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Post by daveal on May 5, 2018 23:08:48 GMT -5
I found out about STF a few days ago from the Rock Paper Shotgun review. If you eventually broke through to get a review there, it really worked for me. I like the game, and here are some first impressions. There are a few things I failed to pick up from the game at first. Maybe there is something the UI can do to make these more obvious. I started as a Nomad, basic difficulty, default map, choosing Thulun faction.
a. As a nomad, I could see actions for other specialties like spy or pirate, on the main UI. But for exploring, it was not obvious that I had to land on wilderness planets. Since the first story missions come from contacts, I was convinced that I had to find an explorer contact to get explorer missions. But, for this setup, my explorer contact was 12 jumps! away. Somehow, I hope the UI can make it more clear how to to basic explorer missions.
b. After I figured out how to explore, the three values posted on the wilderness planet don't seem to correspond to what actually happens. The "flag" value showing how many explorations can be done does not seem to be at all related to how many explorations I can do before being denied. Sometimes the flag value was high but I was denied after only 1-2 explorations. Maybe a "progress bar" could be shown to make this more clear.
c. I know this is RNG, but after 15-20 exploration missions, it seemed like I was usually shown 3 bad results and 2 good ones, which should imply 40% of the results are good. But it felt much more like 90% of the time, a bad result came up. It's especially frustrating when xeno fights keep killing all my fighters and it took >8 tries to get a success for a story mission.
d. I am still not clear how to find black markets. There are some contacts who can provide immediate access. But, the help seems to imply that black markets can be found by trying every starport. I have never found a black market except through the contacts.
e. One typo, most people may miss because it only happens on jump failure. "Failed hyperwarp navigation skill test ...and the our ship components have suffered 0% damage."
f. I followed the main prince story line, then I guess I got distracted, and I had the "fading conspiracy" story line. After I decided not to kill Moon, I was sent away, and after that when I came back there didn't seem to be any way to get back into the story line. The Prince was gone, and that was it. Maybe that is intentional. But, if that is supposed to be the main plot, then I feel it should be easier to get back onto. I wound up at level 17 with nothing that I could find to do except wander around, so I quit the game.
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Post by resistor on May 5, 2018 23:32:46 GMT -5
c) I know what you mean. I would definitely recommend investing in the Explorer talents that let you reroll or replace risk cards, and use them to avoid the Xeno cards. Hiring Exo-scouts from your Explorer contact can help because they can also get talents for rerolling risk cards.
d) Black Markets can only be reached through contacts
f) You mean Calagan Faen just disappeared? Is he still in your contact list? Sounds like a bug.
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Netu
Curator
Posts: 54
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Post by Netu on May 6, 2018 6:27:23 GMT -5
Greetings! I would first just like to say thanks for getting the game, and I am very glad you are enjoying it! Welcome to our humble community. :-) I found out about STF a few days ago from the Rock Paper Shotgun review. If you eventually broke through to get a review there, it really worked for me. I like the game, and here are some first impressions. There are a few things I failed to pick up from the game at first. Maybe there is something the UI can do to make these more obvious. I started as a Nomad, basic difficulty, default map, choosing Thulun faction. Good choices! Exploration is super fun and can be amazingly profitable, however... a. As a nomad, I could see actions for other specialties like spy or pirate, on the main UI. But for exploring, it was not obvious that I had to land on wilderness planets. Since the first story missions come from contacts, I was convinced that I had to find an explorer contact to get explorer missions. But, for this setup, my explorer contact was 12 jumps! away. Somehow, I hope the UI can make it more clear how to to basic explorer missions. Not all jobs are created equal. Furthermore, sometimes you're just doing your job because you want to do it, for profit and riches, and not because a quest or any contact told you to. I do get what you mean, that the UI could explain that... I've thought about that, too. Any ideas? The Trese Brothers are always taking us up on our ideas and customizing the UI and adding things to make things more convenient, so if you make a proper suggestion it very likely could get implemented! b. After I figured out how to explore, the three values posted on the wilderness planet don't seem to correspond to what actually happens. The "flag" value showing how many explorations can be done does not seem to be at all related to how many explorations I can do before being denied. Sometimes the flag value was high but I was denied after only 1-2 explorations. Maybe a "progress bar" could be shown to make this more clear. Yeah, not all jobs are equal...but if we argue they are...they're not equal at the same times. I do not explore early on, not until I have plenty of talents that give card rerolls in the job's minigame. These make it a lot more approachable, and in essence give you a 20-30% boost to your outcome, which is huge. I know it stinks to make a nomad and then want to immediately explore, but sometimes you just have to go around doing trades and story missions until midgame when you have the proper setup. Also, as an explorer, I'd just like to mention, there are ship mods (in the ship upgrade window in the starport) under the ops tab that can do insane things for exploration, and I highly recommend getting them when you can.