PDA

View Full Version : Let's Play: Planetfall



Eldan
2010-08-01, 01:28 PM
What is Planetfall? It's a mod for Civilization IV. Not just any mod, but a mod intended to bring the experience of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=035cpHEowS4) to Civ. I've played a handful of games now, and won one, and I think I have the basics down, so it's time to share my experiences!

Earth, 2060. A small group of colonists leaves the ravages of earth, for a distant planet, orbiting Alpha Centauri's primary star. Their ship, the USS Unity, carries them on their journey to a new world, and a new hope for humankind. Along the way, a reactor malfunction damages the Unity, precipitating a crisis among the ship's seven most powerful leaders. As they enter the Alpha Centauri system, the crew splits into seven distinct factions, divided not by nationality, but by ideology, and their vision for the new world.
After the ship breaks apart, the seven leaders guide their chosen crew down to the surface of planet, seeking their destiny beneath an alien sky...

So. Our first step will be choosing a faction. We have seven*:

Lady Deirdre Skye, Gaia's Stepdaughters

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/5264/deirde.png

Rank: Lt. Commander
Position: Chief Botanist/Xenobiologist
Country of Origin: Scotland
Date of Birth: 05-28-2025
Height: 170.1 cm
Weight: 52.5 kg

Service Record:
Born 2025, Edinburgh, Scotland, father a UN security consultant assigned to various crisis locales worldwide. Studied at Cornell University School of Agriculture, acquired Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Environmental Biology, Ph.D. Biology and Genetics. Immediately distinguished with deep intuitive knowledge of plant strains and ability to intuit powerful genetic manipulations at Bionex Research Lab, White Plains, N.Y.

Later worked for Red Cross, and United Nations Disaster Relief to revitalize radiation contaminated areas with highly specialized biostrains (Skye Variation v097 apple and Skye Mark IV wheat strain considered as highest examples of adaptable biogenetics in contaminated soil). Selected as top candidate for Mission Botanist/Xenobiologist by UN Alpha Centauri Mission Committee, appointed against wishes of Chief Science Officer Prokhor Zakharov.

Psych Profile: Conservationist
Relies on deep intuitive sense combined with scientific knowledge for determination of future actions. Powerful mind and will combined with broad base of knowledge leads her to excel in chosen area of expertise. Sense of Isolation from childhood events (e.g. divorce of parents) and pre-launch events reinforces strong tendency for introversion.

Strong connection to environmental causes may cloud scientific judgment; strong democratic leadership style may result in subject placing welfare of loyal subordinates above welfare of mission as a whole. Appeals to reason should prove effective in discouraging these behaviors.

Faction:
Land units have +50% psy-defence
+1 happiness from forest or hybrid forest
+1 planet/base
Free Promotions: Forest Camouflage II+III, Walk with Planet for all Infantry Units, Flamethrower Units, Vanguard Units
Unique Building: Biology lab, replaces field lab. Provides one free empathy slot.

Eldan's Comment:
The game's crazy ecologist treehugger faction*. They encourage a strategy of planet-friendliness, where one tries to not eradicate the planet's native fauna and in exchange gets alien units and fewer barbarian attacks.

*The author is in fact an ecologist himself, and apologizes if any drug-addled hippies got the impression he had anything against tree-hugging.


Commissioner Pravin Lal, U.N. Peacekeeping Forces

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/305/lal.png
Rank: Director
Position: Chief of Surgery
Country of Origin: India
Date of Birth: 05-03-2006
Height: 172.0 cm
Weight: 68.2kg

Service Record:
Born 2006, Rajkot, India. Degree in Philosophy and Medicine, Oxford University. Trained in Thoracic Surgery. Achieved international acclaim for selfless devotion to victims of radiation poisoning following the Twelve Minutes War and the India Border Conflict. Served as a member of research team investigating genes that encode proteins aiding with DNA repair. University of Basel, Switzerland. Later appointed Assistant Director, World Health Organisation. Top candidate for Chief of Surgery, U.N. Alpha Centauri Mission.

