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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 0.95a (Released) Patch Notes  (Read 595886 times)

florg

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #60 on: October 16, 2020, 06:38:01 PM »

Kind of bummed about the hammerhead rear turrets not being able to face forward but it's pretty understandable considering how great safety overrides chaingun hammerheads are at ripping enemies to shreds
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Alex

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #61 on: October 16, 2020, 07:00:10 PM »

Gonna comment on some specific things, mostly the things I feel have problems.
So first I gotta say: this is almost entirely good news! I had to scroll down three pages to find a thing I specifically objected to.

Thank you, and gotcha! Stuff that's good, there's not much to talk about, right.


I mean, not having easy money is good! But taking on any kind of base (especially now that one-module bases are no longer a thing) requires a considerable investment and risk in the early to mid game. It sounds like the problem was more that person bounties and LP base bounties weren't paying enough.

Well, this was a direct reaction to suddenly finding myself swimming in credits during a test run, for what felt like no good reason. It's entirely possible that it's an "overnerf" but consider that 1) it's probably fine not to have a bounty on pirate bases *at all*, and 2) beating one gets you a fair amount of salvage, too.


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Nanoforges: add Pollution when installed; becomes permanent after three months
Synchrotron: requires "No atmosphere" condition
Ow. Is this a way to incentivize colonies on non-habitable worlds?

Does pollution from nanoforges requite the Habitable condition (like the pollution from bombardment)?

It feels like the heavy industry itself should be the source of pollution, not the nanoforge. Was that deemed too punishing?

Part of an effort to incentivize colony world variety, yeah; most items have requirements or interactions with planetary conditions.

Pollution doesn't require habitable - consider corrosives, radiation, etc. Good point re: bombardments, though; let me remove the "habitable" requirement there. Hmm. On the other hand, what this does is instead of disincentivizing industry on habitable worlds, it more incentivizes (somewhat) industry on a world by itself. So, actually, let me make a note to check tomorrow; it seems offhand that requiring habitable for pollution is probably the right way to go.

Re: whether it's heavy industry or a nanoforge, I'm not sure it actually matters all that much which one causes it, since a nanoforge of some sort is almost required. But I suppose this leaves the option of having a safer, low-tier heavy industry, not that it's going to generally be a good option.


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Spaceport: removed "No spaceport" accessibility penalty when under construction or disrupted
*happy dance*
Although I fear that straight-up reducing the penalty to zero swings the pendulum to spaceport disruption being too weak. With the +5 in-faction trade capacity bonus, disrupting a core world spaceport will likely have no effect whatsoever on commodity scarcity on the planet or elsewhere in the faction.

One thing to consider: the in-faction bonus doesn't matter as much for exports. So while a spaceport disruption won't be crippling (i.e. raiding it on Jangala gives it a deficit of one in a couple of commodities), and doesn't interrupt too much of its ability to supply in-faction colonies with organics (though it interrupts some of it - more of an effect for things that are a colony's specialty, really), it *also* gives it something like 6 or 7 units of surplus organics since it can't export them out of faction. So, still opens a major opportunity, just not one that cripples a colony/faction.

It might seem a lot weaker - and it is - but I think that's also to do with just how incredibly crippling it was before.

Can you also do something about the shield modules dying early on in autoresolve? This has awkward effects when a player joins an ongoing battle with/against the station.

Let me make a note to take a look; that could be a bit hairy.


I feel like only one of those changes should have been implemented.

So the idea is that Tarsus is the safe option and Buffalo is the cost-efficient option. But past a certain point, having to fight a disengage scenario at all is a sign you did something wrong (which is why people like me keep suggesting ways to drag civ ships into fights). So the Tarsus's strength will very rarely be relevant.

...unless this is intended to work with the new options to turn civilian ships into combatants?

Hmm. Yeah, looking at it again maybe the Tarsus could use, say, 350 capacity or something. It *does* make a reasonable chassis for a civ-combatant (really, a damage sponge brick) but I'm not sure that's enough to really swing things in its favor.

And, yeah, I get why the suggestion about dragging civ ships into fights comes up. Just, I don't think that it works out in a way that's generally better than "civ ships are usually stat slots" - which, while unexciting, is also not actively a negative.

