Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Just got the game yesterday after being let down by Civ3 (sorry to those of you who are enjoying Civ3). Anyway, I've read the manual --such as it is-- and have already downloaded a bunch of ship sets 'cause they seem quite cool.

The Question:

Please don't boo at me, but for the life of me I can't figure out why I can't colonize on planets in a newly explored area? I mean, the planet gets colonized but there is suddenly no pop there to do any work. These are on rock planets (which is o.k. for my race) with domes ... so I can't figure this out, and the manual is no help.

What am I missing? Thanks. And don't be surprised if I come back to this thread with more stupid questions, though I will always look through the forum first to see if the question is already answered.

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Hi,

Welcome to the game and one of the nicest forums around. Don't be afraid to ask questions, though I will say that if you had performed a search, you probably could have found the answer to this question, as it has certainly been asked before.

The answer is, there is indeed a colony on the planet, but population does not appear there automatically, as in Civ or SMAC. You need to either move some population there, or load some on the colony ship before leaving your homeworld and it will then populate the new colony.

You probably used the move button to navigate the ship to where you wanted to go, then used the colonize button to actually order the colonization.

In the future, use the colonize button while still in orbit around your homeworld, and the population will automatically board the ship before it leaves orbit. Or manually load population, and then use the move button.

I hope this makes sense. Try it in a game, and if you still have questions, let us know...

Bill

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Welcome, and don't worry about the Civ3 folks, I too got socked for 50 bucks. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

This was one of the first questions I had to ask when I first came here over a year ago. The answer is as described by Tatbill.

The game has a very good HTML manual in the game folder. Also, the tutorials with the game cover a lot of the basics such as colonization.

But hey, you have already colonized those planets, now its time to put some people on them. You can build a transport, and upload population onto it and then move it to the colony world and transfer as many as you wish to that world. Sometimes, I build too many colony ships at one world, and send them all out at once. This depletes my population and several colonizers go out empty. I fix this by building transports, and filling them with population then go around dropping 5 million on each of my worlds.

After I done that, I turn the transports over to the MISINSTER, (The head in the icon bar on the Right.) and select and activate the TRANSPORT Minister from the MINISTER control window found in the CROWN icon on the Left. Open the CROWN, and click the minister button then find and check the Transports button. This and Intelligance is the only items I use ministers for.

Again, welcome to the game, and enjoy. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

hmmm.... one would get the idea from all this grumbling that civ3 didn't live up to all the propaganda... er, I mean, advertising about how wonderful it is....

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

First, I would like to thank you guys for the very nice and helpful replies. Wow. I haven't seen too many forums like this. I was expecting to be crushed at first sight! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>You probably used the move button to navigate the ship to where you wanted to go, then used the colonize button to actually order the colonization.<hr></blockquote>

In fact, that is EXACTLY what I did! LOL. Many thanks. Duh.

Taterbill and Atrocities:

Any mods you guys would recommend? I came here only yesterday and couldn't figure out why I couldn't access the attachments! Seems you just upgraded the forums. Cool. I'll wait until that's ready and go for some mods you recommend. Thanks again. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

As for Civ3: I think it will really depend on the patching. Wait for the Gold Edition before giving it a go unless you are really desperate for some Civ games.

[ 25 November 2001: Message edited by: Yin ]</p>

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Someone here is always glad to help.

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Just wanted to say that with your help, I've been absolutely stuffing myself with SE4. I actually later found the answer to my question (and others) on the official FAQ.

I also wanted to say (and I hope the message gets seen by the developers): The support and obvious care given to this game and its players is nothing short of outstanding. I have been beating my head against a wall for the past two years with another *nameless* company only to see them release a game that is nowhere near as customizable nor (well, this is a safe guess) as reflective of fans' desires for patches as this one!

And in case you haven't heard, the publisher of the *nameless* game has also just sued one of the game's fans for translating the English text to German! Yes, they slapped him with a 'Cease and Desist' order even though he immediately took down his site upon being warned! Not only that, they are charging him $500 for the lawyers' fees and are now trying to get him to sign an 'I'm Guilty' thing holding him for any money lost!!!

My God. That sickens me. O.K., that publisher's name is Infogrames. I honestly am boycotting them now (I know, people say stuff like that all the time, but I'm serious on this one).

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Any mods you guys would recommend?<hr></blockquote>Pirates & Nomads! Links in sig.
It changes some of the basic properties of SE4, such as propulsion and defense. Some changes to weapons, too. Tons of Racial Trait stuff, and uncountable little things.

I reccommend getting used to standard SE4 first, so you can figure out what to use based on the component stats & abilities.

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

You can also use the Load/Unload button when your colony ship is first built, fill it with population, then send it on its way. You might want to check the "Move One/Five/Ten/All" button to play with how much population to load on the ship.

Also, try placing a cargo bay on your colony ship to bring more people to the planet.

