Re: New player struggling
 

Gryphin, you are right on both counts and I think this adds weight to my proposition of posting on the forum if you have a question. THe core of people who regularily frequent this sight are always willing to answer any question ranging from the depths of modding to tactical tips to why orange jam is called marmalade (cue Tesco Samoa or Val with an enclycopedia britannica I think)

Re: New player struggling
 

Growltigga,

Asking on the forum is excellent, you all reply very quickly nd always know the answers. Just thought you must be getting bored of answering the same question for the 100th time......

Unless that is of course I keep asking questions that have never been asked before (unlikely)

Andy


The easiest thing is still to ask on the forum, I dont think I have ever seen a case of anyone minding[/QB][/quote]

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy, I don't think anyone gets bored of answering questions raised by anyone on this forum - we were all there once and I for example have been asking the same questions about a dozen times

Any question going is absolutely fair game for the SEIV posse (unless it is that one about 'why is my colony ship not got any population on it?' http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif )

Keep in mind that (a) it is human nature to want to seem knowledgeable by answering questions raised by other people (b) most of the people on this thread are big heads and want to look knowledgeable by answering questions raised by other people and (c) this is probably one of the politest and friendliest forums you will find outside the Womens' Institute - lordy, we have even done baking and recipies

(Mac, did your mother-in-law ever cook that wicked curry recipy I posted for you??)

Re: New player struggling
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Growltigga:
to why orange jam is called marmalade (cue Tesco Samoa or Val with an enclycopedia britannica I think)<hr></blockquote>

Etymology: Portuguese marmelada quince conserve, from marmelo quince, from Latin melimelum, a sweet apple, from Greek melimElon, from meli honey + mElon apple

Re: New player struggling
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by oleg:


Etymology: Portuguese marmelada quince conserve, from marmelo quince, from Latin melimelum, a sweet apple, from Greek melimElon, from meli honey + mElon apple<hr></blockquote>

Oleg, I should point out that you are probably no more than half a mile from me (I am near Barbirolli Square/Gmex currently) and deserve a well aimed slap for that response

Re: New player struggling
 

Thanks everyone. I have been off on holiday for a week, very nice time up in the lake district and York.

Now back to reality and SEIV.

Thanks for the info on Transfer cargo, that helps.

I continue to get the general hang of things.

Did anyone ever write a kind of "Starters Guide" to SEIV with all these little tips and techniques in that we may miss at first appearences?

Andy

Re: New player struggling
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Growltigga:


Oleg, I should point out that you are probably no more than half a mile from me (I am near Barbirolli Square/Gmex currently) and deserve a well aimed slap for that response<hr></blockquote>

Yes, it is 10 minutes walk from UMIST to Deansgate ! We should meet sometimes.

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy,
"I have got to the point where I have military alliances with everyone. They appear to fight amongst themselves and send me threatening Messages if I continue to be allied to their enemy"
"I of course just ignore all their Messages. They then do nothing and pretend they hadn't sent them...."

That is how I handle it. Meanwhile I:
1) Research as much as possible
2) Try to determine who;
A) Is the most likley to attack me
B) Who I could Asorb / Defeat
C) Make long range preparations to deal with "A" while keeping "B" in mind.
3) Build as few ships as possible since they will become obsolete quickly
During times of relative peace I research "Applyed Research" and other techs that lead to stronger overall foundation to build on.
I use this time to uprade all facilies.
Good time to start researching Intel. It can be a good initial defence when your ships are obsolete.
I hope this makes sence. There is more but overall, "Talk Softly and Research Big Sticks"

[ 03 April 2002: Message edited by: Gryphin ]</p>

Re: New player struggling
 

Gryphin,

I tried that a game ago was going good for a few years then got hit by one bad guy and couldn't stop them.

Now doing basically the same except also keeping a good fleet in being.

Also sticking lots of satellites on all my warp points. My understanding is it should slow down an attacker AND you don't pay maintenance for them once built??

Andy

"Talk Softly and Research Big Sticks"

[ 03 April 2002: Message edited by: Gryphin ][/QB][/quote]

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy, also build several Med or Large Battlestations at your critical wormholes along with your sats and a small to average minefield. Be sure that you put a space yard, mine layer, satilite layer bays on your BS's, that way you can build them on site instead of trucking them across the system. Also put your best scanner on at least 1 sat or BS in each system so you can look for cloaked ships..

just some ideas mac

Re: New player struggling
 

Mac,

Still early in game, I haven't built battlestations yet. Do I build them and carry them in a very large cargo hold? Or do I build a ship with a spaceyard on it and build them in situ?

I presume the latter

Andy

Andy, also build several Med or Large Battlestations at your critical wormholes along with your sats and a small to average minefield.

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy, use ship with space yard to build your BS, then once its built both your BS and shipyard ship can both build at the same time at same location, also build BS over your primary planets and use those for shipyards, this frees up space on your planets for better facilities and if you have several, you can build multiple ships at the same location close to the same time frames. Remember they are expensive to maintain, so pick your locations carefully, also by having 2 or more together you can upgrade them 1 at a time without taking away all your defense.

just some ideas mac

Re: New player struggling
 

Battle stations have a reduction in Maintance by 50%. (Then again it could just be the mod I am playing.)

So build them and use them.

A good stag is to build some space yard stations 500 kt size with the command units ( non computer core ) 1 ship yard and 2 point defences.

Then use these to build the larger space stations ( for defence away from planets or in conjunction with planet yards)

That way you can que up these yards and let them build away.

Re: New player struggling
 

Yes do keep fleets stratiegicaly placed. I guess I should have said build as few ships as possible.
mac makes some good points.
Here is my view of Space Stations at warp points;
Note: I hate a static defence so the following should be taken with that in mind.
1) Major investment that must be protected and can't be moved when you expand.
2) They take a lot of time to build so you will need a fleet there to protect the Ship Yard Ships
3) If you play tactical combat a Satellite carrier backed by a small ship can be very effective. The Satellite carrier can dispence the sats in smaller Groups so you can select your targets. I have actualy put "walls" of sats in front of my missle ships. The ship acts as bait to get the AI to come through the sats. The sats can inflict a lot of pain before the AI reaches the ship. This type of defence can expand as your empire expands. When deploying sats in tacticle put the older ones out in front to get chewed up first.
This defence will not work well in stratiegic mode.

Re: New player struggling
 

Back again,

I have got to the point where I have military alliances with everyone. They appear to fight amongst themselves and send me threatening Messages if I continue to be allied to their enemy.

I of course just ignore all their Messages. They then do nothing and pretend they hadn't sent them....

In MOO2 and similar Civ games alliances can be a nightmare, your allies start a war for no reason, get you involved and then make peace 3 seconds later leaving you in a war you never wanted in the first place.

SEIV seems to be at the opposite extreme? Any explanations.

Andy
PS Fighters are very good aren't they?

Re: New player struggling
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by oleg:
Yes, it is 10 minutes walk from UMIST to Deansgate ! We should meet sometimes.<hr></blockquote>

Zumbar or Revolution, Tampopo or any dodgy boozer faraway from Canal Street and you are on - clutch your copy of SEIV gold!!

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy, I suspect this argument will go on and on and on.

Personally, I have only played against the v1.49 AI and a particularily daft friend (sorry khanuk). We all know the AI is a bit lacking sometimes so I make a point of not using fighters or mines or massed warp point defences against them - it just gets a bit sad

I dont use battlestations or even space stations at warp points for a lot of the reasons Gryphin goes into. A static defence is no way to win a war and you need mobile units to win the fight anyway.

I research advanced military science ASAP and build a sizeable fleet of say, light cruisers, which actually have very few components in them. When war breaks out, I retrofit these ships to the design spec I need (PDC heavy versus the Krill or Norak for example) and bingo, you have a modern, sizeable, hard hitting fleet.

The advantage of building the hulls first is that you can take advantage of your ships/fleets being trained up as per the ship training/fleet training facilities you have built by now.

