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Author Topic: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes  (Read 368075 times)

Alex

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #735 on: August 02, 2012, 05:49:24 PM »

Alex, I think the AI for Phase ships might have some problems. I saw a Doom overload itself by phasing when all that was coming at it was a periodic Pilum wave. There was absolutely nothing else around it. It had more than enough PD to defend itself from a single Pilum launcher. And I'm not even sure if the missiles were even targeting the Doom. Yet it overloaded itself.

And Ambush seems really hard for medium difficulty due to all the fighters. Is there some trick to it that I'm missing?

Also, just in case you missed my edit:
Edit: Immediately noticeable problem I found in the simulator: AI uses Burn Drive a little too much. In a hammerhead, I just stayed in front of a Dominator and backed off, waiting for it to hit it's burn drive. Then, I just moved to the side, all while pounding the AI's now exposed front with Maulers, taking little damage myself. The Dominator was often too slow to face me after it stopped using it's Burn Drive before I got out of range.

Suggestion: AI will only use burn drive when the enemy is in a bad shape (flux and/or armor wise) and the enemy has roughly the same or less speed and/or maneuverability. Or when the enemy's back is turned.

Yeah, it happens sometimes - the self overloads definitely happen more than I'd like, but still not all that often - and they don't last very long, either. Weighing whether the PD is sufficient to take out a missile salvo is difficult - something I'll no doubt have to take a look at in the future.

As far as burn drive, that's true - but I wouldn't necessarily gauge the AI's effectiveness with it based on a 1-1. Those don't happen much in "real" battles, and more aggressive burn drive use can be more beneficial there.

It's definitely not perfect, though - thank you for your feedback, I'll absolutely keep it in mind - and I'm looking forward to more. (In particular, just noted down to take another look at avoiding phase cloak self-overloads better).

As far as the Ambush mission - hmm. Don't know - I played it a few times, won some, lost some, then called it medium. I wouldn't read too much into the difficulty label. For me, the important thing to try to do there is take out whole fighter wings before they can escape back to a carrier. The two frigates can generally stay alive effectively, buying you a lot of time.
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Tarran

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #736 on: August 02, 2012, 06:01:00 PM »

The two frigates can generally stay alive effectively, buying you a lot of time.
For me, it always seems like the frigates stay alive for a very short amount time. :(

Also, another thing: The Reset button for missions doesn't appear to work.
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Alex

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #737 on: August 02, 2012, 06:06:51 PM »

Also, another thing: The Reset button for missions doesn't appear to work.

Odd - seems to work fine here. Any chance that the permissions on C:\Program Files\Fractal Softworks\Starfarer\saves are messed up?

Anyone else having this issue?
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Tarran

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #738 on: August 02, 2012, 06:21:34 PM »

Odd - seems to work fine here. Any chance that the permissions on C:\Program Files\Fractal Softworks\Starfarer\saves are messed up?
What should I look for being wrong?
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IIE16 Yoshi

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #739 on: August 02, 2012, 06:23:35 PM »

So, since the release candidate is apparently working well, is there any chance for some last-minute additions to the patch notes? I'm sure the people who don't frequent the modding section would love to know about that new shield-adding hullmod :P

I'll do one better - update the patch notes and release the new version :)
Alex, did I ever mention that I loved you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2fmZ2C2CdA
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Alex

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #740 on: August 02, 2012, 06:24:41 PM »

Well, what might happen is if you don't normally run the game as admin, and you do once, the directories under save/ would be owned by administrator - and another account might have trouble deleting them.

I'd suggesting cleaning out the save/missions/ folder manually - might resolve it.
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Tarran

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #741 on: August 02, 2012, 06:38:36 PM »

But I'm the admin. I'm the only user on this computer. Surely I wouldn't have problems with administrator rights if I am the administrator.

Anyway, clearing out the folder didn't resolve it. It did reset the ships, but it did not fix the reset button.
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Alex

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #742 on: August 02, 2012, 06:43:04 PM »

But I'm the admin. I'm the only user on this computer. Surely I wouldn't have problems with administrator rights if I am the administrator.

You'd think, but Windows can be funny about that. Speaking of that, what version of Windows are you on?

Can you try temporarily turning off UAC to see if that changes anything?
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neonesis

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #743 on: August 02, 2012, 06:45:50 PM »

Quick sum up of a two hours of playing vanilla, from scratch (new game):
- Phase skimmer is a pure win, it's useful in almost ANY SITUATION. Combine that with Heavy Blasters on Medusa, or full-pulse-laser-Wolf, and... Goodbye Hounds, goodbye.

