Starting Planet Type question.

[Elmo]

I have been picking Gas Giants lately myself. It is an advantage early, but certainly not a game breaker in a game against other people whether they also pick Gas Giants or not.

However on a related note, why does your homeworld always have "Unpleasant" conditions to start? Presumably this is the world on which your species evolved. Seems like your species ought to be pretty compatible with the conditions by the time you are evolved enough for exploring the galaxy. Admittedly we only have one example to go on, but I'd say Man is pretty compatible with conditions here on Earth. The conditions aren't perfect, but I wouldn't say they are "Unpleasant" either.

Elmo

[Taqwus]

One bit -- you may need to claim more systems to have an equal number of Gas Giants as another player has rock planets, which gives you a much larger border to defend.

If you don't have the same number of planets, you have fewer colonies on which to build, meaning fewer facilities/ships being built at one time. Hrm.

I'd still pick Gas Giant, but it might be more feasible to pull off a really, really hyper-growth start with Rock or Ice.

Seconded that luck plays a HUGE part of the early game -- started up a 3-planet medium-tech high-race-pts game in a Large galaxy, something like 11-12 AIs allegedly evenly distributed... and within 10 turns (literally) I'd conquered two neutrals [one of whom started in one of my systems], one of whom had Rock and the other Ice. Getting all three colonization techs that fast, plus the extra pop, basically provided a most likely insurmountable head start (well, except by even more outrageous luck, or sudden attack by cloaked fleets with Tectonic Bombs who bypass the minefields...).

And in a mid-tech game, you can reach Mines pretty quickly -- and if you're in a "dead-end" system near a fellow with mines, he can cut you off from the rest of the galaxy ASAP. Done that to AIs, heh...

------------------
-- The thing that goes bump in the night

[Dime Greenback]

Elmo: Perhaps the 'Unpleasant' status is due to pollution and such from the heavy industrialization?

But seriously, I think the empires should start with at least one 'Good' or even 'Optimal' homeworld.

[Talenn]

great.throwdini! et al:

YES! I agree %110!!! I cant believe that there is no option for a 'balanced' start. At the VERY least the Homeworlds should be identical. This is a HUGE gamebreaker if one player starts on a 'Tiny' world while others are on even Medium+.

We have fired up quite a few MP games and had to restart time and time again as 1 or more players is just in a hopeless start position. So much of the game depends on your early buildup that it really should have at least SOME form of rudimentary balancing.

Has anyone found a way to 'edit' the starts yet? I have been unable to find anything in the data or start conditions to provide mirrored starts for all players.

MM? Any chance on a modification?

Thanx,
Talenn

[great.throwdini]

Re: "I have been picking Gas Giants lately myself. It is an advantage early, but certainly not a game breaker in a game against other people whether they also pick Gas Giants or not."

and re: "If you don't have the same number of planets, you have fewer colonies on which to build, meaning fewer facilities/ships being built at one time."

see my comments in the "some questions/comments" thread wrt how larger planets offer unbalanced production output with the current production model in SEIV. I can perhaps buy the "fewer ships being built at one time" argument, but I seem to be able to find enough gas giants (and build enough off-planet shipyards) to get around this limitation.

[General Hawkwing]

Talenn and rest,
Gas giants are usually the "best", however that depends on the quadrant type. Check out a few games with Ancient quad, and you'll see rock/ice far out number gas giants. I had a game with 1 gas gaint per 3 systems, while rock and ice numbered 3-4 per system. That really stretched the border patrol thin.

[Arralen]

Started two games (demo) lately - found "Hydrogen breather/Gas Giants/Biotech" a truely devastating combination.

While there are shurely more rock/ice planets, you shouldn't forget one thing - you must look at "rock" resp. "ice" seperatly .. and than odds aren't that much in favour of them.
And if you count the "facility slots" available in one system, it would most likely come out as a draw at best.

But don't forget - "robo factory" and similar buildings favour the "big ones" ... and you can always put up some Starbases with spaceyards in it to get the same "ship output per time".

Only drawback I found so far is that most "ancient ruins" are on rock/ice planets, but this may be too random to be shure about from 2 or 3 games - any comments?

Arralen