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Hey y'all, isn't that what got us in trouble last game? ... Farmer's Gambit  (But seriously, I'd grab Terraforming +10 ASAP, since you're guaranteed to have it, and at least check your Propulsion options to see whether you have 4 or 5 range. I think I mentioned it last time, but increasing your population cap extends your ideal growth range, which Silicoids really need, and you have room to spend on research since there's no point building factories with nobody to run them. But that's on the side, at this point still prioritize expanding.)
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Sep 17, 2017 21:43
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Well, that vote was anti-climactic. A clear consensus to keep expanding. As has been seen that is my tendency as well. The 'extra' production on Cryslon was shifted back into getting a head start on the next Colonizer, while a couple more Recons were sent out to the left, preparing to push further that way if possible. Episode V: 2322 - 2339  In 2325 we officially claim the only rich system we know of.  Another system to be not excited about. We also scrap the two original Scouts, as Recons are now in place to take over for them. Tiny bit of overhead there.  We've found our first enemy system. 2327, and Recons have reached the final two in our range. This is the first one, but we are chased off by a single patrol ship.  Looks like somebody else has this as well. They could have come from any direction given the placement of the potential homeworlds. As it turns out, the Mrrshans have it(8M pop, no bases).  We are 'visited' by two other races shortly. The Humans sent a colony ship to Kakata, but we chased it off. This was a Psilon scout, with the same result. It won't be long until we need to fight some of this territory or lose it though. Drakka can start throwing some ships out there at some point, but I don't think it's ready yet(26M pop and holding there, 35 factories). Looks like the Psilons must have the upper-right section. It strikes me as particularly important that we hold the line at Dunatis to keep them at bay, and we can't reach it yet(4 parsecs).  Tyr is our next stepping stone, settled the next year. Updated readings show that Tao is within range of our Colonizers -- the next one will go there for sure, and the yellow star off to the left has an inbound Recon now. This is really good news for the expansion efforts. A year later it's 2331, and the next colonists leave Cryslon for Tao by way of Tyr. Granid decides it's time to divert a small bit of our resources to grab our initial tech choices. Dunatis and Crius are increasingly on my mind. Very soon we need to either send combat ships there, or Colonizers. If we do not, the Psilons will take them eventually and we know what a big Egghead Empire means. ** Computers -- Battle Scanner. Mk II Computer was also available. ** Construction -- Industrial Tech 9. Only choice. ** Force Fields -- Class II Deflectors as always. ** Planetology -- +10M Terraforming. Always a Silicoid guarantee. ** Propulsion -- Hydrogen Fuel Cells(range 4). The only choice, but it's the one we really need. ** Weapons -- Hand Lasers. Cheap, though Hyper Vs are also available. Let's hope it doesn't take us a century and a half before we get another missile tech like last time. We've got a clear priority here; Fuel Cells, then Terraforming.  It's not a boring game so far; seems like something important every year. Our Recon reaches that yellow star and runs into the shapeshifters. It's just a scout -- and we invite them to leave. Simius(Terran, 90 max)! That's exciting, but it also leaves us with a tough choice. Where do we send our next ship? Here, or research Fuel Cells and block off the Psilons? On one hand, we've got the best planet seen by far, a potential gateway to the left side of the galaxy. On the other hand, a vital maneuver restricting the most powerful potential enemy. Staying on the right would be quicker in travel time, but it'll take some investment. A really tough choice here. Also of significant importance to me was the number of additional systems we could try to scout with that one extra parsec of range. It was time to do some research. Drakka was ready to put a small amount towards the effort, having maxed out factories for it's population while the three newer colonies are up to the basic one-third point in their pop. assignments. Simius would remain a high priority, but we can't make it the most important one right now. It's entirely possible that the Darloks or someone else beat us to it anyway, since it's a full decade away in travel time. So the Race to Dunatis was our next big goal. Immediately this happened ...  Crap. On. A. Stick. If I had any doubts about the necessity of the play, I sure as heck don't now. We have five and are about to land our sixth when we get to Tao in a couple years, but that's already more systems than I want those brainiacs to have. With the next Colonizer nearly complete, Cryslon starts shifting resources into the research effort as well. I'm hoping they can't grow much bigger without running into us or the Mrrshan. The year after, we are up to max. investment(a whopping 213 BC at this point). Then ...  If only two years behind the Psilons wasn't like being two decades behind anyone else. The ship is finished in 2337, but the research isn't. Next year ... they came back to Dunatis. drat IT!! Sigh. Take a deep breath. Open the combat screen ...  A measly lone colony ship. Mwuahahahahahaha! Go back to your own empire, losers!!! *Ahem*. Doesn't take a rocket surgeon though to figure out we are running out of time. Had a 56% shot at the fuel cell breakthrough ... missed. I swear, if we are one year late getting there, crystals are going to roll in the science directorate. Another year. 2339, and we had enough funding to guarantee success. Eventually Nuclear Engines will be next. An overall delay of four years in colonizing operations, but the new settlers were dispatched to Dunatis. That's a 5-year journey, so we are far from being home free. Now what?
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Sep 20, 2017 14:28
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I think we need to push hard as well on the diplo front when we can. With the Darlocks around, is there any way to get them to target the psilons? Or the humans? I mean, if we can get them buddy buddy with us and doing tech trades that'd be nice.
