Expert 100k+

[Ginner]

I don't think I'm that bad of a player as I have about 20 hours in the game, but
on expert level the AI players will routinely get between 80k and 120k where if I play
pretty much perfectly only get 24k to 50k. Also, they have as many or more upgrades than me.

Anybody else able to win on expert level? I quit just into the snow terrain as I had about 80k
and the other players werre all in the mid to upper 200k range.

[Gamious]

Have you tried using natural gas yet? If done right, you can get the price of oil up to over 3 dollars. Here are some videos that explain how it works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJbeWZByX1s&list=PLQoNs0zkHxPeF_P1okkLbTiGoKWdNzHGV

[Ginner]

I've tried it but it's hard to find big enough gas pockets to really jump up the price. The 'thermal'
thing helps a little but it also wastes time and money for me. But the key seems to be finding
large gas pockets and most seasons have very few or very small gas pockets.

[Gamious]

The most important thing is to connect all the gas pockets at the same time. If you only connect 1 pocket, the effect is not long and powerful enough to optimally exploit.Try to store lots of oil before december, and then connect the gas pockets to either Left of Right (and don't forget to close the valves to prevent escaping gas through a rig).

[Gutsy]

I am playing expert and all of a sudden the AI players have gone from making between 14k to 20k a map to suddenly making 170k to in one case 300k profit. I had a plot of land that was rated as a 41 and made 60k profit (nearly 2 super silos of oil sold over 2.80/3.50 a barrell from using the gas boost) yet an AI player on a 22 made 175k profit? How is that possible? How can they make 300k profit on any map, let alone a 22 rated plot?

[Gutsy]

Oh and yes the Thermal thing is a complete waste of money. By the time the gas pockets are available its the end of the year or they just dont expand, and when they do its so negligent (especially paying 150 per cap to create the heating ring) that i just dont bother with them anymore. The money to unlock it and its minor boost just dont make it cost effective.

[erikleppen]

As we have no screenshot of your playing, we can only guess what is happening.

Note that when enclosed, gas pockets grow until their border hits a pipe. So don't make the rings too small. Also it helps if you find gas early (use the mole's gas upgrade for this) and invest some early money to build the ring. (Yes, this is expensive.)

That said, 175k profit on 22 oil is not possible, so we should take a look at that. It's noted on our list of things to do! :)

[Ginner]

I agree with Gutsy, especially about the impossible amounts of money the AI makes. It is impossible to win on 'expert' mode at this time.

[sporto137]

I'm having pretty much the same problem, the AI consistently makes between 100 and 180 K per level and I can't seem to get more than 50 or 60 K. I've tried using the gas in the plains, and either I'm doing something wrong or it's not worth it. I use at least 3 gas pockets at once, and the price boosts to about a 2.50 to 2.75 peak, then drops. I know you have to time the selling of the gas just right during the jump, but most of the time I sell out of oil before the peak goes down very far which I've read is the best. I do have a problem where I can't get enough money to hook up all the pipes for the gas until about August or September though. Normal mode was basically I'm making 50 K more than the AI and expert is the AI is making 100 K more than me

[Gamious]

The amount of $ that the AI can earn is based on the amount of oil inside a plot. So make sure you get the biggest plots! We also look at the upgrades that the NPC's have bought.

[eldude]

I was getting stomped by the AI too in the 4th area. I was kinda keeping up in the 3rd area, and I was usually winning in the 1st and 2nd area.

My advice would be to buy all the shares you can while in the second and third areas. I was able to get aruond 40% in the second and third areas, and then I was getting stomped in the 4th area, but I was able to get just enough to get over 50% and win.

[fredoverflow]

Originally posted by eldude:

I was getting stomped by the AI too in the 4th area.

Have you watched my 4th video yet? ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cndtb8JADk

[Gamious]

Ok guys. Watch this. At 29 minutes in, that is how you play with Gas!lll

[★ Tui ★]

Hey guys, you can easily do (i did it on my second try, today) the "100k + profit on a single level" - Big Haul - achievment by getting most of the improvments and just selling all or almost all the oil from the island level (last level). If u fail any time just close the game before saving your result and then open the game and try again.

Obs: Used 5-7 oil searchers for start; I did it without silos or pumping gas price.

[[Mambo5] Caramon]

It took me atleast 5 tries but i finally beat the game on expert mode. The most important thing i focused on was minimalistic equipment purchase and focus mostly on buying stocks.

[Gamious]

Grats!