Anyone else always play with random research?

[vonbach]

Anyone else play with random research? I haven't chosen my techs in so long I cant play like that anymore.
It feels like cheating to me.

[Buster's Uncle]

I always play random.

[Green1]

Well, it does add a bit of drama in if you do use blind research. But, it can kinda suck, too.

 Imagine you are just getting nothing but a worthless (unless you are an aquatic faction) tecsh like Prog Psych and a bunch of build stuff like Social Psych and Information Systems. No armor or weapons. Then, some warmonger like Santiago or Yang comes for you with impact rovers!

[vonbach]

Usually my research is good enough I can outpace the other factions.
Usually just by having three times the cities they do.
If i end up in a situation like that with a warmonger I just but them off typically.
Here's a question? Anyone play Ironman? This is a setting for masochists.

[Green1]

I believe Ironman was one of those things back in the day to prove no one was save scrumming.

I personally never save scrum in games like this unless I am just learning it or I seriously misclick. Fortunately, AC even on the two hardest settings are no where near as anal (or impossible) as the more modern 4xs are.

What I do is include custom factions. Ete's Annihilators are particularly nasty.

[JarlWolf]

Always random here. More fun, more challenge that way. 

[Nexii]

I play with directed usually, but I've done a lot of tech balancing to make it such that the typical tech beelines aren't always optimal.  With flat unit+ability costing, being caught on 1/1 or 2/2 troops is really brutal against someone that's gone aggressive.  Similarly some nerfs to advanced terraforming makes it so going down that line at all costs isn't the only good play.

I suppose I could try some random games, the tech obtained would influence the strategy more (rather than being more in control of it).

[vonbach]

I personally never save scrum in games like this unless I am just learning it or I seriously misclick.

I do the save game abuse all the time. Usually when the computer pisses me off.
Its a bad habit of mine. No AI you are not going to kill a veteran unit with a
pre boil mind worm. Lets try this again.

[Green1]

I personally never save scrum in games like this unless I am just learning it or I seriously misclick.

I do the save game abuse all the time. Usually when the computer pisses me off.
Its a bad habit of mine. No AI you are not going to kill a veteran unit with a
pre boil mind worm. Lets try this again.

I caught myself save scrumming in a recent Age of Wonders 3 game. Had to stop it. It was a 8 way FFA, no diplomacy. 3 huge stacks of stuff came and raped a metropolis I had with only a high level hero, an archer, a priest, and a militia. I did not see it coming. Nor did I want to lose that hero.

I stopped myself then dealt with it. Ended up losing.

Save scrumming really hurts you if you ever do MP. I did a team MP that me and a partner won. I messed up bad in the beginning and was basically carried through the game by my team mate. A lot would have dropped and quit. If it was SP, I had such a terible start, I would have just called the game.  I think save scrumming behavior hurts you if you ever dabble in MP. Unlikely, though. I read somewhere that only 20 percent of 4x players ever step foot in MP and maybe 5 to 10 percent keep at it.

Then again, it's your game as far as SP. It's not against the law. Not like 4xs have like any kind of League of Legends type E-sport movement to it except maybe Civ Fanatic's Hall of Fame Deity level challenges for Civ. But, there are no 1 M USD tourneys for Civ, so who cares. From hardcore wannabes though, it does have a stigma. They do have a point. It makes you a weaker player.

Think like golf. If you hit the sand trap, do you walk back to the tee to start again? Do you just grab the ball and place it on the green? Some may. Unless it's a tourney. But few golfers play tourneys. At that point, maybe not being a good player or the game itself is the goal, but being out there being entertained. Entertainment> Skill for them.

[Yitzi]

I believe Ironman was one of those things back in the day to prove no one was save scrumming.

More than prove; in SP it's treated as a special challenge and gives +100% to your score.

[vonbach]

More than prove; in SP it's treated as a special challenge and gives +100% to your score.

Its  a great way to get your score to insane levels. But its an entirely different way of playing.
If your up to the stress by all means do so but you probably wont enjoy the game much.
I've done one full game on Ironman and it was not a fun game. I won but I didn't enjoy it much.

Save scrumming really hurts you if you ever do MP.

I've never felt the urge to play MP. But I see your point.

[Green1]

I've never felt the urge to play MP. But I see your point.

You are not the lone ranger. I read on a dev board a long while back (I think it was Stardock forums when they were developing Fallen Enchantress and people were griping because MP was not included) that only 20 percent of 4x players do MP. Plus, 4x games don't lend themselves well to it. A straight session can go for hours and few outside of retired folks, house wives, students, or the unemployed have that time. And, PBEM can take years.

That said, I did venture into Age of Wonders 3 MP a few days ago. It was a 2v2. We won, but I was basically carried. My partner was a badass. It was fun, but I rarely have the time to do it and was getting odd looks from the family for being glued to the computer that long and neglecting them. I have also attempted PBEMs but it becomes to be an obligation rather than fun and the more folks you get, the more it can fall apart. I mean, game is cool, but will it still be cool in January?

But yeah. While save scrumming probably won't cause the Rapture, it is your game. If content where you get exploited fro making stupid mistakes is not how you want to spend your limited play time, it your prerogative. A victimless crime.  However, there are somewhat competitive SP things, too. For those like HOF Civ challenges, Ironman type stuff gets modded into those games.

[vonbach]

I've always felt it was my right to abuse the computer honestly.

[Green1]

I think blind research also brings to mind the way tech is handled in 4x games.

I do believe you can direct research as a civilization to a certain extent. After all, the Germans were pumping research into rocketry and jets  towards the end. But, a lot of stuff does come out of the blue, too. Like cell phones. Tech also bleeds into your neighbors baring secrecy trade embargos. Japan was still using swords and wooden armor when Perry showed up with a huge maetal battleship in the harbor. It was not too much longer till the Japanese were building their own and making guns.

I do not think any 4x has handled tech spreading quite realistically yet. Nor manufacturing or agriculture for that matter - but that is another rant.

[Vidsek]

  From the first time I played SMAC, I've always had the impression or understanding that most of the tech advances were RE-discovering and RE-learning knowledge and production techniques that were lost in the demise of the Unity.  How to build an aquatic ship?  How to build a satellite launch vehicle?  Clearly ones like those were known skills to the builders of an interstellar ship carrying humans.  Same goes for the aliens in SMAX.  Truly new discoveries would be those concerning the psy abilities of the native life, and probably/possibly some of the highest tier techs, like matter transmission and such.
  That makes it likely that they would have some insight into which science advances would lead to which skills, and which would have to be rediscovered first to open up advances in another.
  The Unity pods that give tech saved from the Unity or scavenged from the Alien Artifacts were what I thought were meant to give the ''random'', serendipitous factor.  And trading for or stealing tech also fits in there.
  Of course, to perfectly embody these concepts....well, there would be a lot of deep thought and modding involved 

  I've used frequent saves a huge amount, especially before some significant move or event.  Mostly to run the same thing over and over to see the variations the AI comes up with, or to change a variable and see what that results in. And, yes, sometimes to back up when something unrealistic or fun-destroying occurs.

  The more I understand the game (and can adjust parameters and the AI), the more I tend to just play and take it as it goes.  Which is also a lot of fun