RBGC1 - Galactic Civilizations Succession Game
- Thread starter Sirian
- Start date
Black Cursor
Chieftain
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2001
- Messages
- 64
The yearly report shows the obvious -- we are behind technologically. This is something I hope to rectify in the
coming year.
Jan 2181
Looking over the Realms, I pull up the Economy (F4) and our planets (F2) and sort by Morale. Noticing that our
single PQ13 is at 44 Morale, I adjust taxes to 45% to restore population growth. I also see no pre-builds running
(for Freighters, etc.) so I set all planets except Earth on Constructor.
The logistics department hints that our massive colonization efforts are getting out-of-hand so we take steps to
sort things out -- all Colony Ships are thus renamed to designate their load and tentative destination. Embor and
its PQ18 are promptly colonized and we catch a break!
The resulting planet is now PQ27! An additional 200M load Colony Ship is promptly redirected to this promising
world! Our net morality is now 44. There is also an Influence resource proximal to Embor and our Constructor makes
a beeline (more like a snail-trail at its current speed
) for it. Martzia is colonized to extend our range, and gets a +Starship bonus event. I choose the Good outcome and bump our morality to 45.
Feb 2181
I adjust spending to 75% which still nets Earth's Colony Ship next turn. Having sorted themselves out for the most
part, our Colony Ships continue towards their destinations.
Mar 2181
Earth's Colony Ship is completed and a Constructor ordered. This Colony Ship remains in orbit pending future
discoveries. The economy is converted fully to research and 45% spending allows Comm Theory to finish next month.
Altarian territory shows up in the NE of the star display and one of our Scouts heads that way.
Apr 2181
Comm Theory finished. Knowing that we are undoubtedly way behind in tech, I research Med Theory (with Basic
Environ to follow) in the hopes that the others have not researched this line; hopefully giving us some potential
trade opportunity. Arcea wil claim a PQ15 in the far-east.
May 2181
Med Theory finishes followed by Basic Environ at 100% spending.
Jun 2181
We colonize Alcinous and get a small PQ event -- I choose the middle path here.
Jul 2181
Basic Environ finishes and NOW Univ Trans is ordered so we can start shopping. 20% spending claims the tech next
turn. The Hero gets a car wash (1% plating improvement).
Aug 2181
Univ Trans finishes and Diplo ordered at 95% spending for next turn (we need to have SOME horse-trading skills
afterall
). A PQ14 (Vesta) recently discovered in the SW is colonized, extending our range.Sep 2181
We note that Cari has built an Econ Cap so we'll need to build up our infrastructure promptly, provided we can
catch up tech-wise. Diplo finishes, we swap governments to Republic, AND we meet Alex! With all the parties at
the table, let's see what we have...
We are fully 13 techs in the hole
--(Dr = Drengin, To = Torian, Ar = Arcean, al = Alexian, cr = Carinoid)
Code:
Artificial Gravity Dr To al
Cold Fusion Dr To Ar al cr
Controlled Gravity Dr To
Defense Theory Dr To Ar al cr
Deflectors Dr To Ar al cr
Impulse Drive Dr To Ar al cr
Industrial Theory Dr To Ar al cr
Nano-Metal Composition Dr To Ar al
Phasers Dr
Photons Dr To
Propulsion Theory Dr To Ar al cr
Trade Dr To Ar al cr
Weapons Theory Dr To--- Round 1 ---
Alex:
Give: Basic Environment Control, Medical Theory
Get: Artificial Gravity, Nano-Metal Composition, 4g for 18m, 17ip
Cari:
Give: Artificial Gravity, Basic Environment Control, Medical Theory, Nano-Metal Composition
Get: Cold Fusion, Defense Theory, Impulse Drive, Industrial Theory, Propulsion Theory, Trade, 24g for 18m, 115ip
Drengin:
Give: Basic Environment Control, Medical Theory
Get: Phasers, Weapons Theory, 6g for 18m, 1ip
Torian:
Give: Basic Environment Control, Medical Theory, Phasers
Get: Controlled Gravity, Photons, 5g for 18m, 3ip
Arcean: <No Deal>
--- Round 2 ---
Alex:
Give: Controlled Gravity, Phasers, Photons, Weapons Theory
Get: 27g for 18m, 7ip
Cari:
Give: Controlled Gravity, Phasers, Photons, Weapons Theory
Get: 39g for 18m, 21ip
Now we only lack Deflectors for tech-parity
which we start to research. Our loaded Colony ship arrives and an additional 200M folk now call Embor their (wonderful) home.
Oct 2181
Our first senate vote and we retain control with 72 seats. We run 90% Social and 10% Research (100% spending)
to start our much needed social work while still completing Deflectors next turn. Governor1 is set to: Soil,
Habitat, Banking, Entertainment. Several Colony ships had reached their destinations earlier and have been
idling in deep space. They now debark on Altros, Hoth and Sitlet. The latter yields a Production event,
and mindful of our neighbors, I reluctantly play goody-goody -- Morality 46. The Hero wields a slightly bigger
stick (+1% Weps).
Nov 2181
With Deflectors in hand and modest income from tribute, we go 100% Social at 60% spending (rather than go into
the red right now). For te future, Refining (for Fusion Plants) is chosen for the next tech.
Dec 2181
Meet the Yor and my they are poor! They lack:
Artificial Gravity, Basic Environment Control, controlled Gravity, Medical Theory, Nano-Metal Composition,
Phasers, Photons, and Weapons Theory.
