Advanced Save Game Six Empires Huge Map and Minor Races

[UesugiKenshin]

Needs versus Wants

You can play BotE as is and it is 90% great and 5% seriously flawed. All modding does is remove the flaws and enhanced the game by 10%. And the changes while modest add a lot to the game.

Humans are smarter than 5 AI opponents, but if the AI just plays as a wargamer rather than a economically deprived planner, BotE would be far better.

For example, not once have I found a single well built AI home sector. They are all underperformers. So not only is the AI lacking in adequate treasuries, but they all lack a reliable base of operations. Why? Probably the easy level is too easy. I presume with a maximumized galactic map and with so many opponents and so many minor races that the AI would be much stronger. But it is not against an experienced wargamer. Those folks should try it with the three subterfuge major races on mid-level difficulty.

In my opinion, the birth of empires REQUIRES an extremely developed home sector just to properly start. That would make each major race an honestly significant military power in their region as they were on a sound economic footing. An empire cannot expand unless this is so as so much wealth then is forced to be sent to the "capitol". Rome could not really become a military power otherwise.

Secondly subterfuge is horridly flawed, but that has all been explained in excruciating detail. It is painfully true and has honestly been detailed with examples. And is easily remedied by properly being a late game enhancement that must be dealt with by nonsubterfuge major races all along. This will take some work as the Terrans can cope by diplomacy and the Heyoun can cope by bribery and gifts and membership through strategic use of wealth. But the Khaoran need to incite fear, dread, and anger as they should be an honorable but terrifying major race. The discovery of their ships should immediately provoke consternation.

"Oh no. The Khaoran are my neighbors and they are merciless."

You want them to plague your foes but on the opposite side of the galaxy.

Thirdly, BotE needs more research and more subclasses of ships. And likely any deficits in their initial repertoire can be self-corrected by additional research. Why? Because you never gain the ability to make defeated foes' starships and troops, but perhaps one logically should. And ever though some minor race's ships are magnificent when maxed out, even rushed only results in one magnificent starship per turn, thus it never will become a significant aspect of your tactics.

Any major race needs a FULL COMPLEMENT of starships to be a credible threat to the galaxy. That is not the case with the Heyoun and it needs a solution. As they are not a militaristic race and as I am not an artist, I cannot just make them the ships they require, but likely would take weaker minor race ships and at better levels, those would be their solution as if they would routinely buy them. This seems plausible to me. It is no different than buying armaments today as a normal global practice.

I wish you could set the map as that is what I would do, so naturally similar in ethos minor races lived in closer proximity thus would be far more likely as allies and members. So then in the Heyoun's case, a military and economic exchange exists. This seems logical and practical.

That last part is both a want and a need.

[UesugiKenshin]

One way to create a stimulating galactic war is to build up all six empires, but lacking security forces, and not exploiting minor races on a galactic map. Then the goals would be to move toward research unlocking security forces, use diplomacy or conquering to gain minor races' abilities, and then as a synergistically enhanced economic and military power with significant scientific ability, then expand. This then threatens the borderlands or the frontier shared with one's neighbors. This makes far more sense so is a #300 or higher advanced save game.

Think of the galaxy as a matrix of nine squares just like tic-tac-toe.

XOX
OXO
XOX

Ideally five empires could be placed at every X and such placememt limits conflict except for whoever is in the middle. When six empires exist, then conflict is inevitable. Mapping would idealize galactic war and likely the Heyoun would never be a significant galactic power and would be absent from that scenario. Money alone cannot overcome a lack of a military tradition. It is illogical for them to seize the galaxy. With the Heyoun as the sixth empire, more than likely they get attacked and invaded and cease their ambitions.

That looks like this.
XOX
vOv
XOX

And whichever empires are in the little v position are extremely vulnerable.

[UesugiKenshin]

With properly developed empires designed by a modder, then that person or team carefully balances those v positions to compensate in some manner, likely with at-the-ready veteran soldier astronauts as nothing less will solve their precarious galactic position.

One problem now is the AI doesn't have bases of operation for military training, when to properly expand, this is an absolute military necessity. You need military hubs to route starships for training to veteran level. One cannot send every starship to Lambrecht, but that is the bottle neck. One would send starships to there and the nearest defeated foe's training facility and so you have significantly reduced major logistical issues.