[/quote] c. I know this is RNG, but after 15-20 exploration missions, it seemed like I was usually shown 3 bad results and 2 good ones, which should imply 40% of the results are good. But it felt much more like 90% of the time, a bad result came up. It's especially frustrating when xeno fights keep killing all my fighters and it took >8 tries to get a success for a story mission. Going from what I said from the above, you simply cannot even attempt some of the job minigames early on and expect great success. You may get lucky, but honestly that isn't very fun to bank on that. This game is meant to be played slow; personally, my campaigns can oftentimes take scores of hours. Exploration is, admittedly, one of the slower jobs yet. I hope you try again after reading a bit and asking us questions--we would love to help! d. I am still not clear how to find black markets. There are some contacts who can provide immediate access. But, the help seems to imply that black markets can be found by trying every starport. I have never found a black market except through the contacts. Black markets are not at every starport, per se. You can access them via contacts. Here is a clear explanation, I hope: startraders.gamepedia.com/Black_Markete. One typo, most people may miss because it only happens on jump failure. "Failed hyperwarp navigation skill test ...and the our ship components have suffered 0% damage." I posted in the typo thread and tagged you, here: startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/16111/typos-1-3-5f. I followed the main prince story line, then I guess I got distracted, and I had the "fading conspiracystory line. After I decided not to kill Moon, I was sent away, and after that when I came back there didn't seem to be any way to get back into the story line. The Prince was gone, and that was it. Maybe that is intentional. But, if that is supposed to be the main plot, then I feel it should be easier to get back onto. I wound up at level 17 with nothing that I could find to do except wander around, so I quit the game. That is precarious, indeed. Now, I have out-right ignored the main story and have had the Faens not talk to me at all mission-wise, but Calagan still always was at his post and at least offered anti Char missions. I wish I knew more about this so I could offer advice. I just want to say welcome again, and thank you so much for making this post with your thoughts. If you need any help whatsoever, please don't hesitate asking on these forums or join us on Discord for our ridiculous antics: discord.gg/GWQCmC There are a lot of ridicuously cool people there who'd be more than happy to help you. Take care and good luck in the void! |
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Post by Aesop on May 6, 2018 6:27:36 GMT -5
Daveal, if you're already used to the genre, playing on normal may be your problem. Once you get used to the systems it's really easy there for players used to the genre. If I were you I'd have a go on Hard. That's where you really learn to appreciate the game imo. Either that or wait a couple of months for more end-game content.
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Post by fallen on May 6, 2018 10:40:56 GMT -5
Thanks for playing and for sharing your feedback. A great read and lots for us to think about.
Two quick ones --
e. Fixed the typo.
f. This is a known issue we are working to fix. There are some conflict movements among the characters and they aren't respecting each other well.
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Post by Cory Trese on May 6, 2018 10:43:17 GMT -5
c. You should go to a better planet. 3-2 isn't a very good deck. The mix of cards will change on your skills, ship, crew, rumors and where you are exploring (Quadrant, Planet, Zone)
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Post by daveal on May 6, 2018 11:23:16 GMT -5
Thanks for all the replies and making me feel welcome.
b. What does exactly determine how many times I can explore in a given zone before I get the message that it is tapped out? It seems unrelated to the height of the flag bar.
c. RNG on card games. On any screen, there are either four or five cards, and a mission success card has a clearly marked probability. Is it true that each non-success card on the screen has the same chance of being picked? That is, if I have ten successive screens each with 3 bad, 2 good, then I would expect to get 6 bad and four good results. I will keep a tab next time, but seems like the good cards are less likely to appear. I have gotten strings of 6-8 bad in a row, even when removing one risk and getting a 2/2 screen.
d. Black markets: I now know that you mostly enter these through contacts. But, is it ever possible to find a black market lying around? As an explorer I got a haul of xeno artifacts, and I kept going around to different places, and increasing my trade permit level, hoping to be able to sell them. Is a contact the only way to get rid of them? If this particular result is the main way to make money as an explorer, it seems a little hard. You would have to keep going back to your contact, or get lucky and have a lot of black market contacts.
