So how do I intercept enemy fleets?

Aub · #1 January 23rd, 2001, 08:21 AM

Since the "Replay Combat" option has been put in (thanks a lot, Malfador!) simultaneous turn games make much more sense now.

Still I cannot figure out how to intercept an enemy fleet in deep space. Here's what the manual says:

<start quote>

Keep in mind that all movement is Simultaneous. This means that your ships will move at the same time as enemy ships. This is fundamentally different than a Turn-Based game. In a Turn-Based game, the enemy could not run away while you were moving your ships. You need to plan your strategy around the fact that they may move somewhere else when you are moving towards them.

To help with this, the Attack Order changes slightly in a Simultaneous game. When you give the attack order, your ship will seek after its target during movement. It will change course as needed to that the target does not get away. This is much better than a Move To in that this takes into account a moving target, while Move To will just send you to a location.

<end quote>

I tried giving a ship/fleet the order to attack, and... it just sits there and does nothing!! (the "view orders" button correctly shows "seek after <enemy ship>", but...)?

Has anyone played sim. turns? Has anyone made this option work? (I can't believe it's just plain broken like this!) What's the trick, guys?

Thanks -- Aub

[This message has been edited by Aub (edited 23 January 2001).]

Daynarr · #2 January 23rd, 2001, 01:20 PM

Did your ships had sentry orders? If so you have to clear their sentry orders before ordering them to attack.

Seawolf · #3 January 23rd, 2001, 04:59 PM

Also check to see if under the empire options you have on the clear movement orders when you find an enemy ship and entery enemy space.

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Seawolf on the prowl

Aub · #4 January 23rd, 2001, 06:32 PM

No, I had none of these. I played a trial game to check this feature when I noticed it was not working at all. The enemy ship is in the same sector as mine and I checked my fleet's orders before pressing "end turn". Still, nothing -- the enemy went for one of my planets, and my intercept fleet just stayed and watched

Any other ideas? I don't think sim. turns is playable without an ability to intercept. I still don't believe it's just plain broken (we are talking about one of the basic toolbar buttons here!) I have to be doing something wrong here.

You can start a sample sim. turns game and see for yourself as soon as you find an enemy ship

Thanks -- Aub

Aub · #5 January 23rd, 2001, 10:01 PM

Turning on the "attack" AI for the ship seems to have done the trick. The ship moved and attacked the target.

This will do as a workaround, although it's rather inconvenient: if I forget to turn it off the AI will take control over the ship and may decide to attack something else which I really didn't want.

Does anyone have a better solution?

BTW, I was really surprised that I didn't get an answer from the forum right away. Does no one play sim. turns at all? In my opinion, it's the only way to play multiplayer...

-- Aub

Aub · #6 January 23rd, 2001, 10:51 PM

No, wait -- sometimes it does what I want, but most of the time it does not. I guess after you turn on the AI it makes its own "decision" whether to attack or not. Certainly not what I want

Gee, it seems that sim. turns is still broken. That's bad -- I wanted to play a game or two with my friends. Sequential turns slow the game down to such a crawl it's unplayable. Well, I guess I need to shelve this game for a couple more months/patches.

Cheers -- Aub

[This message has been edited by Aub (edited 23 January 2001).]

Seawolf · #7 January 23rd, 2001, 11:56 PM

Aub,

What verion are you using? We are currently working on sim turns.

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Seawolf on the prowl

Aub · #8 January 24th, 2001, 12:23 AM

I have the retail Version with 1.19 patch installed. I can create a savegame if it's needed although it looks like recreating the malfunction is not that difficult. Simply start a sim turns game, wait for an alien ship to appear and set one of your ship's orders to attack it.

It would be so wonderful if fleet interception was fixed up! Together with the combat replayer introduced in 1.19 that would make SE4 my dream game for multiplayer!

Thanks -- Aub

Spoo · #9 January 24th, 2001, 08:52 PM

I've played a sim game before and the attack order worked just fine.

After you clicked on attack did you remember to choose a target? Other than that the only other thing I can think of is make sure your ships aren't out of supplies.

Harkonis · #10 January 24th, 2001, 09:34 PM

I only play simul turns and I've never had that problem. the only problems I have are:

If you attack a planet and win, they will continue "seeking" that planet until you clear orders.

(and this one is the most frustrating) When mothballing or scrapping, sometimes 0 ships do what I told them to do, irregardless of th number of shipyards capable of helping.

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Harkonis HellRazor