Messages

Hi y'all - last time I played Cogmind it was circa May 2016 and propulsion components had recently received a rebalance.  It's been nearly 4 years, the game is out of alpha, and I can only imagine all that has been changed and added.  I'm planning to just jump in and reference the Tips and Strategy Guides as I hit walls.  I have a lot of relearning to do - any other resources people would recommend?  Is there a good summary of the major changes over the last few years?

It's good to be back. 

Annnnnd that's where I am now.  Any help, guys? xD This run has been absolutely hilarious and I've love to keep it going.  Is past the Behemoths the only way out?  I've attached a screenshot of my current status.

Wow, nice comeback build. Currently underpowered for a combat run, though, with only two weapon slots. Did you take the first Extension detour to build yourself up? Where'd you get all that stuff?

All from Transporters carrying stuff back and forth, plus a couple other miscellaneous bots. =D I spent a looooong time (EDIT: ~800 turns) just camping there and killing passerby.  I had a transmission jammer to stop the Watchers or anyone else from calling for help. MUHAHAHA

---

So, my hands are shaking and I can't think straight as I write this, but that run just ended.  I made it all the way through the remainder of the Factory, and Research, by running around, and hacking Terminals where I could.  My bot was constantly in shambles, no backup flight units, usually 1-2 power instead of the 4 slots I had, pulsing equipment on and off, no scanners, but it was working.  It was crazy.  I just constantly had just enough to keep going.

I made it all the way to Access.  I pissed off a couple Hunters and Grunts, and before I had explored hardly any of the floor, there it was: the Behemoths guarding the exit!  I had enemies behind me, but nearly all my core, a single cannon, and I knew the Behemoths had a lot of firepower.  I figured they could blow my way in if I couldn't.  Well, they obliterated my cannon, but did help me dig in... but oh, oh, so slowly compared to how fast they were killing me.  They blew through the first two layers so fast it convinced me to stay around.  I was double to just a couple hundred core HP when I made it in.  But the access shell!  I started going around to the Terminal I saw on the other side... and then the Hunters came in, causing the shell to retract, and they volleyed me down to 12 HP.  I took a few more steps towards the core, and died perhaps 4 steps from escape. =(

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

That was the most insane run ever.

You have tons of core HP by the time you reach Access.  That was so stupid of me to be afraid of just a handful of pursuers that I had managed to overcome all game.  I should have ran, gotten some more cannons in inventory, and came back.  Or gone around to the terminal.  But I made a choice, committed... and died for it.  Man...

EDIT: score sheet.  Look at those absurd turns-on-floor numbers.  The excpetion, sublevel 6, is where I visited Extension and spent around 800 turns killing passing bots in the tunnel for parts. =P

Code Select Expand

Cogmind - Alpha 8

Name: Adraius

---[ CORE DESTROYED ]---

Performance
-------------
Evolutions (9)             4500
Robots Destroyed (68)      340
Value Destroyed (1754)     1754
Prototype IDs (6)          120
Alien Tech Identified (0)  0
Bonus (200)                200
              TOTAL SCORE: 6914

Cogmind
---------
Core Integrity             0/1600
Matter                     289/300
Energy                     50/50
System Corruption          7%
Temperature                Cool (0)
Location                   -1/Access

Parts
-------
Power (4)
Propulsion (5)
Utility (14)
  Spectral Analyzer
Weapon (2)

Inventory
-----------
Experimental Power Amplifier

Peak State
------------
Power
  Improved Ion Engine
  Neutrino Core
Propulsion
  VTOL Module
  VTOL Module
  Nuclear Pulse Array
Utility
  Insulated Heavy Armor
  Hacking Suite
  Experimental Power Amplifier
  Spectral Analyzer
  System Shield
  Reaction Control System
  Reaction Control System
  Reaction Control System
  Reaction Control System
  Advanced Powered Armor
  Advanced Powered Armor
Weapon
  Compact HERF Cannon
[Rating: 110]

Favorites
-----------
Power                      Improved Ion Engine
  Engine                   Improved Ion Engine
  Power Core               Light Nuclear Core
  Reactor                  Light Anti-Matter Reactor
Propulsion                 VTOL Module
  Treads                   Medium Treads
  Wheel                    Compact Wheel
  Leg                      Flexi-carbon Leg
  Hover Unit               Anti-Grav Array
  Flight Unit              VTOL Module
Utility                    Advanced Weight Redist. System
  Device                   Advanced Weight Redist. System
  Storage                  Medium Storage Unit
  Processor                Spectral Analyzer
  Hackware                 System Shield
  Protection               Insulated Heavy Armor
Weapon                     High-powered Shotgun
  Energy Gun               Wave Gun
  Energy Cannon            Compact HERF Cannon
  Ballistic Gun            High-powered Shotgun
  Launcher                 Smartbomb Launcher
  Special Weapon           Mining Laser
  Special Melee Weapon     Improved Datajack

