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  • Difficulty levels explained?

    Can anyone spell out EXACTLY the differences between each difficulty level? This is as much as I know:

    Citizen:
    Drones: after 6th citizen.
    Cost of one SE change: free.
    Protoyping: free.
    Changing production: free.
    Extra drones after building base: 16
    Eco-damage multiplier: no eco-damage.
    AI nutrients/minerals per line: 13
    AI: other disadvantages?
    No population loss for building Colony Pod.
    Tutorial pop-ups automatically turned on.

    Specialist:
    Drones: after 5th citizen.
    Cost of one SE change: ?
    Protoyping: ?
    Changing production: ?
    Extra drones after building base: 14
    Eco-damage multiplier: 1*
    AI nutrients/minerals per line: 12
    AI: other disadvantages?
    No population loss for building Colony Pod.

    Talent:
    Drones: after 4th citizen.
    Cost of one SE change: ?
    Protoyping: ?
    Changing production: ?
    Extra drones after building base: 12
    Eco-damage multiplier: 2*
    AI nutrients/minerals per line: 11
    AI: other disadvantages?

    Librarian:
    Drones: after 3rd citizen.
    Cost of one SE change: ?
    Protoyping: costs +50%.
    Changing production: penalty after 10 minerals.
    Extra drones after building base: 10
    Eco-damage multiplier: 3*
    AI nutrients/minerals per line: 10
    AI: no AI advantages or disadvantages.

    Thinker:
    Drones: after 2nd citizen.
    Cost of one SE change: ?
    Protoyping: costs +50%.
    Changing production: penalty after 10 minerals.
    Extra drones after building base: 8
    Eco-damage multiplier: 4*
    AI nutrients/minerals per line: 8
    AI: other benefits?

    Transcend:
    Drones: after 1st citizen.
    Cost of one SE change: 40 credits.
    Protoyping: costs +50%.
    Changing production: penalty after 10 minerals.
    Extra drones after building base: 6
    Eco-damage multiplier: 5*
    AI nutrients/minerals per line: 7
    AI: other benefits?

    note: The numbers for AI nutrients/minerals per line, and for base limits before extra drones, assume a standard planet and an efficiency rating of zero. Different planet sizes and faction bonuses, as well as other factors, can change these figures.
    *note two: The eco-damage formula is heinous, so I just included this number, indicating how much the base eco-damage is multiplied by at each difficulty level.

    Can anyone help fill in these stats, and point out any categories I've missed?

    [This message has been edited by Helium Pond (edited May 02, 2000).]

  • #2
    I think the advantages for the AI in the higher levels are as follows:

    Talent: +0% growth, industry
    Librarian: +10% growth, industry
    Thinker: +20% growth, industry
    Transcend: +30% growth, industry

    No idea about energy/tech speedup, though I'd imagine that infiltration gets more expensive for the human and less expensive for the AI in higher levels.

    AI seems to be more aggressive on higher levels, diplomacy works less well.

    Also, base limit without extra drones (beaurocracy limit) decreases and pollution increases in the higher levels. The exact formulas are given in the datalink advanced concepts...I'll look them up for you next time.
    -joer

    [This message has been edited by joer (edited April 29, 2000).]

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    • #3
      On citizen and specialist you do not lost any population when you build a colony pod

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      • #4
        Thanks for the tips, I'll modify the list.

        However, I've always heard that Librarian was the level at which the player and the AI played with no differences. joer, you're saying that Talent is the level playing field? Are you sure?
        [This message has been edited by Helium Pond (edited April 30, 2000).]

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        • #5
          Gah, okie, didn't check very well the last time. Here are hopefully more correct values on AI bonuses for growth and industry.
          For each 'bar' for which the human player has a base (without SE) cost of 10, the AI has the following base cost:

          Talent: 11
          Librarian: 10
          Thinker: 8
          Transcend: 5

          -joer

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          • #6
            At Transcend the AI tech points needed for the same level of research are half than the human player. I don't remember for the other diff levels, maybe someone can tell us the rates differences.

