Let’s talk about the options the player has for moving around the Sector! For a long time, the set of movement mechanics has been incomplete, with additions made here and there (slipstreams, unlocking the use of the Gates), but still lacking some of the options that in my mind would make up the final picture. Perhaps “final” isn’t the right word – things will certainly be tweaked as necessary – but it’s about having a more complete set to tweak, rather than what has been, until now, a partial implementation.
I’m not sure where to start with this, exactly, because this is something that pulls together a bunch of different systems, using the “Event” infrastructure (introduced in the previous blog post) to tie it all together. So, let’s just start… in HYPERSPACE!
Primarily, this is a system that interacts with slipstreams. In brief, those are temporary passages in hyperspace that can make travel much, much faster and enormously more fuel-efficient. One of the problems, though, is that it can be a little hard to plan for – there are some general indicators of where they are and where they might take you (i.e. the direction they travel in is seasonal, you can use the Neutrino Detector ability to find them, and so on), but I think for a lot of players, that doesn’t quite add up to being “enough” to make slipstreams as useful as I’d like them to be.
Update (12/20/21, 5:30pm EST): a hotfix for a late game hang while visiting a bar, along with a number of other fixes and balance adjustments (full list of changes here); please re-download the game using the links below.
Update (12/11/21, 9:20pm EST): a hotfix for a crash caused by defeating a [REDACTED] station and then a fleet in the same system is out.
Update (12/11/21, 4:00pm EST): a hotfix for an audio issue, background flickering during new game creation, cleanup of some dev options left in a dialog, and a few other issues is out.
Starsector version 0.95.1a is now out! This is a .1 release, meaning it’s focused on polish, bugfixing, and quality-of-life improvements – but more than the normal share of new features and sweeping changes have found their way into this one, as well!
Skill system changed for more flexible builds with more options
Several new game-changing top-tier skills, and other new skills
All skills can be re-specced, no more “permanent” skills
New ships: Eradicator-class Fast Cruiser, Manticore-class Destroyer, Vanguard-class Frigate
Missions show the mission target location prior being accepted
Dynamic slipstreams that enable quick and efficient travel in hyperspace
Sensor ghosts in hyperspace!
Improved early access to ships and weapons through arms dealers
Phase cloak changes to make phase ships easier to deal with if they’re outmatched
Ship AI improvements; ability to issue a “defend” order targeting a friendly ship
Various balance changes to improve variety
Modding improvements
Assorted bugfixing, polish, and numerous quality-of-life improvements
There are many more changes; the full patch notes, and the comment thread, are here. This new release should be save-compatible. Due to the skill system changes, skill points and story points invested into any elite skills will be refunded, and the skills will be reset when a save from the previous release is loaded.
You can download the new version here:
(Alternate download links, please try the above first: WindowsMacLinux)
As always, thank you for your support! I deeply appreciate it.
