Post by Fenikso on Jan 19, 2012 12:46:11 GMT -5
“What do we say to the God of Death? Not today.”
– Syrio Forel, Game of Thrones
There has been flaming debate about dying in Star Traders Elite recently. The permanent death is so deeply inside the game design, that it is neither desired nor possible to “switch it off”. But of course dying is not much fun…
I am playing Star Traders Elite on Impossible difficulty regularly and even if some would call me masochist my Captains are not dying so often either. I would like to share some of my views on death, dying, and of course preventing the inevitable so the game can be a bit more fun for all of you.
Basics
First of all I understand that the design of the game is done so you will die. There is no other end of the game. Sooner or later, the death is inevitable. Now, the following is my deduction:
The difficulty of the game increases linearly.
However, your Captains level increases close to logarithmical.
So it looks like this:
If you are under the line, you are more likely to die. And you cannot keep up with the game indefinitely.
Types of death
Random death – there is no such thing in Star Traders Elite. OK, a bit exaggerated statement, but still.
Foolish death – the most common type of death – very often mistaken for Random death. The game throws at you semi-random events and if you make mistakes, bad calls, your strategy sucks, you are overlooking details or some indicators the Quadrant tries to give you… Bang, at one point you are not prepared enough to handle what happens and you are very dead. If you are not good enough at this game for chosen difficulty, you are going to die a lot this way … thinking it is just random!
My Captains also die like this. But I know that “I should have bought more weapons”, “I should have bought the overpriced De Valtos torpedoes”, “I should have given my Crew a break and pay a few smokes”, “I should have repaired my Ship”, “I should not have been so greedy”, “I should not say I-can-handle-this when seeing Aliens” etc.
Epic death – If you play the game long enough, your Captain achieved virtually everything, bought whatever he wanted, he is Immortal Hero of the Stars, Hyperion Overlord, Master of Quadrant and whatever, there still is your “Nemesis”. Your fate. The enemy who will end your carrier in a way honorable enough. There is no shame dying like this.
Preventing foolish death
• Learn from your mistakes – even fatal ones
• Always have your ship and Crew ready. Repair any damage, buy Water-Fuel, replenish Torpedoes, fix your Morale, upgrade etc. There may not be “later”. You have to be prepared for everything.
• Stash emergency supplies
• Stash emergency Ships
• Do not be greedy
There are a lot of mechanisms which you can utilize to prevent various causes of death:
Losing all money
You are vulnerable to this type of death at the beginning of the game. My recommendations for beginning are:
• Take as much as possible of Contracts for desired friendly Factions and do not leave their space
• Take multiple Contracts and plan your route
• Refuse any Contracts which seem dangerous
• As soon as possible buy Trade Permits with all desired Friendly Factions
• Stay at level 1 until you get Trade Permits with all desired Factions
• Surrender if there is even slight possibility of ship damage!
Having ship destroyed or disabled in combat
Active defense:
• High Stealth and Pilot
• Hiring Pilot Officer
• Using combat upgrades such as Advanced Bridge System or Command Sail Probe
• Sails for long range
• Engines for short range
• Fast and Quick ship
Passive defense:
• Big Hull and lots of Armor
• Impact Shield Generator against Rams
• Escape Shuttle against Hull collapse
• Run!
• Surrender! (just not in a case when they may Execute you of course)
Being boarded or killed in Duel
Active defense:
• High Warrior and Intimidation skill
• Hiring Military Officer
• Upgrades increasing your Boarding attack and boarding first
• Having Weapons in Hold and Upgrades adding Weapon space
• Having a lot of Soldiers on board and Upgrades adding space for Soldiers
• High Morale
Passive defense:
• Upgrades increasing your defense against Boarding such as Heavy Bulkheads or Battleship Architecture
• If you have Escape Shuttle as last resort Ram to destroy your ship
Mutiny
Active defense:
• Carry ridiculous reserves of Water-Fuel
• Learn where you can refuel easily
• Stash Water-Fuel
• Keep an eye on your Water-Fuel
• Upgrades lowering your Water-Fuel consumption
• Use Water-Fuel Tank upgrade as an reserve
• You got the idea…
Passive defense:
• Watch your Morale
• Pay some time for the Crew in Spice Hall
• High Warrior and Intimidation, just Fight mutinous Crew!
• High Negotiation, just Bribe mutinous Crew!
Exploring
• Dying by Exploring is very foolish. Just watch your Captain’s health!
