Virgin Monologue, my first game!

[EricLarsen]

Well I finally found the SUDG game at my local EB with the help of my friendly local neighborhood EB salesman (he gives refunds). I got home and inserted the CD and waited to install the game and then I tried a few more times before looking into the manual. Come to find out that really all you need is a little patience waiting for the loader to pop up and do it's thing, it's slower than normal but does come up. I got the game loaded and read the manual and then gave it a whirl in a little 50-star circle galaxy.

One thing that brought a tear to my eye was the fact that after I loaded the game from the CD I was done, no off to the website to download patches and no big worry about game-stopping bugs as I loaded up version 2.0.

One thing for sure the manual doesn't reveal much about what to do and how to do it so one must kind of really poke around every screen and such to see what's where. Several hundred years into the game I finally figured out how to set my ships in different fleets. But after trying this and trying that for several hours I finally have the hang of it somewhat. I even managed to find a planet killer after checking all my ships to discover the coveted religious relic, and me being an agnostic of all things.:rolleyes:

I had lots of fun messing up and just checking out the different star systems and getting different stuff. I just let the program handle the combat abd I just kind of observed. I even managed to figure out how to build more ships not too far in, and how to bankrupt myself in the process.:p

I ran into two alien races, the Meotians and the Frashkin. The Frashkins were really doing well and the Meotians weren't doing as well as me. I was able to avoid war with the Frashkins but those pesky Meotians just didn't want to share and kept pestering me for artifacts. I kept declining and they declared war on me. I soon discovered the art of pirating enemy star systems and knocking out their freighter connection. Unfortunately I didn't do very well defending my one colony world that was nearby, but then I didn't build it up either.

I got ahead of both races in research, even though I basically just winged researching this and that but managed to reach the anti-matter age. I sure have to find that magic research tree chart or whatever is going around here to explain the techs, especially the weapon techs. I had dual advanced laser beams on a frigate and found some rather tough freighters that took quite a licking before I sent them kicking (the bucket).

I got several random events. I had some unknown unrest (because I didn't check) on my planet and switched ideologies. Once an annonymous donor (thanks Andrew) gave me 5,000 credits, so I knew I was playing crappy then but I was having fun. Then the Frashkins did the federation thing with the Meotians and I was faced with a rather awesome enemy. Not too long after another random event comes to save my day by handing me the Frashkin system of Regulus. Earlier I had watched as a whole bunch of trade routes disappeared from the Frashkin homeworld and thought it was spawning lots of colonies. Nope just one, on Regulus, and then it hooked up about a dozen nearby systems to it as a trade hub. Well when I inherited Regulus I inherited about a dozen star systems at once and the game looked a bit more even. Andy, is this game winnable either way with random events keeping things in balance like that?

Then I decided to try out my new planet killer weapon after building 2 more frigates, so I sent a fleet of 1 scout, 3 gunboats, and 3 frigates to test out the planet killer on the Frashkin homeworld. I finally figured out aces and invincible shields (and specialists after doing all that research with them riding around the stars) and put aces and shields on all the frigates with the one frigate carrying the planet killer having all the best stuff. I saw that they were busy little bees striking away at some of my planets so I figured I might catch the Frashkins with their fleet busy elesewheres. Nope they were defending their homeworld and I just sat and watched a very long space battle while they slowly whittled away at my fleet until all that was left was the scout to limp home. Dang that smarty-pants AI.

After that I figured that was a good learning game and now I can really start to hone in on planning out what the heck to do with stuff. I never did get to try that instant colony artifact although I did try and when I got my scout to the system (this was before my suicide run on the enemy home planet) I wanted to colonize I found this pirate corvette waiting so I figured if the pirates had a corvette my scout wasn't going to fare too well and luckily I turned it tail fast enough for it to escape and take the aritifact home.

The game looks like lots of fun once I figure everything out and do more administrative stuff myself like spies. The Frashkin AI sure did well with spies, snatching $1,200 from me once, while my spy coverage was rather close to nill with the auto handling set to on. I can't wait to get into a large 150 star galaxy with lots of alien races to deal with. I'll have to watch that diplomatic screen more.
Eric Larsen

[Maxfreeboard]

You mentioned the lack of the manual explaining some things...have you noticed the "Tips" tab in the bottom left edge of your screen at the very bottom from time to time? It tells you just about everything you need to know I've found.

