Cirrhosis,

What's up? Thought we will hear more from you once you return from your trip.

Theoden,

Thanks for putting that stuff into the FAQ.

~SDC~

Very quiet lately. Everyone waiting for the Xpack?

~SDC~

Some interesting games coming up. UFO-Aftermath has gone gold. The Temple of Elemental Evil, a D&D CRPG will also be released on 16 Sep.

~SDC~

Just completed my Maso Medium for 27k, a good jump from the Small score. Used the Terror Star endgame for the first time. It is indeed overpowered. The AI simply has no time to react to Terror Stars being erected all on the same turn and disintegrating their planets. What I could suggest to balance is that Terror Star modules should only be allowed to be built one a turn. In addition, any attempts by anyone to build Terror Stars should be viewed with extreme prejudice. That will allow the AI time to attack the partially completed Terror Stars before they are deployed.

I've also completed my quest to top all three morality boards. I've above EBZ, Pontius and Cotal by just a whisker. Don't think this will last too long and I certainly think this feat is much harder to obtain and retain than getting first.

~SDC~

Just submitted an unmodded Masochistic game and got anomalous difficulty. I think I must have overexploited the three minor races who were willing to pay cash for techs.

I think I'll resume posting my stories here, since we still don't seem to have the website set up properly for it.


Last Ditch

“Here’s a funny thing,” said Gwainhar, as he rested after the long flight. “According to my father, when The Ring was first taken to Mount Doom and used to destroy the Dark Lord What’s-his-name, my ancestor Gwaihir went to the volcano, and found a couple of midgets who claimed it was them who’d dumped The Ring in the big pit. No sign of Ray at all. Don’t believe it myself. Probably just senile ramblings. A man like Ray would never claim credit for someone else’s work, right?”
“Right,” said Downie, uneasily. The land they were standing on was barren and desolate.
“Well, anyway. I’ve got you past those big gates, the volcano’s in view. Once you’ve destroyed The Ring and made it back to safety, I’ll come and rescue you.”
“Thanks a bundle,” said Milady. Beyond Mount Doom, a sinister tower stood stark against the horizon, high in the Ash Mountains.
Gwainhar took a run up, and after a few false starts managed to launch himself into the sky.
“My shoulders are so stiff,” complained Milady.
“Well, that’s budget travel for you,” said Downie.
They set off up the slope. It was gentle, at first.
“What’s that tower?”
“Barad-Dur. Once, the flaming eye of the Evil One stood at its peak, glaring balefully at the world. Then, after he was gotten rid of, the tower was reopened as a tourist attraction. It was quite popular, for a while. They even hired me to write advertising materials for them. ‘Experience the rich and dangerous atmosphere of the Great Years of The Third Age of Middle Earth!’”
“What happened?”
“It was one advertisement that kept its promises; everyone involved was eaten by trolls. By then I’d left to do a similar job for the Moria cave-tours people. I wonder how they’re getting on?”
“Better than us, I suspect,” said Milady. She had caught a glimpse of an orc patrol, and the patrol had caught a glimpse of them.
“Why?” said Downie. “Something up?”
“Orcs!”
“Oh, come on. Who ever heard of an adventurer being killed by orcs? Just deal with them and we’ll be on our way.”
There were but six. She killed the archer first of all, for orcs have some skill with the bow, and can usually kill a man with three or four shots, while their swordsmen have a tendency to leave themselves open. When he fell, her thrown blade in his heart, most of his compatriots focused their attention on her. Twice more, her knives flew out, and two more orcs fell, and then a pair of them were upon her. She ducked a furious horizontal slash meant for her skull, and halted her assailant briefly with a kick. The other sword blow, she took upon the metal rods sewn into her sleeve, but its force was such that the rods buckled, and her arm was sorely bruised. In this time, she took one of her blades into her right fist, the tip protruding between her knuckles. A punch to the face of one opponent left him half blind. Meanwhile, she could see Downie, facing down his single adversary, unarmed save for a musical instrument and a philosophy of passive resistance. This orc had a scimitar raised for a death blow to the throat. But another orc moved across her field of vision, and she saw them no more. She heard, though, a chord. It sounded like the opening note of Downie’s favourite tune, but it was swiftly cut short.
In three short movements, she dispatched both of her surviving foes, and turned to see her friend, mentor, and sexual-harassment-lawsuit-waiting-to-happen, with blood on his face and across his chest.
But the blood was dark. It had come from the arrow-pierced jugular of his attacker.
“You killed him?” she said.
“Yeah. Sorry, did you want them all for yourself?”
“But what of your pacifist creed?”
“What of it?” he said. “Orcs don’t count. I mean, honestly! Morality is one thing, but refusing to kill orcs? That would just be inconvenient.”
“You refused even to kill one of the undead! Don’t orcs have feelings too?”
“Yes, but orcs are... orcs! You have to kill them! It’s what they’re for! If you didn’t kill orcs, how could you call yourself an adventurer?”
“I never killed an orc before today. What do we do now?”
“Traditionally? You search their bodies for gold coins. Filthy habit, if you ask me. I prefer to live on tips.”
“It’s a wonder you haven’t starved to death.”

