+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Stars! (v2.7i for PC) | | FAQ v1.11 | | Written by "plague006" (Matthew Heguy) and Mars Jenkar | | Last updated 1/21/2006 | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "plague006" Matthew Heguy Original Author =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "Mars Jenkar" (real name not shown) Guide Caretaker Email: [email protected] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ================= TABLE OF CONTENTS ================= - ChangeLog CHG-00 - Introduction ITD-00 \-- Acronyms ACN-00 - Race Creation RCC-00 \-- Basic Principles BSC-00 \-- Page 1 PG1-00 \-- Page 2 PG2-00 \--- Hyper-Expansion PG2-01 \--- Super-Stealth PG2-02 \--- War Monger PG2-03 \--- Claim Adjuster PG2-04 \--- Inner Strength PG2-05 \--- Space Demolition PG2-06 \--- Packet Physics PG2-07 \--- Interstellar Traveller PG2-08 \--- Alternate Reality PG2-09 \--- Jack of All Trades PG2-10 \-- Page 3 PG3-00 \--- Improved Fuel Efficiency PG3-01 \--- Total Terraforming PG3-02 \--- Advanced Remote Mining PG3-03 \--- Improved Starbases PG3-04 \--- Generalize Research PG3-05 \--- Ultimate Recycling PG3-06 \--- Mineral Alchemy PG3-07 \--- No Ram Scoop Engines PG3-08 \--- Cheap Engines PG3-09 \--- Only Basic Mining PG3-10 \--- No Advanced Scanners PG3-11 \--- Low Starting Population PG3-12 \--- Bleeding Edge Technology PG3-13 \--- Regenerating Shields PG3-14 \-- Page 4 PG4-00 \-- Page 5 PG5-00 \-- Page 6 PG6-00 \-- Alternate Reality ANR-00 - Gameplay Tips GMP-00 - Contact CTC-00 - Credits CRD-00 - Legal LGL-00 ========= CHANGELOG CHG-00 ========= v1.11 - January 21, 2006 -- Added some points contributed by mark hawkman. A few other minor adjustments as well. --Mars Jenkar v1.10 - January 11, 2006 -- First update since I began taking care of this guide. Fixed up a few points, and added to certain sections of the guide. Claim Adjuster PRT has been rewritten. All additions by myself have been integrated into the whole of the guide. Changed the format slightly. --Mars Jenkar v1.04 - July 1, 2005 -- A few minor points were contributed, and now added by Mars Jenkar and Hugh Manatee. --plague006 v1.03 - June 13, 2005 -- A few rewrites, and now I'm finally satisfied with the product. Don't expect any further revisions. --plague006 v1.02 - June 1, 2005 -- Reformatted guide to my new standard. --plague006 v1.01 - May 14, 2005 -- Made several small changes to formatting and corrected several spelling and grammatical mistakes. --plague006 v1.00 - May 2, 2005 -- Initial release, everything is complete, and because this is a guide for a very old game, I doubt I will make any revisions except correcting typos I notice in the future. If interest returns to this game, I will create an FAQ section. --plague006 ============ INTRODUCTION ITD-00 ============ This is a guide on all things Stars!. It's an old game, but still very fun, with a degree of complexity rarely seen in today's games. ======== ACRONYMS ACN-00 ======== Several acronyms are used throughout the guide to cut down size and keystrokes. They are: AxB - Number of slots x(times) number of components - A is the number of slots on the Hull of this type, and B is the number of components that can be entered into the slot AoS - Armor or Shield - A slot on a Hull that can accept either Armor, or a Shield ARM - Armor - A slot on a hull that can accept only Armor EC - Electrical Component - A slot on a Hull that can accept only an Electrical Component ENG - Engines - A slot on a hull that can accept only Engines GP - General Purpose - A slot on a Hull that can accept any component except Bombs, and Engines INIT - Initiative - The Initiative of a Hull or Weapon MC - Mechanical Component - A slot on a Hull that can accept only a Mechanical Component PRT - Primary Racial Trait - The main trait of a race; limited to one per race. Includes Super-Stealth, Claim Adjuster, Alternate Reality, etc. PWR - Power - The power of a Weapon RNG - Range - The range of a Weapon SHD - Shield - A slot on a Hull that can accept only a Shield TL - Tech Level - The level of technology you've reached in a given research branch WP - Weapon - A slot on a Hull that can accept Torpedoes or Beam Weapons WoS - Weapon or Shield - A slot on a Hull that can accept Torpedoes, Beam Weapons, or Shields ============= RACE CREATION RCC-00 ============= ================ BASIC PRINCIPLES BSC-00 ================ One race will not cover all situations -------------------------------------- You'll need to create a unique race for each game, to compensate for variables such as universe size and density, winning conditions, and opponents. An example is Silicanoids (hyper-expansion with full environmental immunity) Vs. Rabbitoids (inter-stellar travelers with cheap engines). In a tiny universe, cheap engines are detrimental since a ship's engines are usually the best means of travel. Also in a tiny universe the Rabbitoids might only have 3-5 planets they can easily inhabit (1 of 9 planets) whereas the Silicanoids will be able to colonize every planet within 10-15 years. An inverse example would be the same 2 races, but in a huge universe. With a large array of planets, the Rabbitoids would be able to find habitable planets and would have much better travel capabilities than the Silicanoids. The Silicanoids have a huge empire, and it would be very difficult to defend, since they can't use Stargates. Also, attacking the Rabbitoids would become a problem since they can gate in a huge defense fleet in a year's notice. Every point is precious ----------------------- Leave no point wasted, every single one will help you win a game. Make sure you need every trait you choose (see pages 2 and 3), and make sure you take every penalty you can bear (You should choose either Advanced Remote Mining or Only Basic Remote Mining, but never both or neither.). Experiment ---------- It's fine and good to read descriptions of everything and think you understand the implications, but try selecting options you normally wouldn't and see how it actually affects your strategy. This is just a guide -------------------- Mine is not the word of God, I may be wrong, feel free to add any revisions you feel should be made. Contact info near the end of the document. One part art, one part science ------------------------------ The algorithm used to balance race creation is more complex than I'm willing to figure out. It's as much about feel as it is calculating what point will yield the greatest reward. While a certain trait may be nearly free for one race, it may mean a huge sacrifice to obtain for another race. ====== PAGE 1 PG1-00 ====== There is a little more to this page than might meet the eye. As mentioned in the basic principles, your race should suit your needs. Every facet of it should be suited to the situation. This starts on page 1. RACE NAME: You give your race a name - simple enough PLURAL RACE NAME: The plural form of your race's name (usually add an 's') PASSWORD: You can give your race a password, if you so choose, you might want to assign a password to your race if you're playing on the same computer as your opponents, or are playing against someone who might have access to your computer. Keeping the details of your race a secret is more important than you might think. "Know thy enemy" and when possible, deny knowledge of your own race to others. It's harder for an enemy to prepare a defense against your race when they know nothing about it. LEFTOVER ADVANTAGE POINTS: -------------------------- SURFACE MINERALS - You gain 10kT of surface minerals for every leftover point (i.e. 20 points, 200kT of minerals). As if that wasn't enough, Stars! weights the distribution in favor of the rarest mineral. (i.e. you have a lot of Ironium and Boranium, you'll get mostly Germanium). Great for a race that requires a fast start, such as Hyper-Expansion, since you have the extra resources right away. MINES - You gain one additional mine for every two advantage points. Extra mines can be recommended to someone who needs to start expanding quickly, since you will be able to focus more on building ships and factories, and not having to worry about mines/minerals as much. FACTORIES - You gain one additional factory for every five advantage points. This is a good choice for races who have poor population resource creation, (i.e. One resource created for every 1200 colonists) because you get extra resources to work with in the beginning, it can help make up for the deficiency. DEFENSES - You gain