Strategy Help from experienced players

Oops, just noticed the link on the side for strategy!

Also forgot another problem. Not so sure why but in the mid game my people are so upset with me I can't seem to get any significant taxes out of them.

You seem to have a good grasp already and yes, you are right that with little or no military you will become the target of demands and threats.

A couple of suggestions:

- Never pay tribute.

- Use some money / tech / trade goods to get a war started between the worst bullies (Altairian / Drengin usually) as soon as you get the first threat.

- If your people are unhappy try building a colony ship, take half the population off the planet and send it to a planet with higher PQ and 100 morale to add to the population there.

- Establish trade routes with races that have the same alignment as you to improve relations and ultimately to gain allies (as well as tons of cash )

Alf's advice is good.

Adding to the tribute thing. He's right, don't ever pay it.

You can get away not paying tribute a few times before they actually declare war. The first time they demand tribute is a reminder that it's time for you to start building up your military.

The exact way your military gets rated is somewhat of a mystery to me--I wish someone would explain it--but the more military ships you build, the higher your military rating, and the less likely the AI will bother you.

Yes, it's annoying to have to spend money on a lot of military ships when you'd rather be researching tech or buying constructors, but it's the only way to prevent the other civs from attacking you.

The tribute this is not quite so simple.
I'd amend that to don't just automatically cough up the demands. The "never" is too strong. There are quite a few occassions where 600BC for a few turns of added peace are LOT better than going to war just then.

Such as when your latest wave of capital ships is still 4 turns away from the front. You're 2 constructors shy of an active terror star. You're still trying to get additional frieghters into position with other powers so that when war begins and you lose trade with the enemy you have the freighters on hand to instantly replace the routes. You need a couple more turns to finish pumping out the Combat Transports you'll need to take the war to him. Several of his planets are on the verge of converting to you anyway so you can begin to collapse his empire before going to war. And several others.

So "avoid paying tribute unnecessarily" is completely accurate. "Never pay it" is not IMO.

I believe your military rating is calculated by totaling the offense and defense ratings of all your ships.

I'm not a super experienced player but...

definitely keep your military strong.

Centralize your trade and build starbases with economic improvements- it really enhances your trade income.

C&P

Paquma,

At the very beginning, you can set any slider to 100% and either produce colony ships (in 2-3 turns each) or research immediately-valuable techs. Generally, I produce 1 scout on the first turn (@ 1-turn completion, so it's ready turn 3), send it in the opposite direction from my Survey Ship, and then make a colony vessel asap whenever I discover a yellow star. I do this until I have 5-6 colonies.

I stay in Imperial and keep every planet but Earth at 50-56 morale. Earth I try to maintain at 100 (to receive the x2 pop growth bonus, since this is where all the colonists are coming from), but I am not afraid to drop it down to 52 if there's an immediate need for more tax revenue.

Colony ships I embark with either 100M or 200M citizens. This depends on the number of yellow stars I uncover, and the PQ's of the best single colonizable planet within. Generally, PQ 15-19 get 100M colonies; PQ20+ get 200M. The reason is, planets less than 20 will grow slowly no matter what their starting base, whereas those 20 or above will grow rather quickly, allowing them to fund the "2nd wave" of colonization. Also, Earth can quickly get depleted at larger embarkation rates.

Once I achieve the goal of 5-6 active colonies (or should I not uncover this many yellow stars in range), I commence maximum research (slider set 80-100% on science).

I recommend Propulsion Theory ---> Cold Fusion ---> Impulse Drive; Industrial Theory ---> Interstellar Refining ---> Nano-Metal Composition; Medical Theory ---> Zero-gravity Research & Basic Environment Control; Defense Theory ---> Deflectors ---> Shields; and (finally) Weapons Theory --->Phasers ---> Energy Channeling --->Turbo Phasers ---> Defensive Phasers.

I leave Communication Theory --->Universal Translator ---> Diplomacy ---> Trade last, but that is a personal preference.

These tracks give you +1 speed and all the basic bonus buildings (Mfg Center, Fusion Power Plant; Research Lab, Habitat Improvement; Banks); Defenders/BattleAxe's/BattleHammer's; and two Capitals (Manufacturing & Economic).

By (or at) this point, you can switch over to a more balanced slider setting and eliminate production inefficiencies from over-funding of single sectors.

Throughout the start-phase, I keep spending at 100 and taxes at whatever produces 52 or above at my worst planet. I build whatever I need; I don't lease. (But once again, that is a personal preference.) My objective is to use my starting balance of 1000gc's to:
(a) colonize 5-6 systems;
(b) research the necessary base of starting techs;
(c) commence building of the primary social improvements listed above; and
(d) have a production base which can begin to put a Fleet of BC's or BH's together.

This approach works best on Huge or Gigantic maps. But I have found the same principle(s) work well on Small and Medium as well. The only firm exception is Tiny, where blitz tactics work best - use you starting treasury to get BattleHammers and conquer the first AI you meet.

Hope this helps.

~SDC~

Thanks for the advice guys. Last night I got my first victory on Normal in a medium galaxy, I know that doesn't sound like much to the experienced players but for me it was a big step.

My favorite part of the game was when the biggest empire (I was 2nd at the time) Drengin joined a war against the Torians, who randomly decided to attack me, to defend me (I was trading heavily with him at the time). At the time I was setting up constructors to culturally assimilate him. Oh, and I bought my way out of the war with the Torians the next turn anyway, so the Drengin pounded the snot out of the Torians, and when that war was winding down all the Drengin planets started revolting and joining me. Then it was just a matter of time to finish the game.

Looking forward to trying a Large or Huge map now that I seem to at least understand the fundamentals.

Paguma,

Congrats! I think you'll enjoy the challenge of the higher levels. The AI's are certainly more effective at Genius; try setting one or two of them at that for your next game, just to see how they stack up against Normal setting.

One last piece of advice: maximize your trade revenue. Trade routes are the single biggest factor in determining diplomatic relations between your Empire and another's. Determine if you are going to pursue an Alliance victory or not. If so, trade with whichever AI's you wish to (eventually) ally (and win the game) with. If not, trade with the Minors instead, and support them in their wars against your major opponents.

One thing to beware of is, that should you ally with a Major AI Empire, it will declare war on all the minors just to force you to either (a) break the alliance (and suffer a diplomatic penalty) or (b) declare war yourself and lose any trade routes you may have with that system. So, if you plan to ally with a major AI, trade only with it during the game.

~SDC~