Polaris Sector - another new space 4x

Started by RedArgo, November 02, 2015, 04:48:47 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

matt3916

#510
Re Zonzo's food problem.  The following is from the game's designer (on the Slitherine forums):  "General rule on Normal is to plan one Earthlike or Oceanic world dedicated to farming per every 6-8 mining worlds or 2-3 scientific or industrial worlds."  And remember that on Normal the player gets an X2 food bonus, which isn't available on Hard or Challenging.

I'm assuming your "Balanced" world is your staring home planet.  If you haven't already done so, I'd destroy the mines and use the freed space for either food or research (depending on the bonii for the planet).  There are so few earthlike planets that their building slots shouldn't be wasted on mining.  And if you have 3 Industrial worlds, I'd also recommend you trade in the Factories on your home planet for either food or research as well.  You also may need to switch one of your Innovation worlds to Agriculture.

Taking the other guy's toys may or may not help (at least immediately).  I'd recommend spying to determine what the Ocean worlds contain before invading them.  Taking over a 100K population world that is devoted to research won't help your cause.  Of course, if you're going to glass the planet then recolonize you won't have this problem.

You may have to use the Austere Foodstuffs Control Policy Initiative even though it kills your production.  But a little production is better than the none if the colony revolts.

matt3916

Re Fleet designs, I'm not aware of any design repository.  Once again, spying can be your friend.  You can also see weapons, hit points, shields and speed on the combat screen (although that can be an expensive way to obtain that info).

I think the larger hulls come into their own with the discovery of more advanced shields.  You can put more than one shield on a ship (and the AI WILL do this).  You really need Inertial Propulsion Unit (IRU) engines to get good speeds on a destroyer hull (for instance, 9.63 vice 3.37).  And, of course, you also need advanced fuel tanks and power generators.

Reasons to go with the larger hull?  More hit points and room for more weapons (which you may or may not be able to use, depending on what generators you have).  More room for other stuff as well, such as missile traps.

Jarhead0331

This is one of the few games where thinking outside the box with ship design can really pay off. Players have the freedom to experiment with all sorts of different modules, hulls, weapons, etc. to create some very useful mission oriented craft.

With respect to larger hulls, outside of outfitting more armor, more ordnance and bigger guns, I find the larger hulls useful for support roles...tankers, troop and population carriers, resupply ships, and ships with long range missions in mind for carrying larger quantities of fuel.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Sparhawk

Anybody have issues with refueling? I moved a fleet of 5 ships with refueling mods into a system with short range corvettes and combined fleets. All of the fuel in the tankers stacked into one ship. After deselecting and selecting the tankers again one tanker had a full supply and the others have none. I don't have the option of refueling any ship from the full tanker. Besides the obvious glitch of losing fuel am I overlooking something?

bobarossa

Don't combine the tanker fleet with the fleet you want to refuel!  You only get the option when they are separate.  First select the tanker fleet and set the amount you want to reserve (to get home).  Next select the empty fleet and click the refuel icon.  Never tried it with fleets with multiple ships or tankers so not sure how it gets distributed.  Hopefully everyone gets and equal amount.   

Aurora had a handy "equalize fuel" command and I wish there was one in Polaris Sector (although that would mess with the idea that you need a special/expensive module to refuel other ships).

Sparhawk

I remember the "equalize fuel" command in Aurora, that was handy. I'll go straighten out my fuel mess. Thanks bobarossa.

FarAway Sooner

Yeah.  The Marine Farms tech is huge, because until you have that, you have to grow most of your food on Earth planets, and that's not always convenient.

One other good way to boost food production:  Find (or conquer) an Earthlike planet with small population, and begin moving huge chunks of population there using a ship with one or more "Passenger Modules".  As you'd expect, farms are very easy to build, in terms of production, so you can ramp up your agricultural production pretty quickly once you have the manpower on planet.


goldsboro

There is a rally point mechanics now - with the possibility to auto-build the fleet for this rally point.

Trooperc7

I can pretty much end my food concerns once I change oceanic planets to agriculture using the marine farms.........

Zonso

Thanks for the tips. I ended up taking some choice planets from the AI and then reorganizing the ratios of food to industrial/research planets in that game before abandoning due to the Pirate tribute not going away and running into mineral resource issues. Food production ramps up quite quickly when converting a planet with population. Another thing I overlooked was to throttle back the industrial worlds when not in use, saves a lot of food.

I started another game on Hard, no Pirates this time, and have advanced probably 2/3 to 3/4s through the tech tree and have settled down to complete as it has become quite interesting being straddled down the middle of the universe and having AIs (psychotic) all around.  :2funny: A couple general observations after 100+ hours:

IMO, while the pacing of development, ship building, movement etc is 'slow', it seems there is a slight disconnect with the pace of research, ie techs are coming in too fast and your 'latest' designs have not even made it to the front before being outdated. I am at war with 2 AI races, and based on the speed of operations thus far, I will be through the remainder of the tech before finishing them off. Not sure if there are hidden techs? This really is a wargame so perhaps that is intended for the final stages.

Speaking of AI races - have to admit they all seem aggressive and crazy, especially when it comes to expansion or lack of. Even AI on good relations with you suddenly becomes Hostile once they realize they are blocked from expanding. However, I have yet to see the AI utilize any sort of sizeable type fleet against me, preferring to send ships in dribs and drabs - I did spy a Gaveken fleet of a dozen+ Destroyers/Frigates each parked in their interior planet and not used in their war against another AI. (Only time I have observed an actual fleet assembled, look forward to battling them in the future) Once on the defensive the AI is good at throwing up battle stations, Fighters/Interceptors/Heavy Fighters, Ground Troops etc.

This game is quite fun and engrossing, and has a lot to like, but unsure if the AI is up to the task. I prefer the AI in GalCivII, and recall it being quite tough and challenging.


FarAway Sooner

I had some of the same impressions.  To a certain extent, I think that's a function of becoming the leading interstellar empire--your big shipyards are in the Heart Worlds, so far from the frontiers you're now conquering, that it just takes a while for your fleets to arrive.

To a certain extent, there are some technological workarounds there.  Star Gates (like Worm Holes, but temporary and manufactured) can move ships and whole fleets pretty instantly--but they don't last long.  I've not played with them much, but I know the technology there.  This is another example of the depth in the game.

At its heart, Polaris Sector is kinda like Age of Wonder 3--it's a wargame masquerading as a 4x.  The diplomacy is one of the weaker features of the game, but the combat/ship-design feedback loop is the strongest part of the game, so having somebody to fight all the time works okay for me.

solops

Recent Jan 8 Designer comment from the Steam forum:

"Done up to the date:
1. New race
2. New techs (basically, doubled the amount of items)
3. Fleet planner
4. Automatic fleet construction and collection at a rally point
5. Automation of building/replenishment of small ships

We are planning of doing the closed beta first as the change is very massive."

Also re-did the galaxy generator.
"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly. - Winston Churchill
Wine is sure proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. - Benjamin Franklin

FarAway Sooner

Hmmm...  Love the work, but the tech system is already too complicated, IMHO.  Still, I'm eager for this one!

jomni

#523
I'm really liking how this game is turning out. WITP in Space. Haven't bought. Will this turn into "HOI IV"? AI cant cope with game mechanics?

Rayfer

Quote from: FarAway Sooner on January 26, 2017, 03:12:31 AM
Hmmm...  Love the work, but the tech system is already too complicated, IMHO.  Still, I'm eager for this one!

Great game in many regards, but like you I find the tech research piece hard to wrap my head around. The rest of it is well done.