Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 04:16:22 AM
our fearless leader |
This role is best played by Yang. Although others could do it, none can do it better. I deliberately choose him and leave the others to random chance. Ironically I nearly get the lineup of the original game, except for the Cultists substituting for the Believers. This makes diplomacy nearly identical to the original game, as my Cultists have Extremist as their core compulsion. Unlike the Believers, who in my mod have total free will and no compulsion at all. We've got 3 factions who will fight over Politics, 2 over Economics, and 2 over Values. And they're all gonna die. Watch what a +3 POLICE state can do!
the island |
I am probably on an island in a large northern ocean. There is a chance it connect to the mainland to the southeast. Or that an earthquake will make such a connection for me. I take the initially offered landing site as it's flat terrain on a river, dead center of the island, and nothing will matter until I get off this rock and find my first victim.
improvement by elevation |
MY 2110. My bases were on pretty scratchy land. Suddenly my raininess is improved.
really catching |
MY 2114. At least my homeland is getting bigger.
where the wild things are |
MY 2115. I get to know about the other factions! I'll also have a Unity Lifter coming to me. It's a pretty neat unit, the only helicopter available in the game. It's a long distance flying Transport that can scout the dickens out of stuff. Great for finding someone to execute.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 04:47:58 AM
double take |
MY 2116. To the south, are the Morganites and the University, who shall die without protest. The Cultists shall remain a mystery.
my waters |
My nifty new Lifter begins sweeping the perimeter of my island. 48 moves remaining.
needful things |
I didn't have the money to rush a colonist last year, but now I do.
stupid helicopter tricks |
The Unity Lifter is not useful for transporting units to and from the hinterland, as one must be in a city to load and unload. But it is very useful for transferring units between cities, which allows me to push colonists forwards in the absence of roads. The colonist to the east started in Huddling of the People this year. Paradise Swarming was only settled this year, so this is almost a blitzkrieg.
curious happenstance |
MY 2124. I notice that the University is completely flat on the graph, indicating that they've died. I've not seen a message about a faction being eradicated though. I don't think there's any kind of minimum turn for getting such a message, so maybe they still have a unit nominally alive? Maybe they got stuck in Cultist territory without being able to settle. Anyways, it's actually the Morganites and the Spartans that are south of me.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 05:27:37 AM
off this rock |
MY 2136. I can now go pick up the few dozen sea colony pods that my Lifter has revealed.
naturalist walk |
I've spotted University units. Their graph is still flat. Is this all they've got?
the business of death |
MY 2147. I've now got the minimum needed to wipe out other factions. But I still need a complete island manufacturing stuff to really do it. Probe teams and a Police State would be useful too.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 05:57:50 AM
wandering researcher |
MY 2149. Looks like the University wandered into Morganite territory initially, and maybe only settled belatedly.
the split society |
I wonder how Morgan Biochemical got settled?
why on my land |
So annoying that the Gaians are talking to me already. At least they are not a natural enemy. I sign a Treaty and trade a number of techs, none of them really what I want. She won't ally.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 06:12:34 AM
a person to kill |
MY 2158. I sign a Treaty with Morgan and trade techs with him. I won't attack until I have probe teams, and those can always be used to start a war.
death position |
MY 2160. I don't see how the Morganites can possibly survive here. They are 8-balled behind the Spartans, who will easily wipe them out. If the Spartans are adjacent by land, they will wipe out the University in the Monsoon Jungle as well.
fly the locust skies |
I notice a Cultist mindworm, so they are part of this continental system.
why are you a whiner |
Perhaps I should ally with the Gaians against the Peacekeepers, who will surely be my enemy, and will gain the greatest power on the far side of the map from me. Taking out enemies in my backyard seems too easy. But she's not having it.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 06:53:42 AM
the stage is set |
MY 2162. I pop a sea supply pod with Lal's comm frequency. He's predictable.
strategy |
Since Morgan is weak, and I could probably piss off and dispose of him at any time, I ally with him. I think it would be prudent to destroy the Spartans before they expand and become more difficult to clean up. From Morgan I gain the comm frequencies of the 3 remaining factions.
eat you later |
He's so weak, I even have more tech than he does.
I lie to your roundness |
The readouts say he's Feeble. My interest in a Treaty is not genuine. I just wanted to see how he would respond. He is a natural enemy.
you've got what I want |
We sign a Treaty. Now that I've got probe teams, they mean nothing. She won't sign a Pact. I would have liked to have gotten her map for free.
someone to die |
I just wanted him to get me a free map, but he wants a war. Since it's with one of my natural enemies, I grant his wish. It's going to be a bit before I can find them and take them on though.
my way |
I declare the Police State. With +3 POLICE all of my units are doubly effective. All of my drone problems immediately go away. Pretty good turn that way. All this chin wagging with the other factions was useful.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 07:22:29 AM
grow my people |
MY 2165. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I go Socialist. It's very difficult to get GROWTH in my mod, and one of my faction abilities is I have an inherent +1 GROWTH. So now I have a net +2 GROWTH. If I could make people very happy, I could pop boom. I don't really have the infrastructure for that, and it might be antithetical to overrunning distant adversaries. Furthermore, if I commit atrocities I'll get Sanctions. Nevertheless I make the commitment. It seems like the Hive way. I don't quite know how to use this, as I haven't played the Hive very often recently, so I will stumble through it and try to make something of it.
Deirdre's gonna be so pissed! I don't care what Morgan thinks, he's weak.
that did not take much |
Did you know that Zhakarov is a complete weenie? I wonder where he'll pop up next.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 08:11:57 AM
it's my favorite |
MY 2172. It's even got me doing the voiceover! But I said no Secret Projects.
Deirdre must die |
Now the major challenge in her case, would be bringing X weapons long distances to fight her.
I don't like him |
MY 2184. Lal declares war.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 08:31:23 AM
you'll be sorry |
MY 2189. Morgan's getting kicked around. I'm still trying to fill the last places on my island and connect all of it with a rail network. I've got Laser Skimships in production. No X units because experience has taught me it's a bad idea to commit to those too early, if you're very far from your enemies. Need to get some basic connectivity with the Morganites before bothering.
tech supply |
MY 2190. I've amassed 11 Artifacts, most of which have made it home. I usually use them to build Secret Projects, but I swore I wouldn't do that. Instead I'll cash them for techs. I've started to build Network Nodes for that purpose.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 09:16:49 AM
flake |
MY 2191. I think I'm on track to hate everybody?
I am the probe faction |
MY 2193. In my mod, mind control costs double what it does in the stock game. However 3 factions get a 25% discount on that: the Data Angels, the Cybernetic Consciousness, and the Hive. I'm not used to mind control as a method against my enemies, as most of the time it seems to be cost prohibitive. I am surprised that it's affordable right now, this close to Deirdre's capitol. Bearu informed me that these costs will increase the more units and bases I mind control.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 10:07:15 AM
sycophant |
MY 2202. Cha Dawn calls an election to install Lal.
weenie |
MY 2207. Belatedly I remember that I haven't talked to Zhakarov since his escape, and that he's the only one that likes me. We sign a Pact. He has a map of the Spartan empire.
between lands |
Zhakarov is on a small island between the Gaians and the Peacekeepers. This might make a good airbase. If I cashed all of my Artifacts, perhaps I could get Doctrine: Air Power and then inflict chemical weapons terror on that side of the planet. I just need to finish robbing Deirdre blind.
you are boring |
MY 2208. Or I could just wipe out Morgan.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 10:32:55 AM
I spy on you |
MY 2209. I'm not sure if I've overpowered the Hive, but they never take a POLICE Penalty. It didn't seem to result in the AI going gangbusters. However, it might be too much to give a human player.
I've stolen all of Deirdre and Morgan's techs. I don't know if the Spartans have anything to steal. I'll soon find out.
Spartan folly |
MY 2213. Surprised again that I could do this near an enemy capitol.
pinnacle of tech |
MY 2214. I infiltrate the Spartans. They have C3 Polymorphic Software, which I should have realized because they completed the Command Nexus. I still don't have infiltration with the Cultists or the Peacekeepers. They are so remote that it may be awhile before that happens.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 10:45:59 AM
Morganites going down |
MY 2215. It just got easier to steal from the Spartans.
more tech |
MY 2216. At least 2 more techs are available. Perhaps I need more of a navy.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 07:00:39 PM
Morganic feebleness |
MY 2222. They're not long for this world.
Meanwhile, I'm making Energy Banks in a lot of my bases. My rationale is I'm rather isolated, it takes a long time to steal techs, and having homegrown tech making capability is a good thing. I don't know if this exactly fits with the "kill everyone" idea, or the cashing Artifacts idea. But it's what I'm actually doing. As bases finish up the Energy Banks, then they start making Foil Probe Teams. Those are actually holding up pretty well to enemy attacks, I think because of the exploit of probe teams having higher morale than a regular combat ship. I've got +2 PROBE, I don't have +2 MORALE.
an opportunity |
MY 2223. If I can get my production turned around fast enough, I could slaughter an enemy with chemical attacks and obliterations. The rest of the world will be none the wiser and I will not face sanctions! I can certainly take out the Morganites. I wonder if I could chew up half the Spartans before things clear up? I rush pretty much all my facilities, so I can start producing a lot Laser Skimships next year. My landlocked cities with Command Centers start working on X Recon Rovers. Some cities will work on Foil Probe Teams.
Hmm, if everyone but the University are at war with me, do sanctions even matter? I'm not sure. I just know that in previous games, I've easily racked up a thousand years worth of sanctions.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 07:32:59 PM
falling hard |
MY 2226. Now, will the Spartans manage to assault the other Morganic bases not adjacent by land?
Gaian pest |
I think this was the only Gaian naval presence. I lost a ship to it, but now it dies. With the amount of Laser Skimship spam I've got coming, I should be able to keep off any additional ships. Soon to begin ferrying units to the Morganic landmass. Just realized it connect to the Gaian landmass, although that's a long land line without rails. Maybe I need to make a port city and start building a rail.
Just remembered that if I had a destination city, I could ferry using the Unity Lifter and avoid naval attacks. However that only moves 2 units at a time. Still, it's something to remember.
Gaian navy |
MY 2228. It will be more of a battle than I expected. The Gaians have fast ships and I do not. However their armament isn't any better than mine, and mine are cheaper to produce. Attrition off my own coast, should favor me.
slow doom |
MY 2230. My first chemical weapons arrive on the mainland.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 07:55:57 PM
watery grave |
MY 2233. Doesn't look like anything Morganic will ultimately escape destruction.
organic assist |
MY 2234. Due to my Knowledge, I capture my 1st spore launcher. I think I'll go pop pods with it.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 08:16:48 PM
first victim |
MY 2235. Looks like my spore launcher is more useful for checking on fungus I'm trying to cross. After killing the 1st unit, I find a 2nd unit in another square.
second victim |
MY 2236. Good old fashioned make them Walk The Plank.
third victim |
No more Morganites in the western ocean. They have one base in the eastern ocean, behind the Spartans. If only the Spartans would take care of it. I can't count on that, so I'm sending my fleet through the passageway. I'll shell the Morganites as I pass, to make it easier for my X Recon Rovers when they arrive.
wiggly |
With my Knowledge I capture my 1st mindworm. This Socialist thing is turning out not to be so bad!
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 09:04:45 PM
mindworm travel |
MY 2237. Who says mindworms move slowly? The rift puts me in Gaian territory.
escalation |
MY 2238. The Gaians are fielding Impact Cruisers. I can't win artillery duels with those. I have Impact tech myself, I just haven't made a prototype yet. I'm just letting my current fleet of Laser Skimships do damage and get chewed up. They've accomplished their primary objective, which was to keep off the Gaians while I ferry units over to the mainland to kill the Morganites. I've even got Formers being ferried over now. Secondary objective is to screen for enemies while my Foil Probe Teams find places to steal from. I'm closing in on some Cultist sea bases.
interference |
I'm surprised the Cultists are still active in the region. They killed my spore launcher. I have to retreat and work around the problem.
MY 2339. A Cultist mindworm shows up near me and I have to kill it. Then I have to wait around to heal up. This means my X Recon Rovers are not getting down to target to do their job.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 09:25:24 PM
out of time |
MY 2240. Well I gave Morgan a crippling blow, but I didn't wipe him out in the time allotted. I have my doubts that the Planetary Council will legalize the job, but I'll try anyways.
as I figured |
I will not displace Lal as Planetary Governor anytime soon either. He's on the other side of the map and I presume he has plenty good land sustaining his burgeoning population. This can only happen if Lal wants it to happen.
