Today's Messages (off)
| Unanswered Messages (on)
Forum: IS
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Topic: Fuel Transport vs. SFX
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Fuel Transport vs. SFX |
Sat, 29 June 2019 04:23 |
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magic9mushroom | | Commander | Messages: 1361
Registered: May 2008 | |
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As it says in the topic, which do you prefer? The Fuel Transport is obviously way, way better at making fuel, due to both lower cost and lower weight (the SFX needs Mizers or better to produce more fuel than it uses at Warp 9, whereas the Fuel Transport makes over twice what it uses even with a QJ5 and Croby). On the other hand, the SFX has a little more fuel storage and provides twice the repair boost.
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Topic: IS and False Public Player Scores.
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IS and False Public Player Scores. |
Wed, 03 October 2012 01:40 |
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magic9mushroom | | Commander | Messages: 1361
Registered: May 2008 | |
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I thought of something recently...
One of the tricks of IS is to pick up population into freighters and let it overflow back down to boost population growth. In some cases, this overflow can get quite large; if you're building an orgy at a world, you might have hundreds of thousands being dropped and picked up each year.
Now, with a bit of MM, one can arrange for much of that loading to occur at waypoint 1 instead of 0. If the flip-flop's large enough, this can produce severely misleading results in the PPS. It does not, however, fall within the defined parameters of the "False Public Player Scores" cheat (loading at WP1 and dropping at WP0).
So, should "load at WP1 and overflow pop" be added to that definition?
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Topic: A few thoughts (and numbers) about IS pop growth...
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A few thoughts (and numbers) about IS pop growth... |
Sun, 13 February 2005 07:26 |
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Robert | | Lt. Junior Grade | Messages: 393
Registered: November 2002 Location: Dortmund, Germany | |
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A few thoughts (and numbers) about IS pop growth...
Some basics about growth first:
The formula to calculate the growth is pop_on_surface * modified_growth_rate
The modified growth rate (for capacity >25%) is growth_rate * ((max_pop - pop_on surface)/(0.75 * max_pop))^2
Example: you got OBRM and are non HE or AR or JoaT so the max_pop is 1.100.000
If your growth rate is 19%, then for a planet with 33% cap -> 363.000 pop on surface is:
19 * ((1.100.000 - 363.000)/(0.75 * 1.100.000)^2 = 15,1% (or something close), means
you grow by 0.151 * 363.000 = 54.900 pop
IS has the advantage that pop always growth in fleets like a planet with 50% value and infinite capacity.
In the order of events IS growth in fleets happens before production and growth on planets, which means
that IS can grow the same pop twice - this is because if the freighters are full, the excess population
is dropped to the surface before growing again.
Ok, so far the basics...
Now some numbers (I love numbers):
For now lets assume you got a 100% world with 500.000 pop, and as many freighterspace as you want.
500.000 pop on surface gives 50.000 pop growth and 500 resources (just dropping it all)
363.000 pop on surface gives 54.900 pop growth and 363 resources (33% capacity = 15.1% growth)
275.000 pop on surface gives 52.200 pop growth and 275 resources (25% capacity = 19% growth)
25% always gives max. relative growth, while 33% gives max. absolute growth.
What we can see first is that we got a trade-off between growth and resources. Some people claim
(Jason Cawley was one of them) that you should not maximize the growth, you should try to maximize
the "resource integral" over time - and presented some formula that showed that keeping pop at 47%
once all planets are filled up is best - I dont want to go into such detail, I will just show some
numbers here
So - this has been quite boring, but lets do the same for IS now:
500.000 pop on surface gives 50.000 pop growth and 500 resources (just dro
...
[Updated on: Sun, 13 February 2005 09:39]
2b v !2b -> ?Report message to a moderator
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Topic: 1WW is almost like QS for others
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Forum: SD
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Topic: The fun of SD
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The fun of SD |
Wed, 15 January 2003 21:56 |
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Ron | | Commander Forum Administrator Stars! AutoHost Administrator | Messages: 1231
Registered: October 2002 Location: Collegedale, TN | |
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(Containing quotes from posts scattered around the forums before the PRT forums were setup.)
Coyote, in The Academy "Your Favorite Race" | Hey, I like SD. It's a devastating warrior prt if you know how to use it correctly. The catch is that few players below advanced level know how to use it correctly, and think of it as a "defensive" race that hides behind its mines.
Cheh.
It is unpopular to have as an enemy....
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Coyote, in The Academy "Your Favorite Race" | Think of this as an example:
You keep a few mml scouts zigzagging a year ahead of your attack force. This way your enemy can't rush in to intercept your main force without hitting mines. And you also have a protected resupply route. Not to mention your mines can surround the target worlds making reinforcement very difficult. And your ability to minesweep at warp 6 is a big offensive advantage too.
Now throw some cloaking into the mix...
The advantage of SD is that you slow down enemy movement to the point they're helpless against you.
Newbies: As far as detonations, they happen *after* movement, so you need to anticipate where the enemy will be ahead of time. And remember, many small fields are vastly superior to a few big ones.
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freakyboy, in The Academy "Your Favorite Race" | It gets better....
People have mentioned the SS tactic of popping cloaked mine layers into enemy territory and laying some mines...
Now imagine popping an SD mine layer into enemy territory - not only can you enter @ warp 6 and thus cover more ground quicker you can escape quicker too. Drop some speed traps and stop their reinforcements, drop heavies to take out mining ships, or just lay the odd detonating minefield and ruin their supply system. Only and IT can avoid falling victim to this... but then if you lay a standard minefield over their minelayers away from home and detonate the field they lose their ability to replace their own mines, keep laying your own and hey presto you've gain some space once you clear out beginner |
...
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Forum: Forum News & Announcements
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Topic: Current donation balance
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Current donation balance |
Tue, 11 October 2016 19:10 |
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Ron | | Commander Forum Administrator Stars! AutoHost Administrator | Messages: 1231
Registered: October 2002 Location: Collegedale, TN | |
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Since Stars! AutoHost is now donation supported (see link), someone asked for a donation list. I don't think that means I should list who donated what amount, but I can list the current donation balance, the monthly needed amount to keep Stars! AutoHost running, and the VPS hosting contract expiration date.
