A few questions
 

I got a few questions.

I built a System gravitational shield, and I can't open warp points to that system anymore. I thought it would the enemies the ones that wouldn't be able to do this.

Also, I was wondering about the function of the Tractor beam. Does it capture ships? Should I research it?

And finally, is it there any way to edit a saved game with the editor? (To add a moon to my homeworld http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif )

Re: A few questions
 

Hope this help http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

A:
Nope, The System shields stops you too.

B:
Tractor beam pulls ships closer. Works great together with weapons with short range and a big punch (like ripper beams).
Note 1: Only works when the enemy ships are smaller than yours.
Note 2: Be sure to add it first when you design the ships so it fires first.

C:
No. The format of the savegame is secret. Allthough it would be great to edit singleplayer games a bit sometimes, keeping it secret helps keeping multiplayer free of cheaters.

Re: A few questions
 

I think that C can be edited.

As I know it can be edited to change player passwords or get the current one.

I have no clue how adding a moon would be done.

Re: A few questions
 

I have a question about b

say you add all your weapons in order and then click on the consolidate components.

When you unclick the consolidate components they are no longer in the order you added them but on the first occurance of each weapon the duplicates follow them right afterwards ( hahaha i mean they group them )

Does the game still see them as the order you added them or as how it looks on the ship build screen now ?

Re: A few questions
 

Hey, Primitive, if the Tractor beam works like the Repulsor beam, then can't the ship be the same size and still work? (I hate it when I have to work off memory)

Re: A few questions
 

Thanks! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Great, I'm being punished for those nasty multiplayer cheaters. Shame on them. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

I think I will pass on the tractor beam. I tend to rely on medium to long range fire weapons with a good weight to firepower to reloading time ratio.

I've never researched the Wave Motion Gun. It's not that much bang for the buck when you divide firepower into weight and then into reload time.

Re: A few questions
 

Slynky;
I'm really not sure, I work from memory too. It's quite possible your memory is better than mine http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

Tesco:
I am pretty sure I tested this once and found it fires all weapons of the same type in a group, same sequence as it shows in "condensed view"

Yef;
The WMG has an added bonus: 30 % to hit. Not neccessary against the AI who usually don't train their ships/fleets very well, but can be a gamewinner against humans http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: A few questions
 

Since someone mentioned the sysytem shield, I was wandering if there was a way to turn it off so you can add another warp point, then turn it back on? Surely something can be done like that, instead of deleting the facility, doing what you want to do, then rebuilding the facility, which usually takes over 10 turns.

Re: A few questions
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">That's true. But in raw power, it is the most powerful weapon in the game. That comes in handy, for example, agains heavily shielded ships.

But I have noticed that my incinerator beam ships will always win against a similar model wave motion gun ship when both are piloted by the AI. That 3 turn reload is really penalizing the wave motion gun too much.

[ March 31, 2004, 22:05: Message edited by: Arkcon ]

Re: A few questions
 

He who gets WMG first and builds ships the fastes wins the game. WMG + 1st + 150% Production + skill = KOTH.

Re: A few questions
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Erm... or not. WMG are not that hot, certainly not enough to make you win just from having them. There are a few isolated cases in which they are useful (such as agaist heavily crystalline-armored ships, or in a few situations with warp point combat, though rare that they end up better than other weapons), but other than that, they fall short of most weapons.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Your weapons will most certainly be fired in the order that they appear on the ship design. If you turn on condensed view, the game reorders your weapons, placing all weapons of the same type in a row. But if you do not use this feature, you can set up designs with alternating weapon type fire, such as shield depleter, APB, shield depleter, APB, etc. for use against crystalline armored ships.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">That really only is a factor if you neglect your training, CS research and racial combat bonuses. Otherwise, ships tend to hit well enough that the 30% to hit bonus of the WMG does not make up for the large loss of firepower compared to DUCs, PPBs, APBs, MBs, etc.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Heavily shielded ships do not require WMGs to take down. APBs will do just as well, if not better overall.

[ April 01, 2004, 03:03: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

Re: A few questions
 

If you play a max range strategy, WMG can be critical. Everything else equal, the defender in combat has a 25% advantage at minimum range- your to-hit will never go above 75%.

If you go out to range 8, the APB ship now has a to-hit of 1%. The WMG ship meanwhile has..25%. Range 7, 35/5, 6 45/15.

This ussually isn't enough to offset its slow firing rate and huge size, though.

EDIT: a bit of testing..5 APB Battleships vs 5 WMG Battleships. As long as BOTH sides are set to max range, the WMG ships win. The moment the APB ships are set to point blank, though, they butcher the WMG ships.

[ April 01, 2004, 03:57: Message edited by: Phoenix-D ]

Re: A few questions
 

There is a button that says "use facility". Can that be used to turn off the System Gravitational Shield?
I destroyed the one I had, so I can't test it right now, but I will after I rebuild it.