Mass Effect: Andromeda on insanity
Decided to return to Andromeda for a second run, but this time on the hardest difficulty, insanity.
Perhaps the simplest thing in the world for some people, but I’m not an action hero, so I wasn’t sure how it would go.
On my last run (on normal), after starting out trying various things, I eventually converged on using cloak and the two tech constructs as my three active powers, plus sniping as my main weapon. That makes for a playing style that suits me fine. Figured I might use the same setup this time, but I wasn’t sure — that setup doesn’t allow for taking advantage of power combos, and many say they’re indispensable on insanity. And maybe I would want to play around with other powers anyway, for fun? In any case, cloak and tech constructs aren’t available at the start, so I could at least play around with power combos for a while.
And so I did. At first it went well; noticeably harder than last time, but not to the point of hitting a wall. Then I came up against some remnants guarding a monolith, and I hit that wall. I tried again and again, using different tactics and vantage points etc, but I just couldn’t win. My squad mates died, and it was difficult to revive them without dying myself, and it seemed like an endless stream of remnants coming at us (1). Eventually, it felt like a complete exercise in futility.
I’m sure part of this was just me playing badly, since the first run on normal (and without combos) didn’t provide much training, but I felt defeated enough that I didn’t want to have to seriously practice to demolish this obstacle.
A real low point, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish the game at all. But I had one last card up my sleeve: using my old build, even though I mostly would have to forfeit using power combos. I was still a low level character at this point, but I had enough skill points to be allowed to use cloak and turret, and unlike most of my last run I knew it was possible to respec my character.
And so I did, and it also became a more focused build too, since I before that had wasted a few points trying different powers.
Lo and behold, after a few tries I made it work. Phew. I was elated; the game was on.
And I kept going, clearing Eos, establishing a base and returning to the Nexus. That’s where I was at when I wrote the first draft. Then I forgot about the draft and kept playing. Now I’m nearly done with the game. After I got on track with the build, the game just became easier and easier with each new character level. Soon enough, it was easier even than my previous run on normal.
So it’s not only perfectly possible to finish the game on insanity without using combos (2); it’s also easy (3). Perhaps this build is actually the easiest way, especially for someone who doesn’t have the chops to whirl around like a ninja on steroids. I mostly just hang around in the background overlooking the battle, making certain decisions and some half-hearted sniping. In these games, action RPGs, I often look for the most relaxed playing style, but without ”cheating” like e.g. playing on easy. I want a real problem to solve, but I want the solution itself to make it relaxed, so to speak. And this is indeed pretty relaxed since my squad and my constructs do most of the heavy lifting. In any game of this kind, if there’s a choice between making myself stronger or my squad/companion/constructs etc, I always prioritize them.
Even though I use the same active powers and the same type of main weapon as last time, the build is different in other ways, and clearly better. Partly because it is a lot more focused (like I said, didn’t then know until near the end, long after the main quest was done, that I could respec, so I ended up with a lot of wasted skill points), but there are other improvements as well.
So the build has cloak, tech constructs and sniping, but there is also a matter of having the right combination of optional traits (important), and to some extent the right armor, and even the right sniping rifle and augs. But I don’t obsess over optimization; I’m happy to neglect details. So I may delay researching the next level equipment or making immediate use of a good aug I just found or whatever. I make sure to get the important things right, and then do the rest as I feel like. I never use consumables.
I’ll return to delineate the important elements of the build, as well as a post on tactics to use while engaging in a battle using this build.
1. Not an unjustified feeling, as I didn’t know at this point that Assemblers create new remnants, and so I didn’t target the Assemblers first.
2. Yes, the squad and the tech constructs do use combos, and in fact I build them to maximize that. But I don’t use combos myself.
3. I did run into one (optional) battle that initially was hard (apparently infamously hard, even on normal), but even that one became easy with the right tactic. I’m talking about the end battle in the vault on H-047C.
The story of the release of Fallout 76
That went well.
I didn’t get the game, not even with the generous discount offered like ten minutes after the game had been released. I expected the game to be vastly inferior to earlier titles, but even long before the release I gradually lost even the little excitement I initially might have had. Especially since I’m able to listen to the stellar soundtrack directly on my music service anyway. Might still get the game in the future, but quite possibly I won’t.
I did however, despite my disinterest in playing the game myself, follow the unfolding release story with great interest, starting way back with the teaser. And it was quite a ride, much drama as Bethesda had their reputation obliterated step by step. Probably more interesting than the stories within the game itself, and more tragic.
What had me most worried about the game right from the E3 show was the lack of human NPCs. Such a gap would of course mean a downgrade of NPC interaction in general, in favor of multiplayer, which seemed like a terrible decision for this series, and for my personal taste.
In the days following the E3 announcement I was trying to get this point across in various forums, but it fell on deaf ears. One guy even refused to believe me — “do you really think Bethesda would…” — and I had to point him to several sources where Todd made it clear that they indeed intended to.
Instead the main worry was the risk of griefing. I had some concern about that too, but Bethesda did say it was possible to play solo and that there would be anti-griefing measures in place, making it possible to play basically as a single-player game except for the occasional run-in with another player. Especially with relatively few players on each map.
But that wouldn’t cure the problem of having downgraded NPC interaction.
And it’s the kind of shared world that is bound to ruin the solo-player experience in certain other ways as well, including by not allowing any one person to have any lasting impact on the world that way you routinely have in single player games. When the state of the world changes, it’s for the most part just temporary, then it resets. That diminishes the sense of progression. Your character progresses, but not the world. Heck, even the impact of a nuke is reset after a few hours, I hear. Imagine how cheapening and ridiculous it would have been if Megaton and its residents would reset a few hours after nuking it. Nukes should be serious business, especially in a game like Fallout — war never changes — but Fallout 76 turns them into a joke. Watch the intro video to the first Fallout game to know what I mean by serious.
The game is more like an amusement park with a bunch of fun stuff to do with your buddies, where most things are of little consequence. Even the parts that are serious, the tragic and poignant stories you get to hear while listening to the holotapes, are kind of ruined if you go multiplayer, because most people just don’t want to spend five minutes listening to a tape while your friend is waiting. It’s like reading a book and socializing at the same time, it doesn’t mix well.
But anyway, then the beta arrived and all hell broke loose. What had been a speculative breeze of worry turned into a full blown storm of hate, as the emerging self-organized consensus was that this game just plain sucks. Turns out that a lot of players do agree that a Fallout game devoid of NPCs is indeed without a heart and soul, only they had to experience it first hand to realize it. But not only that, even the multiplayer was not what people had hoped for (though griefing specifically wasn’t a problem), and the game had an impressive amount of bugs, and so on.
A few brave souls remained hopeful that Bethesda would get their act together and patch the bugs before the release, and maybe even address some of the other concerns, but I think most understood that that wasn’t going to happen. Indeed, it didn’t. The game tanked among players and reviewers alike.
And then the disaster train just kept going, both in terms of the game itself, and the site (leaking information about certain customers), and products related to the game, such as the bag and the Nuka rum. It was a spectacular parade of fail, their first in many years (or ever?) [1].
On the positive side, with Fallout 76 as a yardstick and a point of reference, it shouldn’t be too hard to do better next time, right? Unless it’s a symptom of something seriously broken over at Bethesda HQ, but let’s not make too much out of this. Once isn’t a pattern, might be an exception and an honest mistake.
I would really like to have and have had an insider’s view of all of this, to hear what has been said at Bethesda HQ. Did they suspect ahead of time that the game was going to fail? Was the game, minus the bugs, as they had intended it, or did something go terribly wrong during development? What was the reaction to the, mildly put, negative reception? Have they learned anything, and what are their plans for the future?
I’ve been a big fan of the series from the very start, and I especially love New Vegas. I really enjoyed even Fallout 4 and I’ve defended it on occasion (old post available here, though that’s more of a criticism than a defense), so the whole Fallout 76 thing was a big disappointment. Maybe we can put it in the same category as the BoS console game and Tactics; it’s there but it didn’t really happen.
But it’s not like I don’t have enough games on my hands anyway, and maybe it’ll even be an object lesson of sorts for the gaming industry. Heck, maybe it’ll even be a lesson for players, those who have kept asking for a multiplayer Fallout for a long time (and no, even co-op is a bad idea). But I doubt it.
All in all I think my pre-beta post on the game holds up pretty well.
The easiest and safest way for Bethesda to redeem themselves is to remaster Fallout 3 and New Vegas. They did a good job with Skyrim (thanks), now do it with those two. Heck, why not go all in and remaster Fallout 1 and 2 while you’re at it. That might please even the Fallout purists, well some of them, if you do a good job.
1. Yes yes, Fallout 4 had a lot of detractors, but overall the game was still a smashing success and a pretty damn good game, despite the dialog system among other shortcomings. Angry Joe made long and detailed reviews of both Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, and the former got 8/10 and the latter 3/10. Fair assessments.
Witcher 3, the ending
Finished the game a while ago, the main story and plenty of side quests (including all monster contracts.) I have yet to play the expansions, but I hear are pretty massive.
Spoilers will follow, for the ending no less.
In terms of Ciri, I got the witcher ending — Ciri becoming a witcher — which was pretty neat. Would she had been happy as an empress? Possibly, but that’s less certain. Would the land benefit from her leadership? Probably, but tough luck.
One of three endings for Ciri is getting her killed (or at least lost — probably killed). That’s a mighty dark ending. Interestingly enough, it’s relatively subtle decisions that get you there, a lot of people unknowingly get that ending despite wanting and trying their best for her. For example, if you don’t agree to ransack the elf’s room up (long story), that counts against you, and if you’re a borderline case at that point, that decision alone can be the difference between her dying or not dying.
Luckily, I let her have at it. The only apparently bad decision I made was facing the lodge together with her (take notice, if you have yet to face this decision.)
That’s a whole post — or ten — in itself, the way decisions and consequences are linked and implemented in these games.
As for rulership, I got the Nilfgaardian ending. It’s not great, he’s a bit of a tyrant (and worse in the books, I hear), but it might still be the best. Better than Radovid for sure, but maybe northern rule by Dijkstra is worth consideration.
And then there’s romance. Apparently Yen vs Triss is a big topic in the community. I romanced both. Works out well, until it doesn’t. Had a hunch it might not end well, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Not only does it ruin your chances with either, but it also has a deep and somewhat poignant impact on your life ever after — leadning not to a bad life exactly, just a typical witcher life, and just not what you’d get with Yen or Triss — if the ending slide is to be trusted. Which makes sense, clearly those are rare opportunities, and once gone lost forever.
Well, that’s it. I’m currently taking a break from the game, but I’ll be back at least for the expansions. Right now, I’m midway through Metal Gear Solid 5.
Witcher 3
If there’s anything you learn from the video game community, it’s that Witcher 3 is a perennial fan favorite RPG, along with the series in general. Pretty much everyone loves it.
Well, I’ve finally got around to give it a shot, and I suppose it’s time for me to join the club.
Been wanting to do this for a long time, and I’ve had the game (and DLCs) in my library waiting patiently.
It’s not actually the first time I play the series though, a long time ago I took Witcher 2 for a very short spin. Wasn’t in the mood, didn’t get into it, and never got around to give it a second chance. I meant to, especially since I know I’m slow to get into these kind of games, but it didn’t happen.
At some point I figured I might as well jump to Witcher 3 directly, and learn about the Witcher world, including the stories and events of the first two games, from documents and videos.
A tough decision, as I remain convinced that Witcher 2 is a really good game, but time is finite and my backlog isn’t. It seems like most think Witcher 3 is (somewhat) better anyway.
Now I’m 50+ hours into the game. That’s many hours, but I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. That includes a lot of side quests though, and a fair amount of Gwent. The remaining quest list is long and growing ever longer, and I’m having a blast, and I hear some people put an ungodly amount of hours into this game even in a single playthrough — so I don’t need to rely on conjecture to conclude that I will keep going for a good long while.
Indeed, I do enjoy the experience a lot, there’s much to love in this game. More posts to come.
(Incidentally, this hypes me even more for Cyberpunk 2077, although I’ve been hyped ever since the announcement and that first teaser, years ago.)
Mass Effect: Andromeda
My plan was to begin Andromeda at launch, but life came in-between and caused a rather substantial delay. And when I finally did get started, I didn’t finish. Not sure why, but a long mid-game hiatus followed. Then I continued, and now it’s done; I’ve completed the main story, as well as a great many sidequests — I’ve been in Andromeda for more than 100 hours.
One thing is for sure, those delays didn’t happen out of dislike of the game. On the contrary, I enjoyed the game a great deal.
And maybe the first delay wasn’t such a bad thing, considering all those wonky animations the game shipped with that got everyone riled up. I’ve seen the memes. When I finally embarked, the bad animations had mostly been patched. The game seemed polished overall.