The monthly amount needed is 9.66 (was $8.81). This includes the hosting charge of $7.83 (was $6.99) / month, and the $44 / 2years domain name and proxy registration charge.
- Current PayPal donation balance as of Dec. 6, 2023: $112.20
- Hosting expiration date: June 9, 2024
- Domain name expires: July 14, 2024
- Email account expires: Nov. 29, 2024
- Dec. 6, 2023. Spent $49.20 to renew VPN hosting of server.
- Nov. 13, 2023. Spent $78.03 to renew 1 year SAH email account at Office365.
- Jul. 12, 2023. Spent $62.32 to renew domain name to 2024.
- June 9, 2023. Spent $49.20 to renew VPN hosting of server.
- Dec. 7, 2022. Spent $49.20 to renew VPN hosting of server.
- Nov. 29, 2022. Spent $26.09 to setup 1 year SAH email account at new provider.
- May 25, 2022. Spent $46.98 to renew VPN hosting of server.
- Dec. 1, 2021. Spent $46.98 to renew VPN hosting of server.
- Jul. 13, 2021. Spent $62.32 to renew domain name to 2023.
- Jun. 8, 2021. Spent $46.98 to renew VPN hosting of server.
- Jan. 30, 2021. Received donation of $579.87 (PayPal fees subtracted) Person said to use $386.58 for SAH support.
- Dec. 3, 2020. Spent $46.98 to renew VPN hosting of server.
- Jun. 7, 2020. Spent $46.98 to renew VPN hosting of server.
- Feb. 10, 2020. Received donation of $382.10 (PayPal fees subtracted) Person said to use $182.10 for SAH support.
- Jan. 4, 2020. Received donation of $96.80 (PayPal fees subtracted)
- Dec. 12, 2019. Received donation of $23.97 (PayPal fees subtracted)
- Dec. 2, 2019. Spent $46.98 to renew VPS hosting of server.
- Oct. 7, 2019. Received donation of $28.38 (PayPal fees subtracted).
- Oct. 6, 2019. Received donation of $9.26 (PayPal fees subtracted).
- Jul. 26, 2019. Received donations of $16.34 (PayPal fees subtracted).
- Jul. 22, 2019. Spent $62.32 to renew domain name to 2021.
- Jun. 2, 2019. Spent $46.98 to renew VPS hosting of server.
- Dec. 10, 2018. Spent $46.98 to renew VPS hosting of server.
- Oct. 25, 2018. Received donation of $53.24 (PayPal fees subtracted)
- July 12, 2018. Spent $29.16 to renew domain name to July 13, 2019
- Jun. 4, 2018. Spent $46.98 to extend VPS hosting contract to Dec. 8, 2018
- Jan. 1, 2018. Received donation of $57.96 (PayPal fees subtracted) Donator said I could use half as I liked.
- Dec., 2017. Received donations of $21.01 (I subtracted the PayPal fees)
- Nov. 9, 2017. Spent $41.94 to extend VPS hosting contract to Jun.8, 2018.
- Mar. 4, 2017. Received donation of $50 for serial numbers. Donator said I could use the donation as I liked.
- Feb. 11, 2017. Received donation of $7. I thought it was for a serial number, but it was for SAH support.
- Nov. 16, 2016. Received donation of $40. Donator decided on several serial numbers and said I could use the donation as I liked.
- Nov. 6, 2016. Received donation of $6 for a serial number. Donation applied to SAH support fund.
- Oct. 11, 2016 spent $83.88 to extend VPS hosting contract to Dec. 8, 2017
[Updated on: Wed, 06 December 2023 11:03]
Ron Miller
Stars! AutoHostReport message to a moderator
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Topic: Avatars
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Avatars |
Sun, 13 February 2005 21:04 |
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Ron | | Commander Forum Administrator Stars! AutoHost Administrator | Messages: 1231
Registered: October 2002 Location: Collegedale, TN | |
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Those of Lieutenant rank or higher can now have an avatar displayed under their rank graphic on their posts. Go to your Profile, browse your local HD for a graphic of at most 72x72 pixels, then click the Preview button, then Update.
All avatars must pass through an approval process.
Ron Miller
Stars! AutoHostReport message to a moderator
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Topic: Duels hosted on AutoHost
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Duels hosted on AutoHost |
Wed, 12 January 2005 20:29 |
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Ron | | Commander Forum Administrator Stars! AutoHost Administrator | Messages: 1231
Registered: October 2002 Location: Collegedale, TN | |
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Change in policy regarding hosting 2 player games on Stars! AutoHost:
I will allow duels to be hosted on Stars! AutoHost if there has been an accusation of cheating and the game is genned from a .def file by a trusted 3rd-party (using a random seed picked by the 3rd-party).
Ron Miller
Stars! AutoHostReport message to a moderator
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Topic: Bug in Tree View (v2.3.5 of forum software)
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Bug in Tree View (v2.3.5 of forum software) |
Mon, 06 October 2003 08:56 |
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Ron | | Commander Forum Administrator Stars! AutoHost Administrator | Messages: 1231
Registered: October 2002 Location: Collegedale, TN | |
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There is a known bug in Tree view in this version (2.3.5) of the forum software. In Tree view mode, not all replies will be seen until the thread root message is first opened.
Personally, I use the top selection in my profile option "Flat View message and Thread listing".
Ron Miller
Stars! AutoHostReport message to a moderator
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Topic: List All Smilies window fixed
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List All Smilies window fixed |
Sat, 29 March 2003 23:04 |
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Ron | | Commander Forum Administrator Stars! AutoHost Administrator | Messages: 1231
Registered: October 2002 Location: Collegedale, TN | |
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Size of 'list all smilies' window fixed.
