Richard
Posts: 304
7/5/2014
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AlexWattsEsq wrote:
I'm currently looking for the Khanate. Can anyone give me a hint about where it is? I've discovered giant mushrooms, an island of warring vermin, more or less everything, in fact, except what I'm looking for. A non-spoliery answer (though if you want a spoiler, I'm sure someone will oblige):
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AlexWattsEsq
Posts: 46
7/5/2014
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Hooray! Thank you! A nudge in the right direction will do me nicely.
I need to go Lifeberg hunting for a bit to build up my resources but then I go on the prowl again.
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Nehelennia
Posts: 8
7/5/2014
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Something I was thinking of for the terror-bar; Why not combine the terror increase and the total terror into one bar, having a lighter colour rising being the current terror accumulating for one more point, and a darker bar behind it showing the current terror? You should be able to distinguish the two nicely, while also seeing how they connect to each other. And a rising bar is a more eye-catching indication of increasing terror.
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Guest
7/5/2014
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Long-time lurker/FL player, finally got around to playing SS (I've been wanting to do it ever since I got the KS notice, but life got in the way). Various thoughts:
1) The biggest nitpick I have at the moment would have to be combat, I think. I know that things are still in a state of rebalancing, but probably the most boring part (imo) is dealing with the little crabs/bat swarms near the Southern Archipelago and Venderbight. I know I can kill them; there's not a hint of challenge to it, and the rewards are just not worth it to me. So here's a thought: how about ramping up the difficulty (and the reward, very important!) of the little beasties as you go along in the game? You could tie it to the number of ports people have visited or something. So by mid-game, a bat swarm could be (pulling these numbers from thin air, don't quote me on this) 100hp but also give out 10pts of terror reduction. Something like that. That would make them worth fighting instead of a "oh lord, just DIE already".
2) The whole narrative feels a bit...disconnected, I guess? I know that there are overall ambitions, so if this issue will be addressed later on feel free to ignore this. However, at this point, each story feels very self-contained, and once you play through it there are no long-lasting repercussions for anywhere else. There's no overall arc driving the plot, and the closest thing is probably the Admiralty sending you to do various Port Reports, but even then that's just a fetch quest without any real personal investment. Example of overall arc: SM's Pirates! had the whole "save your family" thing that was the overall motivation, while there were also smaller arcs that also sent you from place to place (woo the governor's daughter, hunt down X pirate, whatever). Pie-in-the-sky random thought: tying back to point one, the monsters' increased strength could be due to _______ (fill in event here), which is a catastrophic event that you as a player have to ward off. I don't know. It's probably too late to implement this in development, but just throwing it out there.
3) Terror reduction is just not worth it at this point. Getting back to London will clip me down to 50, which is awesome, but working to get it back down to zero is hideously expensive and terror rises too quickly for me to want to spend echoes trying to get it down. After a long journey, I just hustle it back to London and then zoom off with 50 terror (maybe 49 from reading the news) because reducing past that is more trouble than it's worth.
...reading back over this, it probably sounds like I hate the game. Uh. I don't, actually, I'm enjoying it a lot: finding new places is the best part, and stories that I have played through are quite entertaining (Pigmote Island is the best) and make me want to replay them to find out what stories I missed. I also really enjoy the atmosphere, and the art is absolutely gorgeous. I'm very excited for the implementation of new content and places to discover. I honestly don't play games that much anymore, but this one has me hungry for more. There are just a few things that I think could be done to make it better.
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+1
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nameless
Posts: 237
7/5/2014
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1) Yup. Combat against bats and crabs are boring as heck. Totally agree.
2) I'm guessing the ambitions are supposed to be the overall plot, but unfortunately it's not finished.
3) What I do is stock up on fuel from the devils and make a run to the surface, which reduces my terror down to 0 and gives me a great deal of profit. Also once you have a good engine, a lot of terror problems are resolves, since you can actually get safe.
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The only god of the zee is nameless.
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
7/5/2014
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I don't mind the bat/crab battles so much - the crabs are easy to evade, and can be quickly blasted for a Hunger reduction, and the bats are a good source of free supplies or terror reduction.
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Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron.
Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
7/5/2014
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Combat - you can probably outrun bats and crabs if you don't need to fight them. Though bats either give a supply or a small terror reduction which can be useful. I think the latest update might have cut down the number of spawn as I just sailed around Mutton Island and only saw one baby crab instead of the half dozen or so I have encountered previously.
There are some longer stories that take several trips to a place to complete.
Terror management gets easier as you increase your Hearts, get a more powerful engine and a bigger ship. Then you can learn the routes that don't take you through the dark. Also there is a place where you can give Hunting Trophies to reduce up to 8 points of terror.
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ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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Mordaine Barimen
Posts: 670
7/5/2014
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but currently a more powerful light doesn't allow you a larger "safe" distance from shore, correct?
It seems that it would be reasonable that you could get a little further from shore without inducing Terror if you could keep as clear of an eye on land as before. There would be diminishing returns, naturally, but it would be nice if the high end lamps let you drift a little further from shore without panic ensuing.
--
I'm sorry, but due to policy clarifications, I will no longer be giving detailed mechanics advice on the forums.
If you still need help, try the IRC channel.
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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
7/5/2014
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I think I have a touch more leeway now but whether it is down to the increase in stats, the size of the ship or having a light is anybody's guess. It is still pretty tight in places though and a destroyer isn't quite as manoeuvrable as the starting ships.
edited by reveurciel on 7/5/2014
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ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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Sir Alasdere Langlais
Posts: 11
7/5/2014
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Just a quick question to Alexis/any Sunless Sea staff:
When will the Humble Bundle buyers be receiving their Steam keys?
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In search of the Name. Closest to the Great Game.
Welcoming all non-harmful social actions - especially Cats. Looking to participate actively in Knife-and-Candle to obtain Nephrite Lenses.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Mattimias
An Adventurer of some repute - well-traveled and learnt. Late of Grantabrycge, Basel and Paris. Some say he keeps his violins ready for another Fall. Enjoys the company of cats. Goes by a Pseudonym.
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
7/5/2014
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You should be able to access your Steam key through Humble Bundle - on the page linked to your Humble download key.
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Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron.
Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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Mordaine Barimen
Posts: 670
7/5/2014
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I love the new indicator for when you are gaining terror. thank you for making it possible to determine this without having to ake my eyes off the ship's location.
--
I'm sorry, but due to policy clarifications, I will no longer be giving detailed mechanics advice on the forums.
If you still need help, try the IRC channel.
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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
7/5/2014
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I thought that you didn't use fuel and supplies when you were in dock. Actually I'm sure that was a bug that got squashed earlier but maybe I just didn't notice it before the latest update. But if it is a bug it needs fixing ASAP.
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ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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nameless
Posts: 237
7/5/2014
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Hold it: Hearts decreases your terror increase rate?
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The only god of the zee is nameless.
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+1
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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
7/5/2014
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Well I think so - but lots of the game is still a mystery to me. For example I don't understand how people get so much terror. For example I just did the Northern Circuit - London, Venderbight, Whither, Chapel of Lights, Avid Horizon, Mount Palmerstone, Port Cecil to Gaider's Mourn and my Terror was only at 12 when I got there - I did get a couple of the eating storylets in port though.
I hung around in Gaider's Mourn for a while hunting Pirates until I had a decent hold full of stuff, went back up to Port Cecil to hunt sharks from there I went to Demeaux, Shepherd's Isles, accidentally hit F rather than D so my engine exploded and I got a terror increase that took me into the 30's. Went to the sisters and gave them enough Trophies to take me down to 2 - shot down to Polythreme, came back via the Canal and Quaker's Haven and my terror was only at 28 when I got back to London. I must admit that getting to Polythreme is the one where I get most terror but sometimes the Admiral or the Blind Bruiser send me there.
Edit to say that it was harder before I upgraded my ship and maxed out my hearts so I don't know which is responsible for making it easier..
edited by reveurciel on 7/5/2014
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ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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Mordaine Barimen
Posts: 670
7/5/2014
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Well, the new feedback ont he ship to let you know when you are gaining terror will help new players greatly at avoiding Terror gains from being just a little too far from shore, but new runs can often end with large scores if you are exploring/lost and then end up at half crew, requiring a long crawl back and encountering monsters that inflict Terror in combat and/or as you flee. And once you start getting Terror events, it's possible to lock into a nasty downward spiral of events that cause more Terror that spawn more events that raise Terror and so on.
