Cybernetic Conquest - SMACX AI Growth mod version 1.42

[bvanevery]

Details eternal orbital warfare

eternal orbital warfare

MY 2383.  I haven't built that many Orbital Power Transmitters yet, only 10.  I'm feeling a little paranoid and so am building Geosynchronous Survey Pods everywhere.  I spend a lot of money every turn improving infrastructure at all of my bases, so my savings really aren't moving forwards.  I'm stuck around 10k at the moment, even though I'm making about 5k/turn.  Hopefully this will at some point pop like a cork and I'll be rich!

Details lack of ocean shelf

lack of ocean shelf

One of my distractions is wanting to make some Cruiser Formers to make my oceans more productive.  I found myself thinking, if only I had a way to get a lot of fungus going, without having to manually work every single square.  Then I realized, I actually have that tech!  I don't usually think of Fungal Missiles as being useful for anything, but they could be useful now.  Then I realized, the fungus probably won't be permanent unless it explodes in ocean shelf squares.  I think in deeper water, it sinks.  Most of my sea bases are limited by ocean shelf space.  I've got some ones that are starving, and it's because they're in deep water.  No food would be available for awhile no matter what I do.

Details not that helpful

not that helpful

With only a fusion warhead, I only got 3 new fungal patches out of that.  2 of them aren't within my base's perimeter.   The deep ocean waters seem to be unaffected.  When I thought about sinking, I suppose I was thinking of the indigenous life forms sinking.  That mindworm should be gone next turn.  I can't even eat the fungus until it sinks.

[bvanevery]

Details vote with confidence

vote with confidence

MY 2385.  The Caretakers might be completely wiped out by the Pirates.  If so, I win the game.  My fungus also just became crunchier.

[bvanevery]

Details risk of retaliation

risk of retaliation

MY 2386.  The Pirates don't actually have an awesome Orbital Defense Pod screen.  I believe they've been in a continuous state of orbital war with the Spartans, so the skies are actually pretty empty.

Details hey that fries my guys

hey that fries my guys

This is probably the most nukes I've seen the AI toss in a game.  Sort of a "sustainable nuking" steady state.

Details formers are insured

formers are insured

I could stand to make more ODPs myself.  It's odd to actually be ahead of everybody in that, only by virtue of having stayed out of trouble.  Well, and decisive ground punishment whenever anyone gives me a problem.

Details deforestation

deforestation

The land dropped a noticeable amount in a number of places this year.  Some trees went with it.  A couple of cities are hungry as a result, so I've started Sky Hydroponics Labs in them.  My Formers will probably repair the damage before there's any real problem.

Details mysterious boon

mysterious boon

Having things all dried up isn't 100% bad.  What will pop so late in the game?

Details something pretty good

something pretty good

Yippie!  Maybe I'll finally get Quantum Power.

Details secure voting

secure voting

I think I forgot about this last year, due to a real life interruption.  Well, maybe it didn't have 40 minerals in it yet.

Details northern cluster

northern cluster

I'm going to try to grab what I can around the globe.

Details nexus grab

nexus grab

That captured mindworm has waited so many years to do something!

Details empath funnycar

empath funnycar

A few pods are in remote areas.  This is how I will get them.  I have an Elite Recon Rover from the beginning of the game.  Time to upgrade!

Details well that sucks

well that sucks

Having the odds calculator always on is a bit of an exploit.  It will allow me to try to capture every one of these life forms without committing to a battle.  If I actually do capture one of them, then maybe I can move away and survive this.

Details first try!

first try!

Now I just need to get the heck out of the way.

Details additional attempts

additional attempts

Gatling because I have 1 sitting around.

Details under your nose

under your nose

I grab a little money before Cha Dawn has the chance to move in on it.  I actually land right next to her unit, which you can just barely see on the right side of the dialog box.  I thought I wasn't able to do that.

Details poor design

poor design

Again based on a single old fission unit.  The unit to be upgraded is only Disciplined, so it won't live if attacked.  So I don't bother putting Trance on it, as that will just make it cost more.  Actually it captured a single popped mindworm.

[bvanevery]

MY 2387.  Popping the Artifact, I learned D10 Secrets of Creation.  I got cheated out of my free bonus tech!  This is not the 1st time I've seen that happen in a game.  I wonder what causes that.

Details they were quick

they were quick

My poor mindworm has nothing to do again.  It must be really troublesome, existing as a wriggling jiggling mass of mental do-nothing.  One of the pods way up north got popped too.

