Haha yes, the two maps for the semis are quite divergent. At first I was a bit hesitant while checking the distances for the second map, but hope it will be fun to play as well, though with a diagonal tilt 
Range appears to be an important tech on our map, for sure!
Looks like both semi-finals are finely balanced - @Lex and I are on a knife-edge - how’s your one going @HULK and @Solfyre?
@Solfyre and I have a great map with basically the entire front being a Level 1 jump. Plus there’s a Warp Gate back route that he used to sneak some ships to the far side of the map. I wrote to him.
As someone who has generated a LOT of 1v1 maps, this one is pretty unusual … rarely do you see spacing this tight all the way across the front. While I like it, the huge number of possibilities means that in a battle with similar caliber players, the player that guesses right is even more likely to win. Given that I’m maybe 75% of your skill level, this means I need to guess right at least 75% of the time …
He made good opening moves up the center … so I’m going to need more luck.
BTW, I’ve been really slow submitting this week (my wife broke her finger and had surgery) but I don’t think I’ve delayed the game much as @Solfyre really ponders his moves … his Win-Loss record speaks for itself!
I’ve got a “D’OH!” story/advice that I’ll pass on when we finish the game …
Our game is both very close and wildly unstable. Knife-edge is right. So fun!
I have conceded to Solfyre at Tick 96 … real shame I borked up this game because it was a really nifty map that should have resulted in some wild play. Be nice if Jay tweaked the map generation algorithm so more of these popped up.
Solfyre got me on the defensive from the start with a strong frontal assault as he made a good guess on which star to attack … so I ended up having to send ships backwards … never a good sign.
But what really did me in was when I made it to the far left of the map … and promptly built some Industry (and Economy) … not paying any attention at all that there was a Warp Gate route for him to easily get ships there quicker than I could. I then doubled down on my stupidity by building more industry … and more. I can only image Solfyre saying “HULK may be strong, but that’s not smart … and thanks as I’ll be happy to take it from 'ya!”
Since I conceded early, I would ask that Lex and Plug be provided extra time to finish their game as it sounds like a doozy. Sorry again to Solfyre that he did not get a similar lively battle … but this game is already over as he is waayyy too good of a player not to SMASH me from here!
P.S. I mentioned earlier that I’d provide some “D’OH!” story/advice. When you light up the Warp Gate on your homestar (which is done early in 1v1), there are TWO buttons that are BOTH labeled $181. Do NOT click on the one that buys a 5th Science!!!
I realized literally seconds after doing this … and the HULK immediately flew into an angry rage and SMASHED Dr. Banner … so maybe that explains the stupidity a few cycles later
I recall making this mistake once before in a 1v1 with $3,000 starting cash … and was able to recover … but with $813 here, that was a crusher as money is really tight early on. Plus it delayed me being able to get ships moving.
To be clear, I’m NOT blaming this for my demise. Mistakes are part of the game and we all make 'em … although that’s a doozy! As outlined above, Solfyre outplayed me from the get-go … so that mistake only hastened the end result.
@HULK and @Solfyre - sounds like you had an interesting encounter! We’re still going in the other game, but should grind out a result one way or another before too long.
“Interesting” is a wayyyy too polite way to describe my game against @Solfyre … since as mentioned I majorly borked it up … so in actual fact, it was a sucky game for both of us. I knew I was toast early on … but played a few extra cycles in case something miraculous happened. Real shame as it was a great map. Bummed I did this not only to myself, but didn’t provide a good game to another player.
I’d be curious to hear the debrief when @plug and @Lex (finally!) finish since that seems to be one of those legendary battles which are fun nail-biters … which is why we play NP.
@HULK well, maybe you were toast. It really didn’t feel that way though! I managed to snag your big star out west with one ship remaining. My math had me losing that battle most likely. Sometimes hard to calculate the part ships. Another hopeful attack on my part. I knew i had more ships coming, so figured if i was unsuccessful i would follow up a turn later.
That conquering definitely put me in a feel good position. I went terra 3 while you did weapons. I was imagining bunkering a bit while you had you weapons advantage.
It was a cool map. My only complaint was that every star was like 7-8 ticks away. Harder to launch successful attacks when targets are over 6 ticks away.
I have just conceded to @plug at tick 270 of our epic battle. It was really close for most of the way.
I had some early tactical wins/penetration in his lines at the start and was feeling quite confident. Killed a couple of his important gates. But he got a foothold he wouldn’t let go in a critical group of stars nearer to my home star and just held onto that ruthlessly. Became a real thorn in my side and he eventually translated that into the beachhead that broke my defences…
Another point is he played out the whole game on L2 range. I got L3 range which I actually thought was pretty good at the time because it unlocked some helpful warp attacks but his solid defence made it pretty irrelevant and his choice to grab an earlier Manu upgrade paid off versus my choice.
He also went Weapons when I went Manu later on and it was definitely the right call.
So it was a long and close game, and I would say for me the biggest difference makers were the research sequencing, and holding onto a beachhead which I had not expected him to be able to hold.
Curious to hear your analysis @plug and whether there are any other mistakes I made you noticed
Lex
It was a great game @Lex - very close right through, and I was worried at various points that you had the upper hand. In the early part of the mid-game it felt like I kept losing stars with expensive Industry on them, and some of my Econ got smashed up as well. But there was a point when you made some attacks that narrowly failed, and others that succeeded but at a high cost, which I could counter-attack against. Maybe my tech decisions gave me a slight advantage as well - I almost kept going for Range 3, but it never quite seemed worth it. Didn’t feel like you made any mistakes - just small things at the margin tipped it against you. Definitely an epic match, and very enjoyable.
I guess now there’s the final @Trucriot? I could do with a small pause @Solfyre, if that’s OK. Maybe we can start on about Friday, ready for the weekend?
Congrats to the winners! Sounds like some great fights from all players. I already created the final map last time, though now I’m not sure if the homestars are missing haha. Just let me know if you encounter any problems when joining.
I joined the map and i do have a homestar.
@limemaster has taken the win in our very long-running game, fighting back successfully from being initially down 10-ish stars. Well played.
Nicely done @limemaster! Must have been an epic encounter between you and @Macomber.
Meanwhile @Solfyre and I have plunged in on the final game… already looks like it will be yet another nail-biter.
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How goes your game @plug and @Solfyre?
Stats at Tick 72 for Stars/Carriers/Ships/Econ/Indy/Science are:
48/15/329/49/26/12 for @plug
41/15/331/43/31/12 for @Solfyre
Tech is identical at 2/2/2/0/4/2/1
@Lex : Want to play a consolation bracket game for 3/4th place?
I can generate some games with the same params for you to pick from.
I can’t promise it will be as exciting at your 270 tick game against @plug … but I will be MUCH MORE careful about that early $181 upgrade on the Home Star … Warp Gate, NOT 5th Science - D’OH!
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