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Author Topic:   Gamespot's University Tactics

Gorth posted 03-18-99 10:38 PM ET
I just read Gamespot's tactic for using UoP, and thought it made a good start. I am wondering how they forgot to mention the value of both the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm (to virtually cancel probe minuses) and the Virtual World (to control drones)
Any thoughts on why they might have been left out/forgotten?
-Gorth
Pax posted 03-18-99 11:17 PM ET
I think they mentioned the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm in one of those picture caption thingamajigs but I too was puzzled by the omission of the Virtual World. Mayhaps it was space constraints?
The guide was a good start but their claim of it being in-depth is, IMNSHO, utter tripe. So, you tell me how to build one MegaResearch City and the identification of some key secret projects and that's in-depth? Say it ain't so Tim...
Pax
SnowFire posted 03-18-99 11:49 PM ET
Oh yeah, that was more a wish list than faction strategy. "If you build this this is good." "This helps too." As well as some blatant factual errors- the knowledge social choice will not make you more suspetible to probe teams for the University, as they're already at -2, the lowest result that is "counted." And besides, most of their tips were not really faction strategy, but general strategy.
I'd like to say that from a stylistic perspective, Cybernetic may be better than Eudaimonism, but Eudaimonism will rake in a lot more science, and cash too with its economy bonus. They should have mentioned that, or at least mentioned that you only get a +10% research bonus from Cybernetic if you're using Knowledge; I think that the idea that "Cybernetic is better" is up to them, but they should dully explain the circumstances.
Did Tim write that, really? I doubt it. Though his guide in PC Gamer wasn't that good IMHO.
Blatant plug: I wrote a University faction strategy article awhile ago for The Mindworm. If you want to go compare, check out http://www.sidgames.com/ac/mindworm and go to the current issue.
Aceron posted 03-19-99 03:24 AM ET
Is it just me, or do you think we would've been better served by a startegy article for the least faorite faction.
Maybe a guide on making, say, the believers into a winning faction might make them used as something more than a challenge to the player.
After all, is a strat guide for the most used, talked about, and strategized faction really contributing that much.
P.S. I think the pages were messed up on the gamespot Faction guide.
Jimmy posted 03-19-99 07:50 AM ET
I also noticed that the pages were messed. The page with the screenshot from the probes and mentions the Hunter Seeker, was a repeat of the previous page. So, there is actually page missing. That explains a little for the lack of depth in the guide. They did give one undocumented feature, that artifacts are in pods in fungus. But let's look at something: is Firaxis really going to give away all the "secrets"? . If they did we would have a very informative strat guide but then the game would not have any challenge. Ultimately, Firaxis wants to sell the game and that means, only giving enough to wet our strategy appetites.
agoraphobe posted 03-19-99 09:17 AM ET
A winning Believer strategy under a variety of Planet configurations is being worked on. But here's for starters:
General strategy: Conquest or Diplomatic victory by military means.
Military strategy: Gear for conquest by building lots of high attack value units at an affordable level of technology.
Social Engineering / Build / Base Mgmt strategy: Follow this sequence:
- Probes tech / Fundy ASAP
- get Green ASAP, zero Labs
- Punishment Spheres! Slap one in every base, then switch to Free Market. Psi defense for -3 Planet
General military tactics: Does Miriam have a deal for you on Network Nodes! That's right, plunder captured bases, starve them down to size 1, let the enemy destroy them with their counterattack. There are only two reasons to keep a captured base:
- as a military marshalling point;
- as a gift to a Pact partner;
JT posted 03-19-99 09:19 AM ET
YOU wrote that?!?!? Geez, that thing was awesome! I play UoP almost everygame, have currently crushed at Thinker, and that _still_ helped a lot! Thanx!
P.S. Write one for Spartans next issue
Provost Forever,
JT
SnowFire posted 03-19-99 03:33 PM ET
Aceron: Actually, my first strategy guide that I wrote was for the Believers when everyone thought they were bad. It's out of date now, it was written at the time of the demo, but it's still there. Check the archives (Voice of Planet) at the website I mentioned earlier.
I'd say that the Believers are certainly not the weakest faction. If anything, it arguably goes to Morgan for the weakest faction.
EnBee posted 03-19-99 10:08 PM ET
This is a question for SnowFire. I'm not sure what you meant by '-2 research is the hihgest penalty that is counted'. The manual says that research can go as low as -5 (slowed by 50%).
Victor Galis posted 03-19-99 10:53 PM ET
I personally preferred Green/Power/Thought Control/Cybernetics for Uop. I had +4 (or 5 don't remember) research and +4 planet. My hordes of mindworms raked in the energy credits, and I was greener than green.
SnowFire posted 03-19-99 11:43 PM ET
You misinterpret me. I meant that only -2 Probe is counted, not research. So -4 Probe means nothing. And in any case, it is literally impossible to have a research penalty when playing as the University.
Shining1 posted 03-20-99 10:29 PM ET
Either you missed it, or they've rewriten the review, but they definitely included mention of the Virtual World. Quote: "This project is absolutely critical to your success." Under the section on drone management. They also do the Hunter Seeker in the probe weakness section. All in all a pretty good guide.
Agorephobe: You should also include the Planetary Datalinks in your believers tactics, as a way to keep up with the tech race for free. And I can't see why you would want the free market, with the believer's +2 support you should have no trouble building units, their research is roughly 0 with the rest of your strategy (punishment spheres - 50%, faction -20%, fundamentalist -20%). Remember, the believers have a -1 planet already, so Free market will give them -4, a -40% penalty to Psi combat. Not good, especially if your Gaian opponents catch on to this weakness.
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Author	Topic: Gamespot's University Tactics
Gorth	posted 03-18-99 10:38 PM ET I just read Gamespot's tactic for using UoP, and thought it made a good start. I am wondering how they forgot to mention the value of both the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm (to virtually cancel probe minuses) and the Virtual World (to control drones) Any thoughts on why they might have been left out/forgotten? -Gorth
Pax	posted 03-18-99 11:17 PM ET I think they mentioned the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm in one of those picture caption thingamajigs but I too was puzzled by the omission of the Virtual World. Mayhaps it was space constraints? The guide was a good start but their claim of it being in-depth is, IMNSHO, utter tripe. So, you tell me how to build one MegaResearch City and the identification of some key secret projects and that's in-depth? Say it ain't so Tim... Pax
SnowFire	posted 03-18-99 11:49 PM ET Oh yeah, that was more a wish list than faction strategy. "If you build this this is good." "This helps too." As well as some blatant factual errors- the knowledge social choice will not make you more suspetible to probe teams for the University, as they're already at -2, the lowest result that is "counted." And besides, most of their tips were not really faction strategy, but general strategy. I'd like to say that from a stylistic perspective, Cybernetic may be better than Eudaimonism, but Eudaimonism will rake in a lot more science, and cash too with its economy bonus. They should have mentioned that, or at least mentioned that you only get a +10% research bonus from Cybernetic if you're using Knowledge; I think that the idea that "Cybernetic is better" is up to them, but they should dully explain the circumstances. Did Tim write that, really? I doubt it. Though his guide in PC Gamer wasn't that good IMHO. Blatant plug: I wrote a University faction strategy article awhile ago for The Mindworm. If you want to go compare, check out http://www.sidgames.com/ac/mindworm and go to the current issue.
Aceron	posted 03-19-99 03:24 AM ET Is it just me, or do you think we would've been better served by a startegy article for the least faorite faction. Maybe a guide on making, say, the believers into a winning faction might make them used as something more than a challenge to the player. After all, is a strat guide for the most used, talked about, and strategized faction really contributing that much. P.S. I think the pages were messed up on the gamespot Faction guide.
Jimmy	posted 03-19-99 07:50 AM ET I also noticed that the pages were messed. The page with the screenshot from the probes and mentions the Hunter Seeker, was a repeat of the previous page. So, there is actually page missing. That explains a little for the lack of depth in the guide. They did give one undocumented feature, that artifacts are in pods in fungus. But let's look at something: is Firaxis really going to give away all the "secrets"? . If they did we would have a very informative strat guide but then the game would not have any challenge. Ultimately, Firaxis wants to sell the game and that means, only giving enough to wet our strategy appetites.
agoraphobe	posted 03-19-99 09:17 AM ET A winning Believer strategy under a variety of Planet configurations is being worked on. But here's for starters: General strategy: Conquest or Diplomatic victory by military means. Military strategy: Gear for conquest by building lots of high attack value units at an affordable level of technology. Social Engineering / Build / Base Mgmt strategy: Follow this sequence: - Probes tech / Fundy ASAP - get Green ASAP, zero Labs - Punishment Spheres! Slap one in every base, then switch to Free Market. Psi defense for -3 Planet General military tactics: Does Miriam have a deal for you on Network Nodes! That's right, plunder captured bases, starve them down to size 1, let the enemy destroy them with their counterattack. There are only two reasons to keep a captured base: - as a military marshalling point; - as a gift to a Pact partner;
JT	posted 03-19-99 09:19 AM ET YOU wrote that?!?!? Geez, that thing was awesome! I play UoP almost everygame, have currently crushed at Thinker, and that _still_ helped a lot! Thanx! P.S. Write one for Spartans next issue Provost Forever, JT
SnowFire	posted 03-19-99 03:33 PM ET Aceron: Actually, my first strategy guide that I wrote was for the Believers when everyone thought they were bad. It's out of date now, it was written at the time of the demo, but it's still there. Check the archives (Voice of Planet) at the website I mentioned earlier. I'd say that the Believers are certainly not the weakest faction. If anything, it arguably goes to Morgan for the weakest faction.
EnBee	posted 03-19-99 10:08 PM ET This is a question for SnowFire. I'm not sure what you meant by '-2 research is the hihgest penalty that is counted'. The manual says that research can go as low as -5 (slowed by 50%).
Victor Galis	posted 03-19-99 10:53 PM ET I personally preferred Green/Power/Thought Control/Cybernetics for Uop. I had +4 (or 5 don't remember) research and +4 planet. My hordes of mindworms raked in the energy credits, and I was greener than green.
SnowFire	posted 03-19-99 11:43 PM ET You misinterpret me. I meant that only -2 Probe is counted, not research. So -4 Probe means nothing. And in any case, it is literally impossible to have a research penalty when playing as the University.
Shining1	posted 03-20-99 10:29 PM ET Either you missed it, or they've rewriten the review, but they definitely included mention of the Virtual World. Quote: "This project is absolutely critical to your success." Under the section on drone management. They also do the Hunter Seeker in the probe weakness section. All in all a pretty good guide. Agorephobe: You should also include the Planetary Datalinks in your believers tactics, as a way to keep up with the tech race for free. And I can't see why you would want the free market, with the believer's +2 support you should have no trouble building units, their research is roughly 0 with the rest of your strategy (punishment spheres - 50%, faction -20%, fundamentalist -20%). Remember, the believers have a -1 planet already, so Free market will give them -4, a -40% penalty to Psi combat. Not good, especially if your Gaian opponents catch on to this weakness.