Advice for Game Settings

Help please...

Greetings everyone,

Now that I have the full version of DA installed, I'm ready to begin a new game. But as usual, I am still torn between the settings that I should use for game set up. I can't decide if I should play on a Medium or Large galaxy (and the ideal number of opponents for each size), I'm unsure about the Research Speed that I should set, I don't know if I should disable Tech Trading all together, and I am undecided about how many Anomolies I want there to be. Basically, what I want is:

- A challenging game where each planet is indispensible. I want the loss of a single planet to mean something to me or to the AI. I really enjoy the tension and apprehension that exists in the early stages of the game, and would like it to continue until victory or defeat.

- I don't want to control too many planets becuase I like to micromanage a little (although Starbase management becomes tedious quickly), but at the same time I don't like to wait 70 - 100 turns to research some of the techs. However, I also don't want military techs to become obsolete quickly. I know, I'm being very demanding.

- I want each AI to have a fair share of planets and plenty of asteroids to exploit.
I hate it when one AI has 15 planets, and their neighbor only has 4. I wish asteroids were in open space, not just around stars.

- I would like range to mean something. I've contemplated modding range so that it's less than the current default, but I'm afraid of how it will affect the AI.

- I like the concept of having to explore several systems before finding a good planet, but I become frustrated when the AI beats me to them or colonizes the available planet in my home system (Mars for example). I'm probably being too critical though.

- I want research decisions to matter, and a distinction of abilities and skills between the races. I don't like it when all the races are pretty much the same (although I know I won't be able to achieve StarCraft variety for example).

- I want Minors to play a role in the game, but I HATE how easy they are to exploit by me, especially since the other AI's don't attempt to exploit them. As a rule of thumb, I usually disable them if I opt to play with Tech Trading on.

- I really love the concept of Pirates and Space Monsters because they add an element of surprise and apprehension to the game (when I used to play CivIV, I usually played with Raging Barbarians on). Is there a way to mod this into the game?

What I AM sure of is that I like abundant stars, Abundant Asteroids, Mega Events, Super Abilities, Blind Exploration, all Victory Condions, Avanced CPU Algorithsm, AI difficulty set to Tough, and I don't like abundant planets (5 planets around every star just looks weird) or galaxies smaller than Medium (I like a variety of opponents). I usually tend to play methodically, focusing on strategy and thinking carefully about my choices. I love the intricacies of diplomatic relationships between the races, and I try to roleplay with the race I'm playing as. I usually prefer the Terrans, but I've also played a bit with the Arceans. I don't mind playing a game that lasts several weeks (even though I have limited free time), but I get frustrated when after several hours of time invested in a game I realize that there's either no chance of me winning, or no chance of the AI challenging me anymore. Although I must admit, I've never finished a game and maybe I haven't given Mega Events a good chance to kick in and spice things up. I also haven't researched far into the tech tree in any of my games (I know this even though I always hide the techs that aren't available to me yet... I wish I could set this to be the default setting in the Research screen).

I appreciate any advice from veterans and newcomers alike, and as always, I am grateful for the wonderful support that the Stardock team has given to this great strategy game. Thank you!

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Best bet for any game, play on the default settings it gives you first, till you get a feel for the impact of all the options. I personally dont think the game "feels" right on smaller than a large map (life support and sensor ranges dont really come into play much until youre on that size), but it definitely takes a much longer time to play through. You might want to play some smaller maps for your first few games .

I definitely recommend turning on the +cpu option in either DL or DA, but other than that, Id stick with the defults at first.

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i agree completely with Bingjack, but i'm willing to offer a bit of advice anyway.

large or larger galaxy, habitable planets set to uncommon or rare, stars to abundant and planets to common or average (so that not every system will have 5 planets).

disable tech trading, and turn the AI up a notch for at least a couple opponents (perhaps the generally weaker ones, though I haven't had a chance to get a sense of all the AI players' respective improvements in DA). this'll help make your research decisions more important, i feel, because some of the opponents will simply be able to out-research you a bit, and in either respect you won't be able to trade with others.

play with 7-9 opponents and minors (the minors' homeworlds will provide a greater number of habitable planets, so if you play with 9 for example, you may want to set habitable planets to rare).

asteroids to max. with anomolies, it's up to you. i often used to rush to sensors so i can get the lion's share of anomolies, but with the new planet types, the choice is less clear. i'd say common would be a safe bet.

set the star pattern to loose clusters or scattered, otherwise there's a good chance a player or two will be screwed in a single corner star.

don't worry about aliens colonizing mars, they're already there! j/k. but your homeworld's influence will usually be able to culture flip the second home system planet easily.

if you're not getting an equal share of planets, build more scouts, research more engine tech, invest in the speed boost during your setup, or simply rush-build more colony ships. i definately recommend not using more than 1 colony module, and you might also not want to fill them - that way those people are still being taxed on your homeworld, and you can always send over another population ship later.

i don't know about space monsters and pirates, but i'd say mega events should help with keeping suspence in the game.

cheers!

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Be aware that altering those settings can make for a completely different game than what was generally intended, or even what is frequently commented upon on the boards. Many strategies and commentary may no longer apply. A map where you get a free planet every 5 feet is not the same game as one where every planet is precious, and while you can easily excel without tech trading at the lower difficulties, at the highest difficulties when you cant keep up with AI production, it can be very difficult.

This was my only reason for suggesting you establish familiarity with the "baseline" game first, so you can make educated decisions, rather than soliciting everyones game preferences (which are many and varied).

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Mistralok1

Join Date 05/2006

+22

establish familiarity with the "baseline" game first, so you can make educated decisions, rather than soliciting everyones game preferences (which are many and varied).

I agree completely. Learn the basics of the game first. This will give you a much stronger foundation to build your personal strategies upon.

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I second turning off tech trading at least to "tough". I'd rather be slightly behind and have to out-fight/ out-diplo my way to victory.
At least that was before DA with all AI algorithims turned up

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I tend to use abundant everything, small-large maps. That maximizes the economic starbases' usefulness (even though I never build them. hmmmm....), and I like abundant anomalies.

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I haven't upgraded to DA yet but I like the following:

Gigantic galaxy
Rare stars

Occasional planets
Uncommon habitable planets
(that might be common planets/occasional habitable, can't remember)

Rare anomalies
Tough or higher difficulty
Minor races on
Normal tech

all 9 races
OR 5-6 chosen randomly with blind exploration on

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play with 7-9 opponents and minors (the minors' homeworlds will provide a greater number of habitable planets, so if you play with 9 for example, you may want to set habitable planets to rare).

Are you saying 8 Majors + 1 Minor for a total of 9? Or a full deck of Majors and Minors?

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Hey guys. I created a new thread just for discussion of this kind of thing. It has simple formatting that can be used by each favorite setup - so if you dont mind hopping to that thread and posting your results... that'd be great (click the www link below)

WWW Link

Thanks!

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I wish asteroids were in open space, not just around stars.

Ooooh... you want to get beaten up by all the Astronomy minors out there.

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