They continued up the volcano path. It was strewn with ancient rubble and ash. It got steeper, the further they up went.
“How’s The Ring treating you?” she said.
“Not as badly as I feared.”
“I thought you taking a life, even an orc life, was a sign that it had darkened you further.”
“I wish you’d stop saying ‘darkened’ to mean ‘made more evil’. It sounds racist.”
“You say things like that all the time!”
“Only when I can’t think of anything else that scans.”

“This seems too easy, somehow,” said Downie. They were now most of the way up.
“I wouldn’t say that,” said Milady. “I mean, firstly, I’m exhausted. And, secondly, you’d have been in big trouble if I hadn’t been here. You couldn’t have taken on all six yourself.”
“Maybe not,” he said, lazily. “But I could have run away from them. I’m faster than any orc. Dammit!”
“What?”
“It’s what you said, about orcs having feelings too. I’ve started to see things from their perspective. Imagine how it feels, being part of an army of villainy, numberless as flies, hurled against the walls of the good and pure, the cannon fodder of some nameless Dread Lord. Poor guys.”
“Speaking of which, I notice there are rather a lot of them following us.”
Downie turned. There was, indeed, a veritable horde of orcs massing below them.
“Like ants,” he mused. “And this is the anthill.”
“I think we can beat them to the top,” she said. “But by then, they’ll have cut us off.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Downie. “Something’s bound to turn up.”
“Like what?”
“I expect that when The Ring hits the lava of the Crack of Doom, a mighty fire will rise up within the earth, and the orcs will break and flee, and then, out of the West, Gwainhar, Prince of Eagles will swoop down to save us.”
“All that?”
“Usually.”

And then they reached the top, and peered over the edge of the gap, and their hearts sank.
There was no lava, no glimpse into the flaming heart of Middle Earth Below. A thick crust of pumice had formed across the fissure. It was more like a ditch than a crevice. They could drop ‘The Ring’ in there if they wanted, but it would be simplicity itself for someone to climb in and get it out.
“It seems to me,” said Milady, “that what we need is a dwarf with a pickaxe and suicidal tendencies.”
“Pity,” said Downie. “If I’d known, I could easily have brought one instead of you.”
“Got any backup plans?”
“I would have, if I hadn’t already called in the favour that earth elemental owed me.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Oh, well. I suppose there’s always my last ditch never-failed-yet strategy for escape.”
“What’s that?”
“I leap like a salmon over the heads of my foes, and escape before they know what’s happening.”
“And what happens to me?”
“A gallant last stand against three hundred orcs? It’ll make a great song!”
“I don’t want to be a song! I’m too young to die!”
“All humans are too young to die. While I, who am clearly old enough to die, live on.”
“Big help you are.”
“Very well. I do have one last idea.”

