Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4
Archive-name: games/galactic-bloodshed/part1


FAQ 4.1
--------
	** This is the first of two postings **

Contents:
      First posting:  Part I -- Getting Started
                        Part II -- The Game Set-Up
                        Part III -- Playing the Game
      Second posting:  Advice from GB vets for novices on a
                         variety of questions.

*************************
Part I -- Getting Started
*************************

1-0  What is GB?
----------------
        "GB" stands for "Galactic Bloodshed."  GB is a game played
on a network by several users at various sites.  The home site, where
the game and its database reside, is generally referred to as the
"server."  While telnet is one way to connect to a GB game, most if
not all players prefer to use a more complex program, usually called
a "client."  Not all clients are the same, of course, but for now,
don't worry about it.

1-1  What is HAP?
-----------------
        "HAP" stands for "Heuristic Astronomy Project."  HAP is a
close relative of GB, but there are many very important differences
between the two.  Rather than go into the differences here, I suggest
you continue reading through this and then log in to one of the games
yourself.  Ask around and experiment and decide for yourself what
you like best in a game.  Both "flavors" of GB (original and extra
crispy, if you like) approach the game in a different way.  For example,
in HAP games, communication among players who have not met is restricted
while on GB, global communication is the rule...thus for help, it
would be best to try a GB game first where players can hear you.
Of course, on the original HAP game, the deity and developer of
HAP, Clay Luther, is around most of the time, and there are no
restrictions on communicating with him in the game.  As a general
rule, HAP tries to incorporate many of the best changes from new
versions of the original code while bowing more to "realism" where
possible.

1-2  Where can I get the client and/or server code?
---------------------------------------------------
        Use anonymous ftp to reach one of these sites:

scam.berkeley.edu:/pub/src/games/gb          (128.32.138.1)
129.24.24.10:/pub/dist/GB                    (machine is in Australia)
ftp.ipl.rpi.edu:/sigma/gb                    (128.113.14.50)

Pretty much everything you'll find there is compressed and/or
shared/tarred, so you'll need to know a little bit about
manipulating Unix files in order to set things up.

        *** IMPORTANT ***

        When you are transferring a binary file (ie: ends with .Z), you
MUST set the file transfer mode to binary!  If you do not transfer the
file in binary mode, it will be corrupt.  If you experience a problem
uncompressing/unarchiving a file, this is the problem 99% of the time.

Here's a helpful example:  Suppose you ftp gb.docs.tar.Z.
        First:  uncompress gb.docs.tar.Z  (gives you gb.docs.tar)
        Next:   tar -xf gb.docs.tar  (separates out all the files)
        Then:   delete the original tar file to save some space.

                OR:  If you ftp gb.docs.shar.Z

        First:  uncompress gb.docs.shar.Z  (gives you gb.docs.shar)
                Next:   /bin/sh gb.docs.shar (separates the files)
                Then:   Delete the original shar file to save space.

        Info on these processes can be found in your system's help files,
but if you continue to have problems, telnet to one of the running gb
games and ask around for help.  This is usually the first best thing to
try when you have any problems.  After all, the players have all had to go
through the same things you will in order to get set up in gb.

        Once the files are in your directory in a conventional format,
there will be help files and so forth included.  It's a good idea to
print the help docs out and have them handy when you play.  When you've
successfully compiled the client, stripping the executable file will
reduce your client to a size of around 130 blocks   If you've got a
strict quota on disk use, it's best to do most of this work in a
temporary directory, then print out the help files and transfer the
executable into your permanent directory.

        Note that the client successfully compiles only on Unix
machines or a close derivative of Unix.  At this time, no client
exists which is compatible with VMS.  There is also a new version
of a PC based client for GB available at the scam ftp site  as gbpc.zip,
written by Chris Fodor (aka Feepness).  As it develops (ie. as soon
as Chris sends me a paragraph or two about it), I'll include more
information in the FAQ.

1-4  What are the different versions of the server out?
-------------------------------------------------------

        Besides GB and HAP, I know about 4 versions of the server currently
out.  Most are versions that take bits and pieces of GB and HAP to form
another strain of GB.  There is currently one available on ftp.ipl.rpi.edu
on /sigma/gb/gb.IPL-Server.tar.Z which fixes some bugs.  If anyone has any
more detailed information about this version please let me know.

        Also, there is a version I am working on, which is currently running
at the "NYU" games, which is tentatively called GB+.  This version has TONS
of bug fixes, and also new ship database code, along with autoscrap,
threshloading, minesweepers, and other HAP inherited options.  Currently
there is no ftp site for this, but once I get one, it will be posted.


1-3  What if I have problems compiling something?
-------------------------------------------------
        As mentioned earlier, the first thing you should always try
is to log in to one of the existing games as a guest and start asking
around.  There will often be someone on who can help you with simple
problems, but if they can't help you, you'll probably be referred to
Evan Koffler (evank@pebbles.cs.nyu.edu), who has graciously
volunteered to deal with _client_ compiling problems, but be polite...
give him informed questions rather than just helplessly whining.

        In other words, don't just write and say "It doesn't compile on the
NeXT and crashes when I try to boot it."  At the least, run the code
through a debugger of some kind to get a line number within a routine or at
least get some kind of output sequence.  This gives the person helping
you some reference point from which to track the problem down.

        If you're having a problem with a bug in the server code,
your best bet is to post to alt.games.gb.  If the authors want to
volunteer their addresses (Garrett, Clay, et al.) and/or services
for direct email correspondence, I'll let them do it.  There are
enough users out here familiar with the code to help you deal with whatever
problem you're experiencing.  What was said in the previous paragraph about
finding and reporting bugs and receiving help also goes here.

        If all else fails, and you absolutely CANNOT get the server working
you can send mail to deragon@jethro.nyu.edu explaining the problem.

1-4  How can I find out more about gb?
--------------------------------------
        Try logging in to one of the current games running.  Some games
have a guest account set up specifically for new users to find their
way around and ask questions.  When it asks for a password, simply type
"guest" or "guest 0" in most places, and you'll be logged in to the game.
There's no guarantee that there will be someone on who can help you and/or
has the time, but during the evening is generally the best time to try.

1-5  Where are the current games running?
-----------------------------------------
        I used to keep a list of this, but it's just too much of a pain.
The best way to keep track of which games are running (or about to be)
is to watch the alt.games.gb newsgroup.  It's very low volume, so that
should be no problem.  The FAQ gets out of date too quickly and easily
in any case.

        Once you get a server address and part, use the following examples
to connect you to a game with telnet if you're not using a client.  If
you're using a client, simply replace "telnet" with "gbII" or whatever
you've named the client executable in your directory.
on Unix:     "telnet pooh.caltech.edu 2010" or "telnet 131.215.48.30 2010"
or, on VMS:  "telnet pooh.caltech.edu /PORT=2010" etc.

        Note:  Some of these games are chronically off-line for one reason
or another; others are only up at certain (unknown to me) scheduled times.
Don't be surprised if you get a refused connection by more than one game.
If you want to enter one or more of the games that have not started yet,
check alt.games.gb for announcements about where to send your requests.

      Other games will be announced in alt.games.gb as they are started,
including periodic "blitz games" run by various people.  A blitz game is
essentially a gb game in which the updates are squeezed down into 5 to 20
minute intervals as opposed to the usual 1 or 2 per day.  If you're wondering
what an "update" is, read section 3 about playing the game.


        Right now, there is a "guest" game running on groucho.nyu.edu
(128.122.153.25) port 2010.  Log in a guest [1-5]

1-6  Do I need a client to play gb?
-----------------------------------
        If you're going to play seriously, then the answer is yes.
Theoretically, one could get by using only telnet, but only the
client will process maps correctly and enable you to encrypt your
conversations, which is a convenient way to communicate at no cost
without being overheard on the game.

1-7  How can I start playing a game?
------------------------------------
        There are two ways to do this.  First, you can wait until
someone announces the beginning of a game.  This newsgroup is where
you'll see such announcements.  The person in charge of the new game
will either include (or point you to) a racegen program which you can
then use to specify what kind of race you want.  Then you log in to
the game and start playing when it starts!  Read on for more details
on what racegen is and how it works.

        Another way to get into a game is to log onto a currently
running game and ask.  In most big games, there are "sleepers," or
races which have dropped out for one reason or another (it's not
always due to weakness, sometimes time constraints are involved).
Also, many players with big races tend to look for people to help
them out since playing a big race in gb can be very time consuming.

        Most games now run with the "governor" code, standard since
pooh version 5.0 and in current versions of HAP.  This allows for
races to have one major leader who can delegate authority over given
ships and systems to his governors, who are independent players
recruited by the race leader.  This is a great feature for those of
you out there who want to play gb but lack the immense amount of free
time that leading a fully active race requires.

        If you see an announcement for a new game starting, but dont want to
run your own race, your best bet is to post to alt.games.gb asking if
anyone needs a governor.

1-8  How much time does it take to play gb?
-------------------------------------------

        That depends entirely on the number of updates per day.  For
a reasonably large race (say, control of 40 planets) in a game with
70 star systems or so (3-8 planets per system), it will take you at
least one hour of playing time per update (this is vastly dependent
upon how efficient you are...use macros!).  This can go way up if you
are actively waging war with another player.  This time tends to
increase as the game goes on and you grow in power, but the main
variable in the whole time equation is simply how active _you_ want
to be.  It takes a very active race to come out on top in gb;
even on a one update per day schedule, it can eat up your time, so
consider yourself warned.

        Players who join only to play for a little while and then
drop out, leaving all that they've built to fall into ruin, are
generally frowned upon.  Sometimes it is unavoidable, but all
deities ask that you plan ahead.  Don't get yourself involved in
more than you can handle.  Drop-out players who don't get replacements
can seriously upset the game balance, ruining the game for many
other players.

        The advent of team races may offset both of these diadvantages,
but it's still best to be aware of them.

1-9  What is this newsgroup for?
--------------------------------
        This newsgroup is for the discussion of everything that has
anything to do with GB, including game announcement, rules discussion,
game editorials, etc.

**************************
Part II -- The Game Set-Up
**************************

2-1  What race should I choose?
-------------------------------
        As of this posting, just about every new game that is coming
on-line is accepting races generated by a program called "racegen."
You can get a copy of this at any of the ftp sites mentioned above,
and it compiles pretty easily on most systems.  Use this program to
generate your race and automatically send it to the appropriate
"deity".  Note that you usually have to compile a whole new version with
the proper destination address (for sendmail) in the code, but this is
easy...just find the destination address line (#TO, I believe) in the
code and change the address with your editor, then compile.

        NOTE:  In some new games, you'll be asked to use your
client to connect to a special racegen daemon on the eventual
gb server machine.  This greatly simplifies the process of game
registration since you don't have to have your own copy of racegen,
just the client.  Watch for specifics with new game announcements.

        There is now a facility on the machine listed above,
gb.dorm.clarkson.edu.  If you telnet to that machine and login as
menu, you will get a list of options, one of which will enable you
to run a remote version of racegen (which will send your race to
the game designated by you) to submit your race.  This is a very
convenient feature that makes it unnecessary to actually compile
and store the racegen code on your own account.

        Other programs, such as "opt_tech," which optimizes your
tech expenditures (read the docs for more details on how tech works),
and "psmap," which generates a postscript file containing a map of
your game universe from a list of stars, are also available via
this machine through a mail server.  For a help file regarding the mail
server, send email to "menu@gb.dorm.clarkson.edu" with a subject of "HELP".

        Here is a reproduction of the help file currently on-line at
menu@gb.dorm.clarkson.edu:

-- Begin included file --

The mail server on gb.dorm.clarkson.edu currently has several functions,
and more will be added as the demand arises.

*** "OPT_TECH" ***

"Opt_tech" is a C program that allows you to calculate the greatest use a
given amount of money could get in tech production.  When input the amount
you wish to spend, and a list of your planets's tech stats, it will
tell you what to invest where, and produce a file that can be used with the
gbII "shell" or "source" command, so the client will make all of the changes
for you.