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Sep 20, 2017 17:13
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Ouch, the psilons as a major opponent again? Silicoids just can't catch a break.
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Sep 20, 2017 17:36
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RedMagus posted:I think we need to push hard as well on the diplo front when we can. With the Darlocks around, is there any way to get them to target the psilons? Or the humans? I mean, if we can get them buddy buddy with us and doing tech trades that'd be nice. Definitely. You want to make deals in the early game in MOO1, due to "Simtex Entropy" (the game starts applying hidden penalties to you as the game progresses, by planet / population count in MOO and turn count in MOM). On Impossible, tech trades are weighted against you, but you can still use it to plug holes in your tree, and the AI likes you more if you agree (since, again, the trades are in their favor  ). Certain techs also seem to be highly prized; I made a killing on Cloning in my Silicoid game, and Inertial Stabilizer seems disproportionately valuable too.The AIs unfortunately don't know how to leverage their unique traits, so Darloks are just more successful when they go into "spy mode," they don't do it more often. AIs will start spying on anyone they don't like (at least by Tense), and they crank their espionage (well, more often sabotage) and security sliders when at war (so it's "safe" to steal techs from someone you're at war with anyway, but it gets less likely to succeed). So if you can get the Darloks into a war with someone (and due to the personality bug, they're always Xenophobic, so it probably will happen anyway), there you go. Bonus points for turning around and trading for the stuff they steal. If you can make friends with them, they'll start to hate anyone who attacks you, too.RE: your vote-- Thot, you're so thorough I keep forgetting how few turns are passing.  Yeah, I would nonstop expand the first ~50 turns in a large galaxy. For the Silicoids especially, you want to get planets starting to grow sooner since it takes them longer to mature. But you definitely don't want to neglect teching the important early stuff.
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Sep 20, 2017 18:12
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Its amazing how much I'm learning from this thread. I thought I've played MOO to death but there are all these hidden mechanisms. Thanks for making this LP, Thotimx : D
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Sep 21, 2017 07:43
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RedMagus posted:I think we need to push hard as well on the diplo front when we can. With the Darlocks around, is there any way to get them to target the psilons? Or the humans? I mean, if we can get them buddy buddy with us and doing tech trades that'd be nice. Noted. Darloks are hard to befriend. I've played an update or two ahead here which I usually do to have something to post in case work gets crazy. I did some bribing with tech but trading honestly just never occurs to me much. Mostly because I don't normally have anything they want in time for it to matter. But I'm making a note for myself to work on that in future games. I think you and Wayne have a good point. PurpleXVI posted:Ouch, the psilons as a major opponent again? Silicoids just can't catch a break. Nope. I'd really like to see the Meklars show up for once before we, you know, actually play as them(didn't think that'd be a problem, but the way it's going ... ). Would have been perfectly happy to see them instead of the Psilons here. Lampsacus posted:Thanks for making this LP, Thotimx : D My pleasure -- glad it's being enjoyed.
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Sep 23, 2017 01:22
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Episode V: 2339-2349 ** Red Circle: Dunatis on the left, Crius on the right. Our 'Psilons Keep Out' colonization targets. They haven't come to Crius(65 max, Fertile) yet, but we need to make sure they don't. ** Tan: That's Simius, the big terran. Obviously our next goal after we take care of business on this side. ** Yellow: 'Backyard' systems that we should be able to colonize at our leisure. The two on the left suck, and the two on the right are unreachable for now. We need more Recons out there to do scouting as well. Drakka is a multi-tasking fool as first colonies tend to be. Population transfers to Tao, building Recons, researching Terraforming. The whole thing about jacks of all trades being masters of none is appropriate here, but Cryslon is freed up again to pump out Colonizers at maximum speed, and that's what matters most.  Our chances at keeping them away all the way up here are not good. Another colony ship, and they buzz off. At least it's a delay.  Another planet worth having out to the left.  2344. We made it!! I expect that if we are successful here this will prove to be a key moment. The Psilons wanted this system, but it now belongs to us. Who knows, maybe we'll even be able to keep it.  This was of course expected.  Right now they still have the edge, 8-7 in planets. Upper-right corner belongs to them. We've got better long-term expansion prospects, and we'd better make good on them if we have any hope to be more than the speed bump we were last time out.  The usual. They are Honorable Diplomats, a good combination for us until they screw us in the Council again. A trade deal for 100BC is signed, and that's that.  This appears to be inbound to Dunatis. If it is, it may not matter that we got there first. It's unlikely that they have weapons capable of doing much damage to transports in that group either. We've got a tough situation here. ** They are probably 2-3 years out, which is faster than we can get any help there. Most likely scenario is they bomb the planet, destroy it given how new it is, and colonize. If we send transports in to take it, they'll almost certainly declare war if we succeed. Letting them have it would put us even further behind. Frankly I'm not seeing a good option. I sent the transports anyway. We're not giving Dunatis up without a fight, even though maybe we should. Our best hope was not a military solution though, but a manipulative one.  Oh, very nice. We chased off a Darlok scout to get this peek.  The Humans and Klackons got off to bad starts it appears -- which means we might be looking at yet another runaway Psilon train. 2345. They are a year away from Dunatis. I put a lot of effort into finishing up the terraforming research so I could bribe them with that. It failed. Fortunately they were interested in our fuel cells:  And now for the payoff. I didn't think it would be enough, but I had to try. Would they spring for a Non-Aggression Pact? Answer: "The Psilons have considered your offer, and rejected it." Superb. The only good news is that a Colonizer was now headed left to Simius, with no new sniffs around there.  