Interesting save-game (Sakkra)

[rgp151]

I've got an interesting game. This save is from 2331. I've recently met the Darloks, who just took the planet I was planning to expand into. I can tell you that I played this game for about 100 more turns, to a point that is still winnable but not yet complete. This is my earliest remaining save. Its been an interesting one so far. I don't want to give too much away in case anyone wants to play it. 

Sakkra save:
  SAVE1.GAM (Size: 57.65 KB / Downloads: 2)

[haphazard1]

Any hints about what makes this game interesting? Especially difficult? Unusual galaxy/planets? Strange diplomacy?

Toss a couple crumbs of information our way.

[RefSteel]

Yeah: Could you tell us anything about the first 31 turns at least, so we'll know what the experience was like up to there beyond what we can see in the save?

(In fairness, I won't be able to look at it soon either way: I've got a fascinating and challenging game to play with already, picking up the save even later on - from OSG-39!)

[rgp151]

I'd be interested to see how others handle this game.

Given that the starting race is Sakkra, I opted for attacking Darrian and flooding it with ground troops early. I then move on to take Morrig in similar fashion. The game is both challenging and winnable (though I haven't won it yet). Once you meet some of the additional races you find that the Darloks had the highest population at first, then you, so the other races remain manageable, but the Klackons quickly start to develop and you have to really keep on eye on them. I haven't been able to take Rhilus yet. There are a few challenging tech deficiencies that make things tricky, like no Battle Computers until V and also no Anti-Matter bombs, which presents some challenges. But Planetology advantages can be exploited and lack of ground attack technologies can be overcome with huge invasion forces.

Like I said, I haven't even gotten close to wining yet, but I've been able to play aggressively and keep things going so far, although I am falling a little behind technologically, despite maintaining the largest population.

Basically, you are kind of boxed in and have to fight your way out early, but its possible to do so.

[rgp151]

Well, I've played this farther and now I'm running into trouble with the Klackons. I get into a decent position fairly early, but the tech trees are a challenge. The Darloks get planetary shields and then its difficult to do much and I kind of stall out without ability to expand much.

[Sullla]

I downloaded the savegame file and played it into an eventual win, report posted here on my website:

https://sullla.com/MOO/RGP151.html

I approached things in a very different fashion from rgp151 for sake of comparison. Did the initial attempt ever finish, out of curiosity?

[rgp151]

Interesting, thanks for playing it out. No, I stalled and abandoned the game. I guess I got too fixated on taking Darrian. I figured that with the Sakkra advantage I could take it, which I did, but the resulting war in the end wasn't worth it. It almost never is, but I thought this might be an exception. I also had my eye on that Artifact planet, but then they got PSV I should have just given up. It was just that Darrian was such a good planet and right on top of my territory. But clearly remaining peaceful with them was the better option.

[RefSteel]

Yay! Another Orion game report from Sullla!

I just glanced at the start of the report, and I already have a clearer idea of what might have made this game interesting than the original post conveyed, and I'm already looking forward to reading the rest when I have a good block of reading time tonight. Thanks, Sullla!

[haphazard1]

Thanks for the report, Sulla! Very challenging galaxy.

Did spying play much of a role? Darloks with good tech make for a very tough target, but maybe some of the minor races could have been easier options?

[RefSteel]

Thrilling game, and an excellent read as usual, Sullla! Your analysis of the situation (and of the advantages of the various races) was spot-on, and you handled it brilliantly.

They were eliminated a little bit later by... themselves?! What in the world was this GNN message: "The Darlok empire has been completely destroyed by the Darloks"?!? I have absolutely no idea what this meant and I've never seen this before in all my past games.

Hahahaha I love this - and I actually do know what it means! I believe it was first observed in an old Sakkra Bioweapons Only SG, coined the "Sssspin department" bug by Blake, but the gist appears to happen when an AI's last colony is destroyed by neither orbital bombardment nor invasion, but from the combat screen. And apparently, it also happens when the AI-on-AI quick combat resolution results in the destruction of their last colony as if from the combat screen - which definitely is something I'd never seen before!

As for the choice between invading or befriending the Darloks early, I'm definitely with Sullla on this in spite of the fact that my playstyle has become a lot more aggressive over the years: Unless you're forced into early war, seeking it out is almost always a bad idea - and you can drop the "almost" if you have more-important things to be doing with your resources like settling a Fertile Terran 115 in immediate range ((!) indeed!) and scouting worlds that could (and did!) turn out to have excellent value themselves and getting a start on research - necessary to support a peaceful or wartime economy.

Great game, Sullla - now, I'll have to go see if I can do something with that other challenging game I mentioned....

(I've played about twenty turns so far, had some success, made some mistakes, and don't know yet where it will lead!)