Custom Race AAR

Ooh, good, someone else actually doing an AAR!

For screenshots, I upload them to Photobucker - others use Imageshack, and I think any image-hosting site works. I believe the manual says how to take them.

Part 1 - The Beginning: Flirting with Economic Meltdown

Turn 1:

This race was created with one overall goal in mind: Expand, expand, and expand some more. So my first turn is spent toward those aims. Since I'm using the Altarian tech tree, my first priority is to beat any true Altarians that might be on the map to getting the Social Matrix galactic achievement, so that's the first thing I set on my homeworld to build.

Toying with the idea of buying the social matrix outright, I decide against it and instead purchase a colony ship outright. This may hurt my home planet's population somewhat, but given their 50% total population growth bonus, I don't think it's going to matter much in the long run. It will give me the ability to colonize 2 planets early, as well, capitalizing on my race's strength of population growth over all else.

Taking advantage of my 'naturally joyous' people, I raise the tax rate to 49% and set production to 100%, and to further get an early technological edge over the computer opponents, I set research to 40% and split the other 60% between social and military production. At this point, I'm making a profit per turn of 16bc. Knowing my empire is going to quickly be on the fast track to economic meltdown, I throw my first research at Planetary Improvements, with the plan to head down the Economic and Morale research paths as soon as possible. It has a long research time (41 weeks), but if I'm lucky I'll have a Creative event happen to cut that time down significantly.

I landed on the edge of a star cluster, with a smaller cluster to the south and the main cluster of star clusters to the north. It will be necessary to absorb my star cluster as soon as possible to make sure nobody else gets a foothold in it. I'll also have to see if the smaller cluster to the south is occupied. If it is, that just makes it even more necessary to get a foothold in it quickly and weaken whoever's already there.

I set my space miner to automated, send the scout ship toward the nearest star in my cluster, and send my first colony ship (after landing to fill up the rest of its hold with colonists) in its wake. Nothing really left to do, so I end my turn here.

Current approval: 61%. Treasury: 1654bc

Turn 2:

Not much to report here, I had my bought colony ship come off the assembly line and sent it toward another nearby star.

Turn 3:

Nothing happened. The colony and scout ships are en route.

Turn 4:

The scout ship got a good look at the Thuban star system. A class 10 and a class 11 planet waiting to be colonized, and I point my closest colony ship toward the class 11. There are a couple of anomolies nearby, which my scout ship snatches up before heading off to scout the next star.

Turn 7:

My colony ship arrives and colonizes Thuban V. This turned out to have a nice +100% manufacturing tile, which I immediately put to use. The scout ship arrived at the next star, Migor. Migor I turned out to be a habitable class 14, but the class 11 Migor II is, disappointingly, a barren planet. I diverted my remaining colony ship from its path to colonize Migor I.

Turn 8:

On its way through the Spica system headed toward Migor I, the colony ship spotted Spica II, which turned out to be class 17. It was immediately colonized. It will still be some dozen turns before the next colony ship comes off the production line, but I'm in no hurry; Migor I isn't going anywhere soon. My home planet finished its social matrix on this turn, allaying any worries I had about not being able to finish it before the Altarians.

Turn 16:

My colony ship came off the production line, 5 turns earlier than expected. It seems my home planet finished its first factory on the 100% tile, and that just about halved the time until the next ship was finished. I sent it off after Migor I

Turn 23:

Planetary Improvements finished researching. My next research will be Xeno Economics. I'm not in any economic danger right now, but I'm already taking a loss per turn of 20bc, with the newly colonized Migor I. My next colony ship has come off the assembly line, and I steered it toward the Class 11 Spica III

At this point, I think to myself that stopping the production of new colony ships would perhaps be in my best interests, to avoid economic meltdown. Then I laugh at myself and call myself a wuss for even entertaining the thought of slowing down my colonization. Let the space bunnies spread and grow!

Current approval: 66%. Treasury: 1654bc

Turn 26:

My scout ship spots another class 17 planet, Altros V. It's a little ways away, but I divert my most recent colony ship away from its path toward Spica III to go colonize it instead. Another ship off the line can get Spica III.

Turn 34:

Another ship has since come off the line, and colonized Spica III. It turned out to have natives, which I resettled (neutral) not wanting the population penalty. What the planet lacks in PQ, it turned out to more than make up for in specials, having a 300% manufacturing, a 100% and a 300% research, a 100% Influence, and a 100% Food production bonus tile. NICE.

I'm taking a per-turn loss of 46bc now, and I haven't even begun to slow down building colony ships. In fact, I've started to speed up, they're coming off the line faster.

