Just got the game. Where should I begin?

Matrix Games Forums

Armageddon invasion starts in 2014

Command Rommels Panzers in Battle Academy!

Servers Update

The Deal goes Fourth!

Command Ops gets a Massive Update!

Lost Battles AAR: Smolensk 41

War in the East: Lost Battles is here!

Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! Let's Play video

Lost Battles Scenario Manual excerpts available!

A sneak peek from Allied Corps!

Forums Register Login Photo Gallery Member List Search Calendars FAQ

My Profile Inbox Address Book My Subscription My Forums Log Out

Just got the game. Where should I begin?

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds Series >> Just got the game. Where should I begin?

Page: [1]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/12/2012 6:31:54 PM

towerbooks3192

Posts: 127
Joined: 8/12/2012
Status: offline

First of all I accidentally stumbled upon this game while finding some info on legend of pegasus and finally bought main game plus 2 expansions. I must say that this is the best space 4x I have played so far with its complexities and good automation.

I messed around with the game and I finished the tutorial and as much as possible I want most aspects to be handled by me. I was wondering if anyone could offer me tips on how to learn the deeper parts of the game? I am confused with some parts like ship design and being used to creating all from scratch in Space Empires IV, seeing all those ship designs is a bit daunting.

I also have a problem of keeping track of things especially with all the ships around and pop up messages of something getting attacked and etc. Also a bit confused about where a ship could do repairs and how does the resources affect what I am building or what effects does it have on my empire and how and when to use the expansion planner since I am confused about the galactic price and other information found in there.

Really need help with this game and I was told that this is the best place to ask about it for all the helpful people here

Post #: 1

RE: Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/13/2012 1:33:37 AM

WoodMan

Posts: 1329
Joined: 6/2/2010
From: Ol' Blighty
Status: offline

Hello towerbooks, welcome to the DW forum, glad you're enjoying the game!

I also like to handle almost all aspects of the game and have done from the very start like you! I played my first game taking one thing at a time off of automated onto manual so I only had to learn one thing at a time. Nothing about DW is really that complicated once you get used to it. Ship design is the one thing I have kept automated to this day, unlike the majority of players I'm not really interested too much in this aspect of the game. Plenty of others should be able to help there if you have more specific questions!

As for keeping track of things, remember you can pause the game whenever you want and zoom to the event by clicking or double clicking the message or pop-up. Just remember it is not meant to be played at the pace of a typical RTS, you can play it (and should play it) as slow as you like.

As for repairs. A constructionship can repair bases and other ships. With Legends installed there are two ways of doing this. Firstly, select your Construction Ship and then right click on the damaged ship or base (the cursor should change to a hammer when you hover over it). Secondly select the damaged ship and at the bottom of the screen there *should* be a hammer icon in the little list of buttons. Click it and it will queue a repair order onto one of your constructors! You can also get a ship to repair at a base (or an entire fleet to refuel and repair). To do this select the ship or fleet and right click and choose the appropriate order. Most ships will do this on their own too. You only need to send a Construction Ship to repair another ship if that ship is badly damaged and has no engines left to travel to repair. If it is a cheap ship, and you are not roleplaying that you care about your people, you can just right click and retire the ship immediately to save the hassle of repairing it!

I'm not exactly the best DW player out there, but I enjoy the game very much, so I hope the above helps! My main advice to a new player would be to take things slow and watch your cash, especially if you started on tougher settings (with lower populations and planet quality etc). In other words build something and see if your economy can handle it, not build 50 things and see if your economy can handle it, that will end badly

(early game).

_____________________________

"My body may be confined to this chair, but my mind is free to explore the universe" - Stephen Hawking

(in reply to towerbooks3192)

Post #: 2

RE: Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/13/2012 2:34:45 AM

towerbooks3192

Posts: 127
Joined: 8/12/2012
Status: offline

Hi WoodMan, thanks for the advice.

I was wondering what are the other indicators that I should prioritize one AI suggestion over the other or if I am going to approve its suggestion to build a ship/base/etc. aside from the obvious if I could afford it or not? At times I am confused on the number of particular ships I should build like when the AI suggest building 5 exploration ships or the occasional frigate/fighter ship.

