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Galactic Utopia Help

Watch Training Video

I.   Getting Started
II.  Planet Development
III. Empire Development
IV.  Advanced Strategy



Introduction

Across the deep blackness of eternal space, a lone starship seeks to fullfill its mission of vengeance. Its gray exterior is barely illuminated by a distant star, but inside its unmanned command center the instrument panels blaze with life. The Autopilot Monitor bears a single message:

- ETA: 1 Lightyear -



Nearby, a small team of cryogenically suspended technicians rest, waiting for the computer`s wake-up call. They do not have long to wait.

The destroyer races toward a small planet, hurled through space by Tech 3 Ion Engines. A 3 Billion MegaHertz CPU controls the Automated Gun Systems, which were activated on two occasions in order to battle pirates over the last 8 year journey across the Known Galaxy. Neither situation required the life support systems to be activated, as the aggressors were gunned down in a few nano-seconds. The three man crew slowly awakes to the familiar monitor which is their only link to the Empire. The captain is forced to speak for the first time in many years as he establishes a com-link with the Supreme Commander. "Fleet One ready." The Commander`s grizzled visage is deposited on the viewscreen. "The password is J - K - L. Good Luck. Out." The monitor fades. "Great." mutters the captain as he keys in the code. The spy speaks. "I wish he wouldn`t multi - task so much -" but is cut off by the captain as a small space station comes into view. The crew stares at it with helpless anticipation, as the station is quite well armed. But they know that the Commander has access to the best computer in the Galaxy, so he has to be trusted. In the year 3055, peace is established by the empire with the fastest CPU. "Here goes." whispers the Com Expert as the link is established. A brief message blinks onscreen.

- Access to the Interior . . . Acknowledged -



The crew breathes a sigh of relief, and the spy smiles as the ship cruises past the station. He glances at the Annual News Monitor which informs him, among other things, that the planets friendly populous were recently butchered by mercenaries from the Reptilian Empire, and that this is their last mining colony on this side of the galaxy. The Rebel Empire desperately needs the platinum to aid the war effort against the Human Hordes scattered across System One. This ship`s mission: to spy on the enemy. The captain touches down in a remote and undetectable position on the planet`s surface. After a quick Planet Scan, the ship`s computer sends an encoded stream of information to the center of the Rebel Empire.

* * * * * *

Meanwhile, in a distant star system across the Galaxy, a madman presses the button that begins the downward spiral of the Reptilian Empire. The Supreme Commander has assembled a colossal armada over the last 20 years in preparation for this apocolypse, as calculated by his supercomputer. The calculations reveal that the enemy has absolutely no chance of survival. The massive fleet is deployed within microseconds of recieving the agent`s trans-mission.

* * * * * *

In a sullen chamber filled with blue smoke, a strand of slime drags across the control panel of the Reptilian Commander`s decaying computer system. He lets out a bellow of rage as he discovers a short circuited relay preventing him from accessing critical databanks. He reaches out for the slimiest controls available in order to deploy the Secret Weapon, something a garbage scow captain picked up on a local moon. In a very short time, the heart of the Rebel Empire will be swallowed by a black hole.

* * * * * *

"This cannot be!" screams the Rebel Commander as a vortex encircles the Rebel homeworld. Before he can utter another sound, most of his empire and all that he has strived for, including himself, become antimatter. All that remains is an epic act of vengeance against the Reptilians. The armada reaches is destination shortly. The Reptilians toxic planet is a sorry sight to the avenging Rebels. No need to preserve this atmosphere, or the Reptilians DNA for that matter. The order is given and all Reptilians cease to exist in the Known Galaxy. What remains of the planet is salvaged, along with some buildings that survived the 5 microsecond onslaught. The platinum reserves will provide the empire with the resources they need to become strong again. The nomadic Rebels now face the challenge of a journey across space to find a planet worthy of colonization. A new Commander is chosen, and the journey begins. The fate that awaits them will inevitably be determined by the Human Hordes.

