RBGC SG5: Training Day SHADOW THREAD
- Thread starter Bam-Bam
- Start date
Now I'll offer my comment because it is burning my tongue. 
It is about the tax rate at the beginning of the game, consider this a macro-management tip.
I know it is mostly said to raise the tax as high as Earth can support but in practice I find it is better to leave the tax rate low. Before you have banks, raising taxes will bring very little extra income and requires constant monitoring to keep 100% morale. So here is what I do: if Earth is a pq 20 or better, I set a 40% tax rate, 35% for a pq19, and 30% for lower than pq19. This will cut your income by 5bc at most but will let you zip through the initial year without having to worry about morale. By the time Earth's morale begin to drop, it probably has enough population to get no extra benefit from a higher growth rate.
Earth's morale falling below 100 is an important signal, it is time to begin serious research and switch to social spending to get those banks online. After banks and entertainment networks are built, you can raise taxes to 50% again but this time it will bring in significant income and will not require constant monitoring of morale.
Note: the tax rates I mention are good for a gigantic map where the colony rush last longer. On smaller maps, or if I expect a very short rush, I would set the tax rate 5% higher.
I thought of this by seeing Brackard and Rojo's report one after the other. Brackard's note made me think he spent a lot of time monitoring the tax rate; Rojo's comment about forgetting to check morale illustrates what happen when you don't.
Now back to your regular programmming.
It is about the tax rate at the beginning of the game, consider this a macro-management tip. I know it is mostly said to raise the tax as high as Earth can support but in practice I find it is better to leave the tax rate low. Before you have banks, raising taxes will bring very little extra income and requires constant monitoring to keep 100% morale. So here is what I do: if Earth is a pq 20 or better, I set a 40% tax rate, 35% for a pq19, and 30% for lower than pq19. This will cut your income by 5bc at most but will let you zip through the initial year without having to worry about morale. By the time Earth's morale begin to drop, it probably has enough population to get no extra benefit from a higher growth rate.
Earth's morale falling below 100 is an important signal, it is time to begin serious research and switch to social spending to get those banks online. After banks and entertainment networks are built, you can raise taxes to 50% again but this time it will bring in significant income and will not require constant monitoring of morale.
Note: the tax rates I mention are good for a gigantic map where the colony rush last longer. On smaller maps, or if I expect a very short rush, I would set the tax rate 5% higher.
I thought of this by seeing Brackard and Rojo's report one after the other. Brackard's note made me think he spent a lot of time monitoring the tax rate; Rojo's comment about forgetting to check morale illustrates what happen when you don't.
Now back to your regular programmming.
aviator99_uk
Warlord
May as well say that I'm lurking, and its not my intent to take anything away from Bam_Bam but........
@Brackard-- I think you played a good turn, 1.9B pop, 3 planets colonised, 5 colony ships in flight (sort of) 2 of which should find systems, in my book that's a good enough start for anyone
I doubt I could have done better, and I'd probably be at war with someone by now :shotgun:
EDIT: I would stress the point Bam-Bam made, its well worth considering the 'value' of changing research topic or not activating a research anomaly. Its nice to put 25%s into a high cost research topic so that you can get it quickly when you want to, gaining 25% of something you can reserarch in a turn anyway is a tad wasteful.
Aviator
@Brackard-- I think you played a good turn, 1.9B pop, 3 planets colonised, 5 colony ships in flight (sort of) 2 of which should find systems, in my book that's a good enough start for anyone
I doubt I could have done better, and I'd probably be at war with someone by now :shotgun:
EDIT: I would stress the point Bam-Bam made, its well worth considering the 'value' of changing research topic or not activating a research anomaly. Its nice to put 25%s into a high cost research topic so that you can get it quickly when you want to, gaining 25% of something you can reserarch in a turn anyway is a tad wasteful.
Aviator
Bam-Bam
Hammerhead
Good point Jaxom. I usually do not mess much with tax rate in the beginning--mainly because I have little taste for micromanagement these days (wonder why I have trouble going back to Civ3 
).
).Brackard
Chieftain
A few clairifications on moves I made during my turn and ratinoale based on Bam Bam's comments. When it's early game and I see alien influence, the last thing I want to do is make contact. This is one reason I chose to go south as opposed to moving west. Even if I had correctly guessed the homeworld of the Altarians, I would have probably moved South.
Points taken about initial colony ships and population. Again, even if I knew the Alt homeworld was another sector away, I probably would have grabbed Cherryh first before colonizing the 2nd Sol planet, so I did learn something there.
My rational on the population sent was trying to keep the population above 1B. I remember there being a 'magic' number in one of the earlier SG that if you went below this number, colony ships took an extra turn to produce. I don't remember what it was, but I believe it was the 1B mark.
Jasxom: as far as taxes, I normally don't go to that extreme as well, but I figured if I didn't do it, I'd get a "tsk, tsk." Damned if you do, damned if you don't. ;p
Last but not least, I'll need to double check which anaomly speeds research. I don't want to accidentally trip it while scouting.
