Lal

[Aredhran]

F*CK !!!

Last night I finally got around to start this game, and I got a terranx.exe around 2230. To my dismay I noticed that the autosave was off, and my last save dated back around 2180).

Damn Firaxis.

[This message has been edited by Aredhran (edited November 24, 2000).]

update. I'm trying to catch up with BigC after that horrible first 50 years !!
logged the game starting at about 2200

Svensgard went from magnamanimous to belligerent in record time.
2182 energy grid. nice

2185, core established, first node online
43 pop in 14 bases,
4 SP
demo/FM/wealth for 102 rp/t +137-16
21 techs, int. int. in 5. A belligerent Svensgard will have DAP at about 2205 , gulp

by 2188 all pacts are gone. 56 pop now, still only 102 research.

big one at 2200.


big one at 2200 .

76 pop in 17 bases+3CP
5 SP, cdf in construction
demo/FM/wealth for 174 rp/t (cost 1323rp) +184-54
22 techs, ecol eng in 1.

need crawlers !

10 ChildC, 15 RecT, 13 RecCom, 5 NetN, 7 Hologram, 1 ReseaerchH, 1 HabC,

14 formers, 5 seaformer, 4 scouts, 1 Unity, 1 Recon, 1 Impact. Rover, 2 Missl Rover 1 U. Foil, 4+1 (trance) Synthmetal Garisson

its getting slow. time for a log. The reason for lagging 10-20 years behind BigC and especially VoodooChild is the very very late discovery of ind. econ, ind. auto, and environmental eco eta 2209, pfffhh (look at the development of research output since FM was discovered !).
2203 planned, pop grows
2204 Hive destroyed, 227 research
2205 V'detta pirates. Rush some sea units ! he'll have DAP in 2213 or so.
2206 planned 91 pop
2207 finish PTS pop 111
2208 env econ, research planetary econ (258 rp - 6 turns)
2210 Hi NRG Chem stolen from pirates, 322 rp
2213 planetary econ, pop boomed to 135
2214 planned, lose size 2 base to Pirates, 141 pop
2215 pirates discover, i steal DAP, 144 pop 348 rp, 401-120 income
2217 researching neural grafting. Last AI tech is optical computers wit Zak. need it asap. its a long way to transcendence without the supercollider
2218 152 pop, 382 rp, 465-147
2220 losing lots of units to pirates and caretaker navy. time for drone producing bombers 153 pop
2221 ascetic virtues alleviate drone troubles by airforce 168 pop 417 rp +362 NRG
2223 rp 441 +406 NRG
2224 research MMI, go planned, 188 pop
2225 numbers:

202 pop, 22 bases, (18,14,14,13,13,13,12,12,11,10,9,9,9,7,6,6,6,5,5,5 ,4,2)
Demo/FM/Wealth for 496 rp, 650NRG-216 upkeep
29 techs, next in 4 (MMI)

21 ChildC, 21 RecT, 22 RecCom, 13 NetN, 18 Hologram, 19 TreeFarm, 2 HybridF, 5 ReseaerchH, 12 HabC, 1Aero, 1 Thermocline

2226 first pirate base conquered (after destroying two)

2226 first pirate base conquered (after destroying two)
2227 Marr declerases v'detta. ughh. another pirate base
2229 discover MMI, research bioeng.
2230 switch to planned pop 230
2231 complete cloudbase, cyborg, pop 244; pirates lost another 2 bases - he is in a really bad shape now, but will be allowed to discover Centauri Empathy.
2234 steal: optical computer from Uni
2235 Cyberethics, 1000+research finally with 274 pop in Demo/FM/Knowledge 50/0/50
The energy park is nowhere close to being productive yet, the sea crawlers, however, help.

[big_canuk]

2201: Make UN Haven for the Hive, and UN Planetary Trust in the jungle into specialist cities in which to base offensive units, to avoid pacifist drones.

2203: switch to FM, pop boom done for now

2204: D:Init take adaptive economics
breakthrough in 5, next in 4. Cost=1386, accum=156, per turn=329
take Fecundity Tower from Hive.

2206: Caretakers land in jungle with 2 4-2-2's

2207: Soc Tunnels captured from Hive
Parrot Landing captured from Sven

2208: Adapt Econ, take SOTHB

2209: Build PEG
Since no random events cash in En Banks
Last of Caretaker rovers destroyed in jungle
take Fellowship City from Hive

2210: Take Deep Community from Hive

2211: Sea Collective from Hive. Hive surrenders
Metagame:
Plan for Planned economics in 2215 or so.
Save Cash for:
Hab Complexes
Hybrid forests
Make Crawlers for:
MCC
AV
CDF

2212: Sealurk kills former off Garland Crater Island
Probed Caretakers (finally). They have D:AP in 12 turns. Need to zap them.

2213: Caretakers land south of Jungle

2215: Planetary Economics take Neural Grafting
Cash crawlers to SPs so that 1 turn after switch to planned
Switch to Planned
Make sure growth at all cities, and no drone riots on growth, by making doctors, and switching crawlers to food if nescessary.
Still 50/0/50 may need to go to 40/20/40 at end of growth phase.
Last of Caretaker invasion dispatched

2216: Complete CDF, MCC, and AV

2218: Take Capetown @ 37,41 (in bay just below jungle) from Sven. Caretakers are still too far away!

