The Final Solution - SMACX AI Growth mod 1.17

[bvanevery]

Details not the popular boy anymore

not the popular boy anymore

MY 2281.  Morgan deposes me as Governor.  I can still beat him in votes, but others hate me as well, and Marr hasn't done a good enough job of depopulating them.

Details super wimps

super wimps

My citizens go from tearing mindworms limb from limb, to being deathly afraid of them.  Why was that?  Was it the mix of different chemicals I put in their drinking water?

I'm realizing that if I go Planned, I can pop boom!  That's why the Hive has a GROWTH bonus, because he can't go Democratic to complete the necessary conditions for pop booming.  Not all factions were given this capability.  For instance, not the Cultists, who can't go Democratic and thus can't pop boom.  Nor the Usurpers, who can't go Democratic either.  Not Morgan, who can't go Planned although he could go Simple.  And some AI factions won't choose it in practice; for instance, Zhakarov will choose Cybernetic over Eudiamonic.  Roze will insist on Thought Control, not Eudaimonic.  In this game, I'm the only one who's going to pop boom.  Lal and Domai might / should pop boom, but I haven't checked whether they've actually done it.  The Believers could do it, because I also gave them +1 GROWTH, but I don't know if the AI would.

[bvanevery]

Details planning for the worst

planning for the worst

MY 2282.  I complete my transition to a fully industrial economy, triggering a pop boom in all cities with Children's Creches.  I will bang out my base improvements until I'm ready to put Morgan away.

[bvanevery]

Details lake mindworm

lake mindworm

MY 2283.  I'm losing my shore minerals.  Holes in my land are opening up that are so big, I will have to build Super Destroyer Formers to turn them into food.  Some of my previously shallow ocean squares have turned into deep ocean, making it impossible to develop the squares without raising the ocean floor.  I think that's a fool's proposition at present, as the whole world is going to go underwater.  That's probably a few thousand meters of land sinking yet.  It really hurts that the mindworms destroyed my Maritime Control Center.

[bvanevery]

Details cleaning house

cleaning house

I still use my chemical weapons, but only for things that are worthwhile.  This Morganic city has nothing special in it and I've been waiting a long time to get rid of it.  He finally moved enough units into it for me to eliminate it all at once.  For a long time I was afraid of his AAA unit in there, but it actually went down with 1 hit.  Morgan is running a Democratic Simple Wealth Eudaimonic government, so his forces are almost as wimpy as mine.  Why isn't he running a Free Market I wonder?  Maybe he doesn't want a Police penalty, or maybe he doesn't want to accumulate PLANET penalties from both Wealth and Free Market.  It's an odd decision on his part though. 

Details worming his way out of it

worming his way out of it

If Morgan would remove the Isles of the Deep from these cities, then I could liquidate them too.  He had a big stack of them in Morgan Construction forever, back when it blocked the only water route northwards.  Now he seems to have spread them out defensively.  Hmm, R-Lasers would kill them.  Especially since Wealth gives him a -1 PLANET rating, making his PSI combat not so good.  However I don't have time to make such units right now.  Maybe he'll do me the favor of finding something better to do with the Isles.  Then I'm in there!

Details is it his cologne

is it his cologne

Wow, this cad has got everyone fighting for him.  Both Alien factions, that's quite a trick!  I didn't manage to infiltrate Zhakarov, Roze, or the Aliens, but I know that Cha Dawn is at war with Marr, Roze, and Hminee.  Historically, Zhakarov and Roze were also at war with each other.  Morgan is such a great orator!
All bow down to fearless Morgan...      Hey some of you loons aren't in this game. 

Details I plan to live forever of course

I plan to live forever of course

Seeing such benevolent and unifying leadership makes me almost want to be just like him!  But I have 1122 years of sanctions to get through, so I'll keep being just like me!

That's longer than I would reasonably expect this game to last.  It's also longer than it can possibly last without modding the game's ending year.  Which I'd do if I really thought it would go that long, but it won't.  I'm halfway through the tech tree as is.  It was a painful game before, but now it's somewhat interesting.  It's obvious that I need to take the Secret Project bearing bases that I left intact, but how shall I do it?  Marine invasion?  Well, um, yeah, at the rate things are going.  There won't be any land left to do it another way.  Well, Naval invasion I suppose....

[bvanevery]

Details chemical information

chemical information

MY 2292.  Morgan has researched Applied Relativity.  Of course I want to steal it.  To that end, I'm performing a weakening operation against his nearest cities.  While keeping him busy, the actual goal is to sneak my Cruiser Probe Team into the middle city.  My X Needlejets might get destroyed, but that's ok.  They're no use to me if they're not being used in combat and making cities disappear.  Soon I will be able to make more of them, as I've got a few Genejack Factories and Subsea Trunklines coming online.  I won't make any new chemical units though.  When the old ones are gone, that's it, I'm going clean.  I've got plenty left to go though.

