More questions but it is starting to make sense

[Steve Walmsley]

Where do the ships in task group go when I delete a task group they don't seem to show up anywhere in game?

If you delete a task group, you delete all the ships as well. When you pressed delete, you should have seen a confirmation popup that read: "Are you sure you want to delete this task group? All ships in the task group will also be deleted".

Steve

[Hyfrydle (OP)]

Hi Steve

Didn't get a pop-up but all ships have now gone. It's only a test game though so no harm done. I guess I'm learning from my mistakes

Also I all of a sudden can't build anymore ships the add task button in the shipyard screen is greyed out and I can't see any reason why.

[Andrew]

Hi Steve

Didn't get a pop-up but all ships have now gone. It's only a test game though so no harm done. I guess I'm learning from my mistakes

Also I all of a sudden can't build anymore ships the add task button in the shipyard screen is greyed out and I can't see any reason why.

That is a known bug, I beleive if you select a new option to expand the shipyard it will reset the screen and allow you to build the ship

[Steve Walmsley]

Hi Steve

Didn't get a pop-up but all ships have now gone. It's only a test game though so no harm done. I guess I'm learning from my mistakes

Also I all of a sudden can't build anymore ships the add task button in the shipyard screen is greyed out and I can't see any reason why.

It's an intermittent bug in the current version that is fixed for v5.1. Try selecting a different shipyard or a different construction option and then try again.

Steve

[Hyfrydle (OP)]

Tried everything I can think of but I can no longer build ships and the OOB is running low on points. I even restarted the game and this made no difference. Maybe it will sort itself out over time.

[sloanjh]

Where do the ships in task group go when I delete a task group they don't seem to show up anywhere in game?

You know that Star Trek episode where they beam the monster into deep space......?  

As far as I know, they are deleted from the database, the crews disintegrated into their constituent bits (and bytes).

John

[Hyfrydle (OP)]

Managed to get a colony up and running on Mars and now unrest is rising how do I prevent this problem? I'm building infrastructure but the pop is rising too quickly.

[UnLimiTeD]

stop shipping pop there?
Also, groud forces can reduce unrest.
Build a Troop transport, and get a garrison battalion over there.

[Hyfrydle (OP)]

I had a transport on auto and didn't realise I must keep an eye on things but there's lots going on.

[Bobarossa]

On the summary screen for your colony is a line titled "Requested Protection Level".  It is the amount of PPV (? Protection Value?) that your colony wants to feel safe.  There is an "Actual Protection Level" below the requested level that tells you how much is present.  In the summary view of your ship class designs will be a value for PPV.  It's on the right side of the second line.  I believe it is based on your ship's offensive capability.  

I think there is a minimum colony population that is needed before they start requesting protection.  Ground troops will keep people in line if the requested protection isn't present at the colony.

[Steve Walmsley]

On the summary screen for your colony is a line titled "Requested Protection Level".  It is the amount of PPV (? Protection Value?) that your colony wants to feel safe.  There is an "Actual Protection Level" below the requested level that tells you how much is present.  In the summary view of your ship class designs will be a value for PPV.  It's on the right side of the second line.  I believe it is based on your ship's offensive capability.  

I think there is a minimum colony population that is needed before they start requesting protection.  Ground troops will keep people in line if the requested protection isn't present at the colony.

The min pop level is ten million. Above that the colony demands protection and gets upset when you don't provide it. Any ship or PDC in the same system will be included in the actual protection level.

Steve

[Hyfrydle (OP)]

After playing for a few days I now have a good understanding of most of the concepts and I'm managing to explore and colonise new worlds and build and research basic ships. The main two areas where I feel lost are designing sensors and combat ships and weapons and this is pretty important especially if I meet hostiles.

Can anyone give me a simple explanation for how the various sensors work and also design guidelines or point me in the right direction to find this info I have done the tutorials and checked the wiki and still feel lost.

Also a guide to what systems need designing for the different weapon systems for example how do fire controls work for missiles?

One thought I had was that the academy thread on the forum could be better organised especially if it's designed for new players. It currently consists of numerous newbie threads asking there own questions maybe a better idea would to be have threads devoted to sections of the game and any newbie can then check or post in the relevant thread this would make finding information much easier.

The learning curve on Aurora is not related to the game it's related to the lack of information when starting out and trial and error is the only viable way to learn to play. This is ok for people who persevere and don't mind numerous false starts but this is not  the majority of people.

I am glad I kept trying and now can admit to been addicted. No other space 4X is this deep and the AAR's really bring to life the possibilities.

Well hopefully someone will help me with my issues so I can start getting a military force together to deal with the inevitable confrontation when I meet a hostile force out amongst the stars.

[The Shadow]

Thermal and EM sensors are fairly straightforward.  Thermal detects heat emissions, from ship engines and industry.  EM detects shields, active sensors, and also industry.  Basically, the bigger and more powerful the sensor, the further away it can see the same signal.  You can change the power of a sensor only by researching new technology, but you can change the size just by designing it to taken up more hull space.

Active sensors are a little more complicated.  You have to paint a ship with an active sensor to be able to fight it.  The catch here is that resolution is involved as well.  Basically, the higher the resolution of the sensor, the bigger its range... but any ship or missile under its resolution will have its detection range sharply curtailed.

To hit missiles, you have to use zero resolution, which means the active sensor range is quite short.

Is this helping so far?

[Hyfrydle (OP)]

Hi Shadow yes this is very helpful do all ships require active sensors?

[UnLimiTeD]

This should be explained here:
http://aurora.pentarch.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2446#p23984

The short version:

Yes, all ships require an activated active sensors to find targets, and NO, you don't need them on all ships in your fleet, they share them.


A common tactic is to have a "fleet scout" to provide multi-resolution sensor coverage for the entire fleet.
Backup sensors, especially R1 Actives on your Escort ships, do of course always help.