DW2 Beta Update - 1.0.5.1 (How to Access and Change List)

[rxnnxs]

Just a quick note to say that Elliot has been sick for a week and that has slowed down our update schedule and plans. Hopefully he will be feeling better soon and we'll be able to resume the planned update schedule next week.

Thank you for the info, now that I know why, I wait for a weak before I look into the forums again.
Keep Elliot away from the forums, its the best to stay away from that nagging. On me, it would be also bad for my health, because.. you know what I mean.
So I guess you are the one that keeps that pressure away frokm elliot, and thats good.
It would be good for him to take his time, private time, and play the game itself. And maybe that way fix some things that are different from those nasty big bugs.
So best wishes for all of you - stay calm and enjoy the day - now!

[fruitgnome]

Get well soon

[MichaelJ007]

Mmmm.... sick in bed ..... so nothing else to do except fix bugs.... muhahahahaha.

/whipcrack

Get well soon.

[Erik Rutins]

Hi everyone,

Elliot has recovered and we're working on a new beta update for the end of this week. Our focus remains on reported issues with fleet and ship behavior in certain situations and with certain combinations of settings, including tanker behavior and tactical setting interactions.

Regards,

- Erik

[swizzlewizzle]

Good to hear Elliot is feeling better!

[praetorreich36]

Good to hear he's feeling better.

[Erik Rutins]

The original post has now been updated with the change list for the new 1.0.4.1 public beta update, which is now available.

[SirHoraceHarkness]

Nice. Was just going to start a new game too so perfect timing.

[100thMonkey]

Thanks Erik (and Elliot), for the patch AND for the information. I'll do some tests as soon as possible and give feedback (I presume that I can continue with my current game; please let me know if that's not the case, or if it might cause some problems).

Two questions regarding capture (I prefer, by far, capturing enemy mining stations, especially caslon stations, instead of destroying them):

• What would be the optimal ship and fleet tactical setting for "capture" fleets?

• Can I assume that with the optimal settings, an automated fleet, with ships designed for capture, would prioritize capture over destruction?

[Commander4X]

1.0.4.1 sounds great.

Fleet Retreat Strategy
[...]
Note that Manual fleets will not at this time retreat as a fleet unless ordered to do so by the player. This is working as intended, as we generally lean towards manual meaning that the player has full control and gets to decide when the fleet retreats. All automated fleets will respect the Fleet Retreat Strategy.

In my opinion this is not the best decision. I want my manual fleets to retreat if they are facing an overwhelming opponent. Without this change I had full control: if I did not want a manual fleet to retreat - no matter what - I could just set that option to the corresponding value.

My meaning is that setting those strategies is part of the manual control. No need to ignoring them. You would reduce the control of the player rather than increasing it.

[Ranbir]

Has sector engagement now gone? Or will we get the sector grid overlay back?

[SirHoraceHarkness]

Ok after getting to late game on a fresh start I can say performance is great now and it barely stresses my gpu when it was getting up to 90% utilization before and this is a pretty beefy gpu. AI is still very weak on early expansion unless you give them some starting game buffs like a few additional colonies and at least a +2 tech advantage over your own starting level. But do that and you end up with a very enjoyable session with good fights starting around mid game. Since the AI are ahead of you most of the game diplomacy plays a much larger role as you sometimes have to buy off an empire getting a little conquest minded before you are ready to take them on. Sadly there isn't much middle ground for the AI on starting conditions so you pretty much have to give them a boost if you want them to be more than a pothole on your road to galactic domination.

[Erik Rutins]

Updated the first post with the 1.0.4.3 beta build changes. This beta should be available in a short while today. This should be the last fleet/ship-focused beta build for a while as we switch our gameplay issues focus to the private economy for the next set of beta builds.

[Erik Rutins]

Thanks Erik (and Elliot), for the patch AND for the information. I'll do some tests as soon as possible and give feedback (I presume that I can continue with my current game; please let me know if that's not the case, or if it might cause some problems).

Two questions regarding capture (I prefer, by far, capturing enemy mining stations, especially caslon stations, instead of destroying them):

• What would be the optimal ship and fleet tactical setting for "capture" fleets?

• Can I assume that with the optimal settings, an automated fleet, with ships designed for capture, would prioritize capture over destruction?

In my experience, if I want to capture enemy ships or bases, I tend to use designs with assault pods and at least some ion weapons and set them to aggressive settings to make sure they get in close enough to use their assault pods.

It's also important to make sure your policy settings prioritize capture in the instances where you want enemy ships to be captured. Those play a significant role as well. You can see these in your Military policy settings. Look for "Capture Condition" and Enlist or Disassemble.

[Erik Rutins]

1.0.4.1 sounds great.

Fleet Retreat Strategy
[...]
Note that Manual fleets will not at this time retreat as a fleet unless ordered to do so by the player. This is working as intended, as we generally lean towards manual meaning that the player has full control and gets to decide when the fleet retreats. All automated fleets will respect the Fleet Retreat Strategy.

