Functions not mentioned in manual...

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Author Topic:   Functions not mentioned in manual...

Todd Hawks posted 02-23-99 01:33 AM ET
I found a lot of functions and rules that aren't in the manual and I think there are a lot more and I think it would be nice to have them in one thread so please post them here.
- In difficulty level citizen you don't have to build prototypes
- In difficulty level specialist you don't have to pay more fo rthem
- You can set up a standard queue by right-klicking at the queue-window
- You can bribe the fractions at the council by clicking at their symbols (simple I know, but I didn't know til my third game)
- There is a way to auto-allocate troops build in one city to another but I don't know how this works (It occurs sometime by klicking somewhere but I didn't find out yet)
- You can get specific information on your allies by clicking at their symbols in status screens
-There is some difference between projectile and energy weapons / armor. (see alpha.txt)
What I would really like to know is: where can I find out how many votes I have?
Todd
Jazzman posted 02-23-99 12:51 PM ET
It is displayed under your name.
Fiben posted 02-24-99 12:07 AM ET
If you figure out that "auto-allocate" or vectoring trick please let me know on the board. I kind of doubt it is possible given the realism of the rest of the game, but it would be nice to know if it is possible.
Todd Hawks posted 02-24-99 01:59 AM ET
Jazzman,
I would like to know it before I open the channel to the others.
And to Fiben: I still trying...
White_Cat posted 02-24-99 02:45 AM ET
To find out your votes, press F8 to go the the game score screen and look at your "Population" rating. This is the basis for your score, but don't forget to add on any faction, governor, or secret project bonuses. It would still be nice to have a direct way of doing it, though.
Mostly Harmless posted 02-24-99 03:14 AM ET
Fiben, here is auto vectoring:
1. Go into view mode with 'v'.
2. Place the ghost cursor over the city you want to vector from.
3. Press 'g'.
4. Pick land, sea, or air
5. Choose a destination

Mostly Harmless
Fiben posted 02-24-99 12:11 PM ET
Thanks for the answer. I have been just using "g" on each unit, but the function I was referring to as unrealistic was the kind of vectoring you get in the Warlords series. In those games you wait two extra turns and the new unit starts in the target city with no actual transit of the intervening territory. In a game like this that would be unbalancing, and I thought that was what the original question refered to.
Dan Scheltema posted 02-24-99 07:46 PM ET
Oh, be careful with the auto-forwarder. It forwards anything that arrives at that city that meets the air/sea/land qualifier, whether it's newly made or hiked in. I have this nasty habit of forgetting it's set to forward land, getting my garrison eaten by mindworms, and poking in a new garrison only to see it halfway across the continent when the next mindworm horde arrives.
CaptComal posted 02-24-99 08:15 PM ET
Oh no ... if that Autoforward affects every unit (matching ground, sea, air) then it loses most of its usefulness!
If I send a unit to the base ... I want it to stay there ... not go frolicking off someplace else. The autoforward should be for each new unit made. (Dark Reign had this if I recall, and it worked great).
Hey ... it's logical! Create a new unit and it needs to know where to go. If there is no autoforward order, it stays where it is. However, if a unit walks into your base, it already *HAD* (or has) orders, so Autoforward does not make any sense. Use the multiple waypoints to accomplish getting your units to places you want them.
Best Regards,
CaptComal
Tripod posted 02-24-99 08:52 PM ET
A cool command I found: CTRL+SHIFT+U
You place a units inside the border of a pact brother and hit those key and voila you give the unit to your pact brother.
The AI did that to me in a game. We were at war with the hive and He must have gived me 10 units. the problem is you support those units from the nearest base. So when you receive a lots of units that base usually can't built anymore.
Rong posted 02-24-99 09:02 PM ET
Tripod, I don't know if that's in the user manual that it's certainly in the Action menu.
Last night I was playing the Peacekeeper, had a treaty with the believers. One of my bases had built a colony pod and I am about to found a new base. Suddenly in one turn she turned over half dozen units to me, all sent to the same base, taken up all the minerals and my colony pod got disbanded.
I wonder if that's some kind of strategy she's using.
