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Messages - Valguris

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2
Strategies / Speedrunnig / map-sense guide.
« on: March 23, 2023, 09:04:14 PM »
Preface: I was asked to give some tips for sub 1k speedruns. This guide is the result.

It's been many versions since I last tried a speedrun. Notable changes since then (if you find old videos): Heavies will probably be a huge problem; drag mechanic was introduced that makes scuffed flight builds much harder to work with; DSF could be of some help.

My #1 tip: Don't equip flight units until you have armor/prop shielding. I see too many people do this and regret it.

Some map sense:
Main exits in Mats always spawn at the ends of 3-tile wide corridors. If you spawn in a corner, almost always all 3 main exits occupy the other 3 corners. If you spawn near the middle of a map edge, almost always all 3 main exits occupy the middles of the other 3 map edges.
Storage and Recycling are viable routes, getting better the higher you find them (since they are small and easily navigable maps that allow you to skip harder Factory floor(s) ). Main exit in Storage is always in the opposite corner to your spawn. Recycling entrance is always in one of the other corners. Recycling exit is always in a random corner.
Factory and Research I never properly figured out. :( An exit at the end of a 5-tiles wide corridor in F is a guaranteed main exit. An exit at the end of a 4-tiles wide corridor in R is a guaranteed main exit. In R there usually seems to be a long rectangle of empty space (seems to be more than half the map long and 30+ tiles wide), resulting in a map in shape of O (empty space doesn't reach the edge) or C (or rotated variants; when empty space touches the edge). This usually results in 1 or 2 bottlenecks where all the patrols go through and the digs to avoid those are going to be very long.
R branches: Exit is always top right or bottom right. You may be lucky and it might be in a straight line from your spawn. So R branches are good to go into, unless you know you are already close to the main exit.
Armory: The first exit is near the center of the map. The map usually looks a bit like a toppled S: You can spawn at top right or bottom right. Assume you start top right (the other case is symmetric). Main corridor will go down until the bottom, then left along the bottom until it reaches the middle of the bottom edge. Then up, passing by the exit, until it reaches top. Then left again, until it's near the end of the map. Finally it turns down until the bottom of the map. A toppled S.
Garrisons are generally not worth going through. I don't have experience with DSF, so I don't know about those.
Access: Your spawn and each of the exits must be far away from you. Without loss of generality assume one POI (Point Of Interest; in this case spawn/exit) is near top left corner of the map (doesn't have to hug the edges of the map, though; just near-ish); assume the map is longer horizontally. Then, another POI is near the middle of the map, slightly towards the opposite long edge (near bottom in our case) of the map. The last POI will usually be near the other corner along the same long edge as the 1st POI (top right in our example). Of course you can rotate and mirror the example. Finally, 3-tiles wide corridors are rare outside of C prefab, so if I noticed one during my speedrun, I'd often just turn around and go visit the other side of the map looking for Surface. Sometimes, if I judged I'm close enough to C, I'd still go through C, though.
Command: If you spawn top, the exit is bottom and vice versa.

Back when we played a lot of speedruns, there were 3 common "strategies":
1) Core hover with prop armor, relies on map sense and little time spent gathering components.
2) High hackware. If you're lucky to find enough of it, you may want to go towards the centre of the map while hacking Access(Main). Then, you are not far from the nearest main exit when you finally succeed the hack. Results in the least number of moves, though you may spend extra time picking up hackware and protection. And you won't be getting lucky by running into an exit early on the floor.
3) Flight build. Preserve a good build throughout your run. Armor necessary. Various sensors, hackware and auxiliaries are good, too. Spends the most time picking up parts, but is faster to make up for it.
Depending on what you find, you may switch between those strategies. In general, do not underestimate the time cost of picking up items. You may be tempted to go for a full build, but it's often better to just use core hover with prop armor with most of your slots empty. Don't force the build if items aren't close enough (at the edge of your vision is generally too far in a speedrun).

3
-How are you meant/is there a way to figure out the achievement
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
For me it was trying to see if the bots build something interesting in the end. So I sat there watching the bots do their stuff.

4
General Discussion / Re: Is it cold in here or is it me?
« on: April 30, 2022, 01:58:14 PM »
Regarding cold, it could be caused by, e.g., low blood sugar (and probably many other things). If you're playing a long time in one sitting, try to make more breaks. Eat, drink, do some exercises, maybe take a nap? See what helps. Maybe see a doctor if it's bad.

5
Perhaps another bot opening the door had something to do with this?
E.g., At the start of a global turn (turn #15311 in the picture) the door is closed. Then, e.g., 10 TUs after the turn starts, another bot (Recycler or Sentry in this case) opens the door, so that the Operator is now in view, but is not registered as such, because it wasn't his action nor Cogmind's that did it. After that, e.g., 50 TUs after the turn starts, Cogmind gets to act.

