STL Generation Ship

[gpt3 (OP)]

I have recently been pondering role-playing a human non-Sol-start game.   

In this world, Sol has no jump points at all and so FTL to/from Sol is impossible.    As a result, humanity quickly exhausts Sol's limited TNE deposits.    In an attempt to forestall resource war over the remaining TNE stockpiles, the United Nations convinces the governments of Sol to launch slower-than-light interstellar arks towards neighboring systems.    One ship, the Unity, is successfully launched towards Alpha Centauri.    As design work begins on a second vessel, Pluto declares war on Eris over a "diplomatic insult".    Both sides draw their allies into the dispute and Sol spirals into an apocalyptic civil war.   

As humanity's birthplace burns, the Unity passes through the Kuiper belt and embarks on an 800-year journey.   

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Unity class Colony Ship      4,993,452 tons       9,926 Crew       110,663.9 BP       TCS 99,869    TH 160,000    EM 0
1602 km/s      Armour 1-2602       Shields 0-0       HTK 9097      Sensors 18/24/0/0      DCR 11      PPV 0
MSP 2,000,013    Max Repair 300 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 100,000 tons     Cargo 125,000    Cryogenic Berths 50,000    Habitation Capacity 200,000    Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 3   
Commodore    Control Rating 5   BRG   AUX   ENG   SCI   PFC   DIP   
Intended Deployment Time: 11000 months    Flight Crew Berths 2,000   
Maintenance Modules: 4 module(s) capable of supporting ships of 10,000 tons

C-2199 Commercial Magnetic Fusion Drive  EP800.0 (200)    Power 160000.0    Fuel Use 0.18%    Signature 800.0    Explosion 2%
Fuel Capacity 2,100,000,000 Litres    Range 42,314.5 billion km (305712 days at full power)

C-2185 CIWS-320 (1x10)    Range 1000 km     TS: 32,000 km/s     ROF 5       
C-2199 Active Search Sensor AS19-R1 (1)     GPS 48     Range 19.1m km    MCR 1.7m km    Resolution 1
C-2199 Active Search Sensor AS88-R100 (1)     GPS 4800     Range 88.9m km    Resolution 100
C-2199 EM Sensor EM1.0-24.0 (1)     Sensitivity 24.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  38.7m km
C-2199 Thermal Sensor TH1.0-18.0 (1)     Sensitivity 18.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33.5m km

Strike Group
5x Laserstar Fast Attack Craft   Speed: 16125 km/s    Size: 19.84

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a b for auto-assignment purposes

Notes:

• The main limitation on ship capability is fuel capacity - Aurora only appears to support up to 2^31 litres of fuel.    This restriction heavily encourages the use of reduced-thrust engines.   
• Interestingly, this is a case where a real-world ship would actually be faster than a Trans-Newtonian ship.    Project Orion, a nuclear pulse engine design, should be able to hit 10000+ km/s.   
• Technically this design only needs 3 months of deployment time - but would you like to spend 800 years in cramped quarters?
• Stealth is pointless.   This thing's engines glow brighter than Old Earth. 

Cargo manifest:

• 50k colonists
• 1x deep space tracking station
• 2x mass driver
• 1x construction factory
• 1x financial centre

Parasites:

5x FACs (for colony defense)

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Laserstar class Fast Attack Craft      993 tons       41 Crew       419.1 BP       TCS 20    TH 320    EM 0
16116 km/s      Armour 2-8       Shields 0-0       HTK 10      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 6
Maint Life 5.84 Years     MSP 231    AFR 16%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 12    5YR 173    Max Repair 160 MSP
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 1.2 months    Morale Check Required   

F-2184 Magnetic Fusion Drive  EP320.00 (1)    Power 320    Fuel Use 353.55%    Signature 320    Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 5.1 billion km (3 days at full power)

M-2199 20cm C5 Soft X-ray Laser (1)    Range 120,000km     TS: 16,116 km/s     Power 10-5     RM 60,000 km    ROF 10        10 10 10 10 10 10 8 7 6 5
F-2185 Beam Fire Control R120-TS16000 (SW) (1)     Max Range: 120,000 km   TS: 16,000 km/s     92 83 75 67 58 50 42 33 25 17
M-2199 Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor R5-PB60 (1)     Total Power Output 5.2    Exp 30%

