Alright, so I had my dabble in vanilla and mods, and I'd just thought about what I would think Starsector (Starfarer in my heart) could use at this point.
1.) Codex Changes - Ship System Entry
Often when playing with mods, and even a little bit in vanilla itself, I find myself wondering the exact statistics of certain ship systems. For example, how many flares does the Flare Launcher launch? How fast do Active Flares move? How much flux per second does the Fortress Shield generate? How long does Manoeuvring Thrusters last? And so on.
This gets very confusing especially with the special systems that certain mods stick onto their ships. I have little way of knowing how far the Advanced Phase Teleporter actually jumps me in Starsector+, for example.
Granted, these are all very technical things, and certainly do not belong on each ship entry, which is why I'd like to see a separate section where we can read up on the stats (And the lore, oh the lore that I do so love) of each unique ship system.
2.) Changes to Factions and Reputation
A. Commissioned Trades
I like the trade system as it is now, actually, what with the nonsensically-high tariffs and the like. Of course, food shortages might be a bit wacky, but thats a different story. What I'd like to see are factions actually allowing people to do the 'Ship 5000 Boxes of Hand Weapons to Jangala' kind of thing, and pay you in the process. Granted, they have their own trade fleets to do this, but it'd be mercenary work, hard stuff - perhaps flying through a pirate-infested area of space, or with the Tri-Tachyon Corporation hot on your heels - but it'd provide another way of getting reputation with the faction as well as making a quick buck (providing you dont get blown up).
B. Faction Bounties
I believe this has been put up before, but I kinda wanted to add to it a little. I think that, at a certain point, factions should place bounties not only on pirates, but on independents, on other factions, and yes, on you. Sure, it might get a bit annoying having the occasional Bounty Hunter catching up to you in their Burn 8 fleet of Wolves, but thats part of universe, dont you think? That bounty hunter right there is trying to make a living just like you are, and who are you to stop him? Oh wait, your Paragon's plasma cannons accidentally fired. Oh well, its too bad. Alas, you hardly knew him.
This also provides a little more variation to the bounties you'd be hunting. Most of what I get to fight are clearly pirate fleets - D variants, boatloads of Talon squadrons, the occasional Eagle - that somehow have managed to get a 150 thousand bounty on their heads.
C. Independents
Now this is a little wacky. What I dont understand is, why does blowing up, say an independent Bounty Hunter captain render you suddenly hostile with the entirety of every person that's free? I mean, first off, I dont even know how they heard of me murdering Smook McCarthy a few parsecs away from any known star. Unless, of course, the Independent nations are kind of a loosely-knitted society of people that control the open markets or something, but I always had the impression they were like you - free and operating on their own terms. Beat too many of them up, then sure, but I dont see why a few fights here and there would render me a pirate in everyone's eyes.
3.) Assault Craft and Corvettes
Now, I got these ideas from mods, but I always thought fighters in vanilla were really underwhelming. Sure, you've got the Xyphos which is kinda good I guess, and the Daggers (which by the way are sick now because of the Reaper acceleration), but theyve always been a kinda lackluster ship class for me. We don't have any true CAS fighters like the A-10, or any gunships like the AC-130, which I would really like to see. Slowish craft that would get easily intercepted by other fighters, but with fairly tough engines and anti-ship guns. Even better, make the gunships circle around targets and blast them instead of ramming their face into the gun barrel of the nearest Onslaught that they see. Sure, you'd have to balance them, but I think the CR/respawn mechanic provides a great way to do just that.
4.) Explosions!
While I do understand that, frankly, nobody wants to destroy a disabled ship, there are always times when my quad-plasma Paragon accidentally wipes that Falcon off the face of the map, but the resulting *boom* is tiny, and the ship just kinda disappears. It doesnt really feel exciting, that way. There should be a big BOOM! and maybe a few parts (could be generic, easier to make, too) flying off like asteroids, maybe occasionally smashing into some ships here and there but nothing major. I always thought the ambience of this game was a very strong draw, and I'd like to see it be extended.
In comparison, the disabled flash of some ships is ridiculously high. Disabling an Onslaught, for example, makes my screen turn white for a good two seconds, and any quick pauses that I make during that time to look on the tactical map are similarly blinded. Perhaps the tactical map could have a tint to it, to darken the background a little?
Well, that about wraps it up for whatever I've managed to put on my mind right now. Might get around to writing another one of these after a bit more playing, and all.
