SE5 Demo Bug Reports & Annoyances/Requests

[dmm]

arthurtuxedo said:
One way to deal with this, of course, is to use the sector view to place a ship, satellite, etc. right next to the blockading ship. Kind of cheap, but so is blockading with a fast ship.

You can do this without cloaking? Didn't realize that.

[dmm]

I don't know if other lists have this problem, but when you are setting your repair priorities, the "Send to Top" and "Send to Bottom" buttons do not work properly. Instead of sending the chosen item to the top/bottom, these buttons SWITCH the chosen item with the top/bottom item.

[dmm]

Captain Kwok said:
Fighters move much faster than ships so it might be a good situation to deploy them.

Could use drones too. They get a speed bonus.

Captain Kwok said:Although I've suggested elsewhere that ships that go "off" the combat map should move into the adjacent system sector...

Agreed. And if there are enemy combat vessels there, they should be lying in wait. But, practically speaking, this has been suggested (and debated) for a LONG time (at least 6 years), and it's pretty clear that Aaron isn't going to put this in. It's not like he didn't know about the issue or the suggestion. Rightly or wrongly, he decided to implement an endless attack map. I think that his solution would work if ship movement during combat used supplies. Does it? I hadn't noticed. If it doesn't, can it be modded in? If it can, then retreating won't be such a big deal.

[dmm]

Q said:
Blockade of an enemy colony by a fast ship with "don't get hurt" strategy can be very powerful, too powerful IMHO. The ship can fly away and avoid combat indefenitely without leaving the sector therefore maintaining the blockade.
And in SE V a blockeded colony not only produces no resources but costs maintenance!

A very simple solution would be that ships with the "don't get hurt" strategy do not impose any blockade. Can this be modded? Plus, normal attack ships with no working weapons, or no movement, whether due to design or damage or no ordnance/supplies, should also not impose a blockade. (Really, helpless ships orbiting a colony all by themselves should be destroyed or captured after one turn by freebooters. But I don't suppose THAT can be modded!)

[Phoenix-D]

Actually depending on how flexible the events script is..it might be.

[LordAxel]

in se2 i believe running from battle put you in a adjacent square. Thus being able to run past a fleet

[tmcc]

RonGianti said:

What are the other factors in this equation? Level x CSM vs. Level x PDC?

Plus, what type of PDC? There are like, a lot. I've yet to get to test with them all, so please share.

All weapons are level 5 plus PDC has the benefit of level 5 combat sensors. PDC is just that Point Defense Cannon. I have teated the Flak Cannon and Bomblet Missiles with very similar results. Increased range of the Bomblets Missile does not provide any benefit in actual combat due to increased reload time.

As I watch combat it appears that missiles come in as a stream and the PD weapons target the first one and all fire at that one. I think it is necessary to re-work the targeting algorithm so that the PDC fire is spread out. Increasing fire rate would help but the problem of all firing at one missile would remain.

Also I do not know why PDCs from non targeted vehicles are exceptionaly useless. I have not seen one hit yet and I have seen many fire after the missile actually hits the target.

[Q]

Although it is hard to evaluate the AI in the demo version as it is only at medium difficulty level, the colonization minister seems to be asleep most of the time. The AI just does not expand fast enough and rarely has more than 2-3 systems when my human empire has already 15-20 systems with around 30-40 colonies. Is this better in the full game?

[dmm]

Q said:
Although it is hard to evaluate the AI in the demo version as it is only at medium difficulty level, the colonization minister seems to be asleep most of the time. The AI just does not expand fast enough and rarely has more than 2-3 systems when my human empire has already 15-20 systems with around 30-40 colonies. Is this better in the full game?

I've only played one game of the demo so far, but I've encountered 4 AI races and 3 of the 4 have not left their home system (at turn 65+). IIRC, stock SEIV had the same problem when it first came out. That last sentence is becoming way too common on these boards. I am beginning to wonder if Aaron is an AI. (And if so, can we mod him?)

[dmm]

tmcc said:
As I watch combat it appears that missiles come in as a stream and the PD weapons target the first one and all fire at that one. I think it is necessary to re-work the targeting algorithm so that the PDC fire is spread out. Increasing fire rate would help but the problem of all firing at one missile would remain.

Also I do not know why PDCs from non targeted vehicles are exceptionaly useless. I have not seen one hit yet and I have seen many fire after the missile actually hits the target.

I have not seen either of these behaviors, but I have about twice as many PDC on my direct-fire ships as there are missiles on the missile ships. You seem to have about the same number of PDC as missiles.

What I see is that, at slow combat speed (either tactical or strategic), all of the missiles in the first salvo from the leading missile ship get destroyed by the PDC from the leading direct-fire ship. Unfortunately, the PDC from any other direct-fire ships ALSO fire at the first salvo (and of course they never hit because, in my situation, there is nothing to destroy). The problem is that, when the second missile ship comes into range and fires a salvo, there is no PDC left in the entire direct-fire fleet -- everyone is still reloading -- so the second salvo gets through untouched and does massive damage to its target.

Substituting PointDefenseBlasters (PDB, which are based on meson blasters) for PDC (based on DUCs) halves the reload time and eliminates the above problem (or at least substantially reduces it).

However, if I run combat at fast speeds, then I get substantial "leakage" through the PDC, even when I have twice as many PDC as missiles. Perhaps it is the behavior you describe; I can't tell for sure. But it seems to me to be more like 1 or 2 out of a 5-missile salvo getting through, rather than 4 out of 5.