StarMade Dev Update: NPC Factions

[schema]

Hello players,

the NPC update has a lot in store. Read all about it here:

StarMade News - StarMade Dev Update: NPC Factions

Thanks for playing StarMade,
- schema and the Schine Team

 

[Daeridanii]

It's happening!
The hype is real.

 

[DukeofRealms]

Just so it is clear, this is not the NPC update release. It's a public development build release for public testing.

 

[Calhoun]

 

[StormWing0]

hmm also noticed that the game likes to kill over when you blow up one of their main stations. Especially if it's their HQ. Will send in logs later.

 

[Sen OTS Tier]

 

[kiddan]

Oooh, this looks a lot more fleshed-out than I expected. Colour me (extra) impressed!

 

[reptillianstew]

Impressive stuff so far, especially on the diplomacy and trading fronts. I'm looking forward to getting back into survival after this all gets fleshed out

 

[kiddan]

Oh, and also. Boarding! There's gonna be more ships that are big enough to use boarding tactics on now. The only thing we'll be missing for now is crew on those AI ships that retaliate. =)

 

[IG-1000]

 

[Shaker]

How is the player able to control the same amount of systems as a NPC? does the NPC faction have a limit to the amount of systems it can take?

 

[Borr]

Well done Schine! Can't wait to invade some server when new features are ready. The only question I have at the moment:
We will be able to have similar simulation features like: mining fleets simulation, factories simulation, when we are offline? I'm asking because Starmade is already time consuming, and a lot of us have limited time to play.

 

[Napther]

How is the player able to control the same amount of systems as a NPC? does the NPC faction have a limit to the amount of systems it can take?

If you read the notes fully, its referenced that each new system they take costs more and more "resources" to claim. Its easily missed though.

So as a faction expands and takes say 10 systems. The 11th system will cost as much as the first 5 systems (Depending on how its set) to claim. Just like standard faction point turns, The more systems we claim the less FP we gain per day, the NPC Faction loses a lump sum of resources to expand, then a "Maintenance fee" for things in that system
Standard Faction point system allows you as a single player to claim up to 5 systems adjacent in a +(plus) shape around your home base, IIRC
[doublepost=1479552147,1479551992][/doublepost]

And all hail the space whale

 

[Jananton]

A very interesting read those mechanics of the new NPC faction system. As an explorer / survival enthusiast, rather more then a war monger, I was happy to see lots of attention to the standing between factions, real or artificial, and the diplomacy possibilities to change that standing. Also the hint that NPC's can offer changes in the status of the standing themselves is a very interesting development.

I'll be honest, I probably don't have the time to try out the current dev build, but patience is my middle name.

In any case, this looks like a very welcome update just around the corner, great work guys, it looks like the universe will come to life now.

Greets,

Jan

 

[Jake_Lancia]

Aww yiss it's happening

Also I'm gonna start building and updating a bunch of ships and stations in preparation for any other contests as mentioned in the linked post.

 

[Shaker]

If you read the notes fully, its referenced that each new system they take costs more and more "resources" to claim. Its easily missed though.

you didnt answer my question.....
i asked if there is a limit, not how they take systems.

 

[Napther]

you didnt answer my question.....
i asked if there is a limit, not how they take systems.

Short answer.
YES.
Tghere is an arbitrary limit to how many systems they can claim because of the mechanics I have just explained.
They KNOW that NPCs if left unchecked, will expand far too much.

However the limiters can be removed to make a Plague Faction. Borg, Reavers...

Attending Starmade streams gives insider dev knowledge. Listen in. Never know what you might hear.

 

[Reilly Reese]

 

[Lancake]

How is the player able to control the same amount of systems as a NPC? does the NPC faction have a limit to the amount of systems it can take?

A normal player right now can't possibly hold 25-50 systems on their own due to balancing (Faction points) and missing mechanics.
Eventually, player factions will have access to similar tools that NPC factions use. For example passive mining of claimed systems and unloaded production in some form. Also assigning fleets to systems where they defend your structures etc.

As for NPC's, they have a soft limit right now. Every time they conquer a system, they also need to maintain it and spend even more resources to take another system. Depending on the config values we chose, the faction would level out at a certain amount of systems where the maintenance costs are the same as what it can produce/trade.

That's what the testing phase is about too. Tester or player feedback will result in us adjusting formulas and/or config values
Wouldn't surprise me if we put a hard limit on their system count just in case.

 

[Valck]

Attending Starmade streams gives insider dev knowledge. Listen in. Never know what you might hear.

Sadly that is true. Not everyone has the time, stamina, or even the technical means to view live streams. It would be nice if they were summarized and posted. I'm not asking for full transcripts, just the gist of what was discussed.