Stats
-------
Bonus Breakdown            200
  Entered Garrisons        200
Classes Destroyed          10
  Worker                   9
  Builder                  5
  Tunneler                 3
  Hauler                   6
  Recycler                 11
  Mechanic                 2
  Watcher                  2
  Swarmer                  27
  Grunt                    1
  Hunter                   2
NPCs Destroyed             0
Best Kill Streak           9
  Combat Bots Only         7
Matter Collected           2097
  Salvage Created          2679
Parts Attached             167
  Power                    24
  Propulsion               45
  Utility                  67
  Weapon                   31
Parts Lost                 79
  Power                    16
  Propulsion               27
  Utility                  29
  Weapon                   7
Average Slot Usage (%)     64
  Naked Turns              3
Spaces Moved               4435
  Fastest Speed (%)        400
  Average Speed (%)        266
  Slowest Speed (%)        40
  Overloaded Moves         0
  Propulsion Burnouts      0
  Targets Rammed           4
  Cave-ins Triggered       1
  Teleports                0
Heaviest Build             70
  Greatest Overweight (x)  10
  Average Overweight (x)   0
Largest Inventory          14
  Most Items Carried       14
  Average Items Carried    5
Core Damage Taken          3706
Average Core Remaining (%) 76
  Depth 10 Exit            88
  Depth 9 Exit             89
  Depth 8 Exit             94
  Depth 7 Exit             100
  Depth 6 Exit             52
  Depth 5 Exit             54
  Depth 4 Exit             55
  Depth 3 Exit             100
  Depth 2 Exit             56
Volleys Fired              210
  Largest                  2
  Hottest                  125
Shots Fired                241
  Gun                      181
  Cannon                   47
  Launcher                 11
  Special                  2
  Kinetic                  129
  Thermal                  62
  Explosive                11
  Electromagnetic          39
Shots Hit Robots           157
  Core Hits                121
Overload Shots             0
  Energy Bleed             0
  Heat Surge               0
  Short Circuit            0
  Meltdown                 0
Melee Attacks              1
  Impact                   0
  Slashing                 0
  Piercing                 0
Damage Inflicted           7046
  Projectiles              3225
  Explosions               3808
  Melee                    0
  Ramming                  13
  Kinetic                  1697
  Thermal                  1518
  Explosive                3349
  Electromagnetic          469
  Impact                   0
  Slashing                 0
  Piercing                 0
Self-Inflicted Damage      386
  Shots                    7
  Rammed                   4
Highest Temperature        514
  Average Temperature      112
  Shutdowns                6
  Energy Bleed             2
  Interference             6
  Matter Decay             0
  Short Circuit            2
  Damage (minor)           1
  Damage (major)           0
  Damage (core)            0
Highest Corruption         7
  Average Corruption       2
  Message Errors           3
  Parts Rejected           0
  Data loss (map)          2
  Data loss (database)     0
  Misfires                 0
  Misdirections            1
  Targeting Errors         0
  Weapon Failures          0
  Depth 5 End              1
  Depth 4 End              1
  Depth 2 End              3
Haulers Intercepted        6
Robots Corrupted           2
Robots Melted              0
Power Chain Reactions      0
Tactical Retreats          25
Communications Jammed      182
Parts Field Recycled       0
  Retrieved Matter         0
Parts Merge Repaired       0
Drone Launches             4
  Drone Recoveries         0
Derelicts Assembled        0
Traps Triggered            0
  Indirectly               0
Trap Hack Attempts         0
  Triggered                0
  Disarmed                 0
  Reprogrammed             0
  Reused                   0
Data Cores Recovered       0
  Used                     0
Machines Hacked            26
  Terminals                23
  Fabricators              0
  Repair Stations          0
  Recycling Units          2
  Scanalyzers              0
  Garrison Access          1
Total Hacks                72
  Successful               13
  Failed                   59
  Catastrophic             27
  Database Lockouts        0
  Manual                   42
  Unauthorized             0
  Terminals                66
  Fabricators              0
  Repair Stations          0
  Recycling Units          5
  Scanalyzers              0
  Garrison Access          1
Terminal Hacks             11
  Record                   0
  Part Schematic           0
  Robot Schematic          0
  Robot Analysis           0
  Prototype ID Bank        0
  Open Door                1
  Level Access Points      2
  Branch Access Points     2
  Emergency Access Points  0
  Machine Index            0
  Terminal Index           0
  Fabricator Index         0
  Repair Station Index     0
  Recycling Unit Index     0
  Scanalyzer Index         0
  Garrison Index           0
  Alert Level              1
  Unreport Threat          3
  Locate Traps             1
  Disarm Traps             0
  Reprogram Traps          0
  Dispatch Records         0
  Maintenance Status       0
  Security Status          0
  Surveillance Status      0
  Patrol Status            0
  Transport Status         0
  Investigation Status     0
  Extermination Status     0
  Reinforcement Status     0
  Assault Status           0
  Garrison Status          0
  Intercept Status         0
  Recall Investigation     0
  Recall Extermination     0
  Recall Reinforcements    0
  Recall Assault           0
  Hauler Manifests         0
  Registered Components    1
  Registered Prototypes    0
  Zone Layout              0
  Sector Layout            0
  Machine Controls         0
Hacking Detections         25
  Full Trace Events        19
  Feedback Events          1
  Feedback Corruption      1
  Feedback Part Disabled   0
  Feedback Blocked         0
Trojans Installed          0
  Terminals                0
  Fabricators              0
  Repair Stations          0
  Recycling Units          0
  Scanalyzers              0
  Garrison Access          0
Fabricators Overloaded     0
Garrisons Disabled         1
Garrisons Compromised      0
Robot Schematics Acquired  0
  Robots Built             0
  Total Robot Build Rating 0
  Robot Fabrication Matter 0
  Robot Fabrication Time   0
Part Schematics Acquired   0
  Parts Built              0
  Total Part Build Rating  0
  Part Fabrication Matter  0
  Part Fabrication Time    0
Parts Repaired             0
  Part Repair Time         0
Parts Recycled             0
  Recycled Matter          0
  Retrieved Matter         0
  Retrieved Components     0
Parts Scanalyzed           0
  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              0
Hacks Repelled             0
Total Allies               4
  Largest Group            2
  Highest-Rated Group      10
  Highest-Rated Ally       5
Total Orders               4
  STAY                     0
  GOTO                     0
  ROAM                     0
  FOLLOW                   0
  GUARD                    0
  AID                      0
  BUILD                    0
  TUNNEL                   0
  DROP                     0
  PICKUP                   0
  COLLECT                  0
  EXPLORE                  4
  RETURN                   0
Terraforming Orders        0
  Walls Built              0
  Walls Tunneled           0
Ally Attacks               0
  Total Damage             0
  Kills                    0
Allies Corrupted           0
Allies Melted              0
Peak Influence             604
  Average Influence        77
  Final Influence          0
Maximum Alert Level        2
  Low Security (%)         90
  Level 1                  4
  Level 2                  4
  Level 3                  0
  Level 4                  0
  Level 5                  0
Squads Dispatched          34
  Investigation            19
  Extermination            2
  Reinforcement            11
  Assault                  1
  Garrison                 1
  Intercept                0
Derelict Logs Recovered    0
Exploration Rate (%)       17
  Regions Visited          14
  Pre-discovered Areas     0
Garrisons Visited          1
  Relays Disabled          0
  Generators Disabled      0
Network Hubs Disabled      0
Actions Taken              5492
Turns Passed               3372
  Depth 11                 93
  Depth 10                 189
  Depth 9                  137
  Depth 8                  49
  Depth 7                  27
  Depth 6                  1079
  Depth 5                  624
  Depth 4                  293
  Depth 3                  406
  Depth 2                  259
  Depth 1                  216
  Scrapyard                93
  Materials                375
  Factory                  925
  Research                 665
  Access                   216
  Garrison                 186
  Extension                912

