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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: [0.8.1a] The Nomads, v1.4.11-rc2  (Read 368726 times)

Zergling

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #120 on: April 13, 2012, 03:49:48 PM »

The Maser Pulse Beam feels a bit overpowered.
Just 2 of them on a frigate or destroyer can rip apart cruisers. 4 of them on a cruiser can easily kill capitals, all from long range and with only minor flux problems.

I think either the damage/sec and flux/sec should be at least halved, or it should be increased to large energy mount and 20-25 ord points.
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Trylobot

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #121 on: April 13, 2012, 05:44:05 PM »

@Zergling: Nice observations, considering that's your first post  8)  Been lurking for a while? :D

I will definitely take it into consideration, and I will run your example scenarios. More than likely I will have to enlarge the ship somewhat (make it a destroyer) and upgrade the weapon requirements appropriately assuming you're on the money.

Ideally I can increase the flux requirement per-shot so that the frigate can still fire, but will perhaps be required to vent after every single shot in order to be effective... which would require the ship to be completely unmolested... which is actually starting to sound more inline with your stereotypical sniper class..........  :o  I think we're onto something here.
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Uomoz

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #122 on: April 14, 2012, 12:26:25 AM »

Nuoooo my preferred ship Q.Q

*nerfhammer finally catch up with Uomoz*
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Zergling

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #123 on: April 14, 2012, 02:31:22 PM »

@Zergling: Nice observations, considering that's your first post  8)  Been lurking for a while? :D

I will definitely take it into consideration, and I will run your example scenarios. More than likely I will have to enlarge the ship somewhat (make it a destroyer) and upgrade the weapon requirements appropriately assuming you're on the money.

Ideally I can increase the flux requirement per-shot so that the frigate can still fire, but will perhaps be required to vent after every single shot in order to be effective... which would require the ship to be completely unmolested... which is actually starting to sound more inline with your stereotypical sniper class..........  :o  I think we're onto something here.

Ahem, yeah, my first post. Been lurking for a week or two now since I purchased Starfarer. Apologies for not making a proper introduction first   :-[

I like the Maser Pulse Beam, it just feels kinda cheap to use. A single Hyperion with 2 of them can easily take down most cruisers, and can kill a capital if it doesn't have omni shields.

Another idea for balancing the weapon is to make seperate medium and large energy versions.

I also like the idea of a high damage single shot version, but it'd be tricky to balance right to be useful but not too powerful, as the shield/flux system of Starfarer has that effect on burst/instant damage weapons.
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BrickedKeyboard

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #124 on: April 17, 2012, 09:34:57 AM »

Am here to complain about the pulse maser as well.   :o

It's just SO good, outclassing every other weapon by far.  I was using it to equip various high end Tri-Tachyon cruisers, and with 3 or more of them the cruiser would outmatch any ship in the game. 

I increased the ordinance points from 10 to 16, and boosted the base cost from 1500 to 15000 in my game.  That makes it feel a little more balanced.  It now has half the OP cost of a tachyon lance, and half the range (but same DPS)

Cost is also about half the cost of the tachyon lance. 

Still probably overpowered, but at least it has some drawbacks now (and the high cost means you can't start out with this weapon right away in a new playthrough)
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BrickedKeyboard

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #125 on: April 17, 2012, 10:54:13 AM »



I will definitely take it into consideration, and I will run your example scenarios. More than likely I will have to enlarge the ship somewhat (make it a destroyer) and upgrade the weapon requirements appropriately assuming you're on the money.


A third option is you can make the weapon take 30 OP, but mount it "illegally" on the sniper frigate.  Players who capture that frigate won't be able to strip the weapon from it and put it back, but it'll work.
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Aleskander

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #126 on: April 18, 2012, 07:10:52 AM »

It's OP but it only works on ships that have good flux dissipation from my observations.
Still needs to be nerfed
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Uomoz

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #127 on: April 27, 2012, 01:25:29 PM »

Hey trylobot! I'd like to add some feedback about the Pulse Maser. I compared it's stats to similar weapons of it's class and what I noticed was that even if DPS and FPS (flux per second) were on par, it's range was three times better (without any direct backfire). I suggest to give this weapon a lot more flux per shot and some less shots per minute, or rise it's OP a lot (but I do like more the idea of a slower firing weapon with some punch).

