Jump to content

SotS ANY empire building


Space Voyager

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 68
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Could you put a rival empire off expanding your way by nuking a 'barrier' of planets between your bubble of space and theirs, making it an unattractive to explore in your direction?

An interesting thought, really... This is not possible because you can't start a battle if there is no enemy present.

 

You can mine them dry though - after you research asteroid mining. But rest assured, a barren planet or two never stopped anybody from exploring further.

 

BTW, I DID upload the corrected video. So if anyone wants to see how things actually look, click on that title again. EDIT; I guess I'm unable to make EVERYthing right. No sound this time. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Next turn reveals an unfair fight. Not that I mind.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0095.jpg

 

 

First Zuul colony ends in ruins!

 

We colonize with one colonizer - for refuelling purposes. It is a very cheap colony so why not?

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0096.jpg

 

With nothing utterly urgent we go for speed.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0099.jpg

 

We divide the fleet and leave two cruisers behind.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0103.jpg

 

This is why;

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0104.jpg

 

There is an enemy ship closing in. Those two are left as guards while the fleet has better things to do.

 

The incoming ship was destroyed, not even worth a screen of your time.

 

But next battle was (somewhat) interesting.

 

The enemy has no CnC ship so their fleet is very easily manageable. The highlights of the battle are some great ship designs!

 

We start by diving into asteroid shadow to avoid missiles. It becomes clear that there is no CnC so we close in.

 

At 2:56 you see some Zuul colonizers. Love those Zuul designs, can't help it.

 

At 3:20 I go for assault shuttles again but I can't send the missile cruisers into reserves because the enemy is too near. At 4:31 assault shuttles arrive. Closeup of one at 4:45.

 

And than at 5:13 - Zuul harvesters. Scary stuff. I think each can hold up to 50 million slaves! Mind you, the harvesting run you do in battle is just a simplification of many runs that would occur "in reality". So don't start by "where are they stored". And you know, gameplay first...

 

Just as a side info; I'm taking all videos without pausing the game and without playing the battle in advance or any sort of cheating. That is why the battle may seem confusing at times - because I did not pause the game, think things over and optimize the whole lot. I usually DO pause, but this would mean I'd have to edit the movies, too. :laugh: Perhaps in another TAR.

 

At the end of this TAR I'll explain how the strategy in it is different from a "standard" game. Better said, how a small game differs from a large game. And what you see is a small game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The result of the previously viewed battle:

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0112.jpg

 

Checking the incoming Zuul reinforcements we decide to stay.

 

Next battle leaves the Zuul colony crippled. Not destroyed but crippled enough not to be a source of income. Considering that Zuul are probably sending everything they have to this colony... why not move?! It will be a surprise as we can get to Sphinx in a single turn!

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0115.jpg

We don't have enough fuel to get back to our colony so we might as well leave this crippled colony and go destroy another. We'll be back, don't worry. The only problem is that for refuelling our refineries will have to refine the fuel. That also means that the next Zuul colony will have to be destroyed and all enemies cleared or we will be stuck.

 

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0116.jpg

Ok, so perhaps Zuul didn't send everything to Scaramouche. Well damn.

 

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0117.jpg

All went well. Zuul are fielding more PD yet our drone and missile numbers are overwhelming.

 

New round!

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0118.jpg

 

Heh, have to show you this one...

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0120.jpg

A whole lot of identified flying objects! Drones at the enemy, shuttles en route to the colony. Beautiful. The enemy might not see the beauty of the moment, though if anyone can realize the beauty of his own destruction, it would have to be a Zuul.

 

Research goes for some much needed, long overdue sensory techs.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0121.jpg

They are so "old news" that the projected time is one turn only. It will combine the sensors of all ships in the sensory battle view. Well, how did I live this long without it, huh?! Because for all practical purposes they were combined from the start. Drones and missiles can go beyond the sensors range of their own ship as long as one our or allied ship sees the enemy. The only drawback was not showing that picture to me.

You can go a long way without this tech but the ones linked to it are more crucial. Not in a game this small I guess but always nice to see more.

 

We have no fear waiting for incoming turns yet we feel uneasy not being able to move.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0122.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not to ruffle thy feathers, SV, but I believe that's what they call a "sitting duck"? :D

 

::

 

I say bring them on - the more the merrier! ;)

HELL YEAH!

 

From what I have seen so far the fleet should be able to hold its own. The only thing that could seriously endanger it would be a dreadnought or a larger cruiser fleet with a lot of PD. But we have more in store. Two new fleets are being built and our lack of industrial capacity is slowly showing - we have loads of dough (see pics). Naturally in DN era that would not be too much, those cost plenty. I doubt we'll be seeing a lot of them but you never know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Christmas update!

 

No red hats and ho ho hos, sorry. Just war.

 

The result of our previous research - a cruiser sized fusion era gravship! Makes our fleets a lot faster. For a high price.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0123.jpg

 

State of the empire:

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0124.jpg

We are well established over the rift and those colonies make our starting half a much safer place. They are prime targets for our enemies as they are at their doorstep.