2219: Neural Grafting, take MMI for thinkers, copters, and drop troops (I need them all)

2220: take Meergard from Sven

2222: ready to build CA in 1 turn with crawlers at UN court of Justice, and CF in 1 or 2 turns at UN enforcement base

2223: build CA

2224: Build CF, NA
Believers declared Vendetta, cause I wouldn't give them D:AP

2225 to FM stay at 50/0/50
Pause pop boom to build up cash and to get Hab complexes, tree farms, Net nodes, etc. in place in newly conquered bases

2225 stats
31 bases
309 pop
12 commerce
30 techs
250 SPs (WP, CDF, PTS, MCC, AV, CA, VW, NA, CF, PEG)
Usurpers have CN, ME
UoP has HGP, PD
601 AC score

Units

CP: 1 active, 1 in prod
Formers: 36 active, 4 in prod
Sea Formers: 17 active, 1 prod, 4 lost
Crawlers: 79 active, 4 in prod, 4 lost
Trawlers: 32 active, 6 in production
Missle penetrator: 4 active
X-Missle penetrator: 3 active
X-Missle chopper: 2 active
Miscellaneous other units(mostly scouts and trained scouts)

Total
Land: 37 active, 1 prod, 12 lost
Naval: 3 active, 2 lost
Non Combat: 178 active, 19 in prod, 10 lost

explore 45%
Disc: 20%
Build: 40%
Conq: 33%

30 techs, SE: Demo/FM/Wealth @50/0/50
tech cost=1932, accum=1847, tech per turn=1148
breaktroughs every 2 turns, next in 1 (Cent Empathy)

Com rate: 5
Com Income: 10
Gross EC: 508
Maint: 204
Net EC: 304

Lal: 100%
Caretakers 20%
Usurpers: 18%
UoP: 15%
Sven: 10%
Hive: 3 %
Believers: 2%

Integrity: Noble
Might: Unsurpassed

Metagame:

As noted in another post, I need to commit enough troops to destroy the Caretakers, without losing them piecemeal, but not so many as to hamper my infrastructure and growth. 2 or 3 drop troops, and a couple more choppers may do it.

[big_canuk]

2225 status continued

oops, forgot a few things:

Facilities:
1 HQ
20 CCs
9 tanks
27 RCs
24 NNs
17 TFs
4 HF
10 Res Hosp
13 Hab Complex
7 Press Dome (from Sven)
1 Command Center (from Hive)
1 Nav Yard (gotta recyle this one)
7 Aqua Farm
1 Thermo Transducer

About 2220: Founded base at 24,50 on north coast above Manifold Nexus. This was in UoP territory, but got me close to taking the Manifold Nexus from Believers. My Idea was to build another base to take the Nexus from the Believers peacefully. Now that they have declared Vendetta, I can gain the Nexus, and have a base on the SE coast from which to attack the Caretakers! Thank you Believers.

[Aredhran]

Played about 50 turns this week-end.

Quick question: Is conquest an acceptable way of victory, or is it only Transcendance ? I couldn't find a clear answer in any of the threads.

As usual, I'm letting myself dragged into a total war by this ****wit AI which keeps shooting my crawlers and formers, so I have to take preemptive action

Anyway, if conquest is OK I'll just carry on and smash the hell out of what's left of Zak, Hminee and Marr (Miriam, Yang and Sven are all submitted now), otherwise I'll have to rething my strategy because I'm definitely not going in the right direction for a fast transcend, esp. with tech stag.

Bad news for my log however: the crash I reported last week has also caused the loss of the spreadsheet I was using to record information... the .XLS is hopelessly corrupt

Aredhran

[Capt Dizle]

Read it again Red.

jt

[Misotu]

Well ... in the absence of instructions to the contrary, I've been assuming all victory conditions are on.

[Aredhran]

quote: Originally posted by jimmytrick on 11-28-2000 10:27 PM Read it again Red. jt

Ever helpful, eh ? Thanks a lot

that jt is really trying to tell us: cooperative and conquest victories are enabled (he snatched one of those), so are corner market and transcendance.

Mis, please tell us a little about your game. Why only planned economics ? And how did you you overcome the efficiency and economy problems ? (transcending before 2300, after all, is not easy with tech stag)

[Misotu]

Sure Flo. Actually, I felt very unhappy with the game, but mostly because (ahem) I didn't realise that tech stag was on and I was getting very frustrated by what seemed to be a pretty crap performance. Um. What can I say? I don't know how I missed all this vital info in the original thread. Just not paying attention I guess.

I have some save files, possibly enough to construct a bit of a game log. I didn't bother to write anything down at the time because I seemed to be doing so badly for reasons I couldn't quite fathom. Sometimes, playing mostly on intuition is a very bad idea

[WhiteElephants]

Misotu -- Sounds like you did alright to me. I have kinda given up. I'm not patient enough to wrangle with all those crawlers and what not. Maybe I'll finish what I started tonight???

[big_canuk]

2227: Bioengeneering take Adv Sub Theory (Beeline Supercollider,and ToE)
take Overtone Song (43,49)from Caretakers. It was undefended, so I just drove in with my rover off my unity foil.

2228: take Judgement Seat (25,59) and Manifold Nexus from Belivers.

2229: Adv Sub Theory, take Optical Computers

2230: Build LV at UN Seetlement (SCC)
Start Empath Guild, with eye to switching to Supercollider in 4 turns.
lost 1st former to Caretaker noodle. Need to crush them!

2231: Switch to planned.
Take Safe Haven from Sven

2232: Complete EG
Probe/steal Adapt Doct from UoP

2233: Take Point Blood (40,24) from Sven

2234: Superconductor, take Applied Relativity

2235: Gas and destroy a Caretaker base about to build an areospace complex
Take crows Nest (last base on east coast) from Sven. This air force will now switch to the Usurpers. they have D:AP now as well as the University.
Probe/steal superstring theory from UoP
Take Sea Wind (34,64) from the Caretakers. Good deep sea base to base operations at. Still just defending with a trained scout!

2236: Caretakers destoy 2 of my formers with Noodles. I need to take them out!