one defense installation for every 10 advantage points. I'll just be honest, for 10 advantage points, you can get 100kT of surface minerals.. a defense installation only costs 15kT minerals and 75 resources (5/5/5/75). You can find better ways to spend 10 points. Even if you feel you might get bombed in year 3, 5 defense facilities, will not save you. MINERAL CONCENTRATION - Increases the concentration of the rarest mineral on your home world by 1% for every 3 leftover points. Seems like a good choice for long games...however, your homeworld will never have a mineral concentration problem; even when concentration should be 0, you mine as if it were 30. (When viewing the popup for the mineral, the concentration is listed as HW, HomeWorld). RACE EMBLEM: A choice of no consequence to gameplay. It's simply an identification tool like race name. ====== PAGE 2 PG2-00 ====== PRIMARY RACIAL TRAIT =============== HYPER-EXPANSION PG2-01 =============== Starting Advantages: - One armed Scout - Three Mini-Colony ships Exclusive Hulls: - Mini-Colony (1 ENG, 1x1 MC, and 10kT cargo) 150mg fuel, 10 ARM - Meta Morph (3 ENG, 1x8 GP, 4x2 GP, 1x1 GP, and 300kT cargo), 700mg fuel, 500 armor, 2 INIT Exclusive Engine: - Settler's Delight - Warp 6 for free, but only for Mini-Colonizer hull Exclusive Component: - Flux Capacitor - increase beam damage done by ship, by 20% Inherent Abilities: - Growth rate is double the value specified in page 4 Limitations: - No Stargates - Maximum population limit on a planet is half what it would support for a race with your environmental requirements (i.e. 500,000 max on home world as opposed to 1,000,000 for other races on their homeworlds) The Good: The Mini-Colony hull is great for early-game seeding of planets, especially with the accompanying Settler's Delight. The Flux Capacitor can be very helpful if your ships are based primarily on beam weapons. A doubled growth rate means you can cut growth rate in half and get huge advantage points to add to other areas. The Bad: The Meta Morph, while a nice Hull, is not much better than the Galleon in most respects. The Settler's Delight is an amazing Engine, however it can only be matched with the Mini-Colony Ship. Having your maximum population cut in half means you need to colonize (and later defend) twice as many worlds as everyone else to keep up with their population and production capacity. The loss of Stargates is a big loss until late in the game when ships are too big to be easily gated, and warp 10 becomes an alternative. The Ugly, Full Analysis: The Hyper-Expansion race is one that must constantly expand, as the description in the race creator says. You need to colonize twice as many planets to match other players' populations and production capacities. The major problem is trying to keep all those planets properly defended without the use of Stargates. You need to manage a huge number of planets and an even larger number of fleets. Hyper-Expansion races in a tiny or small universes, thrive on starving the enemy of planets to inhabit. While a normal race might have six planets colonized, a Hyper-Expansion race can easily have colonized 20-30 planets. In a maxed research game, the Hyper-Expansion races have nothing to offer except the Flux Capacitor, which is only marginally effective since most ships use Torpedoes and Capital Ship Missiles late in a long game. mark hawkman noted: I wouldn't underestimate the offense capabilities of HE races. Battleship designs that use Flux capacitors are quite effective when you pair the capacitors with the higher end Beam weapons. Also they're usually cheaper to build than Missile based designs. And they don't use up Ironium any where near as quickly. I've found that the main weakness of using only Missiles is the massive amounts of Ironium you need for the high end ones. Also in long drawn out games, the HE races can go and build ship yards at their many planets and build a massive enough fleet that "defending" the planets becomes a relatively relatively minor issue. The Boiler Plate: Great for small universes and short games, but loses effectiveness in huge universes and long games. ============= SUPER STEALTH PG2-02 ============= Starting Advantages: - TL 5 in Electronics - One Scout - One Colony Ship Exclusive Hulls: - Rogue (2 ENG, 2x1 EC, 2x2 GP, 1x3 AoS, 1 Scanner, and 500kT cargo) 2250mg fuel, 450 armor, 4 INIT - Stealth Bomber (2 ENG, 2x4 Bombs, 1x3 EC, 1x1 MC/EC/Scanner) 750mg fuel, 225 armor Exclusive Components: - Pick Pocket - 80 l.y. scanner that allows theft of enemy cargo (must be at same location as enemy to see/steal cargo) - Chameleon - 160/45 scanner with 20% cloak - Robber Baron - 220/120 scanner that allows theft of enemy cargo from fleets and planets (must be at same location as enemy fleet/planet to see/steal cargo) - Shadow Shield - Shield strength: 75 and 35% cloak - Depleted Neutronium - Armor strength: 200 and 25% cloak - Transport Cloaking - 75% cloak for unarmed hulls - Ultra-Stealth Cloak - 85% cloaking Inherent Abilities: - All ships and starbases built have inherent 75% cloak - Travel through minefields one warp faster than stated limit - Gain research by spying and combining it with your research. Gain resources in each field equal to 1/2 the average spent in that field by all races (including yours) while at least one other race exists The Good: The Rogue is a ship that easily outclasses two Privateers. As well, two Rogues outclass a single Galleon, making it a good armed transport the whole game through. The Stealth Bomber is a ship on the brink, which is to say, it has little to recommend it over the B-17; however, it is an improvement. For an extra 5kT of Germanium and 25 resources, you get 350mg fuel, 50 armor, and 3 EC. The Pick Pocket and Robber Baron do exactly what they should the whole game through. Equipping a Chameleon in a ship is a simple way to increase its cloak without trading serious functionality away (plus, it's a penetrating scanner, which is great in combination with No Advanced Scanners). Transport Cloaking is in the same boat as the Chameleon. Since it will be equipped on non-combat hulls, you're not losing any functionality. 75% free cloaking on all ships and starbases built has no downside, and is really the crux of Super-Stealth. Traveling through minefields one warp faster is a great advantage when comparing speeds of warp 4 vs. 5. The research gain is a huge ability since it has no drawbacks, and extra research data can only ever help. The Bad: The Shadow Shield, and Depleted Neutronium are nice, but are quickly made obsolete by better Shields and Armors. The Ultra-Stealth cloak is the best in cloak technology, however it's not likely to replace Battle Computers on your warships except in very select circumstances. (An "Overcloaker"-type ship, a Nubian filled with Ultra-Stealth Cloaks, can be very useful in hiding very large attack fleets, so it retains some use.) The Ugly, Full Analysis: The thief Scanners that Super-Stealth receives are useful for 'liberating' enemy cargo. If you find a big enemy mining operation, you can severely hamper their efforts, while gaining great rewards for yourself. The Rogue Hull is a great armed transport hull, and really never becomes obsolete. Although cloak is never perfect, you can usually attack and run without ever being seen on scanners. Your biggest advantage as a Super-Stealth, is that you can usually focus on growing your empire before you need to start actively fighting an enemy, since they won't be easily able to detect where you are. Your second largest advantage is in research, since you gain a bonus each year, from other players' efforts. The Boiler Plate: The Super-Stealth race has no real pitfalls, there are no limitations on what it can build or do, only advantages. It's also very fun to sneak around while enemy fleets are none the wiser. Don't be mistaken though, when push comes to shove, a Super-Stealth player has no problem standing and fighting. It's just that when a Super-Stealth player does decide to make a stand, the enemy never knows how many fleets might be just a few l.y. away as insurance. Super-Stealth works well in almost all universe sizes, and winning conditions. ========== WAR MONGER PG2-03 ========== Starting Advantages: - TL 5 in Weapons - TL 1 in Propulsion and Energy - One armed Scout - One Colony Ship Exclusive Hulls: - Battle Cruiser (2 ENG, 2x2 SHD/EC/MC, 1x4 AoS, 2x3 WP, 1x3 GP) 1400mg, 1000 armor, 5 INIT - Dreadnought (5 ENG, 2x4 AoS, 2x6 WP, 2x8 WP, 2x4 EC, 2x8 ARM 2x5 WoS, 1x2 GP) 4500mg, 4500 armor, 10 INIT Exclusive Weapons: - Gatling Neutrino Gun (PWR: 80 RNG: 2 INIT: 13 Extra: 1280 mines/year, hits all targets in range) - Blunderbuss (PWR: 592 RNG: 0 INIT: 11) Exclusive Abilities: - 1/2 square movement bonus in battle - Colonists attack better - All weapons cost 25% less to build - Learn exact design of ships as soon as they're scanned Limitations: - Can't build mine layers or lay minefields - Can build SDI or Missile Battery defenses only The Good: The Battle Cruiser is more than twice as effective as a normal Cruiser. A Dreadnought is more than twice as effective as a Battleship. The Blunderbuss is the premiere 0 RNG weapon. A 1/2 square movement bonus is a big advantage in battle. Having colonists that attack better than other races' furthers the War Monger's cause. 