Star Traders: Frontiers News

Update #283 continues a series of improvements to carrier and craft, enables quick use of save slot with keyboard shortcuts, brings the BOOM with the addition of PlasBombers and improves Salvage profits from destroy ships. It's new content, community-requested quality of life features and fine-tuned balancing. It's Update #283, the Plasma Depth-Charge!

If you are enjoying the pace of updates and new content please remember to leave a review and tell a friend.

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]Quick Save Slot Access[/h2]
Save Slots just got one big step easier to use! There are now 4 configurable hotkeys that can let you save to a slot straight from the game's main map. Defaulting to 7, 8, 9 and 0 these respectively save to slots 1, 2, 3 and 4. As with most hotkeys, we suggest you bind them to fit perfectly into your keyboard setup. While playing this morning, one thing that I found that worked well was to move just one of the save slot hotkeys under my main hand so I could mash it all the time as a basic "auto-save". When I wanted and alternate slot, I'd lift my hand and go for the other bindings.

As always, thanks to the community for posting suggestions, feedback and reviews to help us improve the game!


[h2]PlasBombers![/h2]
With Update #283, we've added 3 new types of bomber craft which all pack powerful and disabling PlasBombs. Trading the usual hull-busting power of bombers for extreme Radiation Damage and high Crippling %, PlasBombers focus on disabling a ship instead of destroying it outright. Especially well paired with mid-range capital ship weapons like Plasma Cannons or long range disabling Torpedoes, PlasBombers give an entirely new angle to carrier combat which focuses on burning out the enemy crew and components while leaving the hull still in one piece.

We have also made one last round of adjustments to the weapons for regular Interdictors and Bombers to ensure each class of craft has their own stand-alone weapon. Class 5 and 6 were still accidentally sharing weapons. This has resulted in an upgrade in *another* weapon power for class 6 and 7 Bombers and Interdictors.


[h2]Wing Commando Boarding Strikes[/h2]
Not to be left behind, Wing Commando's launch plans for their boarding shuttles have also been upgraded. These launch plans now bring even more powerful, longer lasting debuffs to the table in a way that no other boarding strike can. When paired with well-planned boarding victory Talents, these can hasten the way to victory or surrender.

Both "Breacher's Assault" and "Boarder's Storm" have had their durations extended to 4 Turns (nicely matching with the time it takes the Commando to round trip for another boarding). In addition, they have both gained a damage over time component to increase their effect in bringing the enemy ship or crew to its knees. Breacher's Assault has replaced the -10% Boarding debuff with a 15 Crew Dmg / Turn debuff, leaving wounded and dead in the wake of the shuttle strike. Boarder's Storm has gained a 15 Morale Dmg/Turn, as the defensively-weakened ship reels from the strike, knowing they are about to get pummeled.

[h2]Salvage & Ransom Maximums[/h2]
With Update #283, we've increased the maximum profit you can make from Salvaging a destroyed enemy ship by $5,000 to $31,500. This maximum is applied *before* any Talents, Traits or ship components are calculated -- so those can help you capitalize on an expensive Salvage and make far more than that. The amount of money made from Salvage is based off the ship's component pricing reduced by any damage done to those components. So, as always, the best Salvage profits are gained from ships with less (or no!??!) damage.

While Ransom is a much harder way to make significant money, the same calculation is applied -- all of the ship component prices are multiplied by their damage to calculate the final ransom hall. As it comes with much less Reputation loss, Ransom applies a much steeper reduction to the component pricing but still in some cases if you are Ransoming a large mass battlecruiser or a carrier, the resulting profit can be quite substantial. To protect the balance between Ransom and Salvage, we have added a similar cap to Ransom but -- as it is much, much harder to reach -- we have set the cap at $56,500. The same rule applies to Ransom, where Traits and Talents are applied after the cap and therefore can capitalize on expensive Ransoms to make far more money.

[h2]Hit ESC in Crew Combat[/h2]
You can now access the game menu and exit to the game's main menu cleanly from crew combat as well as ship combat. Just hit ESC!

