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Cogmind => General Discussion => Topic started by: Kyzrati on January 16, 2017, 06:16:33 PM

Title: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on January 16, 2017, 06:16:33 PM
Use this thread for general feedback and discussion about the most recent release, if you want to talk about something that you don't feel warrants a dedicated thread.

This is the open spoiler version, for discussions where you plan to talk about spoilery content and don't want to bother with spoiler tagging. Do not read this thread if you want to avoid spoilers! For non-spoiler discussion, feel free to use the non-spoiler discussion thread here (http://www.gridsagegames.com/forums/index.php?topic=707.0).

Alpha 13 release notes and changelog (http://www.gridsagegames.com/forums/index.php?topic=705.0).
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Shadowfury333 on January 17, 2017, 12:12:07 AM
Well, I've had two runs so far. First one died in -10/Mines from an infestation, Second one died at -6/Extension. I've never even heard of Extension, but I saw a blast-door-barred gate and decided to explore.

Knowing more about the time system helped a bit, mostly in realizing just how strong retreat can be, and that's it really is worth it to move around a bit during combat to pick up parts. I also really like the autoreplace-on-pickup feature, though I'm not sure if Flak Guns should replace Assault Rifles, unless I'm mistaken and Flak Guns aren't more of shotgun weapon.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on January 17, 2017, 01:55:55 AM
though I'm not sure if Flak Guns should replace Assault Rifles, unless I'm mistaken and Flak Guns aren't more of shotgun weapon.
You can read the replacement rules in the manual under Advanced UI, but Flak Guns are three ratings higher than Assault Rifles, so it's safe to assume they're better. They do three times as much damage, although yes it'll be more spread out and possibly not too effective against some targets (armored Sentries...) compared to non-shotgun weapons of the same caliber, but they're still definitely far better than Assault Rifles!
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Morlock on January 17, 2017, 08:49:34 AM
In my first a13 run, something *unexpected* happened. I was on -10 and found an entrance to the Mines. Since there is more interesting stuff there now, I said "why the heck not?" and dove in. In there, I met a derelic robot who said I could follow him to a safe place. I took his hidden stair and ended up in Zion (-6). Upon exiting Zion, I ended up somewhere (not Materials but I do no know where) on -5.

Since I have gone through ZERO evolution step, I guess I can kiss my Cogmind goodbye :)

Is this a normal possibility? Isn't it too much of a level jump?

Here are two snapshots of my character and the map so far.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Shadowfury333 on January 17, 2017, 10:58:35 AM
That looks like Caves, and since you are on -5 I'm pretty sure it is leading back to the main branch. That is, unless my run from -6/Caves through to it's outermost limit (there's more than one outward going branch of Caves), then back towards the main branch through -5/Caves was only one possibility.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Shobalk on January 17, 2017, 12:57:20 PM
In my first a13 run, something *unexpected* happened. I was on -10 and found an entrance to the Mines. Since there is more interesting stuff there now, I said "why the heck not?" and dove in. In there, I met a derelic robot who said I could follow him to a safe place. I took his hidden stair and ended up in Zion (-6). Upon exiting Zion, I ended up somewhere (not Materials but I do no know where) on -5.

I'm not sure that's intended.  I can't think of any reason you'd actually want to skip those evolutions unless you really want to make the game hard.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on January 17, 2017, 06:46:34 PM
Yes it's intended. In that case you'd evolve 4 times at once (gaining 8 slots and all the other benefits you missed) when you get back to the main branch--you just have to be able to reach it ;)

This sort of "multi-evolution" has been in the game for a while, but most players haven't visited the once place where it was possible. This new shortcut was just added, to give players access to Zion and its new features.

In any case, I've never taken it to this extreme before, and yes it's tough to get back through the caves if you take the shortcut that far. So one option would be to just not take that shortcut if you don't feel up for the challenge!

That said, you apparently did not fully explore Zion, either, because there are friends there who will help escort you back through the caves!
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Shobalk on January 17, 2017, 07:08:25 PM
Yes it's intended. In that case you'd evolve 4 times at once (gaining 8 slots and all the other benefits you missed) when you get back to the main branch--you just have to be able to reach it ;)

This sort of "multi-evolution" has been in the game for a while, but most players haven't visited the once place where it was possible. This new shortcut was just added, to give players access to Zion and its new features.

