Sikareus

Trying this out now. Brilliant!

How the hell am I supposed to find it in a directory called "Documentation?" /sarcasm DERP.

I know I'm really going out on a limb here, but there's no documentation around the engine, is there? I'd love to experiment with putting some additional ship systems and weapons in, but banging around in the dark isn't ideal. If there isn't, well, that's that! My first order of business is to add additional ship system for thruster (braking & maneuverability) performance.

Added more information provided by some kind folks in the steam forums!

At this point it's clear I just enjoy more difficult games, which is completely fine! Everyone has different tastes. I'm a huge fan of roguelikes and super-difficult RPGs, so it makes sense that, for me, the risk is part of the fun. As for the salvaging stuff, maybe my RNG has just been really off the chain, because I seem to get all kids of goodies. From my experience, you can still engage in faction wars and pirate attacks (since they happen there too), but you ALSO have the added benefit of having TONS of hulking wrecks around that ALSO have loot, so the density of "stuff" is just super high. I think the gathering rate of salvaging lasers needs to be a bit higher, and I think that wrecks shouldn't have loot, period (or the salvaging license needs to be much more expensive). Just my two cents, but we can always agree to disagree :)

HOORAY FOR ORGANIZATION ;D

Thanks for the feedback! I didn't mean to imply that if you die it's just "gone." More of a system whereby you weren't GUARANTEED to get it back without a little work. How much fun would it be if an enemy combatant killed you, and was able to pickup your "death chest" or whatever you want ot call it? If he stayed in that sector you could always go back and kill him to get your stuff back, or (even better) if he left the system you'd get a blip on your map so that you could track him down. To me that would be a nifty little mechanic right there. As for the salvaging comments, I've seen a few people say something like "it's not overpowered, but I haven't tried it." I'm not sure those two statements work very well together. I get that PvE combat is still the best way to gain just about everything (credits, equipment, reputation, etc.), but salvage yards in my experience have been a really easy way to get TONS of quality equipment at a VERY low risk. Keep in mind I play at the higher difficulty levels (because I don't like my games to be cakewalks), but I think my point is a valid one. I'll play around with it some more today and see if you guys can change my mind :D Love the fighter suggestion!

Agreed, really seems like it should be part of the base game. A few thoughts on balance: Require a minimum amount of positive standing with a faction. -influenced by faction traits "mistrustful/naive/etc.." -influenced by distance from hostile factions. -influenced by distance from center. Somewhat expensive to prohibit people from just changing homes on a whim. -influenced by distance to the center, center being more expensive than fringe. -influenced by standing over the required minimum. Require a station in the sector. -This could maybe even be a player station, since those are pretty expensive to begin with. -If station is not present (destroyed), home sector is moved to closest known "Prime" sector that you meet the standing requirements of 'home eligible' for one time only, then resets to beginning. Wholeheartedly agree. I am using a mod for that now, that was posted in the Mods sub. I'm a big fan, just think there's an obvious need for it in vanilla!

Added your feedback. Awesome stuff, thanks for the read!

Added in your suggestions! Also, as to the bit about salvaging, I agree that actually using the salvaging lasers is NOWHERE near as useful as just mining the same quality of ore (maybe I'll add that suggestion too). What I was really getting at was if you go to a salvage area and spend a bit of time just blasting the ships to bits (with normal weapons) they pop out so much loot that it's a little ridiculous. Maybe they could buff salvage efficiency but just make those wrecks be devoid of loot? It kind of makes sense that in "the real world" a scrapyard would have already ripped all the valuable stuff out...

I guess when I say "thrust" I'm referring to break thrust and rotational speed, not acceleration. I feel like a subsystem which buffed those slightly would be much more "worth the slot" than just a velocity uncapper.

So I've made most of the tweaks that feel right to my own .lua script files. Does anyone savvy know what property I can use to effectively "override" the bonus in the velocitybypass.lua file? I'd like to "change" those to affect thrust and stuff instead (as an experiment). I need to nix that addAbsoluteBias call and substitute the thruster/drift changes.

Awesome. Now I can take my Rebel Galaxy playlist and start converting some of those tracks. The only thing better than Avorion right now is SPACE WESTERN Avorion!

Truly amazing work. Some of you guys make me feel like a toddler hammering lego bricks together ::)

I want to commend you on your brilliant use of shapes, glow blocks, and color. This is one of the best builds I've seen shared, and greatly outpaces the amateur-hour stuff I've been creating, even after 40+ hours of game time. My hat is off to you, sir.

