Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kanil]

I don't expect it to beat the gunboat in a fight, I expect it to beat it in a race. 

Anyway, if 250 tons is big, then... about what size should they be? The smallest one I can currently make is still 135 tons... it goes fast, but has just a single shot missile launcher. Adding more weapons obviously slows it back down. Probably a much better question to ask would be how fast is fighter a supposed to be?

[Bremen]

I don't expect it to beat the gunboat in a fight, I expect it to beat it in a race. 

Anyway, if 250 tons is big, then... about what size should they be? The smallest one I can currently make is still 135 tons... it goes fast, but has just a single shot missile launcher. Adding more weapons obviously slows it back down. Probably a much better question to ask would be how fast is fighter a supposed to be?

However fast you want it to be? There's no required or essential speed; you're just trading firepower for speed and should settle on whatever ratio you want.

[Jacob/Lee]

Can someone give me a quick outline on making a good, reliable missile ship? My entire book of military class ships consists of a single beam ship with lasers all over it, and I feel like that won't work forever.

[Bremen]

Can someone give me a quick outline on making a good, reliable missile ship? My entire book of military class ships consists of a single beam ship with lasers all over it, and I feel like that won't work forever.

Missiles are probably, ton for ton, the uncontested most effective weapon system in Aurora. They just have the steep downsides of limited ammunition and expensive manufactured ammo (it's possible to lose a war of attrition without ever losing a ship).

Other than that, there's really no "best" missile ship design. Some people like fast missile ships that can empty their magazines and then escape pursuit, some like slower but heavily armed ships, etc etc.

I would suggest that, first off, you decide on a range; this is usually governed by your missile designs. Missile designs are, of course, another tradeoff, with longer ranged missiles having less room for warheads and engines. You then want to develop an active sensor that can detect ships out to that range (or farther, if you expect them to have ECM) and a missile fire control for the same range as the sensor, which means the same stats but 1/3rd the size. Since it works out to exactly 1/3rd, I usually design my active sensors in a size multiple of 3 (3,6,9, etc). Note: If your sensor and fire control outrange your missile design, and you later design a higher tech missile with a longer range, you can take advantage of the new missile without refitting the ship. This way missile ships last longer without being obsolete.

If you've designed a particularly long range missile, you may end up out-ranging your opponents missiles, in which case the most important part of the ship is the number of launchers and magazine size. Closing the range against a missile ship isn't really possible in the combat timescale; even if the other ship is slower they can usually empty their magazines before you close more than a hundredth of the missiles range; generally the longer ranged ship gets to fire unopposed till its magazines are empty. If you expect to be trading missiles with your opponent, though, you'll probably want things like armor on your ship. Possibly point defense as well, or else point defense on a dedicated escort ship.

[Jacob/Lee]

Would I be better off with a bunch of CIWS's on a missile ship or *real* point defense?

[Tarran]

Real point defense if you're having multiple ships together. CIWS will not help other ships in the fleet. Thus, they are much less effective unless used on solo ships.

[Bremen]

Real point defense if you're having multiple ships together. CIWS will not help other ships in the fleet. Thus, they are much less effective unless used on solo ships.

Pretty much. I'm not a big fan of CIWS; they're 50% the weight of a comparable point defense, but as Tarran mentions they only protect the ship they're on. They do have three noteworthy uses, though:

1) Giant, battlestar-esque ships. If there's only one or two ships in a task force, they're better than conventional PD (though they can't shoot at fighters or other ships that get close enough)
2) PDCs. Normally beam weapons (except Mesons) can't fire through a planetary atmosphere, but CIWS still work because they fire once the missile is inside the atmosphere. Combine 1 and 2 if you like giant fortress PDCs.
3) Civilian ships: CIWS don't count as weapons and can be put on civilian ships, but I almost never do; it's very unlikely they'd be enough to save a freighter or a survey ship that gets attacked.

[Jacob/Lee]

What would be the best PD? Lasers, railguns, gauss, what?

[Tarran]

I'll list the major contenders only. This is my view on them.

Railguns: Only useful in the VERY early stages due to high RoF. Becomes very quickly outclassed due it not having the ability to be mounted on turrets. I wouldn't use it.
Lasers: Decent, but can only reach at best one shot/5 seconds. They have longer range, which makes area PD somewhat possible, but it still doesn't outclass Gauss. However, one advantage is that lasers can be used as offensive weapons in a very desperate situation. May be useable.
Mesons: Okay. Poor range, at best a rate of fire of 1/5 sec, ignores armor... Personally I wouldn't use it.
Gauss: Very good. Poor range, useless in combat, but extremely high RoF--which can be improved further. Can be mounted on turrets. I would always use this for PD; it's simply built for the job.

[Bremen]

What would be the best PD? Lasers, railguns, gauss, what?

If all you want is anti-missile PD, pretty much Gauss. It fires multiple 1 damage projectiles, more for the same size as you research better gauss tech, and requires no power which saves space on reactors. It has no range to speak of, which means you only get one shot, but that's fairly common for point defense anyways; put them on Final Defensive Fire and they will only fire at the last second, which gives the best accuracy and means you always get one shot (it's entirely possible for a missile to move from outside beam weapon range to impact in one 5 second increment).

Railguns would be good for PD, since like gauss they fire multiple times; unfortunately, they can't be placed in turrets. Neither can particle beams, which would otherwise be a possibility for their range. Lasers are less effective for anti-missile work than gauss, but will work better against other ships and fighters and researching lasers will also give you good beam weaponry. Mesons make decent PD, and I believe they will one shot armored missiles, plus are very brutal against enemy ships if you manage to close to point blank range.

[SirAaronIII]

I tried installing this but was completely overwhelmed by all the options and menus. Now all my right-click menus are different and it's a bit unnerving. This may be a dumb question, but how can I change it back besides a full system restore?
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my kind of silly question and helping.

[Jacob/Lee]

I tried installing this but was completely overwhelmed by all the options and menus. Now all my right-click menus are different and it's a bit unnerving. This may be a dumb question, but how can I change it back besides a full system restore?
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my kind of silly question and helping.

Are you using windows 7 by some chance?

[Tarran]

I tried installing this but was completely overwhelmed by all the options and menus. Now all my right-click menus are different and it's a bit unnerving. This may be a dumb question, but how can I change it back besides a full system restore?
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my kind of silly question and helping.

When that happens to me, closing the game fixes it. Try closing the game.

[SirAaronIII]

Are you using windows 7 by some chance?

No.

When that happens to me, closing the game fixes it. Try closing the game.

Well, I had already uninstalled it, but a restart changed it back. Thanks for helping!

[EuchreJack]

I don't expect it to beat the gunboat in a fight, I expect it to beat it in a race. 

Anyway, if 250 tons is big, then... about what size should they be? The smallest one I can currently make is still 135 tons... it goes fast, but has just a single shot missile launcher. Adding more weapons obviously slows it back down. Probably a much better question to ask would be how fast is fighter a supposed to be?

However fast you want it to be? There's no required or essential speed; you're just trading firepower for speed and should settle on whatever ratio you want.

Missiles are probably too big for fighters, at least the standard-tech missiles.  With their high speed, beam weapons may be possible and smaller.  Railguns if you got them.  Or box launched-missiles, as your fighter will likely be dead before the reload anyways.