A minor update to the Fleet window tree view. Each Admin command now displays the required rank to be assigned to that command. The required rank is one rank higher than the most senior subordinate fleet commander or the most senior officer running a subordinate admin command. You can check the officers in the subordinate fleets by clicking on them.
For example, one of the colony fleets assigned to Colony Command has a Commander (CMDR) as it's C.O. so the Admin Command requires a Captain (CPT). Frontier Fleet requires a Rear-Admiral, as one of its subordinate fleets is commanded by a Commodore, which means the Battle Fleet (which is a higher Admin Command) needs a Vice-Admiral and the highest Admin Command (Commonwealth Navy) needs an Admiral.
With this requirement in mind, I will be creating the ability to assign minimum and maximum ranks for every ship (so you can ensure freighters are only commanded by the lowest rank for example). This should lead to much more realistic command structures.
I haven't completely decided on how the admin commands will work but at the moment I am leaning towards:
- Admin Commands will have a type, that will allow that Admin Command to share certain bonuses from its commander (Survey from a Survey Admin Command, Logistics from a Logistics Admin Command, etc.)
- There will be a new installation called Naval Command Headquarters (or something similar) which can have levels in the same way as a Sector Command. These will be transportable by freighters.
- Each Admin Command will be assigned to a population with an NCH and its reach will be dependent on the level of that NCH (same rules as sector commands - probably with bonuses for certain Admin Command types such as Survey)
- If the physical building is destroyed, there will be a chance for any officers running Admin Commands from its location to be killed. The Admin Commands themselves will have to relocate.
- The reach will be counted in transits and every subordinate fleet or admin command in reach will be given the benefit from that command
- The benefit will likely be on the lines of a sector command, so providing one quarter of the Admin Command C.O.'s bonus.
- This can stack, so a survey ship would get a quarter of the bonus from the immediate superior admin command and a sixteenth of the bonus from the one above that.
- If two Admin Commands are providing bonuses, the immediate superior command would have to be in range of the ship and the higher command would have to be in range of the lower command. This will create an administrative network reaching out from fleet headquarters and will require defences to protect the administrative nodes.
However, all of this is optional and not using Admin Commands will not cause any issues (beyond the loss of the potential bonuses).
This type of complex hierarchy for providing bonuses and realistic command structures is a benefit of C# and the much faster execution speed.