Most Recent Forum Posts

Game 54229: free palestine., Rost310, Gooey Blob, RABID in 'Denunciation 2v2'

I have been playing it recently on a small Chromebook, where SF opens in a tiny window, it's probably just my fault and I didn't notice. Rookie error, apologies Rost!

Posted by RABID 1 days ago

Game 54162: Chris1977, free palestine. in 'Rescue from the Mines'

Swap sides? I have one set up already that you're welcome to join...

Posted by Chris1977 1 days ago

Game 54229: free palestine., Rost310, Gooey Blob, RABID in 'Denunciation 2v2'

In the game all 4 ambassadors should all be be white, same as clones sprites.

Posted by SteveSmith 1 days ago

Small Mission Rebalancing

I've just made the change. The Game Stats are available here, under the Stellarpedia menu option: <a href="https://www.stellarforces.com/dsr/miscstatspage.cls">https://www.stellarforces.com/dsr/miscstatspage.cls</a>

Posted by SteveSmith 1 days ago

Small Mission Rebalancing

I can't say I saw anything particularly unbalanced about Hideout myself. I take it A Tale of Two Moonbases is because side one goes first, can't recall noticing any more wins playing that side than the other. But then you have the stats available. Never played the other two enough to form a view either way.

Posted by xeno 1 days ago

Game 54165: Chris1977, Gooey Blob in 'Paradise Valley'

Thanks Steve. :-)

Posted by Chris1977 3 days ago

Small Mission Rebalancing

It's that time of the decade when I look at the winning/losing stats of the missions and tweak the ones that seem a bit unbalanced. I'm going to make the following changes. Let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions:- Hideout: Side 1 creds from 280 to 300, side 2 creds from 180 to 160 A Tale of Two Moonbases: Side 1 creds from 320 to 300 Rebelstar: Alien Hordes: Side 2 creds from 290 to 320 Paradise Valley: Side 2 creds from 260 to 290

Posted by SteveSmith 3 days ago

Game 54165: Chris1977, Gooey Blob in 'Paradise Valley'

I'm going to tweak some of the creds given to various sides in some of the missions to balance them. I'll do a separate forum post about it.

Posted by SteveSmith 3 days ago

Game 54165: Chris1977, Gooey Blob in 'Paradise Valley'

Totally agree but my weapon choice was a disaster (2 x flamethrowers) which I thought were area denial weapons but ate not lol. Congratulations.

Posted by Gooey Blob 3 days ago

Game 54165: Chris1977, Gooey Blob in 'Paradise Valley'

Well, you did better than I did, but one thing our shared experience makes clear is that it's bloody hard to win Paradise Valley as the humans! Fancy Rescue or Stardrive next?

Posted by Chris1977 3 days ago

Game 54229: free palestine., Rost310, Gooey Blob, RABID in 'Denunciation 2v2'

! Just watched the playback. For some reason I can?t fathom, I had no idea that unit was an ambassador. I thought those guys were always in white? This was just a soldier. Maybe in the 2v2 games only one ambassador shows as white?!

Posted by RABID 3 days ago

Game 54258: +BEAR+, xeno, petermock, Chris1977 in 'Kill Frenzy 4-Player'

Apologies to petermock too, if the game log is anything to go by...

Posted by Chris1977 3 days ago

Game 54258: +BEAR+, xeno, petermock, Chris1977 in 'Kill Frenzy 4-Player'

Thanks, Steve...and sorry, xeno!

Posted by Chris1977 3 days ago

Game 54258: +BEAR+, xeno, petermock, Chris1977 in 'Kill Frenzy 4-Player'

It looks like it's doubled up your equipment, which sometimes happens when I revert the game back to equip. The easiest thing is to select the game on the website, go to Equip Units, and on the armour page, select Don't Buy Armour. You can then easily remove the unwantd equipment.

Posted by SteveSmith 3 days ago

Game 54229: free palestine., Rost310, Gooey Blob, RABID in 'Denunciation 2v2'

wtf Rabid

Posted by Rost310 4 days ago

Game 54258: +BEAR+, xeno, petermock, Chris1977 in 'Kill Frenzy 4-Player'

I've now gone back to the equip phase and have minus 120 credits. All gone tits up.