Ahh right, you need to get back to the main branch.  Like a trip through storage -> recycling.

That said, you apparently did not fully explore Zion, either, because there are friends there who will help escort you back through the caves!

Hmm I found those fellows the "M"'s I believe.  They followed me around Zion, but didn't pop up the stairs with me when I ascended to the prox caves.  Did I need to something specific to enable the escort?
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on January 17, 2017, 07:15:13 PM
Never had allies in tow before? :P

When adjacent to an exit, if you have any allies following you (regardless of where they're located), it highlights an area around the exit. That's the area in which allies will follow when you leave. Any beyond that will be left behind.

As of Alpha 12, any allies that are in combat will also give up the fight and run straight to the exit if you are next to it. (Though your Zion escort is unlikely to be in a fight, just slower than you.)
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Shobalk on January 17, 2017, 07:36:46 PM
Never had allies in tow before? :P

When adjacent to an exit, if you have any allies following you (regardless of where they're located), it highlights an area around the exit. That's the area in which allies will follow when you leave. Any beyond that will be left behind.

They were right next to me.  I'll see if I can reproduce next time I'm in there.  This particular run I wasn't recording, so I don't have anything concrete to share.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on January 17, 2017, 07:49:30 PM
Oh damn, you're right! That's a bug :/

Oops, and they're supposed to be able to help you get out...

In my own run when I was testing I didn't even notice because I had a bunch of other bots from Zion helping me out, and those I had recruited normally, so they followed me as expected while the escorts stayed behind (thus I still had help).

This is almost important enough to do another update, but I guess I'll wait since already a day has gone by... (not that it necessarily feels like a bug, since they do just say they're going to escort you out, but it's pretty tough going back through Proximity Caves possibly without any help at all (!), which is why I put them there in the first place :P).

The bug is that while they follow you as expected, they don't technically switch to the correct faction to be allowed to follow you off the map.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Morlock on January 17, 2017, 08:05:22 PM
I sure want to get these 4 or 5 evolutions at one time (haven't had the time to get back to that run yet), but I will probably die just before or just after. :)
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on January 17, 2017, 08:14:58 PM
It's a tough transition, although the long-term benefits you get from going to Zion now are... probably quite OP--if you can make it back you'll be in excellent shape. The escorts would've really helped make that transition :P
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: DDarkray on January 17, 2017, 08:24:00 PM
I just died in proximity cave via Zion shortcut. And oh man, the mine branch is SO AWESOME!! Definitely worth going there. :D

I was about to comment about the sudden jump in multiple floors. I thought that was cool until I found myself squishy in the face of several enemies. My core was only ~100 left, so that was a quick end.  :'(

It's also kinda funny the -10 Materials terminals still show Garrison Index command. ;D
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on January 17, 2017, 08:50:18 PM
It's also kinda funny the -10 Materials terminals still show Garrison Index command. ;D
True, in fact it has also always been possible to list the Fabricator Index as well, even though they were removed from Materials a while ago.

I'll remove both.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Shadowfury333 on January 19, 2017, 12:35:46 AM
Well, just had another death, though this one happened after what seemed like 4 or 5 lame duck situations I recovered from, so at least that part of the game's design finally worked out in my favour.

Also, I found Zion. I've no clue what it's for other than advanced tutorials. some buddies, and some interesting gear, but it was neat. I can't remember if data miner is on -7 or -6, though, since I've found them before but I don't recall exactly where. Seems like grabbing gear from behind closed doors, or maybe just going into Zion, or maybe the Imprinter (I got a bonus for that), gets the caves full of MAIN.C's goons, since I kept having to fight waves of them just to proceed. Certainly made Signal Interpreters my favourite item.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: RBrandon on January 30, 2017, 05:21:44 AM
I made it to Zion a couple of times using the shortcut, but never made it out of the caves after. Finding this place though made me much more excited to learn what is going on in the game's story!
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on January 30, 2017, 05:29:23 AM
Excellent, that's what I was hoping the introduction of a shortcut would help with--motivating players to explore more, and also allowing early enough access to the survival tips (and other benefits) some of the inhabitants provide. Plus if you do manage to make it back, the main new benefit you can gain in Zion (just added in Alpha 13) is quite powerful and will help you all the way to the surface.

