Well, in light of a game with no completed reports, the question does beg asking. Pretty much all of our regulars seem to be spending their Civ time engrossed in the Apolyton Demogame, not leaving a lot left over for these games. (That's the case for me, anyway.) It also bears mentioning that Civ4 came out almost four years ago. In the world of gaming, that's ancient history.

We've had a great run over that span. Is it time to call it quits?

:2dance:

So, in celebration of her first favor-contributing title, Courin Aziel is hosting a Guild Party, and you are all invited!

She'll be serving up tasty beverages, along with sweet snacks, and to put everyone in the party mood, there'll be fireworks as well, all leading up to the big moment.

Then, we'll head of to see King Kong and get squished (again) within seconds of seeing his ugly face...........

So make sure to come to party..........Guild Hall, 8 PM EDT Sat April 18th..........

The news about what the Guild Wars Live team has been up to lately has been posted on the official website. Click here for details.

This was supposed to open last Monday, but I finally got it up today. In any case, it looks like it should be quite an adventure for all who participate!

This interview was a long time in the making. Pete had a long hiatus from the forums as he recovered from a series of health challenges. However, I am glad we were able to finish it. Here is the second of “The Making of a Gamer” interviews.



ShadowHM: Please give us some general information about yourself. For starters, where were you born? Where were you raised to adulthood? Where do you live now?



Pete:I was born in Florence, Italy on the twenty-third of November 1945 and originally given the name Pierluigi Grandolfi. My father died within a month of my birth, and shortly after that my mother left me with relatives in the mountains above Florence. Because the prospects for a single woman with a child were not good in post war Italy, she moved to England in search of better opportunities. There she met Leon Majewski, an ex-member of a Polish regiment in the British army. He had fought and been wounded at Monte Casino and had learned some Italian and a love of Italy during his months of convalescence there. Since this is my story and not theirs (which is much more interesting), suffice to say that my mother went back to Italy in the summer of forty-eight to bring me to England.



From forty-eight to fifty-one, we lived in London, close to Regent’s Garden. However, it cannot be said that we mixed into English society at any level. ‘Bloody foreigners’ have never been greatly appreciated in England and even less so in the post war era. When we left England in fifty-one, I knew scarcely more English than when I’d arrived three years earlier – which is to say nearly none at all.



In November of fifty-one, traveling under a British passport in my ‘new’ name of Peter Majewski with my mother and stepfather, I crossed the Atlantic on the Cunard White Star liner Mauretania. My earliest true memories (things I actually remember, rather than think I remember because people have told them so many times) are of this trip. Going as far forward as passengers were allowed and watching the waves crash over the ship’s bows. Eating in an almost deserted dining room (even many of the staff were sea sick ). And my father making all of it into a fascinating adventure (my poor mother never left the cabin and hardly left the bathroom – I guess I inherited my (natural) father’s inner ears).



Speeding things up: we lived on Manhattan Island, lower East Side (a couple of blocks from the ‘headquarters’ of Murder, Inc.) until Spring of ’57. We then moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where I stayed till June of ’60 (my parents left me with some friends the last few months so that I could finish Junior High there). From June of ’60 till January of ’65, I lived just inside the Northern edge of Atlanta, Georgia. I completed high school at St. Pius X Catholic High School, where, under the tutelage of a Jesuit, I became an atheist (not what he had in mind ).



Because of some family and personal problems I joined the Army in January of ’65. After training, I spent a brief time in Germany and then volunteered for Vietnam. I served there from October ’65 to October ’66 when I returned to Fort Eustice, Virginia as an instructor. I got married to my first wife the following Spring (April Fool’s Day appropriately enough ) Got out of the service that December, and went back to Atlanta and Georgia Tech. At Tech I got my first computer account, learned programming, learned hardware interfacing, and have never looked back.



The next few years were spent between Tech and Western Electric – the one to get an education, the other to pay for it Somehow, in the process, I acquired a daughter as well. In Spring of ’73 I finished my undergraduate work with a BS in Physics. Over the next year, I applied and was accepted into Washington State University (-not- UW). When it was almost time to leave, my ex-wife announced that not only was she not coming with me, she was divorcing me. The divorce was bitter, and I did not see her or communicate with her for over twenty years. I did get to see my daughter again when she was seventeen after a separation of thirteen years.



