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What I'm looking for is a set of ideas people have used for Development Planning. I really don't care if you like or dislike them. I simply want to know what some basic plans are.
I've found the more I try and manipulate the plan, the more micro I end up doing. Knowing this, I re-read the manual and noticed many of the plans only had one segment filled. I tried it and ended up with an AI that I really enjoyed from Turn 10 onward.
Please Note: I play multiplayer most of the time. Three or Four Humans players is so radically different, I can't begin to discuss it here.
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Here is my base plan, I'll drop info in on key pieces.
All Planets
Primary: Infrastructure - I wanted to ensure my AI started to develop the planet before trying anything else.
Secondary: *Blank* - I wanted my other rules to gauge the secondary action.
Tertiary: Govt - This may seem odd to some, but I need a Govt building on just about all of my planets, so it makes a good fit here.
In a game with mass expansion a must, you need to set some others...
Core Planets
Primary: *blank* - Blank!? Yep, because your core planets are going to become large in number, you don't want to set a primary goal here. You can use other measures to get the primary goal completed.
Secondary: Moral - Keep the people happy and more productive at your core worlds.
Tertiary: Planetary Defense - What the? This is an odd choice but early game, you may only have 6-10 stars. Of those, your 'Core' Planets need defense because the Human players don't sit on there hands. They come hard and straight for... yep, your core planets.
Mineral Rich (now we are getting somewhere)
Primary: Mine
Secondary: Mine
Tertiary: *Blank* - this last one is important. Your AI instructions are going to need the room for the 'ring' instructions.
I like this basic model because we left a few blanks above and within to secure holes or allow for a bit more flexibility without micro.
Mineral Poor
Primary: *Blank* - Yep, Blank again. Because I want to make sure the 'ring' and All Planets gets applied first.
Secondary: Manufacture
Tertiary: Manufacture - after the primary things have been accomplished, go for the Manufacture.
Green Ring (Farms Anyone?)
Primary: Farms
Secondary: *Blank*
Tertiary: Research
Green is tough because you can find many great planets of various sizes and mineral abundance. By putting a certain amount of research into the mix, you are going to ensure the planets that you are farming / quickly populating are kicking in a share of the knowledge for the empire.
If you find a Green Rich planet, it may be a bit of an all in one planet. Since I love to specialize and allow the import to fulfill the majority, this is a touch planet. It would be ‘All Planets, Green, Rich, and perhaps Secondary / Core’ right away depending on how you colonized it and with what amount of ships. So Infrastructure, Mining and Farms would be fighting for the top spot. In the end though, this planet would be an efficient way to create a solid generalized world.
I really don't assign much more than this in the intro. Obviously this is just a basic template that I've done well with. Some games I need a new and Secondary plan but most of the time the general classifications do the trick. The key is to not overload your AI. Keep as many blanks in the mix as possible without losing your focus. Yellow and Red planets are very tough as they have a wide range of uses. I generally make a few player based plans for those and if I'm going to make a general plan, I ensure Terraforming is in the tertiary slot.
Yellow Ring
Primary: *Blank*
Secondary: *Blank*
Tertiary: *Terraforming
The idea here is to let the ‘All Planets’ and Mineral Status give you the planet you need until you can Terraform it into a better planet. I may also Player Define a Primary or Secondary just for one off planets or Magnate Civs.
Others include Starvation / Unrest and those are rare occasions as the plan seems to keep the populous pretty happy. The research curve is just a bit slow for most races and you may find yourself adding research to things like sweet spot and a few others to keep it humming along. I've not tested this out against the computer AI much as they play so much differently, the plan would have to be modified for a much less aggressive style.
What glaring omission is apparent? Trade. The race you play will make Trade spark a secondary or tertiary spot in one or more of the development plans. I generally play a pretty aggressive game and thin my stars quite quickly. If you put a good plan in place after your 5th or 6th star, you can auto-settle the rest without worries.
