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Polite Tim
Sep 3, 2007
'insert witty Family Guy/ Futurama/ Simpsons/ Little fucking Britian etc quote here'
The beautiful thing about TES games is that applying mods is so unbelievably loving simple even a chimp could do it. especially with the steam version of skyrim, where you have one click to download and another to load in the launch menu.

Pick up the pouches mod for definite. Encumbrance is a load of BS and you can turn yourself into a Rob Liefield drawing by adding pouches and belts everywhere, and you might want to look at the UI mod, as the vanilla menu system is not great on account of it being designed from the ground up for both PC and console

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Kanfy
Jan 9, 2012

Just gotta keep walking down that road.

Cardiovorax posted:

Cheat. This is not the kind of game you play for the combat.

As opposed to playing it for the great story? That's terrible advice.

Anyway, I can't imagine the wiki doesn't cover such a popular game pretty thoroughly.

Cardiovorax
Jun 5, 2011

I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Kanfy posted:

As opposed to playing it for the great story? That's terrible advice.
What else would you play it for, if not the running around, exploring and talking to people? It doesn't exactly have much else going for it. Baldur's Gate 2 is one of my favourite games ever, I probably still haven't seen all the content, but I never would have finished it even once if I had to go through all of it fairly.

Kanfy
Jan 9, 2012

Just gotta keep walking down that road.

Cardiovorax posted:

What else would you play it for, if not the running around, exploring and talking to people? It doesn't exactly have much else going for it. Baldur's Gate 2 is one of my favourite games ever, I probably still haven't seen all the content, but I never would have finished it even once if I had to go through all of it fairly.

You cheating to enjoy the game is fine, but you shouldn't claim it's objectively how the game is most enjoyable to play as if BG2's gameplay was universally hated or something. Telling a new player to just cheat through a game, especially one as long as that one, is completely unhelpful.

Let them make up their own opinion first and then decide what they want to do, most people enjoy BG2 plenty without cheats after all.

Cardiovorax
Jun 5, 2011

I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.
I thought it was kinda implicit that everything people say in this thread is their own opinion. There is no objectively correct way to play any game. That being said, I'm hardly the first person to point out that the Infinity Engine games aren't all that riveting on the pure gameplay side. People were criticizing that as far back as the original release. You shouldn't feel like you're not "getting it" because you don't enjoy that part. A lot of people never did.

csm141
Jul 19, 2010

i care, i'm listening, i can help you without giving any advice
Pillbug

Aphra Bane posted:

Ohhh this is that game. Oh no


The idea of modding makes me feel like an old grandma intimidated by strange technical wizardry, but I love that this is something I can theoretically do so I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Thanks for all the tips, people. (I made it to the first town and am already feeling a bit agoraphobic :derp:)

It's very simple to do so long as you don't go too crazy with mods. Basically there's a data folder in the game directory and when you find mods you like (mostly on skyrim nexus unless unless things have changed, also don't browse at work because people love porn mods), you put the .esp file and any other folders (textures, sounds, etc.) in that data folder and activate it in the Launcher. Most people use a custom launcher/mod manager of some kind but I'm not sure what is the popular one these days. If you're only using a few mods, then you don't really need to worry about it. If you start using more and especially mods that overlap, you'll need to use a mod manager to set load order so they get along alright. Skyrim modding thread is a good resource for that. Take it easy at first and try to avoid adding lots of mods at once so that it's easy to discover which one is causing an issue if something breaks.
The one other thing I will say is that Skyrim modders will often tell you that you 'need' certain mods to enjoy the game. You do not, it's just that they've used that mod for so long that they can't imagine the game without it anymore. It's very much a question of personal taste. A UI mod might be the exception to this, that's the one thing I'd recommend everybody look for and install right off the bat.

GOTTA STAY FAI
Mar 24, 2005

~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~
College Slice

Eldred posted:

I didn't think getting Tidus' ultimate was all that hard. Lulu's was a huge exercise in tedium though, I gave up on both hers and Kimahri's.

I hired my neighbor's kid to do Lightning Dodger and Butterfly Catcher this time around. All it cost was a twelve-pack of Mountain Dew and to let him borrow one of my games. He tried to pick Bulletstorm but I convinced him that getting the crap beat out of both of us by his father when he saw his son playing a game that is essentially a Steve Blum cursing/murdering simulator wasn't a good idea.


