View Issue Details
| ID | Project | Category | Date Submitted | Last Update | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0022549 | AI War 2 | Suggestion | Jan 7, 2020 12:37 pm | Oct 9, 2020 4:50 pm | |
| Reporter | cowforceseven | Assigned To | BadgerBadger | ||
| Status | closed | Resolution | unable to reproduce | ||
| Product Version | 1.025 Hotfix | ||||
| Summary | 0022549: Nanocaust are way too strong. | ||||
| Description | Even at one intensity versus a difficulty seven swarmer AI, nanocaust with immediate invasion can dominate the galaxy. I've been thinking about this for a while, so I'll put this into sections. Strength: I had a level 2 or 3 throw over 600 strength at me about one hour after the game started. I won that game, against a level 7 swarmer AI, because the nanocaust must've taken out the overlord before I even found it. They just get too many ships and throw them all around at once. Most of their planets will have 2 or 3 strength but then they have a super fleet or two that's about 400 strong. Other thsan having lots of strength, Dyson Sphere's become a liability. They really just feed the nanocaust ships, and since the nanocaust can convert them regardless of settings, I've seen some giant nanocaust fleets that had hundreds of strength in Dyson ships. My complicated fix is splitting them up a bit, with some more of their strength dedicated to defending planets (which can usually be cleared in seconds), and the rest spent in a more balanced offense, more like the AI. My simple one is just attritioning ships if they have to many relative to how many planets they own, so they can't get huge fleets without huge portions of the galaxy under their control. Planets: I don't know how useful conquering territory is for the nanocaust, they seem to be pretty strong with loads of planets and with only a few, but my real problem is trying to purge them. They like to retake planets that I've just cleared because I can't afford the AIP of keeping them for myself. They're even less balanced when paired with other factions. Marauders can set up full bases on nanocaust controlled worlds, and multiple nanocaust factions can set up bases on the same world. I love the new alliances feature, but the nanocaust especially become unstoppable with a few friends. Simple fix is a colonization cooldown for minor factions and only allowing one to own a planet. Complicated one is minor factions colonizing in a way more similar to usurper waves and again, one primary owner per planet. Boring: And finally, the nanocaust are a bit boring. They aren't as complex as the AI, when they become the primary threat the game is just a slog, trying to purge the entire galaxy. You take every planet cause the AI died a while back, throw huge fleets ant their huge fleets, raid worlds, hold against extremely repetitive waves, and slowly clear them out. I get that they're a "minor" faction and so shouldn't be as cool as the AI, but allowing them to take over the galaxy without making them be a fun large-scale threat seems off, and then making low intensity nanocaust be scary strong makes it easy for them to become that major threat. Simple fix is nerf the nanocaust in order to make them only become major players on high intensities, so they're only strong when you want them to be. On low intensities they should only rule a few worlds and find it extremely difficult to take high mark planets. Complicated fix is making them cool. The nanocaust can assimilate everything, right? So they could hijack almost any building, player or AI. Hacking targets might be nanocaust infested, requiring a purge first. Raid engines would work for them. And they should build more stuff on their worlds as well, like marauders. Multiple (probably weaker) hives with turrets/guardposts and maybe some special nanocaust things, like a nanobot emitter that makes any ships that dies from any cause on that world become nanocaust. Maybe it could work on nearby worlds too. I know that's a lot, but that's why I mentioned the simple fix first. This complicated stuff is my wishful thinking, an ideal nanocaust, but if you jut want to fix the problem, doing something like the simple fixes I mentioned should work fine. I've decided to stop playing with nanocaust until then, though I think I'll try one game where they are friendly. And it's a bit late, but it just snowed for the first time all year, so Merry Christmas. | ||||
| Tags | No tags attached. | ||||
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I've just had to buff the nanocaust due to numerous reports that it was too weak. In general, Immediate Invasion nanocaust are extremely scary, and if you use that setting then that's the strongest they'll ever be, and they can definitely dominate a galaxy. If that's not what you want, don't use Immediate Invasion. The nanocaust are as you said, a "minor faction"; if I tried to make every faction as cool/interactive as the AI then that's an extremely high bar. If you'd like more complex minor factions, check out some of the larger mods by Starkelp or NRSirLimbo, or the factions in DLC1 (and in DLC2 when that comes out) |
| Date Modified | Username | Field | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 7, 2020 12:37 pm | cowforceseven | New Issue | |
| Oct 9, 2020 4:45 pm | BadgerBadger | Assigned To | => BadgerBadger |
| Oct 9, 2020 4:45 pm | BadgerBadger | Status | new => closed |
| Oct 9, 2020 4:45 pm | BadgerBadger | Resolution | open => unable to reproduce |
| Oct 9, 2020 4:45 pm | BadgerBadger | Note Added: 0059126 | |
| Oct 9, 2020 4:46 pm | BadgerBadger | Note Edited: 0059126 | |
| Oct 9, 2020 4:46 pm | BadgerBadger | Note Edited: 0059126 | |
| Oct 9, 2020 4:50 pm | BadgerBadger | Note Edited: 0059126 |
