Gold Feedback - Corsair's Edition!

Sunless Sea
201

Newest pet frustration: fuel. Just spent 15 minutes literally within spitting distance of Wolfstack because of my enthusiasm to explore/boredom on Venderbright runs. Kicked 9 out of 10 zailors into the zee for mutiny, fought off at least six Barnet pirates, they all dropped something useless (trade items/supplies), finally one got lucky. This with a hold full of spider-silk which I would’ve gladly thrown into the engine for that measly last leg… It was on my best run so far, too :( But I suppose when neutral vessels enter the game there will be some way to be rescued.

On a related note does anyone have any data about what, if any effect different engines/speeds have on fuel consumption? Turning the lamp off helps, but sailing from the Chapel of Light to London without them seemed like a bad idea :D

202

[quote=DompR]Newest pet frustration: fuel. Just spent 15 minutes literally within spitting distance of Wolfstack because of my enthusiasm to explore/boredom on Venderbright runs. Kicked 9 out of 10 zailors into the zee for mutiny, fought off at least six Barnet pirates, they all dropped something useless (trade items/supplies), finally one got lucky. This with a hold full of spider-silk which I would’ve gladly thrown into the engine for that measly last leg… It was on my best run so far, too :( But I suppose when neutral vessels enter the game there will be some way to be rescued.

On a related note does anyone have any data about what, if any effect different engines/speeds have on fuel consumption? Turning the lamp off helps, but sailing from the Chapel of Light to London without them seemed like a bad idea :D[/quote]

I’ve noticed a decrease in rate of fuel consumption using a lower speed, but I haven’t noticed anything about different engines (yet).

With regards to fuel, I haven’t encountered much of a problem, since I’m cautious enough to bring at least 6~7 fuel for my Venderbight runs (FL - Venderbight - CoL - FL), and 15 fuel is approximately good enough for a long run (Cecil, Palmerston, Khanate and all that) even on a basic steamer (albeit with +5 fuel efficiency from an Engineer). I’d say that if you know that you have a tendency to explore, bring extra fuel - it should prevent any frustration with fuel.

I do have to agree with the current sentiment (if it even exists!) that getting stuck near major ports (Khanate, Polythreme, Wolfstack) for lack of fuel and gaining Terror is rather annoying. An addition of an auto-docking feature or (as Mr. Scrimbles suggested) towing ships, perhaps at a cost, would be useful.

203

For those who wonder: there is a (quite shocking actually) story regarding Hunter’s Keep and the three sisters, which triggers -I guess- if you visit them often…

204

Ran into an odd bug last night where I could turn in the Blind Bruiser’s reward repeatedly over and over again as fast as I could click.

Turns out Maenads do have a faster, smaller turning radius!

205

Oh, that’s really good to know about the Maenads – I’d timed the starter ship today, and it takes about 45 seconds to make a quarter turn, a minute and a half to reverse direction, which is painfully slow when you’re following a Terror-avoiding route between beacons. I spend more time turning than sailing when I do that and while the music is nice, it’s not enough to make up for the boredom. (It also means that I spend a decent chunk of time steaming backwards around the map, since that doesn’t seem to affect my speed, and it’s worth it if I’ve got the stern pointed vaguely in the right direction already.)

206

I notice that when you have better engine, you have greater speed. I tested this today, when I upgraded to a better engine. Before, bats are faster. Now after upgrade, they are slower

Which unfortunately does NOT translate to better fuel consumption. I noticed that somehow, even though I have become faster, from point A to B, I still consume the same amount of fuel. Only difference I noticed is that I just got there faster. Dunno whether this is a bug or not

207

I had been assuming that faster engines require more fuel to run, so it wasn’t a bug; the benefit of faster engines isn’t reduced fuel consumption, but less time in the dark accumulating Terror, less time spent overall, and better ability to flee from scary things.

208

Not sure what else to say to this, really, besides how do I get out?

209

[quote=Kerine]http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Silverheart99/ScreenShot2014-06-22at22837PM.png

Not sure what else to say to this, really, besides how do I get out?[/quote]

Oh dear! If you are playing in Merciful Mode, try a manual save and reload the game. That sometimes resets where the beasties are. Good luck.

210

[quote=lady ciel ][quote=Kerine]http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n595/Silverheart99/ScreenShot2014-06-22at22837PM.png

Not sure what else to say to this, really, besides how do I get out?[/quote]

Oh dear! If you are playing in Merciful Mode, try a manual save and reload the game. That sometimes resets where the beasties are. Good luck.[/quote]
Fortunately, remaining docked at Avid Horizon caused Mt, Nomad to give up and go away, but that was quite scary - running into Mt. Nomad is scary enough when out in the open Unterzee, and I was running low on supplies at the time.

211

you do realize that the game is managable WITHOUT manual save, right? Cuz once you hit a dock, the game automatically save and from there you can quit. No need for some ridiculous escape scheme.

