Aurora 4x
C# Aurora => C# Mechanics => Topic started by: Steve Walmsley on September 07, 2022, 04:56:25 PM
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Changes List for 2.2.0
This post includes bug fixes or minor changes. Any more significant changes will have their own post.
Fixes
- 'Reassign All Admin Commands' now reassigns admin commands, rather than planetary governors.
- Fixed bug that sometimes caused fleets to move within minimum distance during close combat.
- Fixed bug that caused weapons to malfunction even when not firing due to zero chance to hit.
- Fixed 'Lower Shield' button for Fleets.
- Fixed error in jump drive creation if minimum size of squadron-capable jump drive is less than 10.
- Fixed bug that sometimes prevented NPRs from firing on STO targets.
- Fixed bug that sometimes caused selection popup window to have blank check boxes
- Updating amount and accessibility in Specify Minerals now also adjusts the values for future accessibility decline.
- Fixed display order of the conditional orders list.
- If a naval admin command is deleted, any subordinate admin commands are reassigned to the top level admin command.
- Absorb orders no longer end movement.
- Fixed bug causing game freeze during system generation in random stars games.
- Fixed Sync Fire for energy weapons.
- Fixed bug that resulted in a defeated population surrendering to the largest population on the planet, rather than the attacking population.
- High Power Microwaves can now have fractional capacitors.
- Fixed a bug that caused a series of #201 errors when discovering a pre-industrial race.
- Fixed bug with ground control ranks being assigned to naval admin commands.
- Waypoints can no longer be assigned to beam fire controls.
- Normal colonies can no longer be created on gas giants or superjovians.
- Fixed a bug that could cause negative water vapour if it was being removed during terraforming.
- Fixed a bug that retained the original parent ship as owner when copying fire control assignments.
- Fixed a bug that reported alien class shield strength as their EM signature, rather than actual strength (which is signature / 30).
- Fixed a bug that prevented STO weapon range from being displayed if the population did not have at least one tracking station.
- The text for beam fire control range now displays correctly on the tactical map.
- Fixed a bug where a fleet with a contact as its ultimate destination would use Lagrange points from its starting system, rather than the contact system.
- Miscellaneous components now appear correctly as Logistics research projects.
- Restore now working correctly for retired commanders.
- Fixed display bug when renaming admin commands.
- Ground units now deleted correctly when parent colony is deleted.
- Fixed description of heavy autocannon.
Minor Changes
- Added a new Galactic Map distance display option for known stars that shows the real space distance in light years from the selected system to each of the other systems.
- Terraforming Installations changed to 50,000 cargo points.
- Shield Recharge moved after movement in sequence of play.
- Logistics Module increased from 500 to 1000 GSP and restricted to light vehicles only.
- Railguns with less than four shots will have a maximum recharge rate of: Capacitor Tech * (Shots / 4) .
- When Ground Force Training Tasks are completed without all production being used, work will begin on the next item in the queue.
- Changed ground unit cost to be rounded to 3 decimal places instead of 2.
- 'Use Roman' checkbox on Economics window will remember state.
- Assigning tech points to a population through disassembly or download will also apply those tech points to paused research projects at other populations.
- Downloading tech or disassembling components can only take place at a population with at least operating one research facility (Research facilities * Manufacturing Efficiency * Economic Prod Modifier * Radiation Production Modifier * Political Stability * Political Status Production Mod >= 1).
- Added display option on Galactic Map for Aether Rifts.
- Changed technology naming for MSP production to reflect it is BP, rather than MSP. The description now includes both.
- Added display of wrecks options to Galactic Map. When active and at least one wreck is present, a small wreck icon and the number of wrecks is displayed to the right of the system name.
- After a shipping line has built ten ships, it will no longer build small ships. After a shipping line has built twenty ships, it will only build very large ships.
- On the Naval Organization, the list of ground units for loading will be shown with unit type abbreviation and displayed by hierarchy, then by abbreviation and then by unit name.
- On the GU/Stockpile tab of the Economics window, any components that can be disassembled to gain tech knowledge will be shown in green text.
- The Fleet History tab now shows movement in reverse order, so the latest executed orders are at the top.
- Added annual MSP consumption to the Fleet window.
- Races cannot create civilian mining colonies unless they have at least one shipyard.
- Removed 'minimal' ground survey results.
- Missile Agility has been removed from the game. All missiles will have a manoeuvre rating of 10.
- The mineral requirements for Missile Engines have changed from 100% Gallicite to 50/50 Gallicite and Boronide. This is to slightly reduce the overall requirement of Gallicite in the game. Technobabble is that missiles have single-use engines and therefore have different build requirements than ship engines.
- Weapon failures will occur during point defence fire. Previously this only happened for offensive fire.
- Active Sensors and Missile Fire Controls split into separate projects on the Create Research Project window.
- NPR hull sizes will potentially be much larger, up to 3x the current maximum.
- NPR warships may use boosted engines.
- When using the Limited Research Administration option, the chance of military academies generating scientists will be increased from 4% to 5% (and from 8% to 10% if the Academy Commandant is a scientist).
- Significant performance improvement.
- Changed Random Ruin option on System View to allow either Random or Selected Ruin.
- Auto-refit tasks will retain the setting of the 'Use Components' option.
- Added extra AI code to reduce the chance of AI fleets dodging in and out of sensor range. They will remember the threat that caused them to move away.
- Added a new 'Transit Delay' event. This doesn't cause an interrupt and will be used in place of the current 'Transit Failure' event when the reason for failure is jump shock.
- Intact components recovered from wrecks will add weapons, sensors and technology (as appropriate) to the respective Alien Class in v2.2
- Technology for spinal mounts and particle lances can be recovered from wrecks and components.
- The rate at which missile launchers recycle in hangar bays is increased by the carrier operations bonus of the carrier.
- Moved colonization cost reduction technology from Logistics to Biology.
- Beam Fire Controls for non-PD STO weapons will be reduced in range to 1x, 2x or 3x tracking range if that range is more than double the weapon range (lowest applied). This is to avoid extra cost in over-engineering STO weapons.
- All fuel storage components are now available from start, including conventional start.
- Added 0.1 ton fuel storage component which contains 100 litres.
- MSP Production technology moved from Construction/Production to Logistics.
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Radiation Reduction
For v2.1, Radiation reduces at 100 per year.
In v2.2, Radiation will reduce at 100 per year or 10% of current level per year, whichever is greater.
For example, in v2.1, Radiation of 10,000 would require 100 years to reduce to zero. In v2.2, it will require 32 years.
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Supernovae
v2.2 adds the option for the Spacemaster to trigger a supernova in Known Stars games. Although supernova candidates are usually high mass stars or white dwarves in special situations, there is no restriction on which stars may be chosen by the Spacemaster (in order to maximise RP opportunities). I may add random event supernovae in the future (after seeing playtesting of SM-triggered).
