Help with Alien Artifact

SirVincealot · April 24, 2002, 20:28

So...

I gots me one of 'em Alien Artifact thingy, I also gots me a Network Node ("I don't know but I been told..")

How do I link the two together?

How? How? How?

Thanx a mil
SirVincealot

Mongoose · April 24, 2002, 20:44

Simply move the AA into the base with the node. A dialog box pops up, asking if you want to link it (or , if you are also contructing either a prototype or a SP there, it will ask if you wish to use the AA to advance that construction) or do nothing for now. Select which action you want. If you do nothing for now, but wish to do one of those actions at a later time, activate the unit and give the 'o' command.

Capt Dizle · April 24, 2002, 23:23

Well, I'll be. I never knew about the "o" command. Learn something new about this game every day.

Has anyone ever used an AA on a prototype and if so under what circumstances. I have never used one for a wonder either.

Mongoose · April 24, 2002, 23:33

I did, jt. In Pente. Playing Morgan, I started 5 squares from Pagan's Hive.

I was shaking in my boots. Morgan doesn't have the capability to hurt the Hive very much early. Anyhow, when I had Impact and Plasma, but had only prototyped lasers and, of course, synthametal, I used my AA to rush a 4-3-1, getting both of my best systems PTd at once. Generally, I hate to use AA for anything other than techs, but this case was (I thought) a case of survival. 'Course, JAM crushed us all in that game. NEVER let a player of that caliber have the Gaians with abundant native life!!!

johndmuller · April 25, 2002, 00:36

I believe that an AA is worth 60 mins if cashed in to help build an SP. I'm not sure what it gets you if used for a prototype, perhaps the same.

I tend to use them for SP's rather than the other uses (although sometimes I just hang on to them perhaps to use late in the game - unfortunately, by then tech is cheap and SPs are really expensive).

RedFred · April 25, 2002, 01:16

I am quite happy to cash in AAs for SPs that are early on in the tech tree prior to crawlers, or for any SP in games where crawlers are forbidden.

But the prototyping does seem like a waste of a good AA unless you are dealing with a crisis situation. I've only done it once or twice.

Even with the 50% waste, Battle Ogres are a good alternative for lots of minerals in the early game. I like to wait until they are 80% or 90% damaged before melting them down.

Darius · April 25, 2002, 12:01

Quote:

Originally posted by johndmuller
I believe that an AA is worth 60 mins if cashed in to help build an SP.

I thought an AA was worth 50 mins?

Maybe SE settings confer a bonus?

SirVincealot · April 26, 2002, 14:20

Thanx, Mongoose.

I must mention that the dialogue box did NOT appear when I moved it into the town square. And NONE of the "action" submenues were of any help.

I did, however, hit the spacebar a few turns later ("skip turn") and VOILA, the dialogue box showed up. Tsk!

I did NOT know about the "o" command, though... Thanx a mil for that one!

Regards,
SirVincealot

Jethro83 · April 27, 2002, 22:59

If only the Universal Translator came earlier in the game. Its ability to cash in unlimited AAs in the base its built doesn't shine so much when all pod sites have been located and grabbed.

KrysiasKrusader · April 27, 2002, 23:44

When it looks like I've got a bad start in the early stages... I use Alien Artifacts to go scouting ! They are always able to enter fungus squares on their first attempt.
When you send colony pods out, and they continuosly can't enter a fungus area in order to settle on that lucrative resource just beyond your reach... Plop an alien artifact into that fungus square first. Other units can always enter a square with an other unit already there as long as they have at least one movement point remaining. You save valuable time in getting your colonies set up - toodling around in the fungus can be so aggravating

Jethro83 · April 27, 2002, 23:57

Quote:

Originally posted by KrysiasKrusader
When it looks like I've got a bad start in the early stages... I use Alien Artifacts to go scouting ! They are always able to enter fungus squares on their first attempt.
When you send colony pods out, and they continuosly can't enter a fungus area in order to settle on that lucrative resource just beyond your reach... Plop an alien artifact into that fungus square first. Other units can always enter a square with an other unit already there as long as they have at least one movement point remaining. You save valuable time in getting your colonies set up - toodling around in the fungus can be so aggravating

Whenever I try that, wild mindworm boils destroy my artifact.

KrysiasKrusader · April 28, 2002, 00:20

Yeah,... I hear their bad in SMAX... But I've only got SMAC...

Jethro83 · April 28, 2002, 00:25

Don't have SMAX either, but the early Mind Worm problems are still there. Also, don't forget that an artifact which can only move 1 space can't possibly run away from a mind worm which can move on xenofungus as if it were road.

Mongoose · April 28, 2002, 00:30

Alien artifacts can simply vanish when entering fungus squares alone! Using them as explorers or trailbalzers is...fooloish is the only word that comes to mind. Use a former for the trailblazing function. They never bounce, they only cost two rows to build, and they're available very early in the game. Best for that, of course, is a worm, but getting one can be problematic if you aren't the right faction(s).

Alex · April 28, 2002, 00:34

Interesting bit about that 'o' command. I did not know it. I always had to move my AA out of the city and then move it back inside it in order for the dialog box to pop up. It seemed stupid.

