LazyViking's overexpansion strategy! (updated!) Now with Dev plan!

[LazyViking]

I figured that i should post this one since it's the only strategy i use. It has proven useful in MP games and in SP games. Note: It's best when used on in a big galaxy.

First my race stats:

Race: Meklar (custom)

First i'll list what i ALWAYS choose, then i'll list the variable race picks. The essential picks:

Poor bioharvest (+0)
Superior mining (+40)
Superior manufacturing (+30)
Poor trade (+0)
Poor diplomacy (-40)
Absolutist government (Monarchy)
Association citizenship (-20)
Original creativity (+0)
Tolerant, Natural engineers (+20)
Rich homeworld (+10)

This leaves us with +40 in race picks, they need to come from somewhere, i suggest taking them from either ground combat stats or Cunning.

Then we have the variable race picks:

Research (-40 to +10)
Environmental (+0 to +60)
Senate (+0 to +10)
Ground combat stats (-60 to +30)
Biodiversity on your homeworld (-10 to +10)
Cunning (-60 to +0)

I suggest that you choose good or better research, you need to get to Deep Extraction Mining and Automated Mine fast, or else you'll be screwed.

As for environmental, i usually choose poor here, but setting it to superior should theoretically give you a big boost in industry since you spend less industry on cleaning up pollution. However, i have yet to test how big difference it really does, this will be tested in my next game.

Now comes the senate picks, if you really like the senate, or are playing a game where senate victory is activated, then i suggest you choose "Yes" here. If you are playing a game where the senate victory is deactivated, and don't really care if you end up in the senate or not, then i suggest that you choose Random. If you're like me and can't really stand the senate and like to have those spiral arms all for yourself, then i suggest that you choose "No".

Then we have homeworld biodiversity, personally i don't think you need to choose anything better than "Similar" here, since Meklars don't really rely that much on farming to survive. However, i've met many people who like to choose "Diverse" to get extra income, i think this would come from selling the excess food or something. I'll have to look into that. The reason to why i choose "Similar" is because i usually change all the bioharvest DEAs on my homeworld to Industry DEAs when i have a really big surplus of food.

Here's the part that depends on what type of player you are. If you like spying, choose dangerous cunning and average ground battle stats. If you don't really use spying, then choose slow cunning and use those points elsewhere (like maxing out battle stats :D).

After making your choices, you should end up with -40 from the variable race picks, thus making you level go in balance. Since you can't have everything, i suggest you choose wisely...

First thing you do when you start up a new game is to check if you have any magnates in your home system, make the colony ship land there if you do. If you don't then set it down on the best planet yu got. If you didn't get ANYTHING good then just let it wait there. Send out your scouts and let them find you some good systems. Also remember to turn on AI colonization, you won't regret it later...

Set your spending on limited war, at least... Go to your home world, place down one bioharvest DEA, 3 mining DEAs and 2 industry DEAs. Getting a leader with mining boosts helps, but you can't rely on this so set out to find some rich/very rich planets right away. If you had more green planets in you home system then make the same amount of system colony ships before starting on colony ships. Crank the military spending slider up to 25-33 %, but building out those DEAs are more important, so set the planetary development slider up to AT LEAST 20 % (I like to crank it up to 30 %).

If you chose the no spying strategy, then start building political spies, lots of political spies and use them for internal security. If you chose the spying strategy and like to use spies, then you most likely know which to build. If not the just search around a little. Also crank up the oppression meter up one level on the starting turn and do so every ten or so turns 'till you've reached the limit (which should be 7 for monarchy).

On the second turn: Lock the research sliders to 25 % physics, 25 % economics, 15 % math, 15 % energy and 10 % each to the rest of them. You'll need to get to deep extraction mining (level 6 or so in physics) and automated mines (level 10 or so in economics) quickly.

Keep an eye on your military slider on your homeworld every turn in the beginning, since the AI has a nasty habit of turning it down when you get more pop or build a new industry DEA.

When you can build 2 new colony ships every 3 turns start to build them in packs of 5. By this time you should have gotten the tech to design new military ships as well, so go do that. Then when you finish the 5x colony ships, que up 5x military ships, then 5x colony, then 5x military etc etc...

Note: With this strategy you'll most likely always have a shortage in food and minerals, which is the whole concept of overexpansion. :D If any of your people gets a bit upset then don't give in! They are your servants! You rule them with an iron fist! Make them fear the fist! Build military DEAs on planets that refuse to obey you... :p

With this strategy you'll have a constant need for new planets that you can mine and farm. So keep building those colony ships.

