Neutral ships leaving their system

Baal · #1 June 6th, 2001, 12:30 AM

I'm in the process of playing my first simultaneous game, so as to get used to it for multi-play. I've met 2 neutral empires so far and there is only 1 system between their 2 systems. I had a small skirmish between one of the Neutrals at an unexplored warp point. I destroyed his ship and got through the warp point with severe damage.

To my surprise the other Neutral which I had met earlier had ships in this empty system of asteroids. I thought what a coinky dink, that ship moving anomaly must have just moved them to the next system over. Many turns passed, the ships dissappeared, I thought they blew up.

A few turns later the ships show up again. Not only that but ships from the Neutral empire I had attacked were also now in the system.

Here's my dilema, Why are they popping out of their systems? And, when they pop out why don't they move around (They stay in the same spot for many turns).

Has anyone seen this before? Is it a bug?

Aussie Gamer · #2 June 6th, 2001, 02:25 AM

NOT A BUG!
Neutrals are the same as every other empire except they can not colonise outside their system. They will attack outside the system.
They will also not colonise different planets that are not their type eg rock to ice.
they also have very limited tech levels.

Baron Munchausen · #3 June 6th, 2001, 02:41 AM

I saw this happen before in the past. The neutrals used to be quite active and often would send ships exploring all over the map. I complained about it many times and I thought it was fixed. It hasn't happened in any game I have played in months. You ought to send a savegame to MM with an explanation of what is going on. Maybe they can find something in your settings that explains it.

dominion · #4 June 6th, 2001, 03:01 AM

Neutrals also are blowing up neighboring planets in other systems too.

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"Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges"

[This message has been edited by dominion (edited 06 June 2001).]

Jubala · #5 June 6th, 2001, 04:12 AM

What's wrong with neutrals leaving their systems? They're just curious, that's all.

ZeroAdunn · #6 June 6th, 2001, 07:24 AM

I thought the official line on neutral empires were that they were just normal races who were unaware of warp points.

Thus if they left their system this would seem rather confusing.

rdouglass · #7 June 6th, 2001, 04:41 PM

I seem to remember something about them staying in their own system UNTIL they make First Contact - then they'll go outside their system.

Is my memory still OK????

BlueMage · #8 June 6th, 2001, 07:09 PM

Not a bug: every once and a while a neutral's ship's orders get changed via a third party intell operation. At least, every time I've seen this I've jumped into the neutral AI and seen an 'orders changed' message.

Nitram Draw · #9 June 6th, 2001, 07:18 PM

What happens if you give a neutral a planet in another system? Will they then colonize the planets in it?

Baron Munchausen · #10 June 6th, 2001, 08:27 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ZeroAdunn:
I thought the official line on neutral empires were that they were just normal races who were unaware of warp points.

Thus if they left their system this would seem rather confusing.

Yes, that's the point. They are unable or unwilling to use warp points for one reason or another. The Description of the "Bobroba States" actually says they have a superstitious fear that nothing exists beyond their own system. So, they should not go wandering around the galaxy!

It would be nice to have different 'sorts' of neutrals, though. Why not a neutral race that is vastly superior in technology but just "introverted" and doesn't want to explore the galaxy? It's not difficult to imagine a 'mystically' inclined race of this sort. But all races have to start at the same tech levels.

sigh... maybe later on when other issues are addressed.