The game, while being a standalone entry, is of course a game in the mighty Mass Effect series. That’s not an easy position to be in, as people (including the developers themselves) might have an expectation or two.
The trilogy holds a special place in my heart; I truly love it, and at some point I want to discuss it at length.
It’s true that Andromeda doesn’t really hold up in comparison, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that ruin my impression of the game. A game can be pretty damn good while still falling short of the standard set by the trilogy. And I do think Andromeda is pretty damn good.
Apparently that’s still a somewhat unpopular opinion, at least in the loudest crowd. Most who express their opinion either think the game is downright bad, even terrible, or that it’s merely decent, maybe good. *”Actually, it’s not a bad game, it’s just that…”. *
Screw that, I think it deserves better than “it’s not a bad game”.
While the writing in general is good, I did find the main quest to be lackluster, in particular the main antagonist, the Kett. Not terrible, but disappointing. The Kett is boring and shallow, frankly. Other aspects of the main quest are better, but still pretty meh.
Luckily, it’s a sprawling (but not disparate) game with much to offer aside from the main quest, both important missions like finding and preparing planets to live on, and those small but memorable moments like when you just talk with a crew member.
Took a while to realize that the main quest wasn’t going to deliver; it seemed to hold promise in the beginning. Everything started out pretty good, with the vaults, the remnants, the scourge, even the Kett at that point — like multiple big mysteries to be explored and gradually revealed — but then we didn’t really get to learn much of anything. And although the Kett featured prominently, we didn’t really learn much about them either. What is their origin, why is “exalting” other species so important to them, what is their philosophy of life, their social organization and political and military structure, what are their distinguishing characteristics as a species (aside from how they are made) what do they do for fun, do they enjoy coffee. We learned a few things, but not nearly enough.
What if we had had intelligence missions to steal information about them, and learn a lot in the process.
That part about the Archon defying central command did hold some promise, a window into both their psychology and their internal political structure, but all we got was minor hints.
And then there’s the whole deal with what came to be known as the Jardaan, which I thought were going to be the main race of the main quest. Unlike the Kett they felt interesting; they felt like this game’s counterpart to the Reapers (but not as hostile.) The Kett otoh felt like the Collectors of ME2 [1], which is a fine race (storywise) when cast in a minor or maybe medium role as a semi-mindless agent of destruction, but a weak race (storywise) when cast as the main villain. Unless fleshed out a lot more.
Luckily the game did better elsewhere, like the loyalty and ark missions, the internal politics and conflicts, and finding planets to live on. Populated areas, including the Nexus, felt alive and vibrant, conversations with and between crew members were often entertaining and well written, and served to deepen the characters. I’d say that the characters and dialogs are generally well written. Finding and securing planets to live on felt important. Combat-wise, character development and gameplay is great — seriously, it’s great and worth a post on its own.
And you do get some of that *homebase* feeling when on-board the ship.
Despite the flaws, there’s simply a lot to like in this game, and I hope in time it will get a more positive and accurate reputation. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one to really enjoy this game.
Whether I did or not, I do have a desire to stress the positives of the game, to provide a contrast to the more common negative narrative. If the game would have been received as a masterpiece, I might have felt the opposite, a need to stress the flaws and shortcomings. But my final judgement is the same in either case, an… 8/10? Yeah, 8/10. (By contrast the trilogy is a 10/10, an actual masterpiece.)
All in all I definitely recommend this game.
1. Though they operate more like the Borg. But the Borg *feels* like a major villain, and the Kett doesn’t, not as presented.
Fallout 76
Several weeks ago Bethesda started running a livestream teasing an upcoming Fallout related reveal. Much speculation ensued. I was myself expecting a remaster or two, something I’ve wanted for a long time.
Turns out they got a brand new Fallout game, for which we got a teaser trailer a day or so later. Fallout 76. Not many saw that coming, especially not before the livestream.
A brand new game, but other than that the trailer didn’t reveal much, we would have to wait for E3. So more speculation ensued, and there were also some (supposed) leaks and rumors going around, including that of Fallout 76 being a multiplayer game, which was also subtly hinted at by the trailer itself.
Then E3 arrived, and we learned that the game is in late stage development and that it’s indeed a multiplayer game of sorts, though not an mmorpg, and not a typical multiplayer shooter. They say it’s its own kind of multiplayer.
