Print

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

[Rince Wind]

I usually go with way smaller sensors.
I tend to have 3 sensors on dedicated sensor ships: a resolution 1 for antimissile work, a resolution 20 for FAC detection and the last one depends a bit on what I have met so far and is mostly resolution 150 to 200.

I mostly go for about 500t, so size 10 I think.

I rather use big passives or even sensor stations if I think there is still something hiding in a system.

[Shooer]

This thread revival got me playing again recently.  Decided to go with a Earth start for the first time in many many games.  Also 1% heating sun, 500 million pop conventional start for player empire and 1.7 bil neutral pop.

First system we explored was Luyten 726-8.  Very few bodies but one that is almost perfect for humans.  If only it wasn't inhabited already.  Diplomacy team sent and trade established.  After a few years we build jump gates into all our neighbor systems.

The Xenohpon Kingdom and Ark Project were on great terms when the Xenophons sent a small number of ships to Earth.  The Ark Project does not know what was communicated between the Xeno's and the Free States of Earth. We do know it ended with several nuclear detonations.

The only response for the nuclear bombardment of Earth is to defend it and end the threat.  The only defences that could be brought was a single missile armed PDC on Earth and a small number of FACs built in the Mars ship yards (a way to get around the, at the time, neutrality of Earth). 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Belknap class Planetary Defence Centre    8,000 tons     310 Crew     1458.6 BP      TCS 160  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 10-35     Sensors 1/800     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 64
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 144   

PDC Size 4 Missile Launcher (16)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 60
Kracken FC Mk1 (1)     Range 68.7m km    Resolution 20
Kracken 100 (36)  Speed: 18,900 km/s   End: 48.7m    Range: 55.2m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 69/41/20

ASR Orbital Mk1 MR286-R20 (1)     GPS 16000     Range 286.2m km    Resolution 20

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s


This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 4 sections

Turns out the Xeno ships were no match for our Kracken 100s and the 4 ships they had in Sol were quickly disabled and torn apart by railguns.  Not before 36 more nuclear detonations on Earth and 2 Civilian ships were lost.

Since the attack 3 years have passed and military development continued quickly.  A Belknap will be assembled on in a year and another on an asteroid near the Luyten JP.  Xeno's have been sending ships one at a time since then.  Due to the lack of mobile forces at the time civilian shipping in Sol has taken a great loss.  The system has 40 wrecks at this point.

The first gen 1 combat ships have rolled out of the Earth yards and the first combat group is ready for it's first mission.  Combat Group 01 is made of 3 Arleigh Burke Command Ships, 6 Iowa Missile Boats, 3 Alaska Escorts and 2 Ticonderoga Cruisers.

Spoiler: Arleigh Burke (click to show/hide)

Arleigh Burke class Command Ship    15,000 tons     373 Crew     2194.2 BP      TCS 300  TH 1152  EM 0
3840 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 3-54     Shields 0-0     Sensors 18/24/0/0     Damage Control Rating 20     PPV 0
Maint Life 1.61 Years     MSP 914    AFR 180%    IFR 2.5%    1YR 410    5YR 6148    Max Repair 800 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 16 months    Spare Berths 0   

J15000(3-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 15000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
192 EP Ion Drive (6)    Power 192    Fuel Use 27.48%    Signature 192    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres    Range 43.7 billion km   (131 days at full power)

ASR Orbital Mk1 MR286-R20 (1)     GPS 16000     Range 286.2m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH3-18 (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km
EM Detection Sensor EM3-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Spoiler: Iowa (click to show/hide)

Iowa class Missile Boat    10,000 tons     126 Crew     1146.2 BP      TCS 200  TH 768  EM 0
3840 km/s     Armour 3-41     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 13     PPV 60
Maint Life 1.58 Years     MSP 215    AFR 266%    IFR 3.7%    1YR 100    5YR 1499    Max Repair 76.8 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 16 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 400   

192 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 192    Fuel Use 27.48%    Signature 192    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 49.1 billion km   (148 days at full power)