The heaving mass of goblinoids surged upwards, surrounding the two travellers.
They paused then, tentative, knowing that the first dozen into battle always seem to get killed.
And the elf stepped forwards, a glint of gold held between thumb and forefinger. “Behold! I have returned The Ring of Power to its true home, Mordor! A new age shall arise for we who stand against the forces of Man! Serve me, and join in my glory, or resist me and be struck down by my eternal wrath!”
There was silence a moment, and then the throng burst into cheering. The two were lifted high, and borne to Barad-Dur.
“Funny old thing, life,” thought Downie. “I was just starting to think I’d seen it all and done it all, and now I’m a Dark Lord. Oh well, all part of life’s rich tapestry, I suppose.”



~SDC~

Matthew

Could you explain the anomalous more? Have you tried to resubmit? I have gotten two anomalous scores on un-modded games (well, except for the lower volume Drengin music) and both were "cured" by resubmission.

How does one "overexploit" a minor? I must be guilty of that every day because I try to get every bc I can squeeze out of them. LOL.

I started a thread about anomalous scores but didn't get any great insight. Please explain more so we can avoid anomalous scores. Thank you.

Rick

Ray says



OK Ray, now try different map sizes. I will never be number one but I am ahead of you on tiny, small, and large maps. [That will get Ray's competitive hormones flowing and bump up the FOTR total score. LOL]

Why do I have this feeling Ray is going to "correct" this soon? LOL.

Rick

Matthew,

Send the save to stardock support if resubmission fails. They may be able to help.
Or resubmit that game once the Xpack is out. Sometimes anomalous scores are cured at a higher version.

Rick,

I'm still top of Medium and Gigantic. Large looks doable. Huge is still not showing so no idea where I stand.
Tiny and Small are v tough as there are dedicated top10 players hitting those map sizes.
Looks like I have to be content with my record of topping 5 filter boards.

Hmm, looks like the Fellowship and MWC have a fondness for Large maps.
Medium doesn't look popular - probably because that map size is quite tricky.

~SDC~

Congats on breaking into the Top25, Alex!

~SDC~

Thanks Matthew for another entertaining episode - I'd read your stuff over that Pratchett guy any day.

If I knew how to avoid them, I wouldn't have got one. Can you explain how you manage to score more on moderately difficult games than I get on Masochistic?

I don't know if there is such a thing as overexploting, but I was able to get them to pay me amounts like 1500 per turn for 50 turns, using the usual techniques (eg giving someone extra money so they can pay you more per turn). It may be that income above a certain amount counts as cheating; isn't that what the 'crankers' were suffering from?
(I've accidentally discovered a new Masochistic strategy; delibarately make morale low on one of your less important worlds, in order to create the I-League. Then sell them your techs and trade goods for an outrageous amount.)

I'm going to wait for the X-Pack before resubmitting. If it does work, it should score a lot more that way (due to the new Masochistic bonus).


~SDC~

Lately I have been trying to play games I can finish in one day (easier on the brain) and with the minimum keystrokes (easier on my hands & wrists). I turn off all victory condition so a military victory is the only option. Then I play a large, tight cluster map so there is no premature culture flipping that might end the game too early. I play rare so I can often get an advantage on the computer by going after 13 & 14 PQ that the AI won't touch. This can make up for a lame starting position because over-using the control-N is really big time cheese that will never show up on the scores. It is easier for me to win with a good start on painful than a bad start on anything.

Rare planet setting means less management of planets so you don't have to hit "next" so often on the planet screens. I always max out on diplomacy points and on tiny through medium, I use the other five for PQ, morale (higher taxes), and maybe luck (free rangers). On large maps I used the other 5 for speed. I set all AI to pure evil and aim for pure good morality. This is more fun to me by eliminating certain UP events and simulataneously raises score because it is more difficult (no allies). I always thought the Yor were a little weak so playing with the Yor at intelligent and the rest on bright makes the tough level fun and interesting for me. For me (not a power player), I can win at painful but it takes much longer and I lose points by being able to research less trade goods/wonders/tech before the AI grabs them, so I play tough - just for fun. During the game I race for planets, then for tech, broker tech for tech and cash, and keep production up like everyone else.

