Neutronium

[RTGPete]

The ANZ description of the various Magnetic Grapples describes them as useful equipment for EXPL missions...  Is this correct or is it just fluff?

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Yes, magnetic grapples help.

[General Miles Avatar]

Why picket drones?  Do you mean anything with a sensor rating? 

 

If so, is having several different items with sensor ratings better than a lot of one thing with the same sensor rating, assuming total equivalent tonnages and equal ratings (all "adequate" for example)?

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Not everything with a sensor rating; I just happened to remember them as an item that helped with EXPL missions.

 

Picket Drones can remain on station for extended durations and are often used to spot and track enemy movements.

 

This makes them interesting items for long-duration exploration of an entire world. However, they could be destroyed in battle, making them somewhat vulnerable. Most good exploration ships that I've seen use a combination of survey landers, various sensors and universal translators combined with solid lifeform bonuses. Picket Drones have other uses, and thus cannot be as efficient at exploration as more dedicated EXPL items such as Survey Landers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

ahhhh... And I assume this energy drain creature knowledge falls under the same

category? You have to be lucky enough to get enough exploration hits on this

to open up that weapon tree?

Which begs the question.... Has anyone ever recieved the elusive energy drain

creature knowledge exploration hit?

[ali-t-akua]

Why picket drones?  Do you mean anything with a sensor rating? 

 

If so, is having several different items with sensor ratings better than a lot of one thing with the same sensor rating, assuming total equivalent tonnages and equal ratings (all "adequate" for example)?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not everything with a sensor rating; I just happened to remember them as an item that helped with EXPL missions.

 

Picket Drones can remain on station for extended durations and are often used to spot and track enemy movements.

 

This makes them interesting items for long-duration exploration of an entire world. However, they could be destroyed in battle, making them somewhat vulnerable. Most good exploration ships that I've seen use a combination of survey landers, various sensors and universal translators combined with solid lifeform bonuses. Picket Drones have other uses, and thus cannot be as efficient at exploration as more dedicated EXPL items such as Survey Landers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

ahhhh... And I assume this energy drain creature knowledge falls under the same

category? You have to be lucky enough to get enough exploration hits on this

to open up that weapon tree?

Which begs the question.... Has anyone ever recieved the elusive energy drain

creature knowledge exploration hit?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I have not but I have received a hit for Energy Sapper Torpedo so I assume that if you are lucky enough to get enough hits on that item you will get the requisite knowledge for that path.

[Prospective]

Here's a couple more musings about EXPL's that hopefully Pete will see and respond to (seems less likely today since turns are coming in but I'll give it a shot).

 

Are all planets created equal as far as the POTENTIAL for EXPL discoveries (at least initially before any EXPL's have taken place)? Or do some planets have inherently higher chances for EXPL 'hits'? For instance, do 'rocky' planets/moons have a better chance for retrieving tech advancement/material finds than gas giant planets or asteroid fields?

 

Is there any chance of getting tech advancement or 'item retrieval' results by issuing EXPL orders at WP's, or is the only kind of find at a WP one that provides a starmap?

 

Would the addition of Imperial Science or standard Science installations on a target planet increase the chances of successful EXPL's? Or am I spinning my wheels on that?

 

Does the frequency of hits increase the further you are from the homeworld/homesystem, or is distance irrelevant?

 

Are explorer type special characters more likely to increase hit rates than scientist type special characters, are they equally likely, or are scientists more likely to increase the hit rate?

 

Is there greater benefit (in terms of hit rates or 'quality' of tech advancement finds) in having both an explorer and a scientist in the same survey fleet, or would it be better to place those two characters in two separate survey fleets researching different planets?

 

Thanks Pete.

[hobknob]

Those all sound like good questions to send to the newsletter. Pete has been very good about answering questions in that format as well.

[EternusIV]

Those all sound like good questions to send to the newsletter.  Pete has been very good about answering questions in that format as well.

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I'll send these along if Pete doesn't respond here, first. He's been pretty active on the boards this cycle!

