Thinker mod attempt 13

[bvanevery]

MY 2222.  I acquire Doctrine: Initiative from the Planetary Datalinks.  I switch to the Maritime Control Center.

MY 2223.  The Believers blow off our Pact.

MY 2225.  I rush the Maritime Control Center.

MY 2226.  I sign Pacts with the Pirates, the Believers, and the Usurpers.  I'm already allied with the University.  If we killed the Caretakers and the Hive, I would win!  However I'm nowhere near being able to do either.  They're simply too far away.

[bvanevery]

MY 2233.  I ask Zhakarov to trade tech.  He gives me Bioadaptive Resonance, which in my mod gives the Neural Amplifier.  It hasn't been built yet and that's a mistake.  He's working on the Virtual World.  I switch one of my projects to the Neural Amplifier and rush it with cash.  Zhakarov's generosity is odd because he only had 2 more techs than myself.  Now just 1.

Details like an escaping gas

like an escaping gas

MY 2239.  I have finished terraforming my empire.  Granted, I suppose I could Drill to Aquifer or Construct Echelon Mirror, but there's nothing important for me to do.  I'm starting to build an invasion rail towards the Hive.  I've also popped almost every single pod on the map.  Most of my mindworms have come home and are being used as police.

[bvanevery]

MY 2240.  I learn C3 Planetary Networks, which in my mod gives the Command Nexus.  I switch my last old project and rush it.  We are in sunspots.

Details University idiocy

University idiocy

MY 2252.  Sunspots have ended.  I trade tech with Zhakarov.  He lets D6 Digital Sentience go for C4 Organic Superlubricant, which merely gives Hovertank and 2 unit abilities.  The Network Backbone isn't built yet so I begin it in my capitol.  I also start a lot of copies in other cities.

[bvanevery]

MY 2257.  I rush the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm, using the last of my Artifacts.

Details study cult

study cult

MY 2261.  Hoping to make my research go faster, I switch to Police State Green Cybernetic.  I have to adjust my budget to keep people happy.  I'm cranking out Police Scout units to get things under control.

[bvanevery]

Details the standings

the standings

MY 2263.  Well, it's 1:30 AM and I'm done.  Don't care about the game anymore.  I don't think it's specific to Thinker mod.  There's just a vastness of effort.  Building all these cities along my rail line... in terms of effort, maybe it was a mistake.  I've recently acquired Advanced Ecological Engineering, but I find myself plodding along with my old fleet of Formers.  I think I've spent way too much time twiddling squares, which doesn't really have any payoff because I've never grown.  Also too much time shuffling garrisons.  This isn't the first game I've spent way too much time doing that and gotten totally sick of it.

My position is fine.  The graph says other factions are better than mine, but they're not that much better.  The technology gap isn't that large.  I find myself floundering about my Values.  Changing to Wealth or Power will piss someone off and break my big alliance.  I imagined I might use the alliance to score a conquest victory, but part of me says it's unrealistic to expect it to hold up long enough for that.  I think that's another reason why I find myself quitting.  I just don't relish having to take out all those Hive cities and Caretaker cities.  And then to find out, it's not even enough?

I think my substantial delay of Builder techs has worked, insofar as it allows me to get this far in the game, without feeling like I've been clobbered.  Maybe if I had the stamina to keep playing I'd eventually get clobbered, or maybe I wouldn't.  I really don't know, and at this point I've played enough Thinker test games that I don't find myself concerned about it.

I'm surprised that giving the Believers +1 SUPPORT really didn't improve their play.