Detailed info on NPR?

[Rich.h (OP)]

I'm hoping there is a non hostile way of doing this. I have an NPR that boarders my own empire territory, we have been in contact for a number of years and things have grown to the stage where they see me as completely friendly. I have all treaties possible with this race but still lots of information I would like is totally unknown.

For example I know of two planets they inhabit but other than the EM signature given off I have no idea at all about these worlds. I can understand perhaps not being able to see in detail how many shipyards or what size scanners it has. But at least knowing roughly the population would be nice as it would give this hunk of rock some life. At the moment it is simply a lump of rock with a number that means little to me.

It would also be nice to know something about the biology of them and what sort of tolerances they have, otherwise again they are just a random graphic and meaningless numbers.

I don't really want to use espionage for this, and do not think this information is even possible through that method. I have tried parking a scout ship above one world but it gave me nothing in return. Even when I dropped an espionage party on a planet I was unable to see any information regarding other populations on that world.

Is there some way of getting this sort of information to help give some life to alien races that I have missed, or are they all just meaningless numbers until you invade them?

[Barkhorn]

You can get an estimate of the tolerances by checking the system view.  The aliens likely have similar tolerances.  It may not be fully terraformed for them, but it can give you an idea.

As for pop size, compare the planet's thermal and EM signature to your own.  Again, won't know the exact number, but its a start.

[Rich.h (OP)]

Is there any sort of formula that can be applied to an EM & Thermal signature to get an estimated population number? Is it just population that contributes to the EM signature or do any facilities add to this figure also? If there is a way to do some math and get an educated guess then I will be perfectly happy.

[NihilRex]

EM is pop, Thermal is facilities.

Check your own colonies to get an idea of what a given em\therm sig is created for a given pop.

[Rich.h (OP)]

EM is pop, Thermal is facilities.

Check your own colonies to get an idea of what a given em\therm sig is created for a given pop.

Is there a set of levels at which the formula for these change? When I look at my own colonies I see quite a lot of variation between them. When I apply a formula for one colony to another I see results that do not match.

It seems for EM that larger colonies start to produce lots more EM than they should if each 1m colonist is producing a set amount, the same seems to apply for facilities unless facilities do not produce identical thermal signatures.

[NihilRex]

I have a feeling that EM is exponential or logarithmic, and that different facilities produce different amounts of thermal.

[Rich.h (OP)]

Took another look at some colonies at it seems that something else is contributing to EM.

Colony A has 308.14 population and an EM of 15657. Colony B has 174.22 population and an EM of 18738. Colony A has no facilities and colony b has 1304 facilities. They have thermal signatures of 1566 & 11047 respectively. This makes me think there is either some other formula for the EM or that the facilities are also contributing.

[sublight]

Correct. Facilities also contribute to EM, and population also contributes to thermal.

However, since population is usually the leading EM contributor and industry is usually the leading thermal contributor most people assume EM/TH is proportional to population/industry as a quick guess.

The best guess I've come up with is: [EM - TH] / 45 = Population in millions.
This is always true if a colony has only population/infrastructure/mines/factories, but gains errors whenever shipyards, research labs, and all the other stuff starts to appear.

[Rich.h (OP)]

Correct. Facilities also contribute to EM, and population also contributes to thermal.

However, since population is usually the leading EM contributor and industry is usually the leading thermal contributor most people assume EM/TH is proportional to population/industry as a quick guess.

The best guess I've come up with is: [EM - TH] / 45 = Population in millions.
This is always true if a colony has only population/infrastructure/mines/factories, but gains errors whenever shipyards, research labs, and all the other stuff starts to appear.

Tried out that formula and it seems to be the best "average" set of results I have tried so far, thanks for the help.

So onto the issue of their tolerances, is there anyway of getting detailed information other than invading a planet so I have some of that species in my empire?

[Barkhorn]

PoW's should also tell you their tolerances.