This is restricted to Known Stars because the 3D locations of all systems are mapped in real space. If a supernova is triggered all jump points, system bodies and military forces in the system will be destroyed. The supernova will also create an expanding sphere of radiation travelling at light speed through normal space. A new display option has been added to the Galactic Map to show 'real space' distance as an alternative to the existing distance via jump points. A second new display option on the Galactic Map displays 'time to impact' for the nearest supernova radiation wave front and the projected radiation on impact.
The strength of the supernova wave front will grow weaker as its spherical surface area increases. When it reaches a new star system, the wave front will irradiate every body in the system and potentially damage any ship and missiles. The radiation impact at different LY distances for a 'standard' supernova is shown below. A body with no atmosphere will suffer the full impact. Any bodies with atmosphere will reduce divide the impact by 100 x atmospheric pressure in atm. There is an option to increase or decrease the power of the supernova and that will have a linear effect on the subsequent damage (2x power = 2x radiation impact all distances).
Ships in an affected system will suffer a number of strength-1 hits equal to Radiation / 100,000. If the radiation is 100,000 or more, all missiles in the system will be destroyed.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Radiation2.PNG)
Here is an example, using Ras Alhague - a A5-III system 46.7 LY from Earth as the Supernova system.
Galactic Map before Supernova - Distances via Jump Point
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Supernova004.PNG)
Galactic Map before Supernova - Distances in Real Space
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Supernova005.PNG)
After triggering Supernova at Ras Alhague
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Supernova006.PNG)
Showing time to impact and radiation level on impact (for bodies with no atmosphere)
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Supernova007.PNG)
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Ship Scrapped Event
A 'Civilian Ship Scrapped' Event has been added for v2.2. This will be used when shipping lines retire old ships and will not be an interrupt event.
The existing 'Ship Scrapped Event', which has an interrupt, will still be used for the completion of scrap tasks in player shipyards.
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Damage Control Changes
For v2.1 (and v2.2), the damage control rating of a ship is used as a multiplier to the chance of repairing damaged systems during a given time period.
For v2.2, each ship also gains a new 'Instant Damage Control Rating'. The DCR rating for a ship or class on the summary display is now shown as two numbers separated by a dash. For example, DCR 10-15 would mean a ship had a damage control rating of 10 and an instant damage control rating of 15.
The 'Instant Damage Control Rating' is calculated as: Damage Control Rating * ((200 / Class Size)).
For example, a 20,000 ton ship with a damage control rating of 12 would have an instant damage control rating of 6. An 8,000 ton ship with a damage control rating of 12 would have an instant damage control rating of 15. If a ship has a Main Engineering component, the instant damage control rating is boosted by Engineering bonus of the Chief Engineer and half that of the Commander. The maximum instant damage control rating is 50, plus any engineering bonus.
Note that for 'normal' damage control (not instant), the Engineering Bonus is multiplied by 5.
When a ship receives internal damage and a component is deemed to be destroyed, there is a percentage chance equal to the instant damage control rating that the component remains intact. If so, this consumes maintenance supplies equal to the cost of the component (the same as maintenance failures) and will be reported as a 'damage control' event.
This change is intended to make damage control systems a more interesting factor in ship design.
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Decontamination
A new Decontamination component has been added for ground forces. This has the same size and cost as the Xenoarchaeology component and can be mounted on medium or larger vehicles.
Each Decontamination component on a planetary surface will increase the rate of Radiation Reduction (see above post) by 0.01% per year.
For example, a formation of 100 Decontamination Vehicles, each with two Decontamination components, would increase the rate of Radiation Reduction by 2%. This formation would cost 872 BP.
A new Decontamination bonus has been added for ground forces commanders, although it is rare with only about 1 in 14 commanders having the bonus.
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Fleet Deletion
In v2.1, you cannot delete a fleet that is the target of shipyard tasks. This is true whether that is deletion is manual or by detaching/tractoring the last ship.
For v2.2, this protection against deletion extends to fleets that are the specified target fleets for space station construction or fighter factory construction.
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Ship Module Changes
- Large Cargo Hold is now a starting system for both conventional and TN starts.
- Cryogenic Transport development cost increased from 1000 to 2000 RP
- Added a Large Cryogenic Transport which is 5x larger than Cryogenic Transport, 4x Cost and 3x Crew.
- Large, Small and Emergency Cryogenic Transport modules are automatically researched when Cryogenic Transport is developed.
- Added a Very Large Troop Transport Bay which is 5x larger than Large Troop Transport Bay, 4x Cost and 3x Crew. Automatically researched when Troop Transport Bay is researched.
- Added a Very Large Troop Transport Drop Bay which is 5x larger than Large Troop Transport Drop Bay, 4x Cost and 3x Crew. Automatically researched when Troop Transport Drop Bay is researched.
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Copy and Update Template
v2.2 adds a new button to the Formation Template tab of the Ground Forces window called Copy + Update. If you select an existing formation and press the button, the following will happen:
- A new formation template will be created based on the selected template.
- The new template will be named <Current Template Name> - <Year>. If the existing template already ends in four digits, they will be replaced by the current year.
- The new template will have the same required rank.
- Any existing ground formations with the existing template as their replacement template will change to the new formation template for their replacement template.
- The formation elements of the existing template will be replicated for new template
- If the racial armour modifier or weapon modifier has been changed since the creation of any class in the original template, a new Ground Unit Class will be generated for the matching element in the new template, based on an upgrade of the original class.
- Any new classes will be named with the same year suffix rules as the template and instantly researched. The old classes will be marked as obsolete.
- If the replaced class was in a unit series, the new class will be added to the series
- If the replaced class was not in a unit series, a new unit series will be created (named '<original class name> Series') and both the original and updated classes will be added to the series
- Any improvements in tracking speed or ECCM will be included for STO elements, although any STO weapon will remain the same as the existing templates.
I considered having the process create research projects for the new vehicles and make the new template some form of 'prototype' that you couldn't build until you completed those projects. However, I thought that would be a little messy and I want ground forces to be less involved than ship design. Rationale could be that 'vehicles based on existing designs are easier to research'.
Before clicking Copy + Update:
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/TemplateBefore.PNG)
After:
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/TemplateAfter.PNG)
Newly Created Unit Series
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/TemplateAfter02.PNG)
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Raider, Swarm and Invader Start Times
In v2.1, the Raiders, Swarm and Invaders only appear once the player discovers a specific number of systems. This value is set on the Game window. However, there are several other factors, such as Raider and Invader spawn rates and Swarm research, that are based on time since Game Start.
For v2.2, each of the above has a separate 'Start Time', which is set to the Game Time when the player has discovered the requisite number of systems. For example, if a player starts in Jan 2025, sets the Raiders to ten systems and discovers the tenth system on July 18th 2031, the Raider Start Time will be July 18th 2031.
The three spoilers will use elapsed time since their individual 'Start Times', rather than elapsed time since game start, for the following calculations:
- Invaders: Chance of new Aether Rift forming
- Invaders: Chance of invasion through existing rifts
- Raiders: Chance of new operational group being created
- Raiders: Chance of new research facilities being added
- Swarm: Starting Tech Points
These changes mean that players in conventional games, or other slow start games, will not immediately face a powerful enemy as soon as they hit the system trigger.
