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[oranoron]

My friend showed me this game and I really want to like it but I just can't. I tried playing it for two hour or so on his laptop and I have to say even with 1/2 damage on the player's ship I had to create 4 new characters I was being killed so often.

The crux of the problem is how accurate and well timed the AI's shooting and shield movement is. I simply cannot match it and as starting ships are very similar to the low tier pirate ships encountered who generally have fighter support it just tips the balance too far in their favour.

Are there any plans on having an easier setting where the computer doesn't have perfect timing on its shots and tracking? Conceptually I really want to like this game but so far it has only been an exercise in frustration. 

[Aratoop]

Welcome to the forums! We won't bite, promise. (as long as you don't ask for multiplayer-that's taboo around here)

You'll get used to it-treat the ai like another player and imagine him as an e-sports player of the game and you'll find it ok.
also, don't attack fleets larger than your own unless you are confident you can beat them. (a talon wing, for instance, is horrible to deal with as a frigate- the flux buildup from the sheilds kills.)
Also, aim for buffalos going solo.

[Gothars]

Hi and welcome to the forum

This bit

I had to create 4 new characters I was being killed so often. 

makes me think you are not using the save function. If you make a new character don't activate the Iron mode. It is really too hard for beginners.
Then you can save the game with F5 and load with F9 (or from the esc-menu). This will hopefully save you from further frustration.

Everything else will come as you play more, an experienced player is actually far superior too the AI in both timing and tactics.

Have fun

[Wyvern]

Yeah, game start can be exceptionally difficult; it's not really balanced yet.

My suggestion would be, start with a wolf class frigate.  (No, I don't remember which answer to what question gives you that option - but you can hit escape at ship selection and try again until you find it.)

Then, go into refitting, and make the following changes to weapon groups:
group 1: both harpoon racks, alternating fire, autofire turned off - this is the weapon group you'll be using manually.
group 2: graviton beam, linked fire, autofire turned on
group 3: tactical lasers, linked fire, autofire turned on

Now, in combat against fighters, the tactical lasers will mostly just kill them; your only concern is keeping shields angled reasonably - or turning shields off if you're in close combat with a wing of Broadsword fighters; their kinetic guns won't do that much damage to armor, but will overload shields in no time flat.  Ideally, you want to fire off a harpoon or three at broadswords when they're just approaching being on screen (at maximum zoom-out) - that will at worst distract them a bit, and at best take out one of the three fighters before it's in range to attack you.

Against enemy frigates, use strafing to aim (hold down shift, hit any turning key, and you'll rotate towards the mouse) - this will let you accurately aim the graviton beam, even when its firing arc isn't displayed.  You'll need to let up on shift in order to turn shields to absorb salamander hits, but otherwise this should work fairly well.  Use harpoons primarily against high-flux, overloaded, or venting targets; the two unshielded ships you'll fight are likely to either dodge (hound), or shoot down your missiles (buffalo II) - though in the later case you can just spam-fire four to six missiles for a nearly-guaranteed kill.

And, lastly, the ship system.  It's a short range teleporter - moves you a fixed distance in the direction you're currently flying (not the direction your ship is pointed).  It also shuts off shields (so be sure to bring shields back up quickly if needed), and will re-orient your ship to face towards nearby enemies.  This is the crown jewel of the Wolf frigate, and why I suggest the wolf as the optimal starting ship when learning the game.  Missiles incoming and you have your shield pointed the wrong way?  Teleport.  Enemy ships starting to get into flanking positions?  Teleport.  It's basically a limited-use get-out-of-jail-free card; the charges are limited, but usually regen fast enough to be available when you need them.  (Oh, and it's also nice when trying to chase down fleeing enemy ships.)

[FlashFrozen]

The only quirky thing about Ai I dislike is their uncanny ability to know exactly how far your weapon range is, if you have an itu, they stay out of it's range, if you have only machineguns, they stay out of it, ( unless you did the right thing and put it on a faster ship)

It's one of those AI-knows-all things sorta like how older games ai could see through the FoW

[jimy]

I like the AI being really good.
It feels like you play against a real opponent that wants to kill you and not against moving exp + credits.

