Newb Question: My Voice Won't Sound Funny! (Full Version)

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FarAway Sooner -> Newb Question: My Voice Won't Sound Funny! (6/30/2014 5:21:57 AM)

So, I've been playing the game as a PreWarp Empire, and I've gone through 5 or 6 different starts, and I'm having lots of fun exploring the game system. But every time I get ready to hit the Warp Exploration phase of my life, I find myself facing a Helium shortage! So, just as it comes time to retrofit all my ships with Hyperdrive, I have no Helium left and spend years in "Retrofit Purgatory" just as the Kaltors come to eat my ships.

I've made finding a Helium mine my top priority in each of my last 3 or 4 starts, but I invariably only have 1 Gas Giant with Helium, and it takes my pokey Constructors 2 years of game time to make it out to the planet, build the Gas Mine, and even get Helium production going.

I am sure that there are manual ways to tweak this so it doesn't happen, but what's the least meticulous method for overcoming this problem? Am I just building too many ships with Maxos Blasters and Corvidian Shields? Do I need to manually build faster constructor ships and then diligently ensure that the game's AI doesn't upgrade them back to a slower version the first time I listen to my advisors? Am I setting my colony expansion too fast (+10% to +15%), as I remember reading somewhere that population growth requires Helium? (or is that just for colonies?)

Man, this game is deep! I love it, but the Helium thing seems like I'm overlooking something obvious...



Tcby -> RE: Newb Question: My Voice Won't Sound Funny! (6/30/2014 5:35:00 AM)

The problem is easy to solve :). Simply order a smuggling mission to supply your colony with Helium. Independent freighters will drop off the stuff. Cancel the mission when you think you've got enough, or let it automatically cancel after it has been running for a year. I often start games with this mission. I won't do so if I happen to start with Helium close by, for example on a moon orbiting a gas giant with suitable amounts of helium (>40% at this early stage).

Remember that having Helium in your system isn't necessarily enough - if its on the other side of your system you are better off only building a mine there once all your ships have warp bubble generators.



Bingeling -> RE: Newb Question: My Voice Won't Sound Funny! (6/30/2014 7:35:34 AM)

I think you are probably building way more ships than most, but getting a mine on that helium source that should always be there ought to be a priority.

The starting amount of helium is a bit low, I think.

A smuggling mission for it may also work, if you make deals with that pirate scum ;-)



FarAway Sooner -> RE: Newb Question: My Voice Won't Sound Funny! (6/30/2014 1:38:08 PM)

Thanks, guys. I typically do the "All Smuggling Missions" at first, per offers from my advisors, but end up seeming to pay a premium for Steel (which lies around my system like candy). Maybe I'll try rejecting the "All Resoruces" smuggling bounty and specify Helium from the get-go. I'm not building many State ships, but I am building a good number of Mining Stations (my Private Sector chips in a lot here as well). Still, I'll try the Helium smuggling operation and see what I get.

I'm still getting the hang of intra-system travel time PreWarp.



Bingeling -> RE: Newb Question: My Voice Won't Sound Funny! (6/30/2014 3:03:05 PM)

I usually don't build much at all in pre warp. I start activating the constructors once they have bubble drive, and maybe build a mine on a gas giant if the capital orbits one...

You should not require _that_ many mines in the capital system. Apart from fuel not much more than one per resource, with maybe 2-3 for steel (and all the fuel you can get). And that is pretty much it until you grow pretty large...



FarAway Sooner -> RE: Newb Question: My Voice Won't Sound Funny! (7/1/2014 2:23:20 PM)

Sounds like a couple different things going on, guys, thanks. Automation building from my private sector contributed a lot as well. Funny how hard it is to monopolize those resources for the public sector in this computer game, isn't it? I enjoy the complexity of it. And I'm now expanding happily from my new colony (having 4 Gas Giants helped, I'll admit, but the key isn't getting too many prewarp ships before you can build a few Kaltor-killers.



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