With this strategy i managed to have 40+ planets around turn 50 in an MP with some of my friends. One of them was claimed that i was a bigger bug problem than him! (He was playing klackon) Strangely i was still only ranked second even if i had most ships/planets/you name it... :bulb: It probably was because he had more money than me.

I'll post the dev plan i used here later. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

The Dev plan (http://www.moo3mods.com/files/download/cyb1.dat) :up:

Da Blade's migration strategy:
Because of the superfast expansion it is totally useless to set migration to each and every planet. I set migration to any outposts, untill they hit colony, at which point i turn it off. Then i set migration to at least one green in the same system as homeworld (if there is one), and after that only migration to key green1/sweet spot worlds. This makes that most of your pop is on green1/sweet spot worlds, maximizing their pop growth. Also, because of all those little planets, you have to establish a good few population centres, were real production can set off, since those 10 small yellow's you colonised will not be providing anything but minerals to the empire for quite a while. This is why i manually zone mines and bioharvest on new planets, so they build those first, and thus contribute to the planets that really need them.

[The Bursar]

Though I wonder how you would be able to fend off a major assault... and how you keep revolts from spawning new empires.
Speaking as a southpaw, I can say that I'm dissapointed you suppress us; it only goes to show that only lefties are in their right mind!

[rico01]

:haha: And that bug would be me! Yes, it's true, I have never seen someone expanding that fast... And I was still using the outpost strategy with my klackons. :eek:

Next Lazy... next time!

Great to see that you can write up some very good informative posts as well, and not only <cough>spam<cough>... :p

:up:

// Rico

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by rico01
:haha: And that bug would be me! Yes, it's true, I have never seen someone expanding that fast... And I was still using the outpost strategy with my klackons. :eek:

Next <time?> Lazy... next time!

Right...:haha:

I'll kick your ass next time as well...:p

Originally posted by rico01
Great to see that you can write up some very good informative posts as well, and not only <cough>spam<cough>... :p

:up:

// Rico

What ever made you believe that i only post spam?!? I am shocked! Shocked i tell ya! :p

Originally posted by The Bursar
Though I wonder how you would be able to fend off a major assault...

Well i have yet to see anyone try, when your empire is that big then the others will be mostly kissing your butt. Both human players and the AI. One of my "best friends" in a SP game where the humans, which are supposed to hate the meklar.

And with this strategy you'll most likely be able to take on the others before they become a threat.

Originally posted by The Bursar
and how you keep revolts from spawning new empires.

Like i said, military DEAs are your friend. Remember that with the monachy government they have 150% efficency, Gov DEAs have only 50%. Therfore it might be a good idea to build Military DEAs instead of Gov DEAs on planets...

[The Bursar]

I find it amusing that someone in the WL:8 club is talking to a WL:0 about SPAM!
THX Lazy, I'll try it myself once I've anhiliated the galaxy my way. 2 down (inc. Orions), 7 to go.

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by The Bursar
I find it amusing that someone in the WL:8 club is talking to a WL:0 about SPAM!

Hey! I'm the president of the WL:3 club! And i also have 3000 posts in the Cove! How dare you insult my spamming skillz like this! :p

Originally posted by The Bursar
THX Lazy, I'll try it myself once I've anhiliated the galaxy my way. 2 down (inc. Orions), 7 to go.

Good, give me some feedback when you've tried it. :up:

[LazyViking]

Yeah, just thought i'd add: If your playing MP, then it could be a good idea to spend 10 points on senate: "No". Starting in the middle of the galaxy can be a pain with this strategy. It's nice to have a spiral arm all to yourself...

Which brings me to the next problem with this strategy: It's not suited for a crowded galaxy. You could get lucky and get a perfect start, but if you don't, then it's nice to have some room to expand peacefully through.

And When you need to expand through someone, then you should start to build 5x SR destroyers once you get fusion cannons and better engines.

:cool:

[Ron_Lugge]

Originally posted by LazyViking
Hey! I'm the president of the WL:3 club! And i also have 3000 posts in the Cove! How dare you insult my spamming skillz like this! :p

<looks at Lazy Viking's WL>

Er... How can you be in the WL:3 club?

