Difference between revisions of "Custom Race wizard"

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Revision as of 05:47, 24 June 2009

More Stars! Dialogs

More about designing races

View Race Help
The View Race dialog is a read-only version of the Custom Race wizard. Both dialogs contain the same information and thus display the same help.

Here are the steps in creating your own player race. If you haven't defined a race before, finish reading this topic before you start clicking.

The 6-step Custom Race wizard allows you to tailor the race you play in Stars!. Here, you define a race's strengths and weaknesses. The trick lies in balancing advantages with disadvantages in order to achieve a mix that makes the best use of the stuff of creation -- units of primordial ooze called advantage points.

In each step, the box in the upper right corner of the dialog shows the current number of unused advantage points.

Advantage Points left.png

With each advantage selected, the number decreases. Advantage points go down a little for slight advantages, and a lot for juicy ones. Before you finish, the number of advantage points must be greater than or equal to zero. When the number becomes negative and turns red, your race has missed the boat to Creationville. To get back in the black, select a few disadvantages (one of the catches of playing God).

Use the Back and Next buttons to move between steps while trying to compensate for your greedy ambitions.

  • Note: Choose your race attributes wisely. Once you begin the game, the race is yours for the duration. You can view your characteristics, but you won't be able to change them.

Step 1: Basic Definition

Custom Race wizard 1.png

Specify/view your race type, name and use of leftover advantage points:

<tooltip text="Race Name and Password">Race Name and Password
Name your race and if you wish, choose a password. The password chosen when a race is created is attached to the race file. While you may change the password during the game, that change applies only to the current game. Opening that race file for use in another game will require proper entry of the original password. Also in order to open or view the race file, you need the password. You may specify a race name only here in step 1.</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Predefined Races">Predefined Races
Selecting a predefined race automatically presets all of the options in steps 2 through 6. Choosing a predefined races doesn't prevent you from changing any option -- they are only provided as a time saver. Each predefined race has specific strengths and weaknesses you can use in determining your playing style and strategies.

Use the Custom Race wizard to learn about the pre-selected attributes for each predefined race and use a race as a starting point for one of your own:
1. Select a predefined race.
2. Use the Back and Next buttons to step through the wizard, noting the settings.
3. Go back to step 1 and select the predefined race that looked the best for your purposes.
4. Fine tune that race using as much of the wizard as necessary.</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Leftover Advantage Points -- Surface Minerals">Leftover Advantage Points -- Surface Minerals
You will get 10kT of surface minerals for each leftover advantage point. For example, if there are 20 unused points, you would receive a total of 200kT of minerals. Stars! weights the distribution in favor of the rarest minerals. These will be available immediately.</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Leftover Advantage Points -- Mines">Leftover Advantage Points -- Mines
You will get one additional mine for every two leftover advantage points. These will be available immediately.</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Leftover Advantage Points -- Factories">Leftover Advantage Points -- Factories
You will get one additional factory for every 5 leftover advantage points. These will be available immediately.</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Leftover Advantage Points -- Defenses">Leftover Advantage Points -- Defenses
You will get one additional defense installation for every 10 leftover advantage points. These will be available immediately.</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Leftover Advantage Points -- Mineral Concentration">Leftover Advantage Points – Mineral Concentration
The concentration of the mineral on your home world that would have been poorest is improved by 1% for every 3 leftover advantage points. Increasing the concentration increases the rate at which the mineral is mined (mining, of course, reducing the concentration over time).</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Race Emblem">Race Emblem
Race Emblem.png
Select a race emblem from the collection. This emblem identifies your fleets when they are displayed in the Selection Summary pane. In a multi-player game you may not get the emblem you select if another player chooses the same emblem.</tooltip>

Step 2: Primary Traits

Custom Race wizard 2.png

Choose the primary characteristics for your race. Each type gives you a specific and powerful set of strengths.

