StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Does any1 else play this (free) webbased game? I play it for 2 years or so now and im still not tired from it. Its the same style as Master of Orion.
If your interested take a peek at:

http://space.coldfirestudios.com

perhaps we'll bump into eachother one time

Thanx for the linky.

Can you tell us more about the game? Not so much about the rules, more like your experiences playing it.

Ok here are some facts:

- basicly you have to conquer or find neighbouring planets to colonise. You can only see neighbouring systems so you never know whats behind it after you colonised it. There you can build megapoly on (gives population for credit income + population you need for colonising, factories (gives production = recource you need to build stuff), ore mones (same as factories butore is more worth and harder to get) ore research labs (for research points)

- you can research to get better economie/ships

- you can design your own ships

- you can ally with 3 more other players

- you have a star map on which you can see all your systems, your allies systems and your neighbouring neutral/enemy systems. This i find is a big advantage compared to most other webbased games since they most are all text based.

- there are 8 (IIRC) different races, each with their own advantages, disadvantages. Every race also has a race unique ship

- If you want to play a game (or galaxy as its called) you usually have to wait untill the galaxy is full: 500 players must have joined untill its starts. you start with 1 homeplanet, a weapon platform and 2 scouts. The grey planets around you are from no1, yellow is from other players.

- you can only move/attack to planets you see (so only planets that border your planets or your alliance planets)

- galaxy ends after 72 hour countdown when 50 players survived or top10 alliances have 8000 systems all together. Surviving players get medals according the rank they finished and take them with them to every following galaxies


- a galaxy can take 2 months. 1 turn = 1 hour

- very addictive


more is coming...

a bit more about the races: http://forums.coldfirestudios.com/space ... php?t=4204

Sounds great. Link bookmarked for future reference.

The Turians certainly look like humans, though bald. Picard syndrome?

The number of players involved seems extraordinarily high, given that there's only 8 choosable player races. Are there separate galaxies or some such?

To answer a bit to Stofsk's PM

I see it a bit as master of orion. You need to research, build ships, design ships, got different races. Think of it as master of orion "light" as you have lesser options. After all its still webbased (but with more than ok graphics for a webbased game). And you dont play against a computer but with 499 other players in a gal containing 10 000 systems.

The learning curve can be a bit steep altough if your used to master of orion like games i think it wouldnt be to hard. You can look at the forums or you can ask to other players in game.
I didnt survived the first game(s) either

About the times to check in. As i said before, 1 turn = one hour. To more you check in, the better but you can allready surive if you check every few hours or so. You can queue stuff so you can plan ahaed.
The "standard" moving time for 1 ship/fleet to a neighbouring system takes 3 turns/hours (race oomari can do it in 2 hours)

Stofsk wrote: The number of players involved seems extraordinarily high, given that there's only 8 choosable player races. Are there separate galaxies or some such?

There is 500 players (usually a fair load of inactives) in a galaxy with more than 10000 systems in 1 game. Believe me, It somethime takes a while before you can see another player.

Yes there are only 8 races so you have to fight against your own race now and than. This is even in your own advantage as every planet got a different habitabilty. Its cheaper to colonise a planet you took from another player that had the same race because he already terraformed it to your hab requirements


I recently finished a gal with an acount of mine and now im waiting for Galaxy 82 to get full. So there is a good chance if any1 joins now, we're all in the same galaxy. When your new, i wouldnt prefer turian tough. They are a lot of fun but very hard early in the game
I think Ji or Zeeb is more forgiving for noobs (but maybe better ask at the forum as i didnt played every race yet)

and for who cares: the background story:

HISTORY OF SPACE
The year is 2279 A.D. Life in the future is much different than the life you now know. New discoveries and breakthroughs are extremely rare, as all intelligent species have gained full understanding in the laws and properties of physics, and the universe. Life expectancies peak around the 300 year range as the aging process is slowed dramatically through genetic engineering, and nano-technologies allow the rebuilding of deteriorated cell tissue. But this is probably too much for you, before you can gain full understanding of the future I must give you some insight into the past...
2186 A.D.
- All sentient species are visited by diplomats from a mysterious species known as the Valari. These diplomats impart knowledge of Coultonian Physics and Fold Space Technology to each species with the hopes of forming an intragalactic nation guided by the hands of the Valari.
2193 A.D.
- The Valari's dreams are realized as the Galactic Union for Evolution of Sentient Species (GUESS) is formed between the Valari, Kreel, Masumatra, Oomari, Sirnef, Toags, Turians, and the Zeeb with the expectancy of the Gorgoths joining GUESS within the year. By sharing technologies and breakthroughs with each other, the members of GUESS came to know a time of peace and prosperity that was unprecedented.
2194 A.D. (The Year of Sorrow)
- Toag trading colonies are annihilated on the far reaches of the galaxy by the emergence of a strange new species of gelatinous microbes calling themselves the Drall. As the rest of GUESS mounts an offensive to throw back the Drall, the Gorgoths take advantage of the Valari's weakened defenses and attacks their homeworld, the very center of GUESS. Despite being more technologically advanced than the Gorgoths,the Valari's strengths lie in matters of peace and diplomacy, where the Gorgoths excelled at death and destruction. With most of their forces in the far reaches of the galaxy, the remaining Valari are crushed by a massive fleet of Gorgothian Dreadnoughts and their homeworld is disintegrated by a Gorgoth-induced supernova on their homestar.
2200 A.D.
- After many failed attempts to throw back the invading Drall and Gorgoths, the Masumatra leave GUESS, attributing its failure to the weakness of the Valari.

- The Oomari retreat to defend their own system and further research their newly-aquired fold space technology.

- The Toags are found trading weapons, technologies, and allied defense plans to the Gorgoths, and are expelled from GUESS.
2210 A.D.
- With no hope of stopping the growing chaos enveloping the galaxy, and few star systems left to them, the Valari gather the last of their kind around one of their remaining planets. With retreat as their only hope, they engage a prototype device that opens a wormhole to an unknown destination in space and retreat through it. When the Gorgoths attempt to follow the Valari through the wormhole it becomes unstable and collapses.

- Without the Valari to lead it, GUESS crumbles.

- The Drall suddenly stop invading the Toags a few light-years outside of their homeworld and begin building up defenses.
2212 A.D.
- The Masumatra attack the Turians, realizing that they are the weakest of former GUESS species.

- The Gorgoths attack the Sirnef infecting them with the Tricalypse virus which eventually kills the entire species.
2216 A.D.
- The Sirnef Empire collapses and is reborn in the form of mechanical androids connected through a massive omni-net.

- After a short resistance and multitude of defeats, the Turians concede defeat and join the Masumatra as a subservient species.
2220 A.D.
- The Gorgoths now turn their focus to the growing Masumatra, as the Sirnef shield their remaining systems with Scythe ships. Both sides are equally matched and a stalemate ensues.
2230 A.D.
- The Turians betray the Masumatra and the Gorgoths finally break through their defenses. The Turians flee Earth and found the planet Tur.
2231 A.D.
- The Masumatra are surrounded and systematically exterminated by the Gorgoths.
2242 A.D.
- The Toags foreclose on the Zeeb homeworld and throw them out.

- Turians complete designs on their Nightmare class battleship and start massing forces on the Gorgothian border in an attempt to retake earth.
2260 A.D.
- An unknown presence emerges from deep in Gorgothian territory and declares war on all sentient species.

- The Gorgoths withdraw the forces they were massing on the Turian border to confront this new threat.
2270 A.D.
- Through torturing captured troops, the Gorgoths learn the true name and nature of the species attacking them. The Shy'dow are found to be an interdimentional colonization attempt by a warrior race of predators.
2276 A.D.

- The Ji presence is discovered by the Gorgoths, who fail to take the Ji homeworld, and are crushed by the rabid little creatures. The Ji then begin a massive expansion campaign to protect their homeworld.
2278 A.D.
- The Kreel, Oomari, Toags, and the Zeeb form a loose alliance to help defend against the Gorgoths and the Shy'dow. The Toags attempt to trade with the Shy'dow and are slaughtered by them before commnunications are engaged. The Toags swear undying vengeance.
The Present
As you can see, the galaxy is now a swirling mass of chaos and death. With the Emergence of the Shy'dow, only 10 sentient species are left in the galaxy. Each species seeks to expand its borders through exploration, diplomacy, or open warfare. As the leaders of each species realizes that they may be exterminated in the upcoming war, they send out colonization fleets to unknown sectors of the universe using copies of the wormhole device the Valari used. War escalates, alliances crumble and are formed anew, brother fights brother, enemies become allied, chaos rules. This is the Future, where your future may seem to shine brightly only to burn out like a gutted candle. The only glory you know is through conquest, where you can carve a name for yourself in the archives of Space. Choose well...


Soros Kastrian
-The last Masumatra


(and yes, if you read the story, turians ARE humans.)

Signed up, kick arse. I chose Turians. None of those vile aliens for me, no sir - this boy's a patriot!

Wautd, tell me which race etc you are and how the hell to play this game.

[edit]
Since I'm behaving like a hyperactive rodent I forgot to add the following questions. Forgive me, I'm excited about this game.

1) How long does a game actually last? Weeks? Months?

2) How beneficial are alliances between other players? How trustworthy are they, generally?

3) What's the average amount of planets you can have in your empire?

4) Can you do combined attacks with an ally on a single target?

More questions when I can think of 'em.

Stofsk wrote:Signed up, kick arse. I chose Turians. None of those vile aliens for me, no sir - this boy's a patriot!

Wautd, tell me which race etc you are and how the hell to play this game.

right i presume you had to join galaxy 82? I'm there as Smiffler (also my nick in the forum) of Wot-A-Dumb. My race here is Ji
(i have 3 acounts as early gals are rather boring, let alone waiting when it starts. 2 acounts are more than enough tough )


"Galaxy #82 can not start until 184 more players sign up."


So as long as it hasnt started you cant do anything yet. You will get a mail when its about to start.

You already can send your 2 scouts to 2 greys tough so the moment the game starts they will be underway to those planets and the faster you can colonise your 1st 2 systems.

a few tips:



- DONT BUILD SHIPS at start!! Ultimate noob mistake. Ships with early techs suck and you better use recources to colonise and build buildings at your planets. However, i would recommend to build a cheap as scout so you can grab as many greys as possible.

- building at planets: rule of thumb: 1 megapol gives enough population to operate 2 economy buildings (factory, mine, lab). 1 scanner and 1 shield generator usually is enough at start. Always build bioformers if %hab isnt 100% (they will terraform your planet which is good for different kind of reasons). Dont waste your recources on building research labs to soon. Ore, production and population are more important at start.


- about researching:
Every level rises exponentionally so switching between techs now and than is recommended. Having more tech makes researching research cheaper. First research econ techs so:
economie = more credits, higher discount at toag market
production= more factory output
ore mining = more ore output from your mines + less depletion
research = more output labs
nanotech & design = faster growth, ability to build bigger ships, faster terraforming
Shiptechs are less important early in the game. Idea is to get as much income to colonise mroe planets

- When colonising a planet, colonise those who gave you best hab. Its quicker terraformed and most importantly, cheaper.
Generally build megapols and ore mines on planet with %ore over 70-80% and build factories/labs on planets with lower than 70%. I also recommend to build 1 or 2 planets with nothing but megapoli as you need a certain amount of population to be able to colonise.



