Folks,
I've been away from SFC for a substantial amount of time, but I'm coming back to it with gusto. At one point, I might have known the answers to these questions, but after searching the forums, I didn't quite find all the answers I needed. So, here goes...
(Moderator - feel free to move the topic if I posted in the wrong location.)
From reading the forums, I know that it takes a long time to complete a Single-Player Conquest campaign. However, after playing 50 or so missions as a Hydran (let's hear it for Hellbores!), I'm noticing some things that I can't quite figure out.
1) When I move around the map, enemy sightings appear and disappear at random. I'm sure part of this is the "fog of war" aspect, but is this as random as it appears, or am I missing something? Is there a pattern that just isn't obvious at first?
2) When I do Patrols, etc. in a hex and conquer it, sometimes the base in that hex turns white and doesn't appear to change sides. Do I have to complete a Base Assault mission to conquer it? Will it stay white no matter how long I've held the hex? Is this a glitch?
3) I have been expanding the Hydran Kingdom mostly at the expense of the Lyrans right now. It seems that no matter how many CAs, CLs, and DWs I destroy, there is an infinite supply of them. Is this a function of the game, or is there a setting that controls this? Based on all of the fictional history that surrounds SFC / SFB, some of these ships take so long to build, I should be seeing fewer of them (certainly of some types) as I destroy them, at least for a while. Does the economy of all held hexes and the progression of time affect ship availability / supply at all?
4) On a larger scale, I don't understand how I am supposed to be able to hold ground already taken. Around Mission 43, once I had a bigger ship and could be systematic, I had expanded into the Lyran territory by about 2 hexes along a 3 hex front. After that mission, I checked the map (which I do after every mission) and suddenly 3 hexes in my rear, near the Home World, had changed to gray and one (on the far edge of the map) had been taken by the Klingons! To control the bleeding, I had to travel about 5-6 hexes, doing mandatory missions as I went, and retake those hexes. Now, I understand that occasionally my enemies will make forays into my territory. However, I can't help wondering if this game behavior is random or if it follows a pattern, as the more territory I take, the harder it will be to race all over the map to put out fires. After a certain point, once I take a good deal of territory, I'll constantly be running between opposite ends of the Kingdom, fighting to regain hexes while others will randomly change color at the opposite side of the map. This seems awfully frustrating and doesn't make for a good play experience, IMHO. Is there a way to take and hold territory such that you aren't constantly running to your rear to retake hexes? What am I not seeing here?
5) I have yet to place any Base Stations, Battle Stations, or Starbases, as I haven't penetrated that far into enemy territory yet, and most of the hexes that I've taken are adjacent to my own bases or planets anyway, or they have bases that I have "liberated". Should I be placing new bases anyway, just to increase the Defense and Impedance values of the hexes? When should I really be using them, and which ones should I use in which situations?
6) I have so much prestige at this point that I'm starting to fight disproportionate battles. Right now, I have 1 XCA which I really like due to the maneuverability and the kit. I have not purchased any other ships for a fleet, as the AI wastes fighters like water and I don't want to constantly spend prestige replacing my wingbeing's
fighters. Should I buy and place bases to shed some of this prestige? Should I go ahead and waste some fighters? More importantly, will the battles that I face continue to become more lopsided as I hoard prestige such that I need to get rid of some of it, or will purchasing ships for wingbeings just exacerbate the problem and make the battles even more lopsided?
7) How do you earn medals? I have fought several mandatory missions along the way, but I have never seen a medal other than the ones on the top row (increasing my rank). When to these appear? Are they tied to the story line campaigns only? Are they tied to prestige?
As I said, I tried to find some of these answers in the forum already, but I apologize if I'm repeating old posts. Any help is appreciated!
Last Question (different topic): Due to my computer situation and personal circumstances, I haven't ever played Multi-player or on-line matches. I know that at one point, SFC utilized Mplayer and then Gamespy (?) for this. Is there an on-line skirmish / campaign group that I could investigate that
(a) is safe, technology-wise
(b) doesn't use a service that requires signing up, such as Mplayer or Gamespy, and
(c) is hosted by you guys or Xenocorp?
As I said, I have never had the opportunity to try this, so these questions are purely out of a newbie's ignorance.
If there is a link to something, just point me in the right direction and I'll take it from there.
Thanks to anyone who can help. I know this was long, but I've been saving up questions!
Topic: Questions re SFC OP-Dynaverse II-SP Conquest Campaign - LONG (Read 9053 times)