A more balanced means of repairing

[Xephyr]

The way armour is repaired shouldn't be changed, but it could be rebalanced for armour segments to have some sort of "durability" value that increases each time armour is repaired - the higher the durability value, the higher the cost to repair the armour.

I don't see much of an issue with armour repair though, it takes a lot of knowledge of the game to be strategic about armour - using repair kits below repairable HP, keeping to low level armour to keep repair costs down, and so on. If you've played for years and years there's many creative ways to break the game that the great majority of players will never even stumble upon.

[JohnBWatson]

There is no way to automate patch spiders for people not using shields because there is no detectable measure of safety other than the presence of a shield. People using worldship plate shouldn't get to veto a solution that works for everyone else.

Patch spiders are generally used outside of combat. About half of players, AFAIK, do not use shields outside of combat. A system that re - enables the spider 60 seconds after the last time damage was taken would work fine.

Also, Novaya Manticore. Your plan is completely broken for a canon playable ship.

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There is no way to automate patch spiders for people not using shields because there is no detectable measure of safety other than the presence of a shield. People using worldship plate shouldn't get to veto a solution that works for everyone else.

I know jack-all about Transcendence modding but there's no call to tell if there are hostiles present on radar?

If there isn't, it'd be quite useful to have. If there is, that may work.

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The Manticore is a pretty good ship, but the Sapphire with the Novaya repairer is even better because it can run away and repair armor more easily. The repairer is not for sale, though, so the only way to get it is to either order it from a Corporate Trading Post or to use a mod.

The Novaya isn't Manticore - exclusive? That makes it a significantly worse choice. It ought to have some sort of bonus to armor, then.

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If you mean the patch spiders in the cargo hold, I don't want to overwrite the patch spider unless I have to. I'd rather create a virtual device that checks all installed/uninstalled devices and treats all external armor repair devices like patch spiders. It'd be more compatible with other mods and would continue to work if the patch spider were ever replaced or supplemented with other devices.

I'm guessing there's a way to do this, since black market and military IDs follow the player to new ships.

If that's so, I'm not sure what it'd be. Transdata lets you see the source code, so it may help to check out how the IDs work and try to replicate that.

[pixelfck]

This has been an annoyance for me for a long time. I fixed it in Black Market Expansion by making the behaviour of repair items (barrels, patches, repair kits, patch spiders and patcher arms) behave equal to what stations (and Domina) do: don't repair if damaged for 75% or more.

One of the results of this is that I find myself switching armor types more often and trying out more configurations in the process (which I like).

~Pixelfck

This actually sounds pretty good with one caveat the Novaya should be able to fix even critically damaged armor since it's much more likely for Manticore players to take critical damage.

Maybe the Novaya could draw (armorlevel^3)-1.5*(armorlevel^2) MW when repairing a critically damaged plate. This is enough to put a severe strain on reactors of the same level as the armor without overloading. During overload conditions the Novaya should always be the last device to shut down, since its continued operation is literally a matter of life or death.

The Novaya armor repairer is an exception. If I remember correctly, I ignored the 75% rule completely for it. Otherwise I choose to only ignore the 75% rule for Novaya armor.

Anyhow, it is just one possible solution. Contrary to PM, I do like the 75% rule. Yes, it is annoying when my armor gets damaged so badly it cannot be repaired anymore (= I should have disengaged the fight earlier). But hey, it shouldn't be possible to replace high level armor material with some general purpose goo if you ask me

~Pixelfck

[gunship256]

The Novaya isn't Manticore - exclusive? That makes it a significantly worse choice. It ought to have some sort of bonus to armor, then.

It's not Manticore-exclusive, but it's almost impossible to get without starting with the Manticore. I've either had to order it at a CTP in the past or use PlayerShip drones to get the Manticore, uninstall the armor repairer, and switch to another ship.

The Manticore is actually okay with an enhanced Titan drive, since it turns pretty well but has poor thrust and top speed out of the box. Titans are pretty easy to enhance, since they show up at about the same time as longzhu spheres. The six armor segments serve it pretty well in mid to late game, and it can install 15 ton segments of armor, so it kills it in the late game with six plates of neutronium or heavy Iocrym armor.

My main problem with it is that Novaya armor is available to buy at stations, but the Novaya repairer is nowhere to be seen. To be competitive, if a ship needs a special device that is unobtainable somewhere else (the Novaya repairer), or lacking the repairer, an engine upgrade that isn't available until midgame, then something about the ship isn't quite balanced. I think this is in full agreement with what you were saying earlier.

I think the Manticore needs an increase in thrust, top speed, or both. There's another forum thread from last year discussing something similar (https://forums.kronosaur.com/viewtopic. ... ser#p57553). At the same time, the Novaya repairer should probably have a frequency of rare instead of notrandom so that the other playerships can use it.

EDIT/addition: I thought for a while about how to make playing without shields viable without becoming unbalanced. Using free ships in PSD is a bit like cheating, and not everyone is going to want to use PSD anyway. For now, I've settled on providing the player with a gift box when the game first starts out. The box has a patcher arm, solar panel array, a mod enhancer I made, and tritium propulsion upgrade in it. (Yes, EI500, I'm looking at you.) But the box also contains a beacon that summons a midgame Marauder fleet to attack you.