Mac is right too, you need to diversify your construction capability and also expensive, spaceyard equipped spacestations over your planets are extremely important if not vital!!
I generally will have say 4 spaceyards orbitally Growltigga Prime before 12-15 turns have passed!

Back to defence, fighting the AI, I dont defend warp points, I defend planets with weapons platforms, satellites, defensive troops etc, sometimes fighters too if the enemy is using them. Make them a hard nut to crack and also you can continually upgrade your fortresses to the latest tech with your planet and space-based building modules

I do built bases in planetless nexii as you can use these guys as resupply depots (bases have infinite supplies)

Re: New player struggling
 

Growltigga,

Thanks for the reply you have raised a few points and I have learnt a few things...

Building empty ships and then retrofitting them. I don't understand this, how do you retrofit or upgrade an old ship??

I am building them and then afterwards scrapping them and building newer models.

I haven't built and spacestations with ship yards near planets at all yet this seems important to you, what do you tend to do with them, I normally have more ship yards than I need because of limited mineral mining.

My one clever thing I am doing which someone here told me to do, I have built two ships with space yard facilities. taken them to a system full of asteroids and am building robo miner equipped space stations over each asteroid. Currently bringing in over 20,000 minerals per turn, probably costing a quarter of that or so in maintenance etc.

Biggest problem I have with fighters and in fact building in general is that I have one space yard on EVERY planet and about 25 planets. Plenty of capacity but it is all over the place so difficult to remember where everything is, particularly when you have to build fighters and carriers on seperate planets and bring them all together

Andy

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy,

To retrofit a ship, highlight the ship on the main system screen, then click on the 'green triangle' like icon on the order bar and this should bring up a list of spaceships in that sector, together with a list of options, the main ones being scrap, retrofit and mothball.

Retrofit allows your ships to be remodelled and upgraded to a different design. The only caveat is that you cannot retrofit to a ship which costs more than 50% of the base design.

So, what does this mean? - as soon as I have advanced military training and have built ship training facilities, I will build light cruisers/destroyers with my current tech. When I have reached a major milestone in tech development, or bump into something 'orrible on the starlanes, I will upgrade my base design to incorporate all new kit and will then retrofit existing ships to that design.

Also, you can swithc designs should you rapidly need escort cruisers or planetary assault ships or whatever

makes repair modules very important

With regard to your management problems, try using waypoints (from the empire status window) for setting where newly built vessels marshal once you have built them, re the rest, it is probably just experience

Re: New player struggling
 

@Andy, note to retrofits: In simultaneous game you do not get a confirmation in the retrofit screen, you just can see what is going on in the next turn (vehicle retrofit log).

Re: New player struggling
 

Growltigga,

Thanks for feedback, this retrofit thing is new to me, I'll have to give it a try in my next game, sounds good.

Your approach of building fighters in one system and carriers somewhere else and meeting up, that's kind of what I am doing just not very efficiently.

Recently I found the "Cargo" sub button on the Colonies screen, this is very useful for scanning through for satellites, troops and fighters you've built somewhere and forgotten to pick up.

I'm winning heavily at the moment, and ALL the other players have gone from firm allies to war overnight. I shall need to build up my forces, secure my frontiers and kick everybodies arse.

I tend to view Research very heavily, I have about 3 times more research points than any AI player.

One of the problems with research is I never really know which one to research to get what I want. There are some obvious ones like "Missiles" but some are less obvious.

If I built 4 base stations above my home planet and set them all building for example fighters, are the fighters stored in cargo on the base station or the planet below?

I am guessing on the base station and you need a shuttle transport to store stuff down on the planet, OR put lots of cargo on the base station.

Presumably all you bother with is a spaceyard module and cargo, not worth trying to arm them??

Andy

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy, the cargo button is very useful indeed!

As all the AI have declared war on you, it sounds like you have gained 'Mega Evil Empire' status. This is a default option which makes every AI irrevocably declare war on you at the same time. It is triggered IIRC when your points get a certain percentage above the points score of the 2nd placed player.

