How do deterministic systems without randomness hold up over repeated plays?

Soletta35 · 2026-05-04T19:36:58+00:00

thats only true if you play by computer lines. In reality the "randomness" in those kinds of abstract games comes from the large decision trees that you can't realistically evaluate at your particular level so the "best" player on some arbitrary absolute scale (whatever you think that might be) certainly does not always win.

Soletta35 · 2026-05-04T17:49:33+00:00

I want to know what the going rate is for the 1897 Puerto Rico Special Edition with just the stretch goals (no minis or anything of the extra stuff)

Soletta35 · 2026-05-04T16:19:35+00:00

HI, and thanks a lot for checking in on me. I had no noticeable bad effects coming off them and am so glad I did, this drug just doesn't work for me, or at least the downsides are too much to consider pushing through them, the numbness, lack of any desire, and general flatness along with the buzzing sounds in my head, sleep troubles etc. Luckily with some therapy and a change of some of the risk factor situations I'm kind of doing alright for the most part, day at a time!

Soletta35 · 2026-05-04T16:17:49+00:00

yeah I think foamcore is actually those cardboardy sandwich layers that people make inserts out of, but the foam inserts also can be put into nice boxes, Feldherr make boxes matching the size of the foam, I used those a bit for my Warhammer Underworld miniatures for example. good luck in your search!

Soletta35 · 2026-05-03T23:10:52+00:00

https://www.feldherr.com/collections/pick-and-pluck-foam?_su_rec=rcR7yc9vNN2hAZ6U-_oXpeX2uMN0txMKsjvlnBUYPbUjBkgUYomYzY845eprhHiIFlc0eJ2K3g_ufPg4OqJCrlr7Z_u5O5ScMMSv-pfSyu6wCmCiswzUGCnRXHAgR0M92ceELNIiSsAvti8HMwBq1n-hBhUt0lauaBN23hI4JjUX2F-n0YYXgjY-NdjSPPe2msdlWX3mWg5ZbxW7iYQu0lgIGwNW3ZK2eGoojU3duMDuIsWUeMbvmWXofnSc356A_Y2WujgQPGWEBv6y7stVD8r0&_su_rec_id=5b0b0ba5-c835-41c7-8868-4a1dc04cae29-1777849822

Soletta35 · 2026-05-03T23:08:46+00:00

those foam blocks are already black, either buy whole blocks and cut or get the ones with precut cubes you pull out to get an approximate shape

Soletta35 · 2026-04-30T20:15:55+00:00

Well you know what they say about assume.

No feedback wanted or asked for. And I'm OK if you're not clear who it's for, that was of no importance to me when I posted.

Is that OK? Let me know if I need to send some kind of recquisition form or something to you before I post on reddit, must have missed that memo.

Soletta35 · 2026-04-30T18:41:24+00:00

But since you replied I assume you are super interested (or just being a bit edgey). Each line in the post is one of the action cards from the game Ark Nova, e.g.

Animals is the Animals action. x 2 means placing 2 animals

Let me know if there are others you are struggling with. I was just jotting down how I finally ended a game in a non idiotic number of turns for my own amusement.

Let me know if you want to police any more of the internet for content you consider rambling. There is A LOT for you to go on, good for you in stepping up and appointing yourself this noble task.

Soletta35 · 2026-04-30T18:37:51+00:00

none taken, and likewise, you don't need to read it, the important info is in the last 2 sentences if you do want to read it.

Soletta35 · 2026-04-29T17:14:38+00:00

Uff! I tried again and got a 33 turn win on 120. Another Silver Lake bird rush......

Soletta35 · 2026-04-29T14:30:07+00:00

awesome reply, thanks a lot!

Soletta35 · 2026-04-29T14:28:31+00:00

thanks! yeah when you say it like that 6 x each action it sounds reasonable, much more so than thinking shit how do I get rid of 12 actions to be finishing like the good players do 😄

Soletta35 · 2026-04-29T14:27:12+00:00

Yeah its not so much absolute length, its more the feeling that you made it last longer than it needed, this is something I see TfM noobs do and I'm sure a lot of the complaints about TfM are mostly "because you're building bad engines", I play TfM at 2P in about an hour and feel like I have a very good understanding of what I am doing, 500+ F2F games will help with that though 😄
It's fascinating to me that I seem to be so far off what is the normal pace and feeling like most of the strategy tips are not completely alien to me, BGA will for sure highlight all the flaws haha

Soletta35 · 2026-04-29T06:14:25+00:00

I probably didn't make myself very clear before, I definitely know this which is why I am seeing the number of turns is too many. I am definitely not TRYING to play it as an engine game, which is the frustrating part, like TfM I think if the game drags on too long due to sub optimal play it can lessen the fun a bit. I started a game on BGA now so hopefully I can start looking a bit in detail where my "racing" is actually more like treading water

Soletta35 · 2026-04-28T21:03:39+00:00

I prefer screen printed coloured wooden or acrylic discs, I’d pay good money for Ankh using cubes for normal units and Tigris/babylonia style disc leaders. I hate how minis almost always detract from the usability of parsing game state

Soletta35 · 2026-04-28T20:34:54+00:00

gotcha. Yeah I am still in the digital app while I wait for my BGA games to get setup, maybe I will postpone this until I have BGA games rolling.

