The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

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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Hikikomori
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Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 8:27 am

RE: Thanks

Post by Hikikomori »

ORIGINAL: morik

Hey guys, I just got this game last night and did a few tutorials. I plan to follow the guide on page 1 a bit... curious if the 3rd section is still in the works? Seems like its been a year and a half or so....

BTW: I'm planning on trying the AI improvement mod (sounds like it solves the 'AI is bad at designs' problem).
Can't post link cause new account... but if you type the forum's address (up to the
'tm.asp?m='), the message ID (to put after m=) is 3647528.


EDIT: I couldn't find a few things from the guide...
The 'newly built ships are automated', the default engagement stances, the fleet attack settings, nor discoveries... not sure where these went, have they moved with some new version? I am looking in 'empire policies' (I don't see an 'empire settings' button).

EDIT 2: D'oh, had started the game already. Found it in the options menu of the main menu.

EDIT 3: Regarding the "First assemble when this percentage of fleet dispersed". Shouldn't this be the inverse of what the guide says?
I.e., the lower this is, the more often it will trigger an assembly?
E.g., if set to 80, that means a whopping 4/5 of the ships have to be dispersed already to trigger assembling, right?
And the default 30 means that if at least 1 in 3 ships is missing, the fleet will assemble first?
(So setting to 1 would mean that if even 1% of the fleet has wandered off, they won't engage before assembling...)

BTW, how does this actually take effect? If I have manual control over everything, does this mean if I give an attack order, they will automatically either wait for assembly or go refuel if needed, and THEN perform my attack order?
What if it is an emergency? Is there a way to override and say "no you bastards, all available ships go immediately!"?


I don't know about assembling, but on refueling i believe 30 means "trigger the moment less then 30% have enough fuel".

But since i mostly play on manual everything, i am not really sure. What i am sure is that when you issue a manual order, the usually do it no matter how stupid that order. (altough they are sometimes a bit hard of hearing)

One exception would be sending ships (explorers) out beyond their max (half) range, after which the will return, no matter what i do.
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FroBodine
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RE: Thanks

Post by FroBodine »

Do you still plan on doing part three, as you said? Just curious. Lots of people have been asking for it, but you are not answering them.

Timotheus
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RE: Thanks

Post by Timotheus »

I just want to say that I am very happy that this guide (my first and only for a computer game) has helped so many people enjoy this game. Both the posts here and on Steam have been very positive and I just want to say that I thank You for your kind words.


I was thinking about doing the "Part 3" but came to the conclusion that this guide is a step-by-step guide, and that far into the game such an approach would be almost impossible to do. That, and also I do not want to spoil the different races you can meet and how they act and I want you to experience the various plotlines with no spoilers... and also, at the point that the guide ends, you probably have a pretty good idea on how to play the game.

Plus you know, real life, lawyering up, hitting the gym, etc etc...


Now, if y'all excuse me, I have stuff to do. You know, with hookers, and blackjack... in fact, forget the... no, no... keep both, actually...
NEWBIE GUIDE Distant Worlds Universe
http://tinyurl.com/k3frrle

War in the Pacific Poradnik po Polsku
http://tinyurl.com/nxd4cesh

INSTALL WITPAE on modern PC
https://tinyurl.com/l5kr6rl
NeilN
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RE: Reserved for yet more wordy words

Post by NeilN »

ORIGINAL: Darkspire

Independents and colony ships.
Even if you have not researched a planet type you can still colonize it using the expansion planner, for example you do not have Desert world researched but have a colony of ex-independent Mortalens on a Desert world that you sent transports to and conquered, you can now select to pay and build Desert capable colony ships from that Desert world, just be sure that the independent is of sufficient size in population to ensure a good building speed.

Darkspire

I'm a bit confused on how to do this. Been following the guide, playing as humans, and I've colonized a desert planet with 289M Securans. Does this mean I can colonize other desert planets? If so, how can I construct an appropriate colony ship? That option does not appear on in the desert world's construction dropdown list.