Psych Profile: Humanitarian
Seeks to de-escalate conflict and create harmonious environment. Dedication to U.N. mission unquestioned, loyalty superb. Able to perform well under extreme pressure, score 0.87 on Atherholt Trauma Function Test (recovery score moderate). Deep connection to loved ones possibly exploitable by adversary.

Faction benefits:
Double votes in all councils
+50% war weariness
+100% Great Person birth rate
+1 happiness from hab complex.

Eldan's Comment
These people seek the diplomtic solution, and with their benefits, they usually become planet governor, if they really try, so they get to pass resolutions.


Sister Miriam Godwinson, Lord's Believers

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/8078/miriamc.png

Rank: Lt. Commander
Position: Psych Chaplain
Country of Origin: United States
Date of Birth: 04-04-2014
Height: 168.6 cm
Weight: 55.2 kg

Service Record:
Born 2014, Athens, Georgia, father a high-ranking member of the Evangelical Fire. Baptized in River of Fire at age 7, attended series of religious schools, including College of the Covenant, Received Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University.

Abundant charisma (Eldan's comment: Huh? Where?) led her to position as ranking Psych Priest of Heavenly Diocese, later appointed U.N. Honorary Psych Chaplain for Re-integration forces sent to countries decimated in Crusader Wars. Reassigned stateside when native populations elevated her to a cultlike religious figure (the "Prophet Phenomenon" often coinciding with post-nuclear madness).

Political pressure for the reconciling of the secular and the spiritual led to her appointment as Psych Chaplain, U.N. Alpha Centauri Mission.

Psych Profile: Believer
Empathy and charisma make subject a natural leader, people are drawn to subject without necessarily understanding why. Able to use mannerisms and rhythms of speech to evoke deep spiritual responses in weak-minded individuals, or intelligent individuals seeking order and security in the face of chaotic events.

Single-minded focus on bringing hope and spiritual guidance to any problem she encounters make her a strong candidate for Psych Chaplain. However, subject must be cautioned against casting spiritual matters into a personal vision of a relentless God that may personify struggles existing within her own psyche.

Faction Benefits:
+20% combat strength against factions not sharing the same state religion
+20% against native life if a state religion is chosen
+1 production from psych chaplain
Bases grow 10% faster
+50% defence against espionage
+1 happiness per base
-1 planet per base
+25% production of former

Eldan's comment:
Religious fanatics, and convinced the planet is their personal Eden, so they'll plough down any native life they see to make it a little more paradise-like. Strong in a war, as well.


CEO Nwabudike Morgan

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/741/morgang.png
Rank: Director
Company: Morgan Industries
Country of Origin: Not on file
Date of Birth: 02-24-2005
Height: not on file
Weight: not on file

Unity Contractor Background History
Born 2005, of African royalty. Nwabudike, using seed money to buy and sell weapons during the Saharan Burst Wars, was able to purchase a private mercenary force to claim a series of diamond mines from a defeated enemy nation. Leveraged his growing wealth to expand into several other businesses, including mercenary forces, U.N. escorts, brokering food deals, and creating Morgan SafeHaven Hotel Fortress chain "for the discriminating executive".

Additional notes (full disclosure): When Russian economic system crashed again in 2058, Morgan Industries was retained by the U.N. as one of several private businesses to work on the sprawling Unity Project. Work completed in a timely manner. Nwabudike Morgans current whereabouts unknown.

Psych Profile from Contractor Database: Industrialist
Powerful and charismatic individual with very high self-confidence. Relishes life and regards his life as a series of transactions; anything, any interaction, can be shaped if the proper currency (money, love, threat of pain, affection, etc.) can be brought to the table. Does not like to lose. Long series of successful business dealings has reinforced both ego and transactional worldview. Soft on ethics... "let the market decide". Pride in work and deep desire to see the Unity depart for worlds uncharted ("the last hope", he called it) should assure work will be completed roughly as contracted.

Note: If this company is used, be careful that auditors of Morgan Industries work have no contact with Morgan Industries or its agents. Bribery of U.N. officials is a distinct possibility with this subject.

[Anjeli Bole transferred from the Unity Project Team to a position in private industry before his entire report could be filed. The above fragment was found in her touchscreen during post-launch cleanup.]

