Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 01, 2013, 02:07:59 pm
Official Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OFhVtqfDBQ)
Star Ruler 2 is a pausable 4X/RTS Hybrid developed by Blind Mind Studios (I'm one of the 2 BMS developers!). It's set in an original sci-fi setting at near-future tech levels - though it ends with the construction of entirely theoretical constructs such as Ringworlds.
You play as one of seven unique races [or a product of your own terrifying intellect] each with their own morph on the base gameplay (minus the 'vanilla' Terrakin). The first four non-terrakin races are minor morphs to the gameplay and the last two alter or even entirely subvert core concepts of the game. That's before we get into what FTL method your race uses (there are four, each have their perks and work entirely different from the others) and what Government your race adheres to. Your job is to survive, expand, and ultimately persist in the galaxy. Whether you wind up conquering the stars with thousands of ships hurled into the void with potent, star-crushing, weaponry - or diplomatically annexing and subjugating those who could or would stand against you - is up to you as their leader.
Star Ruler 2 runs on the Starflare Engine, a from-scratch in-house engine we built specifically for Star Ruler 2, and is releasing on PC and Linux. It has really minimal hardware requirements, which you can check out here on the Steam store page if you like but - brass tacks - if you've got a rig that's post-2009 you should be just fine.
Our goal was to create a 4X which tries to actually solve a lot of the problems we've had while playing other 4Xes, such as nobody having figured out a good way to do a diplomacy system that isn't Civilization's. Meanwhile, we wanted to revisit and improve all the ideas of Star Ruler 1 like making your planets something you care about and making the economy not mind-numbing. As a result, between the innovations and the improvements, we believe SR2 is a far superior title to the first one - despite offering a different gameplay experience.
(http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/282590/ss_b0a5a883f3a1f0e1ac44d84e005f34241a2e63a2.1920x1080.jpg?t=1427437640)
(http://i.imgur.com/Ie6LT45.png)
Beginner/Default (Recommended for those who are new to Star Ruler 2)
(http://i.imgur.com/NcjjRMU.png)
Advanced (Recommended for advanced players who understand the basics of the game and are ready to absorb new strategies)
(http://i.imgur.com/lMNOYzp.png) (http://i.imgur.com/hKMxhgM.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/LdmwHNH.png) (http://i.imgur.com/6Jt6Fbq.png)
Expert (Recommended for players who have mastered the core mechanics of the game and wish to learn new ones)
(http://i.imgur.com/MLXvPB8.png) (http://i.imgur.com/QQ9iTSg.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/la1i7vy.png)
Star Ruler 2 Open Source Project on GitHub: [Link] (https://github.com/BlindMindStudios/StarRuler2-Source)
(http://i.imgur.com/aRFe91a.png)
Blind Mind Studios:
James Woodall (Firgof) - Too many responsibilities to list shortly.
Andrew Ackermann (ThyReaper) - Programmer [Doesn't have a SA forum account]
Glacicle:
Lucas de Vries (GGLucas) - Programmer
Post by: Xantalos on August 01, 2013, 02:10:12 pm
Was this the game with the galaxy-sized ships? If so, I'll be watching this very eagerly.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 01, 2013, 02:10:56 pm
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Was this the game with the galaxy-sized ships?And flying planets, yep.
Post by: Xantalos on August 01, 2013, 02:17:25 pm
Post by: Anvilfolk on August 01, 2013, 02:26:53 pm
The screenshots look really nice and clean. Will be watching this eagerly! :)
Post by: Girlinhat on August 01, 2013, 02:29:19 pm
Is tech progression still as broken?
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 01, 2013, 02:41:23 pm
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Nice! Really looking forward to it, even though Star Ruler 1 had me completely at a loss when it came to ship design. I just made a ship and kept producing bigger variants of it when the other one appeared obsolete... actually did a pretty huge post about it in the relevant thread hereWorking with ships should be much more intuitive than before; there's been a lot of thought and design put in to making ship designing more immediately accessible to new players and making the performance of the ship more stated.
Post by: Draxis on August 01, 2013, 03:06:02 pm
Quote from: Dev Diary #1: The Galactic Economy
A caravan of colony ships containing fruit farmers is sent off from our homeworld.Presumably this does not indicate that fruit farmers - and, by extension, other similar workers - are a certain unit that must be trained, and just refers to colonists in general?
Also, will ships take certain resources to build, or just currency?
Post by: MonkeyHead on August 01, 2013, 03:11:46 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 01, 2013, 03:16:58 pm
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Presumably this does not indicate that fruit farmers - and, by extension, other similar workers - are a certain unit that must be trained, and just refers to colonists in general?Yeah, that was just Lucas being Lucas (he wrote that article). Colonists are generic.
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Also, will ships take certain resources to build, or just currency?That's still up in the air.
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I am worried, though, that shipping all the different resources to the different planets will become ludicrously micro-heavy later on unless the galaxy scale is reduced; will there be some sort of automation system, or at least a single screen that consolidates all the information on resources and interplanetary trade?We don't believe it'll pose a problem with the way we're approaching it.
Post by: Felius on August 01, 2013, 04:18:01 pm
Post by: RulerOfNothing on August 01, 2013, 04:41:56 pm
Post by: OREOSOME on August 01, 2013, 04:43:26 pm
Post by: BuriBuriZaemon on August 01, 2013, 04:55:10 pm
Post by: Rex_Nex on August 01, 2013, 06:23:20 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 01, 2013, 06:28:20 pm
But up to 8 players should work OK on cabled/fiber internet.
Post by: Orb on August 01, 2013, 07:01:44 pm
A few questions:
1. How is the pace looking? I felt for the original Star Ruler that the pace was too quick for meaningful diplomacy. With the more complex economy I would hope the sequel is a lot slower.
2. On the flip side, what about game length? In the original, game length was often times too long, and could last for hours. While this is fine in a TBS (which is the scale I feel SR is trying to emulate), in an RTS your brain can get fried within a half hour of constant action. How are you attempting to have games "close" quicker?
3. I was wondering if you could explain more on research. I haven't played FFX or PoE so I'm a little lost. Are you still going for "levels" of research, or the more interesting way in which every tech unlocks something unique?
4. In regards to influence, are you going the Galactic Civilizations 2 route? Or a more HoI 3 route? (For reference, HoI3 required you to have "diplomacy points" in order to create diplomatic agreements, which I felt made diplomacy boring. GC2, on the other hand, had you use influence points, which could be traded among players like any other resource, to vote on "rules" that effected all players).
5. Can resources (such as fish, water, and plastics) be traded among players?
6. How random will the game be compared to SR1? It seems from the description you've added much more than pirates and other player empires to contend with.
7. Will ships modify their movements themselves to dodge kinetic shots, will we be required to do it ourselves, or will shots move too fast to make it near impossible to dodge them?
8. Will ships have their own fuel still or will you be adopting a "supply range" like SOTS2 had?
Oh. I got a little carried away. Don't feel obligated to answer all of them. :P
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 01, 2013, 07:45:36 pm
1. On pacing: We intend for it to be more deliberately paced in SR2; a lot of the economy revolves around cycle timers and combat is less frantic.
2. We're hoping to provide the ability to play both long and short games and in a way that's much easier to control than in SR1.
3. We're keeping the specifics under wraps for now but you might call it both leveled and unique.
4. It's kind of both? We're anticipating that there will be global things as well as 'empire v. empire' things. It's more complex than that but there'll be a dev diary explaining it in more detail.
5. It's been suggested; hasn't been properly evaluated yet so "not sure" for now.
6. We want the galaxy to feel more 'alive' than SR1's mostly static galaxy; we're hoping to incorporate a couple of features we think will definitely accomplish that.
7. We're still looking at that portion of combat mechanics.
8. Kind of both. It's more strategic and less tactical/number-crunch now.
Post by: Orb on August 01, 2013, 08:25:46 pm
Post by: Flare on August 02, 2013, 05:29:14 am
Will this game run better than the old SR? I don't usually spend much money on machines and make do with my hardware as long as possible. Though this would be a great reason to readjust some funds once the game is more fleshed out.
Post by: Jack_Bread on August 02, 2013, 05:43:20 am
But otherwise, I am excited to see this and hope it can run well on crap hardware as one of my friends has a crappy laptop.
PTW, too
Post by: lastverb on August 02, 2013, 06:25:22 am
1) Will new engine support rangefinding on ultra-long ranges? In SR1 your units couldn't automaticly shoot anything beyond current solar system. With proper settings they could only jump to new system and then shoot despite having range from 2 systems away.
2) Will carriers get some love? It was so terribly done in SR1. For example it was impossible to set carrier to launch its units and DO NOT engage in frontline. You had to either get system-wide range weapon and set to fight at max range or give so small engines that battle ends before it gets to frontline.
Post by: Krevsin on August 02, 2013, 06:45:07 am
PTW.
Post by: Flare on August 02, 2013, 06:45:54 am
2) Will carriers get some love? It was so terribly done in SR1. For example it was impossible to set carrier to launch its units and DO NOT engage in frontline. You had to either get system-wide range weapon and set to fight at max range or give so small engines that battle ends before it gets to frontline.
I usually just set them to hold position, and bring a few balls of armor for the tanking of enemy fire if they do come into range.
Post by: SOLDIER First on August 02, 2013, 07:19:56 am
Post by: Viken on August 02, 2013, 08:44:37 am
But with the release information and this announcement, it seems they've come across a major milestone that has set them up for making it public. I'm honestly drooling. I enjoyed Star Ruler, and still play it with a couple of my favorite mods every now and again. In response to this, I have my own question though.
Will we still be able to make our own custom races/species? And if so, will there be a wider range of abilities, economic and government styles compared to Star Ruler?
In Star Ruler, generating your own race and the like felt more like picking percentiles of what you want to be good and bad at. While that's fine, it felt rather... dull, in a way. It didn't affect gameplay balancing or your actual game playing style besides giving soft bonuses at the beginning that quickly faded once the game got underway. I'm just hoping for more variety and actual 'reason' to use custom races instead of the basic ones provided.
Post by: lastverb on August 02, 2013, 08:45:20 am
I usually just set them to hold position, and bring a few balls of armor for the tanking of enemy fire if they do come into range.If you set them on hold, they won't launch without player interaction (manual launch or attack command).
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 02, 2013, 12:38:21 pm
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WHY ARE WE NOT FUNDING THIS?!But you are funding this: you bought SR1!
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I really hope the camera is more consistent in SR2.
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Have you guys worked out a better arrangement of the UI?It'll definitely be better with the new approaches we're taking.
On other questions (race customization, carriers, long-range-weaponry handling): Will ask and edit this post as I get responses.
Post by: Tarran on August 02, 2013, 03:04:41 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 02, 2013, 03:18:57 pm
Carriers: We will have them but they haven't been designed yet.
Post by: Leonon on August 05, 2013, 02:57:44 am
Will the game be able to handle a realistic distance scale any better than SR1?
Will there be more massive stellar objects than just stars? Such as black holes and neutron stars?
Will there be a more realistic weapon range than SR1? For example, will there still be a maximum range for kinetic weapons or will they just get less and less accurate with range?
I'm very excited to see what all improves over SR1. The ship scaling was great and I'd love if everything in the game could scale similarly, though that may be hoping for too much.
Post by: deoloth on August 05, 2013, 03:47:57 am
Had a lot of fun with SR1 so i'm PTW.
Post by: Mipe on August 05, 2013, 05:20:26 am
Figures.
Post by: mongrol on August 05, 2013, 06:19:33 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 05, 2013, 10:45:35 am
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Linux support?A native Linux build should be available at launch and kept up-to-date with the native Windows build.
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So Star Ruler ceased updating after I bought it in faith it would get better with time. And now I learn there will be Star Ruler 2, which no doubt I would have to purchase to enjoy. Figures.We're sorry you feel that way. We regularly patched the game from August 2010 to October 2011 and the last patch we pushed was in August 2012. In total, over 30 patches were released for SR. The majority of those patches added free music, art, gameplay enhancements, UI overhauls and etc. in many cases beyond what was promised on the features list. If all this did not make the game better for you or satisfy our promise to improve the game, we apologize -- we took the game to where we felt it was complete though we recognize it is by no means flawless.
As for Star Ruler 2, many of the things we are doing in SR2 are simply not possible to do in SR1's engine. This is a large part of the reason why we began from scratch with SR2 rather than TC/Expansion SR1.
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Will the game be able to handle a realistic distance scale any better than SR1?Starflare has much greater precision than SR's engine -- as a result, it can support vastly larger distances (SR: single precision floats for positions; SR2: double precision floats for positions). However, 'realistic' is a matter of interpretation. Real distances in space are so mind-numbingly vast that a single true-to-scale solar system would end up larger than the largest galaxy you could possibly play in the default game. So, can the engine better simulate realistic distances? Yes, it is more capable of doing so now. Will it be able to simulate 'true-to-life' distances on a galactic scale? We're afraid not.
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More stellar objects?We'll release more details about the game world closer to release.
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Multiple galaxies?Will get back to you on that.
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Will there be more realistic weapon ranges? (e.g. no maximum range/diminishing accuracy over distance)It's much more realistic than SR1 however projectiles must expire at some point; if they did not the simulation load would become impractical.
Post by: 10ebbor10 on August 05, 2013, 11:42:55 am
So Star Ruler ceased updating after I bought it in faith it would get better with time. And now I learn there will be Star Ruler 2, which no doubt I would have to purchase to enjoy.Not really.
You can watch Let's play's for free.
Post by: Astral on August 05, 2013, 12:59:31 pm
How many features are being taken note of from, say, Galactic Armory? Vanilla Star Ruler was fun, but I feel it lacked a little bit of depth compared to the tech trees and advancement of almost being required to learn how to set up asteroid mines for your solar systems, as well as orbital electronic/advanced component/etc factories in order to balance your economy a bit better, and siphoning hydrogen off of stars and gas giants to act as fuel.
The options you had for race building also felt a bit overwhelming at first, but they let you customize the race to an extent I haven't really seen in other games. For exampleI love the computer dependent trait, and dislike the area of effect weaponry, so I end up turning them into beneficial side effects a little bit down the road with some amount of backstory in my head.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on August 05, 2013, 01:09:41 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 06, 2013, 08:36:21 am
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How many features are being taken note of from, say, Galactic Armory?Reaper hasn't done more than boot in and look around. Since he's in control of the game design, I'd say 'none'. I'm more familiar with GA but I don't intend on trying to integrate the mod's particular features into my input.
That said, we do know why people like GA and keep those reasons in mind.
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I am very excited for this, but I am curious as to whether the pace of the game has been slowed down at all.As stated, the game is much more deliberately paced and it should play slower than SR. Tech progression is a large part of the reason why the game feels more deliberately paced.
Post by: Viken on August 06, 2013, 08:51:26 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 06, 2013, 09:03:19 am
Post by: Viken on August 06, 2013, 09:09:11 am
On another note, I would like to ask for more information about the ship design system that SR2 is going to have. Some of the screenshots show some things, but they're all too small to draw any conclusions upon besides the fact that the ships have a variety of cells based around the hull designs and size.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 06, 2013, 09:18:06 am
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On another note, I would like to ask for more information about the ship design system that SR2 is going to have.Though I'd love to talk more about the ship design system in specific (as SR2's ship handling in general is pretty cool in a variety of ways) I'm afraid we're not quite ready to show off that part of the game in detail. I'm betting we'll do a diary on ship handling/fleets/blueprints/design at some point in the future since all that is a big component of SR2's gameplay.
If you liked how ship designing worked in SR1 I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised with what we've done with ship design in SR2.
Post by: Viken on August 06, 2013, 09:28:03 am
I play almost exclusively with the Galactic Armory mod for that reason in SR1.
From the looks of it, though, I'd imagine SR2's ship design system is a cross between SR1's, and the tile-based snap system of say, the game Stardrive, if much more expansive and freeform than the standard I, I/O, A, E system used in most design systems of that type.
Post by: Farce on August 06, 2013, 10:07:08 am
A question - how intensive do you think the system requirements will be? Specifically, I ask because my current laptop has an amazingly bad integrated Intel GPU, which apparently cannot even remotely handle the concept of shaders.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 06, 2013, 10:31:11 am
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how intensive do you think the system requirements will be?We're aiming to support a wide variety of computers as we did with SR1. However, we're not able to provide a guesstimate on what hardware requirements there will be just yet.
Post by: 10ebbor10 on August 06, 2013, 10:31:35 am
A comet's tail always points away from the sun, rather than hanging behind it.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 06, 2013, 10:39:41 am
(This is how we wanted it to look: http://lasp.colorado.edu/education/outerplanets/images_kbos/thumbs/cometorbit.jpg)
These sorts of thing stemmed from us just not having the time or money to fix them. Being post-launch, we were more concerned with gameplay, interaction, and bugs; leaving the aesthetics to the reluctant back-burner.
This time around we have the time and we have the money to do it right. (Though we will still make concessions in the interests of the game if necessary e.g. not making space as big as it actually is)
Post by: Viken on August 06, 2013, 11:45:09 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 06, 2013, 12:31:52 pm
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how will asteroid fields and comets work in SR2 with the new resources and whatnot?There will be asteroids but we haven't finalized their design yet.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 08, 2013, 11:41:40 pm
Anywho, hope y'all enjoy the podcast.
http://www.spacegamejunkie.com/featured/sgj-podcast-25-tipping-scales-and-paper-clips-star-ruler-2/
Post by: Kaje on August 09, 2013, 08:01:43 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on September 26, 2013, 05:25:09 pm
Dev Diary: Diplomacy
(http://starruler2.com/images/diary2/dipl1.thumb.jpg)
In today's dev diary we'll be looking in to the subtle and treacherous battlefield of Diplomacy. Though engaging in Diplomacy is mostly optional a Ruler who chooses to specialize in it can gain unique power over their enemies. This power can be used as both sword and shield; providing a skillful Ruler the means to defend and expand their Empire without bloodshed and turn their enemies' strength against them.
Provoke the competent Diplomatic Ruler and in his spite you may find the Galaxy turned against you.
[ Click to read more about Star Ruler 2's Diplomacy System on Starruler2.com ] (http://starruler2.com/2013/09/27/diplomacy.html)
Post by: CognitiveDissonance on September 26, 2013, 05:44:32 pm
Post by: Mephansteras on September 26, 2013, 05:55:00 pm
Post by: Empty on September 26, 2013, 06:47:30 pm
It was often hard to cope with the scope of the game.
Ie I always felt like I had no good overview.
Post by: Tarran on September 26, 2013, 07:46:26 pm
Another question, is it possible to undermine the diplomacy of the universe and eventually make it ineffectual? I'd imagine some players would get tired of diplomacy and decide that destroying everyone's diplomatic route to annoy them would be a more fun option.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on September 26, 2013, 08:08:03 pm
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Is there a way to, say, refuse to budge an inch and refuse to concede your power or planets to someone even if more votes were against you?At present, no, but doing mass annexes or subjugating is very expensive. Just the act of proposing those actions costs the proposer a significant amount of influence (and additional costs on top of that the more healthy/strong the target of the proposal) and influence points generate very slowly compared to the costs of more powerful actions. Whether there will be or not a way to do a 'damn the senate's ruling' we haven't decided yet.
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is it possible to undermine the diplomacy of the universe and eventually make it ineffectual?Hitting a player's influence-generating planets would rapidly even the playing field if they keep being diplomatically aggressive. If the "Ban" proposals are kept then that may also be one route to go (banning all diplomatic actions, one by one).
Post by: Tarran on September 26, 2013, 08:34:47 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on September 26, 2013, 09:58:47 pm
If you disagree with your citizenry and the council's ruling but lack the political power to fight the proposition there's nothing stopping you from marching your military in, stationing them in orbit, letting the proposal pass, and then immediately reclaiming the planet. You could also be proactive and ensure that systems which are less loyal to you or close to your enemies' borders have a military presence installed to provide some measure of defense against outside influence and that your core systems are well-defended and well-propagandized. A fully militarily-focused Empire won't be helpless to defend themselves against a fully diplomatically-focused Empire and vice versa.
Post by: Tarran on September 26, 2013, 11:51:48 pm
You could also be proactive and ensure that systems which are less loyal to you or close to your enemies' borders have a military presence installed to provide some measure of defense against outside influenceSo, are you saying military presence reduces influence, or do you mean just stationing in order to take over the planet when it changes?
Other questions:
How are planets recently taken from a influence empire going to be handled? Is there going to be some serious but temporary influence cost barrier to the influence empire easily taking them right back after the war?
Is there any sort of cooldown per-player on diplomatic proposals to limit how many actions can be made at once, or a limit on how much influence someone can have, to prevent someone military oriented from being hit several times in a row before they can react by someone with a lot of people willing to vote against you and a lot of saved points?
Post by: Firgof Umbra on September 27, 2013, 12:03:14 am
Military presence can also decrease loyalty in the case of enemy Empires sitting in your systems. This is one of the means for 'more peaceful' hostile takeovers: drain the loyalty of the system to 0 and then hit them with Annexes. The alternatives are to commit Atrocities and Atrocities give political ammo to the Empire you're hitting.
Not sure on your other questions; I'll get back to you on those.
Post by: Edmus on October 05, 2013, 07:01:23 am
PTW and all that, I'm reading through all your stuff now! :D
Post by: ank on October 06, 2013, 03:38:19 am
How are going to handle combat in SR2?
Combat was a huge problem in SR1 as fleets had a very hard time engaging each other because of the Newtonian mechanics.
Do you have any plans to address this?
I feel like attacking something is about as hard as docking in KSP...
Post by: Edmus on October 06, 2013, 05:16:01 am
What happens to a planets development level after it is annexed (either militarily or diplomatically).
Post by: Firgof Umbra on October 07, 2013, 04:46:48 pm
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What happens to a planets development level after it is annexed (either militarily or diplomatically).Currently: Every three minutes the planet will lose a level from its original level after annexation; all the way down to L0. You can prevent the loss of levels by supplying resources to the planet. For instance, if you have a Level 1 world which will decay to a Level 0 world because it has no food or water, if you give it food and water it will not lose a level.
Post by: ank on October 08, 2013, 02:45:54 am
Newtonian motion is still in for SR2 but it's been significantly improved from SR1. In addition there'll be the ability, via FTL, to force your ships down to 0 velocity which should allow the player to prevent over-shoot etc. Combat in general is going to be upgraded significantly. We're still finalizing the design on interaction and specific mechanics.
Good to hear you are taking steps to improve combat.
When you say FTL, do you mean something like warp, that does not apply a force to the ship, and therefore does not have to brake?
An idea I got, a long time ago while playing SR1, was: Fudge the thrust so that ships would get maybe double thrust when braking or changing direction, compared to forward thrust?
I am not sure how this would play out, but it should make ships more manoeuvrable.
I know this is unrealistic, but realism in space games is a two-edged sword.
Post by: Eclectic Wizard on October 08, 2013, 04:54:22 am
I cant wait to try the second one! Please dont make it easier at all! Will the AI cheat? Yay!!!
Post by: Firgof Umbra on October 08, 2013, 11:01:01 am
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Will the AI cheat?Only if you tell it to.
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When you say FTL, do you mean something like warp, that does not apply a force to the ship, and therefore does not have to brake?There are four main types of FTL in SR2; two are not on-board systems. You'll probably begin the game having selected which to start with. All of them cost "FTL Fuel" which is a slow to generate, rare, resource. When ships come out of FTL, they come out at zero velocity.
- Hyperdrive: Your ships phase into subspace and travel at superluminal speed to their destination.
- Slipstream: The ship goes FTL and creates a 'FTL wake' which other ships can travel in to its destination.
- Gate: A large slow-moving structure which, given enough time to situate itself after moving, can establish a permanent wormhole to another available gate. (The Gate itself cannot go FTL.)
- Fling: Much like a railgun, Fling accelerates its target to superluminal velocities but it can only Fling nearby objects.
The "FTL Brake" may be a thing that all ships can do regardless of what type of FTL drives you have or maybe it requires a subsystem. It may or may not be semi-automatic (e.g. "I'm going to miss my target, but I'm very close to it while passing by it, so I'll spend FTL to make a zero-distance jump to instantly null my velocity). We're still rubberstamping that part of FTL.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on October 08, 2013, 01:58:44 pm
Speaking of combat, will we be seeing any more cool fleet formations? maybe custom fleet formations?
