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I wish there was a good reference for all the keyboard commands. Stuff like free roaming defense, formation, seeing ranges, toggling planet names on the galaxy map, etc. All of these are things I remembered could be done, but couldn’t remember how to do, when I picked this back up. And the controls preference pane isn’t terribly helpful.
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Dec 3, 2018 22:17
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Amen to that. Maybe the sequel will have one.
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Dec 3, 2018 22:55
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Add me to list of people that have lost in this games tutorial, except for me it put me off for a bit, might try it again at some point though.
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Dec 4, 2018 17:01
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 First Homeworld Assault This is a little longer and more chaotic; I didn't edit out as much here because I thought most of it was important. Basically, AIs don't like being killed. Imagine that. They tend to pull out all the stops when you go after their homeworlds. I'm compelled to regroup, defend, and rebuild my fleet to get it done, but one AI is toast. Which just means the other AI takes over command of their stuff and a significant AI Progress boost. Contrary to what it intuitive from other games taking out one AI homeworld is one of the most dangerous times in the game. And I think this was a fair demonstration of that. I would have lost multiple systems at a minimum, and maybe the game, on a standard or higher difficulty. Level 5/Easy AI decisions are also on full display here. Up Next I set my sights on the toughest nut to crack on this map, and see if I can end this struggle and pass the 'entrance exam', so to speak, of this LP. We are down to the final target now.
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Dec 5, 2018 04:30
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Arcturas posted:the controls preference pane isn’t terribly helpful. That/Google is what I use when I want to figure out how to do something. There's a pocket-reference card PDF that somebody made, but it's from quite an old version so it's not really that useful now. I could put all the stuff in View Controls into the OP or something, so it is all in one place instead of spread out over several tabs; but there's just a lot of it and I don't know how useful that would be. With stuff like this I think the game is sort of a victim of its own controls complexity. TheOneAndOnlyT posted: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. On starting in the next video. Probably would have been a lot more useful for this last one, but it was already recorded when I saw this. I find it makes the galaxy map pretty cluttered, but you do have an excellent point here. In related news, this would also be a good time for suggestions, if any, on what people what like to see more of/less of going forward.
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Dec 5, 2018 04:36
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YESSSSSS ENDLESS BLOODSHED (oilshed?)Thotimx posted:Contrary to what it intuitive from other games taking out one AI homeworld is one of the most dangerous times in the game. And I think this was a fair demonstration of that. I would have lost multiple systems at a minimum, and maybe the game, on a standard or higher difficulty. Is AI War intrinsically ironman or does losing the game mean you need to rewind to some earlier save and not strike before you're ready? Thotimx posted:I set my sights on the toughest nut to crack on this map, and see if I can end this struggle and pass the 'entrance exam', so to speak, of this LP. We are down to the final target now. While the homeworld is certainly a nastier set of dudes, does the fact that it's the Turtle make the mid-assault reprisal less worrisome? ... while we're at it, are the exogalactics bound by the AI personalities remaining in the galaxies, or can they be "anybody"?
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Dec 5, 2018 07:23
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You can sve and load at any time, but it's certainly possible to put yourself into an unwinnable position. For example, the exogalactic waves that start when you kill a homeworld guard post can only be stopped by finishing off the homeworld command station, multiply in size every wave, and have no upper limit. They're there to ensure that once you start attacking a homeworld you're on a timer and can't afford to completely lose your fleet over and over while whittling it down.
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Dec 5, 2018 15:31
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Thotimx posted:On starting in the next video. Probably would have been a lot more useful for this last one, but it was already recorded when I saw this. I find it makes the galaxy map pretty cluttered, but you do have an excellent point here. In related news, this would also be a good time for suggestions, if any, on what people what like to see more of/less of going forward. You can always hold CTRL on the map to toggle it. I default to on, but sometimes they get in the way. Using "My Galaxy view" to manually untangle can also be useful, but it's annoying to remember to go back to that view next session.
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Dec 5, 2018 17:03
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rchandra posted:You can always hold CTRL on the map to toggle it. Yeah I'll probably do that if I need it off briefly, but default to on instead of off which is my usual bent. Manxome Bromide posted:YESSSSSS ENDLESS BLOODSHED (oilshed?) Metalshed, actually. Canonically the AI ships have no blood, and I don't think anything runs on oil. Even for the human ships, only the starships are actually crewed I think - fleet ships are just remote-controlled drones rather than having actual human pilots. Hence the AI and humans having totally different types of starship thingies, but using the same fleet ship designs, and so on. Manxome Bromide posted:Is AI War intrinsically ironman Nope. The current game has a stupid amount of save files - dozens - just in case I did something especially dumb and had to revert. I'd feel particularly silly if I lost the Beginner Walkthrough! You can save and load at any point - though annoyingly you have to go back out to the main menu to load, you can't just do it from the save menu because whoknowswhy. Starting with the next game I'll be on the 'honorman' system. Manxome Bromide posted:does the fact that it's the Turtle make the mid-assault reprisal less worrisome? Good questions, esp. this one. Given the inconsistent behavior I've seen from the Turtle, the answer to the first is a qualified maybe. On the second, I'm 90%+ sure but not certain that they can only be ships they already know about. I think of it as an SOS that they send out, and the massive AI factories somewhere else in the universe churn out a bunch of ships that the in-galaxy commanders know how to use, instead of waiting to properly 'download and install upgraded subroutines' or what-have-you. Basically a 'we need reinforcements NOW' deal and since time is of the essence, we'll take whatever useful stuff you can send us.
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Dec 6, 2018 08:17
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Yep, this is the tempo that sends me fleeing to Golems. This constant running from place to place making incremental progress while wave after wave after wave thrashes whatever you've cobbled together as an approximation of a "core" system is pretty much The Game. Like pretty much every other Arcen game, I adore its construction, and playing it for more than an hour makes me want to lay down and take a nap at the sheer number of Things happening, all the time, always. 
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Dec 6, 2018 23:15
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  This was pretty much the cheesiest victory imaginable, and I doubt it would have worked if I was playing above difficulty 6. Note the three selected raid starships next to the forcefields--my final victorious strategy was to dump a bunch of fleet ships into the fortress's range so they wouldn't focus on the raid starships, and then have the three starships plink away through the forcefield at the AI Home station until it blew up. It's weird, because I basically plowed through the galaxy and even the first AI homeworld without much trouble, but once I hit the other homeworld literally everything started falling apart. When the AI Home station died, I had a 550-ship reprisal wave already on one of my (completely undefended) planets, a 706-ship reprisal wave coming two minutes later, an exogalactic attack about to hit at the same time, and a CPA coming in ten minutes. Had it not been for the difficulty 6 AI not noticing the raid starships, I would have probably been annihilated. But hey, a win is a win! 
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Dec 7, 2018 08:54
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That's not cheesy at all, that's exactly the kind of thing raid starships are for! Good thinking. I think they're one of the most important unlocks, up there with assault transports, since "kill an important structure under a force field" is a fairly common problem, and they're good in your main fleet too with their high damage and bonuses against a lot of the same nasty stuff bombers do. Sindai fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Dec 7, 2018 |
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Dec 7, 2018 20:51
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They were definitely one of my favorite units in my game, and I can't tell you how many Ion Cannons I preemptively deleted with a small squad of them. It just feels like an oversight that the giant Fortress, which can basically kill three raid starships in one shot, would rather attack a bunch of fleet ships over the only things dealing damage to the single most important structure the AI has. It took nearly a full minute and the AI didn't even notice, but that might just be an artifact of a sub-7 difficulty. I'm not complaining either way 
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Dec 7, 2018 21:44
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I don't think the targeting AI varies by difficulty because the AI doesn't usually do "manual" targeting the way the player can. When allowed to shoot on their own both player and AI units just try to maximize damage by shooting things they get bonuses against. (And if they have overwhelming firepower they spread it out to try to kill as many enemies each volley as possible so you don't have to worry about damage wasted on overkill.) It's predictable and exploitable, but that's intentional. Sindai fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Dec 7, 2018 |
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Dec 7, 2018 23:37
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Well done! It is still a win, no matter how it was earned. On the targeting thing, I think Sindai is probably right. The better AI would probably have come more into play in facing more resistance in getting that far - both at the homeworld itself and on the way - and the AI deciding better on where and when to attack, both in terms of what systems to target and what to go after in those systems when it arrives. Once you're in a fire-fight though, what it shoots at is I think down to the ship/post/whatever itself and they tend to go for things that they perceive as a being the most favorable engagement.
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Dec 8, 2018 08:56
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Victory! Thus concludes our introductory, Beginner Walkthrough game. As it turns out, the Turtle Homeworld of Aokal didn't prove to be quite as tough as I expected. I think the Heavy Bomber Starships I added made a significant difference. It also really helped to catch the exo-galactic attack 'on the way out' and smash most of it at a very convenient time. I think the Core Neinzul Melee Guard Post is an interesting idea as well. More heavily escorted that could have been a real pain in the arse. At any rate, there's a brief post-mortem afterwards. As mentioned there, this is a good time for those new to the game to ask questions. For those in that category, you should by now, if you've been keeping up this game, know the following: ** Where to build stuff (Command Station, Starship Constructor, Space Dock for the most part) ** How to manage your fleets, attack, use the galaxy map, basics of CTRL screen, etc. - key interface elements ** Know the basics of the economy; what metal, energy, knowledge, and hacking are and how to use them, and of course how AI Progress works ** The basic attack-and-counterattack flow with salvaging and enemy waves ** Basic mechanics of how to construct and deploy turrets ** How to research and unlock new things ** Mechanics of colonizing new systems you've conquered ** Middle-game concepts around scouting and the key capturables; advanced factories, advanced starship constructors, MK V Fabricators to a lesser degree, and of course advanced research stations ** How, in general, AI homeworlds & core worlds around them will react to being threatened - i.e., violently and with extreme prejudice. ** The key factors to look for in assessing an unfamiliar ship/structure. It's not nearly as important to know exactly what a Missile Guard Post, MLRS Guard Post, Missile Frigate, or whatever does at is to know how to read the detailed tool-tips. If you can decipher the costs, special abilities and/or immunities, attack multipliers, hull type, attack type/damage/rate of fire, and so on from these then you have the tools to make an intelligent decision. If there's anything in the above list that seems unclear or that I haven't sufficiently addressed, fire away. Otherwhise you should now understand the basic structure of an AI War game. Up Next It's time to take a few steps deeper into the rabbit hole. For the next game we're going to take the training wheels off, and take a look at what will be a generally standard vanilla game. That's going to go both ways, as I will attempt to play as reasonably close to optimally as I can. We'll look at more tactics & units that I skipped over, and there will be a lot more available as well with not much excluded from the shipset. The Easy/Difficulty 5 game was the pushover that it was meant to be; it's time to wave good-bye to that level of ease, and pit myself against the 'default' challenge. Feel free to take the gloves off at this point and make whatever assessments/criticisms you may feel are warranted of both my play and the AI tactics at this stage.
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Dec 8, 2018 23:52
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The real
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Dec 9, 2018 00:20
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I guess that as the expansions add stuff into the game, time to completion of a game increases? I'm also guessing they'll introduce new systems to manage. I guess they don't include new ways to manage things like defenses, that would be handy.
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Dec 9, 2018 01:34
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You murderer, killing a poor defenseless AI like that! I, for one, welcomed my new robot overlords 
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Dec 9, 2018 01:53
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SIGSEGV posted:I guess that as the expansions add stuff into the game, time to completion of a game increases? I think increased difficulty level does that more than expansions, as in general it lowers your margins both economically and militarily, forcing you to spend more time with each conquest. As for expansions, they add mostly new ship types, new AI structures, new AI personalities, new optional minor factions & AI plots (none of those were on this time), things of that nature. I would say they add more complexity and choices, but not necessarily more time - deciding where to go and what to do next will become less straightforward or at least have more considerations involved in it when we get into those.
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Dec 9, 2018 02:22
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Does that end up increasing the number of planets of interest or does the game try to keep the galaxy somewhat aerated? Adding more options would mean needing more space to shove them in, unless they overwrite each other.
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Dec 9, 2018 02:28
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Sort of. If you turn on all the optional capturable stuff you'll certainly have more systems you want to have than you can feasibly take without making wave sizes unmanageable. You can get systems with multiple goodies in them, which is nice.
Sindai fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Dec 9, 2018 |
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Dec 9, 2018 05:40
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Thotimx posted:I think increased difficulty level does that more than expansions, as in general it lowers your margins both economically and militarily, forcing you to spend more time with each conquest. As for expansions, they add mostly new ship types, new AI structures, new AI personalities, new optional minor factions & AI plots (none of those were on this time), things of that nature. I would say they add more complexity and choices, but not necessarily more time - deciding where to go and what to do next will become less straightforward or at least have more considerations involved in it when we get into those. They also add music, and I like playing the soundtrack over other space games.
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Dec 9, 2018 07:42
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Would you mind posting a list of all the research you had finished by the end of the game? I’d be interested to see what you decided to unlock, and it’s hard to pin down in the videos.
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Dec 9, 2018 19:13
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Unfortunately I don't have a list. All I can tell you is what I remember: ** Both Metal Harvesters ** MK II Military Command Stations ** All MK III types of the turrets you start with ** Raptors, Armor, Bombers all unlocked ** MK II Anti-Armor ** Almost all starship types - Riot Control is the only one I didn't get more of. ** Assault Transports ** All of the Scouts There are probably more than I don't recall off-hand.
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Dec 9, 2018 21:08
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Setup Scouting The new adventure begins. Worth noting here are the changes to the setup; aside from direct difficulty stuff, there's the recommended Auto-AIP settings, AI Plots, and minor factions added on along with the 'normal' shipset. I get a quite unfortunate draw, revealing what one of the AI personalities is. It's not fun - in fact it's rather a notorious one. We are also gifted a few starting structures that we didn't see last time at these settings, so those are introduced; Human Settlements, Cryogenic Pods, and the Mercenary Space Dock. Immediate scouting of the surrounding planets occurs - named using a modified version of rchandra's file, thanks! - and a few minutes in I've decided on our first target planet for expansion. Up Next A quick operation to take down our first target planet and setting up initial defenses in more or less the 'right way' is planned.
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Dec 10, 2018 19:55
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Irregardless isn't a word. Does the presence of the direct attack wormhole mean that you don't feel as much pressure about securing the planets around your homeworld? I suspect that that and the fact that one of those options you activated (next to the astro-train) that allows the AI to skip planets means that the idea of chokepoints is kinda dead.
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Dec 11, 2018 02:26
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Warp relays aren't as bad as they sound because they only start building when the threat fleet is big enough and you get a big honking warning in the status box telling you where it is and how long you have before it's finished. They actually kind of help you keep track of where the threat is hanging out and prod you to prune it regularly. Sindai fucked around with this message at 04:02 on Dec 11, 2018 |
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Dec 11, 2018 04:00
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[pedantic]Irregardless actually is a word, according to Oxford, Merriam-Webster, etc. - it's just not proper to use it because it means the same thing as regardless, and so on, and so forth. Which means I shouldn't say it, but probably will continue to do so because bad habits etc.[/pedantic]SIGSEGV posted:Does the presence of the direct attack wormhole mean that you don't feel as much pressure about securing the planets around your homeworld? Yes it does - there's not a whole lot of a point in establishing a buffer when the AIs can just bypass it whenever it darn well feels like it. Definitely throws a wrench in my preferred way of doing things.
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Dec 11, 2018 07:49
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Thotimx posted:[pedantic]Irregardless actually is a word, according to Oxford, Merriam-Webster, etc. - it's just not proper to use it because it means the same thing as regardless, and so on, and so forth. Which means I shouldn't say it, but probably will continue to do so because bad habits etc.[/pedantic] Not to get derailed, but people used to say that about ain't and y'all, too. Now they're pretty much accepted. Language isn't static, it evolves, despite people trying desperately to stop it evolving for literal centuries.
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Dec 11, 2018 14:31
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I noticed you only turned on Avenger for one AI, does that mean it's completely irrelevant if you kill that homeworld second?
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Dec 11, 2018 20:05
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Yes. I'm pretty much going to go out of my way to not do that though, so we can see it in action.
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Dec 12, 2018 21:32
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Defending the Kahuna Way A longer one here due to some exposition. The expansion to Ixion goes more or less as planned, though definitely not without casualties. Then a demonstration of the 'proper' way to build system defenses is demonstrated, based on the guide propogated by Kahuna, quite possibly the top expert on the game. Some of the math is outdated, but it's still worth looking at if you are so inclined; Kahuna's Guide to AI War - Find Your Inner Super Cat! Given the Exo-Galactic threat, I'm planning to seriously overprotect the homeworld of Deimos, due to the fact that it will be under threat throughout the game no matter what. New unlocks here are Hardened Force Field Generator, Spider Turret, Heavy Beam Cannon, Tachyon Beam Emitter, and the Advanced Warp Sensor. We can already see some definite differences between difficulty levels 5 & 7. Up Next We're in a deep metal crunch - despite me continuing to incorrectly call it 'energy' for some reason - and will need to get out of that. Then I'll be looking to continue to expand and grow the economy, but exactly where I'll do that I have not yet decided.
