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Author Topic: [0.97a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Thumper Ed., 0.3.7b)  (Read 632494 times)

McMuster

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #150 on: August 26, 2019, 03:33:37 PM »

Feedback: Hey I started my current nexerelin play-through with an HMI commission with the intent of being an outer-rim miner starting out to get my initial funds. I've spent my early game playing, mining and trading in HMI territory and surrounding uncharted worlds. I've found that the way you've set up the industries and sizes of HMI's markets make this playstyle nonviable and also results in the HMI faction breaking the rules the other factions and the player plays by, resulting in the territory feeling artificial.

1: There's nowhere to sell ore, the fact the fuyutsuki market supplies a large quantity of ore and volatiles, rather than demanding it means that the sell prices on fuyutsuki are extremely depressed, if this is a place where resources are collected for distribution to the core, it doesn't feel like it considering no miner worth their salt would sell to fuyutsuki. In essence this results in HMI pulling it's resources out of it's butt, whereas other factions supply their rocks and volatiles from mining worlds and have refining/industry worlds that actually demand ore. It makes a lot more sense to mine for tri-tachyon or the diktat rather than the dedicated mining faction as it stands.

Suggestion: replace the special market with a refining industry (which demands ore) and add a couple normal mining colonies to "feed" the refineries as well as to be the source of HMI's mineral market-share (the same way it works for other factions). Cracking open rocks on high HAZARD rough-and-tumble mining worlds should be HMI's speciality, as it stands they don't even have any regular mining operations aside from Galena, which doesn't even export anything because it's accessibility modifier prevents it from getting any ore offworld! I'd also downgrade the High Command to a Military Base, it doesn't make much sense for a rough frontier world that hasn't kicked its rivals out of their home system to have the same military capacity as the brightest core worlds, especially when it has so few colonies to support with it. (i've done much of this in my own save via config).

If you wanted to keep the market, restyle it as a "miner's exchange" give it a demand for mining products that's greater than the refinery and outstrips the planets import limit, meaning there'll be a "shortage" of ore (even though the refinery is supplied and running smoothly). Meaning "there's always a good price for ore on fuyutsuki." The fact that it's not *actually* supplying ore for the rest of the sector doesn't matter, that supply can be met by actual mining colonies same as everywhere else, this exception for fuyutsuki could be explained as corporate subsidies/bounties/incentives paid by HMI to attract the best independent miners and undercut competition. And further, makes the mining faction the best faction to sell ore to.

2: Colonies are way too small and don't export their goods. The Distant Polity modifier is handy as it prevents the worlds from decivilizing due to the hostile mobs present in their systems, but it feels artificial(especially when you found your own colony in the same system or next door) and prevents these worlds from exporting anything. And also break the rules if the player invades them and takes control of the world for themself.

Suggestion: Remove the modifier and give these worlds stability buffing buildings and administrators with both the fleet logistics and ground operations skills, these combined with the accessibility buff from the aforementioned mining colonies will keep them from decivilizing, and make it so they can actually supply other HMI colonies. The fact that they're "distant" is already represented by accessibility stat being weighted by the number of nearby worlds.

Further, up their population a bit. Size 3=Less than 10,000 people. That's lower than the population of the small mining town I grew up in, on a whole planet! It drastically limits the faction's ability to supply itself (despite having 2 fuel-production facilities, neither meets the faction's fuel needs due to accessibility and the low population). This will also allow you to give the faction a light industry and more military bases(all HMI worlds are importing consumer/luxury goods from out of factions, despite running an orbital works!). For instance In my game, i set Samiel to size 4 (10's of thousands sounds appropriate for a haunted world) and added a light industry to make use of the organics extracted there, as it stood, the world didn't make much sense for HMI to be exploiting it at all.

I love the flavor of the mod, the weapons and ships mesh excellently with the rest of the game, but as it stands the faction itself is stilted compared to the other factions in the Sector.

Also, use a simplified logo for the in-game flag, the text typically isn't legible on the UI interfaces, it clashes with the other faction's designs and violates just about every rule of vexillology https://nava.org/good-flag-bad-flag/. Remove the big letters and replace the small letters with a white line. 3 colors+2 shapes-text=beautiful flag.

Criticism dump done (I really do love the mod, honest!)
« Last Edit: August 26, 2019, 03:46:32 PM by McMuster »
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Gen Waffle

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #151 on: August 26, 2019, 07:20:28 PM »

Well Nexerellin's mining system was nerfed significantly over the ver 9 update for SS. This is because anti matter facilities and refineries were removed and the new fuel producing and refining industries are a lot weaker in demand.