Current Approval: 69%. Treasury: 1386bc

Turn 37:

Finally finished researching Xeno Economics. I set the Adv. Market Center to build next in all of my colonies. That part of my mind that's screaming at me that I need to do something about the impending economic crash is somewhat mollified by this. Next: Temples.

Turn 45:

Me: Er, why are we researching a propulsion upgrade?

Me: So I can make faster colony ships.

Me: Why do we want faster colony ships? We're already having an economic crisis from how fast we're colonizing.

Me: It is NOT an economic crisis.

Me: We're losing 39bc per turn now, even after all our colonies built their adv. market centers.

Me: So?

Me: We're down to less than 1000 in our treasury!

Me: So?

Me: So do something about this!

Me: Ok, fine. We'll raise taxes some more.

Me: Wait, what? No! That's not going to solve the problem!

Current Approval: 51%. Treasury: 855bc. Net Income: -8bc

Me: See! It didn't fix the problem!

Me: Oh, pipe down, will ya? It was enough for now.

Turn 49:

Me: *screams*

Me: What? What happened?

Me: We're STILL colonizing!

Me: Of course. We don't want to slow down our expansion.

Me: We're going into economic meltdown!

Me: No we're not.

Me: We're in denial.

Me: No we're not.

Me: We HAVE to fix this! We're losing...

Current Approval: 51%. Treasury: 776bc. Net Income: 14bc

Me: Uh...

Me: See? We're doing fine. Don't worry so much.

Me: *sulk*

Me: Oh, grow up.

Ok, so how did this happen? A combination of factors, really. I've been building Temples in place of the entertainment network on all my planets, and some of my less populated planets have started to reach a high enough population that their higher morale started to count more heavily against my home planet's overcrowding morale. A second temple at my home planet also offset this, so I was able to tax my people more heavily. That made the difference between losing income per turn and gaining income per turn, and I'm happy enough as long as the current approval rating is 51% or higher.

With the economy well in hand, the next few dozen turns will be more of the same, colonizing and expanding at an unwise pace.

Part 2 - Boring Nothingness.

Turn 85:

Nothing interesting has happened in the last couple dozen turns, besides a second bout with the economy, resolved by lowering taxes until Approval reaches 100% for 5 or so turns and basically doubling my empire's population in that time. This left me slightly in the negative for treasury, but after I turned taxes up again I was in the black again within a single turn. Xeno Ethics was researched, and I aligned with good, further resolving my economic problems by having my top 5 populated planets' initial colonies no longer count toward maintenance costs. At this point I'm in pretty good shape, and my empire has never stopped expanding. I'm continuing to absorb the star cluster I'm in, and have fully scouted the star cluster to the south.

Turn 151:

I've still had nothing interesting happen. Some other civilizations got some galactic achievements and a trade good or two, and I'm still absorbing my two star clusters. I do see the Torian border, way off to the south outside my range where a wormhole punted my scout ship at one point. We still haven't made contact. I've taken a nibble at the northern star cluster, and still haven't run into anyone there, so once I'm done absorbing the southern cluster I'll be heading in that direction next.

All this expansion has made my civilization the overall #1, but someone out there has managed to beat me in the technology race. I'm second in Research for now. For now...

Turn 208:

Still nothing interesting has happened. I've hit the top of the charts in everything but popularity and Military, and have been researching mostly infrastructure. By the time I meet anyone, I figure I'm going to have some scary research and production capabilities comparitively, but I still haven't met anyone.

I've completely absorbed the two star clusters I'm currently in, and have started on the one to the north of me. There's got to be SOMEBODY up here for me to meet. Over 200 turns without meeting anyone. I know the Iconians and Thalans share a border, because the two are routinely trading mining bases, but I haven't seen any wars start yet. I'm starting to wonder if I don't get notified of wars if I haven't met at least one of the warring sides.

Sorry this part is so short. It's just rather boring, over 200 turns without meeting any other civs, nothing really of note happened. While this is fortunate for me with the way I've set up my civ, allowing me to take maximum advantage of my civ strengths since nothing's stopped me from expanding for over 200 turns, it's still rather dull, and this part kinda reflects that.

That is a long time to go without meeting anyone.

You may want to give this thing another try.

Part 3: Meeting the Neighbors

Turn 215:

As I was researching the techs to be able to colonize the decent number of high PQ toxic planets inside my borders, the Drath Legion poked their flagship into my territory. Contact was made, pleasantries were exchanged, and our initial meeting finished with them telling me they're not sure if the universe is big enough for the both of us. Pricks. They're somewhere in the larger part of the northern star cluster.