Ron Miller
Stars! AutoHostReport message to a moderator
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Topic: Rank FAQ updated
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Rank FAQ updated |
Thu, 27 March 2003 00:24 |
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Ron | | Commander Forum Administrator Stars! AutoHost Administrator | Messages: 1231
Registered: October 2002 Location: Collegedale, TN | |
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FAQ/General/Rank FAQ has been updated to clarify my policy on rank point assignment and because of the recent registration of a few high-profile Stars! community contributers.
(at this time: Barry Kearns and Ian Smith)
[Updated on: Thu, 27 March 2003 00:26]
Ron Miller
Stars! AutoHostReport message to a moderator
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Topic: Polls in forums with posting password
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Polls in forums with posting password |
Sun, 23 February 2003 08:48 |
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Ron | | Commander Forum Administrator Stars! AutoHost Administrator | Messages: 1231
Registered: October 2002 Location: Collegedale, TN | |
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Polls in 'Private forums' that require a password to post, can be voted in by anyone, no posting password required. While I don't agree with the way it works, the forum software author did suggest a way around it, but its a lot more work for that game's host...
The software allows me to designate 'forum leaders'. The leaders can assign permissions on a per-user basis for access in that forum. The permissions include 'Vote'. So, the default permission would be 'no vote', and the forum leader could add all his/her players manually to the forum, and turn on 'vote' permission for each of them. A lot more work...
Anyway, if any of you game hosts with private forums want me to do this, just PM me.
Ron Miller
Stars! AutoHostReport message to a moderator
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Topic: Gone public
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Gone public |
Mon, 04 November 2002 23:37 |
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Ron | | Commander Forum Administrator Stars! AutoHost Administrator | Messages: 1231
Registered: October 2002 Location: Collegedale, TN | |
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This forum has now gone public. I posted a message on the old forum with a link to this one.
Ron Miller
Stars! AutoHostReport message to a moderator
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Forum: VML lounge
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Topic: Anyway to modify AI races?
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Anyway to modify AI races? |
Mon, 05 March 2007 05:40 |
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Carn | | Officer Cadet 4th Year | Messages: 284
Registered: May 2003 | |
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Anyone ever tried that or thought about?
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Topic: VML development stopped
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VML development stopped |
Sun, 05 September 2004 07:12 |
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Verker | | Master Chief Petty Officer VML mod guy | Messages: 99
Registered: January 2003 Location: Vienna, AUT | |
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Fellow Stars! players,
since from time to time I do recieve questions concerning VML via e-mail, I have decided to make the following statements:
- VML development ceased more than a year ago
- the latest version developed (by myself) was v1.3b
- the corresponding website is down
- the mailing list is not active any more
Generally speaking, I am not involved with Stars! any more (though I dont say that wont change again in the future). IOW I dont play any more or develop anything or keep up with the postings on rgcs or sumsuch. Still, if anybody has a question, I will try my best to give an appropriate answer.
Thanks everyone for your interest in VML and for the happy times I had playing Stars! with you guys (I'll never forget my girlfriend informing me the next morning, that I was speaking during sleep when I awaited my fist major Stars! battle - seemingly I said: Darling, type in the password ).
Verker ||¬]
verker@iname.donotspamhere.com remove the obvious for mailing meReport message to a moderator
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Topic: VML?
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VML? |
Tue, 16 March 2004 16:27 |
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Ozone | | Warrant Officer | Messages: 115
Registered: April 2003 Location: Twilight Zone | |
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I have been away from stars for a while. Is VML still alive? I enjoyed the VML duel that I played about a year ago.
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Topic: Stars! AutoHost and VML games
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Stars! AutoHost and VML games |
Thu, 30 January 2003 21:02 |
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Ron | | Commander Forum Administrator Stars! AutoHost Administrator | Messages: 1231
Registered: October 2002 Location: Collegedale, TN | |
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StarEd and VML mod-files modify the stars.exe file.
Mare Crisium and Jeff McBride will not offer help or support for any problems caused by a modified .exe file.
Because of this, and because there is no "standard" VML mod-file, Stars! AutoHost will NOT host VML games.
If I allow one, then I'll have to allow more and I don't have the space/resources etc to handle it.
(thanks for freakyboy for the idea of a separate VML area)
[Updated on: Thu, 30 January 2003 21:03]
Ron Miller
Stars! AutoHostReport message to a moderator
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Forum: Challenges - Scores and Rules
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Topic: Rules
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Rules |
Sat, 03 May 2014 14:10 |
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It is allowed to pre-scan the universe
No cheats ( cheap SB, colonize without colonizemodule, etc)
No remapping.
You have to backup all files from every year (2400, 2401, 2402 ...)
The best 3 Players receive the following points for the challenge scoreboard
1st. 5 Points
2nd. 3 Points
3rd. 1 Point
You may try multiple times to get the best score in a challenge, but only your single best result counts for the points above.
After the end of the challenge you have to send your backup files to me (if you are one of the first 3 Players)
Also, your race settings will be made public (and if you want, your files also).
ccmaster
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Forum: PP
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Topic: PP Race idea - C&P'd from freestars thread
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PP Race idea - C&P'd from freestars thread |
Fri, 05 August 2005 16:47 |
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Figured this might be useful. It worked pretty well in a game.
Re: make PP what they are suppose to be Wed, 03 August 2005 20:54
After countless numbers of games and years of playing stars!, I finally fielded a PP in my last larger game (Epoch of darkness VI).
The design actually worked surprisingly well, especially considering the universe turned out to be extraordinairly disadvantageous to the race (too many other -Fs and starting against a wall w/out enough potential enemies early on).
PP is pretty useful as a -F. My particular variant was intended to use factories, however.
Race: Aprahanti/Butterflies
IFE, NRSE, OBRM, ISB, RS
G-Immune
T- -192 -- -8
R- 1 -- 37
19%/1 in 6
1/1000
7.25.14
10.3.11
W,N,C-Cheap
L-Normal
P,B-Exp
The point of having a few factories w/ modest efficiency was that I would land on them, take them, and use them w/out paying. in practice this whole idealistic plan failed rather dramatically when the first enemy I ran into and began seriously fighting was a duo of -F ITs.
