Starfarer 0.53a

Starfarer 0.53a

This version is out - you can download it here.

Changes as of August 02, 2012

Ship AI:

• Is aware of conserving flux when firing against particularly effective shields
  • Most visible when facing active Fortress Shields, but also applies when firing HE or fragmentation weapons at shields
• Will always raise omni shields in the direction it intends, instead of sometimes raising it in the wrong direction and then swinging it to face the threat
• Knows to lower and re-raise omni shields if they're pointing in the wrong direction, instead of swinging them over (which takes longer)
• Fixed bug that would sometimes cause the AI to inexplicably lower shields. Probably.
• Will not automatically lower shields when autopilot is engaged
• Improved missile avoidance
• Ships without shields will be more careful about avoiding missiles
• Improved logic that determines when it's ok to go in against a more powerful ship and when to pull back (multiple ships do a better job of trading off damage between each other)
• Frigates with at least a medium-sized weapon will never be considered "civilian", regardless of their loadout. (Prevents Hound from becoming very defensive/evasive with certain non-stock loadouts)
• Adjusted missile panic fire to occur earlier for shieldless (and cloakless) ships. Mostly affects the Buffalo Mk.2 - it's more likely to get rid of all its missiles before exploding.

Content:

• Added Phaeton-class medium tanker
  • Found in a few factions' fleets and convoys, not available for sale
• Added chance of Hyperion spawning in some Tri-Tachyon fleets
• Added "Front Shield Generator" hullmod that adds a basic shield to shieldless ships

Command UI:

• Adjusted fire support suitability calculation - ships that are better for an assault role will no longer get assigned to fire support (i.e., just because your Conquest has 2 MIRV launchers, it won't get lumped in with the Vigilances).
• Adjusted carrier group suitability calculation - ships like the Venture and Odyssey will no longer be assigned.

Modding related:

• Added SectorAPI.getPlayerFleet() method
• Extracted some common methods into a FleetDataAPI, added methods:
  • FleetDataAPI CargoAPI.getMothballedShips()
  • FleetDataAPI CampaignFleetAPI.getFleetData()
• Updated to new version of Janino (break and continue in loops will compile now)
• Added CargoStackAPI, CargoAPI.getStacksCopy()
• Modded-in combat music /should/ work now
• Added a few methods to the HullModEffect interface to support figuring out which mods are applicable to which hull and the addition of shields.
  • Any mod that adds hull mods will need to be updated - the classes implementing HullModEffect will not compile

Miscellaneous:

• Improved Codex UI
• Added ship systems to Codex
• Hullmods that are not applicable to a ship will be disabled in the hullmod selection dialog (for example, shield mods for a ship w/o shields).

Bugfixing:

• Fixed campaign movement bug that would cause you to overshoot your destination if you clicked on empty space
• Fixed bug that allowed you to center the view on a target even if that target was no longer visible through the fog of war
• Fixed bug where flagship display for a mission wouldn't update right after the flagship was refitted

Changes as of July 24, 2012

Admiral AI:

• Knows to engage enemy fire support ships when they become a significant danger

Ship Systems:

• Fortress Shield: generates hard flux but allows soft flux dissipation while it's on, allowing ship to take a "breather" in combat when its flux is high from weapons fire
• Maneuvering Jets: removed cooldown, added flux cost

Content:

• New mission: "Ambush" - showcases phase ships
• Added phase ships to some Tri-Tachyon and independent fleets
• Phase ship hulls available for sale at Tri-Tachyon HQ
• Omen hulls available for sale at Tri-Tachyon HQ
• New ship: Mule-class Combat Freighter (screenshot)
  • Added to some Hegemony, Pirate, and Independent fleets
  • Available for sale at the Hegemony Orbital Station

Modding-related:

• Removed redundant "API" suffix from some functions in the Global class
• Added createFleetMember() method to Global.getFactory()
• Greatly expanded CampaignFleetAPI and FleetMemberAPI (thanks for bugging me about it and putting together a list of methods, LazyWizard)
• Cost to activate/keep on the phase cloak is now set per ship, in ship_data.csv ("phase cost", "phase upkeep" columns - expressed as fraction of ship's base flux capacity)
• Added following methods to MutableShipStatsAPI:
  • getPhaseCloakActivationCostBonus()
  • getPhaseCloakUpkeepCostBonus()

