Hard to get into...

[Scorcher24]

Hey.

I own Tidalis and AVWW from Arcen.
I already looked at AI War some time ago, but with the Demo, I was totally clueless what to do and how to win.
But many people say it is an awesome Tower Defense Game.
I can't justify putting 17€ into this when I don't know if I ever will be able to play it properly.
Don't know what to expect from this Thread, but I would really like to like it .
What should I do?
I am used to Tower Defense with Defense Grid though.

[Wingflier]

Well you could start with the tutorial 

If you have trouble after that, add me on Steam account name Wingflier

[madcow]

I'm fairly new to AI war myself and have been slowly getting the hang of it, but I will admit - even knowing how to play, there's a ton of things and the UI takes some getting used to. And I really find I need to be in a certain mood to sit down to a game.

Thankfully the tutorial is a very good teacher of the basics, and info that pops up when you mouse over units/structures does a good job telling you what you need to know. Like I said, I need to be in a certain mood to play AI war, but when that mood strikes me - its a very rewarding game.

[Cyborg]

The demo has been updated with better tutorial instructions. You should start there, and if you get stuck, come on back and ask us veterans.

[zoutzakje]

To be honest, this is the best strategy game I have ever played, and I have played many.
But this is a complex game and it will take some a lot of time to learn and get the hang of it. You can always ask any of us veterans any questions about the game that might come to mind. The best thing you can do with this game is just read the forums/wiki and keep trying, trying and trying. You will lose at first. A lot. But everyone here does. And once you finally get that first victory on normal difficulty, it'll feel like a real accomplishment
If you like strategy games, this is definitely worth your bucks. It's just not easy to learn.

[Wingflier]

I dunno, it's not so bad to learn.  It may be hard to be good at it, but you can teach the bare minimum about the game in 15 min (assuming the person you're teaching is at least somewhat familiar with how RTS games work).

I taught my cousin just a couple days ago and we've been having a blast.

First thing I told him to do was build 5 space docks, put them all on loop, then build everything.

Then I taught him how to build a Colony Ship and take over a planet, and to always surround the Orbital with at least 1 Force Field, and the Force Field with some defenses.

Then I taught him how the AIP and Research works and I said go nuts!

In 15 minutes he knows how to play.  Of course we're playing on difficulty 5 but I think he'll pick up most of the things he needs to learn as he plays, and we'll be able to increase the difficulty from there.

The best thing I did while teaching him is turning the "Fog of War" option to "Complete Visibility".  If you skip the Scouting lesson completely, they can get into the game a lot faster, and with a lot less frustration and hassle.

[Cyborg]

First thing I told him to do was build 5 space docks, put them all on loop, then build everything.

Uses too much power. Use engineers, especially early.

[Wanderer]

Hey.

I own Tidalis and AVWW from Arcen.
I already looked at AI War some time ago, but with the Demo, I was totally clueless what to do and how to win.
But many people say it is an awesome Tower Defense Game.
I can't justify putting 17€ into this when I don't know if I ever will be able to play it properly.
Don't know what to expect from this Thread, but I would really like to like it .
What should I do?
I am used to Tower Defense with Defense Grid though.

Defense Grid is a fun game, and if you want to try something like that, try the defender mode.

AI War is more 4x RTS with Tower Defense aspects included.

[Tridus]

In its normal mode, AI War isn't really tower defense. There's a lot more going on then just how you organize your defenses, since you also have to plan an offense.

I actually agree that it's harder then a lot of other games to get into, but that's just because of the scope of it. You're not given one level to beat, then another, and so on. You're given the galaxy and a ton of ships/buildings/etc, and you get to go  nuts. Playing the tutorial and trying to figure out is worth it because once you do start to understand whats going on then its a great game.

The first couple of links on the Wiki are pretty helpful in terms of setting out a way to get started. Check out those and the tutorial and pop back if you have any questions.

http://www.arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=AI_War:Fleet_Command

[Ontogenesis]

I'm about 8 hours into my first playthrough on difficulty 5, I'm a bit of a perfectionist so my style of play tends to be slow. I'm finding difficulty 5 no-where near challenging enough (economy hasn't need a second look and I haven't lost a command station yet), but it is a really good way to pick up the basics! I'd recommend sitting down and playing it. I put off playing it too, and I couldn't get into the demo. I knew I'd like it though and just bought it. Thoroughly enjoyed it so far! Need to find someone to play with though, I know no-one with it

P.S. I just swept onto the first AI homeworld expecting my first victory, only to find out I've supposed to have destroyed Core shields or something... Not sure how I missed that information? Back to basics for me.

[Cyborg]

P.S. I just swept onto the first AI homeworld expecting my first victory, only to find out I've supposed to have destroyed Core shields or something... Not sure how I missed that information? Back to basics for me.

You can turn that off in the game options. I wouldn't bother with it, restricts the player way too much.

[Ontogenesis]

P.S. I just swept onto the first AI homeworld expecting my first victory, only to find out I've supposed to have destroyed Core shields or something... Not sure how I missed that information? Back to basics for me.

You can turn that off in the game options. I wouldn't bother with it, restricts the player way too much.

Yeah, can't say I'm a fan of this option  Still! That's a few extra hours right there. Plus it will force me to push up the AIP so things should get a bit harder...

[Tridus]

There's five Core Shield networks (A,B,C,D,E), each group of which has multiple locations. For all except A, you just have to take control of one planet that has a generator and destroy it, and the others go away. For A, you have to take all but one before the last one detonates.

They basically force you to go places and take planets you might otherwise not want to, at least the A group does. The others tend to be fairly easily dealt with.

Just be glad you didn't miss them while trying to destroy a Core Raid Engine. Those things do not play nice!

[Wingflier]

P.S. I just swept onto the first AI homeworld expecting my first victory, only to find out I've supposed to have destroyed Core shields or something... Not sure how I missed that information? Back to basics for me.

You can turn that off in the game options. I wouldn't bother with it, restricts the player way too much.

It depends.  I personally turn Fog of War off because I find Scouting to be a pointless, grindy endeavour (I'm sure a lot of people with disagree with me here).  All it really does is increase the time it takes you to do something you're going to figure out anyway.  It vastly increases the micromanagement the player has to deal with, and at least for me, takes much of the enjoyment of the game away.

When you play the map with complete visibility though, it would be quite easy to make a beeline for the Homeworld(s).  So in that scenario, Core Gens still make you think strategically in terms of how you're going to approach the map. 

I'd rather spend hours strategically and figuring out how to destroy all the core gens than spend hours micromanaging Scouts.  Either way you're going to have to spend hours.

[zoutzakje]

I like both scouting and CSG's to be honest. Yes, scouting is micromanagy, but I always enjoy watching the map reveal itself slowly (I play without the show galaxy map option). Plus I enjoy having to find valid targets and changing my plans accordingly. There is always this thrill and excitment of finding the first coreworld and hoping the RNG won't screw me over.

As for CSG's, I don't play without them. Most of those CSG planets you usually want to take anyways. If a certain planet has a C-type but you don't want to take it, so what? Just wait till you found all of them and then decide. Yes it's true you have to kill 4 out 5 A-types, but every single A-type is on an ARS world, something you will always want to take anyways. Fallen Spire requires you to take a lot of extra planets, CSG's not so much. Just like scouts, they simply require you to pay attention to what you're doing, instead of just rampaging towards the homeworlds and hoping you'll survive.