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Koenus
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I've a few starter questions;

 

I've received a nice planet with lots of (shortages) on resources and one

populationgroup running all kinds of industries. I've done some reading on

the research and figured that out for now. Now I've some questions on

colonization, shipdesign and production.

 

1) colonization

- does a colonist cost also pop (besides the 50ksteel etc)?

- does a colonist count for 1 pop in a colony?

- What's a reasnable amount (minimum) to start a colony whith?

- And qhat should be brought along to a starting colony?

I guess a lot of construction materials and some energy (coal or so?)

2) shipdesign

I've looked into shipdesign a bit, but I don't understand how

to plan a design. If for example I would build a light, fast explorer and

a big ugly transporter, what should I put into it?

- I expect to build a lot of high tech into the explorer, including

science lab, sensors, jumpdrives and engines etc.

- And the big and ugly transporter needs to be just what it is, so what would

be minimal equipment to lift a heavy cargo. Would a 5000 cargobay ship

with 2 MkI nuclear engines, no plate, no bridge, do?

3) production

I've built lots of mines and some powerplants to start with.

- do I now need to actually give build orders to 'build' for example iron

out of the mine? or does the BI IRON create Iron out of Raw Materials only?

- It seems I can, and maybe have to, give a

BI rawmaterials also (I've ordered for 80.000.000 ???), do i need to?

- I noticed I could give a BI 1st Generation Industrial Science.

Do I need to 'build' the Horizon Techs also? And if yes, on what and in what

amounts? 1 per empire, 1 per solar system, 1 per planet?

- Is there a base 'need' for a starting population? Do I need to feed them

or something or could I just use all production available to build items

and construct spaceships and the like?

 

Lot's of questions and plenty more to come I'm afraid :D

But this is it for now, I hope you guys can help me out. Thanx upfront.

 

Greetings, Koenus.

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does a colonist cost also pop (besides the 50ksteel etc)?
A colonist costs one pop to create. You issue a CTRN order for the number you wish to create and Volia, you get that number of colonists and the number of pop is reduced.

 

does a colonist count for 1 pop in a colony?
When you unload your colonist on your colony, they convert to pop.

 

What's a reasnable amount (minimum) to start a colony whith?
The answer is dependent on what you are doing with the colony and the attrition factors you are facing. Also what techs you have available will effect this so unfortunately there is no set answer to this question. Forexample, if I have a colony on a world with attrition due to atmosphere, I will want to include Improved Construction materials in my initial set up so i can build Domed Cities. I would also carry a minimum of 500 Construction Materials per colonist and a goodly amount of coal to fuel those Coal Fired Power Plants (or a lot extra to build GEO/HYDRO plants if you chose to go that route).

 

I've looked into shipdesign a bit, but I don't understand how

to plan a design. If for example I would build a light, fast explorer and

a big ugly transporter, what should I put into it? 

- I expect to build a lot of high tech into the explorer, including

science lab, sensors, jumpdrives and engines etc.

- And the big and ugly transporter needs to be just what it is, so what would

be minimal equipment to lift a heavy cargo. Would a 5000 cargobay ship

with 2 MkI nuclear engines, no plate, no bridge, do?

Basically, a ship needs engines. Everything else is extra. For that Light Fast Explorer include two Science Labs, sensors, cargo space (If you are executing EXPL orders with it, also a drone rack and a fighter bay.) If you are cracking WPs with it put in a JSS. Fuel tankage and lots of engines are important. Since you won't be using it for WP assaults you only need one Jump Engine. Don't forget fuel tanks and Fuel shuttles.

 

For the transporter, lots of cargo bays, one engine and one jump engine, fuel tanks and fuel shuttles are sufficient. This will give you 2 AP.

 

Again ship design has a certain amount of personal preference built in so others will have their opinion. This is mine. (I put 1 10 cm Autocannon on all of my explorers. I thought it would impress the natives in diplomacy actions. I have since learned otherwise but it reamins as a legacy on my explorers.

 

- do I now need to actually give build orders to 'build' for example iron

out of the mine? or does the BI IRON create Iron out of Raw Materials only?

