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Year Zero Club

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Year Zero Club

...when simply winning is not enough!

from GalCiv2 Forums

First off, I couldn't have done this without the inspiration of the Metaverse League and Wyndstar in particular. Kudos to the master!

Now to the matter at hand.

I finally did it. A year zero win! Granted, it was only against 1 AI and on challenging (my current level) but I'm certain that 'tough' wouldn't have been much harder. On the other hand, it was my first attempt at an 'all-labs' and 'lease instead of buy' approach, so I consider myself proud that I could do it at all.

Here is the link to the character, as a proof: http://metaverse.galciv2.com/index.aspx?g=player&id=14517

For all of you, who like me thought that year zero wins are nigh impossible: Try it! Read the posts about it! It is difficult, requires constant micromanagement, but I found it incredibly rewarding to see that victory screen after 25 - 30 turns. Not the way I'd like to play constantly, but as a change of pace, it's a incredible challenge.

And of course, once you've accomplished your first 'Year Zero', post here and rejoice!


As an edit, I now include the current top score.


Attention new players!
Do not be frightened by these scores! Playing a ZYW is actually really easy, and getting a score close to 30000 points takes just a few tries. These games are usually finished in less than 20 minutes, so have at it. Try the tiny ZYWs first, I find them easier and you might get the unique chance to beat players like neilo or Wyndstar.


Current ZYW record holders:

'expert' ZYW - Gigantic


1) 198450 points - MottiKhan

2) 119000 points - Kzinti Patriarch

3) 109500 points - neilo


'classic' ZYW - Tiny

1) 56700points - MottiKhan

2) 40600 points - Kzinti Patriarch / Magnumaniac

3) 38850 points - Wyndstar

 

1,558,683 views 924 replies
Reply #401 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I keep missing YZWs by one week, last game i played this happened
End of quote


Try using the Arceans as your opponent Seth. Lemme know how you like them as your opponent in TA. Their -1 speed really helps you out in containing them in Tiny maps.
Reply #402 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I keep missing YZWs by one week, last game i played this happenedTry using the Arceans as your opponent Seth. Lemme know how you like them as your opponent in TA. Their -1 speed really helps you out in containing them in Tiny maps.
End of quote


tried it, didn't work
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Reply #403 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I play on tough level. I've noticed that the Arceans and Thalans seem to be the easiest to defeat for some reason. My first ZYW was against the Thalans.
Reply #404 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
65800 now. That was with a 700% research tile and the Yor's 1 per planet research building.

Do I still want the game as short as possible post Apr 8th? Or will it be in my best interests to keep trucking on stuff until I run out of money post Apr 8th and in position?
Reply #405 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Do I still want the game as short as possible post Apr 8th? Or will it be in my best interests to keep trucking on stuff until I run out of money post Apr 8th and in position?
End of quote


You've still got money left at April 8th  :SURPRISED: 

That's just wrong! But if you have, then an extra couple of turns at full output will usually bump the score a bit - just watch out for the AI starting to build militarily capable ships, and don't bother with more than a couple of turns as overall score will start to go down.

My goal is to reach as close as possible to -499bc in the treasury on April 1st, and finish on 8th - doing that does return the best scores.
Reply #406 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
ah crap i got YZW but I had to use the Ctrl+N though and it sya cheat codes detected,WWW Link
Reply #407 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Seth, Ctrl-N shouldn't do that. Did you end your game earlier than April 8? That will trigger the cheat flag, but if you go back and play it out to April 8 and re-submit it will remove the cheat flag from the re-submission. Happened to me once and I was confused myself :).
Reply #408 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Depending on what you were doing with the techs you start with, you may have triggered something as well. Last night I was trying to optimize the starting techs for my custom race to get better engine techs out of the gate and when I had used all the tech points that remained and went to continue to pick my opponent, it said that my game would be flagged as a cheat if I progressed any further.

I went back and undid some of my choices thus having 25 points remaining and the game was fine when I progressed to pick my opponent.

Why? No clue man.

But, as Justinsane4 said, any game finished earlier than Apr 8th will be flagged as a cheat. So sit next to orbit of the planet until that date comes :)
Reply #409 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
A new record for me, but I couldnt quite make it to 100k even though I played the map a few times...doh!

Photobucket

I believe Motti now holds third place too, so the OP needs an update. :)

Kzinti empire2.JPG Sentient species taste better...
Reply #410 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I couldn't find a post here by Motti, could you point me to it?
Reply #411 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
He didnt post it, but here is the link to his profile:

LINK

Game 6 & 7, he scored 95200. I think he's making a run for #1 on the MV, because he played a lot of ZYWs over the last few days, and is just a bit behind Mag now! :)

Kzinti empire2.JPG Sentient species taste better...

Reply #412 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I was hoping to be able to get above 95200, but I seem to be stuck. Meeting a minor race would probably do it, but that's only happened twice. Those games were before I figured out how to get the higher scores though.

Here's my top one so far...



