Federation Bounty

[Chaos Theory]

I noticed those 133M mines. Good thing they don't go off when you leave the planet

Until the last couple of days, I did not think I had the game locked down, and even now sookoll isn't beaten, just losing. My secret is very, very simple. Calculations. Run the numbers, optimize the game, get the edge, run with it. I know exactly how many fighters I can take on, exactly what an opponent needs to capture one of my planets, and exactly how hard it is to kamikaze my bank. Incidentally, this is only my third game of BNT, and only my second game longer than one day.

[Spaced Cowboy]

Damn, I was hoping that those mines would catch you of guard. I should have put them somewhere else besides you bank sector. At this point they are just extra defense for you.

I looks like you do have this wrapped up. Damn good playing for your second game. I think that I could have given you a run for it if I did not have those two snow days.

l8r

[Scouse Gits]

Does anyone know when the 28th February falls on the Greek canendar?

SG[1]

[Elenius]

As far as I can tell never.

[Spaced Cowboy]

I think Mark G has a real bad addiction right now.

Some call it mad cow disease, some say he can't stop playing moO!!!

[Xentropy]

Originally posted by Chaos Theory
My secret is very, very simple. Calculations. Run the numbers, optimize the game, get the edge, run with it.

That's THE only secret to the game. Which is why I find it kind of boring. I mean, other than universe creation, nothing is ever random, and what little is random in universe creation only matters in the very first "phase", warp lane trading.

A game without rnd() is hardly a game at all. A spreadsheet game in the truest sense of the term. TradeWars at least uses some randomization in fights, and is a little more involved than "click trade route then click repeat 50 times". Plus it doesn't suffer from the geometric expansion problem which just causes whoever takes the lead to automatically keep that lead.

I guess you could call it realistic. Rich get richer... heh

[Chaos Theory]

So long, sookoll

Having disposed of sookoll, I can finally say with confidence that I've locked down BNT2.

[Scouse Gits]

What was your ship configuration? How did you stand the cost of losing your prime ship? So many questions?
What are the criteria for when to swap from one tactic to another in your otherwise excellent step-by-step formula?

SG[1]

[Scouse Gits]

... and how is it that sookol is no more yet still owns planets?

SG[1]

[Chaos Theory]

I have no idea why sookoll still owns planets. Either he's not truly dead or it's a bug with BNT.

I kamikazed his bank, of course. It was pitifully poorly defended, and many other players could have taken it and possibly jumped ahead of me, so I had to act. I calculated that 28 comp 28 beams 24 power 24 torps 13 engine 0 else was the best kamikaze ship to use against him, at about 570B per ship. His planet had 16T credits to reimburse me and then some.

[Chaos Theory]

When to change styles

1. Warp-lane trading

Play this style from the start, naturally. Invest everything in hull.

2. Real space trading

Switching to this requires buying an engine of level >= 10. Paying for this engine diverts funds away from upgrading your hull, so the decision depends on how far away good port pairs are from specials. For 1M (engine 10) you can travel between a good number of sectors in real space for 1 or 2 turns. Pick up a fuel scoop for increased trade income around this time.

3. Colonization funded by trading

By now you should have an escape pod., but it should still be the first day. The precise point at which to switch to this depends on the max number of colonists per planet, the colonist growth rate, the credit production rate, the availability of profitable ports, how many fighters it takes to defend a planet against your strongest opponent, how many turns you start with and get per day, and other factors. I worked out that hull 20 was a good point for BNT2. Trade only as much as needed to pay for colonists and the fighters to protect them.

If you don't want to lose, PROTECT YOUR NEW COLONIES! Fighters alone are enough, so you only need to upgrade your ship's computer system. For the first day of BNT2, 15M colos and 2.5M figs per new planet worked well. That required 45 colo trips, or 180 turns, plus trading.

4. Colonization funded by colonies

Naturally, do this when you can. Upgrade your hull with excess income only when it won't prevent you from spending most of your turns on colonizing.

5. (Optional) Reinforce colonies and upgrade ship

2.5M figs per planet won't last forever. I bolstered all my planets to 4M, then 6M, then 8.5M at various points. Your ship should get weapons (besides fighters) around the time EWDs stop working, but the hull should still be the largest system.

6. Conquer

Sooner or later, while finding sectors to colonize, you'll find poorly defended enemy planets. Take them. The credits spend on weapons systems indirectly purchase the turns it would take to make those planets yourself.

7. (Optional) Reinforce colonies while banking

You will either run out of soft targets, or stop caring about taking them. Make sure you don't become a soft target yet, by further boosting your fighter count. Mine rose to 10M per planet. A high beam system helps keep out intruders, too. However, you need to save most of your money. Pretty soon, that money will become more profitable than your colonies.

8. Bank without reinforcing colonies

When your colonies produce less than it takes to defend them, stop bothering and sit on your cash. I hit a peak of 133 planets with at least 10M fighters each. To keep up with my opponents, I would have needed 15M fighters each in 2 days, which was not worth my while.

9 (if winning). Bank while losing colonies

Sit on your cash and continue to rise above your competition. By now, your planets are meaningless, except your bank. Always make sure it can't be kamikazed effectively.

9 (if losing). Conquer and kamikaze banks

Find other banks and kamikaze them. If you can't, you've already lost. Give all your credits to your strongest alliance member, if possible.