Mettra

Good thread. I vote for sticky. Unfortunately you can't edit a post after someone has made a post after it (I believe the only exception is the OP).

[quote]As for Dune II, you could build several Vehicle factories, but you'd have to select each one to build your Trikes, Tanks, Launchers, etc. (1) So, while various RTS games implements a system of improved efficency by mass building structures, SoaSE does it in a way that differs from most of them, combining elements to make for an efficient system. (2) [/quote] (1) Yes, to be clear, I wasn't talking about this particular detail. The history of RTS macro is a diverse la

[quote]I'm tried of your arrogant comments personally. If you don't have anything to add to this discussion stop wasting our time.[/quote] To be fair, if you wouldn't make such odd assertions, he would take you more seriously and a more productive discussion could be going on. Things like "[flaks] counter almost every frigate unit with ease" are hard to take seriously. Just consider a little more carefully what you're saying before posting. Flaks are tanks, as you have pointe

Yes, at first glance one can do the math (as done exquisitely above, by the way) and make an informed decision. However, there are nuances that are not so naively arrived at. The most obvious one is the fleet cap - that is a big factor to take into account with your overall situation. From the opposite direction, if you start to consider more situationally - if you are in a battle where you are concerned about maximizing your efficiency given a certain number of ships/credits/etc. at

I had the same notion a long time ago when I got Galciv II. But SDC is NOTHING but a web browser that links you to game updates basically. You can also browse a large catalogue of applications and games etc. It's actually quite a nifty little program. It is not even remotely as annoying as something like Steam, which I personally think is totally ridiculous.

I'm pretty sure this feature was in the 'original' RTS game Dune. I can't think of a single RTS game that doesn't have this behavior. However, I agree that it is informative to those who have never really spent time in the RTS genre. There is no quicker overall build time, however. Each ship is built at the same rate as if you had only one frigate factory. However, the TEC military labs decrease the build time, and there are several techs that decrease build time. This can

[quote]Translation: the "better" players relied on features which the developers have since changed to be more in line with their idea of what makes a fair, fun game.[/quote] Yeah because the better players always spammed siege frigates and Illuminators... oh wait. No, what you must mean is that better players always depended on having a really crappy (by comparison) economy to power their... ohwait. No, what you're really saying is that it's okay for the TEC to be the

Kruelgor, if I were to have a thread of mine stickied, I would feel an extra responsibility to have the information up-to-date and accurate. I think the underlying problem some people have with your table is that it misrepresents a lot of numbers. The reason is that you leave out just enough information so that to a less-informed player your table contains disinformation. Let me explain this from what would be the point of view of a newer player reading the strategy section and seeing

[quote]Spamming unholy amounts of Deliverance Engines as Advent can give you a win without actually attacking, but I've only seen it work against an AI, and it really required an absurd number of the things (over 20), it also took forever.[/quote] This guy was the first to come up with the answer to your question. Culture in general allows for the possibility of a (if not completely peaceful) defense-only victory. (Although, to be honest, it's not exactly a top-rate strategy at the mo

Kruelgor's leet secret is that he doesn't build scouts. Imba.

Scouting is useless, man. Just admit it. I mean the game's about strategy, not scouting. ;)

WTF Srsly i bought this game and its not anything like mario kart r u kidding me fr realz!!!!!!!!!111111one wer is the todestool and WTF is wit the planets and starz and sh!t lik Mario galxay r sumthin WTF!!! Worst bye ever - waste of money. (I couldn't resist XD) (BTW, whoever posted the 'I bought COD4 and it wasn't ANYTHING like bejeweled' response in one of these threads - you, sir or madam, get 10 points for awesome.)

