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1

Imperial Civil War Tech Support / AI in control of my GC, 2.3.4

« on: December 29, 2019, 10:03:06 PM »

Finally switched over to the steam version of the game and I ran into an amusing but game breaking bug where I was backseeting an AI in a GC.

It was Final Imperial Push as Empire and I paused right away to set up all of my buildings and turn on cruel ai. Then when I unpause the AI is there moving all of the my units around and buying things and well, generally playing as if I wasn't there.

It was like having a spectator mode where I got to watch how an AI plays the game and with all of their economy buffs. I could still issue orders and buy things like normal, there was just two people in control at the same time. The ai launched attacks on planets and would command the battle as well.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1952239625

Also, unrelated the GC thing but whenever I try to quit the game on the steam version it just locks up and I have to Alt-Tab and kill the process. Not sure what that's about.

Is it possible my disk version of the game is somehow conflicting with the steam version of the game? I had assumed that as far as my computer was concerned that they were two separate entities and it wouldn't matter.

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2

Discussion, Suggestions & Feedback / Marauder should be nerfed.

« on: November 03, 2019, 01:15:59 AM »

I spoke about this a bit when I was reviewing the CSA fleet, but the Marauder is too good right now.

It is too cost efficient. 24 Turbolasers and a squadron for 1 pop and dirt cheap for credits is extremely hard to compete with. That's more Turbolasers than all small ships, many 3-6 pop frigate types, and even things like MC80A Mon Cals (according to the manual which I know is outdated but I assume is mostly still accurate). 3 of these out damage a Star Destroyer.

Their small size is another big upside. Having too many large ships in your fleet makes cohesion and pathing a nightmare and results in many space donuts. The pack/horde of Marauders allows you to get a ton of firepower in a very small amount of space and they don't get in the way of your other ships. Pack 30 of these in a death ball and you basically got a 30 pop Executor.

Its relative fragility isn't really a problem because the ai tends to shoot whatever is closest to them so it is pretty easy to get them shooting a tanky Mon Cal instead. They also have a dodgy hit box.

I know you can't judge a ship's value entirely on its Turbolaser output, but it does count for a lot. I know it is strange to call for nerfs in a single player game, but right now the Marauder outclasses too many other ships in the game.

Easiest nerf would be to up the pop cost. Somewhere from 3 pop to 5 pop depending on how harsh you want to be. I would still build them at 5 pop, I think they are that good. Strike Cruisers are 6 pop iirc and they have less damage output.

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3

Star Wars Discussion / Are you going to go see Episode IX?

« on: October 09, 2019, 08:59:59 PM »

I will not. I still haven't even seen Solo.

My only interest in IX is more of a morbid curiosity to see just how bad it is rather than any real hope that they can somehow turn it around. But I'm not giving Disney my money for that. I'll just wait for the reviews.

Maybe you guys are more optimistic?

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4

Discussion, Suggestions & Feedback / Hunt for Zsinj (Maldrood, Cruel)

« on: October 07, 2019, 02:52:57 AM »

Dang this is tough. Anyone try this?

Had one of the most fun campaigns I've ever run on this even though I lost. I apologize for spelling errors in advance.

You have to defend 6 border worlds: Centares, Columex (or Antemeridias), Roche, Togoria, Kashyyyk, and Bimmisari and you only really start with enough units for two fleets. Further, you face a 3 pronged attack from the NR, Empire, and Zsinj who are all very aware that you are vulnerable and feel no shame in ganking. With two fleets you can defend 4 of those worlds by having one fleet guard two at a time but that leaves Roche and Bimmisari exposed which led to my downfall.

Spent the first few turns selling nearly all of my ground buildings to get taxes and Hypervelocity Guns. Blitzed Kashyyyk and Antemeridias.

Early on Zsinj gave me a lot of trouble. He caught me on Columex  and I was forced to go for it because your fleet spawns so far forward on that map that he literally killed Larm before I could issue a command. Managed to kill him through the power of Crimson Vics but lost most of the fleet including the Allegiance hero (forgot his name) and Larm but thankfully Teradoc just barely survived. I ceded Columex and fell back to Antemeridias where I had the Teradoc brothers commanding what was left of that fleet.

