Star Traders RPG v2.9 Upgrade Cliff Notes

[Cory Trese]

I am torn between displaying data and trying to mask complexity.

I fear that if I add things rapidly the game will disintegrate into a huge grid of numbers and colored lights =)

I'm taking it slowly -- I found a way to display the ship's rate values (Agility and Speed) into two simple values -- instead of displaying a 6 x 3 grid of 18 different floating point numbers you get two values -- FAST or SLOW =)

That is more likely to keep people playing. No one wants to see this:

SpedF: 0.4241 0.8321 1.8414
SpedP: 0.3333 0.8141 1.2121
MassE: 1.000 0.3333 0.3333
AgilX: 0.6587 0.8711 1.0021
AgilF: 1.2231 1.6473 2.5744


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I will update the list in the manual and the copy on the forum to match the current system ASAP.

I left out the "minor" modifications but I will document them for those that are interested in maximum stealth configurations.

[mrlucky]

I appreciate the response!
I totally get the desire to avoid making it feel like driving a spreadsheet. I will note that hopefully there's lots of room between overwhelming the player with a matrix of numbers and giving useful feedback in the form of flavor text.

It already says "...adds X solar sails". Could we also have "more conspicuous sail pattern also increases visibility to passing ships"? You could toss a value in there like you do for the number of sails added. But even without that, at least there's a note that something else is happening besides +X sails.

[jameskuyper]

Jan 16, 2011 17:37:06 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

Signature is what causes you to run into bad guys.

If you take a bunch of illegal passengers, carry mystery packages, have a hull full of weapons and fly a giant ship you will be very obvious.

If you attach huge missile racks, retrofit the ship to carry 3,000 tons of armor and add 2.5 kilometers of mycracrysta solar sails and deployment booms ... the ship is beyond obvious.

----

That's the cumulative value computed from the following:

* Current Cargo Hold (excluding Water Tanks)
* Contract Cargo on Ship (passengers and packages)
* Hull Size
* Ship Speed

Signature Increasing Upgrades add a scaling factor to this.

Lower signature is critical to moving undetected, avoiding bounty hunters, surveillance, docking at hostile territories, ect.

The test could be summarized (although they have 40 some parts) as:

Signature vs. Security Forces
Signature vs. Enemy's Tactics
Captain's Stealth vs. Signature

As a smuggler, my top priorities are a combination of stealth and low signature, to avoid getting noticed, and pilot and high speed, to escape when I am noticed. I had not realized that Speed increases signature, which puts those goals in conflict. It's quite reasonable, I just had not thought about it.

The in-game description of "Advanced Sail Systems" says "Provides a bonus in deep space for avoiding encounters", something that is not mentioned in the player's guide (nor in your initial post on this thread). Is this bonus sufficiently large to make up for the increased signature due to increased speed?

It would be nice if there was some way I could determine the signature rating of a vehicle, preferably before I made my decision about whether to buy it.

In one role playing game, I designed a ground vehicle, inspired by the Millennium Falcon. It had the appearance of freight truck, with hidden armament and armor comparable to that of a half-track, and the speed and maneuverability of a sports car. It was very expensive! The cargo compartment was somewhat smaller than you'd expect in a truck that size. I'd like something equivalent in Startraders - which ship that is actually available comes closest?

[sgtcookie]

Actually James, seeing the signature of a ship would be helpful.

Perhaps the signature can be displayed as a word (Low to Very High) and a numerical value (Rounded up to .5) with upgrades showing as a number how much the upgrade would increase the signature.

After all, any decent captain would be able to look at his ship and determine how visible it is and how much an upgrade would increase his visibility to other ships. "It appears that the reason we have encountered so many pirates is all of these cargo pods welded onto the ship. If we were to upgrade the solar sail size then we would probably encounter a hell of a lot more pirates."

Also, what game were you playing?

[Cory Trese]

I bet the game was ShadowRun 3rd edition =)

[sgtcookie]

I only have 4th edition.

But seriously though. Would the idea I proposed actually be viable?

[jameskuyper]

Jun 28, 2011 9:08:55 GMT -5 sgtcookie said:

Actually James, seeing the signature of a ship would be helpful.

Yes, that's what I was saying.

Jun 28, 2011 9:08:55 GMT -5 sgtcookie said:

Also, what game were you playing?

Startraders Elite, latest version.

I've just picked up the opportunity to buy an Escape Shuttle (not to be confused with the Escape Shuttle upgrade, which I haven't unlocked). It has one of the lowest hull ratings available, but is fast, and would be faster still if I purchase the Advanced Sail Systems upgrade. Can you upgrade the Escape Shuttle? Can you buy the Escape Shuttle upgrade for an Escape Shuttle? That seems silly, but nothing I've read suggests that there are particular types of ships for which particular upgrades are not available.

If Hull is substantially more important than Sails in determining the signature, the Escape Shuttle should have a pretty low signature, and the Fighter should have pretty much the lowest signature. On the other hand, if Solar Sails are more important than hull, the Escape Shuttle is going to be a very visible ship, and the Repair Shuttle will have one of the lowest signatures. If Hull and Sails are of roughly equal importance, depending upon the precise details of the formula, the Refugee Shuttle could have the lowest signature. Do you have any idea which ships have the lowest signature, and which ones would make the best Smuggler's ship?
I've asked this question before - that question was, in fact, the main point of my previous message - but it seems to have been ignored.

[HateSolstice]

Wow, a 6 month topic bumped. Until yesterday, the last post was in mid January. It's a good thing that us Cadar don't need calendars. We just shoot things until they stop moving, and then assume a couple minutes have passed by.

[slayernz]

I've had a tendency to keep shooting after the thing stops moving. I stop when I can't find bits left big enough to target. That way I don't get caught out by the classic "Oh relax, it's dead, I killed it" mistake, where 10 seconds after you turn your back on the "carcass", it rises up and spears you with one of its barbed tentacles.

[sebastian]

Between duplicate topics and necro posting, maybe cory should nominate some die hard volunteers to manage things and close dead threads and what not?

That way we can reserve torps for those steel song stooges.

[fallen]

Lol, you can close threads? Good luck =)

[sebastian]

Yes indeed :-) just ask your bro.