Douglas
2010-04-21, 11:39 PM
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Space Empires IV multiplayer Let's Play. There are 9 other players, and they may interject occasionally if they want to, but I am the host and I will be the main reporter here.
First, my race:
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7137/racedetails.jpg
I, Director Douglas, shall be ruling the Derajil Collective as we climb to dominate the galaxy. At least, that's the plan. The other 19 races (10 of which are minor and don't really count) might have something to say about it. That picture on the right is what my battlecruisers will look like.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8120/raceenvironment.jpg
Not many options on this screen, but the ones that are here have a huge impact on the game. The Derajil will start on a world made of ice that has no atmosphere. We will be able to colonize other ice planets, which make up approximately 1/3 of the planets in the galaxy, but we will have to research how to colonize rock and gas giant planets. We will require habitation domes on any planet that actually has an atmosphere, which will cut the effective size of such planets to 20% of the actual size. As every gas giant in existence has an atmosphere, that entire category of planets is of relatively little use to us. Every moon will be airless, however, and that will be a significant advantage for us.
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/5813/raceculture.jpg
It is an unfortunate fact that balance in race design is rather poor in this game. Berzerkers is genuinely the clear best culture because of how powerful its combat bonus is, and I chose it for that reason only.
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/5590/racecharacteristics.jpg
Here we get to the real meat of race design. This is one of the two screens where we spend racial points. The Derajil are physical weaklings, easily succumb to environmental hazards, and require frequent pacification, but we are smart, experts in the use of technological weaponry, and we build things to last and do it quickly.
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/521/racetraits.jpg
And here's the other screen where points are spent. My ships are extra fast, my planets can hold 20% more of everything (including the sources of resource and research production), my colonies build things even faster. The really major thing I bought here, though, is Organic Manipulation. This will give me access to a small set of technologies that no one else will be able to use - it's not even possible for me to give these techs to anyone who doesn't have this racial trait. This particular racial tech is noteworthy for weapons and armor that are cheap and cost primarily organics but are relatively weak, making for cheaper but weaker ships, and a facility that drastically increases reproduction.
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/1918/racedescription.jpg
I wasn't feeling very creative when I made this race. Descriptive elements will just have to wait and emerge some other way.
Ok, there's my race, now on to the game itself.
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/7107/turn1start.jpg
Here we are in my home system. I like seeing some extra information on this screen, though, and some of the default options need changing too.
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/1968/turn1options1.jpg
This option here needs to die. It is a genuinely idiotic thing that actually causes you to lose research points every time you finish researching something. And yet it's on by default.
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/5333/turn1options2.jpg
See the highlighted option? It makes a reasonable amount of sense for a sequential mode game. In that mode, designed primarily for single player, if you tell a ship to move it will move immediately. If its orders get cleared due to this option, you can see that and immediately give it new orders to account for the enemy presence. This game is using simultaneous mode, however. In simultaneous, if you tell a ship to move the game records that order but doesn't actually do anything with it yet. When everyone has played, the game then moves all ships simultanously. If a ship's orders get cleared at this point, the player doesn't find out until the next turn has started, which could get really frustrating if it happens to an invading war fleet that you knew perfectly well was heading into hostile territory and should have hit 3 planets in a surprise attack already but is instead sitting at the warp point. I turn it off.
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6813/turn1options3.jpg
Here are the options for what information gets displayed in the main system view screen. I like having most of this information readily available without having to search, so I generally turn almost everything on here. Like so:
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/2466/turn1options4.jpg
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/616/turn1ai.jpg
I don't expect to miss any turns, but if I do the default way the game handles it is to have the AI play my turn for me. This is bad. The AI is very stupid and has no idea who you actually want to be friends with. If you allow the AI to play your turn, you are liable to come back to discover the AI has declared war on several of your allies, and done several other stupid things besides. I always turn this option on to prevent this from happening. If I miss a turn, my empire will continue as if I had simply clicked End Turn without issuing any orders at all.
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/751/turn1options5.jpg
And, finally, the combat AI is very stupid in how it handles formations. Formations are great for arranging your ships for the beginning of combat, but once combat starts they should be ignored. Thus, I turn on this option to prevent that particular bit of AI stupidity.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8048/turn1main.jpg
Ok, back to the main system screen. Much better. Utekra XI is my homeworld. The rectangle with 3 bars in it marks the fact that I have a colony on it. The fact that there are 3 bars rather than 1 or 2 means that it has a LOT of population. The letters in the bottom right of the planet indicate particular facilities as follows: Y = space yard, S = spaceport, and R = resupply depot.
The green asterisk over Utekra X means that I have the technology to colonize it and that its atmosphere (in this case, the lack of one) matches my race. The red asterisk over Utekra VIII means that I have the technology to colonize it but the atmosphere is wrong. If I colonize it, it will only have 1/5 of its normal amount of space.
Anyway, rapid expansion is absolutely critical in this game, so let's get about colonizing those planets:
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5301/turn1design.jpg
First, I need to design the type of ship that's going to colonize my new planets.
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/5873/turn1build.jpg
Second, I need to build it. I put my homeworld on emergency build so that it will finish in 1 turn instead of 2.
Now, time for research.
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3392/turn1research.jpg
Due to my choice of dropping happiness to the minimum in race design, I'm going to need troops ASAP to keep my people happy and productive. Troops requires Construction. Construction is also the prerequisite for Mines, which is the ultimate early game defensive technology. Two great reasons to research Construction before anything else. Explosive Warheads is in there for a little bit of future planning - it will double the firepower of my mines once I get them.
Ok, that's it for turn 1, time to end the turn.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4164/turn2log.jpg
And here we are in turn 2. When I load up the turn, the game presents me with the turn Log as the first thing I see. In this case, it tells me that my colony ship finished construction. Let's go see it.
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5817/turn2main.jpg
Ok, I have a brand new colony ship and a wonderful planet nearby to send it to. Let's give the Colonize order.
This reminds me, there's another option I like to turn on, but this one isn't specific to any particular game or empire. You can find this option by opening the game menu (F2) and clicking on the Options button.
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/5369/turn2option.jpg
Turning Display Ship Movement Lines on results in things like this:
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/193/turn2moveline.jpg
The blue line shows where my ship is going to go, and the numbers on it tell how many turns it will take to get there at current movement speed. The line only shows up for the ship you currently have selected, so there's no confusion about exactly which ship is going to reach planet X in 6 turns.
There's not much else to do this turn, I just queue up another colony ship at my homeworld and end the turn. Early game turns are like that.
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/8914/turn3log.jpg
It's turn 3 now, and I've got my first new colony.
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9822/turn3colony.jpg
Here we are at Utekra X. Huge and breathable, the two most important good traits a planet can have. Wait, the AI thinks this should be a construction yard??? Save that for the tiny non-breathables that can't hold more than 1 facility, this thing is a gold mine for production, not construction!
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/1237/turn3colonies.jpg
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/2913/turn3settype.jpg
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5305/turn3settype2.jpg
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/7733/turn3typeset.jpg
Much better. Not that this actually has an in game mechanical effect, but it's useful for organizational purposes.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/7434/turn3construction.jpg
Now let's fill this thing up. 29 Research Centers and a Space Yard.
Oh, and I got a new colony ship. I send that to one of the moons in this system, since even a tiny breathable is the equivalent of a huge non-breathable planet.
Turn 4 is more of the same.
Turn 5, something new happens.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/5694/turn5log.jpg
I finish researching Construction. This opens up Troops, Mines, and Fighters for research.
http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/6016/turn5research.jpg
I promptly add Troops and Mines to the queue, and bump them up ahead of Explosive Warheads.
