How many of you play "Ironman"

[Nurgle84]

Hey there, first time poster, 13 hours player.

Just wanted to know, how many of you play this game "Ironman" so only saving when stop playing for the day, but not for rerolling games.

I am currently in my first game and I have already reloaded a few times when I had underestimated a wave, or got hit by a cross planet attack for the first time.

[keith.lamothe]

There are definitely some players on these forums to whom save-scumming is anathema

[Echo35]

There are definitely some players on these forums to whom save-scumming is anathema

Wait, people actually save-scum this game? Lame.

[Cyborg]

save-scumming isn't so bad. It's a game, not real life, so whatever you enjoy most is perfectly fine. I prefer Ironman style myself, though. It makes my decision-making feel more meaningful when the penalty is great over a long campaign.

That being said, save-scumming is only going to get you so far. It is a fact of this game that usually the mistakes that you made hours ago are what caused you to lose, not some cheap tactic that you could have avoided if only there was an interface improvement. I guess raid starships would fall into that category, and in that instance I would consider doing a reload, because that's usually the result of an interface misunderstanding more than an intellectual mistake.

[keith.lamothe]

Yea, Raid Starships are a perennial thorn in the side for many players, particularly in the early game.

If only we could do an AI Taunt with a recording from the old Raid pest-control commercials

[Shrugging Khan]

I don't save-scum...I play super-prudently instead 

[keith.lamothe]

I don't save-scum...I play super-prudently instead 

Hmm, I'll have to add "Not gunna do it, wouldn't be prudent." to the AI taunts list for when it chooses to not send some big swarm through a wormhole until the odds get better

[Otagan]

I don't save-scum...I play super-prudently instead 

Hmm, I'll have to add "Not gunna do it, wouldn't be prudent." to the AI taunts list for when it chooses to not send some big swarm through a wormhole until the odds get better

The thought of a wave countdown timer stalling out at 0:00 or going negative is a little unnerving.

[keith.lamothe]

The thought of a wave countdown timer stalling out at 0:00 or going negative is a little unnerving.

"600 Bombers to Murdoch in 0:... Would you mind moving those grav turrets?"

[Echo35]

The thought of a wave countdown timer stalling out at 0:00 or going negative is a little unnerving.

"600 Bombers to Murdoch in 0:... Would you mind moving those grav turrets?"

Just for a few minutes. It'll be fun, really!

On the note of "Ironman", can we have that "delete your save file when you lose" feature? I want to pretend I'm playing Nethack or Steel Battalion

[Nurgle84]

That would be a nice idea. An ironman feature like, if activated at the lobby the game autosaves when you leave it or lose it. No normal saving possible. But could probably be difficult for multiplayer.

[Echo35]

That would be a nice idea. An ironman feature like, if activated at the lobby the game autosaves when you leave it or lose it. No normal saving possible. But could probably be difficult for multiplayer.

Well you would at least need normal saving unless you wanted to sit in front of your computer for 12 hours straight.

[Nurgle84]

Not if the game autosaves when you leave. Just load the autosave the next time you play. Of course it should delete itself after loading or be overwritten for the next autosave.

[Echo35]

Not if the game autosaves when you leave. Just load the autosave the next time you play. Of course it should delete itself after loading or be overwritten for the next autosave.

It would have to be a separate autosave from the regular ones, if I were playing a different game, for example.

[keith.lamothe]

My guess is that an Ironman toggle would make it so that:
- All autosaves are saved as Ironman_(mapseed)_Autosave.sav .
- The retain autosaves toggle would be disregarded.
- When you use the quit-game or exit-to-OS options, it triggers an autosave first.
- When you lose, it triggers an autosave.  That way you can keep playing after the loss just like a normal game but you can't "un-lose".

Would that do it?  There would still be ways to save-scum (copying the save file, killing the process instead of quitting normally, etc), but to some extent the game's just a userland program and can't do anything about that.