At start things are a bit slow since no1 has much recources, you cant see other players and so forth. Its when the need to expand by "eating" other players the fun begins

A more complete "manual" is on the forum.
The old manual (isnt quite up te date but gives you a good idea) is here:

http://space.coldfirestudios.com/manual/manual.html

Stofsk wrote:Signed up, kick arse. I chose Turians. None of those vile aliens for me, no sir - this boy's a patriot!

Wautd, tell me which race etc you are and how the hell to play this game.

[edit]
Since I'm behaving like a hyperactive rodent I forgot to add the following questions. Forgive me, I'm excited about this game.

1) How long does a game actually last? Weeks? Months?

2) How beneficial are alliances between other players? How trustworthy are they, generally?

3) What's the average amount of planets you can have in your empire?

4) Can you do combined attacks with an ally on a single target?

More questions when I can think of 'em.

1) depends how long you survive really
If you survive i think it takes about a 1 or 1.5 months

2) alliances:
- the main battles happen between alliances. Your members help you out and you gotta help them out to fight against a common target/enemy as its for you own survival. There are always a few SOB's but generally speaking things there are few backstabbers than in the early days (thanks to some updating in the rules). Most players are adults

- some races gives alliance whide bonusses
Oomari: minimum traveltime is 2 instead of 3 hours for all alliance members
Toag: Every member got the best discount at toag market
Kreel: Every member has first strike in battle (IIRC)

3) depends on how fast you grow. last game i ended with 200 planets (got me to rank 17). basicly there are no limits, only on what the other players do (or not like putting up a descent defence)

4) yes. There can also be a general assigned that can move alliance ships put in adf

26 more players

i espect countdown soon

Is it a good idea to make a second account if you're a newbie, like me?

Stofsk wrote:Is it a good idea to make a second account if you're a newbie, like me?

yes, since your chances to survive will be low when your new you can learn from your mistakes. Offcourse you shouldnt make 2 acounts in the same gal, thats multying, but when G82 has started you can make a new acount and join G83 already

I suggest to have 2 acounts anyway. Since you have to wait untill a galaxy starts & because the gameplay is slower early in the game you can easely manage 2 acounts (than you usually have 1 acount thats very busy while the other one is waiting or is going slow).

I have 3 acounts myself so im always busy. Somethimes its to much tough, i guess 2 acounts are ideal

umm....404 error on fleet control/move fleet screen. Suxor. All watch out for the Brood of di'Zok

I'm in.

Human all the way!

EDIT: I am "Grand Vizier Lazerus" of the "Sylathan Confederacy"

I'll be signing up, but first I have to take care of my massive workload. (Work hard, play hard. )

Ah, screw work.
Phear the Umirian Collective Mind!

Captain tycho wrote:Ah, screw work.
Phear the Umirian Collective Mind!

i got internet @ work so that works out nicely for me
Good luck to ya'll. Especially when your human since they got a tough start (but very fun @the end since they got the toughest shields and biggest badass ship in the game)

What's so bad about humans start?

--

Space.

The final frontier.

These are the voyages of the intreped drednaught Nightmare.

It's 5 year mission, to distroy new life, and hostile civilisations.

Distroying species no human has distroyed before!

[poor German accent]Zee game. It is evil.[/poor German accent]

Take note any new players, when you hear anyone say this game is addictive, they bloody well mean it. Used to play it until i realised 3 hours a day on one game was too much. Although it is possibly the most frantic and fun game I've played on the net for ages (free to boot). Take a hint, research research as much as possible early on. You'll want it later.

just got an email....

@3 hours before G82 starts. Beware the Brood of Di'Zok, people. But, I suggest, (For now) a SDNet Non agression pact. List your empire names and leader names in this thread so I know who not to zergling rush at the start! Anyhoo....


Leader: Chardok
Empire: Brood of Di'Zok
Homeworld: Chokidai

Great idea!

Leader: Lazerus
Empire: Sylathan Confederacy
Homework: Sylath