Not so long ago (I'm new to the SE multiverse) in my first SEIII games I got hammered by the AI due to my lacking knowledge about tech trees, hidden techs, components etc.. Wasted points to dead ends, got the wrong invention at the wrong time facing the wrong opponent. Painful experiences, lots of empires crumbled until I found adequate research strategies. But I like it that way, the learning-by-doing-thingie.
Now I got SEIVG. Well, after skimming over this board, the manual and different txt.files I got overwhelmed. And I thought the tech/component/facility ...-stuff in SEIII was complicated....
At Last, my questions:
1. Did you dig deeply into the TechArea, components, facility etc. txt-files before your first play?
2. If no, did you get hammered (in games using high difficulty setting but no AI-bonuses (my preferences))?
3. If yes, how many days did you spend working through these piles of papers?
4. Do the different txt-files in the AI or specific races folders contain "critical" information about my AI-opponents, their strategies (research, politics, combat)? Would these files tell me what I'm up against? (If yes, that would be too close to cheating IMO.)
5. Did you start your first games using the "original" races or those from the TDM-Modpack? (As I understad it from my "inquiries" the TDM races are a greater challenge.)
6. Still assuming that there is no AI-bonus. Do you win every game?
Regards
R.