I reported on Discord a problem with Transmission Jammer not working on an enemy that just opened a door (but did not enter the door tile) in one case. Maybe these two bugs are related.

6
Ideas / Re: In-fight long distance mouse movement block
« on: April 07, 2022, 01:29:38 PM »
As a keyboard and mouse user, the proposal looks reasonable and I might want to use it, too. When in combat, I want to precisely control my movements, so I'll click on an adjacent tile anyway. A lot of the faraway clicks that make me move during combat are missclicks.

I do recall sometimes repeatedly clicking on a faraway tile when in "combat", e.g., when the "threat" is a broken bot or a Watcher. So I'm not sure if I'll block these kinds of moves. I'll probably at least try it for some time, though.

Maybe faraway moves in combat should be blocked by default, but when you click on a faraway tile a second time (a warning the first time you click, the second click confirms), the game turns off the block for the remainder of this encounter?

7
Ideas / Re: Steam Achievement Ideas
« on: March 22, 2022, 08:20:00 PM »
So close! (hidden) Die with a Surface exit in view.

An achievement for doing a bad thing. However, people who are invested enough to look up the rare (and hidden) achievements are probably the people who have already got a win and are looking for more things to do (like going for the extended wins). Even the best players will sometimes be forced to take "w0 of shame". So, one time, instead of taking another w0 of shame, they could grab this achievement. So the downside of this achievement shouldn't be too bad.
On the other hand it should feel awesome when triggered accidentally.

8
Ideas / Re: Steam Achievement Ideas
« on: February 01, 2022, 03:35:57 AM »
Please consider locking off Rogue achievements since it's the real way to play and is so much harder to get them on it versus the other difficulties :D Getting chevo's on Rogue are special to me and would be nice to know what I unlocked on that difficulty versus in an easier difficulties.

I believe the game already tracks which achievements were earned on which difficulty mode. I think you can view this information ingame, in the ESC menu --> Records --> Achievements.
Steam doesn't track this information and we probably don't want to make separate achievements for different difficulties, since that just adds achievement bloat - no one cares about majority of such achievements, yet they show up in all achievement lists.

IMO, it makes sense to make a select few achievements be locked only to rogue difficulty, such as a separate achievement for "Win a run on rogue difficulty", but that's about it.

9
Ideas / Re: "Sound range" option
« on: February 01, 2022, 02:45:47 AM »
so I'd want to see more support for it first.

Count me in. I also didn't even realize there were some sounds in the game until the sound log got added. And having to constantly check the sound log to see if I came in range of a machine is annoying.
That said I understand that all the sound volumes and their falloff were carefully adjusted for the current settings and adding a minimum sound volume might break it. :(

10
Ideas / Re: Steam Achievement Ideas
« on: November 17, 2021, 03:20:28 PM »
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hmm, seems like there are no achievements related to Exiles being proposed. Nor for most things that appeared after them. Let's fix this!

Morally flexible Steal from Exiles.
It has a naughty acronym! (hidden) Equip an Active Sensor Suite.
It has a funny name! Have PP (Protovariant Programmer) wake up.
Flight protocols not found. Engaging fight protocols. Enter siege mode (transition must complete).

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A sixth sense Install FarCom.
Welcome to the mall Enter DSF.
Do I smell grilled meat? Start sterilization process.
Did you forget to turn off the oven? Start rapid sterilization process.
This order is totally legit or Umm, yes, Main.C totally ordered these. Use an Authchip.

System upgraded or You will be upgraded Install a RIF upgrade.
Someone who doesn't know about repeat installations might learn about them from seeing this achievement.
"You will be upgraded" as Doctor Who reference would probably work better for the initial RIF installation.

EDIT: Spoilered extended game content.

11
General Discussion / Re: I want revenge!
« on: November 17, 2021, 02:10:00 PM »
The access shell opens when you enter from the other side. Or at least it used to. It used to open when you enter any tile where the sealed door was. I do recall it not working in some version, so I'm not sure what the current trigger is.

12
Ideas / Energy/matter storage working from inventory.
« on: April 05, 2021, 11:39:57 AM »
Problem: It feels cheap to be able to just drop the storage item under your feet and gain all the energy/matter immediately. Also, forgetting to pick it up later is annoying.

Some ideas included getting the resources over time at some rate, e.g., extract energy at a rate equal to your power generation or perhaps at a rate depending on the battery used.
Another idea was to disallow extracting resources from storage on the ground and forcing you to equip the part. However, swapping the part in doesn't seem less cheesy than just dropping it on the ground and extracting all the resources immediately.
Why don't we explore the other direction: making energy/matter storage inventory type items (instead of utilities), so they increase your energy/matter capacity as long as they are in your inventory. This is pretty much how people are using them currently, but without that weird "drop it on the ground" part. Maybe they'd need to be nerfed a little, to compensate for, uhh, time savings from not requiring to drop them. (I imagine part of the reason why nobody has 3+ of those in their inventory is because it feels so cheap to use them from the inventory. Once it is fully embraced that they work from inventory, I'll bet people will use them a lot more. I expect nerfs to capacities will be necessary.)

Do you have other ideas to solve said problem? Or are there other problems with those items that could use some solving, too?

13
I lost my activated launcher when I had a Remote Datajack and some other weapons equipped. All my weapons (including the Remote Datajack) were activated. (I have the advanced option of activating weapons upon launcher detachment.)

14
Related bugs:
- This same thing happened to an Enh. Grunt coming out of the Cetus Manufactory. I assume the cause is the same, i.e. his prototype propulsion was deemed faulty.
- Kerapace reported on Discord same thing happening with an assimilated Behemoth, though I understand the cause must've been different. Here's a quote:
Quote
Kerapace 24.05.2020
so is allied Behemoth AI supposed to run around like a hyperactive kid who's just been told he's getting a new LEGO set for Christmas?
like, he's not even trying to follow me, he's just running around the 2x2 hallways willy-nilly
weirdly enough, this turned out to be because his AI was set to 'STAY' instead of 'FOLLOW'

15
Masked hacks
Hostile Programmers will not shield their allies against your Remote Datajacks.

I giess Archangels/Alpha7s will still shoot down your Remote Datajack projectiles, since I don't see how RIF could affect that lorewise. :P
This ability would help in dealing with situations where you stumble upon a Programmers squad and another squad at the same time. Also, assaults have a chance to be acompanied by programmers when you have allies, so it would help in those situations as well. And it makes Programmer Couplers much better. :P I'm not sure if it increases or decreases the average power you gain per RIF upgrade.

16
I will answer what Joshua did not.

Quote
How to safely dig? Melee? Mining laser? Into Zion?
We do not know the exact rules, but we know some things:
Earth has a chance to collapse randomly each round and every time you move or fire ranged weapons from within unstable ground.
Catching unstable ground in AOE blasts will make it more likely to collapse faster.
Digging with melee does NOT trigger per round chance of collapse on the dug out tile. Also, melee attacks do not destabilize the tile you're standing on (as opposed to ranged attacks).
First 3 moves on unstable terrain are safe from causing collapse due to movement. Stepping temporarily into safe terrain resets the count.

Quote
Does cloaking for enemies ALSO let them get closer before detection? Optical arrays affected? I've had theifbots appear at midrage when I had a 30 range sensor, not sure if I'm just inattentive.
Cloaking does not affect your visuals. Master Thieves SPAWN at the edge of your vision, hence your sensors can't pick them up in advance. They also disappear into thin air the moment they leave your vision with your item stolen.

Quote
Those disruptiors are evil. Are fliers expected to keep treads in backup for them?
This is pretty much a challenge more. Some fliers can outrun Trackers. Others should leave the level before Trackers spawn. Maybe some flight builds are able to fight them? I generally don't enable Trackers in the first place if I don't have the combat capabilities to fight them off (I never enabled them on flight).



Quote
Do friendly bots with NEW chat have a different '?' than repeated chats?
Green '?' means a new lore piece or a run-relevant intel. Some '?' are darker, because the unarmed robots are darker. :P

Quote
How do security levels affect hack difficulties? Actually, what the heck is the generic hack formula?
Direct hacks at SL2 (security level 2) have half the base chance of the same hack on SL1 (rounded down). SL3 has half the chance of SL2. Then, the manual hacks have 15% further penalty to success chance per SL. For example, Access(branch) has 30% chance as a direct hack on SL1, 15% on SL2 and 7% on SL3. Manual Access(branch) will have (30-15)% chance on SL1, (15-30)% on SL2 and (7-45)% on SL3. Unathorized hacks (trojans and force hacks) do not suffer penalty from manual hacking (they are like direct hacks).

Quote
You should probably mention that the latent energy streamer gives corruption. maybe. /s
Exiles items are not properly tested (or designed...) and may have a number of different, unknown side effects.
Side effects may or may not include system corruption, part breakdown, leaking fluids, explosions, being crushed, seeing ASCII and spontaneous disassembly. Before use, consult your engineer.

Quote
Stealbots will show when taking the only 2 items from an ABANDONED exile map. Rude.
Wait, abandoned Exiles map is supposed to have only 1 item?

