Questions

[Xeivous]

I should note that if you do find something in the game that doesn't make sense with your character due to what they are or aren't wearing or what their physicality is like, you're bound to find a lot more instances that are equally illogical. And any desire to track them all down will probably lead to you pulling your hair out when you're not distracted by irl stuff.


I should probably get back on poking around with the fully exposed tag

 

[Trogdor]

-snip-

Yeah, man, I totally get that the writing is a lot of work. But scenes already talk about legs and arms and tails; maybe not to the degree that would would be possilble if that's all you were writing for, but they're mentioned and described to some degree in scenes where they're relevant. My point stands that wings are completely left out. Surely the writers could take some reasonable measures to include them?

Now, the parser does a lot. But it can't write for you, it can just say "Your manly pecs" or "your hideous, disgusting snout." It works by [pc.attribute], not [pc.noun]. There isn't a parser call for lying down that'll investigate your bod and regurgitate some fake, utilitarian written blurb. No, the writer has to account for that manually. For potentially each one of those. In anything, not just knocking hips together.

Still, you have characters that have tails, multiple tails, or no tail. Tails are often mentioned, so there must be some way for you to determine whether there is a tail, and if so, include this line. If not, omit the line. Why can't the same thing be done with wings? I get that it would be more work, but if you're going to have wings in the game why should they be excluded as compared to other optional body parts?


Anyway, I'll change the subject, since we're kind of running the topic into the ground. Is there a strategy discussion thread somewhere that has an up-to-date listing of the game's weapons and armor and stuff? I have a feeling that the wiki may be outdated  For example, http://wiki.smutosaur.us/TS-T_Armor_Plating_Mark_IV_%28Black_Void%29 says the armor is currently unobtainable, but http://wiki.smutosaur.us/Pirate_Base lists it as loot.


Perhaps one that also talks about, y'know, how combat is actually calculated? For example, does defense on armor even get factored in while your shields are up? What does defense even do? The wiki doesn't say much on the subject, so it's rather difficult to compare items.

 

[Magic Ted]

Tails really aren't mentioned that much, but yes. It's very simple to do a fork, which is what you're referring to, for "If tail then: SMUTTY WORDS Else: SMUTTY WORDS." The inherent problem with that is that balloons a given whatever more and more as you so much as try and pay lipservice to all the weird stuff you can be.


You're just as much writing a scene for chill dude Steele as Literally-Syri Steele and 8'9" Goat Horned Tentacle Cock Tail-Cock Three rows of G-cup Tits with a Goo tongue and harpy wings Steele.


Crazy tier gets bug nuts if you start going full ham into supporting it, otherwise you leave it to the reader to complete the picture themselves. They kinda have to, unless you're a mute.


As for combat... well, the first thing I can say is don't worry about it, better numbers are better but it's all simple gravy.

 

[Wsan]

Yeah, man, I totally get that the writing is a lot of work. But scenes already talk about legs and arms and tails; maybe not to the degree that would would be possilble if that's all you were writing for, but they're mentioned and described to some degree in scenes where they're relevant. My point stands that wings are completely left out. Surely the writers could take some reasonable measures to include them?


Still, you have characters that have tails, multiple tails, or no tail. Tails are often mentioned, so there must be some way for you to determine whether there is a tail, and if so, include this line. If not, omit the line. Why can't the same thing be done with wings? I get that it would be more work, but if you're going to have wings in the game why should they be excluded as compared to other optional body parts?

I was going to write up a big post using the example of having more than two arms, but couldn't be bothered. tl;dr the more variables you take into account, the more they can possibly interact with each other variable and then you get awful branching twists of interaction due to micromanagement. Something's got to give, unless you're paying for it.

 

[StarcraftJunkie]

and 8'9" Goat Horned Tentacle Cock Tail-Cock Three rows of G-cup Tits with a Goo tongue and harpy wings Steele.

Ted, how'd you know what my Steele looked like?

 

[Lawleious]

Ted, how'd you know what my Steele looked like?

He's the forum god for a reason.

 

[Trogdor]

Is Reaha ever going to become completely cured where I can stop 'treating' her for addiction without worrying that she's going to relapse?


