Solaris: Browser-based, free, space, abstract, slow 4X (turn based game starting soon)

Yes I am “Mohl”. That game starts well, four active players, and looks like a fight might break out soon.

So I’m in my own noob game right now. What exactly should I be doing? I’ve expanded into the center, I’ve gotten economy in the places where economy is cheap, industry where industry is cheap and research where research is cheap. I’ve built carriers and sent them towards the center where everyone’s borders meet. I messaged one guy and told him that I wouldn’t attack him if he doesn’t attack me lol.
Currently researching terraforming but that’s what it was set to from the beginning. What else should I be doing? There’s a great Youtube tutorial on the website but the guy who made it never made any others so I really only learned the basic starting information from that.

I think milspec is the only one with much experience on here. There seems to be a lot of options at play, and I’m slowly learning what to do and not to do.

From a fellow newb, consider your specialists very carefully. They seem to be one of scarcest resources in the early game at least. Terraforming is good, but I usually switch to whatever tech I get the first boost in.

Like any MP game, diplomacy is absolutely critical. I suck at that, so I usually lose. After diplomacy, it comes down to tactics and trying to get the enemy to fight you on your ground. Defenders get a +1 to weapons, and when you both have 1 level, that doubles your firepower. Speed specialists can get you to the star before the enemy so you’ll get the defensive bonus. Specialists can give your fleet a boost on weapons, which is again critical in the early game.

I certainly don’t know of any unbeatable strategies yet, and just try to play off the strengths and weaknesses of my opponents.

I’d like to propose a team game as well as a FFA for our first round of QT3 games.

I finished 2 games and am in 2 more, so still learning. Your initial actions sound correct. The win condition is control of planets. You need to decide who you will start to take them from.

The list of techs is here, read the full wiki (if you have not).

https://solaris4x.readthedocs.io/en/latest/#science-technology

I think Economy is really important. It drives everything else. Invest in it heavily for a while. Try and centralize Production as much as reasonable. Yes, cheap production is enticing, but it will take time to “harvest” those ships and bring them someplace more useful. I get minor systems up to maybe 2 or 3 Production in early game, and then try to spend the rest on the central (or border) planets. Its not clear to me if you inherit the values of a system you take over, so be careful not to over-invent in a border planet that you may lose.

Science is also important. Uh oh, they all are. :-) I like Weapons, Scanning, Hyperdrive and Banking. I am not sure there is an ideal build order.

Most important decision: who will you attack to get more planets? Start to probe them now. See how they react. Everyone is stretched too thin, so also think about your own defense. Prepare to lose border systems, but keep a strong fleet in the middle to react. Don’t spread your forces too thin.

If you are not attacking, then your opponent is building. If you are attacking, they are reacting to you. I am using these initial games to learn how to attack effectively.

I really like the open problem space of this game, there are hard decisions to make, and they are quick to start but slow to finish, so there is a lot of delicious agonizing over what to do. :-)

We can start a Qt3 game this weekend.

Everything transfers at a border planet, except Economy. You get $10 for each Economy at the planet you took over, but will need to then rebuild.

I want to play in the QT3 game when it starts.

@Canuck the most important thing is that you mention here before you decide to backstab the player you offered a NAP. That’s definitely part of the etiquette. :)

(I’m in that game) I have to have ships on my NW border anyway because of red. Green went AFK… I just found his capital. I can take it in about 2 days, but I have to move ships to do it, and that takes a while. I don’t have the range to get into Green’s back 40 that he never explored. I just found the combat calculator on the carrier menu, which is nice for planning.

Sign me up for a QT3 game as well. I would strongly prefer “ultra dark” mode or whatever it’s called, because free intel is cheesy, but happy to play whatever mode if people prefer something else.

My username is Fade.

Agree, I also prefer dark mode and a medium sized galaxy. It feels more like exploring unknown space and less like a board game. Will propose example settings this weekend.

I think the default speed feels about right to me.

