Managing big empires - tips and tricks sought

I break up large empires into operational areas, provinces, or fronts that have their own goals and fleets. The main problem though with a game with really large empires is how it greatly slows the game's processing time.

Concentrating ships is handled pretty easily by assigning the space yards move to orders for completed ships. You can have up to nine staging areas, ideally these would be training centers so you can get some ship/fleet experience.

Units requires a little more work. Create a ship based on your largest freighter hull, fill it with mostly cargo bays and one launcher (fighter,satellite, mine, drone) that you'll be transporting (you can use a single multi-purpose ship with as many different launchers as you want). Make sure to only put one of each different type on, this isn't a combat ship it designed for storage, with provisions for supplies if it will be outside supply depots for a while. Build enough so that they can be ordered (with repeat orders turned on) to move to where the units are pick up (recover/load cargo) and deliver them to the staging area. You may need/want to break up the routes into stages, have ship A recover all fighters from the planets in a couple of systems and launch them just on the other side of the warp point in the next system closer to the ultimate staging area. Have ship B pick up these gathered fighters and drop them at the end of the line. Depending on how long it takes ship A to complete it's loop, ship B may be able to pick up fighters left by 2 or 3 other ships. Then when your carriers get to the staging area (which if you did step one above should be automatic) they can recover as many fighters as they can hold and head out with the rest of the fleet.

As for keeping the queues stoked, I set up a custom layout that shows the build rate (only one since they are the same), what is being built, time remaining, Can build ships, and the move to orders (so I don't miss any). Sort it as follows: time remaining (ascending), can build ships (Yes's to the top) and Build rate (descending). Then all you have to do is select multiple queues and add to all the empty queues and all the queues that have 1 turn left on the build.

Khyron

I don't have access to the game right now. But the automatic move to for space yards is an option when you are in that particular construction queue, you will have to set each one individually. You can only select to go to a pre-defined waypoint like you set up using CTRL-#. Another good thing about waypoints is that you can move them and any ship enroute will automatically follow that numbered waypoint. So if your front moves up you can move your rally point closer to the action and it only takes one action on your part.

The queue menu is on the main tool bar at the top of the screen (I think Control-Q will take you there also), once in there you can set up your layout (or use an existing one) and use any filters you like.

If no one else answers by the time I get home this evening I will get the specifics on how to set up the move to orders for the space yards.

In the construction queue screen, choose queue settings. Scroll done the list and you can select one of your waypoints to automatically send ships to when they are built at that space yard. No manual move order required.

Space Empires Depot | SE:V Balance Mod

Use the Way point Move Q in conjunction with staging fleet names and the Join Fleet command.

1. I set a Way Point at XYZ location and name the fleet there something like "Amagosa Attack" or anything to remind me where its at and what its doing.

2. Change your build Q to send the ships to the way point.

3. I'll check ships enroute and add the Join Fleet command to their orders. Thats a bit tedious, but it ensures they join the fleet automatically, when they arrive at the way point. In PBW/simultaneous games you must make sure they join the fleet or they could end up fighting in seperate groups/battles versus all together.

Look at the ships from the fleet window (shows where they are going) then just update their orders....its not to tedious.

Construction Q: Click on the Wrench then choose what planets you want selected on the left with the buttons. Then choose "Mulitiple Q's" then choose what all the selected planets will build and what Q settings they will have....ie Emergency, Hold or Move to orders. It will do them in blocks based on what you selected.

SE5 Files hosted on Filefront (Patches, Mods, Races, etc)

Yes, provincial management is best.

Inigma's Fleet Management Guide - Draft:

1. Set waypoints:
Waypoint 0 - Homeworld (If you've followed my other guides, you've got 2-5 spaceyard stations built there remember?) - useful for new colonizers to auto-move for use later.
Waypoints 1-6 - Fleet HQs to mass newly constructed ships, repair, and retrofit
Waypoints 7,8,9 - movable waypoints for massing an attack

Fleet HQs move as you expand.

2. Fleet HQs
Are planets with at least one spaceyard somewhere, but realistically a lot more - preferably can repair/retrofit 10%-33% of your entire fleet at once depending on peace or wartime. In order of priority: closest planet to warp point(s), breathable, worthless, small or larger (to store units). The best Fleet HQ is a breathable Huge, fairly worthless (in terms of min/org/rad) planet only a few sectors away from border warp points. These make great locations for training centers.

3. Fleet Composition
Compose your optimal fleet at http://www.bubbl.us/ an example can be found here: http://bubbl.us/view.php?sid=58402&pw=yaehWeVeqivoIMzdlc2ZJQzdFTXpITQ

4. Fleet Construction Management
Assign system-wide dedicated construction queues to construct and launch ships headed for the nearest Fleet HQ waypoint. Waypoints have to be set first before they are available in the construction queue's "queue orders"(or whatever its called) list button.

