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It doesn't seem like there's one weapon type that you can just stick with and it's useful in all situations. A lot of games claim to do this, but generally there's one weapon or type of unit that's overpowered and can do it all, more or less.

 

In this it seems like you do have to have at least a bit of variety in your ships and the weapons on them in order to obtain best results.

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True. Though with some luck you can get a nice tech - like I did with emitters. These are pretty powerful in fission destroyer era and will do a nice job as missile defence as well - until there are specialized missiles and far more of them. So they let you invade a fully built world even without dedicated point defence from the start.

 

After things go cruisers and so forth they become far less awe inspiring.

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Now I remember why I haven't played this game much, it gives a LOT of problems, both on my Windows Vista months ago, and on my Windows 7.

Just installed SOTS and BOB, first error was an immediate crash upon launch, google provided a solution which was to create a display.cfg with a default screen resolution as the game didn't seem to be able to detect it automagically. Now second problem is a crash to desktop when trying to access the game settings (I want to change the display settings ingame to get higher quality) ;)

Sorry Azrael, we must have posted almost simultaneously... I haven't noticed this before.

 

Kludgy at Kerberos is really helpful with issues like this. I'll post this for you at their forums.

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Do you have certain types of fleets that you always use? What ships are they made up of? Do you just put together general-purpose fleets, or are they made into different specialised groups for patrols, planetary assaults, defence, fleet combat, etc?

This one demanded a minute or five longer to be answered hence the delay.

 

I'm sure people have "a standard fleet combo". This being a desired fleet composition, usually race based as well as most races have technological preferences and drive'n'ship characteristics. Hivers for instance will probably go for heavy hitting mass drivers as they usually get armour-piercing ammunition and have a nice chance for neutronium rounds at the end of the mass driver tech tree. They are also pretty fast in combat missions and can take a lot of pounding. So up close and personal weapons and fire away.

Than again, it CAN happen (and - at Kerb' forums - lovingly called sadorandomizer does this to me) that you won't get AP and than you might reconsider this strategy and try your luck with something completely different.

 

Missiles for instance. Lots of them. That means fast ships with many medium turrets and PD. Ship sections don't just affect armour and possible weapon combinations, they also affect acceleration and turning rate of the ships. So with a different weapon approach you might take that into account to make them more efficient.

 

It is pretty standard that you will alter your initial plan. You may go for heavy combat lasers, invest some research there just to find out there is no more. And first tier HCL won't last for very long if your enemy got good armour tech rolls. And researched them. So you will need to adapt.

 

Your research and ship sections combinations are also (heavily) affected by your enemies' choices.

 

If the enemy went for HCL you might consider smaller faster ships and more of them so that those beams have a hard time tracing or simply go for long ranged weaponry to stay out of their range.

 

I thought to reveal that in the next update but hey... I have noticed that both the Tarka and Zuul enemies don't have any point defence on their ships. That is unusual at this stage of the game as both use missiles and would probably research and mount PD if they could. They have both started fielding cruisers so my emitter drones aren't as effective any more and I'll start building missile cruisers to counter that and invest into missile research to make them (and my planetary missiles) more powerful.

I'll call this a mild gamble but a lot of missiles are hard to counter in any case and before they come up with A LOT of point defence it will take time. A mix of drones and missiles should keep them busy for a while. And if all goes well, not too long.

 

What was I trying to tell you really?

 

Oh, standard fleet composition...

 

No, there is none. You have a VERY good chance that your ships will not be the same even though you are playing the same race twice in a row. Even when you will use the same ship sections (standards like hammerhead command, armour mission and best-possible-drive etc.) you will most likely need to use different weapons. And use your ships differently.

 

And all those are only your "standard" assault ships. When you come to specialized fleets you have even more options for specialized ships. Biowar colony destruction fleets. Cloaking technology opens a lot of options for abuse. Etc. etc..

 

BTW, do take a look at that technology tree. It shows the chances each race has for a certain technology and it has tooltips. And it is HUGE.

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I'm having troubles with video encoding and youtube errors me every time I try to upload non-encoded video so even MORE pics. We'll get there though. Sooner or later... ;)

 

We continue the exploration. This should give us a clearer picture of the map ownership. One more nice planet was discovered from the previous wave.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0056.jpg

 

In bigger maps I'd invest much more into the research of the environmental techs to make colonization and terraforming faster. But in this game I don't plan to colonize any more unless it is a great colony and for refuelling purposes so I won't invest there.

 

Naturally. If I posted every overbudget pic from this game... My Photobucket account would be full. DAMN the sadorandomizer!

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0057.jpg

 

Finally it is here and we move to what we were missing.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0060.jpg

 

Now to use that tech we have. Bigger carriers!

