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Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu alt.games.gb:2351 news.answers:4070 Newsgroups: alt.games.gb,news.answers Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!wupost!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!ames!saimiri.primate.wisc.edu!usenet.coe.montana.edu!news.u.washington.edu!stein.u.washington.edu!ingram From: ingram@milton.u.washington.edu (Doug Ingram) Subject: Alt.games.gb (Galactic Bloodshed) FAQ [Part 2 of 2] Message-ID: <1992Nov16.175113.9756@u.washington.edu> Followup-To: alt.games.gb Originator: ingram@stein.u.washington.edu Lines: 1187 Sender: ingram@milton.u.washington.edu (Doug Ingram) Organization: University of Washington, Seattle Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 17:51:13 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Archive-name: alt-games-gb/part2 This is the second part of the alt.games.gb FAQ sheet v4.02. This posting serves as an appendix to the alt.games.gb FAQ sheet. It has a series of ten questions asked to several gb veterans by Mike Varney [and painstakingly edited by me :)] and their responses. These questions and their responses are designed for novice players. They don't cover many aspects of the game, but they can be very helpful. Unlike the first posting of the FAQ, this one is unlikely to change over time unless I get new submissions for answers to these questions. I am not exactly looking for new submissions, but... Please only submit answers to these questions if you feel like you have something new or different to say. Also, I will reject any submissions whose format does not EXACTLY match the format I already have in this posting. Even if I get a few more good sets of answers, I'm really tired of editing things to get them into the proper format to make this post readable. Contents: PART 1 -- Setting up your race Should I choose a metamorphic race or a normal race? What type of home planet should I choose? How should I spent my remaining points? What sector preferences should I choose? PART 2 -- The Beginning of the Game What should I do before the first update? What is the first ship I should build? The second? What can I do to increase my resource production on any given planet? PART 3 -- Later in the Game Should I colonize the planets in my own system first, or should I focus on arriving in other systems before opponents can? What should I do when I see another ship other than my own? Changes from last posting: none [Editorial comment: These answers are not all necessarily right. As you will see from the wide range of answers for each question, everyone has their own playing style and their own opinions on how newbies should proceed. In my opinion, there are several misleading and some totally wrong answers in here, so take these with a grain of salt. I'm not saying that all of my strategy tips are foolproof: I've tried to give a balanced view of the game in light of all the different viewpoints I've heard. Still, I may not have succeeded in presenting the whole picture accurately, and I don't want to pretend to know everything about the way the game should be played. In sum...you have been warned. Also, I have edited the original responses where necessary to make them more readable, either by slightly rewording a vague sentence, making the format more readable, changing grammar here and there, etc. ] Key: FEEP = cfodor@UCSD.edu (Christopher Fodor // Feepness) KJM = sigma@ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin // Lestat) GVB = gvbraun@vipunen.hut.fi (Toni Kotinurmi // Keskiolut) NEUE = djewhurs@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu (Derek Jewhurst // Neue Regel) GARF = jkoi@niksula.cs.hut.fi (Jari Koivikko // Garfel) RN = nesiusra@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Rob Nesius) GURU = ccs003@fred.ucdavis.edu ( David Fernandez // Thing ) MUU = danderse@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Dan Andersen // Muu) FNEB = ingram@u.washington.edu (Doug Ingram // Fnebish Legion) MICR = solman@athena.mit.edu (Jason W. Solinsky // Microbians) TRIB = shire@ecst.csuchico.edu (Shire // Tribbles) NB = boutell@freezer.cns.udel.edu () PW = Petri.Wessman@hut.fi (Petri Wessman // TheCulture) FGS = d86y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (Jerry Liu // Froos) GRIF = pad@franklin.cc.utas.edu.au (Paul Daniels // Griffons ) PILL = pad@tasman.cc.utas.edu.au (Scott Donavan // Pillarian ) TAO = f33054r@kaira.hut.fi (Jukka Sinisalo // Tao) EMPI = s35327h@taltta.hut.fi (Samuli Suomi // Empire) LB = sbaker@eng.auburn.edu (Link Baker) CLAW = ferguson@lifesci.ucsb.edu (Mitch Ferguson // Greenies) ZURG = mikes@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Mike Simmonds // Zurgithian) ******** PART 1 - SETTING UP YOUR RACE ******** (1) Should I choose a metamorphic race or a normal race? -------------------------------------------------------- FEEP Normal for me. With high IQ, and try to max out metabolism. KJM Metas are more work because they are able to send pods out fairly early in the game. Typically, they will have a large number of pods out at most times. Since they need to get ahead early, you really have to pay attention to them. GVB Whatever, not too specialized race is the main point. If you have a specialized race, you MUST know what you're doing. NEUE Normal GARF I prefer normal 'cause i get lot of tech RN The concept of a 'normal' race might be more comfortable for a newbie. There are a number of pros and cons to consider. The normal races, also referred to as 'techies', start out with their IQ at a high number. Their tech then increases roughly at the rate of IQ/100. Which means it grows at a linear rate. Morph's intel- ligence, on the other hand, is based on their population. So, before a Morph can increase it's tech, it must increase it's population. In consideration of this, Morphs have the ability to build 'pods' at zero tech, and launch them to other planets, thus letting them expand throughout their home systems at a comparable rate to the 'techies'. Morph's usually have a higher 'fight' than 'normals'. It is possible for Morphs and Techies to be allies. The game is not 'morphs' against 'techies'. GURU If you want to get the higher tech toys first, get a normal race with a high int; otherwise, a meta is a better choice. They start out slow but can catch up quickly. MUU Well, as a newbie, I would start as a normal race. They get a technological advantage over the meta's right from the start. They are also much more straight forward to play. Meta's can get get very complex and very time-consuming in the beginning. Also, Normal's tend to attempt to enslave Meta's as soon as possible. Therefore, if you are not very experienced, you will not be able to keep a Meta as a free empire. FNEB Choose metamorphs if you want to concentrate more on ground fighting and a more dynamic (and time-consuming) game. Choose a normal race if you'd rather experiment with building ship types, with the ultimate goal of finding a good metamorphic ally to do the "dirty work" for you. Both types of races can just as easily win the game, and they're both just as difficult to learn how to play well. MICR You can have fun with both types of races. I've always found the HAP racegen to favor normal races and the GB racegen to favor metamorphs, but the universe will always need a mixture of both. In my experience metamorphs have represented a considerably greater time consumption than normals, so you should take this into account. (of course any race will take a long time if you occupy to much of the galaxy). On the GB racegen you can create some interesting crosses between metamorphs and normals (like races with collective IQ's but neither pods nor absorb.) Most of these combinations are disastrous, but others (like a collective IQ, no pods Jovian) can be both interesting AND playable. TRIB I would suggest a normal race, they tend to have less ship to worry about, and a lot less complications. A meso to be effective must know about tech investiments, how to maximize population, and uses of pods. NB If you want to explore all the nifty ship types of the game, I would suggest you not be a metamorph. Also, being a metamorph successfully requires either tireless fingers or an understanding of macros! PW Depends on whether you want to side with the "Techs" or the "Morphs"... Metamorphs can build pods very early in the game, so they get a head start on the normal races, who have to wait until they can build a shuttle to get off their home world. Morphs have a collective IQ, which means that in the beginning their technology level will increase *very* slowly. Since your tech level determines what kind of whiz-bang stuff you can build, it will take a while until your average Morph race gets its first shuttle up in the air. Things even out later in the game. FGS Depends on your playing strategy. If you enjoy spending a lot of time playing with ships and fleets I'd choose normal. If you don't want to spend a heck a lot of time and don't mind spending your time on planet surfaces, choose morph. GRIF It really depends on the game that you are playing.. If you are playing in one of the clakson games it is a must. With the HAP games you really aught to start out with a tech race. Choosing a normal race will allow you to build better ships earlier, in general, while the meta races tend to allow you to have nice things like higher fighting capability, etc. With the clarkson enroling system the meta's are the strongest races, you can make a meta with the same characteristics as a top line normal cheaper, giving you more points to use for increasing your abilities. PILL This is entirely up to individual tastes, If you are just starting then flip a coin.. try that type then next game swap.. then perhaps make a decision as to what you will play... TAO I'd say normal. If for no other reason but because many don't like them... EMPI It depends of which tactics you are going to use: if you want to be good in man to man-fight, choose meta (because of absorption), if you want fast developing tech from the very beginning of the game, choose normal ( with iq like 170..) and so on... LB I have only played metamorphic races. I like the fact that they can send up pods immediately and don't have to wait for tech. They are more challenging. You don't have the technology of a normal race. Also, you can take a planet without having to destroy it (absorb). That takes skill. Anyone can bomb someone into the stone age. CLAW Normal for the first games, it all makes much more sense. ZURG Well I almost always go for meta, but I depends on the time you have to play or the number of friends you have to help play your race. Metas take time (you need macros aswell, but I have done well spending hours podding before I discovered macros), to come in the top 5 of a big game you will need 1-2 hours per update if you know how to use macros. (2) What type of home planet should I choose? ---------------------------------------------- FEEP A high resource, low fertility planet (desert or airless) You can always increase fertility later with resources. KJM Consider the sector compatibilities which are easiest for a given planet type (they're usually marked with a * by racegen). Planet types such as iceballs and airless are more difficult because they tend to be smaller and have less resources, making your race slower in getting underway. Note - choosing Earth (Class M) planets may seem tempting, and it's not a bad idea. However, in some universes, there are many Earth inhabiting players. This means there will be more competition against your race for these planets. GVB Pick a planet that is rather large ( desert,forest ) because you are not likely to get many planets in your first game... NEUE Class M / Earth GARF 1. Desert 2. Forest 3. Earth (you need too many sector preferences to use this planet effectively) RN This primarily depends on the sector compatibilities you choose. Jovian planets (gas giants) are very large, and have the ability to fuel up ships (so I hear). Half of the sector space in a galaxy is gas. Jovians are few and far between. Their resource content is not very rich, but passable. Whether or not Jovian races should be allowed to terraform sectors to gas is being debated. Class M's are primarily like earth. Don't be fooled, they have LOTS of water...usually. If you have water as a compat, class M is not a bad choice. Water balls are usually small but not too bad for resources. Iceballs are few and far between (I think) but also not too bad for resources. GURU Picking planets is tough. I like to start on a Class M or desert since they are usually large. Large home worlds are good because they can be taxed, and a big planet has more res than a small one. MUU I would go for the generic M-type planet. They aren't the most common, but they are really useful. As another option, you could go for a desert planet. These are GREAT for resources, but are generally very rare. Forest planets are also good, as they produce decent amounts of resources and your population will explode. As for other planets, such as asteroids, airballs, iceballs, and jovians, I would not advise choosing any of these as they all have problems associated with them, such as smallness, lack of resources, and rarity (for the jovians). FNEB Choose either a Jovian, a desert planet, a Class M, or a forest planet. All the other types are too small to start with, and you'll find yourself having a hard time producing resources since production on a given planet goes as _the_power_ "number of sectors owned." Producing resources quickly on your home planet is crucial. MICR Personally, I like forest and desert planets. They have very good resource concentrations and despite much of the documentation, they are often quite large. To a certain extent, planet choice is moot because planetary size, and atmosphere have a much greater effect on the game than the planet type. Just make sure you are compatible with the vast majority of sectors that appear on your planet. (One reason I dislike class-Ms is because most races don't have enough sector preference diversity to colonize greater than 90% of the sectors, and the uncolonized sectors stick out like a sore thumb.) TRIB To start out with, use either forest or desert. Higher resources, and costs less in racegen; you can thus pick other sector pref's. I prefer a forest planet myself. NB I tend toward earthlike planets. Jovians are fun too if you don't mind being somewhat separated from the mainstream of the game. PW Again a matter of taste :-) I personally love desert worlds, since they have an extremely high resource content (i.e. you can build huge amounts of stuff from them). On the down side, desert worlds are low on fertility, so your population increses quite slowly. The "basic" home world is a "Type M" (Earth-type) planet, which is pretty even in all respects -- a pretty good choice for your first game. Other choices are the Water world (not that great), Iceball (avoid!), the Forest world (low