I eventually lost the game...

[DPimentel]

but it somehow felt nice when the whole galaxy thought I was Diabolical.

[Mad Igor]

you did wut ??? is that even possibru ?
no matter what,AI always behind me in TECH by billions of years.
using guardians as free tech pigs is a good way to have from 1 level tech to 10 just in a day.

[Bloodly]

Race-based victories that aren't based off Tech.

[DPimentel]

I was a race with peaceful traits, but after starting one too many wars with the same opponent, my reputation became Diabolical. With no pirates around to crush, I couldn't get my reputation up and there was no chance for me.

[Bingeling]

I would think you need to be very aggressive in war unless you do something "wrong".

Very heavy bombardment, usage of planet destroyers, and fighting without a war is among the things that does not help your reputation at all. But declaring war and grabbing a number of colonies helps too.

And winning is optional when it comes to having fun [:)]

[Antiscamp]

The best games are the ones I lose. [:D]

[Jim D Burns]

ORIGINAL: Mad Igor
no matter what,AI always behind me in TECH by billions of years.

If you're looking for a challenge, try a game as the Boskara and role-play it. You must be evil (no Way of the Ancients government switching), you must enslave or purge all non-bug population and you must immediately declare war on every race encountered (except other bugs) and you cannot ever accept a peace, you must conquer every single planet to end a war. A further limitation I use is you must research any racial tech before you can research any other tech in that tier.

I've yet to win this kind of game, but it has been very fun to try the two or three times I've tried it so far. I usually get owned once I have 3-5 enemies, so sending out lots of explorers hasn't served me well as it usually does.

Jim