<tooltip text="Hyper Expansion">Hyper Expansion
Starting Advantages
Bullet.png Growth rate is twice the value shown on step 4 of the Custom Race wizard.
Bullet.png One armed scout
Bullet.png Three mini-colony ships
Exclusive Hulls
Bullet.png Mini-Colonizer hull
Bullet.png Meta Morph hull (completely flexible)
Exclusive Engines
Bullet.png Settler's Delight engine--Warp 6 for free, but only for Mini-Colonizer hull
Exclusive Components
Bullet.png Flux Capacitor increases the damage done by all beam weapons on Hyper-Expansion ships by 20%
Limitations
Bullet.png Cannot build stargates
Bullet.png Maximum population limitation is ½ what the planet would normally support for a race with your environment requirements</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Super Stealth">Super Stealth
Starting Advantages
Bullet.png Tech level 5 in Electronics
Bullet.png One scout
Bullet.png One colony ship
Exclusive Hulls
Bullet.png Rogue hull
Bullet.png Stealth Bomber hull
Exclusive Components
Bullet.png Pick Pocket scanner that sees enemy fleet cargo in same location, allowing you to steal that cargo using the cargo gauge (and transfer dialog)
Bullet.png Chameleon scanner with a scanning range of 160|45 plus a 20% cloak
Bullet.png Robber Baron scanner that sees enemy fleet cargo and enemy planet surface minerals
Bullet.png Shadow Shield with a strength of 75 plus a 35% cloak
Bullet.png Depleted Neutronium with an armor strength of 200 plus a 25% cloak
Bullet.png 75% Transport Cloak
Bullet.png 85% Ultra-Stealth Cloak
Bullet.png All ships and starbases built by Super-Stealth races have an inherent 75% cloak
Exclusive Abilities
Bullet.png Travel through opponent's mine fields at one warp speed faster than the limit stated in the Technology Browser
Bullet.png Gain research by spying and combining it with your own research. Gain resources in each field equal to ½ the average spent in that field by all races (including yourself) while at least one other race exists
</tooltip>

<tooltip text="War Monger">War Monger
Starting Advantages
Bullet.png Tech level 5 in Weapons
Bullet.png Tech Level 1 in Propulsion and Energy
Bullet.png One armed scout
Bullet.png One colony ship
Exclusive Hulls
Bullet.png Battle Cruiser hull
Bullet.png Dreadnought hull
Exclusive Weapons
Bullet.png Gattling Neutrino Cannon
Bullet.png Blunderbuss
Exclusive Abilities
Bullet.png ½ square movement bonus in battle
Bullet.png Colonists attack better
Bullet.png All weapons cost 25% less to build
Bullet.png Learns the exact design of enemy ships as soon as they are scanned
Limitations
Bullet.png Cannot build mine layers or lay minefields
Bullet.png Limited to building SDI or Missile Battery defenses</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Claim Adjuster">Claim Adjuster
Starting Advantages
Bullet.png Technology level 1 in Energy, Weapons and Propulsion, level 6 in Biotech
Bullet.png Ship capable of terraforming other players' planets from orbit
Exclusive Components
Bullet.png Retro Bomb de-terraforms planets
Bullet.png Orbital Adjuster modifies planet environmental conditions from orbit
Exclusive Weapons
Bullet.png Bombs that de-terraform worlds
Exclusive Abilities
Bullet.png Terraforming is free (and temporary). Each year all planets owned by you are terraformed to the limit of your terraforming technology. The planet reverts to its original condition if it is abandoned or captured by another player.</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Inner Strength">Inner Strength
Starting Advantages
Bullet.png One scout
Bullet.png One colony ship
Exclusive Hulls
Bullet.png Super Freighter hull
Bullet.png Fuel Transport hull
Exclusive Components
Bullet.png Croby Sharmor shield strength 60 plus 65 dp as armor
Bullet.png Fielded Kelarium armor strength 175 plus 50 dp as shield
Bullet.png Speed Trap 20 mines--stops fleets cold
Bullet.png Jammer 10 and Jammer 50 deflects torpedoes
Exclusive Weapons
Bullet.png Mini Gun power 13 range 1 sweeps mines at 208/year
Exclusive Components
Bullet.png Tachyon Detector, reduces the effectiveness of other players cloaks by 5%
Exclusive Abilities
Bullet.png Colonists defend better.
Bullet.png Ships heal faster
Bullet.png Planetary defenses cost 40% less
Bullet.png Your colonists on freighters reproduce at ½ of their maximum rate, beaming down excess babies when orbiting a planet you own
Limitations
Bullet.png Weapons cost 25% more than they do for other races
Bullet.png No Smart, Neutron, Enriched Neutron, Peerless or Annihilator bombs
</tooltip>

