Meh. Strategic balance is the default game mode, to me.
Seeding options - best spacecraft
- Thread starter Mount Suribachi
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Meh. Strategic balance is the default game mode, to me.
It's not just the titanium in range of capital, it's titanium in first settler range. With scanner you can basically ignore the tech for a while which is a nice science saving and position a quick colonist to take advantage if there's somthing close. Also knowing where the oil is, is fairly advantageous and if they ever make geothermal worth the trouble that's gonna be nice too.
Acken
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Well I believe strategic balance always gives you titanium. But I just personally play on standard resources since that is usually how competitions on civfanatics are using.
Tectonic scanner can't be under rated. It reveals titanium and allows you to work it for 5 hammers right away. Not to mention since you can see all kinds of resources right away you don't accidentally build on top of them thus destroying them or build away from them.
If strategic balance is on, scanner every time.
If strategic balance is on, scanner every time.
And now it's just nuts.
chazzycat
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even if you don't get titanium, it's still good to know where the oil is, if you plan on building satellites. also you can move 3 techs down your early priority list, which is significant. that's the worst possible outcome, and it really isn't that bad compared to the other options. The pretty strong chance of an early titanium mine is easily worth it IMO.
Even with Tectonic Scanner, Chemistry isn't moving down the priority list; you need it for your first dedicated science building (Lab) and your first dedicated production building (Recycler). Being able to put off Engineering is nice, I'll grant you, but I don't think it's worth the lengthy delay in setting up trade vessels you end up with by passing up Continental Survey.
Outside of a heavily sea base map (atlantean/Argipelo), most of your cities shouldn't be on the coast. And your starting explorer can map the coast around you more than rapidly enough for your first few cities to have connections. Though on those maps types just seeing where the land is, is really rather nice anyway.
But on a normal map you don't need it to establish your routes.
You need it to establish your international trade routes, or else you have to have your explorers carefully trail the coast instead of looking for pods and expedition sites inland, because even a single bit of fog on the coast will block your routes. Even on a Terran map, knowing the shortest route to open up a path between continents (not to mention knowing which continents can be maneuvered around and which are ice-blocked) is very useful.
And you need to do that anyway to check for ruins and pods, (pods seem to love coastlines in my experience), so where's the issue. Your first few cities aren't gong to be very far away so it doesn't even take a lot of effort to get the area you need to cover even if there was no reason to do it to begin with.
chazzycat
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Agree with this. Pods and ruins are so powerful, plus with the staggered starts, I usually build 3 explorers right off the bat anyways. So scouting the coastline will be done in time to plan for expansion anyway.
That's true about chemistry, good point. But keep in mind, this is still the worst case scenario we're talking about. Land a titanium mine in your first or second city, and there's no argument.
The issue is around turn 60-70ish, you have spare trade routes and an AI sponsor has a coastal capital on the other side of your continent, but you can't send a trade vessel to it because your explorers haven't meticulously mapped the coastline all the way there yet. That's somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 energy per turn and 8 science per turn per trade route that you're missing out on because you hoped that there would be titanium somewhere in the vicinity you landed in.
I don't know, maybe I just have bad luck, but it seems that 9 times out of 10 there's no titanium within 3 hexes of my capital.
I don't know, maybe I just have bad luck, but it seems that 9 times out of 10 there's no titanium within 3 hexes of my capital.
In my last game, I had to cross water to get to the Titanium I spotted with Tectonic Scanner. I still sent my first Colonist there and it was worth it, but there have been games where the only reachable Titanium was in the middle of a bunch of Alien Nests.
It's kind of like Spain's bonus. Super amazing when you get it, kinda meh when it doesn't work.
It's kind of like Spain's bonus. Super amazing when you get it, kinda meh when it doesn't work.
chazzycat
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Yeah but there's much less opportunity cost here. Spain is competing with a lot of very strong civs. The other options to choose from here are much less powerful in comparison. There's little risk for very nice reward. It's not like you are at a huge disadvantage if you don't get titanium.
Ahhh, i never send external routes to Any civ that isn't a lot weaker than me and not in a position to use all the science and energy their getting to become a threat, that's the big difference here, i just don't use externals till i absolutely have to.
Actually, not being able to site all your cities on coast and setting up the Routes early is a fairly substantive trade-off. Retrograde Thrusters can mean the difference between an inland capital with only Fungus and a Coastal Capital with a pair of Tubers.
To me, equal risk/reward.
Tectonic Scanner's benefits can be dramatic, but they rapidly wane. You have to leverage that early hammers fairly quickly. It can pay off. However, the benefit of a coastal capital cannot be overstated. It allows 50% stronger Trade Routes right off the bat, surer TRs (cannot be blocked by Miasma), and faster contact with overseas empires.
You can, of course choose to play nothing but Tectonic Scanner, but I'd advise play and attempted optimization with the other settings as well, if only for a change of pace. It's your game; but for my part, I see no reason to deprive myself of content I've already paid for.
Tectonic Scanner's benefits can be dramatic, but they rapidly wane. You have to leverage that early hammers fairly quickly. It can pay off. However, the benefit of a coastal capital cannot be overstated. It allows 50% stronger Trade Routes right off the bat, surer TRs (cannot be blocked by Miasma), and faster contact with overseas empires.
You can, of course choose to play nothing but Tectonic Scanner, but I'd advise play and attempted optimization with the other settings as well, if only for a change of pace. It's your game; but for my part, I see no reason to deprive myself of content I've already paid for.
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