We see an Altarian Surveyor but contact is not possible this turn. Finally on the last month of my stewardship,
our far-ranging 200M Colony Ship discovers a PQ16 world in the far SE.
I note the completion of Soil Enhancement on our best two worlds, I clean up after myself, canceling all
autopilot orders among other things, and turn the reins of government over to the next ruler.
One more matter remains...
There is now a 10% War Tax in effect.
Notes:
The logistics of 15 Colony Ships was daunting -- some of them were late to start toward their new candidate
destinations, but I did locate some additional marginal worlds, and this is a dynamic process afterall. The next
ruler will probably order some Freighters and send them on their way. I would have this round, but I felt it
better to catch up on tech and start some social work.
Looking at the Tactical map above, it's clear our present Influence situation is much better now. The two systems
in the NW may be in danger of flipping to the Drengin -- they will need to be watched. Our Constructor continues
to slowly near the Influence resource near Embor. Depending on what Arcea does (our eastern Scout is watching
them closely), we may need to rush a Constructor out of Embor to beat them to it!
Be seeing you...
---> TBC (Them's Beaucoup Colony ships!)
RBGC SG1 - January 2182AD
Sirian
Designer, Mohawk Games
Got it.
Sirian
Designer, Mohawk Games
President Sirian addresses Congress on the State of the Realm:
* Our relations with other sentients is on par.
* Our previous leaders have enacted a colonization push.
* President TBC has chosen to set us on the path of social improvement.
* We have strayed from our core values a bit.
* Our trade situation is nonexistant.
* We have one mining expedition en route.
* Our entire space navy is currenty positioned to defend the homeworld.
* Believe it or not, we need ANOTHER half-dozen colony ships!
(But first, there are some higher priorities to attend).
Here follows the record of events during the administration of 2182AD.
January:
Our scouts have made contact with the Altarian race.
We enter talks, and agree to share all of our technologies with them, in exchange for all of theirs.
That's still a good deal for us, though. Advanced Trade is a pricey tech.
Wow, some attitude there, Netro Mancer. Inferiors? Hmmph. Not as enlightened as they would like to believe they are, it seems.
Now it is time to sort out the colony fleet.
Good thing TBC renamed all the ships. I confirm his choices and off they go.
However, for future reference, there is no need to cancel Goto Orders.
There is a map filter to show Goto Orders, works on both minimap and tactical.
I suggest we all leave our Goto orders in place, but give warning for next player to check and verify them.
I would have liked to see freighters en route by now.
However, changing horses midstream would hurt us.
So I confirm the social spending. My term will be dedicated to our economy.
We will have five yellow stars, PQ16+, after I settle Pithra.
With the 5% PQ bonus ability, those will all become PQ20+
Then we have a bundle of barren rocks, but PQ14's will become 17's.
PQ13's will become 16's, and none of the PQ12's have yet been grabbed.
Since our +5% PQ bonus (wow, glad I chose that one for THIS map!) will turn 12's to 15's...
We will need to build another half dozen or so colony ships eventually.
Also, it will be a cold day in Hell before I grab an economic resource before an influence resource.
However, Asmodeus reported today a high temperature of 20 degrees F in Sin City.
Go figure.
With so many low-PQ worlds, and only ONE econ resource within our grasp, I send our constructor toward it.
If we mine it up fully, and preferably soonish, we can boost income at these sorry planets.
Sometimes you've got to adapt to the situation.
February:
Here you see the Influence resource I am passing up.
(It's the blue cube, for you n00bz out there lurking)
You can also see the tiny dark blue dots, representing our scattered empire.
A white X marks resource locations (asteroids, comets, whatever, in deep space).
A white + marks starbase locations. Starbase mine resources, but can be founded anywhere.
A starbase is made by a Constructor ship. Each additional Constructor added to a base adds one module.
A base can have dozens of modules.
There are, for instance, eight modules for mining resources. Not all are initially available.
There are eleven cultural modules.
There are three trade modules, and nine production modules.
Clearly, there is plenty of strategy available to starbase management.
The AI is only really good at mining resources, but at least that is something.
Our military graph is suffering as our colony ships reach their destinations.
We will soon need to enhance our space navy.
* Our relations with other sentients is on par.
* Our previous leaders have enacted a colonization push.
* President TBC has chosen to set us on the path of social improvement.
* We have strayed from our core values a bit.
* Our trade situation is nonexistant.
* We have one mining expedition en route.
* Our entire space navy is currenty positioned to defend the homeworld.
* Believe it or not, we need ANOTHER half-dozen colony ships!
(But first, there are some higher priorities to attend).
Here follows the record of events during the administration of 2182AD.
January:
Our scouts have made contact with the Altarian race.
We enter talks, and agree to share all of our technologies with them, in exchange for all of theirs.
That's still a good deal for us, though. Advanced Trade is a pricey tech.
Wow, some attitude there, Netro Mancer. Inferiors? Hmmph. Not as enlightened as they would like to believe they are, it seems.
Now it is time to sort out the colony fleet.
Good thing TBC renamed all the ships. I confirm his choices and off they go.
However, for future reference, there is no need to cancel Goto Orders.
There is a map filter to show Goto Orders, works on both minimap and tactical.
I suggest we all leave our Goto orders in place, but give warning for next player to check and verify them.
I would have liked to see freighters en route by now.
However, changing horses midstream would hurt us.
So I confirm the social spending. My term will be dedicated to our economy.