[bvanevery]

Details delayed response

delayed response

MY 2388.  I just looked at my tech progress last year.  I wasn't due for a tech yet.  I thought I had 3 years to go.  It's possible I had 2 years to go, I can't be sure.  I am guessing the free tech from Secrets of Creation had a delayed effect.  The other possibility is the game doesn't count tech research correctly, and 2 years became 1 year.  It's flawed either way.

Details dumb automaton

dumb automaton

The stupid auto unit designer forgot that I knew how to make fungal missiles, because I shot my 1 off.  Whereas, I've kept my 1 Planet Buster, my 1 Tectonic Missile, and a few Conventional Missiles.  So I'll have to prototype it again at my Skunkworks.  Or I could just ignore it, as I probably won't need it, but this annoys me.

Details gun futzing

gun futzing

I finally upgrade all those Laser garrisons to something better.  A Laser still costs more with a Quantum unit, but a Missile Launcher costs the same as a Laser.  I don't know if I'm invulnerable now, but I've got Neutronium armor, Tachyon fields, and a Quantum reactor at every base.  Also I've got Geosynchronous Survey Pods spying on any units approaching, and a decent Orbital Defense Pod screen.  I don't think any of the other factions are going to be able to do anything to me.

Details study it up

study it up

I've finally started making Corporate Labs everywhere.  They're expensive but they give a 50% ECONOMY bonus.  I had a lot of other infrastructure priorities that were cheaper.  It really is quite a bit too tedious to make all this stuff in the endgame, for so many cities.  I'm really nice to the Caretakers.  Pretty sure killing them would have been a lot quicker.

[bvanevery]

Details vote when the sunspots lift

vote when the sunspots lift

MY 2389.  The Pirates are particularly well disposed to the planet flooding.  I wonder if the Pirate AI is set up to explicitly take advantage of that?

Details I influence more land

I influence more land

I wonder if it's less Pirate industry, and more Pirate nukes, that are the problem.

[bvanevery]

Details jungle gets smaller

jungle gets smaller

MY 2390.  I'm not worried yet, but I do wonder at the possibility, of there not being any planet let, to corner the energy market on.

Details mo minerals

mo minerals

Is there going to be any difference between cornering the energy market and transcending?  Sure there's an aesthetic difference, but at this rate, I'm not sure there's a game mechanical one.  Maybe I need to move Economic Victory somewhere earlier in the tech tree.  I'm not even trying to do research, and it looks like I'll end up finishing the tree.

[bvanevery]

Details raining terror

raining terror

MY 2392.  That came really close to wiping out the Manifold Nexus.  It's now coastal.  On the positive side, there are no more bases in the area for that to happen again.  On the negative side, it's at 110 meters.  If it sinks, it's gone.  Highly motivated to launch another solar shade.

Details denied victory

denied victory

I know this is a game mechanic, but at this point it is merely introducing tedium.  I had 25+ Orbital Power Transmitters.  This means in the real world, Economic Victory will take an absurdly long time.  I've got 38k saved up, and it will take 138k just to start the countdown.  Then wait 20 years?  A bit absurd for the expense involved.  I may have to mod that to sooner, like 5 years.  You get a chance to strike at the enemy's capitol and that's it.  I don't think I should have to de facto finish the tech tree, sitting around waiting to win.

[bvanevery]

Details oh joy talking to rivals

oh joy talking to rivals

MY 2394.  Care to guess who will declare war on me?  I wonder if I've barely got any Orbital Defense Pods up yet.  A few.  Many more to come.

Details the first turd person

the first turd person

Nothing I could do about this.  He's milling around one of my cities and my Formers were right next to his units.  Just clicking on them triggered dialogue.

Details bloody pirate

bloody pirate

Randomly ran into an unseen boat while moving a Former around at sea.  It didn't have a radar on it.

Details super weenie

super weenie

I deliberately triggered this one.  I didn't feel like faffing around with my Former avoiding stuff.  My units are already prepositioned for an assault on her.

Details most expensive unarmored gun

most expensive unarmored gun

This would have been pricier in the Fusion era.  960 credits later I own 6 of them, ready to move.  Eons ago I took the last city in the Spartan rail connected empire, so this is going to be a cakewalk.

Details or is it

or is it

I'm surprised the defense is supposedly this strong.  The odds calculator is not taking the effect of Soporific Gas Pods into account, so it's going to be easier than it says.

However I never realized that a Geosynchronous Survey Pod provides its own unique defense bonus.  I thought it was just a Sensor Array that you didn't have to build, instead of an all new defensive installation.  That's what the description says, that it "acts as a Sensor Array", and that's wrong.  It does use the same modifier as for Sensor Arrays, so it's got my +50% tweak in it.  This is a really powerful defense!  I don't want anyone having this as early as C6 Orbital Spaceflight, I'll need to move this farther up the tree.  I thought it was just a glorified spy satellite that didn't add much in the way of new capability.