Post by: bvanevery on April 24, 2020, 10:16:49 PM
can't get through |
MY 2241. Santiago is fielding too many Impact ships. I try hiding 3 of my puny ships in fungus, hoping they give enough defensive advantage to wound the assailant and let my other 2 slip past. I don't know if that's enough to take out the Morganic sea base.
conventional conquest |
MY 2242. I take one of Deidre's sea bases, that was about to produce an Isle. I don't want to obliterate it. It's not just the sanctions. It's that once you start down the road of committing atrocities against a faction, you have to completely wipe them out. Otherwise in midgame they will nuke you. "One at a time" is the way to proceed. If I felt stronger, I might attack multiple enemies in parallel, but I don't feel that strong. I can't really keep up with others in tech, despite having built decent infrastructure. All I really want right now is to penetrate Deidre's front line and steal more techs from cities I haven't looted yet.
stymied |
MY 2245. That's pretty much the end of rooting out the Morganite sea base. Hope the Spartans deal with it.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 02:41:36 AM
Deidre got wise to me |
MY 2248. Bearu did warn that the cost of mind control would go up. Seems to have happened. Deidre is also a Green Police State, so she's got +1 PROBE. My mere Foils are not going to outrun this Cruiser, so I embark upon a campaign of mindless sabotage. I notice that Deirdre has also learned C4 Single-Sided Surfaces since just last turn. At what point am I going to be satisfied with tech and just cash my Artifacts? Maybe when someone gives me Doctrine: Air Power and I've managed to make forward bases that can use the planes? I don't know. This is turning out to be logistically more than I expected.
cruiser probe exploit |
My probe teams have a higher base MORALE than ordinary units, due to +2 PROBE. I am thinking if I combine that with a Naval Yard, maybe I can make Elite Cruiser Probe Teams? And maybe if I put some armor on them, enemy naval units will have a very hard time killing them. Maybe they'll actually be able to sail to their targets without anyone being able to stop them, taking out weak enemy ships along the way. So I'm going to make those kinds of units here.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 03:14:26 AM
researched |
MY 2251. I wanted to steal this from the Spartans, but instead I researched it myself. I suppose from a total productivity standpoint, it's good to be able to produce some things yourself. I'm currently caught up with stealing from the Gaians. I've not even infiltrated the Peacekeepers, they're very far away.
find the wimp |
Recently I stole the Cultist map. I still can't see much of Peacekeeper territory. They must be occupying the big black blot in the southwest corner.
take the monolith |
I have been completely unable to bring my X Recon Rovers to their city targets. Of the 6 I built, 4 are dead. I've been unwilling to make chemical attacks in the field while other factions are watching me, as the penalties for doing so are far too onerous. Both the Cultists and the Morganites have heavily tromped on this region. It's really only my Knowledge finally providing me with another mindworm, that has broken the stalemate.
I'm realizing this overland approach was a pipe dream and would never work in a sunspots timeframe. It turns out that logistics are the 1st step in establishing an invasion. The final taking or destroying of the bases is the 2nd step. Whereas, attacking by sea with obliterations was fairly fast and easy. Only the most remote Morganic sea base escaped my grasp.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 03:46:20 AM
counterprobes |
MY 2252. I had a probe defender. They always end up over here, which is darned annoying because those Cruisers are patrolling and like to kill my probes. I used a probe to kill one of their probe defenders, and then a Cruiser killed it. Then their probe came to sabotage my base. That's not such a big deal, but if I make the jump to 11 techs ahead, this base is suddenly going to be a theft liability.
can't break them |
This monolith is way too popular with Morgan. He keeps bringing every unit he can think of up there for training. His spam has worn me out. I will have to retreat and try to fight him where it's easier to see him.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 04:21:17 AM
decamping |
MY 2257. The Cultists decided to show up a couple of turns ago. They preferred to attack me rather than the Morganites, even though I tried to get out of the way. I can't hang here. At least the rail I completed, is on neutral territory rather than my territory. That means the AI probably won't think about tearing it up.
naval hack |
My first Elite Cruiser Probe Team is underway. I made it with 3-Res armor, which might have been a mistake. I did have 3-Pulse available mid-production and forgot to change it. This is better if I'm facing an Isle, but Impact ships have been more common. My next unit will be 3-Pulse. Now I need to sail to one of the other factions and pick up C4 Advanced Military Algorithms, which seems to have become popular lately.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 04:42:54 AM
why not sooner |
MY 2258. While stumbling around trying to provide some offshore artillery for my last two X Recon Rovers, I caused an Isle to surface. Finally I captured one. The oceans are pretty clean of supply pods, so I don't think this will do me much good.
stolen factory |
MY 2260. The Spartans provide me with part of what I need. If I can really spam some high grade chemical weapons, then I think the atrocities will be worth it.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 05:01:09 AM
changing hands |
MY 2261. Deirdre's Fishery is about to be liberated. I don't want to be holding onto this anyways. It's going to be a theft risk.
die Morgan! |
Looks like Santiago is finally going to take over that sea base. I actually attacked it with my last remaining Laser Skimship a couple turns ago, and died. Santiago had already weakened it with artillery. Maybe I did make a contribution to its demise after all.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 05:18:17 AM
enjoy |
MY 2262. At least nothing will get stolen from it.
relief |
Morgan is down to the 2 land bases, I believe.
Spartan skirmishing |
Somehow I managed to use the Monolith last year and not get my X Recon Rover killed. Not sure I can do that again. Maybe the Spartans will finish these last 2 Morganic bases off and I needn't worry about it?
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 05:43:09 AM
atrocious acts |
MY 2266. I finally thought, ok, let's get this party on!
one wiped |
2 hits on the base and it's gone. I need to heal somewhat before attacking the last base. It currently has only 1 defender. I wonder if the Spartans will think to take it? It might be good to keep them off that land mass though.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 06:11:42 AM
Cultists are better |
MY 2268. I steal C5 Doctrine: Air Power and B4 Environmental Economics from the Cultists. It stings a little that they're out-researching me, especially since I have Knowledge. Is it about who they were friends with? Nowadays most hate them, but they're allied with the Peacekeepers. It's bizarre and shouldn't last. Maybe they've just been begging the Peacekeepers for tech.
had enough of you |
MY 2270. Taking advantage of a moment of enemy confusion, I end the charade.
this is how we do it |
That obliteration cost me 40 years of sanctions. They're really stiff about this.
116 bottles of Morg on the wall |
I suppose the game could still be going on 116 years from now, but it would mean I did a bad job. And I wouldn't need anyone's money then.
terms of empire |
Who will Santiago and Cha Dawn go after, now that Morgan isn't an attractor anymore? The Cult is at war with the Gaians. Otherwise, they hate me. :D
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 06:55:12 PM
polluter |
MY 2271. I've got some serious eco-damage in some cities. I rush a Tree Farm on this one. The rest will have to wait until next year to complete the first 10 minerals. I had 1000 credits, possibly from conquering Morgan, so rushing is not a problem. Right now I don't need new tech, so much as I need to get my existing infrastructure under control, by spending money. Planes are also going to need Aerospace Complexes.
I have a probe team en route to Deirdre to steal B4 Planetary Economics. After that we'll see if anyone has more tech for me to grab. Zhakarov has D4 Intellectual Integrity. He is slowly working on the Universal Translator and will never finish it. I don't want to ruin our alliance, as he might yet be useful as a forward air base. So, I won't be getting that from him any time soon. At least it implies that others are unlikely to learn the prereqs for the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 07:04:57 PM
unimpressive abatement |
MY 2272. That Tree Farm only cut the damage to 31 / 47 = 66%. This might be the first direct evidence that my illegal chemical attacks and obliterations caused eco-damage. I might be building more Tree Farms than I thought. The tech for a Centauri Preserve would be useful too.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 07:18:45 PM
long haul |
MY 2273. The Peacekeepers brought a Cloaked Recon Rover all the way to me. At least they're easy to kill. And a Cloaked Impact Squad was hiding as well. These have got to be some of the most irritating units I've designed. But they're awfully effective in AI hands at keeping the human player off-balance and concerned.
Post by: bvanevery on April 25, 2020, 07:30:17 PM
money for minerals |
MY 2274. Belatedly I remember that I can do something with my Clean Formers other than build Sensor Arrays on every forest road. E3 Ecological Engineering makes Drill To Aquifer available. It is one of the most obscure commands of the game. I like to put rivers on top of Mines, so that I get both minerals and money from the same square. B4 Environmental Economics also made Construct Echelon Mirror available, but those are not typically all that useful. It's hard to find somewhere that's central to a lot of existing solar arrays, although I suppose I do have 1 fungal patch where it would be appropriate.
That was weird. My game crashed. It's not generally prone to instability. Did Drill To Aquifer cause it?
natural energy park |
For the replay, I save my game and prepare to Construct Echelon Mirror instead. This is the only location where it would be worthwhile. I mostly have piles of forest.
Well shoot, the game is still crashing. I guess I'm going to have to Activate Scenario Editor to see what the problem is.
I hit Activate Scenario Editor, then I hit "Y" to turn off God Mode. So, I can only see what my faction usually sees. I hit Turn Complete. The game gets through the inter-turn period just fine. I go through the cycle of base maintenance operations, just hitting "OK" to get through them faster. I finally get to the point of having control over my units. The one that moved onto the fungus is active. So at least when using A.S.E. there is no bug.
I Start A New Game and load my saved game for the end of MY 2274. I don't have infiltration with the Peacekeepers, but I do have it with the other factions. Some of them have Needlejets and Penetrators, but I don't see any Interceptor units. Interceptor bugs have often been the game crashers in the past. I see that Lal is at war with Santiago and Cha Dawn. This is a fairly recent development, so I can't rule out that Lal has Interceptors and is causing the crash.
Lal is the Governor and nobody's got the Empath Guild. If I look at his unit list, I'm in danger of having his minimap come up in the corner of the screen. However, maybe I can simply put a card over that part of the screen. BRB.
Finding an opaque card isn't entirely easy. I find a USB hard drive lying around instead. I try to tilt my screen flat so I can lay it on top. My screen doesn't go fully flat though. While fumbling about, the hard drive slides out of my hands and whacks the Enter key. My turn advances, and oddly enough doesn't crash. I'm in MY 2275 and I haven't A.S.E.'d. Well whatever! Some kind of transitional glitch. I'll try to remember to save my game more often for a bit.
I did click on 1 Former that was trying to move onto the fungus, deactivating its queued command. I wonder if such a trivial input, can work around a bug?
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 04:37:59 AM
spydeath |
MY 2276. The Spartans are patrolling the coastal waters, and their Impact weapons are enough to blow apart my Cruiser Probe Teams. That said, it may have been a 3-Res unit, not 3-Pulse. I've got more coming. I need to steal C6 Synthetic Fossil Fuels from some faction somewhere, as it gives the Missile Launcher. Several factions have it, and I was trying to through to Deirdre's next sea base through the water channel. I didn't expect the Spartans to be patrolling. I think the number of near ocean targets are now limited, as I've stolen quite a number of things already. An eventual far mission, is to try to infiltrate the Peacekeepers, but it's definitely not going to happen right now. Too much near-need to steal and I haven't pulled it off yet.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 04:51:45 AM
stalling |
MY 2278. I complete an Aerospace Complex and need to start chucking out some planes. It's a waste to make big weapon planes because I'll have a better weapon imminently. This is the cheapest Clean Interceptor unit I can make right now. Even putting a strength 3 R-Laser on it doubles the cost. Not sure why the math works out that way, but it does. I suppose a Laser is nearly "for free". I am wondering if it's good enough to take down enemy planes, with the hefty Air Superiority bonus? Not that I have any planes coming after me anyways. But this may be useful when I finally make my move to wipe someone out. Until then, I still need to steal a better weapon. I've researched better armor on my own, so maybe the point will be rendered moot, but it still feels like I should steal.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 05:08:18 AM
somewhat effective |
MY 2280. I'm building more Tree Farms everywhere as a precaution, but this hasn't stopped some mild fungal popping. My cheap Tactical actually did take out a Locust. Can a cheap Penetrator do the same? Yes, although it took more wounds. 60% vs. 50%, not that big a difference. Looks worse because one's red and the other's yellow though.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 05:17:55 AM
little extra |
MY 2281. For having bothered to spend 18 turns of work on an Echelon Mirror, it doesn't give much improvement. I suppose it will ultimately give +5 extra energy in 5 squares, since 2 are forest and I won't change those. The square itself gives pathetic output, 2-0-1. Once a Tree Farm is complete, it will probably be more profitable to plant a forest over it, which means I really shouldn't have bothered with this to begin with. I think they're just not useful on squares worked by cities. They make more sense if one's empire isn't entirely dense, and they're getting put between cities where squares are not worked. Maybe I have a few of those. This is also reminding me that fungus is not valuable, and now that I have Tree Farms, I should get rid of all of it and make more trees.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 05:45:03 AM
little river park |
MY 2282. Here I've Drilled To Aquifer on top of a Rocky Mine. It is not automatically being worked by clicking on the Mine, as I don't have enough food yet for that to be an obvious decision to the game. I'm thinking of replacing it with an Echelon Mirror. I suppose I'll get 0-1-2 out of that square, and +4 energy from other squares. Or I could leave it alone and have 0-4-1 eventually when it gets worked. If minerals and energy were valued the same, it's 7 vs. 5. Not an exciting gain. Maybe I'll just go drill more aquifers.
fungal error |
I was wondering why my Formers kept stopping their movement in my city. Well I've got one of those annoying fungal tower bugs.
seeing double |
I can't just attack it with a Scout. I'll it my own guys! This is really freaking me out, it's like science fiction or something. I'll have to move my Formers off first.