M-2199 Active Search Sensor AS8-R1 (1)     GPS 10     Range 8.6m km    MCR 770.7k km    Resolution 1
M-2199 Active Search Sensor AS39-R100 (1)     GPS 960     Range 39.7m km    Resolution 100

Small Craft ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 20

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a d for auto-assignment purposes

1x Geosurvey ship

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Explorer class Survey Craft      3,733 tons       105 Crew       769.5 BP       TCS 75    TH 32    EM 0
2679 km/s      Armour 1-21       Shields 0-0       HTK 31      Sensors 18/24/1/1      DCR 25      PPV 0
Maint Life 11.46 Years     MSP 844    AFR 22%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 12    5YR 177    Max Repair 100 MSP
Captain    Control Rating 4   BRG   AUX   ENG   SCI   
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months    Morale Check Required   

S-2185 Magnetic Fusion Drive  EP200.00 (1)    Power 200    Fuel Use 3.58%    Signature 32.00    Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres    Range 673.9 billion km (2911 days at full power)

C-2185 CIWS-320 (1x10)    Range 1000 km     TS: 32,000 km/s     ROF 5       
C-2199 Thermal Sensor TH1.0-18.0 (1)     Sensitivity 18.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33.5m km
C-2199 EM Sensor EM1.0-24.0 (1)     Sensitivity 24.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  38.7m km
Geological Survey Sensors (1)   1 Survey Points Per Hour
Gravitational Survey Sensors (1)   1 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Survey Ship for auto-assignment purposes

1x Orbital miner (to be dropped off along with a mass driver at a decent asteroid/comet)

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Prospector class Mining Platform      52,069 tons       533 Crew       1,524.7 BP       TCS 1,041    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      No Armour       Shields 0-0     HTK 74      Sensors 18/24/0/0      DCR 11      PPV 0
MSP 518    Max Repair 120 MSP
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   
Orbital Miner: 10 modules producing 160 tons per mineral per annum

Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range N/A

C-2185 CIWS-320 (1x10)    Range 1000 km     TS: 32,000 km/s     ROF 5       
C-2199 EM Sensor EM1.0-24.0 (1)     Sensitivity 24.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  38.7m km
C-2199 Thermal Sensor TH1.0-18.0 (1)     Sensitivity 18.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33.5m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Space Station for construction purposes
This design is classed as a Orbital Miner for auto-assignment purposes

1x Fuel harvester (to help replenish fuel supplies if it is infeasible to staff a ground refinery)

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Scooper class Fuel Harvester      34,942 tons       165 Crew       682.7 BP       TCS 699    TH 800    EM 0
1144 km/s      Armour 1-95       Shields 0-0       HTK 66      Sensors 18/24/0/0      DCR 11      PPV 0
MSP 512    Max Repair 80.00 MSP
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   
Fuel Harvester: 8 modules producing 384,000 litres per annum

C-2199 Commercial Magnetic Fusion Drive  EP800.0 (1)    Power 800.0    Fuel Use 0.18%    Signature 800.0    Explosion 2%
Fuel Capacity 5,000,000 Litres    Range 14,389.1 billion km (145577 days at full power)
Refuelling Capability: 160,000 litres per hour     Complete Refuel 31 hours

C-2185 CIWS-320 (1x10)    Range 1000 km     TS: 32,000 km/s     ROF 5       
C-2199 EM Sensor EM1.0-24.0 (1)     Sensitivity 24.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  38.7m km
C-2199 Thermal Sensor TH1.0-18.0 (1)     Sensitivity 18.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33.5m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Fuel Harvester for auto-assignment purposes


[nuclearslurpee]

Neat, I've always thought about doing a playthrough like this, but I've never worked out how to make the logistics work reasonably well within the Aurora mechanics. Too much of the game is built around mining, producing, researching... all of which requires permanent colonies. Maybe one of these days...

One comment on the Unity, though: for such a big ship I think it makes sense to put a lot more CIWS on it to provide missile defense since the change in overall tonnage is not much. For such a large ship to have only one defense turret? I am not sure what the designers were smoking, but I want a lot of it and keep Aurora very far away from me while I have some! 

Not sure how a higher engine tech would be slower...unless you are trying to meet a specific time for your fuel load instead of a range, since a higher-tech engine can always reach the same range in a shorter amount of time due to how Aurora's propulsion mechanics work.

[gpt3 (OP)]

One comment on the Unity, though: for such a big ship I think it makes sense to put a lot more CIWS on it to provide missile defense since the change in overall tonnage is not much.    For such a large ship to have only one defense turret? I am not sure what the designers were smoking, but I want a lot of it and keep Aurora very far away from me while I have some! 
mechanics work.   

