Star Traders: Frontiers News

Welcome back to the spice hall again, captain. Come, sit a while and let me tell you a story of another update for everyone's favorite Star Traders game, Star Traders: Frontiers. Did you know its the Summer of Star Traders? This update brings a new ship, new Explorer and Salvage cards and some rebalancing of the Explorer's probability tables. The Black Market "New Trait" card has also been adjusted, so let's dig in!

If you're enjoying the summer of updates, please let us know, post up things you'd like to see included and be sure to tell a friend and leave a review!

[h2]Our new game has started Early Access![/h2]
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, our stealth & squad tactics heist RPG, just launched into Steam Early Access! Featuring in-depth character builds, turn-based stealth & combat, and an all-new story engine that selects storylines and weaves different members of your squad and contacts into them based on how you’ve played.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]New Ship: Paladin Crusader[/h2]
Update #347 adds a new ship design that was provided by a Captain with extremely high Reputation, Dr. Spendlove. We did our best to lovingly translate his design into the starports around the galaxy. The Paladin Crusader is an upgraded take on the Paladin Defender, a common ship for early game Star Trader Captains.

The Paladin Crusader is unique among the 5000 Mass ships, featuring a 6th Officer slot and an additional small compartment tucked below the Void Reactor's cooling fin array. While the Crusader is more expensive than the Defender, it will offer more flexibility and a better path to a high Mass late game, if the Captain can afford the Crusader's premium price.


[h2]New Explorer Cards[/h2]
Update #347 adds 2 new cards which are the start of a series of additional Reward and Risk cards that have been designed and are scheduled to be added to the game throughout the Summer of Star Traders. The cards in this new series will be hybrids -- combining two previously distinct Reward cards into one blended and connected card. Hybrid cards, both Rewards and Risks, will be considerably more rare than normal cards but add fun variety.

The "Stash of Secrets" card leads the Captain to sealed vault from the early days of the Founding. The card generates Intel Records based on the early days of the Quadrant's colonization, bonus Experience for the Crew and the chance of rolling a cool new Trait for one of your Crew.

The "Uncover Rumors" Explorer card leads the Captain to a connected web of Rumors, spread across the Galaxy. Sniffing at the web of secrets and rumors that link Contacts and Factions, the Captain is able piece together clues and discover two or more Rumors. The Captain and Crew receive an Experience bonus based on the number of linked Rumors discovered. Rumors recently purchased by a Contact will be the most likely to discover with this card.

The new "Influence Bust" Salvage card (a -5 Risk card) fuses two fun mechanics -- Influence loss and Rumor degradation -- into a single thematic event. A disaster of a card that can only appear in Orbital Construction Salvage decks, this one can get Contacts killed, end Conflicts, or send the Orbital Construction project to salvage and end the Rumor all together.

[h2]Trait Black Market Cards[/h2]
We received some helpful feedback that the list of Traits in Black Market's trait card was a little too similar to the ones granted by other game's Trait cards. After some analysis, we agree -- this could be better. The Traits granted from Black Market are now more thematically aligned with the Crew's intimidation of the local FDF and fearless flaunting of standard Faction protocols.

We are in the process of making a set of updates to the Explorer game's card weight list that will help increase the variety of hands, provide more differentiation between high and low risk zones and respond to Rumors more dramatically. This update includes some early work on this project, and rebalances dozens of card weights in the Reward and Risk decks. Explorer already feels better!


[h2]More AI Ship Types[/h2]
We also gave the AI some new ships and are still testing our new Xeno Ship. It came out of the egg a wee bit too stronk, so we're trying to reign it in a little bit before it escapes into the Quadrants.

[h2]v3.3.107 - 7/10/2024[/h2]
- New Ship, "Paladin Crusader" (6 officer, 30 Crew, 5000 Mass)
- New "Stash of Secrets" Explorer Card
- New "Uncover Rumors" Explorer Card
- New "Influence Bust" Salvage Card (Orbital Construction)
- Improved "New Trait" card in Black Market
- Rebalanced card weights for Explorer decks
- We gave the AI some new ships to play with (new Xeno ship next update, brace yourselves)

Welcome, Star Trader. Join us, pass the plate and share a tale of adventure among the stars. Or just pull up a seat, kick back and bask in the warm glow of the summer (of Star Traders). We were hard at work this week incorporating recent feedback, adjusting systems and planning for the months ahead. Lots to look forward to for fans of Star Traders: Frontiers. Tell a friend! We are looking forward to hearing your feedback, on Discord or Steam, about what you'd like to see next.

