Research ?'s (prob. not newbie ones)

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Author Topic:   Research ?'s (prob. not newbie ones)

Ishamael posted 07-08-99 12:09 AM ET
I play a builder style.
When do most players begin to tighten down their research? Do they continue to expand while doing so, or do they switch over 100%. Also, not only to how many turns/tech, but FROM how many turns/tech to you go, and how do you generally get there.
Also, besides pod-popping, what do you do for techs the 1st 100 turns or so? I am usually so busy expanding, scouting or SPing that I rise slowly. Also, where do early crawlers (if at all) fit in. Would you build, say, a crawler, net node (w/ artifact), or SP in capital if have all the options (for ex.).
I guess I am looking for early research guidelines, tips, balance, and I timeline by which you can recognize you are falling behind. I usually play Morgan, but sometimes Hive, UoP, or PK's (in order of frequency). (if it is significant, I usually play custom maps bigger than huge [that sounds funny])
Sorry if this is newbie after all, but I have not found definitive answers. I do well enough, but would like to do better.
Series II posted 07-08-99 01:00 PM ET
Most of all my games for almost the whole game I stay at 50/50 split with eco and research.
As far as what you research it depends on what your objective is. Quick kill go for speeders and particle weapons.
I am a builder and I usually go for former tech first (I place a HIGH priority on the Weather Paradigm) and than I go through the tech terr to reach the 3 techs that remove the limits on food, minerals and energy. That might not take a 100 turns, but that is usually my early tech plan.
Ishamael posted 07-08-99 01:17 PM ET
And in that early stage, what is the best way to get energy for research? Supply crawlers and boreholes I know about, but it seems to take time just to get to those, not to mention produce mass #'s.
Demiurge posted 07-08-99 01:47 PM ET
I usually go for High Energy Chemistry first to get my bases protected. Then I go for Industrial Economics and try for either Synthetic Fossil Fuels for fungicidal formers or the fastest way to Planetary Economics. To me, Free Market Economy is a must in the early game if you like techs (which we all do!). And the mind worms aren't that bad in the beginning.
-Demiurge
RGE posted 07-08-99 09:05 PM ET
I go for higher research as soon as I can, until I get one tech per turn. That has taken me about 150 years in the two latest games. Free Market is the way to go, so research that right after Centauri Ecology. As I wrote in the SMAthical calculus thread, I go for anything that gives a high reward, not for specific resources. Rainy land gets a farm and a crawler, since higher pop gives more resources. Rocky areas get mines with crawlers, which gives more crawlers and formers faster (until hybrid forest and big bases, when most mines close to bases become replaced by forest).
I wouldn't bother building boreholes for any reason except possibly mid-late game mining or an energy resource. Mines are way quicker and better for the environment, and you don't have much to reduce ecodamage with in the early game. Once you get the tech to lift the energy restriction (and build Tree Farms for lesser ecodamage), you might as well build a big (hedgerow) echelon mirror park rather than boreholes. Before that tech I wouldn't bother with anything but general terraforming, such as foresting anything and everything. With Free Market, forests give the 2 energy that is the early limit, so that's the way to go, especially if you got those crawlers on farms, since food is the only weakness in forests. Once I get the mirror park, crawlers are to be hurried until the park is covered to the last echelon mirror. I only save money for hurrying newly discovered facilities or SPs.
Whether I'll build a Network Node or an SP or a crawler depends on the city size, if I think I could finish the SP before the AI (or if another one will come up soon enough), and how many resources a new crawler would bring in. More resources faster is better, so I'd probably make the crawler, send it to a mine, use those minerals build the SP before the AI and then add the Network Node when the city got enough research to make it pay better than a new crawler (or two) which could bring in 2 (or 4) energy from a forest (or two). Sooner or later I will run out of terraformed squares to put crawlers on, so it's important to balance crawlers vs formers.
Since I prefer to finish a game in less than a week, and since I'm a compulsive micromanager, I play on nothing bigger than a standard map. Therefore podpopping only gives me one or two new techs or artifacts, so that's not an important part of my strategy. At the beginning I research about as slow as everyone else, only to pick up the pace after quite some turns. I remember being at one tech per 3-4 turns for quite some time, eventually going down to two and then one turn. I don't have an actual timeline since I play too slow to have played many games. The closest thing to a timeline would be that one tech per turn after 150 turns is good enough for me
I suppose that I could keep expanding during the early game, and that it wouldn't hurt my research too much. But once I've settled the nearby region with about 4-12 bases, I don't really feel like expanding further. My research depend almost solely on my mirror park so acquiring space for that is a top priority as far as expansion goes. I never ever use 100% of anything, as the loss due to inefficiency negates most gains. The good old "100% science and let the goody huts pay for my libraries" from Civ I&II doesn't quite work in SMAC
RGE
Koshko posted 07-08-99 10:11 PM ET
In the later going with a few Energy Satellites and the Matrix, you can get away with 10/10/80. Use Wealth for an EcoFriendly +1 Energy per Square.
Take Weather Paradigm first, then shoot for Secrets of the Human Brain. The Biogenics part will give you the Recycling Tanks, and if you are a Transcend Leveler like me, the Soc Psy gives you the much needed Rec Commons. If you get the free tech, choose, if possible, Centuari Empathy for Green. Then use your scouting troops to capture Mind Worms.
Build fast.
sandworm posted 07-09-99 01:53 PM ET
Early in the game I just build as many colonies as possible and pop pods to boost research. Energy Banks/Network Nodes get built later, starting in the centermost cities. I don't use crawlers too much until I have the techs to max production of boreholes (usu. have WP too if I can get it)
I really felt the key in Civ to increased science early was expansion - a large number of cities each producing a little research was better long term than a few well developed ones producing a lot of it.
