Matthew Downie

Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Special Forces: 3885005 Fellowship: 3879938 all part of the plan; a goal, achieved, becomes dust. in losing, we win. ~SDC~

Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Man, I go away for a few days and what happens? The message board is full of spam and puke (not the most appetising combination) and our lead over the SF is down to a few points. ~SDC~

Reply to Hardest game possible in Strategies Stardock Forums

I tried something like that on a smaller map, but allowing myself some diplomacy. It was very difficult because I was permanently short of cash. Some more ideas for self-imposed restrictions in standard games: Keep social spending at zero throughout Keep military spending at zero throughout (You could probably win by trading for ships, as long as you didn't need to expand too far) Declare war on everyone as soon as you meet them Give all techs you research free to a

Reply to Lightning Alpha Strike formula in Strategies Stardock Forums

[quote]are you finding you can do this without military?[/quote] Staying out of wars tends to be easier on larger maps. ~SDC~

Reply to Mars . . . when? why? how? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote]Besides, this house (the Earth) is getting a bit crowded, and eventually we'll have to expand.[/quote] Colonising other planets is no longer fashionable (except in games of GalCiv, obviously). Firstly, no matter how polluted earth gets (short of a massive nuclear war) it's still likely to be a better place to live than Mars. The Sahara desert may not be a great place for agriculture, but it has air to breath, plentiful sunlight for solar power, and food and liquid water within a reaso

Reply to Lightning Alpha Strike formula in Strategies Stardock Forums

[quote]I did think they had SOME numerical relationship[/quote] As far as I can tell, your (non-metaverse-point) Military and Research scores can be deduced from the graphs - if the area under your line on the research graph is higher than that of an AI, then you will have a higher research score than that AI. So if you build a big military early and hold on to it for a long time, then you will get a better military score. Research score is purely based on the amount of research done on

Reply to Is GalCiv too easy? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

If you know the right tactics, you have to play at Masochistic difficulty (or do something delibarately self-defeating, like refusing to colonise other planets) to get any kind of challenge out of GalCiv. Other players get it wrong (which is quite easy with the initially confusing 'spend rate', etc.) and find it too hard at low difficulties. [quote]By the way, this time I tried to be completely ethical and choosing the most ethical choice every time the game gives you a mini-scenar

Reply to Hi, I'm back in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I've had no problems on XP - apart from the standard bugs. ~SDC~

Reply to Lightning Alpha Strike formula in Strategies Stardock Forums

[quote]Perhaps that same holds true for Society, which would explain the reason it doesn't seem to effect score at Maso.[/quote] Current thinking among leading players is that the Society, Economy, Research and Military scores you get at the end of the game are just there for your own amusement and are entirely irrelevant to metaverse points, which are calculated by a separate system, using the factors Maxtipherous mentions above (plus a penalty for taking too long). Although that s

Reply to Lightning Alpha Strike formula in Strategies Stardock Forums

Odd that you got 30K for a small galaxy and I got 20K for a large. I wonder if the population level plays a big part in score? I didn't bother keeping morale at 100, never researched stadium, so my growth rate would have been low. ~SDC~

Reply to How to bring down the special forces in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Without one of our top players, we'd still be number one. Anyway, in the event of an outbreak of war, I'll treat all the SF to my guide to giving up addictive civilization games. The first step is admitting you have a problem... ~SDC~

Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Blemish Before he set out, Downie had told Théoden of his quest; Théoden, and no other. “It seems my memory is flawed,” he had said. “I thought the reason I left the Havens and journeyed hither ‘cross four thousand miles of treacherous ocean on a tiny raft was my search for the perfect cup of tea; ‘twas not so. The Western Land have grown steadily more distant since the exodus of the elves, slipping gradually into a deeper layer of the metaverse. To make the journey is impossible, or

Reply to Rock-paper-scissors competition in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Why not just do it over the forums? Pick your weapon of choice, and we'll see who wins. Thought of one? Good. Here's mine: http://www.tappi.org/paperu/news/images/paper.jpg Well? Did I win? ~SDC~