Also, is there a list of general best practices for newbies (e.g., should every colony have a spaceport)?
Elsien
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 11:18 pm

RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by Elsien »

.....
*Follows game guide*
*...finishes first space port, begins construction on 2 explorer ships...*
*...Pirates cancel protection agreement, immediately negotiate another agreement...*
*...Pirates cancel protection agreement, immediately negotiate another agreement...*
*...Pirates cancel protection agreement, destroy everything...*
*...Rebuild shipyard, and construction ships...*
*...Pirates destroy everything...*
*...No more money...*

... Nice guide brah.

Elsien
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by Elsien »

Seriously... I tried it again and the pirates just cancel their agreement, and just attack me.
I must be using a different game version that the one in which this guide was written for, because not having any weapons is just completely exploited by the pirates...
This guide was seemingly awesome, (and admittedly has taught me a little bit more about the game, and I will now play with full manual, because my very first game played with automation was just irritatingly inconvenience and inefficient) but I was only able to use half of the first page of the guide before I realized this was just simply outdated :(
FBolli
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Joined: Fri May 24, 2013 3:03 pm

RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by FBolli »

The Pirates can be really annoying. Try it with a different setup, Pirates on few and weak and no respawn. It helps a lot.
Bingeling
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by Bingeling »

You probably found some grumpy pirates. Various settings or random happenings may influence how persistent your first pirates are.

As for the advice on the spaceport it seems rather pointless. Just about whatever you do at the start, you need the first pirate deal to stick long enough for the pirates to leave, though.

I would suggest to try again in a new galaxy.
VorteeX
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Joined: Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:21 pm

RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by VorteeX »

I'm always use fighters on early game against pirates. Pirates mostly attack in small groups and escape fast. So fighters can catch them and also in more numbers can blow up pirate base without losing ship.
Elsien
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by Elsien »

Yeah you guys were right, the random rolls on the pirates can be pretty unforgiving! I have had it on 'few' and 'weak' setting every time I attempted it. Finally got a game off an running, I just went a slightly different route and designed a cheap, early game defender.

I was feeling like I was playing Dwarf Fortress with this difficulty curve for a second. :D
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Icemania
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by Icemania »

I've had the odd case where a couple of Pirate agreement resets were needed but I don't recall ever seeing a case when I can't get the agreement in place and got destroyed (including the latest patch). Except for ridiculous settings like a harsh homeworld start when I've run out of money perhaps. If you keep getting this I would report it as a bug.
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Erik Rutins
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by Erik Rutins »

Elsien,

Have you updated to the latest version of Universe? I recall this being an issue that could happen during the initial release of Shadows, but I thought we had fixed that quite a while ago.
Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC


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Kastor6767
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by Kastor6767 »

This guide was written years ago. What parts of it are outdated now?
Bingeling
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by Bingeling »

It should be completely "safe" to follow, although it may be some minor detail that has changed.
JWW
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by JWW »

Thanks very much for the guide. I worked my way through Phase 1 yesterday and learned a great deal about the game. I did note that apparently updates to the game since the guide was written mean it is no longer entirely accurate in every detail, but it was close enough that I was able to get started and follow through and work my way through just about all of Phase 1 in one day. I also read through the rest of the thread. After that I felt confident enough to go back and start a game of my own, setting my own game parameters. I recommend it for new players as a great way to get started. Don't get scared by the recommendation to do everything manually. Going through the process in this guide is great for learning how things work, though, and then you can set things up the way you want and go on from there.
JWW
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by JWW »

Update. I'm well into my first extended game, and I am still running most functions on manual, and I find it isn't hard at all to keep up. I decided to automate all private ship and base functions including upgrade and refit, etc. And I eventually automated some of my exploration ships. Outside of that I've kept everything manual. And I don't feel overwhelmed at all. The only major thing I haven't really done is get involved in a major shooting war with another empire. I haven't taken a planet using ground troops either. So once again I recommend this thread as a good way to learn the game.
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Uncle Lumpy
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by Uncle Lumpy »

