Lost Eden AAR: Kilkakon vs. The World

[Kilkakon]

And now for something completely different...

Lost Eden is a total conversion for Alien Crossfire. It's pretty out there, and as not a lot of people know much about it, and AARs are fun, I thought why not go for an LE AAR (pronounced LEAAAARRRGH)! I'll be playing on the Lost Eden world map, on Very Hard difficulty, with the G version of the mod. The factions? That's a surprise! But I will reveal that I'll be playing as myself--Brother-General Tristan of The Realm of Light.

Faction stats

(click to show/hide)

+25% ATTACK: Strength of convictions
-1 GROWTH: Many people reject the Light
-1 POLICE: Forgiving, kind society
1 in every 4 citizens are happy
Impunity to CHRISTIANITY penalty: Followers willingly choose to have large families
May not embrace Demonism

Turn 1
A solid start--beginning with two colony pods is always preferrable to only one. I get straight onto making my first city, starting in an okayish position. I also immediately dispatch my Boy Scout to check out the nearby village.


Turn 2
The Boy Scout's epic adventures are interrupted by a gigantic dialog box: our first technology decision. Due to the religious nature of my faction, it's better if I go for Religious Expression rather than Social Constructs, although Social Constructs will be my next choice for sure.


Turn 4
Illumination is founded, becoming the first of many coastal cities that'll exploit the high production available from mining platforms. An obelisk nearby is also handy, as epicly adventuring Boy Scout continues in a southerly direction.


Turn 5
The natives are restless!


Charmander reinforcements are dispatched to aid the noble Boy Scout in his blight.

Turn 7


The Boy Scout lives! But he's pretty messed up with his nasty experience with those plant-based lifeforms. He'll have to hightail it back to Cradle of Light to heal up before he goes out again.

Turn 10
Illumination finishes its first Charmander, who goes out to explore the neighbouring village! But then...


Suddenly I go from a coastal city to a mountain city! Well at least the trade will be nice. And that Trade Bonus has morphed into a village... interesting.

Turn 12
Our first technological breakthrough!


I get straight to work on fixing up my social engineering. Also remember that Trade Bonus that morphed into a village? It morphed again into an Obelisk! Great news for Illumination's early growth.


Turn 19
The ever-exploring Boy Scout enters yet another village--


A free tech, woo! Now we understand the secrets of Social Constructs, a great early tech:


Still, even with all these helpful village bonuses, I'm not doing that great on the power graph...


Turn 20
Social Initiatives is discovered. While it provides nothing important by itself, it is a prerequisite for several important technologies.


After all, which one would you choose?


At this stage I'm going for Growth Focus.

Turn 24
The brave Boy Scout keeps entering village after village, getting cloned each time in the process! He and his clonebuddies explore northwest, but it's not long before we bump into a city!


The leader of the faction greets us, Davo of Spinda Café!


This is Very Hard difficulty, so it's hard to tell who's going to be nice and who's going to backstab at the first opportunity, but so far, he seems trustworthy, considering his strength:


And sure enough, he wants peace! It's a good start, having somebody peaceful as a neighbour rather than somebody who'll require instant aggression. I tend to prefer mid- to late-game conquests, myself.


Turn 27
I decided I still liked the idea of a coastal base--after all, upgraded Mining Platforms still give a high amount of production that's very helpful. And there was one square of land ideally suited for it, right next to Café borders, that not only pushes them back, allowing me to expand north, but gives access to the Obelisk and Production Bonus.


Turn 31
Out of nowhere, another plant based lifeform appears, seemingly right from the middle of Café borders! And it's owned by Prince Oblivion of the Fallen, who instantly makes contact!


My apprehension should be obvious. Oblivion has immunity to Demonism, which means he can exploit growth and research bonuses very early in the game. He's already more powerful than me, and it's only a matter of time before he'll be after my blood.

Strangely, despite coming from the middle of Davo's lands, he completely missed them, to my small profit.


Ah, the tech trading. Sometimes it can be too good. Already I'm able to get my hands on Way of the Rose--a very helpful tech.




Regenerating Roses are (1e/2/1), meaning that they are ideal for early defence before stronger, second tier units become available. They also have the Hatred ability, which means they are great for clearing out natives as they have a massive bonus when attacking them. Great early game units, and their utility remains useful through the game against native heavy factions like The Betrayed.


I couldn't have put it better myself.

The tech trading continues, but becomes a little less one-sided. I exchange my starting tech, Charmander Courage, for his Defence and Tactics:



So I get a few helpful facilities, such as City Walls, Barracks and Outposts, in exchange for giving him some extra punch in very early game aggression. Hopefully that doesn't come back to haunt me.

