DW : Shadows - notes as an Empire in the Age of Shadows

[Kayoz]

ORIGINAL: Spacecadet
It might make it quicker to fire it a second time (if it uses one at a time), but I have seen ships shoot out multiple Tractor Beams before.

Should be quick and easy to test.

[hadberz]

Should be quick and easy to test.

Spacecadet is correct. The ship will shoot two beams if you have two tractor beams installed. Sometimes it only fires one beam. I imagine the more installed the more beams it could shoot out. I only use two installed on my ships.

[Arcatus]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: feygan
Just wondering how the original and ROTS story events fit in with shadows? If the timeline is set in a postwar period before great empires, do we take our empires up from prewarp all through the first two story lines as in one massive story arc?

Yes, that's exactly what you can do. [8D]

Wait? what?

How could that work? As far as I can see "genetically engineering of space creatures" isn't in the new feature notes..

Or is the first shakturi war pre-pre-warp?

[Erik Rutins]

Here's some background from the manual:


SPOILERS BELOW

Background Information: Pirates and the Age of Shadows

The original Distant Worlds and the first two expansions, Return of the Shakturi and Legends, told a story that was set in roughly the same time period, with Return of the Shakturi intended to continue where Distant Worlds ended and Legends overlaying both previous storylines.

If you have not yet played through all the Distant Worlds storylines, this section will contain some spoilers, so be warned, but they also help explain the setting of Shadows.

Distant Worlds: Shadows, however, is intended to take place before the original Distant Worlds game and the events told in that and the following storylines. The Age of Shadows is the time period after the cataclysm that befell the galaxy at the end of the first Great War against the Shakturi but before the previous planetary empires recovered enough to return to space and rediscover their history.

After the first Great War between the Freedom Alliance and the Shakturi, the remaining fragments of civilization in the galaxy collapsed and those who remained found themselves engaged in a desperate struggle for survival that at times looked certain to fail. As they realized the terrible fate that had been unleashed on them, the Shakturi went on a final rampage that was halted only as the last of them perished to the virus. The Xaraktor virus itself was still actively spread through its genetically engineered carriers for many years after the Shakturi themselves were eradicated from the galaxy.

The planets themselves were the worst affected. Multiple waves of plague swept over them through decades, as the Kaltors continued their grim work. Along with the terrible casualties, most of what was previously known was lost.

Only in space did some knowledge survive. Here the few remnants of the fleets of the Freedom Alliance and the Shaktur Axis initially continued to fight each other as well as the Kaltors. They recognized that the planets, where the plague was still active, held no future for them. Attempts to recolonize or restore civilization during this time all failed. They realized that to survive, they needed to remain in space, to remain mobile and evade the Kaltors until the planets themselves were either free of plague or devoid of population.

Over generations, these nomadic survivors scavenged, built and re-built their ships and bases many times. Many perished, but more survived and while they were unable to maintain the level of technology that had once been, they still knew how to travel faster than light, how to exist in space, to mine for the resources the needed and how to build fast and powerful ships that could protect them from the Kaltors and other menaces.

Over time they also lost their common identity and separated into smaller factions, each with different goals. Some, following blindly in the footsteps of their Freedom Alliance ancestors, foresaw a future where they would be able to once again establish a more orderly galaxy, with colonized planets, trade and an organized military. Others, either because of the trials they had been through or because of their origins with the Shaktur Axis, were more concerned with raiding, pillaging and destroying what was left, until they would sit alone as the final survivors of a dying galaxy. These then, are the “pirates” of the Age of Shadows.

On the planets, over many generations the virus finally went dormant, allowing civilization a chance to re-establish itself. The Kaltors themselves became more rare, largely because of the actions of the survivors in space, but also bred and mutated across generations until they also no longer carried the virus. The planetary survivors multiplied and with the help of a few remaining stories and the ruins of their ancestors, rebuilt a basic level of technology and began to repopulate their worlds.

The space-based survivors were busy enough surviving and fighting each other that at first the recovery that was taking place on the few remaining inhabited worlds went unnoticed, but eventually the exploration ships of the pirates discovered that the worlds they previously thought to be tombs now had the beginnings of new civilizations, already with population in numbers that far exceeded the survivors in space, but with technology that was much more primitive. The response of the pirates to these newly discovered planets varied, and in some cases they simply ignored them while they dealt with their own problems. For the most part though, they made contact, in some cases peaceful to trade for resources and food, in others hostile to pillage and take what they would in goods and slaves.

This is where the Age of Shadows in the game begins. The planetary civilizations have regained enough technology to return to space, but only within their systems. The pirates have better technology and knowledge of the galaxy. Two futures are possible. The first is one where the planetary civilizations expand into space and regain a measure of their former glory, following along the original storyline. The second though, is a very different future, where the pirate factions are able to manage the rise of the planetary civilizations, control them, exploit them and eventually conquer them to establish an entirely different kind of galactic order, depending on which type or pirate emerges triumphant.

The Age of Shadows, in short, is a struggle for survival and an ongoing battle to determine the future of the galaxy. Will it be a strong, united and advanced galaxy that the Shaktur find on their eventual return, or simply smouldering ashes?

[Arcatus]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Here's some background from the manual:

(...snip...)

Very, very cool. The pirates in legends (and pirates in general actually) kindof bothered me story-vice. But it all makes sense now

I know exactly how I want to set up my first game. Can't wait!

