Jae Kaenash

Join Date 03/2003

Custom Map - Neutral Zone (Balance/Dread Lord Question)

So I created a simple Medium Sized Map.

On one side is the Drenghin, Korath and my Krellan clan (which is similar).

On the other side is the Altair, Krynn and Terrans.

Each group has a couple decent starting planets and resources. Very balanced, although I have upped the planet quality.

In the center of the map are a few clusters of terraformable planets. A few each of Heavy G, Radioactive etc and two size 10 planets on either side.

Then in the VERY center is "Orion" this is the Quality 26 planet, very big. I put the Dreadlords here (This is perhaps my big mistake). What I wanted to do was simulate this neutral zone no mans land. Have the sides on each side of the map ally up and see who can take out the ancient pre-cursor world in the center.

However, As you may have guessed the Dreadlords launched a ship rather quickly with 342 firepower and a ton of hit points and started roaming around blasting every ship I create. Now I can adjust my strategy around this, I can just stop making ships until I can make something powerful enough to approach their craft (not that I have ever played a campaign long enough to do this) but the AI would probably gleefully keep on creating space miners and constructors while the dreadlords go around like the Borg wiping them out.

So questions:

1- Is the Scenario hosed because I added the Dread Lords

2- If you have Dreadlords in a smaller map, how do you deal with their early raids?

3- What is my best bet for defeating a Dreadlord ship?

I would love to post the map, but I am not sure how to upload it. I think I can still play the scenario perhaps even by putting the Dark Yor or something on the Orion planet.

strategies

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Extant Faora

Join Date 08/2008

1)It depends on how you take the whole situation. I personnally would not have put them there. But then again I play on gigantic maps (and i'm still on DA, no TA here). On a gigantic map this would be a lot of fun, but on a medium, it's just a kill joy, and a strategic nightmare.So try making a gigantic map this way, but then again, those are only my preferances.

2)If I had them on a smaller map like this, it would be on DL. In which case I would make a giant fleet of small ships (after getting enough miniaturization and logistics) with no defense and just weapons (these weapons can be really low level as well, like Laser, since the Dread Lords don't use defenses). However in DA, the only way to cope with them early game, is to have faster ships than they do.

3)In DL, large fleet of small ships as mentioned above. In DA large fleet of Huge ships, with great weapons, and even better defenses. Or ships with more engines.

Hope this helps. The basic DA principle mentioned here probablly applies for TA as well (to the best of my knowledge). There's bound to be some way to kick their ass in a sneaky fation.

Till you kick them in the face.........

ROCK ON!!!

(And RUN!!!)

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Thank you! I enjoy a large map at times, but often it gets so chaotic that it's difficult to play because there is no clear 'front'. I was looking in this case to have 6 sectors on the left be "Good" 6 sectors on the right be "Evil" and the center be this hodge podge no mans land full of either very exotic planets that could be a jewel if you terraform them with one HUGE prize in the center.

What I did was put the dark yor on the planet and started again. I think though because I know the map, unfortunately it was difficult not to grab all the good stuff right away.

I wanted to make sure the AI could cope with the DL existance and wouldn't just keep wasting it's resources.

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Extant Faora

Join Date 08/2008

That's why I like large maps. Because they're so chaotic, and there is a degree of unpredictability to everything.

If I were to make a custom map, It would be Immense, it would have a lot of mining resources, There would be a bunch of Minors, as many as I can put, Dread Lords in the centre (or if I can have more, dread lords in 3 different areas at the least), No ascension resources, I consider that sortof a "Cheese" way to win, there would be at least 500 habitable planets, 250 asteroids, and a shitload of anomalies.

Either that, or I'd make an immense galaxy with very few planets, and large open spaces of nothing.

Can't wait to get TA.

Till then......

I'll go mope in a corner.

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