Panpiper
Posts: 64
Joined: 7/9/2005
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The first thing to realize when playing pre-warp Shadows, is that it is an entirely different sort of game. You cannot play it the same way you play classic. In classic, your revenue determines how large a military you support, it does not play a role in determining whether or not you can afford an extra constructor or whether you should wait a few years before building a colony ship. In Shadows (normal) however, money determines absolutely every decision you make. You simply don't have enough of it, in fact you have so little that it is hard to fathom how you can get anything done at all.
When starting a game on normal difficulty Shadows, before taking the game off pause, go into the ship designer and open up the small spaceport. Look at it's constituents, then close that window. Now open up the large spaceport and reduce it's components to roughly half of what was in the starting small spaceport. Remove all weapons (having popguns on a base with no shields is worse than useless). Add labs to have ten of each and make sure you have enough energy for them. Give it ten fuel cells. Save.
Open up your research window and set your weapons to research enhanced missiles, armor plating, improved defense tactics and improved assault tactics in that order. Set your energy to research shields, energy collection, space construction and advanced nuclear fission in that order. Set your high tech to research entertainment systems, medical systems, countermeasures and target tracking in that order. Your weapons choices for later can be more flexible, but right now you need to research the fastest, most effective ranged deterrent you can, and little beats missiles (though fighters might be viable) for that initial game. (I go for torpedoes afterwards.)
Bump up your taxes just a tad, set your planet to building that 'large' spaceport you designed and then take the game off pause. You will probably be visited by a pirate by the time it is built. Pay them off (then as Deathball suggested I suppose, cancel it, though I've never learned how to do that). When the spaceport is built, build a scout and send it to explore the ruins that will unlock warp drive. Explore other planets that are enroute if it's not too much of a detour. If the layout of your system makes it time consuming to explore with just that one scout, build another, but skimping on everything you can in the beginning is crucial. If you've got a good moon or two you could put mines on or happen to be orbiting a nice fuel gas giant, build a constructor, otherwise wait till you've got warp bubble.
A big part of the strategy of the opening game in Shadows is to wait and be patient. The one advantage you have over the pirates (and frankly the AI races) is the labs in your station doing research. Give yourself the time to let your research give you the advantage. It won't take all that long before you will be able to field two of your biggest warships, and with just that, take out large pirate spaceports et al. Given that you probably won't be able to afford more than two at first, this is the key. High tech research ought to aim for boosting population happiness, growth and revenue. Don't forget that boosting colonization will ultimately double the population growth on your homeworld as well.
When your research has given you energy collectors, shields and missiles (you could try being brave and wait for a few extra goodies), upgrade your large spaceport and add twenty concussion missiles and twenty shields. the medical bay and recreation facility you probably also have, add a bit of armor if you researched it. You can also increase the construction and docking capacity a bit at this point. Make sure you have enough surplus energy for your missiles, and add energy collectors to cover all the static energy requirements. Upgrade your spaceport. You can now consider stopping paying off pirates, as if they come near your station, you will blow the snot out of them.
Because you are going slow, waiting for research and such to mature, you do not need a lot of mines and such. Be judicious. Build no more than two constructors in the early game. I don't have more than three even well into the mid game. Your civilian economy cannot support a large number of mines in the early game, so only build what you actually need. The same goes for colonies. Every colony is a drain on your meagre finances if you have any troops to defend the colony or add any sort of base to it. What you are looking for is extremely high value colonies. A planet in the 300's for size and in the 90's for quality 'might' be worth while colonizing. What you really want is a high growth rate independent race on a decent planet. Let the handful of scouts you've built find them first.
Go slow, research fast. Give your population time to grow so you can afford the growth in colonies, ships and bases. If you find a good resort location, that can help with a bit of extra revenue. Trade techs for cash with the few races you meet. Turn off the advisors or otherwise ignore them, as their advice will almost always ruin you if you follow it (the exception perhaps is the intelligence operations). Patience is your friend.
< Message edited by Panpiper -- 12/22/2013 7:38:22 AM >
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Newbie here - got some questions on Prewarp opening move - 
RE: Newbie here - got some questions on Prewarp opening... - 
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