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Creating Formations from Elements
On the Order of Battle tab of the Ground Forces window, you can now drag an element node from a ground formation to a population node. This will create a new formation comprised only of that element. The population has to be on the same system body as the original formation. If SM mode is active, you can drag to any population.
When you drag-drop the element on to the population, you receive two popups that allow you to enter the name and abbreviation of the new formation. Cancelling either popup will cancel the formation creation.
If the Amount Popup checkbox is checked, you will also receive a third popup so you can enter the number of units to transfer, rather than transferring the entire element. For example, if you drag 120x Leman Russ tanks to a population node you could choose to create a new formation with 40 tanks and leave the other 80 in the original formation.
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Assign # Weapons
In v2.1, the Ship Combat tab of the Naval Organization window has an Assign All checkbox. When this is checked, you can drag all weapons of a given type to a fire control, or set all weapons of a given type to the same missile, etc..
v2.2 adds the Assign # checkbox, along with a numeric text-entry field next to the checkbox. If the Assign # checkbox is checked, then a number of weapons equal to the numeric field will be dragged, according to the following rules.
- All weapons have a number suffix, such as 10cm Railgun #1, 10cm Railgun #2, etc. This numeric value is known as the weapon number.
- When you drag a weapon, the additional weapons to be dragged will be chosen in order of ascending weapon number, starting with the number of the dragged weapon.
- Assume you have 20 railguns on a ship, numbered 1-20. If you click the Assign # checkbox and enter 4 in the numeric field, then dragging railgun #5 to a fire control will also move railguns #6, #7 and #8
- Note that if #6 and #7 were already assigned to another fire control before the drag, then dragging railgun #5 to a fire control would also move #8, #9 and #10.
- If there are insufficient higher numbered weapons, then a smaller number will be moved. Weapons with a number lower than the dragged weapon will not be moved.
The Assign # functionality will work for dragging unassigned weapons to fire controls, and vice versa, dragging weapons between fire controls and dragging missiles to weapons. The Assign # checkbox only works when Assign All is not checked.
This functionality is intended to help with ships that have a lot of similar weapons but are unlikely to use them all at once, such a ship with a large number of box launchers. For this type of design, the Assign All option is not very useful.
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Ground Construction Change
In v2.1, each Ground Force Construction Complex (GFCC) builds ground units independently and at the currently researched Ground Formation Construction Rate (GFCR), in a similar way to shipyards.
For v2.2, the output of all GFCC will be combined into a single construction rate, similar to the mechanics of industrial projects. For example, if the GFCR is 320 and there are 12 GFCC, the population will have a ground unit construction capacity of 3840, plus any governor bonus.
Creating tasks will work exactly as it does now, with the addition that you can assign a percentage of output to individual tasks in the same way as industrial projects. If tasks are assigned at 100%, then a population will work on one ground formation at a time.
As with v2.1, if you add tasks when the GFCC are already working at 100%, they will be added to the queue. Queue tasks will also have an assigned percentage and will be moved into production once sufficient capacity is available
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Ground Force Organizations
A new tab called Organization has been added to the Ground Forces window.
This has two tree view controls. The first, on the right, lists all existing formation templates and their elements. The second, on the left, is for creating organizational hierarchies for ground forces.
To create an organization, you press a button called Create Org and enter the name of your organization. This creates a node without any units that acts in a similar way to a naval admin node. With the top level in place, you can drag and drop formation templates from the right hand side to create any depth of hierarchal organization.
For example, you could create an organization called Infantry Division. Under that you would drag the template with the divisional assets (which might also be called Infantry Division, or Division HQ, etc.). The admin nodes are green, like naval admins, while all nodes containing an actual template are yellow-white. Under the divisional assets, you might drag your infantry regiment template four times, plus perhaps an STO regiment.
You might also drag several battalions under each regiment, but there is an easier way to do that. When you drag nodes on the treeview, anything with an existing parent is moved, but anything without a parent creates a copy instead.
That means, you can create smaller, or lower level, organizations and then drag copies of that entire org into a different org.
For example, you could create a regiment org with a HQ formation template directly under the admin node and then four battalions under the HQ. Then you create a division org, add a division HQ formation template, then drag-copy three regiment orgs under the divisional HQ. When you drag-copy an admin node into another org, the admin node itself is not transferred, so in this example the regimental HQ formation templates of the regimental org would move directly under the divisional HQ (along with their subordinate battalions.
You can set field positions for formation templates in the organization in a similar way to active formations.
Once you have the org created, you can choose a population and add everything in the org to the build queue. The build tasks will retain the organizational hierarchy and the resulting ground formations will assemble into the same org once they are built. They will adopt the specified field positions. Even if you change or remove the organization after issuing the build order, the build tasks will remember the hierarchy and the field positions. The build order will work down the hierarchy so each new formation should have the correct parent waiting when it is built. Changing the build queue manually may prevent this working correctly.
There is also an 'Instant Build' option that can be activated by the SM and will build the entire org instantly with hierarchy and field positions.
The reason for having the admin node is to allow different configurations of similar formations. For example, if the division HQ formation was the top node, you would only have one org under that division HQ. With admin nodes, you can re-use the same top-level templates in multiple similar nodes. You could also have more than one formation directly under the admin node. For example, you could have ten boarding forces under the admin node and build them all with one click.
Using Copy + Update (see earlier post) to create new formation templates based on improved technology will replace the existing templates in the organizational structures with the updated templates.
This screenshot shows simple regimental and divisional organizations, but these could be made very detailed. The 'Infantry Regiment' org was dragged on to the 'Divisional Assets' three times.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Organization001.PNG)
The second screenshot shows the OOB view after using the Instant option on the 'Infantry Division' org.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Organization002.PNG)
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New Logistics Orders
I've added two new movement orders:
Refuel Stationary Fleet
Resupply Stationary Fleet
The new orders function in the same way as Refuel from Stationary Fleet and Resupply from Stationary Supply Ship, except the tanker or supply ship is the one receiving the orders and moving to the target fleet.
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Instant Build Parasites
When using the instant build option on the Miscellaneous tab of the Class window, you can now choose a new option (checkbox) entitled 'Include Assigned Parasites'.
When this option is selected, the new ship(s) will be given a squadron and all assigned parasites will be created instantly into the hangar and assigned to the squadron. This will consume instant build points (or free if using SM mode with no build points remaining).
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Instant Build Naming
When using the instant build option on the Miscellaneous tab of the Class window, you can now choose a new option (checkbox) entitled 'Enter Ship Names'.
When this option is selected, a popup box will appear for each ship with the default name selected. You can choose to change the name at this point and that will also be reflected in the squadron name if you are also using the parasite option.
If you instant build four ships for example, then four naming popups will appear in sequence.
This popup will not appear for any assigned parasites - only for the motherships.
