Game of the Week Challenge Thread - Come Participate

[Wingflier]

Because of the large community unfamiliarity with many of the bonus ship types, we have decided to reiterate the fabled Game of the Week Challenge.

The Challenge is simple, each week somebody from the community will create a game (which follows the official challenge rules) with a specific bonus ship type that is rarely used.  The person who created the game will make a save file that we will all start from, and attempt to beat the campaign.

We will then share our experiences and thoughts on the bonus ship type of that week.  The person who offers the best feedback about the bonus ship of the particular week, will be chosen by the developers to create the "game" for the next week, and so on and so forth.

Here are the Official Challenge Rules:

1. 80 Planet Map Only (any map style, Conquest only)
2. Only 1 Expansion can be enabled (though you don't have to enable an Expansion)
3. Available Ships: Complex
4. All Ships enabled (this includes Mines and Teleport ships)
5. Combat Style and Unit Cap Normal
6. Visibility = Full Fog of War, Show Unexplored Planets = Checked
7. Minor Factions and AI Modifiers allowed, just don't go overboard please, we're trying to test things.
8. 1 AI Progress every 30 Minutes
9. Up to 1 AI Plot can be used (but doesn't have to be)
10. AI Difficulty 7.3 - Random Moderate (for both)

When you create a game, you must declare which Expansion, Minor Factions, AI Modifiers, and AI Plots you used (if any).

As long as you meet these criteria, pretty much anything else goes.  You MUST choose a new bonus ship every week, no repeat bonus ships allowed until they have all been used.  And remember, if you provide the best feedback for the week, you get to make the game for the next week!

The "week" will always start on a Monday and end on a Sunday.

The first person to upload a save to this thread and name the bonus ship they chose will start this week and we can go from there.  I'm very excited about this, so let's get started!

Week 1 has started!
-

Week 1:  12/6/2010 - 12/12/2010 - bonus ship:  Vorticular Cutlass

[Lancefighter]

Honestly..

I dont like the limits being placed.

'no ai plots' means 'no fun with hybrids'

one expansion means I cant play with hybrids and z bombards... and no spirecraft either.

no minor factions and ai modifiers also sounds boring.. as if we are going back in time to when the ai war galaxies were comparatively stale - no random events, the devourer golem isnt running around, etc. Also means no schizo waves(ew homogeneous waves), always wave warnings (booringgg), no cross planet waves (mah flavor)

Dont get me wrong - the premise of this sounds good. Its just the execution seems a tad limiting. Without all the random things that makes ai war unique, is it something I will enjoy doing? Probably not.

[Wingflier]

Honestly..

I dont like the limits being placed.

'no ai plots' means 'no fun with hybrids'

one expansion means I cant play with hybrids and z bombards... and no spirecraft either.

no minor factions and ai modifiers also sounds boring.. as if we are going back in time to when the ai war galaxies were comparatively stale - no random events, the devourer golem isnt running around, etc. Also means no schizo waves(ew homogeneous waves), always wave warnings (booringgg), no cross planet waves (mah flavor)

Dont get me wrong - the premise of this sounds good. Its just the execution seems a tad limiting. Without all the random things that makes ai war unique, is it something I will enjoy doing? Probably not.

Okay then what do you think the rules should be?  There should be some guidelines and structure to it.  Do you think it's fair to everybody if players can turn on any AI Plots or Expansions they want to?  Not everybody even owns all the expansions, and while you may be familiar with most of the AI Plots, not everybody can say the same.  

The point of the GOTW is for players to be able to test out new ship types.  I'm under the impression that if you are having tons of different random events and uncertain game factors occurring every game, you won't really get a good grasp on the ship you are supposed to be testing.

[Lancefighter]

Well id allow some options.. Say, enable any 5 minor factions, any 3 ai modifiers(just not 'no waves') and maybe one or two ai plots (just not both avengers, because thats just silly)

as for expansions, I'm not really sure how taht will be done.. Just because I cant really say that percent of the base has all 3 expansions (perhaps a poll might work here: you may select 3 of ZR, CoN, LotS just to see who has what). I think most people on this forum have at least con and zr..

edit
yes, I understand the point is to test the bonus ships, but at the same time, the point is to test the bonus ships under realistic situations.
If your giant blob of ship X does amazing things in such a sterile environment.. when taken out of that environment (say, another expansion is added..) your entire blob might disappear to the first stiff breeze that comes along.. weather that be by hybrids, masses of younglings, some zenith unit, or maybe blade spawners just murdered them all.

[Fleet]

I suggest setting a minimum baseline of requirements, with BONUS POINTS awarded for extra FUN settings like Hybrids. (Inspired by Dwarf Fortress Wiki)

[Wingflier]

Okay for now we're sticking with 1 expansion and up to 1 AI Plot, but I DID allow all Minor Factions and AI Modifiers to be allowed.  

In the future, if players are getting bored we can change the rules.  Is that an okay compromise?  Now one of you upload a game, and declare the settings please.

[Lancefighter]

Todays ship: Cutlass.

The fun involved: Maze D, 90 planets. ZR enabled.

Miner, devourer
no wave warnings, schizo

ai 1 has beachheads enabled



edit
aw shoot, you said 80 planets. agh.
and its even a 100 planet map. *sigh* silly grid stuff.

[Wingflier]

Lance, Full Fog of War!  Ahhh this is crazy I can't see anythingg....

[keith.lamothe]

I think the old GOTM died impaled on the limits of what you could and couldn't play

Of course, to some extent it needs to have some basis for an apples and apples comparison, so it's a tightrope.

[Lancefighter]

Lance, Full Fog of War!  Ahhh this is crazy I can't see anythingg....

oh yeah! I knew there was something I was forgetting

but seriously, its meant as a complete joke. I honestly dont expect anyone to play that deathtrap of a save....

[RCIX]

Ok, how about this one?

Expansion: TZR
Minor Factions: Broken Golems - Medium, Dyson Sphere, Zenith Traders
AI Plots: None
AI Modifiers: No Wave Warnings, Reveal Random AI Types

I think at this point we're gonna have to live with one set of options that not everyone may like

[Lancefighter]

Yours is probably far more moderate than mine >.>

[Wingflier]

Thank you RCIX, *glares at Lancefigher*

[Lancefighter]

Thank you RCIX, *glares at Lancefigher*

dont be hating

its perfectly within.. er.. most of the rules lol
and tbh, i cant comment on the difficulty of beachheads, but id imagine they are somewhere around hybrid-level...

[Wingflier]

Okay I recently completed a game with Cutlasses.  Unfortunately, it wasn't the actual game of the week.  The GOTW save file was made during v4.046 and had parasites enabled, which unfortunately made it unplayable for several days.  To keep with the spirit of the Challenge however, I played a similar game (albeit on a harder difficulty), and started with Cutlasses as my bonus unit.

Cutlasses:

Cutlasses are a neat concept, but I wouldn't give them much more credit than that.  Being surprisingly expensive for a unit who's role is to basically commit suicide, their damage is surprisingly lacking, and they die extremely quickly.  The dichotomy of "suicide" units in RTS games is that they have to be extremely good at what they do, otherwise the player will simply avoid using them and build a unit that can fill its role better without killing itself in the process.  The baneling of Starcraft 2 is a good example of a worthy "suicide" type unit.  It is a melee range mobile bomb that, if microed correctly, can take out entire groups of enemy units by itself.  It is quite fragile, and somewhat expensive, but if used correctly can be absolutely devastating to enemies.  Cutlasses seem to have the opposite effect.  Even if microed correctly against their bonuses, they still seem to do way too little damage to be worth the trouble or Knowledge to try and upgrade them.  They have no aoe damage (something very strange for a "suicide" unit in an RTS game), and most units can fill their role better.  I see no reason to build these.

Luckily during the course of my campaign, I was able to test the etherjet extensively as well.

Etherjet:

The etherjet is an interesting idea for sure. A cloaked fighter like unit that can drag its prey across the planet into waiting enemies. The problem is, it doesn't seem to come in useful that often. It is very weak, having only a fraction of the health of fighters, which are already considered fairly expendable units. Basically, they die as soon as they are breathed on. I suggest giving them significantly more health and perhaps taking away their cloaking ability. This doesn't seem necessary for the role they are intended to fill, and the AI will probably see them anyway, definitely when they start dragging things. They aren't up to par but they certainly show a lot more promise than cutlasses, for what it's worth.