Astro Galaxy - a realistic space exploration game

Just a stray thought that got out when I was dreaming delusions of grandeur.

Would love to see this thread become a kinda central repository for various tips, strategies, configurations, etc., that the Monsters of the Universe have discovered.

JJL is particularly good at this, a lot of his posts around the Forum have an "I used to do this but now I'm..." content.

Who else has info like this that could serve as guideposts and/or targets to/of opportunity? 

feel free to compile them, just remember to give credit in the proper form

And that's absolutely my intent, Amigo.   It'll likely be some time before the information I envision showin' up in this thread is stuff I can even USE, though.  I reckon I'm just about as far from 'Pro' as it's possible to be.  Still, I'm pretty certain that there's a place for this sort of informational gold.

How 'bout it, folks?  This'd be a cool place for you Elite creatures to tease da noobs, baffle your targets, mislead, misguide and misdirect threats to your holdings and maybe even give a promising space-Neanderthal a leg up on what to think about next.   hi

I used to be in the most powerful corporation in the game.

Now I am the leader of the third most powerful corporation in the game :)

Take that for what you will

Seriously though...

I used to do a lot of dumb things. What exactly were you looking for?

Can anyone tell me if putting two stations in orbit is better if I want to protect the one which is weaker by putting them together? I know putting all your eggs in one basket isn't good, but neither is leaving your eggs unprotected!?

Find yourself a nice backwater planet and just put NINE in orbit, protected by a decent sized ship. Solar for solar the cheapest and most efficient defence.

A lot of my old tips are a bit outdated lol.  Still they hold some basis.  I won't likely be writing up any more faqs or guides though.  My heart just isn't into the game like it used to be.

1) How do I know if a big deposit is the result of a mission someoen else is doing? If it's the result of a mission and I put miners on it, what if that causes the player doing the mission to attack my miners?

2) If I click on "Rival Modules" and the Owner field is empty, what's that mean?

1.  It is the opinion of the Empire that if you find a large deposit and there is nobody there, it belongs to you.  If someone else is mining, it is theirs (regardless of any open slots - ask permission to share).  And if you discover a large deposit where someone is mining something else, you should ask permission to share the planet.  

2.  It usually means someone fought a pirate nest (or hijacking) and had modules on the planet that were captured by the pirates, thus belonging to nobody.





(edit for the usual reasons)

How do you start an active scan remotely using a wormhole detector which is located on a station?

The WHD Logs section says you can start a scan using a detector which it says can be on a station.

sigh...  the WHD only does static scans and is not capable of deep scanning. I have complained about this in another topic.

What do you mean?

Can I use a wormhole detector which is installed on a station?

As of now, a WHD only registers what is coming into it's range. If it is deployed on a ship, you can order a scan at any time, but it will only tell you a wormhole is either forthcoming, present, or closing. it does not tell you who is opening the 'ole.

If it is deployed on a station however, it will only perform a 'static' scan and not a deep scan.

But either way, you will only know that a wormhole is about to open, is open, or has closed.




(edit because - giggle)

I have suggested changes to these as well but of course nothing as come of it. 

A WHD on a station will only perform a static scan?

What's a static scan and what's a deep scan? You got me confused :0

(And how do I use it if it's on a station? I can't figure out how to do it.)

If one of my stations is attacked and defeated, will all the modules on it be destroyed? Will the station be destroyed too? I'm asking this question because in pirate COM missions the station "explodes in a ball of fire". Do player stations do that too?

Was just thinking player ships do not "explode in a ball of fire" when defeated. They auto-jump to a safe point, suffering casualties. But as far as I know, they do not lose any modules.

If the whole thing is destroyed then it doesn't make a lot of sense to put too many modules on them, given modules take so long to make and can be expensive. I'd have to think some of my future strategies if they can be completely lost.

Oh, yes. Player stations explode just as nicely as do NPC stations. All that can remain is salvage that belongs to the victor.

NPC ships do not 'explode in a ball of fire' either, they also are emergency jumped the same way a players ship can be forced from the battlefield.

Always treat modules on a station the same way you treat modules on a planetary surface. They are vulnerable.

As bait  :12:

Ahh. Significantly effects my plans for building stations.

Too expensive to lose a station, imho.

They're cheaper module space, but they can't move and everything is lost. So what's the usefulness? The cheapness is meaningless since most of the cost and manufacturing time is in the modules.