To run "opt_tech" from email, send email to "menu@gb.dorm.clarkson.edu" with
a subject of "TECH amount_to_invest", where the amount is an integer.  In the
body of the mail, send the output from the "status" command from your
race (See:  "How to send output from a command" below...).  VERY important -
you have to edit out part of your "status" log.  Namely, the beginning titles
and the ending totals.  The only thing that should be in the file will be a
set of columns, including the planet name, population, and 2 columns of
numbers.  The mail server will send you back an email message, the first
portion will tell you how much tech will be produced if you do what it
suggests, and the second portion (separated by a "CUT HERE") can be removed
from the message and fed into the gbII client's "source" command to actually
 make those changes.  Please note that if you have a large empire, running this
command could take a while...


*** PSMAP ***

"psmap" is a program written in C which, given the output of your race's
"stars" command, will produce a nice looking PostScript map which looks really
peachy keen on laser printers.  :-)


HOW TO USE:  Put in the subject line "PSMAP mode", where mode is "0" for a
normal map, and 1 is for a map with circles around your home system at 50000
unit intervals (good for judging distances from your home system).  In the
body of the message, put the output from the "stars" command you get from
your race (See:  "How to send output from a command" below...).  The mail
server will then mail you your map, ready for printing on a PostScript printer.

*** FAQ List ***

If sent a message with a subject of "FAQ", the mail server will respond by
sending you a copy of the most current FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) List
from the newsgroup "alt.games.gb".  This list has lots of good info in it
regarding race stats, game play, etc., and is good for beginner players.

*** gbII Client ***

To get a copy of the latest gbII GB client, send a message with a subject
of "CLIENT".  A shell archive will be sent to you.

*** How to send output from a command ***

Using the gbII client (available from scam.berkeley.edu (128.32.138.1).
in the directory /pub/src/games/gb (it's gbII.client.shar.Z or
gbII.client.tar.Z)) logging a command's output is very easy.  Simply type
your command, followed by a ">", and the file to log into.  For example,
typing "stars > starlist" would create a file called "starlist", and in
addition to showing the output to your screen, it would also save a copy of
the output in that file.  Remember to edit out the "gbII Log" title in the
beginning of the file also.  The "starlist" file can then be mailed to
"menu@gb.dorm.clarkson.edu" with a subject of "PSMAP 1" and in no time
you'll have a nice PostScript map.  When you are sending a log of your
"status" output to be processed, remember to not only remove the "gbII log"
title, but also the column headers and the ending totals as described in the
"opt_tech" section.

If you have any problems or questions regarding the mail server on
gb.dorm.clarkson.edu, or have a suggestion on other things that can be put
either in the mail server or in the public access account (Telnet to
gb.dorm.clarkson.edu (128.153.48.5) and login as "menu", no password),
feel free to email me at varneyml@gb.dorm.clarkson.edu.

-- End included menu help --

        Here are the helpfiles included with racegen, which should
answer most of the questions about the program and its use:

--- Begin included racegen docs ---

How to get and compile racegen

First off, get net access.  Then you can use the file transfer program, ftp,
to get racegen from several sites, including scam.berkeley.edu.  Connect to
the remote system, use "anonymous" as your name (any password is OK), cd to
the /pub/src/games/gb directory, and get racegen.shar.  The whole process
should look rather like this:

> ftp scam.berkeley.edu
Connected to scam.berkeley.edu.
220 scam.Berkeley.EDU FTP server ready.
Name (scam.berkeley.edu:leonard): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
Password:
230-Welcome Guest - access restricted.
ftp> cd /pub/src/games/gb
200 CWD command okay.
ftp> get racegen.shar
200 PORT command okay.
150 Opening data connection for racegen.shar (60101 bytes).
226 Transfer complete.
local: racegen.shar remote: racegen.shar
62071 bytes received in 6.1 seconds (9.9 Kbytes/s)
ftp> quit
221 Goodbye.
>

When a game is announced, the host will specify what sort of races are
desired.  If the game will not use the "vanilla" racegen, the host will post
a file called "game_info.h" that you will then use to compile racegen with.
Note that racegen.shar comes with a default game_info.h file.

Now you can make an executable racegen.  Unshar the archive you just got,
and make it:

> sh racegen.shar
x - racegen.c
x - racegen.h
x - game_info.h
x - Makefile
x - racegen.README
> make
cc -bsd -g  -target sun3 -c  racegen.c
cc -o racegen racegen.o -lm
> ls
Makefile        racegen*        racegen.c       racegen.o
game_info.h     racegen.README  racegen.h       racegen.shar

Now you are ready to go.  Just type "racegen", and it will run.  If it
does not, make sure you have the current directory "." as a part of
your path:

> printenv PATH
.:/usr/imports/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/ucb:/bin:/usr/bin
>

(Note that the first directory in my path *is* ".".  ':' is used to
separate the directories in this list.)

If "." is not in your path, you must either put the racegen executable
file in one of the directories that is in your path, or else put "."
into your path.  The second option is much easier:

> setenv PATH .:$PATH

Now you are ready to go!

   The creation of new races is controlled by the person hosting the game.
Player #1 (the first player enrolled into the game) should always be given
diety status, as many of the game default operations are placed in player #1's
control.  Other players may be designated as having diety status during the
enrollment procedure, but this isn't recommended (or needed in most cases).

   Race generation is often done using a rather complex point based system,
the idea being that you must spend a limited number points to get better
attributes.  The program that you do this creation process with is called
"racegen".  There are five types of data associated with each race that the
player can choose:

* Name, password, and other profile information -- While none of these have
any direct effect on game play, they add interest.  Name and password can be
set with racegen before enrolling in the game.  All of the others can be
changed as needed; see also: name, personal, profile

* Home planet type -- A race's home planet can drastically affect its game.
Jovian home planets are the most costly type, because jovians are huge planets
with about half the sector area of the universe on them.  Jovians are the only
worlds with gas sectors on them; gas tends to be resource-poor but fertile.
Class M (Earth-type) home planets are the next most useful, with a good
balance of fertility and resources.  Forest and water worlds are like class
M's and generally more fertile, but they are also smaller on average.  Desert
worlds have high resource content but are not very fertile.  Iceballs and
airless worlds are too small to make very good home planets, but they are very
common in the universe as a whole.

* Racial type -- There are two main racial types in GB: normal races (think of
humans, Klingons, Wookies, Pierson's Puppeteers, etc) and metamorphs (Alien,
the Thing, body snatchers, etc.)  The primary difference between these two
 race classes is that only metamorphs may have pods and absorbtion as racial
attributes.  Metamorphs are also required to have one sex, which is another
advantage.  A secondary difference that is rather harder to notice is that the
price of various attribute combinations is slightly different for normals and
morphs in racegen, especially for some of the attributes' extremes.

* Compats -- The planets found in the GB universe are represented as arrays of
sectors of various types: ice, land, sea, etc.  Various races may have varying
degrees of compatibility with these sector types, which will affect the amount
of population they can grow on that sector type, and other things too.

* Attributes -- Attributes are quantizations of a race's abilities.  Currently
there are 11 basic attributes for each race:

** Absorbtion -- Only metamorphs may have this attribute, which allows them to
        absorb enemy troops and civilians in combat if the morph wins.
        Combined with pods, it allows metamorphs to replace alien population
        on planets when pods burst.

** Adventurism -- This described what percentage of a sector's population may
        move and explore other sectors.  High value tend to settle planets on
        their own far more efficiently. If you have a low value, you can order
        movements with the 'move' option.

** Birthrate -- This factor determines how rapidly the population in the
        sector will converge to the maximum population supportable on the
        there.  High values mean that the population multiplies faster.

** Fertilize -- This attribute represents the percentage chance that a race
        will increase by one percent the fertility of any sector it owns.  Any
        race may take advantage of space plows for a similar effect, once it
      gets to tech level 5.

** Fighting Ability - Higher values mean that the race is more likely to kill
        an alien than a lower value.  Races with lower values will usually need
        to have larger forces to win in direct combat over a high fighting
        ability.  It is important to note that this effects only land combat
        and ship boarding strengths, and not ship to ship fighting.

** IQ -- The raw growth rate of a race's technology is governed by the race's
        intelligence.  The technology increase per update is IQ/100.  Addi-
        tional technology gain is available by technology investments on the
        individual planets under the race's control.

** Collective IQ; IQ limit -- The intelligence of a race with collective IQ is
        related to the race's total population, as follows:
                IQ = IQ_limit * [ (2/PI) atan(population/50000)]^2.
        [Note:  Be careful with this one!  If you can't build pods, then
        having a collective IQ could be disastrous as you won't have the
        knowhow to build *any* kind of useful ships for a looooong time.]

** Mass -- Each race has a mass.  The heavier the individual, the more fuel it
        will take to launch and land ships full of the race.

** Metabolism -- This value controls how industrious the race is.  Higher
        metabolism races will produce resources more rapidly than lower
        metabolisms, and also increase the efficiency of sectors faster.

** Pods -- Pods are small ships, available only to metamorphs but at tech
        level 0, buildable instantly on the surface of planets.  Each one may
        carry a single crew-thing; this makes them ideal for settling other
        planets.  Pods which enter a system after having frozen in deep
        space will warm and eventually burst, possibly leading to spores
        landing on worlds in the new system.  If a spore lands on a sector, a
        ton or more of biomass will be created, resulting in a new colony for
        the podding race.  Note that spores may never land on alien occupied
        sectors unless the podding race has absorbtion.

** Sexes -- Each race has a number of sexes. This represent the minimum
        population that a sector must have in order to be able to reproduce.
        Lower values are preferable to high values for colonization efforts.
        It is not recommended to have more than 3 to 6 sexes at the outside,
        unless you are really looking for a challenge
--- End included racegen docs ---

2-2  What's the difference between a normal and a morph?
--------------------------------------------------------
        A "morph," or "metamorph," is described in the standard docs
as the type of race you'd see in John Carpenter's "The Thing."  The
major differences between morphs and normals can be summarized like this:

        -- Morphs can absorb enemy bodies when they attack a sector
        -- Morphs can build spore pods on planetary surfaces
        -- Morphs' IQ is determined only by their population

        It used to be the case that morphs had a very high metabolism
and very high fighting strength to go along with all of this, but
the advent of racegen has changed that considerably.  Now, morphs can
have all of the basic characteristics of normal races -- but the
three attributes mentioned above are only available to metamorphs.
The disadvantage that offsets this option is that some items will
be more expensive in racegen.
        I'll discuss these three items in reverse order:  First, morph
IQ is based on some exponential population formula.  In all games, this
means their iq starts at 0, and the maximum possible morph IQ can be set
by the player in racegen.  A common practice is for morphs to spend
a great deal of tax money investing in tech to offset this disadvantage, but
it still takes a while to "take off."  The low iq means that morphs cannot
rely on shuttles (which require some minor tech ability to build) to ferry
them around to colonize planets early in the game.  Morphs, however, have
the ability to build spore pods.  These pods require no tech to build and
are very cheap.
        The major advantage to spore pods is this low cost and the fact
that they can be built right on the planet's surface (while most other
ship types require factories which need resources to be turned on and
time to repair before actually building any ships).  The drawbacks to
pods are that they are slow and that they explode upon entering star
systems.  That's not _always_ a drawback, but early in the game, it will
mean that several pods must be sent to a system in order for you to have
a good chance at landing morphs on a planet or two.  The success rate of
spore pods (ie. whether they explode harmlessly or result in a colony)
varies from game to game from 20% to 40%.
        The other major difference between morphs and normals which is
mentioned above is morphs' special combat ability.  If a morph attack force
defeats another race in ground combat, a large fraction of the defeated
enemy will be "absorbed" by the attacking morph race, enabling morphs to
actually _increase_ their population through attacking.  Thus, late in
the game when all planets are covered and well-defended by other races,
morphs still have a chance to do some serious damage by showering an enemy
system with pods and perhaps landing enough morphs in the system to cause
a lot of problems, if not to take over a planet or two.

2-3  Which is better, morphs or normals?
----------------------------------------
        This is debatable.  Each race type has its own advantages and
drawbacks.  It also depends upon the modifications made for the particular
game you are in. Generally, each race type can be led to success by
a good player, and alliances between morphs and normals are quite common
and can be very effective (since the normals generally have the high
tech levels while morph's pod launching ability and generally high
metabolism and/or fighting strength can help the alliance).

