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Ahem, This was my response in another game...
Racial construction is relatively easy in BTS!. You start off by immediately spending NP(Nation Points) on your Biology tech level. This creates the number of SP(Species Points) that you have to spend on your race creation and your home planet.
The next step is to define your races homeworld. If you do not choose to spend any SP here you still have a good deal of choices to choose from. While you are doing this it is good to keep in mind the characteristics of the race you want to build. A fish race will not do well on a lava world witth no oceans. Though they may go well with lemon pepper rub and ketchup.
The planetary creation permits Edens to airless moons to be created for your homeworld so put somethought into it. The planetary size will also determine the number of regions available for you to use, however filling those regions in will happen after you actually create your race.
Your race can be almost anything but intelligent bacteria. Its hard to get bacteria that can be tool manipulaters! They can be avians, ursine, humanoid, fish with arms, insect like, well, you get the idea. You can provide your race with armor, natural weapons, make them speedy, give them bonuses for colonizing hostile worlds, give them psionics, make them vegetarians, and a whole host of other abilities. Just understand that most advantages come with the disadvantage of not getting something else. A race that is realy strong on combat is likely to be weak in other areas, but with good planing and good dilomacy you can normally minimize your weaknesses. We will be coming out with rules for machine races after the initial beta testing is done.
When you are ready to build your nation you will have several main tasks.
1. You will need to purchase your national advantages and disadvantages. Most of these disadvantages taken singly can be worked around, but some, when combined, can be crippling in the later game.
A. The first task is to purchase the terrain(called regions) your nation sits upon. I would recommend at least one Super Terrain as it doubles food production from that region. If you have enough TP (Terrain Points) you can build your own world. I would also recommend a mountainous terrain as well as the RM(raw materials) infrastructure limit is higher there. Any region slot not filled in by you will be filled in by the Game Master.
Before placing any infrastructure or facilities you may wish to have the GM roll up specials for each region that you have purchased. These specials can raise energy(En), food, raw material(RM), and industrial(PP) production by small to wow amounts.
B. Next is to purchase your starting infrastructure. As a side note, unhoused population do not provide any production contribution, but do require maintenance. Also, at TL 6 and above you need Energy Production to power your nation or you will be facing a really 'dark' future! This will include the purchase of factories, mines, a Transport network, Housing, etc. Sounds hard, but only in figuring out where you wish to focus on. I would recommend roughly 50 Wv and, if you do not choose Untapped Fuel Reserves, roughly 50 or more FP as well. If you must skimp on something then lower your industry. Your population produce one Light Industry point for every two population that are housed. This can be used to replace some of your missing factory infrastructure.
If you have the opportunity, use the terrain spreadsheet to tune your infrastructure so that it is self supporting and you do not have a negative in energy and food production. The spreadsheet will do many of your calculations for you, so you don't need to do the math with a calculator, but if you want a free headache...
As a side note, all infra and facilities require popuation in order to be used. Energy is also required at Tech Level 6 and above to use any infra and facilities. It is no fun to have your enemies laughter echoing through empty darkened mines or factories! Try to plan ahead on your purchases. Most take 6 months or more before they are completed and reqiuire upkeep and population to use. A bit of planning will make sure you have everything in place to make your new infra or facility run at full speed from the get go.
C. The last task is to create and buy your pregame units, be they military or otherwise. I would sincerely recommend freighters as they can be put into trade routes and generate additional monthly income for you. This can compensate for having few Wv facilities(Wealth). Freighters can also be used for fishing fleets in order to create additional food sources. You may want 2 or more explorer and prospector units as well. They cost 0.4 NP each for the basic unit.. If you have lots of ocean, put the explorers on some navy ships or freighters for that matter and use them to explore the water terrain for new sources of fuel for FP. Otherwise focus on the land until it is all surveyed. Multiple Explorer units will map out terrain faster then only one unit will and don't be afraid to make more Explorers. They don't have a shelf life!
Use up all your unit templates. A unit that has not had a template made for it must have that template researched first before you can build it!
Go ahead and create what interests You. Let your imagination roam. Your race is limited to your imagination and available Species Points (abbreviated SP)but it is your race and how their society works is up to you. The point of this game is to have fun!
2. What type of terrain should I choose?
I would recommend at least one Super Terrain as it doubles food production from that region. If you have enough TP (Terrain Points) you can build your own world. I would also recommend a mountainous terrain as well as the RM(raw materials) infrastructure limit is higher there. Any region slot not filled in by you will be filled in randomly by the Game Master.
3. What good are unit templates?
Use up all your unit templates. A unit that has not had a template made for it must have that template researched first before that unit may be built. Even if you do not ever build that unit, you may be able to trade its design template for someone elses or even for resources like Fuel or Wu.
3.1 What sort of non-military units should I have?
I would sincerely recommend freighters as they can be put into trade routes and generate additional monthly income for you. This can compensate for having few Wv facilities (Wealth). Freighters can also be used for fishing fleets in order to create additional food sources. The larger freighters generate notably more Wu, Cc, or Food then their smaller cousins, but the loss of it due to random events or Player Race raiding generates the same drop. Try to match the required cargo capacity to your need as closely as possible so you waste as little CC as possible. using 120,000 CC for 45,000 CC of cargo is not good.
You may want 2 or more explorer and prospector units as well. They cost 0.4 NP each. If you have lots of ocean, put the explorers and prospectors on some navy ships or freighters for that matter and use them to map and explore the water terrain for new sources of fuel for FP. Otherwise focus on the land until it is all surveyed. Multiple Explorer units will map out terrain faster then only one unit will and don't be afraid to make more Explorers. At some point they will make themselves useful.
There are archeologist and diplomatic units as well. Archeologists are useful getting tech from ruins and diplomats can drastically effect NPR(Non Player Race) relations for good or ill.
If you are expanding into space then you will need rockets and reusable shuttles to move IUU and other materials into space for constructing space based units and infrastructure. If you havee a sufficiently advanced tech level then I would build transatmospheric freighters as well.
As a side note, launching rockets into orbit uses command points just like any movement order. Even though the unit is expendable, it still needs the order to launch!
4. Basic Military Units.
Unless you have next to no water, you will need to create several basic naval units. I would recommend a destroyer class, a sub, and at least an escort carrier. If you have chosen the Balkanized disadvantage then heavier naval units are a must. If nothing else, use up all your ship templates, even if you don't actually buy the units they represent. You may be able to sell the design at a later date.
I would recommend several specialties for aircraft templates. You will want an interceptor design for air superiority, a basic ground attack variant, an AWACs type with a communications cap and maybe a sensors cap, and a ground to orbit shuttle though rockets are cheaper and quicker to build, but they are not resusable. If you have carriers, you will want a navalized version using the carrier launched cap.
Warships may have the Silo cap assigned to them to allow them to use SSR(single stage rockets) missile templates. Any smaller missile does not need a template. Instead, the smaller missiles are included with a units caps in the form of weapons caps.
Your army is a bit tougher as there are many ideas on what should be a good army. But at a minimum, you will want a basic infantry unit, a mechanized infantry, a MBT unit(armored), a unit with the Engineers cap for defensive bonuses, an artillary unit(with a mobility cap), and at least one headquarters unit. Headquarters units have no AR or DR and must be pared with another unit in order to defend itself. They are required for battlefield control. You may find out that you need additional templates to round you army out. Just remember that additional templates can be purchased with Nation Points(NP).
5. How does Low Tech match up against High Tech?
Don't. Not unless you really understand mob tactics and can draw your opponent into strategic dispersion so you can beat him up by using defeat in detail. Think Swarms. REALLY big swarms. The exception is if your victim, er, evil opponent has next to no military at all. However, this is unlikely. Most races will not reveal their true military strengths except to blood allies.
You have a fair chance against an opponent who is above you in the same tech level. So two TL 8 powers (one at 820 and the other at 880) are roughly in the same capability range, the lower will still not want to fight one on one. He will lose, just not as badly. So he will use better tactics and quantity to make a difference when facing off against the technologically superior foe.
6. How do Ground Forces fare against Space Forces?
Badly is the simple answer. There are artillery units that can be templated to strike successfully at orbital targets, but it is better to just not let the 36 leg centipedes of Doom to get into orbit in the first place.
7. How do I make an Uber Power?
Put the word Uber in front of its name. Seriously, though, what you do in the beginning will determine your strengths and weaknesses for a long time into the game. Generally, because of the versitility of BTS!, most nations that are created to be very powerful in one area are weak in another area. A way to build your nation is to take disadavantages to get additional NP to buy infrastructure, technology levels, etc. These disadvantages can cripple you in the later game. For instance, two nations with the Patent Office disadvantage cannot trade technologies. It is possible to get a lot of NP from these disadvantages, but it will create a very narrow path for you to trod to success and that second step can be a real owie. Many of the disadvantages can be minimized with good planning, but many simply do not have good workarounds. So be careful in your choices.
8. How do I do Wealth Creation?
There are three main paths to getting wealth and several ways that normally do not happen every turn.
A. Assigning merchant ships to trade runs, both internal and External.
B. Building Wv infrastructure.
C. Building up your Transport Network.
D. You may also sell IUU, Food, Fuel, Energy, and Raw Materials to gain wealth. This is limited by what you have in reserves and you need to be careful to not deplete them badly.
E. If you are lucky you can sell ships and other units to other powers as well. Note that that does not prevent the other power from using these units on you... Trade goods of various types can be made to sell as well.
It is highly recommended that you should be expanding your WU EVERY turn, either by TN investment, or WU purchases. The best is to do both.
9. 3.1.8 uses six digits for the Homeworld description, but 3.1.2 only lists five variables (size, temp., water, air, tectonic). What is the sixth variable?
The 6th digit is the maximum amount of a planet usable by a player. Its basic number is determined by the Water amount. Say for example you have 60% water coverage (P-Dat water coverage number 6) you will have 40% of the planets surface covered in usable land terrain. The last P-Dat number would be a 4. That amount is further modified by Colonization costs.
10. How should I start a game of Beyond the Stars!?
You will be wanting a racial concept. Seriously.
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The Crystaline Castle does not do well against rocks. -unknown sarcastic Mage.
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