C# Aurora v0.x Questions

[space dwarf]

C# must be almost ready, cause the number of questions where the answer is "Its already in the game" seem to be outweighing questions where it isnt 

[Hazard]

Steve has been saying March 2020 for a while now IIRC.

[space dwarf]

Hey Steve, are Diplomatic Ships still subject to the modifiers where ships being in NPR territory upsets them?

[Steve Walmsley]

Hey Steve, are Diplomatic Ships still subject to the modifiers where ships being in NPR territory upsets them?

Its a good question. At the moment they area treated like any other ship, but I agree they should have some special status. However, I don't want a complete free pass so you can send your planet-killer to the alien home system because it also has a diplomacy module

Open to suggestions here, but I will maybe go with NPRs ignoring the first 10,000 tons of any diplomatic ship in any non-Core system.

[Zincat]

However, I don't want a complete free pass so you can send your planet-killer to the alien home system because it also has a diplomacy module

That requires that we can actually build a planet-killer
I don't remember planet destroying weapons being in the game 

[Steve Walmsley]

However, I don't want a complete free pass so you can send your planet-killer to the alien home system because it also has a diplomacy module

That requires that we can actually build a planet-killer
I don't remember planet destroying weapons being in the game 

Actually, I have seriously considering having planets with high tectonic ratings explode if hit with enough ordnance, resulting in an asteroid belt

Maybe in a later version.

[Hazard]

Its a good question. At the moment they area treated like any other ship, but I agree they should have some special status. However, I don't want a complete free pass so you can send your planet-killer to the alien home system because it also has a diplomacy module

Open to suggestions here, but I will maybe go with NPRs ignoring the first 10,000 tons of any diplomatic ship in any non-Core system.

Two things seem relevant to me here.

1) How much the NPR is willing to tolerate aliens inside its borders. That is, how high their Xenophobia rating is. A race with a sufficiently high Xenophobia rating would find the presence of your diplomatic ship in their system horrifying enough that just having it there and trying to talk is only going to make it worse.

2) How militarized your diplomatic ship is. If it's counted as a civilian ship and they aren't xenophobic enough to blast it from the sky for being a ship that's not theirs, there is no issue. The more militarized the ship however, the more problems it creates, and Planetary Protection Value is a stat that could be used to measure how militarized the ship is. I'd say that ship's PPV directly impacts your ability to talk peaceably with NPRs, but that more Militant NPRs are more willing to tolerate armed diplomatic ships so long as it doesn't get too ridiculous.

Actually, I have seriously considering having planets with high tectonic ratings explode if hit with enough ordnance, resulting in an asteroid belt

Maybe in a later version.

That's not how that works.

Very cinematic and hollywood appropriate, but that's not how that works. To blast a planet so hard that it turns into a debris field would require dumping so much energy into it you start exceeding its gravitational binding energy, and that is orders of magnitude greater than any energy release that could come from constant high power earthquakes. You might be able to start blasting chunks off the planet with heavy enough ordnance, but in that case how tectonically active it is is irrelevant.

[Steve Walmsley]

Actually, I have seriously considering having planets with high tectonic ratings explode if hit with enough ordnance, resulting in an asteroid belt

Maybe in a later version.

That's not how that works.

Very cinematic and hollywood appropriate, but that's not how that works. To blast a planet so hard that it turns into a debris field would require dumping so much energy into it you start exceeding its gravitational binding energy, and that is orders of magnitude greater than any energy release that could come from constant high power earthquakes. You might be able to start blasting chunks off the planet with heavy enough ordnance, but in that case how tectonically active it is is irrelevant.

Coolness > Reality

[Steve Walmsley]

Its a good question. At the moment they area treated like any other ship, but I agree they should have some special status. However, I don't want a complete free pass so you can send your planet-killer to the alien home system because it also has a diplomacy module

Open to suggestions here, but I will maybe go with NPRs ignoring the first 10,000 tons of any diplomatic ship in any non-Core system.

