Poll: Big Items For 8.0

[keith.lamothe]

I would have figured its subtle because the game doesn't say what caused it and it was coincidentally left out of the patch notes.

Yea.  That's about as subtle as I can get.

[Shrugging Khan]

I wants me some counter-hacking. Sounds like fun!

[Toranth]

I wants me some counter-hacking. Sounds like fun!

New Advanced Hybrid plot!  Advanced Hybrid produces a AI Control Hacker that moves to your system, then sits still for 10:00 (guarded by the Hybrids) while it hacks your system.  At the end of 10 minutes, it takes control of every building in the system (except FS, Dyson, etc).
Can you imagine losing your chokepoint to that?
AI:  "Now you get to see what getting past all those fortresses and turrets feels like!"

That'd be... fun?  I suppose...

[orzelek]

I wants me some counter-hacking. Sounds like fun!

Pretty please make this an additional option

Question: why would anyone try to hack second time advanced factory?

[keith.lamothe]

Question: why would anyone try to hack second time advanced factory?

You wouldn't and couldn't, but you could hack an ASC.

[LaughingThesaurus]

I think if there's any counter-hacking, I'd prefer it to really be a super hybrid ability more than anything else.

[Tridus]

Counter-hacking could be a response to too much hacking on your part too. The AI reacts by shutting down your space docks for 10 minutes galaxy wide with a virus, then launching a CPA.

But yeah, Hybrids hacking your systems would be pretty epic.

[LordSloth]

If you want something more subtle than a nuke, but just as not serious... ai counter hacks you and silently:

messes with your auto-pathing planetary controls, avoiding autopathing through neutered systems, encouraging pathing past a raid engine.
gives your forcefields move orders in random systems.
sends a "Trojan Redirector Post" into one of your systems.
Mixed up work orders: Space Dock/ Star Dock with a queue goes into/out of standby, either stopping production of necessary reinforcements or spreading them out between old systems.

[keith.lamothe]

If you want something more subtle than a nuke, but just as not serious... ai counter hacks you and silently:

messes with your auto-pathing planetary controls, avoiding autopathing through neutered systems, encouraging pathing past a raid engine.
gives your forcefields move orders in random systems.
sends a "Trojan Redirector Post" into one of your systems.
Mixed up work orders: Space Dock/ Star Dock with a queue goes into/out of standby, either stopping production of necessary reinforcements or spreading them out between old systems.

So instead of 20% chance of savescum, 20% chance of mutinous computer defenestration?

[LaughingThesaurus]

If the AI successfully counterhacks you, you can't build a certain ship type for a set time. This includes all marks of that ship type. If it shoots for a high mark ship, it'll take longer to successfully hack, but will be a more devastating blow to you. "Certain ship type" can include force fields, any construction facilities, supportive ships, not just military or starships.

[Aklyon]

This is certainly sounding like the sort of thing hybrids sound like: Probably really bad for you if you aren't prepared and not on by default.

[Bognor]

Crystal's not being excised just yet (the new hacking-progress resource is still consigned to the alert box, but will move up when Crystal retires), but presumably soon.

I never understood this.  I get that crystal is not a strong mechanic, but it frequently influences my decision making, eg which Spirecraft will I build, will I build Needler or Laser Turrets, should I upgrade Heavy Bomber or Plasma Siege Starships, etc.  So the mechanic has value in the game, and no disadvantage that I can see.  It's hardly "clutter" to have two kinds of resources for building.  If people want to re-work crystal, then sure, but what do we gain by just eliminating it?

Also, what does crystal have to do with hacking?  Surely it's not just competition for screen real estate - I see plenty of room in the bar at the top of my screen, even on my little laptop.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Crystal's not being excised just yet (the new hacking-progress resource is still consigned to the alert box, but will move up when Crystal retires), but presumably soon.

I never understood this.  I get that crystal is not a strong mechanic, but it frequently influences my decision making, eg which Spirecraft will I build, will I build Needler or Laser Turrets, should I upgrade Heavy Bomber or Plasma Siege Starships, etc.  So the mechanic has value in the game, and no disadvantage that I can see.  It's hardly "clutter" to have two kinds of resources for building.  If people want to re-work crystal, then sure, but what do we gain by just eliminating it?

Also, what does crystal have to do with hacking?  Surely it's not just competition for screen real estate - I see plenty of room in the bar at the top of my screen, even on my little laptop.

We gain UI space that could be used for a more interesting and fleshed out resource.
Crystal could be fleshed out, but the thing is, nobody could really come up with a compelling way to do that. If crystal actually was a strong mechanic, it would be sticking around, because it would make the game stronger as a whole. Weak mechanics either need strengthened or removed, or they end up holding back the game as a whole. So, the reasoning is kinda twofold in that sense, at least that's how I feel.

[Coppermantis]

I don't think that crystal is an uninteresting resource. Starcraft has a similar resource mechanic with its minerals and gas, which are essentially identical and yet have a huge impact on strategy. You have some units which are cheap and only cost a small amount of minerals and some higher level units which cost more minerals and some gas and the really big things which cost a lot of minerals and a lot of gas. I don't see why AI War can't do something similar. In fact, earlier, I saw a suggestion to make crystal far rarer but make it only required for the really big stuff like Golems, Spirecraft and some starships. That way, you could survive without crystal but to fully augment your fleet with the big firepower you would need to get some, which would add another element to the tactical decision of what planets to take.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Yeah, that's an example of adjusting crystal such that it actually makes a meaningful difference to metal. I don't disagree, something like that might work out, but for reasons I can't seem to recall, nobody really liked any of those solutions. I think it basically boiled down to the idea of 'well, if it's just less common, that leads to more netflix time and that's the last thing the game needs'. The reason minerals and gas really works, as far as I recall as well, is because gas is actually more strictly regulated, more strictly limited (based on how many bases you have), and is very finite. AI War's already got that kind of resource, it's just used for a different thing. It's called Knowledge. There's more to the starcraft comparison that someone else can hopefully field.

But hey, I mean, you should start a discussion. Maybe we can re-explore and see if there's some other way to have crystal mean something. The thing is, that probably won't happen for another 'quite a while'. At least, I kinda doubt that it will. Hacking's already going in, and Keith's already got the to-do list of base game changes by this point. I don't really know how much a discussion would particularly help in the immediate future is all.