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Posted by: sloanjh
« on: March 21, 2010, 11:10:56 PM »

Quote from: "The Shadow"
Regarding commercial jump tenders... What on earth (or off of it) do you guys suggest filling them up with to get them to the required size?

I was thinking of putting a bunch of fuel and maintenance supplies on them, letting them act as forward tankers and supply ships... but they get really expensive really fast doing that.

Any other thoughts?  It seems kind of silly to have to pad out an enormous hull;  you'd think you could just have most of it be empty space and call it good.

If I put cargo spaces or colonists on them, can other ships transfer stuff to them for others to pick up?  I don't recall seeing any way to do that.

Cargo holds are the cheapest cost/space.  You might also consider a troop bay or two.  No, there's no cross-decking allowed for cargo or passengers (but there is for troops).

John
Posted by: The Shadow
« on: March 21, 2010, 07:23:16 PM »

Regarding commercial jump tenders... What on earth (or off of it) do you guys suggest filling them up with to get them to the required size?

I was thinking of putting a bunch of fuel and maintenance supplies on them, letting them act as forward tankers and supply ships... but they get really expensive really fast doing that.

Any other thoughts?  It seems kind of silly to have to pad out an enormous hull;  you'd think you could just have most of it be empty space and call it good.

If I put cargo spaces or colonists on them, can other ships transfer stuff to them for others to pick up?  I don't recall seeing any way to do that.
Posted by: sandman662
« on: March 21, 2010, 07:01:27 PM »

Cool.  I sorta panicked when I first saw it.  While I was typing my post, I sorta figured it out and thought that is what it meant.  I was afraid, the first time I saw it, that it was telling me that it was going to delete some of my ship designs... I thought I had hit the limit for designs, which would be a scary thing seeing how I only have about 25 designs.  Is there a limit?
Posted by: Journier
« on: March 21, 2010, 06:44:32 PM »

Quote from: "sandman662"
Just tried to create a PDC.  I clicked [New], then clicked on the drop down window and chose PDC.  I got a pop up window that said, "Warning!! Selecting this option will remove some systems for your design.  Do you wish to continue?

Is that a bad thing?

just removes a couple components that arent required on a PDC. like engineering? and.... something else maybe i forget without having the game open.

Nothing to worry about if you want it you can readd it later.
Posted by: sandman662
« on: March 21, 2010, 06:37:18 PM »

Just tried to create a PDC.  I clicked [New], then clicked on the drop down window and chose PDC.  I got a pop up window that said, "Warning!! Selecting this option will remove some systems for your design.  Do you wish to continue?

Is that a bad thing?
Posted by: Shadow
« on: March 20, 2010, 09:19:50 AM »

Thanks, I understand now.

Yes, the FAQ may need a minor update on terminology, so not to confuse people.
Posted by: sloanjh
« on: March 19, 2010, 09:47:13 PM »

Quote from: "Shadow"
Wait. What was that?

Standard transit appears to be the normal jump the TG with said order carries out, but what's that about opening a wormhole for other ships to use? Is that squadron transit? I've always been confused by the two.

Please see this thread viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2256&p=21655&hilit=rationalised#p21655 and the follow-up posts, along with the corresponding FAQ (which probably needs updating - "squadron transit" used to be called "combat transit") then post here again if you still have questions.

John
Posted by: Shadow
« on: March 19, 2010, 08:58:58 PM »

Wait. What was that?

Standard transit appears to be the normal jump the TG with said order carries out, but what's that about opening a wormhole for other ships to use? Is that squadron transit? I've always been confused by the two.
Posted by: sloanjh
« on: March 19, 2010, 08:45:56 PM »

Quote from: "The Shadow"
OK, I just figured out that you can put commercial engines on a military craft, and this has made my head explode with the possibilities.  All the weapons and stuff still work, right?  Yet it'll still count as "commercial" for purposes of crossing jump points?  Is there any good reason not to do this for big ships?
Yes.  The commercial engines are a LOT bigger than military engines, but if the ship has military systems (like hangars), then the ship will need to be built in a military yard.  Big military yards are a LOT more expensive to build than big commercial yards.  In addition, the power/weight ratio for commercial engines is lower than for military engines, meaning that the speed will saturate out (i.e. more engines doesn't significantly increase the speed) at a much lower value.  A while back I tried out commercial engines on a carrier design, but found that it ended up being a LOT bigger (remember the military yards issue) than a very similar design with military engines.  I ended up going with military engines for my military designs, even big honking ones like carriers.

