Author Topic: Sanity Check of Doom  (Read 9430 times)

Offline chemical_art

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #15 on: October 14, 2012, 05:00:03 pm »
I used to think I couldn't beat an 8.3 game or better.

Then I cheesed out a single HW 10/10 game on ten planets, and then I earned through attrition how to win (hint: Don't form fronts, only satellite worlds that hold your super weapons / ars)
Life is short. Have fun.

Offline Dichotomy

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #16 on: October 14, 2012, 05:32:16 pm »
I tried 10/10 once, took one look at the tech number, and was still in shock when the first wave killed me.
You are all insane. In. Sane. No argument.

Offline keith.lamothe

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #17 on: October 14, 2012, 05:53:20 pm »
Ah, ok, so it was fallen spire, my bad :)

Though yea, if it was just 4 spire frigates, that's not much.
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Offline Kahuna

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #18 on: October 15, 2012, 02:17:51 am »
I tried 10/10 once, took one look at the tech number, and was still in shock when the first wave killed me.
First wave? It's only ~100 MarkII ships. Just put Space Dock to build all ships on loop and build 40 Missile Turrets. Then just chill out.
set /A diff=10
if %diff%==max (
   set /A me=:)
) else (
   set /A me=SadPanda
)
echo Check out my AI War strategy guide and find your inner Super Cat!
echo 2592 hours of AI War and counting!
echo Kahuna matata!

Offline Faulty Logic

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #19 on: October 15, 2012, 03:05:23 am »
I tried 10/10 once, took one look at the tech number, and was still in shock when the first wave killed me.
First wave? It's only ~100 MarkII ships. Just put Space Dock to build all ships on loop and build 40 Missile Turrets. Then just chill out.

This wasn't necessarily the current version. For a while, 10/10s first wave was absolutely brutal.
Besides, don't mock the newbie.

Quote
2. You AARers, especially Faulty, are insane. Certifiably. I can't see a single 7/7 game here.
:D
« Last Edit: October 15, 2012, 03:16:14 am by Faulty Logic »
If warheads can't solve it, use more warheads.

Offline Kahuna

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #20 on: October 15, 2012, 04:20:26 am »
Besides, don't mock the newbie.
I didn't mock anyone.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2012, 04:22:43 am by Kahuna »
set /A diff=10
if %diff%==max (
   set /A me=:)
) else (
   set /A me=SadPanda
)
echo Check out my AI War strategy guide and find your inner Super Cat!
echo 2592 hours of AI War and counting!
echo Kahuna matata!

Offline Faulty Logic

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #21 on: October 15, 2012, 05:06:53 am »
Immediately giving instructions on how to do what he said he failed to do could be construed that way (as I, mistakenly, did).
No offence meant.
If warheads can't solve it, use more warheads.

Offline Hearteater

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #22 on: October 15, 2012, 10:16:09 am »
1. Four frigates is hardly a spire fleet.
2. You AARers, especially Faulty, are insane. Certifiably. I can't see a single 7/7 game here.
I have a short 7/7 AAR here.  Also have an 8/8 AAR as well.  And a stalled 7.6/7.6, just because I haven't had time to finish it.

Honestly, AARs are fun to read almost whatever the difficulty. I suspect a 1/1 could be fun if the player took the right approach.  Maybe all minor factions  at 10, all AI Plots on, cannot use any of the golems/asteroids, and no turrets.

Offline keith.lamothe

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #23 on: October 15, 2012, 10:23:58 am »
A 1/1 AAR would be fun if run by a committee of players who have goals other than winning.
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Offline Wanderer

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #24 on: October 15, 2012, 12:37:00 pm »
A 1/1 AAR would be fun if run by a committee of players who have goals other than winning.

That's an interesting temptation...  Our own version of the FTW! project...
... and then we'll have cake.

Offline Winge

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #25 on: October 15, 2012, 04:07:45 pm »
A 1/1 AAR would be fun if run by a committee of players who have goals other than winning.

That's an interesting temptation...  Our own version of the FTW! project...

I'm thinking something like 120 planet, Maze A, (either causes a lot of deepstrike threat or forces the player to increase AIP for the relevant minor factions--the map I just glanced at had up to 53 jumps to one AI Homeworld  :o), random ship selection, Fortress Baron and Scorched Earth with ALL AI Plots, Nuclear Command, 2x waves (not like they'll be bad ;)), and, like Hearteater mentioned, most minor factions turned up, but no Human Resistance Forces or Colony Rebellions.

Everything BUT the AI is trying to kill you!  :P
My other bonus ship is a TARDIS.

Offline Faulty Logic

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #26 on: October 19, 2012, 11:16:08 pm »
...

...

Back to the AAR:

Update to 6.0 for awesome music. Regret updating to 6.0 for awesome music because 20(!) enemy champions just appeared on each AI Homeworld. But that is a later concern.

