More Suggestions for V2.1

[SideshowBob]

OK, since I can't seem to reply to myself (man I'm a chatty b---ard tonite), I had to start a new thread:

Oh, in deference to Eric who started this thread, here's my take on his suggestions;

Random events - agreed, they shouldn't penalize bad play. Oh, very basically, make 2.1 DOWNLOADABLE! I know I am a spaz with computers, but I STILL can't download 2.0!

Research vs. Production - Keep the game the way it is - I enjoy the challenge/ strategy. In just about every other civ-building game I play, both happen at the same time, and its just a tedium of building and researching as background noise to building up for a war/battles.

# of tech's to advance ages - On the fence on this one. I think it would put the aliens at too much of a disadvantage, as I am always ahead. They would never advance. If you want to dwell longer in an age to get to use its techs in more battles, try the slow research speed. Its like playing a whole new game.

Better AI - Yes, I'd like to see the AI do better at R&P facilities, but then they'd be easier to attack early in the game! Perhaps too easy. Not sure how you'd handle this one. The Advanced level is challenging enough for me, but it can get frustrating to be so far behind for so long at first. But then there's the reward when you do catch up and start kickin' butt!

Huge Planet in Advanced Level - No, I like the challenge of starting smaller. Maybe another level is needed - most other games have 4 if not 5 or 6 levels. 1 of them amusingly has a level called "Impossible"! Never tried it - never cared for the game to play it enough to get that good.

Interstellar Standoffs - Absolutely agree with this one! I have actually been able to see them strike, but it is a pain to pull it off. I've also experienced game crashes if I try to change the target, so I don't even bother now. Maybe 2.0 fixed that?

[EricLarsen]

Originally posted by SideshowBob
# of tech's to advance ages - On the fence on this one. I think it would put the aliens at too much of a disadvantage, as I am always ahead. They would never advance.

Interstellar Standoffs - Absolutely agree with this one! I have actually been able to see them strike, but it is a pain to pull it off. I've also experienced game crashes if I try to change the target, so I don't even bother now. Maybe 2.0 fixed that?

SideshowBob,
The reason I've advanced having more techs needed to advance out of the early ages is exactly because we can get out of them much quicker than the aliens and because we are much better at the easter egg hunt business at the beginning of the game. My last intermediate game I ended up with 6 wisdom artifacts right off the bat from my easter egg hunt phase while the best any other alien could do was 2 and usually 1 or none. Since I had such a WA advantage I was able to reach the fusion age first, several techs before my next opponent. I think that by increasing the number of techs needed to advance to the next age in the beginning the longer we stay equal techage-wise with the other aliens. But more importantly it will force the aliens into researching more of the world-enhancement techs that we normally research. Ofcourse Andrew needs to make the aliens use some of that world-enhancement tech beyond just the surface mining facility and not have the aliens stock up on wimpy weapons early on and use up all of a world's slots with useless junk.

How the heck did you manage to see the interstellar standoffs hit? Maybe it is seeable in your older pre-2.0 version and no longer in the 2.0 version. Now I don't even bother to try and watch. I've tried right-clicking on the world to try and make it the target so the game will focus on it but everytime I hit the fire button I'm immediately jerked back to the firing world. It's really such an anticlimax to researching such a col weapon. Andrew needs to make this work easier so that we can just focus on the target world and when we hit the fire button the view stays with the targetted world so we can watch the IS weapons strike. Also is there some kind of time delay between when we shoot and when the IS weapon actually strikes and if so about how long?
Eric Larsen

[SideshowBob]

Guess I'd actually have to PLAY through a game or 2 with more tech's needed to advance before deciding if I'd like it better.

How to witness an IS hit:

Yes, if you try to watch the world when the IS is fired, you get jerked back to the source world. BUT then go to the target world and wait. It takes up to a year to hit, depending on distance betw. source & target. You can also watch the star map and pick up the (color of your civ) dot moving toward the target, just like a ship! Of course, while I'm watching, I usually get jerked back a few times either by alien hails, ships ready for assignment, tech research complete, etc. This is so cumbersome that after the first few hit witnesses, I gave up on trying. It is cool to watch, tho!