What is Early, Mid, Late, and Endgame?

[Nightskies]

Thought it might be worth a thread. Here's what I think.

The early game is up to the point where you start colonizing/conquering.

T3 is the tipping point between early and mid-game. Early-mid-game warships could be using entirely T3 components or a mix of early and mid-game tech (like having Impact Blasters but still using Fission reactors).

Mid-game is the point that the empire can extend its reach across sectors. Most colonies have administration, the civilian sector is robust, and any singular threat is no longer a danger. There are at least two full-size attack and invasion fleets (by automation's reckoning) each at their disposal.

T6 is the tipping point to the late game. Marked by Hyperfusion, the Torrent drive, Meridian shields, and most racial techs are reaching their zenith.

Late game is when the empire has a powerful economy with several one-per-empire facilities built. Most colonies are being terraformed or have been already. Capital ships are commonplace.

The end game is when the population is large enough to generate more research than research stations, the one-per-galaxy facilities have been claimed, and choice T8 techs are finished with some repeatable techs in the queue.

[BFHKitteh]

Its economic. Early game is colonizing until borders are touching. Mid game is having no money because you have a bunch of unprofitable colonies. Late game is when your income starts increasing and you can actually do things. And Endgame for a skilled player is when you are so far ahead in research compared to the Ai, that you can just declare war on the entire galaxy and win.

[Wraith_Magus]

I mean, I "won" the last game in T3 tech, and you can start a game with T7 tech. The rate at which I gain tech is different from the rate at which everyone else does, and you can start other empires with different tech levels (and should start them higher if you want a game that's at all competitive) than you start with. I don't think tech is necessarily a good way to describe where you are in the game, especially when you can set tech research speed really down low.

BFHKitteh's idea sounds more right to me - it's less a specific thing unlocking as it is what you're most focused upon in the game. There's a natural transition you feel from seeing only a couple systems and otherwise being blind to everything around you to having established borders and knowing your neighbors, but having no money because your homeworld is footing the bill for a bunch of undeveloped colonies, to having a functioning interstellar empire that's ready to rumble, to roflstomping the galaxy.

[HugsAndSnuggles]

While I generally agree with the OP,

Nightskies lähetti viestin:

The early game is up to the point where you start colonizing/conquering.

This is the first thing I tend to do on the first contact* (and I'm lucky if I'm getting into tier 3 by that point). So my main pastime in pre-warp start is cancelling civilian ships and building troops. Could really use a script for that :D

*unless, of course, I find Mortelen or something: planets below 50 quality take too much effort getting within a reasonable habitability ranges for humans, so I'm not wasting troops on those.

Wraith_Magus lähetti viestin:

you can start a game with T7 tech

You can start it with handful of profitable planets too.

[Dray Prescot]

I would add Opening Game in a Pre Warp Game, where you are still stuck in your Home System.

Early Game is when you start exploring out of your Home System, and meeting your closest neighboring Empires and Pirate Factions, as well as IND Worlds, and maybe building your first out of Home System Colony. Your Hyper Range and Speed is still limited, i.e. you are still using Warp Bubble. Pirates can be a significant to major problem.

Early Mid Game is when you move up to a better Hyper Drive and start exploring on a large scale, and expanding into mostly unclaimed territory, and start taking over nearby IND Worlds that are friendly (or at least not hostile) to your Race (depending on how many of them there are in the game, and how close they are), and/or colonizing a few nearby empty Worlds that your Race likes. Your net Income is still limited. Pirates can still be a problem, depending on game start settings. But you can start making friends (Neutrality) with some of the Pirates and stop having to pay so much in Protection Treaties.

True Mid Game is when you get into the land rush stage where you are trying to expand your Influence Zone before other Races can get them, with lots of exploration, building Mining Stations and Research Stations and getting a Colony in the best systems to claim them for your Empire, assuming your neighboring Empires are not War Mongers who are already at War with you. You need a much better Economic base, i.e. better Income in order to afford building lots of Colony Ships and Exploration Ships and many busy Construction Ships. Pirates are less of a problem, either many of them are neutral to you, or some of them have been destroyed.

Later in the Mid Game you have reached your borders with neighboring Empires in many places, and start large scale development of your claimed territory. You are still limited by Income because of many small colonies that are losing money because of small populations. You start moving a lot of population from your Core Worlds to the new small Colonies. Core Worlds can include large former IND Worlds that you have gained control of.

The biggest problem in defining these stages depends on how militarily aggressive your Empire is and it's neighbors. Warfare can cut off these stages at some point.

A lot depends on how common habitable Worlds for your Race and IND Worlds are, you can change that during the game setup

[Nightskies]

I like that there are differing views.

Good point especially that a game can end quickly. Not many are able (let alone try) in their first game.

It seems that the economy and notable points in the rate of expansion are universally accepted as prime factors.

[Dray Prescot]

Using Hyper Drive Tech and Range and Speed, can be a useful and simple way to divide the various stages through Mid Game (before serious warfare starts):

Skip Drive: explore and develop Home System in Pre Warp,

Warp Bubble: starting to leave Home System and visit nearby Systems, early colonization and Mining Stations out system, Range and Speed are still limited.

Gerax Drive: can explore on a large scale and expand out for a couple of Sectors from your Home System,

which merges into the Race for control of a lot of vacant territory after you know where your nearby Rival Empires are located.

Followed by developing that territory after the land rush is over.