Express Evolution achievement...

[jodost]

Hi All,

A few days ago, having played the game for quite a few hours now, I was running out of things to do until I re-checked the Achievements screen and saw that I had accomplished 20 out of the 24 achievement tiles. So the new goal was obvious: go for all 24 and the one I’m trying for now is “Express Evolution - Unlock all techs in less that 6 hrs of gameplay.”

Not so easy. After 3 attempts I’ve come fairly close by playing the easy Lascaux map that has the lowest Knowledge Point values I can find but still am falling short.

So my first question is: Has anyone completed this achievement?

My second question is: Is there a clock showing gameplay time anywhere within the game? The only one I’ve found is on the Load menu and the only way to see it is to Save your game, then exit and open the Load page. Very annoying.

Since that data obviously exists within the games data bases, it would be nice if it could be accessed within the game, which brings up a further issue.


Diversion on the usefulness of Food and Straw charts

In many of the screenshots I’ve seen posted, the players aren’t displaying the Food and Straw charts and, as I’ve discovered, are missing out on the very useful early warning that these can give – obviously once agriculture has been established – long before the dreaded “Low on food” warning is issued. These charts can be analyzed at a glance the same way real world stock charts are analyzed (Trend Analysis), because they have a well established cyclicality: i.e the seasonal cycle.

This causes them to manifest a well-established “channel” of highs and lows which indicates the all important “balance” of the settlement’s economy. As long as the channels remain horizontal, food and straw production are balanced. When the peak production after the autumn harvest falls below the peak of the previous harvest, production may be tipping into a down-sloping channel i.e. there may be a Trend Change starting. If so, this will be confirmed if the next year’s peak sets an even “lower high”. In trend analysis, a change is signaled by series of three or more “lower highs” and “lower lows”.

The charts also have a horizontal grey “subsistence line” to mark the minimum necessary production level and so long as you stay well above that line – ideally just below the peak level that doesn’t generate food decay warnings – you’ll see the down-trend developing in time to take the actions necessary to turn that down-trend into an up-trend for as long as is necessary to re-establish the horizontal “balanced” production.

Whether the down-trend is simply caused by natural population growth, or by un-controllable factors: crop disease or Raiders interrupting planting or harvest seasons, the slope of the resulting down-trend channel will indicate the magnitude of the response required to correct the problem in a timely fashion.


I luvz my chartz, and they’d be even better if the Time on the x-axis displayed the actual playtime which, oh yeah, would solve my problem with the playtime clock as well.

[threethreethree]

Concerning your second topic...I've never looked at the charts once. Don't need to. I'm there playing the game, so I know what's going on. It's in my head. Let yourself have a good feel for it. I can see right in front of me how we're doing...what we've done...what we'll need in the future...etc.

Don't need no charts 'round here. When I'm in the kitchen cooking, I don't use recipes. I MAKE the recipes. I don't measure anything. Let go, Luke. Use the Force. Trust your feelings.

[Mk Z]

to get this achievement you should buy most techs from the trader. the best goods to trade for techs are winter skin coats in the early game, and then bows and wool. build more stuff to raise prestige to make the trader come more often.

[buds]

I’ve done it and many others too. It I did it last as it is not very important nor interesting. Somehow I’m old enough to sit down for at least 3-5 hours just to complete the whole DoM achievements. It’s better to get the Paleolithic overpopulation and Stone prestige as it will enhance more of your skills about the game before embarking on a timed challenge.

Most players really don’t put those graph and the most important is the food graph in which after maintaining the maximum linear curve at maximum population wil assure you that you can feed your villagers. Straw graph is very big and it is less relevant than the other icons, namely the animals, transportation and defense. Some players will even have the speed icon though it’s easier to press 1-4 numbers.

Straw is not a big problem once you’re able to feed your animals so I rather glance at the resources icons and just check my straw before winter arrives snd check my grains after winter and decide if there needs adjustments. Grains are used on animals when straws are finished and feeding is not a big issue as long as you have grains surplus. Somehow I don’t make lots of bread that I always have grains surpluses.

On tight situations using the straws to build structures (placing a build order in advance before they feed the animals) force your villagers to use grains for feeds.

[Bremen]

This works on ancient warriors, when you already start with a lot of the tree filled. I got it randomly without even trying.