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[Sutopia]

Gah, try 0.72 lol, .8 is WAY easier than pre-.8 eras.

Have you been through both combat AND campaign tutorials?
Well a nice tip I can give you is CARRIERs rock, so do TEMPESTs.
When doing exploring missions, please really DO SOME exploration, there are probes that can easily gain you a HELL lota fuel and supply.
Always turn OFF transponder in hyper space, prevent drawing attention from whatever looks dangerous, including scavengers.
Rest should be ... easy.

[Sandersson Jankins]

Purchased this game when it was still Starfarer and all you could do was jaunt around one system with tri-tachyon, hegemony, and pirates running about. Thought it was pretty sick then.

Fast forward to 2018, I remember that this was a thing and came back to it. I estimate spending maybe 4-5 hours "spinning my wheels" when I began again. Mostly just re-familiarization and figuring out combat mechanics. Didn't bother with any tutorials, myself. I suppose I've got a pretty high tolerance for failure in video games, especially compared to a lot of other folk. As long as it ain't glaringly obvious that something's *** up with the game, I must've failed for a reason and figuring that out is part of the fun.

Really though, once I sorted out that the first 50 or so in-game days should be spent taking on small pirate fleets in Corvus for the default bounty starting there (no commission), parsed through what sorts of ships I can sustain with how many supplies etc, figured out that putting early skills in certain tech and most industry is very useful for building a fleet, the beginning of the game is pretty easy.

These days I'm playing Nexerelin with most of the well-polished mods and almost always use a free start with only single frigate. It ain't that bad.

[stormbringer951]

A lot of the difficulty new players encounter is information-based, rather than skill/execution-based. I don't think the difficulty resulting from some common misunderstandings of the importance of certain game mechanics them is part of the intended vision of the game, or adds to the experience in a meaningful way.

E.g. quite how dramatically terrain, transponder status and active abilities affects detection range. This specific example is an area where I think the tutorial can improve, since IMO the stealth assassination tutorial mission that used to be in the Steiner Foundation mod was better at testing if players grasped how to not be detected.

There are things the players can discover for themselves, like specific strategies and optimisations, but basic information about game mechanics needs to be presented with strong emphasis on which points are very important. Even something like the transponder reminders mini-mod is very helpful for new players in hinting at what they should probably be doing with their transponder.

Gah, try 0.72 lol, .8 is WAY easier than pre-.8 eras.

Have you been through both combat AND campaign tutorials?
Well a nice tip I can give you is CARRIERs rock, so do TEMPESTs.
When doing exploring missions, please really DO SOME exploration, there are probes that can easily gain you a HELL lota fuel and supply.
Always turn OFF transponder in hyper space, prevent drawing attention from whatever looks dangerous, including scavengers.
Rest should be ... easy.

IMO 0.52 to 0.54 was pretty easy. Pick off lone buffalos or 2-3 frigate fleets with your starting frigate, get 20k credits to buy and fit out a Hyperion (this was before CR ) from the TT station and then farm hostile fleets over and over.

Exploration does seem nice for new players though. Helps them to more or less safely build a fleet that can get on the bounty progression chain and start growing fast, even if they are personally not great at combat.

[Sutopia]

A lot of the difficulty new players encounter is information-based, rather than skill/execution-based. I don't think the difficulty resulting from some common misunderstandings of the importance of certain game mechanics them is part of the intended vision of the game, or adds to the experience in a meaningful way.

E.g. quite how dramatically terrain, transponder status and active abilities affects detection range. This specific example is an area where I think the tutorial can improve, since IMO the stealth assassination tutorial mission that used to be in the Steiner Foundation mod was better at testing if players grasped how to not be detected.

There are things the players can discover for themselves, like specific strategies and optimisations, but basic information about game mechanics needs to be presented with strong emphasis on which points are very important. Even something like the transponder reminders mini-mod is very helpful for new players in hinting at what they should probably be doing with their transponder.

Gah, try 0.72 lol, .8 is WAY easier than pre-.8 eras.