25% cheaper weapons also is a valuable asset. Learning a ship's exact design is a huge asset in creating ships specially designed to counter other players' designs. The Bad: The inability to create minefields is a huge drawback, as is the lack of highly effective planetary defenses. The Gatling Neutrino Gun is only marginally effective, since most ships will be using Torpedoes and Capital Ship Missiles when you get this weapon. The Ugly, Full Analysis: The War Monger is designed for attacking, pure and simple. It has the biggest and strongest ships. The Dreadnought being unmatched by any other ship with maxed tech, and the Battle Cruiser dominating most of the mid-game. The loss of good planetary defenses is more than compensated by the fact that your ships should make quick work of any bombing fleet. The loss of minefields is a big one, having an ally that can create minefields for you is nice, but if that option doesn't present itself, you can rest in the knowledge that your ships should still be able to make quick work of any enemy fleet anyway. One of the strongest abilities the War Monger has is learning the design specs of any scanned enemy ship, since you can create a design of your own to counter the threat. The Boiler Plate: The War Monger is geared to carnage, and carnage it can inflict. Effective use of the Battle Cruiser and Dreadnought Hulls should allow you to seriously keep enemy races at bay. Even in short games though, abilities such as 25% reduction in weapon costs, 1/2 square movement bonus, and better attacking colonists will carry through the length of any game. If you can find an ally (preferably a Space Demolition race) to lay minefields for you, then you've basically compensated for your only pitfall. ============== CLAIM ADJUSTER PG2-04 ============== Starting Advantages: - TL 1 in Energy, Weapons, Propulsion - TL 6 in Biotechnology - Ship capable of terraforming other players' planets from orbit Exclusive Components: - Orbital Adjuster - modifies planet environmental conditions from orbit, also a 25% cloak Exclusive Weapon: - Retro Bomb - de-terraforms planets, immune to planetary defenses Exclusive Abilities: - Terraforming is free (and temporary). Each year, all planets are terraformed to the limit of your terraforming technology. Planet reverts to natural state if your colonists abandon, or are otherwise forced, from it. - Every so often, a planet's vital stat (Gravity, Temperature, or Radiation) will automatically adjust itself toward the race's ideal. The Good: Terraforming is free, and temporary, so at least if you lose a planet, they have to terraform it. You can de-terraform enemy planets and terraform allied planets for them. Plus, the fact that you don't have to "pay" for terraforming, and the fact that it is instant, means that in the short run you save on resources that could go toward mines and/or factories, and since your population will grow quickly on a terraformed world, your productivity will grow far more quickly than it would for a normal race. Also, planets colonized by Claim Adjuster races will sometimes randomly adjust the underlying values of one vital stat toward the race's ideal by 1%. This will slowly make the planet more habitable to the Claim Adjuster race as it lives longer on it, and these changes to the underlying vital stat are permanent. The Bad: While specializing in terraforming seems like a bad thing at first, it actually helps with productivity in the short *and* long run. The Ugly, Full Analysis: A Claim Adjuster is a great ally to have, since it saves a lot of time and work terraforming new worlds. The fact that the terraforming of its own worlds is free saves resources on one end, and the fact that it is instant allows them to be more productive over a period of time. Those advantages, combined with the gradual adjustment toward the Claim Adjuster race's ideal, make this PRT a prime candidate for so-called "monster" races that are a bit slow in starting, but become nearly unstoppable by the mid-to-late game. The Boiler Plate: If you shrink the habitable range of the planets while keeping it centered, but allow for terraforming capabilities later, you can gain a good deal of advantage points that you can use elsewhere to pump up the growth rates, max factories, etc. Add the Total Terraforming trait, and this capability can become downright terrifying, even in the early game. Properly used, this racial trait can become very difficult to stop once it gets going. Plus, the Claim Adjuster's "remote" terraforming capabilities make it a very powerful and much-desired ally in long games. ============== INNER STRENGTH PG2-05 ============== Starting Advantages: - One Scout - One Colony Ship Exclusive Hulls: - Super Freighter (3 ENG, 1x2 EC, 1x5 AoS, 1x3 EC, MC, Scanner, and 3000kT cargo) 8000mg fuel, 400 armor - Fuel Transport (1 ENG, 1x1 SHD) 750mg fuel, 5 armor, manufactures 200mg of fuel/year, and ships in fleet heal % faster Exclusive Components: - Croby Sharmor - Shield strength: 60 plus 65dp armor - Fielded Kelarium - Armor strength: 175 plus 50dp shield - Speed Trap 20 - mine that stops ships over warp 5 - Jammer 10 - 10% chance of deflecting torpedoes - Jammer 50 - 50% chance of deflecting torpedoes - Tachyon Detector - reduces effectiveness of other players' cloaks by 5% Exclusive Weapon: - Mini Gun (PWR: 13 RNG: 2 INIT: 12 Extra: 208 mines/year, hits all targets in range) Exclusive Abilities: - Colonists defend better - Ships heal faster - Planetary defenses cost 40% less - Colonists on freighter reproduce at 1/2 of their maximum rate, beaming down excess babies when orbiting a planet you own (and into space when you're not?) Limitations: - Weapons cost 25% more than for other races - No Smart, Neutron, Enriched Neutron, Peerless, or Annihilator bombs The Good: The Super Freighter will replace all other freighters easily, if you play a long game. Jammer 10 is great early game, and Jammer 50 is a huge advantage if you play a long game. The Mini Gun is the first Gun beam weapon available, and is a good asset early in the game. Your colonists defend against attacks very well, and your starbases repair at 15% yearly (as opposed to 10% for others). Planetary defenses are 40% cheaper (it will save you about 200kT of each mineral and 400 resources over 100 defenses). Colonists reproducing on freighter is a huge asset I'll talk about in detail in the full analysis. The Bad: The Fuel Transport is quickly obsolete to the Super-Fuel Xport. Croby Sharmor and Fielded Kelarium are both only effective for a brief period, and then quickly obsolete. Speed Trap 20 is nice, but at only 20 mines/year it's hard to create a large minefield. The Tachyon Detector is great for detecting cloak, but it usually can't be incorporated in a conventional warship, or utility ship. Increased cost of weapons aren't a huge detriment, but a burden none the less. The loss of Smart Bombs has to be compensated by building a few extra bombers. The Ugly, Full Analysis: I personally like playing Inner Strength races, they're not the most effective at attacking enemy fleets and planets, but it's very easy to defend planets you do own. One of the greatest traits it has, is reproducing colonists while in freighters, this can be used to great effect on worlds whose populations are nearing the cap. Because the population growth will stagnate, you can fill a few freighters, and have them help the planet reach its cap, then send them around and help the growth of other planets. The Super Freighter is great for trading with Mystery Traders, since it only takes 3 ships. The Jammer 50 is a huge asset in long games, since its nearest