Shadow Empire

[FarAway Sooner]

I have a confession to make:  I think this game has overtaxed me.

I've played it A LOT.  I've received more enjoyment from it than I do most games.  I love the numerous elements that Vic has tied together in a single game.

Picking it up after a year or so, I find that the (re)learning curve is just too intense.  There are too many complex systems, with too many inputs spread across too many different screens, for me to master them all simultaneously.  I normally grock on complexity in 4x games, but at this point, I find that I can't just play the game and enjoy it on even "Normal" difficulty because I have to monitor 5 or 6 (or 10) different things each turn just to make sure nothing blows up.

In about eight or nine turns, starting somewhere around Turn 20, I went from running out of food to running out of water (because I needed to water my agri-domes), to running out of energy (because I needed to build water domes and ice extraction plants) to running out of fuel (because the only tech I had for more energy involved fuel-burning power plants) to running out of money (I'm not sure why) to running into too many now-unhappy characters (I'm not sure why).  And all of this while I didn't have enough industry to build much but 3,000 surplus metal I couldn't sell.  Even after save-spamming about 4 times over 10turns.

Maybe it was because I was on an Ice Planet and I didn't plan through my build sequences properly.  My private economy was thriving, until suddenly it wasn't.  Or did I have too many characters picked who had opposing preferences and somebody was bound to be pissed, or was it that I had too many characters who had opposite tendencies from their own political party?  Or was it just poor luck to be surrounded by 5 slaver empires, so I couldn't establish trade with any nearby minor powers?

Ultimately, part of me wants to go back and try to unravel that knot successfully.  I vaguely recall that on any of the easier settings, the game is basically a cake walk, once you figure out logistics.  Another part of me would rather play a game where I don't have to play 4-dimensional chess every turn to beat the game on "Normal".  I've won the game a couple times before, but in these most recent attempts, it feels more like juggling chain saws than playing an enjoyable game.

[bobarossa]

I usually restart about half a dozen times until I find a setup I want to play.  I won't play a game with horrible starting condition such as:
-multiple non-aligned armies within a 3 hexes of my capital in first couple turns
-no factions with any profiles that I chose to boost during setup (wish you could see their preferences before choosing them)
-over 20% mountains (too expensive to build roads to anywhere)
-too many raiders near me
-surrounded by minor factions so I can't expand/explore without starting a war too early

Yes, I'm a wimp.

And I can't believe I played this game since it came out without discovering until a couple weeks ago that you can attach independet battalions to a Brigade to get it's bonus's!!! I always wanted to have a brigade with an armor battalion in it but the standard setups spread them throughout every battalion. 

[FarAway Sooner]

Wait, you can attach independent battalions?   :D

I also spam restart about four or five times out of six.  Which just gets me to the Turn 20+ meltdown mode.    :timeout:

That said, I might fire it up one more time right now.  I have a save game six turns old where I've started out with a ton of super-talented characters.  They probably all have Ambition 90 or diametrically opposed ideology profiles or despise my political parties.

Navigating between my pre-start ideology picks, my various characters' preferences, and my political party preferences really sucks.  I wish that there was more linkage between the pre-start ideology picks that I make and the political parties that show up in charge.  Or maybe I'm just dumb and other people have figured this game out a lot better than I have? 

Or maybe I'm trying to expand too fast?  It's hard to tell.  The lack of clear feedback mechanisms is perhaps the only area where I feel like this game doesn't really rock...

[Father Ted]

To be fair I usually bug out when it looks like the fat lady's warming her pipes, but that doesn't mean I don't want to try again having taken onboard previous errors. I'm a pretty competitive sort of person, but I can enjoy the process of playing this game (against AI) without worrying whether I'm going to win or not.  I enjoy it as a serial problem-solving experience. 

[bobarossa]

Wait, you can attach independent battalions?   :D

It's buried under Unit Admin button.  There's a Change HQ button that lets you pick the new boss.  Wonder what else I've missed for the last year+

[Sparhawk]

I usually restart about half a dozen times until I find a setup I want to play.  I won't play a game with horrible starting condition such as:
-multiple non-aligned armies within a 3 hexes of my capital in first couple turns
-no factions with any profiles that I chose to boost during setup (wish you could see their preferences before choosing them)
-over 20% mountains (too expensive to build roads to anywhere)
-too many raiders near me
-surrounded by minor factions so I can't expand/explore without starting a war too early

Yes, I'm a wimp.

And I can't believe I played this game since it came out without discovering until a couple weeks ago that you can attach independet battalions to a Brigade to get it's bonus's!!! I always wanted to have a brigade with an armor battalion in it but the standard setups spread them throughout every battalion.

Minors that are susceptible to diplomacy are a great way to get a head start early game. On a world with lots of farming settlement minor factions I will rush diplomacy to unite their cities with my empire before they are targeted by other major's. This leads to pretty quick expansion. Also a great way to bring in fully loyal and producing cities with their own decent leaders. I can even spend less on military to start with because of the gobbs of extra militia that come with the new cities.

[solops]

This is the only game I have played for the last six (or eight?) weeks. It is just awesome. And yes, I keep finding new things as well. And I am not shy about setting the game up on decent worlds. I have found I can skip a lot of the early game mess by starting with two armies in each of two zones, though I do pick slow research speed from the least advanced level. And I have a blast. No racing for victory, if I get ahead I slow down and let the AI catch up while I build wondrous cities. Mostly, though, I am scrambling to keep my economy alive and my army supplied while fighting too many wars. And yes, I have only a few clues as to why some frustrating events occur. I roll with the punches and just keep swimming. Sometime building a few ultra super monitor tanks cheers me up.

Blasted things run out of energy and won't resupply......

[undercovergeek]

I think with a bigger budget and more time the game could be served well by having pop ups explaining a lot more than it does - or like the old civ advisors - you're team saying 'sire we need more water because, we're running out of money because'

[Sparhawk]

I think with a bigger budget and more time the game could be served well by having pop ups explaining a lot more than it does - or like the old civ advisors - you're team saying 'sire we need more water because, we're running out of money because'

I hadn't thought of that. Or like Rome Total War's advisor system. That may have prevented many headaches during the ongoing learning curve.

[bobarossa]

I had rarely issued protection orders on neighboring minors.  Usually I thought of it too late and they were already under attack.  Recently I had made friends with both a minor and a major before it attacked.  The major attacked my friendly minor and I was drawn into a war with it.  I spent one turn moving units into the majors territory and then they immediately made peace with me.  Picked up some good hex perks as well as the minor's city and militia forces.  Big win for me.  I had never experienced a minor joining me before.  Will have to do this more often.

[solops]

Aggressive peaceful annexation of adjacent minors is SOP. Once they are at war it is too late. And, as mentioned, there is risk of being drawn into a war. It does not always end well.

[solops]

If I find one of my neighboring minors at war, I try to muster forces and attack it to take the city before the other major nation can.

[W8taminute]

If I find one of my neighboring minors at war, I try to muster forces and attack it to take the city before the other major nation can.

I use this tactic as well.  Ruthless, but effective.

[Father Ted]

If I find one of my neighboring minors at war, I try to muster forces and attack it to take the city before the other major nation can.

This does sound like a description of the actions of a denizen of the Marianas Trench as it attempts to secure its habitat against other denizens -  as described in David Attenborough documentary.

[-budd-]

Update to Mroyer's terrain mod here:   https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10623&t=389032  3.2 looks fantastic, adds life to the maps IMHO.