In-space maintenance resupply?

[Zeebie (OP)]

I cannot figure out how to transfer maintenance supplies from a supply ship to another ship while in deep space (ie, not at a colony - I can get ships to drop off and pick up supplies from a colony no problem).

Things I have already checked:
- The supply ship has plenty of MSP
- The supply ship has cargo shuttles
- The supply ship box is checked in the class design screen
- "resupply own fleet" is selected in the ship design display

I feel like I am missing something obvious. Join and Resupply Fleet does nothing. I note that there does not seem to be an order for a ship to itself resupply from a supply ship (analogous to the resupply from stationary tankers order).  Can someone walk me through the process of how this is supposed to work?

[liveware]

You must also specify a minimum amount of MSP in the class design window, on the misc tab. Make sure you don't set the minimum too high or you won't be able to transfer any MSP at all.

[Zeebie (OP)]

You must also specify a minimum amount of MSP in the class design window, on the misc tab. Make sure you don't set the minimum too high or you won't be able to transfer any MSP at all.

Ok, the ship carries about 6000 MSP and I tried setting the minimum to 1000, to 10, and to 0.  Nothing seems to be different?

[liveware]

You must also specify a minimum amount of MSP in the class design window, on the misc tab. Make sure you don't set the minimum too high or you won't be able to transfer any MSP at all.

Ok, the ship carries about 6000 MSP and I tried setting the minimum to 1000, to 10, and to 0.  Nothing seems to be different?

You will also need to refit the maintenance ship to the latest design at a shipyard. In your case I would probably set the MSP minimum to somewhere between 500 - 1000 and also verify that you ticked the 'supply ship' box in the design window before refit.

Beware when you do this however. If all you did was change MSP minimum then the refit cost will be zero and I believe the game will throw an error message. So you might want to add an extra fighter fuel tank to the maintenance ship design before you refit your ship so that the refit cost is non-zero.

I have successfully resupplied a ship from another ship before but it is very rare that I do so and I haven't done it in quite a while so my memory is foggy on what exact fleet orders you need to issue. I know that if the fleet is moving then you will need at least 1 level of the 'underway replenishment' tech to successfully resupply another ship from a supply ship. After you get your supply ship to join the fleet you want to resupply you should go check the ship screen in the fleet window and make sure that each ship in the fleet has the correct resupply orders set, including the supply ship. Note the resupply orders are not just a fleet order, there is also a per-ship setting in the fleet window for each ship (similar to how weapons are assigned).

[SpikeTheHobbitMage]

You must also specify a minimum amount of MSP in the class design window, on the misc tab. Make sure you don't set the minimum too high or you won't be able to transfer any MSP at all.

Ok, the ship carries about 6000 MSP and I tried setting the minimum to 1000, to 10, and to 0.  Nothing seems to be different?

You will also need to refit the maintenance ship to the latest design at a shipyard. In your case I would probably set the MSP minimum to somewhere between 500 - 1000 and also verify that you ticked the 'supply ship' box in the design window before refit.

Beware when you do this however. If all you did was change MSP minimum then the refit cost will be zero and I believe the game will throw an error message. So you might want to add an extra fighter fuel tank to the maintenance ship design before you refit your ship so that the refit cost is non-zero.

I have successfully resupplied a ship from another ship before but it is very rare that I do so and I haven't done it in quite a while so my memory is foggy on what exact fleet orders you need to issue. I know that if the fleet is moving then you will need at least 1 level of the 'underway replenishment' tech to successfully resupply another ship from a supply ship. After you get your supply ship to join the fleet you want to resupply you should go check the ship screen in the fleet window and make sure that each ship in the fleet has the correct resupply orders set, including the supply ship. Note the resupply orders are not just a fleet order, there is also a per-ship setting in the fleet window for each ship (similar to how weapons are assigned).

Changing those limits instantly affects all existing ships of that class.  Refit is not necessary.

[liveware]

That's good to know.

Admittedly I have not rigorously tested underway refueling or replenishment in quite a while. However I recall from my earlier attempts that refit was necessary, though it's possible I was just attempting to eliminate sources of uncertainty.