Posted by xeno 4 days ago

Game 54258: +BEAR+, xeno, petermock, Chris1977 in 'Kill Frenzy 4-Player'

Thanks, Steve, that's worked a treat. :-)

Posted by Chris1977 4 days ago

Game 54258: +BEAR+, xeno, petermock, Chris1977 in 'Kill Frenzy 4-Player'

No probs, that's done. Let me know if there's any issues.

Posted by SteveSmith 4 days ago

Game 54258: +BEAR+, xeno, petermock, Chris1977 in 'Kill Frenzy 4-Player'

@SteveSmith, I seem to have "equipped" with nothing! Suspect I must have accidentally nudged "Finished buying equipment". Any chance you can roll the gameplay back to before I...um...failed to equip?

Posted by Chris1977 5 days ago

Game 54238: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'Escort'

Thanks both.

Posted by SPIKE 5 days ago

Game 54238: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'Escort'

Cheers. :-) Feel free set up another showdown (I'm out and sbout for the next few hours, so won't have time)...

Posted by Chris1977 5 days ago

Game 54238: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'Escort'

I've just had a look, and you can only concede when you've lost half your units. Force-concede can be requested at any time.

Posted by SteveSmith 5 days ago

Game 54238: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'Escort'

OK, as I haven't heard from you since yesterday morning (UK time) I'm going to force cancel.

Posted by Chris1977 5 days ago

Game 54238: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'Escort'

Yeah, I think you have to play at least 5 turns before you can concede; there is an option to "force cancel" at my end, though, which has pretty much the same effect... ...but are you sure?! It's essentially The Assassins crossed with "British Bulldog", except that the only person you have to "get" (OK shoot, stab or blow up) before they reach "base' is Sterner, and everyone else is a bonus. Whatcha say...?

Posted by Chris1977 6 days ago

Game 54238: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'Escort'

I concede. Except there is no option to concede.

Posted by SPIKE 6 days ago

Game 54236: hansolo, SPIKE in 'Battle for Sigma 7'

Yeah I can't figure this game out. I concede. Except there is no option to concede.

Posted by SPIKE 6 days ago

Game 54238: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'Escort'

Hi, sorry, thanks for your help but I just can't figure out the tactics in this game.

Posted by SPIKE 6 days ago

Game 54220: hansolo, SPIKE in 'Superhuman: Defend the Base'

Steve the only way I can see this happening is if the LOS was not blocked by smoke on my turn,then blocked by smoke on the enemy turn enough to hide movement through 2- 3 squares adjacent to my units. Then the smoke disappears again. I just don't see how it's possible. It's like the Superhumans are using a Stealth Boy. :D

Posted by SPIKE 6 days ago

Android vs Java menu option List Games

The Java version does not have the option List Current Games under the menu Start or Join Game. This button should probably be called "Start Join or List Games". The Rate and Feedback buttons are also missing from the Java version but that's for obvious reasons

Posted by SPIKE 6 days ago

Alternate equipment.csv

I guess another option would be to use the weapon stats from the first XCOM game. Julian's third iteration of these rules. Those are very well balanced.

