Super New Player Time

[Captain Cake]

Hey everyone! I just picked up this game (after far too long of putting it off) and I am totally pyched and these forums also look totally sweet.  I haven't had a chance to play yet (tutorial aside), but I've read everything off the front page of the wiki and think I've got a pretty good grasp on thing.

I've got a few questions to (hopefully) make my first experience something awesome and epic.

Should I buy the expansion?
- Having never played the game does the expansion add a lot to make the learning curve overly complicated? ie. Would it be better to get a few games under my belt before venturing into expansion territory? I purchased AI War via Steam and am concerned if I purchased the expansion that I won't be able to play the nonexpansion version because sometimes Steam can be like that. ><

What are some good first few game setting?
- I've read a bit of the forums and have found some suggestions but I figure since you're reading this post anyways might as well get some expert advice. I've got a bunch of experience with 4x games (Sins of a Solar Empire seems closest as far as I can tell, though that game gets bad with advanced play imo) and I'm an avid RTS player as well. Anything you can suggest for a good few starting games I'll give a shot, scale and game length is no issue. (60 planets seem about right, but as for AI setting thats more or less where I'm lost)

If I were to drag my friends into this game would it be better for everyone to give single player a shot before playing multiplayer or is the multiplayer learning curve not all that different?

Thanks in advance for any advice I hope to be part of these forums in the <insert short term time here> and <insert long term time here> to come!

[Aegis]

If you're experience in RTS and 4x games, I say try anywhere from 5-8 difficulty on the AI, but remember the ai TYPE can play a role in that as well. I've played a few rts games before I played AI War, and started on diff 4. now I'm around 6-7. Multiplayer is just like singleplayer. Someone else just owns another one of the starting planets, and the ai has more ships to compensate. There are no new goals etc, just a person to cooperate with in achieving them. However, you might want everyone to have some experience because one player's blunder can turn things sour really quickly. Welcome, play the game, stay and get known.

[RCIX]

First of all, welcome to the forums and the game, and i hope you stay for a long time to come I'm one of the regulars (some of the others right now are I-KP, Velox, umm er3s43er (you get it probably, i'm not sure how to spell it ATM), and HellishFiend), Fiskbit and Revenantus are the mods and x4000 (also goes by X and Chris sometimes) is the founder of this here small company and the sole developer.

I'd probably get a couple of games under your belt before getting the expansion though you can already try it by getting the 3.0 version (if you don't already have it) and selecting the Download Expansion Content in the update menu. The game uses a "unified executable" system so it will only ever look like one game to steam (i think, don't use steam myself) and turning on and off expansions is as easy as a setting change and a restart.

In my opinion, the expansion does add a lot but with judicious settings in the lobby one can limit the exposure in any one game; i'd personally go ahead and buy it (but that's just me, i preordered the expansion!) but you may want to be a little more careful.

If i was you i'd pick two level 5 AIs, your choice of Easy AI type (my favorite is the turtle but that's just because of the no waves ). Find a good 50 planet map and settle in with a special type. Expect to throw away your first few games as you find one that fits your style of play.

As far as multiplayer, i'm told that it's quite a different experience but don't know seeing as i don't really have anyone local to play with (and prefer not to play online).

[Kjara]

Its very easy to disable to expansion in game, so don't worry about that aspect of it.  You may not want to go back and play the normal game after trying the expansion but one never knows there .

I played my first game at around diff 6.something(don't remem the exact number).  It worked out pretty well(it was a bit too easy, but a good way to pickup alot of the ideas).  I wouldn't suggest starting any higher than 7 though for your first game.  For ai types, probably random easy is a good plan, or just pick out two of the easy ones that sound interesting.  Other than that I wouldn't fiddle with settings too much though you might want to consider the following(If I remember what the defaults are correctly, its been a while):

Auto ai-progress to 1 per 15, I at least find 1 per 30 really doesn't mean much(I usually play at 1 per 5 but thats another thing to work your way up to if you find you like the extra bit of pressure).  

Ship types, I don't know about you but I liked throwing it on complex from the start to experience all of the ships from the beginning.  Leaving it on simple would make it a bit easier though.  Depends on if you are the type that likes to jump right in or work your way up complexity wise.

Normal vs Fast and dangerous.  I'd suggest playing your first game on normal, most of us eventually switch over to f&d, but its a bit easier to learn on normal.

Other than that I'd suggest defaults for everything else for your first game.

The new human resistance fighters would also tend to make the game a bit easier, I wouldn't turn on rebellions or marauders for your first game though.

If you do random ais, turning on reveal random ai type is prob a good idea so you have that info if you turn up with questions about them.


After your first game(s) you will know if you like or dislike things like astrotrains and can switch them off if ya don't like them.  For number of planets, anywhere from 60-80 will give you a pretty standard game, the style changes a bit if you go under 40 or all the way up to 120.