Faction Benefits:
+100% foreign trade route yield.
Can construct one of five different Morgan corporations in every base
-10% military production
The merchant specialist provides one additional energy credit.

Eldan's Notes:
Morgan. What a gigantic bastard. Invented, founded and constructed the Unity project to get his own ass off a dying planet. Build the ship with his own company, and integrated a luxury cryo-cabinet for himself in a secret location. Earns a lot of money, later in the game, but not as extreme as in the original game. If it works well, he can use the "hurry" mechanic to build ridiculous amounts of infrastructure fast, and then use all that to build enormous amounts of whatever else he needs.


Colonel Corazon Santiago

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/9021/santiato.png
Rank: Lieutenant
Position: Security
Country of Origin: Puerto Rico
Date of Birth: 11-05-2026
Height: 171.8 cm
Weight: 56.8kg

Service Record: Born 2026, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Family emigrated to Mexico City, orphaned during East Side Riots of 2034. Joined survivalist gang known as Jade Falcons, remained in city with younger siblings for several years more (exact whereabouts unknown). Later appeared in Boyce Heights, New Los Angeles, alone. Joined NLA Red Panthers (community security force), then moved to join City Guard, distinguished self as Battalion commander as city imposed martial law in 2053; excellent discipline, physical agility and ability to thrive in any environment led to selection as part of security force, U.N. Alpha Centauri mission.

Psych Profile: Survivalist
Subject possesses strong discipline and ability to suppress own needs and comforts for greater goal. Physical skills and abilities top-notch; subject shows great pride in physical conditioning and disdains weakness. Mental agility and will to survive are superior, highly tenacious.

Possible danger of explosive physical violence with subject due to deep wounds suffered as a child, but subject's exemplary ability to control and channel these responses has made her a model soldier.

In spite of reservations, subject comes with exemplary references, and subject's unshakable will to survive could prove beneficial in difficult missions. Recommended subordinate position in security force.

Faction Benefits:
More isolated starting position
Conscripts start with higher number of special ability slots
+100% great general emergence
+1 happiness per military unit stationed in a base
Free Promotion (Commando*) for: Infantry Units, Flamethrower Units, Vanguard units, Artillery Units, Boat units, Cruiser Units

*Commando gives a better withdrawal chance for skirmishers, faster healing and a first strike chance.

Eldan's Comment: another strong militaristic faction. The Spartans thrive in war and can easily support larger bases as long as they park some policing units there. The commando promotion is a really, really good one.


Chairman Shen-ji Yang, Human Hive


Rank: Commander
Position: Chief of Security
Country of Origin: China
Date of Birth: 01-09-1999
Height: 170.6 cm
Weight: 73.2 kg

Service Record:
Born 1999, Wuhan, China, father prominent chinese lit. scholar. Master of the Five Excellences: calligraphy, poetry, painting, traditional medicine and martial arts (including martial t'ai-chi, wushu and others). Studied Chinese Literature and Military History at Beijing University, later acquired a Ph.D. in Psychology from same. Taught joint locking techniques to Chinese military during the Second Golden Revolution, then commanded Golden Emperor's personal security force. Vanished for several years following the Crimson Succession, to resurface in United Nations Security Training Force. Selected Chief of Security, U.N. Alpha Centauri Mission.

Psych Profile: Protectionist
Exceedingly deep and powerful mind, near flawless visual and kinesthetic recall Somewhat antisocial, security minded to the extreme, with elaborate psychological defence mechanisms against emotional entreaties. High stability and loyalty to mission indicated.

Driven primarily by need for security and control. Powerful will; leadership potential high, but strong tendency to control and manipulate followers can result in almost cultlike following. Tolerance for pain exceedingly high, .96 on Atherholt Trauma Function Test.

Caution: Earlier psych tests show suspiciously near perfect normals along all axes. Subject may use strong will and extensive knowledge of psychiatric indicators to manipulate test results in his favour.

Faction Benefits:
+10% Production in all bases.
+50% defences in all bases
Drones produce one less production but eat no food.
More Isolated starting position
Can produce infantry and flamethrower units at double speed, however, these units have 20% less strength and have a 50% chance to start wit hthe Light special ability.
Boreholes, greenhouses and Mines in Hive territory can not be pillaged.
Founding bases on Rocky terrain does not make terrain flat.
Can hurry Genejack factories with population points.
Free Promotion (Hive) for all Flamethrower units, Infantry units
Double Production speed of [Lots of units]
+50% faster production of Genejack Factory

Eldan's Comment:
Yang has a quite unique mixture of ascetic eastern philosophy and police state. Oppresses his workers and, as can be seen above, gets good results from that: his production speeds are extreme. Very good at human wave tactics: your troops don't need equipment and experience as long as you have three times as many as your opponent.


Academician Prokhor Zakharov, University of Planet

*SMAX' human factions are in the game, but not available from the start. Instead, they will be formed after certain techs are researched.

Votes:
Deirdre 4
Morgan 1
Santiago 1
Yang 4
Zakharov 5

Caustic Soda
2010-08-01, 01:50 PM
Cool idea. I look forward to reading about your exploits :smallsmile:

I say go for Santiago, the happiness from units coupled with her other bonuses makes her pretty flexible. I've also found that the isolated start thing makes it it way easier to establish more than 2-3 bases, at least on standard map size.

Eldan
2010-08-01, 01:58 PM
I've only done two games so far (Deirdre and Morgan), but I played on huge both times. So even in the endgame, the map wasn't full. I'll probably take a smaller one this time (and higher difficulty, something near the top), otherwise it takes forever to actually fly/teleport your units anywhere.

Arcanoi
2010-08-01, 04:12 PM
Shen-ji. FOR THE SWARM.

Eldan
2010-08-01, 05:11 PM
Well, at least my avatar is fitting for both choices so far. I'll leave the vote open a few more days.

13_CBS
2010-08-02, 12:26 AM
University of Planet.

For...well, you know what the University is for.

Eldan
2010-08-02, 08:45 AM
Come on, people, a few more votes would be appreciated. This ending in a tie would be pretty unsatisfying. I would probably roll a die, then.

Kish
2010-08-02, 08:54 AM
If anyone else votes for Deirdre before you close voting, then I vote for Deirdre.

If not, I vote for Zakharov, to avoid a tie.

Also, why no description of Zakharov?

Altaria87
2010-08-02, 09:07 AM
I vote for Deirdre.

Cespenar
2010-08-02, 09:15 AM
As I always play with Deirdre, Lal and Zakharov (the pseudo good guys, the first two, at least), I vote Yang for a change. Admit it, the guy has charisma.

Eldan
2010-08-02, 09:16 AM
Which gives us a tie between Deirdre and Yang now.

So, Hippie Ecologists or Daoist Commies?

mangosta71
2010-08-02, 09:21 AM
I can toss in a vote for Zak if you'd prefer a three-way. :smallamused:

Eldan
2010-08-02, 09:26 AM
You can do that, if you want :smallamused:

In my last game as Morgan, I just imagined some R&D guy presenting each new invention to Morgan.

Morgan: "So, you built me a flying saucer?"
R&D: "Yes, Sir."
Morgan: "If I understand this correctly, it's 1.4 kilometers in diameter and made from solid gold."
R&D: "Gold-coloured self-repairing nanometal, actually, Sir."
Morgan: "Hmm. And it also has enough firepower to level a city and can transport five battalions?"
R&D: "Yes, Sir. It also has a dozen fifty-foot speakers constantly playing "Also Sprach Zarathustra"."
Morgan: "I'll take 100."

Winterwind
2010-08-02, 09:32 AM
Deirdre's Gaians are my favourite Alpha Centauri faction by far...

So naturally, I'm going to vote for Yang. :smalltongue: It will be nice to see something so completely different and, well, somewhat less nice than the factions I usually prefer. :smallcool:

king.com
2010-08-02, 09:36 AM
I cant let the dam hippies win! Im going to go for....Zak then.

Kish
2010-08-02, 09:38 AM
Because the "damn hippies" were about to lose to the damn fascists, I change my vote to Zakharov, for now. :smalltongue: Still wondering why no description of him though.