This means you would have this galactic map.
XOX
XOX
XOX

Where every X is a military training facility. Some minor races have these too so then you have this.
XXX
XXX
XXX
Where the nearest military training facility is in a close part of the nine subsections of the galaxy. Now training is far more optimized as you have proper major hubs.

Now deployment is logical and takes a fraction of time and the correct types of ships say in patrols or assault escorted transports or complex fleets can be assembled, trained, and dispatched. No bottlenecks.

[UesugiKenshin]

If the map is a 40x40 matrix, then each subsection of the galaxy looks like this
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
Each subsection is a 13x13 grid or thereabouts. (That would be 39x39)

You have a training facility with each subsection and you make military hubs within these subsections so every aspect of it is defensible, but is strongest where it borders the enemy's or enemies' subsections as your sphere of influence touches theirs. That is where the battles are most likely to arise. Those borderland have to be like not just a fortress, but like citadels.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel

[UesugiKenshin]

This extremely logical pattern makes invasion daunting. Each empire can train their troops and has patrols and can dispatch starships and the logistics are idealized. The AI then has a manageable task. Otherwise defending is nightmarish and disorganized. The best starships cannot defend or invade without organized logistics.

Obviously you would like the military academy to be in the center of these 13x13 subsectors. Then they have the shortest distance, but closer to the edges of the frontier is more practical.

[UesugiKenshin]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastion_fort
In standard practice, an attack can come from any direction, thus a bastion fort (star fort is a common name) is an idealized defensive pattern. It is logical, however BotE has edges and whoever is in these positions doesn't have the same equal need for defenses.

XOX
VOV
XOX

The player in the V part of the galaxy needs bastion forts to survive until they weaken and likely overcome a neighbor.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3SmjQdueSI8
Bastion forts and siege warfare.

How to lay siege to a bastion fort.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HqIa-NpzAfg

[UesugiKenshin]

If a BotE game logically progresses, then you have this galactic map configuration.
XOX
OOO
XOX
The vulnerable have been subjugated.
XOX
VVV
XOX

But whoever expended their forces to attain these vulnerable position has/have suffered attrition, so their forces are "thin" and distributed and have to rapidly bolster new territories. Their citadel walls have moved. The flanks against edges are likely okay.

Whoever did not attack is stronger, so should attack now to more exploit these regions. Nearby neighbors who are human likely attack the flanks when least expected. Why? That is the source of the redeployed bolstered forces.

[UesugiKenshin]

If the AI sectors are highly defensible, as they should be, then most of the actual conflict is in space, thus is almost like cavalry battles but ultimately like naval battles. Then having depleted the strongest offensive elements of the enemy, one then attacks the sector defenses: orbital batteries, shields, and minefields, then one bombards the invaded enemy sector to "soften them up" as they are in powered up bunkers plus any additional defenses. Then send in the "boots on the ground".

This modded way then allows every magnificent military aspect of BotE to shine. One has to defeat all of these to win by conquering and it quite a task to do so. You are going to get a lot of starships destroyed and a lot of attackers and defenders killed. Attrition should be realistically high.

In history, a small number of defenders in a citadel could hold off the siege until reinforcements arrived to chase them away. And the invader's attrition was very high. But with the better subclasses of ships having so much bombardment power (massive amounts of torpedos in a fleet) that will turn the tide.

Likely the most bloodthirsty wins and that is the Khaoran, but only if they defeat the Cartare, Rotharians, and Omega before they can employ security to sabotage. It is a race in every respect.

[UesugiKenshin]

A Khaoran player established a base of inhabited sectors to muster starships and troops, stops colonizing (but keeps colony ships to terraform in reserve), and then full on attacks. They don't make enough money to win any other way.

The Terrans are the opposite. They cannot bombard and really want a diplomatic victory as they can't really win by conquering as the negative morale check would be HUGE.

The Heyoun have problems all around.

The Cartare, Rotharians, and Omega all fear each other's subterfuge power through sabotage and yet have to take out the Khaorans first. The Rotharians likely are overwhelmed as they have no allies as they are soloists and they have all of these enemies. You have to be a heck of a player to win as the Rotharians in my opinion in a properly modded scenario. The very best players should play as the Rotharians or try to win by conquering as the Terrans and not have the morale issues disintegrate the Terran Coalition. Those are the hardest ways to win in a properly balanced scenario.

The Omega are the true threat. No weaknesses, but not in first place militarily.