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

suicide_junkie:

I'll definitely check that out! Thanks. I'll also do as you suggest and play through a couple standard games first so I can appreciate the differences.

Lynx:

I noticed when you design a pop transport, %50 of the space has to be for storage anyway, which means once you've loaded other required components, you can move 300M people *BUT* you can only load one engine! What am I doing wrong there? Do I need to research better ship design?

By the way, where is that load button you mention? It seems the full pop number is loaded automatically. It would be nice to fine tune that if I could. Thanks in advance.

--Yin

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Err.. what?

Basic transport is 300kt.
That means you need 160kt of cargo containers (20kt only, so can't get just 150kt worth)
Add a bridge- 10kt, life support- 10kt, and creq quarters- 10kt, and you're left with..

110kt.

That is plenty of space for engines..more than can fit, actually, transports can only have 5.

EDIT: minor math error.

Also, the Load button will automaticlly load whatever will fit in the transport. The "cargo transfer" button- which only works if you're parked in the same spot as what you want to tranfer- lets you move things in 1, 5, 10, or full load lots. Remember you can scroll the buttons if playing in 800x600!

Phoenix-D

[ 27 November 2001: Message edited by: Phoenix-D ]</p>

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

I see. Cargo transfer. Thanks.

Well I must have put something on my transport that didn't need to be there 'cause my current design is leaving me room for only one engine! Strange. I'll have to check that when I get home.

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

By the way, since I'm stuck at work, thought I'd throw out another newbie question:

Can you only put one remote miner at a time on an asteroid? And does the ship that brought it there have to remain in orbit?

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Robo Mining:

Nevermind! I just found the old threads about maintenance costs and so forth. Too bad. I found an entire system of asteroids ... no use for them I see. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

hey, are you the same Yin from the apolyton
forums ??
reading your opinion on civ3 you almost have to be http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

anyway, i got civ3 this weekend and i like it so far, but SE4 is far more customizable.

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

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

Nevermind! I just found the old threads about maintenance costs and so forth. Too bad. I found an entire system of asteroids ... no use for them I see. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif <hr></blockquote>

Use stellar manipulation to turn them into planets. remote mine them using satellites (no maintenence on units).

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

I have heard that the AI is not good at changing things into planets...so doing that gives the player too easy a time. Is that true?

Lemmy: Same guy. Glad you are enjoying Civ3. I play to check in with it come Gold Edition time. But the mods on SE4 are a great reason to keep with it, eh?

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Yin:
I have heard that the AI is not good at changing things into planets...so doing that gives the player too easy a time. Is that true?...<hr></blockquote>

If you mean changing asteroids into planets, no that's not true. That's about the only stellar manipulation the AI uses really well (IMHO). It all depends, of course, on how early the AI researches that.

Rollo

edit:typo

[ 27 November 2001: Message edited by: Rollo ]</p>

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

I see. That's encouraging, then. Any AI's out there you would suggest? I'm guessing the modders have a killer AI out there somewhere. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Yin:
I see. That's encouraging, then. Any AI's out there you would suggest? I'm guessing the modders have a killer AI out there somewhere. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif <hr></blockquote>

Well, of course my view is totally biased, since I have done the AI http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif , but check out the Space Vikings (really good in space battle and also use troops). A few other of my favorite AIs: Aquilaeian (also use troops, really tough overall, one of the best IMHO), Rage (since you asked about it, they use stellar manipulation early), they are both part of the TDM-Modpack. Non-Modpack races that I like are the EEEvil and Cephalopeia.
I could list a dozen more, I guess 90% percent of the modded races are better than the standard AI. If you check out modded AIs, make sure they have a new Version that is optimized for SE4 ver.1.49 to make research more effective (should say in the readme somewhere).

Rollo

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Hmm, I thought this was fixed somehow. Must be broken again http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif .

Anyway, you can find a link to the Space Vikings here.

The best places I know to look for other races are Kuat Drive Yards and Universal Shipyards .

Rollo

edit: Aha! I found the link to the old Mod Archive http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif . Try this.

[ 27 November 2001: Message edited by: Rollo ]</p>

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Great! Thanks. That one worked ... and at 150/sec d/l! I will get a few games under my belt before loading these babies up, but it's hard to hold back. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

I think this thread has intimated at the answer to another great newby question for those SEIV tyros out there

Just to confirm - am I right in saying that remote mining isn't worth it by the time you have paid maintenance on the relevant ship you are sending out? I couldn't see the point of it myself

Also, whilst I have anyone's attention (keep in mind that I am on my second game ever and am just researching battlecruiser hulls) I havn't found a spaceship hull that can take a spaceyard facility - the freighter hulls all dont seem to have the space once you have completed the 50% cargo requirement - any advice, tips or example ships would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Don't use freighter hulls for space yards; there's no point.

Cruiser class and above (500kt+) can fit a space yard and the required components, but the cruiser will be either slow or extremely vulnerable.

