howto steal/take technology?

[gwichman]

hi i'm an SE4 newbie.. I am having a hard time figuring out how you can take or steal technology from another player? e.g. if i could get rock colonization early, it would be a big advantage for my race. I'm at war with someone who has it. My intelligence is just barely getting started. What ways are there to take rock colonization by force? I can research it obviously.. or trade for it.. but what other ways and how exactly do you execute those ways?

thanks very much for the help!

[Puke]

there is an inteligence project called technological espionage that will let you steal technology. you can pick the empire, and pick the tech, or set it to any tech.

i think its a level 2 project, but im not sure.

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

[MegaTrain]

You can also capture a colony ship (if they let you get close), and analyze the captured vessel (Scrap/Analyze/Mothball) to figure out any techs you don't already have.

I believe the only exception would be any race-based technologies (organic, temporal, etc.). Your scientists "can't decipher" these foreign technologies.

[gwichman]

hmm thats a possibility.. whats it take to capture a ship *exactly*? a ship with boarding parties that i move into the same sector? do i set the combat method to capture or something? please be specific thanks!

[Puke]

yeah, a ship with boarding parties in the same sector set to ship capture.

the problem is, that in strategic combat, boarding parties DO NOT BOARD if there are ships of multiple classes (like attack ships and colony ships) involved in the combat. note that they work properly if there are, say, three different designs of attack ships. its just that they have to be fighting ONLY attack ships. or ONLY Rock Colonizers. or ONLY population transports.

i learned this the hard way after building a fleet of 40+ boarding ships with maxed out boarding technology.

[Cheeze]

In order to capture a ship, you must have a ship equipped with boarding parties. The ship must be set to the Capture Enemy Ships strategy. You should make certain your capturing ship has sufficient protection (shields,armor,point defense) to whether any possible shots at it.

One important note, ships designed to capture will move away from ships with shields. Someone else could advise you (and me) on the best strategy that actually works in ship capture against a combatant target, I never found the best options that work.

After you capture the ship, take it back to a space yard (on planet, base or ship), and instead of scrapping, you choose Analyze. Another note: You will only go up one level in technologies you don't have. for example, capture a rock colonizer with Contra-terrene 3 engines (when you have Contra-terrene 1), and when you Analyze, you will gain Rock Colonization and one level of Propulsion (not two). And you cannot "steal" theoretical sciences this way.

How's that for an explanation?

[This message has been edited by Lynx (edited 02 November 2001).]