this Strategy must be broke

geoschmo · #1 October 15th, 2004, 10:51 PM

This strategy works agaisnt humans too. As long as you don't build all your shell ships as the same class. Keep varying the class names and the other guy will never know until he attacks the strength of the fleet. Scanners will tell him, but you can counter that by putting scatterign armor on your shell ships.

The two biggest problems with this are the cost and the micromanagment headaches. Cost though is always easy to remedy in SE4. More planets.

Geoschmo

Atrocities · #2 October 15th, 2004, 11:19 PM

I recall that one of the best peaces of advise I was ever given about ship design and strategy was to not diversify your ship design, stick to solid one weapon platforms and build differant ships for differant weapons. It worked and I have yet to loose to an AI.

Grand Deceiver · #3 October 16th, 2004, 12:48 AM

Gandalf,

Very Interesting strategy..as well as Arkcon's.

I have no real advise..but it is very interesting to me..and should be to lots of others that:

(1) based on the nuber of Posts you show;
(2) the length of time I have seen you on the Boards;

one would assume that you are one of the VERY Experienced Vets and would know everything about how to beat the game/ai's/others.

What I'm trying to say is that its refreshing to see a vet still working on strategies to play the game..and that us with less experience can take heart in that we arent as bad or hopeless as we might think we are when getting our but handed to us.

Hope that made sense and that it wasnt taken as an offense.

Fyron · #4 October 16th, 2004, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Grand Deceiver said:
Gandalf,

Very Interesting strategy..as well as Arkcon's.

I have no real advise..but it is very interesting to me..and should be to lots of others that:

(1) based on the nuber of Posts you show;
(2) the length of time I have seen you on the Boards;

one would assume that you are one of the VERY Experienced Vets and would know everything about how to beat the game/ai's/others.

If these forums were only for Space Empires IV, that would still be a semi-truthful assumption at best... In this case, it is not. Most of GP's Posts have been racked up over in the Dominions 2 section.

Atrocities · #5 October 16th, 2004, 01:14 AM

Dominions 2 is one of those games that could be far far more than it has become. I like the game but hate the deludge of micro-management and lack of support infastructure that games like SEIV have built into them.

If you combined the best of Dominions 2, SE IV, Moo3, and GalCiv into one game, ohhhhhhhhhhh God what a game that would be. The manual alone would be as thick as a telephone book.

Gandalf Parker · #6 October 16th, 2004, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Atrocities said:
Dominions 2 is one of those games that could be far far more than it has become. I like the game but hate the deludge of micro-management and lack of support infastructure that games like SEIV have built into them.

If you combined the best of Dominions 2, SE IV, Moo3, and GalCiv into one game, ohhhhhhhhhhh God what a game that would be. The manual alone would be as thick as a telephone book.

Well there is always room for another game at Shrapnel.

I have some ideas for mega-sized maps without heavy storage overhead that Id be happy to toss in.

Everything has its Pros and Cons. When new Users complain about the lack of manual in Dominions 2 I kindof giggle because soon after they realize it would be an encyclopedia. The nations play so differently that its a whole new book for each of the 17 nations (soon to be 18). I LOVE a game where you can come up with your own strategies rather than just learn what the developer had in mind. Im kindof amazed that I came to the Shrapnel site following the Dom2 trail and found SEIV, because I think my enjoyment of both is for the same reasons.

deccan · #7 October 16th, 2004, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Gandalf Parker said:
The nations play so differently that its a whole new book for each of the 17 nations (soon to be 18).

What is that supposed to mean?

Arkcon · #8 October 16th, 2004, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Grand Deceiver said:

What I'm trying to say is that its refreshing to see a vet still working on strategies to play the game..and that us with less experience can take heart in that we arent as bad or hopeless as we might think we are when getting our but handed to us.

Hope that made sense and that it wasnt taken as an offense.

That is what makes SE4 the greatest game of all time. Seriously, I'm never bored with the game and all its nuances. There is always something new to do. I don't know how to explain it to other people -- maybe to say SE4 wasn't written or even designed/crafted -- it was invented.

AgentZero · #9 October 16th, 2004, 10:58 AM

I don't think there's anything 'wrong' with that strategy in terms of it being a way around the way SE4s mechanics are supposed to work. In fact, I can even think of historical precedent for it. My grandfather used to build cargo ships during WW2 on the west coast of Canada. I remember him saying a lot of the time he said they only built enough of the boat so it could get itself around to the east coast for loading, and most of the work on the inside of the ship (crew quarters etc) was done en route. Sure, they were cargo ships and not warships but the principle is the same.

Roanon · #10 October 16th, 2004, 12:01 PM

Hey Gandalf, you stole my standard strategy !

Well, I never considered it to be anything special. I always thought this was the only way to play once you have baseships, and even worth considering for battleships and up. Especially in a larger/longer game where you have enough resources at some point and only need to build ships fast.

Drawback? Weakness? Not good against humans? I don't see it. If you cannot even protect this single system with the retrofit/repair/train facilities from an enemy attack, you would have lost with any other strategy anyway...