I mean, lines of battle right?
Post by: Xantalos on October 08, 2013, 08:40:54 pm
Post by: TheDarkStar on October 08, 2013, 09:17:39 pm
Post by: Farce on October 09, 2013, 04:44:37 am
Will ships require having those vector maneuvering thrusters, like in Nexus: The Jupiter Incident (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4WXX0VXCR8), or will they still have to flip around to do their whole 'thrust' thing? Are there any plans to implement directional armor/shielding and the like?
Post by: Firgof Umbra on October 09, 2013, 10:45:41 am
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I don't suppose I could use it to shoot planets at enemy empires I don't like?Maybe. We've considered that possibility amongst other fun (ab)uses but haven't finalized Fling's mechanical design yet.
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Are there any plans to implement directional armor/shielding and the like?Shields may or may not be omni but armor is likely to be directional.
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Will ships require having those vector maneuvering thrusters, like in Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, or will they still have to flip around to do their whole 'thrust' thing?They will have to do a burn on their anti-forward-velocity vector to reach 0 velocity, yes. We may provide an option, as we did in SR, to force ships to face their target vector at all times rather than show where they're thrusting.
The reason for the flipping: If you want a ship to reach a destination as fast as possible but reach 0 velocity when it gets there, it'll be doing a full burn the whole way; half accelerating towards the target and half decelerating towards the target. Since SR's ships have their engine on the rear, the thrust vector has to flip to accommodate the second full burn. That said, it'll be in script format this time around so the community may be able to provide mutations (e.g. the classic ST-style 'inertial dampener' effect).
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How much do you estimate it'll cost?Price hasn't been decided yet but it'll probably be aggressively priced, as SR1 was.
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Speaking of combat, will we be seeing any more cool fleet formations? maybe custom fleet formations?Formations are going to be much more moldable than before.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 21, 2013, 02:12:34 pm
Quote from: Our Twitter
Things you can never have enough of.
a) Bullets.
b) Humongous filesize gifs.
Spoiler: (Warning) Huge GIF (click to show/hide)
Sorry it's taking longer than I hoped for this next dev diary. There are a lot of systems that are kinda/sorta not quite ready to show and under some flux so it'll be a while yet before we can showcase more on the game. Hopefully not too long though.
(Please note: The above GIF doesn't represent how fast the game runs; it's much smoother and faster than the GIF implies. Also, if not immediately apparent: art being shown is mostly placeholder.)
Also, interest check: Who would like to see a streamed multiplayer match of SR2 at some point? We'd be the ones playing (I'll be playing as the Empire that's going to lose against Lucas'; as is Reaper (at least that's how the last 5 or so MP games have gone) )
Post by: Xantalos on November 21, 2013, 02:20:09 pm
Good to see this is still here.
Post by: Anvilfolk on November 21, 2013, 02:25:01 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 21, 2013, 02:40:17 pm
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Good to see this is still here.I'm glad as well. I am concerned that at some point I'd come back to this thread and it'd have been locked for inactivity; I guess I have a guardian mod/admin to thank for that.
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But make sure to store it for future reference!Is this even an option on the internet anymore? Can something not be recorded for effectively eternity automatically?
I do intend to save it if we do one, aye.
Post by: Xantalos on November 21, 2013, 02:41:20 pm
Ia Ia forum ftaghn.
Post by: etgfrog on November 21, 2013, 02:44:15 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 21, 2013, 02:59:47 pm
That's good to know, Xantalos; for some reason I was really certain that the bay12 forums locked inactive threads.
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Can I recommend that when the bullets that are designed to miss a target then they will go wide in all directions instead of just one? besides that, it looks pretty good.The guns have something like a 30-degree cone of accuracy at the moment; even when the bullets are 'off-target' they'll still impact and deal damage to whatever they strike (excepting friendlies).
Ah, I should probably bring that up; perhaps I failed to earlier? So projectiles in SR2: they're physics-based this time around. In SR1 it was pre-deterministic but in SR2 unless a bullet collides with something, it doesn't do damage. I imagine you'd prefer bullets to be going in the general direction of what you're aiming at when your gun doesn't make a perfect shot -- it might hit something else at least.
Post by: Xantalos on November 21, 2013, 03:04:19 pm
If it's left without replies for 120 days it asks you to confirm before replying, but it doesn't lock except if the OP wills it or Toady had to do mod things.
Also loving the fact that bullets are dynamic now.
Post by: etgfrog on November 21, 2013, 05:04:56 pm
ok, I was under the assumption the spray of bullets that were going wide was due to misses, but i take it one or two of the ships were intentionally shooting off target?QuoteCan I recommend that when the bullets that are designed to miss a target then they will go wide in all directions instead of just one? besides that, it looks pretty good.The guns have something like a 30-degree cone of accuracy at the moment; even when the bullets are 'off-target' they'll still impact and deal damage to whatever they strike (excepting friendlies).
Ah, I should probably bring that up; perhaps I failed to earlier? So projectiles in SR2: they're physics-based this time around. In SR1 it was pre-deterministic but in SR2 unless a bullet collides with something, it doesn't do damage. I imagine you'd prefer bullets to be going in the general direction of what you're aiming at when your gun doesn't make a perfect shot -- it might hit something else at least.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 21, 2013, 05:16:31 pm
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i take it one or two of the ships were intentionally shooting off target?Not intentionally, no.
Post by: Lightning4 on November 21, 2013, 05:36:57 pm
Ah, I should probably bring that up; perhaps I failed to earlier? So projectiles in SR2: they're physics-based this time around. In SR1 it was pre-deterministic but in SR2 unless a bullet collides with something, it doesn't do damage. I imagine you'd prefer bullets to be going in the general direction of what you're aiming at when your gun doesn't make a perfect shot -- it might hit something else at least.
Sir Isaac Newton is the deadliest son of a bitch in space!
Might friendly fire be an option? Would be interesting when you try spraying an enemy with bullets, and accidentally vaporize half of your world that just happened to be right behind them.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 21, 2013, 08:03:59 pm
So it'd be more likely that you'd accidentally vaporize half your fleet before you vaporized half your world.
Post by: BFEL on November 21, 2013, 08:42:08 pm
I have done test games where I would for example, make a 1 system galaxy, and focus my planet entirely on research. The AI will quickly out research me in this scenario inexplicably.
In essence, Star Ruler HATES MY GUTS. I know how irrational it is to assume malevolence from a computer game, but it really is the only explanation at this point.
I found that Star Ruler looked fun, and that it would possibly have been the BEST 4x game of its time, but I simply cannot play it. For whatever trick of psychology or something has left me totally unable to grasp the mechanics in a productive way.
So that said, is there any hope for me in SR2? Is the game still balanced effectively the same? Or will I finally be able to start a game without the certainty of defeat.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on November 21, 2013, 08:48:45 pm
Post by: BFEL on November 21, 2013, 08:56:38 pm
well sir, you are not the only one who felt that way. SR1 was ridiculously fast paced for most people, I believe Firgof here mentioned the SR2 would be significantly easier to handle!It wasn't that it was "fast paced" it was that I just inexplicably FAILED AT EVERYTHING.
Its not fun to play a game when you know for certain you will lose.
Also I (and everyone reading this, have lost the game)
But yeah, like I said it wasn't even anything TANGIBLE, I approached my failure with THE FUCKING SCIENTIFIC METHOD and that revealed that the game more or less cheated me, despite me not having "cheating ai" on.
Its like this: I make a new ship, that is bigger, more advanced, and in every possible way BETTER then what the AI is using....and the AI wins.
I have no problem with losing (well that's a lie, but I can DEAL with it) but losing for no reason whatsoever is just horrible.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on November 21, 2013, 09:10:49 pm
Also I (and everyone reading this, have lost the game)
D: ...you dick!
Post by: lemon10 on November 21, 2013, 09:44:16 pm
You don't want to focus only on research. You really want to split your focus between colonization/infrastructure (primary), research and pirate defense.
Even if you focus entirely on research, and your opponent has twice as many planets as you, not only will he research just as fast as you, but he will also be able to expand, soon having many more planets still, eventually outpacing you in research as well.
Because of this, the primary focus should be on colonization, and everything else should come after.
Also make sure you understand how all the resources work, and make sure that you are getting resources in the right proportions for the time.
Finally, make sure the cheating AI option is off, otherwise the AI will cheat for resources (but not research).
Cheating AI complaintI just ran a 2 hour 30 minute 1 system game with 5 AI's ranking form easy to hardest. By the end (and at every point in between), I had the highest research score of anyone by a pretty clear margin, even when I turned all my research facilities into resource buildings to build a size 600 ship (since I set the ship limit at only one to prevent me actually having to defend myself earlier on, and to allow myself to focus on research) over a hour.
Its honestly a crazy complex game, and the number of things you can do better are massive. While I consider myself good (no problem beating multiple allied hardest AI), I know that I can get far better.
E: Make sure that you have a governor on to auto-renovate all your buildings.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 21, 2013, 10:49:06 pm
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So that said, is there any hope for me in SR2? Is the game still balanced effectively the same? Or will I finally be able to start a game without the certainty of defeat.
It's certainly much easier to grasp this time. In lieu of trying to find the sweet-spot for metals/elec/adv. parts/goods/labor production, you're instead influencing mainly your money versus your other critical resources.
Check out our first dev diary if you haven't already, it goes over how the game plays out with expansion (it's since gotten even clearer and easier to understand and control).
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I believe Firgof here mentioned the SR2 would be significantly easier to handle!It is certainly more immediately understandable so, yes, we do believe it'll be much easier to understand than SR1.
SR1 was kind of a predictive/strategic economic balance game. SR2 is more of a reactive/tactical economic balance game.
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"These are all these planets I could colonize. They have nice resources that do things -- but I have to keep in mind I only have so much money and so can expand only so fast. So which ones should I colonize first, and to what planet am I going to ship those resources? I need a Level One resource to make this world level up, and there are eight that I know of and each of those do a cool, unique, thing."
versus
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"Uh... well. I guess I should build more electronics factories? Oh, but that's now draining my metals supply too much, so I'll need to build more metal mines... but I have to keep in mind that when these planets run out of Ore, they'll only run at 20% -- so optimally I should be making the metal mining planets the ones with the most Ore and slots to free up my slots on other worlds. Then there's my population -- I need to maximize that with Goods and Luxuries, but have to balance for mood -- but I don't have the resources to balance those, so I guess I'll need to use Civil Acts for now. Need to remember to turn Forced Labor off later or I won't get any benefit from luxuries...", etc.
What I'm getting at is if one were to say SR1 was opaque, you could by the same weighting say SR2 is transparent. We tell you what your decisions will do in advance and how to proceed versus you kind of having to figure it in your head and remember how things work.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on December 16, 2013, 10:34:01 am
There are new influence cards and actions which make being a total bastard (Influence Empire) fun, we're playing with Energy powers now, and we're currently sitting on I think 40 unique resources now (with hopes to add even more). The framework for the random events system is also being prototyped. All in all: We're full steam ahead and things are looking great.
Speaking of looking great. Did I mention the planets are going to be prettier than SR's? Because they will be (courtesy Jon Micheelsen).
From beautiful glowing crystal planets... (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/TRON/screenshot23.png)
...to the more humble beauty of terra-likes. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/TRON/beautiful.PNG)
We also got around to putting sound effects in; that prompted immediate celebration on my part. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/TRON/LASERS.PNG)
We won't be meeting our target of launching Early Access before the year is out, I'm sad to report, but our media should start picking up and more dev diaries should start showing up more reliably.
Lucas and I want to produce some video footage for y'all, too, so hopefully there'll also be that to look forward to. And, of course, the streamed multiplayer (at this point also a grudge match) session we asked if y'all were interested in.
Post by: Morrigi on December 16, 2013, 02:46:38 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on January 29, 2014, 05:30:03 pm
Link to the stream: http://twitch.tv/BlindMindStudios
Further information will be edited into this post and posted directly preceding the livestream. We hope to see y'all there!
Post by: Orb on January 30, 2014, 01:39:40 am
Post by: Sinistar on January 30, 2014, 03:03:25 am
Dammit, how did THIS get past my radar??
Ok, I'll admit, I didn't check Blind Mind's page for a while now. I did in the past even though I haven't touched Star Ruler in quite some time.
But I'm happy you guys are still making game(s).
Now I'm off reading all the stuff about Star Ruler 2 I've missed, bye.
edit:
I might have had an orgasm just now.
Huge GIF with bullets and oh dear me that looks like a rather SMALL and ONE-SIDED battle, can you imagine head-on clash between two massive fleets oh crapHNGHGNGHGNGNNNDGGNNNGFGFGHHHHHHH
And you sir just made my day
Threads here don't get locked for inactivity, they just slumber eternally.
Ia Ia forum ftaghn.
Post by: Dohon on January 30, 2014, 06:44:44 am
So tomorrow we're doing a live stream of the game as well as a Q&A at 6 PM EST (it is at the time of this post 5:30 EST); that's roughly 25 hours from now.
Link to the stream: http://twitch.tv/BlindMindStudios
Further information will be edited into this post and posted directly preceding the livestream. We hope to see y'all there!
Looking forward to it!
Post by: Firgof Umbra on January 30, 2014, 11:55:49 am
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Would this be the multiplayer "grudge" match you're streaming?Indeed it is! All three of us will be playing (and I'll be doing my best to play and moderate/Q&A!).
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Dammit, how did THIS get past my radar??The Marketing Machine is at a nice low hum right now; I'm kind of flying a little under the radar. This Livestream is likely to be the start of the revving up of said machine to full volume. Once we're really going, I'll be posting video footage, abusing our Twitter, creating entries for the game on various sites, and gearing up for the weekly VLOGs (if we determine we can go for them).
Post by: Lukeinator on January 30, 2014, 04:34:04 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on January 30, 2014, 04:35:28 pm
We're pretty sure it already works -- but we don't test it on a regular basis.
Post by: Sinistar on January 30, 2014, 05:58:43 pm
Post by: etgfrog on January 30, 2014, 07:58:03 pm
One main thing I'm a bit sad about is the removal of the infinite amount of research but with how the game is set up I could see right now is research being done is through a procedural generation of tech branches that would allow a player to continue to be focused in an area. Hm...maybe an option to set if research is procedural or static...
Post by: Firgof Umbra on January 30, 2014, 08:10:35 pm
It is also available on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0_q78Qwlgk
One main thing I'm a bit sad about is the removal of the infinite amount of research but with how the game is set up I could see right now is research being done is through a procedural generation of tech branches that would allow a player to continue to be focused in an area. Hm...maybe an option to set if research is procedural or static...It should be a pretty darn big web by the time we're done with it. It's very small at the moment compared to what we want.
Post by: Sinistar on January 30, 2014, 08:23:57 pm
Post by: Farce on February 04, 2014, 01:57:07 pm
I guess I'll just hold out for Fling FTL.
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 04, 2014, 02:51:22 pm
Post by: BFEL on February 04, 2014, 04:16:33 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on February 04, 2014, 04:30:09 pm
Is the ship customization still just the mechanical parts (weapons, armor etc.) or can you also choose the "look" of ships?It's looking like you'll be able to customize the look of your ships. Can't confirm that yet, though.
Post by: BFEL on February 04, 2014, 04:31:44 pm
Is the ship customization still just the mechanical parts (weapons, armor etc.) or can you also choose the "look" of ships?It's looking like you'll be able to customize the look of your ships. Can't confirm that yet, though.
WOOT! No more generic two ship types!
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 11, 2014, 10:50:58 pm
Upcoming events_____________________________________________
A new dev diary is on its way, it will touch on the various modes of FTL and how they function.
SpaceSector contacted us for a text interview and I'll link and announce the interview if/when it's up.
We're going to do another devstream in the somewhat near to very near future -- you won't want to miss it. Also, hopefully my microphone will work this time around.
We're thinking about doing a giveaway of access codes to SR2's playtesting group in the somewhat near future; keep your eyes peeled.
What's new:__________________________________
Economy and Diplomacy were just greatly improved. If you were interested in either before, you should watch out for that devstream -- there's a lot of neat, new, stuff there we haven't talked about yet.
Our long awaited ship art should be coming in soon and we're very excited to show it to you.
Anomalies and special systems are flooding into the galaxy, varying the galactic terrain even further. Meanwhile, I'm polishing our particle systems a bit as well as adding new ones.
Finally, we have a special announcement coming up. We can't say much about it yet; I'm afraid that'd just land us on hot water.
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 12, 2014, 02:35:08 pm
Because I already have my card out and I'm not even lying it's in my hand right now.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 12, 2014, 04:44:09 pm
(http://starruler2.com/media/blog3/tear.png)
In today's dev diary we're taking a look at SR2's FTL drives. Each race begins with access to only one type and each comes with their own benefits and drawbacks. Such an important choice deserves forward consideration: we invite you to explore these unique means of FTL to find which best suit your style of play.
[ Click to read more about Star Ruler 2's FTL systems on Starruler2.com ] (http://forums.blind-mind.com/index.php?topic=5950.0)
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So when can I preorder and get in on some tasty alpha testing with you guys?We're still keeping mum on that. Rest assured, though we're very keen on taking your money we're making sure everything's ready to go before we open the floodgates.
Because I already have my card out and I'm not even lying it's in my hand right now.
Post by: jocan2003 on March 12, 2014, 04:58:15 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 12, 2014, 05:03:53 pm
Post by: BigD145 on March 12, 2014, 06:12:42 pm
Post by: LoSboccacc on March 12, 2014, 06:13:13 pm
Post by: BFEL on March 12, 2014, 07:12:20 pm
We don't have strict races at the moment; if we do in the future you can always go custom race.
This actually brings up a good topic, in the last game I believe it worked similarly and the attributes and such of NPC races were pretty much randomized.
Will that still be the case or will players be able to set up their opponents the way we want?
That was one thing I liked about Galactic Civilizations 2, the fact you could pretty much ignore the standard races and play a game solely with races you had designed yourself.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 12, 2014, 08:53:01 pm
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This actually brings up a good topic, in the last game I believe it worked similarly and the attributes and such of NPC races were pretty much randomized.We expect it'll work similarly, yes. (Though you'll be able to customize the NPCs as well)
Post by: LoSboccacc on March 13, 2014, 02:57:07 am
I remember that 1 missed carrier controls, like:
- recall fighter before long range movement
- don't let fighter scramble parameter according to total enemy mass and not single enemy size
- movement range to get fighter replenished (similar to the patrol range)
- fighter replenishment minimum percentage
(and things like that I haven't played in a while so I can't remember what else but there are plenty of forum threads already on that)
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 13, 2014, 11:48:58 am
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will carrier be more tuneable this time around?Carriers will likely be handled differently to avoid unnecessary micromanagement -- however, at this time I'm afraid I can't say anything specific about them as they've yet to be nailed down in the design.
Post by: xaritscin on March 13, 2014, 02:51:22 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 13, 2014, 03:00:05 pm
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if players can destroy orbital bodies, would they be able to create them?Out of nothing? Nah, that's a little too 'out there'. You might be able to reconstitute broken worlds -- that's about as far out there as we're willing to go for 'natural' objects.
Post by: LoSboccacc on March 13, 2014, 03:01:51 pm
edit: ninjad
Post by: xaritscin on March 13, 2014, 03:02:44 pm
Quoteif players can destroy orbital bodies, would they be able to create them?Out of nothing? Nah, that's a little too 'out there'. You might be able to reconstitute broken worlds -- that's about as far out there as we're willing to go for 'natural' objects.
im talking about gathering resources and then manufacture a whole system, like taking nebulae with huge harvesting ships of gargantuan sizes and use that gas to induce a fusion reaction, thus starting the creation of a star, the rest is matter of time.....
rebuild planets would be a good idea too, but the idea is about making systems from cero, using gathered resources..
think of it like what happens in 2010: Odyssey 2, where the aliens use monoliths to increase the mass of Jupiter until it enters in fusion reaction.....something like that but gathering the resources from asteroids and gas clouds.....
Post by: Sinistar on March 13, 2014, 03:08:48 pm
Out of nothing?
What about...out of something? :P
Joking a bit, but xaritscin does raise an interesting point - if there's planet/star destruction, why not creation?
Sure, it would need a very specialized, resource consuming, massive structures, but might be challenging...
Of course, question arises how would you actually implement this in the game in some sort of a sensible matter. What would be the point, the benefits, time & resources vs. total output etc. :-\
Post by: xaritscin on March 13, 2014, 03:19:40 pm
Out of nothing?
What about...out of something? :P
Joking a bit, but xaritscin does raise an interesting point - if there's planet/star destruction, why not creation?
Sure, it would need a very specialized, resource consuming, massive structures, but might be challenging...
Of course, question arises how would you actually implement this in the game in some sort of a sensible matter. What would be the point, the benefits, time & resources vs. total output etc. :-\
well, its more of a feature i never see in space games, everybody wants to make a Death Star and start pew pewing planets and erradicatare systems but i've never seen a game where you get a tech lvl so high that you can create a Titan device and construct planets whenever you find it necessary, the ringworld idea in Star Ruler seems to be the only case of this, taking in account a Ringworld (or a Dyson Sphere for that matter) is possible in sci fi, in SPORE we got a device that terraformed and induced life in planets, but i would prefer to go as extreme as that and put a machine that can allow me to construct planets and complete systems if i see it fit....its more of a show of power, i have the power to destroy, then i should also have the power to create...
as for other ideas, im wondering if ships in star ruler could have a nomadic style, no, not talking about planets with engines, but non planet bound empires which use spaceships and stations as structures for their manufacture and research....
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 13, 2014, 03:25:05 pm
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Of course, question arises how would you actually implement this in the game in some sort of a sensible matter. What would be the point, the benefits, time & resources vs. total output etc.Yep. All valid queries we've asked ourselves.
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non planet bound empires which use spaceships and stations as structures for their manufacture and researchI've wanted to do a migrant fleet style empire for months but it doesn't seem to be in the cards. Maybe later when we have more time to consider/test it -- but right now it would defy pretty much the whole balance/economy.
Post by: jocan2003 on March 13, 2014, 03:51:58 pm
I've wanted to do a migrant fleet style empire for months but it doesn't seem to be in the cards. Maybe later when we have more time to consider/test it -- but right now it would defy pretty much the whole balance/economy.BSG FTW!!! We really need a space game in that trope....
Post by: BigD145 on March 13, 2014, 03:56:26 pm
I've wanted to do a migrant fleet style empire for months but it doesn't seem to be in the cards. Maybe later when we have more time to consider/test it -- but right now it would defy pretty much the whole balance/economy.BSG FTW!!! We really need a space game in that trope....
What, you mean like BSG? Already exists as a game.
Post by: Guardian G.I. on March 13, 2014, 04:00:09 pm
Post by: BFEL on March 13, 2014, 04:17:39 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 13, 2014, 04:21:45 pm
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Still around this time? And can this be weaponized?We'd like them to be, yep!
Post by: xaritscin on March 13, 2014, 04:25:55 pm
Post by: gimlet on March 13, 2014, 10:25:44 pm
well, its more of a feature i never see in space games, everybody wants to make a Death Star and start pew pewing planets and erradicatare systems but i've never seen a game where you get a tech lvl so high that you can create a Titan device and construct planets whenever you find it necessary, the ringworld idea in Star Ruler seems to be the only case of this, taking in account a Ringworld (or a Dyson Sphere for that matter) is possible in sci fi, in SPORE we got a device that terraformed and induced life in planets, but i would prefer to go as extreme as that and put a machine that can allow me to construct planets and complete systems if i see it fit....its more of a show of power, i have the power to destroy, then i should also have the power to create...
Hmm, Master of Orion 2 had that - Death Star a planet, create new Artificial Planet from the debris. And Space Empires IV had components that could create stars, or create planets out of asteroid fields. And ways to construct ringworlds or sphereworlds around a star (massively unprofitable use of resources, but hey :D)
Post by: dennislp3 on March 13, 2014, 10:44:38 pm
Post by: ollobrains on March 14, 2014, 05:14:02 am
Post by: galluci on March 14, 2014, 08:36:16 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 02, 2014, 05:03:57 am
Check it out! (http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2014/04/star-ruler-2-interview-with-the-crew-of-blind-mind-studios/)
Post by: BFEL on April 02, 2014, 06:13:31 am
SpaceSector has put up an interview we did over e-mail that y'all might find interesting. Included with the interview are some freshly minted shots of the game, including a sneak peak at the new iteration of the diplomacy system.