Points taken about initial colony ships and population. Again, even if I knew the Alt homeworld was another sector away, I probably would have grabbed Cherryh first before colonizing the 2nd Sol planet, so I did learn something there.
My rational on the population sent was trying to keep the population above 1B. I remember there being a 'magic' number in one of the earlier SG that if you went below this number, colony ships took an extra turn to produce. I don't remember what it was, but I believe it was the 1B mark.
Jasxom: as far as taxes, I normally don't go to that extreme as well, but I figured if I didn't do it, I'd get a "tsk, tsk." Damned if you do, damned if you don't. ;p
Last but not least, I'll need to double check which anaomly speeds research. I don't want to accidentally trip it while scouting.
Bam-Bam
Hammerhead
You can pop out 150M+ (even in a single planet Sol system) and keep the population of Earth right at 1B. Having a second planet there allows you to pop out 33-50% more colony ships with >150M colonists. If I have a colonizable planet in the Sol system, I will generally take it immediately for exactly that reason. Another thing to think of is what to do if you have a better planet (higher PQ than Earth) in sight immediately. What I will do (assuming that there is only one habitable planet in the Sol system) is send the colony ship out searching for other habitable worlds and load the first produced colony ship with ~900M to transfer the majority of Earth's starting pop to the higher PQ world. Note that I will only do that if there is a short transit (couple of months or so) between the two systems.
Jaxom is spot on. A couple of extra bc really doesn't matter that much. What you want is to keep Earth at 100% morale, so that you can keep the colony ships coming with 150M+ colonists.
Jaxom is spot on. A couple of extra bc really doesn't matter that much. What you want is to keep Earth at 100% morale, so that you can keep the colony ships coming with 150M+ colonists.
Rojo
Chieftain
Great feedback from people. Definintely exposes blunders I made and shows that these mistakes made in lower level games, while it does not affect me overall in those games, will hinder me in games at higher levels.
Just with this 1 year, I have already learned a fair bit. Looking forward to the next few years.
Just with this 1 year, I have already learned a fair bit. Looking forward to the next few years.
I find 120 million colonist to be a good number. This allow for growth on Earth and the new colony will produce 10 units on a pq15 while Earth is producing 17. This waste fewer production and the new colony can pop a 30 million colonist every 5 turns or a scout every 3 turns. I then use those small colony ship to setle pq 14s, or to settle wasteland to extend temporaly extend my range.
When I find a planet with a much better pq than Earth, I will settle it with whatever colony ship finds it, no point in risking loosing it. As soon as I feel I have enough colony ship in flight, I will send at least a million colonist from Earth, regardless of how far this planet is.
When I find a planet with a much better pq than Earth, I will settle it with whatever colony ship finds it, no point in risking loosing it. As soon as I feel I have enough colony ship in flight, I will send at least a million colonist from Earth, regardless of how far this planet is.
Rojo
Chieftain
Ok, here is my second year shadow. Lets we what we have.
Jan 2179
Opening statement tells us that the Drengin are the strongest.
Tactical map shows the Alatrian influence to the west and Torian influence to SW of us. 2 colony ships have been built, 1 in flight to the NE and the surveyor in Altarian space.
Tax rate is at 48%
Spend Rate 86%
Approval Rating 95%
Net Income -22
862 in Treasury
I decide to drop tax rate. Even though 41% is good enough to attain 100% approval rating, I drop 39% to give a buffer. I keep the spend rate at 86%.
I pull surveyor from Altarian space by heading SE.
Sol Colony ship I head East while I send the Unukalhai ship south.Colony ship in sector 8-10 I continue on its Northeastern trek.
Feb 2179
Move ships
Mar 2179
Cherryh II builds colony ship. I load with 75 Colonists and head SE. Colony ship spots Rhea system in sector 9-9 but it has nothing. Push north.
Apr 2179
Earth builds colony ship which I load with 150 colonists and head NE.
Sol IV builds colony ship, load with 150, and head East.
Cherryh IV builds colony ship, load 75 colonists and head SE.
I have picked these expansion routes as I have nothing directly north, there is influence west and SW of me and most accessible planets lie in the NE to South range.
May 2179
Move ships
June 2179
Unukalhai builds colony ship, load 75 and I decide to send east.
Spot Hyadea System in 8-11 which has nothing.
Morale on all planets is 100%.
July 2179
Get Mid year report showing we are the most populous civ.
We also meet a Carinoids colony ship in sector 7-12 which appears to be heading east. Homeworld appears to be in 7-13.
Earth builds colony ship, load 200 colonists and head E/NE direction.
I change spending from 100% military to 100 Research as I have 9 colony ships in flight and we are 16 months in the game. I ensure Communication Theory is set.
Aug 2179
We get Communication Theory and I select Universal Translator.
