Spaceports not defending against raids?

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Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/13/2014 9:29:46 AM

jadelith

Posts: 32
Joined: 5/30/2014
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I had screenshots but the forum's not allowing me.. and it deleted my entire post for it. anyway..

basically, pirates are attacking my colonies, which have ~1300 firepower space stations defending it. oh, and they have fortified bunkers with 6 planetary defense troops.

but, the pirates can raid my colonies without fighting anything - neither the ground troops, nor the spaceport. ports are on point blank stance.

meanwhile, after the raid, I manually released the fighters, and of course, the raiders died immediately.

halp

Post #: 1

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/13/2014 9:51:13 AM

Bingeling

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Joined: 8/12/2010
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Weird. Does the spaceport have some weapons apart from fighters?

Why mess with the stance on spaceport? Do you expect it to chase after ships? Who knows, that may mess up things?

And no ground battle? Are you sure? Sneaky pirates may get away with some stuff even if you have some troops defending, though. But not without some battle going on.

< Message edited by Bingeling -- 12/13/2014 10:51:57 AM >

(in reply to jadelith)

Post #: 2

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/13/2014 10:27:32 AM

jadelith

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Joined: 5/30/2014
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I didn't touch the stance; that's how it always was

and no, only fighters. funny thing is, they sometimes do attack the raiders, but ONLY after the raiders are already on the planet. Isn't it possible to put ports/defensive bases etc. on an aggressive stance? i.e. attack any hostile that's in range?

for ground battle, I'm pretty sure there wasn't one (unless it lasted a millisecond or something). and again, I do see raider battles quite a bit, so this one was suprising.

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 3

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/13/2014 10:31:27 AM

Bingeling

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Do you have a deal with the pirates in question?

You may have discovered why you do not want to have only fighters on a spaceport. Maybe add the habit of checking that they are launched after loading?

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Post #: 4

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/13/2014 10:51:51 AM

jadelith

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Joined: 5/30/2014
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No, I stop paying pirates as soon as I can, otherwise they steamroll everything in the whole galaxy.

I have over 100 colonies : P, so individually checking them would be painful.

would adding another weapon type help? I used to have lasers, but I think the same case applies to them as well - attack only after attacked? if not, having other weapons could help.

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 5

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/13/2014 11:21:34 AM

Bingeling

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I have not played for a while, but at last spaceports used to shoot at pirates just fine. Like smoking pirate exploration ships trying to explore the capital in a pre-warp start.

That is with AI designed spaceports that has some normal weapons.

There have been patches since then, it may be a new bug.

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Post #: 6

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/13/2014 1:39:25 PM

CyclopsSlayer

Posts: 583
Joined: 2/11/2012
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Bases only tend to fire once they are engaged, and default is point blank. So if you are waiting on the base to act and they are doing a boarding raid, the base may never fire.
Now the fighters WILL save the base if they are already in space. Make sure to pre-launch them and they will swarm any attackers quite aggressively. As well set the base to something like "All Weapons", if you are waiting until point blank, and they keep the range open your weapons will be useless.

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 7

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/13/2014 2:20:29 PM

Bingeling

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Why would you think the stance matters? Bases don't control their own distance to the target. Point blank is probably just the default, I have never paid attention to that setting for bases.

I have had my share of annoyances with ships not responding to enemies nearby...

I did a quick test spawning pirate spaceports, and they did not seem reluctant to shoot at my ships cruising by. They have guns and stuff, though.

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RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/14/2014 11:16:10 AM

NephilimNexus

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Refit starports with multiple tractor beams, set combat options to "stand-off"

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RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/20/2014 6:46:00 PM

twinkypillow

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I think i have my bases even on "evade" and they still fire.. so i think you just need to have the starfighters launched already ..

i set mine to evade because i want them to push off the stupid space slugs that keep damaging my space ports.. but they still seem to get to it!

(in reply to NephilimNexus)

Post #: 10

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/21/2014 8:14:09 PM

NephilimNexus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Bingeling

Why would you think the stance matters?

It dictates firing range and use of tractor beams. A base set to point blank will allow the enemy to close to point blank range before firing back. Enemy assault pods launch from outside that range, which is why your point blank base is making no attempt to stop them. Likewise, all weapons and especially stand-off will make sure that your base begins firing at maximum range, which should be more of a deterrent to raiders.

