[quote]i think the United Confederation of Planets will decide that. Because we will one day rain supreme...[/quote] The who? Nearly wore out my scroll wheel trying to find them ;)
[quote]Also how much do you want to bet that I can't be #1 in the MV with my new character in only 2 games? Well, maybe it might take me 3 games.[/quote] I'll take that bet, Mumble - no chance with 2 games, 3 a possibility only if the target doesn't get much higher! :HOT:
Yeah, the Thalan (or should that be Vogon) constructor defence fleet has pushed me to the 15th April on more than one occasion - damned by-pass builders, hanging in orbit in just the same way that a brick doesn't! There was no multiple research building buying on turn one on those games - I was using the Yor tech tree, so just plonked down a Research Matrix. Going up to Immense will cater for most of the score difference I suspect.
[quote]Mag, either in this thread or the ZYW you said about using the Thalans in your ZYWs rather than my thought on the Arceans due to their -1 speed. I now understand why. /hat tip[/quote] Definitely works well on the larger maps :D
I still use both strategies in TA. As noted above, the "focus" is not as efficient as before, but it is still better to get 100% usage out of your tiles - all the more important now that maintenance costs are so high. I start the game all labs (usually for about the first 6 months) to take advantage of the lower cost race-specific research buildings (if the tech tree I'm using has them, e.g. Iconian / Yor), get some key techs done and use focus to build initial infrastructure ready for
[quote]Just waiting for the MV to update so I can view my shiny new gold medal.[/quote] Nice going Motti :CONGRAT: That's some submission rate for the past few days to get there - don't burn out :p
[quote]*sigh* Even with the Production slider at 100%, you cannot max out all three of the other sliders.[/quote] No, you can't - and that is exactly the point. It forces you to make a strategic decision on how you want to allocate your available resources. If all 3 could be set to 100% individually, it would take away that element of the strategy - as everyone would just leave all 3 on 100% all the time. If you really want to do it, it is dead easy - just edit planeti
Tournament games do not count towards the general MV total as far as I know - they are totalled and scored seperately within the Tournament section of the MV, where you can see yourself with a total of 25200 in 18th place.
Yes, it was changed in TA to stop those dreadful players like Iztok and KP (and me ;) ) abusing the poor AI! To be fair, it was far too easy to run your empire without ever setting the research slider above 0%. Still is really, just takes a bit longer to get there.
It is the same thing DA. KP has referenced the relevant posts over at the Core in this thread. In it's own right, it is a very powerful strategy when taken to the extreme limits as first demonstrated by Purge and Mumble. However I do not necessarily think it is the optimal strategy in it's purest form. You sacrifice a lot of first year growth in return for huge gains during the second year. I certainly use the concept in my games, but within the framework of my overall fast sta
[quote]I expect it will end up at upwards of 350k, which for a huge map with common habitable planets, is a score I am very happy with![/quote] And so you should be - that's very good indeed. Best I managed on Huge was 438K - abundant everything. That wasn't using the swindle though. Time to move up to gigantic / immense all abundant... [quote]I'm looking forward to a lot of galactic time this weekend too.[/quote] Not for me this weekend, I've got a trip down
[quote]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?[/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
I think the Yor economic malaise is generally very overstated. Yes, in the long term, without tech trading / stealing they cannot match the effect of spamming stock markets. In the early game though, they are the easiest to play and to get to a positive income. The key points are: 1. Inherent 10% econ bonus 2. Efficiency techs are cheap and you can get that +45% early 3. It is easy to build up to, and maintain, 20 billion pop on Yor planets (thanks to the Char
[quote]There isn't any ZYWs done yet on immense is there?[/quote] Yeah - I've done quite a few. Map size doesn't show up in the MV submission yet though. Tougher with the TA economy and only 3000bc to start. Also bonus tile frequency appears to be significantly lower. Net result is a lower score than in DA (best I've managed so far is 97K+, as opposed to 102K+ on a DA gigantic). [quote]GECKODON ALLIANCE IS NOW 61 ON THE Meta!!!!!!!!!![/quote] Hmm, I could take
