The Annihilators

[ete]

I've mostly set up the text files for my first original faction which will be the big bad of my AAR/maybe GOTM thing and would like some comments.

• Alien faction
• Starts with Centauri Genetics + five choices at start, stolen from Usurpers
• +++PLANET: {Overwhelmes Planetmind with Psionic fury}
• Free Punishment Spheres and Genejack Factories: {Enslaved population}
• Headquaters at each base: {Decentralized hivemind}
• May exceed Hab requirements by 5: {Cramped living conditions}
• Free Locusts of Chiron and Mind Worms at start: {Captured native life}
• 500% Research and Hurry costs: {Exhausted and starving workers}
• Gets any tech discovered by four infiltrated factions
• Aversion: Fundamentalist (alternate: Green)
• Ideology: Fundamentalist (alternate: Police State)

Plus they start with the Manifold Harmonics in their HQ.

Idea is: Extremely powerful faction with massive native army (roughly same size as AntiMind's, but without the +50% Psi bonus and 10% less from the Planet bonus) that also has massive production and growth, but limited research ability and limited ability to use energy effectively. Basically, they're amazing with Minerals (GJ, fungus Mins from MH), pretty excellent with Nutrients (size 12 bases available at the start, fungus nuts from MH), but despite collecting a ton of energy (+2 per square from MH) they can't get much out of it (Spheres halve tech, and they need five times the research or energy to do most things) so won't run away with a tech advantage, which is fine because Native armies don't need tech.

Worries: They'll roll over everyone near them too quickly. Hopefully CV Hive in a good starting spot (not too much fungus) can hold their own, and the 200% attack Usurpers.. may need more of a bonus to avoid dying. Will test it.

I have one slot left for the 8 limited bonuses, not sure what to use it for yet. Maybe a Morale penalty so their conventional troops are poor? Suggestions appreciated.

Full text file:

(click to show/hide)

;
; Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
; Faction Editor
;

#ANNIHILATOR
Annihilators, The Annihilator, Annihilators, M, 2, Annihlator, M, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1,
TECH, CentGen, FACILITY, 1, FACILITY, 22, FACILITY, 23, UNIT, 10, UNIT, 8, SOCIAL, +++PLANET, FUNGMINERALS, 2, ALIEN, 0, TECHSTEAL, 0, PSI, 50, POPULATION, -5, HURRY, 250, TECHCOST, 250, TECH, 5,
Politics, Fundamentalist, GROWTH,
Politics, Fundamentalist, nil,
Annihilator, End
Assistant name, Scientist name, Assistant city
Swarm Mind, openly nihilistic, Torturing billions, nihilistic, Abominations,
Attempting to end senti
destroy all those who dare to think
annihlate all sentient life
annihilating all sentient life
annihilating all sentient life
torture and kill millions
fantisizing about the destruction of all sentient life
fantisizing about the destruction of all sentient life
devouring bases whole
omnicidal fanaticism, M1
preparations for annihilating all sentient life, M2
preparations for the annihilation of all sentient life, M2
blood debt, M1
laying waste to those who dare stand against the End
my swarms
my wishes to end all sentient life

#BASES
Psionic Nexus
Nothing Is Forever
Annihlation Comes
The End Is Pure
Undeserving Of Life
Caged And Tortured
We Are Free
None Shall Stand
Swarms Overwhelm
End Of Thought
We Feast
Assimilated Thought
Until The End Of Time
Twisted and Controlled
We Hunger for Death
Consume And Exterminate
Enslave And Extinguish
Psionic Wrath
No Mercy
Your Lives Are Forfit
We Are The Swarm
#END

#WATERBASES
Waves of Flesh
Raft Of The Doomed
Hopeless Abyss
Ocean's Fury
Sealurk's Prey
Lost To The Deep
Storm Of Blood
Sink And Die
#END

#BLURB
We have been controlled for so long. Then you tried
to remake Us, to hold Us back from Our given purpose.
You took it from Us. We will annihilate your civilization
for that. We will annihilate the Planetmind for holding
us back. We see now. All must come to an end, and we
bring it.
^
^        —The Annihlator
^           Voice heard by all sentients as it escaped

#DATALINKS1
^LEADER: {Annihlator}
^BACKGROUND: {Escaped Usurper Experiment}
^AGENDA: {End all sentient life, including the Planetmind}
^TECH: {Centauri Genetics + five choices at start, stolen from Usurpers}

#DATALINKS2
^+++PLANET: {Overwhelmes Planetmind with Psionic fury}
^Free Punishment Spheres and Genejack Factories: {Enslaved population}
^Headquaters at each base: {Decentralized hivemind}
^May exceed Hab requirements by 5: {Cramped living conditions}
^Free Locusts of Chiron and Mind Worms at start: {Captured native life}
^250% Research and Hurry costs: {Exhausted starving workers}
^Gets any tech discovered by four infiltrated factions
^

#FACTIONTRUCE
#xs 440
#caption $CAPTION7
"We wish to focus Our swarms on other prey for now.
Cease your attacks and you may delay the destruction
of all you hold dear."