Surveyor spots Alcinous System in 7-12 (13) and keeping with Bam-Bam's method set a rally point for this planet.
Colony ship spots Lacroix system in 8-12 but it holds nothing. Another colony ships spots Maestro system also in 8-12 (16/14) but is is already owned by the Carinoids. Bummer, I will have to push further south.
Sept 2179
Get Universal Translator and select Diplomacy.
Move ships and spot Severus System in 9-8 (12/2) and set rally point. Push colony ship towards sector 11-8. Send surveyor North.
Oct 2179
Get Diplomacy and select Trade. Switch Government.
Nov 2179
Move ships and spot Xasica Ssytem in 10-11 (13/10) and set rally point. Also note first resource (Economy) in sector 9-8 and set rally point.
Dec 2179
Election Month and we retain our seats.
We get Trade and select Industrial Theory.
End of year report.
Moral still 100% on all planets,
9 colony ships still in flight (not lucky in finding any yellow stars),
Surveyor heading north and Carinoids only empire we have contact with.
Rojo Shadow 2180 save
Jan 2179
Opening statement tells us that the Drengin are the strongest.
Tactical map shows the Alatrian influence to the west and Torian influence to SW of us. 2 colony ships have been built, 1 in flight to the NE and the surveyor in Altarian space.
Tax rate is at 48%
Spend Rate 86%
Approval Rating 95%
Net Income -22
862 in Treasury
I decide to drop tax rate. Even though 41% is good enough to attain 100% approval rating, I drop 39% to give a buffer. I keep the spend rate at 86%.
I pull surveyor from Altarian space by heading SE.
Sol Colony ship I head East while I send the Unukalhai ship south.Colony ship in sector 8-10 I continue on its Northeastern trek.
Feb 2179
Move ships
Mar 2179
Cherryh II builds colony ship. I load with 75 Colonists and head SE. Colony ship spots Rhea system in sector 9-9 but it has nothing. Push north.
Apr 2179
Earth builds colony ship which I load with 150 colonists and head NE.
Sol IV builds colony ship, load with 150, and head East.
Cherryh IV builds colony ship, load 75 colonists and head SE.
I have picked these expansion routes as I have nothing directly north, there is influence west and SW of me and most accessible planets lie in the NE to South range.
May 2179
Move ships
June 2179
Unukalhai builds colony ship, load 75 and I decide to send east.
Spot Hyadea System in 8-11 which has nothing.
Morale on all planets is 100%.
July 2179
Get Mid year report showing we are the most populous civ.
We also meet a Carinoids colony ship in sector 7-12 which appears to be heading east. Homeworld appears to be in 7-13.
Earth builds colony ship, load 200 colonists and head E/NE direction.
I change spending from 100% military to 100 Research as I have 9 colony ships in flight and we are 16 months in the game. I ensure Communication Theory is set.
Aug 2179
We get Communication Theory and I select Universal Translator.
Surveyor spots Alcinous System in 7-12 (13) and keeping with Bam-Bam's method set a rally point for this planet.
Colony ship spots Lacroix system in 8-12 but it holds nothing. Another colony ships spots Maestro system also in 8-12 (16/14) but is is already owned by the Carinoids. Bummer, I will have to push further south.
Sept 2179
Get Universal Translator and select Diplomacy.
Move ships and spot Severus System in 9-8 (12/2) and set rally point. Push colony ship towards sector 11-8. Send surveyor North.
Oct 2179
Get Diplomacy and select Trade. Switch Government.
Nov 2179
Move ships and spot Xasica Ssytem in 10-11 (13/10) and set rally point. Also note first resource (Economy) in sector 9-8 and set rally point.
Dec 2179
Election Month and we retain our seats.
We get Trade and select Industrial Theory.
End of year report.
Moral still 100% on all planets,
9 colony ships still in flight (not lucky in finding any yellow stars),
Surveyor heading north and Carinoids only empire we have contact with.
Rojo Shadow 2180 save
blacksmoke
Chieftain
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2004
- Messages
- 15
Bam - Bam
here is my round one file i hope
here is my round one file i hope
Bam-Bam
Hammerhead
Time for a little reorientation. Torians to the southwest, Alterians to the west-northwest. Room to colonize south, but no known yellow start in sight. The two rally points I set on the PQ 13 and PQ12 are malfunctioning--I cannot see them, but I can call them up by pressing "x" (autopilot to rally point). Hmm--must be a 1.2 bug.
Reduce taxes to 40%--thats puts all planets @ 100% morale. May need to lower some more for the PQ15s, if I want to keep them on double growth. That puts us @ -27 bct with 100% spending--all to military. Three colony ships in flight, with two due in 2, one in 3, and one in 4.
January
Northeast colony ship heads northeast. Colony ship launched from Sol heads south. Colony ship from Unukalhai heads east-northeast. Surveyor, in Alterian space, heads north-northwest.