Remember to switch game speed back to 1x when you do become involved in your first war. At 4x it might become a wee bit overwhelming.[;)]
I once heard there was a garage, which some said was air tight.
JWW
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by JWW »

ORIGINAL: Uncle Lumpy

Remember to switch game speed back to 1x when you do become involved in your first war. At 4x it might become a wee bit overwhelming.[;)]

Yes, shortly after writing that post I decided to go to war with an empire that colonized a planet right at the edge of my sphere of influence. I did it mainly to see what would happen. I attacked that planet and another colony in another nearby system. I knew I had the largest military from some of the game stats, but I was unsure what would happen since I had designed my own ships. I won, but things did get hectic fast and I did have to slow the speed down. I easily defeated a fleet in the system on my border.

But I also accidentally fired on an Ancient Guardian fleet. They had mining ships in the second system and sent a fleet there when I sent mine there, and in the rush I mistook their yellow ships for the orange ships of the enemy and targeted them. I was having a hard time in that battle before realizing what was going on. I immediately hit escape and ran and sent the Ancient Guardians a large gift. I hope they are not too mad at me.

Anyway I negotiated a peace with the enemy empire after capturing the system on my border. I kept the planet and sent some money to the enemy to get them to agree to end the war. Don't know if I handled that well or not, but I was satisfied. Shortly afterwards they negotiated a mining station swap with me that I thought was to my benefit.

Then right after that a pirate fleet started attacking my interests on the other side of my empire. I had to shift my two main fleets from the recently concluded war to the take care of them. Running them down was difficult, but once I did, I crushed them. I guess my ship design wasn't too bad, using two classes, what I call a frigate -- a large frigate -- and a capital ship, just a bigger version of the frigate with more of everything.

Anyway that was quite enjoyable, though it is critical to slow the speed down as you said.
BlackSoulReaper
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by BlackSoulReaper »

ORIGINAL: JW

Thanks very much for the guide. I worked my way through Phase 1 yesterday and learned a great deal about the game. I did note that apparently updates to the game since the guide was written mean it is no longer entirely accurate in every detail, but it was close enough that I was able to get started and follow through and work my way through just about all of Phase 1 in one day. I also read through the rest of the thread. After that I felt confident enough to go back and start a game of my own, setting my own game parameters. I recommend it for new players as a great way to get started. Don't get scared by the recommendation to do everything manually. Going through the process in this guide is great for learning how things work, though, and then you can set things up the way you want and go on from there.


I think that my be the intention. If you are newbie and starting out with automation you really don't understand what's going on in your game. I think that's the frustrating part and letting the game 'play itself'. Once you have an understanding on how most of this stuff works it's okay to switch on some automation. I put a lot of my exploration/construction on automation especially for the mid/late game.

I don't think there needs to be a part 3, the first 2 set me up to learn most of it on my own. Only thing that is left is ... maybe a pirate guide if you want to do that. But mostly just more indepth information about components logistics and trade. That's not something a guide like this can peek into though. This guide is for getting newbies familiar with the game without getting overwhelmed. I literally almost tabled this game until I read this tutorial.
Cyraga
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RE: The New Guy Newbie Guide to Fully Non Automatic Manual Play - Distant Worlds, The Manly Man Way to P

Post by Cyraga »

This guide is almost too amazing. I'd always struggled with mediocrity and frustration as the dive into manually playing this was too daunting and game mechanics are often too opaque. The AI is pretty garbage at managing your empire. Population growth and searching for most required resources has been invaluable. Just a few hours in I'm stomping pirate fleets with relative ease and rolling in cash. Before if I had positive cashflow I considered myself to be doing well. Having a genuine blast and looking forward to cranking up the difficulty next game :D
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