Play by web guide

[Rollo]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mudshark:
... BTW who is considered the best player at this point, both SEIII and IV, knowing my luck the one I declared war against Last turn! LOL

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I have suggested in the PBW forum to set up a hall of fame. This might be fun and you can tell the veterans from the rookies .

Any takers?

Rollo

[Puke]

if not a hall of fame, you can at least gleam a little something from who wins Geo's elimination tourney. i think it has about two more rounds to go, so it should be done sometime next year

[geoschmo]

quote:

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Originally posted by Puke:
if not a hall of fame, you can at least gleam a little something from who wins Geo's elimination tourney. i think it has about two more rounds to go, so it should be done sometime next year

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The only thing you'll be able to tell from that is who did the best job in the tourney out of the 24 players that started it.

That's a far cry from saying that person is the best SEIV player.

Geo

[Puke]

well, if there was a ladder, there would have to be an option to setup certain games as 'non ladder.'

for example, it would have been honest to call the first furball game a 'fair' game, while calling furball2 fair would be complete bull**** just because of the nature of the game and the map. it would probably be desireable to not count games like that in peoples rankings. and games like the End of the Universe (theres an opening in that one, by the way) would not get players because EVERYONE DIES when the universe ends! it would mess up everyones rank.

besides, keeping score between games encourages things like people throwing games to improve someones rank, or playing dummy games against fake people.. its best just to play for fun i think, and not to wory about who is the top dog on the heap.

------------------
"...the green, sticky spawn of the stars"
(with apologies to H.P.L.)

edit: although a hall of fame for who turns in the fastest turns, now THAT would be handy. maybe a comment system like ebay where other players could post things in your profile: "that bastard betrayed our alliance!" or "This guy drives a dreadnaught like its my grandmothers OldsMobile!" or "the sick jerk keeps making throw-up jokes"

[This message has been edited by Puke (edited 17 October 2001).]

[Dragonlord]

I like the idea of a hall of fame.
Maybe it should just record how many serious (fairly standard) PBW games you were in, and how you did. If you wanted to be on this list, you'd have to tell the list maintainer which games you won (or were 2nd, 3rd or whatever in), AND you should get a few of the people you beat to attest that you did in fact win that game. (they would, if they were honorable, and enjoyed the game).
I know that still sounds flawed and could probably be abused somehow...but maybe it's a start?

[Rollo]

Puke and Dragonlord,
I will answer to your Posts about the Hall of Fame in a new thread, so we don't get off-topic here.

My pieces of (limited) wisdom for PBW:

1. Advanced Storage trait. Consider taking it. All your (home)worlds will have 20% more facilities. Very valuable for a good start. Besides that you can ship population from your homeworlds without losing the production bonus, because there will be 4800 instead of 4000M people.
2. If you find a player with the same planet type/atmosphere nearby, attack and glass his homeworlds ASAP, you can't find any better planets than this . (Might not make you very popular, though).
3. Combat bonuses. The extra 20% you can get from racial modifications can really turn a battle around at all stages of the game. I consider good combat bonuses from race/sensors/ECM/training much more important than weapon choice. What good is a PPB that doesn't hit compared to a DUC in the hands of an expert? (see also the "Are battles always one sided" topic)
4. Trade tech, especially colonization tech.
5. most importantly: Have fun! And if you lose, remember: it is only a game.

Rollo

[Commander G2]

Here are my tidbits of wisdom:

1. In addition to using racial combat modifiers to make you hard to hit, consider using Destroyers against battleships.

2. Scattering Armor and Stealth Armor are stackable modifiers for defense and can be added to ECM IIIs.

3. Cloaked Ships can move through enemy ships if undetected.

4. Organic Seekers Ships are cheap to build. You probably cannot afford to put enough point defenses on your ships to fight them one on one. Psychic and Crystalline are nice to have to fight Organics.

5. Organic race can build ships faster because their armor and weapons use purely Organic resources. They can build most ships in 2 turns because they use so little metal.

6. Rename your planets to indicate where Fleet and Ship Training facilities are for easy identification. Consider using a code as renames are visible to opponents.

