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Author Topic: Starfarer 0.53.1a (Released) Patch Notes  (Read 167923 times)

Alex

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Starfarer 0.53.1a (Released) Patch Notes
« on: August 09, 2012, 10:46:33 AM »

This version is out - you can download it here.

Changes as of August 16, 2012

Content:
  • New graphics for Thermal Pulse Cannon

Modding:
  • Improved error message when there's a problem with a weapon slot id. Example:
"Ship hull [jumper] variant [jumper_standard]: slot id [WS0001] not found for weapon [ioncannon]"

Bugfixing:
  • A ship with 0 maximum armor will no longer cause autoresolve hangs (only affects mods)
  • Fixed rare bug with drone launching AI where drones wouldn't be launched in some rare circumstances


Changes as of August 13, 2012

Ship AI:
  • Improved friendly fire detection
  • Removed a case where a frigate would try to flee in a situation where it was not a good idea
  • Fixed up a few cases where a ship would turn away from the enemy without a good (armor related, or otherwise) reason
  • Fixed really old bug with missile avoidance (would try to avoid dumbfire missiles fired by itself...)
  • Fixed bug with incoming damage evaluation that was ignoring whether certain projectiles could actually hit the ship, leading to unnecessary evasion, shield raising, etc
  • Phase teleporter and skimmer using ships better about not teleporting in front of friendlies
  • Should no longer waste quite as many missiles on undefended targets like the Buffalo Mk.2

Content:
  • Added new system: "Terminator Drone"
    • Single high-tech drone armed with a Burst PD Laser and an IR Pulse Laser
    • Has multiple hull mods to enhance its effectiveness
    • Equipped with specialized, high-frequency/short range phase skimmer
    • Uses the phase cloak for defense
    • The launching ship is equipped with a mini-fac that allows it to slowly produce replacement drones during combat
  • Tempest: changed system from "Active Flares" to "Terminator Drone". Set hangar space to 0.
  • Improved pulse laser projectile graphics (changes made for all similar weapons in the game)
  • Onslaught now has two free, built-in Thermal Pulse Cannons instead of the two forward-facing large hardpoints

Modding:
  • Added "built in" weapons:
    • Fixed per hull, can not be removed or replaced, can be seen in the refit screen, doesn't cost any OP
    • type:"BUILT_IN", "mount" can be the standard range of values
    • Specified in the .ship file, like so: "builtInWeapons":{"WS 016":"tpc",   "WS 017":"tpc"}

  • Fixed bug where a mod couldn't change a vanilla ship system ("spec of class *** already exists" error)

Balance:
  • Improved Sabot 2nd stage accuracy
  • Increased some of the Onslaught's weapon arcs

Miscellaneous:
  • Ship tooltip shows values to two decimal places where appropriate
  • Sabot 2nd stage can no longer hit friendly ships when "flamed out"

Modding:
  • Phase Cloak and Phase Skimmer/Teleporter and related AIs now properly work with drones
  • Rate-of-fire stats (getEnergyRoFMult(), etc) now affect burst beam burst delay

Bugfixing:
  • Fixed bug with some shield hullmod effects being shown on fleet member tooltip before while the mods were still pending completion


Changes as of August 09, 2012

Ship AI:
  • Improved Phase Cloak AI
    • More aggressive about unphasing to use PD on incoming missiles
    • Much better about avoiding overload from staying phased too long
    • Fixed bug that cause it to stay phased when not threatened, in some circumstances
  • Improved detection of impending enemy ship explosions (more accurate radius estimate)
  • Knows to prefire a bit when enemy ships are coming out of phase
  • Will use the phase skimmer to move away from a dangerous target more often
  • Fighters will take armor status into account when deciding whether to return to a carrier
  • Improved broadside AI (better at keeping a broadside towards the enemy)
  • More conservative with firing off low ammo missile strike weapons (i.e. torpedoes) - won't instantly use all of them on the first target
  • More likely to strafe while backing off to vent
  • Improved the logic for determining whether the missiles fired against a venting or overloaded ship are likely to hit
  • Phase skimmer and teleporter using ships will no longer overreact by teleporting away from relatively harmless asteroids
  • Teleporter-using ships more aggressive about pursuing fleeing ships
  • Phase cloaked ships can pass through solid objects (ships, asteroids) at low flux, but get pushed away as their flux goes up (was: always get pushed away from solid objects while phased)
  • More likely to close in for the kill on a vulnerable shipp instead of backing away
  • Larger ships keep shields up longer before dropping them to take some hits on armor

Content:
  • Added "Front Shield Emitter" that converts omni shields to front while increasing the deployment speed and arc and reducing the upkeep cost
  • Added "Elite" Enforcer variant. Shows up in the Hegemony SDF.
  • Added phase ships and Hyperion variants to random battle
  • Adjusted stock Aurora and Odyssey loadouts