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Ron_Lugge
<looks at Lazy Viking's WL>

Er... How can you be in the WL:3 club?

How can people with WL:<update: 12> still be part of the WL:0 club? *points at Zanthras* Some questions can't be answered...

Probably 'cause i'm such a witty person that i don't need Wit Levels to prove myself. And i almost got 3 Wit Levels once, but Sencho was nice and let me go with a stern warning.... :p

Anyways, to get back on topic again: The dev plan is comming soon... :up:

[The Big Joke]

Thanks viking.
I gues i will have to face you in mp one day ;) (i think we live in the same timezone, seeing the å that you have used)

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by The Big Joke
Thanks viking.
I gues i will have to face you in mp one day ;) (i think we live in the same timezone, seeing the å that you have used)

An MP sounds nice. Just tell me where and when and i'll be there. And yes, we're most likely in the same timezone, i'm from Norway.

[LazyViking]

All right people! The Dev plan is up! Get is here. (http://68.73.86.133/cyb1.dat) :up:

[Tayl]

Don't mean to interupt, but just so everyone knows: That webspace is mine, and I wanted everyone to know that for some reason I have problems downloading off of it with Mozilla. So, just to be safe, use IE to get the file.

Alright, back to the thread. :D

[The Big Joke]

Il have to get used to post patch first, but then i am up for some MP.
(i live in sweden)

[Da_Blade]

No man, come join in on a massive MP game this thrusday/friday. Since we're aiming for about 16 players or more, some will ahve to get kicked out early, i'm afraid i will be too, i'm too weak in MP games. But still it's fun! Drop by on #moo3.mp on irc.enterthegame.com for details.

[The Big Joke]

What time(zone)?

[Da_Blade]

Together with all other scandinavians! ;)

Last i heard was 2300 till 0300 CET.

[teecee]

Originally posted by Ron_Lugge
<looks at Lazy Viking's WL>

Er... How can you be in the WL:3 club?

Well, he DID win the election and we're too lazy and apathetic for it to make any difference.:D

LazyViking (aka Mr. President),

Thanks for the strategy AND the Dev Plan. Gonna try it out this weekend.:up:

tc

[Lord Aramus]

For those who are curious, to download the file (or any file yo have trouble with) in mozilla, simply right click on the link an choose (its right about in the middle)

"Save link taget as"

[LazyViking]

Right now i'm using this strategy in an MP against Kebzero and some other people who hang around in the #moo3 channel. And so far it's going smoothly. :D

We're going to continue the game tomorrow, so i'll give you all an update then. :cool:

[Da_Blade]

At least there's a certain someone above you in the powergraph ;)

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Da_Blade
At least there's a certain someone above you in the powergraph ;)

But i haven't really started yet... When we start up again i'll go back to the top. I have allmost finished the first 5x colony ships. I just got controll over that Darklok colony, which means i can soon start populating gas giants. And the Gnolam and *some-other-magnate-that-i-don't-remember-atm.* that i just found in one system will give me more power! Quake in fear mortal! FEAR THE FIST! :D

[The Big Joke]

*mutters*
sisters birthday, so i was unable to atend in your game. Inform me when the next starts, and id be happy to join!

[LazyViking]

Start hanging out in the Cove, we hold MPs almost every weekend (sometimes even in the middle of the week...). :D

But anyways, those damn #moo3 people decided to restart instead of loading! The nerve of some people! :rolleyes:

[Da_Blade]

Hehe, in the reload game i'm doing even better then before LV... you would have been toast in that first game anyways. ;)

[Blaze]

Originally posted by Da_Blade
Hehe, in the reload game i'm doing even better then before LV... you would have been toast in that first game anyways. ;)
there's more to gaming than pop... ok so there isn't, but I'm still going to beat you in a way that is comperable to the great white smackdown.:D

[Da_Blade]

Mwuhahaha, dream on dude, dream on... You were lucky we quite that first MP, since i had 10 SR destroyer with troop transports right behind them on their way to your homeworld!

This game we're a little further apart, so when i come there, it'll be a 180 dreadnoughts this time ;)

[The Big Joke]

You refere to Pirates of the Dwarf Cove, right?
Whel, i gues il be able to post there to *grins*

[Adacore]

LV - Have you considered the possiblity of ramping up the environmental stats in place of cunning/ground combat? You could easily take the environmental up to superior, and iirc that gives your early game industry a boost of 20%. As the overexpansion strategy is so heavily reliant on early game industry, it may be a good idea to increase the environmental.

