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All Hail our Dark Lord! I look forward to the sequel where a plucky cub and his misfit friends overthrow you.
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Apr 12, 2018 17:40
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Dong Quixote posted:That might have been the greatest game of MOO ever played, Thotimx Pretty much this. I've never seen such an equally matched end game like that before. I have seen the Guava Plan before, and yup, that's exactly what it looks like. It's a lot of fun to pull off against doomstacks defending a planet though.
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Apr 13, 2018 03:43
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You played the game when it was hard. You played the game when it was a slog. You played the game to VICTORY. You, man, are a damned hero.
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Apr 13, 2018 08:35
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wedgekree posted:You played the game when it was hard. You played the game when it was a slog. You played the game to VICTORY. All of this. Holy carp, Thot. That was damned impressive!
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Apr 13, 2018 15:55
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wedgekree posted:You played the game when it was hard. You played the game when it was a slog. You played the game to VICTORY. Now he just needs to do the same, only playing the Darlocks against the Psilons.
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Apr 13, 2018 23:41
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Kanthulhu posted:That comeback took way too long,though. I'll be sure to consult you on exactly how long it's supposed to take when next I win a game that I should have lost centuries ago. PurpleXVI posted:Do you feel like the Sakkra racial advantage carried any weight in you being able to win, perhaps by allowing you to build up planets faster when you managed to snatch them? It helped a bit, but not much. Helps a lot more when you can expand quickly at the start(second-fastest growth curve behind Klackons). Didn't work out for me in either Sakkra game. There's a trend there; the Humans and Meklar had similar problems with me not being able to show off what they are good at. ManxomeBromide posted:I think it's actually the missile bases that end up having the Interdictors installed. Not a bad theory, but the teleporter worked on some planets and not on others. Wayne posted:he "300 transports" thing is a separate issue: you can only have 300 population on the ground at a time, so excess transports can't fight. They're supposed to be added to your surviving population if you win, but if you lose... yeah. So you have to send them in waves. Creates quite a problem with the Bulrathi constantly reinforcing the system and having a big edge in kill ratio. Essentially means there was no way for me to win the planet in anything resembling a reasonable timeframe. Millenial Vulcan posted:Truly you are the Master of Orion. Thank you! AngryDiplomat posted:I particularly liked how you basically turned the galaxy into Warhammer 40k at the end, solely out of a vengeful desire to vent your frustration at how goddamn long it took. Just didn't seem right to carpet-bomb and be done with it. puppets freak me out posted:hat was an awesome showcase of the game. Congrats on pulling the most impressive turnaround I've seen in any 4x. Manxome Bromide posted:Congratulations on an amazing slog and an incredibly implausible victory. Dong Quixote posted:that might have been the greatest game of MOO ever played, Thotimx wedgekree posted:You played the game when it was hard. You played the game when it was a slog. You played the game to VICTORY. Aesclepia posted:Holy carp, Thot. That was damned impressive! *bow*. You are all too kind. Of course the logical question is 'How do I top this?'. And while I said the same thing after the Human game, I don't think it's likely to happen. Not even gonna try. We'll just see what MOO has in store. Narsham posted:he just needs to do the same, only playing the Darlocks against the Psilons. yeah I suppose that would up the ante a bit, pulling it off against the eggheads. Don't hold your breath, though. .