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Class Default Ground Forces
Ship classes can now be assigned default ground forces in the same way as ordnance loadouts and strikegroups.
When a ship is constructed, it checks for ground forces that match the default. The eligible ground forces are those at the same population as the shipyard, which have a build template that matches the required template and are the same size as the template (no losses). Any eligible formations are instantly loaded in the same way as ordnance.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassGround.PNG)
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Instant Build Ship Class Templates
When using the instant build option on the Miscellaneous tab of the Class window, you can now choose a new option (checkbox) entitled 'Include Assigned Templates'.
When this option is selected, all assigned ground formation templates will be created instantly and loaded into the troop transport bays. This will consume instant build points (or free if using SM mode with no build points remaining).
If both 'Include Assigned Templates' and 'Include Assigned Parasites' are both selected, any assigned formation templates for assigned parasites will be included.
For example, you might have a Strike Cruiser with four assault transports assigned as parasites. The assault transport class has a default ground template of 'Space Marine Boarding Force'. When Instant Build is used for the Strike Cruiser, it will automatically include the four transports in a single squadron with their ground forces already loaded.
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Load Assigned Ground Templates
v2.2 adds a new order type called 'Load Assigned Ground Templates'.
A fleet given this order will move to the destination population, where each ship with assigned ground unit templates will load ground formations with the same original template and same size as that original template (no losses).
All the individual ground unit formations to be loaded will be chosen and loaded simultaneously when the loading period is complete. The time to load will be based on the maximum capacity of the loading ships.
I considered two alternative mechanics. Firstly, to immediately convert the 'Load Assigned Ground Templates' order into a series of Load Ground Unit orders based on what was available when the order was given. Secondly to convert the 'Load Assigned Ground Templates' order into a series of Load Ground Unit orders at the point of arrival at the destination, based on what was available at that time. Both require tracking other fleet orders and are more complex than the above solution and both would load in sequence, not simultaneously. The selected method also allows you to set the order while the ground units are still under construction or timed to arrive before the current fleet.
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Particle Beam Size
For v2.2, all particle beams will be 300 tons, regardless of strength.
Even though this is a straightforward change, it is worth noting separately.
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Refit Costs
A new section has been added to the Miscellaneous tab of the Class Design window, showing the cost of refitting to the selected class from each eligible class and also the cost of refitting from the selected class to each eligible class.
A percentage column shows the percentage of the target class cost required for the refit.
Note that the eligible class list might be different for the 'refit from' and 'refit to' lists. For example, a class of 10,000 tons could be refitted to a class of 8000 tons, as this is within the 20% tonnage restriction, but the reverse would not be true.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/RefitCost.PNG)
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Empire Mining Production
I've updated the Empire Mining tab of the Economics window to show production per mineral per colony, in addition to the existing stockpile information. The production information will only appear after the first construction phase (after launching the game) as it is based on the construction phase calculations.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/MiningProduction.PNG)
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Combat Comparison
I've added a new tab to the Naval Organization window that allows you to view a list of all ships with combat history. The default is sorted by military tons destroyed, but there are a variety of ways to view the list. You can also include or exclude combat results by the strikegroup of each ship. Here are the results for my current campaign with the strikegroup option on and off.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/CombatRating003.PNG)
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/CombatRating004.PNG)
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Create Habitable System
A new button entitled "Create Habitable" has been added to the System View when SM mode is active. This is adjacent to the existing "Create System" button.
If you click this button in a random stars game, a system will be generated that contains at least one 'habitable' planet (see below). If this is a known stars game, the 'Select Known System to Generate' dialog will appear for you to select the specific system. This selected system will be generated with at least one 'habitable' planet. The 'habitable' planet will be generated with home world minerals.
'Habitable' in this context does not mean ideal for humans, although that will often be the case. Instead, the process is similar to NPR system generation, which involves selecting candidate planets that have the following characteristics.
- Starting surface temperature between 230K and 350K
- Gravity between 0.5G and 2.5G
- Hydro Extent greater than 20%
- Not tidal-locked
- Eccentricity less than 0.2
If a planet qualifies then any ruins and the existing atmosphere are removed. A new nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere is created with overall pressure between 0.75 atm and 1.25 atm and oxygen comprising 15% to 30% of that atmosphere. Any hydro extent above 70% is reduced to 70%.
The planet is then put through a condensation/evaporation cycle, after which the atmosphere and temperature are updated, including freezeout effects.
If the resulting temperature is between 250K and 310K (-23C and 37C), the planet qualifies as habitable and the dominant terrain is updated. If not, subsequent planets are checked. If no suitable planets are created, the system is discarded and regenerated until a suitable planet is created, at which point home world minerals are generated for that planet.
Note that this process could possibly result in one or more 'failed conversions' in a given system before the right planet is found, so a 'semi-habitable' planet might also be found in the same system as the habitable planet.
EDIT: The acceptable habitable range has since been updated to a range of -48C to + 67C
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Fractional Missile Warheads
For v2.2, missile warhead strengths will be rounded to three decimal places instead of being rounded down to integers.
The new fractional warhead strength will be applied to hits against shields, populations, shipyards, ground forces and missiles. Fractional damage will have no effect on armour. For example, a strength 3.5 warhead would inflict 3.5 damage to shields, but only 3 damage to armour.
A fractional warhead with a strength of 1 or greater will destroy any missile target. Where the warhead strength is less than 1, the percentage chance of destroying the target missile is: Warhead Strength * 20 / Missile Size in MSP. For example, a warhead strength 0f 0.2 would automatically destroy any missile of size 4 or less. Against a size 6 missile, it would have a 67% chance to destroy it and against a size 10 missile the chance would be 40%.
For ease of mechanics, fractional damage will not have any effect on internal ship systems. There are theoretically situations where fractional damage could be applied internally, such as fractional warheads hitting space stations or empty armour columns and subsequently striking zero HTK systems, but this would be rare and unlikely to be significant in gameplay terms. It would also require an overhaul of the damage template mechanics, so it is much easier to ignore it.
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Point Defence Changes
For purposes of in-game lore, a missile is assumed to attack a target by moving as close as possible, or within a designated range if specified, before releasing sub-munitions or detonating its warhead. 'Standard' missiles generally use a shaped-charge warhead detonated at very close range to direct explosive force against space-based targets (I may introduce different warhead types for planetary bombardment). Future missiles may contain specialised warheads, such as bomb-pumped lasers, that are able to attack at a greater distance from the target. With this in mind, the following changes have been made to point defence.
The point defence modes for beam fire controls have been changed to the following.
- Point Blank Defensive Fire: During the movement phase, the fire control will only engage missiles that are attacking a target within 10,000 km. The 'chance to hit' for any assigned weapons will be based on a 10,000 km range, regardless of the actual range.
