posted 02-12-99 09:15 AM ET     

Can't build the Skunkworks base facility even when appropriate tech is discovered

Can't build Temple of Planet until after secret project Voice of Planet is finished

If you have done Space Elevator secret project, the doubling effect of minerals towards building space facilities counts towards your ecological damage (this caused Planet to massively propagate fungus and attack most of my bases with 10-20 boil level native fauna every turn!!!)

Now the gameplay issues:

Planet seems way too powerful when it fights back against eco-damage. I had all ecology helping secret projects, all ecology helping base facilities, and every base was forest in every square, except the base square). This produces around 60 minerals/turn at each base with no eco-damage. Add any of the facilities that improve mineral production (or build space item with space elevator, see above) and eco-damage rockets into the 20's. Add all facilities and they go into the 90's. This sets off three effects that completely destroy the game:
1) Sea levels rise once every 3-4 years
2) Fungus propagates at a tremendous rate
3) Every base is attacked by 10+ boil-level, or higher, fauna every turn (attrition destroyed me within 30 turns)

All this was on Specialist difficulty w/o any boreholes (or any other improvement) and on standard map of planet. My planet rating was +4 and high Morale for all troops, but attrition destroyed them anyway.

Frankly this seems ridiculous to me, there is NO way to play the ideology of even mildly planet unfriendly. Maybe Centauri Preserve and Temple of Planet together should negate all effects of industry like Hybrid Forest and Tree farm negate all effects of terraforming, or at the very least tone the Planet's response WAY down. I couldn't find a setting in the Alpha.txt file to effect this, so maybe I will have to cheat and give every faction +500% PSI defense (even though this would ruin the early part of the game)

posted 02-12-99 10:57 AM ET            

jkm