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Adacore
LV - Have you considered the possiblity of ramping up the environmental stats in place of cunning/ground combat? You could easily take the environmental up to superior, and iirc that gives your early game industry a boost of 20%. As the overexpansion strategy is so heavily reliant on early game industry, it may be a good idea to increase the environmental.

Yeah, i've been meaning to try that, but i haven't gotten that far yet. I might try that in my next game.... :up:

Edit: LazyViking's verdict: :down:

(but that may have something to do with the fact that i got the worst start EVER! :sour: )

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by LazyViking
Edit: LazyViking's verdict: :down:

(but that may have something to do with the fact that i got the worst start EVER! :sour: )

I've changed my mind, the start wasn't that bad, once i was able to kill the Evons that had blocked my only way of expanding. I had just invaded the Evon homeWORLD when disaster struck... Those damn buggs again! I don't know how many games have been destroyed because of them! :sour:

I almost feel like trolling in GD... :p

[LazyViking]

The dev plan is back up again! Get it here (http://www.moo3mods.com/files/download/cyb1.dat) or in the original post. :cool:

[Da_Blade]

My try on modifed meklars:

superior manufacturing, superior environmentalism, tolerant and natural engineers, rich and diverse homeworld (for cash purposes only).

This allowed me to produce the first colony ship in 5 turns (could be faster if you forget any research and development), and after that you crank them out in 3, and soon in the 2 per turn. Had a REALLY crappy start in MP yesterday, and was still able to keep pace with the rest and win a harvester war.

For the rest: LV's expansion, though i do not overexpand, except for minerals, that's inevitable if you play such a high production race.

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Da_Blade
My try on modifed meklars:

superior manufacturing, superior environmentalism, tolerant and natural engineers, rich and diverse homeworld (for cash purposes only).

This allowed me to produce the first colony ship in 5 turns (could be faster if you forget any research and development), and after that you crank them out in 3, and soon in the 2 per turn. Had a REALLY crappy start in MP yesterday, and was still able to keep pace with the rest and win a harvester war.

For the rest: LV's expansion, though i do not overexpand, except for minerals, that's inevitable if you play such a high production race.

I'm going to try sup. env. in a singleplayer game once, but first i must finish my current game! i'm getting close to turn 100, and my planets graph has turned exponential! :D

I can build up to 20-30 new colony ships every 5 turns if i want to, i have 6+ high industry worlds, but i must first take care of the pesky Psilons!

And for overexpansion: I usually get the food part undercontroll fairly soon in the game, it's the minerals that are hard to controll. In the game i described above, i'm just breaking even with 6.1k/6.1k in minerals. :bulb:

[Da_Blade]

Yeah i already noticed you need to two tech runs with this strategy:

1. Deep extraction ming +/- lvl 6 physics
2. Automated mine +/1 lvl 10 economics

i usually set 50% research to either one of these schools and divide the rest divided up between the rest (mainly energy and mathmetics for weapons and engines)

And also i manually zone mines on new colonies, so they can get their mine up and running before the rest of colony, this allows your already grown colonies to produce.

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Da_Blade
Yeah i already noticed you need to two tech runs with this strategy:

1. Deep extraction ming +/- lvl 6 physics
2. Automated mine +/1 lvl 10 economics

i usually set 50% research to either one of these schools and divide the rest divided up between the rest (mainly energy and mathmetics for weapons and engines)

And also i manually zone mines on new colonies, so they can get their mine up and running before the rest of colony, this allows your already grown colonies to produce.

Yeah, deep extraction mining helps a lot! How much does the Automated mine add?

Also in the game above, i didn't get autofactories, so i'll have to spy in the Psilonas and hope that they get it... :(

[Da_Blade]

Automated mine adds an extra effeciency, which translates in one extra mineral on an average broken region, one and a half in combo with deep extraction. This does mean 5 extra minerals in very rich mountains, and it doesn;t need extra pop to operate, so that's a pro too :)

[LazyViking]

Indeed it does! I guess i shouild start paying more attention to the economics research slider... :cool:

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Zanthras
That wl:12, geez get it right already... :D

Weren't you framed? :cool:

But if you admit that you did it, then i can edit the post... ;)

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Zanthras
Yes i was framed, but the chances of getting my levels removed grow more and more slim each day.