- Point Blank Defensive Fire (Self Only). During the movement phase, the fire control will only engage missiles that are attacking the mounting ship and are within 10,000 km. The 'chance to hit' for any assigned weapons will be based on a 10,000 km range, regardless of the actual range
- Ranged Defensive Fire: During the movement phase, the fire control will engage missiles that are attacking a target within the maximum range of the weapons assigned to that fire control. This could include missiles attacking a target some distance from the mounting ship or missiles that are detonating a specialised warhead at some distance from the intended target. If the target is more than 10,000 km away, the 'chance to hit' for any assigned weapons will be based on the actual range to the missile at the intended point of detonation. This will be the default mode for automated fire control assignment.
- Area Defence: During the naval combat phase, a fire control in this mode will engage the closest in-flight hostile missile within the range of the weapons assigned to that fire control. If the target is more than 10,000 km away, the 'chance to hit' for any assigned weapons will be based on the actual range to the missile.
The above is likely to lead to point defence weapons and their associated fire controls being divided into three broad categories: those intended to only provide close protection against 'standard' missiles, those capable of a dual role against standard and stand-off warheads and those intended for area defence, attacking missiles that pass though their engagement envelope. The latter capability is likely to require a more substantial investment in order to provide fast tracking and accuracy at range.
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New Missile Guidance Options
Two new options are available for missile design.
Active Terminal Guidance (ATG)
ATG is a new on-board sensor package requiring 0.25 MSP. This provides ultra-short-range tracking of the target during the last moments before detonation in order to improve the chance of successful interception. A new technology progression, called 'Active Terminal Guidance', adds an increasing percentage bonus to the final missile to hit chance, starting at 20% for 1000 RP and ending at 90% for 128,000 RP. The bonus is applied as a multiplier, not an addition. The cost of ATG is equal to bonus / 100 and requires Uridium. I may adjust the component size and tracking bonus progression based on play test.
Missile Retargeting Capability
'Missile Retargeting' is a new on-board sensor package, requiring 0.5 MSP. This provides ultra-short-range target assessment capability, using relative movement and damage projection to determine whether the missile will conduct a successful interception. If the on-board AI determines a low probability, the missile will not detonate and will continue past the target before attempting to re-engage. In effect, this guarantees this missile will never 'miss' and will keep attacking in subsequent increments until destroyed or it runs out of fuel. This applies to both standard and stand-off missiles. The cost of Retargeting is 0.5 BP and requires Uridium. The technology required for this capability costs 5000 RP.
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Laser Warheads
For v2.20, missiles can be equipped with laser warheads and assigned a 'detonation range'. The missile will move to the designated range and explode, triggering a laser attack against the target ship.
Laser Warhead is a new checkbox option in missile design. When this is checked, the Laser Warhead Strength will be calculated by applying the 'Laser Warhead Damage Efficiency' to the normal warhead strength. For example, if the standard warhead is 12 and the Laser Warhead Damage Efficiency is 25%, the Laser Warhead Strength will be 3. This represents the efficiency with which the explosive energy is converted into the laser attack. The tech line starts at 20% for 1000 RP and ends at 90% for 128,000 RP.
The rate at which damage falls off from the initial detonation follows a similar mechanic to ship-mounted lasers, although they use wavelength while the associated technology for missiles is 'Laser Warhead Focus'. This starts at a range modifier of 10K for 1000 RP, and ends at 80K for 128,000 RP. The calculation for damage is as follows:
Effective Range = Distance / Laser Warhead Focus
If Effective Range < 1 then Effective Range = 1;
Target Damage = Laser Warhead Damage / Effective Range
Finally, the missile is restricted in the range at which the detonation takes place due to tracking limitations. This is equal to double the racial 'Beam Fire Control Range' technology. The chance to hit is based on the normal missile interception chance - this is on the basis that the missile will be aiming at the target to fire, rather than to intercept, but the principle remains the same.
Explosion contacts will be generated at the missile location for every warhead that detonates and energy impact contacts will be registered at the target location for each successful attack.
The cost of adding a laser warhead is equal to the Laser Warhead Damage Efficiency / 100 and uses Corundium. The size of the component is 0.25 MSP.
Note: This is a completely new concept so some of the parameters may chance after playtest. I will update this post if required.
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Priority Order
Priority order is used in numerous ways in Aurora and it hasn't always been consistent in terms of whether high numbers = high priority or the reverse. Therefore I gone through the code and changed everything I can find to use a priority order with 1 as the highest. You will no longer be able to enter zero or lower as a priority, as it will automatically be stored as 1.
Just to be clear, Priority One is now the highest priority.
Default Values for new populations, ships, etc. will be set to a higher number, usually 5, making it easier for ships or populations to be made higher or lower priority then the default.
This change applies to:
- Population Importance
- Naval Admin Command Importance
- Ship Class Commander Priority
- Ship Class Point Defence Protection Priority (new for v2.2)
- Ship Class Refuel Priority
- Ship Class Resupply Priority
- Ship Class Maintenance Priority
- Ship Refuel Priority
- Ship Resupply Priority
- Fire Control PD Priority (new for v2.2)
If am I missing anything from that list, please mention it on the changes discussion thread.
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New Point Defence Mechanics
This is a long and complex post, so I have created the detailed mechanics section in Word and pasted a screenshot, rather than trying to use the more limited formatting available on the forum.
The new point defence system is based on the concept that all point defence fire in the same increment takes place simultaneously, with the exception of CIWS. Therefore all assignment of weapons to targets happens before any combat occurs. This assignment is done at the level of individual shots (not weapons) against individual missiles (not salvos). This is less efficient than the current method, which (very unrealistically) knows the results of every point defence shot before the next one takes place. Under the new mechanics, there is likely to be overkill on some missiles, while others leak through the defences.
To give the player more control over this process, you can set parameters for fire controls that dictate the order in which they assign their weapons to missile targets (point defence priority) and the number of shots they will assign to an individual missile (fire concentration). See the first screenshot for details on how these are assigned. You can also give priority to protecting different ship classes, although this is secondary to proximity when determining which friendly target to protect.
Point defence will include weapon failure chance in v2.2, which was not the case in previous versions. This means it is not a good idea to have significant overkill on point defence fire or you may be wasting maintenance supplies. For example, high cost, single-shot weapons are likely to be assigned to fire controls with low point defence priority and low fire concentration, so they only fire if the point defence network is in danger of being overwhelmed.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/PointDefence001.PNG)
The second screenshot details the new point defence sequence mechanics as they function within the sequence of play.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/PointDefence006.PNG)
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ECCM Change
The ECCM, Compact ECCM and Small Craft ECCM components have been removed from the game. The ECCM Tech System remains as it is now.
Beam and Missile Fire Controls have ECCM as a new Tech System design parameter. Any weapons assigned to that fire control will benefit from its ECCM rating. The size of the fire control is unaffected. The cost is 10% of the total fire control cost (without ECCM) for every level of ECCM. For example, a fire control with ECCM-3 will cost 30% more than the same fire control with ECCM-0.
ECCM on CIWS will function as before in terms of mechanics, but will no longer add 0.5 HS to the size of the component. Cost is now 5% of the CIWS fire control component per level of ECCM.