The packet forming and permaforming was surprisingly useful actually. It was too expensive to ever consider practically outside a No-CA game. However, those few really useful (high mineral value) planets just outside your range can be permaformed to habitability w/ your packets. The value of this is not to be underestimated when you need planets.
Also, the early mineral cost isn't so bad, especially when you're making sure that the planet your colonists will soon be arriving on will have minerals to immediately build a dock to send the next wave outward.
The bigger problem is how slow drivers are early on. Need the N-cheap early. You never want to overdrive a terraforming packet since you're going to rapidly lose efficiency. YOu need to be very patient and take a distressingly 'long-view' for a -F. It's a strange beast.
In future designs, I'd probably nix one of my cheap techs and boost hab/PGR. The race intersettles easily.
I might even consider W-normal on this race. Re
...
g.e.
====
"When the newspapers have been read, the TV sets shut off, the cars parked
in their various garages. Then, faintly, I hear voices from another star.
(I clocked it once, and the reception is best between 3:00 A.M. and 4:45
A.M.). Of course, I don't usually tell people this when they ask, "Say,
where do you get your ideas?" I just say I don't know. It's safer."
-P. K. DickReport message to a moderator
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Forum: Stars! - Must Know
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Topic: Tutorial - How to get over 25k resources by 2450 (BEGINNER)
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Tutorial - How to get over 25k resources by 2450 (BEGINNER) |
Fri, 05 August 2005 16:16 |
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Micha | | | Messages: 2342
Registered: November 2002 Location: Belgium GMT +1 | |
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This is an explination for beginners about how to handle your race and build up your economy in a Stars! game. In this example a HG JoaT is used for that purpose. Yes, it is long but read it and try it, it will pay off in your future games!
Link to the original article on www.starsfaq.com
***
3.11) HOW THE HECK DO YOU PEOPLE MANAGE TO GET OVER 25,000 RESOURCES BY 2450?
Subject: Re: 'EXPERT' Help wanted
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 21:51:40 GMT
From: jasoncawley@msn.com
Organization: Deja News - The Leader in Internet Discussion
Newsgroups: rec.games.computer.stars
In article <36A0B37E.E7A38E49@bayesian.prestel.co.uk> ,
Theo Clouter <death@bayesian.prestel.co.uk> wrote:
>
> This is a small request for guidance, I have already spoken to Art
over
> this and am getting slightly better at race design, butr how do I break
> 30/50/70/100k resources after 50-70 years?
Well, let's shoot for 30k in 50 years Acc BBS first, ok?
I recommend you try to do that with a fairly simple race, not too jazzed up.
The idea is to learn how to run the empire-building phase, and see what
really matters in getting the performance. It is a lot easier to tweek a
way of doing things you know with a more complicated race than to discover
everything with one.
So, I recommend you shoot for the 30k with the Feds. As follows -
Federation
Jack of all Trades
IFE, OBRM, NAS
0.27/3.68g, -128/128C, 16/84mR
1/3 overall, eventually live almost everywhere with full terraforming
19% pop growth
1/1000 pop efficiency
10/9/13 factories
G box *not* checked
10/3/15 mines
Weapons cheap, rest expensive and start at 4.
Leaves 0 points.
The idea of the Feds is the main idea to understand in getting a big economy
by year 50 or so - sheer numbers of people. The factory settings aren't
great, but it may surprise you how much econ you can get without monkeying
with those very much. The Feds get a maximum planet size of 1,320,000 - the
most possible (non -AR anyway), since they get the +20% from being JOAT and
the +10% from OBRM. With the wide hab as well, they wind up with *lots* of
space for population. The huge planets and 19% growth rate will also grow
lots of people - 62,700 a year at 25% of capacity from the homeworld alone.
Also, the Feds get great starting tech, which makes getting going (and
moving all that pop growth) much easier. You start with 40 LY penscanning from all
scouts, frigates and DDs, so scouting is a breeze. And you start with
fuel-mizer equipped privateers to move pop, giving great range and speed
right from the start.
The autobuild to use with the Feds is -
auto 500 factories
auto 500 mines
auto 5% max terraforming
Don't contribute to research
You will want to make a few modifications to those orders on some worlds as
they develop, though. First, on the HW, you want to build 100 mines after
the first few years of factory building (and any extra scouts you need) - before
you run out of starting germanium. Just put them in at the top of the Q
when the G starts running low. The idea is to have enough G income from the
mining to be able to build ships to move pop.
The other modifications to the Qs relate to terraforming strategy. Here is
the way to play that with this race. On planets with 50 or better initial
hab value, put autobuild 1% max terraforming at the top of the Q once they
get over 200 resources. The idea is to get the best places turned into
breeders quickly, so they can export even more pop. The second modification
applies to all worlds that get to 500 resources before the autobuild lines
turn green. For those, once they hit the 500 resources, bump up that "auto
5% max terraforming" line to the top of the Q. The idea is to fully terraform
those places rapidly as or before they start to get crowded, but after they
can afford it. Incidentally, they will also build up some surface Germanium
(which can be used to put up bases or for exports) doing this, since the big
terraforming order will cut off the resources going to the factories
temporarily.
That's it for Q modifications, so not too much to do there.
For research settings, you start with so much you can leave it at 0. After
the HW gets through making its factories and mines (to various hold levels -
on which more next) it will bring in some research resources. Use them to
buy the terraforming tech levels - weapons 5, then energy 5, (you start with
prop 5 BTW, because of the 4 box and +1 for IFE), then weapons 10. That
will give you up to 25 points of terraforming to do, and isn't expensive at all -
one expensive level and 7 cheap ones, all 10 or below. After you have all
that, you can divert to con for better ships (fuelxports and large
freighters) if you must, but the main thing should be the long slog to prop
10, energy 10, then weapons 16 for more terraforming. In an unopposed test,
you should be able to live with the starting tech for most of the game, in
terms of ships you need.
