Topics

1

AI War Technical Support / Missing modular fortress graphic in latest patch?

« on: August 10, 2012, 08:26:51 PM »

Applied the newest patches for some weekend play, have not installed the beta expansion.

Just posting here first to see if it's replicable.

Error message:

Code: [Select]

8/10/2012 6:22:50 PM
File Expansions/4/Images/Buy/ModularFortressHuman missing in CheckLoad!

   at System.Environment.get_StackTrace()
   at ArcenDebugging.ArcenDebugLog(System.String Message, DebugLogDestination Destination, Boolean IncludeStackTrace, Verbosity Verbosity)
   at ArcenDebugging.ArcenDebugLog(System.String Message, DebugLogDestination Destination, Verbosity Verbosity)
   at ArcenDebugging.ArcenDebugLog(System.String Message, Verbosity Verbosity)
   at GameImage.CheckLoad()
   at Game.UpdateStreaming()
   at MainCameraLogic.MainUpdateLogic()
   at MainCameraLogic.Update()

8/10/2012 6:22:50 PM
Could not load image 'Expansions/4/Images/Buy/ModularFortressHuman.png'

   at System.Environment.get_StackTrace()
   at ArcenDebugging.ArcenDebugLog(System.String Message, DebugLogDestination Destination, Boolean IncludeStackTrace, Verbosity Verbosity)
   at ArcenDebugging.ArcenDebugLog(System.String Message, DebugLogDestination Destination, Verbosity Verbosity)
   at ArcenDebugging.ArcenDebugLog(System.String Message, Verbosity Verbosity)
   at GameImage.SetTexture(UnityEngine.Texture2D OrigTex)
   at GameImage.CheckLoad()
   at Game.UpdateStreaming()
   at MainCameraLogic.MainUpdateLogic()
   at MainCameraLogic.Update()


Image:

2

AI War / Counter Dark Matter Turrets, now how do they work?

« on: July 19, 2012, 12:27:20 PM »

I'm in an early game where my backwater is being used as a freeway by Astro Trains, and so I fiddled around with the line place mode and set up a string of CDM turrets like XMas lights between two wormholes.

"That's cool," say the trains, and fire straight through 'em.

Am I missing how these are supposed to work? Per their description, they should be like dead zones, where any dark matter being fired through them instantly dissipates. You should be able to set them up like a big fence if you want to. Or do they act like force fields, only protecting units inside their range?

Images: http://imgur.com/a/A6r1S


Savegame:

3

AI War Strategy Discussion / Slow old doctorfrog and the Start From Heck

« on: June 06, 2012, 01:28:30 AM »

I play AI War pretty regularly, but extremely casually. I rarely play for more than three to ten hours per game before learning a few new things and starting a new galaxy. I play about 3 or 4 times a week as I have time. I've never beat the game, but I've started a whole bunch, and died a few times also.

So I'm no veteran, but I'm not a complete noob either. But this is a peculiarly aggressive start. I usually have time to lay down some elementary defenses, a standing army, and can pretty calmly explore a few systems, even with all the bells and whistles of the various expansion packs on, before encountering attack waves and other AI harassment.

Not this time. My first run through I lasted five minutes before being attacked by 80 ships in one go, many of whom are either cloaked, or ignore force fields. The Reactors were killed quickly, then the Constructors. I had no opportunity to research items, as Sci stations were blasted immediately upon construction. With no power to turrets, there were few defenses. My ships were destroyed. The force field bubble shrank. My Command exploded  very quickly.

Second try. I tried populating the system exclusively with ships set to FRD. Pretty much the same result.

Third try: balanced, aggressive stance, with both ships and good amount of turrets back at the home base. I think I lasted 7 minutes this time.

It seems to be a combination of cloaked raider type ships and blade spawners that delivers that one-two punch. I'm not really sure as I don't have the catalog of ships memorized. Unless I'm prepared for them specifically, there's not much of a chance for me at my skill level.

I'm not really interested in tactics for this particular save state or start position, because I just play the game as a game, not as an exercise in personal perfection or system optimization. I will just start another game, and play how I like to play. I'm just wondering:

• Is this a particularly "bad roll" or lethal combination when it comes to galaxy or AI combination?
• Or is this a game bug, in that this type of aggression should not show this early under normal circumstances?
• Have I been playing AI War too casually, and this is how it's really supposed to be, less a stream that you drift in than a river that expects you to paddle swiftly right out of the gate? (in which case, this is probably not the game I took it for).

Save included.

4

AI War Technical Support / Cloaker starships ignore group move?

« on: February 28, 2012, 06:10:12 PM »

I'm trying to use a Cloaker Starship to escort some Spire Rams for a side mission, but it seems to ignore the group move order and tears off, leaving my Rams behind, uncloaked. It does have the blue outline that signifies group move. Is it supposed to do this? Am I using this ship incorrectly?

edit: I think this is the behavior when moving on your home systems, so the cloaker can 'predeploy' in a hostile system? And in hostile systems, it correctly group moves?

