Polaris Sector - another new space 4x

Started by RedArgo, November 02, 2015, 04:48:47 PM

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FarAway Sooner

It takes certain techs to colonize them, and then other techs enhance them, but lots of planets are only of marginal value to colonize period--if you have to build 5 Atmosphere Domes for every factory, your Industry ramps up pretty slowly.  And it takes a half dozen or more mining worlds (and maybe half a farming world) to supply an Industrial colony with 150M population, 18 Factories, 6 Orbital Construction Modules, and all the minerals they need to keep belting out new ships.

I make most of my non-Terran/Ocean/Gaia planets Mineral worlds, or Mineral+ worlds if they're at a crossroads where I might want to be able to build a space station or two with 25 years warning, or build some army units quickly (although surplus population there is always slow to develop if I need atmosphere domes). 

Same thing for anything that I just need as a refueling depot.

Trooperc7

I now have 208 hrs invested in Polaris Sector... I must admit when i first got it, i wasnt sure i liked it even though space 4x are my favorite games.....The more i play, the more depth I find in the game..Now i will say, that i dont own Distant Worlds or Stellaris but i have most of the rest.....Im finding PS to be one of those games where i just have to take another turn or i have to get to a certain tech before i will stop.....all in all, one of my favorites at this moment!

Zonso

It's been awhile playing any space 4x (GalCiv II actually) that I picked this up on a whim after reading some comments here. I have only scratched the surface after a couple restarts but have to say I am pleasantly surprised and have been thinking about the game constantly lol :P

I found the AI was right next me once I begun exploring every restart but just went with it the third time and ended up walling him off with 3 chokepoints. In retrospect now I may have hamstrung myself with these marginal Mineral worlds but there are other earth/Ocean planets that I have found and begun to develop - as mentioned above didn't realize I would need to continuously build atmospheric domes just to keep on devloping on these marginal worlds. I am playing Human and soon realized their early ship designs suck hard - found a mod that expanded the Corvette and Freighter some which helped immensely. At least now I can build a Corvette that can make it to the next world without a tanker alongside :o

I am really intrigued by the science and research in this game even though I don't have a clue what I am doing. I really like this sense of discovery and the resultant 'pace' of doing things in the game, whether researching, building, growing etc. I like the design choices of having to plan ahead when building a space fleet. The game just feels galactic at this point and from the sounds of it, there is much more to come.

Anyways just bumped in another alien race, the Drill, and the nearest colonized planet has gone into a panic, order up some Police and Marines to quell the rioters, now where is that damn Corvette that was just commissioned... Out of fuel?? Good fun. :)

Zonso

Update about 120 years in. Humans have carved out a large chunk of the known universe and share borders with the Drill, Gavaken, Sharatar, Logans and Erians. 20 planets have been colonized now and I have been switching to the AI planet specializations where possible. Food is not a problem, even with huge populations (compared to the AI races), but resources are difficult to accumulate and maintain when trying to operate any sort of warlike fleet.

I have finally eliminated the Pirate scourge and can now settle down to growing, colonizing within my empire and more development. The Pirate 'menace' was interesting. They first showed up near my southern border heading towards the nearest Earthlike planet. I assembled my 'fleet' of 2 Corvettes and a small Carrier with 20 fighters to do battle and oops, time for plan B. 4 Corvettes and 60 fighters was not an equal fight. Took my licks and built another Corvette and Carrier, only to see the Pirates cut a swath through my empire on towards the Drill planets. Meanwhile a Scout discovered the Pirate home world so assembled a fuel/supply freighter for the Fleet and off we go. 80 Pirate fighters this time but the combination of my fighters and paired lasers, along with a sacrificial freighter(!), did the trick and a lush Gaia world was mine. Fast forward a few decades and the Pirate fleet shows up again on my Northern border headed towards my Industrial giant - optimistic on my part to think the Drill would deal with them, haha. No way my Fleet could ever get there in time so quick design a new Fighter with Heavy Ion guns and a missile trap, and start cranking them out. By the time the Pirates arrived there were 45 Fighters to do battle. It was close, so very close, but the last Pirate Corvette with a sliver of 'health' left finished off the last half dozen human fighters. Lost a couple more Orbital Shipyards before my Fleet finally destroyed the last Pirate Corvette. Hopefully that is the last of them. Right now Fighters really pack quite a punch.

