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Tutorial
Starting Position
When you first start a game, have a look at where you are in space in
relation to the other players. Think about where you might want to explore
first, which neighbours you should approach for an alliance, and who your
enemies are likely to be.
Click on the "MM" button at the bottom of the map to display the mini-map.
This will give you a high-level view of your position in the galaxy.
Starting Moves
When you've reviewed your position in the galaxy and have an idea of where you'd
like to Explore/Expand to and who you would like to Exploit/Exterminate, here is
what you should do:
Tooltips
Whenever you need help in the game, the best place to start is in reading the
tooltips. Hovering your cursor over most interface items will bring up a
tooltip that will describe how that item works and how to use it.
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Events
Each time you log in, checking your Events is a good place to start. You can
access the Events by clicking on the link at the top of the game panel.
The Events tell you what has happened in the game since last you played,
including details of combat that occurred, stars that you captured/lost, and
gifts you received.
You can click "OK" at the top of each event to mark it as read.
You can cursor over "help" at the top of some events to find out more
information about that type of event.
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Fleets
The number under your fleet displays the number of ships in the fleet.
You can select a fleet left-clicking on it and choosing the fleet from the selection list.
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Fleet Browser
The fleet browser shows the details of your fleet, including the number of
ships, location, route, jump prep time, and its ETA.
Jump prep is the time until the fleet starts its jump and enters the hyperspace
pipe. Until the fleet starts its jump, you can cancel its first jump. Every time
the fleet stops at a star, it will require jump prep time before it begins its
next jump.
ETA is the time until the fleet reaches the final destination in its path,
including all jumps and stops along the way.
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Moving Fleets
You can order your fleet to jump to another star by left-clicking on the fleet
and clicking the "+" button next to the fleet name.
You can choose to jump to any of the stars within the highlighted ring. The
stars you can jump to will also be highlighted.
After clicking on the "+", you can then click on the star that you want to jump
to. The star will then be added to your fleet's path.
You can also add waypoints to your fleet's path by clicking the "Add Waypoint"
button on the fleet browser or by pressing the keyboard shortcut "w".
You can add multiple stars to your fleet's path to create a route.
Once your fleet is on its way to a star, it is in the hyperspace pipe and cannot
change course. You can still alter its path for future jumps.
You can clear your fleet's path by clicking the "Clear Path" button on the fleet
browser or by pressing the keyboard shortcut "c".
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Transferring Ships
You can transfer ships between fleets that are on the same star. You can also
transfer ships between fleets and the star itself.
When a fleet is selected, you can see ships that are available for transfer from
stars or other fleets on the fleet browser.
Clicking on the Ship Transfer button from the fleet browser brings up a window
that allows you to allocate ships between different fleets and the star as you
like. Use the arrows or type in the numbers that you desire, then click the
Transfer button.
Building Carriers
Carriers are necessary to transport ships through hyperspace to other stars.
When you have ships ready on a star, you can build a Super Carrier to transport
the ships through hyperspace.
You can create carriers from the star browser. You require at least 1 ship and
$25 to create a Super Carrier.
Under the "Build Super Carrier" section of the star browser, enter the number of
ships you want on the carrier and click the "Create for $25" button to create a
carrier.
Once you have a carrier, you can order your new fleet to jump to other stars.
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Combat
Combat takes place in rounds, with each side taking turns to do damage, until
all ships of one side are destroyed.
The defender always strikes first and receives a +1 weapons advantage.
Starting with the defender, each side does damage equal to their weapons skill
(+1 for the defender).
For example:
Defender has 4 weapons skill (+1 for defending) and 10 ships.
Attacker has 6 weapons skill and 10 ships.
Round 1: defender does 5 damage, attacker loses 5 ships leaving 5 ships.
Round 2: attacker does 6 damage, defender loses 6 ships leaving 4 ships.
Round 3: defender does 5 damage, attacker loses 5 ships leaving 0 ships.
Defender wins with 4 ships remaining.
Given an equal number of ships and equal weapons skill (including defensive
bonus), the defender will always win as they strike first.
The number of ships does not play a role in the amount of damage dealt. Number
of ships can be considered as the "health" of each player in the battle.
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Stars
Each of your stars has a ring around it, which shows its natural resources.
Stars with more natural resources are cheaper to develop.
The three numbers directly below your star shows its current level of Economy,
Industry, and Science.
The fourth number under your star's infrastructure is the number of ships
currently on your star. These ships are either defending your star or part of a
fleet that is waiting at your star.
You can select a star by double-clicking on it or by left-clicking on it and
choosing the star from the selection list.
When you select a star, your star's information will be displayed in the Star
Browser on the right.
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Star Browser
The star browser shows details on your star's infrastructure. From here, you can
upgrade your star, build carriers, and set your garrison size.
Economy - upgrading economy increases your daily income. For each point of
economy you have on a star, you will earn an extra $10 per day.
Industry - upgrading industry increases the rate at which you produce ships on
your star. For each point of industry, you will build an extra 2 ships per day.
For example, if you have 12 industry on a star, you will build 1 ship per hour.
Science - upgrading science increases the rate at which you gain technological
advances (see Tech Browser).
TIP: When choosing how to spend your money, consider both the cost of the
upgrade and the position of the star. Stars with higher natural resources are
cheaper to upgrade, but stars that are too close to your borders provide juicy
targets for your enemies.
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Technology
You can view details of your research progress and change your research topic on
the Technology Browser. You can access the technology browser by clicking on the
"Tech Browser" button from the Overview panel.
There are four different types of technology you can research - Weapons, Speed,
Range, and Scanning.
Weapons increases the amount of damage you do to other fleets in combat (see
Combat).
Speed increases the rate at which you travel through hyperspace, allowing you to
jump to other stars faster.
Range increases the distance that your ships can travel in a single jump,
allowing you to reach more distant stars and reduce the number of stops you must
make on the way.
Scanning increases the distance that you see into space, allowing you to "look
before you leap" to other stars.
Investing in science infrastructure on stars increases your number of Scientific
Research Facilities, which increases the rate at which you progress to new
technology levels.
You can change your current research topic by clicking on the corresponding
button at the top of the technology browser.
You can set the next topic you will research after you complete a level of your
current topic by pressing the "(change)" link under the topic buttons.
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Diplomacy
Clicking on the "Player Browser" button on the Overview panel will allow you to
see how you measure up to other players.
From this browser, you can send technology directly to your allies by using the
"Send xxxx Tech" buttons at the bottom of the panel.
You can also click on "Send Message" to compose a message to this player.
When you compose a message, you can add multiple recipients and also attach
gifts of a cash or technology to your message. Gifts can only be
sent to one player at a time.
You can also access your Inbox from the Overview panel or click on "mail" next
to a player's name to compose a message to them from the Overview panel.
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Options
You can access the Options panel by clicking on "Options" at the top of the game
panel or by clicking on the "Options" button from the Overview panel.
On the Options panel, you can change the game settings to display more/less
information on stars and fleets, as well as changing graphics and sound
settings.
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