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Author Topic:   Fusion Reactor = Game Over?

Phil posted 05-12-99 07:55 PM ET
I'm frustrated... I find that once I get fusion reactors, the game is basically over, 1/3 of the way through the game. At that point, with their combat effectiveness doubled, my forces become invincible, because the enemy has no unit that can expect to regularly defeat one of my defenders (basic 2-1 odds become 2-2 odds) and my attackers, with a 4-1 odds, basically never lose (with many trials averaged out due to the hit point system, 4-1 odds is really like 10- or 12- to 1)
Game Over, and only a matter of mopping up the gazillion defenders the enemy built... the hit point multipliers should have been 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 rather than 1,2,3,4.
-Phil
Dutch Drone posted 05-12-99 08:20 PM ET
You can edit the hitpoints to 2,3,4,5 in alpha.txt. That should work.
yin26 posted 05-12-99 08:22 PM ET
Phil,
What level are you playing? What size maps? How much ocean coverage? Do you have the 'agressive opponents' option on? What faction do you play? etc.
Mind you, once you start to really figure out the finer details of the game, it is pretty easy--particularly if you have a good starting position. Anyway, I'm just curious as to your setup.
Singularity posted 05-12-99 08:37 PM ET
Phil,
yin is right. Try playing at some more difficult levels. This should solve your problem. Not only will the fusion reactor not = game over, the whole game will be more fun. If you are used to playing at civilian level, work your way up slowly, one level at a time. If you run into one you can't beat, just work with it for a while. After all, that's what you want, a challenging yet fun game.
Phil posted 05-13-99 04:55 PM ET
Actually I've been playing one level below Transcend. ("Thinker" I guess). I'll try editing the hit point values, that should help. Thanks. I've been playing with default random maps. Turning "aggressive opponents" on wouldn't be much fun for me, I like diplomacy and building more than fighting.
The frustration really arose because while I'm actually in danger early on, once fusion reactors came online I simply crushed everyone, which takes quite a while but was inevitable, therefore not much fun, and there was an awful long way to go to get the ascent-to-transcendence victory.
-Phil
The Doc posted 05-13-99 07:33 PM ET
You can't edit the hit points in the game. While they appear in alpha.txt as values that look like they can be edited, they aren't. Changing them to a billion won't have any effect. Otherwise, there wouldn't be that heavily-discussed problem with the Singularity engine not giving you 40 hit points like it should (something everyone wants fixed).
The 10, 20, 30, 30 hit points are permanent.
googlie posted 05-13-99 07:44 PM ET
Level the playing field by offering the Fusion Reactor to all factions once you've discovered it.
Europa posted 05-16-99 09:06 PM ET
All I can say is that I've never really had that problem. The combat has always seemed fair to me.
Dim Cat posted 05-16-99 11:17 PM ET
Phil: Why don't you share Fusion Power with other factions after you've discovered it and built a stock of fusion reactor troops (say, 10-15 turns later). It won't take long before Yang or Miriam will come over with a nice company of fusion squads and make your game fun again
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Author	Topic: Fusion Reactor = Game Over?
Phil	posted 05-12-99 07:55 PM ET I'm frustrated... I find that once I get fusion reactors, the game is basically over, 1/3 of the way through the game. At that point, with their combat effectiveness doubled, my forces become invincible, because the enemy has no unit that can expect to regularly defeat one of my defenders (basic 2-1 odds become 2-2 odds) and my attackers, with a 4-1 odds, basically never lose (with many trials averaged out due to the hit point system, 4-1 odds is really like 10- or 12- to 1) Game Over, and only a matter of mopping up the gazillion defenders the enemy built... the hit point multipliers should have been 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 rather than 1,2,3,4. -Phil
Dutch Drone	posted 05-12-99 08:20 PM ET You can edit the hitpoints to 2,3,4,5 in alpha.txt. That should work.
yin26	posted 05-12-99 08:22 PM ET Phil, What level are you playing? What size maps? How much ocean coverage? Do you have the 'agressive opponents' option on? What faction do you play? etc. Mind you, once you start to really figure out the finer details of the game, it is pretty easy--particularly if you have a good starting position. Anyway, I'm just curious as to your setup.
Singularity	posted 05-12-99 08:37 PM ET Phil, yin is right. Try playing at some more difficult levels. This should solve your problem. Not only will the fusion reactor not = game over, the whole game will be more fun. If you are used to playing at civilian level, work your way up slowly, one level at a time. If you run into one you can't beat, just work with it for a while. After all, that's what you want, a challenging yet fun game.
Phil	posted 05-13-99 04:55 PM ET Actually I've been playing one level below Transcend. ("Thinker" I guess). I'll try editing the hit point values, that should help. Thanks. I've been playing with default random maps. Turning "aggressive opponents" on wouldn't be much fun for me, I like diplomacy and building more than fighting. The frustration really arose because while I'm actually in danger early on, once fusion reactors came online I simply crushed everyone, which takes quite a while but was inevitable, therefore not much fun, and there was an awful long way to go to get the ascent-to-transcendence victory. -Phil
The Doc	posted 05-13-99 07:33 PM ET You can't edit the hit points in the game. While they appear in alpha.txt as values that look like they can be edited, they aren't. Changing them to a billion won't have any effect. Otherwise, there wouldn't be that heavily-discussed problem with the Singularity engine not giving you 40 hit points like it should (something everyone wants fixed). The 10, 20, 30, 30 hit points are permanent.
googlie	posted 05-13-99 07:44 PM ET Level the playing field by offering the Fusion Reactor to all factions once you've discovered it.
Europa	posted 05-16-99 09:06 PM ET All I can say is that I've never really had that problem. The combat has always seemed fair to me.
Dim Cat	posted 05-16-99 11:17 PM ET Phil: Why don't you share Fusion Power with other factions after you've discovered it and built a stock of fusion reactor troops (say, 10-15 turns later). It won't take long before Yang or Miriam will come over with a nice company of fusion squads and make your game fun again