The AI on hard are a cakewalk, and I've yet to loose to a human opponent (ok, my opponents probably aren't the best ).

Stardock\Ironclad know this though, that's why they're improving the AI for 1.03 as a priority.

Also, fighters are about 10 times as effective against siege frigates compared to bombers, so make sure you have an even mix.

Now THAT I didn't know. Thanks Creston

I still stand by my initial statement. Playing usually 3 players (me against 2 ai) I have less that a 50% chance of winning.

So you are complaining that the game is to hard? Play it on an easier setting then, some of us like hard games.


But even on hard, I virtually never lose a planet (all my ships, yes). You do know about upgrading the planet, correct?

Tactical slots are not interchangeable with logistic, use them or they are a waste. Tons of fighters and cannons.


The problems you are talking about are not problems; that is why it is called a Real Time STRATEGY. Change your strategy.

Most of my planets do not even have defense around them, at all. Because early on I expand my empire in such a way that until I have a a couple of fleets of 8+ Capital Ships with 20+ frigates each, they are only needed at a few key planets; and with all the planetary defense and small fleets there, you can keep everything out of your empire.



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This comment was edited on Mar 8, 09:27.

I disagree. When the AI rushes with 15 or so siege frigates, 3 or 4 hangers will maybe take out 2 or 3 of them before the planet is torched

Check where the siege frigates are coming from, build static defenses in their path. The siege frigates go straight to the planet and get chewed up. Also, fighters are about 10 times as effective against siege frigates compared to bombers, so make sure you have an even mix.

In the end, if the siege frigates kill your planet, so what? Recolonize and buy the few upgrades again. It's still several thousand cheaper than the 15 siege frigates cost the AI. (and if you play as Advent, and have the Colonize ability of the mothership, with its 20-40-60% discount, it's an even bigger win, resource wise, for you.)

I don't care much about siege frigates attacks.

Waiting for the 1.3 patch though, the diplomacy needs a lot of work. A map with 5 players inevitably turns into 4 of them vs you, which gets boring. It'd be nice if there'd be wars fought not right on my doorstep. (Something which Galciv 2 is awesome in.)

Creston

I still stand by my initial statement. Playing usually 3 players (me against 2 ai) I have less that a 50% chance of winning.

One on one I am about 70%. But the large fleets just mow down my frigs, which become totally useless once the capital ships arrive or mid class ships.

So the game needs some definite balancing. I think the bombers and fighers are worthless once you bring in Grada flak frigs. 2-4 of them can trash 10 squadrons.

Especially in the early game, it's all about choosing effective choke points and concentrating defences there.

Build large clusters of cannons. Split fleet between the defended chokepoints. Station capital ships near the cannons with attack orders set to hold position


This comment was edited on Mar 7, 14:37.

I do not have any AA turned on though; but everything else is cranked up.


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Thanks Enahs.

Are the system requirements pretty low? Meaning, could I play it on a notebook PC?

I play it with no trouble at 1280x800 on my laptop. It is a AMD Turtion64 X2 CPU at 2ghz, 2 gigs of memory, and a Radeon Xpress 1150.


As to the original poster. If you position the cannons correctly, get fighter bays, upgrade the planet you are usually fine. If the planets where invulnerable what would be the point?

Sector off your empire so that the hyperspace routes into your empire always have a small fleet of frigates in each empire entrance area, as well as upgraded planetary defenses.


You do not have to have a small fleet and full out defense on every planet, only the ones that they can get too.



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Just a genernal question for those who own this game:

Are the system requirements pretty low? Meaning, could I play it on a notebook PC? I was able to play Civ 4 with no issues on the same PC. I fly from the North East to the South West somewhat frequently and would love a game that can make 4-5 hours go by quickly.

Thanks!

If you build 3,4 hangar defenses and upgrade the planet's fallout shelters it will be pretty tough to raze your planet. Now add a planetary shield to that and your colony will last a long time until your own fleet arrives.

I disagree. When the AI rushes with 15 or so siege frigates, 3 or 4 hangers will maybe take out 2 or 3 of them before the planet is torched. Planetary shields will help, but thats a fairly late game tech, and siege frigate spamming starts pretty early. If your fleet is a couple jumps away or tied up with something else, that planet is usually done for. I'd like it if they would reduce the HP of the siege frigates. That way they could still tear up an undefended planet, but planetary defenses would actually mean something

In summary, a game very deserving of your support.
Just the total lack of DMR on the cd is a good reason for me (although the use serials for online play) The game is in deed a time sink, and that in my book is a good game, granted not so good for family and friends, but imo it's huge value for your money


This comment was edited on Mar 7, 04:15.

Check the official forums, there are several very good mods based around improving planet defences. Including upping range and damage on gauss cannons, increasing squads per hanger and (my favourite) making jump inhibitors cover the entire planet gravity well.

Otherwise focus on getting your initial cap ship some levels (get it to clear all nearby neutral systems solo ASAP) and then support it with a handful of upgraded LRM Frigates and you should be able to hold a friendly system against a larger AI fleet as long as you have some defences and arn't outnumbered too severly.

This comment was edited on Mar 7, 03:35.

My fleets are almost always smaller than the AI's, and I routinely triumph. It's not really all about numbers...

Great to see Ironclad and Stardock are still very committed to timely updates. Great work guys!

If you build 3,4 hangar defenses and upgrade the planet's fallout shelters it will be pretty tough to raze your planet. Now add a planetary shield to that and your colony will last a long time until your own fleet arrives.

If you haven't yet played this game, be warned, major time sink! It's so bad for me I won't even fire it up unless I know I have at least five hours to kill.

They have a serious problem with this game. He who has the most ships WINS!

So the whole "tank rush" is here to stay and that sucks ass. Gauss Cannon defenses do shit against medium and capital ships.

While the game mechanics are a blast, they need to make planet sieges tougher, right now its a breeze. The planet itself should be able to launch missles or have an ion cannon.

IronClad needs to bust out a little known game called Imperium Galactica 2 to get an idea of what I mean. That game is still better than Sins.

Sins 2 could be better than Imperium Galactica 2 with some serious game rework.