Spaceward Ho strategies
Harold C. Payson
beat. Is there any possibility that they are cheating?? I have recently
been playing novice level against 3-5 diabolical computer players in a
large galaxy. And I can never win. I can usually hold my own through mid
game, by which time a couple of the computer players have been wiped out.
But no matter what I do, they seem to slowly but consistently gain tech
and resources over me until they just blow through me and I'm left with a
rapidly shrinking empire and almost no metal. Any hints would be
appreciated.
Specific questions:
- How does their starting postion compare to mine (novice player vs.
diabolical computer)?
- Do we both pay the same amount for teraforming/mining/ and tech?
- What type of strategies do you use?
Thanks in advance,
-- Harold
PS. I'm playing 3.0.1
Benjamin Trumbull
log...@peach.epix.net (Christopher A Loggins) wrote:
> > - How does their starting postion compare to mine (novice player vs.
> > diabolical computer)?
>
> Not sure, but I think it's about even. However, diabolicals have more
> advantages than you throughout the entire game.
Diabolicals start out with the same position as a novice player. The
computer AI in Ho! does not cheat, so the diabolicals do not have any
special advantages over human players. Of course, if the human selects an
expert setting then he/she starts with very little and the diabolical
starts with everything a novice has ...
> > - Do we both pay the same amount for teraforming/mining/ and tech?
Yes.
> > - What type of strategies do you use?
The best I've been able to do against diabolicals is inconsistantly beat
3-4 of them while I'm on novice. The diabolicals are screaming hard, so
if you're having trouble with them, try playing against smart opponents,
and then just 1 diabolical, etc. It took me a long time to build up.
You can get lots of strategies and tips from the Spaceward Ho! WWW page at
http://www.outland.com/deltatao/
The is also a Spaceward Ho! FAQ there.
In general, I like to invest in speed and weapons, heavily. This really
is the best combo. Speed determines who strikes first in a battle, so
with superior weapons ... And against diabolicals, if you don't invest
heavily in weapons they will leave you in the dust. You must invest much
money in tech. I like to send out lots of scouts and find out which
planets are around me ASAP. Then I colonize 1 or 2 of the best. I don't
like to have more than 2 unprofitable colonies in the beginning.
The best strategy I've found against diabolicals is a ligthening raid
type. Essentially, find and eliminate their home planet ASAP. I go on a
very offensive style here. I don't do this with human players as it does
not work as well. Something about the diabolical AI. Anyway. I'll send
a large fleet roaming around their parts of the galaxy, with a colony ship
for support. I won't try to hold any of the parts ('cept maybe a great
one) and I'll let the computer waste its resources trying to take them
back. Eventually I'll find the home planet and be golden. I've used this
strategy to come back from a game in which I was last in everything. Of
course the computer continued to pound on my sector of the galaxy, taking
away all my cool planets, so we dealt blows to each other. I just did it
much faster.
Surprise is very valuable, and so is speed. If you move fast enough, most
computer opponents will not have built satellites to protect planets it
thought were out of range of your attacks.
Christopher A Loggins
> diabolical computer)?
Not sure, but I think it's about even. However, diabolicals have more
advantages than you throughout the entire game.
> - Do we both pay the same amount for teraforming/mining/ and tech?
Have no idea, but see above.
> - What type of strategies do you use?
Tough one. I think the best strategy I have is to adjust my tech spending
levels. I place most of the money on weapons. Shields next. Almost none on
speed, range and mini. A little on radical. Once my range is at 8+ I stop
spending on range. Once speed is 3 or 4+ I stop spending on speed. After
I've made some progress (once the computer starts to lose), I then start
spending on the range & speed techs again.
During the first few turns, I spend a lot of money on ship building to get
enough to pay for a colony ship. Then, I dump *a lot* into tech (ship
being about 1/2 of tech). As for the planets I allocate about 1/2 of what
the game normally allocates.
