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Daily Feedback Roundup -- Beta 2 Edition

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Daily Feedback Roundup -- Beta 2 Edition

from Sins Forums
Note: The purpose of this thread is to round up posts of note from the past day so the developers can easily find and track feedback in the chaos of the beta forum, and concentrate their time on the game. It will not be able to be replied to by non-moderators.


[ Edit: If you're using Firefox and can't see the bottom of the thread, try looking at it through this page instead ]

[ Edit 2: Added a CSS 'hack' so the content area of this page acts like an iframe... ugly, but should make it readable in Firefox ]
29,976 views 62 replies
Reply #51 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 5

Gameplay

+ Discussion -- Pros and cons of different flagships (Link)
So what with the new version they have implemented something I love, the choice of your starting flagship! Which has allot in common with the hero selection system of War Craft III...

So what are people choosing for their starting ships I wonder?




Ongoing Discussions

+ Brainstorm: Planet Bonuses (Link)
+ Game Setup Options (Link)
+ Fighter missions (Link)
+ Thoughts on AI after latest update (Link)
+ Will the AI eventually be z-axis aware in a meaningful way? (Link)
+ crash fatal (Link)
+ No novalith cannon plz!! I hate super weps (Link)

Reply #52 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 6

Technical

+ Game runs correctly from SDC, but errors from shortcut? (Link)
I also figured out that when launching the game from inside SDC, the game runs correctly. However, when launching the game from the Sins shortcut in the Start Menu, the game complains about missing entries in the .entity files. The target on the shortcut is: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\Sins of a Solar Empire\Sins of a Solar Empire.exe". The "Start In" setting for the icon is: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\Sins of a Solar Empire".




Gameplay

+ Request -- Adjustable research cost/speed at game creation (Link)
Im wondering if the speed and cost of research should be reduced for small galaxies? and keep the current level of speed and costs for medium and large galaxies, or reduce it a bit for the medium galaxy type and the large galaxy type should have the current game values, as for the custom one, maybe a choice of the three values?


+ Idea -- More special game modes (Link)
Capital Assassination:
you cannot change your capital, if your homeworld is destroyed, you lose.

Supply Lines:
if you have a planet/roid that is not adjacent to another colony, the buildings stop working, and the culture/loyalty decrease very very quickly. (I would just have this be standard in the game personally)

Super-Flagships:
your flagships have double health, etc.




Ongoing Discussions

+ No novalith cannon plz!! I hate super weps (Link)
+ Game Setup Options (Link)
+ Thoughts on AI after latest update (Link)
+ Capital Ship Choices/Strategies/Which is Worst... (Link)
+ Jump Blockers changed? (Link)
+ crash fatal (Link)
+ Will the AI eventually be z-axis aware in a meaningful way? (Link)



Unsorted

+ Paradoxnt's take on patch 0.78.022 (Link)

Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #53 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 7

Gameplay

+ Feedback -- Hoshiko Cruiser model doesn't fit with TEC? (IC) (Link)
I have tried - desperately - to appreciate the design of the Hoshiko Robotics Cruiser. I just can't stand the way it looks compared to other TEC ships, I just don't feel like it fits well with the fiction. I love the idea of a ship that supports a fleet with repair droids with researched combat droids, I just can't stand the circular layout of the ship.


+ Request -- Make ringed planets more frequent or have rings give a bonus (Link)
uber rare, maybe they should give planets a bonus of some sort?

Make it less rare... Pllllleeeeasssseee


+ Request -- Tweak values to encourage hit-and-run raids (Link)
Something a bit missing in Sins , is surgical strikes or raiding into enemy territory.

My proposal is to make construction frigates weaker (300hp) , and to make metal and crystal exctractors weaker too (400hp). Scout frigates may need rebalancing because of this. Extractors could cost a bit more too. Its really up to IC on this.




Ongoing Discussions

+ Jump Blockers changed? (Link)
+ Will the AI eventually be z-axis aware in a meaningful way? (Link)
+ Paradoxnt's take on patch 0.78.022 (Link)
+ Game Setup Options (Link)
+ Brainstorm: Planet Bonuses (Link)



Unsorted

+ My list of stuff I would like to have fixing! (Link)

Reply #54 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 8-10

Technical

+ Exploit -- Infinite money through canceling planet upgrades (Link)
The same thing happens for upgrading planets and the such. If you buy the level one upgrade and the cost goes up for the level two upgrade (like planet improvements), you can cancel your level one upgrade, but get the level two money refunded back to you.


