posted 07-29-99 12:40 PM ET        

Right now, I tend to play on standard or large random maps with pretty much standard
options. I'm trying to work my way up the
difficulty ladder with the various factions.
I am trying to use minimal automation simply
because most of the automated selections
annoy me (Does anyone really need 18
Cruiser transports? :-). I think I'm more
of a builder than a conqueror and tend to
settle for Diplomatic victory because
by the time that is an option, victory is
a foregone conclusion and I want to start
another game with another faction. (I also
restart a lot of games because defeat
frequently becomes a foregone conclusion
as well :-().

Here is a list of issues I'm currently
struggling with.

When and how should I use the base governors?
I usually find their build choices annoying
or inappropriate, but if I turn them off
completely, my economy starts to collapse
because I don't seem to allocate workers
correctly.

What is the best strategy for terraforming
near a base? I currently have the "hints"
or whatever its called turned on to see what
the game recommends for each space.
Usually, if a square is moist and flat, it
gets a farm and solar collectors. If its
rocky, it gets a mine and a road unless I
really need the energy. I try to give every
city a borehole. I try to utilize each
square within a base's area of control, but
I may not be building enough forests.

What "types" of cities do you normally build,
e.g., "science cities", "military cities",
etc. What are the best base facilities for
each type of city or for all types of cities?
Can a city have too many facilities?

What are the advantages of the different
map sizes? Do larger maps allow for a
longer, more build-oriented game? How do I
change the land-sea ratio? I don't think
I've seen that as a game option.

Under SE options, what percentage do you
typically allocate to Energy vs. Labs vs.
Psych? The game says that Energy and Labs
should be equal, but allocation seems to
allow only 10 percent increments. I'd like
to try something like Energy 45%, Labs 45%,
and Psych 10%, but I can't seem to make that
adjustment.

Do you allow the game to reccommend new
unit types or just ignore this option when
it comes up? Right now, I allow it to make
reccommendations, but adjust them as I see
fit, e.g., add/remove a special capability.
I also use auto-obsolete, but still end up
with tons of basically useless selections
to filter through to get what I really need
or want.

Is there any way to use Probe teams or start
a Vendetta without having my reputation
tarnished? Does my reputation really even
matter other than having a faction leader
acknowledge my treacherous past while
declaring submission? Last night, my Pact
Sister Dierdre (I was playing the Hive)
starting hitting me with Probe teams (which
the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm effectively
cured) and then declared our pact void.
I decided to provoke a war with the usual
"give me tech/a city/etc. or I'll squash you
like a bug", but she wouldn't bite. I
finally had to launch a sneak attack and now
my noble reputation is indelibly tarnished.

My final question (for this batch anyway):
What screens/menus/reports do you typically
use the most? What information on them do
you typically find most helpful?

posted 07-29-99 02:35 PM ET            

1. Automation.

NEVER use city governors and restrict heavily what you get terraformers to automate. Personally I only automate sensors and remove fungus. Many players don't even let them do that!

When allocating workers, remember that the A not I doesn't always do a particularly good job either. It's a chore but I check worker allocation every two or three goes. If your economy collapses look to see where each city is not producing the right resources. Sometimes it is better to have a population stagnation/decrease so that the squares that are worked produce sufficient minerals and energy.

e.g. Borehole in city radius is not being worked, and you have just enough nutrients to support your city. Reallocate a worker from a nutrient producing square onto the Borehole. i.e. +6,+6 minerals and energy but now with insufficient nutrients. Population decreases by one..... but still producing good minerals and energy.

(You avoid this problem by using a supply crawler, but at the expense of only gathering one resource)

Forests are amazing with Tree Farm and Hybrid Forest (+3, +2, +2) Nutrients, Minerals, Energy (plus any bonus resources). My advice is to build 3 Farms and 1 good mine and then terraform everything else into a forest.

2. City Types

I always build a science city that comprises of as many of the following as possible:

- All labs
- Merchant Exchange, Supercollider, Theory of Everything and Space Elevator SPs (Science/Energy)
- A mirror park (seeprevious threads)

I'm less sure about other city types personally. A suggested strategy is a military city with high mineral output, Skunkworks (free prototypes) and Punishment Sphere. (The latter is useful for FM SE choice i.e. produce all units from one city and PS stops drones).

3. Base facilities

My style for early cities is:

Defender
Recycling Tanks
Former
Colony Pod
Former
+ Other Facilities

This is risky if you are near aggressive opponents.

Mid/Late Game/Conquered Cities
Defender
Perimeter Defense (though you shouldn't need this if you have CDF )
Aerospace Complex (If you have orbital facilities but don't have Space Elevator this gives you a large nutrient boost)
Childrens Creche (Pop booms with Demo/Planned SE choices)
Tree Farm
Hybrid Forest (watch that city grow!)
+ Other Facilities

4. Map Size

Bigger the map the longer the game. However some factions (UoP and Morgan) almost always end up near an aggressive neighbor.

5. Energy Allocation

This one will really depend on how you play. Generally you want to research as fast as possible (if you're a builder). There is no typical value but mid to late game you might expect more research than economy with maybe 10-20% psych. Don't discount using a psych allocation just because you don't have drone problems. The extra talents may push you into Golden Ages.

An extreme attacking player might not allocate any research at all - Just steal, bully or probe tech from the neighbors!

6. Units
Probably the worst part of the UI (IMHO). This is my personal preference but I do not let the A not I auto design any units!! This is a minor overhead to achieve sensible unit selection.

7. Reputation
Not sure on this one. You can often maneuver an opponent into declaring Vendetta by making outrageous demands. They don�t always bite. I don't think it matters otherwise.

8. Most Used Screens (in the order that I use most)
-F4 City List
- City Detail
- E Social Engineering
- U Workshop
- F2 Science Report (Not very often)
-F5(F6?) Orbital Defense (rarely)

9 Miscellaneous
- You can't have too many supply crawlers - Honestly! 100+ per game is not too many!!
- Weather Paradigm is excellent for builders (Early Boreholes and Mirror Parks)
- Empath Guild is excellent for climbing the Tech tree (contact other leaders and swap techs before anyone else) and is good for getting elected governor

NoMercy

posted 07-29-99 02:49 PM ET         

General Tip: Use crawlers.

Example 1: Build an "Energy Farm" on high ground consisting of alternating rows of Solars & Mirrors, then put crawlers on each square. Make sure all of the crawlers have the same home base, which is your "Science City." This city should have all energy & tech facilities available, any Energy/Tech SPs possible (Merchant Exchange bonus applies to your crawlers too), be on the coast (see Ex2) and should be near (or be) your HQ.

Example 2: Design Sea Foil Crawlers. Put them on Tidal Harnesses. If you don't have a lot of high ground, this is quicker & cheaper than a land Energy Farm (but harder to defend).

Example 3: When you've built that Mine/Road on rocky squares, put a crawler there instead of a citizen. It is only generating one resource anyway.

To provide suggestions to more specific questions:

>When and how should I use the base governors?

I use them never. I have experimented with governor customization by clicking the arrow next to the governor button. I tried to set cities up as pure builders - once they have a garrison, allow the gov. to build facilities only. I still didn't like it because I had to set each option for each city & I didn't like some of the facilities anyway (genejack, ....)

I have started using build queues more. After capturing a small city that I don't want to pay attention to, I set up a queue with a garrison, rec comm, node, fusion lab, tree farm, ... and load that queue into every city I capture. That keeps them busy for a while. Right click on the queue from the city screen to access the menu.

>What is the best strategy for terraforming
near a base?

I put Mine/Road/crawler on rocky, and Forest just about everything else. That forces me to shoot for Env. Econ quickly, so I can build Tree Farms. Mostly Kelp/Tidals at sea. I generally build sea bases in range of land so I can put one borehole for them.

>What "types" of cities do you normally build,
e.g., "science cities", "military cities",
etc. What are the best base facilities for
each type of city or for all types of cities?
Can a city have too many facilities?

A Science City has already been addressed. I generally take some built up cities & turn them into a "military city" by just building one unit there. I generally have a copter, rover, and drop troop city (sometimes cruiser & tactical city too). Those cities should have any applicable command/air/navy/bio centers. Add a punishment sphere if you are free market. Designing Clean troops helps when you are really cranking out the military. Make sure to upgrade the designs when you get new weapons/armor.

Facilities have upkeep costs, so only build facilities that you see a use for.

>What are the advantages of the different
map sizes? Do larger maps allow for a
longer, more build-oriented game?

Larger maps allow more building, by spacing out the factions and forcing less conflict.

TTFN

posted 07-30-99 07:14 AM ET         

Automated formers are little better - I would rather even do fungus removal by hand then let then waste time wandering around.

best terraforming (short of heavy stuff eg mirror parks/ big raising/lowering) anything below 1000m - forest.
above 1000m - Solar/farm

later game maybe replace anything below 2000m with forest.

posted 07-30-99 01:35 PM ET            

The 2-credit max is the longest-running resource limit in the game, and once the restriction is lifted your whole world takes off, so early energy is a big factor.

Bases and energy specials (the "bright orange sun" map icons) are exempted from the limit.

So if you build a base on a river, it gets 1 extra credit of energy income, up to the 8-unit max. You'll really feel it if you build your first two bases on rivers -- at that early stage every scrap of energy has a noticeable effect. Secondly since bases have no restrictions MORE bases are better than BIGGER bases -- EXPAND like crazy!

As for energy specials, land-based specials should be exploited to the max; crank 'em up to 8 if you can, even if you have to build a borehole. The ocean energy specials are really great -- a quick tidal harness and a trawler score you 5-6 energy. Military considerations make this "offshore oil strategy" impractical on a massive scale, but within the realm of military possibility "offshore oil" should be a major priority.

A final strategy to getting energy early is population growth, which in the early game means Condensers. Push food 'til the base is maxxed then switch to forest. Condenser + Farm + River + (Econ >= 2) = 4/1/2. 4/1/2 is pretty darn good before you get Env Econ. Also, if you build a colony pod after maxxing population don't forget to switch back to food until the base is maxxed again.

Notice I said big bases aren't as good as more bases, and then I said build Condensers to max your bases? Both are true -- you want lots of bases, AND you want them to get really big. If a base is growing fast, it's either going to expand fast by building pods (better) or max out (still good). Population growth facilitates both goals; in essence both goals compete for this same resource.

The "population boom" will speed up population growth to 1 per base per turn. You get the pop boom at a base by building a Children's Creche w/ Democracy / Planned SE. I think it is also possible to use a "Golden Age" in place of any one of the other three.

posted 07-30-99 01:51 PM ET            

It's tempting to look at that sensor taking up space on that prime piece of 2000m ridge and think, "If I built a Mirror there instead ... it wouldn't take too long for the forest to grow back ..." Resist the temptation! Keep FULL sensor coverage, or at the very least leave minimal gaps.

posted 08-04-99 06:21 AM ET            

The bigger the map, the more peace for Builders, naturally.

I don't use base governors at all.

For Social Engineering, it is very important to observe when it's time to make a change.

Your first aim, unless you're the Peacekeepers, is to build as many bases as you can as fast as possible. This is particularly necessary for Morgan. Small maps make this goal very problematic for builders, so you will need to exercise every diplomatic fibre in your being.

Diplomacy is a mixture of lengthy experience and instinctive psychology. One false move and it's Vendetta!

Once your territory is marked out, and your base building has slowed, the PKs, Gaians and University will go Democratic/Planned/Creche to boost population. Morgan has to wait for Hab Complexes before this does much for him.

Free Market is good for energy and fast research early, when your bases are still small. If you're Morgan, then FM is a good choice until you build Hab Complexes.

Incidentally, you can fight a defensive war while in FM, but beyond your boundaries you're best option is to use Probe Teams to infiltrate datalinks, steal technology, buy bases, etc, as covert action doesn't make your citizens restive.

After HCs, the drones become a serious problem, and FM is less viable. I like to lead comfortably in the tech race, so around this stage I go Green.

Knowledge and Wealth have nearly equal effects on Research and Energy for most of the game. The decision rests on whether you need experienced troops or data security.

The SE energy sliders? Usually I set psych to zero, unless I want golden ages at my bases.

In my current game I'm Morgan. In mid-game, there was the event that triples energy income, so I set my SE to Demo/Green/Wealth (as best I recall) and Economy to 100% to earn a mint (well over 1000 energy that turn). No problems with drones, because my bases were still small, and I had Rec Commons, Network Nodes, Genome Project and Virtual World.

As an inveterate builder, I like my cities with the lot - unless I'm Miriam the Borg Queen in which case I build armies, armies, and more armies, supporting them by rapidly increasing numbers of captured bases.

It's wise to put all the science boosting SPs in the base with the highest energy output. (But watch out for Planet Busters!) Unfortunately, I almost never get Merchant Exchange, or that would be there too.

There's no such thing as too many facilities, but there is such a thing as too much time spent building them.

You really must have a strong military, otherwise other factions will force even the most dedicated builder to a social engineering setting that's detrimental to your research and economy.

You should try to obtain Air Power well before your rivals do, and build your jets and set them to work immediately. Likewise for Mind-Machine Interface, copters and drop troops.

In mid-game, the must-have military techs include Clean Reactors and Fusion Power. You also want Non-Lethal methods and to place up to three Clean Police in each base to keep order.

If your faction allows it, go Fundamentalist Power for a few turns and build a highly skilled army, navy and airforce.