Yellowjacket will probably remain my preferred frigate anyway. :D
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Trylobot

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #128 on: April 27, 2012, 09:20:56 PM »

A solid suggestion, I'll probably do exactly that (with some testing).

I haven't had much time for SF work recently though, I'm sort of waiting for Alex's next update to drop. At that time I plan to use the recently announced feature of "Simulation from Refit Screen" to do all my balancing work because it will make things significantly faster. I also want to release a new ship that will serve as a universal transport that I've named the Cactus, but as of yet I have no solid design for it other than how I want some of the cargo detailing to look like. The Cactus itself isn't even the really important part of the update, It's honestly just an excuse to have a convoy fleet that can be raided for ship hulls and replacement parts for the Nomad faction since they lack a station. I have no plans to add a station either as I think it adds to their personality a tad.

In any case Alex believes the next update will be relatively soon. I'm looking forward to it, and to diving back into SF modding.
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Uomoz

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #129 on: April 28, 2012, 11:19:05 AM »

If I might add (Uomoz, you lousy nerd), the Komodo needs the Dante "worn" treatment :3
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hairrorist

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #130 on: April 28, 2012, 11:31:44 AM »

Love these sprites... except for the Scorpion.  It doesn't fit with the style of the others, and it looks like a strong sneeze would destroy it.
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Uomoz

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Re: The Nomads (0.8)
« Reply #131 on: April 30, 2012, 12:13:28 PM »

MOAR FEEDBACK!  8)

This came out on Uomoz's Corvus thread:

Maybe they should make nomad weapons incompatible with normal ship.

Spoiler
[close]

Spoiler
[close]

I do agree, maybe the Pulse Maser should fit in a large slot? Maybe adjusting it's stats to vanilla Large Energy Weapons ;) (the Yellowjacket could then have a large slot there instead of the medium, with a boost to the price of the ship)
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Trylobot

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Re: The Nomads (0.8.1)
« Reply #132 on: May 01, 2012, 10:01:49 PM »

OK - minor update for SF 0.52a, original post updated. The Maser Pulse Beam has been nerfed by quite a bit, but playtesting with the Yellowjacket using the new "Simulation" feature in the campaign mode reveals to me that the ship still plays the way I originally envisioned, so I'm happy with it. And as a bonus, the AI is now much better at using the Yellowjacket than it was before. Heck, it's better at everything now. Kudos to Alex for all the AI work, really makes our mods look better, haha.
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Trylobot

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Re: The Nomads (0.8.1)
« Reply #133 on: May 05, 2012, 12:01:48 PM »

Below is a preview of the Oasis ship. Scale is not final. Inspired by Mass Effect somewhat, along with some of my own designs. Detailing will be a combination of existing Nomad styling with several new themes for the central habitat ring. The crates towards the back are not meant to be crew or civilian quarters, those are for cargo and storage. I also intend to depict a miniature shipyard, and several dozen launchbays. This ship is essentially a mobile space station. It will not be armed. It will, however, have a great deal of armor, and be heavily shielded. The ship devotes all of its resources to support of the Nomad civilization, and the Oasis' active defense falls to its escort armada.

I'd also like to describe my plan for a brand-new type of Campaign behavior. I have recently discovered that it is possible not only to issue and revoke orders for any active AI-controlled fleet, but also that a plugin gets a chance to run its logic every single frame while in the star system view. I don't think anyone has yet grasped the power that this offers.