ECCM on STO weapons will function as before in terms of mechanics, but will be built into the weapon's fire control component. Cost is now 10% of the fire control component per level of ECCM.
I will probably change the way ECM works as well and the relationship between ECM and ECCM, but I will cover that in a future post.
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Electronic Warfare Changes (updated)
ECM is being split into three different Electronic Warfare systems: Sensor Jammers, Fire Control Jammers and Missile Jammers.
Sensor Jammers disrupt the attempts of active sensors, including missile fire controls, attempting to detect or lock on to the target ship. Fire Control Jammers degrade the short-ranged tracking systems used by Beam Fire Controls. Missile Jammers attempt to disrupt the fire control links and onboard guidance systems of attacking missiles.
Each of the new systems is an independent tech line with ten steps, with each step having half the RP cost of the current ECM tech line. The cost per step is from 10 BP for the first to 200 BP for the last.
EW systems and ECCM are each rated from 1 to 10 (with the first tech in each tech line rated 1 and the last rated 10).
Only Ships can have EW systems in the above form. Missiles will gain a new system to be detailed in a future post. Active Sensors, Missile Fire Controls, Beam Fire Controls, CIWS, STO Weapons and Missiles can have ECCM.
When an attack is conducted by a Beam Fire Control, CIWS or STO Weapon, the ECCM strength of the Beam Fire Control is deducted from the Fire Control Jammer Strength of the target. The result is known as the ECM Penalty and cannot be less than zero.
When an attack is conducted by a Missile, the ECCM strength of the Missile is deducted from the Missile Jammer Strength of the target. The result is known as the ECM Penalty and cannot be less than zero.
For both the above cases, the Chance to Hit during the attack is multipled by (1 - (ECM Penalty * 0.2). This means the chance to hit is reduced by 20% for every point of difference between ECM and ECCM. Therefore, any attack with an ECM penalty of 5 will have a zero chance to hit. Note this is a multiplier, not the absolute deduction in v2.1.
When an Active Sensor is trying to detect a target or a Missile Fire Control is attempting to lock on to a target equipped with a Sensor Jammer, the ECCM strength of the Active Sensor or Fire Control is deducted from the Sensor Jammer Strength of the target. The result is known as the ECM Penalty and cannot be less than zero. The range of the Active Sensor or Missile Fire Control will be reduced by 20% * ECM Penalty against that target.
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Missile Decoys
Missiles can no longer mount an ECM component, although they can still mount an ECCM component.
Instead, missiles can be equipped with decoys to attract AMMs and point defence fire. Each decoy requires 0.5 MSP. Missile ECM, a new tech line, represents the electronic warfare capability value of the decoys and ranges from 1 at 2500 RP to 10 at 1.2m RP.
Decoys are assumed to deploy and travel with the missile when it approaches its target, or comes under attack, although they are not displayed on the map. When a missile is attacked by an energy weapon or an AMM, a roll is made to determine the target of the attack. For the purposes of this roll, the missile has a 'weight' of 5 and each decoy has a base weight of 5. For example, a laser attacking a missile with three decoys has a 5/20 chance of attacking the missile and a 15/20 chance of hitting a random decoy.
If the ECCM of the attacking AMM or energy weapon is greater than the ECM Strength of the Missile, each decoy is given a weight of 5 - (ECCM - Missile ECM). For example, assume the ECCM advantage is 2 and there are three decoys. The missile is given a weight of 5 and the decoys are each assigned a weight of 3 each. The missile has a 5/14 chance to be hit and there is a 9/14 chance of hitting a random decoy. If the ECCM advantage is 5, any decoys are completely ignored.
When all fire for an increment is completed, any decoys that have suffered one or more hits, even from fractional warheads, will be removed. Note it would be possible for several shots targeted on a missile in the same increment to hit the same decoy, leaving other decoys unharmed.
If this sounds like a huge boost for missiles, it is. However, I also plan on adding some form of ship-deployed decoy to distract missiles, which will be much larger and more costly, but will affect all missiles heading for the parent ship. I may also add a form of fragmentation warhead to missiles, that would be ineffective against ships but able to eliminate decoys and small missiles.
I am hoping to create a situation where larger, smarter and higher tech missiles may have a better chance of inflicting damage than a swarm of small missiles. This will be a huge change so I will be doing a lot of playtesting and tweaking once all the changes are completed, possibly via a campaign with multiple player races.
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Plasma Carronade Update
Plasma Carronades will now function with the same mechanics as lasers, with the following exceptions:
- There are no reduced-size versions
- They cannot be placed in turrets
- The smallest Carronade focal tech is 15 cm
- The research cost of each Carronade focal tech is half the cost of the equivalent laser focal tech
- The maximum Carronade focal tech is 100 cm, compared to 80 cm for lasers.
- There are no Carronade wavelength techs, so every Carronade has the same range modifier as Infrared Lasers.
- Carronades have a damage gradient of 1, the same as missiles.
- The cost of Plasma Carronades is double that of the equivalent Infrared Laser
- The size of Plasma Carronades is half that of the laser with the equivalent focal tech
Spinal Plasma Carronades are now possible.
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Ship History
Notable ship events are now recorded and can be viewed in the History tab of the Ship view on the Naval Organization window. Ship Events include:
- Construction, Refit and Repair events
- Destruction of hostile ships
- Internal damage
- Discoveries, including ruins (geo only), constructs (geo only), jump points (grav only), new systems and habitable worlds.
- Jump points and Lagrange points stabilised (stabilisation ships only).
- Wrecks salvaged (salvage ships only).
- Assignment of officers to the ship
- Death or retirement of officers assigned to the ship
- Assigned officer awarded a medal
Events that are not recorded (to avoid cluttering the history) include mineral discoveries, destruction of missiles and destruction of ground forces, although the totals are recorded.
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Multiple Warhead Missiles
Missiles can choose to divide their Warhead Strength into multiple attacks, with each attack having a damage value equal to Warhead Strength / Number of Warheads. Fractional values are allowed. For example, a warhead with a strength of 1.2 and 3 warheads would have three attacks at 0.4 damage.
The chance to hit for the missile is calculated normally and then applied to a separate attack from each warhead.
The multiple attacks will all be applied against the same target, which could be a ship, population or individual missile.
Only standard warheads can use the multiple-warheads option. Missiles with the laser-warhead option use a single warhead
The additional space required is equal to 0.1 MSP * (number of warheads - 1). The cost is equal to the additional space and requires Tritanium.
The capability is likely to be most useful for AMMs, especially against missiles equipped with decoys.
Note that this mechanic is different to using multiple second-stage missiles and alternately could be considered as a form of fragmentation warhead.
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Minimum AMM Range
Missile Fire Controls can be assigned a minimum engagement range for automated AMM launches. The fire control will not launch AMMs against hostile salvos within this range.
This is set by selecting the fire control, clicking the new Min AMM Range button and entering the desired range in kilometres. This will display as part of the descriptive text for the point defence option assigned to the fire control.