2237: Destroyed Caretaker base with bunch of Noodles. I sacrificed a flying noodle to do this. The caretaker noodles did not crash. They just took off the next turn as if they were still in a base!

2238: Destroyed another Caretaker base, this time with Noodles destroyed.
Back to FM. Better time to UFT tech per turn = 1883
growth at core complete (to 18 pop/city)
bit tough to control drones at conqered cities. Will need to go in with trawlers to avoid pop loss (and prod loss).

2239: Destroy Usurper base.
Destroy Caretaker base with 2 Noodles
Lots of ECs and nothing to build, therefore
Switch to Knowledge tech/turn = 2276.4, cost=3135

2240: Monopole, take UFT.
Take Destroyer base (77,35) from Usurpers (Good base from which to conduct operations)
Destroy 2 Caretaker bases with Noodles.
Upgraded all sea formers to clean at end of turn.

2241: Get UFT, take Cent Mediation
Believer base destroyed

2242: Believers surrender
Build ToE

2243: Cent Mediation, take AMA (only choice!)

2244: Build XD
AMA, take PreSentAlg

2245: Caretakers attack forward base with Noodles and Skimship. Destroy 2 of my noodles. Upgrade forward trained scouts to 1-3AAA-1's. Upgrade some 6xpenetrators to 12x penetrators for bases with areospace complexes.
PSA, take Fusion Power
Destroy Caretaker base with 2 Noodles in it

2246: Take Dry Dock (15,51) from Sven
Destroy UoP base
Destroy Decison:Manifold
Destroy another Caretaker base with 2 Noodles
Take Hornbill Point (12,38) from Usurpers
Build HSA. ok to take land bases now, without probe support.

2247: Fusion Power, take Orb Spaceflight
Take 3 Usurper Bases, Scortch Island (9,57),
Godhoods Grasp (8,40) on their island, and Resonance of Swords (4,42) also on their island with ME and CN.
Switch as many specialists as posssible to engeneers

2248: orb spacflight, take retro eng

2249: retro eng, take biomachiery(vats)
Caretaker base and noodle destroyed.
launch food satalite

2250: Capture Caretaker base Mdar:Holding (45,75)
Capture UoP base Planetary Archives (13,63)
Biomach, take Homo Superior.

2250 stats

54 bases
477 pop (1398 votes)
49 tech
450 sec projects
CN, ME (from Usurpers); CDF, PTS, NA, AV, WP, EG, VW, XD, MCC, SCollider, LV, HSA, ToE, PEG, CF, CA
994 score

land units 60 active, 5 in prod, 15 lost
naval units 2 active, 3 lost
air units 26 active, 1 in prod, 4 lost
non combat 311 active, 13 in prod, 19 lost

explore: 54%
Disc: 55%
Build 59%
Conq 61%

49 techs, SE: Demo/FM/Knowl 50/0/50
cost=4441, accum=822, tech/turn=4209.6

lal 100%
all others less than 10%

Facilities:

1 HQ
32 CC
31 Tanks
2 Per Def
42 RC
1 En Bank
39 NN
3 Biolabs
21 TFarms
17 Hyb Forests
22 Fusion Labs
9 Genejack
20 Hab complex
20 Press Dome
5 Cent Pres
14 Aqua Farms
1 Thermo Trans

Metagame.

Just about wrapped up. I've been playing a hybrid style, toward trancendance which at 1.1 tech/turn (if I can maintain it ) will happen by 2285. Conquest will be sooner.
[This message has been edited by big_canuk (edited November 30, 2000).]

[Aredhran]

Conquest victory achieved 2269

Due to a couple keyboard fumbles (and not wanting to reload because of game rules), I set myself back quite a few years and missed JT's record of 2266.

1. When rushing a facility, I paid 1689 credits instead of 168, leaving me somewhat strapped for cash

2. After capturing a caretaker base in the middle of their territory, I put a big chunk of my invading forces in for repairs, but pressed the wrong key when trying to move the defensive probe in. Consequence, H'minee subverted the base, together with about 50% of my invading force (choppers, rovers, garrisons). Took me about 3-4 years to recover from that one

Log will be posted when I've had time to add a few comments. Savegame available on request.

Aredhran
-don't think I can be bothered to reach transcendance-

[Velociryx]

Hmm....once more, purely for "research purposes" I might have to give this one a go....

-=Vel=-

[big_canuk]

2251: build CV. Darn, thought I had looked after drones on growth in all bases after build base, but I didn't.
HomoSuperior, take Organic Superlube ("great stuff, but you have to make sure it doesn't crawl away on you" )
destroy Caretaker base with Noodle.
sieze Zvedy Gorodok (11,69), from UoP. Capture HGP
Solves problem of specialist cities with +2 nuts and pacifist drones rioting on growth every turn. With some psych, from 1 specialist, the first citizen is a worker!

2252: Organic Superlube (great stuff ...), take Nanominiaturization.
destroy 2 Caretaker bases
Sieze Rippletown (52,72)
Caretakers eliminated
Seize Korlov center (15, 71)
seize University Base, capture PD
seize last UoP base!

Conquest Victory Achieved!

506 pop
18 commerce
51 tech
525 SPs

1154 score

Analysis:

This was one of my best games. I seemed to ride the line of not giving away to much tech (which gets to AI factions to D:AP to fast), and not giving away enough, (which gets you in war, before you are ready). I may have been able to cut a few turns off the conquest victory by concentrating on military after D:AP, but you can't minimize the effect of the builder bonuses I continued to receive: loads of energy, HSA sooner, 12 attack, satalite launch (reveal map). Trying to cover the whole map with 6x-noodles, and cruisers, may not have been faster. In any event, I will not replay for faster conquest. I will however go on to transcend. That will be enough micromanagement for me this year!
[This message has been edited by big_canuk (edited November 30, 2000).]