I think this is why mining is generally not worth it unless you have like an armada of light shepherds and Junks. Even then the value of the ore you sell decreases by a huge margin. I like your suggestion to add specialized industries to keep hmi systems wanting ore.

That said I think Nexerellin needs to implement a system to make refineries have much higher demand rates. Just a few of them likely. Mining is meant to be risk free and low profit. Rn it's a safe way to go into a deficit.

edit: More Ideas for Junker ships

A large blitz borer drone carrier that has a special hmod that allows allied ships (in fleet) to repair themselves based on the number of ships killed (in combat) and the amount of blitz class drones present.

The capital ship itself would be relatively weak with some large and medium kinetic/missile mounts but a very strong shield complement. The true strength lies in a fleet setting where a Junker fleet that usually skips over Donkeys / Light shepherds promotes their use as the drones 'strip' material from killed enemy ships in combat and use it to 'repair' allied ships.

NOW WE ARE THE TRUE ZOMBIES AHAHAHAHA.

Possible Stats:
Name: Nevrend-class Combat Salvager.

base flux dissipation of 600.
Shield to damage ratio of 0.7.
Base flux cap of 18000
Armor of 200.
Health of 15000.

Omni - full cover shield
Top speed of 42- somewhat slow acceleration.

Comes with 1 large energy slot, 2 large ballistic and 3 medium hybrid, 8 small synergy.

Comes with three integrated blitz borer drone bays.
Junker, Custom Salvage Gantry and Field Repair Protocol integrated hull mods.

Field Repair Protocol:
All Blitz Borer Drones in fleet have 200% health stats when deployed alongside their parent ships and Nevrend. Destroyed ships in combat can be 'salvaged' by drones to repair allied ships in combat. Only one ship can be repaired at a time and the number of drones in the field dictates the %health returned (1% per squad) . Junker ships are prioritized over other ships and are repaired 50% faster.

Custom Salvage Gantry:
Only present on the Nevrend, the custom Salvage gantry is a hmi graded salvage gantry that nearly triples the supplies and resources salvageable in combat. It also drastically reduces the non battle use of heavy_machinery in mining/survey ops.

Maintenance and Deployment cost of 60.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2019, 07:51:50 PM by Gen Waffle »
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King Alfonzo

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #152 on: August 26, 2019, 07:39:10 PM »

I would like a dedicated capital for the Junker faction though (I mean being able to deploy half a dozen king roaches is great and all).

I am thinking of (in the distant future) possibly doing HMI versions of some of Helmut's Lowtech trash from his sprite box (looking at that lowtech Astral), and doing a destroyer-sized junker carrier in the distant future. In retrospect, though, it doesn't make much sense for junkers to make a proper capital; it's difficult enough to make a huge vessel unless you have a really, really good reason for it. The Junk is a huge combat carrier that can carry ridiculous amounts of cargo and fuel, the King Roach is built off a chunk of broken space station, and the Scarecrow is based off an amalgam of already known and accessible parts. For combat they tend to drown the enemy in trash rather than using high quality (and hence large) ships. The only capital that makes sense for me, at this point, is for it to be a capital-sized carrier, for both mining applications and drowning the enemy in trash.

Also I notice a distinct lack of a seth drone fabricator for a large slot. I wonder what it could be?

Because I didn't think that people would choose to use a suppression Seth Drone fabricator in a large slot when there's infinitely better options.

Maybe a drone fabricator that fabricates a drone *WITH A GUN*.

That's beyond my code fu, apologies.

Though my sentry's just LOVE going to melee range for some reason and they don't last too long after that, I initially tested a combination of the med frag drone and the smaller kinetic drone fabricators on the sentry hull but the sucky range is well .. sucky.

I'll have to have a look at this; I'm not sure if the seth drone itself is getting too close before detonating, if the range of the Seth Drone weapon itself is too short, or if it's a standard issue with the vanilla AI for missile armed ships.

Before I go to bed I have some neat scavenger ideas for drones/fighter LPCs and some interesting ideas lol

While these are nice ideas, the healer and suicide drones are beyond my code fu, along with the Borer Overhaul mod and scavanger drones. A trash-tier interceptor drone does sound fairly nice, and thinking on this I'm thinking the Shell could move a bit quicker and be a bit less crap to make it a worse-version of the Broadsword.

