Revision History of the "How To Play
Guide" (now "Strategy Guide" or "Klingon Battle
Manual")
3.7.99 - Version 1.00 - Paul Honigmann - based on
VGAP4
Beta test games
4.7.99 - Version 1.01 - PH - minor tweaks
following further
simulations, advice on Racial Special Structures from Tim, and addition
of autopilot / reserve level techniques in turns 16+.
4.7.99 - Version 1.02 - PH - improved tips on use
of
pods, and which ships to build.
10.7.99 - Version 1.03 - PH - notes on longer
term strategy
added
14.7.99 - Version 1.04 - PH - some corrections;
and advice
from Mike King / Jeremy Papp on ship devices and colonising with pods.
21.7.99 - Version 1.05 - PH - some refinements;
section
on known bugs added.
23.7.99 - Version 1.06 - PH - Sidewinder's advice
on
how to colonise with pods, avoiding the unloading bugs, added.
23.7.99 - Version 1.07 - PH - Notes on farms and
how
to move ships added.
23.7.99 - Versions 1.08, 1.09 - PH - numerous
tips of
Gray Stanton's added.
6.8.99 - v1.10 - PH - refinements added re: pods,
farms,
which tech levels to buy.
21.8.99 - v1.11 - PH - miscellaneous tips added
from
the mailing list and my own experiences in actual games. The recent
Update
10 patched many bugs, reflected in the changes to this document.
26.8.99 - v1.12 - PH - Tips from Daniel Hobi on
gathering
food on colony worlds; Gray Stanton's advice on how to lay mines;
changes
added to reflect bug fixes in newly-released Update 11.
22.9.99 - v1.13 - PH - graphics updated and new
ones
added. Ideas on Assault Pods added after reading Bruce Riley's comments
on the mailing list. The latest Host release resulted in big changes to
the growth of planetary economies because items are now gathered
properly
from the surface of planet, which had marked effects on suggested
strategy.
18.10.99 - v1.14 - PH - major rewrite following
the debugging
& introduction of Contraband, and Gathering of Supplies From
Planetary
Surfaces, which accelerated economic development by about a factor of
4.
And, extensive playtesting revealed that many of my assumptions about
e.g.
fighter wings were wrong!
14.11.99 - v1.15 - PH - lots more corrections due
to
Real Life Experience contradicting what looked reasonable before. I am
now on turn 27 of a test game, which has taught me a lot. This document
is getting rather self-contradictory in places because I don't have
time
to search through for discrepancies when I add new information.
28.11.99 - v1.16 - PH - this version - tidied up
the
Pod advice. Added many refinements from experience and the mailing
list.How
to recover from file corruption. Minelaying section rationalised and
expanded.
14.12.99 - v 1.17 - PH - added some info from
Angela
Bell re: pods and tax rates, and more comparisons of progress from
players.
Added a hyperlinked index to the beginning of the document as it's
getting
big. Added lots of tips from our test game.
12.1.00 - v 1.18 - PH - extensive corrections
from SideWinder,
Oliver Voigt especially re: pods. New info on Borg as the Borg race
pack
became available. Borg tips from Chris Olin, John Nunn, et alia
incorporated.
Useful Contraband tip (Feds don't generate any new stuff). Major
changes
to Contraband as Tim fixes bugs: Beta testers discovered that whilst it
was a minor source of income in a 4 player game, it was by far the
major
source in 12 player games, ie, the price varied too much with
population
(by many orders of magnitude). This made games with few players
completely
different to many-player games. They are now the same. Tech level costs
added (Martin Pedersen). As you don't get a Government Centre on turn 1
as standard, lots of Things To Do have been shifted along by one turn.
14.1.00 - v 1.19 - PH - Some additional basic
info added
like, exactly how to do basic functions, because VGAP3 players find it
difficult to start playing the game as the Help files are getting out
of
date. ("I tried to use your
"How to Play" guide, but got nowhere... I think the problems
lies with your familiarity with the product. You know it too well, so
everything
you write makes sense to you.") New graphics added.
Borg section greatly expanded. Tweaks to match another set of user
interface
improvements.
8.2.00 - v 1.20 - PH - added extensive extra Borg
tips.