[Cycerin]

Personally I would have lost interest in this game fast if the AI wasn't good. It's what keeps the whole experience together. Few singleplayer games can give you any feeling of mastery anymore, but Starfarer has it down nicely. Just keep going, and.. play with a mouse, if you have the option.

[Alex]

Hi, and welcome

Question - are you trying to play with a trackpad? While that's possible, you'd really want to use a mouse here. (Edit: ninja'ed by Cycerin on this point...)

Something else to consider is that there's more to winning in combat than aim and shield use. Once you figure out what damage types/weapons do what (i.e., use kinetic vs shields, use high explosive vs armor, etc), then you can outplay the AI on that level.

I'd suggest going through the combat tutorials to really absorb the basics, and then maybe playing a few missions - or just "Run Simulation" from the refit screen - to more quickly get a feel for how combat works, without stretches of campaign between battles.

The only quirky thing about Ai I dislike is their uncanny ability to know exactly how far your weapon range is, if you have an itu, they stay out of it's range, if you have only machineguns, they stay out of it, ( unless you did the right thing and put it on a faster ship)

It's one of those AI-knows-all things sorta like how older games ai could see through the FoW

Well, that info is available to you too. You can see the enemy ship's stats (including hullmods) by mousing over the selected ship's schematic in the command UI - so, this is something I see as perfectly fair. After a while spent playing, you yourself also know what ranges to expect out of the enemy ships.

[Thaago]

Hi! Welcome to the forums!

The early part of the campaign is hard! The starting frigates are ok, but not really up to being outnumbered. My advice: do the tutorials, save often, and pick your battles really carefully. Upgrade to a destroyer as soon as you can (the Hammerhead is a good choice)!

[FlashFrozen]

The only quirky thing about Ai I dislike is their uncanny ability to know exactly how far your weapon range is, if you have an itu, they stay out of it's range, if you have only machineguns, they stay out of it, ( unless you did the right thing and put it on a faster ship)

It's one of those AI-knows-all things sorta like how older games ai could see through the FoW

Well, that info is available to you too. You can see the enemy ship's stats (including hullmods) by mousing over the selected ship's schematic in the command UI - so, this is something I see as perfectly fair. After a while spent playing, you yourself also know what ranges to expect out of the enemy ships.

But you don't exactly have a radius circle showing how far your range is from your enemies guns, they can calculate if they are in / out of range, but you have to do some guesswork (especially if you don't have the ship targetted for range information)

oh and what about how the AI actually knows when you've got a weapon pointed at them? That's also a neat thing, they can tell when you've specifically pointed a weapon at them and raise their shields (and other ships start to flank you, pure evil)

[CrashToDesktop]

Welcome to the forums!

Take all the advice from the above, especially taking on ships your own size.  Taking on ships larger than you (other than the buffalo - that thing is mince meat if you avoid the anti-matter blaster) can lead t0 quite bad results. Once you get rolling in the game, it's possible to take on more ships with fewer forces.

[Jazwana]

lots of good advice already.  One thing to remember is starting off you want to avoid nearly every pirate fleet larger than you.  Run & hide behind the Hegemony!! 

Second, if you do start with a hound sell all your fuel (not implemented yet so only thing it's good for is cash) and you should have enough money to buy a talon wing.  Use that to give you an edge for your first 1v1 frigate fights.

[Gothars]

Welcome to the forums!

Hi! Welcome to the forums!

This is OT, but why is it common to use the plural here? I thought this whole place was a single forum? I never quite got it

[TJJ]

Welcome to the forums!

Hi! Welcome to the forums!

This is OT, but why is it common to use the plural here? I thought this whole place was a single forum? I never quite got it

Fora.

[Saranis]

IMO games too easy once you get even a single capital ship.