Star Traders: Frontiers News

Update #328 adds the new Cargo Hold 6, improves a Zendu Trait and also adds another set of deepening simulation connections between game systems and Rumors - Rumors and Black Market, Rumors and Rare Trade Goods

[h2]New Cargo Hold[/h2]
Cargo Hold 6 is a beast - the top of the line large cargo hold for your merchant's cargo long hauler. The expansive fuel capacity pairs well with the recently updated Longhaul Engines. So whether your running Salvage or Explorer with a Javat mining rig, or just hauling cargo for credits, this is the upgrade for you. Load up on expensive Permit-only goods or seeking out even more difficult to obtain Rare Trade Goods, the Cargo Hold 6 is a big investment but helps keep those merchanting margins high.

[h2]Improved Black Market[/h2]
Overall, we've pushed the chances of drawing access cards - which are the success cards int he Black Market - about 5% higher with a bit of a bias toward higher level access cards.

In the case of Rumors like Spice Festival and Civil Unrest we've made the Black Market access cards - in which you reach the market - twice as likely to be drawing in to the hand of 5 cards. Also, access cards with higher level of access are now more prevalent.

[h2]Rumor + RTG Intersection[/h2]
We're expanding Rumors effects by allowing them to interact with the Rare Trade Good generation and economy. This is another exciting intertwining of important systems and we're excited to continue to make changes in this regard that deepen their relationship.

For example, Shortage Rumors on the planets responsible for Rare Trade Good supplies will trigger spikes in prices for the goods as the news travels. We've mapped out some more cool ideas for Rumor interaction like with Civil Unrest and Xenos driving supply and pricing changes as well.


[h2]Contact Simulation[/h2]
To help protect high powered Contacts, we've added some new rules that prevent low Influence Contacts from actually making an attempt at killing them. This helps strengthen the simulation and improve the chances for higher Influence Contacts to outlive their peers.


[h2]Zendu Lineage[/h2]
This Zendu Trait has gained a full point of +1 Initiative. The memories of your lineage's past, regardless of how fragment give you nearly preternatural reaction time, now for a total of +3 Initiative.
 
[h2]v3.3.65 - 11/10/2023[/h2]
- New Ship Component: Cargo Hold 6 (yw, merchants)
- Reduced rate of low-influence Contacts attempting to assassinate high-influence rivals
- Rumors on RTG origin world can now cause market and pricing changes (more soon)
- Balance Change: Black Market overall +5% Success Rate
- Double Success Rate for Black Market Under Spice Festival, Civil Unrest
- Contact Influence spent on Rumor duration is return to Contacts if the Rumor ends early
- Buffed: Zendu Lineage Gains +1 Init for +3 Total
- Nerfed: Relic Deathward looses -5% Bleed Res

The update train continues with Update #327: Longhaul It! This one adds a new level 10 ship weapon, new rare gear, improves all Longhaul engines regardless of Mass, improves starting Contact balance and fixed the fix for the Acheron Battlecarrier.

If you're enjoying the game and the updates, please leave a review and share the game with a friend!

[h2]Our new game has started Early Access![/h2]
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, our stealth & squad tactics heist RPG, just launched into Steam Early Access! Featuring in-depth character builds, turn-based stealth & combat, and an all-new story engine that selects storylines and weaves different members of your squad and contacts into them based on how you’ve played.

All support for Cyber Knights ultimately results in a brighter future for Star Traders, so hope you’ll check it out and spread the word!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]First New Level 10 Weapon[/h2]
The new M115 Twin Autocannon breaches the level 10 weapon barrier! Exciting, highly expensive and highly powerful, the M115 offers intensely high (90%!) chance to hit enemy craft as well as best-in-class accuracy against enemy capital ships (+14). Like other higher level weapons, it is unlocked alongside Level 9 weapons by the grand sweep of story and Eras.

We've also made fixes to the M101 Tracker Cannon which had some odd values set for its level, price and the minimum zone stats required to buy it.


[h2]Longhaul Fuel Boosts[/h2]
All Longhaul type Void Engines have gained a new and key boost -- extra fuel! Ranging from +25 to +55 depending on the Mass of the engine, these Longhauls now directly help your ship live up to its name, even beyond the regular Engine Speed's effect. This helps them stand out in the set of engines for their purpose.

To the benefit of small ships interested in using Longhauls, the lower Mass Traveller and Longhaul Engines now come with Armor, which can help take pressure off other components in an already small ship.

[h2]New Rare Hogobloxin Balm[/h2]
Another rare piece of gear you made need to salvage high level wrecks to find, the new Hogobloxin Balm adds +3 to Wisdom, Resilience and Charisma as well as adding +25 Debuff Resistance.

Speaking of ultra rare loot, we've rebalanced the newly added Deathward down to +21 Resilience (from +24) and tweaked its loot drop rules so that it is even less likely to appear early in your career.

 
[h2]Contact Balances[/h2]
With Update #327, we've adjusted the starting Influence of Retired Blademaster, Naval Doctor, Spice Presser Contacts. Mosty to their benefit, these new starting Influence values can be especially helpfulf or new starting contacts who may or may not be your allies. This lets them be more active in the simulation and protects them a bit from early and sudden death.

[h2]v3.3.63 - 11/8/2023[/h2]
- New Ship Weapon: M115 Twin Autocannon (Level 10! What?)
- New Rare Loot Gear: Hogobloxin Balm
- All Longhaul pattern engines now offer additional fuel storage, from 25 to 55 depending on mass
- Low mass Traveller and Longhaul Engines now have Armor points, are Armored components
- Reworked 'Kiret Karat' Relic 2nd Hand Blade (low damage, high accuracy)
- Contact Influence has much larger impact on duration of Rumors purchased by Contacts
- Increased range of Zone Rumors `Court Scientist` Contact can attempt to purchase
- Increased Starting Influence for: Retired Blademaster, Naval Doctor, Spice Presser Contacts
- Relic Deathward reduced from +24 to +21 Resilience
- Fixed reported problems with 'Acheron Battlecarrier'
- Fixed issues with M101 Tracker Cannon (Level, Availability, Cost)

Welcome back to the update train with Update #326! We had to take a break recently (reasons explained below) from updates but we're excited to get back to the priority list for Star Traders: Frontiers. We've still got some exciting things in store, so let's get busy --

If you're enjoying the game and the updates, please leave a review and share the game with a friend!

[h2]Our new game has started Early Access![/h2]
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, our stealth & squad tactics heist RPG, just launched into Steam Early Access! Featuring in-depth character builds, turn-based stealth & combat, and an all-new story engine that selects storylines and weaves different members of your squad and contacts into them based on how you’ve played.

All support for Cyber Knights ultimately results in a brighter future for Star Traders, so hope you’ll check it out and spread the word!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]New Relic[/h2]
The ultra-rare Relic Deathward will not be an easy find. Salvaging medical wrecks, exploring the most dangerous and desolate places, you might come across this ancient and forgotten tech. But taking it in hand, you'll gain +30 Bleed Res (goodbye Bleeds!) and a near unimaginable +24 Resilience.

[h2]Mutiny Improvements[/h2]
After the good changes in Update #325 that fixed how Captain's Talents were selected during a Mutiny (they can now be used even if Captain is low Morale) we've returned to Mutiny again to do further improvements and house-cleaning.

Any crew member who has the "Loyal" or "Revere's Authority" Trait will also correctly offer their Talents during a Mutiny, even if their Morale is below the line. This matches the rule exception for the Captain and further helps those stalwart supporters in your crew make a difference at this critical time.

To help stave off the repeat Mutiny issue, a new offer of "Large Pay Raise" has been added which can trade even more promise of future credits in for +50 Morale instead of the normal +20. While more expensive, this option is one that will put the Mutiny to bed for a while and can be really helpful in open space, or if there are no ports of good harbor and high Spice nearby to help you improve your Morale in other ways.

Cutting against you, we now consider the levels of the mutinous crew when determining how much damage they could cause if they are met in battle. The damage numbers goes up if you allow higher level crew to reach a point of Mutiny (which, to be clear, is very rare).


[h2]Boarding is no longer "No Action[/h2]
We fixed a bug that was popping a confirmation when you attempted to board and do nothing else during a ship combat turn. Apologies about that, boarders!
 
