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Author Topic: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.  (Read 208307 times)

Harmful Mechanic

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.3a - Update for 0.95.1
« Reply #210 on: September 19, 2022, 07:53:33 PM »

It won’t be a hard to find story - I’m a big believer in making your content interesting and accessible - but blueprints, eh - consistent access, yeah, but a lot of the value in something like Blackcollar hulls is the way you get them increasing your appreciation for them - because you have a story of what you did to get it.

No idea if it’ll be intriguing until it’s written, but I have hopes.
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Corelious

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.3a - Update for 0.95.1
« Reply #211 on: September 20, 2022, 10:52:25 AM »

Hey quick question - with console commands it's possible to spawn in the ships I can't normally obtain in market correct?  If so, where do I find their variant IDs?
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Synthaesium

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.3a - Update for 0.95.1
« Reply #212 on: October 01, 2022, 02:30:55 AM »

I've been lurking for a really long time, but with the recent posts here and especially after reading your blog post (which I didn't know existed), I feel obligated to finally make an account and post.

First off, the blog post. I absolutely enjoyed reading it. Game design is such an interesting topic to me personally, and being given the chance to peer behind  the veil is something I always appreciate. I like the look of the subfactions: the local pirates, the revolution pushing against their highly stratified society, the glorified and garish parade guards, and the people that you absolutely do not want to see show up on your doorstep. They all feel distinct from one another, except maybe the Herd, since they don't exist in the public build yet.

And that's the important thing: how it feels. You touched upon this multiple times both in forum posts and in the blog post, and in my experience that's something very important. When you see something new in a game like this, you ideally want to find out more. The game should make you want to find out more. In a game centred around starships shooting at each other until one of them blows up, a ship with a slick (or in some cases, garish...) colour scheme and a few special touches is definitely one way to hook people in.

I feel that you've done a good job so far with trying to make the subfactions feel different too. The Skytigers, being the nominally "elite" Magellan division, mainly hew to the same doctrine as the larger Magellan military, except their ships have a paintjob that nobody likes except for them. Judging by the lore, that seems to be a recurring theme for them as well. Meanwhile, the Blackcollars are the actual elite, the people that go out and actually do stuff. And I love how that's reflected in them mainly using lighter, faster ships, while still having muscle in the form of the BCR Porey. Speaking of BCR ships, my personal favourite BCR modification is actually the Yeager. The Blackcollars are definitely a faction that'd make good use of a small and quick stealth ship for troop insertions, which is still different from the other BCR modified ships that mostly add to their direct combat capabilities.

As for gameplay, well... I actually haven't gone for a Magellan playthrough in quite a while. Not since like, two patches ago? I recently got back in for a couple runs though, and my current one is nearing its end, so this looks like as good a time as any to give them another go.
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Harmful Mechanic

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.3a - Update for 0.95.1
« Reply #213 on: October 02, 2022, 09:44:24 PM »

I've been lurking for a really long time, but with the recent posts here and especially after reading your blog post (which I didn't know existed), I feel obligated to finally make an account and post.
Well, that's very flattering.

First off, the blog post. I absolutely enjoyed reading it. Game design is such an interesting topic to me personally, and being given the chance to peer behind  the veil is something I always appreciate. I like the look of the subfactions: the local pirates, the revolution pushing against their highly stratified society, the glorified and garish parade guards, and the people that you absolutely do not want to see show up on your doorstep. They all feel distinct from one another, except maybe the Herd, since they don't exist in the public build yet.
I also really enjoy game design chatter, so I enjoyed writing those posts - and I really should write a few more soon.

Ironically, the actual Herd ships feel very different - they're probably the first subfaction to really come together as distinct from their base hulls - and even more so in the dev build, where they have a unique hullmod and a few new ships to give them more flavor. Each subfaction is getting a brief pass, and a bit more focus once it's actually in the world; right now that leaves only the Blackcollars and a new subfaction yet to come.

And that's the important thing: how it feels. You touched upon this multiple times both in forum posts and in the blog post, and in my experience that's something very important. When you see something new in a game like this, you ideally want to find out more. The game should make you want to find out more. In a game centred around starships shooting at each other until one of them blows up, a ship with a slick (or in some cases, garish...) colour scheme and a few special touches is definitely one way to hook people in.
Feel is vital to stuff like this, yeah. The way I think of the 'core' Magellan faction... the ships are almost unfinished, raw factory products, and it's the subfactions that polish theirs up and add the last few touches to suit their particular doctrine. It's also surprisingly easy to balance; each core hull has a few skins that tweak it, but you're dealing with a very small number of actual stat lines overall.

I feel that you've done a good job so far with trying to make the subfactions feel different too. The Skytigers, being the nominally "elite" Magellan division, mainly hew to the same doctrine as the larger Magellan military, except their ships have a paintjob that nobody likes except for them. Judging by the lore, that seems to be a recurring theme for them as well. Meanwhile, the Blackcollars are the actual elite, the people that go out and actually do stuff. And I love how that's reflected in them mainly using lighter, faster ships, while still having muscle in the form of the BCR Porey. Speaking of BCR ships, my personal favourite BCR modification is actually the Yeager. The Blackcollars are definitely a faction that'd make good use of a small and quick stealth ship for troop insertions, which is still different from the other BCR modified ships that mostly add to their direct combat capabilities.
Yeah... each subfaction is centered around ships of a particular size class, and the Skytigers are all about the capital battle-line. Meanwhile, the Herd is a frigate-centric bunch, and the Blackcollars are more destroyer-focused. Even when they have plenty of ships outside of those size classes, the focus is on supporting the 'core' units, whatever those happen to be.

As for gameplay, well... I actually haven't gone for a Magellan playthrough in quite a while. Not since like, two patches ago? I recently got back in for a couple runs though, and my current one is nearing its end, so this looks like as good a time as any to give them another go.
I'm just polishing up a new update for this week, actually - and since one of the things it's focused on is making starting out in Magellan space more fun, you may want to hold off a little while.
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Harmful Mechanic

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #214 on: October 07, 2022, 06:56:35 PM »



Lots in this update, ranging from more subfaction skins, subfaction spawning improvements, and unique open markets to faction music courtesy of Eric Matyas and the estimable MesoTroniK.

(still need to update the main post with images of all the goodies that went into this bad boy - and make a start on documenting the subfactions properly...)

Download [HERE].

BREAKS SAVES
(new game required for some features - IE, all the really good ones).

1.5a - Much new good stuff. New content, heavy revisions, campaign changes.
Content:
- Externalized a bunch of strings to ease future translations.
- Implemented [TMC] skin subfaction. Unique Chela [TMC].
- Implemented [CIV] skins for a few ships. Unique Chela and Jitte [CIV].
- Three new modular Magellan-only hullmods, available at Magellan markets;
 • Magellan Engine Rebuild
 • Magellan Fighter Bay Crowding
 • Magellan Shield Tuning
- New Almarshad gunship frigate and Blackcollar skin.
- New Phillips destroyer freighter and Herd combat conversion.
- New small combat freighters, the Musa and Nan; they can be restored to a powerful classic configuration.
- New Goforth command carrier for the Herd; replaces the old Edger skin, slower but more combat-capable.
- New weapon, the Revolver Cannon, a 6OP close-combat grenade launcher.
- New weapon, the Blast Hammer Artillery, which will ruin your day, and everyone else's day around you, too.
- New built-in hullmods on some subfaction ships; Ablative Composites and Converted Shuttle Bay.
- New, excellent encounter music for the faction by MesoTroniK.

Balance:
- Mazian, Kreshov, and Graff have been converted to shieldless ships using Ablative Composites and high armor/hull values. New slot layouts, sprite tweaks.
- Janz, Yeager, and Dekker ship systems changed. Minor tweaks to many stats.
- Revised Bonesaw; now continuous fire, 200 damage/shot at 400DPS. OP cost changed to 5.
- Revised Boneshaker/Boneshaker Battery; now fire salvoes of 400x2 and 300x3 frag damage at 800 DPS. OP costs changed to 10/12OP, respectively.
- Returned the Beehive Cannon to a 150x1/50x5 shotgun instead of 175x1/75x3, because I got it right the first time.
- Adjusted Salvo Assault Gun stats (75dmg>50dmg) and OP cost (6OP>4OP) downwards; its old role as high-end small slot HE is now filled by the Revolver Cannon.
- Foxfire LRM damage decreased to 100 from 125.

