Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 05:46:45 AM
One crit however - it feels like missiles are just sort of too good in the mid-late game, especially as it turns out they can capture bases (!!!).
Oops! Seems that "no fuel" missiles turns them effectively into gravships and able to capture bases. I think I've fixed that. This AAR will test that, at some point.
Mostly though, this AAR will be pragmatic, not thematic. How do you win this game? What strategic concerns are important, given the way this mod works now? Well, let's find out!
the total destruction of everything |
As always, Huge map, 30%..50% land mass, average settings, Transcend difficulty, random opponents. I draw the Free Drones. I haven't played them in awhile so that's good. They are the only faction in my mod that gets an INDUSTRY bonus, and there is no way to get an INDUSTRY bonus in the Social Engineering Table. I believe they're overpowered, so in my mod they generally can't be had. This is the specific faction power of the Free Drones, getting to do everything a little bit cheaper.
Their default research foci are Build and Conquer. Usually when I play, I want to see what the game feels like from the AI's perspective, so I don't change the foci. But the purpose of this game is to demonstrate to a human player, how to win the game. So I will change my research to whatever I think will help me at any given time.
The Hive, Morganites, Cyborgs, Data Angels, Believers, and the University are in the game. No Aliens so that means Diplomatic Victory is an easier option.
The Believers are not Extremist in my mod, in fact they don't have any social engineering preferences at all. So, there's no inherent reason for the Hive and the Believers to be enemies, unlike the original game. Also they can choose Knowledge and cannot choose Cybernetic. They aren't doomed to conflict with Zhakarov, there's actually no reason for it to happen, other than that the Believers are still Aggressive. Rather, the Cyborgs are their nemesis. If they make it to late game, they will come to blows. And so will the Data Angels, whose compulsion in my mod is Thought Control. I suspect that I'll beat them all, long before it matters though.
Hmm, in my mod, the Free Drones cannot choose Police State. After all they're Free Drones. They threw off the shackles, probably Yang's shackles. He's not gonna like me! I can expect early game conflict with the Hive, if we're neighbors.
In my mod, the track record is the University is likely to make tech go pretty fast for everybody. Unless they get clobbered, in which case tech tends to be at a slower pace. Not quite tech stagnation, but not that quick. I played my last game as the Cult of Planet, and I was surprised at how slowly everything went after the University got clobbered.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 05:59:43 AM
gimmie minerals |
The radar readouts say I'm starting rather near the Garland Crater. I should be able to grab it and build something minerals heavy there. Unless I've got unexpectedly close neighbors, or it's covered in fungus and I have to do a lot of work to dig it out. I won't have to deal with Aliens or the Cult of Planet showing up unexpectedly. I just need to know what's around me.
set tricorders for stun |
The long distance radar says I'm on a land mass between a bunch of oceans. I may not have any immediate neighbors. We'll see. I'm definitely not going to be in the middle of a continental free-for-all. At best, I expect I'll need to wipe only 1 neighbor out. In typical games I tend to be rather "nice" and not do that. But in my last game I was too nice, and I think everything took 100 years too long as a result. I'm not going to do it that way this time. For instance, if the Hive shows up, they're gonna die right away.
get to the point |
I started on a Flat Rainy square. I usually like to settle on Flat Moist or Flat Arid squares, to improve their minerals content and not waste the Rainy food. However piddling with such perfections, doesn't seem like good advice for winning a game quickly. I've got Nutrients in the water and no fungus next to me, so this isn't a bad place for my capitol. Maybe I'll pop a Monolith? The 2nd colonist heads towards the Garland Crater.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 06:12:12 AM
defaults are fine |
In my mod, to get weapons, armors, or probe team stuff, you must study Conquer. The different parts of the tech tree are fairly distinct that way. Unlike the original game, I do not sprinkle "benefits" equally in all parts of the tree. Build + Conquer is actually a fairly pragmatic choice and fits with what the Free Drones are typically good at. In my mod, Build is for making money or minerals. It's not for making people happy. Happiness, colonization, growth, exploring, and most importantly mindworms, are in the Explore tree. That said, Build always overlaps happiness techs a little. More happy workers means more squares worked, which means more money or minerals. It will be pretty reasonable to stay focused on Build the entire game, unless I find my tech "stuck" for some reason.
The actual choice is how much Conquer I'll need. If I've got a neighbor, then a lot! If not, then I can blow it off and be a long distance wimp. My mod heavily favors early defense, mainly to keep the AIs from getting overrun in the early game. Clean Reactors are available from the beginning of the game. Synth units are a Conquer 1 tech and don't require any prototyping to put into service. The AI will start stacking Clean Synth units as soon as it gets the tech. You simply cannot rush the AI with a few Recon Rovers, you'll find out that they've got cities piled high with Clean Synth units. You can overrun an AI with a lot of Recon Rovers, and of course, that's something the Free Drones can whip up! I'd say once I've got C2 Applied Physics, I've got all I could need.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 06:23:55 AM
the RNG |
The good news is the supply pods gave me good resources by my capitol. The bad news is the Garland Crater has a lot of fungus on it. Settling the middle is the preferred way to claim it, but that would be dangerous. I'll keep my eye peeled for a safer place. Sometimes that can result in long wanderings hoping for something "better". That happened to me a few games ago, so I'm determined not to make the same mistake again. If I can't get a good spot on the Crater, at least I can claim the land of the Crater and clear it out later.
port picky |
Water on the other side of the Crater. A flat spot. Hopefully no fungus next to it, but it may have to do.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 06:36:13 AM
when do I kill her |
Mission Year 2109. Good grief, of all the fanciful predictions. You'd think that being on a Huge map would cut me some slack from this sort of thing. But no, this can go down. How can you argue with the prophets foretelling weird stories of angels and dancing sword? Know this: you are messing with my land.
She's Quarrelsome. I'm ticked off too! I don't even talk to her past the initial pleasantries, I sign off. I'm not offering a Treaty, I want her out of here. I will swarm her with Scouts.
munch me |
Thankfully, I get to settle first. I don't get a port, it's not my ideal location, but at least the land is mine and there's no fungus next to me. That mindworm I disturbed is thankfully too far away from my new base to hurt it.
It's worth noting that neither the Believers nor the Free Drones have any RESEARCH penalty in my mod. I got rid of all the penalties for all the factions. I really don't see the point if everyone's got a penalty. Might as well just zero that out, and it seems to help the AI play better. For those still responding to the anti-Christian bigotry of the original game, consider that Isaac Newton was devoutly Christian. The paradigm of his period was God as a perfect clock, ticking ever onwards with Natural Law. A religious belief doesn't have to be antithetical to science. It only gets in the way when it actually gets in the way, like not being willing to figure out the dinosaur bones. Old arguments by the time period of this game.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 06:50:29 AM
MY 2212. I've learned Centauri Ecology and can make Formers. However it is so early, that I think it's far more important to Scout, prevent the Believers' movement into my territory, pop supply pods, and settle more immediate cities. I need to make sure I have enough cities to support enough units to overwhelm the Believers. I have the production advantage, but in my mod, the Believers have +1 SUPPORT. Most factions don't have any SUPPORT bonuses, and it's not easy to get from the Social Engineering Table either. Extremist gives +2 SUPPORT, at the cost of -2 RESEARCH. It is deliberately not a very good option, to keep the AIs from choosing it and taking the RESEARCH penalty. They stagnate awfully fast when their RESEARCH is that poor. The real Politics dynamic of my mod is between Police State and Democratic. One keeps people under control, the other makes you money.
when to build Clean Formers |
Clean Formers cost more than regular Formers. The time to build them is when you don't have enough food to build a Clean Colony Pod. My 2nd base isn't blessed with food. However, Clean Reactors always give a way to invest in your empire, when you don't have the technology to do anything better. Clean Scouts can be used the same way. The ones you pay SUPPORT on, are the ones you should be sending off into the hinterlands on suicide missions.