Check it out! (http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2014/04/star-ruler-2-interview-with-the-crew-of-blind-mind-studios/)
Awesome.
Quick question though. You mentioned the Galactic Senate. Will this exist from the start or will it form organically as races discover each other?
This was one of my gripes about GalCiv2, the idea that some galactic democracy essentially formed overnight. I mean, that should be vaguely possible, but to me it seems just as likely that it would take alien races years to come together on that scale.
It would be interesting to play a part in the formation of such a thing, as it would also be interesting to randomly stumble on a fully formed one if you slack off on the exploration.
Heck, if you really wanted to impress me then the idea of fully separate "Galactic Senates" forming in different spots of the galaxy would be pretty awesome, and be very interesting when they meet and realize they didn't vote the same way on certain issues :P
Note: I am so glad I get to run ideas by you while you develop this :3
Post by: a1s on April 02, 2014, 06:17:50 am
And ways to construct ringworlds or sphereworlds around a star (massively unprofitable use of resources, but hey :D)Seeing as how population provided a percentile bonus to production, and that sphere worlds (whatever they were called) provided enough living space for about 64 Billion colonists (vs. at most 500M on the largest planets), as well as all the construction space you could ever want, these things could be enormously useful if you kept one around long enough. And they somehow had pretty decent resource ratings (I'm assuming from all the asteroids?).
Post by: Aklyon on April 02, 2014, 03:07:45 pm
Post by: Astral on April 08, 2014, 01:44:56 am
Still a good fun, though I'd suggest Galactic Armory if you want more toys to play with and have a beefier computer to match the increased level of objects in most solar systems. It adds things like import docks (so you can have stations dedicated to churning out electronics or advanced parts), new engine types that have their ups and downs, quite a few new weapons (and racial traits that can buff, nerf, or disable them completely for your faction), and a lot more.
It's my hope that many of the ideas present in Galactic Armory make it to Star Ruler 2, because after tasting jump drive enabled 1000 size cruisers produced from a ring world that can instantly kill most stars with (obviously late in the game), it's hard to go back to vanilla.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on April 08, 2014, 08:08:41 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 07, 2014, 01:20:48 pm
A long belated update
On the development front, things are slowly coming together as we prepare for our near-at-hand Early Access launch. Energy powers are starting to show up, racial traits are slowly evolving, our art is being put through a polish pass, anomalies were significantly improved and can now tell mini-stories, orbitals were fleshed out, and a lot more.
On the art front we should soon be able to reveal the look of our ships for the upcoming game. I'm also looking forward to developing and launching our marketing assets. Things are starting to spool up!
We're discussing what we should talk about with the next dev diary and I thought I'd ask y'all's opinion. What would you be most interested in hearing about: Orbitals (Stations), Anomalies, or Energy Powers?
Post by: forsaken1111 on May 07, 2014, 01:24:46 pm
Being ambushed by an asteroid is now a thing that can happen. (http://data.glacicle.org/misc/uhoh/uhhhhh.png)Will the early access be a buy-in thing or just open alpha?
A long belated update
On the development front, things are slowly coming together as we prepare for our near-at-hand Early Access launch. Energy powers are starting to show up, racial traits are slowly evolving, our art is being put through a polish pass, anomalies were significantly improved and can now tell mini-stories, orbitals were fleshed out, and a lot more.
On the art front we should soon be able to reveal the look of our ships for the upcoming game. I'm also looking forward to developing and launching our marketing assets. Things are starting to spool up!
We're discussing what we should talk about with the next dev diary and I thought I'd ask y'all's opinion. What would you be most interested in hearing about: Orbitals (Stations), Anomalies, or Energy Powers?
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 07, 2014, 01:27:57 pm
Post by: LoSboccacc on May 07, 2014, 01:29:09 pm
change the op when we can trow money at you! I can't wait!
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 07, 2014, 01:31:42 pm
Quote
with a price increasing scheme?Yep. Lower price to buy it while it's still in development, higher price to buy it when officially launched.
Post by: forsaken1111 on May 07, 2014, 01:35:38 pm
That's the opposite of what some studios are doing. For whatever reason I've seen some alpha buy-ins as high ast $100 with price decreasing as they go.Quotewith a price increasing scheme?Yep. Lower price to buy it while it's still in development, higher price to buy it when officially launched.
Post by: Chattox on May 07, 2014, 01:45:35 pm
For whatever reason I've seen some alpha buy-ins as high ast $100 with price decreasing as they go.
AFAIK it's to deter people who see alphas and betas as just "getting the game early" and who then whine and complain about the game being unfinished. Long, self-righteous tirades with buzzwords like "false advertising" and "scam" are often the result. Having the price high at first means that only people who genuinely want to test the game and have a hand in it's creation will end up playing.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 07, 2014, 01:51:45 pm
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That's the opposite of what some studios are doing. For whatever reason I've seen some alpha buy-ins as high ast $100 with price decreasing as they go.
Mhm. It feels more honest and though we're serious about making it a great game we want people to take a look and be drawn in by the price even if they don't buy in for the EA - we're not a big-tent title after all.
Some studios are using a high price to deincentivize people from buying their early access product. This way they ensure that only their most dedicated and interested fans purchase the alpha (while there is likely some noise from folks who just plain have a lot of money to toss around) so as to limit potential sale losses and hopefully gain a community interested in helping them balance/fix problems before the game launches.
But as Chattox wrote, it's certainly a valid approach and our approach also has its problems. We have to do our best to inform people before they buy to try and mitigate purchases which stem from folks believing that they're buying something close to the final game early when in reality we're still a while off.
Post by: forsaken1111 on May 07, 2014, 01:54:15 pm
I understand the reasoning, but I think it has somewhat of the opposite result. You get a lot of kiddos who have mommy and daddy pay the price and lose a lot of the people who are really dedicated to your product but cannot afford to pay you $100 for the 'honor' of testing it for you.For whatever reason I've seen some alpha buy-ins as high ast $100 with price decreasing as they go.
AFAIK it's to deter people who see alphas and betas as just "getting the game early" and who then whine and complain about the game being unfinished. Long, self-righteous tirades with buzzwords like "false advertising" and "scam" are often the result. Having the price high at first means that only people who genuinely want to test the game and have a hand in it's creation will end up playing.
I see the merits of both approaches, but personally I never touch the 'up-priced' alphas/betas.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 07, 2014, 02:02:15 pm
That's still not incredibly reliable and there's lots of issues with it, but I think that a scaled approach where the amount of time you invested into the former product is rewarded with an increasing loyalty discount gets you the most interested and active players into your EA.
Post by: forsaken1111 on May 07, 2014, 02:04:22 pm
Yeah. The best theoretical pie-in-the-sky approach I have would be to make the game super-high-priced (like $200) and then give out a $100 discount to folks who played the game for 30 hours and a $180 discount to folks who played the game for 150+ hours and maybe just straight gift it to folks who've put in more than 300.I guess you could tie it to legit bugs reported and event participation rather than hours played. Anyone can just leave the game running.
That's still not incredibly reliable and there's lots of issues with it, but I think that a scaled approach where the amount of time you invested into the former product nets is rewarded with an increasing loyalty discount should get you the most interested and active players into your EA schema.
In any case, I'll be picking this up the second it goes to early access. Looks like it could be a good product in the end, so I hope I can help.
Post by: Retropunch on May 07, 2014, 02:20:56 pm
However. I really, really hate the higher priced alpha/beta buy-in approach. When I see it, my view of the company itself drops to a similar level as adding lots of day-one/soon after dlc. I'm really happy the SR2 guys are doing it the more reasonable and honorable way of charging less when in development.
Asking people to pay more for to play something which is quantifiably worth less just seems bad, but more than that and I strongly believe that it harms the overall image of the game. With pretty much any game, you get bored of it after a few weeks/months. If you've exhausted that on an alpha/beta with less features/broken things and bad balance, you're going to have a slanted perspective on the game, no matter how good it becomes. Although this goes for beta/alpha sales in general, I think this is amplified if you've paid more.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 07, 2014, 06:04:45 pm
Post by: BFEL on May 07, 2014, 08:01:25 pm
We're discussing what we should talk about with the next dev diary and I thought I'd ask y'all's opinion. What would you be most interested in hearing about: Orbitals (Stations), Anomalies, or Energy Powers?
Since everyone else completely ignored you here, let me put in my two cents and say I want to hear about...well all of those are awesome choices, but I have to go with the Energy Powers because that's something that doesn't seem to be in every other space 4X ever :P
Not saying taking inspiration from others is bad, and I'm sure you put a nice twist on the other two, but Energy Powers sounds like a unique thing.
Also, did you ever see my question about the Galactic Senate, or did that get buried?
Post by: forsaken1111 on May 07, 2014, 08:13:19 pm
I would love to see an overview of your revamped diplomacy system. Or you guys could just do a sort of AAR where you play out a small game and screenshot some of the highlights.
Post by: Xantalos on May 08, 2014, 01:59:07 am
I am still iffy on the 'energy powers' thing. Seems a bit too close to special 'hero abilities'. I'll reserve judgement until I see how you guys implement them though.This would be cool. It doesn't even have to be a full game, just a few interesting snippets will pique me.
I would love to see an overview of your revamped diplomacy system. Or you guys could just do a sort of AAR where you play out a small game and screenshot some of the highlights.
Post by: Oscuro1987 on May 08, 2014, 06:29:18 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 08, 2014, 03:04:55 pm
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(making an) AAR where you play out a small game and screenshot some of the highlightsI'll bring it up with Lucas and Andrew and see what they think.
Quote
I'll reserve judgement until I see how you guys implement them though.We're still figuring how to specifically implement them ourselves but we're expecting it to encompass much more than just individual unit abilities. I can't commit to that or Energy though, it's still in a great deal of flux.
Post by: forsaken1111 on May 08, 2014, 03:17:00 pm
I'll bring it up with Lucas and Andrew and see what they think.Excellent! Let me know if you need a fourth. I am open most weekends and evenings.
We're still figuring how to specifically implement them ourselves but we're expecting it to encompass much more than just individual unit abilities: for example, a power that steals other Empires' cards and influence.The power system as I have seen it described seems a bit out of place. I'll be interested to see how you work it in. Right now, it seems like you just gave the ships 'mana' so they can use 'special moves' which makes me wary.
Obviously my only information is from what you discussed in the previous dev diaries so you've probably improved it somewhat since then.
As for the example you mention here though... how does that work? I can sort of see how pumping magical wireless energy into a ship could power a weapon or a shield, but how does this energy resource equate to stealing diplomatic power and influence? Things in science fiction often need a bit of internal logical consistency.
As an aside, if you guys need some free writing I'd be happy to help out a bit. I know how much writing can go into these games, having worked on a few myself now, and SR2 seems to be much larger in scope than SR1 so I imagine there is a lot left to do. Weapon descriptions, tech write-ups, etc. Just making the offer, feel free to ignore. :)
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 08, 2014, 04:03:30 pm
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As for the example you mention here though... how does that work? I can sort of see how pumping magical wireless energy into a ship could power a weapon or a shield, but how does this energy resource equate to stealing diplomatic power and influence? Things in science fiction often need a bit of internal logical consistency.SR often gravitates between hard science and science fantasy and the original thought which spawned the system was that these were 'powers' which break the 'sufficiently advanced technology is magic' barrier. So perhaps you install a computer virus in every diplomat's computer in the targeted empires and mind-blank the politicians who share those ideas, making their ideas your own - this accomplished by an ancient Remnant device which requires an absurd amount of power to operate at such vast distances with such finite precision?
In any case, I just wanted to illustrate a potential power that wouldn't be 'a ship doing a thing'. However as I mentioned the system itself is in a great deal of flux so don't put much stock into the 'hows'. Each power we put into the system will have some lore explanation that'll at the very least attempt to make sense.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 09, 2014, 07:55:32 pm
Disclaimer: Most art shown not final, especially the ship, diplomacy card, and race art which are all stand-in dev-art
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/sr2-marketing/screenshot36s.png) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/sr2-marketing/screenshot36.jpg) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/sr2-marketing/screenshot43s.png) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/sr2-marketing/screenshot43.png)(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/sr2-marketing/screenshot40s.png) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/sr2-marketing/screenshot40.png) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/sr2-marketing/screenshot17s.png) (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/sr2-marketing/screenshot17.png)
Post by: forsaken1111 on May 09, 2014, 08:30:17 pm
Got some fresh screenshots for y'all. Updating the main post with links to 'em.Looking good! That diplomacy interface is making me salivate.
Disclaimer: Most art shown not final, especially the ship, diplomacy card, and race art which are all stand-in dev-art
Post by: BigD145 on May 09, 2014, 08:53:41 pm
Post by: motorbitch on May 09, 2014, 09:26:18 pm
i usually dont spoil my games by playing betas (or even alphas) - in the end, there is only so much time one can spend on a single game before it gets borring.
but i may make an exeption on this one, if only i like buying stuff from studios i like :)
Post by: Edmus on May 10, 2014, 02:27:09 am
Post by: BFEL on May 10, 2014, 08:43:18 am
SpaceSector has put up an interview we did over e-mail that y'all might find interesting. Included with the interview are some freshly minted shots of the game, including a sneak peak at the new iteration of the diplomacy system.
Check it out! (http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2014/04/star-ruler-2-interview-with-the-crew-of-blind-mind-studios/)
Awesome.
Quick question though. You mentioned the Galactic Senate. Will this exist from the start or will it form organically as races discover each other?
This was one of my gripes about GalCiv2, the idea that some galactic democracy essentially formed overnight. I mean, that should be vaguely possible, but to me it seems just as likely that it would take alien races years to come together on that scale.
It would be interesting to play a part in the formation of such a thing, as it would also be interesting to randomly stumble on a fully formed one if you slack off on the exploration.
Heck, if you really wanted to impress me then the idea of fully separate "Galactic Senates" forming in different spots of the galaxy would be pretty awesome, and be very interesting when they meet and realize they didn't vote the same way on certain issues :P
Note: I am so glad I get to run ideas by you while you develop this :3
*AHEM*
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 12, 2014, 09:20:41 am
Hex based ship component placement?
Yes. It comes with some nice tools to make putting them together fast and intuitive.
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I'm hoping that the hexes will stop the piling up of all components under a giant lump of armour. How does the layout of the hexes work?
Ship design hasn't yet been finalized so I'm not sure I can definitively say how the layouts work except that they're based on the 3D model each is assigned to.
Quote
You mentioned the Galactic Senate. Will this exist from the start or will it form organically as races discover each other?I'll ask to see what Reaper intends but I wouldn't count on 'separate Galactic Senates'. Whether or not races will always be a member of it at game-start is something I do not know but will ask about.
Post by: de5me7 on May 12, 2014, 10:07:23 am
I loved the ship building system, i loved the the full 3d seamless galaxy map, i loved the proper physics ship movement. It gives me that Alastair Reynolds or Ian M Banks space opera feel in away that no other game really has.
I hated the fact that like many 4x games winning is basically a case of solving the production expansion research equation so that your empire expands faster with better tech and more monies that your opponents. The game i felt basically had a lot of great chrome, but underneath boiled down to whether you could micro manage your empire well enough to get you 3 tech levels ahead of your opposition and smash them. Often the actual military maneuvers and ship designs were slightly irrelevant if someone was a tech level or few ahead of you.
What i would like, is not to have to solve that equation at all, and basically just make strategic decisions on the direction of my economy or technology rather than good/bad decisions that effectively eliminate me from the game before the fighting ever starts.
Also i look forward to an improved diplomatic model/system.
Post by: Retropunch on May 12, 2014, 01:41:30 pm
What i would like, is not to have to solve that equation at all, and basically just make strategic decisions on the direction of my economy or technology rather than good/bad decisions that effectively eliminate me from the game before the fighting ever starts.I completely agree - I always feel that 4x games have the problem of just a race to the finish with tech and just getting more production capacity - rather than actual tactics and skill. There's also the problem of getting to that sort of 3/4 endgame where you've effectively won as you will just eventually be able to out produce the enemy.
GalCiv2 dealt with this via game changing end game events (sometimes a bit annoying) and sometimes giving losing empires something random and good (a great ship, loads of resources or something) but the same problem still persisted.
All I'm saying really is that it'd be nice to have a more tactical game where victory isn't such a linear path
Post by: forsaken1111 on May 12, 2014, 01:43:44 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 12, 2014, 02:16:14 pm
What i would like, is not to have to solve that equation at all, and basically just make strategic decisions on the direction of my economy or technology rather than good/bad decisions that effectively eliminate me from the game before the fighting ever starts.
Your strategy will be important in SR2.
Post by: motorbitch on May 12, 2014, 04:05:07 pm
Distant Worlds handles a lot of that nicely.and yet, it fails so hard at the same time.
what makes this game unfun for me, is just event overload. especially later game, the game will spam new notifications with such an insane frequency, that it becomes almost impossible to focuss on a task or filter important notifications form unimportant ones.
and pausing the game every odd second isnt fun neither.
that certainly is something i dont want to see in any other game again.
Post by: de5me7 on May 12, 2014, 04:46:22 pm
There were a lot of things i liked about distant worlds but i still sort of found it annoying.
Post by: Retropunch on May 12, 2014, 05:40:47 pm
My biggest request for star ruler would be to have it less about complete domination but more about building up a proper empire that all works. A lot of 4x games start like that, with diplomacy and a balanced start, but they always devolve into having to just dominate everything militarily/through tech. Even games like GalCiv2 which did relatively diplomacy/allies/cultural stuff quite well, still always ended in a final scrap between the last two races left.
I know a lot of people like the finalization of destroying everyone else, but I'd love to have an empire management game in a similar vein to sim city (with combat) where it's about sustaining a working empire rather than just blasting your foe to bits.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 20, 2014, 06:06:57 pm
Additionally, we'll be streaming this Friday at 7 PM EDT to show off new features of the game. As with the prior stream it will also be recorded and posted in the OP when the recording is available. Our twitch page is here if you'd like to bookmark it in advance. (http://www.twitch.tv/BlindMindStudios)
If there are any particular things you'd like us to go over during the stream please feel free to request them!
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 23, 2014, 06:49:43 pm
The stream is over!
I'll edit in a link to the recorded stream in this post when it becomes available.
Post by: BFEL on May 28, 2014, 09:18:42 am
Yeah, I kinda figured the separate GS's would be a tall order, but mostly I just wanted to point out some ideas about the concept. Mainly that it's just silly to assume a "Galactic Senate" forms instantly on first contact :PQuoteYou mentioned the Galactic Senate. Will this exist from the start or will it form organically as races discover each other?I'll ask to see what Reaper intends but I wouldn't count on 'separate Galactic Senates'. Whether or not races will always be a member of it at game-start is something I do not know but will ask about.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 07, 2014, 05:40:20 pm
Star Ruler 2 will be on Steam's Early Access soon.
Details to follow.
Post by: forsaken1111 on July 07, 2014, 06:17:48 pm
Gentlemen, start your Hyperdrive engines.*Wallet ready*
Star Ruler 2 will be on Steam's Early Access soon.
Details to follow.
Post by: ollobrains on July 09, 2014, 05:58:03 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 09, 2014, 06:06:11 pm
Post by: Xantalos on July 09, 2014, 06:17:24 pm
How many weeks, approximately?
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 09, 2014, 06:22:03 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Xantalos on July 09, 2014, 06:29:30 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on July 10, 2014, 05:41:09 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 10, 2014, 12:30:16 pm
Post by: LoSboccacc on July 10, 2014, 12:35:21 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on July 10, 2014, 05:50:39 pm
It does not seem to have changed anything on our end. Though, we mourn the loss of your money all the same.Please PM me an address where I may post my money/arm/leg/firstborn for immediate access to tasty planetary empire building
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 10, 2014, 06:12:08 pm
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/MDU/microcline.PNG)
If you truly desire access to Star Ruler 2 then in the name of Armok, God of Blood, build for us a mighty shrine-fort.
If it survives a thousand orbits of the sun and menaces with spikes of microcline then post in this thread that glorious temple's save -- if you can manage to do so before we launch into Early Access.
Build for us these temples worthy of the Rulers of Stars and your plea may yet be answered.
If you truly desire access to Star Ruler 2 then in the name of Armok, God of Blood, build for us a mighty shrine-fort.
If it survives a thousand orbits of the sun and menaces with spikes of microcline then post in this thread that glorious temple's save -- if you can manage to do so before we launch into Early Access.
Build for us these temples worthy of the Rulers of Stars and your plea may yet be answered.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: forsaken1111 on July 10, 2014, 06:17:46 pm
The rest I could do though, despite how buggy the new DF release is. Might work on it to pass the time. :)
Would you accept a picture of a small dirt hovel from minecraft instead, by chance? I have one of those! (I'm testing out my new server you see..)
Post by: Bremen on July 10, 2014, 07:27:24 pm
Hum... a shrine-fortress which survives 1000 years would be difficult. It would probably take hundreds of hours to play that long.
The rest I could do though, despite how buggy the new DF release is. Might work on it to pass the time. :)
Would you accept a picture of a small dirt hovel from minecraft instead, by chance? I have one of those! (I'm testing out my new server you see..)
I recommend uncapping the fps and running it on a supercomputer.
Actually I recommend waiting for the early access, but the other option works too.
Post by: Eagle_eye on July 10, 2014, 09:51:01 pm
Post by: etgfrog on July 10, 2014, 10:57:05 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 11, 2014, 12:50:55 am
We did say a mighty shrine-fort didn't we? A pithy offering is an empty offering.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: Bremen on July 11, 2014, 07:29:03 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 16, 2014, 03:33:59 pm
Post by: LoSboccacc on July 16, 2014, 03:39:04 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 16, 2014, 03:58:36 pm
Here's the Early Access Trailer, by the way (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8EEYfVJrgA)
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 18, 2014, 01:08:11 pm
Post by: Kaje on July 18, 2014, 01:15:31 pm
In Development. Massive scale 4X-RTS set in space. Control hundreds of planets, manipulate galactic politics, research numerous advanced technologies, and command thousands of units and hundreds of planets in your quest for galactic dominance.
Post by: BFEL on July 18, 2014, 01:19:42 pm
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on July 18, 2014, 01:52:10 pm
Just a quick note - you could do with editing the Steam description for the game:
In Development. Massive scale 4X-RTS set in space. Control hundreds of planets, manipulate galactic politics, research numerous advanced technologies, and command thousands of units and hundreds of planets in your quest for galactic dominance.
well to be fair, planets are a big part of the game :P
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 18, 2014, 01:52:56 pm
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hundreds of planets:-[ Oh, uh... heh. Yeah, I'll see about fixing that later. Thanks!
Post by: LoSboccacc on July 18, 2014, 02:14:33 pm
who's up for some multiplayer exploration of game?
--- ai in multiplayer only use hyperdrive it seems
after playing a bit of tutorial I can say I like it really much BUT it feels and plays quite differently, if you liked the star ruler franchise for its relative simplicity this is quite more complex and gamey, less streamlined and less immediate.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 18, 2014, 11:24:52 pm
Post by: Astral on July 19, 2014, 01:08:51 am
if you liked the star ruler franchise for its relative simplicity
I didn't find it all that simple, though I tended to play with Galactic Armory as it fleshed out a bit more.
Shelled out for the early access, despite having enough of those already, because I know you guys will actually deliver.
Post by: Sinistar on July 19, 2014, 02:01:31 am
Mind that the price will go up $5 when we release the full version but yes, we try to keep our games affordable."They are emptying everyone's wallets!... And then they are gonna empty mine!"
Here's the Early Access Trailer, by the way (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8EEYfVJrgA)
"Oh my gooooooooooooooooooooooooood!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_36KRMbtIQE)
...Because this is so beautiful it almost brought tear in my eyes. I'm really happy this game is happening. I might even cave in and buy it now despite tight financial situation.
And I take it you still have the same guy doing the music for you? Because the trailer tells me it's of the same quality than in first one, that is, is absolutely fantastic.
Post by: cikulisu on July 19, 2014, 02:12:21 am
And Star Ruler 2 is now available for purchase.
heh. i remember playing the original, and then (it must have been a year ago) hearing that the second one was in dev "neat." and now i come to the DF forums and see that it's actually for sale. and i honestly can't remember how many years ago i even heard about it.
