Sponsor:
RefSteel
Opening Date: Monday, July 6, 2009
Duration: Four Weeks
Map Generation: Random (unedited except to delay initial events)
Race: Darloks
Difficulty: Hard
Galaxy Size: Small
Opponents: Four
Events: On, but will not occur before 2425 (savefile edit)
Color: Yellow
Scenario:
The age of space exploration has begun, and the great Darlok scientists
of L. Nobilis
are ready to prove to the galaxy that they are the most capable researchers
in existence! And as soon as they've done so, of course, they're hoping
to take a well-deserved vacation ... preferably until the end of time!
Can they succeed? Dare they try? Only you can decide!
Variant:
No hard-and-fast variant rules; winning with a weak race on Hard difficulty
can be tough enough as it is. For those who want an extra challenge though,
you can give our laurel-resting Darlok scientists a nice early retirement,
balancing your scoring decisions against the risk of defeat. (After all,
these guys don't want their vacation spots ruined by swarms of raptors,
wild cats, diabolical machines, or - worst of all - competing scientific
brains!)
Optional
Scoring System:
+100 for victory (any type)
+6 for being the first among participating players to research their first
tech in a given field
+4 for being second among participating players to research their first
tech in a given field
+2 for being third among participating players to research their first
tech in a given field
-5 for each tech self-researched beyond your first in each tech field.
The bonus
points for being first, second, or third to research a tech in a given
field, and the penalties for researching multiple techs in any field,
are scored separately for each of the six tech fields:
Computers, Construction, Force Fields, Planetology, Propulsion, and Weapons, for a maximum total research bonus of +36.
In case of ties,the total points the tied players would have achieved together are tallied and divided equally between them (i.e. if two players are tied for the fastest tech in one field, and two others are tied for the second-fastest in that field, the first pair get ( 6 + 4 ) / 2 = 5 points each, and the second pair get ( 2 + 0 ) / 2 = 1 point each.
Only the first tech whose research your scientists complete in each field applies for the scoring bonus, and that tech never results in a penalty, even if it is above the first tech tier in its field. Techs acquired via espionage, invasion, trade/diplomacy, scouting an Artifacts world, or defeating the Guardian do not count for bonuses, do not accrue penalties, and do not count as your "first researched tech" under any circumstances; for scoring purposes, they are completely ignored.
Notes:
- It has been reported in various places that one can only steal techs
via espionage up to the level of one's own best tech. This is not true!
Tests conducted by Sargon and myself, including mine on this save file,
demonstrate that there is no limit on the level of techs you can steal!
- Events are technically on for this game; that is, you should not use ALT-EVENTS to turn them off. The save file has been edited however to prevent the events timer from starting until 2425 (it normally starts in 2340). This should hopefully give us some breathing room before random events and the GNN droid take total control of the galaxy. Many thanks to sargon0 for making this possible, spoiler-free!
Closing
Day:
Monday, August 3, 2009. Reports due by the end of Tuesday, August 4,your
local time.
Good luck!
