Aurora 4x
New Players => The Academy => Topic started by: Gump on July 28, 2012, 05:01:07 AM
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I've recently downloaded Aurora and find there is much I do not understand, so I thought I'd throw all my queries into a single thread rather than start then.
Are PDCs on the surface of a planet or in orbit? When I create some using the Fast OOB at the beginning of a game they seem to be assigned to fleets which confuses me as I assumed they were ground based and immovable once built.
Do Gauss turrets get an oppertunity to shoot at fast missiles? The Gauss weaponry I build have low ranges, 30-60kkm. The missiles I build have speeds from 30kkm/s. So in a 5 second turn one of my missiles can go from far outside the Guass turrets range to impact. In this event would the turret get to fire at the missile?
What are the effects of the tick boxes in the top right corner Class Design screen (Tanker, Collier, Supply Ship). And what the heck is a collier anyway?
What are Orbital Habitats used for?
What are Combat Drop Modules for?
How do I perform boarding actions in space combat?
Missiles seem vastly more effective than beam weaponry in fleet combat. I reckon if two fleets of eqaul technology engaged one another, one beam armed, one missle armed, the beam fleet would never be able to close the range to return fire. Have beams weapons got anything going for them except the logistics of making sure all ships magazines are fully stocked?
Is there a formula to calculate the speed a Tug will move when hauling a knowing weight of 'load'
How can I make multiple saves of the same game, incase I screw up badly and need to roll back?
Thank you for any replies.
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Are PDCs on the surface of a planet or in orbit? When I create some using the Fast OOB at the beginning of a game they seem to be assigned to fleets which confuses me as I assumed they were ground based and immovable once built.
They are immobile once built(aside from a bug that lets them be very,very slowly moved that is fixed in the next version). They are still assigned to a taskgroup, it is usually best to create a new taskgroup at earth and then fast oob your initial PDC's into that one. Don't mix ships into the same taskgroup, as a PDC taskgroup can't be given orders.
Do Gauss turrets get an oppertunity to shoot at fast missiles? The Gauss weaponry I build have low ranges, 30-60kkm. The missiles I build have speeds from 30kkm/s. So in a 5 second turn one of my missiles can go from far outside the Guass turrets range to impact. In this event would the turret get to fire at the missile?
With gauss you want to set them to point defense and final defensive fire, as this will cause them to fire on any incoming missiles at 10,000 km before they can impact, even if they start off out of range, as long as the missiles are already detected by your active sensor.
What are the effects of the tick boxes in the top right corner Class Design screen (Tanker, Collier, Supply Ship). And what the heck is a collier anyway?
Tanker gives the ship access to more orders relating to fuel transfer, Collier for missile stocks and Supply ships for maintainance supplies. They also mark the ship as a valid target for "refuel at nearest tanker" type orders.
A collier carries spare missiles to resupply your missile ships.
What are Orbital Habitats used for?
Orbital habitats provide space for 50,000 colonists on a body with no need for infrastructure to deal with colony cost. Ships/bases designed with them can also be built by industry instead of using a shipyard.
What are Combat Drop Modules for?
How do I perform boarding actions in space combat?
Normal troop transport modules take significant time to load/unload, combat drop modules unload instantaneously. Note that troops suffer penalties if they are left in combat drop modules for significant lengths of time. It is best to carry troops in transport modules then transfer to dropships with combat drop modules just before combat.
Missiles seem vastly more effective than beam weaponry in fleet combat. I reckon if two fleets of eqaul technology engaged one another, one beam armed, one missle armed, the beam fleet would never be able to close the range to return fire. Have beams weapons got anything going for them except the logistics of making sure all ships magazines are fully stocked?
Assuming equal tech and equal resources spent on the ships, then missile ships almost always have the advantage in single battle scenarios. Where they suffer is that missile ships can run out of missiles whereas beam ships keep going until destroyed. As it can take significant time and resources to produce enough missiles for a compete reload of all of your ships, this can be important in extended conflicts.
Is there a formula to calculate the speed a Tug will move when hauling a knowing weight of 'load'
final speed = speed of tug * (mass of tug / (mass of tug + mass of tow))
How can I make multiple saves of the same game, incase I screw up badly and need to roll back?
Make a copy of Stevefire.mdb and stick it into a labeled directory.
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Is there a formula to calculate the speed a Tug will move when hauling a knowing weight of 'load'
It should be (EnginePowerOfTug + EnginePowerOfTow)/(MassOfTug + MassOfTow), where EnginePower = Speed*Mass. This was the Starfire rule and I don't think Steve changed it.