You want starbases only on the best, "breeder" worlds - those that will be
70%+ value after terraforming with 5/10/5 tech, say. On those, you want
their bases up before or around the time they get to 50% of capacity
pop-wise. Then they can make their own shipping to move their pop growth
above that figure. However, earlier on you can use orbital forts with
100/250 gates on them to speed up the return runs from the farther planets (buying
con 5 for that if you need it, naturally).
The HW should just grow until it has 330,000 people - you will cross that
line on turn 6 in an Acc BBS start. Then export the pop growth (only) to the
best places you have found. Send 50k pop to all the good worlds and 25k pop to
every green, in order high hab to low. If the pop rises a bit on you
because of mineral trouble, no biggie - but try to keep it under 440,000 pop
whatever happens, in this period.
Once the HW has green autobuild lines (factories or mines done next year to
the level that the pop can operate), stop exporting pop from the HW and let
it grow all the way to 660,000 pop. That won't take long from the time you
stop exporting - 6 years or so. The higher level will mean more mines
working, thus more G, etc. "Hold" the HW again at 660,000 pop, exporting
the growth there. When the factories that pop can operate (858) are up, "clear"
the HW Q so that the HW is "building nothing" (expect ships to move pop and
such). That will get you G for export, as well as the pop exports. Export
all of it you see on the surface Only go back to building factories on
the HW when you run out of places to send pop from it, or when you stop
doing micro-management. In a year 50 target test, though, you can let it grow and
build after year 40 regardless.
The other breeders, let them terraform after 500 resources and put up bases
on them, and let them grow to 50% of capacity. Then export their pop
growth, too, and their free G once their factories are done (though that will take
longer for many of them). The lower-value worlds, forget about em Or,
rather, just send them things, like more pop and more G.
You want to send more pop to the smaller places and any good places under
100k after the HW goes on its second, 50% level "hold". As breeders come on
line, get everyone to 100k or better, and after that if you keep doing MM work
shoot for at least 250k each place. Once a place has 250k, you can leave it alone
pop-wise - because then it will get to 500 resources on its own and
terraform itself. If you have more pop besides that needed for all this, hit the
better yellow worlds with 66k pop each and some G. -3 or better yellows (or so)
you can terraform right after landing, using only the pop resources. Worse
ones, let them build factories until they have 100 resources, then terra 1% a
year.
You will have a lot of G-running to do, and not enough to send at first.
Don't worry; with only 13 factories operated, places will get done and thus
free up more for export eventually. But don't leave it lying idle in places
that can't turn it into factories - get it to places that can.
For scouting, use the initial 3 ships and the following design - booster, scout,
fuel mizer, fuel pod, nothing else.
Build as many as you think you need to scout *literally everything* in the
galaxy by a reasonably early year. In tiny, before year 20. In small,
before year 30. When scouting, go fast - as fast as you can, burning the fuel (the
initial DD and armed probe are exceptions, since they will have warp 7
engines and not a lot of fuel per bit of weight - go warp 7 with them). Scout by
moving between worlds, not to them, to get the most out of that 40 LY
penscan ability.
For settling, you can use a few small colonies with fuel mizers for the
closest planets, just to get them started. Move the real pop to them with
privateers with fuel mizer and 3 fuel pods, going warp 8 or 9 all the time.
After those close in places, use a variant of that same privateer, but with
one colony pod in place of one of the fuel pods, and "crash-land" settle on
the farther places, 25000 colonists at a time.
In the early teens, the HW should be firing off those colonizing privateers
every year - 2 one year and 3 the next, e.g. In the 20s the second, 50%
hold should be on, and the HW should be building 3-4 privateers a year
(non-colony versions for the most part, but an occasional colony version for a yellow)
to move all its pop (55,700 a year even at 50% of capacity) and G (297kt even
at concentration 30 or below). Looping privateers from the early colonies will
give you some ship re-use early on, when the iron is likely to be tight
(because the privateers cost a lot of iron, and not many mines have been
built yet). After the pause to go to 660,000 pop, the iron situation will
clear up (several years income without building, freighters coming back and
piling up, and many more mines operating), so don't sweat it too much if it
looks dicey in year 12-14 or whatever.
OK? So that is a race and its how-to stuff It is straight "sheer
numbers of people", and gives a fast, smooth start (with only an early iron
crunch as a possibility to worry about, if you draw a low HW iron
concentration).
There are few other races that will get the numbers of people by midgame the
Feds will. Some, but few. And you should see from playing them that those
numbers of people are the main thing - because they don't have great
settings for factories or anything, and yet they can fly.
Once you get used to them, you can try modifying them for more by giving up
some of the easier start things, taking extra weaknesses, and narrowing the
hab a bit - but gradually on the hab. Like, no start at 4 box. NRSE. Grav
and temp narrowed to 60 wide each (click immune and back I mean). Then put
all those points into factories - 16 operated, 11 efficiency, G box, 12 eff,
cost 8 - in that order as and if you find things you can "do without" to pay
for them. Only keep a change if it improves the performance for you. On no
account touch the pop growth rate You will do everything more or less
the same with the modified races - they will just industrialize faster,
while the start will be a little harder (you will need to buy privateer tech at
some point e.g., and live with medium freighters for the close-in 2 year
runs), and perhaps have a few less worlds to land on (while getting more
from each one).
When you are done with all that, congrats - you will have mastered the JOAT
HG, one of the strongest race design ideas in stars, and one of the hardest
to shut down with early pressure in a real game. Sure, there will still be
many things to try after - IS races, CA races, HP econs, narrower hab
schemes with or without immunities, warfighting PRT races like SD WM and SS - but
knowing the JOAT HG is a great place to start that off, and frankly many
people weaken their performance when they move away from it.
I hope this is helpful, and have fun
Sincerely,
Jason Cawley
[Updated on: Mon, 20 February 2012 14:09] by Moderator
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Topic: Blitzing FAQ
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Blitzing FAQ |
Wed, 11 May 2005 02:25 |
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Micha | | | Messages: 2342
Registered: November 2002 Location: Belgium GMT +1 | |
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Link to the thread in the Academy
Not so much a new game announcement as a teaser to come start or join a blitz in #stars!
