Rack of odd-ball questions...

[nessin (OP)]

I've recently discovered Aurora and I love it so far, although I'm still in full confused as hell mode.  However, thanks to the Tutorials and a heathly dose of experimentation I'm steadly (I think) getting more in tune without how to play the game.  My problem I'm looking at now is there are a few details still left over I've been unable to track down details for.

1) Is it normal to have Earth start with 0 Infrastructure and say it doesn't need any?

2) I've only reached a few months in of game time to so far in my experimentation, so it could just be lack of any data, but when I hit the Planetary Market button I never get anything (not even a blank window pop up).  Normal?

3) Is there any reason to always use maximum strength sensors?  For example, say you need to cover (and I haven't got the math down off the top of my head, so I'm pulling numbers out of a hat here) 200,000km of space for targeting with a weapon, which can be covered with say a S20-R1 Sensor.  If you can support S24 sensors, is there any reason to specifically pay the extra for S24 instead of S20?  I know its probably a stupid question, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything with something so important.

4) Is there a breakdown of what the buildings do?  Most everything else I've seen has a description (and these might as well, I'm just not seeing it) which I can build off of, but a few of the buildings aren't completely self-explanatory as to their full affect (like a factory is).  Mainly I'm mixed up on the Financial Center, Military Academy, and Mass Driver.  I have a vague understanding that the Mass Driver allows me to send minerals from the current planet to another, right?  Is that all?  And the Military Academy is for training ship crews I believe.  I have no idea about the Financial Center other than guesses derived from its name.

Edit: I'm a numb nuts who can't read.  Saw the Installation sticky in this very forum shortly after I posted this.

5) Finally, (I think) the Tutorial game file that was there when I first started the game up had a PDC as follows:

Code: [Select]

Resolution class Planetary Defence Centre 38700 tons     88 Crew     437 BP      TCS 774  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 5-101     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control 1     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 3305%    IFR: 45.9%    Maintenance Capacity 0 MSP
Troop Capacity: 15 Battalions    

Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 0.0 billion km   (0 days at full power)
This ship is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre

What is the point of that?  Is it just to act as a bunker, shielding from orbital attacks, for 15 Battalions if they're loaded into it?

[Kurt]

I've recently discovered Aurora and I love it so far, although I'm still in full confused as hell mode.  However, thanks to the Tutorials and a heathly dose of experimentation I'm steadly (I think) getting more in tune without how to play the game.  My problem I'm looking at now is there are a few details still left over I've been unable to track down details for.

1) Is it normal to have Earth start with 0 Infrastructure and say it doesn't need any?

2) I've only reached a few months in of game time to so far in my experimentation, so it could just be lack of any data, but when I hit the Planetary Market button I never get anything (not even a blank window pop up).  Normal?

3) Is there any reason to always use maximum strength sensors?  For example, say you need to cover (and I haven't got the math down off the top of my head, so I'm pulling numbers out of a hat here) 200,000km of space for targeting with a weapon, which can be covered with say a S20-R1 Sensor.  If you can support S24 sensors, is there any reason to specifically pay the extra for S24 instead of S20?  I know its probably a stupid question, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything with something so important.

4) Is there a breakdown of what the buildings do?  Most everything else I've seen has a description (and these might as well, I'm just not seeing it) which I can build off of, but a few of the buildings aren't completely self-explanatory as to their full affect (like a factory is).  Mainly I'm mixed up on the Financial Center, Military Academy, and Mass Driver.  I have a vague understanding that the Mass Driver allows me to send minerals from the current planet to another, right?  Is that all?  And the Military Academy is for training ship crews I believe.  I have no idea about the Financial Center other than guesses derived from its name.

5) Finally, (I think) the Tutorial game file that was there when I first started the game up had a PDC as follows:

Code: [Select]

Resolution class Planetary Defence Centre 38700 tons     88 Crew     437 BP      TCS 774  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 5-101     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control 1     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 3305%    IFR: 45.9%    Maintenance Capacity 0 MSP
Troop Capacity: 15 Battalions    

Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 0.0 billion km   (0 days at full power)
This ship is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre

What is the point of that?  Is it just to act as a bunker, shielding from orbital attacks, for 15 Battalions if they're loaded into it?

In order:

1.  Yes it is normal, and there is no problem with that.  Infrastructure is only needed on planets that have a colony cost of > 0.0.  Earth is a 0.0 world, at least for your race, so it doesn't need infrastructure to make it livable.  Look on the system display screen and you will see worlds (like possibly venus and mars, depending) with colony costs.  The higher the colony cost, the more infrastructure it will take to make it livable.  

2.  The planetary market is a relatively new inclusion in Aurora, and I'm not very familiar with it.  

3.  If I understand your question, then the answer is no, you don't HAVE to use the most powerful sensors.  However, there generally is very little reason not to, as a more powerful sensor can be smaller and acheive the same capability of a larger, lower power sensor.  For example, say you have sensor power 8 and 10 available (just off the top of my head).  A ten space sensor using the 8 power tech would have a total strength of 80, where an eight space sensor using the 10 power tech would have the same power, but at a lower space cost.  

4.  You are pretty close.  A mass driver allows you to send or receive minerals to and from colonies in the same system.  One mass driver will allow you to send 5,000 tons of resources per year, and will receive an unlimited amount.  A military academy has two functions.  It produces officers for your officer corps and trained crews for your ships.  If no crew members are available at the time the ship is launched, the ship will have a grade penalty.  The financial center adds to your wealth production.  I forget the exact formula, though.  There is probably an explanation somewhere in the tutorials.  

5.  Yes, that is exactly what that PDC is.  PDC's are hard to detect, even from orbital range, and one that does nothing but harbor troops is even more difficult to find.  

