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26

Ideas / Ramming through walls.

« on: September 11, 2018, 12:53:48 PM »

I thought it'd be cool if you could drive your heavy tank through a wall. Or sufficiently beefy leg build could kick a wall with enough force to break it down. That could be just treads/legs thing, where success chance depends on mass/support or ramming damage, or something similar.

Need more ways to make a dramatic entrance!

27

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [Beta 7] Trace progress on the first hack unaffected by defensive hackware.

« on: September 06, 2018, 02:24:41 PM »

For the one hack that starts trace progress, trace progress itself is not reduced by defensive hackware or hub bonuses. So a hack with 50% success chance can go to 50% trace in the first try, despite having 50%+ defensive bonuses. Every subsequent 50% hack progresses the trace by 15% (or was it 10%?).

This bug is older than Beta 7.

28

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [Beta 6] Cogmind receives no heat transfer from TH weapons.

« on: August 24, 2018, 02:35:38 PM »

I noticed that when grunts shoot me, my heat does not rise. I'm moving fast enough for heat dissipation not to tick. I also made sure that the grunts don't miss.

29

General Discussion / Oddities of time system.

« on: August 17, 2018, 09:51:23 AM »

Since GJ mentioned peeking (https://www.reddit.com/r/Cogmind/comments/96fnpf/armchair_robotics_week_2/e4cism3/), I wanted to talk a bit more about the time system used in Cogmind. Currently each robot on its turn is assigned 100 TU (time units) and acts until it spends them all ("debt" is subtracted from future turns) and then the next robot starts its turn. This leads to a number of oddities, usually noticeable when performing actions that cost less than 100 TU:

Peeking -- if you're moving fast enough, you can figure out when to move through the line of sight of other robots without being spotted
Operators always do 2 moves at once and swarmers do 3 moves at once. Even if you are faster than them. For example let's assume that you move at 33 TU. You'll move 3 times, then an operator (~50 TU) will move twice, then you 3 times, then the operator twice and so on. Similarly with swarmers: 3 your moves, then 3 swarmer's moves; instead of 1 yours, 1 swarmer's, 1 yours, 1 swarmer's,...
Slow robots can surprisingly act twice in a row. You can roll at 90TU per move and keep 1 tile between yourself and a brawler (160TU), but sometimes, after your move, the brawler will get enough time to move AND smash you. Worse yet, this applies to crushers in the wastes.

I'm not sure why Cogmind isn't using a priority queue instead, where after each action (instead of spending all the time in a turn) it is evaluated who acts next. They way I understand it, such change would only affect these counter-intuitive scenarios. And, umm, make swarmers hop over eachother multiple times per turn, but hostiles hopping is another thing I have an issue with.

30

Ideas / Builders stabilize explosive machines.

« on: August 16, 2018, 05:15:41 AM »

I imagine it'd be fun seeing engineers rush towards a destabilized explosive machine to stabilize it. Especially if stabilization takes some time or requires multiple engineers to work together -- then one could see an engineer standing next to a reactor preventing it from exploding NOW, like some poor guy who is stuck holding a bomb's trigger, lest the trigger is released.

This offers a few tactical options to Cogmind:

Just seeing engineers rush into the room means that some machines in it were probably destabilized and you should run
Destroy the engineers to allow the machine to finally explode, perhaps at a more convenient time than that of the original destabilization timer
Standing near explosive machinery is now safe if engineers are close enough. On the other hand you can't set machines to explode with weak weapons when engineers are nearby.

Furthermore if the engineers were to far to prevent the explosion, but managed to get into explosion's radius, they might survive the damage and call reinforcements, further pointing out that more destruction means more trouble.

Also, engineers already use Structural Scanners, so it makes sense that they use it (well... more than just to avoid unstable tiles [which they don't do?] while reconstructing walls).

31

Strategies / Movement speed calculations.

« on: August 09, 2018, 01:08:40 PM »

I'd like someone to explain how exactly movement speed is calculated.

I've seen 5 overloaded flight units with base speed 35 move at the final speed of 5, but my own calculations yield 8, so apparently I don't know the actual formula.

32

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [Beta 6] Exit's highlight area for allies reveals hidden doors.

« on: May 27, 2018, 08:15:15 AM »

See the screenshot -- hidden door was there indeed.

33

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [Beta 6] Traps revealed for no reason, neither friendly nor hostile.

« on: May 20, 2018, 07:59:37 AM »

In attached save, a bit below me, there are 2 traps revealed. Possible 2 bugs here:
1) I had no intel to reveal any traps, no data cores retrieved, etc. They seem to be uncovered by Terrain Scanner (Bug or feature?

