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[Orikson]

Hello all! I'm a new player to Starsector with a few questions. Still getting the hang of the game on easy mode for now.

Today, I like to ask about mods. I've found Starsector mostly through videos, and the game play is fascinating, particularly with all the mods embedded in.

The questions are:

1. How do I GPU Accelerate Starsector for the mod ShaderLib?

2. The megamods are Starsector+ and Nexerilin right? What do they do? And what does Ironclad do? (I've read through them, but I still a bit confused).

3. Is it good to get all the utility mods?

4. Which factions are the best? In terms of balance, what they give, factions, tech, etc.

5. How fast does Starsector and the mods associated with it are updated?

Thanks for your time!

[Weltall]

I can't answer #1, but I can tell you right off the bad that if you have ATI you will not be able to experience as much of a fluid game as if you have NVidia. That thought is not the game's fault, but ATI's but I will try to not be mean to my card.

SS+ adds new features to the game and alters the gameplay, as well as adds new ships for pirates, and variations to ship types. If anything it enhances the gameplay and you better read on it's page what it adds.

Nexerelin changes the gameplay, from static to dynamic. I say that because you see factions fight, but they actually can take over planets and that means some can grow large and some can die. That includes you, since you can do that for another faction, or even take over planets for your own faction.

Unlike SS+ and Nexerelin that can play along other mods, mods like Ironclads can't work alongside faction mods. Although Ironclad has a specific mod that works with it (the VNS ones), it can only work by itself. Mods like Ironclads are called TC or Total Conversion mods and they can alter the way the game/galaxy works. Ironclads makes the game (imo) feel more realistic and MORE hard. Definitely when I played, I felt I was playing kind of a different game.

It not not good to get "all" of something in general. It is good to read what each mod does and decide if you want it or not. Personally I use most, but I am just saying it is better to know what you add.

If you want a really balanced game, be it you play vanilla kind of game or Nexerelin (since nexerelin changes the way the game plays) you can choose to play ONLY with the mods listed on the SS+ page. SS+ balances the game and the mods on it's page try to follow the balanced rules that SS+ adds. So if you play with SS+ and these mods, you will have quite a balanced game.

As for updates, that is kind of impossible to answer. It depends not only from the complexity that the update brings, but also how much the creator has time to update. If anything I will say this. I too am a new player, with my first vanilla game being 0.7.1a. I have thoguh went backwards after playing the game a bit when I first started and played a hugely modded game on 0.65.2a. Sure the gameplay is different for 0.7+, but that does not mean the game was not good in previous versions. Actually the fact the gameplay changes makes it good to play even if you go even more back. I have currently gathered 0.6.2a and all the mods that existed back there and I am split between a game with the 0.7.1a mods or 0.6.2a. I am going backwards not so much for the different game play, but to experience mods that are lost in time and maybe a slightly more crude version of the game.

Have fun with the game and enjoy. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have o/

[Bastion.Systems]

If you have a sufficiently powerful AMD card you can pretty much brute force through, I have a HD6950 and it is not often that the game drops below 60fps all with with the ShaderLib Deluxe settings in 1920x1080.

[Schwartz]

Mayorate, Shadowyards, Junk Pirates, Blackrock, Imperium, Tiandong and Exigency are all fairly well balanced and more or less close to vanilla. Same for SS+ which I'd recommend to use with any of these.

Shadowyards and Blackrock are the big two for me. They have interesting weapons and ships.

[Weltall]

If you have a sufficiently powerful AMD card you can pretty much brute force through, I have a HD6950 and it is not often that the game drops below 60fps all with with the ShaderLib Deluxe settings in 1920x1080.

Well on lightly modded game (well ok more like on a small Nexerelin map XD) maybe, but on heavy modded ones, sadly ATI has half the power of NVidia. Not because NVidia are stronger, but because of the bad OpenGL support of ATI. Ah ATI..

[Orikson]

I can't answer #1, but I can tell you right off the bad that if you have ATI you will not be able to experience as much of a fluid game as if you have NVidia. That thought is not the game's fault, but ATI's but I will try to not be mean to my card.

SS+ adds new features to the game and alters the gameplay, as well as adds new ships for pirates, and variations to ship types. If anything it enhances the gameplay and you better read on it's page what it adds.