You can play solo if you want [1], but the experience may not be what you expect from a Fallout game, since it is built around multiplayer. They’ve removed and downgraded some traditional Fallout single player elements, most noticeably removed the human NPCs. All humans in the game are now real people. Previous games in the series all have plenty of human NPCs to interact with [2], indeed one might argue that that’s a core part of the series and a core driver of the storytelling. There will be some non-human NPCs (eg robots), but all in all NPC interaction will likely not feature as prominently this time around. In an interview Todd Howard has stated flat out that there will be no NPCs in the game (points for not trying to mislead us or conceal this gap), which strictly speaking is false (those robots) but still telling.
Filling this gap is the aforementioned multiplayer; you get to interact with other players instead of NPCs. If you go solo you’ll have to live with the gap and enjoy whatever else the game will offer.
It’s uncharted territory for a Fallout game, quite a change actually. Permissible experiment or a train wreck in the making? We’ll see, but from the looks of it, it’s hard not to conclude that it’s a significant step back for those looking for a single player experience, even though some of classic elements are there, such as quests, character development and exploration, and the Fallout world itself with its history and lore and everything.
But it might be a fun game in its own right, especially if played as intended, providing some new engaging experiences that the old Fallout games cannot. If you’re into that sort of thing. The setting does look compelling and beautiful — and the territory is apparently four times the size of Fallout 4 — and I do like base building (except… this time the settlements might be a bit desolate? In Fallout 4 they had people living in them.) Despite everything I just can’t help getting at least a little bit excited about getting to be in the Fallout universe again, with everything that (still) entails. Hopefully they have a surprise or two in store for us as well. And hopefully Inon Zur will return to create another awesome soundtrack — that alone would be something to look forward to. But conversely, if they don’t go with Inon Zur (or Mark Morgan, for that matter), and if they screw up the soundtrack somehow, that would be a huge blow to the game, as far as I’m concerned. A stellar soundtrack has been integral to Fallout since day one, and it’s a big deal.
In conclusion, I say this: I would much rather have a more traditional Fallout game, a single player game with lots of NPCs and so on, but I’ll likely give Fallout 76 a chance at some point, for old times’ sake if nothing else. Not sure really what to expect.
It will be released November 14.
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1. Todd Howard’s term. It doesn’t mean playing on a map without other players — they will always be there — but apparently there will be substantial anti-griefing measures available for those who want to go about it alone.
2. No I’ve never heard of Tactics or the console BoS game, go away.
Blogging and the Window of Opportunity
A meta-post and a look behind the scenes. Allow me to indulge.
While I do try to play video games fairly regularly, and all in all I wouldn’t say it’s a huge amount, and I’m also usually a pretty slow player. Given this, one would think my blogging could keep up, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Partly because I generate a lot of thoughts (i.e. potential blog posts) even from relatively little gaming, but mostly because I procrastinate too much. For various reasons, one of which I will outline below.
I’m still in the process of learning the craft, ever the fledgling blogger, which entails meta-elements like getting started when one doesn’t particularly feel like it. I tend to lag behind so much on doing my blog duty that many planned or even half-written posts become obsolete.
Not obsolete in terms of interest to the community (hah) — all these posts may be obsolete in that regard for all I know (not really a consideration at this point) — but obsolete in terms of my own interest.
Because my interest is an ever-changing landscape, at least as far as specific games are concerned. When I’m in the middle of a game, rumination and contemplation on that particular adventure come easy, whether for a blog post or otherwise. That remains the case for a time after the game is concluded, assuming the game is compelling enough. But then the interest starts to wane in most cases, especially as I start engaging with new games, making them my focus.
Eventually I lose the interest entirely, possibly forever.
That period of active interest is the window of opportunity to write the blog post, at least if I want to have a shot at making the process enjoyable and relatively fast, rather than a slow and painful chore. Not to mention the increased risk of inadvertently falling into the pit of procrastination.
(Occasionally, when the stars align perfectly, I’m able to capitalize on and drum up some residual interest even when the critical period has passed, but it’s not yet something I can generate at will or count on.)
Planescape: Torment
Having that window closing on me is pretty much what has happened with my planned post(s) on Planescape: Torment. I finished the game some time ago, and was excited to organize my thoughts into a few posts, but I was too slow to get started, and now the inspiration and motivation are long gone. Instead, my mind is on the Bioshock trilogy, which is what I’m currently playing.
