Subset Games Forum

We already have ion drones. Are those ion burst drones? or heavier ion drones? And is that a halberd beam drone?

As for the tip text errors, I got one in the tip about personnel damage, in the word personnel

As always, no comment on what things will do exactly. But the overall plan here is to make CE independent from Drones Plus. I want to change some of the drones, but can not do this without authors consent. So new versions will be created for CE, probably with a little more variety to get probability even. Drone Extension will cover most types of drones with its own assets in the end.

As far as I can tell the mod runs much more stable since 0.972. Also, most of the content that was planned is implemented now. I guess we don't have to call it a beta any more.

I started to do stuff in CE that I'm not exactly sure about (piracy options are interesting, but also offset the balance somehow and don't feel very vanilla for example). I might go back to the roots for now and release a new stand alone version of TB and BA (maybe also Drone Extension as a stand alone mod) for people that aren't into that whole game changing overhaul stuff.

1.0 changelog
-DE: eight drones added, Drones Plus is no longer required to run CE
-Light laser design slightly changed
-Light laser MKIII now uses its own weapon sheet as intended
-Stations crew increased
-Slightly lowered Auto Turret HP
-Piracy options significantly extended, some faction specific piracy events added
-Trade goods as rare loot added
-More avoidable forward cruisers added
-One more space diner quest added



1.0 final drone content

I'm new and kinda confused. So are u still recommending drones plus?

Oops maybe that wasn't made too clear:
Drone Plus is no longer required to run the mod.
Also CE has it's own versions of the drones now, so if you use Drones Plus alongside now you just get some more similar drones with different designs to buy at the shop. Drones Plus might actually interfere with the CEs drone lists, so it's not really compatible anymore. So I recommend not using Drones Plus together with CE.

Don't get me wrong here: I love Drones Plus and it's a great addition to the game. It's drones are really well designed (Missile MKI and Ion MK I are my favourite). But I needed more control of the drone assets in the mod. I contacted Karmos about integrating the Drones Plus into CE, but I think he is no longer around here. As I can't use and modify his assets without permission I created new versions of missile and ion drones for CE and expanded them slightly.

Found a bug, when I teleported my Rock and Mantis back during a battle, they walked through the wall and disapeared, they were still alive and part of my crew (top left crew slots) but I could not control them, later I jumped, then a minute later they walked through a different part of the ship. Help?

The mod looks simply amazing. Finished a run, and no major bugs spotted so far.

The game became harder by quite a margin, due to several factors:
1) enemy layouts are less prone to exploitation. It is rare that I can target weapons and shields with the same beam weapon.
2) enemy puts new weapons to good use. I had to actually hightail out of several sectors (I almost never do that in the original) because of their impenetraple defence/overwhelming firepower.
3) the amount of new stuff in the game makes it harder to rely on shops. When there are but a handful of weapons, you need to visit only so much shops before you stumble upon the ultimate loadout.

I would like to play a bit more and comment on things that, to me, seemed over- or under- powered..

Here are my thoughts on weapons/drones that I got to use on this run:
Missile drone - too cheap for 20 scrap. It is not very reliable, yes, but it still prevents at least 50% missiles from damaging you.
Light Laser Mk II - too cheap for 1 power. They are amazingly effective when you accumulate crew in a single room (by boarding, or by starting a fire), and finish them off in one salvo. The closest thing that allows to do the same, Anti-Bio Beam, costs 2 power.
Auto laser Mk II - useless for 3 power. I believe it was based on an Ion Blast Mk II, but Ion weapons allow you to supress systems indefinitely, while Auto laser Mk II can't break through a single shield, and is nothing more than a glorified Anti-Ship Drone in a weapon form. I understand that you can't lower the power requirements, because Auto laser Mk I has its uses for 2 power.
Big bomb - too cheap for 1 power. It is a Breach Mk II bomb, only without breach. 3 damage will disable 2 layers of shields, all for the cost of 1 power bar. Then again, vanilla has Ion Bomb, which is even worse in that regard.
Hasta beam - too expensive. Why would anyone want to buy them? They are slow to reload, weak, and cost almost as much as a Pike Beam.
Heavy laser drone - too slow to be useful. I had both a Heavy Drone and a simple Anti-Ship Mk I, and used the latter exclusively - it can dish more damage per second, and it is also good at suppressing shields.
Forgot how the missile that shoots 4 rockets in 1 salvo is called. Scurve Missile? It is completely overpowered for its low power cost. It tears through defensive drones as if they weren't there, it has a chance to start fires on every hit, which lits the whole room on fire, and it is guaranteed to do at least some damage to the enemy. Even at 4 power, it would still beat Breach missile hands down.

Well, that's it for now. Keep up the good work!

You won't believe it, but up for now, I've almost missed this astonishing piece of work. Well, to be honest, I saw it during initial mod-hunting, but back then, I wanted to experience FTL as vanilla+ (so just bug-fixing and visual mods), as it was my first contact.

