Relay comm sniffers

« on: January 25, 2015, 11:56:10 AM »

Anyone know what they actually do? I haven't noticed much difference in the amount of news I get with and without a couple sniffers installed.

Actually, the entire news and intel system is really opaque to me... I would love to know what to do to maximise my chances of knowing of important trade events as soon as possible. Stay in the middle of the sector in hyperspace? Stay near a comm relay? Try to install sniffers everywhere?

27

Modding / [0.65.1a] Armor Repair Hullmod v0.3

« on: January 24, 2015, 03:35:37 AM »

There's nothing to repair armor in-battle in SS, and I think it's weird. So here is a mod.

Current version: 0.3 (released 26 Jan 2015)
Dependencies: none!
Download link
Previous versions

The Armor Repair Hullmod will repair your ship's armor in battle, following these rules:

• Repair starts only when the damaged armor cell hasn't taken any damage for a while (10 seconds) and is interrupted when the cell takes damage again.
• Each cell is tracked individually. Some recently-hit cells may be still waiting for their 10 seconds to pass while other are repairing or have finished their repairs.
• Only a fraction of damage is repaired, starting at 80%.
• The repair isn't infinite. As the hullmod works, the fraction of damage repaired will begin to deteriorate, reaching zero when total damage repaired reaches ten times of the ship's armor rating. If you're curious, the curve looks like this.
• As it works, the hullmod drains CR, up to 10% per battle. (10% of CR drained concides with repair efficiency dropping to 0)
• It won't repair any pre-existing damage.

Known issues and planned changes:

• Placeholder icon: I have the artistic capability of a dead frog, so I just reused the stock Heavy Armor icon. If you like the mod and would like to contribute something better, that would be hugely appreciated.
• Statusbar indicator: I would like to add an indicator to the statusbar on the left showing that repairs are in progress, and maybe how many armor cells are being repaired. If you know a reasonable way to do it, please let me know.
• Balancing: Most values have been pulled straight out of my bum. The hullmod is probably overpowered. I haven't given it an unlock requirement. After I play with it for a while, I might adjust some of that. If you have any input, feel free to give it and I'll take it into account.
• Saner formulas: Some formulas, such as the efficiency curve, are not quite there. I'll keep thinking about them.

Changelog:

Code

v0.3 (released 26 Jan 2015)
- Fixed: major breakage when more than one ship has the hullmod
- The code is now compiled into a .jar. This makes customization more difficult - the source is still included, but you'll have to compile it if you make any changes. Sorry, Janino just doesn't cut it.
- All ships given a base repair rate of 0.2 HP per cell per second in addition to the 1% per second. This will barely affect heavily armored ships, but will give ones with weak armor a non-negligible repair rate.
v0.2 (released 25 Jan 2015)
- Total repair capacity now scales with ship's total armor HP, not armor rating
- Expanded and improved in-game description
- Added comments to explain customizable constants
- Added image (curves.png) to illustrate effects of changing the EFFICIENCY_CURVE_POWER constant
v0.1 (released 24 Jan 2015)
- Initial release

28

Bug Reports & Support / Reducing a ship's CR triggers "extended deployment" message

« on: January 24, 2015, 12:34:48 AM »

Reducing a ship's CR via ShipAPI.setCurrentCR() triggers the "Your flagship's combat readiness is reducing due to extended deployment" message as if it were due to the CR timer running out. I think it shouldn't, since a modder's twisted mind can come up with many other reasons for a ship's CR to drop in-battle.

29

Bug Reports & Support / Daggers being suicidal

« on: November 23, 2014, 12:22:05 PM »

I noticed something that might need an AI tweak.

To reproduce:

* Take a Heron (or any carrier, but a Heron is good because it's fast and tough) and some Daggers into sim against an Onslaught
* Let the Daggers get themselves slaughtered by the Onslaught while you maneuver behind it (maybe take a bunch of other fighters to distract the Onslaught and avoid getting your face melted, make them retreat after)
* Park yourself about a ship's length behind the Onslaught and watch what respawning Daggers do

most of them seem to just charge right into the Onslaught and blow themselves up with their own torpedo, while they could just fire it from where they are and immediately go to rearm. Rather wasteful.

30

Suggestions / Fleet status summary in combat

« on: November 14, 2014, 04:42:34 PM »

Something I posted in another thread, copying here because I think it's important enough to deserve its own thread and discussion:

There is a desperate need for an in-battle summary of the state of your forces. Something on the side that shows your ships, their hull, flux, CR and ammo, remaining time for frigates, what their orders are, what the AI is doing (attacking, retreating, etc.), also a summary of strike craft status (active craft, available replacements, which squadrons are being serviced and which are awaiting carrier slots). Also a log of important events, like what we have currently but more comprehensive, including ships being overloaded, running out of ammo, taking severe hull damage, being in critical danger (assuming the AI is capable of assesing that). This is all information that is crucial to properly managing a battle but right now can only be obtained by manually looking around or not at all. I find myself frequently taking unnecessary losses because I would have to pause the game and look around every 15 seconds to make sure I spot something going wrong.

There's nothing more important in commanding a battle than having all the necessary information, and right now you just don't. This is especially problematic since you'll almost certainly be piloting a ship yourself and be engaged in some heated, fast-paced action, so an at-a-glance summary and alerts about potential problems are needed to keep you current on what's going on in a larger engagement.