FTL Captain's Edition 1.308/Inf 1.301b/EL 1.308

[Sleeper Service]

The link is fixed now.

There seems to be a bug with the Lock 2 on the Crystal A, the lockdown animation covers the system icon...

That is the heavy lockdown effect and it's intended like that. I'll update the description of the weapon to telegraph more clearly what it does.

[Russian Rockman]

The Engi A and C's artillery looks really cool, I just don't like when it is half way charged because the half way image doesn't seem natural.

Yeah, that was kind of the test setting. Not intended.

Is there anyway you could still show the "energy ball" charging up though? It could be pretty cool. The firing animation is still really fast, I wish I could appreciate a build up.

CE Update 1.213
- Mantis C artillery gun animation fixed

The Mantis C's artillery placement is a bit weird though. It doesn't seem as "integrated" into the ship as the others, it just looks like any other weapon, it would be nice if it matched the color scheme of the ship too. It's also on the opposite side of the actual artillery room, breaking the trend of other ships. I think it should just mirror the 3rd weapon mount.

- Fed B weapon mount fixed
- Vindicator Beam animation fixed

Very good job on those. They look great.

- Fed C/Lanius A/Lanius B artillery animation fixed

The Lanius artillery doesn't seem to have a firing point. I can't see where the scrap is being launched from. I haven't tested if this is the same with the Fed C though. I think the Lanius ships should fire from the middle of the ship where the piloting is located. Or rather, from "beneath" the middle of the ship.

- Stealth artillery damage increased

Thanks, I thought it could use just a little buff. What would you think about giving it 3, 1 damage, missiles though? I think it would be cool if it fired 3 in succession rather than just one.

- Titel screen name spelling corrected (sorry everyone)

Tanks on fixing the TITEL tpyos. We understand.

There is no artillery in CE that would charge within one single "box", so I find that unnecessary. How much time one box represents depends entirely on how much power you have put into the system. My idea here is that players realize at which mark their individual artillery charges (half, 3/4, or full), a value that remains the same for each power level. The player can still deduce the individual cooldown from the tooltip, in case he/she wants to compare that with the rest of the loadout.

Understood, however... There could be room for a fast firing type of artillery. Like a partially shield piercing focus beam or something...


Speaking of that, GOOD JOB on the Zoltan Artillery Beam. How did you make the beam seem thicker/brighter???? I must know????

The Zoltan Beam is still placed very awkwardly though. On the Zoltan A the Bardiche Beam even overlaps it if it's powered down and other bigger weapons will too.

I actually wouldn't mind giving the Federation Artillery a light Buff. Any ideas?

Not really. I thought of changing it to 2-damage 2-pierce, or make it shorter and into a 2-damage 3-pierce, to encourage timed assistance with your weapons system, but they have their own drawbacks and won't allow for certain very pure tanking builds, and 2-damage 4-pierce might be a little too much.

Of course, each Fed layout could have a slightly different Vindicator too. Classic Vindicator, the shorter 2-damage 3-pierce Reinvindicator, and (if you haven't implemented it on another ship, as I'm about to check them out right now), a mega-focus Contravindicator.

Also, will you (if you haven't already) include the artillery system in the list of systems the enemy can internal-effectorize at the beggining of battle? Not sure what the in-universe explanation would be though.

I think that the Federation A and B should have the same artillery still. Giving the Vindicator a slightly higher fire and/or a breach chance would actually be pretty awesome I think. It would make it seem like a beam that shreds people even more without actually making it much more powerful.

I'm glad that Sleeper is trying to keep the Vindicator as the most powerful artillery beam still.

[Sleeper Service]

The Mantis C's artillery placement is a bit weird though. It doesn't seem as "integrated" into the ship as the others, it just looks like any other weapon, it would be nice if it matched the color scheme of the ship too. It's also on the opposite side of the actual artillery room, breaking the trend of other ships. I think it should just mirror the 3rd weapon mount.

Hm, I guess I have to take a closer look at this the... A lot of stuff hate been changed last minuet. Feel free suggest a better mountpoint. To me it looks like all the good ones are already taken. Mirroring it would make sense I guess.

The Lanius artillery doesn't seem to have a firing point. I can't see where the scrap is being launched from. I haven't tested if this is the same with the Fed C though. I think the Lanius ships should fire from the middle of the ship where the piloting is located. Or rather, from "beneath" the middle of the ship.

It fires closer to the artillery room this way. *shrug* On Lanius B it should actually fire directly from the artillery room...

Understood, however... There could be room for a fast firing type of artillery. Like a partially shield piercing focus beam or something...

Well, if that would be a thing then I'd just add these marks.

The Zoltan Beam is still placed very awkwardly though. On the Zoltan A the Bardiche Beam even overlaps it if it's powered down and other bigger weapons will too.

Yeah, I still missed that one.

[Russian Rockman]

Just noticed that all of these names stayed the same in the names.xml file. I'm not sure if they were intended to be this way or not, but I don't think so.

