#25
by Citizen Def Zep - 6/3/2003 12:41:45 PM
#19 Markissimo,
Thanks for your comments. All valid points.
In regard to the culture approach, it is workable. I am currently at August 2185, and have taken over two planets through culture-flipping. I took my first planet by an immediate TR assault sometime around turn 20. The AI did get both a ground combat and influence bonus in both these cases, but by careful husbanding of my resources (and using 2xTR's as advised above), I was able to effectively double my Empire from 3 to 6 planets.
Fully agree with the "PQ bonus pick/colonize 13's & 14's/outproduce AI" strategy. It is still one of the most viable in 1.04.059. However, after many (unposted) games of it under 1.01 & 1.02, I'm simply bored with it. I now deliberately refuse to take any +PQ picks, no matter what their cost or %. (I've also edited out the +PQ random events from my GalCiv directory so they can't show during colonization, and do not build "The Terraformer" if first to research it. Just me...YMMV.)
(For this reason, I also generally take no diplomatic or trade route bonus picks. I want to see how the game plays out without such advantages.)
In regards to obtaining any specific trade good (Diplo Translators) - once again, there is no guarantee of that. In my current game, the Carinoids got the Translators in March 2178 (turn 3). (I defy any human player to research Diplomacy and build them by that time.) And then were promptly conquered by the Drengin, rendering this good out of the game forever. I am unwilling to implement or follow a strategy that relies on such extraneous factors - not because they can't be effective, but because (from game to game) they can't be assumed. I prefer to "follow the basics" and build an approach around what I know will be available to me each and every game, like the above with TR's, SB's & first-tier culture modules.
Apologies if my respose is too critical. I appreciate your comments, and your MV score (and strategy board contribution) speaks for itself.
#21 Ray,
I culture-flipped a PQ22 from the AI which (pre-settled, when my scout explored it early game) was PQ16. It did not revert, but has stayed PQ22. Have you had a different experience?This is the first time I have forced a culture-flip in the game, and I am not sure if this is an exception, or I have been blessed by the gods of PC incongruity (bug, perhaps?)
      
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#26
by Citizen alexti - 6/3/2003 8:13:23 PM
LDiCesare, AI getting 2 systems doesn't seem to be a problem as long as I get 2 planets myself. I think I had this situation twice and I took them out before they could culturally flip anybody. I usually take speed+1 (for the same reasons), war party and bunch of military bonuses. For the purpose of getting second planet I prefer luck as it's cheaper than one extra speed.
 
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Def Zep,
I did not pay particular attention to culture flips in 1.04 but I'm rather sure that planets revert to pre-maso bonus state after culture flips in 1.035. That is why we sometimes get those 1 morale situations at times(could be because of scorched earth).
Let me see if I could confirm this in my current maso game and I'll report back.
       
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Fellow masochists,
I can only now report that PQ bonus is +30%. That trait doesn't change much through the course of the game (not too many galaxy wide PQ enhancers nowadays) so you should all be able to see it by spying on Incredible AI.
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I've checked, Dep Zep. I kept my eye on a Alt system which was close to defecting. It had PQ24 before and PQ20 after it flipped.
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No problems, Def Zep. Agree with you on Diplomacy, with the recent boosts, it is in a strong position to become the next Uber Strat.
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I've won a few games now on maso/tiny/rare, where I had only one planet for a long time. The key seems to be war-mongering:
1) Rush for Trade and send out freighters to the nearest, most powerful, civs.
2) Act broker; buy and sell everything to everyone and try to stay on top. Research whatever the AI doesn't to make sure you always have something to bribe him with. Try to get hold of a trade good. One will do.
3) As soon as the AI's start trading with each other, bribe everyone to start wars on the others. Make sure the minors start wars as well. Prioritize starting wars between trade partners before their trade income has started to grow substantial.
4) Stand by with transports when a minor empties its planet to go to war. It's usually enough with one or two transports for every minor. This gives you a very nice foothold.
5) Stand by with constructors for when resource star bases are destroyed in one of the wars. Play it right and you will soon have resource monopoly.
The AI's will switch to war time economy, wasting a lot of resources building up fleets while you can focus on improving trade, building constructors and research. If you do this carefully you will often be able to restart wars that have just ended, keeping the AI fighting while you sail for victory.
Be careful about letting one AI get ahead. Give the others a tech advantage by trading only with them for a while, and make sure they gang up on the most powerful one.
With this strategy, the war fleet must be about half of the most powerful AI. Since he will only be trading with you due to the constant wars he will be very reluctant to start a war with you. You may actually be able to pull off an alliance win with 3 or 4 AI's!
(This strategy works on all difficulty levels I've tried it on, but it requires a lot of care in the diplomatic contants on maso.)
 
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Maso/Tiny/Rare is probably the easiest Maso setting and a good launch pad for those who are keen to get their feet wet on Maso.
The reason I say this after playing 2 of those is that AIs would usually only have 1-2 systems to apply their massive bonuses to and that AI advantage could be comfortably overcome by the human through capturing the minors' very attractive systems by rushing.
A subsequent frigate rush on weak majors (especially majors at war) would usually present the human with the critical mass to win the game.
However, for those who care about score, just note that the Metaverse does not reward speed so don't expect a good score even if this is Maso.
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none of these startegies seem to work for me.
Usually i lose after the turn i build my first defender to a swarm of excaliburs 
is there a flaw with these stategies or do i suck flat out
Dont forget to join my empire!!!!!!
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All 1.05 Maso players (yes, I'm talking to the 6 of you),
Here are the Maso bonuses that I have gleaned by spying on Incredible AIs.
Use at your own risk. Wouldn't be 100% correct but likely to be close.
Planet Quality +30%
Economics +80%
Interest Rate +15%
Diplomacy +30% (may be +20%)
Research +47%
Morale +50%
Influence +50%
Trade +50%
Weapons +7%
Defense +15%
HP +15%
Difficulty in getting exact numbers relates to the different racial picks selected and anomalies found by the AI before I reach Medium espionage.
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It would be interesting to have a roll call of all current 1.05/1.09 Maso players. Those still playing Maso, pls check in.
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Yes, I noticed. Good to see someone perserving at this level.
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