Polaris Sector - another new space 4x

[Freyland]

It has a slightly different id though... beta was 1.03b... new patch is 1.03c....  ???

The beta was what might possibly b,
The patch is what you will actually c.

[Barthheart]

It has a slightly different id though... beta was 1.03b... new patch is 1.03c....  ???

The beta was what might possibly b,
The patch is what you will actually c.

O0

[Dread Rlyeh]

It seems there may be some issues with the AI empire management.   I've come across 4 of the 9 races in my 600 star, Hard difficulty, 1.03c game.  It's 2171 and only the Magellans are in my league (18 planets to my 14).  I've got 4x their production and 50% more research points generated, though they are at a higher tech level (probably due to their stargate starting tech). 

So far, not so hard though it's still very early.  The big problem I'm seeing, is two of the races, Urgans and Vagalars (4 and 8 systems respectively), have like 60% unrest on the earthlike planets I encountered.   I just found them, so not sure if they are at war, but it doesn't look like it.  They don't even have contact with each other though they are within 2 jumps.  Something is off.   

Since I was playing on Hard difficulty, I reduced the starlanes from 1.75 to 1.45 to allow me to hopefully turtle a bit better if needed.  I got an amazing start - no save scumming, just happened to have 3 earthlike and 1 ocean nearby, but that doesn't explain why these two races are absolutely crippled.  A terrible start?  Maybe pirates at a critical chokepoint?   

Anyway, if you are beginning a new game, I would consider leaving the starlane density alone (maybe increasing actually) and perhaps turning off pirates.  It appears the AI in its current state can sometimes find itself backed into a corner, literally and figuratively. 

[solops]

Not seeing that in my game. Started a new game with 1.03c on the new "Challenge" level and I have my hands full. All four of the alien races I have met are bigger and more advanced and really hostile. Had wars with 3 of the 4. Finally made peace with one and got trade going with two of them. I finally have an upper hand on one of the two enemies, mainly because I think he got hit from the rear and got in economic trouble. The last of the four kicks my rear every time he attacks. I give ground and then counter attack. After several times of this, I have made up very little lost ground. I just got CAs. All of the aliens have had them a while and at least one has deployed BBs. Starting position can really influence your speed of advance, Losing the wrong resource can really mess with you. You have to be flexible in ship design to cater to resources you have in abundance. Food, well, it really has to be a priority. Using the planetary law to restrict food consumption is often an empire saver. As I said before, the more I play, the better I like it. Stellaris is really going to have to shine to match Polaris Sector. I pre-ordered the Nova version, but I don't know when I will be able to cut into my P.S. time to try it :)

[Dread Rlyeh]

Not seeing that in my game. Started a new game with 1.03c on the new "Challenge" level and I have my hands full. All four of the alien races I have met are bigger and more advanced and really hostile. Had wars with 3 of the 4. Finally made peace with one and got trade going with two of them. I finally have an upper hand on one of the two enemies, mainly because I think he got hit from the rear and got in economic trouble. The last of the four kicks my rear every time he attacks. I give ground and then counter attack. After several times of this, I have made up very little lost ground. I just got CAs. All of the aliens have had them a while and at least one has deployed BBs. Starting position can really influence your speed of advance, Losing the wrong resource can really mess with you. You have to be flexible in ship design to cater to resources you have in abundance. Food, well, it really has to be a priority. Using the planetary law to restrict food consumption is often an empire saver. As I said before, the more I play, the better I like it. Stellaris is really going to have to shine to match Polaris Sector. I pre-ordered the Nova version, but I don't know when I will be able to cut into my P.S. time to try it :)

I'm hoping my issues are in part because it is still super early (not even frigates yet) and the AI may snowball a bit with it's bonuses from hard.   For example, the Magellans, though they only have 1/4 my production on "paper", have drastically increased the number of fleets within the past 5 years.  The graph is going to go vertical if that trend continues and seems incongruous with their listed mineral extraction (1/3 of mine).

I'm also currently hitting a metal bottleneck as I'm waiting for some mines to spin up.  It's quite possible that the game will be quite difficult as I continue.  However, I'm still a bit concerned about the 60% unrest I noticed with those other two races.   That really shouldn't be happening.  A human player can easily adjust to unrest - build police, destroy mines/factories for farms if food is an issue, etc.