Posted by SPIKE 6 days ago

Alternate equipment.csv

Fixing lasers is a lot harder than I first thought. Going back to first principles: I don't see any reason why they should be inaccurate. On the contrary they ought to be more accurate than ballistic weapons. For related reasons they should be rapid firing in all modes. Recoil is minimal, gravity drop is nil, air resistance effects minimal. You could decide that the mechanical rate of fire is slow due to heating or whatever. But the human factors of rate of fire should be beneficial. You could decide they are heavy. In principle there's nothing wrong with that. But, you then have to give a reason why someone brings a heavy object to the battlefield as their main weapon that determines if they live or die. If it weighs the same as a heavy weapon it needs heavy weapon advantage of some kind. Going all the way back to the source for these games: Traveler. In that game lasers are heavy but hit very hard and have huge ammo capacity. They are also armour piercing and can kill hardened targets. That is the only reason that justifies carrying them on to the battlefield. In SF terms those laser weapons would have damage of say 80 for a laser carbine and 100 for a laser rifle. Ammo would be 50 and 100 respectively. Accuracy and APs would be similar or better than the Marsec long guns. In Traveler lasers don't have auto fire due to cooling limitations and that's a balancing factor. In Laser Squad and Stellar Forces lasers have auto. In SF terms (SF is scaled to 60APs = 100% APs) the laser auto modes should be 2APs per shot. In Laser Squad these shots are at 3% accuracy. I find that low accuracy hard to justify when there is almost no recoil. But some limitation is needed to stop auto lasers being OP. I would suggest reduced damage per shot when in auto mode. An explanation could be made for that. Alternatively you could drop the weight to normal levels, same as ballistic guns, and then either drop the damage or drop the ammo. You still have a superior weapon. But we don't develop and deploy new types of weapons unless they are superior in some way. Maybe as a further balance factor lasers can't be reloaded in combat (az in Traveler). Anyway those are the ideas I have been kicking around.

Posted by SPIKE 7 days ago

Practice game description error

Good spot, I'll be able to update that quickly.

Posted by SteveSmith 7 days ago

Practice game description error

Game type 84 Says there are no enemies, but of course there are enemies and they do shoot at you Needs to say something like "basic AI enemies"?

Posted by SPIKE 7 days ago

Stellar Forces Current Status

Ah seems likely yes. I'll keep using the itch APK and let you know if any other issues come up. So far so good.

Posted by SPIKE 7 days ago

Stellar Forces Current Status

That's a strange one, the log says they were killed twice as well. I don't think that's anything to do with the new client though, as the code is the same.

Posted by SteveSmith 7 days ago

Stellar Forces Current Status

To be clear this is with the itch.io client

Posted by SPIKE 7 days ago

Stellar Forces Current Status

Got an odd error gid=54248 If you look under Private Harris there are two corpses and one weapon but only one Fugitive and zero assassins have been killed in the game (and that was by gunfire). Looks like a corpse was duplicated?

Posted by SPIKE 7 days ago

Stellar Forces Current Status

No, it's exactly the same file.

Posted by SteveSmith 7 days ago

Stellar Forces Current Status

Is it different from the Google Play version? Will download and try it.

Posted by SPIKE 7 days ago

Alternate equipment.csv

As you said in a post long ago Steve, the stats in the original game are a mess - at least if the manual is to be believed - I may take a look at the code to see if Gollup rationalised the weapon stats beyond what the manual says, but the original Laser Squad manual data is full of illogical and contradictory data. Some themes emerge however. - compared to Stellar Forces pistols are significantly worse in accuracy and accuracy per AP. Their increased RoF does not really compensate for this. SF makes pistols much more viable by greatly narrowing the gap between pistols and rifles on accuracy, accuracy/AP and ammo capacity. - base weapon accuracies are much lower in the original, although the effect of skill in the original is very complex and not well documented, so that would require a code dig. - the clear overall winner in the original game is the MK-1,far more clearly even than the Marsec Autogun is in Stellar Forces. Not great game design in the original to have such a go-to weapon. - the "laser sniper" (L80) is the very clear winner in absolute first shot accuracy, again much more starkly so than in Stellar Forces. This at least makes sense and is balanced by many other drawbacks of this weapon. - pistols do not have auto fire apart from one type that has comparatively poor autofire and is generally inferior to the other pistols in single shot mode. That's kind of realistic about how ballistic pistols work. Physics etc. Generalising about original Laser Squad lasers - ridiculous weight and size - much higher auto ROF than any ballistics - somewhat better snap ROF than ballistics and about the same accuracy/AP, but with substantially lower damage - generally shockingly bad accuracy, with the sole exception of the "laser snioer". In summary it's hard to understand why anyone would bother developing these weapons let alone deploying them, apart from the sniper role for the L80 and the spray and pray close assault role for the H50 or the virtually identical Heavy Laser. Basically these are shotguns.

Posted by SPIKE 7 days ago

Stellar Forces Current Status

Just out of curiosity, has anyone installed the new APK from Itch onto their Android? Did it work okay?

