Question 1-- I cannot figure out how to get to the multiplayer online games. I have an account set up through Impulse. It does not seem to take my username and password from that when I do the "Ironclad Online" button. Further, if I say "Create Account" it asks me for a CD key, which I cannot find in Impulse. Any ideas?
I have no idea; I haven't sent it up since April 2008. However, I am glad that you posted. I have been arguing, for some time, that part of the reason why the online multiplayer part of the game has low player counts is because new players have been having difficulty accessing it. Either they can't figure out how to log onto ICO or they purchased the game and never knew that they needed to get Impulse. (Impulse came into being after Sins was released, so presumably there are tens of thousands of players out there who are still playing v1.05 and wondering what the heck the Ironclad Online button is supposed to do. They probably think that the only multiplayer option is LAN.)
Second- the whole multiplayer thing is daunting to me since I have only played single player and am worried about being a noob in games. What's the best way of find noob-tolerant games once I can get in to the multiplayer? I think I am an OK player, but by noob I mean might need to figure out how not to rely on the pause button when real life needs attention, etc.
It's great that you have an interest in online multiplayer and in playing against human opponents. It's a very different game from playing against the AI because human opponents are capable of real strategy and tactics. I think that once you've learned the game on that level you'll lose interest in playing against the AI and you'll find that games against real opponents are more fulfilling, more suspenseful, more challenging, more interesting, and more meaningful.
Regardless of how much you've played against the AI, you will be a noob. (Everyone was a noob once.) What worked well against the AI probably won't work very well against human opponents. The best thing you can do to prepare for online multiplayer is to have mastered all of the basic game mechanics (know how to capture neutral extractors, know how to manage large numbers of ships, etc.) and to be familiar with each race, their tech trees, and their strengths and weaknesses relative to one another. It would also be good to read over Raging Amish's unit discussion guide which is a sticky post in the Strategy forum. (Read through that forum, too.)
The good news is that there are a number of new players around. For various reasons most of the experienced pros simply stopped playing the game for some reason. You are also more likely to find a higher proportion of new players on standard Sins. (Most of the pros who still play moved on to Diplomacy and there doesn't seem to be too many people playing Entrenchment now since most people who had Entrenchment bought Diplomacy.) Most of the 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 games are on Diplomacy. However, you can still find 2v2s and some 3v3s on Sins. So, I think your best bet is to start out by playing standard Sins. If you are daring and don't care about getting steamrolled then log onto Diplomacy and join one of the team games. Try to listen and follow the advice you receive from more experienced players who don't want you to die.
You will lose many games while you get up to speed, but that's just part of learning the game. (Even pros lose to other pros half the time.) What you need to do is to watch replays of your games and try to understand what you did wrong, how you were attacked, and what you might do differently next time. It's also good to watch what the experienced players did. What you need to learn--and what you can't learn from playing against AI--is how human players attack and defend and how they do it depending on what race they are. Ideally you want to be able to anticipate what kind of strategies your opponents might use and what kind of fleet they might build and how to counter it, etc.
Another thing you can do is learn to colonize quickly. Always start the game by sending out a couple scouts. Build your capital ship immediately and send it to your asteroid. Always take your asteroid first. Also, don't build more than two capital ships until later in the game. Capital ships might be great against AI but they will get focus fired on and knocked down by human opponents. You are much better off having a mass of your race's long range missile frigates (along with support frigates and a few carriers with fighters) than you are having a bunch of capital ships and no fleet.
I hope you figure out how to get online soon. You might also try emailing Ironclad at: [email protected] (I think that's the address.)