The female hero that starts at Columex I moved to command the fleet over by Togoria/Kashyyyk. That fleet took a large beating when it was forced to fight Han, Wedge, and Tycho at Kashyyyk. Opening seconds I actually one shot Chewie in the Falcon with an H-Gun blast I aimed at Han so that was fun. Killed the Rogues but had to flee the battle. Luke led the ground assault and I literally had to survive for like 20 minutes with almost no units, dodging bombers and bombardments, against never ending Wookies while Luke cloaked around and played a very smart coward. Somehow he was still dumb enough to let me kill him and win. Got space control back and later killed Rogriss when he showed up with an imperial stack. Idk if Han died somewhere, I never saw him again though despite the NR constantly hammering me.

Despite taking some losses here and there I was holding on quite strong for awhile. I think my biggest mistake was investing too heavily into Validusia Space Stations. I managed to get 4 of them which is about 34000 credits at the discount. If I try this again I think I would rather grab two Golans instead or rather some more ships. Four Crimson Vics have to be better than the station and they have the benefit of being mobile for counterattacks if necessary. When I did finally lose Bimm and Roche my fleets were too worn down to do swift counterattacks, and once the border fell the inner worlds were defensless leading to my resignation.

As I mentioned before, Roche and Bimmisari are the problem worlds. They are too far away for your two fleets to support. The NR ignored Bimm for quite awhile which is good. If I try again I won't even bother caring about space there at all. The ground map has an extremely good shield generator placement (which I found out thanks to the NR who took it briefly and built one) so I think just defending it on the ground might be totally viable. With a ground defense at Bimm and spending that 34k on a third fleet  instead of space stations maybe I will have a better shot.

Anyway, thanks for reading. If anyone is looking for a challenge, give this one a try.

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5

Discussion, Suggestions & Feedback / CSA Fleet Analysis.

« on: September 29, 2019, 05:16:30 PM »

After completing Corporate Acquisitions (era 1, Cruel), and doing some individual tests on From the Ground Up, here are my thoughts on the CSA fleet. CSA has no proper corvette so they need a good fighter screen to stay safe and ships with laser cannon support are welcome.

Capitals:
Invincible Class Destroyer: I like this ship a lot. Pretty balanced loadout for a capital. 12 pop cost is easy to work with. Spawns 5 squadrons, not sure on reserve.

Bulwark III: Grumby is my only experience with this ship. Has good brawling ability but pathing is sometimes a problem. 25 pop cost might be too much for its worth, but Grumby is free and his leadership buff is nice to have. Spawns 6 squadrons. Not sure how much reserve.

Lucrehulk: Not sure on this one. I only built one of them. Spawns 9 squadrons and probably has a lot of reserve. It spawns so low on the Z-layer that I have trouble telling whether or not it is actually shooting at things. For 20 pops it is probably better to build other carriers.

Frigates:
Recusant: Deceptively good despite only having two Turbolaser hardpoints. It outranges everything for some reason which is very useful. Its turbos pack a harder punch than you might expect. Has a good number of laser cannons to help support your flak efforts. Does not have any strikecraft which I would say is its only weakness. However for 5 pops this is a clear winner in the frigate category.

Marauder: These are probably nerf worthy. I was a fan of them before 2.3 and I think they got even better here. 1 pop, spawns an IRD-A which is one of the better CSA fighters as far as I can tell. Might have a slightly higher range than other frigates. Has a huge amount of firepower for how small and cheap it is. You can pack 10+ of them in a small bubble and have them snipe from behind your more durable frontline. Its poor durability isn't as bad as you might expect because for some reason a lot of shots have trouble hitting it (this should be fixed if possible). Whenever you build a ship you have to ask if it is better than X Marauders where X is the pop cost and that is kind of nuts. In From the Ground Up I had 10 Marauders beat 5 Recusants and only lost 1. Part of that is dumb ai and the aforementioned shot avoidance, but the power of this ship cannot be denied. It should maybe be upped to cost 2 pop? And the hitbox should be fixed.