For now I mean to hack until I can hack no more. And I have 12 mkI planets (2 of 14 had co-ps) around my HW on which to do it.

The first two hacks (of this session, so the fourth and fifth) go well, at response- High, then Very High, then Extreme.
The next two hacks (Forest Fire) are somewhat trickier. Raid starship groups decide to be cute and simply ignore my gravity turret network. Save-reload teaches them some respect.

You know how I said that tackle drones were made for hacking? Add in spire blade spawners I-IV and neinzul enclave drones I-II, and you barely need any other ships. In fact, it is the zombie spawns on other planets, and raid starship spawns that are threatening. I also have a near-ideal setup to deal with random threat: two planets, HW (High Lab) with 2 mod forts and half the turrets, and FactIV (Apex) with the other mod fort and the remaining turrets.

The AI can de-zombify (and thus de-moronify) its huge numbers of patrolling zombies by pulling them into carriers, which then behave as a mini-cpa. I have to stop hacking while I redeploy to the FactIV world to deal with them (this happens a few times).

In the middle of my 8th hack, a normal cpa (7000) ships declare, right after the AI deployed 3000 threat zombies into carriers. I call off the hack until after the cpa is dealt with.

The 3 former-zombie carriers threatball on Apex. The battleship+shadow shields+riot tractor grab technique teaches them the error of their ways. The Riots Is and IIIs grab them, then the waiting riotIIs taze them on the other side, and it is a slaughter. Now that those are dead, there are two minutes on the cpa clock. Normal wave hits, last stragglers elimated just as the cpa declares.

Wait, why are there suddenly dark spire ships everywhere? That makes no sense, unless the AI redeploying into carriers counts toward the death count. Anyway, the DS are pretty ignorable.

The three-stage champ-shield deploy, riot tractor grab, riot taze (hereafter the Tripple Ripple) is an awesome tactic. And whatever isn't shot to pieces or tazed gets tackled, sliced (SBS), and swarmed (enclaves) I do have to operate on a core world to do it, though (fortunately not next to a CRE).

Time to finish k-hack 8. The high frequency of short-warp-jumps makes hacking much easier than it would be. It can cause its own problems, but usually doesn't, because the zombies are idiots. Their trickle is laughable against turrets, let alone modular fortresses. So the high frequency of short warp jumps makes hacking both significantly easier, and significantly more annoying to deal with.

Ok, groups of 40 raid starships are annoying. They can't kill anything essential, because of the gravity turrets, but they can do a number on the supporting fleet. Anyway finished hack 8, unlocked missile frigates II, time to reavaluate my k situation.

I have 0 k.

I want to unlock triangles, Railclusters, and minirams III. This will cost 30,000k.
I only want to take 6 more systems (7 if a colony rebels on a non CSG.) 18,000 (21,000).
One of my target planets has an archive. 24,000 (27,000)
So I need to sacrifice an unlock, or perform two (one) more Forest Fire hacks. Hacking time!

"But sir, isn't that insane?"
"Do I need to have Admiral Glau "talk" to you?"
*pales* "No sir."
"Good."

Hack 9:
... to be continued shortly.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2012, 12:26:14 am by Faulty Logic »
If warheads can't solve it, use more warheads.

Offline Kahuna

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #27 on: October 20, 2012, 03:11:47 am »
Update to 6.0 for awesome music
You got the Ancient Shadows music? I updated and didn't get any new music.
set /A diff=10
if %diff%==max (
   set /A me=:)
) else (
   set /A me=SadPanda
)
echo Check out my AI War strategy guide and find your inner Super Cat!
echo 2592 hours of AI War and counting!
echo Kahuna matata!

Offline Dichotomy

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #28 on: October 20, 2012, 03:31:21 am »
Ingame updated doesn't give new music, but if you redownload AS from the arcen site, you get it.
(I never took offense, btw.)
You are all insane. In. Sane. No argument.

Offline Faulty Logic

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Re: Sanity Check of Doom
« Reply #29 on: October 20, 2012, 04:18:25 am »
Ok, hack number 9 really hurt. The AI spawned thousands of zombies in other locations, then redeployed them into carriers. This meant that they attacked in a coordinated wave of 4500 (first 1500 k), then 7000 (after I resumed hacking for the other 1500) ships rather than a trickle of anywhere from 5 to 50 at a time. I repelled the attack without losing the advanced factory it was targeting, but I took major losses for the first time all game, and my economy is flatlined. I guess I will wait around until it finishes, shouldn't be more than  20 minutes, really, but I may have to employ further subhacking doctrine for hack 10.

"I told you... she's right behind me, isn't she?"
"Yup."
"Oh...f--"
"Thank you, Admiral."

State of Empire:
« Last Edit: October 20, 2012, 04:55:13 am by Faulty Logic »
If warheads can't solve it, use more warheads.

 

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