Oops.    I bet that the shipyard contractors stole 99 turrets and sold them on the black market.   

Not sure how a higher engine tech would be slower.   .   .   unless you are trying to meet a specific time for your fuel load instead of a range, since a higher-tech engine can always reach the same range in a shorter amount of time due to how Aurora's propulsion mechanics work.   

In this case: Newtonian Nuclear Pulse > Trans-Newtonian Magnetic Confinement Fusion > Trans-Newtonian Nuclear Pulse

Higher tech will always be faster; the issue here is the collision between Newtonian and Trans-Newtonian physics.    A Newtonian (err, Einsteinian) ship can just keep adding to its speed as long as it has reaction mass, but a Trans-Newtonian ship can't go beyond a set max speed based on its engine power due to the fluidic nature of the Aether.   

[DeMatt]

Interesting.  As far as I know, Aurora does not support making a sublight journey between stars, so are you planning on SM-spawning the generation ship in your starting system?

I feel like the generation ship could use more CIWS.  It's only got, what, the one turret?  In game terms, it might be able to fire in any direction, but in real-life terms that's only going to have a hemispheric field of fire.  Plus it's vulnerable to being overwhelmed - and a 5 million ton monster is definitely a case for "overkill it NOW".

Similarly, a commercial vessel may only need one HS of Engineering Spaces, but if I was designing a generation ship, I wouldn't include an 800-year supply of each and every screw and integrated circuit... I'd include fabrication facilities.

I'm not clear on why the mining platform has a fuel tank.  I'm also not clear on why the mining platform and the fuel harvester have so much MSP storage - they're relying on the Unity for the interstellar trek, and as commercial vessels they don't need maintenance while in-system (presumably the Unity's Maintenance Modules won't be vanishing once they arrive).

I think the expedition could do with a small freighter.  Something so the Unity itself doesn't have to worry about transporting facilities around.  Possibly also a personnel transport.

I also think the expedition should include Infrastructure, just in case the destination doesn't have a habitable planet on arrival.  Ten Infrastructure takes up the same room as a Factory, so it is a bit bulky, but provides habitation for all 50k of your colonists on a 2.0-cost world.  If it's more costly, or worse a Low Gravity body, you do have the Orbital Habitat.

Instead of setting the Deployment Time so high, I'd include a Recreation Module.  The crew gets places to rest and recuperate, not "new set of quarters every three days".

The expedition seems to be missing a ground force component.  Not necessarily military, just Xenoarchaeology/Geosurvey/Construction trucks.  Though a battalion of "security troopers" probably wouldn't go amiss, if there turns out to be particularly wild wildlife.  As a bonus, 3200 tons (more or less) of Construction vehicles provides the same construction capability as 25000 tons of Construction Factory.

[RougeNPS]

I think the CIWS amount is a mistype.

[Blogaugis]

Interesting... alternative ways out of the solar system would give interesting options: No jump points? Not a problem.

As for my input, well, others have already pointed out that there needs to be more CIWSs. I think 5 would be a bare minimum - 1 CIWS per 1 million of tonnage. On the other hand... You could increase armor. Armor may not be necessary for stations, the ones that can be salvaged by a salvage ship anyway, but going into the unknown? You might want to give the ship a bit higher survivability.
Remind me folks, shields are a military system?

DeMatt gave good points. Mostly about recreation and ground force transport facilities. Though, you could add a ground force transport ship separately. Maybe a colony ship as well, allowing the Unity to function purely as a habitat? Or, add a seperate Orbital habitat station?
Survey ship is already included...
Perhaps Unity would be better off used as a component/ship hauler across the stars, rather than have-it-all in 1? Since you still have a separate survey ship, I think you don't need that many different command and control systems.
Should tugs - ships with a tractor beam - be included? It may not be necessary since Unity can carry a lot already, but... just in case?
Any terraforming modules or separate terraforming stations? Or do you plan on building the stuff at the new world?

I guess that with these changes, Unity could be reclassified as a mothership and renamed into the Pride of Earth  Anyone played Homeworld and/or Homeworld 2?

[StarshipCactus]

It will take you forever to build up anything, I can see it taking decades to even build one research station. I would recommend you max out a lot of the construction/production techs to make things go a tiny bit faster.