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I bought this game, I have spent an unreasonable number of hours playing this game. I also ran around roughshod murdering people in a cruiser, spent a million credits upgrading it, then about half an inch out of port I was caught by either lucky or very bad-rear end bounty hunters who mercilessly smashed my ship apart, boarded, then executed the runaway noble heir I was supposedly safeguarding as part of an elaborate tapestry of betrayal and politics. Ooops.
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Jul 12, 2018 23:50
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I apparently chose the correct exact moment to restart a character in this game yesterday because apparently sometime after I started it up a patch dropped that locked the Galtak Freighter behind a cheevo.
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Jul 15, 2018 18:06
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Patrat posted:I bought this game, I have spent an unreasonable number of hours playing this game. Having dumped a similarly ungodly number of hours into this game, it’s never enemy boarding, and rarely ship to ship combat that craters me, but one shithead getting a lucky crust to the engines on their only hit that connects and disables that that kills me. Like, what loving good is 2400 hull if a scot with a torp and a prayer can bring me to an end? While I now love this game, there’s some odds and ends grievances I’ve compiled: - Trade wars. There is no explanation for how they get started, or how they end, and why the gently caress can’t I just sell into a trade war, and take the rep hit? - Trade legal status. I already have to have loving permits to sell poo poo, why do I have to find hoodlum planets to sell poo poo too? And why can’t I ever find a lux pop that doesn’t have 8 law? On that note - - I wish there was a way to permanently affect planet properties. Blockades should long term affect economy, with enough success. Doing missions should too. Spying should change law. Maybe running spice loads should affect spice. Seriously, the planets feel too static - I’d love to degrade the sanctimonious lux pop into a opulent spice den that I drop Xeno artifacts on. -Xeno artifacts are so valuable, but only to smugglers. Only smuggler on a backwater farm planet? Enjoy taking pennies on the dollar for them! For having to gently caress up Xenos for them, they sure as hell are hard to move. - Engine/port skill deaths. gently caress off - at least let me buy components that harden them? Better yet, let me take skills that let me target my opponents engines. - Useless crew combats. When I run into scavengers on a wild world, at least let me loot something from their corpses. 50 credits? A couple units of spice? They had to have something... - Patrol: it never feels like patrol can keep up with mission rep damage. I only see rep bonuses of 3-6 every other turn or so, with a 20% chance of picking it up. The overall cost is huge to gain that rep. - Encounters - why doesn’t anyone ever surrender to me? Even an underclassed merchant will fight to their death rather than run. Also, as a pirate, why can’t I demand cargo? But even then, these are more annoyances to be dealt with - I love building up my crew and synergizing my ship components to execute my mission. Bonus spy records? Yes please! Change my guns out for an eco crawler, and add mining drills to mutilate wild planets? Sure thing!
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Jul 24, 2018 00:06
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Latest update is a big one for people who weren't down with the Ironman saves, as you can now have multiple save slots if you don't have permadeath enabled. Also looks like the game is coming out of Early Access this week.quote:Update #86 has brought us to the the final moments of this game’s Early Access phase. It has been a busy 8 months and we owe a huge thanks to the thousands of Captains who have helped us improve the game. But -- we're not done yet! ZearothK fucked around with this message at 13:34 on Jul 29, 2018 |
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Jul 29, 2018 13:29
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Played around with the save slots last night, and they work great. It's convenient enough for your to savescum if you want, but out of the way enough to let you play ironman style. Being able to lock down the engine was one of my most sought after options - though the RP hit is a nuisance. A new nuisance - I'm not sure if it's just cognition bias or not, but it seems like if there is a 1/5 chance you'll pick a risk card, you'll get it. Are the odds for a standard draw 20%/25% with a remove card typically? I know the odds of drawing mission cards increases the more often you do the card game - I'm curious if the rest are even draw, or if there is some increased likelihood of risk. (I'm assuming that the percentages for low/med/high are the odds of getting one of those cards in a draw. Crew dog still seems like a stat buffer job. Their skills for morale during spicing and ship ops are pretty weak at top levels. Having engine lockdown is nice, but in general crew dog still has minimal value for any specific instances. Though I still would like some way to permanently affect planet properties, an interim solution would be to have missions that could drop some of the rumor effects on - civil unrest, shortages, xeno hives. You see that with the smuggler prince subquest, where you artificially create shortages, a few more ways to target those kind of effects would be cool. Also, finally groomed a smuggler contact on a population center where I could dump all the artifacts I'd been stockpiling. Dumped 105 artifacts for a cool $390k, and then scored another $100k bonus for the artifact smuggler perk. Hello battlecruiser! God, I'm a hundred hours logged on this game, and have still only made it to plague era once.
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Jul 29, 2018 16:26
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Officially out of early access. I played early access a little bit too much so I am holding out for the fighter update. Fingers crossed for a crappy escort carrier.