     <tooltip text="Space Demolition">Space Demolition
Starting Advantages
Bullet.png Tech level 2 in propulsion and biotech.
Bullet.png One scout
Bullet.png One colony ship
Bullet.png Two mine layers (one standard, one speed trap)
Exclusive Weapons
Bullet.png Mine Dispenser 40, 80, 130 -- standard mines
Bullet.png Heavy Dispenser 50, 110, 200 – more serious fire power
Bullet.png Speed Trap 20, 30, 50 mines -- stops fleets cold
Exclusive Hulls
Bullet.png Mini Mine Layer hull
Bullet.png Super Mine Layer hull
Exclusive Components
Bullet.png Energy Dampener slows all ships in combat by 1
Exclusive Abilities
Bullet.png Mine fields act as non-penetrating scanners. Cloaks work as an absolute percentage against mine scans.
Bullet.png Can travel through opponent's mine fields at two warp speeds faster than the limit stated in the Technology Browser
Bullet.png Can remotely detonate standard minefields
Bullet.png Mine fields decay at a rate of 1% a year per planet enclosed in the field. All other player's fields decay at 4% a year per planet enclosed.
Bullet.png Learn the exact design of any enemy ship that detonates one of your mines</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Packet Physics">Packet Physics
Starting Advantages
Bullet.png Tech 4 in Energy
Bullet.png Two shielded scouts
Bullet.png One colony ship
Bullet.png Two starting planets in non-tiny universes
Exclusive Components
Bullet.png Mass Driver 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13
Bullet.png Mineral packets with built-in penetrating scanners, with a range equal the square of their warp speed
Exclusive Abilities
Bullet.png Mineral packets are smaller and cheaper to build
Bullet.png Sense all players' mineral packets in flight, regardless of location
Bullet.png Learn the exact design of any enemy starbase that uses a mass accelerator to receive a packet you fling
Bullet.png Planets receiving mass packets have a 50% chance of a 1% improvement (terraforming) in an environmental attribute. For every 100kT of a mineral not caught, there is also a 0.1% chance of the overall planet value improving by 1%.
</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Interstellar Traveller">Interstellar Traveller
Starting Advantages
Bullet.png 2 planets with 100/250 stargates (in non-tiny universes only)
Bullet.png Tech 5 in propulsion and construction.
Bullet.png One scout
Bullet.png One colony ship
Bullet.png One destroyer
Bullet.png One privateer
Exclusive Hulls
Bullet.png Stargates with unlimited range and capacity
Exclusive Components
Bullet.png Anti-matter Generator acts as a 200mg anti-matter fuel tank and generates 50mg of fuel every year
Exclusive Abilities
Bullet.png Can transport minerals and colonists in fleets through stargates. The cargo weight is not taken into account when determining the fleet weight versus the gate's limits.
Bullet.png Exceeding the safety limits of stargates is less likely to kill your ships
Bullet.png Stargates cost 25% less
Bullet.png Stargates reveal planetary statistics on all other planets with stargates in range
Limitations
Bullet.png Mass drivers are only half as effective at catching minerals as their rating, are less efficient at flinging minerals, and all mineral packets that are flung will decay, regardless of speed.
</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Alternate Reality">Alternate Reality
Exclusive Hulls
Bullet.png The Death Star is the largest starbase hull ever known
Exclusive Components
Bullet.png Orbital Construction Module that contains viral weapons capable of killing 2000 enemy colonists per year and that colonizes worlds by transforming into an Orbital Fort
Exclusive Abilities
Bullet.png Lives on starbases only, not planets
Bullet.png Starbases are 20% cheaper to build (non-cumulative with Improved Starbases)
Bullet.png Population acts as natural miners and scanners
Bullet.png Remote mine own planets (since they live in orbit).
Bullet.png Maximum population is determined by the size of the starbase, not the planet
Bullet.png Planetary resources grow as Energy Tech Level increases
Limitations
Bullet.png Cannot build planetary installations
Bullet.png Interstellar travel kills 3% of any colonists in the fleet per year</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Jack Of All Trades">Jack Of All Trades
Starting Advantages
Bullet.png Tech 3 in all fields
Bullet.png Two scouts
Bullet.png One colony ship
Bullet.png One medium freighter
Bullet.png One mini miner
Bullet.png One destroyer
Exclusive Components
Bullet.png Scout, Frigate and Destroyer hulls get a built-in scanner with a range equal to 2N / N light years, where N = 10 x Electronics Tech level
Exclusive Abilities
Bullet.png Improves all Costs 75% Extra fields to tech level 4 if the box in step 6 is checked
</tooltip>

Step 3: Secondary Traits

Custom Race wizard 3.png

Specify/view the lesser traits for your race. You'll probably find several traits that won't affect your playing strategy. Each time you choose a trait that prevents you from developing something, you'll gain advantage points you'll be able to use elsewhere or, if you're in the hole, bring the balance closer to being above zero (you have to be above or at zero before you can click on Finish).

