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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0001181AI War 1 / ClassicSuggestion - Balance TweaksJan 3, 2011 11:45 am
ReporterTheDeadlyShoe Assigned ToChris_McElligottPark  
Status closedResolutionwon't fix 
Product Version4.028 
Summary0001181: Raid Engines: Too mean
DescriptionIn my last couple games they've been launching 1000-ship Mk3 waves every 4 minutes. (High ship caps.) And they're a mix of Triangle ships, meaning you can't counter the raid, you have to commit a full fleet of your own. 300+ mk 3 bombers is just insanely tough in the first couple hours, when im not even fielding mk3s of my own yet.

I usually found that I could either soak the Raid Engines attacks or attack the Raid Engine, not both. I couldn't smash-n-grab the Raid Engine because of AI Eyes, and overall tough defenses; I have an easier time smashing AI homeworlds than Eye'd Raid Engines.

Their high tech level, plus the extreme rapidity of the wave respawn, makes it basically untenable to pick a fight anywhere near a raid engine. I'm all for the basic mechanic, but the attacks it mounts are far far too powerful.

Suggestion: Raid Engines should use the base AI tech level instead of inheriting it from the planet. Or, the strength and respawn rate of their waves should be reduced, such that it isnt drastically more powerful than normal AI waves.
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Chris_McElligottPark

Nov 8, 2010 8:03 am

administrator   ~0002896

The purpose of Raid Engines is to beat you into the ground if you set them off. The purpose of THAT is to make it so that you're inclined to do extra scouting and never take a planet without clearing any adjacent raid engines first. The thing with them taking on the properties of their parent planet is even more incentive.

The reason I put this into feedback level, though, is this: are you seeing Raid Engines next to your starting position? If so, that's something I do need to change, as that's just super penalizing (especially on something like Spokes).

TheDeadlyShoe

Nov 8, 2010 9:16 am

reporter   ~0002909

No, not right next to a homeworld. The closest I've gotten is 2 jumps away, which was annoying enough since it cut off half the jumps from my homeworld(s). Realistic-Hubs, IIRC.

Chris_McElligottPark

Nov 8, 2010 9:25 am

administrator   ~0002915

Okay, sounds like this is correct, then -- the relevant strategy here is to go kill the raid engine before it has a chance to lay down the hurt on you. Their purpose is to encourage better scouting and an increased need to raid, so it sounds like they're doing their job. :)

orzelek

Nov 8, 2010 10:54 am

reporter   ~0002928

Have you considered the fact that killing a raid engine under current uber forcefield on Mk III/IV planet maybe simply not doable when you just started and have only Mk I/II ships?

Chris_McElligottPark

Nov 8, 2010 12:10 pm

administrator   ~0002933

Then that might mean you simply can't expand over to that part of the galaxy just yet -- having to go somewhere else instead. That happens for more reasons than just the raid engines, and also seems perfectly valid to me.

That said, with early scouting done properly, you have enough starting knowledge that you should be able to unlock higher-level bomber or siege or raid starships to accomplish your goal of killing that thing if it's really important to you to do so early on.

The problem -- by design -- comes when players don't scout at the start and thus aren't prepared for whatever roadblock planet is then keeping them from getting to the goal that they otherwise would easily take. The solution is not then to take the planet anyway, as the Raid Engine is supposed to smash you to dust then. ;)

Assuming that players scout effectively and prioritize early, there shouldn't be any planet that can't be surprise-attacked-and-taken if the players are really determined to do so. In MOST maps. Sometimes a map seed is just really brutal or overly easy, and that's just a part of the randomization of the game, too.

KDR_11k

Nov 8, 2010 12:47 pm

reporter   ~0002948

Are they nuke-proof?

Chris_McElligottPark

Nov 8, 2010 12:51 pm

administrator   ~0002951

I don't recall -- but force fields are not, so you could definitely open them up to attack that way if you really had to. I suspect they are not nuke-proof, too.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Nov 8, 2010 6:25 am TheDeadlyShoe New Issue
Nov 8, 2010 8:03 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0002896
Nov 8, 2010 8:03 am Chris_McElligottPark Assigned To => Chris_McElligottPark
Nov 8, 2010 8:03 am Chris_McElligottPark Status new => feedback
Nov 8, 2010 9:16 am TheDeadlyShoe Note Added: 0002909
Nov 8, 2010 9:16 am TheDeadlyShoe Status feedback => assigned
Nov 8, 2010 9:25 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0002915
Nov 8, 2010 9:25 am Chris_McElligottPark Status assigned => resolved
Nov 8, 2010 9:25 am Chris_McElligottPark Resolution open => won't fix
Nov 8, 2010 10:54 am orzelek Note Added: 0002928
Nov 8, 2010 12:10 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0002933
Nov 8, 2010 12:47 pm KDR_11k Note Added: 0002948
Nov 8, 2010 12:51 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0002951
Jan 3, 2011 11:45 am Chris_McElligottPark Status resolved => closed