Enjoying this game, but I have some questions

[Hyfrydle]

Looking forward to reading your AAR the more people write about the game the better. The best way to learn is to play and experiment alot and don't take mistakes too harshly  

[MattyD]

Re the geo survey teams

welchbloke stated:

have a look at the colony summary page. Does it say yes or no for the Geo survey? If yes you have been unlucky, if no then they are still hard at work. Also what is the skill level of the team?




..

The summary page says 'no'. The teams skill is only 85 which I know is low, but I want to train them up before I let them loose on important planets. With the passage of time I just thought that they had fallen through a hole in the system with the four year time span.

Mind you I was reading a post in the ship design section and there was a guy there who had played a hundred years without building much in the way of warships - 4 years in this game is not a significant period of time, me thinks.

[MattyD]

RIght, before I get my AAR up and running - well I'm still yet to move the time along but the initial post is done - I am running a trial game to see what happens long term. I've got Geology teams sorted, so that's no longer a problem.

My setup was low in materials, and I have colonised Mars to around 20m population, using supply and demand to get civilian lines moving.

Now, given the fact I am running out of materials very early on, I have yet to see an advantage from any colonisation. I have to build facilities there that take up vital minerals, I have to build a military presence there which ties up resources. I don't see the return.

Are two colonies in a single system an advantage or a drain?

[welchbloke]

Re the geo survey teams

welchbloke stated:

have a look at the colony summary page. Does it say yes or no for the Geo survey? If yes you have been unlucky, if no then they are still hard at work. Also what is the skill level of the team?




..

The summary page says 'no'. The teams skill is only 85 which I know is low, but I want to train them up before I let them loose on important planets. With the passage of time I just thought that they had fallen through a hole in the system with the four year time span.

Mind you I was reading a post in the ship design section and there was a guy there who had played a hundred years without building much in the way of warships - 4 years in this game is not a significant period of time, me thinks.

Sounds like they are working away but have not found anything yet.  As you have identified, development does not happen quickly in Aurora.  As a rule of thumb, I tend not to create teams unless they will at least be team skill 100.

[Zed 6]

Re: Geology Teams

Very new player here. I have one Xeno team which has worked fine so far on 3 planets. Not too long and not too short.  But the geology teams seem to be hit or miss. I have no proof but I think there is something seriously wrong with them. If a team member leaves ( Dies of natural causes, killed in an accident, retires etc.), this is not necessarily stated on the Events page that it was a member of a team, so unless you constantly check the Leaders page, you can be short a Team member.  Once a Team member has been replaced ( either on the homeworld and sent back to the original body or at the body being surveyed) there seems to be a high probaility that you'll never hear from that team again. (10 years +) and still waiting ( 150-170 ratings) while other lower rated teams (90-110) find minerals very quickly at times. ( 5-30 days with original members).  I'm going to reset the teams by bringing them home, disband and make new ones and try to keep an accurate log of dates, times, deaths and replacements.

[schroeam]

RIght, before I get my AAR up and running - well I'm still yet to move the time along but the initial post is done - I am running a trial game to see what happens long term. I've got Geology teams sorted, so that's no longer a problem.

My setup was low in materials, and I have colonised Mars to around 20m population, using supply and demand to get civilian lines moving.

Now, given the fact I am running out of materials very early on, I have yet to see an advantage from any colonisation. I have to build facilities there that take up vital minerals, I have to build a military presence there which ties up resources. I don't see the return.

Are two colonies in a single system an advantage or a drain?

Matty_D,
Another thing you need to keep in mind is the treasury.  The treasury, for the most part, is funded by the taxation of your citizens.  Small colonies will reproduce at a higher rate than large, developed colonies.  You may be set up in a system that is resource rich, but without spreading your population out the size of your fleet will quickly out pace your ability to pay for them.

Adam.