[Captain Cake]

Thanks for the quick response (I'm at work right now, but now I can confidently play when I get home ! Since I planned on getting the expansion eventually I might as well pick it up sooner rather than later because I can easily add in the expansion content when I'm in the mood.

Prolly gunna go all in and start up with all the expansion content enabled with 60 planets.

What is the difference between simple and complex ship types? (I haven't actaully tried to start a new game yet so I haven't seen the configuration screen, appologizes if it answers it there in HUGE LETTERS)

Would having auto AI progress set to next to nothing have a huge effect on gameplay? (Aiming for something where I can take my time initially and not have to worry much about repercussions therein (I wanna leave waves and stuff as normal I think, just don't want the AI to be all over my back cuz I took an extra 20 min to commit to taking a planet or something (nested braces ftw)))

I'm sure I'll be around for a while  , and I'll be sure to ask lots of questions!  (whatever I can manage to do to overstay my welcome  )

EDIT: Also going to have marauders, rebellions and probably human resistance fighters off.

[Minty]

What is the difference between simple and complex ship types?

Would having auto AI progress set to next to nothing have a huge effect on gameplay?

Simple and complex are just that. Simple only allows conventional-type ships that fly and shoot, whereas Complex gives the whole gamut, including oddities like teleporting stations, electric shuttles, grenade launchers, ships that tractor-beam yours and fly off into the sunset, etc. I'd recommend simple for your first couple of games to get a handle, then turn on complex and don't look back!

Personally, I tend to have AIP set to 1/30, as I like to take my time too. The main driver for Progress then becomes your own actions, not a ticking clock. Again, YMMV, but I'd recommend something similar till you find your own playstyle.

Welcome to the forums, and feel free to throw out any more questions!

[Captain Cake]

Hmm... Simple sounds a little boring... Complex can't be that hard to start off on... can it?

At least 1 game on simple probably isn't a bad idea.

If I set it to complex will all of the ships show up in a game or will it only use a small subset of all avaiable ships each game? (if its not too much to ask what effects what complex ships will spawn?)

[deMangler]

Hi,
I am pretty new to AI War but I am a veteran of RTS, TBS and prior to that, hex based strategy like ASL and stuff.
Anyway, I have been playing on random easy diff 7, progress 1/30, 80 planets simple, not fast and dangerous, with the Zenith expansion, and I have found it challenging and interesting, but not overwhelming.
There has been enough happening so that I have been forced to try out new things to deal with stuff, without being given too many choices to begin with. I have not finished a game yet. Lots of fun so far.
I started with simple because I knew that once I switched to complex I would probably never go back. I started with the Zenith expansion because I knew if I didn't I would spend my playing time wondering what it was like.
Anyway, that is my mileage so far. Good thread this, it has answered a few of my questions.

dM

[vonduus]

Hi Captain Cake


I was totally new to the game a month ago. I suffered from massive information overload for quite a few days, in spite  of me being a veteran rts gamer (Supreme Commander was one of my favorites, but I have been around since Sim Ant, C&C and the first Warcraft games). After a week or so I began to feel  that I was really getting into it.

Now, after a month on AI level 6. I still haven't managed to win a single game (excepting the intermediate tutorial, but that was in sandbox mode). I have an ongoing mp game with a friend (AI level 5), and it looks like we are winning this one. Perhaps. What I am trying to say: This game is very difficult. I am not an expert, but I consider myself quite good, and I can't even beat the game on level 6. Yet!!!

This morning I gave the expansion a try. It looks great, but now I am glad that I have played the basic game for so long before trying the expansion. Not that I suffer from information overload anywhere like when I was new to the basic game,  but the expansion is HUGE with more than a hundred new ships that kill you in a lot of unexpected ways.

So my advice is: Play the basic game for some time, don't try to learn both the basic mechanics and the  expansion features in one go, unless you are a genius or a masochist, or both.

And perhaps it would be a good idea to update to the latest official version, and then stay there for a few days. Arcen has a policy of updating their programs sometimes twice per day, and it is not bug fixes all of it. Major mechanics get changed all the time, which can  be very confusing for new players. I am now going along with the beta updates, and this means I must delearn some of my now old ways and learn new ways, just to get another beating. Which is a bit annoying, but so far almost all changes have been to  the better. If it continues like this I am sure it will be one of the greatest rts games ever.

Edit @ demangler: You may be right, things are introduced gradually, so if you are quickwitted you probably won't suffer tooo much from info overload. I was just explaining what worked for me. (Forget what I said about geniuses and masochists).

Edit @ Captain Cake: By all means turn off marauders and freedom fighters, they are just an additional way to get killed if you are not paying close attention. Then when you feel confident, turn them back on and face a new challenge. And go with Mintys suggestion and set  AI level  progress to 1/30 or even 1/60. But beware, this might mean a very, very long game (I managed to get 40+ hours into a game on 1/60 before I gave up.

