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And the victory is a complete one, as I've eradicated the last Shakturi ship from the Almas system.

OK, so I have a big new colony, lots of new population. Surely I've risen in the Victory rankings! Eagerly I pull up the victory screen.

Um. This doesn't look good.

Oh, the victory screen is probably just updating, and ...

Oops. This screen pops up next.

Rats! Just when I'd started to develop some momentum!

But I don't really mind! I'm ready for a new game anyway, and this game has already told a wonderful story. I came back from near-total defeat to rise to 7th in the galaxy, and in the waning moments of the game, I took a rich colony from the Shakturi while simultaneously fending off a determined Shakturi assault on my homeworld. We didn't win, but we can hold our heads high!

Incidentally, I really like the UQE victory conditions. They must have just finished a research branch or something.

I did okay on my racial conditions, but I lagged on the other three, especially territory and population. If I were to continue the game, I'd build up my military with the new revenue from my rich new colony and continue to go on the offensive against the Shakturi, trying to defeat them in detail, one planet at a time. (Or make peace with them and invade the Gizureans, but the Shakturi were completely uninterested in peace.) And do something about my defenses on Almas. I had no planetary shields or whatnot, and apparently my early-warning systems need an upgrade.

Here's my final victory screen.

The final military standings. As you can see, the UQE easily outstripped me militarily, as of course did the Shakturi. But I managed to rise to fourth place! Not bad for a peaceful race like the Securans.

Unfortunately, my other stats aren't as impressive. I'm well down the list in "strategic value." Just what determines "strategic value," anyway? I just searched through the manual, and while I see the importance of strategic value to research speed, I don't see any explanation of how strategic value is calculated.

Predictably, my economic stats are underwhelming, too.

I won't bother posting my territorial or population graphs; they show a similar story.

Also, Almas 3 used to be one of the top three colonies in the game. No longer, not after it was bombed into the stone age by the Shakturi.

Once again, great job! Its refreshing to read an arr where the player doesn't steamroll over the entire galaxy.

looking forward to the next one.

Here's a picture of the final state of my galaxy. My four light-blue colonies are represented by 3 circles: lower-left-center; two colonies forming one circle in the middle of the galaxy; and my new moon, northeast of that. Next time I think I'll pick a color that stands out a bit more.

That was a very interesting AAR - please more.

Glad you guys enjoyed it!

I have to run an errand, but when I get back, I'll post a couple of my research screens and characters. I have a question about research I'd like to ask.

Thanks, Grotius! Well done, overall. Enjoyed it very much.

Thanks, Grisha!

OK, here's my question about research. Was I researching at my maximum capacity? Do I sum up my three red numbers (359K, 196K, 136K, summed = 695K) and compare them to my single potential red number (640K)? Or is 640K the potential for each branch of research, meaning I am well short of my potential?

Also, when I add up my "actual output," it adds up to 695K total, more than my 640K "potential." I see I get a 4% bonus, but 640 + 4% does not equals 666 or so, not 695.

Do the numbers in black (1200K, etc.) indicate that I've dedicated far too many resources to research?

As you can see, I really don't understand these numbers. I've read and re-read the manual, and I still don't understand. Any help would be appreciated!

You had far too much research. (1200+400+625=) 2225k > 640k

If you wanted balanced research you could have built for example 300k in each category (215 in each to be precise but better to have some spare capacity).

Basically no matter how much research you built it could never exceed 640k.

Wow, that was a hell of AAR. Nice work Grotius![:)]

This is a nice one.  Short and sweet.  Goes to show that galactic domination is not the only way to enjoy the game.

Yes, it is your total research capacity which is capped at 640k. So you were paying for more than three times the number of labs you were able to use. [:)] But at least you were doing maximum research.

The 695 is 640 +4%, plus the bonuses you had for Energy and High Tech research. Note that the bonuses are muliplicative and not additive. Numbers get rounded somewhere along the line too.

Hey, good stuff! You put up a good fight. I liked the comparison to Return of the Jedi, lol.