Race selection factors: Home system features
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I've recently spent a deal of time testing some of the subtler aspects of each race's home system. Here are my conclusions.
With the the great increase in the impact of the terraforming techs in Dark Avatar, and the addition of asteroid mining to the game, the other features of each races home system have become more important in choosing your player race (especially when playing on lower abundance settings).
Some notes & caveats.
1) Data were derived empirically, (mostly from a reasonable number [50-200 trials] of tailored race-game starts), so the suggested percentage chances of particular outcomes are approximate, generally rounded to the nearest 5%.
2) The planet improvement potentials of SOME home system minor planets is clearly unique, since it is not always the same for planets of the same PQ (see Mars vs Kona vs Iconia V). Since I did not do extensive tests on minor planets NOT in home systems, it is not clear whether some of the other home system minors follow the same improvement pattern as random low PQ planets; HOWEVER, I suspect that they do (see the PQ3s below, and the other PQ4s).
3) Note that although the >PQ4 minor planets gain significantly less from terraforming techs than the PQ3s & PQ4s, and end up in final improvement actually SMALLER (in PQ) than the lower PQ worlds, this effect is somewhat made up for by bonus tiles. The home system PQ3s & PQ4s NEVER have bonus tiles; the >PQ4 home system minors have a very high (90%+) probability of 100-~900% (combined) tile bonuses of the various sorts. Again, I did not do the testing to check if this correlates with the usual occurance of bounus tiles among random minor planets.
4) There doesn't seem to be any correlation between particular races, or abilities (i.e., Luck), in the occurrance of galactic resources near home systems.
5) All home systems have 3 asteroid fields (even the Thalan - I thought it would make sense for the Bugs to have an extra, sense there is no minor planet, but nope.)
No (usable) home system minor planets have moons or rings.
6) For the sake of game initiation time across several hundred test starts, all sampling was done against tiny galaxies w/ all rare settings. The rare occurance of "no minor planet" for some home systems reflected in the table below may not occur with more abundant planet settings (except for the Thalans, who never have a minor planet).
Table of Home System Features to Consider in Race Selection:
Terran Alliance:
Homeworld - Earth........PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ moon (+10% Mil/Soc Prod)
minor.....- Mars.........PQ 4+2+2+2 (10) 100% of games
Drengin Empire:
Homeworld - Drengia......PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ moon (+10% Mil/Soc Prod)
minor - Kona.........PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~80% of games
Altarian Resistance:
Homeworld - Altaria......PQ 12+1+1+1 (15), w/ moon (+10% Plt Approval; +10% Mil/Soc Prod)
minor - Wisp.........Not present ~5% of games
.........................PQ 3+2+2+2 ( 9) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 3+3+3+3 (12) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 3+5+5+5 (18) ~55% of games
Arcean Empire:
Homeworld - Arcea........PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ moon (+10% Mil/Soc Prod)
minor - Hammer II....PQ 5+1+1+1 ( 8) ~80% of games; ~90% some bonus tiles
.........................PQ 5+2+2+2 (11) ~20% of games; ~90% some bonus tiles
Torian Confederation:
Homeworld - Toria........PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ rings (+10% Research)
minor - Toria IV.....PQ 6+1+1+1 ( 9) 100% of games; ~90% some bonus tiles
Yor Collective:
Homeworld - Iconia.......PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ rings (+10% Research)
minor - Iconia V.....Not present ~10% or games
.........................PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~70% of games
Dominion of Korx:
Homeworld - Korx.........PQ 10+1+1+1 (13)
minor - Korx II......PQ 8+1+1+1 (11) 100% of games; ~90% some bonus tiles
Dratha Legion:
Homeworld - Dratha.......PQ 10+1+1+1 (13)
minor - Dratha IV....PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~80% of games
Thalan Empire:
Homeworld - Thala........PQ 15+1+1+1 (18) (+10% Plt Approval)
Iconian Refuge:
Homeworld - New Iconia...PQ 14+1+1+1 (17) (+10% Plt Approval
minor - New Iconia V.Not present ~5% of games
.........................PQ 3+2+2+2 ( 9) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 3+3+3+3 (12) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 3+5+5+5 (18) ~55% of games
Korath Clan:
Homeworld - Kora.........PQ 10+1+1+1 (13)
minor - Kora II......PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~80% of games
Krynn Consulate:
Homeworld - Kryseth......PQ 10+1+1+1 (13)
minor - Kryseth II...PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~80% of games
Custom System:
Homeworld - Custom.......PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ moon (+10% Mil/Soc Prod)
minor - Custom II....PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~80% of games
drrider
With the the great increase in the impact of the terraforming techs in Dark Avatar, and the addition of asteroid mining to the game, the other features of each races home system have become more important in choosing your player race (especially when playing on lower abundance settings).
