Unit Tactics

[Revenantus]

Hi All,

If anyone has any tactical tips regarding any of the units, there is now a page on the community wiki for such discussion.

http://arcengames.com/communitywiki/index.php?title=Unit_Types_and_Tactics

So far it just includes the combat ships and turrets, however, as time goes on it will probably become a comprehensive unit encyclopedia. The data for each unit should hopefully be available soon - I'll generate some nice tables.

My personal thanks to anyone who adds their advice to the wiki.

[Admiral]

Added my favorite tactic.

http://arcengames.com/communitywiki/index.php?title=Unit_Types_and_Tactics#Parasite

Good idea. Long page, though...

[Revenantus]

The page is a tad long, however, it's not meant to be read sequentially so hopefully the links from the contents section will allow readers to quickly find the information they're interested in.

[x4000]

Great stuff!  I'll have a new prerelease out with the ability to export that data shortly.

[x4000]

Okay, here's a version that lets you export all that info, plus a bunch of other useful stuff:  http://arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,190.new.html

[Revenantus]

That's fantastic! I'll have the tables up before the end of the day (GMT).

May I please be incredibly annoying and request ship construction data? e.g. Metal Cost, Crystal Cost, Construction Time, Maximum Number in Service etc.

Hell, I may even get back to playing this game at some point .

[x4000]

That's fantastic! I'll have the tables up before the end of the day (GMT).

Great, thanks!

May I please be incredibly annoying and request ship construction data? e.g. Metal Cost, Crystal Cost, Construction Time, Maximum Number in Service etc.

That's not annoying at all -- it was my oversight.  Here's a link to version I, which includes that info:  http://www.arcengames.com/share/AIWar1009I.zip.  Please let me know if there's anything else I overlooked that you need!

Hell, I may even get back to playing this game at some point .

Haha, I know that feeling.

[Revenantus]

All the basic tables have been uploaded. Hooray .

Still to do;

 -- Add a box listing each unit's special abilities. Will be placed under the current ship data table.
 -- List the units that each is strong/weak against.
 -- List each unit's ammo type.

All of these I'll do either later tonight or sometime tomorrow.

[x4000]

Wow!  I'm quite impressed.  Did you write a program to do that transform, or was that all done by hand?  Either way, I'm impressed by your skill and dedication.

[Revenantus]

Wow!  I'm quite impressed.  Did you write a program to do that transform, or was that all done by hand?  Either way, I'm impressed by your skill and dedication.

Thank you. I wrote a program to do the transform (Objective-C using the NSXML Library). Only a few bits needed to be modified by hand (removed build times on the Core Starship for example, which reminds me I'd better do the same for all the Tech V stuff.... oops, I'll modify the program so it doesn't include them next time).

The program is basically just a command line utility that searches for keywords, for example, ai_gen_table ShipDataFull.xml +armor -anti, outputs a text file for the Armor Ships (-anti makes sure Anti-Armors aren't included) with all the relevant info which I then paste up on to the page.

At least now the code has been written updating this page after rebalances will be relatively easy - I don't think I could bear doing it all by hand each time .

Is now a good time to mention my idea for a Carrier Starship? It's a slow moving starship that can manufacture fighters and bombers (although not as quickly as a space dock), it also slowly repairs fighters/bombers in a certain radius around it.

[x4000]

Thank you. I wrote a program to do the transform (Objective-C using the NSXML Library). Only a few bits needed to be modified by hand (removed build times on the Core Starship for example, which reminds me I'd better do the same for all the Tech V stuff.... oops, I'll modify the program so it doesn't include them next time).

The program is basically just a command line utility that searches for keywords, for example, ai_gen_table ShipDataFull.xml +armor -anti, outputs a text file for the Armor Ships (-anti makes sure Anti-Armors aren't included) with all the relevant info which I then paste up on to the page.

At least now the code has been written updating this page after rebalances will be relatively easy - I don't think I could bear doing it all by hand each time .

Nice!  I agree, doing it by hand would be murder.  One request:  if you ever move on from this community, if you could open-source that code (or just provide the executable) so that someone else can take up your mantle, that would be much appreciated.  Not that I'm expecting you to go anywhere, but you know how it is -- a lot of things like this go stagnant after a while.

Is now a good time to mention my idea for a Carrier Starship? It's a slow moving starship that can manufacture fighters and bombers (although not as quickly as a space dock), it also slowly repairs fighters/bombers in a certain radius around it.

Absolutely!  That sounds really cool, I've added it to my "future DLC" list.

[Revenantus]

Nice!  I agree, doing it by hand would be murder.  One request:  if you ever move on from this community, if you could open-source that code (or just provide the executable) so that someone else can take up your mantle, that would be much appreciated.  Not that I'm expecting you to go anywhere, but you know how it is -- a lot of things like this go stagnant after a while.

Certainly, I'll pass the code on if I ever reach a point where I don't want the responsibility of maintaining those pages. However, I have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon .

Besides, the code is still somewhat 'rough around the edges' at this point .

[Admiral]

Is now a good time to mention my idea for a Carrier Starship? It's a slow moving starship that can manufacture fighters and bombers (although not as quickly as a space dock), it also slowly repairs fighters/bombers in a certain radius around it.

It should look like the Battlestar Galactica. It's fighters should look like Vipers, and bombers like Raptors. And, of course, it needs to run on tillium...

Next, you have to be able to rename ships, not just planets, for the full effect. And give pilots XP.

One of my earlier (never posted) ideas was to have XP for units... But they rarely survive long enough anyway so it's sorta pointless! Still, that's more of an "expansion" thing rather than a "DLC" thing.

Cheers!

PS: I love how X has repurposed the term "DLC" here. Take that, Rock Band!

[x4000]

Nice!  I agree, doing it by hand would be murder.  One request:  if you ever move on from this community, if you could open-source that code (or just provide the executable) so that someone else can take up your mantle, that would be much appreciated.  Not that I'm expecting you to go anywhere, but you know how it is -- a lot of things like this go stagnant after a while.

Certainly, I'll pass the code on if I ever reach a point where I don't want the responsibility of maintaining those pages. However, I have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon .

Besides, the code is still somewhat 'rough around the edges' at this point .

10-4

[x4000]

Is now a good time to mention my idea for a Carrier Starship? It's a slow moving starship that can manufacture fighters and bombers (although not as quickly as a space dock), it also slowly repairs fighters/bombers in a certain radius around it.

It should look like the Battlestar Galactica. It's fighters should look like Vipers, and bombers like Raptors. And, of course, it needs to run on tillium...

Haha... I am thinking that it would have its own set of fighters and bombers, though, not the standard ones that can be built elsewhere.  This would have the added benefit of a separate ship pop cap, too.

Next, you have to be able to rename ships, not just planets, for the full effect. And give pilots XP.

One of my earlier (never posted) ideas was to have XP for units... But they rarely survive long enough anyway so it's sorta pointless! Still, that's more of an "expansion" thing rather than a "DLC" thing.

Right, I might explore something along these lines someday in an expansion.  But most ships in my fleets really don't survive long, as you say.

PS: I love how X has repurposed the term "DLC" here. Take that, Rock Band!

Haha -- although, to be fair, Rock Band does occasionally give away free tracks.  And it seems like Little Big Planet is always giving away free stuff.  That's why I say "free DLC" instead of just "DLC."  I never plan to do paid DLC, though -- just expansion packs and free DLC.