Posted by SteveSmith 7 days ago

Game 54166: Chris1977, Gooey Blob in 'Paradise Valley'

True, dat - the last thing I was expecting from you was a frontal assault, so without my realising it within a few turns your guys were nearly all in my midst, and I suddenly had to strike a balance between shooting/evading you on my turns and leaving enough APs to opp. fire on yours. More often than not I got that balance wrong. Rookie stuff, really - if I'd sussed what you were up to sooner I could have stayed far left for a few more turns and just blasted away...

Posted by Chris1977 7 days ago

Game 54166: Chris1977, Gooey Blob in 'Paradise Valley'

Morning Chris. Your team didn't make much use of opportunity fire. The blaster guy did well though.

Posted by Gooey Blob 7 days ago

Game 54166: Chris1977, Gooey Blob in 'Paradise Valley'

Well, that was a tactical car-crash!:Apologies - I'd hoped to engineer a much closer game than that. By wY of making up for it, feel free to choose one of the other five games I have set up.

Posted by Chris1977 7 days ago

Alternate equipment.csv

Thanks Steve. I didn?t wanted to suggest changing what everyone has got used to for 14+ years hence asking if theee was a way to load an alternate equipment file. But thank you for the suggestion, I will give that some thought. Lasers are not great in original Laser Squad either, ironically. But they do have two benefits that are not in the current equipment data, namely Much higher ammo capacity, about double that of ballistic weapons More rapid fire (lower AP) with similar overall accuracy per AP Similar or better ammo costs per shot

Posted by SPIKE 10 days ago

Alternate equipment.csv

There isn't I'm afraid. That's the file the server loads for all equipment. However, if you feel any stats need changing, feel free to post to the forum where it can be discussed and if there's general agreement, I can change them. I've not looked at the stats for a while. I usually look at what are the most/least popular weapons to see which ones might be over/under powered.

Posted by SteveSmith 10 days ago

Alternate equipment.csv

Is there a way to specify an alternate equipmnet.csv in the definition of a mission, or to load an existing mission but specify an alternate equipment.csv? From the directory structure of /serverdata and the way the data loaders seem to work, it does not look possible, but I thought I would ask anyway. Basically what I'm getting at is whether I could for example play a game with original Laser Squad equipment stats, or a set of equipment stats where lasers are buffed so they are not generally inferior to the other weapons.

Posted by SPIKE 10 days ago

Weapon comparisons

Or someone else's:)))

Posted by petermock 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

Best weapon is your mind

Posted by petermock 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

Warning...Corny comment imminent...

Posted by petermock 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

Xeno's low & high cost games are great...make some more dude. 400% credits, no walls left...low credits it's all power swords, knives growling and punching each other...yes punching can kill!

Posted by petermock 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

Steve I'm all for the nuke from space option or the C4 Sandwich, low on flavour but great for losing weight...fast :) )))

Posted by petermock 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

Excellent idea. I do like how the equipment budgets are very sensitive to small changes

Posted by SPIKE 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

I purposely create 50% games for us to use the lesser credit weapons, changes the dynamic of the missions. As I often do with 150%/200% to use the more powerful ones. With this facility game creation is compelling.

Posted by xeno 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

+1 for the Nuke The Site From Orbit button :D

Posted by SPIKE 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

I actually thought the SP50 WAS a pistol until I checked the stats more carefully - it?s a huge beast the size of an autocannon. Crap but cheap - is it supposed to represent some earlier generation of laser weapons or something?

Posted by SPIKE 11 days ago

Inkidu

Oops Inkidu just accidentally won a game (supposed to draw them all) ina super comical grenade chain reaction that took out Regnix on turn 2. Well this is why we practice - to learn what NOT to do! ;-)

Posted by SPIKE 11 days ago

Game 54233: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'The Assassins'

@SteveSmith, you flatter me, sir! Sure, if you think my vague musings might be of help to others, share away.

Posted by Chris1977 11 days ago

Game 54233: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'The Assassins'

I meant say Chris, that's a great post. Do you mind if I copy it into the Wiki?