resources, high fertility), and the Jovian. Jovians are unique in that they automatically make your race a gas-breather (which rules out any other sector preferences). This make for a division in the game between the Jovians and all the other races, as neither can use each other's worlds (although Jovians *can* terraform normal worlds into gas ones -- this could be considered a bug). You probably shouldn't choose a Jovian for your first game, although if you're feeling brave go for it! FGS Doesn't really matter too much. Just don't pick an iceball or asteroid since those usually are kind of small and puts a constraint on your earlier expansion. Don't choose forest worlds, either. There aren't too many of those. GRIF It really depends on what you want out of your home planet. For cheap compatibilites, you should choose a forest. For high populations, forest or water then earth. For resources, desert. The best way is to fiddle around with the enrol system until you have enough points to do what you want. You will find that the cost for compatabilities change as your home planets do. This cost has eliminated iceballs from being a viable starting planet. PILL Most choose a class M (All sector types except gas) simply because it enables the player to parallel their race against the thinking of a modern day situation. TAO Maybe earth or forest (if this is asked). Both have fairly good fert and resources. Not desert, because fert is so low there. EMPI In earth-,forest- and joviantype planet your population grows faster... In desert-type planet you have relatively greater resources... Of iceballs and Airlesses I have no experiences.. LB Earth type planets. Their size can support a decent population (Meso's need population for tech). They have pretty good resources. CLAW Desert, or Earth. Both are fairly large size planets, have plenty of resources, and can be found in just about every system. ZURG Desert, Earth or Forest (Jovians are good too, but try the others first), as a meta you can have 1 guy live on any sector type so even if you are on an Earth type with incompatable sectors you can still mine resources there. (3) How should I spend my remaining points? -------------------------------------------- FEEP Fiddle around, trying different things every game... that makes it fun. KJM Metabolism is important for producing resources at a reasonable rate, especially early on; many players recommend at least 0.95 or 1.0. Adventurism encourages your people to spread out without your help. IQ is useful for developing tech. They're all useful, of course... which to emphasize the most is your personal preference. Just be sure, in your first few races at least, not to cripple any one stat too greatly, or you may regret it. GVB Metabolism is great, at least 1.0, and fight should never be below 3 or 4. RN IQ will take most of them. Good IQ is about 150-170, 200 if you really want to spend the points. GARF Raise iq to at least 180 and metabolism to 0.9. Drop adventurism to 0.05, birthrate to 0.6 (or maybe 0.5; it's not important to have it high), and get a little fertilize. RN Metabolism is a good place to put points. This represents how active your race is. A race with a low metab(.8 is considered low) will build up fuel, and resources(res) at a slower rate than a race with a 1.0 metab. You don't absolutely need a high metab. Lower metab is still playable, but it requires shrewder planning and foresight on the part of the player. Birthrate should be high. Adventurism need not be high. It represents the chances of members of your race deciding to expand the 'frontier'. For techies, iq is usually a good one to boost up. Don't take more than 3-6 sexes required to reproduce. GURU Always try and get a metab of 1.00 or great. I like to have 1 sex, since it makes colonizing easier. Concentrate on either a smart race or a good fighter type race. MUU A high IQ is nice, as this allows your technology level to increase more quickly. Sector preferences are also really nice. For a normal race, the other stats aren't as important, in my opinion. A low mass is useful, and sometimes you can save a lot of points by reducing your adventurism to as low as possible. This has the effect of having to move all your population manually... They will not move on their own. FNEB Get at least three sector preferences, but don't go for the "common" choices. It's best to find an unusual mix. You'll work much better with potential allies since you won't be wanting the same types of sectors. Also, make sure your metab is _at_least_ 1.0 unless you're a Jovian race (in which case 0.9 is a good minimum). If you're not going to spend the points on a high iq, spend 'em on fight or metabolism. Don't try to max things out too much...at high levels of any attribute, then the cost rises much more quickly than the attribute, but you want something high to give your race a distinct edge, if possible. MICR It's up to you. Generally, its not possible to take over the universe on yuor own, so you should make sure that you have something to offer potential allies. A perfectly well-rounded race, may not have much to contribute TRIB For a first time player, try to only add sector prefs, go with the default setting for the most part. They're not great, but they're not bad either. I would try to have these sectors pref's: Forest, Water, Desert, and land. Also drop your # of sexes to 1. It make metabolism a little cheaper. NB Fight ability is good, but I tend to think reproduction (minimizing number of sexes) is more important. PW Hmmm... depends heavily on the type of play you're going to foll. If you're a "tech" then you can downplay the "fight" and invest in IQ, and vice versa if you're going to go for the "Wood Clubs & Brute Strength" -department :-) I personally like investing a lot in IQ (tech). FGS Make sure you have decent IQ (~150), reasonable birthrate (>0.6), good metabolism(1 or so), and try to be compatible with as many sectors as you can. GRIF Well that really depends. To pull out the maximum res you need both a high pop and a high metab (res is required for the building of ships). Also Birth is good and so are compatibilities to sectors; likewise, someone with fight 10 troops is really nasty to come across. The only way to really tell what you need is by your playing style. That only comes with experience... Go for a basic race that populates well and has 180 tech... it is a good start for a beginner. PILL Again it depends on what race you chose. If metamorph then fight would be useful followed by birth, then sectors (preferences). You may wish to sacrifice some of the iq tech level for other things. If techie, then perhaps higher iq. Fight is not highly required but a fight of one is a major loss. With such a low fight most techies would be (initially) at the mercy of meso pods. Then you can choose between birth and metab. TAO I usually drop my fight a little, buy metabolism and then just sort of spread the rest evenly (no use taking too much fertilizing or adventure though. If you won't be able to play in the start, then that advantage might help). Be unisex if you have the points. EMPI Take higher fight,metabolism and iq... IMHO don't waste your points to get better fertilization; after the tech-level 5, the Space Plows will have the same effect... LB Metabolism is very important. After that a meso should go for fight. Birthrate is fine at 50 - 60 %. Spend extra points on met and fight. Maybe sector compat. also, but it's expensive. CLAW Desert, or Earth. Both are fairly large size planets, have