Bulwark I and Dauntless: These ships have a very similar loadout but I give the edge to the Bulwark because it spawns 2 squadrons instead of 1. Both of them will outdo the Vics and other frigate options.

Vics and Dreadnought: We are familiar with these. They are decent but I would say worse than the other frigates above. Vic I gets a nod for Conc spam being helpful for anti-fighter support.

Gladiator: These are bad. Very fragile, not very strong. Spawns a Skipray which is nice but for 6 pops there is no reason to ever build this when Recusant exists.

Carriers:
Neutron Star: 5 pop. Spawns three bomber type craft (T-Wings can only torpedo ships). It's armament can support your frigate war a bit if you can get them in a position to shoot safely.

Quasar: 3 pop. Spawns 3 fighter type craft and a Preybird which idk how to classify. As far as providing a fighter screen for you this is a lot better than the Neutron Star. Their Quad Lasers can help a bit to keep your backfield safe but that's not really where the value is. A few of these are nice to have in a fleet.

Nebulon-B: 2 pop. I classify this as a carrier because its brawling potential is atrocious. Spawns two interceptors and has a few laser cannons to support your flak. If you want fighter support then Quasar is better, otherwise get two Marauders instead. These are not worth building.

Corvettes:
The two gunship-fighter hybrid things are both very good. Surprisingly durable and helpful for supporting your anti-fighter effort.

Those are my thoughts. Would love to hear others' thoughts as well. Loving 2.3 so far. Loving the ground combat changes too. Big thanks to the mod team.

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6

Discussion, Suggestions & Feedback / Thanks so much for the disk support.

« on: September 27, 2019, 01:29:07 AM »

Hey just wanted to give a shout out to Corey and the team for taking the time to put out a disk version despite the problems involved.

You guys keep bringing me back again and again with each update. Love your mod and appreciate your work.

I'll pick up the steam version next time it is on sale. But just wanted to give thanks for the disk version so I can get in on the fun now.

Recently started rereading the Thrawn Trilogy which got me excited in the mod again. Then I saw the new version and it was perfect.

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7

Star Wars Discussion / Boba Fett movie confirmed. Are you guys interested? Obi Wan rumors.

« on: June 14, 2018, 05:31:56 PM »

Sorry if there's already a topic about this somewhere, I figured somebody would have mentioned it by now.

Anyway, Boba Fett movie is confirmed. Here's a link.

http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/star-wars/17775/star-wars-boba-fett-movie-coming-from-james-mangold

I'm actively boycotting myself anyway, but even if I wasn't I have to say I've never understood why the fandom cares about Boba at all. He's on screen for like 5 minutes and "dies" like a clown.

Imo the movie is dead on arrival. A lot of hardcore fans are boycotting. The general public has no idea who Boba Fett is and SW hype is dead so they won't go. So all that leaves is casual fans and hardcore fans who aren't boycotting. If this movie has a similar budget to Solo it has no chance.

The article also mentions rumors of an Obi Wan movie with Ewan McGregor. I like Ewan and I thought he did a great Obi Wan but let's be real here for a second guys. Obi Wan is one of the few loveable character that Disney hasn't ruined yet. Do we really want them to have that opportunity?

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8

Discussion, Suggestions & Feedback / The AI underestimates static space defenses (Shipyard/Golan/Station)

« on: May 21, 2018, 06:10:37 PM »

I have had a lot of instances of the ai suiciding into "undefended" planets because they don't seem to properly assess the threat of what is there and don't send enough ships.

The main issue is Space Stations though and not just the Empress. They are all quite strong and as far as I can tell the ai doesn't even seem to realize they are there at all.

For example I had an Empress and Golan 2 and level 2 station on Kashyyyk with two corvettes and two marauders also. The Empire attacked me with just 5 MTC's and two SD's. You could probably even beat that attack without the Empress at all. The Empire has the strongest military score in this campaign and they don't have a ton of borders so I know they have more ships they could use.

In 2.2.0 I had the Yvetha attack an Oto Space Station and Visvia with 4 Thrustships, a Vic, and an Interdictor.