No mines run automatically every turn as long as there is sufficient power. The rule book has the order that items run for production. Powerplants produce power then shipyards, fuel refineries, mines, stripmines and then Industrial Complexes. Only ICs and shipyards have to be given orders to determine what they produce. Everything else only produces one item so they run automatically as long as there are inputs.

 

It seems I can, and maybe have to, give a

BI rawmaterials also (I've ordered for 80.000.000 ???), do i need to?

 

See the above answer. Stripmines produce RM as long as there is power.

 

I noticed I could give a BI 1st Generation Industrial Science.

Do I need to 'build' the Horizon Techs also? And if yes, on what and in what

amounts? 1 per empire, 1 per solar system, 1 per planet?

 

Its an artifact of the database. You cannot give orders for Ground force techs and horizon techs even though they show up on the list.

 

Is there a base 'need' for a starting population? Do I need to feed them

or something or could I just use all production available to build items

and construct spaceships and the like?

 

Art this time you use them to build items and construct spaceships. There is no base need. Consumer goods, black market goods, etc. are useful in diplomacy and in the future is you research that far, Improved and Advanced versions can be used in some facilities. For example, Improved Pharmaceuticals can be used in Imperial Medical Centers which increase the growth rate of your population.

 

I hope this helps and keep asking those questions.

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Some more comments-

 

1- I think you are referring to Colonial Settlers which are ground units and have costs.

 

2- Ship designs are what you make of them so have fun. There is no right way to design a ship and few wrong ways. If you make a mistake simply scrap the design and try again. Most everybody has designed and built a ship that was completely useless because a vital component was left out. That is what the SCRP order is for. Fast is a relative term. In the beginning you have Mk I Nuclear Engines which are not what anybody would call fast. The next couple of upgrades are not much better so for starting ships you are likely to put minimal engines on your design and just go with the free 2AP that any ship gets. Later on you can build really fast ships, or ships with lots of movement (AP), as long as you research to get better engines. Ships with 200+ AP are currntly being built so you can see that you have a long way to go to get to the "fast" ships. :blink:

 

3- Stripmines produce RAW which is then used by industries to make iron, crystals etc.. Your other mines produce iron, crystals etc already. Only mines use power so make sure you have enough power for all of those to run. Shipyards also use power so you need to account for them as well. If any shipyards run then they all use power.

 

There are some initial production example son the board somewhere that you can look at to give you an idea of what you need to do.

 

Remember that when you build ships you have to have the components in stockpile. Ship build orders happen before production so don't try and build ships based on what you are planning on producing.

 

All questions are welcome to just spit them out.

 

:D:cheers::D:drunk:

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I'm yet a very novice player so my beginning errors are still fresh in my mind :D and I can maybe give some useful if basic tips :

 

- in your first turns, there's only 1 order which matters : "BI","999999","Iron","xxxx","999","Yes". It soaks up all your unused capacities to make iron. You'll never have enough iron. Accumulate it while you have nothing important to build.

 

- To build anything, you need first to transform raw material in a first tier material (say iron) unless you can mine it. Mine everything you can, even if you don't need it now. When you'll need, say gemstones, in 25 turns, you'll discover that you can't build enough of it. To be more precise, mine everything where yeild is over, say, 150. And research in priority weapons which use what you can mine.

- Once you got, say, your iron, you must transform it in a second tier material, steel in this case. Finally, you can build the final product which probably needs 2 or 3 different resources. So, for construction material, for instance, it goes :

bi 300000 iron

bi 150000 timber

bi 100000 steel

bi 50000 lumber

bi 50000 construction materials (quantities probably false!)

What I mean is : you'll need a spreadsheet. Just building a Pathfinder requires dozens of bi orders. Forgetting 1 or entering 1 wrong quantity delays each time your Pathfinder 1 turn further.

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2- Ship designs are what you make of them so have fun. There is no right way to design a ship and few wrong ways. If you make a mistake simply scrap the design and try again.

 

One other comment. The ED order is also helpful if you make a mistake. This scratches the design from your list althoguh if you built ships from that design, they will remain until you scrap them all.

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A comment on Ship Design

 

One of your first choices could be do I build a specialized ship or a generic ship to handle any situation.

 

Unlike the predecessor game there are no limits on the number of ships in a fleet or the number of fleets you can have.

 

Without those limitations, I myself have chosen to design very specialized ships.

 

As an example I have 3 different classes for Survey/Exploration work.

 

The first is a small survey vessel with nothing but fuel tanks and engines to conduct planetary surveys..CSV, PMAP, GEO and to be the first sacrificial lamb thru the warp point.

 

Next up is my exploration ship filled with Science Labs, Survey Landers, Drone Racks, Fighter Bays, and Cargo bays to do my actual exploration orders and unload onto a pop group I set up on the planet.

 

Finally I have a dedicated Warp Point Survey Ship with JSS, fuel tanks, and fuel shuttles.

 

So bask in the glory that is Ship Design. Now, if I only knew what each component did.

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A comment on Ship Design

 

One of your first choices could be do I build a specialized ship or a generic ship to handle any situation.

 

Unlike the predecessor game there are no limits on the number of ships in a fleet or the number of fleets you can have.

 

Without those limitations, I myself have chosen to design very specialized ships.

 

As an example I have 3 different classes for Survey/Exploration work.

 

The first is a small survey vessel with nothing but fuel tanks and engines to conduct planetary surveys..CSV, PMAP, GEO and to be the first sacrificial lamb thru the warp point.

 

Next up is my exploration ship filled with Science Labs, Survey Landers, Drone Racks, Fighter Bays, and Cargo bays to do my actual exploration orders and unload onto a pop group I set up on the planet.

 

Finally I have a dedicated Warp Point Survey Ship with JSS, fuel tanks, and fuel shuttles.

 

So bask in the glory that is Ship Design.  Now, if I only knew what each component did.

 

 

Mechanica has a very good point. I also have three classes of Exploration vessel. Interestingly enough I have the same type of objectives for each design although I use Pathfinders to fill the first role.

 

Great minds think alike I guess. :laugh:

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Great minds think alike I guess.  :laugh:

 

T'ckon genetic engineering again :rolleyes:

 

 

Shhhh!!!! You not supposed to have let the word out. :D

 

:D Actually, the way I heerd it a long time ago:

Great minds are like soup, they run together... :D

 

Now THAT is an interesting point of view! :woohoo:

 

Octus

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A comment on Ship Design

 

One of your first choices could be do I build a specialized ship or a generic ship to handle any situation.

 

Unlike the predecessor game there are no limits on the number of ships in a fleet or the number of fleets you can have.

 

Without those limitations, I myself have chosen to design very specialized ships.

 

As an example I have 3 different classes for Survey/Exploration work.

 

The first is a small survey vessel with nothing but fuel tanks and engines to conduct planetary surveys..CSV, PMAP, GEO and to be the first sacrificial lamb thru the warp point.

 

Next up is my exploration ship filled with Science Labs, Survey Landers, Drone Racks, Fighter Bays, and Cargo bays to do my actual exploration orders and unload onto a pop group I set up on the planet.

 

Finally I have a dedicated Warp Point Survey Ship with JSS, fuel tanks, and fuel shuttles.

 

So bask in the glory that is Ship Design.  Now, if I only knew what each component did.

 

 

Thanx for the tips on ship design, I just started with that so I'd be able to plan

my component production. And yes, that would be a specialized exploration ship.

the pmap, geo and so on were to be handled by the pathfinders i started with.

 

Questions on the exploration missions;

- why do you need fighter bays for that? Drones I can understand, there's

a research drone or something like that. I've not seen a plane of that type (yet).

- you keep cargo bays free for exploration, but how much ton do you need for

that? I figured a few tons would do.

- why the fuel shuttleS? do you need more then 1?

and why no cargo shuttles as well then?

 

 

 

Greetings, Koen

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why do you need fighter bays for that? Drones I can understand, there's

a research drone or something like that. I've not seen a plane of that type (yet).

 

This is for EXPL orders. Drones and Fighters are weapon types. They require Drone Racks and Fighter Bays, respectively, to be carried by the fleet. When you are doing EXPLs, you will get three types of results. Either no result, a tech hit (which provides a small Research bonus for that tech) or some item. If you don't have a Drone Rack and a Fighter Bay you could get a Fighter or Drone and you will lose it if you dont have the them. Most players use XEXPL and XOC orders to do the exploration and than offload the items to a pop group. If you can get the item on the ship it will be deposited in the pop group without further issue.

