Bonus a bit much

[Alinroch]

So I was playing a new empire and ran into a ruin that gave me a crazy bonus. Bear in mind, this was early game, and I didn't have anything above second tech variant.

Suddenly I have a super weapon (bad) and the ability to make ridiculously huge ships (worse). Unlike the world destroyer, nothing needed to be done, it was just "poof I can build anything".

Bonuses for exploration good, insane bonuses bad. Had to abandon the game, single capital ship was laying waste to every AI empire.

[Wade1000]

If player can get and do that then so should the AI opponents.

But, I agree. Those sort of bonuses should be on a level basis. Such as, even if you discover the technology to a super uber weapon and huge ship then it should really be a technology level upgrade of one level or an amount of research points bonus in the related fields.

If we gave the technological plans of a missile cruiser ocean ship to an island tribe with canoe boats they would not yet be able/ready to build a missile cruiser and threaten their opponent tribes.

[jscott991]

Have you ever found a debris field?

The ships in one of those will probably be sufficient to roll the AI without the human building a single other vessel.

[lostsm]

the free stuff can really be over the top. retiring free ships for technology can give a lot too, seems to be very random, but sometimes you can get a little research, other times it unlocks an entire field.

i have no idea if the AI even does any of this, or if they even actively pursue these. I know they can be found repairing old ships, but it's really not an aggressive effort given the possible reward. then there are intercepts of hidden dead zones and the like obtained from the AI, or gifted from AI, and i've never seen an AI empire in one of those.

and then there's some of the planetary bonuses. fort of torak for example, and there's a lot more. i know the AI can aggressively seek super luxury items at planets but it doesn't seem to put much weight on special ruin bonuses as far as i can tell

toning down these freebies is one of those things i'd change if we had the ability

[Fishers of Men]

What do you think would happen if a pirate gang got a hold of this super vessel? Maybe, if you can attain uber ship, the pirates will copy it's design. Then everyone would be in real trouble. Lots of possiblities if they are coded in the game.

FoM

[EisenHammer]

Agree they need to fix this. One time the AI had a world destroyer in my game but the AI did not destroy any worlds with it just ues it as a capital ship raiding my planets. Until I destroyed it. [8|]

[JosEPhII]

But I LIKE the Death Ray! The game I got it the Pirates quit attacking and the AI all wanted Trade agreements. [:D]

Of course this was an unpatched 1.0.0 game. Haven't seen it since.[:'(]

JosEPh

[Fishman]

The "ability to build large ships" thing isn't actually a special ability, it just boosts your construction yard level. You can get this same ability through researching, and the AI will eventually get it as well, although his sense of paradigm doesn't involve constructing massive super-dreadnoughts, probably because there is nothing in the game you can't already shoot down with a ship half the size.

[HsojVvad]

ORIGINAL: Alinroch

Had to abandon the game, single capital ship was laying waste to every AI empire.

LMFAO. Sorry I had to laugh at you. It's like you are blaming the developers for this. I just have a question. Are the developers putting a gun to your head? If you found it so unbalnaced, why not just "disband now" and not use it. Or use the editor to erase it. Just because you found it, you don't need to use it. Nobody is forcing you to use it or start a new game.

You did not had to abandon the game, you just choose to abandon the game. Don't place blame on something that you could have controlled by not using it in the first place.

Sorry for the tangent, I just don't like when people try to place blame else for their own actions.

[Alinroch]

ORIGINAL: Davor

ORIGINAL: Alinroch

Had to abandon the game, single capital ship was laying waste to every AI empire.

LMFAO. Sorry I had to laugh at you. It's like you are blaming the developers for this. I just have a question. Are the developers putting a gun to your head? If you found it so unbalnaced, why not just "disband now" and not use it. Or use the editor to erase it. Just because you found it, you don't need to use it. Nobody is forcing you to use it or start a new game.

You did not had to abandon the game, you just choose to abandon the game. Don't place blame on something that you could have controlled by not using it in the first place.

Sorry for the tangent, I just don't like when people try to place blame else for their own actions.

Yawn, stop being a douche. I like this game, but there are things that are unbalanced. Should I not say so when I run into them? Also, read my post before running your mouth.

I didn't abandon the game due to a ship I found, I abandoned it due to being able to build super-caps when I feel I shouldn't have been. So yes, I HAD to abandon the game, because it suddenly became monstrously easy. Even my exploration ships could rip through a large space port.

Hence, unbalanced.

[HsojVvad]

ORIGINAL: Alinroch

So I was playing a new empire and ran into a ruin that gave me a crazy bonus. Bear in mind, this was early game, and I didn't have anything above second tech variant.

Suddenly I have a super weapon (bad) and the ability to make ridiculously huge ships (worse). Unlike the world destroyer, nothing needed to be done, it was just "poof I can build anything".

Bonuses for exploration good, insane bonuses bad. Had to abandon the game, single capital ship was laying waste to every AI empire.

I did read it. Last sentence said you had to abandon the game, single capital ship was laying waste to every AI empire. How else am I suppose to read it?

But you are right, I was a douche.

[Fat_Harry]

I agree that they need to be toned down a little. In my most recent game i found a capital ship a couple of years into the game. when i retired it i got given the Impact Assault Blaster D9.

The firepower on a destroyer jumped from 20 to 100 and as a result i dominated the rest of the game

[HsojVvad]

I have encountered a ship really early in the game as well. I see they are quite powerfull. I didn't realize they were that strong. So from the comments here, I will not use this ship much, unless I have too. If I see to much of an inbalance of it, I will just disband the ship then.

[Astorax]

Well, the AI could have just as easily found it and be using the tech against you. Now whether or not the AI puts a priority on exploring around to find such things or not is debatable. My own explorer ships seem to do a better job at it and I'm not sure why. I'm not manually controlling it or anything. Perhaps its the number of explorer ships I put out.

[Krippakrull]

I'm fine with it. I've had AI empires find and repair world destroyers before me a couple of times, and unless you're right up there in tech they do present a bit of a challenge, which I like. On the other hand, as I think I wrote somewhere earlier, I wouldn't be foreign to having the larger designs cost *a lot* in construction and upkeep. It makes sense that you'd need to have an advanced economy and infrastructure in place to be able to field the largest, most advanced ships. Then, even if you have the tech, your economy might not be able to support using it to any greater extent.

In my imagination a fleet of large, advanced, capships should need a fortress system with huge shipyards, good mining, and transports coming from far and wide with the resources needed for upkeep and construction. While this is somewhat true in the game as it stands, it could be more pronounced, and of course that's just how *I* imagine it.

Edit: Another idea might be making the use of bleeding edge tech cost an arm and a leg somehow, and then slowly decrease in price and resources as it matures. Would be a cool concept IMO.

[taltamir]

i don't see what is wrong with getting lucky and finding a super tech.
Those things happen and make each game a little unique... its pretty cool actually.

[Fishman]

ORIGINAL: Fat_Harry

The firepower on a destroyer jumped from 20 to 100 and as a result i dominated the rest of the game

Heh, 100 firepower = spitwads. You can build ships yourself that easily have firepower greater than that at the start of the game, and by late game I'm building freighters with > 1000 FP just to keep up against the pirates.