This is from last month but

ShiroTheSniper posted:

Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan (3DS).

Just started a game on casual, 2 hours in, don't mind to restart my game. What should I know (beside crying alot with party wipes)? Never played an EO before.

Thanks! :)

It's been more than two weeks since you asked this, but if you're still plugging away at your first Etrian Odyssey game, don't be afraid to put it down for a while when things get too rough. These games are ball-bustingly difficult dungeon crawlers inspired by the days when you'd have to draw your own maps on graph paper, and I'm pretty sure Atlus hates the people that play them. If you thought you got frustrated while playing Demon's/Dark Souls, you ain't seen nothin' yet. They added a Casual mode for this entry, which is nice, but holy poo poo, it's still absolutely brutal.

I buy every entry in the series when it comes out and I haven't finished a single one, even with a goddamn Action Replay DS.

They're fuckin' hard, man.

GOTTA STAY FAI fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Nov 2, 2014

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA

Cardiovorax posted:

I thought it was kinda implicit that everything people say in this thread is their own opinion. There is no objectively correct way to play any game. That being said, I'm hardly the first person to point out that the Infinity Engine games aren't all that riveting on the pure gameplay side. People were criticizing that as far back as the original release. You shouldn't feel like you're not "getting it" because you don't enjoy that part. A lot of people never did.
Yeah, this goes wonderfully with the people who talk about how Planescape: Torment would have been better if they had taken the combat out and just made it an adventure game, but of course then I would have not played it because adventure games suck IN MY HUMBLE OPINION OK. The combat in the Infinity Engine ranged from "super-fun" to "ugh," yes, but Baldur's Gate 2 was definitely not the place I have usually heard people complain about the combat...indeed of all the Infinity Engine games I think it is the LEAST complained-about in that regard.

RagnarokAngel
Oct 5, 2006

Black Magic Extraordinaire

Chief Savage Man posted:

It's very simple to do so long as you don't go too crazy with mods. Basically there's a data folder in the game directory and when you find mods you like (mostly on skyrim nexus unless unless things have changed, also don't browse at work because people love porn mods), you put the .esp file and any other folders (textures, sounds, etc.) in that data folder and activate it in the Launcher. Most people use a custom launcher/mod manager of some kind but I'm not sure what is the popular one these days. If you're only using a few mods, then you don't really need to worry about it. If you start using more and especially mods that overlap, you'll need to use a mod manager to set load order so they get along alright. Skyrim modding thread is a good resource for that. Take it easy at first and try to avoid adding lots of mods at once so that it's easy to discover which one is causing an issue if something breaks.
The one other thing I will say is that Skyrim modders will often tell you that you 'need' certain mods to enjoy the game. You do not, it's just that they've used that mod for so long that they can't imagine the game without it anymore. It's very much a question of personal taste. A UI mod might be the exception to this, that's the one thing I'd recommend everybody look for and install right off the bat.

Generally the Mod Organizer is the popular choice and i think makes installing mods even easier than the traditional method because it lets you remove mods individually if something goes wrong and tries its best to prioritize the mod order for you.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3567959

Here's the modding thread, I recommend starting with SKSE (not really a mod but needed for most mods to work) and SkyUI. After that, just take it easy and install stuff if you feel like you want to, if you don't hey that's cool too. Modding becomes addicting though.

Cardiovorax
Jun 5, 2011

I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Quarex posted:

Yeah, this goes wonderfully with the people who talk about how Planescape: Torment would have been better if they had taken the combat out and just made it an adventure game, but of course then I would have not played it because adventure games suck IN MY HUMBLE OPINION OK. The combat in the Infinity Engine ranged from "super-fun" to "ugh," yes, but Baldur's Gate 2 was definitely not the place I have usually heard people complain about the combat...indeed of all the Infinity Engine games I think it is the LEAST complained-about in that regard.
Maybe you were listening in different places than I was. The way I remember it, combat encounters were one of the first things people started hacking the gently caress out of. Also, what is it with people in Games turning into pissy little babies when someone says the slightest negative thing about a game they like as if you had insulted their mom?

al-azad
May 28, 2009



I never understood the knocks against Planescape's combat. Yes, it's the weakest part of the game but the tattoos give you a ton of bonuses and at high enough constitution you start regenerating. By the end of the game I was regenerating like 3hp a second.

So there's a Planescape tip for you: after prioritizing your mental stats, bump up constitution and you'll soak damage like a sponge.

