This is the Eleventh of Random Advice
for Absolute Newbies.
Thirty
Always travel (S)ingle step.
With a Density Scanner you can't know
what is before you. You can guess - 100 -
is a Port and - 600 - is a planet...
but 100 could be ten mines and 600 could
be a mixture of Aliens, Fighters, old
escape pods, etc.
In Early game, when you only have the
Density, avoiding a peculiar Sector
is what you do. Just mark it Avoid,
(C)omputer a(V)oid, and go on.
It doesn't matter if you wind up with
a dozen or more avoids, later on in the
game, when you buy your Holoscanner, you
revisit Avoids stopping a Sector away.
The path to 888,(which you've marked avoid),
is one hop from 128. Go Single Step to 128,
then scan 888.
You might find there's nothing there,
or nothing to be afraid of.
You then Clear that avoid, (V)(0) but only
that one, and go on to the next, always
stopping a Sector from the Avoid.
Periodically check your Avoids.
Thirty One
Explore the galaxy, visit every Sector.
- A) you want to know where everyone
else is,
- B) where Ferrangal is,
- C) where the Hazards are,
- D) where the wormholes/blackholes
are,
- E) and get points (from 1 - 50) for
being the first to visit a Port.
- A)
Knowing where your opponents are building
is vital. Whether you are thinking War
or Peace, Good or Evil, you must know
where the others are.
- B)
Ferrangal is the Ferrangi Planet. It
goes up to Q Cannon. In most games it
can be invaded, it can be destroyed.
- C)
You need to know where mines are,
where eight planets are loaded into
a Sector that can only take five,
(so they'll collide and create a
nav haz) etc.
- D)
Wormholes are Sectors which don't
lead the way they came.
For example, you are in Sector 234.
234 links to 55, 124, 765.
You go to 55.
There is no 234 linking 55, there is
only one Sector leading from 55, and
that is Sector 26.
Once you go to 55, you can't go back.
You have to go through 26.
Here's the perfection of Sector 26.
Every ship, save those Transwarpable,
has no choice but to go through 26.
Imagine being the first to visit that
Sector, and Conscious of what it means.
You can mine it, warp a planet there;
it's a black hole. It is a podder
for other players. - E)
Being the first to visit a Port gets you
points, yes, but also, the prices are
better. Cheaper to buy, dearer to sell.
Remember, prices go up for sales and
down for purchases depending on how
busy the Port.
Paying 157 for 85 holds of Fuel is
rather different than paying 2,500
for the same number of holds.
Hence, the 50 points you get for being
the first to visit also means you're
going to be able to sell higher and
buy cheaper.
In early game, every credit counts.
You want to make as much profit as
possible so as to buy maximum holds
and a Gen Torp.
Thirty Two
While a Citadel is building, dump more
goods, more colonists so as soon as one
Level completes on to the next.
Mountainous are treacherous in that from
0 to Level 1 takes 400 Colonists, but from
1 to 2 is 1600, and from 2 to 3 you need
4200 and from 3 to Level 4 5600, (these
are standard figures, they may be different
in your game.)
To 'wait' until one Level is done before
working on the next is how you lose.
Further, 'wasting' colonists is another
loser. Mountainous planets which have
maxed their fuel potential, don't need
colonists.
Thirty Three
Always have a few 'dummy' Sectors.
These are places you fire Gen Torps
but don't build.
Late in the game you might want to
Warp over a Planet you'll use to
build others.