Those are just two examples but it happens consistently enough that You can just drop an Empress somewhere and move on with your fleet and they will never defeat it.

They also don't seem to count HVG or Ion cannon as part of their threat assessment either but I'd imagine that isn't easy to code for. I don't know how the ai decides on how many ships to attack with but whatever it is they are doing, they aren't respecting the stations well enough.

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9

Discussion, Suggestions & Feedback / Version 2.2 bug report thread.

« on: April 13, 2018, 10:32:57 PM »

Hey all, we've got our hands on 2.2 and boy is it fun.

However, with an update this big there is bound to be some bugs, so I figured it might be nice for the mod team if we can put them in one place rather then end up with a bunch of different threads.

So post any bugs you find here.

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10

Star Wars Discussion / Quick Question: Read X-Wing: Mercy Kill or Starfighters of Adumar first?

« on: September 22, 2016, 02:56:03 PM »

Hello again. Just finished Isard's Revenge and about to continue my journey with the series.

I noticed however, that Mercy Kill takes place last in terms of chronology even though it was written before Starfighters.

So should I read Starfighters first for chronology, should I read Mercy first to follow the order the books were written in, or does it really not matter at all?

Thanks.

Edit: Disregard I had it mixed up. Starfighers was both written first and happens first chronologically. Thanks for the help.

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11

Star Wars Discussion / Opinion/Discussion: The Wraith squadron books are better than Rogue. (Spoilers)

« on: August 26, 2016, 12:43:33 PM »

SPOILER WARNING: This thread contains spoilers for the X-Wing series books 1-7. (Spoiler free TL/DR at the end).

My last post on this section of the forum was a bit of a rant/head scratcher about some of what happened in the Rogue squadron books. After finishing the Wraith squadron trilogy I have to say that I like it a lot more. I think the main reason is that I like Allston's writing style better than Stackpole's but I'll also go into some of the details of why I like the books better, and it is mainly the characters.

Characters: This is in my opinion by far what the Wraith squadron books do so much better. Rogue squadron focuses way too much on Corran and Wedge and most of the squadron doesn't really get a lot of page time. Mirax and Iella get a fair amount of attention which is good at least. But Wraith squadron does a much better job of developing each member of the squadron which also makes the death scenes more meaningful. I'm not even lying that I got teary eyed when Phanan died, I thought that scene was written beautifully. But when compared to Rogue squadron, I had to look at the Dramatis Personae just to remember who Peshk was. Riv Shiel bites it later but he didn't really get any development either. For the Wraiths, maybe Grinder was just some prankster and maybe Falynn was just someone with self confidence issues, but either way they each got several scenes just to themselves which is something Riv or Peshk never got.

There is some development in Rogue squadron, Nawara is probably the best example. Gavin and Asyr get some. Some others as well but the point is that when compared to the Wraiths it just feels so much less. Kell and Tyria get a major focus in book 5 though sadly take a back seat in the other books. Face, Donos, and Lara probably get the most attention. There are some who get a bit neglected like Shalla, Ellesar and the Twilek whose name escapes me but overall the wraiths are individually so much more fleshed out. I love how many of them have psychological issues that they have to work through and that many of them show clear development through the cycles of the books. Rather than the Wedge and Corran show it felt like the Wraiths show and that worked so much better for me.

Villains: I can't say I have a strong opinion of Zsinj or Isard. I guess Zsinj is a bit more interesting to watch since his personality has a bit more dimensions to it than Isard's does. But like I said it doesn't make much of a difference to me as far as the books go. Maybe you guys have stronger opinions here?

The Battles: I feel like the Wraith's battles were a bit more realistic though my suspension of disbelief was still tested at times (no deaths at the research lab is a good example). But I liked the more fleet oriented battles of the Wraith's rather than X-Wings trump all nature of the Rogues. Though I have to admit these books made me question why the bridge and shield generators are so vulnerable on capital ships that surprise single fighter attacks can just casually destroy them.

I guess those are the only areas I will highlight for now. A lot of it has to do with writing style really, but there is some main points worth noting. I really can't stress enough how much better I think the characters were in Wraith than in Rogue. I'd love to hear others' opinions on the topic. Thanks for reading.

