here you are, floating among the stars :)....okay...?
What am I doing in this black hole, surrounded by all these storms?


"I Am So Lost!", you may say. that's where this guide comes in :).

This guide, as first of however many its Steam "powered" users may make, is the best spring-board I can think of :).

Here, I will try and cover some starter and miscellaneous topics, such as: How in my own star system , do I even go about creating one?

What are some possible opening moves in the game?

What are these cultural achievements? I don't need no stinking achievements :P ;) .....

What are the possible weapon types, sub-types of damage with ships? Do I even need a ship? Help! I'm in a nutshell :D.....

Research tree is vast...yesh...vast....percentages of my output on research? I'm no rocket scientist.... Well, in this game, you Will be, so Strap in :).

do I need to be racist in order to use or even Consider Racial Points?
What about being an anarchist? what's the advantage of being an oligarchy? Miners....?? That's what I do!

In short, this guide will try to be as extensive as possible without being boring...that is my GOALLLLLLLLLL! anyway, here we go :)

choose Space Empires V (here after referred to as SEV) in your games library, choose the desired options on the pop-up launcher, and say, ENGAGE!....I mean, Play

then, if you are truly starting out, then I would highly recommend selecting "new game"...

on the select game type, you may only have one option - if you have more, kudos to you ^_^.
...then press ok, after selecting the preferred game type - in this "scenario", choose "standard SE5"

after a loading screen....you will see a Map! "I'm the map, I'm the map!", but there's nothing here??? We ain't found....well, you're not supposed to at times :)....

anywhoot, for starting out your first game, just choose "mid-life crisis" for quadrant type and maybe small or medium-sized quadrant. For your first game, I would recommend Against choosing "Finite Resources" :P - this would mean after a set of turns, and your ultimate quest for universal domination, you run out of resources, and your empire eventually crumbles...and then you are disappoint to those around you...j/k !

Next on the right we have the empire strikes back...or just gets a grant and enabling legislation from the powers that are.... in short, click on empires and AWAY we go *stupid laugh* .....

First time buyers and "playa" 's : choose the following Recommended options (from moi)
1. tech cost: Medium - you don't want the sometimes apt AI outsmarting you in the race for research do you? :P

2. Starting resources: same. choose medium, as sometimes if you are just starting out, the AI may use it a little more "wisely" and if you choose Low, you yourself may be hurting with maintanence costs ;)

3. Home planet value - Unless you Want to live in a bad neighborhood, I would choose "good" xD..this affects resources, really, as well as the atmosphere type - having your citizens being asphyxiated on the first inauguration of your leadership might not go too well in the mid-term polls :P ;)

4. Number of starting planets: this is a personal preference, but I usually go for five :D...ten is a little overkill...In my opinion :)

5. All the Home planets the same size: SI! *smack*

6. Empire Placement: unless you want to be in a bedlam the first time you start a game and watch as the squirrels start eating your citizens like seeds in the Fall, I would recommend "EVENLY distributed thorough the quadrant" :D...allowing them to start in the same system for a starting player just opens up the chance to be obliterated in the first several tuns :P

7. Score display: for all you sports fans...wait. wrong game....anyway, this really has no impact on gameplay and is another personal preference, though I usually like to see how bad I'm losing /end sarcasm

8. Technology points for new players: NEIN! No! Nunca....at least, until you get your feet wet :) the first couple times and Know what you will be going for in the get go. "But, why?" Well, this option and the racial option is Not just for you - it's a global modifier for the AI too :P...the AI always knows....what it wants...it's watching....you....on the wing.... :P

9. Racial points: barring what number eight said, I would still choose either medium (3k) or High (5k), just because it's fun to mess with all the racists out there in space ;)

10. Random computer players: this depends on how you feel about the "haves" and the "have-nots"....the neutral empires might be speed bumps for your universal domination or will be the deciding factor in your wars with the "haves" :P - the choice is yours here

11. Number of computer players: personal preference, but High for a beginning player, you may get swamped :(

12. Computer player difficulty: same as eleven

13. computer player bonus: aka, "How Suicidal Are =You, anyway? " j/k - I hope you will Never be suicidal...#truestory :)

(we will cover the CREATION-ism's of your empire in the next section of this guide ;) )

We're walking...we're clicking on "game options" :)

most of this section is self-explanatory, but I will clarify some things where there may be some confusion...

