1.7 Alpha 1a Update

New releases and announcements from George and the staff.
JohnBWatson
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PM wrote: While many weapons were rebalanced in 1.7 alpha, the turbolasers were left untouched and have not been changed since 1.01. They are no more overpowered than before. Omni turbolaser is strong, but not overpowered (unless acquired earlier than expected). Not everything that is powerful is overpowered.
I believe it was overpowered before too, but this is the first time I tried using in in CC, where multiple weapon shops can spawn it in the first system, in which the player will probably be able to afford it.
If you are lucky enough to find a level 4 or 5 weapon in the first system, you will be very strong or overpowered for a while. In one game, I remember finding an EMP cannon as loot in Eridani, and Battle Arena and Kronosaurus became cakewalks. Enjoy your lucky out-of-depth finds. Similarly, a salvager looted (and installed) a dual particle beam weapon in the second system, and while I had laser-resistant defenses, I was unprepared for particle attacks, and almost lost the game after I attacked the upgraded Salvager.
That's probably part of the issue, but I don't think it's all of it. An OTL is all but guaranteed from weapon dealers by the time the Arena is reached, and is cheap and low poweruse enough to fit the starting reactor. In CC, there's a very good chance of buying one in the first system. The Mk I howitzers and similar items found in weapon stores early on are also quite powerful, but have drawbacks like high power use and expensive ammunition that make them more of a difficult but rewarding alternative choice than a 'skip this region' button. In my previous run, I beat the entire Arena without difficulty with just an Omni turbolaser, only losing to the Slicer once because I forgot to install my Targeting ROM.
gunship256
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JohnBWatson wrote:An OTL is all but guaranteed from weapon dealers by the time the Arena is reached, and is cheap and low poweruse enough to fit the starting reactor. In CC, there's a very good chance of buying one in the first system. The Mk I howitzers and similar items found in weapon stores early on are also quite powerful, but have drawbacks like high power use and expensive ammunition that make them more of a difficult but rewarding alternative choice than a 'skip this region' button. In my previous run, I beat the entire Arena without difficulty with just an Omni turbolaser, only losing to the Slicer once because I forgot to install my Targeting ROM.
My feeling is that all of the omni weapons are overpowered right now. For example:

Laser cannon: Level 1, 15 DPS, 1 MW
Omni laser cannon: Level 2, 15 DPS, 3 MW
Valjor 50: Level 2, 22.5 DPS, 2 MW
Mining laser: Level 2, 35 DPS, 3 MW (short range, can mine)
Fast-fire laser: Level 2, 25 DPS, 3 MW
Dual laser: Level 2, 30 DPS, 3 MW
Bolide: Level 2, 21 DPS, 2 MW

Is there any level 2 weapon you would choose over the omni laser cannon? The numbers imply that I should be able to get half or more of my shots to hit with those other weapons, but that's only going to happen going up against capital ships, in which case these lasers as a group are going to perform poorly anyway.

The omni turbolaser could use a range nerf or DPS nerf because all of the omni weapons could probably use the same.
PM
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If expansions are included, Omni turbolaser or other level 4+ weapons are more likely to appear in New Beyond. If limited to free/core only, then they are rare enough that it may not spawn early enough. I remember one game where the only Omni weapon beyond Omni laser that I could find was the Akan 600 gift from Dvalin.

If Omni weapons need to be weakened, either their fireRate should be slowed or their level raised by 1.

As for which level 2 weapon I would take, I would take Omni laser. It would have been fine at level 2 if it kept its old fire rate. Currently, all I would say is I would take it over any other level 2 laser, usually.

It is quite possible that 100 for balance algorithm may not enough for omni weaons. This is roughly half damage from basic weapons. Prior to 1.7 alpha, Omni weapons had from 30% to 40% damage. (Old guidelines suggested 25%, which is too low.) 40% damage seemed okay.

