Does Miriam suck?

[bvanevery]

I research Doctrine:Flexibility.  I switch to Discover focus for obvious factional reasons.  I'm rushing the Rec Commons in the northern city, which only needed 2 turns to complete anyways.  That will be my Transport spewing city.  It's not got as much productivity as I'd like, but it's all I can do for now.

Lal entered the race for The Weather Paradigm.  Worse, his faction starts with Biogenetics.  I was hoping that finishing The Human Genome quickly might block Domai from further efforts, if he didn't happen to research Biogenetics.  But I can count on Lal to switch to it.  Granted, Domai could switch to The Merchant Exchange.  Lal could switch to The Virtual World.  Lal's productivity is also unknown, but he's one of the Big Three factions.  He's even rated slightly better than the Caretakers, which suggests the Caretakers may have gotten a substandard start.

I really could use a whole lot of Aritifacts fished from the water.  Without exploration goosing my SP output, I'm toast.

[bvanevery]

I launch my 1st Transport.  I will head to the bay with the fungal stalk, to pick up any scouts that are still alive after I attack it.

Lots of factions are building SPs now.  It begs the question as to which is better: The Human Genome Project or The Weather Paradigm?  If I had the former, everyone in my capitol would be happy, instead of having 1 drone / medic.  But if I had the latter, my Formers will all work faster, and I'll be supporting a lot of Formers more than likely.  Hard to say.  Previous experience is that gratuitously raising land can be a bit of a distraction.

[bvanevery]

I decided The Human Genome Project gives me a more immediate benefit, and also may cause more chaos in the ranks of SP competitors.  I tried to take a screenshot of the victory pyramid, but hitting any button made it go away.

I have 4 green scouts ready to take on the fungal stalk.  If that isn't enough, I have a 5th disciplined scout coming on the Transport.  I'm sure 4 scouts will do it.

[bvanevery]

It only took 2 units to kill the fungal stalk.  I lost 1 scout.  I should have put the Transport next to the badly wounded scout to pick him up next turn, but I forgot.  I'm leery of keeping Transports next to pods that can pop into earthquakes.

Morgan is working on The Weather Paradigm and The Planetary Transit System.  That's how far behind I am.  It also probably implies that he's been isolated and only working on Build techs.  Or that I'm really far behind.

[bvanevery]

Only now does Lal get Secrets of the Human Brain.  We had gone so long without anyone getting it, that I started to wonder if I myself would get it.  That would be ironic!

I popped a Unity Rover that I have to pay support for.  Joy.  The nutrient and the Monolith are useful for another city though.  Guess I'll make the obligatory colonist.

[bvanevery]

Domai wins the race for The Weather Paradigm.  He started first and has the best Industry, so that is no surprise.  Who will get The Merchant Exchange though?

My last lovely research was spent on Progenitor Psych.  Joy.

Exploring an island to the northeast, I bloomed yet more fugnus.  Double Joy.  Or is that Triple?  Yep, 3 times in this small area of land.

Also annoying is when I pop pods at sea, I keep completing scout rovers.  I don't have anything else worth building in my capitol.

[bvanevery]

The Caretakers complete The Merchant Exchange.  The races go on, without me.

I got a bright idea what to do about the pod completions.  I've prototyped an expensive Rover Former unit.  When I have nothing better to do, and I have 10 minerals or less committed, I'll switch production to that before popping a pod.

[bvanevery]

I gain Information Networks.  I guess my fantasy of being 1st to Secrets of the Human Brain wasn't realistic.  At least now I'll have something worthwhile to complete in my capitol.  For a few turns before I buy the Network Node outright.

[bvanevery]

Lal builds The Command Nexus.

I've built as many Transports as I think I can support.  My cities are starting to make Network Nodes now.  I have plenty of cash to rush them, but I'd like to get a completion from a pod that actually benefits me.  I will wait a bit before rushing production, as I've got this land to the west to clear out.

What am I doing this game?  I don't seem to have any neighbors.  I may be very isolated.  I think at this point, I'm playing to discover what the state of the world is.  I'd like to know what kind of game I'd likely get stuck playing, if I pursued it to the bitter end.  But if enough real world time goes by this evening, I will likely lose interest and find something better to do with my life.  Understanding the consequences of a crappy start may be a noble endeavor, but it's a crappy start.  At some point, enough of that !@#!

[bvanevery]

Morgan completes The Planetary Transit System.  Simultaneously I research Planetary Networks.  The Virutal World is not finished yet.  Domai, Morgan, and Lal are all working on it.  I switch to a Planned economy.  I have 674 cash, 1 Artifact in my capitol, and 1 Artifact on my Transport approaching the capitol.  Maybe if I brought in some surplus units, I could perform a stunning upset and actually build The Virtual World.

Recently I fished Industrial Base out of the water.  Next turn a Synthmetal Garrison completes in my capitol.

[bvanevery]

I've got 5 scout rovers in my capitol.  The city to the east is making a Synthmetal Garrison next turn, which would free up a 6th scout rover to go to the capitol.  I think I've got this!  I only need to come up with 257 minerals.  I think 2 Artifacts, 6 scout rovers, and 682 cash more than covers it.

[bvanevery]

Got the warning that Morgan is nearing a major breakthrough on The Virtual World.  I cashed those 6 scouts.  I got a little overanxious and cashed my 2 Artifacts without thinking about whether I needed to.  Turns out I only needed 1, and I could have done this last turn.  I have an extra 314 cash to decide what to do with.

Generally speaking in these exact circumstances, I'm the winner.  But if for some weird reason I am not, to be honest I'm going to save scum it until I am.  The game has handed me very bad luck and I am "owed" this.  Also I did have the capability of finishing it 1 turn earlier.  I just didn't realize it because of the difficult accounting, with the "have to complete so much %" to avoid a prohibitive cost penalty and whatnot.  Technically I could go back a few turns, replay this, and guarantee the win.

I did not actually leave any of my bases unoccupied, and everyone has at least a Hardened unit of some kind.

[bvanevery]

I win!  Morgan is out of the races.  Lal is surely going to finish The Citizen's Defense Force.

It's 11 PM.  I'm going to savor this victory, this milestone towards having Miriam not suck.  Despite all the handicaps, I have managed to build more Secret Projects at this point than anyone else in the game.  Soon, Lal will tie me for that distinction.

I don't know what I'm going to do next, but it will be a lot of exploration and vertical growth.  I'm building Foil Probe Teams to find and infiltrate the other factions.  I have not changed my Discover focus because Secrets of the Human Brain is important, and I can't be sure who's going to trade it to me.  I would like to get The Empath Guild, and I might have some chance of out-Exploring other factions, but then again the Caretakers often build that one.  I certainly won't out-Build Morgan, and Lal seems to do a bit of all kinds of stuff.

Cha Dawn must be nearly dead.  Her graph is practically flat.  I haven't gotten any message about a faction being eradicated though.  That leaves Morgan to be upset with my Planned economy.  Well, first I'll worry about even meeting him.  He could be on the opposite side of the world for all I know.  Or he could be surprisingly nearby, doing that non-ship oriented close knit Build thing.

[bvanevery]

The Caretakers begin The Empath Guild.

To the west, I have a lot of pods on rocks to clear out.  Speeders survive better when they only pop things on flat or rolling land.

[bvanevery]

To the north, I have discoverd the Monsoon Jungle.