I must be new or bad..or both
 

So, I am playing in a large universe. I am a new player. I am doing fairly well I think. Science is doing well, tons of resources it seems. I have even began a war with a neighboring computer race.

In my first 2 battles with him I defeat 2 fleets and take a world that belongs to him. Great. I am poised to take his largest world in this system. He doesnt seem to have much there. I have a couple carriers with about 100 fighters, 2 lt cruisers with missiles, and transports with
100 troops, this should be easy.

The battle begins, and its then that I notice that space station in orbit. I launch fighters, cruisers launch missles.....and none of them make it to the target. PDF weapons on the base destroy all my fighters before they fire a shot, only my missles hit causing minimal damage. Suddenly that quiet planet launches what must be a baZillion missiles. Blam. my fleet is dead. Dang, this couldnt get worse.......

Next turn I meet a new race. The very next turn several things happen at once. I begin to get lots of Messages like, ships orders changed, ships supplies lost, riots on planets and other nasty things. ...And whats that 2 systems from me heading my way....gads..4 Dreadnaughts from the new race.

I think I am in love with this game. Anyway, I needed a place to let off steam. And you guys get to hear it. Ok, time to begin a new game....

Re: I must be new or bad..or both
 

Here is what I do to start a new game:

1. Have a starting system with at least 2 other planets that your people can breathe, pref Medium or larger. This may take a while with random gen, but if you start off crappy you don't have much of a chance (goes for ANY game!)

2. Save the map.

3. Start the map as an Ancient race. Scan the planet list for medium worlds. If you can find only one or two that exist with that atmosphere and planet type far away from your "homeworld," WRITE THE PLANET INFO DOWN.

4. Create a race that lives on that type of world.

Voila - you've just created a universe where you will be left ALONE to develop your tech and defenses for a long while!

Involved? YES, but it WORKS!

Re: I must be new or bad..or both
 

Also be sure to research these FIRST:

Applied Research
App. Intel
Ship Construction

I start out with researching 3 techs @ ~1500 each, wait til I have enough points to have 3000 in each slot before adding another project. The AI lines up a bunch of projects then spends all their research one the first project. When it is finished, the next project will move into the slot. As a result, they may have higher tech levels in certain areas, but have an overall lower number of techs researched.

Re: I must be new or bad..or both
 

Glad that you’re enjoying the game. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

What gottcha from the planet were Weapons Platforms.

I lost 57 ships to 16 dreadnought just Last night, and nearly lost the war. (What saved my *** was having warp point technology. I was able to build (66 turns) two mini warp ships that each had a warp open and close component. I closed the warp points to the sector that had the Dreadnought, now 40 +.

A cheep way to save ones but, but effective. I am now massing a huge armada and will open a warp point to the "infected" system and wipe them out. All of them.

There is no set rule about what to do early on except research and explore. You'll need to expand, but your best friend will be counter Intel. Intel attacks can decimate your empire in only a few turns.

To control rioting, or prevent it, you can place troops on your planets and keep ships in orbit or in the same system.

If a planet begins to riot, you'll have to send in ships (10) to that system, to the rioting planet, and park them in orbit until the uprising is suppressed. (BUILD an urban pacification planet on one planet per system. This will also help keep the rioting down.

As for the dreadnought, chances are they will simply look around and leave. You could engage them, but you'll loose unless your ships are superior.

Shields and armor are utter necessities to have. REASEARCH THEM from the beginning. (May have to research some other tech to get them, so do that too.)

Design specific ships for specific tasks. IE, make a dreadnought with only ONE type of heavy weapon, and be sure to use the proper Mount (upper right hand corner of the ship design window). Add a few Point Defense Guns to each design to counter missiles and fighters.

I use three basic types of Ships.

Battleship (heavy mount) Beams
Dreadnought (heavy mount) Torpedoes
Battlecruiser (medium mount) Point defense

Then Carriers and Destroyers. (Destroyers are armed with proton beams.)

Each of the ships have decent shields and armor.

One other option is to design a small, and cheap to build, escort class. Make them in bulk, and fleet them up. 25 of these against one Dreadnought is a sure in victory, and if you loose, you've only lost the cost of a few ships as opposed to the cost in resources and construction time of much larger ones.

There is a guide thread floating about the forum. Even check out the downloads section for one. There is a ton of useful info in each of them.

Best of luck. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif


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"We've made too many compromises already, too many retreats! They invade our space and we fall back -- they assimilate entire worlds and we fall back! Not again! The line must be drawn here -- this far, no further! And I will make them pay for what they've done!" -- Captain Picard STNG
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