Initial Expansion

[WhiteElephants]

I'm curious about how everyone else expands in the first 1-100 turns. I used to pump out colony pods until I had about 12 bases and stopped there to build infrastructure, but lately I have been switching to Planned economics and stopping at 6 which ends up being close to turn 50, I think?(Playing Gaians, Standard sized map, Transcend). Once those bases are established with rec. commons and recycling tanks (Children's Creches if I have the tech) and a Node or Bank here and there I move on and place three more bases and switch to Police State (and Wealth as soon as I get it). Police State gives me a boost to my military and terraformer support as well as my fledgling Navy. At this point I start specializing some of my larger and more productive bases(or potential larger and more productive) by adding other facilities like the Nodes or Banks or Creches or Hologram theaters or Bio labs, etc. The other bases concentrate on military and terraformer production.

I was also interested in the first 10 techs people pick up. I start with bioengineering, then the node tech, then social psych, then the probe and planned econ tech (I wish I learned all the proper names), from there I go to mobility, then flexability. After those two I might go for the Democracy tech, and the Police State tech, or work my way up the three build techs to Industrial Automation.

[mark13]

All of what follows is playing as the Gaians, my usual faction:

Nothing too different really, but for the first few turns the HQ churns out one former unit, then numerous colony pods to reach all corners of my territory (that is, provided there is a rolling and rainy square nearby). Once I have about 5 bases, I start to establish and grow the HQ, (Recycling Tanks, Rec. Commons etc.) and maybe an SP after that (usually WP - it means I don't have to beeline as quickly to EcoEng).

Regarding the fledgling bases, the production orders usually go something like this: Garrison, Formers, Colony Pod, Recycling Tanks, Colony Pod (if there's room). Later on, I build Net Nodes (especially if I have VW - very useful). I am reluctant to build Hologram Theatres simply because they cost so much to maintain (3/turn).

Regarding SE choices, I start off with Police State, until the drone riots start to become a real problem (two garrison units are a pain early on). Then I switch back to normal. When the first bases start to reach size 5, I switch to Green economics, and maybe Knowledge when I get it.

Technology, ooooh....where do we start? Entirely depends on circumstances. If I'm on an island, I'll obviously beeline to DocFlex. If I have a nearby neighbour, go for Nonlinear Maths, and then High Energy Chemistry ASAP. However, if I'm left alone, what I normally do is go straight to IndAuto, get production up with a few crawlers. EcoEng doesn't come long after that, then build up the conquer techs, eventually getting to Superstring Theory, and Doctrine: Air Power. Then get the low-level Discover techs, and finally Fusion Power.

If there are any glaring mistakes in the above text, forgive me, it's 12.30 AM and I'm going to bed .

[mark13]

Double post. Apologies.
[This message has been edited by mark13 (edited September 12, 2000).]

[VoodooChild]

Greatly depends on the situation....

What special resources are there around?
What is the size of the land mass I'm on?
Is there another faction nearby, if so who?
Have I come across a special land regions that I want to seize?
Have I tripped a fungul bloom?
Has someone else started a SP?

Again with techs I go through the same thought processes. After I get a sense of who is out there, I make a determination of what sort of game I need to play. Then I estabilish medium range goals such as those laid out by Mark13, and work twards those. I also stop after each break thru and look at my options and compare those to whats going on at the time and adjust accordingly.

As far as short term goals, I will go after formers first almost all of the time. And will detour from medium range goals to pick up a favorable SE choice.

[Simpson II]

I think I've posted some of this before, but at the risk of boring people..

With the gaians, the first thing I do is have my HQ build two formers, and my second city builds a scout inf. and one former (call these two bases G0 -Generation 0 - for convenience.) I troll around until I find a MW, which goes of to explore, and garrison the HQ with my independent scout. The first of the two HQ formers starts improving the HQ, and the other goes off exploring and building roads and sensors as it travels.
Next comes 2 colony pods, and the formers from G0 preceed them to road or prework. The G0 bases now build new formers. The new G1 bases support the old formers, build scouts for garrisons, and then start colony pods. G0 start CPs after they have their new formers. The pattern repeats, roughly, until I have something else to do - usually about the time I get crawlers. Call it eight bases, in a reasonable game without lots of resources. If I have a decent amount of space then they are 4-5 squares apart, to allow for echelon mirrors and condensors.
After that, it's 2-3 crawlers a base, tanks and commons everywhere, and at least one base with sufficient crawlers to bring it's productivity up to 18-20 minerals a turn. This is when I start my SPs. Hopefully it comes sometime in the 2155-2160 region (huge map, transcend), unless I'm on a small island and absolutely have to get off. Quite possibly another round of bases next, and then some more infrastructure if I am still keeping the peace - usually nodes first.
The tech line I'm finding useful at the moment is essentially a beeline for Doc. Initiative, with applied physics and biogenetics on the side. If I don't get more than one MW I'll prototype a recon rover and upgrade a unity rover to the same type; it's enough to get some respect from the AIs. As I hit initiative I hopefully have some ships out and an IoD capture, and laser marines are enough to give most straight builders nightmares early on. If I need to make war at this point I acquire impact weaponry and build impact marines, plus the maratime control centre. It negates the Gaian morale problems nicely.