Deadron posted 02-24-99 11:01 PM ET
Hey, I love auto-forwarding working on any unit that comes into the base! I end up with a linked set of cities that chain letter my aircraft to the front. When the location of the front changes, I can just change the auto-forward on the last city in the chain and not have to worry about all the others...
-- Deadron
Deadron posted 02-24-99 11:03 PM ET
Although I should mention that the auto-forwarding commands in Empire Deluxe were much more elegant and easy to use, as was the feedback as you dragged a GoTo line somewhere. In AC, I haven't figured out what the line colors mean yet; there doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern.
kjchen posted 02-25-99 08:52 AM ET
Deadron: I haven't actively verified this yet, but I suspect the start-to-endpoint line color is the type of unit (land, sea, air, non-combatant) that's being moved.
yummy posted 02-28-99 01:56 AM ET
Does anyone know how to obliterate a base? In the manual, it talks about the obliteration of a base as an atrocity, even more grave if the base was just captured. Well, I have forced a repeal of the UN Charter, and damned if Miriam just doesn't quite get it when it comes to placing bases. She's always one square shy of grabbing two or three resources. So I want to obliterate that base and start my own right next to it. Anyone know how to accomplish this?
Burns posted 02-28-99 07:34 AM ET
Simple. Just place a military unit inside the city, and while they are activated, hit "b". Itll ask for confirmation, and then says "Youve just put n0,000 <faction> citizens to death"
Lovely
Burns
Didnt Hitler get condemed for doing just that action?!?
KenAshford posted 02-28-99 12:23 PM ET
Burns:
Hitler did, and so will you. It's an "atrocity". I didn't realize the first time I tried it. I had really good trading relationships, allies, pacts, etc. I obliterated a (captured) base of my own, and boom -- nobody liked me anymore. I was everybody's sworn enemy. It would be nice to somehow "starve" a base out of existence, but on the other hand, I sort of like the fact that it isn't esay to do.
Thue posted 02-28-99 08:35 PM ET
Does anybody know where you can see what goverment the AI is using?
WolfStar posted 02-28-99 10:28 PM ET
Did you know that during a communications blackout (solar flare etc), you can commit all the attrocites you want and noone hears about or reacts to it
JaimeWolf posted 02-28-99 11:33 PM ET
Slow death for a base (doesn't work on the two bottom difficulty levels) ... take all the people off work and get them to produce economy/labs, be building a colony pod. When they start starving, keep zooming to the base to make sure they don't start resource gathering again. Once you've starved them down to 1 citizen, finish the colony pod ... bye-bye base.
James
flurdy posted 03-01-99 08:30 AM ET
starving them over time might take too long,
just build colony pods one after the other, use the hurry option if you want. untill the last one disbands the base.
then with them just build new bases or add those to the nearest base.or let mind worms infest the city..
MoSe posted 03-01-99 09:05 AM ET
Two minor ones:
Temple of Planet becomes available only after Voice of Planet is built(?).
If you don't look first you get more minerals than the standard for the first base in the two easiest levels, you get less in the 4 upper levels.
Fiannaidh posted 03-01-99 09:29 AM ET
you CANNOT use planet busters ever, no matter what, sunspots, atrocities lifted, nothing matters, they all declare war on you, even the ones who swore to serve you
Angel posted 03-01-99 09:51 AM ET
hey! u can use planetbusters without everyone declaring war on you!!!!
just make sure atrocities arent on the un carta anymore!
u can do this by voting at the planetary council, just make sure u bribe your partners!
Angel posted 03-01-99 10:00 AM ET
oh well...
u were right... then make sure u have enough busters to wipe out the world!
cousLee posted 03-01-99 10:08 AM ET
yea, giving units and others disbanding should be fixed. otherwise, all you have to do is keep a handy supply of scouts. move the stack to enemy territory and give it to them. wala, their rover army has just been reduced to mind worm food. but i am not just complaining about it, i will also offer a solution. when this situation arises, why not be given a warning box that states "unit xxx can no longer be supported by cityname!" also would be shown a list of your cities to which you could transfer support to and a "go ahead and disband" option. this would eliminate the problem of "forced unit trading", and should not be too hard to program in, as all the basics are already in the program (IE homing units in another city, and the box that appreas as it is would only have to be monified). either that, or give you the option to accept or decline the gift.