7. Consider using 'Nearest' in your combat orders to avoid shooting at long range with non seeker weapons.

8. Build cheap mines (one warhead) to build more at a time.

9. Use fighters and missles in combination to overwelm point defenses.

10. Consider targeting seekers before fighters as missles always hit and generally do more damage.

11. Target ships before fighters to let point defenses deal with them leaving your weapons free to fire at ships.

12. Target 'has weapons' as a priority. Why waste shots on a crippled ship, especially if using PPBs or Null space?

13. Missleships can function as cannon folder as they do not need ship training for offensive purposes. Send them straight to the front lines.

14. Consider shipyard ships before repair ships as shipyard ships are useful when there is nothing to repair.

[Deathstalker]

Some more tidbits of knowledge:

1. LEARN to BLUFF! Don't be too revealing in your ship/base names. Sure, naming the bases what they actually are ( 'Repair Base 1'etc, with planet location) may help you remember what they are, but for people encountering them the 'first time' they can gauge the 'threat level'. Use 'defense base' for the class or 'attack base', may make people think twice about attacking a planet. Or do it the other way around, have a dreadnought fully loaded with weapons called 'supply ship one' or 'mine sweeper deluxe'. The less info the enemy has the better.

2. Keep your eye on the alliance screen, watch for patterns. And watch out for first contact. If a new race shows up and immediately goes for your planet with training facilities suspect your 'allies'. Someone could be funding them on the side instead of direct attack. BE PARANOID!

3. Spy Ships RULE! Don't know if I mentioned this before, but destroyer or frigate class ships, maxed out on engines with level 1 stealth armor and a few solar panels can really make a difference. Station one in the sun (or storm/asteroid) of a nearby system and watch the enemy (or ally below partnership) moves.

4. Midway into the game GET stellar tech fast, get to warp opener and closer and then build the ship fast (closer first IMO, then you could always retro-fit to please). Later of course get Star Destroying tech.

5. Again, Racial Traits will either let you win or kill you. If on a 3 planet start then definitly take the extra planet storage one, the research points alone are worth it. For a rock or Ice race with 'none' atmosphere with the adv. storage that means those small moons can have 6 buildings!! Large and Huge can have 30!!

6. Research points, spend them wisely, especially in a med/high cost tech game. You have DUC IV, do you really need V??, put the points somewhere else as it is a marginal damage increase but no range increase.

7. Cheap units!, ie 'Riot Police' for planets (1 cockpit, 1 armor, nothing else), keep em happy! , and like suggested before, small mine with 1 warhead, numbers count here and you can build them faster this way!

EDIT: OOPS, forgot the most important. Fleet formation, go to your empire options, check the boxes under fleet formation for ships to break formation. They will now follow their individual orders (max,point blank, capture etc) instead of trying to keep in fleet formation and getting hammered!

Enough rambling for now.....

[This message has been edited by Deathstalker (edited 17 October 2001).]

[geoschmo]

Too much good info in this thread. It's going to get harder in those PBW games.

quote:

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6. Rename your planets to indicate where Fleet and Ship Training facilities are for easy identification. Consider using a code as renames are visible to opponents.

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On the subject of too much information. Renaming your planets might not be such a good idea. It may help you keep organized better, but it also gives your opponent a lot more info than you want them having.

And it doesn't even have to be a race you've already met, if they are an ancient race, they can see your planet names when you change them from across the quadrant. Even if you use some code for the names that won't tell them what's on them, it could give them an idea of how fast you are expanding and in what directions. All stuff that is better to keep to yourself.

Geoschmo

[This message has been edited by geoschmo (edited 17 October 2001).]

[Mudshark]

