Star Traders: Frontiers Update #96: Widening Net

[fallen]

Following our roadmap publish, we are now hammering down on the content expansion goals and marching toward our next big feature addition -- Salvaging Orbitals and Wrecks. With this update, we've added a new mission giver type as well as 8 new missions -- you can now start to actively support the Hunna. There will be a lot more coming in this department on both sides of the line. We've made some exciting changes to further widen the availability of Contact recruits and different Job types, improved some M2400 ship engines, and caught up with the most requested fix for the Faen storyline -- confirmations on branches! It's a big release with balancing, new content, bug fixes and more.

If you enjoy the relentless update pace, leave a review and tell a friend!

Support the Revolution

Despite the best efforts of the faction militaries, the Hunna Collective's revolutionary effort continues to eke out an existence of the edge indie zones and harsh wilderness environments. With Update #96, your Star Trader captain can chose to become further involved with the shadowy, violent revolutionaries. We've added 8 new mission types to help support the Hunna, mostly in the form of dropping off a variety of dangerous or high value goods to their camps in the wilderness. It is a good place to start and opens the door to all kinds of more pro (and anti!) Hunna missions in near term updates.

Notably, any Contact who has the Hunna Agent Trait will also start cycling these missions into their set.

Wider Recruitment

We have heard a lot of feedback about the challenge of re-hiring basic crew (Pilots, Navs, E-Techs) as the best you can get out of a spice hall is often level 1 to 3. When your crew is already level 20, this can be a hard pill to swallow. With this update, we've now cycled more of the core jobs into Contacts, allowing you to possibly recruit these characters to your crew at as high as level 8 or all the way up to 11 with the right set of Rumors or Contact Traits.

If you're looking for E-Techs, find an Intelligence Officer or Archivist. For Hyerwarp Navs, check with a local Spicetender, as the navigators are known for their love of the spice hall. Finally, Flight Academy Provost (Alta Mesa only) now hire Pilots instead of Quartermasters.

We've boosted the Starport Boom Rumor now to all provide Engineers in the spice hall if you visit the faction holding. And one more -- Science Officer Contacts have gained the ability to hire out Engineers as well.

Overall, its an exciting set of changes, making core crew more accessible and also widening the total number of Contacts offering the Recruit service which is fun for all.

Mass 2400 Balancing

Both the Aeternum Vindex and Scout Cutter ships have received improvements through their components in this release. We've increased the Navigation, Pilot and Safety Rating on 2400 Mass Void Engines to reduce critical accident damage. This will allow both ships to take better advantage of their Speed, pass more tests and overall be more effective in travel, combat and operations.

Faen Branching

We have now added confirmation steps along the way throughout the Faen storylines when you are about to take a major branch. The power players in the Faen court are jealous and some will not brook you working with other members of the court. At these points when you are about to limit your future options for the story, we now have helpful warnings in place to allow you to weigh your decision accordingly.

v2.3.46 - 8/22/2018

- Added new mission giver type Hunna Supporter -- support the revolution!
- Added 8 new stash mission types, delivering supplies to Hunna camps
- Hunna Lieutenant Contact and any Contact with Hunna Agent Trait may assign these missions
- Engineers are now available for hire at spice hall during Boosted Starport Rumors
- Contacts offer new recruit options: Intelligence Officers and Archivist hire E-Techs, Science Officer hire Engineers, Spicetenders hire Hyperwarp Navigators
- Flight Academy Provost now hires Pilots instead of Quartermasters
- Added clear warnings and confirmations at major branches in Faen storylines
- Improved support for offline Steam Achievements
- Clarified rules for ship repair Talents like Rushed Patches and Unrivaled Patch
- Rebalanced prices for medium slot missiles
- Fixed occasional crashes on specific mission generation on small maps
- Buffed Aeternum Vindex and Scout Cutter ships
- Increased Safety Rating on 2400 Mass Engines to reduce critical accident damage
- Fixed missing SFX on some UI elements
- Additional game performance improvements, crash fixes

[fallen]

Minor hotfix incoming to fix a small bug with Scout Cutter.

[spooky]

Since I still have my old Space Cutter in dry dock, here's the new engine stats.  There's a 30 Speed/27 Agility option along with a 27 Speed/30 Agility option.  Don't know how much Navigation was added (1 point?).

[fallen]

Looking nice!

[John Robinson]

fallen

"It is a good place to start and opens the door to all kinds of more pro (and anti!) Hunna missions in near term updates.

Notably, any Contact who has the Hunna Agent Trait will also start cycling these missions into their set."

There could be a very interesting Achievement Unlock related to Hunna, now that their role is expanding?

[spooky]

RE: Wider Recruitment

I just lost an elite Level 30 Gunner in ship combat.  I have 342 Rep (Exemplar) with Rychart, I hold the Military Rank of Titan (Rank 10) and have more military contacts than I know what to do with.  Yet my only option to replace my Level 30 Gunner is to take a fresh out of boot camp recruit Level 1.  This is a problem.  While I don't expect to get a Level 30 replacement Gunner, I'd think with my reputation, rank, and numerous contacts, that there's more out there than just Level 1 recruits.

One possible solution would be to have the Mercenaries rumor progress as you progress through the Eras which adds larger +Level bonuses.  Mercenaries (+2) > Seasoned Mercs (+4) > Veteran Mercs (+6) > Professional Mercs (+8) > etc.
- This means you still need to wait for the Merc rumor (rng) and then fly across the galaxy to that specific planet for your new crew (would burn time on other mission goals).  Definitely not an easy or quick solution for the Captain though.

I've also noticed that your faction Military Rank only gives a boost to three types of recruits (crew combat oriented).  Why not Gunners which is a military job (Gunner's Mate/Fire Control Technician)?  I could also see the argument that everyone on the ship's crew would have a military training equivalent which in turn means you could apply Military Rank bonuses to all listed recruits instead of just three.

Maybe have a Military Academy Contact that gives you access to higher level crew (all base types) based on personal rep?  Also have military/military-related contacts expand into base crew types for recruitment for more options to the player.

[drspendlove]

Spooky, while this doesn't address your entire situation, you could conscript from an enemy vessel for a high-level Gunner if you need to.

[fallen]

spooky - Naval Commanders hire out Gunners up to level 8 + Rumors. Gunners can be found on almost any enemy ship for conscription.

We'll continue to work on the matrix of things that provide levels to recruits but *nothing* is going to get you to a level 30 Gunner straight out. If it did, crew loss would not be painful. It is important that the death of a seasoned, multi-year veteran on your crew hurts to make the game's difficulty system work.

[spooky]

Aug 27, 2018 8:08:25 GMT -5 fallen said:

spooky - Naval Commanders hire out Gunners up to level 8 + Rumors. Gunners can be found on almost any enemy ship for conscription.

We'll continue to work on the matrix of things that provide levels to recruits but *nothing* is going to get you to a level 30 Gunner straight out. If it did, crew loss would not be painful. It is important that the death of a seasoned, multi-year veteran on your crew hurts to make the game's difficulty system work.

I scrolled through the several pages of contacts I had checking for what they recruit and not one had Gunners listed.  My only option was get a level 1 Gunner from a city which seemed very lackluster for so late in the game.  As I stated in my post I wouldn't expect a high level Gunner to be attainable.  I was expecting a system in place to put my rep, rank, &/or contacts into play to get more than just a level 1 boot camp (level 5-9 range?).  If your character is considered a living legend with his faction, you'd think experienced Gunners would want to join his crew right?

[fallen]

spooky - thanks for the feedback! We'll keep working to improve. For the time being, seek out Contacts who offer the recruit type, conscript or hunt recruit level rumors.