Cybernetic Conquest - SMACX AI Growth mod version 1.42

[bvanevery]

Details changing hands

changing hands

MY 2347.  The Pirates have been hammered hard by the Spartans.  I have a spare Plasma Gunboat at Calypso Base, so I retake the base the Pirates kicked me out of awhile back.  This counts as a liberation!  The Punishment Sphere is still intact, so I'll leave people enslaved until I can get something happier and more defensible over there.

Details what a weenie!

what a weenie!

The Pirates finally, at long last, accept a Truce.  Now I can get on with winning the game, without being pestered.  I will send my navy over to Roze, for vengeance.  I tell Svensgaard to knock it off with Miriam, so I won't get sucked into anything.  He signs a Treaty with her.

Details the price of warmongering

the price of warmongering

Svensgaard got into a war with Cha Dawn last year, so this is a moment of opportunity.  Lacking support, I easily stomp him in an election.

Details 1 trillion in stimulus checks

1 trillion in stimulus checks

I won't be winning the game in under 10 years, nor are enough people at peace with me for a Global Trade Pact to be a good idea, so I vote for everyone to get a little money!  It will help my infrastructure and Secret Projects along.

[bvanevery]

Details which is best

which is best

MY 2348.  I don't feel like these 3 Secret Projects are of equal value.  But, maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge.  The Cyborg Factory is more valuable to someone on the warpath.  The Pholus Mutagen to someone doing a lot of eco-damage, which isn't me right now.  And the Manifold Harmonics only helps those with a commitment to a high PLANET rating.  Well I do have a fungal growth plan in mind, so I switch.  They're very expensive projects and no one's going to get any of them any time soon.

[bvanevery]

Details shields up

shields up

MY 2350.  I have a nominal anti-nuke capability.  I rush the Manifold Harmonics.  I have only 25 credits left over, so I can't switch from Capitalist to Green.

[bvanevery]

Details gimme fungus

gimme fungus

MY 2351.  I complete the Manifold Harmonics.  By failing to reach the highest tier, fortunately I'm only missing a +1 energy bonus.

Details emancipation

emancipation

I notice that Meergard and Privateer Quay were captured long enough ago, that they are no longer regarded as captured bases.  I start working on happiness facilities, with the eventual goal of removing the Punishment Spheres.  By then I believe my navy and marines will be occupying my sea bases out west, that I took from the Data Angels.  3 of my northernmost bases are also fully mine now.

Details before fungus

before fungus

I switch to Green.  It cuts my income in half.  However it has a remarkable effect on my fungal squares.

Details after fungus

after fungus

I go through all my bases and change what squares I'm working.  Now suddenly it is good to plant fungus.  Is there a reason to do anything else?  I'm thinking not, although it's hard to shake my bias for trees.  I suppose trees are good for lessening eco-damage, but I don't have any.  Nor am I likely to, since I haven't even built the Pholus Mutagen yet.

Details deadly force

deadly force

8 Missile Marines arrive at the sea base I recently liberated from the Pirates.  I couldn't quite bring my Transport into base, so technically Roze could fly down her 1 plane and blow up my Transport.  However she's probably too dumb to do that.  I think about whether I can use my Isle garrisons to forward the Marines this turn, but they don't have enough movement to do the handoffs.

[bvanevery]

And then this site went down for awhile!  So more offline writing up.  More catch-up on posts now.

Details well it's not me

well it's not me

MY 2352.  The Aggressive factions are going to do a nuclear exchange!  Good thing I got that Orbital Defense Pod up, but as I guessed, I'm not a primary target anyways.  The blast takes out the Planetary Datalinks.

Details doom for all

doom for all

Using a convoying technique, I'm able to bring 4 Marines and an Isle against the Data Angels' final stronghold.  They still won't surrender, so the attack proceeds!

Details and that's how it's finally done

and that's how it's finally done

Don't know why they're so stubborn in all these games I've played against them.

[bvanevery]

Details goodbye to the capitol

goodbye to the capitol

MY 2353.  Exchange it is!  Took out Mt. Planet and the Longevity Vaccine.  Oh no, we're never going to have the cure for COVID-19!

Details gone fishing

gone fishing

Extracting one of the last remaining supply pods on the planet, I get an Artifact.  Next year I'll cash it.

[bvanevery]

Details what comes down

what comes down

MY 2356.  I start making Conventional Missiles in anticipation of taking over the Manifold Nexus.  I also design a Drop Trance 3-Res unit.  Cha Dawn will surely have some mindworms, and it's cheaper than the Probability units I've been making latley.  I switch my Secret Project production to the Cloudbase Academy, as having Aerospace Complexes everywhere and Sky Hydroponics Labs will make an empire grow like crazy.

