Maniac Wrote:This is wrong. Spectres remain visible after performing an attack. IIRC the reason is Spectres can only occur in small numbers, limited by your probe team slots, so don't need to be countered as easy as Stealth units, which can be built in infinite numbers.
Should this say "remain invisible?"
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
My invisible probe team on my invisible submarine has spotted Sareln's probe team. As a consequence I'll have to change my mind about picking off Sareln's weak forces and withdraw my invisible Spectre Marines. Of course now I know where Sareln's AFAIK sole probe team is, I can safely drop off one of my probe team around Alpha Prime and explore and cause some mayhem over there.
Oh yeah, there also was another Concordat resolution to end the war against me. Lal is such a swell guy.
The Concordat resolution passed. Peace reigns. Sareln has started a crash colony pod production program.
It's unlikely Sareln has seen reason this time, so I'll need to prepare for another war in 10 turns. Sareln is concentrating all his forces at the front, so to exploit that, I'll attempt to have two transports full of marines ready to strike at his back. Those transports will have the Irregular and Deep Pressure Hull spec abs. Irregular so I can move inside Sareln's territory despite us being at peace at the moment. Deep Pressure Hull for the invisibility on trenches. I can only hope Sareln doesn't realize there's a highway of trenches running all along his coastline.
In other great news, Yang has started researching Magnetic Propulsion! With that tech, newly built boats of factions who are running the Biodomed civic (ie, me for one) get the Stealth spec ab for free!!
It's good there seems to be some tension between the two most powerful factions: the Pirates and Spartans. If I can neutralize Sareln and have the luxury to start thinking about the big picture, perhaps I could even screw up their relations by walking one of my own probe teams in Spartan territory, causing Iskender to think it's of Mardoc.
I forgot I coded in that a non-hidden nationality unit can't move into the cargo of a hidden nationality/irregular unit. So to drop my probe team off in eastern CyCon territory as announced in my MY 2205 report, I'll have to use a regular sub and enter CyCon territory using the Pirate coast, who I have open borders with. Look who I spotted there spying on the Consciousness too:
I assume he'll keep quiet for the sake of his own probe team's survival, but on the downside now he might start setting up defenses against future probe teams of mine.
Good news! My IoD-capturing expedition force (which has captured 2 IoDs so far) has discovered new seemingly resource-rich land. I was getting a little worried because none of the plots in my neighbourhood had good base sites with two or more resources in their radius. So this new land looks like the perfect candidate for a new wave of expansion. If it isn't taken by the Believers already at least. The boat that discovered the new land met a Believer gun foil at the same time. They're running a different religion, so bad relations are expected in the future.
In other news, my military power score is now as high as Sareln's. Must be because of all those naval units I have:
Oh yeah, an advantage of Mardoc having spotted my probe team: Mardoc may as a consequence believe I plan to backstab Sareln at some point in the future, so may not take action against a Maniac-Sareln alliance.
The current reason for having that probe team there is so that I can still steal Doctrine: Air Power if Sareln declares war after all.
Darn, Sareln's probe team moving in my direction to Logos. Let's hope he doesn't take offense to my hidden card. Nothing much else to report. I'm exploring the Believer coast, situated north of the Hive, and the Pirate-Cycon border area with my deep pressure hull sub. In my bases I'm mostly building infrastructure: network nodes, energy banks, pressure domes. I started on the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm this turn in Gargopoli. Sareln doesn't seem to have an interest in building it, as I initially feared, so I can grab it without a problem. Part denial strategy, part to boost that settled datajack there, and part because the +3 datajack GPP from the wonder get doubled from the Planetary Council there.
(The HSA gives +50% esp in the base, +3 datajack GPP and for all bunkers a free HSA promotion, which makes probe teams visible)
(November 11th, 2012, 10:45)Maniac Wrote: You're right I haven't explored that much yet, as I'm afraid of IoDs sinking my ships. I'll soon have the Stealth promotion though, and will then be able to explore unchecked if necessary. So I guess the question is: is it in your interest that I build up a fleet of stealth submarines? :D
I'll be building stealth subs regardless to ship probe teams around to all corners of the world. Soon it'll be time to engage in some massive tech stealing.
lol Mardoc gave me his maps, so now I can spy on all his bases.
I switched out of Member years ago so that I could gain credits from pillaging Sareln's bases. Won't be doing that anymore hopefully, so time to switch back to the extra trade from being a Council Member.
