Balance.

[greyDrifter]

Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."

01/19/2013 given current rule, there is a better chance to hold two belts and their adjoining linking worlds. 
The previous statements have been rendered obsolete.

Does 'Rogue Fleet' actually do anything?  For a six talent skill it is surprisingly subtle.

[ArenMook]

I think this is alright as long as the players can break through.

[greyDrifter]

Your AI has become predictable.

At the moment the sure way to win is to attack swiftly secure planets that restrict access to the asteroid belts.  While the AI expands at a uniform even rate in all directions.  Once they are secured use the defensive advantage to dumping 15-25 ships to the belts and wait the siege out. 

After an eight to five balance is achieved or a four to three front; the ai has a tendency to attack north or south.  Striking at two of the four of the line.  Waiting a minute or two for the units to build up to 50 in two of the systems a combined assault on the center and a suppression (from the sieged worlds) to another system.

The center will fall and the front will be come three to three, with a nine to four advantage.

Rinse and repeat or Blitz and suppress.

---

Suspect that the reduction in the limit from 300 to 195 is part of the reason the game has become easier.
The limit of a single system to naturally produce more than 50 units without being supplied by another source also might affect.
Seems like feeding from another system should not be allowed to exceed 50 units; other wise the lose of production of the flooded system will be to the determent of machine like efficiency in battle. 

[ArenMook]

The game will be a lot less predictable when I add procedural maps. You find it predictable now because you know where to go.

[Cripple]

Do you plan to add different AI levels ?

[ArenMook]

There will be a difficulty slider (easy to add), and I've also considered having different "mindsets" -- one will be aggressive, another -- defensive, etc. But that may not get added due to time. We'll see.

[greyDrifter]

[AI] Cripple (was visible once).
So was that you or an AI level hmm.

That might have been a human, or forum bot.

[ArenMook]

It should be either [AI] if it's a AI, or player's name if it's the player, never both.

[greyDrifter]

AI needs the ability to use abilities (and supporting logic). Something unexpected, something strange, something human.

Create/Destroy route is my favorite at the moment because it has the clearest effect. Granted use'em more to taunt the AI more than for proper effect.  Herding it to the center star then collapsing all routes connecting it or remaping all of the stars into a long zig zag. Abuse the game wasn't designed for but hasn't buckled under the manipulation.

Though I still feel it is odd that we are in a space game but are co-plainer. (Routes cannot cross, no z axis.)

[ArenMook]

That's just for simplicity.

[greyDrifter]

Finally had time.

Propaganda, Sabotage, Rogue Fleet, Beginner, Defensible, 3, 60 Random, Hotseat... Yields this.

Don't think many, if any of the variables affect the match; but...
Somehow this isn't what I think was intended.

[ArenMook]

All maps are random, so sometimes it's possible to get detached "islands". That's why Back Door and (to a lesser extent) Teleport abilities are so useful.