Re: Zippy\'s SE IV Mod (Note: It\'s HUGE!!!)
I have played zippies mod for two days. I couldn't sleep (insomnia, excitement??) so
I stayed up all Thursday night and finally got 5 hours sleep Last night.
I like the escorts ability to have 8 engines (plus 1-I tick off extra 1 movement in traits). I use escorts more now (especially for scouting impending invasion fleets}.
TACTICAL COMBAT - (Not really Zippies issue) Have discovered to always have longer range weapons (missile or beams), than the AI. In tactical, I approach enemy, wait till he moves towards my ship, then I fire weapons and reverse direction, AI then moves towards me, and I fire again and reverse again. After I have destroyed some of AI's ship components, he retreats. I kill him.
NOTE TO ZIPPY: Can you develop a program to change tactical combat into simultaneous movement and fire. A simultaneous movement phase, then a simultaneous firing phase. I fire/AI fires(if in range of course). Without this change, tactical combat is too easy. One of my frigates with gauss cannon (longer range than AI) destroyed two AI's frigates. I had no damage.
Example: me and AI have one frigate each with same beam weapon. If I have 1 extra bonus movement point, I can destroy AI ship with me suffering no damage by waiting, shooting, retreating. I may be wrong, but if the AI's ship moves within range of firing at my ship, does the AI fire, or, does it fire then move or does it move then fire??
Would be nice that both sides move at same time, then lock weapons on any targets, then fire or wait to get closer, then move again at the same time.
The way it is now, is I wait till the AI moves, then I have the advantage to plan my movement.
BACK TO MY CRITIQUE - I loaded about 6 of your AI races and edited them and saved them over your originals. I went to CULTURE Category, and chose only VERY EASY. I played for 3 hours and I found it too easy. I built alot of research factories and I destroyed one empire very early on by sending only one frigate with capital missile against unarmed planets. NOTE TO ZIPPY, can you modify AI so that it immediately builds one, two, three, or more weapon platforms on its new colonies. Weapon Components for WP's should be one longest beam weapon, 1 best longrange missile and best point defense or shield. I not sure about fitting small shields on weapon platforms(WP from now on). The further away from their AI starting system, the more WP emergency constructing. I usually Emergency build at least two-three WP's when i'm close to AI.And on large worlds (worth more), there should be more AI platforms built obviously. ONE THING I ESPECIALLY LIKE IS AFTER THE HUMAN PLAYER COLONIZES A WORLD, I click "ABILITIES" AND IT SAYS "-50% PRODUCTION FOR 0 POPULATION". It takes twice as long (two turns) because of the low population, to build factories etc. I quickly transport 97 population units to bring it up to 100 level, and viola! It now takes 1 turn. I get a kick out of that. I don't know if Transporting more pop units is beneficial on production values.
ZIPPY's mod has changed some of the research numbers. It is now 75000 to reach frigate. That's nice in my opinion. Hull sizes play a crucial role and making it too easy might take away the enjoyment of sending 10 escorts in for the kill (their highly hard to hit-more maneurable 8 engines-great colony ship killers and unarmed scouts.
PLAY EQUALITY. I have been adjusting the AI's 5000 racial points and choosing VERY EASY, or VERY EASY PLUS (50% up on ship building rate. (I don't like them building more ships however) The ideal would be somewhere in between for an even game (remember ALL of Zippies races hate humans-kill, kill, so be careful not to choose anything higher difficulty in my opinion. I like just Very EASY and giving AI a 10 - 30 % increase in research-and increasing the ship building rate upwards. . Anything above and the AI has very high scores in all department. "Ultra factories" is plain outlandish. And 200% increases? OUCH.
MASTER OF ORION DIPLOMACY vs. SE4 DIPLOMACY.
First, I think we can all agree that SE4's diplomacy needs tweaking or adjusting. MOO2's had a sliding scale. Example: The easier the level of difficulty, the easier it was to negotiate and make alliances in MOO2. And the opposite. PERHAPS ZIPPY WOULD NOW LIKE TO TWEAK SE4'S DIPLOMACY. AND HOW ABOUT ANIMATED OR SPINNING WORLDS, AND ANIMATE GROUND COMBAT, hmmm? AND...........
In Zippies mod, the AI just hates you. That's it. Perhaps, that was what Zippy was intending, since alot of forum complaints dealt with aggression and difficulty levels.
Well folks, that issue can now be buried. Zippy has done an outstanding job on his mod and he deserves, in my opinion, to even go so far as to ask for a small $1 donation for downloading his mod. How many hours did it take Zippy? 500???? 1000??
Zippy, the save game feature needs improving in my opinion. Maybe you can fix it???First, I would like to click on a saved game and be able to type or change the name. I can't do it! What happens in 2 years, I gonna have 500 saved named game files like hard game, easy game, etc...
FINALLY, THE THING THAT I NOTICE MUCH IN THIS MOD IS ESCORT AND FRIGATE USE AND EXTRA ENGINES AND SCOUTING. OBVIOUSLY, I CAN'T NOTICE AI "IMPROVEMENTS"-THAT'S PERHAPS TOO SUTTLE. THERE IS MORE RACE STUFF AND COMPONENTS.
GREAT JOB ZIPPY. APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE! PERHAPS YOU CAN WORK AT MALFADOR.
From Vancouver, Canada, this is Cranex leaving to play another addictive game of SE4. Wait a minute, I did not use any other mods, also with "ZipMod". Hey Zippy, can I trade, make treaties etc with any of your races, or is it just a bloodfest,eh? <grin>
[This message has been edited by Cranex (edited 13 May 2001).]
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What I'd like to see in SE4: Rotating planets, animated ground combat like Moo2, (or more realistic looking), an easier to see planet border (you know- that yellowish 4 pointed thing displayed around a planet when selected). PLEASE no real time games.
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Hybrid Mode
