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1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 9:46 pm
by george moromisato
I'm happy to announce that 1.9 Beta 1 is available for download! If you've already installed one of the 1.9 alphas, you will get the latest beta when you sign in to the game. Otherwise, download here: https://downloads.kronosaur.com/TranscendenceNext.zip

This beta includes several new features:

1. Mining improvements, including mining stats at mining stations
2. Reworked Sisters of Domina donation and Pilgrims' Aid
3. Improved UI for mission arcs (including Benedict and Chimera arcs)
4. UI in system map to show all stations ([L] key)
5. Improved UI for enhancements
6. Improved images, including St. Kats arcology and Sung Fortress.
7. All HD images moved to core (HD extension deprecated).

We recommend that you start a new game on this version. Avoid loading old games (it will work, but it won't be as good as a fresh game).

Full list of bug fixes: https://ministry.kronosaur.com/program. ... ed&tag=123
API 49: https://ministry.kronosaur.com/record.hexm?id=90206
New TransData: https://downloads.kronosaur.com/TransData.zip

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions and bug reports!

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 6:58 am
by AdmiralZo
The new features and graphics are awesome! I love the new St Kats Arcology, especially all the hero images for the different sections.

Faded asteroids are good for mining purposes but the old way is more aesthetically appealing. If you have a mining computer and you're in a large asteroid field, the whole screen can be filled with text which can be a bit distracting. Perhaps only show the text when you have your mining weapon selected?

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 12:20 pm
by PM
The new way of asteroid rendering is much better, not only for mining but also knowing which asteroids I can hide behind when getting shot at. Last alpha, I resigned that all asteroids were passthrough and could not rely on them for cover.

If I have a mining computer, I would like to know which asteroids were (not) explored at all times. Maybe the miner's hold can be disabled to shut off the mining computer, or the text shrunk a bit (closer to what it used to be). (It probably would not help if a mod added a permanent mining computer ROM.)

From my brief experimentation, mining seems easier. Shooting it with any mining weapon reveals presence of ore or not. Also, while I noticed damage thresholds in the code, it did not seem to affect the weapon's ability to extract ore at all, even if I use a continuous beam weapon that does 1 damage per tick in Heretic.

While pods seem to be a bit better, thanks to detecting ore is no longer level-gated, they still seem like a waste of money due to how shockwaves work. It seems long range shockwaves rarely hit anything beyond a certain range. Advanced scanning pod is a waste (for detecting ore) because the extra range is mostly wasted. Even the basic pod is unreliable at detecting ore, although it is less of a waste. For the excavation ones, asteroids still need more than one to extract all of the ore. Overall, charges are still best ignored, or sold for cash as soon as possible if player loots some, unless he wants to use them to blow up enemies.

I noticed that multitarget only works for the first tick of a repeating weapon.

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 5:59 am
by shanejfilomena
I made it 18 hours and 51 minutes before I ran out of insurance and died for good :()

In the time :
I enjoyed the mining.
I enjoyed the Mining gear of the launcher and the dual role of the mining gear to target and deal with hostiles as well.
I did not at the least find the mining easy nor difficult. If i found a deposit that the weapon could reveal but not extract I fired the launcher and that took care of the matter :)

Combat : " WMD required "
Some of the stations were pretty tough, but I recall that stations being too easy was a pet peeve of mine sometime ago.

Shields...
Kind of feel they let me down. I used to depend on particular shields for different situations, yet I did not feel they were living up to their reputation.
A shield that should have kept me safe in the arena failed me and I died to the slicer...

The stations offering reward for hunting down their destroyers was a nice surprise.

I was NOT a fan of the prices...as they say " omg ", If i ever doubted I was a cheapskate.. by the time I left Eridani it was proven fact :)

However, the mining fixed all that. I funded my travels quickly enough so that by the time I reached BA I was on course for the Turbolaser and looking for a good shield.

I am STILL unhappy that the freighter only allows for one gun and launcher. I always wanted to have at least one slot for a mining weapon ( maybe a sidemounted ( slotless ? ) mining weapon that comes up if the freighter is selected as a playership ..