We do regularly have a Friday night and Saturday night games but you get chance to play at any other time pop in and see if you can rustle up some interest.
1) An Introduction to Blitzing
2) Setting up mIRC and using mIRC
2.1) Downloading mIRC
2.2) Initial mIRC setup
2.3) Setting up DCC file transfers
2.5) Rules of the channels
3) Using the blitz bots
3.1) What are blitz bots?
3.2) How to send commands to the blitz bots
3.3) A list of the most commonly used commands
3.4) An example of joining and playing a game
4) Blitz rules and conditions
4.1) Universe Conditions
4.2) Multi year generations
4.3) The game timer
4.4) Special rules
4.5) Handicap rules
5) Blitz strategy
5.1) General guidelines
5.2) A few sample blitz races
6) Credits
1) An introduction to blitzing
==============================
Blitzes are fast stars! games played over an Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
network. The games use multi-year generations, normally batching up 4
years until 2440, 2 years until 2460 and 1 year thereafter, and are
usually finished over the course of one night. A timer will force
generate the game 5-10 minutes after first submission. To play a game
you will need a copy of stars!, an IRC client (mIRC is recommended), a
large pot of coffee and a few spare hours of your life. The coffee is
optional.
2) Setting up mIRC
==================
2.1) Downloading mIRC
mIRC is available from many sites across the Internet, a few are listed
below:
http://www.mirc.com
http://www.mirc.org
http://www.mirc.co.uk
http://www.tucows.com
http://downloads.cnet.com
ftp://ftp.demon.net
2.2) Initial mIRC setup
After you have downloaded and installed mIRC you will first need to set
a
few basic preferences.
Run mIRC and close the pop-up splash screen.
Set the following preferences:
Connect
IRC Network : chat.freenode.net
Full Name : <Your name>
Email Address : <A contact email address>
Nickname : <The name you wish to use on IRC> (This must be shorter
than 10 letters)
Alternative : <A nickname to use if your first choice is already
taken>
Connect/Options
Reconnect on disconnection : Ticked
Connect/Local Info
On connect always get local host : Ticked
Lookup Method : Server
Connect/Identd
Enable Identd Server : Ticked
User ID : <Your nickname>
IRC
Rejoin channels on connect : Ticked
Those settings should be sufficient to allow you to allow to connect to
the Freenode IRC network and chat. Go back to the main Connect
options window and click [Connect to IRC server]. A window titled 'mIRC
Channels folder' will pop up, untick 'pop
up folder on connect' and close the window.
2.3) Setting up DCC file transfers
You will now need to set-up mIRC to handle stars file transfers
correctly. By default mIRC rejects all file transfers apart from a few
sound, text and picture formats. It will need to be configured to accept
stars files and route them to your stars! folder
Open the mIRC options dialog
DCC / Folders
Under DCC get folders click [Add]
The 'DCC get folder' will open
In the 'Save files with these extensions' box add the text
*.r?,*.r1?,*.m?,*.m1?,*.x?,*.x1?,*.h?,*.h1?,*.hst
Click the 'Into this folder' button and choose your stars folder or a
sub folder of it
Change 'DCC Ignore' to ignore only
If you feel particularly worried about security you may wish to leave
the 'DDC Ignore' type on 'Ignore Except' and add all the stars! file
type mask's (*.r? etc.) individually to the list of accepted file types.
If you have real problems setting up DCC transfers the bot RandomHost has
ftp access. Please ask in the channel for advice on using it.
2.4) Using mIRC
Firstly if you are not connected you will need to connect to a IRC
server on
the Freenode network.
Type '/server chat.freenode.net' into the text box at the bottom of mIRC
and
you should begin to connect.
Next you will need to join the chat channels that the stars! players
use. The two channels are ##Stars!, which is the main chat channel, and
#blitz, which is the channel that blitz status messages are shown in.
Use the commands '/join #blitz' and '/join ##Stars!'.
To chat in a channel just type your message in the text box with the
channel window open and hit return (Please note : #blitz is a moderated
channel, so you won't be able to chat in it. all arrangement of games
is done in ##Stars! ). To chat privately to someone double click on their
name in the nickname list and send your message in the window that
opens. To send a file right click on the recipients nickname and choose
DCC/Send, choose the file you wish to send and click [Send]
That's the bare minimum you need to know to get you started and play
blitzes. The rest you can work out for yourself or from the manual /
FAQ. A good springboard for more information is at
http://www.mirc.co.uk/irc.html,
take a look at the FAQ's there if you want to know more about mIRC.
2.5) Rules of the channels
For your own and others sanity and enjoyment some behaviour in the
channel is frowned upon. Unless you wish to be the subject of a game of
lamer ball keep the following to a minimum:
No use of colours in the chat channel
No swearing
No written abuse of other users
No flooding i.e. sending a stream of messages in a short time
No repeating i.e. don't send the same message over and over again
No Auto Away messages
3 Using the blitz bots
======================
3.1) What are blitz bots?
The blitz bots are mIRC clients running a script to automate game
creation, turn generation and distributing the files for a game of
stars! Ask in the channel for a recommended bot to use.
3.2) How to send commands to the blitz bots
The best way to send a command to a bot is to double click on its
nickname in the names list and type any commands into the private chat
window that opens. Most commands take the form
!command <gamename> (parameters)
Where <gamename> is the name of the game you are playing as shown in the
channel. If you prefer you can use the form /msg <blitzbot> !<command>
<gamename> (parameters) from any channel window.
3.3) A list of the most commonly used commands
All commands are in this format unless otherwise specified: /msg
<blitzbot> !command <gamename> (parameters)
!blitzcmds
Will give you a list of the commands for the bot.
!displayuniverse
Messages you the universe definitions for said game.
!gameinfo
Gives information about the game, timer modes, players (! turn out, .
turn in ,- player inactive), year, date created, and similar.
