Cargo Calculation

[RTGRuss]

Hey Guys,

 

You'll see a cargo calculation added to the Imperial Navy Report: Fleet Summary section on your next turn cycle (Pete is doing final testing now ). The format will be like that used for fuel (current cargo calculation / maximum cargo space).

 

The new exploration order was the driving force with exploration fleets loading up discovered items with currently unknown cargo requirements (making the determination of available cargo space impossible in many cases). With this addition to the fleet summary you'll be able to at least tell how much cargo is being used up on any given fleet and, from that, you should be able to figure out the per unit cargo requirements without much trouble.

 

Thanks to "Hobknob" for bringing the cargo calc problem to our attention

 

Note: Remember that you can issue an ANZ order for an unresearched item in your possession but you do have to bring that item back to a science outpost in order for it to be evaluated properly.

 

Pete is also looking to add an indicator to the Imperial Navy Report: Fleet Summary section which will show you which fleets are on convoy routes (and which convoy route they are on). That should kick in next turn cycle as well.

 

Russ

[RTGPete]

Cargo load and an indicator for Convoy Routes are in now - this shows up in the Fleet Summary. I'm looking at doing the same thing for the other cargo types such as troops, colonists, fighters, drones.

[Eldred]

Any chance of implementing an order which allows us to transfer cargo between fleets. I think that now the new EXPL routines are in that this would prove to be very useful

[Clan Elder 'Keen]

I would love to be able to unload my XEXPL fleets via convoy routes instead of making shell colonies under each one.

[RTGPete]

I would love to be able to unload my XEXPL fleets via convoy routes instead of making shell colonies under each one.

I wasn't planning on adding EXPL to Convoy Routes - if you were going to heavily push EXPL's, wouldn't you create a colony to offload gained items anyway? If you used a Convoy Route to move an exploration fleet to a world, execute two EXPL's, move back home, drop off potentially-gained items, and then repeat....your fleet would be losing out on a lot of possible EXPL actions by moving back and forth. Those movements would be totally wasted if the fleet happened to not find anything on its last two EXPL's. Additionally, if it filled its cargo bays on the first EXPL, the second one couldn't find any more items due to lack of available cargo space.

 

It would seem that exploring and offloading would be the way to go whether EXPL was a legal Convoy Route order or not--using another cargo fleet to run around and pick up items to carry them off...allowing the exploration fleets to keep doing their thing

• XEXPL
  
• XOC
  
• XEXPL
  
• XOC
  

The above strategy would use some other fleet to move back and forth from the homeworld, or possibly a very large cargo fleet to move to each explored world in turn, picking up items, and eventually work its way back to the homeworld.

 

I might add that using exploration almost like an industry in these cases would imply that an empire is really focusing on this aspect of the game - an archaeologically-minded empire, or treasure-hunters/artifact-collectors, as it were. It is a good feeling to see so many different ways to play the game working out

 

To allow for more control over your standing orders, I'm looking at some code on this issue: there is no "Delete Standing Order" order allowed now, but it is needed more than ever now with the new exploration results possibilities. A way to change the priorities of your standing orders would be nice as well, to allow for the sequencing of XEXPL and XOC orders, among other things.

[Eldred]

I like Pete's idea of the large cargo ship gradually picking up the EXP finds, but without an order that allows cargo to be transferred between fleets how will this work? Maybe I'm missing something

[ShadowKitsune]

You place a Colony Beacon on the world you are exploring. You issue the following pair of standing orders --

 

XEXPL, Fleet Y

XOC, Fleet Y, PopGroup X, ALL

 

That way every time your explorers find something (or not) they just dump it onto the "shell" colony.

 

After that you set up a Convoy Route or whatever to come by and pick up the items at Pop Group X.

 

-SK

 

PS - The above example assumes that you only have a 2AP Fleet (if your Fleet has more APs, just adjust accordingly).

[Clan Elder 'Keen]

Pete, the other method (besides the colony option which I aluded to and you expanded upon) would be to have a mobile cargo fleet picking up directly from the stationary XEXPL fleets. The pickup fleet would use the convoy route and a ship-to-ship cargo transfer order bypassing the need for a colony.

