<t>Hey Mad J - sorry to hear you are struggling with the game - check out some posts here about a month ago - scroll down the subject headings - there are a bunch of lengthy posts containing a wealth of strategies employed by myself and a bunch of others, including Eric - that may help you a lot.<br...

<t>Yeah, still hoping for this patch soon - I've gotten too **** good and the game is no longer a challenge.<br/> <br/> For future improvements, I'd like to see fuller development of the star systems, so they are harder to conquer, and much more detail in the star systems, along with larger ships to...

<t>The latest game I'm playing is with 7 Civ's, of which 2 are my philosophy and 4 are not. The 4 that are not are now in 2 sets of alliances, 1 is strong (2 Fusion age civ's with 3 worlds each controlling almost half the galaxy), the other 1 is weak (2 atomic age civ's). I have allied with my close...

<t>Just played through a game last night/this morning, Advanced Level, 150 stars, 8 Civ's, and this time my adversaries colonized A LOT, as opposed to the last game (same settings) where hardly anyone but me colonized.<br/> <br/> I had a really interesting ongoing battle over a cluster of stars whic...

<t>Oh, to the game designers, Andrew, Mark, et al, my opinion is I STILL want the ability to move my wisdom artifacts around from planet to planet throughout the game. This is a strategy I employ to force my enemys to build spies on every world. It buys me time while they do that, and lessens the ch...

<t>The biggest problem I've had with ships not responding is that certain limited shot weapons (torpedo's, mass cannon) sometimes keep re-building themselves indefinitely on certain ships, so it sits there at spacedock with a hammer going, then any other ship in line at that world is stuck there too...

<t>I posted my detailed strategy under the topic "Ship Design Questions", about 10 topics down. Basically I sacrifice ships in favor of colonies and research early, until about the early Antimatter age, when I have at least 3 major worlds up to full population, then I start building multiple frigate...

<t>Eric - I've been lurking about but not much new to say. I'd reiterate that you try 6 or 7 or 8 civ's at advanced level to really give you some challenge. It makes all the difference in the world. A lot of your concerns about AI anemia will be addressed. Random Civ's just never gives me enough opp...

OK, after 3-1/2 HOURS of downloading I FINALLY got v2.0 & played thru the beginning of a game - great improvement in the look of the sentry's and font - thanks Andrew! 2.1 should be even better!

Thanks for the link Andrew! I got to it and it tells me it'll take 1-1/2 hours with my dial up modem, so I'll download it later!

<t>You need to start with more than 6 civ's (in the 150 star galaxy) to limit your own starting size to less than about 20 systems - then you are on par or behind at least 2 alien civ's until Anti-Matter Age - and if they ally and federate it puts you further in a hole - you have to play diplomat an...

Thanks Andrew - looks like a vast improvement!

But I still can't download 2.0, even tried the FTP site - it tells me the page is not available - same message I get when clicking on the link - what gives?

Delete the files from the "movie" subdirectory!

<t>Eric - But if Auto-Build DID work properly, you COULD be using it! I think its worthwhile to upgrade your planet technologies as soon as you get new tech's, especially computers, as they aid in research and sensor range.<br/> <br/> Yes, once you eliminate the large early fleets, there's no punch ...

<t>I indeed keep auto-build "off" until I get my 1st 3 planets up & humming (full population/improvement slots), I too want to decide when and what I build. At that point I am usually well into Fusion age. At that point, too, though, the entire galaxy is known and all star systems are owned by s...

<t>Eric - I KNOW WHY YOUR SHIP POPULATIONS DON'T LOCK! This was going to be a subject of my next post. Seems that whenever you CHANGE THE COMBAT STYLE OF YOUR SHIP it resets the crew to captain's choice! I finally figured this out after many games of annoyance, 'cause I too change the combat style o...

<t>Guess I'd actually have to PLAY through a game or 2 with more tech's needed to advance before deciding if I'd like it better.<br/> <br/> How to witness an IS hit:<br/> <br/> Yes, if you try to watch the world when the IS is fired, you get jerked back to the source world. BUT then go to the target...

<t>OK, since I can't seem to reply to myself (man I'm a chatty b---ard tonite), I had to start a new thread:<br/> <br/> Oh, in deference to Eric who started this thread, here's my take on his suggestions;<br/> <br/> Random events - agreed, they shouldn't penalize bad play. Oh, very basically, make 2...

<t>OK, as I am about to move on to Uncommon Valor as soon as it arrives, I'll post some small practical improvements I'd like to see when I return to this game:<br/> <br/> Get rid of the very light tan color - can't distinguish "out of turmoil" systems or pirates from it! Or at least make it possibl...

<r>Guess I've played the game a few too many times! I actually get off on the challenge, and find the end-game to be much more fulfilling if I'm challenged. Otherwise it's over before Anti-Matter Age for me. Read on to see what I mean.<br/> <br/> It is THE one game I always come back to, so I have t...