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8646/turn5explore.jpg
I have also explored a new system. Yes, it's a colony ship exploring on its own. There are a few moons here I could colonize, but nothing really good. I send the colony ship on to continue searching for a better planet to colonize.
Next turn.
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6181/turn6explore.jpg
Oh my. Exploring in the other direction, my other colony ship has found a spectacular system. No less than 3 airless ice planets, 2 small and 1 huge. Even better, the huge one has decent minerals value (112%) and one of the small's has incredible minerals value (147%). I promptly order my colony ship to colonize Distan VI.
Next turn.
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/8381/turn7spaceport.jpg
This is my first colony outside my home system, and because of that it needs something special - a space port. Without a space port in the system, none of the resources and research my facilities produce would actually benefit me. My homeworld starts with a space port so that system is taken care of automatically, but any other system needs to build a space port first thing. One per system is enough, though, no need to spend a facility slot on every planet for it.
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/1729/turn7explore.jpg
Back on the other side of my home system, my first exploring colony ship has hit pay dirt. Ignobilia IV will make an excellent research world.
Next turn.
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/2112/turn8log.jpg
Two new colonies at once this turn. My homeworld has been busy. Unfortunately, they're both just moons. Oh well, they'll finish their facilities in about 10 turns and then they'll be able to help build more colony ships.
Next turn.
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/4595/turn9explore.jpg
Yet another colony ship explores yet another system. This one's a bit of mixed news. Right now, it's worthless. Those asteroids can't be colonized and don't really do anything. Later on, though, I'll be able to turn those asteroids into planets and colonize them - and, well, take a look at the values on Lundra Asteroid III. Those will stay exactly as they are when I convert it to a planet.
Next turn.
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/1774/turn10log.jpg
I finally finish researching Troops. This is good news for my population happiness, but I dislike the practice of building troops with no weapons specifically to boost happiness. I'll research Troop Weapons before actually building any troops.
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1520/turn10explore.jpg
And here we have another disappointing new system. Oh well, they can't all be treasure troves like Distan.
And that's the first 10 turns, folks. Next time, I meet my first neighbors!
First, my race:
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7137/racedetails.jpg
I, Director Douglas, shall be ruling the Derajil Collective as we climb to dominate the galaxy. At least, that's the plan. The other 19 races (10 of which are minor and don't really count) might have something to say about it. That picture on the right is what my battlecruisers will look like.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8120/raceenvironment.jpg
Not many options on this screen, but the ones that are here have a huge impact on the game. The Derajil will start on a world made of ice that has no atmosphere. We will be able to colonize other ice planets, which make up approximately 1/3 of the planets in the galaxy, but we will have to research how to colonize rock and gas giant planets. We will require habitation domes on any planet that actually has an atmosphere, which will cut the effective size of such planets to 20% of the actual size. As every gas giant in existence has an atmosphere, that entire category of planets is of relatively little use to us. Every moon will be airless, however, and that will be a significant advantage for us.
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/5813/raceculture.jpg
It is an unfortunate fact that balance in race design is rather poor in this game. Berzerkers is genuinely the clear best culture because of how powerful its combat bonus is, and I chose it for that reason only.
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/5590/racecharacteristics.jpg
Here we get to the real meat of race design. This is one of the two screens where we spend racial points. The Derajil are physical weaklings, easily succumb to environmental hazards, and require frequent pacification, but we are smart, experts in the use of technological weaponry, and we build things to last and do it quickly.
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/521/racetraits.jpg
And here's the other screen where points are spent. My ships are extra fast, my planets can hold 20% more of everything (including the sources of resource and research production), my colonies build things even faster. The really major thing I bought here, though, is Organic Manipulation. This will give me access to a small set of technologies that no one else will be able to use - it's not even possible for me to give these techs to anyone who doesn't have this racial trait. This particular racial tech is noteworthy for weapons and armor that are cheap and cost primarily organics but are relatively weak, making for cheaper but weaker ships, and a facility that drastically increases reproduction.
