Any ideas on how to deal with the Grox?

[Arnina]

I made the mistake of pissing off the Grox early in the space stage and, now, have to deal with repeated attacks on my colonies and home world.  My region of space was peaceful until I decided to explore and made my way towards the galactic center.  I had battled the Grox a few times while defending allies but had never had any of my worlds attacked, yet.  Apparently, I was already on the Grox shit list for destroying their space ships during these previous battles.  I made matters worse by not turning off my watchamacallit, the thing that shoots enemies in space, and destroyed more Grox ships.  I made contact with the Grox but there were no options to remedy the situation as the relationship was already too damaged.  So, I said screw the Grox and decided to try to make it to the galactic center by hopping from star system to star system while using energy and health packs along the way.  I failed as my range was too limited to reach the core with interstellar drive 4 and as I ran out of health packs.  Returning to my system in shame, I soon found that I made a big mistake by engaging the Grox.  My home world and colonies were repeatedly attacked and I found myself constantly responding to the attacks and rebuilding damaged colonies.  This is becoming a big annoyance as I can't explore the galaxy for fear of my spice colonies being destroyed.

I don't really care about the attacks on my home world for two reasons:  The home world will never be completely destroyed as it respawns and the home world isn't a good source of spice.  I prefer the Grox to attack my home world as I can ignore the attack and attend to business elsewhere.  Colonies are a different story.  I'm always successful in fighting off the Grox with just my ship and the uber turret.  I don't bring allied ships as they are usually destroyed and I don't want the penalty with their species for not taking care of their ships.  I'm tired of these attacks; they are a distraction from other fun aspects of the game and replacing the colony structures is becoming expensive and time consuming.

So, where do I go from here?  I only see a few options but none of them appear feasible for my current game.  I could try to take on the time-consuming task of destroying the Grox empire but their empire is huge.  It surrounds the entire galactic core.  I can't think of an efficient way to take on their empire by my lonesome.  I tried and failed to get some help by making alliances with empires close to the Grox empire and asking them to attack someone for me.  Each empire refused to attack the Grox. 

The other option is to ally with the Grox in future games.  In my current game, the relationship is too low to ever ally with the Grox.  However, even this solution has problems as allying with the Grox causes all other empires to hate your species.  The final option, again not feasible for my current game, is to never ever piss off the Grox.  By that I mean, don't aid allies when they are attacked by the Grox, make sure to turn off the space whatchamacallits when in Grox territory so that Grox ships aren't accidently destroyed, and maybe smooze a bit with the Grox without making an alliance.

Does anybody have any ideas I could use for my current game?  I finally made it to the center of the galaxy by getting interstellar drive 5, buying a gazillion mega health and energy packs, and hopping through Grox territory.  My problem is I'm bored with all the attacks on my colonies.

[Gus Smedstad]

By the time you're ready for a go at the core, you're probably done with that race anyway.  Certainly I didn't care what happened to my worlds when I made my trip to the Core.

The Grox hate everyone at the start of the game.  I destroyed a lot of Grox ships, and I didn't find that they attacked my worlds more than anyone else's.  If you really, really think it's a problem, you could try using some version of the Happy Ray on the Grox.  I wouldn't bother trying to ally, but enough to make them leave off attacking you.  Assuming that it isn't just normal attacks.

Certainly when I made my trip to the core, I didn't get more than the normal Grox attacks afterward.

Wiping them out is a not a reasonable alternative.  They have literally thousands of worlds, and many of them are hard to reach.  I suspect it's outright impossible, actually.

It does sound like you've pretty much done with your current game anyway.  I wouldn't sweat leaving the Grox alone in any future games, though.

 - Gus

[Arnina]

By the time you're ready for a go at the core, you're probably done with that race anyway.  Certainly I didn't care what happened to my worlds when I made my trip to the Core.

I'm not done with this race yet as there are a few aspects of the game I would like try.  For example, I finally have enough money to focus on other aspects of the game like changing archetypes.  I just don't have the time as I'm being attacked constantly by the Grox.