Posted by SteveSmith 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

I was thinking of skipping AP200's and just introducing a Nuke From Space option. :D

Posted by SteveSmith 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

And Alien Queen producing acid smoke for cover...open spaces...Aliens too vulnerable.

Posted by petermock 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

Steve, I'm still waiting for the AP200 and stun grenades...:)))

Posted by petermock 11 days ago

Weapon comparisons

Basically you got the right assessment of the weapons. Las rifles have an advantage over all other guns over distance...they punch 100% damage without losing any & highly accurate. MK1 is handy, can shoot it like a pistol almost, cheap AP's, accuracy is reasonable...Best for close to medium range. A group of Sniper rifles is a very effective against most situations, a sniper single unit with good stats can repeatedly perform surgical actions. You're right about explosive weapons and opponents using them. But the big guns & launchers soon run out of ammo with one exception the Auto Blaster. The best gun in the game. Will kill most armoured men, make handy holes in walls, good accuracy...expensive but used wisely gives an edge. The problem with weapon comparisons is context. Each mission is different,varying opponents and their ever changing choices and the unique unfolding of the individual battle. Even when the ingredients are the same the outcome can be wildy different. It also comes down to personal style and likings as much as strategy & tactics. Rabid is bang man, rocket launcher expert. If he can take you out early...he will but on quite a few painful occasions he's saved a few rockets late in the game and reversed his situation and won. I used to win Underground using a lot of smokes. Then people caught on and then it became a disadvantage. It's still useful to have smokes but I use other complimentary weapons for different effects.

Posted by petermock 11 days ago

Rationale for no reaction fire vs seen tarrgets?

<a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nkZdTHmX0TQ">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nkZdTHmX0TQ</a>

Posted by xeno 11 days ago

Defend The Base layout

Ah OK that totally makes sense!

Posted by SPIKE 12 days ago

Rationale for no reaction fire vs seen tarrgets?

Well that is a valid point but it doesn?t explain why it?s a rule as opposed to a choice. I might have my reasons for waiting to take reaction fire rather than shoot now. For example the shot now might go through one or more diagonal corner edges. Or it might pose greater danger to a friendly unit where the enemy is now vs where they might move next Or I might prefer melee reaction to an aimed shot. Etc So unless there?s a risk of an exploit I would say leave it to player choice?

Posted by SPIKE 12 days ago

Defend The Base layout

Even if the walls were solid, the doors aren't (and that's not changeable). I have a distinct memory of a game where the player rushing in the first door and then threw two grenades in; the first one destroyed the inner door and the the second destroyed the computer, and they won very quickly. Once this tactic was discovered I had to ban them.

Posted by SteveSmith 12 days ago

Rationale for no reaction fire vs seen tarrgets?

The rule is if the unit can be seen at the end of your turn, they won;t shoot them during the enemy's turn. I think the main reason for the rule is because, if you wanted to shoot the enemy and could see them at the end of your turn, you would. If you didn't want to to shoot them, why would you then want to shoot them almost immediately afterwards.

Posted by SteveSmith 12 days ago

Weapon comparisons

Just my own thoughts but this will not come as a surprise to anyone here I'm sure. Generally speaking (ignoring heavy weapons and melee weapons) Marsec autogun > Mk1 rifle > Marsec M4000 > SP30 pistol > Marsec pistol > L50 pistol The higher ones in the list (apart from the Mk1) are better value for money, so buy the most expensive one you can afford. The Mk1 rifle has a niche advantage in burst fire but otherwise is inferior to the slightly cheaper Marsec Autogun. Lasers in general seem to be a waste of time with the exception of the L50 as the el cheapo "Saturday night special". Though arguably a good melee weapon would be better in most situations. The two sniper weapons are difficult to use for reasons I will go into elsewhere but there is no point taking the laser version apart from very special circumstances. So overall explosive weapons and grenades seem to be the go-to ranged attacks just because of the much higher probability of an effective hit, plus the tactical utility of reshaping the terrain (on most maps). But these are relatively expensive so you must "cut your cloth". Armour seems poor value because it's never going to give you more than a chance to survive a hit, and once that unit is dead the benefit is lost and can't be transferred to another unit (like all other weapons and items can).