 

Since the colony option is already quite feasible, it isn't a big deal to not have the cargo transfer option. But I finally see a legitimate use for it.

[looker]

I would love to be able to unload my XEXPL fleets via convoy routes instead of making shell colonies under each one.

I wasn't planning on adding EXPL to Convoy Routes - if you were going to heavily push EXPL's, wouldn't you create a colony to offload gained items anyway? If you used a Convoy Route to move an exploration fleet to a world, execute two EXPL's, move back home, drop off potentially-gained items, and then repeat....your fleet would be losing out on a lot of possible EXPL actions by moving back and forth. Those movements would be totally wasted if the fleet happened to not find anything on its last two EXPL's. Additionally, if it filled its cargo bays on the first EXPL, the second one couldn't find any more items due to lack of available cargo space.

 

It would seem that exploring and offloading would be the way to go whether EXPL was a legal Convoy Route order or not--using another cargo fleet to run around and pick up items to carry them off...allowing the exploration fleets to keep doing their thing

• XEXPL
  
• XOC
  
• XEXPL
  
• XOC
  

The above strategy would use some other fleet to move back and forth from the homeworld, or possibly a very large cargo fleet to move to each explored world in turn, picking up items, and eventually work its way back to the homeworld.

 

I might add that using exploration almost like an industry in these cases would imply that an empire is really focusing on this aspect of the game - an archaeologically-minded empire, or treasure-hunters/artifact-collectors, as it were. It is a good feeling to see so many different ways to play the game working out

 

To allow for more control over your standing orders, I'm looking at some code on this issue: there is no "Delete Standing Order" order allowed now, but it is needed more than ever now with the new exploration results possibilities. A way to change the priorities of your standing orders would be nice as well, to allow for the sequencing of XEXPL and XOC orders, among other things.

Pete, not a knock but big league game info like this should merit an email to the active e-mail players. I think you are right on with the DXO idea (delete x order)

to remove orders that may no longer be needed.

 

Also what was the procedure to remove an empty fleet from the fleet summary ?

 

and in the same vein, if you remove it can you reuse it later with a RN order

[hobknob]

It seems ot me that the fly in the ointment as it were is that you can't select load all cargo as an option. You have to select each item individually. If you are selecting individually you much manually transfer stuff. If you are going to manually transfer stuff then it seem easier to just move the fleet to a central location and drop of the loot when it looks like you won't have enough room for another batch of explores.

 

I am glad you have clarified the need to have the materials at a "science outpost" in order to get a good ANZ. None the less, I am curious as to what a "bad" ANZ would consist of. COuld you give us a demo on a basic tech so we can see what type of differences we are talking about?

 

If this is not the case then disregard.

 

 

I really am a packrat at heart.

Edited September 17, 2003 by hobknob

[MadMartinB]

Also what was the procedure to remove an empty fleet from the fleet summary ?

I forget the order for deleting fleets but it is there. Takes out all empty fleets...

[Clan Elder 'Keen]

Indeed, Load Cargo all would save much unecessary micromanagement with order entry.

[hobknob]

The delete all empty fleets is a very underutilized order since it basically does little of any value. Since there is no upper limit on fleets and it doesn't hurt to have empty fleets everywhere, why bother? Now a real useful order would be one that created numerous fleets at the same time instead of one at a time. Another real useful order would collect all of the empty fleets and return them to the homeworld for recycle purposes. IMHO an empty fleet should return to the homeworld at the end of the turn anyway, but lacking that, an order that would clean up the empty fleets without deleting them would be very useful.

 

[RTGPete]

Indeed, Load Cargo all would save much unecessary micromanagement with order entry.

 

It could be that I'm misunderstanding this...but you can issue a Load Cargo, <pop group #>, <fleet #>, ALL order to load everything from a Population Group onto a specified fleet. It would load until the fleet couldn't handle any more cargo.

[Laserwolf]

That is GREAT news! Now I dont have to list every possible material my colonies COULD mine (and their IMP & ADV refined versions) just in case I need to make them down the road. Sooo much better.

 

~Laserwolf