If Omni balance from before 1.7 alpha seemed better, balance algorithm could use 150 for Omni (and 100+ for tracking).
Download and Play in 1.9 beta 1...
Drake Technologies (Alpha): More hardware for combat in parts 1 and 2!
Star Castle Arcade: Play a classic arcade game adventure, with or without more features (like powerups)!
Playership Drones: Buy or restore exotic ships to command!

Other playable mods from 1.8 and 1.7, waiting to be updated...
Godmode v3 (WIP): Dev/cheat tool compatible with D&O parts 1 or 2.
PM
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Did some more number-crunching, and the more I think about it, I think 100 for Omni may be okay. One thing I overlooked is Omni weapons tend to have lower powerUse than their dual counterparts, and dual weapons tend to be 50% more overpowered than the baseline, requiring +50% more powerUse and cost. Dual weapons push limits to the max. Omni weapons do not if they have less than 50% DPS of their dual counterpart. If the have half DPS, then they push powerUse and cost to the limit like dual weapons.

Level 2 Omni laser is probably overpowered. Probably could shoot five instead of six per second. Keep the cost high as it is, but lower powerUse to 2 MW.

Omni turbolaser is fine. Omni turbolaser almost needs laser collimator to be useful shortly after St. K's. It also has almost 40% DPS of dual turbolaser, which seems just about right.

Omni particle cannon got the buff it needed to compete with, or at least not so hopelessly outclassed by, Omni turbolaser.

Not sure about Omni X-ray laser. I thought it was fine at 60 DPS. I do not mind 75 DPS, but... I do not know... have not playtested that.

If 100 is still not enough for Omni weapons, probably could try 120. Raising balance value of Omni also affects swivel weapons. I do not think 20 degree arc is worth much more than +25% damage.

Not sure about tracking weapons. If 50 is too low but 100 is too high, maybe try 70, 75, or 80.
Download and Play in 1.9 beta 1...
Drake Technologies (Alpha): More hardware for combat in parts 1 and 2!
Star Castle Arcade: Play a classic arcade game adventure, with or without more features (like powerups)!
Playership Drones: Buy or restore exotic ships to command!

Other playable mods from 1.8 and 1.7, waiting to be updated...
Godmode v3 (WIP): Dev/cheat tool compatible with D&O parts 1 or 2.
gunship256
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The omni X-ray feels really powerful, but it probably should, since it's inconvenient to fabricate it.

The buffs to missiles and omni weapons in this alpha make me want to equip only omni weapons and a missile launcher. In 1.6, I wanted spread shaped weapons like the Trident, Morningstar, and Moskva repeater. It could be just me, but I'd rather equip an omni weapon and dodge missiles than to block them right now.
Dmitry
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I do agree that the omni x-ray might be a bit overpowered, but it is justified - the regular version of the laser is extremely hard to find and then there is the fabricate part that is not always feasible, since you either do not have a tinkerer nearby or you are out of funds.

I have seen only two or three x-rays over the years anyway. I do not even remember who dropped those.
NMS
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I find that x-ray lasers show up in most games if you check all the Bushido dealers and independent weapon dealers.

As for omni weapon balance in general, I think it's reasonable for most omni weapons to have slightly lower fire rates and be one level higher than their non-omni equivalent. That was the most common situation before the recent changes, although there were some that were two levels higher or one level higher with the same fire rate. Generally, though, I feel like they're most effective against weak enemies, so they're more of a convenience than something that significantly alters your chances of being able to win a fight.
Peter
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I know I should post this on ministry, but has anyone noticed this bug:

