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AI War Technical Support / Let's say I forgot my key
« on: June 14, 2013, 08:35:41 AM »
So, if - purely hypothetically - I had forgotten or misplaced my licence keys for AIW and all the expansions, what could I do to do retrieve them?
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After Action Reports / A Land War In Asia (aka "This time, certainly!")
« on: March 20, 2012, 01:47:15 PM »
Decided to write one of these here AAR-bloggo thingies to get some stratego-tactical and setting-wise feedback. The goal is to get me to beat the game, after so long a time of always getting stabbed in the face by the AI. Difficulty is moderate, since I never beat it before, but don't want it to be easy either.
GAME ONE: The Desert Fox Campaign.
I pick the Neinzul Youngling Tigers as my starting ship. It's on a planet with 4 wormholes, which suits me fine for all the scouting and marching options it gives me.
Preparatory phase (hangover).
My first moves are fortifying the irreplacable structures of my homeworld - the home command station, cryo pods, settlements and, sillily, the home shield generator - with additional shield generators.
I unlock hardened shield generators mkI and Neinzul Youngling Tigers mkII.
With that done, I construct additional space docks - one pumping out a steady supply of fleet ships (triangle only, at this time), one on hold but ready to shoot a faceful of hot tigers at anything that moves, and one maintaining a full set of scouts at all times.
Seeing how the engineers struggle, I import my standard settings for additional ones, and churn up the planetary setting even more. Now the resources nicely transform into a handsome starting fleet.
So far, so good. The first wave of 30 scouts get sent out on random auto-explore, revealing plenty of uninteresting worlds all around. The mkIs are then picketed onto the surrounding four planets, while the mkIIs get sent, as full-cap groups, to planets with unexplored wormholes - with an auto-explore order attached to them in advance; giving them a nice balance of macro-management easiness and deep-scouting capability.
After half an hour of simultaneous fleet-building and scouting, the triangle fleet is ready to go raiding and the map within 3 to 4 hops, with the sole exception of one path obstructed by a counter-spy, lies revealed. Also, a few turrets of all types have been built around the HCS. Within scouting range one can now find three co-processors (Of course. It had to be three.), three data centres, two Hive Golems, one Botnet Golem, a Regenerator, a Zenith Power Generator, a handful of Advanced Research Stations and Fabricators, and one mkIV Factory as well as a small number of boring but resource-rich planets. There are also a few special AI defences around, but nothing too drastic.
To finish the preparatory phase, I whirl my little fleet ball (with Tigers!) around all the neighbouring planets, knocking over all the guard posts. While doing so, I also construct two Riot Starships with lasers and shields, two Raid Starships, and a Light Starship.
This concludes the preparatory phase, which is always the same with me. I'm getting old.
Operation Glass Pane
A simple trick. I load two transports with half a cap of Tigers mkI and mkII each. Then I send them to one of the Data centres. It doesn't matter if the transports get blown up along the way or not, as long as they make it to within one or two worlds. The Tigers, fast and tough as they are, can do the rest - and do it. The double transport strategy wasn't even necessary; I could've just sent the Tigers straight in. The first DC goes up in a cloud of smoke, and the Tigers do their dying duty of trying to stop a freed EMP guardian. But fail.
Oh my.
I scramble all parts of my fleet currently not busy with wave defence - as my HW is currently being hit by one - to intercept the EMP guardian. Two Raid Starships make it to it in time, and begin their assault...only to be shot down by all the other freed thread ships. I don't know what it is, but something here is killing my little raid monsters rather quickly. The EMP guardian arrives and wreaks its terrible revenge upon my homeworld.
The end.
Ha ha, no. The Riot Starships keep most of the attacking fleet at bay for long enough to see the Pulse wear off. The turrets take up their task, and I am now down to the AIP floor. A good start. I pack another touble transport with Tigers (excessive, considering how easily the first DC fell, but I hate it when I have to do things twice because I was too sloppy on the first try.) and send my Panzer Elite off to take down the most faraway DC, which they do without a hitch. Having be struck dumb and blind until now, I only just realise that the last DC is only one system away. Off go the Tigers to do what they were trained to do. What they were bred to do. What they were born to do. And run into a Spire Shield Generator Guard Post, or whatever they're called. Exit the tigers. Enter a new Raid Starship, onto a transport, and off to kill the DC under said shield. Success, and the Raid SS goes homewards, and dies on the way because there's an invisible pink Raid Starship killer on that neighbouring planet there.
