Starting World (and bonus ship?)

[Bud Backer]

Have I misunderstood the manual and other comments?

I have started a new game (my first, now that I've finished the Intermediate Tutorial). I thought I could pick my starting world. Is that not correct?

Also, am I not supposed to pick some bonus ship?

The create campaign map shows some symbols and ships on it - are they mine, the AI's or what? Once the game started I don't see them so I don't know if I can access them or what.

When clicking on some star systems they turn green and I see that I can do that with some worlds but not others. What is that and what does it do?

I don't know if it makes any difference but I have all the add-ons for the game, right up to and including Vengeance of the Machine. (Love that title! So...sinister!).

[Arc-3N-4B]

Those symbols are probably the bonus ships. Mouse over them to see the stats. Clicking on one will cause it to change colors, and place that system under your control as a Homeworld. Clicking on it again will remove it from your control. You get that system and the bonus ship that comes with it.

You can have up to 16 homeworlds. I'd recommend one for your first game.

[Bud Backer]

Those symbols are probably the bonus ships. Mouse over them to see the stats. Clicking on one will cause it to change colors, and place that system under your control as a Homeworld. Clicking on it again will remove it from your control. You get that system and the bonus ship that comes with it.

You can have up to 16 homeworlds. I'd recommend one for your first game.

Great, thank you! I had no idea I could have multiple home worlds. If I lose one, I lose the game, or do I have to lost them all?

[Toranth]

Those symbols are probably the bonus ships. Mouse over them to see the stats. Clicking on one will cause it to change colors, and place that system under your control as a Homeworld. Clicking on it again will remove it from your control. You get that system and the bonus ship that comes with it.

You can have up to 16 homeworlds. I'd recommend one for your first game.

Great, thank you! I had no idea I could have multiple home worlds. If I lose one, I lose the game, or do I have to lost them all?

If you lose ANY Home Command Station, you instantly lose the game.  However, for each home system you choose, you get:
1)  A new bonus ship type,
2)  The cap of every unit is multiplied by the number of HWs you have,
3)  The AI response is multiplied by the number of HWs you have.

So 2 Homeworlds means you start with 2 bonus ships, all of your unit caps are x2, and the AI sends 2 waves at a time, gets double reinforcements, etc.
4 Homeworlds = 4 bonus ships, x4 unit caps, and the AI sends 2 double-strength waves every time, x4 reinforcements, etc.

[Bud Backer]

Those symbols are probably the bonus ships. Mouse over them to see the stats. Clicking on one will cause it to change colors, and place that system under your control as a Homeworld. Clicking on it again will remove it from your control. You get that system and the bonus ship that comes with it.

You can have up to 16 homeworlds. I'd recommend one for your first game.

Great, thank you! I had no idea I could have multiple home worlds. If I lose one, I lose the game, or do I have to lost them all?

If you lose ANY Home Command Station, you instantly lose the game.  However, for each home system you choose, you get:
1)  A new bonus ship type,
2)  The cap of every unit is multiplied by the number of HWs you have,
3)  The AI response is multiplied by the number of HWs you have.

So 2 Homeworlds means you start with 2 bonus ships, all of your unit caps are x2, and the AI sends 2 waves at a time, gets double reinforcements, etc.
4 Homeworlds = 4 bonus ships, x4 unit caps, and the AI sends 2 double-strength waves every time, x4 reinforcements, etc.

Hmmm, so I did read that tooltip right. I'll stick to one Home planet for now. I've set this on dead easy to just explore the mechanics. Thank you for your help.

[Aklyon]

If you lose a home command in MP, its just a lot of AIP you've dropped on everyone else, and you get tossed to another home as a home core.

[Bud Backer]

If you lose a home command in MP, its just a lot of AIP you've dropped on everyone else, and you get tossed to another home as a home core.

So you end up with a new home base? There must be some limitation or you'd never lose.

[TechSY730]

If you lose a home command in MP, its just a lot of AIP you've dropped on everyone else, and you get tossed to another home as a home core.

So you end up with a new home base? There must be some limitation or you'd never lose.

Yes, there are limitations. Once all home command stations (not counting home command cores) of a faction are lost, that side loses. So it doesn't matter if you still have a core, if there are no home stations proper, game over for the human team.

For the home command core itself, it is an odd beast.
Like the home command station, it is a full fledged builder, however
Compared to a home command stations:
Advantages:
-mobililty
-better resource production
-can stack with a full command station, as it isn't actually a command station itself
Disadvantages:
-less durable (IIRC)
-does not provide supply
-does not get unlocked higher mark command station foldouts


Also, like the home command station, the core has an AIP cost on death. It isn't quite as much as the command station loss, but it still is noticeable. This, combined with worse durability, makes it a bad idea to try to use it as a mobile builder on the offense.
And if you lose your home planet, you lose those resources (until you rebuild a normal command station on there), which is often enough to overtake the extra resources produced by the core. This also really slows down players joining in mid-game, as they get a core instead of a full home planet.
Finally, a mobile core only grants 1x to the cap limit of your ships, regardless of how many home planets you have before hand. Keep this in mind if you take multiple homes, as if any of them die, you only get 1 core back, and thus are bumped down to 1x ship caps.

So yea, the home core is there to give players that were taken out some way to still contribute, but it is overall a big setback compared to still having your home station.

[Bud Backer]

If you lose a home command in MP, its just a lot of AIP you've dropped on everyone else, and you get tossed to another home as a home core.

So you end up with a new home base? There must be some limitation or you'd never lose.

Yes, there are limitations. Once all home command stations (not counting home command cores) of a faction are lost, that side loses. So it doesn't matter if you still have a core, if there are no home stations proper, game over for the human team.

For the home command core itself, it is an odd beast.
Like the home command station, it is a full fledged builder, however
Compared to a home command stations:
Advantages:
-mobililty
-better resource production
-can stack with a full command station, as it isn't actually a command station itself
Disadvantages:
-less durable (IIRC)
-does not provide supply
-does not get unlocked higher mark command station foldouts


Also, like the home command station, the core has an AIP cost on death. It isn't quite as much as the command station loss, but it still is noticeable. This, combined with worse durability, makes it a bad idea to try to use it as a mobile builder on the offense.
And if you lose your home planet, you lose those resources (until you rebuild a normal command station on there), which is often enough to overtake the extra resources produced by the core. This also really slows down players joining in mid-game, as they get a core instead of a full home planet.
Finally, a mobile core only grants 1x to the cap limit of your ships, regardless of how many home planets you have before hand. Keep this in mind if you take multiple homes, as if any of them die, you only get 1 core back, and thus are bumped down to 1x ship caps.

So yea, the home core is there to give players that were taken out some way to still contribute, but it is overall a big setback compared to still having your home station.

Not having played any multiplayer, I didn't realize that there was a distinction between Home Command Core and Home Command Station. There is so much to learn about this game!