Have you been through both combat AND campaign tutorials?
Well a nice tip I can give you is CARRIERs rock, so do TEMPESTs.
When doing exploring missions, please really DO SOME exploration, there are probes that can easily gain you a HELL lota fuel and supply.
Always turn OFF transponder in hyper space, prevent drawing attention from whatever looks dangerous, including scavengers.
Rest should be ... easy.

IMO 0.52 to 0.54 was pretty easy. Pick off lone buffalos or 2-3 frigate fleets with your starting frigate, get 20k credits to buy and fit out a Hyperion (this was before CR ) from the TT station and then farm hostile fleets over and over.

Exploration does seem nice for new players though. Helps them to more or less safely build a fleet that can get on the bounty progression chain and start growing fast, even if they are personally not great at combat.

Oh, I started off by .652 and.... I tried NOT exploiting the food runs, painful.

[Megas]

Gah, try 0.72 lol, .8 is WAY easier than pre-.8 eras.

I find 0.8 tougher because 1) level scaling bounties that make it hard to catch up and 2) no more overpowered skills that let player solo everything with an Onslaught or other overpowered hull. 3) AI became big cowards like Spathi and run away and drag out fights as long as possible.  Also, trade broke sometime between 0.7 and 0.8.  Until later 0.8 releases, I could support myself by killing stray pirates and bounty fleets.  (In 0.65, food runs replaced combat as the cash cow.)  Now, stray pirates (for system bounties) are rare, and named bounties level up as you do, and you level up very fast, meaning bounties get bigger and better fleets faster than you can obtain them.

A lot of the difficulty new players encounter is information-based, rather than skill/execution-based.

The info I had most difficulty when I started Starfarer was with soft and hard flux and beams only hit for soft flux instead of hard flux done by every other weapon.  Flux differences explained by the tutorial can be easily overlooked, and tiny needle that represents hard flux is too easy to miss (small and same color as rest of flux bar).

[Daquan_Baton]

I can't believe how difficult the game is and how punishing the game is for every decision a player can make.
It could actually be really fun but no, the player is constantly stripped of all ships, due to clicking on the wrong piece of space or going down a wrong jump hole.

Missions are all pretty much the same, there doesn't seem to be any real aim after completing the tutorial mission.. Or Story, even after this many years in development..


 * There seems hardly any point in amassing a fleet and trying to fight pirates or anything, it always results in a loss of earnings, non profitable. *
Bounty hunting seems the only legit reason to even fight in this game, or to defend yourself, which is all the time..

Supplies are required way too much for everything, and are way too expensive to replace, doesn't make the game fun at all, it's just an outright chore to play..
So disappointing, I preferred the game in its early alpha, why have you had to make it so complicated and difficult to play?

Well fanboy warning...

If you would actually put in the work towards thinking, adjusting yourself to the game's play style or bettering your overall skill rather than wasting it on complaining you could simply reduce the cost of supplies and fuel, maximum stack size and much more by going into the files and adjusting it to your liking or realize that clearly you need to acknowledge that this game requires better micromanaging than whatever you're going by.

Things you can adjust in the game files that I can come up with on the spot:
Supply cost
Fuel cost
Maximum stack size
Bounty strength relative to your fleet
Bounty density
Bounty frequency
Bounty reward ranges, etc.
Detection range
"Going Dark" effectiveness
Maximum speed (Sustained Burn or not)
Faction relationships
ALL stats of EVERY ship

What you can do in-game instead of tinkering with the files are putting the necessary amount of ships into battle (you don't need a cruiser for 3 frigates), you must realize that ships have recovery costs and putting something with a 30 supply recovery cost into a battle where the combined ships' recovery cost doesn't even add up to what you're sending in. Also, just like real life, stay in your price range, if you're just starting out and you can afford to BUY and awesome huge ship, that doesn't mean you should because chances are, you won't be able to MAINTAIN it, you've got to be confident in your consistent income before you can take your steps up to making it big time in this. This game like 50% micromanaging, if you can't handle the heat go play Starbound or something.

