Why Space Stations?

[Borealis4x (OP)]

Besides saving fuel and resources on the engines, what is the advantage of building, say, a fuel-extraction space station or a fuel-extraction ship?

Also, when is a ship even considered a space station? I would think it is when you make a design with no engines, but instead it seems to be when you check the 'unarmored' option in the design menu. That doesn't make sense to me.

[Black]

Space Stations can be build by construction factories, you don't need shipyards for them, that is big advantage. To compensate for that, they have no armor (you need to check No Armour) and it is not possible to equip them with military components.

[Borealis4x (OP)]

Space Stations can be build by construction factories, you don't need shipyards for them, that is big advantage. To compensate for that, they have no armor (you need to check No Armour) and it is not possible to equip them with military components.

So there is no limit to their tonnage?

Kinda weird that armor is the thing that differentiates space stations from ships.

[Black]

Well there is limit to what Aurora allows before you start to get errors, i believe that is based on 32 bit integer. You also need tugs to move them so you are limited by what your tugs can manage with their engines.

There is post from Steve about space stations: http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg106780#msg106780

[Jorgen_CAB]

Space Stations can be build by construction factories, you don't need shipyards for them, that is big advantage. To compensate for that, they have no armor (you need to check No Armour) and it is not possible to equip them with military components.

So there is no limit to their tonnage?

Kinda weird that armor is the thing that differentiates space stations from ships.

You are conflating the word station with the mechanic that industry can build stuff in orbit without a shipyard.

The mechanical limitation for industry on a planet to build any structure in space is that it has no armour, no engines and no military components. If these conditions is not met you need to build everything in a shipyard even if it technically is a station.

There are no real differences on anything in space but what you reference it. You can call anything a station even if you have an engine attached too it... it might just be so slow that it technically IS a station that can just move slightly.

But normally any structure i space without an engine is normally called a station and structures with engines a ship, it really is as simple as that.

[Thrake]

Besides saving fuel and resources on the engines, what is the advantage of building, say, a fuel-extraction space station or a fuel-extraction ship?

Also, when is a ship even considered a space station? I would think it is when you make a design with no engines, but instead it seems to be when you check the 'unarmored' option in the design menu. That doesn't make sense to me.

That's pretty big already to save on engines though.

If you design a fuel harvester with engines that is set to harvest fuel and then transfer it to colony, it means that either the engines are idle, either the sorium harvesting modules are.

If you design a tug and stations, then your tug's engines can handle all the production of a shipyard with little downtime and you also have the extra flexibility of having dozen tugs that can be used for other purposes.

[Arcanestomper]

Also not having to devote a shipyard to it can be a benefit in itself.  I'm playing a conventional campaign, and with only one starting commercial shipyard being able to build mining platforms and other commercial stations with my factories means saving my limited shipyards for things that absolutely need engines.  Plus I can build a huge mining platform in a few months as compared to a few years.

[SpikeTheHobbitMage]

Besides saving fuel and resources on the engines, what is the advantage of building, say, a fuel-extraction space station or a fuel-extraction ship?

Also, when is a ship even considered a space station? I would think it is when you make a design with no engines, but instead it seems to be when you check the 'unarmored' option in the design menu. That doesn't make sense to me.

That's pretty big already to save on engines though.

If you design a fuel harvester with engines that is set to harvest fuel and then transfer it to colony, it means that either the engines are idle, either the sorium harvesting modules are.

If you design a tug and stations, then your tug's engines can handle all the production of a shipyard with little downtime and you also have the extra flexibility of having dozen tugs that can be used for other purposes.

You also don't need a tug for every station, just one for every station that is begin moved at a given time.  This can save you a bundle by itself just on engine costs.

[Jorgen_CAB]

Also not having to devote a shipyard to it can be a benefit in itself.  I'm playing a conventional campaign, and with only one starting commercial shipyard being able to build mining platforms and other commercial stations with my factories means saving my limited shipyards for things that absolutely need engines.  Plus I can build a huge mining platform in a few months as compared to a few years.

You always can build more construction yard though... i don't think that is where you save the effort. The big thing is that factories are way more flexible as you never need to retool them.

If you know that there is a type of station you will always build 24/7 non stop all the time then you definitely should try to get a shipyard built to do it rather than using factories. Shipyards once built are more efficient as they can both build stuff and expand at the same time, say adding new slipways. That is as if a factory could both build new factories and something else at the same time.

