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Originally posted by ErikM
Yes, Morgan's link and a unity foil so early were exceptionally lucky. 41 ECs came from selling Planetary Networks to Morgan for 25 Ecs and 16ECs my own.
Yes, Morgan's link and a unity foil so early were exceptionally lucky. 41 ECs came from selling Planetary Networks to Morgan for 25 Ecs and 16ECs my own.
Originally posted by ErikM
That's SC-2t-2 crawler - on Rover Chassis - which is 15 rows. [Later on SC-3r-2 is 20 rows; enough for WP/ME/CN/HGP] Generally I designed the most expensive Crawler Prototype I can and whenever I was about to pop a pod I switched production at the closest base to this ueber-crawler.
That's SC-2t-2 crawler - on Rover Chassis - which is 15 rows. [Later on SC-3r-2 is 20 rows; enough for WP/ME/CN/HGP] Generally I designed the most expensive Crawler Prototype I can and whenever I was about to pop a pod I switched production at the closest base to this ueber-crawler.
Originally posted by ErikM
It's borderline cheating I guess but super-crawlers is the best outcome that can come out of pods and since the time limit in fast transcedence games is so tight one has to optimize everything possible in the early game including pod pops.
It's borderline cheating I guess but super-crawlers is the best outcome that can come out of pods and since the time limit in fast transcedence games is so tight one has to optimize everything possible in the early game including pod pops.
Originally posted by ErikM
So I completed PTS using one of these 15 rows crawlers and I think I have popped another one later on which I used towards WP. Remaining rows came from upgrading some of my SCs to SC-2t-1 which is 8 rows (5extra rows over normal SC) for 90ec which is the best bung for the buck in the early game.
So I completed PTS using one of these 15 rows crawlers and I think I have popped another one later on which I used towards WP. Remaining rows came from upgrading some of my SCs to SC-2t-1 which is 8 rows (5extra rows over normal SC) for 90ec which is the best bung for the buck in the early game.
Originally posted by ErikM
Money partially came from pods, and partially from selling all my techs to pretty much everyone I met. AI (except Miriam) will buy techs for 25ecs even if they don't have the money
so the really lucky part was actually finding these comm links early enough. Not only it allowed me to make quick $$$ from selling multiple techs to everyone, but also I could avoid building EG and even researching EG-enabling tech (traded with Dee for it eventually).
Money partially came from pods, and partially from selling all my techs to pretty much everyone I met. AI (except Miriam) will buy techs for 25ecs even if they don't have the money
so the really lucky part was actually finding these comm links early enough. Not only it allowed me to make quick $$$ from selling multiple techs to everyone, but also I could avoid building EG and even researching EG-enabling tech (traded with Dee for it eventually).
Originally posted by ErikM
Yes, I rush RTs whenever money permit as a first build. On this map, there are plenty of monoliths and river squares so the need for early formers is lower.
Also, I favor Planned/Wealth early on. Running FM early when you don't have much of a commerce income and when your bases are working monoliths (and thus do not benefit as much from +1 energy) is not all that great. You'll get something like 14ec/turn instead of 8-9 ec/turn. And you have to worry about size two bases. Running planned/wealth gives a discount on rush builds (due to lower mineral count) and a faster growth which is more than enough to offset FM superior energy output at this stage at the game. Of course, planned means slower research but at this stage I do not overly worry about my tech speed since I am researching techs that I can potentially trade from others.
Yes, I rush RTs whenever money permit as a first build. On this map, there are plenty of monoliths and river squares so the need for early formers is lower.
Also, I favor Planned/Wealth early on. Running FM early when you don't have much of a commerce income and when your bases are working monoliths (and thus do not benefit as much from +1 energy) is not all that great. You'll get something like 14ec/turn instead of 8-9 ec/turn. And you have to worry about size two bases. Running planned/wealth gives a discount on rush builds (due to lower mineral count) and a faster growth which is more than enough to offset FM superior energy output at this stage at the game. Of course, planned means slower research but at this stage I do not overly worry about my tech speed since I am researching techs that I can potentially trade from others.
Originally posted by ErikM
Why Biogenetics is better than IA early on: while it is possible to get IA by 2113 (a) my bases are still producing colony pods and not crawlers (b) wealth will give me +1economy while recycling tanks give +1/+1/+1 effectively increasing all FOPs. Again, you can pop a material pod in a base square radius which will force an instant completion of RTs - so much the merrier.
