Imperium Galactica (walkthrough)


Imperium Galactica

v1.05, 21 February 2004
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       Imperium Galactica Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ/Walkthrough)
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"In desperation the admiralty of the Old Empire decides to use its secret
weapon..."


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CONTENTS

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1. Preface
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- 1.1 Notes 
- 1.2 Credits and Legal 
- 1.3 Version 
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2. Introduction
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- 2.1 What is Imperium Galactica? 
- 2.2 Who wrote and published Imperium Galactica? 
- 2.3 What are the requirements to run the game? 
- 2.4 Where can I get the game? 
- 2.5 What versions are there? 
- 2.6 Where can I get the latest patch? 
- 2.7 Where did everyone go? 
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3. Gameplay
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3.1 Setup 
- 3.1.1 What does the hard difficulty level change? 
- 3.1.2 The computer voice is annoying. Can I turn off? 
- 3.1.3 Why aren't buildings being repaired when I turn auto-repair on? 
- 3.1.4 Are there multiplayer or free-play modes? 
- 3.1.5 Can I stop the CD-ROM being accessed every time I look at the 
Equipment and Research screens? 
3.2 Interface 
- 3.2.1 What command screens are available? Why don't all the F-keys work? 
- 3.2.2 How do I change the speed? 
- 3.2.3 How do I switch between colonies from the surface view? 
- 3.2.4 Why can't I zoom out? How do I view the whole map? 
- 3.2.5 How do I view messages? 
- 3.2.6 Can I communicate with aliens and other shipping? 
3.3 Important Concepts 
- 3.3.1 How do I deal with non-strategy elements? 
- 3.3.2 Do the aliens wait for the missions to be completed before developing 
their empires? 
- 3.3.3 How do credits, energy, morale, buildings, production and similar 
interact? 
- 3.3.4 What role does technology play? 
3.4 Colonies and Buildings 
- 3.4.1 Why can I not build a certain building? 
- 3.4.2 How do I repair buildings? 
- 3.4.3 Why can't I turn power "on"? 
- 3.4.4 What do different buildings do? 
- 3.4.5 What differences are there between planet types? 
- 3.4.6 How do I colonize planets? 
- 3.4.7 Why can't I build more than 5000 buildings? 
- 3.4.8 Can I see what my colonies need at a glance? 
- 3.4.9 Can I change the colony name? 
- 3.4.10 What buildings can I build in the alien colonies I've captured? 
- 3.4.11 Can I flatten or clear un-buildable areas like rock formations? 
- 3.4.12 What do the 'Major incident on planet...' messages mean? 
3.5 Combat 
- 3.5.1 How do I move ground units between store, colonies and fleets? 
- 3.5.2 How do I increase the number of ground units a planet can hold? 
- 3.5.3 How do I invade an enemy colony? 
- 3.5.4 Can I group combat units in battle? 
- 3.5.5 Why do my defensive buildings not concentrate fire on the enemy? 
- 3.5.6 Can I retreat? 
3.6 Fleets and Equipment 
- 3.6.1 How do I change, re-equip, or create new fleets? 
- 3.6.2 Can I automatically re-equip or upgrade equipment on fleets and units 
on planets? 
- 3.6.3 Which planet is unused equipment stored on? 
- 3.6.4 How do I repair ships and vehicles? 
- 3.6.5 How do I build new units and equipment? 
- 3.6.6 How do I build Flagships? 
- 3.6.7 Can I build the Leviathan? 
- 3.6.8 Can I rename fleets? 
- 3.6.9 How do I use Virus Bombs? 
- 3.6.10 Can I build alien ships and equipment once I capture their colonies? 
- 3.6.11 How do I find planets? 
- 3.6.12 What ships are available? 
- 3.6.13 What equipment and weapons are available? 
- 3.6.14 What limitations are there on fleet sizes and speeds? 
- 3.6.15 How do I sell excess or obsolete equipment? 
- 3.6.16 Can I train ships' crews? 
- 3.6.17 What is the difference between ship weapon types? 
- 3.6.18 How do I upgrade Space Bases? 
3.7 Taxation and Morale 
- 3.7.1 Where do I set taxation and see morale? 
- 3.7.2 How is tax income calculated? 
- 3.7.3 Can I generate additional revenue? 
- 3.7.4 How do I improve morale? 
3.8 Research 
- 3.8.1 How do I research things? 
- 3.8.2 If a Dev. Centre is destroyed, do I keep existing research? 
- 3.8.3 What units are research times in? 
- 3.8.4 What science level and requirements are needed for new research? Is 
there a technology tree? 
3.9 Aliens and Diplomacy 
- 3.9.1 What types of aliens are there? 
- 3.9.2 How strong are alien forces? 
- 3.9.3 What do the relationship numbers mean? 
- 3.9.4 What do the diplomacy options mean? 
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4. Walkthrough
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4.1 Lieutenant (Disc 1) 
- 4.1.1 Initial Resources 
- 4.1.2 Strategy Overview 
- 4.1.3 Getting started 
- 4.1.4 Requests for help 
- 4.1.5 Re-equip your command ship 
- 4.1.6 Colony development 
- 4.1.7 Cover the Thorin's retreat from Garthog forces 
4.2 Captain 
- 4.2.1 New Resources 
- 4.2.2 Strategy Overview 
- 4.2.3 Opening moves 
- 4.2.4 I repelled the Garthog fleet and the plot seems to have stalled. What 
did I do wrong? 
- 4.2.5 How do I produce a Cruiser 1? 
- 4.2.6 Colony development 
- 4.2.7 Garthog pirates 
- 4.2.8 Doctor Catherine Reinhardt 
- 4.2.9 San Sterling smuggler 
- 4.2.10 Governor escort 
- 4.2.11 Garthog invasion 
- 4.2.12 Virus infection 
- 4.2.13 Build up your fleet 
- 4.2.14 Escort Admiral 
- 4.2.15 Second virus infection 
- 4.2.16 Spies 
- 4.2.17 More building 
- 4.2.18 Escort money transport 
- 4.2.19 Stolen prototype 
4.3 Commander (Disc 2) 
- 4.3.1 New Resources 
- 4.3.2 Strategy Overview 
- 4.3.3 Colony development 
- 4.3.4 Research and production 
- 4.3.5 Blockade Zeuson 
- 4.3.6 Why does nothing happens after the Zeuson blockade order? 
- 4.3.7 More dreams 
- 4.3.8 Garthog attacks 
- 4.3.9 Initial invasion strategy 
- 4.3.10 Garthog colony development 
- 4.3.11 Escort prototype 
- 4.3.12 Why does nothing happen after escorting the prototype? 
- 4.3.13 Defeating the Garthogs 
- 4.3.14 Why can't I attack Garthog 5? 
- 4.3.15 I got promoted to Admiral without capturing any Garthog planets. What 
happened? 
4.4 Admiral 
- 4.4.1 New Resources 
- 4.4.2 Strategy Overview 
- 4.4.3 Opening moves 
- 4.4.4 Expansion 
- 4.4.5 About robotics 
- 4.4.6 Defense 
- 4.4.7 How do I get promoted to Grand Admiral? 
4.5 Grand Admiral 
- 4.5.1 New Resources 
- 4.5.2 Strategy Overview 
- 4.5.3 Diplomacy 
- 4.5.4 The End 
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5. Strategies
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5.1 Combat 
- 5.1.1 Delaying tactics 
- 5.1.2 Ground defense...? 
- 5.1.3 Or space defense...? 
- 5.1.4 Or no defense...? 
- 5.1.5 Ground combat 
- 5.1.6 Space combat 
- 5.1.7 Don't make enemies of races you can avoid at the start of the game 
- 5.1.8 Defeating the Dargslans 
5.2 Fleet Composition 
- 5.2.1 Flagships and destroyers without fighters 
- 5.2.2 Only operate a number of fleets your economy can resupply 
- 5.2.3 Maximise ships' loadouts 
- 5.2.4 Fighters create a diversion 
5.3 Empire Building 
- 5.3.1 Defend first, attack later, and only deploy just before you are 
attacked 
- 5.3.2 High tax paying, but happy citizens 
- 5.3.3 Research everything and build the best 
- 5.3.4 Use the ground on planets wisely 
- 5.3.5 Maximise production 
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6. Cheating and Editing
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6.1 What are the cheat codes? 
6.2 Are there any editors available? 
6.3 How do I hex edit a saved game? 
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7. Technical Issues
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7.1 Where can I get help with a technical problem? 
7.2 What does the "Change video mode during animations" setup option do? 
7.3 Why doesn't my Soundblaster compatible card work? 
7.4 How can I get the game to work in Windows XP/2000/ME? 
7.5 Why does the patched version cause graphics problems with ATI cards? 
7.6 Why does the game crash with error code 200? 
7.7 How do I take screenshots? 
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Appendices
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A. Planet List 
B. Research Science Level Requirements 
C. Technology Tree 


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1. PREFACE

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1.1 Notes

Imperium Galactica was, in my opinion, a beautifully quirky space strategy 
game. Part galactic strategy, part real time combat, part colony building, 
part adventure story. Ambitious and not entirely successful. The manual 
introduced some features, tried to guide the player through the first 
missions, and gave some technical help; but never got into any depth. Given 
its storyline driven nature, and general complexity of the game, Imperium 
Galactica needs an FAQ more than most games. I could only find basic 
hint/cheat documents, including notes by Peter Knutsen ( 
http://www.planetsilicon.co.uk/cheats/files/cheats-3441.asp ) and a draft FAQ 
by "Gorshcov S E" (although I have not seen the text). So I started writing 
this. This FAQ aims to introduce key concepts within the game, guide you 
through the ranks to Grand Admiral, consider different strategies, and provide 
a limited reference work on things like planets, buildings, equipment, and 
spacecraft. It is based on the patched European English (UK) version, with 
additional material based on the US and Hungarian version. I'm not aware of 
any gameplay variations between versions released in different parts of the 
world.

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1.2 Credits and Legal

This FAQ was written by Tim Howgego (also known as timski), copyright 2003-4, 
unless otherwise stated. Errors and suggestions should be reported to tim (at) 
capsu (dot) org. Please put "Imperium Galactica" somewhere in the email 
subject field. This FAQ includes ideas and strategies posted on 
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic, other forums including Infogrames', and 
contained in a semi-official hint list by Mega Products ( 
http://www.megaproducts.co.uk/games/ig/ig_frameset.htm ) - contributors are 
noted with the relevant text. This FAQ is in the public domain: You may copy 
and repost this FAQ, but the content of the document, including the credits, 
must remain unchanged. Informing the author that you are hosting it is 
appreciated, but not mandatory. Ensuring you host the most recent version is 
also appreciated, but not mandatory. If converting from text to HTML, please 
note the use of fixed width text in diagrams and greater/less-than characters. 
Imperium Galactica (TM) (c) 1997 GT Interactive Software Corp. Other 
trademarks and copyright are owned by their respective trademark and copyright 
holders. This is not an official FAQ. It is not endorsed by the game's 
developers or publishers.

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1.3 Version

This is version 1.05, 21 February 2004. Latest changes: Virus Bombs and 
several minor corrections.

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==============================================================================

2. INTRODUCTION

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2.1 What is Imperium Galactica?

Imperium Galactica is a real-time space based strategy game, with 
adventure/roleplay elements. It features a mixture of space fleet movement and 
exploration, planetary colonies and production, strategic combat, research and 
development, and competing alien computer controlled players. It is most 
similar in style to the first Master of Orion game, but with important 
differences. Imperium Galactica is primarily real time, not turn based (it is 
arguably not true real time, because battle sequences are played out one at a 
time and most commands can be given while the game is paused). The game 
introduces the player to different features slowly as a series of missions and 
promotions, rather than allowing the player to control everything immediately. 
One can only play as one race, and the storyline and galaxy is the same each 
time, limiting Imperium Galactica's replay value. Imperium Galactica is not 
directly related to the early 1980s "Imperium Galacticum" strategy game by 
SSI, although they share a similar premise and design.

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2.2 Who wrote and published Imperium Galactica?

The game was developed by Digital Reality ( http://www.digitalreality.hu/ ), 
and published by GT Interactive Software. Programming was by Istvan Kiss and 
Ferenc Szabo; graphics lead by Csaba Gyarmati, Karoly Rozsa and Tamas Fodor; 
music by Tamas Kreiner; and design by Gabor Feher. The game was released in 
March 1997. Imperium Galactica was the second in a collection of similar games 
by the same development team, starting with Reunion in 1994. It was followed 
by the sequel Imperium Galactica 2.

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2.3 What are the requirements to run the game?

Minimum requirements are: 486DX4 100mhz or Pentium processor, 8MB RAM (16MB 
under Windows 95), 550K free conventional memory, SVGA video card with 1MB 
RAM, Soundblaster 2 or compatible sound card (must be truly 100% compatible), 
4x speed CD-ROM drive, 65 MB hard drive free, mouse, MS-DOS 5.0. The game can 
be played under Window 95/98, although this may result in "reduced 
performance". Many people are able to get the game running under Windows ME 
(often running under DOS), 2000, and XP (often requires workarounds to get 
sound - see How can I get the game to work in Windows XP/2000/ME? below), 
however not everyone is successful. On faster machines, the patch may be 
required to stop the game crashing.

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2.4 Where can I get the game?

Imperium Galactica was re-released as a budget title (in the United Kingdom at 
least) by Infogrames in 2002/03. Original copies can sometimes be found via 
sites such as CDAccess ( http://www.cdaccess.com/html/pc/impergal.htm ) or 
eBay.

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2.5 What versions are there?

I know of five release versions - United States, European English (United 
Kingdom), French, German and Hungarian (thanks to Lord Grak).

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2.6 Where can I get the latest patch?

The latest patch is 1.3, available here: 
http://www.atarisupport.com/faq/imperiumgalacticadownloads_pc.asp . The patch 
fixes "runtime error 200" and various gameplay glitches.

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2.7 Where did everyone go?

In spite of the game's age, there is still a small online community discussing 
Imperium Galactica here, http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/ .

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3. GAMEPLAY

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3.1 Setup
______________________________________________________________________________


General Technical Issues are covered by a later section.

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3.1.1 What does the hard difficulty level change?

From the manual - all your equipment must be made before it appears on your 
new ships, your colonies generate less income, you start with less credits, 
and your spacecraft shields are weaker. Aliens are more aggressive and tend to 
make better decisions, in theory making them overall more challenging 
opponents.

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3.1.2 The computer voice is annoying. Can I turn off?

Yes. Toggle it on/off via the options screen (press Esc or O). You will still 
get important audio cues for things like new messages, but you won't be told 
continually which screen you are looking at.

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3.1.3 Why aren't buildings being repaired when I turn auto-repair on?

You probably do not have enough spare cash to repair damaged buildings. Use 
this option with care.

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3.1.4 Are there multiplayer or free-play modes?

There is no multiplayer support. There is no specific free-play mode - you 
must first complete the initial storyline and missions. Once you have 
completed these, the game becomes more open-ended.

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3.1.5 Can I stop the CD-ROM being accessed every time I look at the Equipment 
and Research screens?

Yes. If you have enough hard drive space, try copying folders Eq_anims and 
Eq_animw from Disc 2 into the main game directory on your hard drive.

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______________________________________________________________________________

3.2 Interface
______________________________________________________________________________


3.2.1 What command screens are available? Why don't all the F-keys work?

The interface is slightly bewildering, with different screens designed with 
similar buttons in completely different places. You can walk between different 
rooms on your command ship, which is pretty at first, but ultimately wastes 
time. Consider using F-keys to navigate between screens. Certain screens can 
only be accessed once you have achieved a specific rank. Here is the full list 
of screens: 

- ESC or O - Options, load, save and exit. 
- F1 - Bridge. Access and send messages from here. 
- F2 - Starmap. Strategic overview of planets and fleets. You also initiate 
attacks from here. 
- F3 - Colony. Planet surface view. Build and repair facilities from here. 
- F4 - Equipment. Manage fleet composition, planetary units, and orbital 
facilities from here. To change location or fleet, select it from the mini-map 
bottom centre. 
- F5 - Production. Order production of spacecraft, weapons and equipment, and 
sell excess stock. Requires Captain. 
- F6 - Research. Specify and fund current research. Requires Commander. 
- F7 - Information. Contains details of current planets, fleets, buildable 
structures (greyed entries can be built, just not on this planet), colony and 
military status of selected planet, financial summary, and database known 
technology ("Inv"). At Grand Admiral rank, the alien relationships table is 
available here. 
- F8 - State Room. Database of more general information, with a small help 
section and the apparently useless (well not quite, see the Walkthrough) 
record message facility. 
- F9 - Local. Ship's bar, where you can occasionally meet and talk to members 
of your crew. Requires Captain. 
- F10 - Diplomacy. Talk to alien ambassadors (click in the center of the 
screen). Requires Grand Admiral.

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3.2.2 How do I change the speed?

Use the arrow like controls in the top left of the screen, or press 1, 2, or 
(later in the game) 3. The button in the corner of the screen freezes the game 
(as does pressing Space), but still allows you to issue commands and make 
changes within the game. Ground battle speed can pre-set on the options screen 
(Esc).

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3.2.3 How do I switch between colonies from the surface view?

Either (1) use +/- to cycle between colonies (these keys work from the Colony 
screen within Information, and are useful for browsing through your empire to 
look for problems); (2) click Planets, pick a new planet from the list, and 
then click Colony or press F3; or (3) click Starmap or press F2, click on a 
new planet or use the Prev/Next buttons top right, and then click Colony or 
press F3.

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3.2.4 Why can't I zoom out? How do I view the whole map?

Initially only a small part of galaxy is visible. As you gain further ranks 
more of the map will become available. By Admiral the whole map can be seen. 
The starmap has three different mouse modes - Normal, Scroll and Zoom. Scroll 
enables scrolling when clicking the right mouse button. Zoom changes the left 
mouse button to zoom in, the right to zoom out.

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3.2.5 How do I view messages?

Go the bridge and select the panel on the right of the screen. Click play, 
then click on the message. Don't be alarmed by the tendency of characters' 
speech to not match their mouth movements :-/ .

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3.2.6 Can I communicate with aliens and other shipping?

At Grand Admiral rank you gain basic diplomacy features - see Aliens and 
Diplomacy below. In battles you can communicate with opposing ships by using 
one of the screens in the bottom half of the battle interface. Select the text 
box screen by using the buttons on the far left or right of the screen. Then 
click on the first line of text to start a conversation (in some cases there 
will be a choice of text). Such communication can be done whilst the battle is 
paused.

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______________________________________________________________________________

3.3 Important Concepts
______________________________________________________________________________


3.3.1 How do I deal with non-strategy elements?

Imperium Galactica may drive hardcore strategy fans mad fairly quickly. The 
early part of the game is exceptionally linear, and gives very little warning 
of impending threats, as DuaneVP comments: "This game will unfold the same 
EVERY time unless you do something wrong like the time you let a merchant ship 
spread the virus and had to quarantine two planets when you weren't expecting 
it. You play this game until you encounter a problem. It doesn't matter what 
direction you take because eventually you will have to back up. You'll never 
be able to anticipate problems because you've already been taught that the 
game will NOT give you any clues as to what you might be facing. You revert to 
earlier saves and proceed in a fashion that will allow you to overcome the 
problem you now know you'll face in the future." 

If this is proving a problem, try approaching the first part of the game as 
you would an adventure or puzzle game: Saving frequently, and being prepared 
to try different parts of the plot several times before you succeed. Do not 
approach the first part of the game as a pure open-ended strategy game, where 
you expect to make mistakes which you can recover from in the course of the 
game. Imperium Galactica normally won't allow you to take heavy loses early in 
the game and come back, but it will expect you to be able to deal with huge 
new threats that appear with almost no warning.

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3.3.2 Do the aliens wait for the missions to be completed before developing 
their empires?

No. From Stormcloud: "The main concept you should know about Imperium 
Galactica is that it's realtime and dynamic. This means, that while you're 
pandering away to complete your allotted missions, all the other races are 
increasing their strengths - settling on empty planet, building space 
fortress, ground based space cannons etc." All other things being equal, the 
longer you delay the early missions, the greater advantage your competitors 
will have. Aim to progress to rank Commander as fast as possible. There are 
reasons why you might wish to delay the last two ranks slightly, as discussed 
in the Walkthrough.

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3.3.3 How do credits, energy, morale, buildings, production and similar 
interact?