Reply to First Masochistic Victory -- A Long Report in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Never been in a game where you're restricted to two starbase modules... I hate the score penalty you get for technological victory, so if I'd been in that situation, I'd have: (a) Fought a culture war with two modules per base. If you built nine bases in a aystem, each +40% influence, that multiplies out to about +2000% influence or (b) Researched Excalibur tech, built the best fleet I could, and gone to war, even though he was far more powerful, hoping to avoid his ships (not too h

Reply to Lightning Alpha Strike formula in Strategies Stardock Forums

How long did yours take, Rick? I just tried to do my own version of this technique on a Large map, skipping all the morale boosting research. Unhappiness didn't become too much of a problem. I was held back a bit by my inability to research Large Scale Building - I'll have to check for that patch - but I managed to trade for that in the end. The game took about an hour and a half, a bit more because of me colonising various planets (this time sinking as low as class 1) in an attempt to

Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

If you're prepared to use some pretty appalling tactics, you can win a Gig Maso in a tenth of that time - see the Lightning Alpha Strike thread in the strategies forum. Though if you're going for Pure Good like I do, it takes a little longer. Are you still around, Smeagol? I was starting to feel like writing some more fantasy stories, maybe less humorous this time. Can you clarify your story for me? Are the three rings you refer to meant to be three Great Rings, as opposed to (say) thre

Reply to Lightning Alpha Strike formula in Strategies Stardock Forums

Trading techs for morale boosting starbases can make those entertainment centres go a bit further. shaffer - I got a lot of my money from other people trading with me. Look on the treaties screen and if you see two alien races trading with each other, that's when you need to start a war between them. With any luck, they'll start trading with you instead. You can also sell large batches of techs to generous minors. In my last game, I could have set my taxes at 0% and still made enough to get

Reply to Lightning Alpha Strike formula in Strategies Stardock Forums

I've tried this technique now, approximately. The cranking issue doesn’t bother me too much as for a long time I’ve found my games are won or lost in the first hour. After that, if I’m on good terms with the other races (which I usually am), it’s just a question of whether I win by culture (which is easy because the AI doesn’t know how to defend against culture bombs), war (which is fairly easy because that AI is bad at handling transport ships) or terror stars (also easy, though this is the fi

Reply to Two basic questions on Trade and Improvements in Strategies Stardock Forums

[quote]Some mention e.g. military and social production even though the resource may give a research or morale bonus.[/quote] Military and social production bonuses only affect the current system. Resource-based mining bonuses affect your entire empire. ~SDC~

Reply to Lightning Alpha Strike formula in Strategies Stardock Forums

AIs tend to be slow to research Medical Theory, so it's sometimes useful for trading. More importantly, it leads on to Basic Environmental Control, the Habitat Improvement tech, one of the most quick and useful things you can build. In my recent games, I've had loads of money to spare. The things that aren't on Maxtipherous's list (or are on it with an &) are mostly a waste of money. Personally, I keep social % at zero unless I have a trade good / wonder to build. Selling techs to minor

Reply to Difficulty too HIGH? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

The AIs hardly ever demand money off me, even at Maso. I'm not sure why not. I don't bribe them if they don't threaten me. My early tactics are to expand as far as possible at the start, keeping 100% spending in whatever field is important - military if building colony ships, social if building trade goods/wonders, or science otherwise. I also trade techs whenever possible, build trade routes rapidly, and always make the Good choice. I tend to have high economic strength (which scares the AI), a

Reply to switching technology research in Strategies Stardock Forums

I think you keep the progress you make on the old one and have to start the new tech from scratch. ~SDC~

Reply to alpha strike? in Strategies Stardock Forums

Note that they don't like you placing all your ships around them and may start the war first if you are too slow. ~SDC~

Reply to victory conditions and points in Strategies Stardock Forums

Or you can switch off tech, alliance and cultural victory and be guaranteed the best points. ~SDC~

Reply to starting wars in Strategies Stardock Forums

Even if it doesn't last, it will immediately break off trade between their races, and may force them to start trading with you instead. ~SDC~