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Mod
Creators Notes
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Commodity
Limitations
For this second installment, the commodities for bases are still a little
wild. In some places it is possible to earn lots of credits trading a
short distance. This will be fixed in future installments. I don't
consider it to be a problem that would ruin the game. Mostly due to the
ships being a great deal more expensive and that the regions where these
bases are of a higher difficulty level. If you want to be trader in these
regions then it's up to you. If you do find an easy run, I'd encourage you
not to exploit it too much. But, there are faster and more enjoyable ways
of earning credits so its up to you, In the future instalments, there will
be much less things for sale and in places like mining bases in the middle
of nowhere, they will have very poor supplies. The operation of these
bases is not aimed at selling weapons or equipment and so they only have
limited choices.
Weapons of Frontierspace
The basic weapon damage of most weapons has been increased. It used to be
that the wrong type of weapon on the wrong shield only inflicts 80 percent
of the damage, now it is 120 percent. The weapons give an additional 40
percent to those found in the original game. Therefore, if you have the
right weapon on the right shield type, you will cause an impressive 160
percent damage, instead of 120 percent. It's this kind of information that
sets an average player from a good one. It's also worth bearing in mind
that not all weapons are affected in this way. Missiles and weapons with
no fixed energy type remain the same. They are however more effective
against specialist shielding, which you'll have to find out for yourself.
Some missiles too have been changed, the homing and pulse missiles are now
more effective. Making each of them actually pretty useful. Mines too,
travel faster than they used to and so are more dangerous. Also, just to
make things even more complicated, the shield damage ratio of hull to
shield has been changed too. Meaning weapons that aren't pulse based will
cause less damage to shields than they used to. I strongly recommend that
players use pulse weapons with there ships. Stunpulse turrets can also be
mounted on to cruise disruptor hard points and Heavy Stunpulse turrets
(class 5) on to torpedo hard points. I'd recommend that you use them.
New Ships for Frontierspace
For those of you who are not either modders or ship modellers, there are a
few things about the new ships that you need to know. The main thing is
the differences between ships from the original game and the added ones.
From the way that the original ships were made, parts are able to be blown
off. This makes them weaker to missiles as they can cause damage to
several areas at once. Added ships do not usually have this problem. The
Battleaxe is the exception to the rule as it was created with bits to be
blown off too. It does mean that depending on who you are fighting, it
might be best to exchange a missile for an extra weapon instead. All ships
use armour which negates the damage caused, but missiles still do less
damage. Now that that is clear, everybody is on the same level of
understanding.
Courier Commodities
These are goods that are of a sensitive nature and usually belong to house
military or police. In order to acquire the good you may need to be of a
certain reputation with that group. You then buy the contract of the good
and travel to its destination. Each good has a single destination and,
after a time, the good will expire. In a similar way to perishable
commodities. It helps to know the destination of the cargo before hand and
the route to be taken. Pirate factions will be scanning you for the cargo,
so keep an eye out for them too. For best results, it's obviously best to
trade in the higher level cargo that requires higher rep using a
freighter. If you get the hang of trading along the routes, a high profit
can be made.
Long Range Destroy missions
These are a new thing for Frontierspace. They are only available to a few
groups. The more established pirates, Federation and the Imperial Navy.
They are very difficult as each base has a standing garrison defending and
the target can be in hostile space. More information is in the Imperial
War info. But, basically, you buy or note down the location from its
target good. Then it's up to you how you approach the target. There is no
time limit for completion. You destroy the base, tractor in proof of its
destruction and return it to the base of operations. Pirates and the owner
of the base will scan you for the good until you return it. Be careful not
to have a full cargo hold when attacking the base as you will not be able
to tractor in the mission complete good and you would need to start
jettisoning cargo mid-battle. Most bases destroyed will drop technology of
a specialist or custom nature. These goods are un-buyable in the game and
can only be obtained by its base's destruction. Just remember to have an
extremely strong combat based vessel before attempting these missions.
They are mostly aimed at co-operative play in multiplayer.
Faction Relationship changes
There's been a few changes to how reputation works. In Frontierspace,
destroying a vessel will cause the faction to become more hostile to you
and factions will be slower to let you gain a standing with them. Their
completed missions will have less effect than they used to. The empathy
between the groups is also a bit lower too. This way, if you attack
everybody you meet, everybody will hate you. Can't say I blame them
really..
Wreck Hunters
For those of you who already know all of the locations of the wrecks from
the original game, you'll find that most of the ships have either been
moved around, had their cargo changed or both. Just to make things more
interesting.
Scanning Cargo
This has been changed a bit too. Pirates are now more Pirate'y (for want
of a better word). So, now they will also be scanning you for more
commodities and also things like mine or missile ammo. For this reason
pirates tend to fight amongst themselves more too. It can be quite funny
sitting outside a Junker base. Seeing loads of ship on either side, then
one of them demands cargo and all hell breaks loose. It can also be a pain
in the ass too. You think, I'll just pop to that corsair base and make
some repairs. Then they demand your 50 Firestalker missiles as you are
surrounded by high level Titans on all sides. Well, they are pirates after
all. It can be a healthy idea to sell missiles off before going to these
bases.
Bribes?
These were one of those things that I didn't really like in the original
game. They were ok as an idea, but in reality, it became too easy to
simply pay off the Corsairs or Outcasts taking away the need to work for
it. All bribes have been removed except a couple which are part of a
hidden quest. Even now the ones that are in it are very expensive.
Shield abilities
Yup, these are different too. In the original game, Graviton shields were
so much better than the others that there was little reason not to have
them (apart from the higher level shields not being available). In
Frontierspace, the shields are of similar abilities. The main differences
are that Graviton shields have increased capacity, but reduced charging,
Molecular shields have reduced capacity, but increased charging abilities
and Positron shields are the middle between the two. Also, just to make
things more interesting, the class of the ship will affect the abilities
of the shield. Light fighters have reduced capacity, but higher charging
abilities. Freighters have higher capacity, but reduced charging and the
Heavy and Very Heavy are the middle of the two. With this many variations,
you can tailor the shield to match either the strengths or weaknesses of
you ship class. There also other shield types, which you're going to have
to find out yourself. They are hidden away deep within the game.
Engine types
For fighters, there are 4 engine types. Basic. Long Range, Superiority and
Interceptor. The abilities of these are all different. Long Range is the
slowest, then Basic, followed by Superiority and finally the fastest,
Interceptor. The size of the engine within the ship is as you would expect
higher for the better performance engines. Once again, these are further
modified by the ship class. Light fighters are naturally faster and with a
lower cruise time than the others and Very Heavy fighters are slower with
a higher cruise time. So, its up to you, you get to choose the ship that
is ideal for your chosen profession. Watch out for the Long Range Very
Heavy fighters though, they are quite lumbering and seem to take forever
to cruise charge. If you are surrounded by enemy fighters, it's almost not
even worth trying to escape and to just get on with fighting instead.
Interceptor Light fighters, on the other hand, offer a very high
performance.
Thruster changes
Thrusters too, offer lower energy consumption and higher performance with
each improved model.
Fresh Ideas? Problems?
If while playing this you think of some interesting new ideas, feel free
to post on the new mod announcement forum at The Lancers Reactor. I can't
guarantee that I will add all of the ideas. But, I hope to bring fresh
updates to this mod to solve any problems and make it as good as I can. |
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