Completed Let's Multiplay Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (PBEM) Game 3

[Kalin]

Christo, didn't even think about that! But if so, shouldn't that mean you have both Industrial Automation and Planetary Networks as well? As far as I can tell, the diplo interface can show you which of your techs the other faction have (and indeed, which they do not have), but it will not show techs which only they have developed (no way to demand tech/credits).

 

[Nevill]

But if so, shouldn't that mean you have both Industrial Automation and Planetary Networks as well?

Exactly.

Hive engineers build first prototype on planet! Woohoo! If popped pods weren't so mediocre it wouldn't have been necessary.

Curses! We were too slow!

Spoiler

Busy times for the Gaians, it seems.

 

[Cassidy]

The Gaians will have plenty of busy times ahead

REMOVE GRANOLA. remove granola

you are worst gaian. you are the gaina idiot you are the gaian smell. return to xenofungs.
to minwdorm you may come our contry. you may live in the recycloing tank….ahahahaha ,
gaia we will never forgeve you. librul rascal FUck but fuck asshole hippie stink mindwerm sqhipere shqipare..
gaian genocide best day of my life. take a bath of dead gaian..ahahahahah

GAIA WE WILL GET YOU!! do not forget sparta Comamnd .
diedrre we kill the base , deidrre return to your precious nigEire…. hahahahaha
idiot hippie and gaian smell so bad..wow i can smell it.

REMOVE GRANOLA FROM THE PREMISES.you will get caught.

morgan+believers+university+sparta=kill gaia…you will ww2
tupac alive in sparta, tupac making album of sparta . fast rap tupac sparta.
we are rich and have gold now hahahaha ha because of tupac…
you are ppoor stink gaian… you live in a hovel hahahaha, you live in a tree

tupac alive numbr one #1 in sparta ….fuck the gaoia ,..
FUCKk ashol gaians no good i spit in the mouth eye of ur flag and fatcion.
2pac aliv and real strong wizard kill all the gaia farm aminal with rap magic now we the sparta rule .
ape of the zoo presidant al gore fukc the great satan and lay egg this egg hatch and gaia wa;s born.
stupid baby form the eggn give bak our clay we will crush u lik a skull of pig.

sparta greattst countrey

 

[Nevill]

Mission year 2134.

Spoiler

The Gaians have decided to re-join the Secret Project race after Morgan and Zakharov. Will they make it before the rest of the nations claim all of the currently available Projects?

 

[Kalin]

Hey! Get off my project you weed-smokin son of a-

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Aw. I missed out on another one. Just as well as I usually play University.

 

[Nevill]

Aw. I missed out on another one. Just as well as I usually play University.

If you start another one, I can join. Nothing prevents me from playing several PBEMs simultaneously.

There might be others as well.

 

[Nevill]

Mission year 2134.

The Gaians have decided to re-join the Secret Project race after Morgan and Zakharov. Will they make it before the rest of the nations claim all of the currently available Projects?

Haha, kidding. This was a rhetorical question.

Mission year 2135.

Spoiler

The Gaians finish the construction of the Planetary Transit System. They are now pondering if they should compete for the Virtual World as well...

Before anyone asks 'DA FUQ!?', let me just say that the prototype we finished building in 2131 was this:

Spoiler

It is getting a bit crowded and our formers are not exactly up to task with the terraforming, but we manage, even though we have to ration our food a bit.

Spoiler

Stay tuned for the next turn!

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Doesn't that prototype violates this rule?

6. Upgrade crawlers before adding them to secret projects

Anyway, if anyone wants to make a extra PBEM game, I got some remorse about not getting into this one (maybe my going away wans't going to be as soon as I thought).
Reserving Morganites for myself.

 

[Nevill]

Doesn't that prototype violates this rule?

Not to my knowledge. I didn't upgrade it, I have built it that way.

Reserving Morganites for myself.

I can be Sparta, I suppose. Lambchop wanted Uni.

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Doesn't that prototype violates this rule?

Not to my knowledge. I didn't upgrade it, I have built it that way.

Reserving Morganites for myself.