5

Mods & Modding / Over 2K Pronouncable Planet Names - Greek, Roman, Faux Latin

« on: December 20, 2011, 12:24:04 AM »

Here's around 2251 alternative planet names, based on existing Latin star and constellation names, the names of Roman gods, and Lorem Ipsum filler text. I made an earlier version of this some time ago, but I like this list better.

I fed the seed list through a word generator, fixed capitalization, removed duplicates, and sorted alphabetically.

The result is a list of familiar-sounding names, with some real ones sprinkled in. They're all 1-4 syllables, fairly short, and should be easy to scan.

Enjoy!

pastebin: http://pastebin.com/F6Uf4p3T
raw: http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=F6Uf4p3T

Preview image:

6

AI War / AI War: Pocket Reference

« on: October 25, 2011, 12:14:41 PM »

Link

AI War is an intimidating game, so I wrote up a pocket reference with keys and some general gameplay guidelines. It's based on PocketMod, and is printed out on a single sheet of paper, cut, and folded into a little book.



It wasn't easy getting everything I wanted onto 8 tiny pages, so I'm open to feedback. I probably won't be adding pictures, though I might gussy it up a bit with some color in the future.

Read more here: https://drfrog.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/ai-war-pocket-reference/
Or skip straight to the download, here: http://drfrog.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/aiwar_pocketmod_v8_trimmed.pdf

7

AI War / Stardock on multiplayer numbers (short article)

« on: November 18, 2009, 10:42:09 PM »

Stardock recently generated a report on their customer base. This is a pretty remarkably open thing to do, if I understand it correctly. At any rate, here's a small excerpt highlighted by FlashOfSteel.com:

"For Stardock, the more significant shock of Demigod has been the discovery of the low number of PC gamers who play strategy games online. Demigod’s single player experience, while decent, did not get anywhere near the care that the Internet multiplayer experience did. Despite this, only 23% of people who have purchased Demigod have ever even attempted to logon to play Internet multiplayer."

http://flashofsteel.com/index.php/2009/11/19/stardocks-customer-report-2009/

Further, Wardell states: "Our conclusion is that strategy games that we make and publish in the future will support multiplayer but will not sacrifice the single player experience to do so." Cool, I say.

(Wardell has also written an article some time ago, something like "The case for no multiplayer" for their 4X hit Galactic Civilizations II.)

This is relevant to my interests, because, for the most part, I'm a mainly a singleplayer myself. With AI War especially, I don't see it being convenient or practical to form long-lasting games with strangers online, and my small circle of friends are mainly into FPS and flight sim games. AI War will most likely remain a single player experience for me.

In reading Chris Park's other articles, I do see that he's kept focus on both the co-op and singleplayer play experience, and I hope he keeps this balance. As these numbers may indicate, it's the single-player people, moreso than multiplayers, that form a customer base.

8

AI War Technical Support / Command-line switch to set resolution?

« on: November 08, 2009, 03:42:11 AM »

Sometimes I want to play AI War in full-screen glory, sometimes in a small 1024x window, so I can watch something on Hulu.

Is there a way to do this with a command-line switch?

9

AI War / Hello, I just bought this game. Wanna know why? Of course you do.

« on: October 28, 2009, 07:13:29 PM »

Hey all, I'm doctorfrog and I just bought this game.

I just heard about this game today. I've played all of five minutes of it. I'll be honest: I don't know if I'm the best player for this sort of game, but I like military engagements in space. Pew pew! Time will only tell if I stick with this game or it ends up sitting dry on my Best Intentions list.

So why did I plunk down my change and not just spend more time with the demo. (Side note: $20 is not a small sum to me at this time.)

• We've covered the first one: pew pew, space guns. Yes, please.
• I read some of the author's blog. I like his stance on DRM. It happens to be the very first developer stance on DRM that matches my own view. Piracy is bad. DRM isn't good. Arcen is taking the brave stance of: "I'm not going to use DRM. Please don't pirate my game." That's worth a lot to some of us out here.
• An extension of the above is that I like to own my games. In fact, I insist upon it. I like to know that I can pull them out of a drawer ten years from now and fire them up without asking permission to some server somewhere. I'm not a baby, and I'm not a thief. I will not support DRM schemes that limit my ability to play. However, I will support developers who trust me and treat me with respect.
• The game is $20. Like I said before, that's a lot for me right now. If it were $25, I honestly wouldn't have gotten it. I know this is a compromised price for the developer, but I also know this: $20 occupies something of a psychological sweet spot for many people.
• The author is obviously passionate about what he's doing. He has a clear idea of what he's going for, and it looks like he's executing it well. It's worth a little money to see him take it wherever he's going, and it looks like he'll be giving me something back in return, in the form of continued support and development. My money isn't just going into a corporate system, it's going right back into this game.
• It feels good to stick up for the little guy. I'm a little guy, too. Here's to you, guy.
• Finally, here's probably the biggest reason why I'm supporting this developer: he's developing the kind of game I would if I were a developer. In the renaissance, artists were propped up by wealthy patrons. I'm not wealthy, and games may or may not be art, but when I see something I like, sometimes I support it if I can.

Now, let's see about that tutorial...