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Author Topic:   Transcend Ironmen: Welcome back!

StargazerBC posted 07-09-99 03:04 AM ET
This is the 5th installment in the "Transcend Ironmen: No wimps allowed" first started by god knows who eons ago . I'm behind a firewall right now so can't download patch 4.0. . although I won't have high expectations because the patch list for 4.0 seems small ::coughs controllably at Firaxis:: Meanwhile--Welcome back everyone; it's been a long time.

Your strategies, game plays, insights, faction edits, life history, and god knows why Sid is making Antietam. . .
Analyst posted 07-12-99 08:51 AM ET
Hi Stargazer. Since patch 4.0 has turned out to be a technological step backwards for me, looks like my participation in any discussion of the merits of 4.0s game play is over before its begun. I do have an amusing anecdote to share, though.
Began a new game as Yang. Found myself on a continent with the PK and no one else. Staked out my territory and started cranking out rovers and massing them on the PK border. During this time, I had a scout fall through a dimension gate and discovered that the TBs occupied the continent just across the one-tile-wide patch of water forming my northeastern border. The PKs were on my southwest border. Miriam declared war on me (probably that scout walking around inside her borders ticked her off), but I didn't care, since I had the sea to protect me, right? Wrong!
Just as I launched my attack on Lal, with all my "rearward" coastal bases essentially emptied of useful troops, Miriam must have popped a pod that caused an earthquake. Not that I know for sure (because I got no message), but all I know is that, in the very early game, in one turn, the map drastically altered so that there was a five-tile-wide land bridge between me and Miriam, which she promptly crossed with every unit she had and wiped out half my bases before I could blink. Pretty funny actually--a one in a thousand stroke of luck for her.
absimiliard posted 07-12-99 04:21 PM ET
Hahhhahahahaha.
I am sorry to hear that Analyst. But it is amusing.
Glad to hear from you again. Why is 4.0 a step backward for you? Are you suffering from the rumored memory leak?
My experience is not yet worth relaying as I have been playing mostly other games recently. If I thought that v4.0 fixed the A(non)I then I would be more inclined to use it. But mostly it seems to be a bug-fix, albeit a much needed one. (the missiles from nowhere was way too annoying)
Best wishes all.
-absimiliard
StargazerBC posted 07-12-99 08:52 PM ET
Hello everyone .
Background--huge map, AI faction's have 2x more to bonus (which also negates most of their -'s), mostly land masses with lots of fungus
I've noticed the AI is even more aggressive than usual, about 15-20 turns earlier actually. That's a lot of time. . .even worst is that they all seem to trade each other's tech nowdays. So basically, I'm fighting 1 vs eveyone else headon with 5-6 more tech's. Or maybe. . I'm just losing my touch? ::Grins::
As for the missle bug. . it's never really bothered me. I like the fix for S. engine.
AI still can't defend against a campaign (continuous hack and slash). It's really stupid when half of their army is protecting neutral border states while the other side is getting destroyed. This brings in my next insight. . .
It's still extremely weak defending guerilla and unconventional warfare!! Not to mention. . they just keep on coming while I keep on raising and lowering land. . .
The cheap base exchange still works.
Using memturbo (thank's to the person who first advertised this) to check, the game is still leaking memory (although not as bad as Birth of the Federation FYI).
I ran through 3 simulations where I just sat there on a huge, most fungus, average clouds, average rain, and just watched the AI play against itself. Seems Yang and Mirian always end up with 40+ so bases and everyone else ends up dead.
Analyst posted 07-12-99 10:28 PM ET
Hi Abs. I went into more detail in some of the other threads discussion patch 4.0, but after nary a problem with any of the first three versions, I'm suddenly getting slowdowns, crashes and audio problems with v4.0. I never had any of these problems before. Unless someone comes up with a quick fix right soon, I'm going back to v3.0 before v4.0 blows up my monitor or something.
mindlace23 posted 07-13-99 01:25 PM ET
I was 200 years into my first successful TI game as the gaians.
I had the top half of a southern continent, separated by an isthmus from the south. (think dumb-bell shaped)
I ran into the university right away, and he and I became fast friends, with a very usefull pact that has continued uninterrupted.
I became the first with Air power, and built an airforce despite being at peace.
After I hit some threshold (I think I became unsurpassed) the other players started to turn against me. Zakarov got me in a war with the spartans, which I didn't mind because they were to the north and bothering me with their naval presence.