MY 2114. I popped a Nutrient next to that city, so I switched production to another Clean Colony Pod.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 07:18:33 AM
unhappy landing |
MY 2123. This is unusual. Mindworms don't usually split when they land. I can't kill them both. Should I just try to take the hits? Lately my Scouts have been getting totally killed when attacked in the field. Pretty sure the initial safety period for mindworm attacks is over. This isn't really something someone can plan for at the beginning, and it's tempting to save scum it. Actually, even more unusual, I'm also being shelled by a Spore Launcher on the Isle. 3 units attacking at the beginning of the game, in a spread? Pretty freak occurrence. Yep I'm at least Saving this game. I don't feel I owe the RNG that much.
If I attack 1 mindworm, the other will get stronger. Maybe it's best to take 2 hits from 2 weak mindworms. The base does give me some inherent defense. Nothing I rush, would complete before the mindworms attack.
MY 2124. I miscounted. I got attacked by 3 mindworms. That's 2 Isles of the Deep's worth. That's why they split, they were coming from different Isles. One of which I presume is 2 squares straight north, on a square I haven't revealed yet. Remarkably, my Scout lived through all 3 attacks. I'll need to do something about that stupid Spore Launcher, because my unit will never heal while it's shelling me. I don't even know E1 Doctrine: Flexibility yet though. I made it very easy to acquire ships in my mod, so that nobody's getting stuck on islands at start, but it still has to be researched.
Completion scumming |
Setting up "Completions" is a bit of an exploit. When you pop a pod, there's a chance it will complete the production of a unit or facility in the nearest city. It won't complete a Clean Colony Pod if there's not enough food to do it. That Scout at the top of the screen on the Minerals deposit, just popped a supply pod. Just before I did that, I designed the most expensive unit I could at this point in the game: a Clean Synthmetal Rover Former. And I got it! I completed a Speeder chassis prototype while I was at it, so now I can make Speeders. Even if I don't learn C2 Applied Physics for awhile yet, enough Scout Speeders could bring the Believers to their knees. If they don't start producing Clean Synth Garrisons, which unfortunately happens pretty fast, so maybe I'm kidding myself and thinking old school. Still, Scout Speeders can run circles around the enemy, disengage, destroy Formers, and tear up roads and Sensor Arrays. Sensor Arrays give a hefty +50% defense bonus in my mod, not just +25% as in the original game, so it's pretty important to destroy them before attacking.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 07:28:38 AM
how precious of you |
MY 2125. Miriam meets / bothers me in the field and wants to talk. Awwww. I wonder if this like the Peanuts comic strip, where the protagonist is being bothered by another character that won't shut up and leave you alone? I could ignore her, but she'd probably declare war. That may happen anyways, but I'd sooner forestall the possibility. Although I can definitely fight her now, I prefer to wait until I'm certain of my infrastructure.
pointless preliminaries |
I was just talking about how much I need E1 Doctrine: Flexibility to beat off that Spore Launcher. But this trade isn't gonna happen, because she's Seething. If she would trade, I would like to trade. Although Probe Teams become available with C2 Planetary Networks, as well as Police State, there are lots of Conquer techs in the tree. It's not easy to ensure that one will get any particular Tier 2 tech at any particular time. So for awhile, I'm not going to be able to just steal what I want. It's either trade, research it yourself, or pop it from a pod. I might very well pop it from a pod any minute now, or it could take a long time, you never know. That said, I don't recall ever getting stuck on E1 Doctrine: Flexibility. It's usually D1 Biogenetics that's the sticker.
We stop talking. It was pointless. At least I got through that without a war.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 07:47:08 AM
my land and empire |
MY 2134. I've totally outclassed the Believers at colonization. They never settled that 2nd colony pod I saw wandering around at the beginning. They certainly had the big fungal barrier in the Garland Crater in their way, same as I did. There were mindworms wandering around so they may have been killed. Or they may just be milling about uselessly. It doesn't matter, as I've completely cut off New Jerusalem and I don't see any other land settlements. It seems they expanded to sea via He Walked On Water. All I really need to do now is connect my empire with roads, then build proper garrison units. I doubt I'll ever need to conquer the Believers, unless they prove to be in the way of something. When a faction gets this bound up behind another faction, I call it being "8-Balled".
The one serious mistake I've made in this situation, is not to keep scouting radially in all directions. You never know what else is coming. Especially if someone pops a whole horde of mindworms at you.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 07:59:00 AM
let's make a deal |
My 2137. What a stroke of luck! I won't have to worry about having Probe Teams. I got Doctrine: Flexibility too. That Spore Launcher begged off, but I still need to explore the extensive bodies of water around us.
unlucky Miriam |
Now I see why Miriam was runted. She had Zhakarov on the other side of her. Caught in a pickle! She can go north now, but there's not enough land to develop a meaningful empire. My prediction that I wouldn't be in some tight continental struggle, was totally wrong. Fortunately I've already won the colonization war. Holding onto what I've got, I'll eventually be able to plow through both of them easily, if I want to. Near neighbors are pretty much cakewalks, they're too close for the AI to ever do anything meaningful about it. I deliberately made my maps larger and with more land to give the AI a better chance to dig in and grow a reasonable defense, but this is too close.
The goal in the future, will to be find out where everyone else is, and go deal with them. Typically, the faction on the opposite side of the map from oneself, farthest way, grows to be the most powerful. And anyone sitting on the Monsoon Jungle becomes powerful.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 08:36:00 AM
southern exploration |
MY 2153. I got a free Unity Transport from popping a coastal supply pod. They have Deep Radar, making them more valuable for early exploration. Foils in my mod move 5 squares, not 4. This means Transports move 4, not 3. This makes it easier to pop supply pods at sea and evade an Isle of the Deep if one surfaces. Although in the original game it's quite possible to veer 1 square out of the way to safety, now you've got 2 squares leeway to work with, assuming you start your turn next to the pod. Which you should. This is a great way to get Artifacts. You can't get Artifacts at sea if you're not using a Transport.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 08:52:54 AM
makin' money |
MY 2158. I finally get my first Social Engineering choice. I did learn Police State earlier when I traded with Zhakarov for C2 Planetary Networks, but I'm not allowed to choose it. It really isn't difficult to get Politics or Economics choices as they all come at Tier 2. However there's an awful lot of stuff in Tier 2, so getting any specific thing can take longer than one might expect.
Democratic is pretty much a slam dunk for anyone who's allowed to have it. It makes money and the -1 POLICE penalty isn't enough to stop you from using units as police. I made it easy and palatable for the benefit of the AI, especially so they could use Non-Lethal Methods. I predefined some units with that so that the AI would make use of them.
is it clever |
I've heard of settling right on top of a Thermal Borehole to get a bunch of benefits, but I've never seen the AI do it. I'll have to check on whether this helped them, once I've got infiltration.
I could be trading with Zhakarov for stuff, but I really don't see the need. I've built massive amounts of various kinds of Formers, and I've got so much productivity that I can just make more expensive things like Clean Rover Formers. My people are happy because I'm the Free Drones and get that 1 drone bonus. I can steal stuff eventually if I wish. My only critical need is finding out what's around me, and that's solely a matter of my productive output and unit pushing. I don't need Zhakarov's help with that.
MY 2160. I bump into Miriam in the water and she wants to try. Why not, she's no threat. We sign a Treaty, formalizing my pwning of this continent. She sells me the comm frequency of the Cyborgs. I trade a little with them but don't get a Treaty. After all of this I go bother Zhakarov, why not share the love. He turns out to be useless.
mo' money |
I now have my 2nd Social Engineering choice available. I renamed Free Market and Planned to Capitalist and Socialist. That's what they are, if you pay attention to the faction dialogue details. I just made it more explicit. Although, my version of Socialist isn't the Communist planned economy kind of thing. It's more like what you'd see in Sweden. At this point in the modding, it doesn't actually do much. I didn't want the AI getting too excited about it, because they tend to obsess about anything that offers GROWTH. The real contrast in the game is between Capitalist and Green. I want to make money, and this is going to cause me some grief as I run into mindworms. But I really don't care. My initial Scout garrisons are on suicide duty, as they're being replaced with Synth Police.
MY 2164. In my 1st battle with a Spore Launcher in my home territory, I forgot to win.