If you're liking the updates as we cruise up to #350, please do take a moment to leave a review.

[h2]Cyber Knights is getting lots of updates too![/h2]
If you haven’t checked it out in a bit, our new game Cyber Knights: Flashpoint is evolving fast in Early Access. In June we smashed 5 major milestones - including the new Agent EX character class, a new character creation experience for new game, dynamic evolution among Contact Traits and Services (inspired by, yes, Star Traders: Frontiers). Now, in July we're motoring toward Crafting and Head Hunters to round out a very update-hot summer.

All support for Cyber Knights ultimately results in a brighter future for Star Traders, so hope you’ll check it out and spread the word!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]New LIght-Class Wolfpack Interceptor[/h2]
This update brings a new ship that was specifically requested by some players. The new "Wolfpack Interceptor" (not yet used by the AI) is a bare bones 3400 mass ship modeled after its bigger, and much more expensive sibling, the Wolf Vector. The "Wolfpack Interceptor" is a ready-to-customize ship built at starports across the galaxy. At only 20% of the cost of a Wolf Vector, your Captain can fly around in a ship that looks almost as good.


[h2]AI Ship Access[/h2]
Update #346 handed the AI a few new ships and recently added components. Look out for your opponents sporting upgraded weapons and new hull types.

One thing that has been requested by several players who specialize in Xeno hunting is some additional variety among the worst opponents in the game. With that somewhat questionable goal in mind, we've been testing some new varieties of Xeno ships. They're not yet ready to release, but they're waiting in the wings.


[h2]Black Market and Rumors[/h2]
Update #346 This update makes several substantial adjustments to the rules around Black Market and Rumor interactions making it much easier for the player to successfully trade under several rumor conditions.

First, the Rumors Spice Festival, Civil Unrest and UCF Riots temporarily, but completely, block the Faction's capacity to confiscate illegal cargo from the Captain.

The Jyeeta Xeno Rumors also received a substantial reduction in faction capacity to confiscate cargo (they will take 50% less units) but an increased risk of combat with the FDF.

As all Quadrant, Planet and Zone Rumors can stack, these changes allow for more fun, exploitable conditions in the Black Market caused by a confluence of Rumor events.

[h2]Bug Fixes - thanks for your posts![/h2]
We appreciate everyone who alerted us to defects and issues this week while they were playing. Most of those are fixed in this update and we're pushing a new update to the Wiki to include all the new content and components.

[h2]v3.3.105 - 7/1/2024[/h2]
- New Ship, "Wolfpack Interceptor" (bare bones 3400 early game ship)
- Black Market: Spice Festival, Civil Unrest, UCF Riots block Faction capacity to confiscate cargo
- Jyeeta Rumors now have substantial impact on Black Market odds
- During Mercenaries Rumors, Black Market may proc high-level crew combats
- We gave the AI some new ships to play with (and we're testing a new Xeno ship)
- Fixed issues with "Vengeance Class Mk3"
- Fixed issues with "Mortifor Carrier"

Welcome back, Star Traders! We have not forgotten about our captains plying the void, tirelessly seeking their fame, riches or the glint of a xeno ship in the dark of space. Don't drink the Water-Fuel, we've got updates!

We're excited to announce "The Summer of Star Traders" which intends to return to form on updates and expansions over the upcoming summer months. The team here at Trese Brothers has been mighty busy with Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, where came up with a self-imposed challenge to complete 7 major roadmap milestones in the month of June. We just wrapped up #5 (ːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyːːsteamhappyː) so we'll count that as a win, and we thought why not doing it again? So the gauntlet is thrown - let's go for an awesome Summer of Star Traders updates.

We are looking forward to hearing your feedback, on Steam or on Discord, about what you'd like to see added to the game's arsenal of equipment, ships, missions and mini-games. The Summer of Star Traders won't have any specific focus besides "more Star Traders" because we plan to add a few exciting things to as many different systems as possible. Oh and some new artwork for both characters and ships will be coming!

To get things going, today we've got posted Update #345!