They might still be useful as a means to store cargo remotely. For ~$1,046,000 solars you get 82 * 100 = 8200 m3. But idk. Setting aside some ships for teh same role would mean you won't lose them.

and the ships are not available for other duties. unfortunately, that is a problem for SOL members. the retaliation from a corporation is usually enough to make an attack on your property too costly.

Is it possible to trade with other players? For example, what if I wnat to selll a module to another player, how would I go about this? Or maybe i want to give a module to another player for free; if a more generous mood strikes.

usiness between players is conducted in a strange way. Let me tell you why first before I tell you how.

1) We can't directly send modules/solars/ships/resources over to other players.

So how do we conduct business?

Players have devised a smart trick in order to sell modules. First of all, due to the lack of the ability to send solars to one another, we send each other Quantum Points instead, because solars can be converted into QP at a 1 QP: 250,000 solars ratio, while QP can be converted back into solars at a 1QP: 50,000 solars ratio. Most players don't convert QPs back into solars because they would rather save up to buy VIP.

So, the trick is:

1) The two players meet up at an agreed star.
2) If the player wishes to give modules, he will place a station in the orbit of the star and put the desired module in the cargo bay of the station. No defenses.
3) The player receiving the module will then attack the station in Loot mode, and the cargo in the station will be captured and the station's cargo bay's content transported into the attacker ship's cargo, thus he will have the module in his ship's cargo bay. Done. The module has been transferred.

As for ships, its extremely difficult and unnecessary, but if you join a corporation, the corporation can assign you Corp Ships which you can use for personal gain, or simply for them to transfer modules over to you in an easier way (they will install modules in the ship and then once you get the ship you move the installed modules to the cargo bay, then use Transfer To Owned Ship button to transfer the modules to one of your ships that is at the same spot).

That's all I know. Resource-transfer is rather difficult as some resources may be destroyed in the attack, so most people don't trade resources. After all, resources can be traded in Earth so why go through all the trouble exchanging resources?

This may sound confusing right now, but once you've immersed yourself in the game and own a fleet of ships, you will understand better. ;) Sorry I took such a long time to write this, the last time I had a player-to-player transaction was a few months ago, I had to make sure I didn't mess up and provide wrong information.

(I took this from something I wrote to a new player some time ago).

[Edited]

NO DO NOT DO IT IN CAPTURE MODE...

That risks destroying the loot.

You need to do a looting attack on the station

no defenses does not mean just on the station, remove your ship(s) as well. hopefully economics (trade) will be incorporated into the game soon.

Thanks! Is that in the FAQ or is it tagged somewhere in the forum? I'd think the absence of a genuine trading mechanism would be worth putting in FAQ or tagging. But anyway, at least trading is possible even if we have to jump through hoops.

I'd think mudflation in this game would be insane with widespread trading, since there're no restrictions on modules and unless they're on a station/planet won't be destroyed. You know a lot of games have level requirements on items, so a low level cannot use a high level item. And some use a no drop mechanic, whereby an item initially is tradeable but once equipped is no drop.

Maybe hte lack of a trading mechanism is because of mudlfation worries or something tied to it. And also gold/etc farming. But the presence of methods to trade means the worries are not extreme, since if they were no trading would be possible.

It's stragne. All MMO's I've played have economy/trading between players. This game doesn't have that. I mean, as shown above, trading is possible, but it's not something which is obvious or intuitive. It's like a single player simplistic economy. Earth is the only seller/buyer which matters. Prices don't change. What Earth wants is scattered in the cosmos--I must hunt it down. Much of my fun comes from juggling combat/sos missions and mining operations while trying to progress cost effectively. But the real heart of what's fun is doing lots of different things--not just a couple--even if it's less profitable. For example, some players say it's more profitable to just do sos/com, but I find doing mining as well keeps things more entertaining.

Yeah, I think we should just make an easier way to trade...after all, we already found a loophole and the difference between adding a trading feature and not adding a trading feature is that not adding a trading feature makes trading take a lot more time and coordination. So, something for the Astro Galaxy SDK to work on!

As for your worries about mudflation, I think it is not a problem because social interaction is meant to be an integral part of this game, and so if you somehow manage to get some OP modules through trade, it's probably because you made some friends or joined a powerful corporation.

BTW I was just reminded about something...let us set our own station's selling prices. ;)

Yes let us do that. We have been forced into the mandated economic system by an apathetic SOL Corporation.

Your argument that mudflation doesn't matter because trading is a social interaction and is integral to the game can be used for any instance of mudflation which stems from trading in any MMO--therefore, seems hollow to me.

