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

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Author Topic: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes  (Read 639152 times)

Alex

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1695 on: May 22, 2017, 02:30:51 PM »

... but that gives you a confirmation dialog, where storage doesn't.

Even so, my condolences, that's a rough one.
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Deshara

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1696 on: May 22, 2017, 03:03:17 PM »

Who reads the fine print! Anyway I gotta go pay the Independent Mafia 60% of my fleet's value to get it back.
I'm definitely going pirate after this c.c
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I cant be blamed for what I said 5 minutes ago. I was a different person back then

Alex

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1697 on: May 22, 2017, 03:05:39 PM »

More people should, really. Who needs to align with a faction to get their ships if you can turn the transponder off and find a fleet of theirs in a dark alley?
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Gothars

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1698 on: May 22, 2017, 03:28:47 PM »

I recently played a pirate character, was a lot of fun! The industry tree really comes in handy, it allows you to operate your fleet as such low costs that normal fighting is enough to keep you afloat and even slowly growing. And then when you eventually catch a trade fleet with something like 1000 refined transplutonics it's euphoric! Somehow it feels better than earning money with missions, you never have the feeling it gets handed to you.

Sometimes it has bothered me that its so hard to tell if a fleet in orbit still/already has wares. I think they get them all at once, instead of steadily stocking up, right? For a pirate that makes a huge difference. And yeah, pirate cred is super hard to get, I still could not access the pirate military market when I got to level 40 with that char, despite only interacting with pirates and never losing rep with them.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2017, 03:55:08 PM by Gothars »
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The game was completed 8 years ago and we get a free expansion every year.

Arranging holidays in an embrace with the Starsector is priceless.

Wyvern

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1699 on: May 22, 2017, 03:31:57 PM »

despite only interacting with pirates
This might be the problem - I don't know if it's in 0.8, but didn't previous versions give pirate rep for black market transactions with other factions (if there's a pirate station in system)?  Something like that.  I'm not too sure on the details, because I haven't tried a pirate run-through.
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Wyvern is 100% correct about the math.

Gothars

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1700 on: May 22, 2017, 03:37:34 PM »

I count black markets as pirate interaction :)
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The game was completed 8 years ago and we get a free expansion every year.

Arranging holidays in an embrace with the Starsector is priceless.

Megas

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1701 on: May 22, 2017, 03:43:40 PM »

despite only interacting with pirates
This might be the problem - I don't know if it's in 0.8, but didn't previous versions give pirate rep for black market transactions with other factions (if there's a pirate station in system)?  Something like that.  I'm not too sure on the details, because I haven't tried a pirate run-through.
Before 0.8, they did if relations were not at Vengeful.  (I do not know today, relations hit Vengeful before I did any significant trading with them in 0.8.)
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Sordid

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1702 on: May 22, 2017, 07:01:48 PM »

So I finally got to test the new release today. I'm going to be brief and speak in generalities since I intend to address the entire design philosophy behind the last few updates rather than specific features.

Starfarer used to be an excellent space shooter with light tactical elements. Starsector, especially this latest release, completely buries that under a heap of tedious management chores that consist of bars that fill up and deplete and cooldowns that need to be waited through. If I had to name the two most uninspired and boring gameplay mechanics ever invented, it would be those, and Starsector uses them in abundance. Improvements to the core space combat gameplay have been marginal at best in the last few updates, and some features actually detract from it (e.g. CR depletion in combat, which effectively puts a time limit on the battle). The fun part of the game is blowing up enemy ships, and almost all the new features serve no other purpose than to delay or obstruct the player getting to that part.

I played every other release until there was nothing left to see or do. This one I'm sick of after only a couple hours. I wish you all the best and great success with your project, but sadly Starsector is no longer a game I find fun.
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Dri

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1703 on: May 22, 2017, 07:39:34 PM »

I think that's a risk that comes with putting out a campaign and then slowly adding depth to it—earlier versions of the campaign really were all about just flying your ships around and smashing them into enemy ships. Now that you can't do that anymore, some players that had the impression that Starsector was gonna be more "arcade-like" are now bucking pretty hard.

Ah well, can't please'em all.
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Sordid

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1704 on: May 22, 2017, 08:59:31 PM »

Eh, people were bucking four years ago. And Starsector's core gameplay is just as arcadey as ever, just more diluted by waiting and grinding menus.
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Deshara

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1705 on: May 22, 2017, 10:43:27 PM »

People have been complaining since public release 1; Alex you're doing a wonderful job and i love the work you do
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Gothars

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1706 on: May 23, 2017, 12:48:11 AM »

Starfarer used to be an excellent space shooter with light tactical elements. Starsector, especially this latest release, completely buries that under a heap of tedious management chores that consist of bars that fill up and deplete and cooldowns that need to be waited through. If I had to name the two most uninspired and boring gameplay mechanics ever invented, it would be those, and Starsector uses them in abundance. Improvements to the core space combat gameplay have been marginal at best in the last few updates, and some features actually detract from it (e.g. CR depletion in combat, which effectively puts a time limit on the battle). The fun part of the game is blowing up enemy ships, and almost all the new features serve no other purpose than to delay or obstruct the player getting to that part.

Well, to each his own.
What I don't get is how this relates to .8, though. There are no new management mechanics or "filling bars" that I can think of. All of that was already present in 0.7. And I can't say it takes me any longer to get into a fight than in 0.7.  We did get new combat things though, i.e. station battles, an improved (more arcady!) fighter mechanic and an entire new combat style utilizing d-hull fleets.
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The game was completed 8 years ago and we get a free expansion every year.

Arranging holidays in an embrace with the Starsector is priceless.

Sordid

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1707 on: May 23, 2017, 01:47:42 AM »

There's just even more menus to grind now, and none of the other recently added roadblocks on the way to fun has been removed. Meanwhile elements of the core combat gameplay that have been in dire need of change for years have not been touched at all. The space battlefield is still constrained by an artificial box, the AI is still inhumanly perfect when it comes to things like timing phase cloak or shields but at the same time is perfectly happy to park a friendly frigate right between your ship's guns and an enemy you're shooting at, there's still no way of giving more nuanced fleet-wide orders than "full assault" and "full retreat" (maybe something along the lines of "hey guys, we're outnumbered three to one, maybe stick together instead of suiciding into the enemy fleet one by one"), the HUD colors of enemies and allies are still extremely similar, it's still difficult to tell friendly missiles from enemy ones, and I could go on for some time like this.

The new combat things sure sound nice and all, but I'd happily trade all of those for a fix to even one of the issues mentioned above. I get that's never going to happen; adding new features is a lot more exciting than going back and overhauling old ones that are "good enough". But I'm never going to stop being unhappy about it either.

Edit: Also, are you supposed to be able to recover ships that broke into pieces during the battle?
« Last Edit: May 23, 2017, 02:17:21 AM by Sordid »
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AxleMC131

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1708 on: May 23, 2017, 02:33:32 AM »

... the HUD colors of enemies and allies are still extremely similar...

Okay, I fully understand personal opinions, and I respect people who have them, but what?  ??? Enemies are RED. Allies are YELLOW. Friendlies are GREEN. What part of those colours are "extremely similar"?
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Sordid

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Re: Starsector 0.8a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #1709 on: May 23, 2017, 03:17:21 AM »

Enemies are RED. Allies are YELLOW. Friendlies are GREEN. What part of those colours are "extremely similar"?

If those were the colors used in the game, there would indeed be no problem whatsoever. But they aren't.
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