My second game went much better. I lost. 
This time I used the Super AIs, so all the problems that inspired me to start this thread are resolved.
I substituted Gians and Cult for a couple of the SMAniaC aquatic factions, and Cult ran away with it from the mid game on. Tech/Military/Territory/Population the whole ball of wax. Of course, this just adds fuel to my assertion that the fungus is over powered, but it was good to see Cult do well for a change.
The SMAniaC factions are interesting and complementary. The loading of the enhanced factions is nicely simplified. Are the SMAniaC factions and Super AI files fully compatible with the shipping alphax.txt file/settings?
I still prefer the original Social Engineering choices as they seem more varied. (Less realistic, but more game like.) I built the Cloning Vats this time, so I finally found the value of the Anthropomorphic choice!
I started the game with a sea base in the Fresh Water Sea (I ran one of other SMAniaC aquatic factions) which I think would have been fatal to an AI. (One would have to found a land base and then a coastal land base to get out to the open ocean. I think an AI would build half a dozen sea bases in the Fresh Water Sea.) I was reminded of one improvement Civ4 has made, starting with a settler rather than a city.
I finally took a look. I think it might be too stove piped, that is, more techs in each discipline should have prerequisites from the other research priorities. That way the AI (and players, like myself, that prefer blind research and stick to one track) end up with more balance. I am not sure if the dead ends (which I know you hate) from the shipping tech tree are necessarily defects. Might they be a side effect or a mechanism for the balance Brian Reynolds was looking for?
In any case, technology seemed to unfold more reasonably to me, albeit still too fast for my tastes. I like playing builder campaigns, frequently I run out of facility choices! That has not happened either game. I never hit my stride building colonies either. I had lots of unexploited and fertile territory under my control. I like putting colony pods on needle jets, so having that chassis come late interferes with this habit. Plus the slow start (from the landing of the second game) interfered with my usual patterns.
I still had the problem with rogue scout units in the workshop. I knew to avoid them, so it did not crop up until mid game. Again, this is similar to a bug I have encountered with the unmodified game.
This time I used the Super AIs, so all the problems that inspired me to start this thread are resolved.I substituted Gians and Cult for a couple of the SMAniaC aquatic factions, and Cult ran away with it from the mid game on. Tech/Military/Territory/Population the whole ball of wax. Of course, this just adds fuel to my assertion that the fungus is over powered, but it was good to see Cult do well for a change.
The SMAniaC factions are interesting and complementary. The loading of the enhanced factions is nicely simplified. Are the SMAniaC factions and Super AI files fully compatible with the shipping alphax.txt file/settings?
I still prefer the original Social Engineering choices as they seem more varied. (Less realistic, but more game like.) I built the Cloning Vats this time, so I finally found the value of the Anthropomorphic choice!
I started the game with a sea base in the Fresh Water Sea (I ran one of other SMAniaC aquatic factions) which I think would have been fatal to an AI. (One would have to found a land base and then a coastal land base to get out to the open ocean. I think an AI would build half a dozen sea bases in the Fresh Water Sea.) I was reminded of one improvement Civ4 has made, starting with a settler rather than a city.
I finally took a look. I think it might be too stove piped, that is, more techs in each discipline should have prerequisites from the other research priorities. That way the AI (and players, like myself, that prefer blind research and stick to one track) end up with more balance. I am not sure if the dead ends (which I know you hate) from the shipping tech tree are necessarily defects. Might they be a side effect or a mechanism for the balance Brian Reynolds was looking for?
In any case, technology seemed to unfold more reasonably to me, albeit still too fast for my tastes. I like playing builder campaigns, frequently I run out of facility choices! That has not happened either game. I never hit my stride building colonies either. I had lots of unexploited and fertile territory under my control. I like putting colony pods on needle jets, so having that chassis come late interferes with this habit. Plus the slow start (from the landing of the second game) interfered with my usual patterns.
I still had the problem with rogue scout units in the workshop. I knew to avoid them, so it did not crop up until mid game. Again, this is similar to a bug I have encountered with the unmodified game.