Cogwheel
2010-08-02, 09:44 AM
Morgan. Definitely Morgan.

What convinced me? I don't know. Portrait and the Eldan's saucer speculation, I guess :smalltongue:

Narkis
2010-08-02, 10:24 AM
I'll vote for University too. We can't let Yang win the vote!

Cespenar
2010-08-02, 10:27 AM
I simply don't understand why nobody loves Yang's police state utopia. :smalltongue:

Miklus
2010-08-02, 11:02 AM
As I always play with Deirdre, Lal and Zakharov (the pseudo good guys, the first two, at least), I vote Yang for a change. Admit it, the guy has charisma.

I vote for Yang too, he is just stone cold sexy. :smallbiggrin:

How close is this Civ4 remake to the original? Can you use the same tactics?

Police state and planned economy FTW! OK, maybe not. There are ways to play this way, but they are rather extreme. I'm playing a original game as Yang right now. I got bases of size 3 in a 2x2 grid all over the place.

I has been thinking about doing a let's play with this game for some time, but I could not figure out how to pull it off. Do you intend to consult us for major decisions?

EDIT: I can see from the descriptions that this game has little in common with the original. This should still be fun, though.

Rustic Dude
2010-08-02, 11:16 AM
I was going to vote Santiago, but seeing the current votes, I'll go with Deirdre. But play doing the most damage possible to Planet. :smallbiggrin:


(I can't stand Yang)

Eldan
2010-08-02, 11:35 AM
Votes counted. Zakharov is pulling ahead, with Yang behind him and otherwise only Deirde barely keeping up.

Cespenar
2010-08-02, 12:41 PM
Come on, people. Sensibles choices are for normal, serious runs. This is a Let's Play for Yang's sake. :smalltongue:

Eldan
2010-08-02, 12:56 PM
Yes, people. Do you want to see a nation of happy, psychic hippies living in enchanted hybrid forests, a scientific utopia, or an underground factory maze filled with half-starved cyborg drones?

Kish
2010-08-02, 12:58 PM
Either of the first two sounds good to me.

That's not to say I don't like Yang. I enjoy the noises he makes when his bones are being liquefied.

Cespenar
2010-08-02, 01:32 PM
Either of the first two sounds good to me.

That's not to say I don't like Yang. I enjoy the noises he makes when his bones are being liquefied.

Look at it this way. If you pick Yang, you avoid the pain of dealing with him.

mangosta71
2010-08-02, 01:34 PM
But you also miss out on the satisfaction of forcing him to kneel at your feet.

Cespenar
2010-08-02, 01:49 PM
But you also miss out on the satisfaction of forcing him to kneel at your feet.

Well, if forcing people to their knees is your thing, then Deirdre has hardly the fitting mindset for that.

And yes, I love arguing on trivial stuff. :smallbiggrin:

Zovc
2010-08-02, 01:51 PM
Deirdre seems to be the most attractive female specimen in the game. I'll vote for her.

mangosta71
2010-08-02, 01:59 PM
Well, if forcing people to their knees is your thing, then Deirdre has hardly the fitting mindset for that.

And yes, I love arguing on trivial stuff. :smallbiggrin:

Yes, but I voted for Zak. So Deirdre will still be on her knees. :smalltongue:

Kish
2010-08-02, 02:15 PM
Look at it this way. If you pick Yang, you avoid the pain of dealing with him.
But I just said I enjoy dealing with him, particularly the part involving him squealing like a pig.

Well, if forcing people to their knees is your thing, then Deirdre has hardly the fitting mindset for that.
Did you confuse her with Lal or something? :smalltongue: Environmentalism is her bag, pacifism is not.

And I'm changing my vote back to Deirdre.

Eldan
2010-08-02, 02:55 PM
Which means that, unless I've miscounted, we have a three-way tie now.

chiasaur11
2010-08-02, 03:03 PM
I vote for SCIENCE!

Eldan
2010-08-02, 03:31 PM
I'm bored, so let's begin. Zakharov it is, voting closed.

Cespenar
2010-08-02, 03:54 PM
But... the drones need Yang. They look up to him. :smalltongue:

Anyway, looking forward to the actual LP.