Then I did it again with a badly wounded Isle of the Deep. Rah rah Capitalism! At least it's not as harsh as the original game. None of that -5 POLICE stuff, what crack were they smoking? I think they got confused about Democratic vs. Capitalist, plus they wanted to have that high GROWTH mechanic for Democratic. I didn't want that, so that freed me to split the ways of making money, and farm out the ECONOMY bonuses.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 09:48:27 AM
It's almost 5 AM and that's enough for tonight! After the initial shock of Miriam's encroachment wore off, this turned out to be one of the easiest starts I've had. The Free Drones seriously benefit from all the cheap Clean Formers available. Some people think that my Clean Reactors are too cheap. Maybe they're right. I'll suspend judgment until I see who's winning the game. So far, the graph says it's me!
what to build |
Ok, I've got a strong start. How do I leverage that to really pull ahead? Oddly enough, I'm not terribly clear on that myself. With 4.5 hours of sleep on the problem, and some coffee, you can see what I'm actually doing right now. Just filling out my cities with better facilities. It's a reasonable step to take, there's nothing basically wrong with it. However I suspect it's not remarkable or especially productive, as far as pulling ahead.
I could be colonizing more. However, I find it gets to be a drag pretty quickly. I'm happy enough with pushing my Formers around for now.
I could rush my build orders. However a major tactic in my mod, is making a lot of money with a high ECONOMY, to pay for Secret Projects all at once. I'm not rushing the puny buildings, because I could be working on the Merchant Exchange right now. I've got the tech, I just haven't decided whether Free Drone Central is really where I want my permanent capitol. It's not radially the best place, in my current empire. I like perfectly radial, perfectly efficient civilizations with respect to distance, bureaucracy, corruption, and waste. Oceans get in the way of that, because there's nothing valuable in deep ocean at all. So I probably should decide, where do I want my capitol?
Another odd problem of sea settlement, is that the AI absolutely fixates on hurling Foil Probe Teams at sea bases. Especially with the Data Angels near my territorial waters, I can reasonably expect this to be an issue. It would be prudent to not make any sea bases and stick to land, until I've got the excess production to afford a bunch of defensive Probe Team units. It's lame that I have to worry about such things, but the AI will literally travel the entire length of any size map, just to bug me! This can be useful if you want to leave out "bait" cities to infiltrate and steal techs from them in retaliation, but for settling economically productive cities, it sucks.
I don't have an ideal clump of radial land. It ain't gonna happen. If I had thought hard about it, I might have realized that when I looked at the long distance radar scans on Turn 1. Unproductive massive oceans to the north and south. I need to accept that this is an east-west empire, even if it rubs me the wrong way.
It would be reasonable to make my permanent capitol at Living Standard, as it commands 6 of the Garland Crater minerals special spots. Combining minerals and money is as good a Builder idea as any other I have right now. Sounds like a plan. I will force myself to build more cities to the west, to round out my empire.
support burdens |
With that in mind, I rush the Recycling Tanks at Living Standard. I already have a Recreation Commons, not that I really needed it yet anyways, so I will begin the Merchant Exchange next year. Since the city is actually high minerals, I have thrown a lot of units on it for SUPPORT. I need to reassign those units to other cities, to get my SUPPORT burden on the city down to zero. That is not totally possible because some of those units are Scouts popping pods to the west. They will eventually all die in mindworm debacles, but until then, I'm supporting them. I can at least increase my minerals well beyond the measly +4 minerals I currently have.
Hmm. It turns out, all those Formers are Clean. So's the Transport, I popped it from a supply pod. All of those "freely given" units in my mod are Clean, because it's super duper annoying to be given the "benefit" of a free unit you have to pay more SUPPORT on. Anyways the only unit I can reassign, is my Synth Police unit. And I'll need a garrison unit to relieve it first. I march my original Independent Scout from Liberty Plant to the north. It's been through a lot of mindworm shenanigans, it's a Commando now.
One of the Living Standard Scout units in the field, got nearly killed and needs to return to civilization to heal. So I'll be able to reassign that one too.
MY 2170. I found the 2nd Living Standard Scout unit was up north, still in civilization, on its way to cross a pile of fungus to pop a supply pod. I brought it to Domai Dome and "rehomed" it there.
MY 2171. Living Standard is now free of SUPPORT burdens.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 07:36:51 PM
this gal |
MY 2176. Miriam wants to sell me the Morganite comm frequency. If I ally with her, I can get it for free. She might as well be my satellite, since that's what she is anyways. If I ever want to invade the University or steal from them, now I have a land route to them.
I got some techs from Morgan, and it cost me some money. It will take longer to finish the Merchant Exchange now. However, D1 Biogenetics is useful as it gives the Biology Lab. In my mod it's the appropriate "starter" lab tech as it gives a constant +2 LABS per base. It's not dependent on base size for its bonus, so it is best for the smallest bases. I actually skipped ahead to Network Nodes since Zhakarov traded me those earlier, without ever getting around to the earliest tech. He can be cagey.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 08:05:05 PM
the complete cast of characters |
MY 2177. I contact the Cyborgs as we only have a Truce. It's been awhile and maybe they've eased up. Nope, but they do sell me the Hive comm frequency. Surprisingly, they sign a Treaty despite my Democratic society. Maybe because they're Feeble and I'm Unsurpassed, but it never seems to be that predictable.
I sell a lot of comm frequencies this year. I don't think I've quite sold them all, but factions don't want to talk to me now. I believe I have enough votes to win the election, and that factions will freeze me out for several more turns. The money gained from becoming Governor probably is more than what I'd gain waiting to sell more comm frequencies, so I call the election.
margin of victory |
Now I can see everyone's tech. Roze, Zhakarov, and Aki-Zeta5 each have 1 tech I don't. Due to all the exchanges, I've got maps of where everyone is. I'm doing well enough to feel completely unthreatened by anyone. Gosh, what's my next goal going to be? Wait for someone to get uppity with me, perhaps?
This game has been rather easy compared to other starts I've had. It almost makes me wonder if the Free Drones have become overpowered, because they can leverage Clean Reactors better than other factions. I suppose the test for that, would be playing in the same opening style with another faction and seeing what happens. It's probably too early to consider readjusting the Free Drones.
I suppose one objective should be to keep the Governorship. I anticipate that the Hive will eventually have to be pacified.
jungle across the channel |
The Monsoon Jungle turns out to be near me. I'm guessing that patch that's been revealed, is due to the Hive having been teleported through a Dimensional Rift, and subsequently killed by a mindworm. I don't think it's especially important for me to colonize the Jungle, but it is worth denying access to the Hive. They are a superior PROBE faction in my mod, so I'll need probe defenses. Yes, I'm thinking that fighting over the Jungle is in my future.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 08:16:08 PM
who wants some defense |
MY 2178. The Cyborgs have this tech as well and have started working on the Citizens' Defense Force. I have discovered 6 Alien Artifacts and could beat them to this. That's usually how Artifacts get used up in my mod, getting Secret Projects done. I don't typically believe in using them to get techs early in the game, because techs can be stolen or bought. I prefer to wait until the later game to finally get a tech with an Artifact, but by then, I've often used them up on Secret Projects.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 08:53:31 PM
the value of saving money |
MY 2179. I rush the Merchant Exchange. It's not going to do me any immediate good, as I need B4 Environmental Economics to remove the energy cap per square. But it's mine, it's where I want it, and this will be my new capitol. I have enough Artifacts to also complete the Citizens' Defense Force, although who knows, maybe something more important will come along.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 10:07:48 PM
Secret Project races |
MY 2189. I learn E3 Monopole Magnets, which makes the Ascetic Virtues available to me. I've got enough Artifacts and money to complete that and the Citizens' Defense Force this turn. Lots of other factions want them too. I'm making my power grab! It's not generally possible to get every Secret Project in my mod, because they come later, they're in different parts of the tech tree, and they're more expensive. I've done pretty well considering, but there's no way I'm going to get the Discover oriented SPs when the University is in the game.
after cashing 2 artifacts |
The first SP is no problem, but the 2nd one I'm just barely short of saving an Artifact. I take a risk killing a mindworm larva with a wounded unit, and that gets me 20 more credits. I disband a Synth Police unit and that gives me just enough.
after cashing yet more artifacts |
I forget how many I've used, but I've got 4 Artifacts left.
clearing the board |
MY 2190. I knock most of my competitors out of the races. It's good that the University is the last one working on stuff, as if I ever want what they've got, I can invade.