We will have five yellow stars, PQ16+, after I settle Pithra.
With the 5% PQ bonus ability, those will all become PQ20+
Then we have a bundle of barren rocks, but PQ14's will become 17's.
PQ13's will become 16's, and none of the PQ12's have yet been grabbed.
Since our +5% PQ bonus (wow, glad I chose that one for THIS map!) will turn 12's to 15's...
We will need to build another half dozen or so colony ships eventually.
Also, it will be a cold day in Hell before I grab an economic resource before an influence resource.
However, Asmodeus reported today a high temperature of 20 degrees F in Sin City.
Go figure.
With so many low-PQ worlds, and only ONE econ resource within our grasp, I send our constructor toward it.
If we mine it up fully, and preferably soonish, we can boost income at these sorry planets.
Sometimes you've got to adapt to the situation.
February:
Here you see the Influence resource I am passing up.
(It's the blue cube, for you n00bz out there lurking)
You can also see the tiny dark blue dots, representing our scattered empire.
A white X marks resource locations (asteroids, comets, whatever, in deep space).
A white + marks starbase locations. Starbase mine resources, but can be founded anywhere.
A starbase is made by a Constructor ship. Each additional Constructor added to a base adds one module.
A base can have dozens of modules.
There are, for instance, eight modules for mining resources. Not all are initially available.
There are eleven cultural modules.
There are three trade modules, and nine production modules.
Clearly, there is plenty of strategy available to starbase management.
The AI is only really good at mining resources, but at least that is something.
Our military graph is suffering as our colony ships reach their destinations.
We will soon need to enhance our space navy.
Sirian
Designer, Mohawk Games
March:
President Sirian reasserts our principles as a dilemma arises at a colony site:
Although keeping to the polar caps will vastly diminish our productivity on this world...
...It is the right thing to do.
Rumors have it that the Altarian and Torian peoples were impressed by our decision.
This may bode well for future relations. :love2:
Note that Alva is located deep in Arcean space, not far from their homeworld.
Some advisors have cautioned that this location may not be secure.
President Sirian opted to go forth anyway.
"What were those colonists supposed to do? Live in orbit?"
April:
By the start of spring back in the capital on Earth, our economy began to recover.
Here's a look at the main panel of the Domestic Policy manager.
Each button at the bottom pulls up a different display: stats, controls, information, options.
This is the Economic panel. The five sliders on the left control the entire budget.
Spending is handled ONLY globally, for the entire empire.
This allows for micromanaging only a couple of elements per turn.
The rest are along for the ride.
I find this refreshing, compared to other 4X strategy games.
With no ability to micromanage endlessly, I am not tempted to squeeze out every iota of efficiency.
So the game moves along much faster, and I have more fun.
Taxes were st at 40 when I was inaugurated this year. I can now up them to 47.
Spending can also be increased dramatically. This only further speeds our growth.
Approval Rating is vital. We do NOT want to lose control of the Senate!
Note the 105 income from tribute. We sold techs to an alien race for income paid out over time.
That is almost doubling our income!
You can see why the highest difficulty level limits the willingness of AI's to pay cash for techs.
I will hold off, myself, selling to the majors, but if I meet the last minor I may sell them some tech.
See under Expenses in the upper right? I watch the Research spending there like a hawk.
The sliders are reliable when there is no free bonus research.
But when there is bonus, the game loses accuracy in judging research completion times.
Watching the ACTUAL spending on research helps. The Bonus Blur, you have to learn to feel out.
We don't have any bonus research now, so the tech completion estimate is wholly reliable.
Of course, I'm not actually doing any research. Just commenting.
You can see on the graph, our economy has begun to pick up.
President Sirian reasserts our principles as a dilemma arises at a colony site:
Although keeping to the polar caps will vastly diminish our productivity on this world...
...It is the right thing to do.
Rumors have it that the Altarian and Torian peoples were impressed by our decision.
This may bode well for future relations. :love2:
Note that Alva is located deep in Arcean space, not far from their homeworld.
Some advisors have cautioned that this location may not be secure.
President Sirian opted to go forth anyway.
"What were those colonists supposed to do? Live in orbit?"
April:
By the start of spring back in the capital on Earth, our economy began to recover.
Here's a look at the main panel of the Domestic Policy manager.
Each button at the bottom pulls up a different display: stats, controls, information, options.
This is the Economic panel. The five sliders on the left control the entire budget.
Spending is handled ONLY globally, for the entire empire.
This allows for micromanaging only a couple of elements per turn.
The rest are along for the ride.
I find this refreshing, compared to other 4X strategy games.
With no ability to micromanage endlessly, I am not tempted to squeeze out every iota of efficiency.
So the game moves along much faster, and I have more fun.
Taxes were st at 40 when I was inaugurated this year. I can now up them to 47.
Spending can also be increased dramatically. This only further speeds our growth.
Approval Rating is vital. We do NOT want to lose control of the Senate!
Note the 105 income from tribute. We sold techs to an alien race for income paid out over time.
That is almost doubling our income!
You can see why the highest difficulty level limits the willingness of AI's to pay cash for techs.
I will hold off, myself, selling to the majors, but if I meet the last minor I may sell them some tech.
See under Expenses in the upper right? I watch the Research spending there like a hawk.
The sliders are reliable when there is no free bonus research.
But when there is bonus, the game loses accuracy in judging research completion times.
Watching the ACTUAL spending on research helps. The Bonus Blur, you have to learn to feel out.