Kish
2010-08-02, 03:59 PM
Which means that, unless I've miscounted, we have a three-way tie now.
Either you did (and that should have been Deirdre leading) or I did (and I wouldn't have changed my vote, oops).

But Zakharov is good. Yay for crushing the Hive!

Eldan
2010-08-02, 04:04 PM
But... the drones need Yang. They look up to him. :smalltongue:

Anyway, looking forward to the actual LP.

I can still do Yang later, you know. He sounds fun for an LP, actually.

Anyway, now I'm really starting.

Eldan
2010-08-02, 04:33 PM
Well, damned. I just got totally owned in record time.

Actual Let's play coming soon.

Deme
2010-08-02, 04:46 PM
...That is not a promising start, is it?

Eldan
2010-08-02, 04:55 PM
Nope. Got defeated. New game tomorrow. Oh, and the let's play will also be up tomorrow, most likely, the pics have been uploading for half an hour now and don't seem to stop any time soon.

13_CBS
2010-08-02, 10:11 PM
Ha! The Hiveswarm is no match for the cold, inexorable march of SCIENCE!

Inhuman Bot
2010-08-02, 10:24 PM
Heh, I was just thinking I should play this. :smalltongue:

Cespenar
2010-08-02, 11:50 PM
Well, damned. I just got totally owned in record time.

Actual Let's play coming soon.

Serves you right for not picking Yang.

This message has been brought to you by the Ministry of Truth.

chiasaur11
2010-08-02, 11:51 PM
Serves you right for not picking Yang.

This message has been brought to you by the Ministry of Truth.

But...

but...

SCIENCE!

Cespenar
2010-08-03, 01:22 AM
But...

but...

SCIENCE!

Beware, you who seek first and final principles, for you are trampling the garden of an angry God and he awaits you just beyond the last theorem.

Sister Miriam Godwinson
"But for the Grace of God"

:smalltongue:

chiasaur11
2010-08-03, 02:06 AM
Beware, you who seek first and final principles, for you are trampling the garden of an angry God and he awaits you just beyond the last theorem.

Sister Miriam Godwinson
"But for the Grace of God"

:smalltongue:

"It's a strange paradoxical world we live in... a man can be arrested for illegal parking... but there's actually no law against trying to conquer the planet"

Reed Richards.

Fantastic Four #90.

...Not the best counterargument, but I was in a hurry.

Cespenar
2010-08-03, 02:53 AM
Aw. I was expecting a Zakharov comeback.

13_CBS
2010-08-03, 03:39 AM
Aw. I was expecting a Zakharov comeback.


I quoted one, but then I deleted the post in case I got modhammered for Inappropriate Topic. :smallfrown:

Cespenar
2010-08-03, 04:04 AM
Then it's moments before I get the hammer as well. If not for Inappropriate Topic then by Epic Derailment.

Kish
2010-08-03, 12:04 PM
I'm sure Zakharov could come up with something to say about Yang's fundamental misunderstanding of Einstein, probabilities, logic, or all three. :smalltongue: The things he says that could refute Miriam, on the other hand, do tend to be forbidden here. As, for that matter, are most of the things Miriam says.

Miklus
2010-08-03, 12:18 PM
Well, damned. I just got totally owned in record time.

Actual Let's play coming soon.

LULz. Keep at it!

Eldan
2010-08-03, 12:34 PM
I'm sure Zakharov could come up with something to say about Yang's fundamental misunderstanding of Einstein, probabilities, logic, or all three. :smalltongue: The things he says that could refute Miriam, on the other hand, do tend to be forbidden here. As, for that matter, are most of the things Miriam says.

Also the reason why I won't play Miriam.

Anyway, the actual Let's play's coming now.

