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[Pandarsenic]

Yeah. It works like the vs. comp challenges (static fleet is posted online, challengers attack it as they wish).

Only these aren't designed with the ability to beat them with much smaller deployment costs in mind. These are designed to be smart, deadly, and efficient.

[Kagus]

Tried out the demo just recently, good times.  It's refreshing to see a strategy game that doesn't have any of the clickfest micromanagement you find in standard titles.

Had loads of fun designing and naming all sorts of special ships for varied purposes...  My standard tactic was to have one or two 'Odin' class MkI cruisers out on the front line to absorb enemy fire with their three reflective shield generators, while a fleet of 'Goliath' torpedo frigates brought up the rear and pummeled the enemy with several volleys that, hopefully, actually took advantage of the target painters the Odins are equipped with (I don't know if torpedoes follow target painters, or if target painters work for other ships.  Oh well).  A 'Zeus' class heavy beam cruiser would frequently make an appearance as well, mopping up the smaller frigates with a bombardment of heavy energy.  Frequently, these giants would be backed up by a couple 'Vigilante' class point-defense frigates, who would hold formation around the Zeus and protect it from enemy missiles.

Should the situation call for it, I may even push out a 'Hades' class cruiser, whose sole purpose in battle is to subjugate the attacking force with its four separate EMP devices.  Expensive bastard, but a well-piloted one can cause some serious havoc (since this is the demo, I can't unlock the frigate-mounted EMP missiles.  Or anything else for that matter).

The 'Casper' fighters and 'Spook' torpedo bombers were also used on occasion, but I could never field as many of them as I wanted...

[Mindmaker]

This sounds interesting.
I have to look into it sometime.

[Kagus]

Uhhh....  Believe I just found an exploit.

Place a number of fighter squadrons, and reduce them all down to one ship each.  Then, once you've got as many squads as you'd like (or you've maxed out the pilot number, you crazy bastard), go back to each one and change the number of fighters per squadron to max.

For whatever reason, the game doesn't stop you from making adjustments to an existing ship, even if that means something goes...  Odd.  Since a fighter squadron is considered a single "unit", then it has no problem with you completely and utterly ignoring the max number of allowed pilots (interestingly enough, it does check how much cash you're spending, and will prevent you from starting the mission if you go over).

I just took on Defend Sirius with 188 pilots in the air.  Slightly beyond the 50-ship limit, eh?  Good fun to watch though.


And yes, the ship graphics really are quite pretty.  In fact, everything is quite pretty.  And I like the way they handled the sound, being mostly blank in space, but catching fleeting blurts of the cacophony of battle if you zoom all the way in while ship explosions release pockets of atmosphere gases into space.

[Mindmaker]

The demo is fun.

But I completely suck at the game.

So many modules, so many orders.
Oh my god.

It feels a bit like Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, without story and in 2D.

[Kagus]

I didn't find it too difficult, but there are plenty of nuances that I'm missing out on.

The main orders to pay attention to are "Vulture", "Co-operative", and possibly "Cautious".  Vulture makes ships target already-weakened enemies in order to take them out, and Co-operative makes your ships focus their fire, so they can take out individuals more quickly.  Cautious can be nice if you're trying to get by with as few casualties as possible, but it takes some fiddling to get the percentage just right. 

Yes, there are a lot of options available to you, but it's really not that bad when you realize you can take and retake missions as many times as you like.  Test stuff out, see how it works, and fine-tune your force to be the best it can.


Some other tips I got from a quick web browse were 1) start in a corner so you focus your forces, don't spread them out too much, 2) shields trump armor, and 3) fighters rely on speed, speed, and only speed.

Picking the right gun for the job can be tricky though.  There's a lot to pay attention to.  Personally I really like missiles, but that's just me.  Oh, yeah, and reflective shields rock.

[Soulwynd]

Cautious works well for fighters when you have a repair bay. Also with really long range ships (missile ships) that are repair based. Set cautious to 100-90, make sure your ship is fast and it will kite slower ships around while throwing missiles out and repairing itself.

[Mindmaker]

The limited choice in the demo annoyed me, so I bought the full version.
My akward logic tells me that with more choice, I will suck less.

[Mindmaker]

So anyone playing this online?
If so, could that person play with me and teach me how to properly adjust my fleet?

[Pandarsenic]

You have all the modules unlocked, correct?

[Mindmaker]

You have all the modules unlocked, correct?

Modules?
The unlockable ingame content? (Just a bit)
Or the DLC? (Yes all of it)

[Heron TSG]

I hope I find myself a keycode soon, Online Battles look fun. In the meantime, I'm looking at mods.

[Pandarsenic]

Barbarossa: Online keys come with purchase of the full game. *Frown of Disapproval at torrenters*

Mindmaker: I refer to the Fleet HQ Unlocks.

If you don't, here's a list of the ones I sometimes or often use, in the order they're listed in my Fleet HQ:
Cruiser Ultraheavy Armor
The Carrier Support Bays
The 3 Bigger Crew Modules (Zero-G, Reinforced, and Droid), particularly Reinforced. Not the Micro Crew Modules.
EMP Cannon
The 3 Cruiser Engines
Federation Fusion Beam
Nanobot Repair System
Cruiser Plasma Launcher
Powered Armor
Reinforced Power Plant
Fast Recharge and Multiphasic Shields
Target Boosters (they have their uses)
Fighter Ablative Armor
Frigate Powered Armor
EMP Missiles (for Frigates)
Frigate Tractor Beam

And all the hulls and races, naturally.

[Heron TSG]

I didn't torrent it. I got a zip file. Also, I'm only testdriving it. At this point, I just need to see if the multiplayer is worthwhile.

[Mindmaker]

I'm rushing through all the scenarios for honour.
Not much strategy, just zerging.

It's just too much work to assign orders and place ships over an over again.
What a pain...