1.04 easier than 1.03??

from Stardock Forums
I'm currently playing my first 1.04 game at Crippling difficulty in a Gigantic galaxy and the money seems to be pouring in. Fine, the AI doesn't value TG's any more and won't pay a reasonable amount for them but they will pay a fortune for Tech. They won't part with Military tech themselves for anything but that means that they will pay whatever you want to aquire it from you. I managed to swap much of the AI's Navy for early Military Tech such as Intestellar Tactics & Large Scale Buliding & have reguarly been able to get deals of 30BCs over 50 turns for a lot of other Tech as well. I've even been able to swap 3 or 4 of the AI's Startbases for tech. I've just researched Rangers, have my economy at 100% and still have a 500BC/Turn surplus.
For this game I went for something different: Popularist with 70% growth & 50% Diplo and I also have the Diplo translators so my overall Diplo rating of 200%+ may have something to do with this. Anyone else notice the same? Is it just me?
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Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Yes, 1.04.059 seems to offer an excellent opportunity to be a tech broker. I have made some nice BC from being the middle man. This is not as good as the old trade goods exploit, but it is significant. As long as the human is willing to relinquish the role of being in the absolute tech lead, there is money to be made. But, overall, I do not think it is unbalancing. Just be at peace with as many folks as possible, then trade everything to any major or minor willing to pay. Add a trade good or two, and you have an even better deal that does not cost you so much upfront when you are getting advanced techs from the alien that is better at tech than you are.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
My last game an Economic Boom happened midgame & lasted until the end of the game, I was spending at 100% and still had 71827bc in the treasury when I won.

~SDC~
The Political Machine 2024
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
It's ironic that 1.04.058 was the worst patch yet, but 1.04.059 - for such a "small" update - is the best in hitting the sweet spot of 'not too much, not too little' for trade and diplomacy. Starting back at whatever the 1.03 update was that nerfed trading, I found that diplomacy was largely useless beyond making sure you weren't being penalized against the AIs. As of 1.04.059, I'm finding it useful again for sweetening deals.

I don't think it necessarily is making things easier beyond the fact that I'm now playing a game that's not just about military strength but more subtle strategies as well.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
I think the problem is that the AI players don't trade as aggressively as the human player. I heard that trades are now being recorded in the metaverse data, so I expect the AI will trade much smarter in future versions.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
hmmmm..i find the diplomacy better too..but the military aspect harder. More wars and such.

Doug
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
I don't think it's easier! I played a game with all AI's set to random alignment and intelligence. I had a tough and very long lasting war with the torians until a crash occured (reason already posted in bug report thread). Since I had autosave set to off (now it's on again) and my last savegame was very long ago, I started a new game and saw, that they only had normal intelligence! Before 1.04 I won 2 all intelligent games and in my 1st 1.04 with same settings I got slaughtered.
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
I don't know about easier. I just had to back back down to Painful from my previous Crippling difficulty. I'll have to adjust to the new variations before cranking it back up.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Playstyle I'm sure affects your perception of easier (or not). I had to step down to Tough from Painful for a game until I figured out what had changed in terms of AI diplomacy and ship values. Once I grokked that, though, I was able to step it back up and beat it on Painful again.
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
Painful became well a little more painful. I'm still able to win games, but the tech race is a little tougher to keep up with (or in my case, requires a lot more creativity)

So its not easier I don't think. Largely the same if you're one of those types that do not base their strategy of trade goods for technology. In my experience, I've taken some unorthodox research paths, and had to make some interesting deals to keep my agenda on track, so in that respect, its livened up things a bit.

SeanB
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
I imagine you're right.

I've never used Trade Goods for trade.
The only ones I care about are Diplo Trans, Grav Accelerators, and Love Potion #9. Anything else I wind up getting is only because I don't have anything better for that planet to be building just then.

Late game good ones I'll make a point to go after would be the nano repair bots which are handy, and I'll occassionally trade FOR tri-stontium if I'm in a war with a war party enemy with better ships then me.

I'm much more interested in Infastructure.

An ideal game for me is being able to snag a decent position in the land rush and then build Soil, Habitat, Fusion, Manufacturing, and Antimatter on all of those worlds before finding myself in a war with anyway. I rarely get that far without running afoul of somebody, but once I do, I can pretty much build a fleet at will an pay for it with taxes and a little bit of trade. No need for selling tech or trade goods except to fund the occassional big purchase.
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
In 1.03 I'd buy every TG & sell most to everyone for a lot of cash. In 1.04 I've bought all but 2 but hardly traded any of them away (but did license those 2 off the AI for peanuts). That means I've got a lot of big bonus' that the AI doesn't and I seem to be doing very well because of that.

The start of my 1.04 game seemed a little slower because I was very careful with my spending as I'd heard that the AI didn't like to give out a lot of cash for TGs etc. I made sure that I was making a surplus each turn even if it meant going down to 40% spending at times & only bought TGs when I could cover the downpayment to Mitrosoft without going into the red. Overall it seems to have paid off as i am ranked #1 in everything now.
My main gamble was with military, being slow to build up. I received 3 demands for tribute (all refused)before I managed to trade away the AIs navy for my Tech!
Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top
For my play style..1.04 is harder. I tend to go for
alliance wins.

-Doug
Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top
I tended to so in 1.03 aswell...
Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top
Somebody else noticed that the Yor go now for the PQ14 planets to colonize
End of quote

Not just the Yor - I've seen the Drengin do the same thing. It looked like the Drengin were attempting to "extend" their range onto one of my flanks.

Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top
What difficulty setting are you talking about? Do they always do this or only on Increadible, where they get tahet huge PQ bonus?
Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top
i find it strange that a couple people think that alliance wins are harder now. I was about to post that alliance wins have been made incredibly easier to get. In my last painful game I won with a 5 way alliance.

Since tech is now valued so highly just give it away and watch your diplomatic relations skyrocket. I was able to be a tech broker through the mid game, keeping my spending at 100% which eventually let me out research everyone else. Once I was ahead in research spending, getting the alliance win was easy.
Reply #19 from Stardock Forums Top
I actually think alliances wins are quite a bit easier. I mean, lets take my last game for instance. I was the scum of the universe, but the Torians loved me. So here we are on opposite ends of the spectrum, and I could've had an alliance victory with them.

I didn't do anything special (read: giving away techs, ships, and the like). I just maintained several trade routes with them, and wheeled and dealed diplomatically (tech trades and the like). So I argue that it is a little easier if you wish to take that path.

SeanB
Reply #20 from Stardock Forums Top
hmmmmmmmm. Well ......re: alliance victories.....then
i must try harder! :)

Doug
Reply #21 from Stardock Forums Top

What difficulty setting are you talking about? Do they always do this or only on Increadible, where they get tahet huge PQ bonus?
End of quote


The bonus was based on Taxes, not Planet Quality. :)

Besides, it was a Genius AI, and its location implied that it was attempting to extend its reach.
Reply #22 from Stardock Forums Top
Negative Sigma. The AI gets bonuses to many other racial picks in Incredible. Based on one report, the PQ bonus is now +40%. If I have the time, I could start up a new Incredible game and pour all the money into Espionage and report the full bonuses to all who are interested.