1: There's nowhere to sell ore, the fact the fuyutsuki market supplies a large quantity of ore and volatiles, rather than demanding it means that the sell prices on fuyutsuki are extremely depressed, if this is a place where resources are collected for distribution to the core, it doesn't feel like it considering no miner worth their salt would sell to fuyutsuki...

2: Colonies are way too small and don't export their goods. The Distant Polity modifier is handy as it prevents the worlds from decivilizing due to the hostile mobs present in their systems, but it feels artificial(especially when you found your own colony in the same system or next door) and prevents these worlds from exporting anything...
It drastically limits the faction's ability to supply itself (despite having 2 fuel-production facilities, neither meets the faction's fuel needs due to accessibility and the low population).

Both of these are deliberate descisions. Fuyutsuki isn't meant to be a place to sell ore at, but rather a place to buy it at. HMI ruthlessly 'purchases' the goods en masse and sells it to the faction at large. Technically, Fuyutsuki represents the combined raw resource market of the entire area, with the outer markets being drained to maintain the market. Doing this however undercuts the ability of the company to distribute and manufacture goods. This provides a situation where Fuyutsuki is a very good place to buy raw goods, while Fuyutsuki and the other markets are really hungry for basic and luxury commodities. Consider HMI to be like the Congo Free State; weapons go in, raw resource comes out. As for the distant polity condition, that has a specific function; to drive up demand for base goods while preventing the market from decivilising, so it's really profitable to supply goods to these places. This is, again, tied to the Fututsuki market above.

Also, use a simplified logo for the in-game flag, the text typically isn't legible on the UI interfaces, it clashes with the other faction's designs and violates just about every rule of vexillology.

I'll have a closer look at the flag, and see if I can alter it.

Gen Waffle

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #153 on: August 26, 2019, 09:03:34 PM »

Ah No sweat lol, ideas are just that. Ideas. It’s not like anyone’s paying you or anything (cough donations cough)

They’re nice to think and have but probably not viable from one man. Perhaps just a hull mod on the junker carrier that passively regens the health of all vehicles in the fleet?

Also perhaps the Junker fleet is less capital based and more frigates to cruiser based? Their capitals could perhaps support that fleet style. My cockroaches and king roaches are killing machines for their DP and maintenance costs which would make it fair that the the hmi’s heavier vessels are relegated to support.


SO is one hell of a drug.

Also we can’t forget that the hmi are responsible for revamping alot of the remnant hulls. Their capitals might be few for the Junker categorization but it is wholly possible for them to create their own scav hull from remnant (and maybe even mess) parts that’s a force to be reckoned with and is only deployed when the hmi is under incredible pressure or at war. They all can’t be that piraty if they can make things like the Brilliant and Berserker/Rampart. Also the hmi live right next to the Luddic Church and are always swarmed with pirates, they really show have some dedicated combat ships that still follow the Junker style. I can agree with a capital class trash carrier though. The fact that the hmi are built for Nexerellin allows for them to have a larger than vanilla combat force to compensate for the other more legitimate powers in the sector.

RAIN TRASH FROM THE HEAVENS


Quote
I'll have to have a look at this; I'm not sure if the seth drone itself is getting too close before detonating, if the range of the Seth Drone weapon itself is too short, or if it's a standard issue with the vanilla AI for missile armed ships.

This is most likely an AI issue, putting the range for the seth drones at 2500 doesn't actually make the AI shoot it at that range due to the weapon being a missile. By default unless the missile has insane range (Like 10000) the ai will always launch the drones much closer to the enemy. From my manual testing the drones can go around 5000-6000 distance with their flights but the AI will regularly fire them at >1000 range. This doesnt make much sense for a pressure weapon imho.  Hence why I managed to make a reasonably effective solution by combining the small seth fabricators (set to auto fire) and a Pilum on the sentry hull. This does mean that the medium seth fabricator is so far very very limited in use. These systems should really be saturation based weapons that food the screen with slow moving and relatively harmless drones that distract PD and progressively build up the enemies flux banks in combat (tho the sentry only has like 180 second peak performance time T.T).