Chowlett · April 28, 2002, 08:51

I didn't know about 'o' either. I've always been an "activate, then space-bar" method proponent myself.

Method · April 28, 2002, 09:23

what does 'o' do exactly? automatic cash in artifact every turn or something?

Mongoose · April 28, 2002, 09:39

It just pops up the dialogue box re: link/put to project or PT/do nothing. I found it in IP play, actually. That's the ONLY way, IIRC, to use an artifact when playing IP. The other methods produce no pop-up box.

SirVincealot · April 28, 2002, 18:28

It actually makes -some- sense: the "O" shortcut is for "convoy". I used it ALL THE TIME when I sent supply crawlers/foils: I just didn't think to try that with the artifact.

That Unversal translator, man: you are so right! By the time I build the thing, artifacts are a rarity indeed!

Regards,
SirVincealot

johndmuller · April 29, 2002, 02:41

I've posted before that an AA will bring up the what-do-you-want-to-do-with-me dialog box simply by giving it the Shift-H (Hold for 10 turns) command, but since then I have noticed that that is not always true, sometimes it does not bring up the dialog box. My new theory is that the Shift-H brings it up only if you are otherwise eligible to use the AA - i.e. unlinked Net Node or Prototype in progress - which seems to make sense, but isn't really tested out yet)

Mongoose · April 29, 2002, 05:42

Error!! Retraction!!

Seems the O command doesn't work for AA, just for crawlers.

My bad memory got the better of me again.

Sorry.

"It's not what you don't know that hurts you. It's what you know that just ain't so." - Mark Twain

RedFred · April 29, 2002, 11:10

I've noticed that if you hold an AA at a base it will reactivate once a net node has been built. The space bar for an active AA inside a base always brings up the dialogue box for me.

One of the rare times I use the 'go to base' command is when I have already linked AAs to net nodes in many of my bases. The 'goto' will let you know the nearest unlinked net node.

Ogie Oglethorpe · April 29, 2002, 11:18

Unca Red,

Do you know if the goto allows an AA to go over a unpopped pod?

I don't use goto often if at all.

I do know that using an AA to pop a pod allows a 50/50 chance of said AA to instantly vaporize.

Og

mark13 · April 29, 2002, 11:56

Og,

I think it's the same for artifacts as it is for other units - if the pathfinding takes it over an unpopped pod the "Investigate pod beacon?" pop-up shows. If you select no, the unit's orders are cancelled, and you have to traverse the pod.

Alex · April 29, 2002, 13:34

Mongoose:

Just kidding, man.

RedFred · April 29, 2002, 13:45

Quote:

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
Unca Red,

Do you know if the goto allows an AA to go over a unpopped pod?

I don't use goto often if at all.

I do know that using an AA to pop a pod allows a 50/50 chance of said AA to instantly vaporize.

Og

Agreed. The AA hitting a pod is a recipe for disaster. It isn't any better in an encounter with enemy units or native life. Even a spore launcher can somehow take out an AA in one turn. Sending an AA through a patch of fungus is something I go out of my way to avoid.

If I have a bunch of linked net nodes it is typically midgame or later. By that time I have roads or mag tubes linking my cities. New AAs are coming in from overseas, whether it be from an ocean square or from another landmass. So I don't have any risk of an inadvertant pod pop with an AA.

So I can't personally verify Mark13's claim, but it seems reasonable.

Earwicker · May 2, 2002, 10:59

Quote:

Originally posted by RedFred
Agreed. The AA hitting a pod is a recipe for disaster. It isn't any better in an encounter with enemy units or native life. Even a spore launcher can somehow take out an AA in one turn. Sending an AA through a patch of fungus is something I go out of my way to avoid.

AA's vanish if you move them into a Monolith (but, strangely, not if your goto orders route them through a Monolith but with a destination further along). So when an AA pops a pod and vanishes, I assume it found a Monolith. The only time I use AA's for pod-popping is if I think there's no chance of getting it home (deep in enemy territory with its defender killed, or offloaded from a badly damaged transport). I'll pop pods in enemy territory in the hopes of getting money or units. If it vanishes, taking the monolith to vanish with it, then that's just part of the scorched earth approach.

If I have AA's in the early game, I only use them for SP production. The techs they would provide are available from trade or theft. It is only when I have achieved tech parity that AA's get linked to nodes, and I leap into the lead.

Blake · May 2, 2002, 18:33

In order to cash in an AA all you need to do is press "h" for hold, it then brings up the link/cash dialog, if you chose to not link/cash it'll just go on hold. (shift-h, space, may work too, but I've always used plain old hold... at least since I discovered it in a IP game)

And the only use I have ever found for automate units is automating AA's, once I get one close enough to my empire I just automate it and it finds itself a nice node or SP to link to, remarkably I have no complaints about the AA automation AI, when it gets to a base it can link to it brings up the Dialog, IIRC if you choose NO it'll go to another base and ask again. If there is nothing for it to link to it'll go to the nearest base and sleep until such time as a NN is built or SP is started, at which stage it activates and beelines to the new node/SP.

I'm a big advocate of using AA's exclusively to rush build SP's (in the early game anyway), then again I rarely bother to pod-pop later in the game when the AA's would provide tech which isn't available for stealing or trading.