Yes, that does sound better. I'll make the change.QuoteBecause of the above, some changes are needed to shipyards. A new Commercial Shipyard has been added and the existing Shipyard becomes a Military Shipyard.
A small point. Could we have the Military Shipyard known as a Naval Shipyard?
Because of the above, some changes are needed to shipyards. A new Commercial Shipyard has been added and the existing Shipyard becomes a Military Shipyard.
It is an interesting idea in principle, although I can see a couple of issues. Firstly is that beam armed ships wouldn't have much trouble destroying them with no downside whereas missile ships would have to use up a lot of their ordnance. Secondly, with that in mind I would damage every jump gate in the Empire to within a couple of points so I could destroy it whenever I needed to without any trouble. If I avoided that by preventing damaged jump gates from working, then I could still prevent an alien attack by damaging them slightly.
I do like the idea that they could be destroyed though so there must be an alternative that makes it possible but difficult. Assume that a jump gate somehow binds with the jump point, keeping it open at all times, and becomes more than just a physical structure you can shoot at. Perhaps jump gate construction ships could undo the jump gate or perhaps the gate needs to be taken out in one huge explosion (like putting out an oil well fire). Perhaps a 100 point warhead (or even more) You would have to design gate-buster missiles and would need a launcher big enough to launch them.
Steve
An excellent point! Given that construction ships are going to be very large, that could be a problem. Perhaps the instability caused by removing a jump gate will cause jump gates at both sides of a jump point to be destroyed
An excellent point! Given that construction ships are going to be very large, that could be a problem. Perhaps the instability caused by removing a jump gate will cause jump gates at both sides of a jump point to be destroyedQuote from: "Steve Walmsley"If I allow some type of instant scuttle command for an Empire's 'own' jump gates then there would still be a race to build jump gates at all key jump point in order to be the one who could destroy them. I think an ability for construction ships to dismantle any jump point is probably the best idea. It would take a lot less time than construction - perhaps one tenth of the construction time for a module.
That is probably the best solution for the way Aurora works.
One thing to consider is that a jump gate construction ship that is disassembling a gate to slow down an invasion will end up getting stuck in the system on the enemy side unless you have a jump ship big enough to get the construction ship through the jump point.
If I allow some type of instant scuttle command for an Empire's 'own' jump gates then there would still be a race to build jump gates at all key jump point in order to be the one who could destroy them. I think an ability for construction ships to dismantle any jump point is probably the best idea. It would take a lot less time than construction - perhaps one tenth of the construction time for a module.
Instead of blowing a gate by causing damage to it, why not use a scuttle command?I originally had jump gates belonging to one race or another and planned to have races control who used them. However, it occured to me that they could cause a lot of problems. If you could completely shut down a gate that it becomes an impassable barrier. If they were indestructible then whoever got there first would have complete control over a jump point. if they were destroyable then races would be continually destroying each other's gates and replacing them. Ancient gates would presumably have everyone locked out. I decided in the end it would be better for gameplay and micromanagement if they were accessible to all.
Or better yet, turn the darned thing off.
I know that's the way I'd build them if i were designing a get on a JP in my home system....
If you can't switch them on and off like a light bulb, then being able to command a gate to vigorously disassemble itself works for me.
It is an interesting idea in principle, although I can see a couple of issues. Firstly is that beam armed ships wouldn't have much trouble destroying them with no downside whereas missile ships would have to use up a lot of their ordnance. Secondly, with that in mind I would damage every jump gate in the Empire to within a couple of points so I could destroy it whenever I needed to without any trouble. If I avoided that by preventing damaged jump gates from working, then I could still prevent an alien attack by damaging them slightly.Quote from: "SteveAlt"The result of this is going to be easier jump gate construction. Possibly too easy but I will see how it pans out in the test game. With the other changes though, more jump gates will be necessary to allow freighters and colony ship access to other systems and they will also facilitate some of the future civilian changes I have mentioned in the last week or so.If you're concerned about the easy of jump gate construction, you might contemplate making them destroyable. That would allow races to "blow" jump gates as a defensive measure when their empire is penetrated, which in turn would require the attacker to make jump assaults at every system, rather than just to break into the perimeter. If you gave them 100 or 1000 HTK, then it would probably require a sizable effort to blow them, similar to the tactical difficulties of blowing bridges.
That's a good point. I have changed the Ion-equivalent to 0.08 and the nuclear pulse to 0.09Quote from: "SteveAlt"I have had to update the designs for the colony ships and freighters in the Trans-Newtonian Campaign. Here are the new designs for the Commonwealth. Note that some of these are older ships still in service so I created commercial equivalents for Magneto-Plasma Drive, Ion Engines and Nuclear Pulse Engines.
Should these really all have the Commonwealth's current best fuel efficiency, even when the original engines were built with lower efficiency tech?
So I take it you removed Jump gate Components from the ruins list that you can find in exploration?Yes, I have removed them
The result of this is going to be easier jump gate construction. Possibly too easy but I will see how it pans out in the test game. With the other changes though, more jump gates will be necessary to allow freighters and colony ship access to other systems and they will also facilitate some of the future civilian changes I have mentioned in the last week or so.If you're concerned about the easy of jump gate construction, you might contemplate making them destroyable. That would allow races to "blow" jump gates as a defensive measure when their empire is penetrated, which in turn would require the attacker to make jump assaults at every system, rather than just to break into the perimeter. If you gave them 100 or 1000 HTK, then it would probably require a sizable effort to blow them, similar to the tactical difficulties of blowing bridges.
I have had to update the designs for the colony ships and freighters in the Trans-Newtonian Campaign. Here are the new designs for the Commonwealth. Note that some of these are older ships still in service so I created commercial equivalents for Magneto-Plasma Drive, Ion Engines and Nuclear Pulse Engines.
