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From: gdm@cs.columbia.edu (George Michaels)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: SimEarth Robots
Keywords: Simearth, Mars
Message-ID: <1990Nov12.162424.28953@cs.columbia.edu>
Date: 12 Nov 90 16:24:24 GMT
References: <1990Nov11.053522.11374@ecst.csuchico.edu>
Sender: news@cs.columbia.edu (The Daily News)
Reply-To: gdm@cedar.columbia.edu (George Michaels)
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.games
Distribution: usa
Organization: Columbia University Department of Computer Science
Lines: 29

I WAS able to get SimEarth through MacConnection.  I guess I ordered
before they ran out...  I played all weekend.  I was most interested
by the Terraforming scenarios.  They are the most challenging because
they DISABLE the "Models" of Earth behavior.  I have not yet tried
Venus, but I "won" Mars in experimental mode.

1) There is a bug in "Easy" mode which allows you to get as many ice
meteors as you want FOR FREE.  You can send one down, paying for it
(500 omega).  You then select some other kind of build, but you do
not generate any.  Then select ice meteor AGAIN.  AS SOON AS you select
it you get a new meteor.  Without paying for it.  If you want a third,
you select Eukaryote (or some other), and then ice meteor.  You get as
many as you want for free by selecting NOT PLACING them.

2) I cannot seem to raise the temperature very much.  I even tried
producing LOTS of industrial pollution to try to enhance the greenhouse
effect.  No dice.  It think I got the average temp to an all-time high of
-44 C.  This however did not stop me from winning.  Apparently, my
cave-men were able to thrive at -44. 

3) I'm curious about the effect of atmospheric presssure on my life.
As a scuba diver, I know that people can survive for long periods of
time at pressures of 4 or more atms.  However since this is a
planetary condition, my sims don't have to decompress....  On mars, I
got the pressure up around 2 atms.  This seemed to help warm up the
planet.  Does anyone know the limits of simearthlings tolerance to
pressure?  

George Michaels