Upgrades

[jtwood]

Maybe I have this wrong, but if I buy any armor upgrade, I'm precluded from buying a better upgrade later, aren't I? If I'm not totally mistaken here, I'd love to see that changed.

[Kelvin Zero]

What would be nice is if a previous upgrade for a slot could be replaced with another with an additional fee for removal. That way it costs slightly more for upgrading rather than waiting for the best upgrade. What I want to know is what is the difference between the Prow Lance Battery (+3) and the Bow Lance Battery (+3) for the Torpedo upgrades. Does the ARES Class Missle Control just give you sixteen extra missles or just sixteen missles total?

[havocme]

16 total I believe

[princeofdarqness]

Yes, 16 totoal for Ares. That is definitely a good question about the different +3 Torp upgrades... Cory?

[Cory Trese]

16 total, but they're more accurate. also cost and availability is effected for Ares.

Prow and Lance batteries give you better shooting following an Advance or Retreat action, or vs. a ship that just did an Advance or Retreat. Use the direction of the icon to know if the bonus is being applied.

A Military Officer will know about this and provide real-time tactical advices.

[Kelvin Zero]

One problem is according to Wikpedia, the terms Prow and Bow both refer to the front of the ship that is cutting through water. The Stern or the Aft is the back of the ship. That means the Stardock ought to offer Bow Lance Batteries with bonuses after an Advance action and Aft Lance Batteries with bonuses after a Retreat action.

I guess that means bounty hunters, pirates, and military officers would like Bow Lance Batteries and merchants, explorers, and smugglers would prefer Aft Lance Batteries.

[Cory Trese]

I'll fix this in 2.8

[Cory Trese]

fixed...

[Zaereth]

Glad I finally found this board! I've been looking for information on what affect some of the newer upgrades have on the ship. For instance, are the sonic disruptors designed to provide a defensive warrior bonus vs the leviathan system offering an offensive bonus?

If so, that'd be great, but a more clear description for the numerous upgrades would probably be a simple but very helpful addition. The only reason I know leviathan provides a +to warrior (assuming that wasn't changed) is because I've been playing for months and saw the original layout!

So yes, I'm hoping for a more in depth description for each upgrade (I'm guessing for instance, that the towed stealth array adds to my stealth score, but if so, how much?)

Lastly I definitely love the constant work you pit in the game, I'd love the chance to offer feedback on any ideas you had for future upgrades? Perhaps a new slot for the ships to attach a "specialty" upgrade that would provide skill specific bonuses to make other skill sets more appealing. An advanced metal or material scanner to give bonuses during explorations, or a crop muster or on board material processor for harvesting? How about an advanced tactical array for surveillance and/or blockade work? Id love to hear your thoughts!

[Cory Trese]

See this thread for the Upgrade descriptions:
startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rules&action=display&thread=174

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We are working on the upgrade/awards/character class specific missions in groups.

The first character class will probably be Smuggler:
- New Awards
- New Bonuses
- New Missions
- New Unlocks
- New Ships
- New Upgrades

Some Future Upgrades
-----------------------------
+ Long Range Scope -- Surveillance Bonus
+ Blok-Lammer -- Blockade Bonus
+ Data Banks -- Stores Records like a Water Tank
+ Hidden Compartments -- Stores Weapons / Electronics / Artifacts (but removes bonus for use)
+ Stealth Structure -- Decrease Signature, Decrease Hold Signature for Cargo

There probably won't be any additional slots, the game's balance is really driven on calculations around the slots that exist today.

That said, these upgrades will be added to categories that compliment, or conflict, with each other.

To be blunt about it, that will mean that everyone will have the option to build different ships and no one will have all the upgrades at one point. Nor will anyone be able to exhaust all combinations of upgrades. By the end the number of ship combinations will be around 2.3 million -- much smaller than EVE online, but the same exact (and very popular) technique to the design.

[Cory Trese]

so, if you have ideas that EXTEND the game, I'd love to hear them.

The more focused they are on the game's universe and the character classes the more likely they are to inspire me to include them.

So that said, I'd be excited to hear your ideas for upgrades, ships, contracts and rumors that could enhance particular character classes -- along with awards that are appropriate for that class's style of play.

[neodaz]

How about mercy missions? For example, a cataclysmic event might result in the need for planetary evacuation, likewise, unsettled planets may require terraforming.

Could also put in a few 'cameo' bonus missions just for fun, e.g. deliver this princess and her two droids to their home planet, or, deliver these live alien specimins for genetic research (and then have some kind of routine to check if any get loose and masacre your crew during the trip!)

How about including basic RPG elements for the NPC bridge crew, could also link this to planet based recruitment.

[Zaereth]

Here's a crazy thought... you could add dual classing into the game. How? The first mate. A first mate/officer (see star trek) can have a huge impact on the running of a ship, especially during away missions, or if the captain's injuries become too severe (think lower difficulty range explanation for why captain death doesn't end the game).

A recommendation for this might be that first mates can be a secondary class earning xp at a reduced rate or only when their skill set comes into play. Perhaps he's an expert geologist and his knowledge of how to find materials gives the vessel his bonus during harvest attempts rather than the captains, earning him xp (and not the captain) during that kind of mission. This opens many doors for plot development in game by adding another character the captain can form a relationship with. It even allows for in game unlocks for superior first mates just like there are captain unlocks. I can definitely elaborate more if you like, but what do you think so far?

[Zaereth]

wow! Now THAT'S some responsive development! Love the officer format! Quick thought though...spear class is waaay too fast to compete with. Took me at lvl 18 all nine torps on my Jang and a good ten minutes to down one of them piloted by a lvl 8 enemy! Holy smokes! (but you can believe I captured it when it was said and done!)

All these new ship designs make me long for more customization options. What about a "ship designer" at local starports (unlockable naturally) that might allow you to swap out certain engine systems on ships for others from similar ship classes? In other words a luxury liner with the guns of a capital ship..sounds like a bit of fun to krep things interesting in the late game.

Also in my next post when I have the time I'm gonna toss out a big pile of metal criteria, and maybe some possible awards. Love the new patch!