Continental Consciousness - 256x128 map

[bvanevery]

Details finally

finally

I've been waiting a long time for this.  Blind research can really throw you for a loop.  Could I have finished this game 2 days sooner, if I had gotten along this path earlier?  I'm switching to Explore focus as Nanometallurgy is an Explore tech.  It's the next one on the way to getting Hab Domes.

Details northwards

northwards

I push my rail northwards.  I take 2 cities easily with mindworms.  Still no counteroffensive.  I notice that Deirdre is fighting Lal again, despite having briefly made an alliance against me.  I wonder who backstabbed who?  Thorny Vinaryd is my 1st target.  It contains the Xenoempathy Dome.

[bvanevery]

Details through butter

through butter

In 1 turn I cut all the way through to Gaia's landing, seizing The Xenoempathy Dome, The Command Nexus, The Maritime Control Center, and The Planetary Transit System.  Then I signed a Truce, because I wanted to remain strongly garrisoned and not overextend.  I never even used my Quantum units, just mindworms.  They are now expensive guards on top of all the Secret Projects I've captured.  I left Deirdre with The Citizen's Defense Force because it's somewhat to the north and would spread me out to take it.  It is not especially valuable and if she acts up, I can take it then.

Details to the sea with you

to the sea with you

I have destroyed all Caretaker bases on land.  They have only 4 remaining sea bases, which I'm converging on with X Marines, X Needlejets, Cruiser Probe Teams, and Shard Destroyers.  They'll last 3 turns at most.

[bvanevery]

Details foregone conclusion

foregone conclusion

Lal decided to call an election.  What was he thinking?  This vote gives some indication of how close I am to Diplomatic Victory.  If I could take a bite out of Lal's population and transfer it to me, I could win, if Roze sticks by me.  If she doesn't, then I'd either have to defeat Lal, or finally get Hab Domes and grow bigger than anyone can deal with.  The 1 city of Lal's that I took over eons ago, I find does not produce units fast enough to make a military conquest viable.  I've recently been distracted by random mindworms appearing off the coast, of all things.  I've started producing a new generation of Probe Team to see if economic conquest is viable.  If it is not, then I pretty much have to get The Space Elevator, which is the same as getting Hab Domes.

Details tiny robots in the wine

tiny robots in the wine

Details quelle giraffe

quelle giraffe

Details explore happy

explore happy

I complete The Universal Translator and get 2 free techs.  Also I researched 1 more tech.  Unfortunately none of this got me Super Tensile Solids, but at least I'm only 2 techs away now.  I'm switching to Conquer focus as the next needed tech is Matter Compression.

Details sell me your children

sell me your children

The Caretakers are down to 1 base.  That escaping Sea Colony Pod is in my way and I didn't have any way to destroy it.  It was going to cost 630 credits to buy it, and that's way too much of my budget.  The last city is at -5 minerals anyways so there's a chance it may disband anyways.  I do have a plane ready to strike next turn, and 5 Marines inbound, and 2 teams to introduce plagues, all against only 1 defending unit, so I think next turn I finally get the Eradicated screen.

I'm disbanding my X units to build Secret Projects.  I have no intention of using them on humans, and experience shows that if I keep them around, sooner or later I'll accidentally use the chemical weapons.  Short of replaying a long turn, there's really no way to get back in someone's good graces after making that mistake.  It basically undoes an entire game's worth of scrupulous avoidance.  So, better safe than sorry.

I'm having to spend lots of money to pacify my Gaian conquests, so there goes any hope of buying out Lal.  I could do it if I shifted to an econ rather than a labs focus, but I think getting Super Tensile Solids will be faster than that.  I haven't been able to crack the "1 tech every 2 turns" barrier, and it feels like I'm wasting money with my 10-20-70 budget.  However I tried changing it to 20-20-60 and the rate dropped to 1 every 3 turns, so at present I do have to spend 10-20-70.  I will continue to build Quantum Labs and Nanohospitals, hoping to push it to 1 tech per turn.

[bvanevery]

Details ding dong the wicked witch

ding dong the wicked witch

At last!  Man what a tooth pull.  If I were to do it over, I would have made a lot more Formers instead of Supply Crawlers.  Now for my fellow humans.

Details monument to my greatness

monument to my greatness

I am great.  Really, I am.  This writeup proves it.

Now here's a funny technicality.  I've eradicated the Caretaker faction, but technically I haven't eradicated every last Caretaker unless I Obliterate this last base I took.  I don't actually want a base down here, and I'd build my own anyways if I did.  So, hopefully the rules haven't changed about atrocities to Aliens being a free pass?  Let's find out; I'm saving the game just in case something goofy happens.

Details genocide

genocide

Yes!  The last 10,000 Caretakers are gone.  To trouble us again, they'll have to find us, and that seems unlikely.

Oh shoot.  I just realized there are still Caretakers at Vision:Sound, where I took The Empath Guild from them.  I still get a Captured Base penalty there, so that means we haven't bred them out, or otherwise assimilated them.  Oh well.  A footnote in history, kind of like The Vatican.  We'll give them a funny pants Swiss guard or something.

Seems like biologically modifying all existing Caretakers, like genejacking them, would be a good idea.  Also what about the ideology of the Caretakers, or worshipping them?  If we can have a Cha Dawn, seems like we could have a Caretaker worshipper to.  Maybe it would be better to exterminate more people, so that they don't pick up semiautomatic rifles and shoot up schools or something.  Well, I am a Police State after all.  We'll just monitor them, and if anyone commits any thought crimes, we'll take 'em out back and shoot 'em.

[Buster's Uncle]

["monument to my greatness"]

I am great.  Really, I am.  This writeup proves it.

