Very Long Term Game

[Shrugging Khan]

1. I find any AIP per minte/hour to be hectic, yes. My games can go on forever, and I like it that way.
2. Civilian Leaders are no option because of the floor - I'd have to hurry to get them ALL, and then it would suddenly turn too easy. Hectic at first, no challenge after that.

3. Traders are no option because of Warp Gates and other AIP-Costing structures.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

1. I find any AIP per minte/hour to be hectic, yes. My games can go on forever, and I like it that way.
2. Civilian Leaders are no option because of the floor - I'd have to hurry to get them ALL, and then it would suddenly turn too easy. Hectic at first, no challenge after that.

3. Traders are no option because of Warp Gates and other AIP-Costing structures.

There is no way your going to find all the Civ Leaders at the beginning, much less kill them without enraging the AI beyond belief.  In my current 80-planet game, I have only found 4 of them and this is 1 city hub (Spire quest) into the game. 

Not sure what you mean by Warp Gates from traders. 

AIP merely forces you to move more dangerously than you normally would, but it doesn't make it that hectic. 

King

[TechSY730]

Not sure what you mean by Warp Gates from traders. 

AIP merely forces you to move more dangerously than you normally would, but it doesn't make it that hectic. 

King

One, he is talking about LONG, LONG games with several hours of unattended play in-between. Even small amounts of AIP over time will start adding up in this extreme case.

One of the things that the AI can buy from the traders is a new warp gate, though thankfully, that is a very rare purchase (rarer than their already low chance of buying other goods).

[BobTheJanitor]

There is no way your going to find all the Civ Leaders at the beginning, much less kill them without enraging the AI beyond belief.  In my current 80-planet game, I have only found 4 of them and this is 1 city hub (Spire quest) into the game. 

Yeah but he was talking about specifically using spirecraft penetrators to do it. They can pretty much go anywhere in the galaxy with impunity since they are perma-cloaked. So destroying an AI command station on the other side of the galaxy is entirely possible with them. That said, don't you have to actually capture the world with spire civ leaders on it to get the negative AIP or does it happen just from making the world neutral? And will the AI attack them in that case?

[TechSY730]

Yeah but he was talking about specifically using spirecraft penetrators to do it. They can pretty much go anywhere in the galaxy with impunity since they are perma-cloaked. So destroying an AI command station on the other side of the galaxy is entirely possible with them. That said, don't you have to actually capture the world with spire civ leaders on it to get the negative AIP or does it happen just from making the world neutral? And will the AI attack them in that case?

I other people have confirmed that the AIP decrease happens even if the planet they are on is neutral (something that most certainly be addressed, the current system is way too abusable)

However, any defenders the AI had on that planet upon the destruction of the command station have a pretty good chance of going on the offensive, even if the planet is completely across the galaxy. Plus there is the normal AIP increase of killing a command station, which for 30 AIP for destroying an AI command station (25 for the command station, 5 for the warp gate), which will take a bit of time for the reduction to start paying for itself.

Also, there is the risk of triggering a raid engine or alarm post or some other AI structure that does not like being next to a neutral planet.

Plus, the Spirecraft penetrator is blind, so you won't even be able to see where the command station is (and thus can't target it) unless you have scouted there before. (Unless you are playing on complete visibility, of course)

So its a cool strategy, but not one without risk or need for setup.

[Shrugging Khan]

Time is not an issue. Time is a resource I have a nearly infinite supply of, because I cannot play with any less.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Not sure what you mean by Warp Gates from traders. 

AIP merely forces you to move more dangerously than you normally would, but it doesn't make it that hectic. 

King

One, he is talking about LONG, LONG games with several hours of unattended play in-between. Even small amounts of AIP over time will start adding up in this extreme case.

One of the things that the AI can buy from the traders is a new warp gate, though thankfully, that is a very rare purchase (rarer than their already low chance of buying other goods).

Oh, missed that part....which brings me to the "why" would you want to not be playing a game for several hours and yet still have it running...defeats the whole purpose. 

Going to have to watch that warp gate thing, since I have a trader running around in my current game. 

King

[soMe_RandoM]

Human Colony Rebellions does ship cap go up each time u capture another one? it seem stupid if they force u to capture more and then don't have there own separate ship cap per place then no point in having more than one?

[Vinraith]

I'm certainly a proponent of relaxed games, but I can't understand why you'd want to leave the game running unattended for hours. I mean, there IS a pause button, why wouldn't you use that if you had to leave the keyboard for awhile?

[blastpop]

I'm certainly a proponent of relaxed games, but I can't understand why you'd want to leave the game running unattended for hours. I mean, there IS a pause button, why wouldn't you use that if you had to leave the keyboard for awhile?

I think the fact he can play the game that he likes at the end of the bell curve is a good thing. The design is robust to allow this. May not be your cup of tea or mine for that matter...

It would be interesting to see what has gone on after stepping away for a few hours... could be illuminating about the AI's capabilities... or the lack thereof.

[TechSY730]

I think the fact he can play the game that he likes at the end of the bell curve is a good thing. The design is robust to allow this. May not be your cup of tea or mine for that matter...

It would be interesting to see what has gone on after stepping away for a few hours... could be illuminating about the AI's capabilities... or the lack thereof.

Exactly. If he has fun playing the game like this, then great. Let him do it. And while AI war is at its core an RTS and not a sandbox game, it gives so many choices and options you can play it in a very "sandbox-like" way.

Of course since this play-style isn't the intended design goal for this game, he shouldn't expect the devs to cater to this style of play. Of course any reasonable dev wouldn't explicitly try to snuff out this style of play either. (Exception, styles of play that revolve around a game breaking abuse or oversight probably will be snuffed out, but that is because of the oversight, not the play-style itself)

[Shrugging Khan]

My style is quite playable, if you don't exploit it too much. As in; I let the game run to see how much punishment my defences can take, and how the AI acts without interference - but not to always have 999k of resources; or to build up my fleet back to all caps after every single loss. Similarly, I often carry out simultaneous operations on several planets; but I also want to be able to take my time and do one thing after another when I feel like it.

And I don't like pausing too often. Bugger me why, but it always breaks immersion for me.

[Vinraith]

I'm certainly a proponent of relaxed games, but I can't understand why you'd want to leave the game running unattended for hours. I mean, there IS a pause button, why wouldn't you use that if you had to leave the keyboard for awhile?

I think the fact he can play the game that he likes at the end of the bell curve is a good thing. The design is robust to allow this. May not be your cup of tea or mine for that matter...

It would be interesting to see what has gone on after stepping away for a few hours... could be illuminating about the AI's capabilities... or the lack thereof.

It's not like I'm saying he shouldn't be able to play this way, I just can't fathom why anyone would want to do that when there's a perfectly good pause button.

[Vinraith]

And I don't like pausing too often. Bugger me why, but it always breaks immersion for me.

But getting up and leaving the game for a few hours to have dinner doesn't? You're an unusual guy, Khan. 

[Shrugging Khan]

Making dinner is fine. In fact I can smell it burning right now. Hold on.

Edit: Alright, just a little blackened. Thing is, when I let the game run, and I come back later, I don't *want* to find everything as I left it. It's a persistent world, a living war - the AI exhales waves, my harvesters inhale resources, the reconstruction and engineering enzymes rebuild my defences, the zombie patrols flow through like a steady stream of blood...pausing it instead of letting it run on and develop, and evolve, just seems wrong.