Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread: C# Edition

[captainwolfer]

Why is this planet locked to 2 Colony cost? (I have 5% colony cost reduction) Is it because it has a low minimum temperature, to prevent Civilian AI putting more people on it than it can handle?

[AlStar]

Why is this planet locked to 2 Colony cost? (I have 5% colony cost reduction) Is it because it has a low minimum temperature, to prevent Civilian AI putting more people on it than it can handle?

Yes, it looks to me that it's because your planet gets all the way down to -65.

Your colonists are smart enough to not take advantage of the current 'balmy' -15 to overflow their infastructure, when the planet's going to freeze solid for a goodly part of the year.

[LuuBluum]

I was curious and looking through the database and it seems "provide ground CAP" is actually a command, and it does seem in-game that it is a valid movement order.

Does anyone know how it actually works, or if it actually works? Has anyone ever used it, even? The post that mentions the non-support missions for ground fighters states that an explanation for how that one works would be provided once implemented, but it seems no such explanation was provided.

[db48x]

Didn’t Steve add a way to drag and drop installations between colonies on the same body, or am I misremembering something?

[lumporr]

Didn’t Steve add a way to drag and drop installations between colonies on the same body, or am I misremembering something?

Well, I don't know about clicking and dragging, but you could achieve the same effect by adding and deleting installations in the Civilian/Flags window in SM mode.

[Ulzgoroth]

Do others build beam weapons with less range technology than available to cut costs?

For bigger lasers, the cost increase for high range increments can be very disproportionate to the increase in damage at the limits of fire control range. I just set research on a 45cm Near UV laser while I've got Far UV tech level because paying 66% more didn't seem worth it.

[nuclearslurpee]

For some beam weapons, there is damage drop-off as range increases, and having a higher range modifier reduces this drop-off so you can output more damage at longer/maximum range. I believe this is the case for lasers, railguns, and plasma carronades, although it only really matters for lasers since the other weapon types don't exceed BFC range very easily.

This is a problem with the tech progression for mesons and HPMs, as has been discussed elsewhere especially by xenoscepter.

[Ulzgoroth]

For some beam weapons, there is damage drop-off as range increases, and having a higher range modifier reduces this drop-off so you can output more damage at longer/maximum range. I believe this is the case for lasers, railguns, and plasma carronades, although it only really matters for lasers since the other weapon types don't exceed BFC range very easily.

This is a problem with the tech progression for mesons and HPMs, as has been discussed elsewhere especially by xenoscepter.

...Yes, I'm aware of what the range modifier does. The point is that, as the range modifier techs seem to linearly increase the cost (at least for lasers), large lasers have quite significant damage, and beam fire control range is limiting, you can save considerable mineral and BP investment at a comparatively small cost in performance.

For instance, right now my max BFC range is 384kkm. I just designed a 45 cm (advanced spinal) laser, 53 muzzle energy. With the Near UV (30kkm range increment) tech I chose, it should lose 12 damage and deliver 41 damage at max BFC range. If I'd built it 2/3s more expensive with Far UV (50 kkm) tech it would instead lose 7 damage and deliver 46, which hardly seems a good return on investment (though it'd be slightly more useful for STO since those have an extra BFC range boost). If downgrading range tech further I could have had it lose 19 damage and deliver 34 or lose 38 damage and deliver 15 (at a very low price), but I opted against those.

You could also say the same range attenuation applies to Gauss, they just don't have caliber scale-up so damage per shot is always 1 and their max range is 1 range increment.

[Ulzgoroth]

Additional question, ground logistics: how many GSP replacement do you need?

I can't tell from here whether the listed GSP for a unit is meant to be its requirement after every single combat round or after it has completely emptied its supplies over 10 combat rounds, which is a 10-fold difference in supply burn rate and minimal supplies on hand.

[kyonkundenwa]

You could also say the same range attenuation applies to Gauss, they just don't have caliber scale-up so damage per shot is always 1 and their max range is 1 range increment.

Gauss is a bit different because adding range doesn't make the weapon more expensive. If you're using gauss then researching the first few gauss range techs is probably a "no-brainer" because you get extra capability (increased range for offensive use) for no cost besides the fairly cheap research.
There's also something to be said for reduced-size weapons when applicable. If you keep up on capacitor/reload tech you can sometimes achieve the same fire rate with a reduced-size weapon (laser, missile launcher) at the same cost as a full-sized one, but with the desirable smaller size. As for the laser range tech specifically, it's up to you and your assessment of whether you'll be sniping at maximum BFC range or closing to point-blank where the range modifier is meaningless.

