Late game difficulty

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Raagun
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Late game difficulty

Post by Raagun »

Hi,
I like 4X games and DW was great discovery. But soon I encountered same problem as most other 4X games.
At start game was really challenging. I like to dominate with higher tech and took Zenox, Quameno race VC suck. I think its 8x8 700 stars galaxy with plenty of races. Spamed next door to Mortalen and it was cool time on the edge of loosing.
But after that I secured borders and pretty much challenge is gone. Now I have like x3 population of next biggest race, biggest military power (more than Guardians and like x4 of other races). All other races fell behind horribly.
Also I do most things myself. Quite minimum automation.

Is there way to set game for constant challenge? I think I put aggressiveness on normal. Would that change something? Maybe edit some other options to make NPC build more troops/ships. I dont play on Hard atm, but it doesnt solve much, NPC will just have more money, not more brain. Or it would be more challange even in late game?

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WoodMan
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by WoodMan »

Did you play with the storylines enabled? I find once I get the stash of knowledge with Way of Ancients it is auto-win, and I'm bad at this kind of game and struggle up until that exact moment. Then, wham, massive money boost and everyone loves me. [:D] I think for the hardest settings you must increase the difficulty (for me just Hard or I would get crushed) and then also increase the aggressiveness by 1 but do not max it. It is quite common opinion that if you put it on max the AI will wear itself out fighting itself. On +1 aggressiveness though it will not do this but you will definately find the warlike races starting on you! It will make it a little bit harder to get *everyone* to become a trading partner (until you get Way of the Ancients government).

Play with tech on slowest, your homeworld must be Harsh!!! You can do the same for AI or give them a boost, I start all on Harsh worlds. If you want a very hard challenge though just give them better homeworld or size or tech at the start!

Try a government that is not one of the specials or Republic or Democracy. I find Military Dictatorship for example is hard on the economy compared to Democracy.

You could also edit the policy files if you dare [;)]
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Raagun
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Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2012 4:28 am

RE: Late game difficulty

Post by Raagun »

Yes, I play with storyline and in all games achieved Way of Ancients government.
So most of ways to make game challenging is to nerf yourself :(
I remember Europa Universalis series was constantly challenging somehow :) No matter how big you become your empire could easily crumble due to constant wars and instability. Here this can happen then you play for other government type as I understand. But I like playing races who achieve dominance due to technological advance.
I think Ill try same style but with slower tech. I will not leap ahead and use more aggressive and harder settings. But it will probably just extend challenging stage. At some point I will just overthrow enemies again.
And is there some guide about policy files? What can I find there?
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WoodMan
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by WoodMan »

Heya Raagun,

I haven't looked into them myself but there is a link to the guide at the top of the modding forum. Remember, biggest difficulty increaser is homeworld quality! Of course it will make AI similarly hindered if you give them harsh homeworld too, but I like it because it actually makes the economy a struggle for a while! I also suggest putting independents on minimum, colonizable planets on lowest etc. Anything that will keep your population down. It will affect enemies too but I find exploration based population +factors benefit you much more than the AI (because player tends to explore a bit better), so you are more likely to find and colonize worlds with big populations, reducing those populations reduces your chance of finding a massive bonus that will give you what can be a game winning edge.
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Raagun
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by Raagun »

Basically to make galaxy a scorched earth :D Few resources and empires fighting for it. But wont it make AI stagnant? Not able to conquer each other at all.?
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WoodMan
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by WoodMan »

Well here is some screens from my current game with those conditions and AI also starting on Harsh world like myself. You can see they did fine, apart from military strength, in which I'm totally kicking ass even though I don't have the best economy. This has always been a problem with DW, AI doesn't build enough military [:@] Also I think I know why. It stops when it has a negative cash flow. So for example it might have 1 million cash, a bonus income of 50,000 but its normal budget at -2,000 and it would stop building military, even though it can afford to build an entire armada with that economy. If you want that changed, you need to bug Eliott [:D]

Edit: At this point I have the Way of the Ancients which boosted my economy insanely as always [:(]

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WoodMan
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by WoodMan »

3rd to victory conditions.

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WoodMan
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by WoodMan »

More, remember I'm not a good player though. Others here would surely beat me into the ground if this game were Multiplayer [:D]

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WoodMan
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by WoodMan »

More [:)]

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WoodMan
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by WoodMan »

And the military strength where I dominate, but I don't have the best economy so it shouldn't be this way in my opinion. Something that needs fixing in patch or expansion in my opinion.

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Erik Rutins
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by Erik Rutins »

Hi Raagun,

Increasing Aggressiveness and Corruption will help, as will allowing the AI players to start out at a higher development level. If you also use the Harsh start for yourself, it should be quite challenging. Are you playing with the Legends expansion?

Regards,

- Erik
Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC


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Raagun
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by Raagun »

Yes I play with Legends.
I now try to tinker with empires policy on current game and see if there are any changes. Ill try to make them build heavier ships.
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MartialDoctor
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RE: Late game difficulty

Post by MartialDoctor »

Yes, with the way things are currently, it's difficult to have a challenging late game. My best advice is to make it as challenging as you can in the beginning by cramping your empire (making more harsh conditions as stated) and boosting other empires (increase their size and technology level). Also, increase the difficulty level if you haven't already. Finally, make a few further away empires that are larger than everyone else (particular a race or two of bugs). Basically, you'll have to start at the bottom and work up... again, suite it to your skill level.

Try changing those before messing with the empire policy, I'd say. It's the easier way to make a more challenging game.
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