Sometimes (about 50%) when I shoot at an enemy station with a laser type weapon, it doesn't register the shot. By laser type I mean, lasers, particles, etc. This has been a very, very, noticeable and annoying bug for me. The bullets hit the enemy station, but the hit effect doesn't go off, and it doesn't register that it has taken damage.
My dream is to one day discover that someone who plays transcendence lives near me and goes to my school. Then I can finally have a friend.
---
Why must I keep running into that wall, impossibility?
NMS
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That's because the damage sometimes rounds down to 0. With the new WMD system there's no minimum of 1 damage anymore. Instead the damage is calculated, taking into account armor resistance and WMD (weapons with no WMD only do 10% to stations with multihull and the compartments of capital ships), then it's rounded up or down with probability determined by where it is between two integers. So for instance, if a station is multihull and has 50% laser resistant armor, lasers would do only 5% of their normal damage against it. A 1-4 damage laser would only have a 12.5% chance of dealing damage to it.
PM
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1.7 changed WMD. All weapons have it, but the minimum of 1 is gone now. (no WMD does 10% damage to appropriate targets.)

See this old ticket for explaination and change of rounding method used.
Download and Play in 1.9 beta 1...
Drake Technologies (Alpha): More hardware for combat in parts 1 and 2!
Star Castle Arcade: Play a classic arcade game adventure, with or without more features (like powerups)!
Playership Drones: Buy or restore exotic ships to command!

Other playable mods from 1.8 and 1.7, waiting to be updated...
Godmode v3 (WIP): Dev/cheat tool compatible with D&O parts 1 or 2.
Peter
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Good thing I didn't post it on ministry then :)
Thanks guys, wasn't really sure what was happening. I should really look at a 1.7 changelog...
My dream is to one day discover that someone who plays transcendence lives near me and goes to my school. Then I can finally have a friend.
---
Why must I keep running into that wall, impossibility?
Neuromancer
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If it's workable I think one of the best ways to balance Omni weapons would to make them behave more like realistic turreted weapons. That is; they should have a finite tracking speed, and they should have blind arcs. That would help differentiate between the various omnis as well and possibly allow for the introduction of more variety in Omni weapons.

For instance, we could have a level 2 Omni similar to the Omni laser, with a slightly slower tracking speed and a burst fire that would be great for taking out light fighters and smaller ships. At level 3 we could have an Omni Valjor equivalent with slow tracking and low WMD that can only fire on the left or right arcs of the ship. It would be a good option for taking on capital ships but it would be a pain to deal with fighters.

Something like the IM90 could even stay the essentially the same to really emphasize how advanced it is. Multi-targeting and almost instant tracking would seem incredible compared to lower level turreted weapons.
NMS
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Bear in mind there's a 60:1 time scale in Transcendence, so omni weapons (other than the Ares lightning turret) take at least 10 in-game seconds between shots. That seems like enough time to swing a turret around. The hard (nearly impossible) part is the fine aiming. Given the typical target sizes in the game, you would need precision of tens of billionths of a degree at long range. Bolting a telescope parallel to the barrel of your gun is not going to get the job done.
Peter
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Well one thing I think should be taken into consideration is: Turreted weapons are awesome, nuff said.

By this I don't mean omnidirectional weapons, I mean things like the Freya's swivel turret. Things which have a small arc of omni. They feel so satisfying to play.
My dream is to one day discover that someone who plays transcendence lives near me and goes to my school. Then I can finally have a friend.
---
Why must I keep running into that wall, impossibility?
JohnBWatson
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Neuromancer wrote:If it's workable I think one of the best ways to balance Omni weapons would to make them behave more like realistic turreted weapons. That is; they should have a finite tracking speed, and they should have blind arcs. That would help differentiate between the various omnis as well and possibly allow for the introduction of more variety in Omni weapons.

For instance, we could have a level 2 Omni similar to the Omni laser, with a slightly slower tracking speed and a burst fire that would be great for taking out light fighters and smaller ships. At level 3 we could have an Omni Valjor equivalent with slow tracking and low WMD that can only fire on the left or right arcs of the ship. It would be a good option for taking on capital ships but it would be a pain to deal with fighters.

Something like the IM90 could even stay the essentially the same to really emphasize how advanced it is. Multi-targeting and almost instant tracking would seem incredible compared to lower level turreted weapons.
I like the idea of a more diversified set of weapons. Range feels like the easiest way to balance omni, but it's certainly not the only way to do it.
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