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You must sign in to post. | Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 4, 2009 @ 11:17am |
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 ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | 
Planets, Wassily Kandinsky | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 4, 2009 @ 11:48am |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | 
Galcon is a proportional progression from Order to Chaos and back to Order. Order is re-established by the player who most closely follows the laws of Circular Proportionality.
Those who violate these laws and maintain imbalance will lose the ability to establish Order:
Duel of the Tards
Linear confrontation in violation of the Law.
Red has sent too may forces to capture the central planet.
He is not in balance.
The forces of Proportionality punish the Violator and Balance is re-established. | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 4, 2009 @ 11:58am |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | 
A variation of the previous chart.
Blue targets Red's corner planets by firing through (and around) Red's target planet.
While the Blue forces take a longer route, Red loses time (tempo) by withdrawing forces to try and re-establish balance.post updated on Jun 4, 2009 @ 11:59am | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 4, 2009 @ 12:17pm |
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 the_musician
Joined: Apr 2, 2009
Posts: 640
Location: the.musician.is.in (at)g | The author of this content has moved this post to:
http://www.galcon.com/forums/14/15/2869/?cur=20#43340post updated on Aug 31, 2010 @ 1:05pm | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 4, 2009 @ 1:19pm |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | Why the Computer Always Loses
To understand the process by which forces "flow" in Galcon, it is first necessary to defeat the computer (in Multi-stripe mode, of course.) If you consistently lose against the computer, then you have learned nothing and are merely hoping for randomness and chance to work in your favor.
The following example shows the computer as it attacks down the Long Screen. The computer attacks with a high percentage factor so as to capture neighboring planets quickly and then move on. Because of the computer's success, new players are prone to adopting its strategy in gameplay. They believe that using 75% to attack the closest planets is the formula for success. It is not. The computer always loses for several reasons.
First, the computer attacks through a linear progression.
Second, the computer expends too much force in capturing neutral planets.
The following chart shows a circular, balanced response to the computerized attack:
Blue fires 50% at the first planet captured by Red (computer.) While this force is in transit, Red captures a second planet, against which, Blue fires another 50% shot (approx. 25 ships.) There is often a pause as Red masses his forces to capture a third planet, against which Blue fires a third 50% shot.
The computer is programed to aggressively capture neutral planets and advance at 75%. It tends to think tactically.
In this example, Blue wastes no forces against neutral planets, and so, preserves his initial advantage in shipcount. Blue is responding to the moves of the computer, and so, is in balance. The Blue forces "flow" away from the Red spearhead and establish a "circular" movement.
It is a misconception that "leaving it at 75%" and fighting locally will ensure a win. It will not. Balance is achieved only through more delicate control of force (25/50% attack ratios) coupled with a more strategic understanding of the position.
Those who move at 100% throughout the game have little understanding of the mechanics of Galcon. These people should be playing checkers. | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 4, 2009 @ 1:49pm |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | The Musician wrote:
This kind of situation requires finesse to win rather then brute force. even 1 extra ship is enough to force a win here. Blue needs to switch to 75% and send multiple times to the cetnral point in order to neutralize Reds forces going there.
This fails.
Let us review the Laws of Galcon.
1. Capture planets using no more force than is necessary.
2. Capture planets using as few moves as possible.
3. Go with the flow and avoid linear encounters.
Red captures the target planet, but uses too many ships to do so. This is in violation of the First Law. Because of this, he must now re-direct his fleet. This causes a violation of the Second Law. Red is fighting "Head On," and in violation of the Third Law.
Let's run the numbers:
Blue cedes the target planet, but makes Red use excessive force to take it. The position resolves to this:
Advantage: Blue.post updated on Jun 4, 2009 @ 1:50pm | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 4, 2009 @ 2:14pm |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | 
Michael Hutter | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 4, 2009 @ 3:38pm |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | The Musician wrote:
blues forces are all located away from his own planets, while reds are closer and therefore can arrive as reinforcements quicker.
You are thinking too much in terms of 3p/4p, which does not obey the Laws of Galcon. FFA is very much a linear affair, similar to the old game of Risk, where massed forces smash against one another. This is Vulgar Galcon. Only matched games, such as 1v1/2v2 are "True" Galcon.