[Gregurabi]

This is my second attempt at this challenge. The first time I was way too slow. This time I spent more time in Free Market in the early years, and made Yang submissive right from the start. I crushed the Usurpers quickly with 6x-1-10 planes, and the Pirates were mopped up a little more slowly, preserving their sea bases for me to use as airports on my way southwest.

---

M.Y. 2250:
33 bases, 241 population, 482 votes
22 Creches, 19 Tanks, 32 Commons, 21 Nodes, 17 Trees, 3 Hybrids, 15 Hospitals,
1 Hab Complex, 14 Pressure, 4 Command, 2 Naval, 5 Aerospace, 2 Aquafarm,
9 Thermocline
Merchant Ex, Citizens' Def, Virt World, Pl Datalinks, As Virtues, Energy Grid
Demo/Green/Knowledge, 20/0/80, income 230-205=25, energy 177
35 techs, cost 2425, 1197.6 per turn -> breakthroughs every 3 (next in 2251)
Land 46-4-2, Naval 9-0-13, Air 26-0-6, NonCom 90-14-17, All 171-18-38
19 formers, 28 supply crawlers, 5 probe teams, 22 sea formers, 12 1-3t-1,
12 1-3-1 Police, 7 (6)-3-4, 20 6x-1-10, 3 1-3tr-1 Police, 9 skimship supply,
6 1-1t-1, et al.
power graph: PK, Caretakers (40%), University (1/4), Hive (20%), Pirates (1/8)
score: pop 301, commerce 57, tech 35, SP 150 -> total 543

Comments: Destruction of the Caretakers must wait for the capture of a nearby
sea base, or building of a base of our own close enough to launch planes and
choppers from. No choppers or droppers built yet. Research is good; sea
crawlers are being placed (Geothermal first). Pirates are down to 2 bases,
so battle with them is a low priority. Zak has 7 bases, and H'minee has 17.

---

Clearly I'm not going to win any prizes for this one, although it's quite a bit better than my first attempt. I'm not sure, though, whether I should go for conquest or try to transcend. I think conquest will be a little faster, but it means I have to cut my research way back, crank out money and spend it on military. And even then I'll have to spend a lot of time shepherding a bunch of slow units around the map, trying desperately to get them to the enemy fast enough. Transcending would be a little less tedious (I think).

I've been using police units more heavily than I normally do (thanks in part to getting the Ascetic Virtues). I don't have the tech for punishment spheres yet (but Zak and H'minee have its prerequisite, which I'll attempt to probe soon even if it means back to war with Zak), so I can't run FM now, unless I disband my air force.

[Gregurabi]

In M.Y. 2262 (sort of), the final two factions surrendered to me, declaring themselves my submissive Pactmates. However, the game did not end, which I guess means that cooperative victory isn't turned on. But now what? I've got three submissive Pactmates and nobody to fight -- so this would be a conquest victory, right? Am I expected to attack my slaves and destroy them? Doesn't make sense to me.

Here's the log. If you read it carefully you'll see that two of the years repeated themselves (each time it was after I'd captured a faction leader), so it really ended in 2264; but the display says 2262. Saved game available upon request.

---

2109: Learned Centauri Ecology. Took Information Networks. Found Yang,
traded Centauri Eco for Doctrine: Mobility, refused Treaty. Declared
Vendetta, destroyed The Hive (first planetary conquest).
2110: Rush Colony Pod in UN HQ (all energy spent).
2111: Yang surrenders; I get Applied Physics and Doctrine: Loyalty.
2113: UN Pillar of Rights founded (61,21). Rush Colony Pod at UN Health Auth.
2114: Rush Former at UN Pillar.
2115: UN Haven City founded (54,26).
2116: Learned Information Networks. Took Industrial Base.
2117: Rush Former at UN Haven.

M.Y. 2120:
4 bases, 5 population
no facilities yet
frontier/simple/survival, 50/0/50, income 4, energy 12
6 techs, cost 157, 6 tech per turn -> breakthroughs every 27 (next in 2142)
2 formers, 4 scout patrols, 1 unity rover, 1 unity foil
power graph: Caretakers, Peacekeepers (90%), Usurpers (80%), Pirates (2/3),
University (60%), Hive (1/2), Believers (1/8)
score: pop 7, tech 6 -> total 13

Comments: Expand and build. Having Yang submissive this early is *nice*.

2121: Rush Tanks in UN HQ.
2122: First PK base facility (Miriam built one in 2110).
2125: Rush Tanks in UN Health.
2127: Rush Tanks in UN Pillar.
2128: Traded Sven Doctrine: Loyalty for Doctrine: Flexibility. Rush Former in
UN Health.
2130: UN Data Aquisition founded (63,17) ("the neck"). Renamed to UN Data
Acquisition (misspelled base names just suck).
2133: Rush Tanks in UN Haven.
2135: Learned Industrial Base. Took Industrial Economics. Rushed Pod in
UN Pillar.
2139: Rush Sea Former in UN Haven. Caretaker Ogre spotted.
2140: UN Settlement Agency founded (59,27).

M.Y. 2140:
6 bases, 11 population
4 Tanks
frontier/simple/survival, 50/0/50, income 10, energy 19
8 techs, cost 252, 13 tech per turn -> breakthroughs every 20 (next in 2155)
1 colony pod, 8 formers, 6 scout patrol, 2 unity rover, 1 unity foil,
1 sea former
power graph: Caretakers, Peacekeepers (95%), Pirates/Usurpers/University
(90%), Hive (1/2), Believers (1/8)
score: pop 18, tech 8 -> total 26

Comments: Working on prototypes for synthmetal, laser skimship. Lots of
terraforming underway; competing with Yang for good spots in the east.