I can be Sparta, I suppose. Lambchop wanted Uni.

What stops people from spamming expensive crawlers then? Little help there, guys?

Be aware Sparta is The Cursed Faction. Prepare your anus.

 

[Grimgravy]

The PBEM vets can weigh in on the crawler issue. The fact that you have them already means the Gaians need a serious gangbang.

As for another game, I'd be up for the Gaians or believers. My spartan turns in Game 2 are short after all.

 

[Nevill]

What stops people from spamming expensive crawlers then? Little help there, guys?

The fact that they are expensive.

I guess you need to know why the rules exist to understand what is an exploit and what isn't. Upgrading a crawler for money costs about ~20 credits per mineral line, possibly less (I don't remember the formula, but the more expensive is the mineral cost, the less energy per mineral it costs to upgrade a basic model to an advanced one). Hurrying a project costs ~40 credits (4 per mineral). Crawlers can hurry projects at a 1:1 mineral ratio. Therefore it is very easy to hurry Projects for half the cost without that rule.

The rule about changing SE settings and changing them back exists to prevent similar hurrying exploits. The INDUSTRY stat determines how many minerals there are in a mineral line (the default is 10). It you have -2 IND, you have 12 minerals in a single line, and building stuff takes longer (something that normally costs 100 minerals now costs 120 to build). The amount of minerals that you get from disbandment of units (or from hurrying with crawlers) depends on how many minerals there are in a mineral line. If you use a basic crawler when you are at +2 IND, you only get 24 minerals for it (3 lines, 8 minerals each). If you use it when your INDUSTRY is 0, you get 30. In theory, you can switch SE settings to lower your IND stat, disband crawlers at inflated costs, and switch back, losing no money in the process (SE change costs are refunded if you switch back within a turn). This is what the rule prohibits - other changes have no impact on the game whatsoever, and if you are not abusing the IND caveat, you should be free to change whatever and whenever you like.

Back to your question, building expensive crawlers does not advantage anyone, because building an expensive crawler for 90 minerals takes exactly the same time that it takes to build 3 crawlers for 30 minerals each. In fact, it is disadvantageous to do the former, because you can send the cheap crawlers to mine resourses as soon as they come out, which can speed the building process. In terms of what they can hurry, 3*30 minerals is equal to 90.

The rules only prohibits building a 30-mineral basic model and upgrading it to a 90-mineral one for money.

Be aware Sparta is The Cursed Faction. Prepare your anus.

Eh, don't I know it. It sucks. But someone has to bite that bullet.

 

[Kalin]

Well played man, I thought I had it for sure when I burnt my three alien artifacts on the project. Really underestimated the difference in skill and experience. Will have to settle for the Human Genome Project now, not too shabby, but it sure ain't no Planetary Transit System. Probably should have ignored AI-Lal in retrospect, without wasting minerals on that front I could've squeezed out an extra crawler or two.

Also, with both the Weather Paradigm and the Planetary Transit System in hippie pockets, as well as a huge continent for them to boom on, I'd say we'll be hard pressed to prevent Nevill's victory unless we all form a Gangbang Gaia Front.

(And even then, I'm not actually sure if four casuals can beat a Mondblutian pro sitting on all the right projects - still going to try though!)

 

[Nevill]

(And even then, I'm not actually sure if four casuals can beat a Mondblutian pro sitting on all the right projects - still going to try though!)

That actually isn't that hard. Locate the Hive, give them the right tech, and see the world burn.

The downside might include your potential destruction once the primary threat is no more.

Wait, Nevill is actually a SMAC pro?

Not really, no, but I've been playing it for a long time.

 

[Hellraiser]

(And even then, I'm not actually sure if four casuals can beat a Mondblutian pro sitting on all the right projects - still going to try though!)

That actually isn't that hard. Locate the Hive, give them the right tech, and see the world burn.

The downside might include your potential destruction once the primary threat is no more.

I know nothing of about that

 

[Hellraiser]

EX-CATHEDRA: THE VOICE OF REASON
A scholar's weekly intellectual news nodecast with Eva Petrenko, PhD

Season 25 Episode 37 - Upload Date: Sol 12/09/2142

Salutations, my name is Eva Petrenko, welcome to this week's episode of Ex-Cathedra.