Posted by SPIKE 12 days ago

Rationale for no reaction fire vs seen tarrgets?

Also removing this rule would greatly simplify the coding of the opp fire logic which is at the moment heavily sensitive to the "did I see this enemy last turn" logic, and I would say, very vulnerable to any edge cases in that logic messing up opp fire.

Posted by SPIKE 12 days ago

Inkidu

By the way Inkidu is just an alt of me so that I can do practice matches on maps that don't have an AI opponent. Those matches will be mutual concede draws (now I know how to do that). Cheers Spike

Posted by SPIKE 12 days ago

Inkidu

Posted by SPIKE 12 days ago

Game 54220: hansolo, SPIKE in 'Superhuman: Defend the Base'

Ok fair point. The playback shows SH1 walking exactly between the two defenders which it would have to do as they were om either side of the doorway but that was a fire hex. Does fire also block LoS? And you're right the two units were facing each other but as far as I knew that does not block reaction fire unless the units are also adjacent? Still trying to get the hang of the tactics but yes good game and see you on Sigma 7!

Posted by SPIKE 12 days ago

Game 54220: hansolo, SPIKE in 'Superhuman: Defend the Base'

Hi Spike, I think mission log can partly/almost answer for your question. Sometimes event playback does not show quite exactly the events, but mission log does. 4 defenders are shown in playback, but at that point there were only 2. The movement of SH1 isn't shown exactly also, after entering the NE door he turned to the right and walked through the smoke so he could be out of sight from one of the defenders (I didn't noticed any of the dedenders). I think the other defender's sight could be covered by friendly unit or he couldn't fire because of friendly unit in view. I hope I could answer your question. Anyway you well played, Spike See you in next mission

Posted by hansolo 12 days ago

Defend The Base layout

If the reason for banning grenades was that destroying walls made the game to easy for the attacker, wouldn't it be easier to just to mark the walls (and maybe doors?) as indestructible? Although I can also see that with their super high AP totals, giving grenades to the Superhumans could make this scenario even more one sided.

Posted by SPIKE 12 days ago

Rationale for no reaction fire vs seen tarrgets?

Hi all I am wondering what the rationale is for the rule that a friendly unit can't reaction fire on the enemy turn, against a unit it had sight of during its own last friendly turn. I don't see why I can't have sight of an enemy, that might be in difficult cover say or poor range, and reserve AP to fire on that enemy when it moves. That does not sound unreasonable. It is also how opp fire already works, in that each additional movement, even as much as small rotation, triggers further reaction fire. So what is the reasoning for this rule? Does it prevent some kind of exploit or something? What would be the harm in allowing reaction fire against targets that were seen during (or is it, 'at the end of'?) the friendly unit's previous turn?

Posted by SPIKE 12 days ago

Game 54220: hansolo, SPIKE in 'Superhuman: Defend the Base'

Hi Steve Any idea why around event 990 when Superhuman 1 comes through the NE door, my units 1 and 3 guarding the door don't reaction fire at all? There is no smoke shown on the square they in or the adjacent square they should both be reaction firing in to. thanks Spike

Posted by SPIKE 12 days ago

VPs unequal for win/loss

It is a kind of a handicap system, it all depends what league points you have, the higher the points you have the less points you get for a win, lower you are, the more you get, plus less points for a loss.

Posted by xeno 13 days ago

Game 54105: RABID, xeno, Gooey Blob, free palestine. in 'Underground Capture the Flag'

Okay Steve, put it down to one of those little anomalies. As long as they are rare which they usually are, no biggie.

Posted by xeno 13 days ago

Game 54105: RABID, xeno, Gooey Blob, free palestine. in 'Underground Capture the Flag'

No to all.

Posted by xeno 13 days ago

Defend The Base layout

That makes sense - explosives banned. And banning nerve gas, was that for similar reasons? Anyway I?m having an interesting time using incendiary grenades defensively in this scenario - not the best grenades but definitely usable.

Posted by SPIKE 13 days ago

Battle for Sigma 7 equipment points

Ah excellent reasoning!! Thanks Steve.