Being Executed after Surrender
• Also very foolish. Never Surrender to enemy who may Execute you.
– Syrio Forel, Game of Thrones
There has been flaming debate about dying in Star Traders Elite recently. The permanent death is so deeply inside the game design, that it is neither desired nor possible to “switch it off”. But of course dying is not much fun…
I am playing Star Traders Elite on Impossible difficulty regularly and even if some would call me masochist my Captains are not dying so often either. I would like to share some of my views on death, dying, and of course preventing the inevitable so the game can be a bit more fun for all of you.
Basics
First of all I understand that the design of the game is done so you will die. There is no other end of the game. Sooner or later, the death is inevitable. Now, the following is my deduction:
The difficulty of the game increases linearly.
However, your Captains level increases close to logarithmical.
So it looks like this:
If you are under the line, you are more likely to die. And you cannot keep up with the game indefinitely.
Types of death
Random death – there is no such thing in Star Traders Elite. OK, a bit exaggerated statement, but still.
Foolish death – the most common type of death – very often mistaken for Random death. The game throws at you semi-random events and if you make mistakes, bad calls, your strategy sucks, you are overlooking details or some indicators the Quadrant tries to give you… Bang, at one point you are not prepared enough to handle what happens and you are very dead. If you are not good enough at this game for chosen difficulty, you are going to die a lot this way … thinking it is just random!
My Captains also die like this. But I know that “I should have bought more weapons”, “I should have bought the overpriced De Valtos torpedoes”, “I should have given my Crew a break and pay a few smokes”, “I should have repaired my Ship”, “I should not have been so greedy”, “I should not say I-can-handle-this when seeing Aliens” etc.
Epic death – If you play the game long enough, your Captain achieved virtually everything, bought whatever he wanted, he is Immortal Hero of the Stars, Hyperion Overlord, Master of Quadrant and whatever, there still is your “Nemesis”. Your fate. The enemy who will end your carrier in a way honorable enough. There is no shame dying like this.
Preventing foolish death
• Learn from your mistakes – even fatal ones
• Always have your ship and Crew ready. Repair any damage, buy Water-Fuel, replenish Torpedoes, fix your Morale, upgrade etc. There may not be “later”. You have to be prepared for everything.
• Stash emergency supplies
• Stash emergency Ships
• Do not be greedy
There are a lot of mechanisms which you can utilize to prevent various causes of death:
Losing all money
You are vulnerable to this type of death at the beginning of the game. My recommendations for beginning are:
• Take as much as possible of Contracts for desired friendly Factions and do not leave their space
• Take multiple Contracts and plan your route
• Refuse any Contracts which seem dangerous
• As soon as possible buy Trade Permits with all desired Friendly Factions
• Stay at level 1 until you get Trade Permits with all desired Factions
• Surrender if there is even slight possibility of ship damage!
Having ship destroyed or disabled in combat
Active defense:
• High Stealth and Pilot
• Hiring Pilot Officer
• Using combat upgrades such as Advanced Bridge System or Command Sail Probe
• Sails for long range
• Engines for short range
• Fast and Quick ship
Passive defense:
• Big Hull and lots of Armor
• Impact Shield Generator against Rams
• Escape Shuttle against Hull collapse
• Run!
• Surrender! (just not in a case when they may Execute you of course)
Being boarded or killed in Duel
Active defense:
• High Warrior and Intimidation skill
• Hiring Military Officer
• Upgrades increasing your Boarding attack and boarding first
• Having Weapons in Hold and Upgrades adding Weapon space
• Having a lot of Soldiers on board and Upgrades adding space for Soldiers
• High Morale
Passive defense:
• Upgrades increasing your defense against Boarding such as Heavy Bulkheads or Battleship Architecture
• If you have Escape Shuttle as last resort Ram to destroy your ship
Mutiny
Active defense:
• Carry ridiculous reserves of Water-Fuel
• Learn where you can refuel easily
• Stash Water-Fuel
• Keep an eye on your Water-Fuel
• Upgrades lowering your Water-Fuel consumption
• Use Water-Fuel Tank upgrade as an reserve
• You got the idea…
Passive defense:
• Watch your Morale
• Pay some time for the Crew in Spice Hall
• High Warrior and Intimidation, just Fight mutinous Crew!
• High Negotiation, just Bribe mutinous Crew!
Exploring
• Dying by Exploring is very foolish. Just watch your Captain’s health!
Being Executed after Surrender
• Also very foolish. Never Surrender to enemy who may Execute you.
.
