A funny thing happend on the way to the Rec Commons...

[Deimos]

Looking for something different in an SP game, I decided to start one and play the Planet Cult for a change of pace. When the game began the year was 2106.

So I said to myself "Self, that's not right" and started another game. Still 2106. I went through several different sets of game settings, but every time I started with FungBoy, it was 2106.

Other factions started at 2101, just not Planet's Savior. I even uninstalled/re-installed the game thinking something got mucked up somewhere. Still 2106.

Being as I'm on the road and my game manual didn't make the trip, I'm not able to check if this is normal. Does anyone know if this is normal for The Pink One?

[Petek]

I think you're right. I got the same result starting several games. Using the scenario editor, it seems that:

* When you play as the Cult, all factions begin in MY 2106.

* If the Cult is in the game, but you're playing another faction, everyone except the Cult starts in MY 2101. The Cult appears later, but not always in MY 2106.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Remeber tha Cha Dawn is found in the fungus sometime after the landing.
The Progenitors factions also land in 2106.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Note also that, in acordance with the story, you do get the scene of a colony escape pod landing when you play the cult, you just start with a base.

[NorthSwordsman]

Originally posted by Lefty Scaevola
Remeber tha Cha Dawn is found in the fungus sometime after the landing.
The Progenitors factions also land in 2106.

I believe in one of the stories released by Firaxis, Cha'Dawn is apparently the result of a mating between a human female and an unknown, unnamed agency, (possibly a male mindworm? I have no idea... it appears to be a mystery, which is what they intended.)

[Earwicker]

Originally posted by NorthSwordsman


I believe in one of the stories released by Firaxis, Cha'Dawn is apparently the result of a mating between a human female and an unknown, unnamed agency, (possibly a male mindworm? I have no idea... it appears to be a mystery, which is what they intended.)

Hmmm, a very funny thing INDEED happened . . .

Yes, the late start is something of a bummer. A curious though occurs to me: does the game assign Fungboy's starting location from the very start, or is it assigned immediately before 2106? Probably wouldn't make much difference in terms of other factions' bases, but presence of their exploring units could be a factor.

For consistency's sake, I wonder why the same thing doesn't apply to Aki, Roze, and Domai -- all offshoot factions themselves?

[Deimos]

Well, thanks for confirming my observations. It looks like it's a 2106 start for Cha.

Earwicker:

In my tests, it appears to be a normal start (look first enabled): 2 CP's, 1 scout + whatever bonus unit (if applicable) for ALL the factions. The year is just 2106.

Heck, I was able to get the "First Tech" monument in 2112, on Trancend Huge Map of Planet. If the AI had a 5 year lead on me, SOMEONE should have beat me to that monument.

As far as why the other off-shoot factions don't have a late start, who can fathom the reasoning of a Firaxis programmer?

[Tau Ceti]

Originally posted by Earwicker
A curious though occurs to me: does the game assign Fungboy's starting location from the very start, or is it assigned immediately before 2106?

It is selected in 2101, as are the Progenitor starting locations if they are in the game. If you play without Unity scattering and open the scenario editor on the first turn, you can see the pods around their future landing sites.