Master of orion II like civ?

[Father Beast]

Umm.. I did get the game working in dos mode. I still have the occaisional dropout without warning or message, so I save often. but I can always get back in.
I always loved the designing of custom units in MOO, and it really hasn't changed much for MOO2. AC's units workshop doesn't hold a candle to the possibilities.
I'll have to try that technique with those missle battleships. my beam weapons didn't seem to be doing much. One problem, though. I don't think I have the option for mirvs on my tech tree. maybe my buds the psilons can help me out.
the tech in this game is kind of a hassle. I keep searching the manual every time I come across a new tech, or the psilons want to trade techs, or I want to choose my research. Searchin the manual just trying to find what I want. I am probably going to have to break down and make my own chart, just so I can keep track of which tech is which.
I don't have a lot of time to play, but it is fun.

[The Mad Monk]

If you have the same manual I do, check page 102; it should be 'Modifications' in the 'Research and Development' section. MIRV is a product of 'miniturization'; the more research you do along a given tech path, the smaller and cheaper previously discovered techs along that path get. Do enough reseach, and every missle system can be MIRV'd. For nukes, this happens at Pollution Processor / Merculite Missle.

One implication to miniturization and weapon upgrades is that the newest system isn't always the best; in fact, my experience shows that more 'mature' systems are always the better choice. Exception: lasers. Get rid of them ASAP.

[Father Beast]

Hmmmnnn. let me check the manual.
Yup, there it is. so it should show up in the design options once it becomes available, i.e. it has gone 2 levels of minaturization. I remember reading about it, but it didn't sink in. I think I'll go after that space hydra right quick.
BTW, why do you say the class 1 shields are about useless? the last time I got trounced by the hydra, I found it gave another round while it burned the shield down. Well, almost another round.

[The Mad Monk]

It's all a question of how you balance the design; type I shields do absorb damage, and if you have no other defense techs, they can be vital.

If you do have other techs available, the equation changes. A standard battleship, for example, has 50 armor and 50 structure points; type I shields add 20 points (per side) to that, (and can regenerate, but in battle with a hydra that's not a consideration). We can assume that the ship can take 121 points before "dying"--so far, so good. Now look at costs: the shields take up 50 space; a reenforced hull also takes 50 space, but triples structure (150 pts), so if you replace the shields with the reenforced hull, you have a 200 pts. instead of 120 pts., for the same (space) cost. Heavy armor does the same for armor pts., and costs the same; Tritanium triples whatever you already have.

So why not put everything in? Because you still have to pack in lots of missles, and if you want to have enough to insure the kill, something's got to give. You can figure out how many nuke missles you need by dividing the hydra's structure by eight, or by thirty-two if they're MIRV'd. Gotta love MIRVs!

[Father Beast]

Mad Monk,
I did what you said, and sent 2 battleships with 14 mirved 2 shot missles each at the hydra. I still had my class 1 shields, since I only have tritanium armor. It managed to destroy 1 of them (those missles move slow!) but got killed after all. unfortunately, some antarans happened by and blew the heck out of my battleships a few turns later. are they fast, or what?
Oh, and it was a nice planet in that system. Huge, Gaia, Ultra Rich, with natives. I got advanced city planning soon afterward and it has a pop limit of 32.
All of a sudden it was just as addicting as the original MOO. I found myself putting dinner on 2 hours late after just a few more turns got out of control.
any suggestions about hose pesky antarans?

[The Mad Monk]

good job on the hydra...dang, I knew I forgot something...

The recommended tactic when using missle ships is to launch the missles, and then move the ships away from both the missles and the target. The idea, of course, is to keep out of range of the enemy (missles have unlimited range). Since enemies tend to charge forward first, then fire, they often waltz right into the missles and die before they get a chance to strike. You move away from the missles so that in the event of a "warp core breach", you won't take your own missles with you.

Antarans...ah, my favorite prey. Capture an Antaran frigate, and you have easy access to xentronium armor, damper fields, all kinds of wonderful and nasty techs. The particle beams they mount do 10-30 damage each and are shield-piercers--that is they ignore shields; xentronium gives them ten times the 'normal' armor and structure (forty each on a frigate), and the damper fields reduces all damage on a hit to one-quarter the norm, effectively multiplying their armor and structure by an additional four (160 each on a frigate).

Unless you have ships that can handle the damage, and can deal at least 160 points of damage in short order, the best course may be to abandon the colony. The best way to attack the frigates is with loads of missles; a plantary missle base is very useful in this regard, and can usually be set up in the time required. Star Bases work too, but unless you have good computers, any energy weapons fire is liable to be wasted.

I usually don't destroy them; I board them.

The best way to do this in my opinion is through the use of assault shuttles--tractor beams will hold frigates, but there are never enough boarders in a given ship, and damper fields rip transporters to shreds.

Assault shuttles give an excellent proportion of space used to troops carried. Antarans are tough, so be sure to have decent armor (at least zortrium), fusion rifle or better, and both the anti-grav harness and the personal shield (I say this because they are the best choices of their respective groups, and go a long way toward correcting shortfalls in the armor and rifle techs). Powered armor is best if you're a creative race, but isn't worth the loss of robo-miners otherwise. Pack enough shuttles as a single weapon to insure at least sixteen marines will hit the frigate (four shuttles), and expect to lose the first boarding action, with about two of the antarans' five marines remaining. You should win the second boarding action, with the antaran ship self-destructing half the time.

This leads to my second 'specialized' ship design, the 'Hunter'. Again, using a battleship hull (or a titan, my preference) fill up on the defense techs, but forget about missles. In this case will want to install heavy neutron blasters (if you have them), battle scanners if you have them, and at least two banks of four shuttle units each (four for titans). The neutron blasters kill one marine for every five points of damage, so it makes things easier for the boarders. Just don't lump all the blasters into one battery, or you'll end up destroying small ships you wanted to capture!

NOTE: neutron blasters are NOT for use on the Antarans; xentronium and damper fields both block the marine-killing effects of both neatron blasters and death rays--a very good reason to capture these techs all by itself.

Best tech to capture / acquire: xentronium, followed by the damper fields. Do whatever you must to get them, and never release them to anyone else.

Hope it helps!

[The Mad Monk]

Any opinions on your neighbors, yet?

[The Mad Monk]

I have been inspired to create a MoO2 web site...

Adjustment of shield opinion: shields are possibly a better choice on frigates and destroyers; because their strength increases linearly with hull size (unlike hull points), they become much less useful relative to armor as hull size increases.