Also, after I've colonized a couple *good* planets, I colonize almost
everything I can get my hands on (only the good stuff though). After I've
gotten about 8-10 good planets profitable, I start colonizing anything I
can (for metal or money).
Well, hope this helped...
--
________________________________________________________________
|||||||||| ||||| || || * I was here, but now I'm not...
|| || || || || * Ya, der, eh!
|| || || ||||||| * Christopher A Loggins
|| |||| || * log...@peach.epix.net
|| || || || *
|| || || || *
Allan Belyea
writes:
> Talk about good AI! The computer players on Diabolical are impossible
> to beat. Is there any possibility that they are cheating?? I have
> recently been playing novice level against 3-5 diabolical computer
> players in a large galaxy. And I can never win. I can usually hold my
> own through mid game, by which time a couple of the computer players
> have been wiped out. But no matter what I do, they seem to slowly
> but consistently gain tech and resources over me until they just
> blow through me and I'm left with a rapidly shrinking empire and almost
> no metal. Any hints would be appreciated.
>
I wouldn't say diabolicals are impossible to beat - just very difficult. Just
the other night I won a slugfest of a game as a normal player with 5
diabolicals in a humungous, sparse, random universe.
> - What type of strategies do you use?
>
When playing against diabolicals you need a bit of luck to win. But here's the
strategy that won me that game:
- Always be developing 3 or 4 new worlds that are reasonable. More as you have
more money. Allocate about 10-15% (total) to planets, except for pure mining
worlds - crank them up, strip mine it quickly and then abandon it.
- Allocate 20-30% to ship money all the time. Or until you get about $15
million or so. Ship money goes very quickly at the higher tech levels.
- Allocate 60-70% to Tech all the time.
- Tech should concentrate on Speed and Weapons. Range, Mini and Random
Research depend on each individual game. Shields are the least important.
- Make do with old Tech ships for as long as possible. IE don't waste money
designing new ship types that you may only build 1 or 2 of.
- Don't bother with satellites much, unless you build a trap. (IE. > 100
satellites at a strategic world) If you do this be very sure that your
satellites can beat anything they throw at you. This is a great way to build
up your metal reserves.
- Don't build up a fleet and send them all blindly into a world (it could be a
trap as in the above point). I learned this the hard way - cost me half my
metal and almost lost the game.
- Make alliances but don't trust them! After a while it _appeared_ that my
ally was informing my enemies of what worlds to attack. An allies scout would
show up, 2 turns later an enemy fleet shows up and takes that planet. Happened
quite a few times.
- Oh yeah watch out for the trick my ally tried to pull. He had a ship at
every one of my worlds and then dissolved the alliance. Luckily my Speed and
Weapons were better than his and most of my planets had the populations to
resist the attacks.
Have fun!
Allan Belyea
Allan Belyea, Cognos Inc., (613) 738-1338 x3822
a...@cognos.com
"Duct tape - the handyman's secret weapon."
- Red Green, Handyman Corner, The Red Green Show
Milo (Michael) Sharp
<casper-0502...@saybrook-college-kstar-node.net.yale.edu>,
cas...@minerva.cis.yale.edu (Benjamin Trumbull) wrote:
> > > - What type of strategies do you use?
>
> The best I've been able to do against diabolicals is inconsistantly beat
> 3-4 of them while I'm on novice. The diabolicals are screaming hard, so
> if you're having trouble with them, try playing against smart opponents,
> and then just 1 diabolical, etc. It took me a long time to build up.
I recently beat the hardest game possible, a small dense ring galaxy
with 19 diabolical computer players. Granted, I allied with two of them,
and played on novice, but none of that had much effect in the long run.
I've tried to do it again, but it's rough at first. I honestly think that
if you can survive until 2200, you have a chance -- a slim one, but a
chance. Usually you'll be wiped out around 2150.
> In general, I like to invest in speed and weapons, heavily. This really
> is the best combo. Speed determines who strikes first in a battle, so
> with superior weapons ... And against diabolicals, if you don't invest
> heavily in weapons they will leave you in the dust. You must invest much
> money in tech. I like to send out lots of scouts and find out which
> planets are around me ASAP. Then I colonize 1 or 2 of the best. I don't
> like to have more than 2 unprofitable colonies in the beginning.
Your best chance in the afore-mentioned game is to pump radical tech.
If one of your choices for radical tech ISN'T "Dramatically increase mini
tech", start a new game. It's about your only chance. "Design new ships
with no development cost" is another life-saver. With these, by 2140
(when the enemies will hit you), you can have either a 4-3 dreadnought or
a fleet of 60 or so 5-4 fighters. Either one can save your butt. (The
fighters are better, in that you can keep some back to defend yourself.)
I can post more about my strategies for this later.
> The best strategy I've found against diabolicals is a ligthening raid
> type. Essentially, find and eliminate their home planet ASAP. I go on a
> very offensive style here. I don't do this with human players as it does
I agree that offense is the most important, but you also need to
marshal your resources carefully. Like I said, I can post more later.
Winning the game I mentioned earned me about 112800 master points. I'm
well on my way. Too bad Delta Tao doesn't have a t-shirt offer like
StarPlay.
--
Milo (Michael) Sharp
University of Alaska, Fairbanks
fx...@aurora.alaska.edu
JoeDelta
diabolical computer)?
same as you. (If you're on Novice.)
- Do we both pay the same amount for teraforming/mining/ and tech?
Yes. Exactly the same. Keep in mind the diminishing returns.
- What type of strategies do you use?
Personally, I favor the "Weapons/Speed" strategy. Spend nothing on
Shields, and spend a lot on weapons and speed. Shoot first, and shoot
often. I build fleets of around 50 ships and pounce everywhere. Be
careful, though. Takes practice.
--Joe
Benjamin Trumbull
> - What type of strategies do you use?
> Personally, I favor the "Weapons/Speed" strategy. Spend nothing on
> Shields, and spend a lot on weapons and speed. Shoot first, and shoot
> often.
... then ask questions
;-)
terminally curious,
Ben
_________________________________________________________
Benjamin Trumbull
cas...@minerva.cis.yale.edu
Yale University
http://www.cis.yale.edu/~casper
Tom Dolezal
<casper-0902...@saybrook-college-kstar-node.net.yale.edu>
cas...@minerva.cis.yale.edu (Benjamin Trumbull) writes:
> > - What type of strategies do you use?
Something I've found works very well is to move as rapidly as possible
toward the outside rim of a galaxy (if you're not playing in a spiral
already). Set up a couple of home planets on the edge - they're much
easier to defend than planets in the middle.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Dolezal Macintosh and Network Systems Administration
dol...@riter.computize.com Psion Consulting, Houston, TX
"The opinions and reality I dispense are mine alone."
Damir Smitlener
<casper-0902...@saybrook-college-kstar-node.net.yale.edu>,
cas...@minerva.cis.yale.edu (Benjamin Trumbull) wrote:
> In article <3hcq9j$i...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, joed...@aol.com
(JoeDelta) wrote:
>
> > - What type of strategies do you use?
> > Personally, I favor the "Weapons/Speed" strategy. Spend nothing on
> > Shields, and spend a lot on weapons and speed. Shoot first, and shoot
> > often.
>
> ... then ask questions
>
> ;-)
If there is anyone left to question, then you've done something wrong!
--
damir smitlener |
gt7...@optica.mirc.gatech.edu |
da...@mindspring.com |
wdhaas
but I can't find a game at diff 10?
What's the current version? I think I am still at 3.0.
Tony Koonce
(wdhaas) wrote:
9 is pretty hard. I beleive that one of the criteria for difficulty is in
how long it takes to conquer a universe, I think (though not certain) that
I saw somewhere that if you conquer a universe in less than a 1000 years
that an extra difficulty level is tacked on. I also saw that the highest
possible difficulty is 11.