[h2]v3.2.15 - 11/3/2021[/h2]
- Added 3 new Bombers carrying heavy plasma bombs with massive Radiation Damage, high Crippling Effect % (class 5, 6, 7)
- Fixed issue with class 6 Bomber/Interdictor sharing weapons with class 5 (improved stats for both class 6 and 7)
- Improved Wing Commando's "Breacher's Assault", replaced -10% Boarding debuff with 15 Crew Dmg/Turn, extended to 4 Turn duration
- Improved Wing Commando's "Boarder's Storm", added 15 Morale Dmg/Turn, extended to 4 Turn duration
- Added configurable hotkeys to save game to Save Slot 1-4 from quadrant map
- Increased maximum pre-Talent/Trait/Component Salvage value for enemy ships by $5,000 to $31,500
- Added maximum pre-Talent/Trait Ransom value for enemy ships at $56,500 (very hard to reach)
- Added a Game Menu in Crew Combat, allowing access to options and main menu
- Fixed issue with "Explosive Shots" debuff being cleared like a buff
- Fixed bug with "Forgotten Secrets" mission step ordering

Update #282 takes a detour to catch up on some balance work we've been testing and tuning. We've heard from the community, watched in play and analyzed the data about how craft measure up to regular capital ship weaponry and are making some changes with this update to help tip the scales a bit. Across the spectrum -- Bombers, Interdictors and Autocannons are all more dangerous as of Update #282. We have to tread carefully with these types of updates as enemy carriers gain all the bonuses, so keep in mind that they will be hitting harder after Update #282 and be sure to you have your anti-craft strategy in place by (usually) year 8 to 12.

If you're enjoying the pace of updates, be sure to tell a friend and leave a review.

[h2]What’s the latest on Cyber Knights?[/h2]
Development on our next game, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, proceeds apace. We’re currently working toward the private alpha test for Kickstarter backers, following the same process we used for Star Traders: Frontiers. But you can view the latest updates on the CKF Steam page (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]Bomber and Interdictor Upgrades[/h2]
With Update #282, we've ratcheted up the damage across the spectrum in small craft to keep them competitive with other ship weapons, especially as more powerful weapons are coming online through story arcs. All Interdictor rockets and Bomber bombs have gained around +10% to +20% Radiation Damage, depending on their class. In addition, standard Damage base (the static, unrolled part of the damage) has gone up around +10% per craft as well.

While they take a few turns to deliver their destructive payload, Bombers are now tearing apart enemy hulls even more effectively and your Interdictors are even better prepared to shoot down other craft.

But, if the craft are hitting harder ...


[h2]Autocannons Strike Back![/h2]
As the entire damage balance getting more savage, its key that Autocannons strike back even harder. Across the board, ACs are now more accurate when attacking small craft, anywhere from +2% to +7% in the attacks. All the more reason to make sure you're craft are defensively prepared to avoid enemy fire and even better to shoot down incoming enemy craft.

[h2]Class 7 Craft: New Weapons[/h2]
When the class 7 Bomber and Interdictor were added a linking issue wasn't caught that left them with the weapons from the class 6 craft. We've now resolved this issue and properly linked the Trifex Assault Mk2 Interdictor to its new and best in class Rockets as well as the deadly Trident DX9 Bomber to the best in class boom-boom!

All the more reason to cozy up to your factions and go shopping to upgrade what you've got in your carrier's hangars.


[h2]Shock Trooper's Single-Minded Strike[/h2]
The Shock Trooper's Talent "Single-Minded Strike" has been upgraded to have a shorter cooldown (now 6 weeks) and a longer duration in ship combat (3 turns) as its effect is so narrow -- boarding, boarding, boarding! For those Shock Troopers helping to get their ship into range so they can get their snubber's barrels into range, enjoy the upgrades.

If you're enjoying the pace of updates, be sure to tell a friend and leave a review.

[h2]v3.2.13 - 10/23/2021[/h2]
- New rocket weapon for "Trifex Assault Mk2" (class 7 Interdictor), best in class
- New bomb weapon for "Trident DX9" (class 7 Bomber), best in class
- Increased base Damage on all craft bomb weapons by 10%
- Increased Radiation Damage on all craft rocket and bomb weapons by 10-20%
- Increased Chance to Hit craft for all Autocannons
- Improved Shock Trooper's "Single-minded Strike" Talent to have 3 Turn Duration and reduced cooldown to 6 weeks
- Fixed typos and reported crashes

Update #281 circles back to adding some new awesome looks to the game with new character faces and a new set of matching outfits. Plus, we've expanded ship component access to Engine Safety bonuses with a new set of Fuel Helix Coil components for your medium slots. Finally, we've added a few new capabilities and fixes for the modding community to enable to some new mod options.

We've got a busy season here at Trese Brothers HQ for both Star Traders: Frontiers and our next game -- 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]New Faces, New Outfits[/h2]
With this update, we've added another 3 masculine faces to the game -- one with short cropped hair, one with an awesome mustache and one with the grayer hair of a long-time space veteran. These new faces will filter into your crew and make great new captains, officers or just mates crew dogs hoping for a promotion.