Details cheapest quantum interceptor

cheapest quantum interceptor

Knocking off the 1st city, Santiago wants to still keep fighting.  I knock out her ground troops easily with the Tachyon units, leaving only an air unit to defend.  I have plenty of spare Interceptors that aren't good for anything else, so I upgrade them.  Knocking off the 2nd city, she still wants to keep fighting.  I'm now a little worried about her persistence, as she's got troops tromping around in my upper home territory that can inconveniently bother me.  I don't really want to repair pillaged terrain, and it would take more units than I've got to suppress her and fend off the Cultists.  I need to settle the Pirates and the Cultists first before continuing this exercise.

Details oddball

oddball

This Fusion unit shouldn't exist.  I don't have any design for it, and I upgraded all of my AAA units to quantum reactors quite awhile ago.  It must have something to do with having mind controlled this base.  Like it utilizes a Pirate unit design instead of one of mine.

Details brute force

brute force

Pirates 49 was recently settled and is poaching my kelp.  I'm hoping an attack would eliminate it.  I update my 2 Gravships and it's pricey, 400 credits each.  One of them is in flying range and I don't have to drop.

Details didn't work

didn't work

The attack didn't destroy the base.  I'll have to bring in something else to do that.  I don't have any actual warships in the area, only probe teams.  I don't really want to add drop capability to my fleet out west, because they're being used as garrison units.  My 2nd gravship is all the way up at the Spartans.  I drop it in my nearest home base and fly it down to take Pirates 49.  That doesn't stop its movement because the base is destroyed.  I contact the Pirates.

Details what a loon!

what a loon!

2/3rds of my net worth, not bloody likely!

Details oh, ha ha ha ha ha

oh, ha ha ha ha ha

He was pulling my pegleg.  The one I was going to rip off his body, and poke his other eye out with.  With this matter resolved, I upgrade the strange unit from earlier.

Details constrained

constrained

Onwards to the Cultists.  There are more units surrounding my city than I want to spend units eliminating.  The garrison there is not large because over the years I've shifted forces to deal with threats from other factions.  It would be better to find an easier means to political compliance.

Details are you a weenie

are you a weenie

Xi Sector is guarded by an air unit.  I can easily fly down to kill it.  If that's not enough arm twisting, I could upgrade my rover in the rough with Amphibious Pods.  It's been trying to make its way back to base ever since I dropped and popped a supply pod all those years ago.  Many Cultist units have been getting in the way.

Details another funnycar

another funnycar

For some reason my simple air assault wipes the base.  Maybe it's a land vs. sea thing, as to why the base gets wiped or not.  Cha Dawn ignores my transmission afterwards, so I'll need to proceed with Plan B.  I refrain from overspending on High Morale or whatever.  In recent versions of my mod, weapons are expensive, and adding abilities on top of weapons is expensive.  Even that upgrade wasn't cheap, 360 credits.  I wonder if I could have bought the base for that?

Details d'oh!

d'oh!

Despite doing some scouting with my Interceptor, a previously unseen unit blocks my way.  I'm going to need an air escort.  Sanctity Dome is guarded by a AAA unit, so I don't really want to hit it with a Needlejet.  Can a Conventional Missile from Dumb Pirate hit this base?  Yes, but it can't walk the Speeder in, it's too far out of range.  That's not a dealbreaker and it's good to use up a missile.  I'm fearing that my 360 credit unit would become a glorified suicide squad anyway.  Hmm, what's going to take this base though, if I don't have any gravships?  Will my Citizens' Defense Force keep the base from dying as I take it?  I bet not, and I don't want the base anyways.  What if an amphibious assault from land simply wipes out the base?  That would be best.  Ok, I'll escort with another Interceptor.

Details a rousing success

a rousing success

Now I know how to do that job.  This place sure is crawling with Cultist units.  What is with the Cultists still ignoring my hails?  I don't think I'd trust the Cultists at this point even if they declared a Truce, so I leave my Interceptor above my Rover to protect it.  After all, none of the factions have any Reputation to lose anymore.  They've surely all got to be Infamous by now.  Hmm I'm not seeing any easy way to check on that though.

Details feeble fire

feeble fire

Looks like I'm taking Invictus.  Dumb Pirate missiles can hit it.  The 1st missile only wounds the AAA defender.  The 2nd takes out a runty Spore Launcher.  God I hate those things!  I'm out of missiles.  In fact I'm in danger of forgetting how to make them, when I get my net tech.  Need to get another one started meanwhile, so I change over the production of an Orbital Defense Pod I started this turn.  I've weakened the defenders though, so this should be enough to easily take the base, once I do yet more air upgrades.

