User talk:WinterBorn
test area
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Contents
manual patch
Meanwhile, if you want the raw zip files, you can get a list of them here: http://www.arcengames.com/dl/AIWarBetaUpdates2.xml
Simply unzipping them into your game folder in order would give the desired result if you want the betas that way. Hope that helps
Hybrids Section
Various quotes on Hybrid development follow
CoN exp Added "Advanced Hybrids" AI Plot; if the base Hybrids plot is enabled and the Advanced one is not, then the highest tier of Hybrid classes will be disabled (including stuff like the re-colonizer, which is not quite implemented yet). Also slightly influences the tech level of equipment available to the lower classes, for instance the first Attacker type will only be able to get a mkI forcefield (instead of mkII) if Advanced Hybrids is off. If you select Advanced Hybrids and not the base Hybrids plot for an AI player, once you start the game it will act as if you had checked both.
Added 2 galaxy map display overlays: detected hybrids and detected hybrid facilities. Only displays info on planets that you current have visibility.
The following modules now use a new shot-movement mechanic to fire their multiple-shot bursts in a brief sequence rather than all at once, to give more of the desired visual effect (gameplay impact should be minimal) : Riot machine gun modules now fire 12 shots per salvo with a reload time of 4 seconds, instead of 3-shot salvos with a 1-second reload. Riot laser modules now fire 8 shots per salvo per 8 seconds instead of 4 shots per salvo per 4 seconds. Hybrid machine gun modules (I-IV) changed from firing 2/3/4/5 shots per 1-second reload to 10/15/20/25 shots per 5-second reload. Hybrid laser cannon modules (I-IV) changed from firing 1/2/2/3 shots per 4-second reload to 2/3/4/5 shots per 8-second reload.
Hybrid Hive (hull, not ff-module) armor from 500 to 1000, health from 1,500,000 to 2,000,000. Hybrid Hive forcefield generator hull type from (default) to Structural, the same as normal ff-generators (they used to be intentionally different, but with the simplification of damage bonuses there isn't room for that). Health from 500,000 per mark level to 600,000 per mark level.
Hybrid plot
Difficulty scaling: the initial number of hybrid facilities (including hive spawners) and the maximum-hybrids-alive-at-once calculations (which is based on planet count and spawner count) are now scaled by the total number of human-players/human-homeworlds and the highest AI difficulty (facility count only scales by the former). A single player with one homeworld playing on difficulty 7 has a factor of 1.0; on difficulty 10, 3.0; two players on diff 7 have 2.0, etc.
The maximum-hybrids-alive-at-once number is now capped at numberOfPlanets * difficultyFactor, which is 4 times the number of hybrids supported by just the planet count. This allows the number of spawners (each of which support an additional 2 hybrids, which is down from 4) to have a significant impact on hybrid population without it exploding into the 500s or crazy stuff like that (unless you're playing with a lot of players or homeworlds or high difficulty).
another section
Re: Returning to AI war, having a problem securing some planets
« Reply #18 on: Today at 06:31:39 AM » Quote
Quote from: TheSilverHammer on Yesterday at 04:11:27 PM I thought border aggression needed a few 1000 ships to do that. And the announced attack into the sector that was 3 hops from a red planet was caused by attacking a guard post?
Then a lot has changed since I played. To bad the tutorial doesn't cover any of this. Are there any rules for cross planet attacks that have changed? It used to be, that they would only attack sectors where there were warp gates. Now it seems they will attack planets bordering even neutered planets.
Border Aggression & Cross Planet Attacks aren't the same thing.
First you need to understand that there's 3 "modes" for AI ships to be in. Guarding, Special Forces or "Free". Guarding ships sit in a system & wait for you to attack. Once you attack they switch to "Free". If you retreat out of the system they can & will counter-attack (which can be used to your advantage). Special Forces travel between Special Forces Guard Posts. If that puts them into one of your systems or you attack the system they are in they will switch to "Free".
Border Agression is the AI's releasing a build up of ships in a system to attack you by basically taking some ships that were on Guard duty & freeing them. It's mainly to stop you being complacent about defending your systems once you've gate raided and/or neutered a system. You can see how many "Free" ships there are at any time in the summary. Any "Free" ships on AI planets are shown under 'Threat', any on your planets are shown under 'Attack'. These ships can be of any level depending on the system they were freed from hence having a mark III or IV system bordering your core worlds & freeing ships periodically is likely not going to end well if you don't have adequate defences.
Cross Planet Attacks (CPAs) are announced like waves & you usually have between 5 & 15 minutes depending on the difficulty before they start. When a CPA is announced the AI's pick a number of ships from all of its planets & changes them from Guard to "Free". The AI's will only pick the same level of ships as the current waves would send (numeral in brackets under the AI Progress on the summary). These ships will group up to attack you & the AI's aren't dumb about where to attack, they will go for your most weakly defended systems where possible. It's not uncommon to have a few systems each being attacked by a few hundred ships simultaneously depending on how many ingress points the AI has to your systems.
