v2.6.0 Changes Discussion Thread

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

The screenshot feature is amazing; also it would be really nice to be able to see my race's flag on systems that I have claimed in the galaxy map.

Any system without a flag is effectively your system. If I included all the viewing race flags as well, so that all systems had flags, it would be crowded.

[skoormit]

The screenshot feature is amazing; also it would be really nice to be able to see my race's flag on systems that I have claimed in the galaxy map.

Any system without a flag is effectively your system. If I included all the viewing race flags as well, so that all systems had flags, it would be crowded.

Yes, but it does seem useful to be able to see on the map which systems you have specifically claimed (via Protection Status), rather than which systems are effectively yours.

[paolot]

Really thank you, Steve!
Fantastic addictions both the screenshots printing and the flags! 
I would like I can play my current match using all the new features you are introducing! 

[JacenHan]

It seems like having the "Attempt Boarding Action" not appear for Swarm contacts could make it trivially easy to identify a contact as Swarm? Just select a boarding ship on the other side of the galaxy and see if you can ask it to board, unless I misunderstand the change. Probably most experienced players who would know to do this are already able to identify spoiler races pretty quick anyway, but it still sounds overly exploitable to me.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

It seems like having the "Attempt Boarding Action" not appear for Swarm contacts could make it trivially easy to identify a contact as Swarm? Just select a boarding ship on the other side of the galaxy and see if you can ask it to board, unless I misunderstand the change. Probably most experienced players who would know to do this are already able to identify spoiler races pretty quick anyway, but it still sounds overly exploitable to me.

You can already tell if something is Swarm by looking at the picture on the intel window. I have considered removing the image until comms are established or bodies/survivors recovered ( although you cant establish comms with some races and they don't leave life pods, so you would never see them).

I could do it by having the attempt fail so you lose the first boarding party.

I could also add a 'biological' tag to the contact information for active sensors, as that is probably something that should be known anyway, and that means you know Swarm anyway. I was thinking of adding other 'biologicals' anyway, so that might be the best option.

[xenoscepter]

 --- Perhaps instead of removing the boarding option outright, have it so that they attack and damage the armor of the ship. Not efficient at all, nor even really effective, BUT!

 --- It would sidestep the mentioned exploit while also neatly providing a little flavor for those crazier sorts of roleplay.

[Ghostly]

I still think the coolest way to handle swarm boarding is to make boarders fight the ship itself, dealing exclusively collateral interal damage and receiving damage from the ship's internal acid in return, making it a suicide mission either way. However, this would probably be difficult to implement, and having boarders continously damage the ship's armor would make boarding an extremely overpowered opening tactic, since even the largest hives would get stripped and become extremely vulnerable after a few hours of 1 minute hell. That is, unless swarms still have regenerating armor and it would regenerate faster than the boarders can damage it which means the armor damage is for flavor purposes only (and perpetual 1 minute hell!).

Making them unboardable is a good compromise, making boarding auto-fail is better. As far as identifying the swarm goes, their picture, tech and behaviour are not exactly conspicious, so any player aware enough to attempt boarding during a first contact would probably know what he's up against regardless.

[Garfunkel]

More biological spoilers? Are we getting space whales? Awesome! 

And agreed with the change. Boarding swarm always struck me as a silly thing.

[Black]

More biological spoilers? Are we getting space whales? Awesome! 

Maybe some space fish, so Steve's future NATO vs Soviet campaign will finally have spy trawlers.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

More biological spoilers? Are we getting space whales? Awesome! 

Actually, that is exactly what I was considering

Creatures that contain valuable resources, but can be dangerous if provoked. Perhaps others that live in the atmospheres of gas giants. Plus maybe some SFB 'monster' type options.

[Kiero]

If it is not possible to board Swarm ships anymore, will there be any way to acquire their technology?

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

If it is not possible to board Swarm ships anymore, will there be any way to acquire their technology?

No, the only way was boarding and because it was very easy to board them, acquiring their tech was too easy. Maybe at some point in the future, I will add organic ships as a technology option.

[alex_brunius]

If it is not possible to board Swarm ships anymore, will there be any way to acquire their technology?

No, the only way was boarding and because it was very easy to board them, acquiring their tech was too easy. Maybe at some point in the future, I will add organic ships as a technology option.

One interesting way to add that back could be to have some swarm colony with pop on asteroids you can assault with ground forces and capture

Edit: For technology options not the whole ship needs to be organic, some components could be organic with unique attributes, like:
- Organic Armour -> regenerating over days.
- Organic Powered weapon version -> integrated without need for separate powerplants.
- Organic Fuel Generator -> Maybe relying on solar power and asteroid sorium if it can be balanced?
- Organic Salvager -> Slower to salvage, extracts no components but alot more minerals of ship wrecks.

[Kaiser]

I have read the new update about alien components, so, the conversion is only possible if the tech matches the one I have?

What happen if the alien componen is of higher tech than the one I possess? Can I still create a single ship with that component? I liked the possibility to create few ships (depending how many components I have) made with superior alien devices.

[Garfunkel]

You can still create a single ship with that component.