Nope. And the next round I was first and could build it even if I had no new research done. And in the meantime the AI opponents built few ships while could just watch and explore. Btw great game port guys!
Anybody else getting rocked by destroyer/cruiser fleets full of missiles and +3 to roll mods? Damn things are unstoppable and I've gotten hit with it two games in a row from the AI. Missiles go off before initiative (looks that way at least) and I, even when defending, never get a shot in. Am I doing it wrong?
Note that if these ships have no cannons, all you have to do is outlast their first volley with one ship with a single ion cannon, and you automatically win. Pursue this with improved hull and shields and many ships. Other alternative is to shoot faster missiles from a star base. Also note that if you let a player gain a distinct tech and material advantage like this, you've put yourself in a bad spot already--the best way to counter this is to not let it happen and put pressure on early. Hope this helps!
Also... The physical boardgame, by comparison to similar physical boardgames, is a marvel of streamlined interface and bookkeeping. The little cubes and discs look like a mess, but it works very well. One thing that I'm afraid the digital version can't duplicate well is the ongoing meta game of alliances and deception and banter of the players at the table around the physical set all jockeying for position. There's much more to the game than the sum of its parts. If you can spare the $80-$100 and have a spare 3 hours, it is a blast. I'm perfectly happy to own both digital and physical versions, though!
No, Plasma Missiles are deadly and unbalanced. The missile phase happens before any other attacks, but it is still governed by initiative. So the counter to this would be to use two Gluon Computers (+3 hit, +2 initiative) on your cruisers with two Plasma Missiles. With that, statistically you'll get 3 1/3 double hits per cruiser at a 6 initiative. If they've loaded up and scrapped their armor, too, then that will destroy 3 1/3 ships per attack with no chance to retreat. Add in a Tachyon Drive to push your initiative to 9. And remember, if you are tied on initiative, the player who had the first turn (passed first in the previous round) goes first.
No, this doesn't work. First, you can barely get enough armor ship for ship with a cruiser (and lucky rolls still destroy them) and you can't with a dreadnaught. Second, they have a higher initiative and can simply retreat before you get off a shot in close combat. Against two cruisers, you will lose at least one ship and do no damage. The only counter to a missile ship is a missile ship with a higher initiative. A star base can get a higher initiative than a cruiser with a standard drive, but a faster drive will push the cruiser past the star base and a dreadnaught doesn't even need that.
I remember that, I commented on Twitter something to the effect of online play isn't as important as the option to play online. Having it as an option is comforting. In regular games I hardly, if ever, am interested in online play. However finding other board game enthusiasts on TA changed that around. Now I have about 10 board games that I regularly play online with the same people. When a match ends a rematch challage is placed and we go right back into playing. It's especially nice with games like Eclipse because while a normal game may last 2 hours there is also a lot of AP (analysis paralysis) which can make the game last a LOT longer. With online play I can play my turn and send it off. Then I can plan what I do next and there isn't any urgancy because you're playing async. I love it. I'll also say that I'm on an iPad 3 and in Round 4 of the tutorial and haven't seen any slowdown yet.
I'm really impressed! The devs did a great with this, hooked from the first second I started the game. Never played the actual board game but I'm starting to get my head around the different strategies after a couple of rounds.
I have been trying to figure out why it runs well for some iPad 3's but not others. I restarted, synced, closed all processes, and even got rid of some apps. What version of iOS are you using? Does it run as smoothly as the 1-hour gameplay video above? Mine runs at less than 30 fps. I might try resetting the iPad. It's kind of desperate, but I really want to play this game.
Good question! I'm on 6.1.2 I'll also say that because the game requires lots of looking around and analysis it may have slowdown that isn't obvious. In my last game I tried the two finger touch for info and that seemed to stutter a bit as did the player info. It may be an issue with loading lots of info at once for the retina display with a slower chip. :/ Has anyone with slowdown played with the settings for background or nebula off? Any difference?
Challenge accepted. Seen it happen and made it happen. It's the better option if you're outclassed tech-wise. You must leverage your strengths against their weakness or you lose, as so you should. So, wait. Best computer, best drive, and missiles? Shouldn't have let them build a super ship. The best thing to do at this point is defense in depth and hope your alliance friends help out--you've dug yourself into a hole. Happy gaming! Edit: I don't want to come off as too negative--I love the missiles controversy, as it showcases the ways you can try to mitigate a bad situation in this game. Thanks for the discussion!
Thanks. It's not all that tough to get missiles and just load up over half the slots with them though. I watched the AI rock the galactic center with a single volley from a dreadnought. Insanity. I get what you're saying though and ill try to keep an eye out for that path taking shape.
Yes, my wonderful BDC - please can we have something showing what happened? The way it works in ascension is excellent, but I know for this it would require a lot of "recording", but SOMETHING would be so excellent. As for this Asynch talk, I see it this way... I have a wife, kids, and a slightly crazy life. It means that I can't guarantee that I can stick with a game, or that I just need to take a but of a break. I love that I can, even if the turn is simple and short. Because Eclipse has Asynch, I play it online. Because it has Chat, even though the text boxes suck and don't autocorrect properly, it allows me to discuss the game. It's made a game that is an 8 into a 10! But the big things we REALLY need: A way to see what our opponents did while we were gone Multiple local games A way to see more details on opponent ships, it's hard as a newbie to understand what is what More tool tips to show what certain techs do. You can't imagine how confusing it was looking at the tech but not being able to understand what it did. Like how the computers say +2/-2 and so on, but when you go to research them, it doesn't explain what it is you are unlocking, just that it is "such and such tech" if that makes sense? It gives all the info when you upgrade, just not when you go to research Allow us to examine the planets in a sector before choosing what to remove when bankrupt, I forget what is what, and I can't see before I cut it off. Have a more detailed end game breakdown. When the game is over, there are no details, just a big old winner or loser screen. Possibility of a game profile that shows how many games a profile has won and lost But more importantly, BDC: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! You have rocked this beeeeeeotch. There are umpteen board games I haven't touched because of their complexity. Titan, Ygdrassil and so on. Here, there's just something special. I can't explain it, it's just amazing. I love it. Thank you. Everything else is just refinement.
Any way to randomize a local game? Just specify number of AI and their difficulty and let the game just pick? Not a big deal but seems like a simple thing.
1. I agree with needed a log at the very least. Once you get the hang of the game you can notice resources increasing etc. but a log would help verify things. 2. Agreed with multiple local games and random opponents. 3. If you tap an enemy fleet you can see all the ships and what they have installed. If you tap and hold on your opponent's icon in the bottom left corner you get to see all their research, ships, and tech they have but haven't installed. Is that enough info or is there something specific you would like? 4. No computer shows a negative. Computers increase your chances of hitting so add a positive modifier to add to your dice rolls. Shields make you harder to hit so they give you a negative number that you add to your opponent's dice rolls. 5. When you go bankrupt you choose a sector to lose in order to keep your costs in line. When you tap on a sector to lose your influence on it you can easily see the planets on that sector and since they are all color coded with their respective resource so you wouldn't need much more info than that. 6. I'd love a game breakdown as well. Especially along the lines of the breakdown in Carcassonne where I see that I got more points from fields than I got from building roads, etc. 7. Profiles aren't really an interest of mine... probably cause I lose so often But I can see how other users might appreciate them.
Yep works well and all reads clearly. I'm amazed how they got so much info onto 1 screen. Wizardly I tells you! As for actually PLAYING, that's a different matter. Seriously complex for me right now but I was rather tired when I did the tutorial! Weekend job I thinks
