Thinker mod March 26 development test

[bvanevery]

Details Thinker mod March 26, 2019

Thinker mod March 26, 2019

Induktio put out a new development version of Thinker mod.  I put out version 1.29 of SMACX AI Growth mod.  Now I test them together.  Things he did:

* New parameter: hurry_items allows AI to use energy reserves to hurry production
* Major adjustments to faction_placement to improve starting locations
* Faction placement now creates two extra nutrient resources for each land-based faction
* Fix spawning issues on Map of Planet
* Fix sea colony pods sometimes freezing in place
* Fix sea bases sometimes not building enough transports
* Rebalancing of social_ai priorities

I am curious to see if faction_placement has improved.

I agree with the 2 nutrient idea in principle.  It could stabilize faction starts so that nobody gets a hopeless beginning.  Current implementation is unfortunately bugged, verifiably, in the case of the Caretakers and the Usurpers.  Probably also the Cult of Planet.  Factions that start late, that are inserted into the map, don't currently get this bonus.  No idea if that's fixable.  Aquatic factions also don't get the bonus, but they don't need it.  They swim in food.

I blew my patience for "detailed testing writeups" on other stuff already.  Notably, whether Pirate minerals could be balanced.  I didn't come up with a solution.  I didn't even come up with proof that a solution was needed.  Well I guess a scientifically minded person needs to go where evidence leads him.  It just can be a lot of work to get results like that.  Maintaining a status quo, that you have a sinking feeling is a problem, doesn't leave one with a good feeling that it's time well spent!  On the other hand, anyone can be in danger of slipping into cognitive biases, so maybe it wasn't a complete loss.

This time I'll probably only write up things I find "noteworthy".  I already found the 2 nutrient placement bug.  That was noteworthy.  I'm not going to play a game with the "late start" factions.  They'll have to sit out until Induktio comes up with a fix.  I'll just randomly generate games until they aren't in them.  I won't worry about the Pirates because they have enough food anyways.

Not including "late start" factions, happens to nerf the testing stress of faction_placement.  Something I first noticed when trying to decide the fairness of "same start, see who does best" competitions, ala the various Games of the Month in the Command Nexus multiplayer forum.

Huge map, 30%..50% land mass with my large continents and large oceans, average settings.  Transcend difficulty.  Default thinker.ini settings including cost_factor and faction_placement.  Random opponents, exclusive of "late start" factions.  It takes nine starts to get factions that don't have a "late starter" among them.  It was painful enough that I was starting to think I should do some kind of offline random generation, such as rolling dice.  If I ever feel the need to do it again, I could write the names of eligible factions on same size pieces of paper, then pull them out of a hat.

Details twist my arm off to be Gaian

twist my arm off to be Gaian

I draw the Gaians.  Peacekeepers, Spartans, Cyborgs, Data Angels, Believers, and University are in the game.  For once no Pirates, whoopie!  It has been nearly impossible to generate a random test game without them.

[bvanevery]

Details you would have to make people happy to eat this

you would have to make people happy to eat this

MY 2101.  My landing site was Flat Moist terrain, so I just settled it.  I always prefer Flat terrain for city sites, as that way I improve the minerals content of the square by settling upon it.  I hate to waste a Rolling mineral by dropping a city on it.

I am made to realize that this is too much food for a single early game base.  Once the base reaches size 2, it won't help the productivity of spewing out colony pods.  It will actually hurt it, unless I plant a forest and manage the squares manually.  I bet the AI factions are not bright enough to realize this and will fail to increase productivity when their base hits size 2.

We have discussed the giving of 1 forest and 1 nutrient, a much more ideal arrangement from a strictly gamist standpoint.  I object to it on narrativist and simulationist grounds however.  Trees shouldn't be showing up on Planet without human action.

I could choose to delay cities by spreading my colonists apart.  That wasn't desirable with this landing site though.  I could choose to overlap my initial city sites, but I hate doing that.   I'm sure the AI is not so picky about it.

I note furthermore that a nutrient special placed upon Rocky terrain, is not as initially valuable as other kinds.  Eventually that will be fixed when I get a Former and have the time to Level Terrain.  Fortunately in my mod, that only takes 4 turns to complete instead of 8.  I feel sorry for the poor bastards who aren't using my mod.

