MTB-Fritz wrote:
Meeting of the Minds

-As Sophon, receive 30 technologies from others and give at least 30 technologies to others in a single game-

I find that the AI is extremely unwilling to share tech secrets even with alliance or cooperate partners. Once you are squeezing them hard you got a better chance but at that point I m usually number 1 on research anyway so they dont have anything to offer. The only viable way I currently see is to set up a multiplayer match and orchestratre the trades. Did anybody do this in singleplayer by chance?

I got it in singleplayer, played as Sophons against 7 Sowers. You'll have high techs that they value, and they'll have low techs that they're not too clingy about (just avoid as many techs as you possibly can; it's better to spend 30 turns researching a later tech than the one turn researching five low techs, since you can get those techs for free essentially).



It takes a damn long time, but it works.



If anyone has any questions about vanilla achievements, I basically got all of them (except for one the game robbed me of for no reason), so I can share my strategies (since most of them were cheesed in some way )

MTB-Fritz wrote:
And my archenemy is this "Dont even think about it". Just wasted a day on this (+8 hours easily) and am at a complete loss what to do.

Advice from the game designer: try in MP with a friend on either the vanilla or Disharmony (it should work on both).

I was thinking I should give a general description of my play-style so somebody more observant/experienced then me might have some advice what to do better?



The current game I m in gives me 283 turns before the AI swarms and destroys me. Its a tiny galaxy 2-string with the same number of systems on either side....I end up having all systems colonized. I was thinking to trigger wonder victory but basically run out of time (2 wonders built the rest need ~80 turns). I took the run-down on traits shown in a screenshot further above but changed the affinity to Sophon.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I completely ignore Worm-hole tech and unlock Arid and Arctic planets first (Lava, Barren and Gas joins later) after that I put the min into tier1 tech on either side to stabilize my economy and build a basic blocker fleet. I streamline for the first morale-tech then focus more on research-improvements. My heroes (2) are administrator and Corporate. I micro-manage in between to squeeze the last drop of research points out of my economy but cant unlock the wonder tech before turn 158. After that I re-model my whole economy into production and try to get the wonders going......eventually running out of time. I completely neglect my fleets and stay with my starter block fleet not upgrading it at all. This doesnt seem to make a difference to the AI reaction tho and once he declares war it doesnt matter what kind of ships I have available anyway (I guess by turn 283 he has all military techs unlocked so our ships would be equal = I lose due to traits).

Me again, yep been some time.



Had a break and returned to the game eager to finish the last few achievements I have left. And my archenemy is this "Dont even think about it". Just wasted a day on this (+8 hours easily) and am at a complete loss what to do.



1. Does this achievement has to be played on Disharmony only or can I try it on classic as well? Disharmony seems to be bloody impossible at the moment. Had 5 or 6 matches and if I go for the connecting system first the AI declares war on turn 14-20..... I dont even have a fleet build by that time. Needless to say he swarmed and stomped me every time.



First problem I run into is that on tiny galaxies I almost always get several connecting wormholes (everything is on few or min) making a defense hard/impossible. Kind of re-rolled for an hour until I found one which has a good lay-out (but has a 50:50 ratio on planets)

The enemy (sower hand-picked) gets worm-hole tech by turn 4.....I dont even reach the connecting system in that time.

By the time I have 2 colonies running the AI has his whole side colonized which is frustrating but with a roadblock in place its still playable. Here lies the real problem....I HAVE to colonize the other systems because if I dont or go slow he ll have wormless travel by turn 80 and starts occupying my area. If I do that I NEVER draw equal or pass him in research tho because I m too busy stabilizing my economy.



Rushing the AI doesnt work simply because he has a defender fleet by turn 5 and due to the negative traits I had to pick that means he destroys me easily (not to mention that I need 20+ turns to reach his home system in which time he manufactures 4+ fleets).



So I take it slow and build up a force...this worked to turn 180.....he he declares war on me and rushes me with dozens of fleets. I m not sure what tech he uses but according to MP alone my defending fleets are equal or better equipped (this is on classic) but again the negative traits strike and I lose all my fleets within 2 turns.





So I m really clueless what to do next. Cant outrace the AI regarding research...certainly cant compete economically and even IF by some miracle I manage to get a working fighting force going they simply get smashed in an encounter.



Do I have to be ultra-lucky on the galaxy?



