What not to forget

[Lord Thag (OP)]

Hi everyone. I just discovered this incredible game via a random forum link from the Dwarf Fortress boards.

I gotta say, this is about the most staggering thing I've ever installed on a pc. It's more complicated that Dwarf Fortress (and that is quite a feat)! I mean, it's been YEARS since I've had a 4x game I cared about (Stars! and MOO2 were the last ones I really liked), and Aurora makes both of them look like Tic Tac Toe. I've spent the last day wading through the tutorials and playing around with the interface, and I've got a basic idea of where everything is, if not precisely what it does. I have a few questions for you vets if you don't mind.

1. What is the basic outline of how you should approach a new game? From what I can tell it's: research engines and new tech to build survey ships, appoint a governor, design civvy and survey ships and catalog your current star system while sending teams to ground survey. Then start exploring while you ramp up mining and the economy, and expand your shipyards. After that, it's build up military tech for potential hostile encounters with aliens. Is that kind of the basic idea, or am I missing something?

2. There is a LOT of stuff to remember, particularly in regards to ship design. What are the most important things to remember, that newbies like me tend to forget?  

3. Are there any further tutorials besides the ones on the wiki, and if so, where?

One last thing. I hate reading off the computer screen so I reformatted all of the wiki tutorials into a nice, printable pdf file for my own personal use. If you would like, I could upload it. Makes wading through the game a lot easier with a hardcopy. I will be happy to add any other resources to it as well, if there is interest, and maybe it could eventually become something like the (really damned useful) Stars! Strategy Guide.

Thanks all

[Erik L]

Hi everyone. I just discovered this incredible game via a random forum link from the Dwarf Fortress boards.

I gotta say, this is about the most staggering thing I've ever installed on a pc. It's more complicated that Dwarf Fortress (and that is quite a feat)! I mean, it's been YEARS since I've had a 4x game I cared about (Stars! and MOO2 were the last ones I really liked), and Aurora makes both of them look like Tic Tac Toe. I've spent the last day wading through the tutorials and playing around with the interface, and I've got a basic idea of where everything is, if not precisely what it does. I have a few questions for you vets if you don't mind.

1. What is the basic outline of how you should approach a new game? From what I can tell it's: research engines and new tech to build survey ships, appoint a governor, design civvy and survey ships and catalog your current star system while sending teams to ground survey. Then start exploring while you ramp up mining and the economy, and expand your shipyards. After that, it's build up military tech for potential hostile encounters with aliens. Is that kind of the basic idea, or am I missing something?

2. There is a LOT of stuff to remember, particularly in regards to ship design. What are the most important things to remember, that newbies like me tend to forget?  

Load your magazines with missiles.

3. Are there any further tutorials besides the ones on the wiki, and if so, where?

One last thing. I hate reading off the computer screen so I reformatted all of the wiki tutorials into a nice, printable pdf file for my own personal use. If you would like, I could upload it. Makes wading through the game a lot easier with a hardcopy. I will be happy to add any other resources to it as well, if there is interest, and maybe it could eventually become something like the (really damned useful) Stars! Strategy Guide.

Thanks all

[Steve Walmsley]

Hi everyone. I just discovered this incredible game via a random forum link from the Dwarf Fortress boards.

I gotta say, this is about the most staggering thing I've ever installed on a pc. It's more complicated that Dwarf Fortress (and that is quite a feat)! I mean, it's been YEARS since I've had a 4x game I cared about (Stars! and MOO2 were the last ones I really liked), and Aurora makes both of them look like Tic Tac Toe. I've spent the last day wading through the tutorials and playing around with the interface, and I've got a basic idea of where everything is, if not precisely what it does. I have a few questions for you vets if you don't mind.

1. What is the basic outline of how you should approach a new game? From what I can tell it's: research engines and new tech to build survey ships, appoint a governor, design civvy and survey ships and catalog your current star system while sending teams to ground survey. Then start exploring while you ramp up mining and the economy, and expand your shipyards. After that, it's build up military tech for potential hostile encounters with aliens. Is that kind of the basic idea, or am I missing something?

Yes, that's the basic idea, although each game of Aurora is very different and you will find you have different priorities depending on how events unfold. Unlike many 4x games, where the economy expands without too much trouble, the Aurora economy will crash if you are not careful. You have to balance industrial capacity, resources and wealth, primarily by looking at developing trends such as mineral usage, whether the wealth balance is growing or shrinking and if you have enough population to support your industry. Try to look ahead at what is going to happen in the future rather than wait for things to go wrong. This is not easy for a new player but you will learn through experience.

2. There is a LOT of stuff to remember, particularly in regards to ship design. What are the most important things to remember, that newbies like me tend to forget?  

Don't forget to add magazines to missile ships and don't forget to load them. Make sure you have both fire control and active sensors on combat ships and that you have the appropriate type of fire control (beam or missile). If you have beam weapons, be aware you only need enough power for the reload rate per 5-increment, not for the whole power requirement of the weapon. In other words, if a weapon takes 40 total power and has a recharge time of 20 seconds, you only need to supply 10 power from reactors (10 for each of 4x 5-second increments = 40). There are a number of posts on this subject. Read the ship design forum as that will help you avoid common oversights.

3. Are there any further tutorials besides the ones on the wiki, and if so, where?

The tutorial forum and FAQ forum are must-reads.

One last thing. I hate reading off the computer screen so I reformatted all of the wiki tutorials into a nice, printable pdf file for my own personal use. If you would like, I could upload it. Makes wading through the game a lot easier with a hardcopy. I will be happy to add any other resources to it as well, if there is interest, and maybe it could eventually become something like the (really damned useful) Stars! Strategy Guide.

I am sure everyone would appreciate that. Please be aware though that the game gets updated fairly regularly so the wiki and the tutorial forum get out of date over time.

Steve

[Lord Thag (OP)]

Thanks for the tips guys.

I've managed to get the starter ships built and am currently surveying the local system. Research and economy seem to be going well too.

In regards to economy Steve, I understand what you are getting at, but it'll take some practice. Any tips on what to do/buil,d/watch to keep the economy stable (i.e. are there any common things to look for and how would I address them).

As to the .pdf, I'll post it once I finish in a separate thread. Need to add all the combat stuff from the wiki first.

[Chairman]

Don´t forget Search Radar on your warships... :lol:

[Steve Walmsley]

In regards to economy Steve, I understand what you are getting at, but it'll take some practice. Any tips on what to do/buil,d/watch to keep the economy stable (i.e. are there any common things to look for and how would I address them).

Check the Mining/Maintenance tab of the Economics window to see if your mineral stockpiles are increasing or decreasing. Compare the estimated usage column with the stockpile plus projected column. Check the wealth tab for various time lengths (1 month, 3 months, etc) to see how your income compares to your expenditure. Check the Manufacturing sector breakdown on the summary tab to see how your workers are being used and if there is a worker shortage. Finally, check the bottom right section of the summary tab for the various production, status and efficiency modifiers. If any are less than 100%, you may have a problem.

Steve