Post by Qwerty on Jun 24, 2009 21:01:15 GMT -5
Contents:
I. Intro & Advice/Tips
II. Weapon Specs List
III. Support Building Info List
So yeah. The instructions for Solar Chiefs leave out… well… pretty much everything. And I’m sure lots of people would have a lot more fun if they knew what the heck they were doing. It is a very good concept after all, it just suffers from lack of instruction, server issues, and eventually needing to play way too many games to level up. Since I can’t fix the second two problems, I’ll do what I can with the first. I’ll begin by helping with some of the most common problems encountered by new players, followed by a list of weapon specs with as much info as I’ve managed to figure out so far, as well as a list of support building specs. If you have anything to contribute, feel free to do so.
Common Newbie Questions Answered & Some Useful Advice
How do I get weapons? In the actual game, you put weapons and other stuff on your asteroid by clicking the “purchase” button on one of the building tabs in the menu at the bottom of the screen. You can see how much it costs to do so right next to the thing that says “Purchase” – this is in very small letters on Kong though, so it might be hard to see. You can see how much money you have left by looking at the red “Spacemoney” number in the lower-right interface. As for acquiring NEW weapons, this is done by spending research points in the screen which comes up after finishing a game. And something very important you must realize is that you cannot reset your research points and choose new upgrades. This is annoying and can make you regret your decisions later on, so pick carefully. Hopefully the weapon specs list I will provide will help you make good choices.
How do I fire my weapons? To fire a weapon, you click the weapon building on your asteroid and drag the cursor in the opposite direction from where you want to fire, like pulling back a slingshot – the arrow will show which direction the weapon will fire in. The farther back you pull, the faster and farther your weapon will fire, as indicated by the power gauge thingie. It costs money to fire weapons, and the amount to fire a certain weapon is shown when you hover the mouse over its building.
How do I move this stupid rock? To move your colony, you need to buy the “Booster Rocket”, found in the second tab on the bottom row of the building menu. Once you have this, it is used basically the same way as a weapon. Click on the Booster Rocket building and drag in the opposite direction of where you want to go. The arrow and the power gauge show which direction your colony will move and how far it will move. That covers the basics – now for some helpful hints.
Increased Damage: If you hit one of your opponent’s buildings, or usually even the grassy land on top of their asteroid, the weapon will do twice as much damage as if it hits the rocky underside. However, while being underneath the opponent makes it very hard to hit the top, it makes it equally difficult for your opponent to hit you anywhere. So it’s really a matter of preferring offense or defense – find the strategy that works best for you.
Money Gain Ratio: The amount of money you get per turn is directly related your surviving population at the start of that turn. With a full default population of 5000, you get $1000 per turn; so, this means that you get $1 for every 5 population that you have. Keep this in mind if you’re saving up for something and have taken heavy population loss, or you might end up waiting forever for enough money when you could’ve just bought something lesser.
Weapon Specs
Probably the thing most players wonder is, what do each of the weapons and support buildings do? This is essential knowledge because of the inability to reset research points, and the game itself is woefully scant on info; there are brief descriptions available on the “How To Play” screen if you move your mouse over the building buttons on the screenshot, but they aren’t very helpful. So, I’m going to try to provide a list of what details I know, to help people decide what to spend their precious research on. We’ll start with the top row of buildings in the build menu, the Weapons. In terms of damage, “top” refers to hitting the buildings or grassy area on the upper half of the colony, and “bottom” refers to hitting the rocky asteroid area on the lower half.
Gun Station
Price to Build: $1000
Price to Fire: $80
Damage (per missile) at Level 1: 40 bottom, 80 top (All five hit: 200-400 damage)
At Level 2: 50 bottom, 100 top (All five hit: 250-500 damage)
At Level 3: 100 bottom, 200 top (All fifteen hit: 1500-3000 damage)
The most basic weapon building, the Gun Station shoots five missiles which go mostly straight but slowly curve downwards. At level 2, the missiles stay in a straight path for a longer time before starting to curve down. At level 3, you also get a couple of extra turrets, so you shoot 15 missiles from one gun station.
Jumbo C4 Balls
Price to Build: $1800
Price to Fire: $150
Damage at Level 1: 400 bottom, 800 top
At Level 2: 500 bottom, 1000 top
At Level 3: 600 bottom, 1200 top
These buildings fire a single, heavy explosive shell which goes not very far before curving downward. While nearly useless at long range, it can be devastating in close combat in large numbers. Other than increasing damage, I think upgrading to levels 2 and 3 may also make the C4 ball go farther before starting to curve downward.
