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[Jman4117]

I'd have to say that Ascendancy had about the most potential for greatness of any such games that I've played. The massive galaxy sphere and competition among alien races comes to mind here. It's brain-dead AI and the micromanagement nightmare later in the game really bring it down a LOT. If only it had multiplayer....... :evil:

[FlyByAl]

This is a fantastic game and I heartily recommend it, just make sure you install the patch as the original AI is hopeless!

Ascendency has some really esoteric moments and some great ideas. The more you play the game the more you uncover its deep idiosyncracies and find yourself losing track of time. I personally believe this just pips the post when stood next to Master of Orion or its sequel, my only gripe with the version on offer here is it can start to chug a bit in DOSBOX although it rarely detracts from an altogether enjoyable game.

There is a sequel (of sorts) to Ascendency called The Tone Rebellion which like the older sibiling boasts some equally strange moments. its an RTS set in an ethereal alien setting and is an excellent title with some really well executed ideas. I've been trying to get another copy of it now for some time but to no avail! If any of you esteemed folk know where I could possibly find it please let me know, as I'm sure it must be Abandoware by now.

Nice one

Well... This *IS* a great game!

The only thing I find bad is that it is too easy (which partly can be solved by the antag-patch, but still...) and the incredible annoying 'ding'-sound when you click the left mouse button
Managing many planets is not the most fun, but when one have developed the Endless Party, Scientist Takeover etc. this becomes a minor problem...

Clicking 'shift' or 'alt' enables a help-function which should help beginners.

If only I could build a bigger fleet than only 2 ships... But no! The computer just flood me until I can't do anything about it (even with several missiles at the same planet) and conquer my planets one by one...

Well... You surely have to learn how to make colonizers, starlane drives etc. More plannets makes you able to support more ships.
If you want to keep the enemy from taking your planets, orbital shields (and eventyally upgraded versions) and surface shields should keep them away.
Missile-defence will have to be launched manually.


That is all for now! I can do nothing but recommend this game, though it is quite slow compared to other computergames.

Has anyone found a site that lists what certain benefits certain buildings give?

Does scientific retreat actually give any benefit other than dividing your resources a differnet way

For instance. If you build a factory complex on a red square and a research building on a blue square. Is it worth building a metroplex instead. I need a list of what buildings give what bonus's.

Also, what use is productivity? only for faster replenishing of your working person? Most of my big planets are industry. For super fast ship bulding and placement. If i want research I simply turn all industry over to the scientists (no need for alot of research buildings). So with me, building alot of research and "food" buldings doesn't seem to do much. Industry is where you want.

But I like the game a lot, its a pretty version of Masters of Orion, without the AI.

[Jman4117]

I've found that the mixed versions of building are not as good as having just plain ones. Mainly from the added confusion. If I remember right the advanced versions of the labs, factories, etc give 2 in their field +what color tile they are on. Build a factory on blue you get 2 industry/ 1 science. Build the Engineering thingy on red, same results. Generally best to specialize the colony towards industry until you fill all the red squares with factories (+3) then go for the science structures when you can build them in like 5 days. :P (With enough prosperity in the meantime to grow your pop of course).

In beginning heaven,in end hell.
I really enjoyed this game first 1000round but then it turned into nightmare.I had 15 planets had buitl buildings in 2 turns so i have aproximetly 7 messages pro turn...(I am not counting planets with scientist takeover/endless party or less industious planets.....)It ended up when i realizied that in hour I made just 30 rounds.And i couldnt play after that.Micromanagment in this game just kills it great potential.
And of course its poor AI...I have won the game and i have realized that you must activate shields just now in this forum.And dont agrue about my grammatic i am slovak and i have been learníng english just for three years....

Yea you definitely want the advanced AI patch, because the normal game is very pretty, but very sucky gameplay. The first time playing I played normal mode (without AI patch) and after controlling like 50-100 planets, I ran into the enemy and saw they had maybe 10. So of course I was like, ok, they kinda suck.

The advanced AI patch is a MUST HAVE for decent gameplay. And beginners should play it on normal, while better players play it on hostile.

Yea we already know the downsides of the game are Micromanagement and sucky AI. The AI patch helps to make up for the latter, but Micromanagement is really a downside. Also, some of the races are kinda weak compared to the powers of others. A few races are extremely good to play, their special abilities really work to help. Other races on the other hand have special abilities that you might use a couple times max, which sucks.

For instance. One race lets you instantly learn scientific areas. Thus you can save a good 100-2000 research days every 85ish days. You will use this every time to your advantage. but another race can make their colonies invulnerable for 1 day every 85ish days. ooooooooooookkk. This is good ONLY if your being attacked, and unless the entire enemy fleet is attacking at the same time, you wont have its benefit except maybe against a couple ships. Big deal. Like I said, some are worth playing, others are pretty much useless.

Lastly in the bad department, you cant move resources from planet to planet. Which SUCKS! How sad is it if you have a huge developed planet, and right next to it, a sucky little barren planet that you cant do much with. It would have been so great to be able to trade resources back and forth.

Playing in Hostile mode (advanced AI patch) really is a big difference than playing in peaceful mode. You cant just run around and capture things to your hearts content. The enemy has the annoying habbit of running around capturing your colonies right back. You really have to emply a totally differnet method, and a much more fun and challenging one than simply capturing planets.

I agree that the special colony housing are kinda worthless, they really dont give much of a benefit over the basic buildings. After testing them out, I find the Engineer retreats, logic trees, etc to be worthless. Especially considering you don't get them early, and have to research them for a long time.

I also see that different planet "types" seem to benefit one area over another. Like Gaea planets, Mineral planets, etc. Ive seen planets where my productivity buildings were reduced -1, so basic buildings didnt get much benefit. I'll have to test it out and see what gives what.

[TwoHedWlf]

It sounds like most people have the game working with sound, but, I can't get the sound to work. I have a SB live 5.1 sound card and have tried just about every setting I can find to get the sound to work using dosbox. anyone have the same sound card with it working and can tell me what you're doing?

[eolsunder]

I have some basic FAQS made up for the great game, but I don't know if Abandonia takes FAQS, or if they do where they would put it. They are up on another gaming site, GAMEFAQS.com if anyone wants to take a look at some basic stuff in Ascendency.

If the staff at Abandonia does have someplace to put FAQs, they can take them off Gamefaqs and use them. If not, visitors can just download them for their own computer and use them.

Im a big masters of orion fan, and this game is very similiar to that one, better graphics but not as good gameplay. Even then, its still one of my current favorites to play.

[dragonLancer]

:blink: WOW this game looks complex :blink:
hurts my brain LOL :guns: