AI War "Tip of the Day" -- What do you wish you'd known?

[Mánagarmr]

Although "S" still applies, but all constructors are now selectable by "D" alone to cycle through.

[quickstix]

There is a handy-dandy context menu.

Edit: Does the alternate galaxy-map layout still exist? That's useful.

[keith.lamothe]

The alternate-galaxy-layout stuff (and most of the context menu) has not yet been ported; not many people were missing it, and we're a bit short on time

But they should be reappearing relatively shortly after the official release (which is scheduled for Wednesday).

[Mánagarmr]

I hate to be bugging you in such an awesome thread, but this still needs looking at.

[keith.lamothe]

Yes, I was just looking at that.  I just put in a change to hide those context-menu-related keybinds to avoid the confusion.

[x4000]

New ones:

* Don't "pop your head in" to an AI planet with military forces, unless you're prepared to deal with the wrath of the AI.  Use scouts instead, as they won't stir the AI into a frenzy.

* Having trouble scouting?  Send scouts in larger groups, and/or with group-move on to keep them all together.  Still having trouble?  Unlock higher-tier scouts.

* Always being caught by surprise with nearby AI forces?  Leave a scout or two just sitting hidden out in the middle of nowhere on AI planets of interest, so that you have ongoing visibility into what is going on there.

[x4000]

**************************************

Okay, everything up to this point has been put in the new tip of the day system that will be in the next release.

I'm attributing each individual tip to the player who suggested it, by the way, so you'll see your forum handles in there for the tips.  Think of that as an incentive to provide more excellent tips.

I didn't include the tips that don't currently apply in the current versions of AI War 4.0: for instance, the draggable planets aren't in place at the moment, so I left those out.  And I also altered wording a bit and corrected unit names when slang was used for them, and I added a few clarifying bits or added tidbits, where relevant.  If anyone has a problem with one of these being attributed to them, do let me know and I'll take it out, but I think everyone will be pleased with what they see.

So far, 32 tips.  We need more!

[Vinraith]

*Transports are incredibly important. They can get your military ships past wormhole defenses, allow deep strikes several worlds into enemy territory, and boost your scouting range by slipping scouts past strong front line defenses.

*You can use force fields to block enemy access to wormholes leading deeper into your territory. Force fields can't block ships from entering a system, only exiting one.

*You want every Advanced Research Station on the map if it's at all possible to secure them. It's not necessary to hold the system, it only has to be captured for a moment for you to get access to a new ship type and the new cap that comes with it.

*Caps are per ship level, not per ship type, so unlocking higher tier ships means both better ships and more ships. Always continue building lower mark ships to keep your fleet numbers up, you'll need them!

[keith.lamothe]

Thanks, I'll add those

[keith.lamothe]

Well, with a bit of effort to make sure it's not totally a duplicate   We have quite a few "transports are critical" ones already, haha.

[x4000]

Well, with a bit of effort to make sure it's not totally a duplicate   We have quite a few "transports are critical" ones already, haha.

I also put in something like those force field ones already.  The transports one isn't a duplicate quite, though, as it focuses on a bit different aspect than many of the other ones (such as boosting the scouting range).  I'd include all three except the force fields one.

As a side note, you CAN block ships from entering a wormhole with a force field if you put it on the far side.

[keith.lamothe]

As a side note, you CAN block ships from entering a wormhole with a force field if you put it on the far side.

That's what he meant by "Force fields can't block ships from entering a system, only exiting one.", I think

By the way, I've got support for it recognizing a hyperlink at the end of the tip and providing a button to open it in a browser, so if there are any particularly critical wiki articles (people are probably more likely to dive in that way than go to the front door), or that sort of thing, we can put tips in for those.

[Vinraith]

Well, with a bit of effort to make sure it's not totally a duplicate  We have quite a few "transports are critical" ones already, haha.

There aren't any in this thread, but presumably there are several in Mantis (which I foolishly neglected to check  ). I thought that was a strange oversight.

And yes, you've correctly read me on the force fields, I was trying to be clear there but apparently failed. Of course, if it's a duplicate, I suppose that doesn't matter.

[x4000]

I think I added them belatedly.

[keith.lamothe]

Ok, I've added those, and in general have it up to 53 tips, largely by linking specific beginner-oriented wiki articles.  Oh, and one that links to Tidalis's press-reaction page   Shameless plug, and all.