Santiago the Builder

[bvanevery]

Comments and questions about the strategies I'm using in this game, are expected and encouraged.  Please make them in this thread.  As my AARs become longer and longer, I think that's the only way to keep this readable.  Don't worry about "interrupting".  I guarantee I can reestablish the flow with a massive wall of text and 5 screenshots if need be.

I thought a lot about why I'm disliking the past few games I've played.  One of my conclusions is that I tend to rate my progress by the number of Secret Projects I've completed.  When a whole lot of them go by that I didn't get, I don't feel that I'm doing very well.  So in this game I intend to focus on the SPs and not be distracted by peripheral concerns.

Huge map, average settings, random factions including myself.  First I get Aki Zeta-5.  I've played so many games with her recently, that I reroll.  On the 2nd attempt I get Santiago, and no Alien factions in the game.  I've just drawn the worst faction to be isolated with on a Huge map, as her Morale bonuses aren't terribly useful if there's no enemy to crush, and she has -1 Industry.  I've played "isolated Santiago" games before though, so I push down the feelings that this is going to suck.  I decide I will make a go of it, and if this ends up being a short game and a short writeup, so beit.

I'm on some kind of land mass that looks like it could be substantial, or it could be a tiny island.  If it's a tiny island, I'm likely to quit the game.  I've had quite enough of tiny island starts that require me to focus on Explore, to get ships to get off the tiny island.  That's just a "bad roll" AFAIAC nowadays, as it will invariably put me behind other factions.  I've done it hundreds of times and it's not basically interesting to me anymore.  So I set my focus to Discover, Build, figuring that if things don't work out, I'll just quit.

The land turns out to be acceptably large.  Some touching land in the northeast leads to a new area.  I also set off an earthquake in the east which extended my land slightly.  I've won the land size gamble, but it's rocky and covered in a lot of fungus.  If it looks ok to you now, that's because I've done lots of work meticulously cutting all the fungus away around my bases.  Those river systems were full of fungus.

I did not get any minerals near my starting location, nor any Artifacts until just now.  I did get lots of free Rover Scouts.  I've built more vertically than spread-y, because I had a real problem last game with spreading thin and not having substantial production.  I've got Recycling Tanks in all cities and Recreation Commons in almost all.  Not building Rec Commons and failing to have my cities get bigger sooner, is a mistake I've made in several recent games.  Not this time!

I began The Human Genome Project even without good minerals, because I figured I had to do something.  It is perhaps 60% finished and nobody else is working on it, so I might get it.  My 2 copies of The Weather Paradigm are barely started, only 15% complete.  Aki Zeta-5 is working on it as well, I can't remember for how long.  The University is working on The Virtual World.

The free Rover Scouts did their job popping pods where they could.  The remaining pods are either on rocky terrain or fungus.  I'm sending Scouts to finish those.  Then I'll be out of pods and will need to consider when I'm going to start fishing the ocean.  Unless I get The Weather Paradigm, in which case I could raise land instead, but that might be an expensive way to avoid Explore research.  Still, I'll consider it.

I find it interesting that the Peacekeepers and the Gaians are rated so highly on the graph, yet they have not begun any SPs.  Maybe they're on large land masses and are expanding like crazy.  Meanwhile the Data Angels clearly got the short stick.  I'd be in the same boat if I wasn't good at this.

[bvanevery]

Why I got Doctrine:Flexibility this turn I don't know, but it is useful.  One of my bases can start making a Transport 3 turns from now.  I need to save my cash for SPs.  Deirdre just started The Empath Guild.  Lal recently began working on 2 copies of The Weather Paradigm.  The University is working on 2 copies of The Virtual World.

I forgot that the Spartans have +1 Police, enabling me to use 2 military units as police.  My bases can get a little bigger than I thought they could.  Well for better or worse, I've got Rec Commons everywhere.  I won't make the same mistake when colonizing the upper half of my land.

[bvanevery]

I completed The Human Genome Project with cash.  I'm now beginning 2 Transports.  We started sunspots a few turns ago, so I have to be more careful about enemy SPs.  I won't get any warnings that they're about to complete.  The Believers have thrown their hat in the ring as well.

[bvanevery]

I pop Industrial Base from a fungus ridden sea pod.  That's a lot better than an Isle in the face!  Now I have some breathing room for SP completion, even if I don't get The Weather Paradigm.