2-4  What kind of planet should I choose?
-----------------------------------------
        This is covered in large part in the above racegen docs, but I
can make some comments about common questions that arise.  Of all types
 of planets, class M's are chosen for homeworlds around 75% of the time.
This is because they are the largest of any type planet except Jovians.
Thus, they can support a high population (for taxation and tech purposes),
and they usually have a fairly high number of resources.  Another common
choice is desert, since it is on the same order of size as a class M
planet.  Deserts have more resources, but are less fertile and are
rarer in some games than class M's (also, you should take 100% desert
as a sector preference, which means you can't spend as much on the other,
more common, sector types).
        Big planets have two big advantages:
1)  The larger the planet, the faster you will produce resources from
it once you have covered the planet.  The formula for resource
production goes as (1 - avg efficiency) ^ (number of sectors), so
the more sectors you have, the better.  Races that select small home
planets tend to get left behind early on in the race to build the
first ships for this reason.
2)  The planet is much harder to conquer.  Even if an enemy manages
to field a temporarily superior force to your planetary population, odds
are he won't have the AP's necessary to take the whole thing in one
update, so you have time to marshal reinforcements if you're in a bind.
        Here's a brief summary of the various planet types, to the best
of my knowledge, along with an estimate of how common these planet types are.
*NOTE* This will vary from game to game.
        The relative sizes of each of these planets, as well as the
benefits (and % of races which choose each type of planet, etc.) will
also vary from game to game.  When using racegen, you'll typically pay
(or get a bonus) for the type of planet you choose to start with, and
the deity will try his best to see that your points are fairly spent.

Class M - 15% - These planets are usually about 60% water, 20% land, and an
                even mix of everything else.  Once in a while, you'll find
                a class M with an abnormal atmosphere (like heavy in
                methane content).

Jovian - 10% - These planets are 100% gaseous, and they are usually
               twice as large as the typical class M planet.  They tend
               to be very high in fertility, too, so you can easily build
               up a large population for taxation and tech purposes.
               Also, ships in orbit around Jovians add fuel to their
               holds every update (tankers are twice as efficient at this),
               so even if you're not a Jovian-type race, having one of
               these nearby can be a tremendous asset.

Water - 5% - These are largely water planets, and I've found that they
             are generally resource poor.  They can be quite large, ranging
             up in size to class M quality, but they are usually about 40%
             smaller.

Desert - 5% - These planets are usually 80% desert and 15% mtn/ice.  They
              are _very_ nice as far as resource content is concerned, and
              their size range is much like Class M planets.

Forest - 5% - These planets are almost entirely covered in forest, which is
              the rarest sector type.  Resource content is fairly good.
              Size range is between Water planets and Class M's.  Fertility
              is higher than on a normal class M.

Iceball - 20% - These planets are generally small (1/5 the size of class M's
                or less), and they consist of around 75% ice and 25% mountain.
                Relative to their size, they are resource rich, but the
                small number of sectors means that resources will come more
                slowly.

Airless - 30% - These planets are mostly land (75%) with some mountain and
                ice sectors.  The atmosphere is almost always hostile, of
                course, but these planets are probably the most resource
                rich relative to their size (ie. 1/3 the res of a typical
                class M but 1/5 the size).

Asteroid - 10% - These are just floating rocks in space, not good for a
                 heck of a lot.  They don't count as planets in victory
                 conditions, and they usually have very few resources,
                 and the small number of sectors make it very difficult
                 for most asteroids to ever contribute to your cause,
                 though having colonies on them have other advantages,
                 such as morale bonus.  Sector types are random but range
                 among land, desert, ice, and mountain.

2-5  What sector preferences should I take?
-------------------------------------------
        The most common sector type besides gas is water, but this is
misleading since there are so many water sectors on Class M's (in addition
to those on waterball planets).  Running a close second is land terrain,
which is found on just about every planet type.  Forest is probably the
least common, making it an unusual and often strategic addition to your
list of preferences (remember, you pay for both the % compatibility and
an overhead cost for each of your sector prefs).   Mountain is convenient
to have since it is usually high in resource content and found in small
amounts on many planets, and ice is also a common choice.
        I've also noticed that taking a combination of desert and
a choice of mountain, land and/or ice in your sector prefs somehow
entices the server into making your race a "methane breather" some of
the time (or maybe it's just bad luck).  The problem with this is
that most planets will be extremely incompatible with your race, meaning
your pop will grow very slowly and often leave you vulnerable to invasion.
You'll find yourself at a rather large disadvantage until such time as
you or an ally can build atmospheric processors (at a pretty high
tech level, so it takes a while).  Some games (with my strong approval)
are phasing out the possibility of methane breathing races except by
request.
        This is not to say that you should always choose water, land, and
mountain as your sector prefs.  In many cases, alliances are made based on
sector incompatibility.  In other words, a morph who loves water and forest
would rather ally with a desert/mountain/land loving normal than another
water loving normal, so don't be afraid to choose an unusual sector type.
It may enable you to exploit planets which other races wouldn't mind giving
away.

2-6  What happens if I get a rotten home planet?
------------------------------------------------
        As it says in the help docs, a good home planet or system can really
make or break your race.  In some games, the diety actually goes around
before the game and manually sets up everyone so that they can more or less
start off on an equal footing.  If this isn't happening, though, and you
start with a crummy home planet, be ready to fight your way out of it.  This
makes it all the more important that you establish yourself throughout both
your system and the surrounding ones.  Look on it as a challenge.  :)

****************************
Part III -- Playing the Game
****************************

3-1  What is a move seg?
------------------------
        A move seg (or movement segment) is a procedure during which the
server updates the positions of all ships in the game based on their
current orders.  For example, if you have a ship ordered to move toward
a particular star, planet, or ship, this process moves your ship closer
based upon the ship's speed.  You'll receive messages from the server
when you arrive at your destination, at which time your ship stops moving.
        Repairs also occur at move segs.  This means that everytime there
is a move seg, any of your ships which are currently trying to repair them-
 selves, regardless of how they incurred damage, will have their damage
percent reduced by some amount.  For more information on how to repair
ships and so forth, see the help docs on scam.

3-2  What is an update?
-----------------------
        An update is a "glorified move seg."  Basically, everything that
happens in a move seg happens here PLUS the following:
                - Production occurs at your colonies
                - Ships attempting hyperspace jumps either jump or charge
                  in increments towards a level where they can jump.
        What this translates to is this:  The pace of the game depends
almost entirely on how often these updates occur.  There will always be
a given number of move segs (usually anywhere from 2 to 6) between updates,
but updates are the real pulse of the game.  Also, you should note that
the period right after updates is usually when the most frantic action in
the game takes place.
        This is important when choosing what game you wish to play in.  For
example, if you live over in Europe and the update schedule is such that
updates always occur at 4 am for you, you might want to pass on the game.
If you aren't on at updates, enemies often get the chance of jump into your
system and start attacking while you aren't on to defend yourself.  This
can have disastrous effects.

3-3  What strategy should I use?
--------------------------------
        This sounds like a pretty hairy question, but I will try to
answer this in a limited fashion for beginners.  What you're basically
looking for is some simple-minded strategy that will get you through the
first 20-30 updates while you're still learning the ropes of the game.
Try to follow these two basic principles:  Produce and colonize.
        Your first and foremost need is to produce resources on your
home planet so that you can start building ships.  The fastest way to
start producing is to spread out and cover your home planet as quickly
as possible.  This will be the sum total of your turns for the first
several updates.
        Once you have resources, you get to start building ships.  If
you're a metamorphic race, that means you get to build pods.  This is
something you should do as soon as you get resources.  This is one of
the major advantages to playing a morph...pod-building ability.  The
nice thing about pods is that you don't need factories to build them,
which means they can be built on the ground and launched immediately.
Since pods are slow relative to most ships, however, it is imperative
that you launch them quickly so that you have a fighting chance to win
the race to all of the unoccupied systems.
        If you're a normal race, you should build a factory as soon
as possible and then modify it so that it can start producing cheap
shuttles.  After you've played a game, you'll realize why it is so
important to win the race toward unoccupied planets:  it is far, far
easier to take an unoccupied planet than to kick a hostile race off
of that planet.
        The best advice I've heard yet is that you should be sure to
understand the commands in the game so you can use them to your full
advantage!  It takes time and experience to learn the game, and it
will be a rewarding and fun experience if you approach it in the
right way.

3-4  Random Questions I Always Seem to Run Into
-----------------------------------------------

3-4-1 -- How do I change scope?
        That's the cs command.  Scope works just like directory
trees in Unix.  If you want to go to the top (Universe) level,
you type "cs /".  To go to a given planet, you'd type
"cs /starname/planetname".  To change scope to one level higher,
you use "cs ..".

3-4-2 -- How do I talk to others?
        There are three basic ways:
br <message> - This broadcasts a message that will appear on all
               active player screens except those players with a
               "gag" in place (you can see that in the who list).
               On HAP, if you broadcast, only those players who
               know something about your race will be able to
               "translate" your broadcast or your messages (see send).
ann <message> - This is the same as broadcast, except that it limits
                your audience to those players in the same stellar
                scope as you.  This is a good way to carry on a more
                sensitive conversation, but there's no way to be sure
                whether you're being overheard.
send <player> <governor> <message> - This sends a telegram to the named
                          player at a cost of 1 AP.  There is no cost for
                          communicating this way with the game deity.
        There is also a "cr <key> <message>" command available with
the gbII client, but it is discussed in the client Help just fine.

3-4-3 -- What should I do first?
        Once you get into the game and have connected using your
password (and your governor password, if applicable), type "help".
Read through all of the concepts listed first and then branch
out from there.  You'll find some topics in the main list have
no help files listed.  The docs always tend to suffer from game
advances which outpace anyone's ability to update them, but they
are definitely useful for the basics.

3-4-4 -- How do I interpret the maps?
        Well, the stellar system maps and the galaxy map should
be pretty simple to figure out.  Objects on the map which are
darkened completely are those in which you have people, either on
ships or planets.  Objects which are partially darkened are those
which you have data for but no people present.
        The planetary map is a grid.  When you refer to a given
sector, be sure to use (column,row) and not vice-versa.  If your
toggle switches (see "help toggle") are set in the default way,
the highlighted sectors are those with your people on them.  Any
sectors with numbers on them represent sectors occupied by other
players.  Sectors with letters or symbols on them imply the presence
of a ship with that symbol.
        Also as a part of the map, it lists how many sectors on
the planet you own, whether any aliens are present on the planet,
what your population is, the planetary compatibility (which depends
upon atmosphere and temperature), and a few other things that you
can look up in the help docs...it changes from game to game.

3-4-5 -- How do factories work?
      Well, first you build one, then you cs to it by typing "cs
<shipnum>".  Next, you use the modify command to get everything just
the way you want it, from ship type, to crew capacity, etc.  Once
it is the "perfect" design for you, type "order <shipnum> on".  It
will take a few updates for the F's damage level to go from 75 down
to 0, and you can only build ships (with the build command) at F's
which are undamaged.  Once you've turned a factory on, you can't
change the basic design of the ship, so plan carefully!  You can
modify the ship later at double the cost differential (which is
new cost - original cost) provided you can fit the necessary
resources into the cargo bay of your ship.  This means that ships
with 0 cargo capacity cannot be modified.

3-4-6 -- What tax rate should I set?
        After you've covered the planet and are on the verge of
 building ships, start it off with a few percent.  This may vary
depending on your race, but I think it is a good rule of thumb.
This small amount will pay for your ships and keep you from losing
morale.  Later on, when you're not so worried about increasing
your sector efficiences, you can up the tax rate (but watch out
for insurgencies!).  Note that the higher the tax rate, the
less chance you have to increase in efficiency, and the average

3-4-7 -- What's the difference between military and civilians?
        Civilians have a fighting strength equal to your race's
fight.  Military have fighting strength 10 times stronger than
your civilians.  Contrary to what you might think, military
_cannot_ pilot ships _or_ fire guns...only civilians can do that.
Thus, if you have 5 guns on your explorer and 2 mil and 3 crew,
you will only be able to fire 3 guns at a time.  Also, if you have
only mil on board a given ship (ie. your only civ on board gets
killed by a lucky shot from an enemy), you cannot order the ship
to any destination.

