Locklyn Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 It is with great sadness we have watched the duress of so many sentinent species over these last months as they have struggled over the hints dropped by certain colorful individuals of the starlanes and we have found it in general detrimental to the galactic mental health and thus a danger to the greater galactic common good. After consultation within the GSL it has therefor been decided that to promote commerce and general transgalactic communications to release to the general assembled sentinent species the information on how to produce the NTWD. This discovery was made many cycles ago by one of our most gifted members and we realise that it is a gem that grows in value not in how it is hoarded but in how it is shared by all. This follows the principles of the GSL and the spirit which binds us all and the galactic population will find that we will continue to act upon matters of vital importance for the stability and continued prosperity of all sentinents. Thus without further adue and with the hopes that we of the GSL may be able to further aid the sentinent species that follow the wish for peace and stability in other areas....we present the NTWD Nuclear Transwarp Drive Nuclear Transwarp Drive: The advent of Advanced Fuel triggered a sweeping change in the concept of how to design Jump Drives. Your scientists have come up with an ingenious way to avoid the buildup of dangerous, radioactive materials in the old drives. Instead of shutting down and cleaning the drive after each warp transition, Advanced Fuel is continuously flushed through the drive coils throughout a warp tunnel transition. This totally eliminates the need to conduct jump drive repairs following each transition, allowing a ship to move onward with no delay. The main downside is that washing the highly volatile Advanced Fuel over the active drive coils is incredibly dangerous. In addition, holding a warp bubble open is too much strain for a single Nuclear Jump Drive, requiring a huge battery of the NJD's working in concert to spread the load and maintain a stable warp bubble. A breach in the bubble from the interior of the hyperspace wormhole would spell instant destruction for the vessel. To prevent an accidental NTD breach, a heavy magnetic shield is placed all about the engine compartment. The device is considered safe for normal operation, but does not handle battle damage very well as the shields are focused inward rather than providing protection from enemy weaponry. Finally, Jump Drive output of this unit is, unfortunately, less than that of the standard Nuclear Jump Drive. Note: for game purposes, the Nuclear Transwarp Drive works just like any other Jump Drive. A ship equipped with at least one NTD warps from system to system normally. However, the action points of the ship are not reduced to zero following a successful warp movement. It is therefore possible for a ship with 2 action points to execute a Move - Warp - Move - Warp series in one turn, or a Move - Warp - System Scan. (25,000 tons) 250 Mk I Nuclear Jump Drive - 250 Mk I Force Shield - 25,000 Advanced Fuel - 25,000 Improved Electronics -25,000 Improved Synthetic Materials Classification: Jump Drive Prerequisite Technologies: Mk I Nuclear Jump Drive, Advanced Fuel, Mk I Force Shield Jump Drive Output: 125000 /Locklyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EternusIV Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 Locklyn- I sang praises to the GSL in the other post. Thanks a thousand times over! This will change the game for the better. In my opinion, this resolve most of the pace issues in my mind and RTG should be commended for making the NTWD fairly easy to access; especially for the folks who didn't save a bunch of SRPs. Had I found this first, I would feel as though this was too big of an advance to keep to myself for the sake of the game. I think the GSL shows a tremendous amount of maturity and gamesmanship for publishing this. So...from the get go... 1) Superconductor 2) Force Shield I 3) Improved Fuel 4) Improved Synth Materials 5) Improved Ref Crystals 6) Improved Electronics 7) Advanced Fuel 8) NTWD Thats pretty killer. It still remains a good idea to have those Mk IV JSS/NE's to raise APs and cut through WPs quickly.... Now newer races can get a fast jump on their neighborhood and old races don't have to shudder about how long it will take to ferry out goods/colonists and ships to the outer reaches of their explored territory.... The thought of spending three-four months to traverse explored space in one direction was painfully disappointing and nauseous to me. I'm VERY happy to see this advance! Thanks again, guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMartinB Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 Eternus - Having been gagged by the GSL when I left I am glad that Locklyn stepped up. Your estimation is correct but I would make some minor changes.... 