[bvanevery]

Details less unit pushing

less unit pushing

Deirdre has continued to honor a Truce, so we haven't had any bloodshed.  I have finished almost all possible square improvements in that region, most notably I've got Soil Enrichers everywhere now.  The same cannot be said of my home lands.  I started bringing Formers back home to work those squares, but it was really tedious, especially with the occasional Gaian unit tripping up my movement on my rail lines.  Consequently, I have begun mass disbandment of the old non-super Formers, as it's easier than trying to push them back home.  I had so many that every single project in Gaian conquered territory will be completed next turn, and I still have some left to cut roads on rocks.

Details lal subverted

lal subverted

I am no closer to getting Hab Domes.  With all the new Quantum Labs though, I have been able to change my budget to 20-20-60 and still maintain my 1 tech every 2 turns research rate.  With the larger pile of cash, I am able to subvert Lal's cities, and took one fairly cheaply this turn.  Afterwards I rang him up.  He tried to extort me for 725 credits, and of course I refused.  Then he offered me a Truce anyways, and I accepted it.  I'd like to actually work the tiles around the city for a change, instead of getting them shelled.  I will miss out on capturing The Weather Paradigm, but it's non-trivial to get there from where I am, and I've made no progress on it all game.  Hey I've done this much terraforming without The Weather Paradigm, the map is a bit absurd if you consider all the squares I've worked by hand.  Why quit now?

[bvanevery]

Details is it over

is it over

I think Roze is dumping me.  Hm, actually she's reminding me about the war with the Peacekeepers.  Since I wasn't going to just break the Truce, now she's dumping me.  Meanwhile I've got The Dream Twistern and I can do Thought Control, but won't.  Still can't get Matter Compression, nor do better than 2 techs per turn no matter how many Nanohospitals I build.

[bvanevery]

Details crusty democrat

crusty democrat

She joined up with the Believers and declared war on me.  What a jerk!  She's obviously not principled about my Police State, as Miriam is Fundamentalist.  She has The Planetary Energy Grid deep within her territory, and The Neural Amplifier in her capitol.  I will send a few Destroyer Probe Teams but they will take a long time to reach her, and I bet I've got The Space Elevator by then.  At the rate I'm going I will need to exceed the sum total of the rest of humanity to score a Diplomatic Victory though.

[bvanevery]

Details one more tech

one more tech

Finally.  Switching to Build focus.  My Gaian cities are mostly working on Flechette Defense Systems now.  Haven't had any missiles lobbed at me, but this close to the enemy, one can't be too careful.  My rate of research has actually slowed now to 1 tech every 3 turns, so I adjusted my budget to 40-20-40 so as to not be wasteful.

[bvanevery]

Details habs are secret

habs are secret

Is this gonna finally get me some tech???   Nope.

Oh shoot.  I just realized that I discovered Graviton Theory awhile ago, and that it allows me to do orbital insertions.  I haven't been in the endgame and needed it enough times, to have known that off the top of my head.  I've got the means to seize Roze's Secret Projects, I just need to make the units.  Currently I'm busing building Flechette Defense Systems everywhere though, out of paranoia.  She's been launching lots of Sky Hydroponics Labs and I should probably destroy them.

[bvanevery]

Details instigator

instigator

What a drama queen.  I value my Nobility.  Since we've both been Green since forever, I offered her a Treaty.  She wanted me to attack Lal in exchange but I declined.  She signed anyways.

[Buster's Uncle]

BTW - you value your nobility; you're the first person I can think of who's ever mentioned playing that way.   I do as a habit, but I don't recall saying so.

[bvanevery]

I haven't really explored Wicked diplomacy to be honest.  I'm not sure to what extent I gain any game mechanical advantage being Noble, vs. it just being roleplay.  You can certainly get people to seriously dislike you while being Noble, just use Probe Teams in a dastardly way.

Details aladdins tent

aladdins tent

I think the secret is you're only allowed to live in extradimensional space.  Well at least I learned how to manipulate the Manifolds, which got me yet more secrets, which finally yielded

Details gasp

gasp

Of course most of my cities are not ready to make Hab Domes because they started working on a massive drop cloaked invasion force to seize Roze's secret projects.  Those will be ready in 2 and 3 turns.  I've switched to Explore focus as I won't need research much longer and Eudaimonia might be useful.

In my Hab Dome building glee I almost forgot to build The Manifold Harmonics and The Space Elevator.  The former I finished with a lot of Supply Crawlers.  The latter is an "economics" Secret Project, so it'll need to be built in my capitol next turn.  I had a fair number of Supply Crawlers sitting on forests that lacked roads, so the delay allows me to move them on to roads.

[bvanevery]

Details pop

pop

Could this be a sign of Global Warming at the very end of the game?  I've been really careful, deliberately not developing all the factories I could have.  I've also got a +5 Planet rating.  Who might be doing the polluting?  Hmm, Roze has gone Free Market, so maybe that's it.  No Global Warming yet, but maybe I should seriously trash her.

[bvanevery]

Details ballot stuffing

ballot stuffing

I forgot about Clinical Immortality.  This could be the game ender right here.  You see the way it works is, if you live long enough, people get confused about who's dead or alive at the polls.  You get to vote twice!  Building this took all but 1 of my Supply Crawlers and 200 cash.  The straggler was too far away from my rails.

Details taking the money

taking the money

I'm assaulting the city with The Planetary Energy Grid.  My awesome Singularity troops do surprisingly badly against even weak mindworms.  Fortunately I have a larger 2nd wave coming.  Unless Roze summons a zillion missiles or planes or something, she's dead.