NPR inactivity

[Arcanestomper (OP)]

I've played Aurora every so often, but I never got very far.    This time I've seen quite a few things that I have never seen before.    So I have a few questions.   

1.    Do NPRs just go dormant for some reason.    I ran into one in a system right next to Sol.    And it has no ships, not colonies, not even shipyards.    Just one ground force signature trailing along behind it in orbit for some reason.    I would have thought that after a year or two of contact I would have seen some sign of activity.    But so far nothing.   

Not that I'm complaining, because I have other problems.   

2.    Which brings up my next question.    How exactly do sensors work for ships which are below the resolution of my scanners.    Because I was scouting out a system and all of a sudden a huge wave of 750 ton FACs popped up right on top of my scout and blew it to bits.    I mean I know sensors can't see smaller ships as well as they can ones that match their resolution, but to have no warning at all felt a little weird.   

Here are the sensors that were on that scout.   
Thermal Sensor TH6-36 (1)     Sensitivity 36     Detect Signature 1000: 36m km
Active Search Sensor MR77-R80 (1)     GPS 11520     Range 77.   3m km     Resolution 80
EM Detection Sensor EM6-36 (1)     Sensitivity 36     Detect Strength 1000: 36m km

3.    Can I park something in a black hole system and not have it get dragged in somehow.    I would like to park some defenses or a waystation in there, but that won't work if it's just going to get sucked into the event horizon.   

All three situations are one jump a way from my home system.    So I have a lot more going on than I expected.   

Edit: I thought of a few more things. 

4.   How tough are FACs to kill generally.   I've designed this destroyer to kill them and plan to build 12-16 of them to take on about 50 of the 750 ton FACs.   Is that sufficient? I've seen the FACs go a bit above 9000 km/s for reference on the to hit chances.

Code: [Select]

M-DD FAC-Killer class Missile Destroyer    8 200 tons     160 Crew     1180.12 BP      TCS 164  TH 768  EM 0
4682 km/s     Armour 3-36     Shields 0-0     Sensors 6/6/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 16
Maint Life 2.33 Years     MSP 360    AFR 134%    IFR 1.9%    1YR 90    5YR 1354    Max Repair 105 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 5    
Magazine 367    

192 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 192    Fuel Use 99.38%    Signature 192    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 850 000 Litres    Range 40.9 billion km   (100 days at full power)

CIWS-80 (1x4)    Range 1000 km     TS: 8000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Size 4 Missile Launcher (4)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 60
AFa-1 Missile Fire Control FC29-R15 (1)     Range 29.3m km    Resolution 15
AFM-1 Meteor Anti-FAC Missile (91)  Speed: 14 900 km/s   End: 31.8m    Range: 28.5m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 124/74/37

Active Search Sensor MR24-R15 (1)     GPS 1575     Range 24.4m km    Resolution 15
Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  6m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-6 (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  6m km

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
5.   Are civilian shipping lines smart enough to not send their ships into a black hole system.   Most of their freighters are too slow to survive.   So I don't want them suiciding like lemmings if I build a colony in a system on the far side of the black hole. 

[83athom]

1. That means there is a Troop on the surface, they are somewhere else (Or have been destroyed).
2. They find smaller ships at a reduced range. Since 750 tons is very small, it wont appear till it is very close. Sensor Help
3. Set it to move at something (waypoint/JP) at the speed of the black holes level (Level * 1000).
4. FACs are light craft, so they are very weak. Just have lots of dakka. Long engagements will also take them down, but be wary of their support as it would usually take a carrier/base to house them.
5. They should be. However I have not encountered this. They might wait until they can build ships that can.

[Arcanestomper (OP)]

1.  What about the NPR just not doing anything? It has an EM and thermal signature about a third the size of my homeworld, so I know there is something there.  But nothing seems to be happening other than my diplomacy team steadily working at making friends.

2.  I have looked at that page.  But it doesn't seem to give an actual formula for determining how bad a sensor is at seeing things smaller than its intended resolution.  It's not really important since I now have a purpose built sensor for detecting those FACs, but I would like to be certain of just how myopic my other ships would be.