[bvanevery]

I research Planetary Networks.  I switch to Planned, accepting the -2 Efficiency in the interest of getting my SPs done.  I switch to Build only focus as I've got the techs for the Discover SPs.  I don't strictly need Secrets of the Human Brain.  My inherent Morale bonus is protecting me from mindworms and Sea Lurks just fine.

I popped an Artifact in a fungal sea pod.  If I can get it back to base in time, I can definitely finish The Weather Paradigm with it.  If not, well there's still The Merchant Exchange and The Virtual World.

I am not going to try for The Command Nexus at present.  I'm conscious that more techs increases the research expense of additional techs.  Previous experience is that one can go a long time fishing around for Doctrine:Loyalty and not getting it.  I have taken on the role of a Builder this game, not a conqueror.  I don't even know if I have anyone next to me to conquer anyways.  And if there is anyone, I can now probe team them anyways.

[bvanevery]

With the aid of a Planned economy and an Artifact I already had in my base, I complete The Weather Paradigm.  That knocks Miriam out of the race, although I don't think she was a contender anyways.  I wonder how close anyone is to The Merchant Exchange?  Sunspots have ended, but I have no diplomatic contact or infiltration.  Well at least I should get warnings about others completing it now.  I may be able to complete it with cash, particularly if I pop a little money from a sea pod.  By the time my Artifact arrives, it'll be overkill for that.  Do I care enough to overkill it?  To be honest I'd probably rather have The Virtual World, if I have to choose.

Even though I have a -1 Industry penalty, I think I'm doing better this game because nobody's bothering me, and I have enough land to do my thing. I get to see progress, instead of being handed stressful #### sandwiches.

[bvanevery]

Deirdre completes The Empath Guild and calls an election.  Lal is poised to beat her by 2 votes.  I vote for Lal even though he was going to win anyways, just to express my preference for him.  Deirdre is not going to like my Planned economy and I won't be shocked if she goes to war with me when I talk to her.  Whereas I will probably go Democratic soon enough to offset my current -2 Efficiency.

Now let's see what everyone has to say.

I'll start with Miriam, because I'm not Democratic yet and she'll surely have the least amount of tech to trade, giving me a bargaining advantage.  She begins by offering a Pact to attack Deirdre.  Since her might is Wanting, I have no idea where either of them are on the map, and I'm outfitted as a Builder not a conqueror, I decline.  I can definitely trade my Industrial Base for Nonlinear Mathematics, as my Artifact is 1 turn away from reaching my base.  If I want to complete it next turn, I can.  No I don't want your map.  No, no free techs, you're already Magnanimous anyways.  Should I offer an alliance?  She may not actually be at war with Deirdre yet and might take it.  Nah; find out more about everyone first.  Lal, Miriam, and Roze will go to war eventually, and I need to know which of those is relevant to me.  Santiago out.

Hmm.  Aki, Zhakarov, Lal, Roze, and Deirdre.  All strong research factions.  Who will be the least technical, that I can bargain the best with?  Well since Lal is working on 3 copies of The Merchant Exchange, he must not have Planetary Networks.  Let's try him.  Hm, won't sign a Treaty and isn't prepared to share research at the time.  He's Noncommittal and cut me off.

Sometimes Aki stupidly gives up Doctrine:Loyalty, so let's try her.  She's only working on 1 copy of The Virtual World and has growth problems as a faction, so maybe she doesn't even feel she can complete anything.  She's Cooperative and Feeble.  She wants my Nonlinear Mathematics for Progenitor Psych; I don't trade.  I could offer an alliance and thereby learn what other techs she has, but I can also figure that out in other ways.  I'm going to make a wild guess that she hasn't done well and hasn't researched Doctrine:Loyalty yet.  I will try offering another trade and see if I get any better option to try than Progenitor Psych.  Nope, she offers to sell it for 100 credits.  Not interested, I need my cash for SPs, and certainly not for Progenitor Psych.

Roze might have less tech than Zhakarov, so I'll try her.  She has a tendency to give away Planetary Networks, but I already have that so it doesn't matter.  She's Obstinate, Pathetic, and wants a Pact to attack Deirde.  Thanks but no thanks.  She offers Progenitor Psych for my Doctrine:Flexibility.  No, I think that just increases the expense of my research without any benefit.  No I'm not giving it to you for free either.  We sign a Treaty.  I'll try an obligatory new trade offer, but I don't think she has any more tech.  Nope, same deal.  Santiago out.