competition is the Jammer 30, giving you a big edge against Torpedo users. mark hawkman noted: I've found that a very effective strategy for IS is to use Freighters to overpopulate all of your planets. True the extra colonists can't use factories but they do contribute to your work efforts. The Boiler Plate: It's a great complement to a War Monger, since an Inner Strength race can maintain all the infrastructure (i.e. Super Freighters ferrying minerals and/or colonists). This is a race more geared towards reaching winning conditions through tech levels, production capacity, and owning planets, rather than large numbers of capital ships and conquest. ================ SPACE DEMOLITION PG2-06 ================ Starting Advantages: - TL 2 in Propulsion and Biotechnology - One Scout - One Colony Ship - Two Mine Layer ships (one standard, one speed trap) Exclusive Weapons: - Mine Dispenser 40, 80, 120 - Maximum safe speed: Warp 4 - Heavy Dispenser 50, 110, 200 - Maximum safe speed: Warp 6 - Speed Trap 20, 30, 50 - Maximum safe speed: Warp 5 Exclusive Hulls: - Mini Mine Layer (1 ENG, 2x2 Mines, 1x1 MC/EC/Scanner) 400mg, 60 armor, doubles efficiency of all mine laying pods placed in it - Super Mine Layer (3 ENG, 2x8 Mines, 1x3 AoS, 1x3 MC/EC/Scanner, 1x3 MC/EC/Mines) 2200mg, 1200 armor, doubles efficiency of all mine laying pods placed in it Exclusive Abilities: - Mine fields act as non-penetrating scanners. Cloaks work as an absolute percentage against mine scans. (75% cloak = 25% chance of detection/year) - Can travel through enemy mine fields 2 warps faster than safe limit - Can remotely detonate Standard minefields - Mine fields decay at 1% per planet per year enclosed in mines. All other players' minefields decay at 4% per planet per year - Learn exact design of any enemy ship that hits a mine The Good: Selecting the Space Demolition race will give you the most advantage points of any other. The Mine Dispensers of every size and description you get as a Space Demo race are almost all unique to you. The two hulls, which are excellent mine layers, are the only two of their kind, and are exclusive to you. Your minefields work as scanners, and you can travel 2 warp speeds faster through other players' minefields. You can remotely detonate your own standard minefields, and they decay more slowly than others'. You learn the exact design of ships that hit your mines. The Bad: You have no edge in any aspect of fleet combat. The Ugly, Full Analysis: Almost all mines, and every Mine Layer ship, are yours exclusively. Allies you have will absolutely love you for giving them 1000 l.y. minefields around their planets. You are truly king (or queen) of all things minelaying. While you have no advantages once in combat, your minefields should restrict enemy movement enough that you can prepare anything you need to, before their fleet reaches you. You learn the exact design of any ship that hits your mines. This is perfect for finding out what an incoming attack fleet is made of (if your mines didn't already destroy them) so you can properly prepare a welcoming party. Remote detonation of minefields is sometimes overlooked. With it, you can lay a minefield near a enemy transport lane, heavy in traffic, and when they're all traveling through it, detonate it. It will severely damage all ships in the minefield at the time (yours and theirs), but not your Mine Layers. You have no limitations or real disadvantages to your race. The Boiler Plate: You get extra advantage points during creation of your race, you have no disadvantages. You control enemy movement on a whim. You are king of the minefields. ============== PACKET PHYSICS PG2-07 ============== Starting Advantages: - TL 4 in Energy - Two planets with Mass Driver 5 (in non-tiny universes only) - Two shielded Scout ships - One Colony Ship Exclusive Components: - Mass Driver 5,6,8,9,11,12,13 - Mineral packets have built-in penetrating scanners with range equal the square of their warp speed - Energy Dampener - slows all ships in combat by 4 INIT points Exclusive Abilities: - Miner packets are smaller and cheaper to build - Sense all players' mineral packets in flight, regardless of location - Learn the exact design of any enemy starbase that uses a mass accelerator to receive a packet you fling - Planets receiving mass packets have a 50% chance of a 1% improvement in an environmental attribute. For every 100kT of a mineral not caught, there is also a 0.1% chance of the overall planet value improving by 1%. The Good: In the beginning of the game, it's very helpful to have two Scouts in different parts of the universe. It's also helpful to have the Mass Drivers to scan the surrounding planets much faster than any other player can. A Packet Physics has several useful abilities, such as the built-in scanners and terraforming capabilities of their packets. Seeing other players' packets is useful for determining the size of their empire, and where their planets are. Learning the exact design of an enemy starbase can be very useful if you intend to attack. A warp 13 mass driver allows you to fling your packets 69% faster than a "standard" Warp 10 driver, and far faster than any non-MT ship in the game. This in addition makes it more difficult to stop your packet bombardment of enemy planets. (The fact that your effective range is increased doesn't hurt that either.) The Bad: The Energy Dampener isn't as useful as other EC. And using your mass drivers to scan near the beginning of the game will give away the locations of both your worlds to other players. You'll have to figure for yourself whether the tradeoff of information is worth it. The Ugly, Full Analysis: Packet Physics races are good at keeping minerals at even levels between planets, meaning you can more easily colonize planets with even the lowest mineral concentrations. They have good terraforming potential using packets, and can send the exact size of packet they need. Knowing enemy packet locations is useful for gauging the enemies' disposition of planets, even if you've never sent a scout to that region of the universe. The Boiler Plate: It's fun to hit a planet with warp 16 packets, but aside from that, the advantages of Packet Physics aren't spectacular. ===================== INTERSTELLAR TRAVELER PG2-08 ===================== Starting Advantages: - TL 5 in Propulsion and Construction - Two planets with 100/250 Stargates (in non-tiny universes only) - One Scout - One Colony Ship - One Destroyer - One Privateer Exclusive Components: - Stargates with unlimited range and capacity - Anti-matter Generator - acts as a 200mg anti-matter fuel tank and generates 50 mg of fuel every year Exclusive Abilities: - Can transport minerals and colonists in fleets through Stargates. The cargo weight is not taken into account when determining the fleet weight versus the gate's limits. - Exceeding the safety limits of Stargates is less likely to kill your ships - Stargates cost 25% less - Stargates reveal planetary statistics on all other planets with Stargates in range Limitations: - Mass Drivers are only half as effective at catching minerals as their rating, are less efficient at flinging minerals, and all mineral packets that are flung will decay, regardless of speed The Good: The Anti-matter Generator can be effective when used on transports. 