Our conversation continues, and then an important question is raised--where are you Oblivion? Where the hell did you come from? I agree to share maps, and will show what I learn from them in a moment.



And he wants peace! ...but I know what he's really like. I agree to peace, but I know that there'll be a knife heading towards my back later.


After leaving Oblivion's presence, I take a moment to reflect over the charts in the map room.



Oblivion's dominion is almost twice my size--five cities to my three. But he's really far away... how did that Regenerating Rose of his get so close to my front door? At least Davo's cities would act as an ideal buffer zone if things turned ugly first. Not that I really approve of meat shields though. At least I had one ace in the hole--it turns out that establishing that third base close to Davo's borders has meant that I know control the Mystic Ruins, granting me +1 PLANET. It's not a huge bonus, but it's something.

[Green1]

Awesome writing and graphics redo... if you have not been told already.

/popcorn

[ete]

huh, this is more extensive and well done than I'd realised. Impressive stuff, looking forward to the rest of the AAR.

[Buster's Uncle]

 

[Kilkakon]

Turn 35
Another Earthquake!



Turn 37
My latest two Colony Pods struggle to evade that Carnivine and Regenerating Rose! You can also see the aftermath of that earlier Earthquake towards the north!



Turn 38



Clear Motives is founded, allowing access to the ocean on the west. Meanwhile Boy Scouts now explore to the east, while the Colony Pod continues to dance and avoid that Carnivine.

Turn 40
The exploring Boy Scout runs into a fellow explorer, a Charmander Explorer to be precise, owned by yet another faction, the Rakis Community. Their Caretaker, Edge, introduces herself.



She's not happy, but at least she's willing to trade technologies.



We get a hold of Inter-Species Society! It provides a few helpful stability buildings, and amusingly comes with a tech quote from the person who just gave the tech to us.





Uncooperative eh? Let's try making a peace treaty then and see if we can cooperate that way.





Clearly, Edge will be a girl with which to contend! Eyes will definitely be kept on the eastern front for Rakis expansion. Hurray for grammar!

Turn 43
Mystic Ruins is founded. Amusingly the game even removes the landmark as I built on top of it. But more importantly, my hold over the area is now secure.



And finally, that stupid Carnivine is destroyed.



Turn 49
There's considerably more Community units about than I had first imagined. I had to stop my Colony Pod from progressing to avoid one of them... and then a Carnivine happily killed it for me. Rejoice.



What makes it worse is that Café territory has crept around to the southwest, and now that area is also off limits. Not ideal.

We build our first city facility--the Town Centre, which increases Cradle of Light's production and trade.



We also discover Growth Focus!



Turn 55
Another Boy Scout's life is lost to the Carnivine menace. We're running out of clones!



Turn 58
More Colony Pods are complete, but I'm already running out of room!



Turn 60
Edge arrives and makes contact. She seems considerably happier this time though! Maybe she was having a bad day last time.





Oh so very tempting. Growth Focus is a pretty important tech, but I'd love to see
both her and Davo's territory. Deal.



Seems I've earnt her trust! She's normally a very reliable leader and loyal ally, so I'm happy to agree to a treaty here.

Here we can see both her and Davo's growth. Oblivion is growing of course, but that's no surprise there. It seems that both Davo and Edge deliberately placed cities to lock me into my starting area.



Turn 61
Altar of Light is founded to the south east, pushing back Edge's land grab attempt and allowing me to settle with my 2 spare pods in the surrounding area. I also gain access to the Borehole Cluster, the only Boreholes available in Lost Eden.

Davo has arrived and requests my attention--I wonder what he wants?



Seems he just wants to learn how to grow! Maybe I can get a tech out of it.





Native Embassies will give us a technological leg-up once built, and the late game civic choices are starting to become researchable. I'll need to branch out to some more military techs soon though before things get nasty.

This is a surprise!





And so the brotherhood is formed. It won't be long before we have to stand up against Oblivion, so it's nice to have the alliance already forged. Let the technology trading commence!





Combat Initiatives. It's essentially tier 2 as far as this game is concerned. I'll be able to start researching medium tech units immediately now!

I'm also able to trade with Davo to get Naval Exploration, which provides the stock core naval units, such as Work Boats and Sea Colony Pods. A great acquisition.



Trading continues further--and now we learn how to make our own Carnivines!



A big decision here-- almost everything here is important. Art of War would give access to tier 3 technologies, but I don't have any of the tier 2 ones yet. Industrial Focus really unlocks the power of sea cities, but I don't have any of those yet. Mercenaries is also great, as Spies, Ballistae and Pirate Ships are all great units.But for now, I'll go for Secrets of Purpose. Not only will those social engineering choices be great to have, but hey, there's always the possiblity I'll finish it first and get the free tech.