(Also: you can force a running enemy to fight now, with a story point! So at least enemy civilian ships can be dragged into a battle.)


Drover was overdue for an adjustment, but with Reserve Deployment already having the run-in with the nerf bat, isn't the DP increase on top of that really punitive?

Even with the RD change, it's still quite good, so: I think it's reasonable. The RD change isn't an outright nerf, right, and having a critical mass of Drovers with wing-size-boosting RD early in a fight could even be stronger than before.

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Light Needler: reduced OP cost to 7 (was: 9)
Railgun: increased OP cost to 8 (was: 7)
This is probably actually bad!
The attachment is gone now, but bobucles made a graph which shows Light Needler significantly out-DPSes Railgun early in a fight (for like 20 seconds or such) due to having the large damage spike at t=0. Mind, that's a double-edged sword since it also adds flux to the firing ship, and you pay 2 more OP for the privilege, but it persuaded me that LNs are actually worth using over railguns sometimes. And Needler is more efficient and has faster projectiles.

Hmm. The thing with the LN is, beyond pure DPS, it's pretty much only good vs shields. I think it's ok for it to be a bit cheaper *and* to be worth using over railguns sometimes, since it's more specialized where a railgun is just always good.


Ha ha ha this is three mod ships and one mod weapon that will now need renaming

(Ahh, apologies to all affected parties. Just, hard to avoid.)


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Added UI scaling setting

4k time?!?

Indeed!


Kind of bummed about the hammerhead rear turrets not being able to face forward but it's pretty understandable considering how great safety overrides chaingun hammerheads are at ripping enemies to shreds

(Yeah, it's a bit much, plus it looks kind of silly.)
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miniusAreas

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #62 on: October 16, 2020, 07:10:19 PM »

Woooo, 0.95a! It couldn't come sooner! But there's some things to address!

The Conquest! From using it alot because midline bestline, I've noticed it tends to just keep itself pointed directly at a target and fire torpedos (in the case of Reapers) until it runs dry, rather than attempting to broadside till flux is driven up, then torpdeo the living smitherines out of things like it really should.

It's cool to see the onslaught get changes! Do the two side mounts now point forwards, or is it still just another glorified place to put a Devastator (but now with less OP cost)

A few other random thoughts now that we're in the story update - Previously when dropping bombs on small raiders, rescuing people from planets, etc - the "Answer the Hail" option you occasionally get from planets with ruins - there was texts saying "Hopefully this was a good idea, hopefully they don't bring sickness, etc" or something of that nature.... With this update, can my people catch the space pox, eat rocks and die, if I accept a buncha refugees?

can I put a hat on that AI core? Like a beret? Please?

AI core officers for the player? It makes sense in a way - if you're putting an alpha core in charge of an entire enterprise, and it keeps quiet about it, surely its loyal enough to you to fly some giant toilet with laser beams!

Decreased Pirate Base Bounties. Oh. Why did you do this? It generally takes 3-4 cruisers to kill a pirate station - unless you have the skills to do it yourself, alone - and usualy by the time you have one to two cruisers, the money is mediocre at best.

I probably have more crap to say, but I'm playing Space Station 13, and my minds sidetracked, so here's a start to it all...
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FooF

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #63 on: October 16, 2020, 07:11:50 PM »

Very few head-scratchers now that I've had a chance to digest the whole thing. Overall, excellent stuff and I can't wait to see some of the new (hidden) stuff in action. I'm quite curious about the new enemy type but I'm sure I won't get anything out of you (yet!)

- The Buffalo/Tarsus thing didn't make much sense initially but you already explained why.

- The Railgun/Light Needler change is a little weird to me. I consider them different but equal: one is burst-y with no ability to harm armor while the other is a generally
excellent all-rounder kinetic. Both are very good. I think I'd be fine with both being 8 OP.

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Added the chance to be able to promote a junior officer to a ship command position after battle, uses a story point
-I presume this means that in an RNG post-battle prompt, you'll get the chance to recruit an officer for "free" via story point. Or is this one of those "mentor" things?

