How is 'Managing Expectations' a Practice mission? [FINISHED!]

[Strategy_Game_Lover]

I am really frustrated. Following Youtube videos, pausing, nothing seems to work. Seriously, who thought this is a tutorial mission?

I have lost 6 times now. No matter what I do, I cannot keep up with the Robot AI, even if I play with a Robotic HQ. The AI somehow manages to get its share price to double the value of mine even if I wipe out all my debt, and there is just no way I can win the race to buy each other out. And mind you, I took the spot that the Robotic AI likes to settle. Even the Scientific AI can't beat Reni in the race to get patents.

I give up for now. I will go back and play Civ 6 or something a little more manageable. It is a good thing I didn't buy the DLC or I would have felt compelled to play more.

EDIT: Following the build order I found on Discord didn't help enough. It helped me to get to HQ 5 without drowning in debt, but not beyond that.

PS: Keep in mind that I seem to have wasted 5 hours playing today, so cut me some slack.

[Strategy_Game_Lover]

Okay, I was wrong. I have to play this game! I guess I will play the campaign for a bit and get more familiar with the game before coming back.

[Strategy_Game_Lover]

Okay, I guess 7th time is the charm. I went in with a Robotic HQ again, and just committed fewer mistakes than before.

- I focused heavily on my Robotic enemy, shorting him out and most importantly, treating his Patent Lab as my own. Amazingly, I never built it but I ended up with the most patents. Having Teleportation and Nanotechnology made a huge difference.
- I also kept a high Water tile for myself instead of focusing exclusively on Electronics and Chemicals. When Chemical prices tanked, I switched to Reactors, and when they tanked, I switched to Food. Even water was selling at $300 at times!
- Across all 7 attempts, Electronics was the one item that was always valuable. If it dropped below 300, it jumped pretty quickly to the 400+ range without my intervention. This happened every single time.
- Buying Robotic enemy gave me an income of $3000 per second. Just Wow!

Here's a screenshot:

[Spa]

Hehe, I was reading your posts. I think your second post was after you calmed down a bit. Congratulations for beating the manager! I find it very, very impressive to beat it that quick. You are a real strategist.

Some negative reviews for this game are based on the fact that the reviewer couldn’t beat the manager (or lower) level. They come with all sort of reasons that are pointing to the game mechanics. They simply blame the game.

Some reviews are from persons that played a few hours and review it as a repetitive game or a game without depth.

However, this game is not easy at all and if you play it on a higher level (AI/multiplayer) you will realize more and more the depth of the game. If you lose from the AI it means that you need to improve your skills. If you lose from another player, it means that the other player probably did something right and/or you made mistakes that needs to improved.

I watch a lot of multiplayer/tournaments. These players are masters (a lot of them playing from the early access) and still learning from every mistake they make and improving their tactics.

That being said: maybe the employee/manager level of the practice missions can better be renamed to 'advanced practice' missions or something ;)

[Strategy_Game_Lover]

Thanks for the kind words! I did have several advantages, mainly knowing the map beforehand and also knowing who would be the biggest problem. I knew that Electornics and Life Support resources were going to be very profitable. I knew that Teleportation would be the best patent in this game. So, I do not delude myself that I will beat Manager AI on Skirmishes, but Employee AI should be OK.

Definitely agree on the need to relabel the mission! At least, the introduction should clearly mention that should you get stuck on this mission, you should play Campaign or Skirmish on lower difficulty and then come back later with more experience.

As for the reviews, this game simply isn't every person's cup of tea. Many people (like me) expect more of builder, like Capitalism 2 or Anno. Others can't handle losing. Even I was frustrated for a bit! But I am glad I found this game - it is just different fromany game that I have played. And that is saying something after 20 years of gaming!

Anyway, time to start a campaign

[Spa]

You are right this game is very different from other games out there. I can’t compare it with any game. Hard to explain to someone. Therefore I think watching some YouTube vids before buying it is the best idea.

About the campaign: every HQ has 2 guys/girls/robots you can choose. At least if you have the Patron and the Patriot DLC.

The first ones on top are not hard (on employee difficulty). You maybe can even try manager difficulty there. But beware: the second 'persons' of the same HQ (under the first) are a lot harder on the same difficulty and a real challenge.

And: try the option 'reveal map' on campaigns/skirmish. I like it a lot more than manual scanning. They recently added this option on campaigns as well.

Have fun

[Strategy_Game_Lover]

I have all the DLCs now, but I will go with the easier CEOs first.

Thanks a lot and you too have fun :)

[Xebec]

I have the same problem. I've tried the Managing Expectations many times, and keep getting slapped around. Same with the Mars campaign first mission. I really wanted to like this game, but I am trying to do it without googling for "the perfect build order"as to me that means it's less of a game and more of a formula..

I'm still glad I bought it and left it a positive review because I think some others will enjoy it.. but my brain just isn't engaging on this title for some reason..

[Captain Keen]

I actually applaud the fact that the 'tutorial' finishes at such a high level of difficulty. I too beat it, after a great many attempts, I too was frustrated. And honestly I doubt I could consistently beat it now.

Which is all good =)

[Xebec]

How exactly does the AI upgrade in the first 10 seconds?

[Esxhaton]

Originally posted by Xebec:

How exactly does the AI upgrade in the first 10 seconds?

Landing on resources, selling them and spending the money you got that way to upgrade.

[Xebec]

Originally posted by |BO|Esxhaton:

Originally posted by Xebec:

How exactly does the AI upgrade in the first 10 seconds?

Landing on resources, selling them and spending the money you got that way to upgrade.

Yeah - I finally did this and was able to match the AI for the first couple of upgrades, but still no chance after that. Same with the first Campaign mission on Mars..

I guess I'm just too stupid for this game.. I'll stick with FPS games, Stellaris, Civ, etc.. :)

[Strategy_Game_Lover]

You can also stick with a difficulty lowe than Manager. I am doing that currently - I want to have fun, and Employee offers enough challenge to me. As Scientific, even Employee seemed too much and I dropped to Assistant.

[Keks]

There is only 1 gamerule to follow: buy/produce cheap and sell expensive

Take advantage of the possibilities offered by the game and do your best :)

So there are many strategies, there is no "this works always":
- produce products without having the input materials (input materials have to be cheap, see "net revenue" price hint <- very very very helpful)
- produce products with having the input materials (only if u doesnt need these claims for other important building, this give u max profit)
- u have to see which products are needed by all hqs and which products will become expensive if the AI does not produce these, put your production on it
- patents can help and boost you a lot, i love the teleportation patent, is a very huge boost, it helps you in fuel, production time, u can produce everywhere and it avoiding magnetic storms, pirates etc


It's all about supply and demand. And of course, u should try to be on the top of rich players otherwise the AI is more and more bashing you.

So, this game is not "click here and here, and congratulations you´re the winner". You have to use you´re brain.

Hope i helped :) Good luck.

[Base Invader]

~With limited opponents this game is not so much a case of how well you can do yourself, but how well you can inhibit your opponent from progressing.

When you start on an easy difficulty for example, hot dropping on some resources, selling them and buying up as much building materials that both you and your opponent need will boost your progress and slow his.

Whilst no patent is essential for victory, Nano tech helps you to shift in and out of new product lines at minimal cost. I prefered Teleportation when I was new as it cut the transport time & costs but ultimatly on Guru difficulty you end up playing quite compact as you cant keep up without adjacency bonuses.

[Xebec]

These are all good suggestions. I did often feel like I was getting screwed upgrading 'last' on the prices.. I do need to figure out how to turn that around. thanks for all of the advice!