Phoenix-D

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Yin, I finally read your reply and I am guessing at what you are doing.

Use the Colony ship hull design for your colonizing ships, at least to start. I notice that some AI's will use warship hulls to make colonization ships. I guess this could work as you could build faster colonization ships/defenses/weapons/etc.

It sounds like you are building population transports with the small transport hulls and including colonization component. Make your population transports using only cargo holds. You should have enough room to put your command components(bridge, life support, crew quarters), 5 engines and sufficient cargo holds(10 or 11 cargo units). You might wish to add a supply unit as well, to extend the range of your transport.

There are three buttons in the top menu: Load(box with up arrow above it), Unload(box with down arrow above it) and Load/Unload(box with up and down arrows above it). You find them near the Launch and Recover buttons. I am talking about using the Load/Unload button. You can only use it when you are above one of your planets or some cargo source. The button you are using is the Load button, which will direct your ship to a particular spot and then load to the maximum it can. The Load/Unload button can't be used in a set of ship commands.

Good luck!!

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Okie, I've decided to stock up on mods now, 56k dialup so it gonna be awhile for me to get all the ones I want.

Question though: Devnullmod, which is the latest Version? 1.4's the Lastest I've found in the archives so far.

Thanx

Nscaler

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Lynx: Thanks. Actually, I think I was unclear earlier. I'm doing fine with the pop transports. It's the remote mining ships that run out of space ... unless I'm doing something wrong. But I'll check with your answer to see if I might not be stupidly putting colony stuff on my robo mining ships.

Then again, it seems like robo mining is a non-issue for a while.

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Thanks again. I went to look for the files, but it seems the threads have been stripped of them after the forum upgrade. Any word on this? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

This question is for Atrocities or anybody who knows the answer: I have just d/led those great sets into my races folder ... yet the game won't recognize them. What I mean is, when I click 'add existing,' none of the new sets show up ... yet all the folders are in the right place.

Any clues?

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

You have the race pics in /pictures/races, do you have the .emp files in /empires

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

I see. It looks like I just can't select them to play as mine? The comp just tried to load up the cards ... but said that 'Bloodthirsty' was not recognized.

Does this mean:
1) Those sets can be loaded for the AI and not the human player?
2) The error message means that set is not ready for 1.49?
3) Can I still play with that set despite the error?

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Hmmm. I don't see emp files for these sets, though I know what you are talking about. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

"Bloodthirsty" should be a record in /data/Happiness.txt
Check there is a record in there
If there is, then the race you are using must have "Bloodthirsty" spelt wrong, or used in the wrong context

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Regarding the .emp files; depends which shipset you have d/l but not all of them have .emps. Most do - check the zip file you d/l'd, make sure it hasn't extracted them somewhere funny

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

So if it lacks the emp file, can the AI play it but not the human player?

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

No, just create a new empire yourself. You will be allowed the choose the race pics. You will have to choose all the settings yourself though, so it may not match the designer's intention. But, what do those designers know anyway.

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

LOL! I see. Thanks. So those sets sans emp files are just graphics etc. and the emp files sets its bonuses, etc. Gottcha. Thanks for all the help. I've used up all my newbie questions for the day. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Hehe, just be careful, when making your own .emps that you at least get the racial traits correctly http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif . Otherwise the AI might be ... uuhm.. not quite as effective. Generally speaking it is a good idea to use the .emps provided with the race, because the .emps can contain also settings that cannot be specified in the normal AI textfiles (whether or not the AI moves through minefields, some strategies etc.).

Rollo

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Which begs the question: Why do the Ferengi, Klingon, The Original Star Trek and Trekos files up from Atrocities seem to lack emp files? Perhaps I'm missing something? Hmmm. Anyway, I'm now over my daily newbie limit on questions. LOL

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Yin:
Which begs the question: Why do the Ferengi, Klingon, The Original Star Trek and Trekos files up from Atrocities seem to lack emp files? Perhaps I'm missing something? Hmmm. Anyway, I'm now over my daily newbie limit on questions. LOL<hr></blockquote>

Hmm, I don't know. I know that the Klingons and Romulans from the TDM-Modpack have .emps. Maybe the AI on those other races is not finished or whatever. Guess, we have to wait for Atrocities to reply http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif . If you create your own .emps, you can look onto the _AI_General.txt file that should be in the race folder to find out about the racial traits.

Rollo

PS: [shameless plug] http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif ..and don't forget to include the Space Vikings in your games (using the .emps) [/shameless plug] http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

Was just playing around a bit with them Vikings actually! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Stupid Newbie Question(s): Yes, I\'m the one doing the asking. =)
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Yin:
Was just playing around a bit with them Vikings actually! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif <hr></blockquote>

Ah, excellent http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif . Feel free to post any good/bad feedback (especially the bad) in the Vikings thread. This will help for improvements in the future.

Have fun,
Rollo