plenty of resources, and can be found in just about every system. ZURG Metas need a good fight and metabolism. In a blitz game you will need adventurism more than .25 (unless you have a population spread macro) otherwise have .1, a very high birth rate is needed to take planets quickly (metas like me are greedy, take all those sectors, ask Feep :-). If going for a low IQ meta then have some (.25) fertility, pods and absorb are a must!!! If playing HAP go for metab of 1.8-2.0, in one game I had 6 planets after only 2 and a bit updates cos I got some res and fuel after the first update! You can afford to be pretty heavy as you will not be using techie ships for a while. (4) What sector preferences should I choose? --------------------------------------------- FEEP Definitely water, desert, land, and mountain. When playing a "Jovian" race, you really can't go wrong since there is a very high percentage of gas giants out there. KJM Always choose the ones which are best for your planet type; those are cheapest. I don't recommend buying more than one other sector compat, if even that, since the *number* of compatibilities you have is a factor in point cost as well. GVB Main preference plus one or two another ( take 100%, because they're cheap after the first 30% or so... ). So, maybe a desert and forest. Or another good choise: desert, land and mountain. NEUE For a Class M planet, take land, water, and ice. These are very common to the other planets too. Forest can also be a good choice. GARF with desert: land/mountain; with forest: land/mountain/water; with earth: land/water/mount (mount is not important but has high resource content). RN Recommendations for these are plated, land, and water. You should have compatibility with these three sectors before you choose others. You don't need 90-100% on every secotr type you do choose. You can select 50% or lower so you can make use of the few odd sectors, or asteroids, forest planets, etc. . . Ice is a good one, since it shows up on iceballs and most classM planets on the poles. GURU Pick as many sector prefs as you can; get them to at least 25%. The best ones in my opinion are home planet sector, desert, mountain, land, forest, water then ice. MUU If you don't have a sector preference in a certain sector type, you effectively can't live on those sector types. So, if you can afford it, buy some compatibility in all, or most of the sectors. They don't have to be bought at 100%. 10%-20% should do for most of them. Be sure to get one or two sector-types at a high compatibility, such as 90%-100%. If you live on a Class M, I would suggest land, water, forest, and a little desert. Again, if you can, get at least a little in all the sector types. FNEB I mentioned this a little bit before. Land and forest have the highest fertility (I'm not mentioning gas since, if you take a Jovian race, gas is your only viable option), hence can support more population. This is good for races with collective iq. Mountain and desert have high resource content but low fertility, so they're good for races with high metab. Ice is useful since it is found on almost all the planets in at least some small amounts, and water is a good choice for a race starting on a class M, though it is generally poor in resource content. Select an unusual mix and you'll find working with allies much easier. MICR Similarly it's not a good idea to be compatible with every kind of sector. MANY alliances are based on sector incompatibilities. TRIB See comment to question 3. NB Land, forest, and water are my favorites. PW 100% for your "home" sector type (i.e. water for water worlds etc.), and at least 50% on a couple of others. "Land" and "Mountain" are pretty good choices, since they are quite common. Again, this depends on your play style. You can either invest a lot in sec. preferences and be able to utilize pretty much anything right at once, or you can invest in tech and build Terraformers as soon as possible (with Terraformers you can change sector types into your own preferred sector type. FGS Try to include either land or mountain because many of the asteroid/ iceball type planetary bodies will have one of these two sectors on them. GRIF Totally dependent on your home planet. The more the better but you will find that some sector preferences cost too much due to you being on a planet that does not have the sector much. You will get the idea if you try having a desert home and water compatibility. Water tends to be one of the most common (generally supports high pop but low res production). Forest is the same as water but supports a higher pop and is very rare (throughout the universe, that is). Land, is incredibly common with average pop and res production. Ice is common, supports little population but high than average res. Gas is only good if you are a Jovian race: low pop/sector and low res. Mountain his high res and low pop. Desert same as mountain but generally more res. PILL Depending on what race gen is being employed will depend on you avenues of decision. These mainly being that you will require 100% of the main sector(s) of what ever planet type you have chosen. Ie class M land(*) or mountain (^) on the GB enroll system. Variances have and will occur in the 2 main race gens available.. (GB's { code, and Clay's port driven system). TAO I've had quite a good start with starting on earth and being able to use water, desert and land. Deserts could be changed to mount, maybe. That way you can land on most planets, get resourceful sectors (desert) and still can spread well on your home planet (water). EMPI As many as possible so you have wider basement when you start to colonize colonizeother planets..... Mountain is resource-rich and quite a non- rare sector type, but it costs points. If you take gas, you don't need to take any other sector types.. :) LB Water is pretty abundant in the universe. Forest is rare. Choose water, and then land or mountains. Stay away from rare sector types. CLAW Besides your planet type sector, definitely choose mountain. There are mountains on every planet, and asteroid. ZURG The primary sector type must be 100% i.e. on Water planets have water 100%, forest 100% on Forest planets etc. On Desert planets you can usually have desert, mountain or ice as 100%. For metas it is good to have some compat with forest as your population grows fast because of the high fertility. Always go for some on land ! If playing HAP have some mountain as there is lots around. ******** PART 2 - THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME ******** (1) What should I do before the first update? ---------------------------------------------- FEEP Beg for an update. It doesn't make much of a difference to unload people from the government center. KJM Unload a few people from your government center to join in the first reproductive pass. Be sure to leave at least one in so you'll get APs! Spend the APs you have moving a few people around diagonally from your starting sector, to encourage widespread colonization. Decide if you want a tax rate (lowers efficiency I believe) or mobilization (eventu- ally produces destructive capacity at the expense of resources). Chat some with other players. GVB Unload @, spread the ppl to next-to-@-sectors. Because you NEED as much ppl as possible and they do _not_ reproduce without you spreading them. Even if you have high adventurism this is recommended. NEUE Get your MIN-SEXES to as many sectors as you can. You will be limited by both AP's and total population. I tend to unload 