Post by: bvanevery on April 03, 2020, 10:27:24 PM
who knows why |
MY 2191. The Believers renounce our Pact. I think Miriam's got some Aggression issues to work out.
bloody Capitalist |
MY 2193. Morgan meets my unarmed, unarmored, empty Transport at sea, between the waters of the Hive, the Cyborgs, and himself. He decides it's time to shake me down. We're both Capitalist! He's Passive! The game must really think I'm doing too well. So now it's time to gang up on the leader.
Only other explanation, is he thinks my lack of completing a Plasma prototype, is a license to kill. That's so easy to amend, when provoked. Hm, yeah, provoked. He's got like 4 land bases on an island and 2 sea bases? On the other hand I only have Lasers, which will be no good against any kind of Plasma defender. I guess he gets to irritate me, for now. I will build some ships to irritate him in return though. Maybe shell all his terrain improvements. He's way too far away to care about capturing his cities.
Or should I...
...Repeal the U.N. Charter? Boy, if one is serious about winning, it's the obvious way to go. Think of a world with No More Morgan. It just seems like such an easy exploit though. Well, why not demonstrate what X Lasers can do to another faction? Assuming it passes the Planetary Council. If it doesn't, the Sanctions are really bad, and Planet's vengeance is not something you want to experience lightly. Yeah, Planet gets peeved according to what the humans decide is legal or illegal, go figure. I say it's a bug, or a serious design oversight. Probably has to do with how they tied everything into the economics system, since the Alien factions aren't affected at all.
voting against his death |
Marines come early in my mod too, with C2 Adaptive Doctrine. The only thing that could save him, is my lack of southern sea ports. Then again I've got +1 INDUSTRY, and little X Laser ships will be pretty cheap. I suppose I need to watch out for probe teams though.
Post by: bvanevery on April 06, 2020, 05:01:24 AM
reality |
MY 2207. Well... some things happened in the past 14 years. For one, the Cyborgs declared war on me as well. And they've allied with the Morganites. Neither can actually harm me in my home territory, but it means there's a lot more land and bases I'd have to bring under heel, down south. Meanwhile I don't seem to have any productivity at all. I'm fine on land, I've mainly been building probe teams to prevent any snooping, but I still don't have any navy to speak of. Just one X Plasma Hoverboat, which got wounded finishing off a badly injured Isle of the Deep. I thought it would be a good idea to level it up. So it sits in port as these fools land on my shores. I haven't actually committed an atrocity yet. I just completed an Impact Infantry prototype this turn, so it's not really necessary to commit atrocities to get rid of these interlopers. Even my X Recon Rovers could handle them with conventional attacks if I want.
Not sure what I'm doing. I feel blunted. Miriam is Seething. Maybe I should just overrun her and secure my back?
These pesky Spore Launchers blew up all these roads I put out in the boonies. It was a real mess for awhile. I'm surprised I still haven't killed them all yet. I can't even see where they are. Well... I did a sweep and nailed a big one, so maybe that's it.
Post by: bvanevery on April 06, 2020, 05:14:39 AM
what do you believe |
MY 2208. Miriam just up and asks me for a Pact. Why not? We had one before, she just blew me off. She's not at war with anybody. Perhaps I'll steal something from the University to get the ball rolling.
Meanwhile, the Hive just declared war on the Morganites. The soup thickens.
MY 2211. Miriam declares war on Roze. Well Roze is Seething at me anyways, so whatever.
MY 2212. The Cyborgs zinged me with a Cloaked Recon Rover. I thought I saw it move last turn, but I made only a half-hearted attempt to track it down. It seems that Sensor Arrays do basically no good at this. The more important implication is the Cyborgs have Impact weapons as well.
MY 2214. I agreed to her war. I bought 2 techs from her, stole from the Cyborgs, and trashed a sea base they'd just settled off my coast.
Post by: bvanevery on April 06, 2020, 06:37:20 AM
predictable |
MY 2219. Yang declares war. Although I'm finally exploring the Monsoon Jungle with a dimension rifted Unity Rover, we are not in military contact. Nobody's settled the land of the Jungle. The Believers are settling sea bases around it. I was working on the Weather Paradigm, but now priorities are changing.
I steal C3 Polymorphic Software from the Data Angels, change my Secret Project production, and rush the Command Nexus using only cash.
MY 2220. I start stealing from the University and they declare war. Now it's Miriam and myself vs. everybody else. Hopefully she'll get the memo on thrashing the University, especially since they're right next to her. I suppose I could bother her about it.
Post by: bvanevery on April 06, 2020, 06:47:25 AM
I shall own it all |
MY 2222. I rush the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm using 6 Artifacts and cash. Previously I stole the needed tech from the University. I will go on stealing from the University as long as it pleases me to do so. I only have 1 Artifact left, that I need to get home from the coast of the Monsoon Jungle.
The HSA is a pretty important SP. Especially since the Cyborgs, the Hive, and the Data Angels all have higher PROBE and reduced mind control costs. I'm at war with all of them! Even if I weren't facing the 3 "cyber" factions, getting bases taken over once you conquer them is super annoying. I'm less worried about them stealing tech from me, because I was generally behind other factions' research in many areas. Now I have a lot of excess probe team garrisons that I don't need for anything. I could use them to trash the University.
MY 2223. Surprisingly, Miriam refuses to attack Zhakarov.
MY 2224. The Cyborgs sink my armored Transport coming home with the Artifact and the Unity Rover. How inconvenient.
Post by: bvanevery on April 06, 2020, 07:14:42 AM
I'm unpopular |
MY 2225. The Cyborgs take the Governorship away from me.
I decide to send my X Recon Rovers off into the fungus to pop supply pods. I don't intend to commit any atrocities for mere home defense. As time goes on, it becomes more likely that I make a mistake and accidentally do it. So it's best to send them out to fight mindworms and get them killed.
Post by: bvanevery on April 06, 2020, 07:57:09 AM
translation you're screwed |
MY 2228. After slamming Infantry Probe Teams into Zhakarov's cities over and over again, I bring down his Perimeter Defenses. I don't bother to try to make targeted attacks. In my experience, the teams just die that way. It's not ideal when taking over cities I intend to own, but waiting around to rebuild them isn't that big a deal. I generally slam a Punishment Sphere on top of any distant city. In this one, my prize is the Universal Translator. They just finished the Maritime Control Center and that will be my next stop.
loss of chemicals |
MY 2229. The Cyborgs fry my X Plasma Hoverboat, that mighty navy I was supposed to go after Morgan with. Soon I'll be like, chemicals, what chemicals? Did I say I wanted to kill you all with chemicals? Oh no, you misunderstand me Sirs and Madams. If it please the Council...
more exciting than translation |
I guess I can't say that I've made the AI smart enough to deal with short range land assaults in the early game. That said, we're arguably midgame now. I suppose the Data Angels are also attacking them far to the north. And their empire is way too spread out to be defensible.
tough to stand up to free drones |
bonus points |
All he's got left now is the Virtual World. That's 2 cities up the rail line. Probably not for a few more years.
Post by: bvanevery on April 06, 2020, 05:09:14 PM
greedy |
MY 2236. I complete the Weather Paradigm with cash. I now have built or captured every Secret Project in the game! This may be a sign that the Free Drones are overpowered. It is far more typical for distant factions to become powerful and complete some of these projects, forcing me to make choices about what I will pursue. An alternate possibility is that distant factions didn't get good land to sit on. This is certainly true of the Morganites, who only got a rather small island. They're usually quite good at completing SPs but they've been terrible at it this game. They only have 4 cities on land and 4 in the water. The Cyborgs and the Hive both had enough land and reasonable empires now. They could have been expected to do better. Maybe my +1 INDUSTRY is just too powerful for others to compete in SP races. There's a reason I don't allow INDUSTRY bonuses from the SE table.