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Apr 13, 2018 23:43
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Who's Got Next? The last of the races generally considered roughly 'average' are next on the plate. Best of the 'combat' or 'non-economic' races, it's the birdbrain Alkaris. Alkari Profile ** Economy -- No bonuses whatsoever. ** Diplomacy -- A definite negative. Sakkra and Klackon relations start at Unease, Restless with their natural predatory rivals the Mrrshan. In general birds don't like predators. Go figure. All other relations start at the default. ** Military -- A +3 bonus to defense rolls in fleet combat makes Alkari ships very hard to hit, especially early on. ** Research -- A little above-average. Poor in Force Fields, but Excellent in Propulsion, the galaxy's experts in that discipline. Overview At standard starting-game capabilities, the Alkari defense bonus effectively makes their ship 2.5 times harder to hit than their opponents. Due to the impact of this on damage, it also means that when they are hit, it will usually be for smaller amounts as well. This is a potent advantage, one that makes the Alkari race the best-suited to participate in early game 'brush war' battles for territory. The Propulsion research bonus also helps in that direction; that first crash range research job will be expected to go more quickly, helping us get moving. While it's out of nature for me, I intend to start building some kind of small warships within the first 40-50 years. It seems the only way to utilize our avian plus. We're finally here with the first of the military-focused races, and the slow diplomatic and economic game will be less effective. I can't go in with guns blazing, but I will need to be a lot more willing to do targeted, calculated aggression and spend on the military earlier. The Final Chapters After that, there will only be the 'bad' races remaining. And this is where the voting comes in. Please choose from the following options. After victory with the Alkari is secured, these will be played in the order in which the voting determines; top vote-getter first, then second, whatever race gets the least votes will go last. You can choose what order you'd like all three to go in or just pick who you want next, at your leisure. ** Bulrathi -- Making use of their massive abilities in ground combat is best done early on. They don't have much else though. ** Mrrshan -- Best gunners, great at developing Weapons, bad diplomacy. ** Darloks -- Second-most unique race after the Silicoids. Nobody likes them but their spies are feared by all sentient races. ** IDGAF -- If you can't be bothered and/or would rather I just used a RNG to determine the order. I am also considering doing a special 'challenge game' at the end of all this as a parting shot to Master of Orion. When we do get there, I'll also take suggestions on what old-school game to try next. But that's way beyond the scope for now. At the moment, just let me know who you'd like to see from these races.
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Apr 13, 2018 23:53
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I say go Darloks next.
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Apr 13, 2018 23:57
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Time for the Bulrathi to have their time on the sun now.
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Apr 14, 2018 00:18
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I say go with the Bulrathi and name the ruler Smurch, so he can get revenge on the galaxy.
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Apr 14, 2018 01:00
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Darloks, thanks!
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Apr 14, 2018 01:34
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Darloks - Maybe you'll get lucky and be in a good enough position to really exploit their spying abilities.
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Apr 14, 2018 01:40
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If you'll let me do a negative vote, I want darlocks done last. They'll make the best run up to the finale your planning (whatever that ends up being). But if I can't make a negative vote, then Mrrshan.
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Apr 14, 2018 02:08
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I'd also like the Darlocks to go last. Don't care otherwise. Love this LP! Easily the thread which I most look forward to seeing updates of.
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Apr 14, 2018 02:46
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Mrrshan because why not?
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Apr 14, 2018 03:39
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My vote is for the final order Mrrshan, Bulrathi, Darlok   
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Apr 14, 2018 03:43
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Darloks please. Never played them because I hate bothering with espionage in 4x games, so it'd be cool to see what a good player would do with them.
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Apr 14, 2018 03:44
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I don't think I've ever even played the Mrrshan so I'm interested in seeing them next.
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Apr 14, 2018 03:53
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Thotimx posted:** Research -- A little above-average. Poor in Force Fields, but Excellent in Propulsion, the galaxy's experts in that discipline.  to the rest of your post, but I disagree on this one. Force Fields is an essential field (  ) and seems to be tough to trade for, while Propulsion has a ton of overlapping techs that are hard to trade with. Not to mention it's one of the worst for having limited options in each tier, and with the 50% tech occurrence, you could very easily end up with one range increase after another that's a total waste of your time and money. If you beeline High Energy Focus, the field's only killer app besides Fusion engines (well, Teleporters, but it's rare I get that deep in the tech tree), you have to put it on large ships which isn't synergistic with the Alkari defense advantage. I think they're one of the weaker civs in terms of research.Seems only fitting to follow the birds with the Kitties, and I agree with doing the Darloks last. They're my favorite and I've played them the most in MOO1, and it seems like every single game forks to either you getting away with spy hits and being 2nd banana the whole game (meaning you win when you take out #1) or getting busted your first try and imminent Insolence Costing Your Empire. Knowing your luck in the LP so far you'll do both. 