Dr. Quarex
Apr 18, 2003

I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA

Cardiovorax posted:

Maybe you were listening in different places than I was. The way I remember it, combat encounters were one of the first things people started hacking the gently caress out of. Also, what is it with people in Games turning into pissy little babies when someone says the slightest negative thing about a game they like as if you had insulted their mom?
I have seen some random vitriol lately though I am not sure if it has become more of a problem lately or it just ebbs and flows like the tides, man.

Though if you thought my response was pissy then I am confused as I was pretty much like "ah yes, Infinity Engine combat arguments, they are eternal *drinks cup of own blood*"

When Baldur's Gate II first came out I am pretty sure I was still only reading physical game supplements(!) despite being vaguely aware of GameFAQs, let alone being so innovative as to look online for game mods (a mod was only a music file to me at the time I believe, haha) so I certainly confess ignorance of what people were doing to fix the game. I just remembered the seemingly eternal and unrelenting combats with wolves and xvarts in Baldur's Gate I and being glad nothing like that happened in II.

Xander77
Apr 6, 2009

Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.



al-azad posted:

I never understood the knocks against Planescape's combat. Yes, it's the weakest part of the game but the tattoos give you a ton of bonuses and at high enough constitution you start regenerating. By the end of the game I was regenerating like 3hp a second.

So there's a Planescape tip for you: after prioritizing your mental stats, bump up constitution and you'll soak damage like a sponge.
I don't think the complaint about PS:T torment was ever "it's too hard". You're literally immortal, after all. It's just boring. You're fighting all kinds of interesting creatures, you're one yourself, but the combat doesn't take advantage of any of that.

Cardiovorax
Jun 5, 2011

I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.

Xander77 posted:

I don't think the complaint about PS:T torment was ever "it's too hard". You're literally immortal, after all. It's just boring. You're fighting all kinds of interesting creatures, you're one yourself, but the combat doesn't take advantage of any of that.
That's the problem, really. The combat isn't hard, or even particularly frustrating. It's just boring, to the degree that it just becomes something that stands between you and actually having fun. There are some pretty good and fun fights, mind, it's just that so much of it is filler.

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


What the hell am I doing in Civilization: Beyond Earth?

I've played Civ 5 (with all expansions) quite a bit so I'm not a novice to the series, but I'm a little lost in BE (as to be expected your first time playing I guess).

Any noob advice would be great, but my specific areas of concern are:

-Founding new cities. Is it best to go tall or wide? Ubiquitous trade routes seem to make wide appealing, but I never really liked managing lots of cities. Am I shooting myself in the foot if I go tall?

-Also about founding new cities: What am I looking for in an ideal location? In Civ 5, you always wanted to build near luxury resources, but that's out now. Should I just find a spot with plenty of food/production, or are there new resources I need to be looking out for specifically?

-Any rules of thumb for the tech web? I'm way overwhelmed by that; springing lots of new techs/buildings/units/concepts on me, and then giving me a tech web that forces me to specialize is quite confusing too. I guess you'd typically want to focus on the techs that boost your affinity, but are there any sort of must-haves outside of that?

Gynovore
Jun 17, 2009

Forget your RoboCoX or your StickyCoX or your EvilCoX, MY CoX has Blinking Bewbs!

WHY IS THIS GAME DEAD?!

Ainsley McTree posted:

What the hell am I doing in Civilization: Beyond Earth?

The general consensus is that C:BE is half-baked. Put in on the back burner for now, wait 2-3 months for patches.

If you just have to play now, research tech that gives Affinity (IMHO Superiority is best but the others are good too), build cheap military units, upgrade them, crush your foes.

juliuspringle
Jul 7, 2007

I hear Beyond Earth is more like Alpha Centauri than Civ or something like that I don't remember.

Bedurndurn
Dec 4, 2008

Ainsley McTree posted:

What the hell am I doing in Civilization: Beyond Earth?

Wide is much better than tall. Internal trade routes can generate such a stupid amount of food and production for your cities that your actual location doesn't matter too much. Since there's no luxury resources, you can plop cities more or less wherever you feel like it. Hell if there's no actual resources somewhere, there are techs in the lower right quadrant of the tech web that let you build satellites that create natural resources out of thin air on tiles that don't have them already.