3-4-8 -- What should I set my mobilization level at?
        I've found that it's a good idea to mobilize only a few
very large planets that you may own.  The reasoning for this is
long and involved, but you'll learn through experience that
mobilizing small planets (as opposed to building weapons plants
there) only makes them more vulnerable to a metamorph invasion
force.  Mobilizing big planets still leaves you vulnerable to
a ground assault (your high mob allows enemy troops to arm just
as easily as you can if they bring their own destruct and absorb
a few hundred civilians, for example), but big planets require a
lot of AP's to take and require a lower mobilization in order for
planetary guns to come into effect.

3-4-9 -- How do planetary guns work?
        You don't have to load them.  These guns will take destruct
directly from your stockpiles (provided you have some dest there).
You can actively use them against ships in orbit around your planet
by using the "defend" command (in the help files).  These guns will
also _automatically_ fire on any non-allied ship that tries to land
on your planet...even a couple of medium caliber planetary guns
is better than nothing.  Also, the ship may not be destroyed, but if
it is damaged, there is a chance that it will crash land, thwarting
the attack.  You get a certain number of planetary guns proportional
to how many sectors you own on the planet and how high your mob level is.

3-4-10 -- How do atmosphere processors work?
        To put it simply, it doesn't matter who builds a processor...
only who currently owns it.  A processor will slowly change the
atmosphere of a planet (rate inversely proportional to planet size)
to the ideal preferences of the owner of the processor at a cost of
3 fuel per update, which must be loaded into the processor.  The last
time I checked, processors will continue to eat up 3 fuel per turn
if they have fuel to burn even after a given planet is perfectly
atmospherically compatible with the owner, so it's a good idea to scrap
processors once you reach this goal.

3-4-11 -- What's the quickest way to jump to other systems?
        Since you receive jump technology at a tech level of 50, your
best bet is to have a ship ready to modify once you get there.  If
you're going to build a large fleet of jump ships, you'll save
a lot of res by just building a factory and starting it up AFTER
you've been able to design the ship with jump included.  Some
players, though, prefer using a few heavily armed explorers or
Terraformers (which have large hanger and fuel capacity for long
jumps) which they modify for jumping as soon as they can, saving
a few updates by not having to wait for a factory to come on line.

3-4-12 -- How do I get hyperdrive on board ships?
        In order to get hyperdrive aboard ships such as
e's and T's, you must first have a given number of resources
in the cargo bay.  The amount depends upon the new cost
of the ship with hyperdrive minus the old cost (double that
to get the cost of the upgrade).  That means you must be able
to fit that many resources _on_board_ your ship to make the
upgrade.  For e's, big cargo holds aren't very common, so you
might find that you have to "bootstrap" your way up by upgrading
the size of your cargo hold.  See the "upgrade" command in the
help files for more info.  In case the help files aren't very
enlightening, here's an example of how to build a jump capable
terraformer:
> build T 2,2  (let's say this gives you T #1456 in sector 2,2)
> load #1456 r 18
> cs #1456
> upgrade hyper    (now you've got hyperdrive capability)
> load #1456 r 16  (assume you want to add a crystal mount)
> upgrade mount    (now when you jump, you'll do it in one update,
                    and you'll use a _lot_ less fuel, if you've
                    got a crystal in the mount, of course)
> load #1456 x 1   (assuming you have a crystal on the planet)
> mount #1456      (now you can take advantage of your xtal mount)

        Say I wanted to increase the hanger capacity of my T,
here's how I would do it:
> cs #1456
> load #1456 r 2    (This can cost 2 or 4, depending on your T)
> upgrade hanger 6  (Default hanger of a T is 5...you must also
                     have a high enough tech to build this kind
                     of ship)

3-4-13 -- How do I build ships in space?
        Well, the way to do this is get a ship into orbit with
the resources you need.  You can use just about any ship, but a
shuttle works just fine.  You can load it with an infinite number
of resources, but you just can't land an overloaded shuttle...so
you _don't_ need ships with huge cargo bays to build some of the
larger structures like H's, O's, S's, etc.
        You can get resources onto the shuttle by ferrying them
up from the surface with another ship.  Once you have done that,
change scope to your shuttle, and type "build <shiptype>".  This
will create a new ship docked to your shuttle.  You can then
launch it or do whatever you want with it (but be careful about
trying to land damaged ships!  Some ships are built with a certain
damage level that must then be repaired...others can't land at all).

3-4-14 -- How come I don't have any resources yet?
      Often, races with low metabolisms and/or small homeworlds
or worse, a combination of the two, will take painfully long to
start generating any resources.  You can help alleviate this
problem by buying a reasonably high metabolism.  I usually find
that 1.0 gets me off fairly quickly, but if I have the points
to spend, I'll go higher.  High metab isn't so crucial for
Jovian races since they start with huge homeworlds, so this
minimum could go down to around 0.85 or so, in my opinion.

3-4-15 -- How come my pods didn't explode when they reached their destination?
        Speaking from personal experience only, pods can explode at
an update or a move seg.  The chance of this happening for each pod
at each update/segment is around 30%.  Thus, if your pods arrive at
a system, go ahead and set them on course for nearby planets.  Some
might actually get there before exploding, giving you a new colony
in the early parts of the game.

3-4-16 -- How do I get a list of where my crystals are at?
        Once you are at tech 50, you'll be able to see the
location of all crystal sectors on planets you have explored.
At times, these sectors will be covered by structures built
by you or someone else (such as F's, a's, Y's, etc), but you
can get around that problem by using "toggle geography" and
than viewing the map.

3-4-17 -- How do I get crystals?
        If you occupy any crystal sectors, you have a chance,
depending upon that sector's efficiency, to mine a crystal at
every update.  Once you've mined from around 1-6 crystals from
a given sector over time, it will revert to a "normal" sector.

3-4-18 -- How do I get a list of ship types I can build?
        Try "build ?" which is described under "help build."  This
will give you a summary of ship types.  If you want detailed info
on a specific ship, type "build ? x" where x is the letter that
represents that ship type.

3-5  Final Warnings and Advice
------------------------------
        If you see a bug, tell the deity in charge.  Period.  Many
games are thrown out of balance by players who find bugs and exploit
them.  If you're really in this to have fun and play the game well,
you shouldn't need to cheat to win.

      Remember that some types of ships are built with damage
that takes a few updates to repair.  This means that you'll have
to plan ahead, and, more importantly, don't try to land these or
any other damaged ships unless you want to risk losing them!  You
have a percentage chance equal to the ship's damage of crash
landing and possibly destroying your ship!

        Use the "tactical" command often to check for the presence
of enemy ships which may not show up on your map.  Remember, to
check an entire system for enemies, it might be better to do a
"tact g" rather than just a "tact."  This gives tactical reports
for your planets only (which is still full coverage most of the
time) and avoids repetitive tact reports from every single one of
your ships in system.  Also, be careful what orders you give in
Universal Scope (the top level)...sometimes, asking for tact
reports from all of your ships (or even just stock reports) can
tie up the game and waste a lot of everyone's time.

        Remember that some types of ships can't be built in factories,
most importantly ships such as Stations and Habitats.  To build
something like this, you can overload a shuttle in orbit!  Also, be
sure you know what the rules are for Habitats in your game (ie. do
they produce extra resources every turn?  If so, how many?).

        If you've got "smart guns," learn how to use them and take
advantage of them!  Don't get caught off-line at an update only
to have everything you hold dear destroyed simply because you didn't
set up a protection network.

        The beginning of the game is a critical time when you need
to get your race started off and several updates occur very close
together in order to get things moving.  When you sign up for a
game, be sure you can make this first update "blitz" or you may
find yourself hopelessly behind.

********************* I M P O R T A N T ***************************
        Finally, remember that the deity of the game is there to
help you.  If it weren't for him/her, you wouldn't be playing GB
at all.  So don't whine.  Be polite.  Make constructive comments.
It'll be easier for everyone that way.
********************* I M P O R T A N T ***************************

        *** RELAX.  IT IS ONLY A GAME. ***

------
        Comments, flames, and questions are welcome and should be sent
to me at evank@pebbles.nyu.edu.  This will be posted monthly or as the
need arises, and I'll email it upon request.  Copies are also available
via anonymous ftp at rtfm.mit.edu (login as the user "anonymous"
and give your email address as the password when ftp asks for it) in
/pub/usenet/news.answers/alt.games.gb  Also, you can get a copy of this
by sending a null mail message to the address "menu@gb.dorm.clarkson.edu"
with the subject line "FAQ".
Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4
Archive-name: games/galactic-bloodshed/part2



	This is the second part of the alt.games.gb FAQ sheet v4.1

	This posting serves as an appendix to the alt.games.gb
FAQ sheet.  It has a series of ten questions asked to several gb
veterans by Mike Varney [and painstakingly edited by me :)] and
their responses.  These questions and their responses are designed
for novice players.  They don't cover many aspects of the game, but
they can be very helpful.  Unlike the first posting of the FAQ, this
one is unlikely to change over time unless I get new submissions for
answers to these questions.  I am not exactly looking for new 
submissions, but...
	Please only submit answers to these questions if you feel like
you have something new or different to say.  Also, I will reject any
submissions whose format does not EXACTLY match the format I already
have in this posting.  Even if I get a few more good sets of answers,
I'm really tired of editing things to get them into the proper format
to make this post readable.

Contents:
PART 1 -- Setting up your race
	Should I choose a metamorphic race or a normal race?
	What type of home planet should I choose?
	How should I spent my remaining points?
	What sector preferences should I choose?
PART 2 -- The Beginning of the Game
	What should I do before the first update?
	What is the first ship I should build?  The second?
	What can I do to increase my resource production on any
		given planet?
PART 3 -- Later in the Game
	Should I colonize the planets in my own system first, or should I 
		focus on arriving in other systems before opponents can?
	What should I do when I see another ship other than my own?

Changes from last posting:
none

[Editorial comment:  These answers are not all necessarily right.  As 
you will see from the wide range of answers for each question, everyone
has their own playing style and their own opinions on how newbies should
proceed.  In my opinion, there are several misleading and some totally
wrong answers in here, so take these with a grain of salt.  I'm not
saying that all of my strategy tips are foolproof:  I've tried to give
a balanced view of the game in light of all the different viewpoints
I've heard.  Still, I may not have succeeded in presenting the whole picture
accurately, and I don't want to pretend to know everything about the
way the game should be played.  In sum...you have been warned.  Also,
I have edited the original responses where necessary to make them more
readable, either by slightly rewording a vague sentence, making the
format more readable, changing grammar here and there, etc.          ]

Key:  FEEP = cfodor@UCSD.edu (Christopher Fodor // Feepness)
      KJM = sigma@ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin // Lestat)
      GVB = gvbraun@vipunen.hut.fi (Toni Kotinurmi // Keskiolut)
      NEUE = djewhurs@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu  (Derek Jewhurst // Neue Regel)
      GARF = jkoi@niksula.cs.hut.fi (Jari Koivikko // Garfel)
      RN = nesiusra@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Rob Nesius)
      GURU = ccs003@fred.ucdavis.edu ( David Fernandez // Thing )
      MUU = danderse@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Dan Andersen // Muu)
      FNEB = ingram@u.washington.edu (Doug Ingram // Fnebish Legion)
      MICR = solman@athena.mit.edu (Jason W. Solinsky // Microbians)
      TRIB = shire@ecst.csuchico.edu (Shire // Tribbles)
      NB = boutell@freezer.cns.udel.edu ()
      PW = Petri.Wessman@hut.fi (Petri Wessman // TheCulture)
      FGS = d86y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (Jerry Liu // Froos)
      GRIF = pad@franklin.cc.utas.edu.au (Paul Daniels // Griffons )
      PILL = pad@tasman.cc.utas.edu.au (Scott Donavan // Pillarian )
      TAO = f33054r@kaira.hut.fi (Jukka Sinisalo // Tao)
      EMPI = s35327h@taltta.hut.fi (Samuli Suomi // Empire)
      LB = sbaker@eng.auburn.edu (Link Baker)
      CLAW = ferguson@lifesci.ucsb.edu (Mitch Ferguson // Greenies)
      ZURG = mikes@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Mike Simmonds // Zurgithian)

******** PART 1 - SETTING UP YOUR RACE ********

(1)  Should I choose a metamorphic race or a normal race?
--------------------------------------------------------

FEEP Normal for me.  With high IQ, and try to max out metabolism.

