Announcements & General Patch Shit Thread

[Tyrehl]

Preordered

[morpheps]

Lifetime expansion crew checking in..

[tulip]

Devpoast;

  Spoiler:

From the desk of Michael Brookes

'Hi everyone,

In this week’s dev update I will continue on from last week’s with more details on the mission changes coming in The Engineers update (2.1). Don’t worry I will be covering other topics in the coming weeks as well!

Last week’s update covered the first of our high level goals – personalisation and this week I’ll cover the second with progression. Progression within a game can mean many different things, but in this case those aspects combine into telling your narrative while playing the game. Situations change and the game reflects those changes to you. Now we do quite a lot of these already, but we can improve the way we communicate these. And as with personalisation there is quite a bit of overlap in the details of achieving our aims for the update.

Currently there are five levels of reputation with a minor faction (Hated, Disliked, Neutral, Liked, Allied) and we’re adding an extra level on the positive side for a smoother, but also longer transition from working up from neutral. This should be a journey and rewarded accordingly, not only with the various in-game rewards, but also within the narrative of the experience by highlighting events like increasing your reputation level.

The mission givers will provide a sense of progression so that as you improve (or damage) your relationship with the faction your worth to the organisation is reflected in who you deal with. The ranks and tone of these mission givers in turn is coloured by the type of organisation they represent and feeds into their character portraits as well.

The mission board in station services replaces the old bulletin board, while some of the information remains the same, we’re working to make things much clearer and to present them in a fashion which highlights their importance to the minor faction. There are number of specifics here which will be covered in next week’s topic about variety, but some also apply to progression. One example is what missions are available. This is supported in game already, but where possible we want to ensure that the reasons the mission isn’t accessible is communicated correctly so that they know what to do to gain access to the mission, or another of its type later on.

This aspect also matters for the other end of the mission flow, so when a mission is completed or failed. In particular the mission giver will communicate what effects the mission ending has on their organisation. At the moment this is more opaque than we’d like and so player’s aren’t necessarily aware of the results their actions has. This aspect features heavily within the consequences goal.

Traditional gameplay progression usually corresponds with the difficulty of available activity increasing in line with developing skill with the game. This allows for an escalating sense of challenge being available as you develop the relationship with the minor faction, but also with other entities in the game. So missions requiring higher Pilots Federation ratings should also require extra effort to complete, but also providing appropriate rewards.

The final key aspect for progression is the communication within the mission itself. We’re expanding the functionality of the inbox so that messages will persist, so important or interesting messages do not get lost. This allows us to highlight the different stages in the mission more effectively and so creating a richer experience with it.

Last week I mentioned that we had some more huge weapons coming, but without providing any details, so we have huge beam and pulse laser and multi-cannons being added. There will also be a new large multi-cannon.

Thanks!

Michael'

TLDR some guff about the bullitin board and missions being less crap and huge weapon additions; pulse, beam & multicannon (large also added).


brrrrrrrrrt

[Liare]

so, apparently the game is getting actual content this week, maybe it's time to dust off the Python and dive back in.

[Procellus]

Am I missing something? That link you provided is from August of last year.

[Liare]

ah yes, apologies, looks like i did the wrong pasta when at work.

really sorry about that, here's the correct one.

Edit: I will try to keep this list updated until the Beta launches (week ending 8th May). By which time we have the actual thing and official patch notes.


Time to summarize the changes we can expect from the 2.1/1.6 update based on dev updates, newsletters and possibly Frontier's comments so far:


What's available to all players what is exclusively available in Horizons?

"The Engineers" update is "2.1", adds loot & crafting and Engineers, Horizons (season 2) exclusive, <Beta date announcement>
1.6 available to all Elite Dangerous players, contains "re-vamped mission system", its "own vast number of additions and changes", closed Beta and release together with 2.1 <Beta date announcement>




General changes:

