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Author Topic:   END GAME QUESTIONS

dreghorn2 posted 03-30-99 04:35 PM ET

Perhaps a few of the more astute players out there can answer a couple of questions for me.
I am in the end game of a TI battle and never having been this far before i have encountered a few things that i cannot figure out.
As the Hive, aided by a a little early isolation, i managed to build a tremendous empire of 12 or 13 large cities (25 to 50 or so pop.). Finally converting to conquest mode i starting snapping up cities outside my original sphere of influence until one Ms. Santiago decided enough was enough and dropped a Buster on one of my conquests. Well that was enough for me as well, 2 aircraft carriers loaded with PBs and a couple of turns later found the former colonel and her 'tribe' rubbing sticks together to make fire. PLANET did not like this however, my empire (with me on the Green social scale and with every 'green' enhancement available) became absolutely overrun in a manner i did not seem possible, devastation.. carnage.. women and children.. oh, the humanity! In addition to this ecological invasion my once good friend Lal (how often does that happen as the Hive) starting a reign of terror from the skies, conventional missiles, 15 or 20 per turn.. gak.
Anyway, enough prelim. I have a few questions.
1. Is there anyway to prevent or at least minimize PLANETs' reaction to my ICBM progrom?
2. How do i stop conventional missile attacks? I have 10 or so orbital defence pods but they seem worthless.
3. For that matter how does one conduct satellite warfare? I have been all over the satellite screen but can't figure a way to attack my opponents (Lals') satellites.
4. Despite my having drop technology and the space elevator i can't outfit my PBs with drop pods i have to shoot them from a carrier within the 20 hex range, how can i get them to fire anywhere on the planet i want. Also Lal, despite not being in range of my cities, can hit them with conventional missiles at will. How is he doing that? He simply attacks a city with missiles until there are no defenders then uses drop infantry to invade, darn it *G*.
By the way, my cities have every defence installation possible built up to tachyon fields. I hope to play at this level a lot and really could use the answers to these questions. I have turned the transcend victory off, i could have easily stayed on my island and transcended my way to victory, too easy.
Finally, and i appreciate the patience, how are people finding the multiplayer aspect of the game? Is it difficult to arrange? Does it play easily? Has anyone completed a game? Playing human opponents seems to me the REALLY fun way to play this game.
I'd like to thank in advance anyone who is nice enough to answer some of these questions for me. I've been reading this forum and there are some astute players out there.
Yours,
Dreghorn2
The Panther posted 03-30-99 06:19 PM ET
The way I usually deal with Planet, is having lots of Formers, once she is first pissed of, she is completely impossilble to calm down again (you might need some more, with cities of that sizes).
The conventional missiles, I actually really take much notice of them any more. with stasis shields, they haven't got a chance (he needs 5 to blasts a fully protected garrision down, makes you wonder who uses the most money, you on single garrisions, or him on missiles every single turn. Actually, if you build up an army meanwhile, he won't stand a chance since his money all wen't down the drain with all the other missiles.)
I don't now how to blow them up either, and it is pissing me of.
Come on really drop pods on PB's Lal can only do this beacouse he is AI, and has to get some advantages. And if you find it to disturbing on him, jumping into you r cities, just build Aerospace complexes in them, that way, he will have to get out of city radii to avoid you, and if your cities are clos enough, he won't be able to jump anywhere near your cities.
Fiannaidh posted 03-31-99 09:16 AM ET
Cover your map with formers, then mindworms can't appear, and locusts can only appear off coast (still deadly to formers). You might try sinking all your colonies if you have enough technology to make use of fungus. That way, only isles and Locusts can attack, but I've never seen an Isle attack for eco damage, and if you're using fungus, it seems that you take less eco damage.
HMFIC posted 03-31-99 10:02 AM ET
Satellite warfare is conducted via F6. That takes you to a screen where you can enter Attack mode or something like that...anyway, give it a look, you can figure it out.
Orbital defense pods do nothing for conventional missles, just planet busters and other satellites.
Happy Hunting.
Masakari posted 04-05-99 02:15 PM ET
dreghorn2,
If I'm not mistaken, atrocities somehow factor into eco-damage (using PB's is an atrocity). If that premise is true, then getting the council to lift the U.N. prohibitions on atrocities should do something. I haven't tried it myself, reading your post made me think about it.
To fight conventional missiles, there are a couple of ways. Like The Panther said, an AAA Stasis Garrison behind a defensive perimeter and a tachyon field will stop almost anything. This is the approach I use most of the time, but doubtless there will be situations where you don't have the tech.
So, you can go completely opposite. Build a bunch of scouts (1/1/1) and designate them the primary defender (Ctrl-D) against missile assaults and watch the missiles waste themselves on your cheap scouts.
The third way - build air units (jets or copters) and put them on alert (Shift-L). They automatically activate and attack any enemy unit attacking the base they are stationed in or one of your units in the air unit's search radius (2 spaces with the Deep Radar ability) before the enemy's attack. It works against enemy air units, so it should work against missiles. Whether or not you need air superiority, I do not know. In my experience, air units on alert will attack anything performing a hostile action (regardless of air superiority).
Good hunting, everyone.
Zoetrope posted 04-05-99 10:30 PM ET
I haven't played TI yet, but on Thinker I was PBing wildly the other day and Planet only seemed to care about my bases with mineral-induced eco-damage.
Thirty mindworms (and some locusts) attacking one base hurts a lot. They seem to stop when the population drops to about two to five: perhaps they're satisfied that the base's mineral production is sufficiently dampened?
I do wish that base governors could be told to maintain zero eco-damage. Instead, they seem to delight in maximising it - and in having massive drone riots on alternate turns which occasionally destroys a facility. This madness forces me to micromanage mineral production and my citizens, exactly what I don't want to do on a Huge map!
