Summary

More complex, better thought out code foundation allowing much more flexibility and scope. New methods of attack (crime, spying). Incorporates several of the most popular Version 3 addons in the standard code (fleet battles, wormholes, complex levels of alliances, "Ministers" to do empire-wide farm building etc, many more unique racial powers). Several thousand players worldwide, despite being in Beta. Many people don't like the interface. About 20 races. Up to 30 players. First Beta was released in 1999, Tim has been working part time on it since then. Several thousand games have been played.

Key rule changes

There can be up to 30 players in a game.
There is no limit to the number of ships (well, it's about 20,000). I have heard of battles with fleets consisting of hundreds of ships and other objects on each side.
There can be any mix of race types in a game.
There can be many players playing the same race.
Fuel and metals are made from neutronium ore by smelters.
Tech levels are universal, once a tech is reached all planets can use that tech level.
Spies are an important element of strategy.
Battles are now resolved with fleet combat, not one-on-one fights.
Economies have more elements to manage, but once set going more or less manage themselves.
Winning conditions are customisable and more specific.

Other differences

Every command you enter into version 4 can be reversed at any time before you send in your TRN.

Game setup

In the game you can bring up a races screen that will display WHO is playing and what race they are playing. That aspect of the game is open for all to see. Tim wants the players to have about the same level of knowledge as the host.

Many VGAP3 games do not finish with an outright victory because players lose interest in playing the losing side for many weeks running. Even the winners often prefer a swift, decisive victory to a long drawn out campaign. To make the game more playable, winning conditions are configurable and less nebulous (see notes on the optional scoring system). VGAP4 also introduces "spoils of war" to enable the winners to push forward without having to tediously assimilate an area - which should encourage more aggressive play and reward players who attack. Of course there are always some people tried to win by sitting on the fence for an entire game, but in VGAP4 there are more incentives to actually do something.

Maps

The default map will be the echo cluster map, but third party map compilers have been written and most games are on non standard maps. The map data is passed to the players in their RST files, so you never have to send map files out to the players.

Players can also BUILD planets out of asteroid belts with a "protomatter cannon" during the game. Asteroid belts are disintegrated planets, the states can be swapped by various weapons and technologies.

A third party scripting utility(ScriptZ0r) is normally used to create new universes. The starting scripts define the homeworld climates, tech levels, and starting units for each player. A DICE() function allows you to introduce randomness into the setup of each star / planet. You can create an immensely complex script if you wish, or you can say "for every group of (e.g.) 6 planets, create them according to the following semirandom rules, then repeat". I generally leave everything at default except the map, which allows me to generate a universe in minutes rather than hours.

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Exquisite uncertainty

Scanner reports are no longer as cut and dried."Unknown contact, of 300kt moving at 70 ly a turn 120 LY from your base on planet 123. . . . race unknown." To get a better look you will need to send a ship in closer to get an ID on the object.

Combat: One of the features about Version 3 was that battles were a bit predictable, and players could run simulations to maximise their chances of winning a space battle. "Hmm, if I send my torp ships in first to knock down their shields, I have a better chance of surviving, unless he disrupts the order by intercepting ship X..." - This favours careful players, which is a Good Thing, but some people were a bit obsessive about it. (Like me!)

Then along came "The Killing Floor" addon, allowing fleet battles for Version 3, instead of sequential one-on-one battles when fleets met. Suddenly, it became a lot more difficult to predict what an outcome would be. TKF introduced several new variables: a fleet of small ships could take out one large one, could concentrate on (say) taking out enemy fighters to shield your big carrier, could barge in on a suicide run... suddenly it could take several hours to sim important battles, which is Sad, and rather handicaps inexperienced players who don't understand all the variables. Unfortunately, there were a maximum of 500 ships in a Version 3 game, which meant that you might easily be risking half your ships in a big fleet battle, so massive simulation sessions were the order of the day.

But now... we have VGAP Version 4. And its array of variables is awesome. Again, there's a third party simulation tool, though due to the variables being slightly randomised in each Host run, domino-effects make predictig the outcome of a big fleet battle where the sides are well balanced, potentially misleading.

I suspect that, for a long time after the introduction of Version 4, even the best players will have to plan fleet actions more by their gut feelings than calculation. More ships is obviously better. But high tech weapons are more vulnerable to being damaged and, being more expensive, mean you'll be fielding fewer ships overall... then again, the Nemesis Torpedo can take out a whole fleet of fighters small ships if they're clumped together... including your own...

Welcome back to an uncertain universe where even a newbie might think of a clever twist to scupper an enemy.

Combat options

• Variable numbers of ships (about 500 unique hull types so far), fighters (3 unique types for each of the 20 or so races)
• Ship hulls can be refitted by all races, so you cannot count on a ship having the same weaponry as it did last time you fought it
• Individual ships can be set to various modes: aggressive; flee; strike once then run; escort another ship; hang back; ram; fire at ground targets...
• Ships can attack in 2 waves, allowing throwaway units to soften up an enemy first
• Fleets can attack in a compact group from one direction, to take out a particular ship; or from several directions, to surround an enemy who might try to flee ("attack vectors")
  
• There are about 20 different types of torpedo, beam, point defense weaponry etc... all with different effectiveness vs each other and armour, shields, and old fashioned killing power
• Ships' armour is worn away in combat, but they can scavenge extra armour from the ships they destroy
• Most ships have soft spots where critical hits might do immense damage
• "High Guards" on board, make units more effective at fighting. HG need to be trained up.
  