Select secondary traits that compliment the profile you chose in step 2:

<tooltip text="Improved Fuel Efficiency (IFE)">Improved Fuel Efficiency (IFE)
Bullet.png Ships burn 15% less fuel
Bullet.png Fuel Mizer and Galaxy Scoop available
Bullet.png Increases starting Prop tech 1 level </tooltip>

<tooltip text="Total Terraforming (TT)">Total Terraforming (TT)
Bullet.png Begin game able to adjust planetary hab values +/- 3%
Bullet.png Up to +/- 30% terraforming available in game
Bullet.png Terraforming costs 30% less </tooltip>

<tooltip text="Advanced Remote Mining (ARM)">Advanced Remote Mining (ARM)
Bullet.png 3 additional mining hulls, 2 additional robots available
Bullet.png Start with 2 Midget Miners </tooltip>

<tooltip text="Improved Starbases (ISB)">Improved Starbases (ISB)
Bullet.png 2 new designs -- Space Dock, capable of building small to medium ships, and Ultra Station, a larger weapons platform
Bullet.png Starbases cloaked by 20%
Bullet.png Starbases cost 20% less </tooltip>

<tooltip text="Generalized Research (GR)">Generalized Research (GR)
Bullet.png Half of total resources devoted to research applied to current field, 15% applied to each other field (totaling 125%)
</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Ultimate Recycling (UR)">Ultimate Recycling (UR)
Bullet.png Scrapping fleets at starbases gives 90% of minerals, 70% of resources
Bullet.png Scrapping at planets gives 45% of minerals, 35% of resources
:Not strictly additive </tooltip>

<tooltip text="Mineral Alchemy (MA)">Mineral Alchemy (MA)
Bullet.png Mineral alchemy costs 25 resources, produced 1 kT of each mineral
</tooltip>

     <tooltip text="No Ramscoop Engines (NRSE)">No Ramscoop Engines (NRSE)
Bullet.png Engines which travel faster than Warp 4 for free unavailable
Bullet.png Interspace-10 available, capable of Warp 10 without damage </tooltip>

<tooltip text="Cheap Engines (CE)">Cheap Engines (CE)
Bullet.png Engines cost 50% less
Bullet.png At speeds over Warp 6, there is a 10% chance engines won't engage
Bullet.png Starting Prop tech increased by 1
</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Only Basic Remote Mining (OBRM)">Only Basic Remote Mining (OBRM)
Bullet.png Only Mini-Miner hull and Robo-Mini-Miner available
Bullet.png Maximum planetary population increased 10%
Bullet.png Over-rides ARM</tooltip>

<tooltip text="No Advanced Scanners (NAS)">No Advanced Scanners (NAS)
Bullet.png Penetrating scanners unavailable
Bullet.png All conventional scanners have double range </tooltip>

<tooltip text="Low Starting Population LSP)">Low Starting Population (LSP)
Bullet.png Starting population is 30% lower (17,500) </tooltip>

<tooltip text="Bleeding Edge Technology (BET)">Bleeding Edge Technology (BET)
Bullet.png New tech initially costs twice as much
Bullet.png Cost normal when all tech exceeded by 1 level
Bullet.png Miniaturization is 5% per level, up to 80% instead of 4% up to 64%</tooltip>

<tooltip text="Regenerating Shields (RS)">Regenerating Shields (RS)
Bullet.png All shields 40% stronger than listed
Bullet.png Shields regenerate 10% after each round of battle
Bullet.png Armor at 50% of listed strength</tooltip>

Step 4: Population Growth Factors

Custom Race wizard 4.png

Specify/view your race's habitable range and its growth rate under optimum conditions, using the following topics as guidelines:

Growth Conditions

Maximum Population Growth

Step 5: Population Efficiency

Custom Race wizard 5.png

Specify/view the efficiency of your colonists, mines and factories for all the planets you inhabit.

Step 5: Population Efficiency (Player Race)

Step 6: Research Costs

Custom Race wizard 6.png

Specify/view how efficiently your scientists use planetary resources in their research. Changes are reflected in the advantage points box in the upper-right corner of the dialog.

Selecting Costs 75% extra increases the available advantage points.

Selecting Costs 50% less decreases the available advantage points.

If you check All 'Costs 75% extra' research fields start at Tech 3, then it is to your advantage to have as many research fields 'Costs 75% extra' as makes sense, as this option costs a flat fee.

If you have chosen the Jack-of-All-Trades primary trait, this is '...start at Tech 4'

Finish and Save

When you click on Finish, Stars! verifies that you have created a valid race, asks you to reenter your password (if you have specified one), and then opens the Save As dialog.

1. Type a file name (for example, gump).

2. Click OK.

The file name under which the race is stored can be different from the name you've given the race. However, you may wish to make some reference to the race name in the race filename to help you keep track of numerous saved races.

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