Distant Worlds strategy game

[LCC]

I am still playing the same game as the June 26 post on the previous
thread. I am now at year 8 and paying the price of my own advice to
colonize for luxuries rather than minerals. I have critical mineral
shortages at all of the old systems which prevent building of more
colony ships. I came up with a formula for rating systems which seems
to be good enough to post.
Rate an inhabitable planet by (planet capacity - 27) * 80 plus
resources % total * 4, with the % adjusted for price of the resource
as follows :
Multiply the % by 4 for Aquasian Incense, Nepthys Wine, Ucantium
Pearls, Natarran Incense, Otandium Opals, Jacanta Ivory, Yaras Marble,
Caguar Fur, Ekarus Meat, Fallajian Spice, or Ilosian Jade.
Multiple the % by 2 for Questurian Skin, Dantha Fur, Vodkol, or
Bifurian Silk.
If a planet has a ruins, multiple the planet capacity by (1 + ruins %)
before subtracting 27. That factor represents potential taxes.
I thought about multiplying by 1.3 on the tax factor for loros fruit/
zentabia fluid/ korobbian spice potential additional development
level, but decided against it since few planets actually BUY the
stuff.
If there is one of those three resources at a planet, make colonizing
it a TOP priority, even if you already have such a planet. You do NOT
want competition in the market for those three!

The system score is the sum of the scores of the inhabitable planets
plus :
a) Number of gas giant planets * 500
b) (Number of resource types in system minus 14) * 500
c) Number of inhabitable planets * 100
d) ((Number of planets and moons in system) - 10) * 50
e) Add 1000 if there is a metal asteroids BELT
f) If there is a scenic attraction in the system, add 40 * the
percentage scenic (I have not see any over 70*40)

Once you have rated all of the explored systems, pick the top 50
scores of systems not colonized. Then IGNORE scores and colonize
anyway for any of the big three, plus the three continental types
Yaras marble, Bifurian silk, or Rephidium ale. The scores are a GUIDE
for PRIORITY not a rule set in stone. For example I have found that
without the planet of a super luxury, I would never have colonized
such a lousy system...

Now that you have an idea of what is available, look over the systems
with inhabited populations of independent worlders. If the rating is
"possible" or better, then colonize the planet, no matter how lousy
the system might be. If the rating is "unlikely" try sending an ATUUK
colony ship there, they seem to be best for the job. I have found that
once my reputation hit maximum of "Heroic", I was able to colonize
even planets rated as "most unlikely". Kill Pirate gangs!
KILL THE PIRATES! KILL THE PIRATES! I can't emphasize enough, KILL THE
PIRATES!
WHY? Because your reputation increases with pirate kills, making your
population and the AI empires happy, increasing your population growth
rate and improving your diplomatic relations. So once again, KILL THE
PIRATES!

Signed by :
Lonnie Courtney Clay Laughing Crazy Coot TARZAN Chic Logo Guy

[LCC]

Right after the previous post, I discovered that corruption increases
at ALL planets of my empire by one percent for every system in excess
of 64-70 when playing in a 1400 system galaxy. Since I had already
wrecked my economy by expanding into about 100 systems, with dozens of
colony ships on the way to yet more systems, I gave up that game...

I downloaded version 1.0.6.0 and started a new game. I am 4 years into
that one, with about 20 systems and lots of colony ships on way. The
1.0.6.0 game version includes "planet quality". The formula for
revenue generated now seems to be :
Revenue in k = Population in m * development level * (1 - corruption
fraction) * (planet quality - 50) / 150000
So basically a quality 60 is twice as good as a quality 55, 70 is 2x a
60, and 90 2x a 70...
I came up with a new formula for rating potential colonies :
Rating = Planet capacity * (quality factor - 50) - 500 + resources
factors
A typical number is : cap 25 at 75 quality --> 125 + rf

Some advice for even experienced players to notice :
1) If you plant a colony near the home systems of 2-3 ai clustered
together, then when the spaceport is built, trade will go way up, and
your port will build lots of freighters for you. A bonus is that you
will buy lots of resources from the ai empires to build those ships,
denying them the opportunity to build up their own merchant fleets
using those resources.