25% cheaper Stargates with no limits! The Bad: You lose the most advantage points choosing this race. Having weakened Mass Drivers puts this race at the mercy of packet bombardment. The Ugly, Full Analysis: This race is the most expensive for a reason. Unlimited Stargates are a huge draw. Moving fleets of Battleships across the largest of universes in a single year makes Inter-Stellar Travelers dangerous -- very dangerous. It's important to remember that even an Orbital Fort can have an Unlimited/Unlimited Stargate equipped. mark hawkman noted: Them being able to move their fleets quickly doesn't make a large difference unless you try to pick away at them. If you attack with a large scale invasion they'll not be able to simply assemble an Uber fleet as they'll have multiple planets to defend simultaneously. The Boiler Plate: Lots of fun to play, but it takes a lot of time to get that Unlimited/Unlimited Stargate, and it's important to remember to keep up on your defense until you have it. The longer a game goes on, and the larger the universe, the more effective this race becomes. They become nearly unstoppable if they gain the Jump Gate from a Mystery Trader. (The Jump Gate allows a ship to jump from space to a Stargate. Range and weight restrictions are based on the destination Stargate.) ================= ALTERNATE REALITY PG2-09 ================= Because alternate reality is so unlike all other races, I will address all aspects of the race in a later section (Check the Table of Contents). ================== JACK OF ALL TRADES PG2-10 ================== Starting Advantages: - TL 3 in all fields - Two Scout ships - One Colony Ship - One Medium Freighter - One Mini-Miner - One Destroyer Exclusive Components: - Scout, Frigate, and Destroyer Hulls get a built-in Scanner with a range equal to 2N/N light years, where N = 10 x Electronics TL (i.e. TL 5 in Electronics -> 100/50 l.y. scanner) *It works out to an extra 20/10 per TL* Exclusive Abilities: - Improve all 'Costs 75% Extra' fields to TL 4 if the box on Page 6 is checked. The Good: The Scout, Frigate, and Destroyer get built-in scanners. A fairly large starting set of ships. The Bad: The Frigate and Destroyer Hulls become obsolete early-mid game, so the built-in scanner becomes obsolete. The 'Costs 75% Extra' bit only helps if you penalize your research on Page 6. The Ugly, Full Analysis: While it can be said that the Jack of All Trades race is just that, generalized, you're better off taking Claim Adjuster since you at least get some kind of advantage. The Boiler Plate: It's generic, so there're no disadvantages. That said there a bunch of race without disadvantages that you would probably be better off playing. ====== PAGE 3 PG3-00 ====== SECONDARY RACIAL TRAITS ======================== IMPROVED FUEL EFFICIENCY PG3-01 ======================== This gives you the Fuel Mizer, Trans-Galactic Mizer Scoop, and Galaxy Scoop engines and increases your starting Propulsion tech by 1 level. All engines use 15% less fuel. Don't combine this with 'No Ram Scoop Engines', as you will lose the Trans- Galactic Mizer Scoop and Galaxy Scoop engines. This is a nice trait to have, especially in long games, the Trans-Galactic Mizer Scoop is great because it allows stress-free warp 10 at Propulsion level 16, and the Galaxy Scoop really can't be beat, giving you warp 9 for free and warp 10 for about 70% fuel. As well, engines using 15% less fuel is a great help. If you can afford it, it'll help short, medium, long games, and any race. ================== TOTAL TERRAFORMING PG3-02 ================== Allows you to terraform by investing solely in Biotechnology. You may terraform a variable up to 30%. Terraforming costs 30% less. Don't combine this with any kind of environmental immunity. Short and medium length games generally won't see any great benefit from this trait. This trait can be a great help in long games however, since you will be able to terraform a lot of planets that weren't habitable by you earlier in the game. The bigger benefit though, is that any planet that is habitable to you will generally be terraformable into a 90% or higher value planet. This trait is more helpful the more restrictive your environmental constraints are, however can be helpful for any race to increase the value of all planets. Space Demolition can use this trait well, because its minelaying technology makes use of Biotechnology anyway. And Claim Adjuster can use this trait to increase their effective habitable range even further than normal, allowing for the creation of a so-called "monster" race. mark hawkman noted: This is also nice to use with IS. with IS you can shrink your habitability and go around colonizing planets that aren't currently habitable. In that plan you can use Freighters to give the planet a growth rate even if the planet isn't habitable. ====================== ADVANCED REMOTE MINING PG3-03 ====================== Gives you three additional mining hulls, and two new robots. You will start the game with two Midget-Miners. Don't pick 'Only Basic Remote Mining' with this option. If you don't select this, I would recommend choosing 'Only Basic Remote Mining'. In a short game, this ability will give you access to the Robo-Midget-Miner and Midget-Miner which, while it may seem are equal to the Robo-Mini-Miner and Mini-Miner, gain a huge edge in cost and weight. Medium length games will see the Miner Hull and possibly the Robo-Ultra-Miner (Which is much more cost-effective than the Robo-Super-Miner). Long games will see the Ultra-Miner Hull and the Robo-Ultra-Miner, which will strip a planet bare in a matter of years. mark hawkman noted: I usually don't use this unless I'm playing Alternate Reality most of my other races just don't need mining that bad.. -- Continued in 'Only Basic Remote Mining'. ================== IMPROVED STARBASES PG3-04 ================== Gives you two new starbase designs. The Star Dock allows you to build light ships. The Ultra Station is a formidable weapons platform. Your starbases cost 20% less and are 20% cloaked. The 20% reduction in cost alone may make this trait attractive to some. The addition of the Star Dock is nice for early game, to build Destroyers, however Cruisers may be too heavy depending on how they're outfitted. It can still build most unarmed ships however. The Ultra Station is nice for anyone who doesn't trust their defensive fleets to handle what's coming, or for those races who have a higher value on their starbases (Such as Packet Physics races or Inter-Stellar Travelers, or ESPECIALLY Alternate Reality). It never hurts to have extra defense at home. That said you should carefully weigh the cost of this trait, it can be pricey for some races. mark hawkman noted: once again [as with Advanced Remote Mining, the only PRT I tend to use it with is Alternate Reality (AR)]... maybe with [Interstellar Traveler] but there's not much else that needs [starbases] that bad. AR finds the Ultra stations to be VERY useful. ==================== GENERALIZED RESEARCH PG3-05 ==================== Your race takes a holistic approach to research. Only half of the resources dedicated to research will be applied to the current field of research; however, 15% of the total will be applied to all other fields. Sometimes this trait will cost you points, sometimes reward. This trait should generally be avoided in short games, where you need to focus every research point. In medium games it's more dependent on the race you want. In long games I would strongly recommend this trait. Let's examine what it does closely, it applies 50% to your current target, and then adds 15% of the total to each other field. That gives you 115% return on your research investment. If you consider researching Biotechnology a 100% waste, you're still getting a 100% return. So it might be worth it, if you get extra points for selecting it. If you don't mind waiting a little longer for a specific piece of technology, and really see the process as gradually getting everything, you'll be well rewarded. This trait combines well with Total Terraforming, since you receive a tangible return on Biotech investment. Also may combine well with Bleeding Edge Technology, since you will be researching everything a little faster. *Special Note* While I mention in my opinion/analysis of Generalized Research you get a return of 115% on resources budgeted, my count gives 125% (6 fields, 1 @ 50% 5 @ 15% 50+75=125). The game's help file says 115% percent, so I'm at a loss. If someone would like to clarify this, please see the contact info near the end of this file. ================== ULTIMATE RECYCLING PG3-06 ================== When you scrap a fleet at a starbase, you recover 90% of the minerals and some of the resources. The resources available for use the next year. Scrapping at a planet gives you half the starbase amount. In short games, not very useful. In medium length games, useful if you plan to build a lot of Destroyers early, then replace them with Cruisers later (or some other large scale overhaul). In a large game, useful if you plan on having several large force overhauls. If you have several other positive traits, such as Fuel Efficiency, Total Terraform, and Advanced Mining, this trait can cost upward of 100 pts. =============== MINERAL ALCHEMY PG3-07 =============== Allows you to turn resources into minerals four times more efficiently than other races. This may be performed at any planet you own. Short and Medium length games will almost never benefit from this. Long games may benefit somewhat. Even with this trait, alchemy is still very expensive. A better bet, may be trying to get the Genesis Device from a Mystery Trader. As