event frequency and Maximus Event Severity code geiss: starting out, you may want a low-medium event Frequency, with a low event severity; reason is that "events" are like the trip-up's of the strategy genre that throw a monkey...or even a wrench, into your plans :) and may foul them up something fierce....

ships and units per player: proceed with caution and the knowledge of your rig's components. remember, these options are for ALLLLLLL players, A.I. included, so if you choose 20k ships per player, and you have 4 A.I.'s, you Will have to possibly load 100k ships onto your hard-drive, then it may crash and burn, and then you will be sad, because you can't watch Youtube anymore :(

gameplay options: cheat codes, meh. up to you
: no ruins - only if you don't want to race the AI / other players / what-have-you for awesome technologies only acquire-able through ruins.
: Team mode - also called "death wish mode" by some ;)...if you're playing all by your lone-some on a rainy Friday night :\

Player restrictions: also known as, challenge modifiers...seriously? no cute quip there? you must be tired, OP :P....

Silence, pinky.... We will take over the world through Multiplayer next :)
hmmm...looks as if everything changed here, being on steam...hope someone makes a guide for that....*dreamily stares off into space, hoping no space monkeys get him*

Victory conditions (hey. you didn't say "next Tab" = sue me) - here you can tweak the victory conditions to your desire :)

Next, go to "Save game setup" and maybe type something like "first game setup"? :D and click ok/save

Next time on CSI: Space, we will investigate how an empire can be purely energetic, but still have form :P

in the empire screen with how high you want your AI to be....sinners....we will proceed by making our new empire have 5k racial points and no technological know-how...new empires got no brains...Shut Yo mouth....I was just talking about trumpy ;)

so, choose those two settings before clicking on "Addeth a new-eth Empire-eth" :)

Empire name, type, title, emperor name are All personal preferences.

Password and email are for hot seat multiplayer games :)

design name file is for when you simply cannot think of a name for your 1 Gazillion-ienth design ;)

Overall minister style: personal preference

Computer controlled = AI controlled (it's a Yes (lit) / No (dim) question)

Empire logo and ship style:Your move :)

Race details:

name, plurality, and build type, as well as portrait of a vampire are all personal preference.

However, "Rock" / Geodude for planet type and "Oxygen" / Oxy pore cleanser for atmosphere are the most common types, according to rumors I've heard :)...and no one knows why :) hehe

Rulin' da People by Day-O :

start to read carefully on this one: do you really want a "Democracy", with a -6% population loyalty modifier, or do you Really want a "Collective" with a population loyalty of +20%? Resistance is futile ;)....but is also a handy personal preference ;) hehe

Society: "Stuff just got Real!!!"

this is truly the epi-tome of hy-per-bole :P...read carefully, as this will also impact your future endeavors in the game :) - personal preferences :)

"Your Racist Friend" : so many options, so little time....this is where it gets pretty nifty and cool. My advice on this page is to scroll to da bottom...dat...Knowledge ! :) and work your way up....

when you cilck on a -500 racial trait, you get 500 more points to possibly get another one with...a pretty dumb civ, but very cunning, perhaps? :D a dangerous combination, any day.

History....: this is YOUR story, not HIS :P...just add flair to multiplayer games with this :)

As always, save your empire to file :)

space: the Final Frontier...these are the voyages of the starship....Stupid....its mission: to procrastinate writing this until the last breath of its creator...


Say, nice star you got there, it would look great imploded next to my colony...anyway, getting to business.

You see you've been "hexed" to no end...and in these hexes you see planets, the x-woman Storm, and pale blue dots with lettering above them....you may even see green and red circles next to some of the planets...What does it all Mean!?

settle down, Na! a synopsis of the starting User Interface (yadda yadda yadda, UI) is thus:

1. planets: the bread and butter of your civ, if you have red circles next to them, you May colonize them, but they will be developmentally challenged until you change the atmosphere to one your colonists can breathe easy with; How do I do that? well, that is far down the tech tree, but it will be possible; until then, your colonists on these planets will be wearing domes to keep out the alien frequencies :P. IF they have green circles, your colonists will be more apt to breathe easier, but you may also find that you will lose popularity as the Conditioners of your planets are not right in the core :(.... you will be able to change this later too :)

2. storms, nebulae, super-massive black hole(s) : bad news bears and also sometimes good hiding spots....No one expects the Spanish Inquisition from a black-hole-ish system! usually, your ships will not like taking hull damage in black hole systems or not being able to use their sensors as effectively in the Storm's range....tread carefully :)

3. next time on "This Pale Blue Dot", you will go to other systems via these wormholes...why, yes. I do now suspect I have had worms, now Stop asking me!!!! /age joke.

system modifiers: very important, so please read them all the time. these will change as you update buildings/facilities and get invaded, etc. - it may also tell you of bad things in this system, such as where the next storm is :P ;)

Right Side!: system name? need I say more?

