Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread: C# Edition

[Xkill]

Box launcher reloading! Does the maintenance location need to have enough capacity to match the tonnage of the ship(s) being reloaded or simply being a maintenance location is good enough?

[skoormit]

Box launcher reloading! Does the maintenance location need to have enough capacity to match the tonnage of the ship(s) being reloaded or simply being a maintenance location is good enough?

Per the changes post:

For C# Aurora, box launchers can only be reloaded in a hangar, or at an Ordnance Transfer Point (a Spaceport, Ordnance Transfer Station or Ordnance Transfer Hub). Reloading at an Ordnance Transfer Point is 10x slower than in a hangar (similar to the penalty for maintenance facilities in VB6 Aurora).

[Xkill]

Answer

Oops, was running on super obsolete info.
Thanks!

[MinuteMan]

I've got 2 questions.

• How do you guys do mineral transfers between systems? Currently I'm setting up a Freighter loading until full and unload at earth (cycle moves).
• What is an acceptable AFR for military ships? I feel like I put way to many engineering stations and MSP storage on my ships.

[skoormit]

I've got 2 questions.

• How do you guys do mineral transfers between systems? Currently I'm setting up a Freighter loading until full and unload at earth (cycle moves).
• What is an acceptable AFR for military ships? I feel like I put way to many engineering stations and MSP storage on my ships.

Each system uses mass drivers to centralize minerals to a single body for transport, and then I send a freighter to collect at that point and drop off back home (or wherever needed). Cycling orders make sense if the source system will be producing minerals long term.

Acceptable AFR is really up to you. You want to balance construction cost and size requirements with ongoing cost of maintenance failures.
Keep in mind that the current AFR of any ship is the value displayed in the design text multiplied by the ship's current deployment clock (in years, as displayed in the Deploy column of the Ship List tab of the Naval Organization window). So, ship designs intended for very short deployments can afford to skimp on engineering spaces, while designs intended for very long deployments might reduce long-term cost by adding engineering spaces to reduce the AFR.

But you need to think about it in term of AFR per kt of ship, not just absolute AFR. Bigger ships with the same proportion of engineering spaces will have higher AFRs.

[Alsadius]

I've got 2 questions.

• How do you guys do mineral transfers between systems? Currently I'm setting up a Freighter loading until full and unload at earth (cycle moves).
• What is an acceptable AFR for military ships? I feel like I put way to many engineering stations and MSP storage on my ships.

1) Yup, sounds good.
2) The way the math works, AFR is inherently tied to ship size, so there's no one number here. Comparer two 10k ton ships with a 100% AFR, versus one 20k ton ship with a 200% AFR. Both represent 20k tons of ship, and both will suffer an average of two total failures in their first year of deployment. Also, the ship's role affects this too - is it a long-duration jump point scout you plan to have around for 20 years, or is it a fighter who's not likely to even be out of the hangar for an interval tick? But as a rule of thumb, you want the maint life to be a bit higher than the deployment time, not counting MSP needed for combat (i.e., subtract some MSP based on what you think you'll use for damage control, misfires, and reloading fighters in your bay, because that MSP can't also extend your ship's maint life). I once did a much longer write-up on the mechanics here, see the link in my sig.

[Jovus]

Is there any way to automatically assign officers to the various new Command and Control components like the CIC?

[skoormit]

Is there any way to automatically assign officers to the various new Command and Control components like the CIC?

I believe they are automatically assigned, but they have lower priority than any ship command position, so if you don't have enough officers to go around then those position will remain vacant.

[Kurt]

I've been feeling my way through the diplomacy rules, and I've got a question. 

First, the situation.  The Empire has met an non-spoiler NPR, and has managed to achieve a non-hostile relationship with them by establishing communications and then withdrawing from their system when asked.  The contact system is obviously a forward base, perhaps a mining outpost, as it doesn't have a habitable planet and only a small outpost is present.  My survey ships observed ships I believe to be their survey ships, a gate stabilization ship, and perhaps a freighter, in the system, before being asked to leave. 

In the meantime, I built a small diplomacy ship, as follows:

Code: [Select]

Ambassador class Diplomatic Ship      6,000 tons       87 Crew       538.1 BP       TCS 120    TH 406    EM 0
3385 km/s    JR 3-50(C)      Armour 1-29       Shields 0-0       HTK 24      Sensors 14/14/0/0      DCR 1-1      PPV 0
MSP 56    Max Repair 300 MSP
Captain    Control Rating 1   BRG   DIP   
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months   

JC6K Commercial Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 6000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3

Commercial Inertial Fusion Drive  (1)    Power 406.2    Fuel Use 0.49%    Signature 406.25    Explosion 2%
Fuel Capacity 36,000 Litres    Range 220.3 billion km (753 days at full power)

Basic Active Search Sensor Mkk V (1)     GPS 560     Range 26.9m km    Resolution 20
Basic Thermal Sensor  Mk V (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  29.6m km
Basic EM Sensor Mk V (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  29.6m km

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

And yes, it does have a diplomatic module. 