It seems crazy that Urgans are sitting at only 5 planets currently.  While I microed quite a bit and used a few tricks like running augmented work day with extra bonus (for extra extra bonus) to get that critical first factory on new planets, you would think the hard bonus would allow for quick expansion.   

Oh, and I agree on Stellaris.  I've watched a few videos - the galaxy map looks great, UI looks great, but I watched a video of combat and it seemed a little off.  The missiles (or torps) launches were doing some sort of ridiculous swirling before hitting their target.  Anyway, Polaris Sector has certainly set a high bar.   

[jamus34]

OK, can someone tell me how the heck to do repair ships?

Am I missing something here?

[Dread Rlyeh]

OK, can someone tell me how the heck to do repair ships?

Am I missing something here?

If your ships are in orbit around one of your planets, they will repair over time.  At least I know they do if you have an orbital shipyard - not sure if that is a requirement or just a planet you own. 

[jamus34]

OK, can someone tell me how the heck to do repair ships?
You
Am I missing something here?

If your ships are in orbit around one of your planets, they will repair over time.  At least I know they do if you have an orbital shipyard - not sure if that is a requirement or just a planet you own.

Thanks, I'll check again but I've had some fighters sitting there for what seemed like an awful long time with no change in status. I would figure they wouldn't take any time at all to repair

[Barthheart]

You need the planet to not being building anything else, and I think have orbital yard.

[Jarhead0331]

OK, can someone tell me how the heck to do repair ships?
You
Am I missing something here?

If your ships are in orbit around one of your planets, they will repair over time.  At least I know they do if you have an orbital shipyard - not sure if that is a requirement or just a planet you own.

Thanks, I'll check again but I've had some fighters sitting there for what seemed like an awful long time with no change in status. I would figure they wouldn't take any time at all to repair

Damaged craft will only start repairing if the planet is not in the process of building something else. In other words, the planet build queue needs to be idle in order to repair ships.

EDIT: Ninja'ed by Barth.

[bobarossa]

And the planet must be capable of building the ship needing repair .  You can repair fighters without an orbital shipyard.

[FarAway Sooner]

This game sounds great.  I won't likely have the money to purchase this one or Stellaris right away, but my birthday is coming up this summer...  Which leads me to my two most important questions:

1) Are the real-time battles a clickfest or an enjoyable strategic puzzle?  I never have been a fan of RTS (maybe that's one reason I'm no good at them!), although I did enjoy a few RTS games where you could pause to issue orders and I could slow the game down (AI Wars and Sins of a Solar Empire both fit this bill).

2) If all resources immediately go into a universal pool, is there no merchant fleet to raid and no possibilities to blockade enemy planets to shut off critical supplies?  Distant Worlds had its faults, but I loved the fact that I could shoot up my opponents freighters and mining stations and it had a direct, meaningful impact on game play.

[jomni]

Is there any feature where you kill a planet by completely using up its resources? Or old stars blowing up in a supernova, destroying the solar system.

Out of curiosity, is there any game that models this?

[Barthheart]

This game sounds great.  I won't likely have the money to purchase this one or Stellaris right away, but my birthday is coming up this summer...  Which leads me to my two most important questions:

1) Are the real-time battles a clickfest or an enjoyable strategic puzzle?  I never have been a fan of RTS (maybe that's one reason I'm no good at them!), although I did enjoy a few RTS games where you could pause to issue orders and I could slow the game down (AI Wars and Sins of a Solar Empire both fit this bill).

2) If all resources immediately go into a universal pool, is there no merchant fleet to raid and no possibilities to blockade enemy planets to shut off critical supplies?  Distant Worlds had its faults, but I loved the fact that I could shoot up my opponents freighters and mining stations and it had a direct, meaningful impact on game play.

1) Real time battles are not clickfests. You can pause and give orders. There are some real tactical decisions to be made during battles. Speed can be set from Pause to 64x speed.

2) There currently does seem to be a way to blockade planets or mess with an enemy's economy other than bombing his planets.

[Barthheart]

Is there any feature where you kill a planet by completely using up its resources? Or old stars blowing up in a supernova, destroying the solar system.

Out of curiosity, is there any game that models this?

You can use up all the resources on a planet. Don't think old stars go nova.