The best pod-popping

[Mr. Harley]

Early on if you are in a tech race the foil can be best, as it increases your chance substantially of getting tech due to eliminating the Alien Artifact and Ogre/transport options. However, in single player I prefer the transport as I can bank the Alien Artifact for my Fusion push. The AI is weak at popping ocean pods.

However, once I get Free Market/Wealth and I go for Doctrine : Flexibility and Centauri Empathy (getting my Rec Commons on the way). I plan for the turn I gain Centauri Empathy, and make sure I have foils reay to do some pod popping and IOD capture. Once I capture several, I return to free market.

Captured or produced IOD's will be attacked by native IOD's if they come in contact. I just booted up the scenario editor to check.

[Adalbertus]

Originally posted by Ancyrean
Speaking so much on IoDs, there's also another theoretical way you can catch them, although it's really up to chance: If you land on or near Manifold Nexus (in SMAX, that is), you get +1 enviroment and that's good enough to catch native lifeforms without going green!

The Manifold Nexus also exists in the latest patch (or second-latest, if you count the compatibility patch), 4.2, IIRC. It even has its own interlude which is omitted in SMAX.

[Adalbertus]

I usually build 0-3rt-4 foils for pod popping. Require level 3 techs, produce no drones in FM, and are quite resistant against IoDs.

[johndmuller]

Originally posted by Ancyrean
I also recall that a wild worm/spore launcher/IoD never attacks native life forms controlled by you, which adds more value to a captured IoD (correct me if I'm wrong on this ).

Also, a wild IoD emerging from a popped pod also comes with a mindworm or two loaded. So if you capture one such IoD, you also get the mind worms, which then give you the ability to explore land pods on uncharted islands, multiplying your exploration capabilities . . .

The wild worms will definitely not attack your own NL's (as long as they are not stacked with regular units) but I'm not so sure about the other things, particularly w/r IoD's and Sealurks.

There is also some kind of wierd bug with SporeLaunchers - sometimes you will see two wild Launchers fighting each other, but it can happen to you too! - I think maybe that a SporeLauncher will defend against any artie action within its range, no matter the faction (for example, I had a Launcher of mine in a base defend against my own ship which was firing at a seafungal tile in hopes of locating a disappeared IoD).

The number of passengers on wild IoD's seems to start at zero and to increase as the game goes on (as does the morale and capacity of the IoD's). They may be SporeLaunchers as well as Worms (and the SporeLaunchers will bombard your units as well as your terraforming, which is a real PIA early in the game.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

JohnD is correct. Land based worms will not atack another worm.

OTOH Isles, launchers, & locusts most certainly attack anything inlcuding facitional controlled natives.

[Barinthus]

Originally posted by Adalbertus


The Manifold Nexus also exists in the latest patch (or second-latest, if you count the compatibility patch), 4.2, IIRC. It even has its own interlude which is omitted in SMAX.

Forgive my threadjacking for a minute here. Is there a way to 'activate' the interlude into the game? Such as inserting a line into the txt file?

[Skanky Burns]

Hard-coded, I would guess.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Lefty Scaevola
Early on it is a real choice. But the best unit when you get it in the Ilse of the deep. It can get atifacts and units at sea, transport, fight, capture wild IoDs, and heal itself far from home by sitting in sea fungus.

IoDs are it. They are also invisible when hiding in sea fungus. Also, IIRC, native lifeforms do not require support when they are in a fungus square.

[Chaunk]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
JohnD is correct. Land based worms will not atack another worm.

OTOH Isles, launchers, & locusts most certainly attack anything inlcuding facitional controlled natives.

I think IoDs will indeed leave faction controlled natives. They will not ignore an IoD loaded with cargo however, including alien artificats, which means that a loaded IoD is actually worse than the 0-3rt-4
Adalbertus mentioned, both in cost terms and in defensive terms once it's loaded up.

With regard to sealurks, spore launchers and locusts however, I'm unsure...

[RedFred]

I hate to directly contradict but... nope. Native IoDs will attack your IoDs even if you don't have any units aboard.

The frequency that this happens is related to your planet rating.

[Chaunk]

Originally posted by RedFred
I hate to directly contradict but... nope. Native IoDs will attack your IoDs even if you don't have any units aboard.

The frequency that this happens is related to your planet rating.

I stand corrected... my bad!

C