Derelict Stations?

[Foohman]

I know exactly what you mean about the blurst shields on the guardians - I think it's to do with their overall design - they tend to be far wider than they are long, with designs that are very convoluted, and are therefore hard to dodge. Also, every strike on your ship causes panic, whereas they will sit there taking blows constantly until they're nothing but dust. That's my train of thought anyway.

I think I'd like to try and take alpha-tier girders with me to the highest tiers, then find an upgrade station: as far as I'm aware, when you upgrade girders, they retain their size, but their health and weight goes up - think of the building possibilities with that! Very small, but very strong girders. You could use them as junctions for other girders, or as damage sinks on the corners of your ship!

Yeah, I think your description fits well. It is a 'standard' layout that most pilots follow, but as I said, it's always worth destroying all the ships you see and scrapping their parts, keeping the ones you need to add more utilities.

[Perez]

Your so-called 'train of thought' is a hundred percent correct. You hardly ever see any oblong guardians. The blurst shields are often just slightly hidden, but always catches me off guard, making me backfire at myself without noticing until I break my own guns. I wonder how it would've been if the guardian suddenly started fleeing. One tactic I like to use against most guardians, though: Digging myself into their deck-griders and pierce through with a ramming spike, completely vaporizing half of it's ship. The only way to damage a blurst shield is to ram it, if I recall correctly.

That is quite a good idea you have there -- adds more customization to your shuttle! I believe the griders and trusses will remain the same size, yes. That's how it is is Captain Successor anyway. Kilo-tier repair tools with kilo-tier griders on top would be insanely defensive. Defensively defensive-protective ship of absolute protection.

I used to go and scrap loads of modules and schtuffs, but it quickly became somewhat dreary. I found mining much more interesting, efficient and wealthy, surprisingly enough. I mostly ambush ships that carry utilities I desperately want. I haven't found one yet, but if I were to see a Chrono Gear, my first priority would be to obtain it as fast as possible.

Are some items much rarer than other items, really? I haven't thought about this before now.

[Foohman]

Sorry about the late reply, I've been hankering to get back to this! - University is a real bitch.

I always focus on the side-decks, primarily because shooting for the command module will usually have you in the line-of-sight of its weapons, which would be a death sentence. When I had rammers I would do exactly that once I'd disengaged the weapons on the farthest extremes of the ship, and then bore myself towards the command module from there - so mostly what you do. I'll bet that's a universal tactic, though.

You're right, I just tested ramming a Alpha blurst shield and it broke, so yes you're right about that.

Jeez I hadn't thought about the possibilities of using a repair module behind the shorter girders, that would be just pure defensibility, I really have to try that soon.

My current ship is a Delta-tier destroyer. In this play-through I've opted in for a wider ship to a longer ship, allowing for more frontal-facing guns. I've been awesomely lucky with my Warehouses, having found a Warehouse FULL of Charlie Mk.II Boosters, and 3 Delta-Warehouses all in the same sector! I plan to scrap the lot and have a very healthy budget for factories.
I'll post a screenshot of my latest configuration once I've sorted myself out - as a scrapper, I usually have a long 'trail' of scrap balanced behind me that I either use for re-configuration and scrapping.
Would you agree scrap is the way forward at least in the earlier tiers? I think once you have Golf rammers you can burst most asteroids quite happily, and benefit from awesome pay-offs, but I find past Golf, mining rarely pays more than scrapping high-tier modules.

[Perez]

No worries, I happen to reply a little late as well. There is absolutely no hurry. No hurry for me, that is ...

I believe that is, as you say, what a major part of us pilots do to defeat guardians. I, and -- as said -- a lot of other people, try to disable the guns before going for anything else. I wonder if someone's come up with another, more tactical trick to defeat those?

I figured that would be the only way to destroy a blurst shield. It would've been way over powered if rammimng spikes wouldn't work either.

Repair tools behind griders and trusses make rather good defense, indeed. It's like the shields in Cpt. Successor, with constant and slow repairing.

Impressive as always. Miracles do happen, eh? I bet you're like the wind now. Looking forward to the final product.