(For the record, I didn’t love Planescape. It’s good, but none the less a disappointment, though still an interesting game both to play and to think about. Maybe I’ll get around to write those posts anyway, maybe not. Actually, maybe I’ll even play the game again, which would surely reignite the inspiration.)
Final Words
The strange thing is that one can remain determined to write a post even though it has become obsolete. That’s one of many failure modes of blogging: being attached to write certain posts one has long lost actual interest and inspiration in writing. It’s an inner conflict that risk putting the kibosh on the entire enterprise, the blog grinding to a halt until the conflict is addressed and resolved.
That is a good time to channel the Buddha and relinquish the post’s hold on you. To release the attachment. What if the post is half-finished and you’ve already put to use some clever turn of phrase and a few elucidatory and eloquent examples? It’s a judgement call, either bite the bullet and just finish the damn thing, or accept the sunk cost (and the defeat) and ditch the post. For me, it’s usually the latter. Just ditch it. Then move on.
Civilization VI, War (3/3)
The story so far (part 1, part 2), recapitulated: My powerful neighbor Brazil declared war upon me, and at a point when I wouldn’t have been able to stave him off. Mysteriously and anticlimactically he never got around to actually execute the attack.
Luckily, as that gave me time to build my own long overdue army. Used to have the second worst military in the world (out of eight competing powers), and now I have the strongest. And more importantly, now I’m going after him.
In order to build that army I had to neglect everything else, but if my invasion succeeds, I will get a valuable prize — everything he’s got, including his big cities and many wonders (building wonders were an obsession of his.)
So I built the army and started marching toward his nearest city, one of his big three. Got nearly all the way before any sign of resistance, but then he made a long range attack from a unit stationed in that city. Fair enough. My unit got wounded, but survived, I ordered it to retreat to get some medical attention and heal.
Then began a dance of mutual sequential attacks with long range units, a cadence of stepping forward to fire a shot, then getting shot at and getting wounded, then pulling back to heal while simultaneously stepping forward and attacking with another unit. Rinse and repeat, more or less (though I threw in some additional experimental action on the side, pillaging and the like.)
It’s my first real war, but that seemed like the way to go given these circumstances.
It’s a slow process, a war of attrition and a siege of sorts, but it was not an impasse — there was progress. Eventually his defense wore down (while I kept my units alive through the maneuver described above), and I moved in and conquered the city.
Next in line was his capitol, his biggest city. Same tactic, same victory. Took a while, but no surprises. Resistance is futile.
By now he had offered peace several times over, with really good treatises too, but to his dismay I declined every one of them. We both knew I would benefit even more from continuing the campaign.
Eventually I realized that declining treatises probably came with a certain cost I hadn’t previously considered — that of increasing warmongering status among the other powers of the world, which is a pretty bad side effect since it probably increases the risk of getting subjected to a joint attack. No single power is a challenge to me at this point, but combined they do pose a threat. But I’ll take my chances.
As I was putting my units into position to assail his third and last big city, he offered peace once again. This time I decided to look into it. We negotiated, and it turned out that he was willing to part with his two small cities as part of the treaty, as long as he got to keep that big city, his very last city.
I thought it over and decided to agree, seemed like the fastest way to bring him down, since I wouldn’t need to bother to acquire those distant small cities militarily.
The only drawback is that it would eventually require me to declare war in order to acquire the one remaining city, which is bad for that warmongering reputation, but at least the would be over quickly once started, if I make good preparations. (Plus, continuing the current war and keep declining the proposed treatises might raise warmongering status even more for all I know. I don’t know these mechanics yet.)
But, taking my chances and all that, what’s life but a series a calculated risks.
So we signed the peace-treaty, I consolidated my gains, made preparations, and declared war, took the city right and ended Brazil, though not before I had sent the ruler a sardonic mess about his mom.
Saw warmongering reputation get worse, but not to the point of getting the remaining powers to attack me (yet, anyway, who knows what they’re planning behind my back.)
That was indeed the end of Brazil. I now have what he had — save for what might have been destroyed during the war — and my score is through the roof.
So the plan right now is to step back a bit, consolidate, let tension and unfortunate perceptions cool down a bit, and build an even bigger machinery of war using my new resources and power — and then take on the rest of the world, either all at once or stepwise. I’m clearly on the right track here.
(All of this actually happened some time ago, but I’m behind on my blogging, and behind on actually executing the plan as well — currently playing the remastered Bioshock trilogy.)
Civilization VI, War (part 2)
Continuation to this. Long story short: Was peacefully building my empire, had little to no defense, was unexpectedly declared war upon by my until-then buddy and neighbor Brazil, the most powerful nation on the planet.
Had to put on my thinking cap and consider every decision carefully, to make sure my resources would be employed as effectively as possible to build an adequate defense as fast as realistically possible. No more peaceful civilian construction until this matter was settled, assuming I survived at all.
And then I waited. And prepared some more. And waited. Prepared.
Nothing happened.
Turns out the declaration was a false alarm, at least so far. No foreign army at my gates (such as they are).
Who is dumb enough to declare war and then don’t follow through? What is the plan here? True, it disrupted my flow and forced me to redirect my efforts before I was ready, and that may have been to my detriment, but I’m pretty sure my detriment is not his benefit in this case, especially not when considering what comes next.
I was utterly unprepared and vulnerable at the time of the declaration. But that was then, I have now undergone a transformation. In every single area of control — units, research, buildings, technology, etc. — I’ve now prepared myself for an invasion. I have aligned all my resources and all my forces to achieve this one purpose.
Now I’m in a pretty good shape, military wise. Not better than him, but it might be easier and less resource intensive to defend than to attack. I believe I have a fighting chance even if he would throw all he got on me, and from the looks of it he’s not coming at all.
Ranking wise, I’ve gone from 7/8 in military to 3/8 in a relatively short time period, no small feat, and this is just the beginning.
I was going to build my war machine soon enough anyway. His declaration of war acted as a catalyst, and that’s fine. In the uncertain and fluctuating world of competing political entities, plans need to be flexible and subject to revision as the circumstances changes.
I will build up my army some more, and unless he belatedly initiates his invasion I will then turn the tables and take the war to him.
To be continued.
Civilization VI, War
I’m midway through my first real game of Civilization VI, and things have just taken a turn for the worse. A storm is gathering.
But let’s back up a bit. I was doing reasonably well, inhabiting a good location on the map, being among the most advanced in research, having good relations with everyone I had met, even being official friends with most. I was peacefully minding my own business, painstakingly building my empire through creative endeavors rather than bloody conquests. As far as they knew I was peace incarnate — at least so far. My medium term plan, though, was to inconspicuously build a mighty war machine and invade my neighbor Brazil, which would be no easy task because he’s the most powerful nation in the world, including in terms of military. He also has several very big cities and nearly all wonders, making him an attractive target.
Had some short term objectives I wanted to complete first, including to research and implement monarchy, which would had let me have three war-related policies in effect at once — a useful feature and a good advantage when waging war.
The required military force would have had to be built almost from zero, as I had put my efforts and investments elsewhere. So I had no military to speak of, neither defense nor offense, and no defensive structures such as the city walls. Figured my good standing with all surrounding political entities, including Brazil, would keep me safe for the time being, and that I would build my army on a just-in-time basis when needed for the invasion. Or maybe earlier if the international scene would have started to destabilize. But not before, as building and maintaining an army incurs a cost, which is needless if it’s unused, not to mention that the units become obsolete with the passage of time.
As the tenses above reveal I’m speaking about a hypothetical scenario, the path ahead as I had envisioned it. Naturally, it all went down differently, as is often the case in life. Especially when dealing with other beings with their own agendas and inclinations, and to whom you might just be another obstacle or possessor of desired resources [1].
Apparently those good international relations I thought I had didn’t run all that deep, and apparently some rulers can be two-faced, because out of the blue my oh so friendly neighbor Brazil declared a surprise war on me.
You remember Brazil, right, only the by far most powerful nation in the world, who’s right next to me, attacking at a moment when I was still in a state of calculated martial neglect. But that’s fair enough, I suppose, I *was* planning on eventually invading *him* after all, but even so.
That’s where I’m at right now. A discontinuous unforeseen event like this will require some rather substantial changes. New objective acquired: navigate masterfully, weather the storm.
From having played at a fairly rushed pace I will now have to slow way down and play each turn with great care and deep thoughtful decisions. If I survive this it will be by narrowly, as nearly every path surely will lead to ruin.
To be continued.
[1]. Yeah yeah, this is a game and the AI is basically there to entertain me, but this is how I’m entertained.