Top-side....starting with the left, you politically minded cartoonist :P

1. your flag flying in space along-side your empires name....I claim this land for French-Fried land :D

2. your leader name, you person you...

3. game date (or if you click it, your computer's time...) ; you've been playing HOW LONG? it's was summer just a minute ago, I sw~ear :)

4. current stockpile of resources, then, if clicked, your current output of Research Points (RP now :)...) and Intelligence Points (IP :) )

Top menu "items", you dog, you....

1. from the left: game menu...really? you need a tool-tip for this? hehe j/k (this is where your save game options are :D, btw)

2. vehicle design: Oh Lawd Jorge, you'll be spending a LOT of time here :D

3. system list: for all the OCD-ness in all of us ;)

4. Planets list...aka the naughty and nice list (of space)

5. colony list.....when it simply should've been there LAST FRIGGIN' TURN!! arrrgh (lol)

6. it's your ship list....someone's gonna get it :)

7. Construction queue: your second most favorite place in this game, besides the vehicle design menu..."Oh, we're going have a GREAT time...We're gonna be PALS!" :P

8. Research: really.....gee, I bet I send my denizens to the chopping block with this button :P j/k

9. Intelligence: if you need a tool-tip, you have none ;) - I'M JUST MESSIN'...geez....

10. Empires: to keep your enemies closer than your ships :)

11. the crowning achievement of options! (ba-dump, Ching!) - there Are some cool options here, but I will let you finagle it for now :)

12. Log - It's Log, from blammo....when you really must know if the empire you're crushing on is getting your treaty requests :)

13. Help! - I'm sorry. I think it says "Helf" :)....this will update when you learn new technologies..why? to be more "help"-FULL of course..."I Kill me!"

14. End turn - gee.......i wonder what this button does *star trek alarm sounds*

I like big bottoms and I cannot hide them :(

from the left....on second thought, the tooltips should speak for themselves ;) - just read, read, read! hah....oi....*grabs a root beer* :P xD

Research:


Aliens...researching....hot...topics....

now, you may apply any percentage of reserach points to anything, but it must be in the form of a percentage :)....

a good rule of thumb I usually go by is this:


-two-three cultural achievements - covered later, but really quite handy
-Applied Research - keep researching for more research :D
-Armor - to keep your ships Alive!
-Cargo - to store your stuff
-Engines - so you can make your-car-go :)
-at least one ship/chassis hull - so you have something to put your engines and stuff on :P
-Defenses (?) - just when you thought it was safe to go out into the Ni~ght
-two-three weapon types - for when you must reach out in a violent way...
-Intelligence Services - where may I direct your internet search?
-(Racial trait tech tree, where applicable) - As IF! talk to the hand ;)
-Robotics - trust me, these will be useful later on when you get bonuses to your resource production efforts :D
-Shields (?) - for when you don't want to get boarded immediately
-Ship Capture - for when you want to do the probing
-one intelligence tech area - NEXT SECTION!
-one new tech area - up to you...."where do you want to" go now?
-Space yards - A MUST!!!!!!
-one type of weapon mount - when you...well, you can guess
-Starship support - for keeping your ships full of your stuff and their stuff :)
-Stellar Manipulation (under Astrophysics level 2) - a long shot, but In-Cred-ible cosmic power will be yours, IF the price is right :)
-Storage - a place to store your stuff on planets and the like


but there are so many other areas that are needed starting out, such as (possibly) :

-Rock/Ice Ice, baby/Gas planet colonization
-Resource (mineral/radioactive-nuclear/organics(food!!!!) ) "extraction" / a fancy term for killing the planet softly :P
- Repair?
- *insert your dream here* :)

however, a good chunk of your research (maybe 10% if you're feeling ball-sy) should be dedicated - and never moved from - Applied Research tech...why? well, you can't get ahead if you don't have state of the art equipment for upgrading your research labs :)...