February
Ship movement
March
Colony ship from Cherryh II launched with 75M. Heads south. Remaining ships continue on track. Colony ship in the northeast scouts Rhea, a planetless system. Southernmost colony ship spots Hyadia, a planetless white star.
April
Earth, Sol IV, and Cherryh IV produce colony ships with 175M, 150M, and 50M colonists. Cherryh IV production switched to scout, to allow this system to grow some population. Milary resource tagged north of Unukalhai. Colony ships from Sol sent eastward, ship from Cherryh send south.
May
More ship movement. Economic resource tagged in Sector 10-9.
June
Colony ship with 70M souls launches from Unukalhai. I have 8 colony ships in flight, with two more due in the next two turns, when I will switch to research for a bit. When to switch to research is not an exact science. I usually switch when I have around 10 ships in flight, less if it is a rare map. The habitability, map size, and influence are all keys to this decision. You also have to look at your overall treasury. I like to switch from research to social spending in the 200bc to 100bc range, so I can still use some of that initial reserve to boost that initial round of social builds (soil, habitability, banks, etc). Our northesternmost colony ship spots Sivil, a yellow star with a PQ15. That will give us a nice range boost to the north and east--I may have to rethink stopping the land grab. We meet a Caranoid colony ship.
July
Colony ship from Earth launched with 175M colonists. Cherryh IV produces a scout. As I suspected, the Carinoids grabbed Maestro--only Brackards push to the south in his shadow turn would have grabbed that for us. Since we see a Carinoid colony ship heading west down this way, there must be another yellow out there. The AIs start with full knowledge of where all yellow stars are in the galaxy, so spotting and tailing an AI colony ship can be a good tactic for beelining to a yellow star--assuming they don't get impulse drives first. Colony ship from Sol heads northeast.
August
Colony ship from Cherryh with 75M souls. Colonize Sivil with no event. Colony ship production here will take 5 months, so I choose to keep going with that. Spot Lacroix, a planetless system to the south. Sol IV changed to scout from colony ship production.
September
Sol IV completes a scout.
October
Earth launhes a 180M colony ship. Cherryh launches a scout.
November
50M colony ship from Unukalhai.
December
Scout from Sol IV. PQ12 system spotted and marked in sector 7-8.
End of Year
200M, 100M, and 75M colony ships from Earth, Cherryh, and Sivil. Scout from Cherryh. Spending shifted to research. Time to roll out SiBCaT, or Sirian'sBonus Caluation Technique. We have a 20% bonus to research. Comm theory on a huge map is 50rp (plus some for cushin), so I set spending to get aroudn 44rp. Bonus research is free, so with our bonus, we SHOULD have a total of 52rp, which will give us the tech in a month. Time to check the planets to see if we have put enought fat into our number. Bonus research is calculated planet by planet, and rounded DOWN. Looking at the planets, we only have 5 rp of bonus research shown.
Look at the individual planetary screen for the information. See the spending in research here on Earth is 10 + 1. The ten rp is what we are paying, and the +1 is the free reseach our +20% research bonus is giving us on this planet.
Time to dial up the spending to 46rp. Looking at the planets, we have 6 bonus rp, for a total of 52rp, which will net us comm theory in 1 turn. Read Sirian's explination of how the game monitors bonus research--that will give you some more pointers on how to use SiBCaT. We can discuss this more if you like after this round of comments.
Here is our current situation.
You can see that the Alterian influence has grown (or we can see more of it). I popped a hyperspace anomaly (surveyor is on auto right now). I have more autopilots than I would normally have for a SG, but since no one will be following this turn, no flogging necessary.
This was a pretting boring turn for me--hopefully the next year will be a bit more interesting.
The game
Reduce taxes to 40%--thats puts all planets @ 100% morale. May need to lower some more for the PQ15s, if I want to keep them on double growth. That puts us @ -27 bct with 100% spending--all to military. Three colony ships in flight, with two due in 2, one in 3, and one in 4.
January
Northeast colony ship heads northeast. Colony ship launched from Sol heads south. Colony ship from Unukalhai heads east-northeast. Surveyor, in Alterian space, heads north-northwest.
February
Ship movementMarch
Colony ship from Cherryh II launched with 75M. Heads south. Remaining ships continue on track. Colony ship in the northeast scouts Rhea, a planetless system. Southernmost colony ship spots Hyadia, a planetless white star.
April
Earth, Sol IV, and Cherryh IV produce colony ships with 175M, 150M, and 50M colonists. Cherryh IV production switched to scout, to allow this system to grow some population. Milary resource tagged north of Unukalhai. Colony ships from Sol sent eastward, ship from Cherryh send south.
May
More ship movement. Economic resource tagged in Sector 10-9.