Well in that case... ;)

I updated the post btw... :p

[Argor]

Originally posted by LazyViking
An MP sounds nice. Just tell me where and when and i'll be there. And yes, we're most likely in the same timezone, i'm from Norway.

Northman here too! =)

BTW, #Moo3 on wich net?
Not stratics, not undernet nor efnet =|

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Argor
Northman here too! =)

BTW, #Moo3 on wich net?
Not stratics, not undernet nor efnet =|

on the "Enterthegame" servers. :up:

[Ron_Lugge]

Originally posted by Argor
Northman here too! =)

BTW, #Moo3 on wich net?
Not stratics, not undernet nor efnet =|

The ones you get when you click on "chat"

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Ron_Lugge
The ones you get when you click on "chat"

But for gods sake: Don't use the nick "INA-Guest", the guys a #moo3 don't like them... :bulb:

[Ron_Lugge]

Originally posted by LazyViking
But for gods sake: Don't use the nick "INA-Guest", the guys a #moo3 don't like them... :bulb:

No, we don't like the *people* who use them. ;)

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Ron_Lugge
No, we don't like the *people* who use them. ;)

I know, i once logged on as an INA-guest just to piss you guys off, and you when ballistic on me! :D

[LazyViking]

Anyways, back on topic, i've just updated the first post again. I added the high environmental strategy and the split between economics and physics. I also tried make the race picks part more user friendly. :cool:

[Adacore]

How much better was performance under the high environmental strat?

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Adacore
How much better was performance under the high environmental strat?

Good question. I'm gonna try to figure that out today. :up:

I'm also gonna try to terraform a size 12 planet so that it becomes sweetspot or better for my meklars, and only build Industry DEAs on it. So when i get that gravity thingy (physics level 30, or somethin') then it'll become a industry Mekka! :D

[Da_Blade]

Originally posted by Adacore
How much better was performance under the high environmental strat?

I've been using this strategy (though it was not based on LV's strategy, it's in most ense the exact same strategy) with a meklar superior manufacture/superior environmetalism/natural engineers/tolerant. I also take a rich and a high biodiversity homeworld. Why high biodiversity? Simply for the cash. Those 10 extra points give me some extra cash which can be used to fuel that industry. The first colony ship is often ready before my scouts have discovered any destination yet!

I do have one keynote to LV's strategy; a good migration strategy. Because of the superfast expansion it is totally useless to set migration to each and every planet. I set migration to any outposts, untill they hit colony, at which point i turn it off. Then i set migration to at least one green in the same system as homeworld (if there is one), and after that only migration to key green1/sweet spot worlds. This makes that most of your pop is on green1/sweet spot worlds, maximizing their pop growth. Also, because of all those little planets, you have to establish a good few population centres, were real production can set off, since those 10 small yellow's you colonised will not be providing anything but minerals to the empire for quite a while. This is why i manually zone mines and bioharvest on new planets, so they build those first, and thus contribute to the planets that really need them.

[LazyViking]

Originally posted by Da_Blade
I do have one keynote to LV's strategy; a good migration strategy. Because of the superfast expansion it is totally useless to set migration to each and every planet. I set migration to any outposts, untill they hit colony, at which point i turn it off. Then i set migration to at least one green in the same system as homeworld (if there is one), and after that only migration to key green1/sweet spot worlds. This makes that most of your pop is on green1/sweet spot worlds, maximizing their pop growth. Also, because of all those little planets, you have to establish a good few population centres, were real production can set off, since those 10 small yellow's you colonised will not be providing anything but minerals to the empire for quite a while. This is why i manually zone mines and bioharvest on new planets, so they build those first, and thus contribute to the planets that really need them.

I do this as well actually (the set migration on uncontrolled planets part...). :cool:

It was a b*tch to do that when i was averaging 5+ new planets a turn in my previous game, and had 3 minute turns activated. I do not recomend doing that, it was just plain horrible....:bulb:

[Awsric Armitage]

Bump to the front page. A good thread for newbies on colonization.

BUMP.

[silentrogue30]

bump to front page again more newbies have arived :D

[JosEPh]

You beat me to it! Cotton pickin' twisted pair phone lines. Ain't got none of them thar' fancy cable or dsl lines.:p

[silentrogue30]

Hey neither do I, but I have to be honest I forgot about this thread till you mentioned it. So I went to find it right away in hopes it might offer some insight to people having problems now. So I give you half credit, keeping half for myself though, I did find it first.:p

[Awsric Armitage]

I 've got it in the links thread for easy finding for newbs and old farts.