Details rounding out the empire

rounding out the empire

Here you see the radial pattern of settlement I've been undertaking in the oceans.  Alpha Prime is my capitol, in the center of the southern part.  The current spread actually looks more like a semicircle.  Captured Pirate bases would have more or less completed the circle if they hadn't have signed a Truce.

Details to be disposed

to be disposed

Unfortunately I can't claim Diplomatic Victory as long as the Caretakers are in the game.  There are no penalties for committing atrocities against Aliens, so I will use a combination of plagues and chemical weapons on them.

Details build barrier

build barrier

I still haven't managed to learn the other prereq for Super Tensile Solids / Habitation Domes.  I've learned a lot of Conquer techs that I wasn't even studying for.  Could it be that the game decided the University's pure Discover research strategy was too anemic, so they hardwired some Conquer weights into it?  The way the game cheats to get a Discover faction to the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm is well understood at this point.

Details undue influence

undue influence

Scient discovered that the Dream Twister also has hardwired cheat weights placed on it, similar to the HSA.  I moved it all the way up the tree to E10 Sentient Resonance to try to get rid of the influence for most of the game.  But I am such a prolific research faction, that it could actually be affecting me.  If it's like the HSA, it could affect prereqs 3 tiers beforehand, all the way down to Tier 7.

Details didn't need to know that

didn't need to know that

This could explain how I learned C7 Mind/Machine Interface, B7 Sentient Econometrics, and C8 Self-Aware Machines without focusing on Build or Conquer at all.

Details gimme domes

gimme domes

To try to pick up the techs I'm missing, I switch to an Explore Build focus.  I'm not going to build the Robotic Assembly Plants when I get them.  My industrial output is fine, and my rivals are tossing nukes.  They contribute to global warming, and I've seen the AI starting to build some Pressure Domes.  I don't want any flooding, I just want to grow my population and win the game.

[bvanevery]

Details they sure are violent

they sure are violent

MY 2357.  That's good timing.  I don't need those things aimed at me.

Details can't have such a bargain

can't have such a bargain

I've decided that Brood Pits are way too cheap for what they do.  They give a lifecycle bonus, they make indigenous life units super cheap to build, and they give +2 POLICE in their city.  It's a Mary Sue of facilities.  I don't actually want these things in the game at all, but I don't typically remove stuff unless they're super egregiously overepowered, like the Copter chassis.  Instead I push them farther up the tree to get them out of the game, and make them more expensive.  It's already as far up the tree as it should go, I just have really good research.  So let's jack the price up.

[bvanevery]

Details that's not yours

that's not yours

MY 2358.  Won't be getting the Cloudbase Academy yet.  Gotta block this.  Rushed.

Details the last settlements

the last settlements

It's time to stop making sea colony pods, and time to start making Cruiser Probe Teams to inflict plagues upon the Caretakers.  I've designed an X Chaos Gravship and an X AAA Chaos Probability Cruiser as well, but they are expensive and I'm not keen on making many of them.

[bvanevery]

Details death of civility

death of civility

MY 2359.  Well at least they're not subtle!

[bvanevery]

Details getting closer

getting closer

MY 2360.  Hab Domes coming soon!  I switch my research focus to Explore only.

Details corner shot

corner shot

I've made enough Trance Drop troops, but I've neglected to make enough Conventional Missiles to take the Manifold Nexus.  I'm also slightly out of range for hitting it the same turn.  That's not a big deal because I can stay aloft for 4 turns, but in principle the CMs could be shot down.  In practice, I doubt the AI even knows how to do it.

Details sink the 8 ball

sink the 8 ball

Belatedly I realize I don't actually need to take a city to control the Nexus.  Cha Dawn's cities aren't particularly near it.  We're at war and I can drop my own city right on top of it.  I design an appropriate unit.  I'm sure that my Drop Trance cannon fodder will be just fine for protecting the colonists for 1 turn.  I'm not going to get nuked, not until I've settled at least.  Even then, I expect it to be a low value target.

While uploading some of these posts, I was reminded that I haven't put any proposals in front of the Planetary Council in 20 years.  Back then, a Global Trade Pact seemed pointless because various factions were allied with each other, but only had Truces with me.  I wouldn't make any money, and they'd probably make all the money with each other.  But this has probably changed!  I think all these factions hate each other to death, because of the nukes they've tossed.  The only faction anyone is really capable of liking is myself or possibly the Believers, because we haven't nuked anybody.  And we do at least have each other.  So let's see if the AI is dumb enough to swallow my guff!

Details maybe

maybe

Can I get Miriam on board with this?  Measure passes if I do.  It would have been nice to have Roze as my puppet for this sort of thing, but she wasn't willing to be that.  Died with her boots on... well actually, we took them off before we loaded her into the Punishment Sphere, to keep them clean.

Details I can swing that

I can swing that

This is expensive, and I don't even know if the investment is worth it.  But I really want to see if it will pay off!  Also she's been a good ally and I don't mind her having the money.

Details NAFTA!

NAFTA!

My net income is now 816 credits/year.  I think that's higher!  Lemme check what last year was.  603 credits/year.  Well, it's a difference.  I don't think I built anything else that would account for a 200 credit increase.  One might argue that a 33% increase ain't too shabby.  And the Pirates have *no* friends.  Only wars, except a Truce with me.  I don't feel like poking at them right now, but maybe they're gullible enough to sign a Treaty someday.  Maybe I actually would bribe them to do that for a change.  If I ended up with an excess of money, and still hadn't won yet.

[bvanevery]

Details on target

on target

MY 2362.  That should be enough of a garrision to fend off some stuff.  Although, my original plan was counting on takeover to trigger a Truce.  Well I am making more Conventional Missiles, but I may need to make more stuff to reinforce.  I could take over the base with the Nano Factory in it, but it's on the east end of the Monsoon Jungle.  If they don't call a Truce, it might be subjected to heavy counterattack.

[bvanevery]

Details now we get big

now we get big

MY 2363.  Now I don't strictly need any more tech!  However, the Cloning Vats would be useful.

Details seeking the pop boom

seeking the pop boom

I switch to Eudaimonic.  I won't change my PSYCH until I've got a lot of Hab Domes finished.

Details counterattack

counterattack

I didn't think about the Cultists having a viable air force.  They usually don't have one.  They aren't usually sitting on a continent all by themselves with the Monsoon Jungle either.  Fortuantely they only attacked with 1 plane and killed one guy, but they could keep doing that and end this exercise real quick.  I'll have to come up with something.

Details expensive measures

expensive measures

I wanted to do the Nethack Terminus and get Algorithmic Enhancement on my probe teams, because I'm about to start using them on the Caretakers.  But an Aerospace Complex would help fight off attacks.

[bvanevery]

Details I am soft

I am soft

MY 2364.  The Caretakers are partroling the waters between the major halves of their sea empire.  They notice my probe team approaching and open communication.  I don't really want to lose my team as I'm busy making other stuff right now, and it's a pain to push units across the map.  I'm also, strictly speaking, not ready to win the game, so it's not imperative that they die right this second.  I wouldn't mind getting the Nethack Terminus done before letting them have it.  I've also got X Chaos Gravships in progress, that I'd like to fly down and use for great purposes.

Details I smell no money

I smell no money

Treaties with Aliens aren't worth any money because they don't participate in the human Commerce system.  They have their own networks of economics within their own bases.  The more bases, the more money.  I'm now in a moral quandry about needing to commit xenicide in order to win.  By diplomatic means at least.  I'm morally opposed to Transcending, I personally think it's anathema to sentience.  Conquering everyone would probably be way more work than I want to put into this game.

Well, what about Economic Victory?  I'd need B9 Global Energy Theory to do it, so I'd have to change my research focus.  And I'd have to wait 20 years, after I even got the money, which would take even longer.  But if I wanted to spare the poor wretched Caretakers and have a kumbaya ending to all of this, I could do it.

Let's postpone these sentiments until I've got some votes.

Details wiped

wiped

I completely picked the wrong kind of troops for this operation.  Founding a city created a high priority target, which they deftly dealt with.  I have nothing to follow up with.  At least if they do take it over, I'll be able to liberate it.  Maybe the AI is too dumb to do so?  I've been amazed at how long the AI will let some things sit, completely open.

Details didn't want this chat

didn't want this chat

I don't have the heart to murder the Caretakers.  They're pathetic, harmless, and cute in an ugly sort of way.  I send my Cruiser Probe Teams back to sea bases.  I accidentally bump into Svensgaard doing so.  I could refuse to speak to him, but that usually results in war, which is not what I want.  So on the chance I can turn this into something else, I take the call.

Details not into personal favors

not into personal favors

I didn't offer him free tech like he wanted.  I never do.  Even the present circumstances, don't change my view on that much.  As much as I might be tempted to try to persuade someone, I don't think other factions are reliably peaceful unless they already want it to some degree.  And he wants to kill me for my Knowledge.  Unfortunately we're going to remain natural enemies.  Anyways after refusing him, he didn't even give me a chance to speak before declaring war.  So war it is.  I'll find some weapons to use on him shortly.  I just finished garrisoning everything way out west.  That's where all those Marines and heavy navy are.  I can instantly attack out there and maybe that's the best course.  I could also use probe teams here, but I bet it's prohibitively expensive.

Details a bargain!

a bargain!

That is so cheap, I almost wonder if I've created a bug somehow.  In my mod, mind control costs double what it does in the stock game.  One of my faction powers is I only pay 75% of that doubled cost.  The Hive and the Data Angels get the same deal, we're the probe team factions.  Well after I take this base, let's see if there's a rational explanation for this.  His capitol could be very far away, and he might have some abysmal kind of government.

Details now you know who's boss

now you know who's boss

He signs my Truce.  He won't sign a Treaty.  He claims Miriam is the one who wants war with him.  He's not wrong, because he tossed a nuke at someone and she's mad that he did it.  Well at least I seem to have a way to handle him.

Details far from HQ

far from HQ

Here is Safe Haven, quite far from what I just took.  His government is Democratic Socialist Wealth Eudaimonic, for a respectable +3 JUSTICE.  Still that can't control an entire planet.  I shouldn't be so surprised that this was cheap and easy.

Details first responder

first responder

I had some X Chaos Gravships in progress but hadn't finished one.  I "upgraded" the design to a Drop Chaos Gravship.  I won't be going after the Caretakers.  I'll find another way.  Maybe these won't complete in time to save my Nexus city, but they'll be good for liberation.

Details cheap reinforcement

cheap reinforcement

I just remembered that nothing stops me from flying my boats around.  Armor is cheap on boats, and they can all stand to be upgraded anyways.  A flying boat can land on a landlocked base.  The main disadvantage of flying boats, is if you leave from a sea base, you can't come back.  The game has an irrational restriction against units dropping into the ocean, even when there's a base to drop into.  Be that as it may, this gambit will work for my current reinforcement purposes.

Details the airborne reserve

the airborne reserve

500 credits later, I've got 5 flying boats in various places, including the sea base I just mind controlled.  Even better, they haven't moved yet!  It's a bit of an exploit, but if you upgrade an entire class of unit to something else, it doesn't use up their moves for the turn.  I'm ready to rumble!

Details reinforced

reinforced

Well now I know what was going to happen next year.  The hidden garrison unit was going to walk right in.  Wouldn't it be hilarious if they attacked with mindworms, now that all my Trance units are dead?  Fortunately I do have the Neural Amplifier.  My prospects are good.

Details cavalry complement

cavalry complement

I brought in a boat with every scrap Speeder I had lying around.  They were only on guard duty for mindworms and fungal pops, but I don't have any.  I've got a minuscule reserve of Unity Rovers in a pinch anyways.  Remarkably, only 1 Spore Launcher survived the previous combat era.  No mindworms at all.  Pretty odd now that I'm a +3 PLANET faction.  Might have to do something about that, after growing.

Details dumb pirate launchpad

dumb pirate launchpad

I move my 3 Conventional Missiles forwards to the newly rechristened Dumb Pirate, in honor of my buddy Svensgaard's ideas about his cosmic importance.  I can probably move them to the newly rechristened East Berlin in 1 turn, if I feel the need.

Details nosey

nosey

I'd dearly love to blast those planes that attacked me to smithereens.  This is the cheapest Drop Interceptor I can come up with, that has a good gun on it.  I can't upgrade my Missile Interceptors all at once as I don't have enough money for that.  I do have a few other old planes sitting around.  Let's see if Air Superiority restricts my upgrade choices or not.  Oops, it does.  Also I can't upgrade old Missile units to a Gatling design, even if I had the money.  This is a good unit idea, but it'll have to wait.

Details causing trouble

causing trouble

I may not be able to shoot down the planes that offended me, but I can cause an equal amount of havoc somewhere else.  100 credits later, I've got 2 planes ready to go!  I make a similar Drop Missile Needlejet design, to upgrade a plane that Miriam gave me.  60 credits later, I have another instrument of terror.

Details die colonist!

die colonist!

Now, what can I mess up?  Scanning the cities, I see lots of AAA units, but no Air Superiority units.  I have free reign to kill anything weak.

[bvanevery]

Details fish in a barrel

fish in a barrel

MY 2365.  I have more money this year.  For 640 credits I upgrade my 8 Missile Interceptors to Drop.  They wipe out several planes and a bunch of Formers.  Cha Dawn really shouldn't have made me think hard about "who can do what to whom".  I'm going to bleed out his air force, then I'm going to take the Nano Factory.  If it doesn't get nuked first.  It's about to produce a nuke actually.  Doesn't matter if it's aimed at me, I'll shoot it down.