KJM  Metas are more work because they are able to send pods out fairly early 
     in the game.  Typically, they will have a large number of pods out at 
     most times.  Since they need to get ahead early, you really have to
     pay attention to them.

GVB  Whatever, not too specialized race is the main point. If you have a 
     specialized race, you MUST know what you're doing.

NEUE Normal 

GARF I prefer normal 'cause i get lot of tech

RN   The concept of a 'normal' race might be more comfortable for a 
     newbie.  There are a number of pros and cons to consider.  The
     normal races, also referred to as 'techies', start out with their
     IQ at a high number.  Their tech then increases roughly at the rate
     of IQ/100.  Which means it grows at a linear rate.  Morph's intel-
     ligence, on the other hand, is based on their population.  So, before
     a Morph can increase it's tech, it must increase it's population.
     In consideration of this, Morphs have the ability to build 'pods' 
     at zero tech, and launch them to other planets, thus letting them 
     expand throughout their home systems at a comparable rate to the 
     'techies'.  Morph's usually have a higher 'fight' than 'normals'. 
     It is possible for Morphs and Techies to be allies.  The game is
     not 'morphs' against 'techies'.
 
GURU If you want to get the higher tech toys first, get a normal race with
     a high int; otherwise, a meta is a better choice.  They start out slow
     but can catch up quickly.

MUU  Well, as a newbie, I would start as a normal race.  They get a
     technological advantage over the meta's right from the start.
     They are also much more straight forward to play.  Meta's can get
     get very complex and very time-consuming in the beginning.
     Also, Normal's tend to attempt to enslave Meta's as soon as
     possible.  Therefore, if you are not very experienced, you will 
     not be able to keep a Meta as a free empire.

FNEB Choose metamorphs if you want to concentrate more on ground fighting
     and a more dynamic (and time-consuming) game.  Choose a normal race if 
     you'd rather experiment with building ship types, with the ultimate 
     goal of finding a good metamorphic ally to do the "dirty work" for you. 
     Both types of races can just as easily win the game, and they're both 
     just as difficult to learn how to play well.

MICR You can have fun with both types of races. I've always found the HAP
     racegen to favor normal races and the GB racegen to favor
     metamorphs, but the universe will always need a mixture of both. In
     my experience metamorphs have represented a considerably greater
     time consumption than normals, so you should take this into account.
     (of course any race will take a long time if you occupy to much of
     the galaxy). On the GB racegen you can create some interesting
     crosses between metamorphs and normals (like races with collective
     IQ's but neither pods nor absorb.) Most of these combinations are
     disastrous, but others (like a collective IQ, no pods Jovian) can
     be both interesting AND playable.

TRIB I would suggest a normal race, they tend to have less ship to worry
     about, and a lot less complications.  A meso to be effective must 
     know about tech investiments, how to maximize population, and uses 
     of pods.

NB   If you want to explore all the nifty ship types of the game, I would
     suggest you not be a metamorph. Also, being a metamorph successfully
     requires either tireless fingers or an understanding of macros!

PW   Depends on whether you want to side with the "Techs" or the
     "Morphs"... Metamorphs can build pods very early in the game, so they
     get a head start on the normal races, who have to wait until they can
     build a shuttle to get off their home world. Morphs have a collective
     IQ, which means that in the beginning their technology level will
     increase *very* slowly. Since your tech level determines what kind of
     whiz-bang stuff you can build, it will take a while until your average
     Morph race gets its first shuttle up in the air. Things even out later
     in the game.

FGS  Depends on your playing strategy.  If you enjoy spending a lot of time
     playing with ships and fleets I'd choose normal.  If you don't want to
     spend a heck a lot of time and don't mind spending your time on
     planet surfaces, choose morph.

GRIF It really depends on the game that you are playing..  If you are
     playing in one of the clakson games it is a must.  With the HAP
     games you really aught to start out with a tech race.  Choosing a
     normal race will allow you to build better ships earlier, in general,
     while the meta races tend to allow you to have nice things like
     higher fighting capability, etc. With the clarkson enroling system 
     the meta's are the strongest races, you can make a meta with the same 
     characteristics as a top line normal cheaper, giving you more points 
     to use for increasing your abilities.

PILL This is entirely up to individual tastes, If you are just starting
     then flip a coin.. try that type then next game swap.. then perhaps
     make a decision as to what you will play...

TAO  I'd say normal.  If for no other reason but because many don't
     like them...  

EMPI It depends of which tactics you are going to use:  if you want
     to be good in man to man-fight, choose meta (because of absorption),
     if you want fast developing tech from the very beginning of the game,
     choose normal ( with iq like 170..) and so on...

LB   I have only played metamorphic races.  I like the fact that they can
     send up pods immediately and don't have to wait for tech.  They are 
     more challenging. You don't have the technology of a normal race.  
     Also, you can take a planet without having to destroy it (absorb). 
     That takes skill.  Anyone can bomb someone into the stone age. 

CLAW Normal for the first games, it all makes much more sense.

ZURG Well I almost always go for meta, but I depends on the time you have
     to play or the number of friends you have to help play your race.  Metas
     take time (you need macros aswell, but I have done well spending hours 
     podding before I discovered macros), to come in the top 5 of a big game
     you will need 1-2 hours per update if you know how to use macros.

(2)  What type of home planet should I choose?
----------------------------------------------

FEEP A high resource, low fertility planet (desert or airless)
     You can always increase fertility later with resources.

KJM  Consider the sector compatibilities which are easiest for a given 
     planet type (they're usually marked with a * by racegen).  Planet
     types such as iceballs and airless are more difficult because they 
     tend to be smaller and have less resources, making your race slower 
     in getting underway.  Note - choosing Earth (Class M) planets may 
     seem tempting, and it's not a bad idea.  However, in some universes,
     there are many Earth inhabiting players.  This means there will be
     more competition against your race for these planets.
     
GVB  Pick a planet that is rather large ( desert,forest ) because you are
     not likely to get many planets in your first game...

NEUE Class M / Earth

GARF 1. Desert        2. Forest       3. Earth (you need too many sector 
     preferences to use this planet effectively)
	
RN   This primarily depends on the sector compatibilities you choose.
     Jovian planets (gas giants) are very large, and have the ability to 
     fuel up ships (so I hear).  Half of the sector space in a galaxy is 
     gas.  Jovians are few and far between.  Their resource content is not 
     very rich, but passable.  Whether or not Jovian races should be allowed 
     to terraform sectors to gas is being debated.  Class M's are primarily
     like earth.  Don't be fooled, they have LOTS of water...usually.  If
     you have water as a compat, class M is not a bad choice.  Water
     balls are usually small but not too bad for resources.  Iceballs are
     few and far between (I think) but also not too bad for resources.

GURU Picking planets is tough.  I like to start on a Class M or desert
     since they are usually large.  Large home worlds are good because 
     they can be taxed, and a big planet has more res than a small one.

MUU  I would go for the generic M-type planet.  They aren't the most
     common, but they are really useful.  As another option, you could
     go for a desert planet.  These are GREAT for resources, but are
     generally very rare.  Forest planets are also good, as they produce
     decent amounts of resources and your population will explode.  As 
     for other planets, such as asteroids, airballs, iceballs, and
     jovians, I would not advise choosing any of these as they all have
     problems associated with them, such as smallness, lack of resources, 
     and rarity (for the jovians).

FNEB Choose either a Jovian, a desert planet, a Class M, or a forest
     planet.  All the other types are too small to start with, and 
     you'll find yourself having a hard time producing resources since 
     production on a given planet goes as _the_power_ "number of sectors 
     owned."  Producing resources quickly on your home planet is crucial.

MICR Personally, I like forest and desert planets. They have very good
     resource concentrations and despite much of the documentation, they
     are often quite large. To a certain extent, planet choice is moot
     because planetary size, and atmosphere have a much greater effect on
     the game than the planet type. Just make sure you are compatible
     with the vast majority of sectors that appear on your planet. (One
     reason I dislike class-Ms is because most races don't have enough
     sector preference diversity to colonize greater than 90% of the
     sectors, and the uncolonized sectors stick out like a sore thumb.) 

TRIB To start out with, use either forest or desert.  Higher resources,
     and costs less in racegen; you can thus pick other sector pref's.  
     I prefer a forest planet myself.

NB   I tend toward earthlike planets. Jovians are fun too if you don't 
     mind being somewhat separated from the mainstream of the game.

PW   Again a matter of taste :-)  I personally love desert worlds, since
     they have an extremely high resource content (i.e. you can build huge
     amounts of stuff from them). On the down side, desert worlds are low
     on fertility, so your population increses quite slowly. The "basic"
     home world is a "Type M" (Earth-type) planet, which is pretty even in
     all respects -- a pretty good choice for your first game. Other
     choices are the Water world (not that great), Iceball (avoid!), the
     Forest world (low resources, high fertility), and the Jovian. Jovians
     are unique in that they automatically make your race a gas-breather
     (which rules out any other sector preferences). This make for a
     division in the game between the Jovians and all the other races, as
     neither can use each other's worlds (although Jovians *can* terraform
     normal worlds into gas ones -- this could be considered a bug). You
     probably shouldn't choose a Jovian for your first game, although if
     you're feeling brave go for it!

FGS  Doesn't really matter too much.  Just don't pick an iceball or asteroid
     since those usually are kind of small and puts a constraint on your
     earlier expansion.  Don't choose forest worlds, either.  There aren't
     too many of those.

GRIF It really depends on what you want out of your home planet.  For
     cheap compatibilites, you should choose a forest. For high populations,
     forest or water then earth.  For resources, desert. The best way is 
     to fiddle around with the enrol system until you have enough points 
     to do what you want.  You will find that the cost for compatabilities 
     change as your home planets do.  This cost has eliminated iceballs 
     from being a viable starting planet.

PILL Most choose a class M (All sector types except gas) simply because
     it enables the player to parallel their race against the thinking
     of a modern day situation.

TAO  Maybe earth or forest (if this is asked).  Both have fairly good
     fert and resources.  Not desert, because fert is so low there.  

EMPI In earth-,forest- and joviantype planet your population grows faster...
     In desert-type planet you have relatively greater resources...
     Of iceballs and Airlesses I have no experiences..

LB   Earth type planets. Their size can support a decent population (Meso's
     need population for tech).  They have pretty good resources.

CLAW Desert, or Earth. Both are fairly large size planets, have plenty
     of resources, and can be found in just about every system.

ZURG Desert, Earth or Forest (Jovians are good too, but try the others first),
     as a meta you can have 1 guy live on any sector type so even if you are 
     on an Earth type with incompatable sectors you can still mine resources 
     there.

(3)  How should I spend my remaining points?  
--------------------------------------------

FEEP Fiddle around, trying different things every game... that
     makes it fun.

KJM  Metabolism is important for producing resources at a reasonable rate,
     especially early on; many players recommend at least 0.95 or 1.0.
     Adventurism encourages your people to spread out without your help. 
     IQ is useful for developing tech.  They're all useful, of course...
     which to emphasize the most is your personal preference.  Just be
     sure, in your first few races at least, not to cripple any one
     stat too greatly, or you may regret it.

GVB  Metabolism is great, at least 1.0, and fight should never be
     below 3 or 4.

RN   IQ will take most of them.  Good IQ is about 150-170, 200 if you
     really want to spend the points.

GARF Raise iq to at least 180 and metabolism to 0.9.  Drop adventurism
     to 0.05, birthrate to 0.6 (or maybe 0.5; it's not important to have
     it high), and get a little fertilize.

