Hi all! I'm new to the forums, and just going to post my first impressions on the game (and whine a bit about quite a big of bugs, many of them which I'd consider rather major and if not game, at least balance breaking
First off, let's post some screenshots of the game's current situation:
So everyone loves everyone! Except the poor Boarines. So, how on Hydral Homeworld did I get to this situation?
First off, this is by far not my first game. More like my tenth. I've run the game upto 3050 or so a few times, the game gets pretty awful, and the planets seem to be in constant deadlock with sieging armadas unable to break through the awesome infrastructure of whichever planet they are sieging (especially with planets who may have 20 space elevators
bug, it seems the 'building limits' are by far not limited at least when player built. Not sure if AI follows the building restrictions...)
I started with an advanced game, 'normal' strategic difficulty and 'I am so OP' combat difficulty (Yes, I quite dislike shmups, be they "turn-based" or not
). Selected Boarine craft.
I used save/load
workaround after first fight to get rid of the first fight hull and shield bonuses
bug, which otherwise stay put until the end of the game (that is, if you never quit the game, but play through in one sit)
After I had control of the strategic map, started uplifting the races. Smuggled spaceflight to Skylaxian, Andor and Peltian. Did terraforms for Acutian and a bit later Evucks. Thoraxians were the first in space after my upliftings, Burlusts after them. I used 'colonize moon' local option, which is instant
bug? and does not take 3 months for all these planets. And now's when things get interesting. Because Andor's ruling party happened to be the trade union, I was able to 'aid other planets in colonizing moons', which I used extensively for both Acutian and Evuck homeworlds. Soon after I was able to create trade routes between all five of these, even the guys who were not yet spacefaring
bug? (Acutian and Evuck). Trade routes in turn turned all the interplanetary relations positive.
A bit later, I formed my core federation by using Skylaxians to form federation with Acutians. Then I voted in the Andor and Peltian. Evucks were not yet spacefaring. I actually got a mission to give them spaceflight, which I promptly used, and immediately voted for them to join in the Federation as well. Now I had a Fed of size 5.
Burlusts were easy. I just challenged their boss to duel, and instantly afterwards they agreed to join a Strong Alliance, with my newfound leverage of their new boss.
Thoraxians, the latest addition, were added using a trade fleet between Acutian and Thoraxian worlds, plus the all-important Andor trade party option of boosting trade fleets. It says it triples the effect. I'm not sure, but I'm fairly certain it also triples (or whatever) the relations improvement generated by trade. Acutians did not initially have any CEO that could pull people into Federation, but luckily the CEO of Acutian Arts Incorporated suddenly rose in the ranks to be one of the top industrialists.
Now only the Boarine remain. Their world still has 50 uncolonized moons. I feel like colonizing them all, and try get a trade fleet going between Skylaxians or Acutians and them and see if I can nudge them in the Fed as well. And, I suppose if I did that, I should win the game?
Oh, where did I get the credits for all this? Well, in the early part I relied much on the 15k for smuggled spaceflights. I had to resort to some slave trading (sold maybe 5k worth of slaves in total) a bit. And of course after the formation of Federation I could 'hunt down AFA guys', which lets me fight alone
bug? versus 20 flagships + whatever little stuff they spawn. Each fight nets about ~35k credits, sometimes even more. The fights are hard? Well, in my first game (which was a 'quick game' using normal/normal difficulty, mind you) I managed them just fine, using dual cloaking devices
bug? (that is, a cloaking device in each special ability slot, allowing me to stay cloaked for practically unlimited, or at least 16 * 5 = 80 turns) and my awesomely teched up craft.
All in all, for this to have worked like it did, there were a couple of key components. First off, the abuse of instant moon colonization. If moons were not colonized instantly, I'd never had had enough time to get excess resource generation going on the different planets before the Evucks were spacefaring. Secondly, the Andor ruling party was kinda spot on. Without the boosted trade fleets and remote moon colonization, again, getting all race relations up and running.
So... my thoughts on the game?
All in all, I like the concept very, very much. I've been expecting something like this for ages. The gray eminence, nudging things here and there, not able to do everything, especially as time goes on and the empires develop. Thank you. This is the first ARCEN game that has really hooked me in. However, I can't help the feeling that the game was pushed to market somewhat unfinished due to a deadline, there are such glaring oversights and rather game critical bugs. But it's okay, I know you guys patch up your games (and bloody quickly too). And it is quite playable, albeit a bit... strange at places currently. So overall, good job!