4-6 people from my @ before the 1st update. Load them back in after the update though. GARF Unload your @ (load #number c -10). Depending on your number of sexes, that number of people to the highest fertility sectors so you have a lot of people after the 1st update. RN Move your people around. It's important to get your planet covered as much as possible. Move them around in small groups so you use fewer action points. Soon, your people will start making resources and fuel. HINT: Use the 'analysis' command to determine which sectors are your most resource rich. It's probably not a good idea to unload people from the government center. You need people there to maintain efficiency, which is a very important aspect of secotr stats. The more efficient you are, the faster you pump out res. And the more effecient your goverment, well. . . think about it. GURU On the first update, take enough people out of your @ and move them 1 space away from your @. This will help you spread out faster, but you will not get as many ap's as fast. After the first update, load the @ to full again. MUU The most enjoyable thing to do, and sometimes really useful, is to meet all the people. Potential allies and enemies always pop up. You should also look at your position and determine possible routes to nearby stars. That's about all I usually do before the update, except for unloading the @. On the very first update, I usually unload five(5) crew from the government center. I then spread them around to five nearby sectors. After the first update, one should always reload the center with crew, as an insufficiently manned center does not produce Action Points(AP's), which, as you will find out, limits the number of actions you can do. AP's are vital in the beginning of the game. FNEB Nothing, unless you want to try unloading your government center Raising tax rates and mobilizing should come after about the 6th or 7th updates, IMHO. If you will be on at the update so that you can reload your center after the first update, go ahead and do it. Unloading your center at the beginning, taking 4 crew out, is nice because it gives you a head start on your expansion at the cost of only a couple of AP's (this is not entirely clear to me due to conflicting information, but I'm told that centers probably _don't_ produce fewer AP's with less crew inside...still, you might as well keep it fully loaded after the first update). MICR If you are playing in a game where you start out with 1200 people, You probabally want to colonize the four sectors on a diagonal from your start sector. (I assume here that all races have six sexes or less) If your race has one sex move one person into each sector, otherwise move six. This will use your APs most efficiently. If you are playing in a game where you start with one person, you might want to unload the government center, but never unload more than 5 and reload it immediately after the first turn. TRIB Drop the # of civ's in capitol by half. Use extra population on the planet. Rember to load up the cap again later. Also, spread people over sectors, just put your # of sexes in each sector that you have ap for. ample. I have 1 sex, thus I move 1 pop into all but one of the surrounding sectors, I then move all but one in orig sector into the one empty sector, then I repeat the process again until planet is covered. If you have over 40 pop in a sector though, move only half. If costs too much ap to move more than 20 pop. NB Not much! Try out commands, read the help extensively, and try to communicate via broadcasting with other players. I've never tried to unload my @! Hey, maybe I'm not all that far from a newbie myself. PW Unload the crew of the government center (@), and move people to nearby sectors that look promising (high resources and compatible sector type). Chat with the other players. Try not to think of the million other things you should be doing instead of playing this (altogether too addictive) game.... FGS Spread your people out. I usually unload my @. For a morph, dump off about 3 or 4. You only have 5 AP's to start out with, and it costs one to move one guy, so dropping off more really doesn't help. GRIF Unload your @ and spread the pop out, but don't forget to load the @ back up after the update PILL First, unload 5 crew from your capitol (ship number of your capitol will be equal to your race number)...eg, "load @ c -5" or "load #shipnum c -5". Once you have done this, you spread out the 5 pop (one at a time as you have only 5 AP's before the first update. Make sure you don't move the pop onto imcompatible sectors. This is, of course only if you are a one sex race; you would have to modify the numbers for how many sexes you have. As long as you move a whole "breeding group" you are okay. The good point of this: It helps get your pop increasing faster; fert and eff on those sectors will already start to increase. Bad: You will get half the AP's that update, so I suggest after the first update you load your gov center back up. Remember that a capitol or gov center will only produce ap in relation to its current level of crew (ie. 100% crew gives you 100% ap, etc.). The next thing you should do is have a look at the number and distribution of the planets in your home system. Next, go to the global scope and have a look at where you are in the universe (this is important as your position will determine as a whole your further strategy). Other things you may consider doing: naming your governor, perhaps changing your password, appointing a second governor (more for your convenience than anything). I would also (if you are willing to, that is) place your email address in your "personal" this helps when you "run" into other races. It makes the politics much simpler. However in a HAP game this is regarded as a BIG nono. Next, I would think about the possible access to a postscript printer. If you have access to one, then I strongly suggest that you pipe a copy of the stars list to a log file, then generate a stars map (the program to do this is available all over the place. I think gb.dorm.clarkson.edu has a mail daemon that will send it to you [It does. -ed]. Then I would just wait. TAO Not much that you need to do. Talk to others and ask stupid questions... They'll help you. I usually unload people from my government center and spread them out. EMPI Use command: help and if theres still something unclear use broadcast and ask it from other players, theres always experienced players around. Unload people from your @ so you can start to populate more quickly. LB View the maps of your home planet, system, and your location in the universe. Unload @ and spread the people around. Find out how close neighboring systems are, which one's you want to explore 1st. Unload all but one crew from your @ so you still get some AP's. Spread 'em around. Load it back up after the 1st update. You should have plenty of pop unless you have a really shitty birthrate. Get that planet covered A.S.A.P. CLAW Get all but one of your people out of the Gov Center, and do spread them around it. Look to see where in the universe you are, just for curiosity. ZURG As a meta with 1 sex you can take 6 sectors on the first move, unload 8 crew from the @ and move 5 pop 1 sector in different directions. Load up the @ again after the first update. No tax yet, but have mobility at 25 or so after the first update. (2) What is the first ship I should build? The second? -------------------------------------------------------- FEEP If you are impatient and have lots of