[Limit reached]
Now it no longer benefits from a Sensor Array. Still, I think I'll attack with a fresh Scout from somewhere else.
[Limit reached]
I didn't even know I had any Green Scouts left. I thought I had either suicided them all or trained them up to Hardened ages ago. I attack and it dies. The previous wounded Scout finishes off the Tower.
[Limit reached]
I've maneuvered 2 probe teams into the water channel leading to Deirdre's sea bases, so I'll have my tech shortly. This team was "spare" so I was sending him towards the Peacekeepers on a very long haul. The AI is all about the long haul to bother me, so it has sent up this unit. Unlike the Spartans it is merely Hardened and 20% wounded. I'm daring it to attack my 3-Pulse probe team.
I looked at Deirdre's readout and see that she's got C6 Synthetic Fossil Fuels, D4 Intellectual Integrity, and C6 Orbital Spaceflight. I clearly can't keep up with other factions' research. What's the point of cashing Artifacts if other factions are going to research so quickly? Well maybe I'll get my logistics forwards and then be ready to jump. I haven't forgotten how long it took me to actually bring X Recon Rovers to bear.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 06:13:06 AM
MY 2283. Well now I know that Commando 3-Pulse units will not make the long haul.
[Limit reached]
The Spartan navy may be lax, but unfortunately they made up for it with their air force. I steal C6 Synthetic Fossil Fuels from the Gaians.
[Limit reached]
I design a probe ship that I hope holds up a bit better. Surprisingly, it only costs 10 minerals more than the 3-Pulse model. I can't put AAA on these, as I specifically disallowed that in my mod for Probe units. Ditto Trance or ECM. It might be more survivable, but all the enemy really has to do is wound my unit, to thwart my mission. I don't know how easily I'm going to be able to buy any units anymore either. This might simply be attrition, whether I produce more Probe units than they produce things to kill them with. I could bring non-probe AAA units along and try to command the seas, but I really get tired of getting stuck with long distance unit pushing over the oceans.
[Limit reached]
Perhaps an amphibious approach over land will work better against that last Gaian sea base. Or perhaps the Spartans will see it and shoot it down anyways. Or the Gaians. But I will try, at least once. Otherwise, I think I need to bring an armored Transport near the landlocked Morgan Industries and steal from there.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 06:41:48 AM
MY 2285. The Laser Tacticals don't do very well against the real threat, which is various Transports arriving to annoy me. I only saw this one because I was sending a Cruiser Probe Team another direction. I haven't been putting Tacticals out in positions of good deployment, because I'm lazy. Thus I lost a wounded Tactical trying to take out this Transport. I am at least able to block the wounded Transport from making contact with my land.
I've realized the Spartans have nothing to steal, so no point in an armored Transport. Meanwhile the Cultists have C6 Orbital Spaceflight and B5 Advanced Ecological Engineering. The latter is particularly useful as I could connect to the mainland, then drive rails into all my enemies. I don't know if the Cultists are good researchers, good thieves, or good allies. I'm thinking it can't be the latter nowadays, as they're in a Pact with the Spartans and at war with everyone else.
[Limit reached]
This is the cheapest clean plane. It might be useful for patrols, sinking unarmored Transports and Sea Formers, covering units to give them safety, and intervening in the occasional mindworm scuffle.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 06:59:45 AM
MY 2287. Nobody wants to hear what he has to say.
I'm not so sure my moratorium on Secret Projects was a good idea. The Artifacts are still not doing me any good. But, at least I'm learning how usable the Hive probe teams are.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 07:21:33 AM
MY 2287. Nobody noticed my approaching Amphibious Probe Team. I steal B5 Advanced Ecological Engineering, which I didn't even know the Gaians had. Now I can connect to the mainland! Also I can build Soil Enrichers, although I don't think food is my problem.
[Limit reached]
MY 2288. Just because I have a lot of Genejack Factories... not like I don't have Tree Farms too... just because I committed some atrocities awhile ago... whatever. I mean, I'm +1 PLANET. I'm being robbed. I'll build Hybrid Forests.
[Limit reached]
Just goes to show you how slow it is to get probe teams to enemy territory on a Huge map.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 07:34:03 AM
MY 2289. Deidre wanted to make bank. Most of us said, screw dat.
[Limit reached]
The Gaians have the temerity to shell my stack of Formers, without the decency to be intercepted by nearby ships. Maybe they just need to be closer. I am too frugal to bother making an artillery piece to keep the Formers safe. I have Hybrid Forests to spit out.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 07:56:06 AM
MY 2291. Can I wipe out the Gaians under cover of sunspots?
[Limit reached]
These ship positions don't defend the land. I'm giving up my land raising operation. I'll leave 1 behind to keep the enemy ship busy.
[Limit reached]
The rate at which the Gaians are learning new techs, is making me a bit nuts.
[Limit reached]
Now for some reason I have a money problem. It doesn't seem to have affected me much in practice, as somehow I still have 541 credits. But in principle, I'm taking a substantial loss per turn. I also have the unique ability among all factions, of being able to get enough GROWTH together to pop boom without my citizens being in a Golden Age. I shift my budget to +10% PSYCH to get my Tree Farms providing a benefit and try to keep people slightly happy. Even though my double strength police units are pretty neat, I don't think they can quell size 14 bases. I may be forced to change from Knowledge to Wealth, to keep my balance sheet steady and my people happy.
This makes me feel less than bullish about actually making death progress during sunspots. I bet I just struggle to balloon out.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 08:13:05 AM
MY 2293. I briefly had my cash flow stabilized at slightly positive. Then my population growth gave me drones. So now I've got them happy, but I'm doing cash loss again. Maybe Hybrid Forests will fix that.
[Limit reached]
My last Cruiser Probe Team got blown away in Deirdre's home waters. I'm surprised it took her as long to react as it did. They still have D4 Intellectual Integrity. I have land probe teams I could try to use against her. Of course I just sent my Transports off to dump Scouts on supply pods at the north pole. If we weren't in sunspots, I could buy the tech from the University. Not that I really want to spend any money right now.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 08:28:45 AM
MY 2295. Perhaps there were some budgetary delays. Now I've got a small amount of money coming in. I don't believe I completed any Hybrid Forests. Maybe population growth provided me some economy of scale.
[Limit reached]
MY 2296. The Spartans and the Gaians are at war. Who will get off the first shot?
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 08:38:13 AM
MY 2297. In the presence of the Spartan ship, the Gaian ship abruptly changes tactics and fires upon my base. Even though it is only defended with a Laser Skimship, the Perimeter Defense and Sensor Arrays make it suicide. I don't even take a wound, the enemy just dies. Hmm, I wonder if that's some kind of certifiably invulnerable artillery bug? I remember a conversation with someone, on this forum somewhere, about being unable to hit the 2nd unit in a stack. Or something like that. And it may have only pertained to stack damage. Anyways, don't really know and don't really care right now.
The Spartan ship breaks off and goes away, for inexplicable reasons. Maybe it has never explored this part of my coast, and hasn't seen the Former trying to raise the land?
[Limit reached]
The Hive completes its Hybrid Forest. Contrary to documentation, this doesn't end all eco-damage. Arguably, it could be due to population, but somehow I doubt it. I think sometimes the documentation stretches the truth. So up goes a Centauri Preserve. I have the same trouble at a 2nd base.
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 09:12:12 AM
MY 2299. All of my bases are size 14, so I don't need to pop boom anymore. Can Deirdre ever love me? Maybe if there were no sunspots.
[Limit reached]
MY 2300. If I switch to Wealth, I get to double my income and make absurd amounts of money! I'm not sure what good it does me, as I usually just buy Secret Projects. I said I wouldn't do that. I wasn't planning on mind controlling bases, I was going to destroy everything that doesn't have a Secret Project in it. Could I corner the energy market?
Post by: bvanevery on April 26, 2020, 09:37:47 AM
MY 2302. Well I could really probe team it up now.
Post by: bvanevery on April 27, 2020, 02:32:56 AM
MY 2305. Last year I launched a Sky Hydroponics Lab. I don't really care about the food, I just wanted the rest of the map revealed. Mission Accomplished!
[Limit reached]
Deirdre wasted no time trying to extort me. Might be a problem with having great wealth. Lal wants to execute me. The Spartans and the Cultists won't even talk to me. My ally Zhakarov isn't thrilled with me anymore, since I've chosen Wealth. He won't trade or sell me any tech, since he thinks he's working on the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm.
[Limit reached]
I've completed a land bridge to the continent. I don't have a complete rail yet. Soon I will have to decide who I'm wiping out, and how.
[Limit reached]
I'm rich. Do I have enough money to buy votes? I bet some factions will simply refuse to speak to me. I try to get atrocities legalized anyways. That didn't go so well.
[Limit reached]
I think I'm wiping out Deidre. She's nearest and adjacent by land, whereas strictly speaking, the Spartans are not. There's that moat channel in the way. I could raise it, but there's not really a reason to do it. I'm producing so many Formers that I can probably drive a rail into the Peacekeepers, all the way on the other side of the world.
[Limit reached]
I might need to build some Airbases to move these around. But they can play their role.
Post by: bvanevery on April 27, 2020, 03:13:09 AM
MY 2308. I had a Scout and a mindworm walking back along the north pole. My Transport was supposed to pick them up, but the world flooded a bit. They're gone, my first casualties due to global warming.
[Limit reached]
MY 2309. I have a probe team approaching him anyways. Might want to steal from him soon. I mean I'm +2 PROBE and have Elite teams, why not?
[Limit reached]
MY 2310. The Gaians have started shooting at my Formers. I start making AAA units. I could finally find out whether those Clean Laser Tacticals are any good against enemy planes. I'll need an Airbase.
[Limit reached]
A Peacekeeper ship did this to me. I was right that they only have to wound me, to thwart me. But if I put out enough of these units, and survive enough times, perhaps I finally get through.
Post by: bvanevery on April 27, 2020, 03:49:28 AM
MY 2312. The world will never be the same.
[Limit reached]
The damage from 1 Amphibious Probe Team.
[Limit reached]
A merely disciplined Amphibious X Missile Rover takes out an Isle, then a helpless garrison unit. A 2nd rover destroys the base, leaving a wounded plane aloft.
[Limit reached]
Air-to-Air is a good bonus, 50%.
I check my bases for eco-damage afterwards. I don't see any, so perhaps I won't get in trouble with Planet just yet?
Post by: bvanevery on April 27, 2020, 04:15:14 AM
MY 2314. I veered towards the Spartans with my Formers because I was waiting to get through a fungal patch "efficiently". Well that efficiency cost me a lot of Formers that Santiago summarily blew to smithereens. She flew up 9 planes! I was only able to retaliate with 2. I've now got a giant stack of Formers sitting on the fungal bridge. Next year they're going to explode in Deidre's direction. It won't be too long before I'm at her capitol.
Post by: bvanevery on April 29, 2020, 04:08:29 AM
MY 2315. In one turn I build a rail to the next sea base. 1 plague and 2 chemical attacks wipe the base out. A fungal barrier unfortunately protects the next city.