            ------------------
            The art of mastering:"la Maîtrise des caprices du subconscient avant tout".
            The art of mastering:"la Maîtrise des caprices du subconscient avant tout".

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            • #7
              Some info on tech/industry/growth modifiers with reguard to difficulty level can be found in post titled "Growth/Industy/Tech vs. World Size/Difficulty" which I just bumped

              ------------------
              "Power does not corrupt; it merely attracts the corruptable"

              "Power doesn't corrupt; it merely attracts the corruptable"

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              • #8
                Thanks! I have some questions about all that, which I posted in that thread. Hopefully, we can figure out an economical way to include that data in this list.

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                • #9
                  There IS eco-damage on Citizen. I dont know the multiplier, though.

                  And on Citizen, the game will inform you whenever you have a Colony Pod in a position the game considers a 'good spot to found a city'.
                  The breakfast of champions is the opposition.

                  "A japaneze warrior once destroyed one of my modern armours.i nuked the warrior" -- philippe666

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                  • #10
                    Xuenay: is there actually eco-damage that affects the game, or just eco-damage that gets reported per base? In the formula given by the GameSpot guide, there's an extremely complex series of equations, ending with a multiplier that is based on difficulty level, with a range of 0-5. My assumption is that, while individual bases can report eco-damage, on Citizen level all that damage is ultimately multiplied by zero. But this is pure speculation on my part, I'd be glad of any hard facts.

                    As for the suggestion about city building, I assume that's due to the fact that Citizen level automatically turns on the in-game tutorials, which I will make note of. Thanks.

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                    • #11
                      Actually, there is ecodamage at Citizen level. I just played a game where the sea was rising so much that all my beautiful forests got destroyed .

                      ------------------
                      ~ Andy
                      ~ Andy

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                      • #12
                        Okay, that means that the eco-damage formula I'm working with must be incorrect. Or perhaps it's using difficulty as a scale of 1-6, rather than 0-5, as I'd assumed. I'm using a formula from the GameSpot game guide. Has anyone run across other formulas out there?

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                        • #13
                          I think that there are two (and maybe more) pollution categories. One obviously is the mineral production of each base. Another is the total amount of production of your empire (or is it the whole planet?) minus your Centauri reserves etc. Finally there are negative effects do to attrocities, which often include the rising sea levels mentioned above. What I am unsure about is whether the second (overall production) and the third (attrocity) are linked or not.
                          He's got the Midas touch.
                          But he touched it too much!
                          Hey Goldmember, Hey Goldmember!

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                          • #14
                            Okay, here's the exact text from the GameSpot Guide:

                            Ecological damage is determined by the following complex formula:
                            1. For each base, total the number of mines, solar collectors,
                            farms, soil enrichers, roads, mag tubes, condensers, and bore
                            holes. Items in squares that are actually being worked count
                            double.
                            2. Add an extra +8 for each borehole and +4 for each condenser.
                            3. Subtract 1 for each forest.
                            4. Halve each base that has a tree farm, and eliminate it if it
                            also has a hybrid forest.
                            5. Divide this value by 8 and reduce by up to 16 plus the number
                            of previous damages.
                            6. Take the number of minerals produced this turn.
                            7. If result from step 5 was reduced by less than 16, reduce the
                            result from step 6 by the remaining amount.
                            8. Divide minerals by 1 plus the number of Centauri preserve,
                            Temple of Planet, and Nanoreplicator.
                            9. Sum the values of steps 5 and 8 and add +5 for each major
                            atrocity.
                            10. If Alpha Prime is at perihelion, double your value.

                            Ecology percentage = (ValueFromStep10) * Difficulty *
                            Technologies * (3-Planet) * Life/300

                            Does the Official guide give a formula?

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                            • #15
                              That looks like the same formula that comes out of advanced concepts in the datalinks, Helium Pond.

                              It almost seems like a deliberate design feature to make this eco damage formula complex enough so that it is not easy to follow.

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