Editing Races (section)

== Non-Player Races ==
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Non-player races (or "NPR" for short) are your computer controlled Empires. NPRs are randomly-generated races that can be discovered while exploring the galaxy. They are setup and have the same tools available to them as the player Empires.

Research strategies and ship design also procedural (i.e. random), meaning that no two NPRs will be the same.

NPRs will respect a zone of ten million kilometers around the capital planets of alien races who are [[diplomacy|non-hostile]] when they decide whether to investigate new non-hostile sensor contacts. Sometimes two NPRs will fight or do actions where you can not see them. This leads to turns getting cut short, possibly down to 5 seconds. Typically, these periods of shortened turns will only last a short while. See [[Game Slowdown]].

[[Diplomacy]] allows you to establish contact with newly-discovered races and try to eventually gain their trust, which can be highly beneficial to trade and research. Communication is not always possible, though; some aliens are just too alien.

=== Capabilities ===
'''''Note:''' This section was written for [[VB6]], {{unsure}} if it still applies in [[CSharp|C#]] (other than fuel use).''

Because NPRs don't manage their resources as well as a human player, they use different rules in regard to research, fuel and maintenance.

They start with the same research points as any player-race of the same population, plus a bonus based on time since game start. The formula for Players and NPRs is :

 Tech Years = Game Years + 20
 Research Points = Research Labs x TechYears x 300

* [[CSharp|C#]] NPRs can return home for fuel even after running out, and [[VB6]] NPRs don't use fuel at all. 
* They don't suffer maintenance failures
* They don't have to retool shipyards.
* Minerals from their mining colonies get magically transported home
* NPRs also do not use troop transports. ''(This point requires verification)''

Their mining colonies are created like human [[Civilian Mining Complex]]es, i.e. they can just appear instantly and without the need of freighters.

=== Creation ===
If you have the Generate New Empires as NPRs option set, any system can potentially contain alien life, based on the NPR generation rate you set during [[new game|the game setup]]. These randomly-generated races require roughly earth-like conditions to arise, though their racial tolerances can stray into relative extremes of gravity, temperature and including oxygen or methane breathers.

Additionally, you can always generate a new NPR later in the game, when you feel strong enough, using an option in the [[Interface|SpaceMaster menu]]. It will generate one NPR of TN Tech in a new system just like the NPRs you can generate at the beginning.