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Are we done? (Achievement: Orb has Completed 2 LPs)

3 (42.9%)

Or Shall we Continue our Conquest and Grind our Enemies to Dust(and then harvest it)?

4 (57.1%)

Total Members Voted: 7

[cerapa]

The only economic hero I went with was corporate. Mostly boring attributes that give minor benefits, and trade routes. Since I couldn't get a positive relation with anyone, it was mostly useless in my eyes.

I'll have to try an administrator later on.

Corporate is considered useless currently.

Administrators can get +25 approval, +25 industry and +20% industry after the first labor skill. At 2 labor skill they can get +20 food and +30 food if they took the first food bonus.

[Orb]

Spoiler: Update 3: Turns 22-34 (Warning! High Bandwidth) (click to show/hide)

Oh. The Pirate ship was going the opposite direction. Oh well. My cowardly scout has already left the scene.



More pirates? This area is infested. Maybe I'd be best if I started planning a retreat for my scout...



Tech obtained! The next tech on the list is essentially like the tourism tech, but for research(More highly dense the system is, the more it pays for itself).



You won't escape my defender, little scout.



I start producing another defender at the Home System. About half way through this update I stop taking screenshots of production, since we're looking a bigger picture from there.



Level up!



When a hero levels up you pick from a list of attributes. The list depends on the traits of the hero and his previous attributes. I naturally pick one that increases the hero's offensive skills, which correspond to higher weapon damage.

See, I switched the words attributes and skills. Makes more sense in my mind.



Why hello Craver scout. What are you doing all the way over here?



Tech...got? I guess I didn't take a screeny of the tech gaining. Anyway, from here I'm a little worried of my military position. The military techs are pretty standard, just upgrade one weapon type + 1 armor type most of the time. I will research up towards lasers, unlocking missiles and better armors on the way. There are also two defensive buildings, which are only mildly useful.



On the hunt now. Going to try and corner the pesky Craver scout with my 2nd defender (The scout disappeared...)



Our scout to the east meets more unexpected foes. Cravers! But wait. I thought they were past the wormhole...

My mind leaps to two thoughts, one scarier than the other.

The Craver empire is huge and I'm just one dot in its vastness.

The Craver Scout went beyond its normal operational range and came in at a weird angle.

I like the 2nd explanation. Let's go with that. The scout will die though, as you can't turn around mid-flight.



 



I manual the battle, just to show how it works. Also note how if you scroll over the enemy ships, you get vital stats. I now know the Craver is designing his ships with flak(?) and kinetic weapons.



Combat is in real time, and you get to influence it with card plays. At the bottom of the screen, a blue bar will go in a complete circle, with what part its in representing the phase. The first phase is arrival, where the ships size each other up.

Typically you'll play your cards during this time.



The cards each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Each card type counters another, IE rock paper scissors. When countered, the card that was the 'loser' in the countering has no effect, and the one that 'won' has a boosted effect. When no countering occurs, which is what happens most of the time, the cards both play their effects. More cards can be unlocked via heroes and research.



I go with defense cards to increase my shielding against kinetics, on the chance possibility I survive.



As you can see, both our cards are played, no counters are made. Note I can also change the cards for the next rounds if I desire.



As you can see, I switched my card to engineering for medium range.

A little tidbit about weapons: Missiles are best at long range, lasers at medium, and kinetic at short. They still fire at longer/shorter ranges, but aren't as effective.



As to be expected.



Hm. The Craver's capital. Definitely won't be sending scouts that way for a while.





Techs secured! For the greater glory of violence!



A snapshot of what's going on in the human realm. The Craver scout escaped me, somehow.



Level up!

I grab the next offensive skill.



Tech exhumed! Next I work on wormhole travel. I'm rather curious if the Cravers really did set up a colony right behind our Home System. Hm...



Seriously. I was just there a second ago with a previous defender. Stupid pirates. Just have to be there when I send the colony ship.



I send the defender forward first. Usually my defenders can best pirates 2vs1.



Welp. That didn't go too well. In such an even fight, the card countering made a huge difference.



At medium range we both successfully play our cards. I change to a more defensive stance, with my ship being in a disadvantaged position.



I then go for repair. Hopefully I'll be able to salvage some damage off of this.



One enemy pirate down.



Draw. Not what I was hoping for.



Since there was only one pirate ship, I try attacking again. I succeed, which surprises me a little. I'd figure it would be one attack per fleet, but eh. *Shrug*





I'll skip to the part where I fail.



I was unsure of what to do with the colony ship. I was unable to colonize the system when I reached it (I assume the pirate's fault), so I sent it off to another, less suitable, potential colony.



Essa has a food producing planet and some more Bluecap Mold, so its an ok 4th Colony.



The newest defender off the production line rushes to the scene. Vengeance shall be his.



I grab another 'ok' colony in the mean time. It will take a while to grow, but it has a good research rate. Its also on the border of the western wormhole, so it will act as buffer, for whatever is beyond the wormhole.



Tech absorbed! I already had two scouts read to venture through the wormholes. What mysteries shall we find?

The next techs are for colonizing arid and deserts. With potential colony candidates running out, I'd figure it'd be in my best interest to grab these cheap techs.



Cyan? What.



Er. New diplomatic contact! Wasn't expecting that. The warlike bird race. Just a stone toss away. Hmm.



Tending to other matters, I finely finish off that pirate fleet.



They destroy my scout (moving through a wormhole uses up all movement points). I don't quite remember if I looked at their ship weapon stats. I believe it was kinetic/armor, but I'm not sure.