Lately I have been trying to balance the AI against each other through bribing for wars against the top two AI races. On rare planet games, it is also wise to have a "parasite combat transport" ready to capture the minor if the major has eliminated all the minor ships and has them down to about 10 billion pop. Although I like to keep minors healthy & wealthy, it is usually better that you capture the minor than give up that gem to the majors, especially on rare setting. Exceptions are if the minor is in your backyard, you will flip the planet anyway so don't sweat it, or if the minor is in the backyard of the only remaining major, you may want to let the major have it so you don't end the game too early.

I find the ship on ship combat boring (I play Combat Mission or Gettysburg for military games) so I prefer to beat the AI into submission through a strong economy, culture bomb, then after cornering them, research the rest of the tech. During that time spent hitting the enter key you can turn pure good through the pop-ups (plague, robots, meteors, etc.). When you are pure good, build trade centers and don't forget the trade wonder. If you are really lucky, you can trade the evil AI for advanced slavery and dark side and make slavery and life force. After you research the rest of the tech, build terror stars and end the game in one turn. Then, go watch a football game or a movie so you don't burn out on Gal Civ. And, that is how I get 17k scores on large/tough. On games where the AI gets planet bonuses, telenanth events, always capitulates to the stronest AI, allies with each other against me (rare with evil AI), and sharks eat my starbases, it takes longer. LOL.

But mostly, I do this for fun rather than points. On maps larger than large, the strategy map in the upper right corner is harder to use so after my huge the other day, I will stick to large or smaller maps to avoid some mouse work. One can't see starbases at 100% setting for example so it is definitely more labor intensive to play huge/gigantic. On maps smaller than large, it is easier to culture flip, especially on the spread-out unclustered star setting (whatever that is called?). If you culture flip before researching all the tech, you forfeit points. Except for the last few (Beyond Human and Final Frontier take forever), researching all the tech is fun. So you can have the fun of a tech victory and culture victory with the points of a military victory. So, that makes me have fun, helps the FOTR produce empire points, and saves my hands and wrists for another day. LOL.

You folks who win on maso are the best players and I take my hat off to you, but the hardest levels are not always the most fun levels for many of us.

Rick

. . . uh . . . "scattered" is the term. Doh!!! LOL

Rick

Thanks Ray - well spotted.... I don't know how long I'll stay there though - it's quite competitive at the bottom of the top.

I suppose it's that fancy little gold medal to go for next...

Alex

[Message Edited]

By all means, Alex. I welcome the competition.

Good to see more Fellowship members submitting games.

~SDC~

ricbayer: It may be that you know already, but if you hit 'sector map' on the far left, you can circumvent havng to look at all of the planet screens (assuming you use governors).

Killa Koala. Thanks. I use Gov. Ford for all planets so I will check this out.

Alex. Congrats on top 25. Keep submitting those games.

Rick

A belated Congrats, Ray, for topping 5 filters.

~SDC~

Thanks Lothmorg. Cotal's overtaken me on Good already with those Huge games that she pumps out. She looks good to overtake to 2nd place at the rate she is going.

The Huge filter is fixed! Cotal's top as expected. Would be very tough to unseat her.

~SDC~

Ray, can I ask a dumb question? How do you delete old game saves in the new version? I can't see how one does it!!??

It does seem that they have used the Delete Savegame slot for the new Retire function, Killa.
Didn't notice that.

Guess we have to use the old fashioned way of deleting those saves in Explorer.

~SDC~

Thanks Ray. That's a shame. I liked just deleting game saves as I went along. Should I complain now or at release?

Killa, why don't you revert to 1.05 and refuse to upgrade to the Xpack until they fix it back for you?

~SDC~

Hmmm, because I think maybe Stardock might call my bluff?

Then you have no right to score more than me!



Dread Lord

“Next! Ah, yes. Now, what’s your name?”
“Shagrat,” said the orc.
Downie snickered. He was wearing a helmet made from a troll’s skull. It was a good, scary helmet with the sole disadvantage that, if exposed to sunlight, it would turn to stone and pin his head to the floor.
“I’m told that you questioned my right to rule. Well, I won’t offend local custom by giving you a fair trial, so it remains only for me to pass sentence upon you. Now, I could send you to The Pit...” The Pit was what remained the Crack of Doom. Orcs were being sent there to hack their way towards the flaming magma beneath the solid shell. Anyone standing too close when they succeeded would have the life expectancy of a hobbit in an orcish restaurant.
“Yes, oh Dark Lord! Please, The Pit!” said Shagrat, dreading the alternative.
“But I shall take pity on you. Perhaps you are not beyond all hope of damnation. You just need to get in touch with your inner orcling. I shall sign you up for a course of poetry classes.”
“Noooo!”
“And I prefer ‘Dread Lord’ to ‘Dark Lord’. Remember that in the future.”