 

Sphinx' last breath.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0126.jpg

 

Research goes into sensors.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0127.jpg

Actually we could stop all research now and just build ships till the end of the game probably but we don't have enough industrial capacity anyway (we went trade heavy), so research goes on. PERHAPS, if all worlds were producing all the time etc. but I can't be bothered to gather ships from all colonies unless it is an emergency. And it is not.

 

There went Sphinx. I was thinking about refining fuel, but with the money we have we can afford to just build a colony and have a permanent refuelling station.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0128.jpg

 

Zuul don't like our choice, though. Than again, there isn't much about us that they like anyway.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0129.jpg

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0132.jpg

 

Having a baby colony to guard I took all the precautions I thought were necessary. The gravboat was put in the field in front of the rest, all drone army. I don't know why, I just like them and trust them more than missiles. The plan was for the gravboat to lure the enemy after it. It will probably be destroyed but while lasting it would slow down the enemy (the grav effect) and give sensors coverage to our drone fleet so that it can operate from safe distance.

 

Battle started and Zuul brought a CnC ship, so they had full ranks.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0133.jpg

Our emitter drones don't do a lot of damage to these cruisers individually, but there are just so many of little stings...

 

Our plan works. The gravboat leads the enemy so that they don't get close to the colony.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0134.jpg

Not only that, it survives until the last cruiser from the first wave is destroyed and is put into reserves.

 

The rest of the battle was easy as that CnC we saw... was the only one. A BIG mistake and the rest is just a mop up. Battle report shows what did the damage.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0137.jpg

Hmmmm, interesting... The report does not include drones in any way, neither the presence of emitters in the fight nor the damage dealt with them. Which means it really doesn't show much this time.

 

The next fleet was only two ships so we leave a small guard and head back to Scaramouche.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0138.jpg

 

There is something eerily beautiful in destroying Zuul colonies. As if the planet breathed a little easier.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0140.jpg

 

I'm sick of only giving orders from a tactical view in the battle. This will allow me to give them in sensors view as well.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0141.jpg

 

Ok, that is it for now. The future looks bright and feathery!

 

I'll probably tone down on updating about every move, the game progresses faster if I don't constantly take pics, organize them etc.. This game needs to be finished so that we can move on to something more challenging.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the lavish update, SV. You sure took the Zuul on a wild goose chase with that Mk 2 Gravboat. :D

 

Very gullible for a bunch of fiendish slavers if you ask me. CnC ship in tow or not they got whooped...

 

::

 

I don't know what spectrum of light is visible to the Morrigi, but to me planets seem to really stand out visually in terms of quality when compared to ships or asteriods. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

True, planets are a lot more beautiful. Also every race gets its own planetary design so that it is evident who's planet you're destroying...

 

The war rages on!

 

Having freed Scaramouche we decide it is time to pay Tarka a visit.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0142.jpg

 

Ah, but our intel was outdated!

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0143.jpg

This happens when you don't invest into sensory research enough! Not that I mind, killing Zuul is always good.

 

I did some thinking about where to invest our pretty big research... The game is (hopefully) nearing the happy ending so those would have to be technologies applicable immediately or they will never see the light of day. One way to go would be antimatter and possible missile and drone upgrades but this would take a lot of time.

 

Than again, Zuul are almost finished. So my main goal is to deal with Tarka with as little hassle as possible. My weapons should at least hold Tarka at bay even if they come up with something ingenious. Though this could be a real problem. My ships are VERY specialized right now. And my research was all invested into further specializations. I actually have no alternative right now, but I could get some basic ones fast with my income.

 

Anyway, I can RP some more into peaceful trader thing and all and go for Tarka Xenotechs. At least we'll be able to talk to each other. If that won't stop the war I may at least not need to kill them all.

 

So that is what we did.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0147b.jpg

Translate Urdu Kai - Gutter dialect - Incorporate - Kona Kai - Subjugate.

 

As soon as we were able we made several diplomatic attempts.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0149.jpg

 

This one is just too funny. What do Morrigi scientists do in their spare time?

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0150.jpg

 

Visiting an independent colony we have an interesting surprise!

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0153.jpg

It was the swarm! This late into the game... Who would have thought. I tried to make a movie out of it but the damn battle was so short it was really not worth it. I wouldn't be able to do any good closeups, emitter drones ate them that fast... Going for them was definitely a good decision although they ruined a good movie. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The independent colony surrenders to me. Only possible due to researched Xenotechs.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0161.jpg

Funny though... It is a planet with developed infrastructure and a lot of Tarka population. You don't see them in this screen, populations of other races are only seen in Population manager. The funny part is that it a burden to my empire! Lazy Tarkas... ;) I posted this in the Kerberos forum, it could be a bug. IMO a colony with infrastructure and enough population of any race should be giving money. Otherwise it may have been better to just kill the lot.

 

Anyway, I decide not to Morrigiform the planet. This will keep the number of Tarkas there high but my own people will trickle in much slower as our two races are pretty far apart in the Climate Hazard. If I wasn't this certain to win I would not be this nice to indigenous population.