TL/DR: The Wraith books are better due to much better character/squadron development and more realistic/interesting battle scenes.

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12

Star Wars Discussion / Isard, why is she so... (X-Wing series spoilers), ship strength, and stormies.

« on: June 25, 2016, 10:44:32 PM »

SPOILER WARNING: This post contains spoilers for the first four books of the X-Wing series.

So I just finished the fourth book of the X-Wing series and Isard's lack of strength bothered me throughout the whole book. Why is she so weak? Her entire fleet was the Lusankya, two Star Destroyer II's and a Victory and that was it. Was she not the defacto leader of the entire empire? Surely the rest of the imperial fleet couldn't have been that occupied that she couldn't have called in some help. The book made a big deal about her loaning a interdictor from one of the warlords (Teradoc iirc). Did she really not have an interdictor lying around she could have used? Clearly not but it just really had me confused. The book portrays her no better than a warlord herself.

My next question would be that of ship strength. Throughout the entire series we see the Rouges surviving all sort of disaster, which is fine because of course they are some of the best pilots and they have plot armor on their side. But I think a negative side effect of their exploits is that it makes it seem like X-Wings trump all. 12 X-Wings and some random Alderaan Frigate can beat a victory star destroyer. The battle for the Lusankya is admittedly a lot more involved, but still it seems like the Lusankya was a lot weaker than it should have been. Proton torpedos seem to be able to beat everything which makes me wonder why they aren't standard issue on large ships. Ik the book is about a group of fighter pilots, but it seriously gives off the impression that fighters are the end all be all and that they can just swat down giant ships with a salvo of torpedos.

My last rant is about stormtroopers. The books (including Zahn here) always talk about how scary storm troopers are but they almost always suck in every instance they are ever portrayed. To be fair the movies set a pretty low bar for them. But I'm tired of being told how elite and strong they are and then watching them be so laughably bad. Corran should never even have survived book one but some stormtrooper stands over him in the middle of a battle to have a chat instead of just finishing him off so that he can be cheesily shot and Corran can be saved. The only time I've ever seen stromies do well is in a select few of Zahn's works where they actually do so well that I could actually believe in the reputation they are supposed to have.

So yea, I guess those are just some thoughts swirling through my head right now. Feel free to comment on any of these topics.

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13

Star Wars Discussion / Read the Thrawn Trilogy. Looking for more.

« on: May 12, 2015, 08:11:50 PM »

Hey guys, just read the Thrawn Trilogy and I thought it was fantastic. Really makes Thrawn's Revenge a lot more fun for me not that I know some of these characters a bit better.

At any rate. I'd like to continue my exploration into the EU but I don't know which books to pick up. I've heard that some of the books are awful but never specific names. I'd prefer something within Thrawn's Revenge's timeline, preferably something post Thrawn Campaign.

Anyway, any books you guys would recommend?

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14

The Lounge / Thinking about impulse buying SOASE:R. Few questions

« on: July 03, 2014, 03:49:16 AM »

So this game has interested me since I actually decided to look into it recently. I have a few random questions that may or may not be difficult to answer. Any help would be appreciated.

The games website states that I need a graphics card of at least
•256 MB DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card w/Pixel Shader 3.0 Support (AMD Radeon X1650 / Nvidia* 6800 or Better)

I searched my computer and found that I have a Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000.

The thing is that I have no idea if what I have compares to what they list. I can run Empire at War and mods like TR and RaW without difficulty most of the time if that reference means anything.


The second thing is that I was looking to buy this on Amazon (really annoyed that I just missed the steam summer sale, wish I would have seen it sooner). However, it ships from the UK (I'm in the U.S.). It says the shipping rate is $3 but that it might be higher by an unknown amount since it's an international shipment. I realize this is rather specific and kind of random, but if anyone can reassure me that this route should go well that would be great. I would rather buy it for $18 on Amazon than spend $40 elsewhere. Alternatively, if you guys know somewhere I can get it for ~$20 that would be awesome.

Thanks for any and all info. The game seems like fun but I think I will pass on it until a price drop/sale if $40 is the only option.

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