Tech discovered! Next tech on the line is desert colonization.

~~~~~
Summary





4th Place? Well. At least its not last. I'm not sure how scoring works either.

Now, with the higher resolution images, would you guys prefer the old or the new images?

[NRDL]

New.  Nice update, you seem to be surrounded by the ES equivalent of Klingons.  Good luck. 

[cerapa]

I dont really see a difference between the new and the old images.

[Orb]

New.  Nice update, you seem to be surrounded by the ES equivalent of Klingons.  Good luck.

My plan is to just outlast them. They have excellent military, but their research rate is slower. Simply put, the longer the game goes, the better off I am.

Where will my fleets go? Well, there is that Craver threat. The Cravers gain research from killing enemy ships. If I destroy their fleets, they won't be as much of a threat late game. One time I let the Cravers go unchecked, and they had tech several levels higher than me. I got owned. 

[Orb]

Since there was a tie, I'll just go with the lower quality images. Allows faster upload.

Spoiler: Update 4: Turns 35-45 (click to show/hide)

Poor scouts never get a break.



Tech contained! Now we can colonize deserts. Next laser tech, ho!



Nice system. It has the Hyperium I need (Though apparently tech 2 lasers don't require hyperium. *shrug*).



Sent a defender on a different route towards the Cravers. Our potential first target. I retreat the defender, though. Its not powerful enough to do anything productive.



This update our war machine really kicks into gear. We have 2 planets producing ships full time, and another one soon. This system is getting close to the bottom of the barrel. It still has a food producing planet, which is nice. The Redsang also improves dust income.



Gaaawr. I need to stop sending lone defenders to kill pirates (also note how I took too long to pick my first card). 1vs3 is not good odds. I did take one enemy out, however.



I started getting sick of losing ships to pirates, so I organized a fleet and put our hero at its helm. It has a scout that can't fire, but with its armor it will absorb a lot of hits.





Lasers! I also got a science tech that upgraded the science exploitation and gave a better engine. A new engine takes tonnage, but this one increases the speed of the ship by 3 and the fleet by 1. Perfect for a scout.

The next tech gives me a card that reduces enemy missiles accuracy, and gives me an improved repair system (which I never add to my ships). Why I grabbed it? Well...actually, I planned on using it, but it takes up too much space to be useful in my eyes when I went to the ship design interface.



These pesky pirates shall finally be dealt with. 





Er wait. I thought the fleet only had 1 pirate left.... 





Well at least that's done.



Oh. There must have been two pirate fleets here. Might as well take it all out.





Level Up!

I grab another offensive.



The Cravers expanded. I had originally planned on keeping that fleet back to stop such incursions, but the pirates had to be dealt with somehow.



Oh?



Level Up 2x!

Very nice. I grab 2 defensive skills, which will increase the effectiveness of my ship defenses.



Tech uncovered! The next tech I grab is another military one, and the last one before I start designing our generation 2 fleet. It includes a tech that increases the HP of the ship for tonnage, and a better missile launcher.



Very Nice



Another bottom of the barrel colony. It will be awhile before it can aspire to be anything of worth to the Empire.



As to be expected, with our near lack of military and border sharing. I actually don't think there's a way to improve relations. Just reduce the amount of time until war. I haven't tried bribing yet, however...



Tech awakened! One last military tech before I start switching back to economic ones. This one will allow HE batteries, which are crucial if I expect to capture any planets, since they allow bombardment. The more HE batteries in orbit, the faster the takeover. I also net my first shield tech, which I do plop on a few ships incase the enemy desides to tech switch.

At this point I don't have any flak. I debated researching it before I start design, but I haven't seen any missiles out of my opponent yet, so I figured it could wait.



Meet the Beamer. She is the workhorse of my United Empire Navies. She's got moderate defense against kinetics, a little extra HP, a lot of lasers, and a few missiles.



Also nice. At this point I have +30% dust income from luxury, and another +30% from my racial trait. This allows me to keep taxes very low, and keep production high.



The next tech on the line is a card one. It decreases missile effectiveness by 40%, which is useful when my enemies go missile heavy.



The Scout is upgraded with the equipment I've been hinting at. With sensors, armor, an upgraded engine, and a few missile launchers, it works as a combat scout. I include one with every one of my fleets.



I also upgrade the defender. At this stage of the game, it acts as more of a utility ship. It is much more missile heavy, with one laser for medium range combat. It has low defense against kinetic, and a shield incase the enemy turns up with lasers. It also has a bombardment weapon, the S2G Kinetics, to supplement my bombardment ships.



With a Beamer fresh off the line, I send her off to eliminate some pirate scum that's been blockading my space.










It's completely one sided.



I retrofit Fleet Alpha. As you can see, upgrading ships is very expensive. This is why I design ships in generations. Sometimes its better just to scuttle ships, as they eat up maintenance and won't do much good.



The next tech is a colonization one. It allows the utilization of gemstones, which help in a lot of ways. Our empires contains 5 ionic crystal deposits, which is more than enough for a monopoly. The monopoly increases ship movement by 60%, which is nothing to laugh at.