Edit @ everybody: Don't take my whinings about getting killed all the time too serious, it  is  actually what makes me start a new game again and again. The day I can beat the AI on level 10 anytime I try, the game dies for me.  But this will  probably never happen. The other thing that normally makes me loose interest in a game is when I have tried  out absolutely everything. According to X there will be provided new content for at least a couple of years, so chances are that this also will never happen.

Edit @ x4000: If this was a pvp game, I believe that it would have the potential to be a great tournament game. I love the way there are always counters to enemy moves if you can find them, and counters to meet these counters etc. Not that I want AI War to be pvp, the reason why we bought it in the first place was that it advertised coop  play, and that is what my friend and I go for.

[Excession]

I'm also a newbie - got the game and the expansion off Impulse a few days ago.

I had read up on the game before a couple of months back but it looked just too long and involved as my time is limited to one or two hour chunks (after wife and kids have gone to bed usually).

But in the end I figured that I could break it down into incremental stages - say one planet at a time - and just treat it like that, so I bought the game.

I have been playing computer strategy games since the original civ (and before that played a lot of chess). I'm a partner in a corporate law firm and also top up my income with online poker...

I play Sins of a Solar Empire a fair bit - but don't find that grand strategy is that key to it.

So I have played thru the tutorials and am trying my first real game. 40 planets -simple galaxy - easier AI categories, level 5 or 6 (I think one might be 5 and one 6). I haven;t turned the expansion off or changed any default settings so am not sure what to expect in that regard.

Slow AI progress (1 every 30) so I don't feel rushed, grabbed space planes to start on a 3 wormhole world, teched up to lvl 3 space planes and level 2 bombers and off I go..

So far taken a planet next door that had 7 resources (killed the train station on it) and the one next door to that had an advanced research station and functioning ion cannon (both of which I captured eventually netting me bulletproof fighters and a decent defence against the planet next door to that that has a tech V core ship in it for some reason! My cunning plan is to leave that one well alone for now!).

AI progess is now 55 or so with 3 worlds held. In the other directions the planets aren't so interesting but as I'm below level 7 I think it's worth taking out the warp gates adjacent to my homeworld at least. After that there is another advanced research station 2 jumps away so that is my next target and teching up some deeper scouting hopefully for data centers to hit is my next tech step (is it worth teching up BP fighters to 3 if I already have tech 3 space planes btw?)

Starship wise I just have 2 or 3 of the basic ones that give other ships a boost. I'm not really sure of what the best mix of starships is, so I will just concentrate on the basic ones at the moment.

I don't know what sort of AI's I am against but one seems to lay a lot of mines (lol so I guess space planes match up well to that)

I'm happy enough with my start which has been a walk in the park so far but have a sneaky feeling that I need to get that AI progress rate down or it's going to get a lot tougher...two more warp gates and the advanced research world will mean I'll be over 100 with just 3 planets taken which starts to concern me...

[carlosjuero]

Just a note - Starship Arachnids (anti-starship AI units) count as Mk V/Core ships (as do a few special buildings/and some other non-core ships I believe). So if you see a low Mk world with Mark V/Core ships listed look for an enemy ship with an A label, those are the Arachnids and are the reason for the V/Core listing.

[Dathknight]

(...)
Now, after a month on AI level 6. I still haven't managed to win a single game (excepting the intermediate tutorial, but that was in sandbox mode). I have an ongoing mp game with a friend (AI level 5), and it looks like we are winning this one. Perhaps. What I am trying to say: This game is very difficult. I am not an expert, but I consider myself quite good, and I can't even beat the game on level 6. Yet!!!(...)

Thank you I thought I'm the only one 

I had to say I love strategy-games (I've played tons of them) but I am not very good at it.
But who cares? The only thing that counts is fun an AI War is definitely pure fun

[RCIX]

What is the difference between simple and complex ship types? (I haven't actaully tried to start a new game yet so I haven't seen the configuration screen, appologizes if it answers it there in HUGE LETTERS)

There are 3 ship type settings. Simple offers a few ship types, Normal offers all of them except the more "dangerous" or hard to use ones, and Complex offers them all. I personally pick Complex and spin the roulette until i get a ship type i like and the other ones don't look too frightening.

[Captain Cake]

I've got a game going now and it seems to be going pretty good, though I think I may have critically over extended my fleet. Many lessons learned so far and am looking forward to the next attempt.

Thanks for all the answers and input.

[snrub_guy]

I personally pick Complex and spin the roulette until i get a ship type i like and the other ones don't look too frightening.
[/quote]

I was under the impression that once you pick your starting planet, the ships on the other choosable planets have no significance...
Does the A.I get the bonus ships for the other planets you don't pick? If so, I may have been overlooking something quite big...