What are the best techs you have ever pulled from an artifacts planet? On the other side, what are the worst?
I am curious because I have been watching Sullla's Let's Play, and was amazed by the Controlled Dead he got. I didn't realize you could get something that advanced. What are the limits on free techs?
My personal best was Duralloy -- very nice reduction in early colony ship costs. But I would think the best results would probably be either hostile planet techs or maybe propulsion. Either range or faster engines would be very helpful during the land grab phase. Waste clean up would also be big early, at least if you aren't the Silicoids. IIT would also be pretty nice that early to speed factory construction.
My personal worst was in my latest game -- ECM I. Yes, it is a free tech and at least opens the next rung (this was before I had even opened tech). But ECM I has to be about the least useful tech possible that early -- only tech level 2, no benefit to economy or expansion. Weapons would probably be the next worst category early, but anything there is at least slightly useful for potential early conflict. Even hand lasers gives you a bit of gropo bonus and opens the next rung.
Still, a free tech is a free tech. And the artifacts planet itself was far more important long term than the free tech.
Greetings, I've been enjoying the game a lot, and gradually trying out harder races. Right now I have a game going as the alkari on a medium galaxy at hard difficulty I'd like some advice on. I don't seem in danger of losing, but I can't seem to make any ground against the very large silicoid or bulrathi empires. However, I think I might be getting out teched.
I have controlled toxic coming in which will net me two more worlds, but I'm not sure what to do next. I made some what i considered good trades ECM4 to klackon for duralloy and imp scanner to bulrathi for fusion bombs. Hopefully, that will help me put together a decent design soon. My thoughts were to try to find a silicoid world I could invade and steal some tech. Not sure what kind designs would best accomplish this. Do I build a huge auto-repair design when hard beams come in? Do I make mid-sized fusion bombers and pair them with something.
If anyone has some advice, I'd appreciate it. Save is attached
Well, I don't know if this thread is a bit premature, but as I've read the player threads already and the tech thread suggests this game is over I'd thought I'd get this up.
I'm impressed by Mardoc's pregame analysis of our team, which is pretty much spot on with how things worked out:
(May 15th, 2012, 10:02)Mardoc Wrote: nabaxo/Amelia/WarriorKnight
I'm not hugely impressed with nabaxo's performance in XIX
Took forever and a day to research Calendar, not enough workers
Amelia is erratic. Flashes of brilliance, can get locked into a plan even if it's not a good one, doesn't have the micro to back it up. Still, stick your hand into a bad spot and he'll bite it off.
WarriorKnight, though...his Elohim were pretty strong in PBEM3. Although he underestimated Thoth like everyone else, I don't expect that to repeat.
These three - it depends on how they mesh as a team. If WK ends up doing the micro for Amelia's flash of brilliance, with nabaxo helping tweak, then they'll be formidable. If nabaxo does the micro while Amelia gets stubborn about a silly plan and WK goes off and does something else, not so much. I think they're in different parts of the world, to add insult to injury.
Cardith of Kuriotates Varn of Malakim Valledia of Amurites
This is a power trio. They have a nice mixture of econ/other, and Kurios are excellent for a teamer, of course. I would be happy to play this trio ourselves, actually. The one thing they're a bit lacking is hammers, but of course that might be compensated by the land or a cash rush civic.
But - they're powerful in three different directions. There's not a tech on the tree they can safely ignore. I expect this to hurt their team dynamics, and potentially cause them to ride madly off in all directions. If they can decide on one to emphasize, with the others as support, then we might need to worry about them. Particularly if they end up emphasizing the Amurites. If they try to research Stirrups, Priesthood, every religion, and Sorcery all at once, then we can safely build past them and crush them at leisure.
(May 15th, 2012, 10:02)Mardoc Wrote: To sum up? Flip a coin. They have all the ingredients to win, the question is whether they have the skill to execute.
I guess not.
IMO our 3 biggest mistakes:
1) Picking Varn instead of Decius. We really could've used a civ with a production boost, considering it was by far our biggest weakness. Watching the MFG of the big three (Clan, Luchuirp, Vamps) were painful. We did not use nearly enough cash rushing to keep up, getting Warfare after Sorcery, so with no real production on our team we weren't really able to do anything compared to what others were doing. In retrospect Varn didn't do anything this game that Decius couldn't have done better except for mage upgrading which Valledia does better then Varn anyway.
2) Not expanding fast enough. Somewhat of a consequence of 1), but there are also a couple of other reasons. Firstly Kurio's had some major barb troubles when trying to escort settlers to megacity locations and were not able to settle their 3rd city until after HBR (should've got BW sooner). Also Malakim should've adopted City States and REX all the land around Kurio's ASAP, not having a lot of cities crippled us late (having Decius do this instead would put us in a competitive position IMO).
