Simple walk through to help new players take more control in the game away from the AI.
edit
unless otherwise stated always pause at the start of a session and save the game with a unique name at the start and at the end of each session. Please also note that if you are zooming in focus must be set otherwise zoom will not work perfectly. Sorry for the late clarification.
also note that in a second dry run the starbase retrofitted faster and all the builds were able to be preformed with the added construction yards in the new design. note also that my 3nd run has only one system and no second mining system with mining ships. That is a first for me. LOL
results may be slightly different
Part 7
Planning opening moves
7b Building our first ships
Open the construction yards screen,
Our only spaceport is highlighted
Lets first change the name of the spaceport
to something you like, it’s below the map.
Now in the middle drop down underneath available funds
select the destroyer we designed, not the old design
click purchase, two times
note that the build query now shows these ships
Now pull the drop down menu again and select
explorer that we designed with our new name
Do not select the old explorer
it will be soon obsolete when we bring it in for retrofitting.
Build 3 explorers
Now close the construction yards screen
press quickly the space bar twice to start time and then pause again
Open the construction yard screen again,
Why is nothing being built?
Select the go to ship button –middle left
Look at the selection panel and you should see
that the base is retrofitting
Also note that all the builds we requested are now
waiting for coffee break to be over to start
Press the space bar again and wait until the selection panel
shows building -at the bottom.
Now open the construction yard screen again,
Notice that 4 units are being built and 1 is
waiting for a free space yard.
The new yards in the updated design are not ready yet.
Select the colony in the list of construction yards
Notice the planet has 1 yard and it is retrofitting the base
Look at the drop down menu to view what the planet can build
It builds colony, constructor and bases.
Close the construction yard screen
You can also access construction on bases by bringing
up the base in the selection panel and double clicking
near the blue name of the ship
We are going to leave the build order screen for now
but you can get an idea of its function
by selecting the hammer icon on the main screen, top right
look around and then exit.
Ok, so we are building ships, redesigning our bases
and now we need to explore and construct bases
In the selection panel find the next constructor button
and press it a couple of times
I have 2 and they are assigned to build 2 gas mining stations.
The blue part circle with the arrow at the bottom
tells us it is on auto.
When we assign it a task it will go off automatic
and do our bidding.
Leave them to auto build for now
In the selection panel find the next explorer/colony ship button
and press it a couple of times
note we should only have one operational and 3 building.
cycle thru until you are on the active explorer
lock the display and note that it is on automatic –blue arrow.
click on the magnifier for the sector map – right bottom
find the nearest star, right click and then
select explore, this system
now find another unexplored star close by
right click and then select query next mission, explore, this system
you should notice with the options provided that you can
set up a chain of actions that even include refueling.
Hit the space bar twice to start time and stop it.
Note that the explorers arrow is gone and it has the
first mission with a query displayed in the selection panel.
Now the destroyer,
In the selection panel find the next military ships button
and cycle thru the ships active and being built.
Now bring up the destroyer that is active
If it is still retrofitting unpause and let time go by
until the retrofit is complete.
at the very top of the screen a message will appear
telling you it has completed retrofit.
pause the game
click on the message or
click on the blue name of the destroyer in the selection panel
Zoom in to 100% if needed
right click on the destroyer and select join fleet,new fleet
Open the fleet screen, top right
Change the name of the fleet with the 1 destroyer to pirate killer
Close the fleet screen
Notice the name has not changed for the fleet yet
Cycle thru the fleets in the selection panel and
you will now see the updated name
select next colony in the selection panel and
focus the view
unlock the focus now and now
cycle thru the next fleets button in the
control panel to bring up our destroyer fleet
put the cursor on our home world
and you will see the magic eye
right click and the destroyer will patrol here
make sure the stance is set to system targets
top of selection panel, ship with laser
We want the destroyers being built to join the
pirate killer fleet when they are finished and
patrol around our home system.
save the game with a unique name
I am using start001 which i will refer to.
now you’re going to start time and react to problems
using the fleet with the escort and frigate only
To have that fleet with the escort and frigate
attack pirates or space creatures when they show up
Pause
Zoom out to sector view
use the next fleet button to bring up the escort and frigate
Hover the cursor over the attack message
at the top of the screen
Note the yellow pulse showing you where the problem is
keep your cursor centered in that pulse
and now use your scroll wheel to zoom in until you get
a red Cross hair or you actually see the problem
Right click on that area to attack
If by luck the pirates destroy your escort fleet
open the diplomacy screen, top center
and select the pirates
speak to them and pay a temporary protection fee.