Utopia

           A selection of general hints and tips

Rome Wasn't Built In a Day...

Some of the information available on the Adviser Information
Panels is not updated until the beginning of a new month. Get into
the habit of looking at one or more of the advisers on the second
of each month. It's particularly useful to view the Psychiatrist
(F1) and Administrator (F2) reports and determine your priorities
for the month ahead.

Keep a good spread of Flux Pods throughout your colony so that you
can build freely. In particular, build Flux Pods around the edge
of your colony allowing you to quickly expand outwards.

With a high population, several Hospitals have a greater effect
upon Quality of Life than just one.

Money's Too Tight To Mention

Put Income Tax straight up to twenty percent at the start of the
game, and lower it a few percent at a time as you build up your
money. Once you're rich, remember to reduce tax to zero percent to
make your populace really happy!

If you're short of money, build lots of Workshops and Stores, and
regularly sell the Tech Goods you produce. The same can be done
with Chemical Plants and Fuel Tanks.

Invest in Scientific Research early, by building Laboratories and
recruiting Scientists, and make sure you maintain adequate
Research Grants via the Finance Screen.  Obtaining inventions
takes time, so don't waste it.

When putting money into Research Grants, it's best to increase the
Military and Civilian Grants by equal amounts.


Strike It Lucky

To easily stake out the location of an Ore deposit, enter the Map
Screen and position one or more markers over a patch of Ore.  Then
Exit to the main game screen and simply build a mine over the
markers that you see. Easy, eh?  The same process works for fuel
deposits, of course.

If possible, avoid building Power Stations since they severely
affect Quality of Life by producing hazardous waste products.
Instead, try to build lots of Solar Panels. You'll have to build
lots of Flux Pods too, to store power during Solar Eclipses.
Another advantage is that when a Solar Panel is destroyed by the
enemy, you only lose two megawatts of power generation rather than
fifty megawatts of power generation if your power station is hit.

Oh! What a Lovely War

Once you're at war with alien opposition, construct one or more
backup Command Centres. You're severely hampered if your one and
only Command Centre is destroyed. Don't forget these are critical
to the security of your colony and are a primary target for an
alien invasion force. Several important functions are unobtainable
without an active Command Centre.

When sending tanks and spaceships to attack the alien city,
remember that large groups have a greater effect than sending just
one or two tanks at a time. For the best results, amass tanks and
ships on the edge of the map and then send them all off together.

Another good idea is to build one or more Tank Yards near the edge
of the map, so that you can send the tanks immediately to the
enemy city.

As soon as they've actually been invented, don't forget to drop
Land Mines in front of enemy vehicles as they approach your
colony.

Learn the directions the aliens attack from and put extra defences
in those sectors. Where terrain permits, seal off 'valleys' with a
row of Laser Turrets or Land Mines, so that enemy land vehicles
cannot pass.

If you have a power shortage and are under attack, build Missile
Launchers instead of Laser Turrets, since the latter require a lot
more power to operate.

That's The Way To Do It

At the start of the game build a Hospital and increase the Birth
Rate to High, so that your population increases quickly. This
gives you more colonists available for construction and industry.
Once you're happy with your population size, reduce the Birth Rate
back to Medium, else you will be forever building new Living
Quarters and Hydroponics.

Use the quick way of placing markers, using keys 1-8 as described
on page twenty in the manual.


Regularly check your Intelligence Grant by assessing the Spy
Report screens every few months, even if you haven't received any
reports. It's best to keep your level of spying to at least
normal.

To get extremely large radar coverage, construct Flux Pods in all
directions, building each Pod about ten spaces out from the last,
so that you end up with a grid of Flux Pods ten squares apart.
Then build a radar by every Flux Pod. Your radar should now cover
almost the entire map!

If the colonists realise you don't give a toss about them you'd
better throw in a Security HQ and recruit more security personnel.

Tanks a Lot

Build Tank Construction Yards around the perimeter of your colony
so that tanks are ready to engage the enemy from whatever
direction they choose to attack.

When the space around the Tank Yard is full of tanks, move some of
them to unprotected parts of your colony to act as sentries.
Ideally you should have small groups of tanks everywhere so that
there is no weak point for the enemy to use.

Be careful of tanks getting into trouble moving around
obstructions.

Maintain 'highways' of at least two spaces wide throughout your
colony so that tanks can move about without restrictions.









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