Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 02:13:40 AM
March Thinker mod development version |
Induktio released a new development version of Thinker mod in March. I have been testing it in combination with my own SMACX AI Growth mod. His AI abuses Condensers, Supply Crawlers, and Boreholes to the hilt. I've been working on various cost increases and technology delays to curb this abuse in the game. I think I can only curb it, not end it. I believe he's on a development trajectory where he adds new and better AI capabilities, but never removes the buffs that were given to the "fairly stupid" stock AI. I view that as a big problem and hope he changes his mind someday.
One can reasonably ask, why am I doing all these tests? Is it to hurl rocks at Thinker mod? No, it's to improve my own SMACX AI Growth mod. That's the short version. I've commented at greater length in previous attempts.
Things I am testing this time:
- using stock binary faction placement, not Thinker mod's new version
- Peackeepers in my mod no longer get +2 GROWTH. No easy pop booming.
- Pirates in my mod get -1 INDUSTRY and -1 SUPPORT to offset their +1 sea minerals.
- Hive gets +1 GROWTH as in the original game.
- Believers get +1 SUPPORT and their FANATIC attack bonus, but MORALE bonus is removed. Erratic personality.
- Inherent base defense lowered to +25%, same as the stock game.
- Perimeter Defense available at tech Tier 3, not the beginning of the game.
- Skunkworks available with C3 Applied Physics.
- 2 unit abilities available with C4 Organic Superlubricant.
- Weather Paradigm 1.33X cost, increased to 400 minerals.
- Soil Enricher 0.75X cost. I've always hated waiting for those to complete.
- Advanced Ecological Engineering is now a Build 5 tech.
- Condenser 2X cost and moved to Advanced Ecological Engineering.
- Raise/Lower Terrain 2X cost.
- Industrial Automation is now a Build 6 tech. It gives Supply Crawlers and Thermal Boreholes.
- Supply Crawler on infantry chassis: 80 minerals for Fission reactor, 50 minerals for Fusion reactor.
- Thermal Borehole 2X cost.
- Bio-Engineering is now a Build 6 tech. It gives Genejack Factories.
In short, this is a fairly serious retooling of the Build portion of the tree. Minerals won't become plentiful until late midgame at least.
In attempt #11, I got a seriously bad start. No room to expand, totally 8-balled behind 2 factions. Same in attempt #12. I've wondered if the faction_placement=0 behavior is bugged. I've given the code a cursory inspection but have not tried to run a debugger on it. That's probably higher than my pay grade.
In both #11 and #12, I also observed that the Pirates did not move their sea colony pods. In #11 they were eventually killed by an earthquake set off on shore by another faction. I ran a fair number of test games trying to duplicate this bug but was unable to. I keep my eye peeled for it in the future.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 03:32:22 AM
The Pirates, the Hive, and the Believers shall be in the game and played by AI factions. I want to test their performance with my faction changes, and I'm on the lookout for the "Pirates not moving" bug. They shall be the 4th, 6th, and 7th factions respectively. I suspect the bug could be dependent on faction order when the Cult, Caretakers, or Usurpers show up, so I want to leave room in the faction order for that to happen. The remaining factions shall be random.
Cult, Aliens, and Pirates |
I get the Cult of Planet again. The Caretakers and Usurpers are also in, so if the Pirate bug depends on the "starting position distorting" factions, this is a full house. The University rounds out the lineup.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 03:59:14 AM
the breeding Yang |
MY 2133. I gain the commlink frequency of the Hive from a supply pod. We sign a Treaty.
no miracle spread |
MY 2134. We trade techs and sign a Pact. We are far apart. Their spread rate is unimpressive.
can't command zero troops |
Both Hive bases have wasted their time building Command Centers, a really stupid move at the very beginning of the game. Even if at war, one will do. The Hive capitol has depleted itself of minerals. The other base has enough.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 04:32:14 AM
radical earthquake |
MY 2150. I set off an earthquake that radically reconfigures my island. I'm now part of a major continent, and have lost the easy north-south water passage I once had. Previously I did not have much room and was making Recreation Commons due to lack of room. Now I have room!
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 04:55:58 AM
I believe you're up north |
MY 2159. Up north I meet the Believers. We sign a Treaty. I've also gone Green. I killed my 1st Isle with my own Isle this turn, causing it to grow bigger.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 05:32:36 AM
sneaky Pirates |
MY 2160. I finally notice the Pirates are west of me.
Pirate spreading |
MY 2170. The Pirates trade maps and sell me the comm frequency of the University. They definitely don't seem to have any spreading problem this game.
University spreading |
I sign a Pact with the University. I buy a number of techs.
Believer spreading |
I seek to sell the Believers a comm frequency. Out of the blue they ask for a Pact. I take it. Yet they won't trade techs. Their spread is not very good compared to a previous game I played against them. Strange to see that +1 SUPPORT doesn't help all that much.