2141: Found Miriam. Traded Applied Physics for Social Psych. Signed Treaty.
Rush Former in UN Settlement.
2142: Prototyped Synthmetal (Sven had first prototype in 2134).
2143: Prototyped Laser Skimship (Sven had first ship in 2121). Rush Tanks in
UN Data.
2144: Zak starts Virtual World.
2145: Zak learns Secrets/Brain (first). UN Amnesty Town founded (67,17) (on
Ridge). First efficiency threshold passed. Rushed Former in UN Amnesty.
2149: UN Social Council founded (58,18). Rush Commons in UN HQ.
2150: Start Merchant Exchange in UN HQ. Prototyped Recon Rover.
2151: Rush Former in UN Social.
2152: Learned Industrial Economics. Took High Energy Chemistry. Found Zak.
Signed Treaty. Switched to Free Market, rushed a Commons. Lal elected
governor of Planet (41-15 over Sven). (Further rush buys not reported.)
2153: H'minee starts Weather Paradigm. UN Court of Justice founded (64,40)
(island).
2154: UN Criminal Tribunal founded (50,24).
2160: Caretakers declare vendetta.

M.Y. 2160:
10 bases, 22 population, 44 votes
6 Tanks, 6 Commons
frontier/FM/survival, 50/0/50, income 33, energy 39
10 techs, cost 351, 44 per turn -> breakthroughs every 8 (next in 2161)
14 formers, 9 scout patrol, 1 transport foil, 2 unity rover, 1 unity foil,
1 recon rover, 1 laser skimship, 1 sea former, 1 synthmetal garrison
power graph: Peacekeepers/Usurpers, Caretakers (90%), University/Pirates
(85%), Hive (1/2), Believers (1/8)
score: pop 31, commerce 20, tech 10 -> total 61

Comments: FM has given a bit of drone trouble, but we're bringing it under
control. Merchant Exchange in 20 turns or less. Zak has 5 techs we don't,
Miriam has just 1 size-2 base and 4 total techs, Yang has 4 bases and 6 total
techs, Sven has 1 tech we don't (HEC), aliens not infiltrated yet.

2161: Learned High Energy Chemistry. Took Planetary Networks.
2165: UN Enforcement Base founded (70,34) (island).
2167: First Network Node in UN Health. Start Human Genome in UN Health.
UN Disaster Relief founded (55,15).
2169: Learned Planetary Networks. Took Industrial Automation.
2171: Sven demands 50 credits; I pay. UN Planetary Trust founded (48,20)
(second efficiency threshold passed).
2172: Marr starts Weather Paradigm (but H'minee is almost done).
2173: Caretakers finish Weather Paradigm and start Command Nexus. Usurpers
switch to Merchant Exchange. Switch to frontier/Planned/survival.
2174: Caretakers build Command Nexus, start Merchant Exchange. We finish the
Merchant Exchange (first human SP). Caretakers and Usurpers switch to
Human Genome.
2175: Back to frontier/FM/survival.
2178: Learned Industrial Automation. Took Polymorphic Software. Prototyped
Plasma armor.
2180: Traded Zak: Industrial Base for Ethical Calc., HEChem for Secrets/Brain,
Industrial Econ for Progenitor Psych, Industrial Auto for Field Mod.
Traded Miriam: Field Mod for Nonlinear Math. Switch to Democracy.

M.Y. 2180:
13 bases, 35 population, 70 votes
10 Tanks, 13 Commons, 4 Nodes
Merchant Exchange
Demo/FM/survival, 50/0/50, income 49, energy 10
18 techs, cost 540, 87 per turn -> breakthroughs every 7 (next in 2184)
16 formers, 12 scout patrol, 1 transport foil, 2 unity rover, 1 unity foil,
1 recon rover, 1 laser skimship, 3 sea formers, 1 plasma sentinel,
1 synthmetal garrison
power graph: Peacekeepers/Caretakers, Usurpers/University (3/4),
Pirates (60%), Hive (40%), Believers (1/8)
score: pop 51, commerce 26, tech 18, SP 25 -> total 120

Comments: We'll go Wealth soon; this will almost certainly make Sven attack
us (or at least demand more "protection money"). We're starting to produce
supply crawlers (we need a lot of them). We'd like to get the Virtual World
and HGP next; Zak's been working on HGP a long time, though, and there's a
lot of competition for HGP. The Caretakers are at war with everyone but
Yang and Sven. No human faction has any tech that we don't have (aliens
are still unknown).

2181: Zak starts Human Genome. Switch to Wealth.
2184: Learned Polymorphic Software. Took Gene Splicing.
2185: Marr declares vendetta.
2187: Re-elected governor (98-28 over Sven). Caretakers build HGP. University
switches to Planetary Transit. Switch to VW at UN Health.
2188: Prototyped Impact weapon.
2190: Traded Miriam HEChem for world map. Finished Virtual World.
2191: Zak builds Planetary Transit.
2192: Learned Gene Splicing. Took Ecological Engineering. First battle
victory against a Usurper ship (Miriam had first battle in 2169). Bought
Caretaker map from Sven for 50.
2194: UN Education Agency founded (51,17). UN Humanity Base founded (54,10).
2199: Learned Ecological Engineering. Took Environmental Economics.