:)
Reply #413 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Heh, yeah, you did quite a few games. In the time it took between KP posting the link and me updating the score, there were already five or six more games. ;)
Reply #414 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well i finally got around to playing and winning my first ZYW. Yea me. 49500 points, not record breaking but my third best score in any game. Pretty peculiar the way ZYWs are scored.

It took me a few tries to learn which techs i needed before my economy went bust. Some maps i would need life support and others it would be weapons. Twice i was one turn away before my plans got ruined like the AI getting a third colony or building a defender.

I never worried about running out of time but it was always a matter of what i could do before i went -$500 in debt. Do all you other ZYWinners have tht probelm or is it a time thing for you?

I used the Korath foe the spore ability. If you use another race, like the Alterians for their bonuses, how does using transports work? Wouldnt you have to wait until you got the techs then build 2 or 3 then fill and launch them? This would men that your transports are weeks behind where they could be. If you convery your colony ship after its been traveling towards the AI it will get there sooner but will only have 250 troops to attack 8000 +/-.


Reply #415 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I never worried about running out of time but it was always a matter of what i could do before i went -$500 in debt. Do all you other ZYWinners have tht probelm or is it a time thing for you?
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ya if you are using spore weapons
Reply #416 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's a mix of time and money. The closer to Apr 8th you can get (without finishing earlier) the higher your score will be.

I got a fairly decent pattern of techs I research (for TA) that will get me to the planet and w/in budget in time. It's just a matter of running into minors or getting cash anomalies that'll up my score by allowing me to push the game harder/hotter. I still can't seem to hit mag's score of 90k in TA gigantic though, I'm stuck at 77k.

As for the race/super ability, yes I use the Super Annihilator, but I use it in a custom race with another's tech tree. In TA, the Korath's tech tree isn't suited for fast research early on. In DA though (noting your posted 1.8g game) this wouldn't be much of an issue. Still, a custom race may be your best bet, so you'll have more point to toss into things that will help you on your way.

BTW, the bigger the map, the higher your score (for the most part) so try dialing it up to Gigantic and see how things go. You'll have to Ctrl+N a few times before you find a good setup location-wise and home world wise.
Reply #417 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
My latest effort:

Photobucket

So frakking close to 100k, but couldnt quite make it!

Kzinti empire2.JPG Sentient species taste better...
Reply #418 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
~squints~ gratz on #1 btw. I finally made the top 20 last night.

I've since moved from Gigantic to Immense games in hopes of pulling some better TA numbers. I haven't seen much of an increase for me with my current setup/strategy, so I think I'll need to examine some stuff.
Reply #419 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Thanks Loupdinour. :) And grats on the top 20! What are you averaging on TA?

Kzinti empire2.JPG Sentient species taste better...
Reply #420 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
On Gigantic, mid-high 60s with an occasional 70s. It all depends on luck of the anomoly.

Immense I can get 70s fairly easily...but I did have a few sour games down in the 60s. Still nothing close to mag's 97k so I really need to tweak something or do tons of homework in each game before doing the final run of it. Kinda defeats the purpose of a ZYW when it takes you 1.5 hours to complete due to re-playing it over and over lol.
Reply #421 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
On the near 100k game I just had I had an awesome setup. Three precursor libraries on the secondary, and 1 +300% tech bonus on the homeworld. There was a 1000bc anomaly right next to my homesystem, a minor race close by, and the enemy civ was quite close too. I was able to trade with them relatively early on for a large amount of cash which kept me building things until the end. I also got 3 +25% anomalies which gave me an extra tech each time. Cant get much better than that. :)

If a setup looks exceptional I'll take a lot more time playing it, reloading and trying to tweak things just right, but if it seems like an average game, I'll just finish it and move on to the next one.

Kzinti empire2.JPG Sentient species taste better...
Reply #422 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have been ignoring my secondary planet in my games. Perhaps that'll be my tweak for tonight.

Tile frequency for me however is far less. If they are close or on edge of my range and I got 1 700% tile, it's 'go time'. The best game I've seen had 1 700% 1 300% and 1 100%. I had a harsh time with my economy that game though lol. I think that was my 79k immense or the 77k gigantic.
Reply #423 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
In gigantic map ZYWs, the secondary is very important. That was one change that Mag suggested that proved really helpful to up my games into the 80s & 90s consistently. I play with Oxor now, so that I can get bonus tiles on either the homeworld or secondary. A planet needs to be a certain level of PQ to be able to get any bonus tiles. I cant remember what it is exactly (maybe 6 or 7), so Oxor is the only homestar that will provide that. It makes it a lot easier to get a good setup, and you have a better chance for a real bonanza of precursor libraries.

Kzinti empire2.JPG Sentient species taste better...
Reply #424 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
That is good for TA - you are not going to get multiple 700% tiles (not seen a start with better than 1 700% & 1 300% yet). Probably a good thing, because you would just run out of cash too soon - different priorities exist in TA ZYWs.

I never save during a ZYW, if I get a start that looks OK I just play it and submit it, move on.
Reply #425 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hrm, how do you go about changing the home system?