[Puke]

LeTharg had some good answers there. let me try a few more.

1- a MOD is a modification of the game. several people have made them, among the more famous are the TDM mod, the Pirates and Nomads mod, and DevNull mod. some add new races or tweak the AI for existing ones, some add new technology, the good side is that you get a wide variety of game play experience, the down side is that if the mod does not come from a good source then it might not work perfectly. though all the major ones are spot-on. also, check out the mod-picker utility for easy switching between multiple mods.

2- check out the 'fan sites' thread that was started a while back. lots of good links.

4- eh heh, heh heh heh. He thinks there is a manual.

6- nope, the AI sucks. if you go under 'empire settings' there is a spot where you can customize your stratagies. this can help a great deal as you can make good stratagies that work well with your ship designs, and try them out in the simulator. other than that, no. the AI is just dumb. It tends to make the game more challenging though if you practice making stratagies and having the computer resolve the combat.

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"...the green, sticky spawn of the stars"
(with apologies to H.P.L.)