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Apr 14, 2018 05:57
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Darloks, since they're the ones I'm most interested in seeing what you do with.
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Apr 14, 2018 07:00
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Mrrshan, Bulrathi, Darloks
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Apr 14, 2018 07:50
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Mrrshan, Darloks, Bulrathi
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Apr 14, 2018 08:40
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Mrrshan
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Apr 14, 2018 09:53
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Wayne posted:I disagree on this one. Force Fields is an essential field ( ) and seems to be tough to trade for, while Propulsion has a ton of overlapping techs that are hard to trade with. Not to mention it's one of the worst for having limited options in each tier, and with the 50% tech occurrence, you could very easily end up with one range increase after another that's a total waste of your time and money. Of course you do :P. Counterpoints because I like being difficult: ** The AI tends to love range increases, so I don't think it's hard to trade with propulsion techs ** Propulsion is very important early on -- that first range increase that you almost always need, getting the first engine tech or two to increase speed, etc. In terms of boosting the growth curve it has a big impact at the start of the game and he who starts well will usually be able to finish well also(and avoid the kind of nonsense that I had to do in the last run). Edit: the voting is very close but the last few seem to have put the Mrrshan into the lead. There's no rush -- I'll leave it open a while longer and wait for the responses to stop coming in before declaring a winner.
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Apr 14, 2018 14:13
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Mrrshan Bulrathi Darloks
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Apr 14, 2018 14:34
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Mrrshan. Any chance you name their homeworld "Kilrah"?
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Apr 14, 2018 14:36
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Gun Jam posted:Mrrshan. Yeah, go Mrrshan, name their homeworld Kilrah, and their leader should be Emperor Joor'rad (or Joorrad, I forget whether MOO allows apostrophes).
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Apr 14, 2018 15:28
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Mrrshan Bulrathi Darloks
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Apr 14, 2018 16:11
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The cat jerks from Wing Commander were a hilariously badly named knockoff of the cat jerks from Known Space, if we're being honest. So it'd be more civilised to have our cat jerks be from Kzin. So it's with respect to Niven that I'll vote for Mrrshans from Cat Planet. Although they look more like bats to me. Pretty much the only thing the space cats have going for them in this game is that they can take down the Guardian as soon as they have mass drivers and movement 3. Preferably once you can put those on fighters, since you'll need a couple thousand. You have to be able to outrun the Guardian's scatter missiles, but the missiles are the only weapons the it has that can kill swarms of little ships en masse, and mass drivers are the first weapon that can get through the level 9 shield it has on Impossible. Everyone else needs a decent battle computer but the cats can get away with mark II or III. On lower difficulties you can do it with neutron pellet guns. Getting a good draw of lategame techs from Orion after getting there with pellet guns, nuclear engines and inertial stabilisers almost makes up for being stuck as the Mrrshans.
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Apr 14, 2018 17:43
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if you start theming the mrrshans after the dumbface kilrathi you must always have a ship design named something relating to space bulldozers
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Apr 14, 2018 18:34
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Could always pattern them after the movie's Kilrathi Sphinxes.
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Apr 14, 2018 18:43
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A planet for cat people should obviously be named Box.
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Apr 14, 2018 19:11
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Lemniscate Blue posted:A planet for cat people should obviously be named Box.  this gets my vote. Or Laundry.
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Apr 14, 2018 20:12
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Lemniscate Blue posted:A planet for cat people should obviously be named Box. I have no opinion on order (not even enough to make a formal IDGAF vote) but Boxes for the Cats.
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Apr 14, 2018 23:10
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Thotimx posted:Of course you do :P. Counterpoints because I like being difficult: Plus the inertial stabilizer--while useful and good--is stupidly overvalued by the AI. If you get it first, you can trade for top-tier stuff at will.
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Apr 15, 2018 01:15
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Cats, bears, then spooks! Also Boxes for cats!
