Fractal Softworks Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

Pages: 1 ... 8 9 [10] 11 12

Author Topic: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1  (Read 23054 times)

Amoebka

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1318
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #135 on: March 25, 2022, 03:21:30 AM »

I hope Diktat gets a battleship with large ballistics + large energies. IIRC only Prometheus has that combo in vanilla.
Logged

FooF

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1378
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #136 on: March 25, 2022, 05:03:03 AM »

I was being a little tongue-in-cheek with an earlier response of the Diktat having a rare/unique super-battleship, but only a little. It makes sense, lore-wise, for a megalomaniac to stroke his own ego and have the biggest and baddest flagship in the Sector. Basically, Ziggurat-esque and probably tied to the story somehow.

If the Diktat had a more conventional line Capital, I don’t even know what really fits the profile. Perhaps a midline battle carrier of some sort? Or, something related to their fuel monopoly? I guess whatever it is, it should be part of the elite Lion’s Guard and rare.
Logged

Resetium

  • Ensign
  • *
  • Posts: 13
  • Funny robot-lover
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #137 on: March 25, 2022, 09:06:18 PM »

I gotta be honest, my preference for tech types is usually high tech it's actually the robots but that's with mods to increased automated ship capacity, but this very well might make me cobble together (heh) a boatload of lowtech capitals just for the sheer space marines(?) feel of it (never enough dakka and all that).
Logged
More Modded [REDACTED] Ships!
Sometimes i feel like my brain has been hit by salamanders not gonna lie.
Satbomb the Hegemony.

Delta_of_Isaire

  • Lieutenant
  • **
  • Posts: 65
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #138 on: March 26, 2022, 04:11:05 AM »

Haven't read any of this thread so far, but just wanted to say that Uniquifying the factions is 10/10 for awesomeness and will really elevate Starsector to the next level.

Unique ship loadouts in particular is something I have high hopes for, both to increase tactical diversity and to hopefully increase the overall quality of NPC loadouts.



Also the Retribution looks really cool and I want to fly one
Logged

Grievous69

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 2980
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #139 on: March 28, 2022, 08:54:19 AM »

Dad it's been 10 days, when are you coming back for part 2?
Logged
Please don't take me too seriously.

Twilight Sentinel

  • Captain
  • ****
  • Posts: 334
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #140 on: March 28, 2022, 11:59:46 AM »

If the Diktat had a more conventional line Capital, I don’t even know what really fits the profile. Perhaps a midline battle carrier of some sort? Or, something related to their fuel monopoly? I guess whatever it is, it should be part of the elite Lion’s Guard and rare.
A battle carrier doesn't make sense for the Dictate.  Of all the main factions, they use the least carriers.  Instead the Dictate's theme sort of is lots of good quality warships with maximum firepower.  That isn't to say they couldn't use a fairly tanky warship intended to work with conquests or perhaps a missile focused capital that swarms the battlefield in a different way?
Logged

Dri

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1403
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #141 on: March 30, 2022, 01:30:20 AM »

If the trend continues then Alex is going to give every major faction a battlecruiser/carrier and a battleship or something equivalent. Which is awesome.

Hege: Onslaught and Legion
Tri: Paragon and Astral
Ludds: Invictus and Retribution
Perseans: Pegasus and ???
Diktat: ??? and Conquest

I don't think Pirates and Pathers are major factions so they each get their janky Mk2 capitals—Independents are also a hard sell as a major faction.

So Persean League need a battlecruiser and Diktat needs a proper battleship. Where would Odyssey fit in best or perhaps Odyssey could be the token Independents capital ship?
Logged

Amoebka

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1318
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #142 on: March 30, 2022, 06:52:49 AM »

In my dreams League is gonna get a megacarrier and Diktat a second battlecruiser. Following the same X+Y formula for all factions is the opposite of uniquifying.

Odyssey is for indies. I want to believe.
Logged

Dri

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1403
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #143 on: March 30, 2022, 01:52:53 PM »

I think each faction getting a unique set of capitals is making things more unique already. But yes, it isn't like it HAS to be 1 battleship and 1 battlecruiser/carrier.

Getting new ships and weapons, especially some big bois, is really fun and exciting to me since I don't like playing with mod factions and weapons.
Logged

Megas

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 12118
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #144 on: March 30, 2022, 02:35:55 PM »

Every major faction should have at least a battleship.  Otherwise, bounties with that faction's ships will be relatively easy to squish despite being DP equal to those with real battleships.