AIP: -60.
Well, actually it's the floor. But for strategic planning purposes, it's -60 because that feels a lot better.
Operation Glass Pane was successful.
The Desert Fox Campaign shall continue with Operation Backyard.
PS: For anyone who cares, here's the priority system.
P0: Do not take. Probalby has something like a Co-Processor, the Super Terminal, a freed Dyson or a Spire Archive in it.
P1: Boring. Clean the guard posts out if adjacent, take over or neuter if it's in the way, otherwise just ignore.
P2: Can be taken or is already taken, but needs to have its surroundings cleaned up.
P3: Rich in resources.
P4: A strategic resource in itself. May contain ZPG, Fabricators, low-value Golems, an advanced Factory, ARS or somesuch.
P5: A game-changer. High-value golems, usually. I often accidentally put ARS into this category; beats me why.
P6: An annoyance. Clean out, or destroy something specific here.
P7: An impediment. Counter-Spy, Black Hole Machine, gravity guardians and such.
P8: A menace. Raid Engines, usually. Might be an alarm post if it has plenty of units to free.
P9: An item of immediate interest. Data Centres, Co-Processors if all 4 are discovered, a Dyson Sphere that needs freeing, or the next step on the fallen spire campaign. Not that I ever followed the FS path, but yeah.
GAME ONE: The Desert Fox Campaign.
- AI1: Vanilla diff 8 with Hybrids, Advanced Hybrids and Avenger.
AI2: Spire Hammer diff 7 with Avenger. - 0 AIP/minute
- 80 Planets, realistic
- All Ships except Swallowers
- Golems (Hard)
- No Spirecraft or civilian spire leaders
- Fallen Spire
- Devourer and Dyson, but no Traders or Miners
- Neinzuls, but no Rocketry Corps
- Resistance, but no Marauders. Which is wrong, because the latter should have been in. My bad.
- No Human city uprisings
- Core Shield Posts
- Full fog of war, invisible map
- Normal caps and speed
- And most importantly: NO SAVE-SCUMMING.
I pick the Neinzul Youngling Tigers as my starting ship. It's on a planet with 4 wormholes, which suits me fine for all the scouting and marching options it gives me.
Preparatory phase (hangover).
My first moves are fortifying the irreplacable structures of my homeworld - the home command station, cryo pods, settlements and, sillily, the home shield generator - with additional shield generators.
I unlock hardened shield generators mkI and Neinzul Youngling Tigers mkII.
With that done, I construct additional space docks - one pumping out a steady supply of fleet ships (triangle only, at this time), one on hold but ready to shoot a faceful of hot tigers at anything that moves, and one maintaining a full set of scouts at all times.
Seeing how the engineers struggle, I import my standard settings for additional ones, and churn up the planetary setting even more. Now the resources nicely transform into a handsome starting fleet.
So far, so good. The first wave of 30 scouts get sent out on random auto-explore, revealing plenty of uninteresting worlds all around. The mkIs are then picketed onto the surrounding four planets, while the mkIIs get sent, as full-cap groups, to planets with unexplored wormholes - with an auto-explore order attached to them in advance; giving them a nice balance of macro-management easiness and deep-scouting capability.
After half an hour of simultaneous fleet-building and scouting, the triangle fleet is ready to go raiding and the map within 3 to 4 hops, with the sole exception of one path obstructed by a counter-spy, lies revealed. Also, a few turrets of all types have been built around the HCS. Within scouting range one can now find three co-processors (Of course. It had to be three.), three data centres, two Hive Golems, one Botnet Golem, a Regenerator, a Zenith Power Generator, a handful of Advanced Research Stations and Fabricators, and one mkIV Factory as well as a small number of boring but resource-rich planets. There are also a few special AI defences around, but nothing too drastic.
To finish the preparatory phase, I whirl my little fleet ball (with Tigers!) around all the neighbouring planets, knocking over all the guard posts. While doing so, I also construct two Riot Starships with lasers and shields, two Raid Starships, and a Light Starship.
This concludes the preparatory phase, which is always the same with me. I'm getting old.
