Star Traders: Frontiers News

Hey all, hope your quarters are cozy and your cargo holds full this season. :christmas_tree: :fire: :star: For all our captains in the void, our gift to you is a fresh update, #309: Flashing Signals. This year, we've taken a trip through the community suggestions and feedback and cherry picked a number of great quality of life suggestions and balance improvements to help us prepare for the new year.

Thank you all for your support, feedback, posts, shares and reviews. We would not be here without all of you, so thank you, happy gaming and happy holidays!

[h2]New Year, New Game Coming![/h2]
We always love seeing how many of you have pieced together the lore of Star Traders from the stories within, and enjoy the flavor of this universe your Captain is a part of. In our next game, we’re telling a very different sci-fi story but with the same depth we bring to all our worlds. Check out the dark-future feel of our upcoming cyberpunk heist RPG, and wishlist it today!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Inline Combat Dice Results[/h2]
Update #309 follows up on a great player suggestion to include the results of the dice rolls for movement, attack and boarding rolls inline in the on-screen display for each ship combat action. While all of this data is available in longform in the ship combat log, it is very helpful and educational to be able to see the numbers for the different actions flashing by. It immediately makes it far easier to get a sense of the tip of the balance and the sudden changes that a powerful buff or critical hit can have on the dice pools.


While the numbers flash by quickly, you can get the sense of the combat situation in a single series of salvos, seeing your own firing crew piling up 34+ successes on each attack and then enemy ranging from 19-28 gives you a strong sense of your own ability to land hits without having to dig through the full report of the combat log.


[h2]Merchant's Garner Favor[/h2]
The Merchant's Garner Favor has long been a power Talent which yielded outside results rapidly -- granting a Reputation bonus up to your Negotiation Skill (!!) for a trade over $5,000. Previously, the balance on this power Talent was to cap its Rep gain once you hit positive 80 which reduces the overall usefulness of the Talent and targets it for Respec once it has outlived its usefuless.

With Update #309, Garner Favor has been rewritten to be useful more broadly. Now, featuring a 10% + Negotiation Skill chance to granting a Reputation bonus on a $5,000+ trade it no longer needs a cap and can be evergreen beneficial. In addition, the possible Reputation bonus is based on the size of the trade, with each extra $2,500 in profit yielding a potential Rep bonus point. While this can cap out around 20 Rep per trade, the low level Talent now has room to grow and be useful in the Merchant's long-term kit.

[h2]Prize Ship Talents Improvements[/h2]
With Update #309, we've rebalanced Prize Ship Talents to improve their profitability. The spread of Talent results has increased allowing a wider range for more profit balanced against more Reputation damage. In all, the profit %s are up and the Reputation damage numbers are down, so Prize Ship Talents are more competitive even as we widen their results range within the set.


[h2]Ship Components Flagged[/h2]
Those ship components which are faction specific now have their faction origin displayed prominently in ship status and in the starport screen when you are considering replacing components. This can help you differentiate between icons with the same component, remember which specialized components you have and generally speed up shopping and ship analysis. Thanks to the players suggestion this one!

[h2]v3.3.19 - 12/24/20222[/h2]
- In Ship Combat, results of dice rolls for move, escape, boarding and attacks are shown in results
- Rebalanced Merchant's "Garner Favor" to use 10% + Negotiation chance to gain Rep Bonus, removed cap on Rep
- Improved balance and profitability of prize ship talents, wider range of results enabling high profit or no Rep loss
- Faction flags are now shown over ship components in all instances (ship status, starport ship layout, etc)
- Clarified that reductions in Hyperwarp Jump time can never exceed 50%
- Fixed crash in Auto-Battle for crew combat if character carried Sniper Rifle and trained AOE Talent
- Fixed HUD overlap issues on iOS devices with white bar

Update #308 adds 4 new pieces of gear you find in early-game Orbital Salvage and rebalances the life of the clothing merchant -- both regular Clothing and Luxury Clothing and increased the risks of Salvaging while Radiation Storms hover over the quadrant.

