Blind research

Oncle Boris · March 4, 2004, 15:12

Is it possible to turn off blind research in AC?

Ogie Oglethorpe · March 4, 2004, 16:02

yes it one of the customized rules you can choose/unchoose when setting up a game.

Illuminatus · March 4, 2004, 17:00

I prefer Blind Research in SP - makes game more interesting.

Skanky Burns · March 4, 2004, 22:43

I like both. They make for a different style of game.

Barinthus · March 4, 2004, 23:09

Same here, Obstructor.

Alex · March 5, 2004, 16:16

Blind Research for me, but I occasionally play with it off.

Hercules · March 5, 2004, 17:14

I just wonder how blind it really is. Just as you can beeline with directed research , I wonder does blind research follow similar rules.

For instance I choose 'Conquer' but the discoveries just seem to fill in the lower level undiscovered techs regardless.

Has anyone disovered MMI early with Blind research on?

Frankychan · March 5, 2004, 18:20

, I usually play with Blind Research. Sometimes you get Doc: Flex and are screaming at your scientists "Where the Hell are my Terraformers?!"

I usually get MMI later in the game. Shoot, one time I got it so late in the game, I had Chiron almost conquered. I had shard needlejets fill the sky before MMI. WTH is up with that?

johndmuller · March 5, 2004, 19:10

I think that I am beginning to prefer Blind Research.

One can still influence the techs somewhat by carefully setting the category preferences at the appropriate times. The F2 screen tells you the category that the next tech will be; acquiring techs of that type from trades, etc., may lead to a change in targets (presumably by using the category preferences too). While this gives you far from total control, it is definitely steerable and offers a whole different experience of the tech tree.

Since bee-lining is much less predictable, one gets to experience different situations, including spending more time before Air Power and MMI, among other things and making the game more interesting in my opinion.

Starfarer · March 5, 2004, 22:41

I prefer Blind as well.

But then, I play gigantic-sized maps with Blind Research, Tech Stagnation, and every other optioned tuned for a very, very long game. I never saw the challenge in any sort of a shortt game... Whether it's a Starcraft Zerg Rush or an AC inpact-rover rush... I never saw the point. Game's over so fast you barely get to enjoy it.

But those are just my tastes. Blind research, for me, adds to the "feel" of the world. I'm not discovering evertything I WANT to get... in fact, it makes it possible for my enemies to get techs before me (something that never, ever, EVER happens with Directed... I prioritize too well it seems).

Besides... it's horribly unrealistic to assume that I'll ever know what or when my breakthroughs will be. You can set researchers on something for years and come up with notyhing near what your goals are, and then there are the times when some kid in his mom's basement invents a moustrap so good it shames all other mousetraps... and I like that feel.

Illuminatus · March 6, 2004, 15:14

Anyway, once I got Secrets of Human Brain in 2270 without tech stagnation on,

I wonder to this day how come I researched everything but that tech?

RedFred · March 6, 2004, 16:09

I'll often play double blind (have all four branches of research prioritised and left like that throughout the game).

It leads to some odd tech paths especially when you start trading with the AI. But that makes each game more unique because you have to improvise.

I've found that not getting a key early tech for a long time, like rec tanks, is the biggest handicap. One surprising thing is that you always get airplanes quite quickly. Maybe a design feature?

Starfarer · March 6, 2004, 23:02

If you get airplanes very quickly, either I'm incredibly unlucky or you're incredibly lucky. I've gone tgo nearly 2400 without ever seeing a single needlejet before.

From ANYY faction. Weird... and annoying as hell. Even more so 'cuz I wanted my Fusion Shard Choppers!

T-hawk · March 8, 2004, 15:09

Double-blind is having all four preferences unchecked, not checked. There is a slight difference. With all of them unchecked, you have an equal chance of researching every available tech. With all of them checked, the weights are slightly different. Some techs (Ecological Engineering) have high weights in several different categories, while others (Secrets of Human Brain) are low across the boards. You'll be slightly more likely to get a tech of the former type than the latter if you check all four preferences.

Skanky Burns · March 9, 2004, 02:35

So which would be harder, or are they of the same "difficulty" but just a different experience?

Urban Ranger · March 9, 2004, 04:45

I prefer blind research. I tried a couple of timed with blind research, though I couldn't seem to direct it much.

Urban Ranger · March 9, 2004, 04:46

T-hawk,

Hobroken! A friend of mine went there.

Wojit · March 9, 2004, 06:09

Is it just me, or does Blind Research make the AI more willing to trade tech with you?

I might just be going insane, but I played a whole lot of games about a month ago, and the AI never wanted to trade tech - They'd always ask for cash. Eventually, after fiddling around with various rules and switching from SMACX to the original, I turned on Blind Research, and they seemed more willing to trade...

But, anyway, yeah, I like Blind Research more anyway. Means I occasionally don't get all the mid-late game projects I want...

thelordofcheese · March 9, 2004, 12:58

Quote:

Originally posted by Hercules
I just wonder how blind it really is. Just as you can beeline with directed research , I wonder does blind research follow similar rules.

For instance I choose 'Conquer' but the discoveries just seem to fill in the lower level undiscovered techs regardless.

Has anyone disovered MMI early with Blind research on?

as far as i can tell its a simple AI that governs what comes next

each tech has four values in the alpha.txt
ai-mil, ai-build ai-know and ai-disc (or something like that)

showing the techs weighting in that area.

so what i reckon happens is:

you choose your area to research (we'll say military)

the game then takes all the available techs, then takes the techs that each will lead onto .

it for each of the current techs it adds the four areas score with the score of the tech it leads onto
then the tech with the highest military score is chosen to be researched.

which might explain why the lower levels get filled out eventually (they lead onto techs with a high military score, or they are just the higest ranked of whats left)

of course i could be wrong.

Alinestra Covelia · March 10, 2004, 21:35

Double blind is even more fun - you set it up on Blind Research, but then you scrupulously force yourself to research ONLY the faction priorities you start off with.

So playing as the Hive, you can ONLY research priority BUILD and CONQUER techs.

Skanky Burns · March 11, 2004, 00:44

I agree, that is fun. I'm doing that as University on a huge map with tech stagnation on. Fun fun fun.

Starfarer · March 15, 2004, 23:01

Wojit, my best answer to this is simple....

The AI is more willing to trade techs because you're working the tech tree entirely differently.

If you're like me when you play Directed, you prefer to keep things somewhat even. But if yiou're not, then you'll tend to learn things in specific areas, getting higher techs, but missing out on some lower techs due to the fact that you're ignoring them entirely.

Thus, the AI sees your techs, and sees you have one they want, and you're missing, say, Social Psych... perfect for a tech trade.

But if you already have all theirs, or vice versa, they rewally can't offer a trade.