MY 2238. I take over the last sea base that Roze had put near my home waters. I get her to sign a Truce, and to stop fighting the Believers and the University. It's time to go after the Southern Squabblers! Mostly this will just be me land bridging to the Monsoon Jungle though. I still don't have any substantial productivity in my southern port cities.
such cruel people! |
Since I'm obviously poised to destroy everyone, and do not need any special weapons to do it, I try to rescind the atrocities. But they're not having any of that! Never let it be said that I didn't try to Do The Right Thing.
Post by: bvanevery on April 07, 2020, 06:25:08 AM
long distance theft |
MY 2257. I steal B4 Planetary Economics from the Morganites. It has taken a long time to reach Morganic bases and I still haven't infiltrated them. The Hive is similarly remote and I haven't infiltrated them either.
switching the last long term project |
I rush the Planetary Energy Grid with only a modest amount of extra cash. This city had a copy of the Weather Paradigm, still being worked on from a long time ago. I'm also working on the Longevity Vaccine, which I researched on my own. I'm building Genejack Factories in many cities.
The Data Angels broke their Truce awhile back with a "surprise" attack. They took out a lot of expensive Clean Rover Formers but that's it. Cloaked Recon Rovers are annoying! I killed all of those and wiped out one of their cities. I didn't commit any atrocity to do it, I just hammered it over and over again until it depopulated. That takes longer but it's a good way to handle an enemy you don't really want to invade. We've been in sunspots for awhile so I haven't been able to accept a new Truce from them. I also took a sea base.
My Monsoon Jungle settlement plan hasn't happened and at this rate, isn't going to. The Believers have manged to put 2 cities in the middle of it. I haven't made a Colonist at all in forever. Too busy making bigger cities with what I've got. The Hive is nowhere near the Jungle, they will never get there.
I'm not sure what my strategy is at this point, but I should invade one of the factions that's mad at me. They are unfortunately across a fair amount of water.
piles of dough |
MY 2258. I rush the Longevity Vaccine. Maybe I could be on track for Economic Victory, if only I hadn't required Global Energy Theory to do it. Awhile ago, the Morganite AI was trying to with the game with only 1000 credits, because the ECONOMY bonuses were overheated. Not allowing Economic Victory until much later, was my solution to the problem. Basically you have to know how to make Orbital Power Transmitters.
Post by: bvanevery on April 08, 2020, 01:00:00 AM
my scientific capitol |
MY 2268. I rush the Supercollider. I acquired the tech a few turns ago from the Planetary Datalinks. I'm still just building out my empire, for lack of any obvious quick force to pound anyone with. I have plenty of Formers, but in my mod raising land is slow, even with the Weather Paradigm. I built up the bases I captured from Zhakarov enough, that I got rid of the Punishment Spheres and am trying to make them happy the old fashioned way. They're distant enough that that doesn't totally work, so I use them to make Colonists. My empire is expanding rather slowly because I have a lot of fungus to clear. Now that I'm building Industrial Labs nearly everywhere, perhaps my research will get fast enough that I come up with something more useful. I also have some Artifacts I could pop, although they haven't all gotten home yet.
Post by: bvanevery on April 08, 2020, 01:32:12 AM
effort to concentrate |
MY 2269. I contact Morgan, since pushing Cruisers to his home waters is tedious even with the Maritime Control Center. He signs a Truce.
surprising docility |
And then he signs a Treaty, which shouldn't be completely shocking since we're both Capitalist. I just really hated him at the beginning of the game. Never did get around to committing atrocities. Never did get that rescinded either. Oh, I see what the issue is! He's at war with the Cyborgs now, and so am I. Yep, good reason to sign a Treaty with me.
Post by: bvanevery on April 08, 2020, 01:51:53 AM
unsurprisingly |
MY 2273. Roze just can't stop being a pest! It's those darned Cloaked Recon Rovers. She thinks it's fun to go blow up my few remaining Formers in the region. Well, I almost built a land bridge straight to her capitol earlier. I was merely interrupted by our Truce, couldn't legally raise any more land there. Not a problem now! I'll crush her capitol into dust, then see if she wants to beg off again. I'll keep doing this sort of thing until she either learns to be at peace permanently, or is gone.
a diplomatic nuke in the face |
It's a pity that only Minor Atrocities can be legalized. Major Atrocities are always illegal. Even if you nuke an Alien that isn't part of the U.N. conventions.
the poisonous fume |
Roze's nearest city up the rail, is something she took from Zhakarov. She's actually making a nasty chemical weapon. I wonder if she's used any on the University yet? I'm surprised to see that she learned E4 Bioadaptive Resonance when I wasn't looking, so I steal it. Then I start trashing her city. My Formers are busy in the west, so I can't extend the rail enough for my Infantry Probe Teams to attack safely. This limits the amount of trashing I can do for now, as I only had 3 Speeder Probe Teams remaining from the old days. One of them died after sabotaging.
Post by: bvanevery on April 08, 2020, 06:05:46 AM
guard duty |
MY 2276. Roze used an X Missile Needlejet on me. I didn't see any message about a chemical attack though. I'm not sure what happens, as I'm not sure the AI has ever managed to do it to me. I don't have any AAA units because I wasn't expecting any enemies to be able to hit me with planes. And for the most part, that expectation is correct. However things could change soon, now that I'm bridging to Roze's capitol.
I'm building Aerospace Complexes everywhere. It's spendy but I have the productivity. I will build Sky Hydroponics Labs and get my population up. Then try to vote myself Governor. The Cyborgs are less popular than they used to be, but I think they still have enough allies to win an election, so I need to be careful.
Miriam keeps giving me piles of older units. I won't have any problem invading Roze once I get this land bridge completed. I only need to stall her for maybe another turn.
The ships I sent against a Cyborg sea base, have proven ineffective. They didn't die, but they weren't able to break the defenses either. They limped away to safety, pretty wounded.
MY 2277. Darn it, one of their previous sallies killed the Artillery that was guarding my Formers from Roze's ship. It shelled my Formers and made me start my bridge terraforming all over again. So now I have to stall with even more junk.
Post by: bvanevery on April 08, 2020, 06:41:33 AM
bridge over the river whatever |
MY 2278. Using every infantry based Former I had, I managed to get the bridge built before my one remaining Artillery got shelled to pieces. Now they can all die, although I'd prefer they didn't and I think they will all escape. I'm interested to see what kind of response my movement onto the Rocky terrain between us is going to draw.
MY 2279. When the X Needlejet attacked gain, I definitely saw a +50% Nerve Gas bonus. Maybe it's time to stop what I started, especially if I can get Roze to use the chemicals and get Sanctions against her. I need the Governorship to prevent a veto though. I don't think I've got enough votes yet.
Post by: bvanevery on April 08, 2020, 06:52:48 AM
it could be mine now |
MY 2280. The Hive kicks the Believers out of the Monsoon Jungle. I wonder if they've been using chemicals and that's a depopulated base? I do see Miriam making an X Gatling Needlejet nearby. Well I'll see if I soon have surplus Colonists from anywhere. I'm spending 20% on PSYCH lately, so I've got more room to go vertical.
Post by: bvanevery on April 08, 2020, 07:27:17 AM
fry you |
MY 2283. Probably time for Roze to surrender. I should end it with her. I don't need her X units hitting one of my cities. Last year I upgraded my frontline units expensively to AAA Probability Police. Now I can do it cheaper.