I sent the ship to the contact system, found one of their gate stabilization ships, and followed it around, but nothing seemed to happen.  After re-reading the diplomacy rules, I realized it probably wasn't okay to just follow the ship around, my diplomacy ship had to be in contact range with a population, and be detected by that population.  So I sent my diplomatic ship to the outpost.  After a few months I checked on it and nothing seems to be happening.  According to the Intelligence and Foreign Relations window, my diplomacy rating with them is still 0. 

So my first question is, does the alien population have to be an actual inhabited world rather than an outpost?

If so, how the heck do I find an inhabited world when they order my survey ships out of the contact system every time I try to survey it to find the jump point they entered the system through?

[Garfunkel]

The rating you see is your opinion of them and that only changes if they send a diplo ship to you. Your diplo ship improves their opinion of you but you can't see that number anywhere.

[Steve Walmsley]

I sent the ship to the contact system, found one of their gate stabilization ships, and followed it around, but nothing seemed to happen.  After re-reading the diplomacy rules, I realized it probably wasn't okay to just follow the ship around, my diplomacy ship had to be in contact range with a population, and be detected by that population. 

"The primary method of generating diplomatic points is via the Diplomacy module. The module must be located in a system where the target alien race has ships and/or populations and both sides must be able to detect the other."
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=8495.msg118258#msg118258

You don't need an alien population for Diplomacy

[Tavik Toth]

Does anyone have advice on how to set up a fleet base in another system? Been having trouble trying to figure how on my own.

[lumporr]

Does anyone have advice on how to set up a fleet base in another system? Been having trouble trying to figure how on my own.

Fleets need three things in order to remain functional and combat-ready in the long term. Firstly, their crews will need shore leave, at either a station/ship with the Recreational Module, or a colony with a population of at least 10,000 (IIRC). Secondly, they will need either manned maintenance facilities at a colony, or a ship/station with maintenance modules. In order to completely stop maintenance clocks from going up, you'll need sufficient maintenance tonnage to cover the military hull tonnage of your stationed fleet, but insufficient maintenance capacities will still lower the rate at which your ships decay (and I believe you can still overhaul at a fleet or colony with insufficient maintenance capacity). Thirdly, the fleet will need to be resupplied and refueled as it naturally consumes MSP over time, as well as fuel in the performance of fleet duties. These can either be produced by a colony with maintenance facilities and fuel refineries (as well as a source of sorium and a refueling station), or resupplied as needed by a support fleet with supply ships and tankers.

[Xkill]

Does anyone have advice on how to set up a fleet base in another system? Been having trouble trying to figure how on my own.

Create a colony on a suitable system body. Place a spaceport on it. Place maintenance facilities on it or use maintenance modules present on ships/stations in orbit of it, up to the capacity that you feel is adequate for the total tonnage of ships that will be stationed there. Populate it with doods and dudettes until there is no shortage of labor. Transport fuel, maintenance supplies and ordnance to it. Might want some STO formations on the surface too. I would also encourage stationing repair yards on location, in case you get some action. There you go, Fleet Base.

[db48x]

And yes, it does have a diplomatic module. 

Yes, you can see where it says DIP clear as day.

I sent the ship to the contact system, found one of their gate stabilization ships, and followed it around, but nothing seemed to happen.

That’s always true. It always surprises people and has lead to a lot of posts in the forum, but there’s just no feedback. Your ambassador is sending regular messages to them telling them how great we are, and their opinion is going up or down or whatever, but you have absolutely no visibility into it. Your forgot to tell your ambassador to send round a memo if it seems to be working. The only way you find out if it is working is that eventually their opinion will reach +300 and they’ll send you a commercial treaty (or it’ll reach −100 and they’ll start shooting at you) There’s no other feedback at all.

According to the Intelligence and Foreign Relations window, my diplomacy rating with them is still 0. 

Reread what you wrote

Your opinion of them is still zero. But their opinion of you has been going up or down based on their perception of your actions. If they ask a ship to leave their system, that’s a small penalty and their opinion goes down. If they demand that your ships leave, that’s a larger penalty than a mere request. When your ambassador sends them a nice message, that’s a diplomatic bonus and their opinion of you goes up. How much it goes up depends on how good your ambassador is, and how xenophobic they are, and so on.

Your opinion of them only changes when they send a diplomatic ship to your systems.

If so, how the heck do I find an inhabited world when they order my survey ships out of the contact system every time I try to survey it to find the jump point they entered the system through?

Double check the wording. Was it a request or a demand? Or a demand with a threat of immediate violence? If your ambassador is doing his job, then even with the occasional small penalty their opinion of you will still be going up over time. Also remember that the penalty scales with the size of the ship, and diplomatic ships count as the minimum possible size. You can explore with diplomatic ships if you want.