Scrapping is an efficient way to gain credits, I have to agree on that. But, mining a huge asteroid right by a refinery leads to wealth and fortunes -- at least in the first tiers. The way I mine these asteroids, is that I collect a fair amount of, e.g., alpha-tier lasers and open up the front of my module. Once the full mine-configuration is complete, I press F3 to enter the settings. You know this cruise mode, right? You can turn it off, so the ship stands still once shift is pressed. I think the time goes three times faster when using cruise mode. To create a fully automatic miner, I press shift for x3 the speed, space bar for the firing, and ALT. I don't know why, but ALT makes the last button you pressed on your keyboard become stuck. Then I leave for a cup of hot tea. Or something like that.

But scrapping is well efficient in earlier tiers, as well as later tiers, like you said. Asteroids become less wealthy once everything becomes so expensive. Maybe a new mineral would be good? I still mine, though, due to the fact that I don't want to lose any parts when trying to obtain scrap.

[Foohman]

Here we are!
Very manoeuvrable, with plenty of guns to boot! I'm near some Balancers with more Foxtrot Mk.IIs, just need me some of those, and new bubble shields and I'm ready to rock!

What's all these keys? I know about cruise control, but ALT? I'll have to try that, sounds like it might make mining a bit more feasible, especially at this tier when it's probably at it's most profitable.
Your tactic with the blurst shields is the best I've seen. Even if they have rammers, how many times have you ever been damaged by a rammer Guardian? I never get near them if they have them.

[Perez]

Have you named your ship yet? I would've started with King of the Guardians, then <name>. That is one huge, destructive ship you've got that, and yet it has got a great appearance. You really know how to make awesome ships, don't you? Great job, a whole adventure lies safely in front of you.

... Or something like that.

About the keys, ALT isn't a button within the game, but the computer itself. I believe if you press ALT in a flash game, the cursor is set free and is visible until you press the flash game again. When doing this, the game thinks you're still pressing space-bar and the ship keeps firing. I don't know how to accurately describe this trick.
What I'm trying to say is that you can make the game think you're still pressing a button, like, W, and when you press ALT, the ship will continue in the same direction until you press W again.
Perhaps that's better?

Oh, you don't want to underestimate a rammer. You should've seen how it went in Cpt. Successor when I fought a juliet-tier rammer with my kilo-tier cruiser. Oh well, you're still right about slowly taking out the rammers from a distance. But if you really want to ensure you are far away from death, just put a blurst shield on a repair tool. Instant win.

[Foohman]

Just got my arse handed to me by a bunch of Golf-tier ships, lost most of my engines and my guns - so much for 'not many ships'! D:

But nonetheless, I must persevere.
Yeah, before getting battered I could move as a fair lick, but as I just demonstrated, if as stronger ship smashes you head-on and keeps pumping away with prismatics, you're gonna take some flack.

I must try out this ALT key business next time I mine! And thank you for the compliments, I like your ships too, they keenly reflect our play-styles, wouldn't you agree?

[Perez]

This last run I had, I met a Delta-tier guardian decked with rocket launchers and quick maneuverability. I was never seen again ...

That's the spirit!
Come to think of it, don't you think prismatic lasers should have reduced range? Or do they already?

Thank you, sir, that is very nice of you to say! I'm currently trying out a new style, and I'm really liking so far! Keep in mind that I've turned off the command module boosters.
I would say they do reflect us, yes. I agree, I agree. (:

Here's the current ship: thyperez.tumblr.com/image/74850818720
By the way, how do you get this image thing to work? I mean, so you can view an image without pressing a link. Like you've done on one of your previous posts.

[Foohman]

Whoa you look like a Scrapper - what's the dealio behind the layout?
I was thinking earlier today that the Prismatic Lasers might even have increased range as I was trying hard to balance the range between an enemy's laser and my own, but I'm fairly sure they are the same, although they should honestly have a shorter range than the standard laser in my opinion.

I use a wee website called 'Imageshack', you upload a photo then you can select a code suitable for forums!
If I had Tumblr, I'd follow you, or whatever it is you do on there!

[Perez]

A scrapper I am, indeed. The thought behind this is that I wanted to try something new. It is surprisingly balanced, but less efficient than most shuttles would be. I like it, though. It's like one huge wing and a smaller one.
Come to think of it, there should've been a balance module, that would balance the ship by, e.g., 40 %, increasing for every tier.

The prismatic lasers and the basic lasers have the same range, I'm almost sure of it. A shorter range would balance this game a little.

Ah, alright. Very well, I will start using imageshack instead then. The whole reason behind the tumblr is to upload snapshots, not to do anything special.

[Foohman]

Dude, when I was reconfiguring my current design I removed one of the deckplates and figured that maybe I could have a smaller, but equally-weighed wing, just as you've built! If you can, keep that sort of design going throughout the tiers, let me know how it goes!
Purely for aesthetic reasons on my part, when I removed the deckplate it looked awesome *cough*

I agree, just in general with a plethora of options available to enhance ship construction.
Your update page pretty much sums that up!

[Perez]

Haha, awesome! Any snapshots, perhaps? I'd like to see how a destructive scrapper looks, especially in your style!

I will try this design and see if I can make it more efficient in any way. Due to lack of balance, you strategically have to attach the different modules around your ship, right? I've realized that traveling with a scrapper is slow, but that could be from the fact that I need more boosters.

Man, it's always fun to try something new, isn't it?

[Foohman]

Oh, well, I actually meant I tried to build one, but I lacked the materials at that time. I think it's easier to do in the latter and beginning stages, rather than the more intermediate tiers as far as I'm aware, because I've found it far easier to work with very small or huge pieces.

I suppose my plan ties in with my last idea - the one about upgrading small girders?
If I were to say, on one side, have a bulky deckplate covered in armour with a couple of Prismatics to beat off flanking attacks, and then a smaller deckplate on the other side that say, focused on snipe launchers, you'd have an interesting design with more emphasis on focusable attacks - I mean, whenever I've have snipe launchers in the centre of my ship - the most logical place to put them - they tend to get blown to pieces unless they're extremely well defended, so with this design you could angle your smaller side away from the attack, and focus your Prismatics on the attacker, then return to use the Snipe-launchers on far-away targets.
Probably with that in mind, it would make more sense to use it if the draw distance was much further. I think that's a key issue in all the games - once you get to even Golf-tier, you're often massive and that means extremely offensive ships (and I believe some ships are scripted to do exactly this) will come flying in before you can even react to the threat.
Perhaps once you reach Foxtrot-Golf sectors, the view distance can be extended by an extra notch, and another by India-Juliet.
Is there a purely Juliet sector?

I think in the design in mind, transrotators and translocators might be a really good idea, but I'll have to have a play around first.

I kinda wish there was a sandbox version of the Cpt. Forever series. But anyway, lemme see how my ship is looking then I'll send you a picture - off the top of my head I'm in a uncomfortable intermediate stage of Golf/Hotel and I really need more specific pieces in order to finish my design, so I'm sort of 'making do' with what I've been offered; I recently came out of two extremely boring sectors, but I recall the one I'm in now has your version of heaven - there's an asteroid field that takes up an extremely large proportion of the map, so I'll screenshot that for you too.

It is really fun trying new designs, even if they're subtle - like my lateral designs during this play-though. I can totally see where the pros and cons lie in the designs of both, so perhaps my next challenge is to address the issues of both designs in one go, but as of yet I can't think of a solution.

[Foohman]

Okay, here is:


This is the first play-through I've not found a single Oxy-tank which I'm pretty perturbed about.
I'm currently still lacking the extra deckplate I need to compact my design, making it both lighter and more deadly with frontal-facing guns. Currently I'm still using my previous design, but this is the most recent 'stable' design.
At this moment, I'm an late Hotel/ early India ship, I'm using a few India guns, with the front and rear reinforced with India plating. I have a few India engines dotted around.
Note the Charlie girders - precious cargo

[Perez]

Oh, I see how it is. Okay.

Your designs doesn't seem to only be appearance anymore, but tactical thoughts behind them as well. Not that I thought that they were just made for looks. I imagine the entire ship with genius ideas implemented in it, like the huge arm that could be used for blocking enemy fire, perhaps decked with blurst shields so the enemy would damage himself so you could turn and show off your deadly snipers. If there were joint modules, things would become a lot more creative, eh?
It seems like missiles and torpedoes have a small 'explosion', which damages snipe-launchers -- or really any module -- that are just within the shield radius. Just a heads up.
The two times I've been near and above golf-tier is where I was fully armed with a mass-load of lasers, which luckily could fight off most of the ambushing hostiles you're talking about. Since you mention that the ships can be programmed to do this, it sounds about right, if you ask me.
I've never noticed or heard about sight extension when reaching higher tiers, but it could be a feature. Maybe there's Juliet-tier sectors? I don't know. Haven't come that far to gain a proper answer.

If you only use transrotators and transcolators + turning off the command modules boosters, balance won't matter. The ship could have been any form.

I hope Farbs have noticed and considered a sandbox version of, at least, captain forever. Though, I believe there is a somewhat fan-made sandbox version of captain forever, but you create the vessel using codes. It's here somewhere on the forums, but I can't remember where ...
Of course! Asteroid fields are narrow and fun to fly through, but only if it weren't for my bad luck on finding oxygen tanks and other wanted utilities ... And another downside is the completely random placement of a refinery -- Like the one I found out in no where.

The discussion with yourself is interesting, as you try to figure out what could be happening in the upcoming future. Maybe I should say good luck, though, figuring out the solution.

Moving over to your next post:

That ship looks very durable, yet maneuverable -- I'm pretty sure it is. It's at these tiers I usually start looking for new modules that could come in handy. So you're saying this isn't the fully complete version of the ship? It is indeed very stable. I have one concern, though, and that is that you'll wipe out entire space with this spacecraft and leave nothing behind.
I noticed the Charlie griders -- can't wait to see the final solution!

[Perez]

By the way, here the last snapshot of the crapper I tried to make:


I haven't lost or anything, but as the image shows, the vessel was slow. Therefore I used the usual design:

I'm in Delta level now, but I really lack shields. I need to be extremely cautious.


Take a look at this ship, though. I think this is the best scrapper I've made:

The deck modules place on top of the repair tools create such amazing defense -- even the right side with alpha-tiers! I made the scrapper very balanced, and it was fast. I will keep this concept in mind for the upcoming tiers, but as said, currently I'm going with the 'standard' layout.

[auburnattack21]

Incidentally, on Saturday I found a regular derelict ship east of Point Cobain in the asteroid group (that is now nonexistent). This happens, too, days after we finished liberating the entire sector. Odd stuff going on, to be sure...maybe we should remove from Haynesport for a while.

[Foohman]

Apologies for not responding sooner, Perez. Your Alpha-Bravo scrapper looks absolutely incredible, I would love to build one if I find the necessary materials - I assume two golf-tier decks will roughly have the same weight as a Hotel-tier deck, so I'll see what I can do!

It's completely awesome that you managed to get a fully-working scrapper, I bet that helped immensely when transporting scrap to sell - a problem I constantly face is spare room that isn't taken up by guns or engines in which to safely stow extra modules and scrap; I tend to have a small payload of modules that, once I have found a safe location, begin a partial or full reconfiguration of my ship.

Once I've played some Jameson today I'll give you an update on my progress. I feel that I'll be getting to India-Juliet very soon. You said you've never been so far? As I said on Auburn's thread, the trick is to take it slow, but if it's an issue with oxygen (which it almost certainly is for me, even though I've taken some hefty whackings in this playthrough, I've not come close to being destroyed) sometimes you have to make serious sacrifices, such as removing excess weight and what-not.

It's good to be back after the weekend - I'm still very busy, but come next Wednesday I'll be much more active and I'll probably have an extra couple of pilots with me, fingers crossed.

I'm concerned about the forums, not in their popularity, but I feel Farbs might have completely forgotten them, hence the lack of the Chatandgo section. I'll probably send him an e-mail or Tweet about it. Perhaps he'll read it.

[Foohman]

Also, Auburn, I had no idea there were derelicts in Jameson 0.5?

[Foohman]

So I did a stupid.

I was reconfiguring my ship, and got most of the way through it. I decide "Heck, I might get some work done!"

And so I do.

And I close the tab.

I return to Jameson only to find that all the loose modules are gone, leaving me completely engineless, mostly weaponless and extremely heavy. Luckily the nearby ships flew right into my line of fire and therefore could be easily dispatched, allowing for very basic engines to be attached, allowing my monolith slight propulsion.
I quickly build up my ship and the result is as follows:



Currently, I'm in an India settlement with an upgrade station, but there's a buggerload of scrappers between me and the UPG station, so I'll post a screenshot once I've fought my way there... As you can see my precious cargo survived the journey, and it might be worth finding an alpha-charlie deck to upgrade, to see what I can do with them.
I'm going to have an extremely interesting time here, I'll keep you informed!