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Posted by: sonofliberty
« on: March 25, 2012, 11:29:06 AM »

The only "bug" that came about when I gained a free tech is that that tech(which was being researched at the time) had it's completion time extended 40 years or so, but the next generation tech was available to research. I just cancelled that research and moved on to the next.
Posted by: sloanjh
« on: March 25, 2012, 10:11:15 AM »

Make sure to save your game and (temporarily) discontinue research by researchers working on the technology(s) you expect to get.  In the past there have been bugs where e.g. your home planet mysteriously dematerializes, triggered by the interation between researchers and suddenly acquired tech (the same goes for downloading tech from ships when they enter a system with research labs).  My recollection is that this bug was still present in a recent version - the way to get around it is to make sure other research isn't going on when the tech points are assigned.

John

PS - There's an FAQ posting on "How do I save my game" (or something like that) if you don't know how to save....
Posted by: Hawkeye
« on: March 25, 2012, 12:47:16 AM »

Espionage Rules (Yes, they are from 3.2, but I think nothing has changed since then)

In v3.2 the commander Espionage bonus has been reactivated and you can create Espionage Teams. Using the Personnel/Teams sections of the Economics window, you can direct each Espionage team in the currently selected population to conduct operations against a single alien population on the same planet. If you have more than one team they can operate against the same alien Empire or different ones.

A team will generate a number of espionage points equal to its rating each year. If a team is used against a population of a different species, the number of points generated is halved. To avoid a lot of potential complexity, a team's species is based on its commander. If a team is used against a race with which communication has not been established, the number of points generated is reduced by eighty percent. If the target population is less than ten million, the number of points generated is multiplied by (population in millions /10).

When the total espionage point accumulated against an alien race exceeds 100, the total is reduced by 100 and an espionage check is made. A random number is rolled and the check is performed against one of the following areas:

1) Technology: The team attempts to get technical information on an alien background technology. This is handled in the same way as technology found in ruins so for the check to be successful there must be at least one technology  possessed by the alien race for which you have the prerequisites but not the actual tech. If there is more than one eligible tech, a random selection is made. If there are no eligible techs, the check fails and you get nothing.

2) Missile: The team attempts to get technical information on an alien missile. If successful, you can build the missile but you can't duplicate the technology in missiles of your own design. If there is more than one alien missile for which you don't already have technical information, a random selection is made. If there are no eligible missiles, the check fails and you get nothing.

3) Gravitational Survey Data: The team attempts to get complete gravitational survey data for a system. Eligible systems are those of which your Empire and the target Empire both have knowledge but only the target Empire has complete survey data. If there is more than one qualifying system, a random selection is made. If there are no qualifying systems, the check fails and you get nothing. If this is successful, any jump points in the system become charted.

4) Geological Survey Data: The team attempts to get complete geological survey data for a system. Eligible systems are those of which your Empire and the target Empire both have knowledge but only the target Empire has flagged the systems as surveyed. A system will be flagged if all system bodies have been surveyed or is an automated survey fleet could not find a target within ten billion kilometres. If there is more than one qualifying system, a random selection is made. If there are no qualifying systems, the check fails and you get nothing. If this is successful you will receive all geological survey data for system bodies within the system that the target Empire has surveyed.

5) New System: The team attempts to get information on new systems. Eligible systems are those of which your Empire is unaware but the target Empire has located. If there is more than one qualifying system, a random selection is made. If there are no qualifying systems, the check fails and you get nothing. If this is successful, you gain knowledge of the system but no survey data.

6) Class Summary. The team attempts to get summary information on an alien ship design. The information provided is the class summary page from the Class Design window. Eligible classes are non-Obsolete designs for which you don't already have the summary information. If there are no eligible classes, the check fails and you get nothing. If you are successful, the summary will be shown for the appropriate class on the tactical intelligence window using a new third tab. If you already have some information on the class due to sensors but don't already have the correct class name, this will be updated and you will be informed about it. If you have no existing information, a new alien class record will be created.

There is a chance an espionage team will be captured or killed. This annual chance of this happening is equal to (150 - Team Skill)/2, with a minimum chance of 10%. If a team is killed, you lose the team but suffer no further penalty. If a team is captured (one third chance), the capturing Empire gains from 1-100 espionage points against your Empire.

Additional areas will be added over time and suggestions for new areas are very welcome



In addition to the Espionage Points generated by teams, you can also gain Espionage points by interogating captured prisoners. For every ten crew you rescue from life pods you get one Espionage Point. Every captured officer will generate a number of Espionage Points equal to his rank cubed. So if the lowest rank is lieutenant commander, he will only be worth 1 Espionage Point (1x1x1). A commander would be worth 8 Espionage points (2x2x2) while a captain would be worth 27 Espionage points and a Commodore 64 (no computer pun intended ) Espionage points, etc. With this rule, sending a Vice Admiral (216 EP) into harms way because he has a high crew training attribute may not be a great idea. It will also become very worthwhile to rescue your crews to avoid them being captured by the enemy.