212

[color=#009900]Okay - we have some treats coming for you. We’ve listened hard to the Terror feedback and done a bunch of internal prototyping.[/color]
[color=#009900]
[/color]
color=#009900 The next content patch (likely today) will have a very significant narrative-based means of reducing Terror.[/color]
[color=#009900]
[/color]
color=#009900 The next game patch will have much clearer feedback on when you’re inside and outside the safe zone for Terror. The gloom indicator (the skull at the top left) is a long way from the player’s focus of attention, and it can take a second or two before it’s clear whether you’re still accruing Terror - by which point you may have sailed on. We’ve long meant to make it all clearer.[/color]
[color=#009900]
[/color]
color=#009900 We’re considering other tuning. Top of the list right now is a slightly more generous Terror warmup period, followed by a rather less generous cooldown period - so you’ll accrue the Terror pips on the skull more slowly, but they’ll also dissipate more slowly, for less punishment but more menace.[/color]
[color=#009900]
[/color]
[color=#009900]This is neither the beginning nor end of the tuning: we’re sure you’ll let us know how you’re getting on with it, and we look forward to it.[/color]

213

I’ve been playing for a few days now, and after several deaths I am finally managing to survive enough to raise some stats, gain some officers, and upgrade my ship. I agree with most other people about terror, though after several tries I do find it more manageable than before(sticking to beaches, going from light to light, visiting the sisters, getting a tattoo).
I do think the changes Alexis posted about before me would help with a lot of the initial frustration regarding terror, and they are very welcome.

Here are my own suggestions that I’ve been thinking about:

[ul][li]The ability to see on the chart the difference between what is discovered, and what is on the inherited chart but not discovered by this particular captain yet. Also the ability to see which ports you have visited on this particular run, and which you have not.
[/li][li]Would be nice to be able to leave custom notes on the chart, that would also be passed on as part of inheritance.[/li][li]It would be nice to be able to mark where you plan to go on the chart (not a magical quest arrow, but if you have the island on your chart you could link a journal entry to it)[/li][li]Light boys should either be marked or customly markable on the map - any sane captain would do this. Also, perhaps make more difficult enemies avoid the light? Thus clearly marking it as the &quotsafe&quot route versus the more risky, potentially more rewarding route. [/li][li]Just like you can stop to repair, why not stop to fish? Drop bait and wait for crabs perhaps? At least, if your supplies run out, it would be nice to have the option to for instance, drop a sailor as bait for a beastie that might be slaughtered if you win against it.
[/li][li]Ship components really need to say what slot they occupy. Engine is pretty clear that you only can have one, but what about guns/cannons? Can you have several somehow? All that I tried occupy the same slot, and that is not inherently clear that they always do.
[/li][li]The text is very small, and the option to upsize it would be nice.
[/li][/ul]

In addition, it would be nice if the info how to bugreport properly was found in the game. I googled it, but the first few results were people reporting stuff in the forums, and not the email where you actually want the reports. Also, the output log is often too big to be able to send unzipped - whilst this is a small thing, it does add another step to submitting a bug report that might somehow be avoided. It would also be nice to be able to find the game version in a copy-pastable format, and without going to the main menu.

An in-game form that automatically gathered all relevant data would be best, of course.

Lastly, Sunless Sea is a wonderfull game. The atmosphere is spot on, as is the sense of danger. Keep up the good work!

Regards,

214

[quote=Nehelennia]I’ve been playing for a few days now, and after several deaths I am finally managing to survive enough to raise some stats, gain some officers, and upgrade my ship. I agree with most other people about terror, though after several tries I do find it more manageable than before(sticking to beaches, going from light to light, visiting the sisters, getting a tattoo).
I do think the changes Alexis posted about before me would help with a lot of the initial frustration regarding terror, and they are very welcome.[/quote]

Yeah, I’ve spent a few days playing solidly and I’ve got to the point where I can sail about and make a modest profit while keeping Terror managed. It will be more challenging once the map starts randomising, of course, but I think the real trick of the system will be in those little details like how visible and sudden Terror gain is.

[quote=Nehelennia][ul][li]Just like you can stop to repair, why not stop to fish? Drop bait and wait for crabs perhaps? At least, if your supplies run out, it would be nice to have the option to for instance, drop a sailor as bait for a beastie that might be slaughtered if you win against it.
[/li][li]Ship components really need to say what slot they occupy. Engine is pretty clear that you only can have one, but what about guns/cannons? Can you have several somehow? All that I tried occupy the same slot, and that is not inherently clear that they always do. [/quote][/li][/ul]Fishing would be grand fun, while making that sort of info visible on components will be downright necessary - I daresay it’s in the pipeline already, but count this as another voice in its favour. By the same token, showing (or at least hinting at) Officers’ stats prior to recruitment would be nice.