Hoping for some more tips

I was using huge size simply to give more opportunity for expansion before conflicts start and easy difficulty. It took em quiet some time to research anything I needed but if you leave enough research "holes" in your trees you ll be able to pick up some. Being in an alliance or coorperate agreement helps with the trades

Fenrakk101 wrote:
I got it in singleplayer, played as Sophons against 7 Sowers. You'll have high techs that they value, and they'll have low techs that they're not too clingy about (just avoid as many techs as you possibly can; it's better to spend 30 turns researching a later tech than the one turn researching five low techs, since you can get those techs for free essentially).



It takes a damn long time, but it works.



If anyone has any questions about vanilla achievements, I basically got all of them (except for one the game robbed me of for no reason), so I can share my strategies (since most of them were cheesed in some way )

What size of map and what difficulty you are playing at?

My case they just dont researching enough tech to trade...

MTB-Fritz wrote:
that list puts the living fear into me (starts praying), geez I m not sure I even WANT to attempt this hahaha.

Just build a decent fleet early on to keep them from moving ships into your system, and you MUST colonize the planet connected to their systems first (so that when it becomes a colony they can't enter anymore). You'll be behind at the start, for obvious reasons, but once your population starts growing and you have enough systems, you should start to easily out-tech the AI. The longer you can stay at peace, the farther ahead you'll get.

MTB-Fritz wrote:
You ll be happy to hear that I managed to snag the Meeting of the Minds achievement and yes, once you pay attention to certain details its rather easy, just have to "work" the AI. Thanks again for your input mate

No problem I was considering making an achievement guide, but until I 100% the game I would feel like a poser if I did that.

that list puts the living fear into me (starts praying), geez I m not sure I even WANT to attempt this hahaha.



Kudons Fenrakk101, you really went out of your way to help a fellow gamer out. I ll make sure to take your advice to heart and give it a try...once I m drunk enough hehe.



You ll be happy to hear that I managed to snag the Meeting of the Minds achievement and yes, once you pay attention to certain details its rather easy, just have to "work" the AI. Thanks again for your input mate

MTB-Fritz wrote:
That simply sounds too easy but I ll man up and give it a try. The problem I see and am frightened off is that as I have to pick every single negative trait in order to reach -195 the AI will outperform me in everything. Research, FIDS, fleet size and tech. Theoretically I consider this one impossible but taking your word for it



/phew



(tries to man up)

You actually don't need to take EVERY negative trait, and you can even afford to take a positive trait or two.



I'll see if I can find my exact setup for you, but for example I know I took one of the positive anomalies - I believe Metallic Waters.



EDIT: I only managed to find a save file for when I was trying to win my first game on Endless, so I don't have the exact trait list I used. But, I did make a new -195 faction for you to use. I also have the map, to show you what it should "ideally" look like.



This save was midway through the game, and those last systems were basically gas giants and asteroid belts. You don't need to colonize every system, just make sure you have more than your opponent. Alioth and Gienah are our respective home planets. You'll want to keep a fleet to prevent him from sending colony ships into your own constellation.





I can't promise this is the same trait list I used, but it should be capable of doing this. What you (ideally) want to do is delay war as long as possible, and push the game into the late game so you can out-tech the Sowers. The Sophon ability would be the "best" for doing this, but it would greatly lengthen the amount of time it took to get the achievement - make a game, save on turn 1, try to scout the galaxy (which could take a half hour or so), and if it's a good galaxy to get the achievement, you go back to turn 1 and play it out. But chances are you won't get a "good" galaxy that quickly.

That simply sounds too easy but I ll man up and give it a try. The problem I see and am frightened off is that as I have to pick every single negative trait in order to reach -195 the AI will outperform me in everything. Research, FIDS, fleet size and tech. Theoretically I consider this one impossible but taking your word for it



/phew



(tries to man up)

armoek wrote:
I'm closing in on the last few visible achievements.



What's the best way to achieve "Don't even think about it"(-195 trait points on endless dificulty). My idea was to play a 1v1 and win via supremacy as all I need to do is survive long enough to have a fleet to take their home world but the couple of times I've tried this I was curbstomped so looking for any ideas.

I did this very easily. You're right about only using Supremacy. Start with the Amoeba trait (it's not the "optimal" trait, but it greatly speeds up the first step). Spawn the smallest galaxies possible, 1v1 against Sowers. I don't remember the exact seed or settings I used, but there are some conditions you want it to meet:

-Start with the AI in a separate constellation.