[silentrogue30]

Oops bows down to Awsric's superior wisdom. He gets soul credit.:D

[The Wagster]

Bumping a good strategy thread from one of the great old spammers:noob:

[Tarhalindur]

BUMP so that some of the newer people can learn this strategy.

Note: If you're using this strategy, be very careful to avoid piracy! I tried a similar strategy shortly before I started modding and wound up with one system in revolt for at least 10 turns! (I pacified them with a goodly sized fleet, and maybe some ground troops. Those were nice size 10 planets in revolt!)

I'm considering uninstalling Legacy of the Ancients Mod and playing a game of MOO3 using an overexpansion strategy and Ethereans, partly because I've got a hankering for Ethereans but mainly to see if MOO3 crashes without LOTA Mod. I'll be playing unpatched, partly because I want to see if MOO3 still crashes without patches or mods but mostly because I don't let my MOO3 Hotswap drive see the Internet.

[Da_Blade]

It doesn't work too well with ethereans actually. Tachidi and Meklars work best by far. I personally like tachidi slightly better, even though theoretically the meklars are better at it.

I beat LV once with the Tachidi and him using the meklars so my preference is there ;)

[Tarhalindur]

I just started playing a new race, similar to LazyViking's strat but customized for my own current situation (modless/patchless) and play style.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Version: MoO3 v.1.0.0 standard
Race: Cynoids

Race Picks:
Biology: Poor (0)
Cynoids only need Poor at start, though Average would have been nice for my eventual magnate empire

Mining: Superior (60)
Cynoids eat 50% minerals - though I would have taken Superior anyways, it's one of the best picks

Manufacturing: Superior (60)
Well, duh - it is the uber-pick

Research: Superior (60)
Always a good pick if you can afford it, especially if Psilons, Icthystosians, or Eoladi are on your map!

Trade: Good (40)
I really would have liked Superior, but I needed the points elsewhere. Trade can be invaluable for overdriving your industry, but a) it's somewhat expendable and b) it works best if you're a Senate race.

Environmental: Poor (0)
I consider Tolerant to be sufficient in most cases, and I was already short 20 points...

Economics: Barter (0)
Well, duh!

Accuracy: Poor (0)
I usually turned Ground Combat down very low even before I found out that they were worthless...

Reflexes: Poor (0)
I usually turned Ground Combat down very low even before I found out that they were worthless...

Toughness: Poor (0)
Do I really need to post that reason again?

Diplomacy: Poor (0)
Cybernetic races are hated anyways, so diplomacy skill doesn't really matter...

Citizenship: Association (10)
This may help the piracy problems, but the real reason for taking this was the cost reduction.

Government Series: Representative (30)
I felt like being able to grab a 30% Industry bonus without taking massive research and mining problems... and Corporate is nice, too!

Senate: No (10)
I figured that I'd be kicked out anyways, so I spared myself the trouble and nabbed a spiral arm for myself. :)

Homeworld Biodiversity: Similar (0)
10 free points, especially for a Cybernetic or Geodic.

Homeworld Minerals: Rich (20)
This helps with the early mineral crunch significantly - and it's only 10 points!

Cunning: Dangerous (60)
I considered this for a while, especially given my Senate: No pick. The +2 OptOpres (with Parliament) and the thought of missing out on an important tech and not being able to steal it were important incentives, but the real reason for doing this was the thought of dumping a big stockpile of spies into enemy territory and stealing a bunch of techs quickly... :D

Creativity: Original
Original Creativity is almost a necessity if you don't plan on being able to spy for 25-100 turns.

Natural Engineers: Yes
I can turbocharge my industry for 10 points? Yes!
(Well, it's not really a turbocharge... but it is nice...)

Fantastic Traders: No
Not enough points, not enough benefits.

Tolerant: Yes
Superior Environmental for 10 points? Yes!

Empathic: No
Well, it is a forbidden pick... which is a shame, IMO.

Antaran Background: No
Not enough points, not enough benefits.