The basic premise of resource management should be familiar to those that have 
played other strategy games. It is worth noting what resource is needed for 
what, and which things require upkeep and which do not. In summary: 
- Credits: Needed for investments in infrastructure, fleets, equipment, and 
research, and repairs to damaged infrastructure. Raised via taxation, trade 
income, and potentially sales of excess equipment. Held in a single galaxy 
wide treasury. Credits are not required for general upkeep. 
- Colony Energy/Power: Allows colony buildings to operate. Created by colony 
power stations. Under-powered buildings may have reduced output, and 
chronically under-powered buildings will be shut down completely. 
- Colony Workforce: Allows colony buildings to operate. Created by having a 
large enough population in the colony. Population appears to grow so long as 
basic needs are met and morale is reasonable (see below). Rates of growth are 
far greater than natural reproduction might suggest. Under-staffed buildings 
may have reduced output. 
- Colony Basic Needs: Primarily living space, food and hospital cover, in 
order for population to grow. At high population levels, other items such as 
Fire Brigades may be required. Met by provision of certain basic buildings in 
the appropriate volume. 
- Colony Morale: This includes both taxation morale and support for your 
actions by colonists - both tend to change for similar reasons. Higher morale 
allows higher taxes to be levied, makes the planet less likely to rebel, and 
means the population grows faster. Met by lower taxes, morale boasting 
buildings, Police Stations, and/or ensuring basic needs are met. 
- Factories: Increase the speed at which military units and equipment can be 
created. Those units allow significant defense, and conquest. 
- Development Centres: Allow additional levels of research to be accessed, 
which allows certain technology to be researched, and allows new and improved 
units, equipment and buildings to be used.

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3.3.4 What role does technology play?

You start the game technologically backwards. Early engagements with aliens 
will be hopelessly one-sided. Research (available at Commander level and 
later) requires you first to gain additional planets, since you can only build 
one research facility (Dev. Centre) on each planet - this is covered in more 
detail under Research. So, in order to develop you *must* expand, but 
expansion will increasingly require aggression, and aggression benefits from 
technology. Aliens seem to make few, if any, technological developments, so 
eventually you will become technologically superior to them, at which point 
the battles get a lot easier.

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______________________________________________________________________________

3.4 Colonies and Buildings
______________________________________________________________________________


3.4.1 Why can I not build a certain building?

Buildings may appear unbuildable (with a red cross on the build screen) if you 
have no Colony Hub, if the building type is not appropriate to the planet type 
(for example, a Park cannot be built on a Frozen planet type), or if the 
building or building type is restricted to a certain number per colony (for 
example, you can only build one of each factory type per colony).

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3.4.2 How do I repair buildings?

Left click on the building, and click "Damaged". It will then display 
"Repair". Repairs use up cash and full repairs will take a day or more, 
depending on the type of building. Once damaged is reduced below 50%, 
buildings become operational. You can opt to auto-repair all buildings on the 
Options screen, however will not prioritise repairs and early in the game will 
tend to drain your treasury.

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3.4.3 Why can't I turn power "on"?

Buildings that are more than 50% damaged cannot be "turned on" - repair them 
first to at least 50%. In colonies with chronic power shortages, buildings may 
not be turned on. Limited power supply will be diverted towards essential 
buildings like housing. Power can otherwise be toggled by clicking on the 
building, and then clicking On/Off.

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3.4.4 What do different buildings do?

In summary (Satellites and Orbital Bases are listed under What equipment and 
weapons are available?): 

Colony Centre: 
- Colony Hub: "The colony hub is the prefabricated colony center automatically 
deposited on planet by a colonization ship. You can only build other 
structures on a planet if you have a colony hub." Cost 40,000. Energy 0. 
Workers 960. Includes basic facilities to meet the food requirement of 5000 
people, and the basic hospital requirement of 10,000 people. 

Housing (where people live): 
- Apartment Block: "Apartment blocks are more expensive to build than prefab 
housing but can provide living space for more people." Cost 12,000. Energy 
1200. Workers 70. Capacity 15,000 people. 
- Arcology: "Arcologies are expensive to build but allow the largest 
population of colonists per square meter." Cost 16,000. Energy 1500. Workers 
100. Capacity 30,000 people. 
- Prefab Housing: "Prefab housing is the cheapest low capacity housing 
available for your colonists..." Cost 5,600. Energy 850. Workers 60. Capacity 
7000 people. 

Power (produce energy): 
- Fusion Plant: "The Fusion Plant is most efficient on planets with a ready 
supply of fusible materials (deuterium, tritium, helium-2)." Cost 24,000. 
Energy 0. Workers 500. Output ~9900 Kwh. Cannot be built on Desert, Neptoplasm 
or Rocky planets. 
- Nuclear Plant: "Nuclear Plants use the old-fashioned technology of atomic 
fission to generate power." Cost 8000. Energy 0. Workers 290. Output ~3500 
Kwh. 
- Solar Plant: "Advanced, super-efficient photovoltaics combined with high-
temperature superconductors and orbital light focusing field arrays make Solar 
plants the most efficient power source." Cost 16,000. Energy 0, Workers 350, 
Output ~9000 Kwh. Cannot be built on Frozen or Liquid planets. Research as 
Commander. 

Life Sources (produce food and water): 
- Phood(TM) Factory: "Phood(TM) Factory utilizes the latest advances in 
genetically engineered MeatBeast(TM), FastGrain(TM) and Sculpted Algae(TM) to 
produce large quantities of food for hungry colonists." Cost 10,000. Energy 
2000. Workers 500. Output 40,000t (feeds 20,000 people). Research or capture 
as Commander. 
- Hydroponic Food Farm: "The Hydroponic Food Farm facility grows natural foods 
in an unnatural environment, extracting maximum yields from such exciting 
foodstuffs as grains, fungi, and algae." Cost 4200. Energy 1300. Workers 300. 
Output 15,000t (feeds 8000 people). 
- Water Vaporator: "Moisture Vaporators extract moisture from the air to 
provide drinking supplies. Water deficient planets need Vaporators to avoid 
slow population growth." Cost 45,000. Energy 800. Workers 210. Output 12,000 
(people?). Cannot be built on Earth-type, Frozen, Rocky, or Liquid planets 
(thanks to Alain Roy for correction). Eventually required on Cratered and 
Desert planets. 

Factories (manufacture spacecraft and equipment, and ground units; limited to 
one per type per colony): 
- Equipment Factory: "The Equipment factory increases the colony's equipment 
production capacity." Cost 20,000. Energy 2600. Workers 460. 
- Spaceship Factory: "The Spaceship factory increases the colony's spaceship 
production capacity." Cost 20,000. Energy 4000. Workers 430. 
- Weapon Factory: "The Weapon factory increases the colony's weapon production 
capacity." Cost 24,000. Energy 3000. Workers 390. 

Development Centres (allow research, one level of research per centre; limited 
to one of any type per colony); 
- A.I. Dev. Centre: "The AI Development Centre increases your colony's 
knowledge of Artificial Intelligence, which increases your Development 
capabilities." Cost 46,000. Energy 2000. Workers 360. 
- Civil Eng. Dev. Centre: "The Civil Engineering Development Centre increases 
your colony's knowledge of Civil Engineering, which increases your Development 
capabilities." Cost 30,000. Energy 2000. Workers 560. 
- Computer Dev. Centre: "The Computer Development Centre increases your 
colony's knowledge of Computer technology, which increases your Development 
capabilities." Cost 42,000. Energy 2000. Workers 560. 
- Mechanics Dev. Centre: "The Mechanics Development Centre increases your 
colony's knowledge of Mechanics, which increases your Development 
capabilities." Cost 34,000. Energy 2000. Workers 620. 
- Military Dev. Centre: "The Military Development Centre increases your 
colony's knowledge of Military technology, which increases your Development 
capabilities." Cost 52,000. Energy 3000. Workers 420. 

Commerce (generate additional treasury cash; limited to one per type per 
colony): 
- Bank: "Banks provide financial investments for local commerce increasing 
trade and income on the colony." Cost 16,000. Energy 500. Workers 230. Trade 
revenue (from Traders' Spaceport and/or Trade Centre) doubles. Useless without 
a Traders' Spaceport or Trade Centre in the colony. 
- Trade Centre: "The trade centre forms the hub of colonial commerce, the 
presence of one increases weekly trade income." Cost 17,000. Energy 1000. 
Workers 360. Revenue 1200 credits per day. Research as Admiral. 
- Traders' Spaceport: "Integrated commercial spaceports, automated customs 
processing facilities, robot dockworkers and Spacemerchant's Guild make the 
Traders' spaceport a valuable revenue source." Cost 10,000. Energy 1700. 
Workers 250. Revenue 600 credits per day. 

Civilian (assorted buildings primarily serving immediate needs of local 
population): 
- Bunker: "Bunkers are heavily reinforced structures which provide your 
colonists with a safe haven during attacks by enemy forces, greatly reducing 
casualties." Cost 18,000. Energy 500. Workers 30. Research as Admiral. 
- Fire Brigade: "Fire brigades automatically repair damaged colony structures 
up to 50% free of charge. They are very useful when a colony is being 
bombarded from orbit or assaulted by ground forces." Cost 12,000. Energy 1200. 
Workers 300. Required by colonies with more than 30,000 people. 
- Hospital: "Hospitals improve colony morale and health, fight disease and 
find solutions to the challenges of life on alien planets allowing the 
population to grow more quickly." Cost 13,000. Energy 900. Workers 280. Meets 
basic hospital requirement for an additional 20,000 people. 
- Police Station: "Police Stations are demanded by the colonists on 
sufficiently populated worlds to reduce crime to acceptable levels." Cost 
26,000. Energy 1200. Workers 400. Meets notional basic policing requirement 
for 50,000 people, but additional Police Stations improve tax morale. To 
maintain extreme levels of taxation, use one Police Station per 10,000 
population (in combination with morale boosting buildings - see below). 

Radar (allow ships within range of planet to be seen on the map): 
- Field Telescope: "The Field Telescope is a high powered and focused radio 
wave detector that can be used to find enemy fleets at a greater range than 
the Radar Telescope." Cost 10,000. Energy 2500. Workers 160. Research as 
Commander. 
- Phased Telescope: "The Phased Telescope is the ultimate in long range 
sensing equipment, accurately locating enemy fleets at extreme ranges." Cost 
25,000. Energy 2000. Workers 180. Improvement on Field Telescope. Similar 
range to Hubble 2 (satellite telescope). Research as Admiral. 
- Radar Telescope: "The Radar Telescope detects nearby enemy fleets in space, 
helping to give warning before enemy attacks." Cost 4000. Energy 2000. Workers 
60. 

Orbital Guns (fire from the planet at orbiting enemy spacecraft, limited to 5 
of any type per colony): 
- Fusion Projector: "Getting hit by a shot from a Fusion Projector is like 
running into a small sun. It inflicts severe damage on enemy starships that 
stray into its range." Cost 32,000. Energy 4000. Workers 160. Improvement on 
Plasma Projector. Research as Admiral. 
- Ion Projector: "The Ion Projector is used to protect your colony from attack 
by enemy starfleets. It fires a stream of high energy charged particles that 
can damage most enemy ships." Cost 10,000. Energy 2000. Workers 120. 
- Meson Projector: "The Meson Projector fires a stream of subatomic particles 
that decay into highly explosive matter. These projectors can easily cripple 
an unsuspecting starship." Cost 40,000. Energy 5000. Workers 165. Improvement 
on Fusion Projector. Research as Grand Admiral. 
- Plasma Projector: "Plasma projectors fire bolts of superheated matter that 
can inflict heavy damage on enemy starships." Cost 17,800. Energy 3000. 
Workers 150. Improvement on Ion Projector. Research as Commander. 

Planetary Shields (shield orbital guns): 
- Hyershield: "Utilizing the warping effects of millions of micro-
singularities to absorb weapons fire, the Hyper shield protects your colony 
from Destructors [bombs] and Virus Bombs." Cost 35,000. Energy 6000. Workers 
120. Research as Admiral. 
- Inversion Shield: "The Inversion Shield consists of carefully balanced 
fields of gravitons with reversed spin, which form a highly repulsive barrier 
around your colony protecting from attacks from space." Cost 15,000. Energy 
4000. Workers 50. Planetary shield. Research as Commander 

Garrisons (house ground units and include anti-ground force turrets): 
- Barracks: "The Barracks is the simplest fortification available. During a 
ground assault it will fire on nearby enemy tanks and allows you to house four 
tanks for your own defenses." Cost 15,000. Energy 1000. Workers 360. 
- Fortress: "The Fortress greatly improves your colony's defenses against 
ground assaults. It fires at enemy tanks and has storage space for eight of 
your own defensive tanks [or vehicles]." Cost 30,000. Energy 1500. Workers 
530. Research as Admiral. 
- Stronghold: "The Stronghold is the heaviest fortification available for 
defending your colonies from ground assaults." Cost 50,000. Energy 2000. 
Workers 550. Garrisons 12 vehicles. Research as Admiral. 

Fleet Support: 
- Military Spaceport: "Military spaceports allow the construction and support 
of military spaceships. They also can provide some local System Defense Boats 
to aid in protecting the colony from attacks." Cost 75,000. Energy 3000. 
Workers 310. Allows capital ships to be deployed, and fighters and tanks to be 
added and removed from fleets. Also allows fighters to be added as system 
defense. 

Morale (buildings that specifically raise colony morale): 
- Bar: "A social space where colonists bond with one another through the 
shared ritual consumption of perception altering substances such as NeoPro 
Brandy, bars raise colony morale." Cost 6300. Energy 700. Workers: 410. 
- Church: "Spiritual Indoctrination Centers, Churches foster the belief in an 
ephemeral spiritual reward for worldly suffering, increasing colony morale at 
very low cost." Cost 4000. Energy 100. Workers 90. Churches are cheap, small 
and effective, making a Church a good early addition to a new colony. 
- Park: "Parks provide a physical reminder of the colonists homeworld. These 
pleasant, relaxing oasises of faux-nature raise colony morale." Cost 14,000. 
Energy 200. Workers 100. Cannot be built on Desert, Frozen, Cratered, Liquid 
or Neptoplasm planets. Can only be built on Earth type and Rocky planets. 
- Recreation Centre: "The Recreation centre provides such healthy 
entertainments as Hyperpool, FlashPong, and Billiards. These entertainments 
improve morale on the colony." Cost 7500. Energy 500. Workers 230. 
- Stadium: "The stadium provides a location for performances and sporting 
events to be put on for the colonists. Full Contact Arcturian Rules Football 
has proven very effective at raising morale." Cost 50,000. Energy 1000. 
Workers 350.

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3.4.5 What differences are there between planet types?

There are seven different planet surfaces. A full Planet List is contained in 
the appendices: 

- Cratered: Cannot build Park. 
- Desert: Cannot build Fusion Plant or Park. 
- Earth Type: Does not require Water Vaporator. Tends to sustain higher 
morale. 
- Frozen: Does not require Water Vaporator. Cannot build Solar Plant or Park. 
- Liquid: Does not require Water Vaporator. Cannot build Solar Plant or Park. 
- Neptoplasm: Does not require Water Vaporator. Cannot build Fusion Plant or 
Park. 
- Rocky: Does not require Water Vaporator. Cannot build Fusion Plant.

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3.4.6 How do I colonize planets?

You need to build a colony ship, only possible at Admiral rank or higher. 
Assign the ship to a fleet and send it close to an empty planet, then select 
"colonize". You cannot colonize planets that already have a colony on them.

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3.4.7 Why can't I build more than 5000 buildings?

Patching the game removes this limitation.

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3.4.8 Can I see what my colonies need at a glance?

Yes. Under Information (F7), select Colony Info and the appropriate colony 
from the map. Basic needs are shown, with critical problems (like lack of 
food) in red and less critical problems (like power shortages) in yellow.

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3.4.9 Can I change the colony name?

The manual says yes. The reality appears to be no.

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3.4.10 What buildings can I build in the alien colonies I've captured?

Human 'alien' colonies (former AFT and FNS colonies) can build everything you 
can build on your home planets. On non-human alien planets, you can always 
build Dev. Centres, factories, Arcologies, Nuclear Plants, Hospitals, Phood 
Factories, Police Stations and Military Spaceports. You can also build newly 
researched items where the alien race has the technology, but perhaps did not 
allow you to capture it. For example, Garthog planets can build Plasma 
Projectors once you have researched them, but you cannot capture these items 
because they are destroyed when you invade. Not all technology, such as Solar 
Plants, can be built on alien colonies.

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3.4.11 Can I flatten or clear un-buildable areas like rock formations?

No. This can be very annoying on certain planets, where half of the area 
available for buildings is taken up with obstacles.

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3.4.12 What do the 'Major incident on planet...' messages mean?

These normally indicate that a Nuclear Plant on the planet named has been 
heavily damaged. These messages can be somewhat confusing, because when (as 
Commander) you send a SitRep enquiry to the planet from the Bridge, the 
governor tells you everything is fine. If you examine the colony carefully 
you'll see the problem.

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______________________________________________________________________________

3.5 Combat
______________________________________________________________________________


3.5.1 How do I move ground units between store, colonies and fleets?

Fleets must be near a planet with a Military Spaceport to transfer vehicles. 
You can transfer vehicles between planets at any time. On the equipment screen 
(F4), select the planet or fleet, then the vehicle type. Click Del to move 
vehicles from planet/fleet to store, Add to move them from store to 
planet/fleet. There is no delay caused by moving vehicles between planets, 
meaning relatively small numbers of vehicles can be used to defend entire 
empires.

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3.5.2 How do I increase the number of ground units a planet can hold?

Build additional Barracks, Fortresses and/or Strongholds on the planet. A 
planet without any such facilities can only hold a maximum of 8 defending 
ground units. These buildings add 4, 8 and 12 additional units per building, 
respectively.

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3.5.3 How do I invade an enemy colony?

Attack the planet with a fleet that includes vehicles. Vehicles can be 
assigned to a fleet which contains a Flagship, while that fleet is close to a 
planet with a Military Spaceport. Three flagships, each equipped with cargo 
pods will increase the number of vehicles you can attack with. If the colony 
you attack is protected by orbital defenses or an enemy fleet, your fleet must 
first defeat those defenses. If your vehicle-carrying ships survived, you will 
automatically launch into a land combat, with the option to position your 
forces round the boundary of the colony. You need to destroy all the enemy 
vehicles (including non-combat units that may be hiding behind buildings, like 
Radar Cars) and all their military buildings (Barracks, Fortresses and 
similar), after which the colony will fall to you.

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3.5.4 Can I group combat units in battle?

Select multiple units by dragging a marquee around the units with the mouse. 
Assign them to a group by pressing Shift + 1 to 9. Pressing 1 to 9 will 
reselect the group. Alternatively, select all units of the same type using: T 
(tanks), R (rocket cars), L (flagships), C (cruiser/destroyer) or F 
(fighters). "A" selects all units. After the first few battles you will get to 
choose your formation at the start of the battle. The "Group/Single" toggle 
displayed at this time will either group your fighters up into one space, or 
attempt to place fighters individually.

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3.5.5 Why do my defensive buildings not concentrate fire on the enemy?

Shwatzy comments: "You can select your turrets and manually target the most 
dangerous tanks first."

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3.5.6 Can I retreat?

You can retreat from space combat (use the button on the left hamd side of the 
space combat screen), although if the enemy fleet is faster it may 
continuously re-engage you. You cannot retreat from ground combat.

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______________________________________________________________________________

3.6 Fleets and Equipment
______________________________________________________________________________


3.6.1 How do I change, re-equip, or create new fleets?

In order to re-equip, or add new ships, the fleet needs to be close to a 
planet with a Military Spaceport. Only capital ships can have equipment 
loadouts altered - not fighters. Modify equipment by selecting the ship, which 
displays an image of the vessel on the right of the screen. Click on one of 
the green boxes on that image, and then move the appropriate item of equipment 
between the ship and the inventory below - you may need to first remove 
equipment before you can add new items. Note that not all equipment can be 
removed, notably hyperdrives. To add new ships to an existing fleet, select 
the fleet and vessel type on the Equipment screen, then use the Add to deploy 
units. Fighters may also be removed to storage, capital ships may not. To add 
a new ship to a new fleet, first create a new fleet by selecting a planet with 
a Military Spaceport, then pressing "New" from the equipment screen. You may 
split and move ships between two fleets in the same location via the Equipment 
(F4) screen. You do not need to be near a Military Spaceport to split, join 
and transfer currently deployed vessels. If you transfer ships, the fleet 
receiving the new ships will be indicated on the screen as "Secondary". If you 
have several fleets in the same location, you may need to move one or more 
away first.

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3.6.2 Can I automatically re-equip or upgrade equipment on fleets and units on 
planets?

