First Turn

[SPGraves]

In my first turn I expect to build out mines, build a second shipyard slip, and move my pathfinders through the warp points to begin exploring adjacent systems.

 

I intend to design a followup exploration vessel with teh only function to be issuing EXPLR orders over planets in my system or adjacent systems.

 

THis ship will be:

25,000 Cargo Bay

MK I Nuclear Engine

Type A Science Lab

Survey Lander

MK I Nuclear Jump Engine

 

I assume I do not need a JSS to move through a known warp point.(?)

Any criticisms? AM I thinking too small here???

 

On the economic front I assume I need to build the engines,cargo bays, science labs, etc... this first turn so I can build the ship(s) on the second turn. Correct?

 

Should I be building temples, etc.. this first turn?

 

Research will be reprioritized to whatever I decide is best.

 

Any addition thoughts and criticisms?

 

I am open to spreadsheet donations to get over the learning curve.

[Paradigm]

I would add fuel tanks since you have a jump drive. Not strictly necessary, but handy.

[AKO]

Adding some guns may be helpfull as well, in case a runaway Pathfinder with hostile intensions is met while you are exploring. And if you want to protect for that, slap on some Standard Hull Plate to brace for impact.

[Azuth]

I intend to design a followup exploration vessel with teh only function to be issuing EXPLR orders over planets in my system or adjacent systems.

 

THis ship will be:

25,000 Cargo Bay

MK I Nuclear Engine

Type A Science Lab

Survey Lander

MK I Nuclear Jump Engine

 

I assume you have Fuel Tankage too. I also added a Fighter Bay and Drone Rack to my design, just in case. Fighters (types) can only be stored in Fighter Bay and Drone (types) can be stored in Drone Rack. Cargo Bays won't store any of those types.

[Tokmok]

Hi

 

1)

If you have planets in your home system I think you should focus on exploring them first. Unless you plan to set-up colonies in a system next to your home world it is going to cost to many AP´s and orders to get whatever you find back to the homeworld.

 

2) Also you can only build ONE ship pr turn pr shipyard slip. I would advice you to build at least 5-6 maybe even 10 more shipyard slips. That allows you to build 5-6 ships at a time if nessesary.

 

 

Tokmok out

[KOTEC]

I would add a JSS to you first interstellar explorer - the ship will be able to get to your nearest warp point star - and probably back again. But would not be able to go to any further stars out - a bit boring if they are warp nexus.

 

Best of luck!

[Laserwolf]

A rather simple design is to scrap your pathfinders and rebuild them with 25000 cargo bays.

 

Another option is to build them a "sidecar" 25000 cargo, 1 MK I Nuke Engine and 1 MK I Jump drive and send them out in pairs.

[hobknob]

I wouldn't worry about building any ships on the first turn. Use the pathfinders you have as they are fairly useful. Assuming you have some SRP's to spend I would buy Mk II Jump Survey Sensors. With those you can do much better in the exploration front. As for what to build on the first turns I would stick to cargo bays, drone racks, fighter bays and Colonist berthings. All of these things are useful and don't seem to get upgraded any time soon or ever.

 

As far as exploration goes, I seem to have better success with multi ship fleets with lots of labs and survey landers. I would plan on a fleet with many ships and adjust cargo accordingly. You really only need to have 15-20K worth of cargo for each AP that you are exploring. A 2 AP fleet doesn't need 250K cargo spaces regardless of how many ships you have. Since most finds are under 20,000 tons per find your final fleet coargo capacity doesn't need to be much more that. When you start making higher AP ships then you will need more cargo per ship or more ships per fleet to keep the ratios reasonable.

 

I would build up to 10 shipyard slips and shipyard capacity up to 1.5 M as a starting point. If you have a lot of planets/moons then you may need ships sooner. The same goes for warp points and explorers. However, if you have few planets, say <10, and few warp points, say < 4 then you will likely be good to go with your starting ships.

 

One other thing, as you start exploring you will likely need to drop colonies to help get past tough warp points, these will require colony berthings and cargo spaces. Don't wait until you need them in a system 3 away before you start to build them. Build a few 15 berth transports and send them out on the heels of your explorers.

 

That about covers you initial questions, but feel free to ask anything either here on the board or in an email if you want to be a bit more private. Most folks on the board respond well to questions, regardless of how they might sound in public.