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Author Topic: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"  (Read 82712 times)

x4000

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #30 on: August 31, 2009, 09:30:19 pm »

Wonderful! :D
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Grishnak

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #31 on: August 31, 2009, 09:33:36 pm »

Ok, I have just purchased this game. Im going in for my first full campaign! If anyone wants to play some multiplayer pm me on the forums so we can trade info and get a game going!

Thanks for your support!  And if you want to look for other players, our AI War Meeting Grounds forum is also a great place to look.


No problem, thanks for making a great game!
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I'm a saint when it comes to pirating.  I've ripped and burned many a .iso, went .rar at my maties and sailed the .7z's.
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Nilocy

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #32 on: September 01, 2009, 10:09:14 am »

We have a hamachi network for our AI wars game tonight. If you want to join, just head on and be online at say... 10:30GMT +0. I'll be along shortly.

Hamachi: AI War: Bay12
Pass: dwarf
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Grishnak

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #33 on: September 01, 2009, 01:23:28 pm »

Cool, I can set up vent accounts on a vent server I use.  I am on hamachi now. :D


Edit: You all should get the new prerelease as well if you havent got it yet.  http://arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,1113.0.html

It changes some stuff, so play single player really fast to see the changes.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2009, 01:25:34 pm by Grishnak »
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I'm a saint when it comes to pirating.  I've ripped and burned many a .iso, went .rar at my maties and sailed the .7z's.
Blog for my new roguelike Lost Horizon. <- kind of on hold
My SoundCloud
My Youtube Channel

Volatar

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #34 on: September 01, 2009, 02:10:01 pm »

I just loaded my save on the third training mission, built as large a fleet as I could, and killed the AI. It was awesome even without the AI trying to kill me. I am so going to do the fourth mission now, but I am already thinking I am going to buy this game.

Question: Can I play, say, a 3 player LAN game if all the computers have the same key, or do I need separate keys for each player? I really want to play this with my brother and dad if I buy it :D
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x4000

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #35 on: September 01, 2009, 02:15:05 pm »

I just loaded my save on the third training mission, built as large a fleet as I could, and killed the AI. It was awesome even without the AI trying to kill me. I am so going to do the fourth mission now, but I am already thinking I am going to buy this game.

Glad you like it!

Question: Can I play, say, a 3 player LAN game if all the computers have the same key, or do I need separate keys for each player? I really want to play this with my brother and dad if I buy it :D

One license key is required per player, but being family-friendly is part of why we made the price of the game as low as we did.  I play with my dad and uncle, and shelling out $60x3 for all of the bigger RTS games we've played over the years is pretty painful.  You can get three copies of AI War for the price of one of those other games!
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Volatar

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #36 on: September 01, 2009, 02:59:40 pm »

Question: Can I play, say, a 3 player LAN game if all the computers have the same key, or do I need separate keys for each player? I really want to play this with my brother and dad if I buy it :D

One license key is required per player, but being family-friendly is part of why we made the price of the game as low as we did.  I play with my dad and uncle, and shelling out $60x3 for all of the bigger RTS games we've played over the years is pretty painful.  You can get three copies of AI War for the price of one of those other games!

You know, that makes a ton of sense. Me, I only have $20 to spend period  :D but my brother and dad have their own money they can spend if they like it. I do hope they will ;D
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Quote from: Vilien
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x4000

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #37 on: September 01, 2009, 04:39:42 pm »

You know, that makes a ton of sense. Me, I only have $20 to spend period  :D but my brother and dad have their own money they can spend if they like it. I do hope they will ;D

That's the spirit!  There's definitely no reason to have to pay for them yourself, haha. :)
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Uber dwarf2.0

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #38 on: September 01, 2009, 10:37:46 pm »

does this game support real space battle theories ? Like the possablity that 2 fleets might meet upsidedown from eachother.Therefor allow allowing the exchange of small firearms but no main guns?
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x4000

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #39 on: September 01, 2009, 10:42:15 pm »

does this game support real space battle theories ? Like the possablity that 2 fleets might meet upsidedown from eachother.Therefor allow allowing the exchange of small firearms but no main guns?

The game is entirely 2D, though it is rendered via a 3D engine, so there is no concept of any tactics with a Z-axis.  Ships also only tend to have a single firing mode, not multiple different types of guns.  There really is no comparison to Gratuitous Space Battles or Homeworld, and even the Sins of a Solar Empire comparisons are fairly weak.

This game is a lot more like Age of Empires, Supreme Commander, or Empire Earth in space, with better AI, more units, co-op, and a mishmash of tower defense and grand strategy thrown in.  Tactics actually work in this game, as in flanking and tactical positioning and such really matter, but a lot of the space-based 3D concepts were really outside the scope of what I wanted to do with this game.

