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[darkrider2]

What about jump gates? I've come across one of those leading to a black hole.

lol, Precursor practical joke!

They must have a strange sense of humor then...

It's why communicating with them is and will always be impossible.

[Karlito]

The "precursors" you encounter are actually just robots that the real ancient aliens left behind when their galactic civilization collapsed or whatever.

[EuchreJack]

That pretty much sums up why I gave up playing with Real Stars: Nothing to fight, no habitable worlds, long stretches of boredom.

Oddly enough, I'm having the opposite problem. My Real Stars campaign (on hiatus) had a fair number of habitable worlds (2 completely habitable ones right off the bat, a few more under x2 colony cost, and a TON of x2 colony cost worlds), and 3 NPRs (not counting a robust Precursor presence and the Swarm).

My current nebula-start game has found a ton of nitrogen-oxygen worlds, but every single one of them is uninhabited. I finally got a hyper-scout built to go check out two binary systems where the companion is thousands of AUs out with no L-points. Even those were uninhabited. And minerals seem to be much scarcer than in a Real Stars game (could be the prominent lack of old M-class stars?). I've run into a couple of Precursor packs and there's at least two Swarm queens out there. But no NPRs.

I think you are right about the cause being the lack of old M-class stars.  I imagine the real reason that you're not finding much minerals is because you are in a nebula.  Nebulas generally only have small planets, tiny moons, and the occasional asteroid belt.  Remember that nebulas are infant systems: the whole reason the nebula exists is because many of the particles (and thus minerals) are part of the nebula cloud itself, and thus unavailable to be harvested.

Also luck.   

For NPRs, I've suggest "create system", then "create NPR empire" on a nice planet.  You'll always know about the system, but never know how the NPR is doing or when your main empire will find the system you created.

For fun, I created a "real stars" game where I deleted my starting Earth population, created an NPR empire on Earth, then created a new human empire in another system I created.  I'm still waiting to "reunite" with my Earth relatives.  I also gave my new empire lots of genetic low temperature techs, and I learned a fundamental lesson about genetics: it sucks.  After spending most of my starting points on genetics, I still can only create a race humans with a minimum temperature of -40 degrees Celcius.  Only another 200 degrees until they can live on an absolute zero world... 

[Micro102]

Ummmm, living on a zero kelvin world is impossible in sooooooooo many ways.

-40 degrees Celsius is impressive.

[EuchreJack]

Not really, -40 celsius is only a difference of  1-2 colony cost.  Useful, but hardly impressive.

...And I gave up all engine tech and most jump tech for this benefit.  I'm not even sure what puny weapons I have.  And I'm starting to run out of people to "remake".  Still, it's nice to have "frost humans".

[Micro102]

I meant from a biological point of view it's impressive. -40 degrees on a human....Either they have a seriously powerful metabolism, or they great fur all over the place.

Maybe it should have a bigger effect on colony cost.

[Felius]

I meant from a biological point of view it's impressive. -40 degrees on a human....Either they have a seriously powerful metabolism, or they great fur all over the place.

Maybe it should have a bigger effect on colony cost.

Remember that's surface temperature, which is an average of all surface. On the lower end of the range the population will all focus on the equator line of the planet.

[Flying Dice]

The "precursors" you encounter are actually just robots that the real ancient aliens left behind when their galactic civilization collapsed or whatever.

You mean when they ran facefirst into a few hundred thousand plasma torpedos. 


Though it has always mystified me how Steve apparently expects us to believe that a bunch of lazy bums with low-medium level tech in everything but electronic warfare would manage to spread across the whole damned galaxy without either kicking the bucket or progressing to the point where they transcended. I mean, I know that a lot (talk about understatements) of lazy science fiction (and historical fiction--I'm looking at you, Turtledove!) writers like to pull out the old "Humanity = Race of Innovators" bit and have every other group of sophonts be a back-asswards mess of stagnation, but still!

[darkrider2]

The "precursors" you encounter are actually just robots that the real ancient aliens left behind when their galactic civilization collapsed or whatever.

You mean when they ran facefirst into a few hundred thousand plasma torpedos. 


Though it has always mystified me how Steve apparently expects us to believe that a bunch of lazy bums with low-medium level tech in everything but electronic warfare would manage to spread across the whole damned galaxy without either kicking the bucket or progressing to the point where they transcended. I mean, I know that a lot (talk about understatements) of lazy science fiction (and historical fiction--I'm looking at you, Turtledove!) writers like to pull out the old "Humanity = Race of Innovators" bit and have every other group of sophonts be a back-asswards mess of stagnation, but still!

Star swarm or Galactic invaders killed em? I dunno.

I've witnessed the star swarm and precursors duke it out before and the swarm kicks their ass every time.

[Karlito]

The "precursors" you encounter are actually just robots that the real ancient aliens left behind when their galactic civilization collapsed or whatever.

You mean when they ran facefirst into a few hundred thousand plasma torpedos. 

I knew that was the supposed reason, but I really don't understand why the galaxy is still being invaded if there was already a successful conquest millennia ago.

[Sirus]

Because now there are a bunch of new targets to conquer.

EDIT: "conquest" was the wrong tense 

[LoSboccacc]

Because now there are a bunch of new targets to conquest.

We are hunting reserve

[Tarran]

At least until we've outteched and outgunned them. Then we're their leading suicide method.

[EuchreJack]

The whole Precursor-Invader thing always seemed to me like a Master of Orion 2 backstory knockoff.

Precursor = Orions (left behind a guardian robots to protect their stuff)

Invaders = Antarians (Complete with warping into the system!)

I also never worried too much about the tech level of the Precursors: It's safe to assume that the really good stuff was destroyed in their battle with the Invaders.  The Precursor machines we encounter are the equivalent of those Gunboats that everybody uses to keep their systems from complaining about a lack of protection.  Antiquated machines that are no longer fit for the front line.

[forsaken1111]

The whole Precursor-Invader thing always seemed to me like a Master of Orion 2 backstory knockoff.

Precursor = Orions (left behind a guardian robots to protect their stuff)

Invaders = Antarians (Complete with warping into the system!)

The concept is much older than MOO2...