Post by: bvanevery on April 29, 2020, 04:41:02 AM
MY 2316. I have a lot of Formers, but not quite enough to make some huge circle around this city. Next turn they die. I don't really think they have mindworms available to attack me with, and that's all I'd be vulnerable to.
Post by: bvanevery on April 29, 2020, 04:44:03 AM
MY 2317. Once again they only have to wound me to prevent me from stealing. At least I'm killing ships in return though. I will have Probability armored ships soon. I don't need to make Formers anymore, so I'm working on Naval yards to field a much larger X navy.
[Limit reached]
I'm plaguing and cheming another Gaian base. Zhakarov gets huffy about it! He's got 2 cities left, Cha Dawn just took one. Why doesn't he mind his own business? I easily trash the base, but it leaves a plane aloft. I've been advancing with a system of Airbases though, so I take it out with a Laser Tactical.
[Limit reached]
I wonder if I'm near to being Infamous and worthy of Planet's vengeance? 2 cities are showing eco-damage. 1 hasn't built a Centauri Preserve so I queue one up.
Post by: bvanevery on April 29, 2020, 05:52:32 AM
MY 2318. 62 eco-damage! That's off the chart from last year. Not even quite my highest city. Many are doing big eco-damage now, just from reducing a size 10 city to size 1. I'm gonna be in for it. Planet is coming.
[Limit reached]
I switch back to Knowledge. I need all the eco-damage abatement I can get right now. My worst base is now doing 44. It's actually not as bad a hit on my money as I thought it would be. Only like a 15% loss. I wonder if all the dead mindworms will soon make me rich? I rush Centauri Preserves in all the cities that don't have them and aren't working on something. I rush all my pending facilities. I design an AAA Trance 3-Res Sentinel and start working on one. All my old Police units, I upgrade to Trance 3-Res Police. I think I dropped from 6k credits to 3k credits, and that's all I'm going to do.
Post by: bvanevery on April 29, 2020, 06:58:03 AM
MY 2319. With his dying breath, Zhakarov fends off the assault of the greedy capitalist pigs. Except that's not really true. Well I don't have any allies to trade with, so I don't want this! At least, I don't think I do? I forget how Commerce works.
[Limit reached]
[Limit reached]
I was beginning to think I'd get through this turn without any mindworms. That's the only pop though, so I feel relatively lucky. Everyone's getting Command Centers. I'm going to need defense.
[Limit reached]
In principle, this could keep other factions from nuking me. In practice, I worry about Lal obsessing about orbital warfare with me. However he only has 4 Orbital Defense Pods up, so maybe I shouldn't worry so much and just take him on.
[Limit reached]
I've wiped Deidre off this section of the continent, at a most horrific eco-damage cost. My cities are producing silly amounts of it now. What can I do? It was my plan to play this way. Even as it was, I stalled quite awhile before committing.
Post by: bvanevery on April 29, 2020, 09:13:23 AM
MY 2320. If only that had connected some land mass.
[Limit reached]
They think it's my fault. I think it's their fault, for existing.
[Limit reached]
I really need to take over the Neural Amplifier this year. I think I can get it done, if I spend a whole lot of money to bridge the channel right now. I also have to maximize the potential of making a clear path across the bridge, so it will have to be 3 squares wide and seal the channel.
[Limit reached]
I'm not sure how much I can destroy in 1 turn. If I leave Gaia's Landing for last, will I get all of Deidre's money? Which is only 715 credits so I won't worry that hard about it. I wonder where the money goes when I wipe out a base?
[Limit reached]
I need more oomph to take out 2 of Deirdre's bases conventionally. This would be a really good time to discover Fusion Power. I'm also worried that Locusts could destroy every unit in my cities and take out my Artifacts. I think it's time to cash them, I've waited long enough and this is a critical turn.
[Limit reached]
Deidre has only 1 more tech I haven't stolen. Unfortunately I'm out of cities to steal from. With the last of my Former units, I drive a rail as near as I can get to a sea base. I will bring an Elite Amphibious Probe Team to steal from this one. I cover the fungus with a X Missile Penetrator to make sure I can get through.
[Limit reached]
The movement plan works, but the base has an interlock. There's no point wasting my Elite unit on this, as I don't have many amphibious ones of those. I can do the same kind of theft on land, and I have more Elite land units to spare. Instead I plague the city. It drops to size 7 and the defendants become more pliable, but the Isle still refuses to die and takes out 2 X Missile Needlejets.
[Limit reached]
Cheekily, I send a barely alive X Missile Needlejet against an even less barely alive opponent, because I want some depopulation dammit! That's not going to happen, but I'll be darned if that Isle is going to live through this. Finally dead.
[Limit reached]
I throw an Elite land team at a base. It dies, but I get her last tech. I don't think I have enough units to conquer non-essential cities, but I can certainly depopulate them.
[Limit reached]
I accidentally plague the site of the Virtual World, because I didn't expect it to be in a smaller unwalled city. I don't think I can afford the unit distraction to take it this year. At least, I need to secure the Neural Amplifier first. I'm noticing that the plagues are so good at weakening units, and the population of some of these bases resists some damage anyways, that I think I could afford to weaken them. It might save me bothering to upgrade my units. Yeah, the target's got a Research Hospital, let's kick it in the teeth!
[Limit reached]
Those indigenous units are still too tough for my tastes, so I hit 'em again. Interesting. The population only drops 1 more, and the units don't take any further wounds. Ok, guess a Research Hospital is worth something.
[Limit reached]
I lose an X Missile Rover to the Isle. My next attack is against a regular unit. The odds were pretty much in favor of them, so I canceled the attack and switched to chemicals. I figured the base can survive more hits. It drops to size 4, so I guess a Research Hospital doesn't do anything against chemical warfare. I won't be able to do that again, but eliminating that defender is probably all I need. I lose another X Missile Rover to the stupid spore launcher. Finally my units get through.
[Limit reached]
Do I have enough units to secure the Virtual World as well? Yep.
[Limit reached]
Size 1 is still a base. We'll take it!
[Limit reached]
191 eco-damage in this city and that's probably typical. I have no idea what will happen next year. Instant waterworld? I want to get my nuke finished. I don't know if my defenders are going to hold here, but there are slightly more of them than other bases. Out west, I made the mistake of attacking an Isle at sea, which strengthened the entire stack of Locusts next to it. Oh well.
[Limit reached]
What a surprise. My brain hurts a lot. That's all we've got! No shade for us, unless somebody else gets smart about this.
I cash all my Artifacts, lest I lose them to the Locusts. I get all sorts of techs, but I don't know what good they're going to do. The game looks rather different if you've decided not to build Secret Projects. I got cheated out of my free tech for Secrets of the Manifolds, but maybe there will be a 1 turn delay. Maybe I could make Brood Pits and just swamp Planet in locusts? Although I won't be swamping anything when the water rises. At least I can build Subsea Trunklines. If I get the chance.
Post by: bvanevery on April 30, 2020, 06:02:36 AM
MY 2321. I'm not sure where Deirdre got all the units from, or how she's supporting them. But she's filled her lands with a lot of obstructions, and I don't actually have enough spam to keep her at bay. I did destroy another city of hers, but it will cost me whatever X Missile Speeder units I had left. Lacking additional units to make assaults, I've worn down the undesired Memory of Earth with enormous numbers of sabotage attacks. Finally the hated Research Hospital is gone, so my next plague will be deadly, when I'm ready to liquidate the city. That has to wait until next year, as I just don't have the forces.
[Limit reached]
On the home front, my defenders all held. However I've taken a lot of wounds in some cities. I've redistributed my units so that only 1 badly wounded unit is in each city. Since they moved by rails, they haven't spent movement points and should have a chance to heal at Command Centers this turn. This works as long as my rails are intact, but it won't be long before the rising waters destroy them. I will need boats. Actually boats have really good defensive value in my mod, possibly because I got rid of the "ship in port" penalty quite awhile ago. I almost wonder if that was a mistake, they can be so good at defending. I don't have any boats yet though. I'm still too busy trying to survive these waves of spam.
Post by: bvanevery on April 30, 2020, 07:02:21 AM
MY 2323. I've been rushing Pressure Domes in bases I thought were vulnerable. My cities have held. 1 did get all its defenders killed, but no facilities got destroyed.
[Limit reached]
Even more locusts are appearing and I'm seriously doubting my ability to hold things off. Plus I will soon have no ability to reinforce the cities I took from the Gaians.
[Limit reached]
Turns out a fair number of my cities didn't even have Command Centers built yet. I'm not seeing how I survive. Did I just hand the game to the Peacekeepers? Is that what chemical warfare amounts to?
[Limit reached]
I had 2 Formers on the Rocky river square last year. I built a road. Now it and the Formers are gone. This is one of the worst things about global warming, these death zones on land. The rivers can also shift around and ruin anything you try to build in the general area. Trying to repair river damage gets real old real quick. I've quit games because of this, just unable to keep up. Not sure I'm promising anything with this game, as it doesn't look all that survivable.
[Limit reached]
I manage to wipe out Memory of Earth, with heavy losses to my X Missile Needlejets due to a Locust that played interceptor. I never realized they could do that. I'm not sure I've seen it happen in a game before. My homefront is weary as usual, so I decide that I need to overpay and rush everything that I can.
Post by: bvanevery on May 01, 2020, 06:09:58 AM
MY 2323. The rising water is getting pretty silly. I think we're in for 2800 meters. My continental link is broken. I've also lost rail connectivity in my homeland, so it will become more difficult to shuffle wounded defenders. I seemed to do better defending against Locusts this year. Some of them are flying away from my homeland, I'm not sure to where. I hope they're not just flying towards my Gaian conquests, as those cities are not really equipped with Trance defense.
[Limit reached]
I'm able to destroy a small Gaian city and all the units in it, but I have no protection from Gaian counterattack. I try building a rail in front of their mindworms in order to distract them, hoping they'll let my X Missile Speeders escape. I certainly don't have time to build new offensive units. I'm also able to bring the Gaia's Landing Perimeter Defense down with the loss of yet more probe teams. They have a lot of units in there though, and I don't really have any means to take it right now. It contains Secret Projects so I won't liquidate it.
[Limit reached]
I've been using a few X Missile Needlejets against these cities, but I've broken off my attempts to drive rails to them. Clearly everything is sinking and I'll lose the few Formers I have left. These cities could persist if I don't keep hitting them. Persistent cities are bad once atrocities start, because if you leave them long enough, they build nukes and nuke you. Once you start down the dark road with a faction, you really have to finish them off. That's why I've only committed atrocities against the Gaians, so that I only need to wipe out one faction at a time.
Post by: bvanevery on May 01, 2020, 07:37:22 PM
MY 2324. At least my Orbital Defense Pod did some damage against Lal before going down. I clearly don't have the industrial capacity to worry about duking it out with him right now. I' :-*m barely making enough Trance units to keep me alive, and soon I'll be worrying about having enough minerals in the water to do anything useful. I hope he has some trouble with all of this flooding as well. He's not going to be having any Planet trouble, as even Locusts that veer off, are too far away to get to him.
I may yet kill Deirdre, but this "tactic" is basically cutting my nose to spite my face. It is only the full knowledge that one is going to write an After Action Report, a sort of morbid curiosity about a train wreck, that justifies the thing. And how long can my interest last? My rate of wishing to write this up, has seriously slowed down. I will probably fight on until Deirdre is vanquished. Then I'll have to decide whether this is too tedious to continue or not. In a previous AAR I did finally come out the other side with mindworms abating, but then the Cultists nuked me, so I quit.
[Limit reached]
In version 1.42 of my mod I moved Geosynchronous Survey Pods to this tech, because they give a +50% defense bonus. That would be darned useful right about now. I've actually survived my onslaught this year with few losses. Depending on how much my units have healed, this might be a good time to build GSPs at all my bases. I'm certainly going to need more defense as more and more bases slide into the water. I hope most of the poundings are done by the time I'm a fully water based society.
Well, building GSPs isn't going to happen everywhere, because you have to have an Aerospace Complex, or the Space Elevator. My artificial anti- Secret Projects policy ties my hands here. I could build ACs everywhere though, if I think I have the breathing room. I certainly get attacked by enough Locusts to justify it. Similarly, my bases that have slipped into the water, could use Naval Yards pretty soon too. Lotta Isles of the Deep starting to cast about.