Which gives me an idea for a Junker missile boat ... hmmm. No autoforge just fast missile rack but an integrated hmod that doubles missile capacity (stacks with expanded magazines). Hope this is within your code limits :)

Edit:
If the hmi drowns their enemies in trash it makes sense for them to regularly steal other faction ships that they defeat. From a code perspective this is probably really hard to do but putting small chances for the hmi to use other faction ships might be possible. The most lore friendly way for me to think of this is that either the Junk or a new ship comes with a hmod that drastically lowers the amount of supplies needed to reclaim ships after combat. (Not crew cause that would be hard to code in)

As it stands quite a number of scav hulls are quite underwhelming. But I digress I haven't spent as much time testing them as I’ve had with the Junker hulls. Particularly the defender hulls, Brasher, Fulgent and Glimmer/Lumen hulls. Will definitel come back with my thoughts. It should be wholly possible to create a fleet of Junker ships that can stand toe to toe vs other more prominent factions in the sector (even if it’s after hours of trial and error).

Quote
That's beyond my code fu, apologies.

Sad Violin songs plays on world's smallest violin. Hmm I wonder how you did the feature for the heavy shepherd then. You know, it's ability to deploy the heavy borer drones.  It'd be cool to see more ships like that - focused on drone warfare / support.

edit:
How convenient that a mod that implements renewable drone racks is also on the front page of the forum :D (it's Tyrador if anyone's wondering).
« Last Edit: August 27, 2019, 12:18:26 AM by Gen Waffle »
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Gen Waffle

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #154 on: August 27, 2019, 01:04:23 AM »

So I'm currently testing a load of the scav hulls so I'll expand on my findings through the time by editing this post (as I've been doing for like the 10 posts before this one lol).

Starting off with the picket and sentry hulls.
These relatively low cost hulls bring excellent firepower for their size, almost like a corvette than a frigate at this point. You can sorta squeeze in a makeshift shield generator on them to improve their survivability. If you're lucky enough to get these ships in the early game sold, they're solid.

However they do suffer dramatically with fuel consumption, and can't be fielded in larger numbers unless you have a metric tonne of fuel which is a clear downfall. While their great for their ship to DP cost, their exorbitant collective fuel cost + maintenance makes this a hard trade. I'm sure Alfonz intended these hulls for the very very early game but they drop off in usage very very hard and unlike the shotglass or greasy, they don't have the junker hmod or anything that keeps them going.

The Sentry works great with a pilum and two seth sml fabricators with the use of it's triple charge rapid missile racks. That's about it tho, it's a support ship with none of longevity. I recommend making like 20 and just sending them towards small harassment pirates and see what happens. Warning: your computer might die.

Suggestion: not much really. It's clear they're designed to be scrappy and early game dependent. It is a shame that they lose their worth (like every other frigate) as the game goes on. Perhaps reducing their fuel/maintenance cost would be beneficial to keep them going. (They're fragile enough as it is so losses are nearly guaranteed and I don't think it'll break anything).

The Warden is a cheap freighter hull, however as it stands it should also receive the decrease to maintenance and fuel cost treatment.

---------------------------------------

Bastillon:
I'm still fiddling with this hull, it's built for frontal firepower and only costs 8 OP. It has a tiny af shield, and it's far corners are still susceptible to attacks from the front. It's armor isn't that great either and the fact that it's sorta slow doesn't help it. It regularly sees itself outflanked by lighter frigates and eat missiles to the 'everywhere'. Unlike the cockroach it doesn't have a higher than normal OP amount and also lacks the Junker. it's hard to find a reason to get the Bastillon over the cockroach really. I made the initial mistake of thinking it a light frigate killer when it's really just a beggar's boat of many guns. This is one of those hulls that I really really need to give a good test run because of how unorthodox it is.

Suggestion: Increase it's base flux dissipation by 50 and widen it's shield arc. This allows it to accommodate less into flux vents and allows it to make use of it's weapon systems. It's already quite slow so enforcing it's "guns everywhere" philosophy seems fitting. It would also justify it being an option to the cockroach with it's 8DP cost.

---------------------------------------

The Defender (Scav) and Defender (MK2)
I forgot to mention that I test the hulls in both a campaign and simulator setting especially due to the fact that frigates perform vastly differently when supported with larger craft or when they are literally dozens of them.

The Defender (Scav) is quite useful as escort vessel. In fact it does it way better than the heavy shepherd (with none of the the killing/staying power). The integrated flak cannon is a significant force nullifier for it. It can't do much else though and unfortunately moves a little bit slow. This is thankfully counteracted by it's maneuvering thrusters ability. Overall it's a great small escort ship that really should see the treatment I proposed to the sentry, picket and warden hulls I mentioned above.