Unfortunately, like it or not, IE is an integral part of the Windows OS - so you are stuck with it! I have no doubts about the relative merits of alternative browsers, and also no doubts about the potential security flaws in them, as well as in IE. As such, I decide to stick with having just one source of potential security flaws on my system. Popups can be controlled as easily with IE as with any browser, but if you get an infection that has caused the problems you decribe; th
[quote]I'd only assume that also taking out as many minors as you can would boost your score in the military aspect, am I safe to assume such?[/quote] No - assuming you are using spore, the only score boost would be from the extra research points, and would be very small unless you happened on a minor with research buildings on pre-cursor library tiles. A spore attack will leave the planet with zero population (so no social score increase), therefore zero income (and no economy
[quote]AKA Dark Influence meets the new MCC[/quote] Yes indeed, the MCC has gone from being the most powerful single structure in the galaxy (+100% economy bonus), to being the most powerful single structure in the known universe, and all unknown parallel universes! You don't even need the Korath / Krynn influence buildings - 3 or 4 influence resources is enough to flip the entire galaxy. Once they start to go, it's like dominoes. In my last game the 2 remaining AI (Drengin and
[quote]I have the medal under lock and key Mag...nice and safe till you need it...[/quote] I guess you need to find a better safe next time - that one was a bit too easy to crack (just pre-empting the MV updating... my precioussssss) :LOL:
[quote]In TA i stayed away from going against the Thalan. Their 'pink blob of doom' effect is caused by planetary improvement boredom, thus too many colony ships going out.[/quote] Not had a problem with the Thalan in TA - those colony ships have got to get somewhere to be useful, and it's very unlikely they can reach another habitable system on an immense map by April 8th. If you are talking tiny maps, then the Arceans are a good choice for exactly the reason you gave. <br
:CONGRAT: Congrats on the number one spot Neilo! Keep that medal nicely polished for me ;) [quote]Unless....its very dynamic and as long as you're in the Top Three you show whatever medal that is. Once you are no longer in the Top Three, whatever highest rank you formerly achieved now appears in its place...[/quote] You got it SB - I lost my "Former 1st Place" gong on re-entering the top 3. My other 2 characters still both have "Former 1st Place" gongs though - so they are
[quote]However the easiest way is probably to rush buy a top line ship every turn or so. If you have a number of these in production then you have some flexibility as to how much you need to spend. Anyway 20K buys a pretty nice ship. [/quote] Unfortunately, I've not yet managed to design a ship that costs over 1million bc - so that I only have to buy one each turn :)
[quote]So, what's your favorite ARC'd setup? Can you find something better than (or really, even close to) Yor/Super Breeder/Oxor[/quote] In DA, Super-Hive/Altarians/Thalis - the Altarian Eco / Morale / Research bonuses are untouchable by any other race. Having a PQ15 planet (+10% morale to start with), filled with labs / factories very quickly due to Super-hive can make mincemeat of the early tech tree and pump out colony ships every 2 turns. I can out-colonise any AI with th
Well your display drivers are old - but I don't think that is the problem as I run TA with the same driver version for a 7800GS. Wouldn't hurt to update them though, just in case you've got a corrupted file somewhere. While you're at it, might as well do the sound driver too (only persistent crash I've had in 2+ years of GC2 was due to a corrupt sound card driver). From the description of the problem I would say it is either a bad driver, an over-heating issue, or worst case - a hardwar
[quote]Started a non-ZYW game last night and I confirmed that the MCC is working per the description now. As soon as I hit the turn button after completing it, I had the 3 planets in my ZOC that were ready to flip....flip.[/quote] I'm thinking super-breeder evil Krynn - low tax for huge pop growth, build the big nasty 200% influence buildings, build the MCC... game over! :HOT:
[quote]I think I'll try again to break the 40,600 record that Mag and I share.[/quote] Oh - don't make me have to go back to tiny maps again ;) Can't we settle on an honourable draw. I know the US don't like draws, and always need 'overtime' - but there's always exceptions. Anyway, I need to get my first TA Immense abundant everything finished off - got to get 2nd place back off Neilo :HOT: [quote]I see you pumped out about a dozen ZYWs today Loupdinour, and some ni
