Just won my first Betrayal game... and Betrayal mode feedback

[nas1m]

Brushed them right out of the solar system and had a blast doing so all the time .
The game really plays significantly different in this mode providing a whole new feeling - nice!

And naturally I came across some bugs and balance issues as well .
Here is the catch:
Betrayal Mode: Upgrading an armada really should take (some) game time
Betrayal Mode: Typo in intro
Betrayal Mode: Various UI issues
Betrayal Mode: Defending a Hydral world is possible using two firendly actions with different costs but otherwise no difference
Betrayal Mode: Computer Adviser still references the Federation all over the place.
Betrayal Mode: Hydral Player has rage momentum if replacing the Boarines
Betrayal Mode: Researching a Vaccine on a Hydral planet says the player has pooled resources with himself in event
Betrayal Mode: Hydral can outsource outposts to itself
Betrayal Mode: Armada Management UI Issues
Betrayal Mode: Tactical Support for ground invasion dispatch should be Expense if done for Hydral troops

[DrFranknfurter]

Quite an impressive number of tickets all turning very quickly blue and green from the look of them. Quite wonderful to watch, especially after seeing other games companies where bugs or little bits of feedback can linger for years without even being acknowledged.

Question though: Besides the armada stuff how well balanced did you find your betrayal game? (considering the dispatches all changing recently)

Also shouldn't the AI have spent the excess resources on the new resource-draining projects rather than stockpiling 200k? I'm not sure when that new mechanic is supposed to kick in... is it only when they have nothing left to build that uses the resource? Would it make sense for it to have a chance to trigger each month that their stockpile was above the cost of their highest buildings... I don't know the mechanic details enough to speculate. Just thinking aloud.

[nas1m]

Yes, it's rather rewarding when the respective notification emails start to roll in on my phone .

As for your question: Aside from the issues I reported (i.e. upgrading not taking time and various dispatches beneficial only to you still paying you credits) the balance seemed rather good to me (on Normal). As it was I was kinda hard pressed to keep my armadas alive in the early game, especially as the races started to gang up on me (which was likely happenstance - but cool anyway!). This only changed once I was able to upgrade my armadas instantaneously to places where the other races could not follow.

Regarding the resource expenditure actions: Those were happening more or less all the time. I don't know why the Acutians apparently did not get to expending their huge amount of Xenotime. Might well be they were in the process of expending them at the time I captured them. Might be they simply decided not to do so. Or they might not have had some prerequisite in order to start doing so (might well be they had no armadas whatsoever at the time and their planet was in really bad shape...).

[DrFranknfurter]

I think the bug tracker itself should be advertised to every game company out there. It works so well with Arcen I'm sure other companies would benefit from it. (I know a few that need something like it).

Anyway, the only issue I can see is the massive reward from capturing a planet on Betrayal mode. What if, during that mode some of the resource stockpile is lost during the invasion? (damaged, destroyed or as a result of scorched-earth tactics by the defenders... maybe difficulty-dependent). Otherwise I think it'll always be an issue... until the hydral get some of their own local/political deals they can't colonise moons but can capture planets with pre-colonised moons full of resources to fund armada construction (with costs balanced against the income without moons).

I'm not sure it's a big problem... just pondering balance. (I feel like Sorcerer King has been eating at my suggestion-time this past week, I'd post more bugs here but I'm struggling to find them. Just enjoying the game instead... which isn't terrible by any measure.)

[edit] Added ticket:
Betrayal mode Balance: Resources captured from enemy worlds
http://www.arcengames.com/mantisbt/view.php?id=16009