I hope this starts a thread of discussion; I would love to see what others have come up with.
I've found the more I try and manipulate the plan, the more micro I end up doing. Knowing this, I re-read the manual and noticed many of the plans only had one segment filled. I tried it and ended up with an AI that I really enjoyed from Turn 10 onward.
Please Note: I play multiplayer most of the time. Three or Four Humans players is so radically different, I can't begin to discuss it here.
---
Here is my base plan, I'll drop info in on key pieces.
All Planets
Primary: Infrastructure - I wanted to ensure my AI started to develop the planet before trying anything else.
Secondary: *Blank* - I wanted my other rules to gauge the secondary action.
Tertiary: Govt - This may seem odd to some, but I need a Govt building on just about all of my planets, so it makes a good fit here.
In a game with mass expansion a must, you need to set some others...
Core Planets
Primary: *blank* - Blank!? Yep, because your core planets are going to become large in number, you don't want to set a primary goal here. You can use other measures to get the primary goal completed.
Secondary: Moral - Keep the people happy and more productive at your core worlds.
Tertiary: Planetary Defense - What the? This is an odd choice but early game, you may only have 6-10 stars. Of those, your 'Core' Planets need defense because the Human players don't sit on there hands. They come hard and straight for... yep, your core planets.
Mineral Rich (now we are getting somewhere)
Primary: Mine
Secondary: Mine
Tertiary: *Blank* - this last one is important. Your AI instructions are going to need the room for the 'ring' instructions.
I like this basic model because we left a few blanks above and within to secure holes or allow for a bit more flexibility without micro.
Mineral Poor
Primary: *Blank* - Yep, Blank again. Because I want to make sure the 'ring' and All Planets gets applied first.
Secondary: Manufacture
Tertiary: Manufacture - after the primary things have been accomplished, go for the Manufacture.
Green Ring (Farms Anyone?)
Primary: Farms
Secondary: *Blank*
Tertiary: Research
Green is tough because you can find many great planets of various sizes and mineral abundance. By putting a certain amount of research into the mix, you are going to ensure the planets that you are farming / quickly populating are kicking in a share of the knowledge for the empire.
If you find a Green Rich planet, it may be a bit of an all in one planet. Since I love to specialize and allow the import to fulfill the majority, this is a touch planet. It would be ‘All Planets, Green, Rich, and perhaps Secondary / Core’ right away depending on how you colonized it and with what amount of ships. So Infrastructure, Mining and Farms would be fighting for the top spot. In the end though, this planet would be an efficient way to create a solid generalized world.
I really don't assign much more than this in the intro. Obviously this is just a basic template that I've done well with. Some games I need a new and Secondary plan but most of the time the general classifications do the trick. The key is to not overload your AI. Keep as many blanks in the mix as possible without losing your focus. Yellow and Red planets are very tough as they have a wide range of uses. I generally make a few player based plans for those and if I'm going to make a general plan, I ensure Terraforming is in the tertiary slot.
Yellow Ring
Primary: *Blank*
Secondary: *Blank*
Tertiary: *Terraforming
The idea here is to let the ‘All Planets’ and Mineral Status give you the planet you need until you can Terraform it into a better planet. I may also Player Define a Primary or Secondary just for one off planets or Magnate Civs.
Others include Starvation / Unrest and those are rare occasions as the plan seems to keep the populous pretty happy. The research curve is just a bit slow for most races and you may find yourself adding research to things like sweet spot and a few others to keep it humming along. I've not tested this out against the computer AI much as they play so much differently, the plan would have to be modified for a much less aggressive style.
What glaring omission is apparent? Trade. The race you play will make Trade spark a secondary or tertiary spot in one or more of the development plans. I generally play a pretty aggressive game and thin my stars quite quickly. If you put a good plan in place after your 5th or 6th star, you can auto-settle the rest without worries.
I hope this starts a thread of discussion; I would love to see what others have come up with.
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