with Ultimate Recycle, it can be very expensive. ==================== NO RAM SCOOP ENGINES PG3-08 ==================== No engines which travel at Warp 5 or greater burning no fuel will be available. However, the Interspace-10 engine will be available. This drive travels at Warp 10 without taking damage. Short games may not suffer very much from this trait, since Ram Scoops only become available at Propulsion 6. (Exception is the Fuel Mizer, but it is not eliminated with NRSE, oddly enough.) Medium games will usually gain the advantage of the Interspace-10, and so it may be beneficial to them. Long games probably suffer the most. The Interspace-10 is available at Propulsion 11, then they get no engines until Propulsion 23 when the Trans-Star 10 becomes available to all. During those 12 TL, players without this handicap will be moving along carefree with free warp 7-9, while you're hoping you don't run out of gas in deep space. Avoid in a long game, give it consideration in short and medium games. ============= CHEAP ENGINES PG3-09 ============= You can throw engines together at half cost; however at speeds in excess of Warp 6, there is a 10% chance the engines won't engage. You start with Propulsion one level higher than you would otherwise. This can be useful in short games, the reduced engine price will make ships cheaper to build, and you won't be hitting high warps anyway. Medium and especially long games should avoid this like the plague. It essentially restricts travel to warp 6. I can only promise that if you use this, any time you absolutely need to run from something at high warp, the engines will stall. ======================== ONLY BASIC REMOTE MINING PG3-10 ======================== The only mining ship available to you will be the Mini-Miner. This trait overrides 'Advanced Remote Mining'. Your maximum population per planet is increased by 10%. If you don't select this, I would recommend choosing 'Advanced Remote Mining'. Generally your race is either geared towards heavy remote mining, or no remote mining at all. Inter-Stellar travelers as an example, can be either miners or non-miners. If they can inhabit 1:3 planets or more, they're not, since they can just shuffle minerals around quickly and easily with gates. However if they only inhabit 1:9, then each planet may be better mining the worlds around them instead of putting a drain on the few controlled planets. ==================== NO ADVANCED SCANNERS PG3-11 ==================== No planet penetrating scanners will be available to you. However conventional scanners will have their range doubled. Sometimes this trait will cost you points, sometimes reward. Having your scanners' ranges doubled is tempting. The pitfall is that you lose track of fleets hiding in orbit. The choice is the same for any size universe, and any length game. Your scanners will have HUGE range in long games, 1240 l.y. for the Snooper 620X, but again, you never know what might await you at a planet. However, it can be more useful to certain races, because even with this trait, they will still have some "scanners" with penetrating capabilities. For example, for Packet Physics, the built-in scanners of their packets are still penetrating. And for Super-Stealth, the Chameleon and Robber Baron scanners are still available and retain their penetrating capabilities. Hugh Manatee noted: Any race that gets a free penetrating scanning ability or component keeps it even if they take No Advanced Scanners. i.e. Jack of All Trades has penetrating scanners on their frigates/destroyers/scouts, regardless of if this option is chosen. This applies equally to packets flung by Packet Physics races, and scanning planets with stargates, within range of a Stellar Traveler's stargate. ======================= LOW STARTING POPULATION PG3-12 ======================= You will start with 30% fewer colonists. Under no circumstances select this, you will handicap yourself beyond recovery. A short experiment I did, showed a race with 20% growth starting with 70% of its population take 9 years to catch up to a race with 15% growth and its population unpenalized. It may not seem like too long, however I didn't have them sending out any colony ships (which you would absolutely be doing at the beginning of the game). Colony ships would affect the planet with less colonists more, further slowing the time to catch up. ======================== BLEEDING EDGE TECHNOLOGY PG3-13 ======================== New techs initially cost twice as much to build. As soon as you exceed all of the tech requirements by one level, the cost drops back to normal. Miniaturization occurs at 5% a level and pegs at 80%. Sometimes this trait will cost you points, sometimes reward. Regardless of the length of a game, bleeding edge has very little positive to add. It grants you 5% miniaturization for every TL above requirement, but without this trait, you still get 4%. Cap with this trait is 80% and 75% without. All items with TL 26 will always cost double (Nubian Hull, Anti-Matter Pulverizer, Omega Torpedo, and Annihilator Bomb). ==================== REGENERATING SHIELDS PG3-14 ==================== All shields are 40% stronger than the listed rating. Shields regenerate 10% of maximum strength after every round of battle. However, your armor will only be 50% of its rated strength. Sometimes this trait will cost you points, sometimes reward. In a short game, this will get you killed, since the Destroyer can't equip Shields, you're basically fighting at 50%. In games of medium and long length, this option should seriously be considered. Having strong shields can be used to a large tactical advantage since shields regenerate 10% each round of battle, and recharge fully every year. (Note: mark hawkman correctly states that a shield can fit into the General slot on a Destroyer, but that in turn cripples offensive capabilities, since the general slot is often used for more weaponry.) ====== PAGE 4 PG4-00 ====== POPULATION GROWTH FACTORS GRAVITY Range: 0.12g to 8.00g It's somewhat interesting to note if you put the smallest possible bar on the right side, the range is 3.20 to 8.00, but on the left side it's only 0.12 to 0.31. TEMPERATURE range: -200C to 200C RADIATION Range: 0mR to 100mR The midpoint needs to be 85mR or higher to not be affected by Radiating Hydro-Ram Scoop engines. Actually hard to do, you need a range of 70mR to 100mR or very similar. Very restrictive, only 1:3 planets have radiation that high. MAXIMUM COLONIST GROWTH RATE Range 1% to 20% (Note: 40% with a Hyper-Expansion race, although it won't be listed as such) Choosing a balance between Grav, Temp, and Rad is dependent on the race you want to create. A Hyper-Expansion race can trade a lot of its growth rate in favor of full immunity, since it gets double growth. Races such as Interstellar Travelers don't need to colonize as many planets, since their gate system allows them to easily travel between a far-flung empire's various stars. The game creates the conditions of planets at random, but slightly weighted to the center. The exception is Radiation, which is completely random. Which means you might want to grab some free points by moving your radiation bar to a side. Also, if you're going to choose a single immunity, you should make it Radiation to increase habitable planets (if you keep Grav and Temp in the center, the randomness of Radiation is compensated for). You can also use Radiating Hydro- Ram Scoop as colonist transports with Radiation immunity. It should be noted, that when you select environmental conditions at the extreme ranges, you're restricting the number of planets you'll be able to inhabit, but you're gaining advantage points. Also, planets with conditions in the extreme have a good chance of being super-rich in one or more minerals. It figures that the volcanic planets with blood boiling radiation also have all the good stuff we want. Growth rate is highly dependent on game length and race. In a short game, you'll need a higher growth rate more than anything else so you can keep colonizing and attacking other players' planets. In medium and larger length games growth rates can be slid to 13% or even 12%. 