Orcs sat round in a circle. One of them stood up and spoke.

scent of flaming huts
screams of children soothe my soul
winter warms my heart

The others applauded.

“Appalling!” said Milady. They were in a throne room, decorated with skulls and chains and more skulls.
“What are you complaining about? You make a great evil minion. You’re a spy and a thief and you’ve got black hair and a sinister name and everything!” said Downie.
“I don’t want to be evil! And if I did want to be evil, I’d want a better job than ‘minion’.”
“Somebody has to be evil.”
“Do they?”
“Well, someone always seems to. I think it must be part of the balance of nature. There was too much of a vacuum on this side, so Ray started to go evil to restore the equilibrium. But now that I’m fulfilling that role, he can go back to normal.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Well, I could always send in my army to defeat him.”
“Wouldn’t that lead to the destruction of most of Middle-Earth?”
“All the better! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Hmm... This maniacal laughter isn’t as easy as it sounds.”
“May I remind you that you’re a poet and a pacifist?”
“So? Did you ever hear of Sauron actually killing anyone? He was just a frustrated poet who fell in with the wrong crowd.”
“Seriously, what are you up to?”
“Look, it’s very hard for an adventurer to actually make the world a better place. By the time you’ve avenged the destruction of a village, some other problem just as bad will have cropped up elsewhere. But if we are the forces of evil, we can make the world a better place just by taking the day off!”
“I suppose that’s one way of looking at it...”
“Now, would you stop distracting me? I’ve got a hard day of work ahead.”

The various races of Mordor had come to Barad-Dur to pledge allegiance to their new lord.
The orcs had been first. It was typical of the species, always first on the bandwagon, eager to get mixed up in some whacky new scheme to take over the world.
A troll had sworn loyalty, very slowly, with some help and encouragement on the difficult words.
A Shadow had slipped in through a crack in the walls, to say that the lifeless things of The Forgotten Places would stand by him.
“Thank you,” said Downie, “Though I take what you say with a pinch of salt; your kind are famously dishonest.” He looked around to see if anyone had got the reference, but apparently they hadn’t.
Most surprisingly, a human was there, a Man of the South. He had ridden to Mordor on an Oliphaunt at the first news of the return of The Ring.
“What are you doing here?” said Downie. “Isn’t this country full of creatures that despise your kind utterly?”
“I might ask you the same,” said the Southron. “I myself am here to annoy the Men of the West. Smug heathens. I brought my Oliphaunt all the way from Harad, to aid you in your cause, whatever it may be.”
“Oh yes, my cause. I’ll think of one soon. The destruction of all life, something like that.”
“Tell me, why do you wear The Ring on a chain around your neck, instead of your finger?”
“Oh, I only actually put it on for wars, massacres, birthdays, and other special occasions. I must say, your Oliphaunt smells a bit funny.”
“Humble apologies. He trod on several orcs on the way here.”
“That’s appalling! You must train him better! I will not permit Oliphaunts in my army unless they can learn to wipe their feet on their way in.”
“Sorry, oh Dark Lord.”
“Dread Lord.”
“Right.”
“Anyway,” said Downie, addressing all his visitors. “I have decided on what measures are needed before we can take on the might of the Fellowship. Firstly, unity. If there are any who oppose my rule, you must seek them out and crush them. Secondly, greater numbers. We have a lot of orcs, I admit. But are you numberless as flies? I think not! So, before a breeding program can be introduced, we must increase food production. The problem, as I see it, is the poor soil quality in Mordor. We must send raiding parties out to isolated villages just beyond the border. Demand that they pay us tribute in acorns. Don’t actually kill anyone; we must avoid war for now. Then, come back here and plant the acorns. A few good tree roots should help stop our topsoil being washed away. If plant enough trees, we may even be able to recruit the ents to our side. After that, we must institute some more modern farming practises. Trolls will be harnessed to ploughs. The fields will be fertilised – more Oliphaunts should be a big help in that regard...”