I put this in a printable easily printable format, hope no one minds;
1. Always remember the Tholian first principle of war as a diplomatic suggest to all other races: "Let's you and him fight."
2. Never underestimate mines!!! ( or DUC's!)
3. Go for Armor 4 (stealth armor) FAST!
4. Go for Military Science FAST, especially the ship fleet/ship training facilities, MAX out the levels too. Ship/fleet experience is everything, esp. since battle order occurs in order of player number. (I am currently 8th of 8 players in a game, going to be a tough one to climb to the top of the Heap!)
5. Engine Destroying weapons rule!
6. Beware, EVERYONE has PPB early! stock up on armor!
7. Most players lower their racial strength to 50%, same for repair and trade, and perhaps organics if not an organic race. So be unique/different, take 120 str and conquer those planets with troops fast!!
8. Don't forget sensors to see those stealth ships, best placed on 1 satellite per system around a heavily defended planet.
9. Hidden repair/Base Yards in Nebula can be a real advantage, as can mining satellites in asteroids for minerals.
11. Emotionless, REALLY consider taking it. When at war you can be toast real quick when 5-8 planets in a system start rioting after 1 or 2 planets are glassed.
12. Psychic/Religious, Talisman/Subverter, need I say more?? (for long range, Mental Singularity/Talisman, rocks!)
13. EVERYONE has PDC to the max, fighters and missiles are pretty much obsolete but they can make a good surprise when a complete weapon change is made, use all beam fleets and then suddenly switch to missiles, catch the enemy with pants down!
14. Never retrofit everything at once....
15. There are some incredible players out there, as well as some really good role-players! Also are the rare ones that do both quite well, they make the game enjoyable even if you are losing!).
16. Fighters are worhtless for attacking.
17. Don't confuse your games!!!
18. Trust no one, everyone and anyone will stab you in the back for no reason other than to do it! Partnerships mean nothing!
use things that other people think are obsolete and/or useless. they will probably not be prepaired to defend against you effectively.
heres another:
find a way around building things that other people think are necessary, thus you can devote research to avenues that others do not have time to explore since they are stuck to researching what they think they always need, thus you can catch them with their pants down.
one more:
never give up, never surrender. it may seem easier to do so, but makes the experience much more rewarding if you dont. and you never know, things might turn arround.
finally:
abuse alliances. Don’t abuse your allies, but abuse the alliance. trade tech. trade ships. trade colonization rights. trade population. trade everything. get in bed with a partner, and don’t let racial differences get in the way. then unite the galaxy under your combined rule, drive your enemies before you, and exercise your imperial might.
one more, just because:
roleplay. if your race is a mass of vomit, act like it. tell people not to step in the puddle of your space lest their feet be coated in the sticky ick of your vengance. tell other people that you wish that your two peoples could ooze toghther in prosperity. even if you are playing a purely tactical game, give your diplomatic message some color. give reasons for stuff too: hippies are protesting the former administrations actions in your space, we wish to end hostilities with your empire. Or lie: this is not a war, it is a police action. Or bend the truth: Empire X's actions in violation of the Kronos Rift peace accords has forced our hand. we ask that you cease diplomatic and trade relations with the treacherous Empire X immediatly, and remain clear of the conflict zone if you do not wish to lend forces to the unified effort against this hatefull bully.

I agree with Geo. Once I started playing humans, I went back to playing the computer. I couldn't do it. Gave up about 50 turns into the game because the AI was so pathetic. The only real challenge against the AI is to get the real good modded AI's and give them astronomical advantages. Then you have a tough game. Mega evil empire also ruins any chance for a large peaceful empire.

We all try to prepare FOR or AGAINST an attack. But what will you do AFTER the attack? ....read on!
I got a good trick. Got a storm about 3 clicks from a key warp point? Park a minelayer in the storm. After the enemy comes into your system and raises a little havoc, he will inevitably return home to refuel or return to the warp point to await reinforcements. Send your mine layer out and mine the warp point AFTER he comes through. If you have enough movement, you can hide back in the storm without him knowing. It is a treat to see their reaction, returning to that "safe" spot in the system to recoup. Boom! Hehe, ask Gimboid about it.

Puke and Dragonlord,
I will answer to your Posts about the Hall of Fame in a new thread, so we don't get off-topic here.
My pieces of (limited) wisdom for PBW:
1. Advanced Storage trait. Consider taking it. All your (home)worlds will have 20% more facilities. Very valuable for a good start. Besides that you can ship population from your homeworlds without losing the production bonus, because there will be 4800 instead of 4000M people.
2. If you find a player with the same planet type/atmosphere nearby, attack and glass his homeworlds ASAP, you can't find any better planets than this. (Might not make you very popular, though).
3. Combat bonuses. The extra 20% you can get from racial modifications can really turn a battle around at all stages of the game. I consider good combat bonuses from race/sensors/ECM/training much more important than weapon choice. What good is a PPB that doesn't hit compared to a DUC in the hands of an expert? (see also the "Are battles always one sided" topic)
4. Trade tech, especially colonization tech.
5. most importantly: Have fun! And if you lose, remember: it is only a game.