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Aug 1, 2018 08:21
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What's the best way to get started? I've tried to play a few times but am never sure what to do or what storylines to folliw.
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Aug 1, 2018 13:17
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Hey, this actually released! It's been sitting on my wishlist for a while, now.
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Aug 1, 2018 15:45
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Lmao. I've argued with the Devs about engine loss ending combat. They stopped responding to me. Edit (now with dev comments!): Me: I still don't follow why someone couldn't return fire. I do understand the lack of mobility, which wouldn't that be better represented by taking away all agility and speed? Dev: Sorry that you dislike this result. In a void battle, complete loss of engine power is guaranteed death if you try to keep firing. The enemy ships has full mobility. In general, the assumption is that the crew -- know that the captain would send them to their deaths -- lays down their weapons. After all, the enemy is only going to execute the captain. Ichabod Tane fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Aug 1, 2018 |
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Aug 1, 2018 15:49
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Glenn Quebec posted:Lmao. I've argued with the Devs about engine loss ending combat. They stopped responding to me. Dunno which brother that is, but I remember asking in the Discord about that and someone saying that lorewise the engines are Really Important because the void (space) is significantly more dangerous just to be in than our own interstellar vacuum, and running engines are a significant part of the protection from it. The assumption about the crew sort of makes sense in that context. Probably doesn't mollify you, I too think that's silly, but there ya go
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Aug 1, 2018 19:00
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I'm fine with the engines rendering a ship kaput, it's like in a sailing game where all the sails are gone- technically you can fire, i guess.
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Aug 1, 2018 19:01
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There could be more to it. I mean, it's space there isn't anything slowing down your weaponry. Or a boarding action thereafter would be fun. But getting engine OHKO is not fun.
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Aug 1, 2018 19:32
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Glenn Quebec posted:There could be more to it. I mean, it's space there isn't anything slowing down your weaponry. Or a boarding action thereafter would be fun. But getting engine OHKO is not fun. Eh, my only issue is not having surrender as an option for enemy ships. I'd even accept an honor duel of captains who want to protect their most valuable asset (their ship) over their own lives. I think the engine thing is fine.
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Aug 1, 2018 20:06
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Jarvisi posted:What's the best way to get started? I've tried to play a few times but am never sure what to do or what storylines to folliw. Same here, picked it up during the Steam sale and tried getting into it a couple of times, but it hasn't clicked yet. Looking forward to giving it another go now that it's out of EA, though. I'd be interested in hearing any tips/advice for how to get moving.
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Aug 1, 2018 21:09
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IMO play it on an easier setting and just run with a theme in your head. Explorer, bounty Hunter, military officer for a faction rather then being a jack of all trades.
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Aug 1, 2018 21:34
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Also feel free to ignore the story the first time you play, it's unlikely you'll have the wherewithal to keep up with it while learning the game systems, so don't frustrate yourself chasing it around while figuring things out. This is one of those games that the overarching story will keep on moving regardless of whether you interact with it. Also this game is still early access as far as I'm concerned, I like it a lot, but there's still quite a few rough edges. With other developers that might concern me more, but these guys have enough of an earned reputation that post release support should be good.
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Aug 1, 2018 21:43
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Vietnom nom nom posted:With other developers that might concern me more, but these guys have enough of an earned reputation that post release support should be good. They're still patching Templar Battleforce, so yeah, agreed
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Aug 1, 2018 23:12
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For my money the best way to start your first game is to follow the main storyline without backing any of the Prince's kids. He will send you out to meet most of the other factions, giving you an in if you need to mend fences. Finally do semi-generic missions for the prince for mad money, though that may have been patched out. A faction that loves you and a faction that you can beat up for fuel is a must for any captain. Try to avoid making anyone else so mad they won't even let you refuel. Once you know a contact the easiest way to gain their favor is to sell them a bunch of Intel. Focus your Intel on one or two contacts. The ideal contact is somebody on a route you travel often, accepts Intel, has uncommon recruits(doctors, etc.), and likes to give out one-way missions. Get a contact with access to the black market in character creation. They might be on a bad planet for illegal goods, but something is better than nothing at the start of the game. For starting officers you really want your doctor to specialize in being a drat good doctor, maybe splashing into combat medic if you keep on running into deep space failures. Those are the ones in the little ticker in the bottom right, a quiet profit killer. Your starting engineer has slightly more latitude, especially if you take on some mechanics. The other officers are relatively free to pick up any other jobs that you can't easily recruit. Ideally you would never have an officer with a "common" job like being a gunner or ship dog. It isn't all bad if you have to promote your highest level crew dog to an officer, you get a free re-spec for levels and talents. I like to make my captain a crew combat monster, but a smarter move is to designate one officer as a close combat specialist. Some useful early level talent/class combinations: Quartermaster-> Contract Bargain: Sometimes you just can't improve morale before landing. Military Officer-> Sometimes you run into a hostile ship when you are limping along. This will 100% save your bacon multiple times. Commander-> Loyalty Rousing: Raise your crew's morale after winning a space fight. One of the few ways to do this without landing. -> Discerning Glance: Spread out your recruitment and you will end up with a dramatically better crew, especially in regards to crew combat. Zealot-> Harsh interrogation: Free Intel almost every time you win a space fight. A regular source of an important resource