June
Colony ship with 70M souls launches from Unukalhai. I have 8 colony ships in flight, with two more due in the next two turns, when I will switch to research for a bit. When to switch to research is not an exact science. I usually switch when I have around 10 ships in flight, less if it is a rare map. The habitability, map size, and influence are all keys to this decision. You also have to look at your overall treasury. I like to switch from research to social spending in the 200bc to 100bc range, so I can still use some of that initial reserve to boost that initial round of social builds (soil, habitability, banks, etc). Our northesternmost colony ship spots Sivil, a yellow star with a PQ15. That will give us a nice range boost to the north and east--I may have to rethink stopping the land grab. We meet a Caranoid colony ship.
July
Colony ship from Earth launched with 175M colonists. Cherryh IV produces a scout. As I suspected, the Carinoids grabbed Maestro--only Brackards push to the south in his shadow turn would have grabbed that for us. Since we see a Carinoid colony ship heading west down this way, there must be another yellow out there. The AIs start with full knowledge of where all yellow stars are in the galaxy, so spotting and tailing an AI colony ship can be a good tactic for beelining to a yellow star--assuming they don't get impulse drives first. Colony ship from Sol heads northeast.
August
Colony ship from Cherryh with 75M souls. Colonize Sivil with no event. Colony ship production here will take 5 months, so I choose to keep going with that. Spot Lacroix, a planetless system to the south. Sol IV changed to scout from colony ship production.
September
Sol IV completes a scout.
October
Earth launhes a 180M colony ship. Cherryh launches a scout.
November
50M colony ship from Unukalhai.
December
Scout from Sol IV. PQ12 system spotted and marked in sector 7-8.
End of Year
200M, 100M, and 75M colony ships from Earth, Cherryh, and Sivil. Scout from Cherryh. Spending shifted to research. Time to roll out SiBCaT, or Sirian'sBonus Caluation Technique. We have a 20% bonus to research. Comm theory on a huge map is 50rp (plus some for cushin), so I set spending to get aroudn 44rp. Bonus research is free, so with our bonus, we SHOULD have a total of 52rp, which will give us the tech in a month. Time to check the planets to see if we have put enought fat into our number. Bonus research is calculated planet by planet, and rounded DOWN. Looking at the planets, we only have 5 rp of bonus research shown.
Look at the individual planetary screen for the information. See the spending in research here on Earth is 10 + 1. The ten rp is what we are paying, and the +1 is the free reseach our +20% research bonus is giving us on this planet.
Time to dial up the spending to 46rp. Looking at the planets, we have 6 bonus rp, for a total of 52rp, which will net us comm theory in 1 turn. Read Sirian's explination of how the game monitors bonus research--that will give you some more pointers on how to use SiBCaT. We can discuss this more if you like after this round of comments.
Here is our current situation.
You can see that the Alterian influence has grown (or we can see more of it). I popped a hyperspace anomaly (surveyor is on auto right now). I have more autopilots than I would normally have for a SG, but since no one will be following this turn, no flogging necessary.
This was a pretting boring turn for me--hopefully the next year will be a bit more interesting.
The game
After you meet the first minor, you should definately research comm theory and universal translator at the best possible pace. You then take a look at what the minor has and research something he doesn't have, usually med theory or industrial theory. You can research all those techs in 2 turns each with only 3 planets, 1 turn each if you have more than 3 planets. 9 times out of 10, you will get diplomacy or trade basically for free, both of them if you have some diplomacy picks.
blacksmoke
Chieftain
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2004
- Messages
- 15

Initial assessment:
Colony ship in section 8-10 Send to section 9-8
Colony ship at Sol send to section 10-9
Reason : To possibly expand the territory where the are planets
Colony ship at Unakaihai send to section 7-12
Reason possible block from torain???
Hero section 6-10 move to 6-12
Jan 2179 - go with assess plan
Feb 2179 no action needed
March 2179
New colony ship at Cherryh send to section 8-12
Change Hero direction to section 4-9
Reason I did not think about the Hero ship opportunities
Apr 2179
New colony ship at Cherryh send to PQ13 planet in section 6-10
Reason to build influence
Sol
New colony ship send to section 10-11
New colony ship send to section 11-10
Change from colony ship to constructor at planet Sol
Reason: To be able capitalize on resources when discover
May 2179 no action needed
Jun 2179
Colonize planet on Unukalhia
July 2179
Discover the Cariniods in section 8-12
Aug 2179
No action needed
Sep 2179
New colony ship at Cherryh send to section 11-12
New Colony ship at Cherryh send to section 11-8
Change to mil 40% research 40% (weapon) social 20%
Reason for the change is not to fell too behind in research and allow time to expand territory with the colony in flight. I did not cut the mil to 0% due the fact I building constructor at Sol
Oct 2179
Discover the Altarian in section 5-9
November 2179
Started to research communication
Colonize plant on Alcinous PQ13
December 2179 - no action
Initial assessment:
Colony ship in section 8-10 Send to section 9-8
Colony ship at Sol send to section 10-9
Reason : To possibly expand the territory where the are planets
Colony ship at Unakaihai send to section 7-12
Reason possible block from torain???