+ Movement -- AI ships traveling in deep space at sublight speed (IC) (Link)
The AI seem to have a tendency now to NOT use Phase Space, instead using normal space to travel to any system they want. Let me stress this ANY SYSTEM. So I had one of my plaents attacked, and I managed to defeat half the invading fleet, so the rest of the AIs fleet started runing away. They didnt do it through Phase Space though, instead they decided it would be fun to just keep going and going, and well they did.




Gameplay

+ Idea -- Generate extra fleet points or capship crews from orbital academy structures (Link)
think he was talking about the cap-ship "crew point" part, not the full up fleet points part.

That said, I do like the idea myself, of having both bonus "fleet" and bonus "capitol crew" points coming from tactical structures -- it makes the tactical points of all those rear-area planets that you don't need to bother placing defenses on actually useful.


+ Request -- Sorting options for planets in empire tree (Link)
It would be handy to be able to sort the planets on the left side of the screen instead of them being listed by first conquered. Sometimes I want to increase the size of my fleet and have to look through quite a few planets to find one with an unused fleet logistics available. It would also be good to be able to sort by metal/crytals to be able to quickly find where to add refineries. It would be equally be useful to find which planets have capital ship shipyards or light shipyards. I can think of plenty more but you get the idea, having to run through a long list of planets seems to be inefficient imo.




Ongoing Discussions

+ Brainstorm: Planet Bonuses (Link)
+ Capital Ship Choices/Strategies/Which is Worst... (Link)
+ What should I do now... (mid-late game) (Link)
+ Hoshiko Robotics Cruiser - love the idea, can't stand the design (Link)
+ Ship Designs (Link)
+ The "Novalith" cannon? Seriously? (Link)
+ Graphics (Link)
+ Will the AI eventually be z-axis aware in a meaningful way? (Link)
+ Game Setup Options (Link)
+ Jump Blockers changed? (Link)
+ New kind of situation that I found with culture conquest (Link)



Unsorted

+ Some UI bugs / suggestions... (Link)

Reply #55 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 11

Gameplay

+ Idea -- Specific AI personality types (Link)
Atm , im playing 10 player , small galaxy , unlocked teams. As you can imagine , diplomacy is VERY important. Im curious however as to what people think about having more obvious and diverse personalities for AI players in Sins.

If you remember Civilisation 4 forexample, Your gameplay and diplomacy decisions are greatly effected by the obvious personalities of the races around you.




Ongoing Discussions

+ New kind of situation that I found with culture conquest (Link)
+ Ship Designs (Link)
+ Some UI bugs / suggestions... (Link)
+ Will the AI eventually be z-axis aware in a meaningful way? (Link)
+ Jump Blockers changed? (Link)

Reply #56 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 12

Technical

+ Graphics -- Strange issues with non-PS2.0 capable card (fallback mode not working?) (Link)
YAY i have screen shots. this first one shows both the transparent planet and the back ground when the color skybox is unchecked but the deepspace skybox is still checked...




Gameplay

+ Idea -- Remove fleetpt requirement from caps since they require crews (Link)
While ive been playing the last few days ive come to see that capital ships shouldn't use fleet points, as they already require capital points.

If i have around 120 fleet points id rather build 3 capships then any frigats, because they are harder to kill.

So id suggest removing the fleet points on the capships, now that they got there own


+ Idea -- Making command cruisers more important (Link)
I just want to start by saying i love the idea of the Command Cruiser. I want it to be a ship that demands intimidation... not because of its size or gun compliment, but because of its ability to create a truly awesome fleet combat machine. However right now its, well kinda lame. I'm sure the devs are already working on balancing it out and i know there have already been past threads similar to this, but i had an idea.