Prototype IDs
---------------
Experimental Q-Thruster
Improved Matter Compressor
Spectral Analyzer
Experimental Power Amplifier
Experimental Core Analyzer
Advanced Particle Charger

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

Route
-------
-11/Scrapyard
-10/Materials
-9/Materials
-8/Materials
-7/Factory
-6/Factory
-6/Extension
-5/Factory
-5/Garrison
-5/Factory
-4/Factory
-3/Research
-2/Research
-1/Access

Game
------
Seed: 1464125269
^Manual?: 0
Play Time: 218 min
Sessions: 3
Mod: N/A
Game No.: 45
ASCII: 0
Keyboard: 0
Movement: Mouse
Fullscreen: 1
Font: 16/Dina
Map View: 90x50
FOV Handling: Fade In


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Haha. Fly along the eastern corridor. There is an exit right below the first behemoth in the extension junction. It is behind a sealed door with a terminal nearby. The hack that opens the door is fairly easy to pull off. You will still take some fire from the behemoths and sentries. But, not as much as you would if you try to just fly past the lot to the other exit in east. Good luck.

Alright, thanks.  That's the only exit I've ever used from Extension, but I usually see it just past the Behemoths.  IIRC the unlock chance is 30%, but you usually get a few tries.  I think I'm gonna try and put a combat rig together to take them out if I can get lucky with items from Transporters - right now I'm crazy fragile.

EDIT2: Alright, I've killed a bunch of bots in the tunnel and put together a combat loadout.  The plan is to use my Lrn. Sensor Array to spot the Behemoth from afar, then use the Mining Laser to try to tunnel to the stairs.  EDIT2: I also have a Imp. Terrain Scanner not in the pic.  If that doesn't work, I'll have to try my luck in combat without heat sinks, or just run past on legs to the terminal.  Pic attached.

EDIT: Update!!  Things all went to shit - long story short, I managed to overheat myself before even attempting the breakout, my transmission jammer failed, and I got an ARC sent after me.  But it disgorged only Swarmers!  I killed them all and took their VTOL Modules.  Some Hunters joined the party and I made an absolute mess of dropping my items while getting light enough to fly, but I managed to get most of what I wanted, unlocked the exit door on my final hacking attempt, and escaped.  But things didn't go well on the next floor.  I was still pretty hodge-podge, and got into a bad situation of triggering a whole ton of enemies, running, triggering even more, etc.  I lost all my flight units and most of my utilities, though I found a Smartbomb Launcher in a side room - I just didn't think even that would be able to handle my tail of enemies very well.  In desperation, I unlocked a Garrison Access and dove in! =D I quickly got caught by a Stasis Trap, and some more Swarmers ambushed me.  Sensing opportunity, I used my thermal cannon instead of my launcher to kill them.  Yay, more VTOL Modules!  There were Hunters, Grunts, and an ARC towards the center of the Garrison, but I was able to abuse corners horribly with my Smartbomb Launcher and kill them all.  The first exit I made my way to locked me out, necessitating some serious backtracking and more damage, but I was able to escape!

Run #4. (in progress) I decided it's time for me to try an all-up fast-stealth build!  It's been ages since I tried this and none of my attempts went well, but here goes.

Based on tips from the forums I read way back when, I had been on going with my more standard legs, sensors, and guns until the early Factory or so.  But then literally the first things to accost me were a bunch of Swarmers, and they dropped a whole bunch of intact Flight Units.  What the hell, let's do this!  Then I ran into even more Swarmers, killed them at a doorway too, and I was swimming in Flight Units.

Items continued being ridiculously kind.  I found an Adv. Sensor Array very quickly, followed by an Imp. ECM Suite.  And exits were being easy to find, too.  On -8 I had a bad run of triggering a patrol, running, then running into more and more patrols.  I briefly tried to fight a group of Swarmers I randomly found in a side room before the rest caught up to me, but I quickly realized it wasn't going to work out and I had to run while under fire.  The one piece my build was missing: an AoE weapon - the downside of finding the exits so quickly, I guess.  Speaking of which, that's how I got away from the Swarmers: running away from them led me right to an exit. =D And on -7, I found an exit incredibly close to my starting position - so close I hadn't yet seen a single combat robot or scout. 0.o I decided to poke into the surrounding rooms with the help of my (banged-up) Sensor Array to stay safe, and found a Lrn. Sensor Array!!  After that, I was sure the exit must lead to somewhere vile and dangerous, this felt too lucky, but nope, it took me to -6.  At this point, a good third of my slots were empty for lack of any items to put in them. 0.o Right off the bat, though, I find a Drone Bay.  Then I find some Energy Wells and an Imp. Force Field - if only they weren't so heavy. =(

Shit, even more Swarmers.  What's up with all the Swarmers!?  Time to run.  I make it a little ways, but then, stasis trap!!  I'm not used to dealing with these.  I heard that the break faster the more overweight you are?  I was trapped for another 18 turns or so, with the Swarmers hot on my tail... lets try it.  I turned off some propulsion... it made the field strength go down by one extra, but cost me 4-5 times as much time!  I kept trying to break free, but the Swarmers arrived and killed my remaining power source.  I get out, but not before losing my guns and most of my flight units.  All the nearby doors are one-entrance rooms... make that ALL my attached flight units gone.  Good thing I have a couple spares.  And the Swarmers are actually shooting each other!  One is dead, and two others have lost their weapons.  If I could just find a gun, I could kill or disable the last couple.  I run into another room... another solo Swarmer - but there''s also an Imp. Datajack.  I've never really used those... but here goes nothing.  Shit, those need too much power.  I run again, and finally seem to lose them.  Time to try and rebuild.

A "Lgt." Angular Momentum Engine is still too heavy for my two Flight Units.  Oh well. =P  I see a Sentry ahead, and I don't know if the Swarmers have fully lost me yet.  I decide to check the walls of a nearby room for a hidden door to go around - and actually find one!  I run into ANOTHER swarm of Swarmers, but my speed saves me from being spotted.  Then I find an exit, but there's a Sentry on it!  Disable flight units and go to RAMMING SPEED!  Annnnnd now I'm in Extension.  Great.  There are Behemoths guarding the only exit I know of in here.  Maybe I can steal some parts from Transporters carrying stuff through the main tunnel?

Annnnnd that's where I am now.  Any help, guys? xD This run has been absolutely hilarious and I've love to keep it going.  Is past the Behemoths the only way out?  I've attached a screenshot of my current status.

Setup:

Okay, so in my third run, which I've just posted my post-mortem on, I ran into a weird bug.  This is after I lost my backup Lrn. Sensor Array, though I've kept the Imp. Signal Interpreter attached in the vain hope I'll find another.  I found an Adv. Drone Bay in this side room right at the start of -3 and set one drone to explore.  It saw a Grunt patrol walking towards me, so I pulled it back and stayed in this room.  I played peek-a-poo with the drones at the door to try and spot when the Grunts went away.  I was a little too impatient and lost both drones doing this.

The bug:

In this picture, I've just moved from the space directly above where I'm currently standing.  You'll notice I have a walking speed of 120.  Thanks to that darn Scavenger the Grunts outside gain sight of me and aggro, but one of the four Grunts that was outside appears in the spot I was just inhabiting. 0.o

This seems a little above and beyond the "robots out of sight can step through each other" thing that can sometimes let a robot step into a room past his buddy in the doorway.

You were spoiled with your utility loadout though. If I find one advanced targeting computer I consider myself lucky.

For sure. =) I hadn't used them 'til now because I hadn't come across any Adv. ones on my previous runs.  This time I found a whole stockpile of them.  Mmmmm.

It would be nice to reduce the pause delay to something shorter (from 100 to 50 maybe). Currently there's no way to safely wait for an ARC (speed 80 IIRC) to turn a corner to one-shot it with EM. It might move twice before you do.

I meant to put a note in my post regarding ARC speed, but I forgot.  Those guys move faster than I anticipated when I first started playing again.  I assume they're on treads? (I always forget to look, and I haven't had any success trying to kill one) What's up with they're speed?  I don't know if their speed is 80, but I'm pretty sure it's <120.

Not-EDIT: according to the wiki, they use wheels and have a speed of 95, but that is likely pre-propulsion rebalance.  Wheels got a speed buff in the propulsion rebalance, right?  Maybe that's why they're so fast now.

Another thing: has anyone actually had success trying to one-shot ARCs before they dump units on your face?  What's the level of firepower needed for that?  I see from the wiki they're a little weak to EM and strong against Kinetic... that explains some of my troubles.  I hate Programmers and try to keep my loadout 50/50 Thermal and Kinetic where possible.  How well do powerful launchers fare against them?

Hunters don't know where you are if they didn't see you yet. However they might release little drones to spot you once they lost track of you (after seeing you).

Do Hunters really not have any sort of tracking?  I'm pretty sure they've shot me through walls before they've even seen me, sometimes, though I could be wrong.  At any rate, they appear to have a built-in sensor array and sensor interpreter or something, on account of their wall-penetrating shenanigans. (in addition to the whole "I don't show up on sensors" thing - evil little assholes) Oh, and possibly a built-in Visual Processing Unit, because they can see farther than any other robot, and I really hope their scanner doesn't extend that far!

So yeah, I have no idea what's up with Hunters, but they're painful.

Run #3.  It's still in progress, but I had to take a couple day's break between session one and session two, so it's faded a bit and I want to write down what I can ASAP. (EDIT: I've now finished the run and completed this post) Build is still a leg-based sneaky-combat hybrid looking to use Sensor Arrays and Signal Interpreters.  I wasn't immediately blessed with parts, but I eventually found the key bits (sensors, storage, and a couple sweet Imp. Grenade Launchers!), and pressed into the mid-Factory feeling pretty swell.

I had one particular moment that stood out, hiding from a good-sized Grunt patrol in a tiny side room almost completely filled by four nuclear reactors.  The patrol was passing by the outside, so I hid to let them go by.  Uh oh... they want to check the room.  I press myself against the backside of a thrumming nuclear reactor.  Okay, they've peeked, they should go now.  Or... not.  Okay, they're coming closer.  I scrunch myself further to one side to avoid being spotted.  Maybe they'll leave now?  Nope, now they're camping out amongst the reactors, me hiding a scant few tiles away.  Leave, please??  It took awhile, but miraculously, they didn't ever come all the way to the back, and I escaped notice. =D

Lady luck came through for me when I came across a pile of Long-Range Sensor Arrays!  I grabbed one to equip immediately, and a spare as well, although I intended to swap out the active one for another heat sink or armor plate whenever combat seems imminent. 

Around -5 I was encountering a bit more resistance, came across an entrance to Extension, and decided to lose a little heat.  It was only my second visit, so I didn't fully understand the layout.  I took the main throughway all the way until I saw a Behemoth on my sensors.  I knew that meant an exit, but I still only had two guns!  Maybe there would be other exits the other way.  I saw a room with disabled bots and guards watching over them, and from my sensors saw lots of similar guards ahead.  I took out one room's worth of guards to push further in, but after traveling a bit further decided I should just go back around, bite the bullet, and take out the Behemoths.  It cost me some, but I made it through and unlocked the door on the first try to access the stairs.  I still have no idea how to get out of there if I can't unlock that door lol.

The detour didn't seem to help me as much as I hoped.  Once back in the Factory I started running into frequent Hunter teams, and got an ARC or two sent after me.  I don't really understand how Hunters and ARCs work.  Do they know your position like Programmers do?  Or a general location?  Unlike a lot of other threats I had zero success dodging them, and I resigned myself to fighting them.  I made it to -4, but once there I got into several fights that saw me fully move from "replacing maybe 1 or 2 parts from my reserves after battle" to "rebuild half my bot with parts from the battlefield."  I had used up both my Imp. Grenade Launchers and lost my 1st sensor array, and I was worried the run would be coming to an end soon due to the escalating enemy response.  That's where I left off a few days ago.

I jumped back into the game, fortune swung my way - a chute trap!  I double-checked my gear and took the plunge into the Waste.  Here, my sensor array and legged movement speed of 120 were invaluable - I navigated the Waste without ever even being spotted by the Crushers!  Once back in the Factory, things were much better.  I found some armor for the first time since I left Extension, and was able to round out my weapons loadout, incorporating some really nasty cannons.