That said, depending on where you find the shortcut and where Zion is, it can be extremely difficult to survive the trip back to the complex in the first place! Next release I'll be restricting the shortcut length so that it can't take you quite so far so fast, and, just as importantly, those Mutants who escort you will actually follow you out into the caves and aid you to the death. That they did not was an oversight on my part: when playtesting I had a sizeable group of allies from Zion, not just them, and didn't notice those few had dropped out from the group on the way out xD. With them at your side you're more likely to complete the round trip.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: zxc on February 03, 2017, 08:27:00 AM
Forum's been quiet for a while now. I figure I'll give an update on my game in progress, which is last week's weekly seed (Dangers Deep).

I'm currently drifting around Access, overloading everything with my trusty datajack. Been at it for several hours ingame. Goal is to smash the high score record. I'm not sure how long to farm for. I guess I should keep at it until I actually have to leave because my core is about to die. This could take a while...

The hacking nerf hasn't really worked in terms of stopping the player from dominating the late-game, but it certainly slowed the build down a lot in the mid-game. The alert level skyrockets but the build can handle alert 5 just fine.

The zion hacks are helpful to have, but are much more useful to conventional combat builds.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 03, 2017, 04:09:14 PM
The hacking nerf hasn't really worked in terms of stopping the player from dominating the late-game, but it certainly slowed the build down a lot in the mid-game. The alert level skyrockets but the build can handle alert 5 just fine.
Do you think that high-level alert dangers (planned, and assume they are very deadly) this late-game hacking build you have going would remain viable but no longer OP? Or should we more directly tweak hacking itself?

The zion hacks are helpful to have, but are much more useful to conventional combat builds.
The latter was the goal, and in that they've certainly succeeded, but my fear with those hacks is that they would also make the flight game even easier, having backup options like that.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: zxc on February 03, 2017, 06:35:44 PM
High level alert dangers will absolutely stop this farm in its tracks. The build will still remain very strong for regular winning / command though. I think high alert dangers will stop any farm, really... unless new mechanics emerge.

I think the z hacks help flight, but it's mostly due to the haulers you can summon (or reinforcements to deal with extermination squads). The intel hacks are very good but are mostly redundant with some regular hackware, but they are always worth a look (a guaranteed access main is excellent). Proportionately, the z hacks help combat and non-hackers much more.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 03, 2017, 06:41:53 PM
Yeah the intent of the high-alert dangers would be to stop farming, so that would be covered. It would seem like more hacking adjustments would be necessary to keep the hackware snowball strategy from being so powerful? Again, I don't want to nerf it into the ground, but "follow steps xyz (or zxc :P) for a sure win" doesn't seem like a great situation to have.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: zxc on February 03, 2017, 07:09:16 PM
Dunno... need to see if other people can easily replicate this for wins. For a non-farm win this is no easier than other flight builds. Hackware is always gonna be one of the best things to fabricate. You can prevent fabbing hackware, but then it'll be pure RNG if you want hackware.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Sherlockkat on February 03, 2017, 07:35:11 PM
Quote
Again, I don't want to nerf it into the ground, but "follow steps xyz (or zxc :P) for a sure win" doesn't seem like a great situation to have.

I think hacking is fine right now. It is somewhat "follow steps to win" ish. But, that sounds okay to me. There should be a reliable way to win as long as the steps aren't too simplistic to execute (with the hacking build, I don't think they are). It is hard for me (and zxc too, I think) to objectively evaluate how easy they are given that we have been doing it for a while. The mid game is still requires some amount of care to navigate. The process of setting the build up is somewhat involved and you need to gain control of enough fabs. You might get lucky and find some unguarded fab that lets you fab like 4 adv. hacking suites. In my experience, that doesn't happen often in the mid-game. It happens once you reach critical mass, but at that point it doesn't matter that you can do that. There is also a part of the mid-game where fabricating additional hackware is purely a investment as it doesn't do anything immediately. Either you don't have enough slots, or the increase in hack% doesn't do much. For instance, a jump from +50 to +60 is not a big deal. It's not enough to hack robots consistently and +50 is more often than enough to do whatever hacks you want to do at any machine.

From a viability perspective, I think these builds are always on the verge of being unviable (or worse, boring), because they are very reliant on a single mechanic. For instance, I think any further reduction to hackware numbers would make this build really dull (I already think it's a bit dull after the hackware nerf).