Yes and no. The options screen (Esc) allows you to re-equip tanks to planets, 
and bombs and missiles to spacecraft. This assumes you have excess stocks of 
such items available. You cannot automatically replace lost equipment on 
ships, nor can you automatically upgrade equipment. This can make upgrading 
ships very time consuming. Bershe comments: "Here's a trick - if you have 10+ 
ships of any type in a fleet, they are categorized together... So, select the 
category, select the (for example) laser pod. Hit the '+' button to fully load 
the ship, then push enter. And repeat until fleet is outfitted. This is MUCH 
more efficient."

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3.6.3 Which planet is unused equipment stored on?

It isn't stored in any one place. Unused equipment (not assigned to planets or 
fleets, or mounted on spacecraft) is held in a virtual storage, which can be 
accessed from anywhere. Is this good game design? Tim Chown comments: 
"Deploying on any planet is fine as long as you can't remove and add the way 
it is now. After all, your weapon factories are all grouped together for 
production purposes. But to be able to instantly transfer from 1 planet/fleet 
to another is something that should be corrected."

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3.6.4 How do I repair ships and vehicles?

Capital ships which have been damaged repair naturally over time. You cannot 
speed this process up. Heavily damaged capital ships may have lost equipment. 
Lost equipment will not repair over time, and needs to be re-equipped from 
stores - see How do I change or re-equip a fleet? above. Damaged vehicles and 
fighters repair instantly between battles.

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3.6.5 How do I build new units and equipment?

Production is only available at Captain rank and higher. You can only build 
what you have researched, know to start with, or capture from aliens. You need 
at least one factory per type of production (spacecraft, weapons, equipment). 
Additional factories will allow faster production - this increases the "full 
capacity" value on the relevant production screen. Each colony can build up to 
one factory of each type. Production needs to be ordered, and paid for with 
credits, via the Production screen (F5). You can produce up to 5 different 
things at once in each category, biasing the rate at which each is produced by 
altering the "Importance" value. Production itself is not planet specific, and 
items produced go straight into the store of unused equipment. Buildings are 
included on the production screen, although they are not produced via it - 
they are simply built on the relevant colony.

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3.6.6 How do I build Flagships?

Flagships, including Colonization Ships, require you to have at least one 
Orbital Space Factory orbiting around a planet. You do not need the orbital 
factory to be in the same location you wish to deploy Flagships. Flagships are 
deployed in the same way as other ships - around planets with Military 
Spaceports. This means you only ever need one orbital factory in your empire 
(just ensure you defend it adequately).

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3.6.7 Can I build the Leviathan?

No, not in normal play. Although unpatched versions of the game may fool you 
into trying, and may then cause technical problems - don't try. You can only 
have one Leviathan, the "Thorin", your command ship as Admiral. From GT: "The 
Leviathan was removed from the game late in development. It was found that the 
game was too easy if you could build as many of these as you wanted." From 
Karthik: "You can actually build it but you can't research it. Use the cheat 
code to get all the inventions. Once done you can build the Thorin."

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3.6.8 Can I rename fleets?

Yes. On the Equipment screen (F4), select the fleet, then click on the fleet 
name in the bottom left panel. You should see a cursor appear. Delete the old 
name and type in the new.

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3.6.9 How do I use Virus Bombs?

From Matt Forrestal: "Only the Thorin seems to be able to use them, and it can 
only carry four." From vakundok: "[They] lower the population of the target 
world, reducing the tax income of your enemy." Alain Roy writes: "I attacked 
Persol 2 (20,000 inhabitants) with virus bombs. Population fell at about 8000. 
Another attack went down to 3000 and so forth up to about 500. Does not work 
below this population. After the attacks, population started to move up again, 
but at a lower speed."

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3.6.10 Can I build alien ships and equipment once I capture their colonies?

No. You can use the factories on alien colonies to produce your own equipment, 
spaceships and weapons. In rare cases you may capture existing building 
technology, such as Phood Factories from the Garthogs, but that's all.

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3.6.11 How do I find planets?

Most planets will only show up on the map after you fly within radar range of 
them. To retrieve further information about the planet, select the planet, and 
then click Add Sat. You'll need a Survey Satellite in stock - you only get one 
to start with, but you can produce them with Captain rank. Colonized planets 
can be spied on using Spy satellites, which can be researched at Commander 
rank and higher. To automatically determine planet ownership, move a ship 
equipped with a Phased Array close to the planet.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.6.12 What ships are available?

Here is a list. Satellites and Orbital Bases are listed under What equipment 
and weapons are available?. Optimum equipment loadouts are given after the 
list: 

Cruisers: 
- Cruiser 1 (Thunder): "Another leftover from the Old Empire, it is outdated 
but cheap and readily available." Cost 15,000. One available as Captain, 
research as Commander. 
- Cruiser 2 (Thunder-II): "The designers concentrated on the shield generators 
of this upgrade to the Thunder Class, but this additional mass without 
stronger drives made it a bit sluggish." Cost 25,000. Research as Admiral. 
- Cruiser 3 (Cahudhri): "Advanced drive systems, coupled with heavier armor, 
and cutting edge targeting and fire control make this the most feared cruiser 
in the Empire's arsenal." Cost 36,000. Research as Grand Admiral. From Mega 
Products: "Cruiser IIIs are recommended as the ultimate goal of your research. 
Not only are they superlative ships-of-the-line in their own right but each 
carries a payload of four missiles and four bombs each. When you have these 
you'll find you have the payload to conduct protracted campaigns without refit 
and find the subsequent rapidity of your invasions invaluable." 

Destroyers: 
- Destroyer 1 (Guardian): "This is the most commonly encountered light 
destroyer. A leftover from the times of the Old Empire, its main advantage is 
its low cost and ready availability." Cost 12,000. 
- Destroyer 2 (Warrior): "The Warrior Class are just refitted Guardian Class 
destroyers, well equipped with more modern weaponry, but still vulnerable due 
to a low power shield generator." Cost 17,500. Research as Commander. 
- Destroyer 3 (Jabberwocky): "The Jabberwocky Class is the principle of 
destroyer development. Good shields, heavy firepower, and dual magnetic ram-
pump drive system for high speed and versatility." Cost 22,000. Research as 
Admiral. 

Fighters (fighter loadouts cannot be customized): 
- Fighter 1 (Raptor): "The Raptor is a simple no-frills fighter craft. It is 
armed with dual laser cannons and has a low powered magnetic deflection shield 
for defense." Cost 2000. 
- Fighter 2 (Valkyrie): "The Valkyrie is a superior fighter to the Raptor in 
every respect. It has a quad laser battery for firepower, a higher gauss mag-
def shield and more powerful drives." Cost 3200. Available as Captain. 
- Fighter 3 (Hammerhand): "Carrying dual twin laser weapons load, the 
Hammerhand is an incremental improvement on the Valkyrie. It also has a new 
shield design with high capacity field inductors." Cost 3000. Research as 
Commander. 
- Fighter 4 (Streak): "The Streak is a deadly craft, swift and lethal. 4 twin 
lasers, coupled with the most advanced drive tech available. When designed, it 
became a serious threat in combat." Cost 7400. Research as Admiral. 
- Fighter 5 (WraithFighter): "The WraithFighter utilizes advances in stealth 
technology combined with a new phase coupled dipole mag deflector shield array 
to achieve an almost unhittable fighter." Cost 10,000. Research as Admiral. 
- Fighter 6 (Strikebomber): "The Strikebomber is a heavy craft designed for 
dropping unguided high yield bombs on heavy craft. It is a real threat but 
must have a fighter escort for optimal effect." Cost 12,000. Research as Grand 
Admiral. 

Flagships: 
- Colonizat. Ship: "The Colonization ship is used to establish colonies. These 
immense vessels carry construction tools, colonists, everything needed for a 
new start on a virgin planet." Cost 80,000. Research as Admiral. 
- Flagship 1 (Mammoth): "Powerful shields, heavy weaponry, and capable of 
carrying ground assault forces..." Cost 80,000. Available as Commander. 
- Flagship 2 (Python): "A bit slower than the Mammoth, the Python's firepower 
is far superior. The ground unit payload has also been enlarged and its 
shields are much stronger." Cost 130,000. Hyperdrive 5 only - although by 
default it may come with Hyperdrive 4. Research as Admiral. 
- Flagship 3 (Kraken): "The Kracken has heavy shields [all flagships can fit 
the SuperHvy shield], massive firepower, and the capability to land a fully 
equipped army on enemy worlds. The Kraken is the jewel of the Empire's 
fleets." Cost 230,000. Research as Grand Admiral. 
- Leviathan: "The Thorin is the only surviving Leviathan Class Flagship. It is 
significantly more powerful than the Kraken Class Flagship." Cost 1,000,000 
(but cannot be produced). Available as Admiral. 

The table below shows the maximum equipment loadout possible, both in terms of 
number of items and the most technologically advanced item that can be fitted. 
In most cases lower-technology items can be fitted, although some of the 
highly advanced vessels can only fit higher-technology items. A list of 
abbreviations is given at the bottom. The value 'vehicles' refers to the 
number of vehicles that can be carried without a pod. For further explanation 
of equipment types, see What equipment and weapons are available? below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
                | Shi-|Laser|     |     |Miss-|     |Cargo| ECM |Hyper|Vehi-
Ship            | eld |Wpns |Guns |Bombs|iles |Radar| Mod | Mod |drive|cles
----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Colonizat. Ship | 1xSH|     |     |     |     | 1xPA|     |     | 1xV5|
Cruiser 1       | 1xSH| 8xUP| 2xNG|     |     | 1xFA|     |     | 1xV4|
Cruiser 2       | 1xSH|13xUP| 8x**|     |     | 1xFA|     |     | 1xV5|
Cruiser 3       | 1xSH|16xUP|20xMG| 4xV2| 4xMH|     |     | 1xSK| 1xV5|
Destroyer 1     | 1xMS| 6xUV|     |     |     |     |     |     | 1xV2|
Destroyer 2     | 1xMS|14xUP|     |     |     |     |     |     | 1xV3|
Destroyer 3     | 1xMS|18xUV| 4xNG|     |     | 1xFA|     |     | 1xV5|
Flagship 1      | 1xSH|14xUP| 8xPG| 8xV2| 6xMH| 1xPA| 1xHC|     | 1xV5|  5
Flagship 2      | 1xSH|     |15xMG|12xV2|12xMH| 1xPA| 1xHC|     | 1xV5|  8
Flagship 3      | 1xSH|20xUP|20xMG|20xV2|14xMH| 1xPA| 1xHC| 1xSK| 1xV5| 10
Leviathan       | 1xSH|24xUP|22xMG| 4xVB|12xMH| 1xPA| 1xHC| 1xSK| 1xV5| 12
----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
Notes: 
** = 3x Plasma Guns, 5x Ion Guns. 

Abbreviations: 
- FA = Field Array 
- HC = Heavy Cargo Pod 
- MG = Meson Gun 
- MH = Mul-head Missile 
- MS = Medium Shield 
- NG = Neutron Gun 
- PA = Phased Array 
- PG = Plasma Gun 
- SH = SuperHvy Shield 
- SK = Shocker ECM 
- UP = UV Pulse Laser 
- UV = UV Laser 
- VB = Virus Bomb

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.6.13 What equipment and weapons are available?

Here is a list. Quoted in-game text unfortunately contains a few statements 
that are blatantly incorrect - my comments on these are in square brackets: 

Bombs (damage planetary facilities from orbit, must be replenished after use): 
- Bomb v1.0 (Destructor): "Destructors are used for attacking ground based 
targets from space. They are needed to take out ground based defenses [you can 
attack ground facilities with other weapons, but bombs are often more 
efficient]." Cost 1400. 
- Bomb v2.0 (Heavy Destructor): "An improved destructor, it has a large blast 
radius and kills thousands of colony inhabitants if they are unprotected." 
Cost 1950. Research as Admiral. 
- Virus Bomb: "The Vius bomb carries a payload of particularly virulent prions 
which are capable of killing all known lifeforms. After the planet is 
'cleansed' the virus dies out." Cost 5000. Research as Admiral. 

Cargo Pods (allow additional vehicles to be carried by flagships - from Mega 
Products: "Cargo pods are cheap, relatively easy to research and are a vital 
addition to every flagship. The extra cargo capacity they add will make all 
the difference in any ground battle they transport tanks to."): 
- Cargo Pod: "This allows flagships to carry 3 additional ground vehicles." 
Cost 7400. Research as Commander. 
- Heavy Cargo Pod: "The Heavy Cargo Pod gives the flagship to which it is 
retrofitted room for an additional 5 ground vehicles." Cost 10,000. Research 
as Admiral. 

ECMs (redirects incoming missiles): 
- Fuzzbox ECM: "The Electronic Counter Measures detects incoming missiles, and 
redirects them. The more time the ECM has to detect the missile, the more 
reliable it is." Cost 7000. Research as Admiral. 
- Shocker ECM: "The Shocker ECM is an active countermeasures system. Using 
lasers, radio burst beams, gravitic pulse fields and neutrino emitters it 
confuses and diverts missile attacks." Cost 13,500. Research as Admiral. 

Guns (high damage, projectile based energy weapons): 
- Ion Gun: "The Ion Gun fires streams of positive and negatively charged ions. 
The two streams maintain cohesion until impact where the streams collapse in a 
huge blast." Cost 1200. Research as Commander. 
- Meson Gun: "The ultimate weapon, the Meson Gun sprays short lived micro-
singularities, easily crippling fleets of fighter craft." Cost 4000. Research 
as Grand Admiral. 
- Neutron Gun: "The Neutron Gun is an improvement on the Ion Gun. Instead of 
charged ions it fires electrically neutral neutrons which increases beam 
cohesion and fire rate." Cost 3200. Research as Admiral. 
- Plasma Gun: "The Plasma Gun fires a burst of superheated matter. A direct 
hit shatters hull plates with heat and shorts out electrical systems, 
crippling the target." Cost 2140. Research as Admiral. 

Hyperdrives (allow capital ships to move; every such ship must have one): 
- Hyperdrive v1.0: "This upgrades some of your spaceships [all capital ships 
start with at least this]. They will be able to travel 15% faster with this 
improved drive system [this is the basic drive, there is nothing to upgrade 
from]." Cost 2000. Fleet speed (assuming whole fleet equipped) 28. 
- Hyperdrive v2.0: "The upgraded spaceships will be able to travel 20% faster, 
with 15% less fuel consumption [ships don't use fuel]." Cost 3200. Fleet speed 
30. Research as Commander. 
- Hyperdrive v3.0: "This module upgrades your flagships [also can be fitted to 
most other capital ships]. Two extra boosters help increase the speed of the 
ship by 22%." Cost 4300. Fleet speed 32. Research as Admiral. 
- Hyperdrive v4.0: "Your upgraded ships will be able to travel 30% faster than 
their original speed [...whatever that was]." Cost 6000. Fleet speed 34. 
Research as Admiral. 
- Hyperdrive v5.0: "High fuel consumption is the only disadvantage of this 
thruster system. It provides a 35% speed upgrade, with a 20% boost in 
manoeuvrability." Cost 9000. Fleet speed 36. Research as Grand Admiral. 

Lasers (accurate, low damage, energy based weapons): 
- Laser: "The Laser has been a common weapon since the early 21st century. 
Accurate and efficient, its main drawback is its lack of damage dealing 
capability." Cost 620. 
- Pulse Laser: "The Pulse Laser is a simple upgrade, increasing the rate of 
fire, and thus the amount of energy delivered to the target ship." Cost 900. 
Research as Commander. 
- UV Laser: "Advances in high wavelength focusing techniques allow UV Laser to 
deliver significantly higher energy output, increasing the lethality of the 
weapon." Cost 1400. Research as Admiral. 
- UV Pulse Laser: "Once the basic technique was perfected it was a simple step 
to upgrade the Pulse Laser to the focusing system. This is the most powerful 
laser available." Cost 1750. Research as Admiral. 

Missiles (damage to spacecraft and sometimes orbital structures): 
- Missile v1.0 (STK-1): "The STK-1 is a simple missile, carrying a high 
explosive load and using an uncomplicated turn and track targeting system." 
Cost 900. Manoeuvrability 6. Speed 500. 
- Missile v2.0 (STK-1F): "This new version of the STK-1 is more manoeuvrable 
and faster." Cost 1500. Manoeuvrability 8. Speed 850. 
- Mul-head Missile: "This missile, when it explodes, will burst into small 
multi-head explosives, which clear a large area of fighter aircraft." Cost 
6200. Research as Admiral. 

Orbital Bases (game categorises these as spacecraft; deploy via Equipment 
screen): 
- Space Base 1 (Defender): "Space Stations are used to protect your planets 
from attack. They have heavy firepower and strong hull. They are the key to an 
effective defense." Cost 65,000. Available as Commander. 
- Space Base 2 (Giant): "The Giant has massive firepower, and is capable of 
putting up a stiff resistance to enemy fleets that attempt to assault the 
planets it guards." Cost 90,000. Research as Admiral. 
- Space Base 3 (Colossus): "The Colossus is the largest of all defensive 
stations. It can be a formidable foe for even the largest of starships." Cost 
125,000. Research as Grand Admiral. 
- Orbital Factory: "Orbital Factories provide the zero-G construction 
facilities needed to build your gigantic flagships." Cost 80,000. Needs to be 
deployed around a planet, but once deployed flagships can be added at any 
planet with a Military Spaceport. Research as Commander. 

Radars (ship based sensors that reveal the location of fleets); 
- Field Array: "The Focused Field Radar Array can be equipped onto any of your 
spaceships [no - not Destroyer 1/2 or Cruiser 3]. It detects any ships within 
5 parsecs." Cost 9000. Research as Commander. 
- Phased Array: "The Phased Field Array is a series of tuned Radar Arrays 
which can be carried by a flagship, their combined power detects and 
identifies spaceships and planets as well [earlier types detect planets, but 
this radar also provides information about colonies, such as ownership]." Cost 
16,000. Research as Admiral. 
- Radar Array: "The Radar Array can be equipped onto any of your spaceships 
[again, not Destroyer 1/2 or Cruiser 3]. It detects any ships within 2 
parsecs." Cost 5000. 

Satellites (game categorises these as spacecraft; deploy via starmap, by 
selecting the planet and clicking the "Add Sat" icon, or similar): 
- Adv Spy Sat: "This upgraded Spy Satellite has significant stealth 
enhancements and better sensors to detect and report on the ships and space 
bases around enemy planets." Cost 2300. Gives same information as Spy 
Satellite, plus full building names. Research as Admiral. 
- Hubble 2: "A powerful Radar Telescope Satellite named after a famous Old 
Earth scientific satellite. The Hubble 2 can detect enemy fleets over very 
large distances." Cost 2100. Research as Admiral. Range is about the same as 
Phased Telescope. 
- Survey Satellite: "The Survey Satellite is used to gather information on 
unexplored and unknown plants." Cost 120. 
- Spy Satellite: "Spy Satellites are used to detect and monitor alien 
communications, activities and fleet movements." Cost 1000. Reports colony 
ownership, population and building damage. Research as Commander. 

Shields: 
- Heavy Shield: "This unit upgrades the shield power by 20% [there is no 
standard shield - default shielding is no shielding]. It uses a pulsed field 
technology." Cost 12,000. Research as Admiral. 
- Light Shield: "Using higher gauss mag-def fields than standard shields, this 
upgrade increases the shield strength of the ships by 10% [erm]." Cost 4000. 
- Medium Shield: "Also utilizing higher gauss mag-def fields this upgrade 
increases the shield power of ships by 15% [another slightly odd statistic]." 
Cost 7500. Research as Admiral. 
- SuperHvy Shield: "Like the Medium Shield, this is a redesign of the core 
mag-def technology. Pulsed EM fields upgrade the shield power of flagships 
[and Cruisers] by 25%." Cost 19,000. Research as Grand Admiral. 

Vehicles (used in ground combat): 
- Behemoth: "The Behemoth uses a spun-titanium weave armor plate for 
unparalleled defense." Cost 17,500. Fire range 5. Speed 3. Armor 7. Research 
as Grand Admiral. Unique to humans. Other aliens have their own special 
vehicles - see What types of aliens are there? below. 
- Heavy Tank (Rhino): "The Rhino Heavy Tank is the core of the Empire's ground 
forces." Cost 7000. Fire range 4. Speed 4. Armor 6. Research as Admiral. 
- Hvy Rocket Sled: "The Heavy Rocket Sled sacrifices armor for speed and more 
powerful rockets." Cost 24,200. Fire range 8. Speed 7. Armor 1. Research as 
Admiral. 
- Light Tank (Cougar): "This Cougar Light Tank is often used as a recon 
vehicle due to its speed and armor." Cost 3000. Fire range 2. Speed 5. Armor 
3. 
- Medium Tank (Tiger): "Trading speed for armor and range, the Tiger is a 
battlefield mainstay." Cost 4800. Fire range 4. Speed 4. Armor 4. Research as 
Commander. 
- Radar Car: "The Radar Car is a specialized recon vehicle with powerful side-
looking radar, lidar, and magnetic detectors." Cost 10,000. Garthogs counter 
this with their Radar Jammer. Although recon by eye is a pain sometimes, this 
vehicle is rarely needed in battle, and takes up a slot that could be filled 
with something mopre deadly. 
- Rocket Sled: "Vulnerable, but fast and agile, the Rocket Sled is a hit and 
run raider." Cost 10,000. Fire range 9. Speed 6.5. Armor 2. Research as 
Commander. If used with care - not in the front line and firing at stationary 
targets, these units can be highly effective.