[Shade]

How can I assign Task Groups to a different Task Force? There is the drop-down menu in Task Groups that lists the different Forces, and the help popup seems to state that this is the method by which you change it, but it doesn't anything. There's no 'Set' button or similar, just the drop-down that doesn't work.

[sloanjh]

How can I assign Task Groups to a different Task Force? There is the drop-down menu in Task Groups that lists the different Forces, and the help popup seems to state that this is the method by which you change it, but it doesn't anything. There's no 'Set' button or similar, just the drop-down that doesn't work.

Use the 4th tab (Fleet organization) to create the TG - then it will be in the correct TF.  The pulldown broke when the 4th tab was introduced.l

John

[Shade]

I have used 'Add TG' to add the Group to a branch of the new Force, but it is still listed as Fleet Headquarters. Given that Naval Organisation is blank despite the existence of default TG's in the default TF, I get the feeling that it is somewhat divorced from reality.

[sloanjh]

I have used 'Add TG' to add the Group to a branch of the new Force, but it is still listed as Fleet Headquarters. Given that Naval Organisation is blank despite the existence of default TG's in the default TF, I get the feeling that it is somewhat divorced from reality.

You need to select the branch on the org tab, then click on the button that makes a new TG (I think it's called "Branch+Subs" or something like that).  This will form a brand new TG that belongs to the TF the branch is in.  The thing to understand is that the Naval Org tab doesn't have anything to do with existing TG - it is used to create a new TG (removing the ships from whichever existing TG that they're currently in).

You might also try to read Steve's post from when he introduced the Naval Org tab - it's probably in Mechanics about 6 months ago.

John

[MattyD]

I'm trying to make my first combat craft. I've scoured the forums and come up with this...

Code: [Select]

SE5a class Fighter    850 tons     89 Crew     177.8 BP      TCS 17  TH 60  EM 0
3529 km/s     Armour 1-7     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 2
Annual Failure Rate: 5%    IFR: 0.1%    Maint Capacity 131 MSP    Max Repair 42 MSP    Est Time: 9.9 Years
Magazine 18    

Ion Engine E8 (1)    Power 60    Fuel Use 80%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres    Range 52.9 billion km   (173 days at full power)

Size 2 Missile Launcher (1)    Missile Size 2    Rate of Fire 30
Missile Fire Control FC7-R20 (1)     Range 7.6m km    Resolution 20

Active Search Sensor MR7-R30 (1)     GPS 1260     Range 7.6m km    Resolution 30
Active Search Sensor MR63-R500 (1)     GPS 10500     Range 63.0m km    Resolution 500

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes


I've made these missiles to be fired from the SE5a.

The Pinprick ASM-2

Code: [Select]

Missile Size: 2 MSP  (0.1 HS)     Warhead: 4    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Speed: 21000 km/s    Endurance: 27 minutes   Range: 33.7m km
Cost Per Missile: 1.7
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 210%   3k km/s 70%   5k km/s 42%   10k km/s 21%
Materials Required:    1x Tritanium   0.45x Gallicite   Fuel x750

Development Cost for Project: 170RP

Now before I get told off for sensor ranges and the like, I can't seem to get any of the missiles - I can see them in my stockpile - on board the fighters. The ammo status reads 0% even after a 'load ordinance at colony' order. I figure that the reason they won't load the missiles is a mistake on my part - some problem with the design.

Any thoughts, or have I just missed something on the interface.

btw,

My attempt at an AAR is here, some gameplay, some things I've learned set out to help those who come after, some ramblings.

http://aurora-4x-aar.livejournal.com/

[Hawkeye]

I'm trying to make my first combat craft. I've scoured the forums and come up with this...