Ongoing Discussions

+ What should I do now... (mid-late game) (Link)
+ Some UI bugs / suggestions... (Link)
+ Paradoxnt's take on patch 0.78.022 (Link)
+ Jump Blockers changed? (Link)
+ Ship Designs (moving turrets) (Link)
+ Obvious Personalities for AI players? (Link)
+ Will the AI eventually be z-axis aware in a meaningful way? (Link)
+ Brainstorm: Planet Bonuses (Link)

Reply #57 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 13

Gameplay

+ Idea -- Non-circular gravwells (Link)
So I was think it might be cool to have asteroid fields generate a gravwell and be connected via phase lanes like a regular asteroid planet... the difference being

Due to the size and length of the debris field a oblong/ovalist or even fully curved gravity well results. This could be a well smaller than a star's but bigger than a planet's and most importantly its position could really create more interesting situations. It can be positioned so that going one route is significant longer than another due to the shape of this gravwell instead of merely its position.




Ongoing Discussions

+ Paradoxnt's take on patch 0.78.022 (Link)
+ Will the AI eventually be z-axis aware in a meaningful way? (Link)
+ Jump Blockers changed? (Link)
+ Brainstorm: Planet Bonuses (Link)
+ Capital ships shouldn't use fleet points (Link)
+ A few possible bugs (Link)
+ Ship Designs (Moving turrets) (Link)
+ What should I do now... (mid-late game) (Link)



Unsorted

+ A bunch of ideas.... (Link)

Reply #58 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 14

Technical/Gameplay

+ Pirate spawn bug? Huge numbers of ships at base (Link)
So I am just messing around in SINS, 1 enemy on easy, just taking some screen shots and stuff, and occasionally taking over an enemy planet...

And so I figured, I want a really good shot of the Pirate base.

I fly over 4 Kodiaks and 4 flak frigates, and low and behold at the pirate base I find... 191 ships...




Ongoing Discussions

+ Brainstorm: Planet Bonuses (Link)
+ Capital ships shouldn't use fleet points (Link)
+ What should I do now... (mid-late game) (Link)
+ Ideas for improving the Command Cruiser (Link)
+ A bunch of ideas.... (Link)
+ Terrain Idea- Irregular shaped grav-wells (Link)
+ Obvious Personalities for AI players? (Link)
+ Jump Blockers changed? (Link)
+ Ship Designs (Moving turrets) (Link)

Reply #59 from Sins Forums Top
September 15-17

Technical

+ Crash -- "Failed to initialize COM" error caused by IconPackager? (Link)
well, i tracked down the application that's causing the error. it appears IconPackager v3.0 is the culprit. game runs fine until i install that and reboot, then i get the COM error. the first time i tried it after i figured out which app, i uninstalled it, rebooted, and SSE worked again. so i reinstalled it (and rebooted) to reproduce the error, which it did. this time, however, when i uninstalled IP and rebooted, the COM error didn't go away (and won't, from what i've seen with this problem. this is a clean install of windows i'm trying.)


+ Pathing -- Ships failing to continue on multi-jump paths? (Link)
hmm sry my english...ehm..i mean that ships dont jump more than 1 time...u have to give the order new after each jump


+ Formations -- Ships added to a fleet while it is preparing for group jump don't form properly (Link)
If I have a fleet of 30 ships in a star system, and I tell them to jointly phase to the next star over... If a new ship is added to the fleet before it gets a chance to phase, the new ships always plots a course directly alongside the lead ship. This results in a bunch of ships getting "bumped" and the phasing is delayed until all the ships are ready to go.

It's quite frustrating, however, when you are trying to do a precision-timed run. It can delay phasing by a minute or two.


+ Multitasking -- Multimonitor / alt-tab issues (Link)
However, I must complain that alt-tabbing to check my email shrinks the game application to the taskbar. It's still running, I can hear my combat sounds and little radio calls coming out of my speakers, but I'm blind to the action! Argh!

I must also complain that the game doesn't give up the single-monitor mouse lock even when minimized.




Gameplay

+ Feedback -- AI very vulnerable to counterattacks and diversionary strikes (Link)
Later on, I also found that when ever the AI would launch a huge attack, I could just send a weak attack against its other phase lane connection and it would retreat. Even when it had me on the ropes, if I attacked the other side of its Empire with a wimpy force, the AI would retreat before finishing me off.

The AI really needs to learn to finish the job it started instead of running. It also loses a ton of ships when it suddenly decides to retreat for no good reason.


+ Feedback -- AI too cautious to win? (IC) (Link)
Anyway, I pull this message up short here. What do I recommend to prevent this from happening? How about making the AI take more risks. They seem to be playing a very, very safe game - resulting in stalemates across the board.


+ Request -- Need a means to activate multiple ships' abilities simultaneously (Link)
Say I have a group of 20 kodiak cruisers selected, is there any way to have them all use the intercept ability at the same time? All I could do was select each one and click intercept. It seems that if you have a group of the same units selected and you hit their ability, it only uses it on one of the units.


+ Request -- More feedback/info about influence (Link)
Can it span through a planet to another phase lane? Can one ultra planet influence the entire solar system? How does intra-solar influence work? Why don't my 5 broacast towers and full tech not take over a nearby planet with no broadcast towers? How long does it take for influence to take effect? Why would I want influence to extend to another star? ...

I could go on for ages! I don't mind these questions being answered here in the forums, but the UI should make this apparant to me.


+ Idea -- 'Flavor' radio chatter during battles (Link)
I really liked the voice chatter in CoH, it was the best I'd heard in any strategy game. It really gave the feeling like you were in the battle whenever you heard your soldiers talking, it also gave you a sense of how the fights were going depending on what they said or their tone.




Ongoing Discussions

+ Capital Ships: Should they be researched? (Link)
+ TomAlexander's First Impressions (Link)
+ Fighter missions (Link)
+ A bunch of ideas.... (Link)
+ Jump Blockers changed? (Link)
+ Capital ships shouldn't use fleet points (Link)
+ No novalith cannon plz!! I hate super weps (Link)
+ Disable-able research (Link)
+ should the cruisers have guns? (Link)
+ Pirates a bit too strong? (Link)



Unsorted

+ Boxed Impressions (Link)
+ New Patch Suggestions (IC) (Link)

Reply #60 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 18

Gameplay

+ Request -- Make gravity play a bigger role in tactics (Link)
It's such a cool feature and would really make sins stand out... please put it back in. The players don't even have to really do extra work to do all the simple stuff if anything it just allows for more complicated moves IF YOU WANT TO... but mostly it improves immersion by making the space combat seem a "little" more realistic.




Ongoing Discussions

+ should the cruisers have guns? (Link)
+ How does the AI change with difficulty rating? (Link)
+ Pirates a bit too strong? (Link)
+ Right-click on Structure to destroy (Link)
+ Jump Blockers changed? (Link)
+ New Patch Suggestions (Link)
+ Alt-Tab Performance (Link)



Unsorted

+ Appreciation (Link)

Reply #61 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 19

Ongoing Discussions

+ Alt-Tab Performance (Link)
+ Please put gravity back into sins (Link)
+ TomAlexander's First Impressions (Link)
+ How does sins handle network (Link)
+ No novalith cannon plz!! I hate super weps (Link)
+ Right-click on Structure to destroy (Link)
+ Learn from past space game mistakes!!! (Link)
+ Will the AI eventually be z-axis aware in a meaningful way? (Link)
+ Sins is messing up my hard drive! (Link)


Reply #62 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
September 20 -- Final Beta 2 Roundup!

Gameplay

+ Feedback -- AI having trouble still keeping colony ships safe? (Link)
it looks like if the ai doesn't choose a colony cap at beginning of the game it only gets two grav wells.
i tried to take a screen shot but all i got was a shot of empty space. i tried twice.

That sounds like a problem with its colonization routines -- its not protecting its colony ships!


+ Idea -- Preset names for each race's hotkey groups, with voiceovers (Link)
I'm sure more inspiring names could be thought up. But I think it would be a nice touch, players could form emotional attachments to a certain fleet title and use it as their primary strike fleet, or prefer one that is appropriately named for a fleet that protects the home world. Its not a game of the year maker, but I think it would add a touch of personality.




Ongoing Discussions

+ Will the AI eventually be z-axis aware in a meaningful way? (Link)
+ Learn from past space game mistakes!!! (Link)
+ Does this game have VARIABLE time in LAN games (Link)