The definitive Guide - Starting out

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The definitive Guide - Starting out - 4/1/2010 3:48:44 PM

chmmr

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Joined: 4/1/2010
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Hey guys i decided to make a quick guide for those that want a simple explination on how to start there empire the best way i know how. hope it helps.

Starting out:
1. When you start out all of your ships will be automated. leave them like that cause u wont need them right away.
2. You need to build you economy and the best way is colonies. During the first 30 mins or so of the game continue to check you expansion planner and build as many colonies as you can.
3.build a few more explorer ships and leave them on automate. this will help you find more colonies.
4. put the game on 4X speed and keep checking for new colonies you can build. once you finally meet new empires you will have a massive territory because all you have done is build colonies. your income will also be large.
5. find a black hole and build recearch bases there. maybe 7-8 of them for now. and build defense bases near them.
6. watch your empire grow until you find another AI controlled empire. at this point your research will be rocketting, your money will be rollin in faster then you can spend it.
7. now that there is a rival visible you can set your colony building to auto. build a couple more construction ships on auto and hotkey one, there good to have on hand. Build 5 capital ships and make a fleet.
8. now you have good research, good economy, and your construction ships will supply all the resources you need to build bases and ships. you can now slow the game down to 2x or normal and build a few more fleets ready to invade your neighbour.
9. if you find your ships arent building then check the explansion planner for the most demand resource and order you con ships to queue the resources you need. by this time you will have 4 or more of them so they should get things done and you will have your ships in no time.
10. start wars or what ever you like, you will have a good strong fleet with all the research you done(keep auto ship design on)

this is how i like to play, sit around for a while and build a big economy until you dont have to worry about funds anymore. your con ships will make various research bases and your other star bases ect will provide plenty of research to make your tech much greater the the AI. you ships will own.

hope this helps someone. enjoy

~Kairi

Post #: 1

RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 4/1/2010 4:38:34 PM

Erik Rutins

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From: Vermont, USA
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Thanks Kairi, interesting to read about your playstyle and suggestions. I'm going to move this over to the War Room so it doesn't get lost.

< Message edited by Erik Rutins -- 4/1/2010 4:39:00 PM >

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(in reply to chmmr)

Post #: 2

RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 4/1/2010 4:50:17 PM

Wade1000

Posts: 771
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From: California, USA
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The AI players should now be adjusted to adapt to these steps or to do these steps better.

I think the economy is being tweaked in another update to adjust to the previous resource bud thus money might be less available after that update.

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RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 4/1/2010 5:12:12 PM

licker

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Re: Step1: I think it's a good idea to stick your starting Destroyers into a manually controlled fleet so that you have better reaction to pirates and space monsters (though if you set them at low probabilities this may not be necessary). Then with your first build order, crank out 4 more explorers and 4 more destroyers for a 2nd fleet. Then build up some additional escorts/frigates as you think you need them, and leave them on automate. Just use your 2 destroyer fleets to jump to critical points in your growth, and add to them if you need to.

It's also easyish to retrofit the destroyer fleets compared to tracking down various automated ships, though it would be completely simple if you could give the retrofit order to a fleet instead of having to jump to each ship manually.

Also BE SURE that you build a casion(?) mine somewhere in your empire early. I had a start where I had none of the stuff close by, and by the time my initial constructor jobs were done I was out of it completely, which slowed down my ships drastically. Eventually I met some neighbors who were friendly, but all of a sudden all my empty ships started heading to their colony to refuel, which lead to a rapidly worsening relation with them, and would have been a PITA for me to clear the orders on all those stupid auto ships had I chosen to do so. Instead I just let the relations tumble and gradually moved the ships out of their system when ever they complained about it.

(in reply to Wade1000)

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RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 4/1/2010 6:06:27 PM

Wicky

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From: Linz, Austria
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I always had believed that you can build only 1 research station per black hole, because all the information this B.H. can give is "captured" by the research base.
Kinda figured it was like the large hadron collider in CERN, it doesnt help research faster if you built 2 LHCs.