M.Y. 2200:
15 bases, 53 pop, 106 votes
9 Creches, 14 Tanks, 1 Perimeter, 14 Commons, 2 Banks, 11 Nodes, 1 Command
Merchant Exchange, Virtual World
Demo/FM/Wealth, 50/0/50, income 89, energy 104
21 techs, cost 1200, 188 per turn -> breakthroughs every 7 (next in 2205)
15 formers, 11 scout patrol, 1 transport foil, 18 supply crawler, 2 unity
rover, 1 unity foil, 1 recon rover, 1 laser skimship, 8 sea formers,
1 plasma sentinel, 1 impact rover, 1 trance plasma, 1 skimship probe,
1 synthmetal garrison
power graph: Peacekeepers, Caretakers (90%), University (2/3), Pirates (1/2),
Usurpers (45%), Hive (40%), Believers (1/8)
score: pop 77, commerce 55, tech 21, SP 50 -> total 203

Comments: The aliens have been harassing our formers and infrastructure on
our southern islands. We don't know how much longer we can avoid all-out
war with the Usurpers. We'd prefer to wait until Tree Farms are in place
(at least in a few key bases). We're not in position to fight offensively
(and we wouldn't last long against a sustained attack, either).
Strategically, we need to push the Usurpers back, grab the third island to
the south, and establish an energy farm in the Shallows. Tactically, it's
hard to accomplish this under Free Market since capital ships are so quickly
out of range of land bases. We may need to keep at least one sea base; but
this would be extremely vulnerable to Sven, who's not likely to remain
friendly. We should also settle to the northwest before Yang does.

2204: H'minee starts Citizens' Defense.
2205: Learned Environmental Economics. Took Intellectual Integrity.
UN Information Agency founded (50,12) (last spot on starting island).
2206: Infiltrated Marr.
2207: Zak and Sven start Citizens' Defense.
2209: Sven declares vendetta. Switch to Planned.
2210: Learned IntInt. Took Synth Fossil.
2211: Start Citizens' Defense in UN Health. UN Equality Village founded
(63,41) (island).
2213: Captured Provision Point. Yang gives me Synth Fossil.
2214: Prototyped Missile weapon. Took Cyberethics (no Air Power choice).
2215: UN Planning Authority founded (40,14) (NW island).
2216: Finished Citizens' Defense. Learned Cyberethics. Took Doctrine: Air
Power.
2219: Reelected governor, 269-42 over Sven. Switched back to Free Market.

M.Y. 2220:
19 bases, 120 population, 240 votes
15 Creches, 16 Tanks, 17 Commons, 10 Banks, 14 Nodes, 12 Trees, 2 Hospitals,
1 Pressure, 3 Command, 1 Aquafarm
Merchant Exchange, Citizens' Defense, Virtual World
(Zak has Planetary Transit, H'minee has HGP/Command/WP)
Demo/FM/Wealth, 50/0/50, income 205, energy 9
25 techs, cost 1548, 316 per turn -> breakthroughs every 5 (next in 2222)
16 formers, 10 scout patrol, 26 supply crawler, 4 probe teams (never saw
action), 6 sea formers, 4 (4)-3r-4, 5 1-3-1 Police, 6 (6)-3-4, et al.
power graph: Peacekeepers, Caretakers (60%), University/Usurpers/Pirates
(40%), Hive (1/3), Believers (1/10)
score: pop 152, commerce 40, tech 25, SP 75 -> total 292

Comments: Once we get Air Power, it'll be time to take out the Usurpers.
We should also pick up the closest Pirate bases (our navy is good, but
they can't move around much under Free Market). After that -- who knows?
Maybe we'll sweep south to Zak, then finally hit H'minee. (I'm sure
Miriam won't pose much of a threat to either us or H'minee, whoever gets
there first. H'minee's already eating away at Miriam, and the carcass is
looking scrawny.) Or, if research is really booming by then, we might
spare Zak/H'minee and try for transcendence.

2221: Switch to Knowledge.
2222: Learned Doctrine: Air Power. Took Adaptive Econ.
2223: Switch to Planned.
2224: Prototyped Needlejet chassis (first air unit on Planet).
2226: Captured Port Svensgaard.
2227: Learned Adaptive Economics. Took Planetary Economics. Started Planetary
Energy Grid at UN Disaster.
2228: Captured Safe Haven.
2229: Captured Cutlass Cay, Barbary Coast.
2230: Destroyed Union Place, Courage: To Question, Warrior's Harmony, Razorwing
City. Hah!
2231: Learned Planetary Economics. Took Superstring Theory. Vote for global
trade pact fails (Yang, why'd you vote nay?). Destroyed Scorch Island.
Captured Parrot Landing.
2232: Finished Planetary Energy Grid. Captured Penzance.
2234: Started Ascetic Virtues at UN Social.
2235: Captured Crow's Nest.
2236: Learned Superstring Theory. Took Doctrine: Initiative. Destroyed
Godhood's Grasp.
2237: H'minee starts Planetary Datalinks. Destroyed Skymaster Base. Destroyed
Point Blood (captured by Caretakers last turn), Worlds: Within Worlds.
Captured Capetown, Sextant Cove.
2238: Destroyed Tower Preserve, Phantom Forces.
2239: Finished Ascetic Virtues. UN Ocean Authority founded (79,35) (for planes
to reach the rest of the Usurpers). Captured Hornbill Point (sea)
(didn't know it was there!).
2240: Learned Doctrine: Initiative. Took Neural Grafting. Destroyed Tusk and
Claw, Satiation.

