Improving the civilian shipping lines

[GhostOfGod (OP)]

I've been playing around with this game for a few days and one of the things that I noticed in the forums was utilizing civilian shipping in order to build up colonies without excessive micromanagement.  My problem seems to be that after 5-10 years and great deal of subsidies they still have 0 ships and don't seem to do very much.  So is there anything specific I can do to get these guys going? I've got 2 colonies that I've built up a little bit myself so that trade could be encouraged, but it didn't seem to do very much.

[Panopticon]

It's pretty random I've noticed, sometimes the civilians kick things off really fast, other times they don't do anything. Stuff that helps includes subsidizing the lines, making sure you have reasonably cheap cargo and colony ship designs available(as in, not marked obsolete), and setting up colonies, either on fully habitable worlds or with infrastructure to support civs, you might have to move a few of your own first. It seems that the more population sources you have the better your chances are.

One other thing you could try is SMing in another civ line or two.

[Thiosk]

making sure you have reasonably cheap cargo and colony ship designs available(as in, not marked obsolete)

This is a big one.  Post your freighter and colony ship designs.

[GhostOfGod (OP)]

setting up colonies, either on fully habitable worlds or with infrastructure to support civs, you might have to move a few of your own first.  It seems that the more population sources you have the better your chances are. 

My Mars colony has ~100k population from my 2 colony ship drop offs, infrastructure to support 10x that at the moment.  I'll try adding more to that manually until my citizens decide to start working. 

These are the freighter and colony ships I've got designed.  I thought they were pretty standard, but should I go smaller?

Code: [Select]

Pilum class Freighter    28,550 tons     108 Crew     264.4 BP      TCS 571  TH 300  EM 0
525 km/s     Armour 1-83     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
MSP 0    AFR 5710%    IFR 79.3%    Max Repair 38 MSP
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10   

Commercial Ion Engine (2)    Power 150    Fuel Use 9%    Signature 150    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 35.0 billion km   (771 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes


Code: [Select]

Caesar class Colony Ship    14,600 tons     118 Crew     656.4 BP      TCS 292  TH 150  EM 0
513 km/s     Armour 1-53     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 28    Max Repair 38 MSP
Colonists 50000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10   

Commercial Ion Engine (1)    Power 150    Fuel Use 9%    Signature 150    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 68.4 billion km   (1543 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes


[Panopticon]

Nothing wrong with your designs that would prevent civs from building them that I can see, assuming you have not marked them obsolete, I think you may just be the victim of the RNG for this one, they'll get going eventually.

[Thiosk]

Yesterday, I thought I'd read that you subsidized them.  Have you found the civilian shipping tab?  Give them a few thousand buckazoids (thats the official currency of the aurora universe) and maybe they'll buy a ship.  Those ships should be purchasable by their starting currency, though...

If no civ lines exist yet because of the RNG, you can use SM mode to add one from the same screen.

[GhostOfGod (OP)]

Yesterday, I thought I'd read that you subsidized them.   Have you found the civilian shipping tab?  Give them a few thousand buckazoids (thats the official currency of the aurora universe) and maybe they'll buy a ship.   Those ships should be purchasable by their starting currency, though. . .

If no civ lines exist yet because of the RNG, you can use SM mode to add one from the same screen.

I have subsidized them and know about the civilian shipping tab.  Seems like Panopticon is right in this case, just took them another 18 months after I started the colony to get up and running.  Thanks for the advice though.

[randal7]

These are the freighter and colony ships I've got designed.  I thought they were pretty standard, but should I go smaller?

I know this is not what you're asking, but if you up the colony ship to 100,000 people and add an engine, a shipyard tooled to build your colony ship can also build your cargo ship (saving the need to build an extra shipyard).

[GhostOfGod (OP)]

I know this is not what you're asking, but if you up the colony ship to 100,000 people and add an engine, a shipyard tooled to build your colony ship can also build your cargo ship (saving the need to build an extra shipyard).

Wait really? I thought I had noticed that shipyards I had retooled for my Mk I and Mk II survey vessels (just added a jump drive and another engine) could build both of them, but I really didn't know why.  From what you said I'm guessing that there is a level of similarity between the two classes that must be achieved in order to build two designs at one shipyard.  Think you could be so kind as to elaborate more on the similarity requirements?

On a side note should I ask questions about ship design in the Academy or in The Bureau of Ship Design?

[metalax]

To be specific, if the cost to refit to a design from the design tooled at the yard is 20% or less than the total cost of the design tooled at the yard, then that design can also be built there.

[xeryon]

In this case the cargo holds and cryo chambers are large modules but are relatively low BP parts.  Engines make up the lion's share of the BP in the design so if you spec the two ships out to be similarly sized and equipped with the shipyard tooled to build the higher cost ship (colony ship) it is able to also build the lower cost ship (cargo)

[Steven Kodaly]

My problem seems to be that after 5-10 years and great deal of subsidies they still have 0 ships and don't seem to do very much.   So is there anything specific I can do to get these guys going?

What time increments have you been using - have you been advancing in thirty-day blocks, or taking more leisurely single and five-day increments?  I've found that the latter allows the program to perform more checks for civilian activity.

[Garfunkel]

Exactly. Click "auto-turns" on and then click 1-Day increment. Leaders gain skills and civs build-up much faster than with the 30-Day increments. But I have two laptops, one solely for Aurora while I use other one for studying/gaming so my preference might not suit your needs.

[sonofliberty]

Where is the civilian shipping tab?

NVM, found it.