2.0 Manual

[Corey]

Manuals have become the cool thing to do for EaW mods, and Slornie has already started one for 2.0, so we'd like to know what kind of information you think would be helpful for players such as yourselves.

[Willhelm]

What are the best counters for what? and thats all i can think of

[Corey]

I can prettyy much guarantee all of you are better at the mod than us. This is more what kind of general information you all think would be good for people to have, especially new people, or what kind of information on units, features, etc should be explained somewhere.

[Senza]

I would definitely explain about how eras work, the strengths/ weaknesses of each faction, DEFINITELY include the fact that heroes are 1 death and gone deals, lol. I'd also explain  how shipyards work vs space stations. If I think of something else I'll suggest it lol.

[Willhelm]

Perhpas even ship Strengths and weaknesses, kindof like a thing explaining ship uses a strengths, for example, it would explain that things like strike cruisers are weak but powerful ect

[yutpaeksi]

With regards to what Senza brought up, the Tutorial GC covers a lot of that.

Instead I'd make sure to mention how the AI gets credits, and how the player builds his economy. I wouldn't add strategic stuff like counters, because that's part of the fun of figuring out a game. For instance, if an IR player decides to build nothing but VSDs and ISDs, he's gonna have a lot of trouble with NR starfighters.


The other stuff I'd make sure to include in the manual is how each faction handles intel. THe EtoH with the Hand of Thrawns sees every system, but with limited info. The NR relies on heroes (Cracken/Solo/Jade), and the IR has probe droids. That's a huge deal and is really different from the vanilla.

One thing that could be really important, and is something that's painfully absent from the vanilla FoC, is a list of which systems are good for economy, and which are good for industry.

Keep up the good work guys!

[Senza]

I know the tutorial covers all that, but it seems kind of redundant to me to have both a tutorial and a manual for a mod .

[Slornie]

The tutorial only covers some of the major changes found in the mod, and does so quite briefly.  By writing a manual we can go into more depth about the changes and showcase the different content included in the mod.  So for example the difference in intel-gathering yutpaeksi mentioned isn't covered by the tutorial (good suggestion by the way, it hadn't occurred to me) or the changes made to Skirmish (Golans, purchasable Minor Faction units, etc) which otherwise only get a one-line mention in the readme.

Besides, a colourful manual with lots of pictures is more likely to be read than a long readme.txt

[Senza]

True lol. Perhaps you could give a brief overview of how the different factions approach combat, how the different factions are distributed throughout the galaxy in various GCs (mind you not a super detailed map, maybe just like a picture of the map with different colored areas to represent the factions), and what to expect out of each of the factions in different eras. For instance, you could add that you can expect to get SSD spammed by Palpatine.

[Slornie]

One thing that could be really important, and is something that's painfully absent from the vanilla FoC, is a list of which systems are good for economy, and which are good for industry.

How do you mean good for economy/industry?  What sort of details would you want to see for this?

[yutpaeksi]

How do you mean good for economy/industry?  What sort of details would you want to see for this?

Well for instance, Carida only provides like 40 extra credits per mining facility/tax bureau, whereas Generis is a great place to build economic structures. That was something that's always bugged me about this game and all the mods. Until you build an economic structure on any given planet, and unless you're familiar with a lot of the lore (like Muunilinst being a banking planet), it's impossible to know which planets are better credit generators.

So say, a list of systems that have a high number of infrastructure slots (Carida again) but provides little income, would be ideally suited to a troop/vehicle training planet. Then listing Generis, Muunilinst, Bespin, Corusccant, Fondor. even Bilbringi, generates good money. I would also include a list of systems that allow for capital ship production and heavy frigate shipyards. This helps to identify them as key targets.

[Corey]

Well, there is a table in the manual now with all of the base credit values, number of slots and shipyard level, however you don't really need any extra lore or information to know where to build economic structures. They provide the exact same bonus regardless of the planet, it's a bonus percentage of the base income, not an absolute value that varies depending on planets. The best place to build a mining colony/tax collection agency is always the place that already has the highest base value. Factors like lore only effect the base value we give the planet, not the bonus you get.

