Finally got the red ending, just got the blue to go now! Here's my ship, I'd recommend a set up like this as I was only taking 2-3 damage from orbiting stars for fuel and using about 3 fuel to travel to planets in a solar system. The biggest headache I had was finding un-blockaded garden planets to refill my oxygen, which went down very slowly anyway. At the end of the game I'd gone to over 180 systems and had discovered 23 techs.
I always have either good resistance or the ultraprobe, never both at the same time. I think I need to get more tech for my trips. I almost travel bare bones on that bird like ship only carrying Fe, Si, and either H or He and then the basic stuff plus the one that leaps across space easily. Can reach the green ending easily but not much more. Need to revisit my strategy as well.
Yeah that happened to me once too. Sold the hydrogen probe by mistake and without any way to repair it and low gas I thought I was doomed, lucky me I could reach the green ending just in time. After that I realized I had an omega, and that could have repaired my probe and keep going. Was such a great run. I learnt there is efficacy and many uses. Also seeing Deadpan´s ship cements that I need more tech for my trips.
Anyone have any tips or tricks to learning the alien language? I miss out on so much tech by answering the aliens wrong.
Few important things to know : The most important words to know are the last ones, always. Note down the last sentence on their first question. Answer either positively or negatively, depending on your knowledge. If it doesn't work : note a "BAD WORDS" tag next to these words If it does work : note a "GOOD WORDS" tag next to these words. This will help you understand aliens and answer to their first question until you have enough knowledge to understand them reliably. If you answered correctly, then you'll see the second question (IE : The material they are asking for) NOTE DOWN THE LAST WORD. It's the word of the thing they want. There's 4 possible answers : H, Fe, Th and ... i forgot the last one. Answer anything randomly. If you've got the good word : Yay. ALWAYS note down the answer you took next to the alien word. Even if it's the good one. Otherwise, you might forget what's the word you know (IE : You found out "Hydrogen", but next time they ask you for something, you answer Hydrogen again simply because you forgot about that)
For the native aliens (big deal; the tech and Omega they give out is important for progressing in a game) there also seems to be a handful of structures to the 'Approve' vs. 'Disapprove' messages. For example, the 'we don't like architects' message and the 'we love/fear you do you want to harm us' message. Try to remember the actual structure of the introductions and you can improve your odds of reaching the point where they might ask for one of four elements (if I recall correctly: Fe, H, Th, Hf). Additionally, translating a few words makes it even easier to recognize the structure of these introductions. You can also do a few other things to improve your odds. No hydrogen? Consider stopping at that gas giant before meeting the native species on the garden planet. No iron (why do you have no iron?) consider mining on the mineral rich planet first. And don't be afraid to stock some rare elements like hafnium and thorium (important for tech which improves travel distance) when viable.
I was just going to post that I have been doing this for the past couple of days as well. I haven't had any very short runs - there are a lot of stars and lots of planets very close to the beginning, and no enemies. Next I want to try going on one of the paths without many choices of systems and see if I meet any new aliens or anything.
The wormhole generator also extends your telescope range. You end up possibly traveling way more than 25 fuel's worth (ie 1 omega) for the price of one omega. Of course, it is very situational. There may not being a good black hole in reach. Or the enemy may steal all of your omega just before you get to a black hole. :/
Nice ship! One tip: with the Treeship, put your most upgradable components (space folder, shield generator, interplanetary drive) on the edge of the inside ring, not on the outside or in the corners of the inside ring. This will let you put three upgrades adjacent to the basic unit. I had a space folder with tau stasis, the one that looks like a tube, and another one all attached. Enormous power. Another time I had shield gen with void projection, thermal, and another. If I had an ultraprobe that time I would have been able to explore the entire universe.
Earlier on people were saying 'dont stop at every system/planet etc. I am now folling you and the other fellow with success, as long as you have resources, no harm in stopping!
I never found three upgrades to be necessary and it would mean you run the risk of running out of space for the elements needed to repair/rebuild damaged technology. With my above layout I ditched carrying extra O2 in favour of Th which is essential for repairing and rebuilding the higher level tech and saved me from being stranded a number of times. Each to their own however! Can't see it said above but it's worth mentioning that aliens can definitely ask for He and I think W as well.
Oh and one last thing, it's worth thinking ahead about what tech you're going to build in what order. I would actually suggest holding off on filling your ship with technology too early as tech like the Spoiler Death Seed which is essential for completing the red and blue endings takes four elements to build which you're not going to carry around with you normally. The last place you'd want to be is in a situation where you're putting your game in jeopardy because you had to dismantle something to get the space to collect the elements needed.
It is certainly not NECESSARY, but it isn't something you should ignore. Three upgrades to space folder means your ship uses a very small amount of fuel. Three upgrades to your shields means vastly reduced hull degradation and would make ultraprobing more feasible. I also read up there ^ somewhere that shields reduce the amount of damage from your first encounter with the enemy. Putting the big upgradable tech on the 4 sides of the Treeship (or spreading them out with other layouts, like the enemy ship) will also make it easier to put upgrades on other tech, like the ansible-telescope or planetary expansion-drill. Which reminds me, having never gotten the ultraprobe, does it improve if placed next to the hydrogen probe? The point is, your elements can be stashed in any old nook and cranny. Placement of tech should be thought out.
No, it doesn't improve the probe if placed next. Nor does the improved drill does improve the drill. The only techs that get a bonus when linked with each other are the techs that improve your ship "stats".
Well, that's not true. The planetary expansion turns blue, indicating more of a bonus, when placed next to the drill.
Oh ? Weird, I didn't have the same behaviour for the other techs (IE : improvements of the scanner, improvements to the probe and so on) I might be mistaken then
Agree 100%, tech placement is very important. With my play style essential and necessary are the words I live by, so 3 upgrades to your engines or shields seems like overkill in terms of the gains you get versus space lost. With the set up I used to beat the game my resistance was 1 off the max level and my power 2 off the max, that's with 2 upgrades to shields and engines. I won't post the pic of my ship again in case I get accused of bragging
Hey Pros, If not considered too much of a spoiler: 1) Does the color of the star influence what palnets are likely to be found there? 2) Does the actual color of a gas giant or rocky planet give a clue as to what they might yeild?
