Weekly history tournament - 20th Century Sci-Fi Authors (Closing Feb 6)

[ctuna]

Apologies all around, gang. I just reread the rules, and am very embarrassed. All along, I was under the assumption that when a player won 3 times in a row, the 2nd place player named the next week's theme. I now realize it is only the 2nd time that calls for another selector. Mea culpa.

Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein and Clarke were easy for me. I read all of them repeatedly in my youth and their heydays (tells you how long I've been around, huh?). The fifth was tough – Lester Del Rey, Poul Anderson, Theodore Sturgeon, Frederick Pohl, and Harland Ellison (a little later), all influenced my reading. In the end, discovering what Sturgeon had done for television made the decision for me. Hope you enjoy my picks (I haven't checked out the maps – only how often the dates were played).

Map	Date	Author	Accomplishments/Writings
1.	April 6th, 1992	Isaac Asimov*	Nightfall; The "Foundation" Series; The "Robot" Series (I, Robot, etc.); The Bicentennial Man; the 3 laws of robotics; one of the "Big Three" of science fiction
2.	December 16, 1917	Sir Arthur C. Clarke	2001: A Space Odyssey; The Fountains of Paradise; Childhood's End; radar (WWII); one of the "Big Three" of science fiction
3.	July 7, 1907	Robert A. Heinlein	Stranger in a Strange Land; The Cat Who Walks Through Walls; The Puppet Masters; one of the "Big Three" of science fiction
4.	August 22, 1920	Ray Bradbury	The Martian Chronicles; The Illustrated Man, Fahrenheit 451; The October Country; Something Wicked This Way Comes
5.	February 26, 1918	Theodore Sturgeon	More Than Human; episodes of Land of the Lost, Twilight Zone, and Star Trek (created the "prime directive", "live long and prosper" and the Vulcan hand symbol)

*Had to use date of death – birth date already overplayed – couldn't leave him out of this category.

The winner (best total score) gets to pick next weeks theme.
If we have the same winner as last week, the runner up (#2)
will pick the theme.

See here for the rules, an overview of themes and previous
tournaments and the overall ranking.

Please post your progress/total scores in this topic, to ease
calculations at the end of the week.

[Michionlion]

Yes!! Favorite subject.  Go Arthur C. Clarke!

(Scores will be here)  Edit:(ok not this time... next time)

[ctuna]

First go-around scores. Update.

Map	Date	Score	Time
1.	April 6th, 1992	9204	5:11
2.	December 16, 1917	9146	5:36
3.	July 7, 1907	8645	9:24
4.	August 22, 1920	8981	6:48
5.	February 26, 1918	8647	9:23
TOTAL:		44623	36:22

[Katra]

My scores so far. (room for improvement if I have time.)

Apr    6  1992   8825   7:59
Dec  16  1917  8924    7:14
July   7   1907  8555  10:08
Aug 22   1920  8946    7:04
Feb 26    1918  8647   9:23


total              43897   40:49

[thepenguin]

Yes!! Favorite subject.  Go Arthur C. Clarke!

(Scores will be here)

GO asimov & heinlein! (oddly enough, I've read stuff by both of them this week)

[mthw2vc]

Hmm, about time I actually get around to playing in one of these tournaments. My results thus far:

Map	Date	Score	Time
1.	April 6th, 1992	9411	3:45
2.	December 16, 1917	9404	3:48
3.	July 7, 1907	9461	3:25
4.	August 22, 1920	9249	4:52
5.	February 26, 1918	8869	7:39
TOTAL:		46394	23:29

EDIT: Done.

[mthw2vc]

Here are the screenshots.

Map 1:

I initially move the city to collect a few upgrades early. I then build up energy, connecting to the totems near the lower peninsula in the process. Try to get your blasters built by around 2:00. From there, it's a rush to the last totem. I ensure that I will maintain my connections after I move the city, then proceed to do so to accelerate the collector-building process.

Map 2:

I fly the city near the totem and use it to connect to 2 upgrades very quickly. I then proceed to work on energy and advance at a slow pace to the SE totem. 1 blaster will suffice for a while, but you will need 2. Flying another blaster into the deep creeper at the lower right will be needed to reduce the load on the blasters defending your path the SE totem, and can be used to reduce the amount of time you need to grab the final totem. Once you have about 5 energy, You'll need 4 spare blasters to fight to the last totem. Set 3 of them next to the collector and use one of them to bridge with OC. Make sure you do not lose the connection to your main collector grid on low ground when you move the city.

Map 3:

A very simple bridge. There isn't much more to say.

August 27, 1920:
No, it isn't a tournament map, but I misread the 22 as a 27. A very fun map, I recommend playing it.

Map 4:

You have plenty of space and time before you need to advance, so build up for a while. There aren't any very good places to move the city, so you'll need to build some speed (or overdrive) and leave a direct path to the battlefield. The usefulness of the range upgrade is debatable.

Map 5:

Certainly a tough map to top off the week. It should be obvious what I did. By the time you get to the end, you'll have plenty of energy from reactors. Lack of speed is your main concern. It may also be beneficial to use a drone to assist in clearing the ground near the final totem.

[mthw2vc]

Tournament Results

Rank	Player	Total Score	Time
1.	mthw2vc	46394	23:29
2.	ctuna	44623	36:22
3.	Katra	43897	41:48
4.	chretip	40101	1:15:35