Star Traders: Frontiers News

Update #221 follows up on the Groundshaker #220 with a big release of new story content, new story components and contact types, an upgrade to the Talent manifest, changes to fuel consumption on social tests during travel and a number of additional fixes and small improvements requested by the community.

[h2]Spirit of Cadonya[/h2]
Starting on any Cadar world in the mid-game, the latest story vignette begins with an introduction to the Exodus Research, Jon Kaytyn. As with all the vignettes, we don't want to spoil any of the exciting story, but we do share this starting point so that everyone knows what to keep an eye out for. Join with Jon Kaytyn and you'll get tangled up in a tale far older than the Exodus which reveals new lore about the Guild War, Exodus and old grudges between the factions.

Depending on how the story plays out and which ending you get, multiple story ship components can be unlocked, including some very powerful offensive components and a truly unique large slot weapon.

As always a huge thanks to the Kickstarter backers who helped us create this awesome content, we can't wait for everyone to see the Star Traders history from a new angle.

One thing we were extremely pleased to see during testing, is that the conditions of the new vignette are very likely to get a legendary bounty hunter sent after you. Of course, that's up to the proc-gen simulation system, but the last 3 times we tested the ending of the story, a different legendary was on our case within a few years! So, make your choices wisely!


[h2]Hideout Joins Talent Manifest[/h2]
The Smuggler's Hideout Talent has now joined the Talent manifest under the Ship Encounter's grouping. In the request to add this one, we've received a few more great suggestions on how to improve the Talent Manifest and will continue to make minor adjustments and adds to it as requested by the community. Stay tuned for a few more changes here soon!


[h2]Tactics and Intimidate Travel Tests[/h2]
We've updated the travel test matrix slightly to move two social test types -- Tactics and Intimidate -- out of costing extra fuel. They may still burn more turns, damage Morale and possibly even health, but unlike all of the ship tests, they do not cost additional Fuel any longer.


[h2]Bugs and QoL[/h2]
Coming out of #220, there were a few lingering things to fix. One issue related to certain situations in which the cards for Patrol, Blockade and Spy could be rerolled if the right Conflict was in place. This is now fixed. Another issue cropped up around reviewing recruits, a certain click pattern that could lead to issues with repeating recruiting. Finally, many of the Stealth Talents stopped displaying that they engaged Stealth Mode (while they still did) we we have fixed now.

[h2]Cyber Knights: Flashpoint[/h2]
For 10 years, we've honed our craft creating turn-based tactics and simulation games, and we are extremely excited to be coming back around to the world and story of our second game, Cyber Knights. Our next title is Cyber Knights: Flashpoint and its waiting for your Wishlist on Steam. Get hype!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

[h2]v3.0.87 - 8/9/2020[/h2]
- Added new story vignette "Spirit of Cadonya" starting on Cadar worlds with Jon Kaytyn -- thanks KickStarter backers!
- Get tangled up in galaxy-wide hunt for a lost legendary Exodus era battlecruiser
- Multiple possible unique story Ship Components unlocked by story -- top tier new offensive small slots, large slot level 8 torpedo array!!
- Story includes new high powered Contact type, so called "Exodus Researcher"
- Added Talents reducing hostility with spies to Talent Manifest under Ship Encounters group
- Added "Hideout" Smuggler Talent to Talent Manifest under Ship Encounters group
- Fixed bug allowing re-roll of some orbital card games for some captains
- Fixed repeat issue recruiting from Contacts while reviewing stats
- Fixed issue with Talents like "Gliding Advance" not stating that they enable Stealth Mode
- Improved message for saved slots on high difficulty when loading games
- Failed Intimidate/Tactics saves during travel no longer incurs extra Fuel cost
- Fixed 2 inaccurate ship buff names in hovers (Wild Flying, Bandit)

Every now and again, an absolutely massive update comes off the assembly line. A certain alignment of timing of features coming out of testing, balance updates and community feedback converge and you get ... Update #220. This one is big with a ton of exciting changes -- from new hotkeys to play combat exclusively with the keyboard, to previewing ship's component build before you buy, to new Scout Bridge 5 options, repriced ships, better Behemoth Engines, upgraded Cauleta Titan and just more, more, more.