Balance:
  • Afflictor: increased phase cloak activation cost a bit, reduced upkeep cost
  • Front shields now raise twice as quickly
  • Maneuvering Jets: removed all flux cost, stacks with 0-flux speed boost, added 5 second cooldown (was 0)
  • Phase Teleporter: increased cost to 20% of base flux (up from 10%), reduced cooldown to 0 (down from 3 seconds)
  • Hyperion: increased fleet point cost to 15 (from 8 )
  • Phase Skimmer: reduced charge regeneration to 1 per 10 seconds (down from 1 per 5 seconds)
  • Omen: reduced shield efficiency somewhat, increased shield upkeep
  • Reaper torpedoes: increased hitpoints to 500 (takes 3 Flak shots to take down instead of 2)

Miscellaneous:
  • Added "x" button to close game launcher (Escape still works, too)
  • Maneuvering Jets and Burn Drive can no longer be activated if the ship's engines are disabled, and will be turned off if active when a ship's engines are disabled
  • Antimatter Blaster: increased damage to 1200 (from 1000)

Modding:
  • API additions:
    • ShipHullSpecAPI.getHullId()
    • ShipAPI.getVariant()
    • ShipVariantAPI.getHullMods()
    • CargoAPI.getQuantity(CargoAPI.CargoItemType type, Object data)
  • Drone system with multiple launch points defined on the ship will cycle through the launch points instead of launching from all of them at once
  • Adding a phase cloak as a system (as opposed to shieldType=PHASE) no longer causes an error, but that should not be necessary because...
  • Added "defense id" column to ship_data.csv which can be used to specify the id of the phase cloak system to use, allowing for different types of phase cloaks to be added
  • Added data/config/engine_styles.json for shared custom engine styles. Can use "styleId" to point to a style in this file instead of specifying a full style using "styleSpec"
  • A PHASE_CLOAK system specification no longer requires glow layers (phaseHighlight and phaseDiffuse) to be specified (note that the vanilla phase cloak still requires them)
  • Removed HullModEffect.applyEffectsAfterShipCreationFirstPass() - instead, applyEffectsAfterShipCreation() is guaranteed to be called in the order that the hull mods were added. In particular, due to hull mod dependencies (via isApplicableToShip) this guarantees that FrontShieldGenerator.applyEffectsAfterShipCreation() will be called before any shield-modifying hull mods.
  • Added "convergeOnPoint" to beam weapon spec to allow mods to replicate the effect of the Guardian PD System

Bugfixing:
  • Fixed bug where threat from a ship system (i.e. the EMP Emitter) was not assessed correctly, leading a ship to keep the shields down in some circumstances
  • Fixed bug where a system might be used to carry out a maneuver that was no longer relevant to the ship's orders (example: phase-skimming forward right after being assigned to escort duty)
  • Fixed bug with flare systems erroneously showing up in weapon convoys
  • Apogee's sensor drones now have their ion cannons
  • Accelerated Ammo Feeder effect now correctly applies to weapons that need to charge up to fire (e.g. Railgun)
  • Full Escort command takes the intended amount of ships now (the amount went down unintentionally in 0.53a)
  • Fixed some issues with the lock-view-on-target feature
  • Fixed view jumping when autopilot uses the Phase Teleporter while the UI is in "show video feed" mode
  • Fixed bug with Fast Missile Racks not working properly when triggered in the middle of a missile burst
  • Fixed bug where activating phase cloak during a weapon burst reset the burst cooldown
  • Fixed bug where reactivating the phase cloak while still in phase (but coming out, and able to fire) did not incur the activation cost
  • EMP Emitter can no longer hit the command shuttle
  • Fixed bug where the flux damage bonus and the High Energy Focus damage bonus was being squared for blaster and pulse-type energy weapons
« Last Edit: August 16, 2012, 09:33:30 AM by Alex »
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hadesian

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2012, 10:47:13 AM »

knew it
awesome
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DJ Die

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2012, 10:51:56 AM »

looking good cant wait for the better AI
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icepick37

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2012, 11:00:10 AM »

Looking awesome. Sad about the huge nerf to skimmer, haha.  :)
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hadesian

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2012, 11:01:06 AM »

Really interested/amazed at the bump to 15FP for the Hyperion. That nearly means the thing is competing for a spot with my Apogee!
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Jonlissla

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2012, 11:08:04 AM »

  • Added "Elite" Enforcer variant. Shows up in the Hegemony SDF.

Nice, what loadout does it have?