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Post by daveal on May 6, 2018 14:08:34 GMT -5
I don't understand the spice hall window all the time. See: imgur.com/Honan7l (have not figured out how to make "insert image" work on this board) Why is the pay button greyed out, and showing zero crew? I have money. I thought that there was a limit to how many times you could click the button in a row, but if that is the problem, then how do I know? And what is the computation behind it? This happens pretty often, so I could save a game, but probably you know.  |
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Post by resistor on May 6, 2018 14:13:15 GMT -5
I don't understand the spice hall window all the time. See: imgur.com/Honan7l (have not figured out how to make "insert image" work on this board) Why is the pay button greyed out, and showing zero crew? I have money. I thought that there was a limit to how many times you could click the button in a row, but if that is the problem, then how do I know? And what is the computation behind it? This happens pretty often, so I could save a game, but probably you know. It is because the spice hall is out of available spice. You can see how much is available in the top right corner. Planets with a higher Spice rating have more spice available. |
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Post by resistor on May 6, 2018 14:19:58 GMT -5
... d. Black markets: I now know that you mostly enter these through contacts. But, is it ever possible to find a black market lying around? As an explorer I got a haul of xeno artifacts, and I kept going around to different places, and increasing my trade permit level, hoping to be able to sell them. Is a contact the only way to get rid of them? If this particular result is the main way to make money as an explorer, it seems a little hard. You would have to keep going back to your contact, or get lucky and have a lot of black market contacts. Black Markets can only be accessed through contacts. You can't just openly ask around about a black market,; you have to know someone to get in. Black Markets aren't the only way to make money selling artifacts and such. You can sell them on the open exchange if you have the necessary trade permits and the zone's Trade Law is low enough. There is always at least one zone in the game that has low enough trade law that you can sell artifacts there, and it is an Independant world so you don't even need any trade permits for it. It is located in a quadrant called "Farfallen Rim", which always spawns on any map seed. |
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Post by fallen on May 6, 2018 16:34:44 GMT -5
I don't understand the spice hall window all the time. See: imgur.com/Honan7l (have not figured out how to make "insert image" work on this board) Why is the pay button greyed out, and showing zero crew? I have money. I thought that there was a limit to how many times you could click the button in a row, but if that is the problem, then how do I know? And what is the computation behind it? This happens pretty often, so I could save a game, but probably you know. Lack of available spice. See the title of any spice hall screen, "0 Spice and Entertainment Available" Doctor has a similar counter. |
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Post by daveal on May 6, 2018 17:01:21 GMT -5
Thanks for pointing out the spice counter. I would not have thought my thirsty crew could clean out all the spice in a whole city by clicking 2-3 times. Can you put something into a tool tip, or text in the panel which says something about zero spice? I've never had the same problem with doctor even after bad missions with everybody hurt. Thanks for the tip about Farfallen. That may be my only solution. I've been carrying around this boatload of artifacts for years and I can't sell it. I think the entry for artifacts in the wiki is misleading: startraders.gamepedia.com/Resource_Types. It says it only requires a trader 4 permit. I tried that, and got frustrated. It requires either a black market, or an indie market with law level 2. Is that right? But not even all black markets will take it, which is even more frustrating. See: imgur.com/QzryxjK. This black market won't even take the artifacts, and I don't understand what to do about it. This is default map, custom template, start as cadon, smuggler contact in Fifth Pass / Sahelia / Gnolth Heights. I have a save game if it helps. |
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Post by daveal on May 6, 2018 17:11:05 GMT -5
b. I am pretty sure that the number of times you can do the explore card game on a wilderness planet isn't related to the flag value shown. In the default map, briens corridor, bones trench (northeast of sector) the flag value is 7, but it only allows the card game twice.
Also a new item I guess (h): it seems very hard to get exo scouts for your crew. As an explorer on the default map, start as Cadon with 6 contacts, I generated five maps in a row and for all of them, the retired explorer contact was 7 or more jumps away. That makes it really hard to get any as crew and give them a chance to level. I tried starting with two contacts so that they would be closer. Yes, that worked and I could hire *one* exo scout. But when I went back a year later to get a second one, the contact's influence was zero, so I was not able to hire any. I did four straight missions for her without doing anything else; after two missions her influence was up to 5 (but 10 is required to hire), and after the next two, her influence was -1. I have no idea how to affect that, so as far as I can tell, hiring exo scouts is just impossible in that map.
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Post by fallen on May 6, 2018 17:23:59 GMT -5
I think the entry for artifacts in the wiki is misleading: startraders.gamepedia.com/Resource_Types. It says it only requires a trader 4 permit. I tried that, and got frustrated. It requires either a black market, or an indie market with law level 2. Is that right? But not even all black markets will take it, which is even more frustrating. See: imgur.com/QzryxjK. This black market won't even take the artifacts, and I don't understand what to do about it. This is default map, custom template, start as cadon, smuggler contact in Fifth Pass / Sahelia / Gnolth Heights. I have a save game if it helps. Sorry there is confusion, the wiki and the game both list the Legality 2 requirement. I don't see any missing data in either wiki or game here. Your Access Level to a Black Market determines what level of permit you can trade at. So, you need to get into a BM with Access 4 in order to trade Artifacts. Work closely with a Contact and all of their Access cards will upgrade to 4s. Hope that helps! |
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Post by daveal on May 6, 2018 18:35:32 GMT -5
Sorry there is confusion, the wiki and the game both list the Legality 2 requirement. I don't see any missing data in either wiki or game here. Your Access Level to a Black Market determines what level of permit you can trade at. So, you need to get into a BM with Access 4 in order to trade Artifacts. Work closely with a Contact and all of their Access cards will upgrade to 4s. Hope that helps! I guess. I got frustrated after a few years of trying to sell the artifacts, so I gave up on that captain for now. I'll try explorer again later, maybe. It didn't help that in the same game, I was unable to get more than one exo-scout ever. I'll try more branches of the main quest using a spy. Getting a bunch of remove risk on spying and patrolling seems to be the easiest way to go. |
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