General Questions

[Daeromont]

Wow...this is a great game! I've only started my 2nd game just Last night, but I have a few questions, and it's taking too long to read all 90 billion Posts to see if they've been asked.

1)What is a MOD exactly...and what are the pros and cons?
2)I'm interested in downloading some new ship graphics... where is a good source?
3)I'm terrible at invading planets...any pointers? So far, I've stuck to just wiping out enemy worlds and re-colonizing them.
4)Is there a simple way to print out the manual?
5)I've had to manually fight almost every battle, because the AI isn't very smart when I set it on 'auto.' Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for your time!

[LeTharg]

I'm sure you will get lots of answers to the other questions but here are my thoughts on a couple of them:

3. Invading planets. You need lots of troops (better troops help as well--your physical strength setting is important too). The defenders get militia based on population. You can test to see if you have enough troops in the simulator. On the other hand, you can often get the AI to surrender when they are whittled down sufficiently. Blockading their planets is effective for this. Then you get everything: research, planets, facilities, ships and units.

5. Yes the AI isn't perfect. But you will probably want to start playing with humans soon (Play By Web, PBW, seiv.pbw.cc is a great site for this) and these games are simultaneous so you cannot engage in tactical combat. If so, you may want to practise without tactical combat or even simultaneous mode.

[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.)

[Suicide Junkie]

See:
SE4 Mod archive
SE4 AI/Shipset archive
SE4 Maps/Scenarios archive (LCC seems to have spammed this one instead of appending to his Posts )

Before you get too entrenched in normal SE4's system, try Pirates&Nomads v2 (see my sig below) It is way out there, and changes the basic propulsion system, as well as giving way more defensive options.

Note on how SE4 deals with mods:
All modded files go into a sub-folder in your SE4 folder.
The mod folder should have a structure very similar to the SE4 folder, with sub-folders called "data", "pictures", "ai", or whatever the mod needs to change.

To activate a mod, edit "path.txt" (found in your SE4 folder), and change the only entry from "none" to the name of the folder containing the mod you wish to play (eg. "piratesmod")

Games saved under one mod may crash or act very strangely when loaded under a different mod. Unless the mods are specifically said to be compatible, don't bother trying to change between them in the middle of a game.

Have fun with SE4!

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-<Download V2.1>- (Now with extra scenario support!)
-<Download V1.7>- (With default AIs patched)
-<Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7>-
-<Download SJs latest AI Patcher>-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
-<Play By Web>-
-<Schlock Mercenary>- (great space-based webcartoon) -<First Strip>-
-<8-bit Theater>- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

[Daeromont]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the info!

I have a couple new ones, however...

1) How do I delete single facilities, without scrapping everything in the whole universe of that type?

2) Is it worth colonizing Tiny Worlds?

3) Any good ideas on how to block warp points from a superior enemy? I'm building mines as fast as I can, but they keep punching through. Are Sat's good for this? I've not really had much chance to use them.

4) How does planet size and/or population affect production of facilities and construction?

Thanks again, y'all!

[Suicide Junkie]

1) Select the planet, and you will see a white block with a tiny recycle symbol in the list of buttons at the top of the screen.
Choose that, and you can select individual facilities for scrapping.

2) If you breathe the atmosphere, you get 5 facilities, the same as a huge, domed world.
If you don't breath it, then research planet utilization, and build an atmosphere converter using the one facility space available. Wait 2 years, and you now have a breathable world.

3) What tech do you have?
If the enemy forces are still taking damage (rather than sweeping the whole thing each turn), then keep the mines coming.
Sats are great in combination with the mines, since you can cut apart the crippled ships as they come through the warppoint.
If you have the tech, include NullSpace sats; the enemies coming through the warp point start at point-blank range, so you can rip thier guts out on the first volley. Then, use normal weapons to finish them off.

Having a few long-range attack ships stationed in the sector would also be very useful, so you can chase down the enemies who survive the mines and sats. A ship with WMGs should be able to stay out of range of the enemy weapons while it cleans up.

4) Planet size affects the max population, domed colonies are always much smaller.
Facilities go:
Tiny: 1
Small: 2
Medium: 3
Large: 4
Huge: 5
Multiply by 5 if the atmosphere is breathable.
EDIT: and add 20% (rounded down) if you have the "small race" trait.

There are bonuses to resource production and construction rate due to the popualtion, +5% at 100M, for example. See settings.txt for details.
Resource production is also affected by happiness, 10% per level beyond indifferent (positive or negative).

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-<Download V2.1>- (Now with extra scenario support!)
-<Download V1.7>- (With default AIs patched)
-<Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7>-
-<Download SJs latest AI Patcher>-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
-<Play By Web>-
-<Schlock Mercenary>- (great space-based webcartoon) -<First Strip>-
-<8-bit Theater>- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 08 August 2001).]