M.Y. 2240:
31 bases, 200 population, 400 votes
17 Creches, 18 Tanks, 24 Commons, 18 Nodes, 15 Trees, 14 Hospitals,
11 Pressure, 4 Command, 3 Aerospace, 1 Aquafarm, 6 Thermocline
Merchant Exchange, Citizens' Defense, Virtual World, Ascetic Virtues,
Planetary Energy Grid
(Caretakers have HGP, WP, Command Nexus; Zak has Planetary Transit)
Demo/Planned/Knowledge, 50/0/50, income 344-157=187, energy 36
30 techs, cost 2001, 460.8 per turn -> breakthroughs every 5 (next in 2245)
Land units 38-4-2, Naval 13-0-9, Air 27-0-3, NonCom 69-14-17, All 147-18-31
18 formers, 26 supply crawlers, 13 sea formers, 10 1-3-1 police,
10 (6)-3-4, 22 6x-1-10, 4 4x-1-10, 4 skimship supply, et al.
power graph: Peacekeepers, Caretakers (1/2), University/Hive (1/3),
Pirates/Usurpers (1/8), Believers (barely alive)
score: pop 250, commerce 43, tech 30, SP 125 -> total 448

Comments: The Usurpers will be annihilated shortly. We're using captured
Pirate sea bases to start on the Caretakers (rather than go through Zak).
Miriam is down to 1 base, size 2. Zak has 3 techs that we want. Marr has
Superconductor (should get that before we deliver the coup de grace; but it's
also one of Zak's, so we can always get it that way). We're producing more
sea crawlers, now that the waters are safer; we need to get more energy
directed to HQ, but haven't been able to do so while the Pirates still lurked
so close to us. First Hybrid goes up next turn.

2241: Destroyed Red Stick. Captured Meergard.
2242: Zak starts Planetary Datalinks. So do we.
2244: Learned Neural Grafting. Took Centauri Empathy. Destroyed Resonant
Node.
2245: Prototyped Cruiser chassis. Destroyed Final Honor. Destroyed The Lord's
Truth (Miriam captured).
2245 again: Captured Dry Dock. Probed Superconductor from Marr. Destroyed
Resonance of Swords (Marr captured).
2246: Finished Planetary Datalinks. Learned Centauri Empathy. Took MMI.
Started Maritime Control Center at UN Disaster. Destroyed Korolev Ctr.
2247: Captured Sea: Wind. Switched to Green 20/0/80 (+15, 3 turns).
2248: Prototyped Chaos weapon.
2249: Learned Mind/Machine Interface. Took Centauri Meditation. Infiltrated
Caretakers. Probed Optical Computers from H'minee.
2250: Truce with Zak.

M.Y. 2250:
33 bases, 241 population, 482 votes
22 Creches, 19 Tanks, 32 Commons, 21 Nodes, 17 Trees, 3 Hybrids, 15 Hospitals,
1 Hab Complex, 14 Pressure, 4 Command, 2 Naval, 5 Aerospace, 2 Aquafarm,
9 Thermocline
Merchant Ex, Citizens' Def, Virt World, Pl Datalinks, As Virtues, Energy Grid
Demo/Green/Knowledge, 20/0/80, income 230-205=25, energy 177
35 techs, cost 2425, 1197.6 per turn -> breakthroughs every 3 (next in 2251)
Land 46-4-2, Naval 9-0-13, Air 26-0-6, NonCom 90-14-17, All 171-18-38
19 formers, 28 supply crawlers, 5 probe teams, 22 sea formers, 12 1-3t-1,
12 1-3-1 Police, 7 (6)-3-4, 20 6x-1-10, 3 1-3tr-1 Police, 9 skimship supply,
6 1-1t-1, et al.
power graph: PK, Caretakers (40%), University (1/4), Hive (20%), Pirates (1/8)
score: pop 301, commerce 57, tech 35, SP 150 -> total 543

Comments: Destruction of the Caretakers must wait for the capture of a nearby
sea base, or building of a base of our own close enough to launch planes and
choppers from. No choppers or droppers built yet. Research is good; sea
crawlers are being placed (Geothermal first). Pirates are down to 2 bases,
so battle with them is a low priority. Zak has 7 bases, and H'minee has 17.

2251: Learned Centauri Meditation. Took Bio-Engineering. Switch to Cloudbase
Academy at UN Disaster.
2252: Probed Adaptive Doctrine from H'minee.
2253: Learned Bio-Engineering. Took Adv Mil Alg. Allocation 40/0/60 (+302,
3 turns).
2254: Captured He Walked on Water, Bird: Cry (Caretaker seabases).
2255: Destroyed Island Shallows, Vinculum.
2256: Start Cyborg Factory at UN Haven. Learned Adv Mil Alg. Took Retroviral
Engineering. Captured Wavesound. Destroyed Tau Ceti Memory.
2257: Captured Nest: Water, Ripplesound, Carapace Point. Destroyed Decision:
Manifold.
2258: Finished Cloudbase Academy. I ask Zak to trade Adv Subatomic, then I
demand it; he declares vendetta. Yay! Probed Adv Subatomic from Zak.
Destroyed Echo Bay, Vision: Sound. Allocation 20/0/80 (+107, 3 turns).
2259: Learned Retroviral Engineering. Took Centauri Genetics. Gave Yang
Nonlinear Math, Superconductor. Poor guy's just researching Info Net.
Captured Melody of Souls (HGP, Command Nexus).
2260: Started Longevity Vaccine at UN HQ. Captured Thought: Seed (WP).
Destroyed M'dar Holding.

