Update #256 is an unexpected detour into an important system within the game. With a very timely and well-put post, @davea pointed out an area where we could massively improve the experience for new and veteran players through making the game's auto-trainer for Talents smarter. We took a quick break from our progression on Conflicts toward Conflict Score missions to improve the auto-trainer for the good of every captain across the expanse.
As always, a huge thanks to everyone posting feedback and helping us share the game through reviews.
Mac Big Sur and Linux Support Improvements
This update also includes major upgrades to our SDKs, Steam libraries and other parts of the internal system to improve support for the latest versions of Mac OS and Linux distros -- such as Big Sur.
What’s the latest on Cyber Knights?
Development on our next game, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, proceeds apace. We’re currently working toward the private alpha test for Kickstarter backers, following the same process we used for Star Traders: Frontiers. But you can view the latest updates on the CKF Steam page (make sure you’ve wishlisted and followed!), or join us for behind-the-scenes discussion and development snapshots in our Discord.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/
^ Experience E in the Frontier Liner
New Game and Auto-Train Talents
Talent training has come up on the Steam forums in many ways over the years, with many players needing to receive the advice from the veteran captain community to train up on Skill Saving Talents. But, the credit is owed to @davea for asking just the right question to set off this chain of work and key improvements to the game that every new captain will feel.
The auto-trainer for bot the new game and the button in the crew manifest have had their priorities reworked significantly. The changes are all about acquiring up to a threshold of Skill Saving Talents before any other Talents are considered. if possible, the 3 or more are acquired in every core ship Skill and at least 1 is acquired in social skills.
This leads to dramatically better starts on every difficulty. In my last test on Normal, my captain who started in a Frontier Liner with E experience escorted the Arbiter, then took the mission to Faen court and to the Highwind wreckage and returned to Calagan Faen with only 2 traveling skill failures without having to do any manual Talent training.
^ Smuggler Template
^ Explorer Template
^ Pirate Template
^ Bounty Hunter Template
Job Skill Priority
When reviewing different Jobs, you can now see the true list of primary, secondary and lower Skills. At early levels, this can sometimes be misleading, where Spy starts with +2 Stealth and +1 Electronics but eventually ends up with higher Electronics than Stealth as the Job progresses. For Jobs like Saboteur this can also be helpful as you don't see that you will train in Pilot Skill at all in the first level.
To help reinforce this priority, the Job skill bonuses are now ordered by primary, second, etc -- so Spy reads +1 Electronics, +2 Stealth, +1 Pistol in order of primary, second, tertiary skills.
And More
Along with the work on the Auto-Trainer we also hammered out some other fixes from the Steam boards. We fixed an issue where the Templar Militant wasn't offering his unique brand of Trait Reconditioning but instead offering Chaesin's list. We also fixed some issues with ship component types disappearing during starport shopping and Talent descriptions and icons after use.
v3.1.39 - 3/8/2021
- Major improvements to new game Talent training logic to better prioritize Skill Saving Talents
- Improved crew list Auto-Train to better prioritize Skill Saving Talents
- Job Listing now includes Primary, Secondary (etc) skills in order for each job
- Specific bonuses for a job level are now ordered by this primary, secondary ordering
- Linux and Mac Big Sur platform support improvements
- Fixed issue with Templar Militant Trait Reconditioning not matching advertised list
- Fixed issue with Wing Leader and Saboteur Talent descriptions
- Fixed issue with preview of new ship Component List being empty, launch capability being incorrectly listed
- Fixed issue with "Offensive" ship component subcategory sometimes disappearing