The next year we got our Terraforming. A year late as it turned out here. Much to Guava's chagrin I'm sure, we spurned Death Spores to get the next Terraforming level. There will be time for biologicals later. The Psilons didn't bomb us -- which means they're probably going to send transports to invade. The only response to that is to double-down and get as many fighters there as possible. Trying to be hip, we'll call them the Piranha, but it's a laser on a strike craft hull. It's what we have. There's a lot going on. Research spending is now divided into our standard ratios going forward. The Psilons already have the terraforming apparently because they won't even discuss another bribe. More transports continue to drip towards Dunatis. Terraforming investments are made on multiple planets. Drakka and Cryslon turn over their shipyards to the Piranha. Recons are flitting about in various directions, and two Colonizers are en route to new systems. Granid is not a bored potentate right now. Not by any means. His mind is occupied almost exclusively with the undeclared war over Dunatis though. He knows it may well determine the ultimate fate of his people.  Yeah, smaller galaxies don't exactly guarantee less micro. Just sayin'.  2347 was a very good year. 22 Piranhas set course for Dunatis. They moved two of their Star Streak-class destroyers somewhere else for reasons that are impossible to fathom. No transports on the sensors yet, and we snag this which instantly becomes one of our better colonies. The first transports will reach Dunatis next year, so we are at least succeeding in reinforcement. The normal plan would be to divert citizens to Crius now, but it's just going to have to stagnate until this threat is dealt with. The next year wasn't as good. The Psilons chased us off Xengara and settled it. All of our incoming transports to Dunatis were destroyed -- that's quite unusual this early in the game with such a small fleet, I'm a bit befuddled. We learned that the yellow star in the center of the galaxy is Nazin, the Darlok homeworld. And also ...  They've got at least two systems then, and one just got better. More clarity on the current crisis as well:  Yep, here come the transports, 15 of them. I think the first of our Piranhas will arrive the same time as they do -- but can we take out the Psilon ships and still have enough left to weaken this invasion force? Doubtful, but that's pretty much what it's going to come down to. Meanwhile, those two destroyers can be seen here heading for Crius. Oh goody.  We chase Mrrshan scouts off something that nobody wants for good reason. Meanwhile more transports are lost to the Psilon ships, even as a couple of destroyers depart elsewhere. We're not expanding at all to the left right now aside from the one ship headed to Simius. This could cost us multiple systems, not to mention the research spending we would be doing but aren't. Do we really have a choice though? A natural, if cruel cliffhanger ends things off with a half-century in the history books. The Psilon transports and our first set of Piranhas will reach Dunatis next year. We are not optimistic, but the outcome is not certain.
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Sep 23, 2017 01:34
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Shiiiit, this is tense. How fast do missile bases build? Would it be pointless/hopeless to set some up on Crius?
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Sep 23, 2017 01:44
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Looks like we are between a rock and hard place.
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Sep 23, 2017 02:17
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Did you research the hand lasers?
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Sep 23, 2017 11:18
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PurpleXVI posted:Shiiiit, this is tense. How fast do missile bases build? Would it be pointless/hopeless to set some up on Crius? Yes, yes it would. It would take Cryslon 2 years to build one with everything going into it. Crius was just settled, so it has 2M pop and no industry. Gotta be more established before that's an option. my dad posted:Did you research the hand lasers? Not yet.
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Sep 23, 2017 13:42
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Straight into a tense situation.
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Sep 24, 2017 00:36
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again, you just don't see actions like this in modern 4x games anymore. these guys are explicitly noted to be the HONORABLE ones, and even then they're like "oh hey this border colony looks really good it'd be a shame if something happened to it without a war declaration or anything of that nature" this is, again, PRECISELY the sort of poo poo a human player would pull on you because they know you're probably getting pulled in 5 different directions.
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Sep 24, 2017 01:01
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Honestly? You do. Ask any Civ 5 player.
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Sep 24, 2017 01:18
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yeah civ V AI is pretty aggressive when it perceives weakness on higher difficulty levels (same with IV). there's a bunch of stuff you can do to stay on the good side of the AI but none of it works if you don't keep a strong enough military in V it's actually pretty common for the AI to launch opportunistic wars that it eventually loses, because the AI doesn't realise that any human playing on a high difficulty level is way better at the game's combat than the AI is
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Sep 24, 2017 01:44
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yeah the AI in civ 5 will jump you but it doesn't have the concept of taking something opportunistic like this and then immediately suing for peace/pretending it never happened. civ 5's mechanics are such that just orbiting a planet like the eggheads are doing right now is a declaration of war, and once the war's on there's a very simple evaluation: do i think i can destroy you utterly? if yes, keep fighting. if no, sue for peace. the AI in MoO1 has a bunch of other poo poo on its mind in these calculations.
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Sep 24, 2017 01:47
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Yeah, the only way you might be able to get out of this is by threatening to attack in the diplo screen. They MIGHT just react by pulling their ships out of orbit (though transports already en route are fait accompli). Remember: if the AI orbits a planet, they WILL send transports unless Allied.