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/1918/racedescription.jpg
I wasn't feeling very creative when I made this race. Descriptive elements will just have to wait and emerge some other way.
Ok, there's my race, now on to the game itself.
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/7107/turn1start.jpg
Here we are in my home system. I like seeing some extra information on this screen, though, and some of the default options need changing too.
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/1968/turn1options1.jpg
This option here needs to die. It is a genuinely idiotic thing that actually causes you to lose research points every time you finish researching something. And yet it's on by default.
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/5333/turn1options2.jpg
See the highlighted option? It makes a reasonable amount of sense for a sequential mode game. In that mode, designed primarily for single player, if you tell a ship to move it will move immediately. If its orders get cleared due to this option, you can see that and immediately give it new orders to account for the enemy presence. This game is using simultaneous mode, however. In simultaneous, if you tell a ship to move the game records that order but doesn't actually do anything with it yet. When everyone has played, the game then moves all ships simultanously. If a ship's orders get cleared at this point, the player doesn't find out until the next turn has started, which could get really frustrating if it happens to an invading war fleet that you knew perfectly well was heading into hostile territory and should have hit 3 planets in a surprise attack already but is instead sitting at the warp point. I turn it off.
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6813/turn1options3.jpg
Here are the options for what information gets displayed in the main system view screen. I like having most of this information readily available without having to search, so I generally turn almost everything on here. Like so:
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/2466/turn1options4.jpg
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/616/turn1ai.jpg
I don't expect to miss any turns, but if I do the default way the game handles it is to have the AI play my turn for me. This is bad. The AI is very stupid and has no idea who you actually want to be friends with. If you allow the AI to play your turn, you are liable to come back to discover the AI has declared war on several of your allies, and done several other stupid things besides. I always turn this option on to prevent this from happening. If I miss a turn, my empire will continue as if I had simply clicked End Turn without issuing any orders at all.
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/751/turn1options5.jpg
And, finally, the combat AI is very stupid in how it handles formations. Formations are great for arranging your ships for the beginning of combat, but once combat starts they should be ignored. Thus, I turn on this option to prevent that particular bit of AI stupidity.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8048/turn1main.jpg
Ok, back to the main system screen. Much better. Utekra XI is my homeworld. The rectangle with 3 bars in it marks the fact that I have a colony on it. The fact that there are 3 bars rather than 1 or 2 means that it has a LOT of population. The letters in the bottom right of the planet indicate particular facilities as follows: Y = space yard, S = spaceport, and R = resupply depot.
The green asterisk over Utekra X means that I have the technology to colonize it and that its atmosphere (in this case, the lack of one) matches my race. The red asterisk over Utekra VIII means that I have the technology to colonize it but the atmosphere is wrong. If I colonize it, it will only have 1/5 of its normal amount of space.
Anyway, rapid expansion is absolutely critical in this game, so let's get about colonizing those planets:
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5301/turn1design.jpg
First, I need to design the type of ship that's going to colonize my new planets.
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/5873/turn1build.jpg
Second, I need to build it. I put my homeworld on emergency build so that it will finish in 1 turn instead of 2.
Now, time for research.
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3392/turn1research.jpg
Due to my choice of dropping happiness to the minimum in race design, I'm going to need troops ASAP to keep my people happy and productive. Troops requires Construction. Construction is also the prerequisite for Mines, which is the ultimate early game defensive technology. Two great reasons to research Construction before anything else. Explosive Warheads is in there for a little bit of future planning - it will double the firepower of my mines once I get them.
Ok, that's it for turn 1, time to end the turn.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4164/turn2log.jpg
And here we are in turn 2. When I load up the turn, the game presents me with the turn Log as the first thing I see. In this case, it tells me that my colony ship finished construction. Let's go see it.
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5817/turn2main.jpg
Ok, I have a brand new colony ship and a wonderful planet nearby to send it to. Let's give the Colonize order.
