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[legolas558]

try incrementing cycles using Ctrl+F12 (if you are using DOSbox)

[ShadowXIX]

I just started playing again this time with the Antag patch :blink: Man does it make the AI more agressive. I played the normal game quite a bit and owned with pretty much any race so I decided on a average galaxy in ANTAG with a Hostile atmosphere 7 species. In short order I had 5 species all at war with me and was losing colonies very early on. The AI also builds orbital defense very early on now, which makes invasion nearly impossible until you get some decent weapons tech that can outrange the orbital missile platforms.

Adds some new dimensions to a game I already had fun with

I havent bothered with the maintenance patch yet though. Anyone know exactly what that does and if you can run it with the antag patch? It says you have to type -ascend/patch to run the patch version, but to run anatg you must type ascend/antag?

Is the antag version already patched?

[ShadowXIX]

Originally posted by Taskmaster@Nov 9 2005, 09:12 PM
The thing I disliked in Ascendancy, beside the poor AI, is the 2/3 of the galaxy rule, or whatever it is. You are kicking behind and taking names, and then because you colonize one too many planets, suddenly the game is over and you've won. I want to be able to make use of that new planet and go on to anhiliate the rest!

:Titan:

There is a way around the 2/3 rule in a sense. The rule only applies to 2/3 of the galaxy if it is a connected empire. If you allow the enemy to keep a few junk worlds in the middle of your empire it breaks up your 2/3 empire and you can go on to conquere many more planets then normal.

[laiocfar]

If you control 1/3 of the galaxy or less the fight is over and lucky when you got 2/3 it ends.

[ShadowXIX]

Originally posted by laiocfar@Apr 27 2006, 12:31 AM
If you control 1/3 of the galaxy or less the fight is over and lucky when you got 2/3 it ends.

It all depends on what systems you let the AI control.

My current game for example. 7 species

I control 63 planets and 29 systems

The remaining 6 species control 3 planets each (18 planets) and actually control a total of 10 systems. There are I think 2 uncontroled systems left with tiny husk planets nobody has colonized.

I control far over the 1/3 limit of the galaxy

[laiocfar]

The AI only is a threat to small empires. When you get enought planets, they are walking deads.

[ShadowXIX]

Yeah too bad the AI wasnt better If it was smarter and gameplay had a few little tweaks here and there "Ascendancy" could have been one of the best of the 4x space strategy games of its era, perhaps of all time.

The AI species are much tougher with the Antag patch but mainly because it allows the AI to cheat and gives it bonuses in Industry, Research ETC..

I have to give "Galactic Civilization II" a try, I heard its AI is hard to beat on higher levels and they claim it doesn't cheat at all.


BTW on the game I mentioned in the above post I got the Extinction ending :Titan: I managed to kill every species in a single turn (which wasnt that hard since they had only 3 colonies each). It gave me the Title "Interstellar Death-Dealer" at the ending screen.

Much more fun then the 1/3 ending

[laiocfar]

Interstellar Death-Dealer? wow, i never dreamed something like that, the problem with most of the space civilization games is that they were made to internet multyplay mode so they become very repetitive and the ai is just a lastminute add to the game.

[ShadowXIX]

Yeah making a hard to beat A.I in strategy games of this type is no easy task either (well unless you let them cheat). There are just so many variables to have the AI deal with. It takes Super computers to be able to make A.Is that can beat the best players in the world at Chess and Im pretty sure the variables in chess though massive pale when compared to every possible variable in a game like Ascendancy.

Thats one thing that has me interested in this new game GC II, Because they never created any multiplayer for the game and sank alot of time into the A.I.

[Borodin]

Originally posted by ShadowXIX@Apr 29 2006, 07:20 PM
Thats one thing that has me interested in this new game GC II, Because they never created any multiplayer for the game and sank alot of time into the A.I.

All the more shame they gave up the contract to make Master of Magic II. But really, MoM2 would probably have had too many variables for them to handle--so perhaps they were wise to abandon it.