In research, I started in an odd, almost completely self-contained area that had me retracing a lot of ground to find a path to the rest of the map - I had found a branch exit, but it was locked.  Unfortunately, I started making some mistakes.  I'm operating on two power units and trying to run a couple heat sinks, a couple targeting computers, a shield generator, and my scanner gear.  I kept forgetting to turn my heat sinks and targeting computers on for combat, which caused some self-inflicted injury and forced me to turn off my shield at some inopportune moments.  Then, when backtracking, I got complacent near a Behemoth I had identified earlier and moved one tile into its vision range.  I paid dearly for that when it one-shot my long-range scanner. >.< With that gone, I decided to refocus my efforts on being a combat bot.  Fortunately, I had a large store of armor from the end of the Factory and my first couple minutes in Research, and I had found a good shield generator and several transmission jammers.  I was able to bulldoze my way to the exit, but took me ~2000 turns, and I'm sure my alert level was getting very high.  Still, I entered -2 confident: for the first time, the war of attrition seemed to have stabilized in my favor: even without armor, I was winning battles and keeping my bot together, or together enough to be able to live off the remains of my enemies.

Central to my build were three Adv. Targeting Computers, an Exp. Core Analyzer, and an Imp. Armor Analyzer - this was my first time running with targeting computers since I came back to the game, and they'd been nerfed from 12% (IIRC) to 8%, but they seemed as effective as ever to me!  Moreover, thanks to their extremely low coverage they were mostly safe from harm.  On -2, if I wasn't at alert level 5 already, I certainly reached it.  The battles got crazy: multiple ARCs arriving at once, sometimes joined by a Grunt squad or Hunter team.  I was taking them all on, and even winning, but I made a fatal mistake: I assumed the massive flow of ARCs was stemming from an exit staircase.  I fought an agonizing series of over a dozen battles in close proximity to make my way to the source, only to be finally crushed by the realization it was a Garrison, not an exit.  Although I was winning battles fairly effectively and keeping my core only 5-7% exposed, I was already down to about half core HP.  I killed the Garrison and pushed forward, and another direction showed promise, but that turned out to be a Garrison as well, which I also destroyed.  -2 had been kind to me in the launchers department - at some point or another I used two Neutron Missile Launchers, two Adv. Micro-Nuke Launchers, and a Point-Singularity Launcher.

I was able to keep my build fully functional throughout the run and made an absolute mess of the complex's research levels, but eventually I succumbed to core damage attrition.  I was so sure I was going to make it to Access. =(

Notes:

- Targeting computers are still the shit, they make a world of difference against, well, anything, but especially Hunters and Programmers.

- I need to learn how Hunter and ARC tracking works.  Knowing how/if I can avoid these guys is real important.

- Until now I didn't understand the policy of killing Garrisons.  I mean, they're gonna spawn somewhere, right?  May as well let them spawn in an area I've already moved through.  Ugh - I can't imagine having to deal with a procession of ARCs from a Garrison I left to my rear.  That would suck.

- Okay, I've done three solid runs now, so I feel confident commenting on this - Programmer spawns are much less frequent now, correct?  Even on alert level 5 they felt - at most - half as common as they used to be on alert level 3, the highest alert level I reached on my winning run way back when, when I was merrily kill-botting around -1 for a good long while, albeit after being pummeled into robo-dust and entering the floor naked. (EDIT: in that run I spent 4066 turns in Access!) But yeah, many more Hunters and ARCs now compared to Programmers, and I approve of the change.

- Next time if in a similar situation, I might try some Garrison diving.  I'm 98% sure I'd lost the little hackware I had by the time I found the Garrison, but if I rolled lucky I might have been able to get in. (never tried it before, don't know my exact chances) It's not like the facility AI could possibly get more angry with me, and weakening their response may have helped considerably.

- I never did let one of those Imps hit me with its Segregator - I was a little curious, but I was pretty sure I didn't want that thing touching me even once =P

- Hey, new personal best score!  Has the scoring system been adjusted, by any chance?  Scores seem to be able to get higher now than the once did. (EDIT: I got 4k more score  than my winning run in less than 2/3s as many turns, while evolving one less time and not getting the 2k bonus from winning)

A question of mine for discussion:

In my last run, I didn't really feel like my Adv. Terrain Scanner and Adv. Terrain Scan Processor were the parts I needed on the build.  It was almost my first time using those parts, and unfortunately, my bot started falling about soon after I got them operational, so I don't consider the test conclusive by any means, but I'd be disinclined to try them again.  But I just took a look through the Strategies section of the forum and found this thread from back in January/February in which several people promote the idea of using terrain scanners on combat builds to find the exit.

How to people feel about that with the current changes?  Looking at the releases, it looks like that was just after the propulsion rework/buff, not before.  How exactly is the terrain scanner helpful - are you walking around as normal and hoping it specifically spots the stairs?  Or does it involve being stationary-ish in one area, letting it map, then moving on to the next?  Would you recommend it only for treaded combat bots or for <130 movement speed bots as well?

An additional thought for my post-mortem: I should have probably been killing an isolated Sentry or two for armor.  I didn't like getting into combat if at all avoidable once I initially ran out, and I didn't like the chance that I'd kill the armor before the Sentry and I'd come away with nothing, but I needed to bite the bullet and give it a try.

Okay, time for an after action report from run #2.

This run, after enjoying my slightly speedier treads, I decided to see what I could accomplish with a non-treading Cogmind that could pick its fights.  It felt so weird picking up legs instead of treads at the start of the game! =P Again, the game seemed to like me at the start of this run: terminals to hack, some armor lying around, found a storage unit cache on -9, and picked up a Mini Grenade Launcher that would last until it fired my final futile volley on sublevel 3.  Most importantly, I found an Imp. Sensor Array, which was soon followed by an Adv. Signal Interpreter!   Using it was a really eye-opening experience.  I got to see just how many patrols I would have blundered into as a treaded Cogmind as I quietly slipped around them.  There were a bunch of exhilarating close calls as I used my legged speed to slip into the next chamber juuuuust before a patrol entered the room, and even a couple short chases when they saw the tail end of me and I decided to run instead of fight, and about half the time I actually managed to slip away!  Things really hit their stride when I found an Adv. Sensor Array in the Factory.  It was a really, really different pace of game than I'm used to - a lot more lurking just out of sight for long periods to let a patrol slowly move past my location, and some really intense moments of using my newfound mobility and a little tactical wall-busting to slip past several patrols to reach my objective.

