15-03-2003 12:09									#1
	Missiles? Put an end to popups!

Is there a counter to this would-be superweapon? Point Defense doesn't seem to do much an neither do point defense missiles... in fact they never seem to fire against the missiles.

	15-03-2003 18:34									#2
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

PD defense is bugged. they dont always fire. The Easiest way to get them working is put any missile on a PD ship, once they run out of missiles (fast if you only include 1) the PD begins working..annoying..but easy to fix.

Also try to get the ECCM upgrades before the AI does, add in cloaking devices, and you can dodge some missiles, and take down the rest with your now working PD ships.

	16-03-2003 03:39									#3
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

I thought PD works only while you still have PD chasis missiles left? So a setup of one rack with twenty missiles, should be enough to last a battle? Well that kind works for me, sometimes. Then again, PD also seemed to work sometimes on it's own.

Next patch fixes it though

	16-03-2003 04:09									#4
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

The new PD fix better work, i'm fed up with my big shiny fleets getting mullered by fighters and missiles

	16-03-2003 04:28									#5
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I seem to be having no problems with the Lighting Field for PD, are others seeing this?

	16-03-2003 05:37									#6
	Got spare money?

never played a game up to lightning field. Either I've quit before reaching it, or won the senate race. Although now I'm playing with colins mod, mostly testing it out really, but that slows down the tech. I imagine many other players never reach to that point either, hence why theres so much whining about the pd bug.

Looking forward to getting it though. Probably looks cool in the tactical combat.

	16-03-2003 08:42									#7
	Put an end to popups!

Yeah I turned off all but elimination of all to force the game to play all the way out. I wanted to see all the pieces, but it is taking forever.

	17-03-2003 15:38									#8
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

I *think* I still get the PD bug occasionally even wit the lightning field, but at higher tech the bug strikes less often. If its as we suspect that weapons lock onto a target even when it is out of range then won't switch to something else, then the longer ranges of all high tech weapons would progressively work toward alleviating it anyway. Like the 1x20 missile rack its not infallible but it helps a lot.

	17-03-2003 15:57									#9
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

You don't need 1x20, BTW. The combat only lasts 10 minutes, and missiles have a 45 second reload time. And, in real playing, the combats never last more than 5 minutes. Take 10 missiles (to be on the safe side) and save space for an extra Plamsa Cannon

-Jam

	17-03-2003 16:04									#10
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I've had a few carrier-on-carrier fights where I've spent most of the time trying to find the enemy ships sending fighters and missiles at me, but broadly speaking you're absolutely right. Its not often that one extra gun makes a difference though, so I'm a bit lazy in ship design

	17-03-2003 16:54									#11
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

Ah, I spend hours trying to get the optimum ship design. The ideal is to design one ship, that can win a fight on its own. I need at least Superdread size, so far, but I'm still tinkering. Its amazing how much a human player can improve on the autodesigned ships, given a bit of time to experiment.

-Jam

	17-03-2003 17:33									#12
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

Curiosity:
as here combat is resolved in RT, does it make it viable to be human-controlled in MP too (which I heard can only be "OnLine" and not PBEMail), or is MP combat forced to be fought only as "strategical" (that is, to be won on their own by your *designs* alone) anyway...?

(that's what the design combat testing/simulator tool was there for in Stars! or SEIV, for instance)

PS: I ask b/c I don't have the game yet, so I can't check for myself

	17-03-2003 18:12									#13
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

The human vs human combat in multiplayer is the reason it can't be played as PBEM. And also, one of the most fun things in MoO3

-Jam

	17-03-2003 18:48									#14
	Tired of ads?

So, you're telling me that the *best* part of this great space FIVE-X < Turn Based > < Strategy > game, is its >RealTime< >Live Combat< feature (...and one where the objects you control are allegedly nothing more than nondescript fuzzy light blobs, undistinguishable between friend and enemy)?????

Why, Thanks, I think this "compliment" of yours did the best for me to picture out the game, more than any other extensive review I read!!!

___
Anyway, are you telling me that (contrary to what I suspected) MP combat can ONLY be human direct controlled, and you can't leave the AI to fight it "strategically" for you, not even if willing?

	17-03-2003 19:09									#15
	Inflate your Upload Space

Sure, you can click on "watch" or "cede control", but if the other player chooses to "control" then you'll probably lose. Not that the AI is stupid, no way.

Oh, and I said the most fun thing is the multiplayer combat. And it is fun, much better than C&C, in MoO3 you're actually fighting for something, and you have to design your ships much more intellegently.

Hmm, but maybe "fun" doesn't belong in a strategy game. I play a lot of chess, but I wouldn't say it was "fun". I'm trying to win, I'm concentrating, I'm worrying. It sure ain't fun for me. But I don't always want fun, sometimes I want a challenge, and here, you're right, MoO3 is not delivering aginst the AI.

-Jam

	17-03-2003 19:50									#16
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Oh, I'm not rigid about the fun/challenging issue.

I got up to 2nd national category in chess (really mediochre) 15 years ago, then I suddenly stopped, because I realised that the killer instinct and the bloodlust, the only things that were actually supporting my interest, had suddenly run dry.

About combat modes I'm wondering then...
as you *have* the option to watch, and thus the related mechanics and code IS already embedded in the game, why couldn't have been organised a PBEM-Hosted mode, in which turn *orders* are sent to a host, and he executes the moves simultaneously, combats being resloved that way, like in Stars! or Diplomacy....

I know, I usually claim that stripping tactical combat for pbem is mutilating a game, but OTOH as I'm NOT an IP MP guy, I'd better have a mutilated pbem than no pbem at all...

	17-03-2003 19:54									#17
	Increase Your PM Length

Best stick with SMAC. Nothing better for PBEM.

-Jam