Suggestion for Addition to Turns

[MadMartinB]

Would this not be better in a different area...not the Galactic Forum...

[President Guztov]

Spreadsheets Bah! My memory is serving me just fine at the moment. Im not sure how long it will continue do to do given the lifetime of the game but Im sure with constant use it will hang right in there.

[CLEernest]

I thought the more you used something the faster you wroe it out, maybe you would be safer if you wrote it down. Espically if you where overthroun by a revoulution.

[Krelnett_of_Kraan]

I thought the more you used something the faster you wroe it out, maybe you would be safer if you wrote it down. Espically if you where overthroun by a revoulution.

...or attacked by a fiendish spell-checker...

 

(Krelnett's in a mood today; going home sick does that to a bug)

[Shade]

This is why I and my friends in the game started our own tech log / tech tree in Excel (Excel has drawing features remember, not too much trouble to make arrows between bordered cells for a tech tree, with "hidden" text describing stats and stuff in the cell readable when the cell is selected). The tree is a mess of lines and cells, and much bigger horizontally than vertically at the moment ! : ) Someday maybe its height will be as large as its width, but not for some time clearly!

 

This helps us not only figure out how to get somewhere via research, but also gives us details on the techs so we don't have to redo ANZ orders or RTD's, or shuffle through mounds of paper or electronic files of past turn results.

 

Certain areas of the tech tree are so far isolated from each other, and so to make it a bit easier to follow, we've also made seperate spreadsheets for those areas. A lasers tech tree sheet for example. The horizon techs all criss-cross though and that's the biggest individual sheet...I've termed it the "physical science, social science, and engineering tech tree!"

 

We use the file to also track research progress and give each other an idea of where each of us are going on techs and how long it is taking techs to research with research centers. The new progress features in the research page of our turns help out a lot here too. Didn't take too long to figure out that 1 bar is 5% and bars are updated in increments of 10% (2 bars). Count the # of turns to get 2 bars (or # of bars in 1 turn if you have an easy tech) and you can figure out how long till you'll be getting the tech.

 

Republic of Jemp

[Takeda]

I know this can be worked out with a spreadsheet but I was a history major in college so.... I would really like to see a number next to tooled build orders showing how many industrial complexes they use.

 

Takeda

[Shade]

That's a great idea, or a similar idea maybe would be to have the turn results portion where production is summarized indicate, either by pop group or by item type how many industrial complexes were used for production that turn. This would give people a good idea without having to do the math as to how much capacity they are not using.

 

Since we don't have that in the turn results, I have another spreadsheet that I use to figure out ship component construction que's (I got it off of another player ...or maybe its a player aid, I don't remember). It helps NUD the ship too, and tells you tonnage and warp bubble size and thrust rating. I've modified it over the time I've been in the game to increase capability to help me figure out all I need to develop production ques, impact of mining on the que, stockpiles, etc. A calculation tells me how much industrial capacity is needed to make everything for the ship.

 

One thing that I must say is cool about this game is that even though the tendency is to do a ton of orders, with some creative planning you can have a lot done without expending orders every turn, through tooled production, standiong orders, and convoys. I have been in the game since around the 2nd or third turn and I have yet to spend more than the basic $6.00/turn. There have been turns where I could probably come up with enough to do double for $12.00, but never anything critical and I just put those things off for a turn or two.

[Kurassier]

another suggestion, I would like to see all of my fleet information in one spot, instead of currently 3 or 4.

Curently, there is the report at the end of the 'turn results', then the fleet reports, then the fleet cargo reports, then the Standing orders report, then the convoy reports.

I would like to see all of the information for say "FLeet 100" in the same spot, fleet info, ships, cargo, fuel, standing orders and convoy routes.

 

It does seem that slowly over the past year, Pete is moving us towards that, so hopefully soon....

[Octus Imperium]

That's a great idea, or a similar idea maybe would be to have the turn results portion where production is summarized indicate, either by pop group or by item type how many industrial complexes were used for production that turn. This would give people a good idea without having to do the math as to how much capacity they are not using.

 

Since we don't have that in the turn results, I have another spreadsheet that I use to figure out ship component construction que's (I got it off of another player ...or maybe its a player aid, I don't remember). It helps NUD the ship too, and tells you tonnage and warp bubble size and thrust rating. I've modified it over the time I've been in the game to increase capability to help me figure out all I need to develop production ques, impact of mining on the que, stockpiles, etc. A calculation tells me how much industrial capacity is needed to make everything for the ship.

 

One thing that I must say is cool about this game is that even though the tendency is to do a ton of orders, with some creative planning you can have a lot done without expending orders every turn, through tooled production, standiong orders, and convoys. I have been in the game since around the 2nd or third turn and I have yet to spend more than the basic $6.00/turn. There have been turns where I could probably come up with enough to do double for $12.00, but never anything critical and I just put those things off for a turn or two.

Based on someone's idea on this board, I have a high priority number non-tooled build order for 10MM Iron. That way, I know how may IC's were not used and NONE are wasting a turn. I always build something with my IC's. One of the many ideas from this open forum

 

Octus Imperium

[EternusIV]

:lol:

 

I keep a database on not only what I've researced per turn, but how many turns it takes me to finish it

[hobknob]

Any good spreadsheet can tell you how many industries you are using. Mine does and I am not a spreadsheet wizard. If you don't have a good spreadsheet then you should get one.

 

If you need help with a spreadsheet I am sure that there are tons out there free for the asking. Just ask.

[Shade]

I've started to add high priority tooling to my production ques to use up excess industrial capacity, but I should have done it a long time ago. I've actually gone a different route a bit rather than just make a bunch of iron, I've setup construction material que to use excess IC to make more IC to try and maybe someday get to the point where I can employ all the pop that I grow each turn. For the longest time I couldn't figure out how to setup a que for CM using my excess IC to handle the multiple requirements without having the extra IC used up on only one item, then I realized I can just set up the que backwards. I put CM first, at some high amount that is much more than I would ever actually be able to make in a single turn, followed by a similarly high number for timber, then steel, then lumber, then iron. This way, if there isn't enough timber and steel to make the CM, the que will move on to make the steel and timber so that the CM can be made the following turn. If there isn't enough iron and lumber for the steel and timber, the que moves on to make that.

[Octus Imperium]

I've started to add high priority tooling to my production ques to use up excess industrial capacity, but I should have done it a long time ago. I've actually gone a different route a bit rather than just make a bunch of iron, I've setup construction material que to use excess IC to make more IC to try and maybe someday get to the point where I can employ all the pop that I grow each turn. For the longest time I couldn't figure out how to setup a que for CM using my excess IC to handle the multiple requirements without having the extra IC used up on only one item, then I realized I can just set up the que backwards. I put CM first, at some high amount that is much more than I would ever actually be able to make in a single turn, followed by a similarly high number for timber, then steel, then lumber, then iron. This way, if there isn't enough timber and steel to make the CM, the que will move on to make the steel and timber so that the CM can be made the following turn. If there isn't enough iron and lumber for the steel and timber, the que moves on to make that.

Excellent idea. Will take a few orders to reconfigure. May be well worth it.

 

Octus Imperium

 

<Twiddling digits awaiting most recent results of Imperial decisions>