[Arkcon]

Well, it's worth mentioning so it's perfectly clear.

The description of sphere world placement generator says how many KT of plating and cables are needed. To construct a sphere world you will need 10 starbases, each with bridge, life support, crew quarters and the plating component. And 10 more starbases: bridge, life support, crewquarters, and the cabling component. Only a starbase is big enough, and it won't hold much else. You need one base with the activator component. It is the most expensive, and therefore takes longer to build.

All complete ..., at the same spot..., on a star..., all there at once. Then you may activate the activator base's stellar manipulation component.

All bases will disappear, and you'll get a dull metallic looking ball replacing the star. Woo-Pee.

Have a colonizer ready, nobody lives there yet -- and the AI might colonize it before you if you're not quick.

A ring world only costs 5 of each, and it's icon is a little cooler, you get to see a yellow sun in the center of a planetary band. But the icons are small, only the size of a planet.

By the way, these icons appear to the side when you're setting up a game -- if you just want to see them.

Another thing, people say you want more than one shipyard to "speed up construction" That might sound to a newbie that multiple shipyards make things build faster, and that's not true. Since you need 21 starbases -- all at once, you might as well have 21 space yard ships (or have several spaceyard ships first construct enough shipyard space stations) to build them all at once instead of one at a time.

You do realize that while you wait for other sphereworld starbases to be built -- you are paying maintenance on the one's already built, and these ships are the most expensive ships you can make. You better mothball those three you have now until you have all of them.

I remember when I first built my first one, long ago. I went all out. Cleared a nebula, ignited a star -- see I had events on high frequency and thought a homemade star would be less likely to go nova. That's wrong, and anyway a star in a ringworld or sphereworld will never go nova.

Then I built my sphereworld, but not all the parts at once, and bankrupted myself paying maintenance, mothballed in desperation, had to wait until I had gained enough resources to unmothball the bases. And then, activate, and then, and then, ... TA DA

Well no trumpets, more like a kazoo.

Was really funny when I lost it ten turns later to an anarchy group. Ha. Shoulda tried to take it back, but a new patch came out and I didn't want to keep this game.

Since then I've done it all. Built sphereworlds, then switched with an AI and tried to take it back. Built ringworlds, populated it with some captured neutrals, then gifted it to them (as if the A.I. could actually tell what value this gift had). *Yawn*

Lord_Shleepy, your input on this topic would be appreciated.

Edit: Edited dozens of times to correct grammar and spelling.

[ August 29, 2002, 18:56: Message edited by: Arkcon ]