Update on https://lemmy.world/post/26605581

Playing on modified Marathon setting: 100x science cost instead of 4x

I think I’m finally over the challenging part of the challenge. Until now it was extremely uncertain whether my base would both survive biter evolution on Nauvis and manage to claim enough resources to get to space and Vulcanus for “unlimited” iron and copper.

At some point the biters evolved past my tech: I can’t assault behemoth biter bases with only low damage tech red bullets, effectively making any unclaimed resources unavailable until I could tech up (which would need resources).

I can, however, guard against behemoth biters with walls of red bullet turrets and flamethrowers.

Vulcanus also turned out to not be as straightforward as I hoped. While I do get a lot of resources in the starting area, the initial tugsten patches are guarded by small demolishers. Fortunately, 100 turrets of red ammo and spamming poison capsules proved enough to clear out a significant area and secure enough tungsten to get me far up the tech tree.

I feel like I “won” the challenge now that I can safely tech past any future hurdles, and the remaining tasks are just putting in the hours. Not sure if I’ll keep playing past this, but it was a ton of fun. :)

For anyone who wants to see a true maniac attempt what I assumed to be impossible: Michael Hendriks may be able to win with 1000x science cost, exploiting deep knowledge of the biter expansion algorithm, spending tens of hours filling the map with pipes, and meticulous calculation of resource usage through the tech tree carefully adapting or not adapting quality, modules etc.

Some screenshos of the current state: