Messages

This is phenominal.

With that said, if I were to be a hopeless pedant, I'd have to say that 'lament' stands out as being another grade up in reading level. I know you're not actually going for childrens-english in writing style, it just stood out so I thought I'd mention it.

Speaking as an adult, I find the language choice there to be glorious.

... Signal Interpreters work by themselves? If I understand you correctly, then I stand corrected.

I'm suggesting that both parts function independently, even if you need to combine them to reach the current level of utility...

I think the idea is excellent, but a step too complex. If nothing else, it becomes another example of "Must equip X to use Y", and there's enough grumbling about the two examples already in game.

For the others out there: My suggestion was pretty much moving the Targeting Computers from a Utility to the Weapon Slots (Call 'em Targeting Pods, or something), thus meaning that if you want to boost your damage output, you want weapon slots - either for more guns, or better gunnery.

It'd help distinguish 'combat' builds from the current 'do you want half a dozen engines or half a dozen guns, everything else is the same' design. That said, if our favourite dev likes utilities being the default option for builds, then that's fine... it was just rankling me a little bit that the difference between a 'combat' build and a 'stealth' build was in the placement of half a dozen slots out of, what, twenty-odd?

Well, that, and investing slots in utilities to make your shooting work better is cold comfort when the targeting computers get shot off and you're staring at a cache of miniguns...

I do believe that all four of my runs for the entire competition were some of the worst ones I ever achieved. One of them barely got to its first evolution.

Congrats to the folks at the other end of the spectrum!

Is it feasible to wrangle them into doing partial functionality without the extra bits, perhaps?

It might seem weird, but making sense of fuzzy data is better than no data at all, and the 'error' message could be a helpful hint as to the part needed to make it work properly...

As you say, they're a special case that is very rare. I guess my line of thinking is whether the special case is strictly needed at all.

Needless to say, I rather wish the Accuracy Chip was actually a Targeting Pod instead - that way you could have a weapon mount that let you make your guns more accurate... and if they got blown off, you could at least shove an extra gun in the same space to keep your damage output up too. It'd also help make combat builds that little bit more... distinctive, I suppose?

Hm, I had an idea for a mechanic that wasn't this, but the interface I theorized could potentially work to implement what you're talking about here, and I like that idea a lot...

It would require a lot of work because it doesn't fit into the current systems, but I think as you say it would give combat builds an interesting alternative approach. In a way it would encourage taking more weapon slots, but it would have to be worth more than taking a more generally versatile utility slot.

While I'm absolutely positive that whatever mechanic you're thinking up is going to be subtle and brilliant, if the time:benefit is not in your favour, straight-up +accuracy targeting pods would not be in the least bit unwelcome.

As zxc points out, combat builds really only want half a dozen weapon slots at the moment - the slot type is self-balancing, because recoil, heat and volley time mean that you start getting diminishing returns on more slots very quickly. Meanwhile, utilities can do it all - armour, storage, scanners, stealth, hackware and combat efficiency (via +accuracy items)?

Yeah, I'd really prefer to  be given a reason to 'load up' on gun slots. Even if their sole purpose is 'make your shooting better' in the same way the purpose of Movement is 'make your moving faster', it'd be nice if there wasn't a utilitiy that did a better job at improving the gun salvo you already had more than an actual gun slot, y'know? It'd be like there being Utilities that outright improved your move speed without the loss of versatility and heat output of actually installing more VTOL thrusters...

It's up to you, of course. It just feels odd that once you reach a certain point, the correct way to boost your firepower is to install more utility slots. The weapon slots had enough drawbacks as it was.

Also, Reiver why aren't you in the Challenge?

Because I've been eaten alive by work and illness simultaneously. I'll be starting my first run of the new alpha... um... tonight.

I guess there'll be a participation medal in it for me if I play really quickly...

Man, I've never used a manual command ever. I get they're the fancy-pants stuff, but I sort of file them as 'wringing everything possible out of the game' rather than playing-as-intended. But terminals tend to have so little to offer I might just have to start memorising the things after all.

A small wish: Terminals would stop blinking after they've cooled down; and/or that the blinking was at least related to cooldown. I keep trusting it and getting caught; manually counting turns is no fun and I lack the ability to wait because my laptop trackpad doesn't have a scroll wheel.

I should probably check what Deep Network Scans do too, come to think of it. I used one all last game for hacking... mostly on good faith.

Sensor Array/Signal Interpreter => Scanner Array/Scan Interpreter, perhaps?

Word associations can make a big difference, and 'scan' has connotations of 'what is that' rather than 'I see all'.

Wait, so playing the game well makes the game shoot you harder?

I'd thought it focused on killing you proportionate to how much you were slaughtering things/causing havock; not by how well you were actually doing.

This feels a little odd, given half the fun of most roguelikes is 'beating the curve' and then trying very hard to stay ahead. Here, that will apparently get you killed?

My most recent weekly run was my first real shot at combat runs since the earlier alphas, and things are certainly... different.

Treads have been buffed enough that they're absolutely the way to go. I almost wonder whether legs need a little something (heavens knows what) to keep pace with the trundlin' things. I ended up with three slots, but only after I ran out of treads and needed something to keep moving with legs! So yeah, that part is good.

The biggest thing I notice though is the difference between a stealth build and a combat build is how many propulsion/power vs guns you take - absolutely everyone seems to need to emphasise utilities. And I disagree to a certain extent regarding the accuracy utility - it's effect is dramatic, especially if you're stuck without AoE weapons against Swarmers.

Needless to say, I rather wish the Accuracy Chip was actually a Targeting Pod instead - that way you could have a weapon mount that let you make your guns more accurate... and if they got blown off, you could at least shove an extra gun in the same space to keep your damage output up too. It'd also help make combat builds that little bit more... distinctive, I suppose?

I've also noticed a lot of cores you kill off robots are Light, Compact, etc. If a robot has plenty of weight tolerance, is there any reason it doesn't have the heavier versions in place? It'd certainly make scavenging the things easier, and if you're running energy weapons, you'll value the battery space. I also sort of wish the Power slot were a touch more versatile; some days you need plenty of juice to run your lasers, but then you wind up finding a cache of kinetics, your lasers eventually get shot up, and you've now got dead slots.

Mobility-wise, there's lots of strategies to commit to, one way or the other. Weapons can be kitted out aplenty depending on your needs (I still fondly remember using a Greatsword while running a flying build; zoom up and chop their guns off!). Utilities? Utilities are half the game right now. But Power? Take as few slots as you can get away with, keep them filled with the biggest plus you can find, and you're done. Perhaps things like 'toughened' power cores, that are halfway between heavy reactors and armour; you slap 'em on if you need the health more than the spare juice...

... Y'know, IR sensors letting you both see enemy heat levels on the info screen and gain increasing accuracy as they get hotter could be a great combination info/combat item.

Simplest solution: It ticks over until the first new robot shows up, then goes back to the usual idling.

In a busy hall this might be a little annoying perhaps, but you could have an option to ignore the neutrals for when they don't bother you. Personally, I appreciate the warning. Bloody scavengers...

[Glorious.]

Well! Sorry this is quite so late, but my first attempt at a combat run in a while turned into one of my best runs in a while full stop, so I decided to take my time. I hope it still counts?

Turns out this was a great seed for it - an all-importaint launcher just right there early on, combined with armour and a healhthy stream of weapons... yeah, this was fun.

Until the hidden level trapped me with [REDACTED]s who not only outrun a tracked Cogmind, but laugh at my puny weapons too... who knocked off everything I owned and blew up my 20-odd spare parts to boot. Which, of course, lets you run the Core hover movement, so I ran for it... and stumbled into a horde of buddies, who promptly murdered everything on the level? Honestly, I halfway expected a story element there. My one regret: My Hcp Storages were both obliterated in the initial confrontation... else I'd have taken everything with me.

Alas, without them, I was running well equipped but very 'lean' on spares for a while, and the just slightly pesky assassins chewed through my equipment. I died surrounded by two assassin teams, a pair of hackers, and a squad of Veterans, amidst exploding nuclear reactors.

Glorious.

Code Select Expand

Cogmind - Alpha 3b

Name: Anonymous354423210

---[ CORE DESTROYED ]---

Performance
-------------
Evolutions (6)             3000
Robots Destroyed (193)     965
Value Destroyed (7217)     7217
Prototype IDs (16)         320
Alien Tech Identified (0)  0
Bonus (0)                  0
              TOTAL SCORE: 11502

Cogmind
---------
Core Integrity             0/1150
Matter                     51/300
Energy                     650/650
System Corruption          8%
Temperature                Cool (15)
Location                   -4/Factory

Parts
-------
Power (3)
Propulsion (3)
Utility (9)
  Improved Energy Well
Weapon (4)

Inventory
-----------
Improved Heat Sink

Peak State
------------
Power
  Light Anti-Matter Reactor
  Light Anti-Matter Reactor
  Light Anti-Matter Reactor
Propulsion
  Medium Treads
  Heavy Treads
Utility
  Improved Energy Well
  Improved Cooling System
  Improved Cooling System
  Damper Plating
  Improved Cloaking Device
  Medium Storage Unit
  Improved Heat Sink
Weapon
  Beamcaster
  Autogun
  Railgun
  Railgun
[Rating: 102]