[Octus Imperium]

The ANZ description of the various Magnetic Grapples describes them as useful equipment for EXPL missions...  Is this correct or is it just fluff?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, magnetic grapples help.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

So it wasn't wasted research.....

 

Thanks, these insights are invaluable.

 

Octus

[Octus Imperium]

Thanks Pete!!!!  I had been wondering along those lines (using brute force EXPL in order to get a breakthru), and I think you've pretty much confirmed it.

 

Of course the next question is, what ship design strategies will provide increased  liklihood of making breakthru's in EXPL....

 

Would you care to sound off on that?

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The types of finds already present on a world can modify what you end up getting.

 

 

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This relates to another posting, but your statement on types of finds is interesting. Am I reading between the lines correctly? This statement would imply that finds are random, not preordained on each planet (first find is Mk III navel lint remover, second find is Mk II nasal hair trimmer, etc.) but are random AND influenced by previous finds. If so, does this mean one could never exhaust all the finds on a planet, just that they get less likely to happen? And could one start guessing the 'finds tree' if one has enough experience? (Sort of like a research tree, but actually a probability of types of finds based on previous finds.)

 

Into about 60 cycles now and I find I look at things in the turn results in a certain order: Research progress, ANZ and then exploration hits. Since I am not (yet) engaged in battles and hope to delay that experience indefinitely, these are the things I most look forward to each late Friday night/early Satuday morning.

 

Octus

[RTGPete]

This relates to another posting, but your statement on types of finds is interesting. Am I reading between the lines correctly? This statement would imply that finds are random, not preordained on each planet (first find is Mk III navel lint remover, second find is Mk II nasal hair trimmer, etc.) but are random AND influenced by previous finds. If so, does this mean one could never exhaust all the finds on a planet, just that they get less likely to happen? And could one start guessing the 'finds tree' if one has enough experience? (Sort of like a research tree, but actually a probability of types of finds based on previous finds.)

That is correct, not preordained before a player shows up to explore. You might be able to figure out the non-random parts of the exploration hits (when do you get star maps most often?), but the Mk II Nasal Hair Trimmer is a really rare find, so that particular one might elude you....

[Prospective]

Interesting response Pete. Since items found are not preordained, that means there is no one planet where I can continuously get hits on "Neutronium" for instance, but rather it's a random occurance.

 

Ok, here's another one for you.

 

Let's say that Earthers Fleet 101 issues an EXPL at planet 1 of the Sol system (Mercury to you and me). When processing orders, the program determines whether the EXPL order of Fleet 101 results in a "hit" (calculated on the base chance to find something + modifiers such as Survey Landers, Sensors, Science Labs, racial characteristics, etc...).

 

If the answer is yes, a random number is compared with a 'Find' table that determines what the find is. Let's say that the random number generator points to "1st Generation Genetic Engineering" (horizon technology). It just so happens that the Earthers have already made a breakthrough in 1st Generation Genetic Engineering... what happens?

 

Can the Earthers get a hit on a technology that has already been researched by them, or is that entry "removed" from the 'Find' table?

 

And, if it's determined that they 'hit' on a tech they already possess, do they go back to the 'find' table or do they go all they way back to the table that determines whether a 'hit' actually occurred?

[ShadowKitsune]

While he did say they weren't pre-ordained, he did not say that "pool" from which EXPL hits were drawn from was always the same. I'm thinking that there are constraints of some kind that are placed on the potential hits "pool" (i.e. Warp Point finds are supposedly 'local' to the region in which they are found).

 

FWIW,

-SK

[EternusIV]

Huge guess here - stab in the dark -

 

(to address Paradigm on the question of formulas)

 

I don't see complex math at work. In other words, if ITEM A and ITEM B both have a GLOB RATING of 10, complex differnetial formulas could dictate that if you used more of ITEM A than ITEM B that you get a worse result.

 

Conversely, redundancy formulas exist in exploration and colonization. They are easy to code with basic algebra.

