Remnants of the Precursors Succession Game?

[Brian Shanahan]

I agree that 200 stars sounds like a very large galaxy, which could lead to a lot of management time even with RotP governors and tools. It would presumably lead to a longer game, which would give a chance to play with later game toys. Maybe something a bit smaller?

Do we want to allow the AIs to reject a council vote and go for final war, or turn that off and allow a council win if we can get one? One of the things I like about MOO is not needing to drag out the final mop up phase. But I am happy to go with whatever the group prefers.

I am a fan of the lizards, so would be happy to play them. The pop growth bonus makes planet management fairly forgiving, and being skilled at planetology is always useful. But I am open to other choices.

I would think going with the original rules on the council, i.e. if we win all accept, should hold. After all, unless you luck into a very early cheese diplo the final war after you win should be heavily in your favour.

[shallow_thought]

Not-Sakkra would be a decent choice purely on the grounds they've not turned up in an SG for a long time. Boring but practical.

[Brian Shanahan]

Seeing as we're still in discussion phase, I won't roll any starts tonight. And I'm out tomorrow, so Tuesday, I'll get a game going.

[rgp151]

Well, if you don't want Klackons, Psilons, or Sakkra, then I'd suggest Meklars. Of course Darloks are still fun, but maybe not the best choice for an introductory game. I've beaten Modnar/Harder/Small (70) several times with Meklars, and they have cool looking ships

[Dp101]

For the record I haven't offered much of an opinion as to what race to pick for what settings because IMO it's actually impossible to aim for a balanced game from settings alone. You can think you've given yourself the right amount of challenge, and then you'll have 2 good planets within range of the start, leading to several more you can get without any tech either, and the game's now a cakewalk. Or you could get a single non-hostile world, be in a corner, and be cut off by the AIs within the first 20 turns and have no chance. I don't actually know how to gauge proper difficulty given this lol. It's the standard MoO problem, but I feel it's amplified by the larger galaxies of RotP. Will say that regarding size I would like to do at least 100 stars (could go for the option below or up to 150 instead) purely because in an SG context with (I think) 5 players at this point, I'd hope everyone would get multiple sets to play, and a smaller galaxy could lead to us winning in like, 2 rotations.

[haphazard1]

I agree there is a lot of variability in difficulty, depending on the start. A couple of decent planets early makes for a much easier game than a start with a small second world and needing range 5 to get to anything else habitable. Having the rocks nearby grabbing all the hostile planets and then complaining you are in their space can also make for a much tougher game.

But that is part of the randomness (and fun!) of the game. Sometimes you get a start that is almost impossible to win. We have had SGs in the past where this happened, and it became clear 60-80 turns in that victory was not going to be possible even with excellent play. We decided to concede the game and rolled another start. (RefSteel made an effort to play on with the original start and was doing pretty well last time I checked the thread; not sure if that game ever finished.)

[Fenn]

Based on what we've all said, I think this sums up our desired settings:
Ssslaura (lizards)
Hard Mode, Modnar AI
Galaxy Size: Average (150 stars)
Rival Empires: 9 (this is the default for 150 stars)
Advanced Settings: Immediate Council Win, No Space Monsters (all others default)

Not going to start a game tonight but otherwise I'd be ready to start mostly anytime.

[Dp101]

Edit: meant as a reply to haphazard, started writing before Fenn’s post.

Oh sure, I definitely appreciate the dynamic of it in general, but in a succession game context it’s significantly less convenient to just roll another game when multiple other people are investing time into it. It’ll probably be fine, just a slight concern is all.

Also since I realise I never voiced an opinion on it: happy to play as any race bar the rocks, I typically default to/most enjoy the bots, though aesthetically I quite like the birds’ ships, and overall am fine with whatever people decide. Lizards are a good “safe” option, especially given how excellent planetology could help smooth out awkward starts that force a bunch of environment research.

[Dp101]

Based on what we've all said, I think this sums up our desired settings:
Ssslaura (lizards)
Hard Mode, Modnar AI
Galaxy Size: Average (150 stars)
Rival Empires: 9 (this is the default for 150 stars)
Advanced Settings: Immediate Council Win, No Space Monsters (all others default)

Not going to start a game tonight but otherwise I'd be ready to start mostly anytime.

Sounds good to me. So I guess we’re just waiting on whenever RefSteel’s other commitments drop away (any approximate ETA on that?) and then we’ll all be ready?

[haphazard1]

The settings listed by Fenn are OK by me. I am ready to start whenever the team is. Is RefSteel still working on the map for the EitB game? I have not checked that forum in a while.