!joingame
Joins the named game.
!unjoingame
Will unjoin a joined game.
!resend (.xy)
Makes the bot resend your turn file to you. If you include the .xy
parameter the bot will send the universe file. Used as !resend game .xy
(note the space
between
gamename and parameter).
!inactiveplayer (player)
Equivalent to setting a race inactive on autohost - the bot will not
wait for that player, but they may still submit their turn if they wish.
If the player parameter is left out you will inactivate yourself. Only
the host can inactivate other players.
A full list of commands written by Alien can be found at
http://www.fantasycomic.com/alien/blitz.txt
3.4) An example of joining and playing a game
When a game has been organised and and a experianced player has created
the game you will see an advert of the form
<KJBot> --- <GAMENAME> Game created in #Blitz (Owner:Leon Name:Join me
Version:2.7j Timer:NORMAL)
Firstly you will need to send a !joingame GAMENAME command to the bot.
Your join of the game will be confirmed in #Blitz
Agree the game settings with the other players
Choose or create a race
When all players have joined the game the host will close the game and
you will be asked for a race file. You *MUST* use the filename requested
by the bot. Rename your race to the correct filename. Open your race to
check that the J patch bug hasn't ruined the race. After that *Open your
race to check that the J patch bug hasn't ruined the race*. DCC the race
to the bot.
The bot will confirm receiving your race in #blitz
When all race's are in the host starts the game and you will receive by
DCC the games .xy file and your first turn (.m file).
Play the turn then DCC your .x file back to the bot
When you've won the game or been ground underfoot use the
!inactiveplayer command to set yourself inactive
Gloat or cry and take your race back to the drawing board )
4) Blitz rules and conditions
=============================
4.1) Universe Conditions
Theoretically any game conditions can be used for a blitz but the bigger
the game the longer it takes, usually the game settings are optimized for speed.
Blitzes are nearly always played in Tiny universes, from sparse one
world wonderthons to packed games filled with multi-world races.
Accelerated BBS play is nearly always used. Public player scores is a
favourite as you don't have as much time for
the finer points of scouting and diplomacy.
Victory conditions are very rarely used.
4.2) Multi year generations
The game is usually played with multiple years generated for each game
turn. The default settings are
4 years per turn until year 40
2 years per turn until year 60
1 year per turn from that point
4.3) The game timer
The games are played against a timer. When the first player submits a
turn for each generation the timer will begin to count down. If the
timer reaches 0 without all players submitting then the game force
generates. The default setting for the timer is 600 seconds, 10 minutes.
4.4) Special rules
These rules are default, and only change upon agreement of players
involved.
No packets are allowed
On the subject of bugs and 'features'
See http://www.starsfaq.com/bugs.htm for an explanation of each
'feature'
Chaff > Allowed
Split Fleet Dodge > Allowed
Abuse of Battle Board Overload > Banned
Abuse of 0.2% Minimum Damage > Banned
Abuse of North/South Minefield Immunity > Banned
Abuse of East/West Speed Bump Minefield Immunity > Banned
SS Pop Steal > Banned
4.5) Handicap Rules
Recently a group have players have been trying to balance out the games
PRT's with a race wizard advantage point handicap based on PRT. This is
still a working in progress and the exact handicaps may have changed by
the time you read this so if you join a handicapped game ensure you
check with the other players. The response to these rules from regular
(some very experienced) players has been very positive so far and it is
likely that these will become a regular used rules variant.
When designing the race leave the following amount of points leftover
based on your PRT. The first 50 points leftover can be left to go to
whichever start advantage you wish.
AR 0
SS / PP 100
WM / HE 125
SD 137
IT / IS 150
JOAT 175
CA 200
In a tiny universe the WM handicap is 150
5) Blitz strategy
=================
(To be completed) Meanwhile take a look at Omnivores excellent blitz
strategy guide at
http://www.starsfaq.com/articles/SRU/art75.htm
And at Ashtur an'Vangans guide at
http://www.angelfire.com/ok/docdiggers/stars1.html
Both concentrate on different aspects of blitzing and it is worth
reading both.
5.1) General guidelines
In short think speed, any strategy where you don't plan on having won or
being unstoppable by year 50 at the latest is a loser.
5.2) A few sample blitz races
All races below are designed for non-handicaped games.
Killer Bees - Dan Neely
JOAT
IFE NRSE OBRM NAS
1/171 20%
15/9/21 3g Factories
10/3/25 Mines
Energy, Weapons, Construction Cheap.
Propulsion Normal
Electronics, Biotechnology Expensive
No start at 3
Strategy:
Build econ till turn 8
Then set research to 40res/year and field to con (will say 5 years, but
you'll get it in 4) Turn 12> queue enough privs to hold 3.5 years of
growth. 16: fill
privs and
queue another batch.
Repeat until you have enough pop to fill your HW.
Get jihad BB tech.
Kick ass
Malthus - OWK
JOAT
IFE, NRSE, OBRM, NAS
1/7 19%
15/9/16/3G Factories
10/3/16 Mines
Weapons cheap, rest expensive and Start at 4
Blitz race developed as a variation of a Jason Cawley design submitted
to the Stars! Newsgroup. Major changes from base design was left
shifting of Grav and Temp, and selection of "start @Tech 4" box.
Strategy is extremely quick scouting to find the 3-4 greens in the
galaxy followed by immediate colonization in order to out-ramp
one-world- wonders. Race will start with privateers and ability to make
scout-based minelayers in 2400 -- this has proved useful once or twice
in that minefields are not expected that early. Secondary strategy is
limiting opposition growth by engaging in a pop-drop war while economy
ramping and research is carried out.
