The Hot Seat

[Thorin]

Has anyone run a scenario using the Hot Seat yet?

I've just tried it a few times, normal size map, twelve races with two selected (The Thinkers and Humans), difficulty set to easy.

So far I've found this very difficult. Some of the difficulty arises from the interface, which flip flops back and forth between the races you are controlling in a somewhat confusing manor. It could just be something that you need to get used to, more playing will show.

One of the biggest problems is the population density versus star quality. I tried a few other race combination's without playing them out and found similar problems. It seems as if there are very, very few stars close to the home systems that are very useful, and most are already claimed. This makes any initial growth next to impossible.

I've also found that in this type of game the surrounding races are more hostile than usual. I've had two of them start wars inside of two turns, one when an ark of mine arrived at their colony (the Qa Qa), and one with no provocation whatsoever.

I'm about to launch another attempt, this time with only six races, three of them under my control, on the same map. I'll post again once I've played it out a while.

[Iceman]

Hot Seat needs to hide all screen info when ending turns. It's easy to gather info on the previous/next player.

[Thorin]

From the point of view of multiple players passing the same box back and forth, I agree with you. The entire working of the turn base started to make more sense when I considered it that way, too. From the point of view of one player controlling multiple races though, it's just annoying.

One thing I have yet to learn, and I wonder whether or not you know, has to do with bonus and penalty. Are the bonus and penalty determined by the race populating the planet, or by the faction controlling the colony? For example, if I play Human and take over a colony of the Thinkers which has been devoted to research, will that colony continue to produce tech at the previous rate that they did with their research bonus?

[Iceman]

Well, the main purpose of HOT seat should be to have multiple players, quiaff?  [;)]  Though I do use it to play several races alone - but in this case, I *do* know everything about each, so the point is moot.  [:D]  You can't really will yourself to "forget" info, can you?
Anyways, seeing the minimap/starmap/finances/messages/etc or seeing a sort of splash screen during turn processing, what exactly is the difference?  [8D]
 
Bonuses and penalties are determined by the controlling faction, as well as Habitability (in case the Cryokons are part of the equation). It's strange, yes, but I guess that's why most games avoid mixed race colonies  [;)]  It's usually more trouble than it's worth.
Notice that each faction keeps its own growth rate though.

[Thorin]

Well, I'm not worried about trying to forget, after all, the reason I'm playing multiple races is to try and play them cooperatively. The main reason to question the source of the bonus and penalties is wondering whether it would be fruitful in my current campaign to let one faction swallow the others.

I guess the answer in this case is no.

[Anonymous]

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