I lose track of my construction ships and I don't know when I should build enough as the AI suggest and I am worried that I am not able to provide enough for my empire in case I need repairs or my building projects are going slowly.

The last game I saved was the first time someone declared war on me and I am still a bit scared if I could not defend a lot of parts of my empire because of my meager fleet. How should I prioritize defending attacked ships/base/planets? I know the capital must be protected and at times I hate it when I have a mine in a far away system that would be attacked since it takes time for my fleet to reach it.

(in reply to WoodMan)

Post #: 3

RE: Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/13/2012 2:48:19 AM

WoodMan

Posts: 1329
Joined: 6/2/2010
From: Ol' Blighty
Status: offline

Hey tower,

I have everything automated (no advisor popups) so I can't really help there. I can give advice but you must keep in mind I play on very harsh settings (harsh homeworld, low colonies, low independentsm everything that makes game harder). My advice won't be useful for games with easier settings because you have a runaway economy very early and I'm not used to that, hehe.

Explorers I like to start by exploring my starting sector, and then moving out in a spiral type shape to surrounding sectors. I used the "Explore all systems in sector" order. Early game I'll get about 3, then 6 to 8 explorers a bit later. In a runwaway economy game these ships are so cheap you can just spam about 10 immediately! Even mroe if you can be bothered to keep track (or just put them on auto).

At the start I build a single fleet of destroyers (3 to 5, again I'm on harsh settings here, can't afford more) and I use it to kill space monsters when needed. And if possible pirates (I play with both pirates and spacemonsters on low though). Later in the game I build a fleet for majhor systems and name it after that system, and another extra attack fleet, usually larger than my defence ones. For instance in my last game my enemy was to the southwest of me, so I built a fleet for each of my 3 best colonies in the southwest of my Empire which I used to defend and a larger fleet which I used to attack. (and a single very high tech ship I used to harass and kill mining bases etc. As for frigate and escorts, I only really build these occasionally and set them to auto. When my economy reaches that "runaway" point I just build what is recommended in the ship building panel (one of the menu buttons beneath the message bar) and leave them on auto. My fleets are always reclaimed ships or my own ships of destroyer or larger. At first warfare is tricky (you will soon learn you need more troops than you *probably* at first thought).

_____________________________

"My body may be confined to this chair, but my mind is free to explore the universe" - Stephen Hawking

(in reply to towerbooks3192)

Post #: 4

RE: Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/13/2012 2:54:59 AM

ehsumrell1

Posts: 1535
Joined: 8/17/2010
From: The Briar Patch Nebula
Status: offline

Welcome to the forums Towerbooks3192!

I personally like to have 3 constructors per inhabited system I own as a ratio. 2 constructors
should have their first few destinations manually set for such things as building gas mining
stations (Important), ore mining stations (at Steel and luxury resource locations if at all possible),
and research stations. I leave the 3rd constructor on auto so it can repair stranded damaged ships or go
to scenic/scientific spots that are discovered via exploration ships and build Resort Bases.

In addition, heavily arm your mining station designs and they'll usually last long enough for you
to build up your space fleet (even a fighter bay or two on them helps, especially against pirates).
It is also usually wise to have an escort or frigate sized ship escort your constructors that are
outside your main sector of influence. Hope this helps!

_____________________________

Shields are useless in "The Briar Patch"...

(in reply to towerbooks3192)

Post #: 5

RE: Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/13/2012 2:57:10 AM

towerbooks3192

Posts: 127
Joined: 8/12/2012
Status: offline

Wow that sounds cool! Will try to play it on harsh while learning the game so I will be used to playing it on hard difficulties. Anyway I thank you for your advice and I will try to apply that since I am planning to start a new game on harsh because having tons of money on easier settings makes me lose track of all of the stuff that is going on.

(in reply to WoodMan)

Post #: 6

RE: Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/13/2012 3:21:36 AM

pipewrench

Posts: 445
Joined: 1/5/2010
Status: offline

towerbooks3192

I have a couple of hours free tonight so if you want some help with a walk thru just pm me.
blue button below this message

(in reply to towerbooks3192)

Post #: 7

RE: Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/13/2012 4:00:43 AM

towerbooks3192

Posts: 127
Joined: 8/12/2012
Status: offline

Hey guys!,thanks for the advice. I greatly appreciate it.