• Ship devices such as the Siren HAARP, Boarding Laser, ECM Jammer and Glory Device can affect battle results
• (Expensive) "Exotic Techs" can boost all your ships, fighters or other Things in unusual ways. Improving the accuracy of weaponry, making things stealthier, enhancing shields. Thus nasty surprises for your foes.
• Weapons interact. Holo decoy defenses affect most weapons a little, but Photon Torps a lot. Sandcasters shoot down holo decoys and are best countered by Concussion Rockets. Etc...
  
• Fleets can have multiple waypoints during a turn. They could fight more than one battle in a turn. Try predicting the outcome of several fleet actions in a row...

Other differences between versions 3 and 4

The crucial difference between Versions 3 and 4, is that Version 4 does not process orders such as cargo transfers, structure building etc immediately (in planets.exe, the client program used by the player). Instead, Planets.exe in Version 4, sends orders to Host.exe in your TRN file and Host.exe does the actual movement of materials etc. This is partly to make the programs more cheat proof, but mainly because it allows you to give a ship, etc a queue of orders, which it processes when conditions are right.

It's worth pointing out to VGAP3 players that "Base" refers to a set of buildings your race has set up on the planet. Whereas in VGAP3 "Base" meant a big orbital thing and "Planet" meant the buildings, in VGAP4 they are combined into a ground based thing; and over the course of the game, your colonists will gather resources from the planet's surface, of which Food, Supplies, Natives and Contraband are particularly interesting. And just to confuse the issue, there is also a kind of starship called a Starbase, which is huge, has no engines and needs to be towed.

Ship command codes (distinct from Friendly Codes), help speed up micromanagement: for example BDF: Beam down fuel to a base (All but 60kt).

Friendly Codes in VGAP4 don't work quite the same. Firstly, they are usable only for traversing minefields. I.e, if your spies inform you that the enemy's Universal FC is "GRB" then you can set your ships' FC's to match and saunter through his minefields without a scratch. However unlike VGAP3, matching FC's will not stop enemy ships or bases fighting each other. You need to set "attack ships" etc off for that, or use the Alliance commands. Also, unlike VGAP3 you can't change your own Universal FC whenever you feel like it (as a precaution). It will change when it feels like it - usually about once every 6-20 turns. I've heard the interval increases as the game progresses.

Another crucial difference between Versions 3 and 4, is that Version 4 does not process orders such as cargo transfers, structure building etc immediately (in planets.exe, the client program used by the player). Instead, Planets.exe in Version 4, sends orders to Host.exe in your TRN file and Host.exe does the actual movement of materials etc. This is partly to make the programs more cheat proof, but mainly because it allows you to give a ship, etc a queue of orders, which it processes when conditions are right.

Version 4 incorporates a limited vision (Fog of War) effect - you can only see what's going on near you when you start. Scanners have a range of about 200 light years and you can't even see stars beyond that. So remember that the galaxy is bigger than you think. Hyperdrive races should shoot hyperprobes across the galaxy ASAP to see where pods are in the first few moves. Pods will be radiating out from homeworlds - very useful information to know later! Be sure to helpfully mark these homeworlds with message buoys so everyone knows.

The thing to bear in mind about capturing bases (using ground assault) is that you gain much more in Version 4. In Version 3 you captured mines and factories (and the planet's natives and minerals). In version 4, you gain a whole slew of structures on a captured planet... wouldn't it be nice to use the captured pod launch pad to transport the loot from a mineral strike to your homeworld? And imagine capturing, deep inside enemy empires: Fuel; Assault Plants, Fighter Plants, and Part Factories (for repair units), Engine Plants (to upgrade your battle fleet with new weaponry developed since they left home)... you no longer need to build a base and upgrade it to tech 10/10/10/10 to build ships inside enemy lines...

Version 4 incorporates a limited vision (Fog of War) effect - you can only see what's going on near you when you start. Ship scanners have a range of about 200 light years (varies with hull type, some races are more fortunate than others). So remember that the galaxy is bigger than you think. Hyperdrive races should shoot hyperprobes across the galaxy ASAP to see where pods are in the first few moves. Pods will be radiating out from homeworlds - very useful information to know later! Be sure to helpfully mark these homeworlds with message buoys so everyone knows.

Tax levels are set across your empire, not planet-by-planet, so there's no more need to fiddle with that to keep your population happy now. (Unlike VGAP3, there is no way to sabotage a planet you are about to lose by turning tax rate up to 100%.)

Further info:

• Strategy guide (some of the diplomacy ideas here also apply to VGAP3 games)
• Tim's VGAP4 site
• Klingon Kommand (lots of documents and even cartoons)