We don't have any bonus research now, so the tech completion estimate is wholly reliable.
Of course, I'm not actually doing any research. Just commenting.
You can see on the graph, our economy has begun to pick up.
Sirian
Designer, Mohawk Games
June:
The second of two colony ships that President TBC sent wandering off...
...into deep space, has found a home.
(The first was the one that reached Alva).
July:
Now we have run across another dilemma, at Shugar, near Yor space:
That is a massive, crippling morale penalty!
And yet it would be worth as much as ten points alignment shift toward good.
Think of it as "shifting" some of its value to our best planet, which gave us a 10 point negative hit...
...when we opted to feed a bunch of our people into that evil Precursor artifact.
I also got a couple of 1 point alignment shifts, taking the good choice each time.
Now our alignment is up to 65, and 6 more would see us defined as a Good civ.
Unfortunately, morale is now incredibly low on Shugar.
President Sirian has to order an advertising campaign, carried out long term...
...to remind the Shugar colonists of what a noble thing they have sacrificed for.
Also, this planet is located far out on the Rim, so perhaps it can afford the inconveniences.
The "propaganda" campaign improves morale to 75.
Late in the year, our first foreign policy crisis. The Drengin have come calling!
President Sirian orders our entire fleet to convene for an emergency meeting.
After the ship arrives, the captain is escorted in to see the President.
"Mr. President, I urge you to negotiate."
Sirian checks the intelligence report.
We have one ship to defend over a dozen worlds.
They have an actual fleet.
Uh... Yep. Negotiations. They demand, we cave.
Not the most glorious day for the Realms Beyond.
However, discretion is the better part of valor.
The second of two colony ships that President TBC sent wandering off...
...into deep space, has found a home.
(The first was the one that reached Alva).
July:
Now we have run across another dilemma, at Shugar, near Yor space:
That is a massive, crippling morale penalty!
And yet it would be worth as much as ten points alignment shift toward good.
Think of it as "shifting" some of its value to our best planet, which gave us a 10 point negative hit...
...when we opted to feed a bunch of our people into that evil Precursor artifact.
I also got a couple of 1 point alignment shifts, taking the good choice each time.
Now our alignment is up to 65, and 6 more would see us defined as a Good civ.
Unfortunately, morale is now incredibly low on Shugar.
President Sirian has to order an advertising campaign, carried out long term...
...to remind the Shugar colonists of what a noble thing they have sacrificed for.
Also, this planet is located far out on the Rim, so perhaps it can afford the inconveniences.
The "propaganda" campaign improves morale to 75.
Late in the year, our first foreign policy crisis. The Drengin have come calling!
President Sirian orders our entire fleet to convene for an emergency meeting.
After the ship arrives, the captain is escorted in to see the President.
"Mr. President, I urge you to negotiate."
Sirian checks the intelligence report.
We have one ship to defend over a dozen worlds.
They have an actual fleet.
Uh... Yep. Negotiations. They demand, we cave.
Not the most glorious day for the Realms Beyond.
However, discretion is the better part of valor.
Sirian
Designer, Mohawk Games
Interlude:
Sirian waves Hi to Speaker and all the other spectators and lurkers!
Thanks for tuning in.
Hope you are all enjoying the show.
August:
Our scouts meet the last of our neighbors, the minor Scottlingas civlilization.
I sell them half a dozen minor techs for 97 bct over 14 turns.
(All math in galciv is Computer Geekish, so start counting at zero. This is actually a 15 turn deal).
Rather than increase spending further, though, I opt to save the extra.
We may need some reserve for the next time the Drengin visit us.
September through December:
Quiet times, as we continue 100% social spending.
Our constructor arrives at the economic resource and sets up our first starbase.
Our surveyor has been exploiting anomalies for minor bonuses in the SW.
Our drone is exploring Torian space.
Our scouts are exploring in the NE.
We have found the homeworlds of five of our rivals.
January 1, 2183AD: President Sirian conducts a peaceful transfer of power to the next administration.
Here is a view of our starbase, improved economy, and the galactic minimap.
We are sprawled all over the place. I've never seen such infestation.
Recommendations:
* Continue the social drive for at least two more turns. Our econ and manu capitals are due.
* Construct freighters! I have selected five planets to build freighters.
This graphic shows suggested routes, to establish a route with every major.
* Research Cultural Trade and Trade Organizations before our freighters arrive...
...so that they may all connect as soon as they get there.
Not the top priority, those ships will take time to cross the galaxy.
* We should still grab the PQ12's. I set several worlds to build colony ships.
Each world set to a colony ship is near a target PQ12.
* Build us some warships!
Every planet not doing a freighter or colony ship was set to build a Defender.
Shields tech is available in trade, though, so perhaps that can be acquired soon.
If so, larger planets may want to build Battleaxes instead.
* Continue our push toward Good alignment. A little more and we will start to benefit.
* I set some of our border worlds to build News Networks for cultural resistance.
Colonies in Drengin space actually look secure, culturewise.
The one near Arcean homeworld is in the most danger.
Lots more I could say, but that's probably already too much.
Intelligence Report - TOP SECRET - Realms status, 2183AD
- Sirian
Sirian waves Hi to Speaker and all the other spectators and lurkers!
Thanks for tuning in.
Hope you are all enjoying the show.August:
Our scouts meet the last of our neighbors, the minor Scottlingas civlilization.
I sell them half a dozen minor techs for 97 bct over 14 turns.
