I would have fought it out a little longer, but I can understand why you'd want to try the new version of the mod.

Should be interesting to see how things go this time around...

I didn't lose the last game, but the writing was on the wall.  So I conceded defeat.

I send my second colony ship immediately to the habitable star system discovered by the survey ship:

It'll get there in 8 weeks.

Awww, was looking forward to a final stand with Kona. Oh well, version 2.0 may develop just as well!

What writing?

I thought you were doing just fine!

I dunno, he seemed to be outclassed - in technology, weapons, hulls, manufacturing, everything.  When you've squat and Lord Kona holds everything, you may as well pull the plug.

My survey ship and scouts continue to make some good finds, and since at the moment I only have one planet building colony ships, I've prioritised what I think are the furthest:

So, I've sent a colony ship to Patrokolos I.  Some of the planets I come across have extreme environments, like that class 17 in the Marshall system.

I've discovered another border here, I suspect it's the Iconians.

You can see here that my problem is there are a lot of planets that are probably going to go to the Drengin if I don't get a colony ship there first.

The colony ships produced at Earth have a +1 speed bonus from the Innovation Complex, which basically is like getting a free engine.  But I'm going to have to produce colony ships elsewhere as well, particularly those systems which have more than one habitable world.

The Hyadea system, discovered by my survey ship here, is a particularly good system with a class 10 and 11.

Yggdradill I is finally colonised:

Damn that's a difficult name to wrap my head around.  It's a good things I can rename my colonies to whatever I like.

Anyway, it's not very remarkable as you can see, but the tiles are going to come in handy, and I need it to colonise the other planets in the system.

I also make contact with the LMT Corporate, who have snuck a colony onto one of the worlds in Iconian space:

It's only a class 5 so at the moment it's not exactly much of a steal for them.

As I plant boots on Patrokolos I, I'm greeted by a long-absent but familiar sight.

It's an ethical choice:

First of all, cordoning off the area and telling the colonists where to find the dangerous creatures is a bad idea.  I've watched enough sci-fi films to know that this ends badly.

Relocation is even worse.  Ignoring for the moment the cost of transporting these things, what if they get loose from containment?  What if the Drengin find these things once I've dumped them and Lord Kona (rubbing his hands in glee) decides to use them as a weapon?

Nuking the site from orbit seems the best way of destroying those things for good.

The planet itself is really good:

Those research bonus tiles will allow me to run some major research from here without it costing so much in terms of colony maintenance.

I've now got a colony ship on its way to Hyadea IV:

That little pink blob you can barely see on the minimap is that thorn in my side, the Thalan Empire.

I have now made contact with both the Thalans and Korx, although without the UT we may as well be saying ooble bibble bobbletoph to each other.

In light of the number of viable planets, I have increased military spending for a bit so that Earth can produce a colony ship every three turns.  I'm running a loss of 49 bc per week, which will increase by roughly 10bc per colony settled, plus any expenses (like building colony ships for in-system colonisation).  Taxes are currently set at 29% in order to facilitate growth, and there isn't really a lot of point in increasing them until I have a population to tax.

Oh yeah and another thing.  That wasn't Iconian space I was exploring, it was the Korx's.  Just disovered their homeworld:

Poseidon I is an even better place to set up a research outpost:

One of my scouts finds another system with multiple habitable words, one of which is extreme environment:

I have a colony ship available at Earth to go right now, so I send it to the class 11 and brace myself for another ethical choice.

Actually, the next ethical choice comes as I colonise Hyadea IV:

I'd rather have weapons that are efficient for war. Although I haven't seen the specifications for a disintegration rifle, if it follow the trend for weapons that provoke terror, it's likely only going to be accurate at a fairly short range.  So, it makes sense to just convert the factory to make conventional rifles.

Hyadea IV has yet another research bonus tile, and an influence bonus tile as well:

My scout locates the headquarters of the LMT Corporate:

And my survey ship strikes gold again, finding a system with three habitable worlds, one of which is extreme:

As I colonise Angulus II (I renamed the system that because it's stuck in a corner) I have to make another ethical choice:

Talk about underwhelming.  A Precursor workshop that only offers a 5% production bonus at best?  No thanks.

