Questions, part 4

[Silent Sorrow]

They keep a' comin'!

1. Does playing politics with the AI really matter? Besides the strangeness I've noted in other past questions of mine, another I see now it that the state of relations between my empire and the AI's doesn't match what it says under mood. For example, I'm at war with the Drushocka but the mood says they're "warm" to me. Huh?

2. After the AI agrees to a demand to depopulate a planet, does it ever actually do so? I waited and waited for the AI to do that and it never did leave. I kept checking the population but the AI didn't move a thing.

3. What defends against the Abbidon's mind control weapon (allegiance converter)? I find it to be hell, especially in the early game.

4. Does the self-destruct device work if your ship is taken over by mind control (i.e. deny the enemy the ship even though it's just been taken over)?

5. Does the shield damage of shield disrupters, etc., stack? The damage is so low on the individual weapon that it can't penetrate even low level shields--yet someone told me earlier that shield depleters are "all or nothing" and that they either overcome the shield or do nothing. But that can't be right, can it? Don't they eat away at the shield? (But then, why not use regular, more powerful weapons instead?)

6. What's happening when my missiles strike a planet but there is no explosion graphic (even though the planet has no defences)?

7. What determines a planet's base hit points?

8. Wall formation isn't really wall. I notice that on auto the ships simply bunch up in something that is definitely not a wall. Is something wrong?

9. If you have ships blocking all of a system's jump points is that entire system blockaded?

10. I set my ships to "max weapon range" but on auto they keep closing in anyway. What's happening?

11. What defends against a null-space projector? I'm using them on the AI and they're devastating. Bypass armour and shields? Other ships don't stand a chance against that--including me if I'm on the receiving end.

[dogscoff]

1. You will have brotherly enemies and murderous allies. It happens, but it is still worth playing politics, ie you still get all the advantages of having an AI as your ally.

2. No, it won't, even if it agrees to. Same for requests for help etc.

3. Either use master computers instead of crew quarters/bridge, or don't get hit (ECM + racial bonuses + high experience + stealth/ scattering armour)

4. No, it doesn't.

5. Yes, they will eat away at shields. The "All or nothing" you read about was probably in relation to ground troops or something. Right click on an enemy ship in (tactical) combat to see its shield status.

6. Sometimes the explosion isn't displayed, but the damage should happen anyway. I think there may have been some bugs about firing on planets and under certain circumstances ships firing from out of range, but the next patch should fix that. In the meantime, use tactical combat or use a closer ship strategy.

7. Same as a ship: The components you put on it. All component have a damage value. These are totalled up to give the damage value for a ship/ base. Components are destryoed one by one until there are none left, which is when the ship/ base 'dies'.

8. This happens when the ships change direction. Say they start with a horizontal wall. When they make a 90 degree turn, they try to make a vertical wall, but because they all have roughly the same movement speed, the ships at the ends can't get round fast enough. Then fleet leader makes another change in direction the next turn and they get even more messed up... It's a bit of a nightmare. There are ways around it with other formations or just by telling ships to break formation, but i'm not an expert.

9. No. You canonly blockade planets one at a a time.

10. They probably have a flett strategy which is over-riding their individual strategies. select the fleet, and press 'f' to change fleet strategy.

11. Null-space is a powerful weapon (one of my favourites) but there are counters. For one thing, it has a relatively short range. Develop longer ranged weapons and stay out if its reach. For another, it has a high reload rate. If you can survive the first assault (by having more ships than the enemy has null-space projectors, or by having big *** ships that can soak up the damage and still be dangerous) then you can mop up quite easily once it has fired. Finally, try not to get hit by them. Sounds stupid, but if you can build up your defence bonus with ECM, certain types of armour and crew experience, then you will take a lot less damage. Unless they have the religious talisman. In that case, start praying=-)

[oleg]

As to shield depleters/disruptors:
The depletors (the one that decrease shield strength) work as normal weapons: their damage stacks. However, disrupters (the one that kills shield generators, IIRC) may be governed by "special weapons" rules, like engine destroyers: damage does not stack, component must be destroyed in one shot. Try to use biggers ships (light cruisers + )with large+ mounts.

[Grandpa Kim]

7. The "base" for planet hit points is its population. Units, like weapon platforms, are added to that. When attacked, a planet first loses its weapon platforms, then the pop starts to go along with your facilities. I don't know when other units stored on the planet, like troops, mines etc. are destroyed. Since they have no use against a space based attack, it doesn't matter much anyway.

