Um... Tutorial?

[VCrakeV]

So, I bought this game because it was 67% off (woo!), and it seems good, but something was missing; after 30 minutes of gameplay, I had no clue what I was doing, even with the "tutorial" turned on. Does it take a while to start? Or is it just lazily designed?



It's no full 4x game, but it still has a lot of information to take in, all of which is unfamiliar to the typical Civ player. How am I suppose to know how to play?

 

[Agent327]

I think maybe you're looking for a depth that simply isn't there. You upgrade your starhsips and crush the oppostition. That's it. You win.

 

[VCrakeV]

I think maybe you're looking for a depth that simply isn't there. You upgrade your starhsips and crush the oppostition. That's it. You win.

But there's so much I'm unsure of. How do I use different weapons in battle? How do I get new ships? What are the combat rules? What do I do outside of combat, with planets, and what not?

 

[SupremacyKing2]

How do I use different weapons in battle?

You have 3 weapons: lasers, cannons and torpedoes. If your ship has both lasers and cannons, the game will automatically fire the one that gives you the most damage. Simply right click on an enemy ship to fire either lasers or cannons. Torpedoes are a separate action button (the blue buttons next to the end turn button when you are in tactical combat). Hit the button and select the direction you want your torpedoes to go in. the game will then give you a pop where you can select when you want your torpedoes to explode.

How do I get new ships?

In the ship customization screen, select buy new ship.

What are the combat rules?

Move you ship. asteroids will block weapons. fire your weapons on the enemy. the closer you are to the enemy, the more damage you will do. when you mouse over the enemy ship, it will show you much more damage you will inflict and you can also see the stats on the enemy ship to see how much HP it has left. when the enemy ship has 0 hit points, it goes boom. Also, you can only perform 1 action per turn (like cloaking, launching figthers etc)

What do I do outside of combat, with planets, and what not?

mouse over planets that you control, there are little button that you can click to purchase improvements, cities etc on your planets.

 

[VCrakeV]

Thanks. That really helps! If only Firaxis had five minutes...

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Thanks. That really helps! If only Firaxis had five minutes...

Firaxis did a whole bunch of videos where they played entire games of Starships. Here is part 1 of the live stream they did when the game launched. You might want to watch it to help you learn all the different aspect of the game:

Link to video.

 

[VCrakeV]

Firaxis did a whole bunch of videos where they played entire games of Starships. Here is part 1 of the live stream they did when the game launched. You might want to watch it to help you learn all the different aspect of the game:



Link to video.

I was hinting at the lack of in-game information. Thanks though. ^_^

 

[SupremacyKing2]

I was hinting at the lack of in-game information. Thanks though. ^_^

Well, keep in mind that Starships is essentially an iPad game ported to PC. It was designed as a pretty simple game. The lack of in-game information is because there is not that much there. It is super fun though.

 

[Agent327]

But there's so much I'm unsure of. How do I use different weapons in battle? How do I get new ships? What are the combat rules? What do I do outside of combat, with planets, and what not?

Seriously? The only research you can do is to upgrade your ships. And you can get new ships as soon as you can afford them. Build the biggest ass fleet, crush the opposition, you win. That's it. That's the whole game.

 

[shmily_dana]

What are the best settings to get a science victory without triggering another victory?

 

[Kaigen]

What are the best settings to get a science victory without triggering another victory?

Turn off the other victory conditions

More seriously, go with a smaller galaxy, as that'll make it harder for any one AI player to have enough planets to get 9 wonders. Grab enough systems to control a good portion of the galaxy to hold off domination victories from the AI (don't neglect Food production and city building) and turtle up. Look for planets with the Knowledge special, or failing that, Icy planets with Verdant, Primal, or Workbots to make building up yields cheaper. Resist the urge to just curbstomp the AI into submission and win that way.

 

[shmily_dana]

Turn off the other victory conditions

More seriously, go with a smaller galaxy, as that'll make it harder for any one AI player to have enough planets to get 9 wonders. Grab enough systems to control a good portion of the galaxy to hold off domination victories from the AI (don't neglect Food production and city building) and turtle up. Look for planets with the Knowledge special, or failing that, Icy planets with Verdant, Primal, or Workbots to make building up yields cheaper. Resist the urge to just curbstomp the AI into submission and win that way.

I finally got it. Sorry I forgot to update this. I got lucky and had a bunch of missions available with free tech or free science. I climbed the tech tree and I think both the AI and myself were in the low 40% for the expansion victory. Thanks for the tips.