Miscellaneous:

• Ship tooltip now shows phase cloak info (if applicable)
• Ship tooltip shows what active system a ship has
• Upgraded to LWJGL 2.8.4
• Fortress Shield and Phase Cloak apply sound effect filter when on

Bugfixes:

• Fixed ship AI bug where it wouldn't fire any weapons in an alternating group if the total flux cost to fire all weapons in the group was too high
• Fixed bug where fighters with a weapon that regenerated charges would go back to refit when charges ran down to 0

Changes as of July 14, 2012

Ship AI:

• Adjusted strafing/pursuit algorithm to help avoid a situation where two ships will circle each other ineffectively for a long time. This result in a significant AI quality improvement overall:
  • Better aim with forward-facing weapons
  • Better aim with guided *and* unguided missiles - in particular, AI frigates can now use Reaper torpedoes effectively
  • More aggresive engagements when appropriate
• Improved tactical response to being kited
• No longer tries to flee from frigates or fighters, since that generally doesn't ends well
• Improved collision avoidance - ships should more reliably go around each other when their destinations cause them to cross paths

Added Phase Cloaking:

• Replaces shields on phase ships (right click to phase in/out)
• Phased ships can be seen, but not hit
• No flux dissipation, builds a percentage of base flux per second - can't stay phased indefinitely
• Costs a percentage of base flux to activate
• Ship overloads if the phase cloak maxes out the flux level
• Can't unphase inside a solid object (but will overload)
• Can't fire while phased
• Three new phase ships: one cruiser and two frigates
• See blog post for more details: http://fractalsoftworks.com/2012/07/09/the-evolution-of-phase-cloaking/

Weapon/balance changes:

• Phase Beam: increased range by 100 units
• Phase Charge Launcher: renamed to "Proximity Charge Launcher", increased ammo to 30, increased launch speed, reduced rate of fire from 1/second to 1/3 seconds, reduced damage
• Tachyon Lance: reduced range and damage by 50%. Increased EMP damage by 50%. No longer goes through fighters.

Ship Systems:

• Changed Fast Missile Racks to generate flux per use, drastically reduced cooldown

Miscellaneous:

• Added per-system icons to in-combat ship status display
• Missile engine glow will now gradually diminish a couple of seconds before it flames out, giving some warning that it's about to happen

Bugfixes:

• Ship AI no longer tries to avoid an (impossible) collision with the transfer command shuttle pod
• Fixed potential game freeze if two fleets with ships with no attack capacity whatsoever engaged in an autoresolved battle
• Fixed bug where autofiring missile weapons didn't properly recognize when friendly fire is NOT a danger
• Fixed bug where switching weapon groups quickly would sometimes cause the weapon arcs for the wrong group to be displayed

Changes as of June 11, 2012

Ship Systems (along with tentative ship assignments):

• Flare Launcher - launches flares that distract the guidance systems of incoming missiles and PD weapons. Any missile hitting a flare will be destroyed.
  • Hound, Dram, Valkyrie, Buffalo Mk.II, Atlas
• Active Flare Launcher - similar to the above, but flares lock on to and track incoming missiles
  • Shuttle, Tempest, Buffalo
• Burn Drive - temporarily engages the drive used for system travel. Massive speed boost for a fixed time, can't turn or use shields (but can fire), risk of full engine flameout on significant collision.
  • Tarsus, Enforcer, Dominator, Onslaught
• Maneuvering Jets - activates extra thrusters to greatly improve ship maneuverability (acceleration/deceleration, turn rate, turn acceleration/deceleration)
  • Falcon, Eagle, Conquest
• Fast Missile Racks - rapidly reloads any cooling-down missile weapons
  • Vigilance, Condor, Venture
• Fortress Shield - drastically improves shield efficiency at the expense of a constant flux buildup and inability to fire weapons
  • Paragon
• High Energy Focus - boosts energy weapon damage by 50%, increases damage taken by 50%, can't use shields
  • Sunder, Aurora, Odyssey
• Phase Teleporter - teleports anywhere (to cursor location) within a significant range (~1500 pixels)
  • Hyperion
• Phase Skimmer - teleports a fixed, short distance along the ship's current velocity vector
  • Wolf, Medusa
• Point Defense Drones (high tech) - small, fragile drones armed with LR PD Lasers
  • Astral
• Point Defense Drones (midline) - small, fragile drones armed with Light MGs
  • Gemini
• Sensor Drones - drones armed with ion cannons that also increase the sight radius and weapon range while deployed
  • Apogee
• Accelerated Ammo Feeder - doubles ballistic weapon rate of fire for a fixed duration
  • Brawler, Lasher, Hammerhead
• EMP Emitter - targets missiles and nearby ship's weapon and engine subsystems, dealing a lot of EMP damage (and some energy). Mostly neutralized by shields.
  • Omen