This cannot be assigned to beam fire controls.
This can be used either to allow AMMs to focus on more distant targets, allowing energy point defence and CIWS to handle any leakers, or perhaps to have different types of AMM engaging inbound missiles at different ranges.
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NPR Ship Design Changes
I've removed the NPR design theme concept from v2.2 and replaced it with an expanded design philosophy. Instead of randomly selecting a design theme from a list with a fixed set of parameters, every aspect of the NPRs design philosophy is selected independently.
In practical terms, this means that NPRs will use a more broader range of design options. Ship sizes will be more varied - up to 3x the current sizes in rare cases. NPRs will use shields more often, especially higher tech NPRs. There are more potential weapon combinations and beam-heavy races may use boosted engines on warships. Each NPR will adopt a missile design strategy, such as choosing to include decoys or use laser warheads. If necessary, they will use larger missiles to support that strategy. Precursors and Invaders will have more variety in design and may use shields in some games. Finally, there are no longer a fixed set of tech progressions (from DIM_TechProgressionCategory). Each NPR will select its own tech categories based on its design philosophy, which makes adding new tech progressions much easier. I've also added more variety to operational group composition for NPRs.
Overall, the changes should make NPRs more varied opponents.
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Decoy Missiles
Decoy Missiles are designed and produced in the same way as missiles. To design a decoy missile, click the Decoy Missile checkbox on the Missile Design window and enter "Decoy Strength", which is an MSP value and a replacement for warhead strength. This is the only field that matters for Decoy Missiles and the size of the Decoy Missile will be equal to the "Decoy Strength". The decoy missile also has an ECM value equal to the current Missile ECM technology.
The minimum size of a Decoy Missile is 5 MSP.
The Decoy Missile has a 'Signature' equal to its MSP * 200 tons. So a size 10 Decoy Missile would have a signature of 2000 tons. The cost of a Decoy Missile is equal to MSP * 4 BP, so a size 25 Decoy Missile would have a signature of 5000 tons and cost 100 BP. The entire cost is in Corbomite.
Decoy Missiles are launched from Decoy Launchers. These are similar to box launchers, although 1/3rd smaller for the same missile size. They are not reloadable outside a hangar. For example, a size 25 Decoy Missile would require a launcher of 2.5 HS (125 tons).
Decoy Missiles can be assigned to Decoy Launchers on the Ship Combat tab, using the normal drag and drop functionality. All Decoy Launchers are listed in their own section on the Combat View and are not linked to fire controls.
During missile movement, after point defence fire but before CIWS fire, each ship will make its own determination as to whether to launch one or more Decoy Missiles. This is based on the Decoy Threshold, which is set on the Combat View by clicking a button and entering the value. The default is 100. I will also add some functionality around a Class Decoy Threshold, that will apply as a starting Decoy Threshold for new members of that class, or be used to update all members.
If the total MSP of inbound missiles targeted on the ship is equal to or greater than the Decoy Threshold, at least one Decoy Missile will be launched. The total number of Decoy Missiles launched is equal to: Round Down (Total Inbound MSP / Decoy Threshold). If there are different types of Decoy Missiles assigned to available Decoy Launchers they will be launched in order of descending size, then order of descending ECM rating.
Any missiles that survive CIWS and successfully roll their Chance to Hit will be checked to see if they hit the Ship or one of the Decoy Missiles. The chance to hit the ship is equal to: Size Ship in Tons / (Ship Size in Tons + Total Signature of All Decoys). Multiple warhead missiles will check each warhead independently.
If an attacking salvo has ECCM greater than the ECM of the Decoy Missiles, the signature of each Decoy Missile will be equal to: Decoy Signature * (1 - ((ECCM - ECM) * 0.2)).
At the end of the missile movement phase, all Decoy Missiles will be removed.
NPRs will design ships with Decoy Missiles.
N.B.I played around with many different mechanics and UI options before deciding on the above. One option I almost implemented was a decoy missile with endurance that followed a ship until destroyed. However, that added a lot of micromanagement in terms of deploying the missiles and would also encourage a swarm of smaller missiles rather than a single, more manageable large decoy. It would also be a lot harder for the AI to make sensible decisions with those mechanics. Further to that, any persistent decoy mechanics, even with instant launch, led to similar issues around decoy swarms. I also considered manually triggering decoy missiles prior to missile movement, but that would also require micromanagement and would require information on which inbound missiles were targeting each ship. Eventually, I decided an automated chaff-style system would be the easiest to manage for both the player and the AI, while giving the player some flexibility to adapt to different situations by changing thresholds.
I may play around with some of the values, such as signature and cost, depending on playtest.
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Genetic Modification
Genetic Modification is fully functional for v2.2.
You can design new species on the Create Project window in the same way as a new component, then research them as new technology. A base species is required, from which various environmental modifications are made. The base species cannot be a genetically modified species.
Available parameters include base gravity, base oxygen level, base temperature and temperature range. These can be researched and there are seven tech lines in total, with everything except temperature range having plus and minus tech lines.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Species006.PNG)
A new section has been added to the bottom of the industry tab of the economics window. This shows the genetic modification capacity of the colony and allows the player to choose a researched target species that has the colony species as its base species. The process can be turned on and off in the same way as fuel or MSP production.
The process will convert the colony population into a population of the new species on the same system body. If a suitable target population does not exist, one will be created.
A new tech line, Genetic Modification Rate, affects how many colonists will be converted annually by each Genetic Modification Centre. This has a starting rate of 500k.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/Species005.PNG)
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Ground Formation Bonuses
Ground Formation Commanders will now apply 25% of their bonuses to any formations that are:
- Within the hierarchy that exists beneath the commander's formation (unlimited levels).
- At the same population.
- Have their own commander.
This functions in a similar way to Naval Admin Commands. For example, if a formation had its own commander with a 20% bonus, a parent formation with a 25% bonus and a further level upwards with a 30% bonus, the total bonus would be 1.2 * 1.0625 * 1.075 = 37%.
The bonus for any ground commander will be reduced if the entire hierarchy under their command exceeds the HQ Rating of their formation (by HQ Capacity / Formation Size).
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Change to Tractor Rules
This is a simple change but worth noting separately.
For v2.2, a ship (or base/station) that is tractored cannot use its engines and does not use any fuel. This makes the tractor mechanics easier to understand and easier to implement and should remove a couple of bugs and edge cases.
This also means that if a towed ship is damaged, it has no effect on movement and it will not leave the parent fleet.
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Ship Class Templates
v2.2 adds the concept of Ship Class templates. These templates allow you to take a class, or an individual component in that class, from one race and recreate the same class/component for any race in any game with the same database.
Templates include general information such as the class name, armour thickness, deployment time, min fuel/supplies, all priority settings, any flags such as collier, tanker, conscript, etc. plus every component used in that class, along with the tech and other information required to recreate it.
The template can be created by clicking a new button on the Class Design tab (end button on the top row).