Unlike teams, there is no penalty for different species. The penalty with teams is due to the fact they cannot blend in with the target population. With the interrogation of prisoners that is no longer a concern. The 80% penalty for lack of comms still applies.

Posted by: xeryon
« on: March 24, 2012, 08:25:11 PM »

Scrapping for resources nets you a near worthless quantity of resources, IMO.  Unless you obviously out-tech your opponents I find it best to disassemble parts for RP.
Posted by: sonofliberty
« on: March 24, 2012, 07:13:35 PM »

You are correct, it is 5 brigades.
Posted by: Erik L
« on: March 24, 2012, 07:06:56 PM »

Quote from: sonofliberty on March 24, 2012, 05:44:58 PM
I have had an intel/espionage team on a neutral alien world for over 2 years. I also have a colony on said world. How do I gain intel on their military level and troop numbers? I see thermal 3069, em 30471(I suspect these readings include my colony). I have 2 heavy assault divisions and a garrison there with my colonists and a SAG(Battle fleet no cv; "surface action group" in other games) in system running war games.  I have scanned several times with active scanners.

On an unrelated note, how many systems must I colonize to get a sector commander? I have colonized 3 systems so far. Sol. Procyon. and Alpha Centauri  

Edit to add ground combat strength is 38. What does that actually mean? I now have 5 divisions and an HQ ground side. Is that enough to beat them?

You assign sector commanders the same way you assign planetary governors, with the caveat you need a sector command installation on one world (which becomes the sector capital). You need to research Improved Command & Control before the sector command installation is available.

Actively scanning NPRs will degrade relations with them.

As for your ground forces, you have 5 divisions, or 20 brigades on planet? That should be enough I'd think. Though going by your stated combat strength, I'd say you have 5 brigades on planet. The strength is the sum of the attack strength (I believe). You can check this out on your own Ground Unit tab on your Economic screen.

FYI, ground forces go Unit (Assault, Infantry, etc) to Brigade to Division. Each Brigade HQ can control 4 units, each Divisional HQ can control 4 Brigades (full or otherwise). So 5 Divisions would be 20 units plus associated HQ elements.
Posted by: sonofliberty
« on: March 24, 2012, 05:44:58 PM »

I have had an intel/espionage team on a neutral alien world for over 2 years. I also have a colony on said world. How do I gain intel on their military level and troop numbers? I see thermal 3069, em 30471(I suspect these readings include my colony). I have 2 heavy assault divisions and a garrison there with my colonists and a SAG(Battle fleet no cv; "surface action group" in other games) in system running war games.  I have scanned several times with active scanners.

On an unrelated note, how many systems must I colonize to get a sector commander? I have colonized 3 systems so far. Sol. Procyon. and Alpha Centauri  

Edit to add ground combat strength is 38. What does that actually mean? I now have 5 divisions and an HQ ground side. Is that enough to beat them?
Posted by: sonofliberty
« on: March 24, 2012, 01:33:57 PM »

Thanks.
Posted by: Hawkeye
« on: March 24, 2012, 01:23:53 PM »

Take them to your research world, open the colony screen (F2), Industry tab, Stockpile tab.
Disassemble gives you research points but no resources
Scrap gives you resources, but no research points.

If you Disassemble a part and you can´t learn anything, a message to that effect will pop up.
Posted by: sonofliberty
« on: March 24, 2012, 12:50:49 PM »

How do you disassemble alien ship components for RP points and/or scrap?
Posted by: metalax
« on: March 24, 2012, 09:37:50 AM »

You can have more than one team operating on a planet, yes. But their efforts are completely seperate.
Posted by: sonofliberty
« on: March 24, 2012, 09:33:14 AM »

My teams run from 110-125 average for all my different teams. Can 2 teams work together?
Posted by: metalax
« on: March 24, 2012, 09:24:59 AM »

For geo surveys 140 skill is the figure I've seen around the forums as being the point at which the chance of a survey being considered finished is reduced to the minimum. Any skill above that just increases the likelyhood of a deposit being found in any particular interval.
Posted by: xeryon
« on: March 24, 2012, 09:20:54 AM »

You might just need to swap out officers in your xeno and geo teams for people with higher skills
Posted by: TheDeadlyShoe
« on: March 24, 2012, 08:24:09 AM »

Xeno teams stay at work until they succeed their roll, the likelihood of which depends on their skill.  Geo teams stay at work until the planet is deemed surveyed - everytime they succeed a geo roll, there's a chance that the planet be deemed surveyed.  Again, the skill of the geo team improves the chance of succeeding at rolls.   Also, up to a point (120 skill I think?), it can lower the chance of the planet being deemed survey complete.