NEAT
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 19, 2014, 02:57:08 am
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And I take it you still have the same guy doing the music for youStar Ruler 2's musicians are Daniel Swearengin and Jason Covenant -- both of which have been doing a fantastic job so far. We only have part of our soundtrack at this time as well so more goodness is on its way.
Post by: LoSboccacc on July 19, 2014, 03:07:26 am
Anyway. Is it planned a way do destroy enemy colonies without taking the planet?
There is hardly a way to contrast early enemy expansion and to disrupt the trade routes but by capturing planets.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 19, 2014, 03:08:30 am
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Is it planned a way do destroy enemy colonies without taking the planet?Bombardment cannons. They're actually in the game right now.
Post by: LoSboccacc on July 19, 2014, 03:23:19 am
Do you ever sleep?
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 19, 2014, 03:25:40 am
Post by: Kaje on July 19, 2014, 08:25:16 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 19, 2014, 08:28:45 am
Renaming planets is currently accomplished through the Diplomacy system with the "Name Planet" card (there is also a 'Name Flagship'). Naming a planet gives it a boost in its population and some free labor -- up to a lot of maximum population if you get your hands on a 3-star card. They can only be named once though so be careful what you type!
Post by: Bremen on July 19, 2014, 08:56:36 am
Game seems oriented toward early expansion and late warfare, I don't see warship really useful at game start - they only drain resources and enemy is too far to project force - a bit like civ start game
Early warships are nice for dealing with remnants. Very annoying when they're between you and all the worlds you want to colonize.
Post by: Eagle_eye on July 19, 2014, 01:23:00 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on July 19, 2014, 02:25:25 pm
Maybe it's just bad luck, but it seems like the ratio between water and food planets is skewed really far towards water, especially when you consider how much more food your empire needs. Out of ~40 planets, I only had 8 that produced food, and 14 or 15 that produced water.Spare water planets are really useful since you can combine them to make new resources.
Post by: LoSboccacc on July 19, 2014, 03:10:16 pm
Maybe it's just bad luck, but it seems like the ratio between water and food planets is skewed really far towards water, especially when you consider how much more food your empire needs. Out of ~40 planets, I only had 8 that produced food, and 14 or 15 that produced water.
it is more convenient to place mega farms anyway
Post by: Astral on July 19, 2014, 03:37:42 pm
Maybe it's just bad luck, but it seems like the ratio between water and food planets is skewed really far towards water, especially when you consider how much more food your empire needs. Out of ~40 planets, I only had 8 that produced food, and 14 or 15 that produced water.
it is more convenient to place mega farms anyway
I feel that mega farms take a bit too much income, as do all imperial buildings. The Core buildings (essentially space stations) also seem to be a bit useless without the ability to make them orbit a planet; nothing really stops someone from simply avoiding that overbeefed defense station. Water is extremely useful en masse, as with 8 (I think) you get Clear Water, which removes all civilian production but converts it directly into budget.
The new planetary system tends to cause me to centralize heavily, and it's like a minigame in itself, though I'm usually very low on cash to start the game.
After playing it a bit, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. It's essentially a completely different game from the original Star Ruler, and feel like it's more meant for small skirmishes than huge 100,000 ship stomps, though that could be due to the way the trading system only works with adjacent planets. While some features have been made a bit easier (fleet management, for example) others have thrown a few more layers of complexity (diplomacy, which can have effects other than simply negotiating with other races, such as the "Name a Planet" card), and the research tree feels a bit sparse at the moment, along with ship building being a little more intuitive, but a little more limiting.
I like the different methods of FTL travel. Gate seems to be best fitted for me, as it means slow early expansion, but once you're in a system and have a new gate established, you're only a quick jump away from any other system under your control, sort of like the Hivers from Sword of the Stars. I think the Slipstream is sort of a direct upgrade to the FTL drive; though slightly more expensive, you can send colony ships through them without an issue. Haven't tried the Fling drive yet.
I know it's early alpha, and thank you for the opportunity to try it. Definitely looking forward to how this turns out in the future.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 19, 2014, 04:08:13 pm
Quote
I know it's early alpha, and thank you for the opportunity to try it.Of course; thank you for the support. We welcome all constructive critique.
Post by: BFEL on July 19, 2014, 04:15:47 pm
QuoteI know it's early alpha, and thank you for the opportunity to try it.Of course; thank you for the support. We welcome all constructive critique.
So Firgof...When you gonna make the Galactic Senate not just pop into existence before the races actually meet each other? :P
You knew I was gonna ask. :)
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 19, 2014, 04:17:54 pm
Post by: BFEL on July 19, 2014, 04:25:13 pm
Post by: Orb on July 19, 2014, 06:11:41 pm
More offensive diplomatic cards would be nice. Stuff like "enact trade sanctions" (reduces enemy empire's income) or "galactic war" (everyone declares war on an empire). Galactic Civilizations 2 has tons of stuff like this that might be worth a look.
FTL Energy doesn't feel restraining, at least with hyperdrives. I haven't messed around with the other drives yet. Maybe increase the default cost of using hyperdrive (and storage, to make it feel more strategic in use).
This is kind of a vague suggestion, but maybe to make combat more interesting you could scale down the fleets? Make them cheaper to upkeep and build, so that you'll have more operating at any one time. By midgame I had about 9 fleets, which was only enough for 2 task forces and maybe a defense fleet.
Remnants feel a bit awkward right now. You can still colonize the system with them there, but they'll swat colony ships that pass over them, which causes problems later on. They're strong enough that you need a decent sized fleet to take them out, but the benefits (the little item you get) aren't that great. Maybe they could be support ships orbiting planets instead? That would block off colonization, making them a bigger threat, but also less dangerous as they wouldn't have a capital ship.
Bring back the rings from Star Ruler 1. The ones that showed military power. Those were great for seeing what was happening at a glance.
Post by: LoSboccacc on July 19, 2014, 07:16:51 pm
also the budget need a option 'stockpile' which moves leftover to successive periods, otherwise refitting costly ship will be impossible
Post by: Astral on July 19, 2014, 07:48:55 pm
Also, as a result, I would suggest a sort of barrier outside the edges, as I can't even pan the camera enough to see it.
Edit: A timeout for notifications on the right hand side for things that have been built (especially buildings) would be good. They tend to build up if I'm throwing a bunch of megafarms and hydrogenators.
Megafarms and hydrogenators also don't seem to free up the resource for the planet they're built on. For example, if I wanted to build both of those on a meat planet so it would stay level 1 without needing any imports, it doesn't show in the available resources category on the right.
Post by: Malus on July 19, 2014, 08:33:58 pm
Post by: BFEL on July 19, 2014, 09:07:09 pm
I had a 1280 sized Titan with a full compliment of support ships end up jetting out of the galaxy for reasons unknown.
Yeah, this happened to me too.
Twice.
Once was in the tutorial.
Make a copy of the save and upload it to their forums. Its what I would do if I weren't too lazy and inept at uploading things.
Post by: Orb on July 20, 2014, 01:04:24 am
Post by: jocan2003 on July 24, 2014, 11:10:21 pm
Post by: LoSboccacc on July 25, 2014, 03:26:00 am
Post by: jocan2003 on July 25, 2014, 10:29:57 am
I've stockpiled two keys for christmas if you are patient enoughThat is very appreciated, but by the time you make the giveaway I will be out of the rough patch. I will however send you an extra key before your giveaway to show my appreciation once I get more comfortable with my income.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 25, 2014, 10:58:54 am
The New and Improved Planet Tab (http://data.glacicle.org/misc/uhoh/ssssh.png)
It can also show you where your money ... (http://data.glacicle.org/misc/uhoh/MONEY.png)
... and, in fact, all your resources are coming from. (http://data.glacicle.org/misc/uhoh/productionmode.png)
Also in this upcoming patch are two new shipsets to replace the temporary one we launched with (which has now become the 'remnant' shipset). In both these screens my Empire's color is Orange.
Here's the first one. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/TRON/screenshot8.png)
And here's the second. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80991744/TRON/screenshot9.png)
These aren't the final versions of the shipsets however - we only have their 'low poly' models at this time and there is still some additional variety we'd like to push in.
If you'd like to wait these changes (and some other improvements and bugfixes) should be coming out on the main branch very soon (assuming we don't run into dire bugs).
Post by: Astral on July 25, 2014, 01:38:26 pm
Would also help in lieu of my suggestion for freeing up basic food/water resources to the Unused section once megafarms and hydrogenators are built, though I would still like to see that implemented at some point.
Glad to see some tangible progress on the game so quickly. Are you guys trying for more of a "one small push at a time" or "throw a bunch of stuff out and fix it after" approach in development? Too early for me to say from what I can see.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 25, 2014, 02:19:20 pm
Post by: Nirur Torir on July 25, 2014, 04:39:41 pm
I don't know how much I like the trade routes mechanic. Maybe they'll grow on me, but I think they'll get annoying on non-small galaxies, and hope you add in the ability to fully automate them.
I think I like the diplomacy cards mechanic, and am interested in seeing what else you do with it. I worry that four cards per minute is balanced around small galaxies, and think it would be too easy for larger games to devolve into racing to buy the best cards every minute. I think this could be mitigated by adding in an extra slot for each player (possibly customizable - "I'll wait 50% longer between refreshes and double the purchase costs to increase my odds of getting annex cards). I would like to watch for specific cards, and have it alert me when they pop up, with a tone and a small visual ping.
Fleets seem bland right now, since support ships are just high/med/low damage and supply use, traded off with armor. I'd like to see more varied non-combat ships. Repair drone tenders, shield projectors, supply vessels, and maybe some electronic warfare ships (Target me! Look how threatening all this armor is!). It might be interesting if there were upgraded support ship modules that need maintenance (ships with such parts shouldn't be auto-built by defense planets). I'd really like some way to buy a resupply for fleets, and it would be nice it if the enemies' constant scouting into my core worlds didn't stop my ships from resupplying.
FTL interdiction cores would be an interesting addition.
I do not like how researching one field increases the costs of all fields. I don't think 'grab your favorite low-hanging fruit special projects, then pump your favorite tech' is as interesting a research strategy as spreading research out. I feel that sociology would be more interesting with a % increase, and the thermodynamics increasing generator supply by 10% is not at all worth a level of +10% damage from all weapons.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 25, 2014, 04:46:51 pm
Quote
think this could be mitigated by adding in an extra slot for each playerThis is the case right now, if you weren't aware.
Quote
but I think they'll get annoying on non-small galaxies, and hope you add in the ability to fully automate them.If you're talking about 150+ system galaxies then we wish you luck as we're not sure even the balance of the game scales well to those sizes - much less the macromanagement tools.
We would really prefer to add as little automation as possible. We'd rather provide better management tools to the player instead. The new planet screen should help out a lot in that respect, especially once it becomes slightly more geographically knowable. That said I don't know the tools will ever be able to help players effectively manage thousand-system-galaxies and the like -- but games of that scale rapidly become unmanageable in simple length (I apologize to whomever tries to actually complete a 1000 system galaxy game with non-pushover AI).
Post by: BFEL on July 25, 2014, 05:17:42 pm
Along with the GS we definitely need a more focused empire to empire diplomacy system. Because making space friends can be important.
Post by: etgfrog on July 25, 2014, 09:20:54 pm
I sure wasn't aware of this since I've seen all 4 cards get bought by the ai.Quotethink this could be mitigated by adding in an extra slot for each playerThis is the case right now, if you weren't aware.
The new planet layout looks good, but the thing I'm waiting on is the research trees being actually implemented. However, I will agree with the annoyance that increasing tech of one field increases the cost of other fields. Although for shields you could have it be that it protects all the support fleet. It would give a reason to have glass cannon support ships or have support ships generate shields for a flagship.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 25, 2014, 10:04:56 pm
Quote
I sure wasn't aware of this since I've seen all 4 cards get bought by the ai.I'm not sure what you're asking then -- I don't see how that applies to what you wrote... are you asking for each player to have a dedicated stack or 'slot' which can't be purchased by another player?
Post by: BFEL on July 25, 2014, 10:08:48 pm
I THINK that's what he's asking.QuoteI sure wasn't aware of this since I've seen all 4 cards get bought by the ai.I'm not sure what you're asking then -- I don't see how that applies to what you wrote... are you asking for each player to have a dedicated stack or 'slot' which can't be purchased by another player?
Also, if I understand the influence system right, its theoretically possible to hog ALL the influence in the universe, correct? And then not spend any of it and make diplomacy entirely inaccessible to errybody?
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 25, 2014, 10:16:39 pm
Post by: dennislp3 on July 25, 2014, 11:30:45 pm
Quotethink this could be mitigated by adding in an extra slot for each playerThis is the case right now, if you weren't aware.Quotebut I think they'll get annoying on non-small galaxies, and hope you add in the ability to fully automate them.If you're talking about 150+ system galaxies then we wish you luck as we're not sure even the balance of the game scales well to those sizes - much less the macromanagement tools.
We would really prefer to add as little automation as possible. We'd rather provide better management tools to the player instead. The new planet screen should help out a lot in that respect, especially once it becomes slightly more geographically knowable. That said I don't know the tools will ever be able to help players effectively manage thousand-system-galaxies and the like -- but games of that scale rapidly become unmanageable in simple length (I apologize to whomever tries to actually complete a 1000 system galaxy game with non-pushover AI).
I am a little confused by this line of thought...
The ability to make as large a galaxy as you want and the freedom that comes with that is a selling point...but right here the line of thought it "you can do that...but good luck cause it won't work hardly...we didn't make it to actually play at that level"?
Why even have that ability...
Post by: jocan2003 on July 25, 2014, 11:55:11 pm
Early access... they havent tested it at that level, and the macromanagement tool hasnt been configured to play at that level either. Its possible and i sure will try one at that level and then from there be able to make good suggestion for those who like that kind of gameplay.Quotethink this could be mitigated by adding in an extra slot for each playerThis is the case right now, if you weren't aware.Quotebut I think they'll get annoying on non-small galaxies, and hope you add in the ability to fully automate them.If you're talking about 150+ system galaxies then we wish you luck as we're not sure even the balance of the game scales well to those sizes - much less the macromanagement tools.
We would really prefer to add as little automation as possible. We'd rather provide better management tools to the player instead. The new planet screen should help out a lot in that respect, especially once it becomes slightly more geographically knowable. That said I don't know the tools will ever be able to help players effectively manage thousand-system-galaxies and the like -- but games of that scale rapidly become unmanageable in simple length (I apologize to whomever tries to actually complete a 1000 system galaxy game with non-pushover AI).
I am a little confused by this line of thought...
The ability to make as large a galaxy as you want and the freedom that comes with that is a selling point...but right here the line of thought it "you can do that...but good luck cause it won't work hardly...we didn't make it to actually play at that level"?
Why even have that ability...
The way i saw it is that they didnt have the manpower to test at that level, thus lacking information on how to properly balance and provide appropriate tools for those who like that scope/size/? ( Not sure right word here please somebody tell me?). Also since they did not test at that scale either, they simply dont know or dont believe if the game current auto-balancing mecanics will work properly. Well thats how i saw it at least.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 26, 2014, 01:20:22 am
Quote
Why even have that ability...Well for one the mod community I bet would appreciate there not being any hard and fast rules or code.
Also for some of the reasons jocan2003 stated. Even though such large-scale games may not work well presently that doesn't mean we can't or won't invent the tools necessary for it to work later. However first we want to make the 'target' system count games work excellently.
In any event we like to encourage folks to tinker and explore (albeit we try to advise players when they've gone 'a tweak too far'). This is part of the fun of a sandbox strategy game - exploration of the game space outside of the scope of 'a single campaign' and not being limited a 'one true experience'.
Post by: Nirur Torir on July 26, 2014, 11:33:37 am
A slot which can't be purchased by another player.QuoteI sure wasn't aware of this since I've seen all 4 cards get bought by the ai.I'm not sure what you're asking then -- I don't see how that applies to what you wrote... are you asking for each player to have a dedicated stack or 'slot' which can't be purchased by another player?
Also, if I understand the influence system right, its theoretically possible to hog ALL the influence in the universe, correct? And then not spend any of it and make diplomacy entirely inaccessible to errybody?You can terraform planets to produce influence resources instead of their initial resource, and you can fund influence from budget overflow.
Post by: BFEL on July 26, 2014, 12:22:28 pm
Also, if I understand the influence system right, its theoretically possible to hog ALL the influence in the universe, correct? And then not spend any of it and make diplomacy entirely inaccessible to errybody?You can terraform planets to produce influence resources instead of their initial resource, and you can fund influence from budget overflow.
I know that. What I'm talking about is that apparently there is literally a set amount of influence available in the universe, and it is theoretically possible for a single empire to have all of it.
Post by: Eagle_eye on July 26, 2014, 12:25:20 pm
Post by: Nirur Torir on August 01, 2014, 04:14:48 pm
Save is here. (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11872122/2014/Misc%20Bay12/Save%202.sr2) The system with the problem planet is off on its own in the lower left, with my fleet that is hotkeyed to 1.
Another bug: The new AI likes declaring early wars against 'weak' empires. Building a handful of missile support ships will make them stop declaring war, until you load. My guess is that it updates the fleet strengths from fleets, and then checks for weak empires, before it updates fleet strengths from planetary defense fleets. (I do not build armed scouts.)
Post by: BFEL on August 04, 2014, 08:31:22 am
Spoiler: Text Dump Eminent! (click to show/hide)
So what does all this text dumpiness mean in regards to SR2?
Well it gives me some ideas that I think you guys might like.
Specifically, I notice that the tech tree currently has a few "projects" that make you choose a bonus, and I feel this is a good thing, just like in MoO2 it gives empires a small push towards being more unique.
However, I think we can take this further, and we can use other systems that are already in place to do so.
The current planetary resource thing has the resources carry a bonus to certain things, I.E. grain gives extra pop, etc.
This can be used to create a larger push towards unique empires by shaping them through the resources they obtain, and how they upgrade them.
By adding "tech discount" bonuses to different resources you could allow for situations where say...a race that gets lots of grain and fruit, and upgrades the planets of those resources obtains a discount to say...Organic Technology research, and having upgraded electronics would maybe discount Sensor technology or Cloaking.
Or we could take it a step further and have all non-basic tech "trees" be unlocked by the hypothetical science tree, and instead of discounting things make it weight what new trees you discover based on said resource bonuses.
This would allow for empires to naturally become less cookie-cutter and develop their own personalities in game. At least I think so.
Post by: Drakale on August 04, 2014, 09:28:36 am
I would add that Moo2 also a good planet value system. Just the right balance so you aren't screwed over by a bad start(most of the time) and likely enough to throw a few treasure planet that are sure to spark some tensions between neighbors.
I would also add Sword of the Stars
Pro - Excellent tech tree, decent space combat, good AI (after a bunch of patches), interesting FTL travel diversity
Con - Awful interface, bad audio, bland planets.
Post by: Shadowlord on August 04, 2014, 10:14:09 am
MoO 2's biggest problem, IMHO, is that the AI isn't smart enough to deal with the player doing anything clever. For example, building a fleet composed entirely of ships which capture the AI's ships. It's obviously possible to mitigate this strategy by modifying your ship designs, or sending fleets composed of lots of tiny ships instead of a few larger ships, but the AI does not do either.
Also, I don't the interface in Sword of the Stars was anywhere near awful. Unless, of course, you're talking about SotS II, in which case I fully agree. I can't fathom how it went from an intuitive interface in SotS I to one that constantly fights to keep you from doing what you want to do in SotS II.
(I didn't read the rest of the thread, so I have no comment on it. I was really looking for news on SR2 on the last two pages. :V)
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 14, 2014, 11:13:58 pm
To celebrate the launch of our third patch here are three redeemable keys for Star Ruler 2. Be courteous to your fellow Dwarves/Elves/Humans/Goblins/Terrifying Beasts of Yore and please post whenever you've taken one and which one you've taken. We hope you all enjoy this update to the game and look forward to reading your feedback and reactions.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on August 14, 2014, 11:21:48 pm
Post by: TripJack on August 14, 2014, 11:46:47 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 15, 2014, 12:07:10 am
There are many more updates to come and tomorrow those of y'all who weren't lucky enough to have been on to snag a key but wanted to check the game out are nonetheless in luck!
Tomorrow (August 15th) at 4PM EDT/10PM CEST we will be holding a Free For All match as part of a new thing we're starting: "Dev-astation Fridays". Each Friday we'll host a game where y'all can play with us devs. The rules and so forth will change each week and be announced at the top of the Steam Community Discussion board.
Though the game will be closed to spectators who wish to watch from inside Star Ruler 2, we will stream it through our official Twitch channel as well. (http://www.twitch.tv/BlindMindStudios) We will also post the match to YouTube -- which gives us extra incentive to be at the top of our game! :D
We hope some of y'all will drop by and/or participate - with Drasca and SanderB (both of them are A-list players in the community at this time) both potentially playing in the game it's going to be one hell of a match.
Post by: BFEL on August 15, 2014, 06:46:31 am
O.o *hugs Firgof* YOU DO LISTEN TO MY SUGGESTIONS! :D
Post by: Firgof Umbra on August 15, 2014, 10:22:57 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on October 16, 2014, 06:19:25 pm
Major New Stuff!
* Ships are no longer constricted to predefined hulls.
* We have introduced a Game Settings tab to the New Game window, allowing you to further customize your game universe.
* Community tab which lets you upload, comment, download, and rate other people's designs.
* A victory screen, complete with a statistical breakdown showing how the universe ended.
* Planets have gained "conditions" - unique properties which add to the planet's natural resource(s).
* A new galaxy type: Dumbbell
We've also updated the AI to be a stronger challenge against players and taught it how to understand more of the game and removed the distance cost from Fling beacons (now it only costs an FTL amount proportionate to the ship's size!)
Post by: BFEL on October 18, 2014, 07:45:12 am
Post by: Sinistar on October 22, 2014, 05:09:43 am
We've sent out another Star Ruler 2 update to be transmitted into space by wifi routers everywhere. Read about some of the highlights below, or click this link for a full detailed changelog. (http://steamcommunity.com/games/star-ruler-2/announcements/detail/216496541941331111)
Major New Stuff!
* Ships are no longer constricted to predefined hulls.
I still can't wrap my head around this.
I mean, I'm blown away. This is simply bat-shit insane awesome, if I understand it correctly.
So what you are telling me I can basically create any (2D) shape I want, and the game will translate it to 3D (well, add depth, no more than that I guess; spherical ships are forever out of favor in 4x games), apply appropriate textures and voila, a new ship?
I like it. A lot.:o
Post by: Orb on October 22, 2014, 09:22:12 am
Just double checked. You can change the hull design (weapon placements, maybe make an arm somewhere with a supply storage), but it isn't reflected in the 3D model. However, the design layout still matters for combat (arcs of weapons + directional damage).
"The engine will automatically select the ship model from your shipset closest to the shape you drew. "
Post by: Sinistar on October 22, 2014, 09:26:30 am
Oh well, it sounded too good to be true. Thanks for clearing it up.
Still, this game seems to be coming along quite nicely and I'm well pleased with that.
Post by: Trevasaurus on January 29, 2015, 07:14:36 am
I haven't messed around with combat too much yet but I like the idea of having flagships as the anchor to fleets, cutting down on the micromanagement aspect, which can return to friendly space to rearm and replace any losses of the smaller fleet ships without a lot of direct involvement from me. The auto-building system defense fleets are also a nice touch and help to reduce the micromanagement levels again by providing a protective buffer to your systems while you are focused on the other side of the galaxy.
One last note, I was messing around with the galaxy generation to create a slightly larger map for a more serious game now that I have the basics down and created a galactic cluster of 10 separate galaxies each one home to between 50 - 100 star systems. While I'm sure my computer would melt trying to play a game with such a huge amount of real estate the mere fact that the generator can handle HUGE (think billions of systems) galaxies and even better multi-galatic environments is really cool.
Props to the developers, this is already a lot of fun to play I cant wait to see what it's like once it is finished.
