Strategic Help for a trapped newbie

[GhengisRexx]

Ok. Here is tricky situation. I am involved in a 4 player pbem game with a ton of AIs.(21 turns so far) This is pretty much my first real game of SEIV. I have a race with a bonus in research and in trade. Unfortunately I am stuck between two black holes. I've got three solar systems to work with. All of the warp points in the black hole systems are unstable, and pretty much demolished the Frigates that found em.

All is not lost, however, I got REALLY lucky and got a second colonization type from some ruins. I know I'm in a double edged sword situation, and I want to make sure that I dont completely muck it up.

My current strategy is colonize ansd research. Tons of research. Pretty much every availble space is a research center.

My questions are:
Stellar Manipulation- What do I get at each level? |How far up do I need to go to open up, and/or fix warp points? Are any of the stellar manipulation weapons worth while? (Can you really get away with destroying someones suns?)

How big a ship will it take to survive the unstable warp point/ black hole/ unstable warp point combo?
(I am hoping to get a ship out to start trade)

Cloaking-How does one defend against it, and how does one get it?

Converting atmospheres- Is it worth it? What techs, and how many points of resarch do I need to get it?

Right now I have am almost up to applied research 3, and am about to go for gas giant coloniziation, to use every avaible planet in my 3 systems. Then alternate military with stellar manipulation techs.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
The Hive

[Possum]

Getting out through the funky warp points (FWP's from here on) takes ARMOR. SHIELDS are no help at all in absorbing the damage inflicted on you by an FWP

An FWP will usually damage you, not always, but the amount of damage is almost always exactly 200 points. This means 7 Armor I's will absorb it all. In fact, 6 will be damaged, and the 7th not touched at all.

So if all you need to do is get a ship out to make contact and start trade, you CAN do that with a Frigate

[raynor]

Too many questions.

First, I think applied research is a bad idea. I think all of the level II and level III facilities are better researched much later in the game. The very slight increase in production just isn't worth it.

Second, stellar manipulation absolutely rules the universe in games against the AI.
I would imagine you can use it with great success in games against humans as well.

Cloaking can be detected with scanners.

It is much faster to convert domed colonies to undomed colonies by transplanting conquered races that breathe that atmosphere.

I've already forgotten your other questions.
I attached an Excel spreadsheet created by WhiteHojo (with some sorting code by TaterBill). This file lists the tech prerequisites for all the techs in the game. The second file lists the costs for all the techs. Sorry it isn't alphabetized or anything. You should be able to use the two to figure out what to research next. I'm a HUGE fan of fighters because they don't require maintenance but can be used with great effect against your enemies.

[raynor]

I would recommend against buiding ships with armor to go through the warp points. Instead, I would just mass produce colony ships. Eventually, one will get out with an intact colonization component. Be very nice to whoever is on the other side, and they will probably let you colonize a planet in that system. Build a repair facility or shipyard on that planet to repair any other colony ships that come through. Or, better yet, stop building colony ships on the inside and start building everything on the outside.

I played a game in which I had an unstable wormhole as the only wormhole leading out of my homeworld system to a blackhole system. This was just against AI players. It turned out to be my easiest game ever because the AI's could never get to my homeworld. It is pretty much a well-documented problem that the AI doesn't handle blackhole systems very well. OTOH, the human players...

[Possum]

OK, now on to SM

Level 1 just gets you the ability to make and destruy storms, BFD.

Level 2 gets you the ability to destroy Medium or smaller planets, and also to make Medium or smaller planets from asteroids. Look at the size and characteristics of the asteroid cluster, those will be the size and characteristics of the planet you make.

Level 3 Stellar Manipulation finally gets you the ability to open and close warp-points, along with the ability to make and destroy planets of sizes up to Large.

(The above descriptions contain certain minor simplifications and omissions.)

Cloaking. You can research Cloaking after you have Physics Level 3. You can counter Cloaking with several different types of Sensors. Military Science L2 allows you to research Advanced Military Science. Levels 1 through 3 of that (AMS) let you build various training facilities. Levels 4 through 6 of AMS allow you to use Hyper-Optic Scanners. There are also Gravitic Scanners, which require Gravitic Tech. There are a third kind of scanners, type I can't think of right now, that are always available to all races. In addition, some of the specialty race characteristics allow specialty scanner types. I think Psychic races can build Psychic scanners, and Temporal races can build Temporal scanners.

For a really very good explanation of Cloaking and Scanning, look at the manual. The first section of the index on the left, headed Game Details, run down the alphabetically-listed subjects until you come to "Sight". Click on that and read carefully

Oh yeah, that third normal kind. Scanners, the tech itself, (not to be confused with Sensors, which get you to-hit bonuses in combat. The first few levels just let you peek at an enemy ship's components from a distance. Then the next few levels allow you to use Tachyon Scanners, which are another way to find cloaked ships

Scanners should become available for research as soon as you complete Physics 2

[This message has been edited by Possum (edited 02 March 2001).]

[Possum]

Hahaha, Genghis, try not to be confused by the conflicting advice from Raynor and I, just try both ways and take what path suits you best.

Neither of us is really right or wrong, it's just that we have very different aproaches

[Atrocities]

quote:

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Converting atmospheres- Is it worth it? What techs, and how many points of resarch do I need to get it?

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In a word, yes. However, its far more economical to conqure a race that can breath the atomsphere of the planet.

AC's are a great tool for planets or moons without atomspheres. I place AC's on all moons and non atomsphere planets I colonize.

They take 20 + turns to convert, but once they do, they are very valuable. I only use the AC's on small planets and moons because they are non valued, and I can aford to wait the time it takes to convert them. Once they are converted, the pay off is makes up for the wait and cost.

[raynor]

quote:

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Originally posted by Possum:
Hahaha, Genghis, try not to be confused by the conflicting advice from Raynor and I, just try both ways and take what path suits you best.

Neither of us is really right or wrong, it's just that we have very different approaches

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You are definitely right. Lots of roads to victory. That makes it a great game.

Hey! I checked that 7 armor thing. It works quite well. Thanks for the tip! You're the man!

The only drawback to using armour to safeguard your ships is the research cost. It is going to run you about 200,000 research points before you can send a colony ship through the wormhole without getting damaged. On the other hand, in six turns, you can build three colony ships. Odds are extremely good that one of them will make it through the wormhole without losing the colonization module. Once one gets through, you can colonize a planet in that system and build a planetary space yard to repair the others. Then, you can use this base to expand your empire throughout the rest of the galaxy.

[Taqwus]

Don't forget that you only need to send *one* armored ship through the FWP -- a repair ship. Let it accompany a horde of normal colony ships, and it'll repair the damage (albeit slowly; may take multiple turns depending on repair shipony ship ratio. So you could send more than one if desired).

Also, the SM tree gives you Monolith Facilities. *Very* expensive to build, but worth it in a long game because they're so much more space efficient. And when combined with value improvement plants and (1) resource converter, so much the better...


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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

[raynor]

If you decide to build monolith facilities, you will get many, many more resources if you first fill the planet with level I or level II resource production facilities before you go back and start replacing them with Monolith III facilities.