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Cfant
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Space Combat for dummies
« on: April 06, 2013, 04:55:46 pm »

Hi guys!

Started the game the frist time an hour ago and - after I accepted, that I will die because of eye-cancer, I have the feeling it will be a hell of experience to play! On the other hand, mankind may be doomed, as I don't know, if I understand what to do  Grin
After exploring Luna, the first battle against spider-aliens takes place (easy to hate them , isn't it? Imagine: sweet babycat-aliens - would be hard to destroy them  Wink) I won after the third try by sacrificing my landing craft (or whatever other ship I had there to choose) first, but it's not very sofisticated, I guess. How to win a space fight without loosing 95% of my crew? It's so fast, an old man like me is at his limits. Can I pause somehow? Are there tipps?

Thanks and greetings,

Cfant
« Last Edit: April 06, 2013, 04:59:11 pm by Cfant » Logged
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2013, 05:02:44 pm »

That first fight is actually pretty easy when you know how: your small ship's homing missiles can destroy the damaged Ilwrath ship in short order if they start far enough apart.
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2013, 06:04:31 pm »

Thanks, well it did, but got destroyed... combat is so fast - any way to make it slower?
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Elestan
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2013, 06:29:27 pm »

The ship you used wasn't your landing craft (that's a small, 12-person shuttle), but rather your escort vessel, an Earthling missile cruiser.

The key to that fight is recognizing that the Earthling has a vastly superior weapon range than the Illwrath, which only has a short-range flamethrower.  You need to run away from it to achieve and maintain long range, and then plink it to death with your guided missiles.  Be aware that the combat space is wrap-around, so once you get to maximum range, it may turn around and fly "away" from you in order to come at you from behind.  I'd keep practicing this fight to improve your basic combat skills, until you can usually win without injury. 

If the Illwrath ship manages to close, it will probably kill you.  If it's almost dead, you might be able to take it out with your alternate weapon, a point-defense laser array.  The array hits everything within range (no need to aim), but its range is very short, and the damage is low.

Normally the Illwrath ships have cloaking devices, which makes them much harder, but this one's cloak is damaged, and it's lost some crew too.
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2013, 06:44:53 pm »

You can't slow down the combat, no. You can turn the cyborg on, though, which isn't particularly great at controlling ships (it's the same crappy A.I. that the enemy ships are controlled by), but it might be helpful to you if you have particular difficulty fighting (or don't enjoy the combat).

There's different speeds for the cyborg, signified by a "+" in the options menu. I think it's Cyborg++ that doesn't do the combat at all and just declares victory or defeat, which I believe is randomized.
« Last Edit: April 06, 2013, 06:46:57 pm by onpon4 » Logged

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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2013, 06:55:25 pm »

Thank you. Well, that answers a part of my post in the Quick questions thread.  I guess, combat is such a relevant part of the game, that I either learn it or let the game be. Maybe it's just to fast for an old man  Grin
Well, I'll try again. Maybe the gods are with me this time. Can I pause a combat at least?
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2013, 07:00:46 pm »

Yes - F1 will pause the game from anywhere, including combat. You can practice the combat in Supermelee, with whatever ships you want. If you really don't think you will be able to learn combat, the best option may really be to turn the cyborg on. The combat is really quite fun if you can learn it though, so hopefully it won't come to that Smiley
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2013, 09:21:32 pm »

Thank you. Well, that answers a part of my post in the Quick questions thread.  I guess, combat is such a relevant part of the game, that I either learn it or let the game be. Maybe it's just to fast for an old man  Grin
Well, I'll try again. Maybe the gods are with me this time. Can I pause a combat at least?
]
Combat isn't a huge part of the game. My entire first game was done by avoiding as much fighting as possible. You can have a hugely enjoyable experience without combat.
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2013, 03:03:21 am »

Yeah, combat is pretty minor. There are only a few times when you actually need to fight someone (five, to be exact). Other than those special times which are pretty obvious (planets guarded by a limited number of hostile aliens), you tend to want to stay away from fighting either by being diplomatic or running away.
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2013, 03:41:25 am »

Yeah, combat is pretty minor. There are only a few times when you actually need to fight someone (five, to be exact). Other than those special times which are pretty obvious (planets guarded by a limited number of hostile aliens), you tend to want to stay away from fighting either by being diplomatic or running away.