Post by: forsaken1111 on January 29, 2015, 09:42:25 am
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on January 29, 2015, 11:20:47 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on January 29, 2015, 03:17:40 pm
Post by: Trevasaurus on January 29, 2015, 05:25:08 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on January 29, 2015, 05:33:12 pm
I'd be keen for a multiplayer game but I'm an Aussie so the time difference could be a pain, does anyone know how long a typical game goes for?Several hours at least on any decent map. We could shoot for sometime on the weekend if you like, would make the time difference less painful
Post by: Firgof Umbra on January 29, 2015, 05:35:33 pm
Also, coming soon: Trading cards, emoticons, and backgrounds. Shown here is the rare profile background on my profile.
http://i.imgur.com/1ajvwy8.jpg
Post by: jocan2003 on January 29, 2015, 07:42:40 pm
Post by: Trevasaurus on January 30, 2015, 05:36:06 am
Several hours at least on any decent map. We could shoot for sometime on the weekend if you like, would make the time difference less painful
Yeah I would be keen for this, I'm on steam http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198027580754/ hit me up sometime when you are free.
Post by: BFEL on January 30, 2015, 08:09:11 am
Has the tech tree become more then "antimatter" yet?
Was about the only actual non-statistics upgrade when I bought this, and I've really been waiting for it to turn into an actual tech tree instead of...well *A* tech before I got back into it.
Post by: forsaken1111 on January 30, 2015, 08:34:20 am
So I haven't really logged on in awhile.Have you used it since they changed to the tech grid? Its much cooler now. You can advanced some techs via influence or cash spending and it is a nice big tech grid.
Has the tech tree become more then "antimatter" yet?
Was about the only actual non-statistics upgrade when I bought this, and I've really been waiting for it to turn into an actual tech tree instead of...well *A* tech before I got back into it.
Post by: BFEL on January 30, 2015, 11:01:44 am
Post by: Astral on February 17, 2015, 03:26:34 pm
I do find it quite sad, though. Star Ruler 2 was a very playable early access upon release, and it's only gotten better (Mod support already? You guys are my heroes), but other early access games have had multiple months or even years, and still have very little to show for it (I'm looking at you, Rust and Maia).
Played a few hours in a single game, and the game itself tended to get a bit laggy framerate wise. 3 computer opponents and myself, on The Expanse map. Not something I'm too worried about, as the game got massive once I decided to ignore the enemy surrender agreement immediately after getting The Revenant, but it was fun.
I also noticed that a Scout I had built in the above game, much later, did not have the Explore option available.
I'm looking at making a minor mod that extends the Virile race trait to more than just the home world. It's nice as a primary base (Along with Pekelm and the extra food), but the effectiveness really falls off after early game. Perhaps making it cost more than one point, in that case.
The research system is nice change of pace from normal 4Xs, though I've noticed that researching, say, the Skip Drive in one location doesn't always unlock it at the other. Is this intentional, or does researching it twice give a greater effect or reduced cost on the item being researched? I feel like the tech tree could be separated a bit better, rather than having everything linked in the inbetweens.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on February 17, 2015, 04:40:15 pm
Quote
I'm looking at making a minor mod that extends the Virile race trait to more than just the home world. It's nice as a primary base (Along with Pekelm and the extra food), but the effectiveness really falls off after early game. Perhaps making it cost more than one point, in that case.
Be aware that the next stable build of the game will change races and race traits significantly.
All of the old non-FTL and non-Government traits will be removed while new 'Life' traits will be added as seen here. (http://data.glacicle.org/sora/sr2/not_really.png)
Post by: Astral on February 17, 2015, 04:55:55 pm
The Mechanoid modifier made me make a sound that is inappropriate in formal conversation. Looking forward to that update.QuoteI'm looking at making a minor mod that extends the Virile race trait to more than just the home world. It's nice as a primary base (Along with Pekelm and the extra food), but the effectiveness really falls off after early game. Perhaps making it cost more than one point, in that case.
Be aware that the next stable build of the game will change races and race traits significantly.
All of the old non-FTL and non-Government traits will be removed while new 'Life' traits will be added as seen here. (http://data.glacicle.org/sora/sr2/not_really.png)
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 17, 2015, 04:57:55 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on February 17, 2015, 05:34:16 pm
If you'd like to try out the new races they're already in the Experimental branch - instructions on how to switch which branch your game is on are available on the steam discussion boards.
Post by: Astral on February 17, 2015, 07:06:19 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 17, 2015, 07:12:45 pm
Post by: Astral on February 18, 2015, 12:03:06 pm
I do really like the concept there, though. Seems weak early game, but every single planet they inhabit will have labor, and since there's no requirement for food or water, these planets can be terraformed to Level 1s once your income starts rolling in.
Edit: Once I got a semi-stable game going via a complete reinstall under the experimental branch, I got to play with them a bit more extensively. The labor cost increase is a must, but is it based off an ever-increasing number for that planet, or does it scale back against current population? If the former, then some rebalancing may be in order.
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 18, 2015, 12:27:18 pm
Post by: Astral on February 18, 2015, 01:05:08 pm
I've terraformed entire systems of food and water into self-sustaining level 1 planets that boost my income by a good amount, causing almost exponential growth once I get the ball going.
I did notice that I can use the FTL population warp to bypass the Remnant Blockade in the Expanse map type, allowing me to simply put a planetary defense grid and artillery cannon and clear out the system... eventually.
I also noticed that they are unable to use water to bond on planets, which sort of killed my plan to use all these otherwise useless water asteroids and planets.
Post by: sebcool on February 18, 2015, 01:06:36 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 18, 2015, 01:07:49 pm
You have to have a labor producing planet selected, say, your homeworld, then right click on the planet you're attempting to terraform.Right, I know HOW to terraform. What I mean is that when I selected a labor producing planet and right clicked another planet I got no option to terraform. I'll test again. This is an experimental build so maybe bug?
I also noticed that they are unable to use water to bond on planets, which sort of killed my plan to use all these otherwise useless water asteroids and planets.I think the whole water bonding mechanic is removed right now. I haven't been able to do it with any race.
Post by: Astral on February 18, 2015, 01:08:27 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 18, 2015, 01:09:19 pm
I had to reinstall the game with the experimental branch selected, as it had some major issues before doing so.Hm, I will try that. Terraforming will certainly make things much easier.
Post by: Astral on February 18, 2015, 01:39:20 pm
A good idea would probably be to add a slider to determine how much of your labour/cash you want to spend on population, possibly empire wide.
Well, the labor cost goes up, while the cash doesn't, which makes it manageable once you get some factories and their respective research upgrades, but early game it is somewhat painful to start.
They're definitely a late game powerhouse race, in no small part due to the fact that you can terraform any useless planets into what you need at the time; need more research, go with Chemicals, Defense, Explosives, etc.
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 18, 2015, 01:43:52 pm
1. The fact that every water and food world is essentially just a world to be terraformed gives them a stupendious potential for late game pressure stacking. And honestly, if you DON'T terraform those worlds you are just shooting yourself in the food because every food/water world you erase is one less that your organic enemies can use. I see no reason not to take the planetbuster and destroy every single water world you find.
2. The amount of clicking is too damn high. I know its an experimental build and is the first implementation of the feature so this is just feedback, not complaints. Building population is far too micromanagement intensive. If I could start a project to "Build to X pop" and let it run, that would be preferable. It would still suck down money and labor as it should, just leaves me free to concentrate on strategy and no micromanage my robot factory.
Post by: Astral on February 18, 2015, 01:54:57 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 18, 2015, 01:56:23 pm
One thing I would like to see: Building a Gate in the origin and target system reduces the total cost of sending population to the planet. Those costs add up, at least until you run around with a Planetary Thruster equipped homeworld.The FTL energy cost was nothing for me once I got a planet with FTL crystals up to level 3 with two FTL storage on it. I literally couldn't use it all up.
Post by: Astral on February 18, 2015, 01:58:13 pm
Edit: Then I got a Stellar Generator, and can make level 2 planets from the protoplanets created. This game will be over shortly.
Yeah, that was dumb. It's the sort of thing where if you don't stop them early game, you WILL be assimilated by their economical might. I could colonize and terraform entire systems in about a minute, with the core world of The Expanse map, Orathi Prime, acting as a nearly 4k Labor/minute staging area for massive amounts of population, and 3 fully upgraded FTL Crystal worlds providing ample teleportation juice.
I did experience issues with the Planetary Thrusters on that map type, in which it did not want to go past a certain point. It's cool that they were able to use Gates, though. Imagine a Vast Plains planet, laden with artillery and planetary defense systems, jumping through a gate created in the middle of your home system in less than a second.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on February 20, 2015, 07:25:27 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 21, 2015, 02:20:44 am
Post by: exdeath on February 23, 2015, 01:49:55 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 23, 2015, 01:50:20 pm
This game has 3d space or not?Yes
Post by: exdeath on February 23, 2015, 02:48:23 pm
This game has 3d space or not?Yes
Thanks, anyway I searched this wiki and found this:
Star Ruler 2 provides examples of:
SR 2
2-D Space: Fleets align themselves along the galactic plane, though ships can drift out of alignment and debris will fly in whatever direction it pleases.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/StarRuler
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 23, 2015, 02:53:03 pm
So a fair answer would probably be that each star system has its own local plane which the ships move on but are not constrained to. Planets are all aligned to that local plane but stars are scattered in 3d space so can be above or below each other by quite a bit.
It is a compromise as true 3d space with no common orientation will quickly become a confused mess for most people.
In any case, the fleet battles as they stand right now are more or less "move in range and sit still bashing away at each other until one of you you either die or run away" there isn't much reason to micromanage or move around tactically
Post by: Tnx on February 23, 2015, 04:01:56 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on February 23, 2015, 07:17:42 pm
Post by: Tnx on February 23, 2015, 08:59:17 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 03, 2015, 12:10:08 am
Our ship parts model kit is nearing completion and when that's ready I'll be kitbashing ships into the game left and right.
Jon Micheelsen is applying my paint templates to the models as you read this. (http://i.imgur.com/rbV223k.png)
Things are going to start moving real fast as we spool up to full power to try and meet that target date.
We apologize to anyone on experimental for the flurry of updates that are going to start raining down.
The next stable branch is going to get pretty crazy (http://i.imgur.com/PPRmEDV.png).
Post by: Astral on March 03, 2015, 12:15:04 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 03, 2015, 12:16:10 am
Quote
Hopefully they come with a slew of new offensive and defensive subsystemsWe expect to debut them with a host of subsystems which compliment the new behaviors, yes.
Post by: Edmus on March 03, 2015, 12:27:21 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 03, 2015, 12:31:33 am
Other support ships will act according to their behaviors: Artillery backs off from the frontline, Brawlers move up to the frontline, and Shields run over to block shots wherever damage is being dealt to the flagship or fleet members. Lancers should move together, swoop into an enemy fleet, and then fly out of range of cannonfire. So on and so forth.
That's our intent with the new behaviors - to make fleets act organically like armies rather than an unmoving blob with cannons poking out.
Post by: Astral on March 03, 2015, 12:33:31 am
Post by: Edmus on March 03, 2015, 05:26:40 am
Post by: Sinistar on March 03, 2015, 06:43:26 am
TACTICS(http://i.imgur.com/jJsXV7r.jpg)
This sounds just too orgasmic to be true.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 03, 2015, 11:11:41 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 03, 2015, 11:14:06 am
Post by: Sinistar on March 03, 2015, 11:43:29 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 03, 2015, 11:47:44 am
Post by: Sinistar on March 03, 2015, 11:52:53 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 03, 2015, 11:54:54 am
Stable (the default branch) doesn't come with so if you want to check it out, you'll need to switch to Experimental. Instructions on how to do so are available here. (http://steamcommunity.com/app/282590/discussions/1/45350791307259973/)
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 09, 2015, 06:29:33 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OFhVtqfDBQ
Post by: Xantalos on March 09, 2015, 06:38:17 pm
Post by: LoSboccacc on March 09, 2015, 08:06:01 pm
Is there any way to have a planet trade routes built automatically, in game or as a mod?
Every time some random Plane is captured reshuffling all resources to keep that level four world ruining is a chore.
Post by: etgfrog on March 09, 2015, 08:17:21 pm
Post by: Astral on March 10, 2015, 05:39:24 am
This game still looks good on paper but I really hate the trade mechanic.I find that to be part of the fun, personally, as managing the worlds well shapes what your empire can do, but for a bit less micromanagement you can simply right click the planet and select "Auto Import to Level X" which will use any existing and future resources to attempt to level the planet.
Is there any way to have a planet trade routes built automatically, in game or as a mod?
Every time some random Plane is captured reshuffling all resources to keep that level four world ruining is a chore.
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 10, 2015, 05:53:17 am
This game still looks good on paper but I really hate the trade mechanic.You can auto-import and they will grab whatever they need provided you HAVE what they need but the trade system makes certain strategies possible, like targeting the enemy's water planets. :D
Is there any way to have a planet trade routes built automatically, in game or as a mod?
Every time some random Plane is captured reshuffling all resources to keep that level four world ruining is a chore.
Post by: LoSboccacc on March 10, 2015, 07:25:13 am
This game still looks good on paper but I really hate the trade mechanic.You can auto-import and they will grab whatever they need provided you HAVE what they need but the trade system makes certain strategies possible, like targeting the enemy's water planets. :D
Is there any way to have a planet trade routes built automatically, in game or as a mod?
Every time some random Plane is captured reshuffling all resources to keep that level four world ruining is a chore.
wat
why nobody told me! been waiting this since http://forums.blind-mind.com/index.php?topic=6094.msg44352#msg44352
back to star ruling then!
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 10, 2015, 07:26:02 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 10, 2015, 07:32:40 am
Official trailer's out. We're releasing March 27th.Just a suggestion: Wipe the steam workshop on release. There are a lot of mods on there made for old versions and it would be good to do a fresh start IMO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OFhVtqfDBQ
Post by: Majestic7 on March 10, 2015, 07:51:01 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 10, 2015, 07:53:49 am
So does the game have actual, working diplomacy or is it a mess of psychotic AIs doing random things as most 4Xs?The diplomacy system is centered around influence and action cards which you play. It is far and away the most nonstandard diplomacy model I have ever seen. There is none of the standard diplomatic options you see in games like Civ. Its more like you're all part of a galactic council playing actions and influence against each other, on which everyone votes or uses influence to alter the outcome.
Post by: Sinistar on March 10, 2015, 11:39:15 am
To expand a little on forsaken's post - during the game, you generate influence point by various means, either planet resources, iirc some special buildings etc. You then, in turn, use this points to buy diplomacy cards. A fixed amount of cards can be seen and bought by all players in the diplomacy screen and every 30s a minimum of one new is generated. If no cards are bought in the current interval, the oldest gets scrapped and is replaced by a new one. If more cards are bough, the same amount of new ones are added, but only at the end of interval. The cards that are not scrapped or bough have their IP price reduced with the next interval. So in theory you can get initially very expensive card relatively cheap if you wait a few minutes... only if AI/other player doesn't snatch it before you.
So when you have this cards you can play them. Each card, in addition to having "buying" price, also has "using" price - you have to spend IPs again, to use them. Helps limit the card spam, you see. Anyways, cards range from "name a planet" (which names target planet in your empire and gives it boost in certain areas for few minutes), spying on other empires, to "annex system" which does exactly what it says on the tin. Now, you can't just go around annexing systems on your whims though. See, when someone plays mentioned annex or spy or just about any other card that also interacts with other empires, this count as a "proposal" in galactic senate. Players may either agree or disagree with such proposals, and you do that again with cards, like "negotiate" card and such. You can play as many as such cards on a proposal as you have IPs and actual cards. Depending on a final yes/no score the proposal is either rejected or accepted. So all in all not far from real life senate, hehe.
In the end you get diplomacy that is a kind of a mini-game within a game and requires some actual planing and occasional twitch card buying, far from your standard, static "give me 200 gold for this tech" you get in games like Civ. It also helps mitigate the problem of AI acting like a robot just going along it's scripted "does this player have strong military? If not ATTACKATTACKATTACK" pattern, the problem that plagues oh so many 4x games. This is all veiled behind the senate play, and with diplomacy being seen to everyone, also negates either the feeling of AIs having better deals between each other than towards player AND also gives feeling the player is not a center of all attention. All in all, I like that, I like that a lot.
This is a thing with SR2 as well as SR1 - this games are full of neat ideas. The guys behind them are not afraid to try something new and different. While both games lack some polish in certain areas, imho this just makes you love them more - like a child that might not be amongst top 10 MIT graduates, but you can see he was given a lot or even more than usual amount of love by it's parents regardless.
But that's just my opinion I got since I recently purchased SR2. Been a while since I payed more than 10€ for game, and an early access to boot (iirc last time I spent big moneys on a game was when Distant Worlds: Universe came out). Not regretting one bit of it though. ;)
Post by: Majestic7 on March 11, 2015, 02:47:18 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 17, 2015, 03:43:58 pm
Two more days until we go into feature-freeze. Then it'll be a week of debugging and polishing the smaller bits of SR2 - and then we launch!
There's lots going on lately behind the scenes. We got Scott Manley interested in doing an overview on the game, for one. An interview with eXplorminate, some reviews in the works, and the two new shipsets, the orbital model replacements, and so forth are coming along nicely. All in all things are looking good for launch - we don't think we'll be able to pack in everything we wanted to before the game goes live - but we're already past the lion's share.
Speaking of: If you have a Let's Player who you'd think would enjoy the game, give us a shout! I've got a stack of keys looking for a home and I could use your help in searching out all the best people to send them to.
We'll talk more specifically about post-release content and updates when we get closer to our launch date.
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 17, 2015, 04:01:01 pm
Are rings the limit or can we make a dyson sphere? swarm?
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 17, 2015, 04:13:35 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 17, 2015, 04:21:35 pm
Ringworlds are the present limit (though you can also build artificial worlds and star-driven forges and so on now). Who knows what an expansion or two might bring? ;)Very exciting. :)
Post by: Majestic7 on March 18, 2015, 02:26:46 am
The diplomacy system is quite awesome, regarding the cards and all, but the one-to-one interactions are bland. There is zero character and no explanations regarding why a faction refuses a deal, accepts a deal or declares war. Messages/events about those things would be nice. ("Intelligence report states that Hoonans are worried about you grabbing all the stars and start preparing for war", that kind of stuff.)
I like fleets, the whole thing about automated smaller ships following the lead of a capital ship. Much easier than microbuilding fleets by hand, while still allowing you to customize them if you like. Have there been any talk about putting in fleet experience levels? That would give some further distinction between fleets, if you could choose them special trainings or the like.
Espionage coming it at any point? Leaders and/or internal political systems?
Post by: Sinistar on March 18, 2015, 02:45:12 am
Thanks for the diplomacy explanation, it sounds interesting. As long as it is connected to what happens on the galactic map scope too, it might be very fun. (Some games in the past have had the problem of diplomatic AI and the campaign map AI not speaking to each other, resulting in psychotic action.)A bit of an update to diplomacy:
So I've played a bit more and figured out I've completely missed in my first few games how you actually declare war and such on someone. And it's very simple but also a tiny bit basic. In diplomacy screen, when you meet a new empire, you can click on them and either declare war, offer/demand subjugation, offer gift (all resources, including cards) or offer treaty (alliance, mutual defense, trade agreement, vision). Personally I feel like this puts SR2's diplomacy in a bit peculiar situation. On one hand you have the senate system which is one of the better and more fun ideas of diplomacy option I've seen in recent years in games, but on the other you have sort of a separate, bare-bones alliance/war system. Which is not to say the later does not function, it's completely ok. But being spoiled by senate voting and cards, I'd LOVE to see even mentioned trade pacts and such somehow be implemented in senate play, be it straight voting issue like others (don't personally think that would work) or in some sort of a closed door agreement between two or more parties... which tbh is kinda what happens now... but I'd love if it could be expanded on with cards somehow. But yeah, not completely sure how that would work. If you lock ALL interactions to cards you can get yourself in situations like "oh you feel like waging war? Well, play a card. Don't have a card? Well, that sucks for you." But would it make sense if you'd get a "declare war" card for free if you chose more war-like political system like empire (since you already get different cards according to political system)? Or even have few areas in tech tree that would yield such cards (like you have few for other cards now)? Dunno, maybe?
As I am a lazy git so I haven't been following either the developer's blog or official forums to see what is Blind Mind Studios' vision on this so maybe there will be more diplomatic options down the road. Which, I have to stress out again, is not to say diplomacy outside senate doesn't work - it does the job just fine. On one hand, I do miss the more life-like interaction you'd get in, say, Civ games, with leaders being all passive-aggressive over certain issues and spouting empty rhetoric left and right. But on the other, that facade is quickly brought down when a civ on a completely other side of the world declares war on you because you refused to give them free tech so maybe sometimes it's better for a game not to even try to make AI opponents human-like (then again in SR2 you don't usually play against humans in the first place... but I digress).
Also, you CAN expect, sooner or later, the AI to declare war on you without any obvious provocation. Once empires can't expand anymore into neutral territory, you have to expand to neighbor's...
edit: And while I've been writing, I see you've actually ninja'd me yourself, basically saying exactly what my thoughts were! I was about to post this, but left for breakfast. If I didn't, I'd actually ninja you... talk about chances. :D
Post by: Majestic7 on March 18, 2015, 02:50:05 am
Declaring war on someone could be a one way to end a negotiation for demanding something from someone or the like, the ultimate "NO!" to how the negotiations are going.
Basically the diplomacy cards would work as they do now, plus there'd be some specific one-to-one cards and senate cards.
Post by: Sinistar on March 18, 2015, 03:07:08 am
As for other - hm, never though about this could be made like a Zeitgeist vote, but I could see this working. I like it. To the SR2 forums, then!
p.s.: I for one like how tech tree is made... but to each his own. Some racial tech would be nice though, yes. Oh, and fleet exp would be sweet.
Post by: Majestic7 on March 18, 2015, 03:42:56 am
Post by: Sinistar on March 18, 2015, 04:02:08 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 18, 2015, 11:09:58 am
We got shiny bits. (http://i.imgur.com/76qPDPN.jpg)
... and we got painted bits. (http://i.imgur.com/SbnZM3d.jpg)
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 18, 2015, 12:03:17 pm
PBR Update is starting to rear its head on Experimental as you might've noticed if you picked the (new and expanded) Volkur shipset.Wow, that really does make a difference.
We got shiny bits. (http://i.imgur.com/76qPDPN.jpg)
... and we got painted bits. (http://i.imgur.com/SbnZM3d.jpg)
Is the stellar construction stuff in experimental as well? I might try to organize a game at some point.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 18, 2015, 12:14:40 pm
Post by: Nirur Torir on March 19, 2015, 03:15:03 pm
The plant people are interesting. Their flagships have a fixed 10 control and a fixed (fairly high) regeneration rate, but they don't get as many hexes per ship. They can also use their special sinew hexes as a sort of light armor in front of turrets and engines.
Their default battleship and heavy carrier designs have frighteningly exposed power generators without backups.
I like their single giant spores instead of a stream of colony ships. I think their colonization time estimate is based off regular colony ships, though.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 19, 2015, 04:24:36 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 21, 2015, 09:22:19 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 21, 2015, 05:24:34 pm
So you know "Unobtanium"? The resource that can morph into any other resource?
It can morph into the resource "Ringworld" and become a ringworld.
The planet vanishes to inside the sun when you do this and it does not look like a ringworld but it has the same massive space as a ringworld.
Post by: Edmus on March 21, 2015, 06:26:34 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 21, 2015, 06:28:42 pm
That is such a bizarre sounding bug... heheheThis is why we test! :)
Post by: Nirur Torir on March 21, 2015, 10:21:06 pm
Oh... wow.Mine was shoved out of the star, and now rotates around nothing. It looks to be the same size as any other planet, but has all the massive build space.
So you know "Unobtanium"? The resource that can morph into any other resource?
It can morph into the resource "Ringworld" and become a ringworld.
The planet vanishes to inside the sun when you do this and it does not look like a ringworld but it has the same massive space as a ringworld.
Planetary thrusters built on Unobtanium ringworlds do not crash the game. I am going to build a bunch of weapons and send this thing at my foes.
I learned a few other things, too!
1) Warp-fling stations are awesome.
2) I need more FTL storage.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
One of my rivals is the space-faring race. I think they lost their mothership to remnants and then surrendered to me. I'm going to give them a planet with a construction resource and a construction ship, to see if they do anything interesting (Probably not, since I don't think they have the funds to start a scaffold).