As it stands the Defender MK2 is actually better to deploy than the Brasher. The Brasher has accelerated ammo feeder but for 10DP you can deploy a lot more Defender MK2s. Still the hull can't stand if it's escorted and it's slow speed, no armor and weak hull means that it's asking to be boomed anytime. However unlike the Brasher, you don't really care when a Defender MK2 dies and its 2DP cost is next to nothing.

Suggestion: Defender (Scav) should get a speed buff and also receive a slight decrease in fuel/maintenance cost. Defender (MK2) doesn't need a change.

---------------------------------------

Brasher:
Ah yes the Brasher. It's a lot more sturdier than the Defender MK2, but it only comes with just over double the OP which is unfortunate as it costs 10x more to deploy. I tested recently and found that the Brasher did a lot better when it had around 80-90 OP instead of its current 71 (I have fleet Loadout on). The extra armor and health is also needed for the Brasher as it wide front is a bullet magnet and it's frontal armor is shredded within seconds  in actual combat.

However I have noticed that Alfonz had buffed the Brasher in the most recent update, notably in a much larger flux capacity pool. ~~As such I won't give any suggestions yet as to test the hull more.~~

The Brasher is a 'Go in or Go home' sort of hull and that's a relatively unique design philosophy in the sector. Whether or not it works is still up for debate (and testing).

While on paper it provided superb damage output, it struggles vs other similar costed (DP wise) vessels. It either dies too quickly (likely via missiles) or is incapable of killing the target fast enough.

Suggestion: increase top speed to 100 / increase armor to 850 (from 750) / Increase OP by 10.
---------------------------------------

To emphasize about my suggested changes for the smaller huls (except the Glimmer and Lumen hulls); Maintenance per month should be at 1.2, and fuel consumption should be 0.6. This allows the player to bring a lot more to bear for engagements if they desire to or make the player have to dedicate a lot less when they want to incorporate the hulls to their fleet (as they are at their best when massed). Currently their costs make it feel a lot less disposable than one would like.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2019, 01:28:32 AM by Gen Waffle »
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Gen Waffle

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #155 on: August 27, 2019, 01:38:45 AM »

Update on Brasher Testing:

It's a decent artillery when given a Gauss Cannon, being able to pelt targets and overload shields quite well.

Gauss loadout:
(Fleet loadout taken)
- 24 Vents
- 4 Flux Caps
- A single Gauss Cannon
- Auxillary Thrusters
- Integrated Targeting Unit

Quite an effective long ranged artillery that can support from afar in engagements.


Anti Destroyer Loadout
-24 Vents
- 1 Caps
- Auxiliary Thrusters
- 1 hellbore
- 2 Heavy Autocannons

With accelerated ammo feeder, the autocannons due to being in a fixed hardpoint are quite accurate and can shred shields quite effectively and very flux efficiently. The Hellbore when accelerated rips apart frigates easily. Of course this must mean that the enemy does not have any missile systems whatsoever due to the much closer range.



Hrothgar Suggested loadout
-24 vents (440 flux dissipation)
- 5 Caps (5000 FLux capacity)
- 1 Hellbore
- 2 Hveldrivers

~~Pending tests~~ Efficient destroyer killer but weapons often do down too quickly due to poor anti shield armaments. Brasher tends to go closer than needed to fire weapons. Extended range on the hvel over the hellbore leads to AI nearly never using it's accelerated ammo ability unless enemy overextends. Often still in enemy range  leading to frequent damage on hull.



Hrothgar loadout reDESIGN.
-24 vents (440 flux dissipation)
- 1 Caps (4200 Flux capacity)
- 1 Heavy Mauler
- 2 Hveldrivers
- Integrated Targeting Unit

All weapons are equal range leading to better overall management of vessel weapon systems by AI and making it use it's ability more often. Lower potential damage output for higher sustained damage output and faster proj speed and range. H Mauler proj speed a bit slower than Hvel proj so able to capitalize on shield down much more often. Lower armor pen is the tradeof. Much more effective at dealing with similar OP cost vehicles that lack log range missile sabots/salamanders. Weapons are still easily disabled by enemy long ranged fire (much less so with ICU), fighters and missiles.