So here's what I plan to do. Instead of spawning on a daily basis at a planet as they do now, the Nomad fleets will spawn as a group at the border of the map somewhere. My new spawnpoint plugin will be tasked with issuing orders to every one of these fleets in a somewhat more active way than folks have usually done it. Instead of determining the list of orders in advance, the plugin will scan the available non-fleet entities: planets, stars, space stations, and asteroids. The primary Nomad fleet, the one directly accompanying the Oasis, will choose a random destination from among these and proceed toward it.

Now here's where it will get a little interesting. My plugin, since it executes every frame, will get a chance to analyze the distance between the Oasis fleet, and all other nearby hostile fleets. The plugin will then assess the threat level of these fleets, and create a prioritized list of targets. Available fleets which stand a good chance of victory will be assigned to intercede and position themselves between the Oasis and the threatening fleet. If the distance closes to an uncomfortable range, they will engage. Otherwise they will continue their escort duty. If no threats are detected (hostile fleets are pitifully small or extremely far away), they will be ignored, and the escort fleets will assume a counter-clockwise circular patrol pattern around the Oasis.

The Oasis fleet, upon reaching its destination, will rest a while (presumably to refuel the fleet, perform repairs and such) before choosing a new destination, with a new scan of stationary entities.

A second interesting bit? The Nomads are also going to "scatter" if the Oasis is destroyed. In other words, if an enemy incursion successfully destroys or captures the Oasis fleet, all remaining Nomad fleets will immediately leave the star system (go to edge of map and dissappear). Several weeks later they will return with a new Oasis (restart process).

Thoughts, anyone?

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Shield

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Re: The Nomads (0.8.1)
« Reply #134 on: May 05, 2012, 12:03:50 PM »

Below is a preview of the Oasis ship. Scale is not final. Inspired by Mass Effect somewhat, along with some of my own designs. Detailing will be a combination of existing Nomad styling with several new themes for the central habitat ring. The crates towards the back are not meant to be crew or civilian quarters, those are for cargo and storage. I also intend to depict a miniature shipyard, and several dozen launchbays. This ship is essentially a mobile space station. It will not be armed. It will, however, have a great deal of armor, and be heavily shielded. The ship devotes all of its resources to support of the Nomad civilization, and the Oasis' active defense falls to its escort armada.

I'd also like to describe my plan for a brand-new type of Campaign behavior. I have recently discovered that it is possible not only to issue and revoke orders for any active AI-controlled fleet, but also that a plugin gets a chance to run its logic every single frame while in the star system view. I don't think anyone has yet grasped the power that this offers.

So here's what I plan to do. Instead of spawning on a daily basis at a planet as they do now, the Nomad fleets will spawn as a group at the border of the map somewhere. My new spawnpoint plugin will be tasked with issuing orders to every one of these fleets in a somewhat more active way than folks have usually done it. Instead of determining the list of orders in advance, the plugin will scan the available non-fleet entities: planets, stars, space stations, and asteroids. The primary Nomad fleet, the one directly accompanying the Oasis, will choose a random destination from among these and proceed toward it.

Now here's where it will get a little interesting. My plugin, since it executes every frame, will get a chance to analyze the distance between the Oasis fleet, and all other nearby hostile fleets. The plugin will then assess the threat level of these fleets, and create a prioritized list of targets. Available fleets which stand a good chance of victory will be assigned to intercede and position themselves between the Oasis and the threatening fleet. If the distance closes to an uncomfortable range, they will engage. Otherwise they will continue their escort duty. If no threats are detected (hostile fleets are pitifully small or extremely far away), they will be ignored, and the escort fleets will assume a counter-clockwise circular patrol pattern around the Oasis.

The Oasis fleet, upon reaching its destination, will rest a while (presumably to refuel the fleet, perform repairs and such) before choosing a new destination, with a new scan of stationary entities.

A second interesting bit? The Nomads are also going to "scatter" if the Oasis is destroyed. In other words, if an enemy incursion successfully destroys or captures the Oasis fleet, all remaining Nomad fleets will immediately leave the star system (go to edge of map and dissappear). Several weeks later they will return with a new Oasis (restart process).

Thoughts, anyone?



Just make sure its big
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