But, in the Summer of ’74, with ‘nothing left to lose’, I packed up my Healy and drove to Pullman, Washington, home of Moo-U. I spent the next eleven years there, first as a student, then as a pre-doc, and finally as a post-doc. I met Sue (Magi) there, and eventually we got married. Along the way, I picked up a PhD in Physics specializing in shock dynamics.



A friend, and former fellow grad student, recruited me to work at Boeing in aerospace and military research. I accepted, and in the fall of ’85 was living in Maple Valley, Washington. In 2000, I retired from Boeing since I was tired of the vagaries of corporate research. Then, earlier this year (2005), Magi and I moved closer to Seattle (to Renton, specifically). That pretty well summarizes my life so far.



Or, at least it did four years ago when that was written. Over the past four years, I’ve played a game against leukemia, including bone marrow transplant and graph versus host disease, which is not quite decided, but which I’m winning on points We’ve moved again, a few miles over to Kent, partially to accommodate my limited mobility and partially in hopes of getting my mom (born in 1916) to move in with us.



ShadowHM:Who influenced you the most in making you interested in games? How?



Pete:When we first moved to the USA, we didn’t have TV for a few years (which was not uncommon in the early ‘50s). Our family evening entertainment was mostly card games, primarily of the various melding varieties (forms of rummy). My (step)-father also tried to teach me chess, but he is an extremely holistic individual. He has no ability to break things down into easily absorbable chunks and tried to teach me by mixing rules, moves, tactics, and strategy into a totally incomprehensible and indigestible lump. Although he never could teach me chess, he did inspire me to want to learn it (anything that difficult just had to be fun ). We did not have any board games other than chess.



ShadowHM: Were there any other gaming influences?



Pete:To get me out of the influence of New York City, my parents sent me to summer camps almost every year. Not the week and two week variety, but the whole summer type. There I learned additional games, Canasta being one of the most memorable. In addition, sometime when I was about ten, a fellow camper finally taught me chess – turned out to be both easier and harder than I’d expected. With the exception of Monopoly, board games were still out of the picture since most of them were still of the Aggravation style. That is to say, cheap, simple, and totally based on luck.



By the time I’d gotten to high school, chess had become my main game. As soon as I discovered chess books, I devoted myself to the game for about two years before becoming bored. However, I did play it in both club and team through my senior year. Since then, I doubt that I’ve played more then a hundred games of chess total in the last forty years.



I came to Bridge late. My first experience was in the Army when I was given a five minute course so that I could be the fourth in a game on the airplane to Germany. I played little bridge after that until my junior year. As an upperclassman at Georgia Tech, I ‘minored’ in bridge. There was a perpetual game that ran in the Physics Department student’s lounge. That game probably cost me a few tenths on my GPA.



ShadowHM: What games have you played in the past?



Pete: Besides the card games and chess that I mentioned above, I was attracted early on to the Avalon Hill type board games, mostly the various war game simulations, etc. This expanded to the SSI games, who’s ‘realism’ appealed to the grognard in me. The names of many of those games no longer reside in my memory, but a search through a ’75 catalog of either of those two companies would reveal many of the games I played then.



In addition to board games, I started playing computer games in the early ‘70s. At that time, a number of us developed and played WW3 on the Georgia Tech Burrows 6600 computer. Basically, as the name implies, it was a war game. Each day, every player punched out an input deck with his expenditures and moves. All the decks were collected and used, along with the previous day’s state, to run a batch job. The result of the job was a printout with individual status sheets and individual world maps for each player. Over the three years we played this game, it was in constant development. All players would submit ideas for improvements, usually in the form of code additions. If the majority approved, the additions were incorporated. A game typically lasted a quarter, being ‘won’ on points – and disputes over beers at the Yellow Jacket – rather than by conquest.



Later, with the advent of time share systems, some ‘real time’ games entered the picture. Games like Star Trek on DEC systems led the way. Rogue, Adventure, and the like started to crop up on Unix systems, and I stole accounts both at Tech and later at WSU to play these. Finally, in the later ‘70s, platforms like the Commodore PET, the Trash 80, the Apple ][, etc., got me into more interactive games. These were the years of Hannuberabi, the Adam Scott adventure games, Wumpus, Zork, etc. Flight Simulator on the Apple ][ during this time also ate a large chunk of my time.



Meanwhile, board and tabletop games continued (and continue) to pique my interest on the rare occasions when a gaming group can be convened. Again my memory fails me, but some of the names are Carcassonne, Robot Rally, Puerto Rico(?), various railroad building games.



With the advent of the Wintel machines, and as graphics improved, I played a lot of adventure games Tex Murphy Mean Streets series, the Forgotten Realms and Krynn gold box series). I love flight sims, and have played Falcon 3.0, Red Baron, Chuck Yeager’s Flight Sim and a number of others. The Heroes of Might and Magic series filled my time, and, incidentally, where what finally won Sue over to the dark side – she didn’t enjoy computer games before I introduced her to HoMM 1. Now, as we say, she’s ‘dicted



I’ve had fun with some of the golf games, but that’s the only sport that I play on a computer. Things like SimCity held my interest briefly. But it was the introduction of the original Diablo that truly changed my life. Prior to Diablo, (1997), I read over 200 books a year. Since then, I have averaged only twenty or so.



ShadowHM: What games do you play now?



Pete: At this time, and for about the past four years, I have not been able to play much. My endurance is about enough for a game or two of Spider Solitaire, and my reflexes barely adequate for Pinball. I’m planning that soon (a matter of months) when I am well again I will be playing WoW. With the new setup in the new house, I also hope to get my joystick-throttle-rudder system back into action and play what few combat flight simulators are out there. As for the rest, we’ll see what new games come along and what old games I can find in the bargain bins



ShadowHM:How did you choose your username of Pete?



Pete: Well, it *is* my name The first UNIX system I had an account on was shared with about ten people. In that simpler world of thirty-eight years ago, we all used a first name or nickname as our user name. The habit just stuck, I guess. And in game fora, I think it helps to distinguish the player from the avatar. As a one-time role player, I’m probably a bit more aware of when I’m in and out of character. Besides, it gives a certain continuity. I’ve been signing posts to newsgroups, posts to www fora, and e-mail with “--Pete” for so long that anything different would be disconcerting.



ShadowHM: How did you come to the Realms Beyond?



Pete: Shortly after discovering Diablo in February of ’97, I was searching online for game patches when I discovered the old Blizzard Diablo strategy forum. I lurked there for a while, then started posting. Sometime after that, Woody started posting about his BNM and eventually set up a site for that variant and others that he collected (including my Immortal Heroes, which I’d been playing for some time, and submitted when Woody requested input for other variants). From that point on, mostly as a lurker, I followed the variant community across a few boards until they settled in Realms Beyond. So, you might say I just kind of ‘grandfathered’ in.



ShadowHM: What are your preferences in play style for games?



Pete: For me to like a game, it has to be either solo or group; either PvP or PvE; real time or turn based; RL or computer; physical or mental; . . .



To paraphrase Will Rogers, “I've never met a game I didn't like.”



ShadowHM:Do you prefer to solo or to play cooperatively?



Pete:If the game is set up for it, I much prefer to play co-op games, but I usually find myself playing solo. There are a number of reasons for this, some of them not too flattering But, basically, I play most games in a relaxed mode. I don't particularly care to go fast. I like to look around, explore, check out the environment. And I tend to get bored in a short time, so that doing ‘acts’ or ‘quests’ or ‘instances’ often forces me to play longer than I would like (then again, I ‘beat’ the original single player Diablo in one twenty-six hour session – I guess *it* didn’t bore me ).



When I do find a group that’s willing to put up with my ‘style’, I greatly enjoy it. However, there always seems to come those times when I’m not in the mood to play at the designated times. Then either I don’t play, potentially ruining the fun for all, or I do play, very likely ruining the fun for all. Having to play at a particular time feels too much like work. Eventually, the group breaks up.



So most of my co-op has either been with Magi (who has to put up with me :P ) or with pugs. One of the things I’ve enjoyed about WoW (in my limited experience) is being able to approach a stranger who’s in the same area I’m in and asking if they’d like to do some particular quest together. I’ve had some nice experiences with that.



ShadowHM:Do you prefer player versus player environments, such as you described for that initial war game structure you worked on?