Favorites
-----------
Power                      Light Nuclear Core
  Engine                   Light Angular Momentum Engine
  Power Core               Light Nuclear Core
  Reactor                  Anti-Matter Reactor
Propulsion                 Light Treads
  Treads                   Light Treads
  Leg                      Improved Titanium Leg
Utility                    Improved Heat Sink
  Device                   Improved Heat Sink
  Storage                  High-capacity Storage Unit
  Processor                Advanced Targeting Computer
  Hackware                 Connection Mask
  Protection               Hardened Light Armor Plating
Weapon                     Beamcaster
  Energy Gun               Beamcaster
  Energy Cannon            Advanced Beam Cannon
  Ballistic Gun            Assault Rifle
  Ballistic Cannon         Gauss Cannon
  Launcher                 Shock Bomb Launcher
  Slashing Weapon          Centrium Greatsword (it was faulty, darnit!)
  Special Melee Weapon     Datajack

Stats
-------
Classes Destroyed          16
  Worker                   12
  Builder                  13
  Tunneler                 2
  Hauler                   8
  Recycler                 18
  Mechanic                 1
  Operator                 3
  Watcher                  11
  Swarmer                  31
  Grunt                    45
  Brawler                  4
  Duelist                  1
  Protector                1
  Sentry                   12
  Hunter                   4
  Programmer               27
NPCs Destroyed             0
Best Kill Streak           11
  Combat Bots Only         9
Matter Collected           5838
  Salvage Created          7911
Parts Attached             309
  Power                    42
  Propulsion               32
  Utility                  126
  Weapon                   109
Parts Lost                 98
  Power                    12
  Propulsion               8
  Utility                  40
  Weapon                   38
Average Slot Usage (%)     88
  Naked Turns              25
Spaces Moved               6123
  Fastest Speed (%)        200
  Slowest Speed (%)        8
  Overloaded Moves         0
  Propulsion Burnouts      0
  Targets Rammed           2
  Cave-ins Triggered       0
  Teleports                0
Heaviest Build             112
  Greatest Overweight (x)  24
  Average Overweight (x)   0
Largest Inventory          20
  Most Items Carried       20
Core Damage Taken          2152
Volleys Fired              500
  Largest                  4
  Hottest                  282
Shots Fired                1380
  Gun                      1033
  Cannon                   321
  Launcher                 26
  Special                  0
  Kinetic                  752
  Thermal                  362
  Explosive                15
  Electromagnetic          251
Overload Shots             0
  Energy Bleed             0
  Heat Surge               0
  Short Circuit            0
  Meltdown                 0
Melee Attacks              3
  Impact                   0
  Slashing                 0
  Piercing                 0
Damage Inflicted           18147
  Projectiles              14403
  Explosions               3732
  Melee                    0
  Ramming                  12
Highest Temperature        388
  Average Temperature      82
  Shutdowns                3
  Energy Bleed             1
  Interference             6
  Matter Decay             0
  Short Circuit            1
  Damage (minor)           0
  Damage (major)           0
  Damage (core)            0
Highest Corruption         10
  Message Errors           57
  Parts Rejected           34
  Data loss (map)          70
  Data loss (database)     32
  Misfires                 11
  Misdirections            37
  Targeting Errors         35
  Weapon Failures          9
Haulers Intercepted        8
Robots Corrupted           2
Robots Melted              9
Tactical Retreats          8
Communications Jammed      0
Parts Field Recycled       0
  Retrieved Matter         0
Parts Merge Repaired       0
Drone Launches             0
  Drone Recoveries         0
Derelicts Assembled        0
Traps Triggered            6
  Indirectly               6
Trap Hack Attempts         0
  Triggered                0
  Disarmed                 0
  Reprogrammed             0
  Reused                   0
Machine Familiarity        19
  Terminals                11
  Fabricators              2
  Repair Stations          3
  Recycling Units          1
  Scanalyzers              2
Machines Hacked            19
  Terminals                11
  Fabricators              2
  Repair Stations          3
  Recycling Units          1
  Scanalyzers              2
Total Hacks                57
  Successful               34
  Failed                   23
  Catastrophic             1
  Database Lockouts        0
  Manual                   1
  Terminals                42
  Fabricators              2
  Repair Stations          7
  Recycling Units          2
  Scanalyzers              4
Terminal Hacks             25
  Record                   16
  Part Schematic           1
  Robot Schematic          0
  Robot Analysis           0
  Prototype ID Bank        0
  Open Door                0
  Level Access Points      0
  Branch Access Points     0
  Emergency Access Points  0
  Machine Index            0
  Terminal Index           0
  Fabricator Index         0
  Repair Station Index     0
  Recycling Unit Index     0
  Scanalyzer Index         0
  Alert Level              2
  Unreport Threat          0
  Locate Traps             2
  Disarm Traps             0
  Reprogram Trap           1
  Dispatch Records         0
  Maintenance Status       1
  Security Status          0
  Surveillance Status      0
  Patrol Status            0
  Transport Status         0
  Investigation Status     0
  Extermination Status     0
  Reinforcement Status     0
  Assault Status           0
  Recall Investigation     0
  Recall Extermination     0
  Recall Reinforcements    0
  Recall Assault           0
  Hauler Manifests         0
  Registered Components    0
  Registered Prototypes    0
  Zone Layout              1
  Sector Layout            0
  Machine Controls         1
Hacking Detections         22
  Full Trace Events        3
  Feedback Events          0
  Feedback Corruption      0
  Feedback Part Disabled   0
  Feedback Blocked         0
Robot Schematics Acquired  0
  Robots Built             0
  Robot Fabrication Matter 0
  Robot Fabrication Time   0
Part Schematics Acquired   1
  Parts Built              0
  Part Fabrication Matter  0
  Part Fabrication Time    0
Parts Repaired             1
  Part Repair Time         35
Parts Recycled             0
  Recycled Matter          0
  Retrieved Matter         0
Parts Scanalyzed           1
  Part Schematics Acquired 0
  Parts Damaged            0
Robot Analysis Total       0
Robots Rewired             0
Robots Hacked              0
  Non-combat               0
  Combat                   0
  Parse                    0
  Link                     0
  Rebooted                 0
  Overloaded               0
  Assimilated              0
  Manual                   0
  Secondary                0
Robot Hack Failures        0
Allies Hacked              2
Hacks Repelled             0
Total Allies               9
  Largest Group            0
  Highest-Rated Group      0
  Highest-Rated Ally       0
Total Orders               0
  STAY                     0
  GOTO                     0
  ROAM                     0
  FOLLOW                   0
  GUARD                    0
  AID                      0
  BUILD                    0
  TUNNEL                   0
  DROP                     0
  PICKUP                   0
  COLLECT                  0
  EXPLORE                  0
  RETURN                   0
Terraforming Orders        0
  Walls Built              0
  Walls Tunneled           0
Ally Attacks               0
  Total Damage             0
  Kills                    0
Allies Corrupted           2
Allies Melted              0
Peak Influence             890
  Average Influence        250
Maximum Alert Level        3
  Low Security (%)         46
  Level 1                  30
  Level 2                  21
  Level 3                  1
  Level 4                  0
  Level 5                  0
Squads Dispatched          36
  Investigation            4
  Extermination            24
  Reinforcement            7
  Assault                  1
Exploration Rate (%)       19
  Regions Visited          10
Turns Passed               12849
  Depth 11                 245
  Depth 10                 706
  Depth 9                  1136
  Depth 8                  2060
  Depth 7                  2838
  Depth 6                  1505
  Depth 5                  3316
  Depth 4                  1043
  Scrapyard                245
  Materials                3902
  Factory                  7803
  Waste                    899