Details toning it down

toning it down

The performance of drop units after an orbital insertion has been underwhelming.  With main armaments so expensive now, I'd prefer to just use fixed forces.  These upgrades still cost 360 credits apiece.

Details weakening was necessary

weakening was necessary

It makes one wonder, why use anything but indigenous life forms?  I think the only answer is that they're slow.  You can't orbital insert them, although you could load a drop boat full of mindworms and dump them on land somewhere.  Well it'll take me writing a new commercial game to solve this problem.  The whole "you don't have to do the usual weapons and armor" schtick is pretty wack.

Details culling the weak

culling the weak

Bases often have unarmored defenders at the end of an assault.  I'm not happy attacking those with Interceptors because the ground attack penalty is actually pretty bad.  I still need a final drop cleanup option, so here it is.  Another 390 credits.  My tank drops into Chiron Stigmata, slides under the Needlejet that already attacked, trivially wipes out the 2 defenders despite the orbital insertion penalty, and takes the base.  Now Cha Dawn starts talking, but he still wants to keep fighting!

Sheesh this is like the longest turn ever.  Can you see why I don't want to wait 20 years after finally cornering the energy market?  I need to go do something else with my life for a bit.  Maybe walk the dog.  Maybe watch TV.  Anything but more compliance and beatings for Santiago and Cha Dawn.  I'm running low on offensive units.

[bvanevery]

Details more orbital intervention

more orbital intervention

I decide that pacifying more cities is unrealistic given my paucity of units.  Instead I opt for killing the various Spartan and Cultist units milling around my bases.  I'm able to do this in good defensive form in Spartan territory, although I lack a proper garrison for the size 2 city I just took.  Maybe the AI is too dumb to do anything about it next year.  The Cultists, on the other hand, have a number of units milling about Chiron Stigmata and Invictus, which I need to dispose of.  The old Speeder reinforcements are sitting at the Manifold Nexus where there are no threats, due to intervening fungus and mindworm guard, so I need to move them.  I upgrade 2 old Missile Speeders and we're off to the races.  As usual the upgrades are not cheap, running at sub-400 credits.  They do a surprisingly effective job of eliminating the interlopers immediately next to my bases.  It was a good investment.

Details air support

air support

I fly up some planes to blow away weak artillery and spore launchers, to lessen the number of terrain improvements that will get shelled.  I use them to cover my Formers and build a Sensor Array.

Details misallocation

misallocation

I have more garrison forces at the Manifold Nexus than I will need, so I drop in a boat to pull them out next year.  Oddly enough that boat got landlocked anyways due to receding coastlines.

Details spendy drop

spendy drop

I have a lot of Impact Artillery that has not seen action since the stone ages.  They could interdict the damage that the Cultists might like to do to my lands.  Doubt I needed this many, but eh, that's how it goes if you want to use the type upgrade exploit.  6 of them I leave home to weaken the Spartan units on my territory.  6 go to the Cultist front, and 2 to the Spartan front.

Details blocking rails

blocking rails

I have a couple of unused Interceptors on the Spartan front, so I use them to block the rails and reinforce the weak base.  It won't get taken by ground.  It could be taken by air, but I doubt the Spartan AI will think it through.

Details super stealth fighter

super stealth fighter

I found a spare garrison unit in my home territory, so I flyboat it into the lead Spartan city I was trying to block up.  I'm quite surprised to see a Spartan interceptor in a fungal patch as I land.  I had a plane fly up right next to that earlier, and I flew a plane into the base itself earlier.  It could have shot this down, but instead it has lost the rest of its movement.  I probably hit spacebar upon landing, because if you don't, sometimes you get a bug where your fuel doesn't get replenished and your plane crashes afterwards.  The Spartan interceptor does not say it's equipped with a cloaking field, so I'm calling this a bug.

Details on down the line

on down the line

I've run out of units to upgrade and make use of.  I had an expensive Drop Gas Tachyon Needlejet, which I upped to a simpler Shard model.  It assaults the next base on the rail line, blocking reinforcement by rail.  Damage will be more than desired because of the AAA defense, but I'm overwhelmingly stronger than the unit defending. 

Details hope it doesn't flood

hope it doesn't flood

Almost forgot to rush the Bulk Matter Transmitter.  That was an expensive turn; I've got 50k left.  Now there's nothing more to do, except see how the AI responds to my defensive emplacements.