[Atarlost]

There is no way to automate patch spiders for people not using shields because there is no detectable measure of safety other than the presence of a shield. People using worldship plate shouldn't get to veto a solution that works for everyone else.

I know jack-all about Transcendence modding but there's no call to tell if there are hostiles present on radar?

It could be done, but it's not a measure of safety. There are a few enemies that fire from beyond LRS range and lots that should but don't because of an AI bug.

[JohnBWatson]

It's not Manticore-exclusive, but it's almost impossible to get without starting with the Manticore. I've either had to order it at a CTP in the past or use PlayerShip drones to get the Manticore, uninstall the armor repairer, and switch to another ship.

Were those made more rare recently? I always find at least 2 - 3 per game.

The Manticore is actually okay with an enhanced Titan drive, since it turns pretty well but has poor thrust and top speed out of the box. Titans are pretty easy to enhance, since they show up at about the same time as longzhu spheres. The six armor segments serve it pretty well in mid to late game, and it can install 15 ton segments of armor, so it kills it in the late game with six plates of neutronium or heavy Iocrym armor.

Heavy Iocrym is fairly rare, but that's still worth trying. I still think it ought to have a slight armor HP or repair rate bonus to make up for its hard - coded lack of a full - power shield generator.

My main problem with it is that Novaya armor is available to buy at stations, but the Novaya repairer is nowhere to be seen. To be competitive, if a ship needs a special device that is unobtainable somewhere else (the Novaya repairer), or lacking the repairer, an engine upgrade that isn't available until midgame, then something about the ship isn't quite balanced. I think this is in full agreement with what you were saying earlier.

That's reasonable. It's also likely confusing to new players that find Novaya armor without trying the Manticore first.

I think the Manticore needs an increase in thrust, top speed, or both. There's another forum thread from last year discussing something similar (https://forums.kronosaur.com/viewtopic. ... ser#p57553). At the same time, the Novaya repairer should probably have a frequency of rare instead of notrandom so that the other playerships can use it.

I'm not sure it needs a hard speed or maneuverability buff(I survived well enough up to St. Kats, where I could get a new engine), though an extra device slot to make a drive upgrade less painful could be balanced. Making the Novaya repairer appear ingame outside of trading posts is also something I agree with.

[Atarlost]

The Novaya is intended to be a Manticore exclusive. If you're finding it elsewhere that should be reported as a bug.

If it were intended to be available anywhere other than on the Manticore it wouldn't have a frequency of notrandom.

[gunship256]

The Novaya is intended to be a Manticore exclusive. If you're finding it elsewhere that should be reported as a bug.

If it were intended to be available anywhere other than on the Manticore it wouldn't have a frequency of notrandom.

I can understand why, since the Manticore is weak relative to the other ships if they can also use the Novaya repairer. But the implementation is confusing, since Novaya armor can be purchased by any ship.

Maybe if the Manticore had a special ability where it were immune to all status effects regardless of what armor it has, then Novaya armor could be done away with, and the Manticore would get the slight buff in early and midgame it probably needs.

[Watch TV, Do Nothing]

Novaya armor is fine to keep in; not all items have to be equally useful to all ship classes. For example, I suspect that only Freyr players actively seek out any of the Rasiermesser energy weapons, but they can still occasionally come in handy to other ship classes if found as out-of-depth loot. Likewise, Novaya armor can still be good on other ship classes if it appears as a random drop.

Another way to handle it would be to create some sort of +FastRepair property to allow Novaya (and similarly-tagged armors) to repair more quickly from any repair device, including arms and spiders.

[PM]

+Regen (and the photo-regen equivalent) can repair armor, without help from armor repair items. Only problem with +Regen is it heals 1 hp every 30 seconds. Even the slowest possible rate for armor and armor repair devices is 1 hp every 6 seconds.

Yes, not all items need to be equally useful for all ships. Massive armor is not even usable by ships with low mass limit.

EDIT:

Likewise, Novaya armor can still be good on other ship classes if it appears as a random drop.

Novaya is quite useful as status-immune armor, which there is not much of, and it might help make shieldless run a bit easier for a while.

[JohnBWatson]

Another way to handle it would be to create some sort of +FastRepair property to allow Novaya (and similarly-tagged armors) to repair more quickly from any repair device, including arms and spiders.

That's an excellent idea. Could also be paired with the method in the OP to allow for quicker repairs in general.

If the Novaya repairer is intended as Manticore exclusive, the armor should specify it as "the Manticore's Novaya repairer".

[gunship256]

There is no way to automate patch spiders for people not using shields because there is no detectable measure of safety other than the presence of a shield. People using worldship plate shouldn't get to veto a solution that works for everyone else.

I have the detection code working for shields and hostiles now if anyone wants it (thanks, PM). Once I finish the rest, including the ability to change the settings, I'll post a beta.