1. If you are a colonizer, NTWD might not be the best path since engines are needed. No need to waste a turn on Superconductor. You get it in 3. I would do (and have done): MK II JSS 2G Space MK III JSS MK I Force Shield [sTART PRODUCTION OF ALL OR A PORTION OF THE 250 of each needed] MK II Nuke MK I Fusion MK II Fusion Improved Fuel [Not very expensive now since you have 7 turns into it] Advanced Fuel [sTART PRODUCTION OF ADVANCED FUEL] NTWD Then on this turn all the improved come in. [sLOT IMPROVED REFINED/SYNTHETIC and ELECTRONICS, BUILD MK II FUSION TO GET 8 AP Ships and off you go..] here is a recon ship for one of my empires. 445+ MK II Fusions, some defenses and it gets 8APs. You can then (lower case 0 AP cost) MOVE, SURV, warp, SS, SURV, warp, MOVE, SURV, warp, SS, SURV, warp This allows you to clear 2 systems out and keep the recon ship safe. 10cm Gauss Gun 5 1000 MK I Thunderbolt Arc 1 500 Heavy Magnetic Grapple 0 0 Light Sonic Disruptor 0 0 Light Sonic Disentegrator 0 0 MK I Long Lance Torpedo 0 0 Mk I Computer System 1 100 Mk III Jump Survey Sensor 1 5000 Mk II Fusion Engine 445 44500 Mk I Nuclear Jump Drive 0 0 Mk I Short Range Sensor 5 500 Titanium Composite Armor 10000 10000 Energy Dispersion Armor 0 0 4cm Gatling Gauss CIDS 0 0 MK I Deflector 5 500 MK I Force Shield 5 500 Fighter Bay 0 0 Attack Fighter 0 0 Tranwarp Drive 1 25000 Cargo Bay 0 0 Colonial Berthing 0 0 Fuel Tankage 15000 15000 Fuel Shuttle 10 6000 Survey Lander 0 0 Troop Berthing 0 0 Type B Defense Screen 2 2000 Type A Science Lab 0 0 SubTotals 110600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolfe99 Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 Eternus: I think you can appreciate my point now about making assumptions regarding pace. We released this information in part because we were concerned about general player dissatisfaction with the pace of the game. We felt it was good for the SN:ROTE community as a whole that this particular advance become general knowledge. About your progression above, the superconductor is a 3 turn tech, and can be researched quickly while you grab the other techs. Another piece of information about the NTWD. It appears to also be a 3 turn tech. Strange, but true. Man is that a weird path, eh? Pete really pulled a fast one with the advanced fuel thing. He made the tech relatively easy to get, but hard to figure out, because there are no obvious advantages to improved/advanced fuel. - woolfe PS: Try this path: Mk II JSS Mk II Nuclear Engine Mk I Fusion Engine Mk II Fusion Engine Mk I Force Shield Improved Fuel Advanced Fuel NTWD (or research it conventionally for 3 turns) At this point you're probably 1-2 turns away from the improved materials if you have some RB. Anyway the point is you needn't buy all the improved materials. I'd save them for other stuff like Industrial Sci and IIC's. Then: MK III JSS 3G Space MK IV JSS Voila. In about 12 turns you can make ships that will jump through 12 systems in a turn. Pretty spiffy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'Aleen Empire Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 One thing to remember, When you have many APs for a ship and even using a NTWD , when you first enter a New System, you can do a SURV (of the WP you just used to enter the system with), and a SS ( to get the specifics in the system). Now if you want to play it SAFE, you could or should stop there...but if you don't care about those random space hazards, you could NM to orbit 1 and also do a PMAP, GEO, ORB, and CSV. You basically need to know what is in a system first to truely get the most out of a NTWD high level APs ship. Just some advise ... Penn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolfe99 Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 No need to waste a turn on Superconductor. You get it in 3. Doh! You beat me to punch on that one by about 30 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMartinB Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 30 seconds is important... There is no reason to have a NTWD ship do PMAPs/GEOs. The Transwarp drive is very expensive. I would recommend a fleet of engines only ships (say 8 MK II Fusions, 100 fuel and a MK I Jump drive). This gives you a 16 AP PMAP ship. You use your NTWD to jump in SS/SURV and warp back out. Keep that guy safe! Also you can clear a nexus fast and then next turn choose the direction. Example from my