After getting all achievements and winning game dozens of times, (of course, without touching "easy", ever), I thought that sorrow is upon us, as "Infinity Space" and "Turn the Tide" seems to be dead. For some strange reasons, I avoided CE thread, is I mistook it for "that" equipment "overhaul" mod, which happily cut-out asteroid fields (when it turned out, that giving player over-powered shields lvl5 cause bugs in asteroids).

And here it is - by pure accident, I clicked Captains Edition link again... This time, knowing vanilla game inside-out, I'm speechless about features you've added. Absolutely gorgeous work, and I just can't wait to try it. I know, this post isn't full of valuable feedback, but I just couldn't stop myself for expressing my gratitude for your persistence on [strike]fighting[/strike] working with modding FTL. Huge class-M giant Thank-You!

/Estel

// Edit

After few playthroughs, I must say it again - this mod is simply AMAZING. At first, it's little hard to get used to new weapons looks (I kep asking myself WTF is that gun mounted on enemy ship, ever for vanilla ones), but in just a short while, I was totally immersed in my "desperate" space travel. It's much more interesting, it's hard (I like hard!), and most importantly, it feels natural - just like it should look this from scratch.

Hoever, I have few suggestions, and info on (small) bugs, encountered so far.
---
Suggestions:
1. While diverse look of weapons is great (too many different rocket launchers looked almost the same in vanilla), I think that currently,new looks are a little overused. For example, heavy laser and double heavy laser - they looked much more distinct in vanilla, and current version feels a little more "pixelated" than rest of game (or it's just me?).

New looks are definitelly OK for new equipment, and for "clones" from vanilla, but I think that replacing look of everything just for the sake of it wasn't good idea - thing that looked unique already, should, IMO, remain as they were.

2. Space stations are astonishing - I really, really love this idea. I wonder, if it would be possible to design them without all-round weapon system, using separate weapon stations (like those seen on rebel flagship or vindicator's artillery beam - not necessary same weapons, just idea of separate stations).

It would be much more "realistic" and fun - after all, those stations have plenty of crew (if some rogue AI haven't killed them all already, that is) - let's give them something to do Having those "big guns" on stations operated by different people and requiring destruction of all of them to disable station, would require different tactic (also, on big stations, they could be "planted" in rooms far away, making beam-slaughtering harder). After all, unlike rebel flagship, they would be incer-connected with other rooms, so it wouldn't be enough to teleport 2 people, slaughter operator, and destroy turret to disable it for rest of fight (OT: I was always dissapointed how easy it is to disable whole 4 weapon stations on rebel flagship via teleportation, making it toothless).

3. Sorry if it was answered (I wasn't able to find such question in earlier pages, but something might have slipped my attention) - why trading is achievable only as "fake" augments? One can put weapons/drones into cargo hold (space for 4 items), which make it much more cargo-like. There are possible checks for weapons/drones owned by players in events, so maybe it could be used for cargo'ed equipment, too?

As for now, sparing one augment slot seems quite "expensive" (expensive as in getting blown to pieces, due to "wasted" augment slot... Or at least, getting more damage, so we need to pay more for repair), especially that you can't be sure of successful trade.

4. I also agree, that salvo missiles should either cost more power, of shot lesser amount of missiles at once (max 3?). After all, vanilla rebel flagship was able to shot "only" three with it separate weapon room (so think about it as special weapon, like Vindicator's artillery beam) - I'm not sure that "regular" weapon slot missile should be able to do such mass destruction. For now, it seems most OP weapon in CE playthroughs.

5. You said you're not sure about "piracy" options. I was a little surprised at first, but I think I have idea how to make it fit into vanilla, nicely - let's make it choices-consequences! For example, some factions could try to retreat when we pirate them (or most, except, let's say, Mantis, and Rocks could start to run little later, while loosing). IF one of them succeed, it could mean troubles for us with that faction - i.e. stations which would be friendly or neutral becoming hostile (like, engi stations hostile, after commiting piracy on engi and lettim them run), for rest of our playthrough.

I don't know if it's doable, but it could also mean turning all neutral-friendly encounters with said faction into hostile ones (not only stations - so, engi ship, which would ask us for fuel, will attack on sight, etc). Pirate life isn't easy!

---

Bugs:
1. I've noticed, that some vanilla "space station" events now got image of station in question as target - that's great idea, it looks much more climatic, now. Still, I've encountered at least one of such events lacking station image (so, it played out just like vanilla) - the one, where we detect faint life signature, and are able to dock (and after docking, station is full of human corpses, and we either find one alive person in storage closet, or consider life signatures a mistake). No station image, at any stage of this event.

2. During one of "extended" vanilla events - the one, where we find federation planetary base, that survived planetary bombardment - we're told about rebel cruiser (which bombed said base) one beacon away, and we're informed, that it's location hav been marked on our map (to either avoid it, or destroy, to slow down rebels due to capital ship loss).

Sadly, nothing was marked on my map. I wasn't able to check all surrounding beacons 'till rebel fleet caught up, so I'm not sure if whole event isn't working as intended, or just said marking on map is bugged.

