In the first 30 minutes of my first *productive* hour, I restarted the game about 20 times until I got a map that seemed OK, i.e. plentiful resources, especially food, and bonuses, in a relatively defensible location, not too close to the AI player.
This restarting is anathema to the 4x genre. Civilization 4 had a menu button that regenerated the map. If at all feasible, it would be nice if Pandora had the same.
The AI player kept asking me to enter into a research pact. In the Civ games, I almost always rejected them as the AI would then use it's newfound tech to wipe you off the map. Curious if I should be saying yes to these pacts.
Do I put myself at a disadvantage if I don't? Guess I'll have to try and find out
I accept all pacts from everyone. I don't care if I also benefit an opponent if I also benefit. Non-aggression pacts are useful in the early game because your biggest threat is native life.
Thanks for your reply. Makes a lot of sense. There's a queen sitting on those flowers with a production bonus near my base. So, the research pact could be useful.
Research pacts are good if you think your lagging behind in the tech race.
It gives a 10% bonus of your research points to the other faction and they give you 10% of theirs.
So if you are on 60 points and they were on say 30 points . They would get a bonus 6 and you would get a bonus 3. In this instance you would be helping them close the tech gap on you.
Initially, I accepted the research pacts. Then, thanks to your hints, I realized that the AI was basically telling me that I was ahead of them in tech, or had a better economy, so tended to refuse. Likewise another faction with better tech, i.e. University tend to refuse my requests for for research pacts.
Meanwhile, because my military was ahead of them. The AI factions kept offering me tribute (without my asking). Cute.
I kept playing the same map for a few more hours but will not continue at the same (default) difficulty level. After getting tanks, the native life stopped being a problem, and after the goliath, the AI also stopped being a problem.
I feel the AI needs a better rule set for exploration. I built two barracuda watercraft, and mapped the ocean's, thus gaining the benefit of all the sunken ruins. The AI factions didn't seem to have any watercraft. Likewise, the ruins on the coast that the watercraft couldn't reach I was able to get at leisure with a seeker ATV.
It was a little strange for me that after I got goliaths, and attacked the AI, the faction moved their last troop out of the city, essentially abandoning it. Another AI city that I had attacked with my watercraft, had no less than 4 colonizers, but only a single colonial trooper for defense. Presumably, the AI should have troops escort it's colonizers.
I also feel that the AI produces too many biological units. Because Pandora's native life is biological, it made sense for me to build almost all mechanical units. The troops the AI produced were simply no match for them.
I also felt the mineral cost for basic troops is too high. I felt better off producing a single goliath then 4 colonial troops. Given that Pandora is a hostile environment for lightly armored humans. It would make sense to use the colonial troops to defend cities (with strong walls to increase their power), while the tanks, etc. hunt the native life in the countryside.
