Starsector: Best space combat 13 years in the making - 0.96 out (2023 update)

Hmm I tried doing that, but there does not seem to be a resolution for Ultra-Wide screens that is low res.

Does this work for non-full screen?

Edit: Dont seem to work for non-full screen. Back to squinting!

Not that I want to encourage feature creep, but this game desperately needs a battle recording mode like the Total War games.

I did and stabilized to the point that I stopped playing since there wasn’t much else to really do.

After learning all the tricks I guess one can do it. I occassionally bump into fleets that hopelessly outmatch my own when first starting out, it almost always means a reload is necessary.

That worked! Thank you.

As we say in Maine, @tylertoo is wicked cunnin’.

Ok, I’ve saved up 1.3M, what am I looking for that’s an optimal choice for colonizing a planet?

Any particular kind, I’m guessing the first one might need some agriculture perhaps? What should I shoot for in terms of location? Near the central hub? More planets in same sector that can also be colonized? And what defenses need to go up immediately to keep pirates at bay? And is what you can purchase sufficient to keep them under control or do I have to loiter about for awhile protecting it?

I think any star system that contains 3 planets that have 125% rating and below would be great. Any bonuses on top of that would be fantastic. Try to keep the star within say 10 light years of the core worlds, so that accessibility score and travel time to the core worlds would be good.

Note: You DON’T need to start with Agriculture and “move” up the supply chain. Your colonies will “source” for input material from other factions.

Edit: The reason for having 3 planets in 1 system is that your patrol fleets will basically decimate any opposition that comes in when you have 3 patrol generating bases upgraded. And defending 3 with your fleet multiplies your effectiveness with travel time etc.

Great input, thanks. Guess I’ll start poking around the periphery of the core looking for a good sector to kick this off in.

Can you get below 125%? That seems unlikely. And I would think one planet at 125-150% and the rest at 150% would be totally work able (but do try to find a system with 2 or 3 such planets so you can protect your colonies easier, is my thinking). My first planet was 150% and it was super lucrative by the end of my time with the game. Don’t forget ocean worlds can “farm” as well with a unique building type they are allowed access to!

I’ve gotten 100% worlds before. In my latest run, I got 2x 125% and 1x 100% within 10 ly! Had super nice colonies. But I basically scoured the whole circumference of 10 lys radius to find one.

But yea, Scott is right in that 150% can work also.

You may get very lucky with the 2 unpopulated core worlds Penelope and Duzahk. Those have superb accessibility scores. But be prepared to start handling annoyed factions (quite easy via bribes or turn off identification before destroying their expeditions, you only incur only a light penalty to relations which you can then quickly repair by doing their missions.)

Thanks for the additional input guys.

One other question, I’ve got a commission with hegemony, does that make my colonies a target of anyone they are at odds with and do they provide any protection (I’m guessing they don’t)?

I cant answer that one. I’ve avoided commission with anyone because they trash my relations with all other factions when they go to war with each other.

Yeah, needed the monthly dough till got a colony going. You know it hasn’t proved to be as much of a problem as I thought it would, sure I have to stay out of certain sectors when hegemony get sideways with someone, but those tend to blow over eventually, and you can resign at any time and given a bit of time your relations with everyone normalize.

Don’t get me wrong, once I’ve got other income I’ll resign, but I might not until I buy a few ships off them.

I had a great time today playing smuggler. While in the core, I found that a Luddic Path base was sorely in need of both drugs and harvested organs. The base I was in at the time had both at good prices, so I purchased $70,000 worth of them. Transponder off, we set off with the illicit goods to sell to the Luddics.

Of course, on the way my fleet of eight was attacked by a fairly large pirate fleet. We survived the battle but got pretty well beat up, and then continued toward the Luddic Path site. Suddenly a message popped up that the Luddics also were desperate for supplies – and delivering 100 would earn about $46K! I was heading there anyway, and I had enough supplies to sell 100 to the Luddics. So that would be a nice bonus for the dangerous trip. Upon arrival the Luddics purchased the drugs and organs for $136K, just about twice what I paid, and I unloaded the supplies for the hefty bonus… so despite the pirate attack, the trip was very profitable.

Problem was, it left me on the outskirts of the core, and low on supplies, and thus low on combat readiness. And this part of space was teaming with pirates. l left the Luddic base with my transponder off, hoping to make it to the nearest jumpgate without being noticed. No such luck - my fleet was attacked by other pirates not once but twice by rag tag pirate fleets. Had my ships been rested and well supplied, those battles would not have been tough. But instead they were both tough skirmishes. My fleet survived both, and I didn’t lose a ship, but all the ships ended up down at less than 20% combat readiness. A third attack would do me in, so the fleet again flew dark and I tried to sneak back to less dangerous space. I managed to get to a friendly base by the skin of my teeth, and re-stocked. It was truly nail-biting.

And… all that experience jumped my commander up several experience points, as well as my three mercs. Good times.

Stories like this are why this reminds me of a space version of Rimworld. I have similar experiences just about every time I jump into it. Nearly ran out of supplies twice tonight surveying for a good colony planet.

I found a couple too, but they’re way off the beaten path. Can I still make them work or is trade the primary way these make money? And that requires close proximity to the heavily occupied sections of the galaxy?

These are 100% planets, two of them in same sector. But they’re pretty far from the core.

Thoughts?

You’ll hate the travel times.

That’s no doubt true, I’ll keep the sector I found in mind and keep looking for a bit yet for something closer.

Can I fudge a bit on livability for closeness and make planets at 150% work profitably?

Definitely.

Definitely. I read that it’s possible for even 175% especially if you have Alpha cores running them.