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0061.jpg

We could make these carriers awesome in themselves, add some torpedoes or heavy lasers or whatnot and I would be able to brag but... we have none of those flashy techs. BUT we have drones and they are cool by themselves!

 

Yes... How about that...

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0062.jpg

 

Anyway, we made a trip to that red Zuul planet you saw.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0063.jpg

Those are CRUISERS, more of them. If these arrive to our colonies now we're toast.

 

Especially since I was kinda greedy and invested too much into trade. Which also means that my colonies have lowered production to keep those trade lines open! I'll have to rethink that and perhaps close some trade lines at planets I want production to be at full. But those lines are soooo lucrative! I want mo dough!

 

This is how a Zuul planet looks like;

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0065.jpg

Poor planet, forges all over and overharvesting at all times. We'll try to get back to you in time to set you free of that vermin.

 

This tech will help! It will allow us to build cruiser sized leaders. They have two drones on their own and they will add a lot of extra ships into the fight.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0067.jpg

 

Now Zuul decides to pay us a visit. To our still young colony only defended by a few drone carrying destroyers.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0068.jpg

 

There are 36 ships in that Zuul fleet and it makes me kinda scared. If there are some cruisers in there...

 

Well, me fooling around with video capture wasn't very successful. In short, those were destroyers. I scrambled drones from the nearby colony (you see it in the previous pic) and they tore the Zuul ships into little pieces. I really wanted to show you Zuul ships, those scrapheap challenge losers are my favourite ships design-wise. I'll get back to those.

 

Our exploration is almost finished.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0069.jpg

 

What do we have in store for next time?

HOPEFULLY some video. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong really. The capture is very easy with X-Fire. But when I try to encode that video the Video Spin it hangs. It shows nothing in the preview and it does nothing when I go to create movie. Perhaps the problem is that I capture the video at half size so I'll try full screen next time. The tutorial makes everything seem so simple - until you try it yourself, dammit.

 

And some cruisers of our own in action.

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FI NA LY.

 

Two steps were necessary for the big breakthrough at videos...

1) It was essential to stop trying the video encoding with Video Spin. It is a great program and all. For video editing. Not encoding. :D

2) I had to determine the parameters that would yield a visually passable result while reducing the MB considerably. Do I understand them all? NO. But they work. Kinda like gravity. ;)

 

Anyway, the video of the map used to be 650MB, now it is 32!!! That is a reduction factor 20! True, there is some quality reduction (especially in colours) but hey...

 

I'm showing you two things that are VERY hard to be shown with screenshots adequately.

 

If you haven't played a game with fully 3D star map this one is hard to imagine. Especially the political view, 3D blobs with shadowing and all. I'd need like 20 shots for you to imagine it correctly. A video is a MUCH better choice.

 

These heaps of scrap are practically impossible to be correctly depicted with pictures. Seriously, I had huge problems while trying to make good, recognizable screenshots for them. I did know what was on them, but seeing them later in a review always looked like... a heap... of... something! Videos will help here A LOT. Destroyers for now.

 

This breakthrough also means that we can get on with the story. Stay tuned.

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The more we know about this Zuul enemy that used to be just a minor menace...

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0071.jpg

...the less we like it. What is so bad about it? Their planet has SLAVES. The Zuul way, so what? No no no... That means that they have been "feeding" from Tarka... That is also why they have become no. 2 in this part of the galaxy. They have just taken my no. 1 target priority.

 

We'll go for a serious upgrade. Fusion.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0072.jpg

 

But believe me. Unless it is a turn or two, it is not worth waiting for. Build more ships, create more designs, attack more enemies.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0073.jpg

Oh, this will help. Finally we can replenish our lost drones and repair our ships.

 

Our new fleet in the making.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0074.jpg

Why aren't we waiting for danger? Oh, there is danger. If we waited for signs, it would be too late. Fleets aren't built in a day, nor a turn. Especially with my heavy trade investments where planets have routes to feed. Not sorry any more, have more than enough industry to spend those credits. Not getting stinking rich nor do I plan to wait that long.

 

Ah, an old acquaintance dropped by one of our colonies.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0075.jpg

Not glad to see it, but it's here.

My fears were justified.

This is the best PD one can imagine.

The good news; they are not here to kill us all.

Our ships did destroy their probes yet they managed to take 300 of the colony's resources.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0079.jpg

Von Newmann are automated drilling machines. The only thing that could warn us about their visit are science stations. And those are a tech we will not see in this game, it will not last that long. Perhaps next time we go for a longer ride.

 

BTW, those emitters are blue. I have yet to master that video encoding but blue seems to be hit the hardest. And emitters look red. Weird.

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Fusion is cool. When it is researched...