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Sep 24, 2017 02:46
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Episode V: 2550-2562 By acquiring Xengara the Psilons went up 9-8 in the planets race. Also worth noting is that we have half of their fleet strength at the moment. After some consideration, I decided to have Cryslon stop building Piranhas and go back into Colonizer production. Drakka and Stalaz will continue shipbuilding, keeping research at a bare-bones level, but we've got to keep pushing towards the left as much as we can and picking up territory. After considering the situation, I thought our fleet strength overall might be strong enough to let us get somewhere with an attack threat on the Psilons. I did not expect the response we got.  Um, ok ... I'll take it. Thanks OAquinas for your helpful advice! Of course this isn't going to help relations, and was followed by 'we go now'. The Psilon ships left orbit in Dunatis, but nowhere else. We still couldn't do enough damage to their transports, and they took the colony. Well, crap. Now the question is do we risk war here and try to take it back? I don't think we can afford to let them keep it, but we frankly don't have much of a choice in the matter without a mass transport from all available colonies, which would put our population situation back in crisis. They out-weigh us even if we go that route. It's a real catch-22, but the choice is made to accept the loss of Dunatis. That means we need to start building missile bases on the surrounding systems. Our nearly 100 Piranhas will hopefully suffice for now, blockading Crypto and Crius until they get defences up. They already have ships at the latter and it's less capable of defending itself, so all possible troop transports and ships are sent there first. Meanwhile, the Psilon payment is used to speed up growth at some of our newer colonies.  2353. Here's a bit of better news for sure. We also spot 35 more transports heading for Crius, and are racing to get enough ships there in time ... Three years later, we take 25 of 35 Psilon transports, but it's not enough and they take Crius. We have no choice now but to fight back. Bombardment keeps the planet at it's current population but is unable to reduce it much. We are going to lose a ridiculous amount of population recapturing in a best-case scenario. There's already some transports coming in as it is, and if we just them take our worlds like this they are going to crush us in the long-term. If we're going down anyway, might as well go down fighting now while it can still matter.  The lower-left corner here is much too far away with the dark-space gap to be reached yet, but the work of our Recons continues.   This is unexpected. Darloks with the strongest space fleet? Meanwhile the Psilons make our conflict official. 2359 is the date.  It may indeed be so. The next year though, we retake Crius. So that's something. The next question; do we try to take Dunatis as well? At the moment it seems best to try to hold the line where it is. They have 10 systems, we have eight but a lot more room to expand. If we stop attacking them, relations could slowly improve possibly leading eventually to peace. That also won't divide our forces risking losing Crius again. On the other hand it's a tempting target right here and they currently have no ships in the area. I could go either way on this, but ultimately decide to leave it to them.  This isn't much, but it was deemed worth it to get the range to reach the somewhat larger one to the right. We also note 19 Psilon transports incoming to Dunatis. We wouldn't have been able to stop them in time, and that would have made retaking that system a lot more problematic and a resource drain. Still not completely comfortable with the choice, but perhaps it's just the reality of things now .  Another unclaimed world out that way, small but lucrative. How many will we get before the others?  This one's better. And then ...  Eggheads and kitty-kats. With our population being constantly drained for the war, I knew we'd be nowhere near the front of this. My main concern was who has what. It's a Psilon runaway, as they have 7 votes. Mrrshan are next with four, then Darloks with three. Humans and Klackons have two each. The homo sapiens sided with Zygot but they were the only ones to do so. Our three votes puts us right in the middle. Given that we have only Cryslon in the nearly-full category, I definitely see us getting into the mix as the Psilons' rival in this vote sometime in the future. Right now I don't mind being out of the mix. We abstain, waiting to see which way the winds shift. The population is recovering from what we lost to the Psilons, and we're almost ready to switch from missile bases to more substantive research on Crypto, with Drakka following shortly and Stalaz nearly ready to start funding the reserve. The tribute payment we got is nearly gone, but I think it did bridge the gap and help us accelerate growth in a few places. Multiple colony ships are still out there as we are grabbing up everything in range at the moment. Still, it's doubtless we will pay, and already are paying, a significant price for this delay in getting research going. Not that I think there was any real alternative(?). The Psilons are still mad enough not to speak to us, but I'm hoping they eventually come around. I'm sure they will take some 'convincing'. Hopefully that happens before half the galaxy allies with them. Ultimately, it's the left-ward expansion that seems most likely to determine our fate. If we can snag the rich planets out that way, which are still out of range, we've got a chance to be sizable enough to dig out of this. If not, well ... the galaxy giveth, and the Psilons taketh away. Strategic Sage fucked around with this message at 06:23 on Sep 25, 2017 |
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Sep 25, 2017 06:21
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What determines whether you get to "steal" any technology when you conquer an enemy planet? I would've figured that recapturing Crius would have gotten us something.
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Sep 25, 2017 07:06
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PurpleXVI posted:What determines whether you get to "steal" any technology when you conquer an enemy planet? I would've figured that recapturing Crius would have gotten us something. Factories. If the colony was small enough for us to snag this early, they almost certainly had next to no infrastructure built. So if you're ever in a spot to plant a risky colony, it may be better to build up pop only for a bit. That way if you lose it there's little to no chance of losing a tech.
