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 Scouting Usmarur falls, fulfilling the immediate buffer need. The Missile Guard Post there encourages a different basic tactical approach that is useful in many situations. Then some more research unlocks are necessary, and I talk about a bit about the desirability of specializing when researching ship types, due to the to-be-shown-later way in which Mk. IV variants are acquired. I.e., you can't research them at the science lab. Then a scouting demonstration and exploration of all the planets that comprise our new perimeter or 'crust'. We encounter the Fortress, more Ion Cannon, and Barracks in the process. Up Next A more detailed look at the latest expanded scouting results, and formulation of a strategic plan for further expansion and exploitation based on those. It's time to start looking ahead more now.
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Nov 15, 2018 06:31
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I started a difficulty 6 Tank/Turtle game thanks to this thread and I'm looking forward to the next few videos. I'm at 2 hours and 6 planets now and it's a bit difficult to figure out what I should be doing for the "middle game", I guess you could call it. My current white whale is a mark III ARS planet with not one but two fortresses on it, and of course one of them is sitting right next to a missile guard post under a forcefield so I can't just throw bombers at it. And there's a Plasma Eye there too! Still having fun though. 
TheOneAndOnlyT fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Nov 16, 2018 |
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Nov 16, 2018 01:41
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Welp, went and reinstalled it, now it's 3am.
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Nov 16, 2018 03:38
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TheOneAndOnlyT posted:I started a difficulty 6 Tank/Turtle game thanks to this thread and I'm looking forward to the next few videos. I'm at 2 hours and 6 planets now and it's a bit difficult to figure out what I should be doing for the "middle game", I guess you could call it. My current white whale is a mark III ARS planet with not one but two fortresses on it, and of course one of them is sitting right next to a missile guard post under a forcefield so I can't just throw bombers at it. And there's a Plasma Eye there too! Still having fun though. Sindai fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Nov 16, 2018 |
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Nov 16, 2018 07:26
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Anyone know the keyboard control to turn the display of shield health on or off? I've googled, but can't find anything. I can't see anything likely on the in-game controls list.
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Nov 16, 2018 17:33
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The One and Only T posted:My current white whale is a mark III ARS planet with not one but two fortresses on it, and of course one of them is sitting right next to a missile guard post under a forcefield so I can't just throw bombers at it. And there's a Plasma Eye there too! Heh, that's a fun combo - and rather brutal for a 6/6 game! lofi posted:Anyone know the keyboard control to turn the display of shield health on or off? I don't think I've ever tried to do that, so beats me.
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Nov 16, 2018 19:19
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Yeah, I turned it on by accident in my wild tactical flailing, and can't figure out how to turn it off again!
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Nov 16, 2018 19:48
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Strategic Assessment We take a look at the important systems to be scouted in the last update, including an introduction to Data Centers and Mark V Fabricators along with discovery of more grades of CSGs. Armed with that information, a plan is hatched and begins with an investment in defensive bolstering, and continues with the acquisiton of our first Advanced Research Station(ARS). Up Next Continuation of the strategic plan developed in this session, and revision of it based on new information.
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Nov 17, 2018 07:02
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If your experience is similar to mine, I don't think that reprisal wave you're worried about is ever going to show up. Turtle AIs don't send waves  Honestly, in my game, it feels like the Turtle personality makes the AI opposition as a whole pretty drat passive. You still get the occasional wave from the other AI, but there's enough time between them that they're not really a serious threat. That might be caused more by difficulty 6 than the personality though.
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Nov 17, 2018 08:12
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Mk IV Ion Cannon and Sentry Eye (spawns extra ships if I outnumber the AI 2:1) paired with anti-starship guard post is a nuisance (particularly when I want to capture the Ion cannon, for my 2nd captured world). This wasn't a great game to have Civilian Spire leaders on, as they give me automatic AIP and it took me a long time to break through that world. Time to scout for them!TheOneAndOnlyT posted:If your experience is similar to mine, I don't think that reprisal wave you're worried about is ever going to show up. Turtle AIs don't send waves I'm feeling this on 7 as well - one of my random AIs was Teleporter Turtle and I don't think they are sending reprisals - hopefully they at least use my casualties for reinforcements.
