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Author Topic:   Voice of Planet

Double Overdrive posted 03-31-99 07:17 PM ET
Doesn't Voice of Planet halt Planets attacks later in the game (2400...) I was playing a game as morgan and i was kicking everyones ass... I had a huge continent with about 25-35 cities, later in the game when planet started sending hoards of native life at me I was almost put to extenction (not to mention I lost all secret projects!) Anyway, I decided to build the Voice of Planet. When I did all the attacks on my bases stoped. After it was built one of those intermission thingys appeared, It said stuff about planet hearing our call and realized how important humans are and how complex, ect...
does anyone know if voice of planet really ceases all of planets attacks or was it because i lost about 20 bases?
JaimeWolf posted 03-31-99 08:52 PM ET
It stops the late-game "growth-dream" attacks. But I don't think it stops the eco-damage attacks.
James
Mephisto posted 04-01-99 12:18 AM ET
Okay, talk to me about this Growth-Dream phenomenon. I just got the game a week ago (after having played the demo to death), and have checked this forum out for tips. I continually see two things 1) the AI is addlebrained, 2) Planet will invariably go completely postal on you. I have, in a fit of paranoia, been preparing for the worst by building lots of eco-friendly facilities and pressure domes, producing Psi-copters, and shifting to a forest/fungus economy (jeez fungus just gets better and better doesn't it). Anyway, I am rapidly approaching 2400, I have 60+ bases and as of yet no reaction from planet. I just recently developed the option for Voice of Planet but I'm reluctant to build it until I at least get to see some of the fireworks you've all been talking about. When does the Growth-Dream really kick in?
Fiannaidh posted 04-01-99 09:16 AM ET
Psi 'Copters are a waste if you mean 'Copters with Psi attack/armor, if you mean 'Copters with Empath song/Hypnotic trance, those are well worth it. As you will undoubtedly get eco damage as your bases expand to size 20 or so (all my bases are size 20 or larger, except for recently captured bases who are only size 9)
JRennison posted 04-01-99 09:46 AM ET
I understand it depends what level you're playing on as to when and how badly the planet reacts. You should start getting little interludes where planet 'talks to you' and then things go wrong. I've only played to Thinker level and already there are fungus bursts that wipe out hole cities and groups of ten - fifteen demon boils roaming the landscape. I tend to play Morgan with loads of boreholes etc. but try to compensate with hybrid forests and even the odd ecology preserve (although that really hurts for a capitalist).
The worms and locusts are a problem but it's the flooding that winds me up. All your carefully terraformed land getting submerged...
Zero posted 04-01-99 12:09 PM ET
Mephisto: it's the eco-damage per base that determines whether or not you have Planet open a can of whup-ass on you. The formula in the datalinks isn't completely accurate, but it does tell you what to look out for. As long as this figure is zero, that city is OK. If you're seeing a red number, that's the percentage chance of a fungal outbreak, complete with a pack of mindworms and locusts. You can usually ride it out if you have good troops and defenses, and the Neural Amplifier. It's actually a good way to make money if you can attack the boils. Also, the sum of all eco-damage numbers determines whether or not sea levels rise, though this can be controlled with a Solar Shade.
Building the Voice of Planet will halt the mindworm attacks, but *not* the fungal growth. However, fungus is pretty productive by this stage of the game; I find it's OK to let it grow.
Double Overdrive posted 04-01-99 05:28 PM ET
I always let the fungus grow at this stage in the game because by then fungus is productive and when the oceans rise and kill all my land enhancements I have nothing else to do but plant fungus/ or regular ocean terraforming which REALLY SUCKS compared to fungus production at this point.
So i guess that is a solution for water worlds HEHEHEHE!!!
Fiannaidh posted 04-01-99 11:32 PM ET
Yeah, and if you have xenoempathy dome/maritime control project, you're all set.
Mephisto posted 04-05-99 02:59 AM ET
Thanks to Zero and the others who commented on my growth-dream question. I did in the end have one noteworthy outbreak. At the time I last wrote, there had already been a couple of fairly ominous messages from Planet, but as I said, not much had come of it. Then I noticed my eco-damage spiking in my three super-cities and going up in the next tier of bases. I didn't realize it at the time, but as one of you mentioned, they had grown past 20 pop. Each had one bore hole, some roads, several sensors and a mixture of forest and sea fungus.
For a couple of turns there were fungal blooms but no visitors. Then I got nailed. Luckily I had several Psi-Choppers on hand (Gravitons, Neutronium armor, and the off/def Psi specials). That took care of the problem, but I did get a sense of what you guys were talking about. Whew!
Anyway that set off another fit of paranoid helicopter production, but I was never targeted another attack. Just a bloom every turn or so. That was especially the case with University Base where I was building the Ascent with the help of many supply crawlers. Eco-damage there got up to 55 or so, but no attack. Eventually I got bored and bought the Ascent to finish off. Perhaps I'll go back and play it out to see if there was any other attacks or floods, etc. waiting for me.
Thanks
The ending video is a bit of a let-down, don't you think, though the little written ending was good.