The Grox hate everyone at the start of the game.  I destroyed a lot of Grox ships, and I didn't find that they attacked my worlds more than anyone else's.  If you really, really think it's a problem, you could try using some version of the Happy Ray on the Grox.  I wouldn't bother trying to ally, but enough to make them leave off attacking you.  Assuming that it isn't just normal attacks.

Certainly when I made my trip to the core, I didn't get more than the normal Grox attacks afterward.

My worlds were never attacked by the Grox until I officially made contact.  Perhaps I was just lucky up until that point.  After making contact, the Grox attack at least every 30 minutes, usually less.  I'm annoyed as I have to drop whatever I'm doing, travel to the colony, fight the Grox, repair the damage, etc. 

I've never tried the happy ray on any species.  I'll give it a go but I wonder how much it will help; my current relationship with the Grox is at negative 290.

Wiping them out is a not a reasonable alternative.  They have literally thousands of worlds, and many of them are hard to reach.  I suspect it's outright impossible, actually.

I think there is a badge that can be earned for defeating the Grox.  I assume there is a way; I just don't how to do it efficiently.

ETA:  The badge is called "Badge Outta Heck".  I found an article about defeating the Grox; it still appears to be a time consuming process however one chooses to go about it.

http://spore.wikia.com/wiki/Badge_Outta_Heck

[Gus Smedstad]

That's an interesting article.  It doesn't say anything I didn't already know, really, except that it can be done.  I took a few Grox colonies on the way the Core when I didn't see a convenient planet to drop a colony for repair and recharge, and what I experienced was in line with what he said.

I think you have to be seriously OCD to do it.

 - Gus

[Arnina]

Yeah, I'm not that obsessed.  However, I wonder if it would be possible to have each species in my different saved games slowly work on taking the Grox out in their section of the galaxy over time.  The actions of saved games have an impact on other games, correct?  I dunno, the game just doesn't seem "finished" until I have peace in the galaxy.

ETA:  I scoured the internets the other day to see if there was a way to lower disaster rates and found this:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=926714&topic=45366923

I am just copying this from another gamefaqs board myself:

I am just copy and pasting from another forum as far as i know credit goes geos to at cheathappens.

You can lower the rate of pirate raids and eco disasters by adding following lines to the end of file preferences.prop located in "User name"/Application Data/Spore/Preferences directory. Just open it with notepad.

universeSimulatorPirateRaidFrequency 100
universeSimulatorPirateRaidAllyFrequency 100
universeSimulatorPirateRaidPlunderFrequency 100
universeSimulatorHappinessDisasterFrequency 100
universeSimulatorBiosphereCollapseFrequency 100

This should lower the rates and if you input 0 instead of 100 it should disable them.

You should also be able to input those lines like cheats inside the game, but you will have to do it each time you start Spore.

Other few helpful lines you could experiment with

universeSimulatorGrobTeaseAttackFrequency (100 by default)
universeSimulatorGrobWarAttackFreqExtremelyAware (40 by default)
universeSimulatorGrobWarAttackFreqVeryAware (80 by default)
universeSimulatorGrobWarAttackFreqAware (160 by default)
universeSimulatorWarAttackFrequency (300 by default)

From what I've read (it doesn't count as a cheat, therefore no joker badge) as the values are being edited outside of the game.  However, I've also read that the values are re-set each time the game is re-started.  I haven't been able to get it to work, though.  When I open the preferences directory in notepad, these particular options do not appear.  I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

[Li'l Brudder]

Has anyone seen the Grox's homeworld?

I've used the mini happy ray when I first met the Grox, as they were only at an orange with me, not red.  It was futile for a mini, but perhaps a full happy ray would work.

[Zazazu]

I just reached the core for the first time. I'm  a shameless cheater, so I basically ran, paused, and refilled motives. I tried contacting the Grox first. I tried giving them a gift, but the highest amount available was 100k despite the fact that I had over 12mil. I tried asking for a mission but they said they had no use for me. Fine. I returned to the homeworld to check in and then took the wormhole back to Grox territory. Suddenly, we're at war.

[Arnina]

Here's a link to a guide on how to ally with the Grox:

http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/1294.page

I haven't tried it yet, but I might with one of my throw-away games.

[Faizah]

I tried everything I could (Happy ray, I think it was fully upgraded, embassy, bribes, etc) and I could only get the relationship score with the Grox up to -20. They start out with a -70 "We hate strangers", and all methods of relation raising are far less effective on them, with a lower cap. (Usually you can keep using the happy ray - recharging between bursts - until they have gained 50 from that alone, but the Grox capped out far earlier.)

EDIT: Huh. Didn't check Arnina's link before posting... Interesting. I'll have to try that.

[J. M. Pescado]

Things I know of: First, apparently, the entire galaxy is actually shared, meaning all of your races are actually simultaneously in play.
Second: A ship can hold 99 planetbusters. Each one costs $2.5M when bought from a Force race, so your total cost is $250M, about 3 boatloads of cash apiece (max cash is 100M).

So, let's say you have 10 races ready to approach the core. That's 990 planetbusters. How many planets do these guys have, anyway? Have fun!

I also highly recommend the Scientist Gravitron Wave, if you don't feel like inflicting massive permanent harm to the galaxy: Each shot will cleanse a planet instantly, and you have unlimited ammo and can fire theim as fast as you can save and load your game.

And I think someone in those screenshots is cheating! There's no way I've heard of that a ship can have over 10K HP, even with Prime Specimen, best is 2250 with all health upgrades.

[Gus Smedstad]

Health is about 3.3x as high in Normal as hard.  So Prime Specimen + Normal + upgrades = 7.4K.  Easy is probably even higher.

 - Gus

[J. M. Pescado]

Pssh. Pussies! Doesn't mean shit if you can beat it on easy! At 10K health, you're pretty much indestructible! I'm used to invading homeplanets on 900 health, a minibomb, and a seatbelt! Not equipped with shields...well, then, buckle up!

[Zazazu]

Easy without the last health upgrade is about 8.5k. I'm not sure what the last one puts you at, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was 10k. And yeah, you are pretty much indestructible with that much health and five allied ships.

[J. M. Pescado]

I only play on HARD. All other settings are for wimps. Nothing you do under lesser settings is valid!

[Zazazu]

I am a wimp. And I suck. I know this.

[J. M. Pescado]

* J. M. Pescado waves dismissively.

None of your tactics therefore have any merit whatsoever, since they do not necessarily work in the REAL game.

[Arnina]

Things I know of: First, apparently, the entire galaxy is actually shared, meaning all of your races are actually simultaneously in play.
Second: A ship can hold 99 planetbusters. Each one costs $2.5M when bought from a Force race, so your total cost is $250M, about 3 boatloads of cash apiece (max cash is 100M).

So, let's say you have 10 races ready to approach the core. That's 990 planetbusters. How many planets do these guys have, anyway? Have fun!

I also highly recommend the Scientist Gravitron Wave, if you don't feel like inflicting massive permanent harm to the galaxy: Each shot will cleanse a planet instantly, and you have unlimited ammo and can fire theim as fast as you can save and load your game.

I've read that the Grox occupy between 600 to 1,000 planets.  Bastards.  So let's say I decide to have each of my species in other saved games work on taking out the Grox in their section of the galaxy.  When I take out one planet in a solar system using any method of attack, will the Grox simply find another T0 planet and set-up shop?  (T0 planets are the only habitable planets for the Grox)  If this happens, the net effect of my attack would be zero.  If this is the case, I assume I would have to destroy all T0 planets first and then attack established Grox colonies.  This would be MOAR work.  I'm lazy and MOAR work doesn't appeal to me.

[Zazazu]

* J. M. Pescado waves dismissively.

None of your tactics therefore have any merit whatsoever, since they do not necessarily work in the REAL game.

I have a hard game in progress. I've played 8 games on easy to space, 1 to the end. I've played 2 on normal to space. I started one on hard last night. (Technically, I'd played one through tribal before, but I was annoyed at the look of the creature and I saw a shinier new planet). I'm doing your challenge. Eyeless, limbless, hopping little pumpkin.

From what I can tell, until you get to space there's not much difference between easy and hard. More nests seem to be aggressive in creature. No big deal if you are going predator. Maybe more epic creatures, though I had an easy game that seemed swamped with them as well, so that may be a random thing. Tribal is the same...more tribes start out aggressive. This is easily fixed by gifting, or by just running over and pummeling them before they have a chance to get big. Now, I haven't played civ but I'd suspect the only real difference is, again, the anger factor. Sit tight and earn money so you can load your city with houses and then pummel with vehicles, or gift them into neutrality. No biggie.

On my hard game, the plan is to see if I can't ally the Grox. I'm not you, and I know I won't be able to fight them off with hard-level health.

[Insanity Prelude]

Dunno if more creatures on Hard are aggressive (it seemed about the same as for my normal game) but I didn't run into any rogue creatures on normal, and found four on hard. My wimpy herbivore could just stand back and let its friends do all the work when there turned out to be three hostile groups right next to the nest~ 

Wouldn't allying with the Grox just have you having to fight off everyone *else* instead?

[Zazazu]

Yes, but their ships are weak little nothings compared to the Grox. It's possible that you could get others (at least others around your homeworld) to the highest possible relationships and then have them just thrown into a low neutral by allying with the Grox. I'd have to see what happens to the fuzzy pumpkins. If not, if they still are thrown into a negative state, that's what the big guns are for. By the time you hit center you should be at the maximum level and have the big guns.

I get a lot of rogues in my easy games.

[J. M. Pescado]

I've read that the Grox occupy between 600 to 1,000 planets.  Bastards.  So let's say I decide to have each of my species in other saved games work on taking out the Grox in their section of the galaxy.  When I take out one planet in a solar system using any method of attack, will the Grox simply find another T0 planet and set-up shop?

No: The colony spread behavior only works so fast, and the Grox will not be able to recolonize if you attack using planetbusters, because the planet will have been turned into rubble. Eventually, the entire galactic core will consist of nothing but destroyed planets.

[BarkingPup]

Here is the link for the Space stage timing mods:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=926714&topic=45391909

There are four to choose from: Lite, Medium, Heavy and Extreme. Each one has different times for Pirates, Grox, and Eco-Disasters (I haven't read through the entire thread -reading five others to get to it was enough- but if it is not mentioned than: The times are approximations not actual 'breaks'. The timing of stuff seems to be purely random but based on a minimum.)

[LunaJupi]

I've read that the Grox occupy between 600 to 1,000 planets.  Bastards.  So let's say I decide to have each of my species in other saved games work on taking out the Grox in their section of the galaxy.  When I take out one planet in a solar system using any method of attack, will the Grox simply find another T0 planet and set-up shop?

No: The colony spread behavior only works so fast, and the Grox will not be able to recolonize if you attack using planetbusters, because the planet will have been turned into rubble. Eventually, the entire galactic core will consist of nothing but destroyed planets.

What if you use the Staff of Life to bring up all their planets to T3? Will they be able to bring those planets back to T0 and rebuild? I have this method where I drop in on Grox planets and get rid of their colonies with the Staff of Life (and an infinite uses mod) instead of blowing the planet up, which is freaking expensive.

[J. M. Pescado]

I have no idea. The galaxy is really fucking huge and the galactic core is a longass way away.

[karthikthepro]

I have no idea. The galaxy is really fucking huge and the galactic core is a longass way away.

But with the no Galactic Core limit mod, you will have the exact same interstellar range as always. So it should not be that hard. I'm working on a way to reduce the time it takes of the Staff of Life to turn a planet to T3. So if I succeed in that, we should be able to remove the Grox once and for all.

Code:

<int32 name="grobEmpireSize" id="0x0195E031">2400</int32>
<float name="grobStarsSpreadRadius" id="0x0195E032">105</float>

Also, from the above two lines from a particular property listing, does it mean the Grox empire stretch across 2400 star systems, within a radius of 105 units from the galactic core.

If this is the case, it would take a while to remove all Grox from the galaxy.

Regards,
Karthik