Well let's see what else we can do.  Like scare a mindworm up.

[bvanevery]

Details first mindworm

first mindworm

MY 2113.  I made Scouts until I captured my first mindworm.  That took longer than expected.

Details USS Unity

USS Unity

I have discovered the Unity crash site.  Assuming I don't have any neighbors, that will get me a Gun Jet.  Less importantly, an Impact drill.  Bigger drills in my mod.  And some money.  And a clue where people are.

MY 2119.  I learn Centauri Empathy and go Green.  I have to disband a Scout from Gaia's Landing as I have too many.  Both my cities have No Minerals now.  But I've got units exploring in the field, and it's better to capture independent mindworms.

[bvanevery]

Details crafty like that

crafty like that

MY 2121.  I perform the cool trick of setting my city productions to Rover Formers, then completing a prototype by popping a pod.  Now I can make Speeders and didn't have to pay 60 minerals worth of prototyping cost.  Prototypes are 3X as expensive in my mod.

I have a lot of cash, so I decided to end the over-abundant food problem in my capitol by building a Rec Commons there.

MY 2122.  I gain the University comm frequency from a pod.  We sign a Treaty, but he will not trade techs.

Details fruits out of reach

fruits out of reach

MY 2124.  I discover the Monsoon Jungle.

[bvanevery]

MY 2125.  I gain Santiago's comm frequency from a supply pod.  She's Cooperative.  I sell her the University comm frequency, hoping I can butter her up into a Pact.  We sign a Treaty and I buy 2 Level 1 techs from her.  I don't want to trade my better tech.

I contact Zhakarov.  Although he's well disposed, nothing comes of it.

I'm no longer as rich as I used to be.  I change that Recreation Commons to a colony pod.  My Gun Jet is costing me support there, so I reassign it to a city with more minerals.

MY 2126.  I meet the Believers by a land link.  They are Obstinate and do not sign anything.

Details Believer scuffling

Believer scuffling

MY 2127.  I don't want them spreading onto my land, so I block their way.

[bvanevery]

MY 2142.  I sign a Pact with Zhakarov.  He thinks I'm poor and gives me C2 Monopole Magnets.  The Spartans also sign a Pact, but they are Noncommittal about it.  I get the comm frequency of the Cyborgs from them.  The Cyborgs threaten me and declare war on me. 

MY 2143.  I learn Biogenetics, which makes Police State available.  I switch to it.  Now I can do something about having too much food.

MY 2152.  I gain the Data Angels comm frequency from the University.  We sign a Treaty and I buy some tech.

MY 2154.  The Data Angels swear a Pact.

At 3 AM I go to bed.

[bvanevery]

Details first Secret Project

first Secret Project

MY 2180.  I complete the Ascetic Virtues with a huge wad of cash.  I didn't have any competition for it.  I've been a Police State.  I'm starting to make Recreation Commons and will soon go Democratic, to make more money as I sit in relative isolation.

I've been in a Truce with the Believers this whole time, just blocking their advance with the 1 original Scout unit.  They've spread some into the water.  I stopped making new cities awhile back.  Instead I put my focus into making a rail network, which is nearly complete.  I've popped tons of supply pods all over the map.  I've got a good fleet of Isles of the Deep.  I have 3 allies and no actual enemies, just the standoff with the Believers.

I definitely had a perfectly good start and have found my progress so far to be rather easy.  Just walk around and pop pods.  I will sit around and grow and research and fill out the settlement holes in my own territory.

[bvanevery]

MY 2183.  I go Democratic.

Details Borehole threat

Borehole threat

MY 2184.  The Data Angels finish the Weather Paradigm.  I did not focus on Build and never got B3 Ecological Engineering.  It's partly an Explore tech but in practice it doesn't tend to be gained without a Build focus.  Now we will see if the Thinker AI makes the Data Angels go nuts with early Condensers and Boreholes.

