Friendly Challenge

Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time, 4X space strategy game which models a "living galaxy" with incredible options for replayability and customizability. Experience the full depth and detail of large turn-based strategy games, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game. Now greatly enhanced with the new Universe release, which includes all four previous releases as well as the new Universe expansion!

Moderators: elliotg, Icemania

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Icemania
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Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

Hi All:

A friendly community challenge.

With the settings below what is the largest empire you can create within 30 game years?

• Normal Empire Age of Shadows
• 1400 Stars, 10 x 10 Sectors
• PreWarp Expansion, Extreme Difficulty, Difficulty Scales Near Victory
• Restless Aggression
• Very Many Strong Pirates, Nearby Distance, No Respawn
• Many Space Creatures
• Expensive Research
• Abundant Colonies, Teeming Independent Life
• Excellent Homeworld, Starting, Pre-Warp, Normal Corruption, Centre
• 19 Empires, Excellent Homeworld, Pre-Warp
• Victory Threshold 80%, conditions increased to 50% for Territory, Population and Economy

Limitations
• Intelligence Agents do nothing except Counter Espionage
• Recovered debris field ships (and any other recovered ship) must be retired
• Obviously no use of the game editor!

These limitations can't be checked but as this is intended to be friendly ... we'll assume trust.

Largest empire can be interpreted using any in-game metric. This thread is not intended as a competition, I would rather discuss the strategy i.e. the how.

Happy to join similar friendly challenges on other settings.
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Kayoz
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Kayoz »

What about...

- enforce colonization range limits
- allow independent colonies to start new empires during the game
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” ― Christopher Hitchens
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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

ORIGINAL: Kayoz

What about...

- enforce colonization range limits
- allow independent colonies to start new empires during the game

Thanks for the prompt Kayoz. Let's go with no colonisation range limits and allowing independent colonies to start new empires. For anything else, the bar is open, choose whatever you like.

Mastik
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Mastik »

Score: 230,559 (13th in my universe) [X(]
Pop: 47,634
Economy: 118,315
Colonies: 6,000 (6)
Military: 56,830
Research: 1780

Random Race: Gizureans
Random Gov: Hive Mind

My 1st non-pirate attempt at Shadows. My initial system was not ideally located, few nearby systems. Few pirate encounters in the early game, which was good. Was unable to locate a suitable high tech location for research base. Extremely long delay for colonization tech. 2 of my planets were nothing but constant pirate battles for 20 years, it was crazy!

Key Errors: Should have upgraded to large space station (for research) early in game, or redesigned small station with stronger research. I should have spammed defense bases earlier.

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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

Good stuff Mastik. I'm waiting for the new patch before launching a new game. I've never actually played the Gizureans and tend to use Quameno to boost research.

Any screenshots, this may also prompt strategic discussion. Did you invade some independents? Or launch Pirate Extermination Fleets?

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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

ORIGINAL: elliotg

Thanks for the feedback on this thread.

In the next update game difficulty has been increased on higher levels in the following ways:
- more defending troops at colonies, especially larger colonies
- buying tech from other empires is more expensive for the player
- selling tech to other empires is less lucrative for the player
- relationship thresholds for buying tech from other empires is higher for player (i.e. other empire has to like you more)
- non-player empires build more exploration and construction ships when they are able
- overall difficulty factors have been increased (i.e. each difficulty setting above normal is now harder)

Also, colony populations now defend better against invasions - their defend strength has been doubled.

Thanks
Elliot

In light of the changes in the upcoming update, I've changed the limitations to allow technology selling, we'll see how it goes.

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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

Edit: Technology selling is still broken but let's allow it for the fun of showing how much it changes the game!
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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

Here is the 2130 result of my first 1.9.0.13 game (technology selling allowed):

Score: 2,742,354 (closest empire is 639,629)
Population: 263,118
Economy: 448,036
Colonies: 93,000 (i.e. 93)
Military: 1,881,440
Research: 29,060
Wonders: 28,000

These numbers are from the Empire Comparison screen, Achievements tab.
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Flinkebeinchen
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Flinkebeinchen »

A screenshot would be cool
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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

Diplomacy screen

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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

Empire Comparison, Achievements tab (as you can see I don't finish many games!)

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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

Come on you lot ... otherwise I'll have to start sledging ... [:D]
Canute0
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Canute0 »

Respect Icemania, a score of 2,742,354 !!!
I tryed yesterday a game with this settings and just got a score of 360k.
Its hard to survive when you just got a hullsize of 160/240 and the pirates already use 750, got shields and all the other goodies you need to research/trade first.
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elanaagain
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by elanaagain »

I bow to Icemania... I can only dream of such a high score. I guess I'm frozen out of the friendly competition.
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Darkspire
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Darkspire »

ORIGINAL: elanaagain

I bow to Icemania... I can only dream of such a high score. I guess I'm frozen out of the friendly competition.

And me, I can only play on 700 10x10 with 7 players [:(]

Darkspire
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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

Definitely don't want to freeze anyone out ... this was primarily intended to discuss strategy after all.

That said, feel free to name alternate settings if you like. Darkspire what are the other settings you want us to play?

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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

On the strategic front it's worth highlighting just how much of a difference technology selling makes. Without technology selling my score was only about 600,000 in 2130.

Top priority is exploring widely to find other pirates, to buy contacts with other empires, and then rip them off selling technology that is high price but low value in their ability to compete in the game. Once a few empires have been found there is enough money to fund everything.

And yes, rather persistently (particularly given similar pleas to change go back several years), I'm continuing to argue the need for the developers to change this.

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Darkspire
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Darkspire »

That said, feel free to name alternate settings if you like. Darkspire what are the other settings you want us to play?

You might have to wait for that one, but it will be worth the wait, I promise [;)]

Darkspire
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Darkspire
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Darkspire »

ORIGINAL: Icemania

On the strategic front it's worth highlighting just how much of a difference technology selling makes. Without technology selling my score was only about 600,000 in 2130.

Top priority is exploring widely to find other pirates, to buy contacts with other empires, and then rip them off selling technology that is high price but low value in their ability to compete in the game. Once a few empires have been found there is enough money to fund everything.

And yes, rather persistently (particularly given similar pleas to change go back several years), I'm continuing to argue the need for the developers to change this.

They did, you have a checkbox to disable it [:)]

There is absolutely no need to trade tech in DW, all it serves to do is increase cash, the rep + is not really worth mentioning, cash is really not needed at all unless you really are in a tight spot.
For tech trading to be worth bothering with it needs a total rethink and a new diplomacy system, good luck with that. Best game for an example is the GalCiv series, the tech trading, treaties etc in the diplomacy screen are a game unto themselves with the other empires. The DW diplomacy model is pretty flat and lifeless really, gave up with it moons ago as it was never likely to get better, shame but as the saying goes 'you can't have your cake and eat it', more fun to send off intelligence agents to try and get the tech or see what you can find on captured ships.

Darkspire
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Icemania
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RE: Friendly Challenge

Post by Icemania »

C'mon Darkspire ... ! We need to liven the place up a bit, pass on your favourite settings, we'll play on your turf ...

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