In my opinion this is not the best decision. I want my manual fleets to retreat if they are facing an overwhelming opponent. Without this change I had full control: if I did not want a manual fleet to retreat - no matter what - I could just set that option to the corresponding value.

My meaning is that setting those strategies is part of the manual control. No need to ignoring them. You would reduce the control of the player rather than increasing it.

Just to be clear, this is how it was always working, we just wanted to make sure we fully explained and documented it.

With that said, in going through this and some of the feedback and issue reports, it became clear to use that some players would like what you describe - the ability to have manual fleets with a few automation features. That's something we'll revisit in the future, but right now I think you can get all the behavior you may want from fleet and ships by understanding and using the existing settings.

[Erik Rutins]

Has sector engagement now gone? Or will we get the sector grid overlay back?

Sectors are not a key part of DW2 at this time. They may return in the future, but nothing soon. Instead we're focusing on more clearly explaining distances to players and allowing them to measure them.

[100thMonkey]

Thanks Erik (and Elliot), for the patch AND for the information. I'll do some tests as soon as possible and give feedback (I presume that I can continue with my current game; please let me know if that's not the case, or if it might cause some problems).

Two questions regarding capture (I prefer, by far, capturing enemy mining stations, especially caslon stations, instead of destroying them):

• What would be the optimal ship and fleet tactical setting for "capture" fleets?

• Can I assume that with the optimal settings, an automated fleet, with ships designed for capture, would prioritize capture over destruction?

In my experience, if I want to capture enemy ships or bases, I tend to use designs with assault pods and at least some ion weapons and set them to aggressive settings to make sure they get in close enough to use their assault pods.

It's also important to make sure your policy settings prioritize capture in the instances where you want enemy ships to be captured. Those play a significant role as well. You can see these in your Military policy settings. Look for "Capture Condition" and Enlist or Disassemble.

Good to know that I'm already doing the right things to maximize captures. Yet, I've encountered again (even after 1.0.4.1) a situation where a fleet wasn't doing anything after receiving an order to capture a base in the same system. And, as before, the fleet "had" the capture mission, and the flagship had "No mission". While trying to figure out what was going on, I noticed that the flag ship's position within the fleet was "Core", while all the other ships had "Close Escort". I changed that to "Picket" for all ships (thanks for the new buttons/tools in tactical settings), and then they went and captured the base.

Is that the intended behavior: that even with a manual fleet, ship's tactical settings might interfere with a capture order?

Another (related) question: in the changes for 1.0.4.3, what does "ensure raid countdown processed for bases" mean exactly? I remember that someone in the forum had mentioned such a countdown, adding that it might be a possible cause of the capture order not working (that was before 1.0.4.1). So what in-game effects can we expect from the "ensuring raid countdown process" change in 1.0.4.3?

[Erik Rutins]

Good to know that I'm already doing the right things to maximize captures. Yet, I've encountered again (even after 1.0.4.1) a situation where a fleet wasn't doing anything after receiving an order to capture a base in the same system. And, as before, the fleet "had" the capture mission, and the flagship had "No mission". While trying to figure out what was going on, I noticed that the flag ship's position within the fleet was "Core", while all the other ships had "Close Escort". I changed that to "Picket" for all ships (thanks for the new buttons/tools in tactical settings), and then they went and captured the base.

Is that the intended behavior: that even with a manual fleet, ship's tactical settings might interfere with a capture order?

Could you please share a save with us showing that issue? Does this duplicate for you in 1.0.4.3? I would love to have that save to see what's happening, impossible to really be sure without it.

Another (related) question: in the changes for 1.0.4.3, what does "ensure raid countdown processed for bases" mean exactly? I remember that someone in the forum had mentioned such a countdown, adding that it might be a possible cause of the capture order not working (that was before 1.0.4.1). So what in-game effects can we expect from the "ensuring raid countdown process" change in 1.0.4.3?

I don't think that should affect the capture process, but it does relate to raid/boarding combat not progressing.

[Thineboot]

[1.0.4.3] : Tanker seem to work better now.

Just had an "under attack" of a fuel tanker. Being part of the fleet reacting to a "Dangerous Location" investigation it went there on full speed while the war ships stick together at the slowest speed. While fuel tankers have to travel on their speed when operating for the fleet by gathering Caslon, travelling between ships which can be spread, they should never jump into action ahead of war ships. It's a necessary exception to their normal behaviour, which should be taken into account.

[Erik Rutins]

[1.0.4.3] : Tanker seem to work better now.
Just had an "under attack" of a fuel tanker. Being part of the fleet reacting to a "Dangerous Location" investigation it went there on full speed while the war ships stick together at the slowest speed. While fuel tankers have to travel on their speed when operating for the fleet by gathering Caslon, travelling between ships which can be spread, they should never jump into action ahead of war ships. It's a necessary exception to their normal behaviour, which should be taken into account.

I thought we had resolved this. In my testing the tankers were now arriving last. Do you have a save you can share that shows this happening as you describe?