All of this stuff is covered in the Wiki & the only change to any of the above between v3 & v4 is the lowering of the border agression cap to discourage blobbing by both players & the AI's.
Re: What attracts preservation wardens?
« Reply #2 on: Today at 07:43:59 AM » Quote
Actually, do we know that they are attracted to nukes?
I wrote the favor text originally but that doesn't mean they were implemented exactly as I described them.
Report to moderator Logged ==preservation wardens==
keith.lamothe Arcen Games Staff Administrator Zenith Council Member Mark II
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Re: What attracts preservation wardens?
« Reply #3 on: Today at 10:05:20 AM » Quote
They don't actually respond to nukes at all but it was my intent to have them do so. It's generally a rare enough case that it doesn't matter
Anyway, the spawn rate of wardens and each warden's internal spawn rate of drones is directly related to the number of metal and crystal harvesters in the galaxy. Also, one of the triggers for releasing their drones is being on or adjacent to a planet with a harvester.
new page idea area
AI War - Condensed AI Unit List
AI War - AI Unit - Raid Engine
new template area
Fallen Spire
http://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,7638.msg63889.html#msg63889
At the one-city and earlier phases it's supposed to be roughly break-even difficulty wise in that you get hit with extra attacks but you've got a no-other-strings-attached golem-esque ship to use as you please, 2 mini-golem-esque, ships, and 8 fairly long range continuous-photon-cannon-of-minor-doom ships. If you keep adding cities after that, the difficulty shouldn't go up very much on paper (as you continue to get more and more of said ships) but in practice the AI attacks will get pretty intense so it will probably at least feel like the game is harder (and, probably it is).
The big thing in this is that you're basically pulling endgame difficulty into the midgame. Many of you in the past have expressed a desire for a different kind of endgame challenge because the standard one felt grindy. Of course, a lot of that has changed with other changes Chris has made, but this progression will provide another way of accomplishing that.
In short, it's not really supposed to be any easier or harder to win by following the Fallen-Spire progression than by not doing so. But it tends towards a more intense (and more difficult) experience over a shorter time.
blank section
Core Shield Generators
Five new types of Core Shield Generators have been added to the game: These must be destroyed before the AI Core Guard Posts and AI Home Command Station can be damaged. The planet on which this shield generator sits must be controlled by the humans before it can be damaged. These only get seeded on difficulty 4 and up. Group A-Prime One of these is seeded on every planet with an advanced research station. The A-Prime shield generators are linked into a very strong network. All but one of them must be destroyed before the last generator in the group will self-destruct. Group B-Secondary One of these is seeded on every planet with an advanced factory. The B-Secondary shield generators are linked into a weak network. Destroy any one of the generators in the group, and the rest will self-destruct. Group C-Secondary One of these is seeded on every planet with a fabricator and without an advanced factory. The C-Secondary shield generators are linked into a weak network. Destroy any one of the generators in the group, and the rest will self-destruct. Group D-Secondary One of these is seeded on every planet with a counterattack guard post, but with no other core shield generators already in place. The D-Secondary shield generators are linked into a weak network. Destroy any one of the generators in the group, and the rest will self-destruct. Group E-Secondary These are scattered on some random planets that do not already have an existing shield generator. The E-Secondary shield generators are linked into a weak network. Destroy any one of the generators in the group, and the rest will self-destruct. Thanks to Suzera for inspiring this new feature
tractored ships
That's fairly hardcoded: ships that have mobility and an enemy ship in their tractors will usually make a beeline for the nearest special forces guard post. But it's very fun to run into.
new cap planet mechanic
1. It must require that players take a certain number of planets, at least probably 8 on the low side (on a 40/80 planet map), but more likely 10-12.
2. It must prevent the player from having any hope whatsoever -- I mean black and white 0% chance -- of winning the game before #1 has come to pass.
3. It must not restrict players to taking a specific arbitrary set of planets.
Now THAT'S a horrible reduction in choice. Having to take the two AI homeworlds is different and interesting, because they're special and built unlike other planets. They're the final boss. No problem. Having your roadmap laid out for you on what exactly other planets you have to take on the way there is incredibly lame.
That's why there are networks here. Sure, it makes you take 4 out of the 5 ARS planets, but again you really ought to be doing that anyhow. For the rest of the networks, it gives you a choice of at least two planets, and often quite more than that. It covers enough territory that you can choose your various four secondary-group planets from half or more of the galaxy. If you're telling me there aren't four planets in half the galaxy that you want... well, that comes back to being either a turtle or a rusher. The mechanic is here to help.
4. It must not be ridiculously over-complex to play with, or to code.
5. Players shouldn't be able to just turtle up in one corner with all their planets next to one another.