2) Sell your territory map and tech to ai right after taxes are
collected and before they spend the money on colony ships. You can
determine this by watching your cash balance early in the game, or
your civilian's cash balance later on, in the empire summary screen...

3) A rapidly expanding player empire with 19 ai empires to trade with
can just about finance its own expansion by selling territory map
updates to the dumbo ai empires.

4) When you first meet an ai empire, its opinion of you is low. Buy
its galaxy map and get all of its tech and cash on the first trade
selling what are obsolete techs for you. Then turn right around and
give it a large cash gift. Get your money back by selling obsolete
techs, repeat until it is friendly. Then get a free trade agreement.
Once you trade with it again, you will notice that the obsolete techs
are no longer listed, just the latest ones. Now you give a gift of
cash and get it right back by selling your territory map. In the
process above you should have made the ai happy with you to about 48
to 64. If it is less, then you did not repeat the trading enough. If
it is more then you gave too much...

5) When you discover a spaceport in one of the restricted zones, then
IF you immediately buy 4 ships there, they will build on the next
turn. IF you choose your design right, then you can get 6-7 size 850
cruisers from the resources of a single zone port. So the trick is
that you do NOT enter the zone unless you have enough cash to buy
those cruisers...

6) An absolute top priority very early in the game is throwing enough
cheap explorers at the map to find the NEXUS OF THE RED CLAW ruins.
That gets you the yard tech to build big ships. Also very very
important is finding the Imperial Archive so that you get the
government type "Way of the Ancients".

7) When you can build big ships and have long range scan technology,
design an explorer with a LONG RANGE scanner (size 72 component) on
board, with an extra reactor or two and 400-800 fuel. Build one at
every spaceport which is near a nebula so that you can find the
restricted zones which seem to be most likely to be in nebulas. Later
on in the game, you can use those poor busted up old LR scan explorers
at systems whose spaceport does not yet have its LR scan active...

I have lots more advice, but am tired of typing, so that is all for
now..

[LCC]

The two most important ruins to FIND are Nexus of the Red Claw and the
Imperial Archive, neither of which needs to be actually colonized. If
you are really lucky, you will also find another "hidden fortress"
ruins which will give you the Death Ray super beam weapon.

The most important ruins to COLONIZE are as follows :
1) Garden of Arcadia - 10% extra happiness all colonies
2) Great Mercantile Exchange - extra 10% revenue all colonies
3) Unity Forum - supposed to be diplomacy bonus, may be broken...
4) Fortress of Torak - troops recruit twice as fast with double
strength at that colony alone
5) Techno Nexus - 100% bonus to high technology research
6) Akurian Industrial Workshop - 100% bonus to industrial research
7) Energy Engineering Facility - 100% bonus energy research
8) Carida Armaments - 100% bonus weapons research

The most important systems to colonize after those are the ones which
have a world destroyer to repair, there should be a total of three
world destroyers to find and repair...
Following those are systems with wrecked fleets in them.
But before you do those, colonize all of the known independent
friendly populations. This gives you an industrial base for building
constructors which you will use to REPAIR those ships. Without
constructors the wrecks are useless...
The automated tax manager is stupid after the first few colonies have
built spaceports. You should collect just 1% taxes at all colonies and
let the civilian ship purchases at your spaceports finance your own
purchases. I say 1% because it seems that no research is performed at
a colony unless some taxes are collected there.

KILL PIRATE BASES! Do NOT kill any pirate SHIPS unless you really
must. Let them escape to wreak havoc on the AI empires. When you
destroy a pirate base, surviving ships of the gang join another nearby
gang. If you destroy a pirate base near another gang, sometimes the
nearby gang will join you, giving you all of its surviving ships,
including those which recently joined because their base was
destroyed. I have also started planning which pirate base to destroy
based upon the possibility that a nearby gang will join. For example,
do not destroy the base of a gang with warp 60 ships, instead destroy
nearby bases until it joins your empire, providing those ships for
research retirement.

