Remember this?:
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Ultimate Builder Challenge
I would like to invite all Builder-style players to participate in this single-player challenge and post periodic reports (e.g. every 50 turns) to compare the performances. Of course, non-builder style players can also participate.
The title simply reflects the fact that the game setup is choosen to give a hard time to the builder style
The short description:
Play this scenario and try to win by transcendence.
I told you it was going to be short...
The long description:
Download this scenario file:
(no longer on original site - see below for downloading)
Play it and try to win by transcendence! All victory conditions are enabled, so the AI has the chance to beat you in any way, but if you win by any other way than transcendence, that means you have not fulfilled the challenge.
The game is almost a standard SMACX game with a very specific set of setup option and faction choice which makes it hard to transcend.
The factions
1. Planet Cult - the human player, i.e. You
2. Hive
3. Believers
4. Spartans
5. Pirates
6. Caretakers
7. Usurpers
Rule options:
* All victory conditions ON - for the AI, but you must win by transcendence!
* Do or Die ON
* Look First ON
* Tech Stagnation ON
* Spoils of War OFF - can't steal it
* Blind Research ON
* Intense rivalry (aggressive AI) ON
* Bell Curve ON - better comparison chances for the challenge
* Iron Man ON
Difficulty: Transcend (of course!)
The game is played on the Huge Map of Planet - so that everybody has the same chance to know it including me, because I want to participate too without unfair advantage.
For the same reason, I give you the starting locations (pods/scouts, look first is on, so you can walk about before putting down your city).
Of course, you can also load the scenario into the editor to look around before you play.
Just don't use the editor during the challenge game...
1. Cult (You) start at (69,17) - Isle of Deianira
2. Hive at (91,71) - near Monsoon Jungle
3. Believers at (110,32) - near Upland Wastes
4. Spartans at (32,102) - near Freshwater Sea
5. Pirates at (74,78) - between Sea of Unity and Geothermal Shallows
6. Caretakers (15,55) - near The Ruins
7. Usurpers (46,54) - near Garland Crater
Now, the only remaining thing to explain is the almost above, i.e. what makes this scenario very different from a game started up with the same setup parameters and factions. It is the diplomacy setup!
Each AI faction has the following special diplomacy setting:
* Vendetta with Planet Cult
* Attrocity victim of Planet Cult
* Want revenge against Planet Cult
* Fight to Death with Planet Cult
* Pact with all other AI factions
* Surrendered to all other AI factions (yes the Scenario editor allows
both ways surrendered state - go figure )
* The current diplomacy status is fixed - cannot change during game!
BTW, do not hope to get some freebie tech or Alien Artifacts from the Unity pods. These 2 goodies are disabled.
So, imagine those 6 warmonger AI factions in ubreakable submissive pacts with each other (meaning they will share every tech discovered and help each other) all against you in a fight-to-death vendetta, pissed off because of your alleged attrocities against them. And now, you have to transcend under blind research tech stagnation with a very weak builder faction (-1 economy, -1 industry).
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Well, thanks to Tau Ceti for supplying the original start scenario.
You are the Cult, in permanent vendetta against all six other factions.
You can download this from the Spartan Chronicles site's "Fall Challenges" page (last page in site):
http://clik.to/sparta
and play and compare to the "greats" of yesteryear (sorry vel and zso
)
(edited on Nov 29th - Bravenet is installing a new server so the fast URL is disabled - you can alternatively click on:
http://googlie2.tripod.com/spartanchronicles/
to dowwnload)
Remember it is a scenario, so load into your scenarion folder, and choose "play scenario" to open.
You can check the progress of players past in the archived thread:
http://apolyton.net/forums/Archives/...31-000174.html
Post your game logs in this thread (the original is padlocked and archived)
G.
[This message has been edited by Googlie (edited November 29, 2000).]
(Vel, I was joking.... 
...)