Theoden approached his master with the usual trepidation. Today, his dread would prove fully justified.
“Lord Ray, one of my undercover reporters tells me that a cloud is gathering in The East.”
“You bother me for that? What am I, a meteorologist?”
“No, I mean, the orcs are getting uppity.”
“Ah. That is grave news indeed. We must take urgent measures to protect ourselves from this threat. Impose a state of emergency. Arrest anyone who criticises anything, and impose a special tax to pay for the war on evil.”
“Is that strictly necessary? I mean, we do have overwhelming air superiority, and at the moment, we’re only faced with the theft of acorns, so maybe...”
“That sounds like criticism to me!”
“Oh no, Lord Ray. I merely meant, it might be wise to gather more information.”
“If you say so. Go down to Mordor, find whoever’s in charge, and demand he tells you what he’s up to.”
“You wish me to raise an army?”
“No. Go alone.”
“Alone! To Mordor?”
“Is that criticism?”
“No, Lord Ray. I shall go.”

“What news from the forestry commission?” asked Downie, shifting his weight uneasily on the chill ebony throne. He wondered if it was OK for a Dread Lord to ask for a cushion.
“Mixed results. We have acquired a certain quantity of acorns. However, half the orcs sent out to retrieve them were slain,” said Milady, who had reluctantly accepted the job title, ‘enforcer’.
“Slain? By whom?”
“Dwarves, elves, heroes. The usual suspects.”
“They weren’t hurting anyone!”
“Yeah, but orcs? It’s a reflex reaction. You see them, you kill them. You would have probably done the same.”
“Alas. Why can’t everyone just be friends and get along?”
“We’re not doing too well in that regard either. A civil war has broken out.”
“Good thing we’re the forces of evil, or I’d get upset about that. What’s the source of the problem?”
“Many orcs are resisting the idea of planting forests. They say it will encourage elves to visit. Actually, I’m surprised by how easily the rest of them accepted an elf as their leader. I thought they hated elves?”
“Orcs prefer to be led by someone who isn’t an orc. They don’t mind being sergeants, and pushing each other around, but when it comes to admin and economics, they’re hopeless. Anyway, it’s not as simple as orcs hating elves. They are elves.”
“They are?”
“In origin. Elves twisted with hatred. They were created by Melkor.”
“Who?”
“I believe your people call him Morgoth. You know, the Vala who rebelled against Illúvatar, the Father of All,” said Downie, who had, in the days when he was young and all things seemed possible, read the whole way through The Silmarillion, and didn’t care who knew it.
“Oh, him? I thought he was just a legendary source of all evil.”
“Yeah, well, I spoke to him recently, and he doesn’t think he’s just a legend.”
“You SPOKE to the Original Evil?”
“Yeah. His main contribution to world affairs these days is in whispering advice to the Lord of Mordor, who is, currently, me.”
“What does he have to say?”
“Oh, just things like, ‘I like evil’. He’s not a great conversationalist.”
“I’m sure this isn’t important, but something’s been nagging at me. Why did you tell that horrible Shadow thing that you didn’t trust him? It seemed very rude to me.”
“It was a play on words. Don’t you remember Sauron’s famous poem? ‘One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them, in the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.’”
“I’ve heard of that! Wasn’t it supposed to appear when you got The Ring very hot?”
“In Elvish runes, yes. Come, let’s try it!”
Downie took ‘The Ring’, and threw it into the fire. He waited a moment or two, and then retrieved it with an enormous pair of toasting prongs. “Take it,” he said. “It will be quite cool.”
He dropped it into her palm. “Ow!” she cried, and dropped it to the floor.
They got on their hands and knees, and watched intensely, as letters formed across the plain metal, a legend bold and clear. “Novelty cursed invisibility ring. Another fine ‘Alchemist Al’ product. Made in Gondor.”

To be continued...



~SDC~