Spy Ships Always Fail

[spikefar]

I have stealthed spy ships with 3xSabotage modules. Whenever I select an espionage option they fail, regardless of the success percentage. Any suggestions?

[K00lex]

Additional modules don't increase chances. It's gaining experience from trial-n-error & successful actions.
Just build 1 sabotage module, cloaked spy ship, with highest speed possible while maintaining 100% stealth, i.e. as much engines to get safe power/generators within cloaking module capacity. And, enough fuel to get to nearest alien planet. Be sure to NOT have a refueling treaty with that system. No need for round trip fuel range.
Then, go to that system, conduct illegal refuel, go somewhere to waste fuel, steal more gas, and continue on until at least 2 stars. Now, that ship's active spy missions will have higher chances.
With increased level, go and spy planet/station/ship/fighter. Get to 3 stars.
At that point, that ship can sabotage construction projects, destroy builidings/ships/stations/fighers, and kill armies. Get to 4 stars.
Wtih 4-5 stars, this super agent can lower morale and incite rebellions. Once the target planet revolts and turns into a "pirate" system, send in some policemen to restore order and let them join your empire. Or, just nuke them to oblivion and start a new colony of your own; no other races, including the original, will complain of you crushing a rebellion. Easy, peasy...

[spikefar]

Increased stealth to 100%. Espionage now works in accorance with percentages. Would be nice if this game had some tool tips/advice that actually explain how the game mechancincs work.

[K00lex]

Originally posted by spikefar:

Increased stealth to 100%. Espionage now works in accorance with percentages. Would be nice if this game had some tool tips/advice that actually explain how the game mechancincs work.

Right, stealth is important.
And, if the spy has been discovered (and, of course, the AI race won't tell you that they know, so that they can feed misformation to you), then, there is automatic failure for hard core missions.
As for tips, it seems there are more in-game description or hints on what to do with certain data or red numbers in patch 1.03c. You just got to have patience and hover your mouse over the number, icon, words, etc... until the pop-up appears. Besides the manual, the Dev has been active on this forum explaining many concepts and answering specific questions. Of course, the game has been out for a while, so the topics are old, and the thread would be several pages or months back.

[spikefar]

The dev has indeed been active, which is a nice change compared to some other games of the genre. But an explaination of stealth, as in, "Less than 100% is worthless" would have been nice to know. I *assumed* that stealth % was a detection percentage.

[Ufnv]

less than 100% is not worthless, but with less then 100% it's more probable you are discovered

[spikefar]

Noted. But every spy ship I tried to use with less than 100% (50%, 65%, 90%, etc.) was immediately discovered when attempting to execute a spy mission. Early, middle and late stages of the game. At systems with ships or without, with scanners or without. I understand what th equations may be telling you concerning probabilities, but as play tested less than 100% was a failure every time.

[spikefar]

BTW, thanks for being responsive. Overall it's an enjoyable game, but with some bugs that need to be worked out, IMO. And some better clarification of mechanics in the tool tips, guide, etc.

[Ufnv]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll check what is going wrong with less then 100% stealth ships. Maybe there is some bug there...

[spikefar]

Thanks. Here's anpother suggestion for the next patch: A way to delete old saved games from the load/save menu.