resulting in a peak influence of 2232
zxc's combat experience is going to be quite different from other players, because as I explained in another thread (http://www.gridsagegames.com/forums/index.php?topic=261.msg2265#msg2265) he's using an incredibly efficient method of play that is keeping his perceived threat high. (You can read more about it over there.)Quoteresulting in a peak influence of 2232
Holy fsk! My last run (which ended after three prolonged fights across two levels) I had a peak influence of a mere 381.
I almost wonder whether legs need a little something (heavens knows what) to keep pace with the trundlin' things.They got a +50% integrity boost! That's pretty good considering how fast they are, and common. (They can also somewhat benefit from Maneuvering Thrusters, unlike treads.)
especially if you're stuck without AoE weapons against Swarmers.Positioning is everything. I will literally absorb fire from Swarmers for a while to reposition myself somewhere I can take them all out with ease. But yeah I much prefer to have an AoE weapon :P
Needless to say, I rather wish the Accuracy Chip was actually a Targeting Pod instead - that way you could have a weapon mount that let you make your guns more accurate... and if they got blown off, you could at least shove an extra gun in the same space to keep your damage output up too. It'd also help make combat builds that little bit more... distinctive, I suppose? :)Hm, I had an idea for a mechanic that wasn't this, but the interface I theorized could potentially work to implement what you're talking about here, and I like that idea a lot...
I've also noticed a lot of cores you kill off robots are Light, Compact, etc. If a robot has plenty of weight tolerance, is there any reason it doesn't have the heavier versions in place?Sure you might prefer the energy storage, but they don't!
Perhaps things like 'toughened' power cores, that are halfway between heavy reactors and armour; you slap 'em on if you need the health more than the spare juice... :)In Alpha 3 I already increased all non-light power source integrity by 50%!
And yeah, I can agree with making some slots a little more versatile, e.g. you can put a battery into a power slot OR a utility slotParts must remain single-slot-type, for implementation reasons (that's a set requirement); from some players' point of view allowing multi-type parts would be too confusing, anyway.
And yeah, I can agree with making some slots a little more versatile, e.g. you can put a battery into a power slot OR a utility slotParts must remain single-slot-type, for implementation reasons (that's a set requirement); from some players' point of view allowing multi-type parts would be too confusing, anyway.
I'm a (game) programmer myself and I know quite well the limitations that one can inadvertently code oneself into.To ensure progress on the game itself rather than endlessly architecting the source, I enforced a number of assumptions from the very beginning--this was one of them.
Needless to say, I rather wish the Accuracy Chip was actually a Targeting Pod instead - that way you could have a weapon mount that let you make your guns more accurate... and if they got blown off, you could at least shove an extra gun in the same space to keep your damage output up too. It'd also help make combat builds that little bit more... distinctive, I suppose? :)Hm, I had an idea for a mechanic that wasn't this, but the interface I theorized could potentially work to implement what you're talking about here, and I like that idea a lot...
It would require a lot of work because it doesn't fit into the current systems, but I think as you say it would give combat builds an interesting alternative approach. In a way it would encourage taking more weapon slots, but it would have to be worth more than taking a more generally versatile utility slot.
It's up to you, of course. It just feels odd that once you reach a certain point, the correct way to boost your firepower is to install more utility slots. The weapon slots had enough drawbacks as it was.I think this makes a lot of sense as is, really. Logically speaking, advanced warfare is all about improving your additional capabilities on top of a small selection of weapons you're carrying.
In another thread, the ability to be able to see the layout of maps in a large image post-run was brought up. That would probably help a lot in this department, although I'm not sure it's a good addition in game design terms; I think perhaps map familiarity is something best built up by playing the game - and sharing our discoveries socially - and not by dissecting images.I was just writing about this for a blog post yesterday (the next). I wouldn't want to reveal the whole map--that's not going to happen--but what would you say to outputting an image of what the explored part of the map looked like?
Good points. Coverage is an especially important mechanic that shouldn't be overlooked.I think that strikes an excellent compromise - play the game, get a good view of what you uncovered and how your choices led you to uncover it. Yes please!
I occasionally switch over to the 'c' mode visualization to make sure my important utilities have sufficiently relative low coverage that they won't go boom as soon as I meet an enemy (in situations like that, combat builds may choose to be a little more wary of engagements, and I'll even put something back in my inventory if I really want to keep it safe until better protection can be found). Another good solution that Happylisk likes to use is Utility Shielding, to prevent the odd shot from taking out a low-integrity part.In another thread, the ability to be able to see the layout of maps in a large image post-run was brought up. That would probably help a lot in this department, although I'm not sure it's a good addition in game design terms; I think perhaps map familiarity is something best built up by playing the game - and sharing our discoveries socially - and not by dissecting images.I was just writing about this for a blog post yesterday (the next). I wouldn't want to reveal the whole map--that's not going to happen--but what would you say to outputting an image of what the explored part of the map looked like?
An awesome add-on would be an overlay showing the path you took, but I imagine that would be a lot more coding.Not a lot more! In fact, I bring up that very possibility in the blog post. After looking at some example shots, I think that would make such a map a lot more meaningful, and interesting!
