ACDG6: The Genesis Project

[Hydro]

Green/Red yields good resources from fungus, but switching back (when your Planet rating goes negative) can be a real problem. Also, it means you have to terraform twice, or leave your territory half and half (not efficient).

An option is to leave a rocky fungus tile with MWs. This will be support free, and if connected with a road has no movement penalty to terraformed terrain.

There is no penalty for defending Psi with a bad Planet rating, but these units will be much less useful. Green/Red is great since your defenders can also be attackers!

The Green/Red tech tree is smaller, but there is much less interlinkage with most of the techs to the conventional tech tree. The farther you go the more it diverges, which makes sense. Some Explore techs we’ll want regardless (Env Eco), but we’ll have to make a call as we go.

Our options are:
• Tech, with normal terraforming (farms, solar, mines)
• Green, with mainly forests with some farms, solar and mines
• Red, with only fungus
This can change as the game progresses, of course.

Hydro

[vyeh]

I thought psi combat depended on the planet rating of both the attacker and the defender.

Even if we go green and psi combat units, it doesn't stop us from following a forest strategy or a normal terraforming strategy.

[Hydro]

My understanding is that defenders have no advantage/penalty based on Planet rating. The attacker has a Psi bonus/penalty based on their Planet rating. Other factors (trance, base bonus, sensor) may modify.

I have a vague recollection that each point of Planet gets you a 15% penalty/bonus instead of the 10%/Planet point in SMAC. So you can guess that a Green (+2 Planet), Bree or Cult (+2 Planet) with Manifold (+1 Planet) for +5 Planet gets you a 75% PSI bonus (!!!!). I'll have to refresh my memory a bit, though. I'm sure the details are documented for SMAniaC.

So, if a worm pulls up to your base and you have a -3 Planet rating you are almost better off letting it attack you in SMAniaC.

Anyone have any clarifications?

Hydro

[vyeh]

You're right. The manual only mentions the planet rating of the attacker.

I used a saved game in ACDG5 and attacked the Gaians (+1 planet) with an IoD. Our planet rating was a factor. The Gaians planet rating was not a factor.

[vyeh]

From operations:

With a neighbor to the north we also should consider military techs. Getting caught with only scouts means we're dead against an aggressive faction like Templar (25% attack bonus) or Cult.

If we switched research right now, we would lose two years of research and the only military tech we could research is the fission reactor.

If we wait three years, we should be able to research Military Know-how.

[Hydro]

"Soon" is good enough for the tech. Having no options for defending yourself is game ender.

Perhaps a tech trade? Delan is likely to get military tech even with his terrible tech rate. Or he has been able to trade with others. He may trade with us if we are low on the Power rankings.

Hydro

[vyeh]

Delan does not want to see The Echelon Mirror Park fall into our hands.

[vyeh]

We expect to discover renewable energy sources between 2121 and 2122.

If nothing changes (on library pods or tech trades), we will be able to choose the next tech from:

Social Psych
The Fission Reactor
Military Know-How
Industrial Base
Gene Splicing
Ecological Engineering
Progenitor Psych

Except for Fission Reactor and Progenitor Psych, they're all kinda useful at the moment. :-s

Hydro is interested in a military tech. Military know-how gives us missile launcher (A2; lasers in SMAX). Industrial base gives us kevlar armor (D2; synthmetal armor).

Industrial base is also on the b-line to industrial automation (crawlers).

I'm inclined toward industrial base.

We'll also need social psych (recreation commons) sooner rather than later, if we either want to grow Purini and Mutatio beyond 2 citizens or we want to have more than 5 bases.

[vyeh]

We spotted a Templar scout two squares from our scout.

The Templars are on the same continent as us and are listed as weaker than us on the power graph,. They do lead the factions in territory. so there must be a lot of territory beyond them.

They start out with field modulation, so they have fungal jump suit (D2r). They also start with -3 planet and -1 efficiency.

[Hydro]

The Templar are VERY bad news for us. They have +25% attack as well as a 30% PSI bonus. They will have no trouble with their -3 Planet rating. They eat Planet-based factions for lunch, especially after they get Centauri Empathy, at which time they get free Empath Song on ALL military units!! From our point of view think of them as the Believers with no research penalty.

This changes everything, of course. Pop all the pods you can and hope for the best. Get a base up near the Jungle ASAP. If they get the Jungle we’re dead.

As they are a very aggressive faction we need Military Knowhow ASAP. They are not nice neighbors, but may be somewhat compliant if they are low on the Power Graph.

We can consider tech trades with Templar. Resonance Armor (2r) is better than straight scout and the armor is relatively cheap. But, we do not want to give them Exowomb since they run Anthropomorphic with no penalty (e.g. – they get +2 growth and +1 morale for free).

Hydro

[vyeh]

The Templars contacted us and demanded polymorphic software, which would have given them planned social model and polymorphic defense system (citizens defense force). Given their belligerent nature, we declined and they declared vendetta.

[Hydro]

Did I say the Templar are aggressive?

We need Military Know-how ASAP, along with grabbing the Jungle. Then we need basic armor to ward off scout and laser (A2) attacks. With some luck we can get him to focus on our future Jungle bases, sending lots of reinforcements.

If our scout can take out his that is great. Maybe we can get a truce if we kill his scout considering their relative power.

Kill Templar colony pods, if possible.

Perhaps this changes our plans. I'd suggest taking out the Templar after we get a few bases up, some roads/defenses. If we let them grow we're in deep do-do with never-ending wars or cycles of wars and truces. If we do get a truce we should get a few Impact rovers and take him out or at least wreck a few bases.

Hydro

[vyeh]

The Ghosts have invaded our territory.

I think we should demand their immediate withdrawal. They may declare vendetta, but we have three scouts that can get to the battle area within a turn. They have only one. If we leave them be, the colony pod will establish a base.

[vyeh]

We recovered a data pod containing social psych. The vote was 2-1 against demanding the Ghost withdraw from our territory.

So far, the Ghost invaders have recovered a Unity survey pod, locating abundant nutrient resources and moved their colony pod next to Purini.

[vyeh]

We've switched from frontier to anthropocentric society.