Ok, now on to some possible issues I noticed with people's names in the names.xml file and title screen.<name>Likad</name> <!--Small typo, should be Liakad
<name>Rave</name> <!--Does he prefer being called Rave or Raven? I never know I prefer Raven
<name>Killox,</name> <!--I don't think there is meant to be a comma there
<name>Rann</name> <!--Should this be Rannl, or was his name intentionally shortened
<name>Tveevle</name> <!--Small typo, should be Tweevle

Also, none of the newly added names are in the title screen. That may be intentional as well, but everyone else is in the title screen. If you can't fit them all I'll say again, you could always reduce the font size a bit.

And also some suggestions...
DrkTemplar's name could be Dark Templar or Templar instead of Drk. It sounds cooler and is more identifiable.
Biohazard's name could still be Biohazard, I think it fits. That would be a cool crew name too.
Also,
Still no Sleeper Service. I really want you on board my ship so I can have you die under my failed command!

You should probably also go through the OP again and give the credits a bit of an update. I think there are some things or people that may be left out...

[Russian Rockman]

Ahha! Looks like the Mantis C has 4 weapon mounts, but can only actually have 3 weapons. So you could really just place the Artillery mount right over the 4th!
Try this...

Code: Select all

<weaponMounts>
   <mount x="537" y="140" rotate="true" mirror="true" gib="6" slide="up"/>
   <mount x="537" y="330" rotate="true" mirror="false" gib="5" slide="down"/>
   <mount x="316" y="102" rotate="true" mirror="true" gib="4" slide="up"/>
   <mount x="316" y="368" rotate="true" mirror="false" gib="4" slide="down"/>
   <mount x="316" y="368" rotate="true" mirror="false" gib="4" slide="no"/>
</weaponMounts>

Not sure about the Zoltan placement.

At the moment, the Lanius Ships do not seem to have an artillery mount at all... I do not see the weapon firing from anywhere. If I could suggest a mount, I would suggest the top of the bottom front blade. (Wait, did that make sense? ) You've convinced me that that would be a better spot.

Also, the Lanius and Crystal weapon descriptions so not mention the base cooldown time in their descriptions. It's easy to forget to edit dlcBlueprints...


I understand that everything was probably done last minute. I knew you couldn't possible add that much content so fast without some bugs. You were just soooo eager to get artillery in before Open Artillery weren't you... The last few back and forths between dmi3 and I have only been about bug fixing and balancing, otherwise we would have been done a long time ago. Now I'm busy looking for bugs in CE. But you have added A LOT of stuff that would have taken us a good long while.

I imagine some better artillery images for the Rock, Crystal, Stealth, and Lanius are coming up... Directly from EL perhaps...

Suggestions:

Sorry to overwhelm you!!!!

For the Zoltan Artillery, the Maul Beam (High Tech_2) or Maul Beam (Steel or Steel HTor Steel Bright) might be good here. Green would work for the Type A only.

For Rock B, Plasma Thrower (Dark) would look cool.
For Rock A, Shotgun Missile (Dark) would also look cool.

NOTE: I noticed that Endless Loot is lacking any pure brown variants of weapons, something to consider maybe...

The Lanius A could use a "remodeled" Shotgun 2 (HT Steel Bright or HT Steel)
The Lanius B could use a "remodeled" Shotgun 2 (Red)
Both POSSIBLY could use the Dark too... If you really didn't want 2 variants.

I also would like it if the Federation C used a "remodeled" Shotgun 2 (Old/Rusty/Dirty)
It could look like it was taped on to where the beam is supposed to be! Dumb pirates...

For all the Federation ships, I think they should use the artillery room images for consistency... and because they look cooler IMO.

The Mantis C could use a Light Chain (Blue, Steel, or Dark) since the rusty doesn't really math.

The Stealth Cruiser could use a "remodeled" version of one of the normal stealth missile launchers. Steel or High Tech maybe?
EDIT: I noticed that the Stealth Cruiser artillery actually has it's own image, but you can only see it when claoked. Awesome idea! It could still use it's own image eventually though, similar to the other high tech missile launchers.
EDIT 2: Also, do you think the Stealth Artillery should shoot 3(1 damage) missiles instead of 1? no particular reason other than that it looks cooler...

NOTE: There is also a lack of digital camo weapons in Endless Loot, something else to consider...

And finally, the Crystal artillery. I'm thinking you could use a steel, or slightly darker version of the Crystal heavy 2, or the biggest Crystal weapon there is. Maybe even use the desaturated version?

NOTE: Some of the Crystal Weapons in Endless Loot look awesome, especially the different colored ones. And some of them look... funny. If rannl is feeling up to it, maybe he could make some special weapon skins just for the crystal weapons. I would love to see that!!! I think the Crystal Cataclysm mod has a few already.



EDIT: I also think the Zoltan, Kestrel. and Rock artillery mounts should be brought forward a bit so we can see more of the weapon itself. And the Crystal artillery could maybe be redone too look more like part of the ship actually.