Time for Zhakarov, as I'm saving Deirdre for last.  Wow, everyone wants to beat Deirdre up!  I'll pass.  Do I want to trade my Ethical Calculus for his Optical Computers?  It's kind of a speed bump tech, and will make my own research take longer, but I do need to get his Secrets of the Human Brain out of him.  So ok.  Well, he won't trade it anyways, thinks he's too good for me!  We sign a Treaty.  I try the trade again.  This time he does it.  Trading again.  My maps for Progenitor Psych?  I could do that, but I'd rather have Polymorphic Software.  He won't do it, so I take his first deal.  Further trades?  Yes I will buy Polymorphic Software for 100 credits.  My Artifact will overkill The Merchant Exchange next turn anyways.  I don't think I'm ready to ally with him, so I'm signing off.

And now at last, Deirdre.  Lots of people hate you, girl.  She's Seething.  No, a Peacekeeper map isn't worth Optical Computers.  Gene Splicing would be though.  She won't trade it and signs off.  We have a Truce though.

I will check back with other factions to see if I can rustle up any maps.  People want too much for them, but hey... Aki does have Doctrine:Loyalty after all.  She trades it for Optical Computers!  Still don't want a Pact, goodbye.  I switch my SP to The Command Nexus.  As no one else is building it, I can probably complete it with cash in a few turns and save my Artifact for something else.

Miriam wants to kill Roze too.  Whatever.  Nobody's got cheap map info, so I'm done now.  That was a good score with Doctrine:Loyalty though.

Next turn I got a warning that the Peacekeepers are about to finish The Merchant Exchange.  Hopefully nobody starts working on The Command Nexus.

[bvanevery]

I complete The Command Nexus by ordinary production, saving my 1 Artifact for later.  I've started to make a bunch of land based Probe Teams, since now they'll be trained.  I've got 1 Skimship Probe Team starting to scout my surroundings and 3 more in production.

I'm 1 turn away from gaining a tech, and 3 turns away from using my last Colonist.  After that I think I'll go Democratic.  Better talk to some people now, like Miriam, before I make those changes.  Let's see what's up.

Miriam wants to kill Roze.  Roze wants to kill Zhakarov.  Lal wouldn't trade Industrial Economics for a tech.  He wanted 225 credits for it, which I didn't have and wouldn't pay anyways.  Aki has Intellectual Integrity but isn't trading it.  Zhakarov wants to kill Miriam.  I trade Doctrine:Loyalty for Adaptive Doctrine, which is very useful to me as I don't have any solid armor yet.  He sells me Secrets of the Human Brain for 100 credits!  I'm so set.  I wonder if Lal will recant on his tech recalcitrance?  Point is moot as he's not talking to me.

Switching production from Probe Teams to Trance 3-Pulse Sentinels.  Everyone's gonna be so happy with 2 units everywhere.

[bvanevery]

Lal turns out to be my neighbor.  He's Belligerent now.  The readouts claim he's Unsurpassed.  I'm Formidable myself and I haven't even built proper garrisons yet, so he'd better watch himself if he thinks he's going to sabre rattle.  I don't have to be a Builder faction, it's just what I prefer doing right now.  I've infiltrated him; he doesn't have any tech advantages.  I founded my last city for a bit, so I went Democratic, unfortunately after I spoke with him.  Maybe my politics will placate him, maybe they won't.

[bvanevery]

Miriam is also my neighbor.  She's Seething.  I've infiltrated her datalinks.  It's a bit weird to have neighbors who are politically wound up, be Democratic, and still have Lal be Belligerent.

I do a little tech trading with Zhakarov and Aki Zeta-5 just to keep up with the Joneses.

[bvanevery]

Lal was about to complete The Virtual World, but Zhakarov built it instead.  I always figured he'd get it.  Lal completed The Citizens Defense Force instead.  Meanwhile he and Deirdre are working Builder SPs.  I find it annoying that they're out-Building me.

This is the point in the game where my enjoyment starts to suffer.  I can't build the SPs I want, and I can't establish dominance over the other players.  Lal, I could invade, but I don't even know where Deirdre is.  If she's on the opposite of the map, then she's a runaway that I can't control.  That would be like the game I played with Morgan on the opposite side of the map, where I kept reacting to him forever and was never able to catch up.  After that I said I wasn't going to let other factions become more powerful that me, but I can't control that right now in this game.  I didn't want to play as "the invader" either, that's another thing ruining my enjoyment.

