Galaxy #122 has started

[Davin]

I am confused on spending. There's a dialog that shows points spent that seems to change in real time, but I didn't see a way to list where the points were being spent.

Yes, the Cash Flow Report is very handy at telling you as you type how much PI you have left to spend. But there is no mechanism to tell you on what command it's happening. Most players don't seem overly concerned at that - perhaps you can help me understand how it would help you?

At this point in the game, it would be just for curiosity. For example, I initially looked for it to see how things were being spent when I did the "suggested actions." I wanted to be lazy and not have to count the number of ships and do the summing myself.

Yes, not having to count things up yourself is important. But even more so is unintentionally overspending by counting wrong. The dynamic report tells you when you do that, as does the Action screen's Check Orders for Errors menu choice, and those are important to use throughout the game.

[Davin]

Gee, it sure is quiet out here this turn and tonight's the deadline. I'm anxiously awaiting any new diary entries from the emperors - I love hearing about what's been happening in their realms.

[wraith]

Surprised to encounter "others" so quickly. Initial reaction is to go Tholian!

[Davin]

I was rather surprised, too.  I know that the opponents will be further apart when there are few of them, but the stars themselves are also sparser forcing empires to travel further afield in search of resources. I guess the latter factor overcame the former, or else everyone is jumping far out in order to see who's out there.

There are plenty of response paths to choose from, including retreat and isolation up through aggressively enforcing your territorial claims. Keep in mind that a Cease Fire is not a military incursion - it's just a "bumping of elbows when passing by". But attacking with warships IS military and may provoke a definite response from your opponents, one way or another, and such responses (positive or negative) need to be considered, as well as your own resources, when deciding upon your own course of action.

Aren't you glad you don't have any decisions to make?

[wraith]

Hah!

I was hoping to have more time to figure out customizing the game map and ships. But it helps to be pushed along sometimes

BTW, I am enjoying the posts from the other players. It seems to be a more considered interaction than at a tabletop game.

Note: I figured out the spending. There's a slight delay after entering the build information before that dialog updates. Once I noticed that, I was able to track costs.

[Davin]

I'm enjoying the storylines immensely! I hope everyone continues to contribute. Tabletop gaming is great, but you usually can't take a week there to decide on what you want to do and to discuss things back-and-forth with your opponents. (Don't forget that you can send opponents a private message on the web site once you've run into them.)

You can always ask questions about customization hereabouts and everyone can listen and contribute their 2 PI worth. The GTac maps are particularly fun to work with, once you figure out what you want to see. As for ship designs you can always start up a solo game and spend several days trying out different designs to see what works best for you. The biggest trick to ship design is trying to decide what it will be used for, and then design to those needs. (Hint: All-purpose ships seldom work out very well.)

New players in Galac-Tac tend to want to just sit back and grow quietly and not spend too much effort on confrontation, so sometimes you do need to be pushed into it.    Remember that this is a game of conquest, and it doesn't last a long as it sometimes feels like it should, and that in the end There Can Be Only One.

The GTac Cash Flow screen has a brief embedded delay so it doesn't try to update too quickly, but that shouldn't pose any difficulties to most people once they realize that. Your original problem, though, was that you were using suggested orders. Those orders appeared all at once and so you couldn't see the amounts changing while typing.

[Davin]

Gee, things have been awfully quiet this turn! I wonder if the unexpected encounters have dampened enthusiasm for exploration?

[Davin]

Annnnddd...  it's still pretty quiet. Are there still non-mechanical races still out there?

[Talisman]

Annnnddd...  it's still pretty quiet. Are there still non-mechanical races still out there?

Hey!  I resemble that remark...

R.U.R.

[wraith]

Things got crazy at work. I still have another week of travel, but should be able to get back into the swing of things soon. The suggested actions let me stay active in the game, so thanks for that feature.