First off, I couldn't have done this without the inspiration of the Metaverse League and Wyndstar in particular. Kudos to the master!Now to the matter at hand.I finally did it. A year zero win! Granted, it was only against 1 AI and on challenging (my current level) but I'm certain that 'tough' wouldn't have been much harder. On the other hand, it was my first attempt at an 'all-labs' and 'lease instead of buy' approach, so I consider myself proud that I could do it at all.Here is the link to the character, as a proof: http://metaverse.galciv2.com/index.aspx?g=player&id=14517For all of you, who like me thought that year zero wins are nigh impossible: Try it! Read the posts about it! It is difficult, requires constant micromanagement, but I found it incredibly rewarding to see that victory screen after 25 - 30 turns. Not the way I'd like to play constantly, but as a change of pace, it's a incredible challenge.And of course, once you've accomplished your first 'Year Zero', post here and rejoice!As an edit, I now include the current top score.Attention new players! Do not be frightened by these scores! Playing a ZYW is actually really easy, and getting a score close to 30000 points takes just a few tries. These games are usually finished in less than 20 minutes, so have at it. Try the tiny ZYWs first, I find them easier and you might get the unique chance to beat players like neilo or Wyndstar.Current ZYW record holders:'expert' ZYW - Gigantic
1) 198450 points - MottiKhan
2) 119000 points - Kzinti Patriarch
3) 109500 points - neilo 'classic' ZYW - Tiny
1) 56700points - MottiKhan
2) 40600 points - Kzinti Patriarch / Magnumaniac3) 38850 points - Wyndstar
Had some free time today and didn't want to start anything big so I figured I would fool around with these ZYWs, and I figured out one of the un-advertised 'tricks' you guys are using to help out with your ZYW scores Seems like it's been a while since I've figured something out for myself.
And no, I'm not telling what it is. I'll let someone else ruin all the fun.
Got me just past the 90k mark, which was just enough to have an idea on what to do to get close to 100k. Not sure I'm into it enough to consider myself a part of the 'club' yet though.
Nice going Davabled!
Sentient species taste better...
I think if you can hit the 90K mark with every game, then you should be considerd not only part of the club but a master of it as well.
60400 is still my top score on a ZYW. As of yet i have not found the techs etc to increase it. But i am working on it
Do you guys only consider it a ZYW if its on suicidal? I have done it on normal. Is that just weak and not worthy of a response? I only got 11,000 for the score
Cakewalk...Suicidal...either is just as hard LZ. You are taking out the AI before it has a chance to get up and moving to use those bonuses on Suicidal.
As for the topic at hand, after saying what I just said, any game before the end of the year is a ZYW and then yes...
Difficulty increases score and they're all score freaks (note: this is different from a score monger, definition Mumblefratz [he'd like that, I think]). But as long as it shows on the MV as year 0, it's still a ZYW. One thing to note is that if you end it in December, while it's still a ZYW, you don't stand to gain that much score, if not lose some, as opposed to ending it April whatever (on or after the 12th turn-I haven't done one yet myself so I'm not as familiar with the specifics as I should be), primarily because the ZYW game is designed to crash your economy in 15 turns or less.
The Ai is just as easy to handle on Suicidal as on Cakewalk. They simply have no answer for the rush attack that the ZYW employes.
I did it three times with different races. It was fun. I did not get an April win like you guys talk about. I think my earliest was June.I didn't do it in DA, I did it in Twilight 1.96 (haven't downloaded the 1.99 yet). Does the version make a difference?Next I wanna try on suicidal, its the only way I'll feel 'right' about it. Then I wanna try with more that one A.I. Anybody know what was the most AI opponents this was ever accomplished against?
Neilo and I have both done a ZYW with 5 opponents. I think that may be the most. I dont think you will find Suicidal any harder than a lower difficulty level ZYW. Like Neilo said, the AI just cant cope with the extreme speed of your conquest.
why is this add in my reply box?
Bork..Bork...bork!!!
Ok, so its good now....
Thanks for that Kp, i was trying to find just exactly how many had been done. I think the closest i got to a multi AI win in April though was 4 AI in july. I have had 3 in April, 15th or 22nd i think and i have had 2 on April 8th.
Neither effort though increases your score.
Given the right map and some real good luck with cash anomolies i think it would be possible to go beyond 5. Not saying it would be necessarily easy but it could be done.
The question though other than, it is there to be done, is why? To get 6 AI will take you well past July and the score will not be any more than 1 AI on a April 8 win.
Ok i got it down to 16 turns now but still cant breach the darn 60k mark
Got to keep trying though.
Oh and another 3 games in for me today
nice work mate!
I have a question regarding the posting of Year Zero "Defeats".
When I hit the dreaded Red Economic Spiral of Doom from which there is no possible recovery, would it be more appropriate to "retire" and post the defeat, scuttle my planets and post the defeat, or declare war and wait until the Thalans wipe me out?
For MV score at least, you are better off not posting a defeat. It will just drop your overall score.
ARGHHH!!!!!
So close to knocking KP off of 3rd place. Played this one out again but could not nail the April 8 win. This was a April 15th win. that extra Week earlier just might have got me on the list...
Oh well...it's still a new PB for me.
Woot Commodore!
Has anybody tried a ZYW on an immense map in TA?
I believe that Magnumaniac has, but I havent seen him around for quite a while. Loupdinour may have also, though I'm not sure.
Just posted a ZYW on an immense map on my last game. No major increase in points gained though.
I play all almost all of mine on Immense with custom races. I still can't crack 70k, but I'm working on it. The trick with the Immense map is to set all of the star/planet sliders to "Rare".
Are you finishing your games on April 8th Snarkotamus? That is a major factor in getting a high score.
I had a few under my Winston Wolf character before the reset. No scores worthy of mention, and for the ease of play that the ZYW i just found TA in general to slow.
Mag sure did. His last 16 games were immense games..and alot of them in the high 90's too...
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