11% is on the slow side, but experiment freely and see what you can work with. Also, certain races won't need growth rates as high as others. I personally often tweak environmental and growth rate to squeeze in everything I want in my race. Try for at least 1:5 planets with most races though, and 13% growth rate. As always, experiment and find your flavor. ====== PAGE 5 PG5-00 ====== RACE EFFICIENCY The guts of your race's production and mineral extraction. One resource is generated each year for every <variable A> colonists. Every 10 factories produce <variable B> resources each year. Factories require <variable C> resources to build. Every 10,000 colonists may operate up to <variable D> factories. <variable E> Factories cost 1kT less of Germanium to build. Every 10 mines produce up to <variable F> kT of each mineral every year. Mines require <variable G> resources to build. Every 10,000 colonists may operate up to <variable H> mines. Ranges: A: 700 - 2500 (increments of 100) B: 5 - 15 C: 5 - 25 D: 5 - 25 E: Checkbox F: 5 - 25 G: 3 - 15 H: 5 - 25 Let's take a look at what the numbers mean. We'll assume A=1000 B-H all = 10 and that the population of our planet is 100,000 (no more growth). Year 1 we have 100 resources to spend (100,000/A) so we'll build 10 factories (100/C). Year 2 we have 110 resources (100,000/A + 10/10*B) so we'll build another 11 factories (110/C). Year 3 we have 110 resources (100,000/A + 21/10*B). Now we'll skip ahead a bit. Year 7 we have 200 resources (100,000/A + 100/10*B) and we build 20 factories (200/C). Year 8 we have 200 resources. Why not 220? Between years 7 and 8 variable D came into play, which says 100,000 colonists can only operate 100 factories. I hope it's a little clearer how all the factors relate to one another. It should be noted that making factories more efficient (B) costs more than being able to operate more factories (D). I'll demonstrate it quickly. Population 100,000 A=1000 B=15 C=10 D=10 Maximum Factories: 100 So, 100,000/A + 100/10*B = 250 Population 100,000 A=1000 B=10 C=10 D=15 Maximum Factories: 150 So, 100,000/A + 150/10*B = 250 Where's the difference? The extra 50 factories each cost 10 resources to build.(And an extra 3-4 kT Germanium each.) Mines work in the same way, but you should remember that the more mines you build, the faster the concentration of minerals will be depleted. If your mines are efficient (F), that will not decrease mineral concentration faster. It's strictly the number of running mines. There's a few things to look at in this little puzzle though. In a long game, a planet will run out of minerals (mineral concentration will be 1). A planet with more mines, will be able to extract more minerals from a concentration of 1, than a planet with less mines working more efficiently. Then there's alchemy to consider, which is creating 1kT of each mineral for 25 resources (or 100 resources if you don't have the racial trait). Variable A: The most expensive alteration you can make, getting it to 900 is recommended, but if you can't do it, 1000 is just fine. The cost from 1000 to 900 is around 200 pts. This is your first priority if you can get it. Variable B: Don't let this drop below 10. This is your third priority. Variable C: You shouldn't raise this above 13 unless A < 1000, in which case not above 16. This can be traded for lowering A, checking E, or raising B. Variable D: Don't let this drop below 10, unless B > 13, in which case not below 8. This should be your fourth priority. Variable E: It will help you significantly if you can get this box checked, a lot of planets will be weak in Germanium, and every kT you can save will help, especially on new planets which will need it for their new factories. It will reduce the cost of factories in Germanium from 4 to 3. This is your second priority. Variable F: Efficient mines will help slow concentration loss, but once you lose the minerals in a planet this becomes somewhat obsolete. Don't drop this below 9. Variable G: Cheap mines won't be a priority, since you can trade these points for better factories. The maximum is 15, I usually don't go higher than 13. Variable H: If you want to conserve your mineral concentration, you can drop this to 8 or 9, but only if F is > 11. If you read my notes on mine efficiency vs. mine quantity, alchemy, and all that, then you can decide on your own if you should go above 10 mines per 10,000 colonists. ====== PAGE 6 PG6-00 ====== RESEARCH COSTS The six fields of technology can be either penalized, costing 175%, or handicapped, costing only 50%. You can get a single technology to 50% for around 40 points (worth it), however a second will cost you around 130 (not worth it). If you're so inclined, you can trade one technology at 175% for another at 50% without losing or gaining a single point. A lot of people don't like Biotechnology, so you can penalize it, and handicap (as an example) Propulsion and Construction for a total cost of around 40 points. What technologies (if any) you should alter here, are completely specific to the race you want to create. In general, Energy will gain you Shields quickly, Weapons yields...uh... Weapons, Propulsion yields Engines, Construction grants Hulls, Electronics presents you with ECs, and Biotechnology with Terraforming options and minelayers. The checkbox for "All 'Costs 75% extra' research fields start at Tech 3" is usually a bad idea. Primarily since you're not likely to have more than one penalized field, and checking it costs more than you gain from a single research penalty. mark hawkman noted: I find that setting all of them to 175% usually give me enough points to be able to off-set the increased cost by increasing my production abilities. But Alternate reality get energy set to 50%. ================= ALTERNATE REALITY ANR-00 ================= As promised, everything you wanted to know about Alternate Reality, but were afraid to ask. Exclusive Hull: - Death Star - the largest starbase ever known Exclusive Component: - Orbital Construction Module - contains viral weapons capable of killing 2000 enemy colonists per year and that colonizes worlds by turning into an Orbital Fort Exclusive Abilities: - Lives on Starbases only, not planets - Starbases are 20% cheaper to build (not cumulative with Improved Starbases) - Population acts as natural miners and scanners - Remote mine own planets (since they live in orbit) - Maximum population is determined by the size of starbase, not the planet - Planetary resources grow as Energy TL increases Limitations: - Cannot build planetary installations - Interstellar travel kills 3% of colonists in the fleet per year The Good: The Orbital Construction Module doubling as a bombing tool is a nice thought. Cheap starbase construction (but there's nothing cheap about a fully loaded Death Star). You can remote mine your own planet. The Death Star is the coolest thing you can ever see in a battle. You can have up to 3,000,000 colonists orbiting a single planet. The Bad: It costs a lot to build a fully decked Death Star (128 weapons, 100 shields) even with a 20% discount. In the incredible event that your Death Star is destroyed, you also lose up to 3,000,000 colonists along with it. Even though you live in orbit, you're still subject to a planet's conditions. You lose 3% of your population in transit. The Ugly, Full Analysis: The Alternate Reality race is way out there. You almost certainly want to marry them to the Advanced Remote Mining trait, since you can mine your own planets. Minerals run out fast though, when you remote mine. Losing 3% of your colonists in transit is a huge hit to take. Having your resource production hinge on your Energy TL really makes you commit to developing it almost exclusively. The Boiler Plate: Design an AR race at least once, and see for yourself what it's like. You will be somewhat surprised. SECONDARY TRAITS Advanced Remote Mining is very helpful, since you can remote mine your own planets. The fallback is that you can quickly strip the mines bare from a planet using remote mining. This is especially useful on the homeworld, where the concentrations never drop below 30, allowing for insane amounts of minerals being mined. (Mine, all mine! *Hem*...sorry.) Improved Starbases is almost forced on you, since you want the Ultra Station and Star Dock as stepping stones and for the 20% cloak. It's too bad you lose out on the 20% discount. Mineral Alchemy might be something to consider heavily because as mentioned before you will likely be remote mining your world and will quickly reduce the mineral concentration. No other secondary traits have very different perspective from AR. Standard rules apply to them. EFFICIENCY You can only adjust a single setting here. Range: 7-25. Lower is better, 10 -> 9 costs about 200, 9 -> 8 about 220. I'll revisit this under