Combined with my 15 votes in the 2375 election, (see sceenshot in preceding story post) this gives me (24 + 15) X 3 = 117 points in this field! Had I concentrated my forces more thoroughly at Rayden, I might have been able to glass it in 2374, retake it on the voting interturn, and score three more points, but this was not to be.
Researcher: The Gatling Lasers gambit appeared to come through for me, but most likely actually cost me points; if I'd put those RP into Construction, Zort would probably have come in for a bigger boost. The Stabilizer gambit of course was almost a complete waste - not quite though, because unlike Gats, I'll actually want to use Inertial Stabilizer someday. I also made a mistake when I chose Mass Driver on the interturn, any way you look at it. I just don't have a good sense for how well different techs miniaturize at different tech levels, and was still deciding how I'd proceed for the rest of the game besides. Advancing the tree instead of going back for Gats in the first place was clearly the better move. Nonetheless...
Computers 10 + Construction 12 + Force Fields 10 + Planetology 17 + Propulsion 13 + Weapons 15 = 77 Researcher points! Notice that Weapons is my second "best" field in 2375, with Force Field research cut off entirely. No, this is not a normal game. (Planetology as my best field is entirely normal however).
Diplomat: I made my biggest mistakes in this field, which I should have identified early on as the hardest of the three in which to achieve a high score (both in terms of game mechanics and the scoring math - it's the only field where it's impossible to score 150 points in a single scoring year). Asking the Bulrathi to declare on the 'Coids 2 turns too early cost me 20 points here, as I'm convinced I could have had alliances with both Monch and Zygot, and be up to Harmony with each, if I hadn't been afraid of being forced to choose sides in their war! I could also have had better relations with Lasitus - perhaps much better, as better relations in 2374 might have persuaded him to declare on Sedimin for me, resulting in bonuses from enemy-of-my-enemy diplomacy on the interturn - if I'd launched my gunboat diplomats sooner. Still, I didn't do too badly, and it's still theoretically possible that I could unite the triad at least!
4 for Restless Humans + 0 for Hateful Silicoids + 20 for Peaceful Psilons + 20 for Peaceful Bulrathi = 44 Diplomat points. By the way: My scores might look really lopsided - you could argue that I should have expanded less to ensure better diplomacy (the original Human war started because they hated me on first contact, presumably due to "you're too big" penalties) - but a close examination of the scoring system refutes this. Colonist scores are tripled in 2375, and there's no way I'll be able to get 100+ again with single points in 2450. If I could have sacrificed research for diplomacy, I probably should have done so (e.g. by building earlier "gunboat diplomacy" fleets with resources I spent on technology) ... but I really am a pacifistic technologist at heart. I guess I should probably have also tried allying to both the bears and brains in 2474, counting on a single interturn of bombing to elevate my score - and hoping I wasn't asked to declare on one by the other in that same interturn - but I just wasn't ready to take the risk (and I didn't want a war with either, ever, if I could help it. I told you I'm a pacifist ... at heart).
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