Balance:

• Increased Pilum missile hitpoints
• Updated Flux Coil Adjunct hullmod to provide double the capacity bonus
• Reduced single-shot Reaper torpedo launcher cost to 2 OP (from 4)
• Improved Buffalo Mk.2 speed and maneuverability significantly
• Improved Buffalo top speed

Ship AI:

• Knows about coasting at a higher speed attained from the zero flux engine boost (or by other means)
• Fixed bug that was causing a capital ship with omni shields to overestimate its nimbleness
• Fixed bug that caused a ship to think it was venting when its target was (resulting in backing off from venting enemy ships)
• Will try to avoid colliding with smaller friendly ships that have their engines disabled
• More conservative with strike weapons (such as torpedoes), less likely to waste them on enemy shields
• Improved shield AI to be aware of incoming projectiles, even when the weapon that fired no longer seems a threat
• Will vent when at relatively low flux, but unthreatened
• Improved logic for deciding which side to turn towards enemy for broadsides
• Knows about ship systems

Miscellaneous:

• Toned down ship explosion whiteout, fixed case where it would stay washed out for too long
• Various performance optimizations
• Updated weapon tooltip to show sustained flux/second value instead of burst
• Optimized weapon code to do less work for weapons that are off-screen
• Improved collision checking algorithm to minimize chances of projectiles passing through without doing damage (was only happening when the frame rate dipped)
  • Bombing runs and fighters firing at a ship while directly on top of it will no longer hit the bounds, but rather other points inside the hull
• Missiles can no longer hit the launching ship if they fizzle out, UNLESS they've left the ship's bounds at some point

Controls:

• Removed key binding for raising flux on purpose
• "F" now the default key for using the ship's system
  • For drones, F cycles through "recall"/"deploy around ship"/"free roam" modes
• "Q" and "E" now bound to strafe left/right without turning

Content:

• Added "ECCM Package" hullmod that gives missiles a chance to ignore flares and improves missile tracking and engine performance
• Unique icons for every hullmod

Modding-related:

• Can now specify custom engine glow color and contrail data (see data/shipsystems/proj/flare_standard.proj for example)
• Added new MutableShipStats:
  • getEccmChance() - chance for missiles fired by ships to ignore flares
  • getMissileGuidance() - governs improvement to missile tracking AI and engine performance
  • getSightRadiusMod() - fog of war radius the ship can see through
  • getMissileRoFMult() - rate of fire multiplier for missile weapons
  • getBallisticRoFMult() - rate of fire multiplier for ballistic weapons
  • getEnergyRoFMult() - rate of fire multiplier for energy weapons
• Increased rate-of-fire capped at 20 shots/second. Weapons firing faster than that are unaffected.
• Fixed some issues with incorrect UI colors being used (wrong color for hangar space bar, crew bar in ship tooltip)
• Fixed bug that was causing some very large modded ships to not be properly zoomed out in the refit screen

Bugfixes:

• Fixed bug where a ship could be "too good" for a destroyer escort assignment
• Fixed flickering issue when fleet was parked directly over the sun
• Fixed Sunder variant that went over the flux vents cap
• Saved custom ship loadouts designed in missions no longer erroneously show up in the campaign variant manager
• Fixed bug that caused some animations to not be properly cleaned up after every battle
• Fixed accident chance erroneously showing up from being over capacity hangar space
• Fixed bug where hullmods would not be applied when a ship is refitted for a mission
• Fixed bug where burst lasers could still use up charges by trying to fire while the ship is overloaded/venting
• Fixed bug that resulted in incorrect "current" weapon being shown in weapon picker (refit) dialog after an undo