[Iron Giant]

3. What defends against the Abbidon's mind control weapon (allegiance converter)? I find it to be hell, especially in the early game.

I use lots of fighters/mines/satellites. They can't be taken over.

9. If you have ships blocking all of a system's jump points is that entire system blockaded?

No. The enemy planets won't like it, and being near an enemy planet may cause them to be slightly unhappy, but the system is not blockaded.

[Baron Munchausen]

1) Generally, no. The AI doesn't respond to most of the diplomacy options. But some things will work. You can influence their attitude towards you with gifts/tribute and even general Messages, for example. But the effect is small. You'd have to send 5-10 gifts to make up for one destroyed ship or planet for example.

2) See above. The AI does not actually respond to most diplomacy options. It just sends a message saying that it will.

3) You shouldn't be facing the Allegiance Converter in the early game unless you are playing high-tech. But anyway, use master computers or just stay out of range with seekers. Or deny ship combat completely with mines and other units.

4) Nope. In fact, it is counter-productive when used in ships that will be fighting a Psychic race. You cannot recapture your own ships if they have self-destruct devices! So I tend not to bother with it. It's usually more effective to just recapture your own ships, whether they are taken by Allegiance Subverter or standard boarders.

5) Apparently not. So, you usually need a larger ship with a mount to make 'damages only X' type weapons work effectively. Note that with shield mounts coming in the next patch it will become even harder to use the Shield Disruptor, at least against larger ships. I'm planning to add a special mount just to make engines more difficult to destroy with Ion weapons, too. "Hardened Engines" or something like that. No need for a special component anymore.

6) Depends. It might mean that the missiles didn't really hit the planet, if you were firing from max range. Missiles run out of fuel without making any obvious noises. Otherwise, it might just be a glitch and you'll see the damage if you left-click on the planet.

7) It seems to be population. Then the units in cargo are added. It would be nice if we could build 'bomb shelters' or some such facility to reinforce planets, wouldn't it?

8) Like most other aspects of the game, the AI doesn't use formations the way we use them. It will ignore the formation that ships have been given if it sees some reason to, like moving ships into attack range.

9) Nope. Each planet must be individually blockaded. If you have enough ships in the system, though, you may send all the planets into rioting which will also deny their production to the owning empire.

10) Without a description of the ship designs I can't say. Most likely you've got a short-ranged weapon on the ships which causes the AI to close in and try to use it.

Also, the default 'Maximum Weapons Range' strategy is apparently faulty. Change it to use Max Weapons Range for both primary and secondary options and this may go away.

11) As others have pointed out, not getting hit is best. ECM, stealth and/or scattering armor, ship and fleet training, all help prevent getting hit. Other than that, stay out of range.

Many mods do have a 'counter-measure' for the 'skips shields and armor' weapons in the form of 'internal armor'. This is fairly effective but uses up you ship space just as regular armor does.

[ July 20, 2002, 21:33: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[capnq]

select the fleet, and press 'f' to change fleet strategy.

Correction: "F" is for changing the composition of the fleet (adding or removing ships).

Changing the fleet's formation and/or strategy is "H" (or the chess piece icon).

You can also change the fleet leader by clicking the fleet, then the new leader.

[Silent Sorrow]

Thanks again to everyone for the replies. Now about this "one shot" engine- or shield regenerator-killer issue, I think I'm still not understanding it properly. Do you mean to say that if you fire an engine killer, its damage bypasses shields and armour and strikes against an individual engine component? Or does the shields and armour of the target have to be down first?

Originally posted by oleg:
As to shield depleters/disruptors:
The depletors (the one that decrease shield strength) work as normal weapons: their damage stacks. However, disrupters (the one that kills shield generators, IIRC) may be governed by "special weapons" rules, like engine destroyers: damage does not stack, component must be destroyed in one shot. Try to use biggers ships (light cruisers + )with large+ mounts.

[Grandpa Kim]

Originally posted by Silent Sorrow:
...fire an engine killer, its damage bypasses shields and armour and strikes against an individual engine component...

Yep, this is exactly right. You can see why a change was wanted: with one accurate shot at a base ship, it is dead in the water and unable to fire its weapons. You have just won the battle.

Kim