Post by: bvanevery on May 01, 2020, 09:47:24 PM
MY 2325. Santiago comes all the way up north to talk to me.
[Limit reached]
I bet the Cultists would sign a Truce too, if our units ever came into contact with each other.
[Limit reached]
Having a base display -1 population ever so briefly is mildly interesting.
[Limit reached]
Wild locusts actually wiped out a Gaian base that I emptied of defenders last year. However I won't be getting any more air strikes in that region, as the airspace is now swarmed with locusts. I lost a plane on the ground at an Airbase. My few Formers wandrering around will try to make more roads, but between shifting rivers and locusts, they'll soon be dead.
[Limit reached]
My homeland has split into 2 physical pieces, and it's effectively 3 logistical pieces due to disconnected rails. Fortunately the rate of attacks seems to be slowing down. Many of my X Missile units have died, so I'm not making a lot of new chemical attacks.
[Limit reached]
With 6 remaining Super Formers, I'm able to raise a little bit of land. That takes 2 turns, so I doubt I'll be able to pull it off much longer.
[Limit reached]
My Truce with Santiago lasts all of 5 seconds, as I can't very well stop killing the Gaians while I'm still able to. I'm able to reduce the Gaian sea base to size 1 and empty it of defenders, but I can't quite destroy it.
[Limit reached]
This is the 1st year that I've been able to propose this. I'm surprised anyone opposed, but we sane ones sorted it out. It's a drop in the bucket though, because we were previously due for an almost 4000 meter rise.
Post by: bvanevery on May 01, 2020, 10:51:26 PM
MY 2326. I didn't realize that Geosynchronous Survey Pods are an attackable satellite. How many am I going to lose? 1 for now. Next year I'm rushing a pile of Orbital Defense Pods, so he shouldn't be pulling this again.
Post by: bvanevery on May 02, 2020, 05:18:46 AM
MY 2327. Land and air attacks are slowing down, but I'm being shelled a lot.
[Limit reached]
I design what I hope is a good defensive artillery piece. I know that for offense, this is not the ideal anti-mindworm design. You actually just want the biggest caliber gun you can get. And if you want to blow away stacks of Locusts, you want to make it with Air Superiority.
[Limit reached]
Small blessings! I think the Locusts wiped out another Gaian city. Well this the wrong framing. I think the actual city that's gone, was a little farther east.
[Limit reached]
I've lost some Formers to the Gaians, but at least it drew some of their units into the open where I can destroy them.
[Limit reached]
I hope Lal doesn't figure out how to make any more Orbital Defense Pods anytime soon. I hate it when the AI starts obsessing about that.
Post by: bvanevery on May 02, 2020, 06:23:50 AM
MY 2328. Lal declared war on Deirdre. I think he wiped out a sea base north of Garden of Fishes that I'd previously weakened. She's only got 1 sea base left in this region. Hope Lal finishes her off!
[Limit reached]
The Trance R-Laser Artillery I designed last year was very successful on offense against stacks with spore launchers in them. I can make a big stack of those die at a distance of 2 squares and get all the money. I've refrained from designing an anti-air unit because the Locust hordes are almost gone now. Also they don't tend to wait 2 squares from a base, and I can't risk putting my units outside of bases right now. Instead I've designed some cheap hovertanks to wipe out what remains of the mindworms. I finally completed a hovertank prototype last year.
Post by: bvanevery on May 02, 2020, 06:46:00 AM
MY 2329. By going after my Formers, the Gaians are losing a battle of attrition. They're losing units and I'm not. Pretty soon I'll have enough units healed up to take Gaia's Landing.
[Limit reached]
I have nearly cleared the mindworms from my land. I am no longer bothering to make military units. Instead I'm making Trance 3-Res Cruiser Transports to move existing units around when everything inevitably sinks. My westernmost bases are making Trance 3-Res Cruiser Formers to start working on sea minerals. Fortunately I'm getting 1 mineral from fungus squares, so I'm not likely to become desperate. My 3 landlocked bases are making Flechette Defense Systems, for lack of anything better to do. As much as I might like to improve my factories, I'm not done doing eco-damage yet.
I do have Graviton Theory, and thus orbital insertion capability. I don't feel ready for a long distance battle with Lal though. My homefront is not secure.
[Limit reached]
Sadly, the Manifold Nexus will soon be wiped out. It's only 205 meters above water, and raising land near it will actually destroy it. I consider that rather a misfeature of the game and not terribly science fictiony.
I start to let my factories do the work instead of rushing stuff. I have 13k credits saved. I'd need 99k to corner the energy market. Not sure if raising my ECONOMY rating would help that.
Post by: bvanevery on May 03, 2020, 04:06:45 AM
MY 2330. No fungal pops this year. Only a few straggling spore launchers, mindworms, and fungal towers left. Only 1 city doing 7 eco-damage, another doing 2, all others 0. The blight has passed. I need to build kelp and minerals in the rapidly rising waters.
[Limit reached]
The Gaians are extremely weak. I'm almost healed. I've dispatched my 1 ship to try to sail into Lily of the Valley. If they are foolish, they will let me in. I killed a spore launcher and a Former that were in the open. I've left a wounded Battle Ogre out as bait, hopefully for the mindworm in Gaia's Landing. I don't have any manufacturing capacity for new units, but if I wait a bit, the Gaians will surely fall to my old ones.
Post by: bvanevery on May 03, 2020, 04:20:51 AM
MY 2331. I do not need to be particularly PLANET friendly at the moment. Perhaps I can get my conquered bases to grow to size 14. I will need Socialist to do that, which means I need a higher ECONOMY to offset the penalty. I have plenty of money saved, but I'm concerned that a Market Crash could wipe it all out. I'm not able to make large amounts of money unless I have mindworm hordes attacking. I imagine that with more chemical attacks, that will happen in due course. I could win either by wiping out a lot of bases, or by surviving enough mindworms for long enough, that I corner the energy market as a byproduct. Either could take quite awhile. It would be best if I take the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm from Lal, and then steal all his tech.
Post by: bvanevery on May 03, 2020, 05:34:51 AM
MY 2332. The Gaians blocked up my secondary target, using a wounded Isle.
[Limit reached]
I decide I want that base gone, no more fooling around. I fly over a plane to kill the Isle, then I sail into the base and Obliterate it. I don't think obliterating a size 1 base is any worse than a chemical attack, but I do think the severity is proportional to the population. I've been trying not to make a habit of it.
[Limit reached]
I sail into the base with moves remaining. My plane revealed a wounded sealurk, so my ship kills it. I've now got the Planetary Datalinks. I don't think that will do me any good, as Lal is probably ahead of everyone in Build tech. I actually don't have any infiltration with him, but he did just complete the Nano Factory. Disturbingly, it seemed to take him 1 turn.
[Limit reached]
I have 3 healed X Missile Speeders and 1 badly wounded Battle Ogre that I could hit Gaia's Landing with. Unfortunately I had to use my planes to mop up sea units. It's not enough force to take the city conventionally, and I think it's too weak to use plagues or chemicals. I could upgrade my Speeders, and indeed, at the rate the water is rising I'd probably better get this over with. 2 of the defenders however are indigenous units, so I'm not sure my upgraded weapons would do any better against them. Perhaps if I attack to clear them first? Let's see what my odds are.
[Limit reached]
My Commando unit would hit their best conventional defender, and lose. Yet if I upgrade, I have a feeling it will only hit a mindworm. I suppose I could make it an Empath unit. Let's see what the costs are.
[Limit reached]
Empath Song only changes the cost from 90 minerals to 110. Maybe it's underpriced. However I never use this ability in ordinary games, preferring the mere sacrificial Scout on rails to take out mindworms, so I don't have a strong opinion on this. I already survived a horror show, so really anything I do now, doesn't seem all that important to me from a game balance perspective. I'll leave it to future players to tell me whether this needs adjustment.
[Limit reached]
It's to take Gaia's Landing. It has the Human Genome Project, the Weather Paradigm, the Planetary Energy Grid, and the Xenoempathy Dome. Not like I can mind control it either.
[Limit reached]
The first defender vaporizes. With this audio mod I've been using forever, it even makes a nice puffy vaporizing sound. 25% damage to me.
[Limit reached]
The spore launcher vaporizes. I take 10% damage. This kinda makes me wonder why I've been fiddling around with PLANET bonuses. Ok, to make my eco-damage go down, but I've often worried about it for combat. Having Empath Song is equivalent to the Dream Twister, +50% Psi attack. Hmmmmm. Well, I'm going to let that sit in the backburner of my brain for awhile. I wouldn't call it a pressing concern, it's not going to force me to do a 1.43 release.
[Limit reached]
You think she could have more money waiting for me? It cost a reasonable amount to do that. But man, what performance! I'll definitely keep Empath Song in mind if I have a mixed force enemy. I've been worrying about R-Bolts way too long, it seems.
[Limit reached]
If I can get a task force consisting of my last 2 X Missile Needlejets down to the last Gaian city, and a probe team to inflict a plague, then I can end this. No particularly new units required, although I might end up doing some upgrades. I dispatch what I've got. Who kjnows what use a Laser Skimship might be?
[Limit reached]
I bump my GROWTH to +4. It causes me a slightly loss of money, -9 credits/turn. That may stabilize once I get the conquered Gaian cities happy.
[Limit reached]
Plus I've got the Planetary Energy Grid now, and I don't think anyone can take it away from me.
Post by: bvanevery on May 03, 2020, 05:51:29 AM
MY 2333. One of my landlocked cities finishes a Flechette Defense System. How much havoc can a relatively inexpensive drop ship cause to Lal? I intend to find out. Experience in previous games has been that ground units require loads of reinforcement to survive in enemy territory, especially if the AI gets mindworm happy. Maybe the AI isn't bright enough to go after Gravships. I have seen it send Locusts against them, so it will depend on how many they're producing. I don't know about regular Interceptors. The AI has seemed kind of dumb that way.
Post by: bvanevery on May 03, 2020, 06:08:34 AM
MY 2334. Why hasn't he figured out that he's the product of my love tryst with Deirdre? Just because I threw him in the recycling tank afterwards, doesn't mean he should dodge his destiny!
Post by: bvanevery on May 03, 2020, 06:58:22 AM
MY 2336. I've created an artificial island. Unfortunately I haven't coordinated especially well with the Sea Former near Gaia's Landing.
[Limit reached]
I drop my first gravship near UN Information Agency, which contains the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm. Strictly speaking I could destroy it, but I'd rather own it. Perhaps I can wipe out everything around it, to make it easier to hold. I have no idea what kind of defensive forces Lal has. I hope he's got a ton of Synthmetal Sentinels.
[Limit reached]
If this is typical, then I'm going to have to change my tactics. The AAA and the indigenous life forms will both chew up my gravship.
[Limit reached]
If I had Empath Song, then I could toast this base. But I can't do that and be a X and a Drop ship.
[Limit reached]
This would be a good one to get rid of.
[Limit reached]
This is the toughest I can make to destroy stuff. Would take awhile to build though.
[Limit reached]
This is the cheapest anti-mindworm unit that can do X damage. I don't think it's enough to overcome Probability defenders though, and I've seen a lot of those.
[Limit reached]
This is the best bang for the buck. It might be enough to take out non-AAA units, or it might not be. We'll see!
Post by: bvanevery on May 04, 2020, 05:20:28 AM
MY 2338. In the time it took me to get here, Deirdre lost a defender to someone else. I lose my armored Cruiser Probe Team inflicting a plague, but it does so much damage, I don't even need any further atrocities to take the base. That said, I think a chemical attack and an obliteration is probably a better idea than just an obliteration. Or, I could even let the Spartans take the base I suppose. Maybe that's the best policy!
[Limit reached]
Actually, I just find myself wanting this to be all over with. If she's my prisoner, she can't make further trouble for me.
[Limit reached]
I don't want some runt base out here in enemy territory. Did that cause any eco-damage? Didn't seem to. All bases are at 0.
[Limit reached]
I'm not sure if the AI is smart enough to disembark a probe team from a Transport to probe my sea base. It's not a threat I really thought about. I never really thought the enemy could get probe teams this far up, with all the stuff that's been going on. I did manage to shell the Transport with a low powered artillery piece designed for defense against Spore Launchers. I shall see next turn if I suffer from my mistake.