Really? Loadout
- 11 Flux vents (620 flux diss)
- SO
- 2 HeavyMGs
- 1 Chaingun

Suicide Bum Rush SO loadout akin to the current cockroach and king roach loadouts I'm currently using. It's not good. Don't try it for the Brasher. It either gets one shot or it's weapons get fried. SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED.



Really? MK2 Loadout
-15 Flux vents (350 disspiation)
-Unstable Injector
-Auxiliary thrusters
-Armored Weapon Mounts
- 2 HeavyMg
- 1 Chain

The quest to make everything SO'd continues, this time without the actual SO. This MK2 version actuall does WORSE than the MK1 because it can't go fast enough to kill other destroyers.


Really? MK3 Loadout
-11 Flux Vents
-2 Heavy Autocannons
-1 Xiu Liu Mining Collector
- SO

It's bad. lol. The xiu Liu projectiles move to slow to capitalize on shields being down. The one saving grace for this loadout is very good flux efficiency.


Stubhead Loadout
- 9 Flux vents (580 dissipation)
- 2 Chainguns
- SO
- 6 Armored Weapon Mounts
- 6 Automated Repair Units

Named because this is basically a hammerhead without a shield. The ultimate race to who can disable who's weapons first. Don't count on it, you'll still probably lose first.

NOTE: The Brasher with SO does do great damage if ti can survive to flank though at that point, it's armor is so shredded that it'll die to even PD. Use the cockroach instead.


Integrated Loadout:
- 1 Mjolnr Cannon
- 24 flux vents
- 5 flux caps
- ICU
-Reinforced Bulkheads

Using an all purpose weapon, the Brasher is ... okay. Enemy will rarely stand still for long for the Mjolnr to overload their shields leading to quite the harmless (and useless) exchange.

Conclusion:
An effective long ranged weapons platform with considerable burst damage and above average sustained DPS. Requires significant cover against enemy missiles, fighters/bombers and basically everything. Build it for range. Also stay away from anything with mobility (phase ships, burn drives, pilums lmao)

Also don't give this thing SO. I've tried. It dies way too quickly (compared to a hammerhead SO build) to be effective, even against frigates.

Suggestion: I would actually like a buff to the Defender (scav) mobility so they escort the Brasher easier. 2 Defender per Brasher seems appropriate. As for the Brasher it is quite decent as long range artillery, perhaps adding ICU to the hull could be good (I feel it'd be too strong ngl) or another 5-10 OP.

« Last Edit: August 27, 2019, 08:24:08 PM by Gen Waffle »
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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #156 on: August 27, 2019, 02:12:47 AM »

Can you try make a flux efficent Brasher? If i remember correctly, you can make around 500 flux combination of 2 HVD + hellbore.
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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #157 on: August 27, 2019, 09:35:52 AM »

Continued playing with the revamped scarecrow and Brilliant on my playthrough. Compared to my junker fleet, they're quite good at range and can bring quite a lot of fighters to bear on the enemy. They're like the opposite of my bum rush squad. Perfect for exploring the outer systems :D

Quote
I'm thinking the Shell could move a bit quicker and be a bit less crap to make it a worse-version of the Broadsword.

I'm gonna miss spamming immobile machine gun tanks. (not really).

Btw id the hmi are so into the trash, I find it unusual they don’t have a gun that literally fires trash.

I’m not sure how your code compares to the other mosders here but would it be possible to have junker hmoss that can only be equipped to Junker ships? (Like how Blackrock does it ).
« Last Edit: August 27, 2019, 09:54:20 AM by Gen Waffle »
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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #158 on: August 27, 2019, 06:24:19 PM »

Technically the Xi line fires trash; the small one fires random small amounts of trash at high speed to produce an inconsistent damage output and works as a pretty terrible PD option, while the bigger one fires slow moving explosive trash as a long range suppression weapon.

I have contemplated a ship with a built-in weapon that fires randomly generated missiles, trash to block missiles, or even a hermes loaded with explosives, but I lack the code fu to do it, and I haven't been able to work it properly.

While I could make a junker only hullmod, I don't really see the point in making one. The Junker hullmod itself is pretty unique and powerful, although I might make it get exponentially cheaper to repair the more d-mods are on them.

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #159 on: August 27, 2019, 06:47:54 PM »

Quote
I have contemplated a ship with a built-in weapon that fires randomly generated missiles, trash to block missiles, or even a hermes loaded with explosives, but I lack the code fu to do it, and I haven't been able to work it properly.