It *can* be viable to collect resources through combat (salvaging the wrecks of enemy ships...), but you obviously have to be good enough (or pick an advantageous matchup, or both) that you don't lose more RUs in dead crew and destroyed ships than you gain in salvage.
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #10 on: April 21, 2013, 06:36:22 am »

The first fight can be tough, since SC2 dates back to an age before tutorials were a thing.

I remember on my first playthough, I died before I even saw the Illwrath ship, since I was still trying to figure out the interface. It might be nice if that combat started out paused, with a reminder of the controls.
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #11 on: May 20, 2013, 04:09:15 pm »

Thank you. Well, that answers a part of my post in the Quick questions thread.  I guess, combat is such a relevant part of the game, that I either learn it or let the game be. Maybe it's just to fast for an old man  Grin
Well, I'll try again. Maybe the gods are with me this time. Can I pause a combat at least?

Combat isn't a HUGE part of the game, but you do have to fight sometimes.  As the game goes on, you can add weapons to your ship and make the primary ship a better fighter.  BUT, you can also carry up to 12 outriders, ships that can fight for you if you choose.  You start with an Earth cruiser as an outrider and when mining the Earth solar system, make sure you go to Pluto and make friends with Fwiffo, the Spathi ship you find there.
Because you will have to fight any Slylandro probe you meet, and Fwiffo does that fairly well as long as you use the right tactics.
I recommend going to SuperMele and practice fighting.  The ships you will have access to as the game progresses are Earth cruiser, Pkunk, Spathi, Orz, Arilu, Thraddash if you create Culture 20, Utwig and Suppox.  In the beginning, practice with the Earth ships and the Spathi, since those will be the first ones you have access to in the beginning of the game.  Hint - both those ships have homing missiles, Spathi are shorter range, Earth's are long range.  Your best tactic will be staying away from the enemy ship and lobbing missiles at them.  Hint2 - every ship, exceot the Precursor shop, has 2 weapons, a primary weapon which is fired when you press "control" and a special weapon whis is used by pressing  "shift."

You can go to settings and have the Cyborg fight for you, but don't put it on Cyborg+ or ++. 
This isn't specifically a fighting game, but there will be times you must fight and most of us enjoy the fight.  Especially as the game goes on and you acquire the assets to really power up your Precursor ship and make it really strong, capable of beating any other ship out there.
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #12 on: May 24, 2013, 08:25:38 pm »

Can I pause a combat at least?
Yes, with F1. This actually pauses the game anywhere.

Hint2 - every ship, exceot the Precursor shop, has 2 weapons, a primary weapon which is fired when you press "control" and a special weapon whis is used by pressing  "shift."
Not quite true — several ships only have one weapon, since the secondary is not always a weapon; and the Precursor can have two. (Actually, quite a lot of ships have secondary abilities that are not weapons.)

You can go to settings and have the Cyborg fight for you, but don't put it on Cyborg+ or ++. 
Why not?
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #13 on: May 25, 2013, 01:11:43 am »

Yes, with F1. This actually pauses the game anywhere.

Yes - F1 will pause the game from anywhere, including combat. You can practice the combat in Supermelee, with whatever ships you want. If you really don't think you will be able to learn combat, the best option may really be to turn the cyborg on. The combat is really quite fun if you can learn it though, so hopefully it won't come to that Smiley
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Re: Space Combat for dummies
« Reply #14 on: May 28, 2013, 06:03:21 pm »

You can go to settings and have the Cyborg fight for you, but don't put it on Cyborg+ or ++. 
Why not?

Because on Cyborg you can watch the fight at normal speed, see what's happening and perhaps learn a tactic or two, or more likely learn what NOT to do since the AI is such a poor fighter, especially with the Precursor ship.  Remember, the OP is a beginner.
On Cyborg+ the fight happens so fast you really cant see much until one ship explodes and the fight is over.  Too frustrating.
On Cyborg++ you get to see nothing.  The computer decides the outcome and you don't even get to watch or know why.  Totally unacceptable.
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