Transcend Economic Victory

[bbailey]

Has anyone reliably won a victory at the Transcend level by cornering the global energy market? The only way I've been able to do that was in a trival fashion -- when I was about to win a military victory anyway. Otherwise, I just about always win single player at the Transcend level with any faction (no matter what the opponents / settings). I've tried playing Morgan a few times with this goal in mind. I win (buy rushing Ascent at the end) but have only about a tenth of the amount I would need for an economic victory. Thanks.

[waab]

Yes, sometimes. But not to often I lie to play with the drones and the hive so I mainly win by diplomatic victory after almost killing all player out.

But I have won by economic with the gaians but that was really late, so I got a lazy score.

[bbailey]

Yes, but do you have a "recipe" for economic victory. I am looking for something to replicate. When you played as the Gians, how close to Transcend or military conquest were you?

[Phenix]

I got a pure economic victory w/ morgan, where i didn't have a strong military might, but that was on thinker difficulty though...

[CEO Aaron]

Any faction that can't run Free Market really has no business trying to grab at the Economic Victory. Go straight for Transcend, you'll probably get there faster.

If you're serious about cornering the market, you've got to be Governor, running Wealth _and_ FM. Instead of building a science city (well, it can be both, I suppose), you'll be building a cash city. Make sure you've built the Planetary Energy Grid, and give your cash city the Longevity Vaccine. Once you've got Planetary Economics, put most of your bases in Stockpile mode, and watch the Energy reserves shoot up.

Don't forget to go Fundy on the turn you plan to stage your takeover, the +2 probe should drop the cost of subverting all those bases significantly. I'm not sure how the efficiency hit will effect your final score, tho.

To be honest, however, the Economic win is alot more trouble than its worth. It gives no more victory points than being Elected Supreme Leader, and takes a _lot_ more effort, imo.

[Datajack Franit]

Economic victory is for wimps!

[Archaic]

Wimps? How so? Were you not listening to Aaron? It takes far more effort than any other method of victory.

[bbailey]

Originally posted by CEO Aaron
[snip]
To be honest, however, the Economic win is alot more trouble than its worth. It gives no more victory points than being Elected Supreme Leader, and takes a _lot_ more effort, imo.

Thanks Aaron. The extra effort is kind of the point. Transcend and military victories I have down pat. I have tried the combination of all you suggest. I naively thought that Democracy / Free Market / Wealth / Eudomonia would get me there without the need to stockpile.

Now, since Planetary Energy Grid is an essential element, I guess I am talking SMAX instead of SMAC. So who should I select as opponents for this exercise?

[zsozso]

How about: Gaians, Pirates, Zak, Fungi-boy - these do not tend to build too well equpied or too many bases, so it is cheaper to buy them. Miriam would also fit that profile, however her Fundy will make it expensive anyhow.
Maybe Spartans and Hive are OK too, but I'm not so sure.
Zak does build enhancements, but his negative probe rating makes it cheaper to buy from.

[Mongoose]

The biggest factor in costing the cornering of the energy market is having pacts. A benchmark game should have factions that are most likely to pact with your chosen faction.

I don't know that being Fundy, or otherwise improving your probe rating, has any effect.

What I know DOES matter is having the highest possible COMMERCE rating you can manage. That's why Morgan is the best choice for making the attempt (on account of his innate +1)

I think the differential between your COMMERCE rating and those of the others likewise has an effect...a monopoly on high end commerce tech(s) is useful.

Likewise, I think it helps to be governor.

[bbailey]

This turned out not to be as hard as I thought. I am not sure what I was doing wrong the first few times I tried a transcend level economic victory, cause I never even got close before.

I followed conventional build strategy for Morgan and things went pretty smoothly. Maybe using directed research made the difference or maybe it was getting into Free Market / Wealth early or maybe lucky start.

I used SMAX Map of Planet (so I could count on exploiting landmarks) and picked human opponents that favored democracy or didn't oppose wealth: Deirdre, Zakharov, Lal, Aki, Domai, Roze.

My play was far from perfect (I didn't get Merchant Exchange, wasted resources building Energy Banks, and I carelessly let the Governorship fall out of my hands) and I didn't exploit supply crawlers.

Even so, I had accumulated enough money (less than 15,000 needed) by 2270 to Corner the Global Energy Market. I won on 2290 with a score of 183% which is a fair score for me, but considerably quicker than I normally win.

I was doing quite well, but I was a long way from victory by any other means, and I wasn't leading in any of the power graph categories (except, of course, economic reserves).

Thanks everyone for your help. If anyone is interested I can post the save files or a log.

[Main_Brain]

Gaian cities are quite Expansive usually?
Compared with.. say Yang?
Also the 'Energy Market crash' comes waaaay to often when trying it

[Mongoose]

Originally posted by Main_Brain
Also the 'Energy Market crash' comes waaaay to often when trying it

Not if you turn off the bloody random events.

[bbailey]

Originally posted by Main_Brain
Also the 'Energy Market crash' comes waaaay to often when trying it

Originally posted by Mongoose
Not if you turn off the bloody random events.

[list=1][*]Does the Planetary Energy Grid protect against this?[*]Does the Energy Market Crash impact all players or just one?[/list=1]
Thanks.

[ThePlagueRat]

I tried a Trancend-game yesterday.
Playing the beautiful Gaia-Lady, I started up fighting agianst Spartan elite units.Mine were just 'green' and 'very green'. I just couldn't take out their 2-def units with my 4-off. And they just puked out tons of units. I held them at stance, but couldn't take the bases. An exciting war indeed! Meanwhile, the other factions built wonders and expanded...

Hmm, on Thinker-level it all went very well.
Especially when playing the Usurper domination game.