Estel wrote:2. Space stations are astonishing - I really, really love this idea. I wonder, if it would be possible to design them without all-round weapon system, using separate weapon stations (like those seen on rebel flagship or vindicator's artillery beam - not necessary same weapons, just idea of separate stations).

This. Actually, I can't believe I forgot about it, this was the first thing that popped into my mind when I was talking about how underwhelming Battle stations were. They are tougher now, but still quiet easy to disable if you focus on their weapons.

Estel wrote:4. I also agree, that salvo missiles should either cost more power, of shot lesser amount of missiles at once (max 3?). After all, vanilla rebel flagship was able to shot "only" three with it separate weapon room (so think about it as special weapon, like Vindicator's artillery beam) - I'm not sure that "regular" weapon slot missile should be able to do such mass destruction. For now, it seems most OP weapon in CE playthroughs.

I believe upping the power requirements to the number of rockets fired and getting rid of special effects (they are applied separately on every hit, and mess up the targeted system beyond repair) would make salvo missiles more in line with other weapons. Getting past the defense drones is a good enough ability on its own.

1.02 changelog
-Some new beam contact graphics added
-Several minor errors fixed
-Slug hunter class offset adjusted
-Several weapons stats rebalanced
-Rebel Repair Ship layout changed to fix vertical offset

Another minor update.

Estel wrote:2. Space stations are astonishing - I really, really love this idea. I wonder, if it would be possible to design them without all-round weapon system, using separate weapon stations (like those seen on rebel flagship or vindicator's artillery beam - not necessary same weapons, just idea of separate stations).

Unfortunately that's not really possible as far as I know. Even the Fed cruisers artillery can only be modified, not duplicated, so different kinds of artillery weapons are not possible right now (the flagship is almost entirely hard-coded in that regard).

Estel wrote:3. [...] why trading is achievable only as "fake" augments? One can put weapons/drones into cargo hold (space for 4 items), which make it much more cargo-like. There are possible checks for weapons/drones owned by players in events, so maybe it could be used for cargo'ed equipment, too.

I briefly thought about that but sticked to aug slots for two reasons:
1. I wanted that the player has to make sacrifices if he wants to transport goods. The cargo holds for weaons/drones is super big and almost never gets full. Aug slots further limit trading and the player has to decide if he wants to transport more goods or have more augs. When you play around with trading a little you might discover that it can be much more profitable as it first appear.
2. Trade goods as weapons, probably more likely drones, would allow the player to screw around a lot with these his goods. He could put them into his active slots and gain even more cargo space. He could activate them, waste drone parts with that... you as a player could do all kinds of other unpredictable stuff, so having the goods as augs keeps everything neet and predictable. Weapons or drones would need dummy graphics as well. That all has to be edited and in the end it all still looks like badly executed workaround (wich TE already does at some points). One advantage would be that the goods could have their own icons. That would be cool at last.

Nevill wrote:Auto laser Mk II - useless for 3 power. I believe it was based on an Ion Blast Mk II, but Ion weapons allow you to supress systems indefinitely, while Auto laser Mk II can't break through a single shield, and is nothing more than a glorified Anti-Ship Drone in a weapon form. I understand that you can't lower the power requirements, because Auto laser Mk I has its uses for 2 power.

Bear in mind that some weapons are designed around synergies. Not every weapon is supposed to be viable on its own. You are on the right track there with comparing it to Anti Ship Drones. Actually the Auto Laser is a Anti-Ship Drone MKII that need no drone parts, costs one power less and shoots where you want. It even profits from crew and augs. I think that makes it a pretty powerful weapon, it cant stand well on it's own, but it's not designed to do that. Just like Heavy Anti Ship MKI. Of course you will use the normal Anti Ship drone if you have one at the same time. Heavy Anti-Ship Drones simply fill another role. They aren't as good in depleting shields, but deal damage to unshielded enemies more energy efficient.

BA adds weapons of all tiers to keep things balanced and coherent. Some of the weapons are simply designed not to be too good. I'm pretty sure Bardiche Beam and Ion Artillery is the biggest crap you can mount on your ship. But if live gives you lemons, make lemon treats. Making the best of bad load-outs and succeed can feel quite rewarding. I agree with most of your suggestions thought and implemented a lot of them. Some crap weapons can do incredible things in conjunction with other weapons/gear.

Estel wrote:2. During one of "extended" vanilla events - the one, where we find federation planetary base, that survived planetary bombardment - we're told about rebel cruiser (which bombed said base) one beacon away, and we're informed, that it's location hav been marked on our map (to either avoid it, or destroy, to slow down rebels due to capital ship loss).

Sadly, nothing was marked on my map. I wasn't able to check all surrounding beacons 'till rebel fleet caught up, so I'm not sure if whole event isn't working as intended, or just said marking on map is bugged.

Oops yeah, that has been fixed now. There are a few other occasions where you get warned about a nearby cruiser. I hope you can take on one soon.