Kracken Tube (100)    Missile Size 4    Hangar Reload 30 minutes    MF Reload 5 hours
Kracken FC Mk1 (4)     Range 68.7m km    Resolution 20
Kracken 100 (100)  Speed: 18,900 km/s   End: 48.7m    Range: 55.2m km   WH: 4    Size: 4    TH: 69/41/20

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Spoiler: Alaska (click to show/hide)

Alaska class Escort Cruiser    10,000 tons     225 Crew     1505.2 BP      TCS 200  TH 768  EM 0
3840 km/s     Armour 3-41     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 15     PPV 6
Maint Life 2.11 Years     MSP 470    AFR 160%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 141    5YR 2108    Max Repair 320 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 16 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 374   

192 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 192    Fuel Use 27.48%    Signature 192    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 49.1 billion km   (148 days at full power)

Shark Launcher Mk1 (6)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 15
Shark FC Mk1 (2)     Range 38.4m km    Resolution 1
Shark 10 (374)  Speed: 22,400 km/s   End: 3.1m    Range: 4.2m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 82/49/24

ST/SR Mirrage Mk1 MR25-R1 (1)     GPS 320     Range 25.6m km    MCR 2.8m km    Resolution 1

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Spoiler: Ticonderoga (click to show/hide)

Ticonderoga class Cruiser    15,000 tons     396 Crew     1997.8 BP      TCS 300  TH 1728  EM 0
5760 km/s     Armour 6-54     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 15     PPV 60
Maint Life 1.35 Years     MSP 416    AFR 360%    IFR 5%    1YR 246    5YR 3688    Max Repair 144 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 16 months    Spare Berths 0   

288 EP Ion Drive (6)    Power 288    Fuel Use 75.72%    Signature 288    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1,670,000 Litres    Range 26.5 billion km   (53 days at full power)

10cm Railgun V1/C3 (20x4)    Range 10,000km     TS: 5760 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 1    ROF 5        1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01.5 16-6000 (2)    Max Range: 32,000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     69 37 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (20)     Total Power Output 63    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

3 Years after the war started the first military ships are being sent into Luyten.  Their mission's goals are 1) Remove enemy ship construction capability 2)Remove enemy fleet presence 3) Destroy extra solar industry 4)Invasion isn't for several years and if potential ground defenses would be insurmountable then reciprocal nuclear bombardment is allowed.

[Ehndras]

Hell of a start! That'd be amazing, actually. How long after discovery did your NPR's leave their system?

[Ehndras]

Heh. Bunch of us on the Aurora Reddit have been posting AAR's. Totally fucked up the formatting, but here's my attempt at non-suckage.

https://www.reddit.com/r/aurora/comments/78o8ey/altaraxian_federation_2051first_contact_aar/

[Ehndras]

*sigh* NPR's have a fucked up sense of humor. WHY YU DO DIS

*starts Aurora 4x custom methane-breather species*
*Accidentally adds NPR in-system, shrugs and goes through the effort of designing them and letting them be - for !!SCIENCE!!*
*Aliens promptly insta-spawn clusterfuckme fleet-stack and head straight for my homeworld. WAT.*
*Alien command ship, judging by it having the highest speed, best sensors, and highest thermal output, leads from about 2mil km ahead of two packs of Xeno squadrons made up of various unknown ships with names like "Earthraper" and "Headmangler."*
*Bricks are promptly shat, and epic "Independence Day"-style AAR written and posted to Aurora 4x sub-reddit.*

After ticking down the seconds until they arrive to blow the Ach'remoc back to the hell from whence they came, fucking command ship promptly skirts the outer atmosphere and slingshots at a totally different angle, toward Jump Point Wormhole #3, which goes fuck-knows-where. Squad 1 realigns to follow command ship away from my homeworld, while the 2nd of 2 Xeno squadrons disengages and starts flying back to Xeno homeworld. For reference, with the current 4.1 year discrepancy in orbital periods, its roughly 850 million km away. In other words, about a week, week and a half out with their apparently shit-ass engines @ max observed speed of 1207 km/s. At closest approach, which will be sometime in the next 2-5 years, they'll be a paltry 350 million km away, and thus, right in range of my new Size-6 Ravager IPBMs. (Interplanetary ballistic missiles, because fuck you that's why)

NPR got me good, yo. I thought it was Armageddon and instead these ballbusters just waved and flew by.