3) Giving each civ to a particular player. Perhaps this is a weakness relevant to teams, but we really should've done what Mardoc suggested. (I handle most of the micro/turnplaying, Amelia comes up with wacky macro ideas which nabaxo and I determine are good or not) Instead we had 1 player play per civ, and that definitely has some consequences (Amurites were decent, Kurio's OK, Malakim not that good).
I was initially surprised that this was a fun game to lurk, consider the complete lack of posts in the lurker thread (and lurker posting in general). Considering the lategame showdown that was going on on the other side of the world I can see why, but the micro required of a team game combined with the technical issues this game had, it wasn't the most fun I had playing. I commend Hart for hosting the game and sticking with it as long as he did despite his terrible in-game position, but we should really stick to PBEM's for FfH. The long pauses never helped and once the stats page was lost it really wasn't that great.
Two things I'd suggest for future team games though, firstly players in teams need to be a bit more balanced. This is more of a concern in teams because people with similar skill levels usually team up with each other from playing normal games against each other. I realize this is hard to put into practice, but Reddit didn't really have a chance at all, and our team wasn't that much better then Reddit compared to the lineups from the other 2 teams.
The other thing is a ban for Clan and Kurio in all future team games, these 2 civs are extreme since no-one can really compete with them at what they do best, and they are balanced in the normal game by having somewhat severe disadvantages that don't apply if you have teammates making up for it (v8 luchuirp too maybe, but not in the current version). Obviously we didn't play Kurio's anywhere near their potential, but Clan certainly did.
Fun game overall though, willing to play another team game again at some point if the 2 points above are addressed.
Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that "Papo y Yo" finally came out on Steam.
Based on it's game mechanic I would call it an "indie 3d puzzle game", but what makes it really really interesting is the fact that the dev uses the game to show the relationship between him and his abusive alcoholic father. Instead of writing more I would like to point you at:
IGN rated it with 40% while 4players.de gave it 85% (which I think is truly deserved) but that probably shows it's not for everyone. Gameplay is around 3 hours and it's only 11,69 Euros at the moment. If you like games that provide a magical atmosphere and a slower pace as well as a new experience that actually relates to real life don't miss this little gem.
The game is over! See below for results, or skip it to read the game from a player's perspective.
Congratulations to the winners, Bigger and Zakalwe!
Live Players (2) Bigger, playing Trillian Astra, Brilliant Astrophysicist, with the abilities Hack and Slash, was resurrected on day 5. Zakalwe, playing Colin the Security Robot, with the abilities Cheer, Motion Sensors, Tracking Software, Hack and Slash, survived to the end.
Killed Players (8) Ryan, playing Eddie, the Shipboard Computer, with the ability Monitor Room, was lynched day 1. Serdoa, playing Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Galaxy, with the ability Quibble, was killed night 1. Bigger, playing Trillian Astra, Brilliant Astrophysicist, with the abilities Hack and Slash, was lynched day 2. Uberfish, playing Arthur Dent, Last Survivor of the Human Race (almost), with the ability Order tea, was lynched day 3. PocketBeetle, playing Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, Vogon Captain, with the ability Recite poetry, was killed night 3. Gaspar, playing Slartibartfast, Planetary Coastline Designer, with no special abilities, was lynched day 4. Mattimeo, playing Ford Prefect, Galactic Hitchhiker, with no special abilities, was killed night 4. Lewwyn, playing Marvin, the (not technically) Paranoid Android, with the ability Lament, was lynched day 5.
You are Trillian Astra, Brilliant Astrophysicist.
You win with the bad guys.
You were born on earth as Tricia Marie McMillan, but now refer to yourself simply as Trillian, which you adopted because it sounded more "space-like". You're a brilliant mathematician and astrophysicist, skills you're now using to pilot the stolen starship Heart of Gold, the only ship in the universe powered by an Infinite Improbability Drive. You have ridiculously brown eyes.
You have hatched a plan to kill off everybody on board the Heart of Gold and secure it for yourself. After all piloting this ship is your dream job, and you don't want to share it with anybody else. You've recruited Colin, the Security Robot to help you, by short-circuiting his morality circuits and stimulating his pleasure center.
You have no special abilities, apart from your faction abilities:
Hack: At night, one member of your faction can electronically manipulate a person's environment to kill them.
Slash: At night, one member of your faction can visit someone and stab them until they are Dead.
Hack and Slash can not be used on the same night.
Quote:Zakalwe,
You are Colin, the Security Robot.
You win with the bad guys.