My current game is at 5-1/2 years, with 45 colonies in 37 systems.
Empire corruption just now increased from 2% to 3%, so I am watching
it carefully, with plans for only 53 systems before going to war with
AI empires. I plan on conquering 11 AI home worlds with troops trained
up during the next three years. The civilian revenue is 823k at
population 49120 million. My empire has 625 ships with firepower total
of 50994 and maintenance cost of 521k. I have 50 cruisers and 23
capital ships. I just bought 14 spaceports at colonies planted in the
last 4 months,deferred until the civilians coughed up cash to buy
dozens of freighters. I have noticed that if I consume resources to
cause a severe empire resource shortage, the civilians will save their
cash and wait for the shortage to diminish. So I do my buys
immediately AFTER the civilians spend their money, causing an empire
shortage which is worth noticing. For example, I am short the
following resources giving my stockpile/shortage in kilo units.

1) Dilithium selling at 2.3 - 10.6/26.3 - I am working on mines,
technology changed weapons manufacturing requirements sooner than
expected...
2) Iridium 14.4/30.7 - same story
3) Tyderios 19.7/34.6 - same story
4) Krypton 30.0/40.7 - same story
5) Aculon 72.1/85.0 - I have 10 sources and the appetite for aculon in
armor and engines is INSATIABLE!
6) Argon 25.7/22.9
7) Carbon Fibre - 123.1/64.0 - Engines! I have 21 sources, almost half
my colonies, still not enough!
8) Chromium - 84.8/39.8 - huh? need to look at that, I have 18
sources! Must be spaceports not active yet.

I am selling Korobbian spice at a good price, but my Zentabia mine and
all of its stock got wiped out when I colonized the planet. The only
known Loros fruit is a Dhayut independent which I am about to attempt
colonizing with an Atuuk colony ship. They seem to be effective on the
really tough insect colonies. My reputation gives my colonies
happiness of 9 for humans, and ranges from 7 to 27 on AI empire
relations. It seems to be stuck at that level despite a steady
destruction of pirate bases.

That's about enough for one post, be back in 2-4 weeks for more...

[LCC]

I finished that game by just automating everything from 60/03/01
onwards with 63 colonies in 45 systems. I started another game as an
Atuuk just to see how it would differ from humans. My progress in the
current game exceeds all previous games. In this game I had Long Range
scanners at game start, so the first thing which I built were size 230
LR scan explorers. I named them "pitiful"s because they were mostly
scanner and fuel tanks. Almost immediately I found a test zone and a
research station. I sent both of my constructors to the test zone to
repair ships. I soon found another research station and a supply
zone. I built regular explorers as fast as my economy permitted at the
supply zone. Soon I was in contact with other empires, getting money
as usual from selling maps and technology. I built a constructor for
economic work, but by the time it was completed I had found regular
systems with wrecks in them to be repaired. With all of my
constructors tied up on ship repair, my economy suffered. In
particular, there was no carbon fiber near my home world, except on
lost colony planets. Although I had three lost colonies within the
first 1.5 years, and thought that I was very lucky, the effect on my
economy was a disaster. They drained all incoming resources from the
AI empires to build their spaceports, preventing my home world from
building the usual supply of mining ships. So it was a mess that the
home world had no fiber to build mining ships, which caused a shortage
of luxuries and resources which they normally mined for me. I am
giving up on that game even though it will eventually recover its
economy. However in the medium time frame colonization is stalled...

Lesson learned : Never play a game in which your home world system
lacks fiber, polymer, steel, or caslon, just roll another new game.

[LCC]

I am still playing Distant Worlds, but doubt that anyone is reading
this thread, so I won't go into details...

[LCC]

Distant Worlds expansion "Return of the Shakturi" is about to come
out! The upgrade is well worth the modest price...