Also, Hey Ted: When I went to recolor my character's fur the other day, I noticed that the list of metallic colors was much less than the normal colors. However, the furcolor field in my save is just a plain text 'black'. If I change it to 'Metallic black' will it use the metallic color's lines in scenes/description (I assume it's slightly different) or will it pitch a fit because I didn't pick one of the set colors?

 

[Jacques00]

Is Reaha ever going to become completely cured where I can stop 'treating' her for addiction without worrying that she's going to relapse?

That is completely up to when Savin writes/implements it.

Also, Hey Ted: When I want to recolor my character's fur the other day, I noticed that the list of metallic colors was much less than the normal colors. However, the furcolor field in my save is just a plain text 'black'. If I change it to 'Metallic black' will it use the metallic color's lines in scenes/description (I assume it's slightly different) or will it pitch a fit because I didn't pick one of the set colors?

Metallic black will be an option for Shear Beauty in a later release. As for the parser's appearance, it will display whatever string is stored for the furColor. So if the furColor was "apple red" and the sentence was "it tugs on your [pc.furColor]-colored pelt", it will print out "it tugs on your apple red-colored pelt".

 

[Trogdor]

That is completely up to when Savin writes/implements it.

I meant, 'in the game right now', so I guess the answer is no

Metallic black will be an option for Shear Beauty in a later release. As for the parser's appearance, it will display whatever string is stored for the furColor. So if the furColor was "apple red" and the sentence was "it tugs on your [pc.furColor]-colored pelt", it will print out "it tugs on your apple red-colored pelt".

Ah. I wasn't sure if maybe it would do something like detect that you've picked a metallic or glowing color and change the line significantly.

 

[Savin]

Is Reaha ever going to become completely cured where I can stop 'treating' her for addiction without worrying that she's going to relapse?

Theoretically when you get to near-max cure, it should "lock" in place so she doesn't relapse. I put that in there just for that reason, knowing it might take a while to finish the next leg.


If that's not the case right now, please bug report it.

 

[Trogdor]

Right now I'm at

“Great!” Reaha says, beaming. “I think I’m almost through this, LaVajhira. Thanks to you. My skin’s nowhere near as stupidly sensitive, now, and I feel like I can really think properly again! I feel so much better... I even tried putting on a pair of panties the other day! I haven’t been able to wear them since I started on the patches, but now... I might have to do some clothes shopping soon!”

It hasn't changed the last few times I boinked her, so I assume that's the current 'final stage'?

As for combat... well, the first thing I can say is don't worry about it, better numbers are better but it's all simple gravy.

So I fought Lash a few times and discovered a few things:


1) Resistance doesn't seem to do squat diddly to reinforce your shields. He went from doing 30-40ish damage per shot to my shields to doing 1-4 damage per shot to my health once my shield was gone


2) Assuming your have the right gear, he's really a pushover. With a SecureMP, Salamander Longcoat, Thermal undies, and Black Void armor (but steeletech suit or something else with some burn resistance would probably work too), well, he's not going to beat you doing 15 dmg to your health per turn while you're hitting him for 60-150 depending on whether you shoot or rapid fie and how many of your shots crit. I don't know if Dr. Lash just has really high evasion or what, but the Aegis Light Machine Gun was far less effective against him, despite it having almost twice the base damage. I'll do some more testing with it, but I have a feeling the SecureMP is the best gun a ranged Merc could possibly get their hands on.. possibly the best gun anyone with a multi-shot perk could get their hands on.

 

[Milkman]

Right now I'm at


It hasn't changed the last few times I boinked her, so I assume that's the current 'final stage'?


 

So I fought Lash a few times and discovered a few things:


1) Resistance doesn't seem to do squat diddly to reinforce your shields. He went from doing 30-40ish damage per shot to my shields to doing 1-4 damage per shot to my health once my shield was gone


2) Assuming your have the right gear, he's really a pushover. With a SecureMP, Salamander Longcoat, Thermal undies, and Black Void armor (but steeletech suit or something else with some burn resistance would probably work too), well, he's not going to beat you doing 15 dmg to your health per turn while you're hitting him for 60-150 depending on whether you shoot or rapid fie and how many of your shots crit. I don't know if Dr. Lash just has really high evasion or what, but the Aegis Light Machine Gun was far less effective against him, despite it having almost twice the base damage. I'll do some more testing with it, but I have a feeling the SecureMP is the best gun a ranged Merc could possibly get their hands on.. possibly the best gun anyone with a multi-shot perk could get their hands on.