Thanks to everyone posting feedback, reviews and sharing the game with friends this wintery season. The Pirate's Life Community Challenge is still on-going so be sure to join up and we'll see you on the boards --

[h2]Our upcoming heist RPG is on the way![/h2]
Right now ~1,000 of the Kickstarter backers for Cyber Knights: Flashpoint have access to the game’s private alpha and are giving us great feedback as the game gets closer to Early Access. Make sure you’ve wishlisted and followed Cyber Knights for news and a special discount when it’s released!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Early Game Salvage Loot[/h2]
With Update #308, we've expanded the options for lootable items while Salvaging. These new items focus on survivability builds, increasing Armor, Fortitude and Initiative and are great starters but will likely be phased out by future purchases and discoveries during Salvage or stories.

The new items include the Tarbax Plate (+Armor, +Debuff Res), Penta Scale (+Armor, +Dodge, +Fortitude), Galbreth Bright (+Resilience, +Debuff Res, +Deflection) and Memret Scale (+Armor, +Init).


[h2]Economics of Cloth[/h2]
The life of a cloth merchant has gotten more interesting with Update #308 as the flow of both regular Clothing and Luxury Clothing has seen overhaul.

There are minor and major changes to demand and production -- Farming zones are now major producers of Clothing while Industrial and Hi-Tech Orbitals have had minor increases to Luxury Clothing production. Population and Tradeway demand for clothing has increased. The voracious Luxury Population zones want Luxury Clothing even more than before.

And there are some new vectors altogether -- Hi-Tech Orbitals no longer manufacture Clothing and Tradeways are now interested in Luxury Clothing where they were not before.

And remember, all of these demand factors are scaled by the zone's Population, so the highly populous Lux Pop zones -- so seek out those large pop worlds for the best trade triangles.

[h2]Dangerous Salvage[/h2]
Salvaging under dangerous conditions -- with disastrous Radiation Storms threatening on the horizon -- has become even more risky. Now, the "Reduce Duration" card which will slash the durations of other positive Rumors in the area savagely are even more likely to appear when you have Radiation Storm Rumors in the Quadrant. This is another way that the risk in Salvaging ticks up and that the local context is even more important to your choice of when and where to take these risks.

[h2]v3.3.17 - 12/6/2022[/h2]
- Economy adjustments for Clothing, Luxury Clothing to improve trade flow
- During Quadrant-wide Radiation Storms, Orbital Rumors will draw 50% more Rumor Duraction Reduction cards
- Added 4 additional early-game Salvage loot items focused on combat survivability
- New Military Gear: Tarbax Underplate
- New Relic Gear: Penta Scale
- New Medical Gears: Galbreth Bright, Memret Scaling
- Minor performance improvements, fixed reported typos & crashes

Update #307 follows on the Zucho Mil-Accords with an addititional positive Trait reward card for Salvaging, updated rules for all Trait cards from Salvaging, rebalances to key components like Water-Fuel Reclamation and a new useful bonus for all Meshes, Weaves and Coating ship components.

Thanks to everyone sharing the game, posting to the forums and leaving a review as we drop this newest update.

Speaking of new, new new -- if word hasn't trickled down from the tippity top of the New Boston spires, leaked below the streets and drip-drip-dripped into your safehouse, we're here to tell you about our upcoming turn-based cyberpunk heist RPG. Cyber Knights: Flashpoint will be coming to Steam in 2022 and mixes stealth, hacking and tactical combat with deep RPG elements and a unique heist system for missions. The wishlist button is calling your name, Knight.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210?snr=1_2108_9__2107

[h2]Extended Pirate's Life Challenge[/h2]
We've been thrilled by the number of captains jumping into the Pirate's Life Challenge and have decided to extend it through January of 2023. To keep it spicey and dicey, we've added two new wrinkles for you to try out if you want to -- or just play it under the original challenge rules!

1. Be a pirate against only a single faction. Pick one and be merciless.
   
2. Be a pirate against everyone. Be an indie pirate and go after every faction. How will you make it when everyone is turned against you?
   

[h2]New Salvage Card: Far From Home[/h2]
A new +5 Salvage card has appeared in Update #307, the "Far From Home" card grants a rare chance to gain a positive Trait from a short list of Traits that all improve Death Save, such as Durable, Lucky, Revenant and Life-Spark.

Also, for all other cards that add Traits, we have improved the rules for how they seek and find crew to give those Traits to as well as ensuring that in the case that Traits can't be granted (everyone has all the Traits!) then large XP bonuses are granted instead and the result text is more clear.


[h2]Coating, Weaves and Meshes[/h2]
With Update #307, we've improved the position in the meta for 3 wide categories of ship component types: Coatings, Weaves and Meshes. These components now help buff either Radiation or Void Resistance, making them more useful to a wider variety of ships.

[h2]Water-Fuel Reclamation 4[/h2]
A number of components have been repriced and rebalanced in Update #307 as we are taking a moment to sweep the ship component catalog, improve balance, pricing and progression as we prepare for future adjustments.

Water-Fuel Reclamation 4 now adds +18 more Water-Fuel (up to 48 now), reduces 4 more fuel when jumping (up to -16 now) and adds +2 more Navigation skill pool (up to 4 now). It is a significantly more appealing component and a more viable step up from WFR 3 now.


[h2]Late Era Stories[/h2]
Update #307 also fixed an issue that was identified by the help of some highly experienced captains. In games with far advanced dates that had completed the final story Era, a bug introduced by modding support could prevent certain sets of new storylines from starting in the game. This bug did cover the recently added Zucho Mil-Accords and the follow-on story event we added for Consolidation / Dissension in Update #305.

We also fixed a bug with the Research Lead contact added in Update #305 to fix the useless "Special Service" to a service offering Specialist Wing Gear.

[h2]v3.3.15 - 11/30/2022[/h2]
- Improved trait-granting rules for "Impactful Expedition" Orbital Card
- Added new rare trait-granting card focused on Death Save Traits (+5 Salvage Reward Card)
- Hull Coating, Weaves and Meshes now grant some Radiation & Void Resistance
- Completely Rebalanced "Water-Fuel Reclamation 4"
- Repriced & rebalanced "Ferrochromium Plating"
- Repriced & rebalanced "Iridlaentine Weave-Coating"
- Fixed dead-end "Special Service" in Research Lead Contact to be Wing Gear
- Fixed bug preventing new stories from proccing into very old saved games beyond the last Era
- Minor platform support patches, fixed report crashes & text issues

What better way to welcome a 30% off deal for Autumn Sale than to launch update #306! Yes, that's update 3-0-6. A huge thanks to the community on Steam and Discord. for all the feedback and help improving the game and welcoming new captains to the void. If you're enjoying the game and the pace of updates, please take a moment to share it with a friend and post a review!

With Update #306: Zucho Mil, we've added a new story event that will usually occur in the second half of the 3rd century AE and makes a new grade of craft available as well as adding a new orbital operation card.

[h2]What’s the latest on Cyber Knights?[/h2]
Earlier this year, we launched Cyber Knights: Flashpoint’s private alpha test for Kickstarter backers, following the same tried-and-true process we used for Star Traders: Frontiers. With 1,000 in the game now, development pace has picked up and we’re on the long march to release on Steam, so make sure you’ve wishlisted (and followed!), or join us for behind-the-scenes discussion and development snapshots in our Discord.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Zucho Mil-Accords & Grade 8 Craft[/h2]
Following on other major Trade Alliance events, the Zucho Mil-Accords features a triple military Alliance event and usher in an era of grade 8 craft. These most powerful new craft to hit starports are available through Syndicate channels only as these factions harden their stance against the Great Houses and Clans late in the third century AE.

