Cykur

I find it interesting that the topic dominating the forums is Impulse instead of the actual game balance changes. I remember the first time I used Stardock Central, I was like, "What the heck is this?" But I figured out how it worked, and quickly came to appreciate how it could auto-patch or reinstall my game if needed. As a customer, I like Impulse. At the very least I can just use it like I currently use Stardock Central, to purchase, download, and auto-patch my games. But I also

Hey Drexion!! Yah, I came back to Sins a couple weeks ago -- almost everyone is gone! Unfortunately, I have some big projects looming so I might have to take a break again. You read right, scouts will go from 25% - 50% against most of the non-light armors. But this will make them only slightly less useless against those armor types because their damage is so low. I don't think we have too much to worry about from scouts. The real benefactor here is fighter squadrons! They are also

[quote]An Amish in a starship? It's hell on the horse... T[/quote] Well, there is a plus side. In outer space, if the horse gets tired, you can actually carry it for a while. Besides, they don't weigh so much after they have been in zero gee for a while.

[quote]I think that a much needed change that wanst included is a change to those planetary superweapons. When things get to a cetrain point in large games such as 3v3 or 4v4, everyonce can focus fire on 1 person without even having to post a fleet. I have lost several games in this manner, planets getting killed wihtout thier fleet ever setting foot in or near the systems getting killed. Imo you should at least have to have a scout in the system to fire the planet-killers at it[/quote]

Based on your definitions, I would consider Starcraft to be softcap -- you had to build structures and protect them to maintain your capacity. Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander is a better example of no-cap. To be honest, a hard-cap game, by your definition, would actually control peoples strategies a lot more than soft cap. A good game should reward unit diversity via gameplay, not artificial unit caps. That way people build what they think will suit their immediate strategy

Strikecraft are killed so easily by flak that the boost to Carrier Cruisers will hopefully make them a little more effective. Flak is such a hard counter that carriers are often pretty marginalized. You might have had some good success with them in your games, but most people get pretty annoyed when their twenty carriers are neutralized by 4-5 flaks. I almost always play Vasari, they are my favorite race. I am not that concerned with the changes to RA. Vasari DO need something like

While I'm willing to only give you a 4/10 for knowledge of game mechanics, your sarcasm rates an 8/10.

Good morning Amish! One comment on the Kortul -- for a long time this was my favorite capship. Disruptive Strikes made it capable of taking on just about any cap head to head, including a Kol or a Radiance. But I wouldn't count on it to stop a Sova rush. I have tried =( Good Sova rushers just fly around the outskirts of your system, and it is brutally hard to keep them in range for long enough to let Disruptive Strikes work, cap ships being as unwieldy as they are... I find it is more e

Strikecraft could be used effectively vs fleets using repulsion if they weren't themselves countered so hard by flak. Most people are carrying some flak with them by this stage of the game. There is no clear counter to Repulsion, since there are usually 50+ Illuminators parked next to the Guardians. The ships that can counter the Guardians (Cobalts or a Dunov) get singled out by a smart player and die so fast to the Illuminators that it isn't funny. The reason Repulsion is so powerful is bec

While the Vasari capships look a little weak on paper, you won't really notice the difference in the game. What you will notice is how powerful some abilities seem vs others. Ultimately, capships are support ships to frigate fleets, and the abilities they bring to the fight define them much more than 200-300 shield or structure points. And yes, Advent caps have very powerful abilities -- in the first patches of the game, the consensus was that the powerful Advent caps made up for the frigates

The original point of the thread was colonizer caps vs other caps. If someone wants to build a Kol instead of an Akkan, that is perfectly understandable. A Kol is a rock solid choice that fits certain playstyles. But then came the distinctly bad advice that will mess up new players -- to build a second capship. As both Raging Amish and myself tried to point out, the cost of immediately building a second cap is just too high. The money you spend getting your second cap could have ins

Lot of good changes. Glad that carriers seem to be getting an increased role. I'm eager to see how the new RA plays out. I like Vasari, but I have no problem admitting that unlimited free ships for life is kind of overpowered. Putting a cost on it allows it to still provide a way for the end game Vasari economy to keep up without tipping the scale too far in favor of Vasari. I knew the Subverter was going to take some kind of hit, but I'm a little shocked to see the Distorti

Sword of the Stars has more detailed ship combat, but it is also has a slow paced strategy map component. Sins is better for faster games. SotS games take all day...or week.

Interfectus -- if you build a second cap, you also have to research the logistics to open up a second cap ship slot (1200,0,75). This is roughly the money you should be spending to research your long range frigate. Your cap ship takes up 50 fleet points, roughly 8 Illums / Assailants or 12 LRM's. Even considering you will not have as much firepower per cost, you will top out sooner as well. You mention that the frigate fleet will incrementally lose power as individual ships die, but guess wh

Yeah, I'm having the same problem here in LA. Someone needs to wake up and power cycle the login server or replace the hamster or whatever. =) But seriously, ICO Login definitely is not working right now.

While I would love to see some new ships or structures that somehow added to the strategic options and depth of the game, I will be pretty satisfied if the game is totally stable and everyone can host. The multiplayer community has been badly hurt by many players being unable to change their firewalls (at college) or being too lazy to learn how. That and desync crashes pretty much killed this game's chance of having a large online community.

Play vs the computer on small maps, but don't turtle -- play to outright dominate the computer and out-maneuver it. When you can do this to an "Unfair" AI, move to multiplayer. Building shit loads of defense and taking forever to win is more for singleplayer, it won't teach you much about the fluidity of multiplay. Read the strategy forums here. Everything you could ask has been discussed. No need to type it all over again.

I think for Advent, it is really hard to argue against the Mothership. For Vasari and TEC, it comes down to style and map. If you pick a ship that favors your playstyle and the specifics of the map, you can do very well with a number of ships.

Long Range Frigates totally own the basic attack frigates. You only make basic attack for some very early game military before you get long range, or late game to use their abilities to mess with support cruiser anti matter. Maybe to kill Flak if you don't have HC's yet. It has no other use.

[quote]Oh, okay. Hang on lemme get my phone.Yes, Mr. President? Yeah, I know you're busy... yes but... but Mr. President that's kind of what I'm calling about. IDMopman wants you to call it off. Yeah, the bombing... yes, I know but he thinks it's a bad idea... IDMopman, with an M not an N, yeah he seems to be pretty serious about it... okay Mr. President... okay, I'll tell him.IDMopman, the President wanted me to tell you to fuck off.[/quote] I know I'm late in the thread, but

If the computer is dominating you, you need to go watch the replays and see how it is playing more efficiently than you. Better yet, find a replay online, and watch how a good player starts his game. Keep playing against 1 computer on normal on a small map. Don't think defensively "how can I protect myself from the computer", think offensively "How can the computer protect itself from me?" Harass it, raid it, scout it and try to anticipate or attack its main fleet when you find an ad

Lots of good stuff and more than enough theory. Just a few comments: You don't really choose trade ports OR expansion -- you always expand -- just have to decide whether you are also putting up tradeports early as well. Good commentary on "the window" from P5YY. Scout your opponent. When you reach the point where you are ready to possibly build trade ports, if your opponent is capable of attacking you in 15 minutes or less, build military and plan for the attack. If

So what's everyone up to these days? I log in now and then (rarely) and never see anyone.

The Kortul Devastator becomes dangerous to other caps at level 2 when it has both the shield / damage boost ability and Disruptive Strikes.

There is always going to be some form of online griefing or harassment. The most determined will always find some way to be annoying -- and for those people the ban stick will probably be the answer. But I think in 90% of the situations, just a simple ignore list will suffice.