There was a bit of a learning curve regarding how to protect my scanner equipment from damage - my Adv. Senor Array and Adv. Signal Interpreter were literally invaluable.  The Adv. Signal Interpreter was small enough to be basically invulnerable when behind armor, but the Adv. Sensor Array wasn't, and I managed to get it a bit banged up.  It took awhile, but I managed to get it repaired.  Unfortunately, I lost my backup Imp. Sensor Array when I stuck it in to get it repaired too, and the repair station was disabled by what must have been a wildly stray shot from either me or the Programmer I was fighting. =/

I found an Imp. Transmission Jammer, Adv. Terrain Scanner, and Adv. Terrain Scan Processor in the mid-Factory, but I lacked the slots and power to run them.  I took them with me, and added them to by build as I gained slots.  There was a brief, glorious window in which I was running an Adv. Sensor Array, Adv. Terrain Scanner, and the Adv. enhancements for both of them.  Unfortunately, part of the reason I was able to fit all that was a symptom of a major problem I was encountering - a big lack of armor.  After the early Factory, I had no luck finding armor at all.  I considering trying to hack out the component inventory at a terminal, but they had also really dried up.  I got forced into a close-range slug-match with a squad of elite Grunts early on either -5 or -4, and they beat me up pretty badly.  It took me a loooong time to get through -5 and -4, and although I could dodge a lot of fights, the ones I did take hurt badly without any armor.  Propulsion was getting pretty tricky to handle.  I'd been using mostly legs with a couple short stints with wheels (fast, but hella fragile!), but increasingly I wasn't finding enough legs left over even after battles with Grunts to replace the legs I had lost, and I found myself hobbling around on my one "reserve wheel" from my stores post-battle to shoot some scavengers and fit myself out in wheels.  I forgot to swap out my Adv. Sensor Array one too many times, and it died, which marked the beginning of the end.  My Cogmind basically fell to pieces right as I found the exit to Research, and I exited while under fire from two Hunters, the Sentry guarding the exit, and a squadron of Swarmers.  I had run out of weapons and matter for ammo against the Hunters (I was aiming to use 50/50 kinetic and thermal, but I had seen a serious dearth of weapons lately and was down to just kinetics), and my remaining sensors got ripped to shreds as I made for the exit.  I was able to rebuild some once in Research, but couldn't find any sensors and (oddly enough) found only a bunch of treads for propulsion, and my half-baked combat-bot conversion succumbed quickly.

- Advanced Sensor Arrays and Advanced Sensor Interpreters are my two new favorite items in Cogmind.  I can't wait until the Fabrication changes make fabbing your own easier!

- Similarly, I can really see myself fabbing together some armor in the late factory in the future.

- Hackware seems to be more rare than it used to be.  I only saw a couple pieces in the whole run, in the very late Factory.  I've yet to see any of whatever part now gives a boost to indirect hacking.

- My bot really seemed to die when I kept getting utility slots... but didn't have the "correct" utilities to fill them.  The terrain scanner shenanigans was fun, but in retrospect probably not worth the two slots.  The transmission jammer was more worthwhile, but was also more vulnerable to enemy fire.  I really needed some armor to go in some of my utility slots instead, and secondarily, some hackware to locate and beeline for exits/goodies.  I actually had the hackware on sublevel 4, but I don't think I saw a single terminal between that point and when I died, so I never equipped it.

- I haven't tried out any of the new trojan or brute force hacks yet.  Partially because a lot of the terminals I have found had nice hacks built in, and/or I needed to purge threat or find an exit at the time, but I really ought to try them.  I think I keep associating them with indirect hacks, which have that base -15% chance penalty.

- Oh, and is it just me, or has the "pursuit" AI changed since early alpha?  I remember that bots used to follow you quite well even after losing line-of-sight, and using ECM to shorten that tracking period was crucial, but this run I was able to lose some Grunt packs simply by slipping their vision and going through a few doorways.  Or maybe it feels easier now because I could see them run off the wrong direction thanks to my scanners.

EDIT: you know, I really should have tried killing some of the late-game Watchers for a new sensor array.  I killed one early, saw them drop the basic scanner, and then promptly discarded the idea of getting items from them.  But I bet the late-game ones have the good kit.

I look forward to trying this sort of bot out again. =)

Right now I always seek an expanded inventory, but I dunno, guaranteed storage units in a game as procedural as Cogmind strikes me as strange. =P I look forward to seeing how the fabrication changes impact storage unit availability.

I was taking every stairway I came across - I simply didn't encounter the Caves on the run.

...and it actually went pretty darn well!  I had remarkably smooth progress through Materials and most of the Factory.  I got my storage units up and running right at the start, found some nice explosive weapons right away, I was taking down patrols quickly and efficiently, my armor meant I wasn't even getting scratched, terminals were kind to me and I had threat levels under control, Programmers were taking the day off, and I was finding stairs unusually quickly.  It was great.  Unfortunately, I think my detour into Extension, however fun it may have been, may have cost me.  I broke out some AI buddies, and we tore up the place pretty good.  When I got out, I was in Research, and the patrols really ramped up, the Programmers made a late but strong showing, and there were no terminals to be found.  I had an epic explosion-fest outside a Garrison Access in which I was finally defeated.  GG.

Notes:

- It sure felt like I was finding staircases quickly.  I looked up the stats - my last run that ended on -2 took 12,240 turns, this run took 9,003.  Then again, treads are faster now by about 20% if I'm remembering correctly.

- Speaking of which, treads are now juuuuuust fast enough to avoid some patrols under the right circumstances.  They're not fast by any stretch, but they feel more mobile now.  I didn't know how exactly the changes to propulsion changed things, but I knew I liked the mobility, so I actually invested enough in propulsion slots to not be overweight this run. :0

- More things sound the alarm now.  I got a jammer to shut them and all those pesky watchers up. =)

- Guaranteed storage units in Materials, nice.  Kinda surprised you implemented that, btw, but I'm not complaining.  And with the changes to coverage, they last forever now.  I still had some of my original storage units from -10 when I died on -2.