Thanks for the offer pipewrench unfortunately I will be back to work tomorrow so I can't stay late and I fear I can't stop playing.

I installed 1.7.0.16 version from the members club and I tried to get into ship design. I sort of got the gist on how to do it however I am unsure on how many of the particular components I should fit in a particular ship type. I tried to make a destroyer and just followed the warnings and add something like more weapons and a couple of armours here and there and I was shocked that my frigates and escorts has more of a particular component than my destroyer (it has more armour or life support). Will probably leave it on auto for now and maybe try to get back to it someday.

I will probably watch a couple of LP on youtube so far I found a good LP (a guy named das and a couple of numbers after his name or something)since at times its easier for me to learn from LPs as long as I could find a person who explains it properly on their LPs.

I really want to sort of get the reason behind every time the AI requests to build some ships or something because I just don't want to sort of let the AI handle everything in the game and I will be out of the loop and unaware of the situation around me.

As for research, what should I prioritize? I am a bit confused about which techs to research first in this game

(in reply to pipewrench)

Post #: 8

RE: Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/13/2012 9:18:00 AM

WoodMan

Posts: 1329
Joined: 6/2/2010
From: Ol' Blighty
Status: offline

Definately colonization techs

Also, you can try to outrush the AI to the first wonder (the shipyard thing that comes with Resupplyships technology, can't remember name) not just for the benefits it gives to shipbuilding but the massive boost it gives to development!

_____________________________

"My body may be confined to this chair, but my mind is free to explore the universe" - Stephen Hawking

(in reply to towerbooks3192)

Post #: 9

RE: Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/13/2012 9:58:49 AM

AndonSage

Posts: 19
Joined: 12/1/2009
Status: offline

towerbooks3192, I haven't played DW in a long time (just getting back around to it again, but waiting for the newest patch to be official), otherwise I'd post all my saved links to helpful threads, but they are out of date now. However, I suggest you check out The War Room section of the Distant Worlds forum for helpful info.

Also, be sure to watch the Das24680 Let's Play videos that are 8 months old or newer, as they will include the Legends expansion. "Let's Play Distant Worlds - Episode 1" from Feb 3, 2012 should work nicely. Also, TheBlackwell has a series of Let's Play Distant Worlds Legends. I'd post the URLs, but I'm still waiting for the 7th day after my 10th post

*EDIT* I forgot, could someone who can post links post "The Guide to Guides" thread URL for him? And towerbooks, be sure to read the Research Guide thread in The War Room section.

< Message edited by AndonSage -- 8/13/2012 10:16:17 AM >

_____________________________

"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once." - Robert A. Heinlein
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson

(in reply to WoodMan)

Post #: 10

RE: Just got the game. Where should I begin? - 8/13/2012 2:57:45 PM

towerbooks3192

Posts: 127
Joined: 8/12/2012
Status: offline

Hi AndonSage, I checked a video of that das(insert some numbers here) on youtube and I haven't finished his LPs. I only managed to check at least 3 episodes of his RoTS and Legends LPs. I sort of copied his habit of organizing military ships first but the thing is I play with only colony tax as automated since I want to be in total control and know what is going on since I am still confused as to what purpose does the AI have when it suggests me to build a couple of frigates here and some destroyers there.

I will check the war room section of this forum to see if there are some things I could use as reference in relation to the aspects that I need to know about further.

I saw some stuff there (just some random stuff about tips and etc.) and I could say it is a bit daunting since the one I saw was too deep for me. As for the research guide, I am not sure if I saw the right one but it contained some calculations of bonuses regarding research. I am not yet ready to really delve deeper and do some calculations on research bonuses

Edit: I just started a new game to mess around and try to grasp some more stuff. I noticed that after I installed the beta 1.7.0.16 patch, I start with less ships and no designs for destroyer. Do I have to design destroyers from scratch to build them or did I lack a particular technology? I remember being able to build destroyers at the start of a game because I already have an existing design. Is there a guide to ship designs around here? I sort of get the gist of following the warning and including the components that are staple to the particular ship and add and remove parts however I don't know how many armour plates/shields/weapons/thrusters/engines/etc. that I should place on my ship.

< Message edited by towerbooks3192 -- 8/13/2012 3:41:28 PM >

(in reply to AndonSage)

Post #: 11