Prerelease 3.189 (Balance Changes And Bugfixes)

[vonduus]

Hi

I haven't played AIWar for quite a while, so with all the new and not-so-new changes it feels almost as playing a brand new game  . Most changes are definitely for the better, others not so much. (I jumped from 3.172 to 3.189, so a lot has changed).

Sometimes I get an alert sound, but no message. Is this the implementation of some new kind of psychological warfare? I remember we discussed this option, but I believed back then that it was only a joke. At first I thought this was related to the new raid command posts, but they seem to give a proper alert sound _and_ message when they are taken out. These dummy alert sounds are no big deal, I can live with them, just thought I would mention it in case you didn't know (or perhaps to get someone to explain to me what is actually happening behind the curtains when they are sounded).

In my ongoing game the AI has decided upon sending waves of 2000 frigates against me (not 1900-and-some, not 2000-and-some, but EXACTLY 2000 ships (?!?)) - intermingled with ordinary raids and cpa's with random numbers of random ships. I believe this started after I conquered a zenith power supply.

My problem is that frigates have become insanely difficult to wipe out after they became aoe-immune, especially in the early game. I know there is a thread about this problem, but it seems to have drifted off topic. I immobilize the frigates mainly with my spider turrets, but then they just hang there, nothing seems to be able to take them out effectively, except bombers. But nowadays there is ion cannons everywhere, so I tend to have _all_ my bombers with my main offensive fleet, in order to deal with those cannons as I progress. And it really is a nuisance to have to bring my main fleet all the way back home every time the ai pulls one of those frigate raids on you.

So please reconsider this aoe nerf/boost. My own frigates seem to die just as quickly as always, but the ai has definitely got a huge advantage. But maybe that was the point?

cheers vonDuus

PS The new way to sort the information in the buttons at the bottom of the screen is great!

[x4000]

Welcome back!

Regarding the air immunity on frigates, that is definitely something I'd like to take off once we get back out of the porting process.

[vonduus]

Great!

Don't rush it, I have been thinking all day of ways to kill those pesky frigates, and half the fun to me is figuring out what to do (the other half is doing it, checking if my plans work). So even if it is a nuisance, it has some entertainment value !

Is it possible to unlock the Neinzul Beta if I preorder? I took a quick look at the demo, it looks very promising, but I don't want to start a new game if I can only play it for a few hours, then I'd rather wait.

[quickstix]

Order away and put that key in. I hear Hybrid Hives are awesome fun.

[Spikey00]

In my ongoing game the AI has decided upon sending waves of 2000 frigates against me (not 1900-and-some, not 2000-and-some, but EXACTLY 2000 ships (?!?)) - intermingled with ordinary raids and cpa's with random numbers of random ships. I believe this started after I conquered a zenith power supply.

2000 ships is the AI wave limit, I believe, though not for CPAs--there has been a lot of changes to the AI as of lately.

Sometimes I get an alert sound, but no message. Is this the implementation of some new kind of psychological warfare? I remember we discussed this option, but I believed back then that it was only a joke. At first I thought this was related to the new raid command posts, but they seem to give a proper alert sound _and_ message when they are taken out. These dummy alert sounds are no big deal, I can live with them, just thought I would mention it in case you didn't know (or perhaps to get someone to explain to me what is actually happening behind the curtains when they are sounded).

I don't recall this--are you sure it isn't a special alarm guard post?

My problem is that frigates have become insanely difficult to wipe out after they became aoe-immune, especially in the early game. I know there is a thread about this problem, but it seems to have drifted off topic. I immobilize the frigates mainly with my spider turrets, but then they just hang there, nothing seems to be able to take them out effectively, except bombers. But nowadays there is ion cannons everywhere, so I tend to have _all_ my bombers with my main offensive fleet, in order to deal with those cannons as I progress. And it really is a nuisance to have to bring my main fleet all the way back home every time the ai pulls one of those frigate raids on you.

