v3pre3 release
StarInfidel
important is that now generators are remove in radius 1 from cult
origin on hard difficulty. I hope this will be the last pre-v3-
release.
You can grab it here:
http://starinfidel.co.cc/cult-03pre3/
Changelog:
+ make background darker during the menu display
+ remove generators on hard in radius 1 at start
+ highlight activated on prev turn nodes
+ show number of used adepts
Bazarov
I find the trick to defeat the Investigators is NOT to advance to an
Adept until I can afford 3 (and possibly a priest) [with luck, of
course].
Sometimes, though, waiting this out is long enough for the enemy cults
to have grown enough to be a real threat.
I hardly ever win through using the ritual, though, as it is usually
safer and faster to eliminate my opponents. Perhaps end the game when
all the other Cults are paralyzed, rather than waiting for all of
their nodes to be taken?
I think the 'origin' square should be more protected at the start, at
least for the enemy cults. Games where I am lucky enough to come
across them on move 2 or 3, I can usually eliminate them right away.
If the origin had doubled or trebled protection, it would be harder
and require more thinking/time. Maybe add +2 to all three.
It is very, very difficult to stop a Ritual from going off for the
enemy cults. I don't see them fail often. If my Adepts/Priests could
spend an influence point to lower the chances of any ritual going off
(or lower the Ritual count) that would give some time. Especially if
the other cults could do it as well. Or if you went with the first
try being more difficult and subsequent attempts more likely, there
would be time enough to alter things.
I would like to see a 'set' bonus (a la Monopoly) for groups of
Soldiers or Professors, etc.. Something like, for every 5 Soldiers you
have you get a possible +1 Intimidate a turn, for every 5 Profs, +1 to
Persuasion, and so on; or, again, perhaps +1% success rate for each
matching one in your cult - (and -1 for each non matching?) I.e. If I
have a lot of soldiers, it is easier to get more soldiers, and harder
for professors. I am guessing the 'names' are random at this point and
there is no difference but flavor. I'd be happy to write up a list of
more elaborate names, if you like. Housewives, Gallery Owners, etc.
Bugs:
I don't see the activated on prev turn nodes, still.
When shattering the will of the investigator (and failing), it seems
that it sometimes doesn't cost me either an adept or the prices.
Max Kowarski
> Version is much easier on hard now, but still difficult.
Good, that's what I was aiming for. Hard but at least somewhat fair.
> I find the trick to defeat the Investigators is NOT to advance to an
> Adept until I can afford 3 (and possibly a priest) [with luck, of
> course].
Each adept gives +7.5% to a chance of investigator appearing on hard
difficulty. Try playing with an adept or two, it's usually worth it.
> Sometimes, though, waiting this out is long enough for the enemy cults
> to have grown enough to be a real threat.
> I hardly ever win through using the ritual, though, as it is usually
> safer and faster to eliminate my opponents. Perhaps end the game when
> all the other Cults are paralyzed, rather than waiting for all of
> their nodes to be taken?
Technically they could have a comeback or it could be a situation when
your cult is having a hard time with an investigator, so I'm against
it. And besides, after a long phase of lurking in the dark and
fighting it's fun to have a glorious expansion :)
Though I tend to just start the final ritual after paralyzing everybody else.
> I think the 'origin' square should be more protected at the start, at
> least for the enemy cults. Games where I am lucky enough to come
> across them on move 2 or 3, I can usually eliminate them right away.
> If the origin had doubled or trebled protection, it would be harder
> and require more thinking/time. Maybe add +2 to all three.
It's more of a matter of general AI simpleness. I'd be glad to teach
it that it should protect the origin fairly quickly but it'll have to
wait.
> It is very, very difficult to stop a Ritual from going off for the
> enemy cults. I don't see them fail often. If my Adepts/Priests could
> spend an influence point to lower the chances of any ritual going off
> (or lower the Ritual count) that would give some time. Especially if
> the other cults could do it as well. Or if you went with the first
> try being more difficult and subsequent attempts more likely, there
> would be time enough to alter things.
>
> I would like to see a 'set' bonus (a la Monopoly) for groups of
> Soldiers or Professors, etc.. Something like, for every 5 Soldiers you
> have you get a possible +1 Intimidate a turn, for every 5 Profs, +1 to
> Persuasion, and so on; or, again, perhaps +1% success rate for each
> matching one in your cult - (and -1 for each non matching?) I.e. If I
> have a lot of soldiers, it is easier to get more soldiers, and harder
These two points is something close to what I want to be the focus of
v4 development. In short, I plan on implementing Agents - those are
like the XCOM operatives in UFO game - followers that have individual
skills, abilities and potentially inventory. There will be no missions
like in XCOM (possibly in the distant future), instead the player will
assign tasks to agents each turn which they will complete changing
something. The examples of tasks are:
* gathering information - each node will have an information
parameter which raises the chance to successfully gain a node
* searching for hidden investigator - the investigator on hard will
probably stay hidden forever if you won't actively try to find him
using agents
* sabotage enemy ritual (thanks for the idea, didn't think about that)
Note that this is a preliminary description. I'm still thinking this
over and the result may be different.
> for professors. I am guessing the 'names' are random at this point and
> there is no difference but flavor. I'd be happy to write up a list of
> more elaborate names, if you like. Housewives, Gallery Owners, etc.
Thanks for the offer, please do that. Though Housewife is a bit too
humorous. Try to use professions that have some degree of power -
financial or otherwise.
> Bugs:
> I don't see the activated on prev turn nodes, still.
What browser are you using? And which version.
> When shattering the will of the investigator (and failing), it seems
> that it sometimes doesn't cost me either an adept or the prices.
Well, a quick look in the code shows that adept is not marked as used
when lowering willpower fails. The cult still loses resources on
failure, so that should not be a balance bug.