Code: [Select]

SE5a class Fighter    850 tons     89 Crew     177.8 BP      TCS 17  TH 60  EM 0
3529 km/s     Armour 1-7     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 2
Annual Failure Rate: 5%    IFR: 0.1%    Maint Capacity 131 MSP    Max Repair 42 MSP    Est Time: 9.9 Years
Magazine 18    

Ion Engine E8 (1)    Power 60    Fuel Use 80%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres    Range 52.9 billion km   (173 days at full power)

Size 2 Missile Launcher (1)    Missile Size 2    Rate of Fire 30
Missile Fire Control FC7-R20 (1)     Range 7.6m km    Resolution 20

Active Search Sensor MR7-R30 (1)     GPS 1260     Range 7.6m km    Resolution 30
Active Search Sensor MR63-R500 (1)     GPS 10500     Range 63.0m km    Resolution 500

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes


I've made these missiles to be fired from the SE5a.

The Pinprick ASM-2

Code: [Select]

Missile Size: 2 MSP  (0.1 HS)     Warhead: 4    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Speed: 21000 km/s    Endurance: 27 minutes   Range: 33.7m km
Cost Per Missile: 1.7
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 210%   3k km/s 70%   5k km/s 42%   10k km/s 21%
Materials Required:    1x Tritanium   0.45x Gallicite   Fuel x750

Development Cost for Project: 170RP

Now before I get told off for sensor ranges and the like, I can't seem to get any of the missiles - I can see them in my stockpile - on board the fighters. The ammo status reads 0% even after a 'load ordinance at colony' order. I figure that the reason they won't load the missiles is a mistake on my part - some problem with the design.

Any thoughts, or have I just missed something on the interface.

btw,

My attempt at an AAR is here, some gameplay, some things I've learned set out to help those who come after, some ramblings.

http://aurora-4x-aar.livejournal.com/

Little nitpick: This isn´t a fighter, but a FAC  Fighters are up to 500t, FACs 501 to 1000t

You are using a regulare engine, which is perfectly ok, if you want the endurance, but there are other types of engines, you might want to use (there is a post in the FAQ forum)

I highly suggest developing smaller missile launchers as a single missile will be swatted away by even the most rudimentary point defense your enemy has.
Edit: By this I mean the "Reduced Launcher Size" tech, not developing size-1 launchers.

Just to make sure, you did remove the bridge from this design, as ships up to 1000t don´t need one?

As for your ship not loading missiles: You have to set the default loadout. Open the ship desing window (F5), go to the ordnance/fighter tab. There you can tell Aurora the amount and type of missiles, this ship-class is supposed to load.

Hm, your missiles have a lot more range than your missile-firecontrol. Personally, I have it the other way around. Might want to look into that (either remove some fuel form the missile and up the speed/warhead/manouverability, or put a longer ranged FC on your ship)
Also, small ships are a prime candidate for specialisation. My FAC-squadrons usually consist of 5 combat FACs without any sensors (or only very, VERY rudimentary ones) and a single scout FAC, providing sensors for the squadron. But even those are rarely used, as my FACs normally operate within the active sensors of some real warships or a sensor-PDC.

[sloanjh]

As for your ship not loading missiles: You have to set the default loadout. Open the ship desing window (F5), go to the ordnance/fighter tab. There you can tell Aurora the amount and type of missiles, this ship-class is supposed to load.

The other way is that there's a tab on the Units (F6) screen that allows you to exchange missiles with a population.  This is useful if you don't want to use the default loadout.

John

[Shade]

You need to select the branch on the org tab, then click on the button that makes a new TG (I think it's called "Branch+Subs" or something like that).  This will form a brand new TG that belongs to the TF the branch is in.  The thing to understand is that the Naval Org tab doesn't have anything to do with existing TG - it is used to create a new TG (removing the ships from whichever existing TG that they're currently in).

You might also try to read Steve's post from when he introduced the Naval Org tab - it's probably in Mechanics about 6 months ago.

John

Well, I did originally read the post, but all I learned was that I could't understand it. Your instructions have worked perfectly, though.

[Hyfrydle]

Really enjoying your AAR hopefully it will add to the help received in mine. Be careful things can get bad very quickly if your not prepared and preparation in Aurora takes time so a long term plan is essential. Looking forward to the next installment keep it up.