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(June 30th, 2020, 12:29)thrawn Wrote: Nice to see so much activity and so many new faces and that everyone is doing well
Agreed! And it's great to hear from you again too, whether you're interested in playing a game, just stopped by to say hello and offer some advice in passing - or anything in between!
(June 30th, 2020, 15:32)haphazard1 Wrote: Speaking of being a bit rusty :lol:, I would be interested in a Merklar game. I need to see about installing SDragon's patch and trying a game or two, it has been a long while since I played.
Sounds good! My schedule is looking a bit erratic and cramped for a while, so I probably won't get the game started myself, but anyone is welcome to do so; it looks like we may have enough interest to give the Meklar a spin! (I'll also note that SDragon's patch isn't strictly necessary; save games are compatible regardless of whether or not it's used, and its main effect is just to correct a bug with battle scanner display. It's nice to have the minor bugfix though!
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If we want to play the Meklars, I was thinking about some Transformers variant.
Kind of "oh no my home planet Cybertron is faded to destruction"...
Is it possible to edit the start save, renaming Meklon and have a supernova / comet event that would destroy it around 2305? 
About that map with the UR monster I still have the 2300 save. I stopped playing in 2313.
It could be used, just a little edit to change the Emperor name to OSG or something would be needed.
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(July 1st, 2020, 07:23)thrawn Wrote: Stopping by to say hello mainly. Already having more things I'd like to do than time, so don't temp me please :) I do like the Meks :)
I absolutely empathize; this is a pretty good description of where I'm at too, honestly. Without temptation then: Thanks for stopping by! It's always great to read your insights here!
(July 1st, 2020, 07:57)thrawn Wrote: The combination felt much more like empire building than usual and had a special feel to it. It is too hard in principle, only for hardcore masochists, but maybe with one of SpaceOWL's super-planets it could be fun as a general game.
That sounds very interesting - but of course I'd be happy to play Plain Vanilla Impossible Meks too ... to the extent I have time to play!
Quote:And Imperium 35 with colonizing only green stars was incredible, the best MOO game I've ever played. I don't know who came up with the variant, but it was pure genius!
Wow - thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! I was the 'sponsor' for that one, but as I recall, the idea for it grew out of some group discussion here on the forum. I really enjoyed writing my own (short - by my standards!) report of that one too!
(July 1st, 2020, 17:50)SpaceOWL Wrote: Is it possible to edit the start save, renaming Meklon and have a supernova / comet event that would destroy it around 2305?
I'm almost sure this can be done, yes. It would take me some time to do so and get it right though!
Quote:About that map with the UR monster I still have the 2300 save. I stopped playing in 2313.
It could be used, just a little edit to change the Emperor name to OSG or something would be needed.
As mentioned, I'm interested in nearly anything but realistically have rather limited time - so, what do the rest of you think?
July 4th, 2020, 03:32
(This post was last modified: July 4th, 2020, 03:36 by RefSteel.)
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I think if the Large Ships Only rule is relaxed to allow the two starting Scouts (though not any more) it would make a fun but challenging game even on Hard difficulty. If the Scouts have to be scrapped right away and we can't even explore until we build our first Cruiser, that might make a better Imperium than an OSG, to see how different players react to the challenge! (I'm not sure what difficulty to use though; Hard would be tough with those restrictions, but Average should be readily winnable even with all three of those variant rules!)
For the next OSG, if there's still interest, I think we're better off reducing the complexities and just playing Impossible Meklar straight in a random galaxy. (Based on my vague attempt at interpretting the pattern of responses and lack thereof.) Those who are interested in playing - what do you think?
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Yes please to vanilla impossible Meks. I don't think I've ever actually played them at that level, they've been neglected for a while and they seem to offer a real challenge without being actually weak.
Maybe Thrawn would have time to give us some general pointers before we start  .
(As an aside, one thing I love about the Meks is the way that they offer direct, in-game proof that maximising factories early is not a built-in, mostly correct decision. For the more buildery strategies, the question of when stop creating more production and actually expand is a genuine quandary, but playing the Meks - even on Hard - rapidly shows that it's a choice, not a case of almost always pushing to 200.)
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore
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If you're willing to have a rusty player, I would be up for a vanilla Meklar impossible game.  As shallow_thought said, the point to stop building more factories can be tricky to determine. I tend to struggle with it when playing the cyborgs, as my builder tendencies can get out of hand.
July 4th, 2020, 14:17
(This post was last modified: July 4th, 2020, 17:12 by SpaceOWL.)
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I'm up for either vanilla impossible or hard + huge/large ships only. Medium galaxy.
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(July 4th, 2020, 14:17)SpaceOWL Wrote: I'm up for either vanilla impossible or hard + huge/large ships only. Medium galaxy.
Oh - I failed to communicated this properly, but my post above was talking about Thrawn's suggestion of a triple variant: No transports, permanently equalized research fields, and no building small or medium ships. Playing with just the ship size rule would definitely be doable on Hard, but given what people have been saying here, I think it's best to keep it simple now: Impossible Meklar in a Medium galaxy with 5 other races and no special variant rule. If anyone wants to get the game started, I'll join in when I have a chance; otherwise, I'll go ahead and roll up a map myself ... when I have a chance.
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A vanilla Meklar game on impossible sounds fine, although I'd suggest a slight variation:
*Meklar
*Hard difficulty
*ALL ships must have at least one beam weapon, INCLUDING at the start, which means, the starting two scouts and colony ship MUST be disbanded immediately.
Basically, this turns into a Meklon gambit sort of game where scouting and expansion become much more difficult, and where small bombers become a bit more cumbersome to use...but it would be on hard difficulty to compensate.
Alternatively, you could keep it at impossible difficulty for a real wild ride!
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