If you enjoy the pace of updates, the constant improvements and our dedication to our games, please leave a review and tell a friend!


[h2]Combat Keyboard Exclusive[/h2]
With Update #220, you can now play crew combat entirely with the keyboard. With hotkeys to pick a Talent and new hotkeys to select your enemy or friendly target, you can whir through battles as never before. The default hotkeys are Z, X, C, and V and are laid out so that they overlap the friendly and enemy slots. Therefore, Z is the 4th slot of your own crew but the 1st slot of the enemy crew.

As with any high speed option, you'll need to be sure not to enter a trance mode and get your crew killed :D But, combined with the recently added high speed combat option and toggle, crew combats have never been smoother.


[h2]New Ship: Previews and Bases[/h2]
Update #220 delivers on the top request from all quadrants about the ship buying experience -- the ability to fully preview the ship and all of its default components as if you were flying it *before* you purchase! This full preview power enables you to check on absolutely any detail of interest -- would my crew fit, what size bridge is installed, how many mass reducers are in use, what would my skill pools look like, do I like the color? In short, it prevents dedicated shoppers from having to drop off and look at the wiki before making a ship decision.


We've also modified the display during ship purchase to separate the ship hull's intrinsic base values for Armor, Shield and Fuel from its summed values that take the component build into account. With these base values exposed, you can now be sure what you're getting out of your new hull specifically.


[h2]Scout Bridge 5's[/h2]
Three new Scout Bridge 5 options have arrived with Update #220, each from a separate faction and each with their own custom-built purpose. The Rychart Scout-Stealth Bridge 5 is the first cloaking bridge to arrive on the scene, reducing enemy encounters by 10% and bumping defense against craft. The Alta-Mesa Scout-Skirmisher Bridge 5 is perfect for combat-ready small ships and also bumps defense against craft. Finally, the Zenrin Scout-Hauler Bridge 5 is for captains looking to extend their options in other components slots and provides the value of reducing Mass and Jump Cost.

[h2]Ship Reprice[/h2]
All ship's in the 7000, 8000 and 9000 Mass classes have had their prices increased with the levy of a new "component tax". Base on their Mass and component slot setup, these high value hulls have all seen a bump in price. Jumping into a Sword Battlecruiser or Cauleta Titan is going to be a bit more difficult as they are now both priced over $2,000,000 credits for the default setup and most of the rest of the 7000+ Mass hulls are hitting above the $1,000,000 mark.


In addition to this re-price, we've adjusted the component build out of the 9000 Mass Cauleta Titan to make it more of a competitive option against the Sword Battlecruiser. By gaining +1 Medium slot, it becomes a much more viable option for certain types of builds that are looking for variety of pure combat versatility of 14 Small slots of the Sword Battlecruiser.

In the repricing, we've also pulled the expensive and end-game Behemoth Engines off of all 3400 Mass ships to ensure their default patterns are still viable for purchase.

[h2]Component Upgrades[/h2]
The Behemoth Void Engines are even more worthy of their names now with some updates that increase some of their Speed values, increase Safety Rating across the pack and hit an all new high of 11 Reactor Points for the Mass 8000 and Mass 9000 engines. In addition, their prices have been trimmed slightly, from 10% to 20% across the board.

We have also retuned Dual Field Engines a bit for the M2400 and M3400 variations, further trimming Mass off of these critically useful Void Engine variations.

Finally, we've improved Interlocking Sensor Matrix 2 through 4 with more Damage and more Critical bonuses. Going aggressive? Check out these powerful Matrix components and slot them today.

[h2]Card Game Expirations[/h2]
The rules for all of the card game expiration dates have been improved with card hands dealt now usually expiring anytime between 1 to 2 years after they were drawn. While this extended timeline will most often force you off the dime if you can't overcome a risk in the hands, it does mean that triple-Xeno draw you got in 214 AE won't be sitting there smiling at your in 220 AE.

[h2]Thrown Wrench[/h2]
A long-time OP ability of Mechanics arriving in boarding combat or boarding from range 1, Thrown Wrench has had a 3rd of its power knocked off. The mighty -3 Reactor Point debuff has been knocked down to a -2 Reactor Point debuff. The core value of the Talent is still the same -- and still extremely powerful and unique -- but it will take a little more work for your mechanics to slip onto the enemy ship and *completely* disable their capabilities.

[h2]Cyber Knights: Flashpoint[/h2]
For 10 years, we've honed our craft creating turn-based tactics and simulation games, and we are extremely excited to be coming back around to the world and story of our second game, Cyber Knights. Our next title is Cyber Knights: Flashpoint and its waiting for your Wishlist on Steam. Get hype!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

[h2]And More![/h2]
As we mentioned at the top, this one was huge. There is more to check out in the change notes below that covers all the bugs we fixed as well.

[h2]v3.0.83 - 8/3/2020[/h2]
- Added new hotkeys for crew combat targeting, now play crew combat only with keyboard (default Z, X, C, V to target friend/enemy crew)
- Now preview all stock installed components on a new ship before purchase with "Preview" button
- New Ship screen includes base ship scores for Fuel, Armor, Shield as well as final scores with components calculated
- Added 3 new Scout Bridge 5 variations: Scout-Stealth 5 (Rychart only, reduces ship encounters), Scout-Skirmish 5 (Alta Mesa Only, most battle ready!), Scout-Hauler 5 (Zenrin only, mass reducer)
- Applied "component tax" to ship hulls over 7000 Mass, increasing price from +10% to +50%
- Sword Battle Cruiser and Cauleta Titan now cost over $2m to lift off the starport in their default configuration
- Upgraded Cauleta Titan to gain +1 Medium Slot bring it to 12 Small, 13 Medium, 6 Large
- Increased the Mass Reducing power of Dual Field Engines for M2400 (-40 Mass) and M3600 (-100 Mass)
- 10-20% Behemoth Engine price reduction, improved stats -- better Engine Speed, higher safety ratings, and M8K and M9K variations now boast 11 RP
- Rim Exocruiser and Wolf Vector M3400 ships are sold with Warhammer Engines, priced in the half million range
- Improved Interlocking Sensor Matrix 2-4 (more Damage, more Critical)
- New game template contact list now includes mission type (Diplomatic Missions, Espionage Missions, etc)
- Improved rule and timers for expiration of all card game hands, ranging from 40 weeks to 2 years depending on zone
- Reduced "Thrown Wrench" Boarding Talent's -3 Reactor Points to -2, increased damage to components/turn by +10
- Fixed issue where Talents learning Traits when paying the crew were not firing as often as they should
- Fixed issue in galactic map opening multiple quadrant dialogs
- Fixed ship combat scaling with ultrawide monitors (5120x1440)
- Fixed 2 Buried Demons Era story missions that started "Overdue"
- Fixed occasional mismatch with Patrol "Bounty Hunters" card driven by Conflict mismatches
- Fixed issue with Wolfheart Gene gear showing Stealth sometimes
- Fixed swapped label in Star Atlas when using multi-jump filter
- Fixed some issues where HUD warnings would not updated after paying / spicing crew raised low Morale

The requests for new filters and features on the Ship Buyer's screens have come in fast and furious since we debuted Update #218 earlier this week and we're excited to roll out the first set of community-driven enhancements as of today. We've got more coming, some of which we are sharing below! We've also followed up the rank 5 Salvage Bay with an Armored variation for those who know that orbital salvage is a risky business and asks for ship to ship combat.

[h2]Armored Salvage Bay[/h2]
The Armored Salvage Bay 5 trades some of its cargo and fuel in exchange for a hefty armor package while still providing the powerful utility expected at that component level. Sold exclusively at Thulun starports, its up for sale now for a pretty price.

We've also made some tweaks to the Salvage Bay 5 component, increasing its Ship Ops skill as well as its cargo capacity by +5.

[h2]Mass & Default Sorting[/h2]
Perhaps the mostly rapid fire feedback we got about the new ship screen was the swap to sort to the largest ships first by Mass. We've swapped it back to the way it was, starting with small Mass ships and down to the big hulls. We've also split out the Mass sorting so that you can sort Mass from high to low or low to high.