 

Stacking ITEMS A and B will grant higher GLOB RATINGs despite the ratio of ITEM A to ITEM B. However, the total GLOB RATING might eventually cap out based out in the individual numbers of ITEM A and ITEM B used (using exponentials to limit maximums)

 

I think Pete has done a wonderful job of preventing cookie-cutter min/max strategies. Pete has also kept an eye on this: example -- ICE tech threatened that balance early on and Pete nerfed them in such a way to prevent abuse (to my knowledge)

 

Caveat: the following statement is based on personal observation only....

 

Bottom line: more is better in terms of fleet ratings, but watch out for redundancy with exploration and colonizing (ie yields)

 

Pete - is this a bad statement? Too broad?

 

 

I'm thinking that there are constraints of some kind that are placed on the potential hits "pool"

 

Good point. I've always guessed that such "pools" are differntiated upon the type of installations found on that world. Someone should write up an exploration guide and send it to the newsletter! *cough*

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah...

 

I agree as to what Neutronium leads to: Doomsday machines!

 

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/seri...sode/68730.html

 

Rather than armor (Tckon stuff looks plenty uber to me) I bet it leads to a NASTY MDD aka Planet Killer.

 

 

Spock: The object's hull is solid neutronium.

 

 

Neutronium is a colloquialism used to describe a theoretical form of degenerate matter that contains no protons or electrons, only neutrons. Instead of being supported primarily by the forces related to these particles, it is supported by neutron degeneracy pressure. It may not exist in a stable form anywhere except inside neutron stars and science fiction stories. It may not exist at all; the material inside a neutron star may be more like a soup of unbound quarks. Since no one has worked with it in a laborotory, its properties are unknown, but one in particular is relevant: extremely high density, so high that a teaspoonful or so would have a mass of around 100 million metric tons. Source: http://www.tv.com/the-doomsday-machine/epi...20/summary.html

[hobknob]

I believe that when conducting exploration you are first looking for a structure of some sort. After you discover the structure then you get a chance to find something or to get a tech hit. The type of structure does indeed play a part in what you find and your exploration bonus, fleet configuration and LC's present play a part in how much you find or how much research you made.

 

The one for sure find is the star map. They are found in astronomical observatories in various states of disrepair.

 

Beyond that I would have to go back and look at all my turns to see if any patterns emerge.

 

[RTGPete]

I believe that when conducting exploration you are first looking for a structure of some sort.  After you discover the structure then you get a chance to find something or to get a tech hit.  The type of structure does indeed play a part in what you find and your exploration bonus, fleet configuration and LC's present play a part in how much you find or how much research you made.

 

The one for sure find is the star map.  They are found in astronomical observatories in various states of disrepair.

 

Beyond that I would have to go back and look at all my turns to see if any patterns emerge. 

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Spot on correct. Also, if there are already exploration "structures" on the world, one might be added just before the final exploration hit is determined. As more are added to a world, the chance of adding additional ones decreases slightly.

[Octus Imperium]

This relates to another posting, but your statement on types of finds is interesting. Am I reading between the lines correctly? This statement would imply that finds are random, not preordained on each planet (first find is Mk III navel lint remover, second find is Mk II nasal hair trimmer, etc.) but are random AND influenced by previous finds. If so, does this mean one could never exhaust all the finds on a planet, just that they get less likely to happen? And could one start guessing the 'finds tree' if one has enough experience? (Sort of like a research tree, but actually a probability of types of finds based on previous finds.)

That is correct, not preordained before a player shows up to explore. You might be able to figure out the non-random parts of the exploration hits (when do you get star maps most often?), but the Mk II Nasal Hair Trimmer is a really rare find, so that particular one might elude you....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Oh, a hint! Something else to do this weekend, tracking down star map finds. Glad I have a listing of all those finds with attached turn date. Only now wishing I had put page numbers in the spreadsheet!

 

VERY disappointed about the Nasal Hair Trimmer find rarity. My boss's boss REALLY needs the Mk V model. It may keep his fingers out of his....

 

Octus