Prerelease 3.178 (Neinzul Cluster/Nest/Bomber/Viral, New Ion Cans, Starships+)

[Diazo]

Hmmm, so this is what happens when you don't check your download.

Though I'd started the 3.178 update but it didn't take.

Looks like both through steam and the instructions in the first post of the thread don't work.

I can't see the steam info, but the Director.xml linked in the first post says 3.177 still.

D.

edit: After a bit more poking at the update server, I'm guessing that the 3.178 Director.xml didn't get uploaded. The 3.178 data package is there but it's not recognized by the game because the Director.xml is still version 3.177.

[superking]

wait a second, zenith starships are packing 14 million HP?

isnt that going to make deepstriking datacenters ludicrously easy?

[keith.lamothe]

However, I then have to ask myself why command stations and reactors (and other important structures) use absolutely 0 power?  How do you explain that in your lore.  

I knew you would say that   Their lack of power consumption can be rectified   (not that it will be, might do something else instead)

[keith.lamothe]

edit: After a bit more poking at the update server, I'm guessing that the 3.178 Director.xml didn't get uploaded. The 3.178 data package is there but it's not recognized by the game because the Director.xml is still version 3.177.

Yea, I think something got left out in the update push, so we should just wait for Chris to fix that.

[Diazo]

wait a second, zenith starships are packing 14 million HP?

isnt that going to make deepstriking datacenters ludicrously easy?

I'm not sure it will.

I suppose it depends on how you define deepstrike. For me, a deepstrike is made on a high value target that is worth losing the fleet you send in because you expect to lose said fleet. If you expect to get a decent part of your fleet back that's just a raid and not a deepstrike.

About the only thing I would be willing to even considered sacrificing Zenith starships like that for is a cluster of 4 or 5 data centers if for some reason a cluster of them were not near an AI homeworld.

I don't use the number of systems to differentiate between raid and quickstike. You can easily raid 3 AI systems away if they are all Mk I, but 3 systems away against Mk III or Mk IV systems is a deepstrike because you will lose most/all of the fleet you send in.

Ultimately, it is up to you if that raid/deepstrike is worth the ships you will lose to pull it off. Even a raid one system away against a Mk I system still takes losses after all.

D.

[x4000]

Apologies for the confusion, Dazio is exactly right that the Director.xml file didn't get uploaded.  Sometimes Bucket Explorer sees those files as identical when they are not, and so skips the upload until I upload it a second time.  Very annoying, but it hasn't been happening for the last few AI War releases since coming back to working on the game, so I thought maybe it had stopped that.  Guess not, and I should pay more attention to the results screen.  Fortunately, with the new patching system that will be upcoming (the one used by Tidalis), it doesn't have that issue because the filesize changes every time in the xml file that I'm uploading.

Anyway, 3.178 is up there fine now!  And as for the zenith starships and such being too easy to raid with, I think Dazio also summed that up well.  Though, for those who are still concerned, you might like to know that some changes are coming to how you're able to command-station-raid on at least some planets...

[keith.lamothe]

Yep, the 3.178 update works fine now

[Sizzle]

I also can't see 3.178 (just 3.177) when updating my steam copy.

Providing a perfect opportunity to include my last commit and thus sweep my little nest snafu under the rug.

So umm.... did we get a ninja fix to the nest issue that never happened? *bzzzt*  wha??  what was I just saying?

[keith.lamothe]

I'm not sure, my guess is not, and that the proper xml was just pushed out rather than a rebuild and repush.

I guess you could try playing against a Neinzul Nester and find out   If you notice something pumping out 50 ships per second you'll know.

[Epsilon Plus]

AI Engineers are repairing broken golems... is this intended behavior?

I'm not sure how I feel about MkIII/IV/V Ion Cannons, especially since they're not capturable. They're not exactly difficult to kill, but still... Could this at least pave the way for some non-AI "big guns" that could be purchasable from the Trader? Maybe something that doesn't auto-kill like an Ion Cannon, but a fast-firing, relatively high damage projectile... Alternatively, what're the odds on seeing the anti-starship gun show up in the Trader's build list?

[strangelight]

I can't keep up, too much awesome. I think I'm gonna have to wait until the official release to start a new game.

[Epsilon Plus]

The very last post of the 3.177 thread also pointed out that somehow AI ships are ending up way outside of the gravity well - I have a game where an Astro Train somehow ended up outside the well. I have a save I can post if you'd like to take a look?

e: also a Fortress ended up well outside the gravity well. The only thing I can think of is that Human Resistance fighters showed up, but I don't think they did...

[Diazo]

Just confirming 3.178 works.

Started a new game, going to actually play rather then turtle up to see how the hybrids do.

And the first system I need to take has an Ion Mk III in it. Interesting.....

edit: next to a Mk IV raid engine? ow.

D.

[snrub_guy]

And my game against the starfleet has ended. I drove off the first big hybrid hive attack, but noticed the last one too late. They were coming from a mk4 starfleet commander world next to my homeworld. I couldn't prune them down due to the world they were on, so I set up defences. They were not enough.

Is there any possibility we might get a little notification pop up? Something along the lines of "Urist Mcplanet is under attack from a Hybrid Hive!"

I don't want advanced warning, that defeats the point. But until they start hitting your command, if you are busy somewhere else it is easy to miss the attack until it is too late.

Just a thought.

[Sizzle]

Hah, my first planet I hit with the new build:

50 spider turrets under a FF next to a special forces post.    Attacking fleet instantly frozen at the warp in.  Had to go rescue them with a pair of scout starships for the anti sniper flares and a MRS that I had to unlock with my starting K.