Planet Specs: Random Tips for Newbies Playing Trade Wars

This is the Ninth Set of Random Tips

for Absolute Newbies. They are not in

any particular Order, so you can read

them in any sequence.

Twenty

Planets have different uses, some

no use at all.

Check the specs; (C) (J); to learn if

the Sysop has created special planets.

If not, Gaseous, Ice, and Desert Wastelands

should be destroyed as created using the

Atomic Detonator (A) purchased from (H)ardware

at the Space Port, and another Gen Torp fired

immediately.

Destroying a Planet creates a 10% Navigational

Hazard which will take you out if you don’t

have a lot of Shields.

You can use Nav Hazs as “protection” for a

building planet as long as you aren’t going

to Warp there until the Hazard has dissipated

to about 4%.

An Earth Type (M) is quite alright, but one

is all you need. Build it, then use it as a

‘Supermarket’ to upgrade other planets.

Mountainous build the Quickest, so most

players adore them and never have enough.

Oceanic are good for Organics and Flyers,

but building them is a waste of resources.

Volcanics are excellent defenders, build

them AFTER you’ve gotten an Earth Type

to Q cannon level.

If your first Gen is a Volc, (H) leave

it alone. Fire another Gen Torp to get

a Mountainous, (L) or Earth Type (M),

which you start building immediately.

Volcs take too many colos and too much

resources to be viable on their own.

Taking the “excess” Equipment and Organics

from an (M), moving colos at the last minute

is how you use your resources efficiently.

Twenty One

After fighting or running into debris,

check your shields. Make sure you have

at least fifty, optimum is all the shields

your ship can take. Without shields

anything can blow you up.

Twenty Two

Never build anything, even a free Mountainous

Planet in an unsafe sector.

Sectors with more than one way in are unsafe,

unless the other way is a dead end; hence

if your planet is in Sector 123 and leads

to 432 and 765, and 432 is a dead end, fine.

In fact, better than fine, because building

five worlds in 123 warping one into 432 and

then building another in 123 using colos

and goods from your other four is a Great

strategy…in fact, probably the winning

strategy.

However, before you waste a turn building

a freebie, make sure it’s in a safe sector

or walk away.

Twenty Three

The Safest Sectors are out of the way dead

ends, (I’ll leave out the remarkable

‘tunnels’ that exist in some games)

Out of the Way and One Way In are

two separate and vital attributes.

You want your planet in an area less

travelled. You will learn this when

you stop at a Trading Port and get up

to Fifty points as the first visitor.

When you begin to play you can’t planet

build far from Earth, so are looking

for a one way Sector off Fed Space in an

opposite direction from the Star Dock,

under ten warps.

Once you don’t need colos, you don’t have

to be near Earth so can be at the farthest

reaches of the galaxy.

Note that if it’s a 1000k universe that

does not mean that Sector 1000 is the

farthest point as there is a randomness

about the numbering; i.e. 13 can be

thirty turns from 12 while 234 is one

turn.

Twenty Four

Another trick that will stand you in

good stead is to find a One Way sector

with A BBB Space Port. (Buy fuel, Buy

organics Buy Equipment)

Many players advocate SSS Ports (Sell

all commodities) as a way to get their

goods for Citadel building without

travelling.

However, the draw back to an SSS is

that once commodities are being produced

on a planet there is no market, forcing

Transwarping to another sector which has

a BBB or having to destroy the Space

Station…very costly..to build another,

which makes no sense.

Having a BBB port means that you can

always sell extra stuff to get coin.

Once your planets are churning out goods,

upgrade the port to enable it to buy more

commodities.