Just upgraded DL - few n00b Qs

Espionage: The longer your agent is on another civ's improvement, the more info you get on them. However, the target civs do know they're there, and they do mind. These agents also periodically steal techs when they're on another civ's improvement as well.

Ascension resources: I've had other civilizations just let me win, so I don't think they attack you just for having these mined

Lost your turn button: Everytime this has happened to me, it's because my miner is bugged. Turn him off auto for a turn, or destroy him, and you should get it back.

Hope that helps.

-Espionage:
After some time (I call it spy-weeks) you'll gain high and higher levels of intel like in DL. Check my post here about how many 'spy-weeks' are needed for each level of intel Espionage Intel Levels

They know the spies are there, but don't know who's they are. Tech stealing via espionage is very low now in DA/TA as I think you only get techs at higher intel levels (as before) AND while spies are placed (a very costly endeavor).

Know this, spies can be nullified by another AI's spy and his and yours goes into the great galactic dumpster. Spy costs go up as you train more and more. This isn't based on how many you currently have, it's by how many spies you've made so far that game.

-Ascension:
Yes, people will hate you. You get a - for 1 resource and -- for 2+ resources. So if you are going for more than 1, make sure you snag a bunch of them. The multiplier is a smidgen below conquest I think due to the massive amount of military you'll need to keep the AIs off your back/the wars that will be fought over them. These resources cannot put out more than 1 point per week each. No mining modules can be added, nor can weapons/defenses. Also the max number of points per week you can get is 5...so reaching 1000 points takes a damn long time.

-Turn Button:
Lets take this one a few more replies shall we? What patch # are you playing in TA?

*edit*
I dug through the forums and came up with an answer on victory weight for ascension.

So it's on par with a conquest win, but at the very VERY least it will take you 4 years and 2 weeks to win.

The missing turn button is due to a ship waiting for a user response. Simply press spacebar to end it's moves, or press G to guard.

Cheers! I might be back for more questions later.

A new question - what is the significance of the techs with asterisks against them in the trading screen? Are they techs only obtainable by that race / alignment? If so - can I use them if I trade for them or not?

Those designate race-exclusive techs. You can use them if you trade/steal them, but you will not be able to research the follow-up techs the way you would if you traded for common techs that are in your tech tree.

Cool, thanks.

Hi again -

I'm really struggling with missing turn buttons, I haven't been able to finish a game yet. I'm sure i's something simple but it's plaguing me none the less. I'm on 1.96.027 of TotA, and 1.50.135 of Galciv, if that matters,

Here's a save game with the behaviour. On loading it the button's back, but it doesn't do anything :

http://www.tharg.co.uk/Misc/QuickSave1.zip

Help, anyone?

Usually pressing space through your fleets will solve it.
Saving and rebooting the game (and then loading the save game) worked for me the first time.

Its usually an issue with the autopilot.

No, no luck.

Cry and hope you'll wake up to a game that you didn't pay to be a beta tester for .

On a serious note, you're probably better off loading an auto-save or previous auto-save.

Dammit.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.