[RAM]

Are you familiar with the term "gunboat diplomacy"? Did you feel the urge to disagree with those fine fellows when they visited?

[StagnantSoul]

They were probably just flying by to go check out the other side of that jump... Unless an NPR shoots me first I'm always peaceful, they're usually harmless unless I find them on some godly planet.

[Sirus]

What's the best way to get habitable (or nearly-habitable) extra-solar worlds to generate? Real Stars or no?

[Shooer]

You won't see a big difference between real or not.  The difference is in Real the stars and their distance between them is pre-determined, while with it off the star luminosity, number and distance is generated.

The bodies orbiting them and the various info for them will be random each time a star is generated.  Ex. Alpha Centauri will always be the same star(s) in every real star game but in one you'll find it only contains 8 asteroids and in another 5 super jovians each with a earth-like moon.

[Kanil]

I would think not using real stars is probably better. Real stars gives you bunches of small stars and brown dwarves and stuff, which don't tend to have lots of planets or a wide habitable zone.

[Rince Wind]

You can also increase the tolerances of your humans so they feel at home on hotter and colder worlds which can have a lot more pressure than earth.

[Flying Dice]

You won't see a big difference between real or not.  The difference is in Real the stars and their distance between them is pre-determined, while with it off the star luminosity, number and distance is generated.

The bodies orbiting them and the various info for them will be random each time a star is generated.  Ex. Alpha Centauri will always be the same star(s) in every real star game but in one you'll find it only contains 8 asteroids and in another 5 super jovians each with a earth-like moon.

*Bzzt*

Real Stars tends to give markedly fewer habitable worlds. I suspect that star class might actually have some effect on system generation, because you most consistently see Earth-like worlds in systems with stars fairly similar to Sol, and there are relatively few systems like that close to Sol. So without RS on you encounter more Sol-like stars, and thus more habitable worlds.

You also miss out on nebulae and black holes if you run Real Stars.

My current campaign (non-RS) has 49 Col Cost <= 3.00 planets within 4 jumps of Sol. I never see numbers that good from Real Stars games. As far as star class goes (remember, Sol is a G-class), here's the tally of stars with Col Cost <= 3.00 planets:

G-type main sequence: ||||||||||||||||||
K-type main sequence: ||||
A-type main sequence: |||
F-type main sequence: |||
M-type red dwarf: |

Remember, IRL something like 75% of the stars in our neighborhood are M-types (i.e. red dwarfs, giants, and supergiants). A-types are white/blue-white; F-types are white (together these are ~2% of the local stars). K-types are orange, and represent ~10% of local stars. G-types, yellow stars like Sol, are only ~7-8% of local stars. Given that Aurora clearly favors a realistic distribution of habitable worlds towards stars which are more likely to allow them, it's not a surprise that playing with Real Stars -> few G/K-type stars -> few habitable worlds.

[Shooer]

Current Human real star game I have 26 sub cost 3 worlds within 3 jumps of sol.  I've run into less and more in other real star games, as well as in non-real star.

The star is honestly a minor factor in cost.  The big one is planet size and it's atmo comp.  You can find planets that orbit a cooler star closer or a hotter star further.  The game doesn't fully recognize the Goldilocks zone.  Mainly because the only thing that matters is atmo comp, pressure and temp.  Especially after Steve changed base stats for race gen to increase grav tolerance so that base Humans can live on Luna.

[Flying Dice]

Right, now check the stars for those systems. If you get lucky with JP connections in RS you can of course get a decent number, but that doesn't mean that you're not statistically less likely to get Earth-like worlds with a realistic rather than random distribution of star types.

If even 25% of those worlds are orbiting M-types I'll eat my hat.

[Shooer]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I've been adding oxygen to Terra in Proxima.  Everything else is as I found em.

Also add that random stars is random.  You could end up with 4 black holes right out side your starting system.

I personally play random stars anyway, mainly cause I almost never play humans.  To easy honestly after that grav change.  I prefer my go to of 101C world temp with atmo made of 1.8 water and .2 methane.