Advanced Save Game Six Empires Huge Map and Minor Races

[UesugiKenshin]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VvX84o_e7vs
8 year old Quantum Stealth invisibility was designed for infantry and tanks.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KL_KdmSTSNA

[UesugiKenshin]

The Terrans would definitely want to use that as it is entirely within their ethical system. I don't see the Heyoun or Khaoran wanting high civilian casualties and this is also likely with the Cartare as those casualties are lost slaves.

[UesugiKenshin]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zj33WAODsJg
Noise cancellation technology exists now so you can imagine the future where the tank noise is muted so one could be right on top of you and take out a squad unless they had special scanning.

Similarly technology exists now to send targeted messages to a user without the use of headphones.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/0 ... rsons-ear/

So you could simulate ambient sounds plus use noise cancellation to mask military movements up to a point and totally take over a city using stealth and cloaking.

[UesugiKenshin]

If you could steal a Rotharian cloaked starship and it was treated like a privateer unit (as exists in Civ3), and scanning was masked, then it would be unknown who attacked. Or if you create classes like that, same difference. That would be so much fun.

Terran diplomat speaking to Rotharians " You just declared war on the Terran empire!"
Rotharian diplomat (puzzled) " I'm not informed of all secret classified missions, but my superiors assure me that no such attack took place."

You would know as one cannot just attack typically in BotE without formal declarations. Someone who already was at war with you attacked you with a Rotharian cloaked starship. It would be so much fun to do ground invasions and trash a sector, scrap it all, then leave without formal declarations of hostilities like the Vikings. Back then, it could be any one of a number of raiding clans.

Set an inhabited sector back to square one.

[UesugiKenshin]

It would be fun if you could hire some minor race fleet as mercenaries, and have them attack some major race you dislike too. Then the enemy major race attacks the minor race, and then you attack both who are frazzled with attrition. The Cartare would love employing these tactics. Likely it is really expensive.

Maybe you click on minor or major race ships or fleets and bribe them outright.
Cartare commander (smoothly) "Your leadership abuses you. Your fleet has a significant worth plus your experience. What we are suggesting is we appreciate the value of your abilities and wish to offer you a package that takes all that in consideration. You and your crew deserve some luxuries and promotions."

[UesugiKenshin]

In Civ 2 and I think in Civ 3, you could bribe settlements. It was very expensive if garrisoned, but so satisfying.

Cartare commander "Look, I am in orbit with a massive fleet and a ground invasion force. You have no chance of winning or resisting. Why not capitulate? Sure some will be slaves, but they will be alive, and the former political leaders will be rich."

[UesugiKenshin]

In any computer game, based on certain conditions, there is an optimal way to play. Unless there are random elements, then whoever plays in that optimal way will win the game by merely conquering. Other winning conditions are nebulous for the AI.

This optimal pattern is based on pure logic.

If this optimal methodology of winning is replicated by an AI, then the AI is playing in a completely logical way and should beat humans as most humans are not logical. It is not desirable for the AI to beat humans. No game in which the AI consistently beats the human players would likely sell as the point of computer games is to win by beating the AI.

I discovered the optimal logical pattern by studying BotE over nearly an 11 month window. I could therefore explain that patten and the AI would likely be unbeatable under certain conditions, but I don't see that as a good solution. Nobody would enjoy being beaten by a computer AI over and over.

The computer AI plays according to its programming and humans play by altering strategies as they get bored doing the same things over and over even if those are logical actions.

[UesugiKenshin]

The dynamics of BotE change in intensity due to risk of proximity by map size. This is the maai of Japanese Budo. Conflict occurs based on proximity. One may arouse the ire of an opponent, but when the proximity is distant, then few violent tactics can be employed, thus only other forms of warfare can be utilized like espionage, sabotage, information war, economic war, etc. One can give aid to the enemies of one's enemies ie funding the local opposition as THEY are closer in proximity and thus can employ violent tactics. As they are the opposition group, they likely have less military power, thus have to employ the most effective tactics that a smaller group can utilize versus a stronger opponent ie guerilla and asymmetric warfare.

The most natural galactic map is the maximum one as galaxies are huge. The more opponents one has then raises the chance that a close proximity will exist. If a game has six players (including the human single player), then actual conflict that is effective and sustainable and affordable can likely only occur after turn #300.

There are no scarce resources in a 40*40 galaxy and there is plenty of land to create sustainable inhabited sectors as colonies. And there is no proximity by turn #300 thus there is no impetus for war. The idea is contrived to generate conflict where none exists.

One need not even attack minor races as their sector poses no threat as they cannot leave. One elects to attack and conquer them to attain their starships or abilities and as a revenue stream, but the latter is a flawed idea as it takes a LOT of investment to get out a profit. The idea that their starship is vital is logically unsound as at most one can make one per turn by rushing them and so it has a minimal tactical use, though one can accumulate them over many turns to pragmatically use them.