Good question!
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IndonesiaWarMinister

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #40 on: September 02, 2009, 08:02:25 am »

Wait... Flanking REALLY works?

... God damn, I need to buy this game.

Note: Well, when I managed to secure my own money :P
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x4000

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #41 on: September 02, 2009, 09:12:17 am »

Wait... Flanking REALLY works?

... God damn, I need to buy this game.

Yep!  It's not based on any sort of modifiers or anything like that, either.  Other RTS games have handled it that way, and I found it hard to manage and not that noticeable in most cases.  Rather, this is more of a question of group dynamics.  You can just move your ships in a big blob at the enemy formation if you want, and on lower difficulties that will work well enough I suppose. 

But when you start playing at a difficulty that is at the edge of your skill range (for most people that's in the 6-8 range on our 10-point scale), the tactical management can make a really big difference.

Flanking works because of the distance factor, and because of the distraction of the AI.  Having two groups that sweep in from the sides can absolutely slice up an AI formation that is spread out too long, and vice-versa, for example.  No bonuses, nothing funny under the hood, just good tactics in a game with a lot of units.  By flanking with your units like that you can get more of your units into firing range, faster, and they will do more damage before the enemy has a chance to respond.

Similarly, when attacking AI guard posts it can be really important to use diversionary forces to draw some of the AI ships away, then letting you come in and strike with your real force to get whatever your target is.  You can brute-force your way in here, too, but you'll lose way more ships.  When the AI realizes you have caught it with a diversion (which only takes seconds, if that), it will of course react.  So you have to be fast with those sort of tactics, but it can really make a huge difference in cases where your forces are outnumber/overmatched but you really need to take out some target.

There are a number of other tactical maneuvers that "just work" based on logic and the overall game design, without the need for special modifiers under the hood or anything too meta-gamey.  Keeping your missile cruisers at a distance to pound the enemy ships is smart because at close range those cruisers get cut through with fighters.  Similarly, creating a buffer of your own shorter-range ships along the front lines makes a big difference because they can kill the enemy ships that are headed for your cruisers before they get there (hopefully!).  And having reserve forces stay back with the cruisers to protect your rear flank from the smaller raiders and bands that will try to come around behind you is also a must simply for reasons of how the AI plays and so forth.

There's a lot of stuff like that, with cool tactics you don't see anywhere else: "gate raids," and ion cannon flooding, and planet-hopping for strategic reasons... it's pretty cool.

A lot of players prefer focusing on the logistics/grand strategy aspects, and so just mostly move their fleets around in blobs, but then they wind up taking much heavier losses and spending more time rebuilding.  That can be counteracted somewhat with mobile repair stations or engineers that are brought to the forward lines, but there's still no substitute for actual good tactics.  The game has enough difficulty levels that you can play it however you want, anyway -- from something very relaxed and easy, to something that kills most players in under an hour. :)
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IndonesiaWarMinister

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #42 on: September 02, 2009, 09:16:02 am »

Quote
the logistics/grand strategy aspects

Hmm... I guess these players take heavy losses, then easily rebuild their forces again? While those who focusing on the tactics, take lower losses, but spent many more time rebuilding? Is this true?
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x4000

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #43 on: September 02, 2009, 09:25:35 am »

Quote
the logistics/grand strategy aspects

Hmm... I guess these players take heavy losses, then easily rebuild their forces again? While those who focusing on the tactics, take lower losses, but spent many more time rebuilding? Is this true?

A lot of it boils down to difficulty, and how long the game takes you.  If you want to play on a lower difficulty, you don't have to manage stuff to the same degree.  At the very lowest difficulties, my Mom could play if she wanted.  At the highest difficulties, you need every trick in the book just to survive, and even so no one has yet beat a pair of level 10 AIs that I know of (or 9s, actually).

It's all relative to your own skill level.  You can play the game where it is really pushing you and making you work for every victory, in which case you need to be really "on" and playing smart the whole time.  Or you can play a notch down from your true skill level, in which case you'll be able to absorb more losses without it causing you to lose.  The game is still interesting and fun either way, it all just depends on what you are looking for.  To take a Chess analogy, it's like playing someone ranked just a bit below you, or someone who is every bit as good as you.  Those are two very different experiences, and AI War supports both.
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IndonesiaWarMinister

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Re: Its called "AI War: Fleet Command"
« Reply #44 on: September 02, 2009, 09:52:43 am »

I see... Thanks for the explanation,then!

The game really interests me....
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