I'd like to differ, however, on the usefulness of combat utilities, Targeting Computers in particular; although combat utilities are flimsy, their very small coverage means that they can last a long while. Think of HP/coverage as 'effective hitpoints' - I can't check at the moment, but I think they might have more than your average armor plate, although they are more heavily affected by RNG. And as Reiver says, the effect is pretty dramatic - going from 60% to-hit to 72% is effectively a 20% increase in applied damage with none of the weight, energy/mass consumption, or heat generation of another weapon. As for Targeting Analyzers, stack a few good ones on weapons with a significant crit chance, and you can get upwards of a 50% chance to crit. Unfortunately, I'm less convinced of the value of relying on crit-kills or critting parts off of enemies when you want to be dealing massive damage to kill them regardless - and while Target Analyzers are pretty common (loot Programmers), Targeting Computers are rather scarce.Don't get me wrong - I do like those offensive utilities very much. I equip them whenever I can. I'm just saying they're fragile enough that they get blown off quite quickly and therefore aren't extremely useful in the grand scheme of things compared with say, force fields, storage, and so on. That first post was also written before I won my combat game, in which I was using about three utility slots for offensive utilities by the end. Basically, any left-over slots after storage, armour, force field, energy utilities if needed, heat dissipation, and damage reduction for the specific enemies I'm facing. I also agree that targeting computers are the best offensive utilities.
Also, I'd like to point out that system corruption is massive pain in the later levels, but not always unavoidable; I won my combat run with 0% corruption thanks to a pair of items - System Recalibrators? - that each purged 1 point of corruption every 150 turns, double the efficiency of the baseline units. They were a lucky find, but if they are a low enough rarity to be feasibly fabricated, they may be an option; without high system corruption, hacking and, well, everything remains more viable.I also found that system corruption was pretty much a non-issue in my winning run. It seems that massive system corruption is more a symptom of a feedback spiral leading to a loss than an unavoidable factor. My highest system corruption was just 17%, reached on the hardest floor, -3. I only made use of the purging utilities on -1 because simply escaping ASAP is the best way of purging corruption. I would not recommend fabricating these items as you'd get much more use out of fabricating HCP storage units.
Resistance items should become more useful the later in the game you are, as the damage they nullify should begin to outweigh the loss in coverage/integrity from equipping them. One slot to reduce damage by ~20% is surely worthwhile.
Utility Shields (and the similar Propulsion/Weapons/Power Shields) absorb damage that would otherwise be inflicted on other utilities, hence the 0 coverage and why they don't seem to last long in combat. I think they are more useful for stealth/speed builds than combat, as lots of armour will make them rather redundant (at least, the utility shields certainly).
I'd like to have a look at your morgue file if you don't mind.
When I need to fire a weapon with recoil, I switch from legs to treads. This is an instant action, though it is very tedious to do repeatedly.We'll be getting a new method for simultaneous activation/deactivation of all propulsion, as well as cycling through propulsion types, which would help reduce the tedium there. As zxc says, though, there will be a per-tread effect on recoil coming, so that tactic will be somewhat less effective (though still viable, I think, and I was wondering if and when someone would start doing that =p).
I find that the most grindy part of the game is to get your hands on enough Hcp. Storage Units to survive up to the end game. You can download schematics starting at -9, but the food clock starts at -7. Effectively you have two levels to download the schematic, get a matter storage unit, and stumble on a low-level fab. Index(Fabricators) rarely works. Then you sit on the fab and milk it repeatedly. By the time you hit Factory, the combination of high-level terminals/fabs, food clock and corruption means that fabbing (hacking, really) is not really an option anymore. From this point on you have to rely on luck to find the storage units or the hackware to make fabbing possible again. I really hope this gets addressed.Yep, it will be addressed from multiple angles. The first and most obvious change will be that the effect of corruption on hacking will be vastly reduced.
20% reduction is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but you'd need 3 slots if you wanted it to work accross all three damage types (unless you swap parts).I am of course a great advocate of part swapping. 100 time units spent to reduce damage received by 20% is well worth it (especially when you can do this after previously moving, letting your accuracy increase). Also, you often know what you are about to face e.g. programmers getting dispatched, so you can equip the best resist item ahead of time.
The kinetic weapons I found had higher integrity so I kept them around longer than I should have.That might be another point for kinetic weapons. Another reason I like them is because they are just so common and easy to replace. My kinetic weapons would rarely get destroyed because I would often replace damaged ones with brand new ones off dead enemies.
Thanks for the guides and explanations you've posted in these boards. It was very helpful to me!Sure thing! I love theory-crafting in a game with depth like this and that is also new and not worked out. I think the biggest change I'm going to make in light of your post is to try using more propulsion slots. They are a poor man's armour (and go well with armour in any case), help prevent scenarios where you run out of propulsion, and reduce your move delay. I think if you are lucky with items, it is still optimal to have the minimum number of propulsion slots, as armour has better coverage and integrity still. But it's rare to be so fortunate with RNG.
Oh hey, I only just now noticed your avatar, zxc.
How nice of mendonca to make the perfect custom avatar just for you 8)
You could make the flight dodge bonus not apply if you're overweight.
This talk is also making me want to have a composite defensive mod indicator on the HUD...Now that you've brought it up, we will not be satisfied until it's added!
I found maneuvering thrusters with coverage of 80 and integrity of 10. That amounted to 6% of my total coverage. So the part lasts for about 16 incoming shots on average. IMO that's useless for a combat build.You could say they're not meant for combat builds :). All evasion-enabling parts in general have relatively high coverage compared to other devices, because otherwise they're waaaay too good.
Do cloaking units stack? I was pretty sure they didn't, but I honestly haven't really tried to test it.Absolutely not. As you say that would be too effective.
Do cloaking units stack? I was pretty sure they didn't, but I honestly haven't really tried to test it.
I tend to kinda neglect them in sneaky builds just because not being able to hop over robots always ends up getting me killed.
1) Make the turn timer fractional, so it's possible to know when the turn end and when it's safe to run past enemies without them noticing. Right now I work around this by dancing in front of a door until I see the turn tick.This theoretically should not work, because hostile robot turns have nothing to do with the turn timer--like yourself they can take their turn in the middle of game turns.