Heya Pumpkin,
I'm going to hold off on taking that challenge in its exact form for now, I'm currently focused on trying to flush out the ceiling on what difficulty I can handle before I start checking out the alternate campaigns. It's the same reason I'm stepping through the minor factions and plots a few at a time, and at moderate settings. Well, except for auto-AIP but you know the story behind that one already.
However... I've been thinking about what settings I want to try next on either 8.6 or 9 and I *was* thinking about the CPA waves and no wave warning plots... So I just might have to consider your challenge a second vote to try those two plots next.
And your vote for seeing me go on a "crush my enemies, drive them before me, and hear the lamentations of their women" conquest spree is... duly noted. >D I might be able to make that work for the next chapter of Aggressive Stupidity. Let me think about it a bit more, I'm not going to start my next game until I finish posting AS2 at any rate (won't be long, I'm getting down to the end) -- still recharging my AI War batteries.
Buuut... I was thinking about YOUR thoughts on what to play next, and I think I have a themed challenge for
you!
(Wow this took a while to write out, hehe.)
---[Mission: Impossible]---Agent Pumpkin, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to infiltrate a high-security galaxy that the AI has concentrated some of their best science facilities in, capture as much research and development as possible, and then blow up their command centers to sabotage their development efforts to buy the Resistance more time.
The enemy has heavily defended this sector due to its great value to the war effort, so this will be no easy task. However, should you succeed, you will be a hero to humanity. Well, you would be a hero if it were safe to disclose your identity afterward! We'll still give you a medal though.Special Task: You must do at least three of the following things:
1. Capture at least 2 ARS.
2. Capture BOTH Spire Archives! >D
3. Hack at least 2 Design Backups. (Your choice whether you want to corrupt or download.)
4. Hack the Superterminal, if present.
AI Stuff:AI Types:AI1: Brutal -- This AI's defensive preference is to shoot intruders on sight, with the biggest gun it can find. It likes to keep things simple.
AI2: Alarmist -- This AI, however, prefers a more subtle approach to security, crippling and confusing the intruder until its forces can whittle the human fleet down.
Subtypes (Optional):If you want one or both to have a subtype that's not Brutal or Alarmist, you can pick from the following two lists:
AI1: Neinzul Viral Enthusiast, Neinzul Cluster-Bomber, Neinzul Nester, Thief (capture the intruder to kill at leisure!), or Tag Teamer.
AI2: Attritioner, Counter-Spy, One-Way Doormaster, Peacemaker (did you say starships would maybe make this too easy?), Shadow Master, or Radar Jammer.
Difficulty Level: Your choice! Only restriction is both AIs must be the same difficulty.
Auto-AIP: At least 1 every 30 minutes -- your infiltration fleet briefly tripped their outer sensor net. They know something's here and are suspicious.
AI Plots:You may use no plots if you prefer, or you may pick from the list below, assigning them to whichever AI(s) you like. Max intensity is 6 for any Plot.
Hunter: A trespasser is here somewhere, we better beef up roaming security to find it.
Hybrid Hives: The AI is using hybrids for extra roaming security.
Advanced Hybrids: This sector is used for scientific R&D, and some of that research is devoted to producing better, faster, meaner hybrids.
Map Settings:Map Type: Pick whatever you like for layout, it just must have at least 60 planets. 1 homeworld.
Bonus Ship: Must be something stealthy or teleporting. This is an infiltration mission!
Ship Types: Complex. You can disable certain types if you don't want to play with them in this game, though I think Dire Guardian Lairs would fit the theme of this game well.
Champion: Nope. A huge mysterious ship is not sneaky.
CSGs -- Your choice, the Special Task list might make CSGs overkill so enabling this is up to you. I forget what header this is actually under but I think of it as being part of the map gen since it affects seeding, so I am putting it here.
Minor Factions:You can use none, or pick any combination you like from the list below. If you turn on a minor faction, it can have an intensity no higher than 6.
Marauders: Pirates don't care about not blowing your cover, and they sure don't care about the AI's "no trespassing" signs -- especially since they've heard something valuable might be here for stealing.
Zenith Devourer: He also doesn't care about fences, and all these security forces concentrated here look mighty tasty.
Nomad Planets: Those unruly nomads are an annoying security flaw the AI is trying to lock down. Maybe you used one to jump the fence and get in to this high-security zone? If you enable this one, there is a restriction -- you can't use the beacon as a doomsday weapon (we'll just pretend like that ability is broken on this nomad beacon). The idea is this gives you ways to potentially sneak around the map, and it can create sudden surprise "oh no!" moments if the AI uses it to ambush you.