[h2]v3.3.61 - 11/3/2023[/h2]
- New Ultra-rare Gear: Relic Deathward
- Improved Mutiny results display for Bribes and Payments
- Added new additional "Large Pay Raise" option to grant +50 Morale instead of the normal +20
- Now "Loyal" and "Reverse Authority" Crew will now even offer Mutiny Talents, even if morale too low
- Talents that prevent Morale loss now work to player's benefit during Mutiny
- While rare, Mutiny with high level Crew is now more dangerous (higher damage numbers)
- Fixed SFX for Rank 15 Combat Medic Talent: Flechette Rounds
- Fixed issue where confirmation dialog for no action would appear in ship combat even if boarding

Captains, you've seen it in the Star Traders updates for a long time now, and it's finally arrived! Cyber Knights: Flashpoint - our squad tactics heist RPG - launched on Steam today! 🎉🎉🎉 It's our first 3D game and a big step up for our studio; we'd love for you to check it out.

Like Star Traders: Frontiers, Cyber Knights is an in-depth RPG with a ton of replayability, endless character build possibilities, and a contact system that expands even further on the traits, reputation, and living web of influence and relationships that you can impact.

Come take a look and see if Cyber Knights' smart turn-based tactics, heist strategy layer, and unique 23rd-century cyberpunk looks fun to you. If it's not your style of game, no worries, even just spreading the word about it helps support us and the possibilities for Star Traders' future.



We're looking forward to a great Early Access where player ideas and feedback shape the game every bit as much as they did Star Traders. And don't worry, we might be fully-focused on Cyber Knights' launch right now, but we'll be back with more for Star Traders: Frontiers too.

You've lived long sailing the stars with us. Now come live fast and die young running these cyberpunk streets.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

It's Update #325 for Star Traders: Frontiers with some new QoL features requested by the community! This week, we've added new quick randomization options to new game to help you find your perfect Captain persona, added a confirmation button to ending the turn without any action in Ship Combat, saved Mutinied captains from themselves and fixed a number of hot-topic reported bugs.

If you like the pace of updates, please take a minute to leave a review, share the game or just post some feedback! Feedback goes straight into updates :D


[h2]New Game Randomize[/h2]
With Update #325, you can now rapidly randomize your Captain's name and appearance. The randomization will keep to regular outfits (without mix-and-match legs and torso) and currently does not add any accessories. Personally, I'm loving this new addition as a way to find a cool looking and sounding new captain with some speed clicking.

Let us know how it works for you! Should we add it to the main roster as well?


[h2]Skipped Turn Confirmation[/h2]
In ship combat, if you happen to hit End Turn without putting in any orders -- no Talents used, no weapons fired, no craft launched and no move orders issued -- you'll get a once per combat confirmation dialog to ensure you really want to skip out. If you do choose to continue anyway, we'll leave you alone and not ask again. If you want to correct a mistake, then the confirmation will reappear if the mistake is made again.

Thanks to the community for always pressing us to improve the game!

[h2]Captain Mutiny Talents[/h2]
There was a bug with Captain Mutiny Talents that was counting Captains out of using their own Talents to quell mutinies if their Morale was very low. That is a lot less fun for Pirate captains and the like! This is now resolved and your Captain will always be able to use their anti-Mutiny Talents regardless of their low Morale. A captain never joins against themselves in a Mutiny ... and if they do, they've got bigger problems.

[h2]Nine Blade Cut Debuff[/h2]
There was an issue where Nine Blade Cut's debuff was getting cleared by Talents that remove Buffs. This is now resolved.

We also fixed a bug with Disarming Sabotage not finding weapons in some cases.

[h2]v3.3.59 - 8/27/2023[/h2]
- Added button to randomize captain name in new game
- Added button to randomize captain outfit in new game
- Added confirmation dialog if you take now action (talent, weapons, craft, move order) in ship combat (confirm only once)
- Fixed bug that would prevent a low Morale Captain from using Talents during Mutiny
- Fixed bug allowing Nine Blade Cut debuff from being removed from enemy
- Fixed issue with Disarming Sabotage always reporting that there are no enemy weapons