The next version of XC has been completed, and I hope to have this released during the first week of March. If any strong cases are made against the changes here, I will reconsider and make adjustments. In addition, if there are any issues with the previous version (I haven't heard any from anyone so far), last chance to let me know so I can address them in this version.
The TL;DR: Booster rework; fighters now use their own boosters (cruise boosters, 2.5k pricetag each level) and will be able to achieve greater speeds than before. To reflect the reduced time that fighters spend in transit to targets (primarily miners and constructors) gat damage vs. utility hull has been reduced. Enhanced fighters with gat 2 will still kill miners faster than interceptors with mini 2, but by a smaller margin. In addition, fighter scales have been increased - reverted back to their DN 00.04.60 values, where applicable. Galvonic blaster also has 6 mass, which should reduce the handling of galving fighters enough that they are not too difficult to kill. Due to their large speed increase over enhanced fighters (essentially 20%) advanced fighter ripcord time has been increased to 8.5 seconds.
Standard boosters have been moved to Expansion (5k pricetag each level), and Interceptor and Heavy Interceptor performance with Boost 2 and 3 has been nerfed. 17 second burn time, down from 19, and Boost 3 only gains a small speed increase (less than 5%) and lower signature while boosting (1.5 vs. 1.25) and also has a 17 second burn time. Light interceptors remain completely unchanged.
Troop Transports are now usable. I've reduced their speed and increased their signature to match that of bomber's with a $750 per unit cost. They also mount 1 EMP missile per rack. Rix and TF TTs mount one stinger or anti-shield cannon with greatly reduced energy and recharge relative to their heavier counterparts. This should make them a very valid option for a mid-game expansion team to make a play for outposts or tech bases without handicapping themselves later by spending $10,000 on bombers. Such a decision will lead to an HTT-based late-game very well. These also do not have a mass increase (TTs are still 45 mass vs. HTTs at 90) and will be relatively easy to ram away from a green door.
Rescue probes are now rescue probes, no more absurdly good probes exclusive to a handful of factions - beacons, rescue probes, sanctuaries have 0 scan range, sanctuary signature reduced to .25 to make them more useful.
No more treasures - cashboxes and all floating tech items have been removed from treasure list. This should have the desired effect of increasing the enhanced tech level period of a game by a short time, as teams will need to purchase all desired mark 2 tech. Nan 2 no longer requires starbase in order to be purchased.
Belters: Scout mass and fuel reduced by a small amount, boosters removed from bombers. As amusing as belter bombers flying around at 200mps is, it isn't very good design. They will still be able to be pushed fairly fast, however. Omni fighters have been adjusted and should prove to be quite formidable indeed.
Other minor balance changes: Seeker2/3 prices reduced to $2,500, QF2/3 moved to sup/adv sup respectively, small shield signature increase reduced to provide stealth fighters with a smaller penalty to using them. XRM/XRP anti-base weapons un-nerfed, EWS 2 cost reduced, small perks to Omicron. Rixian scout rip cost increased to make it more difficult to stack scouts and then rip in large numbers of fighters. Energy recharge also reduced. Bios payday reduction removed. Bios may prove to be too weak without floating treasures - if this is the case, I will adjust them.
Full changelog is here:
Code: Select all
General Changes:
Treasure sets:
All items aside from powerups have been removed from the treasures list. All technology items must now be purchased regardless of server treasure settings. This should push teams to spend more money during the enhanced tech levels of a game and subsequently push advanced tech back by a reasonable amount. This should also make balancing subsequent releases easier as, without the random factor to acquiring tech and money, it is far easier to measure and adjust costs for each tech path.
Damage classes:
DM02 (Fighter gats) damage modifier vs. Utility hull reduced to .37 from .5.
This reflects the greater ease with which fighters can engage targets due to their overall increased speed in this version, combined with the forward presence offered by carriers. Missile damage remains unchanged. While this negatively impact’s a scout’s ability to kill a miner, situations that allow scouts to do so are rarely, if ever, a factor in coordinated team play.
Garrison:
Lt Booster 1/2:
Renamed to Cruise Booster 1/2.
Cruise Booster 1 is still available in Garrison for Gigacorp and TF.
Cruise Booster 2 is now in Supremacy.
Nanite 2:
Moved to standard Garrison from Starbase.