Treaties are worthless unless playing with humans and likely still are worthless. Don't be naive.

[UesugiKenshin]

All the other ways to win likely are nonsensical besides conquering the galaxy or if transcendence existed as a victory. The latter simply as humans do not fear termites.

A diplomatic victory is like achieving a stalemate in chess. The next game would likely be a loss. A diplomatic victory could happen where one is like a bodhisattva and achieves transcendence through research, but elects to meddle in the galaxy, and not conquer one's neighbors. You get along with everyone and they fear you and cannot invade.

From start to finish in such a grand galactic map could take a year to play, or as an advanced save game at #300, maybe 3 to 6 months of play. It would be very satisfying and wonderfully complex.

[UesugiKenshin]

With distractions due to Covid-19, this Omega game played in intense bursts has taken almost 3 months. Sometimes that was played 8+ hours a day with some gaps. The map is so large that even with absorbing all the armadas by sabotage, it still takes time to wisely deploy starships and troops. Four empires were rapidly taken over 20 turns, but the Heyoun are spread out plus all their member minor races. Those were not fast turns as the top warp speed is 4.2 sectors per turn.

[UesugiKenshin]

The smallest subset of wargamers are builders who are turtlers, yet this is who BotE is designed for. But if Bote is modded at advanced levels, immediately all the military aspects emerge, and then custom advanced save games can be tailored regarding time requirements as those number of opponents and galactic map sizes will be smaller but properly authentic to what would likely happen. The AI would have an increasingly good chance to win battles and not be successfully invaded in such an easy manner. That will have wide appeal...even now...many years after BotE for Android was released.

I believe these are worthwhile goals or I would not have spent ten to eleven months working on understanding BotE.

Then we can get to genuine space combat with some economic micromanagement versus 90 to 95 economic micromanagement for 480 turns and some combat.

Add some story and new elements, and BotE for Android will continue to be played for 5 more years.

It won't appeal to RTS purists, yet this is truly nonsensical as few game honestly are RTS for space combat and actually are impossible to win unless handicapping the AI versus speed and reaction time.

[UesugiKenshin]

As BotE is 2D, then really if BotE is optimized so empire building through economic micromanagement now is minimized, then BotE would be akin to naval engagements in space. Then the space combat formula and starship attributes and specialized ship to ship sorties and fleet composition and engagements would rise to the top. All of that is subdued now.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortie
The original medieval term was sallying out to use cavalry and skirmishers (likely men at arms) as behind castle walls, they were otherwise useless. You sent them out to attack struggling invaders who were demoralized, then flanked them, and your men at arms rallied and attacked them. The invaders had to make a stand and if demoralized, then be smashed in a horse sandwich.]

Diplomacy would break down, and the game would be very similar to WW2 in the Pacific Theater with Japan versus the USA. Losing those battles creates a power vacuum and the winner expands their sphere of influence.

BotE would be about naval tactics like this video on capital ships in Star Wars.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v7aHZybrn9Q
Or this.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sUPtgTTSVqo

To get there, we need those advanced save games so advanced players can jump right in to a 8-20 hour game versus a 480+ hour game.

The larger the time commitment, the smaller the subset of wargamers willing to invest that time. And many will complain there is no "pay off" with a pretty space battle as it is a calculation.

[UesugiKenshin]

This is why ship to ship combat, without any complexity, can be quite like two knights on horseback. It really is akin to lancers attacking one another as cavalry. The second it gets complex, then it is like a naval engagement as those starships have all got different roles and functions they actually play within a fleet.

Or course starship fighters dogfighting is like any postmodern jet fighting.

If we could have formations, then you could have upsets where an unexpected formation allowed you to flee (likely based on slightly being faster and or more manueverable) or humiliate a foe. That would be thrilling.

[UesugiKenshin]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-tXvZhGQSqY
Battle of Kerak
Kingdom of Heaven

Balkan knows if he does not sally out, the people retreating will be mowed down like wheat to be harvested. So it is suicidal but admirable, but luckily his opponent is chivalrous, and massive reinforcements arrived. Deus ex machina.

Similar starships fighting similar starships is a lot like cavalry battles and jockeying for position to use combat, ranged weapons, and enveloping the foe.

[Saladin did terrible things, and most don't realize that, but he admired Richard the Lion Heart, and when Richard lost his horse in such a battle, he offered him a fresh mount as that was the proper chivalrous thing to do.]