[bvanevery]

Details Alien analysis

Alien analysis

MY 2293.  Sanity prevails!  I had my doubts that Morgan could hold his fantastic alliance together indefinitely.  They all hate each other too much.

Details let them eat bark

let them eat bark

Severe flooding has changed the food availablility of one of my cities pretty much overnight.

Details like money from a Morganite

like money from a Morganite

I got what I wanted and even more amusing, didn't lose any planes!  It had Tacticals on its 2nd line of cities it could have used against me.  For some crazy reason it piled them all into Morgan Pharmaceuticals and didn't attack me.  He should have at least destroyed the plane adjacent to Morgan Pharmaceuticals itself, but he didn't even do that.  Dumb, dumb AI!

[bvanevery]

Details outsourcing the research

outsourcing the research

MY 2298.  Morgan researched Fusion Power, so I'm stealing it from him.  I researched Centauri Psi myself, which in my mod isn't that useful to me.  I'd rather have Homo Superior, which in my mod gives Thought Control and the Empath Guild.  Yes, that comes very late in my mod.  A number of people are of the opinion it's overpowered, and I obliged them.  I still don't quite have the population to win an election against all opposition, but I'm getting close.  I'm knocking down Morgan's cities as best he can, but now Fusion AAA garrisons are showing up.  With those I don't have a chance, so I'm trying to use up my old chemical planes before they're useless.

Details no confusion just the fusion

no confusion just the fusion

Note that in my mod, Fusion Power only gives the engine, not any lab facilities.  An equivalent, the Industrial Lab, was already given by Applied Relativity.  My mod separates Conquest technologies from other categories like Discover as much as is reasonable, and this was one of those cases.  Actually for a long time I designed the mod with Fusion engiens very late in the game, but it didn't work out, due to the sudden jump from Fusion to Quantum to Singularity.  Now it's spread out more like the unmodded game, but still tends to come a bit later due to the sheer number of conquest techs that can be discovered.

Hmm, Morgan has deployed so many Fusion AAA units so quickly, that I have a better idea for my old planes.  Disbanding them to complete Secret Projects!  Once I get the Supercollider done, I do have a Pholus Mutagen that could use a boost.

[Geo]

Seeing such benevolent and unifying leadership makes me almost want to be just like him!

Chalk it up for a binary modder. Switching factions.

[bvanevery]

Nah, nah... I will stay the course as Yang.  Actually I'm currently living up to the Build part of his Build, Conquer focus.  All I do is sit around building base improvements and new Fusion garrison troops.  I've got various generations of Sea Formers that are scurrying as fast as they can to create kelp, mines, and tidal harnesses before it all turns into deep ocean.  It's MY 2304 and the pace of notable game events is much slower now.  Morgan is amassing a scary number of military units, I think with an abusive AI Transcend advantage, but they never come for me.  Legitimately, he is at war with the Usurpers, and they have a broad front, so maybe it keeps him busy.  But the AI is also known for being weak at naval combat, not really having a clue about how to project force.  That's actually fine by me, because I think in the mindworm debacle, I already earned winning this game.  It was like, mega-unfair, but I'm still standing (swimming).

[bvanevery]

Details sneaking the sleeping

sneaking the sleeping

MY 2305.  Morgan's enormous air force is so vigilant and alert that I sailed right between his bases unchallenged and will now steal Single Sided Surfaces from him.  That's my repurposed version of Frictionless Surfaces; it gives Clean Reactors.  Yes, a clean Fusion reactor is a matter of topology, you heard it from me first!

Details steps until doomsday

steps until doomsday

I am the Millenial purveyor of atrocities, with 1101 years of Sanctions against me!  It occurs to me that genetic warfare would be highly effective against Morgan, and would cost me next to nothing.  I have no idea if that can trigger another mindworm apocalypse, as I've never prosecuted a human vs. human genetic campaign before.  It's pretty darned useful for wiping out Aliens, and I know Planet doesn't care about that.  Sadly, I've got some time to wait for this new toy, as my research rate is not particularly fast.  Really Morgan is doing the research now.  That's ok with me, I'm trying to grow larger and win the Governorship.  I'm tantalizingly close to achieving that aim, but it keeps dancing barely out of reach.

[bvanevery]

Details ground troops need land guys

ground troops need land guys

MY 2310.  The Morganites are mildly on the move in my direction.  I see 2 Isles approaching, but for many of my cities, they can't do a thing.  Some cities are vulnerable with only 3 Police Scout units in them, but I don't think the Isles are heading for those, nor do they intend to attack navally.  I think they're trying to dump the ground troops on my land.  There's only 1 place they can do that, that hasn't sunk yet!  It's at the exact center of my empire.  By the time they get there, it might be sunk as well.  And in any event, by then I'll have finally made some combat ships.  A couple of my cities have completed all other growth, minerals, and factory stuff, and are starting on Naval Yards.  I'm not sure how Morgan is doing by comparison, but I almost have a viable sea empire now.  I'm also Unsurpassed on the charts by a healthy margin.

[bvanevery]

Details Artificial Repetitiveness

Artificial Repetitiveness

MY 2313.  In a repeat of history, Morgan allows me to sail between his cities and steal Organic Superlubricant.  Now I have the prerequs for Retroviral Engineering.  My first AAA R-Laser Destroyer enters service next year.  In not too long, I'll be completely immune to Isle of the Deep incursions.

After that I could start making the X AAA Chaos Destroyers.  It should be noted that Foil and Cruiser chassis costs were cheapened in this mod, to be comparable to Speeders and Hovertanks respectively.  So with a Fusion engine, these are not particularly gold plated units.  I originally did this to make it easier for factions to spread out on water at the beginning of the game.  It also makes the Pirates more powerful, which is one of several reasons why their bonuses haven't been adjusted upwards any time recently.  I didn't think about the utility of this mod for a waterworld apocalypse, but here we are now!

Absent genetic warfare, using X units to depopulate Morgan's major but unimportant cities is probably the key to me gaining the Governorship.  I can't seem to outgrow Morgan because, let's face it, he's pop booming same as I am.  For awhile I didn't understand why he'd be choosing Democratic Simple Wealth Eudaimonic.  Now I realize, Simple gives +1 GROWTH triggering a pop boom with the other options.  He's also only taking -2 POLICE from being Democratic; if he went Free Market, he'd be at -3.  He can't use police, but he doesn't get any penalties for building lots of Needlejets and Copters, nor for moving military units out of his territory.  He must really feel threatened by the Usurpers, to have built so much stuff and still not come after me.  Either that or the AI is just stupid and doesn't know how to fight on water.  Soon I will show him how it's done!

I just realized, Morgan is nuclear capable now.  I saw him building a Conventional Missile a couple turns ago, but if he finished it, he didn't shoot it at me.  He's prototyping 1 nuke.  I will have to make sure it never completes.  With all the atrocities I've inflicted upon him, I am the likely target!  Although it would hurt him economically to lose all his trading partners, it's not worth me losing multiple Secret Projects, like in my capitol.  In my mod, nukes can hit anywhere on Planet, so there's no such thing as a nuke threat that can be taken lightly.  Fortunately he didn't build it in a good city, so I have 16 turns to contemplate what to do.  I could end it with a barrage of Conventional Missiles perhaps, which can also hit anywhere on Planet.  Or maybe my X AAA Chaos Destroyers will be sweeping him into oblivion by then.

[bvanevery]

Details the cranky CEO

the cranky CEO

MY 2315.  Morgan abandoned his nuke program, in favor of making a lot more Conventional Missiles.  I noticed a lot of his cities were experiencing drone riots.  He's changed to Fundamentalist Simple Power Cybernetic government, and he's started the Universal Translator.  I'm not sure it's that big a deal if I let him finish it, because I'd just steal his techs.  I will see if he'll let me exploit his "sail right past him" vulnerability yet again.  I'm going to run out of cities in that pocket though.  All the more reason to strip a layer of fully populated cities away!

[bvanevery]

Details my head researcher

my head researcher

MY 2318.  Morgan let me sneak past him yet again, although I did have to back off once because of an Isle tromping around.  In contrast, when a Cha Dawn transport saw me in Morgan's waters, he actually threw a Conventional Missile at it to get rid of it!  Thanks for reminding me you're nuclear capable, Cha.  I really didn't expect you to be alive this long, or to ever amount to anything.  My earliest atrocities were against the Cultists, so I need to watch my nuclear back with them too.  They have 1 Planet Buster in production, but it will take 20 turns to complete.

Hmm, happened to notice that the Morganite Planet Buster program has resumed.  Somehow this time with 9 turns to complete.  Not good.  Guess I need some Conventional Missiles.

I have no idea what the nuclear status of Zhakarov, Roze, or the Aliens are, but I've never committed atrocites against them.  Well, Roze can't be doing anything, she's been all but dead since forever.  The Caretakers aren't in much better shape.

[bvanevery]

Details hope this helps

hope this helps

MY 2320.  I've dedicated 2 "completed" cities to Conventional Missile production, thus fielding 1 missile per turn.  I hope that tapping on the base causes him to change production.  Knocking out his 1st defender didn't change his production.  I don't think my ships are fast enough to sail over there, nor durable enough.  None of us have researched Silksteel Armor yet.  The armor progressions are different in my mod, with armor strengths matching weapon strengths at the same tech level.  So advanced armor is actually worth something, when you get it.  Silksteel has strength 5 and also enables the Heavy Transport ability, increasing cargo capacities by 50%.

Hmm, I wonder if Heavy Transport is a good idea anymore?  It made a lot of sense during the "mostly Fission era" version of this mod, but now that Fusion Power comes at a more normal time, maybe it's overpowering.  Well, for now I think I'll leave it in and see if anyone complains, or if it turns out to have some great use.  Maybe it can increase the storage capacitity of units that don't have much, like land and air units.