(All math in galciv is Computer Geekish, so start counting at zero. This is actually a 15 turn deal).
Rather than increase spending further, though, I opt to save the extra.
We may need some reserve for the next time the Drengin visit us.
September through December:
Quiet times, as we continue 100% social spending.
Our constructor arrives at the economic resource and sets up our first starbase.
Our surveyor has been exploiting anomalies for minor bonuses in the SW.
Our drone is exploring Torian space.
Our scouts are exploring in the NE.
We have found the homeworlds of five of our rivals.
January 1, 2183AD: President Sirian conducts a peaceful transfer of power to the next administration.
Here is a view of our starbase, improved economy, and the galactic minimap.
We are sprawled all over the place. I've never seen such infestation.
Recommendations:
* Continue the social drive for at least two more turns. Our econ and manu capitals are due.
* Construct freighters! I have selected five planets to build freighters.
This graphic shows suggested routes, to establish a route with every major.
* Research Cultural Trade and Trade Organizations before our freighters arrive...
...so that they may all connect as soon as they get there.
Not the top priority, those ships will take time to cross the galaxy.
* We should still grab the PQ12's. I set several worlds to build colony ships.
Each world set to a colony ship is near a target PQ12.
* Build us some warships!
Every planet not doing a freighter or colony ship was set to build a Defender.
Shields tech is available in trade, though, so perhaps that can be acquired soon.
If so, larger planets may want to build Battleaxes instead.
* Continue our push toward Good alignment. A little more and we will start to benefit.
* I set some of our border worlds to build News Networks for cultural resistance.
Colonies in Drengin space actually look secure, culturewise.
The one near Arcean homeworld is in the most danger.
Lots more I could say, but that's probably already too much.
Intelligence Report - TOP SECRET - Realms status, 2183AD
- Sirian
Black Cursor
Chieftain
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2001
- Messages
- 64
Originally posted by JaxomCA
I can'T figure out out to rename ships, did I read correctly and TBC did rename them? If so, telling us how would be much appreciated.
Sure
Click on the ship you want to rename, then click on its current name (in yellow) in the Ship Panel of the Main Game Screen.Be seeing you...
---> TBC (Hey, I just learned that F9 is the Tactical Map
)Looking at the map, I foresee a small problem... there are 3 influence resources that we know of, and they are ALL near Arcean space. It will not be pretty if they manage to get an influence resource monopoly.
I'm also wondering whether we really want to spread our trade routes between all the majors. In total, the good empires look significantly stronger than the evil empires, especially economy-wise (which is more important in the long run.) Moreover, we are already aligning ourselves morally with them. It might be better to cultivate long-term trade routes with the Arceans, Torians, and Altarians, and let the chips fall where they may, trade-wise, with the Yor and Drengin, especially if we foresee war with the evil-aligned empires at some point. The Drengin may be threatening us, but all they really have for warships at the moment is 2 Defenders and a Battleaxe, which is more than we have but still not very scary. The Yor especially look to be ripe for conquest in the not-too-distant future. Since I haven't even built the freighters yet, however, there is still time to re-examine their final destinations in concert with the rest of the Cabinet.
Q1 2184:
Q2 2184:
Q3 2184:
Q4 2184:
End-of-term notes for the future:
Note we have fallen behind in population growth relative to the top AIs but are ahead of the Yor and catching up with the Arceans. The fact that the Arceans have low pop should help offset the number of influence SBs they own. Aphrodesiac will go a long way towards addressing the population imbalance.
A shot of our best planets:
And, finally, the save.
I'm also wondering whether we really want to spread our trade routes between all the majors. In total, the good empires look significantly stronger than the evil empires, especially economy-wise (which is more important in the long run.) Moreover, we are already aligning ourselves morally with them. It might be better to cultivate long-term trade routes with the Arceans, Torians, and Altarians, and let the chips fall where they may, trade-wise, with the Yor and Drengin, especially if we foresee war with the evil-aligned empires at some point. The Drengin may be threatening us, but all they really have for warships at the moment is 2 Defenders and a Battleaxe, which is more than we have but still not very scary. The Yor especially look to be ripe for conquest in the not-too-distant future. Since I haven't even built the freighters yet, however, there is still time to re-examine their final destinations in concert with the rest of the Cabinet.
Q1 2184:
- Rush a banking center on Pithra I (PQ 20) for 8 bc. I find rushing projects that are very close to finishing completion for small amounts of cash to be helpful as it saves what is in effect a wasted turn for that planet. Over time, this can help our growth curve significantly. However, here we have so many planets that I want to be very cautious about how much I do this, as it would be very easy to go overboard. I pass up a similar rush opportunity on one of our PQ16 planets, where the benefit of rushing is smaller relative to the expense. One trick about rushing is that the game will not let you rush a project that is 0 turns from completion. In order to get around this you can lower your social spending to zero temporarily, rush the project, and then set spending back to what it was.
- Correction, make that 4 influence resources, and the Arceans already have 2 bases built on them.
- We get the opportunity to trade the Yor Photons, Artificial Gravity, and Controlled Gravity for Shields. I pull the trigger so we can build BattleAxes.
- Ancros, which like Shugar got a -morale event on settlement, also gets propaganda spending turned on, to 50%.
- Turn on espionage spending against the Altarians, Torians, and Arceans to one pixel worth. These are the guys we really don't want to go to war with, so this is insurance against random events that cause war but can be prevented by espionage. I leave it off for the Drengin and Yor to save some cash as I anticipate they are the ones we would most likely not mind going to war with.
