Code4Life is a nice contest, but the 170 limit destroy all fun strategy of the game:
For now:
Rank 1 samples have very limited utility…
projets are near useless… (you need at least 8 samples to finish one, 9 for other…and when you have return 7 samples(even RANK 2), You are near the 170… In fact, if you are lucky, you can do the 170 with 7 samples…
By increasing the 170 limit, Projects will become more usefull to increase the score, and i think that the Rank 1 will become more usefull to reach a higher limit… or to try to get a sample with the good xp letter…
The contest just began, silver league not open yet, 170 is just a var to change for people using it to finish the game fast…
…and for now, with the global strat of rushing the 170… most games depends on the luck you have with random (and realy often, both player win a round)… Adding some strat will add more fun ;p
P.S: I think you need to correct the sample list if you increase the projects utility… - the “only 5” rank 2 expèrience gain on B make 5 of the 10 projects harder to do than the other 5… and 2 of them need 4 rank B… giving an advantage to ppl knowing it…
I think the problem is not the 170 points. Splendor has a 15 point limit (which would be 150 or maybe 160 here without 0 point T1 cards). It should be at around that point amount where proficiency based strategies and just health selection strategies are at a similar level, if it wasn’t for the following reason:
I think the issue is that switching stations takes too long in bronze. You spend 12 turns just walking per rotation and 6 more for every time you have to return from the lab to the molecules. This makes T1 recipes almost completely useless since they are barely faster than T2 one.
Also the huge walk times discourage choosing or discarding samples as well.
I agree with mmmd. The 170 limit points is here in the original game (more or less, it’s not the same value). The problem here is the time required by a move between two stations.
True, splendor as 15 point limit, (all value on Code4Life are *10 so, it should be 150) use same cards, same contracts… But at 2 player, there is only 4 of each “stones” (molecule on our case) so, rank 1 samples are imperativ… (and projects usefulls…)
And yes, no “time” (turn) to go from 1 point to another…
So, i don’t think that the “it’s like that in the game” argument can stand…
Was just trying to propose an easy transition to make Code4life more stratégic than just a “lucky” drop sample run… (i know it’s more than that on top 100, need to make adv life harder… just telling it could be more interesting…)
(of course, just propose 4 (or 5 to be gentle…) molecules instead of 6 is an other (and more interesting) choice, but not sure every IA can be easily adapted for this change than juste increase the limit value…)
AI adaption won’t be a problem if the change is done in a new league. Silver, Gold, Legend…
Increasing 170 limit won’t change the fact that a stock of 6 molecules renders rank 1 samples almost useless (that 1 point bonus…), and as an extension the projects too. I think projects are aimed as a late bonus for diagnosed rank 1 samples, because projects aren’t that profitable, like a good rank2 sample (and it ooonly takes like 8 correct samples to get it…).
Having 5 molecules (maybe 4 in legend) makes some rank 2 samples not achievable without expertise, that maybe change the meta game enough to have better strategies with rank 1 samples. But I haven’t tested that, so it’s just IMHO.