* * * * * *

Prepare to decide the fate of the galaxy, Human Commander.

Your empire awaits.




Galactic Utopia : Peace through Conquest


• You play the role of a Corporate Overlord whose purpose is to conquer the Known Galaxy by defeating all other players.


• You expand your empire by strategic command of vast fleets of starships in space.

Primary Methods of Space Travel in Galactic Utopia
Method Description Turn Base
Ion-Drive Fly to planets only. Travel is safe, slow, and reliable. Turn based using turn timer
Hyperwarp Haphazard teleportation to a star system only. Fast but unpredictable. Real-time exploring; fuel is replenished using turn timer, but fleets are controlled in real-time !


Ion Drive

Exploring in Hyperwarp


• In Hyperwarp, You can explore moons and find Alien Weapons and Technology to set you lightyears (literally..) ahead of your competition.

• The game runs in turns, as shown by the clock in the corner. The planetary events like diplomacy and economy run at the end of each Stardate. A Report is generated for each Player, showing all player rankings:



• You must invest in planets as well as means for future construction. By wisely purchasing Technology and Investment contracts, you can devise a superior economy and military, in preparation for the great wars to come.

• This game uses an open-ended 'sandbox' approach to the economy. There is more than one strategy to make outrageous profits; however, conquering Star Systems to promote Trade is generally the goal.

• Having good Intel about your enemy is critical. Spies provide Intel. By cleverly using Diplomacy, Espionage, and Propaganda, you can defeat your enemies without losing a single starship.

• Your Corporate Command Structure Depends on 3 Ministries. Infiltration of your Ministries by Enemy Spies can destroy your command interface, causing you to lose valuable maps and screens.



I. How to play the first 3 turns

Until you purchase Starship Tech 1, you will be unable to hyperwarp to distant systems.
Using your lowly Tech 0 Hyperwarp, send fleets to colonize all the planets in your home system.
You can only Ion-Drive to inhabited planets, possibly hours away in real-time.


Stardate 1:  [LOCATE]  This is your planet control screen. Build ships on your home planet. Wait for Turn to End.

The Locate Screen





Stardate 2: Ships are built, click [LOCATE] to get to your planet, then [DEPLOY] each fleet to your local system. [Hyperwarp] to Explore all of the systems' planets by clicking on the System (not the planets). Wait for Turn to End.

The Deploy and Maps Screens





Stardate 3: Now that your fleets' missions are active, your [MAIN] screen will display the current Mission for each fleet. Click the [MAIN] tab , then click on a Fleet Mission to control the fleet. 


The Main Screen and Fleet Controls



Stardate 4 and beyond: As the game progresses you will find the hazards of hyperwarp to be too risky. Instead, use Ion-drive. Ion-Drive works the same as hyperwarp, with the only difference being you select the planet you wish to target rather than the system. On the Maps screen, Select [Known Galaxy] to see all inhabited planets, or [Exploration] to view each empire. Then click on the destination planet, paying attention to the distance displayed as Lightyears at the bottom of the screen. 4 lightyears will be at least 12 minutes in real-time in a 3:00 minute per turn game.





II. Planet Development

Planet conditions are what determine the overall situation on the planet. The lower the percentage, the greater chance of rebellion. If you do not make efforts to appease your populous with economic development, they will align with your enemies and destroy you.

Each empire's treasury is measured in Credits. You can go into debt if you like, or play it conservative and always save some credits for an emergency. Negative credits is not necessarily a bad thing, if for example, you just shipped 200 populous to a planet with diamond mines and you anticipate their profits to exceed your current expense. This does involve you taking control of your economy Manually, and turning off the AutoBuild from time to time to maximize profits.  If you do this, you must remember to restore the AutoBuild at some point or things could go downhill fast as population growth and needs outstretch your forgotten, ailing budget.