[LuuBluum]

Additional question, ground logistics: how many GSP replacement do you need?

I can't tell from here whether the listed GSP for a unit is meant to be its requirement after every single combat round or after it has completely emptied its supplies over 10 combat rounds, which is a 10-fold difference in supply burn rate and minimal supplies on hand.

Looking at some of the math later in the post, it seems that the GSP listing is for all 10 rounds.

The GSP column shows the resupply requirement for each formation or formation element. The total divisional organisation requires 40,338 GSP for a complete resupply and there are sufficient supply vehicles (410) in that organisation to resupply five times. With the inherent supply as well, the entire division can stay in combat for sixty rounds before additional supply vehicles are required.

This sentence only makes sense if the GSP listing per unit is for 10 rounds, not 1.

[Ulzgoroth]

You could also say the same range attenuation applies to Gauss, they just don't have caliber scale-up so damage per shot is always 1 and their max range is 1 range increment.

Gauss is a bit different because adding range doesn't make the weapon more expensive. If you're using gauss then researching the first few gauss range techs is probably a "no-brainer" because you get extra capability (increased range for offensive use) for no cost besides the fairly cheap research.
There's also something to be said for reduced-size weapons when applicable. If you keep up on capacitor/reload tech you can sometimes achieve the same fire rate with a reduced-size weapon (laser, missile launcher) at the same cost as a full-sized one, but with the desirable smaller size. As for the laser range tech specifically, it's up to you and your assessment of whether you'll be sniping at maximum BFC range or closing to point-blank where the range modifier is meaningless.

With laser missiles back on the menu, gauss range is also potentially useful for their primary defensive application.

[nuclearslurpee]

Additional question, ground logistics: how many GSP replacement do you need?

I can't tell from here whether the listed GSP for a unit is meant to be its requirement after every single combat round or after it has completely emptied its supplies over 10 combat rounds, which is a 10-fold difference in supply burn rate and minimal supplies on hand.

The GSP carried by a unit is the amount required to fire its weapon for 10 combat rounds.

I made a post some time ago which attempts to address ground combat from a high-level, analytical perspective. There is a discussion of logistics included. The amount of LOG units you will need depends on how effectively your units can kill the enemy units, which in turn is going to depend on a lot of factors so it is difficult to generalize, but an acceptable minimum is probably 2x your army's GSP amount in additional logistics elements, which will supply your army for a total of 10 days (30 rounds). Of course you'll need more logistics elements to resupply your army after the fight, so call it 3x. This is a bare minimum for relatively ideal circumstances, against harsher terrain or conditions you may need to dedicate 20% or more of your ground forces production to logistics elements. However, since your forces can still keep firing after they run out of supplies there is no hard requirement.

[Ulzgoroth]

Additional question, ground logistics: how many GSP replacement do you need?

I can't tell from here whether the listed GSP for a unit is meant to be its requirement after every single combat round or after it has completely emptied its supplies over 10 combat rounds, which is a 10-fold difference in supply burn rate and minimal supplies on hand.

The GSP carried by a unit is the amount required to fire its weapon for 10 combat rounds.

I made a post some time ago which attempts to address ground combat from a high-level, analytical perspective. There is a discussion of logistics included. The amount of LOG units you will need depends on how effectively your units can kill the enemy units, which in turn is going to depend on a lot of factors so it is difficult to generalize, but an acceptable minimum is probably 2x your army's GSP amount in additional logistics elements, which will supply your army for a total of 10 days (30 rounds). Of course you'll need more logistics elements to resupply your army after the fight, so call it 3x. This is a bare minimum for relatively ideal circumstances, against harsher terrain or conditions you may need to dedicate 20% or more of your ground forces production to logistics elements. However, since your forces can still keep firing after they run out of supplies there is no hard requirement.

Looks useful though the thing I was currently trying to determine was 'how many LOG-S units do I need in my formation for them to be able to perform resupply at all'. To which the answer would appear to be 1/10th of the GSP of the formation.

Which will let me stuff in an extra heavy tank or two

[Ulzgoroth]

I remember seeing advice in the past to never research the minimum engine power techs because your shipping lines would use them and become less effective.

Does this still hold true?