The enemy kept discovering the Planet Killer before I did so I eventually turned off the Planet Killer so I could complete that saved game.

[Anxiety]

Sounds like you had a good game, then! I have been pretty impressed with the AI myself and have found that though my first few games seemed easy, I was just completely lucky. I'm struggling quite a bit now, but having one heck of a good time. Noticed that my spy coverage was also non-existent _with_ the automation for handling basic spy/informant coverage enabled. I had to continually go back and recruit spys/informants manually, then give them an assignment, then wait a few seconds to see the results, then re-recruit and re-assign. This is a bit of a pain and means I have to micromanage espionage continually, which is something I don't want to do... Maybe it's just me, though...
-Anx

[EricLarsen]

Originally posted by Maxfreeboard
You mentioned the lack of the manual explaining some things...have you noticed the "Tips" tab in the bottom left edge of your screen at the very bottom from time to time? It tells you just about everything you need to know I've found.

The enemy kept discovering the Planet Killer before I did so I eventually turned off the Planet Killer so I could complete that saved game.

Maxfreeboard,
I did indeed use the tips tab, but it sure would be nice to have all those tips consolidated into a tip document that could be printed out. It would be much easier than having to horse around with the tips tab during the game and then having to find the right tip to read if you're looking for something that isn't in the current situation that generates a tip tab.

One thing is for sure, don't ignore the warning the program gives you about bringing lots of warships to attack an enemy system. It's almost as if it knows what the score will be when you launch.
Eric Larsen

[Andrew Ewanchyna]

The tips are all layed out in that little booklet that came with the game.

[NefariousKoel]

I thought there was a manual in Acrobat format on the CD.....

You might wanna check that out.

[Maxfreeboard]

There is (SUDG-Manual.pdf) and the PDF file, SUDG-PlayerGuide-Ebook.pdf, that has the tips that Andrew refers to.

Default location:
C:\Program Files\Starships Unlimited Divided Galaxies\Manuals\

[EricLarsen]

Maxfreeboard,
Thanks for the locale of the pdf files. I can't wait to check them out. Andy's answer led me to believe he meant the little book that came in the game.
Eric Larsen

[Maxfreeboard]

Eric Larson,

Do you have a color printer? You might want to print out the color PDF file of the tech tree.

I got a 1 inch loose leaf binder and did two sided page printouts of the manual. Placed each page in a plastic sleeve protector. All in the binder. Inserted the tech tree printout inside the binders cover sleeve. I can open the binder like a inverted V and look at the tech tree.

[Grotius]

This is a little off-topic, so my apologies. Every time I raid an enemy system & kill its freighter, I lose the race to claim that system with my own freighter once it emerges from disorder. How do you all do that? Is it just a matter of hovering your mouse over the "build freighter" button in the nearest planet?

[Maxfreeboard]

My understanding is that the system's freighter you destroy, that system looses that route and that system will go into turmoil for some number of years at the end of which it becomes available to anybody, ie, first come first serve. Watch those notices about systems coming out of turmoil. Hang a ship there so you can immediately give it orders when you see that system comes out of turmoil. That's worked for me anyway. Good luck!

[EricLarsen]

Originally posted by Maxfreeboard
Eric Larson,

Do you have a color printer? You might want to print out the color PDF file of the tech tree.

I got a 1 inch loose leaf binder and did two sided page printouts of the manual. Placed each page in a plastic sleeve protector. All in the binder. Inserted the tech tree printout inside the binders cover sleeve. I can open the binder like a inverted V and look at the tech tree.

Maxfreeboard,
Sounds like you really went to town to create a nice manual. Me I just printed out the manual with my trusty old HP Laserjet 4 printer, with nonworking led readout thanks to my cats, and put a big clip on the stack. I just printed the tech tree out in b/w and it is readable, thought not nearly as pretty as in color. It sure is nice to have a good old-fashioned laser printer nowadays to print out those 100-page manuals and not sweat it putting a dent in my printer cartridge.

I didn't play a lick last night as I read the manual and studied the tech tree descritptions and the weapons. I like the beams, waves, standoff combination and I'm going to give that a whirl today. I can't wait to get that interstellar standoff. It looks like a one-shot wonder weapon and I wonder if you use one up completely when firing it or just have to rebuild ammo. I like the attack characteristics of those waves, especially when you get into the antimatter and singularity ages and they can drain ship components or set enemy ships adrift.
Eric Larsen

[Erik Rutins]

Don't forget to check out the DocCenter link from our main page. You can get a nice manual there for as little as $3 if you have a local Kinko's.