ROBOTICS NEWS

Production and deployment of new units of Automated Labour Supply Robots has allowed our settlements to reach record industrial output. Robotics proponents demand a greater focus on cybernetics and robotics research, in order to develop the intelligent automaton worker, the perfect robotic peon. Opponents, including some within the upper echelons of the faculty, have mocked the idea by asking if we should name such automatons Cylons and give them control over a nuclear arsenal.

COLONIZATION NEWS

With Mir-Lab 2.0 and Human(e) Experiment Labs secure, our research potential grows ever larger. The colonization effort has slowed down, following the mindworm attack on the original Mir-Lab and recent industrial development. The terraforming effort continues, with new farms, both solar and regular, as well as forests and mines being erected allowing us to tame the vermin-infested landspace of planet.

VERMIN NEWS

The dreaded Exteritta Profunda colony that attacked and sunk the Curiositas all those years ago has emerged once again, this time near University Base. Xenobiologists on site have observed two Mindworm swarms disembarking from the dreadful creature in the vicinity of Solar Farm Alpha, just south of University Base. The nearby Custodes Eversor garisson of Zoloto-Gold has been mobilized to reinforce University Base as soon as the Isle of the Deep has been spotted drifting towards the shore of Planetfall Bay. The Custodes attacked them mindworms and emerged victorious, with minimal damage to the infrastructure of Solar Farm Alpha. Citizens celebrate in the streets, with joy being so profound that even Star Wars and Star Trek fans have ceased hostilities for the duration of the festivities. Analysts predict the number of fatalities in the ongoing Wars-Trek conflict will be lower this month by at least seven compared to last month.

GENETICS NEWS

Mir-Lab 2.0 is now at the forefront of designer lifeforms, having successfully breed the until now hypothetical Greasel. Geneticists are already enthusiastic about other future projects in the field, particularly those involving an overhaul of human DNA to create bio-organic weapons which could be used against any zealots, vermin or other anti-intellectual undesirables. Detractors criticize the term bio-organic weapon for being extremely redundant due to using both bio and organic as well as possibly being Nipponese in origin. Further applications of new industrial gene-splicing techniques may include more mundane things such as eugenics, new species of trees and crops and gene-tailored plagues. Riots have broken out over demands for mandatory removal of the faulty genes responsible for spirituality in all citizens.

ESCAPISM NEWS

The Virtual World project at University Base is reaching the final stages of completion. Thanks to the rich mineral deposits mined around University Base, and certainly not due to any rumoured silly notions of "progenitor" quantum computation nodes being implemented in the Virtual World mainframe, the project will soon greatly augment our network nodes. Insecurity, boredom, socialising face to face and sexual frustration will all be a thing of the past, thanks to the wonders of a substitute reality satiating the needs of the mind.

LESS RELEVANT NEWS

Drones riot over a supposed "arrest" of a citizen named "Aaron Smith", despite such a person never existing according to the University Demographics Database. Custodes officers have been dispatched to nerve staple the protesters as they were spreading unfounded urban legends about an alien monolith "Aaron" saw.

This has been all for this week, stream in next week. Live long and prosper.

 

[Kalin]

Morgan Delta City is being built with cutting-edge technology that truly makes the world a better place. It is policed, serviced, maintained and advertised entirely by sophisticated robots, eliminating the need for pesky drones and leaving only the top-tier executive spots for our best-of-breed talents and key market players. As the number one strategic location for enrichment, enjoyment and the forming of proactive partnerships, Morgan Delta City is set to provide the very best in recreation, safety and market raiding! To secure a home in Morgan Delta City is to embark on a fast-track course to prosperity!