).
2) They do not show on hostiles labelling (1) nor friendly labelling (2).

34

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [Beta 6] 'Will leave an ally' warning incorrect.

« on: May 18, 2018, 10:35:50 AM »

Sometimes before exiting a level I'll get a warning about leaving an ally when all of my allies are within exit's range.

Picture in the attachment. I waited a few turns and no warning appeared when these same 4 mutants were in exit's range.

Attached a save where 4 allies are outside exit's range but warning mentions only 3 of them.

EDIT: Further tests show that the distance for warning is measured from Cogmind rather than from an exit. In practice the allies come if they are close to exit (not necessarily close to Cogmind).

35

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / Right-clicking to close a window (i.e. item info window).

« on: May 05, 2018, 10:07:15 AM »

I view a robot (opens a window on the right side). Then I view one of it's parts (opens a second window in the middle of my screen). Then, when I want to close that second window via a right-click, it can instead bring up info for a wall or whatever else is at my cursor but HIDDEN by said window.

(See the pictures.)

I want the second window to close, and the first window to remain unchanged. What happens is the second window remains unchanged and the first window now shows wall's stats.

36

Ideas / Center on ally.

« on: May 02, 2018, 03:56:18 AM »

Often time I lose track of where my drones are and panning the map in search of them is annoying. I'd like to be able to center on an ally from the allies window.

37

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [Beta 5] Labeling parts doesn't work when there are no unfiltered parts.

« on: April 27, 2018, 12:16:43 PM »

All parts in vicinity are in red integrity. Repeatedly pressing '3' shows message "No parts to label", instead of showing the damaged parts on the 4th press.

38

Ideas / Post-run graphs.

« on: April 26, 2018, 01:56:05 PM »

Some games (i.e. Civ 5) at the end show you not only cumulative stats, but also how they changed during your game in the form of graphs.

I thought it'd be cool to see how my influence changed over time or where my 'damage dealt' spiked and by how much, etc.

PS. I believe that currently Cogmind tracks only the max numbers or the sums, so it can print them in the scoresheets. Graphs would require saving stats in regular intervals (i.e. every 100 turns it saves my influence (average over 100 turns), how much damage I dealt in those 100 turns, ...). Or, rather than choosing an arbitrary number of turns, you could dynamically adapt the interval length, so that all runs have, say, 100-200 data points.

39

Ideas / Gallery of animated endings.

« on: April 26, 2018, 04:55:57 AM »

A few times now I wanted to rewatch the animated endings that I already unlocked, because I missed a lot of the details when I first saw them. I'd like to be able to rewatch them at any time.

So similarly to the collections of lore, parts, achievements, (robots,) I'd like a collection of animated endings (and other animations if more are added).

40

Strategies / A quick guide to early game

« on: April 21, 2018, 09:24:46 AM »

Designed for new players that do not want an extensive guide just yet. Completely spoiler-free.

It's a small enough collection of tips and hints that you can read in a few minutes, but hopefully enough to lead you past the early game.

Play a few games first. Then read the Survival Tips section of the manual. Then play a few more games. Only then I grant you permission to read this guide (

), so that you have an idea of what I'm talking about and why is it that good to know/use.

Make sure to visit our discord chat! This is the place where most players hang out. We will be happy to answer your questions and concerns there!

====================
A quick guide to early game

Quote

Materials test your tactics.

Here is a collection of tips and tactics that are especially useful for players trying to reliably get past the early levels. Some of them may feel counterintuitive.

Fill all your slots - You want to protect your core. Any damage that goes to one of your parts is damage spared from your core. There is no reason to have unused slots other than not having enough items (usually due to recently losing your items) or having not enough resources to equip items (10 matter and 20 energy for equipping an item).
Always carry backups - Your parts are more fragile than your core, so you will lose them often. It is crucial to replace your parts (i.e. weapons), even in the middle of combat, to regain full functionality. Running out of items of a type often spells doom for the entire run (i.e. losing all weapons makes you defenseless AND you can't hunt hostiles to get a weapon; losing all propulsion forces you to drop most of your stuff).
Replace items during combat - Replacing parts under enemy fire sucks, but it is worth it! You should usually take your time to put on new items even if it's just for their coverage. As long as you can replace your parts faster than they get destroyed, you'll be fine. Of course it's better if you can duck behind a corner before spending multiple turns on this, but that is not always an option.
Reposition frequently - Complex has the numbers advantage if you fight in the open. Nullify it by going back to a choke point. If you get flanked, then reposition again. It is usually worth it to take a few shots while running for cover in order to be able to fight enemies one-by-one. If you want to do something else than firing weapons for a few turns (replace destroyed parts, wait until your temperature goes down, etc.) you can take fewer hits overall if you just run for cover first. Remember that a few shots can't destroy you.
Doorway tactic - The most common chokepoints are the doorways. Stand diagonally adjacent to a doorway (as shown in the picture below) during combat. This forces enemies to fight you one-by-one. The enemy who stands in a door will block his friends and no other hostile will be able to take a clear shot at you. Beware of other entrances to a room!
Safe exploration/movement - keep close to choke points and stay away from explosive machinery, so that when a squad spots you, you can deal with it with minimal damage received. When a squad spots you, run to a choke point in an ALREADY EXPLORED area. You know that there are no more hostiles or explosive machines there. There's nothing worse than running away from a squad only to be spotted by another squad - it's a potentially run-ending situation.
Dealing with dodge-reliant enemies - Some enemies (such as Pests) heavily rely on their dodge chance. You can completely nullify this advantage by using a launcher - they can't dodge explosions. A launcher shot will explode when it hits a target (hard when dealing with high dodge chances) or hits a wall (make sure such enemies stand next to a wall and target the wall instead) or when it reaches it's full range (keep enemies around launcher's max range). Second way of dealing with such enemies is to use multishot weapons, such as shotguns and flak guns. More shots fired equals more chances to hit the target. Lastly, you can counter dodge chance by gaining accuracy (via targeting computers, close range, standing still, etc.). Bonuses to accuracy are more important when chance to hit is low (gaining 10% accuracy when already at 80% is barely noticeable, but gaining 10% when at only 10% doubles your damage output!).
Prefer high damage weapons - Most enemies in the early levels have 15 or 20 core integrity. A weapon that deals 20 damage is guaranteed to one-shot such enemy if it hits its core. Surprisingly, a single shot of 20 damage is way more effective at this than 2 shots of 10 damage each. Multiple shots tend to spread damage across components and leave all of them functional, while larger chunks of damage tend to destroy the few components they hit.

41

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [Beta 5] I have only 14 vision range?

« on: April 16, 2018, 01:21:52 PM »

Tiles that are 16 or 15 tiles away from me (as shown by volley window) are out of my vision range. Nothing should block my vision, there are no walls or machines in the way. I attach a picture where a dark tile is 15 tiles away from me (actually there are many such tiles). Programmers outside my view spotted me and are shooting at me with their 16 range weapons. I noticed this also in places with no nearby machines.

42

Ideas / Using QC could make weapon animation and sound effects play faster.

« on: February 25, 2018, 02:12:26 AM »

Sounds will change their pitch. Players will actually feel their firing rate.

It doesn't necessarily have to make them twice as fast; whatever speed works best.

Also, further increasing fire rate with weapon cyclers may increase effects' speed even further.

43

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [beta 5] Z-ally stops following me.

« on: February 10, 2018, 03:41:17 PM »

I followed a friend (Z-light) into a chute. He said how glad he was that I came for him, but he does not follow me. He just keeps patrolling?

Save attached.

44

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [beta 5] Removing Particle Accelerator and shown damage.

« on: February 05, 2018, 06:27:43 AM »

After removing Particle Accelerator the equipped energy weapons still show increased damage. Even some turns later (and some actions later).

45

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [Beta 5] DC does not reveal W depth.

« on: January 22, 2018, 04:59:00 AM »

Posting a screenshot just to make sure I did not miss it.

46

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [beta 4.0] Melee weapon can't destroy wall when it should.

« on: January 07, 2018, 05:10:32 PM »

I used Power Sword (31-48 slashing damage) with core hover (+20% damage), giving max 57 damage against reinforced walls in Z (56 armor). I tried a couple hundred times and I never got through. I think the chance should be 2 in 18 or (something similar) to destroy the reinforced wall in this case, so I think I have tried enough times to report it as a bug.

47

Ideas / Skipping some animations.

« on: December 27, 2017, 09:09:26 AM »

I'd like to be able to skip world map animation (gets somewhat long when I get 20+ regions explored) or interactive machines opening animations.

48

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [beta 4.0] EMDS can't destroy doors.

« on: December 26, 2017, 05:44:44 AM »

Doors have 20 armor and 50% EM resistance. EMDS deals 40-45 EM damage. EMDS should 100% of the time destroy doors. I tried it on emergency doors at -2/Testing, I tried with Imp. Particle Charger as well.

49

Fixed Bugs & Non-Bugs / [beta 4.0] Entropic melee attacks do not show in the scoresheets.

« on: December 23, 2017, 03:45:58 PM »