Newtonian Missile (Unlocks at “Nuclear Waste Disposer”)
The first weapon which you need to level up to be able to unlock, this building fires a single missile which can go a long distance when fired at full power. However, it also has the unique aspect of being highly affected by the gravity of colonies, hence the name – so, if shot at the right strength (about 75% power for long range, and 50% for medium/short range), it will begin to slow down mid-flight and start being drawn towards the closest colony, going faster the closer it is. A skilled player can essentially use it as a seeker missile, making it hit the opponent even when they would have usually evaded it, or when in a hard-to-reach location like when they are under the player. Be careful though, since it is also affected by your own colony’s gravity and might end up hitting you instead.
Death Laser (Unlocks at “Space Marine”)
Price to Build: $2500
Price to Fire: $40
Damage at Level 1: 500 bottom, 1000 top
At Level 2: 600 bottom, 1200 top
My personal favorite so far, the Death Laser shoots a short, highly destructive beam in a perfectly straight line. It’s a little slower than you would expect for what is basically a supercharged ray of light – but it’s just about as fast as the other weapons, so it’s nothing to complain about. In addition to causing high damage, it is extremely cheap to fire – the only problem is, it’s also very expensive to build. Even with the high build cost, though, it’s still a very useful weapon.
Nuclear Warhead (Unlocks at
)
Described in the “How To Play” screen as “The most destructive weapon in the game!”, I have never used or even seen this weapon in action, so I don’t know what exactly it does. However, when I mentioned it in game chat, someone who apparently knew responded by saying it isn’t as good as you would expect it to be. So, take of that what you will.
72 posts
Support Building Info
The bottom row of buildings on the menu are more like what I’d call “support” buildings –
they’re not necessarily weapons, though some are more offensive than defensive. Whatever they
are, they help your colony to survive.
Booster Rocket
As explained in the Common Questions section, this is what you use to move your colony.
It’s not upgradeable, costs $1500 to build and $150 to use. That’s pretty much all you need to
know.
Dome Shield (Unlocks at “Gun Station Loader”)
When activated, the Dome Shield spreads a protective bubble over the topside of your colony, making any hits you take deal only half the damage they normally would. Despite appearances, it protects the underside of the colony as much as it protects the topside, percentage-wise. However, your shield isn’t invincible – it does dissipate after taking a very heavy beating, and any further hits on your colony do normal damage, and I think that hits that get in before the dome fully covers the colony will also do normal damage. Additionally, the shield doesn’t carry over between rounds – you have to activate it again each round that you want it. The Dome Shield costs $2500 to build and $150 to activate it for one round.
Reflector Satellite (Unlocks at “Death Station Gunner”)
I have only seen this being used by an opponent, so I have limited information on it. When used, it launches a small satellite, maybe about 1/5 the size of your colony asteroid, in whatever direction you aimed it and at a fairly decent speed, depending on how much power you give it. Once launched, it will remain until the end of the game, behaving like a small shield. Lasers will bounce off of it, and other weapons will apparently explode against it. Physically, it behaves like a colony – it will stay in one place unless bumped by a colony, at which point it will drift a little ways and stop again. If it gets knocked off the edge of the game area, it will reappear on the other side, like the asteroids in the game “Asteroids”. I have no idea how much it costs to build, fire, or what upgrades do for it.
Slave Launcher (Unlocks at)
I haven’t seen this used or used it myself, so I can only guess at what it does from the “How To Play” description: “Shoots out an asteroid with a Jumbo C4 tower for an extra firing position.” I could be wrong, but I’m assuming it behaves like a Reflector Satellite that has a Jumbo C4 Balls weapon on it, which either automatically shoots at the opponent, or can be manually aimed and fired like a normal weapon. I don’t know anything about price, upgrades, or what it really does.
Chocolate Bio Rain (Unlocks at)
Oddly, even though this isn’t the first support building you get, and not even the second or third, it occupies the first space in the “Support” row of the building menu. It allegedly “Fires a poisonous cloud which rains down on your enemy”. Like the Slave Launcher, I don’t know how it works, what it costs, or what the upgrades do. I’m actually not even sure whether you get it after the Slave Launcher, or before. It sounds pretty cool though.
SUPER SECRET SUPPORT BUILDING!!1 (Unlocks at)
Much like the SUPER SECRET WEAPON, there is a mysterious locked space in the building menu’s bottom row on the “How to Play” screenshot, which is either reserved for an as-yet-unimplemented support building, or is hiding a massively powerful one. I don’t know whether you’d get this before or after the SUPER SECRET WEAPON, but either way I doubt anyone has gotten it yet, so we’ll just have to wait I suppose.