Small Shield 1:
Signature reduced to .3 [.5]
Small Shield 2:
Signature reduced to .25 [.5]
Small Shield 3:
Signature reduced to .25 [.5]
Seeker 2:
Cost reduced to $2500
Quickfire 2:
Moved to basic Supremacy.
Quickfire 3:
Moved to advanced Supremacy.
Supremacy:
Boosters have been revamped. Cruise Booster is now the standard booster exclusive to fighters, while standard boosters have been moved to Expansion. This will give Supremacy a unique booster development path and also improve their overall speed enough so that fighters through all stages of the game have significantly less trouble dealing with pesky scouts and are better able to engage targets at range. This change amounts to a 50-80mps gain on accessible top-end booster speed depending on the level of fighter and a faction’s inherent speed attribute. They will, however, still remain slower and far less maneuverable than the superior close-combat craft, Interceptors.
All levels of fighters:
Returned to DN 00.04.60 scale levels.
Mass reduced to 24 [36]
Thrust reduced to 550 [900]
Advanced Fighters:
Ripcord time increased to 8.5 seconds [7]
EWS Probe 2:
Cost reduced to $2500
Seeker 3:
Cost reduced to $2500
Galvonic Blaster:
Mass increased to 6 [1]
Fighters engaging in galving a base should be no more maneuverable than they were before.
XRM/XRP AB 1:
Damage increased to 120 [78]
(Returned to DN 00.04.60 value)
XRM/XRP AB 2:
Damage increased to 150 [97.5]
(Returned to DN 00.04.60 value)
Expansion:
Booster 3:
Thrust reduced to 950 [1125]
Interceptors:
Fuel reduced to 14 [15]
Hvy Interceptors:
Fuel reduced to 14 [15]
Troop Transports:
Speed reduced to 60 [75]
Signature increased to 200 [100]
Troop Transports can now mount EMP missiles at one missile per rack.
Belters:
General:
Sanctuaries:
Scan range reduced to 0.
Signature reduced to .25. [.75]
Scouts:
Mass reduced to 48
Fuel reduced to 6 [8]
Adv scouts:
Mass reduced to 48
Fuel reduced to 8 [10]
Hvy scouts:
Mass reduced to 48 [60]
Fuel reduced to 10 [15]
Bombers:
Boosters removed.
Hvy Bombers:
Boosters removed.
Omni Fighters:
Mass reduced to 34 [44]
Thrust reduced to 550 [1024]
Omni Fighters should handle somewhere between a fighter and an interceptor, and should be well worth the price of research and $500 per ship. In addition, Cruise Booster 3 should be better than Booster 1 and 2, but worse than Booster 3.
Bios:
General Changes:
Faction attributes:
Payday reduction reverted.
Enh and Adv fighters:
Mass set at 22 to retain some of their agility advantage.
Dreghklar:
General Changes:
Enhanced fighters:
Speed set at 95 [100] (modified to 114 after faction GA)
Dreg fighters were found to be far too fast relative to other faction’s fighters due to their lack of an acceleration disadvantage. Still faster, smaller margin.
Adv fighters:
Speed set at 110 [120] (modified to 132 after faction GA)
Dreg fighters were found to be far too fast relative to other faction’s fighters due to their lack of an acceleration disadvantage. Still faster, smaller margin.
All levels of interceptors:
Scale increased to 12 [10.8]
With greater access to superior booster technology, Dreg interceptors may prove too difficult to kill without a scale increase.
Iron Coalition:
General Changes:
Rescue Probe:
Scan range reduced to 0.
Omicron Hive:
General Changes:
Faction Attributes:
Missile Track increased to 1 [.95]
Missile Damage increased to 1 [.95]
PW Damage increased to 1.05 [1]
Cost reduced to .9 [1]
Tech base upgrade costs increased to keep them at roughly $25,000.
Rixian Unity:
General changes:
Scouts:
Ripcost increased to 1200 [1000]
Energy recharge reduced to 30 [40]
Adv Scout:
Ripcost increased to 900 [800]
Heavy Scouts:
Ripcost increased to 900 [600]
All levels of fighters:
Mass is set at 27 to provide similar performance to other fighters as these do not use missiles.
Technoflux:
General changes:
Beacons:
Scan range reduced to 0.
Signature increased to .1 [.05]
All levels of fighters:
Mass is set at 27 to provide similar performance to other fighters as these do not use missiles.
FrEe V3GgY ! 
Need Stealths !
