Welcome back. In today's installment, we encounter aliens who do not speak English, we get toyed with by the game's snarky humour, and we sink into debt like the greedy non-slaving humanoids we are.
Turn 13: April 1st, 2227...
The Dread Lords show up with a Terror Star in every solar system. These are like Death Stars on some major steroids. They can wipe out entire solar systems in a single blow. I've got maybe three turns left. Whelp, it was fun while it lasted...
April Fools! Yeah, I know it ain't funny.
Seriously though, I completely didn't notice the 700% Manufacturing Bonus site I had on Kora, so I get to building a Basic Slave Pit there. This means that there is a good chance that Kora will be my major ship building planet. Awesome.
However, I also pick up on the fact that I have a Starport built on Xiphon and am not currently using it. So I order those lazy louts on that planet to get to building a Constructor, so I can get me some Ascension Crystals.
Anomaly Finds: Turn 13
- 100 bc
Turn 14: April 8th, 2227...
I should point out a mistake I made last installment. My people do not reproduce faster at lower taxation rates; that only applies to races with Super Breeder, which is the Torians and maybe custom races, depending on how you set them up.
With this knowledge in mind, I go back to tax my people more (now at 36%) so I can increase my spending for production (now at 82%). I still am sitting at a nice approval rate of 85% and am earning a net income of 9 bc.
Noticing it will take 31 turns to produce a Constructor, I get impatient and buy one in full. It ain't cheap, ringing in at 1536 bc, but I can afford it with my treasury now sitting at 4462 bc. It'll be ready next turn so I can get to my Ascension Victory.
Anomaly Finds: Turn 14
- 1000 bc
- +1% Soldiering
Turn 15: April 15th, 2227...
The Gravity Control research project is complete. Huzzah. As someone who knows nothing about science, the technobabble this game spouts is quite entertaining. Apparently, in the pre-artificial gravity era, the hulls of the Drengin Empire ships "spun on a super conducting pivot powered by regulated micro bursts of thrust to keep the spinning consistent." The more you know.
To keep the research train moving along, I decide to go for some good ol' fashioned war tech in finishing off Interstellar Conquest, which will boost my Military Production by 10% as well as giving me access to the major war tech tree. 3 turns left on the research clock, let's get it done.
In addition, Xiphon finishes another Basic Slave Pit, so I just tell them to make a Slaveling Imagination Lab for some research bonuses. Also, they finished their Constructor which I paid for.
I have no desire to let my green neighbour to the south-east take an Ascension Crystal, so I send over my newly made Constructor to enforce the galaxy wide ownership law known as "Dibs".
In mucking about the local area for anomalies, I accidentally stumble across a temporary wormhole. At first I figured that I was screwed, but apparently I can still this place out. And who should I bump into but the Arceans... Time to deal with them next turn...
Anomaly Finds: Turn 15
- +1% Diplomacy
- Temporary Wormhole
Turn 16: April 22nd, 2227...
Luckily, or maybe not, I still do not have Universal Translator researched. This means that anything they say to me or I say to them is a garbled sentence of nonsense. Which means no dealing in technology or anything like that.
Also, my Basic Slave Pit on Kora is finished, kicking me up to a massive 23 Military Production and 16 Social Production while both have projects and are not specialized. This is going to be a very key planet, as if being my original capital didn't make that point enough. Another Basic Slave Pit won't hurt...
Unfortunately, I notice that I am now losing money on a turn by turn basis. Wonderful. So I up the tax rate (now at 45%) and lower the production spending (now at 71%) to put me at a net income of 1 bc and an approval rate of 70%. I have to watch this as I'm going to be wanting some spies soon, so I can gather info on the other races around the galaxy...
Anomaly Finds: Turn 16
- +1% Defenses
Turn 17: May 1st, 2227...
The Snathi talk to me. The Snathi are a minor race. And yet, they are bizarrely entertaining. They are considered to be the most evil race in the game. That's right, worse than warmongering slavers and worse than the omnicidal maniacs (that's us!).
Yup, they are squirrel-things. This game just hates the idea of anyone taking it seriously, doesn't it?
In any case, I finished building a Colony Ship on Kora. I don't know why I was building one there, as the only nearby planets I can colonize are Kora II, which is only a Class 4, and Russom III, which is unavailable until I get Heavy Gravity Colonization. Times like these really makes me wish I had invested in Creativity during the start of this game...
Whatever, I'll just colonize Kora IITalden. A Class 4 planet with no sites with bonuses. Best planet ever. No way I am ever building a Starport here so welcome to a planet of research. 14 bloody weeks until the first Lab is complete on this hellhole of a planet. I hope everyone who was on that Colony Ship had a shitty life back home because it ain't getting any better.
I tell Kora to stop making things I don't need and to get on making a Constructor, which will be complete in 8 weeks. Thank the Precursors someone is capable of getting things done...
For the final note of the game's snarky behaviour, I get my Flagship to investigate a Starship Graveyard anomoly.
Couldn't have said it any better myself...
Turn 18: May 8th, 2227...
