Prerelease 3.176 (Hybrid Hives+, 6 new Cmd Stations, new warheads and mercs)

[Vinraith]

If memory serves me right, Merc ships are only about Mk2 in power. The cost of them also means unless you're playing a very slow game, you're unlikely to be able to sustain a small (let alone full) fleet of merc ships during your offensive manoeuvres. I play very aggressively these days so my resources tend towards the low side, moreso if the AI is on the offensive.

The sheer cost of a single merc ship in comparison to a regular dock unit becomes quite significant in the long term. When you hit Mk3+ planets and the mid-endgame, you really need to be able to keep pumping out units, as well as unlocking Mk3 units yourself (let alone everything else you need). If you set merc docks to build in a loop, I guarantee your resources will sink faster than a rock in water. The only really valid long term merc strategy is lots of repairing and so forth, but that's not the easiest thing to do these days.

Yup, it's probably more of a conceptual sticking point than a practical one. I'm sure once I start a new game it'll be clear that it's not really an issue, it's just the first thing that popped to mind when I saw that particular change.

[x4000]

And it's a valid concern, it was certainly something that I thought a lot about, and which was a big part of why I never implemented more specialized mercs in the past, too.

[SgtScum]

As far as the usefullness vs the cost of merc ships I only use them to bolster the normal turret defences so they rarely die and do good work chasing down any leakers. This leaves my entire cap of normal cost mobile units free to die in droves to take that damn mk4 world with the raid engine away from the ai.  ;p

[Ozymandiaz]

Playing a little while now, I think the new mercs are good. I have not really used them, but having that kind of access to cretin specialized units is great if a need arises. Costs too much such early in game as I am now

I enjoy the new command stations as well, makes my far away colonies easier to maintain form skirmishes

[x4000]

Sweet!

[snrub_guy]

Just thought I'd chip in. Haven't played it yet- that comes soon. But this update looks incredible. Thanks very much for your continued support!

[x4000]

My pleasure!  And if you think this is good, wait until you see what I've got planned for the next couple of days (assuming that my son isn't born in that time -- if that's the case, and that looks possible, then the bulk of it would be in 3 weeks instead).  But lots of exciting stuff all around, at any rate.

[Spikey00]

My pleasure!  And if you think this is good, wait until you see what I've got planned for the next couple of days (assuming that my son isn't born in that time -- if that's the case, and that looks possible, then the bulk of it would be in 3 weeks instead).  But lots of exciting stuff all around, at any rate.

(I offer my congratulations in advance!)

But it seems we're all going to have a baby soon according to your post

[carlosjuero]

First off Congratulations on the impending addition to your family - My best wishes and hopes for a healthy and happy conclusion to the pregnancy.

Now to the changes - Wow. Ya know, you seriously are putting other developers to shame . Every time I turn around it seems there is something new coming to the game! After having been away from gaming in general for a while it is nice to come back to such a great community and dev team, my 20+ hours Epic game is testament to that I guess [the only game I have played for 20 hours with so little progress (only 8/90 planets captured - only 14 explored)].

Cant wait to see what else is in store

My pleasure!  And if you think this is good, wait until you see what I've got planned for the next couple of days (assuming that my son isn't born in that time -- if that's the case, and that looks possible, then the bulk of it would be in 3 weeks instead).  But lots of exciting stuff all around, at any rate.

[x4000]

Many thanks, both of you! 

[Ozymandiaz]

Just one question, I have not noticed it before (not played against an experimentalist since before the fort changes), but is the translocators supposed to be able to warp the fortresses around?

Also good luck with your kid!

[x4000]

Nope, we do need to make fortresses immune to translocation -- anything larger than a certain small size is supposed to be too heavy for translocation.  I've just adjusted that, thanks!

Thanks for the well wishes!

[Dragon]

I have noticed that now when you press Ctrl comma, the fortress gets selected along with the military ships.  This didn't used to happen.

[x4000]

New version: http://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,6612.0.html