This reminds me, there's another option I like to turn on, but this one isn't specific to any particular game or empire. You can find this option by opening the game menu (F2) and clicking on the Options button.
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/5369/turn2option.jpg
Turning Display Ship Movement Lines on results in things like this:
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/193/turn2moveline.jpg
The blue line shows where my ship is going to go, and the numbers on it tell how many turns it will take to get there at current movement speed. The line only shows up for the ship you currently have selected, so there's no confusion about exactly which ship is going to reach planet X in 6 turns.
There's not much else to do this turn, I just queue up another colony ship at my homeworld and end the turn. Early game turns are like that.
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/8914/turn3log.jpg
It's turn 3 now, and I've got my first new colony.
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9822/turn3colony.jpg
Here we are at Utekra X. Huge and breathable, the two most important good traits a planet can have. Wait, the AI thinks this should be a construction yard??? Save that for the tiny non-breathables that can't hold more than 1 facility, this thing is a gold mine for production, not construction!
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/1237/turn3colonies.jpg
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/2913/turn3settype.jpg
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5305/turn3settype2.jpg
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/7733/turn3typeset.jpg
Much better. Not that this actually has an in game mechanical effect, but it's useful for organizational purposes.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/7434/turn3construction.jpg
Now let's fill this thing up. 29 Research Centers and a Space Yard.
Oh, and I got a new colony ship. I send that to one of the moons in this system, since even a tiny breathable is the equivalent of a huge non-breathable planet.
Turn 4 is more of the same.
Turn 5, something new happens.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/5694/turn5log.jpg
I finish researching Construction. This opens up Troops, Mines, and Fighters for research.
http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/6016/turn5research.jpg
I promptly add Troops and Mines to the queue, and bump them up ahead of Explosive Warheads.
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8646/turn5explore.jpg
I have also explored a new system. Yes, it's a colony ship exploring on its own. There are a few moons here I could colonize, but nothing really good. I send the colony ship on to continue searching for a better planet to colonize.
Next turn.
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6181/turn6explore.jpg
Oh my. Exploring in the other direction, my other colony ship has found a spectacular system. No less than 3 airless ice planets, 2 small and 1 huge. Even better, the huge one has decent minerals value (112%) and one of the small's has incredible minerals value (147%). I promptly order my colony ship to colonize Distan VI.
Next turn.
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/8381/turn7spaceport.jpg
This is my first colony outside my home system, and because of that it needs something special - a space port. Without a space port in the system, none of the resources and research my facilities produce would actually benefit me. My homeworld starts with a space port so that system is taken care of automatically, but any other system needs to build a space port first thing. One per system is enough, though, no need to spend a facility slot on every planet for it.
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/1729/turn7explore.jpg
Back on the other side of my home system, my first exploring colony ship has hit pay dirt. Ignobilia IV will make an excellent research world.
Next turn.
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/2112/turn8log.jpg
Two new colonies at once this turn. My homeworld has been busy. Unfortunately, they're both just moons. Oh well, they'll finish their facilities in about 10 turns and then they'll be able to help build more colony ships.
Next turn.
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/4595/turn9explore.jpg
Yet another colony ship explores yet another system. This one's a bit of mixed news. Right now, it's worthless. Those asteroids can't be colonized and don't really do anything. Later on, though, I'll be able to turn those asteroids into planets and colonize them - and, well, take a look at the values on Lundra Asteroid III. Those will stay exactly as they are when I convert it to a planet.
Next turn.
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/1774/turn10log.jpg
I finally finish researching Troops. This is good news for my population happiness, but I dislike the practice of building troops with no weapons specifically to boost happiness. I'll research Troop Weapons before actually building any troops.
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1520/turn10explore.jpg
And here we have another disappointing new system. Oh well, they can't all be treasure troves like Distan.
And that's the first 10 turns, folks. Next time, I meet my first neighbors!