Kurt

[Brian Neumann]

1) Is it normal to have Earth start with 0 Infrastructure and say it doesn't need any?

You only need infrastructure if the planet is not ideal for you.  By definition your home planet is ideal.  If you check the box on the system display (F9) on the bottom left it will list the various causes of needing infrastructure.  It could be because of a lack/excess of oxygen, a poisonous atmosphere, or extreme tempratures.  You might even find another world or two out there that is ideal without terraforming, but it is unusual.

2) I've only reached a few months in of game time to so far in my experimentation, so it could just be lack of any data, but when I hit the Planetary Market button I never get anything (not even a blank window pop up). Normal?

I almost never get to use this.  I seem to remember that it only works if there is another race with a population on your planet.  You can then buy/sell goods with them using the market.

3) Is there any reason to always use maximum strength sensors? For example, say you need to cover (and I haven't got the math down off the top of my head, so I'm pulling numbers out of a hat here) 200,000km of space for targeting with a weapon, which can be covered with say a S20-R1 Sensor. If you can support S24 sensors, is there any reason to specifically pay the extra for S24 instead of S20? I know its probably a stupid question, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything with something so important.

This is a tough one.  Different resolution active sensors can detect different size targets.  As you up the resolution so they only detect larger targets you get better range.  A R1 system is basically an anti-missile radar.  At R4 you are looking for fighters, R14-20 would be for gunboats, etc.  If a target is smaller than the resolution of the sensor then it will be detected at a closer range.  The square of the difference between the resolution of the sensor, and the target.  A R100 will have 100x the base range of the R1 but will probably not detect missiles or fighters until they are about to hit your ship.  What all of this means is that the size sensor, the resolution and what you are trying to detect all play into what you are designing.  For your question the answer is probably no, the S24-R1 won't help you any more than the S20-R1 would.  You might however decide that having a S4-R50 would be a better system for detecting enemy ships farther away.  It is also significantly smaller.  If on the other hand you are trying to engage enemy missiles, then yes the big R1 sensor is the best choice, assuming your counter missiles will actually range that far.

4) Is there a breakdown of what the buildings do? Most everything else I've seen has a description (and these might as well, I'm just not seeing it) which I can build off of, but a few of the buildings aren't completely self-explanatory as to their full affect (like a factory is). Mainly I'm mixed up on the Financial Center, Military Academy, and Mass Driver. I have a vague understanding that the Mass Driver allows me to send minerals from the current planet to another, right? Is that all? And the Military Academy is for training ship crews I believe. I have no idea about the Financial Center other than guesses derived from its name.

A mass driver allows you to send mineral packets between planets in a system.  The recieving planet needs to have at least one mass driver of its own or instead of helping you move minerals, you will be subjecting your planet to orbital bombardment as 100 ton asteroids hit the planet.  The military academy produces crew, and each academy also provides 5 officers per year.  The number of crew is dependant on the crew grade for the race.  The number of officers does not change however.  The financial center does provide more cash to help pay for all the nifty toys you will be building.  IRC each one counts as 1million people for the generation of money but only uses 10,000 people to man it.

5) Finally, (I think) the Tutorial game file that was there when I first started the game up had a PDC as follows:

If you have ground troops in a PDC then the ground force training stat of the commander will improve the units combat ability over time.  Ground forces currently only train when they are in a PDC.  The PDC will also protect those troops from orbital bombardment.

Brian

[nessin (OP)]

Much appreciated for the replies!

This is a tough one. Different resolution active sensors can detect different size targets. As you up the resolution so they only detect larger targets you get better range. A R1 system is basically an anti-missile radar. At R4 you are looking for fighters, R14-20 would be for gunboats, etc. If a target is smaller than the resolution of the sensor then it will be detected at a closer range. The square of the difference between the resolution of the sensor, and the target. A R100 will have 100x the base range of the R1 but will probably not detect missiles or fighters until they are about to hit your ship. What all of this means is that the size sensor, the resolution and what you are trying to detect all play into what you are designing. For your question the answer is probably no, the S24-R1 won't help you any more than the S20-R1 would. You might however decide that having a S4-R50 would be a better system for detecting enemy ships farther away. It is also significantly smaller. If on the other hand you are trying to engage enemy missiles, then yes the big R1 sensor is the best choice, assuming your counter missiles will actually range that far.

I understood (or at least think I know enough to say that) the difference between Strength and Resolution.  I was just trying to figure out if I needed to detect something at a specific distance, for a specific purpose (targetting a weapon seemed the be the example I could think of), if there was any real gain to using a higher strength sensor.  Assuming, of course, that the lower strength value + the required resolution I needed matched my requirements.  I probably could have worded it better, something more like "If a S-X R-1 Sensor lets me detect a missile at 100km, the limit of my anti-missile defense, then does changing to a S-X+10 R-1 Sensor buy me anything in practical terms?"

Also, I forgot one question.  I read up several threads on how Civilian shipping works, and the Tutorial game has several pre-existing Civilian ships, but any game I create I never see any Civilian ships get built.  I'm not sure if its a factor of time, requiring more than a year or so to start seeing them, or if you have to do more than built a valid class design that can be built in a civilian ship yard.

[sloanjh]

2) I've only reached a few months in of game time to so far in my experimentation, so it could just be lack of any data, but when I hit the Planetary Market button I never get anything (not even a blank window pop up). Normal?

I almost never get to use this.  I seem to remember that it only works if there is another race with a population on your planet.  You can then buy/sell goods with them using the market.

Planetary Markets were put in a few years ago, and had not been kept up to date.  Steve disabled them for 4.9, IIRC, which would explain the nothingness

John