Angulus II has a manufacturing bonus tile, and a farming bonus tile, so it's not too shabby:

Also, because there's a moon in orbit, I get a 10% bonus to manufacturing anyway.

Amazingly, there's no ethical choice that needs to be made when Shugar II is colonised:

It has two manufacturing bonus tiles.  Definitely a contender for Manufacturing Capital!

Because I'm just about out of places to colonise (that I haven't already got covered by ships in production) Earth is now producing constructors to try and claim as many resources as possible.

I make contact with the Yor, though again there's nothing we can discuss because of the language barrier.

Thuban I is quite average, with just a morale bonus tile, but its proximity to an asteroid field makes it an excellent choice for a ship production world:

Thuban II has a number of bonus tiles and looks like it would make a great economic world:

I've located Yor space with one of my scouts and I am continuing to explore:

The cost of all my colonies makes it impossible to keep going like I have been.  I dial back production to a very low rate so that I can recover:

I also make contact with the Altarians and discover Torian space:

Hyadea I is colonised and I find yet another research bonus tile:

At long last the first meeting of the United planets is convened, and since I've very recently made contact with the Torians and Arceans, it's a full turnout there.  We discuss the matter of starbases aiding allied races:

Given that there are only a very few assist modules available thanks to the mod, and they're available much later on in the tech tree, I decide that this is fine by me.  Only the Drengin and Yor vote against the new law.

Given that you're still losing money, I question whether dialing back production was a smart idea, particularly when it slows down the research of an economy tech.

Looks like the Arceans are once again the last race to show themselves.

Edit: Never mind, didn't see the last post.

At the end of the first year, I have done fairly well for myself.  Thanks to my low taxation and quite aggressive colony push, I am just about tied with the Drengin in terms of total population, with the Torians and Iconians respectively in first and second place.  I have 14 colonies in total.

The other races have these many colonies:

• Torians: 16
• LMT Corporate: 11
• Thalans: 10
• Altarians: 8
• Drengin: 8
• Iconians: 7
• Yor: 7
• Korx: 7
• Arceans: 6

I'm a bit disappointed that the Arceans are dead last.  I was hoping they would make a better start considering the speed bonus they have now.  However, the overall distribution of colonies is actually quite even.

None of the major races has developed a military this year.  However, several of them are going in that direction with their research, while I am still recovering from the colony rush and have put a temporary hold on research.

In the second week of 2228, I make contact with the Akilians as my survey ship explores Torian space:

Since I've only encountered one of their scout ships, I should try and look for their homeworld.

Actually I find the Dark Yor instead:

For some reason they don't feel like contacting me.  Maybe it's because they think I'm really stupid for not having invented Universal Translator during my first whole year of running an interstellar empire.  Or perhaps they're too busy plotting evil things to notice my survey ship as it flies by.

My exploration of Yor space eventually reveals their homeworld:

Colonisation of Angulus II is free of ethical dilemmas:

Although the planet has no fancy bonus tiles, it has a bit of potential for improvement.

New Iconian, home of the Iconian Refuge, is hemmed in by my empire, the Drengin, the Torians and Thalans:

Definitely not a position I would like to be in, anyway.

I'm finally able to afford to put some decent funding in research:

I will need to get some economic structures up and running as well, but I'm going to wait until I at least have Xeno Research done, then I can put some funding in Social and get the labs done at the same time as the Adv. Market Centres.

Unfortunately, because of my little economic burnout, I don't get to build the Restaurant:

However, thanks to the news service, I know where it is if I want to take it.

I've discovered the Thalan homeworld at last:

A little bit later and thanks to my restarted research, I can now start sending freighters out:

The second meeting of the United Planets puts to a vote the issue of starbase taxation in foreign sectors:

Although I'm not the only one to vote for taxation, the majority of the vote is against tax.  I think it was quite close.

The Iconians and Thalans are first to develop their military might.  I receive messages from Emperor Iso the Wise regarding payment for peacekeeping.  I flatly decline, since what he's asking for is actually beyond my ability to give.  I've had no such communication from Hithesius, but it's probably going to be any day now.

In the interests of peace, I open up a trade route with the Iconians, and this improves our relations:

I don't know how long things will stay that way, but I always have the option of purchasing ships like I did last time.