4.  I'm pretty sure I know where the carrier is.  There is a big sensor contact moving around the inner system near where the FACs were.  But it's slower than my ships.  So if I can't handle it I think I can just run away.  The FACs are too fast though.  So they're what I'll have to be prepared to fight.

6.  Another black hole question.  Can I lure an AI ship in to be crushed? And how do missiles work in a black hole system.  If it just subtracts the given speed from their speed, then I think they might get better hit chances.  But I don't know if it actually works like that. 

[GreatTuna]

1. It's probably pre-TN empire. They get nothing but some citizens and some (low-tech) ground forces.

4. Just keep the range as long as you can and fire away. FACs will go down easily, at least until fleet runs out of missiles.

6. Yes, if their ships are slow enough. I guess the missiles are slowed down the same way as ships, but I don't have the opportunity to check this.

[MarcAFK]

Let me take a crack at these:
From your first post:
1) It might be a precursor installation, they can spawn ruined cities, ground forces, ammo dumps etc, sometimes they're defended sometimes they aren't, or maybe it is an NPR but for whatever reason they're unable to make ships right now, maybe a mineral crash?
2) Sensors get severely myopic at tonnages below what they are set at, the sensor design screen gives you some idea of this where it tells you the range against 1kton, 500 ton, 250 ton, or 50 tons, you can see that you get something like a third the range against half the tonnage. In general it's a good idea to make small resolution sensors until you get large dedicated sensor ships designed for finding capital ships at extreme ranges.
Study this chart:
The elcheapo 60 hs sensor is close to the one you fielded, notice it has a max range of 60 million, but against a 750 ton FAC that range is reduced to a mere 3.5 million which is a 17th the range against a target a quarter the size , since your sensor is a higher resolution again I would estimate you would get maybe 70,000 km's range. Which isn't enough to even detect them before they can hit you, considering that the game runs in 5 second increments and the FAC's travel at 9000km/s they can travel 45,000 kms per increment and possibly you'll be within range of their beam weapons.
3) Black holes generate constant pull towards the center, 1,000 km/s per level. Ship speed is reduced by 1,000km/s per level so you can't have any stationary objects in a black hole system. I'm not sure what happens though if you try to park a ship with a high enough top speed at a waypoint.
4) Toughness of those FAC's will probably depend most on their speed and if they use any kind of point defence, if they're meson equipped and fast you might need to waste a lot of missiles to score a hit.
5) Civilians will not use jump engines, so as long as you don't add a gate that system is safe.
Your other post:
4) You might want to design some big passive sensors so you can spot carriers and other large capital ships from longer range without making your position obvious like active sensors do.
6) No idea about enemys in black holes.

[Paul M]

The formula for detection range versus target size is:

Detection_Range(Target_Size) = max_sensor_range*(Taget_Size/Sensor_Resolution)^2 if Target_Size < Sensor_Resolution

If Target_size >= Sensor_Resolution then Detection_Range = max_sensor_range

Using the example below:

MR77-R80 has:  max_sensor_range =  77.3 m km
                      Sensor_Resolution = 80

Target it 750 tonnes or Target_Size 15

Detection_Range(15) = 77.3 * (15/80)^2 = 2.7 m km

For fun if the inbound target was a "typical" anti-ship missile (size = 0.6):

Detection_Range(0.6) = 77.3 * (0.6/80)^2 = 4 348 km (you will never see the missiles that kill you)

Using the new DD MR24-R15

Detection_Range(0.6) = 24.4*(0.6/15)^2 = 39 040 km (you are very much unlikely to see the missiles which will destroy this ship, it is safe to assume that the missiles will move >50 000 km per 5 s turn)

FACs are going to take around 20 points of damage to destroy, depending on their armour belt and so on.  Also depends what you are using for a weapon.  Likely it will take 2-4 missiles to remove their armour belt (assuming they have 2 layers) then the next missile is likely to destroy them or at the least mission kill them.  Without an idea on the FAC it is harder to say, also take into account you have only a 1 in 3 chance to hit more or less so you need to fire 15 missiles to have a reasonable chance to destroy the FAC. 

It is a good idea to always have a resolutiion 1 sensor on any military ship.  Coupled with a reasonable passive detection system this gives you the best chance of knowing that you are targeted, and not just blowing up spontaneously.