All that being said, I would rather wait until someone beats command in a different way before deciding whether it is overpowered or not.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 03, 2017, 07:46:11 PM
Oh yeah I wasn't thinking along the lines of nerfing hackware by further lowering its benefits (as I think that has too much of a negative effect on those who want to do just some hacking), but instead changing up the mechanics a bit in maybe one of the other ways discussed so far in the hacking thread. Or as you mentioned in chat the new "additional utilities required for certain high-level robot hacks" approach.

The main problem with follow-the-steps strategies is that they become boring, yes. Sure players can choose to not use them, but as we know, in a tightly-designed game a lot of players tend to do what they know works, and good design needs to save players from themselves in that regard...

In any case, it sounds like the priority would be to work on the high-alert dangers first, anyway.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: zxc on February 03, 2017, 07:54:40 PM
Note that my current build is highly optimised (and fortunate). For instance, no power slot evolutions, which makes life tough in the midgame. Core expander gave me a utility slot. I duped the +10 support AA (for a total of +20) and didn't evolve more than two propulsion slots, and no weapon slots. I also looped Access once for all the system mappers, and carefully dealt with combat programmers to build a supply of GRDs and other supplies. I called in zion haulers twice to get humpbacks. I think this is about as optimised as it gets... and there are still difficult situations (for instance: https://i.imgur.com/REar8oO.png ). Current build for reference: https://i.imgur.com/Ih0b7cX.png
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 04, 2017, 05:11:56 AM
It's true that perfectly optimized builds are always going to be OP, simply because there are that many good tools spread around the world which if you get many of them, allow you to become pretty amazing. Really that was the intent, enabling you to better take on the extended end game without getting stomped. There just need to be additional challenges beyond what we have already (story's not finished!), in addition to more pressure at the high end of the alert spectrum.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Reapa on February 24, 2017, 12:21:36 AM
in my last run i managed to get stuck after the ceiling collapsed on and around me. i was under heavy fire and lost all my weapons and was almost dead when the ceiling collapsed on me and at least one enemy next to me killing him but leaving me alive and replacing the square in which the enemy was with a wall. waiting for like 5000 turns did not change the situation for better nor for worse. it's a fun kind of "death" but maybe not a very elegant one, especially if it happens to people who aren't nearly dead at all but just don't have the means to break free.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Reapa on February 24, 2017, 02:41:57 AM
there's a serious problem with balance in this game. coming from DCSS where your equipment doesn't deteriorate so easily (basically only in rare cases like with acid or something) and where most enemies can't shoot this is extremely frustrating. everything here shoots at you, everything hits better then you most of the time and your gear is made of fucking cardboard. i know running away is supposed to be the best strategy in this game but it's much too much focused on running. why can't the player take his time to explore a bit? why can't i build a robot that will last a little more in battle? deterioration is cool but it happen's much too fast with this game. weirdly enough the game has at the same time a problem with HP bloat. much too often do i have to shoot at other robots 5-6 times with 2-3 weapons and hit every time and still not kill them. first you have to hit the cell, then you have to hit the robot in the cell then you have to hit the core on the robot then the dmg type should be one that doesn't get resisted, then it's preferable that the robot doesn't use armor and/or shielding, then you have overheating and energy and matter to keep track of then your weapons should be still functional by the time you land the last hit on 1 fucking robot!!! when you're dealing with 2 or more it gets absurdly hard. it seems to me enemies maybe shouldn't have so many slots available. or just give the cogmind an inbuilt shield system so it doesn't loose its equip that easily. DCSS is hard enough without losing your equip all the time. why does cogmind have to be that much harder? also, you'd thing a cogmind could chose which weapon should hit which target since he can have more than one weapon and more than one enemy and is a robot... shooting 3 weapons at one swarmer is less smart than shooting 3 weapons at 3 swarmers since if one of them kills, the rest are wasted shots in the first case and not wasted in the second.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 24, 2017, 04:22:22 AM
Unless maybe it's a discussion about effective UI, there isn't really any room to compare Cogmind to DCSS on any familiar terms. At all.

They're completely different styles of game, each with their own internal logic, and if you approach one like the other, you are destined to perform very poorly in either one. There are plenty of players who can crush the game, including even winning every single run, you just need to understand the mechanics as they exist, but might be unwilling to do that.