- We colonize Macrinus, and got a 1-pt. morality event. Alignment up to 66.
- Our Manufacturing Capital completes on Earth and our Economic Capital on Embros. I want to keep the social push going for a couple more months to allow some manufacturing centers to complete as well as a couple habitat improvements on smaller planets.
Q2 2184:
- Another influence resource is spotted, though at least the Altarians have this one rather than the Arceans.
- We swap from social to military spending to get our freighters out. I'd also like to build a constructor to snag at least the one influence resource next to Ombra. A constructor from Earth would build quickly and let us get back on research/social spending so we can snag some wonders & trade goods, but it would take a long time to get to Ombra. On the other hand, building a constructor from Ombra would be faster, but would tie us to military spending for many months longer than we really ought to be if we want to have a shot at some early wonders and trade goods. I elect to build the constructor from Earth and hope for the best.
- I notice that our spending surplus is decreasing, due primarily to minor race cash deals running out I expect. We still have about 700 bc in reserve, however.
- We are starting to fall behind in tech. After the current military push, we need to fire up our research engine and get some techs to trade to regain parity. Sirian suggested Cultural Trade to start with, which should have good trading value.
- We settle Epsilon II, and our current colony ship wave is complete, just in time to start a new one...
- It looks like the Arceans already have a constructor on the way to the influence resource near Ombra. There is another influence resource way to the north in Altarian space.
Q3 2184:
- One of our current wave of colony ships lands at Alcinous II, triggering a significant morality event. This is enough to push us above 70 (to 71) and get us over the "Good-aligned" threshold.
- Since we will not make the influence resource, our constructor out of Sol heads towards a morale resource to the west. There's also a military resource in the bottom left it could head towards.
- We complete our military push to get freighters and extra colony ships on their way and start researching Cultural Trade.
Q4 2184:
- Cultural Trade comes in, and we shop it around. Cultural Trade to the Drengin for Antimatter & Zero-G Research; Cultural Trade & Antimatter to Altarians for Space Militarization, Energy Channelling, Battle Armour; Anti-Matter, Space Militarization to Scottlingas for Interstellar Business, plus sell a bunch of techs to Carinoids for ~100 bct over 19 turns.
- We could research Interstellar Tactics in 2 turns and trade it around. It's a tech the AI values highly so we could potentially get quite a bit for it. However, there's nothing to get right now other than bct as we are already at tech parity except for the useless Corvettes. Instead, I opt for Interstellar Marketing to open up the Restaurant of Eternity. I will also spend one more turn on part research part social to get Interstellar Refining for Fusion Plants before swapping back to pure social for wonder-building.
- The Yor will beat us to the morale resource near the Carinoids. Switching constructor target to the military resource in the lower left corner.
End-of-term notes for the future:
- We are currently the only ones with Interstellar Marketing and Interstellar Refining. We could trade those along with Space Militarization and some cash for Warp Drive from the Drengin. However, they are currently the only ones with Warp Drive and no other techs are available. It might be better to hold our monopoly on these techs until we can get more for them, to prevent the Drengin from trading them away for instance.
- Fusion Plants are effective but relatively expensive. I have not included them in our regular build queue but have instead manually added them to all our best planets -- those that can most afford the upkeep and can get the best benefit from them. We can add in Fusion Plants to our regular build queue later when we can better afford the upkeep costs. Research Labs and Economic Exchanges have been added to our regular build queue now.
- Earth is our best wonder-building planet as it is our Manufacturing Capital. After it is done its Fusion Plant it should start on Diplo Translators, then start on Aphrodesiac and other wonders and trade goods after that. Gravity Accelerators are strong tactically if war does break out, as well as helping our freighters with trade income and our constructor with getting to a resource before they are all gone. Other top planets should pitch in and help once their Fusion Plants and Manufacturing Centers are complete, but try to time things so that we run out of things to build everywhere at once so that we can smoothly switch to something else (e.g. research or shipbuilding.) I estimate that we have a good chance of grabbing most of the early wonders and trade goods. The Alexians are the only ones I am aware of that have a Manufacturing Capital, but we have not yet explored all the AI civ capitals.
- Our northernmost scout is on an end run around the outside of the map, with the intention of exploringthe other civs planets that are not yet visible. The eastern scout is just busting fog at the moment, as is the sensor platform to the south. We might want to station the sensor somewhere near Yor/Drengin space in case hostilities break out so we can see what they are up to. The surveyor is in the west and is, of course, surveying.
- We have defenders at both of our planets near Drengin space, and their navy is not markedly more impressive than it was at the start of my turn; it still mostly consists of non-combat units. Relations are Neutral with them at the moment, and they have not threatened us recently. The Yor are cool with us, but we need not fear them. They have only 3 planets to their name, are way behind in tech, and don't even have a BattleAxe yet. Someone is going to pick them off soon, so we need to consider if we want to be that someone. We are not ready for this yet, but after we finish our initial wonder-building spree we could start considering it.
- On the following map you can see our freighters on long go-tos to the locations listed in Sirian's map from the previous turn. We may want to reconsider the Yor route, as I don't think the Yor are going to be around too much longer. You can also see the constructor heading to the military resource in the lower left corner and the one colony ship we still have out going to Altros.
Note we have fallen behind in population growth relative to the top AIs but are ahead of the Yor and catching up with the Arceans. The fact that the Arceans have low pop should help offset the number of influence SBs they own. Aphrodesiac will go a long way towards addressing the population imbalance.