Planetfall created an ever-changing economic environment that is difficult even for full-time professionals to keep up with: Territorial borders change, xeno-activity is on the increase and interest rates fluctuate daily. The only way to have a realistic chance of securing a sweet-spot habitation module, as well as the quality-assured, synergistic channels for impactful deals that come with it, is to get involved with a reputable realtor from day one. Fortunately, we at Morgan Industries have the experience, resume and genuine personality to best represent YOU and YOUR interests. A stake in Morgan Delta City costs practically* NOTHING and will save you a great deal of stress and yehudimzahav in the short run. And in the long run? A healthy slice of the ultimate free-market paradise on Planet!

Situated in the prime enrichment sector known as Morgan Mining Zone Delta, which according to trusty surveys is now practically free from "Peacekeeping" squatters and polluting xenofungus, Morgan Delta City is 100% safe from mind worms and eco-cultists. Constructed with premium planetquake-proof synthsteel, the skyskrapers of Morgan Delta City reach far into heaven, completely immune to tectonic disasters. Neither Planet nor man will ever topple its great spires of progress.

Built by talents, for talents, Morgan Delta City is the metropolis of the future!

Renowned, multi-Morgan-Michelin-starred Vince Weller has opened a string of successful restaurants across our corporate state, from Morgan Fleshcrafting and Morgan Macrotechnology to Morgan Industries, and now even Morgan Delta City. These include two ventures in the New Zallanut district, three restaurants in Prosperity Core and most recently the sumptuous Morgan Golden Baby in the brilliant Morgan Macrotechnology twin towers.

True to its name, Morgan Golden Baby delivers one of the finest, most piquant meats known to man - the homo-sapiens fetus. Yet where other venues simply settle for the conventional, Morgan Golden Baby brings a magnificent splash of drama onto the scene, delivering a perfect symbiosis between old and new. The ancient Japanese had a name for it - Nyotaimori - the serving of foods on the female body. At Morgan Golden Baby, the rustic rewards of the womb are freshly foraged and prepared before the eyes of the customers, and if they so desire, even tastefully enjoyed upon the naked body of the host.

Compositions include fresh and satisfying sushi-style servings, duos of seared choice cuts with a foam of corbo-mint, and my personal favourite, savory, glazed steaks with an essence of dijon served atop a frisky xeno-fruit salad. Best of all, the culinary delights can be specifically tailored to your tastes, as the contracted suppliers can have their juicy meat expertly modified by the wonders of the Morgan Genome Project. A preordered, genetically tailored meal at Morgan Golden Baby is the perfect way to celebrate that new merger, corporate acquisition or anniversary with your peers and loved ones. Just remember to make reservations well in advance!

With its rich, vibrant delights and truly innovative approach, Morgan Golden Baby is destined to become the go-to temple of haute cuisine on Chiron.

 

[Hellraiser]

Well that explains what happens to all Morgan pop above 4 before hab domes are built

 

[Kalin]

Morgan Delta City is right on track for bleeding-leading-cutting-edge success! Red flags are going to bite the proverbial impact shell - our negative population growth is exceedingly strong, paving the road for the bold concept of synchronized population deployment! A take-home lesson is that solid get-it-done strategies realize win-win environments. Proactive fiscal contexts blow away the holdbacks with a horizontal faction-wide enterprise game plan. Restructuring equals refinement! Enhanced customer-focus equals increased corporate profits!

On a grand scale, the diplomatic expertise and savvy, goal-oriented persuasiveness of our Morgan-Ares Conflict Mediators has helped us reach absolute peak profit! The dispute over Enrichment Zone B4 has been resolved in favour of Morgan Macrotechnology, laying the groundwork for many new prosperous enterprises. In addition, our recently ratified Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Commerce between Morgan Industries and the Peacekeeping Forces will ensure limitless best-of-class enrichment opportunities and value-added partnerships across the board. Synergistic prediction charts indicate first-class, quality-assured big wins for decades to come! Peaceful negotiations - the true path to unity on Chiron!

Classified records

Spoiler

Brother Lol will come in handy on the Council, but it still sucks so hard that I couldn't grab the Planetary Transport System. My bases are sprawling out nicely enough, but their pop is disturbingly sub-par, and not just because of babymeat and collector schemes! My current pop is 15, whereas the Gaian horde has grown to 37. Hippies, hippies everywhere!

One can only imagine how horrible Landmass Two must look with its cancerous clusters of eco-cultist communes, built in a blasted commie-fascist grid that renders base names and base production completely intelligible. ICS - the human equivalent of xenofungus!

 

[Grimgravy]

Official Hive News Bulletin

50 years since Planet-fall. Expansion proceeding as planned. Many technologies recovered from Unity pods. No other survivors encountered. All is well. The entire populace is contented and productive. You ARE happy. No pictures of smiling pictures of negros or their shills are needed to convince yourself of this. You are too SMART to believe advertising nonsense. Work hard. Live well. Be Happy. The Hive embraces you.

 

[Hellraiser]

EX-CATHEDRA: THE VOICE OF REASON
A scholar's weekly intellectual news nodecast with Eva Petrenko, PhD

Season 33 Episode 33 - Upload Date: Sol 15/08/2150

Salutations, my name is Eva Petrenko, welcome to this week's episode of Ex-Cathedra.

ECONOMY NEWS

The restructuring and market optimization of the energy grid has greatly augmented energy distribution and production. With the newly found market liberties many citizens have taken up private energy production, by setting up solar farms, geothermal wells or windfarms of their own. Some have even begun constructing home-grown nuclear reactors, however so far their yield is limited to the two dozen radiation poisoning victims.

V-WORLD NEWS

With V-World architecture operational for a year, we have a seen a myriad of new neurosim network software embrace the datalinks. The launch of V-World has greatly lowered the number of violent incidents, such as street clashes between wars and trek fans, as these have moved mainly to the realm of V-World simulations. Nevertheless there are still issues, even if they are contained to the realm opened up by the neural-interface holographic band or holoband as it is called.

The latest outrage is over Forests of Fornication "real avatar" feature, which does a full body scan of the user and creates a 100% faithful copy of the user in this V-World network. Users complain that their genitals are down-scaled compared to the real thing. FoF developers are working on resolving the issue, but critics say that the issue is not software but genetics-based.

ANNIVERSARY NEWS

It has been 50 years since the escape pods have landed here at planetfall site. From the rough limitations of the supplies and machinery brought from the Homeworld, we have grown into a sustainable and prosperous civilization. Our laboratories are the envy of Planet, as we broaden the knowledge of the Cosmos faster than any other known faction on Planet. As the colonization and terraforming development effort continues, we will grow even more. Children Creches and Robotic Crawlers will be built, arid wastelands shall be turned to forests, farmlands shall blanket the fertile fields and mines shall penetrate the crust of Planet.

Thanks to the wonders of the reproduction approval process, religious beliefs are now disappearing from our society. Instead of worshipping imaginary idols and "prophets", we pay homage to the great minds that lead Humanity forward through history. No more are we enslaved by belief in the supernatural, no more are we forced to obey the illogical rules of "divine" morality. We are free to explore the Universe, and the Universe is ours to explore.

AGRICULTURE NEWS

With the introduction of hybrid crops such as the gluten-rich a-wheat-3k, the guango and the protato, our farms output enough nutrients to render famines a thing of the past. Surplus crops allow for less-restrictive population control as well as enabling the breeding of chimera livestock such as the Bohemian Greasel or Brahmin for a source of protein.

EXPLORATION NEWS

With Continent Alpha declared fully explored many in the faculty are pushing towards the rebuilding of the Oceanic Exploration Institute. Limited to a handful of crude coastal barges and shore-based facilities, the Institute has fallen into decline ever since the sinking of the UNV Curiositas. With new resources secured, a concentrated R&D effort attempts to develop shipbuilding techniques adapted to the materials and tools we already possess on Planet. With them the investigation of artificial but garbled radio signals coming from beyond the horizon would be possible.

Still, many critics believe it is best not to reveal our existance to other groups of survivors. So far we have been most-fortunate, as we enjoy peaceful relationships with our neighbours, but who knows what forces of ignorance lurk in the beyond? Then again is not the fear of the unknown what cast us into the dark ages, into the realms of spirituality and religious fanaticism? By fearing to boldly go where no man has gone before we rebuild the ignorance which was plentiful on the Homeworld.