Some notes & caveats.
1) Data were derived empirically, (mostly from a reasonable number [50-200 trials] of tailored race-game starts), so the suggested percentage chances of particular outcomes are approximate, generally rounded to the nearest 5%.
2) The planet improvement potentials of SOME home system minor planets is clearly unique, since it is not always the same for planets of the same PQ (see Mars vs Kona vs Iconia V). Since I did not do extensive tests on minor planets NOT in home systems, it is not clear whether some of the other home system minors follow the same improvement pattern as random low PQ planets; HOWEVER, I suspect that they do (see the PQ3s below, and the other PQ4s).
3) Note that although the >PQ4 minor planets gain significantly less from terraforming techs than the PQ3s & PQ4s, and end up in final improvement actually SMALLER (in PQ) than the lower PQ worlds, this effect is somewhat made up for by bonus tiles. The home system PQ3s & PQ4s NEVER have bonus tiles; the >PQ4 home system minors have a very high (90%+) probability of 100-~900% (combined) tile bonuses of the various sorts. Again, I did not do the testing to check if this correlates with the usual occurance of bounus tiles among random minor planets.
4) There doesn't seem to be any correlation between particular races, or abilities (i.e., Luck), in the occurrance of galactic resources near home systems.
5) All home systems have 3 asteroid fields (even the Thalan - I thought it would make sense for the Bugs to have an extra, sense there is no minor planet, but nope.)
No (usable) home system minor planets have moons or rings.
6) For the sake of game initiation time across several hundred test starts, all sampling was done against tiny galaxies w/ all rare settings. The rare occurance of "no minor planet" for some home systems reflected in the table below may not occur with more abundant planet settings (except for the Thalans, who never have a minor planet).
Table of Home System Features to Consider in Race Selection:
Terran Alliance:
Homeworld - Earth........PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ moon (+10% Mil/Soc Prod)
minor.....- Mars.........PQ 4+2+2+2 (10) 100% of games
Drengin Empire:
Homeworld - Drengia......PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ moon (+10% Mil/Soc Prod)
minor - Kona.........PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~80% of games
Altarian Resistance:
Homeworld - Altaria......PQ 12+1+1+1 (15), w/ moon (+10% Plt Approval; +10% Mil/Soc Prod)
minor - Wisp.........Not present ~5% of games
.........................PQ 3+2+2+2 ( 9) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 3+3+3+3 (12) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 3+5+5+5 (18) ~55% of games
Arcean Empire:
Homeworld - Arcea........PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ moon (+10% Mil/Soc Prod)
minor - Hammer II....PQ 5+1+1+1 ( 8) ~80% of games; ~90% some bonus tiles
.........................PQ 5+2+2+2 (11) ~20% of games; ~90% some bonus tiles
Torian Confederation:
Homeworld - Toria........PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ rings (+10% Research)
minor - Toria IV.....PQ 6+1+1+1 ( 9) 100% of games; ~90% some bonus tiles
Yor Collective:
Homeworld - Iconia.......PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ rings (+10% Research)
minor - Iconia V.....Not present ~10% or games
.........................PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~70% of games
Dominion of Korx:
Homeworld - Korx.........PQ 10+1+1+1 (13)
minor - Korx II......PQ 8+1+1+1 (11) 100% of games; ~90% some bonus tiles
Dratha Legion:
Homeworld - Dratha.......PQ 10+1+1+1 (13)
minor - Dratha IV....PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~80% of games
Thalan Empire:
Homeworld - Thala........PQ 15+1+1+1 (18) (+10% Plt Approval)
Iconian Refuge:
Homeworld - New Iconia...PQ 14+1+1+1 (17) (+10% Plt Approval
minor - New Iconia V.Not present ~5% of games
.........................PQ 3+2+2+2 ( 9) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 3+3+3+3 (12) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 3+5+5+5 (18) ~55% of games
Korath Clan:
Homeworld - Kora.........PQ 10+1+1+1 (13)
minor - Kora II......PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~80% of games
Krynn Consulate:
Homeworld - Kryseth......PQ 10+1+1+1 (13)
minor - Kryseth II...PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~80% of games
Custom System:
Homeworld - Custom.......PQ 10+1+1+1 (13), w/ moon (+10% Mil/Soc Prod)
minor - Custom II....PQ 4+3+3+3 (13) ~20% of games
.........................PQ 4+4+4+4 (16) ~80% of games
drrider
Not to mention that there can be other planets or objects in the transfer path...
Then there's the issue with resources actually decreasing with distance, but we're really not getting into a physics discussion here, are we? 