The AI and notifications are also pretty bad. There's a depressingly high chance that you can start your 'win the game' machine/building/whatever for a traditional science victory and literally nobody will give a poo poo. The flipside to this is that the AI won't get off its rear end to stop another AI from turning their win device on, so you have to keep an eye on the AIs too.

It might be a good game in an expansion pack or two, but for now Civ V is a much better game.

quote:

I hear Beyond Earth is more like Alpha Centauri than Civ or something like that I don't remember.

Nope. BE could just as well be a mod for Civ V with how similar it is. AC also did a smart thing and had each of the players be a specific ideology so you can identify who people are and what they're like (in the absence of a historical context like Civ, it's helpful to know what your neighbors are going to be like). In BE everybody's a made up nation with a dumb name and no real discernible agenda or style. Also everybody refers to the other factions by their leaders name, which is terribly unhelpful for these made up jackholes with no discernible personality. I went in and replaced all the leader names with their border color.

Bedurndurn fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Nov 2, 2014

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


Bedurndurn posted:


It might be a good game in an expansion pack or two, but for now Civ V is a much better game.

Yeah, to be honest, the more I played the game, the more I wanted to quit and play Civ V again.

Thanks for the tips, guys; I might just wait for a patch/expansion or two and hope it goes the route of Civ V to become something great.

al-azad
May 28, 2009



Man, I remember people saying Civ 5 was the worst Civ game. It's like the Zelda effect where the worst Zelda is always the last one that came out.

Doctor Spaceman
Jul 6, 2010

"Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

al-azad posted:

Man, I remember people saying Civ 5 was the worst Civ game. It's like the Zelda effect where the worst Zelda is always the last one that came out.

It's exacerbated by the fact that Civ games get big improvements with expansions and patches, and so CiV today is widely agreed to be much better than it was at release (regardless of what you thought of it then).

OxMan
May 13, 2006

COME SEE
GRAVE DIGGER
LIVE AT MONSTER TRUCK JAM 2KXX



al-azad posted:

Man, I remember people saying Civ 5 was the worst Civ game. It's like the Zelda effect where the worst Zelda is always the last one that came out.

Like Dr. Spaceman said, this is literally a thing with the series that started with civ 3 being crappier than civ 2 with expansions at launch, but ending up better by the end. I never buy civ games standalone, they're betas. Beyond Earth will own after its second expansion. That bundle is the finished game you want.

little munchkin
Aug 15, 2010
I've been thinking about playing Mario.

SolidSnakesBandana
Jul 1, 2007

Infinite ammo
If you want Baldur's Gate to have more strategic combat, I recommend Sword Coast Strategems. I don't think I can recommend letting the enemies pre-buff though, that ended up being more tedious than fun. In the end, if I hadn't hoarded my arrows of dispel throughout the entire game, I think my fight against Sarevok may well have been unwinnable. It's the one and only time hoarding items till the last fight in an RPG paid off.

Bedurndurn
Dec 4, 2008

al-azad posted:

Man, I remember people saying Civ 5 was the worst Civ game. It's like the Zelda effect where the worst Zelda is always the last one that came out.

V was especially bad at launch. V changed the map system so that only one military unit could be in a space at a time. That was a big departure for the serious, but not necessarily bad. What was terrible is that they didn't bother to code an AI that was actually any good at all at maneuvering troops with that one unit per tile restriction. AIs are always going to be kind of stupid; as a game designer, your job is to engineer things so that the player doesn't see how dumb things actually are behind the scenes.

Cardiovorax
Jun 5, 2011

I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.
Everybody knows that the definite Civilization to stop at is Civ 4, because that's what Fall From Heaven 2 was made for. Even if Civ 5 was the best Civ game ever, it would still not be worth getting, for that alone.

Stexils
Jun 5, 2008

little munchkin posted:

I've been thinking about playing Mario.
The first ? block is a coin. The first ? block in the row of 5 suspended
blocks is a power-up. The second ? block is a coin. The ? on top by itself is
also a coin. Jump from pipe to pipe until you reach the fourth pipe.

**Best Option**

Do not go down the fourth pipe. There is a hidden 1-Up. Five blocks
from the left of the edge of the gap. Jump to reveal it and collect the
1-Up. Now, jump over the gap; the first ? block is a power-up. Jump
the next gap.