How can I make multiple saves of the same game, incase I screw up badly and need to roll back?
There's a thread in the FAQ section with a suggested procedure.
John
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Thanks for the answers so far.
Tanker gives the ship access to more orders relating to fuel transfer, Collier for missile stocks and Supply ships for maintainance supplies. They also mark the ship as a valid target for "refuel at nearest tanker" type orders.
A collier carries spare missiles to resupply your missile ships.
Would I need to tick any boxes on a Carrier design?
Orbital habitats provide space for 50,000 colonists on a body with no need for infrastructure to deal with colony cost. Ships/bases designed with them can also be built by industry instead of using a shipyard.
I do not understand how to make/deploy the orbital habitat. I make a ship design for a habitat and I need to include a bridge, crew quarters and engineer section accoridng to the design error box? I can build the habiat through the industry tab. How do I get the habitat to its destination? Tug, or do I need an engine in the design, or by Cargo fleet?
Normal troop transport modules take significant time to load/unload, combat drop modules unload instantaneously. Note that troops suffer penalties if they are left in combat drop modules for significant lengths of time. It is best to carry troops in transport modules then transfer to dropships with combat drop modules just before combat.
Where do I find the screen to transport troops from one ship to another?
EDIT;
A new query. Can someone explain Civilian Contracts to me, specifically the demand/supply options. If I set a contarct to supply do I supply to the civilians or do the civilians supply me? And what costs are involved?
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I do not understand how to make/deploy the orbital habitat. I make a ship design for a habitat and I need to include a bridge, crew quarters and engineer section accoridng to the design error box? I can build the habiat through the industry tab. How do I get the habitat to its destination? Tug, or do I need an engine in the design, or by Cargo fleet?
While you can put engines on a habitat, tugs are better by far. First and foremost, planets move as well, so you can't have a habitat that moves at, say, 10 kps, becouse it won't catch up to any planet. So you have to put quite few engines on it. Which increases costs. And those engines will be used for - most likely - a single trip. So definietly tugs.
EDIT;
A new query. Can someone explain Civilian Contracts to me, specifically the demand/supply options. If I set a contarct to supply do I supply to the civilians or do the civilians supply me? And what costs are involved?
Civilian contracts is simply a window used to move stuff via private freighters. Example: You have two planets, Earth and Mars. You have 1000 infrastructure you want to move to Mars. You set up on Earth screen "Supply 1000 infrastracture" and Mars screen "Damand 1000 infrastracture" and private ships should begin moving the stuff.
There is more to it of course, and to be honest I don't know exact mechanics. I heard for example, that you need to have population on both planets for civilian ships to move the stuff.
As for costs, as far as I know it costs nothing. Quite the opposite, I think that private freighters don't use Empire fuel, so it's actually cheaper to move installations this way. Slower, but cheaper.
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I've had private freighters move infrastructure to colonies with no population on it. I'm not sure if private colonist transports will move people to a colony with no people on it though.
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I've had private freighters move infrastructure to colonies with no population on it. I'm not sure if private colonist transports will move people to a colony with no people on it though.
They will. So long as it has the infrastructure/costs 0
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Carriers do not need any of the boxes ticked. They merely need Boat Bay or Hangar components. You probably want to add the default fighter load to them during the design process if you have already built the fighters but you can do it later as well.
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I intend to make large Sorium Harvesting and Terraforming stations, as big as my shipyards wil allow.
I want to build them without engines, and manouver them with Tugs. I figure no jump drives or engines will allow more space for the specialised modules. If I want my Tug to take a station through an ungated jump point will the Tug need to be as-big-as/bigger than the station?
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I intend to make large Sorium Harvesting and Terraforming stations, as big as my shipyards wil allow.
I want to build them without engines, and manouver them with Tugs. I figure no jump drives or engines will allow more space for the specialised modules. If I want my Tug to take a station through an ungated jump point will the Tug need to be as-big-as/bigger than the station?
Yes. Alternatively you can build a jump-tender, a big jump-engine equipped ship that only sits on the jump point. This can be more efficient as you only need the one jump-engine for all traffic through that jump point.
Still for very large ships you are likely much better off by using jump gates.
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Is it better to have one magazine with one hundred capacity, or two magazine with fifty capacity?
If a ships armour is;
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
as is hit by a size nine warhead, then I understand the damage pattern would be;
1 2 X X X X X 8 9
1 2 3 X X X 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 X 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
If a second size nine warhead impacted in the centre of the exisiting 'crater' what would the damage pattern look like?
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Is it better to have one magazine with one hundred capacity, or two magazine with fifty capacity?
If a ships armour is;
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
as is hit by a size nine warhead, then I understand the damage pattern would be;
1 2 X X X X X 8 9
1 2 3 X X X 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 X 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
If a second size nine warhead impacted in the centre of the exisiting 'crater' what would the damage pattern look like?
1 2 X X X X X 8 9
1 2 X X X X X 8 9
1 2 3 X X X 7 8 9
1 2 3 X X X 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 X 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 X 6 7 8 9
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Is it better to have one magazine with one hundred capacity, or two magazine with fifty capacity?
Once you go over 90% feed efficiency for your magazines, a larger size can squeeze out a slightly improved capacity for the same tonnage. Larger magazines have a slightly lower crew requirement than the same tonnage of smaller magazines but otherwise have the same costs.
Larger magazines are more fragile as they are 1 HTK for the whole magazine, while smaller magazines are 1 HTK each. If you add internal armouring to the magazine this difference becomes substantial. On the other hand larger magazines lose less space to internal armouring. You are more likely to suffer at least one internal explosion using many smaller magazines, but the damage of the explosion will be smaller as well.
A second size 9 warhead impacting in the same point as the previous would produce
1 2 X X X X X 8 9
1 2 X X X X X 8 9
1 2 3 X X X 7 8 9
1 2 3 X X X 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 X 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 X 6 7 8 9
A third would produce
1 2 X X X X X 8 9
1 2 X X X X X 8 9
1 2 X X X X X 8 9
1 2 3 X X X 7 8 9
1 2 3 X X X 7 8 9
1 2 3 X X X 7 8 9
and 3 points of internal damage.
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Magasines use 1. 5 crew/hull space, rounded up. For maximum efficiency use magasine sizes divisible by 2
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What does the 'Flag Bridge' do?
How effective is 'Damage Control'? Does it give a decent chance of performing repairs during a battle, or does it need a greater length of time to be effective?
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Flag Bridges let the ship host a Task Force headquarters. Task Force bonuses only apply in the same system as their headquarters, but owing to risk and practicality most players use a single Task Force headquartered in their home system.
You may change Task Force HQ locations in the Task Force Organization (ctrl-f4) screen.
Damage control... is only kind of effective. 'In battle' repairs are typically only meaningful during long duration missile duels, or if both sides exhaust their missiles.
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One more point in regards to beam weapons vs. missiles- if you're playing with real stars turned off, you should be aware that missiles and shields do not function in a nebula.
Nebulae are fun. Give 'em a try sometime, just be sure you're heavily armored- max speed is directly related to how much armor you have.
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How can I go about generating more cash income?
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How can I go about generating more cash income?
- More population
- Better Wealth Creation Technology
- Good Administrators with the appropriate ability
- More financial centres (although building them will cost you more money in the short run)
- Promoting Civilian Trade and Shipping lines
- looting Aliens
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- Better Wealth Creation Technology
Would that be the "expand civilian economy by x%" tech?
- Promoting Civilian Trade and Shipping lines
Is that just a case of setting up colonys and setting up supply/demand contracts?
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Would that be the "expand civilian economy by x%" tech?
Yes.
Is that just a case of setting up colonys and setting up supply/demand contracts?
Yes, primarily. You can also hand out subsidies (which of course costs money initially). You can also design luxury ship liners, which usually earn the shipping lines some nice profits. Additionally Civilians would profit from spaceports on your colonies. Oh and of course trade treaties with aliens. All of this is rather long-term though. For a cash crunch the tech line and appropriate administrator are the best options (apart from austerity).
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Having near distance colonies is a big bonus as well. Civilian shipping lines will prosper and give you a generous tax revenue boost.
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Civ mines can also sell minerals if you need cash and don't particularly need what is being produced by the mine.
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Personally I wouldn't bother with Financial Centers.
Also everything you build, research or upgrade costs money, so if you have money problems cut back a bit. I think that includes expanding shipyards too.
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Remember to keep up with your civilian economy tech as well.
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Larger magazines are more fragile as they are 1 HTK for the whole magazine, while smaller magazines are 1 HTK each. If you add internal armouring to the magazine this difference becomes substantial. On the other hand larger magazines lose less space to internal armouring. You are more likely to suffer at least one internal explosion using many smaller magazines, but the damage of the explosion will be smaller as well.
Does the contents of the magazine affect how much damage it deals when it explodes?
Will a size 10 magazine carrying 10 warhead 4 missiles explode more than one carrying 10 warhead 2 missiles?
If only the size matters, wouldn't lots of smaller magazines always be better, since it would be harder to lose an entire ship to a single damage point?