A shot of our best planets:
And, finally, the save.
Black Cursor
Chieftain
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2001
- Messages
- 64
Cultural Trade has the Galactic Exhibition wonder attached to it. By shopping it around to the majors, they now have the opportunity to build that wonder -- we'll want to keep an eye on this.
Be seeing you...
---> TBC (The Wonder and Trade Good races could... get... interesting)
Be seeing you...
---> TBC (The Wonder and Trade Good races could... get... interesting)
Bam-Bam
Hammerhead
Got it. Should be able to play this evening.
On trade--I am reluctant to waste our freightor on the weak Yor, but I have to check out the save.
On trade--I am reluctant to waste our freightor on the weak Yor, but I have to check out the save.
TBC - While true, that also got us Interstellar Business, opening up the possibility of building Ultra Spices, without having to research it ourselves. If I had something else available to trade, I would have... but I didn't. I also sent Cultural Trade to as few civs as possible. I am not too worried about the AIs building Galactic Exhibition, I'm fairly confident we can snag most if not all of the wonders and trade goods.
I am currently playing a large galaxy on Maso where I have a much worse start than this, and I still got all but three of the early wonders & trade goods. The three I didn't get were all built by a minor whose 2 planets I just captured (poaching from the monster Torians, who did the heavy lifting.) Running through the early wonders here on Painful should be even easier.
I am currently playing a large galaxy on Maso where I have a much worse start than this, and I still got all but three of the early wonders & trade goods. The three I didn't get were all built by a minor whose 2 planets I just captured (poaching from the monster Torians, who did the heavy lifting.) Running through the early wonders here on Painful should be even easier.
If you have not built freighters yet, you should consider buying them from the majors you want to trade with. It will cost 15bc/99 months at most, maybe even 0 if you have techs to trade. It will be much closer to their target than your own freighters. If you can see some of the majors planets, you might even be able to buy a parked freighter, which you can connect for trade right away. 20 turns later, you are making a profit on trade and got the benefit on relations much earlier.
Although on a large map, it doesn't take too long to send a freighter anywhere.
Although on a large map, it doesn't take too long to send a freighter anywhere.
The problem with buying freighters is, of course, that you have no control over which of your planets the computer will pick as its point of origin. That is, unless someone has figured out some trick to influence the computer's decision, of course; for instance, renaming planets if the computer picks alphabetically or something. Otherwise, it will probably not pick an optimal origin point for your route, which could be important if you want to maximize income/security for your new trade route.
This works better in the early game when freighters are slow and you only have what will ultimately be your core planets to choose from, than later when more warring is going on and your freighters are faster. There is also some question as to whether the move is too effective.
This works better in the early game when freighters are slow and you only have what will ultimately be your core planets to choose from, than later when more warring is going on and your freighters are faster. There is also some question as to whether the move is too effective.
Bam-Bam
Hammerhead
2184
January
Scouts and surveyor continue about their business. No builds changed.
IT: Drengin complete Economic Capital
February
Earth completes its fusion plant, starts Diplo Translators, due in four.
IT: Torian freighter arrives.
March
Lots of buildings complete--continue on the queue. Drengin are the tech leaders, with Corvettes, Zero-G Manufacturing and Warp Drive. The Torians and Alterians both have Corvettes. We still have the monopoly on Int. Marketing and Int. Refining.
April
Two Fusion plants and a banking center in a pear tree...
IT: Arcean freighter joins the party.
May
Two research labs, two soil enhancements, a manufacturing center, and an entertainment network. Change the target of our one constructor to head to a newly spotted research resource about one sector north of the current military resource target. Set Westerfield and Markus up to take Frictionless clothing and Gravity Accelerators in 13 (+5% increase in overall spending @ 60ct surplus) to augment the wonder/trade good production on Earth.
Another colony ship arrives at the Altros system, to colonize the remaining PQ12 there. We get the following minor morality event:
No penalty (other than opportunity cost
) to the good option--done. Our alignment is now 73.
June
Two manufacturing centers, a banking center, and an entertainment network. I drop taxes a bit (45%) to keep all our top planets (>1B) at 100 morale. Income is still 24bct in the black. Surveyor picks up some space junk, boosting its weapons by 1%. Embor has completed its manufacturing center, so it starts on ultra spices, due in 10.
July
Earth set to Aphrodisiac, due in 4 (5 actually)
Lots of social builds complete--everyone still on the queue.
The Yor now have corvettes, and relations with the Drengin are now cool.
IT: The Carinoids complete their manufacturing capital.
August
Two banking centers, two manufacturing centers, and a research lab complete. I change Alcinous III's build to complete the Embassy first (vs. econ center), since it is the only >1B pop planet with morale problems. Taxes set back up to 47%--35bct in the black.
The Scottlingas now have some funds, so I sell them cultural trade for 39bct over 20 turns and 7 influence points. Income 74bct.
IT: The Alterians and Arceans are at war.
September
Three research labs complete. I do not like all this wasted maintenance, so I start looking at the research times and alternate build queues...no changes immediately noted, but I find a parked colony ship on Hoth--and nearby is another PQ12--ship is launched with 20m colonists toward Arcadius. I also add news networks into the build sequence of planets in AI controlled sectors.
Our northern scout spots a PQ12 on a white start just south of the northernmost Drengin planet. May be worth taking later in the game.
IT: Drengin complete their manufacturing capital. Torians establish another trade route with us.