Operation Glass Pane
A simple trick. I load two transports with half a cap of Tigers mkI and mkII each. Then I send them to one of the Data centres. It doesn't matter if the transports get blown up along the way or not, as long as they make it to within one or two worlds. The Tigers, fast and tough as they are, can do the rest - and do it. The double transport strategy wasn't even necessary; I could've just sent the Tigers straight in. The first DC goes up in a cloud of smoke, and the Tigers do their dying duty of trying to stop a freed EMP guardian. But fail.
Oh my.
I scramble all parts of my fleet currently not busy with wave defence - as my HW is currently being hit by one - to intercept the EMP guardian. Two Raid Starships make it to it in time, and begin their assault...only to be shot down by all the other freed thread ships. I don't know what it is, but something here is killing my little raid monsters rather quickly. The EMP guardian arrives and wreaks its terrible revenge upon my homeworld.
The end.
Ha ha, no. The Riot Starships keep most of the attacking fleet at bay for long enough to see the Pulse wear off. The turrets take up their task, and I am now down to the AIP floor. A good start. I pack another touble transport with Tigers (excessive, considering how easily the first DC fell, but I hate it when I have to do things twice because I was too sloppy on the first try.) and send my Panzer Elite off to take down the most faraway DC, which they do without a hitch. Having be struck dumb and blind until now, I only just realise that the last DC is only one system away. Off go the Tigers to do what they were trained to do. What they were bred to do. What they were born to do. And run into a Spire Shield Generator Guard Post, or whatever they're called. Exit the tigers. Enter a new Raid Starship, onto a transport, and off to kill the DC under said shield. Success, and the Raid SS goes homewards, and dies on the way because there's an invisible pink Raid Starship killer on that neighbouring planet there.
AIP: -60.
Well, actually it's the floor. But for strategic planning purposes, it's -60 because that feels a lot better.
Operation Glass Pane was successful.
The Desert Fox Campaign shall continue with Operation Backyard.
PS: For anyone who cares, here's the priority system.
P0: Do not take. Probalby has something like a Co-Processor, the Super Terminal, a freed Dyson or a Spire Archive in it.
P1: Boring. Clean the guard posts out if adjacent, take over or neuter if it's in the way, otherwise just ignore.
P2: Can be taken or is already taken, but needs to have its surroundings cleaned up.
P3: Rich in resources.
P4: A strategic resource in itself. May contain ZPG, Fabricators, low-value Golems, an advanced Factory, ARS or somesuch.
P5: A game-changer. High-value golems, usually. I often accidentally put ARS into this category; beats me why.
P6: An annoyance. Clean out, or destroy something specific here.
P7: An impediment. Counter-Spy, Black Hole Machine, gravity guardians and such.
P8: A menace. Raid Engines, usually. Might be an alarm post if it has plenty of units to free.
P9: An item of immediate interest. Data Centres, Co-Processors if all 4 are discovered, a Dyson Sphere that needs freeing, or the next step on the fallen spire campaign. Not that I ever followed the FS path, but yeah.
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AI War / [Minor Suggestion] Anti-Clutter Lobby Settings
« on: March 15, 2012, 07:51:57 AM »
Really small thing, but might be all the easier to include in exchange.
Would it be possible to include a lobby setting that disables distributions nodes and Zenith caches? I never ever use them, and all they do is use up interface space and provide something I might accidentally click and bite my arse over.
Similar thing might go for Super Terminals (not as error-prone, but I still never use them -> wasted space), maybe Spire Archives, and any other fully optional AIP-increasing structures I forgot about, although that should probably be a separate setting.
Co-Processors should be mandatory, since their prevent-supply mechanism makes them an integral part of the AI's defence. And everybody likes data centres, so no point in making those optional
Anyone else think this is a worthwhile idea, or is it only me?
Would it be possible to include a lobby setting that disables distributions nodes and Zenith caches? I never ever use them, and all they do is use up interface space and provide something I might accidentally click and bite my arse over.
Similar thing might go for Super Terminals (not as error-prone, but I still never use them -> wasted space), maybe Spire Archives, and any other fully optional AIP-increasing structures I forgot about, although that should probably be a separate setting.
Co-Processors should be mandatory, since their prevent-supply mechanism makes them an integral part of the AI's defence. And everybody likes data centres, so no point in making those optional
Anyone else think this is a worthwhile idea, or is it only me?
