Fellow humans,
I'm midway through my first multiplayer game with another new player, and we're a little confused about what happens when you use the Research Redirector hack on an Advanced Research Station.
We did this hack in two systems yesterday.
One time, I did the hack (started with my hacker unit, and I built the Command Station in there once it was done), and picked Anti-Armor on the research ARS menu.
My partner said that didn't unlock Anti-Armor at their space dock, but found they were able to also click on ARS research.
Then they
still didn't have Anti-Armor, but I had Level 2 Anti-Armor available to me.
Their ARS menu was still open, but clicking on it didn't seem to have further effect.
In the second system, they did the hack and picked the ship (Raptor),
and again, I didn't have that ship at my dock, but I was able to make my own ARS selection (also chose Raptor).
After that I
did get the ship, each of us had Raptor at level 1.
Some questions to help clarify things about Advanced Research Stations is multiplayer:
- If you take an Advanced Research Station without hacking it, does the tech go to only the player who built the new Command, or do all players get it?
- If not all players get it, does it depend on who built the hacker unit, or who built the Research Redirector, or who built the Command Station?
- Are there ever cases where an ARS gives you a ship at level 2 or greater, instead of starting with only the level 1?
- In multiplayer, can all players use a hacked ARS? Do they need any particular unit in order to do so, like a hacker or another science station in the system?
- Are there any circumstances in which you wouldn't get a ship from the ARS? (e.g. if a player has lost their homeworld command.)
- Are there other things we might have done (as new players not very familiar with the interface) that might explain what we saw, perhaps by selecting the other player's units? i.e. can you direct another player's research if you select their science stations?)
Are there logs that indicate what happened with the ARS tech? It seems like unlocks don't show up in the Technology page of the Stats screen, and that screen doesn't sort by time, so it's not as helpful as I'd like here.
Then, while we're on the topic of hacking and tech, how does this compare to the Design Download hack on a Backup Server? Do all players get the design, or can multiple players run a hack on a Backup server?
We still have another few Core-A Shields to take out, so we'll have a chance to hit another few ARS stations yet.
