How to survive in Pre-Warp?

[Skunkpuppy]

I'm new to this game. I'm trying to survive as a standard Pre-Warp empire in the Age of Shadows. It's really hard! Pirates are everywhere, and they are all demanding exorbitant protection fees. My economy is too small to build many ships, and they have huge ass cruisers or even capital ships. What is a small weak empire to do?

[Evan85]

I has the opposite problem... I get so much ahead of other empires that prewarp games lose the challenge. Also true with AI improvement mod - it makes pirates so tough that they totally cripple AI empires.


Guess that means you're doing something wrong. Since there are so many things one can screw up, I'd suggest a thorough, comprehensive tutorial that covers most aspects of DW:U.

Here: tm.asp?m=3508583

[Hikikomori]

Pirates are mean, and in a Pre-Warp start, they can find derelict ships with advanced tech. You can find them too, but they get them with warpdrives(since they got the tech) and are mobile and scouting systems from the first day.

If they find one or two of those, you are screwed. [;)]

When pirates arrive, buy them off, wait a minute after they left the system, and then cancel it. You can do this a few times with each pirate, before they get the drift and refuse an agreement.

Also, consider setting pirates to weak/few or deactivate them in a custom start game.
(start game, the left bottom button)


They are a little nasty as a beginner, and normal/normal is just too much in my opinion. They can spiral easily out of control in the first phases of the game, while falling off later, when you would have the tools to deal with them easily.

[Icemania]

ORIGINAL: Evan85
I has the opposite problem... I get so much ahead of other empires that prewarp games lose the challenge. Also true with AI improvement mod - it makes pirates so tough that they totally cripple AI empires.

The AI Improvement Mod actually had a lot more improvements for Empires than it did for Pirates. But in any case, play with few & weak Pirates, and it should lead to a strong Empire game.

I really enjoy prewarp games. Extreme difficulty, the AI Improvement Mod, with the house rules below, should make it more difficult to get so far ahead.

• No Homeworld Invasions are permitted until the 30 year mark and no use of sneaky fast troop transports
• Diplomacy may not be used to farm cash in any way (i.e. technology trading, selling stations/bases or sanctions/war)
• Intelligence Agents must remain on Counter Intelligence duties
• Recovered ships must be retired
• Debris field ships may not be recovered until they are within my territorial influence
• Ship and Base Design is on Automatic almost always
• Exploration ships must be on Automatic, no micro
• Research is on Automatic (although there is a trick if anyone can pick it)
• Cannot attack the Eruktah Refugees until they reveal themselves as the Shakturi

[Skyjack]

ORIGINAL: Icemania

ORIGINAL: Evan85
I has the opposite problem... I get so much ahead of other empires that prewarp games lose the challenge. Also true with AI improvement mod - it makes pirates so tough that they totally cripple AI empires.

The AI Improvement Mod actually had a lot more improvements for Empires than it did for Pirates. But in any case, play with few & weak Pirates, and it should lead to a strong Empire game.

I really enjoy prewarp games. Extreme difficulty, the AI Improvement Mod, with the house rules below, should make it more difficult to get so far ahead.

• No Homeworld Invasions are permitted until the 30 year mark and no use of sneaky fast troop transports
• Diplomacy may not be used to farm cash in any way (i.e. technology trading, selling stations/bases or sanctions/war)
• Intelligence Agents must remain on Counter Intelligence duties
• Recovered ships must be retired
• Debris field ships may not be recovered until they are within my territorial influence
• Ship and Base Design is on Automatic almost always
• Exploration ships must be on Automatic, no micro
• Research is on Automatic (although there is a trick if anyone can pick it)
• Cannot attack the Eruktah Refugees until they reveal themselves as the Shakturi

Hi Icemania, is your mod compatible with Extended?

Thanks

[johanwanderer]

ORIGINAL: Skunkpuppy

I'm new to this game. I'm trying to survive as a standard Pre-Warp empire in the Age of Shadows. It's really hard! Pirates are everywhere, and they are all demanding exorbitant protection fees. My economy is too small to build many ships, and they have huge ass cruisers or even capital ships. What is a small weak empire to do?

If you are new, I suggest playing a few games as a standard empire first. It gives you a feel of how the empires should be played. The pre-warp game is meant to be more difficult, as you started out with limited resources and without means of getting more.

My strategy has always been a conservative one, i.e. don't expand / build unless you can defend it (either via defenses, fleets, or protection agreements). Anything you lose early in the game will set you back quite a bit. Concentrate on growing your planet's population because it will be your main income for a long time.

Hope that helps,
Long.

[Evan85]

ORIGINAL: Skyjack
Hi Icemania, is your mod compatible with Extended?

Lemme save a few keystrokes to the big guy..

Yes, it has a version that includes Extended mod. As I recon it has more downloads than the vanilla one.

[Skyjack]

ORIGINAL: Evan85

ORIGINAL: Skyjack
Hi Icemania, is your mod compatible with Extended?

Lemme save a few keystrokes to the big guy..

Yes, it has a version that includes Extended mod. As I recon it has more downloads than the vanilla one.

Wow thank you both!