theRetroboy

Let me cut and paste this for clarity, because it's extremely well said.[quote]I am uninterested in MP because I do not wish to min/max every aspect of the game and, since my enjoyment of the game comes from playing a turtle oriented game that emphasizes development over combat (and at the slowest game speed with frequent pausing to contemplate stategy), I would not enjoy playing a fast paced game emphasizing combat and quick rushes.[/quote] I'll add one bit: I like to pause just to watch a

I think that's his point. He came to a realization later. :) -- Retro

[quote]I wish. I think that's a 300+ skill. [/quote]Sorry, that level is reserved exclusively for IronClad programmers. The best you can get is 60, but you can unlock up to 70 if you pre-order the Sins expansion. :D :D -- Retro

[quote]Okay yeah there was on more question I had, but forgot to mention. Do the Advent's anti-matter rechargers recharge only ships? Or can they recharge orbital structures as well.[/quote]Dunno the answer, but isn't that one you can simply try in the game and figure out for yourself? Just turn autocast off and take control. :) -- Retro

[quote]Or you bring your capital ships to that system (that raises culture as well). [/quote]Not quite. Capital ships ONLY neutralize enemy culture, they do not produce any for your empire and do not add to its spread rate along phase lanes. You have to have the building for those. Scenario: you own a planet (with no Temple of Communion) between your own planet (with one Temple of Communion) and an enemy planet (with two Broadcast Centers). They're spewing out twice as much cul

Hi, and glad you like the game. Independent resource collectors are collected by special abilities of the Vasari scout and the TEC and Advent Colony ships. You send your ship to that gravity well and it's the option next to Explore or Colonize in the command panel in the lower right. It costs some antimatter so you'll likely have to wait to charge up before you can use it. -- Retro

Okay, this thread is all over the place so I'm going to step back in for a second.[quote]But the point of the post was, odds are high you'll be taking a LDT in the future, and theft/piracy is the main questions they ask about.[/quote]Holy hoppin' hippos NO NO NO. The huge majority of private companies in Canada don't go anywhere [B]near[/B] lie detector tests. I'm a consultant that has worked with lots of them, including some that are producing assets for the military, and not one of t

p5yy, I have a feeling you meant to post that in a different thread? -- Retro

I looked for information on how they did the tutorials because they seem to have the most scripted event-type actions but couldn't find anything that we can access ourselves. Through GalaxyForge, maybe? I would hazard a guess that some of that stuff *MIGHT* be coming available when Ironclad releases the expansion pack with the campaign in it. It depends on whether those complexities can be reached -- Retro

[quote]All i here is whine whine whine. LRM spam doesn't win games. I think some of u just dont want a bruised ego, and the rest are cynical about humanity in general.[/quote]Hi, no again, I'm neither of those things, and you've just reinforced my decision not to play online. -- Retro

Congratulations. You've now made kitchen sinks one of the scariest damn things in the Sins universe. :D That's excellent, Lost. I'd suggest you please reduce the saturation of the Marza muzzle flash, as it's a bit overpowering. Further, UEF does have a point with the purple hue on initial contact - pure white with a touch of yellow, maybe, fading to darker orange later? -- Retro

Normally I try to avoid being anal about spelling, but it took me a minute to realize that meant "co-ordinates". :) 1. Depends on whether you're SP or MP, but early advent arguably "best strategy" is going for illuminators. I build a Progenitor capital ship in SP first because it comes with early Colonize and its later power-ups are quite good. Dunno about #3 but I would assume phase missiles just ignore the shields and impact the hull when they successfully phase. -

Sorry, but no thanks. I'm not a big online gaming fan. I need a gaming experience that I can drop on a second's notice because one of the RetroKids is into something, or because RetroWife is giving me "that look". I can't guarantee I'll be ever able to devote a full hour to an MP game experience. :) -- Retro

I'll be stepping away from this thread because I don't want this to turn into an off-topic flamewar. But without getting all anal about it, I don't agree that music - or gaming - piracy was primarily created or is being driven by disaffection in the customer base at all. It was created and continues to be a problem because it's [I]convenient, fast, and free[/I]. Every track on an album sucking except for a single one that you wanted was true for most music well before Napster reared its head and

In SP, the secret is to play the black market. Vasari have two things that make them better at metal and crystal than anyone else: their scouts can capture independent mining rocks, and they get early buffs to resource extraction (it's only 1000 credits to buff both metal and crystal by 10%). So put the stuff up for sale on the black market to score cash to fund your shipbuilding. I generally only insta-sell it when I really need money quickly; otherwise on larger maps where there are numerous p

Here's a couple things (there's a lot more but I'm short on time). 1) Expand early. It's critical that you have at least a third of the map under your command by mid-to-late game. 2) Build lots of defenses at your chokepoint planets. This means turrets, regeneration bays, hangars, and the incredibly important Phase Jump Inhibitor. Lure them into your gravwell, and then bash them hard when they try and leave. 3) Manage your economy wisely. If you have thousands of cash sitting a

[quote]disaffected customers however, who are making up more and more of the piracy stats[/quote]Proof, please. The only actual times I've ever seen on this are pirates who [B]say[/B] they're disaffected as an excuse. -- Retro

Totally agree with your last comment - that's a no-brainer - but that is still no excuse for stealing. PC gaming is one of the retail areas where "caveat emptor" (buyer beware) does not apply because there's such an easy way to just steal it rather than provide proper payment to the people that are trying to entertain you. Yes, sometimes the result is a less-than-stellar gaming experience and sometimes it just sucks for everyone. But there's no excuse for stealing something that is cle

RagingAmish's MP path has several variants that can be quite successful when against Hard AI exclusively. Here's the one that I use, and I stress that it's not the *only* way to do it. Note that Hard AI is a lot more forgiving than MP against a veteran. 1) Immediately send one of your starting construction craft to build a crystal mine. 2) Buy 100 crystal on the black market. 3) Build a capital ship factory. Queue up a capital ship colonizer, and give it Colonization when it is

I've become attached to them as time passes, yes. As a game plays itself out and my little empire grows, I find myself sliding into thought patterns that resemble the psychology of the races. It's a tiny touch of roleplaying that adds to the game. -- Retro

Sorry, not that I know of. If you're playing single-player and you want to study it, you can hit the Pause key and halt the game, and that gives you all the time in the world to bring up infowindows on ships. -- Retro

Hi, thebadchopper. Can you please avoid the flaming? There is no call for personal insults like "Stop patrolling these forums in order to compensate for your lack of girlfriend." - it makes neither yourself nor the boards look good. Thanks. -- Retro

Sorry, to clarify, I meant no antimatter is consumed IN THE PHASE STABILIZER. The ships still lose their standard antimatter penalty from phase jumping. -- Retro

How they work is you select some ships in one gravwell with a phase stabilizer, and you right-click a second, different gravwell with a phase stabilizer in it. Your ships will then proceed to the edge of the first gravwell that is closest to the second phase stabilizer and fly to it, even though there is no visible "phase lane" between the start and finish. You don't have to select the phase stabilizer or move closer to it or anything - that's all handled automagically. Some notes:

Unless you spam them, turrets are mostly to delay a sizeable enemy attacking force until your own mobile fleet can get there. You can significantly increase their lifespan by building a regeneration bay in the immediate area. A good turret collection is invaluable if you're playing unfair AI as you can't be everywhere at once and you need some time to fend off the assaults from their grossly larger fleets. Hangar defenses are high-priority, and their strikecraft are really good for pick