Persistent, mostly generated NPCs will be added: mission givers + engineers, will have some form of mug shots based on the future commander creator/character editor
Relationship with minor faction will determine which character will be mission giver
NPCs will give feedback about the situation of a minor faction and ways to support them
Options screen will have collapsible sections for easier navigation
Adding new huge and large weapons (concept for large+huge multicannon shown) <NL #111>
huge beam laser
huge pulse laser
huge multi-cannons
large multi-cannons
all available in fixed and gimballed variety <NL #120>
Missiles getting revamp, won't penetrate, but can damage multiple external modules (drives, utilities, hardpoints), minor increase to shield damage <quote>
Guided missiles receive enhanced guidance, more effective over distance, increased damage (splash esp.) <NL #121>
Skimmer resistance to splash damage increased, many surface bases may have point defense systems <NL #121>
Area of effect damage of guided missiles impacts all external modules of target (cockpit, weapons, utillity mounts) <NL #121>
Similar enhancements for torpedos <NL #121>
visuals for all weapons changing to automatically reflect damage type+level (engineer effects) <NL #121>
Asteroid graphical fidelity improvements
Star light has been fixed so that it retains its colour over distance
Bookmarks will be added
Systems/planets/stations/asteroids can be bookmarked
Bookmarks have a custom text, can be edited and deleted
Bookmarks will be visible on the galaxy map and can be selected as navigation target in route planner
SRVs will leave tire tracks on planet surfaces <NL #116>
Community goals will be marked on the galaxy map and system map, will also appear on any bulleting board regardless of system <NL #116>
Community goals may have multiple commodities involved. <NL #116>
galaxy map receives state filter - systems filter-able by states war, famine etc.
"Revamp" of outfitting screen, different classes have different purposes, will become more clear <exploration livestream>, <synopsis>
"improving the process of buying and fitting new items to your ships and offering an easier route to further, as yet unannounced, module additions" <NL #120>
"module filtering and easier access to relevant data on the Starport services screens" (absolute weapon damage values shown) <NL #120>
"performance enhanced size 2 and 3 drives" for smaller ships
Mining in ice rings added. Produces new commodities: "methanol monohydrate crystals and low temperature diamonds" <NL #121>
Voiced traffic control added - radio chatter from stations upon approach/exit. Assigns callsigns to all ships, guides landing/takeoff, notices player disappearing from their scanner, knows about player's standing at station. <NL #121>




The Engineers, loot & crafting:

Engineers have their own backstory and specialization
Engineers are spread throughout human space (initially ~30 engineers)
(using loot) with engineers "you will be able to improve and upgrade the stats on every module of your ship, and add rare, experimental effects to your weapons" <Beta date announcement>
Example: Laser that recharges Wing member shields upon friendly fire <Beta date announcement>
Example: Laser that raises heat level of target when hitting shields or hull <NL #120>
Example: "Force shell" forcing ship of course, when hitting shields or hull <NL #120>
Player ranks/alignments/other parameters affect options offered to them by engineers
There is a minimum requirement for player ranks/alignment/stats for using an engineer's service
Engineers are found on isolated surface facilities <concept art, NL 117>
"Most Engineers are very secretive... and so you need an introduction, and need to find out how to find them" <Beta date announcement>
Missions can lead to introductions to Engineers
Some Engineers will introduce you to others
Wrecks will be added (unclear if surface only or space as well), loot and crafting gameplay will be associated with wrecks, concept art of SRV scanning data recorder in wreck was shown
Mining in asteroid rings produces materials for engineers (ice rings and others) <NL #121>
new types of surface encounters (POIs) <NL #120>
imporved some existing POI types (e.g. being guarded by low flying ships) <NL #120>
human created POIs won't be found as far from the bubble anymore <NL #120>




AI changes/fixes:

Flatter difficulty curve for low rank NPCs, more challenging high rank opponents
effective missile + torpedo usage at high ranks (when opponent shields are down)
Increased damage avoidance by high rank AIs
High rank AIs flee for recharging shields before attacking again
High rank AIs will try to counter players who use the reverse thrust tactic
AI can't use energy weapons when overheating anymore
chaff spam decreased, only using chaff when taking damage from turrets/gimbals
AI doesn't get stuck rotationg in one place anymore
No more hatch breaker spam
Better pip management for fleeing and pursuing
Scan & ram: "As far as I am aware, the fix for this issue should be included with 2.1." <quote>
More NPC ship traffic on planet surfaces - traffic between ports, base patrols, POI guards <NL #120>
NPCs can fly through canyons on planet surfaces <NL #120 thread>




Changes for/to missions grouped by broad high level concepts (dev updates from January to March):

Personalisation

persistent mission givers, treatment of player depends on player ranks/reputation/alignment
Docking greeting messages change depending on alignment/rank
NPCs remember having had contact with the player before
NPCs inform player about the status of a faction (civil war etc.)
NPCs inform player about the effects their actions are having (status changes for minor factions)
Mission selection improved depending on a factions status


Progression

One additional positive alignment level will be added to faction alignment (Hated, Disliked, Neutral, Liked, Allied, +?)
The mission board in station services replaces the old bulletin board
Expanding the functionality of the inbox so that messages will persist


Variety

More missions are available at the neutral reputation stage
Rank requirement for missions are removed - the rank will now be an indication of difficulty + rewards
Missions will be generated around players's Pilots Federation rank
Three stage hierarchy governs mission generation:
Minor faction state
Market type at the port (e.g. mining missions in extraction economies)
Government type of minor faction (e.g. dictatorships => overt assassinations)