[Ri0Rdian]

I would say this is why:

Code: [Select]

Desdemona class Terraforming Base      2 518 818 tons       10 016 Crew       53 033.5 BP       TCS 50 376    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      No Armour       Shields 0-0     HTK 1293      Sensors 8/8/0/0      DCR 1      PPV 0
MSP 13    Max Repair 500 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   
Terraformer: 100 modules producing 0.06 atm per annum


Elbit "Howler" Navigation System (1)     GPS 1600     Range 29.6m km    Resolution 100
BAE Systems "Marconi v8" Communication Suite (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22.4m km
BAE Systems "SensOR" Thermal Imagining System (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22.4m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Space Station for construction purposes

I like to cut down on micro as much as possible, and Stations are excellent at that. Such big stuff is nearly impossible to do with a Dock so Industry is the way to go. My Terraformers, Sorium Harvesters, Miners are almost exclusively Stations. Quite big at that, but not very numerous.

Sorium Harvester that has to move is less efficient than one that only mines and has a tanker moving what he mines. The tanker can also save as a normal tanker instead so no downtime there.

[Borealis4x (OP)]

I would say this is why:

Code: [Select]

Desdemona class Terraforming Base      2 518 818 tons       10 016 Crew       53 033.5 BP       TCS 50 376    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      No Armour       Shields 0-0     HTK 1293      Sensors 8/8/0/0      DCR 1      PPV 0
MSP 13    Max Repair 500 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   
Terraformer: 100 modules producing 0.06 atm per annum


Elbit "Howler" Navigation System (1)     GPS 1600     Range 29.6m km    Resolution 100
BAE Systems "Marconi v8" Communication Suite (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22.4m km
BAE Systems "SensOR" Thermal Imagining System (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22.4m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Space Station for construction purposes

I like to cut down on micro as much as possible, and Stations are excellent at that. Such big stuff is nearly impossible to do with a Dock so Industry is the way to go. My Terraformers, Sorium Harvesters, Miners are almost exclusively Stations. Quite big at that, but not very numerous.

Sorium Harvester that has to move is less efficient than one that only mines and has a tanker moving what he mines. The tanker can also save as a normal tanker instead so no downtime there.

What is the advantage of station miners over automated mines and mass drivers?

[consiefe]

Station miners take 120 corundium to be built while autoated ones take 240. They do the same amount of production. But mining modules can only mine rocks which your race orbital mining tech allows. Automated ones can be dropped on to anywhere barring stars and gas giants.

[Ri0Rdian]

Some asteroids or comets dont have enough minerals to warrant building and shipping new mines there (plus the time) but moving a huge miner there and letting it mine is easy. Just need to ship a mass driver whenever I feel like it to send it all home.

I usually go > Big Sorium Harvester (about 70 harvesters, 30m fuel storage, hub) > automines + mass driver on most needed stuff and then depending on situation either colonisation + terraform + normal mines or 2-3 Big orbital miners (each with 80-100 modules, at about 500k tons). Good thing about miners and harvester stations when build big enough is, with improving tech they will get better, just needs enough of modules (and fuel storage for sorium) even for super late game stuff.


Edit:
My general reasoning is, below 10k minerals I leave it to CMC and buy or tax as needed. Above 10k, depending on amount of minerals I send automines or orbital miners (the less minerals it has the bigger chance I will send orbital), automines have quite a bit of hidden cost in having to use and fuel transports that are also busy for some time, while huge orbital miner only needs a tug, and even that only once in a while. With about 100k minerals (total) or more I almost exclusively use automines, if the colony cost is too high or its outside of gravity limits.

Also, which is probably well known, a target with 5 minerals at 10k each is better than one with a single mineral at 50k, because one mine can mine its annual production of every mineral.

[Destragon]

The "no armor" space stations are actually so nice that I'm wondering the opposite of the thread's title.
Do you ever design something as a moving ship for a purpose that could instead be done by a space station anymore?

[Jorgen_CAB]

The "no armor" space stations are actually so nice that I'm wondering the opposite of the thread's title.
Do you ever design something as a moving ship for a purpose that could instead be done by a space station anymore?

Asteroid mining ships could potentially be a ship-type you still build as it take less micromanagement to order them about and perhaps even ship minerals they mined back to a planet. It might not be more efficient from a resource perspective but is less micromanagement. Me personally don't do that but I'm pretty certain someone does for that reason.