I'll start by posting this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudflation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudflation)

Note this part of it:
The reason the prices were inflating was because farmers were selling currency, greatly increasing the amount of it in circulation and also giving extra buying power to currency buyers, leading to higher prices for things, since the value of currency was decreasing. For a new player who did not buy currency, this meant excessively high prices for things.

That's just one small example which shows how mudflation can lead to a negative experience if unchecked.

Players in this game continually become more powerful. They acquire more currency and more combat power and research. Modules do not have level limits or no drop attributes, so module power can move around from one player to another. The only limiting factor is trading is more cumbersome in this game and research can't be traded. If trade is much easier then it follows that the increasing module power and solar buildup will crossover to other players more easily. Players who do not trade will increasingly become weaker. Players who cannot adapt to the increased power quickly enough will also be weaker. And if anyone starts to sell their modules for RL money then the cat is fully out of the bag and you're screwed if you don't spend RL money.

Any content added to the game which is made specifically for certain power ratings or certian solar amounts will become increasingly obsolete. So generally it's wiser to make content which scales to all power ratings and solar amounts. If this game were single player then this effect would only occur due to the player progressing forward and obsoleting previous content. In an MMO setting, the content becomes obsolete before the player has even progressed past it, sometimes dramatically.

While I think better trading would be nice, I do not characterize mudflation as being irrelevant to the health of Astro Galaxy. From what I've seen of this game, it's very furtile ground for mudlfation if given the proper allowances.

EDIT: Sorry I'm not saying you're fully wrong. Your "social interaction" comment is relevant. Trading is a social interaction. And many of hte missions in this game scale with the player's power, so it won't obsolete as easily. But I've had so many negative expeirences in the past with mudlfation it's hard for me to be non-prejudiced about this.

For me it's about preserving the sense of progression and not breaking the links a player has created with the game too often. As long as mudflation can integrate well enough with those things then it should be fine. Mudlfation is probably impossible to completely eliminate anyway. Virtually every MMO I know of has mudlfated and nobody has been able to stop it. And old content/things tend to lose value no matter what because they become outdated. And yet I think the goal shouldn't be to throw your hands down and let mudflation spread like fire, but to moderate it with respect to the two things I stated above.

Ok, what if I suggested this:

Make the game free-to-play, put a stop to QP and instead players are only "encouraged" to donate. Instead of getting QP, all that Donors will get is a special color to their name. Yeah, I know, no more QP, means no more VIP status, no more Officers, but what if you got VIP and Officers for solars instead (at a much cheaper rate than buying QP with solars and then buying VIP/Officers)

These are the kind of games that have been the most popular (and most successful) from what I've seen so far. For example, Star Wars Combine has been in existence since the 1990s and there was nothing you could buy using real money. You only had this optional donation to the game. In some way, you do get a benefit in the sense that your donation will keep the game alive for another week, but it's a shared benefit. People who didn't pay still get to enjoy the game. Yet, people STILL donate to the game, because they like the game and most of the dedicated players there are already working men, what would thirty euros do to their wallet anyway?

Although SWC did not offer any special name-coloring benefit, I think it would be good in Astro Galaxy because if a player is really dedicated, he/she will want his/her name have a special color because it's a chance to show off, and also easier to make friends and stuff.

I know, SirEmi, you will be taking a giant risk, but if it works as planned, it will be a giant step forward for this game to boom.

In the VIP section it says someting about no more 50 light-year limit in navigation.

What does this mean?

is this what you meant?

If so, for example, IOTA CENTAURI in sector -1,-1 is 76.48 LY from Sol.

With VIP, you can program a jump to there from wherever you are.  

Without VIP, you can jump to wherever is closest to 50LY away from where you are and then jump again (etc,etc,etc)to the target location.

All it really does is save a lot of time(and needless clicks).

If you wish (for example) to travel from sector 4,4 to sector -4,-4 :
with VIP just order it (with no limit as to how far apart they are), without VIP just order it one jump at a time at a distance of 50LY to the SW for each jump.

I'll let you do the math...

I highly recommend that you maintain VIP status even above the officers.



(edit because I forgot to tell you about the time that Susie and I...   ...oops, never mind...)

I'm not understanding what you wrote. Without VIP, I could set a long range course to any position, regardless of its distance, using the waypoints subsystem, as well as creating one in the Star Map. I routinely was setting long range courses much greater than 50 light-years. In the Navigation section, I'd click on "Resume LR Course" after jumping. I'd have to do that every jump because I couldn't enable the Autopilot (like I can now). With the autopilot I can set a LR course and ignore it completely until it arrives at its destination--I only need to ensure it has enough fuel.

