Star Harpy updates

[akkamaddi]

Is it just me, or did they get a whole lot meaner?

Also... OH MAH GAWD THE TEETH THINGS MOVE!!!!

I just noticed that on the Engineer. I'm not going to lie, it weirded me out for a moment. I came down with a sinus/respiratory infection last weekend, and I haven't had a really good night's sleep since from coughing fits. There were actually a few seconds where I wondered if I was actually seeing it wiggle its teeth at me. It was a very strange moment.

Bravo, Sven and Arioch. You can also bite an Orthin's armored behind for doing that to me , but some of those tiny little details in unexpected places are such a nice bit of charm in the game. Thanks again for the work you put into this.

[Arioch]

It is a bit creepy, isn't it?

[zolobolo]

Yeah it is a sleek and unnerving design and yes the teeth are moving mate. Don't worry its not just you

It seems to wish to gobble the player up and chew on our heads for a while...

[akkamaddi]

Has anyone else seen the new Harpies destroy scout ships before they can retreat?

EDIT: Three scout ships in a row destroyed, the fourth escaped. I think the escape rate is no longer 100%. (Don't take this as a complaint.)

edit again: And thank you to the person who pointed out you can put an outpost on a Warp Node. My current sparse galaxy is such a quagmire of harpy nests and open space that I've actually used this to open up a new quarter of the galaxy.

[Arioch]

Ships that are fast enough and have long enough range weapons (such as the Mediator) can get close enough to fire on a scout in 1 turn.

[akkamaddi]

OK, small suggestion with the New and Improved Harpies, which I am enjoying.

In the game I am playing, they are really infesting the universe. Between them and tiny worlds, it is really hindering the spread of some empires. I just found the Yoral in my game, and they only had two worlds.

One possibility is to have a setting in the new game configuration options for Harpy Aggressiveness. "Passive" decreases the odds of spreading, Harpies will not launch before round 20 or 30, and each HSA will only produce one Engineer to create a harpy nest. The Harpies go back to being a nuisance, but you can get a few slowly growing nests that can create a real challenge.

"Normal" is now, perhaps slightly tweaked.

"Aggressive" cranks them up a bit, and they become a major "villain" race. (*cough*cough*Zubelengen*cough*)

This would eliminate the too strong / too weak argument, because the answer becomes "Here, do it yourself!".

[zolobolo]

I agree. Though it was no surprise, the AI does have some issues coping with this new additional threat

Tested the game in small galaxy and two empires: Imperial and Human:
- Played Phidi and never attacked anyone + always gave the AI whatever it has requested + Marauders have been modded down before the test so all the below were effects of Harpies
- Humans couldn't expand and got stuck with 3 systems (one had 12 scouts) for over 200 Turns - have been wiped out by Imperials at around turn 300
- Imperials only started to really clear systems from Harpy infestation at around turn 400 when they managed to rank up production of fleet carriers
- For the Human player the Harpies did not pose a great challenge as their behaviour was easy to see through and focused preventive "cleaning" crusades are easy to put together

Altogether I found that the AI empire could expand (except for the Human but that is due to another issue), it is just that their fleets are constantly decimated. This is due to the new mechanic which cleverly seems to only affect ships and food import - colonized planets can still carry out production as usual

A setting for the Harpies would be nice but I think this would ignore the core issue: The mechanic needs to fit in with the rest providing additional challenge but not reducing the efficiency of the AI.

Thus I propose:
1. Harpies ignore already settled systems and only invade if declared war upon
2. The incentive for war is the research returned from destroyed Harpies + Metal returned from Harpy nests + Constant research income when controlling an anomaly (base at the node) + Win condition for controlling all the anomalies
3. AI should not declare war on Harpies until it reaches a certain strength to avoid their retaliations. It should only go after them if clearly stronger then most other empires and has no active wars going on with other empires, but when it does, it should go for the anomalies as well to give the player a run for these targets or declare war on the AI to prevent their domination of the anomalies

[zolobolo]

Checked if I can shoot out the Warp Node with a Stellar Surge beam like a pinata (to see what is inside), but to no avail

[Captainspire]

I love the whole thing, and how they hop to uninhabited systems and take it over. These guys aren't the hobos of the cosmos any longer.

[Danath]

At first I got really scared looking at those stats (that armor, that hull!) Then in my first battle I obliterated them. Absolutely zero defenses against missiles/bombers makes them easy to destroy before they have a chance to make a single shot :/ And the Herald still greets me as peaceful and willing to sell technologies after destroying several nests.

Meanwhile the AI seems ridiculous scared of them even when they have Super Dreadnoughts.

[zolobolo]

Meanwhile the AI seems ridiculous scared of them even when they have Super Dreadnoughts.

Can you attach the save game for that?
I haven't seen AI built super dreads for a long time now

[Danath]

Can you attach the save game for that?
I haven't seen AI built super dreads for a long time now

They started building them before I had the technology, but it seems the AI researches Stellar Surge way later: I destroyed a dozen before I met one armed with it. Then the Yoral built 1 Dread Star, but I was already winning the war and capturing all their mining planets, so I already had 4 (you are merely delaying the inevitable!)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d2vWms ... sp=sharing

[zolobolo]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d2vWms ... sp=sharing

Thanks for the save: I was hoping the AI will be utilizing other vessels as well, but is just as I had expected.
I am always trying to tilt the game parameters in a way so that the AI does not outright spam the largest ship available to it, but still poses a challenge (though the two go hand in hand )

[Danath]

Well, with last update the Arda don't ignore your Harpy extermination, but there seems no way to recover their trust. War declaration just seems to mean "stop bothering me with your visits if you aren't going to sell me anything". Destroying them gives access only to a few military technologies (plus some thousands points in research). Basically, small but immediate benefit (just kill them) vs big and long term benefit (buy many technologies)

[zolobolo]

True: Arda relationship is a welcome addition
If you loose trust, you can buy tech from the Herald to win some back - If you are too low to buy anything I guess its war declartion time so it at least doesn't bother you...

There is one advantage in attacking Harpies besides research, some tech and the systems they graciously reserved for you: occupying the HLA points will cease Harpy invasions from that point. Since defense is fierce at these locations and their invasions are not much of a threat at this point, is not currently worth it