[Solved] -278,865 Net Energy in 1.010E

[Kalzarius]

Well this is mind-boggling.  We've just gone to resume our game (24 hours in, save file in my previous post) using the newest pre-release, and my team mate has -2,647 net energy while I have -278,865 net energy.  We each had a surplus previously, so I can't help but wonder what has changed.

The Energy Reactor IIs are only producing 4,000 energy based on the fact that I built 10 new ones and now have -238,865 -- an increase of only 40,000 instead of 40,000.

It would also seem that the AI can figure out when there is no power, as they are now decimating all of our bases.  Help!

 - Kal Zarius

Edit:  I just now read 1.010C's comments.  Unfortunately, those changes make our current game completely unplayable.  We'll have to load our game in an older version and add more reactors in other planets.

[Revenantus]

Hi Kalzarius,

In the latest pre releases Energy Reactors now suffer from reduced efficiency if multiple reactors are constructed in a single system.

Reactor Is and Reactor IIs operate independently - they do not affect each other's efficiency.

They reach a floor efficiency of 10%, which explains the 4k energy increase per Reactor II you are experiencing.

You will need to construct Energy Reactors in different systems to meet your energy demands. The first Reactor II in each system will still generate 40k energy as before.

I don't believe the AI knows when you have an energy crisis, though I may be wrong. Your turrets and forcefields will be inoperable which is likely what is allowing the AI to have so much success.

Hope this helps.

[x4000]

Sorry about that -- glad you found the issue, there.  It sounds like you had a lot of clustering going on there, so spreading those out will definitely help.  I try to not break old savegames with the updates (and in many senses, this is not "broken" per se), but I just can't think of a better way to retroactively handle this energy rebalancement. :/

(And Revenantus about the AI's reactions)

[Kalzarius]

All right. We downgraded and spread out our reactors and all is peachy now with E.  I just wish I had read 1.010C's update prior to me tossing E on.

 - Kal

[x4000]

I gotcha -- glad that worked out in the end, anyway.

[Kalzarius]

Should the teleport raiders be able to be caught in tractor beams?

Now that we've sorted out the energy issue, we're having an issue with AI teleport raiders teleporting through the entire empire over the course of a few seconds.  They don't stick around at the wormholes long enough to be hit by turrets and no ships can catch up to them because they've destroyed whatever they came to destroy and are out of the system before anything can reach them. 

[x4000]

Should the teleport raiders be able to be caught in tractor beams?

Now that we've sorted out the energy issue, we're having an issue with AI teleport raiders teleporting through the entire empire over the course of a few seconds.  They don't stick around at the wormholes long enough to be hit by turrets and no ships can catch up to them because they've destroyed whatever they came to destroy and are out of the system before anything can reach them. 

Teleport raiders are indeed immune to tractor beams.  That is interesting that you are running up against them coming into your systems all over the place -- are they actually stopping to destroy anything?  I wonder if they are just passing through as special forces.  That is pretty strange, though -- I'll have to do something to slow teleporting ships down when they change planets.

[Kalzarius]

Teleport raiders are indeed immune to tractor beams.  That is interesting that you are running up against them coming into your systems all over the place -- are they actually stopping to destroy anything?  I wonder if they are just passing through as special forces.

They primarily target command stations and sometimes turrets.

I'll have to do something to slow teleporting ships down when they change planets.

I'm not sure what slowing them down will do.  I don't have enough turrets to guard against an influx of 50+ teleporting ships in every system and there are not enough ships to guard every system either (we need most of them for the front lines and announced enemy raids).  This may require a change in our strategies, but I'm not sure what we can do to counter unannounced ships that can bypass fleets and defenses at will on their way to whatever target they've selected.

[x4000]

I'm not sure what slowing them down will do.  I don't have enough turrets to guard against an influx of 50+ teleporting ships in every system and there are not enough ships to guard every system either (we need most of them for the front lines and announced enemy raids).  This may require a change in our strategies, but I'm not sure what we can do to counter unannounced ships that can bypass fleets and defenses at will on their way to whatever target they've selected.

Holy cow -- that's a surprising thing to have happen.  Maybe these aren't special forces, but are somehow leftovers from prior raids you did in?  Can you post a savegame for this?

[Kalzarius]

Sorry it took so long to respond.  We ran into a glitch we were hoping to reproduce using a saved game so you could take a look at it.  I managed to get a screenshot with debug information shortly before the game completely locked up, forcing both server and client to terminate the task.  I will post a new topic with that bug report and hopefully the saved game.

Holy cow -- that's a surprising thing to have happen.  Maybe these aren't special forces, but are somehow leftovers from prior raids you did in?  Can you post a savegame for this?

I think I may have miscommunicated something.  I had meant 50+ teleporting ships travelling through every system as opposed to 50+ ships in each system.  After further observation, it seems they are occasionally using our systems to travel between their own.  We'll see several hundred ships pop through three or four of our border systems and then disappear.  On occasion, they'll leave between 10 and 50 around to destroy a command station, resource collector, or turrets.  They are very single-minded though.  99% of the time they will only attack their target -- you can go ahead and successfully build dozens of turrets around them and pick them all off with very little retaliation.  Building those turrets is really the only way to pick them off, anyway, since you can't get any ships near them.  You just have to wait until they've picked their target and then build turrets around them.

Do you still want the saved game?  It's still quite the sight to watch them jumping all over the galaxy map like they do.

[x4000]

Sorry it took so long to respond.  We ran into a glitch we were hoping to reproduce using a saved game so you could take a look at it.  I managed to get a screenshot with debug information shortly before the game completely locked up, forcing both server and client to terminate the task.  I will post a new topic with that bug report and hopefully the saved game.

No worries.  A lock-up bug, though; that's never good.  I'll be interested to hear more about that one.

I think I may have miscommunicated something.  I had meant 50+ teleporting ships travelling through every system as opposed to 50+ ships in each system.  After further observation, it seems they are occasionally using our systems to travel between their own.  We'll see several hundred ships pop through three or four of our border systems and then disappear.  On occasion, they'll leave between 10 and 50 around to destroy a command station, resource collector, or turrets.  They are very single-minded though.  99% of the time they will only attack their target -- you can go ahead and successfully build dozens of turrets around them and pick them all off with very little retaliation.  Building those turrets is really the only way to pick them off, anyway, since you can't get any ships near them.  You just have to wait until they've picked their target and then build turrets around them.

Do you still want the saved game?  It's still quite the sight to watch them jumping all over the galaxy map like they do.

Oh, 50 ships total, not per-planet -- whew.

It sounds exactly like those are special forces ships just roaming around the galaxy, and that's by design with those sorts of ships now.  That does make for some interestingly different defensive scenarios, it would seem -- that's certainly unlike any other defensive pattern that is usually needed, I will say that.  Targeting the special forces command posts near the most-traveled planets would probably cut down on this cross-travel quite a lot.

I'd be curious to see the savegame if you want to provide it, but just as a point of interest, not as something that needs fixing at this stage (same as I think you were implying).