Here are my tidbits of wisdom:
1. In addition to using racial combat modifiers to make you hard to hit, consider using Destroyers against battleships.
2. Scattering Armor and Stealth Armor are stackable modifiers for defense and can be added to ECM IIIs.
3. Cloaked Ships can move through enemy ships if undetected.
4. Organic Seekers Ships are cheap to build. You probably cannot afford to put enough point defenses on your ships to fight them one on one. Psychic and Crystalline are nice to have to fight Organics.
5. Organic race can build ships faster because their armor and weapons use purely Organic resources. They can build most ships in 2 turns because they use so little metal.
6. Rename your planets to indicate where Fleet and Ship Training facilities are for easy identification. Consider using a code as renames are visible to opponents.
7. Consider using 'Nearest' in your combat orders to avoid shooting at long range with non seeker weapons.
8. Build cheap mines (one warhead) to build more at a time.
9. Use fighters and missles in combination to overwelm point defenses.
10. Consider targeting seekers before fighters as missles always hit and generally do more damage.
11. Target ships before fighters to let point defenses deal with them leaving your weapons free to fire at ships.
12. Target 'has weapons' as a priority. Why waste shots on a crippled ship, especially if using PPBs or Null space?
13. Missleships can function as cannon folder as they do not need ship training for offensive purposes. Send them straight to the front lines.
14. Consider shipyard ships before repair ships as shipyard ships are useful when there is nothing to repair.
1. LEARN to BLUFF! Don't be too revealing in your ship/base names. Sure, naming the bases what they actually are ( 'Repair Base 1'etc, with planet location) may help you remember what they are, but for people encountering them the 'first time' they can gauge the 'threat level'. Use 'defense base' for the class or 'attack base', may make people think twice about attacking a planet. Or do it the other way around, have a dreadnought fully loaded with weapons called 'supply ship one' or 'mine sweeper deluxe'. The less info the enemy has the better.
2. Keep your eye on the alliance screen, watch for patterns. And watch out for first contact. If a new race shows up and immediately goes for your planet with training facilities suspect your 'allies'. Someone could be funding them on the side instead of direct attack. BE PARANOID!
3. Spy Ships RULE! Don't know if I mentioned this before, but destroyer or frigate class ships, maxed out on engines with level 1 stealth armor and a few solar panels can really make a difference. Station one in the sun (or storm/asteroid) of a nearby system and watch the enemy (or ally below partnership) moves.
4. Midway into the game GET stellar tech fast, get to warp opener and closer and then build the ship fast (closer first IMO, then you could always retro-fit to please). Later of course get Star Destroying tech.
5. Again, Racial Traits will either let you win or kill you. If on a 3 planets start then definitly take the extra planet storage one, the research points alone are worth it. For a rock or Ice race with 'none' atmosphere with the adv. storage that means those small moons can have 6 buildings!! Large and Huge can have 30!!
6. Research points, spend them wisely, especially in a med/high cost tech game. You have DUC IV, do you really need V??, put the points somewhere else as it is a marginal damage increase but no range increase.
7. Cheap units!, i.e. 'Riot Police' for planets (1 cockpit, 1 armor, nothing else), keep ‘em happy!, and like suggested before, small mine with 1 warhead, numbers count here and you can build them faster this way!
EDIT: OOPS, forgot the most important. Fleet formation, go to your empire options, checks the boxes under fleet formation for ships to break formation. They will now follow their individual orders (max, point blank, capture etc) instead of trying to keep in fleet formation and getting hammered!
6. Rename your planets to indicate where Fleet and Ship Training facilities are for easy identification. Consider using a code, as renames are visible to opponents.

On the subject of too much information. Renaming your planets might not be such a good idea. It may help you keep organized better, but it also gives your opponent a lot more info than you want them having.
And it doesn't even have to be a race you've already met, if they are an ancient race, they can see your planet names when you change them from across the quadrant. Even if you use some code for the names that won't tell them what's on them, it could give them an idea of how fast you are expanding and in what directions. All stuff that is better to keep to yourself.