RN   Metabolism is a good place to put points.  This represents how active
     your race is.  A race with a low metab(.8 is considered low) will 
     build up fuel, and resources(res) at a slower rate than a race 
     with a 1.0 metab.  You don't absolutely need a high metab.  Lower
     metab is still playable, but it requires shrewder planning and
     foresight on the part of the player.  Birthrate should be high.
     Adventurism need not be high.  It represents the chances of members
     of your race deciding to expand the 'frontier'.  For techies, iq
     is usually a good one to boost up.  Don't take more than 3-6 sexes
     required to reproduce.

GURU Always try and get a metab of 1.00 or great.  I like to have 1 sex,
     since it makes colonizing easier.  Concentrate on either a smart race
     or a good fighter type race.

MUU  A high IQ is nice, as this allows your technology level to increase
     more quickly.  Sector preferences are also really nice.  For a normal
     race, the other stats aren't as important, in my opinion.  A low
     mass is useful, and sometimes you can save a lot of points by 
     reducing your adventurism to as low as possible.  This has the 
     effect of having to move all your population manually...  They will
     not move on their own.

FNEB Get at least three sector preferences, but don't go for the "common"
     choices.  It's best to find an unusual mix.  You'll work much better
     with potential allies since you won't be wanting the same types of 
     sectors. Also, make sure your metab is _at_least_ 1.0 unless you're
     a Jovian race (in which case 0.9 is a good minimum).  If you're not 
     going to spend the points on a high iq, spend 'em on fight or metabolism.
     Don't try to max things out too much...at high levels of any attribute,
     then the cost rises much more quickly than the attribute, but you want 
     something high to give your race a distinct edge, if possible.

MICR It's up to you. Generally, its not possible to take over the
     universe on yuor own, so you should make sure that you have
     something to offer potential allies. A perfectly well-rounded race,
     may not have much to contribute

TRIB For a first time player, try to only add sector prefs, go with the
     default setting for the most part.  They're not great, but they're not
     bad either.  I would try to have these sectors pref's:  Forest, Water,
     Desert, and land.  Also drop your # of sexes to 1.  It make metabolism
     a little cheaper.

NB   Fight ability is good, but I tend to think reproduction (minimizing
     number of sexes) is more important.

PW   Hmmm... depends heavily on the type of play you're going to foll. If
     you're a "tech" then you can downplay the "fight" and invest in IQ,
     and vice versa if you're going to go for the "Wood Clubs & Brute
     Strength" -department :-)  I personally like investing a lot in IQ
     (tech).

FGS  Make sure you have decent IQ (~150), reasonable birthrate (>0.6),
     good metabolism(1 or so), and try to be compatible with as many
     sectors as you can.

GRIF Well that really depends.  To pull out the maximum res you need
     both a high pop and a high metab (res is required for the building
     of ships).  Also Birth is good and so are compatibilities to sectors;
     likewise, someone with fight 10 troops is really nasty to come
     across.  The only way to really tell what you need is by your
     playing style.  That only comes with experience...  Go for a basic
     race that populates well and has 180 tech...  it is a good start
     for a beginner.

PILL Again it depends on what race you chose. If metamorph then fight
     would be useful followed by birth, then sectors (preferences).
     You may wish to sacrifice some of the iq tech level for other things.
     If techie, then perhaps higher iq.  Fight is not highly required but
     a fight of one is a major loss. With such a low fight most techies would 
     be (initially) at the mercy of meso pods. Then you can choose between
     birth and metab.

TAO  I usually drop my fight a little, buy metabolism and then just sort
     of spread the rest evenly (no use taking too much fertilizing or 
     adventure though.  If you won't be able to play in the start, then 
     that advantage might help).  Be unisex if you have the points.

EMPI Take higher fight,metabolism and iq...  IMHO don't waste your points
     to get better fertilization; after the tech-level 5, the Space Plows
     will have the same effect...
 
LB   Metabolism is very important.  After that a meso should go for fight.
     Birthrate is fine at 50 - 60 %.  Spend extra points on met and fight.
     Maybe sector compat. also, but it's expensive.

CLAW Desert, or Earth. Both are fairly large size planets, have plenty
     of resources, and can be found in just about every system.

ZURG Metas need a good fight and metabolism.  In a blitz game you will need
     adventurism more than .25 (unless you have a population spread macro)
     otherwise have .1, a very high birth rate is needed to take planets 
     quickly (metas like me are greedy, take all those sectors, ask Feep :-).
     If going for a low IQ meta then have some (.25) fertility, pods and 
     absorb are a must!!!  If playing HAP go for metab of 1.8-2.0, in one 
     game I had 6 planets after only 2 and a bit updates cos I got some res
     and fuel after the first update!  You can afford to be pretty heavy as
     you will not be using techie ships for a while.

(4)  What sector preferences should I choose?
---------------------------------------------

FEEP Definitely water, desert, land, and mountain.  When playing a "Jovian"
     race, you really can't go wrong since there is a very high percentage
     of gas giants out there.

KJM  Always choose the ones which are best for your planet type; those are
     cheapest.  I don't recommend buying more than one other sector compat, 
     if even that, since the *number* of compatibilities you have is a factor
     in point cost as well.

GVB  Main preference plus one or two another ( take 100%, because they're 
     cheap after the first 30% or so... ). So, maybe a desert and forest.
     Or another good choise: desert, land and mountain.

NEUE For a Class M planet, take land, water, and ice.  These are very
     common to the other planets too.  Forest can also be a good choice.

GARF with desert: land/mountain;  with forest:  land/mountain/water;
     with earth: land/water/mount (mount is not important but has high
     resource content).

RN   Recommendations for these are plated, land, and water.  You should have
     compatibility with these three sectors before you choose others.  You 
     don't need 90-100% on every secotr type you do choose.  You can select 
     50% or lower so you can make use of the few odd sectors, or asteroids,
     forest planets, etc. . .  Ice is a good one, since it shows up on 
     iceballs and most classM planets on the poles.

GURU Pick as many sector prefs as you can; get them to at least 25%.  The
     best ones in my opinion are home planet sector, desert, mountain,
     land, forest, water then ice.

MUU  If you don't have a sector preference in a certain sector type, you
     effectively can't live on those sector types.  So, if you can afford
     it, buy some compatibility in all, or most of the sectors.  They
     don't have to be bought at 100%.  10%-20% should do for most of
     them.  Be sure to get one or two sector-types at a high compatibility,
     such as 90%-100%.  If you live on a Class M, I would suggest land,
     water, forest, and a little desert.  Again, if you can, get at least
     a little in all the sector types.

FNEB I mentioned this a little bit before.  Land and forest have the
     highest fertility (I'm not mentioning gas since, if you take a Jovian 
     race, gas is your only viable option), hence can support more population. 
     This is good for races with collective iq.  Mountain and desert have 
     high resource content but low fertility, so they're good for races with 
     high metab.  Ice is useful since it is found on almost all the planets 
     in at least some small amounts, and water is a good choice for a race 
     starting on a class M, though it is generally poor in resource content. 
     Select an unusual mix and you'll find working with allies much easier.

MICR Similarly it's not a good idea to be compatible with every kind of
     sector. MANY alliances are based on sector incompatibilities.

TRIB See comment to question 3.
        
NB   Land, forest, and water are my favorites.

PW   100% for your "home" sector type (i.e. water for water worlds etc.),
     and at least 50% on a couple of others. "Land" and "Mountain" are
     pretty good choices, since they are quite common. Again, this depends
     on your play style. You can either invest a lot in sec. preferences
     and be able to utilize pretty much anything right at once, or you can
     invest in tech and build Terraformers as soon as possible (with
     Terraformers you can change sector types into your own preferred
     sector type.

FGS  Try to include either land or mountain because many of the asteroid/
     iceball type planetary bodies will have one of these two sectors on them.

GRIF Totally dependent on your home planet. The more the better but you
     will find that some sector preferences cost too much due to you being 
     on a planet that does not have the sector much. You will get the idea 
     if you try having a desert home and water compatibility.  Water tends
     to be one of the most common (generally supports high pop but low
     res production).  Forest is the same as water but supports a higher
     pop and is very rare (throughout the universe, that is).  Land,
     is incredibly common with average pop and res production.  Ice is
     common, supports little population but high than average res.  Gas
     is only good if you are a Jovian race: low pop/sector and low res.
     Mountain his high res and low pop.  Desert same as mountain but
     generally more res.

PILL Depending on what race gen is being employed will depend on you avenues
     of decision. These mainly being that you will require 100% of the main
     sector(s) of what ever planet type you have chosen. Ie class M land(*)
     or mountain (^) on the GB enroll system. Variances have and will occur
     in the 2 main race gens available.. (GB's { code, and Clay's port
     driven system).

TAO  I've had quite a good start with starting on earth and being able
     to use water, desert and land.  Deserts could be changed to mount,
     maybe.  That way you can land on most planets, get resourceful
     sectors (desert) and still can spread well on your home planet (water).

EMPI As many as possible so you have wider basement when you start to colonize
     colonizeother planets..... Mountain is resource-rich and quite a non-
     rare sector type, but it costs points.  If you take gas, you don't
     need to take any other sector types..  :)

LB   Water is pretty abundant in the universe.  Forest is rare.  Choose
     water, and then land or mountains.  Stay away from rare sector types.

CLAW Besides your planet type sector, definitely choose mountain.  There
     are mountains on every planet, and asteroid.

ZURG The primary sector type must be 100% i.e. on Water planets have water
     100%, forest 100% on Forest planets etc.  On Desert planets you can 
     usually have desert, mountain or ice as 100%.  For metas it is good to 
     have some compat with forest as your population grows fast because of 
     the high fertility.  Always go for some on land !  If playing HAP have
     some mountain as there is lots around.

******** PART 2 - THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME ********
 
(1)  What should I do before the first update?
----------------------------------------------

FEEP Beg for an update.  It doesn't make much of a difference to unload
     people from the government center.

KJM  Unload a few people from your government center to join in the first
     reproductive pass.  Be sure to leave at least one in so you'll get APs!
     Spend the APs you have moving a few people around diagonally from your
     starting sector, to encourage widespread colonization.  Decide if you
     want a tax rate (lowers efficiency I believe) or mobilization (eventu-
     ally produces destructive capacity at the expense of resources).  Chat
     some with other players.

GVB  Unload @, spread the ppl to next-to-@-sectors. Because you NEED as much
     ppl as possible and they do _not_ reproduce without you spreading them.
     Even if you have high adventurism this is recommended.

NEUE Get your MIN-SEXES to as many sectors as you can. You will be limited
     by both AP's and total population.  I tend to unload 4-6 people from
     my @ before the 1st update.  Load them back in after the update though.

GARF Unload your @ (load #number c -10).  Depending on your number of
     sexes, that number of people to the highest fertility sectors so
     you have a lot of people after the 1st update.

RN   Move your people around.  It's important to get your planet covered as
     much as possible.  Move them around in small groups so you use fewer
     action points.  Soon, your people will start making resources and fuel.
     HINT:  Use the 'analysis' command to determine which sectors are your 
     most resource rich.  It's probably not a good idea to unload people
     from the government center.  You need people there to maintain
     efficiency, which is a very important aspect of secotr stats.  The 
     more efficient you are, the faster you pump out res.  And the more
     effecient your goverment, well. . . think about it.

GURU On the first update, take enough people out of your @ and move them
     1 space away from your @.  This will help you spread out faster, but
     you will not get as many ap's as fast.  After the first update, load
     the @ to full again.

MUU  The most enjoyable thing to do, and sometimes really useful, is
     to meet all the people.  Potential allies and enemies always pop up.
     You should also look at your position and determine possible routes
     to nearby stars. That's about all I usually do before the update, 
     except for unloading the @.  On the very first update, I usually
     unload five(5) crew from the government center.  I then spread
     them around to five nearby sectors.  After the first update, one
     should always reload the center with crew, as an insufficiently
     manned center does not produce Action Points(AP's), which, as you
     will find out, limits the number of actions you can do.  AP's are
     vital in the beginning of the game.

FNEB Nothing, unless you want to try unloading your government center
     Raising tax rates and mobilizing should come after about the
     6th or 7th updates, IMHO.  If you will be on at the update so that
     you can reload your center after the first update, go ahead and do
     it.  Unloading your center at the beginning, taking 4 crew out, is
     nice because it gives you a head start on your expansion at the
     cost of only a couple of AP's (this is not entirely clear to me
     due to conflicting information, but I'm told that centers probably
     _don't_ produce fewer AP's with less crew inside...still, you 
     might as well keep it fully loaded after the first update).