IIRC, you can turn it off by going into the settings.txt file and where it says Mega Evil Empire typing False instead of True - I may be wrong so dont try this uunless one of the modder gurus have confirmed this

Heavy research IMO is a human thing and as to what to research, that is the fun of trial and error

Retrofitting is CRUCIAL - try it out and get the hang of it - you will get whomped without it

Re spaceyards, any units built by a spaceyard will be AUTOMATICALLY stored on the planet, no shuttle transport is needed - a spaceyard built say at a warp point will need internal cargo bays to hold the stuff unless it is launched

Re components on a spaceyard, I just do bridge, life support and crews quarters and 1 spaceyard module, if I am under attack or at war, I may upgrade them to include 1 missile or a couple of point defence cannon - depends what is going on and how I feel - to quote the TV show, the choice is up to you

Re: New player struggling
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Growltigga:


Zumbar or Revolution, Tampopo or any dodgy boozer faraway from Canal Street and you are on - clutch your copy of SEIV gold!!<hr></blockquote>

Zumbar is fine. Tomorow (9.04.02) at 5:30 ?

Cheers.

Re: New player struggling
 

Can't do tomorrow, should be ok for wednesday 10.04 at 5.30-5.45

SEIV gold manual clutched at the ready??

Re: New player struggling
 

Splendid !

Re: New player struggling
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr> Re spaceyards, any units built by a spaceyard will be AUTOMATICALLY stored on the planet, no shuttle transport is needed <hr></blockquote>This works in the other direction, too; if the planet doesn't have enough cargo space left, but a ship or moon orbiting the planet does, the excess cargo automatically goes wherever it will fit.

[ 08 April 2002: Message edited by: capnq ]</p>

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy, thinking about it, the only tip I can suggest about empire management (and is only a reflection of what I do rather than any right or wrong answer) is to centralise my building programme in each system.

What I mean by this for example is that if I have 3 habitable planets with shipyards in one system, I may use them to build carrier vessels whilst say in another system, the shipyards there will build fighters. A transport will carry the fighters by way of a shuttle run to a central fleet base. The carriers will be instructed to go to that fleet base when built and then you should be able to marry up carrier Groups to their respective carriers.

This is probably inefficient, but it is the only way I keep track of everythig going on round me.

Good luck!

Re: New player struggling
 

Capnq & Growltigga,

Thanks as ever. I am very keen on the spaceyards idea, and the cargo transfer sounds really helpful.

Still not tried the retrofitting thing. Will do so shortly.

What about satellites and weapons platforms, can you upgrade them at all or do you just build new ones. I've tried to upgrade a weapons platform and can't find any way of doing it.

Andy

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy,
AFAIK you cannot upgrade satellites, weapons platforms, fighters, troops or any unit (havn't tried drones yet) - you have to scrap and build anew.

I tend not to scrap units unless my player unit limit has been reached. I replace older designs with newer designs and transport the older designs
away from the frontier

Do try retrofitting, it is crucial

Re: New player struggling
 

The other use for opsolette mines and sats (in tactical combat mode only):
Load them on an appropriate carrier deploy them in front on the on comming enemy. Ships and fighters will stop to go after the mines. This gives you you "free" shots at the fighters and ships. If you have missles you can stand off and trash the AI.

[ 09 April 2002: Message edited by: Gryphin ]</p>

Re: New player struggling
 

Gryphin, very sneaky tactic there - I also like the one used in tactical battles where you use a satellite transporter to dump out satellites in front of the enemy and lure him through them - easy way to get a few good licks in

still, it is not very sporting really to use mines and fighters on the AI

Re: New player struggling
 

Your eyes must be getting bleary:
"The other use for obsolete mines and sats "
I have used the Sat method when all of my "Attack" ships were crippled. I tracked down "cornered" and destroyed the Carrier with Sat based weapons.
"Alls fair in lave and war", well, in war anyway.

[ 09 April 2002: Message edited by: Gryphin ]</p>

Re: New player struggling
 

Dear all,

I won! beat the lot of them by getting 3X nearest score.

Couple more questions though. I used capital ship missiles and cannons I started the game with the entire game. Advanced to level 5 but that was it.

I developed dozens of other weapons that didn't seem very good so never used them??

Just realised the little green pill shaped anti mater torpedo is actually a direct fire weapon so would have been very good. What about the others??

I've ended up with all types of technology and advances, some I really like and would like to research early in my next game, is there any where you can see which research line you have to take to get a particular advance.

e.g. Advanced military science, what does it give you, how can you retrospectively tell other than write everything down as you go through the game

Andy

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy

Well done, I have never won yet - the cats always beat me.

I see what you mean about technology but if you right click on any tech level, it should tell you what level and equipment you get at that level. IIRC if you right click on advanced military science, it should show that you get ship and fleet training facilities and ship capture tech.

I just go on that basis and if I dont like the tech when I research it, I trade it with the AI for something I do like

Re: New player struggling
 

Growltigga,

I presume you have the settings for AI higher than I do? I also got a game where I started with 3 large worlds and they were all in one system, the top left hand corner system of the whole galaxy, which made it easy for me to expand and protect my borders.

Didn't know about the right clicking on tech thing, that's exactly what I was looking for. Can you right click anywhere else useful?

What's this trading tech with AI stuff?? I just set up alliances that includes trade. Can you trade specific things?

Ooh and I retrofitted one ship before I won, seemed really good, much better than scrapping and rebuilding.

I had got right up to Battleship hulls though, do you tend to use cruisers? I noticed the AI seems to use mostly light cruisers plus some cruisers.

Andy


&lt;&lt;Well done, I have never won yet - the cats always beat me.&gt;&gt;

Re: New player struggling
 

I presume you have the settings for AI higher than I do? I also got a game where I started with 3 large worlds

I generally play a large galaxy with medium AI, high difficulty and high bonus. Never started with 3 worlds so dont know what this does.

I also have my own AI house rules, I dont use mines or fighters against them, I dont do massed warp point defences, I always capture planets rather than glass them and I dont use weapon platforms on my habitable worlds (I keep the war in space)

Can you right click anywhere else useful?

this I dont know, I only found out on the tech screen

. Can you trade specific things?

Yep, same place as the propose treaty section, scroll down you will see the propose trade option which tend takes you to the place where you can pretty much trade for everything - I know, I managed to trade my wife for a new set of drills

much better than scrapping and rebuilding.

it is, it definately is

do you tend to use cruisers?

I have a strange view to this and build a balanced fleet. I have the current ships in my current game

9 destroyer squadrons (5 dd's each)
12 cl divisions (2 cl each)
9 cr divisions (2 CR's each)
6 bc divisions (2 bc's each)

4 sector fleets (3 BB's, 3 bc's 6CR 6 CL 8 DD's apeice)

1 home fleet, as per a sector fleet but 6 BB's and 3 DN's

have about 20 assorted transports, satellite deplouerrs, planetary assault ships etc

also have about 12 FG's and spy ships which I use for convoy escorts, spying,

Re: New player struggling
 

Growltigga,

How many worlds do you have to support all this? At my height I had 20 or so worlds, though some were a bit naff. My fleet was entirely battle cruisers and battleships and still only numbered about 20 or so ships. I also use 1-2 fleet repair ships with each fleet, these having a repair bay and loads of supply modules. Do you do this or do you build supply modules and repair bays into your larger warships?

What use are the DD's in the later game? They just aren't big enough for anything are they? By the time you've added engines, shields etc will be very little space for guns...

Andy


9 destroyer squadrons (5 dd's each)
12 cl divisions (2 cl each)
9 cr divisions (2 CR's each)
6 bc divisions (2 bc's each)

4 sector fleets (3 BB's, 3 bc's 6CR 6 CL 8 DD's apeice)

1 home fleet, as per a sector fleet but 6 BB's and 3 DN's

have about 20 assorted transports, satellite deplouerrs, planetary assault ships etc

also have about 12 FG's and spy ships which I use for convoy escorts, spying

Re: New player struggling
 

Currently, the Solar Federation has 16 habitable worlds and about another 28 colonies on non-breathable worlds - this fleet is just about breaking even on the budget

I dont use supply models on my big ships, they dont go far and the cruiser divisions are used for long range attacks, I go an enemy system and usew marines to capture a world with a resupply depot and then stage through that until I have quantum reactors which mean maintenance is less of any issue

DD's my boy are hard to hit and a swarm of these fellahs can stop BB's BC's or anything else, especially with the kind of defensive bonuses my chaps have, I also put quantum torpordoes on them - it also means I can keep my bigger ships focussed and use the DD's as screening vessels

Keep in mind that empire economic development is as crucial as military prowess - you could send a personal message to Tesco Samoa and ask him how on earth he gets to fleets if several hundred ships!!

[ 10 April 2002: Message edited by: Growltigga ]</p>

Re: New player struggling
 

THAT'S ABOUT DOUBLE WHAT I HAD BUT I WAS ON SMALL GALAXY MAP

you did well then, the large galaxy map gives me room to breathe

WHY ARE QUANTUM TORPEDOES BETTER THAN ANTI MATTER TORPEDOES, OR STANDARD CANNONS, ARE THE FACTORS HIGH?

quantum torpoedoes are just the next evolution from anti-matter torpedoes in the torpedoes tech

they do do a lot of damage - enough to warm the cockles of your heart and they also dont get stopped by PDC

TINY NON BREATHABLE WORLDS THAT COULD HOUSE 3 FACILITIES WERE LESS THAN USELESS. i NOW ONLY GO FOR BREATHABLE ATMOSPHERES BIG OR BETTER, I.E. 15 OR 20 FACILITIES......

I do that too and only tend to colonize non-breathable tiny worlds if I am well short of resources and need every mineral minor I can get

SORRY FOR USING CAPITALS, DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THE FANCY BOLDING IN A MESSAGE THAT YOU DO!

select and copy the text you want in bold, click on the bold icon next to the instant Graemlins, paste in the text and hey presto, it is bold

Re: New player struggling
 

Small and Tiny Worlds - Uses For:
I use them for:
1) Re - supply depots if they are close to a warp point.
2) Storage on if I find I need it. I only build storage during times of peace or while preparing a large Facilities upgrade or an invasion fleet.
3) Drop off points for reinforcements. I might shuttle troops or other units to that planet from core worlds. These can than be picked up by front line empty Troop / Satellite / Fighter Carriers.
4) Ship Yard Bases / Re supply Bases.
I’ll build a Ship Yard
Build a Ship Yard Base
Scrap the Ship Yard
Use the planet for Mining / Research / Intel or Fleet Training Facilities.
Use the Ship Yard Base for both construction and to re supply ships, (If you “fleet up” with a Base for one turn, it will completely re supply a ship or fleet.
This is not efficient but it works in a pinch and there are a lot of pinches when it comes to war.
5) Oh, and don’t tell the colonist this but I it also makes a good cheep distraction to the AI while I marshal my fleet.

Re: New player struggling
 

Gryphin,

Thanks for that.

Is there a patch for SEIV Gold available?

Andy

Re: New player struggling
 

Ignore patch question. I have downloaded now

Andy

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy

Link to patch as follows

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/downloads/

Gryph, trust you to have a tactic for "small and tiny"

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy

Actually thinking about it, if the small or tiny world has a high resource percentage in something I need, then I will colonise it and use it as a mining/farming/refining colony (whatever) if I have colonised everything bigger and better in the system

If your spaceport, urban pacification centre, resupply depot etc are elsewhere in the system, I can't see any harm in filling every piece of high value real estate with resource gatherers

Re: New player struggling
 

Andy, also whilst thinking about it, keep in mind that weaponry in SEIV is a lot down to personal choice

Sure, plasma missiles level 5 (top of the missile research tree) are lovely things to have all your ships equipped with but it can be galling to see them rendered ineffectual by some clever sod with DUC's, PPB and severl point defence cannon per ship

Most things either have a counter or balance out - it is like scissors, paper and stones

Re: New player struggling
 

Growltigga,

That is my point, I was using ordinary depleted uranium cannon, why are they a threat to plasma missiles? what's a PPB? what is it used for?

I did notice point defence weapons killed my capital ship missiles so at end of game I gave up and used 100% DUC's

I would be interested to hear what the scissor / paper / rock table is for SEIV weapons, many of the weapons just seemed pointless to me..

Andy

Sure, plasma missiles level 5 (top of the missile research tree) are lovely things to have all your ships equipped with but it can be galling to see them rendered ineffectual by some clever sod with DUC's, PPB and severl point defence cannon per ship

Most things either have a counter or balance out - it is like scissors, paper and stones[/QB][/quote]

Re: New player struggling
 

I was using ordinary depleted uranium cannon, why are they a threat to plasma missiles? what's a PPB? what is it used for?

Andy

DUC's aren't a threat to plasma missiles themselves, my point is that if you have an effective counter to a particular weapon, eg point defence cannon are a defence to plasma missiles, then if your ship has DUC's as well as point defence cannon, you are going to whomp the hell out of the bugger with plasma missiles as these wont get through.

Put it this way, a cruiser armed with say 4 plasma missile launchers takes on a cruiser with say 5 point defence cannon and say 3 DUC's. The pdc's are going to take most of the sting out of the plasma missiles and getting close will allow the DUC's to do some damage

DUC's and PDC's generally will cost less research than getting plasma missiles so who wins?

A PPB is a phased polaron beam - you get it when you research phased energy weapons whihch you get on researching physics level 2 - they do good damage, are medium ranged and skip normal shields IIRC - I like them as my principal weapon for close assault vessels

Choice of weapons is down to personal choice - a friend of mine likes graviton hellbores - not bad as close range weapons go but he just thinks they sound good - he still has whomped me a few times
with them

I would be interested to hear what the scissor / paper / rock table is for SEIV weapons,

not sure there is a set list, do any of you smart north americans out there have a list?

Re: New player struggling
 

Right-clicking on a planet, ship, unit, facility, component, research or intel project will bring up an info box about it. For planets, ships, and units, this is the same box that appears in the upper left corner when you left-click it on the main map. For the rest, it's the same as the item's description in the (F1) Help screen and in the (F10) Log report when you discover it. This is really useful for all sorts of things, like checking the status of individual ships inside a fleet list or on the retrofit screen.

Right-clicking on the Galaxy Map opens a window where you can make notes on each system.

Re: New player struggling
 

Colonize every planet that you see. Trust me, it's a good idea.

There is a list of damage/kiloton ratios for all weapons somewhere, but I don't remember exactly where. I will look for it.

Re: New player struggling
 

Currently, the Solar Federation has 16 habitable worlds and about another 28 colonies on non-breathable worlds

THAT'S ABOUT DOUBLE WHAT I HAD BUT I WAS ON SMALL GALAXY MAP

DD's my boy are hard to hit and a swarm of these fellahs can stop BB's BC's or anything else, I also put quantum torpordoes on them

BACK TO MY WEAPONS QUESTION - WHY ARE QUANTUM TORPEDOES BETTER THAN ANTI MATTER TORPEDOES, OR STANDARD CANNONS, ARE THE FACTORS HIGH?

Keep in mind that empire economic development is as crucial as military prowess

I NORMALLY SPEND MORE TIME ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THAN MILITARY. i GOT THE IMPRESSION PART WAY INTO THE GAME THAT TINY NON BREATHABLE WORLDS THAT COULD HOUSE 3 FACILITIES WERE LESS THAN USELESS. i NOW ONLY GO FOR BREATHABLE ATMOSPHERES BIG OR BETTER, I.E. 15 OR 20 FACILITIES......

SORRY FOR USING CAPITALS, DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THE FANCY BOLDING IN A MESSAGE THAT YOU DO!

ANDY