Hero section 6-10 move to 6-12
Jan 2179 - go with assess plan
Feb 2179 no action needed
March 2179
New colony ship at Cherryh send to section 8-12
Change Hero direction to section 4-9
Reason I did not think about the Hero ship opportunities
Apr 2179
New colony ship at Cherryh send to PQ13 planet in section 6-10
Reason to build influence
Sol
New colony ship send to section 10-11
New colony ship send to section 11-10
Change from colony ship to constructor at planet Sol
Reason: To be able capitalize on resources when discover
May 2179 no action needed
Jun 2179
Colonize planet on Unukalhia
July 2179
Discover the Cariniods in section 8-12
Aug 2179
No action needed
Sep 2179
New colony ship at Cherryh send to section 11-12
New Colony ship at Cherryh send to section 11-8
Change to mil 40% research 40% (weapon) social 20%
Reason for the change is not to fell too behind in research and allow time to expand territory with the colony in flight. I did not cut the mil to 0% due the fact I building constructor at Sol
Oct 2179
Discover the Altarian in section 5-9
November 2179
Started to research communication
Colonize plant on Alcinous PQ13
December 2179 - no action
Bam-Bam
Hammerhead
Ok folks. I am a bit slow on the comments for this round. My wife is sick with pneumonia, and I have had bronchitis for the last week. Comments will go up NLT tomorrow eveing, which will also give G-Force some more time.
From then on, we will change the timing to speed things up a bit. Games posted in 48 hours, and comments and discussion complete in 72 hours.
From then on, we will change the timing to speed things up a bit. Games posted in 48 hours, and comments and discussion complete in 72 hours.
Sorry for being late, work for college was murder this week. Any way:
JAN: We are the wealthiest, colony ship from earthis send to sector 10-11, the colony ship from Unuk is send to its own PQ14
FEB: ship moves
MAR: Cherryh builds col: launched with 100M heading SE, We discover a system with no planets in 9-9
APR: 3 more cols produced, loaded with an average of 140M, Our surveyor gets an additional 4HP
MAY: ship moves
JUN: Yellow star located in sector 10-9 (2 planets: 15 & 4), taxes changed for 100% morale, surveyor gets us a +5% espionage bonus
JUL: we meet the Altarians who we don't understand, we find out we're the most populous, another col from Earth
AUG: we meet the Carninoids in sector 8-12: it'll be unlike that there will be any good systems still free in there, col from Cherryh
We have enough cols for the moment: research to 100%, spending to 70 with gives a shortage of 25BC
SEP: we get weapons theory (forgot to change it) -> communication theory, We colonize Sivil(10-9): no morality events
OCT: communication theory -> universal translator
NOV: universal translator -> diplomacy
DEC: located a tech resource, but it's taken by the Altarians (placed a waypoint)
I also notice a militairy and economy resource still free, I add the waypoints
JAN: diplomcay researched -> enact republic -> going for trade
End game screenshots:
Savegame: here
G-Force
JAN: We are the wealthiest, colony ship from earthis send to sector 10-11, the colony ship from Unuk is send to its own PQ14
FEB: ship moves
MAR: Cherryh builds col: launched with 100M heading SE, We discover a system with no planets in 9-9
APR: 3 more cols produced, loaded with an average of 140M, Our surveyor gets an additional 4HP
MAY: ship moves
JUN: Yellow star located in sector 10-9 (2 planets: 15 & 4), taxes changed for 100% morale, surveyor gets us a +5% espionage bonus
JUL: we meet the Altarians who we don't understand, we find out we're the most populous, another col from Earth
AUG: we meet the Carninoids in sector 8-12: it'll be unlike that there will be any good systems still free in there, col from Cherryh
We have enough cols for the moment: research to 100%, spending to 70 with gives a shortage of 25BC
SEP: we get weapons theory (forgot to change it) -> communication theory, We colonize Sivil(10-9): no morality events
OCT: communication theory -> universal translator
NOV: universal translator -> diplomacy
DEC: located a tech resource, but it's taken by the Altarians (placed a waypoint)
I also notice a militairy and economy resource still free, I add the waypoints
JAN: diplomcay researched -> enact republic -> going for trade
End game screenshots:
Savegame: here
G-Force
Bam-Bam
Hammerhead
Opening: Good call on reducing the tax rate. I was not paying much attention at the end of my turns.
Loading and expansion looks good, though I would have taken a bit of a detour with the northeasternmost colony ship before heading north. Not a big deal, since there is not any influence showing that way.
Your timing on starting research looks good, but I wonder why you kept going up the diplo tree. I bet the Caranoids already had diplomacy and/or trade, so a better choice would have been to research med theory or ind. theory, and trade for these techs. If I have met a minor, it it VERY rare that I will research these techs myself, since they are the first that he AIs go for.