According to the ranking reports, the Drath aren't the worst civ out there, but they're pretty close. Overall 9th, while sitting in 10th for technology. It's probably best to just absorb these guys culturally. I start generating spies to raise my intelligence level with these guys.

One of my scouts reports that further up in the northern star cluster, there's a PQ20 planet in no-man's-land. It MUST be made mine.

Turn 228:

The Torians must have set a starbase or found a resource somewhere between their area and mine, because their star cluster is still too far for me to reach. But somehow, they managed to send a scout deep into my territory and make contact. They're overall 6th, with 3rd in population, production, and influence. Definitely a sleeping giant I'll have to handle carefully once they're close enough to even need to worry about. Maybe it's time for me to research the life support branch and scout out their star cluster.

Turn 229:

First contact with the Arceans. They seem to be in the same star cluster as the Torians, given the direction their scout came from. I'm definitely going to have to research some more life support and send a long range scout down that way, see what's going on down there. The cluster is JUST out of range for my current set of scouts. They're the overall 8th, another civilization to absorb culturally, if the Torians don't get them first.

Ok, so far we have the Drath, Torians, and Arceans I've made contact with. The Thalans and Iconians are out there sharing a border somewhere, and I heard the Yor boasting about one of their researches, even though we've never made contact. So that's 6 of the 9 computer opponents accounted for, and I still have all 8 of the minors yet to meet. With Tolmeikan's mod I'm using, the minors are going to be acting like very weak majors, so some of them are probably out there carving out little empires for themselves and being a thorn in the side of any majors whose sphere of influence they fall into.

Given that I've made contact with not just one, but three of the AI opponents, and one of them being a major player, it's time to start researching some ship armaments and building a fleet. I just know that if I don't have some sort of military, even the Arceans will think they can push me around once they've built a fighter.

Turn 231:

A report of a mining base defection revealed that one of the three remaining players out there is the Altarians, and they share a border with the Yor. That's one more accounted for, two more to discover.

Turn 234:

One of the minor races, the Carcinoids, has a starbase up in what's technically my territory, mining an economic resource. Their home planet has to be nearby. I just haven't seen any sign of them yet, besides this starbase. I'm also trying to figure out why bringing a ship within sensor range of this starbase didn't count as first contact with this race. Meh, I'll just have to make contact with their planet. And if that doesn't work... I'll just have to make contact with missiles.

Turn 236:

An economic boom event hit my empire. Other than that, not much to report here.

Turn 249:

There, on my northern border. An indentation in my otherwise circular sphere of influence there. My borders have pushed up into someone else's territory. There's someone there. Is it the Drath, whom I've already met? Or someone new? Time to go find out.

Turn 252:

The ARCEANS are up there? But I thought they were on my southern border... That's where their scout came from. Must have been a wormhole, I guess. The scout also located the Darloks' planet. That's two minors discovered, 6 to go.

Turn 261:

The Terran Alliance revealed themselves, building a reeducation center on one of their planets. That leaves just one more major to discover, then I'll know who all the major players are. Making contact with them is another story, and I have an extremely long range scout ship built for that purpose. This thing's so loaded up with life support modules, it could reach the opposite side of the map. Just not very fast.

Turn 266: First contact with the Thalans, as one of my scouts was snooping around the Torian borders. The Thalans and the Torians are at war, and from the looks of things here, the Torians are much the worse from it. I don't really care what goes on in that region of space for the moment, given that it's fairly distant. The Thalans are overall second, with myself as the overall first. My bordering with the Arceans and Drath is starting to restrict my expansion, so I need to decide what to do about these two... ally and expand through them, or culturally absorb them. Probably the latter, as I've mentioned before.

With my expansion restricted on all sides by either dead space or bordering empires, it's time to move from an expansion economy to a research and production economy. And I think that will conclude this part of this AAR. The last 50 turns have been more interesting than the preceeding 200, but it looks like the boring part of this is over.

Part 4 - The Thalan Threat

Turn 270:

The Torians surrender to the Thalans last turn. This turn marks a considerable shift in the balance of power on the map, as the Torians were overall 4th and the Thalans were overall 2nd. Now the Thalans are still not 1st overall or in population (I still hold those honors), but have the 1st in production, influence, economy, and research. Moreover, the star cluster they were sharing with the Torians, and I assume they still share with the Iconians, has easily a higher number of star systems than the territory I own does.

At this point I have to make a decision of what to do about the Thalans. I can leave them alone, and they'll eventually start crawling across my southern border... my territory marks the bridge between the southern supercluster and the northern clusters. I can attack them now, and start a war of attrition with them that will probably never end, considering how long it will take for any reinforcements I send into their territory or they send into mine to arrive.

One thing is clear, the Torians have a whole supercluster to themselves (once they cast off the Iconians), and there's not much I can do about it right now; I can't get a foothold down there at this point. So in order to be able to combat them later, I need to absorb the territories of the Arceans and the Drath now. With their territories added to my own, my empire will be about the size of the southern supercluster, and I'll be in a better position to hold off the Thalans once they turn their pincers my direction. Time to give the Arceans and the Drath a big culture hug.

Turn 296:

After I spent so many turns researching the life support branch, a mega-event makes all life-support redundant. Yes, all ship ranges are now unlimited. This is a real game-changer, as the Thalans will no longer have to go through me to get to the rest of the universe. This is NOT a good thing. We'll see how this plays out, but I suspect this means I'm going to have to hit the Thalans earlier than I planned.

Turn 303:

A mega-event causes the Arceans and Drath to go to war with the Yor. This will be a good distraction for the two of them while I continue to set up my culture starbases. Before either of them know what's happening, I will own most of their planets. Then I'll deal with the Yor myself. The Yor are currently the #2 military power in the universe, with the Thalans as the #1.

In the midst of all this war declaration, the Altarian Resistance surrenders... to me? I've never even met them, but they give me all their planets. Well, that works for me, and gives me a foothold in another region of the universe. This also put me in contact with the Terrans. It's going to be a headache converting their colonies to my build standards, but it'll be worth it. The Altarians still had their home planet, so I get the benefit of their class 17 planet with its civilization capital base still intact.

Turn 304:

The Iconians surrendered to the Yor, and the Thalans declared war on me.

You know what? Okay, fine. It's fairly obvious that the game wants me to take care of the Thalans. Distance is no longer a problem, for them or for me, so fine. You wanted a #1 vs. #2 war game? You got it. I'm going to kick the Thalans right out of that supercluster they're sharing with the Yor now.

I hope...

Turn 309:

The Drath surrender to the Arceans, and the Terrans, the same turn the Thalans declare war, surrender to them. Majors are dropping like flies, and the Thalans remain the biggest threat, as I'm still culturally absorbing the Arcean and former Drath worlds.

Turn 352:

I noticed the Silicoids have built up a nice little empire for themselves, right in the middle of Yor space. The Yor remain at war with both the Thalans and the Arceans. The Arceans remain distracted by the war with the Yor, as their colonies fall like dominoes to my cultural starbases. The Thalans have, for the most part, left me alone, concentrating more on their war with the Yor. With the rapid surrenderings over the last 50 turns or so, the Thalans are now overall first, with me second, Yor third, and Arceans fourth.

The fight against the Thalans, when I can be bothered to fight it, is going to be a long, bloody affair. *sigh*

Turn 382:

The Arceans and the Yor settle their differences, and both immediately focus on the Thalans, who they are both at war with. I'm still taking chunks out of the Arceans culturally, so their distraction with what matters most suits me just fine. And if they manage to do any decent damage to the thalans, more the better. At this point, I'm seriously considering forming a three way alliance, an axis of good since the Yor had a shift in ethics, against the Thalans. It might be the only hope the universe has of not becoming a hegemony of the Thalans. The Thalans are already a majority in the UP by themselves.

I could just go to war with the Arceans, who wouldn't be able to put up any kind of resistance against me. The problem is they might just surrender to the Thalans, which I can't risk. The Thalans haven't been able to do much to me thus far, their ships falling to my defenders without really doing much damage to me. I still have the technological edge, even now. But I don't know how much longer that is going to last. The Thalans have a significant advantage in research at this point.

Turn 392:

I saw something the last few turns that I never would have believed if I hadn't seen it myself. A large scale Minor attack on the Thalans that ended with the Thalan loss of at least 3 planets. Note to self: Do NOT underestimate Minors in this mod. *shudder*

Turn 407:

I think it was around this turn that the game became unplayable. Not from a strategic standpoint, but from a standpoint of "Every time I hit the turn button the game freezes." I've had autosave going every turn, and it hasn't helped here; I load, and it just freezes again. I think between the Silicoid (minor, but with a huge military), Thalans, Arceans, Yor, and myself, there are just too many ships moving around, too many battles going on. There's still the other half dozen minors too, doing their thing, and I think it all just became too much for my computer when the Thalans, who I'd bought off the minors' backs some turns ago (except the Silicoids, who were actually kicking butt), suddenly declared war on all of them at the same time.

It's been an interesting game, and I'd hoped to finish it... but it's a mutual loss on all sides because the universe imploded.

Ouch. That sucks.

What exactly are your computer's specs? Even in my biggest games, I've never seen this happen.

Aw, that sucks. I liked this. Maybe your computer's RAM should be upgraded.