You fool that's just begging to get those items nerfed again....

 

[Trogdor]

You fool that's just begging to get those items nerfed again....

Meh. I mean, considering the cost of those items they're probably fine. And that's an awful big investment just to fight one opponent, who's probably only so powerful because he's so much higher level than we're currently able to attain. If anything needs to be nerfed, it's the enormous pile of money Lash drops for no reason (and keeps dropping; once you have the gear you can just farm him for infinite money)


Also, the stats of the SecureMP and Aegis MG probably need reworking. The Aegis MG has a big accuracy penalty, and its damage is nowhere near high enough to make up for that. Further, it doesn't make any sense; a big, heavy weapon would be more accurate because recoil has less effect on it. as compared to a very light SMG you can conceal in your coat. If anything, the LMG should have the SMP's current bonus (more accuracy on bonus shots) and the SMP should instead have a 'windfury' effect consistent with its high fire rate; get an extra shot whenever you would shoot, but with no accuracy bonus. From what I've seen the LMG is rather underwhelming considering other weapons available much earlier, like the vampire blade. If you're melee spec I'm sure you could quite easily just vampire blade your way to victory.


Also overpowered: Second Wind. You can use this ability to stay out in the wilderness forever, replacing the need to sleep and use medical facilites. It would make more sense if it couldn't heal your hp/energy past a certain percentage, like 50-75%. In compensation, buff some other skill, like heavy weapons/low tech solutions, which becomes useless if you want to use anything other than a kinetic weapon. Or, perhaps replace them with a more useful skill (since you're really not going to notice an extra 20 damage for every 100 anyway) like

Last Stand: Once per combat, fully restore your health, but lose x% health per turn

or

Emergency Shield Boost: Once per combat, fully restore your shield, but lose x% shield per turn

Which, combined with second wind, bloodthirsty, vamp blade, and take cover, would make you a pretty tough customer, which is what Merc is supposed to be about, right?


Some means of respeccing perks (without using a save editor) would be nice, too.

 

[Savin]

The Aegis has such a huge Accuracy penalty on it because it's a [Power Armor] weapon. You simply lack the strength to use it effectively at present.

 

[Couch]

Personally I consider Second Wind the gold standard of what recovery abilities should be like.  The Smuggler's features stack up well thanks to how much Energy they recover, it's just Techs with their basically useless shield regen that lags behind.

 

[Nik_van_Rijn]

And ridiculous out-of-combat sustain Steele Jr. has can be explained by futuristic drugs and micro-bots. Just like the fact that they don't need to eat or sleep and never piss or poop. Sqeaky clean everything all day every day.

 

[Trogdor]

Personally I consider Second Wind the gold standard of what recovery abilities should be like.  The Smuggler's features stack up well thanks to how much Energy they recover, it's just Techs with their basically useless shield regen that lags behind.

Sure, it's good, but it's so good that I worry the rest of the class is suffering a bit for it. Things like headbutt, detonation charge, and the aforementioned 20% kinetic damage boost perks seem lackluster in comparison. Plus what I already mentioned about it seeming like a replacement for sleeping and medical facilities, when it seems like it should really only be something you use once you're deep into a fight and in danger of losing. Instead, you can just hit it at the beginning of a fight and keep yourself in top shape forever. Tapping deep reserves of willpower and determination should not replace proper medical attention. I'd rather see the love spread a bit more evenly.

 

[Couch]

The rest of the Merc's perks are also fantastic, though, easily the best of any class.  The Kinetic boost is just as much as what Techs get with Energy weapons, their multitarget grenade blew the Disruptors out of the water until those were fixed, and more of their abilities are passives, meaning they stack with each other, than any other class.  The only not-terribly-amazing Merc ability is Headbutt, and none of the level 1 features are all that great.

 

[Trogdor]

The rest of the Merc's perks are also fantastic, though, easily the best of any class.  The Kinetic boost is just as much as what Techs get with Energy weapons, their multitarget grenade blew the Disruptors out of the water until those were fixed, and more of their abilities are passives, meaning they stack with each other, than any other class.  The only not-terribly-amazing Merc ability is Headbutt, and none of the level 1 features are all that great.