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Author	Topic: Voice of Planet
Double Overdrive	posted 03-31-99 07:17 PM ET Doesn't Voice of Planet halt Planets attacks later in the game (2400...) I was playing a game as morgan and i was kicking everyones ass... I had a huge continent with about 25-35 cities, later in the game when planet started sending hoards of native life at me I was almost put to extenction (not to mention I lost all secret projects!) Anyway, I decided to build the Voice of Planet. When I did all the attacks on my bases stoped. After it was built one of those intermission thingys appeared, It said stuff about planet hearing our call and realized how important humans are and how complex, ect... does anyone know if voice of planet really ceases all of planets attacks or was it because i lost about 20 bases?
JaimeWolf	posted 03-31-99 08:52 PM ET It stops the late-game "growth-dream" attacks. But I don't think it stops the eco-damage attacks. James
Mephisto	posted 04-01-99 12:18 AM ET Okay, talk to me about this Growth-Dream phenomenon. I just got the game a week ago (after having played the demo to death), and have checked this forum out for tips. I continually see two things 1) the AI is addlebrained, 2) Planet will invariably go completely postal on you. I have, in a fit of paranoia, been preparing for the worst by building lots of eco-friendly facilities and pressure domes, producing Psi-copters, and shifting to a forest/fungus economy (jeez fungus just gets better and better doesn't it). Anyway, I am rapidly approaching 2400, I have 60+ bases and as of yet no reaction from planet. I just recently developed the option for Voice of Planet but I'm reluctant to build it until I at least get to see some of the fireworks you've all been talking about. When does the Growth-Dream really kick in?
Fiannaidh	posted 04-01-99 09:16 AM ET Psi 'Copters are a waste if you mean 'Copters with Psi attack/armor, if you mean 'Copters with Empath song/Hypnotic trance, those are well worth it. As you will undoubtedly get eco damage as your bases expand to size 20 or so (all my bases are size 20 or larger, except for recently captured bases who are only size 9)
JRennison	posted 04-01-99 09:46 AM ET I understand it depends what level you're playing on as to when and how badly the planet reacts. You should start getting little interludes where planet 'talks to you' and then things go wrong. I've only played to Thinker level and already there are fungus bursts that wipe out hole cities and groups of ten - fifteen demon boils roaming the landscape. I tend to play Morgan with loads of boreholes etc. but try to compensate with hybrid forests and even the odd ecology preserve (although that really hurts for a capitalist). The worms and locusts are a problem but it's the flooding that winds me up. All your carefully terraformed land getting submerged...
Zero	posted 04-01-99 12:09 PM ET Mephisto: it's the eco-damage per base that determines whether or not you have Planet open a can of whup-ass on you. The formula in the datalinks isn't completely accurate, but it does tell you what to look out for. As long as this figure is zero, that city is OK. If you're seeing a red number, that's the percentage chance of a fungal outbreak, complete with a pack of mindworms and locusts. You can usually ride it out if you have good troops and defenses, and the Neural Amplifier. It's actually a good way to make money if you can attack the boils. Also, the sum of all eco-damage numbers determines whether or not sea levels rise, though this can be controlled with a Solar Shade. Building the Voice of Planet will halt the mindworm attacks, but not the fungal growth. However, fungus is pretty productive by this stage of the game; I find it's OK to let it grow.
Double Overdrive	posted 04-01-99 05:28 PM ET I always let the fungus grow at this stage in the game because by then fungus is productive and when the oceans rise and kill all my land enhancements I have nothing else to do but plant fungus/ or regular ocean terraforming which REALLY SUCKS compared to fungus production at this point. So i guess that is a solution for water worlds HEHEHEHE!!!
Fiannaidh	posted 04-01-99 11:32 PM ET Yeah, and if you have xenoempathy dome/maritime control project, you're all set.
Mephisto	posted 04-05-99 02:59 AM ET Thanks to Zero and the others who commented on my growth-dream question. I did in the end have one noteworthy outbreak. At the time I last wrote, there had already been a couple of fairly ominous messages from Planet, but as I said, not much had come of it. Then I noticed my eco-damage spiking in my three super-cities and going up in the next tier of bases. I didn't realize it at the time, but as one of you mentioned, they had grown past 20 pop. Each had one bore hole, some roads, several sensors and a mixture of forest and sea fungus. For a couple of turns there were fungal blooms but no visitors. Then I got nailed. Luckily I had several Psi-Choppers on hand (Gravitons, Neutronium armor, and the off/def Psi specials). That took care of the problem, but I did get a sense of what you guys were talking about. Whew! Anyway that set off another fit of paranoid helicopter production, but I was never targeted another attack. Just a bloom every turn or so. That was especially the case with University Base where I was building the Ascent with the help of many supply crawlers. Eco-damage there got up to 55 or so, but no attack. Eventually I got bored and bought the Ascent to finish off. Perhaps I'll go back and play it out to see if there was any other attacks or floods, etc. waiting for me. Thanks The ending video is a bit of a let-down, don't you think, though the little written ending was good.