Hello!
I have thought of a challange that is very difficult...a bit extreme even. I have won it on my first attempt but it was not easy at all. Sharing this story in case anybody feels like trying to try this challange out.
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The challange:
A victory on Apollo, by never using any military units with the exception of Explorers, and wild Alien life (so Harmony units are not allowed). Leashing Aliens would be the main source of units.
Any Planet is ok but size should be Standard and Staggered Starts should be off. Orbital Units are OK to use.
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> Any non-alien units that are obtained by any means must be deleted or sold, and quests can be completed by building/buying units, but they must be sold immediately.
> Any victory is acceptable but I think the most natural one is Transcendence Victory, with all the others being much more difficult to obtain. Transcendence should be easier because you would want to have Leash Collosal Aliens ability and for that you need Harmony lvl 9 anyway.
If anybody would obtain another type of victory I would be amazed.
I think only ARC and Chungsu can complete this challange, it is hard to believe that other faction could, and I wouldn't even try. Settling off the coast is a must...
I did not even use Electromagnetic Sensor or Pioneers or Mercenaries, because I wanted to avoid any accusations that I'm using too powerful seeding options. Also, I have discovered that Continental Surveyor can be just as good of an option, because not only it makes you see the layout of the map, but it gives you instand information about where Resource Pods are located on the coasts, so you can maybe get a few extra of them.
So I went with more normal Laboratory and Artists and Continental Surveyor.
The game seemed impossible when I spawned right next to Brazil, who forward settled me immediately with 3 cities. (screenshot below shows the proximity of our capitals)
In order to win I had to rush the defensive buildings and buy them, but I tech for the Command Center anyway, so that wasn't a problem.
During the game I managed to leash a few aliens that were helpful early and mid game, but they were not really enough to hold the ground in the late game, and I managed to defend myself only by using Orbital Lasers... and I finished the game with a non-launched Planet Carver awaiting the perfect moment to be deployed.
I attempted many Coup d'etats during the game, and without much success, but the one that mattered came at the right moment, and I managed to completely eliminate Brazil from the game by stealing their capital city. Hutama became runaway and was attacking everybody, and he captured the other cities of Brazil before my coup. I think I attempted 15 coups but only 3 were successful, so 35% success chance reflects that quite well.
I managed to build 4 Wonders, including Nanothermite for 25% more city power when attacking. Getting Strategic Resources was extremely hard and I didn't have any petroleum but I got it from Trading with Hutama.
I went with a Knowledge - Might - Industry mix, I believe Knowledge is the best in order to get the extra spy. Full Might could be ok if enough affinity can be obtained from quests or exploration as it would help rush the Planetary Wonder from the 2 free affinities, while 20% more affinity from the Might Virtue would certainly help with getting Harmony 15.
Traits were mostly non-important with the exception of Political trait - Subtle.
For improvements, I filled my capital in Manufactories in order to be able to build the Planetary Wonder. It took around 30 turns anyway.
Getting Promethean to be able to cope with Unhealth was important.
Artifacts are also not a big deal but getting Sky Chitin in the event of getting Drones, or getting 25% speed for spies in order to save up some Diplomatical Capital from traits, these do help.
Screenshot below is 1 turn before Transcendence Victory. I had to wait 42 turns until the Mind Flower bloomed.
Diplomatical Screen shows the status of other colonies:
I have thought of a challange that is very difficult...a bit extreme even. I have won it on my first attempt but it was not easy at all. Sharing this story in case anybody feels like trying to try this challange out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The challange:
A victory on Apollo, by never using any military units with the exception of Explorers, and wild Alien life (so Harmony units are not allowed). Leashing Aliens would be the main source of units.
Any Planet is ok but size should be Standard and Staggered Starts should be off. Orbital Units are OK to use.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Any non-alien units that are obtained by any means must be deleted or sold, and quests can be completed by building/buying units, but they must be sold immediately.
> Any victory is acceptable but I think the most natural one is Transcendence Victory, with all the others being much more difficult to obtain. Transcendence should be easier because you would want to have Leash Collosal Aliens ability and for that you need Harmony lvl 9 anyway.
If anybody would obtain another type of victory I would be amazed.
I think only ARC and Chungsu can complete this challange, it is hard to believe that other faction could, and I wouldn't even try. Settling off the coast is a must...
I did not even use Electromagnetic Sensor or Pioneers or Mercenaries, because I wanted to avoid any accusations that I'm using too powerful seeding options. Also, I have discovered that Continental Surveyor can be just as good of an option, because not only it makes you see the layout of the map, but it gives you instand information about where Resource Pods are located on the coasts, so you can maybe get a few extra of them.
So I went with more normal Laboratory and Artists and Continental Surveyor.
The game seemed impossible when I spawned right next to Brazil, who forward settled me immediately with 3 cities. (screenshot below shows the proximity of our capitals)
In order to win I had to rush the defensive buildings and buy them, but I tech for the Command Center anyway, so that wasn't a problem.
During the game I managed to leash a few aliens that were helpful early and mid game, but they were not really enough to hold the ground in the late game, and I managed to defend myself only by using Orbital Lasers... and I finished the game with a non-launched Planet Carver awaiting the perfect moment to be deployed.
I attempted many Coup d'etats during the game, and without much success, but the one that mattered came at the right moment, and I managed to completely eliminate Brazil from the game by stealing their capital city. Hutama became runaway and was attacking everybody, and he captured the other cities of Brazil before my coup. I think I attempted 15 coups but only 3 were successful, so 35% success chance reflects that quite well.
I managed to build 4 Wonders, including Nanothermite for 25% more city power when attacking. Getting Strategic Resources was extremely hard and I didn't have any petroleum but I got it from Trading with Hutama.
I went with a Knowledge - Might - Industry mix, I believe Knowledge is the best in order to get the extra spy. Full Might could be ok if enough affinity can be obtained from quests or exploration as it would help rush the Planetary Wonder from the 2 free affinities, while 20% more affinity from the Might Virtue would certainly help with getting Harmony 15.
Traits were mostly non-important with the exception of Political trait - Subtle.
For improvements, I filled my capital in Manufactories in order to be able to build the Planetary Wonder. It took around 30 turns anyway.
Getting Promethean to be able to cope with Unhealth was important.
Artifacts are also not a big deal but getting Sky Chitin in the event of getting Drones, or getting 25% speed for spies in order to save up some Diplomatical Capital from traits, these do help.
Screenshot below is 1 turn before Transcendence Victory. I had to wait 42 turns until the Mind Flower bloomed.
Diplomatical Screen shows the status of other colonies: