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

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Author Topic: Starsector 0.65a (Released) Patch Notes  (Read 257906 times)

HELMUT

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #45 on: June 11, 2014, 01:56:08 PM »

Hmm, modders will probably have to move some of their systems to avoid overlapping.

And a buff to EMP weaponry? Now that's interesting.
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Thaago

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #46 on: June 11, 2014, 01:59:08 PM »

Nice! This is going to be great.

On a downer note is something I've been expecting for quite a while: all of the old mods are going to really break with this update. Such is the price of awesome progress I guess.

I see that you optimized the save file size in april, and got the zips properly working now; do you know how much this helps the problems that the various large mods have been having with loading save?
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Alex

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #47 on: June 11, 2014, 02:15:21 PM »

Whoo new ship!

I assume this is the one from the blog post?  :)

Yep, that's the one.

And a buff to EMP weaponry? Now that's interesting.

It's exactly as effective as it is in 0.6.2a, but other weapons are half as effective in disabling weapons/engines, due to the hitpoint boost.

On a downer note is something I've been expecting for quite a while: all of the old mods are going to really break with this update. Such is the price of awesome progress I guess.

Pretty much no way around that. I'm trying to keep breaking changes to a minimum, but when you've got entirely new features, there's only so much you can do.

I see that you optimized the save file size in april, and got the zips properly working now; do you know how much this helps the problems that the various large mods have been having with loading save?

I don't know. You'd have to analyze the memory usage of those mods to see what was taking up the most space. There's always a chance it's something mod-specific, since mod scripts and such end up in the save file. I don't think it's specifically an issue with the loading, as much as the mod already operating close to the memory limit, and a perfectly normal memory use increase during the saving/loading process pushing it over the edge.

I did run some very brief tests on the memory use while saving normally and compressed - surprisingly, saving a compressed file seems to require less memory. So, that's good. File-size-wise, the compression reduces it by about a factor of 20.
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Gothars

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #48 on: June 11, 2014, 03:11:15 PM »

(Note: this batch of notes is probably missing some items.)

Were they harvested by organ smugglers?

It's starting to get a bit more sinister, how nice :)
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The game was completed 8 years ago and we get a free expansion every year.

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CrashToDesktop

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #49 on: June 11, 2014, 06:28:11 PM »

Wait, there's Harvested Organs as a commodity?

o.O

Damn, the game is now a lot more ominous than I thought.  I best watch my back when I'm in the station now. ;)
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Psigun

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #50 on: June 11, 2014, 06:31:56 PM »

The trading system sounds really cool. Can't wait!
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MesoTroniK

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #51 on: June 11, 2014, 07:12:04 PM »

Wait, there's Harvested Organs as a commodity?

o.O

Damn, the game is now a lot more ominous than I thought.  I best watch my back when I'm in the station now. ;)

Hmmmm, brains... :)

Sundog

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #52 on: June 11, 2014, 07:13:25 PM »

Donated organs are harvested too, so Harvested Organs aren't necessarily acquired through nefarious means. Still, it's a cool idea for a commodity either way.

Alex

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #53 on: June 11, 2014, 09:20:40 PM »

Were they harvested by organ smugglers?

Possibly :)

It's starting to get a bit more sinister, how nice :)
Damn, the game is now a lot more ominous than I thought.  I best watch my back when I'm in the station now. ;)
Donated organs are harvested too, so Harvested Organs aren't necessarily acquired through nefarious means. Still, it's a cool idea for a commodity either way.

Well, they are illegal to trade in. In most places.
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Gothars

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #54 on: June 12, 2014, 01:58:36 AM »

So, do you plan to add any more major features before release of the next version? Or is it "just" a question of finishing up, balancing and polishing what's on the list?

I'm eager to wrap my head around the economy system :)
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The game was completed 8 years ago and we get a free expansion every year.

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ahrenjb

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #55 on: June 12, 2014, 09:34:55 AM »

Certainly looking forward to seeing the framework of the game expand, and glad to see options for gathering money besides chasing down and bullying fleets smaller than your own. The trade system looks just complex enough to be interesting, and while I'm not too sure of the way the interfaces display some of the information yet, I'm sure once I have a chance to play with them a bit they'll grow on me.

Harvested Organs is a good trade good, but won't fill the holds. Here's to hoping for Space Whiskey, Kebabs, and maybe some Industrial Algae to take up the space  :D
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Alex

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #56 on: June 12, 2014, 11:01:07 AM »

So, do you plan to add any more major features before release of the next version? Or is it "just" a question of finishing up, balancing and polishing what's on the list?

A pedantic answer depends on how you define "features", but that aside, it feels more like "just" finishing up. However, that involves adding a lot of content, some UI work, and some work on game systems. For example, need to take a good look at smuggling, exactly how it works, what consequences it has, and what UI support it needs. That might also lead into adding a hullmod or two. Are these "features" or "finishing up" an aspect of the trade system? As another example, an initial UI for intel/news reports exists, but I suspect it'll need some major revamping in light of how events actually turn out gameplay-wise.

Content-wise, need to add and flesh out several events; this can involve altering existing systems to support how these need to work. Another big content task is populating the new star systems with fleets, which can take a bit of time. There is also new art and sounds that need to be created, and the possibility of something new on the music front.

Then there's playtesting and balancing, which, given the sheer number of changes and amount of new content, is likely to take longer than it usually does.

There are a few miscellaneous tasks, too, but I think the above covers most of what's left.
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ValkyriaL

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #57 on: June 12, 2014, 11:03:45 AM »

Yo Alex, when are you guys adding Decoratives to vanilla ships? us modders are way ahead of ya with blinking lights and glowing powercores. ;D
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Tecrys

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #58 on: June 12, 2014, 11:31:31 AM »

Yo Alex, when are you guys adding Decoratives to vanilla ships? us modders are way ahead of ya with blinking lights and glowing powercores. ;D

Well, it's not hard to make nice decoratives but time consuming.
Would you rather spend time coding new features or putting decoratives ingame without any game value apart from visuals?
I think the answer to that is clear, no offense.
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Symbiotic Void Creatures 0.5.0-alpha for 0.97a is out
https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=28010.0

Thaago

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Re: Starsector 0.65a (In Development) Patch Notes
« Reply #59 on: June 12, 2014, 02:21:23 PM »

...
Then there's playtesting and balancing, which, given the sheer number of changes and amount of new content, is likely to take longer than it usually does.
...

Well you could always release it with only minor playtesting and let the community decide what to do. I'm sure we'll reach a nice happy consensus very quickly, with no bickering at all. After all, designing games by committee always works out great!

Note: I couldn't resist. Please don't actually do this.
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