the long and short of researching VERSUS Bob Saget...I mean researching versus upgrading:

1. each time you get a new research level/item done, you will need to do one of two things:
a. send an upgrade all order to your construction queue (for buildings)
b. send an "auto-upgrade" order to your vehicle designs that had said component (your ships won't be shooting really much of anything if they are using pea-shooters versus, say, anti-proton beams ;) )

2. you will need to be vigilant about this and watch the percentage of your research, as some levels have 10 or 20+, while some may only have 3....and you will have to re-allocate the "unspent" RP with another field of study...*whispers* "If you research it, they will come" :D

On the next topic, some research trees have sub-trees unlocked at certain levels...oh, the joy ^_^.

Trust me, when this happens, say on advanced military theory/science (from mundane military science), you will thank me :)

Intelligence, YO!? do you speak it?

so many ears, so little time....

here is, verbatim, the different "intelligence areas" you may invest in (taken from the manual...yes. I'm lazy :) ) :


* "Listen all of y'all...."

Sabotage - Ships & Fleets Spies will attempt to sabotage ships, bases, and fleets belonging to this empire.

Sabotage - Planets & Colonies Spies will attempt to sabotage colonies belonging to this empire.

Sabotage - Empire Wide Spies will attempt to disrupt the economy, research, and intelligence operations of this empire.

Sabotage – Political Spies will attempt to cause colonies to revolt, disrupt trade, and destabilize relations between this empire
and its allies.

* when you simply Must know what she is wearing :P

Espionage - Ships & Fleets Spies will report information relating to this empire's ship locations, orders, and activities.

Espionage - Planets & Colonies Spies will report information relating to this empire's colonies, constructions, and population moods.

Espionage - Empire Wide Spies will attempt to obtain information about this empire such as its star charts, vehicle designs, and
technologies.

Espionage – Political Spies will attempt to get detailed information on this empire's treaties, trade, and communications with its
allies.

-also known as the "lesser" kardashian :P :

Cooperative Intelligence Our intelligence network will support this empire's efforts against its enemies by sharing information and
aiding in operations.

again, per empire, it's by percent, but the more percentage you allocate Towards an empire, is more percantage you're allocating AWAY from your home base....!

be cautious of who you spy on then :)..

don't worry, this screen will keep tally in the top right... - *grumbles incoherently about those darn dogs in the next system across from him*

there's really not much else to say here I would think...think......think....echo base, this is roger 1.....

though there are countless pictures of how to make a good ship, I will run through the things to pay attention to in this screen :) :

Clicketh on vehicle designs:

here you will see all your Ship designs. You will need to click on Unit designs to see your satellite, troop, and fighter designs :)

now, we will make a Frigate ship to see into the great beyond :)

click create

click ship,

then select frigate - notice, however, that this screen lists the base price in resources and any modifiers or restrictions it has....like how the freighter has to have 50%+ of space allocated to storage bays, etc.

now we click on frigate, then new/ok:

1. left top: click this to see the different specs of the ship - ranging anywhere from shields and acceleration modifiers to type of ship and name of the little goober.

2. bottom left: the default view is ALL components available, but you may not Want to see all the components...;
i. if that is the case, just right click on this area and select the category of component you want to see :)

3. top right - any "warnings" or requirements left to make this ship fly-able :)

4. the three "decks"/sections of the ship...

5. set strategy - as most of your fights will be automated, it's good to Not have your colony ship in "optimal firing range" selected, as your colony ship will probably Not have any guns....and it will just try and fly in there and be as a clay pigeon.....a very Expensive clay pigeon, no doubt though. so watch your "strategy" 's here

6. auto-complete: when you are tired and don't want to manually place them....of note, most of your stuffages will be on the top deck and armor is given a lower priority than other components with this button...some assembly required.

7 weapons report: a handy reference sheet for all AVAILABLE weapons you currently have researched with range, damage per second (DPS).
a Warning, though: just b/c "capital ship missle" has the highest damage does Not mean it is the Better choice...it uses many supplies, which may not be plentiful starting out, and it may have a slow rate of fire....tread and analyze carefully here, friends :).

A, I , and O - Armor sections...the red zone is for loading of cloaking armors and normal armors.