Pete: I enjoy competition a lot; I enjoy RL games and sports and I like to win. On the computer, I enjoy competition in many ways, especially turn based games. However, by and large I don’t enjoy twitch games. I’ve tried various FPS from DOOM to Quake and mostly they just frustrate me. And I don’t much care for games where one needs to memorize and practice a build order to be successful, so the PvP RTS games turn me off (but I find that I usually enjoy the single player campaign in those games).



My favorite PvP experiences have been with combat flight simulators. The ‘real time’ pace is really real time, and it is a wonderful balance between reflex and reflection. Unfortunately, there are few opportunities to play those games as a solo player anymore, and for the reasons I’ve given above, I do not care to be a member of a squadron.



ShadowHM: Or was it the cooperative aspect of it, wherein you all discussed and reviewed what worked and what did not?



Pete: In both games and life, I like a cooperative-competitive mix. That was very true in the GaTech WW3 game, where the game was competitive, but to some extent so was the development of the game. Coming up with a good idea, a decent algorithm to implement it, and getting it accepted by the group gave one bragging rights. It was a game in itself. Discussing concepts, both for the game and the code, was also a great pass time.



"My tragic tale I won't prolong.

Sing rickety tickety tin

My tragic tale I won't prolong.

And if you did not enjoy my song

You've yourselves to blame if it's too long.

You should never have let me begin.

Begin. Begin.

You should never have let me begin!"

- Tom Lehrer

After successfull tests of Sven Lubasch's D2/LoD Glide Wrapper i decided to make a summary how to get it up and running.

In case you wonder why i did not put this under General forum Sven stated that his Glide Wrapper was exclusivly written to be used with D2/LoD and nothing else. You can try it with other games that support Glide but Sven gives no guarantee at all.

• Extract and copy all files from the ZIP archive into your D2/LoD installation folder. If you want to get detailed information about individual options keep the TXT files.
  
  
  
  
  
• Start the Glide Wrapper setup program glide-init.exe and select the language you like to use. Then select "OpenGL-infos" and hit the "Query OpenGL-infos" button. This will check if there may be incompatability issue with your hardware.
  
  
  
  The info screen at the bottom is a display of the TXT file content. Scroll thru it if you want further details on something.
  If OpenGL parameters seem to be ok you can hit the "Test" button right away to see a test screen.
  After a successfull test continue to the next step.
  
  
  
• Let's check thru the menus Settings, Renderer and Extensions.
  Don't worry, if the menus look different for you. The setup program adjusts them depending on the results of the OpenGL info query.
  
  
  
  "window mode" let's you switch D2/LoD from window to full screen mode and back while the game is running. Also in window mode "captured mouse" will keep your mouse pointer trapped(!) inside the game window! No more mishaps by overshooting borders
  
  Sidenote: When you do not run both game and wrapper setup at the same time Alt-Tab does not work in fullscreen mode. You'll have to use Strg-Esc to switch to your desktop or other apps.
  
  Attention! The refresh-rate shown in the screenshot is specific for my old trusty CRT monitor!
  Verify that your monitor supports the selected refesh-rate by running "Test". Most modern LCD or flat screens use a refresh-rate of 60 so best select "60" or "auto".
  
  Vertical sync keeps the system from rendering more screens per second than the selected refresh-rate can display. By the given screenshot my system is fixed to render 85 pictures per second. Toggling VSYNC off results into 400+ pictures per second. It plain saves system resources.
  
  
  
  On the right side of this menu the wrapper setup makes a guess on how much RAM should at least be allocate to your texture memory setting. The buffer size defaults to 1024x1024 which is a quite good value. Keep it.
  
  With the other settings shown you most likely won't need to adjust your in-game gamma and contrast at all.
  
  The next screenhots was taken without running the OpenGL query to show all available extension.
  When you have run the OpenGL query the list is reduced to the extensions your gfx driver does support.
  
  
  
  The selected extensions above work fine with my nVidia GeForce.
  With a none-nVidia card you may need to activate more or other extensions.
  
  Make sure to Test all your selections made! When satisfied hit Quit to save your settings.
  
  
  
• Start the D2/LoD Video Test program and either run or skip gfx tests.
  On the next screen you will now see the previously missing 3dfx/Glide mode entry. Select it and hit OK.
  
  
  
• Start D2/LoD as you always did and enjoy the now silk-smoothed game
  

Hi

Jaffa used to share his wildlife photographs with us once in a while. I always did enjoy them.

Today, I stumbled across a website that has the winning entries for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.