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AI War / Neinzul Youngling Tigers
« on: February 19, 2012, 04:07:01 PM »
First, please listen to this: http://youtu.be/jsdawgd0azk
Alright. Neinzul Youngling Tigers. Or PzKpfw Striped Kitty, as I like to call them. Yea, I know, they weren't in service at that precise time, but still. DAMN!
What can't those kittens do? So they're slower than the other Younglings, and lose effective service life by wasting time en route. But they're still faster than nearly all other fleet ships. They're tougher than the other Younglings and any standard triangle ship, for that matter. They have higher DPS than bombers (At the cost of hull type bonuses), but unlike them can be used in systems covered by (especially high-mark) ion cannons, because they're Immune To Instant Kill. And to top it all off, they're dirt cheap.
ROMMEL VERY MUCH. I hadn't tried them so far because I never actually looked at their stats (or used them for any other reason), but now they're advanced to the position of my non-plus-ultra favourite bonus ship type within a single game.
And although it hurts me to doubt my darlings' rightful place at my right hand, I have to ask...
...aren't they a little OP?
Alright. Neinzul Youngling Tigers. Or PzKpfw Striped Kitty, as I like to call them. Yea, I know, they weren't in service at that precise time, but still. DAMN!
What can't those kittens do? So they're slower than the other Younglings, and lose effective service life by wasting time en route. But they're still faster than nearly all other fleet ships. They're tougher than the other Younglings and any standard triangle ship, for that matter. They have higher DPS than bombers (At the cost of hull type bonuses), but unlike them can be used in systems covered by (especially high-mark) ion cannons, because they're Immune To Instant Kill. And to top it all off, they're dirt cheap.
ROMMEL VERY MUCH. I hadn't tried them so far because I never actually looked at their stats (or used them for any other reason), but now they're advanced to the position of my non-plus-ultra favourite bonus ship type within a single game.
And although it hurts me to doubt my darlings' rightful place at my right hand, I have to ask...
...aren't they a little OP?
5
AI War / Wat Is Dis I Dont Evan (Range Shenanigans)
« on: February 15, 2012, 03:20:35 PM »
This.
What is this?
Since when is "range" more of, hmmm, a guidline, than, say, a rigid rule?
PS: Yes, I screwed up the screenshot. You intelligentsies out there will still get the point.
What is this?
Since when is "range" more of, hmmm, a guidline, than, say, a rigid rule?
PS: Yes, I screwed up the screenshot. You intelligentsies out there will still get the point.
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AI War / Those cheating, invisible Riot modules!
« on: February 12, 2012, 06:00:12 AM »
Title says most of it.
When a Riot Starship is cloaked by a Cloaker Starship, and powered down, its modules still keep firing. This is good, because the AI will not attack them and they will continue to keep harassing the enemy forever. But it's also bad, because it's not exactly inconspicious.
Bug or feature?
When a Riot Starship is cloaked by a Cloaker Starship, and powered down, its modules still keep firing. This is good, because the AI will not attack them and they will continue to keep harassing the enemy forever. But it's also bad, because it's not exactly inconspicious.
Bug or feature?
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AI War / Auto-Explore methods
« on: February 10, 2012, 08:08:00 AM »
I don't know half a thing about how exactly Auto-Explore works; but is there a way to make a group of scouts NOT split up while auto-exing? I like not having to micro them every step of the way, and A-E seems to handle things relatively well...but it keeps splitting the Scouts up into smaller groups, which then get picked off a lot more easily than a single, larger group.
Any halp?
Any halp?
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AI War / Redirector Posts (Dead Ends)
« on: February 06, 2012, 01:05:13 PM »
It seems to me that FRD ships patrolling along redirector lanes going into dead-end systems refuse to attack local enemies. They just go straight on along their patrol route (so back through the wormhole they just came in through).
Used to be that they'd attack first, patrol later.
Has something changed? Am I doing it wrong?
Used to be that they'd attack first, patrol later.
Has something changed? Am I doing it wrong?
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AI War / Why, hello there!
« on: January 30, 2012, 09:58:08 PM »
So I've been gone from the forums for a while, because there were no new updates over a long stretch of time and oooh, shiny! I'm impossible to distract. Yeah, right.