[h2]Shopping for a Match[/h2]
When you're shopping for a ship, if you're looking for a hull that will fit your current crew and officers you can now use the easy Exact Crew Match filter which only shows ships that match your exact maximums. If you're looking to upgrade without changing crew sizes up or down, this filter will be a big help.

[h2]Mass Class Filter[/h2]
To help narrow in on certain bands of ships, you can now filter on Mass class. The filter works with an "AND" mentality, so you can select Mass 5000 and Mass 6000 ships and see both sets. Then filter by Exact Crew Match, and sort by price and you've got a pretty nice looking shopping list to eval!

[h2]Additional Features Coming[/h2]
To address some of the other most hotly requested features, we are working on:

• Allowing you to preview the full component build of a ship before purchase. This will prevent any need from checking the wiki and expose all values for components like Engines.
  
• Indicating the base values for Armor, Shield, Fuel, etc as well as the values with all the components installed
  
• Providing a summary of each ship's design based on its default component setup
  

[h2]v3.0.81 - 7/23/2020[/h2]
- New Component: Armored Salvage Bay 5, less cargo and fuel by +5 armor, Thulun-only
- Minor improvements to Salvage Bay 5, +1 Ship Ops, +5 Cargo
- Added new ship filter: Exact Crew Match, only shows ships that have the exact max crew/officers as current ship
- Added new ship filters: by mass class, filter to show ships in 3400 Mass and 5000 Mass, etc
- Improved sort by Mass feature to sort either direction low/high

Update #218 delivers a new ship component, clarifies a Talent rule, improves default sorting for the crew list and most importantly delivers on the start of a much needed set of quality improvements when it comes to shopping for a new ship. As always, there is more work to do, so we'll be listening closely to the community for suggestions.

If you enjoy the pace of updates, new features and new content please be sure to leave a review!


[h2]Professional Salvage[/h2]
Update #218 adds a new level 5 ship component for those orbital scavengers who are truly dedicated to their work. Weighing in with a hefty price tag over $600K, the Salvage Bay 5 boasts the best salvage bonus available at 54% along with 25 Fuel and 25 Cargo. Capable of doubling as your cargo bay, this large component can fill a lot of needs on the right salvage ship.


[h2]New Ship Browsing: Call for Suggestions![/h2]
This update also delivers the first wave of much needed updates to the ship purchasing screens. As the variety and options of new ships have grown in the game, this list has become more difficult to navigate and to find the ship that properly fits your needs.

This round of changes is basically the opening salvo. We know that we need more, but we wanted to hear from the community what types of sort, filter and metadata about the ships they need. As we've previewed the screenshots of the features to the community, we're already hearing ideas we hadn't thought up yet that will help us drive the second round. So, please post your thoughts after checking it out!

With Update #218, we've added sorting and filtering to the ship purchasing screen. First, this suppresses any ship you can't buy due to faction restrictions. If you want to see specific factions or all the ships, then you can enable that in the filter ("Only Cadar" or "Cadar and Thulun", etc). Sorting currently allows you to sort by Mass, Price and Name. We know we'll need both more sorting and filtering, but we're still working through which are best as filters (filter by M3400, M5000, etc) and which should be sorts (sort by cargo, fuel, small component count).

Also, we'd like to use this time to prompt for more metadata requests from the community. What else do you need to see on the left and right side in order to make better decisions. P.s. we already know we need to enable a component preview, working on that! :D


[h2]Counter-attack Rules[/h2]
Since the beginning of the game, all counter-attacks have been able to use the Swordsman's Balanced Blade Talent, if it is trained, as their counter-attack. If you use Sharp Counter and someone attacks you, if you know Balanced Blade that is your riposte and you get the buff. These are Talents matched like a glove, but it was never clearly spelled out in the rules. We've added this clarification to all counter-attack Talents (Swordsman, Wing Commando) in the right hand sidebar of the Talent's screen.