Prototype IDs
---------------
Heavy Ion Engine
Centrium Heavy Treads
Heavy Particle Gun
High-powered Electrolaser
Improved Heavy Laser
Heavy EM Shotgun
Advanced Beam Cannon
Cooled Particle Cannon
Enhanced Autogun
Precision Grenade Launcher
Rocket Array
Centrium Greatsword
Improved Energy Well
Experimental Sensor Array
Advanced Power Amplifier
Dimensional Manipulator

Alien Tech Recovered
----------------------
None

Game
------
Seed: Trapped!
^Manual?: 1
Play Time: 321 min
Sessions: 4
Mod: N/A
Game No.: 2
ASCII: 0
Keyboard: 1
Font: 18/Cogmind
Map View: 76x50


• Swarmers move three times faster (the best model = four times faster)
• Assembled double in speed (<--another nasty revelation =p)
• Watchers / Programmers / Operators double in speed

"I'll take 'Reasons I'll never use treads again' for $500, Jim!"

... whoops. I forgot to finish last weeks seed!

I'll, uh, have to try this one before I update. Or read the thread.

Yeees, because that's not ominous at all...

Nonsense; they're just semi-invisible bullets that don't move!

I mean 'hidden' in the sense of 'not immediately obvious it's a warning sign', not 'hard to spot on the screen'.

For comparison, by my way of thinking Cogmind itself is a 'hidden' letter C, as it were: Plenty clear, but it's not as obviously an item of typesetting as the baseline character was.

... oh ho ho ho ho.

'Hide' the iconography in the debris. A triangle with an exclamation mark could just as easily be a triangular trap, eh?

For some reason, I really want it to be a hazard sign:


Alas, I suspect it wouldn't go with the iconography set we already have in place; it'll presumably have to look like a little device of some variety. Still, it is pleasingly generic, and even follows the vague form-factor of the ASCII caret.

Actually, I meant the on-screen iconography... but little artworks would be pretty neat too.

Ah, but what about the art, man, the art? Are we getting a cute little landmine or something?

... wind tunnels.

You've gotta implement wind tunnels.