The Eco Challenge
 

Just thought of this; haven't tested it. How hard would it be to win (using all the latest mods of course) if the player's race had a very strong ecology ethic? The idea is that this would keep them from doing anything to permanently destroy ecosystems. So, they would definitely never use atmospheric converters, and would probably not use "Improvement" facilities. Obviously, they would never destroy stars or planets! Making planets out of asteroids might be OK. Probably would not use bio weapons, and probably would not bombard a planet. Probably would have a racial penalty for producing minerals and radioactives.

Maybe they could also be eco-radicals on a jihad to cleanse the galaxy. So they couldn't let any colonists of any other race live on any world except that race's homeworld (because no other race can be trusted to respect the environment properly).

Anyone up to the task of making formal rules and playtesting?

Re: The Eco Challenge
 

something I tried reminded me of this old thread. gameplay goes alot faster if you play by checkers rules, where you have to take your jumps. people complain that the AI does not expand fast enough, but people usually ( at least I dont) dont expand as fast as they can either.

make researching colony tech priority 1, and never have uncolonized planets. if there is a planet without a colony on it, divert all resources to colonizing it. enemy held world? take it. dont 'waste' time on infrastructure building or reinforcing your front line. unchecked expansion makes it very hard to defend against things, and i assure you you will spend alot of time retaking colonies that just get blown away. play with max AI, no neutrals.