[h2]Cyber Knights: Flashpoint[/h2]
Do you happen to like turn-based RPGs? Complex storylines? Job systems featuring combining Jobs? Base building? Stealth, combat hacking!? If you haven't seen Cyber Knights -- our next upcoming game -- take a look and give it a wishlist.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

[h2]v3.0.79 - 7/21/2020[/h2]
- New Component: Salvage Bay 5
- Added filters and sort to New Ship list, filter by faction, carriers and sort by mass, price
- New Ship list filter starts by hiding ships that cannot be sold (other factions), filter "Any Faction" to see all
- Improved display of each ship in table with Mass/Hull/Fuel/Armor/Shield
- Default starting crew list sort is now by Job instead of Level
- Clarified rules in right side bar for all counter-attack Talents, which use Balanced Blade if it is trained

Update #217 comes quickly on the heels of #216 to provide a hotfix for one issue related to replacing officer cabins, to improve the warnings about those component swaps and to provide proper coverage to specialist component types that provide officer living space. In addition, we've improved the Contact list search options, addressed an issue with maximum repair times not lining up on high value components, added a new Explorer -5 risk card "Time Dilation", improved power levels on faction-specific Contacts and turned how the Coalition contacts use their actions in the simulation.

So, let's look in detail!

[h2]Contact List Search[/h2]
You can now search in the contact list by the type of zone they live on, such as "mining". Keep in mind that search uses an AND syntax, so you can't search "mining refinery" but you can use one at a time in combination with other filters such as Black Market. This can definitely help in smoothing out paths, and I've found it useful in quickly checking the opportunity to complete multiple tasks during a visit to a contact.


[h2]Time Dilation and Time Lost[/h2]
We've rebalanced the amount of time that can be wasted in the "Lost" card to ensure that it lives up to the threat of "weeks". In addition, we've added another time related negative card, "Time Dilation" which threatens that your expedition can wander into some time rift, possibly related to the hyperwarp dimension.

[h2]Czar and Samrak[/h2]
The power levels of the Contact types Trade Czar, Mining Samrak, Red Lion, Naval Commander, Ranking Executive Contacts have all been bumped up with Update #217, putting more power into the hands of these rarer but awesome faction-specific Contacts.

We've also changed how the Coalition Liaison Contact fits into the world, buffing their starting Influence. Finally we've tweaked the Contact AI for all Coalition Contacts when it comes to how to use their influence and turns in the simulators -- they now have unique Rumor buying logic focused on Tax, Civil and Starport Rumors. The Coalition will now more directly support the faction economic status quo.


[h2]Officer Cabin Replacement[/h2]
Thanks to the captains who posted on Steam, emailed, tweeted and dropped this bug into Discord. We've now fixed the issue where officer cabins could not be replaced, which was related to #216 but also had its in much older code. With this update, we've made 3 improvements to how officer cabins work. First, we've fixed the bug -- they can now be removed. Second, we've improved handling of those components that are not cabins directly -- such as medical bays -- which were not properly participating in the rule set around officer cabins. Finally, we corrected an issue that was preventing a red warning from appearing if a captain installed a cabin that went over the ship's officer max.

[h2]Wishlist Cyber Knights![/h2]
Our next upcoming title is waiting for your wishlists here on Steam. Cyber Knights is a tactical RPG that plunges you and your team of hackers, mercs and thieves into the neon-soaked future of 2231. Smash that wishlist button!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

[h2]v3.0.77 - 7/15/2020[/h2]
- Zone Economy Type ("refinery") now searchable in Contact List
- Adjusted maximum repair times for any single component -- be sure to repair at high level starports
- Rebalanced "Time Lost" Card in Explorer, a -1 Risk
- Added new "Time Dilation" Card in Explorer, a new -5 Risk
- Increased the power levels of Trade Czar, Mining Samrak, Red Lion, Naval Commander, Ranking Executive Contacts
- Improved the "Coalition Liaison" starting power level and Contact AI
- Coalition Era Contacts now have unique Rumor buying logic that prefers Tax, Civil and Starport Rumors
- Fixed issue with replacing officer cabins
- Fixed issue where some non-officer cabin components (medical bays) failed to print warnings when being replaced
- Improved warning message about installing more officer cabins than your ship's max capacity