Formatting to be added later.
I. Intro & Advice/Tips
II. Weapon Specs List
III. Support Building Info List
So yeah. The instructions for Solar Chiefs leave out… well… pretty much everything. And I’m sure lots of people would have a lot more fun if they knew what the heck they were doing. It is a very good concept after all, it just suffers from lack of instruction, server issues, and eventually needing to play way too many games to level up. Since I can’t fix the second two problems, I’ll do what I can with the first. I’ll begin by helping with some of the most common problems encountered by new players, followed by a list of weapon specs with as much info as I’ve managed to figure out so far, as well as a list of support building specs. If you have anything to contribute, feel free to do so.
Common Newbie Questions Answered & Some Useful Advice
How do I get weapons? In the actual game, you put weapons and other stuff on your asteroid by clicking the “purchase” button on one of the building tabs in the menu at the bottom of the screen. You can see how much it costs to do so right next to the thing that says “Purchase” – this is in very small letters on Kong though, so it might be hard to see. You can see how much money you have left by looking at the red “Spacemoney” number in the lower-right interface. As for acquiring NEW weapons, this is done by spending research points in the screen which comes up after finishing a game. And something very important you must realize is that you cannot reset your research points and choose new upgrades. This is annoying and can make you regret your decisions later on, so pick carefully. Hopefully the weapon specs list I will provide will help you make good choices.
How do I fire my weapons? To fire a weapon, you click the weapon building on your asteroid and drag the cursor in the opposite direction from where you want to fire, like pulling back a slingshot – the arrow will show which direction the weapon will fire in. The farther back you pull, the faster and farther your weapon will fire, as indicated by the power gauge thingie. It costs money to fire weapons, and the amount to fire a certain weapon is shown when you hover the mouse over its building.
How do I move this stupid rock? To move your colony, you need to buy the “Booster Rocket”, found in the second tab on the bottom row of the building menu. Once you have this, it is used basically the same way as a weapon. Click on the Booster Rocket building and drag in the opposite direction of where you want to go. The arrow and the power gauge show which direction your colony will move and how far it will move. That covers the basics – now for some helpful hints.
Increased Damage: If you hit one of your opponent’s buildings, or usually even the grassy land on top of their asteroid, the weapon will do twice as much damage as if it hits the rocky underside. However, while being underneath the opponent makes it very hard to hit the top, it makes it equally difficult for your opponent to hit you anywhere. So it’s really a matter of preferring offense or defense – find the strategy that works best for you.
Money Gain Ratio: The amount of money you get per turn is directly related your surviving population at the start of that turn. With a full default population of 5000, you get $1000 per turn; so, this means that you get $1 for every 5 population that you have. Keep this in mind if you’re saving up for something and have taken heavy population loss, or you might end up waiting forever for enough money when you could’ve just bought something lesser.
Weapon Specs
Probably the thing most players wonder is, what do each of the weapons and support buildings do? This is essential knowledge because of the inability to reset research points, and the game itself is woefully scant on info; there are brief descriptions available on the “How To Play” screen if you move your mouse over the building buttons on the screenshot, but they aren’t very helpful. So, I’m going to try to provide a list of what details I know, to help people decide what to spend their precious research on. We’ll start with the top row of buildings in the build menu, the Weapons. In terms of damage, “top” refers to hitting the buildings or grassy area on the upper half of the colony, and “bottom” refers to hitting the rocky asteroid area on the lower half.
Gun Station
Price to Build: $1000
Price to Fire: $80
Damage (per missile) at Level 1: 40 bottom, 80 top (All five hit: 200-400 damage)
At Level 2: 50 bottom, 100 top (All five hit: 250-500 damage)
At Level 3: 100 bottom, 200 top (All fifteen hit: 1500-3000 damage)
The most basic weapon building, the Gun Station shoots five missiles which go mostly straight but slowly curve downwards. At level 2, the missiles stay in a straight path for a longer time before starting to curve down. At level 3, you also get a couple of extra turrets, so you shoot 15 missiles from one gun station.
Jumbo C4 Balls
Price to Build: $1800
Price to Fire: $150
Damage at Level 1: 400 bottom, 800 top
At Level 2: 500 bottom, 1000 top
At Level 3: 600 bottom, 1200 top
These buildings fire a single, heavy explosive shell which goes not very far before curving downward. While nearly useless at long range, it can be devastating in close combat in large numbers. Other than increasing damage, I think upgrading to levels 2 and 3 may also make the C4 ball go farther before starting to curve downward.