INB4 we get pandora's box (call it Junker's Surprise) as a ship. Wonder how you'd go about making that.

One time you get 30 continuous annihilator rockets and the other a reaper outta nowhere. Seems like the perfect thing for a flanking ship.

Also I know the whole gist of the reclaimed remnant and domain ships is that they're re purposed and meant to look the same but perhaps you could kitbash all your current assets to make a rendition of the remnant phase jump capital. I know you said that the hmi don't really have a reason to make a large capital grade ship but they are still pirates in root. And pirates tend to make pretty big ships kitted with guns. Obv this is just a suggestion as I'm no modder and spritework is difficult.

Just thinking of some ideas that are reasonable and within your field of code/reason. That and also because I need something to vent all my ideas after testing your ships lol.

oR mAyBe yOu CaN jUsT mAke a ramMiNg ShIp :3


**IMPORTANT  EDIT**
I found a very large exploit with the Junker hulls. Restoring a ship that has already been equipped with over the base OP cap will result in you being able to go past the OP cap for the ship WITHOUT THE DMODS.

While this is awesome (for me), this is quite a concern as it may lead to potentially OP ships. Unless this is an intended feature (I doubt it).

I just restored my first king roach that was sporting 6 dmods and it kept it's broken layout. The result is a very very strong SO roach king that I really like but is probably broken in some way.

I'll try doing this with my Junk class later (heheh) - you can do quite a lot with an extra 60-80 or so OP for free.

While this is probably unintended it could be a neat reward to people who spends a lot of time on the Junker hulls. I mean you can't change the ship systems after this, your ship must've been kia like 5/6 times so it ain't that easy.

Edit:
I did it already, yeet my Junk is a bit less a Junk ahahaha (1 million restoration price though).


---------------------------
Making some progress for the Bastillon, the 2 medium ballistic mounts can be mixed and matched to quite a degree.
« Last Edit: August 28, 2019, 03:50:21 AM by Gen Waffle »
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Gen Waffle

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #160 on: August 27, 2019, 10:19:36 PM »

Just a random thought but I'd like to share a general strengths/weakness for the hmi faction just as minor flavor tidbit (feel free to extend it yourself).

Strengths
  • A focus on unorthodox layouts that pack more punch for even the smallest of hulls
  • Dmods with benefits
  • A mixture of energy and ballistic mounts with a focus on the latter
  • A combat freighter carrier
  • Hard to kill
  • REDACTED with modifications
  • Cheap to Maintain
  • Overall very efficient ship: deployment cost ratios
  • An emphasis on Nexerellin's mining system
  • Efficient carriers
  • Overwhelm the enemy with a diverse arsenal of trash

Weaknesses
  • Trial and Error Heavy to get effective loadouts
  • Shields are a delicacy
  • Floating pieces of junk
  • You're either very tanky and slow or a piece of paper that's speedy (sometimes neither)
  • REDACTED with modifications
  • Be prepared to repair a lot of hull damage
  • Trash tends to not be effective weapons
  • Lacks a dedicated capital ship
« Last Edit: August 27, 2019, 10:34:33 PM by Gen Waffle »
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Gen Waffle

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #161 on: August 28, 2019, 02:27:24 AM »

Bastillon testing:

Has a very generous 225 base flux dissipation which is quite good for a hull this small and at 8 DP. 6250 Flux capacity is also decent.

It's Shield doesn't cover itself fully however and is horribly inefficient at 1.2 flux:damage. This is quite okay when the vessel has 500 armor which due to large hitbox can be shredded quite rapidly.

With the generous flux stats, I wanted to test the Williamson shotgun the mod introduces. Results were underwhelming at best. Even with 4 shotguns. This is expected though because the Williamson is only 5 OP.


Arbiter Loadout:
24 Caps (12250 flux capacity)
9 Vents
- 2 Seth Small fabricator
- 2 Light Needler
- 2 Xiu Liu Mining Gen
- 2 LightDualMg

The vast range differences is weird to play around and results in a pretty poor craft which one saving grace is it's low flux use. The design was originally intended to cover the low speed value of the mining gen proj speed and overloading the enemies shield  quickly. However while the Light Needler overloads ships very well it lacks range and enemy AI is quick to find out that staying at range renders the Arbiter Loadout useless.