Posted by SPIKE 13 days ago

VPs unequal for win/loss

Ah no I meant the league VPs awarded for winning each game, not the VPs that are the victory conditions inside a single game, which as you say are always 100.

Posted by SPIKE 13 days ago

VPs unequal for win/loss

Sorry, I'm not sure exactly what you mean, as both sides always need 100 VPs. Do you have any specific examples? If you mean the VPs scored for (e.g.) killing enemy units, it's because every so often I look at the game stats to see if any missions are unbalanced. If they are, I tweak the settings to try and make the mission fairer.

Posted by SteveSmith 13 days ago

Defend The Base layout

No, there's no windows, locked doors or cameras in Stellar Forces (unlike the original, I know). The reason grenades were banned was to prevent the attackers just destroyingthe walls, which often led to an easy victory.

Posted by SteveSmith 13 days ago

Battle for Sigma 7 equipment points

It was changed because the player who goes first gets a slight advantage, so this has been offset by slightly different credits.

Posted by SteveSmith 13 days ago

Game 54105: RABID, xeno, Gooey Blob, free palestine. in 'Underground Capture the Flag'

3 more possible explanations - your clone had spotted this enemy on your last turn - your weapon was deemed out of range - is this some kind of SNAFU game and opp fire is not enabled against that faction?

Posted by SPIKE 13 days ago

VPs unequal for win/loss

OK initially I thought this was a handicapping system for scenarios where one side has a harder time that the other side. But it looks like (from reading some forum posts) that it's more like bait to get people to play the games? Is that right? thanks!

Posted by SPIKE 13 days ago

Defend The Base layout

(I meant to say 'no windows' not say 'no scanners' twice!)

Posted by SPIKE 13 days ago

Defend The Base layout

If I was building a base to protect valuable information, I don't think I would have 8 different unlocked access doors into the base, 2 different unlocked doors into the computer room, no scanners, no cameras, and no scanners. :D Joking aside, do any of the scenarios have windows, or locked doors? Or scanners/cameras? Cameras could let you look at the unit like normal, scanners would just give you a blip. Defend the Base vs Superhumans might benefit from the defenders having a scanner that can spot blobs of the attackers even if they have not been sighted. Also, in this scenario, it says 'Grenades' are banned, but Incendiary Grenades are wllowed. Is that intentional? They are not the best offensive grenades but they are better than nothing.

Posted by SPIKE 13 days ago

Battle for Sigma 7 equipment points

In this mission, why are the equipment points not equal? 320 vs 350? Is that intended or is it a mistake?

Posted by SPIKE 13 days ago

Game 54105: RABID, xeno, Gooey Blob, free palestine. in 'Underground Capture the Flag'

Hi Xeno. I've had a look but I can't see any reason, from the details I've got, as to why he didn't shoot. Assuming the unit had enough ap's, it looks like they should have. Unfortunately it's next to impossible for me to diagnose the actual issue without setting up the exact same circumstances and then stepping through the code (assuming the problem is recreatable), but unfortunately that would take quite a bit of work.

Posted by SteveSmith 14 days ago

Game 54105: RABID, xeno, Gooey Blob, free palestine. in 'Underground Capture the Flag'

Sorry Steve to bring this up again but another example. I can't understand why my unit did not fire in this Battle Royale game. It was definitely on opp fire, waiting in the corner for someone to come through the door. They did, yet he didn't fire and was shot himself. He's still alive but can't see why he didn't shoot, he still has one rocket loaded in his rocket launcher. The log: <a href="https://ibb.co/4KzNFDW">https://ibb.co/4KzNFDW</a> Current image: <a href="https://ibb.co/SKTNWRf">https://ibb.co/SKTNWRf</a> I'm about to blow him to pieces but now wounded.

Posted by xeno 14 days ago

Game 54233: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'The Assassins'

Well, yes, knowing a thing and successfully putting it into practice can be very different beasts... ;-) New game set up for whenever you're able to join.