EDIT: Looking at the save, you are up diplo and trade on the caranoids. I rarely see that, so I will temper my comments. Still should have pulled the trigger on trades before ending your turn. You are also suffering from overspending. You have spending set to 91rp, and the tech you are researching (ind. theory) only costs 50rp. Not good. Re-read my discussion on tech spending in my report, and visit the link to SiBCaT.
In fact, you made no tech trades at all. Not good. Like Jaxom said above, sometimes meeting a minor is a call for turning on research, even if it is just to see what they have after comm. theory and universal translator. That way you are not duplicating research. Trading tech-for-tech with the minors (and majors) is very powerful, and can save many months of research. Minors are most useful in the early game; they rarely tend to be strong enough later to net mucho techs. The early game is when trading with them makes the most sense.
Final call--expanion and timing of the transition were good, but you missed opportunities to shave months off our time to get to improving our worlds by ignoring tech trading.
Loading and expansion looks good, though I would have taken a bit of a detour with the northeasternmost colony ship before heading north. Not a big deal, since there is not any influence showing that way.
Your timing on starting research looks good, but I wonder why you kept going up the diplo tree. I bet the Caranoids already had diplomacy and/or trade, so a better choice would have been to research med theory or ind. theory, and trade for these techs. If I have met a minor, it it VERY rare that I will research these techs myself, since they are the first that he AIs go for.
EDIT: Looking at the save, you are up diplo and trade on the caranoids. I rarely see that, so I will temper my comments. Still should have pulled the trigger on trades before ending your turn. You are also suffering from overspending. You have spending set to 91rp, and the tech you are researching (ind. theory) only costs 50rp. Not good. Re-read my discussion on tech spending in my report, and visit the link to SiBCaT.
In fact, you made no tech trades at all. Not good. Like Jaxom said above, sometimes meeting a minor is a call for turning on research, even if it is just to see what they have after comm. theory and universal translator. That way you are not duplicating research. Trading tech-for-tech with the minors (and majors) is very powerful, and can save many months of research. Minors are most useful in the early game; they rarely tend to be strong enough later to net mucho techs. The early game is when trading with them makes the most sense.
Final call--expanion and timing of the transition were good, but you missed opportunities to shave months off our time to get to improving our worlds by ignoring tech trading.
Bam-Bam
Hammerhead
A little more detail here, so I can comment a little more.
First thing, on your switching spending priorities. I would recommend that you look at keeping focus on 100% in one area (mil, social, or research) until you finish the task. For example, we go 100% mil for the land grab, 100% research for the initial tech rush, then 100% social to build up the planets a bit, and grab some trade goods if possible. Splitting spending during the period that you are spending down the reserve is dangerous. You want that reserve to net you at least your landgrab, and usually you want it to get you through the first round of techs (up to controlled grav, advanced trade, and the like). Ideally, you will have a bit left to boost the initial social queue (soil, habitat, banks) such that you can then self-sustain at 60-80% while the trade routes complete.
Keeping up the military spending to pop out a constructor this early is a waste.
The three-way that you have at the end of your turns, with -50+bc/turn will get you in debt with not a whole lot accomplished.
Your choice of directions for settling were good, but choosing to settle the PQ13s now is a mistake. You will be spending maintenance for basic life support on them until they get to PQ14. Better to keep a 20-30M colony ship there and settle right at the start of the social spending phase. I also see colony ships with 687M and 342M. You have taken over 1B population from the Sol system and set them out into space. Earth is left with only 580M population. That is devistating to your growth curve here.
Your choice of weapons tech as your initial tech is also questionable. Best to beeline to Comm theory and universal translator first, then check what the AIs have so that you do not research anything they have. Somemilitary techs you will have to self-research (deflectors, battleships), and some can be bypassed (e.g., you can trade for shields more easily than deflectors, for some reason, so you do not need to get deflectors).
Looking at your spending, you are putting 34bc into research for universal translator, which only costs 25bc. Also, with our 20% bonus reasearch, you could even cut back spending to 22 or 23 bct (see my turn for an explination on how to handle bonus research). If you do not know the costs for techs, I am sure that you can find the link to javascouts database, or Brackard could post his tech spreadsheet. Wasting money on research in the early game only puts you in debt faster with less accomplished, forcing you to cut spending earlier.
I also see you picked two evil choices on morality events. With the alterians and torians our only major contacts at this point, this was a bad call, especially for starship bonuses on PQ13 and PQ15 worlds.
Definately room for improvement here, but that's why we're playing this game. Keep your chin up, you have another couple of shadow rounds before you take the helm.
