More space please

[Cardinal Ape]

I suspect that most players have this same problem that I do: My ship inventory is constantly clogged up with excess crew members.

If there is anything that can be done in this expansion to help alleviate this problem I would be most grateful. After all, in this genre of games that Drox falls into, one thing that is supremely cliche to add in an expansion to these types of games is increased inventory space.

I know this suggestion has been made quite a few times before, so I know I sound like a broken record... But when I ask myself; What is the most annoying aspect of this game? It is clearly a clogged inventory due to having too many crew members.

And, yes, I am aware that only reason we hang onto crew members is to game the system to be able to use components that we don't have the stats for. I do wonder if this is an intended part of the game or if it is an abused exploit?

[Yindo]

You can use a mod to make crew members stashable.

[ScrObot]

The crew member thing was at least partially addressed in 1.012 by having installed components that you don't meet requirements for take double damage. I don't know if that's enough to actually make a difference in practice, but it's a start in any case.

[sbach2o]

Originally Posted by Cardinal Ape

And, yes, I am aware that only reason we hang onto crew members is to game the system to be able to use components that we don't have the stats for. I do wonder if this is an intended part of the game or if it is an abused exploit?

I think this is the core problem and something should be done about it.

I can only speculate about the reasons this hasn't happened already. Having, just like weapons, all components you don't meet the requirements for go out of service immediately and completely seems too harsh. It usually would turn losing a vital crew member into an immediate death sentence.

A workable compromise could be to just reduce all component's effectiveness by an amount proportional to how much you are under requirements. So an engine delivers less thrust, pieces of armor or shields less protection and regeneration, reactors less power and so on. The effects should hurt but not be crippling.

I think this would be a lot of work for Shadow, just imagine potential demands on component display like showing potential vs. actual effectiveness. It also wouldn't be easy to balance out, maybe just turn into a can of worms. For every component class decisions would be necessary about which stats are affected and by what magnitude; then tehre's the question of what to do with random bonuses, and so on. But the current state, that a very effective, min-maxing mode of playing this game consists of endlessly fiddling with your crew for every significant re-configuration of the ship's equipment, is just dissatifying. Actually I am talking out of my behind on this, as I never tried it myself. But I've seen appalling screen shots.

When this has been balanced in a way that most players feel the best way to go is to actually meet component requirements, we could probably dicuss the question about whether five skill points per level-up are enough. There have been calls for more to balance the game, probably by players not depending on this exploit.

[Tuidjy]

a very effective, min-maxing mode of playing this game consists of endlessly fiddling with your crew for every significant re-configuration of the ship's equipment, is just dissatifying

Some may be dissatisfied, others, like yours truly, get a sense of accomplishment. This is what crew is for. Only one crewman in fifty is worth permanently slotting for his bonuses, as opposed to enabling components.

On the other hand, I also think that the way things are now, race ships become too similar to each other, and can be ranked in power simply by ranking their Tactics bonus. My solution would be to make (1) Big hulls A LOT clumsier and slower. (2) Most components active, with activation duration matching the refresh time (3) Broken armor NOT repairable with consumables, only at planets (4) Any damaged, under-crewed components break outright. (5) Any under-crewed, non-active components draw double power.

[Cardinal Ape]

Originally Posted by Yindo

You can use a mod to make crew members stashable.

Mods and multi-player don't work all that well together, version mismatches and stuff... And if it wasn't Soldak approved it would kinda feel like cheating in my opinion.

Originally Posted by ScrObot

The crew member thing was at least partially addressed in 1.012 by having installed components that you don't meet requirements for take double damage. I don't know if that's enough to actually make a difference in practice, but it's a start in any case.

I primarily play hardcore mode were components permanently break. I've lost some good stuff because of the double damage. If a vital component, like a power plant gets destroyed in hardcore it is pretty much game over. In fact, one of the most brutal things I have experienced in this game is when I had one of my own missiles get hacked. It criticaled me for an absurd amount of damaged that murdered 3 of my best crew.

Originally Posted by Tuidjy

(3) Broken armor NOT repairable with consumables, only at planets...

If you have multiple pieces of armor equpied won't all damage be done to one piece rather than be evenly distributed between them? If so, this would really be a pain.

[Cardinal Ape]

Ideally what I would love to see is a new 5th cargo bay slot added to the ship with a new type of cargo bay component that can only hold crew members. Possibly for balance this new crew bay should required power or something.

[Tuidjy]

Originally Posted by Cardinal Ape

If you have multiple pieces of armor equpied won't all damage be done to one piece rather than be evenly distributed between them? If so, this would really be a pain.

The pain is kind of the point. If you have slotted armor and no longer have the required Structure skill, it cannot be fixed on the fly. Either re-slot a mechanic, or fly to a planet - but no fixing it in combat with nanites or reapers.

All of my above suggestions are meant to make it harder to get away with juggling crew so that you can put all skill points in Command and Tactics.

Originally Posted by Cardinal Ape

Ideally what I would love to see is a new 5th cargo bay slot added to the ship with a new type of cargo bay component that can only hold crew members. Possibly for balance this new crew bay should required power or something.

Maybe even go as far as crew members losing morale really quickly unless you can slot them or have a cargo hold with life support. This will actually make juggling crew harder, but I think it is too complex to implement.