Custom Race wizard

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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.

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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.

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

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

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>

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Step 2: Primary Traits

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

Hyper Expansion <tooltip text="(HE)">Hyper Expansion Starting Advantages Growth rate is twice the value shown on step 4 of the Custom Race wizard. One armed scout Three mini-colony ships Exclusive Hulls Mini-Colonizer hull Meta Morph hull (completely flexible) Exclusive Engines Settler's Delight engine--Warp 6 for free, but only for Mini-Colonizer hull Exclusive Components Flux Capacitor increases the damage done by all beam weapons on Hyper-Expansion ships by 20% Limitations Cannot build stargates Maximum population limitation is ½ what the planet would normally support for a race with your environment requirements</tooltip> Super Stealth <tooltip text="(SS)">Super Stealth Starting Advantages Tech level 5 in Electronics One scout One colony ship Exclusive Hulls Rogue hull Stealth Bomber hull Exclusive Components Pick Pocket scanner that sees enemy fleet cargo in same location, allowing you to steal that cargo using the cargo gauge (and transfer dialog) Chameleon scanner with a scanning range of 160|45 plus a 20% cloak Robber Baron scanner that sees enemy fleet cargo and enemy planet surface minerals Shadow Shield with a strength of 75 plus a 35% cloak Depleted Neutronium with an armor strength of 200 plus a 25% cloak 75% Transport Cloak 85% Ultra-Stealth Cloak All ships and starbases built by Super-Stealth races have an inherent 75% cloak Exclusive Abilities Travel through opponent's mine fields at one warp speed faster than the limit stated in the Technology Browser 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> War Monger <tooltip text="(WM)">War Monger Starting Advantages Tech level 5 in Weapons Tech Level 1 in Propulsion and Energy One armed scout One colony ship Exclusive Hulls Battle Cruiser hull Dreadnought hull Exclusive Weapons Gattling Neutrino Cannon Blunderbuss Exclusive Abilities ½ square movement bonus in battle Colonists attack better All weapons cost 25% less to build Learns the exact design of enemy ships as soon as they are scanned Limitations Cannot build mine layers or lay minefields Limited to building SDI or Missile Battery defenses</tooltip> Claim Adjuster <tooltip text="(CA)">Claim Adjuster Starting Advantages Technology level 1 in Energy, Weapons and Propulsion, level 6 in Biotech Ship capable of terraforming other players' planets from orbit Exclusive Components Retro Bomb de-terraforms planets Orbital Adjuster modifies planet environmental conditions from orbit Exclusive Weapons Bombs that de-terraform worlds Exclusive Abilities 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> Inner Strength <tooltip text="(IS)">Inner Strength Starting Advantages One scout One colony ship Exclusive Hulls Super Freighter hull Fuel Transport hull Exclusive Components Croby Sharmor shield strength 60 plus 65 dp as armor Fielded Kelarium armor strength 175 plus 50 dp as shield Speed Trap 20 mines--stops fleets cold Jammer 10 and Jammer 50 deflects torpedoes Exclusive Weapons Mini Gun power 13 range 1 sweeps mines at 208/year Exclusive Components Tachyon Detector, reduces the effectiveness of other players cloaks by 5% Exclusive Abilities Colonists defend better. Ships heal faster Planetary defenses cost 40% less Your colonists on freighters reproduce at ½ of their maximum rate, beaming down excess babies when orbiting a planet you own Limitations Weapons cost 25% more than they do for other races No Smart, Neutron, Enriched Neutron, Peerless or Annihilator bombs </tooltip>

Space Demolition <tooltip text="(SD)">Space Demolition Starting Advantages Tech level 2 in propulsion and biotech. One scout One colony ship Two mine layers (one standard, one speed trap) Exclusive Weapons Mine Dispenser 40, 80, 130 -- standard mines Heavy Dispenser 50, 110, 200 – more serious fire power Speed Trap 20, 30, 50 mines -- stops fleets cold Exclusive Hulls Mini Mine Layer hull Super Mine Layer hull Exclusive Components Energy Dampener slows all ships in combat by 1 Exclusive Abilities Mine fields act as non-penetrating scanners. Cloaks work as an absolute percentage against mine scans. Can travel through opponent's mine fields at two warp speeds faster than the limit stated in the Technology Browser Can remotely detonate standard minefields 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. Learn the exact design of any enemy ship that detonates one of your mines</tooltip> Packet Physics <tooltip text="(PP)">Packet Physics Starting Advantages Tech 4 in Energy Two shielded scouts One colony ship Two starting planets in non-tiny universes Exclusive Components Mass Driver 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 Mineral packets with built-in penetrating scanners, with a range equal the square of their warp speed Exclusive Abilities Mineral packets are smaller and cheaper to build Sense all players' mineral packets in flight, regardless of location Learn the exact design of any enemy starbase that uses a mass accelerator to receive a packet you fling 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> Interstellar Traveller <tooltip text="(IT)">Interstellar Traveller Starting Advantages 2 planets with 100/250 stargates (in non-tiny universes only) Tech 5 in propulsion and construction. One scout One colony ship One destroyer One privateer Exclusive Hulls Stargates with unlimited range and capacity Exclusive Components Anti-matter Generator acts as a 200mg anti-matter fuel tank and generates 50mg of fuel every year Exclusive Abilities 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. Exceeding the safety limits of stargates is less likely to kill your ships Stargates cost 25% less Stargates reveal planetary statistics on all other planets with stargates in range Limitations 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> Alternate Reality <tooltip text="(AR)">Alternate Reality Exclusive Hulls The Death Star is the largest starbase hull ever known Exclusive Components 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 Lives on starbases only, not planets Starbases are 20% cheaper to build (non-cumulative with Improved Starbases) Population acts as natural miners and scanners Remote mine own planets (since they live in orbit). Maximum population is determined by the size of the starbase, not the planet Planetary resources grow as Energy Tech Level increases Limitations Cannot build planetary installations Interstellar travel kills 3% of any colonists in the fleet per year</tooltip> Jack Of All Trades <tooltip text="(JOAT)">Jack Of All Trades Starting Advantages Tech 3 in all fields Two scouts One colony ship One medium freighter One mini miner One destroyer Exclusive Components 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 Improves all Costs 75% Extra fields to tech level 4 if the box in step 6 is checked </tooltip>