I - Inner hull...these usually mean they are Inside the ship, and won't get hit first ;)

O - Outer hull - like, for guns.....and stuff....and things.....yo. (though you may have to put Inner hull components here as a last resort though :( )

and just for giggles and serious things, you may pit your ships against the ships of your own creation and of those you have found blueprints for (through Inte-wi-gence operations)....good to run through your new ship before you actually put it out into service, yes? "I knew I shouldn't of put the the dingle-hopper in the doo-hickey on the thing-a-ma-jig. *facepalm*

save your design when you are done

Damage, inc. :

the different damage types, taken from the manual and "esplained" by me :) :


Weapon Damage Types:

-Normal - say, wha? Define normal :P
-Shields only - weapon will only hit shields...armor not affected
-Skips normal shields - yes. there is a difference...will not penetrate Phased shields
-Skips all shields - hellz yeah!
-Quad Damage to shields - you know you're dead
-Double damage to shields - 2x the fun, 2x the speed
-Half damage to shields - you got some 'splaining to do :P
-Quarter to shields - whaaaa?
-Skips armor - direct to hull damage, barring any shields
-Skips shields and armor - well, now you're definitely dead....
-Only Engines - Y U no move?
-Only weapons - for when you need to reach out and nullify someone
-only master computers - for when you're too lazy to hire a crew.... (computer combat)
-only shield generators - for when you are sure to win :P
-only boarding parties - kinda useless otherwise, non?
-only security stations - ditto
-only planet destroyers - seems legit
-only planet population - BURNINATE the Country-side!
-only resupply depots - for when you are doing a tactical bombing run ;)
-only spaceports - for when you are fighting a war of attrition?
-Plague level 1-5 - A Plague be upon Ye!
-Only planet conditions - to make sure they die slow and painfully :P
-pushes target - repulsor beams...mainly for boarding and cruisers :)
-Pulls target - Farm beams...again, mainly for boarding ships
-Random Target movement - when you don't care how you get there ;)
-Increase weapon reload time - for when you are just messing with your opponent's ships
-Disrupt weapon reload time - same
-Crew Conversion - Pray for Forgiveness!
-Kills Crew - /Friday movie...."DAAAAYUM...."
-Deplete Supplies - for when you want to kite your opponent all the way back home
-Timed remove experience - for when you want to de-level your opponent
-Shield implosion - BOOM!
-Energy transfer - what's yours is now mine
-Slow Down - really?
-Timed Control loss - no clue
-Burn Armor - liquid metal :)

Types of weapons: (also taken from the manual)
Direct fire - when there is an actual beam or projectile heading straight fo' your sorry....hey....sorry

Seeking - like missles and stuff

warhead - drones and satellites and mines oh my

Point-Defense: for short range neutralization

------------
Ground - when you even miss this, you know you need sleep

Space: the majority of your time (you don't say?) and, yes, space taken up:

- Beam, utility/specialty, mass driver (bullets), missles, etc

...or why I stopped complaining and learned to love the long research times for these :)

Cultural achievement breakdown:

-Civics: population loyalty / how loyal are Your people?

-Economics: all maintenance costs reduced / helpful, non?

-Education: population loyalty and Assimilation rate increase / two-fer :)

-Environmental Science: resistance to environment (planet) increased / for colonizing 'bad" planets

-Ethics: intelligence generation increased / read more, hooman

-History: Vehicle weapons get additional “to hit” and additional damage increase / history is the bane of all lazy people

-Leisure services: reproduction rate increase / P.C. fo' sho'

-Mathematics: research generation increased / always good

-Philosophy: rate that ships and fleets gain experience increased / If I fire a torpedo, does it Have to launch?

-Political Science: trade increased / poly sci majors need not apply

-Sociology: population tolerance for war / study of not paying attention?

-Sports: Ground Combat damage increased / right. more foosball tournaments ;)

1% increase per level, if I remember correctly.....

but where is there?

Consult the book of armaments...hehe

I hope you enjoyed my little contribution...if you have any Questions, concerns, or general tidbits you think need to be in here, let me know.

I Purposefully did NOT put any links in here, as the interblag is a fickle creature and moar and moar good links pop up every day, while some do die....

it is not for me to reason which ones are the better ones, for mine is but to live and learn ^_^ /

Cheers all, and thank you for your time.
-Bob