AI Kicking my butt!

Although it's important to develop your research and improvements, you really shouldn't neglect the military and military techs. Build ships without engines, sensors or range just to boost your military rating enough to make the AI find itself an easier target.

I rarely pay tribute to anyone. They'll just use it to build more ships and then come and ask again

the AI will attack the weakest player. WIll ATTACK. not ask for tribute or some of that, it will attack after time.

complete agreement - do NOT pay tribute; it only encourages aggression. I generally go for getting my research and economy up and running first so I often get tribute 'requests'. I refuse and then switch everything to military production; even early on in the game you can have a pile of small ships ready to go quite quickly. That dissuades any attack unless you're just simply outclassed in all respects, not just military.

pnich of the hapless Terrans

Watch out for the Yor. In my last game they turned out to be EXTREMLY militaristic. Wiped me out in one single wave of fighters and transports.

complete agreement - do NOT pay tribute; it only encourages aggression. I generally go for getting my research and economy up and running first so I often get tribute 'requests'. I refuse and then switch everything to military production; even early on in the game you can have a pile of small ships ready to go quite quickly. That dissuades any attack unless you're just simply outclassed in all respects, not just military.

If you are substancially weaker militarily (never mind anything else) the AI will see you as any easy target and over time your standing with him will decline, up untill the point that he is hostile towards you. Once this happens its only a matter of a few turns before he declares war. Now paying tribute to him wont prevent a war but it is a good stop gap measure to prolong the period of peace before the war. Depending on how much money you give him (and other factors which probably play a role, like how easy that amount of cash is to some by, ie if its early in the game or not etc) then his relationship with you may improve (or not, if at all) quite significantly thus giving you more time to prepare. Obviously its a gamble, which is better pay him now and have time to build up your assets or purchase your assets now and risk war next turn (depending on how much a decent ship costs to build of course and your income per turn). So youve got to weigh up the pro's and con's.

The above being the general rule when talking about militaristic races like most commonly the Drengin, Yor, etc, some races being more inclined to be militarily stronger than others depnding on the race and a host of other factors more specific to the game your playing currently.

In my experience, paying tribute is an open invitation to attack.
I tried it once or twice to see what would happen, and was always attacked earlier than if I had refused.

Diplomacy techs go a long way to keeping on the good side of the other races. Researching a couple early in the game can help with those early attacks.

well, if you give in they;ll come back for more.

however, you "could" just bully the minor races into givin u the cash

but yeh, NEVER give in.

just keep building ships. blow up transports everywhere, and cons.

Well I always give in to demands for cheese. There usually quite reasonable when you consider you have zero military at that point and as they like to point out, they could crush you like a bug. Not bragging, just saying, of course.

Sure they like to rub it in, but they often move up there relations with you a notch after the concession.

Afterwards I make sure I have an extra trade route or two with the aggressor. Making you more valuable to them. When you go to the race report screen your no military rating is a double minus. Historic friendship and trade can are usually enough counter that.

Just take there number for later, when you go on the war path.

Yeah, don't give in. If you have outclassed them, then conquering the outlying planets shouldn't be a problem, and then they tend to shut up fairly quick. Or beg for mercy. Any time those irritating Altarians demand tribute from me (I'm normally Drath, so it happens a lot) I just remove Altaria from their possesion and they make feeble excuses. Then I tell them to stuff it, and attack them until they flat out beg.

Well I always give in to demands for cheese. There usually quite reasonable when you consider you have zero military at that point and as they like to point out, they could crush you like a bug. Not bragging, just saying, of course. Sure they like to rub it in, but they often move up there relations with you a notch after the concession. Afterwards I make sure I have an extra trade route or two with the aggressor. Making you more valuable to them. When you go to the race report screen your no military rating is a double minus. Historic friendship and trade can are usually enough counter that. Just take there number for later, when you go on the war path.

I have a similar in my games lately. I've been playing Drath slightly customized and I push hard into econ, trade and diplo trees. I will pay tribute and donate cash to keep them off my back until my research is vastly greater than everyone elses. Then, when I'm ready I can mass produce an army much more powerful than anyone's and take out whoever I want.

At first I hated the idea of paying tribute, but now I see it as a valid strategic option that allows me to push into the tech trees I want.

Research race up the diplomacy tree. At Total Majesty you get Spin Control Centers. Build a Spin Control Center, quickly make a new ship type crammed full of nothing but weapons. Buy one, then another and leave them in orbit on the world with the SCC. Keep it up until your military is ranked 1st.

Presto!

No more threats!

Once I've completed the exploration and settling stage, I head into a research emphasis. Diplomacy is the first thing I get, then Trade... which I trade to the other races for cash. Then I usually fill out the diplomacy tree, with quick diversions to get more trade techs to sell to other races, or to just get more frigates moving. Finish out Total Majesty, get your Spin Control Center, then get Master Trade and get Galactic Bazaar early. Then you can trade crud techs (Sensors, anyone?) for all the low level techs your opponents have, and all their cash too!

At higher difficulties, the AI won't let you get the Diplomacy tree finished before picking a fight, but the sooner you can get a Spin Control Center and a ton of weapon filled ships in orbit, the sooner the AI will start thinking twice about picking on you.

One thing I'm doing (as the Drath) that helps is to nurture a race that has a few planets and not enough tech. Supply them what you want them to have, and use them as allies and guards to hold the others at arms length.

The best advantage of this is you can make sure (with 5 opponents anyway, fails with more) that only 2 weapon techs are used. Get the monopoly on both those defences, and start working on the third while still making sure you aren't a threat.

I agree on not paying tribute to a point. I do not go to every screen every turn and frequently I miss when a race goes to war with another race, especially if I am busy doing ship design.

What does this boil down to... if the Torian or Yor or whomever are kicking someones butt that I need them to kick and they ask me for some cash I may provide that to them despite whether or not I am ahead or behind miitary wise just because helping them is easier and cheaper than starting my own war or attrition.

I guess its just a matter of perspective.

W/R
Suralle Straykat
Kat Lord @ Large

Ditto i don't bow to threats either. Let them come, i will easily crush them when i start going on a war footing,,,

Thanks for the advice folks. I quick researched diplomacy and super built my starbases. After 1000+ weeks the defense I could muster was some kick ass starbases. I can't seem to balance the defense ships with my maintenance costs. I think next round I will increase my freighter activity and mange it more getting rid of low trade routes. Just like Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri, I'm getting my research down to a routine, I just need a big layout of the research tree to help me.

I would like to see a threaten button on the foreign dialogue screen. When I extort minor races, they don't give into me. A full run is taking me about 8 hours now until I get my ass handed to me for going to war with someone. We'll see this time. By the way, I substituted alot of my music with Resident Evil soundtracks and Star Wars clips. It's pretty sweet but my wife is getting annoyed with it.

You have to be able to get a feel, on when the AI will declare war.

If you research a lot of diplomacy, have a lot of trade with neighbours in the position to attack you, you can avoid being attacked for suprisingly long periods while you focus on development even at Tough level.

But the trick is not too overdo it, and keep thinking you don't need a military, at some point they *will* attack.

I have this particular bad habit of putting this off, keeping doing research just to get my hands on one more critical wonder before the AI gets it...

Once you start outstripping them in almost every department except military, it's time to start building up military. Of course given the bad tactical AI that never gets first strike and it's lack of interest in soldering techs, it is indeed possible to wait until they attack before going onto a warfooting but you have to fight a holding battle for a while before the tide turns.

With 1.2 where the attacker no longer had the advantage, things might be different.