(in reply to licker)

Post #: 5

RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 4/2/2010 5:17:04 AM

chmmr

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Joined: 4/1/2010
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OK just a few refinements as per you queries and comments.

1. assigning your first few military ships to a fleet is a good idea so when u do get attacked by pirates and space life you can deal with it quickly. but rather then keeping them waiting for the next attack put them back on auto. they will refuel and patrol until u order them.
2. you shouldn't build military ships strait off the bat because they cost maintenance and you wont need them until you encounter more then the first few pirates. if you have pirates set to normal or more then i would recommend paying them off for now cause it wont dive into your income, just your cash reserve. once you develop a better economy then by all means build ships and fight your way out, but for the sake of hastening your starting game economy is the best way. if you have to build more ships do so sparingly cause your economy will suffer.
3. as for casion mining, that is a very unlucky start, i haven't played a game where i struggled to fuel my ships. but if your demand is for casion then try and find some, or start a new game :D
4. this all works for the update 1.02, though it might be slower depending on some variables, its how the game was made to work, so the principle is still the same
5. it may be true what you said about the research stations in the BH, i'de have to check but it cant hurt to build 2 at a BH for yourself and see if the research is improved compared to 1 research base.
6. my prefered priority for research is energy, high tech, weapons and then industrial. if you like to improve one more then the other i recommend this priority for overall defense offense and ship building.
7. as for retrofitting i haven't found much point to it, by the time i need better ships for defense and war, my economy is so good that its easier to build the better ships and use the old ones for a scrap research bonus. retrofitting a fleet rather then each ship individually should go in the suggestion thread.

be careful when you wage war cause your empire can split... and all of your ships along with it. i leant this the hard way LOL

thanks all

~Kairi

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RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 4/2/2010 5:54:43 AM

FerretStyle

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The first thing I do is retire two escorts and build two more exploration ships (for some reason I never have enough modules in stock to build them otherwise). Getting those exploration ships working early is really helpful.

Blow up any pirate base you find, and otherwise just pay the six month protection fees as they are fairly inexpensive (lots cheaper than the loss of a mining base and the subsequent loss of resources). Never ally with pirates, unless you're rich, as it's usually just 30k down the drain if you do... though they can be helpful if you have lots of cash and lots of enemies.

Design some mining bases with guns and maybe a torpedo once you learn that tech. Usually, these can just be added to the default designs, then make sure to check the default designs as obsolete so the AI won't build them anymore. By adding a meager 100 extra maintenance cost to a mining base you can easily protect it from any pirates or other minor threats.

(in reply to chmmr)

Post #: 7

RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 4/2/2010 8:00:26 AM

Fishman

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You only need ONE research base, period, EVER, for the rest of your life. Find a nice site like a black hole and build it there. I like to call mine the "Huge Hadron Collider". That is the only research installation you will ever need, and it will cost about as much as building two dedicated labs, but you will never build another one again, and you will not waste tons of money upkeeping redundant support systems that are duplicated for each separate base built.

Then, arm your merchantmen. The galaxy will hate you for this. But now you have a gargantuan, free freighter militia. The rest of the galaxy can suck it. Now that you don't actually have or need a navy, you save a lot of money that would have been blown on upkeeping that fleet, and can use it to spam colony ships and space ports. Which will cause your citizens to buy more battlefreighters, which improves your defense as all the space lanes are patrolled by these armed freighters automatically. When you're producing freighters that outgun enemy cruisers, you don't have to worry about pirates or annoying space monsters anymore.

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Post #: 8

RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 4/2/2010 8:56:08 AM

FerretStyle

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Fishman
You only need ONE research base, period, EVER, for the rest of your life. Find a nice site like a black hole and build it there. I like to call mine the "Huge Hadron Collider". That is the only research installation you will ever need, and it will cost about as much as building two dedicated labs, but you will never build another one again, and you will not waste tons of money upkeeping redundant support systems that are duplicated for each separate base built.

Have to disagree there... better tech sooner is always good.

