In the game I just finished, I thought I had it won when I destroyed the last enemy colony. Instead, I had to finish off their last outpost before I could claim victory. That seems odd. Can the AI rebuild a civilization from an outpost? Could I, if I were in that situation? What's the thinking behind this?
It was the last enemy colony in the beginning. We changed that to last outpost at some point in time because if I remember correctly the AI players had a good chance at recovering from losing all colonies because there were no planetary assault mechanics in the game at that time, so all you needed to take over a world and get back to the game was a frigate. Now you need assault ships to take over worlds, so you cannot rebuild a civilization from an outpost so easily now, unless you have assault ships parked somewhere. Or, less likely, but still plausible, if you have colony ships parked somewhere as well, located at some outpost. Of course, by that time it's not easy to recover, but with a modest fleet and a couple assautl ships you might. This was debated on this thread in the past, if it should be to the last colony or outpost. As with so many other things it seemed like a matter of taste. One commenter preferred to the last outpost while another to the last colony. The game has changed since then, so it's reasonable to revisit this topic again.
OK, thanks Adam! Either way is OK by me, I just wanted to know. I do hope you revisit the idea eventually, but IMO it's not a critical decision. Keep up the good work!
One thing to keep in mind is that it IS possible for the AI to rebuild its empire purely due to revolts. When a planet revolts, it returns to its original faction. I have seen this happen with factions I've "eliminated" from the game. This probably wouldn't change the outcome in your session, where you were eliminating the last remaining faction, but it can be an issue if it is one you conquered earlier in the game and then got pulled away from to deal with other matters. I don't mind hunting down outposts, I just wouldn't want to have to chase every last ship on the map. When all their planetary objects have been taken, I consider the faction defeated (unless and until a planet revolts back to them).
Thinking about MOO2 brought this issue to mind. In that game, when you conquer the last planet of a faction, they are eliminated entirely. That includes miscellaneous ships (even colony ships) and outposts. I guess I was expecting the same thing in ISG. But, if that's not the case in this game, I'll go along with it. However, aReclusiveMind, I'm with you in that I'd hate to have to chase down every stray ship and outpost in existence before the game can end.
