Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">At least #1 is simple. Construction queues (F7), select Rate. Click on Rate, then Construction to sort: non-building colonies are listed first, starting with highest production rate (i.e. usually those on emergency) on top.

Having the same #2 problem (haven't we all? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif ) I usually design a few units named like "* upgrade *" or "* build ship now *" etc. Inserting them into the queue at the appropriate places alerts me to take action whenever I see an item starting with "*" in the queue. And they are listed first if you select sort by Construction, so it is easy to check it.

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">At least #1 is simple. Construction queues (F7), select Rate. Click on Rate, then Construction to sort: non-building colonies are listed first, starting with highest production rate (i.e. usually those on emergency) on top.

Having the same #2 problem (haven't we all? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif ) I usually design a few units named like "* upgrade *" or "* build ship now *" etc. Inserting them into the queue at the appropriate places alerts me to take action whenever I see an item starting with "*" in the queue. And they are listed first if you select sort by Construction, so it is easy to check it. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Agreed on #1, but I'd still like a log entry so that I don't have to explicitly look for that each turn. Although I almost always do that sort every turn anyway.

#2... You know, I don't know why such a simple trick like this is incapable of being formulated by my feeble mind. This is a great idea! Thanks. I wonder what the absolute cheapest, smallest unit is... probably an empty small mine... Thanks again!

As for the "build ship now", I assume that you use this because you can't add a ship to the build queue until after a spaceyard is built. Check this out from the FAQ:

4.4.15 Q: How do I set up a planet’s construction queue to build a spaceyard and then build ships without having to edit the queue after the spaceyard is built?
A: Normally you can’t add ships to a planet’s construction queue until after the planet has a spaceyard facility. However there is a neat interface workaround. First, go to another planet that has a spaceyard and add your ship to its construction queue. Then save the construction queue using the process in section 4.4.13 above. Now, when you colonize a new planet, you can set up the build queue to build a spaceyard using the normal method and add ships to the queue using the saved queue.


Slick.

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

Ahh, I should read the FAQ more often. Thanks for the hint, this really solves another small problem.

I wonder how people not reading this forum manage to get along http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

i knew that one slick, but roanons ideas are very nice and useful, thanx a lot http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

another thing I use to min/max my empire: I click on the production thing, and then on usage. this way I can check which planets of mine are using very few minerals (lets say something less than 1500 per turn) I check them and try to change my designs, buildings ques or what so ever in a way to maximize this. not useful at everytime, but a nice way to ensure that your empire is constructing at its maximum lvl.

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Nice tip! That's one I'll be sure to use. Thanks...

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

I just wanted to say thanks again to Roanon for the trick he mentioned below about placing dummy units in the build queue starting with * for reminders. I have been using this ever since he mentioned it and it works like a champ! WOOT!

Slick.

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

Did you just say "woot"? *shakes head*

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

Wow, those are excellent ideas. Thanks for sharing. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">He must have been drinking 'woot beer'. */me looks very bland*

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

What is "root beer"?
I hear it sometimes in american TV shows but I don't know what it is, some kind of carbonated drink, like fanta or such? What does it taste like?

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

It is a soda (carbonated sugar water). Different brands of root beer taste different. Maybe Fanta is like root beer, not the other way around, as root beer has been around for a while. Surely there must be some American import store where you can get root beer.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif I would recommend Mug brand root beer over all others, with A&W a bit behind it. Stuff like Barqs is just garbage and you should not bother drinking it.

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

Nope, no American import store that I know of.
120 K pop in my city so it's Swedens 5:th largest city, no small town, no indeed!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

So, different tastes, but is there some common thing for all root beers?
Do they taste like beer? Are they made with fruit flavour? or what?

[ April 05, 2004, 21:14: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I've never been able to figure out what RB flavor is modeled after except possibly an actual root. So, no help there. But it does taste good.

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

And now for something completely different: Back to Slick's original question.

By the time you have lvl 3 in facilities, you probably have lvl 2 or 3 in shipyards. Build your shipyard first!

Now, before you scream, "But that will cost me 5 *^%(#% turns!", let me point out the advantages. They are very simple: You can now build ships! You can build more units at one time! And do it right now! Your fleet gets decimated? You now have resources flowing out of your ears and 20 extra shipyards to use 'em up. Not to mention rebuilding your fleet in jig time.

But if nothing happens, you can merrily build your level 3 facilities in one turn. During the five turns of the shipyard build, your tech has improved too, so you will be building better ships if the disaster hits.

(Damn, I could sell ice to Eskimos! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif )

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Nope, it has nothing to do with alcohol. Nope, not fruity. It is very hard to describe. Root beer tastes like... root beer. Nothing else tastes like it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ April 06, 2004, 04:35: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

Birch beer tastes like root beer. Root beer has tan foam, birch beer has reddish foam. Birch beer is a lot harder to find than root beer; I can't even think of any birch beer brand names.

When I was a kid, we sometimes got a keg of birch beer for family picnics.

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

Ice to Eskimos? There was a story in the paper, years ago, about a guy trying to sell sand to the Arabs, for water filteration. Apparently, their sand was the wrong shape.

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

I think the distinctive flavor ingredient in the 'original' root beer was Sarsaparilla root. It's true that now 'root beer' can taste like all sorts of things. If you bought one of every brand of 'root beer' on sale in the United States today and tasted them all you'd never be able to figure out what they are supposed to have in common. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

Mug and A&W brands of root beer is good enough, but nothing equals Barq's...particularly for root beer floats with Breyer's vanilla ice cream. Yummy!!! (At least that's for wider distributed root beer...there are some smaller brands)

I always thought birch and root beer were similar flavors. Birch beer comes from the birch tree (gee, that figures). I used to love breaking off a green twig when hiking and leaving it in my mouth to taste it. I think root beer is that flavor plus some others.

Oh, and then there's ginger beer. I get that whenever I can, and I've been lucky to find places that sell it here in the States!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">How is it different from ginger ale?

Re: upgrading facilities pet peeve
 

Speaking of drinks not available in other countries, I miss (I don't know how to spell it, so here is the phonetic pronumciation) "shpayt-see", a German drink that is similar to mixing Coke-a-Cola and Orange (but much better).