Post by: bvanevery on May 04, 2020, 05:50:22 AM
MY 2339. I'm within range of Peacekeeper bases. Unfortunately I do not want to injure the Cult of Planet with chemical attacks. I suppose that wouldn't be an immediate risk anyways though, given the mindworm defenders. Maybe the next city has better options.
[Limit reached]
No strike with this plane this year. I do have 2 Empath gravships coming.
[Limit reached]
At least my Laser plane is appropriate against these. I kill 1. I decide to commit my 2nd X Missile Needlejet as well and kill a 2nd. I'm wondering if my Carrier will be attacked. At least it has Trance defense against the Isle and the Locust.
Post by: bvanevery on May 04, 2020, 06:27:32 AM
MY 2341. A Cultish Locust kills my Drop X Gravship, which had been flying back from an unsuccessful foray down south to mess with Lal. I kill what's left of it with my wounded Laser Needlejet.
[Limit reached]
Perhaps my negative cash flow will be temporary. My Gaian captured bases are nearing max size.
Post by: bvanevery on May 04, 2020, 06:33:05 AM
MY 2342. My other Empath unit barely survived an attack on an Isle at sea. I think I need a R-Laser design.
Post by: bvanevery on May 04, 2020, 06:51:31 AM
MY 2343. My planes are badly chewed up and ineffective against the hordes of mindworms and Isles that Lal and Cha Dawn are fielding. I design an anti-indigenous unit that I hope works better.
Post by: bvanevery on May 04, 2020, 07:21:13 AM
MY 2344. I don't need to pop boom anymore.
[Limit reached]
Green actually makes me more money than Capitalist. Go figure. Just a slight increase in JUSTICE goes a long way.
Post by: bvanevery on May 05, 2020, 05:50:27 AM
MY 2346. The performance of my gravships is poor. First I lost my older Empath Impact gravship to a Locust. Then even my new R-Laser gravship did pretty badly against a nearly dead Locust. I'd say my -2 MORALE Penalty is no freakin' good. I'm not on offense anymore, I'm just turtling up and getting my minerals production in order. When my biggest city is ready, perhaps I'll put a Brood Pit on it. Send my own Locusts out.
Post by: bvanevery on May 05, 2020, 06:31:27 AM
MY 2348. I've got new weapons and armor available, but not the Quantum reactors necessary to make these affordable. My most productive base has only a 50 minerals output. I'm doing no eco-damage. The downside of that, is I'm making no money. I'm just gradually spending down the pile of credits I previously got from killing indigenous life forms. I'm buying more and more infrastructure for minerals and defense, without any increase in revenue. I suppose I could try stabilizing it with some Industrial Labs to increase my revenues.
[Limit reached]
MY 2349. Cha Dawn declared war on Lal sometime recently. Their previous alliance was irritating, because they are natural enemies. In fact, we all are! Some Peacekeeper bases in mostly Cultist territory are getting hit, saving me the bother. Santiago unfortunately is still allied with Lal, although I swear I saw them go to war a couple turns ago, ever so briefly. Now, how am I going to get to Lal, with all this other stuff in the way?
Nuking everyone would seem to be a good tactical option, but I won't win a Diplomatic Victory that way. I actually think I haven't committed an atrocity against Lal yet. I think my previous fly-by through his territory was useless, as he was well garrisoned.
Post by: bvanevery on May 05, 2020, 06:54:55 AM
MY 2350. I've started disbanding my Trance 3-Res Super Cruiser Formers. They require SUPPORT and they've terraformed everything that doesn't cost money to work on. I'm not spending any money on terraforming as long as I'm losing money per turn. I finally caught up with the flooding. Although my eastern islands still need to sink and be replaced with sea improvements, I'd rather save the minerals and build a modest number of Clean units to work on that. I may not need it anyways as my bases can still only go to size 14. I have been stubborn about sticking to my Conquer only focus, even though that's not doing me much good right now. I have no idea how Lal is doing on tech, but he hasn't started on Hab Domes.
Post by: bvanevery on May 05, 2020, 07:13:58 AM
MY 2351. Lal threatens to win by Diplomatic Victory. He almost pulls it off. This is a problem with letting him build Secret Projects and insisting that I won't, the whole game. I could have gained many advantages if I'd done so. I do have some advantages for having conquered cities with Secret Projects, but the vengeance of Planet has stalled me out.
[Limit reached]
Right after the vote, I got a message that Santiago declared war on Lal. I guess they're frenemies.
[Limit reached]
I'm surprised that Lal pursues Knowledge. He doesn't have any special affinity for it in my mod. This may be why Santiago declared war.
Post by: bvanevery on May 05, 2020, 07:43:33 AM
MY 2352. I found a suitable non-AAA target. I actually won, with only 50% wounds! I did better than the odds calculator indicated. Base drops from size 10 to 5. Spartan bases are nearby, so I wonder if it's been hit with Spartan probe teams a bunch. The lack of a Perimeter Defense is definitely helpful to the cause.
[Limit reached]
Because I am slack, I don't have anything to dispose of an enemy probe team with. I also don't have any defensive probe teams here, because I didn't expect anyone to get this far. I start making some Neutronium armored cruiser probe teams. Santiago may get something now, but it won't happen again.
[Limit reached]
I have wondered if any of Lal's cities would starve. I didn't see any aquatic infrastructure on a previous flyby. Maybe these will die? Lal only has 2 Sky Hydroponics Labs, hardly enough to keep anything going.
Post by: bvanevery on May 05, 2020, 08:12:09 AM
MY 2355. I think it's been 20 years since I last proposed to Launch a Solar Shade. If only we could have a nice chat about it.
Actually it was 30 years ago. I'm slack!
Post by: lolada on May 05, 2020, 08:16:14 AM
Nice to see AI building psi unit, it really makes it harder to take the bases down. About that probe team - i don't know if thinker mode changed ai in that aspect, but AI seems to gather enough units, "prepare an attack" (AIs in pact will announce they are starting an attack) and then unloads them all - including probes. I doubt they would ever land single probe on its own, but who knows i am rusty with ac.
Post by: Geo on May 05, 2020, 09:30:42 AM
[Limit reached]
MY 2344. I don't need to pop boom anymore.
I see an airbase and 2 monoliths at sea squares. Graphical glitches?
Post by: bvanevery on May 05, 2020, 07:39:09 PM
Annoying in that regard, is that the Manifold Nexus is not. Same guys doing the construction work, but one is shoddy.
Airbases do sink. Those previous screenshots, the airbases still had land underneath them. You just can't see it because the airbase graphic covers up the 1x1 island graphic. Here's what that same region looks like in MY 2355:
[Limit reached]
Having the airbases sink last wasn't an accident. I deliberately built them on higher ground, to give me the most time to use them.
Post by: bvanevery on May 05, 2020, 08:26:51 PM
MY 2358. Lal's bases aren't starving enough for my taste. I decide I want to turn the thumbscrews tighter on him. I'm close enough to having my cities fully garrisoned with Neutronium Cruiser Probe Teams, that I can afford to lose some Orbital Defense Pods and replace them if I really need to. Orbital warfare tends to favor the defender, typically at a 3 to 1 loss rate, but Lal only has 1 ODP.
[Limit reached]
WTF blew up my ODP? Maybe their ODP, but the game certainly didn't tell me about that. I save my game just in case my understanding of orbital combat is abysmal. I'm not going to lose all 12 of my ODPs for stupid reasons.
[Limit reached]
I just lost 10 ODPs to take out 1 of Lal's. That' doesn't make any basic sense at all. Why should he have almost unkillable ODPs? I'm not aware of any Secret Projects that provide ODP bonuses, and he hasn't built the Space Elevator or the Cloudbase Academy anyways. I'm not going to accept this result, as it smells like a bug.
[Limit reached]
Even with no ODPs, my ODP dies attacking a Sky Hydroponics Lab. That makes no sense at all. I restore my saved game and beg off.
I am wondering if MORALE is used for orbital combat? That doesn't make any basic sense to me, but I do have -2 MORALE.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 01:32:45 AM
MY 2361. Song of Planet had a port, but I accidentally raised it to landlocked again. I wiped out some sea improvements as I did so. I don't really have the hang of "treading water" with a small number of Formers. I suppose they will re-improve the land all over again. And then it will sink again. Etc. I can put up with that, only because it's occurring in this 1 location. Can't stand doing entire maps of that.
[Limit reached]
I'm losing money. I'm not sure why. A round of Industrial Labs didn't fix it. This makes me shy about bothering with Corporate Labs. At least I still have a lot of money, 4720 credits. But I used to have almost 3x that much. Is this a long term effect of Sanctions? Do some of my facilities simply cost too much to maintain? Looked at the expenditures, nothing particularly stands out. I just make a bit less money than all the stuff I feel I need.
I could make some Supply Crawlers. Although they'd be floating, not crawling. I don't tend to think about those in my mod, because they come late and are rather expensive. That's to penalize people who want to abuse them to harvest resources. Like me, right now.
[Limit reached]
In practice, making things that kill, is a higher priority to me. Most of my home cities have finished with improvements and are starting on big gun X gravships. They take time, and I'm unwilling to make Robotic Assembly Plants for the most part, due to the extra maintenance cost. Ships would probably work better, but they take twice as long to get to target. It's boring enough pushing units around as is, and I don't want to do more of it.
If I had Quantum Power, I think I'd make Quantum Planet Busters to end this. That might preclude Diplomatic Victory, but I think with Lal gone, I think I'd prevail. Also I'm not sure if committing a major atrocity will stop factions from uniting behind you. I've seen factions declare Vendettas because of it, and then make peace later on, because they weren't the ones who got nuked. It may take 20 turns but I think I've seen it.
I don't see a point in bothering with Fusion Planet Busters, because they generally can't take out multiple cities in 1 blast.
Another practical option would be to nuke the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm. Or just take it over conventionally. I've held off because I'm not even sure my guns work. If the HSA went down, then I could finish off the Peacekeepers with plagues.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 02:43:57 AM
MY 2366. My X Missile units haven't been able to make any further dent in this base at all. Native units show up to defend, and I usually can't kill them. Those gravships aren't cheap enough to count as spam.
[Limit reached]
I had a couple of X Tachyon Gravships completed, and a lot more in progress. I'm convinced they won't work, due to the native defenders. So I'm upgrading everything, at the cost of some money for the already completed ones. These things cost 320 minerals apiece, more than a nuke. If they bypass the native defenders and hone in on the conventional non-AAA units, then they will be worth it, because they are reusable. Also the AI has generally been too dumb to counterattack them very often. However if they suffer casualties, they're way too expensive to be doing this. I will need either ships or nukes.
[Limit reached]
An X Tachyon Cruiser really isn't much cheaper, and is half the speed. It has the advantage of being able to shell the enemy prior to attacking, but that's not super helpful for the cost. If there were enemy ships in port, it would be very helpful, because winning an artillery duel would depopulate the base! But Lal's fleet seems to be based on Isles of the Deep. To the extent he has Spore Launchers, those trigger a standoff, not a duel to the death. I would need land based X artillery to cause depopulation with those, which would mean pushing Transports around. Even slower.
[Limit reached]
In the real world I need Trance to keep those Isles and Sealurks off. This costs even more than the gravships! I'm not seeing this as a backbone of my fleet.
[Limit reached]
A non-X gun with only 3-Res armor isn't that much cheaper. Not worth it.
I'm out of ideas for now. Locusts? Let's see how the expensive ships do.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 02:56:05 AM
MY 2368. I haven't visited these cities in a long time. I need a non-AAA conventional target to attack. Alpha Sector only has native units. I'm not willing to take my chances against a strong Fission AAA unit, as in other games I've seen them wipe out an air attacker just fine. These are awfully expensive units to lose. I'm really not supposed to lose any of them, or the plan isn't gonna work. I will seek a better target.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 03:16:31 AM
MY 2369. It's 24 years after the fact, when I should have brought the measure up. But launching a solar shade now is arguably better late than never. Or is it? I've recovered from the flood, and I don't think anyone else has. However, I think land makes it easier to conquer others in various ways.
[Limit reached]
I run into all 3 factions while moving around. They all hate me, there isn't going to be any peace. This base is the test of whether my plan is working or not!
[Limit reached]
This is the wrong target. I would win this, which is good, but I'd get pretty wounded, which is bad. Experience has been that Lal will just fill the base up with more of the same. I don't know if it's the unit stacking order that determines the defender, or if my unit is incapable of causing a conventional unit to defend. Maybe my X Tachyon gun is too strong. An X Missile gun is generally too weak though. I will fly around and try to find another target.