After 100 years of pact, the Morganites declared war, giving me the opportunity to blow their spy-infested boats out of the water.
Miriam, the biggest in the game (!), had been at war with me forever, but as she was on the other side of the world, it amounted to occasionally destroying a boat of hers, and once killing off her defence in a floating city so the spartans could take it.
Then the peacekeepers inexplicably demanded some outrageous good- I said no, and boom, we were at war.
The turn after that- wham-wham-wham: a barrage of missiles obliterated half of my (reasonable) defences, and wiped them out in one city.
I was running v3, and I'm fairly positive I was out of range of any of his missiles, as he was out of range of my air fleet.
Does the missile bug extend to conventional warheads?
Darkstar posted 07-20-99 02:16 PM ET
3...2...1... Lift off!
-Darkstar
(Boosting all TI threads to the top for those that missed them the first time)
StargazerBC posted 07-20-99 04:00 PM ET
Hey Analyst. . .I don't seem to have any crash problems with SMAC. . .Win 98, news DirectX drivers, etc. Same specs as when I played 3.0.
I've tried some of Shining1's edits to the tech tree. Since tech's the only way I can win, being a semi-sardonic, imperial builder it was extremely hard. yet I find the adjustments to Defense too overbalancing for the defender and too hard for the attack unless someone uses specific strategies like helicopter then send in infantry/rover to take the undefended base. In Other Words, I think some of the tech specs tailor too much to specific strategies where the defender MUST use. May I suggest a 3:2 ratio infavor of attacker instead of a 1:1. The 1:1 seems to negate the powers of Miriam, Yang, and well Santiago--although she usually gets pounded by Miriam or Yang either way ::chuckles:: I've ran through 6 simulations to see how the computer reacts. Maybe it is different when you tried?
SMAniaC posted 07-20-99 04:26 PM ET
OK, I confess I am *only* a librarian.
Reason :
At the corresponding level of Civ2 King Level human and AI had the same ad- and disvantages.
Further in the SMAC manual there isn't said anything about difficulty level. Is there any difference between difficulty levels except the appearance of drones? Please tell me.
You could give me too some tips to keep people happy.
That's the only reason why I don't play Transcend. I don't know how to keep your citizens happy so early in the game.
StargazerBC posted 07-20-99 04:35 PM ET
Letsee, I don't have my game installed but at Thinker the computer gets slight advantages? or it is the even ground level? At Transcend I do remember the computer doing a lot of things 30% cheaper (ie building, buying, researching, etc). In Transcend, the population starts to riot at pop of 3. That is easily remedied by adusting the Social from say 50% economic to 30% economic and 30% or 20% social. The amount of money you lose is very small (in the beginning) considering how many people you can keep happy if you expand perpetually (as should be in the beginnning).
aceplayer posted 07-20-99 04:44 PM ET
why dont you guys try the transcend ironman Scenario Contest (Transcend Zakharov 2241) at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dome/3802/
It was written by laurens and takes 55+ years
SMAniaC posted 07-20-99 05:14 PM ET
StargazerBC are you sure about that?
At Librarian Level they begin to riot from 4 citizens, means 3 automatically content.
You're saying that there are 2 citizens automatically content at Transcend Level. In Civ2 at Deity level there was only 1 citizen content.
Doesn't seem right.
And what about Thinker level? 2 or 3 citizens content ?
Darkstar posted 07-20-99 06:04 PM ET
Depends on the faction, Secret projects, and size... UoP Riot a LOT at Transcend due to that first (and only possible) content being zapped to a drone. PKs get their free talent to cancel that drone, so are a much better choice at TI play.
IIRC, The only diffs between Libr. and Tran are:
1) slightly more content drones, meaning you can ignore Rec Commons for a few more turns
2) You don't get any breaks on Infrastructure cost (Transcend only pay 33%)
3) Computer isn't in full gip mode... they have to pay more for stuff, but not as much as Human. They need slightly less to research, build, grow, whatever...
4) You can still bully the computer a little better/easier...
That's about all I can think of...
Its the lever below Librian where the human and computer are equal...
-Darkstar
StargazerBC posted 07-20-99 08:50 PM ET
heh, It's been a long time. I forget I always play Peacekeepers (who gets +1 talent I believe); therefore, I said 3 the third . Reguarding the 30% reduction for the AI, that's from an old TI thread, The numbers seem to work . Either way, there's no excuse not to play transcend because it's so easy to get Golden Age and or reduce your drones riots by shuffling money to social.