- Phase cloak overall is pretty nice, but actually, not so much fun to play.
Few issues with it though - right now, I'm never going to give a phase ship to AI, it's just so risky.

Another one, I find Doom to be completely... well, not underpowered, but very, very limited in it's usefulness. While phase frigates are fast, and can use hit'n'run tactics, in Doom I find myself phasing, moving close to enemy, unphasing and firing all I got (sabots and torpedoes), praying that he dies quickly because I don't have enough flux to phase again and run. It worked on Onslaught pretty well, but of course you spend all your missiles. And I was lucky. But then another time, I tried using this thing against a Venture! Sabots might reach it, but torpedoes will be ripped apart by PD. And that leaves you with pretty much nothing, because you cannot have sustainable Pulse Laser fire (because you will just die), and Heavy Blasters will kill your flux anyway, just faster.
On the other hand, phase frigate handles Venture no problem. Really, no problem at all. Close in, unphase, shoot AM/sabot, phase, fly away. Rinse'n'repeat. Frigates can also pretty much phase/unphase all the time, because of low flux costs. Doom however, not so much, unless you go full vented, and have no flux buffer that way. And don't shoot of course.

My post was written too quickly, and too late at night, so this part is ***.

BTW, I got so good at phase/unphase that enemy ships can't even hit me :>

Comments about Doom, and it's current state, solutions, etc. much appreciated!
« Last Edit: August 03, 2012, 03:50:50 AM by neonesis »
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Tarran

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #744 on: August 02, 2012, 06:58:03 PM »

You'd think, but Windows can be funny about that. Speaking of that, what version of Windows are you on?
Vista, still. Never jumped on the free Win7 train when it came.

Can you try temporarily turning off UAC to see if that changes anything?
I'm pretty sure I've never had UAC on for years.
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K-64

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #745 on: August 02, 2012, 07:02:42 PM »

- Phase cloak overall is pretty nice, but actually, not so much fun to play.
Few issues with it though - right now, I'm never going to give a phase ship to AI, it's just so risky.

I've found quite the opposide, I LOVE the phase cloak. The AI is also annoyingly devious with it, so long as you don't pin it down (Graviton lasers are good for that) they're virtually untouchable
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Alex

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #746 on: August 02, 2012, 07:44:04 PM »

You'd think, but Windows can be funny about that. Speaking of that, what version of Windows are you on?
Vista, still. Never jumped on the free Win7 train when it came.

Can you try temporarily turning off UAC to see if that changes anything?
I'm pretty sure I've never had UAC on for years.

Thanks for the info. Not sure there's much I can do at this point - all the game tries to do is delete some files, and apparently in a narrow set of circumstances that doesn't work. Are you able to delete save games, btw?

Comments about Doom, and it's current state, solutions, etc. much appreciated!

Well, I just tried it vs a Venture to make sure what I'm going to say actually works :) Basically: a proper timing of Sabots, Reapers, and Pulse Laser fire can overload and take down a Venture very quickly. What you want is to threaten a Reaper hit right when some Sabots are coming in, to force that overload, and then finish off with a Fast Missile Racks + second Reaper volley. You can also pressure it with Pulse Lasers while being out of range - that's a good way to start things off. Being slower and with shorter-ranged weapons, it's helpless against that.

If you want to change things up, the fact that those small hardpoints are universal is a big deal. There are a few other loadouts that are *very* effective - the stock one is far from the best.
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K-64

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #747 on: August 02, 2012, 07:46:57 PM »

I've found that frigate phase ships can give distract most others for quite some time, was testing a ship of mine against an Enforcer and it ended up being something more akin to a bullfight than a space battle ;D
These systems really are incredibly fun to use, not to mention changes the combat up quite a bit
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Alex

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #748 on: August 02, 2012, 07:53:29 PM »

These systems really are incredibly fun to use, not to mention changes the combat up quite a bit

Thanks, I'm really happy you're enjoying them :)
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Tarran

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Re: Starfarer 0.53a (Released) Patch Notes
« Reply #749 on: August 02, 2012, 08:00:34 PM »

Thanks for the info. Not sure there's much I can do at this point - all the game tries to do is delete some files, and apparently in a narrow set of circumstances that doesn't work. Are you able to delete save games, btw?
Yes, I can delete save games. Maybe the problem can be fixed if they both save and/or delete the same way?
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