r, you can build a ground telescope and survey your system, otherwise wait and build a factory for shuttles. KJM If you are a meso, the first and second ship you should build is a pod ;) If you are a normal race, build a factory (F) as soon as you can afford it, and teach it to build shuttles (cs #factnum; make s). If your res production is going to outstrip your tech, use "modify" to make the shuttle lower tech. Put people in the factory, turn it on, wait for it to repair. Use the "fact" command (if present on the server) to keep an eye on the factories over the segs and updates. When it's finished, use "build #" to build # of ships while in that factory. GVB First to build is F. Modify it to make s's, as cheap and FAST as possible, maybe carrying nothing but 1 cargo (for upgrading later) and SEX-number of people plus as much fuel as possible. NEUE Make a factory as soon as you can. Have it produce stripped down shuttles so you can get to as many planets as possible. GARF One ground telescope as soon as you get tech 5 and 2 res then aim at the nearest planets, then a Factory to build shuttles with a modified speed of at least 6. RN A good choice for a first ship for a techie is a Factory. Use the factory to build a shuttle to send out to the other planets in the solar system. Also, while your factory is fixing itself,(it starts with 75% damage and needs time to repair.) build a ground telescope so that you can see what the planets in your system are like, and don't send your first shuttle to an incompatible planet. GURU The first ship you should build is a factory; do not build it, though, until you have enough res to turn it on. Wait until you have at least 33 res before building it. You want the shuttle to hold only the minimum number of crew, no guns, no destruct, and no resources. This will let you pay less per shuttle and spend more on speed. If you are a meta, just start building and launching pods as soon as you get the res and fuel to do it. MUU The very first ship I would build is a telescope. That way, you can examine the other planets in your solar system and see which ones you should target for colonization first. The second should probably be a Factory to build colonization shuttles. These should have 5-10 crew and 10 crew if possible. Remember, when you construct a ship design on a Factory, you don't have to be at the given tech of the ship until you want to build them, which is as soon as the Factory comes online (about 3-4 updates after activation). FNEB If you're a metamorph, build pods like crazy until you have the tech capability to build shuttles with speed 4 or so (you can experiment with a factory to find out what tech you need). Other- wise, build _nothing_ until you've built your factory and turned it on. Don't even build a little telescope. You want that factory turned on ASAP, even if you have to set it to building really crappy and cheap shuttles. Once you have something built, you can always modify it later (when you can afford it)...the important thing is getting that F turned on. Once you've spent your res doing this (it costs 23 plus twice the cost of the ship design to build and then turn on the factory), you can build a telescope to survey surrounding planets in your system. MICR Pods for a Meso, shuttles for a normal. A lot depends on your strategy, your race, your start planet, and (especially with Ts) the rules of the game. TRIB Hmmm.... This is questionable. It really depends on the race. For the normal player I would say shuttles and then explorers. Though I've designed races to skip shuttle production before. Remember shuttles are for in system exploration mostly while explorers are for other systems NB The first ship is almost invariably a shuttle from which the weapons systems and so on have been stripped that can carry your minimum number of sexes to another planet in your system for colonization. The second? Another one! Later you should build some shuttles with a bit of destruct on board, to give you a chance of snuffing out unwanted alien colonies at the beginning of their existence. Of course, if you're a morph, you'll build pods first. PW In GB a "ship" is anything that you build, so in GB terms the first ship you should build is (a) a pod, if you're a morph; (b) a ground telescope if you're a normal race. With this gadget you can view your solar system and get some picture of your position so you can send your shuttles to the right places. The second ship type you should build is a factory (F). When you have enough tech and res, you can order it to produce shuttles (for instance) and in a couple of updates, you can start spreading out. FGS If you're a morph, pods. :-) If normal, shuttle, then maybe explorer. GRIF Depends on what you can build pods are good for a meso. a shuttle factory for all those who do not have pods. PILL Again it depends on what race you are.. Meso .. You pod like crazy.. if you are a techy then I suggest that you build a telescope (gives you something to do more than anything) then save up for a factory.. the second for a meso.. (second type not the second ship) would be K's (Space plows..) at tech 5 .. TAO First ground telescope to see what planets there are in your system. Then shuttles... EMPI Perhaps the Ground Telescope would be best as a firts ship... With it you can survey other planets in your star system... Second would be a factory to produce shuttles to get colonization to start... Dont forget to set your tax to about 5 percent, 'cause maintaining of the ships takes money and if you dont have money your morale drops... LB 1st) For a meso, a pod. For a techie, a factory (To build shuttles) 2nd) Meso - pod. Techie - whatever you have the tech for while you are waiting on the shuttles. Domes help the planet and you. CLAW A factory, for shuttles. Then a ground telescope, to check out your system. ZURG Find out how many planets there are in your system using the explore command and build a pod for each one (only need 1 fuel) when you have the res. Send the pod to a planet, land it on a good sector (use analysis to find one and scrap the pod, hey presto another colony :-) As soon as you have the res and fuel send 5-10 pods to your 10 nearest stars (send them in waves, 1 update apart) you will need 1 fuel per ~8000 distance depending on your race's weight. (3) What can I do to increase my resource production on any given planet? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEEP Cover every sector. KJM Get a higher metabolism, get more population. GVB Build Y's. Nothing much else. NEUE Build Y's or q's. Y's have an added effect of producing plated sectors which make it harder for any ships landed on that sector to be hit. q's produce extra toxicity but give more resources in the beginning. As your sector efficiency goes up, q's become less useful. GARF You could use quarries, but i don't recommend it. They cost res to build and make the planet more toxic. RN You can increase resource production with 'quarries'. Beware, you can generate 'toxicity' with quarries, but they will probably help you out very much. Also, I belive Domes can be helpful. GURU To increase res production, use domes (Y), and start out with a good metabolism. Make the domes on sectors that have the most res in them; use the analysis command to find out which sector has the most res. Also make sure you can live on that type sector. MUU Generally, get as much population as possible. Cover your homeworld as soon as possible. And build Domes (Y's) on a few sectors to get their efficiency up (which affects resource production). FNEB First, cover every single sector you are compatible with. Next, if you have spare resources, you can build domes to increase the efficiency of some sectors, which will increase your overall average efficiency, which will, in turn, increase production without hurting your planet. I've found that quarries are a real waste of time and resources. MICR Well, you are going to have to wait a while before you get any significant production. If you are a non-Jovian and you have the tech and resources to spare, you might want to consider domes. Either way, KEEP THE TAXES LOW. TRIB You can build quarries, though I never do. You can also increase your population using K's and build Y's(domes) to increase it's effiency. If your real brave you can design your race to have a real high metab, like 1.5. Thus you'd never have to worry about resources. NB Spread your population thoroughly (make sure you're compatible with the sectors you put people on however), and build domes when you have the available time and resources; domes increase efficiency greatly. PW Move people to the sectors with the highest resource contents, build domes (Y) on the best sectors, and possibly build a space plow (K) to increase sector fertility so that more people appear there. If the planet has the wrong type of atmosphere or temperature you can use atmosphere processors, space mirrors, dust canisters and greenhouse gas to good effect. FGS You could build quarries, or try to put your guys on high res sectors. GRIF Increase the average efficency(through doming) or increase the pop through space plows etc. PILL Well the bets way to increase r productio is to increase you effeciency. you can o this by Doming sectors.. Beleive me it is worht putting r into domes!!!! TAO Build domes, quarrys, terraformers, space plows... EMPI You can build Domes after tech-level 5, they increase your sector efficiency on which depends your resource-production.... LB Get that entire planet covered! After that you'll have to increase the efficiencies of the sectors with domes. Other than that there's not much else you can do. That's why it's important to have metabolism. CLAW Wait. Quarries are overrated. ZURG Cover the whole planet, even sectors you don't like, build domes on these sectors as soon as possible so that you can plate them. I don't use quarries; they're nasty. ******** PART 3 - LATER IN THE GAME ******** (1) Should I colonize the planets in my own system first, or should I focus on arriving in other systems before opponents can? ------------------------------------------------------------------- FEEP Concentrate on other systems, except hit the high fertility planets in your system at the same time. An enemy could breed on a class M ten times faster than on an iceball. KJM Yes. GVB Because you are a beginner, take your own system first. NEUE Depends on how close the neighboring systems are. I try to go for the neighboring systems first and get a shuttle to my own planets after I have sent out 2 or 3 s's to the other systems. If systems are very close (< 10K) it would probably be better to get those first shuttles to your own planets. Don't forget to build a telescope and check out your own planets. This can save you a lot of time by not having to go to every planet. GARF Both if possible. Colonize only the best planets of your own system, like those over 40% compatibility and go fast to the nearest systems! RN Try to colonize your own system first, and estabilsh a good population base and fleet. Throughout the beginning, you may talk confidentially to other players, or publicly to everyone. If you can get a crypt set up with another player, feel free to ask questions. Also, God is an experienced player who can give advice, but don't run to him before trying to figure it out on your own. Otherwise he'd be swamped. It's good to establish friendly relations with other players, and even better ones with races who are in a position to mess with you. Try to get on peoples' good side. Even if you are going to backstab them. :-) GURU Do both. Use one ship to colonize the planets in your star. Use a telescope to save time by aiming it at the planets and seeing if you can live on them. Use your remaining ships to colonize the nearest stars to you. MUU Generally, get as much population as possible. Cover your homeworld as soon as possible. And build Domes(Y's) on a few sectors to get their efficiency up(which affects resource production). FNEB Use a telescope to check out the planets in your system if you have the tech to do it. Colonize those you are compatible with, but always send your first dozen or so ships out of system so they can get a head start on the race with the other players to arrive at and colonize unpopulated systems. If waiting to colonize your planets allows some other race to sneak in, odds are it will be quite easy for you to kick that player out since you will have the resources nearby to build the necessary ships to do it. This is a last resort of course, since you should always ally with your neighbors if at all possible. MICR Contrary to most of the advice I've been given, I ususally colonize my home system first. It costs less in time, and after you colonize your home, you can use the same ships to arrive at other systems. TRIB BOTH! You start off colonizing your planet until you get enough tech to build speed 6-7 shuttles. Then use upgrade (cs into ship scope have resources on ship and use "upg speed 7"). When you can do this then send some shuttles to other systems. When you can build explorers, do so and send them to other systems. An awesome race would have the ability to skip shuttles, go to explorers and thus explore out space the same time as it colonizes its home planets, but it's risky even for experienced players. NB Colonize your own system quickly! Arriving in other systems early is fine if you can build some speed 9 shuttles to zip to the nearest stars, but hyperdrive will arrive before your slower shuttles reach places much further than a star or two away. If you're a 'morph, of course, you should be firing off pods from the very first updates! PW I'd say focus on the other systems. The primitive ship types (pod, shuttle) move slowly, so you have to be fast if you want to make it to the best spots before anyone alse does. You'll always have time later to focus on your own system. FGS Do your own first. Easier and faster and it'll give you additonal supplies to conquer other systems with. GRIF The latter, the more territory that you can gain early the more that you will not have to fight ovewr later PILL Again everything is relative.. But my answer would be YES! You should colonize your system first. You must at least devote your first inter- scope ship to the task.. then work out from there.. if you have close neighbours.. and they get to you first.. and you haven't colonized your system, you could be inviting dissaster. TAO I'd say it depends on what kind of planets you've got. If you have great planets in your own system (the telescope!), send the first ones there. Otherwise sort of divide your forces... EMPI IMHO, colonize your planets first before somebody else do it... LB Everybody should have their own strategy regarding this. CLAW Usually the competition for other systems doesn't happen for a while. Definetly go for your own system first. ZURG Both at the same time, pods are cheap in res so if you have a high metabolism you can send out lots and lots. After the first 10-20 updates you should have podded all the systems within 100000 dist of you, if you have the time ! (2) What should I do when I see another ship other than my own? ---------------------------------------------------------------- FEEP Talk first... don't give away too much. If it's named something nice like "Friendly" then you can assume it's going to be OK. Also, if it is a size 1 shuttle you don't have much to worry about in any case, but a size 6 d, you should definitely make friends if you aren't going to be able to destroy it immediately. Put yourself in the other peson's place (he is just trying to colonize and will be pretty pissed if you blow away his ship for no reason other than he exists.) Also keep in mind that this person is probably very near you as well. A close-in fight like that can be disastrous in a game. KJM Find out who owns it, try to communicate with that player if you wish. If you're aggressive or foolish, attack it. If it's a colonizing pod, blow it away. This is all more a matter of personal style than learning the rules. GVB Talk, negotiate. Do not shoot first, you'll be losing most probably. NEUE Don't try and destroy them right off. That person could be your best ally later on. If you see another ship early in the game, it means that someone else is close by. If you start into a war right away, you will have a really hard time building up at all. The other players who are not fighting right away have more time to expand to other systems. GARF Try to negotiate armistice if he is in a high place in power list, or if you have good allies near then splat that bastard. RN When this first happened to me, I pannicked somewhat. After I calmed my self down and thought it out, Irealized that the ships were not a major threat, and that they couldn't know I was here, so it's not a personal attack on me the player. Open up a dialogue. If there is a planet you can't use but they can, let them in exchange for permission to colonize in their own system. YOU CAN'T WIN GALACTIC BLOODSHED ON YOUR OWN. FIND OUT ABOUT 'ALLIANCES' AND BLOCKS. THESE ARE WHAT CAN BE DECIDING FACTORS IN WINNING THE GAME. GURU If you see another ship that is not yours, send a telegram to the ship's owner. If he is hostile, capture it. If it is in your home system, capture it no matter what. MUU That really depends on you. If you want a war, then by all means, do what you will. However, it can be REALLY profitable to team up with a Meta, if you are a norm. They generally produce more rapidly, and make great troops. Be careful, though, they are not as easy to supress as some might lead you to beleive. Thinking of him as "my Meta" might just get you into a nasty little fight. Again, its really up to you and the situation. FNEB Try to find out what player number owns it by using "tact." If it is your own pod and you see the other ship on a map, tact won't work, but there is a trick for seeing who owns other ships which appear on your map but are too far away for a tactical command to work on them: Use the "highlight" command to run through the list of players, generating a new map for each new highlighted player. As soon as the other ship lights up, you'll be able to see who owns it. It's best to talk to that person since he's probably a neighbor. If you want peace, don't start by making demands or claims of "I was here first." That gets you nowhere. Of course, as a general rule, I only let the _most_ trusted allies colonize my home systems. Players should understand that being allowed to place a colony in another's home system is probably a pretty big act of trust. A lot of full-scale and crippling wars have been fought simply because one player refused to leave another's home system. Deal with this as you see fit. MICR Diplomacy. Declare neutrality if you have the APs and start talking to the owner. Look for an alliance and try to ascertain the enemy's experence. Oh, and one other thing. I've done EXTREMELY well in my first two games and the secret to my success has been (with the exception the diety of course) NEVER EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LET ON THAT YOU ARE A NEWBIE!!!! TRIB Talk first, shoot later. Besides, the first ship you see will most likely be in a place where you can't do much any way. Allies can be more powerful than enemies. *grin* Think about it. NB If it's in your own system, or one just adjacent to it, don't shoot right away (unless it's a missile - ALWAYS shoot missiles, and be sure to give their owners a hard time about it in the future!) Try to communicate with the owner. If you're seeing them relatively early in the game, then they're probably a neighbor, and you need to negotiate with neighbors to avoid counterproductive wars. You may have a planet useless to you that would be useful to them - and vice versa. When pods burst in your system, talk to the owners *quick.* If they don't respond, snuff out the one - man invasion that results on whichever planet it showed up, and do it quickly, because 'morphs reproduce like, well, 'morphs. Bunnies can't hold a candle. PW If it's a pod it might be a good idea to shoot it down (at least if its in your home system), otherwise talking is a *very* good idea. Making too many enemies too fast in the game can lead to your home planet being turned into a nuclear test site :-) FGS This really depends on the individual context. Try to talk to the owner, perhaps. GRIF Close to find out who owns it and then try to parley with them. Successful parleying can allow you to have a good relationship or give you time so that you can backstab later. PILL Find out who it belongs to (ie tact)! Then the best idea is to talk to the owner (ie email to him) or send him a telegram, etc., then decide between you two what you are going to do. Then progress from there.. However you have to remember that generating a fair trust level in this game is difficult.. if you mess up explain the mess up.. else you could inviyte war at the drop of a hat.. this could be good.. but then again :) TAO Send him a message and say Hi! EMPI Try always negotiate first, you need allys to be good in this game... And GOOD LUCK! ..we may meet sometime... LB Do a 'tactical' on it to see what it is, who owns it, etc . . . If it's an enemy and you have an armed ship around, blast it (fire command). If you are close enough board the ship and capture it (Assault command). Any alien ship in your system is a threat. You might want to telegram the person and find out what his intentions are before taking action. A pod is trouble; it means a meso is looking to colonize. CLAW Send a message offering them one of the planets you don't use, or tell them that you live there already. ZURG As a meta there is not much you can do, arm up some military on each planet so that they can not kick you off (high fight is important). I usually go the diplomatic route send them some telegrams, you will need a techie ally and they will probably want a meta friend aswell. Always check the tactical report in your home star ! ------ Comments, flames, and questions are welcome and should be sent to me at ingram@u.washington.edu. This will be posted monthly or as the need arises, and I'll email it upon request. Copies are also available via anonymous ftp at morticia.cnns.unt.edu (login as the user "anonymous" and give your email address as the password when ftp asks for it). Also, you can get a copy of this via email by sending a null body message to "menu@gb.dorm.clarkson.edu" with the subject line "FAQ". Doug Ingram -- Fnebish Legion // ingram@u.washington.edu // "Carpe Datum."