October
Two entertainment networks, two habitat improvements, and a banking center. Notice that Embor (our PQ30) is in an Arcean controlled sector and next to an influence resource. This place is in need of a news network after it completes Ultra Spices.
IT: Alexians complete economic capital
November
Two entertainment centers, a soil enhancement, and banking center.
December
Manufacturing, three habitiats, and a embassy.
Another trade good
Earth set to galactic stock exchange. Arceans complete economic capital. Alexians establish a trade route with us.
Here is a view of our top planets
Taxes are at 44% to keep all @ 100 morale. Income 69bct. The Drengins now have interstellar tactics (frigates) and we are only up marketing on them, the Arceans have warp drive, and the Alexians have corvettes. TBC should see some of our trade routes get established. I did not detour the freighter heading for the Yor, but that is still an option. We have not gotten the Trade Organizations for the 5th trade route yet. The only trade goods/wonders left not currently being built by us arTri-Stronium Steel, Galactic Exhibition, and Restaurant of Eternity. They can be nabbed by Earth (and one other planet) during TBC's turns (or right at the beginning of Sirian's turns if spending is not increased).
The Game
January
Scouts and surveyor continue about their business. No builds changed.
IT: Drengin complete Economic Capital
February
Earth completes its fusion plant, starts Diplo Translators, due in four.
IT: Torian freighter arrives.
March
Lots of buildings complete--continue on the queue. Drengin are the tech leaders, with Corvettes, Zero-G Manufacturing and Warp Drive. The Torians and Alterians both have Corvettes. We still have the monopoly on Int. Marketing and Int. Refining.
April
Two Fusion plants and a banking center in a pear tree...
IT: Arcean freighter joins the party.
May
Two research labs, two soil enhancements, a manufacturing center, and an entertainment network. Change the target of our one constructor to head to a newly spotted research resource about one sector north of the current military resource target. Set Westerfield and Markus up to take Frictionless clothing and Gravity Accelerators in 13 (+5% increase in overall spending @ 60ct surplus) to augment the wonder/trade good production on Earth.
Another colony ship arrives at the Altros system, to colonize the remaining PQ12 there. We get the following minor morality event:
No penalty (other than opportunity cost
) to the good option--done. Our alignment is now 73.June
Two manufacturing centers, a banking center, and an entertainment network. I drop taxes a bit (45%) to keep all our top planets (>1B) at 100 morale. Income is still 24bct in the black. Surveyor picks up some space junk, boosting its weapons by 1%. Embor has completed its manufacturing center, so it starts on ultra spices, due in 10.
July
Earth set to Aphrodisiac, due in 4 (5 actually)
Lots of social builds complete--everyone still on the queue.
The Yor now have corvettes, and relations with the Drengin are now cool.
IT: The Carinoids complete their manufacturing capital.
August
Two banking centers, two manufacturing centers, and a research lab complete. I change Alcinous III's build to complete the Embassy first (vs. econ center), since it is the only >1B pop planet with morale problems. Taxes set back up to 47%--35bct in the black.
The Scottlingas now have some funds, so I sell them cultural trade for 39bct over 20 turns and 7 influence points. Income 74bct.
IT: The Alterians and Arceans are at war.
September
Three research labs complete. I do not like all this wasted maintenance, so I start looking at the research times and alternate build queues...no changes immediately noted, but I find a parked colony ship on Hoth--and nearby is another PQ12--ship is launched with 20m colonists toward Arcadius. I also add news networks into the build sequence of planets in AI controlled sectors.
Our northern scout spots a PQ12 on a white start just south of the northernmost Drengin planet. May be worth taking later in the game.
IT: Drengin complete their manufacturing capital. Torians establish another trade route with us.
October
Two entertainment networks, two habitat improvements, and a banking center. Notice that Embor (our PQ30) is in an Arcean controlled sector and next to an influence resource. This place is in need of a news network after it completes Ultra Spices.
IT: Alexians complete economic capital
November
Two entertainment centers, a soil enhancement, and banking center.
December
Manufacturing, three habitiats, and a embassy.
Another trade good
Earth set to galactic stock exchange. Arceans complete economic capital. Alexians establish a trade route with us.
Here is a view of our top planets
Taxes are at 44% to keep all @ 100 morale. Income 69bct. The Drengins now have interstellar tactics (frigates) and we are only up marketing on them, the Arceans have warp drive, and the Alexians have corvettes. TBC should see some of our trade routes get established. I did not detour the freighter heading for the Yor, but that is still an option. We have not gotten the Trade Organizations for the 5th trade route yet. The only trade goods/wonders left not currently being built by us arTri-Stronium Steel, Galactic Exhibition, and Restaurant of Eternity. They can be nabbed by Earth (and one other planet) during TBC's turns (or right at the beginning of Sirian's turns if spending is not increased).
The Game
It is usually attached to the last planet you have colonized, but not always. If you have just grabbed a pq26 or got a big pq event on your last landing, now is the time to buy freighters.
The trade route may not be optimum, but its active much sooner. 60 or 70 turns later, I replace those trade routes and still show a profit, especially if I paid the freighter with a tech. I only setup my first 2-3 trade routes that way so I can concentrate on wonder building.However you can end up with a dud on larger maps. Once in a while I blindly buy a freighter which is out of range and nowhere near an habitable planet!
This works best if you make contact with a major before he builds a freighter. Check diplomacy every turn and buy the first freighter you see, it's guaranteed to be at his home planet. Similar threads