[h2]Vengeance Class Mk3[/h2]
First, a new Ship design for players -- the Vengeance Class Mk3! A rearchitected version of the classic Mk1 hull, this 7000 Mass ship is an excellent platform for customization. Suitable for both combat and orbital operations, the Mk3 offers a high number of Small and Large components allowing for more weapons and more large utility. This ship is not yet in the hands of the AI. If you fly it, please let us know what you think.


[h2]Salvage and Exploration[/h2]
We also made progress connecting even more types of Rumors to Exploration and Salvage -- this update brings some of those as well. In this update we're adding some risky reward type boosts. These Rumors already impact the nature and severity of the Risk deck, but now they also boost some pretty good Reward cards. Exploring Xeno infested planets is dangerous, but it can also lead to unexpected treasure. These new connections stack with other Rumor conditions -- so a Xeno Spores Rumor on the Planet and a Resource Rush Rumor on the Zone can both exist simultaneously and provide double benefits.


[h2]Issue Clean up[/h2]
We also fixed some reported issues with the ships "Acheron Battlecarrier" and "Mortifor Carrier" and "Dreadnought Battlecarrier" which will apply to any of those ships purchased in games after v3.3.103 is deployed. For backwards compatibility reasons, the legacy versions of these ships will remain unchanged.

Finally, we completed some ship component clean-up, notably fixing the "Flamebreak" Torpedo. Any ships with this weapon will be fixed by this update.

[h2]v3.3.103 - 6/28/2024[/h2]
- New Ship, "Vengeance Class Mk3" ("Return of the Revengeance")
- When exploring on planets plagued by Pirates, the chance of a valuable stash is doubled
- When exploring on planets plagued by Xeno, the chance of XP rewards is doubled
- Fixed Ship Weapon: "Flamebreak Torpedo" (Size 1, 2RP)
- Fixed Ship Design bugs in "Acheron Battlecarrier" and "Mortifor Carrier" and "Dreadnought Battlecarrier"

With Update #344, we're welcoming Endless Replay Fest to the void with what might be dubbed endless updates! We're excited to be adding a new high-end capital ship weapon, a new Bodyguard job Talent at rank 15, fixing a bug that made it hard to find medium slot Passenger Cabins and Prison cells and resolving other reported oddities with ship enemy AI rules and ship builds.

Thanks for your support captains! With a 50% off deal right now, help us share the game by telling a friend or leaving a review!

[h2]Our next endlessly replayable RPG just hit a big milestone![/h2]
If you're a fan of games like XCOM 2, Shadowrun, or Invisible Inc., be sure to check out our new squad tactics heist RPG, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint. Now halfway through Early Access, we just added the game's final core feature -- safehouse base building -- and have a huge pipeline of new content coming to an already sizeable mix of dynamic story and procedurally-generated missions.

Cyber Knights uses a new custom-built story engine called the "Casting Director." As your playthrough progresses, it chooses from a pool of available storylines and selects which of your squad members and NPCs to feature in them based on their character traits and how you've engaged with them throughout the game. As we add more content, the result will be highly dynamic tabletop-RPG-like stories that feel responsive to your choices and fresh across multiple playthroughs.

Take a look and see how far Cyber Knights has already come: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

[h2]Flamebreak Small Slot Torp[/h2]
You can never have enough TORP, and so the Flamebreak is a new small slot torpedo option once the UCF has ushered the higher tier weapons into the faction's arsenal. It is a big step up from the Firewave and able to pack a more significant punch from its Range 5 small slot.


[h2]Rank 15: Praetorian Guard[/h2]
We've continued to fill in new rank 15 Talents for each job, and Bodyguard has just received their addition. The Praetorian Guard Talent is superior to the lower level Honor Guard Talent in many ways, but with its higher Initiative cost to use, it may be worth keeping both on the Talent roster and using each at the right time.


[h2]Finding Prison Cells and Cabins[/h2]
We fixed the issue with the last update where the medium slot Prison Cells and Passenger Cabins required some special steps to make them visible. Now there are regular categories for each type visible in the list in the medium slot.