turn: Jump into Birkenstock (SS - 23 items, 1 Warp point only), SURV and jump back out, Do same for Delta which is another pocket dimension. Now you have identified 2 systems and can move on. Your real issue is that a NTWD takes 250 MK I JUmp and 250 MK I Force + engines to make it worthwhile and a %^&&$#^ of fuel since you are clearing a number of systems a turn. obviously my 2c but it seems to be working for me. I have convoy routes sending out high AP ships to the front and when they get there I do all the GEO/PMAP CSV etc.. Although you really do not need to do a CSV. The PMAP will tell you the CSV in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'Aleen Empire Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 It is all a question of playing style and known tech! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMartinB Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 Correct. But a NTWD takes almost 60% of someones economy to make so a MK I Nuke, fuel, a MK III sensor or two and a NTWD is an expensive item to send out there alone :-) Since a NTWD takes 250 MK I Jump drives and 250 MK I force fields it is more expensive than making 400-500 MK II Fusion engines. If a NTWD = 500 MK II FUsions engines then you get 1 8 AP ship for the price of 2 2AP ships with NTWDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'Aleen Empire Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 Exactly Martin...as I said 'playing style' and 'known tech' that you know about ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMartinB Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 yep... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EternusIV Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 /blush About the 3 turn superconductor...but I got that sometime back in 2002 and forgot about that :lol: I am a colonizer. The NTWD is invaluable.....I have SEVERAL good worlds to choose from, but now my convoy routes can have some teeth to them and I can feasibly colonize systems 4-5 systems away within a reasonable time!!! My CBs just "doubled" for two of my colonies once I have the NTWDs in place. Once I get engines....they triple... Woolfe - I DO appreciate your point about my (mis)assumptions regarding pace. Foot is in mouth. The fact the NTWD is a three turn tech is also valuable. I'm guessing the NTWD II's are "cheaper" to build. If its like anything else, I'm guessing its the same formula with higher component requirements: For the Mk II NTWD: 1) Mk II JD's 2) Mk II Force Shield 3) Probably a Space Science you have already researched by now (2nd or 3rd Gen) 4) Probably NOT a better grade of fuel than "Advanced"....perhaps Mk III NTWDs require somehting more efficient than Advanced Fuel. BTW - Thats a nice design on the recon ship, MMB! I gotta tell you guys -- this changes EVERYTHING from a strategy/design standpoint. Even for a sluggish, non-SRP, non-Researchbonus, insane colonizer race like the Spawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhaseDragon Posted October 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 It will certainly silence some arguments about the slow pace of the game. I was never really worried too much since I stayed in the game....as did all of you out there reading this. OK, maybe I was a little worried but I am now going to start another empire with lots of saved points to get to some contact soon. My startup will be submitted to run during the first turn cycle in January 2004. Anyone wishing to start a new empire: Please start at that same time - First turn cycle in January. I am currently talking to friends about the game all the time but have been unable to convince them of the VALUE of the game. I think it will be a much easier sell now. They will all start with me too. Remember to save points for those early techs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMartinB Posted October 14, 2003 Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 Recon by force is a pirates motto and with the GSL issuing bounties for us poor pirates we have to go armed. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolfe99 Posted October 15, 2003 Report Share Posted October 15, 2003 Woolfe - I DO appreciate your point about my (mis)assumptions regarding pace. Foot is in mouth. Actually I can't blame you for the misassumption. I thought the same thing before I wass made aware of the path. Given that no one seemed to have this device a year into the game, it was reasonable to assume a longer path. And engines were a logical prereq. Advanced fuel and force shields? Who've thunk it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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