Novalith Cannon Problems

from Sins Forums
I have two issues with the Novalith Cannons (and all superweapons, really) that are making the game unplayable for me:

1. (bug??) In a multiplayer game (2 human players, 8 AI) where I had a peace treaty with the other player, that player's novalith cannons (set to autocast) would bombard any planet I defeated and colonized, seemingly the instant I colonized it. The player was also at peace with the AI I was bombing, though I don't think it is relevant as on subsequent re-colonizations (after the planet had been bombarded and was colonizable again), the minute I would colonize it, another barrage of novalith cannons would launch. In essence, once the other human player got to scale with enough cannons, I was completely unable to expand any further.

2. (this has been the case since release) Novalith cannons and all super weapons state in their description (as best I remember) that they can attack "within a star system."  However, in multi-star games, they will launch attacks to other star systems, which travel at intra-stellar speeds. Thus, you may be well into changing the landscape of another star system to find your own super weapon attacks coming at you 30+ minutes later and wiping you out!


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Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
2. (this has been the case since release) Novalith cannons and all super weapons state in their description (as best I remember) that they can attack "within a star system." However, in multi-star games, they will launch attacks to other star systems, which travel at intra-stellar speeds. Thus, you may be well into changing the landscape of another star system to find your own super weapon attacks coming at you 30+ minutes later and wiping you out!
End of quote

They've always done that, though i don't think I've read the descriptions.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Looking back, regarding the inter-stellar capability, the descriptions are not clear either way, though I had always interpreted them as intra-stellar.

"Kostura Cannon"
"A powerful weapon capable of launching a massive energy shockwave at nearby planets."

"Deliverance Engine"
"A potent device capable of projecting the Unity's presence to distant worlds, resulting in a sharp increase in your empire's culture there."

"Novalith Cannon"
"A weapon of immense power, it is capable of bombarding planets from across a star system."


In any case, it has been there since release, and it's not a big deal. #1 is a nightmare right now, though.
Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
The shell takes a LONG time to get there though; are you sure it wasn't fired on the planet, siege completed, you colonized, THEN the shell hit? As you described it as 'just when the planet was colonized' it doesn't sound like it was fired while you controlled the planet.

If you don't scout much a planet you just get to might be one of few targets being shot at, making it much more likely for this to happen, as well.

Solution: Scout more or autofire less.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Well, he also says the human player with the autofiring cannons wasn't at war with said AI, so in theory shells shouldn't have been on the way to those planets already when he colonized.

To the OP: Do you have a save of this?
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Correct -- this behavior happened over the course of an hour or so. The original occupants of the planet were at peace with the other human, then I took the planet. Shortly thereafter, a barrage of cannon fire destroyed the colony. (again, I have a peace treaty with the human player by this point). Then, when the bombardment radiation faded, I recolonized, and shortly thereafter, another barrage of cannon fire wiped the colonies out.

The concept I have is that the autocast logic is getting triggered without regard for player alignment when the planet transitions from one state to another (colonized, uncolonized, however it's represented).

Save game can be found here: Multiplayer Save Game.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
(note -- I was playing the Vasari character, should be slot 1)