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Nov 17, 2018 10:27
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I think the Turtle is only restricted from sending normal waves. They definitely did send a Reprisal, though they took their time about it. That'll feature in the next update. I do definitely agree that the Turtle AI personality does result in a game where you are more free to do what you want and don't get harassed by the AI as much. That's exactly why I picked them for this run. But I would also say it's unfair to judge the AI on sub-7 difficulty. And jack that difficulty number up high enough, and the great majority of players would still have issues even with both AIs on turtles. So like most things in AI War, I think the answer is 'it depends on other factors XYZPDQ'.
Strategic Sage fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Nov 20, 2018 |
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Nov 17, 2018 10:44
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End of the Beginning We say good-bye to the early game and move into the mid-game, having established our core systems. This video is on the long side as I underestimated how much time the last part of it would take. A hair more scouting allows us to firm up what the next several moves are likely to be, and two more planets fall to our expansion. Transports and colony-hopping are introduced, a bit more research and some planet-specific orders on the CTRL screen, and those reprisal waves that I mentioned are swatted away. Up Next We'll continue through the 'strategic targets of opportunity' mentioned in this update, as we are now firmly in the phase of enhancing our ability to attack and working our way through the galaxy to get closer to the AI homeworlds.
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Nov 20, 2018 19:14
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Link isn't working, and I can't see the video on your channel.
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Nov 20, 2018 19:19
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Fixed, thanks. It was just set to Private.
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Nov 20, 2018 19:42
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Fabricators & Tachyon Raiding We get our first Mk V ship from the Fabricator in Orxunu, and use the new top-quality Raptors to go on a Tachyon Raid to free up scouting lanes. Wasn't planning on doing one of those this game, but the ship is perfect for it and this was a great example of a situation where it's very worth doing. This proves fruitful, as exploring the right wing of the galaxy reveals examples of the last two basic capturables, the Advanced Factory and the Advanced Starship Constructor. We've got a good amount of the CSGs out of the way now as well. Up Next It's time to start getting more aggressive and going after bigger fish. We'll very likely be tangling with our first Mk. IV planet in Fenape next, and if that goes well the expansion could well accelerate. The weaker planet conquests will probably be done mostly off-screen for the rest of this game, as there really isn't much more to show from them. Also, Happy Thanksgiving!!
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Nov 22, 2018 09:07
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Thanks for reminding me about this game. I played a bunch back in school, but it's been years. I'll have to reinstall it and give it another go. Along those lines, is AI War 2 worth it? Is it basically the same with newer graphics? Is the UI way more usable?
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Nov 22, 2018 16:52
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Can't help you there. It appears to be similar from what I've seen, but the key is going to be what they've changed. There are some things different, but I haven't doven into them. Given that it's still in Early Access - and hasn't been for very long - I don't plan on really looking at it in much detail for a while yet.
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Nov 23, 2018 01:10
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Haven't seen an auto scout toggle, 0/10. (give it another few months) More seriously why isn't 5 the default, "don't bother playing below this difficulty?" That tripped me up the first time I played.
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Nov 23, 2018 01:28
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I can sort of see that one both ways. It is the middle of the number scale, but on the other hand it does say 'Easy', the tutorial - which I'm far from the only person to have lost the first time - is set at 1 difficulty, and so on. I think it'd probably be better by getting rid of most of the lower ones, and having say the current 5 be a 2 or a 3, with 8 the highest level or whatever … but I can't really get upset about it.
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Nov 24, 2018 10:20
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Upping the Ante Two more planets to fall to our expansion. In between, the AI sends a CPA our way. That's Cross-Planet Attack, not Certified Public Accountant. After swatting that, we take the second of the two planets, Mk. IV Fenape. The AI raises stronger objections than before, but is overruled. And after securing it, we get a useful new ship for our efforts, the Anti-Armor design, and discover to my surprise that we are now within striking distance of one of the AI homeworlds! We take a tour of that system, which is relatively wimpy on 5 difficulty but still has some super-fun things by our current standards to contend with. However, there are more CSGs out there so we can't attack it just yet. A few more research unlocks are also invested in. Up Next With a main attack fleet of almost a thousand ships, we will set our sights on the right side of the galaxy next, and acquisition of the advanced construction facilities.
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Nov 24, 2018 20:31
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Got crushed by an exo-wave (dark champion) when I was distracted with my fleet far away working on a Mk IV turtlefest. Whoops. Next attempt I've left off the Civilians so I can clown around with my champion more easily ... but I haven't found a useful path to its targets (7/7, 80). Swapped out golems for spirecraft, the latter are causing a lot more AP in me. Kite Flyer AI is annoying, but at least the planets aren't all full of Eyes.
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Nov 24, 2018 20:40
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Made the mistake of working on a Super Terminal without my whole fleet there, not realizing that you need to be able to get ships to it to kill it to stop the respawning. Welp, there goes that game. Time to try another!
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Nov 24, 2018 20:59
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Arcturas posted:Made the mistake of working on a Super Terminal without my whole fleet there, not realizing that you need to be able to get ships to it to kill it to stop the respawning. Welp, there goes that game. Time to try another! Many's the player who has fallen to that. It even bit RockyB a bit in the first LP of this game. So your misery has lots of company.
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Nov 26, 2018 05:27
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Advanced Facilities Multiple new systems join the human rebellion, which is fairly sizable at this point. We face down our largest incoming wave yet - though that's relatively speaking. The Advanced Factory gives us access to Mk. IV fleet ships, Advanced Starship Constructor allows us to grab Mk. IV starships, and we also get a couple more Fabricators; Heavy Bomber Starships and Armor Ships. Add all that in together and we not only have a bigger fleet of over a thousand vessels now, but much more powerful ones. From a sheer firepower standpoint, I have little question we could take down that first homeworld right now. At least as important though is that we now, by virtue of having already unlocked the first three versions of, it have access to the Ultimate Infoweapon; the Mark IV Scout. As discussed in the video, this ship is literally undetectable, able to ignore the planetary tachyon coverage of home command stations, and all the efforts of those Tachyon Sentinels are in vain. We can only build one of them, but the secrets of the galaxy are now to be revealed to us as I send the slow, but unstoppable new scout on a misson via the Auto-Explore mechanic. Up Next It's time to begin closing the net around our foe. We know what is at every system in the galaxy. There are yet a couple of CSGs to go down before we are actually allowed to attack the AI homeworlds, and this being a beginner-level game I'm still going to take far more systems than I really need to or even should. But our fleet is now strong enough that we need fear no non-homeworld AI planet or its defenses, and probably not even those at these settings. Colony-hopping through the galaxy and smashing strategic targets to grow even stronger is next, with our gaze fixed firmly on the enemy strongholds. We know where they are. They can no longer hide from us - and soon they will wish they could. The endgame is not yet here, but we can see it fast approaching. Strategic Sage fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Nov 28, 2018 |
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Nov 27, 2018 09:46
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Nice update, I've never gotten the Scout IV. Only in my current game did I even look at it, I should probably get Scout III to get both. I also need to give in and actually conquer my homeworld-adjacent planets rather than just neutering them when they hold nothing and/or are adjacent to IVs. The AI was happy to use one to build up 1000 threat, and I lost a spirecraft vessel when I went in to clean them out.
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Nov 28, 2018 03:16
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I'm noticing that the reprisal waves are mostly tier 2 ships now, but the "AI Progress" meter is still "level 1" in its parentheses. What's the connection between AI Progress and the robustness of its response?
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Nov 28, 2018 07:09
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That's a good question, and I think the answer is as follows; it appears that the response level is more dynamic than I had originally thought to be the case based on my reading on the game from time. I think this is actually a good thing. AI War wiki says the number in parentheses isn't the definite mark level of the ship that you get - which was my impression - but rather just the minimum level. I.e, right now I'm theorizing that the closer you get to the Mark II threshold - 250 AIP in this case - the more likely you are to get that instead of Mark I. As another example, at 500 or so AIP, which I don't ever intend to reach of course, it would probably be roughly equal that we'd see a Mark II or a Mark III wave, but never lower than that. I'd read about people wanting to make sure they kept just below whatever the Mark II threshold was, but I'm thinking that was either A) an ill-informed strategy or B) a dated writing based on a much earlier version of the game. Others more experienced with the game can confirm, or else I'll just keep observing what happens and we'll see where the truth lies over time. !SCIENCE! I do now that AI Progress does impact the frequency of waves, size of CPAs, and so on as well, so it does a bunch of things.
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Nov 28, 2018 07:24
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I can't remember how exactly it works but I'm pretty sure there's some mechanic that makes the tech thresholds not sudden hard difficulty jumps. Either everything is generated by strength or it actually blends the tech levels together so you get mixed waves or something like that.
Sindai fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Nov 28, 2018 |
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Nov 28, 2018 10:34
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If memory serves, it used to be a hard threshold, so you would go from exclusively mark 1 to mark 2 with a tiny increase in AI progress, which usually caught people off guard and felt fairly artificial. They changed it to be a gradually (linearly) higher proportion of mark 2 as AIP increases, until it's exclusively mark 2 at the mark 2 threshold, and so on. This is a good and necessary LP. AI War is a very good game, but when you first pick it up there's a huge amount of detail to sift through; after a while, you can focus on a few important considerations and make "big picture" decisions, which is where I feel it shines.
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Nov 29, 2018 08:30
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Looking forward to hearing about the strategy for the endgame. I've taken down all the Core Shield Generators in my 6/6 game, so I figured I'd run an experiment by throwing about 300 mark IV/V ships at one of the AI homeworlds just to see what would happen. Not surprisingly, a bunch of mark V enemy ships appeared, took down my fleet without much fuss, and kept right on going until they hit my planets and overwhelmed my defenses. RockyB's LP finished off the AI by crashing a planet into one homeworld and nuking the other, so I'm curious to see what a more "conventional" homeworld attack looks like.
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Nov 29, 2018 23:53
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The simple version is that you run your whole fleet into the homeworld, kill any high-priority guard posts (ones you can't outrange or ones that do nasty things like launch waves and CPAs) while killing the strategic reserve, then finish off the remaining guard posts. If it doesn't work you probably needed to take more planets to build a stronger fleet or specialize your fleet to counter the AI's core unit types (on lower difficulties) or use lightning warheads to help clear the reserve (on higher difficulties.) Sindai fucked around with this message at 01:01 on Nov 30, 2018 |
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Nov 30, 2018 00:57
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rchandra posted:I also need to give in and actually conquer my homeworld-adjacent planets rather than just neutering them when they hold nothing and/or are adjacent to IVs. The AI was happy to use one to build up 1000 threat, and I lost a spirecraft vessel when I went in to clean them out. There can be times when it's not the best idea, but you definitely have to be careful if you don't take them. I do for-sure recommend always getting all the scouts though.
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Dec 1, 2018 00:11
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Closing the Net The next section of several laughably-underdefended systems is taken, and we take a look at the second AI homeworld. It is much more well-defended than the first, unfortunately, and we get to see cool new things like the Zenith Bombard Post, Leech Guard Post, and the dastardly Plasma Eye as our introduction to the PITA that Eyes are in general. I decide it's time - past time actually - for some upgrades to our defenses, which occasions talking about what might be the biggest flaw in the mechanics/usability of AI War; no turret upgrade mechanic makes this process very tedious. We also get a reprisal wave and discuss the range display. Up Next It's almost time to put this first game to bed. The endgame is here, and I expect our first AI homeworld assault to feature in the next update after dealing with some final preparations.
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Dec 1, 2018 00:15
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TheOneAndOnlyT posted:Looking forward to hearing about the strategy for the endgame. I've taken down all the Core Shield Generators in my 6/6 game, so I figured I'd run an experiment by throwing about 300 mark IV/V ships at one of the AI homeworlds just to see what would happen. Not surprisingly, a bunch of mark V enemy ships appeared, took down my fleet without much fuss, and kept right on going until they hit my planets and overwhelmed my defenses. RockyB's LP finished off the AI by crashing a planet into one homeworld and nuking the other, so I'm curious to see what a more "conventional" homeworld attack looks like. Part of the appeal of the game is that past a certain level of AI complexity, there really isn't a "conventional" attack, you're scrounging whatever you find enroute to the AI home system into some kinda best-fit solution. My only completion to date was a botnet golem and flock of whatever the self-replicating buzzsaws are called damage racing an Avenger's Death Star as it flew implacably to my home planet, which owned massively.
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Dec 1, 2018 20:41
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Final Preparations It seems I spoke out of turn a bit; no homeworld assault quite yet. With the progression to AI tech level II on the AI Progress meter and a bunch of hacking, we see significantly increased resistance from the AI. Which is cool, if too little too late by a mile. Waves of a few hundred ships each are now commonplace, and a couple of them feature a new kind of ship; the Tachyon MicroFighter, which is kind of a better version of the laser gatling in a way. Another CPA shows up, I unlock a bunch of starships and a couple of other things, and a 'threat cleansing' and discussion of the need to be cautious and cover all your basis before homeworld-hunting ensues. Also featuring - briefly - Guardians, which are essentially an AI-only 'starship' thing that comes in multiple variants. Those have been spawning in higher frequency in response to our hacking efforts, so I also looked at a few of those types. Up Next There's nothing else to do now; attacking the first homeworld is definitely next. There are always consequences to that, and it's one of the most likely points to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I'm confident of avoiding that given the care I've taken to establish a strong defensive presence, but there is no guarantee even on Easy that this will go smoothly. Strategic Sage fucked around with this message at 10:48 on Dec 2, 2018 |
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Dec 2, 2018 09:09
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Willie Tomg posted:My only completion to date was a botnet golem and flock of whatever the self-replicating buzzsaws are called damage racing an Avenger's Death Star as it flew implacably to my home planet, which owned massively. That does sound like a lot of fun.
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Dec 2, 2018 09:10
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Willie Tomg posted:whatever the self-replicating buzzsaws Zenith Viral Shredders! My old friends! My old, processor-melting friends. (Pre-sanity-adjustment viral shredders were a hell of a drug.) Thanks for doing this, Thotimx. Thanks to the LP, I started a new game of vanilla AI war for the first time in years. While I loved the game enough to lob a copy at several oher goons for multiplayer, most of them ended up playing more of it than I did, as I've never actually completed a 'proper' (i.e full-size) campaign. I do have to thank you for reminding me how much fun even the base game was. I'm a few steps behind the LP in overall progress, but having somebody to remind me of the general roadmap was a nice aid to getting back in the saddle. That said, I can't wait for the end of this run, because while AI War with no expansions on is a cool depiction of the game's potential, the REAL AI War madness starts once you start learning the little unit-specific tricks and exploring some of the madness the later expansions added. Zenith Remnant and Children of Neinzul add some wonderful new units (with one particularly chufty subset being something I'm looking forward to). And then there's Light of the Spire. Light of the Spire is where we can break out the  emote in earnest. I'm very much looking forward to it.
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Dec 2, 2018 14:55
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vdate posted:I do have to thank you for reminding me how much fun even the base game was. I'm a few steps behind the LP in overall progress, but having somebody to remind me of the general roadmap was a nice aid to getting back in the saddle. My pleasure, glad you are enjoying it! The expansions are probably not going to come quite as fast as some more experienced players would like, but they are coming. Gonna walk before we run here - crawling is more appropriate for the current run, and barely that - because I think that makes more sense for those less experienced with the game. Also I'm going to be finalizing the new planet names file this week as we wrap up this Beginner Walkthrough run - assuming, that is, YouTube decides to stop rejecting my uploads for no good reason, putting me behind schedule in what was already a busy week, *grumblegrumble*. I'm going to use just the names of people in this thread, with the rest from rchandra's file filling in the rest. By posting in this thread, you automatically will be entered unless you request otherwhise. So if you want to appear, and haven't yet posted, do it soon or you won't make the cut for the second game. Strategic Sage fucked around with this message at 20:33 on Dec 3, 2018 |
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Dec 3, 2018 20:31
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Can I also request that you turn on the option to make planet names always visible in the galaxy map? Late in the game it can be difficult to remember which planet is which, especially with all the skipping over tedium that you do. I'm in the midst of wrapping up my 6/6 game with about 9 hours on the clock. One AI homeworld is down, but the other is at the end of something like a 15-hop one-way path, so I'm basically just murdering my way through the mark II planets on it with my huge mark IV/V death ball. I'm thinking I might nuke the other homeworld for the hell of it
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Dec 3, 2018 21:43
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Can I be a planet please? "Planet Lofi" sounds like something out of jet set radio to me, it has a pleasing ring to it.
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Dec 3, 2018 22:17
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