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3.6.14 What limitations are there on fleet sizes and speeds?

Individual fleets have limited stack sizes - you can only add so many of 
certain types of vessel. Each fleet may have up to: 3 Flagships, 25 
Cruiser/Destroyer, and 30 Fighters per type. Fleet speed is determined by the 
lowest rated hyperdrive fitted to any capital ship (Flagship, Destroyer or 
Cruiser) in the fleet. In order for hyperdrive upgrades to make any 
difference, the entire fleet needs to be upgraded. Fighters that travel with 
capital ships maintain the same speed as the ships they escort (I presume they 
are carried with the capital ships). Fighters in a fleet that contains no 
capital ships (i.e. just fighters) will travel far slower.

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3.6.15 How do I sell excess or obsolete equipment?

You can sell items which are not deployed via the Production screen (F5). 
Slect the item and click on the "sell" button. You cannot sell capital ships 
that have already been deployed, although you can strip them of most of their 
equipment.

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3.6.16 Can I train ships' crews?

No, however, capital ships' crews gain experience with every kill. Five or 
fewer kills they are classed as "Novice", 6 or more kills as "Advanced", "Pro" 
at 12, and "Ace" by 30. You can view this information when in space battles. 
Unfortunately trained crews cannot be transferred between ships, so by the 
time crews become experienced, their ships tend to have become obsolete and 
their experience is increasingly useless.

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3.6.17 What is the difference between ship weapon types?

Lasers are rapid firing, but do light damage. They tend to be most effective 
against smaller fast moving targets. Guns are projectile based, and are more 
likely to miss moving targets, but will do a lot of damage when they hit. 
Bombs are used against planet based targets. Missiles are used against space 
based targets. Bombs and Missiles must be replenished after use, and there is 
a chance they will be shot down before they reach their target. Fighters can 
be turned into effective missiles by ordering Kamikaze attacks (proper 
missiles are cheaper, but kamikaze attacks can sometimes be an easy way out of 
a particularly difficult battle).

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3.6.18 How do I upgrade Space Bases?

Once you have three of an older type in orbit, additional new types will start 
to replace older types. You may have no more than three Space Bases in orbit 
around each planet. Space Bases cannot be downgraded. For example, adding a 
Base 2 around a planet with three Base 1s will result in two Base 1s and a 
Base 2. Adding a Base 2 where there are only two Base 1s will result in two 
Base 1s and a Base 2.

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______________________________________________________________________________

3.7 Taxation and Morale
______________________________________________________________________________


3.7.1 Where do I set taxation and see morale?

Taxation for the currently selected planet is set under Information (F7), 
Colony Info. This screen also displays the current tax morale, and an 
indicator of overall morale next to the population total. The later is given 
in terms of what the population thinks about you, ranging from hatred to 
happiness.

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3.7.2 How is tax income calculated?

Tax is calculated per colony, and levied at midnight on each day. It is based 
on, ( Population * Tax Rate ) * Tax Morale (%). On normal difficulty, tax rate 
varies between about 0 ("None") and just over 1 ("Oppressive"). However, as 
the game progresses tax revenue seems to decline per person, even when the tax 
rate and tax morale remain unchanged.

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3.7.3 Can I generate additional revenue?

Yes. Construct a Traders' Spaceport, which contributes a fixed 600 credits per 
day and/or Trade Center for 1200 credits per day. Banks double revenue from 
Traders' Spaceports and Trade Centers. Banks will not contribute anything 
unless you have a Traders' Spaceport or Trade Center in the colony.

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3.7.4 How do I improve morale?

First ensure you are meeting basic needs for living space, food, and 
healthcare. Where possible build morale boasting buildings, such as Churches 
and Bars. Such buildings are not available in alien colonies. Tax morale can 
be improved by building Police Stations. Several Police Stations in 
combination with a full set of morale boosting buildings can sometimes sustain 
Oppressive taxation. As population rises, you'll need to add more morale 
related buildings to maintain morale. Morale changes slowly over time in 
response to your actions - don't expect rapid changes, especially after 
capturing alien worlds. Morale for humans is naturally higher on earth-type 
planets. Defeating an invader normally raises the morale on the invaded colony 
(perhaps this is related to lower total population and hence 'more' facilities 
per person). I suspect that building anything in a colony helps morale 
slightly - the population feel that they haven't been forgotten and that they 
are getting something new for their taxes. I also suspect that improving the 
defenses of a planet improves morale slighty, although this is unproven.

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______________________________________________________________________________

3.8 Research
______________________________________________________________________________


3.8.1 How do I research things?

Research is only available at Commander rank and higher. Research is managed 
via the Research screen (F6). Most items need to be researched before you can 
build or produce them. There are four factors in resaerch: 

- Pre-requisite technology (if any, completed to start) 
- Science level (met or exceeded to finish) 
- Credit cost 
- Time 

In some cases you need a pre-requisite technology to commence research. Where 
any pre-requisite is not met, the item will appear with a red "X" across the 
image. In order to complete research you need to meet or exceed the science 
level for the item. Science level relates to the number of Dev. Centres of 
each of the five types (Civ, Mech, Comp, AI, Mil) you own. For example, to 
complete Fighter 3 technology, you need at least 1 Mech, 2 Comp, 2 AI and 2 
Mil Dev. Centres. You can only have one Dev. Centre per planet - this is the 
primary limitation on research. Research is aggregated across all the Dev. 
Centres in your empire. Ensure that they are fully supplied with energy and 
workers to maximise research speed. Specific research projects also requires 
credits, and time. You can opt to rush research by increasing the amount of 
money allocated (use the button with two arrows on it towards the bottom left 
of the Research screen to alter money allocation). Items that need researching 
are indicated on most screens with a small disk icon. If the disk is spinning, 
it is currently being researched. Research for which you meet any pre-
requisites, but do not meet the all science level (Dev. Centre) requirements, 
can be started, but not finished. When you gain the additional requirements, 
you can restart research where you left off. Research that you can start, but 
not currently finish, is shown with "!" next to the disk icon.

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3.8.2 If a Dev. Centre is destroyed, do I keep existing research?

Yes, once you have researched something, you cannot forget it. Dev. Centres 
are expensive, but there may be times when demolishing one can allow important 
research to be completed without taking control of a new planet. If you lose 
one of your planets, former research won't disappear; although this may 
prevent current research from being completed.

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3.8.3 What units are research times in?

One unit of research time is equal to ten minutes of game time.

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3.8.4 What science level and requirements are needed for new research? Is 
there a technology tree?

These are included in the appendices - Research Science Level Requirements and 
Technology Tree.

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______________________________________________________________________________

3.9 Aliens and Diplomacy
______________________________________________________________________________


3.9.1 What types of aliens are there?

Here is a list, with descriptions and notes on location, map colour, special 
vehicles and strengths: 

- Alliance of Free Traders (AFT): "Once part of the Old Empire, the traders 
left to create a new empire for themselves. They are a peaceful race of 
traders and enjoy good relations with Ychoms." Human race. Colour: blue. Map 
location: centre middle. 

- Dargslans: "Very little is known about the Dargslans. Intelligence reports 
show that they have extremely powerful ground attack forces, as well as a 
competent space fleet." Colour: dark green. Map location: top middle. Special 
vehicle: Auto-Repair Tank. Expand by invasion, not colonization. Although 
Auto-repair tanks are pretty tough, they rarely deploy them in volume. The 
main Dargslans ground advantage seems to be an uncanny ability to deploy all 
their forces right in front of yours at the start of a battle. 

- Dribs: "The Dribs are a proud race, with advanced knowledge of mechanics and 
architecture. They have known of the Dargslan race for a long time, since the 
Dargslans occupied some Drib territory." Colour: purple. Map location: top 
left. Start very close to human colonies and are boxed into a corner. Very 
slight Human expansion normally causes them to attack planets like Earth. 

- Ecaleps: "With the rapid expansion of their empire, tax revenue has 
increased to a very high level. This partially explains their obsession with 
money..." Colour: light green. Map location: bottom right. Special vehicle: 
Anti-missile tank (immune to Rocket Sled attacks). 

- Free Nations Society (FNS): "Once part of the Old Empire, they declared 
themselves independent a long time ago. The Free Nations Society has developed 
rapidly, occupying territories with ease. The Society is well known for their 
arrogant attitude and contempt for the Empire." Human race. Colour: dark blue. 
Map location: centre right. 

- Garthogs: "The Garthogs are a contemptible and un-trustworthy race, who 
implant their young with bio-mechanical devices. They have a special interest 
in mechanics and are renowned for stealing the technology of other races. It 
is rumored that they destroyed an entire race, known as the Nubs, to obtain 
their secrets. The Garthog Empire is close to the Human Empire and there has 
been conflict for 10 years." Colour: red. Map location: centre bottom. Special 
vehicle: Radar Jammer (disables your radar in battle). Aggressive early in the 
game. 

- Morgaths: "The Morgaths are an insular and hostile race...." Colour: white. 
Map location: bottom left. Special vehicle: Kamikaze tank. 

- Sulleps: "The Sulleps are a warlike race with a very strict social 
structure. From a very young age, Sulleps are subjected to military training. 
Such is their code of combat, it is more honourable for them to die in battle 
than surrender. " Colour: Yellow. Map location: bottom middle. Special 
vehicle: Mobile artillery. May be aggressive early in the game unless they 
attack the Morgaths first. They favour ground combat. Starts with the joint 
largest number of colonies (10, joint with Dargslans). 

- Ychoms: "A peaceful trader race that enjoys good relations with Alliance of 
Free Traders..." Colour: cyan. Map location: centre left. Special vehicle: 
Mine-laying saucer. Vessels are weak, planetary defenses fairly strong.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.9.2 How strong are alien forces?

The table shows the typical firepower values of alien vessels, and typical 
orbital defenses, at the time you can first meet them (December 3427 for most, 
two months earlier for Garthogs). This table is intended to give an indication 
of relative combat strengths, not an absolute guide:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------+-----+-----+----+------
          |Firepower  |Orbital
Race      |Flag-|Dest/|Defense
          |ship |Cruis|Base|Gun
----------+-----+-----+----+------
ALIENS    |     |     |    |
AFT       | 285s|   ? | 2/3|Meson
Dargslans |1060s| 445s| 2/3|Meson
Dribs     | 580s| 410 |   2|Plasma
Ecaleps   | 760s|   ? |   2|Meson 
FNS       | 595s| 345 | 2/3|Plasma
Garthogs  | 145 |  30 |   1|Ion
Morgaths  | 430 |   ? | 1/2|Plasma
Sulleps   | 675s| 360s|   2|Plasma
Ychoms    | 340 | 115 | 1/2|Meson
----------+-----+-----+----+------
EMPIRE    |     |     |    |
Captain   |     |  30s|   1|Ion
Commander | 300s| 100s|   1|Plasma
G Admiral |1200s| 920s|   3|Meson
----------+-----+-----+----+------
Notes: 
* s = Vessel typically has shields. 
* Empire rank values reflect what you should be able to equip by the end of 
the rank.

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3.9.3 What do the relationship numbers mean?

Numbers on the diplomacy table indicate how 'good' relations are between 
aliens, from 0 (hate) to 100 (harmony). Values below 20 make war likely, 
values above 80 are often associated with alliances. War status is shown as 
red on the table, alliances shown in white.

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3.9.4 What do the diplomacy options mean?

You can talk to alien ambassadors at any time, except for a short period after 
you last talked to them (they will be shown yellow on the diplomacy screen if 
this is the case). If you select a screen and then decide not to pick any 
option on it, click the right mouse button to go back. Some or all of these 
options will be available: 

- Negotiate diplomatic relations: Determines whether you adopt a humble, 
neutral, or aggressive stance in negotiations. 
- Offer credits: Donate money. 
- Improve trade relations: Trade is primarily a method of integrating 
societies by sharing goods, rather than contributing credits. 
- Forge alliance against...: Allows formation of alliance against non-Dargslan 
races. You cannot form an alliance against anyone you are already allied with. 
- Demand surrender: Occasionally works against enemies you are on the verge of 
destroying. Obviously if you agree to surrender to another alien it is game 
over. 
- Unite forces against the Dargslans: Allows formation of an alliance against 
the Dargslans. 

From time to time other alien races may contact you to propose one of these 
options, or ask for money. When they are attempting to contact you, an 
exclamation mark ("!") will be displayed next to the race name on the 
diplomacy screen.

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==============================================================================

4. WALKTHROUGH

==============================================================================


The walkthrough has been divided up by rank. The walkthrough assumes normal 
difficulty setting. The storyline is the same on both settings, and the same 
general tactics should be applicable. Normal difficulty will give you some 
time to learn the game, which you don't get on the hard setting. Timings are 
approximate - this partly depends how quickly you respond to missions and 
events. One important tip: Make regular saves using different save slots, so 
that when things go wrong you can restart a day or week or more beforehand 
with the benefit of hindsight. This will save a lot of frustration caused by 
needing to restart the game from the beginning.

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______________________________________________________________________________

4.1 Lieutenant (Disc 1)
______________________________________________________________________________


4.1.1 Initial Resources

- SCREENS: Bridge, Starmap, Colony, Equipment, Information, State Room. 
- FLEET: Destroyer 1 (no shield), Fighter 1 x3. 
- PLANETS (building damage in brackets): 
- - Achilles: Desert, population 8150 (declining), low tax, Light Tank x6, 
Nuclear Plant (84%), Radar Telescope (95%), Prefab Housing (90%), Church 
(98%), Fire Brigade (82%), Police Station (63%), Military Dev Centre (53%), 
Military Spaceport (64%). 
- - Naxos: Earth-like, population 4600, moderate tax, Light Tank x8, Colony 
Hub, Nuclear Plant, Prefab Housing, Radar Telescope. 
- - San Sterling: Frozen, population 4850, moderate tax, Light Tank x8, Colony 
Hub, Nuclear Plant, Prefab Housing, Radar Telescope. 
- EQUIPMENT: Light Shield, Survey Satellite. 
- CREDITS: 32,000 (15,000 on hard setting). 
- DATE: 13 August 3427.

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4.1.2 Strategy Overview

This rank involves rebuilding Achilles and using your fleet in a series of 
escort/protection missions. Whilst all this is going on, start building up 
your colonies. Don't delay any of the missions - the quicker you gain early 
ranks, the easier the later stages of the game will be.

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4.1.3 Getting started

First thing to do is freeze the game (icon in the top left hand corner or 
press space), and take stock of what you have and familiarise yourself with 
the interface. You'll notice that Achilles is in bad shape. Move your fleet 
into the centre of the map, where it will be better placed to respond to 
threats (select the fleet, and press M or click the Move button and then click 
on the destination, or ALT + click on destination), and temporarily increase 
the tax rate a notch on Naxos and San Sterling to fund the reconstruction. 

Now turn your attention to Achilles. The manual includes a method of solving 
the problems, but misses a fundamental issue and omits to mention how useful 
the Fire Brigade is at this stage. The most immediate problem is a lack of 
Colony Hub, living space and power, however you cannot initially afford a 
Colony Hub. Start to repair the Nuclear Plant, Prefab Housing, and Fire 
Brigade and let time pass. Once these buildings are operational (51% 
repaired), stop the repairs, and hoard your cash until you can afford a Colony 
Hub. Note that the Fire Brigade will repair everything else to just under 50% 
(made operational) for *free*. Initially turn off non-critical buildings: 
Military Development Centre, Police Station and Spaceport. Once you have built 
the Colony Hub, build a Hydroponic Food Farm to solve your food shortages. 
With the worst problems under control, you should now be able to increase 
taxation on Achilles, and drop taxation slightly on the other two planets. 
Address power shortages and start to finish repairs on critical buildings. Not 
all buildings need be fully repaired. For example, the Military Spaceport 
seems to work just as well at 49% damaged as they do at 0% damaged. Repairing 
the Military Spaceport fully will use a lot of credits, so don't repair it 
now.

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4.1.4 Requests for help

During the first day you will receive a message from a ship needing 
assistance. Go to the bridge and play the message. On the starmap, select your 
fleet, and press A or click the Attack button and then click on the target 
labelled "Pirate", or CTRL + click on the target labelled "Pirate". If you 
can't see any pirates, they are probably outside of your radar coverage, close 
to Achilles - move your fleet towards Achilles and hopefully they will become 
visible. Once the attack starts, pause the battle, and get familiar with the 
interface: There is quite a lot of information on units, and different 
commands, none of which one has time digest real-time. To attack, select the 
attacking units (your units are on the left), and right click on the enemy 
unit. Don't loss any of your fighters - retreat damaged fighters by moving 
them out of the frontline, if you need to. From Mega Products: "The most 
important thing to remember in these actions is that you have direct control 
over any allies in the combat. This means you can direct the merchant behind 
your own fleet while your fighters destroy the would-be pirates. As long as 
you keep the merchant moving you should be fine." 

After about 3 days, you will receive an assignment from the Colonel. It 
involves escorting a cargo ship. Within an hour a fleet labelled "Transport" 
will appear in the top left of the map and start heading towards Naxos. Select 
your fleet and issue move instructions, with the destination target the 
Transport. Your fleet should follow the Transport close enough to protect it 
when the inevitable pirate attack arrives just off San Sterling. Ensure the 
cargo ship survives to receive a free Light Shield. 

Shortly afterwards (about 19 August) another pirate attack will occur. Dealing 
with this one nets you 1000 credit bonus. 

Two days later you'll get a message from the governor of Naxos, reporting 
combat. Set you fleet to attack one of the pirates. When battle commences, 
you'll notice two pirates firing on a third. Engage the pair of pirates, and 
protect the rebel. 

The next pirate attack occurs around five days later, this time involving a 
destroyer. Avoid loses by moving heavily damaged ships out of the battle. 
You'll get a bonus of 5000 credits for defending the trader.

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4.1.5 Re-equip your command ship

Once the Military Spaceport on Achilles is operational, move your fleet close 
to the planet (until the "near planet" in the fleet panel says Achilles), then 
on the equipment screen (F4), equip a Light Shield from stores. Shields will 
make the next few battles easier.

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4.1.6 Colony development

The first new problem you will face on all of your planets is a lack of food 
(build Hydroponic Farms), followed by a lack of living space and power. Don't 
neglect morale boasting buildings like Churches on Naxos and San Sterling, 
which are good for taxation.

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4.1.7 Cover the Thorin's retreat from Garthog forces

Around 26/27 August (assuming you haven't delayed), you'll receive instruction 
to meet the Admiral Mark Tullen on the flagship Thorin. You must protect the 
Thorin from Garthog attackers as it retreats. The Admiral suggests requesting 
reinforcements, which you can do by sending a message from the Bridge. This 
will add 3 more Fighter 1 to your fleet. Escort the Thorin past Achilles. As 
the Thorin escapes, a slow moving Garthog fleet will appear on the map. Attack 
it. If you saved the rebel pirate earlier, you'll receive the help of the 
rebel pirate and his friends. With reinforcements and the rebel pirates this 
fight will be easy. Use the pirate fighters as cannon fodder if you need to; 
they are only available for this battle. Without rebel help and 
reinforcements, the fight will be somewhat harder. You will probably get 
beaten if you only have the starting fleet available. Completing the battle 
promotes you to Captain, and makes you a new enemy - the Garthog.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

______________________________________________________________________________

4.2 Captain
______________________________________________________________________________


4.2.1 New Resources

- NEW SCREENS: Production, Local. 
- FLEET CHANGES: Cruiser 1 (no radar), 2x Fighter 2. 
- NEW PLANETS: 
- - Centronom: Desert, population 5215, moderate tax, 8x Light Tank, Colony 
Hub, Nuclear Plant, Radar Telescope, Prefab Housing, Computer Dev. Centre, 
Military Spaceport. 
- - New Caroline: Earth-type, population 6422, moderate tax, 8x Light Tank, 
Colony Hub, Nuclear Plant, Prefab Housing, Hydroponic Food Farm, Recreation 
Centre (2%), Barracks (1%), A.I. Dev. Centre. 
- AVAILABLE PRODUCTION: Fighter 1, Fighter 2, Destroyer 1, Survey Satellite, 
Hyperdrive 1, Radar Array, Light Shield, Laser, Bomb 1, Missile 1, Light Tank, 
Radar Car. (Note you have no factories.) 
- EARLIEST DATE: Late August 3427.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.2.2 Strategy Overview

This rank's operations shift dramatically from almost trivial missions to 
intense combat, and back again, three times over the course of about two 
months. You must use the quiet moments to build up your resources in order to 
survive the intense combats. This may require you to exhibit a sixth sense: 
You will need to build just the right sort of resources at just the right 
time. You risk not knowing precisely what you will need until it is too late. 
First focus on building up basic ground defenses (to deal with a ground 
invasion), while simultaneously building up a solid tax base on your colonies. 
In the second phase, start producing fleet enhancements (so you have just 
enough to protect the Admiral from attack). In the third phase, maximise your 
tax base, while ratcheting up production to the point where you can field a 
large, if technologically backward, fleet. As with Lieutenant, don't delay 
this rank's missions - doing so will make the later stages of the game harder.