So:
Carida 40 base x2 =80.
Coruscant 160 base x2 =320

(I'm not actually sure that the multiplier is, this was just an example).

Therefore since the base value of Coruscant is higher, you're going to get a much greater reward for your structure than you would on Carida, and the information is there even if you don't know the difference between the Millenium Falcon and Serenity. You just have to check the economy tab ingame.

[yutpaeksi]

Therefore since the base value of Coruscant is higher, you're going to get a much greater reward for your structure than you would on Carida, and the information is there even if you don't know the difference between the Millenium Falcon and Serenity. You just have to check the economy tab ingame.

I'm aware that the base value dictates the potential economic growth of each system (a little tip that I recommend also be in the manual), but that only helps matters once you've gotten an initial assessment of the system or already own it. But when you're still more than one hyperspace jump away, all you get is the system name and its location.

So say, I'm playing AoW Lite as the IR, it'd be nice to know where the EtoH's first capital shipyard is, instead of having to hunt for it by engaging them several times. Same thing if I'm the NR in Into the Cluster, it'd be nice to know that taking Hapes would provide a huge economic boost early on.

[Zeron]

I'm aware that the base value dictates the potential economic growth of each system (a little tip that I recommend also be in the manual), but that only helps matters once you've gotten an initial assessment of the system or already own it. But when you're still more than one hyperspace jump away, all you get is the system name and its location.

So say, I'm playing AoW Lite as the IR, it'd be nice to know where the EtoH's first capital shipyard is, instead of having to hunt for it by engaging them several times. Same thing if I'm the NR in Into the Cluster, it'd be nice to know that taking Hapes would provide a huge economic boost early on.

Except that you're shown the base value of the planet no matter how far away they are or the fact that you haven't discovered them yet. Sure it may not give you the number of shipyards, but considering just how few capital shipyards there are in the game it really shouldn't be that much of a guessing game.

Regardless, yes we've put in the Base Income/Shipyard Level/Ground Structure Limit/All of that in the manual.

[Corey]

Sure it may not give you the number of shipyards, but considering just how few capital shipyards there are in the game it really shouldn't be that much of a guessing game.

[19/04/2012 2:55:14 PM] Zeron: Thanos is a capital shipyard???

And considering I made Syca up, even the most lore-filled person will have no idea what it is until you get there. The base credit values will be in the manual, but I don't think we'll explain the numbers for mining colony bonuses, except in the structure section itself, since it's just basic math. 

[Zeron]

[19/04/2012 2:55:14 PM] Zeron: Thanos is a capital shipyard???

And considering I made Syca up, even the most lore-filled person will have no idea what it is until you get there. The base credit values will be in the manual, but I don't think we'll explain the numbers for mining colony bonuses, except in the structure section itself, since it's just basic math. 

You can't blame me for not knowing a planet that you just put in and that isn't even in my version. And I meant that they should be able to remember after at least one game or two.

[yutpaeksi]

You can't blame me for not knowing a planet that you just put in and that isn't even in my version. And I meant that they should be able to remember after at least one game or two.

Well I'm thinking about newcomers to the mod or people who don't play often. Maybe they come in, try the Tutorial GC, then tackle Fractured Empire one time. Perhaps they struggle, have a hard time against the AI, and then turn to the manual for some help for their 2nd attempt at a GC, maybe they try Camaas Crisis next. Then they wouldn't have seen every system, or even every faction yet. I'm really thinking more of the issues I had when first jumping into the game.

[Corey]

You can't blame me for not knowing a planet that you just put in and that isn't even in my version. And I meant that they should be able to remember after at least one game or two.

Like Yutpaeski basically said, every planet is a planet we just put in to somebody new to the mod, and the point of the manual is so they don't ragequit for not knowing how things work before they've been through enough GCs to remember everything off the top of their heads.