VGAP 4 versus VGAP 3

Having never played an earlier version of Planets, I can't make any
comparisons, but I can speak to the learning curve of VGAP4.

When I first opened my first test RST, I was very, very intimidated by
the vast array of options set before me. Initially, I moved through the
tutorial on VGAP4 International in tiny little steps spaced a day
apart, because I couldn't gather the energy I thought I needed to
really hammer at the game until it made sense.

By the time I was half way through that tutorial, however, it had all
turned out to be much, much simpler than I had imagined.

Working out how to play well at a strategic level requires a lot of
research and a reasonable amount of actual experience (or a little
research and insane amounts of experience and simming), but getting a
handle on the raw basics is deceptively easy.
 >> Stay informed about: VGAP 4 versus VGAP 3 

I have played 3.0/3.5 for a long time before switching to 4.0 - and I
have to say that by now this switch is complete. I find everything and
more in 4.0 that I ever wanted from the prior versions. Yes, it took me
a couple of turns or maybe even games to fully grasp the potential and
strategy of this game. But it was soooo worth it!! There are still
features and "moves" that I have never tried yet - but this just adds
to the flavor of a vast and exciting universe, where surprises are
behind every corner.

Give it a try and chances are, you will really like it!

Claudius

P.S.: It took me forever to get my 3.0-community that I played with
regularly to even try planets4 for one turn. But after they tried -
EACH ONE was hooked and is now a devoted 4.0 player...
 >> Stay informed about: VGAP 4 versus VGAP 3 

I alos played V3 for a long time and as soon as you get into V 4 you
will not regret it.
V4 has so much more going for it.

Give it a try..
 >> Stay informed about: VGAP 4 versus VGAP 3 

I played VGAP3 for a few years and when the first Beta of V4 came out, I
thought, hmm:

- 500 ship limit gone (actually there's a 20,000 object limit but it's
handled much better, effectively you don't need to worry about it 'til
turn 50+)

- You can undo any order without redoing the whole turn

- More than 11 players in a game (actually I then found >10 makes for
problems)

- No limits to how many people can play say Lizards in the same game

And some other things that sounded neat. I had been chafing at the
artifical limits in VGAP3 and this promised a solution to them all. I
didn't have a learning curve as such 'cos Beta 1 was really ropy and I
expected that... in fact I wrote some stuff (KlingonKommand) to help
others play. I just attacked it in order to get the benefit of a
relatively unlimited game system similar to VGAP3.

I wouldn't go back to VGAP3. Too arbitrary. But some caveats about
VGAP4:

- Crystals have been wrecked. Webs are overcomplex. The VGAP3 Crystal
powers were much simpler, more playable.
- I have no idea why ore is in the game. Concerted mass whining has
managed to eliminate a few bits from V4, such as the now almost-obsolete
Med units. But Tim is reluctant to streamline the game.
- There are few 3rd party utilities because Tim hasn't released any
tools to manipulate host files, and the data structure is too complex to
hack. One guy has managed to hack the race pack structure.
- Players seem to whine a lot more about unfairness in V4 than V3. For
example some people get whacked by a race using say hyperspace attacks,
and shout all over the newsgroup / mailing list about how unbalanced it
all is. Bollocks! The races have deliberate Achilles Heels. Ally or die.
Don't be put off by whining about game balance. Sure, there's (always!)
some tinkering needing doing - Tim just did some big changes to fighters
in the last Host, balancing even bigger ones in the previous Host. Maybe
they need one more set of minor adjustments; maybe folk will grow
accustomed to the new balance of power.
 >> Stay informed about: VGAP 4 versus VGAP 3 

I have been playing since 2003, and since 2004 on Drew, I have still
only played 8 races, sticking with the Bots - I think I have them
cracked now.

Anyway my point is what a great game I have never stuck with a game or
a game has never stuck with me so long; I only wish I could give up
work and spend more time learning how to play this game and all it's
races.

P.S. Don't you just love it when after many turns of planning it all go
wrong and you have just learn't another lesson.
 >> Stay informed about: VGAP 4 versus VGAP 3 

KlingonKommand wrote:
> - 500 ship limit gone (actually there's a 20,000 object limit but it's
> handled much better, effectively you don't need to worry about it 'til
> turn 50+)

v3 now has a 999 ship limit. Either with Tim's Host999, or with PHost
4.x. You needn't worry about the 999 ship limit before turn 50 as well,
but the game becomes very time-consuming. 500 ships is a good compromise
(I always enjoy the phase of relief when the ship limit hits, because
that means I needn't push freighters around like crazy to build a ship
each turn).

> - You can undo any order without redoing the whole turn

You can do that with any decent v3 client as well.

> - More than 11 players in a game (actually I then found >10 makes for
> problems)

It would sometimes be nice to have the possibility to have more than 11
players. But as you say, >10 makes problems, and such a game needs time
to fill up anyway.

> - No limits to how many people can play say Lizards in the same game

Supported by the SRACE host and by PHost.

> I wouldn't go back to VGAP3. Too arbitrary.

I wouldn't go forward to v4, as it is now. Too complex, yet too little
choice in software.


Stefan
 >> Stay informed about: VGAP 4 versus VGAP 3