landmarks

[NorthSwordsman]

I just take any landmark I can and make the best use of it. I do enjoy the Uranium flats or the crater- both really help boost producing. Other than that, I'll take whatever I can get and use them.

My least fav? Pholus Ridge. Between the worms and AI... sigh.... always get blasted off it for one reason or another.

[DilithiumDad]

In theory Pholus Ridge is great --+1 energy for quite a few tiles (I believe it's six). But for some reason the map generator always covers it in fungus (this is also true in Map of Planet and in my own Ultimate Builder, sad to say).

Mt. Planet is best because it is +mineral AND +energy AND high elevation.

Garland Crater is also excellent. Farm/solar is a good choice. Actually, putting a condensor in the center tile may be all the terraforming you really need for the whole thing (gives you 2-2-0 with no terraforming and 4-1-0 for the center tile).

Uranium Flats and Geothermal are only good if they're near your HQ --otherwise you lose the energy to inefficiency unless you crawl it out or are playing high-efficiency factions.

The Wreckage stinks --it's another desert with some cheap trinkets.

Nessus Canyon is great --there's usually a river in it and +1 minerals in about 6 tiles. It only appears in maps made with the Scenario Editor, though.

[death_head]

That never seems to be the case when I see the Pholus ridge... maybe it's cause I rarely see it...

[Avenoct]

Oh, one more thing... I like the Desert! Forested, it's just normal, but with a borehole cluster, intermixed with condensor farms, it makes for easy terraforming as it's flat!

[JustinSane]

My favorite landmarks to have, at least on the huge map of planet, are the monsoon jungle, the freshwater sea, and the manifold nexus. I almost always have worms for the bulk of my army, so the nexus adds directly to their combat effectiveness. The monsoon jungle is fairly self explanatory. The freshwater sea is useful because it lets one fight for naval superiority with 4 or 5 coastal bases, but with only one exposed to enemy sea attack. Generally, there is a trade off between increased potential navy and increased vulnerability to amphibious assault. With the freshwater sea, it's all good

[Clear Skies]

On the SMAX huge map of planet the only way into or out of the freshwater sea is by building a base somewhere along a stretch of about three land squares. Plonk one down in the middle of those squares, garrison it properly, and you have your own little safe sea! No enemy can get into it, and you're perfectly free to get out of it using that one land base as a go-between.

I like the Freshwater Sea - Aquafarms and Kelp Farms combined give you...is it 5 nuts? I forget...
Anyway, good place to plonk a few bases and foil-crawl in some serious nutrients!

[Earwicker]

Heck, yes! And the AI always ignores it. For some reason, every time I play on map of planet, I start right next to the fresh sea. Happy times.

[death_head]

The A.I. never seems to ignore it when I play, they just attack the garrison city (and lose )

[Kassiopeia]

I have nver seen/heard before about "Nessus Canyon". ?

[Avenoct]

The Nessus Canyon is not used by the game directly, but is included in the data. You have to use the Scenario Editor to plonk it down on the map...it's sort of an upside down Phollus Ridge in shape. Wouldn't it be fun if there was a way to create your own landmarks? Hrm...I'd make a variation of the Ruins, maybe a Temparate Forest-+1 minerals +1 energy in every square.

-Smack

[Vytae]

..

As a hardcore Morgan Player Mt Planet and Uranium flats are my fav's the energy and minerals and high elevation (more energy) are a huge boost. The uranium flats are excellent,if you luck out and have your HQ near(or in it) plus a energy bonus or two. And your HQ can power your whole empire,can anyone say boreholemuch?

Manifold Nexus is a big plus and i always take if i can,that way when i run freemarket i dont get my selfmade borehole clusters raped as bad.

[death_head]

How hard would it be to mess with the game data? You'd just have to follow the same format...of course, I don't know anything about editing...

[Hoek]

Manifold nexus is the best...if you get it early, you get a big boost in all the native life you can capture, and you usually win in battles w/native life...the worst one with any real benefits is the fossil ridge...it actually hampers production since it's aways in ocean squares and can't be developed...I like the geothermal shallows because it's usally big enough to form some nice sea colonys. Have we forgotten about the fungus sea (i forget what it's called)? If you have X-Dome or lots of alien units, its the perfect hideout

[death_head]

The fungus sea is awesome late game, because all you have to do is put a base in the middle, and voila! 2-2-2 per square guaranteed, not counting satellites, bonuses, etc.

[Kassiopeia]

The "Fungus Sea" is "New Sargasso".