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

[Alphons]

my character werent able to test yet, does disruption shield stop frogs from gnawing at your face/feet? Or starfish from pulling you in? it should

It doesn't, but it's shock damage is pretty good against frogs.

 

[Parabalus]

as side question: anyone had luck running solo with dagger? I got a lot of trouble getting past easy frog fights.

I'm almost done with one, with 8 7 9 5 11 4 stats with implants. No consumables except 2 health stims.

Are you sneaking by the frogs or killing them? I killed all of them since sneaking gives dick for XP and loot, easiest first pack is in the armory, top left of room has a rad choke point.

I meant the usual combat, not sneak sections. When you play solo with cloaking you can shoot enemies for 2-3 turns for free, it's fun as hell but feels broken, as I said.

I... never actually tried to use it in combat lol

It even regens a charge when you go from stealth to combat, so you get several free takedowns, cloak, the AI goes haywire since no targets and splits up, then you can attack for free.

 

[Parabalus]

The parts where you get controllable mooks are stupid, since the way the game is set up you have a huge conflict of interest, because

1. you can loot them if they die
2. they steal enormous amounts of combat XP from you.

In AoD (2) wasn't the case, and even though they were uncontrollable, you couldn't loot 'your' side in most fights. This leads to you intentionally suiciding them.

They should also have pre-tagged skills, or no tags available at all. Or add an indicator, which would be useful for newly joining teammates as well, as a reminder to spend the tags.

 

[lukaszek]

I'm almost done with one, with 8 7 9 5 11 4 stats with implants. No consumables except 2 health stims.

8 str... went for berserker? Works with flurry? If you drop 1 con in favor of dex you would flurry twice
My build was with perception instead of str, I do feel like I lack power behind my hits. Crits are not strong nor frequent enough. Evasion diff isnt that big, accuracy caps quickly anyway

 

[Ihavenoidea]

I'm almost done with one, with 8 7 9 5 11 4 stats with implants. No consumables except 2 health stims.

8 str... went for berserker? Works with flurry? If you drop 1 con in favor of dex you would flurry twice
My build was with perception instead of str, I do feel like I lack power behind my hits. Crits are not strong nor frequent enough. Evasion diff isnt that big, accuracy caps quickly anyway

For Bladed aimed I did recently 8/7/11/7/7/4 with Fast Runner/Lone Wolf/Warrior/Butcher
7/7/10/6/6/4 at start, 8 bladed and evasion (tagged) at end.m 78 Evasion, so relatively high I think. I could go higher, but I wanted to test Butcher.

 

[Parabalus]

I'm almost done with one, with 8 7 9 5 11 4 stats with implants. No consumables except 2 health stims.

8 str... went for berserker? Works with flurry? If you drop 1 con in favor of dex you would flurry twice
My build was with perception instead of str, I do feel like I lack power behind my hits. Crits are not strong nor frequent enough. Evasion diff isnt that big, accuracy caps quickly anyway

For Bladed aimed I did recently 8/7/11/7/7/4 with Fast Runner/Lone Wolf/Warrior/Butcher
7/7/10/6/6/4 at start, 8 bladed and evasion (tagged) at end.m 78 Evasion, so relatively high I think. I could go higher, but I wanted to test Butcher.

It works with flurry, though how you often move I didn't miss 18 AP too much.

I get Berserker only at lvl 5 (basically 2-3 fights left), used some aimeds before that and mostly power attacks since flurry would often graze. It also has a crit penalty, so less crit SP (?). Used the bowie for most of the initial game, Mercy dagger + last arena fight sword afterwards.

The problem seems to be that combat stat increase way to fast, with mastermind you can prob hit 9 in all of them if you milk the encounters a bit more.

 

[Savecummer]

The theme is actually pretty clear and established during the first seconds of the game.
You play as intermediate generation which was sacrificed by your progenitors for the sake of your/their descendants. You are not the one benefiting from making that choice, and you are not the one who made that choice for yourself, thus you are the ones who have to endure deprivations without any benefits for yourselves. Should you bear the costs with hope and optimism that it's not going to be fruitless or plunge in despair and decadence?

Thats not a theme... Thats the setup. Being born in Somalia to a druggie rape victim is not a theme. You didnt ask for this! It just is. (cept when you write pseudo-philosophy treatise....)
The moral questions around soylent green ntabs (and their generation...) in overpopulated NY Pit would be a theme. Homo homini lupus est?
The ideological choice how to deal with the consequences of your birth in a shitty situation it is already answered - pragmatically.

I cant muster the motivation to write about the bad worldbuilding lel...

