If tech and industry were decoupled, it would mean LESS zerg rushes, not more. The only way to increase your production would be to build more factories and/or have lots of excess factories everywhere so that you can temporarily boost the spending if necessary. Play the campaign and you'll see that a great tactic goes like this: Buy ships/factories and set 100% research for engines/cartography techs. Set 100% military
I've had little problem with AI tech trading, since I do it myself. I normally manage to out tech the AI, especially in the mid-game. I do think that the 'great deal' should be eliminated though, since you get some really stupid trades. It's a bit silly when the AI gives an advanced weapon/defence tech in exchange for a basic weapon/defence theory.
Nice one Brad. I'll never do the maths in the game, but knowing that % bonuses are added up and applied to base production (with half free) means that I can easily judge what a building or bonus will actually do. I can easily decide if 50% more apples is more useful than 20% more oranges. Deciding if you want 'many' apples or 'lots' of oranges is where things get awkward. Good call on the social redirection. I was be
Thanks Frogboy, the changes sound good. Will you also look at upgrade costs when you rebalance the factories/labs, as started by tetlytea in #4? The huge costs can make it nearly impossible to get a planet re-started after conquest, since your factories/labs can take ages to complete.
I'd like an option in the future to switch the AI to full cleverness but leave the economy penalty. I'd like to see it act really smart, but without an economy penalty, I think I'll get destroyed! So I feel that I'm not getting to see a lot of the game's genius. One thing about the normal AI is that it seems to forget about factories. It's as if the AI thinks "I need more research" and tries to build loads of labs despite not ha
I agree with the post about transparent output. I don't care how the sausage was made, but I'd like to know if it'll taste good or bad! The change I'm most looking forward to is the colour coding for paid/bonus/free production. So I can how much of my production is because of the starbase/capital/race bonus. Some tool tip indication of how much cash I'm getting from a bank/trade center would be cool too.
Just posting a quick thanks. Knowing the cost of a tech is very useful when trading.
Here's my quick start guide: Turn 1 Set 100% spending and 100% research (research whatever project you want, but engines can be very useful) Design the fastest colony ship possible and stick on some sensors if you have room. Buy the colony ship and one factory. Use the flagship to search for planets, picking up any anomalies on the way. Send the colony ship exploring for good planets (don't colonise the planet in you
Posted by Frogboy: This is a weakness in the current system. Because as a practical matter, you can't utilitize 100% of your research and industrial base. One of the suggestions that we are looking seroiusly at is at some point, maybe in an expansion pack (certainly in a sequel) would be to have manufacturing and research be decoupled.
Have the devs confirmed if attack and defence rolls are 1-max or 0-max?
The game judges your miltary (I think) based on: (Hitpoints/10)+attack+defence for ALL your ships. So an unarmed sensor ship will add HP/10 to your military score. If you use cargo hulls then the AI probably won't consider them as a build up to war. I say probably, because I think the AI can detect lots of constructors/transports around it's planets and treats them as a cassus belli for war.
FROGBOY: For example, my pet peeve is that I can't see which flasks, shields, and hammers are from my ability and which are from my factories. I want them to be color-coded. Please do this! Colour code stuff for: Factory/lab production Race bonuses Starbase bonuses As a second level of detail, could you sh
