Dano13

Hi there, Does anyone know where I can get some information/tutorials on how to use these fine editors included with Twilight? I really want to try my hand on making some new tech trees, but I can't find any information. Also, when making custom opponents - is there any information on the basic tendancies of the AI templates? I mean its great that there are all these AI approaches, but it would be good to know what these AI tendancies are when relating them to our

Thanks for the info everyone ... Yes, I guess my problem is not enough money worlds. I am still playing using the DA mindset where a third of my planets were production, a third were research and a third money. What you are saying is that about 70% of your worlds should be straight money worlds, with the remainder being research and production worlds. So if I have 8 worlds then roughly I should have 1 production world, 1 research world and 6 straight

Hi There, I think you are right - my problem is with the maintenance costs - but I mean, what can I do? Not build anything? What did you mean when you say the economy takes a hit at the 10 k mark? 10 k of what? I have no leases I can certainly post a screenie ... ummmm .... exactly how do I do that? Dano

Yikes! I thought I was a good player, but now I am playing the Korx. I have maxed out my trade routes and have a modest empire (8 planets), with Banks, Maxed Trade routes and 4 years into the game and I am STILL losing 100 BC every turn! WTF???? I have sustained myself by selling tech - but WHAT the heck am I doing wrong? My biggest expense are those bloody colonies, and none of these are the ones with environmental factors. So what the heck am I doing

Answers - 1) I have delegated many, MANY battles at the autoresolve option does a competent job if you have a very good advantage. If its at all dicey I wouldn't use it. On the other hand you could fight a battle, go into the tactical string and put ships on auto, and only intervene when necessary. 2) There is no ground combat. You kill the population off from orbit and take all their juicy infrastructure ... 3) Isn't there an option on the opening screen

Just an FYI ... my tiny little EBGames in Toronto who's PC section is smaller than a shoebox actually had a copy. I was shocked! Anyway - there you go Dano PS - I never played Dominions but I remember Age of Wonders 2 - Shadow Magic gave me warm, tingly feelings.

pndrev: Hmmmm ... maybe. I know it would fit right in. Also, I don't know how well documented the demo is - but here is a wiki that I find helpful: http://sots.rorschach.net/ The game is amazingly deep. Weapons have a number of factors that they are defined on such as damage, speed, rate of fire, accuracy, range, richochettes, counters, planetary damage, firing arcs, weapon size etc. There is also subtle coolness effects too such as being able to acquire new tech from enem

For all the 4X gamers out there who might be interested there is a brand new demo for Sword of The Stars available at http://www.gamershell.com/news_51426.html http://files.filefront.com/Sword+of+the+Stars+Collectors+Edition+Demo/;10374949;/fileinfo.html This is one of my favourite Turn Based

I REALLY hope they don't go into consoles ... everytime a company does that they become infected with the "Christ this audience is easy to please" taint and PC gaming becomes an afterthought ... eg. Epic, Bioware - even ID has shown signs of this terminal, incurable sickness. Stardock ... for the love of all that is good and holy ... just say "NO!" Dano

[quote] Brad has locked himself in a room with a large supply of Coke and junk food [/quote] Er ... you mean Coca-COLA right? Otherwise that is going to result in some SERIOUSLY paranoid AI! ;-)

[quote]If I copy something from you - where exactly is this "taking" happening? You still have your copy - what have I deprived you?Easy...you have deprived me the right to deny you the chance to copy it, or ask for some type of compensation in return for the chance to copy it. So, in the eyes of the law, copyright infringement may not be stealing, as you would not be stealing anything from me physically. But you would be stealing my ability to ask for compensation in exchange for your opportuni

[quote] but the fact remains that stealing intangibles, whether named so or not in legal code, is still stealing.[/quote] Does this definition of stealing not strike you as a little circular? For the record I am the last person that determines the moral status of an action by whether the courts uphold it. My point was simply that whether downloading is theft or not is NOT a legal question. Therefore it must be a moral one - [quote] You are taking something that is not yo

*Sigh* - its NOT theft - that isn't anyone's opinion its a fact of LAW. Period. If you are arguing that it SHOULD be considered theft - fine, make your argument - don't just post RIAA's mantra and assume it is fact. Basing one's moral code on what is written in a Thesaurus seems a little superficial to me. To make an argument that downloading is wrong you will have your philosophical work cut out for you - you will be sailing oceans of "Ought" and "Hypothetical Events". An

I am not talking about me - I don't download movies, I am talking about why a lot of people don't care about Big Content's woes. If a corporation treats their artists and consumers as unwashed dogs, don't be surprised when they bite of your hand.

Okay ... obviously my comments here are not directed to Stardock - which I love. Maybe this doesn’t even apply to the discussion, but Brad mentioned music and movie piracy as well so here is my two cents. I have read some of the comments and all I can say is - Gimme a BREAK people! The absolute hypocrisy with which big content engages in day to day practices and then tries to paint downloaders as the spawn of Satan is HILARIOUS. They have worked SO hard to make sure that everyone HAT

Yes ... I am puzzled by this turn of events as well. They know this is the internet, right? There is ALWAYS a griefer in any group that will do whatever they are not supposed to, and if it wrecks havoc among innocent bystanders, so much the better. But I agree ... lets wait for an official response before we accuse Stardock of turning into EA Dano

Okay ... so maybe my idea for the Terror Stars is half baked. Anyway - I know we can make new tech trees. Does this also mean we can make new Planetary Wonders, Galactic Wonders and Trade Goods? Dan

But lets say you have 5 Terror Stars, and your Nemesis has 3. Because the Terror Stars move so fast you lose 14 stars to your enemy losing, say, 20. Sure you took out your enemy, but you are so weak now that you can't even afford maintaining the Terror Stars that you have. I just think Terror Stars should be ridiculously destructive, expensive, and hard to defend against. Even a smaller empire with a single Terror Star might give you pause, even if you have 10. Sure you will win, bu

I agree they are cool ... so it means I will build them once (when I have already won the game) and never again - which is unfortunate since I think there is a real game play opportunity here. As it stands the Terror Stars are too weak, too slow and too destructive to have any purpose. But why not make them into an analogue of OUR ultimate terror weapon, the Nuclear ICBM? They are incredibly destructive and very difficult to defend against. Why not give Terror Stars a VERY fast speed? Why m

Wow ... this expansion pack is a dream come true. I had a blast with the custom races in Dark Avatar, I am going to have even MORE fun making new techs and tech trees. One question about terror stars .... namely ... I don't get them. You need space superiority to use them (since they are so fragile), and if you have space superiority, why not just invade? Its probably cheaper, and you get new territory as well .... Dano

I am not sure why it was felt there was a need to change how tourism works. I thought that the economic crash during colonization was a GOOD thing - I mean wasn't the new planet environments introduced precisely to slow down the Colony Rush? Same thing with the economy crash. Furthermore, doesn't this just make larger empires that much more unassailable? On the other hand it is nice for influence to get some purpose (on larger maps its not that important). Here are some idea

But ... But that would mean I could design MILLIONS of custom races that have a distinct look and feel! And then of course there is the fascination with seeing how all these races will interact with one another ... Ye Gods ... this game is just going to keep getting more and more addicting!

Or you could allow it and invalidate games that do it to the metaverse. Frankly I never post my games to the metaverse. Dano

Iceciro - This is an excellent question. I heard you can set Custom Races to play with the new tech trees, but I gather what you are asking is whether we can break up all of these trees into the individual techs and then mix and max. That would be great - imagine how different all of the custom races would be then! Hopefully this wouldn't break the AI, and since the decision making part of the AI isn't scripted I would guess that it would be fine. Here is hoping Dano

Here are my 2 BC worth of ideas Peace Treaties Personally I think there should be a minimum number of turns that you can't go to war with someone after you sign a peace treaty. If you DO declare war before this time period is up I think your diplomacy rating should be pretty badly beaten. Resource Treaties Imagine if you could LOAN developed resources to other races? That would REALLY allow you to make a big contribution to someone elses war. You could loan them f