You have captured a planet using way too many ships and are now trying to compensate. You are swiping back and forth to re-balance your fleet after Blue has made only two moves. During this period, Blue can utilize this valuable time to plan other maneuvers.
Yes, your localized forces are better prepared for defense, but they are surrounded and have lost attacking possibilities.
Thanks for the props. Glad you took the time to stop by. | | Re: Message to the 100 Percentards :: Jun 4, 2009 @ 9:37pm |
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deuce 
Joined: Apr 13, 2009
Posts: 675 | Awesome stuff.
The key to this whole thing is precision. You want to take planets with as few ships as possible. Precision is just one of the factors that make up a great player but its a big one. If you have precision then you are well on your way to becoming a great player. There is no need to send 100 ships towards the corner of the galaxy just to take an empty planet. Mix up the percentages, send multiple fleets, micro a bit. Do whatever works best for you but remember, precision is a huge part of being a good player. | | Re: Message to the 100 Percentards :: Jun 5, 2009 @ 2:02am |
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strangelove 
Joined: Nov 11, 2008
Posts: 288
Location: áÃ�úð, ÷à | It's not about this percentage or that percentage, it's about using them all and switching effortlessly from one to another. There's a time and a place for all percentages. | | Re: Message to the 100 Percentards :: Jun 5, 2009 @ 7:58am |
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gammatigerx 
Joined: Sep 15, 2008
Posts: 867
Location: Maryland | There's a time and a place for all percentages.
Except 25. . . or 50 xD
Honestly, they do have their place, but I find briefly using them is more likely to mess me up in the long run if I then switch to the wrong percentage without noticing. | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 5, 2009 @ 11:10am |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | Thanks everyone for posting. I am glad there is a dialog on this.
First of all, because of the HORRIBLE implementation of the percentameter, many players do not have much time to shift back and forth with attacking strengths. At some point you've got to leave it somewhere, handle the situation, and then switch percentages when you have the time. And after playing numerous games, it's quite obvious that the vast majority of people leave it on 75/100 for nearly the whole match.
The following diagram illustrates WHY 75% is so popular:
Using 75% gets a lot of ships in the air, where they are safe from attack. Since everyone else is using 75%, there are lots of thinly defended planets to land on. So, for a brief while it appears that you are preserving ship strength.
The next diagram shows 50/75 exchanges:
You can see right away that 75% gains no advantage. I know this may seem obvious to some people, but notice that when you use "75% All The Time," I get to decide the ship density we'll be playing with. If I gear down to 50%, you're going to be fighting with half the number of ships you are used to. Fighting with a thinner force requires more precision as production rates (as a function of overall ship density) become much more significant. But, don't believe me... watch the games. When the 75/100tards see their forces whittled down to 1/4 strength they invariably lose to proportional players. | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 5, 2009 @ 12:14pm |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | The Musician wrote:
I think you are essentially correct in your position however... I can see it playing out in real life circumstances better in the desktop version where there is time and room for critical thinking and accurate planning to occur. But not on the iphone version where psychology, reaction time and agility count more towards winning.
Alright, let's look at agility here.
You are quite right that iGalcon requires fast reaction time and (finger) agility to win. So, the less time I spend shifting the percentameter around, the more time I have to concentrate. Also, the more evenly the ships "flow," the easier it is to make calculations for coordinated attacks.
So, here we have two planets, each firing 3 successive shots at constant percentages. One player at 50%, the other at 75%:
Yes, your "Super Punch" packs quite a whollop, but the chances are you are going to be sending too many ships to take your target and will then have to redirect them. Since I am making more economical victories I don't have to be that concerned with this and can concentrate more on coordinating my attacks.
Once you've launched 75%, your planet will be practically empty should you fire again from it, so it's essentially useless for offensive purposes for a while.
My second and third shots are still viable, especially when combined with forces from my other planets; so I remain more agile because I have more alternatives.
