Report message to a moderator

You aren't going to like my answer...

"It depends."

OK, I should give a bit more detail maybe?

It depends on your hab, and it depends if you have an immunity.

Loosely speaking, a -f really wants 19% PGR. 20% is fun, but unnecessary as long as you took an immunity and your hab is big enough. 18% is plausible, but you'd do well to find the points for one more %.

A HP is a *lot* more flexible on growth. You're looking long term. As long as your factories are cheap enough, then 16% looks ok to my eye. 17% looks ideal. You want really big hab.

A HG is gonna sit in the middle of those. 17%-19% all make sense, depending on the rest of the design.

If you have no-immunity, then you're going to want a slightly higher growth than without, since your average hab will be significantly lower. Obviously you'll have a lot more points with which to buy this

The universe also is very important to growth rate. High growth is important if you expect to meet the enemy very swiftly, or if you predict being capable of expanding your territory throughout the game. If neither is the case, then slightly lower growth is acceptable, since overcrowding will be an issue anyway (and all planets have the same growth rate at 100% capacity

And of course there are always exceptions... I've met someone who swears by his 15% HG designs. I'm skeptical that that is a wise choice against skilled opponents, though

[Updated on: Sun, 13 January 2008 18:18]

Report message to a moderator

[Updated on: Sun, 13 January 2008 18:48]

Report message to a moderator

Report message to a moderator

Hi!

joseph wrote on Mon, 14 January 2008 12:27

You are playing as a team? If you get to design your races together they should compliment each other.

Like a quick/slow race. The quick could be anything from -f to a QS, while the slow mandatory a +f (HG with good factories, or pure HP).

BTW I'd suggest you to severely limit the CA (no TT, cheap bio, one immunity, only 10 OA robots active at any given time in the game). Either that, or require ALL teams to have a CA.

BR, Iztok

Report message to a moderator

[Updated on: Mon, 14 January 2008 17:59]

Report message to a moderator

Report message to a moderator

Report message to a moderator

Hi!

joseph wrote on Wed, 16 January 2008 18:41

Its easy - you want lots of resources.

- Errr, what I want is have fun.
- Greatest fun is to see my enemies chrushed at my feets, their woman taken, their homes burnt... Ummm sorry, this isn't the Conan universe. Greatest fun is when I win.
- I win (also) with better ships than my opponent(s) have.
- I design better ships by researching proper techs.
- to research these techs I need resources. How much it depends on the costs of these techs. Costs I chose when I design the race.
- To build those ships I need resources and minerals.
- To get those resources and minerals I need proper amount of planets.
- To get that proper amount of planets I need proper race and proper game strategy.

Hummmmm, all this doesn't look so easy to me.

BR, Iztok

[Updated on: Thu, 17 January 2008 07:17]

Report message to a moderator

Hi!

knightpraetor wrote on Sun, 13 January 2008 22:54

In general i don't design races, I just steal them..it's far easier:) ... I never have really understood how people make these decisions...

If you don't understand, and just "steal" them, you can't expect you'll "steal" the right race for the game.

When deciding what race you'll chose, the first thing you need to check is the universe: how many planets per player, how close those planets, alliances, tech trading, ship trading, diplomacy allowed or not, slow tech...

Generaly speaking: the smaller the number of planets per player, the earlier fighting will occur.
The earlier the conflict, the more cheap techs are important, because with lots of resources you can buy expensive tech, but you need to build resouce base for that first.
The earlier the conflict, the more race speed is important.
If alliances and trading are allowed, you design a race that can offer something to your allies or trade partners. The most usual things to trade are tech, pen-scanners, and (special) minelayers. If allied victory is enabled, you can also trade planets by intersettling.
In slow-tech games cheap techs become significantly more important. This, or lots of resources to push through those double-cost non-cheap techs.

OTOH you have three econ types of races:
1) -f races usually have low resource output, but compensate that with lots of cheap techs and wide hab (1 in 4 with an immunity). They have good speed and are good for early conflicts and short games, but can't really compete with +f races' resource output in larger/slower games.

2) HG races are IMO best all-around for almost any type of the game, because they combine the speed of free pop growth with later good resource output from 12-16 factories per 10k pop. But they pay for that with having less cheap techs and worse hab, so they need some time to develop.
Two subtypes come here: 1WW and QS. They both pay their speed with hab, 1WW even with limitig itself only to its HW. Both are really aimed at a very early war to extermination, but lack capacity to stand a prolonged mid-game war.

3) HP races rely on factories to produce resources. Since they need to build those factories, they start slowly. Most of them also have very few non-expensive techs (weap cheap, rest expensive and start @ 3 is usual), but they can afford that, because their resource output from a given space is enormous... after quite some time has passed since they colonized that space. They are quite weak earlier, very strong lately, and usually have problems with germanium.

There'a also the AR. A very special case. By resouces it would be about a HG with a bit less factories. By tech it would be a -f. By early fighting capability it is crap. But if it survives until the late game, you know who'll win.

Now you just match game properties with those types or economies and you're quite there:
- tiny normal universe, 4 players: 1WW.
- medium normal, slow tech, all diplomacy allowed, 8 players: HG with good factories, or a HP, and have pen-scanners or one "unusual" tech (en, elec, prop) cheap to trade.
- small packed, 6 players, no trading: -f, AR, HP, HG.
- large packed, 12 players: run away.

It's that simple.

BR, Iztok

Report message to a moderator

I'd say much depends on play style, too.

Not everybody can get the best use of a -f, QS, HG, HP, AR
Not everybody is equally skilled or lucky at diplomacy
Not everybody can withstand the same amounts of micromanagement
Not everybody likes to intersettle, or opening their gates to others
Not everybody battlesims their super-duper ship designs enough before fielding them
Not everybody understands "team" in the same way
...

Report message to a moderator