Posted by: Jorgen_CAB
« on: July 05, 2022, 06:27:12 PM »I have many different ways to deploy survey vessels, everything from small survey boats with carriers to support them to large multi-purpose science ships that can do both.
In general I find that military drives is more efficient, especially on larger survey vessels with four to six survey modules on them. As I play with 5-10% survey speed then a single survey module might see a ship spend all its time on like a single body at times, this also makes range and speed less important in general. A range of around 100-150 billion km are generally good enough for most surveyors.
I also role-play some limitation in deployment times. I figure that more than four maybe five years on a larger ship probably is the upper limit for what most humans would like to endure under normal circumstances, you probably could find some willing to deploy longer but that seem unrealistic when you deploy these ships in the dozens or more. Smaller ships gets less deployment time, the smaller the ship and crew the less likely they are to be deployed a log time.
Those who are later multi-purpose ships get both an engineering and science compartments as well to make them even more efficient, later ships also get more range as they survey faster.
In general the cost of the survey modules tend to be so much of the total cost of the ships that using commercial engines seem wasteful as that make the ships so much bigger for no good reason. It entirely depends on the range and speeds I want with the ships. Unless research cost is an issue for engines and jump engines I usually stick with military engines.
Using small survey ships usually also means I have less experienced commanders on them as well, that is why I tend to avoid smaller survey ships in favour of larger ships. Multi-purpose ones also can do both grav survey and survey planets (and perhaps moons) and leave the rest for dedicated geological survey ships to survey asteroids and comets. I generally like to find out what planets I can colonize and/or have good mineral deposits. So in general the ships survey planets and moons first (some only survey planets) and then switch to survey gravity locations. Once a ship find a JP I usually send that ship to explore it and it automatically start surveying the planets in that system.
As I often play with 5% survey rate it is not unusually for me to have several dozens of large survey ships surveying at the same time, each deployed for about four years.
In general I find that military drives is more efficient, especially on larger survey vessels with four to six survey modules on them. As I play with 5-10% survey speed then a single survey module might see a ship spend all its time on like a single body at times, this also makes range and speed less important in general. A range of around 100-150 billion km are generally good enough for most surveyors.
I also role-play some limitation in deployment times. I figure that more than four maybe five years on a larger ship probably is the upper limit for what most humans would like to endure under normal circumstances, you probably could find some willing to deploy longer but that seem unrealistic when you deploy these ships in the dozens or more. Smaller ships gets less deployment time, the smaller the ship and crew the less likely they are to be deployed a log time.
Those who are later multi-purpose ships get both an engineering and science compartments as well to make them even more efficient, later ships also get more range as they survey faster.
In general the cost of the survey modules tend to be so much of the total cost of the ships that using commercial engines seem wasteful as that make the ships so much bigger for no good reason. It entirely depends on the range and speeds I want with the ships. Unless research cost is an issue for engines and jump engines I usually stick with military engines.
Using small survey ships usually also means I have less experienced commanders on them as well, that is why I tend to avoid smaller survey ships in favour of larger ships. Multi-purpose ones also can do both grav survey and survey planets (and perhaps moons) and leave the rest for dedicated geological survey ships to survey asteroids and comets. I generally like to find out what planets I can colonize and/or have good mineral deposits. So in general the ships survey planets and moons first (some only survey planets) and then switch to survey gravity locations. Once a ship find a JP I usually send that ship to explore it and it automatically start surveying the planets in that system.
As I often play with 5% survey rate it is not unusually for me to have several dozens of large survey ships surveying at the same time, each deployed for about four years.