The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

[echo2361]

I've had Distant Worlds for a few years now, but when I first picked up the game I found it to be kind of boring. I knew I could have turned off a lot of the automation but I felt intimidated about doing so because of how many things it appeared that I would have to juggle controlling. I enjoyed the game for a while, but soon it felt like I was just watching my empire grow itself with limited input from me so I moved on to other games.

Last month I decided to pick up the Shadows expansion during the holiday sale to see if it added enough to keep me interested in the game and I came across this thread around the same time. I started out a game following the directions above exactly and now I'm having a blast since I've learned a lot about running my empire myself without feeling overwhelmed. So thanks very much to Timotheus and I really hope to see the third and final part of this guide completed soon. Having the guide expand just a little bit more to cover colonization, spying, and tech stealing would be great. I've already figured some things out for myself when it comes to these subjects but it would be to see my decisions either affirmed or corrected and it would leave both new players and returning players like me with a good grasp of everything they need to jump into the not-so-deep end of the pool that is full manual control

[Timotheus]

Wow, thanks everybody [&o]

Echo2361 you are exactly the person I wrote the guy for, and am very happy that it is working as intended. I was in exactly the same position as you, playing with automation on, and watching the game play itself with myself becoming progressively more bored.

Am very happy that this guide works for total noobs like voqar (no offense - I was one too when I started this game) and gets folks up to speed.

I will write the 3rd part, pinkey promise, but my busy social life (Skyrim and its mods, actually - it is a full time job, this is!) and busy professional consulting life (read - drinking too much and not enough sleep) are getting in the way.

Thing is, in the 3rd part there are politics, different races and many out of my control factors which would make a step by step guide iffy, so I think in part 3 I will forgo the step by step approach and just put in guidance for dealing with various races and colonizations.

[FroBodine]

Timotheus! I just bought DW on Steam, and am getting ready to dive in. I found your posting, and it looks very awesome. I plan on going through it very carefully over this holiday weekend.

So, are you still planning on continuing with this?

[Timotheus]

Haha, your avatar reminds me of that free golden birdies in warthunda.

Thing is, by that point game becomes incredibly random (and interesting!) and won't follow a nice scenario path...

I can post general guidelines for when your empire grows a bit...

[Osito]

Welcome back! Where've you been, man?

Osito

P.S. Don't waste time answering that: get on with completing your guide

[towerbooks3192]

Please continue this guide. Would also be better if someone could provide screenies to go with the guide. Please make this the guide to end all guides!! [&o]

[Locarnus]

[X(]

Need

Screenshots,

please!

Well, not me, but I imagine everyone needing this as a guide who doesnt have a second monitor/machine...

[Erik Rutins]

Thanks for posting this, Timotheus.

[FingNewGuy]

Independents and colony ships.
Even if you have not researched a planet type you can still colonize it using the expansion planner, for example you do not have Desert world researched but have a colony of ex-independent Mortalens on a Desert world that you sent transports to and conquered, you can now select to pay and build Desert capable colony ships from that Desert world, just be sure that the independent is of sufficient size in population to ensure a good building speed.

Darkspire

I DID NOT know this!!! [&o]

Timotheus,this is absolutely brilliant, I LMAO while reading the entire thread and picked up quite a few things. Speaking as a former total n00b myself, I really, REALLY wish I had seen this post earlier in my DW career. Thank you! [&o]

[Bingeling]

The opening post has a question about attack overmatch.

This is about what the game should do when for instance fleet attacks fleet. If for instance it is a 10 vs 10 with identical ships. 3:1 attack overmatch will make 3 of your ships attack each single opponent ship.

I prefer to put i to the max, as I prefer ganging up and killing fast.

The most annoying side is if I got a large fleet, and there is a single enemy. A few ships tries to get in range for a shot, while the rest sit idle. Until I tell the whole fleet to attack...

[EvilMonk3y]

Just felt the need to register here to say thanks for this guide...I enjoy and play a lot of the Paradox Games and 4X in general but this is my first foray into Distant Worlds and I have always relied on guides to kick off my interest for games with this level of complexity.

This is easily the best one I have found so far for Distant Worlds and has really helped to ease me into the game, would love to one day see the more 'general' third part mentioned previously.

Many thanks again.

[Nocturne]

I'll also offer my profound thanks. I dislike automation in my 4X games and this guide is exactly how I want to play the game. I'll probably disable the pirates completely for the first few games, and play with fewer opponents, but everything else I'll adhere to until I get my feet wet.

[Grotius]

This is a great guide. I know some people say that newbs should start DW with most things automated, but I'm of the opposite opinion. I think you learn more with automation off -- and I think the game is more fun that way. I feel like I'm playing it, rather than the other way around.

[EvilMonk3y]

I completely agree about turning off automation...my first try at the game yesterday consisted of me watching a bunch of stuff happen in front of me with very little idea of what was happening and what I could influence without breaking it all.

Having turned it all off may be more complex but I have at least felt more in control of what was happening and know why most things are happening so far.

[Gregorovitch55]

I wish someone would sticky this so we don't lose it.

[FroBodine]

You pinky promised part 3!! You know what happens if you break a pinky promise, don't you?

Um . . . don't you?

Uhh, let me look it up and get back to you. In the meantime, please produce part 3.

Onward!

[FireLion1983]

ORIGINAL: Bingeling

The opening post has a question about attack overmatch.

This is about what the game should do when for instance fleet attacks fleet. If for instance it is a 10 vs 10 with identical ships. 3:1 attack overmatch will make 3 of your ships attack each single opponent ship.

I prefer to put i to the max, as I prefer ganging up and killing fast.

The most annoying side is if I got a large fleet, and there is a single enemy. A few ships tries to get in range for a shot, while the rest sit idle. Until I tell the whole fleet to attack...

So that's what that does?? Brilliant!

[Gareth_Bryne]

This can be stickied, in my opinion! If not here, then in the War room.

[willgamer]

This is sooooooooooo right on target for me.

Picked up DW yesterday, watched autoplay 4-5 hours, decided it wasn't for me, put away.

Read your post this morning, starting again as soon as I post this.

Thank you so very much. [&o]

[EvilMonk3y]

So just a couple of questions for anyone willing to help me...I have got to the stage where I am exploring the nearest star systems and have found some planets suitable for colonization and systems with a lot of resources in them.

1. If mining within a system do I also need to have colonized a planet within that system? My goods ships (the ones going back and forth from mines to planets) currently do not have warp drives in them, should I be designing ones with this capability (if I can?).

2. The BIGGEST problem I currently have is that I have found myself short of one resource that has halted my production of any warp enabled construction ships (and a lot of other stuff) which means even though I have now explored this resource I am unable to actually get to it to begin mining. Is there any way I can buy some amount of it to kick-start everything?

Thanks.