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4.2.3 Opening moves

Immediately pause the game and take stock of changes, notably the two new 
planets. Both have power shortages, which can be mostly fixed by turning off 
the Dev. Centres - you don't need them yet anyway. Both will benefit from 
further development, but you probably cannot afford much at the moment. 
Priorities should be radar and housing on New Caroline and additional food 
production on Centronom. Centronom has a high proportion of unbuildable areas, 
so expect to curse it plenty in months to come as you try to fit new buildings 
in ;-) . 

Ensure Achilles has a full deployment of Light Tanks - strip some from 
neighbouring planets to bring Achilles' deployment up to 8. Let time pass, and 
you'll see a Garthog fleet decloak (you don't get the kind of radar range 
warning you'd expect) off Achilles. Ground combat will start. Deploy your 
units and start the battle. Pause the game by pressing space, and issue 
orders, then press space again to return to real time. The Garthog will 
primarily attack buildings, specifically the radar, power plants, and fire 
station. Defend buildings by ensuring you engage every enemy tank, and use you 
superior numbers to overwhelm them. Don't fight in narrow streets where only a 
few of your tanks can engage and move heavily damaged units to the rear of the 
battle if possible. You should be able to win the fight without your buildings 
taking heavy damage, and without losing any tanks.

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4.2.4 I repelled the Garthog fleet and the plot seems to have stalled. What 
did I do wrong?

From Peter Knutsen: "I also found out that you can miss on the storyline, if 
you fortify your planets while you're still Lieutenant rank. I built 5 Ion 
Cannons on each planet, and they managed to repel the Garthog fleet. The 
result of this was that the storyline stopped advancing. Apparently it was 
crucial to the storyline that the Garthogs manage to land some ground units so 
you can have a ground battle. Because of this, I had to backtrack to a saved 
game and then turn off the ground artillery. Once I got to Captain rank, I 
turned the cannons on and had no more storyline problems."

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4.2.5 How do I produce a Cruiser 1?

Cruiser 1 requires research before it can be produced. You cannot research at 
this rank, so you won't be able to produce it, even though it appears on the 
production screen. At this stage you can only have one Cruiser 1 - your 
command ship.

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4.2.6 Colony development

It is tempting to immediately try and start producing things. However, 
production facilities are expensive to build, items are costly to make, and a 
lot of what you can make you probably don't need at the moment. Instead build 
additional Barracks (at least one Barracks per colony within the first two 
weeks - I cannot stress this enough if you want to survive the month), and 
facilities to encourage population growth (housing, power, food, Hospitals) 
and morale (Churches, Bars, Recreation Centres, Police Stations). Once morale 
and population start to rise, crank up taxation. You should aim to sustain 
Very High+ taxation with 75%+ tax morale. Push your Earth-like planets the 
hardest, since they will happily support Demanding taxation if basic morale 
boosting buildings are in place. Once you have upwards of 40,000 credits a day 
coming in from taxation, you should turn your attention to production, see 
below. Don't get too greedy and attempt to milk every last credit by building 
*very* expensive items like Stadiums and Water Vaporators straight away.

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4.2.7 Garthog pirates

About 2 days after the Achilles attack, Garthog pirates will start attacking 
traders. The approach is the same as before, but the enemy is stronger and 
better equipped. You'll receive a 5000 credit bonus for saving the trader. 
Garthog pirates will return again after the first Virus infection (see below). 
Saving the second trader improves your reputation with the "Free Traders 
Alliance" - I presume this means better relations with the "Alliance of Free 
Traders" (an alien race).

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4.2.8 Doctor Catherine Reinhardt

A day after the first Garthog pirate attack, you'll get a message to talk to 
the ship's doctor. Go to the Bridge and complete a test by clicking the 
appropriate multiple-choice boxes: 

- Q1: I lack self-confidence when it comes to relationships! Do these feelings 
describe your inner emotions? Yes/Occasionally/Always confident. 
- Q2: If I need to make spur of the moment decisions, my responses are often: 
Based on logical deduction/Quick judgements/Off the wall assumptions. 
- Q3: When I have minor problematic issues, am I still optimistic? 
Yes/Sometimes/Never. 
- Q4: Do I ever let my emotions get the better of me? Yes/Sometimes/Never. 
- Q5: An inspiring piece of poetry is more important than the most powerful 
weapon. Nothing compares to poem/Depends on mood/Mass destruction is the 
biggest thrill. 
- Q6: I am strong enough to face my fears. Always/Sometimes/Never. 
- Q7: When I get the blame for situations beyond my control, I feel: Couldn't 
care less/Concerned/Responsible. 
- Q8: Because rationality does not always get the desired response, you may 
have to resort to extreme measures! At the drop of a hat/Only in extenuating 
circumstances/Compromise will suffice. 

Does how you answer this test make any difference? From Mega Products: 
"Failure to answer these questions adequately can get you thrown off the ship 
but only the most rabid psychopath is penalised so if this happens to you... 
you probably deserve it." In the months after this test you will see a series 
of flash-backs. Shortly after the first flash-back, visit the Local (F9) and 
talk to the doctor about the dreams and the test (click with the mouse on 
her).

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4.2.9 San Sterling smuggler

Shortly after the test, you'll get a message from San Sterling, warning that a 
smuggler is inbound. Send your fleet to San Sterling. After around two days, a 
ship labelled "Unknown" will appear on the radar. Move your fleet to attack 
it. Don't destroy the smuggler, just attack it until you see the text message 
"Don't shoot...".

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4.2.10 Governor escort

Two days after you dealt with the San Sterling smuggler, the Colonel will 
request that you escort the governor of Centronom. Shortly afterwards the 
governor's fleet will appear off San Sterling and heads for Naxos.

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4.2.11 Garthog invasion

About two weeks after being promoted, you'll receive a message that one of 
your planets is being invaded. The strength of this attack can take you by 
surprise if you haven't prepared. From Karl Davis: "Build a barracks. It'll 
allow 4 more tanks. 8 is the max without one. If you have one you need to go 
to the equipment screen for the planet they're going to and add the tanks. 
Don't waste your fleet on them at this stage of the game." Tanks can be 
stripped from planets that aren't being invaded and re-deployed on the one 
that is. This should give you enough tanks to fill your Barracks. Without at 
least one Barracks, this fight is almost impossible - you might just do it if 
you are prepared to have a few buildings destroyed, but such loses will be 
hard to recover from. 

From Jason Westpfahl: "At the Captain level, allow the Garthogs to attack your 
planets. At this level you don't have the firepower to defeat them in space 
combat. Just build up your planet defense systems with barracks and tanks. 
After you have successfully fended off several land invasions, the Garthogs 
seem to leave you alone." 

If you don't have a chance to build Barracks try this trick just after 
escorting the governor: Deploy several tanks on every colony except New 
Caroline. Remove all tanks from New Caroline. This will make New Caroline 
appear to be the weakest target in your empire, and will probably be the 
planet the Garthogs invade. Once their fleet is close, deploy 12 tanks to the 
planet (this is the only colony you have that starts with Barracks >:) ), 
maybe even build a second Barracks and deploy a further four tanks to make the 
battle decisive.

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4.2.12 Virus infection

Two or three days after the Garthog invasion, you will receive a message from 
the governor of New Caroline, explaining that a virus has taken hold on the 
planet. You need to quarantine the planet. This means stopping any of the 
traders that leave New Caroline from getting to another planet, and preventing 
any traders heading to New Caroline from other planets from reaching their 
destination. You don't need to kill the traders, merely get them to turn 
around: Attack them. At the start of the battle you have two options: (1) 
select the lines that appear at the very top of the text box to converse with 
the trader (you can converse whilst paused), or (2) engage them with fighters 
until you see something like "Don't shoot... we'll turn around" in the text 
box, then pull your fighters off and let the trader flee. You may notice that 
if you use method 2, rather than 1, traders will keep on trying to leave the 
planet. If you use the first method, they tend not to try and break the 
blockade a second time. If dealing with many traders, split your main fleet 
into two, with one capital ship and some fighters in each fleet. Do this via 
the equipment screen (F4). Avoid any ship getting through the blockade - 
they'll infect whatever planet they arrive at, immediately quadrupling the 
healthcare requirement there. You will probably need to build additional 
hospitals on infected planets. This mission can become very annoying if too 
many traders get trapped on New Caroline, since you'll need to jump between 
battles that are only a few pixels apart. DuaneVP notes: "It is unnecessarily 
hard to sort out the stacks of trader ships when trying to enforce a blockade 
even with all the other graphic elements turned off." If you get it under 
control rapidly, the first infection will last about three days. 

After the first virus infection, send a message to the Colonel about it (via 
Bridge). He suspects biological warfare of some kind, and will dispatch some 
new sensor equipment to look out for virus carriers, although nothing happens 
immediately.

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4.2.13 Build up your fleet

By the time of the first virus infection, you should have developed your 
colonies sufficiently to have a daily tax revenue of about 40,000 credits. It 
is time to start planning ahead, which means building up your fleet: Build 
factories and start producing things. What follows are my suggestions. You may 
adopt a slightly different combat strategy, in which case modify the 
production strategy to suit: Construct two Spaceship factories, and order some 
Fighter 2 and Destroyer 1. You will need more Spacecraft factories than any 
other type if you favour fighters. Next, build a Weapons factory, and crank 
out 5 extra lasers to fit to your existing capital ships. Produce additional 
lasers to maximise the weapon loadouts on the new destroyers (this doubles 
their firepower). Do not waste time on bombs or missiles (you don't have any 
ship that can use them yet), and do not build tanks or radar cars at this 
stage. A pair of Equipment factories follow, primarily to produce shields for 
your new destroyers. Ensure you have enough cash after new construction to 
keep production turning. As new items are produced add them to your fleet.

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4.2.14 Escort Admiral

There will be a further Garthog pirate attack after the virus infection, but 
the overall pace of events will seem to slow down. Approximately 10 days after 
the virus, you'll receive a new order from the Colonel - to escort Admiral 
Benson to New Caroline. The Admiral's fleet will start from Achilles. Deploy 
and equip recently produced items (ideally you will have your fleet near to 
Achilles to start with, where you also have a Military Spaceport from which to 
add equipment and units), then move your fleet towards the Admiral's. You can 
also request reinforcements by sending a message to the Colonel - this will 
add a Destroyer 1 and a few Fighter 2 to your fleet. Late production may be 
shipped out to the main fleet by creating a new fleet and adding the new ship 
to it, moving the new fleet to the main fleet, and then merging the two 
fleets. As you approach New Caroline, you'll be engaged by a Garthog fleet 
that includes a flagship. If you have not built a few extra ships, this battle 
can be unpleasant. Remember that the Admiral's flagship *is* combat capable. 
Vakundok comments: "If you equip the reinforcements and use the admiral's 
flagship correctly, the battle can be won with only fighter losses (without 
building additional ships)." In particular, don't forget to use the missiles 
it carries to soften up one or two of the larger Garthog ships. Winning the 
battle nets you 5 free Lasers.

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4.2.15 Second virus infection

About 5 days after escorting the Admiral, a second virus infection will occur 
on New Caroline. You'll need to repeat the method above. Whilst you are doing 
this, Hubble 2 orbital radars satellites will be added to San Sterling and 
Naxos: You'll see a video sequence showing satellites being launched, and the 
radar coverage around those planets will increase dramatically. If this 
sequence does not occur within a day of the infection appearing, check that 
you have sent a message to the Colonel about the virus (the option to send 
such a message should no longer be available). With the improved radar 
coverage, watch Garthog space and you should see a slow moving fleet marked 
"Virus trn". You may also see a second enemy fleet marked "Garthog flt" - 
ignore that one for now. Split your fleet, leaving one group close to New 
Caroline to engage any traders that appear, and set the other group to attack 
the virus fleet. The virus fleet is made up of *unarmed* destroyers... if only 
other battles were this easy ;-) . Send a report to the Colonel from the 
Bridge. The infection will clear up about a day later.

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4.2.16 Spies

Around this time, you'll see a video in which your character will start to 
think some...thing is spying on them. Go to the Local (F9) and talk to Kelly. 
He'll talk about how advanced alien technology is, and then discuss alien 
spies. He will suggest using the state room computer to record activity in the 
room. Go the state room (F8) and click on "Record Message". A day later, 
you'll learn who the spy is. Report your findings to the Colonel (send a 
message from the Bridge), and he'll "deal with it" (although nothing will seem 
to happen as a result of your report).

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4.2.17 More building

Use the two or three 'quiet' weeks to build the additional facilities required 
to sustain Demanding taxation (Water Vaporators, Stadium). You may be able to 
push the Earth-type planets up to Oppressive taxation. Build additional 
factories - aim for one of each factory type per colony. Ratchet up fleet 
building - aim to have a full stack (25) of fully equipped Destroyer 1 with 
some Fighter 2 escort. Lastly, build a few extra Barracks, which may make the 
early part of the next rank easier.

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4.2.18 Escort money transport

A week after the virus infection, you'll get another minor mission. View the 
Colonel's orders, and then move your fleet to escort the "Money trn" that will 
appear off New Caroline. As it approaches San Sterling, a Garthog pirate fleet 
will attack. You will only face a few destroyers and fighters, but some are 
quite well armed.

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4.2.19 Stolen prototype

A week after the money transport escort, the Colonel will inform you that the 
Garthogs have stolen a prototype ship (it's a destroyer, not a cruiser). Time 
to use those resources you've built up. A Garthog fleet labelled "Prototype" 
will appear off New Caroline. Attack it with everything you have. The Garthog 
fleet will contain a pair of flagships, with destroyer and fighter escort, 
plus the captured prototype destroyer. Each Garthog flagship has about five 
times as much firepower as your Destroyer 1s, and will initially try to fight 
at range, where their flagships have a significant advantage. You can approach 
this as a methodical battle, destroying all the armed enemy ships first, then 
destroying the prototype. Alternatively, at the start of the battle throw 
everything at the prototype, and hope to destroy it before they destroy you. 
The former will tend to minimise loses. The later is a useful tactic if you 
don't have a big enough fleet to deal with their flagships. An alternative 
approach is suggested by vakundok: "Build five cannons on Achilles and attack 
the Garthog fleet with two fighters." If you launch an attack close to a 
planet the defenses of the planet will be added to the battle. This adds a lot 
of 'cheap' firepower, but such a strategy requires careful timing and advance 
knowledge of the enemy fleet's flight path. Destroying the prototype promotes 
you to Commander.

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______________________________________________________________________________

4.3 Commander (Disc 2)
______________________________________________________________________________


4.3.1 New Resources

- NEW SCREENS: Research. Quick Time speed now available. 
- FLEET CHANGES: Flagship 1 with 4x Light Tank. 
- NEW PLANETS: 
- - Zeuson: Rocky, population 4230, moderate tax, 8x Light Tank, Colony Hub, 
Nuclear Plant, Radar Telescope. 
- NEW PRODUCTION: Flagship 1 (although needs un-researched Orbital factory to 
produce), Space Base 1. 
- NEW RESEARCH: Fighter 3, Destroyer 2, Cruiser 1, Spy Satellite, Orbital 
Factory, Hyperdrive 2, Cargo Pod, Field Array, Pulse Laser, Ion Gun, Medium 
Tank, Rocket Sled, Solar Plant, Phood(TM) Factory, Inversion Shield, Field 
Telescope, Plasma Projector. 
- EARLIEST DATE: Mid October 3427.

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4.3.2 Strategy Overview

The objective for this rank is to defeat the Garthog. This primarily means 
capturing all of their planets. Research what you can, then rapidly capture 
the weakest three Garthog planets. Research everything else available and 
build up a technologically superior fleet, while finishing the war against the 
Garthog. You'll have to deal with a few side missions, although less than in 
previous ranks. This rank is altogether less scripted, and the game will begin 
to feel more like an open-ended strategy game.

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4.3.3 Colony development

Zeuson needs to be developed, and should be the focus of almost all your 
colony building prior to invading the Garthog. Its defenses and tax base need 
to be brought up to a similar standard to all your other colonies. Zeuson can 
probably sustain Oppressive taxation with a full set of morale boosting 
buildings. Take care that you don't run out of workforce for your buildings, 
which may happen if you immediately build *everything*. Within a week, your 
treasury should be increasing by about 80,000 credits a day. Most of that cash 
will be needed for research and production, in preparation for the coming war 
with the Garthog. If you start this rank with an under-developed tax base, 
you'll start to struggle with production. For example, a fully equipped 
Flagship will cost about 100,000 credits, and you'll need at least three 
before starting any invasion. Your old colonies will need new buildings 
occasional: Three new Dev. Centres are need for research (see below). 
Population growth will require additional facilities for food, housing, and 
similar. Watch out for declining tax morale, and build additional Police 
Stations at the first sign of trouble. Lastly, keep up with technological 
advances, notably the introduction of Phood Factories (overall, superior to 
Hydroponic Food Farms) and Solar Plants (superior to Nuclear Plants on planets 
that cannot build Fusion Plants).

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4.3.4 Research and production

Research, specifically the right kind of research, is the key to winning this 
rank. It is important to understand what limits research. You start with Dev. 
Centres on Achilles (Mil), New Caroline (AI) and Centronom (Comp). Assuming 
you haven't built any more, you have three planets without Dev. Centres. You 
can only have one Dev. Centre per planet. Since you can't colonise planets at 
this rank, only invade, you'll be limited to six Dev. Centres until you start 
taking Garthog planets. Focus on what you need for an invasion, because until 
you capture an enemy colony, you won't be able to develop much else. This 
primarily means better tanks, and the means to move them in volume. Aim for 1 
Civ, 1 Mech, 1 Comp, 1 AI, and 2 Mil: New-build 1 Civ, 1 Mech and 1 Mil 
between the three planets without Dev. Centres. This will allow:

- Medium Tanks - Invasions with Light Tanks will be drawn out and messy. 
Medium Tanks have greater range and armor. If you favour ground combat defense 
against invaders, these tanks will help there too. 
- Orbital Factories - Allow Flagships to be built. Flagships carry vehicles 
and start to make space battles with the Garthog more balanced. 
- Cargo Pods - Increase the number of vehicles that a flagship can carry by 3. 
This increases the maximum number of vehicles you can drop into any one ground 
battle when invading (at this rank) from 15 to 24. 
- Spy Satellites - Gain additional information about invasion targets 
(marginal bonus advantage). 
- Ion Guns - Improve the offensive strength of your flagships and Cruiser 
(marginal bonus advantage). 

An alternative strategy involves early development of Pulse Laser and 
Destroyer 2. This favours early space combat, however leaves you without new 
flagships or ground combat advances, and so ultimately makes invasion really 
tough. 

Divert resources towards completing available research throughout this level: 
Always be researching something (even if you can only partly complete it), and 
try to allocate the maximum amount of credits to research. Don't produce new 
Destroyer 1 unless your fleet was badly damaged by the last battle of Captain 
rank: You don't need many Destroyers if you invade quickly using Flagships 
with Missile and Bomb tactics, and they'll rapidly become obsolete. As soon as 
research allows, build fully equipped Flagships (aim for a total of 6), plenty 
of Medium Tanks (aim for 40+), and surplus supplies of Missiles and Bombs 
(close to 100 of each by the end of the rank). If you find your Equipment 
factories are under-utilised initially, consider building Light Shields (your 
Destroyer 2 will need them), but only if you have enough credits once 
everything else is being researched and produced.

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4.3.5 Blockade Zeuson

A week after promotion, the Colonel will order you to impose a blockade on 
Zeuson to prevent the rebel governor from leaving. Do *not* impose any kind of 
blockade against passing traders, as the orders suggest. Move your main fleet 
to Zeuson and wait. Let the grey coloured traders come and go freely. After 
three or four days, a blue coloured (Free Traders Alliance) fleet labelled 
"Unknown" will leave Zeuson. Attack it. When the battle starts, pause and talk 
to the enemy fleet via the text box to get some extra storyline, but don't let 
them pass >:) . Once they've sustained heavy damage they'll say they are 
returning to the planet. Let them. Later that day you'll see a short video 
sequence and get a congratulatory message from the Colonel. Move your fleet 
towards the Garthog side of the map, in preparation for coming events.

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4.3.6 Why does nothing happens after the Zeuson blockade order?

Several people have reported that the storyline appears to stall at this 
point, with nothing happening for months, and no further contact with the 
Colonel after the initial order to blockade. First, ensure that you are not 
blockading Zeuson to regular traders, only prevent the blue "Unknown" fleet 
from leaving. Secondly, make sure when engaging the "Unknown" fleet, you don't 
kill their capital ship - allow it to return to the planet.

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4.3.7 More dreams

The flashbacks will continue. Around this time, check the Local (F9). Talk to 
Brian, your ship technician about research and then robotics.

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4.3.8 Garthog attacks

About two weeks after promotion, the Garthogs will resume attacking your 
planets. Either deal with them on the ground, or engage their fleets before 
they arrive. The former tactic tends to be an easier fight if you have a few 
Barracks on the target planet, but inevitably causes damage to population and 
buildings. Engaging their fleet is viable if you have two or three flagships 
available, which you may do by the time of the first attack: Firing at their 
(vehicle carrying) flagship(s) with missiles is a great opener - once the 
flagship(s) are badly damaged they will turn and run. You have a small speed 
advantage over them, so keep on re-attacking as they flee, until they have 
nothing left. These attacks will continue somewhat randomly until the Garthogs 
are defeated, however, once you start capturing their planets, the frequency 
of invasion seem to drop.

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4.3.9 Initial invasion strategy

From anemofrost: "...You took too long in invading the Garthogs. When I was 
playing, I invaded with only one fleet carrying max amount of tanks. The enemy 
had only about 8 or 9 on each planet and I succeeded easily. It was the first 
time I played, so I must have went through it as fast as possible." At the 
start of November, planets Garthog 1, 2, 3 and 5 are lightly defended: 
Typically by a few Ion Projectors (although you may come up against the odd 
Plasma Projector or Inversion Shield), around 10 mixed vehicles (mostly Light 
and Medium Tanks), and at least one Fortress. Garthog 1 and 5 tend to be 
slightly better defended. Garthog 4 is the toughest, since it has all of the 
above, plus a pair of Base 1s in space. Garthog 4 also has about twice the 
population of the other planets. 

As soon as you have 3 fully loaded Flagships (with 24 Medium Tanks and bombs), 
start picking off the easiest three Garthog planets. Avoid attacking whilst 
their main fleet is in the area. Bomb the planet based defenses from outside 
their firing range, sending bombs in very quick succession to reduce the 
chance of them being shot down. If faced with an Inversion Shield, destroy 
that first. Once the space defenses are destroyed, ground battle will 
commence. Place your units away from their buildings, and don't engage the 
enemy until they are clear of the Fortresses. Once their vehicles are 
destroyed, attack the Fortresses one at a time. After the battle re-equip with 
new bombs.

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4.3.10 Garthog colony development

Captured Garthog colonies have a few initial problems. Firstly, you can't 
build Barracks or Fortresses. The basic Garthog military building is a 
Fortress, but you can't research Fortresses at this rank, and you probably 
won't be able to capture them: The manual refers to the possibility of these 
buildings surrendering, but I've never seen it happen. This probably means 
that these planets will need to be defended from space for the rest of this 
rank. Secondly, the aliens hate you. Population growth will go negative, and 
tax morale will drop dramatically. You can't build the types of morale 
boosting buildings you can on your human colonies. Instead, drop the tax to 
nothing, build Police Stations, and repair damaged buildings. After a few days 
the situation will start to recover, and you can raise tax back up to Low 
while sustaining population growth. The more police stations you build, the 
higher tax morale. Don't expect to raise tax above Low without population 
declining. 

Garthog colonies will contribute production (most will already have Spaceship 
and Weapons factories), and you can build those all-important Dev. Centres 
straight away. You will capture the plans for Phood Factories in one of your 
invasions - you'll be able to build them on your human colonies too.

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4.3.11 Escort prototype

About two weeks after the Zeuson blockade, the Colonel will order you to 
escort a cargo ship. A fleet labelled "Prototype" will appear off Zeuson and 
head towards the right hand side of the map - escort it with at least a pair 
of flagships and a few destroyers. This mission can catch you off-guard on the 
wrong side of the map. The Prototype fleet moves very slowly, so you should 
have enough time to reach it before it is attacked by a Garthog fleet. Defeat 
the Garthog fleet to gain a Destroyer 2. Be warned that the Garthog may launch 
an attack on one of your planets around this time, and the escort will take a 
few days to complete, so you may wish to split your fleet before commencing 
the escort.

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4.3.12 Why does nothing happen after escorting the prototype?

The scripted missions stop after this point. Some players get stuck here 
because they don't realise what the main objective of this rank is: Defeating 
the Garthogs.

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4.3.13 Defeating the Garthogs

It is possible to take all of the Garthog planets rapidly without new 
technology. The battle would be tough, but you could win. The problem with 
this approach is you will start Admiral rank lacking technology, fleet power, 
and full colony development. Once you reach Admiral you'll have other new 
problems to deal with. Complete this rank too quickly, and you may find 
yourself over-stretched as Admiral. 

By the time the Escort Prototype mission is complete, you should be close to 
having Destroyer 2 in production. Don't neglect Bombs, you'll need plenty of 
those if you follow the method below. All this new technology will put a lot 
of strain on your factories, particularly Weapons factories, which will be 
busily turning out Tanks and Bombs. Don't waste resources trying to re-equip 
Destroyer 1s. The best Destroyer 1 loadout still has half the firepower of a 
Destroyer 2. It is better just to build new Destroyer 2s and eventually use 
your Destroyer 1s as a strategic reserve. Cruiser 1 are mostly inferior to 
Destroyer 2s. They can mount radars (and later make good cheap scouts) and a 
pair of Ion Cannons, which are great against targets that don't move much. 
When dealing with lots of smaller targets, the 14 Pulse Lasers each Destroyer 
2 can carry make a big difference to battles. At this stage, your Flagships 
should be capable of handling most of the larger targets. Do not produce large 
volumes of Pulse Lasers to replace Lasers - they become almost obsolete early 
in the next rank. 

Once you have a moderately well equipped, undamaged fleet (no need for a full 
stack of Destroyer 2), engage and destroy the main Garthog fleet as it travels 
between planets. Their fleet is fast, so you will need to position your fleet 
directly in their path to attack. Don't engage it near either planet because 
the planetary defenses hinder you. If the their fleet retreats damaged, wait 
for it to come past again in a few hours (it only has two planets to patrol, 
so its actions are kind of predictable ;-) ) - eventually you'll destroy it. 

Re-equip and add in newly produced equipment. You should by now have six 
flagships, in two fleets, with bombs, missiles and vehicles, and a mix of 
Destroyers and Fighters of different classes. If you don't have two fleets, 
you will need to fly back and forth quite a lot, delaying your invasion, and 
giving the Garthogs more time to counter it. Move everything close to Garthog 
4. Take your first three flagships with a small Destroyer escort (not a full 
stack, just enough to counter fighters and not get in the way of flagships). 
Bomb the planetary defenses at range. Release bombs rapidly in batches of 6-9 
to reduce the number that get shot down. Once you are out of bombs, retreat. 
Send in the second set of flagships to bombs the remaining defenses. Retreat, 
and return with your other set of Flagships, this time with more Destroyers 
and Fighters. Close in one of the Bases, letting the smaller ships draw fire 
whilst the larger ships do the damage. You will lose some ships, just make 
sure all your flagships survive. Once one Base is destroyed, retreat. Rinse 
and repeat with your second fleet on the remaining Base. Ground combat will 
follow. Try to destroy the Rocket Sleds early, else they'll destroy you from 
afar. You may not have enough firepower to take the planet in the first wave. 
If so, immediately attack with your other fleet, and the second wave should 
capture the planet. 

This will be the hardest fight against the Garthogs, so why take Garthog 4 
now? It severely limits their ability to invade you (you'll probably never see 
another invasion fleet). It gives you more resources to complete the final 
available research projects (Garthog 4 has *2* Dev. Centres - Civ and Comp) 
and build up your fleets in preparation for Admiral. It will give your fleets 
time to recover and repair. 

Replenish loses, build at least a full stack of Destroyer 2, and give the 
fleet they are with Hyperdrive 2s: If all the capital ships in a fleet are 
equipped with upgraded drives, the fleet will move faster across the map. 
Since the map is about to get quite a bit bigger, you'll appreciate the speed 
bonus. When ready and repaired, go and invade the final Garthog planet. 
Capturing the last Garthog planet promotes you to Admiral.

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4.3.14 Why can't I attack Garthog 5?

If the planet shows with grey text rather than red, add a Spy Satellite to the 
planet. This will identify the planet's race, and allow you to attack.

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4.3.15 I got promoted to Admiral without capturing any Garthog planets. What 
happened?

You probably engaged a passing Dargslan fleet in combat. This will skip the 
rest of the rank, and opens up the whole map. Unfortunately you will have a 
new (technologically advanced and aggressive) enemy, a small fleet, only a 
handful of planets, and lousy technology. This option is nothing short of 
suicide. Only attack Garthog fleets and planets during this rank. Also see 
Don't make enemies of races you can avoid at the start of the game, below.

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______________________________________________________________________________

4.4 Admiral
______________________________________________________________________________


4.4.1 New Resources

- NEW SCREENS: The whole map is now visible, but only partly explored. 
- FLEET CHANGES: Leviathan (Thorin) with 6x Light Tank, Cruiser 1, 6x Fighter 
2. 
- NEW PLANETS (statistics at earliest date): 
- - Earth: Earth-Type ;-) , population 12,300, moderate tax, 8x Light Tank, 
Space Base 1, Colony Hub, Arcology, Prefab Housing, Nuclear Plant, Fusion 
Plant, Hydroponic Food Farm, Fire Brigade, Hospital, Barracks, Military 
Spaceport (16%), Radar Telescope, Military Dev. Centre, Bank, Traders' 
Spaceport, 2x Stadium, Church, bar, Recreation Centre. 
- - Edgepolis: Desert, population 5100, moderate tax, Colony Hub, Prefab 
Housing, Nuclear Plant, Spacecraft Factory, Military Dev. Centre, Military 
Spaceport, Bank (3%). 
- - Giantropolis: Rocky, population 5300, moderate tax, 8x Light Tank, Colony 
Hub, Nuclear Plant, Prefab Housing, Radar Telescope. 
- - Myridan: Rocky, population 4800, moderate tax, 8x Light Tank, Colony Hub, 
Nuclear Plant, Prefab Housing, Police Station (0%). 
- NEW RESEARCH: Fighter 4, Fighter 5, Destroyer 3, Cruiser 2, Flagship 2, 
Colonization Ship, Adv. Spy Satellite, Hubble 2, Space Base 2, Hyperdrive 3, 
Hyperdrive 4, Fuzzbox ECM, Shocker ECM, Heavy Cargo Pod, Phased Array, Medium 
Shield, Heavy Shield, UV Laser, UV Pulse Laser, Plasma Gun, Neutron Gun, Bomb 
2, Virus Bomb, Missile 2, Mul-head missile, Heavy Tank, Heavy Rocket Sled, 
Trade Centre, Hypershield, Fortress, Stronghold, Bunker, Phased Telescope, 
Fusion Projector. 
- EARLIEST DATE: Mid November 3427.

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4.4.2 Strategy Overview

The aim of this rank is introduced as production and research in the face of 
technologically advanced alien races. Read between the lines and this means: 
if production and research doesn't increase dramatically we'll be over-run by 
aliens. By now, you will appreciate that production needs a solid tax base, 
and research needs planets. Rushing through the early ranks will start to pay 
dividends now, because many planets are yet to be colonised, so you should be 
able to make many early advances without having to invade anyone. There are no 
side missions at this rank, and because the game is less structured from this 
point on, the walkthrough is far less detailed: You will be familiar with most 
strategies and concepts from earlier ranks. If you have not already done so, 
read the Strategies section below.

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4.4.3 Opening moves

There is no immediate hostile threat (unless you are really unlucky), however 
your empire is now far too large to defend with one fleet. Also remember that 
your Garthog colonies probably still don't have Fortresses, so plan to defend 
those from space initially, even if you defend them on the ground in the long 
term. I suggest keeping your main fleet (with all those Destroyer 2s with 
Pulse Lasers plus the Thorin instead of one existing Flagship 1) close to 
Achilles and the Garthog planets, and using your secondary fleet (mostly 
mashed up Destroyer 1s) to guard your new Human colonies towards the top of 
the map. 

Now turn to your new colonies. Earth has almost enough facilities to support 
Demanding taxation: Add a Police Station and ratchet up the tax. The main 
problem with Earth is its chaotic urban planning - you start with relatively 
few areas in which to build because there are many "not quite big enough" gaps 
between existing buildings. In weeks to come, consider demolishing some of the 
cheaper buildings, and rebuilding them to save space. Giantropolis and Myridan 
are in need of comprehensive development, much as you did for Zeuson in the 
previous level. Food will probably be the first thing to run short. Note that 
Myridan (and Edgepolis) have no radar coverage, so early on ensure that your 
second fleet is positioned with radar coverage of these two. Edgepolis is a 
weird military planet. It starts with a chronic power problem, which can only 
be solved by turning three of the non-critical buildings off (which three 
depends on your initial expansion strategy, see below). It has *another* Mil 
Dev. Centre, but you'll need to power it first. The oddest feature is the 
Bank, which is completely useless without a Traders' Spaceport. Edgepolis of 
course ultimately needs all the same investments as Giantropolis and Myridan. 
Lastly, don't neglect your most recent Garthog acquisition - adding a Police 
Station or three may be all you need to do.

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4.4.4 Expansion

Take a peek at the new research options and the newly enlarged (mostly 
unexplored) map. Mass production of old technology should be avoided, because 
it won't be long before it is all obsolete. Instead divert resources to 
exploration, colony building, and research. 

Exploration is two-fold. First you need to fly within radar range of a planet 
for it to appear on the map. You then need to deploy a Survey Satellite to 
give you basic information on the planet. The later involves mass production 
of Survey Satellites, which you should do right away. For the former, I 
suggest reequipping your two Cruiser 1s, and possibly any spare Flagships, to 
carry Hyperdrive 2 and Field Arrays. Split them into separate fleets (one ship 
in each), and then have them zig-zag across the map. As you discover new 
planets, deploy Survey Satellites. 

You should be within one new Dev. Centre of being able to research the 
Colonization Ship, UV Laser and Medium Shield. The first is critical if you 
plan to expand initially by taking empty planets, the second more essential if 
you are considering engaging aliens. I'd advise the first option initially - 
colonization of empty planets, for two reasons: (1) Even with a few ship 
upgrades, many of the alien races will prove tougher opponents than the 
Garthog. Attacking many will lead to counter-attacks, and before you know it, 
you will be fighting a war and not expanding much. You will loss most wars at 
this level unless you have technology and a solid tax base. (2) Human colonies 
have more long term tax raising potential than alien colonies, because you can 
build many morale boosting buildings. Alien planets have more than a seed 
population when you take the planet, but have no long term advantages. 

Colonization ships are produced with a lot of equipment they do not need - 
strip what you can before sending them out to settle new planets. When 
building new colonies pay careful attention to population levels. Whilst the 
Colony Hub is being built they will decline. Once the Colony Hub has been 
completed, immediately add some power and housing. I tend to also add a Church 
to help initial morale, and often a radar, depending on location and 
circumstances. Do not try and build a large range of buildings, because you 
won't have enough people to operate them. Once the population is in the 3000-
5000 range, start adding morale related facilities and basic defenses. Once 
you have a solid tax base, move on to things like factories.

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4.4.5 About robotics

About a day after promotion you'll see another dream/flashback sequence. Go to 
the Local and talk to the ship's new doctor about robots. He'll give you some 
information about Professor Reinhardt's new "weapon" (that surname is 
familiar, huh?). Return to the Bridge, and send the message "Earth Devel". 
You'll get an explanation of what you are, and what role you have been built 
for. Slightly surreal. Try to avoid thinking too hard about how your wife and 
Johnny (your kid) fit into all this ;-) .

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4.4.6 Defense

Within a month of promotion you will probably come under attack from aliens. 
Some you may be able to repel in conventional warfare. The Dargslans will 
initially cause serious problems. They seem to be most likely to attack you 
early, unprovoked, and their technology and military strength is vastly 
superior to your own. I suggest employing Delaying tactics (see below). It is 
possible to repel the Dargslans at this stage with a mixture of suicide 
tactics and robust ground defenses, but you'll probably waste the majority of 
your military dealing with one attack. Subsequent attacks then become 
progressively harder to repel. Also, position one of two of your survey ships 
(Cruiser 1 with Field Arrays) close to their planets, to improve the chance of 
getting an early warning of their attacks. Their planets are a long way from 
your starting planets, but their fleets travel quickly.

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4.4.7 How do I get promoted to Grand Admiral?

Brent LaPoint writes: "If I am not mistaken, I was promoted to Grand Admiral 
after my first attack on a dark green world [Dargslans] of the mysterious 
invaders. I didn't even win but I still got promoted." Aaron P Teske replies: 
"Well, I got promoted after colonizing six or seven worlds and capturing one 
from the white race [Morgaths]." In my experience, promotion tends to occur 
after the first engagement with the Dargslans, although I suspect you need to 
have also colonised a few planets and fought at least one other alien race too 
- in essence revealed the Dargslan threat and demonstrated that you are 
expanding your influence in the galaxy. Promotion to Grand Admiral rank can 
come within a month of promotion to Admiral. 

From Mega Products: "As this event ties in with the story I'll keep that to 
myself but if things are looking a bit dicey at Admiral try the following to 
speed your passage. Equip a single flagship with limited ground forces and 
decent radar and send it to the top right hand corner of the star-map. Use 
your satellites to investigate any worlds you discover on your passage, 
(concentrating particularly on worlds in the corner if you're running low on 
material). Eventually you should find a green world: when you do, attack it. 
The result of this conflict should catapult you to Rank 5."

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______________________________________________________________________________

4.5 Grand Admiral
______________________________________________________________________________


4.5.1 New Resources

- NEW SCREENS: Diplomacy, alien relationships table added to Information. 
- NEW RESEARCH: Fighter 6, Cruiser 3, Flagship 3, Space Base 3, Hyperdrive 5, 
SuperHvy Shield, Meson Gun, Behemoth, Meson Projector. 
- EARLIEST DATE: Mid December 3427.

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4.5.2 Strategy Overview

This rank is a logical extension of Admiral, and you will initially continue 
whatever you were doing as Admiral. The Dargslans are significantly stronger 
than other aliens races. The objective of this rank is to destroy them. The 
implicit suggestion upon promotion is that you should use diplomacy to forge 
alliances against the Dargslans. Precisely what you do is up to you - so long 
as you survive, the game will keep on going. This is the final rank, and there 
are no missions or storyline. 

My preferred strategy is to encourage the other aliens to engage one another, 
while colonising new planets, building up my tax base, and researching. This 
approach normally buys enough time to be in a position to start turning out 
fairly deadly fleets with which to conquer the galaxy, but leaves a large 
empire almost undefended for a month. Once you have a pair of fleets that are 
equipped with all the technology available, you are almost unstoppable. Keep 
the offensive momentum up and you won't need to worry about defense. A slower, 
somewhat more methodical approach would be to research and build up an 
intermediate technology fleet, one that is powerful enough to repel most 
invaders, but not powerful enough to destroy the Dargslans.

