The neutral challenge

[Zanthis]

Started a Neutral Challenge using Mod Pack 1.01 and SunDevil's(?) political mod. Set systems to 254 and started a large mid-life cluster w/ max enemies (no neutrals) at max difficult (no bonus tho) and added EA, Darloks and Sergetti. My race is rock/hydrogen. So I start the game and look down to see where I begin. Very top left corner of the map (doh!). I have only 2 WPs (North and South). The N WP looks like it leads to a dead-end system (guessing) in the very top left corner (more so than me). My home planet is one space south of this WP BTW.

I'm thinking, doh, guess I'm gonna want to start over. Then I look at my planets and see:

Homeworld:
hydrogen/medium/good 97/96/100

Other Rock Planets:
hydrogen/huge/mild 59/149/150
hydrogen/medium/mild 116/21/107
hydrogen/small/good 130/136/81
carbon/large/optimal 105/13/47
carbon/medium/mild 113/50/43
carbon/tiny/good 50/41/137
none/small/unpleasant 27/138/64

Gas Giant:
carbon/huge/unpleasant 36/94/32

Ice Planets (both moons around the huge planets in the system):
none/tiny/good 54/103/94
none/tiny/unpleasant 71/12/25

Argh! I just can't bail on a start like that! So I get going, cranking out research fac. all over the place. I've got all the breathable planets colonized on turn 12 (2401.2) when, WTF, first contact!!! *cry* And from the N WP, only one move from my homeworld. I have no offensive units of any kind and no offensive tech researched. Thankfully they (the Phong) pulled back.

[henk brouwer]

A nice variation to the neutral challenge:

I started a normal game, high difficulty, medium bonus for AI, but it turned out to be far too easy. then I noticed that one of the colonies of one of the AI players had rebelled and started it's own empire, I have turned my own empire to computer control, and am playing the rebels now.

The rebels started out on a ice/none moon wich they can't breath, they already had quite a lot of technology (same as their original empire) and, luckily they had signed a trade and research alliance with the empire they rebbeled from.

Since all nearby planets are colonized by my 'friends' I am completely depending on remote mining and the trade and research alliance for income. I haven't yet encountered other races, but if I will I'll try to sign a treaty with them, so I am no longer dependant on the race I rebbeled from for my income and can declare war and free my people from slavery...

[This message has been edited by henk brouwer (edited 04 February 2001).]

[WhiteHojo]

Ok - an observation on the N.C.(Nuetral Challenge - tired of spelling it out)...

It seems that if left alone for 150-190 turns I seem to be able to obtain 1st or 2nd place out of 13 races w/o building any warships at all. W/tech cost on Med and low tech start, if left alone, most players should be able to maximize colonize your home system (max pops/fac on all planets).

My tactic is start as GG race and concentrate research on anything that will increase your research output - computers, applied research, etc. Build nothing but Reas Fac w/the occasional Storage fac & resource prod fac when needed. After est. a nice Reas output, start on colony techs and planet utilization techs.

I don't know what the impact of early discovery might be w/this strat b/c I haven't ever been discovered in this pattern.

My desire w/this scenerio is to find myself in the position of the underdog in the galaxy - to paraphrase Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon, "Hurling myself in the Void w/o the faintest notion of what lies beyond".. all w/o the physical hurling of my pathetic little empire untill found.

So I started a new N.C. w/computer bonus on Low - 30 turns into it and I'm still in 12th place (Last), by a fairly large margin. So maybe I'll get my wish this time.

A side question - Low computer bonus gives the AI a 2X bonus in all areas, but when looking at the scores of all races, are the computers numbers before the bonus is applied or after the bonus is applied? (ex - if race 1 is showing 24.0K Research points per turn, is it producing 12K per turn bumped to 24K or is it actually producing 24K but using 48K?

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Character is best defined as that which you do when you believe nobody is watching.

[Alpha Kodiak]

quote:

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Originally posted by WhiteHojo:
Ok - an observation on the N.C.(Nuetral Challenge - tired of spelling it out)...

<snip>

So I started a new N.C. w/computer bonus on Low - 30 turns into it and I'm still in 12th place (Last), by a fairly large margin. So maybe I'll get my wish this time.

<snip>

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You may indeed get your wish....

I started a new game and decided to give the AI a low bonus for pretty much the same reason. I got first contact with the Sergetti (sp?) on turn 37. We were naturally at war within a couple of turns. He has light cruisers with DUC 4s, CSM 3s and PDs. I have frigates (just finished researching destroyer) with DUC 2s and CSM 1s. I don't know how this is going to play out yet, but the first combat was a rude awakening.

I have played this set up a number of times and this game (turn 37) was the longest I have been left alone. I always pick the defaul large quadrant, either mid-life, spiral or galactic edge, with a high number of computer races but no neutrals. I almost envy those who get left alone for more than 100 turns.

[Daynarr]

quote:

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Originally posted by WhiteHojo:
A side question - Low computer bonus gives the AI a 2X bonus in all areas, but when looking at the scores of all races, are the computers numbers before the bonus is applied or after the bonus is applied? (ex - if race 1 is showing 24.0K Research points per turn, is it producing 12K per turn bumped to 24K or is it actually producing 24K but using 48K?

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If the score is showing 24K that race is producing 48K. The bonus is applied after these numbers - could be a bug, but I am not sure.

[Daynarr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Alpha Kodiak:
He has light cruisers with DUC 4s, CSM 3s and PDs.

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This sounds like my Sergetti . Good luck.
Make sure you tell us how it went, so I could improve them more.

[DirkHowitzer]

You guys should try what Henk Brouwer suggested in his post in this thread. I did things alittle differently...did a little Role Playing as to a disasterous even on my home world(nuclear war, accident, etc...).

So anyways when I began the game I built one colony ship and sent it out having ditched my homeworld(abandoned...). I settled the poorest planet in my system and went from there. Did a little more role playing stipulating that I couldn't colonize my original homeworld for at least 100 turns due to high radiation levels or somesuch...

Anyways it was quite fun. You start out with a MAJOR population deficit and lack of research and production...quite fun.

Being ever the resourceful one, however, I have since claimed 5th place out of 16 and am beating everybody I've contacted in resources and research so it's not all bad...



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"He's dead, Jim."-- Lt. Commander Leonard "Bones" McCoy |Chief Medical Officer / USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)