So I have had several run through in the game now playing 10-20 years, and I think that I have the basic hang of it, but I've found that combat just seems immensely broken. I have some ships set up with the following configuration:
Iron Duke class Cruiser 6,000 tons 645 Crew 892.6 BP TCS 120 TH 480 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 4-29 Shields 0-0 Sensors 12/12/0/0 Damage Control Rating 4 PPV 34
Maint Life 5.6 Years MSP 372 AFR 72% IFR 1% 1YR 20 5YR 300 Max Repair 45 MSP
Ion Engine E8 (8) Power 60 Fuel Use 80% Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 37.5 billion km (108 days at full power)
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2) Range 90,000km TS: 15800 km/s Power 6-6 RM 3 ROF 5 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (4) Range 180,000km TS: 4000 km/s Power 6-3 RM 3 ROF 10 6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
Fire Control S04 24-12000 (1) Max Range: 48,000 km TS: 12000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S04 96-3000 (1) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 3000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (6) Total Power Output 27 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (1) GPS 16 Range 960k km Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR19-R100 (1) GPS 3200 Range 19.2m km Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH2-12 (1) Sensitivity 12 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 12m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-12 (1) Sensitivity 12 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 12m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
However, I get consistently annihilated in combat on several run-throughs. I can't get the firing control to stick; I've set it up so the turrets are bound to the Fire Control S04 24-12000 and the 15cm lasers are bound to the longer range Fire Control S04 96-3000, but whenever it comes to attack they seem to swap. Eg.
Fire Control S04 96-3000 #1: No Target Assignment
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser #1 (Ready To Fire)
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser #2 (Ready To Fire)
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser #3 (Ready To Fire)
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser #4 (Ready To Fire)
Fire Control S04 24-12000 #1 (Area PD Mode 5): No Target Assignment
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret #1 (Ready To Fire)
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret #2 (Ready To Fire)
I increment the time by 5 seconds and this happens:
Fire Control S04 96-3000 #1: No Target Assignment
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret #1 (Ready To Fire)
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret #2 (Ready To Fire)
Fire Control S04 24-12000 #1 (Point Blank PD Mode 4): No Target Assignment
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser #1 (Ready To Fire)
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser #2 (Ready To Fire)
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser #3 (Ready To Fire)
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser #4 (Ready To Fire)
Half the time I get the response "Iron Duke 011 is preparing to fire but her weapons are not yet ready." The weapons are fully charged, I think it's just a delay because I have an inexperienced crew, but it means that if I don't have it configured for "auto-fire" then my point defence never even fires at the target.
Also, is it normal that every alien race that I've encountered seems to have much high tech level than me? I can't seem to engage in any battles because the vast majority of the time the enemy is way more powerful than I am. Actually I just used SpaceMaster to find out who the aliens are that I've contacted and the past two times it has been the Precursor race? Is that normal?