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4.5.3 Diplomacy

Start talking to at least some of the aliens via the Diplomacy screen straight 
after promotion. Check existing relationships first, and target those aliens 
with bad relationships (low numbers) with the Dargslan. Offer trade and 
attempt to get them to join with you in an alliance against the Dargslan. You 
should be able to get a few aliens on-side, and improve relationships enough 
with some others that they don't attack you immediately. The aim is twofold: 
(1) to get a few other aliens onto the Dargslan war list, thereby reducing the 
proportion of attacks against you; and (2) to reduce the number of aliens that 
immediately turn against you. For example, if you don't talk to the Ychom, 
they can become nervous and will start attacking you. However, they may be 
quite keen to go to war against the Dargslan, so an alliance with them meets 
both criteria. Precisely how much success you have initially seems to vary on 
your empire's relative size and combat performance. You won't have the 
technology to start battling the Dargslan effectively for many months, in 
which time your allies will start to get concerned by your lack of action. 
Also, certain races will not be impressed by diplomacy alone, and some, like 
the Free Nations Society, may be just spoiling for a fight. Once you start 
capturing Dargslan planets and destroying their fleets, the other aliens 
should be willing to ally with you.

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4.5.4 The End

The objective is to defeat the Dargslan. Once they surrender or their final 
colony is destroyed or captured, the game ends and you win. You do not need to 
conquer every planet on the map or destroy all the other races.

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==============================================================================

5. STRATEGIES

==============================================================================


______________________________________________________________________________

5.1 Combat
______________________________________________________________________________


5.1.1 Delaying tactics

From anemofrost: "Here's a tip for Grand Admiral Rank. The Dargslan invade 
with a full fleet of three flagships and 25 ships, all of which are fully 
loaded. Early on, any confrontation will result in your fleet being destroyed. 
What you can do is simply get any of you outdated vessel (destroyer 1, cruiser 
1, destroyer 2, whatever) and send it to attack the invading Dargslan fleet. A 
fighter might work but I'm not sure. The vessel(s) you sent will be destroyed, 
and the invading Dargslan fleet will actually retreat back to their colony. 
This trick may or may not work on the other races you fight in Admiral or 
Grand Admiral Rank. As for me, I only use it on Dargslan because I find it fun 
to crush other fleet I come across."

From Dan Ward: "Scenario - Alien fleet on its way to one of your planets. You 
have no hope of destroying their vastly superior fleet, or of winning the 
ground battle. Solution - Send a fleet consisting of one fighter to intercept 
them in deep space. After the space 'battle' (which consists of one missile 
blowing up your fighter), the alien fleet will turn around and go home!"

This works best for those races that attack you from the other side of the 
map. The time it takes them to travel to and from your space is far greater 
then the time it takes you to build and equip new ships. For this reason it is 
probably the ultimate delaying tactic: buying you time to prepare while enemy 
resources are tied up shuttling across space.

Richard Harper uses this technique to capture planets: "I usually send weak 
fleets against the Dargslan giant sized but extremely poorly armed fleet, and 
once I have destroyed the bulk of the fighter defences I retreat, they bugger 
off back where they came from. I used this tactic many times to retake a 
planet after they invaded and never once having retaken a planet, or invaded 
it did I build any kind of defence on it because it was a piece of p*ss to 
retake." 

From Shwatzy: "If you see an enemy fleet heading toward one of your planets, 
send your fleet with at least one tank near that planet. Once the AI takes 
over your planet, it will usually then go after another of your planets with 
all its tanks from the first invasion... meaning the planet is undefended. So 
just wait until the fleet has moved away a little bit then swoop in and 
reclaim your planet. The AI fleet will now turn around and go back to re-
conquer that planet. So move your fleet off a a little ways, leave no tanks on 
the planet (and demolish any buildings the AI started) and repeat the process 
once the AI re-takes that planet. I have had the AI running around in circles 
for many years with this strategy. Note that if the AI fleet is faster than 
yours it will probably try and take out your fleet instead, but if you are 
just as fast you are usually safe. The great thing about this strategy is that 
you can put all your money into research early because you only need a small 
fleet or two, plus a few tanks."

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5.1.2 Ground defense...?

From Robert Warren: "I rarely ever fight an Enemy fleet. Instead I build 
plenty of ground defences, let the enemy land and then destroy them on the 
ground. The fleet has no tanks and so retreats. I haven't lost a planet except 
the first one the Dargeslan invaded." Having absolutely no space defense will 
bounce a lot of attackers: Many of their fleets have no ground forces. 

Shwatzy writes: "Instead of trying to take out an enemy fleet, research the 
Heavy Fortress ASAP and place 4 in a tight box on each colony. The AI is not 
too smart about attacking in force with tanks... I have easily taken out 50 
enemy tanks with 4 Heavy Fortresses before. Note that you can select your 
turrets and manually target the most dangerous tanks first. Plus your 
fortresses have a much greater range than most tanks the AI builds."

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5.1.3 Or space defense...?

From Brandon Moore: "I saw a fleet on course to hit one of my planets and my 
covering fleet just wasn't quite fast enough to catch it. I threw all the 
remaining fighters I had in defence of the colony, along with the single Ion 
Projector that it had. The fleet arrives, and to my surprise, it is the same 
fleet that has been making abortive attempts on my colonies all game. I had 
whittled it down to just 2 flagships and one of those other not so small, not 
so big ships, (I think it was a missile carrier). I spent my 18 fighters on 
the smaller ship and in the assault on one of the flagships. I ended up with 
an Ion projector nose to nose with a flagship. Just like the old west. So we 
began to slug it out. Something some of you may not know, the Garthog 
flagships shoot slower than the Ion Projector. I win. Around 40% damage to the 
projector and no more flagship." 

From Doug Jacobs: "If you do come under attack from an invasion fleet, 
remember, only the flagships can carry tanks, so if you can blow them they 
can't invade. Planetary defenses (guns, starbases) are very useful." 

One of the main advantages I see to space based defense is that your 
population doesn't get killed, which they do during ground attacks. Civilian 
deaths will dent your tax revenue for months or years after the battle.

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5.1.4 Or no defense...?

From summon: "Never build any ground barracks - defend in space or just let 
the computer take the planet, then immediately take it back. If you defend on 
a planet, you may lose 40 units and the planet is devastated. If you build no 
defences, you get the planet back practically undamaged and you don't lose a 
million credits in lost structures defending the planet." Don't try this early 
in the game, when you have no vehicle carrying flagships. 

Enemies will tend to attack poorly defended colonies in preference to colonies 
with large numbers of vehicles deployed. This means you can sometimes fool 
them into attacking a specific planet, by removing the entire garrison from 
one planet, and keeping small garrisons on all other planets. Once they have 
committed their fleet to the attack, deploy large numbers of tanks or move 
your fleet to engage their fleet. You can use this tactic to favour combat on 
or around certain planets. For example, those that have large numbers of 
Barracks/Fortresses, facilities like Fire Stations, are simply easier to 
defend, have lower resident population to be killed in the crossfire, or are a 
convenient base for your defensive fleets.

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5.1.5 Ground combat

From Darrell999: "Always let the enemy tanks come to you, especially when 
you're invading. If you have two groups far away enough from each other to 
divide their forces, but close enough to support each other if necessary, 
helps a lot. Always concentrate fire from at least 3 of your tanks on to 1 of 
the enemy tanks and blast away one enemy at a time. Also, when invading, 
always stay away from the city and take out the enemy tanks first. THEN take 
care of the fortresses. NEVER attempt both at the same time." 

From Mega Products: "Gun emplacements are about fifty percent effective when 
deprived of a power supply." While damaging power plants first may make 
fortresses and similar easier to take, such actions will leave a newly 
captured colony with chronic power shortages. 

Doug Jacobs comments: "For planetary invasions, build fortresses. They'll 
allow you extra tanks during combat (more guns more better). Also, the 
fortress will add its guns to the foray (more guns more better). As for 
fighting the fight on a planet... use 4 or 5 of your tanks to attack 1 of 
his."

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5.1.6 Space combat

From Doug Jacobs: "Flagships are essential for attacking planets and taking 
out other flagships, via missiles ;) . To use missiles/bombs in combat, 
because I couldn't figure it out, click on the ship you wish to fire, then 
click on Bomb/Fire, then right click on the target (ship or planetary 
building.) Each click fires one missile/bomb. I usually use them in groups 
*clickity*clickity*clickity*." Bombs, fired at range, can reduce casualties 
against heavily fortified planets (four or five Meson Projectors or similar) 
to nothing. The only disadvantage is the need to keep re-arming, which means 
regular trips back to planets with Military Spaceports, and full order books 
for bombs at Weapons factories (towards the end of the game, one planet might 
need an entire fleet-load - more than 50). From Mega Products: "The effective 
use of these two weapons [bombs and missiles] is the difference between a 
successful attack and an embarrassing debacle. Due to the speed of combat I 
would advise pausing the combat before firing to select the next ship to fire 
a salvo. Once you have a ship selected, un-pause, (as a fire order when paused 
will launch only one bomb or missile), and fire a full salvo at no more than 
two targets before pausing and repeating the operation. As with all combat in 
the game it's better to destroy a few targets quickly than damage many and let 
them all keep firing at you. Once in combat the guns and lasers will look 
after themselves but it's important to remember that the bombs and missiles 
will never be fired by the computer and consequently always need to be 
targeted and fired manually."

Make considerable use of the pause button to issue orders - yes it is a real 
time game, but controlling 30 or 50 units live-time is near impossible unless 
the enemy is overwhelmed. Early in the game don't be afraid to retreat units 
that are taking heavy fire to behind the frontline. Later, when battling with 
full stacks and far more firepower, retreating specific units can be hard 
because all the surrounding space is full of ships, and damage tends to occur 
faster. 

Once you have them, use Meson Guns at the extreme of their range to destroy 
Space Bases. Move your (flag)ships to just outside the range of the Space 
Bases, leave them, and they will start firing on the Bases. Get too close and 
planetary defenses will start firing at your ships. Get the positioning just 
right, and one ship can destroy three Base 3 without taking any casualties. 

Peter Knutsen notes: "Don't group your fighters (so you have all of them 
occupying a single square). It's neat because then your heavier ships can move 
close to the enemy and help kill him, but your fighters will die quickly. When 
a heavy ship has destroyed a fighter (any kind of ship, actually) it will have 
to aim the guns at a new ship, and this means that there is a brief time 
period where the enemy ship won't shoot (maybe 1/3 second, maybe a whole 
second). But if you have several fighters occupying the same square, then 
there is no need to aim the guns again, so your fighters will have a shorter 
lifespan."

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5.1.7 Don't make enemies of races you can avoid at the start of the game

From Darrell999: "Leave the Yehoms alone. I took over their planet at Center 
II (up in the NW part of the map) right after they colonized it. Within two 
days, they hit me at New Caroline, then at Centronom. Kicked my ass at both 
planets... and I was as loaded defensively as I could be." At the start, let 
the plot make enemies for you - you should have quite enough to deal with, 
without making new enemies. 

From bershe: "If you happen to see an evil-looking-dark-green fleet passing 
through your space, keep AWAY! Attacking it will promote you to Admiral, 
which, without at least a few Garth planets is complete suicide, since the 
other races are like 500% more advanced."

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5.1.8 Defeating the Dargslans

Richard Wesson comments: "They don't have an unbeatable fleet. Your fleet, if 
packed full of ships with top technology, should be able to take out the 
typical Dargslan fleet. Once engaged, sit there and let the Dargslan ships 
come to you. Concentrate your fire on cruisers not fighters if you have a 
choice. Multi headed missiles seem to work well against fighters - use mostly 
those against fighters. If they're down to one planet, they should be willing 
to surrender, too. They surrendered to me with one or maybe two planets left. 
Try catching the fleet away from a planet, too. It can't magically regenerate 
that way. But I don't know if the fleet ever leaves the planet if they have 
only one planet left. So load up with 30 cruisers 3 flagships and 60 
type5/type6 fighters." Whilst preparing, delay their attacks - see Delaying 
attackers above. 

Clamato comments: "The thing I hate is that the race you fight when you hit 
Grand Admiral -always- has a full fleet. I blasted them to death and they ran 
with like 1 Flagship and a couple Cruisers. So I attacked again 2 seconds 
after the battle results screen disappeared. The fleet was back to full again. 
There were no planets around, no other fleets. They just -magically- received 
a new fleet." There are many accusations that the AI cheats and creates large 
fleets in the later stages of the game. While the method by which replacement 
ships are added seems to favour AI fleets, it is hard to prove that the ships 
are being created out of thin air. Most of the races you fight later in the 
game have spent their whole game quietly building up their empires. It is 
possible that they have a large number of ships in reserve (just as you can 
produce but not deploy units), but are restricted in the number of fleets they 
may have at any one time. Eventually the large fleets will stop being produced 
- I've seen them only able to produce a one-ship fleet once they were down to 
their last two planets.

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______________________________________________________________________________

5.2 Fleet Composition
______________________________________________________________________________


5.2.1 Flagships and destroyers without fighters

From Stormcloud: "Each attack group consists of 1 Leviathan flagship + 2 
Advanced flagship ... plus 15 Advanced Heavy Cruisers and 10 Advanced 
Destroyers. Why I chose this battle fleet mix up? 1) Leviathan class flagship 
sucks when in comes to carrying capacity of space-ground missiles (used to 
destroy those dangerous ground based space cannons), so it's pointless to use 
too many of these to assault planets. A few bad points are - it's bigger, 
turns like a pregnant whale and have a shield strength like a standard 
flagship. 2) Those 15 Heavy cruisers with flagship type shields will make 
mince meat out of any enemy fleet. Not to mention they also carry several 
space-ground missiles. 3) I use the destroyers to catch up on stragglers when 
the enemy retreat. They're fairly manoeuvrable ships, but with weak shielding. 
A few will die in each battle, but these are expendable. I don't really use 
fighters much. It takes too long to build a respectable amount, and they die 
like mayflies in battle."

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5.2.2 Only operate a number of fleets your economy can resupply

From Robert Warren: "I find two powerful fleets are enough to carry out 
invasions, since I can only just afford new bombs, missiles and facilities to 
support them both."

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5.2.3 Maximise ships' loadouts

Bershe writes: "Always make sure ALL of your ships have a shield generator and 
are fully loaded." This is particularly important in later battles, when you 
start using and attacking full stacks of ships, and the main limitation on 
fleet power is how many vessels you can stack in one fleet.

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5.2.4 Fighters create a diversion

Early in the game, use fighters to swarm around enemy flagships: The fighters 
will mostly die, but they will soak a lot of enemy firepower in the process, 
giving time for your capital ships to do the real damage. From Mega Products: 
"You'll lose several each battle but they're a cheap screen for your flagships 
and have enough AI to be able to look after themselves."

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______________________________________________________________________________

5.3 Empire Building
______________________________________________________________________________


5.3.1 Defend first, attack later, and only deploy just before you are attacked

From Richard Wesson: "There is no decisive technology, just incremental 
improvements. I can keep the Dargslans away with: 3 Starbase-2s, 5 Meson 
Projectors, and Hypershield. This combo takes down their usual fleet of three 
flagships 15 cruisers 60 fighters in pretty good order. I don't have 3 
starbases everywhere; I just keep three ready when I see that nasty green 
fleet coming. But it is slow! There is a lot of production/building before you 
have an adequate force for invasion." The ability to deploy pre-produced units 
and bases from store is very useful. Pre-produced Starbases can be added to 
system defenses immediately, unlike colony based buildings, that cannot be 
pre-produced, and so may not get completed in the time between invaders being 
spotted and arriving. A highly aggressive strategy works if you can capture a 
significant proportion of your enemy's colonies very quickly. If not, they 
will start sending fleets to attack your colonies.

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5.3.2 High tax paying, but happy citizens

From Doug Jacobs: "Keep the people happy, and taxes high (very high or 
demanding preferable)." I suggest striving for Demanding or Oppressive 
taxation >:) . Ensure highly populated worlds have a lot of morale boasting 
buildings - meaning at least one of each type they can build, plus a pair of 
Police Stations. This works well on planets which have a lot of room to build, 
but might not be a feasible for all planets. Captured alien colonies cannot 
build many morale increasing buildings (mostly you are stuck with Police 
Stations), and hate you from the start, so your options are more limited. 
Don't build secondary revenue raising buildings (like Traders' Spaceports) 
when you can construct things that raise morale instead - in the long term, 
ultra-high taxation will contribute far more to your treasury.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.3.3 Research everything and build the best

Doug Jacobs wrote: "Naturally you've researched _everything_ [available at 
your current rank] right? Build the best of what you've got." You start the 
game technologically backward in comparison to other aliens. Research is 
fundamental to beating most of the alien races in combat. Fleet sizes and 
planetary deployments are capped, so you can't rely on overwhelming (low-tech) 
numbers in most circumstances. Where you can attempt to use overwhelming 
numbers (for example wave assaults), you'll probably find that the opposition 
can build their high-tech replacements faster than you can turn out low-tech 
replacements. Research also streamlines your colony operations, allowing new 
building types that tend to do what older buildings but better, or using less 
space for the same result, allowing more buildings in colonies.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.3.4 Use the ground on planets wisely

The main long term limitation on colony development is how much space is 
available for building. Imperium Galactica is not a simulation, it's a game, 
and consequently you'll find oddities like planet Earth only able to sustain 
20 buildings... Try to plan a few buildings ahead, and reserve space for large 
buildings that will be hard to fit in later. Later in the game, don't be 
afraid to demolish and rebuild a poorly positioned building if doing so will 
allow you to build several others. Accept that some planets simply won't be 
able to construct everything, and restrict development to essentials. For 
example, a Traders' Spaceports may be a nice money spinner in a low population 
colony, but they occupy a lot of space that might be better used providing 
facilities to support higher taxation of the resident population. 
Alternatively consider that Nuclear Plants are far cheaper than Fusion, but 
they occupy the same space and Fusion Plants have three or four times the 
energy output of Nuclear. Where possible, plan military buildings so that they 
can provide a useful defense. For example, group several towards the centre of 
the colony, making it hard for large numbers of enemy tanks to get near, and 
increasing the chance of the guns on these buildings doing any significant 
damage.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.3.5 Maximise production

From bershe: "Build all three types of plants [factories] (weapon, ship, 
equipment) on ALL your planets. This will greatly improve your war machine." 
You can only build one of each type of factory per colony. 

On normal difficulty setting, new spacecraft will be delivered with a partial 
set of weapons. In some cases (for example, fully equipped Cruiser 3s), 
production of weapons may be accelerated significantly by producing ships you 
don't need. These are added to a reserve fleet and immediately stripped of 
most of their weapons. The weapons are then re-deployed on the ships that will 
make up your main fighting force, maximising their loadout in a relatively 
short space of time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------



==============================================================================

6. CHEATING AND EDITING

==============================================================================


6.1 What are the cheat codes?

From GT's former site: "While in the game hold down SHIFT, and type KAROLY. 
This will activate the cheat codes. Then just hit the correct key to activate 
a cheat. The following is a list of keys and what they will do: 

- C = All colonies and inventions 
- C = Second time gives you cheats on planets 
- V = +100,000 credits 
- 5 = Lieutenant 
- 6 = Captain 
- 7 = Commander 
- 8 = Admiral 
- 9 = Grand Admiral 

There are some side effects to using cheat codes. For instance, When the cheat 
codes are activated in IG there are some minor graphical glitches in the lower 
left hand corner of the game. These appear to be 4 flashing '0's stacked on 
top of each other. Also the story line gets out of whack if you skip levels. 
If you increase your rank to 5, you will see the map to the whole galaxy. If 
you move your fleet to an area you are not supposed to be in yet, and reduce 
your rank back to 1, you will lose your fleet."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6.2 Are there any editors available?

Yes. An editor was written by David Scouten at ZoneSoft Software, called 
"IGEdit", which allows changes to things like credits and known research. The 
most recent version is 1.36, size approximately 75KB. It is available from 
various cheat sites, including 
http://www.timsvault.com/pcgames_i/impgal_moned.htm . 

A smaller (1KB) file is available for the UGE game editor, written by dark88, 
which gives additional cash. Again this is available from various cheat sites, 
including http://www.timsvault.com/pcgames_i/impgal_credit.htm .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6.3 How do I hex edit a saved game?

From Ron Blue: "Before you do this you should have made and saved to the 
planet under the equipment option seven fighter, seven tanks, and seven radar 
cars. The number seven is rare so this is likely to help you avoid problems 
but three would work also. First make two copies of a saved file under two 
different names. Next run your xtree program or ztree [I assume any hex editor 
will work here]. Now load up the save file which is the last one you just 
made. Now search for the name of a planet that has a spaceport. 

For discussion lets assume you did this for New Caroline: Search through the 
file until the name shows up. You now have found the New Caroline section in 
the save file. You will notice that 07 00 00 00 00 00 will show up early in 
the file and that other patterns of 07 00 00 00 exist. The first 07 is the 
number of fighters you have stored at the space port at the planet New 
Caroline. 

Go to the 07 and type in FF 20. You now have about 9000 fighters if you saved 
the file as this time. There are a total of six types of fighters that you 
will research and develop. Therefore, you can go ahead and change: 
07 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 to FF 20 FF 20 FF 20 FF 20 FF 20 FF 20 
You now have about 9000 fighters of each type that will show up as you 
research and develop them at the planet New Caroline. 