But now, on my routine check for all things new and newly made better, I noticed that there's actually been a wave of new updates for AIW! So I go and play, and notice that it's really been a while. So it's off to the forums to me, to ask for advise and...bugger me, the forums are more active than when I left them!
Makes me curious, all this. Has it been this active all the time over the past half year, and I just didn't notice, or has there been some new spark to ignite the flames of Human VS AI Warfare? (Meaning, new content or a new updating doctrine for AIW?)
PS: Just to make it a little more gameplay relevant; does anyone have a mathematically or otherwise logical system for assigning planet priorities?
But now, on my routine check for all things new and newly made better, I noticed that there's actually been a wave of new updates for AIW! So I go and play, and notice that it's really been a while. So it's off to the forums to me, to ask for advise and...bugger me, the forums are more active than when I left them!
Makes me curious, all this. Has it been this active all the time over the past half year, and I just didn't notice, or has there been some new spark to ignite the flames of Human VS AI Warfare? (Meaning, new content or a new updating doctrine for AIW?)
PS: Just to make it a little more gameplay relevant; does anyone have a mathematically or otherwise logical system for assigning planet priorities?
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AI War / Focus Fire
« on: March 28, 2011, 02:46:15 PM »
Does Focus fire mean that even units with special effects - such as engine damage, paralysis, or reclamation - will all focus on a single target, even though their special effect then goes to waste?
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AI War / Hypothetical Suggestuions Thread
« on: March 27, 2011, 08:30:53 PM »
First off; don't get me wrong: This isn't supposed to be actual suggestions à la "Please mr. Dev, include this in the game!", but, instead, a thread for discussing purely hypothetical ideas about new or altered game mechanics, ship types, and whatever you can came up with. Things that might work, are not too outlandish, but still nothing you'd need to post on Mantis. especially not now that the big man is focussed on AVWW.
So post your wet dreams, discuss their feasibility, destroy other people's dreams, let the mind wander. With no productive pressure whatsoever.
I'll start off with some ship ideas. The numbers aren't important here, the ideas are.
Intragalactic Warp Chamber
Cap: two.
Price: Something around 5 million each
Energy need: Several Hundred Thousands Can be put into low-energy mode.
Immobile, low HP, requires supply. Transports up to approx. 1000 units.
The idea is to have a building similar to the Neinzul Regeneration Chamber, but built to warp ships from one planet to another. It ought to take at least 5 minutes to charge it before warps, it ought to warp the contained ships only to its sister Chamber (Remember: cap 2), and using it or putting it into LE-mode ought to reset the charge timer. The high resource cost and energy use mean that this is not something you build and re-build as to suit your tactical manoeuvres, but a solution to very-long distance logistics problems, when transports are not feasible.
Modular Melee Starship
Fusion Cutter OR Blade damage, in between 20k and 100k every 1s. Medium armour piercing?
Speed around 60 to 100
There is a sad absence of modular non-spire ships, with the Riot Control SS being the only one I can think of. There are also no melee starships. This is intended as a solution to both, with a basic but strong melee attack, and a few (about three?) modules similar to those of the hybrids (as opposed to the engine-damaging ones of the Riots). No particular tactical niche, but something that's fun, and making use of some neglected methods.
Half-Golem
Low Health and armour compared to any other golem, but considerably faster (speed 150 to 200?). Attack power around 50k x 5 every 2s, low or no armour piercing, 5-second-paralysis on hit.
Vampirism or Cloaking to give it some flavour?
Supposed to be a black sheep among golems, being cheaper and less powerful, and filling more of an tactical role than the strategical impact of its bigger brothers. A unit with the particular purpose of interception enemy ships that pose a high threat to other allied items; for example to quickly neutralise a raid starship before it comes close to a damaged CC, or to finish off a weakened target when no other unit is left nearby.
And one tiny mechanics idea: Bring back the save-and-paste-buildings menu from before the port. I really miss that one.
Ah well, criticise these, and then post your own, gentlemen
So post your wet dreams, discuss their feasibility, destroy other people's dreams, let the mind wander. With no productive pressure whatsoever.
I'll start off with some ship ideas. The numbers aren't important here, the ideas are.
Intragalactic Warp Chamber
Cap: two.