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0077.jpg

...your tech tree makes it look like Christmas. Appropriate, he he he! A lot of new toys to have fun with. A LOT. So what did I say I was going to do? I am going to make those missiles I have planted on my ships better.

 

Step one;

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0078.jpg

 

While I'm researching new missile upgrades, I do the necessary work; I'm "fusing my designs". Meaning giving my designs fusion engine sections.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0080.jpg

 

My attack fleet takes form

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0081.jpg

and is sent over the ridge.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0082.jpg

 

Try to plan ahead. My fleet is not complete. Ok, with missiles I can destroy more or less everything (without PD) but colonies will be pulverized and will shine in radiation forever if I just nuke them. So that over-the-rift colony, already building capable, is building our assault shuttles so that we don't waste more time at home. That colony is our assault base because;

- it is over the rift

- it is close to Zuul colony

- it was hit by Zuul fleet, containing a bore ship.

 

What does that mean? It means that there is a Zuul nodeline from their colony leading to our colony. Still unclear? Well, next Zuul fleet might not be as slow as that first was. Should they choose to send a fleet with no bore ship down that nodeline they will be there FAST. No time for me to save the colony.

 

The extent of Zuul plague becomes clearer.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0083.jpg

 

Step two.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0084.jpg

 

DAMN pirates.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0085.jpg

 

Thankfully only one of those expensive traders was destroyed. And all my guard ships due to my bad judgement.

 

Step three; a little extra something!

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0086.jpg

Nice. That will help a lot. Didn't expect it but I don't mind! :D Sometimes the sadorandomizer ain't that sadistic.

 

Our fleet comes across and takes shape.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0087.jpg

We also scraped the defending fleet. And started building another one.

 

The future?

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0088.jpg

BATTLES BEGIN. Not the small crap you saw, we take on the enemy. Late but better late then never.

 

Stay tuned. Will go for longer vids.

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Ahhh, so you can simply plaster colonies from orbit, but it's better to capture them with assaults?

...Only if you want the industry and civilians to run it... :D

 

 

in the early versions of the game, IIUC, you couldn't occupy at all; had to flatten 'em.

 

i come here occaisionally to look at sv's pics, i love me some sots; and have never played as the Crows; but if i switch games now I'll never get anything done.

 

ps: there's also the plague; you can spore 'em from outer space.

 

and one of the races likes to drop their "face-hugger"-like yung'uns on ya.

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Ahhh, so you can simply plaster colonies from orbit, but it's better to capture them with assaults?

There are a couple ways how a colony can be destroyed. You can nuke it to kingdom come and make it uninhabitable for anyone. If you go for assault shuttles there will be quite some damage to infrastructure but none to the environment. But you will still kill everybody (imperials and civilians) unless it is your own race - because for your own race you have sufficient Xenotech "researched" and colonies with civilians only can surrender to you.

 

For other races you need to research that Xenotech or blast them all.

 

And than there are bio-war technologies. If you kill off the population with plague all the infrastructure will remain. I don't know why but I really dislike those.

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"I don't know why but I really dislike those."

Could it be because you'd especially hate to be on the receiving end of one of those? :D

 

As things escalate it's quickly becoming evident that a good deal of forethought is required to both make offensives count and run your empire in a sustainable way financially.

 

::

 

I was also particularly amused by your researchers' visible embarrassment at having gone overbudget... ;)

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He he he, those pics are great. Morrigi are ashamed, Tarka scientist commits suicide, when it happens to Humans you see the real reason (scientists stuffing money into their own pockets)...

 

My dislike for bio war is not due to not liking the receiving end - I don't like to be at the receiving end of any weapon. It is just that it is banned by the Geneva convention. :D I'd rather put a bullet in somebody than make him terminally ill and wait for him to die miserably.

 

And cloaking+bio war cruisers are more or less the end of the AI. It feels like cheating.

 

Anyway, I'm uploading a movie of the fist turn of Morrigi-Zuul war. I'll probably post it tomorrow.

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As promised...

 

We finally see what we are up against!

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0089.jpg

 

 

Morrigi Zuul war begins

 

 

 

This is the first turn of the battle. In SotS battles often go on for multiple turns.

 

So what did you see?

 

Firstly I sent my drone carriers to run away. I kept CnC with missile cruisers at the side to not be entangled either.

 

In closeups (0:20) you can see that Zuul actually DO have point defence! It didn't do much difference though because 1) my drones and missiles overwhelmed it 2) there simply wasn't enough of it and 3) my research into faster speeds and turning rates paid off! Hitting these buggers is much harder now!

 

I didn't follow the drone carriers and first Zuul wave with missile carriers, it was clear those drones will do their job. And those Zuul ships that did catch up (Zuul ships are one of the fastest in combat, but least strong) were electrocuted by the ships, too (1:25).

 

CnC and missiles were sent toward the colony and Zuul reinforcements (1:35).

 

The first Zuul wave was dealt with (2:10).

 

A closeup of Zuul CnC ship (2:35) and its boarding pods (2:40-2:43).

 

Zuul CNC fires its dumbfire (3:13)! This poor man's projectors (those will likely have to wait for another TAR) can be devastating especially if they would research more missile warhead techs. They probably didn't as even planetary missiles didn't do much damage.

 

My drones are dealing with Zuul satellites in the distance (3:50) while my ships are perfectly safe... Drones are absolutely phenomenal for this job. At least until the enemy spams missile PD (an advanced PD against drones and torpedoes - but won't target other missiles) or emitters etc..

 

As last Zuul ship is being destroyed I line up assault shuttles to be next in the reserve list (4:25).

 

Drone carriers are sent into reserves (4:30) so that assault shuttles can enter the battle. Two actually entered before because one of my drone destroyers was destroyed and my outnumbering bunus got higher - our ships now outnumbered Zuul forces more than at the beginning...

 

Sadly all the non-docked drones were lost (4:31). A waste but time is of the essence. I need those shuttles over Zuul planet NOW!

 

Shuttles are launched (4:39 and 4:44).

 

Missiles are put into 2. weapon group (5:22) and it is set to hold fire. I don't want the planet to be radioactive desert.

 

A nice view of shuttle strafe runs (5:49).

 

The round ended in draw as the colony was not destroyed. But we are definitely victors. Our repair cruisers have no problems with repairing our ships and supplying new drones.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0090.jpg

 

The destruction we left behind:

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0093.jpg

 

Funny, Climate Hazard number is green, meaning that the planet got MORE hospitable during the battle! That is not cause by the lesser number of Zuul but by the weapon CH effect as SotS simulates it. Missiles move the CH slider to the left and since Zuul ideal CH is to the right of ours - the missiles "Morrigiformed" the planet. Need to be VERY careful with this though as that slider can go by pretty fast. Nice to know though that I need not worry about some stray missiles over Zuul planets.

 

The fleet layout is changed so that there are as little missiles in the next turn and all the assault shuttles are present.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0091.jpg

 

Last step in missile and drone research for a while.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0092.jpg

 

See you all in next battle! It will not be as detailed in descriptions but you'll see it whole. EDIT; But if all goes well the colours won't be swapped any more! A nice admin at MediaCoder forum responded and this obviously helped others with same problems!

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I was scrolling up and down going "How dare you taunt me with a description of the battle and no link to the vid, what are you playing at?"

But you DID find it eventually, right? Being a huge font and a link? :D

 

EDIT; I know embedding would be better but I have no idea how to do it.

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On that first screenshot I notice 'Slaves: 0'. Did the Zuul ship them off somewhere or were they all dead already by the time you got there from being too overworked? Despicable Zuul vermin! ;)

 

But, to quote Tuco: "I like big fat men like you. When they fall they make more noise." (Eli Wallach, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", 1966). In this case with some fireworks as the fatter ships broke apart under your own's salvoes. :)

 

As for the battle analysis, I think your textual description serves to demonstrate the amount of failsafes one has to put in place in anticipation of a confrontation. It's really something else when compared to GalCiv II. :D

 

And what of the bigger picture? Do you know where the bulk of their fleet is?

 

::

 

Watch your tail for eventual Zuul payback, SV...

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EDIT; I know embedding would be better but I have no idea how to do it.

I'll have to discuss this with the other admins first as the current forum setup is to disallow posting of HTML by everyone, including staff and admins. :D Security reasons obviously, but I always thought we could be trusted not to post malicious code. ;)

 

- Zombie

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:D Aaaah, that is why the YouTube's own instructions seemed so wrong... "It's so simple, just copy paste the code in the embed box".

 

You can see the result in the Trash can.

 

Actually IMO security may be more important. I can post the link to the video, that is enough. I don't plan to have as many vids as I have pics, I'll just use a bigger text size so that it is noticeable.

 

BTW, the encoding works without a problem now! I won't upload the same video again unless there is a special wish - although the only difference would be red'n'blue swap. You'll see plenty of real colours in the future. I'll waste my time on new battles instead.

 

@Thorondor; Zuul don't have civilians (and trade) but they can "harvest" slaves! Those can speed up Zuul development immensely. They die whatever you do but you can press them harder, get more industrial output and higher death rate.

 

Zuul definitely are interesting, COMPLETELY different from all others from all perspectives.

 

If a world surrenders to them all civvies become slaves. If they harvest slaves from other Zuul and drop gathered Zuul on a new colony you get instant imperial population. Hugely cool.

 

Their main fleet is unknown but IMO they are fighting Tarka the hardest. They will shift their strategy, no doubt.

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