Update #173 lifts of the starport tarmac with a roar bringing a long awaits UI improvement to the Contacts list, 4 new ship components, better rules for high Rep protecting against Rank/Permit/Edict loss and more. A huge thanks as always to all the players posting feedback, suggestions and bugs who help us drive continued improvements to the game!
We're in the final ramp up to the next major move on the Development Roadmap. A few updates from now, we'll be rolling out 2.6.1 with major new story Eras, galactic shifts and more!
https://steamcommunity.com/games/335620/announcements/detail/1696055855739611821
The map seed above is st-v01-40-6-10776916 if you're interested in a a nice multi-directional sprawl.
Searching Contacts
This request has been very popular for a while and we're excited to finally deliver. You can now search your Contacts for specific terms such as "quartermaster", "generous" or "prince missions". The search is a single keyword, so "prince missions" will only find Contacts who offer that type of mission, and anyone who offers any type of Mission and all Princes. You can also search zones, systems or quadrants like "Northpines" or specific Contact types like "Gestalt".
Search can be combined with filters and sort for the best effect.
We're rolling out Contact search as a first trial of the setup to gather player feedback, see if there are any issues and test the waters. From there, we will move on to other exciting areas like the System Atlas.
Anti-Craft Components
As we continue to fight the good fight to get enemy carriers to be ready, we've introduced a new set of Small slot anti-craft components. These components also have general bonuses that might make them appealing to wider ship design. The Railtak Guidance Matrices components add standard Accuracy bonus as well as an improved chance to hit enemy craft. The C-Tak Interceptor Systems increase a capital ship's chance to avoid craft attacks, increase Initiative and also provide Void Resistance.
While you may not be running to your nearest starport to install these just yet, the enemy AI ship builder is interested in using them and since you can capture enemy ships ... anyway -- they are nice!
High Rep Protection
With Update #173, we've rolled out an improved set of contextual rules for the loss of high grades of Ranks, Permits and Edicts. As you cross the 100 positive Reputation mark, these faction perks becomes more difficult to lose. Each category has its negative Reputation threshold loosened a little bit at the 100 Rep mark. For Military Ranks, it goes from -2 to -4 Rep to lose a Rank. For Permits, it drops from -3 to -4 and for Edicts -4 to -5.
Weapon Locker Prices
This deserves to be a full heading. The princes of Weapon Lockers have been increased. You can now get an A4 for what you used to be able to get an A5. The middle tiers are also more expensive in a better curve. The enemy's access to Weapon Lockers has been adjusted accordingly to match.
Component Improvements
Both Launch Bays and Hangars have gained Skill Pools to help them integrate into ship builds more directly.
We've also simplified some of the requirements for ship components, removing some of the lower Economy requirements, cleaning up Starport requirements and fixing a few tiered sets of components that had contradictory requirements.
v2.5.81 - 8/16/2019
- Added search feature for Contact list -- search "Quartermaster" to find specific recruits, "Generous" to find certain known Traits, and combine with filter & sort
- Added 2 new "Railtak Guidance Matrix" ship components to increase chance for capital ship to hit Craft and general Accuracy %
- Added 2 new "C-Tak Interceptor System" ship components to increase capital ship evasion against Craft, Initiative and Void Res
- Above 100 Rep with a faction makes it more difficult to lose high level Rank/Permit/Edict by 1 to 2 pts (-4 for Ranks, -4 for Permits, -5 for Edict)
- Launch Bays and Hangars all gain Ship Ops and Electronics Skill Pools
- Increased prices of Weapon Lockers A2 thru A5
- Fixed a number of component sets that had inconsistencies in Starport / Military / Economy requirements
- Reduced complexity in low requirements for components (removed all Economy 2 requirements, etc)
- Added System Danger rating to Star Atlas for better seeking recruits, orbital ops, etc
- Fixed pricing and component count issues with Skylift Carrier and other ships
- Fixed bug with De Valtos Grand Lux Suites not always providing 22% bonus
- Fixed some keyboard issues in the HUD and subwindows