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Classicvibe
Classicvibe
Join Date 07/2010
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8+ hour game >.>

January 9, 2012 5:49:41 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

So, um, I'm an on and off player that comes back to SoaSE every few weeks, and a few days ago I tried a FFA 8 player single player map on hard, I think with 5 stars and maybe, 80 planets? TEC, normally Advent but the economic aspects of TEC attracted me (I'm big on eco) Entrenchment installed, no Diplomacy

 

So yeah, massive map.  I'm more accustomed to something like 2v2 or 3v3 medium maps with locked teams, so I was sorta new to all of the missions and alliances.

 

The only problem is that I've ran massive maps with similar AI counts in much faster time, only I think this time the big difference is that there's no allied victory (at least I don't think so, so I have to defeat 7 AI's on my own rather than 4 with the help of 3).  It took me several hours to defeat one AI because I'd been allied with him so long that he'd reached endgame with a maxed fleet - invading his planets directly always led to a loss so I ended up building four starbases on a star to intercept his fleet, as well as parking my own there.  Was ridiculously effective (I lost like 15 ships and wiped out his entire fleet) but not cost effective....

 

Anyways, I've finally reached that point where my eco/emp/mili are all ranked at 1, maxed fleet, yada yada, so the game's just become some massive mop up effort.

 

But, given that's it's been 8 hours, I think the glaring question here is how on Earth(or um, the galaxy) should I try to speed up these games?  I usually have one or two fleets running around destroying and colonizing planets, and a bunch of starbases on chokepoints or "border" planets to block off any attacks from an AI that I'm not currently invading.  I'm not bad at microing, but I've gotten this lazy viewpoint where all I need is a bigger fleet to take out the smaller one, so I don't usually attack unless I have the numerical advantage, at which point tactics aren't really needed anymore. 

I'm not too big on rushing though, so I normally try to avoid any conflicts early game, focus on expanding as much as possible instead.  Or am I reaping the benefits of trying to play an 8 player game on a large map >.>

 

Anyways, if you're here then you've read my wall-o-text, so thanks for any replies ^^

strategy
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Classicvibe
Pbhead
Join Date 12/2008
+77
Reply #1 January 9, 2012 6:06:29 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

not suprising really.

 

personally. you should prolly try multiplayer if you want shorter games. people will generally gg when the game is basicly desided.

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Classicvibe
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
+240
Reply #2 January 9, 2012 7:38:12 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

There are some mods that make the game go a bit faster, though most in general prolong the game....

Other than that, the only two things you have left are game speed and improving your gameplay...

Remember that most of the economic techs are not very cost effective and have outrageous payoff times for all but the largest empires...so, don't waste your time researching them and just go for wiping out players quickly...the more you get into a habit of entrenching yourself, researching everything, then fleeting up, the more you are just prolonging a game unnecessarily...

 

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Classicvibe
Pupetier
Join Date 10/2009
+27
Reply #3 January 10, 2012 6:07:11 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

When I play ais i play either teams or ffa all vicious once I am able to stand on my own feed and am on ofensive i usually just quit and dont play mop up game...

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Classicvibe
Seleuceia
Join Date 01/2008
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Reply #4 January 10, 2012 6:29:46 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

That's generally how I feel, and I have a habit of not finishing the majority of my games for that very reason...once you know you are going to win, I hardly see the point...and its not like Sins gives you a "Gold Star" for finishing the game to the bitter end...

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Classicvibe
psychoak
Join Date 07/2007
+225
Reply #5 January 10, 2012 6:30:51 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

As TEC, against the AI, a high level Kol and a few Dunovs will go a long way in that situation.  Run the Kol in just ahead of the rest of your fleet, and it will take most of the fire, manually restore shields to keep it around.  You should be able to break AI defenses with a large mixed fleet no problem.  Once you break that first outer world, rapidly move through the inner soft targets, that don't have starbases, saving the rest for last.  You should be able to trash most of the resistance as you work through the planets with few casualties.  Run a large contingent of siege frigates and a few escorting Marza's in behind them and you can rapidly move from planet to planet, polishing off the defenses and moving to the next, letting your siege group finish the job.