There are some wonderful photographs there. And while the photographs are amazing, what is even more amazing is what these photographers had to do, just to be able to take them.

My favourites:

Clash of Eagles

Love Branch

Sailfish Strike

There are many more. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

A fun idea from Sullla! I had no great preference for Diplomatic Personality but looking at the Production Emphasis, I would prefer not to draw Technologist or Ecologist. They would show some interesting variations but I wanted something more radical. So, on my third roll, I got Erratic Militarist. Now that’s radical, even scary! Production would be hampered by the investment in ships, tech would be hampered by the investment in weapons and with the odd random war thrown in! Optimising tech would be difficult and the pace slow so I expect to have to use my enforced ships (& Sakkra pop) for pointy-stick research to compensate. Early expansion tech could be a problem though.

Erratic: d6 every 10 turns and 6 means declare on random race. I would interpret this to mean attack race (to force dow) so I will limit this to races in contact. I will roll on first contact then every year ending in zero after that against known races.
Militarist: 50% production in ships at all planets (after clean ECO), 50% tech in weapons at all times.

We are prolific lizards but opponents include the best AI races in Psilons, Meklars and Humans. The map has Sssla north of centre with only one yellow star in the northern half a possible AI homeworld to the east. Two planets in range and looks like the eastern green if it can be settled will open up the red below. I want to know quickly how far I can expand without tech so I send colony to green and scouts to in-range purple and eastern red. Scouts from next 2 turns enforced ships went to SW green, S red and NW green. Colony ship finds Xengara (Min, 55) and I send 23 from Sssla, gets colony productive quickly and homeworld still at one third and growing quickly. Nearby stars are purple UR Proxima (Inferno 35) and red Beta Ceti (Tundra 60). NW green is Orion, scratch one scout and one direction for expansion. Xengara produces a scout for Beta Ceti as its scout moves to S white and Proxima scout heads to NE green. Southern red & white are hostile but SW green is Ryoun (Terran 95) at range 4 and far NE green is Selia (Jungle 85) at range 5. SW purple is UR Tauri (Inferno 40).

Opening tech in planetology, propulsion and enforced weapons reveals IER (over IT10), Range5 and Hand Lasers. Now putting 50% tech into weapons means that after range 5 pops I will have 2 quick colony ships then a big delay before the third (no pre-build). So I decide to push for IER and Range 5 alongside weapons to reduce Colony ship cost. This will delay my first expansion several turns but my third one will be several turns faster and greater for later ones. Sssla spends 2 turns on deposit then returns to factories (+ships), Xengara goes full tech (+ships), not a single factory. With half tech on weapons the remainder is split evenly between IER & R5. After several turns Sssla starts to boost tech until both planets are full on tech & ships then when IER gets close to percentages I increase its share until in double figures. Hand Lasers hit in 2319 choosing Ion Cannon (Hyper-X, Fusion Bomb) then IER in 2329 choosing IT10 (Dead, Death Spores). GNN announces Meklars first to 6 planets in 2330, not a good sign. First contact is Psilons chased from UR Proxima in 2335 confirming they are eastern yellow.

Range 5 hits in 2337 (ouch!) choosing Warp2 (range 6) and I produce my first and second colony ships then third turn after. Scouts fan out on extra range. I open construction with only RW80 and put a one turn deposit and research this with IT10 (+weapons). I settle Ryoun in 2341 meeting 5PE Humans (Hon/Diplo), Sol is W yellow of 3 west of centre. They are currently Neutral not Relaxed because I just chased their colony ship from W red UP Proteus (Steppe 50), I must have got there same turn as them (phew!). First Erratic throw is indecisive. IT10 hits next year choosing Dead and the first event hits early for... the Meklars, Plague at Meklon (yeah!). Selia settled in 2344 giving more places to send from full initial colonies and grow more prolific lizards. Meklar and Bulrathi scouts and Colony ships chased from southern planets over next few turns.