I don't usually run any SE choices until I get to this stage.. I'm keeping my labs pushed up to get that basic tech line down quickly, so planned or police state are impossible, and I always seem to start near Santiago! Eventually I do go to planned-wealth, though, and dem only when I can pop-boom. Hopefully this is sometime in the 80s, though I may end up delaying until TFs if I've found myself with little room.
I follow a similar expansion program with Zak, but I build an explorer in my HQ instead of the extra former, due to the absence of MW captures. Also, with Zak I stack my bases three squares apart.
Assuming I'm left alone, then tech-wise it's all-out for industrial Automation and Environmental Economics, with the TFs starting to go up around or before '60 in a good game. Then a pop-boom to 7 and a round or two of CPs from the top, and planetary economics.. hopefully the first HFs go up in the 80s, and when they are finished in my 'core' bases it's a boom to size 14 or 16. If I've timed it well then the next generation bases go to size 7 at the same time. I use planned-wealth when I get them, and FM-wealth (converting to knowledge when I can) after the first boom.
I don't really build SPs in the early stages with Zak. I have the full range of restriction-lifting techs before I can realistically finish WP, so it's not that much use. VW is nice, if it comes along. If not I'll survive. My growth is good enough that I don't wory much aout PTS. The human genome is probably my favourite of the early ones when playing Uni, but often the AIs want it quite badly, so I'll skip it.

I'm not so 'refined' with most other factions. With Morgan and Yang I want to expand a lot, for a long time, to get over the lack of pop-booming. PTS is normally a priority with both, and the HG for Morgan. With Santiago I may go any way at all, she's very flexible. I'm still likely to have the conquer techs coming in a lot earlier, though. No point in having elite troops if you don't use them. The PKS can be run in lots of interesting ways, so I tend to wing it. Miriam I have rarely played, and I don't feel I've ever got anything like the best from her, so I wil not embarrass myself.

[WhiteElephants]

That's the interesting idea, Simpson II, switching the support of the formers to the newly created bases... I'll have to think about that. I usually keep two squares between my base, though lately I've been a little more flexible about it. Lately I've also been changing to Planned ASAP to get that growth and production up, but I like the idea of pushing up labs and will have to play with it more. I don't like running Demo. too early so getting to a paradigm economy will have to require green. I've also been thinking that I'm not very versitile when it come to SE choices. I think the cost of changing them too often make me shy away, but if I can switch to Demo for ten or so turns and crank up the labs and grab about three or four techs quickly then switch back to police state or frontier government the benefits might outweight the 80 energy credits it will take me to change and then change back.

What about you guys? Do you change SE choices frequently? I tend to just stick with a few for long periods of time, I think I should try to change that.

[Simpson II]

WE,

Typically my SE choices are determined by the current stage of the game, so they change relatively infrequently. The only times I 'hop' are; for 15-20 turns as Gaians, going to green to capture IoDs, and for a few turns when I'm in a short war and need a morale boost - usually going to fundie-power for a bit.
Other than that, each government type reflects an empire as a whole, so I doubt that jumping around is going to be terribly useful. Anyone with a different perspective?

[mark13]

Oh dear, it seems that I am fighting above my weight somewhat here, SII. TFs by the 80s?!?! I'm lucky if I have them up by the 2280s!!

However, it is an interesting point that you make about the Formers. I think this may be where I was going wrong in my slow initial expansion, outlined in my earlier post. And also about the use of crawlers in such numbers.

Regarding governments, I often switch to fundamentalist to tip the balance in a war. I don't often play the Gaians, but when I play other factions, I often switch to green to capture mind worms and IoDs, but usually not until at least 2170, when they come in most useful (when the PDs start going up).