215

I’m so glad I’m not the only one finding it prohibitively hard! It seems I picked the wrong day to start playing.

I echo everything about the game being too punishing. I played for maybe five hours all told these last couple days with no guidance from the forums and felt like I was treading water. Even when I got an enormous pay-off from exploring the Principles (something like E260, more than I’d ever seen in one place before) it felt less like &quothooray, time to upgrade!&quot and more like &quotOh good, I can finally restock my fuel and deal with my terror.&quot

I feel like the game could do with intro missions - perhaps:

Who do you want to be?
A shrewd merchant

  • Venderbight is always hungry for prisoner’s honey, not to mention news from home. Tomb-colonists will pay handsomely for their passage, besides. Acquire all these things from around London, then sail north, hugging the coast.
    Your Engaged in an Enterprise is now 1 - bound for Venderbight!
    Chaining into:
  • The colony of Venderbight is ali - ah, shuffling with the not-quite-dead. Disgorge your wares, deliver your colonists and sell the latest news, then stock up on Scintillack and Spider-silk for the good folks at home. Full steam ahead!
    You are no longer Engaged in an Enterprise.

A staunch pirate hunter

  • Pirates and zee-beasts roam the shipping lanes, preying on innocent folk. This shall not stand! Blast the blighters to smithereens! The opportunities for salvage are, of course, the furthest things from your mind.
    Your Engaged in an Enterprise is now Hunting Pirates in Nearby Waters!
    Chaining into:
    <after beating up a pirate ship>
    You throw the remaining crew overboard, to face the Salt. The Zee is a harsh mistress.
    You are no longer Engaged in an Enterprise![loops back to let you loot the ship]

A stalwart explorer

  • There’s plenty to be zeen around the sea. Seen around the zee. For a start, you might take a trip to Hunter’s Keep, not far to the north-east, where three lonesome sisters await.
    Your Engaged in an Enterprise is now Visiting the Three Sisters!
    Chaining into:
    -&quotWe’re glad you came. But things are very much the same. Will you stay for luncheon?&quot The Admiral will pay for this report, nonetheless. Tell him of the ports you visited whenever you dock in London.
    You now have 1x Port Report: Hunter’s Keep

None of these

  • You’ll be all of these things and more, besides - in time. No need to rush things.

It took me a trip around the Unterzee to realise that I could access my lodgings and London; the little cards don’t work 100% of the time, and the story doesn’t yet show in the story tab when docked unless you click them.

Trading for fun and profit could do with a little in-game assistance - perhaps a Seneschal’s Log, keeping track of prices in places once you’ve docked there once before, for the good of people who like that sort of things? I never even noticed it was possible to turn a profit running goods anywhere until I looked at the tips thread.

ONE MORE THING! Running out of fuel seems to be not only a death sentence, but a punishment for the player. I ran out of fuel one inch away from the docking circle of Wolfstack Docks and… well, just had to sit there until Terror or Hunger killed me. I wound up dumping all my supplies and twisting away from the light just to hasten my end, as there didn’t seem to be any events based around running out of Fuel.
edited by Chris Borgars-Smith on 6/23/2014

216

I passed my extra copy along to a friend who had no prior Fallen London experience at all.

His first few questions were about setting. &quotWait, so is like London actually underground in this universe, or . .&quot ?

After that, it was &quotOh you mean terror goes up when I hit the dark&quot and &quotoh, if I go below half crew I go half speed? THAT’s why!&quot

His biggest initial frustration was buying a second gun and realizing it couldn’t go in his second gun slot.

217

I haven’t been having any difficulties with fuel. Dunno why.

Is there any way to get out of an Admiralty Commission? They want me to go to Khan’s Heart and the last time I went there I got arrested (Whooooo). After that, I barely have money for honey, and certainly can’t buy all the darkdrop needed for a Khanate Intercession.

I’ve also hit 50 with Admiralty Favour, and the game tells me it cannot go any higher at this point. Are there going to be more jobs/opportunities/services available when the Admiralty likes you enough? I was hoping for, perhaps courier runs or possibly a contract supplying those lightships that everybody loves so much. Later on, perhaps?

218

Ooh, those changes sound splendid, I look forward to the update! :D

219

The update is live, I got it earlier today.

220

The latest update is most welcome - reduction to 50 Terror upon docking at Wolfstack is excellent. I have yet to encounter a Nightmare though.

Chris Smith:

Intro missions sound alright for new players - I’d imagine that players should be given options to skip them though.

As for the Seneschal’s Log, I sort of dislike it. It may be seen as making trading a tad too easy, but if the economy ever incorporates fluctuating prices that the Log cannot keep track of unless one docks at the ports, it may very well be viable.

With regards to Fuel, the newest update allows Supplies to be used in lieu of Fuel (not all the time, if I interpret the changelog notes correctly), so the problem is slightly mitigated.

Cheers!