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Sep 25, 2017 08:25
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Episode V: 2362-2374 The next Colonizer came out in 2364, and that meant all habitable systems within range had one en route. The Psilons' superior range has them sending a colony ship to the planet in the extreme lower-right, and they are going to beat us there as it's out of our capabilities. Assuming that we get all three that we are on the way to, that'll give us a 13-11 edge, though we'll have a lot of crap mixed in there.  On the left, the four systems with the lime green line around them are the target. The green one is Vulcan, the Radiated Ultra Rich. Above it is another small rich system. The lower two are bigger but not as lucrative -- they also aren't as important in terms of cutting off other empires. If we get to Vulcan first, we could well have the bottom third-to-half of the galaxy to ourselves. That's a price worth investing in a massive ColonizerX. The usual decade is the timeframe for it, and probably another 12-15 years to get there; a full quarter-century. This is a long-term play for certain, but one with a potentially huge payoff as well. Research and population transfers are ramping up to the new colonies, as well as continued regular reserve payments. Every tool in the box has been unleashed to try to maximize the growth curve.  Not the best planet, but it's a range-extender in the galactic centre. It's 2366, and at the same time a dozen Psilon transports to Crius are intercepted and destroyed. Thanks for evening the scales just a tad there. And ...  Stupendous. Great to make your acquaintance.  We have good chances against an empire with just four planets in the long-term. They've got the biggest fleet though and are right there with the Psilons in tech. With a decade till the next Council vote, we definitely need all the friends we can get. We bribe the Darloks with the only thing they are interested in, our +10 Terraforming. They say it is 'accepted as reparations for our crimes'. Yeah, you're jackasses. We know. A 175BC trade deal is also signed, and they make it clear it wouldn't have happened without the gift. They are Xenophobic Industrialists. They hate everyone, and have no current allies. Meanwhile, the Psilons are still mad at us but are willing to accept our envoys once again. I'll wait for things to cool down a little more before attempting to bribe our way back into their good graces. I've also started throwing anything extra in the reserve, after the growing colonies have had their fill each year, into Cryslon for the purposes of accelerating getting that big colony ship moving.   We're on our way ... to something. Probably painting a big target on our backs. Meanwhile a trio of Psilon destroyers, new ones called Star Blades, are en route to Crius. I'll wait to see what they do, but if our Piranhas can't handle them I'll have to try for peace sooner than planned. They are allied with the Mrrshans, but we haven't met them yet. If they make friends with the Darloks though, we will be screwed.  The scientists were really impressive here, converting on a 10% prototype chance the next year. Extending our scanner range from 3 to 5 is a big deal right now. We also get Robotics III with our next set of options! That will be quite nice, thank you. In 2371, the ColonizerX departs for Vulcan. A 12-year journey. Meanwhile we are most pleased to see a very brief Psilon-Darlok alliance, which we dreaded, broken up. The two of them are at war, with the Mrrshan on the Psilon side. This is good ... unless the eggheads win and expand. Then it's bad. What can we do about this? Probably nothing. We don't have enough firepower to join in. We're left hoping for the Darloks to somehow fight them off, or failing that, for the Mrrshans to reap the benefits of any success. Most of all, I just want them to bleed each other.  Grrr. Either Darloks, who seem to have no 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' sense, or the Psilons are responsible here. Either way, sucks.  Gee, let me think. How about ... no? Ruthless Ecologists, they are surprisingly non-terrible with 5 planets in the upper reaches of the galaxy. Despite their request for our pre-emptive surrender in true Jar-Jar Binks style, they agree to 200BC in trade. I also notice that the Humans have allied with the Darloks. There are now three arrayed against the Psilons. I'd really like to use this information. somehow in the next few years before the Council votes. It's 2373, and there are only two years left.  It looks likely that we'll be the ones opposing the Psilons. Unfortunately it also looks likely that they will have enough for a veto bloc. Humans and Darloks voting with us won't be nearly enough. And they have more Star Blades inbound ... Perhaps they would consider peace, now that they have this many wars? "The Psilons have considered your offer, and rejected it." Got it, you want to pave the galaxy in the blood of everything that isn't you. Okey-dokey.  Indeed it is us here now in the #2 spot. Thankfully, while the galaxy as a whole gained 3 votes, the Psilons got none. Technically we could win, if everyone comes our way. I could also inherit a million bucks tomorrow. I think that's more likely.  The outcome is already decided now. The Council will end deadlocked. Humans(3 votes), Klackons(2), and Darlocks(4) do all support us though. We have four as well.  Only enough to get us to 13, three short of victory. Naturally we go for the transparently cheesy tactic of voting Zygot, our arch-enemy, and thereby currying favor with the bastards. It really should lower the opinion of those who vote with you if you go the other way like this -- they stuck your neck out for you and you're like thanks ... but I'll support your enemy. Anyway, fairly close to a cheap win but we couldn't make it happen. I suppose it's too much to hope that they all stay at war for the next 25 years while we expand, retake Denubius, and grow our numbers .... yeah.
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Sep 29, 2017 06:12
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At least your enemies are all busy beating each other up rather than ganging up on you! For now, anyway. Would it be worth it to try spying on the Psilons in the hope of scoring some tech ups that way?
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Sep 29, 2017 08:48
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You have some breathing room (presuming a sillicoid based species of sapient rocks breathes)..