Went through the first few moves in detail, to correct errors and
conflicting
advice which has accumulated as the Beta releases evolved. Added
various
tips and tricks throughout, especially with regard to the Borg (thanks
to Tim for many clarifications, Sidewinder and Gray and Chris Olin for
advice). Added a section on Fighter Wings. (Removed in later revisions.)
March 2000 - v 1.21 - PH - added heaps of info on
Wings,
How To Play Borg [now I and others have actually run them up to turn 20
and Tim has answered interminable questions], refined pod strategies in
light of experience. Lots of Fed Analysis added from Jon Nunn
essentially
verbatim, because it is also so illustrative of how combat works. Pod
section
rewritten in a more condensed, digestible form. Section on How To Speed
Up Gameplay added. Basic details on how to fly your ships around added
by request.
April 2000 - v 1.22 - PH - Added sections on
Stormers,
Peeps, (later moved to separate pages as they grew) and Superweapons.
Links
to Starbase Gamma and The Twilight Zone added in Races section. (These
links removed in revision 31 as those websites either disappeared or
went
stale.)
May 2000 - v 1.23 - PH - Moved the sections on
other
races to a separate set of pages to
enhance
readability. Edited in a large number of minor corrections, tips and
new
info which has come to light over the last 2 months via the Mailing
List,
Tim Wisseman, Host changes, and Beta testing. Completely rewrote the
sections
on Wings. Added a section on cloaking and decloaking. Added links to
new
websites on similar themes which have appeared.
June 2000 - v 1.24 - PH - updated and corrected
to keep
in line with new Host features and bug fixes.Sections on Host Tips and
Tax Rates altered. Engine tech costs checked and added.
July 2000 - v 1.25 - PH - miscellaneous minor
strategy
tips added
October 2000 - v 1.26 - PH - many miscellaneous
tips
added. Host changes required more changes. Size increased above 200kB,
so some sections split off into new pages like scoring.Wing
information moved to the combat tips page.
May 2001 - v 2.0 - PH - major rewrite to reflect
new
Host changes, the introduction of Exotic Tech and Ministers etc.
NuQonos
site has been retired so links to it have been removed. New info on
playing
the Contraband market, Happiness, Ministers, Exotic Techs, speeding up
gameplay, maximising income added. Comments from
Doug Laidlaw, Gray Stanton incorporated.
September 2001 - v 2.1 - PH
- Host
changes re: gathering mean colonisation strategies have to change. Some
new command codes have been introduced, and minefields work differently
these days.
April 2002 - v. 2.2 - PH -
Host
changes mean Contraband and Food now work differently, this has a major
impact on the game. General updating to bring up to date with the last
7 months' worth of Host changes. Comments from Kyle Duffield, Admiral
Quixote,
Rob Herring worked in.
April 2002 - v.2.3 - PH - added some very basic
tips
from Henry Leroy about how to get started.
September 2002 - v 2.4 -
added
"Chivalry" section with tips from real military history. Explained
the new Contraband rules. Added diatribe against supine players a.k.a.
"easy prey". Added tips on how to get lots of troops and HG.
January 2004 -
Version 3.0 - Complete rewrite, it took months. Loads of old
stale stuff
pruned out. Size slashed. Whole thing restructured to be more logical
and
readable. Hosting sections moved to a new page. Also stripped out: the
very basic stuff about how to play, because this is now explained
better
by Olly Harlow and Admiral Quixotes' guides. Emphasis of the guide
changed
to a higher level strategy guide. Name changed from "A beginner's
Guide to VGAP4" to "Klingon Battle Manual".
May
2004 - Revison
31 - Introduced the "Diplomacy" section. Minor updates following
feedback from Jon Nunn and Thriyon
April 2005 - revision 3.2 - Having
read some new books on power and strategy, added long section on
psychology and Machiavellian manipulation. Added more "rules of thumb",
and a section on Crime. Altered the Blitzkreig versus Steady Progress
table (section 3). Added "7 deadly sins" (etiquette section).
April 2006 - revision 3.2 (forgot to update rev no) - iscellaneous updates to facts, but mainly a new "look and feel" involving a conversion to CSS-based theme for consistency with other pages on the site..
Feb 2008 - revision 3.3 - Minor tweaks. General re-edit to improve look (inconsistent font sizes etc) and adding knowledge acquired over last 2 years.