Campaign:
- Independent markets in Magellan space now stock Magellan ships and hardware.
- Added a special military-grade arms market to Ghammol Station.
- Added a new independent world, Turan, and enlarged Valca. Minor market/industry tweaks to make trade more interesting.
- Added Leveller guard fleet to Rosebriar Station.
- Added Herd fleets to Khamn and Secundus Graveyard systems.
- Herd spawning script generates small Herd fleets around the unique open markets.
- Magellan space now has unique scavenger fleets.
- Restored Pariya's Black Market, upgraded to Heavy Batteries.
- Idiot-proofed some potential mod integration issues.
[close]
« Last Edit: October 07, 2022, 07:08:38 PM by Harmful Mechanic »
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SpaceDrake

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #215 on: October 07, 2022, 08:50:25 PM »

Can confirm that this update owns bones, and the shiny & updated Herd ships, which are now widely available by blowing them up, are magnificent fun to fly and are perfect for dying historic on the Fury Slipstream.

Oh, and the Graff, Kreshov and Mazian are now glorious bricks of armor and it's amazing.

Great work on this, Harmful. The mod now feels like it's really coming together, and I am on the edge of my seat for the Levellers to get all the stuff you mentioned in the blog post implemented. :D
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Chroma

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #216 on: October 07, 2022, 10:18:43 PM »

Can confirm that this update owns bones, and the shiny & updated Herd ships, which are now widely available by blowing them up, are magnificent fun to fly and are perfect for dying historic on the Fury Slipstream.

Oh, and the Graff, Kreshov and Mazian are now glorious bricks of armor and it's amazing.

Great work on this, Harmful. The mod now feels like it's really coming together, and I am on the edge of my seat for the Levellers to get all the stuff you mentioned in the blog post implemented. :D

Man there's even more than just updated Herd ships. Just you wait, I've been devouring 1.5a content so far and there's just so much here, 'big update' is absolutely deserved. A new and very beloved by me frigate, updates on more than just the ablative armor ships (Even the Porey got a touch up, and all frigates got another look), more campaign elements everywhere in Magellan space that help really color the environment more, even some entirely new subfaction stuff. Lots of content for ship builders and campaign play alike. It's great!
« Last Edit: October 07, 2022, 10:45:37 PM by Chroma »
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Corelious

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #217 on: October 08, 2022, 04:33:07 AM »

THIS IS GLORIOUS
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Big Bee

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #218 on: October 08, 2022, 05:47:38 AM »

Oh wow! I wanted to check if any cool mods got updates only to find that this one got updated TODAY? Hell yeah, time to start a new playthrough!
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Corelious

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #219 on: October 08, 2022, 06:01:05 AM »

I have returned after my initial ITS GLORIOUS comment.

I immediately underestimated the Herd.  They are mean, insane and GLORIOUS.

New guns? GLORIOUS.

New ships?  GLORIOUS.

New planets? GLORIOUS.

MAD SPACE MEN WITH INSANE GUNS AND A DISLIKE FOR SHIELDS AND AN APPRECIATION FOR GREEN WHAT THE HECK JUST HIT MY SHIP GUNS? GLOOOOOOOOOOOOORIOOOOOUUUUUS

*proceeds to lose mind, drooling and babbling my way into madness*
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Corelious

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #220 on: October 08, 2022, 08:42:16 AM »

Are there campaign missions?  If so, how do I find them?
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Synthaesium

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #221 on: October 08, 2022, 09:59:30 AM »

Let's go - can't wait to dig in! Will post some thoughts when I've gotten a few bites in.
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Harmful Mechanic

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #222 on: October 08, 2022, 01:35:40 PM »

Are there campaign missions?  If so, how do I find them?
There aren't yet, no. When they're in, I'll have a guide in the Story Missions spoiler tag on the main post about where to go, what to do, and how to get started, as well as (tastefully hidden) explications of how much content there is to find (so you don't run yourself ragged trying to Find The Next Step after you complete it).
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Corelious

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #223 on: October 08, 2022, 03:03:31 PM »

Hey the Nan, Musa, and GoForth do not appear in the codex - spent about 30 minutes looking for them.
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Corelious

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Re: [0.95.1a] Magellan Protectorate v1.5a - Big update.
« Reply #224 on: October 08, 2022, 03:05:07 PM »

Are there campaign missions?  If so, how do I find them?
There aren't yet, no. When they're in, I'll have a guide in the Story Missions spoiler tag on the main post about where to go, what to do, and how to get started, as well as (tastefully hidden) explications of how much content there is to find (so you don't run yourself ragged trying to Find The Next Step after you complete it).

Okay - awesome!
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