- Assault Chaingun being brought back down to Earth. Ion Pulser being being buffed. Warthog being brought back. All good changes.

- IR Pulse being flux efficient is actually a huge change. It makes Small Energy slots Less Bad (I still won't call them "good"). A ton of High Tech ships rely on Small Energy to get things done and none of the options are good for breaking shields.

- Out of curiosity, since I didn't see anything mentioned, but any update on the "Orders" tab?
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Warnoise

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #64 on: October 16, 2020, 08:03:12 PM »

I was expecting the sabot to be nerfed. It is now anti low tech ships because its burst outranges small ballistic PD's and AI always tries to block it with shield which makes end up being overfluxed all the time.

It would be great if sabot burst range gets significantly reduced considering the amount of damage it does.
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peppermeth

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #65 on: October 16, 2020, 08:29:02 PM »

Would it be possible to change the max size of (of one or some or all) player colonies in the setting? 
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Mayu

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #66 on: October 16, 2020, 08:39:44 PM »

How about changing the faction color of the player? Is it still possible?
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Alex

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #67 on: October 16, 2020, 08:52:12 PM »

The Conquest! From using it alot because midline bestline, I've noticed it tends to just keep itself pointed directly at a target and fire torpedos (in the case of Reapers) until it runs dry, rather than attempting to broadside till flux is driven up, then torpdeo the living smitherines out of things like it really should.

Hmm, not seeing this behavior; it does what seems like a reasonable mix of both.

It's cool to see the onslaught get changes! Do the two side mounts now point forwards, or is it still just another glorified place to put a Devastator (but now with less OP cost)

They're still facing sideways. But there's some good broadside Onslaught builds! If you're into the Conquest, you might want to experiment with that, too.

A few other random thoughts now that we're in the story update - Previously when dropping bombs on small raiders, rescuing people from planets, etc - the "Answer the Hail" option you occasionally get from planets with ruins - there was texts saying "Hopefully this was a good idea, hopefully they don't bring sickness, etc" or something of that nature.... With this update, can my people catch the space pox, eat rocks and die, if I accept a buncha refugees?

Ah - that's from a mod!

Decreased Pirate Base Bounties. Oh. Why did you do this? It generally takes 3-4 cruisers to kill a pirate station - unless you have the skills to do it yourself, alone - and usualy by the time you have one to two cruisers, the money is mediocre at best.

Hmm, not in my experience. It felt like way too many credits way too early.


- The Railgun/Light Needler change is a little weird to me. I consider them different but equal: one is burst-y with no ability to harm armor while the other is a generally
excellent all-rounder kinetic. Both are very good. I think I'd be fine with both being 8 OP.

Since this was mentioned a couple of times: I'll keep an eye on it!

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Added the chance to be able to promote a junior officer to a ship command position after battle, uses a story point
-I presume this means that in an RNG post-battle prompt, you'll get the chance to recruit an officer for "free" via story point. Or is this one of those "mentor" things?

You get an intel item about an officer promotion candidate after closing out the combat dialog. Then you can act on it within a month or so; it is indeed a story point option, granting 100% bonus XP.

- Assault Chaingun being brought back down to Earth. Ion Pulser being being buffed. Warthog being brought back. All good changes.

I'm actually thinking about backing out some of the Ion Pulser changes; it's feeling a bit too good. Need to also play with the same loadout with the Heavy Blaster, though, and see how that feels.

- IR Pulse being flux efficient is actually a huge change. It makes Small Energy slots Less Bad (I still won't call them "good"). A ton of High Tech ships rely on Small Energy to get things done and none of the options are good for breaking shields.

I'm hoping it'll help a few ships, yeah!

- Out of curiosity, since I didn't see anything mentioned, but any update on the "Orders" tab?

Not at this point, no. Not sure exactly where in the UI it'll end up, either; ultimately it'll be something you funnel colony income/excess credits into to help you face some tougher challenges, but the exact details are TBD.


I was expecting the sabot to be nerfed. It is now anti low tech ships because its burst outranges small ballistic PD's and AI always tries to block it with shield which makes end up being overfluxed all the time.

It would be great if sabot burst range gets significantly reduced considering the amount of damage it does.