Quote
Really would be nice to be able to swap 2-slot parts. Surely there's some 'I can try my best' way of it being done?
Likewise I need a way to swap arbitrary parts with stuff on the ground.
I agree, it would be nice. :)

Quote
I utterly loathe this new robot hacking. Seems needlessly obtuse, especially as I keep having to alt-tab to find out what all these hacks do.
But you can right-click (or use some keyboard shortcut, which I don't know, since I'm a filthy mouse user) each hack to know what it does.

Quote
Watching/hearing 3rd party fights can take FOREVER. needs an option to speed up/remove animations.
Speaking thereof, I hate that sometimes I choose my weapons based on how fast they fire.
I agree to both. I especially dislike Core Cannon's animation for that reason.

Quote
Rev17 died on -3. Do I care?
Maybe. :)

Quote
A7 didn't give me the main.c code. Maybe because I was RIF'd?
Nothing to do with RIF, but with something else you did/didn't do.

Quote
What determines the exits of Garrisons? Sometimes it goes back to the same level, sometimes to the next?
It's random. Except that if you already got RIF on this floor, then the next Garrison on this floor will lead to the next depth. ALso, you can't be looped back if you entered a branch on this floor (but you can be spewed out to the next area of this branch line).

17
I play in fullscreen. The bug occurs every time, on every map (even far away from borders). I'm not sure when it started.
I attach my config file and the save.

I checked my early Beta 9 (before 9.1?) stream and noticed no issue there.

I recall I had a similar problem (more severe, though, making map panning via mouse unusable) around Beta 4 or 5, but it fixed itself a version or two later.

18
I start with my view centered on Cogmind, see screenshot.png. Note that my cursor is on the right, next to the parts list (in red circle). I hold down shift. So far, so good.
Then I move my mouse down and left. The moment I mouse over a different tile (while still holding shift) than the one I had my mouse on when I pressed shift, the view centers on tile marked by cursor. I moved my mouse down and left, but I ended up moving my view right and up. Now the cursor is in the center of my view (see screenshot2.png) and map paning works properly from now on.

19
OK...
I just wish I could see somewhere how much heat I generate while I constantly fire to compare it with my heat dissipation per turn. So that I could know whether I will eventually overheat or not and how fast I'm approaching overheating.

20
Panning the map via shift+mouse_movement jumps view to the current cursor location, before properly moving the map view.

21
I believe volley window is supposed to show heat generated per turn. In the attached save, with Adv. Weapon Cycler turned off, it shows me 100 heat per turn, whereas it should be 200/2,50, which is below 100. With Adv. Weapon Cycler turned on, the displayed heat generation per turn increases to 200, whereas it should be 200/1,88, which is slightly above 100.

22
General Discussion / Re: [SPOILER] Unexplained Lore
« on: April 14, 2020, 09:04:13 AM »
[I was thinking whether I should necro this topic or start a new one and just link to this one. I decided the latter option makes it more annoying to read, so here we go.]

Apparently CRM does NOT identify Golem or Assembled parts. This suggests that they are not created by Sigix. But them becoming friendly to you if you use CRM ties them to Sigix in some way. Did some mad scientist goe his hands on some Sigix tech and created Assemblers based on it? Was the reaction to CRM his intention? Or did he copy some piece of Sigix equipment without understanding it?

We haven't met anyone who seems to know about Assembled origins. Maybe the Architects know something? Assembled being a distraction for MC is certainly convenient for Architects. But they aren't vocal about that. Architects have access to some Sigix equipment so they actually seem to be the likely culprits.

Then again, the Assembled seemed to copy technology they saw in the Complex and among the Derelicts, then produced it using local materials. So maybe that's why these parts are not in the factory default Sigix parts database. Parts used by Golems do not look like a copy of anything, though. And these aren't identified by CRM either.

23
Here's the save from right after I entered -1 with Perun not doing anything again.

24
OK, so I sat at Zh for a while, releasing a drone and ordering it to return. It didn't matter whether I turned on the drone bay before it returned or not. I was not moving and nothing (not even the other drone) was obstructing the path of the returning drone. No enemies were involved anywhere, nor any weird commands. The bug still occured once in a while.

25
I seem to be able to reproduce it (with the drones).

In this save I:
1. Release both drones.
2. Tell my drones to return.
3. Turn on the drone bay.
4. Move until both drones are released again (if the drone bay got turned off before releasing both drones, I turn it on again).

It happens about once in 5 iterations of those steps. But the steps are quick to do, so repeating it until the bug occurs takes only a minute or less.

EDIT: Umm... Nevermind. I got "lucky" getting this bug a few times in a row. But at least this excludes some possibilities like drones aggroing on enemies/trying to perform their last order and so on. I will keep investigating.

EDIT 2: Yeah, the steps to reproduce seem to work from time to time. I couldn't figure out what causes them to SOMETIMES cause the bug, but other times not.

EDIT 3: Moving is not necessary. I just wait and repeat the release-return cycle.

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