 

you keep cargo bays free for exploration, but how much ton do you need for

that? I figured a few tons would do.

 

A minimum of 25000 tons is recommended. The largest items you find with your EXPL vessels is 25000 T. These are predominantly Transwarp Drives which are one of the most useful items you can find IMO. If you lack sufficient cargo space, you will lose the item since it cannot be placed on the ship.

 

why the fuel shuttleS? do you need more then 1?

and why no cargo shuttles as well then?

 

Fuel shuttles are useful if you run out of fuel far from home or a tanker. You can go to a planet and SKIM fuel. How much is determined by the atmosphere and the oceans. There is a table elsewhere on this board on the topic of Fuel Skimming and it gives the efficiencies that can be attained with Gas Giants being 100%. (The topic can be found pinned in the Rules and Mechanics section of the Forum.)

 

Fuel Shuttles are limited to 200 tons maximum per skim order (200T being at 100% efficiency) so you may need multiple Fuel Shuttles unless you plan on doing a lot of SKIM orders. With a 2 AP ship it could be turns before you get enough fuel.

 

Cargo Barges are useless so don't include them in any of your designs. LC and OC orders can be executed with them. I also seem to recall that Troop Transports arent required either but I have yet to move an army so I cannot be completely sure about that. Someone on the board with experience in this area may be able to comment.

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A comment on Ship Design

 

One of your first choices could be do I build a specialized ship or a generic ship to handle any situation.

 

Unlike the predecessor game there are no limits on the number of ships in a fleet or the number of fleets you can have.

 

Without those limitations, I myself have chosen to design very specialized ships.

 

As an example I have 3 different classes for Survey/Exploration work.

 

The first is a small survey vessel with nothing but fuel tanks and engines to conduct planetary surveys..CSV, PMAP, GEO and to be the first sacrificial lamb thru the warp point.

 

Next up is my exploration ship filled with Science Labs, Survey Landers, Drone Racks, Fighter Bays, and Cargo bays to do my actual exploration orders and unload onto a pop group I set up on the planet.

 

Finally I have a dedicated Warp Point Survey Ship with JSS, fuel tanks, and fuel shuttles.

 

So bask in the glory that is Ship Design.  Now, if I only knew what each component did.

 

 

Thanx for the tips on ship design, I just started with that so I'd be able to plan

my component production. And yes, that would be a specialized exploration ship.

the pmap, geo and so on were to be handled by the pathfinders i started with.

 

Questions on the exploration missions;

- why do you need fighter bays for that? Drones I can understand, there's

a research drone or something like that. I've not seen a plane of that type (yet).

- you keep cargo bays free for exploration, but how much ton do you need for

that? I figured a few tons would do.

- why the fuel shuttleS? do you need more then 1?

and why no cargo shuttles as well then?

 

 

 

Greetings, Koen

 

 

Good questions, all!

 

Let's see here:

- You need both fighter bays and drone racks to store any hyper-advanced combat craft from long extinct civilizations discovered in your archeological digs. (EXPL) If you do not have the storage facilities on-board when you find them, then your new toys will be lost. You can also use Drone Racks to store Picket Drones or Science Drones of your own, to aid your EXPLorations, should you have that tech.

- Opinions differ on how much cargo you should have. It depends a lot on how often you are willing to empty them out into planetary warehouse facilities. Once again, if you find something that you cannot store on-board, it is lost! I find that 25,000 or so cargo capacity is sufficient for about 98% of my operations. I have very seldom discovered a single find large than that. (Although I have had several that were exactly 25,000. Finding a Nuclear Transwarp Drive at some archeological site is always nice!)

- Fuel shuttles are not, strictly speaking, necessary for exploration. But many races like to include them in any design that is likely to wander far from the home world... just in case they run out gas. More than 1? Depends on how much time you are willing to spend on refueling operations around a gas giant.

- Cargo shuttles are useless as a ship design item. The only use ANYBODY has found for them is to give them away to neutral worlds as gifts.

 

Hope that helps!

 

TErnest

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