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Sep 29, 2017 09:33
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PurpleXVI posted:Would it be worth it to try spying on the Psilons in the hope of scoring some tech ups that way? Only if I want to fight them again if I get caught(answer: I don't  ).
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Oct 1, 2017 23:35
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An extra-long one here. Episode V: 2375-2399  Mostly a bunch of 'meh'. The Psilons have been somewhat appeased by our totally fake support of them in the Council. We have nothing they want in terms of tribute, but when we asked for peace, this was interesting ...  They now have Uridium Fuel Cells(Range 8), and we gave them that decades ago. Never mind the war, also lasting decades. But hey, whatever guys, glad you're done fighting us for now. This bounces their opinion back up to neutral. But they do reject a trade deal. We can't increase either of the other deals either. On the colonizing front, we are still 8 years out from Vulcan and the Psilons have a colony ship much closer, heading in that general direction, and faster than ours. That would really suck. Class II Deflector Shields come in the next year. Class III is the only forward option.  Closer than it should have been; we sent enough troops to outnumber them 2:1. Still, we've got this growing colony back. Meanwhile the Psilon colony ship goes past Vulcan and keeps on going, beyond scanner range. That's good, but not great news. We're both basically land-grabbing that corner, and we need as much of it as we can get. Attempts at tech trades fail on all fronts, due to us having nothing of value.  The RNG hated us here; this came in the late 70s, and should have several years earlier. Failed on multiple 90%+ chances. Would've helped our growing worlds sooner ... Duralloy Armor is next. In 2380, Cryslon switches to research. We've got several colonizers headed leftwards now, and there are a couple of key projects coming up that I want to finish more quickly. Simius is nearly to half population and is ready to start contributing there as well. This more than doubles our investments. 20 years to go and the Psilon wars are all still on, while our relations with the Darloks of all people are improving. Just sayin'  The Mk. IV Computer is the only one that moves things ahead. More importantly, we just got Robotics III in.  Same year. It was a big one with two major bits of good news. Recons can now reach the entire lower-left corner. Also good to see is that wherever that Psilon colony ship was headed, it didn't find a safe harbor. No new colonies of theirs. 14-11 in systems and we expect to nab three more in the next decade. That's enough of a lead to at least compete in the long-term.  Yes, our fleet sucks. Interesting to see the Psilons only middle-of-the-pack right now though, and the Humans have built a lot of ships without much territory.  The second rich system is ours.  Wowzerz! This part of the galaxy was not only neglected by advanced life, but is exploding with riches!!   Howdy fellas! 2387, a most eventful year to be certain.  The Humans have stretched out a bit, but the Klackons are still stuck only on Kholdan.  We appear to be middle of the pack in production and overall. Just don't look at the tech bars ... that planets comparison is so much more appetizing. Humans are Honorable Diplomats, Klackons Aggressive Ecologists. The full diplomatic scenario is this: ** Human-Klackon-Darlok Alliance. ** All are at war with the Psilons and Mrrshans, those those two are not allies. This looks to be a very stable conflict. We can count on the support of that alliance in the Council. That makes the Mrrshans the key. If we can swing them our way, even the eggheads will not be able to stand against us. Our population is growing, as is our territory, and once we get those lucrative planets on the left going we'll have a long-term advantage. Right now though I just want to make nice with the kitties and win the easy way. It's not enough for them to be neutral, they'd need to support us. We bump up trade to 375BC with them. Not quite a doubling but I don't care. Gonna keep boosting it every chance I get. They're willing to trade us Hyper-X Rockets, though they want Robotics III for it. Normally I wouldn't even consider such a thing, but in this case I go ahead with the trade. 350BC with the Humans, but the Klackons refuse trade and the only tribute they'll accept is Robotics. Sigh. So be it; keeping them all in my good graces is worth it ... and what are they going to do with just one planet? Re-up to 375BC with the Darloks also.  We've got a fairly massive trade deficit to work through here(it was actually a little over 300 BC, this was taken before one of the trade deals went in).  Right in what's becoming our back pocket again. Hopefully we don't need to cash this in.  Not impressive of course, but if we snag it we'll have a border from one galactic edge to the other.  Another one in the fold.  Crap crap crap megacrap!! The master plan has been foiled for this cycle perhaps ... Nuclear Engines come in 2390. Only option now is Dotomite Crystals(Range 7), but I've been waiting for this breakthrough to send out another wave of Colonizers. Looks like there will only be two systems available for this 'wave'. Non-Aggression Pact signed with the Humans, and the Psilons have finally forgiven us enough to sign a trade deal(425 BC). Then we are framed for Mrrshan sabotage AGAIN in 2391, just two years after the first time. 2394 -- The last of the two new, faster Colonizers are finished and Cryslon and head out across the galaxy. With industrial expansion finishing up in multiple other places, we will be doing much more research investment. More bases need to be built as well, but I'm going to cycle through the systems that need them one at a time. That'll allow research to keep going, and since we aren't at war I don't see it as something that justifies a pause. Crius, which doesn't have any yet, is naturally first up.  2396. The best of the bunch is now in our grasp. Extra population has been streaming leftward to Argus in preparation for this, so there will be little delay in getting it up and running.  Crap again. We can kiss this next vote goodbye, and will switch to base-building everywhere close to their space. They are also at war with the Klackons, and all of the Psilon wars remain intact. However, the alliance has been dissolved, so the situation is no longer as stable as it once was.  Here is an interesting situation, and one that shows there is no immediate danger. This was first colonized by the Psilons, then taken by the Mrrshans, who apparently have been bombed out. Without it, they'll have trouble reaching our territory.  The Pellet Gun is in, and now our only choice for moving forward is Merculite missiles. Would have grabbed them anyway. Once we get those I'll feel a lot better about our security.  