Updates 17.01.31 - Minor grammatical and structural changes. 17.02.01 - Added additional suggestions by eastwood6510 & Zenebatos. 17.02.01 - Added suggestion by Ruffknuckles on Reddit that perhaps some of these changes could just be part of additional game modes. 17.02.01 - Added suggestion that perhaps salvage yard wrecks should not contain loot (or at least high quality loot). 17.02.01 - Added suggestion by Imp0815 on Steam regarding a particularly good fighter overhaul suggestion. 0: Preface I want to begin this likely text wall with a small intro. I purchased Avorion through Steam about a week ago, and I've already clocked forty-three hours of in-game time. I'm not sure whether to be embarrassed, impressed, or alarmed (or perhaps a mixture of all three). I cannot remember a time in which I was more in love with a game, be it a blockbuster "triple A" title from a major developer, or an indie. The rapidity with which I have come to adore Avorion is a true testament to the blood, sweat, and tears that the developer has undoubtedly poured into over the past several years. To koonschi and others that have helped make this game what it is, I'd like to offer a huge THANK YOU for all your hard work and dedication. Knowing what I know now I would have happily paid two to three times the sticker price. Any suggestions shared and expounded upon below are not meant to call attention to "mistakes," but to simply suggest improvements which (from my viewpoint) would make Avorion even more of a masterpiece than it already is. I will likely share my heavily customized scripts as part of a mod or "merge patch" so that some of the things I'm experimenting with can be tried by others. Given the number of changes I may try in the next few days, I'll likely have to rely on some kind of versioning control system just to manage them :P I want to contribute to this community as best I can, so anything I share here would be aimed at making the game richer, more user friendly, and yes, sometimes, more difficult in places. Finally, I have a background in computer science / IT and a solid foundation in OoO programming principles, so I understand that some of these fixes would be easier to implement than others. It's obviously much easier to tweak a .lua script than it is to make major game engine changes, and I'll try to be mindful of that. I'm open to criticism and feedback, as I think it's a healthy thing for all of us "superfans" to be engaging in. If you correct me or propose and even better idea I'll update the thread and happily give you a shout out for it. Let's get started. Here are some thoughts in no particular order (perhaps I will organize them later). Update: Ruffknuckles suggested that some of my requests would make the game harder or more "hardcore" or "sim-like." This is probably true. If I truly am in the minority than perhaps a more robust game options panel (or other game modes) would be a good solution? 1: Item Drops I'm not 100% confident of how this works now, so I will remove or edit this section if necessary. I almost feel like there should be a shorter timer (is there one at all?) for items you drop to expire/disappear. I know some people would argue that this creates an even harsher penalty for death (which I like), but I feel like if I dropped a bunch of really nice equipment way out in the nether, I shouldn't be guaranteed a shot a retrieving it. Also, would it be possible to have hostile (non-civil class) ships be able to "steal" or pickup dropped equipment? I think that would create a neat incentive to go back to that sector for retribution. 2: Salvaging Update: Just to be clear, I don't think actually using the salvaging lasers is all that useful OR profitable. When I say salvaging is very lucrative, what I'm referring to is just blasting the living daylights out of the wrecks so that they start dropping loot like a battered pinata ::) Perhaps the real fix for this would be just ensuring that wrecks in salvage yards not contain loot (or at least not high quality loot). It would stand to reason that any enterprising scrapyard owners would have picked the bones clean already... I will likely add more to this block later, but I feel the core issue right now is that buying a salvaging license feels WAY too cheap at the moment. If you have spent any amount of time salvaging you'll know that it's really easy to get your hands an enormous amount of really nice (and valuable) equipment with very little investment or risk. A flat increase of 2-3 times the base cost feels appropriate to me, and I would argue that salvage yards should have some kind of cooldown period as well. Perhaps it could be so that the amount of time you could spend in a salvage yard was heavily dependent on reputation and other key factors? Being able to endlessly comb wrecks for top-tier gear feels a little off to me right now. 3: Ship Systems I think many would agree that some types of subsystems are just in a better place than others right now. I will do my best to address some of the areas in which I think they could be improved. 3A: Systems Fitting Update: Zenebatos suggested that something as simple as a cooldown could be implemented. I think this would go a long way too, and might not feel as "harsh" to people has being forced to return to a shipyard. Also, that maybe we could restrict systems by a slot type or category? For example: a communications slot, engine slot, shield slot, etc. Hot-swapping ship systems feels wrong to me. I should not be able to drop a high-tier hyperdrive item in, just to benefit from the warp range, only to drop another module in that suits me when I hit the sector I'm travelling too. I feel strongly that swapping these components should require a shipyard. Selecting the the 'Modify Subsytems' option in the station menu could bring up basically the same subsystem UI window that we have now, but would allow you to drag and drop new components in. Dragging a component in should also allow you to check the stat benefit of the changes you're making (similar to making build changes). Finally, this process should not be free, but should cost an appropriate amount of currency and ore appropriate to the item level.I think we would all agree that the mid to late game needs more money and ore sinks. To me, this is a no-brainer. If I dock with a shipyard and "ask" the