Strategy Articles!

[Slick]

***PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK! This is a DRAFT.***

Feedback:

Great to see another article. Superb as always. (I hope this does not seem too presumptious) Here are a few things I noted...

[edit] 17.3.3.c ships are not "scrapped" they are "abandonded". The main difference is that wheh you intentionally scrap a ship, you get a percentage (in settings.txt) of the resources back. Abandoned ships return no resources, any cargo being carried is lost, and the AI certainly won't choose wisely when deciding which ships to abandon.

17.3.6.2 Add prioritizing ruin planets. Personally I prioritize them just after breathables unless there is danger of another empire taking it, in which case ruins are highest priority. If you don't have the colonizing tech for the ruin planet yet, try to defend it to deny it to the enemy.

17.3.6.4 2nd paragraph: note that production & construction rate can drop after you remove population from your homeworld. Advanced Storage Techniques will add more space for population so that you can remove some population without losing your bonuses.

17.3.7.2 treaty % is incorrectly used here. See FAQ 10.6.10

17.3.7.3 solar generators produce minerals, organics and radioactives, not just radioactives. Also under Temporal, the Temporal Shipyard has a higher construction rate than a spaceyard III, but a planet with a spaceyard facility has to scrap it before building a TSY.

17.3.8.1.a Do system-wide facilities benefit planets owned by other empires in that system???

17.3.10.f 20% of the other empire's income multiplied by your political savvy %.

17.3.13.c Organic races can make some of the best fighters in the game using the Small Electric Discharge weapons. [edit] This, combined with the organic tendency to be able to significantly outproduce others, makes fighters very formidable for organic races. There is also no limit for the number of fighters in a sector. For more on fighters see FAQ section 8.2.

17.3.14.2.f Don't write off a construction queue when it is in "Slow" mode. Slow mode is a great time to build units.

17.3.15 (See also FAQ 4.6)

Once again, great work and thanks for covering the areas that I mentioned before. It is great to see another player's perspective and methods. It sure showed me a few good tips, but overall it made me feel that I don't do such a bad job managing my games after all.

Slick.

[ June 11, 2003, 09:52: Message edited by: Slick ]

[Fyron]

17.3.8.1.a Do system-wide facilities benefit planets owned by other empires in that system???

No, they only benefit the empire that owns them.

[Stone Mill]

Thanks to you all, especially Atrocities, sachmo, slick, Rags, gecko. You have made me happy with your high compliments.

Nice feedback...I'll get to some of the edits a bit later. Aslo, I've been thinking a bit about Monoliths and my opinion on their usability...

[ June 11, 2003, 18:08: Message edited by: Stone Mill ]

[Stone Mill]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

quote:

---

Originally posted by BBegemott:
Do System Robotoid Facilities increase the benefits of remote mining?

No.

---

Added to 7.3.7.3.b:

Note: System Robotoid Facilities do not increase the benefits of remote mining. (Imperator Fyron)

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

quote:

---

17.3.8.1.a Do system-wide facilities benefit planets owned by other empires in that system???

No, they only benefit the empire that owns them.

---

Added.

[ June 11, 2003, 20:09: Message edited by: Stone Mill ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

your faq is indeed an impressive accomplishment.

[Stone Mill]

Originally posted by Slick:

quote:

---

***PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK! This is a DRAFT.***

Feedback:

Great to see another article. Superb as always. (I hope this does not seem too presumptious) Here are a few things I noted...

[edit] 17.3.3.c ships are not "scrapped" they are "abandonded". The main difference is that wheh you intentionally scrap a ship, you get a percentage (in settings.txt) of the resources back. Abandoned ships return no resources, any cargo being carried is lost, and the AI certainly won't choose wisely when deciding which ships to abandon.

17.3.6.2 Add prioritizing ruin planets. Personally I prioritize them just after breathables unless there is danger of another empire taking it, in which case ruins are highest priority. If you don't have the colonizing tech for the ruin planet yet, try to defend it to deny it to the enemy.

17.3.6.4 2nd paragraph: note that production & construction rate can drop after you remove population from your homeworld. Advanced Storage Techniques will add more space for population so that you can remove some population without losing your bonuses.

17.3.7.2 treaty % is incorrectly used here. See FAQ 10.6.10

17.3.7.3 solar generators produce minerals, organics and radioactives, not just radioactives. Also under Temporal, the Temporal Shipyard has a higher construction rate than a spaceyard III, but a planet with a spaceyard facility has to scrap it before building a TSY.

17.3.8.1.a Do system-wide facilities benefit planets owned by other empires in that system???

17.3.10.f 20% of the other empire's income multiplied by your political savvy %.

17.3.13.c Organic races can make some of the best fighters in the game using the Small Electric Discharge weapons. [edit] This, combined with the organic tendency to be able to significantly outproduce others, makes fighters very formidable for organic races. There is also no limit for the number of fighters in a sector. For more on fighters see FAQ section 8.2.

17.3.14.2.f Don't write off a construction queue when it is in "Slow" mode. Slow mode is a great time to build units.

17.3.15 (See also FAQ 4.6)

Once again, great work and thanks for covering the areas that I mentioned before. It is great to see another player's perspective and methods. It sure showed me a few good tips, but overall it made me feel that I don't do such a bad job managing my games after all.

Slick.

---

Muchas Gracias! Edited my original post.

[Stone Mill]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
I hardly see any mention of the overpowering Monolith economy. Sure it takes time to get set up, but once you get going, nobody can compete (esp. combined with good colonization strategy).

Again, this is just what makes sense to me...

I don't blindly build monoliths because there a few factors which makes that process inefficient:

a. I never build monoliths in the early game, and find that Monoliths aren't really comparatively desirable until Monolith III is available. The build cost (up to 5 turns) with a regular space yard is too prohibitive. Usually, your empire needs immediate application of resources. If I have better construction % (can build them in 2-3 turns), I will be somewhat more likely to use them. Generally, I can only pump out Monoliths this fast with Temporal yards.

Compare:
5 turns to build one Monolith facility(I,II,III; 500,700,900 of each resource, respectively)

5 turns x 5 resource extraction facilities(I,II,III; 800,900,1000 of each resource, respectively)

The resources gained by 5 Mineral Miner IIIs (5000) easily surpasses a Monolith III (900 minerals). If you project how many minerals actually applied to your economy in those 5 turns, it's not even close: (5000 + 4000 + 3000 + 2000 + 1000 = 15,000 for the mineral miners)

Not to mention that monoliths are quite expensive and tie up your yards for more turns.

Monolith growth strategies can be enhanced if a resource converter and lots of extra storage is available, because you are building tons of extra organics and rads.

If you don't have a converter, why extract so many organics and rads that won't be used?

Because of the resource "rules of thumb," you will generally need 10 : 1 : 3
So, why not just extract what you need, and put it to use quicker? Organic races make Monoliths more desirable because their resources may be something like 10 : 5 : 5

I still look at Monoliths like a luxury item. In a competetive game against humans, I stick with:

1. I usually build monoliths only when I have a planet with good values in all 3 resource types (and there aren't that many of 'em). I may sometimes select a planet with 2 out of 3, if I need those 2 types.
2. If for some reason I am comforatble and don't need the resources immediately, and I don't feel threatened.

If I'm playing the AI, I may toy around a bit more, because I certainly don't feel threatened.

[ June 14, 2003, 05:16: Message edited by: Stone Mill ]