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Author	Topic: END GAME QUESTIONS
dreghorn2	posted 03-30-99 04:35 PM ET Perhaps a few of the more astute players out there can answer a couple of questions for me. I am in the end game of a TI battle and never having been this far before i have encountered a few things that i cannot figure out. As the Hive, aided by a a little early isolation, i managed to build a tremendous empire of 12 or 13 large cities (25 to 50 or so pop.). Finally converting to conquest mode i starting snapping up cities outside my original sphere of influence until one Ms. Santiago decided enough was enough and dropped a Buster on one of my conquests. Well that was enough for me as well, 2 aircraft carriers loaded with PBs and a couple of turns later found the former colonel and her 'tribe' rubbing sticks together to make fire. PLANET did not like this however, my empire (with me on the Green social scale and with every 'green' enhancement available) became absolutely overrun in a manner i did not seem possible, devastation.. carnage.. women and children.. oh, the humanity! In addition to this ecological invasion my once good friend Lal (how often does that happen as the Hive) starting a reign of terror from the skies, conventional missiles, 15 or 20 per turn.. gak. Anyway, enough prelim. I have a few questions. 1. Is there anyway to prevent or at least minimize PLANETs' reaction to my ICBM progrom? 2. How do i stop conventional missile attacks? I have 10 or so orbital defence pods but they seem worthless. 3. For that matter how does one conduct satellite warfare? I have been all over the satellite screen but can't figure a way to attack my opponents (Lals') satellites. 4. Despite my having drop technology and the space elevator i can't outfit my PBs with drop pods i have to shoot them from a carrier within the 20 hex range, how can i get them to fire anywhere on the planet i want. Also Lal, despite not being in range of my cities, can hit them with conventional missiles at will. How is he doing that? He simply attacks a city with missiles until there are no defenders then uses drop infantry to invade, darn it G. By the way, my cities have every defence installation possible built up to tachyon fields. I hope to play at this level a lot and really could use the answers to these questions. I have turned the transcend victory off, i could have easily stayed on my island and transcended my way to victory, too easy. Finally, and i appreciate the patience, how are people finding the multiplayer aspect of the game? Is it difficult to arrange? Does it play easily? Has anyone completed a game? Playing human opponents seems to me the REALLY fun way to play this game. I'd like to thank in advance anyone who is nice enough to answer some of these questions for me. I've been reading this forum and there are some astute players out there. Yours, Dreghorn2
The Panther	posted 03-30-99 06:19 PM ET The way I usually deal with Planet, is having lots of Formers, once she is first pissed of, she is completely impossilble to calm down again (you might need some more, with cities of that sizes). The conventional missiles, I actually really take much notice of them any more. with stasis shields, they haven't got a chance (he needs 5 to blasts a fully protected garrision down, makes you wonder who uses the most money, you on single garrisions, or him on missiles every single turn. Actually, if you build up an army meanwhile, he won't stand a chance since his money all wen't down the drain with all the other missiles.) I don't now how to blow them up either, and it is pissing me of. Come on really drop pods on PB's Lal can only do this beacouse he is AI, and has to get some advantages. And if you find it to disturbing on him, jumping into you r cities, just build Aerospace complexes in them, that way, he will have to get out of city radii to avoid you, and if your cities are clos enough, he won't be able to jump anywhere near your cities.
Fiannaidh	posted 03-31-99 09:16 AM ET Cover your map with formers, then mindworms can't appear, and locusts can only appear off coast (still deadly to formers). You might try sinking all your colonies if you have enough technology to make use of fungus. That way, only isles and Locusts can attack, but I've never seen an Isle attack for eco damage, and if you're using fungus, it seems that you take less eco damage.
HMFIC	posted 03-31-99 10:02 AM ET Satellite warfare is conducted via F6. That takes you to a screen where you can enter Attack mode or something like that...anyway, give it a look, you can figure it out. Orbital defense pods do nothing for conventional missles, just planet busters and other satellites. Happy Hunting.
Masakari	posted 04-05-99 02:15 PM ET dreghorn2, If I'm not mistaken, atrocities somehow factor into eco-damage (using PB's is an atrocity). If that premise is true, then getting the council to lift the U.N. prohibitions on atrocities should do something. I haven't tried it myself, reading your post made me think about it. To fight conventional missiles, there are a couple of ways. Like The Panther said, an AAA Stasis Garrison behind a defensive perimeter and a tachyon field will stop almost anything. This is the approach I use most of the time, but doubtless there will be situations where you don't have the tech. So, you can go completely opposite. Build a bunch of scouts (1/1/1) and designate them the primary defender (Ctrl-D) against missile assaults and watch the missiles waste themselves on your cheap scouts. The third way - build air units (jets or copters) and put them on alert (Shift-L). They automatically activate and attack any enemy unit attacking the base they are stationed in or one of your units in the air unit's search radius (2 spaces with the Deep Radar ability) before the enemy's attack. It works against enemy air units, so it should work against missiles. Whether or not you need air superiority, I do not know. In my experience, air units on alert will attack anything performing a hostile action (regardless of air superiority). Good hunting, everyone.
Zoetrope	posted 04-05-99 10:30 PM ET I haven't played TI yet, but on Thinker I was PBing wildly the other day and Planet only seemed to care about my bases with mineral-induced eco-damage. Thirty mindworms (and some locusts) attacking one base hurts a lot. They seem to stop when the population drops to about two to five: perhaps they're satisfied that the base's mineral production is sufficiently dampened? I do wish that base governors could be told to maintain zero eco-damage. Instead, they seem to delight in maximising it - and in having massive drone riots on alternate turns which occasionally destroys a facility. This madness forces me to micromanage mineral production and my citizens, exactly what I don't want to do on a Huge map!