Colony Ship Early Access Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Vault Dweller]

Doing quests for the Protectors and the Brotherhood -- no indication how it changed the state of affairs, if at all.

You aren't the chosen one to show up and instantly change the state of affairs. You did some quests, proved yourself capable to a certain degree, and offered the machine to a faction of your choice. It is the machine that will change things, not you, but first you need to assemble it. The rest will come later.

 

[Darth Canoli]

and offered the machine to a faction of your choice

Might some of your inspiration come from Van Vogt?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Might. Loved The Weapon Shops of Isher.

 

[Pink Eye]

As much as I love AoD, I 100% agree that the writing often strays into middle school edgelord territory. In particular all the "brutal" writeups of how badly your character gets owned for not reading the developers' mind and picking the right dialogue option rubbed me the wrong way, you could smell the writer's fedora right through the monitor. Overall it was a case of obviously inexperienced writers not understanding that less is always more.

Really? You think it's middle school edgelord? Also:
>not reading the developers' mind and picking the right dialogue option
That's not how the game works.

 

[notpl]

There are in fact quite a few places where picking the wrong dialogue choice will either plunge you into an unwinnable combat or just lead to you instantly dying, usually with one of the overwrought edgelord epitaph screens I refer to.

 

[Marat]

overwrought edgelord epitaph screens

These are great...

 

[Pink Eye]

There are in fact quite a few places where picking the wrong dialogue choice

Disposition system, man. Even if you fail one check you still have a chance to recover.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Might. Loved The Weapon Shops of Isher.

The machine overseeing everything seemed to come from the World of Null-A from Van Vogt, they even had to rebuild it at some point.

 

[notpl]

There are in fact quite a few places where picking the wrong dialogue choice

Disposition system, man. Even if you fail one check you still have a chance to recover.

Talking about Age of Decadence here. I realize my initial post could be read either way. I think this is an area where they have in fact improved significantly with Colony Ship.

 

[Pink Eye]

Oh fair enough. You posted it in the Colony Ship thread so I assumed that's what we were talking about. Regardless, Colony Ship does give the player ample warning before hand if you're going to engage in a combat encounter via dialogue. For example, in Hydroponics, if you attempt to get too curious with a certain tunnel game will tell you it's not a good idea; a perception check basically confirms that it's a bad idea. So if you didn't get the check you still are cautioned. Speaking of Hydroponics there's another instance of where the dialogue not just warns you but also gives you the option to run away - its the big froggo encounter with two psychic frog.

This extends to many encounters. So it's pretty difficult to put yourself in bad situation. Now I mentioned the disposition system earlier, but it requires repeating. It's such a nifty little mechanic. There are so many variables at play in regards to the system. It's quite fascinating really. Even if you fail a couple of dialogue choices when engaging with someone in conversation. There's still many options to continue to swing pendulum towards your favor. Many players already posted their experiences with the system in this thread; where they managed to persuade people even though they failed a bunch of persuasion checks.

Though the biggest change from Age of Decadence is companions. Unlike Dungeon Rats. Companions can be picked for specialist roles and make all the checks for you. Thus freeing main character and facilitating them to focus on other skills. It's a good game. I love it!

 

[lukaszek]

Companions can be picked

lies

 

[Pink Eye]

Not lies. Press p then you choose who specializes in what.

 

[lukaszek]

this is aod2, companions are a trap choice

 

[Pink Eye]

Disagree. Faythe's my favorite companion. She can cover techy stuff while my main character focuses on Lockpicks or another civic skill. It's a nice synergy.

 

[Parabalus]

Seems to be much more AoDey, with all the teleporting between scenes.

 

[Pink Eye]

Magical teleportation magic, heh.

 

[Parabalus]

Finding it harder to connect with the Hab content than the Pit, as in, while playing I was constantly asking myself "why do I give a fuck?".

You get dumped in a huge area with no points of interest other than 4 teleporters, which in turn have teleporters and a few NPCs. Feels kinda sterile.

The content itself is cool, the protector assault quest making fun of you for trying to loot the bodies is a nice touch, given all the changes regarding that during the dev. Party member banter is great too.

 

[Jaedar]

this is aod2, companions are a trap choice

Massive disagree, at least for now. Companions are great, having lots of them will let you tag every noncombat skill in the game, while still having a lot of firepower and hp for combat. It is a really big boost for a mere 2 stat points.

 

[lukaszek]

this is aod2, companions are a trap choice

Massive disagree, at least for now. Companions are great, having lots of them will let you tag every noncombat skill in the game, while still having a lot of firepower and hp for combat. It is a really big boost for a mere 2 stat points.

and before you know it you play like in pathfinder kangmaker - ace every skill check. Skill checks in party based games make little sense.

Slightly different in here since due to usage xp and limited content - one cant really keep high everything. Still lockpicking/computers/bio/stealing are kind of free(as in for grab and lvlup) while talking/sneaking/combat are mutually exclusive.
Sneaking is kind of oddball since in some situations whole party must go through

 

[Jaedar]

Sneaking is kind of oddball since in some situations whole party must go through

I agree on it being oddball, but not really for this: I think there's only one place like that and it's trivial even with everyone at stealth 1.
Stealth is more of an oddball in that, while talking and fighting are supported solutions for almost every encounter, stealth only works for like a third. And to get high value out of stealth, your stealther also needs a generous helping of lockpick, computer, critical strike and electronics.

I rather like the stealth gameplay, but playing a sneaker feels somewhat suboptimal a lot of the time.

 

[Sòren]

Sneaking is kind of oddball since in some situations whole party must go through

I agree on it being oddball, but not really for this: I think there's only one place like that and it's trivial even with everyone at stealth 1.
Stealth is more of an oddball in that, while talking and fighting are supported solutions for almost every encounter, stealth only works for like a third. And to get high value out of stealth, your stealther also needs a generous helping of lockpick, computer, critical strike and electronics.

I rather like the stealth gameplay, but playing a sneaker feels somewhat suboptimal a lot of the time.

agreed. it felt kinda stupid that one of my builts that tagged stealth (at 5 or 6 at this time), but did not tag either lockpick or computers, could do less at the Black Hand HQ than other builts that did not. stealth 2 or 3 and computers 6 actually lead to a much better result there.

maybe it could be made more worthwhile if it allowed access to some unique equipment.

 

[Tsubutai]

For what it's worth, the update coming at the end of this month will apparently include a very challenging stealth-based tomb robbery that will be crucial for accessing some late-game areas.

 

[lukaszek]

mastermind non combat stealth is the build to play

 

[Pink Eye]

a very challenging stealth-based tomb robbery that will be crucial for accessing some late-game areas.

Meh. Not sure if that'll be worth for me to tag Stealth on Faythe or Myself to make that work. Since I want as many combat encounters as I can get for skill growth, plus combat is just more fun for me. Thus leaving me with little stealth. Seems like after Pit things are getting restricted. In Pit there's so many different ways to accomplish a quest irregardless of build; just choose one that's appropriate for you. Now we go from this open way of doing things to a restricted way, which is unwise, in my opinion.

 

[Parabalus]

mastermind non combat stealth is the build to play

You miss too much content with no combat.

Also have no agency in quest outcomes really.