Also also, since the Kestrel uses the Boss's artillery weapon I thought it would be neat to give other player ships the other weapons. The Ion one could go to maybe one of the Zoltan Ships, the Missile to the Kestrel C, and the Beam to another Zoltan ship or the Kestrel B to complete the set... I love irony.

[Sleeper Service]

Ahha! Looks like the Mantis C has 4 weapon mounts, but can only actually have 3 weapons. So you could really just place the Artillery mount right over the 4th!

That has nothing to with how artillery is placed. Artillery always uses mount 5 as far as I know. Or the one that has slide="no", not sure, but how many normal mounts exist does not matter for that.

At the moment, the Lanius Ships do not seem to have an artillery mount at all... I do not see the weapon firing from anywhere. If I could suggest a mount, I would suggest the top of the bottom front blade. (Wait, did that make sense? ) You've convinced me that that would be a better spot.

The Lanius ships totally have mounts, just check the xml. I used a wrong dummy anim there. Their fire point was planned for exactly that position.

Also, most artillery weapons match the ships hull style now. I'm pretty OK with how the crystal artillery guns and most other stuff looks right now.

EDIT 2: Also, do you think the Stealth Artillery should shoot 3(1 damage) missiles instead of 1? no particular reason other than that it looks cooler...

I'd prefer having it single shot to create some more need to drop enemy evasion and distinguish it from the Rock and other artilleries (it's the only single shot one.)


CE Update 1.214
- Enemy version of the Mantis A/B artillery added
- Mantis teleporter barge max artillery power lowered
- Lockdown Blast Mark II description changed
- Some crew names correctd
- Some artillery graphics changed
- Fed C/Lanius A/Lanius B artillery mount fixed
- Player ship glow on some artillery mount positions softened

CE Vanilla Player Ship Loadouts Addon 1.214
- Changes of CE 1.214 imported

CE Infinite 1.214
- Changes of CE 1.214 imported

[Russian Rockman]

Ahha! Looks like the Mantis C has 4 weapon mounts, but can only actually have 3 weapons. So you could really just place the Artillery mount right over the 4th!

That has nothing to with how artillery is placed. Artillery always uses mount 5 as far as I know. Or the one that has slide="no", not sure, but how many normal mounts exist does not matter for that.

I was saying you could put the artillery right where the 4th weapon WOULD go if the Mantis C actually had 4 weapons. I think it's a really good place since it's right next to the artillery room, rather than on the other end of the ship. The 5th weapon mount could be the same as the 4th since the 4th is not used.

Code: Select all

[code]<weaponMounts>
   <mount x="537" y="140" rotate="true" mirror="true" gib="6" slide="up"/>
   <mount x="537" y="330" rotate="true" mirror="false" gib="5" slide="down"/>
   <mount x="316" y="102" rotate="true" mirror="true" gib="4" slide="up"/>
   <mount x="316" y="368" rotate="true" mirror="false" gib="4" slide="down"/> <---Not used
   <mount x="316" y="368" rotate="true" mirror="false" gib="4" slide="no"/> <--- Artillery is in the same spot
</weaponMounts>

Hm, I guess I have to take a closer look at this the... A lot of stuff hate been changed last minuet. Feel free suggest a better mountpoint. To me it looks like all the good ones are already taken. Mirroring it would make sense I guess.

You were saying all the good weapon mounts were taken, but they aren't actually.

The Lanius ships totally have mounts, just check the xml. I used a wrong dummy anim there. Their fire point was planned for exactly that position.

I didn't check the .xml, I just new that the animation wasn't showing up. Thanks for looking into what the actual issue was.

EDIT 2: Also, do you think the Stealth Artillery should shoot 3(1 damage) missiles instead of 1? no particular reason other than that it looks cooler...

I'd prefer having it single shot to create some more need to drop enemy evasion and distinguish it from the Rock and other artilleries (it's the only single shot one.)

Ahh variety, Good Point. The 3 damage missile also is a buff now so being able to miss does balance the artillery with the Cloaking a bit. The synergy with cloaking was a good thing to consider.

CE Update 1.214
- Enemy version of the Mantis A/B artillery added
- Mantis teleporter barge max artillery power lowered
- Lockdown Blast Mark II description changed
- Some crew names correctd
- Some artillery graphics changed
- Fed C/Lanius A/Lanius B artillery mount fixed
- Player ship glow on some artillery mount positions softened

I'll check those new artillery graphics out. Thanks!

[Sleeper Service]

I was saying you could put the artillery right where the 4th weapon WOULD go if the Mantis C actually had 4 weapons. I think it's a really good place since it's right next to the artillery room, rather than on the other end of the ship. The 5th weapon mount could be the same as the 4th since the 4th is not used.

I did not quite catch your meaning beforehand. That might actually be something to consider then.

[IBeShadow]

Found a bug with the Rebel Platform weapon mount. The one on the left is hovering. http://imgur.com/SFSa47H
Edit: Found another bug with the Fire Bomb II, it has no "launcher" sprite http://imgur.com/ZvOKprl,B3IuY34

[Panlew]

Could you please remove those ugly avatar things or at least make a patch that reverts them to normal...?
The crew portraits.