Turn 63
Aww, they got there first.



Turn 66
Love Movement is founded. That area's going well. I'm also making a city to the west, to help with reinforcing Davo should the need arise. Or rather, when the need arises.



Turn 68
Oblivion is here.



Unsurprisingly, he's not happy with me. Fortunately I can afford the tribute. Normally I wouldn't bother, but he is Unsurpassed and I have no active forces yet...



Oblivion tries to sway me away from my choices! Bad Oblivion!



Turn 69
Brotherly Love is founded. Seems Davo and I like trading territory!



Turn 75

Quixilly bursts through the door. Peace in your personal quarters never lasts long. "What is it, Quixilly?" you demand impatiently.

"It’s that dig Brother-General", Quixilly responds. She's obviously run a long distance as she's panting heavily. She continues, "We've found something. You better come and see for yourself".

After a few hours journey you arrive at the archaeological dig. Instantly you are shocked by what you see: a large and glorious temple, several kilometres across, has been discovered. The team there are confident that far greater discoveries still await them underground and eagerly continue digging. As there's no harm in looking through what's been uncovered so far, you decide to stroll through the surface passageways.

There are images carved into these walls. This place is so old yet a surprising amount of colour and detail has been retained. This seems to be a story of some kind--there are panels with hieroglyphics underneath. The images vary greatly; there's a naked boy with a small demon on his shoulder, an angel, the depths of space, lands rising out of the ocean, and a purple and olive male dragon.

What do these pictures mean? Unfortunately the hieroglyphics are completely alien to you. But whoever these people were they were very powerful. That last image--the purple dragon--disturbs you. Even this ancient carving of this dragon holds so much... evil... hatred... want... you have to look away. The hieroglyphics beneath the image have been stretched away. Even when your team is able to decipher the rest of this wall they will never be able to learn this dragon's name.

What strange signs and portents...

Turn 77
Secrets of Purpose is ours now! Too late for the freebie, but still, helpful.



I switch to Perfect Society!



Turn 79
Glorious Age is founded to the east, next to some farms left behind by Rakis explorers. Thanks to Davo's maps, we can see the landing locations of the other factions--it'll be interesting to see what they get up to.

[Kilkakon]

Turn 87

Carnivines strike Altar of Light!

Your heart has been moved by the incident that occurred this morning at Altar of Light. Without warning a band of Carnivines attacked the city risking many lives. Your security advisor, Quixilly, has been debriefing the defenders and assembling a profile of these strange creatures. Normally, you deliberately avoid her meetings for they drone on with little real benefit but today you have made a point to sit in. You better keep awake... don't want a hostile security advisor!

"...from what the security at Altar of Light have to say it appears that these creatures attack using psychic attacks", Quixilly drones.

"You mean they're telepaths--these 'carnivine' things?" you interject, your curiosity piped.

"Somewhat", Quixilly replies. "It appears that they are unable to read minds, or control them. They merely cause..." She pauses for a moment to choose her words. "Static. They can project illusions and distractions into a victim's mind, allowing them to approach him and destroy him without risk of taking damage. Their plant-like bodies seem to be quite fragile--if it wasn't for this ability they'd be useless in combat."

"Interesting..." you ponder. "If we could bring these creatures into our service, they could prove to be an invaluable asset."

"Politics are your area, Brother-General, not mine", Quixilly retorts sharply. She looks clearly more interested in attacking these creatures than allying with them. Still, it is an avenue of thought for later. What is more pressing is that these creatures are a threat now, and must be dealt with accordingly.

"What do you suggest I do about these carnivines?"

"Experienced troops are able to withstand the mental attack for longer periods of time. Deploy such troops in cities located near vines--those plants seem to be linked to the carnivines. I've also been putting together plans for 'outposts'--small towers that can spot approaching enemies and warn nearby defenders. These should help us enormously against threats like these."

As Quixilly says, these Carnivines are becoming a problem.



Turn 89

After all that fuss, we recruit the Carnivine due to our positive PLANET. Hardly the justice Quixilly would have liked, but still, he'll be good for exploring.

Turn 93

Our new friend tastes combat for the first time!



Turn 95

I built my first boat! Woo! Let's go on a naval exploration adventure, and collect all those naval native villages!



Turn 96

Not a great start to my naval expeditions!



Turn 97

The Floating Vine Mass happily gobbles up my pitiful Gunboat. Alas, it was not to be.

Edge then pops up to rub salt in the wound. I wonder what she wants?