MICR If you are playing in a game where you start out with 1200 people,
     You probabally want to colonize the four sectors on a diagonal from
     your start sector. (I assume here that all races have six sexes or
     less) If your race has one sex move one person into each sector,
     otherwise move six. This will use your APs most efficiently.  If
     you are playing in a game where you start with one person, you
     might want to unload the government center, but never unload more
     than 5 and reload it immediately after the first turn.

TRIB Drop the # of civ's in capitol by half.  Use extra population on
     the planet.  Rember to load up the cap again later.  Also, spread
     people over sectors, just put your # of sexes in each sector that
     you have ap for.    ample.  I have 1 sex, thus I move 1 pop into all
     but one of the surrounding sectors, I then move all but one in orig
     sector into the one empty sector, then I repeat the process again until
     planet is covered.  If you have over 40 pop in a sector though, move 
     only half.  If costs too much ap to move more than 20 pop.

NB   Not much! Try out commands, read the help extensively, and try to
     communicate via broadcasting with other players.  I've never tried
     to unload my @!  Hey, maybe I'm not all that far from a newbie
     myself.

PW   Unload the crew of the government center (@), and move people to
     nearby sectors that look promising (high resources and compatible
     sector type). Chat with the other players. Try not to think of the
     million other things you should be doing instead of playing this
     (altogether too addictive) game....

FGS  Spread your people out.  I usually unload my @.  For a morph,
     dump off about 3 or 4.  You only have 5 AP's to start out with,
     and it costs one to move one guy, so dropping off more really
     doesn't help.

GRIF Unload your @ and spread the pop out, but don't forget to load the @ 
     back up after the update

PILL First, unload 5 crew from your capitol (ship number of your capitol
     will be equal to your race number)...eg, "load @ c -5" or "load
     #shipnum c -5".  Once you have done this, you spread out the 5 pop
     (one at a time as you have only 5 AP's before the first update.  Make
     sure you don't move the pop onto imcompatible sectors.  This is, of
     course only if you are a one sex race; you would have to modify the
     numbers for how many sexes you have.  As long as you move a whole
     "breeding group" you are okay.  The good point of this:  It helps
     get your pop increasing faster; fert and eff on those sectors will
     already start to increase.  Bad:  You will get half the AP's that
     update, so I suggest after the first update you load your gov center
     back up.  Remember that a capitol or gov center will only produce
     ap in relation to its current level of crew (ie. 100% crew gives
     you 100% ap, etc.).  The next thing you should do is have a look
     at the number and distribution of the planets in your home system.
     Next, go to the global scope and have a look at where you are in
     the universe (this is important as your position will determine as
     a whole your further strategy).  Other things you may consider doing:
     naming your governor, perhaps changing your password, appointing a
     second governor (more for your convenience than anything).  I would
     also (if you are willing to, that is) place your email address in
     your "personal" this helps when you "run" into other races. It makes
     the politics much simpler. However in a HAP game this is regarded as 
     a BIG nono.  Next, I would think about the possible access to a 
     postscript printer.  If you have access to one, then I strongly 
     suggest that you pipe a copy of the stars list to a log file, then
     generate a stars map (the program to do this is available all over
     the place.  I think gb.dorm.clarkson.edu has a mail daemon that
     will send it to you [It does. -ed].  Then I would just wait.

TAO  Not much that you need to do.  Talk to others and ask stupid
     questions...  They'll help you.  I usually unload people from my
     government center and spread them out.

EMPI Use command: help and if theres still something unclear use broadcast 
     and ask it from other players, theres always experienced players around.
     Unload people from your @ so you can start to populate more quickly.

LB   View the maps of your home planet, system, and your location in the
     universe.  Unload @ and spread the people around. Find out how close
     neighboring systems are, which one's you want to explore 1st.  Unload
     all but one crew from your @ so you still get some AP's.  Spread 'em
     around.  Load it back up after the 1st update.  You should have
     plenty of pop unless you have a really shitty birthrate.  Get that
     planet covered A.S.A.P.

CLAW Get all but one of your people out of the Gov Center, and
     do spread them around it. Look to see where in the universe you
     are, just for curiosity.

ZURG As a meta with 1 sex you can take 6 sectors on the first move, unload 8
     crew from the @ and move 5 pop 1 sector in different directions.  Load
     up the @ again after the first update.  No tax yet, but have mobility
     at 25 or so after the first update.

(2)  What is the first ship I should build?  The second?
--------------------------------------------------------

FEEP If you are impatient and have lots of r, you can build a ground
     telescope and survey your system, otherwise wait and build a factory
     for shuttles.

KJM  If you are a meso, the first and second ship you should build is a pod ;)
     If you are a normal race, build a factory (F) as soon as you can afford
     it, and teach it to build shuttles (cs #factnum; make s).  If your res
     production is going to outstrip your tech, use "modify" to make the 
     shuttle lower tech.  Put people in the factory, turn it on, wait for it
     to repair.  Use the "fact" command (if present on the server) to keep
     an eye on the factories over the segs and updates.  When it's finished,
     use "build #" to build # of ships while in that factory.

GVB  First to build is F. Modify it to make s's, as cheap and FAST as 
     possible, maybe carrying nothing but 1 cargo (for upgrading later)
     and SEX-number of people plus as much fuel as possible.

NEUE Make a factory as soon as you can.  Have it produce stripped down
     shuttles so you can get to as many planets as possible.

GARF One ground telescope as soon as you get tech 5 and 2 res then aim
     at the nearest planets, then a Factory to build shuttles with a
     modified speed of at least 6.

RN   A good choice for a first ship for a techie is a Factory.  Use the
     factory to build a shuttle to send out to the other planets in the
     solar system.  Also, while your factory is fixing itself,(it starts
     with 75% damage and needs time to repair.) build a ground telescope
     so that you can see what the planets in your system are like, and 
     don't send your first shuttle to an incompatible planet.

GURU The first ship you should build is a factory; do not build it,
     though, until you have enough res to turn it on.  Wait until you
     have at least 33 res before building it.  You want the shuttle to
     hold only the minimum number of crew, no guns, no destruct, and
     no resources.  This will let you pay less per shuttle and spend
     more on speed.  If you are a meta, just start building and launching
     pods as soon as you get the res and fuel to do it.

MUU  The very first ship I would build is a telescope.  That way, you can
     examine the other planets in your solar system and see which ones
     you should target for colonization first.  The second should 
     probably be a Factory to build colonization shuttles.  These
     should have 5-10 crew and 10 crew if possible.  Remember, when 
     you construct a ship design on a Factory, you don't have to be
     at the given tech of the ship until you want to build them, which
     is as soon as the Factory comes online (about 3-4 updates after
     activation).

FNEB If you're a metamorph, build pods like crazy until you have the
     tech capability to build shuttles with speed 4 or so (you can
     experiment with a factory to find out what tech you need).  Other-
     wise, build _nothing_ until you've built your factory and turned
     it on.  Don't even build a little telescope.  You want that
     factory turned on ASAP, even if you have to set it to building
     really crappy and cheap shuttles.  Once you have something built,
     you can always modify it later (when you can afford it)...the 
     important thing is getting that F turned on.  Once you've spent
     your res doing this (it costs 23 plus twice the cost of the ship
     design to build and then turn on the factory), you can build a
     telescope to survey surrounding planets in your system.

MICR Pods for a Meso, shuttles for a normal. A lot depends on your
     strategy, your race, your start planet, and (especially with Ts)
     the rules of the game.

TRIB Hmmm....  This is questionable.  It really depends on the race.  For
     the normal player I would say shuttles and then explorers.  Though I've
     designed races to skip shuttle production before.  Remember shuttles are 
     for in system exploration mostly while explorers are for other systems

NB   The first ship is almost invariably a shuttle from which the weapons
     systems and so on have been stripped that can carry your minimum number
     of sexes to another planet in your system for colonization. The second?
     Another one! Later you should build some shuttles with a bit of destruct
     on board, to give you a chance of snuffing out unwanted alien colonies
     at the beginning of their existence.  Of course, if you're a morph,
     you'll build pods first.

PW   In GB a "ship" is anything that you build, so in GB terms the first
     ship you should build is (a) a pod, if you're a morph; (b) a ground
     telescope if you're a normal race.  With this gadget you can view
     your solar system and get some picture of your position so you can
     send your shuttles to the right places.  The second ship type you
     should build is a factory (F).  When you have enough tech and res,
     you can order it to produce shuttles (for instance) and in a couple
     of updates, you can start spreading out.

FGS  If you're a morph, pods. :-)  If normal, shuttle, then maybe explorer.

GRIF Depends on what you can build pods are good for a meso. a shuttle 
     factory for all those who do not have pods.

PILL Again it depends on what race you are.. Meso .. You pod like crazy..
     if you are a techy then I suggest that you build a telescope (gives
     you something to do more than anything) then save up for a factory..
     the second for a meso.. (second type not the second ship) would be
     K's (Space plows..) at tech 5 ..

TAO  First ground telescope to see what planets there are in your system.
     Then shuttles...

EMPI Perhaps the Ground Telescope would be best as a firts ship... With 
     it you can survey other planets in your star system...  Second would
     be a factory to produce shuttles to get colonization to start...
     Dont forget to set your tax to about 5 percent, 'cause maintaining of 
     the ships takes money and if you dont have money your morale drops...

LB   1st) For a meso, a pod. For a techie, a factory (To build shuttles)
     2nd) Meso - pod. Techie - whatever you have the tech for while you are 
     waiting on the shuttles. Domes help the planet and you. 

CLAW A factory, for shuttles. Then a ground telescope, to check out 
     your system.

ZURG Find out how many planets there are in your system using the explore
     command and build a pod for each one (only need 1 fuel) when you have 
     the res.  Send the pod to a planet, land it on a good sector (use 
     analysis to find one and scrap the pod, hey presto another colony :-) 
     As soon as you have the res and fuel send 5-10 pods to your 10 nearest 
     stars (send them in waves, 1 update apart) you will need 1 fuel per
     ~8000 distance depending on your race's weight.

(3)  What can I do to increase my resource production on any given planet?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

FEEP Cover every sector.

KJM  Get a higher metabolism, get more population.

GVB  Build Y's.  Nothing much else.

NEUE Build Y's or q's.  Y's have an added effect of producing plated
     sectors which make it harder for any ships landed on that sector to be
     hit.  q's produce extra toxicity but give more resources in the
     beginning.  As your sector efficiency goes up, q's become less useful.

GARF You could use quarries, but i don't recommend it.  They cost res to 
     build and make the planet more toxic.

RN   You can increase resource production with 'quarries'.  Beware, you
     can generate 'toxicity' with quarries, but they will probably help
     you out very much.  Also, I belive Domes can be helpful.
 
GURU To increase res production, use domes (Y), and start out with a
     good metabolism.  Make the domes on sectors that have the most res
     in them; use the analysis command to find out which sector has the
     most res.  Also make sure you can live on that type sector.

MUU  Generally, get as much population as possible.  Cover your
     homeworld as soon as possible.  And build Domes (Y's) on a few
     sectors to get their efficiency up (which affects resource
     production).

FNEB First, cover every single sector you are compatible with.  Next, if 
     you have spare resources, you can build domes to increase the efficiency
     of some sectors, which will increase your overall average efficiency, 
     which will, in turn, increase production without hurting your planet. 
     I've found that quarries are a real waste of time and resources.

MICR Well, you are going to have to wait a while before you get any
     significant production. If you are a non-Jovian and you have the
     tech and resources to spare, you might want to consider domes.
     Either way, KEEP THE TAXES LOW.

TRIB You can build quarries, though I never do.  You can also increase your
     population using K's and build Y's(domes) to increase it's effiency.
     If your real brave you can design your race to have a real high metab,
     like 1.5.  Thus you'd never have to worry about resources.

NB   Spread your population thoroughly (make sure you're compatible with the
     sectors you put people on however), and build domes when you have the
     available time and resources; domes increase efficiency greatly.