-The AI's homeworld should have a warp link into your system.

-Preferably, you should have more planets than your opponent.

-Preferably, you should only have one of your planets connected to their constellation - it means you only need one fleet for defense.



I'll see if I still have the custom faction I used, but I think I deleted it. I MIGHT have the save, to show off what it looked like when I won. The galaxy I did it with was basically perfect; I had about eight planets, with a few good anomalies, and a single planet with warp links to three of the AI's four systems (one obviously being their homeworld).



You'll want to colonize the system(s) connected to their constellation first, to keep them from passing through your territory while at cold war. Also, be very conservative in your expansion, because Expansion Disapproval is insane on Endless.



The AI will eventually declare war on you no matter what you do, so just wait for that to happen and then invade their homeworld. If your fleet is big enough, you could just go all-in and send everything you have; if it would take too long, you may want to keep a fleet for defense.

I'm closing in on the last few visible achievements.



What's the best way to achieve "Don't even think about it"(-195 trait points on endless dificulty). My idea was to play a 1v1 and win via supremacy as all I need to do is survive long enough to have a fleet to take their home world but the couple of times I've tried this I was curbstomped so looking for any ideas.

Yeah I was as lost as you were mate. I ended up googling the thing and the first post I came across named these two with the line "once you check their description its really crystal clear"......needless to say I m still as clueless as before because the description doesnt give me a single hint to Romeo and Julia. In the end I took the names at face value and be done with it.

This actually really upsets me, I hate it when I don't get a Literary reference.^^

The two heroes are Karta Vauclas and Tephys. I m currently working on it with a custom race using the required headhunter traits but so far no luck on getting both of em.

Just got it a couple minutes ago....my set-up



Spiral-2 small, 1 AI opponent (got United Empire), newbie difficulty, FAST game (this is important), Whatever race you prefer but 2 headhunter traits for adventurer and commander are a MUST else you are a glutton for punishment, all victory conditions disabled xcept for expansion.



Spent 5 minutes creating and quitting matches until I got 1 of the 2 required heroes. After that play the game as you normally would. Squish or imprison the AI just make sure you dont get more then 75% of the systems available (check your victory status from time to time - I had the AI killed sitting at 96%). Then keep researching the trees and max out academy techs. Under FAST pace that ll give you 1 hero every 10 turns and you can recruit a boatload. I m not sure if you can get heroes you expelled, I recruited as many as I could and only booted them in order to keep the turns ticking down. Took me 320 turns total to end up with the second hero and I had the AI killed by turn 40.....yeah, I dont think I ll do THAT again

If anyone has any questions about vanilla achievements, I basically got all of them (except for one the game robbed me of for no reason), so I can share my strategies (since most of them were cheesed in some way )

Wow, thanks for the offer. Unfortunately the only achievements I m missing from vanilla are Meeting of the Minds and That took how many Parsecs?. I ll try your advice and the 1.000.000 Parsecs will come eventually.

huh, what's the catch? It may just be me but I don't seem to get the connection.

Yeah I was as lost as you were mate. I ended up googling the thing and the first post I came across named these two with the line "once you check their description its really crystal clear"......needless to say I m still as clueless as before because the description doesnt give me a single hint to Romeo and Julia. In the end I took the names at face value and be done with it.

Karta Vauclas and Tephys

huh, what's the catch? It may just be me but I don't seem to get the connection.

There's quite a lot of achievements for this game. I'd like to start knocking some of these out but frankly, I have no idea what some of them even are. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there on the same boat. Maybe someone can even list all the achievements and list the best way to achieve it.



Marco Polo with Tentacles

Have a Trade Route with every other system in the galaxy - by Nosferatiel



How is this even possible if you can't choose which systems get trade?



Praise to the Endless

Win with an Expansion Victory with the Sowers when you have the Endless Hero



Is this for either Skuoi Kyryi (Emperor Edition) or Kyuind Neuil (Virtual Awakening) or both?



Heartless

Destroy 10 colony ships using Battle Stasis



Is this at once or as a collective? Also, what is Battle Stasis, is it a special Card?



Three Little Pigs

Kill 10 troops with collateral damage



What's the best ship/fleet design for this?