Quote
Balance:
  • Hyperion: increased fleet point cost to 15 (from 8 )

I have to admit that the Hyperion was a bit strong, but 15 points? That's quite the increase.
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BillyRueben

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2012, 11:11:47 AM »

Really interested/amazed at the bump to 15FP for the Hyperion.
Really? It seems like all I hear about is how my Hyperion can solo ________. And that thing gets way better with support.
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Tarran

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2012, 11:13:24 AM »

Quote
Added "Front Shield Emitter" that converts omni shields to front while increasing the deployment speed and arc and reducing the upkeep cost
Interesting! I wonder how a Medusa or a Lasher will fare with a front shield.

Quote
Maneuvering Jets: removed all flux cost, stacks with 0-flux speed boost, added 5 second cooldown
Wow, Maneuvering Jets are really powerful now. +100 speed while at zero flux? Sounds like fun.
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Alex

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2012, 11:15:27 AM »

  • Added "Elite" Enforcer variant. Shows up in the Hegemony SDF.

Nice, what loadout does it have?

2x Hvel + 1x Mauler, etc.

Quote
Balance:
  • Hyperion: increased fleet point cost to 15 (from 8 )

I have to admit that the Hyperion was a bit strong, but 15 points? That's quite the increase.

Well, the Hyperion has the combat power of a cruiser (if not the staying power of one) and better mobility than anything else in the game, by far. An FP cost in the cruiser range seems appropriate. Basically, don't look at this ship as a frigate in terms of power :)
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hadesian

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2012, 11:16:40 AM »

Really interested/amazed at the bump to 15FP for the Hyperion.
Really? It seems like all I hear about is how my Hyperion can solo ________. And that thing gets way better with support.
Well yeah, but now that thing has more FP than any destroyer/frigtate/fighter wing regardless of how good they are and is only 1 fp below arguably the best cruiser in the game.

Look, I know that thing roflstomps quite a lot of stuff, but how well can it deal with longer ranged autopulses/plasma/(no tachyon lance due to the nerf sadly, the hyperion will shake it off)/HIL alongside excellent PD like heavy blasters coupled with excellent missile support and a 360 degree front shield that now goes up faster too?
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neonesis

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2012, 11:30:09 AM »

Really interested/amazed at the bump to 15FP for the Hyperion.
Really? It seems like all I hear about is how my Hyperion can solo ________. And that thing gets way better with support.
Well yeah, but now that thing has more FP than any destroyer/frigtate/fighter wing regardless of how good they are and is only 1 fp below arguably the best cruiser in the game.

Look, I know that thing roflstomps quite a lot of stuff, but how well can it deal with longer ranged autopulses/plasma/(no tachyon lance due to the nerf sadly, the hyperion will shake it off)/HIL alongside excellent PD like heavy blasters coupled with excellent missile support and a 360 degree front shield that now goes up faster too?

It will just back off to take out smaller targets. Because it can, unlike full-scale cruiser.

Also, Alex, I see you fixed the Burn Drive with offline engines, but how about EMP system active while the ship is disabled? It happened to me one day, I killed a Shade while it activated its EMP, and the lightning was striking me even after the ship was disabled. Is that intended?
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hadesian

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #11 on: August 09, 2012, 11:31:07 AM »

Really interested/amazed at the bump to 15FP for the Hyperion.
Really? It seems like all I hear about is how my Hyperion can solo ________. And that thing gets way better with support.
Well yeah, but now that thing has more FP than any destroyer/frigtate/fighter wing regardless of how good they are and is only 1 fp below arguably the best cruiser in the game.

Look, I know that thing roflstomps quite a lot of stuff, but how well can it deal with longer ranged autopulses/plasma/(no tachyon lance due to the nerf sadly, the hyperion will shake it off)/HIL alongside excellent PD like heavy blasters coupled with excellent missile support and a 360 degree front shield that now goes up faster too?

It will just back off to take out smaller targets. Because it can, unlike full-scale cruiser.

Also, Alex, I see you fixed the Burn Drive with offline engines, but how about EMP system active while the ship is disabled? It happened to me one day, I killed a Shade while it activated its EMP, and the lightning was striking me even after the ship was disabled. Is that intended?
No, that's fixed for this too
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Changes as of May 24, 2013
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Alex

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #12 on: August 09, 2012, 11:33:24 AM »

Yeah, that is fixed. Didn't note it down, I suppose :)
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Faiter119

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #13 on: August 09, 2012, 11:46:20 AM »

Nice fixes! Damn, 0 time between TPs for the Hyperion, damn. Thats gonna be AWESOME, and with the increced Fp cost i can justify using it. And the frontal shield buff was awesome. Cant wait to give lots of ships 360 front shields.
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moontan

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Re: Starfarer 0.53.1a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2012, 12:13:10 PM »

wow!

a lot of nice changes in there. 
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