UP Proteus settled in 2346, it’s a poor planet but opens up a lot more. With an expanding empire I now place a deposit on Dead to help productivity, settle some hostiles and find Inferno for UR’s. The 2350 Erratic throw cannot decide. In 2354 I finally settle N red Rha (Desert 40), difficult to get around Orion for this one, then in 2359 N blue rich Aurora (Minimal 40). Two years earlier the Plague ended at Meklon and RW80 hit with only II8 next. I wanted some construction to help ships and reduce factory cost. When RW80 hit Sssla still only had 153 factories and nowhere else had more than 2! I was relying on prolific lizard (planetology enhanced) pop here for production. I placed a deposit on II8 to dream of an industrialised power in the future! I do not want RC3 here. The 2360 Erratic throw is insufficient. Ion Cannon hits in 2365 choosing ScatterPack-V (Ion Rifle, Neutron Blaster) then next year Dead choosing Toxic (EER) which gets a 2 turn deposit (URs!). Distances are becoming a pain so with no investment in Warp2 I trade Humans RW80 for it with only Range7 next.

The 2370 Erratic throw is inconclusive. With Dead I settle the 2 large hostiles Beta Ceti then Endoria then LR Colony settles far NW Klystron (Ocean 65) making 10 planets. Beta Ceti introduces 3PE Psilons (Pac/Ind) and 8PE Meklars (Xeno/Ind). Endoria triggers vote with Meklars(6), Psilons(3), Humans(5), Alkari(1), Bulrathi(4) and me(5). Everyone abstains so I vote for the robots. Four years later the vote is repeated as before except I have 6 votes for Meks who are now Relaxed. II8 hits in 2378 choosing II7 (ARS, RW60), still with only Sssla (and rich Aurora) with a fair number of factories. In 2380 I decide I must declare on the Humans (well that’s what the Erratic throw said). Instead of UP Kakata, I target large Dunatis with 97/100 pop and 2 bases (hyper-V, titanium, ds3). Full Ryoun & nearly full UP Proteus launch 2 full waves (refilling some from rear) supported by Endoria making 146 invaders in 2 waves. For ships I did not like small Ion Cannon since I cannot fit maneuver or BC so I go with 3 large and over 30 small nuke bombers. 2382 sees ScatterPack-V arrive, choosing Fusion Beam (Stinger, Hard Beam) and 1PE Alkaris (Agg/Eco) announce themselves. In 2386/7 the battle for Dunatis sees the only defender flee (one large bomber), the 3 hyper-V bases kill half my bombers but were destroyed, the invaders overwhelm the defenders with identical tech. With 150 factories captured I pull DSS, II9, DS2, R6 and Fusion Bomb (above average but I missed more advanced DS3 and Mass Driver). Meet 7PE Bulrathi (Agg/Tech). Humans fall for it and DOW allowing me to fulfil my objective! Current map and stats:




The 1PE birds get Fertile event at Altair in 2388. The economic boost from acquiring another industrialised world (after only Sssla) allows me to push Toxic to hit in 2390 choosing IT40 (BTA, Radiated). With this tech acquired I finally open Computers and Force Fields choosing BC3 (ECM2) and PDS (DS3), which gets a one turn deposit. UR’s Proxima and Tauri are settled in 2393/4 by which time I have launched for UP Kakata (no good for factories but plenty of living space!). Now, after Dunatis, the Humans despatched a huge from Sol to Kakata, at warp 1! Since best Human weapon is one space Mass Driver, I have designed a few large Heavy Ion ships to counter. With a growing empire and fleet I have been conducting espionage on everyone for quite a while now and my spies manage to steal Duralloy from Meklars without getting caught (nice!). My troops overwhelm Kakata capturing 36 factories but no tech. Then the huge arrives with its 27 Mass Drivers and 21 Fusion Bombs (plus a few Hyper-V’s and pair of Heavy Lasers) and DS3. I had to leave one Heavy Ion large behind to protect Dunatis from a large bomber but the 4 remaining destroy the huge from range, although I lose one keeping it away from the planet. Growing stronger but Meklars still lead most tech fields:


In 2399 I settle central green rich Drakka, near Meklon and Ursa! Well I get to watch a lot of ship movements now! Transports start the slow (9-turn) journey to seed. I also steal BC2 & BC3 from Psilons & Bulrathi. The 2400 vote is Meklars(7), Psilons(3), Humans(3), Alkari(2), Bulrathi(4) and me(10). Psilons and Humans vote for the robots so I abstain with my 10/29 block. As I launch for Human Laan, Fusion Beam arrives choosing Fusion Rifle (Omega-V). Fusion Beam was the first weapon tech I pushed since it gave me a big leap in tech allowing a decent Fusion bomber amongst others. It was expensive though, I promise more factories soon, honest! I destroy another Human huge with my 4 large Heavy Ion ships at Dunatis, without loss this time. As PDS arrives with only PS-V next, the third event is 1000 BC Merchant for… me! (I’ll pay for these events in a later game).