Visit De Valtos for the newest Frostburn VX6 interdictor, Cadar with the Poseidon heavy bomber and Rychart with the Swordbreaker XV shuttle for daring boarding operations.


[h2]New Risks Arise in Orbital[/h2]
Late in the third century, it becomes more and more common for the factions to illegally deploy anti-ship mines in orbit to prevent piracy, protect salvage sites and try to ward off spies. Even those valiant militants patrolling to protect the void are at risk. The most famous of all types is the Zucho Anti-Ship Mine which begin to appear after the triple Alliance during certain types of Rumors including Terrox and Jyeeta Xeno rumors, Pirate and Solar War Conflicts.

In additional, some types of Rumors -- both good and bad -- have become less likely to be ended early during Conflicts. The chance of any card that reduces Rumor duration such as Salvage or Blockade of cards that can reduce Salvage and Quarantine Rumors is now reduced during Conflicts.

We've also addressed the recently reported crashes so a huge thanks goes out to everyone helping surface these issues.

[h2]v3.3.13 - 11/23/2022[/h2]
- Added new story event -- Syndicate Zucho Mil-Accord -- which creates a triple military Alliance and releases grade 8 craft
- New Interdictor: Frostburn VX6 (grade 8; De Valtos)
- New Shuttle: Swordbreaker XV (grade 8; Rychart)
- New Bomber: Poseidon Heavy (grade 8; Cadar)
- After Zucho Mil-Accord, Zucho Anti-Ship Mines appear as Orbital Risks during Xeno, Jyeeta, Pirate and Syndicate Wars
- During Conflicts Orbital Rumors will draw 50% fewer Rumor Duration Reduction cards
- Minor performance improvements, fixed reported typos & crashes

Welcome to Update #305, which adds new planetary artwork and a new set of late-game story events that further reward your story choices, show technological advancement in the factions and introduce unique components and Contact types.

We're also excited to share the November community challenge - it's a Pirate's Life (For Me!) - join in the fun and the silly hats!
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/335620/view/3376037401308938450

[h2]Want more Trese Brothers sci-fi?[/h2]
We always love seeing how many of you have pieced together the lore of Star Traders from the stories within, and enjoy the flavor of this universe your Captain is a part of. In our next game, we’re telling a very different sci-fi story but with the same depth we bring to all our worlds. Check out the dark-future feel of our upcoming cyberpunk heist RPG, and wishlist it today!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Post Consolidation / Dissension Tech Progress[/h2]
On the far end of the Consolidation / Dissension Era, there is already a story event in which a specific faction -- based on your actions or inaction -- gains a new technology that enables a powerful and unique ship component. As the years grind by and you continue to ply the void, these research advances are now allowed to further progress and in time, a second story event will occur which further improves the ship component category where the faction focused their advances -- Alta Mesa on the Battle Bridges, De Valtos on ECCM Screen Matrix and Thulun on Interlocking Sensor Matrix. Each component is the pinnacle of its chain of components and worthy of their high price tag.

I'll skip further spoilers about the Era and the involved choices, but it is a new story event, ship component and even -- a new Contact type.


[h2]New Research Lead Contact[/h2]
A new unique Contact will appear with the story event -- and this Research Lead has a great set of services, makes for a very powerful ally in a starport and recruits Pilots and a powerful secondary Job depending on the faction they are due to story choices. As some of the factions continue to develop their power centers around the Coalition, their research arms continue to break out ahead of the competition.

[h2]v3.3.11 - 11/24/2022[/h2]
- Added new "Distant Glacier" Ice World outpost image
- Added story event post Consolidation / Dissension, further research progress for factions
- Meeting unique and powerful contact "Research Lead"
- Gain access to new high-level component based on Era choices
- Added new component: Alta Mesa stands to gain Battle Bridge 4
- Added new component: De Valtos can gain ECCM Screen Matrix 6
- Added new component: Thulun can gain Interlocking Sensor Matrix 6