That said, if you find it too difficult there is an easy mode coming in the newest version next week. If you're interested in buying the game for immediate access, that is :)

But if you want roguelikes in the vein of DCSS, there are many other options out there of a more traditional nature! I suggest you try Caves of Qud (http://store.steampowered.com/app/333640/).
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: DDarkray on February 24, 2017, 07:11:07 AM
when you're dealing with 2 or more it gets absurdly hard.

The game is definitely hard if there are 5 bots shooting at you, but you can avoid this situation if you fight at choke points or at doorways. That way, you'll only be facing one at a time, making it much easier to handle.

A lot of people who also have similar problem found good tips like here (https://www.reddit.com/r/Cogmind/comments/4lrswi/how_do_you_survive_the_beginning/).
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Reapa on February 24, 2017, 08:27:41 AM
Unless maybe it's a discussion about effective UI, there isn't really any room to compare Cogmind to DCSS on any familiar terms. At all.

They're completely different styles of game, each with their own internal logic, and if you approach one like the other, you are destined to perform very poorly in either one. There are plenty of players who can crush the game, including even winning every single run, you just need to understand the mechanics as they exist, but might be unwilling to do that.

That said, if you find it too difficult there is an easy mode coming in the newest version next week. If you're interested in buying the game for immediate access, that is :)

But if you want roguelikes in the vein of DCSS, there are many other options out there of a more traditional nature! I suggest you try Caves of Qud (http://store.steampowered.com/app/333640/).
do these people crush the game with fighter builds? because if not, then there is a problem since fighting should be a viable approach given that there's all sorts of weapons and "armors" in the game. if yes then maybe i need more time. and what do you mean by crush? finish it as soon as possible? if that's the case, then there's an even bigger problem. i don't think i'm the only one who likes to explore in roguelikes.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 24, 2017, 08:40:56 AM
"Crush" as in all these obstacles can be reliably overcome, yes, with sufficient experience--as I believe it should be in a roguelike.

And yes, combat is perfectly viable. I stream Cogmind on Twitch, I only use combat builds, and I often win (or at least get to the end--in fact, I've never not reached the late game). It usually takes about four hours. Some of the wins on the leaderboards are combat-heavy tactics, but there are lots of players who enjoy other sorts of strategies as well.

Regardless of strategy though, you have to play very differently than you would other roguelikes, otherwise you're going to die. Repeatedly. Forever. One day permanently even! ;)
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Reapa on February 24, 2017, 01:05:58 PM
"Crush" as in all these obstacles can be reliably overcome, yes, with sufficient experience--as I believe it should be in a roguelike.

And yes, combat is perfectly viable. I stream Cogmind on Twitch, I only use combat builds, and I often win (or at least get to the end--in fact, I've never not reached the late game). It usually takes about four hours. Some of the wins on the leaderboards are combat-heavy tactics, but there are lots of players who enjoy other sorts of strategies as well.