[eidolad]

I respectfully ask if the OP can adjust the Subject line of the post to something along the lines of "difficulty in starting, please help".  Feel free to adjust the new title to something that expresses the intense frustration of the unforgiving sandbox that StarSector is at the very beginning.

Certainly after some sleep the OP should realize that Star Sector is anything but terrible even now...two or three versions away from final release.

An example of "rage-quitting and then writing about it" is not productive. 

I too had a very rough first few hours, cursed for two minutes straight like the Chief Petty Officer taught me, and came up for breath and realized a) that there are significant mechanics going on and b) this game project is a work in progress, chill and c) if I read a fair amount of the forum, sleep on it and return, I will prosper. 

Yes, I still start with a single frigate and "run or die", a lot at the beginning.  And the middle.  Maybe because I tend to keep piloting the frigate until my fleet has enough overall weight for me to change classes.  But I've learned to run my operation conservatively within the boundaries of my income potential.  Add a ship continue, add a ship, etc.

To anyone who doesn't understand the destructive power of poorly considered, public, negative reviews of people's love-work (yes, I imagine this dev is likely gainfully employed doing real stuff somewhere for some boring financial tech project etc. etc.)...just take a look at what happened with Space Pirates and Zombies 2...

...the devs, facing a constant barrage of repeated "this game sucks" from posters who didn't bother to read a few forum pages and came to complain yet again about the exact same issue 20 other people had pointed out and had received dev feedback...

...have basically stopped working on a 4+ year project that could be turned around with some focus, motivation and re-work in a sequel.  So we all lose.

(actually I myself am doing boring dev work for a finTech project and wishing I had the motivation to create the work that is StarSector on my spare time.  But I don't have the built-in Temporal Flux chamber that this dev appears to have to a) do a real job b) live a life and c) advance a project like StarSector to it's current state)

[xenoargh]

While I heartily agree that there are major problems with the game's difficulty ramp that we've been talking about (rather than "git gud") for a few years now, that part of the game keeps moving around as the major pieces get completed.  When we're a little closer to Gold, it's really going to be time to figure that out.

A few obvious solutions for now:

1.  Adjust the core difficulty by modding the game a little.

Open up \Program Files (x86)\Fractal Softworks\Starsector\starsector-core\data\config  in File Explorer

Open up the file called settings.json

Edit this section.

Code

	#
	# start difficulty config
	#
	"easyPlayerDamageDealtMult":1,
	"easyPlayerDamageTakenMult":0.75,
	"easySensorBonus":500,
	"easySalvageMult":1.5,
	"easyOfficerLevelMult":1,
	
	#
	# end difficulty config
	#

Or download this mini-mod, that makes the combat 100% easier than default Easy.

2.  There are several mods that give you more ships at the start of the game; that makes the game considerably easier, in most respects.

3.  Try playing the Missions a few times.  They don't have the dynamic aspects of the Campaign battles, but they're a really good place to learn how to optimize your ships.

[Tellaris]

So a lot of these people are giving general advice or just talking down, in a not particularly nice way, but aren't really suggesting what you do.

At the start, you're weak and crap. Unless you're really good with combat (A new player won't be) you can't even tackle the weakest enemy fleets you find.

All I do is follow Hegemony patrols early game. They don't have to be big patrols, they just have to be big enough. Do what the AI does. If they turn and flee, do the same. If they engage, usually they think they can win. Here is where you join in.

Stay near the larger AI ships until you are more confident. The AI may be cowardly, but it generally doesn't get itself completely wrecked. And if you get in to trouble, it generally does try to help you, if it thinks it can. When you get more confidence in your abilities, try working with an AI frigate. Stay close to them, and go after whom they go after.

I've found that I've made some extremely stupid mistakes at times... but an AI frigate or an AI carrier will rush in and bail my butt out if they see me backing away. I've taken a fair share of missiles/torpedoes to the face while maxed out on flux, and paid for it with my life. I've also had more than a few times when an AI frigate, or an AI carrier deciding to toss its fighters on me, saved my life by getting in the way of the salvo and eating it or PDing it. Generally the AI isn't consistent enough to rely on this 100% of the time, but its helpful.