Post by: bvanevery on April 08, 2020, 05:05:31 PM
the trashing |
MY 2287. I'm overrunning the Data Angels with expendable mindworms. I find they do ok with -2 PLANET. They may die, it's often a battle of attrition, but they do a reliable amount of damage and I have the industrial capacity. I do wonder if mindworms have become relatively overpowered in my mod, and if I should increase their expense. I haven't even bothered to make the new Fusion and Chaos units, because mindworms are cheap and work fine.
rumble in the jungle |
Yang seems to like mindworms too. We finally are having a bit of a battle in the Monsoon Jungle. Sure took awhile.
tradeoffs |
I finally switched to Knowledge. For the longest time I was only Democratic Capitalist, because I didn't want any of the disadvantages that the Values choices would give me. Now I've accepted the loss of police units, in exchange for a better PLANET rating. I'm a little annoyed that I just made a few expensive AAA Probability Police units, but at least I didn't do it everywhere, and I'll get over it. I don't have quite the money coming in that I used to, as I'm putting 20% into making people happy. So, not really any money for unit upgrades at present. Not a problem yet, as Roze is the only truly nearby enemy and I'm clobbering them. Their X Needlejets are gradually getting killed on the ground.
Post by: bvanevery on April 08, 2020, 05:35:45 PM
I know more than you do |
MY 2288. Zhakarov sees the wisdom of having a knowledgeable ally.
put the excess children on the Isles |
Surprisingly, he knows something that I don't. This is a consequence of my recent purification of the Explore tree. I'm not studying Explore, so it's not likely I would learn E4 Centauri Meditation. Don't know why he did either, as he's Discover focused, but hey whatever. I won't be getting the Xenoempathy Dome, as I decided it's too powerful to be given early to just any old faction. Nowadays you have to really work for it. I do get Isles and Empath Song. No Empaths, they come much later with Eudaimonia. They give economic advantages and I don't want Build oriented factions easily getting stuff in the Explore tree.
Glad he actually traded. He wouldn't take my money.
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 01:41:33 AM
sweeping out the trash |
MY 2289. I've depleted 5 of Roze's cities of defenders, using mindworms as sacrificial shock troops, then following up with untrained goons that Miriam gave me. I've also used probe teams to destroy all their production next turn. These are walk-ins. I hope either Miriam or Zhakarov takes them, since they're both allied with me. I haven't committed any atrocities. Clearly, I could have completely obliterated Roze if I wanted to. I just want her to surrender and become my vassal. I don't want to level up any more cities, I've got quite enough, and better sites than her scrawny worthless empire. I've previously destroyed every single improvement in those cities, they're completely worthless. It's almost as wrecked as you can get without committing atrocities. Only thing worse I could do would be tearing up the terrain improvements.
Miriam got the memo |
MY 2290. I wish Miriam could have been bothered to take the other 4 cities laid open for her. They're still empty. Meanwhile Roze picks at a couple of my wounded units in the field with her X Needlejets. They're launching from sea bases and I haven't bothered to make anything to deal with them. I suppose I could send the old Impact Cruisers over to shell them. Ho hum, conquest is never done. Hmm, I actually lost 2 ships going up against her Gatling Cruisers. Oh well. Everyone can do their part in the dying.
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 02:44:31 AM
starvation tactics |
MY 2291. Roze doesn't have a single unit left in her land cities. I also killed 2 planes because they foolishly landed on land. I've got enough spare units to try to starve some of her cities into submission. If I can just get a few of her cities down to size 1, then they'll be destroyed as I take them over. I won't be responsible for them, and I won't have committed any atrocities. If I do this enough times, she may finally surrender and become my slave.
Meanwhile I'm building a lot of Flechette Missile Defense Systems. I don't like surprise missiles landing on my head. I don't think anyone else actually has that capability yet. It could change though; in particular, I expect the Cyborgs to get them. They're stomping the Morganites into oblivion, and nobody's been really opposing them. All I've managed to do with my ships is slightly hassle them, as their own fleet has been large enough and tough enough to send me back home wounded.
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 04:36:22 AM
a slight help |
MY 2293. The Believers deign to take one of the cities I've been holding for them.
wipeout |
I'm able to knock a base down to size 1 and destroy it. My probe teams got stuck in a sea base that didn't have a Transport, so I temporarily lost the use of them. Halting defensive unit production is actually counterproductive because then I don't have something to kill to knock down the size of the base. Although, that's only true because the Believer AI isn't doing any kind of job of invading.
Roze thinks she's still in this fight, so I wipe out another city. And still she wants money! So I do it again. And she wants money! I've run out of size 2 cities with a unit in them, so further destruction will have to wait until next year.
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 05:25:41 AM
now I make some food |
MY 2294. In most of my recent games, I've learned B5 Advanced Ecological Engineering long before now. I don't usually feel any need to build Aerospace Complexes and Sky Hydroponics Labs, because I usually get all of my food from Hybrid Forests. These will still help with unhappiness though, and the money can't hurt either. I don't really need Super Formers as I've had excessive numbers of Clean Formers the entire game. I can upgrade all my farms to Soil Enrichers but otherwise, terraforming just isn't important anymore.
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 06:01:05 AM
took them long enough |
MY 2296. The Believers take over the big city I was starving to death. I'm now moving my mindworms and speeders to the Monsoon Jungle as I no longer need them to mop up the Data Angels. My Formers are busy making nice terrain for some new cities, so I don't know how much progress I'll actually make through the Jungle. Yang is pretty spammy down there.
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 06:44:34 AM
you would like to surrender |
MY 2297. Roze still thinks I owe her money! This is getting pretty ridiculous. She's only got 2 tiny land bases and 6 sea bases left. Unfortunately that's probably enough to make me build a navy or Marines or something. Right after I get done building everything else, yeah, sure.
try to negotiate in good faith |
MY 2298. Still wants money.
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 07:02:03 AM
the world ender |
MY 2299. Well if I was ever going to commit atrocities, now would be the time. It's just so easy to win that way though. Thought Control is now available, but I'd rather keep researching.
rockfighting the coast |
Over time, Miriam has given me a few planes and a few marines. They're pretty feeble but so are the defenders. With enough group effort, I take some losses but knock one of the sea bases down pretty low. If only Miriam would get on the ball and finish this off?
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 03:13:01 PM
naval stalemate |
MY 2300. The Cyborgs are now deploying Fusion Cruisers and killed one of my ships for the first time. I'd say the old Fission fleet doesn't have long to finally make an impact on one of the sea bases. Probably it doesn't work. Some of my larger cities have finished their Hybrid Forests, so I'm starting to make Conventional Missiles. I haven't done that style of warfare in a long time, since it's pretty boring pushing the CMs all the way across the map. However they could be effective, given my excess of productivity.
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 04:57:34 PM
burgeoning population |
MY 2301. I elect myself Governor, deposing Aki-Zeta5. The Believers' population had grown larger than the Cyborgs', so I had a feeling the latter would abstain from the voting. That puts me in charge. I hold the veto, so now I should be able to Reinstate the Atrocity Prohibitions. I've played other games where I've chemical and biological-ed everyone to death, and I don't feel like having that be this game. It's really quite an easy way to win. The game would have gone a lot faster if I had just trashed the Data Angels with X weapons and Obliterations.
unanimous! |
Getting everyone to agree upon something in this game is highly unusual. I wonder why they were so much more willing to have atrocities at the beginning of the game?
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 06:51:08 PM
what every drone boy and girl wishes for |
MY 2303. I've reached the compulsion of the Free Drones! What shall I do with it?
decisions decisions |
I now have more flexibility about how to make money. I could go Extremist Capitalist Power Eudaimonic, a warmonger's approach. However I've got plenty of minerals and really don't need extra SUPPORT. I could go Democratic Green Knowledge Eudaimonic and have tougher mindworms, but I actually just sent them all back to their home cities. I need a rail into Yang's territory to really make good use of them. Otherwise, I just don't have any nearby enemies. Next year I'll see how much of a money tradeoff any of these options has.
T minus 10 seconds and counting |
Well I've got a Conventional Missile, but what am I going to blow up? It's an awfully expensive weapon compared to most of the enemies I'm facing. I also seem to remember them doing exceptionally poorly against Spore Launchers. I noticed Yang has some non-AAA Probability garrisons, maybe those would be good to take out. Or I could just save these up for later. I don't really want to stimulate the AI to build more AAA units, when I'm not even invading yet. Maybe I need to get a rail done first.
for the love of Planet |
MY 2304. Going Green makes very little difference to my monetary output, so I do so.
stalwarts |
Roze rushed a Fusion defender in her last land city. I threw a mindworm at it, but the bonus for Green hasn't kicked in yet, so the defender only got half wounded. I threw several poorly trained Cloaked Impact Squads at it, since they're not useful for much and just cost me SUPPORT. She still wants money! On what Planet does this twit think she's really ever going to get paid? She has like what, 6 sea bases? 4 of which are in easy reach and will soon be assaulted by waves of Cruiser probe teams. After that I'm going to make some tough Clean ships and just starve her out. The Believers could have taken some of these sea bases but they're stupid.