[h2]v3.3.101 - 5/13/2024[/h2]
- New Rank 15 Bodyguard Talent: Praetorian Guard
- New Ship Weapon: "Flamebreak Torpedo" (Size 1, 2RP)
- Fixed component category missing for Medium Size Passenger and Prison Cell
- Fixed issue with "Shizari Huntress" that could hide a Fighter inside a Sensor Array
- Fixed issue where high level AI Captains sometimes spawned with no Talents

Captains, welcome to the bridge. Please take the chair and get ready for Update #343. Not a typo, that's really 3-4-3. With this update we've got new 3 new high-level ship weapons, the amazing Esteemed Guest Cabin, upgraded enemy ship builder options and the on-going community challenge for Bounty Hunters.

If you're enjoying the years of support and updates, please take a moment to leave a review and check out our other games like Cyber Knights: Flashpoint.

[h2]Calling the Bounty Hunters[/h2]
The community Bounty Hunter challenge has really heated up in the last weeks - get in now to sail the stars and mete our your justice and RP as your favorite famous hunter.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/335620/announcements/detail/4114672134621189282?snr=2___


[h2]Esteemed Guest Cabin[/h2]
This update includes a new ship component suggested by a member of our Discord server. Designed specifically for small ships with mission-centric Captains, we are introducing the humorously named "Esteemed Guest Cabins" which provide a hybrid prison cell - passenger cabin that can hold one Prisoner and 1 Passenger simultaneously. Don't worry -- the quarters are separated by security and thick walls and feature completely different entrances so your high-valued passenger never needs to know they are housed next to some of the galaxy's most wanted.


[h2]New Weapons (thanks Twitch team!)[/h2]
During our Friday Star Traders: Frontiers dev chat on Twitch (join us this Friday, March 29th at 11 AM EST for more fun!) we worked on brainstorming and implementing new weapons based on community input. We added the new ship weapon, Chimera Missile Battery, which has moderate damage but a high chance to inflict devastating crippling effects on your enemy's ship. It is a terrific weapon for opening battles and gaining an advantage at long and medium range.

Also suggested, and named by our captains on Twitch, the new ship weapon Seraphim Railgun Array brings the power of a Medium sized railgun array to Captains who prefer to use 3RP weapons. The design of the Seraphim trades base damage for an increased rate of critical hits. When it scores one, the Seraphim will deliver top-tier damage by stacking high damage dice and massive void damage.


And finally, we've added a new small slot railgun, the Daystar Railgun. The Daystar Railgun provides a high level damage source for small components and is very accurate against both ships and craft. Depending on your ship's build and size, this new railgun array might be perfect for your medium range engagements.

[h2]Enemy Ship Builder Upgrades[/h2]
As new ship components are added to the game, we keep an eye on them and then release them out to the enemy ship builder. Update #343 includes a new batch of high powered ship components released to the enemy ship builder, so beware that your enemies can now use so of these higher end strategies and weapons that have appeared in the last run of updates. The viewers on Twitch were less excited about this development task, but Cory yelled something about "Crew Dog scum!" and kept Morale high by introducting the run of 3 new mighty ship weapons mentioned above.

[h2]Repriced Cabins[/h2]
While we were adding the Esteemed Guest Cabin, we noticed some balance issues and repriced some similar components, specifically the Reinforced Passenger Cabin and Shielded Passenger Cabin. We also fix some incorrect component levels for Passenger Cabins and Prison Cells to make the shipyard sorting better.

[h2]Our new turn-based tactics RPG![/h2]
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, our stealth & squad tactics heist RPG, launched into Steam Early Access and how is marching to Update #65 as it battles through its ambitious public roadmap. We've just completed the sixth major roadmap milestone on the roadmap with the new Scourge class and the MAGNITUDE update adding 13 new proc-gen objective and map combinations to the the game in one massive swing. If you're looking for a story rich, squad-based RPG, take a minute to follow, wishlist or try Cyber Knights!

All support for Cyber Knights ultimately results in a brighter future for Star Traders, so hope you’ll check it out and spread the word!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

[h2]v3.3.99 - 3/28/2024[/h2]
- New Ship Component: Esteemed Guest Cabins (1 Prisoner, 1 Passenger)
- New Ship Weapon: Chimera Missile Battery
- New Ship Weapon: Daystar Railgun (Size Small)
- New Ship Weapon: Seraphim Railgun Array (Size Medium)
- Added some new components to enemy Ship builder
- Repriced Reinforced Passenger Cabin and Shielded Passenger Cabin
- Fixed Ship Component levels for Passenger Cabins and Prison Cells