Galaxy Setup:
AI Races: 10 (+NO's)
Random Events: Normal
Galaxy: 3-arm Spiral
Star Lanes: Short, Many
Specials: More
Turn Timer: none
Space Combat Time Limit: 10 minutes
Space Combats: Unlimited
Victory Conditions: Sole Survivor, Antaran X's
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I got extremely lucky in this game. I didn't find tons of magnates until recently - but I have found tons of Splinter Colonies! I think as many as half of my planets are Splinters! :D

The first one was a Size 3 Rich planet in my home system. Two of three regions were mountainous - it sure helped with the early mineral crunch!

I sent my scouts off, and started up on Colony Ships. I got the first one off on by Turn 8, possibly by Turn 5 (can't remember exactly when). I grabbed every mineral-rich colony I could, and then got lucky and found a Very Rich, Size 6, Sweet Spot planet that my colony ships could reach in 7 turns! (It still isn't fully online, though.)

I found tons of Splinter Colonies (1 in Tali, 1 in Jond, 1 in Waage, and 2 in Haient, plus one or two more that I can't remember), and a few nice colonies. I switched to using Colony Ships as scouts, as I could land a colony (or outpost) on a sweet-looking planet as soon as I discovered it - I used this tactic to plop an outpost on a nice, Rich(?), Size 12 planet with a Darlok magnate on it. I also have a Audrieh magnate outpost developing into a colony, with help from migration.

I set my government to Parliament, and lowered the Oppressometer to 1 (since I had no contact with the AI, and I wanted the unrest bonuses) Then, my splinter colony in Waage gave me my first contact with the AI - an Imsaeis empire in the Senate. (They're first up on my assimilate list, as they like big planets and are going to be hostile anyways.) I dropped my 2 completed spies (I only started building spies on Turn 20 - didn't want to waste AU's) on 'em - the surviving one is a 10/10 Scientific spy, and I don't have Spinal Mounts... at least, not yet... :cool: ("Bond. James Bond.")

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A good research strategy to use with this race:

Set 10% to five schools, and 50% to the school you want something from.

First, push Physics at 50%. You want to get Deep Extraction Mining, Mob Centers, and Space Ports quickly, as all of these offer quick boosts.

Once you have completed or are currently researching Deep Extraction Mining, Mob Centers, and Space Ports (usually level 8 Physics), switch to rushing Mathematics for Nuclear Engines (faster colony ships) and Catalyst Design (improves the mineral situation). Consider waiting a bit to start rushing Mathematics if Automated Factories shows up at Physics level 9 (fat chance!)...

Once you have Nuclear Engines and Catalyst Design completed and/or researching (usually level 8 Mathematics), switch and rush Social Sciences, mainly for Advanced Research Labs. Consider waiting on rushing Mathematics if Sub-Light Drives is one tech level higher than Catalyst Design.

Once you have Advanced Research Labs researching, switch to Energy for some weapons catchup. You can probably get to Hard Beams in this rush (you'll probably be at Energy level 5 or 6 at the start of the rush); Class II shields are nice, too.

Once you are researching Hard Beams (or are at level 10 in Energy and don't see Hard Beams), switch to Economics (it should already be at level 6 or 7). You want Astro University, Automated Mine, Holistic Planning (an overproduction tech), and maybe Broader Usage (money-from-industry upgrade). Note: You'll probably miss out on at least one of these techs (IIRC, I don't have Broader Usage in my tech tree).

Once you have as many of these techs (Astro University, Automated Mine, Holistic Planning, and (possibly) Broader Usage) as you got in your tech tree completed and/or researching, switch to rushing Biology. Useful Biology techs include Cloning Complexes and Genetic Mutagens; if Training Resistance Compensators shows up one level after either of those techs (assuming you get either), research it too.

When you have finished rushing Biology, switch to Physics for all the nice level 9-13 techs (especially Sunlight Redirection, HEavy Mount, and Automated Factories). After that, rush based on what techs you see in your tree.

[JosEPh]

Tarh,
Slightly OT but:
How dissappointed are you going to be when you Do upgrade to the 1.2.5 patch and find out that the Economics Pick were cut.

But take heart you can put them back in real easy. Simple bit of modding and they're back.

When you do upgrade let me know and I'll send you my personal Economics mod. The original picks with a twist or 2.

I never play a game without them anymore.


On topic:
I find that LV's strategy is sound for all races. Wether you use the colony 5x or the Outpost 5x or 10x.


JosEPh :)

[Tarhalindur]

Oh, I know that Economics was cut. Sucks for my idea for a Human customization - but then, when I get 1.2.5, I should also be using Legacy of the Ancients Mod! :D :cool: :p (All these strategy games and posts are just a filler - LOTA isn't working right now, and I'm having too much fun right now to test everything.)

I'm also thinking about creating a second racemodifiers table... an alternate without Ethos picks, and using some revamped picks (especially Biology - err, Bioharvesting, the ground combat picks, Aptitude (yeah, I'd add that in, too - it'll probably look like my Efficiency pick in normal LOTA Mod), Economics (a real version), Citizenship, and maybe 1 or 2 other picks).

Personally, I think that the standard Economics would actually be useful in 1.2.5, given the 25% HFofGovt reduction - though that would be an all-or-nothing pick, like Cunning currently is, and probably priced at 30 points if the effects were unchanged.

I like some of the 1.2.5 values (Manufacturing levels at 30 points each, Trade at 10 points per level, Silicoids get Tolerant free), and I like some of the 1.0.0 values (especially Human and Silicoid Economics). So, I'm planning to use a mix of both. :)

The major fixes from 1.2.5 would need to be for Saurians (low points), Psilons and Humans (need the 40-60 points from old Economics to be competitive), Ithkul (need flexibility and a few more points, probably in mining - a hab ring transplant wouldn't hurt either), and Silicoids (need the 40 points from Economics, and a few extra points somewhere else - Good Manufacturing, methinks).

Edit: D'oh! Spelling!

[Specialist290]

Bumped for future reference.

[dgeeboo]

Anyone have the devplans still? None of the links work anymore :(

[Specialist290]

I'd be interested, too, since I'll use them in the Encyclo Mod if anyone can find them.

[JosEPh]

Just got my Main computer back. All my old data is stored on the 2nd HD now. So it will take some sifting to find it. Be Patient I think I have it in there somewhere.

My Main board, power supply, cd burner, and OS system all took a dump on me. But my wonderful computer tech was able to copy all my files from the old HD with the bad OS to a second HD. Now it's a matter of sorting and transfering the data to the Main HD from the secondary. It's gone be time consuming but seems like most everything is there. And I never was terribly organised anyway.

JosEPh

[dgeeboo]

That'd be great Joseph. Im interested in seeing how different those dev plans are from the ones im using, somewhat similiar to dablades but with more of an emphasis on minerals due to the chronic shortage:D .

I'm currently playing a meklon game and enjoying it, gave up on the nommo when two lizards decided to say hello with a few armadas. This game is pretty hard even on easy but im getting better every game. Currently in the meklar game im playing I ended up getting stuck in the orion senate so my expansion has been somewhat screwed, but then again the 5 task forces of troop ships and carriers/LR beams going to my nearest neighbours homeworld may change that fairly quickly.

[Monkey Head]

lol i just started a game where i had one star system to my self, 2 star lanes, and 2 empires already there as neighbours... they said hello to my infantry armies at about turn 40 or so. now its turn 100 and now i have 6 star systems, the terran federation has humans as a minority to some bugs, fish and lizards, and the galaxy is 3 races lighter. no danger of over expansion here as i am now pinned by 2 gaurdians and the NO..... with mass drivers i dont think im ready to deal with them yet.

[JosEPh]

I'm still looking. But some of my files seem to be missing. I found a copy of my devplans but so far not LazyViking's. :(

JosEPh

[vengen2]

JosEPh - Did you ever find a copy of LazyViking's DevPlan?

[Pax Imperium]

same here.. i need one too

[JosEPh]

Sorry guys I've not found them. :(

EDIT: FOUND IT!

But I'll have to translate it so I can copy it to the forum. It's in the .dat form. And the forum won't let me paste it into this post in that form.

I'll put it into Notepad and post it in a bit.

JosEPh :)

Lazy Viking's Cybernetic Dev Plans
Primary Secondary Tertiary
All Plnts Manufact Mine Plnt Def
Secondary Manufact Mine Farm
Core Manufact Mine Farm
Red Ring Terraform Terraform <blank>
Yellow Rng<blank> Terraform Terraform
Min Poor Manufact Manufact Manufact
Min Rich Mine Mine Manufact
Low Biod Manufact Manufact Manufact
High Biod Farm Manufact Farm
Small Research Manufact Research
New Mine Manufact Research
Starving Mine Farm Mine



Get it will it's HOT!! :D

JosEPh;)

[vengen2]

Thanks JosEPh. I have a feeling I'll be using LazyViking's strategy alot more often in the future.