[Vanilla] Am I beat?

[gamemaster3000]

Difficulty is 2nd from top (soyuz)?

I got bogged down by the aliens for like...150 turns. Game speed normal, it's turn 230 or so now.

I'm doing 90 beakers a turn, everyone else is doing 150-180. Didn't have anyone to trade with. Despite the beaker difference I'm affinity 7 but the top player is at 9. I'm fighting ARC and winning, but her cities are strength 65 and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to take them. Even if I do, I'm at 18 unhealthy due to claiming the rest of my continent.

It's been fun playing a game so close but there are 2-3 players on another continent doing 150+ beakers a turn...even if I take ARCs cities I'll never be able to touch the other continent. But the computer plays so dumb, I'm just not sure.

 

[vorlon_mi]

I haven't opened the save file yet, but which victory condition are you going for? Conquest or something else?

I agree that the AI players are dumb, failing to capitalize on a tech lead or pus aggressively for one of the affinity-based victories.

 

[gamemaster3000]

Any, really. Started the game thinking transcendence but at that point any of them.

I probably am screwed, I restarted the game and played to turn 232 before work again. I’m doing WAY better but still trailing in beakers/turn, but not affinity.

 

[Darsnan]

So looking over your domain I see you've got one spy sitting at home, and you've also got the "Special Delivery" Quest to establish a network in Freeland, so if you send your unemployed spy to Freeland you'll get another spy which ultimately will lead to more beakers. You've also built a Command Center so its just a matter of time before you get another spy there as well. And of course once you build a Feedsite Hub you'll get another spy. So plenty of opportunities for beakers there!

As far as victory conditions are concerned, yeah I think your gonna have to go thru the Americans and nullify them before turning your attention overseas. However if the other AIs give you enough time to take this strategy remains to be seen....

I also noticed your economy could use some tweaking: building roads from your cities to your capital will increase income.

HTH,

D

 

[gamemaster3000]

Thanks for taking a look at it.

I replayed it and did a LOT better...and still lost. So pretty sure I'm completely crushed in the alpha version.

This time I got bogged down less by aliens, but more by unhealth. My capital didn't hit pop 10 forever.

 

[Darsnan]

I replayed it and did a LOT better...and still lost. So pretty sure I'm completely crushed in the alpha version.

This time I got bogged down less by aliens, but more by unhealth. My capital didn't hit pop 10 forever.

So you've got the Turn 1 save as well? If so can you post that? I'd be interested to see how I'd do differently with my style of play.

A couple other things that I'd noticed that weren't directly related to your question about beakers was your choices in the Virtues tree: I've always gone Prosperity first, first beelining for the free Colonizer with "Colony Initiative", then beelining to the "Pathfinders" for the 3 extra expeditions. I'd also noticed you hadn't completed the "Gifts from Home" quest (i.e. recover 3 resource pods) at the beginning of the game: was that because you were so boxed in?

D

 

[gamemaster3000]

That should be it

I've played this $%&^#$ map a third time for all of today...AND SOMEHOW LOST AGAIN. I don't even know how it happened. Everything was going fine, I was up on affinity, trailing a bit on beakers but more than making up for it on aliens. I was technically at war with ARC but we were so far away there was no big deal, I didn't see any units for 20+ turns.

Then something happened I'd never seen in a lifetime of playing Civ, she all of a sudden rolls in with 5 rovers and 5 gunners and takes one of my cities and pushes me all the way up to my capital. She didn't take it, but what was a 10-20 beaker deficit from the other players I'm not fighting is now my 40 to their 120.

 

[Darsnan]

I've played this $%&^#$ map a third time for all of today...AND SOMEHOW LOST AGAIN. I don't even know how it happened. Everything was going fine, I was up on affinity, trailing a bit on beakers but more than making up for it on aliens. I was technically at war with ARC but we were so far away there was no big deal, I didn't see any units for 20+ turns.

Then something happened I'd never seen in a lifetime of playing Civ, she all of a sudden rolls in with 5 rovers and 5 gunners and takes one of my cities and pushes me all the way up to my capital. She didn't take it, but what was a 10-20 beaker deficit from the other players I'm not fighting is now my 40 to their 120.

Attached is my go at the same game, and up to about the same turn as you'd originally posted. I'm affinity 8 and ARC is at least affinity 12. ARC is dribbling units at me which for my thoroughly entrenched Supremacy troops is no problem ("A row of troopers on the Frontier, and a Node in every backyard" is my motto!). The sky is a different story: I took the Interceptor promotion for my aircraft, but even with that, a Node to hasten healing, and getting the two extra levels of veterancy via the Precog Project I'm still getting 60-80% damage every intercept. If Polynesia declares war I could be fighting a two front war, which is going to make my life very interesting....

D

 

[Darsnan]

OK well I played it out and got beat by ARC just after turn 300. I had sacked their adjacent city once but wasn't strong enough to press the attack. I had just re-built my army and was on the move when I lost the game.

I'd never seen these screen shots before:

 

[gamemaster3000]

I finally have one where I'm going to win most likely, although Hutama just declared this turn. I even got lucky with a few stolen techs and 2 rounds of affinity from excavations.

 

[legalizefreedom]

On Soyuz you will be behind for an uncomfortable while in the game unless you can manage to not get distracted.

My personal strategy is:
1. Prioritize excavations (at least 3 scouts on huge)
2. Don't attack the aliens (and they won't attack you) until you're prepared (~100 turns)
3. Make your way to the health bonuses in the health tree (3 big ones). You can take other health opportunities, but be careful not to invest too heavily. Prioritize Biowells and ideally build them on forested plains, you'll soon not have to worry about health. Be sure to check the city's health vs pop also. You can't get more than the pop.
4. Then settle, settle, settle and support your new cities to get them rolling.
5. If you plan to be hostile to aliens, be sure to get the science when killing them early in the might tree. Look for any opportunity to get science and culture from killing stuff.
6. Try to get % off Virtues.

 

[gamemaster3000]

Finally beat it today, Turn 330 something Transcendence.

 

[Darsnan]

Finally beat it today, Turn 330 something Transcendence.

This was fun! We should do this again sometime where someone posts a turn from a difficult game they've encountered and people see if they can do better.

D