**First Quest**
Jump on the lone supended block and hit the ? block above it to
collect a coin. Now jump down and hit the block you were
standing on to collect multiple coins. From here on this block
is referred to as a multi-coin block. There is a group of two
bricks coming up. The right block of that pair is a starman.
Next you will encounter a group of disconnected single ? blocks.
The lower three of this group are coins. The upper one is
another power-up. The two upcoming ? blocks contain coins.
Jump over the stairs.

**Second Quest**
Jump on the first buzzy beetle after you have jumped over the
gap. Kick him to the right and follow him to collect a 1-Up.
You will not get as many coins, but you will get another life.
In Super Mario Allstars you can also do the new koopa trick
here. See the section labeled ## The New Koopa Trick ## for
more information.

**Alternative Option**
After the fourth pipe lies a 1-Up. 5 Spaces from the left of the hole.
It is possible to get the 1-Up and go down the fourth pipe, but it is
not easy. Now go down the fourth pipe to lead you to Coin Room #1. See
the section on ## Coin Rooms ## at the end of this walkthrough. Collect
the coins in the coin room and go in the pipe on the right.

If you did not go donw the fourth pipe. You will see a short pipe after the
second pair of stairs. This is the pipe from which you emerge if you did take
fourth pipe. There are two goombas ahead who guard a single ? block
that contains a coin. Climb the stairs to reach the first flag pole. For more
information on the flagpole and its scori

Idran
Jan 13, 2005
Grimey Drawer
That's Super Mario.

Stexils
Jun 5, 2008

What other mario could he possibly be talking about

GrandpaPants
Feb 13, 2006


Free to roam the heavens in man's noble quest to investigate the weirdness of the universe!

Bedurndurn posted:

V was especially bad at launch. V changed the map system so that only one military unit could be in a space at a time. That was a big departure for the serious, but not necessarily bad. What was terrible is that they didn't bother to code an AI that was actually any good at all at maneuvering troops with that one unit per tile restriction. AIs are always going to be kind of stupid; as a game designer, your job is to engineer things so that the player doesn't see how dumb things actually are behind the scenes.

I don't think they really improved the AI that much over the course of the expansions. It's still pretty much a pushover for war, until you get to the higher difficulties where it can just outspam you.

Edit: For content, I only played Civ: Beyond Earth for like 3 games and that was probably enough. In my scant experiences, the best strategy was to poo poo out cities constantly because Health does nothing compared to Trade Routes, and there's absolutely no character to anything. All three affinities play mostly the same, none of the factions differentiate themselves mechanically or narratively. It is bland and bad.

GrandpaPants fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Nov 3, 2014

Cardiovorax
Jun 5, 2011

I mean, if you're a successful actress and you go out of the house in a skirt and without underwear, knowing that paparazzi are just waiting for opportunities like this and that it has happened many times before, then there's really nobody you can blame for it but yourself.
Doomstacks aren't something I particularly miss, I gotta admit. Sure, it's more busywork, but at least it's different.

JFC
Oct 16, 2003

Jesus F Christ
Finger Lickin' God

Hog Inspector posted:

What other mario could he possibly be talking about

girl dick energy
Sep 30, 2009

You think you have the wherewithal to figure out my puzzle vagina?
...good lord, that's a Minecraft map. :aaaaa:

al-azad
May 28, 2009



little munchkin posted:

I've been thinking about playing Mario.

Be a dick and bump a monster when the other player is right about to kick it.

duckfarts
Jul 2, 2010

~ shameful ~





Soiled Meat

little munchkin posted:

I've been thinking about playing Mario.
  • swing your arms from side to side
  • take one step and then again

Panic! at Nabisco
Jun 6, 2007

it seemed like a good idea at the time

al-azad posted:

Man, I remember people saying Civ 5 was the worst Civ game. It's like the Zelda effect where the worst Zelda is always the last one that came out.
Not quite. Civ V started out pretty underwhelming, and expansions and patches solved a ton of its issues and made it a lot more worthwhile.

And Twilight Princess is still the worst (non cdi) Zelda. :colbert:

GhostBoy
Aug 7, 2010

Ainsley McTree posted:

What the hell am I doing in Civilization: Beyond Earth?

I've played Civ 5 (with all expansions) quite a bit so I'm not a novice to the series, but I'm a little lost in BE (as to be expected your first time playing I guess).

Any noob advice would be great, but my specific areas of concern are:

-Founding new cities. Is it best to go tall or wide? Ubiquitous trade routes seem to make wide appealing, but I never really liked managing lots of cities. Am I shooting myself in the foot if I go tall?