Also stance affects tractor beam use. Stand off will make a base use tractor beams to push targets away from itself, while a base set to point blank will use tractor beams to pull targets closer.

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 11

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/21/2014 9:03:17 PM

Bingeling

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Then that is very poor game design. The base should always fire if there is a target. If it believes it goes for "the kill" it should pull enemies closer, if it tries to evade or resist troop invasions it should always push away.

There is no sensible need for the stance to matter, but that does not decide how the game works.

Also, 1.9.5.9 patch notes:

"- increased range at which spaceport tractor beams will push away invading troop transports. Spaceports will now also push away transports even when not primary target"

If it does not work that way, report it.

(in reply to NephilimNexus)

Post #: 12

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/22/2014 5:11:56 AM

Miyuki

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Joined: 12/24/2012
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i would look into 10 long range tractor beams, as well as the longest range weapon you have, such as missiles, and set the base to Standoff. this should cause the tractor beams to always push away, so if there is enough of them and they have been teched up sufficiently it should prevent the pirates from getting close enoughto launchthe pods. Point defense may also help. the long range missiles are for killing them or driving them off.i have also seen that longer range weapons give the station more timeto recognize thw threat. there seems to occasuonally be a delay in mature games.

it also helps to lower game speed during attacks as well, if you like runnimg the game 2x or 4x constantly.

(in reply to Bingeling)

Post #: 13

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/22/2014 11:39:15 AM

Icemania

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From: Australia
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Hey All:

Interesting thread. I decided to get into game editor and test some of this because I'm interested in what I can apply to the AI Improvement Mod.

Test 1: Playing as a Tech Level 7 Empire, Medium Spaceport with Torpedoes, placed many lower technology pirates at distance

For Point Blank, All Weapons, Standoff and Evade the Spaceport always fired at the pirates as soon as they were within range. That looked fine.

The Tractor Beams pulled in the pirate ships on Point Blank, All Weapons and Standoff (presumably because the spaceport is stronger than an individual pirate ship). But on Evade, they push them away. This is good for raiding pirates, making it harder for them to land raiding parties.

The AI doesn't defend well against Pirates so maybe using Evade in the design templates is worth considering.

Is this always the right strategy though? What if I had short range weapons on my ports and the enemy had long range weapons?

Bingeling mentioned the 1.9.5.9 patch notes:

"- increased range at which spaceport tractor beams will push away invading troop transports. Spaceports will now also push away transports even when not primary target"

It specifically mentions troop transports, not boarding parties. Perhaps the same change in tractor beam action is needed for ships with boarding parties? That way, if the spaceport has short range weapons, we can get ships pulled in if they have no troops or boarding parties, but pushed out if they do.

< Message edited by Icemania -- 12/22/2014 12:58:14 PM >

(in reply to Miyuki)

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RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/22/2014 11:53:02 AM

Icemania

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Test 2: Playing as a Tech Level 7 Empire, Defensive Base with Torpedoes and Tractor Beams, placed many lower technology pirates at distance

Same result except Tractor Beams ... the Standoff behaviour was different to the Spaceport test ... it pulled ships in rather than pushed them away. Evade still pushed them away, however.

< Message edited by Icemania -- 12/22/2014 12:58:44 PM >

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Post #: 15

RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/22/2014 3:56:09 PM

solops

Posts: 814
Joined: 1/31/2002
From: Central Texas
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The Starbase failing to fight thing has been around for a long time. One particular case is that other races often raid your systems BEFORE war is declared. Their ships come whooping in and attack one or two of a cluster of ships and bases at a planet. Only the target ships shoot back. All of the unengaged ships and bases just watch.

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RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/25/2014 3:12:26 AM

Miyuki

Posts: 24
Joined: 12/24/2012
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I actually dontuse starbases. I maintain 1 large sp as capital bakuras with all my researchin it, then 3 mediums in a triangle formation at the edge of capital influence circle or as close as possible when I play center starts. all other planets get Defense Base built byright clicking he planet to build in the center of planet. occasionally doesnt put itcenter but 2nd try works. just cancel previous. it iseven possible to create multuple defense bases overlapping using this method for korrabian planet for example. the only downside to this is they cant be upgraded enmasse like sb can in ship list.

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RE: Spaceports not defending against raids? - 12/25/2014 6:05:12 AM

aaatoysandmore

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Read description of ion cannons. If you have no ion cannon defense on the base this could be a reason why they do not appear to attack.

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Post #: 18