Inigma's Unit Logistics Management Guide:

Definitions:
System Capital: Planet in system that is considered the single point of load/unload for all units constructed in a system for use elsewhere.

Border System: System that has one or more unsecured neighboring systems.

Support System: System that dedicates construction for a Border System.

Drop Target: The location where units are dropped.

0. Provinces
Make note of which system will support which border system. Then dedicate their queues and units to supporting their border system. Use waypoints to mark out Fleet HQs in each border system, using a clockwise (if starting in the middle or left of the quadrant) or counterclockwise (if starting on the right of the quadrant) method to keep track of which wayponts are where. The best empire defense is 2 or 3 border systems. When expanding, concentrate on taking entire areas so as to secure defensible choke points.

1. Assign System Capitals
Assign a planet to be the capital planet of each Support System. Designate the colony type if necessary, or use system notes to conceal such info from human players. Typically the best capital is one that is large enough to store units and also be equidistant between entry and exit warp points for passing cargofreighters.

2. Construct workbees (frigate, all-unit-in-one cargo ships) and set their orders to repeat load all units at all system planets, and drop all units at the system capital. For large systems construct multiple workbees and set them to repeat load and unload. Use workbees for emergency intrasystem transport when cargofreighters are not around. The best workbee is in balance mod, as fighter bays, drone launchers, satellite layers, and mine layers all can carry cargo, including troops, making for a very nice compact unit work horse).

3. Construct one dedicated cargofreighter per Support System and repeat order them to load and drop units on a Support System - Fleet HQ run. If distance greater than 6 turns round trip, setup transport relays (you know, workbee brings it to capital A, caroship1 loads capital A units and transport them to capital C (skipping B if possible), cargoship 2 loads capital C units and transport them to Border Captial1 or Fleet HQ1. Change up your relay and drop targets as necessary, and use

4. Construct two dedicated population transports (supercargofreighters) per full 5000M pop planet and repeat-order them to fill up the nearest huge breathable, or Border System breathable.

The point is for both of these strats, is to set your queues to construct to waypoint, so that all you have to do is move the waypoint as you expand; and for cargo ships and workbees to use repeat orders liberally so as to minimize the amout of time and concentration on moving material to the front.

I may incorporate this into the wiki.

Space Empires Wiki

Unfortunately, I don't think you can copy orders. That would be a neat idea though. The best management strat is one that is simple. The fewer the cargo ships, the easier it is to manage changes. That is why I simply "deal" with one workbee per Support System, one cargofreighter per Support System, and then relay them to them to the neighbor system who does the same to the next, until units are shuttled up to the front.

But neither have I had a need to have a cargo fleet of more than 10 workbees, 10 freighters, or 6 superfreighters in even a large game. I usually manage with just one workbee per border warpoint to lay units, and just one Support System per Border System with a dedicated workbee and cargofreighter for that task. Backyard planets just sit and do nothing, since I usually don't need gobs of units at the frontline and most of my unit construction needs can be met by just the Border System planets alone, and maybe just one Support System in a defensive crunch.

Space Empires Wiki

Yeah, I love encountering one of those Races that seem to want to stay in just one solar system yet have some unique/racial tech. Thats when I bust out my patented "Tech Rape before Extermination" treaty. You would figure the name would give me away but no! They fall for it alot. You don't need to be proficient with their tech to beat them, only your own. Build to your Race's strengths (in tech) and then string along the AI with increasing trade treaties till you start putting in tech shares and finally do the "share all tech unique and racial". Once they ok that, implement Plan A. Plan A is immediately invade and glass their planets. The grand result of which you get all their tech AND all their planets which you can now even colonize because you have the colinazation tech.

I have made all my final additions on this request for strategies, in the wiki's SEV Strategy Guide.

Space Empires Wiki

Followup hint: once you have breathers on one planet, you can use empty colonisers on the other end of your empire and within a turn or two some breathers will have migrated to your new colonies. NOTE: when doing this, make sure the automatic colony population is set to zero in settings.txt, otherwise you'll end up with 1M of your native population whether you want them or not.

As for technology, research Planetary Engineering to unlock Planet Utilization, then research that to level 20 or so to get atmospheric converters. Note: that's for stock, I dunno about BM or other mods.

It is the same for BM, only that it is level 10.

What i sometimes do when i my empire gets big is to isolate a system completely once i've fully colonised it, then i pretty much leave that system alone, allowing it just to produce income. Don't need any ships/units there as its isolated from the computer, can always build one of thosefacilities (i forget the name) to prevent anyone from opening a warp hole to it - only need to do that against other players really.
The only systems you really need to keep connected are your ship building planets. I once had 350 planets and only used to 5 different systems to manage my empire.