Note that this is not the case for ships which don't mount military systems.  My brigade-level troop tranports are all commercial designs with commercial engines (actually, they're the same hull as my colony ships and luxury liners, I just substitute the payload and tweak the crew).

Quote
On a final random note, does having more than one tractor beam help a tug in any way?  Or is it just the one?

No, unless you think it will be going into combat.  In that case it would probably be a good idea to include multiple tractors as backup systems (and some armor too :-) ).

John
Posted by: sloanjh
« on: March 19, 2010, 08:30:38 PM »

Quote from: "Father Tim"
Yes, no, and maybe.  But I consider it an exploit.

It breaks down like this:  Jump Gate Construction Ships may not move while building a jump gate, but a ship with a jump engine, parked on a jump point, that is used to 'ferry' a task group across the JP, doesn't actually move as far as the computer is concerned.

So if you consider the ship to be using its jump engine to open a temporary path across the jump point for other vessels to travel through, then sure, no problem.

If you, like I, consider the ship mounting the jump engine to exert some sort of field that 'picks up' the other ships - two or however many at a time - and carries them across to the other side of the JP, then no.  It requires the jumpship to move, and jumpgate construction requires the ship not to move.

Did you see the official rules change go by from Steve (when he changed the names away from transit/combat transit) that the "standard transit" is now officially opening a wormhole (your #1) rather than picking the ships up and ferrying them (your #2)?

On the other hand, I think I consider it an exploit too, since I would interpret "can't move while building a jump gate" as actually meaning "can't do anything else while building a jump gate", especially since the construction ship is probably moving around the circumference of the new gate while constructing it.

John
Posted by: Father Tim
« on: March 19, 2010, 06:57:58 PM »

Yes, no, and maybe.  But I consider it an exploit.

It breaks down like this:  Jump Gate Construction Ships may not move while building a jump gate, but a ship with a jump engine, parked on a jump point, that is used to 'ferry' a task group across the JP, doesn't actually move as far as the computer is concerned.

So if you consider the ship to be using its jump engine to open a temporary path across the jump point for other vessels to travel through, then sure, no problem.

If you, like I, consider the ship mounting the jump engine to exert some sort of field that 'picks up' the other ships - two or however many at a time - and carries them across to the other side of the JP, then no.  It requires the jumpship to move, and jumpgate construction requires the ship not to move.
Posted by: The Shadow
« on: March 19, 2010, 06:17:48 PM »

Quote from: "Steve Walmsley"
Quote from: "The Shadow"
EDIT:  Is gate construction persistent?  Or do you have to start over every time you get interrupted?  I'm wondering if you can use a gate constructor also as a jump tender.
You can't stop and start construction. However, if the construction ship had a jump engine, other ships could use that jump engine to transit without interrupting construction.

Huh!  Would that still work if the construction ship was on the other side of the jump point?
Posted by: Steve Walmsley
« on: March 19, 2010, 03:50:51 PM »

Quote from: "sandman662"
On the class design screen, you can click "Supply Ship" in the upper right side of the screen.  Then, I would assume, it will give you a "resupply from supply ship" option in the Task Force - Actions Available window.... if the supply ship is in the same Task Group (or if the two task groups are side by side).

Again, this is an assumption (and I know what that can do) :)
Yes, if a ship class is tagged as supply ship that opens up the various supply ship orders. You can also see the supply ship orders for all fleets if you uncheck the "Order Filtering On" checkbox

Steve
Posted by: Steve Walmsley
« on: March 19, 2010, 03:15:55 PM »

Quote from: "The Shadow"
EDIT:  Is gate construction persistent?  Or do you have to start over every time you get interrupted?  I'm wondering if you can use a gate constructor also as a jump tender.
You can't stop and start construction. However, if the construction ship had a jump engine, other ships could use that jump engine to transit without interrupting construction.

Steve
Posted by: sandman662
« on: March 19, 2010, 03:07:08 PM »

Quote from: "Venec"
In a way. Supplies are stored and used only on given ship, but you can transfer specified portion of them to other ships in fleet, either through "equilise maint" button on F12 screen, using interface in "misc" tab on individual ships details screen or add "supply ship" tag on F5 design screen and then issuing orders in F12 window.

On the class design screen, you can click "Supply Ship" in the upper right side of the screen.  Then, I would assume, it will give you a "resupply from supply ship" option in the Task Force - Actions Available window.... if the supply ship is in the same Task Group (or if the two task groups are side by side).

Again, this is an assumption (and I know what that can do) :)