-Also about founding new cities: What am I looking for in an ideal location? In Civ 5, you always wanted to build near luxury resources, but that's out now. Should I just find a spot with plenty of food/production, or are there new resources I need to be looking out for specifically?

-Any rules of thumb for the tech web? I'm way overwhelmed by that; springing lots of new techs/buildings/units/concepts on me, and then giving me a tech web that forces me to specialize is quite confusing too. I guess you'd typically want to focus on the techs that boost your affinity, but are there any sort of must-haves outside of that?

You can go somewhat tall, though the power of traderoutes does mean it is a bit of a self-imposed handicap to do so. If you want mega-cities, you have to pay a lot of attention to food, because health from buildings is local health, and the game stupidly doesn't tell you this. That means a city can only ever contribute <population> health, even if you have much more in it from buildings, so you want to pump them up fast to avoid being permanently unhealthy. The rest is wasted. Health from virtues is global, so look towards picking up one of those (there is one for large armies in might, one on prosperity of course and one at the bottom of the industry tree if memory serves.)

When founding new cities, I generally look for strategic resources, especially the 3 affinity ones. Securing a big deposit of those, or 2-3 smaller ones, is usually a good enough reason to drop a city. Titanium, oil and geothermal is less important, though you will want at least a few nodes of Titanium for end game satellites and units pretty much regardless of your path. Oil is mostly for orbital things, and geothermal grants you some extra energy, though you'll have to also search for the buildings that need it to make the most use of it. The AI likes to buy strategic resources, so sell them stuff you aren't using.

For tech I tend to wait until I know which of the three affinities I am going for, and then rush a few levels of that to get better units. I've not played on the harder difficulties yet, but apart from that, it seems to work well enough to do that, and then just pick whatever you happen to need at the time, be that more production, energy or health etc.

All the victories, except Domination, involves building a big expensive thing and waiting around for a lot of turns. Sometimes you can speed it up a bit, but you will have to wait a bit. The easy solution at that point is to just blob your army and pull it back to your core, leaving a token defense force in outlying cities. The AI isn't savvy enough to make deep strikes, and at that point the only way to really lose is if they got a headstart on you and started waiting earlier.

GhostBoy fucked around with this message at 12:27 on Nov 3, 2014

Fat Samurai
Feb 16, 2011

To go quickly is foolish. To go slowly is prudent. Not to go; that is wisdom.

GhostBoy posted:

health from buildings is local health, and the game stupidly doesn't tell you this. That means a city can only ever contribute <population> health, even if you have much more in it from buildings, so you want to pump them up fast to avoid being permanently unhealthy. The rest is wasted.

Wait, what? What does the Health counter on the top of the screen represent, then? I had seen some discrepancies when building health improvements, but I wasn't paying enough attention to see a problem with it.

GhostBoy
Aug 7, 2010

Fat Samurai posted:

Wait, what? What does the Health counter on the top of the screen represent, then? I had seen some discrepancies when building health improvements, but I wasn't paying enough attention to see a problem with it.

The health counter at the top represents actual health you have in your empire. If you look at the city screens, you also see a health counter in each of those. All those get added together for the top counter, but if say you build a Clinic and a Pharmalab in a city (for a total of +3-ish health), but the city is only 1 pop, then you only get +1 health to your total counter until the city grows, but you still get the unhealthiness of having an extra city.

The sweet spot is to have as much health in a city as it has pop, either from buildings or terrain improvements like Biowells. Note that Biowells only contribute health if the tile is being worked.

GhostBoy fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Nov 3, 2014

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Fat Samurai
Feb 16, 2011

To go quickly is foolish. To go slowly is prudent. Not to go; that is wisdom.

GhostBoy posted:

The health counter at the top represents actual health you have in your empire. If you look at the city screens, you also see a health counter in each of those. All those get added together for the top counter, but if say you build a Clinic and a Pharmalab in a city (for a total of +3-ish health), but the city is only 1 pop, then you only get +1 health to your total counter until the city grows, but you still get the unhealthiness of having an extra city.

Ok, that makes sense, thanks. It would have been better to make it clearer somewhere, but it makes sense. So far I've only played in the two easiest difficulties, so it wasn't a problem and I didn't investigate much.

The UI in the cities could use an overhaul.

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