[MOD 1.1] Space exploration - is it this easy?

Topics and discussion about specific mods
Post Reply
User avatar
freeafrica
Inserter
Inserter
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2019 2:33 pm
Contact:

[MOD 1.1] Space exploration - is it this easy?

Post by freeafrica »

I've played mostly vanilla until now and I was always looking for hardcore experience, so death-world marathon was my go-to scenario. I've beaten it a lot of times w/ most challenging starts I could come up with.

When starting a new space exploration game by using the `Space Exploration Defaults` settings on map generation, I've noticed pollution/evolution settings are really turned down. I enjoy the reworked research tree and also am curious about late game additions, but I feel the biter/enemy threat is non-existent. I'm in the blue science period, am I just too impatient? Does it get more rough later on? I've checked the intro page of the mod, but there was no details about this aspect.

Ty for answers/opinions!

User avatar
Stringweasel
Filter Inserter
Filter Inserter
Posts: 310
Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2017 8:22 pm
Contact:

Re: [MOD 1.1] Space exploration - is it this easy?

Post by Stringweasel »

When I played it biters wasn't very hard in Space Exploration. I think the goal of SE is more logistic challenges with inter-planetary logisitcs and all kinds of fun toys. If you're at blue science then you will start to see it soon. So, currently there's not much focus on biters. Some people add Rampant or Armoured Biters to make the biter threat a little harder. But, if your PC isn't very strong, and you're planning on building a big factory, then I wouln't recommend adding too much biters. A end-game SE base can get really gigantic, and your UPS might start to drop.
Alt-F4 Author | Factorio Modder
Mods: Hall of Fame | Better Victory Screen | Fluidic Power | Biter Power | Space Spidertron | Spidertron Dock | Weasel's Demolition Derby

mmmPI
Smart Inserter
Smart Inserter
Posts: 2677
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:10 pm
Contact:

Re: [MOD 1.1] Space exploration - is it this easy?

Post by mmmPI »

Although i haven't played the latest version of SE , i would agree , when i played with the mods the biters were not a constant threat rather a milestone past which they are insignificant. Contrary to death-world, SE doesn't increase the pressure from ennemy i would say although it may increase the number of front or area to protect, but it doesn't increase the required density of defense in those area. And you get better weapons from the mod.

Blue science is very early game in SE as most of the mod's cool additions are unlocked and become necessary later, requiring massive base and original logisitic challenge compared to vanilla but not much in the term of combat. I would say even sending the first few rockets to space is part of the introduction with SE where you really have a lot more things to figure out and build than in a marathon game.

The defense logistic is made more difficult but not the actual combat.

User avatar
MEOWMI
Filter Inserter
Filter Inserter
Posts: 307
Joined: Wed May 22, 2019 12:21 pm
Contact:

Re: [MOD 1.1] Space exploration - is it this easy?

Post by MEOWMI »

I played on deathworld in SE 0.5 and it seemed rather close to vanilla deathworld. I can't comment on pollution or evolution settings, I didn't notice a difference, they seemed fairly normal to me as well (unless they changed in 0.6 which seems unlikely though.) Unfortunately, I have no idea about the "normal default" settings that SE has. I just chose deathworld and it worked fine, so I assumed that was an intended setting.

Once you get into space, planets have their own biter density, and I don't think deathworld affects that, other than the rate of pollution spread and absorption rates which I believe are constant as per game settings. Or it is possible that deathworld makes the enemy density be multiplied, but there will still be several planets with no biter presence at all. The difficulty is much more focused on the logistical side, rather than biter combat, but it doesn't seem easier per se to me.

I found that, on average, ground absorption seems to be noticeably higher on Nauvis due to Alien Biomes which adds extra lush forests too, but this shouldn't really matter that much as it barely matters on small scales, trees are like 100x as impactful. The biter attack AI is harder, as you can no longer force them down random pathways with flamers, a lot of them will just attack the walls directly. If you have the mod that changes how projectiles work then that will make it a lot easier, as spitters no longer shoot over walls. I didn't use that one because that's clearly overpowered. Also, the advanced walls in SE are extremely resilient, which increases protection by a lot. Nukes are heavily nerfed due to cost increases and uranium availability decreases.

In general there are a lot of additional weapons and tools you can use, the jetpack being a very early one that can be exploited heavily. Most other weapons come later on and seem fair considering the interplanetary base you'll be making.

Worth noting that if you get like a lush forest around your base, then pollution will be much more easily absorbed. This of course can happen to some degree in vanilla, but either way, that could very significantly reduce attacks early on.

Post Reply

Return to “Mods”