For spying there are some talents that let you replace a threat card with an intel or credits card.
The remove risk card lets you improve your odds. But I too have noticed some suspicious some times strange stuff that makes me think it isn’t a 1 in 5 chance for any given card. But I use that to my advantage by choosing the -5 card or the -3 distress signal card. That one always seems to get picked. Of course it could be that it is just pure rng and my superstitions are unfounded. Knock on wood :)
Other than Talents, it’s a matter of weighing the two values that determine which five cards you draw. They’re called, I think, Danger and Risk. Is that right? I remember not quite understanding what they each meant until I read the wiki.
Also, in case it’s not obvious, you can always walk away from a draw.
As far as the draws for your hand deal goes, I think your reputation with the faction that controls the zone (planet) also is a factor. I’ve noticed that when I have a really high rep with somebody, the spying is never as good even if the risk of the quadrant is high. But yeah, like Tom says, there is a panel for looking at the risk and reward draw cat percentages. Plus, I think the hand draws gradually get worse the more you work them but that might just my imagination.It is the case for the exploration game though. You will eventually deplete the zone and not be able to draw more.
As far as what happens when you actually pick a card, I think it is random 1 in 5 except for the games where a mission card is in play. Often you will see a percent chance on the mission success card. But I wonder if there are weights in the other games too? Like I said, I have seen some strange things.or maybe I’m just paranoid. :)
Looks like I need to groom a military officer in my crew. My captain is an explorer and focusing on that but patrolling is so important early on. Deep game.
This is a bit of a revelation for me. Like @Gordon_Cameron I have not been hooked after several playthroughs, but I’ve been following, or at least trying to follow, the storyline. So I’ll give this approach – ignoring it – a go.
It’s only been a few months since the massive HIGHFALL expansion released but we’re back again with the BROOD expansion. Since the game is fully released on all platforms, all promo codes have gone out and our attention is on expanding the game and completing the final content creation rewards with our backers.
The BROOD Story Era will start during the 3rd or 4th Centuries with a series of introductory stories. No matter how old your game is, it will start if you play for a few years – as always we work hard to make sure veteran captains can keep enjoying new content without any restarts.
Enemy captains now have the fully operational battle carriers! High level human captains of certain professions like Military Officer may challenge you in the void, ready to launch interdictors, bombers and boarding shuttles against you.
Just to testify to the awesomeness of the Trese Brothers: I was a backer of the game when it first came out for support, then we had a LOT of “life stuff” come up, and I never had a chance to download it on my iPad (what I signed up for.) I sent them an email telling them I had long ago lost the email and never downloaded it, and could I pay a fee to get the PC version for my Thinkpad instead (since it’s light enough I carry it much more than my iPad these days.) Within hours I got a reply, with a Steam code and a note saying hey, extra fee needed, we appreciate our backers, enjoy.
So now finally time to learn this game! Looks like a good travel/airport/hotel strategy game.
So I am reaaaallly not trying to troll this game, because I would love to love it, but the crunchy core stuff still isn’t working for me.
Especially ship combat. At least up to third-from-bottom difficulty level (which is maybe still too low), I find it really dull and it takes too many turns to finish off a ship.
The most fun part of the game for me is the casino of blockading/patroling, but when it actually leads to ship combat I get sad.
I assume it gets better when weapon choices and buff/debuff choices are critical to success or failure, but I’m not there so far.
So is there a win condition in ST:F? I’ve googled that question, and the answer seems to be no, it’s a sandbox game with a number of long story arcs. Is that right?
Mind you, I have 160 hours or so in the game already, so you don’t have to persuade me it’s a good game! I love it. I’m just curious if there’s an end in sight.
I always play permadeath in this game, and when I die I start my next character with the same skills, crew, ship, money, level, location, and encounter as the dead guy. It’s the only way to play.