If your faction is naturally energy rich, build the cheapest units of each type, then go to a money-making SE and buy your units their upgrades: this will probably save precious time. The quickest with the best usually wins.

Nowadays, I no longer use automatic unit design: it's better to have a few meritorious units you intend to use, than 64 devised by an AI that hasn't a clue what your plans are.

The use of Probe Teams for sabotage, tech stealing, or base buying, always carries a high risk of detection and therefore of loss of reputation.

There is no diplomatic way to ensure that a prospective victim will be provoked to declare vendetta. As you say, sometimes they just won't bite. But give them enough provocation over a sustained period, and the chance will increase. (Deirdre to OldCodger: "What? your troops are infesting my land _again_? that's it, I've had it with you!")

There are three choices for land-sea ratio, given on one of the setup screens for random map design.

Terraforming: build the Weather Paradigm, lots of formers, direct them manually, or give them specific orders such as "build road to there" and "terraform up".

Aim for the Economics tech that gives Wealth, so that you can build loads of supply units (fission supply crawlers, and fusion supply rovers). They're excellent: they cost no upkeep, they harvest resources that your city is too small, or too far from, to put workers on, and they can be used to rush prototypes (yes!) and projects (beat those AI factions to the finish line repeatedly!). You can never have too many supply units. But again, apportion your time wisely between long-term planning and short-term necessity: always expect an attack.

A few Armored Trance (or AAA) Fusion Formers are good protection for other terraformers: I've seen lots of worms and a few enemy units bury themselves by attacking these.

What do I terraform for? Some threads have covered this much better than I can, but in the early game, you need Food, some Minerals, and always Energy. So you need Farms and Mines - careful with the Boreholes, they are eco-punishing.

Farms are best on Rainy squares, just as Mines are on Rocky. Everywhere else is most suitable for Forests, and Forests grow themselves.

Drilling to Aquifer to make rivers takes a while, but it is rewarding, so do this a lot.

In mid-game Tree Farms and Hybrid Farms make Forests more valuable.

Later on, the Centauri techs make Fungus a useful all-round resource. Build the Xenoempathy and Pholus SPs, so that fungus is your highway and your favorable battleground. Put trance/empath units, or your own worms, on patrol to kill lots of worms for more energy. remember, too: worms on fungus don't need upkeep.

Forests and Fungus are useful barriers to enemy invasions too.

Basically, for a builder, Energy Rules. So build lots of solar collectors and echelon mirrors in hedgerow fashion, for example:

ssssssss
eeeeeeee
ssssssss
eeeeeeee
ssssssss

Elevate the land as high as you can (so build as many formers as you can comfortably afford to support - zillions once you have clean formers), to collect maximum sunlight.

And remember, when you want lots more energy: Golden Ages!

posted 08-04-99 08:36 AM ET            

Let me clarify one point: When I said that my economy collapses, I probably overstated the problem. What the problem really is is that I get cities with stagnant growth or even hunger when I can see full well that there are enough resources available to meet the need. They just aren't being utilized. This, of course, often leads to drone riots and other annoying mayhem. I'm not sure that I fully understand how to move workers around, but I seem to be doing a better job of it now.

I am actively using the tips I've received here to improve my game. In my current game, I'm playing Gaians on a Huge map at Librarian level. I'm in the middle of the game and have by far the most cities with room to build more. Most of my cities are thriving; 3-4 farm-solar collectors/1 mine/1 thermal borehole per city with lots of forest. I'm in the process of building solar collector/echelon mirror grids, so my energy levels are going to rise. I also have the
Freshwater Sea and its huge. I plan on harvesting energy out of it as well. I'm
ahead on tech and plan to stay that way. I could go for diplomatic victory, but I'm planning to transcend since I've never done that before.

After this game, I'll probably go up to Thinker level with another faction. Playing on a huge map really made a difference. I like to build and just couldn't see how anyone had time to try all this neat stuff until I tried the huge map. I'll probably give Morgan another try. On standard and large maps, I had pretty much concluded that Morgan was mostly "road pizza" on somebody else's highway to conquest. On a huge map, he may have a better chance.

posted 08-04-99 12:27 PM ET            

I have found that a diagonal strip of 3k altitude + interlaced Ech Mirrors provides the most energy for your terraforming buck.

222
2322
22322
12232
11222

The key feature of this design is the "bonus terraforming" you get when you raise a 2k to a 3k ... all the surrounding territory comes up terrace-style in the same number of turns. Assuming you only remote mine 2-3k's for energy you're gaining 6 energy per terraform by raising a diagonal.