Regardless of strategy though, you have to play very differently than you would other roguelikes, otherwise you're going to die. Repeatedly. Forever. One day permanently even! ;)
i don't mind the dieing, that's part of the fun of roguelikes. what grinds my gears is getting stuck or overwhelmed and stuck "as in not being able to fight back". take my first post here for instance. getting stuck after a collapsed ceiling. i believe space rangers had a way to rescue you like if you waited long enough after running out of fuel some ship would fly by and either share some fuel or loot you. cogmind's enemies could perhaps come after you and dig through to kill you especially since after you wait long enough messages keep showing up that say troops are being dispatched to your location. but they never show up, never find you if you are surrounded by walls. or a game over message could appear telling you, you died miserably to rust / lived forever thinking about how you let yourself get trapped like that.
then there's another way to get "stuck": it's very frustrating to have weapons in your inventory you can't equip because you've ran out of matter. and matter is not that easy to find if you can't kill anything because you have no equipped weapons. so maybe a kind of self sacrifice like an inbuilt option to melt something else that is equipped to get some matter, even parts of the core. heat will dissipate, energy get's restored if you disable stuff and wait a few turns, matter gets you stuck. and it's easy to think/hope one more shot will suffice to kill that last enemy and ignore the low matter warning or just be a little low and equip another weapon which gets blown off right away. even running away will only piss you off more if you find weapons but no matter. i believe even if you make it to the exit you won't get your matter bar filled.
btw i am getting better at building solid fighters and this is the first roguelike i play with ASCII since stuff is so small on my screen and yes i did read you post about the difficulty of changing the size of the tiles. i just wanna say the game is appealing enough for people to learn to play with ASCII in part due to the tooltips and mouse support. it's been a very smooth transition. being able to just mouse over or right click a symbol to know what it is instead of browsing some manual every time you forget is pure gold.
edit: while on the subject of tile size, would it be viable to just make a new alternative tile set with 4 tiles for each tile of the old ones? it would be a strict 4x zoom but since font size is adjustable it would not be necessarily too big. and i'm guessing it would not affect the UI since the UI doesn't consist of tiles. then again, the people that can't read the UI would still not be served. unless the letters would be replaced by 4 tiles each drawing the letter. just a thought, ignore if it was already a possible solution in the thread (not sure if i read it all) or if it's not possible.
edit2: while on the UI mouse over an enemy would be very cool to show how damaged it is in %. unless i'm missing something it does show for a split second but then disappears.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 24, 2017, 05:59:15 PM
i don't mind the dieing, that's part of the fun of roguelikes. what grinds my gears is getting stuck or overwhelmed and stuck "as in not being able to fight back".
take my first post here for instance. getting stuck after a collapsed ceiling.
This can only happen if you go into areas that you've excavated. So it's 100% avoidable in the first place. If you travel through areas like that without a way to dig yourself out, that's just asking for trouble! (There is one place in the game where you' can be buried by a true cave-in out in the open, but they will come to dig you out.)

then there's another way to get "stuck": it's very frustrating to have weapons in your inventory you can't equip because you've ran out of matter. and matter is not that easy to find if you can't kill anything because you have no equipped weapons.
Carry more matter... watch when it's getting low and change your tactics... basic roguelike resource management! There is always a way to get more matter if you've made poor decisions and are that desperate: simply ram another robot.

btw i am getting better at building solid fighters
Like any good roguelike it can take a little time to work everything out.

and i'm guessing it would not affect the UI since the UI doesn't consist of tiles.
Um, it does :)

edit2: while on the UI mouse over an enemy would be very cool to show how damaged it is in %. unless i'm missing something it does show for a split second but then disappears.
It already shows this, and it doesn't disappear. It's in the Scan window which shows basic info for whatever your cursor last hovered over. And when you call up robot labels via the '2' key (of scan window mouse button), they are colored by core integrity, e.g.
(https://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/gsg-content/uploads/2014/10/cogmind_labels_robots.gif)
And the same colored label is shown when your cursor (or look mode marker) is over each robot.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Shadowfury333 on February 24, 2017, 08:31:37 PM
i don't mind the dieing, that's part of the fun of roguelikes. what grinds my gears is getting stuck or overwhelmed and stuck "as in not being able to fight back".
This is a bit of an odd aspect of Cogmind, and one I've found mildly annoying myself. As far as I can tell, the design of Cogmind is meant to allow the player to recover from what seems like a game-ending situation, provided they realize when to cut and run. That is, it doesn't kill the player as soon as they are in a bad spot, which will give them the chance to escape, find new gear, and keep on going stronger than before. I've been able to do this several times, but I've also run into the flipside you've pointed out where because the game is designed to let you live for a while even after you've lost everything, it can feel like you are a dead robot walking the moment things go bad, since you might end up desperately running away for 20 turns and end up dead anyway.

I find a good contrast is DoomRL (aka DRL). It's similarly focused on ranged combat, but the main difference is that dying can happen within a couple turns if you get careless, but as with most games you can fight back as well at 1HP as at 100% HP. Because DoomRL has a powerful cover system and moderately powerful dodge system, if you are careful you can kill everything to get out of a bad situation without getting hit again.

If you are going to focus on combat in Cogmind, then get storages and stash a bunch of spare parts in them. Storages tend to stick around under fire, so you can keep yourself well equipped as the battle rages. You never want to be without replacements for weapons, propulsion, and power in Cogmind in general, but especially when playing a combat build. Also, right-click on enemies to know their weaknesses, swarmers in particular are really weak to explosives (doubly-so because explosives clear groups well), and that knowledge goes a long way to dealing with enemies efficiently.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 25, 2017, 06:00:29 AM
Certainly knowing when to cut and run is important, or prior to that really just ensure you're making the best tactical choices, and while for less skilled players death will probably just drag out and become inevitable, as you get better you'll start turning more and more of those instances into comebacks and even wins.

Because I like to play combat, which is a riskier way to play, on most of my winning runs I've been bashed to within an inch of my life on at least one or two occasions earlier in the same run. But it's also those comebacks that are part of the fun for me and others.

Some players are frustrated by that kind of experience, and prefer the more traditional "character continues improving, my equipment never breaks and I get to use the same gear forever (maybe upgrading sometimes)" style of play, as that's how most roguelikes (and games in general) have been done in the past. (That's the main thing I point out when people are on the fence about starting Cogmind.) But after creating this new type of experience and exploring what's possible with this fundamental difference in design, I've come to appreciate it in contrast to other roguelikes where you can die within a few turns, or even a single turn. This and the other mechanics change... everything--but it's clearly still a roguelike :P
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 25, 2017, 06:44:25 AM
Because it's semi-related to the discussion, here's a gif I recorded recently where I was doing this just for fun, but it's also a pretty useful tactic, and one that you can't really do as effectively in other roguelikes where you can't take a much worse beating than everyone else in the world :D
(https://i.imgur.com/OVDP4Bw.gif)

(I actually use this strategy at least a bit in almost every run--take out the enemy with their own machinery, or nuke groups at point blank because it hurts them more than it does you! It's all about the trade-offs...)
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Reapa on February 25, 2017, 10:56:33 AM
stuck in lower caves on the 6th level. there is no exit. at least none that i can find without digging, and yes i had a rocket/grenade launcher going in but lost it. there was some talk about being an intruder on the territory of some warlord if that narrows it down. also log says exit = found a bit later after the talk with the warlord so i must have found one but it's gone now. i looked at the whole map several times and walked around to make sure i searched every corner. if i'm not mistaking the exit should be visible once found even if not in view range.
edit: i also suffer from data loss due to corruption, so maybe my cogmind forgot where it was?
edit2: there was a great maul lying around and it seams one can dig with it, but nothing suggests any place to dig to. if there was an exit it's gone. digging outside the maze only causes caveins.
edit3: turn 12133 did i mention getting stuck isn't fun? you may want to implement some fail-safes for situations like these even if it's just a scanner that searches for the exit(is there an exit? if not, tell the player there's an error. where is the exit?) and for the player (is there a player? where is the player?) and looks if there's a clear line between the player and the exit and if not, is there any item that can cut through walls? where are these items? are they in the player inventory? if not, is there a clear line between the player and the item/s?
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 25, 2017, 11:09:27 PM
Nah you just met a rare bug that was introduced in Alpha 13, already fixed for the upcoming release. In certain caves if you are unlucky enough to get a particular event, the Minesweeper, whose area of operation overlaps with an exit area, and the stairs happen to be trapped, they will actually remove the trap and destroy the exit in the process. So this is not something that existed before, or normally exists in the world--exits are always guaranteed.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: zxc on February 26, 2017, 06:16:32 AM
That exit bug has to be the most damaging in all Cogmind's history IMO :P

You can 'crush' the game with 'fighter'/combat builds. It won't be as easy as melee in DCSS, and will probably take more learning to get to a reliable level. You won't really become almost invincible the way you can in DCSS though, which I view as a good thing.
Title: Re: Alpha 13 Discussions [SPOILER VERSION]
Post by: Kyzrati on February 26, 2017, 06:42:02 AM
That exit bug has to be the most damaging in all Cogmind's history IMO :P
I believe it is! Really the only one that could stop a run dead in its tracks. Normally if it had been discovered within the first week of release I would've just patched it, but this wasn't found until relatively recently so I figured may as well wait. (I also thought it was rarer than it is, but it's apparently already hit several people.)

And before too long we'll be switching over to a somewhat more regular patch system rather than purely major releases.

You won't really become almost invincible the way you can in DCSS though, which I view as a good thing.
It's a fine line to walk, but I do certainly prefer it this way. Some people really want to be invincible, as that's more enjoyable for them, though I guess that can desire be satisfied with easier difficulty settings... A challenge balanced throughout is more important for the standard roguelike mode.