Ship Combat Escape Issues

[En1gma]

Raking Fire, Guided Fire, Targeting Lock for talents.

Basic weapons on all ships-- I've never later long enough to upgrade them.

Escapes were made at max range, and everything else was used between 3-5 range.

[Cory Trese]

Ah ... you've got to get Sharp Steering. Get 3.

[En1gma]

I'm starting to think that individually selecting the talents for your crew is a much better idea lately.

[fallen]

We agree that we should improve the algorithm ... however, earlier in another thread, players were saying they wish the game selected more of the Pilot Save talent ... which competes with Sharp Steering. Right now, the game gives your pilot(s) one of each major talent before doubling up.

[Cory Trese]

So you should have at least one Sharp Steering to start with?

[fallen]

Cory Trese maybe the ordering is what should be changed. Sharp Steering is last in the list, after the other 3 (Saving Pilot, Sure Landfall, Evasive Maneuvers ... then Sharp Steering).

[xdesperado]

Feb 2, 2017 19:08:47 GMT -5 fallen said:

Cory Trese maybe the ordering is what should be changed. Sharp Steering is last in the list, after the other 3 (Saving Pilot, Sure Landfall, Evasive Maneuvers ... then Sharp Steering).

I'd suggest making it 3rd in priority and Evasive Manuevers 4th.
Personal opinion but I've found Evasive Manuevers to be the least useful pilot skill. I either want to have a better chance of increasing/decreasing combat range or be using offensive talents early in combat. Later in combat I'm likely to be looking at using buffs to remove negative statuses or again changing range than for a buff on defense which may either be to little to late or more of a well I have no other talents to use option.

[fallen]

xdesperado - good point, flipped the two in the lister.

In my combat crews, I love having enough Pilots with the Evasive Maneuvers to keep it up basically the entire fight. A great way to minimize damage and get a quick win.

[grävling]

Right now, training your officers has that dry 'pump different numbers into the spreadsheet, see what totals pop out' feeling. You don't feel as if you are sharing space with real people and having real conversations with them, which sort of breaks the experience (for those of us who want a total immersive experience, that is. Some people love the spreadsheet experience, takes all kinds, and all that).

What I would like is if, when you trained your officers, you got a popup of the officers' face, and the ability to ask:

Well then, so-and-so, I see you are eligible for more training. What do _you_ suggest you train in?

And the officer could come back with -- well, like all Pilot Officers, I am always interested in training Sharp Steering, Evasive Maneuvers and Pilot Save. With a recent analysis of our past performance (replace with 'This is all theoretical, since this is a new ship, but on paper it looks like' for untested ships) it looks like we wallow like a hippo when making course changes. I recommend/strongly recommend/insist that we invest in more Sharp Steering for me.

vs 'It's all looking very good here. I don't think it makes a lot of difference what I train in.'

vs 'We're in pretty bad shape. I'm really too new for this job, but unfortunately <name of last pilot> died <doing whatever it was you were doing that got him killed>, jumped ship, was kidnapped for ransom, retired etc. I need plenty of training in all these basic Pilot skills, and right now it doesn't much matter which one.

Officers could have some unusual personal desires, I.e. I know I am a hot space pilot, but I always wanted to be a doctor/merchant or whatever. This would serve as another way (beyond naming and clothing) to personalise the crew.

If you don't ask your officers their opinions, their morale will suffer, but not as much as if you ask them and then never do what they advise. Unhappy officers shirk in their job duties, desert, and become mutinous; also betray you to your enemies. But it would take some time for your morale to get to such a state -- "No, I won't train you up so that you can use this battle cruiser more effectively. I intend to sell this huge thing at the first starport we reach, and get back to something a lot more our size".

This would make the experience more immersive, and better still give you some idea as to how you ought to improve your build. The problem with a game with so many variables, from a learning point of view is that it is hard to see the effects of your decisions on the game outcome. Sort of like real life. ("Only 10% of your marketing decisions will ever have an effect on sales, and the tragedy is that you will never be able to tell which ones".)

It would be really wonderful if the game engine could analyse past performance and come up with some ideas for improvement.

[Cory Trese]

I think Evasive Maneuvers is really great if you intend to stay and fight.

Regarding combat effectiveness, make sure you have TACTICS and COMMAND.

Those are both very important in combat. Get "Commander" officers, and use HWNs to give you Nav and Tactics.

I would say 2 Officers with Commander or +Command jobs is a really good start.

I have 41/28 Navigation and 23 Tactics with 16 Command.

[fallen]

Feb 2, 2017 20:03:16 GMT -5 grävling said:

What I would like is if, when you trained your officers, you got a popup of the officers' face, and the ability to ask:

Thanks for the suggestion! The crew, contacts, and officers will all get a chance to talk. Future roadmap items.

[johndramey]

grävling's idea is a really cool one, and I'm glad to hear that there is some plan for implementing some version of it. Being able to have brief conversations with crew (or maybe just officers?) would be cool, and give you a chance to really connect with them. I wouldn't want it to get to be too much, though.

[fallen]

They will get talky. Its part of our goal for the KickStarter, full Motivation Engine support. Just more part of Phase 2 and 3.

[Cory Trese]

It won't really be about Jobs, however, individuals will shine through as personalities beyond just what your train them in.

You'll interact with them, of course, in advisory and command roles but from a personality simulator / motivation engine perspective job isn't connected to their trains matrix and personality configuration.

Like Andrew said, we'll get there ... and while a job-based thingy might be simpler and even easier for us, we have 100% got to deliver on the Kickstarter and stick to the design we've spent all this time writing out and proving!

I'm excited to get into phase 3, but we've got to have a really effective phase 1 and phase 2 first

[fallen]

Feb 3, 2017 2:45:59 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

while a job-based thingy might be simpler and even easier for us, we have 100% got to deliver on the Kickstarter and stick to the design we've spent all this time writing out and proving!

Agreed, I think it would end up feeling very canned that way.