LDiCesare, AI getting 2 systems doesn't seem to be a problem as long as I get 2 planets myself. I think I had this situation twice and I took them out before they could culturally flip anybody. I usually take speed+1 (for the same reasons), war party and bunch of military bonuses. For the purpose of getting second planet I prefer luck as it's cheaper than one extra speed.

Def Zep,

I did not pay particular attention to culture flips in 1.04 but I'm rather sure that planets revert to pre-maso bonus state after culture flips in 1.035. That is why we sometimes get those 1 morale situations at times(could be because of scorched earth).

Let me see if I could confirm this in my current maso game and I'll report back.

This maybe should go into another thread but does anyone know if the AIs tend to start with the same starting picks each game with parties randomized or if they are tied together or completely randomized as well. It's a shot in the dark because I've played alot and haven't been able to determine this but thought perhaps someone with more time on their hands than I do may have figured it out.

What I'm looking for is take the Drengins for example. I understand that the Drengins starting party may be randomized but are their starting picks the same each game, different, or different only based on their starting party. In other words, if the Drengin are War Party are their starting picks the same each time they are War Party but different if they are the Federalists.

I suppose on maso with the huge PQ bonus that the picks may not matter that much but it would be good to know. I assume that each race does not start with the same picks but that may not be a good assumption. Anyone have any ideas, thoughts, done any research on this?


~SDC~

Fellow masochists,

I can only now report that PQ bonus is +30%. That trait doesn't change much through the course of the game (not too many galaxy wide PQ enhancers nowadays) so you should all be able to see it by spying on Incredible AI.

#27 Ray,

Thanks. I cannot check myself, as in my current game more than 25 turns (save/pre-save positions) have passed since the culture-flip. I tried starting a new game on a Tiny map to check, but it ended before any significant culture could be generated by my SB's.

I will be sure to permanently save a turn in my current Huge game should another flip occur. That way I can check the pre- and post-PQ's of the planet and see whether, indeed, it reverts to the original (base) value under player-control. Unfortunately, due to the map layout, this will be a weekend or two more of playing; I have taken all immediately-adjacent planets and must expand into a new area to build a SB next to any AI planets.

I'll report what I find in a separate thread.

~SDC~

I've checked, Dep Zep. I kept my eye on a Alt system which was close to defecting. It had PQ24 before and PQ20 after it flipped.

Thanks, Ray.

I think I'll go with a strong Diplomacy rating and try to score some good deals, rather than continue to pursue a cultural dominance strategy, in 1.04a.06x.

~SDC~

No problems, Def Zep. Agree with you on Diplomacy, with the recent boosts, it is in a strong position to become the next Uber Strat.

I think the currentship power evaluation allows to survive with relatively poor fleets of starfighters. The biggest problem on maso (to me) is that the other ai's research battleships and dreadnoughts fast, so they'd be better off fighting one another than you. Build starfighters, and voila...

#34

Agree, LiD. The tech pace in 1.04.06x is blistering - Overlords by ~ turn 75; Excaliburs within 25 turns of that.

I actually find I enjoy Cripploing more than Maso because of this. The AI has been improved all around by 1.04, so 5xBrilliant's are harder than previously, and techs & trade goods are more evenly distributed.

~SDC~

I've won a few games now on maso/tiny/rare, where I had only one planet for a long time. The key seems to be war-mongering:

1) Rush for Trade and send out freighters to the nearest, most powerful, civs.

2) Act broker; buy and sell everything to everyone and try to stay on top. Research whatever the AI doesn't to make sure you always have something to bribe him with. Try to get hold of a trade good. One will do.

3) As soon as the AI's start trading with each other, bribe everyone to start wars on the others. Make sure the minors start wars as well. Prioritize starting wars between trade partners before their trade income has started to grow substantial.

4) Stand by with transports when a minor empties its planet to go to war. It's usually enough with one or two transports for every minor. This gives you a very nice foothold.

5) Stand by with constructors for when resource star bases are destroyed in one of the wars. Play it right and you will soon have resource monopoly.

The AI's will switch to war time economy, wasting a lot of resources building up fleets while you can focus on improving trade, building constructors and research. If you do this carefully you will often be able to restart wars that have just ended, keeping the AI fighting while you sail for victory.

Be careful about letting one AI get ahead. Give the others a tech advantage by trading only with them for a while, and make sure they gang up on the most powerful one.

With this strategy, the war fleet must be about half of the most powerful AI. Since he will only be trading with you due to the constant wars he will be very reluctant to start a war with you. You may actually be able to pull off an alliance win with 3 or 4 AI's!

(This strategy works on all difficulty levels I've tried it on, but it requires a lot of care in the diplomatic contants on maso.)

Maso/Tiny/Rare is probably the easiest Maso setting and a good launch pad for those who are keen to get their feet wet on Maso.

The reason I say this after playing 2 of those is that AIs would usually only have 1-2 systems to apply their massive bonuses to and that AI advantage could be comfortably overcome by the human through capturing the minors' very attractive systems by rushing.

A subsequent frigate rush on weak majors (especially majors at war) would usually present the human with the critical mass to win the game.

However, for those who care about score, just note that the Metaverse does not reward speed so don't expect a good score even if this is Maso.

Yeah, tiny/maso/rare is easy (for maso)since you can quickly pick off races with only one planet, and most races do only have one planet. Once two AIs go to war against each other, they don't adequately defend their homeworlds, and you can sneak in a vastly inferior fleet and take over their homeworld in one turn. You never have to deal with their actual military.

Something that I've been finding useful in the early game (best on large maps) is when I'm tech whoring early in the game I trade with a distant civ for some freighters (since cash is no longer an option). Usually they'll be in some distant corner of the map and I can use them to immediately establish a long, profitable trade route. This saves me from having to switch to military production to build freighters, and also it means I start getting money immediately, without the long delay as my freighter slowly crawls across the galaxy.

vincible, I've traded freighters too. That's quite profitable indeed. Not only you get a nice trade route almost immediately, but you can chart unknown areas at the same time. Sad that the ai values their freighters so much. It's actually better to get incoming freighters than outgoing since this frees a trade route...

none of these startegies seem to work for me.
Usually i lose after the turn i build my first defender to a swarm of excaliburs
is there a flaw with these stategies or do i suck flat out
Dont forget to join my empire!!!!!!

All 1.05 Maso players (yes, I'm talking to the 6 of you),

Here are the Maso bonuses that I have gleaned by spying on Incredible AIs.

Use at your own risk. Wouldn't be 100% correct but likely to be close.

Planet Quality +30%
Economics +80%
Interest Rate +15%
Diplomacy +30% (may be +20%)
Research +47%
Morale +50%
Influence +50%
Trade +50%
Weapons +7%
Defense +15%
HP +15%

Difficulty in getting exact numbers relates to the different racial picks selected and anomalies found by the AI before I reach Medium espionage.

Thank you!

That many???

It would be interesting to have a roll call of all current 1.05/1.09 Maso players. Those still playing Maso, pls check in.

You might have better luck starting a new thread...

I still play, I just won a couple games today actually.

Yes, I noticed. Good to see someone perserving at this level.

i've had a break, but now i'm back checking out the beta...

~SDC~

Ray:

I'm going "Back up" to Maso now that 1.05 and the XP are out. I believe many of the problems I encountered with this level at first under 1.04 are re-balanced by the changes SD has made.

~SDC~

um haven't won one in a long time. Large is a bit too hard for me. I've stopped using ctr-n to see if surrounding stars are better with less starting PQ. Right now it seems the starting condition makes no difference, and I keep getting stoned by the 3rd AI to rush.