Playing solo experience

[Lanster27]

Hi guys.

Just recently purchased the game and haven't had the time to look into it yet. My question is will the game be playable/manageable if I play without other human players?

[Cyborg]

Yes! This is the most fun way to play. That being said, if your human partners are far apart or one of you has a crappy computer… the game will run at the lowest common denominator. There are various ways to adjust this, both easy and hard. Many of us have had great times playing multiplayer (myself included). Also, you will need to forward the AI war port for your machine or use one of the networks made easy tools (hamachi).

[Coppermantis]

Yep. I find that it's actually harder for beginners to play multiplayer since the AI gets a lot tougher the more players there are so, unless you and your partner are really coordinated and good at the game you'll likely get hit a lot harder in the early game. You could of course compensate with a lower difficulty of course.

[zoutzakje]

this game is great, both solo and co-op. I've played most of my 300 hours of game time in singleplayer, and I still enjoy it a lot.

[Lanster27]

Thanks for the reply. I've only asked because I only have a small amount of time to game throughout the week so it's gonna be hard for an organised game to take place. As this is the case, I prefer to play at my own pace and go for a solo experience. Plus having a set time everyday to play a game seems almost like a chore =P.

Don't get me wrong, I used to love playing games that involved forum/chat to be setup such as Warhammer Blood Bowl and Solium Infernum on the PC, but it just came down to the lack of dedication from the players in the long run.

[zoutzakje]

yeah playing this game with other people is not really my thing either. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it a lot. But as you said, it's hard to arrange things. I prefer online games in which I can just come and go as I please. A game of AI war takes way to long and it's way to difficult to make every1 play at the same time. This would only work for me if I had a real life friend or sister who also played AI war for example.

But I'm fine with this, because singleplayer is just as much fun. So many things to do and try out, so many different AI types and difficulties to play against. It's gonna take a very long time before I get bored of this game.

[Wanderer]

I would love to find some folks ot play this with online but I'm still trying to talk a few buddies into picking it up so I can get a regular playgroup.  The game is immensely fun on single player though.

[FarAway Warrior]

I only play MP with a couple friends in different cities, since we all like to get together and play (and jaw at each other) occasionally.

Solo play is good.  But I will throw out one warning:  This game is deep.  Not unlearnable by any stretch; especially so long as you keep the Difficulty throttled below 7, the game is pretty forgiving.

But take time to savor the complexity of what's going on.  If something feels like a bug, it's probably not, but rather part of the rich detailed set of tactical options you get.  Examples:

• Are a bunch of your ships moving inexplicably slowly as a battle continues?  It's probably because there's an enemy Ion Cannon somewhere around and they do Engine Damage (a la The Empire Strikes Back, if you've seen it!).
• Are some of your ships not firing?  Perhaps you accidentally put them into "sleeper" mode (used to sneak by opponents).
• Is one of your prized mega-starships getting crushed with amazing speed?  It's probably because Heavy Starships are very vulnerable to Bombers (as the Americans learned at Pearl Harbor) and the enemy's hitting you with some--so you'd better call in your Fighters fast!!

These things don't happen so often to make the game annoying, but they can happen often enough to leave you a little confused early on in the solo player experience.  If you spend a little time digging (and the forums are great for quick & easy answers to questions), you'll find a game that is innovative, open-ended, and very strategically challenging (it's the combination of the last two that seems particularly unique these days).