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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0023954AI War 2SuggestionOct 13, 2020 8:37 pm
ReporterStrategic Sage Assigned ToChris_McElligottPark  
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Product Version2.608 MP Deduplication And Bugfixes 
Fixed in Version2.611 AI Defensive Huddle 
Summary0023954: Suggestion: Add clearing out alerted planets as an Intel Report objective
DescriptionPursuant to this team discussion thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/573410/discussions/0/2968393780782253164/

Planets Mk IV or higher neighboring existing human planets are what I would suggest alerting the player to, with a brief blurb explaining what it means for one to be on alert and getting a higher portion of reinforcements. I'm thinking a fairly high-priority placement in the Intel report but not overly so as the importance varies with the situation.
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Asteroid

Oct 12, 2020 12:12 am

reporter   ~0059153

Seconded. I think it's easy for people who need the Intel Report's guidance to overlook how problematic a neighboring level IV-V system can become. Get distracted raiding stuff around the map, and come back to find an impenetrable wall with a 5 to 1 or even 10 to 1 ratio to forces you can realistically muster. If it's a chokepoint, it's probably an immediate priority to neuter it while you still can. Otherwise it's still probably a good idea to neuter it to avoid some serious trouble when reinforcements are released from there by a CPA.

Arides

Oct 12, 2020 5:51 am

reporter   ~0059158

Seconded. AI reinforcements of alerted planets are one of the key "hidden" mechanics of this game, yet it gets very little attention (I believe it's mentioned once in a tutorial). Having several alerted high-level planets might generate insane amounts of AI ships over time, and without knowing this mechanic, the player is left confused about "where these guys came from" and "why am I dead again". Some way of bringing the player's attention to this fact might be useful.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 12, 2020 12:03 pm

administrator   ~0059168

So, on the surface, I like this idea, kinda-sorta, but I have mixed feelings and for now went another way. Here's my overall reasoning:

1. If this is truly a thing that is and remains super dangerous, then yeah we do need an intel report objective or journal entry or both.

2. However, this is really not meant to be a thing. The fact that is was a thing was one of MANY reasons leading to the overhaul to the sentinels reinforcement logic in the next version. I'm not convinced that this will still be a thing, or at least not nearly so severe a thing, in the next version. It really should not be.

3. After reading the discussion in question, and thinking about some things that we were seeing internally on alert-level-3 planets in particular, I instead made a whole bunch of other changes to hopefully prevent this from being such a thing: https://steamcommunity.com/app/573410/discussions/0/2968393780782253164/?ctp=2#c2968393780785090632

IF this still remains a substantial thing in future versions, or something else seems out of balance, then let's talk about that and see what's going on. It might be that in that case CPAs aren't clearing enough guards anymore, or some other problem. This whole thing exists in kind of a balanced ecosystem, and really what was happening is that the balance was very out of whack in the old reinforcement system, leading to situations like this which I never really wanted to have happen.

The root cause of this was an overly-simplistic reinforcement model in AI War 2 compared to AI War 1, and that was just something that I had never really paid enough attention to because there were always more pressing things. But now the new system is a lot more like what AI War 1 used, except hopefully even better, and so hopefully this becomes a non-issue.

Neutering worlds is supposed to be something you can do for fun and profit when there's a specific situation that requires it, but not as a matter of course on EVERY planet that borders you, even on higher difficulties. That is tedious busywork if it's always required.

Strategic Sage

Oct 12, 2020 3:37 pm

reporter   ~0059173

Sounds like a plan. The only other thing that might be worth saying is that I find it's pretty much always something you want to do regardless of whether there's a massive buildup on the high-mark worlds, for the purpose of being able to go clean out threat, warden fleet, etc. I.e. not an essential on moderate difficulties early game but once special forces starting ramping up, yes. I don't really see a good way around that if the warden fleet is going to do it's job, but definitely will wait and see how it looks with the changes.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 12, 2020 3:56 pm

administrator   ~0059174

I suppose it's really a matter of how larger your empire's surface area is, honestly. If it's relatively small, I agree it's probably inevitable.

Asteroid

Oct 12, 2020 5:28 pm

reporter   ~0059177

With the incoming changes it sounds like this is much less needed. The utility of neutering planets seems like something worth reminding the player about though. But without death planets it's harder to point the player towards a target that makes sense, isn't it? I defer to more experienced players on this, but perhaps a single generic reminder in the journal might be more appropriate.

Asteroid

Oct 13, 2020 8:26 pm

reporter   ~0059214

Looks like the journal entry about AIP already tells you about neutering planets, actually.

Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 13, 2020 8:37 pm

administrator   ~0059215

Sweet, sounds like this one is as resolved as it needs to be, then. Still figuring out some things with AI reinforcement levels in general, but that's a separate matter overall.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Oct 11, 2020 10:11 pm Strategic Sage New Issue
Oct 12, 2020 12:12 am Asteroid Note Added: 0059153
Oct 12, 2020 5:51 am Arides Note Added: 0059158
Oct 12, 2020 12:03 pm Chris_McElligottPark Assigned To => Chris_McElligottPark
Oct 12, 2020 12:03 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status new => feedback
Oct 12, 2020 12:03 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0059168
Oct 12, 2020 3:37 pm Strategic Sage Note Added: 0059173
Oct 12, 2020 3:37 pm Strategic Sage Status feedback => assigned
Oct 12, 2020 3:56 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0059174
Oct 12, 2020 3:56 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status assigned => feedback
Oct 12, 2020 5:28 pm Asteroid Note Added: 0059177
Oct 13, 2020 8:26 pm Asteroid Note Added: 0059214
Oct 13, 2020 8:37 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status feedback => resolved
Oct 13, 2020 8:37 pm Chris_McElligottPark Resolution open => fixed
Oct 13, 2020 8:37 pm Chris_McElligottPark Fixed in Version => 2.611 AI Defensive Huddle
Oct 13, 2020 8:37 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0059215