 

[PrettyDeadman]

The theme is actually pretty clear and established during the first seconds of the game.
You play as intermediate generation which was sacrificed by your progenitors for the sake of your/their descendants. You are not the one benefiting from making that choice, and you are not the one who made that choice for yourself, thus you are the ones who have to endure deprivations without any benefits for yourselves. Should you bear the costs with hope and optimism that it's not going to be fruitless or plunge in despair and decadence?

Thats not a theme... Thats the setup. Being born in Somalia to a druggie rape victim is not a theme. You didnt ask for this! It just is. (cept when you write pseudo-philosophy treatise....)
The moral questions around soylent green ntabs (and their generation...) in overpopulated NY Pit would be a theme. Homo homini lupus est?
The ideological choice how to deal with the consequences of your birth in a shitty situation it is already answered - pragmatically.

I cant muster the motivation to write about the bad worldbuilding lel...

I explained both the setup and the theme. Also, the same criticism can be applied to your proposed theme. "Being born in overpopulated NY Pit" is as much of a setup as "being born in Somalia to a druggie rape victim".

The ideological choice how to deal with the consequences of your birth in a shitty situation it is already answered - pragmatically.

It is not answered pragmatically. The central conflict of the game and ideological division between main factions are based around that question, which player must answer for himself in order to support one of the factions and resolve that conflict.

 

[Savecummer]

Truly. The power of Blunt Objects is simply outrageous!

You mean evasion.
Give that char a shotgun and see if you win that fight.

 

[Savecummer]

I explain both the setup and the theme.

And I already explained to you what is and isnt a setup/theme but you are too much of bootlicker to accept it.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

I explain both the setup and the theme.

And I already explained to you what is and isnt a setup/theme but you are too much of bootlicker to accept it.

How can you explain to someone what is and isn't a setup/theme if clearly you don't understand it yourself and contradict yourself within 1 paragraph of text, naming the same thing both setup (being born in conditions x) and theme (being born in conditions y).

 

[Pink Eye]

>You mean evasion.
Yes. Obviously. Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Shitlock Holmes.

 

[Savecummer]

I never called the 'is' a theme, l2r.

Also, the same criticism can be applied to your proposed theme. "Being born in overpopulated NY Pit" is as much of a setup as "being born in Somalia to a druggie rape victim".

Thats not my fucking proposed theme... Moral questions around eating people and eventually killing them for food would have been the known theme. How can you skip that in 1 sentence - I dont know. Sever fanboyism presses on the cranium?
Go see Pedopedia what a theme is.

The central conflict of the game and ideological division between main factions are based around that question

Proofs. All I read was factions vying for control.

 

[Savecummer]

>You mean evasion.
Yes. Obviously. Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Shitlock Holmes.

Make another lone wolf where you stack evasion and roll dice against the rng, you mental midget.

-edit-

Go ahead, show me all your 8 builds. I'd like to see whats so fascinating about this chargen!

 

[lukaszek]

I get Berserker only at lvl 5 (basically 2-3 fights left), used some aimeds before that and mostly power attacks since flurry would often graze. It also has a crit penalty, so less crit SP (?). Used the bowie for most of the initial game, Mercy dagger + last arena fight sword afterwards.

yeah str instead of per makes huge difference. Cleared arena without entering map

 

[Parabalus]

Is there really any story? CS reminds me more of DR than AoD, maybe because of the constant area blocks in 'dungeons'.

Lack of guild/faction makes everything seem aimless and irrelevant.

>You mean evasion.
Yes. Obviously. Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Shitlock Holmes.

Did you clear everything without cloak?

 

[PrettyDeadman]

Proofs. All I read was factions vying for control.

The reason why factions are vying for control is in its core ideological, with 2 faction literally being religious fanatics, having a dogmatic answer to the aforementioned question (viewing it as a holy mission) and the third one wanting to review the question without the dogmatical glasses and find more practical answer. So it's both the main "hook" of the story which lead to the current situation, the main difference between factions within a game heavily based on factions and an ongoing conflict which player is likely intended to solve as a result of the main quest. It is also the main theme of the optional questionnaire in the beginning of the game, which is intended to establish your standing in the conflict. If its not enough to be a theme than I don't know what is.

 

[Pink Eye]

Cloak? You mean the sneak one, disruptor, or energy armor that gives invincibility? I just use disruptor + flashbang + combat stim. Smokies for bigger fights like Jonas siege and Mercy fight. Can reach 100 evasion by doing that. Start hitting threshold for 90-100 evasion around level 3.

Spoiler

 

[Parabalus]

Cloak? You mean the sneak one, disruptor, or energy armor that gives invincibility? I just use disruptor + flashbang + combat stim. Smokies for bigger fights like Jonas siege and Mercy fight. Can reach 100 evasion by doing that. Start hitting threshold for 90-100 evasion around level 3.