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Author	Topic: Transcend Ironmen: Welcome back!
StargazerBC	posted 07-09-99 03:04 AM ET This is the 5th installment in the "Transcend Ironmen: No wimps allowed" first started by god knows who eons ago . I'm behind a firewall right now so can't download patch 4.0. . although I won't have high expectations because the patch list for 4.0 seems small ::coughs controllably at Firaxis:: Meanwhile--Welcome back everyone; it's been a long time. Your strategies, game plays, insights, faction edits, life history, and god knows why Sid is making Antietam. . .
Analyst	posted 07-12-99 08:51 AM ET Hi Stargazer. Since patch 4.0 has turned out to be a technological step backwards for me, looks like my participation in any discussion of the merits of 4.0s game play is over before its begun. I do have an amusing anecdote to share, though. Began a new game as Yang. Found myself on a continent with the PK and no one else. Staked out my territory and started cranking out rovers and massing them on the PK border. During this time, I had a scout fall through a dimension gate and discovered that the TBs occupied the continent just across the one-tile-wide patch of water forming my northeastern border. The PKs were on my southwest border. Miriam declared war on me (probably that scout walking around inside her borders ticked her off), but I didn't care, since I had the sea to protect me, right? Wrong! Just as I launched my attack on Lal, with all my "rearward" coastal bases essentially emptied of useful troops, Miriam must have popped a pod that caused an earthquake. Not that I know for sure (because I got no message), but all I know is that, in the very early game, in one turn, the map drastically altered so that there was a five-tile-wide land bridge between me and Miriam, which she promptly crossed with every unit she had and wiped out half my bases before I could blink. Pretty funny actually--a one in a thousand stroke of luck for her.
absimiliard	posted 07-12-99 04:21 PM ET Hahhhahahahaha. I am sorry to hear that Analyst. But it is amusing. Glad to hear from you again. Why is 4.0 a step backward for you? Are you suffering from the rumored memory leak? My experience is not yet worth relaying as I have been playing mostly other games recently. If I thought that v4.0 fixed the A(non)I then I would be more inclined to use it. But mostly it seems to be a bug-fix, albeit a much needed one. (the missiles from nowhere was way too annoying) Best wishes all. -absimiliard
StargazerBC	posted 07-12-99 08:52 PM ET Hello everyone . Background--huge map, AI faction's have 2x more to bonus (which also negates most of their -'s), mostly land masses with lots of fungus I've noticed the AI is even more aggressive than usual, about 15-20 turns earlier actually. That's a lot of time. . .even worst is that they all seem to trade each other's tech nowdays. So basically, I'm fighting 1 vs eveyone else headon with 5-6 more tech's. Or maybe. . I'm just losing my touch? ::Grins:: As for the missle bug. . it's never really bothered me. I like the fix for S. engine. AI still can't defend against a campaign (continuous hack and slash). It's really stupid when half of their army is protecting neutral border states while the other side is getting destroyed. This brings in my next insight. . . It's still extremely weak defending guerilla and unconventional warfare!! Not to mention. . they just keep on coming while I keep on raising and lowering land. . . The cheap base exchange still works. Using memturbo (thank's to the person who first advertised this) to check, the game is still leaking memory (although not as bad as Birth of the Federation FYI). I ran through 3 simulations where I just sat there on a huge, most fungus, average clouds, average rain, and just watched the AI play against itself. Seems Yang and Mirian always end up with 40+ so bases and everyone else ends up dead.
Analyst	posted 07-12-99 10:28 PM ET Hi Abs. I went into more detail in some of the other threads discussion patch 4.0, but after nary a problem with any of the first three versions, I'm suddenly getting slowdowns, crashes and audio problems with v4.0. I never had any of these problems before. Unless someone comes up with a quick fix right soon, I'm going back to v3.0 before v4.0 blows up my monitor or something.
mindlace23	posted 07-13-99 01:25 PM ET I was 200 years into my first successful TI game as the gaians. I had the top half of a southern continent, separated by an isthmus from the south. (think dumb-bell shaped) I ran into the university right away, and he and I became fast friends, with a very usefull pact that has continued uninterrupted. I became the first with Air power, and built an airforce despite being at peace. After I hit some threshold (I think I became unsurpassed) the other players started to turn against me. Zakarov got me in a war with the spartans, which I didn't mind because they were to the north and bothering me with their naval presence. After 100 years of pact, the Morganites declared war, giving me the opportunity to blow their spy-infested boats out of the water. Miriam, the biggest in the game (!), had been at war with me forever, but as she was on the other side of the world, it amounted to occasionally destroying a boat of hers, and once killing off her defence in a floating city so the spartans could take it. Then the peacekeepers inexplicably demanded some outrageous good- I said no, and boom, we were at war. The turn after that- wham-wham-wham: a barrage of missiles obliterated half of my (reasonable) defences, and wiped them out in one city. I was running v3, and I'm fairly positive I was out of range of any of his missiles, as he was out of range of my air fleet. Does the missile bug extend to conventional warheads?
