Some basic questions

[Baron Grazic]

You probably just saw my best response time, and I was still to slow

Give PBW a go - Look for Standard or Gold games, which ever you have, there is always a few games waiting to start or join an existing game. If you lose then it wasn't your fault, it was a bad empire to start with

Do a few practise games using the 'Simitanious (SP?) moves' and then jump in - Only way to learn.

[ September 16, 2002, 07:05: Message edited by: Baron Grazic ]

[dumbluck]

Rainstorm: PBW is the best, bar none. There are usually at least a couple of newbie games you can get into, and you can be a replacement player. Then, even if you do horribly, you can save face by blaming it on the mess the previous occupant left behind.

In short, TDM makes the single player game tolerable, but it doesn't compare to PBW.

One word of caution, however. PBW is simultaneous move only, so you might try a single player game or two with that setting, just to get used to it's quirks. It has several, stategic combat only being the biggest one...

[spoon]

Originally posted by Rainstorm:
Is there some kind of breakeven for when it's not worth building mineral mines, etc? I've just been ignoring planets with less than about 90 percent mineral value.
Thanks!

I usually set the cutoff at 75%-80% for minerals, and 130% for Rads and Organics. I rarely find myself in the situation where I have "too many" minerals -- and when I do, there is almost always an ally that appreciates a mineral gift.

And PBW is the way to go.

-Spoon

[javaslinger]

At the end of my turns I always go through the construction window and ship orders window to make sure that all my ships have orders and I haven't forgotten to set some build orders on some remote colonies somewhere.

And definately give PBW a shot.

Also watch out for the Earth Alliance in the TDM. They scare the **** out of me.

[DirectorTsaarx]

I usually use the "next ship" and "next fleet" buttons (upper right corner; I forget the hotkeys) to cycle through all my ships/fleets without orders. You might want to check the options (i.e., which ships/fleets the next ship/fleet button will skip; for instance, you can set the next ship button to skip ships in fleets) to make sure you're comfortable with how it works.

I also recommend checking the "empire status" every turn, so you know how much surplus (or deficit) you're creating; if you have a large surplus (or a large deficit), check your construction queues; don't forget to check research and intelligence every turn as well. Oh, and if you're building lots of units (fighters, satellites or mines in particular), go to the "colonies" screen and check planetary cargo; that will help you remember to load/launch those units (or, if planetary cargo is full, to stop building).

The best thing is to come up with a system. For instance:

1. Check turn log, paying particular attention to notices about unit construction completed
2. Update ship/base/etc. designs based on newly completed research projects
3. Check intelligence projects (particularly counter-intelligence)
4. Cycle through all ships
5. Cycle through all fleets
6. Check colony screen for "mood" (jubilant, happy, indifferent, etc.)
7. Check empire status
8. Modify construction queues (especially if you have new ship/base/etc. designs that should be put into production)).
   

I've probably missed something, but those are the basic things to check. And, as some people (like myself), things to double- and triple-check.

[capnq]

A quick way to find ships without orders is to open the (F6) Ships window, click the Orders button, and click the "Orders" column header. That will put all the ships without orders together in one group (alphabetized as if they had the word "None" in the Orders column).