I think it's about 50/50 as far as whether an AI ship can drop shields in time to avoid the overload or not - unless it's paired with sufficient HE damage to make the overload a sure thing, that is. It's a good missile, but ... well, I'm keeping an eye on it. It's tricky because while it's effective, it also deals little permanent damage and requires follow-through - it just creates an opportunity. Something like what you're suggesting - making it be able to be shot down by typical ballistic PD - would I think make it nearly useless.


Would it be possible to change the max size of (of one or some or all) player colonies in the setting?

Literally the patch notes item next to the one about colony size being limited to 6 says how to do that :) That said, I don't think it makes too much sense; colony production and industry counts are by and large the same as before (with relevant booster items, that is), and size 6 takes longer to reach than before. So, it's mainly just the "colony size" number that is smaller.


How about changing the faction color of the player? Is it still possible?

By editing the player.faction file, yeah.
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Midnight Kitsune

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #68 on: October 16, 2020, 09:07:01 PM »

Is there a cap on how many story points you can have at once?
And has the XP curve been flattened or changed so you don't need millions of XP, even with +XP%, to get the next Story Point?
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Alex

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #69 on: October 16, 2020, 09:22:54 PM »

Is there a cap on how many story points you can have at once?
And has the XP curve been flattened or changed so you don't need millions of XP, even with +XP%, to get the next Story Point?

There's no cap, and the XP curve flattens out completely for the purposes of SP gain once you reach max level, but you still need a lot of XP at that point.

(Oh, that reminds me, someone mentioned earlier that you might feel like you need to keep a story point around to use for stuff, and I hadn't responded to it directly: yeah, that's probably true, and it doesn't seem like a problem?)
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Kanil

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #70 on: October 16, 2020, 09:30:11 PM »

So, actually, let me make a note to check tomorrow; it seems offhand that requiring habitable for pollution is probably the right way to go.

Re: whether it's heavy industry or a nanoforge, I'm not sure it actually matters all that much which one causes it, since a nanoforge of some sort is almost required. But I suppose this leaves the option of having a safer, low-tier heavy industry, not that it's going to generally be a good option.

I'd personally like this option the best.

As for the planet size, I think it's unfortunate that your colonies will never be as large as the core world ones. Probably doesn't matter for gameplay, but it feels bad.
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Drazhya

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #71 on: October 16, 2020, 09:49:09 PM »

There's one thing I've been meaning to bring up that slipped my mind - filter options. Will we get more of them? I'm specifically thinking of two cases. First is where I've surveyed all the planets in the sector and want to know where all the vast ruins are. Scrolling through the list and trying to spot them all is a pain.  Second is rather mod-oriented, but when I'm mounting weapons on my ships I'd like to be able to filter for weapons that match the tech category of the ship, and filter for tech category when mounting weapons in general.
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Jonlissla

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #72 on: October 16, 2020, 10:06:03 PM »

  • Added a number of story-related missions and a hint of an endgame threat

If the threat is not a herd of vicious migratory Buffalos I will be severely disappointed, Alex.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2020, 10:07:55 PM by Jonlissla »
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SonnaBanana

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #73 on: October 16, 2020, 10:38:24 PM »

With the new colony changes.....
It seems that players will prefer systems with large amounts of planets over individual planet class.
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Minitialize

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Re: Starsector 0.95a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #74 on: October 16, 2020, 11:25:37 PM »

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Added unique capital-class ship that can be acquired by the player. Good luck.

Reading this, I'm getting a bad omen that something big and scary is coming on top of the hinted end-game threat...

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Campaign fleet AI/behavior:
          In general a bit worse at avoiding being intercepted; was too good at it
Not gonna lie, I thought this was pretty funny. I personally had no issues with this even with a large fleet, as long as I'm able to roughly calculate the speed & direction a given fleet is taking and whether or not was I going to be able to catch up depending on the course of my fleet.

Overall, I had no plans to update the game since my current campaign is going pretty well (I am the type of player that does one, extremely long playthrough. Not so fond of having to restart). But after reading the changelog... I'm starting to contemplate my decisions.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2020, 11:32:40 PM by Minitialize »
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