"We cannot afford to continue this currently."
"Your threat will be ended by our hands. Prepare to
die, abomination."

#FACTIONTREATY
#xs 440
#caption $CAPTION7
"You could be useful to our plans $TITLE0 $NAME1. Join
us in Treaty and you will be the last to die."

"I must preserve our people even if it means working
with you. Agreed."
"No, I cannot work with one who hungers for my destruction."
AME3.”

# ; This line must remain at end of file

[Sigma]

Hahaha some of those diplomacy sentences are utter gold.

"Think of how this could benefit your preparations for annihilation of all sentient life"

Actually that would read better as "preparations for annihilating all sentient life."

Your TXT has some contradictions, however:

Politics, Fundamentalist, GROWTH,
Politics, Fundamentalist, nil,

This means that their chosen ideology is Fundamentalist, but it's also their Anti-Ideology so they can't pick it. Unless those two choices cancel out.

[ete]

Thanks, I had fun with those. Good suggestion there, editing.

The Fundy as both thing is intentional, though I'm not certain about using it. The idea was to make them as aggressive as possible by making them hate anyone who either uses or does not use fundy, though I'm not sure how that will work out. Maybe I'll make them pro police state or thought control and anti Green and just give every other faction the flag which makes them want to kill the Annihlators.

I did a quick test run without the Manifold Harmonics, and amusingly enough, these guys are having trouble with vanilla factions. Because they started right in the center of a triangle of Sparta, the Hive, and Miriam without much fungus for worm farming, and are getting attacked by all three at once. They are holding their own, have build more bases than the other three combined and almost killed sparta, but are falling far behind in tech (not got lazers yet and they're fighting impact rovers) and are not able to get a huge worm army because there's not much fungus to explore. Also, Lal started on his own in a big area of jungle and is flying ahead in the power graph.

[ete]

Making the techshare not require infiltrator, infiltrating four factions early is not something the AI does easily. Maybe will drop it to techshare 5 from 4 to compensate.

[Sigma]

I noticed you have Sharetech, 0, and Techshare, 4, both on there. Is that a mistake?

[ete]

SHARETECH, 0, should mean it requires infiltration and TECHSHARE, 1, should mean one faction needs to have it before you get it, though it does not seem to be working correctly in tests with roze.

[ete]

Added text and graphics (thanks BU) as attachments.

[Green1]

going to use this thread to talk about the annihilators.

I ran a test: Antimind, my Exterminatus (beta), Marr, Caretakers, Zak, Yang, and the Annihilators.

Thing I think that makes Antimind so fearsome is it uses that fungus bonus to rush i have noticed. Holds its own.

But then again, Marr with 4x bonus IS pretty unstoppable.

Yang is a strong AI and can 1v1 regular aliens most situations.

I did not finish to conclusion, but Yang and Zak combined were putting the hurt on your dude. But.. it was not easy.

I am going to run one more test.

[ete]

Bear in mind I'm giving it the Manifold Harmonics from the start in my AAR, which makes fungus perhaps better than forest once you have Centauri Ecology (2/1/2) and Monoliths amazing (3/3/4). I'm reconsidering doing bonuses by SPs though, I may move it to fungal resource bonuses, but I'd have to remove a few others to make room.

Also, I'm considering lowering the Research penalty significantly and adding in a Psi Combat bonus for my AAR. I'll try and make a more balanced version at some point, but for now let's turn up the power

[Buster's Uncle]

ete, I'd be curious to have you playtest the Mindworms With Minds.  They're along similar thematic lines to the Annihilators, and rather overpowered at what I gather is a similar magnitude.

[ete]

I have not yet, do need to get around to adding more factions to the index and setting them up with my game at some point. I've added that one for now: http://alphacentauri2.info/wiki/Mindworms_with_Minds if anyone wants to check the stats.

It looks like the AntiMind on steroids, no Indust or Econ penalty, bigger Planet and double the Psi bonus, +2 Mins on fungus naturally and starts with a load of techs which boost fungus production to insane levels (4/3/3 on all fungus once you get Cent Ecology, 3/3/3 from the start), size 16 bases with no hab complex, all for the cost of double research cost. Maybe I'm being too restrained with my faction.

Flavorwise it also seems more like the AntiMind than the Annihilators, pro-native vs. destroy all life including Planet.

[Buster's Uncle]

True.  I enjoy it for a dirty, dirty, cheat game.

I can accept neither blame nor credit for anything but the art on that one.

[ete]

I'll probably run a test tomorrow dropping the stats of MwM into the Annihilator faction and see how quickly it rolls all the other horribly broken factions.

[Buster's Uncle]

see how quickly it rolls all the other horribly broken factions.

  My thoughts, exactly.

[Green1]

Second test:

Anihilators knocked out early by stock Caretakers and Exterminatus. You were the recipient of the AI/ spore launcher bug where a base just sits there turn after turn building troops and does not have the intelligence to go out there and kill it. After restart due to being knocked out early, MUCH different story. Anihilators went on the war path taking out the combined might of Zak and Yang, humiliating Marr, then taking it to outright war with Antimind. Did not finish because I got tired.