different routing techniques

ok, this one is to trigger a discussion
Few of the CEans are aware of adhoc networking and as far as I know there are almost 8 different types of routing techniques quite famous ones being topological routing and geographic routing. i understand each technique is chosen based on the number of nodes, type of topology , signal strength and other basic factors. By how do we decide which applies best?
for example for networks having nodes at very far of distances we need high power transmitters , else we can opt for relay nodes other wise one part of given network might be highly mobile which justifies geographic routing and another part might not be ..so how do we actually decide what s the best technique for a given topology?
PS: these musing might sound silly for many, sorry about that but I am just looking for solutions!!!