Post by: bvanevery on April 09, 2020, 07:40:07 PM
die! |
MY 2305. Is a Conventional Missile good at taking out AAA Probability Cruisers? Let's find out. Yep, it's gone! That's how I'll keep the oceans clear for my marauding probe teams.
Post by: bvanevery on April 10, 2020, 01:15:13 AM
anti Colonialism |
Can a CM destroy a poorly trained AAA Probability garrison, in a city with no Perimeter Defense but with a Sensor Array, and thereby wipe out a size 1 city?
flesh wound |
Well, 1 CM won't do it. 2 would kill the unit. Will the city vaporize?
insufficient destruction |
Nope. Not a good way to spend the ordinance.
Post by: bvanevery on April 10, 2020, 01:54:56 AM
crawler and borehole abuse |
MY 2307. Supply Crawlers and Thermal Boreholes come late in my mod. The point is to stop them from being a fast path to victory, and make the player or the AI try other options. Clearly I had some. If I'd really wanted to win the game fast at all costs, I could have been much farther along my way to doing so. Instead I toyed with the Data Angels, preferring not to take over any of their home cities, nor commit atrocities against them. I'm still toying with them, beating them down with many Cruiser Probe Teams. Once I've destroyed everything in the cities, I'll use the probe teams to blockade their oceans, adding insult to injury as they starve to death.
I now have the means to complete Secret Projects quickly, in as little as 1 turn. I just need more Secret Projects to finish! I've stolen from the Cyborgs, and that's probably all the tech anyone else is going to research. I've accumulated 6 Artifacts and soon it will be time to cash them in for tech, in the hopes of getting more Secret Projects.
denominations |
I like to make several different kinds of Supply Crawler, costing different amounts. That way, I don't have to waste the extra production of a city, on a unit that is too cheap.
Post by: bvanevery on April 10, 2020, 03:06:40 AM
nuke 'em |
MY 2309. Now I know how to make Planet Busters! I doubt I'll end the game that way though. The only way to do it without it becoming a complete Global Warming PITA, is to stockpile huge quantities of them, and then kill every city on Planet in 1 turn. That way, you don't have to face the vengeance of Planet. I've done writeups of games like that before, and I don't care to do it now. Still, for sake of form, I'm Planet Buster capable. I don't think anyone else is actually. I do have 4 Orbital Defense Pods, and almost all of my cities are sheltered by Flechette Missile Defense Systems.
construct this |
Now that I've finished improving my oceans, I realize that surplus Sea Formers can be used to starve an enemy. Meanwhile in the south, I've lost a fair number of Cruiser Probe Teams to enemy aircraft. I'm starting to make cheap AAA Probability boats instead. I will try to smother the Cyborg sea bases.
exploring death |
I rush the Nano Factory. I have 7 interior cities producing various kinds of Supply Crawlers, and I've all but ceased CM production. With 612 credits/turn, I have serious resources for banging out SPs. I cash 1 Artifact and get my next SP. It's not easy to research high end Explore techs when one insists on a Build, Conquer focus, so this is quite helpful.
Post by: bvanevery on April 10, 2020, 03:36:10 AM
death from above |
MY 2310. This is pretty much what a Build faction is supposed to get. Maybe the CMs will be more useful if I hammer the Cyborgs from orbit, and then drop infantry on the empty cities. Aerospace Complexes could get in the way of that. I can't use orbital drop tactics on sea bases, so my naval campaign will remain unchanged. And maybe I should do the orbital drops on the Hive, as I could then crush them overland from 2 different directions. I start making Robotic Assembly Plants in anticipation of these tactics. I'm often skittish about doing eco-damage, but I've completed many Hybrid Forests and can still do Centauri Preserves if need be.
I rush the Xenoempathy Dome. My capitol will build the Space Elevator, but first I will complete a Robotic Assembly Plant. It's a pretty expensive SP in my mod, and I just took all my Supply Crawler production offline.
Post by: bvanevery on April 10, 2020, 05:34:37 AM
MY 2315. I rush the Space Elevator.
make mo' money |
I propose a Global Trade Pact. I thought about doing this earlier, but I got interrupted by Real Life, such as being called to dinner. I think I benefit more than they do, and I certainly have the largest economy and the best cities for trade. However I only have 2 allies and everyone else is at war with me. Then again, my ally is the 2nd strongest player. So whatever. I'm a bit surprised that almost everyone agreed to it.
MO' money! |
My JUSTICE is so high that I can allocate my budget any way I want without penalty. I shift into money, as I've got Artifacts I can still pop to get new techs.
space rocks |
I pop an Artifact and get my next Secret Project. It's not super useful but eh. I've got a prereq for Global Energy Theory, which is what's needed in my mod to make Economic Victory available. That might be an interesting way to finish because I don't usually try to do it. It's rather slow, you have to wait 20 turns even after you've saved up enough money to buy everything. By that point in the game, typically you could have crushed everyone by some other means.
Post by: bvanevery on April 10, 2020, 06:06:02 AM
I've got them all |
MY 2317. I pop more Artifacts to start more Secret Projects. I prefer to put them in cities that don't already have a SP, so that if anyone nukes me, I don't lose more than 1. Although in this game, I don't think anyone will be doing that. Many of my cities are building Corporate Labs, so I don't expect this game can go on much longer. My rail to the Hive is getting closer. If I conquer them, then I think Diplomatic Victory is inevitable.
Post by: bvanevery on April 10, 2020, 06:43:29 AM
starvation conclusion |
MY 2318. I never bothered to make any real weapons to attack Roze's starving city. She had 1 unit that resisted all the peons I threw at it, until the bitter end. I have 1 Fission Impact Marine left! I've been way too busy making all kinds of great stuff in my empire. Miriam keeps giving me cheap units to use up, so why not?
I rush the Cloudbase Academy, as that will allow me to sell all my Aerospace Complexes. I also rush the Self-Aware Colony, as that will save me money. I don't have quite enough money to rush the Neural Amplifier, so I leave it for next year.
[Limit reached]
I've learned Gravship tech, and Phasers, and I have bases that are done building Corporate Labs. So I'm starting to make these, and they should pretty much trash stuff. Maybe some AAA units will hold them off a little, but I don't think my enemies have enough of those to matter. This is the beginning of the end.
Post by: bvanevery on April 10, 2020, 07:23:33 AM
MY 2319. I cash an Artifact. Now Economic Victory is possible, for the low low price of 30,869 credits! That doesn't seem so bad, particularly if I make a lot of Orbital Power Transmitters. But would I rather do that, then sit around and wait for 20 years, or just trash everyone with Gravships? Hard to say. My current income is 2593 credits/turn. So that's roughly 12 turns to save up the money, then waiting another 20 turns. Quite a long time to keep at this.
[Limit reached]
I cash my last Artifact. I wasn't doing any eco-damage before, and now I surely won't.
[Limit reached]
Miriam gave me a nice shiny new Fusion Missile Needlejet, which I might be about to throw away. Yeah, pretty much!
[Limit reached]
Assuming Miriam gave this to me, how did she end up with a plane in a Cyborg city? This is at the bottom of the map, way out of range of any of my bases. It smells buggy. I elect to stay in this city, since flying away is a death sentence.
[Limit reached]
Now that I've used up all my Artifacts, I need to do more research to get the next SP. I don't need massive amounts of money because I'm not convinced I'm going to wait 30+ years to win the game.
[Limit reached]
I find myself committing more and more of my reserve of mindworms to beat down Yang's forces. He's quite spammy.
Post by: bvanevery on April 10, 2020, 07:47:56 AM
MY 2320. I was thinking how much I could have used this, 20 years ago. Instead I built a rail.