[quote]Balance is going to mean different things to different people. For some, it's a statistical nightmare that will involve no faction being able to get ahead of another in any conceivable way at a given stage in the game. (1) For others like myself, it's simply a matter of every unit/feature included in the game having a legitimate and worthwhile use. (2) I'd say no, simply because it's impossible to please everyone. Conversations about balance are never going to go away

There's a lot of very informative points in this discussion, but it's slid a little bit away from the OP. I think Stardock/IC have proven that if you make a good quality game, people will buy it. I think by now that pretty much goes without saying. This is the biggest problem with today's 'AAA' titles - most of them are utter crap when you get down to it. The PC gaming industry is in a sort of self-eating cycle. Big software developers and big publishers say people are buyin

Krugman's ideas come about because of the consequences of special relativity (part of the major theory developed by Einstein [for those who are not familiar, I'm sure many of you are]). If someone is moving very quickly (a ship, for instance) compared to your reference frame, the moving frame will have their time go by more slowly (at least from the 'non-moving' perspective). So what takes THEM a year from their perspective might seem to you to take 100 or 1000 years, depending on how fast the

[quote]This is not to say someone cannot win WITH the carriers, but they would simply win faster/easier with another unit. (1) The biggest reason for this is that carriers have so many counters since they are wimpy targets that can't fire back (and thus vulnerable to fast ships)...and their not that effective most times because their planes die so easily to flak. (2) Someone mentioned having 50+ carriers and how that is effective because of one-hit-kills. 50*8 = 400 supply. (3)

[quote]Don't count on it. This has been a productive thread so far, keep the pretension and the veiled insults to yourself.[/quote] I see what you mean, I can't seem to edit my post. Sorry if the tone for that was a bit off. I was just trying for an analogy. Instead of just picking up on that one point in my post, how about a response to the rest? I think the game has incredible depth. It just doesn't have as much complexity as a game like Galciv II. On another top

[quote]Mettra, your explanation is pretty concise but it's not really going to make anyone happier. (1) The clear and alienating delineation is the willingness to use exploits (Especially balance) that were left in the game, probably unintentionally, by the programmers. (2) Making some kind of case defending your actions is worthless, the very fact that you do them is making people angry, and you very well know why. (3) Your best bet is to stop talking down to people

Your suggestions for the AI are quite specific. Have the devs ever considered allowing programmable AI's? In fact, what is the AI programmed in? I know a lot of games use python, and it's very easy to make new AI's if the game is capable of reading them. Your easiest way to beat the AI is fairly complex. I find building LRMs and a few flaks allows me to stomp all over the AI. One of the biggest problems I've noticed with the AI is that they always mass light frigates (chewed by LRM

[quote]Yes i see what your saying, but i think new players would catch on real quick. I'm just trying to think of ways to encourage empire building more and rushes less.[/quote] Play larger, longer games. Rush tactics are only really viable in shorter games with smaller maps.

In shorter games, where rush tactics are viable, it makes no sense to make these colonizing cap ships. If the other player makes a battleship, he can duke it out with you, and you will lose your capship almost guaranteed. You can't really depend on abilities either if you are playing against Vasari, because your cap will have no antimatter. In larger games, it makes sense to get the colonizing cap because it shaves 40 seconds here, 50 seconds there, 60 seconds there off your colonizin

There's a logistical problem with making cap ships too strong. If they are significantly more powerful than an equal supply of other ships, every game would just be a tech race to 16 capital ships with game results becoming more random and less based on strategy (since teching up to more and more cap ships means crippling your economy as a side-effect - the line between when this would be a good idea and when it wouldn't would be too fine to make a good strategic judgment). As it is ri

[quote]I really like Europea Universalis. But to say it has more depth than Sins of a Solar Empire is not something I can remotely agree with. (1) The fact that you admit that you don't see what culture does in Sins I think makes the case that you haven't fully explored Sins or more to the point, have decided that Sins doesn't have the kind of depth you choose to have. (2) There are plenty of people out there that say Galactic Civilizations isn't a "real 4X" simply because it

I see a lot of mention of 'exploiting' and 'cheap' and 'abusive' tactics and such. A competitive player, by definition, is playing to win. If you are not playing to win at the moment, you are not currently a competitive player. If a competitive player decides to play a game for fun, he takes off his competitive hat and puts on his 'casual' hat. If it can be done in the game, it's a valid tactic. Period. The game does not acknowledge whether you won by doing something 'cheap

As a physicist, I would say there's a lot of good reasons to have labs in space - especially when you're researching technology that would be used in... wait for it... space ;).