A fairly generic and forgiving race to try out blitzing with. Has won a
few even.
mèhlá' - Alien
WM
CE, OBRM, NAS, RS
1/171 20%
15/7/25/3G Factories
11/3/19 Mines
Weapons cheap, rest expensive and Start at 3
An even more radical 1WW approach, built for both speed and capacity. It
can choose to churn out DDs from year 0-4, or sit still and build, both
will get it out ahead of most races barring early 1/800 -f designs and
the like, though it will bypass those fast. The resource maximum for a
world is well over 4k res,
and what it can output is then only rivaled by strong JOATs. The cheap
engines and ramscoop availability makes for mass production of cheaper
warships, coupled with the superior hulls of the WM, the BC and DN, it
can be quite a force to be reckoned with. It can start churning out
jihad BCs by the early to mid twenties. This time is likely the one
where it is the strongest, at least if there are multi planet races it
has not yet managed to kill. Considering the universe hab distribution
it is likely that it will find at least one more planet, be it severely
yellow. If that happens its edge becomes even greater.
For more speed but lesser capacity one can change the econ to 15/6/21g
11/3/20. One can also shift all habs to the far right to improve chances
of matching habs with other 1WW races, for easy access to new colonies.
6) Credits
Compiled by Leon Coles
Blitz bot commands by Alien
Proof reading and improvements by : Alric, Alien, Heinz89
Races by Dan Neely, OWK ,Alien
Blitz Strategy guide by Omnivore
(updated by Ron, to replace Starlink with Freenode)
[Updated on: Fri, 01 January 2010 10:45] by Moderator
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Topic: Starbase FAQ
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Starbase FAQ |
Wed, 11 May 2005 02:24 |
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Micha | | | Messages: 2342
Registered: November 2002 Location: Belgium GMT +1 | |
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Link to the thread in the Academy
Battle orders/sweeping:- Starbases always use any/any as targets, they do not follow the default order primary/secondary targets.
- However a starbase will attack according to the "attack who" in your default battle order, overriding the player relation settings.
For example if you have set race A to friend but your default battle plan is to "attack everyone" than the starbase (none of your ships present) will start a battle should race A enter orbit.
But strange things happen in such situations like when race A has you also set to friend and his battle orders are to "attack neutrals/enemies" (IOW not you) than no shots will be fired.
Another weird situation is that if race B shows up and everyone has set everyone to friend but your default order is to "attack everyone" (which matters for your starbase) than the two friends will shoot each other while your starbase (again none of your ships present) sits back and watches ...
- Obviously since a starbase can't move it doesn't have a tactic. However even if it might not be able to move, it can start a battle if the default battle order or player relations setting tells it too.
- A starbase always sweeps neutral minefields even when default orders are set to nobody/only enemies/...
- There is a specific slot firing order for starbases, for more info check here.
Salvage/tech gain:- Starbases leave no salvage when shot down.
- You can't gain tech from shooting down a starbase with higher tech items.
Orbital devices:- When there are two gates on a starbase only one will be used. IOW an 100/any gate and an any/300 gate will not let you gate ships like an any/any gate would. When you mount two gates than for the starbase hull the left one is used, for the ultrastation and deathstar hull the one in the upper slot is used.
- For IT scanning the same left or upper gate is used. Note: IT scanning does not show the starbase design (only the hull) nor the ships in orbit. You can only see the planetary stats: number of cols, hab, mineral concentrations and defense percentage.
- Mounting two MD's however does give an advantage. Details are in the help file.
Jamming/cloaking:- The jamming of a starbase is 75% of the normal/ship jamming. Therefor the maximum you can jam a starbase is 75% [ = 0.75 * 99% (or 100% if you like)].
(Note: Ship jamming is capped at 95%.)
- Cloaking a base has the same 98% limit as for ships.
Cloaking also reduces IT gate scanning, however an IT gate with an "any" range will scan every stargate in the universe, even bases with maximum cloak, after all 2% of infinite range is still infinite range.
MT toys:- Mounting the Langston Shell or Mega Poly Shell on your starbase will not give you any scanning, however you do get the jamming and cloaking.
- Since you can't give your starbase way point orders it is not possible to lay mines when mounting Multi Contained Munition in the weap slots.
Bugs:- For the cheap starbase bug check out the cheats list here on the Forum.
Enemy actions:- You can't popdrop, nor bomb, nor de-terra a planet with OA's if the starbase is still up.
{ Update: the part about jamming }
{ Update: removed an incorrect part from the Salvage/tech gain section }
[Updated on: Wed, 11 May 2005 02:39] Report message to a moderator
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Forum: All Quiet
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Topic: Game over, postings in Game Stories
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Game over, postings in Game Stories |
Tue, 18 May 2010 13:55 |
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For those players that were in the game previously, All Quiet has ended and some messages about the game are posted in Game Stories area.
This private forum can be locked.
Raindancer/Bugs
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Topic: Lacon Tourism Quarterly
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Lacon Tourism Quarterly |
Sun, 05 July 2009 02:01 |
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neilhoward | | Commander | Messages: 1112
Registered: April 2008 Location: SW3 & 10023 | |
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Interested to see how Lacon has shifted from a war economy to a booming Hospitality industry?
Look for our periodical at your local news stand next week!
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Topic: The Bug Report 2442
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The Bug Report 2442 |
Mon, 06 April 2009 10:27 |
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MT sightings? This intrepid reporter has tracked down some recent reports and declares that they are unfounded. There are no conformed MY sightings yet, but rest assured that this reporter will let you know as soon as one is confirmed.
It is speculated that MT rumors were started by races that have recently been falling behind in the technology race. Apparently these races are hoping for a MT to show up to help them catch up.
Random events seems to be running at a high pace, with three system having received tragic alterations in the past 42 years.
The apparent peace talks between the Maera/Mucelium and Sofian/Ellurid alliances have again ended with nothing more than mud slinging. This bug asserts that this is a waste of good mud, which would be much better used building more nests.
The -Rancor-Universal-Ending-Of-The-NAP-Declaration was initially met with glee by other greedy races, but apparently all other races have been too busy with their own conflicts to take advantage of the -Rancor- attempted political suicide.
Ambassador salaries have take another jump, as demand for these workers has again risen. Communication between the five alliances is at an all-time high as most races jockey for better political positions.
Signing out for now,
Blue-Bug-Eyes, Chief Fly on the Wall
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