I tried 2 more bases and it's the same story. My plan is in trouble. I will wait until I've got more units in the same place.
[Limit reached]
I thought I was doing them a favor. But if they want it this way, fine!
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 03:43:35 AM
MY 2370. I suppose it's good that I can make land this easily, but it's also disruptive. Keep having to redo the terraforming.
[Limit reached]
I grow impatient with my enemy. I want to at least see what his AAA defenders are capable of.
[Limit reached]
I could win or lose this. I was getting these kinds of odds with my X Missile units against non-AAA defenders. They mostly ended up dying. I will not find out right now. Perhaps I keep probing for a weakness, until I have enough air units to take out the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm.
[Limit reached]
This is the home of the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm. I might have enough units to swarm it within 2 years.
[Limit reached]
This is the same base I've been trying to wear down for years. It's within striking range of the HSA, so I will gather my units here. Do I prevail? Yes, the fight went decently. I only took 45% wounds. So it is possible for these units to do their job, but they do have to find suitable victims.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 03:59:27 AM
MY 2371. Lal reinforced with a Green AAA unit, probably rushed. That's equal to taking out the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm, so I'll decline for now. I flew south and found a unit that's far more vulnerable. I only take 25% wounds. Looking for fission AAA units will now be my standard drill.
[Limit reached]
I've started making Locusts at my landlocked Gaian base. They don't move as fast as gravships, but they also don't have as far to go, compared to my home cities. On that same principle, I'll probably make some ships at the other Gaian bases soon.
[Limit reached]
I do allow Sensor Arrays to be built on sea squares. I don't think they do much good, but maybe land units in sea bases get the bonus? Pretty sure sea units don't. They might spot something. I'm only now realizing that all my fungal squares have sunk, that the ocean becomes very clean that way. Earlier, I could have turned them into something more useful. In most games I end up with the Manifold Harmonics, so I don't think of it, but in this game nobody has built it.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 04:14:05 AM
MY 2372. That was against some Fusion ECM thing. Well at least barely winning does seem to count nowadays, as nobody's fielding Locusts.
[Limit reached]
Gathering here, might actually be a good ruse for attacking the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm. Lal's trying to defend the hell out of this base. Those Isles actually could attack my gravships, counterintuitive though that may be. They just don't. Perhaps my ability to attack Locusts on the ground is a bug? and the AI doesn't know to exploit a bug. Well at this point I don't really care. It's a debate for binary modders though.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 04:40:43 AM
MY 2373. Last year I ended my turn with 2 units next to this city. The one you still see, was my nearly dead one. I was going to attack with a fairly fresh unit, kill the defending Isle, then heal by taking the base. I was given 6 to 3 odds against the Isle. Well it wiped the floor with me! It only took 30% wounds and the odds calculator totally lied. So, that might explain all those Isle selections in various cities when I'm flying around. Despite what the odds calculator says, they're competent defenders. I can't afford to be blowing these hugely expensive units on such fights.
[Limit reached]
My guns can't attack the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm without heavy losses. Do I need Conventional Missiles? Should I wait until I've got a navy to seize it? It's the same story at every base with an Aerospace Complex. I start making some CMs and defensive ships.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 04:57:29 AM
MY 2375. That wasn't enough to get a Truce. Meanwhile, I'm finding targets in Lal's bases and causing a fair amount of population loss. I'm actually slightly ahead of Lal on the graph now.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 05:26:18 AM
MY 2378. Well this isn't a quantum reactor, but it could still end the game for me.
[Limit reached]
I hope this can slip past all manner of Isles and Sealurks. Just how many of these will it take, suiciding into stuff, to cause some plagues?
[Limit reached]
However I might have yet another answer in a few turns anyways.
[Limit reached]
Even my 20% wounded units are taking out AAA defenders, just barely. I'm finally able to wipe a base, although I lose my last R-Laser Skybase doing it.
I also lose a gravship getting overconfident about it. If it says 1:1 odds I probably better believe them.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 06:56:14 AM
MY 2379. I'm always happier when they're fighting. Heal my ship! Got the same from the Cultists.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 07:20:51 AM
MY 2381. I'm not sure how many missiles I've got in range, but I've definitely got enough force to start wailing on the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm base. Wouldn't mind taking it intact, as that would keep probe teams off me, and free up an awful lot of garrison probe teams to do further damage. However a lot of my ships and probe teams are getting chewed up trying to make it here. Very few have actually died yet, as high morale for probes and the Neural Amplifier make it difficult for enemies to damage me. Nevertheless, enough attacks can bring things down.
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 07:46:14 AM
MY 2382. With a mess of missiles, and misguided attacks on Isles thinking I'd actually kill them, I finally have my prize! Without safety against my probe teams, Lal is quite dead now. As will be everyone else, if they don't declare me Supreme Leader.
[Limit reached]
First order of business is infiltration. Surprisingly, his only new tech is B8 Nanometallurgy. That I steal in short order. I pull most of my gravships into the captured base and prepare to end Lal's miserable life.
[Limit reached]
My new citizens are inconveniently starving. So as my waves of Conventional Missiles finish production, I switch to Sky Hydroponics Labs.
[Limit reached]
Only now am I realizing I had the prereqs for Hab Domes for a very long time. Now I finally switch to an Explore research focus, since I don't need any more weapons. Part of my stubbornness was wanting to kill my enemies. But mostly, it's force of habit from so much AI testing. Aside from never building Secret Projects, this was the other major way I seriously didn't play right, or at least played rather artificially.
[Limit reached]
It may take awhile for these surplus probe teams to reach Lal, but when they do, he's gone!
Post by: bvanevery on May 06, 2020, 09:01:53 AM
MY 2383. You're a silly man, Lal. A damn silly man. Like I don't have a zillion years of sanctions to work off.
[Limit reached]
MY 2385. Conventional Missiles make it pretty easy to take bases without committing atrocities.
[Limit reached]
This one also yields the Planetary Transit System, the Ascetic Virtues, and the Pholus Mutagen.
Post by: bvanevery on May 07, 2020, 02:46:38 AM
My 2387. I only have 1 probe team in the vicinity of my conquered Peacekeeper bases, and it wasn't in range of a target this turn. However some Conventional Missiles arrived and I was able to take yet another Secret Project. Lal only has 2 more cities containing them. An irony of cities I've conquered with plagues, is I actually need a ship to Obliterate the last occupants. A gravship won't do it, it only Bombs when you press 'B'. It also terminates its movement when it enters a base, so that was frustrating with 2 or 3 units until I figured out what I was doing wrong. The ships I sent to the region, got badly chewed up by Isles but not killed. So they're moving very slowly, and they need gravship escort to keep the Isles off. But finally, they are getting into theater.
[Limit reached]
I've got plenty more coming. Song of Planet is back to having a port again. I only make these Trance 3-Res R-Laser Cruiser thingies, which are fairly cheap, and defend as well as anything will against Isles. Their job is to sail past Cultist and Spartan lines, reach Peacekeeper waters, Obliterate captured Peacekeeper bases, and provide garrisons for the few Secret Project cities I keep. Gravships have been on garrison duty in the interim, and due to the Neural Amplifier, have been holding more or less.
[Limit reached]
Except for 2 cities with subpar production finishing up old units, all of my home cities are making Sky Hydroponics Labs now. I don't have a lot to show for it yet, but by the time I learn Hab Domes I'll be ready to grow. Meanwhile it can get these unimproved Peacekeeper bases up to potential.
Post by: bvanevery on May 07, 2020, 04:37:48 AM
MY 2390. This will make moving my ships around a bit easier. Lal is dying rapidly, but the Cultists occasionally manage to interfere by landing planes in Lal's bases. I don't want to commit atrocities against the Cult because I think there's still a chance I could win Diplomatic Victory. Unless my Infamy precludes it.
[Limit reached]
Research Hospitals do slow down plagues. It has taken 4 plagues to knock some of these defenders down to 50% wounds, and I'm pretty sure that's the limit of what can be inflicted in the presence of a Research Hospital. The base started at size 16 and only 4 population have been lost. Fortunately, the RH doesn't provide any special protection against chemical attacks! Unfortunately I sort of messed up, I don't have any full strength gravships in range. Better luck next year. I have a lot of wounded gravships, and both Cultist and Spartan planes are buzzing around, so I pull many of them back to base.
Post by: bvanevery on May 07, 2020, 05:04:59 AM
MY 2391. Game's almost over. Soon I'll be Governor. Then it'll get silly, and I'll vote myself Supreme Leader.
[Limit reached]
These mindworms were all at death's door last year, due to plagues. The one Secret Project that Lal still has left is the Nano Factory. I wonder if its healing effect is that profound? Or are native units just plague hardy, always recovering in 1 year?
[Limit reached]
I use the last of my Conventional Missiles for their intended purpose.
[Limit reached]
So I only managed to do 2 population damage last year, and I lost 2 probe teams doing it.
Post by: bvanevery on May 07, 2020, 05:28:24 AM
MY 2392. Depopulation is working great. Lal doesn't have much longer.
[Limit reached]
I have garrison ships taking up position in my conquered Peacekeeper bases. I am confident in my ability to hold all the Secret Projects.
Post by: bvanevery on May 07, 2020, 06:13:19 AM
MY 2393. Unless something gets nuked. I get that this is a play mechanical thing. But from a simulationist standpoint, this is pretty goofy. Rubs me the wrong way. I'm trying to build what I want to build and end the game... and I think the game deliberately does this sort of thing.
Post by: bvanevery on May 07, 2020, 07:08:48 AM
MY 2395. Not sure why I'm finally seeing a fungal pop now. Maybe all my cities going to size 16 from the Ascetic Virtues has something to do with it. This city is one of the few with a Robotic Assembly Plant. Well 9 eco-damage is hardly anything to write home about. If I had a ship, I could make some money killing Isles, but I don't have one. It's been so quiet back here for so long, there's been no need. I think there still is no need. My existing garrisons were set up to repel this sort of thing, and I just shelled 12 Isles with my R-Laser Artillery. It's not going to amount to anything. I could just make some money, that's all. Yet I'm obviously lazy, because that solar flare made me about 3k, and I'm doing nothing with it.
Post by: bvanevery on May 07, 2020, 07:11:32 AM
MY 2397. Not sure why this one city is doing so much eco-damage. I've got 3 other cities that are doing a very small amount of eco-damage. This again won't matter as far as defense. I managed to get 2 artillery shelling the main stack of Isles, without even bothering to move units around.
Post by: bvanevery on May 07, 2020, 07:32:07 AM
MY 2398. I have 1 Peacekeeper base left to Obliterate, because I didn't have a ship to do it. But Lal's gone. What to do with all my gravships? They're not that great at fighting indigenous life, so I think I'll just leave them out here as garrison units.
[Limit reached]
I'm missing out on some money, but I just can't be bothered to make more ships. Rebuilding my Orbital Defense Pods is a higher priority. I also don't feel like spending money to rush anything. This is probably not the best display of winning the game in the shortest time, but I feel I already made too many fundamental mistakes anyways. At least I will win this, and it might be the 1st time I've actually survived a flood apocalypse and won.
Post by: bvanevery on May 07, 2020, 07:50:31 AM
MY 2400. I have minimal orbital defenses restored, with more in progress. I'm switching over to Trance 3-Res Super Cruiser Formers again. One might ask why I ever got rid of them, but they consumed SUPPORT and I did not want to pay for raising the ocean floor at the time. Now I think the oceans are finally settled. Also I've finally got Hab Domes. Native life can't seem to kill the things, at least not in 1 hit, so they're good defense.
[Limit reached]
I'm not going to have enough population to win for another 10 years, so I might as well propose something. I don't get why they've never wanted the oceans to go down. I'm obviously doing better than them. Perhaps the AI ain't so bright.
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 02:41:26 AM
MY 2401. Somehow my cash flow is positive now. Must be economies of scale kicking in, as my cities move past 16 in size. I did lose 1 unit to indigenous attacks last year. I begrudgingly shifted a couple of units into the beleaguered base for more defense. I still don't feel like spending any money to make anything go any faster. Is it just a mouseclicking thing? Am I just jaded?
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 02:50:59 AM
MY 2403. I've been doing water for so long, that I don't see the point of doing land anymore.
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 03:28:49 AM
MY 2407. I keep getting pops, pretty much in the same spot. I've started making cruisers and gravships to deal with them. I've also started paying to finish my facilities and get on with winning. I could make Temples of Planet now, but I'm not going to.