Eldan
2010-08-03, 01:45 PM
Mission Year 2100, Planetfall

As projected, we had a mostly smooth landing: all forward thrusters held and the emergency capsule deposited us at the site of our first colony, dubbed simply "University Base" until a new, more fitting name can be decided upon. For now, it is simply a collection of pressurized parts of the original landing capsule and quickly constructed bunkers and hovels made from metal sheets and the simple white plastic material stowed away in the cargo holds. Dreary, but functional, and we were able to make enough space to take most of the workers out of cryostasis.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/3571/civ4beyondsword20100802h.png

Our landing site is not ideal, but will do for now: we find ourselves surrounded by the north and east by a dense jungle of what we have for now dubbed "plants", despite all the biochemical differences and obvious non-relatedness of the genera. They are, at the very least, green and photosynthetically active under the light of two suns.
To the south and west, however, lies much more interesting and enigmatic terrain: a dense mass of purple and orange stalks, much like fungal hyphae, towering over even our communications tower. Attempts to send men equipped with gas masks (the atmosphere, while of similar pressure to that of earth, is not breathable) and environment suits out into the growth had to be abandoned early, as even with heavy equipment, cutting a path is an arduous and slow process.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/189/civ4beyondsword20100802.png

We have had some problems with fungal spores entering our air conditioning units, and even our best filters still have problems keeping the toxins secreted by the fungi out of the system. They are a clear health danger, but we could keep the population safe so far.
We were lucky in other aspects, however: while most of the jungle "plants" are highly toxic, full of nitriles and organonitrates, gathering and processing the material results in a unappetizing but highly nutritious food resource and the nearby river provides us with clean water with abundance.
Our biologists, few as they are, are also highly excited about a jungle plot just north of the base, which they have claimed as a highly valuable biodiversity hotspot and they believe that, if we were to develop proper biogenetic tools able to decipher the alien DNA code structure, valuable medicinal applications could result.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/189/civ4beyondsword20100802.png

Beyond food and water, however, resources are strictly limited: we have used up most of our building material, and while the jungle soil is highly fertile, it contains barely any minerals worth mining. I have authorized a team of geologists to survey the surrounding area, focusing on the clear, rocky ridge to the north in an attempt to find the metals we need to expand our operations.
We have in our holds one of the Morgan Corp. Formers, fully functional, a gigantic multi-use building machine, or, as MC called it "the swiss army knife of bulldozers". So far, we have used it to build work camps and field labs in the jungle area, to facilitate the gathering of edible material.
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/889/civ4beyondsword20100802g.png
Our most fascinating discovery so far, however, was made south-south-west of the base, a few dozen kilometres away: what our expeditionary force first assumed to be a Unity Supply pod with a malfunctioning transponder turned out to be an apparently artificial, but not man-made structure. We can not spare the resources to properly examine this object, but it is more than ten feet tall and made from an unknown, metallic blue material hiding an unknown core.

Mission Year 2105
http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/189/civ4beyondsword20100802.png
We have sent an expeditionary team to survey the northern ridge, which turned out to be a large plateau in an otherwise flat landscape, surrounded by almost vertical cliffs.
Eldan's notes: There are three levels of terrestrial elevation in this mod: lowland, highland and ridge. It is impossible for land units to move directly from lowland to ridge or vice versa, therefore ridges are good for early defence. They can, however, also hinder exploration.
On the top of that ridge we made a valuable discovery: a radio signal this time turned out to be a real Unity Supply pod, containing a fully functional light survey Chopper. We have, for now, sent it to discover the southern area, for the wide fungal fields are no problem to it.

MY 2106
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/189/civ4beyondsword20100802.png

***Northern survey team, live camera feed***
(Voice 1 identified as Private Leuthar Marin, Scout)
Marin: "Sir? Large object at 1 o'clock moving in our direction. A kind of... pulsating amorphous mass, probably some kind of animal."
(Voice 2 identified as Sergeant Pavel Julyan)
Julyan: "How large, how far away?"
Marin: "Approximately ten meters in diameters, Sir, rapidly approaching. ETA 2 minutes."
(Voice 3 identified as Private Nori Alexander)
Alexander: "Oh god. Why are we even here? We should have stayed on earth. I want to see a blue sky. And green grass. I want to walk around without a damn suit and gasmask. I... AAAAAAAARGH!"
Julyan: "God dammit! What..."
***Incoherent screams, shots are fired***
Julyan: "Thompson! Simo! Right flank! Hold your fire! Ready grenades!"
Unknown Voice: "Aaaagh! Universit!"
***Massive explosion, three minutes of silence***
Julyan: "This is Sergeant Pavel Julyan. The native life form is classified as massively dangerous. All but three soldiers immediately collapsed in pain before the mass of worms approached closer than ten meters. Alexander fired blindly, wounding Simo and Hussein. Ainsley seems to have clawed his own eyes out. Stanislav and Thompson... the worms seem to have burried into their brains while they were still alive and deposited eggs there. We burned the corpses to make sure. I would also recommend Guiliano for a posthumous bravery medal: he threw himself into the worm cluster with a bundle of life grenades. We barely survived and will try to make our way back to base."
***