[2guncohen]

For the guys who played it in test fase how far can you go with the modding ?

Gr 2 Gun

[Spacecadet]

While we're waiting for more news on the release, I mentioned that Empire distribution had been tweaked.

Here's a typical view of how Empire distribution currently looks.

The settings for this game start up were two at "Average" distance, and the rest at "Distant", of course this doesn't include Independents that become Empires, but I think you can get a rough idea of what to expect with Shadows [8D]

[Kayoz]

ORIGINAL: Spacecadet
Here's a typical view of how Empire distribution currently looks.

Looks exactly like what I'd expect in 1.7.0.20. Still a group of 3 tightly packed at the top, and a pair nearby - and the bottom left empire is all alone.

No change that I can see.

[Spacecadet]

ORIGINAL: Kayoz

ORIGINAL: Spacecadet
Here's a typical view of how Empire distribution currently looks.

Looks exactly like what I'd expect in 1.7.0.20. Still a group of 3 tightly packed at the top, and a pair nearby - and the bottom left empire is all alone.

No change that I can see.

Hmmm, typically I was seeing most of the Empires grouped together along one edge of the map.

To me, there's a world of difference.

It's not perfect, but to me it's been much improved.

[Spacecadet]

Another thing I mentioned was how much of an Energy hog the Warp Bubble was.
Also, the issue was brought up where Explorers essentially had the full range of the Galaxy.

Lets take a quick look at that.
Here's the typical Design for an Explorer once the Warp Bubble is discovered:




Wow, .43 Sector Range, not even as good as a Constructor . . . and this is not even with the full capacity of the Warp Bubble being used (note the Speed).

[Spacecadet]

So, the Range on that .43 Sectors looks like this:





Not terribly impressive, is it?

[Spacecadet]

How about a "Flying Gas Can" Explorer?





This is essentially the largest size Explorer that can be built at this point in the game.
Note the 10 Fuel Cell maximization here.

Again, note that the full capacity (Speed) of the Warp Bubble is not even being used here in order to maximize the Fuel Cell capacity.

[Spacecadet]

And the Range Circle for our "Flying Gas Can" ?

Here we are:





Definitely better, but we still don't even cover a full Sector.

Considering the trip there and back, we essentially have a Range of .405 or less Sectors.
We're definitely not going to be uncovering the secrets of the Galaxy any time soon with this type of performance [;)]

. . . and for this quick demo, it took me slightly over 20 years to even have the Warp Bubble . . .

[Kayoz]

ORIGINAL: Spacecadet
Hmmm, typically I was seeing most of the Empires grouped together along one edge of the map.

To me, there's a world of difference.

It's not perfect, but to me it's been much improved.

7 out of 15 all along the top edge of the map. Not quite "most", but no better than DW:L as I can see.

[Kruos]

ORIGINAL: Kayoz

ORIGINAL: Spacecadet
Hmmm, typically I was seeing most of the Empires grouped together along one edge of the map.

To me, there's a world of difference.

It's not perfect, but to me it's been much improved.

7 out of 15 all along the top edge of the map. Not quite "most", but no better than DW:L as I can see.

7 out of 15 all along the top edge of the map. Not quite "most", but no better than DW:L as I can see.

I agree, it is difficult to see any improvment in the distribution shown above. However, it could still be pleasant to play. But it could be nice to have an option allowing a homogenous distribution thought the galaxy.

[Bingeling]

ORIGINAL: Kayoz

ORIGINAL: Spacecadet
Hmmm, typically I was seeing most of the Empires grouped together along one edge of the map.

To me, there's a world of difference.

It's not perfect, but to me it's been much improved.

7 out of 15 all along the top edge of the map. Not quite "most", but no better than DW:L as I can see.

Have anyone ever tried to compare the "two average, the rest distant" option to just having random AI generation?

I can't help thinking that if the game is too good at spreading things around, the game becomes predictable. It must be possible to end up close to others (but not in the same system).

[feelotraveller]

Actually it is somewhat better than I've generally seen in RoTS and Legends.  Which is not to say that it could not be further improved...
 
For best results from distance settings (other than random) place yourself centrally.  The worst results often come with setting many empires distant and ending up with your home system halfway towards one of the corners of the map.
 
I suspect the real intention of the settings is to allow you to manipulate one or two empires into being close to or far away from you and not on setting everyone far away.  [;)]

[Kruos]

ORIGINAL: feelotraveller
I suspect the real intention of the settings is to allow you to manipulate one or two empires into being close to or far away from you and not on setting everyone far away.  [;)]

I think so too.

An option allowing a homogenous distribution thought the galaxy would be very appreciated I think. But maybe the algorythm of the galaxy generation is not so flexible and it is not as easy as it looks.

[joeyeti]

A (wild) question also is if the distribution of empires takes into account rough resource availability for each?

But I might be overguessing here

[Spacecadet]

ORIGINAL: Kayoz

ORIGINAL: Spacecadet
Hmmm, typically I was seeing most of the Empires grouped together along one edge of the map.

To me, there's a world of difference.

It's not perfect, but to me it's been much improved.

7 out of 15 all along the top edge of the map. Not quite "most", but no better than DW:L as I can see.

Don't forget there are Independents and Pirates in the mix as well.

These won't show up in this Map picture, and in fact, I had to go into the Editor and mark the AI Empires as "Explored" just to get those to show up.