Newtonian Missile (Unlocks at “Nuclear Waste Disposer”)
The first weapon which you need to level up to be able to unlock, this building fires a single missile which can go a long distance when fired at full power. However, it also has the unique aspect of being highly affected by the gravity of colonies, hence the name – so, if shot at the right strength (about 75% power for long range, and 50% for medium/short range), it will begin to slow down mid-flight and start being drawn towards the closest colony, going faster the closer it is. A skilled player can essentially use it as a seeker missile, making it hit the opponent even when they would have usually evaded it, or when in a hard-to-reach location like when they are under the player. Be careful though, since it is also affected by your own colony’s gravity and might end up hitting you instead.
Death Laser (Unlocks at “Space Marine”)
Price to Build: $2500
Price to Fire: $40
Damage at Level 1: 500 bottom, 1000 top
At Level 2: 600 bottom, 1200 top
My personal favorite so far, the Death Laser shoots a short, highly destructive beam in a perfectly straight line. It’s a little slower than you would expect for what is basically a supercharged ray of light – but it’s just about as fast as the other weapons, so it’s nothing to complain about. In addition to causing high damage, it is extremely cheap to fire – the only problem is, it’s also very expensive to build. Even with the high build cost, though, it’s still a very useful weapon.
Nuclear Warhead (Unlocks at
)Described in the “How To Play” screen as “The most destructive weapon in the game!”, I have never used or even seen this weapon in action, so I don’t know what exactly it does. However, when I mentioned it in game chat, someone who apparently knew responded by saying it isn’t as good as you would expect it to be. So, take of that what you will.
72 posts
Support Building Info
The bottom row of buildings on the menu are more like what I’d call “support” buildings –
they’re not necessarily weapons, though some are more offensive than defensive. Whatever they
are, they help your colony to survive.
Booster Rocket
As explained in the Common Questions section, this is what you use to move your colony.
It’s not upgradeable, costs $1500 to build and $150 to use. That’s pretty much all you need to
know.
Dome Shield (Unlocks at “Gun Station Loader”)
When activated, the Dome Shield spreads a protective bubble over the topside of your colony, making any hits you take deal only half the damage they normally would. Despite appearances, it protects the underside of the colony as much as it protects the topside, percentage-wise. However, your shield isn’t invincible – it does dissipate after taking a very heavy beating, and any further hits on your colony do normal damage, and I think that hits that get in before the dome fully covers the colony will also do normal damage. Additionally, the shield doesn’t carry over between rounds – you have to activate it again each round that you want it. The Dome Shield costs $2500 to build and $150 to activate it for one round.
Reflector Satellite (Unlocks at “Death Station Gunner”)
I have only seen this being used by an opponent, so I have limited information on it. When used, it launches a small satellite, maybe about 1/5 the size of your colony asteroid, in whatever direction you aimed it and at a fairly decent speed, depending on how much power you give it. Once launched, it will remain until the end of the game, behaving like a small shield. Lasers will bounce off of it, and other weapons will apparently explode against it. Physically, it behaves like a colony – it will stay in one place unless bumped by a colony, at which point it will drift a little ways and stop again. If it gets knocked off the edge of the game area, it will reappear on the other side, like the asteroids in the game “Asteroids”. I have no idea how much it costs to build, fire, or what upgrades do for it.
Slave Launcher (Unlocks at
)I haven’t seen this used or used it myself, so I can only guess at what it does from the “How To Play” description: “Shoots out an asteroid with a Jumbo C4 tower for an extra firing position.” I could be wrong, but I’m assuming it behaves like a Reflector Satellite that has a Jumbo C4 Balls weapon on it, which either automatically shoots at the opponent, or can be manually aimed and fired like a normal weapon. I don’t know anything about price, upgrades, or what it really does.
Chocolate Bio Rain (Unlocks at
)Oddly, even though this isn’t the first support building you get, and not even the second or third, it occupies the first space in the “Support” row of the building menu. It allegedly “Fires a poisonous cloud which rains down on your enemy”. Like the Slave Launcher, I don’t know how it works, what it costs, or what the upgrades do. I’m actually not even sure whether you get it after the Slave Launcher, or before. It sounds pretty cool though.
SUPER SECRET SUPPORT BUILDING!!1 (Unlocks at
)Much like the SUPER SECRET WEAPON, there is a mysterious locked space in the building menu’s bottom row on the “How to Play” screenshot, which is either reserved for an as-yet-unimplemented support building, or is hiding a massively powerful one. I don’t know whether you’d get this before or after the SUPER SECRET WEAPON, but either way I doubt anyone has gotten it yet, so we’ll just have to wait I suppose.
Formatting to be added later.