Psst, over here, I got the latest patch status... shhhh

Andr�s · #1 October 11th, 2001, 11:07 PM

quote:
7. Added - The System Gravitational Shield now prevents warp points closing
within the system. This prevents warp points closing into or
out of the system by all players (including you!).

Is this good?
It has been discused and this way a player can lock himsef in his systems and making his planets invulnerable to conventional attacks and the game unfinishable.

Baron Munchausen · #2 October 11th, 2001, 11:27 PM

Hey, if you don't like a particular feature you can mod the files and remove it! Personally, I am inclined to make the warp point controller a seperate facility from the 'stabilizer' that prevents planet/star destruction so there's more of a price to pay for locking everything down.

The intel fix seems to be working very nicely, btw. I really like the notifications of EACH enemy intel project defeated. Now you can clearly see that one counter-intel project does in fact defeat more than one enemy project.

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 11 October 2001).]

Mephisto · #3 October 12th, 2001, 01:28 AM

Note that it will prevent opening AND closing. You have to choose very carefully what are you doing. If you build a system gravitational facility you will "lock" the current warp point state of that system. This way you can even "catch" warp points. How? Well, if you build a SGF in a system, all warp points are frozen in their current state, that means, no one can close them -not even from the other side!
And you should be careful about closing your warp points and sealing yourself of. The AI will build SFGs and you can very easily lock yourself out from the galaxy in total!

[This message has been edited by [K126]Mephisto (edited 12 October 2001).]

tesco samoa · #4 October 12th, 2001, 03:39 AM

That would make for an interesting game.

It will be good to see how this addition changes the game. Static warfare could be back. Too bad you cannot figure out which enemy planets have the device so you can target those planets first.

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Inter arma silent leges

Baron Munchausen · #5 October 12th, 2001, 04:45 AM

quote:
Originally posted by tesco samoa:
That would make for an interesting game.

It will be good to see how this addition changes the game. Static warfare could be back. Too bad you cannot figure out which enemy planets have the device so you can target those planets first.

Uh, you can... It's called Covert Recon, an intel operation that returns a list of facilities on a given planet. Granted, if it's a large system with lots of planets you will have to go 'trial and error' to find the right one, but if you can break through the defenders counter-intel you can eventually find it. Large, well-defended planets seem like a good place to look, of course. Then, you can use the Industrial Sabotage intel operation to attack the planet and you might get lucky and take out the Gravitational facility. There is no way to 'concentrate' counter-intel in a specific area or towards defending against a specific attack, so it's pretty much a question of "luck" for both attacker and defender. So, as long as there is contact with an enemy empire your nifty "Warp Point Lock" is not secure.

How you would break into a closed group of systems that all have one of these is a good question, though. I guess the key thing to think about is how hard it would be to set this up. They are expensive to build, so you'd need a large empire to afford them. The bigger your empire gets, the more you have to build to completely close it off. It seems likely that someone able to do this is winning the game anyway. Sort of like building a ringworld or sphereworld...

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 12 October 2001).]

PsychoTechFreak · #6 October 12th, 2001, 09:07 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:
The intel fix seems to be working very nicely, btw. I really like the notifications of EACH enemy intel project defeated. Now you can clearly see that one counter-intel project does in fact defeat more than one enemy project.

Great news, thanx !

geoschmo · #7 October 12th, 2001, 06:14 PM

New patch fixes:

quote:
Version 1.46:
1. Fixed - Problem where a race style used from a mod directory was
not being used when the game was re-loaded.
2. Changed - Removed the application of the maximum units per player
rule while in combat. This means that you can launch as many
fighters as you like during combat. However, the maximum
units per player rule stilly applies to non-combat unit
launching.
3. Fixed - Wrong description used when scuttling units because of
not paying maintenance.
4. Fixed - Fleet Transfer Window would reset the Vehicles in Sector
window to the top each time a ship was moved.
5. Changed - Decreased the rate at which fleet experience increases.
6. Changed - Decreased the amount of experience gained from killing fighters
and mines.
7. Fixed - Description for Afterburners was not correct.
8. Fixed - You should be able to give colonize orders to a ship even if there
is a population on the planet.
9. Fixed - Population Transport Minister was not taking population to planets
with zero population.
10. Fixed - The Construction Minister would sometimes build troops and weapon
platforms not on a planet.
11. Fixed - AI would sometimes try to attack enemy minefields.
12. Fixed - The AI could sometimes initiate combat against a minefield in a
simultaneous game.
13. Fixed - Ship Groups would sometimes start on top of each other in combat.
14. Fixed - Ground Combat was experiencing some problems with the changes for
one side to hit another.
15. Fixed - Some units would have their statistics changed during a combat
simulation.

I am sure it's frustrating for everbody waiting on the patch to be released. But hopefully it will make you feel better that the delay is because he is fixking so much. It's not like Aaron is sitting around doing nothing.

The next patch is going to be a big one. Just look at some of the big bugs being squished...

Intel bug. (We all know how bad that one is.)

Cultures. (That's been around forever.)

Mines not self destructing.

Carriers not launching during combat if unit limit reached. That's allowed now. (Gives fighters some use later in games.)

Emmisive Armor.

And a whole bunch more. Should improve our enjoyment of the game greatly.

Geoschmo