Regards,

- Erik

[Andrew Ewanchyna]

I really did mean the little booklet that came with version 2.0 of the game. Those are all the tips in book form. Note that the pdf manual is also available in html format from the game. Just press the F1 key or go to the Help menu and select the Help Manual selection to call it up in the middle of a game.

When stars go into turmoil, it's good to hover around the star map and pause the game when you see a star come out of turmoil. You can then take it at your leisure. Didn't want to make it too easy for you, though.

[Grotius]

Thanks for the replies on systems coming out of turmoil. To "claim" such a system, I have to build a freighter to it, right?

[EricLarsen]

Originally posted by Grotius
Thanks for the replies on systems coming out of turmoil. To "claim" such a system, I have to build a freighter to it, right?

Grotius,
Instead of thinking of it as coming out of turmoil, think of it as if you had just discovered it. You'd send a frieghter, correct? Just be sure to be the first one to tag it with a frieghter. I'm thinking it's probably wise to have a starship insystem until your frieghter route is established so you can chase off the bogies or destroy their freighter route before it does them any good.
Eric Larsen

[EricLarsen]

Originally posted by Andrew Ewanchyna
When stars go into turmoil, it's good to hover around the star map and pause the game when you see a star come out of turmoil. You can then take it at your leisure. Didn't want to make it too easy for you, though.

Andrew,
That's my "Q" View where I can watch the little minions scurry to and fro. I actually like playing that way better. It gives more of a strategic overview feel and helps get you familiar with the neghborhood. You can see the little ships going around, including ones that aren't yours, see planets getting raided, and most importantly early on is see the lay of space around you getting revealed as your starships map out the area. Instead of watching the ship, which ship should I watch, doing it's thing it's easier to think of all the other stuff to do like having the planet produce stuff or where do I want to go next and where are those pesky aliens at.
Eric Larsen

[Maxfreeboard]

Originally posted by EricLarsen
Originally posted by Maxfreeboard
Eric Larson,

Maxfreeboard,
Sounds like you really went to town to create a nice manual. Me I just printed out the manual with my trusty old HP Laserjet 4 printer, with nonworking led readout thanks to my cats, and put a big clip on the stack. I just printed the tech tree out in b/w and it is readable, thought not nearly as pretty as in color. It sure is nice to have a good old-fashioned laser printer nowadays to print out those 100-page manuals and not sweat it putting a dent in my printer cartridge.

I usually don't go to this extreme but for this game I did...I like it that much!

I didn't play a lick last night as I read the manual and studied the tech tree descritptions and the weapons. I like the beams, waves, standoff combination and I'm going to give that a whirl today. I can't wait to get that interstellar standoff. It looks like a one-shot wonder weapon and I wonder if you use one up completely when firing it or just have to rebuild ammo. I like the attack characteristics of those waves, especially when you get into the antimatter and singularity ages and they can drain ship components or set enemy ships adrift.
Eric Larsen

Looks like you'll be our main reference!! Yeah, they're are lots of possibilities.

[EricLarsen]

Originally posted by Maxfreeboard
Looks like you'll be our main reference!! Yeah, they're are lots of possibilities.

Maxfreeboard,
I always like to study my game to see how things work from the manual. Then it's time to try the stuff out in the game to see how the numbers add up. Right now instead of playing an actual game I'm kind of letting the game run and testing out various things, like now my big desire is to replicate that freighter route reroute I saw the AI Frashkin do where it set up a colony world and then got to reset all the freighter routes to it from the homeworld for star systems that were closer to it.

Hopefully Andrew will answer my burning question so we'll all know how that's done. He's our "answer man" and hopefully our best reference source. Looks like he's pretty good about answering questions, just have to wait for him to see it first and sometimes it's just no fun waiting when you have a burning question that needs answering.
Eric Larsen

[Andrew Ewanchyna]

There's not much to it really. When you get a new world, either by conquest or colonization, all your freighter routes are reviewed so that they get redirected to the closer world. If a world is destroyed, then all its freighter routes go with it.