Very nice. This is a more sizable planet than the other rich ones, and a big boost to the economy. Then the year before the Council vote, +20M Terraforming comes in ... +30M is next as we incrementally make our way up that tree. Unfortunately the Mrrshan diplomat is still gone, so there's no chance of bribing them out of opposing us.  Only one potential remains.  Sounds like a plan to me!  Same nominees of course. These dorks gain 2 of the 6 additional votes in this cycle, but are still one short of veto ability.  +1 here, and because of recent unpleasantness we will have another indecisive Council. Our supporters gained nothing. 3 for the Humans, 2 for the Klackons, 4 for the Darloks.  I can't vote Zygot again, it would make him win. So we abstain. We're closing the gap, but we still haven't caught the Psilons. This whole brouhaha has at least bought us time. Another Council vote or two and we should have a veto bloc, even if we can't get the diplomatic win. The Darloks warn us that we are getting too big for our britches. Truly we are. 18 systems, soon to have a 19th, well over a third of the galaxy. Psilons are #2 with 10, Mrrshan next with 6. We've got more territory than any two other empires, and five systems in the rich/ultra rich category. At this point, if we can't do something with that we should be ashamed of ourselves. Getting sniped before we can get competitive in research is the main concern now, and it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
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Oct 1, 2017 23:49
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Ouch, shame about getting framed for that sabotage against the Mrrshans, that could've been what sabotaged a winning council vote...
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Oct 1, 2017 23:56
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This looks like a good run so far. Looking forward to victory.
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Oct 2, 2017 05:10
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Me:Darloks = Coolguy:Elves
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Oct 2, 2017 10:44
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my dad posted:Me:Darloks = Coolguy:Elves Rightthink, comrade
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Oct 3, 2017 01:19
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Episode V: 2400-2424 I think we are gaining a bit in research compared to the non-Psilon races now, and the production situation is steadily improving at a competitive third. I expect we'll surpass the Psilons by the middle stages of his century in population as well. Overall basically tied for third with the Humans.  Our size is clearly becoming a problem. Even the Humans, with a NAP, are no better than neutral. The latest comings and goings state they have allied with the Klackons again. Still Psilons against the three minor races, with the Mrrshans on the eggheads' side but not actually allied. I'm still going to try to milk that for all it's worth. Hard not to think of what might have been without the sabotage framing(almost certainly Darlok in origin).  The trade deficit is a fraction of what it was, and we've got a half-decent reserve built up now. Military costs are pretty negligible as you can see.  Three projects about midway through, and all of them combat-related. A clear turning point has reached, and the midgame has arrived. The current conflict that the Psilons have waged for much of the last century without much changing is but a prelude, a distraction from the real war that will be coming before too long. Granid therefore puts forth the following plan: ** Time is on our side. Every year that we can maintain peace with most of the others is a year that the Silicoid Empire grows stronger. Over a third of our systems are at half capacity or below, and many are new with one yet to be settled soon. In accordance with the need for peace, a regular bribing campaign of straight cash or non-essential technology will be conducted anytime another race drops below Neutral in relations. Right now that's the Psilons(and Mrrshan, but they won't talk to us yet so that's a moot point). Improved Industrial Tech 9 did the trick with the eggheads. The point here is to stall. The war is coming, but we aren't going to be ready for quite a while. We want it to be on our terms. ** The rich planets will invest as much as possible in the planetary reserve; the status of that fund will be closely monitored. Aside from the usual investment in growing colonies, keeping an adequate balance for any 'foreign aid' needs that may come up will be necessary. As the money is available, research planets will also get transfers. ** The missile base buildup needs to be accelerated. All planets in need of them will divide their resources evenly between that and research. No fleet will be built up yet, but that situation will be re-evaluated once the next set of tech projects are finished.  There it is, the last one for now. There is an inferno in the upper-central part of the galaxy, but it's not worth the expense and aggravation of getting an extender-range colonizer there.  2404, and it looks like we may be about to have the Humans and Darloks get in a tussle here. These transports look like they are headed for Thrax. Meanwhile our initiatives are going along swimmingly, with no further diplomatic problems.  Mk. IV Battle Computer is in, and the only option is to get the next one. The Mrrshans are also willing to speak. We bribe them with Industrial Tech 9 and Nuclear Engines. This improves relations, but not enough to get peace. They were also interested in the battle computer we just got, but it would be +2 to their current level and they are already fantastic gunners. That's not an edge I'm interested in handing over. Things now stand at 'Tense', about a quarter of the way up the scale. Maybe in a little while some currency will sway their mood.  A few years later, Duralloy armor is in. That leaves us with an interesting choice here. The repair system would be nice for fleet combat, but right now I'm far more interested in defensive operations and the battle suit is far cheaper. That means we'll get to the next tier(better armor and/or cheaper factories) sooner. Both of those would be quite useful. Battle Suits it is.  No problem: there's nowhere else to expand! The Darloks had a similar, less polite message. Relations are holding, for the time being. It's 2408, and we've nearly caught the Psilons in population. Production and overall we're even with the Mrrshans for #2. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain ...  