Having one or two of each specialized research base (or 4-8 of each lab total, however you can work that out) in a supernova/blackhole system is a nice boost that doesn't cost too much.

(in reply to Fishman)

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RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 4/2/2010 9:01:02 AM

Gertjan

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Thx for the tips. I usually follow the same strategy. I also like to focus on the macro issues and not get into ship designing. Everyone should buy a couple of more explorers early on, unless the map is really large and/or you dont have too many opponents.
Perhaps you could expand your guide to mid/late game. In this part of the game it is very important to establish good relations with some of your neighbors. Some you may want to attack in a later stage. So there is no point in bribing them with gifts.
Also try to get trade treaties with the chosen allies.
You can also try to bribe other empire to attack each other. This way they will keep each other busy and occupied. While you can focus on other issues. This really worked well with galciv2, but it is a lot more difficult in this game.
Also be careful with spying on your neighbors, unless you are already in war with them or plan to that. It can quickly ruin your relationship. Also be careful with the intelligence missions the AI proposes, sometimes the likelihood of success is too low for my taste.

(in reply to FerretStyle)

Post #: 10

RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 5/11/2010 2:12:07 AM

the1sean

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From: Texas, USA
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i think that fishman is right, one good research station at a black hole will give you way more than your max research for a long time to come in all but the very largest games...

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RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 5/11/2010 1:04:06 PM

Fishman

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Usually, it works out well because by the time I need to build a new research base, the enemy has found the old one and blown it up, saving me the bother, so I build a new one that's bigger and beefier with the latest tech. By the time they find and blow that one up, I won't need a research base at all anymore, or if I still do, I'll build a Resort Research Base and arm it to the teeth. I have seen some hilarious acts of AI masochism there.

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Post #: 12

RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 5/11/2010 6:11:16 PM

Cindar

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Fishman is right, consolidation = good. When you build 10 research facilities you end up spending 90% of your money just building all the required base facilities and 10% on the actual research components. Build 5 research labs of each type on 1 facility, put it on a black hole, you are set for the the first third of the game. If you are playing with aggressive AI, go ahead and arm it to the teeth so that you don't have to check back every 30 seconds to see if it needs to be rebuilt.

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Post #: 13

RE: The definitive Guide - Starting out - 5/11/2010 10:41:58 PM

the1sean

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From: Texas, USA
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Yeah, consolidation is great. I am on my first playthrough:

Average size galaxy: 700
Options: all normal
Players: 20 =]
Auto AI: Suggest only

I have played tons of other space 4x's, including the new Armada 2526, and this one takes the cake. Feels like Star Control mixed with Master of Orion and Mass Effect.

Very. Cool.

I was just recently coming to the realization that decking out every frackin small star port with research facilities is a waste of time and upkeep. I consistently overshoot my max research potential by astronomical amounts. Better to build one or two really awesome and well armed research stations at areas with bonuses. Here's a few reasons:

#1 SAVE ON MAINTENANCE: I always like to field tons of escorts on auto, and then maintain a large military that I can control myself. To get that cash I cut expenses. Space stations are the most expensive things you will ever build. Reduce up front costs and maintenance by stripping out the crap that you dont need like research facilities, and armor.

#2 RESEARCH EFFICIENCY: When you can build one big research facility next to a black hole with 200% bonus to research, its the equivalent of building 3 in "normal" areas. so now research costs you ONE THIRD what it costs other chumps.

#3 EASE OF USE: Not maxing out your research potential? Simply build one more base. Enemies raiding your scattered outposts? Just defend the one or two systems that you research base(s) are in. Plus, if you have a different systems as options, plant it on the safest, most removed piece of real estate and you wont even need to fight for it!

DISCLAIMER: crazy pirates and space monsters are out there lurking... make sure to include some guns and shielding

Thanks again for Wade and Fishman turning me on to this game in the Armada forums.

the1sean (AKA Metalman)

< Message edited by the1sean -- 5/11/2010 10:46:55 PM >

(in reply to Cindar)

Post #: 14