Perhaps Fundamentalism, stealing, and invasion are in my future.  But I will grow for now.  18 years until my next research breakthrough.  That's not looking good for Industrial Automation.

I walked the dog and came back to the game.  I decided I cannot win by sitting back and hoping to out-Build Lal and Deirdre.  The AI is given basic resource advantages I will not be able to match for some time.  Games are pretty much winnable "eventually" but it takes a lot more mouseclicks to get there.  I don't want to waste lots of real life time on such things.  It's sort of like grinding in MMORPGs and I have pretty deep feelings of been there, done that over the years.

So my politics have to change and I have to invade Lal.  I will try to accomplish my objectives with subterfuge, but my probe teams may be compromised and then I just have to invade the old fashioned way.

First up is I'm ditching the Planned economy in favor of Simple.  Although some of my bases need very much to grow, others are at their population limit and need less population pressure.  Perhaps at that point Deirdre will also make peace.  Before switching her attitude is Seething.  After switching her attitude is still Seething, so I guess I'll need to wait some turns before speaking to her.

[bvanevery]

Lal is sitting on the Monsoon Jungle.  That explains why he's strong.  He has also researched Industrial Automation.  I've given up the Build focus, I've switched to Conquer.  There's a chance that over the long haul, I might out-Conquer the other factions.

I am Fundamentalist Simple now.  I have 2 Elite land Probe Teams ready to go, but I didn't have a land city target to use them on.  Now I've found one, but it'll take some time to get there by Transport.  My Skimship Probe Teams aren't trained enough to do a frame job.

I still don't know where anyone is other than Lal and Miriam.  I've encountered a Gaian Isle of the Deep far to the northeast.  Her attitude is softening towards me, she's merely Quarrelsome now.  Miriam ironically is still Seething.

[bvanevery]

I've probably found Deirdre, a ways to the northeast.

I bought Intellectual Integrity from Zhakarov for 100 credits.  When I steal from Lal, I am taking a risk of war with another faction.  I want to minimize the number of times I roll the dice on that.  I'd like to obtain something "good" for my trouble, not something I can buy for a mere 100 credits.

[bvanevery]

Deirdre completes The Planetary Energy Grid.  Nothing I could do about that.  Lal is showing 24 turns to complete The Planetary Datalinks, so maybe I can steal that one and build it.  I suspect his productivity is no better for The Planetary Transit System, as he started that one more recently.

[bvanevery]

Lal had some choice words for me when he saw my Probe Team.  He's Seething, but he didn't declare war.

Who shall I frame?  Definitely not Zhakarov or Aki Zeta-5, as sometimes I buy techs from them and they're well-disposed towards me.  How about Roze?  She's the weakest player in the game, I have no idea where she is, and she's naturally Democratic.  On the other hand, I'm not doing this because I want to be Democratic, but because I need to get ahead of Lal.  Roze is Noncommittal towards me, she's not a hater.

Meanwhile Miriam is Seething despite all my good words with the Lord.  She's at war with Aki and Deirdre.  It feels right to frame her.  Especially, it's highly credible that she'd do it.  I doubt the game takes that into consideration, but it has panache from a roleplaying standpoint.  If I do it and get caught, then Miriam may annoy me with her ships, but Lal will be annoying me anyways in that case.  And if I succeed, it's very good to have Miriam and Lal at war with each other.  They're supposed to be at war anyways, they're politically incompatible.

Ok here goes.  And I promise I'm not going to save scum this.

Industrial Automation stolen.  Miriam framed!

That's almost the best possible result, because I can use supply crawlers to build the SP quickly.  It is tempting to sit back and make good on this, but I think I'd better steal the other tech next turn.  If I steal later, Lal will probably declare war when my probe team comes next to him.  Something about time passing and probe teams showing up, allows AIs to engage in instant communication with them.  I think that's a cheat, or a serious misfeature, as it's not a diplomatic envoy.  Are probe teams supposed to be trivial to detect?  If so, then why can they pull off operations like this?  Anyways it's illogical, more game mechanical than sensible.

The point is, if I steal now, and I get what I want, then I can retire from Fundamentalism.  Lal doesn't have any more techs to steal, and Deirdre already completed the Grid.  It would be reasonable to go back to Democratic Planned to complete my SPs.