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 04:01:52 AM
MY 2408. This is in case I get big stacks of Locusts again. More typical now is big stacks of Isles with 1 Locust on top. The new R-Laser gravships do seem to pick those covering Locusts off just fine. I haven't managed to get a ship to sink a stack of Isles yet, so no real money yet.
[Limit reached]
MY 2409. I lost a gravship removing the Locust, but my effort was rewarded by capturing an entire stack of slightly wounded Isles! I think I've got enough Cruiser Formers and defensive units now. I go back to making Sky Hydroponics Labs.
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 04:19:56 AM
MY 2410. At least I'll make money.
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 04:40:20 AM
MY 2411. I can't believe Cha Dawn has something I don't. Santiago's got it too. I will set myself to stealing it. I obtain it trivially. I change my few military units in progress to quantum reactors, but I'm not going to upgrade my existing units. I'm mostly attacked by native units and a better reactor won't matter for that.
Post by: Geo on May 08, 2020, 11:02:10 AM
[Limit reached]
That's so naughty of you, Chairman. Turning Lal into a transgender before strappin' him/her in the 'sphere...
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 03:05:04 PM
[Limit reached]
MY 2413. I switch to Socialist, which surprisingly only cuts my income by about 100 credits. Combined with my faction ability, I now have +4 GROWTH. My Hab Domes are all completed, so this is a pretty good time to start cranking out the citizens. I'm sure I could have done everything much sooner, but there's this sort of inertia, having been traumatized by the planet flooding for so long. I anticipate needing roughly 1200 votes and I've got 810.
Won't it be amusing if they don't accept me?
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 03:21:08 PM
MY 2414 . Previously I always thought this was about Lal suffering a tragedy. But he may just have had a hard time getting a date!
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 03:51:06 PM
MY 2416. I had a fungal pop this year, and I lost a lot of ships trying to figure out how to harvest the stack of Isles. Eventually I got it and made 840 credits, but I lost one of the expensive Tachyon ships, thinking too much of its capabilities. You'd think with Air Superiority it could just shoot at a Locust directly, but it died. The 2nd version of that ship, I shelled the whole stack, doing the top Locust some damage. The other factions keep bothering me with Isles, but they just suicide on my Cruiser Formers. You'd think the AI could be a little smarter about attacking Trance 3-Res units.
[Limit reached]
I switch to Knowledge, as once again it doesn't affect my income much. Even my Gaian cities are starting to build Industrial Labs now. With all the corruption in those distant cities, they must have some really frivolous research going on over there! Like how to make better chocolate bars out of human flesh.
[Limit reached]
In 3 years I've grown 112 citizens. Pretty good growth rate! Someone said that the AI will never build Hab Domes. Now I think the point is moot in this game, as I don't think the other factions have even had the tech. But I wonder if that's true?
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 09:19:41 PM
MY 2417. For having bothered to complete a Temple of Planet, I'm doing 54 eco-damage? What is up with that? It's not like I use chemical weapons or plagues on anyone anymore. If I had some previously built up eco-damage, fine, ok, but they could have told me about it already. This just seems janky and broken. In a lot of games I've played, 45 minerals is not a large minerals output for the late game, let alone the endgame. I'm also at +1 PLANET, not exactly a polluter. What is Planet afraid of, all my burgeoning population peeing in the ocean?
[Limit reached]
Could a Temple of Planet actually increase eco-damage, in some buggy way? Although at least this city was genuinely a minerals haven. Still, it's only 46 minerals, not any more than the other offender.
[Limit reached]
3rd city that has completed a Temple and jumped to big eco-damage overnight, with no atrocities committed. I know I did shuffle my social choices around recently, but previously I was Green Wealth. Then I was Socialist Wealth. Then Socialist Knowledge. So PLANET went from +1 to 0 to +1. Maybe it's some kind of delay on seeing the effect of 0.
I don't know how much a patch of sea fungus counts towards alleviating eco-damage, if at all. I haven't cleared any of them. They just naturally turn into kelp sometimes. Not that Planet would care about artificial vs. natural change.
One big difference between this waterworld and a normal map, is the absence of forest to mitigate eco-damage. I could raise land and make forest. However I think the game will be over before such a massive engineering project would have an effect. Or I will have gotten enough fungal pops to curtail the eco-damage.
I just think the phenomenon I'm experiencing is lame, because aside from growing, I'm doing things right. And there aren't any more facilities to reduce eco-damage from growing. 960 votes.
Post by: bvanevery on May 08, 2020, 10:18:45 PM
MY . Santiago dreamed this up. As if. I'm spitting distance from winning, if Infamous people can rule Planet. I've never committed an atrocity against the 2 remaining factions though.
[Limit reached]
If they don't obey me, I will wipe them out all at once. I've done quite enough Planet abatement this game, thank U very much!
Post by: bvanevery on May 09, 2020, 12:00:25 AM
MY 2424. I'm just a couple of squares away from having completely terraformed all my home territory. I've also got the votes!
[Limit reached]
I long since completed the Gaian captured territories. My surplus land Formers are making gratuitous forests to help Planet calm down.
[Limit reached]
I've managed to get some Trance 3-Res Cruiser Formers down to the conquered Peacekeeper cities. They're barely beginning to raise the ocean trenches. These came from the Gaian territory. The rest would have to come from my home waters and would take some time to arrive. This is the sort of thing a Psi Gate would help with, but I haven't prioritized research.
[Limit reached]
And I'm not nearly as bad a guy as people make me out to be. I only murdered the number of people necessary to secure my reign. I could have easily ended the game with Total Conquest a long time ago. I am so kind. So kind!
:whip:
[Limit reached]
Real rulers don't wear robes. They wear
[Limit reached]
This screenshot is a little tricky to capture because the CTRL-ALT-TAB Snip & Sketch technique causes it to immediately vanish. Instead I use the Fn-WindowsIcon-PrntScrn technique. Then I have to cut and paste into Paint 3D, which takes awhile to load up. One of these days maybe I'll find something faster than Paint 3D. Snip & Sketch is much faster, but it doesn't handle this peculiar case.
[Limit reached]
This is a low scoring game compared to ones I recently remember. I don't play for score though. This is what happens when you tie one hand behind your back and also persist in doing several things wrong. Nevertheless, I think it's my first complete and total victory over a 100% Planet Vengeance and Flood scenario. I'd say it did require the Neural Amplifier to pull off, but it didn't need much more than that. Well, perhaps I'm belittling the implicit preparation of several previous attempts.
[Limit reached]
I'm not sure how long my victorious games have been recorded. I've probably cleaned out some *.tmp files at some point, but I've also had sound mod in my SMACX AI Growth mod development installation for a very long time. I don't have a lot of perspective of how many of my games I may have bumped off my own list. Wish there were some real world dates recorded for these.
Watching the Replay was silly because it didn't track the changes in land mass, and the oceans don't have territorial control info shown. So it's like watching 3 small island change color, otherwise paint drying. It was another one of these difficult-to-capture screenshots, so no picture. You didn't miss anything. Imagine a field of ocean blue with 3 changing color spots in it.
I didn't feel like taking a screenshot of the final "Go away!" screen. I don't regret this game, but I don't think it's the best showpiece either. Don't think I'll be making note of it on r/4Xgaming. I'd like to someday publish a 1.42 game that I've done "well". I suppose COVID-19 has given me the time to be awfully picky about what that means.
Post by: lolada on May 09, 2020, 08:28:39 AM
Funny to see so many strong worms and everything flooded. Eco-dmg really goes bonkers, but its fun anyway, there's real penalty to being bad boy. Mineral limit is kind of annoying, atrocities are -5 clean minerals which is huge, i'd mod that out maybe (thats binary?) its too harsh due to stacking. Nexus mining - orbital minerals are apparently clean.
I think fungal pops are +1.. and Centauri Preserves and Temple of Planet help but not that much. There's that eco-dmg formula, but i didn't take a serious look at it.
Post by: bvanevery on May 09, 2020, 03:01:27 PM
It should be noted that all of my minerals were completed long before I got the Nessus Mining Station. I didn't build any additional Mining Platforms, I only built Tidal Harnesses and kelp. So I was still going to get the eco-damage I actually got. This game definitely suggested refraining from building Robotic Assembly Plants. Genejack Factories and Subsea Trunklines are quite enough minerals from an eco-damage standpoint.
I started another game where I proposed to Repeal the U.N. Charter during the Laser era. :D For some reason, Lal acquiesced. So I committed atrocities on the Data Angels, the Believers, the Hive, and the Pirates. I was the University, allied with the Peacekeepers and the Cyborgs. My faction was either runty or highly vertical, depending on how you want to look at it. Lal was going nuts because I'm experimenting with new faction research settings. Explore, Build really superpowered him. He was beating me in various kinds of research, although I did finish the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm. The game might have been interesting to continue, but I'm experimenting with lots of faction research settings. I'm looking at a regime where all factions have a different set of research foci. There's 14 possibilities if you include all the 1 choice, 2 choice, and 3 choice options.
Post by: Jagged_One on August 14, 2020, 12:34:28 AM
I saw some things I have not heard of before, and I don't know if they are part of regular SMAX or you added them with your mod(s):
- what is the "ship in port" penalty ?
- what is the "orbital minerals cheat" ?
- I have never seen a faction knock out another faction's satellite...
Lastly, several times you would go look and see what techs another faction had. I do not know how to do that in regular SMAX, even if I have infiltrated them or am Governor. Actually, I would like to be able to list all the techs *I* have learned, but don't know if there is a way to do that either.
Thanks again !!!
Post by: bvanevery on August 14, 2020, 05:39:08 AM
Code: [Select]
0, ; Combat % -> Land based guns vs. ship artillery bonus
0, ; Combat % -> Artillery bonus per level of altitude. Affects Ocean to Ocean Shelf ship combat!
0, ; Combat % -> Bonus vs. ships caught in port. Affects ship in sea base!Although the artillery height mechanic was somewhat tactically interesting, I consider having different heights on the same flat ocean surface to be an egregious bug. So, it had to go. I also didn't miss having to futz with optimal artillery placement, all said and done.
Most of the time. the Pirates are going to be defending sea bases with ships. From that standpoint, "ships caught in port" is a bug. They could have solved this problem by distinguishing between a sea base and a land base, but they didn't. I don't miss having ships being sitting ducks in land bases. Sometimes unfortunately they now turn out to be super powerful defense points, but eh, I'm not going to deal with that until some players notice and say it's a problem. It's just more important to have all sea bases be defended correctly with ships.
I didn't think navies should have any special penalties vs. coastal batteries. I mean, tell it to the big battleships of WW II. I think it's an artifact of wanting Pirate spam to be less than awful. Well, I just told the Pirates to settle down and stop being Aggressive. Actually I have them as Passive now. They've got this huge resource rich moat around them called the ocean. They needn't compulsively fight anybody, they've got the best resource deal of the game.
The "orbital minerals cheat" is that if you make a Nessus Mining Station, those minerals don't do any eco-damage in your bases at all. I say it's a cheat because even if you don't do any eco-damage on Planet extracting the minerals, you would have to pay some fuel costs flying ships out of Planet's gravity well at some point, and processing those minerals on Planet is going to do some eco-damage. The accountancy is not terribly honest.
Generally I inspect techs by opening the menu of factions you have contact with, on the right side of the screen. Right click on one of them to inspect the faction. You could also hit F2 and then select a faction icon other than your own.
Post by: Jagged_One on August 14, 2020, 06:39:37 AM
>right side of the screen. Right click on one of them to inspect the faction.
Been using the Commlink panel to contact the other factions since Day One, but never thought of right-clicking it...doh
>You could also hit F2 and then select a faction icon other than your own
OMG, I've played this frickin' game for decades and never noticed the bottom or the lower left panel of the F2 screen.
I can't believe I just admitted both of these facts in public !!! It's just an example of habits and tunnel vision, I guess....
Thanks dude !!!!
Post by: bvanevery on August 14, 2020, 03:15:07 PM
Post by: Jagged_One on August 15, 2020, 07:56:52 PM
Post by: bvanevery on August 15, 2020, 08:11:32 PM
Post by: Jagged_One on August 15, 2020, 11:59:38 PM
Post by: bvanevery on August 16, 2020, 01:13:45 AM
It is far more practical to intervene on the ground, and wipe out the cities that are producing the ODPs.