Misc. Content and Munitions

Hi,

I have some diverse content for this week's patch, from a new Arena challenge to new gear, random events and a big change for space combat: a munitions mechanic. Let's go in detail:

Changes to Space Combat:

Munitions:

At first I wanted to add new torpedo launchers with different effects and damage for this patch but forcing the player to change their torpedo launchers in an hangar wasn't the most efficient option so I added a new type of item: Munitions.

By munitions, I mean special torpedoes that you can use with an installed torpedo launcher and select the one you want to use at any moment (as long as you have them in inventory). By default, you have a basic torpedo type that's unlimited but you can buy or loot other special torpedoes with extra damage and additional effects like:

• Hellfire Torpedo: slightly stronger than a basic torpedo and can cause fires inside an enemy ship.

• Phase Torpedo: a powerful torpedo that completely ignores enemy shields. It can cause a hull breaches in its target.

• Plasma Torpedo: the strongest of all torpedoes, it also has a good chance to start fires.

Status Effects:

Just like ground combat, now space combat also has status effects. Basically right now a sub-system like Helm, Weapons and Engines can get a status effect like Fire, Hull Breach or Hacked from certain attacks like special munitions or Hacking. These status effects can cause hull damage over time, crew damage, increased critical chance to receive extra damage, reduced turret accuracy and rate of fire and even disable some orders.

All these status effects have a limited duration but they can also be fixed immediatelly using a special order called "Fix Subsystem" but for that you need to have a crewmate assigned to the subsystem.

This is a pretty experimental feature that I would like to refine and expand later so any feedback about it is welcome.

New Ship Components:

These are the new ship components you can buy or loot (remember that they need to be installed using a station hangar):

• Ablative Armor: adds 2 extra hull points.

• Booster Rig: adds 1 extra movement point in the star map and 10% extra movement during space combat.

• Cyber Warfare Module: adds a Hacking attack during space combat that disables special orders in an enemy ship like firing torpedoes, repairing and recharging shields. Also reduces turret accuracy a bit. It can also be used in some non combat encounters like an extra-dialogue option.

• Combat Simulator Bay: no effect in space combat but it gives 3 XP to 2 random soldiers every turn during star map exploration. It can also be used in a specific random event.

• Shield Array MK2: double the shield points than the current Shield Array.

Changes to Turret Behaviour:

One thing that bothered me with the previous space combat logic was that using special attacks like torpedoes would stop the turrets. I decided to change that behaviour so now turrets will autofire to the closest enemy when you are using torpedoes or hacking.

In that same spirit, I changed the order "Fire At Will" so it doesn't need the player to set a target and it just autoaims at the closest target. So it's different than the order "Focus Fire" which now no longer has a rate of fire debuff but actually increases rate of fire, critical chance and accuracy while aiming at a specific target set by the player. I think that makes more sense for these orders.

New Content:

New Arena Challenge: