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Post by ileonu on Dec 27, 2013 20:33:41 GMT
When you talk about defenses... whats the right path? Ok normally i would think just having a good fleet... but minefields? satellites? fighters? they have any real use? Is there a cheap way to defend yourself early in the game? Also when you say "homeworld invasions early" how many turns into the game we are talking about?
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Post by Dominion of Zabéara on Dec 27, 2013 20:34:44 GMT
One thing we all should consider, not only the newbies, is that if we're really having a game with almost 20 people, it will be a very very crowded quadrant. Also, 19 people have signed onto the game, but that does not mean come January we will have 19 players that actually join the game, nor does it mean we will have 19 players who will take to the game and keep playing it. |
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Post by Dominion of Zabéara on Dec 27, 2013 20:38:24 GMT
When you talk about defenses... whats the right path? Ok normally i would think just having a good fleet... but minefields? satellites? fighters? they have any real use? Is there a cheap way to defend yourself early in the game? Also when you say "homeworld invasions early" how many turns into the game we are talking about? In the new version of the mod, troops are important, since troops can land through planetary shields now. Planetary defense platforms are another unit of critical importance in planetary defense, especially in conjunction with a fleet of warships orbiting the planet. Satellites, mines, and fighters are useful, but of secondary importance to troops, ships and planetary weapon platforms. About when to expect a possible invasion, in the last game I launched my first planetary invasion at turn 40 I think, but my guess is that's rather unusual. |
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Post by ileonu on Dec 27, 2013 20:43:43 GMT
Ok but how those planetary defense plataform work? They are literally cannons that shoot to space? Can they be destroyed by the normal weapons of a fleet or they can only be destroyed by planetary bombs?
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Post by Dominion of Zabéara on Dec 27, 2013 20:56:56 GMT
Ok but how those planetary defense plataform work? They are literally cannons that shoot to space? Can they be destroyed by the normal weapons of a fleet or they can only be destroyed by planetary bombs? They are simply planet-based units that shoot into space (provided they have weapons!). Regular ship weapons can destroy them, but this is done as part of shooting at the planet in general, which is an overall bombardment of planet-based troops, population, facilities, weapon platforms, etc. This "collateral damage" can soak up a fair bit of bombardment and to a limited extent protect weapon platforms. Also keep in mind that your homeworld has 15,000 (!) shield points, which gives your homeworld a BIG defensive advantage, especially in the early game. Assaulting an enemy homeworld that is well defended with weapon platforms, troops, and a fleet of warships is a very serious endevour and requires quite the undertaking. |
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Post by Sethulkra Hive on Dec 28, 2013 1:15:54 GMT
I'm hoping that, given this is an RP game, it won't be so cutthroat right off the start...I do realize that's hypocritical coming from me  , but nevertheless that's the aim. I think if you're going to go for the jugular off the start, you'd better be playing an "evil" or at least very ambivalent empire...which leads me to look upon Heber's new empire with suspicion...  Having said that, Heber is right. In a large game, trading techs is a fast way to get ahead, make sure you have some planetary defenses early on, and keep an eye on your neighbors. If they seem aggressive and annexed a second homeworld, its probably time to form an alliance against them. A.I.s are evil by nature. |
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Post by khizlek on Jan 14, 2014 16:01:36 GMT
A) Yes they do cost maintenance, how much they cost in maintenance depends on how you design them. B) 1. Planet-based ship yards are quite a bit superior...but getting them up and running takes much more investment and time than in vanilla. Consider, for instance: In vanilla you can colonize a planet with a couple million settlers and quickly get to work on a planetary ship yard. In proportions, the construction rate for a colony is terrible until you get a couple dozen million people to it...and it is A LOT harder to get those people there, because even large transports can generally only move 1 million people at a time. Also this depends on the base type - researching Efficient bases gives a lower-maintenance station for general non-combat use (efficient bases have a requirment for a certain % of hull use as 'cargo', which includes Cargo/Space Yards/Remote Mining). Of course if you shove lots of points into the Maintenance characteristic you get other benefits. B) I found the absolute minimum number of population for planets to be 3m, though 5 is optimal - after this point the gains are much slower to gain. That being said, unless you have a fantastic planet nearby (native huge atmosphere), I would heavily recommend waiting for 10-25 turns before committing yourself to settling; the time can be much better spent building orbital yards, with scouting craft to explore your local area. Also hold off on building troops (or other planetary defences) for at least the first 10 turns - the construction would be better spent on finding out where the other players are (scouts). Also, DON'T destroy your Cultural Centre or Space Yard. I'd also recommend you don't destroy the Conventional Research Centres (as they're really expensive). Orbital yard types:BSY (Base Space Yard): 500kT base w/ a 400kT space yard - this is useful for general use, building scouts, early warships (that don't need a lot of organics expensive components) or population transports. Their biggest benefit is that they're quick to build by the large orbital yards OR your planet, so if you need to rapidly expand construction capacity for a war, you're better served building these. OSY (Orbital Space Yard): 1000kT base w/ an 800kT space yard (available from lvl 2 Space Yard tech) - this is your major space yard (effectively a trimmed cut down version of a planetary yard), and is what you'll use for building costly high-organic ships (Colony Ships, mobile space yards, high-cost organic warships, etc). Now You can use a planet for this, but for the next 10-50 turns your major problem will be not enough organic resource construction capacity. One other thing: Make sure you use the Scale mount when building a ship; a number of components have their cost & size change based on the ship size (well, via the scale mount for that specific hull size). I actually had a number of other advantages in that game as well. |
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Post by Khizlek-G on Jan 29, 2014 6:10:19 GMT
When you talk about defenses... whats the right path? Ok normally i would think just having a good fleet... but minefields? satellites? fighters? they have any real use? Is there a cheap way to defend yourself early in the game? Also when you say "homeworld invasions early" how many turns into the game we are talking about? If you build any Yard bases (either the 400kT or 800kT components) then you can equip weapons at relatively little costs - missiles would be best here (as bases immobility & attack penalties mean Direct Fire [DF] weapons aren't as good in the early game. If a missile equipped base causes it to take a turn longer to build (e.g: If the BSY costs 4200 minerals to build, but your build rate is 2000), then retrofit it (make a copy of the design with only the extra missile added, then retrofit to that design). Other than that, you can equip weapons to early scouts (a single Missile or Depleted Uranium Cannon is sufficient to ward off small attackers, and once your early scouting is done you can retain a small fleet of them) to stop early fleets. Later IMO troops are useful later, but early on if you have a large enough scout force then you can wait until an invading fleet is identified 3-5 systems away, then build accordingly - this allows the more crucial early turns to be spent building capacity (BSY, OSY, or colonising). |
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Post by Imperial Hegemon on Jan 29, 2014 10:46:58 GMT
Whoa, whoa, whooooa... Some of us are peace loving autocratic hegemons. Why, what for would we need space-based laser beams and nuclear tipped missiles?!?
Don't listen! Keep you peace loving ships of exploration unarmed and unaware! ;o)
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Post by khizlek on Jan 29, 2014 15:13:54 GMT
Clearly you need to meet with some friendly, highly security conscious, and slightly isolationist imperialists. |
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Post by khizlek on Feb 9, 2014 16:10:33 GMT
How is everyone finding the game? Any queries about how some facility/components work, or more advice for running an empire?
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Post by Amarr Empire on Feb 9, 2014 18:56:59 GMT
1. How does mothballing work? Do mothballed ships take any resources?
2. In SEV even a handful of regular combat ships would easily destroy a planet from orbit making landing troops not required, is it the same way in SEIV?
3. Can you make Ring or Sphere worlds in the late game in SEIV like SEV?
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Post by Imperial Hegemon on Feb 9, 2014 19:00:50 GMT
I'm always up for more advance. One thing I found, is that I can clearly not produce OSYs as quickly as the first 20 turn suggestion worked. Another bit of advance I wouldn't mind, is some idea of research paths particular to colonies. I am getting up there for levels for Space Yard Construction and Propulsion and am getting ready to found the first colony of the Hegemon - is there particular things I should be aware of? I did notice when playing around with a solo game the need to research Starliner Modules in order to get some type of module with lots of people in the picture. Good for moving peeps from one one planet to another? Can I not just use a transport with enough cargo holds (which reminds me, the smallest amount of pop capable of being moved is 1000 correct?)
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Post by Dominion of Zabéara on Feb 9, 2014 19:37:46 GMT
1. How does mothballing work? Do mothballed ships take any resources? 2. In SEV even a handful of regular combat ships would easily destroy a planet from orbit making landing troops not required, is it the same way in SEIV? 3. Can you make Ring or Sphere worlds in the late game in SEIV like SEV? 1. Mothballing disables a ship, but a mothballed ship does not take any resources. It does however require resources to be reactivated. 2. If a colony does not have significant defences, yes, a couple ships could destroy it from orbit. In this way troop landing is not required, but...in proportions mod colonies are rarer and more expensive to produce...so they are worth fighting over more than in the vanilla game. 3. Yes, you can create ring/Sphere worlds, but that is very much end-game stuff. |
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Post by Dominion of Zabéara on Feb 9, 2014 19:43:23 GMT
How is everyone finding the game? Any queries about how some facility/components work, or more advice for running an empire? To be totally honest, I'm rather appalled at how gamey and overpowered the whole 180+% to maintenance reduction + additional 20% maintenance reduction via traders culture is. A 1 missile escort should not cost 9 minerals, 1 organics, and 1 radioactives. Some people argued that limiting this would reduce racial build diversity, and few if anyone voiced similar concerns as I had, so I acquiesced and didn't really oppose it. But now that i'm playing with such a build I'm pretty sure that it is so much better than any other build, that it more or less ruins build diversity via comparative advantage. Had I been more sure of this (and had some backing on it by other players), I would have insisted on a maintenance trait cap, or offered my resignation as game host. What's done is done though, and we'll play this through. But if I ever host another game, it won't be with such a situation. |
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, but nevertheless that's the aim. I think if you're going to go for the jugular off the start, you'd better be playing an "evil" or at least very ambivalent empire...which leads me to look upon Heber's new empire with suspicion... 