Posted by Chris1977 14 days ago

Game 54233: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'The Assassins'

Many thanks Chris very generous of you. I probably knew most of that going in, and I think two points were key:the rocket launcher is a poor weapon for this role and I did not flex my plan when it was obviously not working. I would also say that reaction fire at low accuracy is not reliable at stopping someone attacking with a grenade. Four riflemen in overwatch was not enough.

Posted by SPIKE 14 days ago

Game 54220: hansolo, SPIKE in 'Superhuman: Defend the Base'

Thanks Steve! Those are actually good betting odds then as the payout in VPs is 10x as defender so 3:1 odds is not too bad.

Posted by SPIKE 14 days ago

Game 54233: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'The Assassins'

OK, as promised, here are my thoughts on how that went down, and the implications of that for your further gameplay... (1) I never owned the original Laser Squad (just played it obsessively at my cousins' house during family visits in the '90s), so I don't actually know how the cost/explosiveness of grenades/rockets compares in this version, but there are two useful lessons here. The first (which may well be teaching my mother to suck eggs if you're a veteran of LS) is to buy your gear wisely according to your unit stats. Go easy on armour unless (a) anyone has particularly low health points or (b) you're anticipating having to leave your guys exposed in order to get into a winning position - weapons, etc. are generally much more important. Also, someone who isn't a particularly good shot (i.e. they have shot skill significantly below the mid-30s) may be able to lob a grenade a long way (strength of over 10) or be handy with knives/fists (CC skill of 50 or above). Or any combination of the above. And remember to deploy appropriately: don't leave someone lacking a gun anywhere where they're likely to come under fire/bombardment before they have chance to fling a grenade/move in for CC. Secondly, a rocket launcher generally isn't a good "explosives gun" unless (i) you're having to ration your credits and (ii) you aren't anticipating having to use it much. Provided they aren't "banned" for the mission you're playing, and you have sufficient cash, I'd always favour a blaster or, better still, an MS autocannon - both of those allow you to loose off several shots before having to reload. (2) The key to having a fighting chance particularly against the real old hands of SF (of which I am not one: I'm a "medium hand" at best), is adaptability: if your initial tactic isn't working (and particularly if your opponent's choice of tactic/technique has surprised you), CHANGE IT, otherwise what you're doing will become predictable. Concrete example: in Assassins, if your guys had moved around more and/or been more spread out to start with, they wouldn't have been anywhere near as easy for me to pick off. (3) A few of random bits of wisdom that were handed down to me (thanks, Ethereal Slayer!) when I was a young padawan (OK, actually less than a year ago...and again you may already know these): (i) it can sometimes work out better points-wise to drop/pick up items rather than change them; (ii) it's possible to throw items between units that are facing/within range of each other (and the thrown item then becomes the one that the "throwee" is using); and (iii) if a unit is simultanously on fire and near water (and lacks a fire extinguisher), RUN INTO SAID WATER! (Sure, as long as you stay in the water it'll sap your health, but that's still better than the inevitable death that being incendiaried/flame-throwered usually entails...) Finally, before I set up that promised game of Escort (during which I'll be Sterner's side again, as I suspect theirs is the taller order), have you explored More Options on the home screen? If you go to Finished Games > My Finished Games and select a game, you have the option to "Watch Playback" in stick-man (OK, coloured blob) form, which can give you real insights into how your tactics stack up against those of whomever you're playing.

Posted by Chris1977 14 days ago

Game 54220: hansolo, SPIKE in 'Superhuman: Defend the Base'

Hi Spike, FYI this page has stats on which side wins the most in each mission: <a href="https://www.stellarforces.com/dsr/miscstatspage.cls">https://www.stellarforces.com/dsr/miscstatspage.cls</a> It looks like the Superhuman wins 75% of the time, so it might be slightly unbalanced.

Posted by SteveSmith 14 days ago

Game 54233: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'The Assassins'

I was sure Stike was a-goner after missing Pte Harris that first time; I'd that had been the case we might have had a very different game on our hands... I have an early start tomorrow, so will leave it there for now. Advice on its way, though, along with that game of Escort...

Posted by Chris1977 14 days ago

Game 54233: Chris1977, SPIKE in 'The Assassins'

thanks, that's super kind of you!

Posted by SPIKE 15 days ago

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