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Apr 15, 2018 04:55
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idhrendur posted:Mrrshan This. Having Darloks last will be a nice finale.
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Apr 15, 2018 05:28
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Thotimx posted:Of course you do :P. Counterpoints because I like being difficult: Ha ha, difficult is great, I love talking about these old dead strategy games. I'll admit to coming in from a small sample size with the Alkari (only 3 games, only 1 finished), but it seemed like the AIs only wanted to trade for the best range increase they didn't have, and they tend to focus on those, it's rare you see AIs hurting for range, far more often they can go 10 parsecs but they have one ship slowing their stack down to 1 per turn, heh. Your point about the early advantage is 100% true, but I think the midgame is where MOO1 gets decided; you're going to be behind no matter what on Impossible, so it's what you can do once you survive the early phase that determines how the game goes. Like in a lot of games, tech is the 2nd field I tend to become first place in (after planets), thanks to research min-maxing and trading with whatever field my race is good at... except with the Alkari. OA also has a point with Inertial Stabilizer, but all 3 of those games I never got it as an option. 
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Apr 15, 2018 07:42
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IDGAF I just want to see a finale type game where you play on normal difficulty with whatever race you think would win fastest.
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Apr 15, 2018 08:05
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| # ? May 23, 2024 05:33 |
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Episode XI: Alkari Opening Emperor Farseer rules Altair under a Yellow banner. We're back at Medium-size, which suits him just fine. Starting Save: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3q6g37oqcif7s8f/SAVE1.GAM?dl=0 As for whether it's worse than the game just completed Wayne; it's worse in some ways and not as bad in others, so I'm not sure.  Upper-right is our domain, and it looks like there's a decent chance of the others being clustered opposite us. No Psilons for the second game in a row, but we do have Klackons, Humans, and Silicoid to contend with. At least one of those will almost certainly prove problematic. No Mrrshan or Sakkra to contend with which will help diplomatically. I'd call this a decent draw, could better and could be worse. The dark-space gulf that cuts in from the right side and then up in the middle nearly isolates our quadrant from the rest of the galaxy. That's probably a good thing, but we'll see how it turns out.  This green star is our early colonization target. The blue one below and right is the other choice, but our odds are better here. The red star is the preferred direction towards the middle, but that and the other nearby blue are both four parsecs out.  Again? Really. AGAIN. Let's all wave goodbye to our colony ship. Well I did do this once before. I'm not betting the farm on a repeat.  Oh Wayne .... you like hard starts? How about one where a 10M max colony is the only one within range to settle. Even if you know where it is, this is abysmal. I'm telling you, the MOO RNG loves me. Get one like the Meklar win every once in a while ... and then we get this after the way the two Sakkra games went. Grrr. This is literally the worst possible situation in terms of systems in range for initial colonization; the player will always get one that is habitable. Guardian system and minimum population for the second one. Super-great. Welp, only need three Recons for the moment. I suppose that's both good and bad.  Honestly I think I'm going to be better off skipping Rha entirely for now and just pushing for more range to get here.  A Bulrathi fighter this close? We have to retreat. And think about fighting already. Six years into the game. I want my mommy.  Beautiful.  Outstanding.  Heh. So we want Controlled Barren Landings like yesterday. And enough range to get to Klystron. That could potentially get us a whopping five systems here, one of which is total drek and none of which are above-average. Assuming the Bulrathi don't kick us to the curb first. 2322 brings us the first tech pull. ** Computers -- Deep Space Scanner ** Construction -- Reduced Waste 80% ** Force Fields -- Class II Deflector Shields ** Planetology -- Controlled Barren or Improved Eco Restoration ** Propulsion -- Deuterium Fuel Cells(Range 5) ** Weapons -- Hyper-V Rockets or Gatling Laser We're going to need the Barren, so I go with that and it's a very Alkari thing to snag the Gatling Laser. So the plan here is get the fuel cells, followed by reduced waste and barren landings. I want to cry now. Seriously.
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Apr 15, 2018 18:09
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