posted 03-01-99 12:26 PM ET        

Normal Factions should start with 10 nutrients-per-row & 10 minerals-per-row.
That works as expected, and due to their modificators, spartans start with 10Nrows but 11Mrows (-INDUSTRY), while Hive starts with both 9N & 9M rows.

This is not influenced by game level (same for citizen as for transcend).
It is instead influenced by planetsize:
things are made easier for small planets.
With SMALL, standard is 9-rows, both for N & M. Notice that 9 is referred to as 'normal rate'.
Same thing for TINY, where you start with both 8-rows as a normal rate.

Faction modifiers still apply correctly for Spartans, so they get 10Mrows & 9Mrows respectively.
The Hive is instead penalized, as they get the same effective rate as all other factions (9-rows in Small & 8-rows in Tiny), making their faction advantages simply vanish.
Apart ideological adversion (why then?) against the Hive, that seems to me a flaw in the game, not motivated enough by balancing reasons.

The really frunny thing comes out when you experiment with custom rules (the ones set before choosing your faction).
Right from the start I switched ON the "Look First" option, so all seemed to behave normally to me.
With the starting SUPPORT value always above -2, all normally get 10M bonus when they build a base (until they lower SUPPORT with Social Engineering).
That is not affected nor by difficulty, neither by planetsize (you still get 10M even if your rows are 8-cell long).
Then I tried switching OFF "Look first" (default), i.e. you get the first base straight away there where you land.

Surprise!
First, you don't start with 0 Nutrients in the vats, but you already have one normal turn surplus set aside (usually 2 or 1, maybe 3). Beware, the computer (governor?) chose the land square to be considered, you have no control on it.
Similarly, you add to the base mineral bonus one turn of production, plus (yes, I said PLUS) an EXTRA bonus, related to planetsize.

Breaking it down:

STANDARD
to HUGE: 10 + 5 + M (base + extra + production) already produced

SMALL : 9 + 4 + M

TINY : 8 + 4 + M

This is ALSO influenced by game level:
it applies in easy game (Citizen or Specialist)
in the upper 4 levels (Talent to Transcend) you DON'T GET the Base bonus!!
That turns out in only 5+M starting minerals, 4+M for Small & Tiny.
This applies to Spartans & Hive as well: they get the same mineral bonus as other factions, regardless of their M-rows being loger or shorter, as it is with 'Look First' turned ON.

That all means that in easiest levels you get rewarded if you don't look first, while in upper levels you get penalized for the same choice!
Have to say that it applies only to the FIRST base: if you get two pods, the second just puts up a base with the std M-bonus.

Final plug.

The Gaians behave as the other faction with 'Look First', standard base bonus, normal rates, also w/ small worlds.
The 'Don't Look First' option though has simply NO EFFECT on their first base M-bonus!!!

So, with 'Look First' OFF, they are NOT rewarded as others are (=they are penalized) in the 2 easiest levels, and they are NOT penalized (=they get an advantage) in the 4 upper levels.

It doesn't make any sense for me, I can't see how these parameters can be related, it just seems to me a really odd behaviour.

Can anyone, maybe Firaxis, explain it?
Was it intentional, or just a by-product of other settings and rules?
Should it be considered a flaw (and eventually fixed)?

When you MultiPlay, I guess all player have to set the same rules (do they get set by the host?): my vote will be for 'Look First' (if ou don't know your partner(s)).

posted 03-01-99 11:10 PM ET            

Very nice research there!

From what you have discovered, I would venture a guess that it is a BUG in the formulas. If so I hope that Firaxis reads this and corrects it in time for patch 3.0. I imagine the fix would not be difficult.

posted 03-01-99 11:13 PM ET            

I recall reading somewhere that when the game starts, it looks at each factions starting position, and if one faction is started on a small island with no expansion available, they get a free extra FOIL, etc ... is this "weighting" of the starting position itself causing an impact on this?

posted 03-02-99 05:20 AM ET            

Indeed the first base bonus is a minor detail, it all comes down to 5 minerals more or less at gamestart.
CaptComal, I didn't thought of starting positions weighting, but I assure I tried it more than one time for each possibility, and it always came out the same way.
BTW, that kind of analysis is the only viable for me: start, look, then start a new game straight away. It didn't rellay take that much time this way. Should I have to play some turns to check out something, I could never kick it up and restart to try a different way: I would surely be caught and forced to play eache single game all the way!

Maybe deserved more attention the problem with the Hive bonuses in small worlds.
Guess it would be more appropriate if I post a topic for that alone in the Strategy and/or Factions Forums.

Warming up for a jump start at the end of my workday (rushing home, SMAC home)!