M.Y. 2260:
41 bases, 266 population, 532 votes
23 Creches, 21 Tanks, 33 Commons, 25 Nodes, 4 Bio Labs, 18 Trees, 11 Hybrids,
17 Hospitals, 1 Hab Complex, 20 Pressure, 5 Command (will sell soon),
2 Naval, 3 Aquafarm, 10 Thermocline
HGP, Command Nexus, WP, Merchant Ex, Citizens' Def, Virt World, Datalinks,
Asc Virtues, Cloudbase, Energy Grid (Zak has PTransit), working on Longevity
and Cyborg
Demo/Green/Knowledge, 20/0/80, income 325-248=77, energy 189
41 techs, cost 3300, 1501.2/turn -> breakthroughs every 3 (next in 2261)
Land 58-9-3, Naval 7-0-15, Air 30-2-7, NonCom 97-4-21, All 192-15-46
17 formers, 28 supply crawlers, 30 sea formers, 11 1-3t-1, 12 1-3-1 Police,
5 (6)-3-4, 18 6x-1-12 jet, 5 8x-1-12 jet, 7 1-3tr-1 Police, 3 6^~-3-1,
4 8x-1-12 chopper, 11 skimship supply, 11 1-1t-1, et al.
power graph: PK, University (20%), Hive (just under that), Caretakers (15%),
Pirates (10%)
score: pop 335, commerce 71, tech 41, SP 250 -> total 697

Comments: Conquest is where we're headed. The Caretakers have 1 base left,
and it'll be destroyed next turn. Pirates sprang back up to 4 bases, all at
sea -- need to get ships up there unless Yang can do it faster. Zak has 9
land bases which will be tedious to capture/destroy (but not dangerous).
Centauri Genetics next turn, so maybe we can get some Locusts out to speed
things up.

2260 (again): Learned Centauri Genetics. Took Applied Rel. Destroyed a
Pirate base (didn't get its name). Subverted Academy Park. Destroyed
Great Intertwining (H'minee captured).
2261: Yang takes a Pirate base.
2262: Learned Applied Relativity. Took Pre-Sentient. UN Commerce Committee
founded (43,7). Captured Lab Three, Tsiolkovsky Institute, Privateer
Quay. Sven surrenders. Zak surrenders.

---

Final comment: I never did finish any of the Locusts (didn't get time). The final base captures were all made with drop marines (standard chop-and-drop tactics).

[big_canuk]

Continuation to Trancend, from just before conquest victory:

2253: Complete UT, 2 free techs:
Nanominiaturization, Advanced Spaceflight

Get Industrial Nanorobotics, take Digital Sentinence

2254: Get Dig Sent, take Adv Eco Engineering
Switch to Cybernetic. @ 50/0/50 tech/turn = 6480.6
cost=5485, accum=909, switch to 70/0/30 tech/turn=4922.4

2255: adv eco eng, take photon wave mech
During this period, I was busy disbanding military units to facilities, to get new bases productive.

2256: Photon wave, take Bioadaptive resonance

2257: Bioadaptive resonance, take Prob Mechanics

2258: Prob Mech, take Nano Metallurgy
Running out of things to build, so switch to 0/0/100

tech/turn=12675.6, cost=5985

2259: Nano metallurgy, take Matter Commpression

2260: Matter Comppression, take Sentinent Econometrics
Sentinent Econometrics, take Super tensile Solids

Tech/turn=14148, Accum=5500, cost=6300, maybe 3 techs in a turn soon?

2261: Super Tensile Solids, take N-Space Comp
N-Space, take Centari Genetics
Truce with UoP

2262: Centari Genetics, take Self Aware Machines
Build Space Elevator
Self Aware Machines, take Centari Psi

2263: Centari Psi, take Will to Power
Will to Power, take Secrets of Alpha Centari

2264: Secrets of Alpha Centari
Free tech: Eudamonia
take Matter Editation
Matter Editation, take Sentinent Resonance
Sentinent Resonance, take Matter Transmission
(Yeah, 3 techs plus the freebie that turn)

2265: Matter Transmission, take Secrets of the Manifolds
Secrets of Manifolds, free tech: Temporal Mechanics, take Threshold to Transcendence!

2266: Threshold to Trancendence, take Secrets of Creation.
Secrets of Creation, free tech: Singularity Mechanics, take Frictionless Surfaces

2267: Build Voice
Frictionless Surfaces, take Quantum Power
Quantum Power, take Quantum Machinery

2268: Quantum Machinery, take Graviton Theory

Build the Ascent to Transcendence

Build Secrets of the Manifolds (I wanted to see the movie)
Build Pholus Mutagen
Graviton Theory, take Applied Gravitonics

Trancend in 2268:

Pop: 1224
com: 69
tech: 82
sec Proj: 775
objective: 1656

AC score: 3806

tech cost=8400, tech per turn=25,503.8

*********************

A Few Comments:

Again, this was one of my best games ever. I sure didn't like all that micromanagement in the last 15 years, though.

What did I do different? From reading the threads here, I learned that nutrients, and specialists are #1.
I still made mins my #2, in all but my SSC. Lots of cities then made Clean sea formers, and trawlers in 1 turn for the SCC. Also, all other cities got #1 pop limiting facilities and trawlers to maintain +2 nuts, and therefore growth, #2 labs enchancing facilities to multiply all that specialist lab points, and 3 other facilities, or more crawlers. This allowed me to go over 1 tech per turn.

I had time with tech stag, to allow all that investment in min production, and then in facilities to pay dividends in the end. I am not so sure, such an approach will provide as good a time in a non tech stag challenge.

But, I have had enough. I won't manage 500+ crawlers, trawlers, and formers again for a long time!

Happy SMACing!
[This message has been edited by big_canuk (edited December 07, 2000).]

[Gregurabi]

I continued too, just to see how long it would take. From my 2262 would-be cooperative conquest victory save, I started work on transcendence. I finally got there in 2302. Now I remember why I usually don't transcend in my games -- it takes way too long!

M.Y. 2262: 43 techs
M.Y. 2302: Final score: pop 1032, commerce 878, tech 82, SP 525, obj 1369 -> 3886 (364%)

I might have been able to shave a few turns off that with additional micromanagement, and disbanding units to save the upkeep minerals. But that would have been even more tedious and boring than it already was. As it was, 2 of the final 82 techs were learned after Threshold, so I had to pick up 37 techs to get there; it took me 38 years (started Voice in 2300). Voice and Ascent were each built in 1 turn, once I had the tech.