Missions will provide description why they have been offered and what effect their completion will have
"Barrier of inconvenience" for some of the mission elements reviewed e.g. "not having to drop out of supercruise to listen to alternate offers"
"The time limits for missions as well as which elements make them easier, or more difficult are being reviewed and addressed."
The cockpits will receive a clock
USSs for missions will now generally be located at specific bodies within a system, not randomly spawned as time goes by
Bodies with USS can be detected with the discovery scanner, normal range limits apply
Nav beacons can be scanned (in normal flight) to receive system exploration data and to reveal mission locations
USS placement depends on specific places like "traffic lanes" and "hubs" in a system
USS can be scanned from supercruise to reveal more information about them! <NL #120>


Consequences

Exact indication of influence isn’t (!) part of the mission changes (only indicates positive/negative impact) as of 2.1, unlike reputation and state changes, which are indicated
"With minor faction states we’re intending making their effects more noticeable on available missions, ship traffic and composition, and markets." (Less subtle changes)
"authority response if they are attacked will be sharper."


Rewards

"treasure" locations as new additional mission reward type (missions may lead to cache with vouchers/other items => crafting! )
Crafting materials as additional mission reward type as well as hard to obtain commodities and "salvage only items". Some commodities possibly only obtainable through missions.
"varying rewards for effects on minor factions which are getting a balance pass to make changes in state more likely as well as more noticeable"
"rewards will be balanced to scale better with difficulty and also be more lucrative if you’re well regarded by the minor faction"
"conducting a pass through the mission templates to make them more reliable and address issues seen in the current build"
"adding more scenarios for the various mission types and also to better reflect the active states in the system"



Release

Beta release aiming for May <NL #114>
Available the week ending 8th May <Beta date announcement>



Sources: dev updates and newsletters from January to now. Any more things I've overlooked?

[Liare]

you want identical upgraded medium pulse lasers on your Fer De Lance ?

well you cant have it, eat a whole lot of nested RNG fucker.

[Rakshasa The Cat]

Should allow upgrading multiple identical items at the same time, with cost multiplied.

[Rakshasa The Cat]

So as I've been using my X-55 much more over the last couple of months I've steadily felt the need to switch out the springs with lighter version, and turn down the resistance on the throttle.

Feels like progress.

[Saul]

Can't bring myself to play it. Tales of shitty engineer requirements, shitty RNG and shitty npcs has put me right off.

[Tyrehl]

Can't bring myself to play it. Tales of shitty engineer requirements, shitty RNG and shitty npcs has put me right off.

Yea im waiting for the changes they announced. Also hoping that module storage wont be such a huge undertaking and we will get it this summer/autumn..

[morpheps]

Supposedly the AI interception has been turned down a notch, but I dunno, I've been out of the bubble for a while. Now 3k LY from Sag A, with about a bazillion credits worth of scanned shit. Down to 55 % integrity after a unfortunate incident involving landing on a slightly higher than normal G world whilst drunk (whops) and a visit to one of the Neutron Fields. Thinking I'm going to hit up Sag A, and then make my way back via the same Neutron Field to scan some more Neutrons and Black Holes, and then head to Farseer and turn in my exploration data. Should be enough to get me to level 5 and then grind mats for the FSD upgrade. Should be able to get between 45 and 50-ish LY on an Asp, making that trip to Beagle Point so much easier..

[Nordstern]

Horizons will be free to all on Oct 27. Those who previously bought it will get an Azure ship paint job usable on all ships in the game.

[Jack Coutu]

Game is free on Epic Games Store, with Horizons, though I've never really gotten back into it more than a weekend over the past year the first hundred hours or so are really a blast, and the audio sense and exploration alone are worth the download. If you've not picked it up somehow, just go for it now, nothing to lose.

[Nax]

Apparently there is something shining in interstellar space that may be approaching the bubble. Visible from multiple systems like Oochorrs CS-F c13-0, makes a sound when targeted with FSS.

I'm too far out to check personally

There is speculation that the recent anti-Thargoid debacle may have summoned... something.

[Saul]

Lazily following along on reddit but it'll just be a) another nothingburger with static stuff like the burning carriers last time round and/or b) the prelude to another massive, unrewarding grindfest.

I had a brief moment of temptation to download the game again, buy the walking DLC, go have a looksee etc., but then I remembered I'd have to do an insane amount of Guardian grind to get the latest AX kit (not played since AX was first introduced and couldn't be arsed with the grind then either), and I instantly lost interest.