How do you manage your time?

[Wingsofdomain]

Well this is not really strategy discussion but I can't find any other place to post it. Has the fourm been changed since last time I was active (christmas)? Anyhow to the point....

The problem is that I like this game a lot but it's so hard to find players to play with. I've got a brother but he is not as much gamer as I am but I can make him play. However to find time when we both can play is already hard at that point. The campaigns do take a lot of time and we can't make it in one ...uhm...playtime.

I want to play with more than just my brother and maybe even more than just 2 players of total :S but when I went to the irc someone told me he could finish a game in one evening. Seriously? 8 hours in a row (in straight, whatever my english just broke)? This is my biggest problem with the game, you really gotta find some serious guys to play with.

So how do you manage this? Can you play in 8 hours straight, or do you make up a schedule with your friends and decide that you play 3 hours every monday or something? Or are everyone who play this coop so into the game that they always have time for it anyway? I play other games too so :S...

Also...the meeting ground forum doesn't seem to work properly. :S Playing with 1 or 2 friends is enough for me but it would be so fun to test one game with over 4 players :O. That would be awesome.

(I will be going on a festival now so I won't answer in a while. Feel free to comment my spelling.)

[keith.lamothe]

If I actually finish a game it's on the holidays where I can find a 3 or 4 hour chunk   But some folks play in half-hour chunks, though I think that's always single-player.

You could try a Defender campaign (LotS expansion, though you can try it in trial mode) for something shorter.  45-minute games are my favorite there.  I'd suggest practicing in single-player first, though.

[Wingsofdomain]

Yeah I've thought of the lots campaign. Are they usually shorter than conquest?

[keith.lamothe]

Yeah I've thought of the lots campaign. Are they usually shorter than conquest?

Well, the Fallen Spire campaign (which some people call the LotS campaign) isn't what I meant; that's usually the same kind of length as the normal game, and sometimes longer if you go for the alternate victory.

But yea, Defender campaigns (as opposed to Conquest, as you said) is for shorter games.  You pick how long you want it to go (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 2 hours, and 4 hours are options, I think there are a couple others inbetween) and that's the timer on the game.  It pauses when you're paused of course.  If the timer hits zero and you're still alive, you win

[Wingsofdomain]

Yeah I've thought of the lots campaign. Are they usually shorter than conquest?

Well, the Fallen Spire campaign (which some people call the LotS campaign) isn't what I meant; that's usually the same kind of length as the normal game, and sometimes longer if you go for the alternate victory.

But yea, Defender campaigns (as opposed to Conquest, as you said) is for shorter games.  You pick how long you want it to go (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 2 hours, and 4 hours are options, I think there are a couple others inbetween) and that's the timer on the game.  It pauses when you're paused of course.  If the timer hits zero and you're still alive, you win

ah I misunderstood you. The reason is that I bought all expansion in once so I don't know what features are in what expansions. So when you mentioned the LoTS expansion I thought you were refering to the fallen spire campaign which should be imo an alternative to conquest and defender mode.... or is there a reason to do some progression in the fallen spire part even if you DON'T go for the alternative win?

I am not a fan of the defender mode though... you kind of kill the exploring part and other beatiful things.

[keith.lamothe]

which should be imo an alternative to conquest and defender mode.... or is there a reason to do some progression in the fallen spire part even if you DON'T go for the alternative win?

I did think about making it a campaign mode instead of a minor faction (since it only starts out minor) but yes, there is definitely the player's choice of how far to pursue the FS progression: often you're able to win with your own Spire capital fleet without going for the alternate win, and in some cases you have to because you can't withstand the kinds of attacks that come in that very last phase.  In other cases you've got a great defensive setup but winning the traditional way would be hard-to-impossible due to a massive AI defensive buildup or a really-unfavorable-to-expansion scenario or something like that, so the alternate way is an easier (or only) way to victory.

I am not a fan of the defender mode though... you kind of kill the exploring part and other beatiful things.

Ah well, can't do everything for everyone   That was our answer to the shorter games thing, trying to make the normal campaign fit into a smaller timeframe didn't work design-wise.

So yea, I guess the answer is to identify everyone who has some kind of claim on your time and your brother's time (or whoever you're trying to play multiplayer with), and then bribe them somehow to let you have about 10 hours to yourselves, and play aggressively

[Nalgas]

So how do you manage this? Can you play in 8 hours straight, or do you make up a schedule with your friends and decide that you play 3 hours every monday or something?

I have played 12 hours straight once with one other person, when I just happened to have nothing to do that Saturday, and he was stuck at home watching his very young kid all day.  Usually the only times I play for more than 3-4 hours in one sitting are by myself, though.

My regular group has people from both the east and west coast of the US, so we've agreed on 9pm/6pm on Tuesdays, which is late enough that the west coast people are out of work but still early enough that the east coast people can stick around for a while.  That usually gets us about three hours before people start having to go to bed.  It makes games take a while, but at least we're pretty consistent about it, even with 4-6 of us playing.  We do have a bit of a problem in the summer, though, when people keep going on vacation, so AI War is temporarily on hold, and whoever happens to be around on any given Tuesday just plays Terraria or Magicka or something quick and easy to pick up instead.

[NickAragua]

Haven't actually played this in a while, but when I did, my friend and I usually did two-three hour chunks, once a week (or two, or three). Took us six months to almost get to the last AI homeworld before we gave up due to border aggression and our territory being way too spread out and indefensible (we'd have to keep bringing our main fleet back).

[Bleek]

Can you save and re-visit co-op games so you don't have to play them from start to finish in one sitting?

[Nalgas]

Can you save and re-visit co-op games so you don't have to play them from start to finish in one sitting?

You can, and what's extra useful when you're playing with a large group of people is that you can enable/disable individual player slots on the fly, so if someone can't make it one day or shows up late or has to leave early, it doesn't really disrupt it much for everyone else.

[Bleek]

Can you save and re-visit co-op games so you don't have to play them from start to finish in one sitting?

You can, and what's extra useful when you're playing with a large group of people is that you can enable/disable individual player slots on the fly, so if someone can't make it one day or shows up late or has to leave early, it doesn't really disrupt it much for everyone else.

That's very cool - I've yet to play a co-op so didn't know!

[Wingsofdomain]

which should be imo an alternative to conquest and defender mode.... or is there a reason to do some progression in the fallen spire part even if you DON'T go for the alternative win?

I did think about making it a campaign mode instead of a minor faction (since it only starts out minor) but yes, there is definitely the player's choice of how far to pursue the FS progression: often you're able to win with your own Spire capital fleet without going for the alternate win, and in some cases you have to because you can't withstand the kinds of attacks that come in that very last phase.  In other cases you've got a great defensive setup but winning the traditional way would be hard-to-impossible due to a massive AI defensive buildup or a really-unfavorable-to-expansion scenario or something like that, so the alternate way is an easier (or only) way to victory.

I am not a fan of the defender mode though... you kind of kill the exploring part and other beatiful things.

Ah well, can't do everything for everyone   That was our answer to the shorter games thing, trying to make the normal campaign fit into a smaller timeframe didn't work design-wise.

So yea, I guess the answer is to identify everyone who has some kind of claim on your time and your brother's time (or whoever you're trying to play multiplayer with), and then bribe them somehow to let you have about 10 hours to yourselves, and play aggressively

I haven't come that far in the fallen spire campaign so I didn't know.

YES. Make a wingy compaign mode for me NOW! I paid for this game!


Ok so I believe the best way to make it is to make a schedule.