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Aug 2, 2018 04:36
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habituallyred posted:Good advice This is all goodness. A few more tips - -Get a smuggler, or spec one of your officers into smuggler. Reducing your risk of getting in to black markets is clutch when trying to pawn off artifacts - Doctors Saving grace and Quartermasters second shadow are great skills that keep your crew alive through card draw fatalities, and from falling in crew/ship combat. -if you at all plan on exploring, get the medium slot upgrade that expands resources by 16. You literally go from 4-8 artifacts to 23, and I believe it stacks with the explorer bonuses for wild zones. Even if you’re just getting legal resources, you can fill your cargo holds in a single resource get - get a spy, 2 if you can. They get a level 5 skill unauthorized access, which lets you get intel during a winning boarding action. Spies also get a lot of good passive intel bonus skills, and some spying card game rerolls - some of which are really good, like replacing a risk with intel. Also, spies get the bolt skill, which is the hands down best bonus to escape that isn’t skip off the void, with no downside. - ymmv, but I go heavy on weapons that only cost 2ap, and have critical effect reactor failures, like particle cannons. A battery of 4 cannons can lock down a fight, because the effects persist for three turns. If you’re stacking 1-2 per turn, you’ll make them unable to shoot or retreat after 2-3 turns, and keep them locked down. Plus it frees up your med/large slots for cargo or other enhancements
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Aug 2, 2018 14:45
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Ahahaha, you losers actually give a poo poo about some minor dynastic house when the Arbiter is the only one with her mind on the greater goal. Seriously though, I'm not sure there are enough in-game years to do both, assuming the storyline allows for it. Or maybe I'm just poo poo at the game, who knows 
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Aug 2, 2018 17:58
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God drat, I completely ignored this thinking it was a simplistic little thing, but this is EXTREMELY my jam and to cap it off it's an outstanding game to play on a flight. Runs beautifully on an aging Surface Pro 3. Edit: Oh poo poo, these are the Templar Battleforce guys? Well all of my comments above apply to that, too, because these two things are fuckin' awesome on planes Squiggle fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Aug 3, 2018 |
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Aug 3, 2018 20:57
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This is surprisingly robust and a great turn-based alternative for fans of Escape Velocity and Transcendence. The in-game UI is extremely busy as a newcomer, but taking time to sit and read it all, it flows well. It very much rewards taking the time to look at the in-game system atlas to review available trading options and efficient mission routes. What's really interesting is embracing job/ talent synergy and specializing - making an Officer really really good at crew combat or really good at missions is a massive difference compared to trying to pick evenly. At first it seems frustrating to lose faction reputation willy nilly, but planning ahead and using bribes / talents to mitigate loss really opens up options with dealing with conflicts. It's refreshing this game offers the option. The Official Wiki and the official Discord are definitely worth bookmarking if you're interested in exploring the systems further - the patches are rolling in every couple of days since launch and the devs are responsive in communications. For example, I found out in the Discord if you close to range 1 in ship combat, you can board an unlimited amount of times, so you can take on ships way bigger than you by weaving through fire and shooting and looting your way through their crew. This also keeps the ship intact so you can steal fuel / activate repair / healing talents and come out of ship combat relatively intact instead of having to burn 6-11 weeks repairing and healing crew. 40 Proof Listerine fucked around with this message at 08:01 on Aug 9, 2018 |
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Aug 9, 2018 07:59
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Then your engines get OHKO. There is no way to mitigate it or buy a module to buff it. Then the character you've been playing dies because the crew just gives up because ???? Not having engines incites mass suicide / mutiny.
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Aug 9, 2018 13:24
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Glenn Quebec posted:Then your engines get OHKO. There is no way to mitigate it or buy a module to buff it. Then the character you've been playing dies because the crew just gives up because ???? Not having engines incites mass suicide / mutiny. You sound like the kind of captain who cares more about getting their way than keeping their crew alive.
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Aug 9, 2018 13:45
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Glenn Quebec posted:Then your engines get OHKO. There is no way to mitigate it or buy a module to buff it. Then the character you've been playing dies because the crew just gives up because ???? Not having engines incites mass suicide / mutiny. While I wholeheartedly agree with your discontent, they did add a skill for mechanics that locks down the engines, and makes them immune to damage, in return for losing 2ap. I hated it at first, but since most of the ship combats I have to fight turn into boarding ops, it’s good to pop twitch surge first, then engine lockdown, which will generally get me to range 1 for my boarding ops. I don’t miss the 2ap, because I rarely bring range 1 weapons.
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Aug 9, 2018 13:57
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StrixNebulosa posted:You sound like the kind of captain who cares more about getting their way than keeping their crew alive. 1000% am the Captain that would rather go down fighting rather then shrug when the engines stop working.
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Aug 9, 2018 14:58
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Glenn Quebec posted:1000% am the Captain that would rather go down fighting rather then shrug when the engines stop working. I like that 90% of your posts are about this.
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Aug 9, 2018 15:07
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I play on the difficulty with permadeath and I pretty much come in here after I lose an 8+ hour guy. It's true.
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Aug 9, 2018 15:18
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I lost a 17 hour guy to getting a crew battle wiped during a mission.
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Aug 9, 2018 15:22
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You hardcorers knew what you were getting into 
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Aug 9, 2018 15:23
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My heart leaps into my throat whenever I accidentally fight xenos while exploring, because it's so likely I'm going to die.  If this game is anything, it's good at making the aliens feel like actual threats.
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Aug 9, 2018 15:23
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StrixNebulosa posted:My heart leaps into my throat whenever I accidentally fight xenos while exploring, because it's so likely I'm going to die. You know what's funny is that at really high levels of your crew, Xenos become less of a threat than some crew encounters. Xenos hit like a truck, but when you get high enough dodge and armor, they rarely land heavy hits, and the ones they do are almost entirely ablated by armor. (Not true of their ships, they still unload punishment at higher levels). Meanwhile, people have actual skills, making them more evasive, more deadly, and debuffing your team. And I swear to god back line snipers are the worst. I get a ton of one-shots against my ascendent-god boarding crew from snipers all the time. Meanwhile, same crew with murder an entire crew of a xeno ship without a scratch.
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Aug 9, 2018 18:09
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Glenn Quebec posted:1000% am the Captain that would rather go down fighting rather then shrug when the engines stop working. Yeah, well if we give you up they let us, the crew, live. Nothing personal boss.
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Aug 9, 2018 19:50
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Glenn Quebec posted:I play on the difficulty with permadeath and I pretty much come in here after I lose an 8+ hour guy. It's true. If only there were a solution to this problem, but I guess not
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Aug 9, 2018 23:48
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BBJoey posted:If only there were a solution to this problem, but I guess not In his defense, non-permadeath mode is barely even two weeks old by now, and the reactor defense skill is even younger. I do agree it is pretty bullshit to have your captain die from a bad roll in a game where campaigns are as long as this. A playthrough that goes through all the eras can take you ten+ hours of gameplay and having it end because of what amounts to bad dicerolls is extremely frustrating. ZearothK fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Aug 10, 2018 |
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Aug 10, 2018 00:40
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Pretty sure non permadeath has been around for quite a while, its just multiple saves that is new.
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Aug 10, 2018 00:57
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People will never discrace their gaming pride by playing on "normal" or "basic". I play on normal cuz I want a space game where consequences arnt so harsh and we can all have a chill time trucking through space. How is the gameplay loop made more satisfying in the higher difficulty levels? Should I move on up?
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Aug 10, 2018 01:30
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KirbyKhan posted:People will never discrace their gaming pride by playing on "normal" or "basic". I started my first game on Normal and had a great time floundering around specifically because of the big margin of error. Getting my first captain killed and living to tell the tale let me learn the combat UI and dice rules, along with basic principles of "fuel is important" and "faction rep is super important." Starting a second game on Demanding with a custom captain has been more seat of the pants, but more satisfying since I'm customizing crew for a specific role (punching ships and their crew). The devs encourage this philosophy because most new players will load the default template and call it a day, while devoted fans will go ahead and start over again, so they want as many people to have a good time with their captain. Higher difficulty levels introduce experience and loot bonuses for the trouble, and also introduce permadeath. The hardest keeps the difficulty and removes the loot bonuses. You can customize the rewards and permadeath levels to whatever amounts you like if the pregen difficulties aren't what you're looking for.
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Aug 12, 2018 07:51
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Yeah, I've gone for putting the difficulty on the first Permadeath level and removing Permadeath with the custom options. My only regret is that most achievements require the vanilla difficulties.
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Aug 12, 2018 11:55
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I actually quite like the combat system, at least when I can really engage with it, but I'm really at a loss on how to set up my playthrough around it. Spying and trading are pretty secure sources of cash, but when I try the combat-focused classes like pirate and military officer I can't get the playthrough off the ground. Any fights I really commit to generally mean heavy costs for repairs and crew damage, and maintaining those big ships and crews with early game income isn't cheap either. Has anyone managed to get going at a decent difficulty level while getting into the thick of combat from the beginning?
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Aug 13, 2018 20:45
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