Post by pendell on Sept 13, 2019 8:22:43 GMT -5
So I've picked this game up again after a several year hiatus, and I have to say it's quite enjoyable! Well done, Trese Brothers!
While playing, I have observed that the Xeno seem to have the following common traits:
1) Start from a small number of planets, including 1 planet with mineral 1. I think this is often their origin point. It seems that, just as the Templar hives start off with maximized roles on the starting worlds, so the Xeno start off with a minimized world.
2) The xeno construct missile ships and mass driver ships, each of which has scan as a talent. They scout the space around their worlds. When a suitable (i.e. any) world is found, they make note of it. Sooner or later, they will send a colony ship out to colonize it.
3) A world colonized by the aliens will gain 1 population per turn to a maximum of 20. The mineral score of the world will become a radiation score; evidently the Xeno do not mine the minerals but instead use their radioactive properties as a defense screen. They can also build a defense on the world, which I have seen as high as 25 and may go higher.
4) The Aliens also collect XP (= Xeno points?) . These XP correspond to RP for the star traders. The level of their civilization increases (to a max of 99?), and this in turn allows them to build more powerful ships. Xeno ships are rated from 1 to 10, and this corresponds to the ship design levels on the ST tech tree. The higher the rating, the more powerful their armor, the more hit points they have, the harder they are to hit, the more easily they hit you, and the more devastating their weapons are when they do.
5) When they find other xeno, they appear to draw an invisible line and will not cross it. They go explore elsewhere. It is not uncommon to see a stack of xeno ships on the line between their domains.
6) When they encounter star traders, they dispatch world killers, mass driver, and missile ships to destroy the human threat. If the battle goes poorly or they are running low on ships, they will fall back to their own space to build more ships. Once this is complete they try again.
7) World killers CANNOT colonize , but xeno colony ships normally follow on their heels.
8) Xeno seem to have the advantage in the early game because they are able to colonize much more quickly than the humans can and can field world killers from the start of the game, whereas it can take many turns before humans are able to even colonize off of the prime and it is quite a bit down the tech tree before humans can conduct planetary invasions. So the Xeno are Zerg and the humans are Protoss; while the Xeno have an early game advantage and will always outnumber the star traders, in the end the followers of Shalun have the potential to completely overpower the Xeno nemesis.
So, all of that, I have some questions:
1) What exactly do Xeno do in their civilization beyond building defenses and ships? Do they construct improvements (though we can't see them) to improve their XP ? Do they have a monetary income? Can they subsidize or rush ships or improvements? Put simply , do they have anything to spend CP on besides ships and defense? Do the different xeno factions have different prioritization for internal improvements, are is their rate of development simply a constant inherent in the species?
2) I wonder; is it typically easier to have fewer xeno enemies? While the obvious answer would seem to be "yes', this is a double-edged sword; Fewer aliens means fewer sides to fight, but it also means those aliens who are left aren't going to be getting in each other's way nearly as often. Is a single xeno enemy with 36 worlds more dangerous than three enemies with 12, given you're going to face the same number of ships and the single enemy can generate more XP faster?
3) How many colonies do the Xeno start with?
4) Do the Xeno gain any benefit from anomalies, either within their territory or on the map? Is this advantage neutralized by exploring the anomalies?
Respectfully,
Brian P.
While playing, I have observed that the Xeno seem to have the following common traits:
1) Start from a small number of planets, including 1 planet with mineral 1. I think this is often their origin point. It seems that, just as the Templar hives start off with maximized roles on the starting worlds, so the Xeno start off with a minimized world.
2) The xeno construct missile ships and mass driver ships, each of which has scan as a talent. They scout the space around their worlds. When a suitable (i.e. any) world is found, they make note of it. Sooner or later, they will send a colony ship out to colonize it.
3) A world colonized by the aliens will gain 1 population per turn to a maximum of 20. The mineral score of the world will become a radiation score; evidently the Xeno do not mine the minerals but instead use their radioactive properties as a defense screen. They can also build a defense on the world, which I have seen as high as 25 and may go higher.
4) The Aliens also collect XP (= Xeno points?) . These XP correspond to RP for the star traders. The level of their civilization increases (to a max of 99?), and this in turn allows them to build more powerful ships. Xeno ships are rated from 1 to 10, and this corresponds to the ship design levels on the ST tech tree. The higher the rating, the more powerful their armor, the more hit points they have, the harder they are to hit, the more easily they hit you, and the more devastating their weapons are when they do.
5) When they find other xeno, they appear to draw an invisible line and will not cross it. They go explore elsewhere. It is not uncommon to see a stack of xeno ships on the line between their domains.
6) When they encounter star traders, they dispatch world killers, mass driver, and missile ships to destroy the human threat. If the battle goes poorly or they are running low on ships, they will fall back to their own space to build more ships. Once this is complete they try again.
7) World killers CANNOT colonize , but xeno colony ships normally follow on their heels.
8) Xeno seem to have the advantage in the early game because they are able to colonize much more quickly than the humans can and can field world killers from the start of the game, whereas it can take many turns before humans are able to even colonize off of the prime and it is quite a bit down the tech tree before humans can conduct planetary invasions. So the Xeno are Zerg and the humans are Protoss; while the Xeno have an early game advantage and will always outnumber the star traders, in the end the followers of Shalun have the potential to completely overpower the Xeno nemesis.
So, all of that, I have some questions:
1) What exactly do Xeno do in their civilization beyond building defenses and ships? Do they construct improvements (though we can't see them) to improve their XP ? Do they have a monetary income? Can they subsidize or rush ships or improvements? Put simply , do they have anything to spend CP on besides ships and defense? Do the different xeno factions have different prioritization for internal improvements, are is their rate of development simply a constant inherent in the species?
2) I wonder; is it typically easier to have fewer xeno enemies? While the obvious answer would seem to be "yes', this is a double-edged sword; Fewer aliens means fewer sides to fight, but it also means those aliens who are left aren't going to be getting in each other's way nearly as often. Is a single xeno enemy with 36 worlds more dangerous than three enemies with 12, given you're going to face the same number of ships and the single enemy can generate more XP faster?
3) How many colonies do the Xeno start with?
4) Do the Xeno gain any benefit from anomalies, either within their territory or on the map? Is this advantage neutralized by exploring the anomalies?
Respectfully,
Brian P.