[bvanevery]

Details Cyberdummy

Cyberdummy

MY 2193.  My reserve of mindworms, spore launchers, and Isles is vast, so I don't know what crack she's smoking.  She's not even close enough to me to cause me any problem.  I think I'll tell the Spartans to kill her.  Yep, Santiago is down with that!

[bvanevery]

Details sunspot races

sunspot races

MY 2206.  I complete the Planetary Transit System.

[bvanevery]

MY 2209.  The Cyborgs complete the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm.  I guess I'm not infiltrating them, unless I get the Empath Guild.  They're far enough away that it simply hasn't been a priority to push probe teams towards them.  Nor towards anyone else for that matter.  I've only finished my 1st probe team this turn!  It's going to infiltrate the Believers, whoopie.

We're in sunspots.

I've got nothing better to, so I'm going to Drill to Aquifer on all my Rocky squares.  If I start them all at the same time, I'll maximize the number of rivers I end up with.  I'm building a rail to the northwest to eventually connect with the Data Angels, just in case I need to invade them someday.  They do have the Weather Paradigm after all.  They could turn into a Condenser and Borehole monster.  The game right now is pretty placid though.  The graph doesn't think I'm any good, but I think I'm doing fine.  There's no point building a lot of military units until and unless I'm going to invade the Believers.  Or someone else that I connect to by a rail.

Details my Spartans do their job

my Spartans do their job

MY 2212.  The Spartans ravage the Cyborgs.  Now the Cyborgs might immediately take it back with a probe team for all I know, but it's the thought that counts!  This is why I have allies.

I have decided to finally move my "guard Scout" away from Believer territory.  I've established all the cities I want in that direction and have stopped them from encroaching.  They keep walking stacks of 13 probe teams towards my front line.  I have that stacked with mindworms that they can't do anything about.  I have to click 13 times to interrogate them and send them all home.

[bvanevery]

Details mah Spartans, they hate me

mah Spartans, they hate me

MY 2213.  I wasn't expecting multiple breakthroughs, but maybe Cyborg border cities are weak.  The Spartans don't have good logistics to get to target, they're just walking units.  They do have the Monsoon Jungle though.  The Spartans hate me because they wanted war with the University and I told them to knock it off.  They're definitely an ally of convenience.

[bvanevery]

MY 2217.  I complete the Xenoempathy Dome.

Details clever prototyper

clever prototyper

In the city next to a supply pod, I prepared an expensive prototype.  An Impact Plasma Hovertank, which I'd never build in the real world.  But if a pod might complete it for me when popped, make it as expensive as possible, right??  If I had been thinking even harder, I would have given it 2 abilities.  The prototype cost was 300 minerals as is.  Boom, it completes!  Such a unit is not nearly so exciting, but hey I've got a well armed highly mobile tank for nothing.

This trick makes me realize the potential for abuse if I had supply crawlers available.  I could prototype some new armor that's godawful expensive with the crawler.  Then if it completes, BOOM! possibly a Secret Project finisher.  This could be a downside to me jacking up the cost of supply crawlers in version 1.29 of my mod.  On the other hand, maybe nobody will think of this trick, and it's unlikely to come up in real gameplay naturally.  Well, who knows, but I'll worry about it some other time.  If ever.

Is it possible to complete a Planet Buster this way?  I've never tried to orchestrate that.

[Buster's Uncle]

If you change production after popping a materials pod, you lose all the free mins, alas.

[bvanevery]

If you change production after popping a materials pod, you lose all the free mins, alas.

True, but I meant switching production to a Planet Buster prototype before I pop a pod.  Just like I got that expensive Impact Plasma Hovertank prototype.  I think there's nothing stopping me, I've just never tried to do it before.  Pretty rare game that I even care about completing a Planet Buster anymore.  I used to do it for sake of form, but I never use them, so why bother?

MY 2219.  Sunspots end.

Details up goes the research

up goes the research

MY 2220.  Lucky me, what do I get?  Something I was about to buy from my allies for 100 credits anyways?  Yep.

MY 2222.  I buy Environmental Economics, which makes Wealth possible.  I could do it, but it will tick off the University.  Well I think I can live with that, and they refused to sell me any tech this turn anyways.