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Dec 12, 2018 21:40
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What's the key to show all ranges at once? I can do it so it shows the range of whatever I scroll over, but I forget the all circles button.
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Dec 13, 2018 04:26
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I don't know of a way to automatically show all ranges in the system. Z - Show range of whatever is selected and/or at the cursor Z + A - Same thing relative to cursor position (i.e., it'll show you how far the range would extend if placed where the cursor is) Z + X - Show both hostile and friendly ranges It gets a little fiddly trying to set up turrets in the right spots for me because I can't have the already-placed turrets selected (and see their range circles) while also placing new ones. I don't know of a way to display that better, and a few sources for hotkeys including the in-game don't give me any solution.
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Dec 13, 2018 07:55
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Even the Planets Have Eyes Apologies for the audio in the second half of this - I was feeling a bit unwell and probably should have waited to record it - I just wanted to get things back on schedule. We begin by taking a closer look at what's been scouted, revealing a Planetary Cloaker (which hides literally everything on the planet, even while it's shooting at us) and multiple Nuclear Eyes (which basically have a 30-second cooldown, but nuke the planet destroying everything with a nice +50 AIP). vdate contributed one of those. FatSamurai also features as a planet of note. One adjacent planet allows us to eliminate another CSG, then some scouting, more Eyes are spotted of the Parasite and Ion variety, a couple raids are conducted, and a plan is formulated to get us to the mid-game. Not everything looks rosy, but I think we potentially could have a very nice setup - aside from that blasted Exo-Galactic Wormhole, of course. Up Next Tethys and then the chain leading to Massalia are clearly in our sights. The primary question is how much time I should spend securing defenses and building up the fleet along the way, and the answer to that remains unclear.
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Dec 14, 2018 07:55
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Interesting. I'm pretty sure the green AI is a Teleporting Turtle because that's the only heavily defensive moderate AI. I was really confused for a while about why it had a bunch of armored ship unlocks until I remembered you probably have teleporting units disabled.
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Dec 14, 2018 17:32
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FYI I don't actually have the general category of teleporting ships off, but we are on Normal instead of Complex, which also adds the Teleport Raider, Teleport Station, etc. Combine with none of the expansions and, assuming you are correct, they probably just don't have many choices. Yet.
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Dec 14, 2018 22:28
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Battle of Tethys Tethys has a combination of a Parasite Eye and a variety of Guard Posts, the first two of which are good against much of our fleet ship complement this early in the campaign. As a result, my attack plan sorta works - and sorta doesn't. Then, when it appeared I was wrapping things up, we get a bit of a surprise. We can also pretty much confirm the two AI foes are definitely Backdoor Hacker (the exo-wormhole jerks) and Teleporter Turtle (since the eventual reprisal wave never materializes). Kinda disappointed to have a Turtle opponent two games in a row, tbh. It also is an interesting combination though, with the first pressuring me to be extra-defensive and the second making it harder to attack. In any case, this was one of the more tense battles so far, and definitely proved that Eyes are no slouch at this point of a game. We also now, by the end of this video, have maxed out our current fleet assets. Unlocks here are the Parasite(free courtesy of the ARS), Mk II Fighter, and Mk II Engineer. Up Next I need to decide how much to build up our defenses and how to best approach the fact that our next big target is a MK III planet with a MK I Ion Cannon and a Barracks. That's punching above our weight somewhat for an hour in, but it seems to me to clearly be the best way to go regardless. Massalia awaits - eventually.
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Dec 16, 2018 04:48
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Beachheading Another system falls, marauders show up again but this time they are a benefit to us, and a couple of AI waves are effortlessly swatted away. The main attraction though is beachheading, which among other things is central to hacking the Right Way(tm), since turrets are cheaper and more effective than ships. Requiring the use of the Mobile Builder for the first time, this is used for a covert knowledge raid, as I judged our current fleet abilities insufficient to handle Massalia. I've got to make some judgement calls about what to invest in at this point; we can't afford yet to get everything I think is really important. Research unlocks this time are the Mk II Tractor Beam Turret, Mk II Grav Turret, Mk II & III Bombers, and the Mk II Parasite. Up Next We move from talking about Massalia for the last few updates to actually taking it on. I think we're ready for it, but I'm not sure. Strategic Sage fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Dec 18, 2018 |
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Dec 18, 2018 21:33
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