PW   Move people to the sectors with the highest resource contents, build
     domes (Y) on the best sectors, and possibly build a space plow (K) to
     increase sector fertility so that more people appear there. If the
     planet has the wrong type of atmosphere or temperature you can use
     atmosphere processors, space mirrors, dust canisters and greenhouse
     gas to good effect.

FGS  You could build quarries, or try to put your guys on high res sectors.

GRIF Increase the average efficency(through doming) or increase the pop
     through space plows etc. 

PILL Well the bets way to increase r productio is to increase you effeciency.
     you can o this by Doming sectors.. Beleive me it is worht putting r 
     into domes!!!!

TAO  Build domes, quarrys, terraformers, space plows...

EMPI You can build Domes after tech-level 5, they increase your sector 
     efficiency on which depends your resource-production....

LB   Get that entire planet covered! After that you'll have to increase the
     efficiencies of the sectors with domes.  Other than that there's not
     much else you can do. That's why it's important to have metabolism.

CLAW Wait.  Quarries are overrated.

ZURG Cover the whole planet, even sectors you don't like, build domes on
     these sectors as soon as possible so that you can plate them.  I don't
     use quarries; they're nasty.

******** PART 3 - LATER IN THE GAME ********

(1) Should I colonize the planets in my own system first, or should
	I focus on arriving in other systems before opponents can?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

FEEP Concentrate on other systems, except hit the high fertility
     planets in your system at the same time.  An enemy could 
     breed on a class M ten times faster than on an iceball.

KJM  Yes.

GVB  Because you are a beginner, take your own system first.

NEUE Depends on how close the neighboring systems are.  I try to go for the
     neighboring systems first and get a shuttle to my own planets after I
     have sent out 2 or 3 s's to the other systems.  If systems are very
     close (< 10K) it would probably be better to get those first shuttles
     to your own planets.  Don't forget to build a telescope and check out
     your own planets.  This can save you a lot of time by not having to
     go to every planet.

GARF Both if possible.  Colonize only the best planets of your own
     system, like those over 40% compatibility and go fast to the
     nearest systems!
	
RN   Try to colonize your own system first, and estabilsh a good population 
     base and fleet.  Throughout the beginning, you may talk confidentially 
     to other players, or publicly to everyone.  If you can get a crypt set 
     up with another player, feel free to ask questions.  Also, God is an 
     experienced player who can give advice, but don't run to him before 
     trying to figure it out on your own.  Otherwise he'd be swamped.  
     It's good to establish friendly relations with other players, and even
     better ones with races who are in a position to mess with you.  
     Try to get on peoples' good side.  Even if you are going to backstab 
     them. :-)

GURU Do both.  Use one ship to colonize the planets in your star.  Use
     a telescope to save time by aiming it at the planets and seeing if
     you can live on them.  Use your remaining ships to colonize the
     nearest stars to you.

MUU  Generally, get as much population as possible.  Cover your homeworld
     as soon as possible.  And build Domes(Y's) on a few sectors to
     get their efficiency up(which affects resource production).

FNEB Use a telescope to check out the planets in your system if you have the
     tech to do it.  Colonize those you are compatible with, but always send
     your first dozen or so ships out of system so they can get a head start
     on the race with the other players to arrive at and colonize unpopulated
     systems.  If waiting to colonize your planets allows some other race to 
     sneak in, odds are it will be quite easy for you to kick that player 
     out since you will have the resources nearby to build the necessary 
     ships to do it.  This is a last resort of course, since you should
     always ally with your neighbors if at all possible.

MICR Contrary to most of the advice I've been given, I ususally colonize
     my home system first. It costs less in time, and after you colonize 
     your home, you can use the same ships to arrive at other systems.

TRIB BOTH!  You start off colonizing your planet until you get enough tech
     to build speed 6-7 shuttles.  Then use upgrade (cs into ship scope have
     resources on ship and use "upg speed 7").  When you can do this then 
     send some shuttles to other systems.  When you can build explorers, do
     so and send them to other systems.  An awesome race would have the
     ability to skip shuttles, go to explorers and thus explore out space
     the same time as it colonizes its home planets, but it's risky even 
     for experienced players.

NB   Colonize your own system quickly! Arriving in other systems early is
     fine if you can build some speed 9 shuttles to zip to the nearest stars,
     but hyperdrive will arrive before your slower shuttles reach places much
     further than a star or two away. If you're a 'morph, of course, you 
     should be firing off pods from the very first updates!

PW   I'd say focus on the other systems. The primitive ship types (pod,
     shuttle) move slowly, so you have to be fast if you want to make
     it to the best spots before anyone alse does.  You'll always have 
     time later to focus on your own system.

FGS  Do your own first.  Easier and faster and it'll give you additonal 
     supplies to conquer other systems with.

GRIF The latter, the more territory that you can gain early the more that 
     you will not have to fight ovewr later

PILL Again everything is relative.. But my answer would be YES! You should 
     colonize your system first. You must at least devote your first inter-
     scope ship to the task.. then work out from there.. if you have close
     neighbours.. and they get to you first.. and you haven't colonized your
     system, you could be inviting dissaster.

TAO  I'd say it depends on what kind of planets you've got.  If you have
     great planets in your own system (the telescope!), send the first ones
     there.  Otherwise sort of divide your forces...

EMPI IMHO, colonize your planets first before somebody else do it...

LB   Everybody should have their own strategy regarding this. 

CLAW Usually the competition for other systems doesn't happen for a
     while. Definetly go for your own system first.

ZURG Both at the same time, pods are cheap in res so if you have a high
     metabolism you can send out lots and lots.  After the first 10-20 
     updates you should have podded all the systems within 100000 dist of 
     you, if you have the time !

(2)  What should I do when I see another ship other than my own?
----------------------------------------------------------------

FEEP Talk first... don't give away too much.  If it's named
     something nice like "Friendly" then you can assume it's going to
     be OK.  Also, if it is a size 1 shuttle you don't have much to
     worry about in any case, but a size 6 d, you should definitely
     make friends if you aren't going to be able to destroy it
     immediately.  Put yourself in the other peson's place (he is
     just trying to colonize and will be pretty pissed if you blow
     away his ship for no reason other than he exists.)  Also keep
     in mind that this person is probably very near you as well.
     A close-in fight like that can be disastrous in a game.

KJM  Find out who owns it, try to communicate with that player if you wish. 
     If you're aggressive or foolish, attack it.  If it's a colonizing pod,
     blow it away.  This is all more a matter of personal style than learning
     the rules.

GVB  Talk, negotiate.  Do not shoot first, you'll be losing most probably.

NEUE Don't try and destroy them right off.  That person could be your best
     ally later on.  If you see another ship early in the game, it means
     that someone else is close by.  If you start into a war right away,
     you will have a really hard time building up at all.  The other
     players who are not fighting right away have more time to expand to
     other systems.

GARF Try to negotiate armistice if he is in a high place in power list,
     or if you have good allies near then splat that bastard.

RN   When this first happened to me, I pannicked somewhat.  After I calmed
     my self down and thought it out, Irealized that the ships were not
     a major threat, and that they couldn't know I was here, so it's not
     a personal attack on me the player.  Open up a dialogue.  If there is
     a planet you can't use but they can, let them in exchange for
     permission to colonize in their own system.  YOU CAN'T WIN GALACTIC
     BLOODSHED ON YOUR OWN.  FIND OUT ABOUT 'ALLIANCES' AND BLOCKS.  
     THESE ARE WHAT CAN BE DECIDING FACTORS IN WINNING THE GAME.

GURU If you see another ship that is not yours, send a telegram to the
     ship's owner.  If he is hostile, capture it.  If it is in your home
     system, capture it no matter what.

MUU  That really depends on you.  If you want a war, then by all
     means, do what you will.  However, it can be REALLY profitable to
     team up with a Meta, if you are a norm.  They generally produce more
     rapidly, and make great troops.  Be careful, though, they are not as
     easy to supress as some might lead you to beleive.  Thinking of him
     as "my Meta" might just get you into a nasty little fight.  Again,
     its really up to you and the situation.

FNEB Try to find out what player number owns it by using "tact."  If it
     is your own pod and you see the other ship on a map, tact won't
     work, but there is a trick for seeing who owns other ships which
     appear on your map but are too far away for a tactical command to
     work on them:  Use the "highlight" command to run through the list
     of players, generating a new map for each new highlighted player.
     As soon as the other ship lights up, you'll be able to see who
     owns it.  It's best to talk to that person since he's probably a
     neighbor.  If you want peace, don't start by making demands or
     claims of "I was here first."  That gets you nowhere.  Of course,
     as a general rule, I only let the _most_ trusted allies colonize my 
     home systems.  Players should understand that being allowed to place 
     a colony in another's home system is probably a pretty big act of trust. 
     A lot of full-scale and crippling wars have been fought simply because
     one player refused to leave another's home system.  Deal with this as
     you see fit.

MICR Diplomacy. Declare neutrality if you have the APs and start talking
     to the owner. Look for an alliance and try to ascertain the enemy's
     experence.  Oh, and one other thing. I've done EXTREMELY well in my 
     first two games and the secret to my success has been (with the exception 
     the diety of course) NEVER EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LET ON THAT 
     YOU ARE A NEWBIE!!!!

TRIB Talk first, shoot later.  Besides, the first ship you see will most
     likely be in a place where you can't do much any way.  Allies can be 
     more powerful than enemies.  *grin*  Think about it.

NB   If it's in your own system, or one just adjacent to it, don't shoot right
     away (unless it's a missile - ALWAYS shoot missiles, and be sure to give
     their owners a hard time about it in the future!) Try to communicate with
     the owner. If you're seeing them relatively early in the game, then
     they're probably a neighbor, and you need to negotiate with neighbors to
     avoid counterproductive wars. You may have a planet useless to you that
     would be useful to them - and vice versa.  When pods burst in your
     system, talk to the owners *quick.* If they don't respond, snuff out
     the one - man invasion that results on whichever planet it showed
     up, and do it quickly, because 'morphs reproduce like, well, 'morphs.
     Bunnies can't hold a candle.

PW   If it's a pod it might be a good idea to shoot it down (at least if
     its in your home system), otherwise talking is a *very* good idea.
     Making too many enemies too fast in the game can lead to your home
     planet being turned into a nuclear test site :-)

FGS  This really depends on the individual context.  Try to talk to 
     the owner, perhaps.

GRIF Close to find out who owns it and then try to parley with them.
     Successful parleying can allow you to have a good relationship or
     give you time so that you can backstab later.

PILL Find out who it belongs to (ie tact)!  Then the best idea is to talk to
     the owner (ie email to him) or send him a telegram, etc., then decide 
     between you two what you are going to do.  Then progress from there.. 
     However you have to remember that generating a fair trust level in this 
     game is difficult.. if you mess up explain the mess up.. else you could
     inviyte war at the drop of a hat.. this could be good.. but then again :)

TAO  Send him a message and say Hi!
	
EMPI Try always negotiate first, you need allys to be good in this game...
     And GOOD LUCK! ..we may meet sometime...

LB   Do a 'tactical' on it to see what it is, who owns it, etc . . . If it's 
     an enemy and you have an armed ship around, blast it (fire command). 
     If you are close enough board the ship and capture it (Assault command).
     Any alien ship in your system is a threat. You might want to telegram 
     the person and find out what his intentions are before taking action.
     A pod is trouble; it means a meso is looking to colonize.

CLAW Send a message offering them one of the planets you don't use,
     or tell them that you live there already.

ZURG As a meta there is not much you can do, arm up some military on each 
     planet so that they can not kick you off (high fight is important). 
     I usually go the diplomatic route send them some telegrams, you will 
     need a techie ally and they will probably want a meta friend aswell.  
     Always check the tactical report in your home star !

------
	Comments, flames, and questions are welcome and should be sent 
to me at evank@pebbles.nyu.edu.  This will be posted monthly or as the
need arises, and I'll email it upon request.  Copies are also available
via anonymous ftp at morticia.cnns.unt.edu (login as the user "anonymous"
and give your email address as the password when ftp asks for it).  Also,
you can get a copy of this via email by sending a null body message to
"menu@gb.dorm.clarkson.edu" with the subject line "FAQ".