Primary Contracts  - Take One Year To Build
 


Investment Contracts  - Immediately ready for use when purchased



Military Contracts - Take One Year to build






 III. Empire Development

The Galactic Utopia Empire Portfolio



Each planet is its own self-contained economy. There are many strategies for how to maximize production. Moving population to industrial and mining centers is highly effective. This, combined with increased technology, maximizes profits within a star system, allowing you to build enough ships to defend your empire. You will need to continually invest-in and develop highly profitable planets to survive, while balancing your resources of offense, defense, and development against your enemies' inevitable attempts to destroy your empire.

To help manage your empire quickly, there is [Global Economy] option on the [MAIN] tab. Use the [Planet Build Mode] like a 'panic button' to quickly restore all your planet's budgets to AutoBuild when things get out of control, or to clear all your military contracts to pull yourself out of debt. You can also set the Development Priority of your contracts on the same screen. Contracts are purchased in two passes for all planets - those with priority come first. If the entire contract that is requested can be bought, it will. Otherwise it will be skipped, moving on to the next planet and then the lower Development Priority as selected in the Global Economy tab.

Because the galaxy is randomly generated, There are scenarios in which you will need to balance your early expansion with an timely decapitating strike on a nearby target. The possibilities for startup scenarios are endless -- only the rules of the game remain the same.

Eventually a time will come when you no longer have enough landmass for your empire to continue its development, and you will have to seek out some new planets to prevent overcrowding. At first you may be able to annex some uninhabited part of the galaxy, but eventually you will find yourself at odds with another empire in competition for the same resources.

The great battles will be decided by the empire with the most firepower, but the war will be decided by the empire with the most sustainable economy. The decisions leading up to how you build your economy will eventually lead to your success or defeat on many battlefields, culminating in one final battle that ends with the victor taking all the spoils of war, and the victim being utterly defeated in a decisive nuclear attack.


Fleet Operations and Imperial Expansion







 IV. Advanced Strategy
Automation
Galactic Utopia supports running your empire Manually or Automatically.
AutoBuild - Takes care of forecasting the needs of each planet taking into account populous, technology, and climate.
AutoSend - Automatically deploys Ion-Drive. Useful for maintaining reinforcements, constant attacks, and establishing trade and population transfers between planets. Fleets are not re-deployed until the destination is reached.
AutoResearch - Purchasing Research centers silently upgrades technology at random for primary contracts, and notifies you when advanced new tech. for starship or defense is created.

What is not automated:
•Purchasing of Investment Contracts must be done manually.
•Any Planet that you change the AutoBuild to Manual- or Half- Build.
•Exploration, Colonization, and all Hyperwarp fleet operations must be controlled manually.
•Propaganda and Espionage must be deployed manually.


Hyperwarp Fleet Operations




Engaging Planets

There are some basic rules that govern combat in the Known Universe:
•All Starships have Firepower and Shields.
•All Defense units have only Firepower. Their firepower is added to the firepower of the ships, but they do not survive long in battle because of their lack of shields.
•Both shields and firepower are enhanced by Technology.
•Ships fire at the same time, shooting randomly at the four columns of other ships. If there are planetary defense units visible that attack wave, 20% of all shots are fired at the defense. For this reason defense may enhance the appearance of great firepower. This firepower will decrease faster in proportion to the amount of defense that makes it up.
•Battles can rage for many years, and can involve any number of different empires in the struggle.


Conquering Planets

There is still much to do once you have defeated the enemy's defenses. The Conquer Menu displays options for Bomb-types or Occupying the enemy planet.
•Occupy the planet if your fleet has troops and they outnumber the enemies' populous. Putting Boots on the ground is the only way to stamp out the last 1 populous and conquer the planet immediately.
•You must have more troops in your current fleet than the rebels that are already on the planet. If you don't, some of your troops will join the forces of the third party involved in the conflict. The rest will be slaughtered.
•If propaganda does reduce conditions to 1%, a rebellion can occur and hostile forces will appear on the planet, fighting in the name of the empire that spurned them into rebellion. The rebels may align with this player, giving that player control of the planet.
•Natural disasters can cause revolt as well, and the same thing can happen.
•If your insurgence fails or a more powerful force engulfs yours, you will have to send more ground forces and possibly larger fleets.