 

This should be interesting!

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0162.jpg

Tarka are coming in force to a Zuul planet, which has more or less all the remaining Zuul forces. The cause of this is my previous attack on this colony. Zuul scrambled defences and than I noticed that a Tarka cruiser fleet is coming to that same colony.

 

Soooo... why not let them fight it out?! I retreated and am only sending a scout to see what weapons both are using. Most interested in Tarka weaponry, naturally. We didn't fight for quite some time so they had time to do some magic on their own.

 

Sadly I wasn't able to take good pics, the scout barely survived as it was. Tarka went for heavy combat lasers. A pretty powerful weapon with decent range, but against drones... useless. Until they catch up with drone carriers, he he he!

 

Just a nice pic I wanted to share...

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0168.jpg

 

It is our tradeship that was attacked by pirates. All trade ships survived thanks to out colony defence forces. At least once they were fast enough.

 

Worth a try...

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0169.jpg

 

Perhaps we should stick to hands-on diplomacy.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0170.jpg

 

 

So far we have seen nothing that would endanger us.

 

State of the empire:

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0175.jpg

 

In the next battle I was very pleasantly surprised by Tarkas - they constructed deflector - point defence ships!

Deflector command section - stops all physical object from the front, causing out missiles to be stopped almost entirely.

Point defence mission section - a LOT of small mounts with great coverage. I guess they must have gotten PD from the Zuul. They also mounted gauss PD on them and those ships ripped out drones pretty good! But their ships didn't have time to reach out carriers after dealing with drones - and those still did quite some damage before being destroyed. Combined with repair ships that replenished the drones during the turns we still ruled the skies.

Anyway, this was a Morrigi-optimized combination, a great example of SotS AI.

 

Time to wrap this up, guys.

 

Soon Tarka empire surrendered. Sadly I have no idea where I lost the screenshot.

 

Both main fleets were now able to deal with Zuul so the result is predictable.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0180.jpg

 

I know this was known for some time but such a picture is always nice to see.

https://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b348/SpaceVoyager/SotS%20TAR/screen0181.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I promised an afterword on what if this was a bigger game.

 

Firstly this game had a breakthrough right at the beginning. Those two independent colonies I got spoiled the fun somewhat. Such a head start is otherwise something you may want to give to the AI instead of yourself. Actually a good idea for a new TAR.

 

Otherwise if this was a bigger game we would have to invest a lot more into biotech. Faster colony development and population growth is essential when you want to have a working empire and you are not able to suppress all others as I was. Tarka-Zuul war gave me even more time while me and the other Morrigi profited from the alliance and trade. Such is the curse of Zuul neighbours, practically no way to have peace.

 

With longer distances speed would be more crucial. Investments into fusion and void carving would have to be made sooner.

 

Info gathering technologies (deep scan) would need to be researched sooner. Having an empire this small and not needing to expand fast didn't demand it this time.

 

If I think of more I'll post.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, FA. If anyone has an idea what he/she wants for next time, do tell. I thought about going a little bigger, we want to at least get to antimatter era and dreadnoughts. And fancy weaponry. Also is anyone has any racial preferences... This time it was birds but hey, there is a lot to choose from and the game may look much different if you are playing with other races, especially Human, Zuul or Hivers.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Different race, more tech!

 

How long did it take you to play this (not counting the AAR process)?

I can't tell, really. But not long, this would be a one day game, meaning a few hours. Small games aren't that time consuming. Depends on your comp, naturally.

 

Since I'm so very curious to learn about what Hiver scientists do in their spare time I'm voting for a Hiver campaign, then, SV. :D

Let's say that you're in luck. In a way. I already started a Hiver game (and this is a rarity). I also started taking pics and even filmed the map...

 

 

So it is a 100 star map (not by far the biggest I've played) and we are in a corner. One could be thinking; cool, we have our back covered! But there isn't a real "backyard" in SotS. At least not for long. When speeds and power sources pick up everything is within reach.

 

So what this starting position means is VERY limited expansion. And this goes for Hivers especially. Moving STL only before setting up the gate means that the galaxy will be explored before your second wave is finished. From there on it is a slow and painful expansion and if you are unable to make a large gate network, you're finished. Being able to move in a turn is cool, but if three cruisers are all you can move that isn't much of a help.

 

Anyway, expanding in all directions is a great bonus for Hivers because it means a lot of gates and that helps in defence even if you do have to fight on multiple fronts.

 

The game was started with 6 players on normal difficulty and AIs have one colony extra. This means that they start with everything half better than me. Production, research... So I need to catch up. SotS lets you make the game harder this way before going to hard difficulty, which means AI having 50% more income and research. And that is a tough cookie.

 

Sooooo... All this leads to me being caught in a tough corner and probably facing a not so bright a future. Than again, that is educational and that is good for a TAR.

 

I guess I could get you up to speed with a couple of screens I took and a bit more writing. So what say you space pirates, HAAARRR?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
  • Create New...