I used the N/NE/E/SE/S/SW/W/NW thing only a couple times. And I could never set a jump larger than 12 light years without VIP. With VIP I can set a 16 light year jump using it.

I still have no idea what this 50 light year thing is. I noticed that there's a "Plot a course towards the waypoint" in the Nav Comp section for a waypoint and I've never used that before. When I clicked on it, all it did was set a 16 light year course towards it, but I have no idea what it does after that. Is that what you're referring to?

Is this tied to blind jumps? Because I think I recall you could set a longer jump for those and it was quicker.

Here's a review of the things which're tied to navigation in the VIP thing:
* Increased ship navigation computer range (16 LY, +33% increase)
* -33% jump calculation speed for interplanetary / interstellar jumps
* Can use navigation computer at Unlimited range (vs. 50 LY)
* Nav computer can set a long range course up to 200 jumps (vs. 75 jumps)
* All ships nav computer incorporates the autopilot extension.

What's the difference between "Plot a course towards the waypoint" and "Plot a long range course on the star map"? Is the former limited to 12 ly (16 w/ VIP) and must be reclicked? IF that's the case, WTH is this 50 light-year thing?

EDIt: I just remembered something. I think when I first started this game I was using "Plot a course towards the waypoint" and there WAS a 50 light year limit. That's why I stored some stars in the nav comp which were 50% between my destination and SOL. Later I learned about setting long range courses and no longer used it. It has been so long I forgot about it. Now that I think about it, these orders seem redundant to me. Both of them are attempting to set you on a long range course, but one of them is severely restricted, having a 50 ly limit without vip and requiring you to go to Nav Comp to set a jump for each jump, while the other requires a autopilot extension to be automatic between jumps, otherwise setting the course is directly on the Navigation section, saving clicks/time.

And btw I'll be having VIP for a year. And given AP can be converted to QP, I'll always have if I don't spend AP on much else. Obviously this AP thing is a form of mudflation and many more players will be having VIP now. (This is not a knock against the game. Mudflation gives MMO's extra years of life--assuming it's a conventional MMO.)

Removal of Pay2Win microtransactions? I consider experience potions Pay2Win, btw. Another good example is buying access to content which in turn grants you access to better loot tables. If microtransactions are ONLY aesthetic it may not be Pay2Win, BUT if it's a highly social game then it might actually be Pay2Win. Look at Second Life. The best looking avatars usually spent a lot of money on models and clothes. It's a form of Pay2Win. They're showing off their assets.

The only places I've ever seen less Pay2Win are subscription-based MMO's or small amateur MMO's. Small amateur MMO's are not the same thing as the big commercial ones. It's like comparing a high school play to a 100 million dollar movie. Yet even subscription-based MMO's often benefit 24/7 lowlifes more than hard working people who play less. In this way, Pay2Win becomes Play(24/7)2Win. Not quite the same thing as what's popularly claimed.

Perhaps the best play2win MMO I've played was a browser game. It didn't require a subscription or any money. BUT you could only play about 30 minutes (at most) per day. It required 24 hours for the game to process what you did. The game felt very different from most other games because it wasn't benefiting big spenders or 24/7 mmo addicts.

With VIP you can set a long range course, and your ship will travel there on autopilot, while you are not logged on, no matter the distance.
WithOUT VIP you can set up a long range course of a maximum of 50 LY (4 1/3 jumps - 12 LY) but you need to complete every jump manually and start the new jump manually

I can't stress enough the benifits of VIP. Just 6 of 13 benifits:

• Jump distance is longer (16 Vs 12 LY)
• Jump time is 1/3 faster
• Autopilot works
• convert minerals and gsses more effeciently
• Auto-unload works for those interested in mining
• 200 AP vs 100

IMO it is better to convert AP to QP to get VIP status than to use AP to speed up tasks for an hour. Also if possible get VIP in longer segmants. (I get a year at a time.)



Can regenerate Action Points up to 200 (vs. 100 AP)

How exactly is manpower (and manpower hitpoints) computed in combat? If I purchase the boarding ship optimization which gives my marines up to 300% manpower hitpoints, what will that do exactly? I know what increasing their attack does, roughly, it means they hit harder, right?

I largely want to understand what hte hitpoints thing is.

If my ship gets attacked while manufacturing some modules, is there any risk that the modules will get destroyed?

Your modules in manufacturing bays are safe.