[bvanevery]

Details I am not a charity

I am not a charity

MY 2395.  The Caretakers just ring me up.  Then they declare war on me.  Do I feel sorry enough for them, to spare their miserable lives?  The Pirates are doing a pretty good job of wiping them out.  I've been wondering if failing to intervene, is tantamount to allowing genocide.  I had thought that perhaps I'd achieve Economic Victory before the last Caretaker is wiped out.  But I've certainly left them to fend for themselves, as far as maintaining their own cultural identity and empire existence.  And this is the thanks I get: empty threats.

Details attrition for them

attrition for them

The Cultists attacked my interceptors with their own.  They did terribly at it, losing a fair number.  I'll just heal up my wounds in safety, unruffled.  They also lost various artillery pieces trying to shell me.  Total bounce.  I did lose 1 Former, whoopie.

Details die every so often for me

die every so often for me

The Spartans lose their next base down the rail and give up fighting.

Details tough grunt

tough grunt

One of my Shard Gravships gets pretty chewed up killing a non-AAA defender, proving that they ain't all that.  However it does reduce a size 2 city to size 1.  I drop a drop interceptor on it to destroy it, then fly back towards the Manifold Nexus.  Since an interceptor doesn't trigger diplomatic contact, I ring Cha Dawn up.  He signs a Truce.

Details defenses restored

defenses restored

I've got enough Orbital Defense Pods now, given that the Pirates and the Spartans still seem to engage in orbital warfare.  I've got many Orbital Power Transmitters in progress.  I shuffle some spare garrisons and flyboats around, in case of 'surprise' attacks.

[bvanevery]

Details I am numerous

I am numerous

MY 2397.  Svensgaard calls an election.  Of course it doesn't matter.  I would have long since declared Diplomatic Victory if it weren't for the Caretakers.  Even if I didn't have any voting bonuses, I'd be pretty close to being able to do it.

Details above the influence

above the influence

If he'd just blow up the right cities, I'd have more land.

[bvanevery]

Details warming cooling whatever

warming cooling whatever

MY 2398.  I haven't seen any dire flood warnings.  Maybe on the balance, Svensgaard has done us all a favor?  Getting rid of Cultist heavy industry.

Details don't singe my wings

don't singe my wings

I really wish the AI would aim better.  I didn't want to intervene in this.  I'm not usually flying by, I was just trying to get a unit home through all the Cultist nonsense.

Details oh speak of it

oh speak of it

Maybe they could go nuke some Spartans instead.  I'd hardly mind.

Details she finally got to it

she finally got to it

She could have picked a bigger target.  Another AI shortcoming.

Details quaking in her boots

quaking in her boots

Somehow I think Miriam will live it down.

Details contemporary picket

contemporary picket

The Manifold Nexus doesn't need any more improvements, and I'm tired of Cultist units wandering around my territory.  It's time to escort them off the property.  If the game goes on long enough, I could also use these to smother cities.  After all we're in a state of PermaTruce, and I don't have to feel sorry for factions that won't sign Treaties.

Details planting them out

planting them out

This one Pirate land base is in the way of joining the Spartan front with the rest of my empire.  Somehow the Spartans haven't managed to crack the base.  Probably because they're wandering all the way across my lands to fight the Believers.  I'm going to block them from doing that.  And I'm going to constrict this Pirate base.  They can actually eat fungus so I can't starve them out, but I can decrease their minerals to nearly nothing.

Details eco stewards

eco stewards

You'd think we could come up with some standards for how many pollutants a nuke is allowed to release.

[bvanevery]

Details it was size Eleven

it was size Eleven

MY 2399.  It's a good thing there are still plenty of bases for the Pirates to target.  Otherwise I'd be worried about them knocking down my defense screen and throwing nukes at me.

Details seriously late secret project

seriously late secret project

I've put the Dream Twister pretty late in the game so that it can't affect much of anything meaningfully.  Granted, if I had kept going with fullblown research I would have long since had it.

Details more food

more food

Bases can only benefit from satellites up to the size of the base.  My biggest city is size 40 and the largest tier of cities is around size 35, so I can't benefit much from more Orbital Power Transmitters.  I start making more Sky Hydroponics Labs to jack up my bases even bigger.  Flopping back and forth between the two will be the drill until I win.  I also have bases making lotsa sea formers to raise the ocean floor, for lack of anything better to do.

Details the empire

the empire

I'm the darker green bits.  I've cracked 100k credits!  Income is 14k/turn.  141k needed to corner the market.

[Geo]

Details above the influence

above the influence

If he'd just blow up the right cities, I'd have more land.

Judgments Seal was a Believer base, right?
If so, I feel a game mechanic were pact brothers/sisters extend their ODP shield to each other would be good.