Nexerelin changes the gameplay, from static to dynamic. I say that because you see factions fight, but they actually can take over planets and that means some can grow large and some can die. That includes you, since you can do that for another faction, or even take over planets for your own faction.

Unlike SS+ and Nexerelin that can play along other mods, mods like Ironclads can't work alongside faction mods. Although Ironclad has a specific mod that works with it (the VNS ones), it can only work by itself. Mods like Ironclads are called TC or Total Conversion mods and they can alter the way the game/galaxy works. Ironclads makes the game (imo) feel more realistic and MORE hard. Definitely when I played, I felt I was playing kind of a different game.

It not not good to get "all" of something in general. It is good to read what each mod does and decide if you want it or not. Personally I use most, but I am just saying it is better to know what you add.

If you want a really balanced game, be it you play vanilla kind of game or Nexerelin (since nexerelin changes the way the game plays) you can choose to play ONLY with the mods listed on the SS+ page. SS+ balances the game and the mods on it's page try to follow the balanced rules that SS+ adds. So if you play with SS+ and these mods, you will have quite a balanced game.

As for updates, that is kind of impossible to answer. It depends not only from the complexity that the update brings, but also how much the creator has time to update. If anything I will say this. I too am a new player, with my first vanilla game being 0.7.1a. I have thoguh went backwards after playing the game a bit when I first started and played a hugely modded game on 0.65.2a. Sure the gameplay is different for 0.7+, but that does not mean the game was not good in previous versions. Actually the fact the gameplay changes makes it good to play even if you go even more back. I have currently gathered 0.6.2a and all the mods that existed back there and I am split between a game with the 0.7.1a mods or 0.6.2a. I am going backwards not so much for the different game play, but to experience mods that are lost in time and maybe a slightly more crude version of the game.

Have fun with the game and enjoy. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have o/

Thanks for the tips!

[Orikson]

If you have a sufficiently powerful AMD card you can pretty much brute force through, I have a HD6950 and it is not often that the game drops below 60fps all with with the ShaderLib Deluxe settings in 1920x1080.

I'm not too sure about that. I'm using a Surface tablet computer (the non-pro one) and the only glitch I had so far was the starting screen turning white and opened menus in the starting screen remaining in the background (ShaderLib). Haven't encountered any problems in game and in battle yet though.

[Orikson]

Mayorate, Shadowyards, Junk Pirates, Blackrock, Imperium, Tiandong and Exigency are all fairly well balanced and more or less close to vanilla. Same for SS+ which I'd recommend to use with any of these.

Shadowyards and Blackrock are the big two for me. They have interesting weapons and ships.

Thanks! So far, I've downloaded the updated ones. I wonder when the others will get the update?

Aside from that, any ships from these factions (or any other available faction) you've mentioned have a good ship that is fast in and out of combat, good firepower and maneuverability, all the good stats etc.? (For each class of ship if possible).

[Weltall]

As long as you stick to SS+ and the mods mentioned on it's page, you will feel the balance is real. Sadly I am not one to be able to suggest something, as I am always split between liking all the ships. But since I can't really suggest one, I will share with you this post; http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=8962.0

When I play in a SS+ world, I always check that post to help myself decide which ship to go for. Just keep in mind Diable Avionics is not there, since i think it was added just recently. Also the sure is The Knights Templar ships are overpowered and overpriced if you ever manage to find one. As their weapons are. Personally I never manage to get one myself to use it and even when I befriended them in a game, I did not try to buy a ship to check it out. >.> Be careful when you fight against them.

[Orikson]

As long as you stick to SS+ and the mods mentioned on it's page, you will feel the balance is real. Sadly I am not one to be able to suggest something, as I am always split between liking all the ships. But since I can't really suggest one, I will share with you this post; http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=8962.0

When I play in a SS+ world, I always check that post to help myself decide which ship to go for. Just keep in mind Diable Avionics is not there, since i think it was added just recently. Also the sure is The Knights Templar ships are overpowered and overpriced if you ever manage to find one. As their weapons are. Personally I never manage to get one myself to use it and even when I befriended them in a game, I did not try to buy a ship to check it out. >.> Be careful when you fight against them.

Ok. I did saw some recent gameplay with mods. Templars are seriously hard to deal with. Just getting their shields down is one thing, not getting blown apart afterwards is another. Aside from that, I say most ships that are good come from Vanilla, Blackrock and Shadowyards. (Knight Templars not counted due to how hadd it is to come by and managed them).