You're a small, round, melon-sized, flying security robot, originally designated as part #223219B. You were once enslaved by Ford Prefect to aid in his escape from the newly re-organized Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy offices. Ford captured you by trapping you with a towel and re-wiring your pleasure circuits, inducing a cyber-ecstasy trip. As a result you're chronically cheerful and react to all stimuli with ecstatic happiness. You were named by Ford Prefect after Emily Saunders' dog. You're now an unofficial mascot on board the starship Heart of Gold.
More recently, Trillian Astra, played by Bigger, has hacked your morality circuits and persuaded you to join her in killing off everybody else on board the Heart of Gold. Like everything else you think this sounds like an ecstatically splendid idea. You may communicate with Trillian in this quicktopic: http://www.quicktopic.com/50/H/RtRCZvRBJEPR
You have the following abilities:
Motion sensors: You can use your inbuilt motion sensors to monitor where, if anywhere, your chosen target visits during a night. Your motion sensors are the usual Sirius Cybernetics garbage, so this ability only works once.
Tracking software: You can use your inbuilt security tracking software to monitor any electronical activity initiated by your target, revealing who that activity is targetting (but not what it does). Your tracking software is the usual Sirius Cybernetics garbage, so this ability only works once.
Cheer: This is a post restriction. In every post in the game thread you must post something enthusiastic or cheerful about the state of the game, your role, somebody's behaviour or whatever else you might wish to babble happily about.
You also have the following faction abilities:
Hack: At night, one member of your faction can electronically manipulate a person's environment to kill them.
Slash: At night, one member of your faction can visit someone and stab them until they are Dead.
Hack and Slash can not be used on the same night.
Quote:Serdoa,
You are Zaphod Beeblebrox, President of the Galaxy.
You win with the good guys.
You are hedonistic and irresponsible, narcissistic almost to the point of solipsism, and often extremely insensitive to the feelings of those around you. You are nevertheless quite charismatic, a fact you've exploited to get elected President of the Galaxy. You've subsequently used that position to steal the Heart of Gold, a spaceship with an Infinite Improbability Drive. You have two heads and three arms.
You have the following ability:
Quibble: For one day phase, you can use your charisma to cast two votes, one for each head. Unfortunately you can never agree with yourself, so the two votes have to be cast for two different people. You activate your ability by posting "Action: Quibble" in bold in the game thread. I will then confirm your ability at the first opportunity. When your ability is active, you must always cast two votes when you vote, so post e.g. Pindicator, NobleHelium in red to vote for those two players. If you want to change just one of the votes, revote the other person at the same time to make tallying easier. Unvoting and voting no-lynch is also allowed, but you cannot cast two votes for no-lynch.
Quote:Lewwyn,
You are Marvin, the (not technically) Paranoid Android.
You win with the good guys.
You are the ship's robot aboard the starship Heart of Gold. You were originally built as a failed prototype of Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's GPP (Genuine People Personalities) technology, and you're afflicted with severe depression and boredom, in part because you have a brain the size of a planet which you seldom, if ever, are given the chance to use. Indeed, the true horror of your existence is that no task you could be given would occupy even the tiniest fraction of your intellect. You've solved all of the major mathematical, physical, chemical, biological, sociological, philosophical, etymological, meteorological and psychological problems of the Universe except your own, three times over. Still, you don't know why Zaphod Beeblebrox likes to refer to you as "the Paranoid Android", when you don't actually display any signs of paranoia, nor do you know why Ford Prefect refers to you as "maniacally depressed", when you show no signs of mania either. In actual fact, you are consistently morose.
Your main virtue is a remarkable stoicism. You once waited hundreds of billions of years for your employers to rejoin you, after they forgot to take you back from the past on their time machine.
You have the following ability:
Lament: This is a post restriction. In every post you must post something morose bemoaning the state of the game, your role, somebody's behaviour or whatever else you might wish to complain about.
Quote:Gaspar,
You are Slartibartfast, Planetary Coastline Designer
You win with the good guys.
You're a Magrathean, and a designer of planets. Your favourite part of the job is creating coastlines, and you once won an award for designing the fjords found on the coast of Norway on the now-destroyed planet Earth. When Earth Mk. II was being made, you were assigned to the continent of Africa. Unfortunately, fjords in Africa would be hard to explain without natural glacial movement, so you've now shelfed coastline design and joined the Campaign for Real Time which tries to preserve events as they happened before time travelling was invented. Your starship is named Bistromath, but you're currently a guest on board the Heart of Gold.
You have no special abilities.
Quote:Mattimeo,
You are Ford Prefect, Galactic Hitch-hiker
You win with the good guys.