FACTORIES. SCANNERS Scanning Distance = SQRT(Population / 10) So at 100,000 colonists the scanner is 100 l.y. At 3,000,000 the scanner is 548/274 l.y. Ultra Station and Death Star have penetrating scans at half distance of standard FACTORIES Resources = Habitability_Value x SQRT(Population X Energy_Tech_Level / Efficiency_Coefficient) You can lower the Efficiency Coefficient when creating your race. Some examples will demonstrate how the factors relate to each other. Hab_Val = 1 (100% = 1, 50% = .5) Population = 750,000 Ener_TL = 7 Coefficient = 9 Resources would equal 764. Change Coefficient to 10. Resources = 724. With Ener_TL = 14. Resources = 1024. Now with a maxed out planet Hab_Val = 1 Pop = 3,000,000 Ener_TL = 26 Coefficient = 10. Resources = 2793. With Coef. = 9. Resources = 2944 MINES The game's help file says Mining = SQRT(Population)/10. So at 100,000 colonists you have 32 mines. At 3,000,000 you get 173 mines: SQRT(3,000,000)/10 = 1,732/10 = 173 mines. ============= GAMEPLAY TIPS GMP-00 ============= Early game ---------- In the early game your main focus should be seeding as many planets as possible. You'll need to build several scouts before anything else, to find as many habitable planets as early as possible. If you chose the Improved Fuel Efficiency trait, your first research target (if you don't have access to it), should be Propulsion to gain access to the Fuel Mizer Engine. The Fuel Mizer will significantly help colonize and scout distant planets. If your primary trait is Inner Strength, you should remember that your colonists will grow (Usually about 1 kT / year in a standard Colony Ship). Mid Game -------- Your main focus will be building defense and attack fleets, all the while balancing that with constant growth. It is important to remember that the player that stops expanding his empire, limits only himself. If you stop after controlling 50 planets, you will be no match for a player who controls 80. While I recommend constant growth, you still have to balance it with proper defenses. A colony of 2000 colonists with no fleets in orbit will easily fall prey to any passing bomber of colonist transport. Late Game --------- At this point your main focus should be making sure all your ships are using the top technologies available to them. You should still be increasing the number of planets you control, all the while properly defending them. Production Templates: This is simply what I use, feel free to adapt it to your style, or ignore it completely. I use four levels of production to divide planets and not overburden them. --plague006 Default Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Min Terraform (3) Factories (10) Factories (60) Factories (200) Factories (3) Mines (10) Mines (60) Mines (200) Mines (3) Max Terraform (10) Defenses (3) Defenses (100) Don't contribute Don't contribute Max Terraform (10) Max Terraform (200) Contribute Alchemy Contribute When a planet reaches Level 3, I usually add a Planetary Scanner to the top of the queue. When a planet reaches Level 4, I usually add a Starbase to the top of the queue. Minefields ---------- Minefields are important regardless of what race you're playing. Minefields essentially restrict enemy movement, especially around your planets. This gives you a great advantage, since you can engage the enemy fleets at your convenience. Mystery Traders --------------- Mystery Traders are a huge asset, but it can be difficult to gather enough ships to cover the 5000kT demand before you have access to the Large Freighter Hull. Some of the better components you can gain from them include the Jump Gate, which allows you to gate from deep space to a Starbase's Stargate. The range and weight limits are dependent on the destination Stargate. But probably the greatest item you can buy from the trader is the Genesis Device.... Genesis Device -------------- The Genesis Device has big tech requirements, Energy, Construction, and Biotechnology need level 20, and level 10 for Weapons, Propulsion, and Electronics. It costs no minerals to build, but 5000 resources. The Genesis device works like this: Your factories, mines, defenses, and planetary scanner are all destroyed. Your population and Starbase remain unaffected. The Gravity, Temperature, and Radiation are all recast, meaning they're randomized. As I mentioned before, Gravity and Temperature as weighted to the center, so if you need planets in the extremes, and you found one, the Genesis Device will likely give you a deadly planet. As well as your environmental factors, all mineral concentrations will be recast, which is a huge boost to any planet that has been strip-mined. If you have full immunity to all environmental settings, and all mineral concentrations are 1, you have nothing to lose. Even if that's not the case, it could still be worth it (especially if you're a Claim Adjuster). An important note to make, is that before you build the Genesis Device on a planet, keep enough freighters in orbit of that planet to hold as much as 75% of the planet's population. (If you have the Claim Adjuster race, drop that amount to the lowest possible habitability after terraforming.) The reason behind that is when you recast the planet, the planet's value will likely be lower than what is currently is, and you can potentially lose hundreds of thousands of colonists to overcrowding. When using the Genesis Device, one year before the completion of the build, evacuate as much of the population as possible (without extending the build time of the Genesis Device). Then when the planet is recast, land as many people as the population limit will allow, and on the planet itself, build nothing but terraforming, you need that value at its maximum, in a minimum of time, so you can send the colonists back to the planet. It takes much less time for a planet of 900,000 to rebuild, than a planet of 100,000. ======= CONTACT CTC-00 ======= Mars Jenkar ----------- I am now the official caretaker of this guide, so please send any information to me. If I've missed something, or if a website not authorized for this guide is using it, please contact me at [email protected]. (Oh, and in case you didn't get my little hint above--NO SPAM, PLEASE.) I've kept plague006's old contact info, just in case, but please send all emails concerning this guide to me. plague006 --------- If you want permission to host one of my guides, or want to report seeing one of my guides at a website not explicitly authorized to host it, please email me at [email protected] with the subject "Copyright". If you want gameplay help, you can email me at [email protected] with the game's name in the subject line. I can sometimes be found on UnderNet, using the nick p6, or plague006. ====== CREDIT CRD-00 ====== CJayC - for posting a guide for a decade old game on the premiere website dedicated to gaming guides Jeff Johnson & Jeff McBride (of Mare Crisium) - for making a game that is so rich and detailed it stands the test of time Empire Interactive - for publishing a game that is so rich and detailed it stands the test of time Rogier 'Konradius' van Vugt - whose FAQ dedicated to Mystery Traders I consulted to verify my own findings Superboc - whose FAQ dedicated to Race Creation I consulted to compare to my own analyses and suggestions Hugh Manatee - who contribute a point I missed in my original writing, which can be found under "No Advanced Scanners" plague006 - for writing the guide in the first place. Mars Jenkar - for contributing points to this guide, and later for taking it into his care. ===== LEGAL LGL-00 ===== The following sites may post this guide: plague006's Home...www.plague006.com GameFAQ's..........www.gamefaqs.com Gamespot...........www.gamespot.com IGN FAQ's..........faqs.ign.com Neoseeker..........www.neoseeker.com DLH.net............www.dlh.net CheatChannel.......www.cheatchannel.com CheatBook..........www.cheatbook.de SuperCheats........www.supercheats.com If you found this guide on a website not listed above, please contact Mars Jenkar (see the contact section for details). This document may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Stars! is copyright (c)1995-1998 Mare Crisium and Empire Interactive. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. This guide has not been authorized by Mare Crisium or Empire Interactive and should not be considered "official". This guide is copyright (c)2005-2006 Matthew Heguy; copyright (c)2006 Mars Jenkar. [EOF]
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