Darkstar	posted 07-20-99 02:16 PM ET 3...2...1... Lift off! -Darkstar (Boosting all TI threads to the top for those that missed them the first time)
StargazerBC	posted 07-20-99 04:00 PM ET Hey Analyst. . .I don't seem to have any crash problems with SMAC. . .Win 98, news DirectX drivers, etc. Same specs as when I played 3.0. I've tried some of Shining1's edits to the tech tree. Since tech's the only way I can win, being a semi-sardonic, imperial builder it was extremely hard. yet I find the adjustments to Defense too overbalancing for the defender and too hard for the attack unless someone uses specific strategies like helicopter then send in infantry/rover to take the undefended base. In Other Words, I think some of the tech specs tailor too much to specific strategies where the defender MUST use. May I suggest a 3:2 ratio infavor of attacker instead of a 1:1. The 1:1 seems to negate the powers of Miriam, Yang, and well Santiago--although she usually gets pounded by Miriam or Yang either way ::chuckles:: I've ran through 6 simulations to see how the computer reacts. Maybe it is different when you tried?
SMAniaC	posted 07-20-99 04:26 PM ET OK, I confess I am only a librarian. Reason : At the corresponding level of Civ2 King Level human and AI had the same ad- and disvantages. Further in the SMAC manual there isn't said anything about difficulty level. Is there any difference between difficulty levels except the appearance of drones? Please tell me. You could give me too some tips to keep people happy. That's the only reason why I don't play Transcend. I don't know how to keep your citizens happy so early in the game.
StargazerBC	posted 07-20-99 04:35 PM ET Letsee, I don't have my game installed but at Thinker the computer gets slight advantages? or it is the even ground level? At Transcend I do remember the computer doing a lot of things 30% cheaper (ie building, buying, researching, etc). In Transcend, the population starts to riot at pop of 3. That is easily remedied by adusting the Social from say 50% economic to 30% economic and 30% or 20% social. The amount of money you lose is very small (in the beginning) considering how many people you can keep happy if you expand perpetually (as should be in the beginnning).
aceplayer	posted 07-20-99 04:44 PM ET why dont you guys try the transcend ironman Scenario Contest (Transcend Zakharov 2241) at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dome/3802/ It was written by laurens and takes 55+ years
SMAniaC	posted 07-20-99 05:14 PM ET StargazerBC are you sure about that? At Librarian Level they begin to riot from 4 citizens, means 3 automatically content. You're saying that there are 2 citizens automatically content at Transcend Level. In Civ2 at Deity level there was only 1 citizen content. Doesn't seem right. And what about Thinker level? 2 or 3 citizens content ?
Darkstar	posted 07-20-99 06:04 PM ET Depends on the faction, Secret projects, and size... UoP Riot a LOT at Transcend due to that first (and only possible) content being zapped to a drone. PKs get their free talent to cancel that drone, so are a much better choice at TI play. IIRC, The only diffs between Libr. and Tran are: 1) slightly more content drones, meaning you can ignore Rec Commons for a few more turns 2) You don't get any breaks on Infrastructure cost (Transcend only pay 33%) 3) Computer isn't in full gip mode... they have to pay more for stuff, but not as much as Human. They need slightly less to research, build, grow, whatever... 4) You can still bully the computer a little better/easier... That's about all I can think of... Its the lever below Librian where the human and computer are equal... -Darkstar
StargazerBC	posted 07-20-99 08:50 PM ET heh, It's been a long time. I forget I always play Peacekeepers (who gets +1 talent I believe); therefore, I said 3 the third . Reguarding the 30% reduction for the AI, that's from an old TI thread, The numbers seem to work . Either way, there's no excuse not to play transcend because it's so easy to get Golden Age and or reduce your drones riots by shuffling money to social.