- Much of the credit for that, though, really goes to my armor.  I wasn't planning on using all that much armor at the start of the run, but I found some and threw it on.  Hot damn, it really made a difference!  Unlike in previous runs, where parts would fly off my 'bot whenever things got hairy, this time around that didn't happen.  I had what felt like record low parts churn all the way through the Factory.  I can see the changes to crits and the crit damage bonus in evidence here.  I wore as much armor as I could find the whole run, and I could really tell when I ran out - I started losing parts much, much faster!

- Coverage is pretty different now, especially when it relates to hackware and other support utilities.  It took me a long time to find any hackware, but when I did it was a tasty Adv Hacking Suite, and that sucker served me well.  Behind my armor, it survived all the way to my final showdown, even though I couldn't take it off for combat.  I was wary of how that was going to work out, but my fears proved unfounded.  Low coverage also made my jammer stay operational long enough to feel worth it.  Hurrah again for armor.

- What do you have to do to destroy a Garrison Access, by the way?  I fought my last stand next to one, and it ate ~6 Hellfire Missiles without seeming to care.  Do I need to target the 'G' part in particular?  Or when it starts blinking and its status says "Redeploying" is that all I'm after?

- There seem to be more low-level weapons on some higher-tier enemies.  I was seeing Heavy Lasers even towards the end off some Grunts, and Hunters have Heavy Machine Guns now if memory serves.  Probably helps balance them having 3 weapons?

- I think Extension gives you a chance to skip a level?  I had to leave my game and come back right around the time I entered Research (from Extension, which I had entered from the Factory), so my memory could be off, but I'm pretty sure I died on the first level of Research I saw, and according to the morgue file that level was -2.

Have fun with Stellaris! (Wait a minute, isn't Stellaris the same thing?! )

As far as being a game that needs system knowledge?  Funny thing, I was thinking about exactly that as I wrote my post. The key difference, I think, in Stellaris (and most games of the strategy/4x genre) is that while there are a fair number of interacting systems, they are (almost) all explicitly presented to the player, and they player is handed tools to manage/optimize them - and frankly, finding an efficient/optimal-ish course of action is not that difficult of a calculation, although it still feels like a triumph.  In Cogmind, I have a host of unknowns that I don't know how to plan for, and won't without a ton of experience.  At what point is a "slow" combat bot "too slow"?  How can I best minimize threat?  At what point is taking a branch worth it?  Which branches should I look for in particular for a given type of run?  When is staying on a floor after finding an exit a good risk?  Is this repair station's wait time hurting me more than the repaired part will help?

I have a strong impulse to optimize in all games, and games with a high degree of uncertainty are much more work to approach with that mindset.  Honestly, what sparked my interest in the fabrication post was not just the gameplay addition, but the gifs of Cogmind exploring, building, and shooting stuff; it reminded me of the simpler times when I first started playing Cogmind, when I resolved to just dive in and try things out, and I could be satisfied dying on level -6.  With that mindset, Cogmind is great; with a optimizer's mindset, Cogmind is hell without a bunch of system knowledge.  Unfortunately, I tend to the latter mindset by default.

...I should probably download one of these versions and give it a go again.  Last version I have is...

Oh my

Alpha 3c

Hehe, I just checked myself - Alpha 3c here too!  I've been following the major developments, but I just haven't felt the urge to play in a long while.  For all the conveniences Cogmind has compared to other roguelikes, it still involves mentally absorbing a huge library of system knowledge through experience/trial-and-error, and right now I'm not in the mood for that.  But I figure I'll probably be playing Cogmind again at some point - either the mood for this sort of game will return, or once development finally starts wrapping up, I'll give in and read some player guides. =)

(since Alpha 3c, I've played through Invisible Inc, Life is Strange, and Alan Wake, and I'm playing and enjoying Helldivers, SUPERHOT, and Stellaris)

Aaaaaand now I've gone and taken a peek at the dev blog and I saw the fabrication entry, and I really want to play again. =D Maybe once my honeymoon with Stellaris is over.

Does it make sense that mass regained is tied to remaining integrity?  I mean, parts remain 100% functional until integrity reaches 0%, so I see integrity as a part's resilience when taking minor/moderate battle damage - anything that literally blasts sections of a part off would likely render the part immediately nonfunctional. =P

If this was a smallish, lightish part, I could see it being used on sneaky/stealthy builds as an alternate way of acquiring mass, instead of raising threat by killing excavators.  But that's a rare case where I'd actually want it to deconstruct full-integrity parts... normally I'd suggest a 25% threshold or something. =/

I dunno, maybe this part should just stay in as a 'fluff item' until someone comes with a compelling total rework, because it's definitely not useful at the moment.

With a full combat build, the moment you run completely out of either a) weapons or b) power sources, you generally don't have any choice except to immediately go naked.  If you didn't have a well-balanced inventory or took a number of unlucky hits/crits, that can involve dropping a LOT of items.  Now, this circumstance has become much rarer with the advent of multi-Hcp. Storage play, but when storage sizes become more constricted I expect to occasionally be going naked more often.

Ideally, I think being able to select a few items to keep would be a good addition, as comebacks are one of the most challenging and exciting parts of Cogmind.  That said, the new 'drop everything' is a completely free action, so it's not unreasonable to ask the player to spend a few turns picking what they want out of the wreckage afterwards if they value those items enough.

tl;dr I think being able to designate items to keep would be a good idea in a vacuum, but the new free-action drop all command already minimizes the problem, and I am not blind to the difficultly of smoothly integrating such a feature into the UI.

Okay, this is pretty amusing. =P Thanks!

Mendonca covered things pretty darn well. =) I've skimmed all six seasons of Nemonaemo's playthrough, he has a pretty good grasp of the game and goes from 100% vanilla at the start to a whole plethora of mods, and shows everything from single-ship to multi-capital fleet combat.  As noted by mendonca, Starsector Plus and Nexerlin are the two core mods, I see little point in playing the game WITHOUT those - there's also a half-dozen or so quality-of-life mods like Simulator Overhaul and Common Radar I'd also recommend everyone use (listed on the SS+ page).  Most of the other mods add new factions - the most vanilla-like ones are Interstellar Imperium and Tiandong Heavy Industries IMO.

Good points. Coverage is an especially important mechanic that shouldn't be overlooked.

I occasionally switch over to the 'c' mode visualization to make sure my important utilities have sufficiently relative low coverage that they won't go boom as soon as I meet an enemy (in situations like that, combat builds may choose to be a little more wary of engagements, and I'll even put something back in my inventory if I really want to keep it safe until better protection can be found). Another good solution that Happylisk likes to use is Utility Shielding, to prevent the odd shot from taking out a low-integrity part.

In another thread, the ability to be able to see the layout of maps in a large image post-run was brought up.  That would probably help a lot in this department, although I'm not sure it's a good addition in game design terms; I think perhaps map familiarity is something best built up by playing the game - and sharing our discoveries socially - and not by dissecting images.

I was just writing about this for a blog post yesterday (the next). I wouldn't want to reveal the whole map--that's not going to happen--but what would you say to outputting an image of what the explored part of the map looked like?

I think that strikes an excellent compromise - play the game, get a good view of what you uncovered and how your choices led you to uncover it.  Yes please!

An awesome add-on would be an overlay showing the path you took, but I imagine that would be a lot more coding.

Ok.  I'm worried about tread speed because it's already a large factor in how I die - I can't loot and scoot fast enough, so I chain-battle Programmers or other squads until corruption, Programmer Poisoning, and/or general lack of parts does me in. (or I find an exit, obviously) My "time battling/looting" to "time pushing forward" ratio already feels pretty crazy.  That's why I'm looking at legs as a propulsion system in the first place.  I'm not sure how much slower treads can be while remaining viable.

Keep in mind that I'm just saying "I don't know" - they might be fine, or it might make them entirely nonviable in Research and beyond.

@Adraius: Supporting mid-range speeds will start to look more appealing when treads get slower.

Dammit. =P Okay.  Is that a thing that's definitely happening?  If so, what form is it likely going to take?

Actually, is there a list of broad changes that have been discussed and will likely be appearing anywhere? (or can I get a brief summary, pretty please?) Ex. I've heard of an EM resistance increase and Thermal vulnerability for Programmers, but I can't find where that originated. nvm, just read Happylisk's winning combat run =)

Whoops, I was thinking of the "significant disruption detected, assault force dispatched" message - and those are generally important enough I do track them.  I actually didn't realize squads identified via hacking would be tracked in my intel window. >.<

I might go with the increasing difficulty at first, because it can also be applied to the other behavior control hacks like squad recalls (which I'm not even sure anyone's been using).

Mostly because either:
a) there is no squad to recall
b) its currently punching you in the face

The middle ground between those two options is often in a narrow enough time-scale that even if the player knows about it the instant it spawns, the time it would take to reach a terminal and use the command would exceed the time to confrontation, excepting rare circumstances, such as a failed hack spawning a squad.  In which case, you'd have to be pretty damn lucky to get a successful recall before being locked out (I think the base success rate on those is only around 50% anyway).

Honestly, one of the reasons I don't make use of these is that much of my mental bandwidth is often occupied keeping the map layout straight, and I don't keep track of how many squads are out there, or of which type.  A tracker for the number of each type of squad known to be dispatched (and not encountered) within the last [insert reasonable number of turns here] would be really useful.

Impressive thread; I concur with just about everything you've put forth.  I already see the big value in keeping an Lrn Tractor Beam in storage for post-battle cleanup, and will at least give fabricating Hcp. Storage Units a try if I can't locate any larger than a Med. version.

I'd like to differ, however, on the usefulness of combat utilities, Targeting Computers in particular; although combat utilities are flimsy, their very small coverage means that they can last a long while. Think of HP/coverage as 'effective hitpoints' - I can't check at the moment, but I think they might have more than your average armor plate, although they are more heavily affected by RNG.  And as Reiver says, the effect is pretty dramatic - going from 60% to-hit to 72% is effectively a 20% increase in applied damage with none of the weight, energy/mass consumption, or heat generation of another weapon.  As for Targeting Analyzers, stack a few good ones on weapons with a significant crit chance, and you can get upwards of a 50% chance to crit.  Unfortunately, I'm less convinced of the value of relying on crit-kills or critting parts off of enemies when you want to be dealing massive damage to kill them regardless - and while Target Analyzers are pretty common (loot Programmers), Targeting Computers are rather scarce.

Also, I'd like to point out that system corruption is massive pain in the later levels, but not always unavoidable; I won my combat run with 0% corruption thanks to a pair of items - System Recalibrators? - that each purged 1 point of corruption every 150 turns, double the efficiency of the baseline units.  They were a lucky find, but if they are a low enough rarity to be feasibly fabricated, they may be an option; without high system corruption, hacking and, well, everything remains more viable.

EDIT:
Another big factor in the success of combat runs, IMO, is simply map familiarity.  You are, almost by definition, slow as hell; knowing which direction an exit is most likely to be in based off of the types of spaces, corridors, and rooms you see and what you know of the map's shape so far is very important in minimizing time spent and attrition incurred on levels where your build is already close to optimal. (as an aside, refreshing this familiarity after three weeks away is going to suck...)

In another thread, the ability to be able to see the layout of maps in a large image post-run was brought up.  That would probably help a lot in this department, although I'm not sure it's a good addition in game design terms; I think perhaps map familiarity is something best built up by playing the game - and sharing our discoveries socially - and not by dissecting images.

I don't have a whole lot to add here, most of my thoughts have already been said, but I want to chip in that my thoughts generally mirror zxc's with regard to flight unit stacking, the oddly high value of low-level flight units and treads vs. legs.  On the last point last point, it comes down to the fact that I haven't yet found a way to make gaining a mid-range move speed worth losing 1-3(?) utility slots and a whole lot of weight tolerance (e.g. big gunz and piles o' storage, two pillars of my strategy).  This is with the major caveat that I'm not convinced it's impossible, though - I don't think I'm paying enough attention to optimal positioning with an eye towards making likely routes to me lead through choke points whenever remotely possible and/r defensive positions always within reach, and my experimenting was interrupted by my honeymoon with Starsector.

P.S. I do like the idea of removing the move delay increase for multiple wheels; it makes logical sense to me given the wheel's great simplicity compared to other movement systems, and gives them a nice silver lining without disrupting their place as plentiful but disposable and low-value.

What you might be experiencing is a second label being created by your mouse cursor being positioned over the item as the upon-discovery labels are appearing - this happens to me sometimes as my automatic reflex is to mouse over any new items that I see.

In fact, minor request if it doesn't take much effort: can mousing over an item already labeled not create a second label?  It often gets in the way of ones I actually want to see, and seems to happen to me a good bit when finding large caches.