interface / usage questions

[letsdance (OP)]

is there a way to change the order of available system locations in the "Task Groups" window? i hate that my capital is hidden somewhere in the middle.

is there a way to change the order of my colonies in the Populated Systems section of the Population and Production window?

is there a way to edit (delete) Hulls (in the "Hull" dropdown) in the Class Design window? i hate having dozens of hulls that i don't need.  i'd rather define the 5 i need myself and be able to select them quickly.

is there a way to automate geology team activities? it's annoying having to single pick every eligible system body, move ship, drop team and afterwards pickup team.  everything else seems to be automate-able in some way (which is great).

are there any hotkeys? (instead of using mouse to press certain buttons)

is there a way to let a task group perform an order (lets say "refuel from own tankers") at the current location, other than creating another task group at the same location by splitting off a ship, and using this TG as target location?

is there a way to make the game remember what checkboxes i have checked in the Task Groups window and use these settings the next time i open it?

is there a way to have my ships prepare for firing but not actually fire? currently, when my ships are closing in on the enemy and i have "Open Fire" selected, i get 5 secs increments and a long list of "out of range" messages every time.  but when i tell them to "Cease Fire" and wait til they are in range, they still need some rounds until they are ready to fire.

is there a way to move a ship to a system body (lets say an asteroid) from the System Map window? currently the only usable way i found is to make the asteroid a colony so i can find it more easily in the Task Force window, and abadon the colony afterwards.  it's only a real issue in the Sol system, but it's a big issue here.

[Barkhorn]

"are there any hotkeys? (instead of using mouse to press certain buttons)"
All the menus can be opened with hotkeys.  I don't know them but they're listed in that little horizontal menu when you first open Aurora.

"is there a way to automate geology team activities? it's annoying having to single pick every eligible system body, move ship, drop team and afterwards pickup team.  everything else seems to be automate-able in some way (which is great)."
No.  Geology teams aren't really worth sending everywhere.  I check every planet, and for other bodies I only check ones that either already have lots of minerals or have low/no colony cost.

I have an interface question though too.
My task group list is getting pretty long and cluttered, mostly with freighters ferrying minerals from my outer systems to my inner systems.  Is there a way to hide task groups that I don't want to see?

[NihilRex]

is there a way to let a task group perform an order (lets say "refuel from own tankers") at the current location, other than creating another task group at the same location by splitting off a ship, and using this TG as target location?

Equalize fuel button on the F12 screen.

[Barkhorn]

Equalize fuel doesnt quite do the same thing.  If you have a tanker and a warship which for discussion purposes both can hold 100,000 liters of fuel, the tanker is at 75,000 fuel and the warship is at 25,000 fuel, equalize fuel will set both ships to 50,000 liters.  Splitting the task group and setting a refuel from target tankers order will leave the tanker empty and the warship full.

[alex_brunius]

Equalize fuel doesnt quite do the same thing.  If you have a tanker and a warship which for discussion purposes both can hold 100,000 liters of fuel, the tanker is at 75,000 fuel and the warship is at 25,000 fuel, equalize fuel will set both ships to 50,000 liters.  Splitting the task group and setting a refuel from target tankers order will leave the tanker empty and the warship full.

Why would you want a tanker that is empty and not able to return home?

Normally my tankers hold at least 10 time as much, so if my warship have 25/100k liters and my tanker 750/1000k liters the warship ends up with 71/100k liters after equalizing fuel which is more then enough, and the bigger tanker you have the bigger the difference.

[Triato]

About the combat question: There is no way to avoid the 5 sec increments if you do that, however you can follow the last target and press autofire. It only works in battles you know they can´t hurt you, just use autoturns and go get some coffee

[Barkhorn]

Why would you want a tanker that is empty and not able to return home?

Normally my tankers hold at least 10 time as much, so if my warship have 25/100k liters and my tanker 750/1000k liters the warship ends up with 71/100k liters after equalizing fuel which is more then enough, and the bigger tanker you have the bigger the difference.

If there's an emergency, what matters is the warship.  Sure the tanker will be stuck till a tug or another tanker can come help him, but the warship can get to where its needed right away.  With equalize, they could both end up stuck before reaching the objective.

[alex_brunius]

If there's an emergency, what matters is the warship.  Sure the tanker will be stuck till a tug or another tanker can come help him, but the warship can get to where its needed right away.  With equalize, they could both end up stuck before reaching the objective.

In the rare cases of an emergency I don't think spending another few min to manually transfer fuel is a problem.

In the vast majority of cases that is normal operation where I have plenty of fuel for both tankers and warships to make it home as planned and a bit extra to spare the equalized fuel button have worked just fine for me.

[letsdance (OP)]

the emphasis of my question was not equalize fuel (which was only one example), but to let my TG do something at the CURRENT LOCATION.   if i chased an enemy ship and then stopped, i cannot place a move to let them do anything at their current location.   or can i? other than splitting off a TG and using this as location?

[emchammer]

You could place a waypoint using the system view screen. If you click the TG itself and then the 'Last' button for waypoints it will place the waypoint on your current location. After that I'm pretty sure there is a refuel from own tankers command but I run with a separate tanker TG so I never use it and I'm not able to check in Aurora right now. Is that what your looking for?

[Hawkeye]

"are there any hotkeys? (instead of using mouse to press certain buttons)"
All the menus can be opened with hotkeys.  I don't know them but they're listed in that little horizontal menu when you first open Aurora.

"is there a way to automate geology team activities? it's annoying having to single pick every eligible system body, move ship, drop team and afterwards pickup team.  everything else seems to be automate-able in some way (which is great)."
No.  Geology teams aren't really worth sending everywhere.  I check every planet, and for other bodies I only check ones that either already have lots of minerals or have low/no colony cost.

I have an interface question though too.
My task group list is getting pretty long and cluttered, mostly with freighters ferrying minerals from my outer systems to my inner systems.  Is there a way to hide task groups that I don't want to see?

While you can´t make the list shorter, you can use Aurora´s sorting mechanic to your advantage.
Say, you have a couple of battle groups, some auxiliaries and then a huge number of non-essential TGs.

Name the battle groups something like this
Battlegroup 1
Battlegroup 2
Battlegroup 3
and so on.
This will put all the battle groups one after the other, so they are all together on the list.
Same for other TGs
Now put <Space> in front of the names
Personally, combat TGs will have 3 x <Space> in front of the name, so they are listed first, Auxiliaries have 2 x <Space> so they are next to the combat TGs and so on.

Hope this helps