[quote]Tell me one thing though: How in hell do you do a ZYW on the really large maps and on Suicidal?[/quote] Hey e-stab, good to see you around :D You will need to ctrl-N a bit to get a suitable starting location, but otherwise it plays very similar to the small maps. Difficulty level really makes no difference, as the game is over before they get going.
[quote]The ratios quote above are from some work Mag did a very long time ago perhaps close to two years with DL v1.2 or perhaps earlier.[/quote] March 2006 I believe :) and was probably related to v1.1. In all honesty, I think the only thing that has changed in that time is that tech victories have been given a better weighting - following a lot of "user input" about the relative scores. Taking my original relative scale: Tech 1.0 Alliance 1.5 Cultu
[quote]No colonizing at first. I upgraded my initial colony ship to a long range survey ship. I had to build a lot of colonizers later, but that was due to a misstep in my timing. I went to war too early and didn't give the AIs enough time to expand.[/quote] Interesting... I usually go for 4-5 initial colonies (always at least 3) - but then I don't start any wars in the first year. I know what you mean about having to wait for the AIs to get up to speed before taking
[quote]My very best planets which make the most cash pull in about 350-460bc before expenses if I'm reading it right from the planet screen. Is this typical of a good money planet, or am I doing it wrong?[/quote] This will depend very much on your economy bonuses - from initial picks, government & economy techs, and most importantly - how many econ resources you control and how built up their mining starbases are. A good econ planet will be producing well over 2000bc net income with ha
[quote]Sure. And im naked and heading off to work with a feather in my... Not sure I believe the feather.[/quote] It's the "work" thing I'm having trouble believing ;)
The thing is, both ways of playing have elements of repetetiveness - and the top players in the MV have mostly demonstrated their ability to master both types of game :) I wager it will be harder for a ZYW to retain top spot though, with the law of diminishing returns meaning each game scores less and less - whereas one more similar game from Livonya would breach 2 million total points. Damn plexi-glass, the stones I throw keep bouncing back and hitting me :HOT:
:D :LOL:
[quote]He is now sitting in front of my fire place licking various unsavory parts of his body whilst purring quietly....[/quote] Careful Neilo, they are devious creatures that can turn in an instant. My own Kzinti slave-pet has never learned the meaning of the old adage "Never bite the hand that feeds you"! Still, any race that can be forced into full retreat by a well aimed water pistol or hose pipe can't be too challenging a foe :D
[quote]-new ground combat interface seems much less immercing than the previous one.[/quote] They are both limited - but as long as the "Skip" button is there, who cares. This game is about strategic galactic domination, not tactical battles. [quote]-game seems much less stable (though it may be a fault of my friend's computer that I played on)[/quote] In at least 300 hours of play on TA (various versions, mostly 1.95), I can count the number of crashes on the fingers
Hyperion Matrix is a "one per galaxy" building - if you include the normal Thalans as an opponent, they will usually rush-buy it instantly at game start. I suspect this is what is happening - make sure you do not have another race using the Thalan tree in the opponent list, and you should be OK.
[quote]If you were willing to build 17K ships and upgrade then you'd be hitting 1.5M easy.[/quote] I'd be more likely to be hitting my head on the keyboard ;) [quote]the 300 or so planets from which you rush buy a 1/1 fighter each and every turn.[/quote] 1 turn of doing that would put me off this game altogether - talk about RSI!
[quote]I think it is possible and faster to try to go research. In my next game I will see how close I can get to 1 million using research rather than military. I think I can get close, and it will be a LOT faster of a game.[/quote] The answer to that one is yes, and yes :) I'll start by saying nice game :CONGRAT: I'll continue with a :HOT: for patience (50,000 ships :SURPRISED: :SURPRISED: ) Then I'll tell you that in the 975K DA game I managed, I had less t
[quote]The all labs strategy is better suited to short games; where as, all factories is best suited to longer games.[/quote] That is about as concise a way of describing these strategies as I can imagine - 100% correct, although you can combine the 2 for an even more effective approach (getting the timing right on the switch-over is crucial). Wyndstar's Altarian AAR (linked above in Mascrinthus' post) describes this style perfectly. For a zero year win at the higher levels, th
[quote]I tried to change the Altarians to use the Yor tree.[/quote] Funnily enough, that's how I discovered you can't change the tech tree aswell ;) I guess that's why I use a custom race for ZYWs
Yes, I've also seen it and it is related to tech choices - try changing which techs you've picked to start with. I can't remember which particular one it was that was causing the problem for me, but it was a specific tech and not related to the remaining points.
[quote]I couldn't change the super ability for the stock races in TA w/o being flagged as cheat, otherwise I would have done the same. I just played a tiny map and knocked out a game with each lol.[/quote] You should be able to - my last game was with Super-Breeder Yor (yes, the stock race with ARC for super ability and homeworld), and no problems with MV submission. Seems to work exactly the same as in DA for what you can change - can't change the tech tree for a stock race t
Very good so far. Nice alternative view on the origins of the Krynn - great idea!
[quote]I think I need to play this on harder difficulties.[/quote] For sure - anything less than crippling will be a walk in the park. Even suicidal is a breeze.
[quote]Your Mylar-Ball mkII and Catnip Bombs will have no effect on meh!!![/quote] However, the occasional strategically placed lamp post or booby-trapped fire hydrant... Not forgetting the silver tipped "Arrow Mk1" missile, of course ;)
[quote]I'll even pay for it before it has a title. You can bill me for "Nameless Fantasy Game" and I won't care. Just give me access to the beta (like you always do for pre-pay customers) once it gets started. How much will it be? $29? $39? $50? $69? I don't care. I want it, sight-unseen.[/quote] Can't say I disagree with any of that - just a shame that I'll probably have to give up playing GC2 when it comes along! [quote]After Galciv 2, I trust you guys to do anything (ToA was
For a fast, super-expansionist strategy (which is my preferred play style too), Super-Breeder is the only logical choice of super ability - but remember to keep approval at 100% as much as possible to get the benefit of it. For tech tree, it really depends on what other plans and options you have (i.e. good / evil, tech trading & stealing on or off etc). The key to fast expansion is getting the economy to keep up (which is why the high population growth of a super-breeder is needed). Th
Looks like they are mostly gone - I found a single PQ1 in my current immense abundant everything, nothing below PQ4 (except Wisp) in the previous 2 games. With a habitable planet count of ~530-540, an immense map in TA is a bit underwhelming compared to the 750 in a DA gigantic (or 950+ in earlier versions of DA). I was kind of hoping for 1000+ in TA immense, but no joy :NOTSURE:
[quote]Can we get back on subject? Should I switch or not?[/quote] Yes! An extra 10 / 20 / 30% economy is always worth it. Maybe pointless late in the game, but getting them early helps with getting your economy in the green - essential to being able to compete with the AI at the highest difficulty levels.
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.
[quote]The #1 slot has become a revolving door as of late, i'm sure Mag and Motti are not done with yet![/quote] Nicely done KP - how much are you getting per game now though? Can't be much more than 7-8K. I figure if I did some ZYW's with Magnumaniac, I could be up to 2 million within an evening...
