Beta 3B to 3Z

from Stardock Forums
Making good progress. I like the events and the things to find and exploit around the galaxy. I'm playing in a gigantic galaxy...all evil...Issues...

1. AIs don't seem to go after the goodies scattered about the galaxy much. They do go after the resources though.

2. Bradian AI seems too good :-)...ugly people! :D.. strong military and aggressive. Especially for a minor civ. Use it in a major civ.

3. Performance degrade significantly by the 2190s...(I think that's where I'm at...)..This is better in 3Z...May need more attention.

4. Couldn't attack pirate ships in 3B..Not sure in 3Z.
maybe related to ship stacking problems and such mentioned.

5. Habitable planets everywhere doesn't really yield that...planets seem scattered and not all that plentiful compared to what I remember on OS/2.

These are the main things I recall now. Will play more. Lost my beta 3 big game when I upgraded to 3B..had to start over.

Army No. Va.
162 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Bradian isn't in 3Z. It was just a test to see if the new strategies are better than the old.

That's the real challenge about a non-cheating AI. We actually have to program the AI to have specific strategies as opposed to the tried and true "Let's just give em a ton of free money and ships and let them overwhelm the human."

And I can tell ya, it's HARD. For instance, what you really want is a game where you can very possibly lose but that you actually win after a very challenging game.

So we have the AI not do things that it could do to make it harder but less fun (for instance, I could have it crank out tons of fighters that just make it virtually impossible to get a transport through. Or I could have it seamlessly have tours of duties for its ships sending damaged ships home to be returned by stronger ships - this would make the game slow down quite a bit later in the game).

But the real challenge is WHAT to build and WHEN.

I need to know whether it's better to go after resources early or whether you're better off building up other things earlier. And so on.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Hmmm...Bradian player is still in the game...but now lobotomized? I thought it was very efficient of it to grab the minor civ planets even faster than I could. I'm playing in a gigantic galaxy with all set to evil so there ain't much war going on (at least for me). I'm only at war with the Torian....effectively out of reach on the other side of the galaxy (till I get a starbase built). In this scenario, one wants to build manufacturing capability and population (means social programs like entertainment, and othr morale builders). The Drengins surrendered to me. The Yor are weak. My first goal was to get the Arceans...fairly close to me. Am going to declare war after I get some antimatter plants built and avatars. I'm gtting close. I was going to save Bradian for last.

One can still trade techs with people you re at war with...doesn't seem right (maybe this is Beta 3B).

I'm not even sur what the resources do...but I've got a couple of them now.
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Army No. Va.

Something about what you are saying makes me want to ask: are you playing a game on 3Z that you started on 3B?
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Yes, This is a game that was started under 3B. Perhaps this is a mistake. It seems to work OK..in fact, better than 3B did.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Army No. Va.

In the announcement for Beta 3z Brad made a point of telling us NOT to restart a game on 3z that had been saved on a previous build.
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
I missed that. It seems the 3B game works better under 3Z than 3B. Esp wrt performance. Thanks.