Pirates and Nomads opening strategies

Suicide Junkie · #1 April 24th, 2002, 07:00 PM

quote:
The QNP are a real pain in the ***. Unless one researches propulsion and steller harnessing to get the sail, it's not worth getting larger ships for quite some time, as you'll end up filling 50 or 60 percent of it with engines. Just a thought...

The thing you might notice is that you are spending the exact same fraction of your space on engines whether it is an escort or a Battleship.
50% engines makes for a very fast ship: 8 or 9 movement with ion drives. For the larger ships in your fleet, sacrificing some of that speed can leave you a lot more weapon and shield space, while saving you thousands in radioactives.
The key to QNP is finding a balance of speed vs strength.
My dad likes to go all out on speed, and has an average ship speed near 11 MP.
I like to use slower ships, with moderate weaponry and huge defense systems. 5-6 MP is good for most of my ships.

quote:
Just as I was about to quit, I started to ponder the end game of such a mod. How do you end your empire? A pirate really shouldn't have aspirations to conquer the galaxy...that would be too much a bureaucratic nightmare for his simple, unintelligible ways. I suppose I could start dropping troops on worlds, but after a while I wouldn't be a pirate anymore. Just curious as to how you advance the empires you play.

I suppose the pirate's goal in life is to become fabulously wealthy and famous. Buy yourself a Luxurious Space Yacht, and a starbase-sized Mansion overlooking the 5th wonder of the galaxy.
Lead raids on unsuspecting creatures, and make yourself a personal zoo. Ensure that the dread pirate (insert name here) will be know throughout the galaxy for millenia to come!
Amassing a billion dollars worth of treasure would be a place to start!

Hmmm. If the AIs are sucking, there are a few things to try:
- Disable Quantum Reactors. I believe the CD Version has the prices higher than normal, and would account for much of the sitting around.
- Repatch the original AIs using my newest AI patcher. The way that racial trait purchases are made has changed, and in a number of cases, the AIs may not be getting the normal trait.
- Add the TDM AIs, using the AI patcher. This will definitely increase the difficulty, and the activity level of the galaxy.

Regarding the neutrals, I don't recall if I ever used the AI patcher on them. I never really considered using them.
Using the patcher should get them to the Space Age.

Jmenschenfresser · #2 April 24th, 2002, 08:22 PM

I will learn to use the patcher, Obi-wan.

I checked and all of the AIs did have the normal trait. Go figure. And I plan to add the TDM tonight.

Just another word about the QNP and pirate play. After a while I started building fleets of fast and slow ships. The slow ships had movement of 4 or 5, but were loaded down with shields and some moderate weapons. The fast smaller ships which moved at 11 or 12 had the pirate boarding parties with little or no shielding and no weapons. The big slow ships gave the enemy something to shoot at while the fast ones zipped in and boarded the enemy vessel. I doubt my bigger ships could win a battle on their own.

And I still don't quite understand the analyze estimate. I captured a colony ship from the Eee. I already had captured a colony ship from the Eee and got their gas colonization tech (though it didn't help at all). When I looked over the analyze possiblities, it said "minor" although I had everything the Eee ship had. So I just scrapped it. I suppose had I analyzed it, my question would now be answered, but then it didn't seem important. Now that I am at work and fatally bored, it seems all important.

Mudshark · #3 April 25th, 2002, 12:49 AM

1 quick question, this thread has gotten me interested in P&N. Started a game, and no yard facility, only a space port and resupply depot. storage and this is all, and no ability to build more.
How do you build ships? I have tried trading with the 1st empire I have met. Is this why I have heard this is a difficult way to play? I am currently downloading the image mode. Am I on the right track?
I could not see any mobile space your componet, reclamation componet. were these in the SE gold CD?

Mudshark · #4 April 25th, 2002, 12:59 AM

Never mind. I re-installed the mod, and now have the Pirate and Nomad under advanced traits. Musst have been a wierd glitch.

Texfire · #5 April 25th, 2002, 05:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
Hmmm. If the AIs are sucking, there are a few things to try:

- Disable Quantum Reactors. I believe the CD Version has the prices higher than normal, and would account for much of the sitting around.

- Add the TDM AIs, using the AI patcher. This will definitely increase the difficulty, and the activity level of the galaxy.

-To disable quantum reactors would you disallow a certain technology when setting up a game or is it more esoteric than that?

-Am I correct in assuming that I need to copy the TDM empires over into the P&N directory and then patch them?

Texfire

PDF · #6 April 25th, 2002, 05:17 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:

...
- Add the TDM AIs, using the AI patcher. This will definitely increase the difficulty, and the activity level of the galaxy.

Regarding the neutrals, I don't recall if I ever used the AI patcher on them. I never really considered using them.
Using the patcher should get them to the Space Age.

I suppose this a Non Gold to Gold AI patcher, where can I get this one ?

Thx

Texfire · #7 April 25th, 2002, 05:57 PM

quote:
Originally posted by PDF:

I suppose this a Non Gold to Gold AI patcher, where can I get this one ?

Thx

I found a file called SJsLatestAIPatcher but it only supports up to P&N 2.0, so I am uncertain if it will work on 3.0

Texfire