Warning: avoid random empires!

Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time, 4X space strategy game which models a "living galaxy" with incredible options for replayability and customizability. Experience the full depth and detail of large turn-based strategy games, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game. Now greatly enhanced with the new Universe release, which includes all four previous releases as well as the new Universe expansion!

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henri51
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Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by henri51 »

I started a game on "easy" at the pre-warp level on an 8x8 map with everything pretty much normal except for few pirates and few monsters, so I could get the hang of the game. I made the mistake of setting all other factions to "random", expecting them to be comparable to me.

It took a long time before I could find a colonizable planet (humans) and there was only one within about 2 sectors. No sweat, I thought, until I could see most of the map... Most other empires had more than 5 colonies, a few had over ten, and one had 31 colonies! The latter one seemed to have a continental planet on almost every second system, sometimes two in the same system.By starting a new game I found out what the problem was.

Especially if you are a beginner, and especially if starting at the pre-warp level, do NOT use the random button to create other factions: "random" means that ALL their properties including tech level, colony frequency etc could be ANY of the levels including the highest one. There should be a button to create random factions but with about the same levels as the player, and one wonders why the "easy" button does not ensure this. Live and learn. And don't try this with the game set on "very hard"...

Henri

Edit: IMPORTANT NOTICE.
The problem as explained below was not at all the settings, but the rapid expansion of one faction that had a lot of colonizable planets close to each other. So the random settings work as advertised. Sorry about that.
ricanuck
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by ricanuck »

Are you sure? I play with the random check box and did not see what you mentioned...
Bingeling
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by Bingeling »

If you use the checkbox "create .... random empires" they spawn according to the galaxy settings, with tech applicable to the expansion level set there.

If you manually add them and put everything random, it is probably... random.
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Darkspire
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by Darkspire »

There should be a button to create random factions but with about the same levels as the player, and one wonders why the "easy" button does not ensure this. Live and learn. And don't try this with the game set on "very hard"...

On the screen where you can select how many empires to play against, uncheck the box and add the empires in the bottom window, you can specify everything you want from that.

Darkspire
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Antiscamp
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by Antiscamp »

As Darkspire says, in the screen, instead of generating 11 random empires or whatever, just go into the list and add empires. There are dropdown boxes for all the options available, and you can setup a game to your exact liking. It's rather powerful. I always use those dropdown boxes instead of just generating random empires, because I can also ensure that all the races from my mod are with me.
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henri51
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by henri51 »

ORIGINAL: ricanuck

Are you sure? I play with the random check box and did not see what you mentioned...

When I tried starting my empire with the "old" size setting, my empire had 41 starting colonies! The blurb above the other empires setting says that the size of random empires is set by the galaxy settings, but this is contradicted by the list below having the exact same "size" settings. So unless "old" means different things depending where it is selcted, one has a chance of starting at pre-warp and having an enemy starting at an advanced tech setting with 20 or more colonies...

Since others have not observed this, maybe they were just lucky or maybe the random settings are not equi-probable, but it was a heck of a shock for me.

And yes I know that I can set the other empires myself, but I guess I am a bit lazy...

Henri
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Darkspire
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by Darkspire »

ORIGINAL: Antiscamp

As Darkspire says, in the screen, instead of generating 11 random empires or whatever, just go into the list and add empires. There are dropdown boxes for all the options available, and you can setup a game to your exact liking. It's rather powerful. I always use those dropdown boxes instead of just generating random empires, because I can also ensure that all the races from my mod are with me.

Haven't tested it for a while due to the new, not so useful and most annoying, demands in setting up a custom game but it used to be the case, from my own observations, that if you specified the empire number by check box you could end up with a fair few more fair sized empires randomly appearing during the game, the option I much prefer, but as I only play on PreWarp I can not set galaxy expansion slider higher than starting so I now have to define the empires.

Using the option to enter the number of empires in the bottom window keeps the game fairly rigidly within the number of empires set in that window during definition of the game.

Darkspire
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Jim D Burns
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by Jim D Burns »

ORIGINAL: henri51
So unless "old" means different things depending where it is selcted

The term ‘Old’ on the first setup screen is for telling the game how old the galaxy itself is and sets things like how large starting populations should be. ‘Old’ in the empire setup for you and then on the page with all the pull-down menus for enemy empires tells the game how long you’ve been actively exploring and expanding already, so the starting number of colonies you control is set there.

Jim
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Darkspire
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by Darkspire »

The term ‘Old’ on the first setup screen is for telling the game how old the galaxy itself is and sets things like how large starting populations should be.

That is now used to determine the starting era in a custom game, (See my post).