We've also added 2 new matching outfits featuring a finer style associated with diplomats, the wealthy gravs or fashionable duelists. These new looks are excellent on their own for pirates, smugglers and all kinds but they also mix extremely well with the other outfits in the game if you use the "Unlock Outfit Combos" option. So, while we've added 2 new full outfits, we've added hundreds of new combos for your crew to check out! Here are a few of our favorites --


[h2]Fuel Helix Coils[/h2]
Fuel Helix Coils are a variation of a medium slot Fuel Tanks which offer a small amount of Fuel, a small amount of reduction in hyperwarp Jump Cost and most importantly a bonus to Engine Safety. With a maximum of +6 Engine Safety available from ship components, this gives another option -- next to Annex and Water-Fuel Reclamation -- as to how to get your Engine Safety fix if you need one.

The highest grade Helix Coils 4 and 5 are only manufactured and sold in Zenrin starports.


[h2]For the Modders[/h2]
With Update #281, we've fixed a few minor issues in mods where game hovers were not reflecting mod changes to maximum Ship Armor or Shield. We've also made it possible to mod the maximum number of jobs that your captain or officers can have -- that will be very interesting to see what gets done with that! Fancy a true jack of all trades? Leave it to the modders :D

[h2]Are you in the Discord?[/h2]
Our Discord server is a great community. Lots of good Star Traders discussion, one of the best places to stay in the loop on what we're working on, and sometimes... fun surprises!

We've got a giveaway going right now for light-hearted roguelike Obsidian Prince.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1373260/Obsidian_Prince/

Hop in to check it out, we have two copies to give away and all it takes is a react to the message in #giveaway to enter.


[h2]v3.2.11 - 10/15/2021[/h2]
- Added two new matched outfits
- Added 3 new character faces - gray hair, mustache, short hair!
- Added 4 new Fuel Helix Coil components -- medium slot fuel tanks that add Engine Safety, reduce Jump cost and add minor Fuel boost
- Fuel Helix Coil 4 and 5 is sold exclusively by Zenrin starports
- Enabled modders to adjust the maximum number of multi-jobs for Captain and Officers
- Fixed hovers for Armor / Shield max values if they are modded
- Fixed reported typos and crashes

Update #280 arrives with some shake up to the availability of high-end faction ships, better XP balance for mission runners, improved balance for anti-craft Talents and more. A huge thanks to everyone posting suggestions, feedback and bugs to the forum and helping us continuing to push Star Traders: Frontiers.

If you're enjoying the continued updates, be sure to tell a friend and leave a reveiw!

[h2]What’s the latest on Cyber Knights?[/h2]
Development on our next game, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, proceeds apace. We’re currently working toward the private alpha test for Kickstarter backers, following the same process we used for Star Traders: Frontiers. But you can view the latest updates on the CKF Steam page (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]Rank Ships[/h2]
By their nature, faction-specific ships are a perk of serving a faction. Previously, all ships -- regardless of their cost -- required only Military Rank 4. With Update #280, we've pushed this to a scale grading from Rank 4 all the way up to Rank 10 for the ships costing over $2m credits. With this new ability to set the minimum rank easily for each ship individually, we've opened up an exciting new option we are investigating -- powerful faction flagships offered only to the highly qualified military officers. We're gathering some ideas and will be moving forward with this expansion soon.


[h2]Mission XP[/h2]
While some XP has been always granted for missions requiring skill checks, we've doubled that amount with Update #280 and also added a log to the mission completion details with the exactly amount. Before this update, no XP was granted if your crew ended up falling back to a Saving Talent. However, we've now adjusted this rule to grant a smaller chunk of XP, but XP bonus nonetheless. You traveled, you may have bled or fought to complete that key task -- the XP is earned, Talent or not.

[h2]Gunner and Gundeck Boss[/h2]
We've adjusted two anti-craft Talents brought by the Gunner and Gundeck Boss Jobs. The Gunner's "Close-In Defenses" Talent is a rank 11 Talent that now cleanly provides a nice mix of anti-craft with reducing boarding, reducing the craft attack chance and their evasion (-10 Boarding, -20% Hit Chance, -15% Craft Evasion for next 3 turns) -- it is best used if you have weaponry and you're planning on lighting the enemy craft up. On the other hand, the Gundeck Boss's rank 1 Talent is purely defensive and turtle strategy, with "Point Defense" (-10 Boarding, -30% Hit Chance, -25% Dmg for next 4 turns).

[h2]Magnanimous Victory Clarification[/h2]
We've tagged the description of Magnanimous Victory to be clear that it removes your options for other aggressive abilities such as looting, destruction or conscription. This is a key Talent in managing reputation damage but also ends your interaction with a defeated enemy ship.

[h2]Mod Support[/h2]
With Update #280, we've made some changes to how the AI approaches the Wing Commando's Talent "Ripcord" to support the "Merchant Marines: Fly Casual" mod -- one of the most popular mods on the Workshop right now that seeks to adjust the Star Traders: Frontiers balance to better approximate smaller crew and more of a Firefly-like experience.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2539177784

[h2]v3.2.9 - 10/1/2021[/h2]
- Faction-specific ships require scaled faction rank -- Rank 4 for basic, Rank 6 for over $1m, and up to Rank 10 for $2m+
- Doubled the XP gained for completing a mission step which require Skill Save, added XP log
- Completing mission step while relying on a Saving Talent now grants some XP for crew
- Clarified Talent "Magnanimous Victory" to be clear it prevents any further looting or aggressive actions
- Improved balance of Gunner's "Close-In Defenses" and Gundeck Bosses' "Point Defense"
- Documented faction special rules for Rychart and De Valtos expensive bribes in New Game
- Fixed Bribe option text for Pirates to ensure it never threatens Rep loss (pirates never report)
- Improved AI crew combat intelligence to work better with "Merchant Marines: Fly Casual" mod
- Fixed report crashes and typos

Update #297 brings another round of improvements directly from the community as we continue our patch and improve drive following the big Steam Workshop mod release. After we clear this backlog of balance, QOL and improvement issues we'll be moving back to larger chunks of content and story additions. For now -- buckle up, more coming!

[h2]Next up from Trese Brothers[/h2]
You may have heard our next game, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint is on its way to Steam in 2022. A turn-based cyberpunk RPG, Cyber Knight's features XCOM-like combat and a unique heist system for missions ... you don't need to hear more? Okay, just smash that Wishlist button!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Trade Ban Visibility[/h2]
With Update #279, we've adjusted the ordering and text color for Trade Ban and Trade War warnings to ensure that they are front and center and your merchant captain can't miss them when making decisions about going through with a trade. As always, a huge thanks to the community members helping to post feedback and improve the game.

[h2]Ship Encounter, Bribes and Confiscation[/h2]
We've updated the rules for surrendering to military ships that may check your cargo holds for illegal goods and confiscate if you fail to have valid permits. There is now a possible small Reputation loss if you are carrying goods that will be confiscated. This loss can be offset if you are carrying goods that *are* legal with a permit. No matter how much you might be carrying, the Rep penalty cannot exceed 2.

We've also fixed the Bribe offering for Independents which had been lost in the latest update -- including the key fact that Indies have no stored Reputation and therefore you can never lose Rep with them.

[h2]Game Menu Ship Combat Additions[/h2]
We've enabled the ability to pull up the game menu with during the major screens in ship combat -- including during a ship encounter and mid-ship combat. This can help you drop out of the main menu without killing the game completely. Notably, Options and Save Slots are not available in these contexts. We'll keep working to make this menu access global and getting it into key places where it is still missing (crew combat).


[h2]New Shiny: Battle Barracks[/h2]
The Battle Barracks line has received an upgrade to help encourage ship combat captains to consider them worth their price (which has also gone up!). With new Armor, Shield and Void Res, these protected crew quarters are even more valuable to captains willing to pay the price and longtime cost to jump cost.

[h2]More Balance and QOL[/h2]
For those Salvage cards that included double combats, we've adjusted the language to be clearer, stating "back-to-back" combats to be sure you know just what you are risking when you make the roll.

During and after the Jyeeta Era, we've retuned the appearance of the feared Jyeeta Maeledictor to make sure it retains its boss status among other Jyeeta enemies.


[h2]For the Modders[/h2]
With Steam Workshop being quite busy, we're still working to expand the possible footprint of mods. With this update, we've added some key new capabilities, allowing modders to start to adjust specific limits in the game -- raising max character level, job level. Also, we're enabling adjusting important combat rules and thresholds -- allowing for the change of Init cost to move, morale break or being Stunned as well as the maximum Armor and Shield ratings you can achieve with components and buffed. We're very excited to see what the community will cook with this new support!

[h2]v3.2.5 - 9/17/2021[/h2]
- Improved Trade Ban warning (location, icon, red text)
- Lose up to 2 Rep when illegal cargo is seized, offset by legal permit-protected cargo
- Fixed Bribe option text for Independents to be more clear
- Added a Game Menu in Ship Combat, Combat Preamble
- Reduced spawn rate of "Jyeeta Maeledictor" in mix of Jyeeta ships
- Increased Price of Battle Barracks, Added Armor, Shields and Void Res
- Clarified "Xeno Assault" Salvage card to be clear it is 2 xeno combats back-to-back
- Better differentiated stats for the Trident DX9 and Blackhall Ultra Small Craft
- Modders can now change max character level, job level, Init costs of Stun, Morale Break, Move and Max/Buff Max of Shield/Armor