Playing Normal difficulty and I am pretty far ahead of everyone in the overall empire index. Planet wise the Erians have 24, the Logans 15, the Gavaken 5, the Drill 4 and the Sharatar 2. Apart from some laughable demands from the AI races when the Pirates did their pillaging, the AI has been very quiet and acquiescent to almost all my overtures. I have been getting a lot of general/fear of invasion unrest on my planets so prioritized Long range scanners to see if there were any spy ships but none have been detected yet? I have been passively gathering intel and experience with my own Spy ships but nothing else otherwise.

As far as Science goes I have been leaning about 70/30 to Fundamental and occasionally prioritizing Applied techs when needed. A lot more has opened up but I have not really gone through it all to have any idea how to proceed. A shotgun approach it is for now but as mentioned above a more clear direction seems elusive. I have been focused on the point defense techs to combat the enemy Fighters but now what? Engines? Generators? Shields? The Frigate seems a long way away as does some of the specialized domes to further colonization...

goldsboro

I would recommend domes, you may need reedium and gravitonium soon.

FarAway Sooner

Yup.  Domes are actually one of my top priority technologies, for the very reason that Goldsboro stated.  Heck, in lots of games, I even find myself running out of radium early on...

Getting better armor definitely helps with ship survival, but it also takes more steel, and you really don't want to be wasting your Terran or Ocean planets on mining anything.

Zonso

Yes was running into shortages of plutonium and gravitonium pretty early, redium to a lesser extent. Most mineral worlds do not have gravitonium or redium so not mining your Terran planets, at least for awhile, really isn't an option. I have setup trade contracts with a few AI races, even large resource exchanges when necessary, which also helps. In the end I am focusing on the specialized atmosphere domes to open up some more planets to mine.

Combined arms in your fleets rocks. Another Pirate fleet, with 3 corvettes and 80 fighters this time, showed up in my empire. A fleet of two PD corvettes with missile traps and paired lasers, one long range corvette with heavy ion guns, and two small carriers with 40 fighters annihilated them for the loss of only 6 fighters. Nice :)

solops

One of the choices you are forced to make: sub-optimal components or cutting edge - which do you have the minerals for? I have had to retrofit my entire navy to obsolete ship components due to mineral shortages, if I wanted to keep that many ships. Choose wisely, Padawan....
"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly. - Winston Churchill
Wine is sure proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. - Benjamin Franklin

Zonso

Yes, at this point with 22 colonized planets I have 5 corvettes, 40 fighters, 1 fuel/supply freighter, 1 passenger freighter and 3 stealth scout ships. The maintenance is no issue currently and have no plans to increase or upgrade, but even just cranking out colonizers requires a stockpile I need to let accumulate for a period of time first. What I have observed of the AI is they seem to like fighters and battle stations stationed at their planets, and not an actual fleet, though I may just not be seeing them yet. Speaking of AI, some are woefully slow to expand, even after gifting them technology - specifically the Sharatar who still have only 2 worlds, the Gavaken finally got over their 'hump' and now have 7 planets. Perhaps the Pirates are menacing them also? Great game, most fun I have had gaming in some time.

Geezer

Thinking of picking this up with my Matrix 12 year anniversary coupon.  Saw a while back where there was an AI cheat that gave it infinite fuel.  Anyone know if that ever got fixed?  Thanks.
We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.  George Bernard Shaw

Barthheart

Quote from: Geezer on December 10, 2016, 02:01:19 PM
Thinking of picking this up with my Matrix 12 year anniversary coupon.  Saw a while back where there was an AI cheat that gave it infinite fuel.  Anyone know if that ever got fixed?  Thanks.

It got toned down a bunch... but I'm not sure how much. Developer still actively working the game so maybe some day...

Geezer

#491
OK, thanks.  Was wondering if the game was still getting good support.  I have early access to Endless Space 2 and don't really need another 4X game right now, but with 41% off the already reduced price it's tempting.  Seems like most folks here are happy with the game.  For me it's not about the money, it's being careful about putting my limited time into a game that ends up being a dud.
We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.  George Bernard Shaw

Steelgrave

I've been playing the hell out of it for months now and I'm not bored. It has the "one more turn" aspect of Civ and I find myself playing longer than I intended  O0

Geezer

Great, thanks.  "One more turn" is always a good sign.  :)
We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.  George Bernard Shaw

FarAway Sooner

Polaris Sector is an excellent title.  I kind of have the sense that this is what Distant Worlds felt like when it first came out:  It works as a stand-alone game, but you also see a skeleton that can carry A LOT more meat at some point.