The tech also unlocks barren colonization, which are excellent research planets.



Oh? I guess you detect colonies if you've explored the system previously. A nice reward for scouting. It seems the Sophons, our research race, is butting heads with the Hissho. They certainly won't be a problem, they have their own problems to deal with. Diplomacy isn't unlocked yet, however. I'll have to suicide a scout or something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary





We are currently in 2nd place, and have colonized most of our little area of space. I am mobilizing our empire to fight the Great Evil, the Cravers. Likely first target will be that colony that was just formed.

So, thoughts? Ideas? I said I would be mostly playing this to my style, to reduce the amount of images needed, but ideas from a different perspective are always nice. This won't probably be a comp stomp, so I'll definitely need help.

Also, 23 turns until a new hero arrives. Hopefully it will be an administrator. I may purchase a hero in the mean time, but I need all the dust I can save for retrofits.

[Frumple]

Yeah, I can't exactly play the game, but theory crafting from watching a bit makes me want to suggest aiming a bit more strongly for industry boosts over most things, at least insofar as that FISD stuff goes. Aiming research at static industry boosts for your smaller/less I capable systems might be a thing.

The big thing I've noticed with ES industry is that it's very versatile, which makes it a good go-to resource. Being able to swap it at 50% efficiency for dust or research just makes it very easy to adjust to needs rather than be stuck with a specialized resource and, naturally, having a nice huge chunk sitting around means you can produce ships or improvements more or casually. I'm not too sure how useful dust is, except for countering upkeep and those cards, which is useful enough but not exactly overtly game winning at first blush. Food and science are what they are, but food's benefit seems to mostly cap when the system's full and science's benefits are less... immediate. Industry is the gift that keeps on giving, and there seems to be some easily accessible early research for it.

More isotope refineries where possible, basically, and then that administrator if it shows up. If it doesn't... can you just invest in the +labour ability and be able to sink some ability points into the static bonii industry/food abilities? If so... maybe. Supercharging early colonization would be a major benefit, and +25 industry in an early system is tremendous, from what I've observed.

Other than that... maybe some fleet consolidation? Efficiency is good, i.e. using one defender to take out multiply pirates, but a little more lopsided odds in your favor might help reduce attrition. Not sure how effective passive repair is, though, or what active methods are available (outside that card, anyway).

Still. Can't play the game, so actual perspective is lacking. Only other thing that tempts my neurons is nabbing up more strategic/luxury stuff -- empire wide bonuses are kinda' nice (and expand their effect going forward!) and I noticed there's a few colonizable systems left saying they've got somethin' in them.

Anyway. Interested in watching going forward. Only 4x I've really got access to right now is star ruler, and it's kinda' kicking my ass (but oh, how sexy build astroid mining fleets is!), heh. ES looks a lot easier, which makes it relaxing to watch

[Orb]

Spoiler: Thoughts (click to show/hide)

Industry is indeed nice, and I always grab Heavy Isotope Refineries, which give a static +10 boost to industry, and +1 per population on certain types of planets. It comes with a -3 dust penalty.

However, ships require maintenance, and it is cheaper to retrofit a ship than produce a new one. I used to go super heavy industry, but I would run out of dust, which would require me to shut down some of my industries to produce dust, or increase taxes, which reduces FIS.

Dust can also be used to rush production, at 3.5x cost of Ind, which is just ridiculous, hopefully it will be balanced in the future to be a bit more useful.

The Laber abilities don't appear if you don't have an administrator. The abilities reflect the traits the hero has. A full eco hero would not get offensive/defensive abilities.

Repair wise, there's a fairly fast passive repair, probably like 10% per turn. I think, anyway. The tutorial actually doesn't explain too many of the mechanics of the game, just the basics.

Unfortunately, the only system I can colonize in my area is Leo, which is my next target. (Ita produces no food on its colonizable planet, not worth it in any sense yet).

After that I might grab Eridanus, though it is also has very low food production.

--------

Unfortunately, I had a bit too much fun with this update and ended up with 60 images and went through about 20 turns. I didn't allocate myself enough time today to do the actual update, so it will likely be tomorrow.

However, here's a teaser:

Spoiler: Epic Fights to be had (click to show/hide)

[Aklyon]

I think (for the other two LPs) there was a problem with waiting, since I'd been using lordcooper's thread as a reminder incase I forgot to update mine and I'm guessing he'd been doing the same thing.

Eitherway, having one LP going of it is still better than having two not going, so PTW.

[Orb]

I hadn't moved the game window up most of this update, so enjoy my task bar.

Spoiler: Update 5: Turns 46-61 (click to show/hide)

Sophon scouting eh?



I turn on defend/interception mode. They won't get past us, that's for sure.

----

Apparently, a ship can visit a system and turn right around, even though the ships are in intercept mode. Weird.



