Distant Worlds: Shadows (Released)

[Rayfer]

[quote author=JudgeDredd link=topic=6033.msg146334#msg146334 date=1369401187
I'm about to play the tutorial (again - for the 5th? time?). You see - it's a game I see massive potential in - and I want to love it.

IIRC the DW tutorial is almost as bad the paradox game tutorials. Definitely helps to go through it to get a feel for the where everything is and what it does. Like the paradox games, I think the best way to learn is to just dive in. DW gives you a lot more tools to pass things off to the AI that paradox doesn't have as well.
[/quote]

There is a new tutorial for starting out as a pre-warp civ,,,,it is short but it gives you the basics and some hints as to how to get going.  Then playing as a pre-warp civ makes the game much easier to learn because you are dealing with only one system. It really does make the game easier to learn.

[Yskonyn]

I agree with the above.
Having to build up into one system rather than expanding into others right from the start makes things a lot more managable.

[PanzersEast]

My suggestion is to watch several let's play and start out with smaller systems (pre-warp as well)... when you use large systems, the game can get out of hand.  Also, leverage the AI to handle a lot of task because you will have to rely on your advisers the further along you go.  Managing ships can get out of hand so I always make sure I have them in fleets and of course pause the game often if needed.


PE

[son_of_montfort]

I've hit a bit of a wall as the Ackadarians. I have a vast empire, a nice number of colonies, but my cash flow tends to be in the negative (but I still manage to stay in the black financially, how is that?). The Kaidans are situated in the middle of my territory and I got angry because I noticed they colonized the Ackar system (which, I suppose, is my ancestral homeworld - given it already had Ackadarians on it).

I had a war with them, took Ackar and another planet and set about trying to get their homeworld via orbital bombardment, but there was just no way to beat them, so I ended the war. Now I am trying to think of how I can rebuild my fleets to crush them once and for all. I think I need to build a smaller fleet of orbital bombers and upgrade my nuclear weapons. I focused on missile technology, so my missiles are a force to be reckoned with (when the AI designer decides to put them liberally in the designs). But it looks to be a war of attrition.

[Grim.Reaper]

Is it possible to play this game as a "peaceful" race and avoid war and just build up....or is war unavoidable and a big part of the game?

[Kushan]

I've hit a bit of a wall as the Ackadarians. I have a vast empire, a nice number of colonies, but my cash flow tends to be in the negative (but I still manage to stay in the black financially, how is that?).

Whats your bonus income? You can check it under the empire summary screen (the one with crossed flags). Bonus income comes from apace port income (private sector building ships), foreign trade, and resorts. Even with a deficit in tax income they might have been enough to generate a positive cash flow.

I don't generally bombard planets. I normally just build up a mass of troops and invade in a island hopping style campaign. Needs a lot bigger budget to support all the troops and transports along with a normal battle fleet, but it has the advantage of taking the planets more or less intact without a loss to planet quality.

Is it possible to play this game as a "peaceful" race and avoid war and just build up....or is war unavoidable and a big part of the game?

You could probably play the game as one of the trader races and not declare war on anyone. A few even have a few race specific victory conditions like having the largest private sector or the most free trade agreements. None of that guarantees the AI won't declare war on you.

[Grimnirsson]

Is it possible to play this game as a "peaceful" race and avoid war

asks the guy with the name GrimReaper... :P

[PanzersEast]

I've hit a bit of a wall as the Ackadarians. I have a vast empire, a nice number of colonies, but my cash flow tends to be in the negative (but I still manage to stay in the black financially, how is that?). The Kaidans are situated in the middle of my territory and I got angry because I noticed they colonized the Ackar system (which, I suppose, is my ancestral homeworld - given it already had Ackadarians on it).

How many trade agreements do you have?  How large are your fleets?  Fleet maintenance can become a huge drain on your economy and if you have freighters setting around, you are losing money.  A large part of your economy is the private sector and will generate more revenue than taxes so get the freighters working by putting them to work.  If your freighters are busy working make sure you allow them to be built and are not being stepped on by monopolizing on building military ships.

PE

[Grim.Reaper]

Is it possible to play this game as a "peaceful" race and avoid war

asks the guy with the name GrimReaper... :P

Now that is funny:)  Never thought of it that way...... :)

[son_of_montfort]

Yeah, I think I am floating by on my bonus income rather than tax income. Ending the war also righted the ship of state a bit, as it were.

Clearly I needed more troops, as the homeworld for the Kaidan was around 400K and I mustered about 80K in troops. They also had special forces (and I had armored divisions) so that is a problem that will be rectified fairly soon. I was under the impression that bombardment would lower troop sizes, but it does not seem to be having that effect.

[Grim.Reaper]

Loaded up the base game and two original expansions....proceeded to be confused just as before....think it cured my need to purchase the latest:)  I know I didn't give it enough time, but if something doesn't grab me quickly, usually a sign I won't enjoy it.

[steve58]

A hotfix/patch has been released...

The hotfix may be downloaded here: ftp://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/DistantWorldsShadows/DistantWoldsShadows-Update1901.zip

Full Change List for 1.9.0.1 from 1.9.0.0:

CRASH FIXES
- fixed crash at game startup on some PCs (ManagementObject)
- fixed another rare crash

BUG FIXES
- fixed bug where could have two smuggling missions for a colony if both manually request and then also accept advisor suggestion
- fixed problem where certain races do not start with Resupply Ship when playing as pirate
- fixed colors of pirate bonuses (Empire Summary screen) so that penalties are red and bonuses are green

FREIGHTERS AND RESOURCES
- Construction Ships now also deliver initial retrofit resource cargo to bases they build, thus mining stations have retrofit resources without freighters needing to deliver them afterwards
- bases present at game startup (e.g. mining stations, etc) now have retrofit resource cargo presupplied
- now have less freighters built by private economy, especially in large empires
- now use less Carbon Fibre in components

USER INTERFACE
- Mining Station list in Empire Navigation Tool now shows resources mined instead of cargo
- remapped Screenshot key to "/" key on numeric keypad (instead of "0")
- added hotkey for opening/closing Ground Report screen ("[", open bracket)
- added pirate stats to *own empire* when selected in Diplomacy screen
- now properly adjust size of Ground Report screen so that edges are not off-screen when enlarged
- altered default values for scroll and zoom speed in Game Options so that zooming and scrolling is slower and smoother

OTHER
- AI is now properly sending advisor suggestion to player before sending a pirate fleet to carry out an assigned Defend mission - i.e. not overriding manual control of fleets

[mikeck]

Different strokes for different folks but your missing out without even trying. Watch a few "lets play" videos, let the Ai control everything except production and just concentrate on sending ships to mine stuff, then add tech research and so on. The game plays itself on auto... Just turn off AI for stuff one at a time as you learn things

Any game that is deep and worth it's salt will take a few hours to learn.

[Grim.Reaper]

Different strokes for different folks but your missing out without even trying. Watch a few "lets play" videos, let the Ai control everything except production and just concentrate on sending ships to mine stuff, then add tech research and so on. The game plays itself on auto... Just turn off AI for stuff one at a time as you learn things

Any game that is deep and worth it's salt will take a few hours to learn.

Your probably right.....some reason all these space games confuse me......likely just me.

[Yskonyn]

SoM, the private sector can become a bit of a paradox.
If you have too many freighters milling about you will not be able to make money anymore. There is a break even point (which is not a hard number obviously) where shipping goods vs available ships is still lucrative.

Also a war drains pretty heavily on your economy. Especially if you are rebuilding a planet that has been bombarded into oblivion.