I rush the Pholus Mutagen.
[Limit reached]
You know I really don't need more Conquer techs. My mindworms alone could trash the planet. I can make Locusts of Chiron and I haven't even bothered. What I really need to end this is Habitation Domes. If I double my population, I think I win, and it'll be a lot sooner than Economic Victory. So I switch my research focus to maximize the chances of that. First time I've switched this game.
Post by: Geo on April 10, 2020, 08:36:31 AM
I can't use orbital drop tactics on sea bases, so my naval campaign will remain unchanged.
Can't you change the flag for it in alphax.txt? I thought naval vessels could be made drop capable.
..., such as being called to dinner. I think I benefit more than they do,...
Poor family members. ;)
Post by: bvanevery on April 10, 2020, 09:29:56 AM
Can't you change the flag for it in alphax.txt? I thought naval vessels could be made drop capable.You can have drop planes and drop ships just fine in my mod. That doesn't mean you can drop them in a sea base. For whatever reason, the game wasn't designed to allow it. That's actually a good item for the "infinite modding" thread.
A drop ship can be dropped in a coastal land base. Then you can sail into the water. I've done this to reach otherwise inaccessible bodies of water.
It hasn't been important this game because I kicked the snot out of the Data Angels. Their home waters are highly inaccessible to anything else. The one narrow strait that allowed passage between the oceans, was sealed early on by an earthquake. Here's where it happened:
[Limit reached]
I think you can also drop a ship in an inland land base. I think I did that a few games back, to gradually reach an ocean on the other side of my continent. It was like passing a series of highland locks!
Post by: bvanevery on April 11, 2020, 12:36:45 AM
MY 2321. I upgraded all my garrisons. I'm using my Gravships to beat on Roze.
[Limit reached]
Mindworms and old units, I'm beating on Yang with. I don't really have enough Formers, because I keep wanting to improve my terrain. I haven't bothered to push the rail line farther along. Maybe I won't need it? I just have 1 Clean Rover Former making some connecting roads. Once I've seized a base, a few Drop Transport ships might be enough to move any garrisons I need.
[Limit reached]
I should have claimed the Manifold Nexus when I first completed the Space Elevator. It's sitting all by itself on unsettled land. I tend to forget about orbital insertion of colonists, because I've usually got all the cities I need by then. And if I wanted more far-flung cities that don't contribute to my economy, I can conquer enemy cities for that.
[Limit reached]
Non-combat units have to stop their turn after they drop. I think combat units can move and attack, although I'm not sure if they have to land in a city. If I put armor on a Colonist, does it become a combat unit? Can it settle immediately upon landing?
[Limit reached]
I will need a defensive unit if it doesn't work. Unfortunately it's relatively expensive for the job to be performed. None of my cities can produce this in 1 turn, although all of them could do it in 2. I want it in 1 turn because I intend to have my Drop Colonists done next year.
[Limit reached]
This is the cheapest 2 passenger land drop unit I can make. With a quantum reactor I could make it better armored, but it would cost more. Note that Heavy Transport is enabled in my mod, and this is probably the only time it's actually useful. I have a number of cities that can chuck these out in 1 turn. These can bring the conventional garrison units I need to stay safe while landing.
Post by: bvanevery on April 11, 2020, 04:37:51 AM
MY 2322. My Colonist didn't magically become able to move after a drop. Armor doesn't help. I drop in 2 garrison units for defense. Interestingly, the drop tank takes damage from landing, but the passengers do not.
I toy with the idea of dropping the 2nd Colonist into the Cyborgs' home territory, and using it to invade them from an unexpected direction. However I think the AI may be bright enough to throw mindworms at my garrisons, and they'd probably die. They're built to withstand Conventional Missile strikes, not mindworms. Also I'm not sure I'd be in good shape to reinforce, as I currently prefer to build the Nanohospitals I just learned how to make. They are more likely to get me Habitation Domes than pushing units around.
[Limit reached]
Instead I will settle a 2nd city near the Manifold Nexus, to prevent any future settlers from taking control of it. A triangle of 3 settlers is usually the perfect way to do it, but this will probably be enough in the real world. I couldn't come up with any other strategically valuable location on the map. I don't exactly need to sail ships around anymore.
[Limit reached]
I built a drop ship on the wrong side of my continent. I insert it and that ends its move. I will probably want to load it up with peons for the Manifold Nexus next year. I upgrade 2 older Cruiser Transports in case I wish to drop them as well. One is out at sea picking up supply pods.
Post by: bvanevery on April 11, 2020, 05:55:09 AM
MY 2324. I don't need any more tech. I just need to get the votes! I also learned the Secrets of the Manifolds this year, so I think I will keep my +3 PLANET rating. I'll start building the Manifold Harmonics as soon as one of my cities finishes a Hab Dome.
[Limit reached]
I switch to mostly money.
Post by: bvanevery on April 11, 2020, 07:09:40 AM
MY 2326. I take Yang's 2nd major city. He becomes more tractable. I don't need to fight to win. Of course he could "surprise" attack me, so I won't let my guard down.
[Limit reached]
I'm rushing many Hab Domes. I don't need as much money now, so I slightly increase PSYCH. I want to set off Golden Ages to get pop booms, but I don't want to overspend on it. I may still have a few expenses, such as rushing the Manifold Harmonics and the Cyborg Factory.
Post by: bvanevery on April 11, 2020, 03:48:24 PM
MY 2327. I learn Tachyon weapons and Neutronium armor. My citizens aren't ecstatic so I bump up the PSYCH budget.
[Limit reached]
MY 2328. I rush the Manifold Harmonics. Various cities still aren't happy, because my empire is rather large and sprawling. So more PSYCH. I'm starting to drop Quantum Conventional Missiles on the Cyborgs' heads. They'll take out anything.
I'm regretting not having taken over Roze's cities earlier. It's nearly the end of the game, and I could have long since stabilized them by now. Any Bureaucracy effects upon the empire really don't matter in the long run. I have a very expensive fleet of Gravships sitting around waiting for those cities to starve, which could have been used to invade the Cyborgs. But I'm darned if I'm going to change my policy now.
Only now am I finally starting to make Soil Enrichers, around a couple of cities that are out of food. I simply didn't need them before, and other construction projects were higher priority.
Post by: bvanevery on April 12, 2020, 06:13:23 AM
[Limit reached]
MY 2330. I'm bored out of my mind! I can't take this policy with the Data Angels anymore. And it's proof that doing it that way, was a complete waste of time, and a terrible thing to do in a "demonstration game". This is really a pretty lousy demo at this point. I don't even want to publish it on Reddit. I'm quitting. I will hold a vote to see if I've won the game already without realizing it, although I doubt it. And that's it. No more of this. I want to start over and do things properly, so that there's an AAR actually worth reading at the end of it. This is junk. Don't play the game this way, you'll make yourself bloody miserable. "Smothering tactics" can have their place, particularly with an enemy that will only sign a Truce, but this isn't it. Doesn't work, it's terrible, complete garbage.
[Limit reached]
Thankfully I've won. If Miriam hadn't sided with me, I wouldn't have. And I just barely squeaked that vote out, right now. In the future, of course victory was inevitable, but this was a darned sloppy game. I'm not bothering to tell anyone about this AAR. This was pretty crap play, with Roze at least. And she still wanted money, to the bitter end! The nerve of her!
Ugh. I wish this game had the equivalent of the earthquake in SimCity. Where you just shake everything to the ground, when you're totally sick of everything.
Just driving a rail straight into your enemy's heart, with zillions of Formers, is a zillion times more efficient, than this slow nonsense rail I made down to Yang. I've just done a rail invasion so many times, that I didn't want to write that up.
Conventional Missiles work ok, except when they don't. Maybe they're not actually overpowered. I'm doubting they're actually all that convenient.
Pounding the various cities with probe teams to weaken them, was mostly a fool's errand. I did that for dozens and dozens of turns, and all I did was bore me. The AI doesn't care. Especially when it gets down to trashing Recreation Commons, they're so cheap that the AI will simply build them yet again. Complete waste of time.