Contact with team was lost three days later. Last contact describes new alien creature: a "fungal tower" made of a bundle of tubes at least twenty meters long, launching an artillery-like barrage of psychoactive and strongly acidic toxins at the team from beyond their active engagement range.

Two new boils of "mindworms", as the species has been called for now, as well as the fungal towers have been identified and are approaching our base. Most of our soldiers where with that survey team, we have ordered the chopper back to base, but we hope that the worms won't approach any closer.

MY 2107
We have lost contact with our former to the south while it attempted to clear an area for agriculture. Communications with the team leader indicate that they were attacked by another mindworm boil, now barely a dozen kilometers from base. Scout teams say that the team, as well as the northern ones are approaching the base.

We are trying to set up barricades and are sealing the entrances. Hopefully, an entire defended colony will be too much for these monstrosities to take down.

-Official logbook of University Base, Prokhor Zakharov, last entry

Kish
2010-08-03, 05:32 PM
Gah size.

Is it possible to make the pictures narrower? When I open them, it stretches the screen and makes the text hard to read.

Eldan
2010-08-03, 05:34 PM
I tried downsizing them when I uploaded them on imagehack, but then nothing was visible anymore. Next time, I'll crop them so that only the important details are on it, okay?

Yeah, I probably have a kind of huge screen.

Next up: Yang.

Caustic Soda
2010-08-04, 05:21 AM
I tried downsizing them when I uploaded them on imagehack, but then nothing was visible anymore. Next time, I'll crop them so that only the important details are on it, okay?
.

Thanks. I don't mind the size of the images so much, but the text becomes a real pain to read when it's stretched so much.

Anyways, nice update :smallsmile:. Have you decided how you're going to behave towards planet, or is that still up in the air?

Cespenar
2010-08-04, 05:34 AM
This is good and long and I likes it.

It also made me wonder if I should get Civ 4 solely for this mod.

Eldan
2010-08-04, 05:35 AM
With Yang? At least at first, I'll go for rapid production and mining, which doesn't tend to be too planet friendly. Then it depends in which direction the tech tree goes, and how my starting position looks.

In my Morgan game, the only one I have completed so far, I landed in an area surrounded by mineral resources (mostly silver), which I had to mine to profit from, so my main city was an industrial monstrosity able to produce just about anything, up to endgame units, in one turn, but at a horrible cost to my planet score. So, I've never really tried planet-friendliness.

Smiling Knight
2010-08-04, 07:38 AM
Inspired by this LP, I downloaded the Planetfall mod. I lost my first game really quickly due to mind worms, but my second game is going pretty well.

Lord Loss
2010-08-05, 06:00 AM
What an interesting let's play. I can't wait for the second installment.

Eldan
2010-08-05, 06:05 AM
I wanted to start round two yesterday, but then something came up (interestingly enough, a cooking accident which took 2 hours to correct). So, I'll start tonight.

One problem I foresee in the future is that my CivIV has the tendency to get annoyingly slow in the later turns as the empires grow: I can literally hit "end turn", go brush my teeth, read a few pages in a book or paint one step of a miniature while waiting for the next turn. It's pretty annoying.

Dragero
2010-08-05, 04:20 PM
Question: To play this mod, do I need any of the expantion packs for Civ 4? I only have vanilla Civ 4, and this mod looks great so......

Eldan
2010-08-05, 04:34 PM
Beyond the Sword is necessary, yes.

Dragero
2010-08-05, 04:42 PM
Awww dang!

Well, thats just another incentive to get BtS.