New player struggling

Andy Watkins · #1 April 11th, 2002, 12:23 PM

Hi,

I set the game to see all tech tree and then exported it to a file so I could go through the whole list. I am trying to work out the best techs to research. Following is my current guess in no particular sequence.

All 3 colony ship types
Ship construction as far as possible, minimum – cruiser
Troops (1 level)
Mines (1 level)
Cargo (2 levels)
Repari (2 levels)
Resupply (2 levels)
Propulsion (level 10 if poss)
Armour (at least level 4)
Shields (as many levels as can)
Sensors (at least 2 levels)
Combat support (at least 2 levels)
Computers (2 levels)
Mineral extraction (3 levels)
Applied research (all 3 levels)
Missile weapons (several levels)
Projectile weapons (several levels)
Torpedo weapons (several levels)
Point Defense (level 3)
Planetary weapons (just level 1)
Ship capture (just 1 level towards end of game)
Troop Weapons (just 1 level)

This is my list of must research technologies, and how far I would bother to go. Have left off fighters and drones, and also left off all the exotic technology like bio and crystalline weapons, don’t know anything about them?

Anyone suggest important ones I have left off, or ones I have that are a bit naff?

Ta

Andy

Gryphin · #2 April 11th, 2002, 02:09 PM

RE: Colonizing every planet;
My own take:
Don’t defend planets. Defend Space. If the enemy reaches your planets it means your fleet has been shredded and you are already history.

RE: What to Study
What you study is a “play style” descision.
Colony types: That is a lot of research points early on. If you are expanding fast enough you won’t need the other types till later when you should be able to Trade for or “Acquire through other means” after meeting the right races.
Ship Capture: If you study this early, you may not have to study shields or as many ships sizes, (and several other techs).

Andy Watkins · #3 April 11th, 2002, 02:36 PM

Dont defend planets. Defend Space. If the enemy reaches your planets it means your fleet has been shredded and you are already history.

I tried that first couple of games I tried but had problem then that enemy ships could move quite fast and would "Shoot past me" and clobber my planets. At minimum you seem to have at least an outer layer of systems that need protecting, this may well be half a dozen or so systems with several worlds in them....

Plus supply, I normally base my ships on planets because of supply. I used to base them at worm holes but then have to remember to keep getting them resupplied.

Andy

Andy Watkins · #4 April 11th, 2002, 05:20 PM

2 extra questions

I use Robo miners on space stations over asteroids. I just read something that gave me the impression I could do the same over empty non colonisable planets???

Can a ship have just 1 shield generator on it or is more allowed???

Andy

Vulture-B · #5 April 11th, 2002, 05:50 PM

Andy,

for the defend space issue, use satellites and mines on wormholes and have a fleet within the system, this works at least as an early warning since it will show up in the log.

yes you can use robominer on planets, best strategy would be if you have two or more planets in the sector, you will deplete the planets. so if you still want to colonize them setup a mil instalation, research or intelligence compound.

if only one component is allowed/effective per it is stated in the information window, so yes you can (and maybe should) use more.

concerning your list of research, there are always at least two ways to one target in this game. military actions, intelligence, trade and research can bring you closer to everything you have in mind.

ru
vulture

Quikngruvn · #6 April 11th, 2002, 06:09 PM

Andy, in your research list, I'd add Advanced Military Science to at least level 4. The first three levels give you ship and fleet training facilities (which are vital to surviving a war). Levels 4 through 6 give Hyperoptics, which can detect cloaked vehicles.

Also, a note about robo-miners: only the miners from one ship are effective in a given sector. But, all the miners on that ship will be used....

Quikngruvn

wr8th · #7 April 11th, 2002, 06:11 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Gryphin:
RE: Ship Capture: If you study this early, you may not have to study shields or as many ships sizes, (and several other techs).

If you have ship capture ability try sprinkling warp points liberally with mines. Any intruding ships that are damaged or incapacitated can be captured, repaired (bring a repair/supply ship) and analyzed for technology....

[ 11 April 2002: Message edited by: wr8th ]