Arbiter MK2 Loadout:
21 Caps
24 Vents
- 4 Railguns
- 2 Xiu Liu Mining Gen
- Insulated Engine Assembly

Trying to rectify the mistakes in the MK1 design as well as adress the crippling weakness t salamander and fighters. Still really weak to EMP and Ionic weapons. The new longer ranged edition is far better at combating other destroyers though it's poor shield:damage efficiency can leave it wide open to alpha strikes which many ships of this hull size pack.

Arbiter MK3 merely replaced the Xiu Liu Ming gen's with the base game Thumper due to much faster proj speed. Doesn't change much.


It's clear the Bastillon can't pressure as effectively as the cockroach or pack the same damage potential so range is definitely the way. It's weird weapon selection also limits it's burst rate to duel other ships so I guess it's designed for support? Perhaps making this thing end all be all flak gunship would be a good idea (the two medium turrets aren't 360 though).


Below is an image of the exploit I found with Junker ships (this is the Junk). Interestingly enough the Junk is still bad at combat, but this additional 90 OP from ("Not even salvageable") is very beneficial in increasing it's flux stats and extended shields which make it a great attrition combatant with it's long range weapons.


[attachment deleted by admin]
« Last Edit: August 28, 2019, 05:41:17 AM by Gen Waffle »
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Gen Waffle

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #162 on: August 28, 2019, 07:55:31 AM »

Another Random Idea:

With how the hmi always sends out scavengers to explore and pilfer the sector it'd be cool to see them create custom landmarks in interesting sectors such as medium to high danger level systems.

They might be scavengers but they do have quite a lot of reclaimed remnant tech which ought to mean they aren't as weak as one may presume.

Perhaps this could even be reflected in a ship that is completely unarmed but churns out smaller combat frigates in combat (your code probably can't handle that but one can dream). If they're so adept at using trash, it'd be cool if they could create semi sentient trash to combat their enemies. It'd probably be a cool spinoff to the other factions that use imposing battleships in combat.

The hmi already have a very versatile and strong cruiser line so it makes sense if they can churn out support craft in the droves from a 'capital grade mobile manufacturing/salvaging platform'.

Sorry my ideas are getting ahead of me. (I should be testing the scav hulls more lol).


That said I have been feeling a revamp to the Nexerellin start. Well not quite a revamp but perhaps more options, suck as a small/medium/large mining fleet. Frontier Hauler (a Junk and some escorts) and maybe a special Overdrive Cockroach group (3 SO built cockroaches  ;))


Update on Bastillon and Fulgent/Lumen/Glimmer Testing

The Bombardment Drone is pretty nice ngl. You can make the Berserker a pretty mean missile boat with them.
« Last Edit: August 29, 2019, 06:18:34 AM by Gen Waffle »
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Innominandum

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #163 on: August 30, 2019, 12:01:14 PM »

I'm petitioning the creation of Planet Cracker-class Starships, the renaming of Hazard Mining Incorporated to Concordance Extraction Corporation and Ruins Tech mining or exploration which lead to Marker excavations which result in ... "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star ..."   

Altman Be Praised!
« Last Edit: August 30, 2019, 12:03:16 PM by Blyat to the future »
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Gen Waffle

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Re: [0.9.1a] Hazard Mining Incorporated (Gen Waffle Ed., 0.2.1g) Ed., 0.2.1f)
« Reply #164 on: August 31, 2019, 05:04:45 AM »

But... the hmi are a pirate based mining faction....

and the chances they get a capital is slim and even then would probably be a massive drone carrier of sorts. The planetcracker would likely be an industry the hmi can produce and not a ship.

Also that name change alone would garner a much much MUCH different sort of faction than what the hmi currently are. They're just pirates that like pilfering and scavenging the sector in a semi-legal way compared to the usual piraty business. The last thing they would want would be becoming enemies with the hegemony and the like.

Really now, a faction like the hmi would depend and rely on a far flung tactics than those seen in other sectors. They don't have awesome tech (just really good ming equipment) or spectacular ships.

They do however have really DP efficient ships for what they provide. Have you tried running an SO King Roach or Cockroach. Yeah for 20 and 8 DP you can get a pretty mean killing machine. Used the Berserker a lot? Well for 12 DP you get not one, not two BUT THREE fighter options. How is that not hella awesome.

What I'm saying is that the hmi won't win from by a power stance a lone but likely through risky plays with risky (loadout wise) ships from a risky commander. At least that's the impression I've been getting after testing their ships for god knows how long.

« Last Edit: August 31, 2019, 05:09:50 AM by Gen Waffle »
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