Class III Shields showed up in 2412, and this was an easy choice: the Planetary option. The million-dollar question is whether to start building a fleet yet. It's tempting not to and just keep trying to leverage our size advantage, but I don't want to get caught without one and we've advanced enough that I think what we can make now would be useful against anyone except perhaps the Psilons.  The Manta is a destroyer-class, with no shielding but our best computer and four neutron pellet guns. Only the Psilons have a better computer; the Klackons recently acquired it and the others are inferior. Against non-Psilon ships this should be a reasonably effective weapons system.  This stupidly-named cruiser is similar, but has more weapons of course and a Battle Scanner. The Laser is on there just because, as it's the only thing there was room for at the end. More importantly, this one actually has a bit of shielding. This won't be a crash program or anything, but as they are able I'll have the rich worlds start putting together something resembling a fleet. The archaic Piranhas are finally put out to pasture.  2415: 10 years to the next vote. We haven't been able to move the needle on the Mrrshan; money apparently isn't worth much to them. I haven't had to do anything with the others though to keep relations decent either. Trade Balance is +4%(137 BC), and the economy has grown by nearly 50% in the past decade and a half. Missile bases are finished in the majority of locations, though that's something that always needs to be periodically increased. And here, we've got a new set of advances that will be here before too long. The first one, Dotomite Crystals, will give us the range to attack if an opportunity should present itself ... The Psilons added the small inferno system Toranor a few years back, but I can barely rouse myself to care. The following year, the Mrrshan randomly came to offer a peace treaty. We agreed, and signed a big 775 BC trade deal. We also re-up to 850 with the Psilons, double the current amount. That'll sink hundreds annually for the time being. If we can butter up the Mrrshan enough though, a protracted struggle may not be necessary ...  Merculite missiles were actually the next one of the new set to come in, very early in the prototype phase. That gives us a much better defensive position. Graviton Beam is the cheaper of the last two here that will move things forward, and will also help quite a bit against the swarms of Mrrshan ships should a conflict with them become necessary. Six years till the next vote, and the Darloks are another wild-card now, having made peace with the Psilons.  Our first ECM Jammer upgrade, to match the Mk. V computer just acquired.  At least it's not us.  We haven't expanded in over 20 years fellas. Nonetheless, everyone's opinion of us was shifted downwards. I'm sure it's just coincidence that it was the year before the Council vote. We bribed the Psilons and Darloks with tech worse than what they already had. Seemed to do the trick.  We were the top candidate this time around, but the Psilons took 2 of the 5-vote increase here. One short of a veto bloc.  In a bit of a surprise though, the cats chose us! Darloks are no longer at war with the eggheads, so they are the wild-card. If they support us though, we should have this ... Humans(still 3) and Klackons(still 2) come our way. That's 10 for us, 11 for Zygot, as the Darlok ambassador steps forward ...  Muwahahahahaha! Eat it Psilons!!  Our 11 votes are just enough to get us over the top. In a reversal of our last attempt, the Egghead Menace is foiled as the galaxy unites behind us and against them. All their pretty, shiny toys are of no use to them anymore; the New Republic has spoken! This game could easily have gone against us. The early war with the Psilons was quite nerve-wracking, and I don't no that I've had such a tense, action-packed start before. Every year it seemed there was something else important happening. Ultimately it wasn't really anything I did that turned it. The rest of the galaxy was content to fight itself, particularly with Xengara constantly changing hands, and that gave us the time -- and bad relations between rival empires -- we needed. Better lucky than good?! I put the Silicoid Empire into a position to take advantage of the luck, but it was still luck that put us over the top.
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Oct 6, 2017 01:56
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That was unexpected.
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Oct 6, 2017 02:17
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I like to think that everyone else in the galaxy finally got so fed up with the Psilons' smug bullshit that they all privately agreed to elect that milquetoast sentient oil slick Granid, just to piss on the Psilons' parade.
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Oct 6, 2017 02:28
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I gotta say it really felt like you earned that win.
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Oct 6, 2017 03:04
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Good job stalling till you can crush them in a political landslide!
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Oct 6, 2017 03:37
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Angry Diplomat posted:I like to think that everyone else in the galaxy finally got so fed up with the Psilons' smug bullshit that they all privately agreed to elect that milquetoast sentient oil slick Granid, just to piss on the Psilons' parade. Pissing off space elves in any form is good  Congratulations, Thotmix! Out of curiosity, how do you think you'd have fared if war broke out?
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Oct 6, 2017 04:06
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yep, that was a great evaluation of the situation. i was thinking it when i saw that there was a big fight among the galaxy's other races, all you really need to do is be nice and be numerous for the moment. gamble was either going to pay off and win you the game or not pay off and give you a good century of peace to solidify your grip on your two dozen planets (which would probably win you the game).
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Oct 6, 2017 04:08
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An out of nowhere diplomatic win is still a win. Well done!
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Oct 6, 2017 04:09
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Congrats. One more victory for you. I should have known something was up when you were going into so much detail in the council vote.
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Oct 6, 2017 04:11
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| # ? May 24, 2024 14:11 |
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Nice! well done and congrats.
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Oct 6, 2017 05:22
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