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Author	Topic: Functions not mentioned in manual...
Todd Hawks	posted 02-23-99 01:33 AM ET I found a lot of functions and rules that aren't in the manual and I think there are a lot more and I think it would be nice to have them in one thread so please post them here. - In difficulty level citizen you don't have to build prototypes - In difficulty level specialist you don't have to pay more fo rthem - You can set up a standard queue by right-klicking at the queue-window - You can bribe the fractions at the council by clicking at their symbols (simple I know, but I didn't know til my third game) - There is a way to auto-allocate troops build in one city to another but I don't know how this works (It occurs sometime by klicking somewhere but I didn't find out yet) - You can get specific information on your allies by clicking at their symbols in status screens -There is some difference between projectile and energy weapons / armor. (see alpha.txt) What I would really like to know is: where can I find out how many votes I have? Todd
Jazzman	posted 02-23-99 12:51 PM ET It is displayed under your name.
Fiben	posted 02-24-99 12:07 AM ET If you figure out that "auto-allocate" or vectoring trick please let me know on the board. I kind of doubt it is possible given the realism of the rest of the game, but it would be nice to know if it is possible.
Todd Hawks	posted 02-24-99 01:59 AM ET Jazzman, I would like to know it before I open the channel to the others. And to Fiben: I still trying...
White_Cat	posted 02-24-99 02:45 AM ET To find out your votes, press F8 to go the the game score screen and look at your "Population" rating. This is the basis for your score, but don't forget to add on any faction, governor, or secret project bonuses. It would still be nice to have a direct way of doing it, though.
Mostly Harmless	posted 02-24-99 03:14 AM ET Fiben, here is auto vectoring: 1. Go into view mode with 'v'. 2. Place the ghost cursor over the city you want to vector from. 3. Press 'g'. 4. Pick land, sea, or air 5. Choose a destination Mostly Harmless
Fiben	posted 02-24-99 12:11 PM ET Thanks for the answer. I have been just using "g" on each unit, but the function I was referring to as unrealistic was the kind of vectoring you get in the Warlords series. In those games you wait two extra turns and the new unit starts in the target city with no actual transit of the intervening territory. In a game like this that would be unbalancing, and I thought that was what the original question refered to.
Dan Scheltema	posted 02-24-99 07:46 PM ET Oh, be careful with the auto-forwarder. It forwards anything that arrives at that city that meets the air/sea/land qualifier, whether it's newly made or hiked in. I have this nasty habit of forgetting it's set to forward land, getting my garrison eaten by mindworms, and poking in a new garrison only to see it halfway across the continent when the next mindworm horde arrives.
CaptComal	posted 02-24-99 08:15 PM ET Oh no ... if that Autoforward affects every unit (matching ground, sea, air) then it loses most of its usefulness! If I send a unit to the base ... I want it to stay there ... not go frolicking off someplace else. The autoforward should be for each new unit made. (Dark Reign had this if I recall, and it worked great). Hey ... it's logical! Create a new unit and it needs to know where to go. If there is no autoforward order, it stays where it is. However, if a unit walks into your base, it already HAD (or has) orders, so Autoforward does not make any sense. Use the multiple waypoints to accomplish getting your units to places you want them. Best Regards, CaptComal
Tripod	posted 02-24-99 08:52 PM ET A cool command I found: CTRL+SHIFT+U You place a units inside the border of a pact brother and hit those key and voila you give the unit to your pact brother. The AI did that to me in a game. We were at war with the hive and He must have gived me 10 units. the problem is you support those units from the nearest base. So when you receive a lots of units that base usually can't built anymore.
Rong	posted 02-24-99 09:02 PM ET Tripod, I don't know if that's in the user manual that it's certainly in the Action menu. Last night I was playing the Peacekeeper, had a treaty with the believers. One of my bases had built a colony pod and I am about to found a new base. Suddenly in one turn she turned over half dozen units to me, all sent to the same base, taken up all the minerals and my colony pod got disbanded. I wonder if that's some kind of strategy she's using.
