I must cheat

[zsozso]

Vyeh, a better question is: have I ever won it ?
Yes, once! Most of the time I fail.

Of course, it depends on the definition of winning. I consider the challenge won if you manage to play all 7 factions of the game and win with the last one. In most attempts I had 1 or 2 factions eliminated before I get to play them. Either that, or you have to switch back to a faction you already played, because it gets to be the lowest and not a different one. Sometimes you reach the switch condition so late that the lowest faction is almost eliminated having only a few weak bases and under attack by a stronger one. Then you can actually lose the game even in standard definition too.

 

[vyeh]

When do you switch? Is it on a fixed schedule or when the faction you're playing becomes the dominant one?

 

[zsozso]

For the first faction I play at least 50 turns, after that I always switch when I reach #1 on the power graph and choose the lowest ranking faction. The 50 turn per faction is a good gauge to see if you are doing OK. If it takes longer than that with a faction, then you have a danger of losing the challenge.