First thing, on your switching spending priorities. I would recommend that you look at keeping focus on 100% in one area (mil, social, or research) until you finish the task. For example, we go 100% mil for the land grab, 100% research for the initial tech rush, then 100% social to build up the planets a bit, and grab some trade goods if possible. Splitting spending during the period that you are spending down the reserve is dangerous. You want that reserve to net you at least your landgrab, and usually you want it to get you through the first round of techs (up to controlled grav, advanced trade, and the like). Ideally, you will have a bit left to boost the initial social queue (soil, habitat, banks) such that you can then self-sustain at 60-80% while the trade routes complete.
Keeping up the military spending to pop out a constructor this early is a waste.
The three-way that you have at the end of your turns, with -50+bc/turn will get you in debt with not a whole lot accomplished.
Your choice of directions for settling were good, but choosing to settle the PQ13s now is a mistake. You will be spending maintenance for basic life support on them until they get to PQ14. Better to keep a 20-30M colony ship there and settle right at the start of the social spending phase. I also see colony ships with 687M and 342M. You have taken over 1B population from the Sol system and set them out into space. Earth is left with only 580M population. That is devistating to your growth curve here.
Your choice of weapons tech as your initial tech is also questionable. Best to beeline to Comm theory and universal translator first, then check what the AIs have so that you do not research anything they have. Somemilitary techs you will have to self-research (deflectors, battleships), and some can be bypassed (e.g., you can trade for shields more easily than deflectors, for some reason, so you do not need to get deflectors).
Looking at your spending, you are putting 34bc into research for universal translator, which only costs 25bc. Also, with our 20% bonus reasearch, you could even cut back spending to 22 or 23 bct (see my turn for an explination on how to handle bonus research). If you do not know the costs for techs, I am sure that you can find the link to javascouts database, or Brackard could post his tech spreadsheet. Wasting money on research in the early game only puts you in debt faster with less accomplished, forcing you to cut spending earlier.
I also see you picked two evil choices on morality events. With the alterians and torians our only major contacts at this point, this was a bad call, especially for starship bonuses on PQ13 and PQ15 worlds.
Definately room for improvement here, but that's why we're playing this game. Keep your chin up, you have another couple of shadow rounds before you take the helm.
Bam-Bam
Hammerhead
Good--some more meat in the report, and a savegame to boot.
You settling directions looked good, but you pulled too many colonists off Cherryh. Both planets are now below 100M. That will stunt your growth curve. I try to keep settled worlds close to the size of the colony ship that settled them.
Oops on not changing off weapons theory. I guess I did not do my normal move of changing that right at the beginning. One month is not a killer.
You also chose not to trade, and funny thing is--NEITHER of the AIs have diplomacy?? I cannot remember the last time I saw that. You would not want to go much further without pulling the trigger on trades. It is rare indeed when I do not trade up the diplo-trade tree.
Your spending is not in line with the tech you are researching, and it is not clear what thought you have put into how our bonus research affects the amount you need to spend on research. Trade costs 130 rp; you are spending 92bc (plus another 11rp in bonus research), with trade due in 2 months. You could either bump up the spending to get the tech in a month or throttle back to spend 59bc (plus 8rp of bonus research) to get the tech in 2 turns. That would save 66bc over 2 turns from the spending you have now. It pays to be frugal with your research in the early game (if not always), since you are riding that initial 1000bc bank account.
Your colony ship push to the east was stong--that will likely get a world or two (or three).
Overall good work on the colony push--with the exception of taking too many colonists of the smaller worlds. Good work on knowing the power of focusing all spending in one area to get the quicker benefits. Tech trading should have been done, and you seem to have wasted some credits by overspending on research.
You settling directions looked good, but you pulled too many colonists off Cherryh. Both planets are now below 100M. That will stunt your growth curve. I try to keep settled worlds close to the size of the colony ship that settled them.
Oops on not changing off weapons theory. I guess I did not do my normal move of changing that right at the beginning. One month is not a killer.
You also chose not to trade, and funny thing is--NEITHER of the AIs have diplomacy?? I cannot remember the last time I saw that. You would not want to go much further without pulling the trigger on trades. It is rare indeed when I do not trade up the diplo-trade tree.
Your spending is not in line with the tech you are researching, and it is not clear what thought you have put into how our bonus research affects the amount you need to spend on research. Trade costs 130 rp; you are spending 92bc (plus another 11rp in bonus research), with trade due in 2 months. You could either bump up the spending to get the tech in a month or throttle back to spend 59bc (plus 8rp of bonus research) to get the tech in 2 turns. That would save 66bc over 2 turns from the spending you have now. It pays to be frugal with your research in the early game (if not always), since you are riding that initial 1000bc bank account.
Your colony ship push to the east was stong--that will likely get a world or two (or three).
Overall good work on the colony push--with the exception of taking too many colonists of the smaller worlds. Good work on knowing the power of focusing all spending in one area to get the quicker benefits. Tech trading should have been done, and you seem to have wasted some credits by overspending on research.
Brackard
Chieftain
Bam-Bam
Hammerhead
Brackard!Similar threads