Price: Something around 5 million each
Energy need: Several Hundred Thousands Can be put into low-energy mode.
Immobile, low HP, requires supply. Transports up to approx. 1000 units.
The idea is to have a building similar to the Neinzul Regeneration Chamber, but built to warp ships from one planet to another. It ought to take at least 5 minutes to charge it before warps, it ought to warp the contained ships only to its sister Chamber (Remember: cap 2), and using it or putting it into LE-mode ought to reset the charge timer. The high resource cost and energy use mean that this is not something you build and re-build as to suit your tactical manoeuvres, but a solution to very-long distance logistics problems, when transports are not feasible.
Modular Melee Starship
Fusion Cutter OR Blade damage, in between 20k and 100k every 1s. Medium armour piercing?
Speed around 60 to 100
There is a sad absence of modular non-spire ships, with the Riot Control SS being the only one I can think of. There are also no melee starships. This is intended as a solution to both, with a basic but strong melee attack, and a few (about three?) modules similar to those of the hybrids (as opposed to the engine-damaging ones of the Riots). No particular tactical niche, but something that's fun, and making use of some neglected methods.
Half-Golem
Low Health and armour compared to any other golem, but considerably faster (speed 150 to 200?). Attack power around 50k x 5 every 2s, low or no armour piercing, 5-second-paralysis on hit.
Vampirism or Cloaking to give it some flavour?
Supposed to be a black sheep among golems, being cheaper and less powerful, and filling more of an tactical role than the strategical impact of its bigger brothers. A unit with the particular purpose of interception enemy ships that pose a high threat to other allied items; for example to quickly neutralise a raid starship before it comes close to a damaged CC, or to finish off a weakened target when no other unit is left nearby.
And one tiny mechanics idea: Bring back the save-and-paste-buildings menu from before the port. I really miss that one.
Ah well, criticise these, and then post your own, gentlemen
13
AI War / Ehm. Maws. And Stealth Battleships.
« on: March 26, 2011, 11:09:35 AM »
Sooooo, let's say you want to attack a planet belonging to an AI with Spire Maws. Or you're just being attacked by that AI. You have a cap of mkI and mkII Stealth Battleships.
Within seconds, those will have been swallowed. If the Maws in Question are sufficiently high-level, they'll take quite a while to take apart - and you don't even know which ones contain the SBs
So I'm wondering, is this intentional, this maw-eats-low-cap-big-ships-hah-hah-why-did-you-even-build-them?
Within seconds, those will have been swallowed. If the Maws in Question are sufficiently high-level, they'll take quite a while to take apart - and you don't even know which ones contain the SBs
So I'm wondering, is this intentional, this maw-eats-low-cap-big-ships-hah-hah-why-did-you-even-build-them?
14
AI War / Golems, dammit!
« on: March 24, 2011, 05:11:54 PM »
Is there some mechanism in place that balances the golem types spawned on the map?
Because I have never ever gotten around to using an Armoured or an Artillery golem, but I keep finding heaps of Hive and Botnet gollos.
...please tell me they are balanced in some manner
Because I have never ever gotten around to using an Armoured or an Artillery golem, but I keep finding heaps of Hive and Botnet gollos.
...please tell me they are balanced in some manner
15
AI War / Map Questions
« on: March 11, 2011, 04:32:24 PM »
Two simple questions. Both arose due to my spending lots of time generating new maps until I find a good one to start on.
Firstly, I heard there was a way to rearrange planets in the galaxy view. It sounds like something that might reasonably exist, but I've yet to find a way to drag them around. Is it only a rumour, or is there more to it?
Secondly, I'm wondering why single players can't just specify what ship type they start with, as opposed to the current system of having a randomised selection. All it does to me is make me regenerate maps for half-hours, until I grow bored and take whatever's closest to what I want. Really, why can't we just have the cake to eat it?
Firstly, I heard there was a way to rearrange planets in the galaxy view. It sounds like something that might reasonably exist, but I've yet to find a way to drag them around. Is it only a rumour, or is there more to it?
Secondly, I'm wondering why single players can't just specify what ship type they start with, as opposed to the current system of having a randomised selection. All it does to me is make me regenerate maps for half-hours, until I grow bored and take whatever's closest to what I want. Really, why can't we just have the cake to eat it?
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