Is there a way to turn off the random techs?

[Belanos]

I really don't like that feature. I don't mind that the links change from game to game but to have techs not appear at all really bugs me. It's one thing to switch up the requirements, but having them not be available at all can really screw up a game. I feel I need Tanks in order to survive the alien hordes, they're the only thing early on that can beat an 8 power creature. And if I can't build them because they're not in my early tech tree, that totally messes up my start.

[boulugre]

Just click the advance game button when you launch a new game, you'll find an option to see more tech ahead or even the entire tech tree.

[ErissN6]

Yes, default is 2 revealed research tiers, and is not enough for many players.
3 revealed is perfect for me (with Huge Temperate Continental world, Medium alien aggression and Marathon pace).

[jdmillard]

Boulugre and ERISS are both saying that those tanks are indeed there, you just can't see them in the current tech arrangement due to the small research sight range. If you increase it in the pregame settings, you can see out further into the future techs and then won't have a hard time locating the techs you want.

[Belanos]

Yes I know about expanding the tech tree to more tiers, I just wasn't sure if the tech had been dropped completely or not. I'll keep that in mind. And let me take a moment to say that I think the alien hordes are a little overdone. Actually, totally overdone. I tried lowering the setting to Low from Medium but there's still way too many as far as I'm concerned. I'll try Very Low and see what that's like, though somehow I have my doubts. They make Civ 4's "Raging Barbarians" seem like a tea party. It gets a bit tedious fighting off wave after wave of the things.

[boulugre]

Yes I know about expanding the tech tree to more tiers, I just wasn't sure if the tech had been dropped completely or not. I'll keep that in mind. And let me take a moment to say that I think the alien hordes are a little overdone. Actually, totally overdone. I tried lowering the setting to Low from Medium but there's still way too many as far as I'm concerned. I'll try Very Low and see what that's like, though somehow I have my doubts. They make Civ 4's "Raging Barbarians" seem like a tea party. It gets a bit tedious fighting off wave after wave of the things.

Aliens are not too much of a threat when you know how to deal with them. In high alien settings you need to prioritize your research and beeline farm and mineral building(that will usually reveal where the tanks tech is), flame thrower, then rush to tanks and then towards an armor upgrade (2 or 3).

Stick to one city as it will be easier to defend, don't produce a former before you can actually defend it.

Once you built the farm and the mineral building produce 3-4 colonial flamers and then pump out tanks. Ideally you want strength 6 tanks ASAP so you can kill strength 8 aliens. Once you have enough troops to defend your lands and an excess of 3 tanks, use those to clear the nearby alien hives (they make aliens spawns and give a lot of important cash to start building up your second city so you want to clear yourself) and you can start thinking of a second city.

If you can grab artillery early do it, it makes clearing hives even easier and faster.

[Belanos]

Aliens are not too much of a threat when you know how to deal with them. In high alien settings you need to prioritize your research and beeline farm and mineral building(that will usually reveal where the tanks tech is), flame thrower, then rush to tanks and then towards an armor upgrade (2 or 3).

I've basically figured out how to hold them off, but I find it gets rather tedious dealing with them constantly for turn after turn. I realize that except for the drones they do eventually die out, but I'm finding it a bit much in the meantime.

Stick to one city as it will be easier to defend, don't produce a former before you can actually defend it.

Seriously? That's rather counter-intuitive for a 4x game. I'm usually up to 3 or 4 cities by the time the alien hordes arrive.

If you can grab artillery early do it, it makes clearing hives even easier and faster.

I'll keep that in mind. I haven't noticed any artillery tech yet, I'll keep my eyes out for it.

[jdmillard]

I agree with everything boulugre wrote.

Similar discussions have taken place in the past. It seems that most people who struggle with the aliens are having problems because they are applying strategies from other games. Pandora is different. In my first game I was trying to play Alpha Centari's "quick!-get-as-many-cities-as-you-can-as-fast-as-you-can-and-worry-about-defending-them-later" strategy. Pandora's gameplay may require a change in startup strategy, but it's also more realistic. In Alpha Centauri, I never really militarized till way later in the game. Pandora forces you to balance which is an important part of strategy if you think about it.

You will have plenty of chances to expand and build more cities so don't worry about having 1 city. It's okay to wait till city size 8 to build a colonizer; I've gone higher. The population will slowly balance itself among your cities once you get more of them. Also, don't feel like you have to stake your territory in the first 20 turns because the AI has to fight the aliens too.

Another thought: The aliens will eventually become negligible and then extinct altogether. I'm sorry to ruin the surprise for you, but I only said it because the waves of aliens were clearly bothering you and I figured that it would come as good news.

[Belanos]

It seems that most people who struggle with the aliens are having problems because they are applying strategies from other games.

That's exactly what I was doing. I'm finding though, at least on Low settings, that 3 cities early on is doable. Though maybe I'll have to change that approach if I bump it up. I actually found it kind of boring on Very Low, the aliens weren't much of a challenge at all.

You will have plenty of chances to expand and build more cities so don't worry about having 1 city.

Yes, I've been discovering that there's plenty of opportunity to expand in this game, especially playing a Huge map. I have yet to see any of the other factions nearby in my game so far. There's been a few tries where I never even managed to come in contact with them, before I restarted in disgust. I like it like that. That's one thing I disliked about the Civ games, sometimes you'll end up with someone right on your doorstep. They're obviously giving all of the factions plenty of space to expand into, which is a good thing.

Also, don't feel like you have to stake your territory in the first 20 turns because the AI has to fight the aliens too.

And they don't always do so well either. The last game I just played, three of them got wiped out early on.

I'm sorry to ruin the surprise for you, but I only said it because the waves of aliens were clearly bothering you and I figured that it would come as good news.

You didn't spoil any surprise, I was already aware of that. Somebody else spoiled it for me. Only the drones respawn, until you destroy the hives.