Interstellar Conquest research complete. Moving right along the tree, I go ahead and decide to pick up Conquest Strategies research. It also gives me a +10% bonus to Military Production but also allows me to build Research Centers* and finally get my hands on weapon tech.
Which reminds me, I think I'll leave this up to the viewer(s): Which path should I take on weapons? The options are Beams, Missles, and Mass Drivers; the last option basically being guns in space. They are all equal in terms of viability, as none are inherently superior to the others.
Moving right along, it seems I have brushed up against the Korx somewhere. These guys are the merchant civilization of the game. They start with all the Trade research projects, for crying out loud! I've been meaning to give them a spin, but that racial negative against Loyalty has always kept me wary of using them. Not like we can really use that to our advantage, though. That's the problem with being the angry smashy type; you can't just upload Kora's Got Talent and Kora's Funniest Home Videos onto other planets and expect them to beg to be a part of your civilization. Oh well, at least Information Warfare will screw these knobs over.
Speaking of knobs, it appears I have also come into contact with the Iconian Refuge. These guys are wanna-be Precursors and are idiots. They made the Yor, who are homicidal robots who kicked the Iconians off their own home world. Bloody pricks, the lot of 'em. They are a bit of an oddity, in that they start with a racial bonus of +100% to Espionage, more than the actual Espionage civilization! They also start with the ability to colonize Aquatic and Toxic planets, which are extremely handy bartering tools if you are playing as them. Also, it allows for them to take high quality planets early on that no one else can touch. Watch out for these guys.
So another Basic Slave Pit has finished on Kora and I order them to build another one. I am beginning to notice the amount of space I have left is sparce, so I'm going to wait until I can get myself a nice Recruitment Center here for the extra funding.
Speaking of funding, I'm having net losses again. I ease back production funding to 66% and increase the tax rate to 50%. Still losing 6 bc a turn but now my approval rate is 59%. Ugh, this sucks.
Anomaly Finds: Turn 18
- +5% Espionage
Turn 19: May 15th, 2227...
Nothing really happens this turn. I just look over my position and decide to have my Flagship head back to Kora. That, and I spot an Economic Resource near where it warped to. Resources are much like Ascension Crystals in that you can build starbases on top of them using Constructors. However, resources have many flavours and often are able to be upgraded. This allows them to 'mine' the resource better. Examples of resources include Economic Resources, Military Resources, Influence Resources, and Research Resources. They basically just allow you to do better at those kinds of things.
Turn 20: May 22nd, 2227...
Another Basic Slave Pit is completed on Kora. I decide to leave the last two usable sites alone for now and focus on Military Production. I also notice that every single one of my planets is running a deficit. This runs for minor (12 bc a turn on Kora) to pretty cringe-worthy (30 bc a turn on Xiphon). This is a pretty bad headache to deal with...
Turn 21: June 1st, 2227...
I finally notice some anamolies close by to the Flagship that are on the way back to Kora. Let's check them out. Other than that, nothing of interest to report.
Anomaly Finds: Turn 21
- +2% Morale
Turn 22: June 8th, 2227...
We start the turn with news abou the Arcean Empire. They built a Galactic Wonder known as the Stellar Forge. I am currently unaware of what this does, but once I get a good look at one of their planets and finally find the money to get some spies, I'll know then. Of course, that could very well be too late. Oh well.
Anomaly Finds: Turn 22
- +1% Weapons
- 1 bc
Turn 23: June 15th, 2227...
Constructor is completed on Kora! Now let's go grab us a second Ascension Crystal!
With that out of the way, I decide to take a walk on the wild side and go back to making Colony Ships. Well, just one in any case. As costly as starting up a planet might be, the pay-off is too good to pass up.
Anomaly Finds: Turn 23
- +1% Trade
- Upgrading Bonus
Turn 24: June 22nd, 2227...
More civizilation-specific news, except this one is pretty helpful. The Terran Alliance has built an Innovation Complex. Regardless of what that does, it tells us that the Terran Alliance is on the map. I believe that makes all of the major races known to us, the player and his audience.
On top of that, Conquest Strategies research is completed! So the next logical step would be to study Space Weapons. But I say screw logic, I lack money! I'm taking the Extreme Colonization research, so I can get Heavy Gravity Colonization after that and pick up a nice Class 20 planet. Unfortunately, this isn't an easy to get tech; it'll be an 81 week wait just for Extreme Colonization and Heavy Gravity will likely be longer still. Fortunately, I believe my planets can start to optimize towards Research and I shouldn't be in any real danger for a while.
Now that we've got it, a Recruiting Center is being set-up in Kora, to help boost the population and earn me at least a little money. I also get one put up in the building queue on Xiphon, because that population is tiny*.
Anomaly Finds: Turn 24
- Upgrading Bonus
- +1% Soldiering
To close out this installment, I shall leave you with some information from the quarterly report.
Top 5 Most Powerful Civs
- The Arcean Empire
- The Iconian Refuge
- The Dominon of Korx
- The Korath Clan (us)
- The Snathi
Progress
ONWARDS! TO DEATH!
