Data Angels: Planetary Datalinks special ability

Hercules · February 2, 2004, 11:35

Data Angels: Planetary Datalinks special ability

I am playing the Data Angels in a couple of MP games at Transcend

In the H2H game I have infiltrated 4 factions but 2 techs that three of them have, have not appeared in my tech list.

When exactly does the special feature kick in?

I thought infiltration was enough. Do I have to discover Pre sentient Algorithms as well.

Flubber · February 2, 2004, 12:05

I think it is a quirk of the ability that you only get the tech if it is newly discovered by someone. All the old stuff does not seem to appear. I don't know if you would get a tech that is already held by a bunch of factions upon another infiltrated faction acquiring it , but you migh since I think the acquisition by someone of a tech triggers the game mechanism to determine if you get it as well.

My experience has been that this ability works well to keep you up on newly minted techs traded among allies but that you need to do some preobestealing/tradingto fill in any old techs.

I have not tested this but thats my experience

Hercules · February 2, 2004, 18:36

Thanks I 'll keep a watch out for what happens.

Nubclear · February 2, 2004, 20:50

Data angels are horrible weak IMO

I always gobble them up as the Uni or the Hive. (The only two factions I really play anymore)

Blake · February 2, 2004, 21:04

The AI doesn't play the Dataangels well, but they are not a weak faction. Their main advantage is starting with plan.nets (this is a much larger advantage on blind research and/or tech stag, but being a key tech it's always a good advantage). They are a faction that are well equiped to survive hostile circumstances and work well as Momentum (probe heavy), Hybrid and Builder as they have no restrictive penalties (unable to run power? Boo-hoo).
Being average seems like a weakness for the Peacekeepers, but as the Angels I find it more of a strength, they can quickly adapt to anything (especially by stealing their way to tech parity)

Starfarer · February 2, 2004, 22:26

Personally I love the Data Angels. I don't know if it's the futuristic-hacker-I-Am-The-God-In-The-Machine aspect or just because I absiolutely love the idea of living and dying by my spies, but I love the DAta Angels. They're just... fun. Infiltrate everyone, sneak probes into stretegic places, start a war, probe half their bases, either steal all their money, techs, and bases or if you're low on cash and techs and so're they, simply cripple their industry by stopping all their building orders.

And the best part? You're practically immune to them doing it to you!

The only real downside is that you can't field an army without playing around with your social engineering a lot, but that's easily overcome.

Especially sincec you can just steal everyone ELSE'S armies, right?

Illuminatus · February 3, 2004, 07:06

Quote:

Originally posted by Blake

Being average seems like a weakness for the Peacekeepers,

I find it to be one of its strengths - they easily adapt to everything.

Barinthus · February 3, 2004, 13:02

Quote:

Originally posted by obstructor

I find it to be one of its strengths - they easily adapt to everything.

Right. That's one of advantages of being a Jack of all Trades, Master of None.

Nubclear · February 3, 2004, 18:15

Whenver I play the angels, I probe and they declare war on me.
I have to be in a constant state of war for my main advantage fo even work!

Hercules · February 3, 2004, 18:56

Quote:

Whenver I play the angels, I probe and they declare war on me.
I have to be in a constant state of war for my main advantage fo even work!

Tass is correct, it is a pain, but survivable in a SP game. In MP in can be life threatening in the early game, unless the probed faction is some distance away and preferably seperated by sea.

Hercules · February 3, 2004, 18:59

Back to my original question; maybe I also need Cyberethics for the attribute to kick in.

Hercules · February 5, 2004, 06:39

Flubber

Quote:

I think it is a quirk of the ability that you only get the tech if it is newly discovered by someone. All the old stuff
does not seem to appear. I don't know if you would get a tech that is already held by a bunch of factions upon
another infiltrated faction acquiring it , but you migh since I think the acquisition by someone of a tech triggers
the game mechanism to determine if you get it as well.

Yep that's pretty much what happened, just got my first free tech - hopefully more to follow.

So I don't need Pre sent or Cyberethics

Flubber · February 5, 2004, 12:35

Just to be clear hercules

The tech you got, did you get it as soon as you should have?? I seem to recall getting off beeline techs when a 4th faction acquired it, even though I had EVERYONE infiltrated ( a round of AI trades can lead to a sudden tech bonanza). That led to my belief that the acquisition of a tech by a faction triggers the game to check if the Angels should get that particular tech. . . I haven't seen anything to contradict this yet but I confess I have not really tested the concusion very much.

Blake · February 5, 2004, 18:04

I agree with Flubber, both on how it works and in not rigorously testing it.

Hercules · February 5, 2004, 19:06

Two AI factions had progenitor psych already, a third AI just completed discovering it and I got the progenitor tech as well almost immediately. I happened to be researching it myself but was 3 turns from discovery. This enabled me to switch to research another tech with 2 turns to go.

johndmuller · February 5, 2004, 19:35

In PBEMS, the other human players are likely to make it harder for you to get the free techs - by trying to avoid being infiltrated (shoot those *(#$!in' probes on sight) and minimizing or at least delaying the sharing of techs (particularly those that are important and/or that you are currently researching yourself).

As long as there are healthy AI players in the game, there is probably a good chance of getting free techs, but by the time you get the infiltration, the AI's (and maybe some of the humans too) may already be going downhill, and so probably won't be getting any significant number of decent techs.

Obviously, the same sort of thing happens with the PDL.

Personally, I find the CyCon techsteal ability to be more beneficial.

Googlie · February 6, 2004, 00:13

And if the Angels are an AI faction in a CMN'd game, CMN's just love to give them infiltration on everyone right from the beginning - makes them an extremely strong research faction