And on that note I will end this weeks episode. I have been Eva Petrenko, live long and prosper.

 

[Nevill]

Mission year 2150.

A lot has been happening in the last 15 years, but unfortunately, I am not a a liberty to talk about it much. So I guess I'll just mention the small things.

The Planetary Transit System allowed us to grow very fast, but unfortunately, there is simply not enough food on the continent to support the population of this size and maintain productive capabilities at the same time. Thankfully, we have found the solution. Each third year is pronounced the Year of Gluttony and it is then when our citizens get to eat as much as their stomachs could muster. However, it is then followed by two years of abstinence when our citizens tighten their belts and go on a diet. Maintaining careful balance between hedonism and ascetism allows us to achieve maximum productivity:

Spoiler

The 4-1-0 tile is shared between 3 bases. A bit micro-intensive, but you do what you have to do.

We have also made an important breakthrough and have become the first sea-faring nation on the Planet!

Spoiler

Well, technically, the second one, but Curiositas had sunk long ago, and anyway, that's how history - as far as the game is concerned - will remember it.

However, it wasn't a smooth voyage, as when everything was ready for the construction of the prototype we have encountered a bit of a WTF moment:

Spoiler

Note the ETA on the next breakthrough, it's genuine. Now, can anyone tell me what that was about?

The measurments of our - second - lead researcher's skull were as conclusive as they were damning. Indeed, after a quick visit to the flowerbeds of the Ministry of Love and Peace he admitted that his third cousin, twice removed, was a filthy half-mexican - which was all that we needed to pronounce him guilty of sabotaging progress on Santiago's behalf. The trip to the mindworm pits was short and uneventful. His successor offered results on the very next turn which is a testament to the efficiency of our promotion system.

It's not like our -1 POLICE rating means that our citizens won't stand for Nerve Stapling. It is that our citizens aren't afraid of Nerve Stapling anymore.

Meanwhile, on the colonization front we found it much more effective to specialize cetrain bases in the production of Colony Pods while developing the rest of them. However, it turned out that since our Secret Project allows to instantly grow them to size 3, it is beneficial to disband those that hit size 1 and immediately re-settle them.

Spoiler

I do not know where they get the extra population 100 years before they learn of Genejacks or Cloning, and neither do I care. All that matters is that they can work for the glory of our hippy nation!

I think by now everyone has at least some idea where the others have landed, so I'll divulge a bit more.

It also turned out that we are not alone in the world! Well, after we purged the mexicans, that is. Turns out, some religious nuts beelined straight for the jungles and made them their playground.

Spoiler

We are making some nice trades with them even as we surround them with our Mind Worm hordes:

Spoiler

Aslo, the discovery of our new friends prompted us to pop the pods near their territory before we were ready for it, sometimes with disastrous results:

Spoiler

However, since we have a positive PLANET rating, the wild ones ignored us completely as they went for the Believing units. Aren't we the best neighbour ever!

Finally, we are proud to announce that we have resettled the territory that formerly belonged to Corazon Santiago. The base that now stands on the ruins of Cleve's Bunker is aptly named 'Memory of Earth', reminding everyone of where they will end up the moment they decide they can treat us as l1bruls.

Spoiler

Long Live the Glorious Hippiecracy!

 

[Nevill]

Well. During the sea exploration an Isle of the Deep have managed to stumble upon the Spartans yet again. Tough luck. A squad that initially headed for the Believers was immediately rerouted.

There are 2 ways we can go from here. Next turn, M.Y. 2160 could very well be the last one for the Spartans. Ideally it should have been this turn, but I didn't account for all the fungus. I probably have enough firepower to take all of their remaining bases.

Alternatively, we can turn it into a vassal state, repopulate the island (it would not be that hard for my PTS, though it will be a bit of a drain on my resourses, I think I can do this in about 15 turns), and restore the faction to the former glory... in return for it swearing allegeance, since our current rules allow for cooperative victories.

The choice is for Cassidy to make.

 

[Kalin]

Won't conquest simply trigger an escape pod again? Thought it did until the 2200s or so.