About that warp jammer...

[chemical_art]

Non-alert status is very intriguing, as it simply re-directs reinforncements elsewhere instead of decreasing it (we don't want that, do we" ). Perhaps we could rename it as a subspace jammer?

If we do this, can we then introduce some interactions to counterbalance that? I've been playing map-styles with a couple of planets that are connected to ~10 others. I'm thinking, for example, that alarm posts, Warpgate guardians, and AI trains should grant planet immunity to this jamming (the AI resorts to other means of direct communication instead of wide-band radio)...

Also, how would it work thematically if we then K-raid? Surely we can't fool the AI by too much. This non-alert should be tied just to the human-planet adjacency, and break if we had too many military ships on the planet.

If you place the planet jammer in a world with ~10 planets, then you get more then 10 reinforcement ticks elsewhere. Some of them going to the ai homeworld. Nasty! You pay a ton of money and reinforcement points for the ability. And non-alert worlds still get a random chance for reinforcements.

And the K-raid mechanic is done separate from planet alert status if I remember correctly.

[Hearteater]

The number of systems reinforced is based on planets you hold, not planets you put on alert.  Being on alert just makes them eligible for reinforcement.  So unless you are putting less total planets on alert than systems you control or have left neutral, you won't have overflow going to the home world.

[chemical_art]

AI homeworlds DO reinforce despite not being on alert. I know this because I play full visibility games and it gets points. It is a trickle, but it is noticeable.

"AI players will generally try to do more reinforcements to highly-contested planets, planets they feel are more threatened by the players, or their home or core planets"

And it still get points elsewhere. The points available may not be based directly on the ai worlds alerted, but if you had 15 planets on alert but with jammer(s) you reduce it to 5 planets, you have the  5 worlds available getting plenty of reinforcements. If said planets are neutered, then they'll go everywhere.

[keith.lamothe]

The points available may not be based directly on the ai worlds alerted, but if you had 15 planets on alert but with jammer(s) you reduce it to 5 planets, you have the  5 worlds available getting plenty of reinforcements.

That's true.  Other planets have a small chance of being reinforced, but the 5 on-alert worlds get the vast bulk of it.

If said planets are neutered, then they'll go everywhere.

Not sure what you mean, but the number of guard posts does not factor into the frequency of a planet being picked for reinforcement.  I forget if a "max population" planet (which is easier to hit with fewer guard posts) doesn't get put into the set for reinforcement picking, but I think it does and the extra population just turns into threat.

[chemical_art]

If said planets are neutered, then they'll go everywhere.

Not sure what you mean, but the number of guard posts does not factor into the frequency of a planet being picked for reinforcement.  I forget if a "max population" planet (which is easier to hit with fewer guard posts) doesn't get put into the set for reinforcement picking, but I think it does and the extra population just turns into threat.

Sorry, very shorthand.

What I meant was that if the planet was neutered it will sooner "fill up" because according to the wiki the max is based on command station and guard post count. Then, according to the wiki, the points go elsewhere. I do wonder how old that article is though, because there is no mention of carriers or ships going into threat.

[keith.lamothe]

I keep meaning to write some reinforcement-logging like the wave-logging that happens when Advanced Logging is on, partly because I genuinely don't know some of the details

[Hearteater]

AI homeworlds DO reinforce despite not being on alert. I know this because I play full visibility games and it gets points. It is a trickle, but it is noticeable.

But that has nothing to do with this discussion.  Yes, the home world gets reinforcements, I wasn't claiming it doesn't.  You just aren't going to cause reinforcements to get redirected to a home world by keeping worlds un-alerted as long as there are at least as many alerted worlds as reinforcement points.  Reinforcement points might still be spent on the home world anyway, but you can't realistically control that.

[keith.lamothe]

AI homeworlds DO reinforce despite not being on alert. I know this because I play full visibility games and it gets points. It is a trickle, but it is noticeable.

But that has nothing to do with this discussion.  Yes, the home world gets reinforcements, I wasn't claiming it doesn't.  You just aren't going to cause reinforcements to get redirected to a home world by keeping worlds un-alerted as long as there are at least as many alerted worlds as reinforcement points.  Reinforcement points might still be spent on the home world anyway, but you can't realistically control that.

Actually, the more alerted worlds the higher the chance that points will go to them than to un-alerted planets, so it would make homeworld reinforcement less likely.  At least, that's what I understand.

[Hearteater]

If the chance for home world reinforcement really is 2 / (alerted + 2), then yes that would be true.  If it looks at anything beyond number of alerted planets, the situation is a lot muddier.

[Martyn van Buren]

I think I'd also be interested in the even simpler "doesn't alert neighboring planets" --- so the warp jammer planet simply counts as an AI world in alert terms, but if you have an AI world bordering both it and another of your worlds it alerts normally.

[keith.lamothe]

I think I'd also be interested in the even simpler "doesn't alert neighboring planets" --- so the warp jammer planet simply counts as an AI world in alert terms, but if you have an AI world bordering both it and another of your worlds it alerts normally.

The value of that would vary widely by the connectedness of the map.  Not necessarily a bad thing, though.

[Martyn van Buren]

I could see using that a lot for taking an advanced factory with deep raiding; if I understand right, no alerts would mean no border aggression, so you could hold it safely with a very small force.

[Kittens]

A station that doesn't put neighbours on alert (and doesn't receive any waves?) would be very useful. It would certainly justify the big knowledge and upkeep costs.

EDIT: It would need a really tiny unit cap though. 1, maybe 2 of these max.

[Shrugging Khan]

Maybe it's because I play with so many bells and whistles, but I've never seen the point in the warp jammers or destroying warp gates. There's always threat, hybrids, exo-waves, freed guard units, antagonised Dysons and whatnot coming from all directions; and waves arrive after an announcement that almost always leaves enough time to ship some defensive units over to where they're needed.

Well, such is my experience, anyways. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

[keith.lamothe]

Maybe it's because I play with so many bells and whistles, but I've never seen the point in the warp jammers or destroying warp gates. There's always threat, hybrids, exo-waves, freed guard units, antagonised Dysons and whatnot coming from all directions; and waves arrive after an announcement that almost always leaves enough time to ship some defensive units over to where they're needed.

Well, such is my experience, anyways. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

It's probably the bells and whistles.  Some of us mortals actually die to waves   FYI, there's a lobby option for unannounced waves, if you like that sort of thing.