Two things seem relevant to me here.

1) How much the NPR is willing to tolerate aliens inside its borders. That is, how high their Xenophobia rating is. A race with a sufficiently high Xenophobia rating would find the presence of your diplomatic ship in their system horrifying enough that just having it there and trying to talk is only going to make it worse.

2) How militarized your diplomatic ship is. If it's counted as a civilian ship and they aren't xenophobic enough to blast it from the sky for being a ship that's not theirs, there is no issue. The more militarized the ship however, the more problems it creates, and Planetary Protection Value is a stat that could be used to measure how militarized the ship is. I'd say that ship's PPV directly impacts your ability to talk peaceably with NPRs, but that more Militant NPRs are more willing to tolerate armed diplomatic ships so long as it doesn't get too ridiculous.

The NPR would not necessarily know the armament of the ship unless it observed it firing at something, so size would be a more consistent way to handle things. I agree about the Xenophobia though. Maybe that is a modifier to the acceptable size.

[MarcAFK]

Size is good, but of at some point the NPR finds out that class has weapons that should have some impact on its tolerance to its presence. Say your diplomatic ship fires at a third party while in sensor range of the NPR, or they've captured one somehow, or for whatever reason they find out what that ship is equipped with.

[Bughunter]

Even if you are happy to talk to someone you may not be willing to give any intel away in the form of letting them see your colonies or even systems.

[Zincat]

Actually, I have seriously considering having planets with high tectonic ratings explode if hit with enough ordnance, resulting in an asteroid belt

Maybe in a later version.

That's not how that works.

Very cinematic and hollywood appropriate, but that's not how that works. To blast a planet so hard that it turns into a debris field would require dumping so much energy into it you start exceeding its gravitational binding energy, and that is orders of magnitude greater than any energy release that could come from constant high power earthquakes. You might be able to start blasting chunks off the planet with heavy enough ordnance, but in that case how tectonically active it is is irrelevant.

Coolness > Reality

I have a shameful admission to make. I have always wanted a "That is not a moon" moment in Aurora 

In that regard, for all its VERY large flaws, Stellaris satisfies my craving for massive, planet destroying ships 

[Steve Walmsley]

Actually, I have seriously considering having planets with high tectonic ratings explode if hit with enough ordnance, resulting in an asteroid belt

Maybe in a later version.

That's not how that works.

Very cinematic and hollywood appropriate, but that's not how that works. To blast a planet so hard that it turns into a debris field would require dumping so much energy into it you start exceeding its gravitational binding energy, and that is orders of magnitude greater than any energy release that could come from constant high power earthquakes. You might be able to start blasting chunks off the planet with heavy enough ordnance, but in that case how tectonically active it is is irrelevant.

Coolness > Reality

I have a shameful admission to make. I have always wanted a "That is not a moon" moment in Aurora 

In that regard, for all its VERY large flaws, Stellaris satisfies my craving for massive, planet destroying ships 

Wait until I get around to adding the Craftworld Eldar to Aurora, or the Black Crusade idea

[Steve Walmsley]

Even if you are happy to talk to someone you may not be willing to give any intel away in the form of letting them see your colonies or even systems.

Yes, I agree. That is why I suggested that Diplomatic ships would only have no penalty in non-core systems.

The issue will be that when you generate a new NPR during exploration, it will only have a capital system, so that would prevent diplomacy until it explored. Maybe there should be a penalty in core systems, unless the NPR doesn't have any non-core systems.

[Steve Walmsley]

Size is good, but of at some point the NPR finds out that class has weapons that should have some impact on its tolerance to its presence. Say your diplomatic ship fires at a third party while in sensor range of the NPR, or they've captured one somehow, or for whatever reason they find out what that ship is equipped with.

Yes, true. Maybe it is based on size, but a diplomatic ship loses its benefits once the NPR finds out it is armed.