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Author	Topic: Research ?'s (prob. not newbie ones)
Ishamael	posted 07-08-99 12:09 AM ET I play a builder style. When do most players begin to tighten down their research? Do they continue to expand while doing so, or do they switch over 100%. Also, not only to how many turns/tech, but FROM how many turns/tech to you go, and how do you generally get there. Also, besides pod-popping, what do you do for techs the 1st 100 turns or so? I am usually so busy expanding, scouting or SPing that I rise slowly. Also, where do early crawlers (if at all) fit in. Would you build, say, a crawler, net node (w/ artifact), or SP in capital if have all the options (for ex.). I guess I am looking for early research guidelines, tips, balance, and I timeline by which you can recognize you are falling behind. I usually play Morgan, but sometimes Hive, UoP, or PK's (in order of frequency). (if it is significant, I usually play custom maps bigger than huge [that sounds funny]) Sorry if this is newbie after all, but I have not found definitive answers. I do well enough, but would like to do better.
Series II	posted 07-08-99 01:00 PM ET Most of all my games for almost the whole game I stay at 50/50 split with eco and research. As far as what you research it depends on what your objective is. Quick kill go for speeders and particle weapons. I am a builder and I usually go for former tech first (I place a HIGH priority on the Weather Paradigm) and than I go through the tech terr to reach the 3 techs that remove the limits on food, minerals and energy. That might not take a 100 turns, but that is usually my early tech plan.
Ishamael	posted 07-08-99 01:17 PM ET And in that early stage, what is the best way to get energy for research? Supply crawlers and boreholes I know about, but it seems to take time just to get to those, not to mention produce mass #'s.
Demiurge	posted 07-08-99 01:47 PM ET I usually go for High Energy Chemistry first to get my bases protected. Then I go for Industrial Economics and try for either Synthetic Fossil Fuels for fungicidal formers or the fastest way to Planetary Economics. To me, Free Market Economy is a must in the early game if you like techs (which we all do!). And the mind worms aren't that bad in the beginning. -Demiurge
RGE	posted 07-08-99 09:05 PM ET I go for higher research as soon as I can, until I get one tech per turn. That has taken me about 150 years in the two latest games. Free Market is the way to go, so research that right after Centauri Ecology. As I wrote in the SMAthical calculus thread, I go for anything that gives a high reward, not for specific resources. Rainy land gets a farm and a crawler, since higher pop gives more resources. Rocky areas get mines with crawlers, which gives more crawlers and formers faster (until hybrid forest and big bases, when most mines close to bases become replaced by forest). I wouldn't bother building boreholes for any reason except possibly mid-late game mining or an energy resource. Mines are way quicker and better for the environment, and you don't have much to reduce ecodamage with in the early game. Once you get the tech to lift the energy restriction (and build Tree Farms for lesser ecodamage), you might as well build a big (hedgerow) echelon mirror park rather than boreholes. Before that tech I wouldn't bother with anything but general terraforming, such as foresting anything and everything. With Free Market, forests give the 2 energy that is the early limit, so that's the way to go, especially if you got those crawlers on farms, since food is the only weakness in forests. Once I get the mirror park, crawlers are to be hurried until the park is covered to the last echelon mirror. I only save money for hurrying newly discovered facilities or SPs. Whether I'll build a Network Node or an SP or a crawler depends on the city size, if I think I could finish the SP before the AI (or if another one will come up soon enough), and how many resources a new crawler would bring in. More resources faster is better, so I'd probably make the crawler, send it to a mine, use those minerals build the SP before the AI and then add the Network Node when the city got enough research to make it pay better than a new crawler (or two) which could bring in 2 (or 4) energy from a forest (or two). Sooner or later I will run out of terraformed squares to put crawlers on, so it's important to balance crawlers vs formers. Since I prefer to finish a game in less than a week, and since I'm a compulsive micromanager, I play on nothing bigger than a standard map. Therefore podpopping only gives me one or two new techs or artifacts, so that's not an important part of my strategy. At the beginning I research about as slow as everyone else, only to pick up the pace after quite some turns. I remember being at one tech per 3-4 turns for quite some time, eventually going down to two and then one turn. I don't have an actual timeline since I play too slow to have played many games. The closest thing to a timeline would be that one tech per turn after 150 turns is good enough for me I suppose that I could keep expanding during the early game, and that it wouldn't hurt my research too much. But once I've settled the nearby region with about 4-12 bases, I don't really feel like expanding further. My research depend almost solely on my mirror park so acquiring space for that is a top priority as far as expansion goes. I never ever use 100% of anything, as the loss due to inefficiency negates most gains. The good old "100% science and let the goody huts pay for my libraries" from Civ I&II doesn't quite work in SMAC RGE
Koshko	posted 07-08-99 10:11 PM ET In the later going with a few Energy Satellites and the Matrix, you can get away with 10/10/80. Use Wealth for an EcoFriendly +1 Energy per Square. Take Weather Paradigm first, then shoot for Secrets of the Human Brain. The Biogenics part will give you the Recycling Tanks, and if you are a Transcend Leveler like me, the Soc Psy gives you the much needed Rec Commons. If you get the free tech, choose, if possible, Centuari Empathy for Green. Then use your scouting troops to capture Mind Worms. Build fast.
sandworm	posted 07-09-99 01:53 PM ET Early in the game I just build as many colonies as possible and pop pods to boost research. Energy Banks/Network Nodes get built later, starting in the centermost cities. I don't use crawlers too much until I have the techs to max production of boreholes (usu. have WP too if I can get it) I really felt the key in Civ to increased science early was expansion - a large number of cities each producing a little research was better long term than a few well developed ones producing a lot of it.