Post by: Sinistar on March 22, 2015, 06:01:26 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 22, 2015, 07:32:40 am
Hehe yeah, fling beacon is pretty damn silly-awesome. As for Nylli/star children race - I think AI doesn't really know how to play them right now (even patch notes say AI has only basic understanding currently) as in all my games that they were in, they were really stagnating and eventually offered to be subjugated by one of the empires. In all honesty, I think star children trait is pretty hard-mode even for human player, especially if coupled with slip-stream FTL. That is not to say it is not fun to play (because playing a mothership-based race IS pretty damn fun). It's just you need to plan you actions more and further, need more micromanaging and can get shafted by planet-not-having-resources-you-need even easier than when playing other races... At least to my understanding. It could be me just not understanding them though.Isn't it easy for someone to come wipe out billions of people by popping the stations?
Post by: Sinistar on March 22, 2015, 10:47:50 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 23, 2015, 08:08:11 pm
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Full patch notes are available here: http://steamcommunity.com/gid/103582791435727010/announcements/detail/126438500983066427
We look forward to the launch on Friday and hope y'all enjoy what's on offer. Also, I can confirm that at launch we'll be having a 4-pack bundle option and a SR1/SR2 bundle option.
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 25, 2015, 06:22:22 am
One question.
Is there actually a use for Morphic Materials?
As far as I can tell they don't help with exported pressure and since your homeworld never has native pressure it doesn't do anything there. Is it only for planets not exporting to your homeworld?
I mean I guess you don't have to export things to the starter world with food/water but I feel like that is pretty common.
Post by: Majestic7 on March 25, 2015, 07:04:05 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 25, 2015, 07:44:59 am
Uh, I thought the point of morphic materials was that they add the pressure of the stuff the planet is producing and/or exporting to the planet when imported to it? Have I misunderstood completely? The wiki/manual seems to be totally out of date.From my testing yesterday, sending morphic materials to a planet which is NOT exporting to another will indeed increase its pressure for the native resource. Sending them to a planet which is exporting to another had no effect at all.
Honestly they seem more or less useless. I certainly don't get excited when I find them.
Post by: Majestic7 on March 25, 2015, 07:52:47 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 25, 2015, 07:53:54 am
Post by: Bremen on March 25, 2015, 02:11:05 pm
Uh, I thought the point of morphic materials was that they add the pressure of the stuff the planet is producing and/or exporting to the planet when imported to it? Have I misunderstood completely? The wiki/manual seems to be totally out of date.From my testing yesterday, sending morphic materials to a planet which is NOT exporting to another will indeed increase its pressure for the native resource. Sending them to a planet which is exporting to another had no effect at all.
Honestly they seem more or less useless. I certainly don't get excited when I find them.
I believe if you export them to a planet, they add 2 pressure of the planet's resource to that planet, regardless of whether it's exporting or not.
IE, say I have a planet that produces chemicals (3 research pressure) and is exporting it to another world. If I export metamorphic materials to the chems world, then it gains 2 research pressure and the world it's exporting to continues to gain 3 research pressure.
Post by: Sinistar on March 25, 2015, 02:14:55 pm
Also, no need to add any sort of pressure on exporting planets. You need pressure on your producing planets. Unless, of course, your exporting also works as a smaller producing planet.
Post by: Trevasaurus on March 26, 2015, 02:23:21 am
Post by: Majestic7 on March 26, 2015, 02:25:07 am
I normally use morphics on a planet producing something like medicine, where i will import resources up to lvl2 to unlock the native resource and then send 10-20 morphics and aluminum (thats the one that increase pressure cap right?) and produce a crazy cash world generating 2mil credits.
Sounds like the prime target for a planet buster...
Post by: Sinistar on March 26, 2015, 07:19:32 am
Then again, the downside of this, depending on a game situation, is eco. materials are only found on asteroids...
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 26, 2015, 07:59:31 am
Post by: Bremen on March 26, 2015, 12:20:44 pm
I think Fulrate is one of the materials that adds a bunch to the pressure cap? I don't remember. I'm going to start populating the wiki once we hit release tomorrow. Haven't done so until now because things might change.
I don't remember fulrate increasing the cap, but I could be wrong. I also remember that in beta there was a rare level 3 resource that doubled a planet's pressure cap; I don't know if it's still in there but it let you make some really hilarious planets.
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 26, 2015, 12:24:19 pm
It's called Corinium or something like that. Gives $$$ pressure and doubles the base pressure cap.I think Fulrate is one of the materials that adds a bunch to the pressure cap? I don't remember. I'm going to start populating the wiki once we hit release tomorrow. Haven't done so until now because things might change.
I don't remember fulrate increasing the cap, but I could be wrong. I also remember that in beta there was a rare level 3 resource that doubled a planet's pressure cap; I don't know if it's still in there but it let you make some really hilarious planets.
Post by: Sinistar on March 26, 2015, 12:28:58 pm
I also remember that in beta there was a rare level 3 resource that doubled a planet's pressure cap; I don't know if it's still in there but it let you make some really hilarious planets.This might be Unobtanium, but I'm not sure.
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 26, 2015, 12:31:25 pm
Unobtanium is the one that can morph into any other resource, including ringworld.I also remember that in beta there was a rare level 3 resource that doubled a planet's pressure cap; I don't know if it's still in there but it let you make some really hilarious planets.This might be Unobtanium, but I'm not sure.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 26, 2015, 12:33:46 pm
Aluminum adds 1 max pressure and gives 1 labor pressure - effectively it's free to import.
Post by: Bremen on March 26, 2015, 01:15:10 pm
Earlier in the game's life it was Hydroconductors that doubled pressure. Now it's Corinium, yes.
Aluminum adds 1 max pressure and gives 1 labor pressure - effectively it's free to import.
I'm fairly sure Aluminum is 1 max pressure and 6 labor pressure, actually. Which makes it a real nice level 0 resource; iron is only like 2-4 labor pressure (+ the bonus to support ship build speed).
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 26, 2015, 01:18:19 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 27, 2015, 08:03:47 pm
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on March 27, 2015, 08:29:20 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on March 27, 2015, 08:36:15 pm
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on March 27, 2015, 08:40:30 pm
Still no plans. We still have a mac and a broken mac build.
Sounds like progress!
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 01, 2015, 04:18:25 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 01, 2015, 04:22:14 pm
Also, Star Ruler 2 is now available for purchase on GOG.com.
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 01, 2015, 04:26:24 pm
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Prepping for release on Facebook with our Macromedia Shockwave port.giggle
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 02, 2015, 01:09:11 pm
Post by: Frumple on April 02, 2015, 02:37:17 pm
Still a lil' more than my funds can handle, though. Probably more than the computer can handle, too, but eh.
Post by: Sirian on April 02, 2015, 03:30:18 pm
I like the fact that we can build on planets, but not the fact that buildings are HUGE. There are also civilian buildings that are 1 square but you don't build them directly.
Many game mechanics feel very abstract, like the planet levels. It's annoying that we can't stockpile money and every 3 min, any extra is turned into a boost for another resource.
When I first started playing Terrakin (human), I found it discouraging how much food and water was needed to get some use out of my planets, and how many planets were needed to get a higher level one. Since it's like a pyramid, the last tiers can be really hard to scrape together, with how rare lvl2 resources are.
Then I started playing Mono, and also I noticed that it was possible to "terraform" planets to turn their resource into a generic lvl1 of my choosing.
Let me tell you, the Mono race is the best by far, in my opinion. It doesn't need any water and food, so levelling up planets is WAY easier. Also you start with unobtainium on your first world, and you can turn that into any resource you own, so you can colonize a world with lvl3 resource, morph your unobtainium into that, then transfer the population back. Oh yeah that's another great feature of Mono, you can transfer population from planet to planet instantly, and that's the only thing you'll ever use FTL for. Also, since Mono population generates labor, it's really fast to build all sorts of things once you get the ball rolling. Their weakest point is that they need to build population for §150k a pop and increasing labor cost. However, if you terraform all those useless food and water planets into textile planets, you can get a lot of money. One thing I noticed was that the buildings have really big maintenance costs, so if you want money, build as little as possible.
For labor, research can make factories really productive, but I found that simply massing population is the best way to have lots of labor early on, seeing how the population cap isn't really limiting for Mono.
Now, I have to say, even though I enjoyed the game for a few days, in the end it plays and feels very similar to other games in the genre. If you're looking for a breath of fresh air, you'll find this one a bit stale, and I'm not sure there's a lot of replayability.
Post by: ThtblovesDF on April 02, 2015, 08:55:02 pm
But hey, SR1 was made even more awesome by mods - maybe SR2 will follow and be adjusted, we'll see.
Post by: Astral on April 03, 2015, 01:14:59 pm
Their weakest point is that they need to build population for §150k a pop and increasing labor cost. However, if you terraform all those useless food and water planets into textile planets, you can get a lot of money.I love the concept of the Mono, but robots terraforming tons of textiles led to a bit of fridge logic for me; what are they doing with all those fabrics?
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 03, 2015, 01:16:21 pm
Maybe they like to wear clothing? Maybe they dress up their pet cats? Who cares. They're paying a mint for them!Their weakest point is that they need to build population for §150k a pop and increasing labor cost. However, if you terraform all those useless food and water planets into textile planets, you can get a lot of money.I love the concept of the Mono, but robots terraforming tons of textiles led to a bit of fridge logic for me; what are they doing with all those fabrics?
Post by: BigD145 on April 03, 2015, 02:05:40 pm
Maybe they like to wear clothing? Maybe they dress up their pet cats? Who cares. They're paying a mint for them!Their weakest point is that they need to build population for §150k a pop and increasing labor cost. However, if you terraform all those useless food and water planets into textile planets, you can get a lot of money.I love the concept of the Mono, but robots terraforming tons of textiles led to a bit of fridge logic for me; what are they doing with all those fabrics?
They want to be treated as real people, so of course clothing.
Also waiting to see if mods make the game better.... like SR1.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 03, 2015, 03:27:22 pm
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They want to be treated as real people, so of course clothing.
FASHION: ACHIEVED.
(http://i.imgur.com/sg5k8nz.png)
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 03, 2015, 03:28:12 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 03, 2015, 03:45:17 pm
(http://i.imgur.com/3BzQvFa.png)
Taking inspiration from their own design/electronics and making that into fashion - another form of worship toward their Creator. Probably would look really weird and oddly 'primitive' as far as fashion goes - possibly asymmetrical as well.
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 03, 2015, 03:48:36 pm
Hmm? HMM?
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 03, 2015, 03:52:39 pm
They're a very maintenance and labor heavy race after all.
Now why is their Medicine 'Medicine' for other races? That requires a little more imagination. If you like, you can envision it as a Bacta-like bonding agent / medi-gel stuff or perhaps a substance similar to Unobtainium that morphs on contact with other things and attempts to continues the pattern (like Photoshop's Content Aware brush).
Post by: xaritscin on April 03, 2015, 04:26:17 pm
I'm not buying it, since it seems to have lost much off what made Star Ruler 1 special and went for a more casual/easy style, lossing some of its depth.
But hey, SR1 was made even more awesome by mods - maybe SR2 will follow and be adjusted, we'll see.
this, after reading a bit in the steam forums it seems the game is quite watered down. and many people were expecting the game to not only develop new features (like the current ones it has) but also improve around the strong points that SR1 had.
the devs instead seem to have just redeveloped the wheel alltogether, just with more stunning visuals and well, some dumbed down features.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 03, 2015, 04:34:24 pm
We have Power, it just doesn't blow up your ship due to bugs - and it's less fiddly. We have Fuel/Ammo - it's just abstracted to a single resource and you don't have to deal with trading/fueling tankers/haulers to get it back (which didn't really work in the first one either). Ships still use fuel/ammo (supplies) in combat/sieges, still need to go restock when they run low, et cetera. They can fire with the stat reaches 0, but at 25% strength of their usual strength and at that point can't siege planets. Fuel was never much of an issue in SR1 anyway - you just give your ships some 15 minutes of fuel and you're golden. By the time that 15 minutes arrived, you no longer cared about that generation of ships anyway due to how research worked.
We have less subsystems - but more variety in the subsystems themselves and what roles they're for. (Like engines - in SR1 they just gave you accel; in SR2 they give you accel and turning speed - and even move completely differently in the case of Gravitons)
Diplomacy is unquestionably deeper. Research is unquestionably deeper. Planet management is easier, Resources are much more interesting and numerous (8 resources versus... I think 70ish?) and less liable to just suddenly break down later into the game and you can actually know what you're producing, where it's being produced, and why. Map types are also more interesting, planets and planet types are more varied, the AI difficulties more varied, and the races better in every respect (except perhaps in regards to customization I suppose; major options are the only ones available). The game runs better; the bullets are physically simulated - things hit what they hit and don't hit what they don't rather than the 'magic' system in SR1 which determined whether a shot hit or missed before the projectile was actually fired. Civilian traffic is more beefed up, asteroid mining is more important, and we even have better megaconstructions. Even the ship behaviors are at least twice as deep than they ever were in SR1 - and about as much easier to work with and adjust on the fly. The AIs tell you what they feel about you - they don't make incessant demands for billions of every resource or they'll declare war.
If anything, the game is more full than it ever was. It's just a little less tinkery/breakable because we wanted it to be balanced. We don't have the Quantum Compressor/Boarding Parties/Reverse Inductor/Mind Sapper, true, but is that really all it takes for the game to be 'watered down'? Not every planet can become a super-planet - but in exchange you gain reasons to actually attack or defend this planet or that planet. Planets now require resources to upgrade - but they required resources to upgrade before in the form of Food, Metals, Luxury Goods, and so forth. Some buildings no longer upgrade or may be built by the player (though are still produced by civilians), sure, but in exchange you no longer get runaway economies which are literally unbeatable.
I just don't get the argument. "Watered down" to me would be like 'you can now only have flagships, and you can only ever have 3 of them; you research a thing in Research to gain up to 2 more' or 'the economy is entirely abstracted; no buildings, no population - you research a thing in Research and your planets just 'get better' ' or 'Diplomacy is now just a trade 1000 Generic Resources button and a declare war/propose peace button'.
Post by: Nirur Torir on April 03, 2015, 05:24:25 pm
We love you, you know. Or at least I do. In a totally not creepy way, I mean.QuoteThey want to be treated as real people, so of course clothing.
FASHION: ACHIEVED.
(http://i.imgur.com/sg5k8nz.png)
We don't have the Quantum Compressor/Boarding Parties/Reverse Inductor/Mind Sapper, true, but is that really all it takes for the game to be 'watered down'?After a few minutes of thought: Yes, at least initial appearance-wise. SR1 was the first RTS game I've played with such detailed ship customization. Regardless of how unwieldy or questionably effective my super-planet-sized carriers with vast locust-swarms of repair-beam-carrying fighters were, they were possible. Anything less than that is bound to feel .. less.
It's a fun game! It's less of a chore to manage a bigger empire. Snowballing doesn't seem to be nearly as bad. The diplomacy cards are interesting. It's much more stable. It just misses SR1's spark of "Awesome, a game that lets me build a titanic carrier that carries battleships that can make other ships."
Perhaps a few more options for support craft control would slightly help with the watered down feeling, if they haven't already been added (I haven't played in a few versions, since I finally broke down and bought Starcraft II)? Set support launch range/recall/attack target across system/patrol/raid civvies in-system, that sort of thing. Something to micromanage, instead of fleets feeling like big blocks of HP and DPS.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on April 03, 2015, 05:32:38 pm
Post by: Frumple on April 03, 2015, 06:03:08 pm
Post by: xaritscin on April 03, 2015, 06:19:12 pm
1. the diplomacy system is incredible, im not gonna bash it, it looks really interesting and more dinamic than on the first game
2. the problem of the new economy system is its lack of logic in some areas, and its something that IMO is present in both games,in SR1 not all planets were designed to become jack of all trades, some planets had better resource amounts or had better features for certain types of cities and it was interesting, however, there was a lack of actual trade because all the planets could in theory grow the same facilites alltogether, so in that regard SR1 suffered from lack of complexity in its economy. SR2 does the complete opposite, instead of improving the bases of SR1 it takes out the planet uniformity and opts for a system focused in different types of resources, leading to strange cases where for example, from both habitable planets, there's one which exports only fruit, and another that exports water, ironically with both planets being of the same category. yeah, some planets would have a requirement of certain resources (gas planets would need to compensate in terms of not having soil at all, barren planets being forge/mine worlds with a strong dependance in stuff like water or food).
a middle ground between SR1 and SR2 would have been better in all aspects, not all planets would be fit to construct certains facilities and would require trading between them, but they should be able to produce certain common stuff without any issue, and each planet should have different types of resources avaliable. something akin the EVE Online's planetary interaction would have been an interesting approach. allowing for example to have habitable worlds that are better suited for the production of food, adapting to focus in certain products like apples, or gas giants that are stripped from their atmospheric components for water, oxygen and the like.
3. the tech system has the same splitted feature, the SR1 tech tree while limited was interesting in which you had to invest research on certain connections between certain fields to open others, the downside was the exponential increase of the research required for lvling in order to get to certain technologies, specially those endgame oriented like ringworlds or planet thrusters. SR2 seems to avert this in the way that it produces research over time and its not spent at random but instead each technology has a cost, i like the approach this time, but it could improve in terms of the bonuses, as it seems you can only research a tech once, the first game allowed you to research a field indefinitelly and improve all aspects of the tech. again, in this case a middle ground between the two would have been better. have a tree similar to SR1 with each tech branching into the individual developments and allow players to invest indefenitely their tech points into specific technologies, not have a single bonus once reached certain tech.
4. the building system is a middle ground too. i didnt like the approach of SR1 with the +/- scaling and the limited space to design your ship, however, i liked its focus in the balance between the keypoints of a ship (like its bridge, powersource, ammo localization, etc) and the many different modules i could put on my ships. the hexbased system of SR2 looks like the freedom i was looking for in terms of the ship's physical design, but it could have kept the modules of the first game. in fact, it could have given more emphasis into how do you worked the internals of the ship instead of just placing moduels in a grid, they skipped the oportunity to design a system where one had to actually care where do you were putting stuff like the engine, the crew quarters or other module (kinda like Wayward Terran Frontier but you could fully design bot the ship's mesh and its internal composition)
oh and one point, if you're talking about engines in regards to the ship's thrusters, each engine in SR1 had different roles, not just plain acceleration, one engine was better for reaching top speed, the other was better for strafing/changing direction quickly, and the other was fuel efficient but limited in output, there was other but i dont remember.
5. yeah it seems ship have better orders now and the physically simulated ammo is a plus, i dont know about the centralized ammo/fuel stuff but i like it as an empire wide solution which was something needed in SR1, still having an improvement in regards to ammo/fuel consumption for ships in outer space would have served to improve the popularity of support vessels (something akin to Rise of Nations supply units would have been a good addition).
6. i dont see many details regarding how FTL is handled, guess its the same like ammo and energy in regards to gameplay (empire wide collected and is consumed by every entity same way fuel is used) i dont see the problem with that i guess.
7. the artifact system is a plus in the game
8. planet lvls are a good adition but with the economy system it has i dont see the use for it, maybe if it was tied to terraforming (barren planets are lvl 0 and you invest to make it habitable, each progression into that would increase its lvl and would allow for producing certain products more easily, it would be expensive though).
10. i understand the need to put specially gameplay mechanics into different races but part of the fun of SR1 was designing your own, this could have been improved, like making players choose certain mechanics for the race they wanted to have, in fact, many of the things the different races do could have been added via the tech tree or something similar. and would take out the need to obligue players into playing certain factions for certain gameplay stuff. they could just make a race with X and Y attributes on its culture and select the key mechanics they wanted. stuff like motherships and biotech could be part of the tech tree TBH, it didnt need to be part of a single race.
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 08, 2015, 04:00:37 pm
<--- This guy.
Post by: umiman on April 12, 2015, 08:20:50 pm
With my first serious game it was quite fun. I had a long and painful war with my neighbour. After this brutal war where we had a stalemate for years until I managed to trap his rampaging armadas in an ion-cannon-led encirclement. Then I could force him to capitulate. It felt great.
After that the game was basically over though, as I was now the most powerful force in the universe without any comparison and nobody dared to fight me. Got kinda boring actually. I was hoping they'd try to fight back as I constantly stole land with annexation but they didn't. I'll try again with higher difficulty settings to see if they're more eager to fight me like they did at the start.
Mmm... I like this far more than SR1. I really like the diplomacy. I like the more macro approach to stuff. I'm not a fan of the economy thing where each planet can only export one single thing though. I can see why it was done, but it doesn't feel particularly appropriate for this kind of game. Nevertheless it does force engagements and prevent you from turtling too much since you constantly need to expand. Still don't like it though.
The ship designing system is kinda bleh too. Not to mention I don't like how every ship looks the same.
I'll definitely play more of it though. It's quite engaging, at least before you snowball.
Post by: Lossmar on April 13, 2015, 12:07:17 pm
Pros =
- scope of the game ( ships bigger than planets, multiple galaxies etc. )
- modability
- FTL systems I FUCKING LOVE THEM
- nice ships/battle graphics
- its a space 4x and i love those games
Cons =
- shitload of absurd abstract mechanics ( FTL storage, flagships system, one resource per planet, diplo/Galactic senate cards etc )
- underwhelming science system ( many research projects are flat bonuses like "XX cash on hand" )
- THOSE FUCKING CARDS ... naming your systems/ships requires some retarded card appearing at random and it gives a magical bonus for the renamed thing -___-
- absolute shit tier UI graphics .. it looks like some amateur Facebook f2p thing, it miles under game like Stardrive, Aurora or first Star Ruler
- super speedy colonization and expansion ( unstable equilibrium trope : The Game http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnstableEquilibrium ), i hate when i have 50 planets after 25 minutes of playing
- feels barebones as hell , two shipsets, 5 races, small amount of racial/goverment/social traits...
It hard to accurately judge this game for me because im a HUGE Aurora fan with its slow colonization, micromanagement and autistic level of detail.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 13, 2015, 12:16:40 pm
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two shipsets, 5 races, small amount of racial/goverment/social traits
And where are you playing this game from?
There are four shipsets and 7 races (Terrakin, Feyh, Oko, Hoonan, Saar, Mono, Nylli) and we entirely eschewed racial traits months ago (Now it's Government/FTL/Life). It should be impossible to obtain a build of the game from that long ago unless you're a pirate or have just refused to update your game for months on end - even post launch. If you obtained the copy of the game legitimately and for all you know are up-to-date please tell me who you got it from so I can yell at them.
I'm laughing very hard at your suggestion that Star Ruler 1's UI is 'worse' than SR2's. I mean it's your opinion and all but let's compare the two, shall we? Just ask a few questions at both games: Where are your important planets? Where are your borders? Who is trading with who? What's going on in the universe right now? Where are all your fleets? How are all your fleets doing presently? How large is any particular fleet - do they have escorts? What types? What are you researching right now? How many treaties/votes are currently waiting for your approval/disapproval/action? What kinds of treaties/votes are they?
Star Ruler 1 (http://img.gamefaqs.net/screens/2/7/f/gfs_170482_2_1.jpg)
Star Ruler 2 (http://cloud-4.steamusercontent.com/ugc/37494331986738052/B5CE6148D4B27F1AE20F87E704CA374FF8BF9B43/)
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 13, 2015, 12:21:42 pm
I'm laughing very hard at your suggestion that Star Ruler 1's UI is 'worse' than SR2's. That is objectively false in both terms aesthetic and usability.And this, so much this. I loved SR1 but goddamn was the UI obtuse. Dwarf Fortress is actually EASIER to find information in that SR1.
Post by: Lossmar on April 13, 2015, 12:43:47 pm
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There are four shipsets and 7 races (Terrakin, Feyh, Oko, Hoonan, Saar, Mono, Nylli) and we entirely eschewed racial traits months ago (Now it's Government/FTL/Life). It should be impossible to obtain a build of the game from that long ago unless you're a pirate or have just refused to update your game for months on end - even post launch. If you obtained the copy of the game legitimately and for all you know are up-to-date please tell me who you got it from so I can yell at them.
That number was a rough estimate recalled from memory..
Its not like its hard to find a newest pirate version anyway, its not 2002 anymore.
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I'm laughing very hard at your suggestion that Star Ruler 1's UI is 'worse' than SR2's. I mean it's your opinion and all but let's compare the two, shall we? Just ask a few questions at both games: Where are your important planets? Where are your borders? Who is trading with who? What's going on in the universe right now? Where are all your fleets? How are all your fleets doing presently? How large is any particular fleet - do they have escorts? What types? What are you researching right now? How many treaties/votes are currently waiting for your approval/disapproval/action? What kinds of treaties/votes are they?I never said anything about how obtuse or useful the SR2 UI is. I was talking about how it LOOKS.
When im playing SR1 i feel like a goddamn Admiral of intergalactic navy, while in SR2 its like a playing Farmville or other browser thing. Matter of personal preference - nothing will top Aurora regardless.
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Have to agree. He likely pirated an old version.See up - its not 2002 anymore, getting newest pirate version is not hard. And that was simple figure of speech on my part.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 13, 2015, 12:49:11 pm
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That number was a rough estimate recalled from memory..
It was an exact number recalled from a play session where, in fact, there were 2 shipsets and 5 races and, at the same time, racial attributes such as Racial and Social traits. I know the exact build range your memory is based off of - you didn't just 'rough estimate' the fact that there were Racial and Social traits - and it's a very old build which was deployed on CS.RIN.RU ages (months) ago.
So regardless of your 'piracy is easy these days man' well, it doesn't matter because you still didn't get the most recent copy despite them making it easy for you. Just admit you pirated it, admit you pirated an old build, and admit that you dislike color of any sort. (That last part is optional; I'm being facetious)
Post by: Lossmar on April 13, 2015, 12:54:55 pm
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It was an exact number recalled from a play session where, in fact, there were 2 shipsets and 5 races and, at the same time, racial attributes such as Racial and Social traits). I know the exact build range your memory is based off of - you didn't just 'rough estimate' the fact that there were Racial and Social traits - and it's a very old build which was deployed on CS.RIN.RU ages (months) ago.
It was recalled from memory because last time i played this game was a while ago because this game simply haven't caught my attention just like Stardrive and Horizon.
Its not as "meh" as Sid Meiers Starships but its pretty darn close.
And its exact thing that had happened with SR1 - number of racial traits, shipsets and races was really bare bones comapred to say Galactic Armoury.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 13, 2015, 01:01:04 pm
If you played it a while ago and are just giving your impressions now - I'm not sure why you're giving (early) Early Access impressions for a Released product. It's fine to have an opinion and help inform others of your thoughts and advice for their purchasing decisions, but you're doing yourself no favors by using really out of date information; it'd just lead to confusion if anyone started talking about mechanics of the game with you.
The racial traits may have lessened in number but have significantly grown in impact they have on the game. Adding in "+50% to Beams" is easy [and potentially unbalanced] (GA had a lot of these options because they're easy). Adding in "You don't utilize planet surfaces in any way, build armed habitat orbitals in space to colonize planets, don't care about resource pressure caps, and colonize planets with a mothership who - despite being very powerful in the early game - can only engage its weapon systems in systems where you own at least one planet" is significantly harder while also being much more interesting.
With nearly each of these choices having a much larger and more pronounced impact on the game than the combined total of the impact of all the prior race options, I'm not sure I agree with you that it's "bare bones". I think these options have even more impact than GA had on SR1 - also SR1 shipped with 2 shipsets. SR2 has shipped with 4 (so far). GA added [iirc] 2. SR2 = GA in shipsets.
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 13, 2015, 01:02:35 pm
Post by: Bremen on April 13, 2015, 02:25:37 pm
I'm laughing very hard at your suggestion that Star Ruler 1's UI is 'worse' than SR2's.
I'm laughing even harder at the suggest that it's UI is worse that Aurora's. Don't get me wrong, Aurora is one of my favorite games, but it's less a UI and more a spreadsheet you edit to play the game.
Post by: Frumple on April 13, 2015, 02:43:15 pm
Post by: umiman on April 13, 2015, 05:10:41 pm
I played a new game with 8 AI enemies on hard difficulty. It was... interesting.
I'm not too sure how exactly they can expand so fast. I could barely keep up. I don't think they're cheating as it says the final difficulty level is the cheaty one so they must be doing something I'm not doing. If only I knew what it was...
They're a lot happier to attack me on hard. Good thing. Also they don't take any shit on the global diplomacy stage. Trying to host the senate had a crazy war that was something like -40 to 41 votes and I still lost. I have no clue why some of the AI voted to help me there either, would be nice to know their reasoning. I also noticed that if I launched a vote and then bombarded it so it went +21 immediately or something like that, the AI won't even try to fight it.
Another thing is I noticed the AI is very eager to surrender. About halfway through the game when the size 600 ships started appearing, most of the AI factions had surrendered to either me or the other major player (Oko something). I didn't really pay it any mind until I noticed one of the AI that I was allied with and was actually behind me far away from any combat decided to completely surrender too. Why? He was in zero danger. I don't think he lost a single ship.
So I thought, well, if the AI can do that to my ally, why don't I do that to his? So I asked some relatively large third player way off in the corner of the map to surrender to me. And he actually agreed. What the fuck? So on a whim I asked my main rival (Oko something) to surrender and thankfully he declined. Then I annexed one of his systems and he agreed to it. What? He was at least as powerful as me, and with all his vassals he was easily twice my size, why would he surrender?
Post by: Astral on April 14, 2015, 01:28:02 am
Having a bit of fun playing Normal bots again on my laptop, and stomping them to some extent with the Mechanoid race (absolutely the best race for my playstyle, and more than a bit overpowered once it gets rolling, but very weak in the early game.) The game actually ran very smooth despite the diminished specs of the machine, and the fact that I had built a 2048 size ship that ate through all the aged size 1-4 support ships with its 8k capacity... then proceeded to stomp a bunch of remnants with lasery death spewing from nearly a thousand ships at once with negligible framerate loss.
Still awaiting more subsystems that can make better use of the different unit orders/behaviors, though. It only makes so much sense to have artillery style ships that are limited to their (fairly effective, mind you) missiles, the only support weapon with a decent range, at least until you get the generic range upgrades and you're sniping enemies with lasers halfway across the solar system. Subsystem modifiers are good, but different base systems should have a different feel to start. Take EVE, for example; within each class of weapon (energy based, hybrid turrets, projectile based, missile based, drones) there are generally things on the scale of damage vs range vs rate of fire vs accuracy in general terms. Beams vs pulse lasers, railguns vs blasters, artillery vs autocannons, assault missiles/rockets vs generic missiles... the list goes on. Subsystems should build upon those further, allowing you to customize whether you want a case of Jack of All Stats or Crippling Overspecialization in your fleets.
Speaking of drones, I hope something like that comes into play later, either as defense (with repair or shield drones able to assist damaged ships launched from the flagship hangar, or even being fitted on support ships but with a cost similar to having supply on them) offense (direct attacks made independent of the carrier), or support (jamming enemy weaponry, negating enemy shields via EMP, etc).
My two cents on the whole "Is it good" debate that seems to have taken over the last few pages: Absolutely. It's a great game, and I've enjoyed sinking many hours into it. It does, in some ways lack the sense of scale that SR1 presented. SR1 had a bit more bare bones to it, but let the player fill in the abstracted systems with a bit of creativity. While I do wish that it had gone more along the lines of the Galactic Armory mod's additions as fully supported gameplay (more for the screwing around with stupid and crazy designs), I'm not disappointed in it being a different game entirely.
It stands up well in its own right as a space based 4x, and while it's currently considered "released" I feel like it still has a way to go to completion, and hope that modders don't have to fill in the gaps quite as much as in SR1. At the very least, it has been a fun and playable early access and release, which can't be said of many games in a similar state.
I'm amused by the continued use of Stardrive as a model for this genre. Stardrive was released in such a terribly incomplete state that some of the events didn't even have resolutions iirc, and the second iteration which was released recently is just a silly (though fun) recreation of master of orion 2.I haven't had a chance to play much of Stardrive 2, but I can agree that I felt Stardrive was abandoned far too shortly after its creation. Modders have taken the game and run with it, but even then there's only so much they can do due to limitations of the engine. I've seen approved reverse engineering of the .exe for the game that enables them to modify things that were otherwise hard coded and unfixable previously. It's still ridiculous to have a game sell for $30 and then only release an incomplete mess of a game before starting work on version 2 while leaving other people, unpaid, to fix the game for you. I enjoyed the game, to be sure, but it could have been much more than it ended up being.
Stardrive 2's trait list immediately brought to mind MOO2, and if they managed to somehow screw MOO2 up I'm asking for a refund.
Post by: Majestic7 on April 14, 2015, 03:16:14 am
I enjoy SR2, but like the previous poster said, technology tree is a little boring. You don't get much in the way of new toys and what you get is just plain better. Like ordinary cannons vs Myon cannons. It would be interesting to have a few different options, a bit like the choice between missiles and torpedoes.
Re: Stardrive, yeah, the first one was a disappointment in how it was abandoned. The second Stardrive seems solid based on playing it six hours total or so. Only thing I don't like is the needless x-com lite combat, it seems like unnecessary clutter in the game.
Post by: Astral on April 14, 2015, 03:44:51 pm
Edit: Then later crashed the game toying around in the ship builder/test room. I went along the XKCD lines of "What if we added more power?" and made two different ship types; one with support (Beamy Death) and one without (Battlehex. Yes, I'm original with my names). The Beamy Death actually lost, despite not giving any support ships to the Battlehex, likely because I hadn't done more than give it a bunch of largely-ineffective-alone forward facing beam weapons, while the Battlehex had a point laser at each 90 degree angle and was bristling with 3 space rocket pods. The Beamy Death with its graviton engines just didn't have enough turn rate to even think about facing the enemy ship before exploding in a blaze of rockets.
So some tweaks later and I just said screw it and placed multiple Beamy Deaths directly "below" the Battlehex, which was able to destroy it by virtue of 2:1 numbers. For shits and giggles, I scaled up both designs by adding a 0 at the end each iteration. Then I decided to add support ships. But I didn't have any on hand, so I added the default Heavy Gunship with a size of 16.
Okay, I'll admit it was cool watching the waves of gunships circling out in a neat pattern, but I guess I must've hit the unit limit or something along the lines of an index out of bounds, because the game eventually choked and died.
Post by: Morrigi on April 15, 2015, 11:52:47 am
Heh, I crashed the game pretty hard by attempting to create an orbital frame, then placing a ringworld on top of that. There goes that idea...Considering that the game can handle over 14,000 ships in combat, the second one was probably either a random crash or your system.
Edit: Then later crashed the game toying around in the ship builder/test room. I went along the XKCD lines of "What if we added more power?" and made two different ship types; one with support (Beamy Death) and one without (Battlehex. Yes, I'm original with my names). The Beamy Death actually lost, despite not giving any support ships to the Battlehex, likely because I hadn't done more than give it a bunch of largely-ineffective-alone forward facing beam weapons, while the Battlehex had a point laser at each 90 degree angle and was bristling with 3 space rocket pods. The Beamy Death with its graviton engines just didn't have enough turn rate to even think about facing the enemy ship before exploding in a blaze of rockets.
So some tweaks later and I just said screw it and placed multiple Beamy Deaths directly "below" the Battlehex, which was able to destroy it by virtue of 2:1 numbers. For shits and giggles, I scaled up both designs by adding a 0 at the end each iteration. Then I decided to add support ships. But I didn't have any on hand, so I added the default Heavy Gunship with a size of 16.
Okay, I'll admit it was cool watching the waves of gunships circling out in a neat pattern, but I guess I must've hit the unit limit or something along the lines of an index out of bounds, because the game eventually choked and died.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ChMEMQxQLw
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 15, 2015, 11:56:15 am
The flagship is just a big warehouse in space filled with missiles.
Post by: umiman on April 15, 2015, 12:07:53 pm
My current support ship is a size 1 rocket pod with nothing but a rocket launcher, command, and engines. They do so much damage, and being size one you get so many of them. Since ships can't multitarget they alpha-strike the size 1 rocket pods one at a time which takes forever and by then I've sandblasted them to death with tiny missiles.That sounds very amusing.
The flagship is just a big warehouse in space filled with missiles.
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 15, 2015, 12:17:00 pm
I like to imagine that each one is just a guy in a barely-big-enough-to-fit cockpit riding on top of a missile launcher the size of a small truck, and the flagship is filled with bored filing clerks who keep track of missile shipments to reload each pod.My current support ship is a size 1 rocket pod with nothing but a rocket launcher, command, and engines. They do so much damage, and being size one you get so many of them. Since ships can't multitarget they alpha-strike the size 1 rocket pods one at a time which takes forever and by then I've sandblasted them to death with tiny missiles.That sounds very amusing.
The flagship is just a big warehouse in space filled with missiles.
Post by: Astral on April 15, 2015, 12:33:56 pm
Considering that the game can handle over 14,000 ships in combat, the second one was probably either a random crash or your system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ChMEMQxQLw
Well, put it this way. The ship I had made had 2.1 million support capacity. On a second look, the default heavy gunship has 8 support requirement. That's 262,500 ships spewing out at a few hundred ships every second.
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 15, 2015, 12:36:29 pm
My rocket pods are 1:1 for support so it would be 2.1 million rocket pods following your ship around firing 2.1 million missiles per salvo....Considering that the game can handle over 14,000 ships in combat, the second one was probably either a random crash or your system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ChMEMQxQLw
Well, put it this way. The ship I had made had 2.1 million support capacity. On a second look, the default heavy gunship has 8 support requirement. That's 262,500 ships spewing out at a few hundred ships every second.
Post by: Astral on April 15, 2015, 12:39:35 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 15, 2015, 12:40:58 pm
How does one end up even getting rocket pods enabled for support ship use? I was faffing about in the ship designer and still only had the option for lasers, muons, rails and missiles.I just call them that. The weapon I use is the standard missile launcher or whatever support ships have.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 15, 2015, 02:44:30 pm
Show folks there is room in the 4x corner for a game that dares to break away from the MoO/Civ formula.
In upcoming stuffs for the game: We're hoping to launch an expansion and a free DLC later this year even if the game continues its current sales trend. Work on the next free patch continues and we're expecting to do an overhaul of the sounds, making flagship weapons fire more divisible from support weapons fire, and a potential reiteration on reactive armor amongst other changes.
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 15, 2015, 03:15:24 pm
So at current projections, we'll have enough money to make our planned expansion - and then we'll have to close down the studio as it'll just be too risky to pursue another project. That projection lands us some time in October-December we think. If you like the game, let folks know: write some reviews on Steam/GOG/GamersGate, shoot e-mails to your favorite news sources and let's players! Your opinions matter!Hate to hear that. The game has some very neat innovations which I haven't seen before in other games. SR2 is by no means the perfect game but it is a lot of fun.
Show folks there is room in the 4x corner for a game that dares to break away from the MoO/Civ formula.
In upcoming stuffs for the game: We're hoping to launch an expansion and a free DLC later this year even if the game continues its current sales trend. Work on the next free patch continues and we're expecting to do an overhaul of the sounds, making flagship weapons fire more divisible from support weapons fire, and a potential reiteration on reactive armor amongst other changes.
Post by: LoSboccacc on April 16, 2015, 11:41:22 am
I'm really sorry to hear that. There really aren't many innovators in this genre, this is a sad day for indie gaming.
That said, there are loads of space game competing in your same genre right now.
I really hope you can instead pivot and kick start to bring your ideas on diplomacy and high level strategy in new dresses.
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 16, 2015, 12:02:18 pm
Post by: LoSboccacc on April 16, 2015, 01:07:34 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 16, 2015, 01:12:18 pm
It is suddenly incredibly difficult to get eyeballs on your product and people are much more picky about the product you put out.
That and there's just this unknowable 'miasma' which permeates everywhere with apathy. I think it's just due to the sheer amount of games being put out every day/week/month.
That, and "StarDrive" didn't exist when we launched SR1. "StarDrive 2" didn't exist for most of the time we were working on SR2 even.
Post by: ollobrains on April 18, 2015, 04:43:16 pm
Post by: LoSboccacc on April 19, 2015, 01:23:49 pm
That and there's just this unknowable 'miasma' which permeates everywhere with apathy. I think it's just due to the sheer amount of games being put out every day/week/month.
totally agree, I was a fervent follower of the indie scene, played everything from http://experimentalgameplay.com/ followed every igf and played most of them as well and bough them..
but now everyone jumped into the indie gaming industry following the mythical pot of gold and there are gaming spawning from everywhere, most of the time being just clones (or minor iterative improvement) on existing concepts, say, timber and stone, may be wonderful, but is something seen and seen again by this point and while it interest me and may be awesome I just cannot bring myself to discover what the heck is it all about.
it's really hard to find new games now and I am not getting paid to review everyone to past the sturgeon filter, so meh. I'm guilty of that apathy.
we'd need a bay 12 curator on steam for promising indies, the forumites around here are pretty good at filtering internet.
Post by: Aklyon on April 21, 2015, 03:28:21 pm
So at current projections, we'll have enough money to make our planned expansion - and then we'll have to close down the studio as it'll just be too risky to pursue another project. That projection lands us some time in October-December we think. If you like the game, let folks know: write some reviews on Steam/GOG/GamersGate, shoot e-mails to your favorite news sources and let's players! Your opinions matter!Well that sucks.
Show folks there is room in the 4x corner for a game that dares to break away from the MoO/Civ formula.
In upcoming stuffs for the game: We're hoping to launch an expansion and a free DLC later this year even if the game continues its current sales trend. Work on the next free patch continues and we're expecting to do an overhaul of the sounds, making flagship weapons fire more divisible from support weapons fire, and a potential reiteration on reactive armor amongst other changes.
Post by: Kruniac on April 24, 2015, 06:32:07 pm
Quote
Aurora's UI is basically like trying to coordinate the Apollo moon landings with a graphing calculator.
That's not accurate at all. You hit a hotkey (F2, whatever), give some orders, click the time advance button. Pretty straightforward.
Or you hit F12, select a Task Group, give it an order. Hit advance time.
It amazes me how young people today need uber leet UIs to function.
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on April 24, 2015, 06:41:01 pm
QuoteAurora's UI is basically like trying to coordinate the Apollo moon landings with a graphing calculator.
That's not accurate at all. You hit a hotkey (F2, whatever), give some orders, click the time advance button. Pretty straightforward.
Or you hit F12, select a Task Group, give it an order. Hit advance time.
It amazes me how young people today need uber leet UIs to function.
I laughed. Thank you sir.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 14, 2015, 12:30:58 am
Full patch notes are available here (http://steamcommunity.com/gid/103582791435727010/announcements/detail/127568840786917369)
New research web (click to open full image in new window):
(http://i.imgur.com/8ra78wVl.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/8ra78wV.jpg)
Post by: forsaken1111 on May 14, 2015, 05:23:04 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on June 15, 2015, 06:25:16 am
Post by: BigD145 on June 15, 2015, 08:23:52 am
How's the modding scene right now? Even 50% off is not that tempting at the moment.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on June 15, 2015, 12:39:06 pm
With a built-in mod editor, mod manager, and mod uploader we try to make things easy for people to change.
50% off is the lowest price the game has received since its launch and we're not liable to be in a daily deal (or at least weren't told we would be in one).
Post by: Firgof Umbra on September 22, 2015, 01:10:51 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on September 22, 2015, 04:06:47 pm
Sneak peak of the upcoming expansion. http://steamcommunity.com/app/282590/discussions/1/517142253864833842/I have no idea what is going on in that picture, its too tiny, but I'm excited to hear about the expansion and hope to get some actual info soon! I'm pretty much a guaranteed sale, I think I put 80+ hours into SR2 and probably 100+ into the original.
Post by: ollobrains on September 22, 2015, 07:21:44 pm
Post by: BFEL on September 23, 2015, 06:41:18 am
Maybe I should hit up the EA library...
Post by: Firgof Umbra on September 23, 2015, 11:17:26 am
Post by: ollobrains on September 23, 2015, 07:29:09 pm
Post by: Sirus on September 24, 2015, 01:26:34 am
I have mixed feelings about this game compared to the original. Still can't decide which I prefer :/
Post by: Sinistar on September 24, 2015, 02:05:44 am
Wow, so pretty much the moment I start playing this again, the game gets an expansion and the studio behind it dies....I'll...try to use my newfound powers responsibly?Well, in all honesty them closing down has been in the air ever since soon after SR2 official release. Still sad though. I think you people are cool and passionate and I really like both Star Rulers. If you really do close down in the end, I wish you all the best in the future projects, whatever those might be.
Maybe I should hit up the EA library...
As for expansion - GREAT news. I'll admit, I haven't touched SR2 in a while, but that's because it is my usual game cycle to play some gave for few weeks or months intensively and then put it on the shelf for a long time till I feel like it's time to play it again. So with the news of imminent expansion, I guess it's time for some SR2 again!
Post by: Journier on October 11, 2015, 11:24:24 am
Post by: Sirus on October 11, 2015, 11:32:15 am
Post by: LoSboccacc on October 11, 2015, 11:43:17 am
not shutting down.
what! just like this! this is GREAT by the way. best wishes with whatever idea you have up next.
Post by: Journier on October 11, 2015, 12:17:30 pm
Post by: Astral on October 17, 2015, 01:09:58 am
It also made terraforming much more expensive, so it takes longer to get rolling with the Mechanoids, still my preferred race, even over the new ones.
I hope ideas such as that make their way into the tech tree proper, as the vanilla tree feels a bit bare bones at the moment.
Post by: Aklyon on October 17, 2015, 08:10:13 am
Post by: Sinistar on October 17, 2015, 09:13:36 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on October 17, 2015, 09:20:27 am
Post by: Aklyon on October 17, 2015, 09:25:52 am
Try this guide (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=386168594). I was pretty lost myself first time I tried to design some ships, but reading through it, I understand it much much better now.Thats kinda what confused me in the first place though. How do you design the ship if theres no front/back?
Post by: Sinistar on October 17, 2015, 10:50:33 am
Post by: Aklyon on October 17, 2015, 10:52:35 am
Huh wait, how is there no front/back? I always assumed and all SR2 designs I saw also suggest that right side is where the ship starts, left where ends. Unless I'm thinking wrong. BUT given you can't orient engines (unless... I think?) and those always point to the left and must be unobstructed to function, I think this confirms my thinking.The very first part of that guide is 'there is no front/back, only flat sides'. The rest of it might help if it didn't start with confusion.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on October 17, 2015, 11:04:09 am
However, there is of course a right side and a left side to the design which the author of that guide didn't discuss. The front of the ship is to the right and the rear of the ship is to the left. The 'right side' of a hex is its Up-right and Down-right sides and vice versa for the 'left side'.
Does this clear things up for you?
Post by: Aklyon on October 17, 2015, 11:06:07 am
Post by: Sirus on October 17, 2015, 11:09:19 am
Post by: Urist McScoopbeard on October 17, 2015, 06:01:57 pm
Post by: BFEL on October 17, 2015, 06:04:34 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on October 17, 2015, 06:50:40 pm
Hold CTRL down when you order a ship to put it into drydock - then you can put in cash as it's available to you.
Also, retrofitting ships upwards in scale is another way to accomplish a slow and steady climb - although that costs a lot of labor. Special funds help a lot in this particular respect.
Post by: Astral on October 17, 2015, 07:10:34 pm
Post by: jhxmt on October 19, 2015, 03:40:59 pm
Recently, I saw it sitting in my Steam library, all patched and shiny, and thought, "Huh, I remember this was neat, I should play it again," and booted it up.
Seven hours later I was still playing. The game genuinely grabbed me. And the best thing was I wasn't deeply drawn in by the tech web (which I liked), I wasn't devoured by building up a powerful empire of ship-based destruction (as I used to in SR1), I wasn't even being distracted by the minutae of ruling an empire (as in Distant Worlds).
I played seven hours of being the sneakiest diplomatic bastard a space-based 4x has seen.
Seriously. The diplomacy system really got me hooked. I managed to wipe out an opponent with a fortunate series of Annex Planet and Annex System cards played in just the right order and at just the right time. I took planets from them that would normally be seen as useless, but which crippled their supply structures so that their high-level planets gradually suffered from starvation of level 2 and level 1 resources, reverting back to poorly populated balls of rock that were easily steamrollered by my (comparatively weak) navy.
I used leverage that I'd gained on other species' in order to get my annexations to pass galactic muster. I focussed all my efforts on building up my diplomatic influence, then used that influence to support a zeitgeist based around influence generation, to capitalise on my one advantage.
I took over a small corkscrew galaxy with nothing more than a smile and well-placed blackmail material. And two weak dreadnoughts to mop up the remainder.
Of course, not all went according to plan. I then ran into the (by this time) unstoppable might of the Oko, who stomped my tiny dreadnoughts into the spaceground and, due to their sheer immensity, were immune to my diplomatic wiles, having subjugated every other race in their (separate) galaxy. I died, or at least abandoned the game, a broken weakened shell of an empire. But briefly, for those few moments before the finale, I was the puppetmaster behind the galaxy. :P
So...love it, I guess it what I'm saying.
Post by: forsaken1111 on October 19, 2015, 06:15:44 pm
Post by: Astral on October 19, 2015, 10:45:50 pm
The design was basic to start (2 large missile launchers, 17 supplementary single core launchers, some engines and minimal armor (http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/391044006160775660/3677DDEE7FDA2AFEAB6E640928DFFA397C28688B/)), but I slowly increased both the size and the defense, giving them all shields, a few less launchers, and a bit more armor.
The inevitable progress of technology also makes it fun, as while you can use the default designs, it's much more fun to make your own, regardless of how effective (http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/391044006160799567/96DCF6FA82F11201E89AC8D2515A41A65D317139/) (or ineffective [1] (http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/391044006160799846/F3149F9801FA3792E064977F4D3B4B6B6CF06F6F/) [2] (http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/391044006160799930/C7B0D14BF27EAFC82358E4F4923FC44FBBAAE92A/)) those designs may be.
Post by: Sirus on October 19, 2015, 10:50:35 pm
Post by: Astral on October 19, 2015, 11:00:58 pm
Post by: Anvilfolk on October 20, 2015, 09:49:13 am
Also, exceedingly average. *giggles*
Post by: Sirus on October 20, 2015, 11:52:20 am
I would throw a skip drive on it and teleport it into the middle of a fleet. The rocket pods tended to all home on a single target; great if it was the flagship, bad if it was a support, as unlike missiles they rarely had time to redirect. The lasers were similarly able to take out things from any direction, a bit better than the rocket pods. It had a pretty large support capacity as well, but was exceedingly average as a combat ship.Do you think it would work better if those rocket pods were replaced with direct-fire weapons like, say, railguns? The firing arc limitations would mean that the flagship simply could not bring all it's weapons to bear on a single foe.
Post by: Astral on October 21, 2015, 12:10:55 am
It was pointed out elsewhere that the ship itself is basically blind, as these designs were done before Sensors were implemented, so I have some further tinkering to do.
Post by: Sirus on October 21, 2015, 12:12:39 am
Post by: Astral on October 21, 2015, 12:27:25 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on October 21, 2015, 12:31:58 am
ABEM requires you to stay put in a system and scan it for a while depending on what you've got aboard in order to even see planets. In vanilla it fills out quickly and without 'missing information' as comes celestial bodies (though you might potentially miss remnant flagships in large enough systems, depending on where you enter and exit).
Post by: Sirus on October 21, 2015, 12:32:48 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on October 21, 2015, 12:34:20 am
You could even call it a 'side effect' of the ship being well ... a ship.
Post by: Astral on October 21, 2015, 02:11:33 am
I'm not sure how I feel about them being required, but it is a side-effect of playing the mod.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 28, 2015, 02:23:09 pm
We've also improved some stuff like how the AI builds its ships and responds to diplomacy as folks have been asking for that - that'll be included in a patch for the base game that'll be put out around the same time as the expansion.
In the meanwhile, the game is currently heavily discounted for those who're still sitting on the fence. It's presently 60% off ($9.99) and'll revert back to its normal price on December 1st. I'll let you guys know about any other developments regarding the expansion or the studio's future as things develop.
Post by: Astral on November 29, 2015, 12:30:57 am
I would ask for the ability to turn off annexing from game options, though. It's annoying when a roughly equal sized enemy empire decides to vassalize themselves to another enemy. But in the end it usually doesn't matter all too much.
I have a few friends that are big fans of similar fare, and am trying to get them to purchase this, if not now then during the inevitable Winter sale.
Post by: Anvilfolk on November 29, 2015, 01:02:37 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 29, 2015, 01:17:47 pm
If you're on version 1.0.3 you're on the current version. The version I discussed above won't be released until the expansion hits.
Edit: Oops. 1.0.3 - not 1.0.2.
Post by: forsaken1111 on November 29, 2015, 01:35:25 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 29, 2015, 01:44:32 pm
Quote
point defense systems or fighters or any other kind of submunition systemsI dunno. That would depend on what you define as 'submunition' I suppose. (http://gfycat.com/FrightenedEachGreatwhiteshark)
Active point defense probably won't ever be in the cards though - it's just too computationally expensive against our current targeted hardware specification. At least, not in the form folks would like it to be (actual munitions tracked and fired from actual subsystems fired against actual incoming munitions which actually get hit/deflected/damaged/explode) as because beyond even HW issues it'd occasionally 'not fire on incoming projectiles', or choose the wrong projectile to fire at (firing at the railgun shot a million miles away rather than the torpedo that's about to strike) due to how our targeting algorithm works.
(For those interested on how the targeting algorithm works: http://www.befuddlement.org/blog/2015/1/14/fast-approximation-of-nearest-neighbors)
Post by: forsaken1111 on November 29, 2015, 03:49:40 pm
Post by: ThtblovesDF on November 29, 2015, 04:59:22 pm
Edit: Apperently I just had to wait 3 hours...
Post by: forsaken1111 on November 29, 2015, 05:13:38 pm
Mhmm I grabbed it in the sale, but apperently I am already failing at the first possible step. In the training, I'm trying to upgrade a planet to level 1, right? So i colonize it and let the other planet (afterwards, planets) export to it, so it has its needed resources. For 2 "hours" it has now received every resource the training mission offers and is still level 0 ...Likely you needed to wait for population growth. Population is one of the requirements for various levels and exploitation of the resources on the planets.
Edit: Apperently I just had to wait 3 hours...
Post by: Astral on November 29, 2015, 05:27:47 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 29, 2015, 07:14:26 pm
Quote
The expansion will come with a big batch of new graphics assets and quality improvements by our peerless artist Jon Micheelsen. Some of which will also be available in the updated vanilla game, such as this new mining base shown on asteroids being mined.
Post by: Malus on November 30, 2015, 03:57:47 am
Post by: Kruniac on November 30, 2015, 03:27:02 pm
+1 on the diplomacy - it's my favorite feature by far.
Post by: jocan2003 on November 30, 2015, 03:41:39 pm
If this game is getting an expansion which has more content than its last update, I'll pick it up again. I felt that this game could really be up there with Stardrive 2 (which is a shit game in certain ways, but one of the best TBSS games out there).Never loved diplomacy in about any games, i always found them shallow and such, but this game NAILED how diplocay should exist in any game!
+1 on the diplomacy - it's my favorite feature by far.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 30, 2015, 03:44:11 pm
Quote
If this game is getting an expansion which has more content than its last update, I'll pick it up again.Definitely more content than the last update - we wouldn't call something an expansion if we didn't feel like it lived up to the name 'expansion'. New influence cards and diplomacy mechanics, a new galaxy-shape, a new game mode/map (e.g. the Expanse), new subsystems, new hulls, new ship mechanics, new races (which means of course new traits and portraits), new FTL methods, new planetary resources, new techs, potentially a new shipset, new things for planets to do, new models for orbitals... and that's on top of free improvements that apply to the base game (improved AI, improved shaders for ships, planets, asteroids, new/improved sound effects, an improved galaxy background, etc.).
Things are visibly improved between 1.0.3 and what we're working on. (http://i.imgur.com/Kw77xTE.jpg)
We're still not quite done with it yet - so that's just what's in right now.
Quote
Hmm, do you think you guys will put the base game on sale again when the expansion is released?Not sure. I'll ask and get back to you on that.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on November 30, 2015, 07:03:35 pm
Quote
Hmm, do you think you guys will put the base game on sale again when the expansion is released?Yes, it'll be discounted. Also, I'm thinking of running a giveaway around the same time with free copies of the game and its expansion.
Post by: Malus on November 30, 2015, 08:25:58 pm
Awesome, thanks! I've been waiting for the expansion before getting back into it, and I'll probably pick up copies for my friends too.QuoteHmm, do you think you guys will put the base game on sale again when the expansion is released?Yes, it'll be discounted. Also, I'm thinking of running a giveaway around the same time with free copies of the game and its expansion.
Post by: LoSboccacc on December 01, 2015, 06:23:45 am
If this game is getting an expansion which has more content than its last update, I'll pick it up again. I felt that this game could really be up there with Stardrive 2 (which is a shit game in certain ways, but one of the best TBSS games out there).Never loved diplomacy in about any games, i always found them shallow and such, but this game NAILED how diplocay should exist in any game!
+1 on the diplomacy - it's my favorite feature by far.
it really miss some in consequences about why one should abide the council. 'council decree we're annexing this system' should have an 'how about no?' option with in game mechanics making it costly and dangerous but possible to break free.
Post by: Orb on December 04, 2015, 04:44:16 pm
Post by: Farce on December 10, 2015, 05:49:11 am
Hmm. Computer cores aren't a support ship-compatible system are they? I need muh dumb little attack drones n' probe ships and such. I am also sad I can't just build like a trillion little drone-fighters armed with monster torpedoes and rush any target I want dead. Oh well.
Also uh am I missing something? I am unsure how to pull my budget out of the ~500k range. Unless I'm reading something wrong, and most ships and Imperial buildings have upkeep in the 200-300k range, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to, like. Have resource incomes that don't come entirely from budget subsidies. I get the feeling that I shouldn't colonize anything and everything, but that's totally what I do.
Post by: forsaken1111 on December 11, 2015, 05:20:46 am
Identify the planets you need to bring your homeworld up a level, colonize only those planets. Make the trade routes, wait for the population on the new planets to rise to the level they need for resource exploitation. Scout out new systems while you wait, build some asteroid bases. Just don't constantly colonize. You'll end up with no pops on your worlds and no money in your banks.
Post by: Sinistar on December 13, 2015, 09:53:50 am
Post by: Farce on December 14, 2015, 06:16:10 pm
I'll try out non-stupid Manifest Destiny colonization the next time I play, I guess. I don't suppose there are any other tips I should know about?
I mean like, my first target is always the two Econ techs, for 150 extra space-grand a cycle. After that I guess I usually try for shields, but uh... actually, are shields worth it at that low a level? They use up like crazy amounts of power, and I can't seem to get their values very high... it's like, maybe 200-ish compared to the whole ship's 2k hp, and unless I'm blind, I don't see anything that gives me like, a recharge rate, or whatever.
I can't slap them onto my support ships either, and just have a wall of distracting fighter-bricks eating up shots for me or anything, either. :c
Post by: forsaken1111 on December 14, 2015, 06:24:53 pm
Post by: lemon10 on December 15, 2015, 01:03:39 am
Glooorious colonization though. I must spread my billions throughout the stars!Shields passively recharge at a rate dependent on their size (and the recharge techs). I don't find them remotely useful without antimatter generators due to the massive power cost. I do love shields, but I don't know if they are really worth it.
I'll try out non-stupid Manifest Destiny colonization the next time I play, I guess. I don't suppose there are any other tips I should know about?
I mean like, my first target is always the two Econ techs, for 150 extra space-grand a cycle. After that I guess I usually try for shields, but uh... actually, are shields worth it at that low a level? They use up like crazy amounts of power, and I can't seem to get their values very high... it's like, maybe 200-ish compared to the whole ship's 2k hp, and unless I'm blind, I don't see anything that gives me like, a recharge rate, or whatever.
I can't slap them onto my support ships either, and just have a wall of distracting fighter-bricks eating up shots for me or anything, either. :c
Post by: Ygdrad on January 04, 2016, 12:53:51 am
I'm not blaming the devs for the AI, this seems to be a problem with nearly all RTS games and is why AI War is the only one I've been able to enjoy for any length of time.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 11, 2016, 07:40:47 pm
In the meantime, here's a free sample of what's to come: http://i.imgur.com/jygXCnt.png
Post by: Girlinhat on April 12, 2016, 04:03:07 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 12, 2016, 09:42:35 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 15, 2016, 01:45:18 pm
Price'll be $9.99. Our first look (of several) into the many new mechanics and expanded systems of the expansion is also available here: http://starruler2.com/2016/04/11/heralds.html
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 17, 2016, 01:01:08 pm
And the expansion's store page is up! (http://store.steampowered.com/app/460420)Looks good! I'll be picking it up on the 22nd.
Price'll be $9.99. Our first look (of several) into the many new mechanics and expanded systems of the expansion is also available here: http://starruler2.com/2016/04/11/heralds.html
Post by: Shadowlord on April 17, 2016, 02:01:33 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 17, 2016, 02:59:58 pm
Feature Highlight: Atittudes
In this article we show how the Attitude mechanic works and announce the Flagship Experience/Leveling addition.
For more info, click here (http://starruler2.com/2016/04/17/attitudes.html)
Post by: etgfrog on April 17, 2016, 04:24:15 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 17, 2016, 04:39:23 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 17, 2016, 05:25:10 pm
Not sure. Presently (in the non-final build) XP gets reset but level does not. This might change in the final build. Lucas is considering making it reset levels if the ship changes size but if it doesn't to only reset the XP.Perhaps the xp/level should change as a function of the difference in cost between the two ship designs, representing that the crew must become familiar with new equipment, layout, etc
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 18, 2016, 05:23:56 pm
Quote from: GGLucas
These orbitals must be placed in orbit of a planet, and each planet can only have one of each, giving it benefits.
The Ring Habitat pictured above costs a wad of Influence to construct, but increases the maximum population of the planet it is orbiting.
Post by: Sirus on April 18, 2016, 05:43:20 pm
Any chance of that changing?
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 18, 2016, 07:23:56 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 21, 2016, 02:21:37 pm
Click here if you want to read more about it! (http://starruler2.com/2016/04/21/the-first.html)
Also, just a reminder: The expansion launches tomorrow!
(http://i.starruler2.com/first/replicator.png)
Post by: Aklyon on April 21, 2016, 02:33:04 pm
Post by: etgfrog on April 21, 2016, 05:45:33 pm
Quote from: Firgof Umbra
So even if you don't own the expansion, hop into a multiplayer game hosted by someone who does and you will be free to try out any of the new stuff!I can applaud this method.
Post by: Majestic7 on April 22, 2016, 12:45:58 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 22, 2016, 12:52:37 am
I also polished up the card art, replacing the old cart art with cleaner art and putting art in for cards that didn't have art previously. There's also some combat-related Influence stuff now, with the Broadcast Antenna that converts support ships in the system slowly to your empire and so on.
I suppose the Attitudes count if we're being broad about diplomacy enough to include your Interior.
Edit: Oh and a lot of the Zeitgeists got changed up and rebalanced.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 22, 2016, 12:39:41 pm
Link to the expansion: http://store.steampowered.com/app/460420
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 22, 2016, 04:44:13 pm
And it's out! Hope you all enjoy the expansion and free update to the game. Let us know what your impressions of both are!Grabbing it now, going to play a round as the new race. Will let you know what I think
Link to the expansion: http://store.steampowered.com/app/460420
Post by: Aklyon on April 22, 2016, 04:46:32 pm
Theres two new races tho!And it's out! Hope you all enjoy the expansion and free update to the game. Let us know what your impressions of both are!Grabbing it now, going to play a round as the new race. Will let you know what I think
Link to the expansion: http://store.steampowered.com/app/460420
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 22, 2016, 04:47:29 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 22, 2016, 04:53:26 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 22, 2016, 05:08:26 pm
They're pretty darn pretty. You'll find the toggles from them in the options menu under Graphics.
Post by: Anvilfolk on April 22, 2016, 05:13:05 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 22, 2016, 05:14:16 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 22, 2016, 05:15:43 pm
You should check out the new fullscreen shaders while you're at it if you've got a rig that can support it!
They're pretty darn pretty. You'll find the toggles from them in the options menu under Graphics.
Oh believe me, I am.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Post by: forsaken1111 on April 22, 2016, 06:26:06 pm
Post by: Trevasaurus on April 22, 2016, 07:09:57 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on April 22, 2016, 07:28:36 pm
Game completed. We lost by only 76 points! (About the difference in points 1 defense platform would grant)
Post by: etgfrog on April 23, 2016, 01:54:06 am
Edit. Finally lost...on strength 79, the invaders were larger then the stars and there was no way I could do more then 100k dps to beat its in combat regen.
Post by: Anvilfolk on May 03, 2016, 02:52:18 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 03, 2016, 03:00:22 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 13, 2016, 10:49:29 am
Post by: sprinkled chariot on May 13, 2016, 01:55:20 pm
Post by: Firgof Umbra on May 13, 2016, 01:59:07 pm
Post by: Anvilfolk on May 16, 2016, 11:00:42 am
Post by: Anvilfolk on August 17, 2016, 12:22:41 pm
:)
Post by: Shadowlord on August 17, 2016, 12:31:08 pm
Post by: forsaken1111 on August 17, 2016, 01:49:36 pm
I clicked expecting bundle of wake of the heralds with star ruler 2. Instead, it's star ruler 2 and some games I've never heard of. :VThey tend to bundle one good game with a bunch of random crapware, so yeah.
Post by: Anvilfolk on August 17, 2016, 09:23:01 pm
Post by: Mephansteras on August 17, 2016, 09:59:39 pm
Post by: Frumple on August 20, 2016, 10:00:58 pm
$5 for bundle with Star Ruler 2: https://www.bundlestars.com/en/bundle/killer-bundle-8Huh. It looks like between yesterday and today they removed it from the bundle. Bloody shame, I had actually talked myself into spending the money at that price. Shouldn't have waited a day or two, apparently :-\
E: Oh, ouch. Apparently any unredeemed keys have been voided, too. Hope no one got the bundle aiming for SR2 and waited a bit before processing it...
Post by: forsaken1111 on August 20, 2016, 10:02:19 pm
Post by: Frumple on August 20, 2016, 10:14:21 pm
For what it's worth, it looks like SR2 might be going for about seven bucks within the next week or two, if your friend is still interested. Lil' bit more, but eh.
Post by: forsaken1111 on August 20, 2016, 10:20:07 pm
E: Oh, ouch. Apparently any unredeemed keys have been voided, too. Hope no one got the bundle aiming for SR2 and waited a bit before processing it...that sounds.... Illegal
Post by: Frumple on August 20, 2016, 10:36:53 pm
Near as I could tell the bundle folks weren't giving them a better option, and the only thing the devs could confirm on their end was redeemed or not, instead of sold or not. So they did what they could, after spending a few days trying all they could to do otherwise. At least they didn't void the redeemed copies, too... apparently that's a thing that's been happening a bit lately, with similar situations.
Post by: Anvilfolk on February 21, 2017, 03:16:20 pm
Quote
Star Ruler 2 is $5 at Bundle Stars (https://www.bundlestars.com/en/star-deal) until stock runs out, for another 19h!
Post by: Shadowlord on February 21, 2017, 07:50:55 pm
Post by: Akura on February 21, 2017, 09:13:05 pm
Post by: Orb on February 22, 2017, 12:38:15 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 22, 2017, 08:42:45 am
Post by: Girlinhat on February 27, 2017, 03:36:07 pm
Post by: Frumple on February 27, 2017, 03:49:00 pm
Will say you might want to check out that one big mod in the steam workshop, though. Forget the name, but it's one of the few that's more than cosmetic or minor tweaks. It added some neat stuff, though I can't recall how compatible it is with MP.
Post by: forsaken1111 on February 27, 2017, 03:53:46 pm
Post by: Aklyon on March 02, 2017, 01:14:51 pm
Post by: Girlinhat on March 02, 2017, 01:18:20 pm
I don't remember how to play at all but might be interested.That's fine, I was never very good at it anyways. I mostly just piled on defense and then played the senate until I could buy all the NPC's systems out from under them :P
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 02, 2017, 01:26:39 pm
Post by: Shadowlord on March 02, 2017, 06:28:28 pm
Post by: Girlinhat on March 03, 2017, 01:16:03 am
I might be interested. I haven't played much with the expansion yet. I could try to figure out the First during mp, heh.Everyone play the race you're least familiar with. Everyone flounders about going into self-bankruptcy and the winner is the one who doesn't wreck themselves.
Post by: LoSboccacc on March 03, 2017, 03:41:29 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 03, 2017, 06:23:48 am
But that would mean I'd have to play the Feyh or the Mono. I guess I can get on board with that, never tried the Mono and disliked the Feyh.I might be interested. I haven't played much with the expansion yet. I could try to figure out the First during mp, heh.Everyone play the race you're least familiar with. Everyone flounders about going into self-bankruptcy and the winner is the one who doesn't wreck themselves.
Post by: Frumple on March 03, 2017, 07:06:31 am
Mostly because I spent most of my time playing so far tooling around with custom races. I'm pretty much equally unfamiliar with all the default ones :P
Other the other hand, it could potentially get y'stuck with the plant ship things, too, and it's friggin' miserable to design those things. Don't think there was anything else in the game that entirely drove me away from playing with that part, but those ones managed.
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 03, 2017, 07:09:00 am
Post by: Frumple on March 03, 2017, 07:46:50 am
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 03, 2017, 07:53:55 am
Honestly I have played whole games without ever designing new ships, just scaling up a standard design and upgrading the weapons/power gen.
Post by: Orb on March 03, 2017, 10:14:09 am
Post by: Frumple on March 03, 2017, 10:32:57 am
Post by: Shadowlord on March 03, 2017, 03:39:25 pm
Example:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I've done multiplayer once before and didn't experience any technical problems afair, but it was just two players.
Probably want the host to be whoever has the highest upload. Mine, from beta.speedtest.net:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/26452959/speedtest_3_3_2017.png)
Post by: forsaken1111 on March 04, 2017, 12:50:07 pm
Post by: TripJack on July 22, 2018, 10:59:09 pm
https://steamcommunity.com/app/282590/discussions/1/1710690176754840807/
https://github.com/BlindMindStudios/StarRuler2-Source
Post by: Frumple on July 23, 2018, 08:56:11 pm
Kudos to the studio, though. Deffo one of the better things you can do with a defunct-ish game.
Post by: lastverb on July 24, 2018, 12:47:19 am
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 24, 2018, 11:04:14 am
Is first one open source too?
Not at this time. It has been considered -- but it's a bit of a mess in there. Last I heard Reaper wanted to build proper documentation and clean the code up before making it open source. That was some years ago though.
Post by: Sinlessmoon on July 25, 2018, 02:47:54 pm
...Last I heard Reaper wanted to build proper documentation and clean the code up before making it open source. That was some years ago though.
I'm pretty sure it would take at least several decades to clean up spaghetti code.
Post by: Majestic7 on July 25, 2018, 03:23:14 pm
Post by: Retropunch on July 25, 2018, 03:35:01 pm
More than all that though, if your game is a bit of a mess it can be saved by the community, and there's a ton of games I wish could have been continued if someone had the wish to.
Post by: Firgof Umbra on July 25, 2018, 03:51:31 pm
Quote
if your game is a bit of a mess it can be saved by the community, and there's a ton of games I wish could have been continued if someone had the wish to.
Unlike SR1, SR2 should be fairly easy to look into and digest if you're familiar with C++. Some of the stuff is certainly a little arcane but it's all well organized and structured. I think the most critical thing isn't just that it can now be indefinitely maintained and potentially improved -- but that it opens doors to game developers who would like to develop a 4X/RTS but don't really have a good engine with which to do so.
Post by: Astral on July 26, 2018, 06:07:20 pm
There are so many games that, as mentioned above, could have stood a further test of time if they were allowed to do so. Many games keep replayability up by allowing mods, but open sourcing is one of the kindest things you can do for a community who wishes to continue improving or potentially take their own spin on the game, well after official updates have ended.
It's definitely something I'm going to take the time to take a look at and toy with for a bit, because I love seeing under the hood on how things work.
Post by: ollobrains on July 30, 2018, 03:50:29 am
Post by: ollobrains on August 14, 2018, 09:37:52 pm