Star Traders: Frontiers #265: 101 Tracker & Modding Beta!

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Welcome all new captains! It is a big week here on the bridge with a 40% off discount, new update, new ship weapons, improved Rumors and Traits and word coming down from the officers that our private modding beta is about to open.

Speaking of new, new new -- if word hasn't trickled down from the tippity top of the New Boston spires, leaked below the streets and drip-drip-dripped into your safehouse, we're here to tell you about our upcoming turn-based cyberpunk heist RPG. Cyber Knights: Flashpoint will be coming to Steam in 2022 and mixes stealth, hacking and tactical combat with deep RPG elements and a unique heist system for missions. The wishlist button is calling your name, Knight.
store.steampowered.com/app/1021210?snr=1_2108_9__2107

Modding Workshop Coming!

Update #265 includes a lot of behind-the-scenes changes that have prepped the game for modding. It has taken a lot of work, so please report any issues you see but it is very unlikely to appear in the base game. We are excited to open the private modding beta to interested mod creators who want to take a first crack at creating mods. If you're interested, please request to join the modding private beta Steam group

We cannot wait to see what you create!

New Level 8 Weapons

With the last few updates, we've been rounding out the options for level 8 ship weapons in the game. Update #265 adds 2 more options, the M101 Tracker Cannon is a mean new 1 RP autocannon featuring high damage and high crippling hit chance, best for pummeling capital ships into bits at close range. The new Gargoyle Missile Battery clocks in at 3 RP and has higher Crippling Rate and Damage in trade for lower Radiation and Critical Hit rate.

Fuel Tweaks

Big ships can bring a lot to the table but with Update #265, we've slightly ticked up their fuel cost for combat encounters to offset some of their other many advantages.

Rumor Improvements

A bevy of Rumor improvements are helping to keep Rumors interesting, dangerous or valueable even into the later game. The Starport Boosted Rumor is now more likely once the 3rd Century has started, helping you late game shopping sprees. The risk and fuel costs for some of the more localized orbital Rumors -- Ion Meteor Storm, Salvage Hive, Orbital Disaster -- have all increased which makes Salvaging an landing often on the same world a little more challenging. We've also reduced the boost that "Offworld Stash" Card was getting while Exploring under the Jyeeta Spoors Rumor, as it was showing up just too often.

The "First Infections" Rumor can no longer appear on Wild Zones!

Trait Clarifications

For all Traits that boost bonuses at +10% in card games and post-combat (etc), we've clearly labeled them having a 30% maximum now. We also fixed a bug where the Crafty Trait was printing oodles of reports that crew members were using their Trait above the 30% maximum (just a printing error, not real).

v3.1.59 - 5/18/2021

- New level 8 Autocannon: M101 Tracker Cannon (1 RP, High Damage & Crippling Hit)
- New level 8 Missiles: Gargoyle Missile Battery (3 RP, High Damage & Crippling Hit)
- Increased spawn rate of "Starport Boosted" Rumor during 3rd Century
- Increased Fuel cost and Danger Boost for Ion Meteor Storm, Salvage Hive, Orbital Disaster
- Reduced too common "Offworld Stash" Card during Jyeeta Spoors Rumor
- Locating a new Rumor or Contact in the Spice Hall now grants an Experience Bonus
- Increased Combat Fuel Cost for M6000, M7000 and M8000 Ships
- Clarified rules for Traits Bandit, Vulture, Crafty, Sly, Terrifying -- all stack to max 30% bonus
- Fixed issue with Crafty Trait printing all crew members even though only 30% bonus was applied
- Fixed issue where an infected crew could cause "First Infections" Rumor on a Wild Zone
- Slight balance adjustments to Xeno Ship Engine Speed & Agility