Why Biogenetics is better than IA early on: while it is possible to get IA by 2113 (a) my bases are still producing colony pods and not crawlers (b) wealth will give me +1economy while recycling tanks give +1/+1/+1 effectively increasing all FOPs. Again, you can pop a material pod in a base square radius which will force an instant completion of RTs - so much the merrier.
Originally posted by ErikM
Of course it only quite works if you can actually rush these RTs and only with fast researchers since for factions like Spartans reserching BioGen will delay IA too much. But Zak (and Morgan on a good start) can get BioGen and still get IA early enough.
Of course it only quite works if you can actually rush these RTs and only with fast researchers since for factions like Spartans reserching BioGen will delay IA too much. But Zak (and Morgan on a good start) can get BioGen and still get IA early enough.
Originally posted by ErikM
This is true without any doubt - it is just that the period from fusion to transcedence is so short (especially on smaller maps that I usually play) I never really tried to figure out optimal research sequence.
This is true without any doubt - it is just that the period from fusion to transcedence is so short (especially on smaller maps that I usually play) I never really tried to figure out optimal research sequence.
Originally posted by ErikM
I play builder too - however on smaller maps one can conquer AI factions using like 3 choppers and 2 drop garrisons to force a submissive pact very fast. I would then give them back all their bases simply to maximize trade income. Heck, sometimes I'll build a base and gift it to a submissive so as to even out the commerce income.
I play builder too - however on smaller maps one can conquer AI factions using like 3 choppers and 2 drop garrisons to force a submissive pact very fast. I would then give them back all their bases simply to maximize trade income. Heck, sometimes I'll build a base and gift it to a submissive so as to even out the commerce income.
Originally posted by ErikM
Yes in general, just I am a bit short on time at the moment. However, I don't think it's completely *even* builder map. Playing without pods will result in (ie) Dee being much weaker than Zak or Morgan while I think she is quite good in general due to superior pod-popping capability. Placing factions so far away from each other means very late contact and little trade income, which will probably make Sikander-style all-specialist approach superior. You may have noticed that I generally prefer workers rather than specialists since commerce bonus a base gets depends solely on its raw energy output, to which specialists contribute nothing at all. My best bases in 2196 game did not use any specialist at all and you can check manually converting them to transcendi just how much lab output you *lose* due to lower raw energy output. Because of these considers I do not pack my bases *too* tightly. And generally I just don't believe in a fixed placement approach since imho an ability to place a base on a river out of "grid" and get an extra +1 energy for first 50 years is better than an ability to drill an extra borehole 20 turns prior to transcedence.
So in general yes, I am interested to match skills on a fair ground, I just doubt that it is possible to design completely fair conditions.
Yes in general, just I am a bit short on time at the moment. However, I don't think it's completely *even* builder map. Playing without pods will result in (ie) Dee being much weaker than Zak or Morgan while I think she is quite good in general due to superior pod-popping capability. Placing factions so far away from each other means very late contact and little trade income, which will probably make Sikander-style all-specialist approach superior. You may have noticed that I generally prefer workers rather than specialists since commerce bonus a base gets depends solely on its raw energy output, to which specialists contribute nothing at all. My best bases in 2196 game did not use any specialist at all and you can check manually converting them to transcendi just how much lab output you *lose* due to lower raw energy output. Because of these considers I do not pack my bases *too* tightly. And generally I just don't believe in a fixed placement approach since imho an ability to place a base on a river out of "grid" and get an extra +1 energy for first 50 years is better than an ability to drill an extra borehole 20 turns prior to transcedence.
So in general yes, I am interested to match skills on a fair ground, I just doubt that it is possible to design completely fair conditions.
I haven't decided on a map yet so I'm not quite sure what you're referring to -- the CGN Veterans map or this one. I understand that leaving the pods off will disfavour some factions but I believe this just can't be helped, since the pods are way too unpredictable. As far as placing the factions apart, I'd say that by building the Empath Guild you can make contacts fairly early, at least by my standards. Perhaps some factions could be placed a bit closer, but I wouldn't want the game to turn into a conquest for submissives. But these are just my current thoughts and if someone besides me actually wants to ever do this, these things should be decided together.
Regarding the specialist and commerce energy, you make a good point. In your game commerce certainly played a big part while in mine things were different and I found specialists to be efficient. Learning from my game, I wouldn't pack my bases quite so close in the beginning, but I might refill the spaces later when Orbital Spaceflight is discovered. And I think you're absolutely right on the fixed base placement issue -- I also think you should place your bases according to the terrain.
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