MY 2174. The Hive blows off our Pact.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 05:51:48 AM
your face is ass |
MY 2177. I meet the Caretakers. They suck.
boat face |
MY 2180. I meet the Usurpers. They don't suck. We sign a Treaty.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 02:05:12 PM
ass face is better than boat face |
Looks like the Usurpers are getting stomped. They seem to be sharing an east-west supercontinent and I suppose the Caretakers got the better spread. Or perhaps captured mindworms and made good use of them. Or explored better with mindworms, getting more money. In the north I'm totally cleaning up with my own mindworms, as I am also on a different supercontinent.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 03:04:03 PM
lucky Usurpers |
MY 2195. 5 more turns and the Usurpers would have been gone for good! I wonder where they will pop up next? The map certainly has a lot of room. I'm having a very easy time, just exploring indefinitely. I'm building lots of Formers to try to get a rail together in my large empire.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 03:11:49 PM
far flung Nexus |
MY 2197. I have discovered the Manifold Nexus. It is unclaimed. Currently I can get to it by water. If the Pirate canal closes up, I could still do it by land. I begin making a Colony Pod. I have more than enough Isles to get to site.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 03:54:48 PM
transplanted Usurpers |
MY 2205. I found the new Usurper homeland. Unfortunately for them, all the supply pods are going to be gone. It will be a long time before they bother anybody again.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 04:15:44 PM
longest boat ride ever |
MY 2208. It sure was a pain sailing my Foil probe team all the way around my continent, then all the way around theirs, just to get to the 1 sea base at the extreme of the Caretaker homeland. Sending probe teams overland would have been way easier. But, I made the Foil probe teams back when I thought I needed them, and here they are at last. 1 just got killed by a random Isle this very turn. That's like sailing from London around Cape Horn headed for San Francisco only to get sunk outside San Diego.
And of course, that Foil probe team died. I stole Intellectual Integrity which makes the Ascetic Virtues available. I rush it for 600 cash and 3 Artifacts.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 05:11:59 PM
I contact the Pirates to see if they want to make a Pact about it. We have the same enemies and he offered one earlier, but at a time when it would have hurt my Integrity rating. He's not into it now. He does trade Optical Computers for my Intellectual Integrity though, which is a mistake as the Planetary Datalinks is not finished yet. Granted he's not working on it, he's busy with the Weather Paradigm and the Planetary Transit System. Zhakarov is working on it and needs 13 turns to complete. He's also working on the Weather Paradigm and needs 10 turns for that. I begin work on the Planetary Datalinks, but my rail is not quite complete and I can't bring the needed Artifacts to site this turn.
a few Secret Projects |
MY 2212. I complete the Planetary Datalinks.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 05:20:11 PM
the Manifold is mine |
MY 2213. I claim the Manifold Nexus, boosting me to a whopping +5 PLANET!
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 08:45:58 PM
MY 2219. The University completes the Weather Paradigm, giving them access to Condensers and Boreholes. I rush the Xenoempathy Dome.
the Builders |
MY 2221. The Caretakers complete the Citizens' Defense Force, blocking my 2 copies of it.
Post by: bvanevery on March 25, 2019, 09:34:25 PM
MY 2223. The Believers blow off our Pact.
MY 2225. I rush the Maritime Control Center.
MY 2226. I sign Pacts with the Pirates, the Believers, and the Usurpers. I'm already allied with the University. If we killed the Caretakers and the Hive, I would win! However I'm nowhere near being able to do either. They're simply too far away.
Post by: bvanevery on March 26, 2019, 12:42:36 AM
like an escaping gas |
MY 2239. I have finished terraforming my empire. Granted, I suppose I could Drill to Aquifer or Construct Echelon Mirror, but there's nothing important for me to do. I'm starting to build an invasion rail towards the Hive. I've also popped almost every single pod on the map. Most of my mindworms have come home and are being used as police.
Post by: bvanevery on March 26, 2019, 03:47:05 AM
University idiocy |
MY 2252. Sunspots have ended. I trade tech with Zhakarov. He lets D6 Digital Sentience go for C4 Organic Superlubricant, which merely gives Hovertank and 2 unit abilities. The Network Backbone isn't built yet so I begin it in my capitol. I also start a lot of copies in other cities.
Post by: bvanevery on March 26, 2019, 05:11:09 AM
study cult |
MY 2261. Hoping to make my research go faster, I switch to Police State Green Cybernetic. I have to adjust my budget to keep people happy. I'm cranking out Police Scout units to get things under control.
Post by: bvanevery on March 26, 2019, 06:02:04 AM
the standings |
MY 2263. Well, it's 1:30 AM and I'm done. Don't care about the game anymore. I don't think it's specific to Thinker mod. There's just a vastness of effort. Building all these cities along my rail line... in terms of effort, maybe it was a mistake. I've recently acquired Advanced Ecological Engineering, but I find myself plodding along with my old fleet of Formers. I think I've spent way too much time twiddling squares, which doesn't really have any payoff because I've never grown. Also too much time shuffling garrisons. This isn't the first game I've spent way too much time doing that and gotten totally sick of it.
My position is fine. The graph says other factions are better than mine, but they're not that much better. The technology gap isn't that large. I find myself floundering about my Values. Changing to Wealth or Power will piss someone off and break my big alliance. I imagined I might use the alliance to score a conquest victory, but part of me says it's unrealistic to expect it to hold up long enough for that. I think that's another reason why I find myself quitting. I just don't relish having to take out all those Hive cities and Caretaker cities. And then to find out, it's not even enough?
I think my substantial delay of Builder techs has worked, insofar as it allows me to get this far in the game, without feeling like I've been clobbered. Maybe if I had the stamina to keep playing I'd eventually get clobbered, or maybe I wouldn't. I really don't know, and at this point I've played enough Thinker test games that I don't find myself concerned about it.
I'm surprised that giving the Believers +1 SUPPORT really didn't improve their play.