Why is there so much useless/obsolete tech in the tree?

[Sarno]

What's the point of it? To just waste research points in the early game?
Nearly all of the starting tech up to particle drive, adamantane armor and such are absolute garbage to the point where the ship containing them won't even be able to leave the orbit or basically do something meaningful.
What's worse, if you go ahead and research them (in case they are prerequisites to some better tech) you then end up with this bulls**t in your ship design screen and good luck trying to find which component is which without having to hover over them every bloody time you decide to design a new ship class.
https://i.imgur.com/g6Fbptd.png

[76561198859928956]

It's not useless, you just need to make a decision about whether you want a ship that can travel interplanetary distances or a ship that can accelerate quickly, because you can't have both.

[Valentine Michael Smith]

probably so the servants can waste everyone's time with terrible projects

[Happiers1989]

They'll also probably be more useful once the AI is, uh, actually able to put up a better fight for Mars and the like, instead of letting a competent human player ensure they always get at least half of it. Some of those alternate fuel engines could look a lot more attractive if you've been turfed out of all but like three mines and have only one good supply of a resource.

[corisai]

Originally posted by Smalle Dogges:

It's not useless, you just need to make a decision about whether you want a ship that can travel interplanetary distances or a ship that can accelerate quickly, because you can't have both.

Nah, there are so many drives on ~same tech level and most of them inferior to "top one".

Devs definitely need clean-up that mess into a few paths with direct progression.

P.S. Gas Core projects for example. Most of drives here total crap, especially as you need Molten Core fro it. They seems to be simply fillers >_<

[Prisoner 76561197992841073]

Originally posted by corisai:

Originally posted by Smalle Dogges:

It's not useless, you just need to make a decision about whether you want a ship that can travel interplanetary distances or a ship that can accelerate quickly, because you can't have both.

Nah, there are so many drives on ~same tech level and most of them inferior to "top one".

Devs definitely need clean-up that mess into a few paths with direct progression.

Agree, lots of useless chaff that never, ever gets used

[Left-Hand Path]

Just as an example, it is possible to intercept and destroy early alien ships with a VASIMIR drive and cobras. If you fight other human factions, some lateral and front early game armor can make a difference (from my very limited testing).

However, I conced to the point that drives in particular could use additional descriptive text, like a statement about its intended use.

[corisai]

Originally posted by DJ Geräteschuppen(Ricochet):

Just as an example, it is possible to intercept and destroy early alien ships with a VASIMIR drive and cobras.

Not intercepting but baiting to attack you and doing it also provoking aliens to send bigger ships :)

Trust me - fighting dreadnoughts&motherships without your own proper battleships is very taxing&bloody. Especially once AI will start to send fleets instead of 1-2 ships. Relying on numbers make AI tend to escape fights - so you need to send 2 fleets instead of one to catch them and it's VERY expensive.

So while low-tech navy is capable to work so some degree - it's more like a strategic trap.

[Left-Hand Path]

Originally posted by corisai:

Originally posted by DJ Geräteschuppen(Ricochet):

Just as an example, it is possible to intercept and destroy early alien ships with a VASIMIR drive and cobras.

Not intercepting but baiting to attack you and doing it also provoking aliens to send bigger ships :)

Trust me - fighting dreadnoughts&motherships without your own proper battleships is very taxing&bloody. Especially once AI will start to send fleets instead of 1-2 ships. Relying on numbers make AI tend to escape fights - so you need to send 2 fleets instead of one to catch them and it's VERY expensive.

So while low-tech navy is capable to work so some degree - it's more like a strategic trap.

I don´t doubt that. And I agree on the strategic trap part: If I would intercept every alien recon ship with these drives, I would break my hydrogen bank in a matter of weeks.

I just wanted to share my experience with early drives and give an example where they worked. And by worked I mean that I lost 3 ships out of 4, but mission (and campaign objectiv) complete in 2030.

I surely won´t equip this drive on later warships, refulling one(!) after the combat was around 600 hydrogen iirc.

[Wexler]

I agree with op. I literally trying to find what is this game about in the end. 50 hours played, and its still repetitive councillors rotating, and nothing. no one attacked me on earth, alien either undestroayble, or they just "evade". competitors have nothing and i dont see any purpose to attack them anyway. I just cant get it what is the goal in this game. Or is this is just a reading game with lot of annoying clicking around? Probably just spam outposts and orbit bases till one cant even remebmer what is where and for what. And then... quit a nd forget. Any idea how to play this ?:-)

[Brakiros]

Originally posted by Wexler:

I agree with op. I literally trying to find what is this game about in the end. 50 hours played, and its still repetitive councillors rotating, and nothing. no one attacked me on earth, alien either undestroayble, or they just "evade". competitors have nothing and i dont see any purpose to attack them anyway. I just cant get it what is the goal in this game. Probably just spam outposts and orbit bases till one cant even remebmer what is where and for what. Any idea how to play this ?:-)

Are you actually following the quest line?

[Wexler]

Originally posted by Brakiros:

Are you actually following the quest line?

Yes, i have reasearched Hydra Lanaguage and Alien tech, destroyed alien ship but that one ship is all i destroyed for 40 hours in that gamethrough. I am just sitting in europe union, unificated almost every EU nation and its starting to be very boring doing the same for 40 hours. Lost just couple of councillors but thats all. There is not a damn goal for me , unless wait for another research if you mean that by following quest. Is that so? Thankd for trying to find solution for me, I woul really like enjoy the game. But i am starting to lose taste to play at all now.

[Sarno]

Originally posted by Brakiros:

Originally posted by Wexler:

I agree with op. I literally trying to find what is this game about in the end. 50 hours played, and its still repetitive councillors rotating, and nothing. no one attacked me on earth, alien either undestroayble, or they just "evade". competitors have nothing and i dont see any purpose to attack them anyway. I just cant get it what is the goal in this game. Probably just spam outposts and orbit bases till one cant even remebmer what is where and for what. Any idea how to play this ?:-)

Are you actually following the quest line?

I have to agree with Wexler. I am currently playing as Academy and given the fact their storyline research is in the tens of thousands (afaik the final one goes as high as 100k) my gameplay loop consists of pretty much:
1) set faction research and forget about it for 2 years
2) spam the usual public campaign/stabilize nation combo while sitting at CP cap, waiting for unification cooldown and/or additional tech to expand it
3) ocassionally send a councilor to purge xenoflora

I am at the soft MC cap, so I cannot expand otherwise the aliens go full cowabunga.
I do not have the tech to properly challenge them and throwing suboptimal ships at them is just a pointless waste of resources.
Other factions do not have anything worthwhile in space, so no point in trying to conquer their stuff.

So all that remains is to just spam "next turn", "next turn" over and over doing almost the same actions every time and watch the stats of nations under my control grow from 4,2222 to 4,2225.

Sorry, but this is not my definiton of "fun"....

[Wexler]

@sarno:
you described my playthrough 100 %. I am not a guy who cares to spend hundreds of hours in game, like rimworld, sovie republic, but its watchy. or funny. I cant understand what those amount of hours should get me in that game.

[corisai]

Originally posted by Sarno:

I am currently playing as Academy

So you'd picked "science victory" klnd of faction and surprised that's a boring gameplay? :)

Originally posted by Sarno:

I do not have the tech to properly challenge them and throwing suboptimal ships at them is just a pointless waste of resources.

That's a major fun of game - determine working designs against enemy ships. You don't need fusion/AM tech to have fun here, Advanced Pulsar / Pegasus with T2 weapons is enough.

And there is no reasons to stockpile resources past some reserve for sudden "oh, s@#$!".

[Brakiros]

Originally posted by Sarno:

Originally posted by Brakiros:

Are you actually following the quest line?

I have to agree with Wexler. I am currently playing as Academy and given the fact their storyline research is in the tens of thousands (afaik the final one goes as high as 100k) my gameplay loop consists of pretty much:
1) set faction research and forget about it for 2 years
2) spam the usual public campaign/stabilize nation combo while sitting at CP cap, waiting for unification cooldown and/or additional tech to expand it
3) ocassionally send a councilor to purge xenoflora

I am at the soft MC cap, so I cannot expand otherwise the aliens go full cowabunga.
I do not have the tech to properly challenge them and throwing suboptimal ships at them is just a pointless waste of resources.
Other factions do not have anything worthwhile in space, so no point in trying to conquer their stuff.

So all that remains is to just spam "next turn", "next turn" over and over doing almost the same actions every time and watch the stats of nations under my control grow from 4,2222 to 4,2225.

Sorry, but this is not my definiton of "fun"....

I'm at 118 MC and the Aliens haven't touched me yet but yes this game does have a lot of waiting and a lot of increments