Yeah but some of the stuff that Merc gets, you also get as the other two classes, and the techs' ability to buff energy weapons means you get more out of vamp blade. Also it seems like there are more energy weapons than anything else now at what's currently endgame, and much of the rest is stuff like lust weapons. Smugglers get a bunch of evasion.


On one hand, it's nice to get the best weapon available well before 'the end'. On the other hand.. it's a dinky little SMG whose abilities don't make much sense. It's not even like you can actually smuggle it anywhere (and nor can you sneak in the "holdout" hammer pistol) >_>

 

[NotYouNorI]

@Trogdor


You said something about small arms having high recoil. Have you perhaps heard of the KRISS vector? Yeah and this is the far away future we are talking about so I think it is safe to assume that people came up with more sophisticated systems that can be put in a machine pistol. 

 

[Etis]

Yeah but some of the stuff that Merc gets, you also get as the other two classes, and the techs' ability to buff energy weapons means you get more out of vamp blade. Also it seems like there are more energy weapons than anything else now at what's currently endgame, and much of the rest is stuff like lust weapons. Smugglers get a bunch of evasion.

Melee tech? Meh... Only makes sense if you want to use Slut Ray as primary, since they are not affected by Second Shot (but is affected by Gun Tweaks, BTW). Melee merc has Critical Blows, Bloodthirsty, Riposte, Cleave passives. And melee tech?


Prior to Emmy's shop and Kara's quest energy weapons were in even worse situation.


BTW, about recoil. Lasers and shockers. Recoil. Eh?

 

[Trogdor]

@Trogdor


You said something about small arms having high recoil. Have you perhaps heard of the KRISS vector? Yeah and this is the far away future we are talking about so I think it is safe to assume that people came up with more sophisticated systems that can be put in a machine pistol. 

A far away future where people are still using breech shotguns and revolvers and magazine-fed weapons. Most firearms don't use complex recoil management mechanisms in their design.. Most manage recoil by using a small bullet, shooting slowly, or being heavy. The Kriss Vector is also a pretty full-size submachine gun, not a machine pistol like the Steyr TMP or MP5k or Czech Skorpion, which is what I think they were going for with this weapon's description. Indeed; the name of the gun is Secure Machine Pistol. Hard to imagine someone concealing a Vector in a jacket.

 

[NotYouNorI]

A far away future where people are still using breech shotguns and revolvers and magazine-fed weapons. Most firearms don't use complex recoil management mechanisms in their design.. Most manage recoil by using a small bullet, shooting slowly, or being heavy. The Kriss Vector is also a pretty full-size submachine gun, not a machine pistol like the Steyr TMP or MP5k or Czech Skorpion, which is what I think they were going for with this weapon's description. Indeed; the name of the gun is Secure Machine Pistol. Hard to imagine someone concealing a Vector in a jacket.

Taking into account your questions throughout this whole thread, I have to ask. Do you even read?

Yeah and this is the far away future we are talking about so I think it is safe to assume that people came up with more sophisticated systems that can be put in a machine pistol. 

I know that that we are talking about a machine pistol and I never implied that the KRISS vector is.


Do I have to repeat that we are talking about a far off, high tech future.


You pick up the shot gun and revolver (which chamber unusually high caliber ammo) from a planet is weapon-wise, in the tech-level of world war 1.


You pick the SMP from a member of a high-tech space pirate organisation.

 

[Trogdor]

Taking into account your questions throughout this whole thread, I have to ask. Do you even read?

First of all, I don't appreciate your tone. If you can't stay civil, stay out of my thread.


Second, this old firearms technology is all over the game, not just on Myrellion. The hammer pistol is a conventional magazine-fed gun that fires bullets.The "High tech" one Anno can sell you has the extremely far-future tech :captainpop: of armor-piercing ammo, laser sights, and a suppressor. Obviously, all things we have today.


Then we have Carl, whom you meet on Mhen'ga, and is the retired owner of a galaxy-wide empire of firearms manufacturing. What does he sell? A hammer pistol, a revolver (whose description, by the way, reads: " This is a large-barreled weapon of ancient design. Don't let it's age fool you - projectile weapon design hasn't changed that much with the passage of time. "). A sword, a machete, a warhammer, all low-tech kinetic weapons. His only high tech weapons are a laser pistol and a stun gun, and while those are certainly future tech, I think it's safe to say we're far away from Mass Effect levels of shaving miniscule bits of metal off of a block and accelerating them to light speed, here. I think it's safe to say that weapons technology is still subject to the laws of physics as we know them today.


I'd also ask why one would expect space pirates to have better technology than what's been developed by state actors, like I should take that for granted.

 

[Cog]

In an effort to bring down the tension, has anyone here read the Empire of Man series by Weber and Ringo? They talk a bit about weapons design in their universe. IIRC, the marines' service weapon is a mass accelerator, while the main character uses an "old-fashioned" chemically-propelled sniper rifle, mockingly called a "smoke pole." The authors point out that, even though the design of the rifle is one that would be easily recognizable to us, lots of little futuristic changes have gone into it that make it a great deal more efficient. Tougher alloys in the barrel, recoil-reduction materials in the stock, specialized explosives in the rounds... even though it looks archaic, it ends up being at least as serviceable as the marines' railguns.


Whenever I find a situation like this, where old-timey revolvers are in use alongside plasma rifles and mass accelerators, I imagine it must be a situation like that. We may not be able to see the differences, but some thousand years of weapon development have made some subtle changes.


Of course, then we have to wonder why the 1940's-era-tech Myr have service weapons that are equivalent to this space-faring civilization, and I'm left reciting the MST3K mantra.

 

[Couch]

It's been mentioned before that Ted, who wrote Crazy Carl's stock, was not originally of the impression that TiTS would be following the JRPG style of each new area coming with better weapons than the one before it, so he wrote the Mhen'ga gear to be military-grade assuming that it was going to be the same gear you'd be using at the end of the game.  This is why immediately after Mhen'ga you see a sharp backslide in the technological level of gear provided: jury-rigged weapons made by a teenage bat and centuries-old laser rifles on Tarkus, World War I era rifles and axes on Myrellion, and on Uveto I've handed out a power suit that's supposed to be heavily stripped down from the actual version Akkadi produces for military units.

 

[NotYouNorI]

First of all, I don't appreciate your tone.


Second, this old firearms technology is all over the game, not just on Myrellion. The hammer pistol is a conventional magazine-fed gun that fires bullets.The "High tech" one Anno can sells you has the extremely far-future tech :captainpop: of armor-piercing ammo, laser sights, and a suppressor. Obviously, all things we have today.


Then we have Carl, whom you meet on Mhen'ga, and is the retired owner of a galaxy-wide empire of firearms manufacturing. What does he sell? A hammer pistol, a revolver (whose description, by the way, reads: " This is a large-barreled weapon of ancient design. Don't let it's age fool you - projectile weapon design hasn't changed that much with the passage of time. "). A sword, a machete, a warhammer, all low-tech kinetic weapons. His only high tech weapons are a laser pistol and a stun gun, and while those are certainly future tech, I think it's safe to say we're far away from Mass Effect levels of shaving miniscule bits of metal off of a block and accelerating them to light speed, here. I think it's safe to say that weapons technology is still subject to the laws of physics as we know them today.


I'd also ask why one would expect space pirates to have better technology than what's been developed by state actors, like I should take that for granted.

Yeah, Carl's shop is a hunting/survival equipment shop. People still today use percussion weaponry, bows (both the compound, modernized variant and the more primitive variants ) and and crossbows to hunt game. And I'm pretty sure no such shop will sell you an assault rifle or an automatic shotgun. 


While the concept of bullets or or the concept of guns being magazine-fed might have not have changed doesn't mean the rest of the gun hasn't either.


And I'm not sure if you noticed but the black void is not a ragtag band of space bandits, they are a well organized and and well supplied set of operations (I say operations because apparently each dreadlord does whatever he/she wants not necessarily involving other dreadlords) with one of the most sophisticated A.I.-s in the galaxy. Not to mention that black markets are a thing, especially in fringe systems out of sight or effective reach of coreward regulations such as the ones the ones involved in planet rushes.

Of course, then we have to wonder why the 1940's-era-tech Myr have service weapons that are equivalent to this space-faring civilization, and I'm left reciting the MST3K mantra.

I think it has been mentioned that a much bigger caliber than the human 1940's-era equivalent since the myr and nyrea are physically stronger than humans and are somewhat armoured in nature, for what that's worth.