Next tech on the line allows cruisers, and lava colonization. More on cruisers later.



With another 40% bonus from the inherit bonus of the resource itself, our ship movement doubles. This makes fleet movement very fluid and its very easy to reinforce. I exploit this fully throughout the update.



*Shrug*



Cleaning up some pirates. Easy, right?



WRONG. Bah. I did not know pirates upgraded techs along with you. I was not prepared for lasers.



 

For those confused, there were multiple pirate fleets. 



I decide to grab another hero. This one will lead the defense of our systems, while our first hero will lead the assault against the Cravers.



I assign him to defense fleet Delta. He will stop Sophon, Hissho, and pirate aggression.



The next tech will increase the experience heroes gain, and allow fleets up to a size of 7, instead of the default 5.



I check out my new Cruiser hull. Mostly useful as a utility ship, it also has twice the tonnage, but twice the CP(Command Points; fleet size).



I jam it full of bombarding weapons. Christened the Bombarder, it will assist fleets in taking over planets.



Just an overview. We're currently in first, very nice.



I start the bombardment of Lupus.



The next tech will allow the use of more exotic plants. We have only about 1 resource of that type, so that's not the main reason I'm getting it.

I'm getting it for the improvement, which gives a very good fixed science bonus. I usually, eventually, build one on every one of my systems.



Intercept a Hissho scout. Its not going anywhere.



Level Up!

I grab an offensive skill, as usual. Also, I stop keeping track of hero level ups, since we're getting more and more into the bigger picture.



I was curious why my invasion was going much faster than usual.

Apparently the Cravers don't understand that colonists need food to survive.



The next tech gives a moral boosting improvement, which is nice for low moral systems, and another improvement that improves food income in hard environments (barren, lava, ect).



 

It's nothing but a formality. If they hadn't, I would have eventually. In a Cold War state, you can only conquer systems considered 'outposts'. Outposts are newly colonized worlds. The colored bar on each system shows how close it is to being a full colony.



The next tech improves the food exploitation, and allows an improvement that improves food production if the planet has an explored moon. We don't have the tech yet to explore moons, so its useless for now.



These pirates caused a lot of trouble. They blockaded my ionic cystals, which prevented my monopoly, and therefore slowed down all my fleets. They also were the new version of pirates, and would require a full fleet to take them down.

FYI, its a fleet of 6 pirates.



I colonize another backwater system.



After waiting a few turns for reinforcements, I take what I can muster and send it to engage the pirate fleet.



After conquering the Lupus system, I come across the problem that it has no food production. The only way to fix this in a timely manner is to buyout, so I buyout the food exploitation.



Our conquerors continue on their way. No resistance from the Cravers so far.



Next tech upgrades the science exploitation, and allows a better scanner for ships.



Oh, hello Craver response. You missed me.



Bombardment starts at Farver.



Alright. Let's do this. The odds are against us, but the hero will pull us through, hopefully.





Very close. I'm surprised the damage was so evenly distributed. I guess I got lucky on that front.



I'm almost certain its impossible to get a good relation.



Our first bombarder rolls off the line and heads off to assist the invasion.





Some minor Hissho aggression is cleaned up.



Oh. Craver finely turned around. I love our speed advantage.



The next tech is to finely get us some flak, in preparation for the next generation of ships.



The Craver start retaliating in an unorganized fashion.



I grab another backwater.



Apparently I hadn't noticed that we had a monopoly available for that. Ship experience increases the HP of the ship. It may play other, not as obvious, roles.



The next tech gives us an improvement that increases the population limit on smaller planets.



Here we go~

I'm starting to wish I had packed more laser defense. Almost nobody has kinetics.







Some very lucky card plays swings it fully into our favor.

~~~~~~~~~~
Summary







I decided to include the military screen as it is more relevant now. I may also start including the research UI, for reference to how far we are on each of the tech trees. We're relatively low in the military aspect, though I plan to fix that in the next update as I push military techs for the next generation of ships.

Also, I wonder why the Empire Screen doesn't go all the way down to show more systems.

Thoughts, comments, criticism, and so on, are welcome, as always.

[cerapa]

Ionic crystal monopoly? Nice. Gotta love how ridicilous all the bonuses are in this game.

[10ebbor10]

Are you going to update the game to the beta, or keep running this version?

[Orb]

Are you going to update the game to the beta, or keep running this version?

With Steam, you can't play it without updating.

So I have to update. Will that break the save? I don't know. I'll find out soon.

Ionic crystal monopoly? Nice. Gotta love how ridicilous all the bonuses are in this game.

Hopefully that will be balanced. The combat and defense bonus ones are truly ridiculous.

[10ebbor10]

As far as I understood it, the beta was released as a seperate version of the game.

[Orb]

Well, I finished updating. The save isn't broken, but everything updated. Only thing I notice so far is a fantastic UI update, which will help convey more information with less pictures, hopefully. I will be playing the update now, though I only have 2 hours available to me, so we'll see.