Darkspire
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henri51
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by henri51 »

ORIGINAL: Darkspire
The term ‘Old’ on the first setup screen is for telling the game how old the galaxy itself is and sets things like how large starting populations should be.

That is now used to determine the starting era in a custom game, (See my post).

Darkspire
I am not sure I understand, but when I chose "old" for my empire in the galaxy setup (as opposed to "pre-warp"), I got 41 starting colonies with the same other settings as above, so it is setting not only the size of the population but more importantly the number of starting colonies. I presume that it is the same for the corresponding settings in the "other empires" screen.So it seems that in the case of my original post, the "random" setting apparently chose "old" or "mature" for one of the "other empires" which is how they got 31 colonies.

Anyhow correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that if I want ALL factions to start at pre-warp, I have to set each of the factions at that level one at a time by hand in the "other empires" window.

Henri
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Darkspire
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by Darkspire »

Anyhow correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that if I want ALL factions to start at pre-warp, I have to set each of the factions at that level one at a time by hand in the "other empires" window.

That is correct sir. Tech to PreWarp and the same for size.

Darkspire
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henri51
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by henri51 »

OK, here is a suggestion (that does not work but that would be nice). When one chooses to create random empires, the choices for "other empires" below should be active and for example if one chose "pre-warp" for size, all the randomly generated factions would start at the pre-warp level. Same for the other settings.So one could still have unknown enemies with SOME random properties when setting up the game. As a matter of fact the default values for all "other empires" settings could be the same settings that the player chose for himself, thus avoiding unpleasant surprises for newbies.

But I don't know how difficult it would be to implement this.

Henri
SirFinbar
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by SirFinbar »

Every time I selected random empires, they have been starting off at exactly the same level as me...

So I'm not really sure what this thread is about. You select 'Starting' level, then add the number of random races you want and voila! It's done.

Storm in a teacup this thread. It even says at the top 'the Galaxy Expansion setting influences how large these empires are'...
SirFinbar
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by SirFinbar »

ORIGINAL: Darkspire
Anyhow correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that if I want ALL factions to start at pre-warp, I have to set each of the factions at that level one at a time by hand in the "other empires" window.

That is correct sir. Tech to PreWarp and the same for size.

Darkspire

Nonono, that is incorrect.

You've made this big warning thread, and it's total rubbish. I just started a couple new games, used the editor to check the other empires; all had one system.

Clearly what you did is set Galaxy Expansion to 'Old', not read the tooltip, selected a number of random empires (again not reading the tooltip), ran into a bunch of Old Empires, then made this whiney thread.

So here's a warning for potential noobies; IGNORE this thread, and READ the information presented by the game.

FINAL EDIT If you had just listened to Bingeling, instead of ignoring him, you would have had your answer. This has really bugged me I don't know why. So much false information, so much unnecessary angst from Henri towards the game, all because he didn't read it properly... Sort it out.

FINAL FINAL EDIT I always play with randomly generated empires. It provides different economic/political/military etc landscapes each time, and I love that. You've totally bashed it for no reason.
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FingNewGuy
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by FingNewGuy »

So here's a warning for potential noobies; IGNORE this thread, and READ the information presented by the game.

FINAL EDIT If you had just listened to Bingeling, instead of ignoring him, you would have had your answer. This has really bugged me I don't know why. So much false information, so much unnecessary angst from Henri towards the game, all because he didn't read it properly... Sort it out.

FINAL FINAL EDIT I always play with randomly generated empires. It provides different economic/political/military etc landscapes each time, and I love that. You've totally bashed it for no reason.


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moonraker65
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by moonraker65 »

Darkspire has it right in his first post. I always set up the other empires in a game manually so that everyone starts the same at the same level.
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SirFinbar
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by SirFinbar »

If you set Galaxy Expansion to 'Starting' or 'Pre-Warp' and use randomly generated empires; I guarantee they will be the same level as you.

Unless you change your own Expansion level on the empire screen. It's quite simple. Entering them manually isn't necessary, unless you want to tailor your opponents/allies/whatever.
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moonraker65
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by moonraker65 »

Depends how hard or difficult you want the game to be. I like somewhere in the middle so I put some hard and some easy opponents usually.
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Bingeling
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by Bingeling »

I really would like some more settings for the "generate 11 random empires".

I would like some chaos in the galaxy, but if I set it up myself, I know who is there. I don't want to know that there is one powerful empire, just that there could be one. And I don't want to know which race is the powerful one.

One of the nice things starting a new game is figuring out what other races are present as the game goes on.
SirFinbar
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RE: Warning: avoid random empires!

Post by SirFinbar »

Yeah that's why I like the random nations, but you're right, it can lead to an easy/boring galaxy. It can also be a cool one as well!

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