Pirates and Pathers have a capital, even if it is a modified civilian ship.

Independents should have something, either a battlecruiser or a carrier.  Having nothing but Dominators and Apogees is kind of annoying.

The one faction I like to see get some distinct unique combat ships (or at least be the only one in the sector who can build them) is the player faction.  Since player is sort of an offshoot of independents, the biggest ship does not need to be a battleship, but it would be nice to have few unique ships for your patrols.  (I do not consider Legion XIV unique since it is clearly a Hegemony themed hull even if Hegemony lost the blueprint.)

Diktat could have a modified Conquest (SD) that is strong enough to perform like a battleship instead of the squishy battlecruiser the stock Conquest is.
Logged

Amoebka

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1318
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #145 on: March 31, 2022, 03:37:11 AM »

Unique player faction ships are a cool idea (that has come up a lot in the past), but having a few fixed presets wouldn't really fulfill that fantasy. Maybe visually you could have predefined sprites (so no runtime recoloring shenanigans), but the player gets to choose what aspect to change about the ship. So, for example, you have a steel-blue (default player color) Shrike sprite, but when you learn the blueprint, you get to choose one weapon mount to change to a different type, or something like that.
Logged

Megas

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 12118
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #146 on: March 31, 2022, 10:40:27 AM »

Unique player faction ships are a cool idea (that has come up a lot in the past), but having a few fixed presets wouldn't really fulfill that fantasy. Maybe visually you could have predefined sprites (so no runtime recoloring shenanigans), but the player gets to choose what aspect to change about the ship. So, for example, you have a steel-blue (default player color) Shrike sprite, but when you learn the blueprint, you get to choose one weapon mount to change to a different type, or something like that.
The idea is no other faction has the ship, and it is not a mere reskin like Legion XIV is to Legion currently, but significantly altered like Condor vs. Tarsus at least, or a completely new ship.  It may not be what the player really wanted, but at least it sets him apart from other factions.

It does not need to a ship only the player ever uses.  Mercenaries could use it like they do for the phase civilians.
Logged

leckford

  • Ensign
  • *
  • Posts: 1
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #147 on: April 03, 2022, 01:56:30 PM »

Firstly, love the game, waiting semi-patiently for part 2

Love the new ships, was thinking about...

the ablative armour, and all the unique hullmods for invictus. I started to think maybe the Ablative armour could be a standard hullmod, something like x3 base armour, but damage reduction reduced by 90%, so then you could apply the same "antiquated" armour to say the onslaught. Tweek the hullmod (and invictus starting armour) so that it's always a nerf given the OP cost of the hullmod. Then people can see if it's "better" or not for themselves.

But then i though maybe for smaller hulls, it would actually be quite good still against larger weapons. Leading to maybe high-tech energy weapons could be the reason why ablative armour is no longer used, with energy weapons having a 50% (100%) bonus damage against it (or maybe work it into the damage reduction, -50% against ballistic and missle, -90% amount energy). Kinda the defenses are really good against low-tech ballistic and missle weapons, but the advent of high tech weapons forced a refit and redesign of armour systems.

The Invictus was too big and costly to refit/redesign and remains the only ablative armoured dinosaur left.

Logged

DNAturation

  • Ensign
  • *
  • Posts: 3
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #148 on: April 03, 2022, 08:22:26 PM »

For the Retribution as a low-tech battlecruiser, I think high base speed isn't needed, but could instead be replaced with high maneuverability (turn rate/acceleration). Might be fun if it's viable to simply fully turn your ship around and orion-pulse out mid fight when things look bad, since it's a nuclear explosion it could also be giving a middle finger as you delta out with a final attack. Would help to separate it out from being just a low-tech odyssey

For overall low-tech battlecruiser design, maybe sacrifice weapon range for maneuverability/speed instead of survivability for it could be an option. Running SO frigate/destroyers is pretty fun, having that as a capital ship level option could be interesting.

Also for identity it doesn't HAVE to be a unique capital ship... having a faction that fields an endless swarm of a unique annoying frigate design would be plenty memorable.
Logged

Igncom1

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1496
    • View Profile
Re: Uniquifying the Factions, Part 1
« Reply #149 on: April 05, 2022, 12:58:02 PM »

A capital ship that's actually just 20 lashers taped together, with the special ability to come lose.  ;D
Logged
Sunders are the best ship in the game.
Pages: 1 ... 8 9 [10] 11 12