It's certainly better now than when Gold was released.
--
I'm sorry, but due to policy clarifications, I will no longer be giving detailed mechanics advice on the forums.
If you still need help, try the IRC channel.
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lady ciel
Posts: 2548
7/5/2014
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I'm going to have to start a new game soon, I was trying to get stat capped but Pages is really hard to raise and I still have a way to go with Veils as well. I could choose the "Victory" option but I think I'll just dry dock my destroyer until the map expands.
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ciel
Sorry RL means I am not a very active player at the moment. No social actions unless you are prepared to wait and definitely no sparring or other mult-action things.
No Calling Cards or boxed cats please. Will take dupes on the affluent photographers. Other social invitations welcome. Parabolan Kittens usually available, send me an in-game social action saying you want one and I will get one to you as soon as possible.
storynexus name - reveurciel
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Inky Petrel
Posts: 370
7/5/2014
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The new Shattered Citadel content is SPLENDID! *hearts* I love it so much. More like this please! 
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Re: Fallen London, please don't invite me to things or send me things, I'm only on occasionally, so you will waste your candle  Thank you.
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Fhoenix
Posts: 602
7/5/2014
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For me all combat looks likes this
1)Do X flares to increase visibility
2)Do Y shots to kill the enemy
3)If you can not do X+Y before enemy starts fighting back, do Z evades to decrease your own visibility. If you can not evade faster then the enemy seeks you, don't fight.
And I usually avoid enemies that I have to do step 3 for anyway, because if I can not kill the enemy fast enough, it means that it will most likely one-shot me (polytheme pirates, lifebergs).
So... all combat is by the numbers, really. It's just that pirates at least give a good rewards, when you take their ship, so you are still happy to fight them. Bats... not so much. You still fight them, because hey, it's free food. But you desperately want some way to speed up the fight.
I agree that ambitions need some kind of meaningful milestones (like ambitions in FL) besides "grinded X of this thing" or "grinded this much Echo". If all you need to do to win the game is get 21000 echo and retire, it does not feel like there is any meaning to what you are doing in the wider world. Running some kind of optimal route between islands would be the fastest way to win and hey, it's not like what you do in locations affects the world or will be mentioned in the ending.
It would be nice to have ending snippets based on qualities you acquire during the game.
Also I hope there will be some Ambition touching on the deeper mysteries of the Neath. Learning the secrets of Parabola, Correspondence and the Garden is what drives me. Money is a means to an end. I'd happily run a merchant fleet to fund an expedition into Parabola or to buy the Cider. Buying a mansion as an end-game goal? That feels like a step down from a Suite at Royal Beth. We have access to most of the Neath in the game. I want to dream big!
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My Character
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Guest
7/5/2014
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Just played for ~4 more hours after the latest update. A couple more comments/questions:
1) The Magician has a story, doesn't he? I have Magician 1, but the only options under his name are to either have him put on a show (I tried this and it reduces Terror, but doesn't appear to augment his story quality) or to increase a stat using Secrets. I recall a storylet where he asked you to fetch a bunch of items for him; does that not appear unless you have all the items?
2) The Blind Bruiser gives me 1000e to pick up souls, which is coincidentally the exact amount I need to buy a mansion and retire into the sunset. :P Not sure if this was intentional, but it's an amusing side-effect to think of. (Of course, were this situation to occur in some alternate reality real life, my character probably will die a very gristly death(s), but out-of-game it means my next character will have a mansion to roll around in. Huzzah!)
3) I like the option to convert supplies into fuel. I vaguely remember playing SS for about ten minutes back when it first came out on Humble Bundle, running out fuel, and then drifting pointlessly until I managed to bash myself to death on a shore. Maybe this has been fixed for ages already, but whatever, I like it.
4) I got the hidden officer event once but was startled enough that I picked the option to ask her how the heck she got on my ship.  She went away, sadly, and I've not seen her since. Come baaaaack! I've always wanted an imaginary surgeon!
5) Has anyone managed to get a cook yet? I've been religiously checking my new recruit events but no cook has ever appeared.
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