The reason I didn't just do that right away?  Ah, well one of the reasons I haven't been flying up the tech tree is because I've been putting a bit of effort into building this:

Now that I have the Diplomatic Translators, I'll have a bit more of an edge at the negotiating table, which is always handy when buying military hardware.

Having brought spending back to 1M:49S:50R, the colony output looks like this:

Because Poseidon I has the best and juiciest research tiles, I'm going to build my Tech Capital there.

Random event time!

Hmm, Gladstone II, that sounds familiar from somewhere... oh yes, I'm sending a freighter there!  Let's check it out:

Iso, you are one lucky sod.  If you actually manage to hang onto that planet, anyway.

Seeing as how I'm paying attention to the military power graph, I've noticed that the Arceans have joined the Iconians and Thalans in developing military power.

Shopping around I decide that the Thalans, despite having the least friendly disposition towards me, also happen to have good ships for sale:

It costs 432bc for each heavy fighter, but they each pack two lasers and a basic life support, which is better than anything else currently going.

I've managed to establish three trade routes so far:

They're not especially lucrative, but I've been able to avoid passing them through those empires that are likely to declare war on me.

I've also started to fund the recruitment of spies, so that I'll be able to stay informed about how the other races are doing.

Also for those of you posting AARs or thinking about doing so, having taken a look at how much memory Firefox eats while I have this topic open and still playing the game, I've used some of the tips posted here to keep my RAM usage down.  Especially the Trim on Minimise one.  It's a pretty old article, but it worked so, not complaining.

It's another exciting random event:

When I read this, for sure I thought that one of my colonies would have signed up.  My approval isn't as low as it got in my last game, but I'm lacking any kind of morale resource.  Fortunately, none of my colonies joined the I-League.

Following the completion of Xeno Entertainment, I have the choice of going for Xeno Industrial Theory, or Soil Enhancement:

While it's tempting to just ignore XIT and keep going along the trunk, it does unlock mining starbase modules, and thanks to my constructor rush, I have managed to secure four galactic resources - two influence, one research, and one economy resource.  I would be passing up some ability points that I could really use at this early stage of the game!

Meanwhile, I'm going to start building Xeno Farms and Multimedia Centres where I need them.

Also, noticing that everyone is signing treaties, I decide to get some before they're all gone:

With the credits that I get as deal sweeteners, I shell out for ten more heavy fighters:

Unfortunately, the price for those seems to have gone up.  But it's worth it anyway, to not have the other races breathing down my neck.

I face another ethical dilemma:

If I trade these stolen goods for their freedom, they're just going to go back to what they've been doing.  However, if my interrogators can get the information out of them so that the stolen goods can be located and returned, I'm sure the other empires will be very grateful.  So I have even more reason to learn this information, but no reason at all to let them go.

Intelligence reports have come back on the Drengin and Arcean empires:

Interestingly enough, it seems that the Arceans are no longer using the War Party that I set them up with, but are instead run by an Industrialist government now.

The Drengin will be one to watch out for again.  With a 50% bonus to weapons (I don't know how they got that while only gaining a small bonus to Defence) they will have an advantage over many of the races.

The third meeting of the United Planets has this agenda:

Recognising the value of trade not just as a useful source of extra income, but as a way of fostering better relations with other races, most of the delegates vote in favour of the law.  I'm especially pleased because my five trade routes will now be worth more.

The various races have been engaged in an ongoing race to become the galaxy's most advanced civilisation.  But how do they stand now after the third year?

1. Iconian: 219
2. Yor: 166
3. LMT Corporate: 149
4. Thalan: 123
5. Arcean: 111
6. Terrans: 98
7. Korx: 92
8. Altarians: 88
9. Drengin: 54
10. Torians: 38

It's not too surprising to see the Torians all the way at the bottom, but I'm surprised to see the Drengin doing so badly.  It's encouraging to see some of the others doing better.

Taking a look at the timeline of research production, you can see that the Arceans have been investing in additional research facilities over the past year:

I'm not sure how the game measures Technology Might (I would guess techs researched) but the Korx definitely have the lowest sustained research output of all the races.

My agents have the following useful stats to report on the Thalan Empire:

It's not a huge shock that they have the highest military rating.  After all, I've bought sixteen heavy fighters from them in total and they keep making more.