1Tiberius1

Nope, once upon a time the Desolator would just drop the platform wherever it was during bombing. This meant the platforms didn't have enough range to hit the planet and would just float there, uselessly. So if you left it to auto-cast, it wouldn't work at all unless the ship was engaged in combat next to the planet first and didn't move away. Also of concern is that the the auto-cast scripting isn't always polished. For example, take the Radianc

[quote who="Souls-Stream" reply="33" id="2907643"]So you mean the ship move halfway through the gravity well before deploying it's platform? *argh*[/quote] With or without Pinpoint Bombardment the Desolator will indeed move toward the planet to deploy the siege platform. So the best case is to toggle the auto-cast on or off based on the situation. With the buff to Phase Missile Swarm and the like, you might consider keeping your antimatter up for that instead.&

[quote who="Kamamura_CZ" reply="4" id="2907717"]I want flying saucers that abduct cows![/quote] Then you should go play Destroy All Humans. Upgradable UFO = Stealing Fun You better watch out what you wish for though, with Rebellion around the corner. Word from secret sources in the outer fringe sectors suggests that the Space Ponies are gathering together and building their own Titan, with the full intention of taking Candy Mountain ba

Eh, turns out it is more like halfway through the gravity well. Excepting the Desolator, which has extra range and can bomb from more like 75% out from the planet.

[quote who="quietben" reply="7" id="2907324"]SOOOOOO. What does this "upgrade" do for me?[/quote] Check out the full changelog here: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/406435 In short, it rebalances pirates to be quite playable(the AI will bid on each other too, based on who seems to be the most dangerous-- military ranking might be the mechanic behind it). It also t

Yeah, pulse beam research is very lame. Heck, pulse research in general is lame, since it only really affects Skirmishers. I mean, you aren't going to spam starbases. But, at least against the AI, Pinpoint Bombardment would allow for some fun hijinx. For example, Kostura Cannon + lvl 6 Marauder(for the return trip) + Destructors = insta-bombing anywhere in the solar system. I also always micromanage capital ships when they bomb. Speaking of

Well, you should at the very least see beta testing by Q4 2011. If it takes a bit longer to get the game running smoothly, so be it.

[quote who="Brillig" reply="27" id="2906653"] Except that the metacritic user reviews were already 'defrauded' by an organized campaign to post low scores. I find that morally objectionable as well. Unfortunately, the nature of the internet and metacritic leaves little alternative but to fight fire with fire.[/quote] First sentence, I agree with you, but it is irrelevant. Second sentence, I agree on that. The third sentence? You c

I wonder if the Pirate Rogue is the one with Timed Explosives... It just reminds me of an ancient thread I made... The Embargo ability seems appropriate too. I'd love to send them on a mission to a heavy trade world just to pop all those trade frigates. "Fresh 'fer the taking! Yar!" [e digicons]:borg:[/e] For those that like reading massive walls o' text from yesteryear: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/377796

I'm making a huge deal out of it??? I'm explaining the principle behind it. You're trying to deflect that into a 'no harm, no foul' argument. Take, as an example, students who cheat on class work and tests in high school. You can argue that they aren't causing any harm, but the principles behind what they are doing is most definitely morally objectionable. The same goes for plagiarism and the like. The Bioware employee in this case is fraudulently misrepres

Will DL now! Most of that sounds juicy. One question though, what was the line of thought behind the change to Raider Xenophobia for the Vasari? If pirates start weaker, the tech likely wouldn't be abusable, no? Also, I'm not sure what units are being used to describe Pinpoint Bombardment's boost, but the change sounds like you can practically bomb a planet from the very edge of a visible gravity well now. [e digicons

The Bioware employee IS allowed to offer his opinion of his game. But he should identify himself as such beforehand. E.g. we know a company will tout their own products. If they say something negative, it is said in code words. You know, as a random example, instead of saying, "Yes, we now know people think our combat sucks," they'll instead say something like, "We've considered fan feedback and are revamping our combat to make it more enjoyable than ever! (Buy our gam

But I would still like to see it. The lone player holding off a doomsday fleet that just doesn't stop. ^_^

My general rule for refineries is that they can work well if you have 10+ extractors in the area of effect and expect the game to proceed for at least one more hour. This gives a nice cushion to ensure that the refinery will produce a tidy profit.

Generally speaking, the smaller the map, the more you want to lean towards a combat-proficient capital ship. But don't fall for the trap of neglecting frigates because of that. Low level capital ships are, with few exceptions, easy prey for a fleet. But if they're backed with a fleet, a capital ship can gain lots of free experience against an opponent and utilize its skills to turn the tide even more. And yeah, currently carrier capital ships are strong choices for com

A number of the features you mention are possible to manage in Sins now, without specific formations being set. Support ships and carriers generally stay near the rear, though the former will move forward to attack if you leave them on auto-attack. Support ships often favor capital ships now when it comes to auto-cast behavior: e.g. Hoshis love repairing TEC cap ships. Heavy combat ships should form the front line, and they do now(though they are very suscep

Speaking of scouts and flaks to clear mines, the devs mentioned in a release note that you can set up a scout and flak together as a mini-fleet, with the scout as the flagship. Set cohesion to tight and the flak will follow the scout around and help clear out mines. Though a number of players will just jump in several scouts and let them do their own thing. Making fleets creates some annoying auto-join moments if you aren't planning ahead to avoid such scenarios. This

Also, download patch version 1.20 once it gets released(or get the beta now if you want). The duration is being cut from 120 to 75, IIRC. That should prevent level 5 Skirantras from 'Scrambling' up to 12 squads of bombers each beyond their normal capacity.

Not to mention Sins already has a mechanism for dwindling economies as the game progresses, fleet supply upkeep percentages. Every tick drops your econ by 8-10% down to 25% of its original value if maxed. As mentioned, trade ports are the only real way to keep economies going with high upkeep. Once someone's fleet collapses their empire is basically a popped balloon.

I seem to recall at some point early on mention of research labs affecting build times, like it was a feature that was intended at first but later dropped. Perhaps the impact was too minor to worry about.

[quote who="Zeta1127" reply="31" id="2904228"]The pirates aren't the only one who can claim bounties, any one who attacks the player with a price on their head can claim the bounty.[/quote] Yeah, and IIRC, the AI will take bounty into consideration when deciding who to attack. E.g. if an AI is fighting two other factions and you put bounty on one of them, it will most likely influence which enemy is attacked. Obviously all bets are off with human players. If a player

Just to remix things a bit, as others have said, concentrate early research on getting long range frigates. These often form the very backbone of a fleet, and most definitely do so during the earlier parts of a game(perhaps ending the game outright if it is a small 1v1). Don't bother much with other research early on, as getting more ships instead provides a bigger benefit. In general the good early research includes: long range frigates with flak frigates after that to prot

All you'd need for ships to follow each other is a specific follow option, set manually and distinct from fleets. Other than something like Supreme Commander or the older Age of Empires 2, you normally don't see that level of formation or pattern setting. Sup Com in particular let you set up advanced series of orders for units, such as automating ferrying services for slow land-based units with different aerial transports. The best you can do as a workaround during s

Games are going the Twitter route. Instead of 140 characters or less, the philosophy is to make things take 14 seconds or less. [e digicons]:puke:[/e]

Yeah, usually if it is safe to do so, I'll start with a Progenitor and utilize the discount to make room for a culture building. The allegiance shift at your homeworld will provide an extra 1.0 credit/second income (or more, depending on game settings), along with extra metal and crystal, making it comparable to an initial trade port. That should help you fund regular trade ports once you get to tier 3 in the civilian tree. Speaking of the Progenitor, it can function as a po