If you play like me (conquer all) you will find that destroying the AI command station with a transport of bombers to be extremely helpful here, afterwards wait until the AI rinses off most of the mobile forces, send in a main group to distract and dispose with a colony ship that you're prepared to crash assist with multiple engineers to cap the planet thus taking control of the ion cannon(s).  Usually this is done in 5-10 minutes. 

Oh, and be careful about the AI wave multipliers for structures like higher tier ion cannons (III+); usually I just scrap them ASAP when I can take advantage of that extra cash.  III ion cannon means 320K resources each, instead of 4x/6x/8x waves and such, which is probably why you're seeing 2000 ship waves.

[vonduus]

I don't recall this--are you sure it isn't a special alarm guard post?

Pretty sure - I started a new game, and it is still happening all the time - approximately every third alert has no message. I scout a lot, so I know where all the nearby alarm posts are, and raid engines and such heavies. Also the alarm posts sound different. It is something else 

I am basically using the same tactics you are. I am not conquering all, though, but when I decide to take out a planet I normally go for the command station first, then run away, and when things cool down a bit I go in with a lot of engineers and build my own command station, claiming whatever structure I can lay my hands on.

I fully agree with you concerning ion cannons. Due to the game mechanics, the ai is extremely focused on ion cannons, which makes them useful as a sort of decoy - the ai invariably goes after the cannon, so basically I just set up a trap with a lot of tractor beams and other turrets. Normally I just buy one mk  very early in the game, for my home planet, the rest are spoils of war.

I wasn't aware that I can get resources from scrapping ion cannons, thanks for the info. And thanks for explaining why I get waves of _exactly_ 2000 ships, I know the Zenith power plant generates huge waves, but I was wondering why the number was exactly 2000 ships every time. And 2k ships is normally not a big problem, as long as you know where and when they are coming. But when they suddenly are immune to half the stuff you throw at them, it can become pretty tough. My new tactic is to get spider turrets right from the start, and then spend more kp on unlocking bombers early on, so I always have a group of mk I bombers at my home world, they can take out those long strings of immobilized frigates.

Order away and put that key in. I hear Hybrid Hives are awesome fun.

Right you are, I just checked the price, it is so cheap that I cannot afford not to buy it.

 

[Spikey00]

Just checking here but are human-hostile dysons supposed to be attacking core ships (ie. other dyson spawns)?

[Lancefighter]

in what situation would a dyson spawn be shooting at another dyson spawn? As I recall, they are always friendly to the dyson (and thus all other spawn)...

Come to think of it, lemme load up my save with my spawn and see how it runs..
*frown* you cant put dyson gatlings in offline mode anymore. -> no cloaking if there is something to shoot at D:

[Spikey00]

When a player attempts to capture the dyson planet they will become hostile to dyson spawn, not sure if the normal unfriendly spawns will fire on their own. 

[Lancefighter]

dyson gatlings do indeed have a 1x multiplier towards other dyson gatlings, i can confirm that. unfortunatly, before i got a colonyship there, the ai counterattack hit my home station.. SOmething about 800 core bombers is bad for home stations..

[Spikey00]

Ohoho, no rest for the wicked.

[Lancefighter]

well if only SOMEONE would give us CORE FIGHTERS already >.>

[Spikey00]

Having these AI barracks--is it appropriate for them to be able to call in even more reinforcements?  

EDIT:  And there is also a minor issue with the collision model being too small for the barracks.

[Vinraith]

Having these AI barracks--is it appropriate for them to be able to call in even more reinforcements?  

EDIT:  And there is also a minor issue with the collision model being too small for the barracks.

I think their having a warpgate capacity is a good thing, it's a reason to attack them despite the resultant pile of ships. It does, however, appear to create something of a recursion problem that leads to the AI wasting reinforcements by making more and more barracks in the same system:

http://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,6944.0.html

[quickstix]

well if only SOMEONE would give us CORE FIGHTERS already >.>

Those Core Fabricators are indeed elusive, let along finding one with fighters.