A new faction eh? This could be very interesting. Let's have those details, Edge.



She doesn't really offer anything else noteworthy, so I take my leave. My Carnivine moves westward, only to be stopped by Café forces. I wonder what Davo wants?





I hadn't even said hello to Rakash yet, and already Davo wants a word with him! Hopefully Rakash proves to be a trustworthy contact.

While I have Davo's presence and attention, I propose technology trading. Looks like Davo's been brushing up on his combat technology!



The Art of War--this key military technology leads to all other late game military techs. I haven't even researched tier 2 military units yet! Still, this is a good start.



Naturally I ask for more technology trading, and wow, Davo gives me a tech for free!



Native Empathy opens up several native technology options. I tend to avoid native units unless I'm playing factions more specifically geared for them (with the exception of Doom Butterflies), but it's still nice to have the options available, such as the Arena for cheaper natives or the Floating Vine Mass as a stronger, more flexible transport unit.



Davo then has to take care of affairs of state and so leaves. My thoughts turn to Rakash. Why has everybody been wanting to contact him? I break the silence so I can find out.





It seems Rakash knows others. This can only help me towards my plans--after all, knowing every faction leader will allow me to form the council, but at a time when it serves me best.

Rakash proposes technology trading. I see what I can do here to get the most out of it.



Native Knowledge -- the final Native technology. It grants me the Vine Preserve, the only ecodamage reducing facility available, as well as Doom Butterflies, which are similar to Locusts of Chiron, only considerably more powerful.



I then trade for Ancient Knowledge--a technology that's nice to have in defensive situations. Its only benefit is Weeping Idols, which are the best defensive units in the game, cursed only by the fact they can't be repaired/



Next up, The Squirtle Cause. This technology isn't useful on its own, but it does lead to more powerful naval units with Combat Initiatives and The Art of War.



All this technology exchanging has improved Rakash's mood to no end, it seems, and he seeks a peace treaty. I accept.



I meet the next Leader, Morgius. He doesn't seem as happy to see me, but let's see what happens.



He proposes a trade--his maps for my advanced social technology. Normally this would be out of the question, but in this case, I accept, as he would have considerable cartographical knowledge of the western hemisphere.



And Morgius too, desires peace. It seems I'm just a nice guy!



Morgius' maps don't show me much, but they do give me an idea of who controls the western landmass. That'd be Rakash, and he's already pushing the Assassins back. Also notice the Pirate city to the southwest.



Turn 98

Charmander Tactics is discovered! This provides me with Charmander Defenders (1/3/1) which are very effective at defending cities throughout the course of the game. And we got them before any major wars started, which is a plus. I queue a Defender in every city.



A lot of choices here, with ranging civil and military uses. Mercenaries is very tempting, due to Spies, but at this stage I'll go for Trade Focus, for that incredibly useful +2 ECONOMY.



Turn 99

Those swine bandits! Looks like we won't be contacting anybody anytime soon.



Beckoning Light is also founded. It'll grow quickly and be an ideal military base once Airports are discovered, due to being so hard to get to in the middle of the Freshwater lake near Cradle of Light.



Turn 100

Lighthouse of Truth is founded, being the first of what I hope to be many naval cities on my northeastern shores.

Turn 101

Uh-oh...





Seems like my expansion is going to start to hurt with civil unrest. At least my native faction stat of having natural talents helps round this somewhat (it has been helping already).

Turn 102

It didn't take long!



Turn 105



Then it crashes. That's the problem with unofficial patches sometimes! I have a lot of trouble getting the latest ones to work.

Good news is that switching back to the rather ancient scient patch means I can continue the AAR next update.

[testdummy653]

 

[Yitzi]

Which patch were you using at the time?  If you provide a copy of the crash-causing game, I may be able to investigate and incorporate a fix into my next patch.

[Kilkakon]

I think it was one of yours, Yitzi. I've attached the save file here.

[Yitzi]

It didn't produce a crash when I tried it...version 1.1 of my patch does have issues that have since been fixed, so that might be it.

[Kilkakon]

Would it be okay if I tried to load the same save and continue from there?

[Buster's Uncle]

...I have no objection...

[Yitzi]

Would it be okay if I tried to load the same save and continue from there?

You mean technically?  It shouldn't pose any problems to use a version 1.1 game in version 1.3.  (It might pose one in version 1.4, except that I've decided to skip straight to 2.0, which will avoid such problems entirely.)

[Kilkakon]

Yeah that's what I meant. Thanks Yitzi! Hopefully there's no more problems.

[testdummy653]

Such a tease! All these email notifications and no AAR...