Once I've gotten 2 or 3 frigates, I start going after the smaller fleets solo. This is where you start making your money in combat. You get money/wreckage and sometimes more ships from the combat. DMods are a pain in the butt, but an extra frigate is an extra frigate. And so long as you fight pirates, they have D mods too, so it just means a more even playing field. Work your way up to a destroyer (or if you're lucky, you'll find a free one!) and keep climbing that ladder. Don't be afraid to sell a ship you don't like. Don't be afraid to fix the Dmods if you find you have enough cash. Take everything, sell it at Jangala. I'll quite often go over my freight limit if I'm close to Jangala or the neutral planet that I can immediately offload the extra crap to.

You won't make a ton of money, but you'll not be poor.

When your rep is high enough, consider taking a commission with the Hedgemony. The money you get for killing things really helps keep you going. And if there is a bounty in system? All the better.

Eventually the pirates in Corvus WILL run low. You will find fleets that simply aren't worth your time to bother with, consisting of maybe 1 or 2 ships. Its at this point that I start to look elsewhere for my prey... Since you have Hedgemony commission, you can start hunting down those Tri-Tachyon bastards that the Hedgemony is perpetually at war with.
And start taking their delicious, expensive ships for yourself.

Also, the best piece of advice I can give: Save before every fight. I've won some pretty... Shady fights by save scumming until I won. I'm not afraid to admit that.

[Harmful Mechanic]

If you want responses, troll titles are a good way to get them. Nothing generates emotional investment faster, especially on the internet, where the default is a blind rage so constipated that you can imagine poopy tears welling up in a poster's eyes.

I don't think the game has ever had forgiving starts, but it's had unforgiving starts with less stuff to track, and right now that's a major barrier; you get your hindquarters kicked a lot, and you have to split your attention a lot while you do it. Either would be acceptable; both isn't, really. But that's beta!

[mangalore]

... Don't be afraid to fix the Dmods if you find you have enough cash. ...

That's kind of a good point by the OP. Wait, what? You can fix DMods?! Never knew that play this on and off for years...

I feel the game could bother with more Nexerlin like starting conditions. I usually jump to a start with destroyer simply because I feel the grind from frigate to there wastes my time and I want to have fun. Imo combat and options like trade etc. become much more viable at that stage.

[boogada]

Why do so many say a thing is terrible, when they mean to say "I'm terrible at this thing and don't care to bother getting good."

[pigreko]

My 2 cents to this discussion: it should not be there at all (at least in this tones)

The game is in development. We paid to get in before release (for whatever reason) and we got to be part of an ongoing process of unofficial playtesting, to give feedback, and (hopefully) have fun; each one of us with a different grade of engagement, with modders being incredibly productive and over the top participative.

Now, being in development means that new mechanics get introduced and tested with each release, so the game we bought keeps changing and changing, leading to iterations of it that MAY very well not be of our liking... and it is perfectly normal. At that point, if we feel compelled, we give developers (and everyone else) feedback on our experience. The key word here is EXPERIENCE; because saying stuff "game is hard", "the campaign does not feel interesting", not only are too vague, but are also not helping. It is like saying in the early alpha stages, with only combat mechanics introduced, that "the game is shallow".

You should stop treating each release as a feature complete game, as said, there is nothing dramatic in not liking a specific version; sometimes the easiest solution to this feeling of detachment is to wait to thing to get more flashed in later releases, or OR play the game modded as you like it.

[Heatextend]

Couldn't resist registering after reading OP
THIS GAME IS FUGGIN' GREAT, BEST SPACE RANGERS CLONE EVAR
that will be all 

[Malvorn]

lol mate! You might be the worst gamer ever.
I have like 30m$+80ships(in dock)+10planets+no idea how many alpha and beta cores and i can disintegrate any fleet without manually control anything.
My planets are so capable, i dont even care about the enemy.
At home all the systems are scattered with enemy direlicts.
I reached all this by reading forums, trying out builds, tactics etc.
I dont even have good gamer reflexes. I just learning the game and during the process i love every minutes of it!
This game is already an unpolished diamond.
Best starship battle game ever!