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Step 3: Secondary Traits

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:

Improved Fuel Efficiency <tooltip text="(IFE)">Improved Fuel Efficiency Ships burn 15% less fuel Fuel Mizer and Galaxy Scoop available Increases starting Prop tech 1 level </tooltip> Total Terraforming <tooltip text="(TT)">Total Terraforming Begin game able to adjust planetary hab values +/- 3% Up to +/- 30% terraforming available in game Terraforming costs 30% less </tooltip> Advanced Remote Mining <tooltip text="(ARM)">Advanced Remote Mining 3 additional mining hulls, 2 additional robots available Start with 2 Midget Miners </tooltip> Improved Starbases <tooltip text="(ISB)">Improved Starbases 2 new designs -- Space Dock, capable of building small to medium ships, and Ultra Station, a larger weapons platform Starbases cloaked by 20% Starbases cost 20% less </tooltip> Generalized Research <tooltip text="(GR)">Generalized Research Half of total resources devoted to research applied to current field, 15% applied to each other field (totaling 125%) </tooltip> Ultimate Recycling <tooltip text="(UR)">Ultimate Recycling Scrapping fleets at starbases gives 90% of minerals, 70% of resources Scrapping at planets gives 45% of minerals, 35% of resources :Not strictly additive </tooltip> Mineral Alchemy <tooltip text="(MA)">Mineral Alchemy Mineral alchemy costs 25 resources, produced 1 kT of each mineral </tooltip>

No Ramscoop Engines <tooltip text="(NRSE)">No Ramscoop Engines Engines which travel faster than Warp 4 for free unavailable Interspace-10 available, capable of Warp 10 without damage </tooltip> Cheap Engines <tooltip text="(CE)">Cheap Engines Engines cost 50% less At speeds over Warp 6, there is a 10% chance engines won't engage Starting Prop tech increased by 1 </tooltip> Only Basic Remote Mining <tooltip text="(OBRM)">Only Basic Remote Mining Only Mini-Miner hull and Robo-Mini-Miner available Maximum planetary population increased 10% Over-rides ARM</tooltip> No Advanced Scanners <tooltip text="(NAS)">No Advanced Scanners Penetrating scanners unavailable All conventional scanners have double range </tooltip> Low Starting Population <tooltip text="(LSP)">Low Starting Population Starting population is 30% lower (17,500) </tooltip> Bleeding Edge Technology <tooltip text="(BET)">Bleeding Edge Technology New tech initially costs twice as much Cost normal when all tech exceeded by 1 level Miniaturization is 5% per level, up to 80% instead of 4% up to 64%</tooltip> Regenerating Shields <tooltip text="(RS)">Regenerating Shields All shields 40% stronger than listed Shields regenerate 10% after each round of battle Armor at 50% of listed strength</tooltip>

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Step 4: Population Growth Factors

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

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Step 5: Population Efficiency

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

If you are confused about whether increasing or decreasing a value is providing an advantage, watch the advantage points box as you click on the controls. If the number of points decreases when you click on a control, you have given the race an advantage.

If you have a race with a high population growth, you may not care about being efficient with factories. In this case you would set the controls so colonists produce fewer and more expensive factories, thereby freeing up advantage points to use somewhere else.

If you plan on building a only low number of mines, or if you have extra advantage points, consider increasing the mining production rate. This will NOT affect the rate at which the mineral concentration is reduced on your planets. It only makes you more efficient at squeezing minerals out of the rock. This can give you a competitive advantage over a player who operates more mines but is less efficient--they'll decrease their mineral concentration faster than you. The rate at which mineral concentration decreases (always stopping at 1) is determined by the number of mines on a planet and the number of years they've been in existence.

Keep in mind that when the mineral concentrations on both your planets and your opponent's planets reaches 1, the player with more mines can do as well, and possibly better, than the player who is very efficient at extraction. If you're very good at production and are creating resources like crazy, you may find you can easily make up for low mineral concentrations with Mineral Alchemy.

These are only simple examples of possible strategies--make the choices that suit your game the best, keeping in mind the rules determining the rate at which mineral concentration is reduced.

If you choose the Alternate Reality primary trait most of these controls are disabled. Alternate Reality races can't build planetary installations.

Step 6: Research Costs

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.