The numbers are easy to work with. The lopsided movement of 75% attacks are more difficult to calculate during rapid battle sequences. It's easier to see the "flow" of your forces and make plans with 50%. | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 5, 2009 @ 1:22pm |
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the_musician
Joined: Apr 2, 2009
Posts: 640
Location: the.musician.is.in (at)g | Content removed by Author. Re posted here:
http://www.galcon.com/forums/14/15/2869/?cur=20#43343post updated on Aug 31, 2010 @ 1:22pm | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 5, 2009 @ 1:32pm |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! |  | | Redesign :: Jun 5, 2009 @ 11:32pm |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! |  | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 7, 2009 @ 4:21pm |
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nohbdy Joined: Sep 26, 2008
Posts: 100 | I admit that the mathematics of what you have said seem sound, but the problem is the assumption you have been making throughout this thread that the players are sending their guys to the same planets (this being the most major assumption made, leaving alone factors like distance of the contested planets from home planets the ships originate from and who arrives first and must expend ships to initially take the planet before the confrontation between players). This usually does not happen, as players often take one or two planets change before actually attacking a contested planet. The one or two planets each change the MATHEMATICS drastically, as you now have factors like the cost of those planets, the location of those planets, the size of those planets, etc, etc. Do you have any way of dealing with this variation? I personally believe the higher versatility of using 75% or 100% enables players to cope much better with this variability. | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 8, 2009 @ 11:40am |
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 sbdxaric
Joined: Apr 13, 2009
Posts: 520 | Sigh...
50% works in 2v2 BECAUSE of the strategies people have created for 2v2. Some 2v2 strategies are just HORRIBLE. If your facing a noob that is starting to feed his fleet to his partner, you send 50% at his original planet at his original planet, another 50% at the planet hes feeding and then u send the rest you have at his partners home planet. Then you hope to god ur own partner has the skill to win it when they attack you. | | Back to Basics :: Jun 11, 2009 @ 1:01pm |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | There are four basic features of Galcon, and they are related thusly:
Starting Shipcount <-----> Neutral Shipcount
Planet Production <----->Ship Speed
The second relationship is the most critical. To get a better understanding of how these two factors relate, let's look at a game of chess.
Most games between serious players are timed. 20 or 30 minutes is a nice choice for a leisurely game. 10/15 minutes is a brisk pace and what you often see guys in the park using. 5 minute games are referred to as "Speed Chess." Speed Chess players are their own special breed of people. The game requires thorough knowledge of established opening strategy, or "book moves." The first player to go "off the book" begins consuming more time to think and runs into a disadvantage. It's a fast, often stressful variation of the game and not too many beginners like it.
Planet production/Ship Speed (the two "timed" elements of Galcon) is like the clock in a chess game. When production is turned up relative to ship speed (as the number gets "bigger,") the games are shorter and faster. This is because of two things. The first is that starting shipcount has little effect. 10 ships crashing into each other equals 0 and 1,000 ships crashing into each other equals the same thing. The only thing left over are the planets and their production rates. The person left with the most planets producing the most ships has the advantage. Secondly, as the planets produce so many ships relative to the speed required to attack them, larger ratios require that you capture these planets quicker. As the ratio gets smaller, reckless attackers cannot rely exclusively on rapid production rates to defend their home planet fields while the fleet is off attacking. So, they have to develop their positions with a little more restraint. Put in another way, when you fire large fleets, they seem to travel "faster." When a small fleet is sent on a long journey, they never seem to be going fast enough.
For this reason, the current construction of Galcon is very much like playing speed chess. Notice that I am not condemning the system as "bad" or "wrong." It's just designed to be very, very fast. And that's fine for people who enjoy playing 20-second games all the time. Personally, I would like to see the ratio turned down to allow for a slightly more "leisurely" game of, say... 2 minutes (?) or so. But, the ratios are what they are, and if you want to WIN, you've got to play the game fast. So, I will not be trying to get players to adopt slower, more contemplative gameplay when the mechanics of the game are working against that. After all, it's no fun if you lose, right? And I won't be petitioning for a ratio change to suit MY playing preference. The game is what it is and it can be fun to play, and that's all good. | | Re: Planet IPCRESS :: Jun 11, 2009 @ 1:08pm |
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ipcress
Joined: Feb 7, 2009
Posts: 1298
Location: Get off my lawn! | Hey, no.pwnage. Learned a few things playing you guys yesterday. I am always interested in watching experienced players who use coordinated, winning strategies. Gives me an opportunity to try a variety of things and see how they [don't] work ;) |
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