Just got the demo...a few questions

[joeljermon]

1. What are the best technologies to get early on? I usually get ship construction I first, but I'm not sure what to get after that. Weapons? Propulsion? What do you reccomend? And when should I research ice/gas giant colonies?

2. Can you do mods in the demo? If so, which ones are the best?

[Renegade 13]

Originally posted by joeljermon:
1. What are the best technologies to get early on? I usually get ship construction I first, but I'm not sure what to get after that. Weapons? Propulsion? What do you reccomend? And when should I research ice/gas giant colonies?

Personally, when I still had the demo, I researched ship construction, propulsion, and for your weapons, depeleted uranium cannons (i think....its been a while). Also go for Point Defense Cannons, to defend you from the missiles the AI likes to fire at you. They also can target fighters. Also, shields are a very good thing to go for. In the demo, because of the 100 turn limit, ice/gas colonies generally aren't a good choice, because they simply take too long to research.

2. Can you do mods in the demo? If so, which ones are the best?

If I remember correctly, no, you can't do mods in the demo. But someone who actually knows might want to clarify that for you.

[ May 09, 2004, 22:21: Message edited by: Renegade 13 ]

[Suicide Junkie]

For stock, you will want to research projectile weapons early. Level 5 DUCs will be good enough for quite a while, and you can put off researching the more advanced weapons for quite some time.

Using missiles on your ships is good for your first scouts, since the enemy won't have point defense cannons. The missiles won't be effective for very long, so you should switch to DUC warships fairly quickly.

Shields and ship construction are the other two critical stock war techs.
Bigger ships and more hitpoints. You may need to research some physics before the shield tech area becomes available.

[spoon]

Originally posted by joeljermon:
1. What are the best technologies to get early on?

Mines are great for early tech. (Construction --> Mines). ECM makes your ships harder to hit (Military Science -- Combat Support). And it is always nice to have a good weapon. Projectile Weapons are good in the early game. But later you will want Phased Polaron Beams (Physics 2 -- Phased Energy weapons), meson bLasters, or anti-proton beams (both those are in physics branch). Other good things in the physics branch are Scanners and shields. Astrophysics -- Stellar Harnessing will let your ships travel further and faster.

[primitive]

There is no single "best" strategy. Scout around a bit and see what the races around you have to offer and what (if any) threats are imminent. You can steal or trade a lot of techs from the AI, so consentrate on whats really neccessary

Mines gives the best and cheapest early defence against the AI - Point defence are a must - Ship capture can help you steal tech worth a zillion - Combat sensors and training are neccessary when things get serious, but not before - Shields, Armor and a big gun for all non missile combat ships - Ship constructions; you want LC's pretty fast for the large mount (steal it or research it ?) - Troops for capturing planets and keeping your people happy when times are rough - Solar sails for speed - And so on .....

[joeljermon]

Another question - on an early scout, is it worth it to have 4 engines instead of 6 if it means I can build it in one turn? And how much do early-game scouts need supply bays? Finally, should I divide research evenly or not?

[ May 09, 2004, 23:14: Message edited by: joeljermon ]