Spoiler

Sneak one works in combat, makes e.g. crossing the Jonas bridge trivial.

Did you have trouble with the psi frogs?
Guessing you could kill them before they act and stun you, my build had half that initiative.

 

[Pink Eye]

Yep. Rush up to psychic frog and kill it before it drains your AP - even then you can still recover because you'll have loads of AP left. Lone Wolf is very stupid.

 

[Infinitron]

https://steamcommunity.com/games/648410/announcements/detail/4461354274028263846

Read Before Buying

While we do want to sell more copies, we don't want people disappointed with what they buy, so here's a fair warning based on the first week's feedback and early reviews.

Combat is difficult. You’ll be outnumbered and outgunned, so you’ll have to figure out how to even the odds or avoid fights you can't win. If that's not your idea of having a good time, you'll be disappointed with your purchase.


There are no difficulty modes as you can easily handle 90% of encounters by diplomacy, stealth, and occasionally science skills. In fact, diplomacy is the Easy or Story mode, if you prefer, but if that doesn't work for you either, maybe you should consider buying a more suitable game instead.

If, however, you're determined to master the combat system, here's a handy guide into its esoteric mysteries. There are 3 main factors determining the difficulty of any combat encounter and your character's life expectancy:

1. Accuracy
   
2. Evasion
   
3. Damage (both dealt and taken)

If you want to even the odds and maybe even shift them in your favor, you must learn to control these factors. Let me show you how:

Accuracy = 50 + bonuses from (stat + skill + feat + implant + helmet/goggles + weapon). You can easily neglect a couple of items from this list and still be a competent fighter, meaning you don't need to min/max your stats (or play the one true build that works) because it's only 1 item out of 6.

Evasion = bonuses from (stat + skill + feat + implant + armor handling – armor penalty).

When two characters decide to settle their differences the old fashioned way, more factors come into play:

Accuracy of the attacker is further modified by the attack type (different attacks have different pros and cons), your gun's effective range, and inflicted penalties.

Evasion of the defender is further modifier by cover (the exact bonus depends on the angle), gadget bonus (if you're using Disruptor Field), and smoke/spore cloud (smoke grenades and certain critters).

This info isn't hidden: you can open your character and inventory screens and see the detailed breakdown of your accuracy and evasion, or press ALT when targeting to see why your to-hit chance is lower than expected.

All incoming damage is reduced by damage resistance (feat + implants + armor) and energy shield (gadget and/or energy armor). Weapons with good penetration and/or aimed attacks can reduce enemy's damage resistance, dealing more damage.

"It's got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel and a hair trigger. That's right, shop smart. Shop S-mart."
You start the game with 1,000 credits. The starting gear is enough to get an experienced player through the first few fights but if you're struggling, go to the nearby weapon and gadget stores and buy yourself either Energy Shield or Disruptor Field and a better gun. This will boost your survival odds significantly.

"You can learn from anyone even your enemy."
Last but not the least, your best teacher isn't a guide on the internet but the Combat AI controlling the enemies:

The enemies use the same system as you. They have similar stats, skills, weapons (which you can loot after the fight), and rolls. The AI doesn't cheat but it knows the system better and uses it more efficiently than the new player.

The combat log on the right will show you all the info you need: attack type, damage rolled and resisted, even to-hit ranges and rolls.

When in doubt, try the demo
Even if everything I said sounds exactly like your kind of game, try the combat demo first. It's harder than the game due to the narrow focus on combat, but if you can handle the demo, you won't have any problems with anything the game will throw at you. Should you have any questions, we’ll be more than happy to answer them.

 

[razvedchiki]

i thought we were past all this.

 

[Parabalus]

It's much easier than AoD or DR too, I'd wager they intentionally undertuned the combat the try and avoid this, unsuccessfully.

 

[Jaedar]

https://steamcommunity.com/games/648410/announcements/detail/4461354274028263846

Never thought I'd see the day VD got old and got tired of people complaining that the game is too hard.

It's much easier than AoD or DR too, I'd wager they intentionally undertuned the combat the try and avoid this, unsuccessfully.

It is quite a bit easier, but the difficulty is fairly frontloaded (at least in the EA) so you need to get over the initial hump.

 

[Luckmann]

It's much easier than AoD or DR too, I'd wager they intentionally undertuned the combat the try and avoid this, unsuccessfully.

Yeah. Sure, I only played the initial area so far (but I keep itching to maaaybe just run another character), but I really reacted to how much easier it seemed. I had to reload a fight or two a few times, but it was nothing like AoD in terms of getting buttfucked from the get-go. I remember running an assassin in AoD and getting beaten to death by a guard with a stick in the first 5 minutes or so.

Hopefully it's just Early Access and VD will bamboozle all the noobs by increasing difficulty from beta to release.