[UesugiKenshin]

Sabotage totally unbalances the game as the distance one can effectively wage war is LIMITED by the warp speed maximum of 4.2 sectors per turn. Yet one can employ sabotage quite early and successfully as the Cartare, Rotharians, and Omega. By turn #513, I was able to achieve nearly 1.8 million intel points, thus entirely capture all ships by five empires. This is impossible. The solution is to make that a late game tactic.

As there exists an optimal logical methodology, then using logic, it makes no sense to alter one's methodology unless a superior logical solution exists that is even more efficient. Thus once discovered, one need not ever replicate that process.

If a modder employed such logic to all empires, then an idealized galaxy would exist in which empires were as strong as possible and plausibly equal in military strength. The galactic map will never be equal unless designed by a modder so planet types, star types, and sellar anomalies are balanced.

I propose to create such a balanced group using six empires for idealized galactic war. If I had an editor, I would design the map and do it in a fraction of the time.

One strategy would be to create a microcosm by setting one empire in closer proximity on a smaller map, but optimized, so two players could play a faster game of war. Essentially that is chess as the pieces are not equal (they are not all pawns) but have different power and abilities.

If I build such empires without security buildings, then opponents can elect to build them. I would not advise players to do so on small maps as you would be overun before they would be effective.

Security buildings are only effective on giant maps if the game is balanced and if they happen late. Then they are more realistic.

[UesugiKenshin]

The accumulated intel points coupled with minor race abilities which have been subsumed so far by 50 minor races has resulted in a stunning 1700% plus military sabotage. This is the primary flaw in sabotage. That flaw is why the Omega can at will steal enemy starships. That has to be addressed. Too many minor races have abilities which too easily allow theft of starships in an incomprehensible illogical nonsensical manner.

There are 123 races and the Omega currently control 50, but I believe when they captured all starships, they only had 33 members. Imagine if they had even more modifiers by minor race membership. In BotE, the actual reason to conquer minor race's is to gain minor race 's modifiers.

Think about it! This is why even the Heyoun can win by bribery and gaining members or the Terrans can win by gaining members. Making minor race starships and these late minor race modifiers then confers a huge advantage.

This is why galactic war happens in my opinion. Those modifiers end up more valuable than any resource or even minor race's starships.

[UesugiKenshin]

A modder could leave everything as is, and control all six empires, and distribute membership of minor race's as otherwise the minor race's modifiers unbalance the game. One empire gains research faster, or income, or mining, or sabotage, etc. It is quite hard to balance this.

My question all along has been, "Why does a major race want a single minor race's inhabited sector out of 1600 sectors on a maximum galactic map?". The answer is simple: minor race's modifiers and partially their starships though largely this is of secondary importance. Of minimal importance is their ability to create income or troops.

[UesugiKenshin]

On maximim maps, the AI is trying a strategy that likely works on small maps. The AI tries to colonize every nearby M class available sector. That established a foothold in a sector.

That is not optimal and is the most expensive and slowest way to upgrade a sector.

What you are aiming to do is maximize research on a maximal map, and build up many colony ships and totally en masse terraform a sector, then colonize it. This ends up greatly accelerating infrastructure and for free. The AI's way is plodding and ends up so costly, that when you combine my commodity manipulation method, then you end up having a construction rate likely averaging 4x faster. The AI never can catch up.

If you don't believe me, look at the png graphic of the map of the Omega empire at guns #300 and #400. It is obviously a FACT.

[UesugiKenshin]

My optimal way generates so much mining profit through controlled inflation and deflation, that I can outspend the AI and race past with construction.

There is no way the AI can catch up. And if I seized minor race sectors and gained their minor race's modifiers, then the Omega would be even more powerful. I actually restrained myself and was benevolent just for testing. If hostile, I could have taken every minor race plus absorbed all enemy starships.

[UesugiKenshin]

The AI does not use the ship designer or minimally uses it for better hulls. I maximally used the ship designer to always make the most robust and lethal ships, thus my starships were unstoppable.

The only fair way is to configure better starship subclasses based on technological gains. The issue is price in terms of raw materials and time. See I rush most starships because doing so inflates raw material prices, so then I sell mined material. I make huge profits that way. The AI does not do this, so the AI will always lose.

You could rewrite the AI programming and unless human players emulated it, the AI would always win as the AI could always rush construction so muster more starships. It sort of works for troops and transports, but not by the same amount of profit gain.

[UesugiKenshin]

That is how to win 100% of the time on a maximal map. That is not necessarily the best strategy on a smaller map.

If I set everything up so the AI is extremely strong, then players could just wage war which I think would have huge appeal as most players are not builders. Then games last less turns before resolution. Think about it. How many players would play a 400 hour game of chess? Not many.