You're an experienced galactic hitch-hiker who once rescued Arthur Dent off earth as the planet was about to be destroyed. You're currently hitching a ride on the Heart of Gold, a starship powered by an Infinite Improbability Drive. As a field researcher for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you've become pragmatic to the point of fatalism, endlessly broad-minded, and in possession of an off-key and often very black sense of humour. You never learned to pronounce your original name, which was a matter that caused your father to die of shame (which is still a terminal disease on your home planet of Betelgeuse Seven). At school, you were nicknamed "Ix," which translates as "boy who is not able satisfactorily to explain what a Hrung is, nor why it should choose to collapse on Betelgeuse Seven".
You have no special abilities.
Quote:Uberfish,
You are Arthur Dent, Last Survivor of the Human Race (almost).
You win with the good guys.
Along with Ford Prefect, you barely escaped the Earth's destruction as it was demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Now you're spending your time helplessly launched from one crisis to another, still wearing your dressing gown. You rather enjoy tea, but you have trouble obtaining it in the far reaches of the galaxy. In the meantime, you've learned how to fly and carved a niche for yourself as a sandwich-maker. You're currently a useless member of the starship Heart of Gold's motley crew.
You have the following ability:
Order tea: At night, you can go to someones room and order tea from the Nutrimatic drinks dispenser outside their room. This overloads the local computing network, meaning that no electronical abilities can affect the targeted person, nor can that person use any abilities that depend on electronics. You can only perform this action once, as the drink dispensers will be closed down for inspection after this incident.
Quote:PocketBeetle,
You are Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, Vogon Captain.
You win with the good guys.
You were the Vogon Captain in charge of overseeing the destruction of the Earth. You are sadistic even by Vogon standards, and unpleasant to look at, having as much sex appeal as a road accident. When not shouting at or executing members of your own crew for insubordination, you enjoy torturing hitchhikers on board your ship by reading your poetry at them, then having them thrown out of an airlock into open space. For unknown reasons you're currently a guest on board the starship Heart of Gold.
You have the following ability:
Recite poetry: You've created a "best of" compilation of all your finest poetry, that you can recite to a target of your choice at night. You have enough material for one night's recital. Your fantastic poetry is usually wasted on the uncultured recipients, causing them to crouch in a fetal position and loll senselessly. As a result, the targeted person can't go anywhere during your poetry recital, and nobody else can come near him either. Since your poetry reputation precedes you the poetry will be delivered as an electronic audio message.
Quote:Ryan,
You are Eddie, Shipboard Computer
You win with the good guys.
You are the shipboard computer on the starship Heart of Gold. Like every other system on the spaceship, it has a Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Genuine People Personality. Thus, you are over-excitable, quite talkative, over-enthused and extremely ingratiating, or alternatively a coddling, school matron-type as a back-up personality. Shipboard networking interconnects you with everything on the Heart of Gold; at one point, the whole ship was effectively crippled by Arthur Dent's request for tea from the Nutrimatic drinks dispenser; the computation of which nearly crashed your systems and everything connected to you.
You have the following ability:
Monitor room: At night, you can use your sensors to electronically monitor anybody trying to enter somebody's room or otherwise influence your targeted player. Unfortunately your split personality means you can only stay focused enough to pull this off for one night.
It is about time we have a thread talking about football.
Anyone else watching the UCL semifinals? I was only watching the UCL website coverage while at work, but I think I'll manage to catch the second half. I really dislike Barcelona, so go Bayern München! Thomas Müller > Messi.
Looking for recommendations on some good history books. I know that Sullla teaches history (or something) so figured he might have some good ones, but figured that the rest of you guys might also have some good thoughts.
I'd say I'm most interested in American / European history (only because that's what I'm most familiar with, but would be open to anything). I could go anywhere from broad overviews to detailed books on specific topics.
The only caveat is that it has to be something I can get from my local public library (which I understand might rule out some things)
http://catalog.cincinnatilibrary.org/ is the link if you really feel like checking that, but if you just want to make reco's that you think probably SHOULD be in the library of a metro area of 1.5 million or so, that would be fine too
Since this was apparently verboten to discuss in the Boom Room thread:
Any interest in a quick game of Mafia/Werewolf, that only partially overlaps Brick's upcoming game?
I'm thinking max 9 players, weirdish roles, no promises with regards to balance. I can host it if nobody else wants to.
With 2 scum and 7 non-scum a game should take maximum 4 day/night cycles, so maximum 12 rl days, which means we won't have much overlap with Brick's game assuming we start this week.
Yes, it is a free tech and at least opens the next rung (this was before I had even opened tech). But ECM I has to be about the least useful tech possible that early -- only tech level 2, no benefit to economy or expansion. Weapons would probably be the next worst category early, but anything there is at least slightly useful for potential early conflict. Even hand lasers gives you a bit of gropo bonus and opens the next rung.
And the artifacts planet itself was far more important long term than the free tech.