I have gotten through quite a few but am having trouble getting the the highest score by turn 25 on hard or higher

You ll be happy to learn that theres a hidden achievement where you need to have the highest score on turn 100 at impossible or higher



The way I did it is:

Spiral 8, medium size, custom race focused on research and some dust generation. Getting an administrator is vital, filling up the other heroes helps tons. Colonize your spiral arm and set up a blocker system in the midfield. Grab whatever you can defend. YOu ll get focused attacks early on. I concentrated on peace to give me some more time to advance my research, most of my score was generated by research but I ended up with first FIDS as well while the AI bashed their heads in. By turn 60 I was second in score and had to declare war on the leading AI (an Amoeba, go figure) and decimated him by turn 90 making the achievement an easy home run.



The highest problem I currently have with Slapping the Mosquitos is that the AI doesnt really use fighters and bombers in its design....really frustrating and to think there are 2 more hidden achievements for this /sigh

How on Tor is one supposed to get the Shakespear acchievement? Who are the Romeo and Juliet heroes?

The two heroes are Karta Vauclas and Tephys. I m currently working on it with a custom race using the required headhunter traits but so far no luck on getting both of em.

I'm pretty sure killing fighters and bombers in battle counts, I've got a score of 9 now and I'm pretty sure i did not get them from the odd bombing run. In general the battlemechanics do not favor killing fighters and bombers as basically every battle that ends in the first round has horrendously low chances of actually killing a fighter and Fighters do not engage enemy fighters after the cpital ships have been destroyed.





PS almost forgot my own question:



The ethernal Bard

How on Tor is one supposed to get the Shakespear acchievement? Who are the Romeo and Juliet heroes?

MTB-Fritz wrote:
I m joining a little late it seems but I d like to use this thread to discuss other achievements people might have a probem with.



Slapping the Mosquitos and its following (hidden) achievements

-Destroy 50 fighters and bombers-

Currently I m not sure how to even destroy enemy fighters/bombers. I realize that when I encounter enemy fleets who use fighters/bombers simply destroying the ships doesnt count toward the achievement. So far I tried designing my ships with point defense and even used battle specced fighters to "go after" the enemy planes but nothing works. Did anybody get that achievement already and has a few pointers?



Meeting of the Minds

-As Sophon, receive 30 technologies from others and give at least 30 technologies to others in a single game-

I find that the AI is extremely unwilling to share tech secrets even with alliance or cooperate partners. Once you are squeezing them hard you got a better chance but at that point I m usually number 1 on research anyway so they dont have anything to offer. The only viable way I currently see is to set up a multiplayer match and orchestratre the trades. Did anybody do this in singleplayer by chance?

I think I read somewhere that the bombers/fighters need to be destroyed by the anti air defense building on a planet, this would be fairly hard to do against the AI as they don't seem to use bombers often at all or you dominate and they never end up being able to attack you.



I imagine for the sophons one you would need to mostly exclude researching into 1 or 2 of the trees and maybe even stop researching at a point, I imagine giving away the 30 techs is easy but getting them off the ai would be difficult. Maybe try and play a high tax/dust game to slow your research and try and buy a lot of the low level stuff.



I have gotten through quite a few but am having trouble getting the the highest score by turn 25 on hard or higher, I only started playing with disharmony released and read that the enemies outscore buy quite a lot now, should i be switching to classic to get this achievement?



Edit: I was able to get the highest score in 25 turns by playing a 1v1 horatio standard on hard. The trick was to grab a bunch of worlds and let the great horatio populations growth do it's work and then build ships constantly from about turn 15-18, was against sowers on the latest beta patch.



Note: that the achievement - It's all Mine(d) can not be completed by the Sheredyn you have to use the united empire.

I m joining a little late it seems but I d like to use this thread to discuss other achievements people might have a probem with.



Slapping the Mosquitos and its following (hidden) achievements

-Destroy 50 fighters and bombers-

Currently I m not sure how to even destroy enemy fighters/bombers. I realize that when I encounter enemy fleets who use fighters/bombers simply destroying the ships doesnt count toward the achievement. So far I tried designing my ships with point defense and even used battle specced fighters to "go after" the enemy planes but nothing works. Did anybody get that achievement already and has a few pointers?



Meeting of the Minds

-As Sophon, receive 30 technologies from others and give at least 30 technologies to others in a single game-

I find that the AI is extremely unwilling to share tech secrets even with alliance or cooperate partners. Once you are squeezing them hard you got a better chance but at that point I m usually number 1 on research anyway so they dont have anything to offer. The only viable way I currently see is to set up a multiplayer match and orchestratre the trades. Did anybody do this in singleplayer by chance?