Four factories are sabotaged by an unknown spy, Humans suspected. Having already launched my eastern offensive, I don’t mind giving the Psilons Fusion Bomb for IT20 (more lizards!). Now, in 2407, Laan has 13 bases (Hyper-V, Duralloy, DS3) and 3 larges. The 3 large bombers flee and my 4 Heavy Ion larges and 70+ nuke bombers destroy bases for loss of 30 bombers. With PDS invasion goes easier, capturing 261 factories and getting RC3, DS3, Hyper-V, Mass Driver and Graviton Beam. The Humans beg for peace and I agree, for now. My spies succeed again with stealing II7 from Meklars (next Zortium) as well as IS from Bulrathi. Now Mentar with 19 bases (Mercs, Duralloy, DS4) plus 56 medium and 19 small is a tougher nut to crack than Human worlds. My new fleet of 6 large Fusion Beam and over 100 Fusion bombers break through with loss of half the bombers (still warp2 but with IS now). So as I am about to invade Mentar, my 2410 desire is to crush the robots (so sayeth the die). Well I may be Erratic but I will spend a few turns finishing with Psilons first but will take earliest reasonable opportunity to take it to the productive Meks. Gropo tech with brains is level (I have hand lasers to their defence) and I overwhelm with numbers capturing 235 factories netting RW60, DS4, IT30, Warp3 (yay!), Merculites and Neutron Blaster. Same turn I settle far western Jinga. I quickly capture my 19th and 20th planets Quayal (209 factories) and Uxmai from Psilons getting Hyper-X and freshly researched… Anti-Matter bombs! Psilons survive on a recently settled Toxic Centauri. Humans attack Laan (I guess peace treaty is over) failing to scratch and spies steal ARS from Bulrathi.

Now these recent acquistions of Warp3, ARS and AMB provide for my new Meklar fleet. In 2417 the Meklars sensing the tension (or my incoming fleets and transports!) DOW. A single Fusion Beam ARS huge removes Sol’s bases and I capture in 2419 getting Range7. Now Meklars Phantos has a planetary shield but shielding of 7 for 11 Merculite Zortium bases is not going to stop speed 3 Anti-Matter bombers, 400 of them! So in 2420 Phantos 325 factories yield ECM3, Repulsor, Zortium, II5, EER plus Omega-V and GNN announces the leaders preparing to merge message. Next year Altair and Obaca are captured eliminating birds and apes and IT40 hits choosing Atmos. To ensure vote I push pop at all planets and use my AMB bombers to reduce the robot core to rubble, Meklon, Mobas and Draconis. So in 2424 the vote is Meklars(4), Psilons(1), Bulrathi(4) and…


Final map:


Result: Erratic Militarist conquest in 2424/5.

Synopsis: This was real fun. My story probably does not portray the concerns I had with strong Meklars well ahead in tech. The Sakkra prolific population were a life-saver with a good expanse of galaxy far from the machines. Also key was the Meklars drawing an early plague at Meklon and me getting to UP Proteus just in time (I would have started pop wars if Humans had settled it). I should have researched Range5 (a bit) quicker. It was strange to have low industry and tech for so long but a nice change to push the military which provided plenty more production (more planets) and plenty research of the pointy-stick variety! I certainly could play this variant again.

Anyone interested in trying to get a group together for Mallyx and/or Duncan HM on Saturday?

I still have 2 Mallyx pre-quests to do (Foundry and Stygian Veil) so if anyone needs either of those, I'd love company in my attempts. Let me know......

I initially rolled Ruthless Ecologist, but I decided that was way too close to my original playing style (which I consider Ruthless Expansionist). So I re-rolled and got Aggressive Diplomat. Unfortunately, keeping to the variant rules from the very beginning, I was already choking under the defense costs. Then the game decided that I needed a massive plague on my homeworld in 2344 with around 2500 RP to research a cure. That sunk it for me. Even if I had dropped the variant rules and played past that, I would not have been able to compete.

Game over. 2344 - Retired.