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[Bouchart]

How do I make ships?

You'll want to read this in its entirety.

http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Basic_Ship_Creation

[Flying Dice]

As you can only have a single spinal weapon mounted on a ship and it's tracking speed is limited to the ships speed or base tracking tech, I've found it best to use them on something similar to the ion-cannon frigates from Homeworld. A single weapon, powerful engines to give them tracking and nothing else. I've been tending to deploy them from carriers that each carry one or two of them, as the high power engines burn too much fuel for normal non-combat cruising.

There's also the 'Honor Harrington' method, mount them on FAC/Fighters, though I'd assume you'd need a high-end powersource and capacitors to make them of any real use.

That's basically the same thing; a gun with an engine strapped to it. The power isn't really an issue, because by the time you'll have spinal mounts researched you should also have at least TL4ish reactors. For example, a TL4 spinal-mount laser (Ultraviolet, Cap4, 20cm base focal size) with no power/size modifier requires 4 power per 5s, and a 35 ton TL4 (Stellarator) reactor with no power boost can provide that.

Granted, it's only an increase of ~25% extra focal size, so the tech doesn't become useful until you get larger focal sizes and potentially size-reduction tech.

[Mr.Mountain]

What's a good design for a fast attack craft? I've been up against a fairly bothersome NPR and I think I'll need a doctrine relying heavily on carriers, fighters, and FACs. I currently have ion engines and ultraviolet lasers, if you could keep the tech level along those lines.

[Flying Dice]

If you have halfway decent missile and sensor tech, missile fighters paired with a spotting platform (PDC with a giant sensor, ship with a giant sensor and an engine, &c.) are going to be your most efficient use of resources, but if you're dead-set on a laser FAC, here's a design at that TL, except for the armor density because I just drew it up in my current campaign.

Code: [Select]

Iron Duke class Fast Attack Craft    1,000 tons     42 Crew     497.5 BP      TCS 20  TH 75  EM 0
3750 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 8
Maint Life 5.52 Years     MSP 155    AFR 16%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 9    5YR 129    Max Repair 180 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 2   

75 EP Ion Drive (1)    Power 75    Fuel Use 116.17%    Signature 75    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 40,000 Litres    Range 6.2 billion km   (19 days at full power)

25cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 240,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 16-4     RM 4    ROF 20        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Fire Control S01 120-10000 (1)    Max Range: 240,000 km   TS: 10000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 4.2    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR70-R16 (1)     GPS 2560     Range 70.4m km    Resolution 16

It's not perfectly optimized, of course, but that's about what you're going to get. It's a perfect example of why with the new drive model E/KW FACs don't really become useful until higher TLs; as it is, they're large enough to show up on sensors beyond their own engagement range (unlike missile fighters), don't have the durability (or speed) to make a run through fire (unlike larger vessels), and don't have enough damage to do much if they manage to survive long enough to fire (unlike larger vessels).

OTOH, a swarm of FACs loaded with box launchers (and half-decent missiles) based from planetary facilities can be an effective deterrent measure against lighter enemy forces. But again, if you're going to do that, it's cheaper and more effective to do it with fighters. :/

[Mr.Mountain]

found a planet with 150m+ tons of duranium. 0.1 accessibility.

[Girlinhat]

found a planet with 150m+ tons of duranium. 0.1 accessibility.

New permanent colony.  Terraform it, you'll be done exchanging gasses before you're done mining.

[Mr.Mountain]

also found a system with a binary star orbiting at about .12 light years. the first star has 2 habitable planets & 2 habitable moons. the second one has a single habitable planet, but it also has the only 2 Lagrange points and two wrecks of unknown ships... I'm really having a hard time with these systems

[EuchreJack]

also found a system with a binary star orbiting at about .12 light years. the first star has 2 habitable planets & 2 habitable moons. the second one has a single habitable planet, but it also has the only 2 Lagrange points and two wrecks of unknown ships... I'm really having a hard time with these systems

...that's not ominous.

 

[Mr.Mountain]

at least any real threats to the four future colonies I'll be establishing will be nice and isolated

[EuchreJack]

at least any real threats to the four future colonies I'll be establishing will be nice and isolated

...and well-fed.

[Duuvian]

OTOH, a swarm of FACs loaded with box launchers (and half-decent missiles) based from planetary facilities can be an effective deterrent measure against lighter enemy forces. But again, if you're going to do that, it's cheaper and more effective to do it with fighters. :/

FACs for PDCs are a better choice until the next version where crews slowly gain skill. Currently you can't increase the skill of fighters in a PDC from 0% training. If I remember correctly fighters slowly gain skill when with their squadron is aboard a carrier ship, but it won't work in a PDC.

This is already listed as being changed in version 6.50, where crews gain skill slowly even when not training.

[miauw62]

also found a system with a binary star orbiting at about .12 light years. the first star has 2 habitable planets & 2 habitable moons. the second one has a single habitable planet, but it also has the only 2 Lagrange points and two wrecks of unknown ships... I'm really having a hard time with these systems

Watch out for the Inhibitors, bro.

[Mr.Mountain]

what's a good amount of construction factories for a new colony? I have about 34k factories on earth but I don't wanna remove more than 10k. also, what elements would be necessary to have a colony be somewhat self-sustainable?

[Bouchart]

Depends on what you plan to build at the new colony, and how far it is from Earth.

It's possible to have almost all construction capacity at Earth and just use civilian shipping to move around buildings.  Having multiple manufacturing centers means you have to move minerals around them too.

There's only a couple of reasons why you'll need construction factories somewhere other than earth:

1- to build underground infrastructure, which can't be moved around with ships,
2- if you want a colony with a Starport to build ship parts to help speed ship construction
3- if Sol runs low on minerals, or easily accessible minerals.

At any rate, 34,000 factories seems like overkill.  I do well enough on Earth with 500 and a few levels of construction tech.

[Duuvian]

I usually add 50-100 construction factories to colonies eventually to build spaceports. If they have duranium deposits I order 10000 infrastructure to slowly build until it's been terraformed. If they don't have deposits for infrastructure or other useful colonial facility I ship them to the next colony that needs them after some spaceports are built.

Really though the main gameplay reason you wouldn't want to ship all your minerals to your homeworld and have construction factories there is to build a few spaceports on the colonies.