Beta 0.914 (The Diseased, The Unemployed, And The Balanced) Released!

[x4000]

Release notes: https://arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Stars_Beyond_Reach_Beta_Phase_3_Release_Notes#Version_0.914_.28The_Diseased.2C_The_Unemployed.2C_And_The_Balanced.29

Whew, okay, let's see:

1. This improves the clarity on a lot of things, like market items and so forth.  Still lots more to do, and there are so major hud things in the works that should really help with things people have brought up.

2. There were a huge number of bugs and balance issues that got sorted out.

3. The way that crown income happens has really been extremely changed around.  It's a lot more balanced now relative to itself, but one question that remains is if crown income is on parity with what you need to spend.  It might be that you feel too poor now, whereas you were too crazy rich before.  Not really sure.  There are a number of changes here that actually let you earn crowns from things that were not income sources before, but then other income sources got nerfed pretty hard or require more staff, etc.

4. Unemployment is once again a problem!  Although, now it's a problem in a much more straightforward way, which I'm pleased about.  A lot of the rebalancing with crowns also provides a huge amount of opportunities for more employment, so that's good.

5. Diseases are heavily restricted in the early acts in terms of how bad they can be on the severity scale, although that doesn't mean they won't still kill you if you're not careful.  Your tools for combating disease in other ways beyond just curing citizens are also now available in act 1 instead of being an act 4 thing that nobody has even seen yet.  Whether or not this is fully enough for diseases to feel right remains to be seen, but anyhow there you go.

6. Oh, you can actually use the international abilities again.  Sorry about that, I goofed it up last version.

Enjoy!

[Cinth]

Stay tuned for game breaking news!  Pun very much intended

[x4000]

Hahaha.  From ptarth:

Did you increase birthrates to compensate for these changes? If not there may be issues. I'm on turn 29 of my current Boarine game with 175 people. It is going to take ages to get birthing centers with is now compounded with the massive drop in income.

Honestly though, with that many changes anything I say is speculative without trying it out.

Me: As to the birth rate issue... that's a really good point. Boarines have it particularly bad, but it may be that it needs to be increased for all races. I've got to get some lunch, but just shoot me a note if that or other things seem off. I have a feeling that some early buildings may be too expensive in crowns now, too, so I'd rather hit them all at once.


(That goes to everyone!)

[gnosis]

I need to start a new game with a new race ASAP... but I have soo much work to do on my own projects.. perhaps tomorow?

[Cinth]

I thought that the AI wasn't allowed to settle in territories next to the player...

[ptarth]

I think we are much too far in the poor area. Small Shops were the main source of income in previous version (along with lumber and fisheries when supported). They were cut by 90%. I'm on turn 33 in a new Boarine game. My income is 2.7k per turn. Middle Class Eateries seem to be the crown-making venture these days. All in all, I think crown production needs to be increased across the board by 500%. This would move up the crown production for the average worker to around 20, which I think is a better starting point. Right now I'm destitute.

[Cinth]

Well.... I went from grabbing 6-8 territories in the first 100 to nothing.

300 turns in and I'm up to 17k/ turn (still Act 1), about to go genocidal on those who took land near me (and then some).

[crazyroosterman]

I thought that the AI wasn't allowed to settle in territories next to the player...

no there not meant to. 2 I cant wait for my pet bug to go away so I can start nuking people 3 over all this all looks good ill have to try for my self though to see if the crown balance changes are a good thing.

[x4000]

A bit more coming very shortly.  I hate the pollution thing too, in practice.

* The income of all the restaurants had not been properly reduced in the prior version to match the other crown producers.  Fixed.

* The amount of income directly generated by fishing wharves has been cut further, because with the multipliers those things are just plain old cash cows still.

* All sources of crowns except the lander itself have had their income levels increased by 3x.
** It may need to go further, but we'll take it one thing at a time for now.

[Cinth]

It's not that bad once you get going and get room to build up.  It's just a lot slower.  Of course my neighbors are P.O. with me and I think the planet has gone genocidal, but it will be ok.   

[x4000]

Hahaha.

And yeah, understood.  But I don't want things to feel like they are sluggish at the start.  Granted, previously folks were abusing the heck out of some buildings and so it was WAY faster than intended, but there's a middle ground in there somewhere. 

[ptarth]

...abusing....

 

How long are you ball parking Act 1 to take?

[Cinth]

...abusing....

 

How long are you ball parking Act 1 to take?

I'd be in Act 1 for a couple hundred turns.  No hurry to advance really.  I'd just like to hit 150k crowns so I can expand my territory and build up from there.

[x4000]

Haha, fair points.

The new version is out now!

My main gripe is not how fast you were doing things, but rather:
1. Tons of money without having a lot of buildings and citizens to back that up.
2. Spamming a single kind of building being a reasonable thing.

That's where my term of abuse comes from.

[ptarth]

Haha, fair points.

The new version is out now!

My main gripe is not how fast you were doing things, but rather:
1. Tons of money without having a lot of buildings and citizens to back that up.
2. Spamming a single kind of building being a reasonable thing.

That's where my term of abuse comes from.

Which I still think would be cured by the need-based economy. 
Any estimate on how many turns you feel Act 1 should be?