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassTemplate001.PNG)
You can view the class template on the new Class Templates tab. The top section displays basic class information. The min fuel/supplies and the priority settings are only displayed if they differ from the default.
The left-hand section lists all the components in the class, along with the number of research points required for the background research necessary to create that component and to design the component itself. The right-hand section lists the required tech systems to design the entire class, along with the research points required for each tech system, including any pre-requisite research. Known tech systems are displayed in green. In this case, no research is required because this race already built the class.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassTemplate002.PNG)
Below, a new race has been created which now has access to this template. As this race only has starting TN tech systems and has yet to do any research, the research costs for each component and tech system are listed. Also listed at the bottom are the current starting tech points for that race and two buttons that allow instant research of a tech system or component.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassTemplate003.PNG)
Clicking on a component will display in the bottom right section a list of all background research tech systems, including prerequisite tech systems, required for that component. The total will be the same as the Path RP associated with that component. Clicking on a tech system in the upper right will list all tech systems required to research it, including prerequisite tech systems.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassTemplate004.PNG)
The screenshot shows the situation after the new race selected the AK-20 weapon battery and clicked Instant Comp. 44,000 research points have been expended and the component is now available to that race. For now, the research cost of the component itself is not deducted (mainly because I don't to tend do that during setup), but I will probably add an option to include it.
As the AK-10 weapon battery uses the same tech systems, or the pre-requisite tech systems, there is no longer any Path RP associated with that component.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassTemplate005.PNG)
Instead of creating each component, you can just click Create Class and all required tech systems will be researched (and starting tech points expended) and all components will be created. As you can see below, the new class is an exact match for the Sword class of the Terran Imperium.
There is also an option to create the class using available tech, rather than researching the required tech. The game will still do the same component creation process, but will use a lower level tech system of the same type where the desired system is not available. This can lead to situations where the class is not ideal, such as a lower-tech reactor perhaps no longer having enough output for the weapons, so it will require some player adjustments. However, this is still a much faster process than designing from scratch.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassTemplate006.PNG)
If we go back to the templates tab and click the Dread Argent template, the only research required is for those tech systems and components not already researched and created for the Sword
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/ClassTemplate007.PNG)
This change should make setting up new games much faster and should also reduce the chance of missing vital tech systems during pre-game research setup. I will continue to work on this and it may be updated a little as a result of play test.
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Grouping Wrecks
I've added an option for v2.2 to group wrecks in the same way as contacts, as shown below. This screenshot is the result of two alien races having a disagreement over their shared home world.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/WreckGroups.PNG)
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Wreck Detection and Alien Salvage Events
A new 'Wreck Detection' event has been added. This event will trigger when a ship of another race is destroyed in the same system as a ship or deep space tracking station of the viewing race.
A new 'Alien Salvage' event has been added. This event will trigger when a wreck disappears in the same system as a ship or deep space tracking station of the viewing race and wasn't salvaged by the viewing race.
(http://www.pentarch.org/steve/Screenshots/WreckDetected.PNG)
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Limited Events On Load
This is a small change in code terms but worth mentioning in its own post.
When a game loads, a maximum of 10,000 past events will be loaded, based on the most recent first. This is to avoid using up too much memory. Any non-loaded events will be deleted from the database when the game is saved.
10,000 sounds like a lot, but my current game just tried to load over two million events. It's been very eventful :)
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Change to Governor Assignment for Populations
Currently, you can set the automated Governor assignment option for a colony by ticking a checkbox on the Economics window.
For v2.2, you have the choice of Automated Assignment, Manual Assignment or No Commander Required. The first two function in the same way as ticking or not ticking the current checkbox respectively.
The third option prevent automated assignment but also removes the population from the list of colonies when manually assigning a commander. This is to prevent colonies such as a simple listening post from cluttering the potential assignment list.
New player colonies will be defaulted to Manual (as they are now). Civilian colonies will be defaulted to No Commander Required.
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Aether Gate Disruption
(this update contains spoilers for the Raiders)
For v2.2, when a fleet passes through an Aether Gate in either direction, the gate is disrupted for a number of seconds equal to the tonnage of military ships in the fleet plus 10% of the tonnage of commercial ships in the fleet. While the gate is disrupted, no ships may transit.
Currently, Raiders who have decided to flee a system will head for the gate, unless that option is too dangerous. In v2.2, if they would reach the gate before it was available, they will take other action instead, such as simply running away from hostile ships in an appropriate direction.
This change is to prevent Raiders quickly popping in and out of gates, but also to add some more variability to Raider behaviour.
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Designated Targets
A new checkbox entitled 'Designate as Target' has been added to the Miscellaneous tab under the Ship Overview tab on the Naval Organization window.
A ship with this checkbox checked will be automatically detected as an active sensor contact by the parent race. This will cause the creation of an 'alien race' based on the parent race, with all the associated classes, ships, etc.
Because the ship has an associated contact, it can be targeted and attacked by ships of the same race, allowing it to be used for target practice.
Designated targets remain completely under the control of the parent race and can be given orders or setup to defend themselves. If multiple ships are designated as targets, they can fight each other in fleet exercises. This will allow experimentation with different weapon systems in a 'realistic' engagement.
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Ground Combat Research Costs
The following changes have been made to ground forces research costs. For each item, the current RP cost is shown after the name.
- Troop Transport Bays (4000) are a starting tech for TN campaigns. For conventional starts they require 1000 RP
- Troop Transport Boarding Bay (6000) is 2500 RP
- Troop Transport Drop Bay (8000) is 2500 RP
- Geosurvey, Construction and Xenoarchaeology Equipment (5000) all reduced to 2500 RP
- Fighter Autocannon, Bombardment and Air-to-Air Pods (5000) all reduced to 2500 RP
- All ground unit capabilities (5000), such as Boarding, Desert, High-Gravity, etc. all reduced to 2500 RP
- Heavy Vehicle (5000) is 2500 RP
- Super-Heavy Vehicle (10,000) is 5000 RP
- Ultra-Heavy Vehicle (20,000) is 10,000 RP
- Heavy Vehicle Armour (5000) is 2500 RP
- Super-Heavy Vehicle Armour (10,000) is 5000 RP
- Ultra-Heavy Vehicle Armour (20,000) is 10,000 RP
- Heavy Static Armour (6000) is 2500 RP
- Powered Infantry Armour (2000) is 1250 RP
- Heavy Powered Infantry Armour (4000) is 2500 RP
- Heavy Anti-Vehicle Weapon (5000) is 2500 RP
- Super-Heavy Anti-Vehicle Weapon (10,000) is 5000 RP
- Heavy Bombardment Weapon (6000) is 2500 RP
- Long-range Bombardment Weapon (6000) is 2500 RP
- Super-Heavy Bombardment Weapon (10,000) is 5000 RP
- Heavy Anti-Air Weapon (6000) is 2500 RP
- Heavy Autocannon (8000) is 2500 RP
- Heavy Crew-Served Anti-Personnel (4000) is 2500 RP