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 5:38 pm
by PM
Combat : " WMD required "
Some of the stations were pretty tough, but I recall that stations being too easy was a pet peeve of mine sometime ago.
That just means use matter weapons with WMD that work against more targets.

Energy weapons that do not have omni (and do not have WMD, which is most of them) are kind of worthless; except maybe in New Beyond where many kinetics have no WMD too, and many pirates resist kinetic (which means more failed Korolov missions because enemy does not die fast enough).

Also, there are no significant enemies that reflect blast or thermo, unlike particle (and ion in case of bigger Dwarg).

By mid-game (or whenever low-level NAMI missiles run out of steam), I am looking for Flensers, slam cannons, tritium cannons, and howitzers (any ammoless weapon with significant WMD) as primary weapons. Energy weapons are either omni or bust once pirates are no longer a significant enemy.

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2020 3:55 pm
by Vachtra
i have to say the main draw I've seen in my last playthrough is the mining. Love the ability to see where to mine and how much is left to mine out. I mean slow strafing was my previous method, and is still mildly effective but I probably missed so much and now I know where.

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2020 8:53 pm
by superdad
Awesome stuff. I liked the navigation (press L on the map). :D

Question :?: : how do you update the STEAM version ? I tried to download and extract over it but then I miss the CC and EP.

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2020 12:03 pm
by NMS
I think the Multiverse and Steam versions of CC and EP should be the same, regardless of which game version you're on. Also, you can opt into the beta version on Steam under Properties -> Betas.

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 9:58 pm
by superdad
NMS wrote:
Sun Jun 21, 2020 12:03 pm
Also, you can opt into the beta version on Steam under Properties -> Betas.
There it is. Thanks ! :D

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2020 3:56 pm
by PM
Played a game recently. Few comments:

After figuring out how new Pilgrim's Aid works, while it is much easier to use, it seems more abusive than before. With the old way, I needs to give fuel, slaves, or other magic item that raises disposition each time I want free fuel. Now, I donate a token amount of credits early, and it snowballs into a million or so credits by midgame, and stays there. As long as my balance does not exceed that million, my ship has free armor repairs and free fuel. It is a steal! Any dent in the balance quickly regenerates back to a million. If my balance might exceed that million (not very hard with Corporate Command), I have the perverse incentive to spend that money (not by denoting excess money to the Sisters, but by buying devices that I can resell later at a minor loss.) If I add Near Stars Connector, I can convert excess credits (that might block use of Pilgrim's Aid) to other currencies.

With that said, I would not want to go back to the old cheesy way of donating some fuel rods per point of disposition (to redeem for refueling).

While mining changes are mostly positive, there are two things I do not like about it.

One, mining laser becomes obsolete too quickly. By Rigel, it cannot always mine everything from asteroids. Now, I consider the magma cutter the starter mining weapon, with proton drill as backup against primordial asteroids (which resist flamethrowers). Even with the annoying 1.5 mining overhaul, at least mining laser before 1.9b1 was useful for mining everything for a little while longer. Also, because mining laser quickly becomes obsolete, it also means Borers sent to steal deposits cannot mine some of the asteroids at all because mining laser is too feeble. Borers that appear beyond Rigel need tier 2 mining weapons (magma cutter or proton drill), and those that appear after St. K's need plasma torch. Of course, upgrading Borers like that would make farming them more attractive. It is already lucrative by leaving the discovered deposit alone and kill lots of Borers for their drops.

Two, the rock-paper-scissors nature of mining means player wants two mining weapons, which is annoying for slot-starved ships. At least with previous releases, player only needed one mining weapon.

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 4:43 pm
by Periculi
This game.. looking great! Are you celebrating a 25th anniversary on this incredible adventure or did I miss it? :D

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:26 pm
by Aury
Well, if you include Frontier 0.5, then it could be 25 years, though transcendence's 20th year anniversary from public launch would be in 2023

Re: 1.9 Beta 1

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2020 5:41 am
by wnmnkh
Time flies really fast.