Now look for the next 07. This will be seven tanks. Therefore change: 
07 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 to FF 20 FF 20 FF 20 FF 20 
You now have about 9000 tanks of each of the four types which will show up as 
soon as you have researched and developed them. 

The next 07 is seven radar cars. Therefore change: 
07 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 to FF 20 FF 20 FF 20 FF 20 
You now have about 9000 radar cars and missile cars of different types. Save 
the file after escaping from the edit option. 

Now run the program Imperium Galactica and go the equipment part under the 
planet New Caroline. You will notice that you have hundreds of fighters, tanks 
and radar cars at New Caroline. Delete all of them under each category which 
will give you about 9000 for each category. They will be stored under your 
general account. You will need the tanks and fighters to win the game quickly. 
Sell the radar cars for 10,000 under the production part of the program. Your 
income can be as high as 99 million. Remember the extra equipment that you 
have given yourself will only show up after you have developed the new 
equipment."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------



==============================================================================

7. TECHNICAL ISSUES

==============================================================================


7.1 Where can I get help with a technical problem?

In the first instance refer to the official technical support FAQ, 
http://www.atarisupport.com/faq/imperiumgalactica_pc.asp .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.2 What does the "Change video mode during animations" setup option do?

Disabling this option ("-") may solve problems with the video animations 
freezing. Enabling this option ("+") may solve non-video related graphics 
corruptions.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.3 Why doesn't my Soundblaster compatible card work?

Only 100% compatible cards are supported, and not all that claim to be are. Or 
so the story goes. PAS and Ensonique are known not to work, but there may be 
others. Running the game under Windows 9x seems to be more forgiving than DOS. 
Lastly consider utilities like VDMSound. Although the game runs without sound, 
you'll miss a lot of background plot, and may miss important notification of 
attacks and new messages.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.4 How can I get the game to work in Windows XP/2000/ME?

From The MiL: "[I] clicked the install.exe and the screen clicked to change 
resolution, went black, then dropped me back to the desktop. ... I seem to 
have overlooked a small option called 'CPU SlowDown' under Abandon Loader. 
After slowing my CPU down (WAY down, like 75%) the game played perfectly. ... 
I've been getting all these AT 200 errors and I didn't even think to check for 
a patch. So I downloaded and installed the latest patch for IG1 and VOILA! 
Everything works GREAT, and there's none of this CPU slowdown crap and I got 
rid of that loader altogether. ... I got the sound working by checking out the 
IRQ, DMA and base address of my sound card's legacy driver under the device 
manager and then using the game's manual sound setup." You may need a third 
party utility to handle sound, such as VDMSound. Gregorius comments: "I have 
XP and IG1 works just fine (except for the sound). Just make sure you have the 
IG1 patch, on some machines the 2nd patch makes things worse, and it's good to 
make sure that you have a SoundCard emulation (at least) at A220/240 I5/7 D1." 

Gregorius provides a translation of Hungarian instructions for installing from 
unpatched versions that refuse to install on newer computers: "(1) Download 
both patches. (2) Extract them into a directory (ie: C:TEMP). First the 1.2 
then the 1.3. 1.3 should overwrite 1.2. (3) Then in DOS prompt enter the CD 
drive (for example D). (4) Then enter the following: C:TEMPinstall . (5) 
Install should start, install the game. (6) After the install is complete copy 
all files from C:TEMP to the install directory of the game. The directory 
where you have installed it." It is not obvious whether this method works with 
other language versions, but the general approach might work, even if the 
precise details of patches and directories need to be modified.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.5 Why does the patched version cause graphics problems with ATI cards?

After patching to 1.3, apply the small ATI card patch available at the bottom 
of this page: 
http://www.atarisupport.com/faq/imperiumgalacticadownloads_pc.asp .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.6 Why does the game crash with error code 200?

This is fixed by the latest patch.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.7 How do I take screenshots?

When running under Windows, you *may* be able to use Print Screen, Alt-Tab out 
of the game, and paste into an application such as Paint. This does not work 
for everyone. When running in DOS, Karthik suggests: "If you want the screen 
capture utility downoad it here: 
ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/st201f.zip . To use the 
utility, unzip all the files into a directory named ST. Then type in ST to 
load the program into your memory. After that run IG1 and then when the 
appropriate cinematics play press ctrl+alt+t together to get a picture 
perfect."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------



==============================================================================

APPENDICES

==============================================================================


______________________________________________________________________________

A. Planet List
______________________________________________________________________________


-------------+---+---------+----------
             |Gr-|Starting |
Planet       |id |Race     |Type
-------------+---+---------+----------
Achilles     | Q |Empire   |Desert
Andromeda 1  | Y |Ecalep   |Neptoplasm
Andromeda 2  | Y |Ecalep   |Neptoplasm
Andromeda 3  | Y |Ecalep   |Neptoplasm
Andromeda 4  | Y |Ecalep   |Neptoplasm
Andromeda 5  | T |         |Neptoplasm
Andromeda 6  | Y |         |Earth
Andromeda 7  | Y |         |Neptoplasm
Center 1     | L |Ychom    |Rocky
Center 2     | L |Ychom    |Cratered
Center 3     | L |Ychom    |Rocky
Center 4     | L |Ychom    |Frozen
Center 5     | L |Ychom    |Cratered
Center 6     | G |Ychom    |Frozen
Center 7     | M |AFT      |Earth
Center 8     | M |AFT      |Desert
Center 9     | M |AFT      |Desert
Center 10    | R |         |Cratered
Center 11    | M |         |Desert
Center 12    | L |         |Desert
Center 13    | L |         |Frozen
Center 14    | L |         |Earth
Center 15    | K |         |Rocky
Center 16    | L |         |Frozen
Centronom    | L |Empire   |Desert
Earth        | F |Empire   |Earth
Edgepolis    | K |Empire   |Desert
Exterior 1   | P |Morgath  |Frozen
Exterior 2   | P |Morgath  |Desert
Exterior 3   | P |Morgath  |Desert
Exterior 4   | V |Sullep   |Rocky
Exterior 5   | V |Sullep   |Rocky
Exterior 6   | V |Sullep   |Cratered
Exterior 7   | W |Sullep   |Desert
Exterior 8   | W |Sullep   |Liquid
Exterior 9   | W |Sullep   |Frozen
Exterior 10  | X |Sullep   |Frozen
Exterior 11  | X |Sullep   |Liquid
Exterior 12  | X |Sullep   |Desert
Exterior 13  | R |Sullep   |Cratered
Exterior 14  | P |         |Rocky
Exterior 15  | R |         |Liquid
Exterior 16  | V |         |Rocky
Exterior 17  | B |         |Rocky
Exterior 18  | X |         |Neptoplasm
Exterior 19**| P |         |Frozen
Exterior 19**| U |         |Cratered
Exterior 20  | U |         |Earth
Exterior 21  | V |         |Liquid
Exterior 22  | W |         |Frozen
Garthog 1    | L |Garthog  |Earth
Garthog 2    | R |Garthog  |Frozen
Garthog 3    | R |Garthog  |Frozen
Garthog 4    | Q |Garthog  |Rocky
Garthog 5    | Q |Garthog  |Cratered
Giantropolis | F |Empire   |Rocky
Magellan 1   | N |FNS      |Rocky
Magellan 2   | N |FNS      |Earth
Magellan 3   | N |FNS      |Earth
Magellan 4   | N |FNS      |Rocky
Magellan 5   | S |FNS      |Rocky
Magellan 6   | N |FNS      |Cratered
Magellan 7   | N |FNS      |Desert
Magellan 8   | O |         |Neptoplasm
Magellan 9   | T |         |Desert
Magellan 10  | S |         |Frozen
Magellen 11  | R |         |Rocky
Myridan      | K |Empire   |Rocky
Naxos        | Q |Empire   |Earth
New Caroline | Q |Empire   |Earth
Outer 1      | A |Drib     |Liquid
Outer 2      | A |Drib     |Desert
Outer 3      | A |Drib     |Rocky
Outer 4      | A |Drib     |Rocky
Outer 5      | C |Dargslan |Earth
Outer 6      | C |Dargslan |Earth
Outer 7      | C |Dargslan |Desert
Outer 8      | C |Dargslan |Earth
Outer 9      | I |Dargslan |Liquid
Outer 10     | E |Dargslan |Earth
Outer 11     | I |Dargslan |Liquid
Outer 12     | E |Dargslan |Liquid
Outer 13     | J |Dargslan |Liquid
Outer 14     | J |Dargslan |Liquid
Outer 15     | F |         |Liquid
Outer 16     | A |         |Earth
Outer 17     | A |         |Earth
Outer 18     | B |         |Desert
Outer 19     | G |         |Desert
Outer 20     | H |         |Frozen
Outer 21     | C |         |Frozen
Outer 22     | H |         |Liquid
Outer 23     | I |         |Liquid
Outer 24     | O |         |Earth
Outer 25     | E |         |Neptoplasm
Outer 26     | J |         |Earth
Outer 27***  | E |         |Frozen
Outer 28     | E |         |Rocky
Outer 29     | O |         |Liquid
Outer 30     | E |         |Cratered
Persol 1     | G |         |Cratered
Persol 2     | H |         |Liquid
Persol 3     | G |         |Liquid
San Sterling | Q |Empire   |Frozen
Zeuson       | K |Empire   |Rocky
-------------+---+---------+----------
Notes: 
** = Yes, there are two planets named Exterior 19. 
*** = Exceptionally small buildable area.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

______________________________________________________________________________

B. Research Science Level Requirements
______________________________________________________________________________


Here is a table showing item, rank at which the research first becomes 
available, number of Dev Centres of each type required, research credit cost 
(expressed as basic cost/maximum rushed cost), and any pre-requisites. Items 
that are available at the start of Commander rank (and so do not require 
research) are excluded.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------+-----------------------
                |    | Number of Dev. Centres | Cost  |
Item            |Rank|Civ |Mech|Comp| AI |Mil |(000cr)|Pre-requisites
----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------+-----------------------
SPACECRAFT      |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |
Adv Spy Sat     | A  |  0 |  2 |  3 |  3 |  2 |   7/12|Spy Satellite.
Colonizat. Ship | A  |  2 |  2 |  3 |  2 |  0 | 60/100|Field Arry, Light Shld.
Cruiser 1       | Co |  0 |  2 |  1 |  1 |  1 |  12/24|Light Shield.
Cruiser 2       | A  |  0 |  2 |  3 |  3 |  4 |  28/50|Field Array, Pulse
                |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |Laser, Med Shield.
Cruiser 3       | GA |  1 |  4 |  5 |  4 |  7 |  40/70|Hyperdrv 5, Medium
                |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |Shield, Bomb 2.
Destroyer 2     | Co |  0 |  2 |  1 |  1 |  2 |   ?/32|Pulse Laser.
Destroyer 3     | A  |  0 |  3 |  4 |  3 |  4 |  26/44|Field Arry, Plasma Gun,
                |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |Hyperdrive 4.
Fighter 3       | Co |  0 |  1 |  2 |  2 |  2 |   8/12|
Fighter 4       | A  |  0 |  3 |  2 |  2 |  4 |  10/18|Fighter 3.
Fighter 5       | A  |  1 |  5 |  4 |  4 |  5 |  18/22|
Fighter 6       | GA |  0 |  4 |  4 |  5 |  7 |  20/24|Missile 2.
Flagship 2      | A  |  3 |  3 |  4 |  2 |  5 | 90/150|Phased Array, Hvy
                |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |Shield, Hyprdrv 4.
Flagship 3      | GA |  4 |  5 |  5 |  5 |  7 |120/180|Flagship 2, Meson Gun,
                |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |Bomb 2.
Hubble 2        | A  |  0 |  5 |  5 |  6 |  4 |   6/10|Spy Sate, Field Array.
Orbital Factory | Co |  1 |  1 |  1 |  1 |  1 |  24/40|
Space Base 2    | A  |  3 |  3 |  4 |  3 |  5 | 68/110|Pulse Laser, Ion Gun,
                |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |Space Base 1.
Space Base 3    | GA |  6 |  4 |  5 |  3 |  6 |140/200|UV Pulse Lasr, Ion Gun,
                |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |Missile 2.
Spy Satellite   | Co |  0 |  1 |  1 |  1 |  1 |    5/8|Survey Satellite.
----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------+-----------------------
EQUIPMENT       |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |
Cargo Pod       | Co |  1 |  0 |  0 |  0 |  0 |   6/10|
Field Array     | Co |  0 |  2 |  2 |  1 |  2 |  11/18|Radar Array.
Fuzzbox ECM     | A  |  1 |  2 |  3 |  3 |  2 | 7/11.2|
Heavy Cargo Pod | A  |  3 |  4 |  2 |  0 |  2 |   9/14|Cargo Pod.
Heavy Shield    | A  |  0 |  1 |  4 |  2 |  6 |  13/24|Med Shield, Neutron Gn.
Hyperdrive 2    | Co |  0 |  2 |  0 |  0 |  1 |   8/14|Hyperdrive 1.
Hyperdrive 3    | A  |  1 |  3 |  2 |  0 |  1 |  10/18|Hyperdrive 2.
Hyperdrive 4    | A  |  3 |  4 |  2 |  0 |  2 |  12/20|Hyperdrive 3.
Hyperdrive 5    | GA |  4 |  6 |  1 |  0 |  4 |  15/24|Hyperdrive 4.
Medium Shield   | A  |  0 |  0 |  3 |  1 |  4 |  12/20|Light Shield.
Phased Array    | A  |  1 |  4 |  4 |  2 |  4 |  13/22|Field Array.
Shocker ECM     | A  |  2 |  3 |  4 |  5 |  3 | 8/12.6|Fuzzbox, Missle 2.
SuperHvy Shield | GA |  1 |  3 |  6 |  4 |  7 |  16/30|Heavy Shield.
----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------+-----------------------
WEAPONS         |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |
Behemoth        | GA |  3 |  4 |  5 |  3 |  5 |  18/32|Heavy Tank.
Bomb 2          | A  |  1 |  1 |  4 |  3 |  2 |   6/10|Bomb 1.
Heavy Tank      | A  |  2 |  3 |  3 |  2 |  5 |  15/24|Medium Tank.
Hvy Rocket Sled | A  |  2 |  5 |  4 |  3 |  6 |  14/24|Rocket Sled.
Ion Gun         | Co |  0 |  1 |  1 |  1 |  2 |    5/8|
Medium Tank     | Co |  1 |  1 |  1 |  1 |  2 |  12/20|Light Tank.
Meson Gun       | GA |  0 |  5 |  6 |  4 |  8 |  18/28|Neutron Gun.
Missile 2       | A  |  0 |  2 |  4 |  4 |  3 |   7/12|Missile 1.
Mul-head Missile| A  |  0 |  3 |  5 |  3 |  6 |  11/18|Missile 2, Bomb 2.
Neutron Gun     | A  |  0 |  3 |  5 |  3 |  6 |  11/18|Plasma Gun.
Plasma Gun      | A  |  0 |  2 |  4 |  2 |  4 |   7/12|Ion Gun.
Pulse Laser     | Co |  0 |  2 |  1 |  0 |  2 |    5/8|Laser.
Rocket Sled     | Co |  1 |  2 |  2 |  1 |  2 | 7.8/14|
UV Laser        | A  |  0 |  2 |  3 |  1 |  4 | 6.5/12|Pulse Lasr, Solar Plnt.
UV Pulse Laser  | A  |  0 |  4 |  4 |  2 |  5 |   ?/14|UV Laser.
Virus Bomb      | A  |  1 |  2 |  2 |  2 |  7 |  20/30|Bomb 2.
----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------+-----------------------
BUILDINGS       |    |    |    |    |    |    |       |
Bunker          | A  |  3 |  3 |  2 |  0 |  3 |    7/8|
Field Telescope | Co |  1 |  1 |  2 |  2 |  2 |  10/14|
Fortress        | A  |  4 |  3 |  2 |  1 |  4 |  10/18|Ion Gun.
Fusion Projector| A  |  4 |  3 |  3 |  2 |  4 |18.3/34|Plasma Projector.
HyperShield     | A  |  3 |  2 |  4 |  2 |  4 |  16/30|Inversion Shield.
Inversion Shield| Co |  1 |  2 |  2 |  1 |  2 |   8/14|
Meson Projector | GA |  5 |  4 |  4 |  4 |  6 |  40/60|Fusion Projector.
Phased Telescope| A  |  2 |  2 |  3 |  4 |  2 |  10/20|
Phood Factory   | Co |  2 |  2 |  2 |  0 |  0 |   6/10|
Plasma Projector| Co |  2 |  1 |  2 |  1 |  2 |  10/14|
Solar Plant     | Co |  2 |  1 |  1 |  1 |  1 |   9/12|
Stronghold      | A  |  5 |  4 |  4 |  2 |  5 |22/29.6|Plasma Gun.
Trade Centre    | A  |  2 |  3 |  3 |  1 |  1 | 6.7/12|
----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------+-----------------------
Item            |Rank|Civ |Mech|Comp| AI |Mil | Cost  |Pre-requisites
                |    | Number of Dev. Centres | (000) |
----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-------+-----------------------
Rank (at which research first appears): 
* Co = Commander 
* A = Admiral 
* GA = Grand Admiral

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

______________________________________________________________________________

C. Technology Tree
______________________________________________________________________________


The diagram below shows the relationship between pre-requisites for developing 
new technology. It excludes items that do not need to be developed or are not 
related to any other item. New technology also needs science level 
requirements to be met - see appendix Research Science Level Requirements 
above.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Survey Satellite-->Spy Satellite-->Adv Spy Sat
                    |
                    v
               ,-->Hubble 2
               |
Radar Array-->Field Array--------->Phased Array----.
               | | |                               |
               | | '-------------.                 |
               | '------------.  |                 |
               v              |  |                 |
   ,----->Colonization Ship   |  |                 |
   |                          |  |                 |
Light Shield-->Medium Shield-]|[]|[->Heavy Shield-]|[->SuperHvy Shield
   |              | |         |  |         ^  |    |
   '->Cruiser 1   | |         |  |         |  |    '----.
                  | |         |  |         |  '-------. |
                  | '--------]|[]|[-------]|[---.     | |
                  |           |  |         |    |     v v
                  |   ,-------'  |      ,-]|[--]|[-->Flagship 2-.
                  |   |          v      |  |    |               |
                  |   |  ,->Destroyer 3 |  |    v               |
                  |   |  |    ^         |  |  Cruiser 3         |
                  v   v  |    |         |  |    ^ ^             |
               Cruiser 2 |    | ,-------'  |    | |             |
                      ^  |    | |          |    | '----------.  |
                      |  |    | |          |    |            |  |
Hyperdrive 1-->2-->3-]|[]|[->Hyperdrive 4-]|[->Hyperdrive 5  |  |
                      |  |                 |                 |  |
 .->Fortress   ,-----]|[-'      ,----------'                 |  |
 |             |      |         |                            |  |
Ion Gun-->Plasma Gun-]|[-->Neutron Gun-->Meson Gun           |  |
 | |                  |                      |               |  |
 | '-----------------]|[------.              |               |  |
 |                    |       |              | ,------------]|[-'
 |    Space Base 1    |       |              | |             |
 |           |        |       |              v v             |
 |           v        |       |            Flagship 3        |
 '--->Space Base 2    |       |               ^              |
             ^        |       |               |              |
             |        |       v               |              |
        ,---]|[------]|[->Space Base 3        |              |
        |    |        |       ^               |              |
        |    | ,------'       '-------.       |              |
        |    | |                      |       |              |
        |    | | ,->Destroyer 2       |       |              |
        |    | | |                    |       |              |
Laser--]|[->Pulse Laser-->UV Laser-->UV Pulse |              |
        |                  ^         Laser    |              |
        |                  |                  |              |
        |      Solar Plant-'                  |              |
        |                                     |              |
        |              ,----------------------'              |
        |              | ,-----------------------------------'
        |              | |
Bomb 1-]|[----------->Bomb 2-->Virus Bomb
        |                |
        '----.           |
             |           v
Missile 1-->Missile 2-->Mul-head Missile
             | |
             | '->Fighter 6
             v
Fuzzbox---->Shocker ECM

Fighter 3-->Fighter 4

Cargo Pod-->Heavy Cargo Pod

Light Tank-->Medium Tank-->Heavy Tank-->Behemoth

Rocket Sled-->Hvy Rocket Sled

Plasma Projector-->Fusion Projector-->Meson Projector

Inversion Shield-->HyperShield


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[End]

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