I have a slight preference for “cheap” carrier upkeep costs to counter carrier spam later in the game.

Any other settings people feel passionately about?

LOL I can’t believe we’re in the same game. Good thing I didn’t share my nefarious plans here on QT3.

@milspec I’d be willing to throw in a £10 Amazon Gift Voucher for the winner of a 16 player ultra dark QT3 game.

I’m much more available on Discord. If you’d like to get in touch, we can discuss details.

So have a situation here:

The Red fleet of 24 and the Green fleet of 75 are going to arrive at Rooni on the same tick (based on the navigation ETA counter). The docs say:

When 2 opposing Carriers arrive at a Star on the same tick, the Carrier that travelled the least distance in the current tick will arrive at the Star first and receive the Defender Bonus (if enabled).

This is a new player game, so the defender bonus is enabled. Red has travelled the least distance here. But the star belongs to Green, and it has a token defense force. So will Green get the defender bonus? If Green gets the defender bonus, does it apply just to the garrison, or will the arriving carrier force get it also. Green will ultimately control the star (more ships with a higher weapons level), but I’m curious about how much Green will take in losses, and whether the economic development point will be lost?

Sorry do not know the answer to that. Ask on their Discord if you want, or just wait a little while to see. :-)

I am really enjoying my dark game! Galaxy size is 20 systems per player, and I have 29, so I think I am doing OK. I am the yellow patch in the middle. I can only see as far as my sensor radius from stars I control.

In the north its war versus pink. We talked for a little while, but he was offline for a few days and seemed weak so I pressed the attack. He is back now and defending but I think I have it.

Its defense and politics in the southwest. Aqua green FTAGHN is active and threatening my long arm of colonies. I am in negotiations, and also moving ships there rapidly (via a Smuggler) to prepare for defense.

Its a mystery in the southeast. Purple does not speak. He slowly builds up. If he and green are allied then I am in trouble.

(The smaller lime green is inactive.)

Its been fun.

A zoom in on the tactics in the north. I am pressing hard into their territory. I sent two carriers to attack while I was offline, they will not win those fights. He has a large concentration in the south. I am NOT showing the big reinforcement I have arriving soon. The yellow line is my consolidation of my forces in those systems, and they will attack again once all in a single carrier. I may add a military specialist to that carrier for extra attack (with a shorter radius, which is OK because those systems are close).

So, with the simultaneously arriving fleets to a star that already had a garrison, the defender bonus applied to both the garrison and the fleet. Both were included in the combat report, and the economic development point was not lost. :)

I am curious about a turn-based game. I started a 5-player one, dark, 10 systems per, cheap carrier upkeep, everything else default. Password: qt3

Jump in if you want to see how it works. I know some people feel pressure because they cannot check a few times per day, so I want to see if this fixes that.

https://solaris.games/#/game?id=6172a38b2523e518d48fbca4

That is NOT the bigger normal speed game I will start in aprox 24 hours.

Funnily enough I’d feel more pressured to play a turn based game, because I’d hate knowing I was holding everyone up if I couldn’t get to my PC. With tick-based I only have myself to blame if I fall behind.

I should warn/remind you all: I have won 100% of my games so far! Clearly I am a grand master of Solaris.

I joined the game, and it is my first dark game. Is it normal not to be able to see any stars within scanning range? Do I need to immediately research Scanning before I can start to expand?

I guess I could set up some orbital arrays. Nope, they found nothing either. That was a waste of three tokens.

I joined up, and I’m seeing exactly 1 other star besides my starting 3.

One is better than none. I’ll need to research Scanning and Hyperdrive before expanding. That doesn’t foretell a bright future.

Actually, I guess I can hire a specialist to expand, rather than needing to research Hyperdrive. We’ll see what shows up after a few turns.

Weird, 3 stars showed up after I ended my turn. I guess the orbital arrays needed time to kick in.

@Janster remember to click the green check on the top right corner. No pressure, just pointing out something that took me a while to figure out myself. :-)