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Author Topic:   Planetary Data Links SP

7mm posted 04-29-99 01:43 PM ET
I got the Planetary Data links but can't seem
to use it! How do you specify what 3 factions
to get tech from? (Note I started this game
prior to 3.0 patch, then patched the game)
sandals posted 04-29-99 01:51 PM ET
No. The way it works is that once any three other factions get a particular tech, you get it too.
I have not found this to be a useful SP because:
1. You've got to be FAR behind for this to be useful.
2. A few factions tend to get eliminated or at least significantly behind by the time this becomes available.
3. I'd rather use probes. Design foil/cruiser probes to get to farther factions.
4. Different AI factions tend to research different areas, so overlap is small on the 'cutting edge'.
sandworm posted 04-29-99 01:53 PM ET
this should be automatic - anytime three other factions (any three) have a tech you don't, you'll be given it. As far as I know, there's no message telling you that PD is the reason you're receiving the tech, so you'll probably think you researched it yourself. I'm taking a chance and ASSUMING that the SP works like its supposed to (some don't - yet.)
7mm posted 04-29-99 02:07 PM ET
Oops, My mistake I thought the statement
"any three factions" meant I'd get to pick
which 3! I agree, just lagging behind 3 other
factions is useless. In point of fact, it is
totally useless in this game since the top
3 factions (including me) are way ahead of the remaining other 3. (Santiago is eliminated and Morgan is my puppet).
Resource Consumer posted 04-30-99 07:16 AM ET
I'm not sure but I think this works the same way as in Civ2. What happens is you only get the tech when the third faction gets it themselves, you don't get techs that are already held by three players.
This rather limits it's usefulness in that if you are quite far behind you still have a lot of work to do to catch up.
For example, suppose 3 factions have been eliminated and the remaining three (other than yourself) are using real hi-tech weaponry and you are hiding in the corner of the map with your scout patrol. If the other three now discover the impact laser, they could build impact speeders if they had Dotrine Mobility but you couldn't until you discovered it yourself.
I usually don't bother with this SP for this reason, but I suppose removing the restriction would make it too strong. But, how about this, couldn't it be something like
(a) get new tech as earned by the third player (as present); plus
(b) get techs owned by ALL remaining players.
Comments?
StargazerBC posted 04-30-99 07:50 AM ET
Well. Getting All techs or new techs would be too unbalancing I'd think. How about 10-20% chance of getting newly researched Tech from any faction? Assuming you don't have it already.
Niltava posted 04-30-99 09:00 AM ET
The Library was a little more useful in Civ2. I think you could get it a little earlier, and tech advance usually was a little more linear, especially since everybody wanted gunpowder, for example, and all 7 civs usually were still around.
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Author	Topic: Planetary Data Links SP
7mm	posted 04-29-99 01:43 PM ET I got the Planetary Data links but can't seem to use it! How do you specify what 3 factions to get tech from? (Note I started this game prior to 3.0 patch, then patched the game)
sandals	posted 04-29-99 01:51 PM ET No. The way it works is that once any three other factions get a particular tech, you get it too. I have not found this to be a useful SP because: 1. You've got to be FAR behind for this to be useful. 2. A few factions tend to get eliminated or at least significantly behind by the time this becomes available. 3. I'd rather use probes. Design foil/cruiser probes to get to farther factions. 4. Different AI factions tend to research different areas, so overlap is small on the 'cutting edge'.
sandworm	posted 04-29-99 01:53 PM ET this should be automatic - anytime three other factions (any three) have a tech you don't, you'll be given it. As far as I know, there's no message telling you that PD is the reason you're receiving the tech, so you'll probably think you researched it yourself. I'm taking a chance and ASSUMING that the SP works like its supposed to (some don't - yet.)
7mm	posted 04-29-99 02:07 PM ET Oops, My mistake I thought the statement "any three factions" meant I'd get to pick which 3! I agree, just lagging behind 3 other factions is useless. In point of fact, it is totally useless in this game since the top 3 factions (including me) are way ahead of the remaining other 3. (Santiago is eliminated and Morgan is my puppet).
Resource Consumer	posted 04-30-99 07:16 AM ET I'm not sure but I think this works the same way as in Civ2. What happens is you only get the tech when the third faction gets it themselves, you don't get techs that are already held by three players. This rather limits it's usefulness in that if you are quite far behind you still have a lot of work to do to catch up. For example, suppose 3 factions have been eliminated and the remaining three (other than yourself) are using real hi-tech weaponry and you are hiding in the corner of the map with your scout patrol. If the other three now discover the impact laser, they could build impact speeders if they had Dotrine Mobility but you couldn't until you discovered it yourself. I usually don't bother with this SP for this reason, but I suppose removing the restriction would make it too strong. But, how about this, couldn't it be something like (a) get new tech as earned by the third player (as present); plus (b) get techs owned by ALL remaining players. Comments?
StargazerBC	posted 04-30-99 07:50 AM ET Well. Getting All techs or new techs would be too unbalancing I'd think. How about 10-20% chance of getting newly researched Tech from any faction? Assuming you don't have it already.
Niltava	posted 04-30-99 09:00 AM ET The Library was a little more useful in Civ2. I think you could get it a little earlier, and tech advance usually was a little more linear, especially since everybody wanted gunpowder, for example, and all 7 civs usually were still around.