Home » Stars! 2.6/7 » The Academy » Tricks of the Trade (long)
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 Tricks of the Trade (long) |
Fri, 07 November 2003 09:30  |
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Most of the below content comes from an August 1999 post to the rec.games.computer.stars newsgroup by Art Lathrop. He collected a lot of "tricks" and grouped them roughly as beginner, intermediate, and advanced. (Art also has/had a good website directory of Stars!-related sites and should be recognized by all as an important contributor to the Stars community.)
I'll also notate any additional items I add (or major modifications.) I think this article is useful for the forum since it collects a number of interesting ideas and concepts in a single place. Thus, a good addition for the Academy.
- Kurt
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Tricks of the Trade
Last Update: August 28, 1999
There are many tactics that players use that use that not everyone knows. I was discussing compiling a list with another web host several months ago. I have organized the tricks into three categories (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). This largely reflects how common the tactic is, how important it
is to learn, and at what level player the advice is aimed. Please note that some of the items included may seem VERY basic; however, they address questions I see commonly on the newsgroup or mistakes I see in games. My goal here is to focus on tactics rather than a comprehensive strategy. Any site(s) that I mention in this have their URLs listed at the end of the
article. My thanks to those who posted replies helping me build the list. <I pulled the URLs.>
Beginner
Boosters - Boosters are small ships that basically act as fuel tanks for your fleets allowing you to move more quickly (mainly for settling planets or moving your population around). Most people just use their long range scouts for this; however, Bill Butler has pointed out that destroyers specially designed for this are much more efficient as fuel tanks. Another option is not to fill privateer transports as fully. These privateers are
more expensive than the destroyers, but they can be used also as transports.
Chaff - Small, cheap ships make good defenses against missiles, as the missile ships will waste their shots attacking these ships instead of your more important ships. The Advanced FAQ has an extensive section on chaff.
You can also find information at the Stars!Web Players Lounge.
<Addition to Chaff>
Chaff works since the Stars! battle engine selects targets based on a targetting formula. This calculation is based on the resource cost and boranium cost of the ship divided by the "toughness" of the target. "Toughness" being total defense points of the target (armor + shields) and taking such effects as computers, jammers, and capital missile double damage against unshielded targets into account. However, the targetting code does not take into account the "overkill" of firing a high damage missile at a 30dp scout; where the extra damage does not pass on to other ships do to the "one missile, one kill" rule.
Thus, the "attractiveness" of any ship design can be calculated. Most chaff designs have a very high rating.
<end Addition>
Efficient Scouting - The fastest path for scouting with penetrating scanners rarely involves a waypoint at a planet. Instead, you should try to set your waypoints so that they are in between planets allowing the largest number to be scanned at any one time. Also, you can improve your speed by deliberately setting waypoints that are at the maximum distance you can
travel one year at a given speed. While this is a little more time consuming than setting one or two waypoints a few hundred light years apart, carefully setting the waypoints will improve your fuel usage and also allow you to scan more planets with fewer ships.
Mineral Packets - Packets kill. A mass driver at your base is not enough. You need to have strong planetary defenses to protect yourself against the faster warp packets. Build defenses on your border worlds before your opponent takes advantage of the situation. Also remember that in-space packets move before production. If you see a pac
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[Updated on: Mon, 30 April 2012 10:37] by Moderator
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Tricks of the Trade (long)
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: LEit on Fri, 07 November 2003 10:01 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: Orca on Fri, 07 November 2003 16:58 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: Kotk on Fri, 07 November 2003 16:21 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: Robert on Wed, 12 November 2003 03:20 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: Kotk on Wed, 12 November 2003 06:35 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: Robert on Wed, 12 November 2003 08:49 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: iztok on Wed, 12 November 2003 07:45 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: Orca on Wed, 12 November 2003 11:29 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: iztok on Wed, 12 November 2003 09:16 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: LEit on Wed, 12 November 2003 10:45 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: Hetzer on Wed, 12 November 2003 19:01 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: Zathras on Sat, 15 November 2003 14:02 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: Zathras on Sat, 15 November 2003 14:12 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: asimov on Sat, 31 July 2004 02:22 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: alric on Fri, 06 August 2004 08:11 |
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Re: Tricks of the Trade (long)
By: Altruist on Wed, 25 April 2012 09:11 |
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