local engineers to add and remove all these high-tech components to my rig, they deserve fair compensation ;D 3B: Mining Systems Most of us know these things need some love. The range is quite pitiful, and I would argue, so is the "ability" to highlight asteroids. The ores (at least the way in which they've been currently implemented) are so incredibly visible to the naked eye that "wasting" a slot on a mining module is a terrible idea. There are many different approaches to this problem, I think. Firstly, I think ores should be harder to see from afar. I would almost argue that ores should be completely encased in at least a single layer of thin stone, such that they had to be scanned/identified with a mining module. I know this makes them more difficult to find, but I feel like it would make mining much more engaging and rewarding. In addition to (or if you simply hate the above idea), I think the modules should have their ranges buffed to be 3-5 times higher than they are now. Being able to highlight asteroids from a mere 3-5km away isn't much help. I also think that the additional buffs to efficiency and range should be considered. If I have a heavily specialized mining ship or freighter, I think it should be able to mine faster, and a greater range, than something I'm flying to engage in combat. Perhaps something like the shield or engine module perks could be implemented, whereby your efficiency and/or range is increased at the cost of power consumption or generation? 3C: Velocity Systems Update: Maybe this could be added as another module, since some seem to like the velocity upgrade. That would be a worthwhile solution too, so maybe I will experiment with adding another system .lua file and folding it in to my own personal scripts... Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I NEVER use these. With collision damage cranked up to 100% I can't imagine zipping around any faster than I already am. I feel that modifying these systems to instead affect thruster/braking performance is a much better fit. I would happily "spend" a slot on thruster/braking/drift modifications if it meant I didn't have to spend tons of time, effort, and ship space on massive arrays of thrusters. Just a thought! 3D: Turret Systems I think these are mostly in a good spot (and man are they fun), but I think there should be some sort of rate-limiter put in place. If I build a ship and continue to attach additional +turret mods to it, I think the power consumption or crew requirement should start to increase exponentially. At least then if you truly wanted to make a flying railgun death machine, you'd have to build to accommodate that. 4: Fighter Management 4A: Fighter Commands(Credit: Zenebatos) Right now, the need to have to free the cursor to go to the squad icones and give orders, while not a probleme if nothing is happening, is tedious and quite bad, when you're in the middle of the action. Despite the fact that i don't use Attack fighters since they are too fragile to actually be of any use, i would be able to give orders more effeciently. Also on the same not, i find it quite a shame that you always need to select a target manually to give them an order, be it for attacking or salvaging or mining. Would love to simply give them the attack/salavage/mine order, without designing a specific target and they would simply do it to the closest thing in range, and when their done, they would switch to the next target automatically. Also maybe have a "stay where you are" command, to avoid loosing them during an attack when you specificallyu send them away doing something, because you knew they would have not the time to rejoin the ship. 4A: Custom Fighters(Credit: Imp0815)[/b] Remove the fighters as buy-able equipment. When you have a hangar on your ship you can click on it or you click on a button in the squadron screen and you get a separate design space where you design your fighters by yourself or you choose procedural ones like in shipyards. You equip your fighter with turrets and modules from your normal ship inventory. Fighters have a stat page same as normal ships. You can save your designs. Your Hanger can now field your design fighters. vThe number of fighters that get fielded is based on the volume of the hangar, the volume of the fighter design and ship modules you got. [*]Every fighter needs a pilot and costs resource based on the material it is made of. [*]The cost of modules or Turrets on the fighters are added with credits. [*]When a fighter is destroyed a new one is produced in the hangar. [*]How fast a fighter is replaced is determined by the hangar volume and fighter cost and modules you got. [*]You can have multiple hangars with different Fighter designs. X: Miscellaneous Just going to drop a few random ideas here that don't really "belong" to a major category. eastwood6510: We need a way to see our ships velocity without having to actually select our ship. eastwood6510: Turret pop-up info should include it's Omicron (DPS) so we can more easily tell what's an upgrade, right now it's really hard to tell. eastwood6510: Mining range should be increased, I'm thinking to 2k. Especially as ships get more and more massive. (Maybe this could be handled by the requested "upgrades" to the mining systems though?) We need a way to hover over our turrets (on the ship, in build mode) in order to see which ones they are. If this feature exists already I'm just being daft, I guess. I feel like you should be able to set your home sector. I know this has been done with a couple really great mods, but this seems it should be a part of the core game. I think requiring a hefty sum of credits, and a very high reputation makes perfect sense. Another thing, which has been mentioned elsewhere, is that prices should scale higher as you approach the center. I think gate fees (and other services, like salvaging) should become more expensive as the game progresses. Maybe I missed it, but is there an easy way to transfer fighters between spacecraft? I'm losing lots of credits to this... I think there should be some way to mass warp your whole fleet. This should take the ship with the WEAKEST warp range and make it the limiting factor. Maybe this already exists too and I'm just missing it. 5: The End No, seriously, this is the end. Get out of here, I've already made this thread far too long!