Deadron	posted 02-24-99 11:01 PM ET Hey, I love auto-forwarding working on any unit that comes into the base! I end up with a linked set of cities that chain letter my aircraft to the front. When the location of the front changes, I can just change the auto-forward on the last city in the chain and not have to worry about all the others... -- Deadron
Deadron	posted 02-24-99 11:03 PM ET Although I should mention that the auto-forwarding commands in Empire Deluxe were much more elegant and easy to use, as was the feedback as you dragged a GoTo line somewhere. In AC, I haven't figured out what the line colors mean yet; there doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern.
kjchen	posted 02-25-99 08:52 AM ET Deadron: I haven't actively verified this yet, but I suspect the start-to-endpoint line color is the type of unit (land, sea, air, non-combatant) that's being moved.
yummy	posted 02-28-99 01:56 AM ET Does anyone know how to obliterate a base? In the manual, it talks about the obliteration of a base as an atrocity, even more grave if the base was just captured. Well, I have forced a repeal of the UN Charter, and damned if Miriam just doesn't quite get it when it comes to placing bases. She's always one square shy of grabbing two or three resources. So I want to obliterate that base and start my own right next to it. Anyone know how to accomplish this?
Burns	posted 02-28-99 07:34 AM ET Simple. Just place a military unit inside the city, and while they are activated, hit "b". Itll ask for confirmation, and then says "Youve just put n0,000 <faction> citizens to death" Lovely Burns Didnt Hitler get condemed for doing just that action?!?
KenAshford	posted 02-28-99 12:23 PM ET Burns: Hitler did, and so will you. It's an "atrocity". I didn't realize the first time I tried it. I had really good trading relationships, allies, pacts, etc. I obliterated a (captured) base of my own, and boom -- nobody liked me anymore. I was everybody's sworn enemy. It would be nice to somehow "starve" a base out of existence, but on the other hand, I sort of like the fact that it isn't esay to do.
Thue	posted 02-28-99 08:35 PM ET Does anybody know where you can see what goverment the AI is using?
WolfStar	posted 02-28-99 10:28 PM ET Did you know that during a communications blackout (solar flare etc), you can commit all the attrocites you want and noone hears about or reacts to it
JaimeWolf	posted 02-28-99 11:33 PM ET Slow death for a base (doesn't work on the two bottom difficulty levels) ... take all the people off work and get them to produce economy/labs, be building a colony pod. When they start starving, keep zooming to the base to make sure they don't start resource gathering again. Once you've starved them down to 1 citizen, finish the colony pod ... bye-bye base. James
flurdy	posted 03-01-99 08:30 AM ET starving them over time might take too long, just build colony pods one after the other, use the hurry option if you want. untill the last one disbands the base. then with them just build new bases or add those to the nearest base.or let mind worms infest the city..
MoSe	posted 03-01-99 09:05 AM ET Two minor ones: Temple of Planet becomes available only after Voice of Planet is built(?). If you don't look first you get more minerals than the standard for the first base in the two easiest levels, you get less in the 4 upper levels.
Fiannaidh	posted 03-01-99 09:29 AM ET you CANNOT use planet busters ever, no matter what, sunspots, atrocities lifted, nothing matters, they all declare war on you, even the ones who swore to serve you
Angel	posted 03-01-99 09:51 AM ET hey! u can use planetbusters without everyone declaring war on you!!!! just make sure atrocities arent on the un carta anymore! u can do this by voting at the planetary council, just make sure u bribe your partners!
Angel	posted 03-01-99 10:00 AM ET oh well... u were right... then make sure u have enough busters to wipe out the world!
cousLee	posted 03-01-99 10:08 AM ET yea, giving units and others disbanding should be fixed. otherwise, all you have to do is keep a handy supply of scouts. move the stack to enemy territory and give it to them. wala, their rover army has just been reduced to mind worm food. but i am not just complaining about it, i will also offer a solution. when this situation arises, why not be given a warning box that states "unit xxx can no longer be supported by cityname!" also would be shown a list of your cities to which you could transfer support to and a "go ahead and disband" option. this would eliminate the problem of "forced unit trading", and should not be too hard to program in, as all the basics are already in the program (IE homing units in another city, and the box that appreas as it is would only have to be monified). either that, or give you the option to accept or decline the gift.