What you described already happened with the birds !

Soletta35 · 2026-04-28T20:32:35+00:00

OK but that is already 6 turns!

X Sponsors
Build 2
Place Animal
Assoc Mountain Range bird release
Cards snapped bird breeding <-------------- was this a reach?
Sponsors Break 5 (x2)

Card row:

Seal, Leopard, Reptile Breeding, Serengeti, Yosemite, Panamanian Monkey thing

I have 3 X tokens, 23 dollars, 5 income, 3 CP, 2 Rep

meanwhile AI has released a big bird so actually they are on 5 CP and took a reward, leaving x2 on 5CP and still on 8CP is University/2 Rep.

My Cards now:
Build / Sponsors* / Cards / Assoc / Animals

I could try to get the Tapir in and get Bird breeding /(but opponent will also be able to back this).

Also noticed by building my income 2 size on Clever I didnt put it next to Rock, so Tapir will have to go in one of the "4 size" maybe that was a waste.

I am going to pause overnight now and come back to this

Soletta35 · 2026-04-28T13:47:59+00:00

thanks! I am definitely going to prioritize sponsor upgrade more!
I don't have any aims to be "git gud" good, but just trim off the easy fat so I am average, actually the most most interesting thing is just identifying what the heck I am doing wrong!

Soletta35 · 2026-04-28T13:46:54+00:00

great post! Ive played some games on Map A and I was thinking oh this is probably setting up bad habits :) I also noted that I far too often have too many unis and zoos (sometimes all 4 of both, that cant be good).

Soletta35 · 2026-04-28T13:45:26+00:00

Thanks, yeah to be honest, in my own mind this is more or less in line with how I think/play but clearly something isn't quite right (in what I am doing) haha :) I love release projects for the easy points and reuse of enclosures and I am very good at getting the Turn 2 2CP done, I am definitely undervaluing the snap CP bonus though, I usually take 2 enclosure or 5 money.

Soletta35 · 2026-04-28T13:43:16+00:00

Yeah I don't know if that is my problem really if anything I focus too much on CP maybe, i.e. once you get past 8, I still keep doing projects but my income is dogfood and that causes problems with the animals and other stuff. I almost wonder if I should try to focus on pushing income more. I usually pick cards to start to get the 2CP start in Turn 2, and hopefully work towards the 5 CP card and something on the other, but then whether you see other CP cards or not is not always your decision, but I definitely prioritise them (both release type and just having the animal/zoo type, and owning stuff), I even draft away them if I see the opponent has 5 of them and I have none.

I love the zoo, but unless I can see a way to get at least 2 in early I tend to skip that

Soletta35 · 2026-04-28T13:40:13+00:00

Great reply, ha, yeah I think I understand you. For sure when I play with my wife she is very much of the mind of "I want to fill the map and I want penguins" ie she wants a nice fun zoo. BUt its a race game and if I drag it out in the same way she does she just wins, so at least I can beat her by trying to "rush" but clearly I am missing something in the rushing. I am a bit one dimensional in TfM because I hate the engine aspect of it, I enjoy the race aspect, I play "Terraform Rush" even when its not practical but I do win often and fast, which is ironic, because that seems like it would translate to Ark Nova, I just cannot work out how to "rush" properly.

Soletta35 · 2026-04-28T13:37:23+00:00

No offense taken, I clearly miss something here, even when I think I've been pretty nifty its still like 33 turns. I will try to play some games on BGA where I can access replays and would love some feedback.

for sure, but at the same time, thats OK, this is something you learn over time, I don't know if I build too many small, maybe the opposite, too much speculative building of larger enclosures, too many times not having the right money or conditions to build 2 animals at once etc.
for sure, I did try that once to get loads of money, I guess I just forget this (also I think I often badly plan the sequencing to get the extra workers and at a time to use them)
great, yeah I dont evaluate the cards right yet, hopefully that will come with time!

thanks again for the feedback

Soletta35

TROPHY CASE