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Classicvibe
Darvin3
Join Date 12/2008
+177
Reply #6 January 11, 2012 2:32:33 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

If there are 80 colonizable planets, and you capture one planet every 5 minutes on average, that's 400 minutes to capture everything (almost 7 hours) even if you have no setbacks whatsoever.  A scenario this large is going to take a long time, end of story.

In any case, your best approach on such scenarios is always lots of bombers.  If you can get about 100 squadrons, you can vapourize most fleets before they even get close.  This will torch pretty much anything; starbases, capital ships, structures, frigates, whatever.  Complement with support units of your chocie and go to town.

In all honesty, I find such huge games boring because once you have a good starbase line, a solid economy, and a big fleet of bombers, not even the vicious AI poses a credible threat.  The only real difficulty is the first 30-60 minutes to survive to become a mature empire.

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Classicvibe
Wrath89
Join Date 05/2011
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Reply #7 January 11, 2012 1:18:10 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

But, given that's it's been 8 hours, I think the glaring question here is how on Earth(or um, the galaxy) should I try to speed up these games?

Play single-star maps instead. They'll drastically decrease the time required for games.

I'm more accustomed to something like 2v2 or 3v3 medium maps with locked teams, so I was sorta new to all of the missions and alliances.

I for one can't stand the AI's diplomacy system and the ridiculous missions they tell me to do...

It took me several hours to defeat one AI because I'd been allied with him so long that he'd reached endgame with a maxed fleet - invading his planets directly always led to a loss so I ended up building four starbases on a star to intercept his fleet, as well as parking my own there.  Was ridiculously effective (I lost like 15 ships and wiped out his entire fleet) but not cost effective....

You'd be better off focusing on your fleet instead... the problem with starbases is that they cost a ton and once the battle is over and the planet is yours, the funds are gone and unusable.

Bombers work well, as Darvin said, especially around a star; free antimatter regeneration, AND a very large space for the enemy to move over to get to your carriers.

If you're to the point where you're bored playing long games against the AI, I recommend coming online, where the games are much shorter (30 minutes to an hour is common) and much more strategically engaging.

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Classicvibe
WHIPperSNAPper2008
Join Date 03/2008
+126
Reply #8 January 11, 2012 2:00:33 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Greg30007,
reply 3
When I play ais i play either teams or ffa all vicious once I am able to stand on my own feed and am on ofensive i usually just quit and dont play mop up game...

Just for clarification, an online multiplayer PvP game (no AIs) would probably take about 1-2 hours to play.  Free for alls (FFA) tend to take a little longer, but team games go faster since players on the losing team will call it quits once the outcome has been clearly decided.

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Classicvibe
RiddleKing
Join Date 04/2006
+32
Reply #9 January 13, 2012 8:19:53 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting Seleuceia,
reply 2
There are some mods that make the game go a bit faster, though most in general prolong the game....

 

hihi-you should consider a career in sales and advertising modder. 

 

With regards to AI stomps please choose human players and if you have no choice but to play the ai then learn to play an "unfair" difficulty ai- not that its any help to your skills but it will help you learn the basics in more detail. 

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Classicvibe
Wrath89
Join Date 05/2011
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Reply #10 January 13, 2012 8:58:58 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

No need to be an ass, RiddleKing.

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Classicvibe
RiddleKing
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #11 January 14, 2012 9:05:09 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Quoting RiddleKing,
reply 9

Quoting Seleuceia, reply 2There are some mods that make the game go a bit faster, though most in general prolong the game....



 

hihi-you should consider a career in sales and advertising modder. 

 

With regards to AI stomps please choose human players and if you have no choice but to play the ai then learn to play an "unfair" difficulty ai- not that its any help to your skills but it will help you learn the basics in more detail. 

 

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Classicvibe
RiddleKing
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #12 January 14, 2012 9:11:37 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

He puts a disclaimer for a public forum message----and that should tell you everything you need to know about riddleking.

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