Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread: C# Edition

[davidr]

Re my Ordnance problem,

Thanks all - I have now successfully changed the ordnance to MK2 missiles and can now proceed.

DavidR

[Xanithas]

What is the value of using a active sensor on a missile and do you use them at all?

[Cedo0099]

What is the value of using a active sensor on a missile and do you use them at all?

Not a pro but from what i read, you don't need an active sensor on missile except if you want them to lock themselves the target or acquire a new one after the destruction of the primary target.  Need to be validated

[nuclearslurpee]

What is the value of using a active sensor on a missile and do you use them at all?

The value is that if the intended target is destroyed or otherwise unavailable (e.g., firing ship loses MFC/active target lock), the missile will continue to its original destination coordinates and then attempt to acquire a new target on sensors, which can help reduce wasted ordnance due to overkill. It is a bit questionable tactically, since the 0.25 or more MSP dedicated to a sensor is MSP that could have been used to improve the missile's performance, but some people do use sensors effectively so it is certainly not a bad idea.

[Xkill]

Missiles with sensors are great! I use them all the time on larger missiles (size 6-9). As mentioned, they allow the missile to retarget if necessary which is good if you use large salvos (box launchers) or high damage missiles. By finding new targets autonomously you can use the entire salvo on all nearby ships, reducing the danger of wasting ordnance on overkill. I have not experimented with thermals, but they might be cheaper in MSP for similar performance.

[ZimRathbone]

not so useful with large salvos any more...all missiles in salvos that hit at the same time (in the same 5 second increment) are lost so it doesn't matter if the target is destroyed by the first missile to hit, the rest are overkill.  The sensor comes into play with any follow up salvos targeted on the now destroyed unit.

[boolybooly]

not so useful with large salvos any more...all missiles in salvos that hit at the same time (in the same 5 second increment) are lost so it doesn't matter if the target is destroyed by the first missile to hit, the rest are overkill.  The sensor comes into play with any follow up salvos targeted on the now destroyed unit.

Yes. If you are using box launchers then alpha strike is at max but all salvos hit simultaneously so sensors on missiles do no good and you are better off adding warhead. You also have to diddle about making sure missile fire controls are distributing missiles evenly between targets as they dont distribute themselves. However anyone playing Aurora and complaining about micro is playing the wrong game!

If you are using reloadable launchers at long range creating a stream of missiles from successive firing intervals against bunched targets then sensors on missiles make sense. But this is inefficient against targets with any kind of PD. So you are really talking about commercial targets without CIWS which is a pretty restricted scenario.

[Garfunkel]

If you have a technological advantage AND/OR you have a numerical superiority of launchers vs PD, then it's very much possible to break through enemy defensive umbrella without box launcher spam. In which case sensors on missiles to retarget is a good idea.

[boolybooly]

Question, do ground unit crew-serviced anti-personnel CAP units pick a new target if they kill their first choice and have not run out of shots, or are the remaining shots lost like missile salvos? Or is the chance to kill multiplied by the number of shots in the first place?

Trying to design effective boarding parties. I am wondering how to proportion CAP vs IPW (improved personal weapons). If CAP get all their shots with new targets then its a no brainer just go all CAP and mow them down. Since they are twice the size of IPW you get 3x the shots per ton. IPW on the other hand have better penetration. If CAP lose their spare shots then IPW at half size will improve destruction rate by about 2x over CAP if the tech level (9) makes penetration more likely.

I have looked around the web and cant find a description of how multi-shot units work.

[nuclearslurpee]

or are the remaining shots lost like missile salvos?

Yes. The equivalent of a salvo in the ground combat mechanics would be a formation element - that is, N units of the same GU class (i.e., not a single unit, but the entire group of them).

Trying to design effective boarding parties.

In this case keep in mind that the ship crew is modeled as a single formation, with a single element (N crew members with PWL and 1/2 racial HP and armor), so there isn't any possibility of element overkill/wasted shots until the entire crew is dead. The better consideration in this case is the balance between weapon size and number of shots - CAP provides the most shots per ton, but you can have 4x PWL in the same tonnage as a single CAP which means absorbing 4x as many losses. Therefore, you want a balance between PWL and CAP to optimize both kill rate and loss rate (no other weapon type is worthwhile unless you are playing against multiple player races and expect that there may be dedicated GUs on board their ships for defensive purposes).

[KriegsMeister]

Anyone have a break down of what equipment Infantry/Static/Vehicles can utilize? I don't have access to my computer for a few weeks but I'm bored and trying to plan out a new campaign. Tried checking the wiki and the mechanics changes posts, but nothing lists out a full breakdown of what can use what.

[nuclearslurpee]

Anyone have a break down of what equipment Infantry/Static/Vehicles can utilize? I don't have access to my computer for a few weeks but I'm bored and trying to plan out a new campaign. Tried checking the wiki and the mechanics changes posts, but nothing lists out a full breakdown of what can use what.

Component	INF	LVH	VEH	HVH	SHV	UHV	STA
PWL	X
PW	X
PWI	X
CAP	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
HCAP	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
LAV	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
MAV		X	X	X	X	X	X
HAV			X	X	X	X	X
SHAV					X	X
LB	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
MB		X	X	X	X	X	X
MBL			X	X	X	X	X
HB			X	X	X	X	X
SHB				X	X	X	X
LAC		X	X	X	X	X
MAC		X	X	X	X	X
HAC			X	X	X	X
LAA	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
MAA		X	X	X	X	X	X
HAA			X	X	X	X	X
STO							X
FFD	X	X	X	X	X	X
HQ	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
LOG	*	X
LOG-S	X
CON			X	X	X	X
GEO			X	X	X	X
XEN			X	X	X	X

*Ability to mount this component will be removed for v2.2+

Checked against the DB but it's possible I misread something so take with the usual grain of salt. 

[boolybooly]

I have a strange situation in 2.1.1 where dragging a repair shipyard (default size 10,000) through a jump point using a tractor tug chain with one module between the tug and the SY, caused the SY to be recognised as a new race of the player species and triggered a new listing in the intelligence window named "civilians" with diplomacy rating 10,000 and all available checkboxes.

I am not sure what happened here. I dont allow civ construction yet in this game. Even if I did I would not expect a civ ship or structure to be treated as a separate race.

What I noticed before this happened was the shipyard when being towed by the middle module did not show in the ship listings but was itemised in the fleet info.

Trying to establish is this a bug? Has it been reported? Do I need to report it?

[nuclearslurpee]

I believe tractor tug chains are buggy in general and strongly not recommended, so this is probably another bug related to that. You could report it (no particular reason not to), but so far Steve has not seemed very interested in making tractor chains work IIRC.

[Kiero]

I have a strange situation in 2.1.1 where dragging a repair shipyard (default size 10,000) through a jump point using a tractor tug chain with one module between the tug and the SY, caused the SY to be recognised as a new race of the player species and triggered a new listing in the intelligence window named "civilians" with diplomacy rating 10,000 and all available checkboxes.

I am not sure what happened here. I dont allow civ construction yet in this game. Even if I did I would not expect a civ ship or structure to be treated as a separate race.

What I noticed before this happened was the shipyard when being towed by the middle module did not show in the ship listings but was itemised in the fleet info.

Trying to establish is this a bug? Has it been reported? Do I need to report it?

It is a bug even without a tug chain.