 

[NotYouNorI]

In an effort to bring down the tension, has anyone here read the Empire of Man series by Weber and Ringo? They talk a bit about weapons design in their universe. IIRC, the marines' service weapon is a mass accelerator, while the main character uses an "old-fashioned" chemically-propelled sniper rifle, mockingly called a "smoke pole." The authors point out that, even though the design of the rifle is one that would be easily recognizable to us, lots of little futuristic changes have gone into it that make it a great deal more efficient. Tougher alloys in the barrel, recoil-reduction materials in the stock, specialized explosives in the rounds... even though it looks archaic, it ends up being at least as serviceable as the marines' railguns.


Whenever I find a situation like this, where old-timey revolvers are in use alongside plasma rifles and mass accelerators, I imagine it must be a situation like that. We may not be able to see the differences, but some thousand years of weapon development have made some subtle changes.

Also this^

 

[Trogdor]

-snip-

I'd go along with that apart from the fact that many of the weapons specifically say they're just a plain old sword or, like I mentioned, revolver. All the guns you see people using on New Texas are old-timey revolvers. One reference, in the quest dialogue for the effeminate bull-man who has you wrangling Varmints, says that his revolver has so much recoil that he wasn't able to handle it and it broke his nose.

It's been mentioned before that Ted, who wrote Crazy Carl's stock, was not originally of the impression that TiTS would be following the JRPG style of each new area coming with better weapons than the one before it, so he wrote the Mhen'ga gear to be military-grade assuming that it was going to be the same gear you'd be using at the end of the game.  This is why immediately after Mhen'ga you see a sharp backslide in the technological level of gear provided: jury-rigged weapons made by a teenage bat and centuries-old laser rifles on Tarkus, World War I era rifles and axes on Myrellion, and on Uveto I've handed out a power suit that's supposed to be heavily stripped down from the actual version Akkadi produces for military units.

Interesting.


I also want to point out that I never said anything about nerfing the Secure MP; Only that its effect would be more appropriate on the Aegis LMG, and that some other effect could replace it that would give off the impression of a weapon class whose effectiveness stems from extreme fire rates at short distances, not highly accurate repetitive shot placement.like you'd expect ouf of a big, heavy LMG. I also feel like the accuracy penalty is inappropriate on the Aegis LMG even considering you're supposed to be using it with power armor. If anything. I would have imposed a severe evasion penalty, instead. Assuming you're strong enough to lift and fire it without breaking your arm, I don't think the bullet damage is high enough to justify the idea that the bullet is so big that it overpowers the weapon's weight and makes it uncontrollable. Indeed, where the Secure MP does maybe 30-40 damage per shot on my character, the Aegis does maybe 60-70.

Yeah, Carl's shop is a hunting/survival equipment shop. People still today use percussion weaponry, bows (both the compound, modernized variant and the more primitive variants ) and and crossbows to hunt game. And I'm pretty sure no such shop will sell you an assault rifle or an automatic shotgun.

He has those things in his catalogue, but doesn't have them with him on planet because he's retired and manning his relative's shop and doesn't have the permits to sell them in this location anyway. Even the ZK rifle (which I assume is some sort of assault or semi-automatic rifle) you get from his quest, he rewards it to you under-the-table.

While the concept of bullets or or the concept of guns being magazine-fed might have not have changed doesn't mean the rest of the gun hasn't either.


And I'm not sure if you noticed but the black void is not a ragtag band of space bandits, they are a well organized and and well supplied set of operations (I say operations because apparently each dreadlord does whatever he/she wants not necessarily involving other dreadlords) with one of the most sophisticated A.I.-s in the galaxy. Not to mention that black markets are a thing, especially in fringe systems out of sight or effective reach of coreward regulations such as the ones the ones involved in planet rushes.

Sure. They also apparently have capital ships (because pirates totally have the spirit of cooperation required to achieve such technological and logistical feats, but whatever, suspension of disbelief). But the grunts running around with machine pistols probably don't have the fancy toys that the leaders do. Otherwise, well... they kind of start sounding less like pirates and more like a rival nation, don't you think?

 

[Xeivous]

@Trogdor You do realize that we're talking about an organization that operates on a galactic scale right? Most of the costs involved in building spacecraft go right out the window when you get to that stage of civilization. Plus the BV have been operating for well over 300 fucking years.