The Main Battle Computer

 
This feature is provided to decrease the repetitive action of deploying thousands of ships. The neural-net powered computer will calculate the most efficient means of destroying your enemy, reinforcing your attack fleets, or defending your planets.

•Max Fleets - Sometimes the computer will use them all, you can specify an amount to leave some fleets available.
•Max LightYears - Will launch to closest planets first.
•Mission Objective - Everything possible is listed here. Fleets are not sent randomly, but from a fixed order that remains constant. Only Mass-Deploy Espionage responds using the current Located Planet as first pick.
•Ship Types - Relative percentage of ships to send from each planet. Guarantees that something will be sent even from small planets. Minimum is 10 ships/type , so planets are not abandoned.
•Planet Reinforce- From any Plant Command Menu you can request [Reinforce]ments to be sent to the currently Located Planet.

Successful firing solutions will respond with the number of fleets and ships that were deployed. As with any commands in the Battle Computer, if your first request doesn't succeed, try again with less ships and/or more lightyears.


Deploying Espionage

Espionage gives you some powerful options to turn the tables on your enemy with cunning and deceit. You can only send 1 destroyer with each Espionage mission.
•Sending Espionage to your own planets enables transport of Cargo in secret.
•The Cargo Selection menu will appear on the Maps Screen after you deploy Espionage.
•The Maps/Espionage Screen will show all planets within scanner range of the currently Located Planet that have one of your spies providing intel.
•The first spy to infiltrate will do so in secret. Upon all other attempts the target player will be notified of who sent the spy.
•Targeting Hostile Planets with Espionage provides different results depending on how many spies exist on the target planet:
If there is a hostile spy already present, they will engage in a duel and one will randomly kill the other.
If this is the first spy, he will establish an uplink allowing additional agents to enter the planet in secret. Intel about that planets firepower and populous will be visible when sending fleets or viewing your Maps.
If this is the second spy, one of two things will occur:
1. If you have Cargo such as an Alien Weapon, it will be activated and destroy the hostile planet in a variety of ways.
2. Otherwise one of the hostile players' Ministries will be infiltrated, causing that player to lose valuable maps or screens.
In either case, the hostile player will receive notice that some very bad things have happened. The only recourse he/she has is to Purge Ministries of Spies, which can cost millions of credits.


Diplomacy



Temporary Alliances and Slave Empires can be created and manipulated using the Diplomacy interface.
•2 Diplomatic Actions can be performed per Stardate, directed toward any 2 or the same empire.
•You can request to receive payment from your alliance. The request will be send to all members.
•Likewise, you can send payment to your alliance. It will be divided among all members.
•You can send direct payment to aid Alien AI players to fight against your common foe(s).
•Alliances are formed Against a Hostile Empire, and for no other reason. So if you Declare War against a new foe, you will be automatically removed from your current alliance.


Technology & Trade

Technology is a universal force multiplier for all things in the Known Universe. Every 100 Stardates new Tech becomes available. At Stardate 100, x5 Tech can be purchased; x6 at Stardate 200, etc. There is no limit to technology ! - it goes on forever, and the rules of the game escalate in proportion, keeping everything in balance within all the game systems indefinitely.
•By selecting the most profitable minerals to invest in, Mining will produce more profit than anything else.
•Likewise, by investing in Tech on highly profitable planets with Industry, additional profits will be realized. Industry provides good to be traded, further increasing profits on planets with a Trade Union.
•Tech invested into Agriculture provides additional trade goods, multiplying the performance of Trade Unions. This is further multiplied by the number of Space Ports in a conquered system.
•Tech invested into Public Services yields cumultively profitable taxes on those services provided theres enough populous to use them.



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