Ad Astra! ... an Aurora Forum Game, run by blue emu

[blue emu]

A new version of the game has been released. It is not compatible with earlier saves (such as our current Ad Astra game). Should we continue this game, or... in view of the fact that it's pretty well won already... should one of us start a new game, using the new version?

Change Log :

1.) Improved Est Time Calculation for Maintenance (see below) and change to class summary
2.) New Glossary of Terms tab for the Class Window, to explain the various abbreviations in the class summary
3.) New 'Wreck Detected' event, which will notify players when a new wreck appears in a system where they have planetary sensors or a ship
4.) Removed non-hostile targets from default target list on F8 window and added option to include non-hostile.
5.) Added current target to end of fire control name in the fire control section of F8 window
6.) Same contact remains selected in F8 target list if you change fire control or ship selection.
7.) F8 Contact list is sorted alphabetically
8.) On the F8 window you can choose to highlight contacts that are currently targeted by either the current task group or the same empire. The targeted contacts are shown with a preceding (T)
9.) You can now transport Ground Force Training Facilities in cargo holds. They require the same space as a research lab
10.) Clicking on a wreck on the system map will centre the map on the wreck
11.) All ground units need to be researched before they can be built
12.) The temperature range research projects for creating new species offer a much greater temperature range than before
13.) Turret design has been modified - see below
14.) The Civilian Colonisation status for pops over 25m can now be set to Destination, Source or Stable. Stable means neither a source nor a destination.
15.) Civilian colony ships will now take account of other colony ships when deciding on their destination - see below
16.) Jump Drives now suffer from transit effects and cannot jump again until transit effects wear off
17.) Manual missile launches at waypoints cannot take until transit effects wear off
18.) Explosion contacts will state if they are ground burst
19.) You can conduct alien autopsies on species you recover from life pods to learn their environmental tolerances.
20.) Added Black Hole system - see below
21.) Population list for F2 window now shown as tree view with option to display by system or by function/system (see below)

Major Bug Fixes :

1.) Fixed the bug where completing a research project by disassembling tech might delete a population.
2.) Fixed the bug where your freighters entering populated systems cause an alien race to attack even when a trade treaty is in place
3.) Fixed bug where parasites still on board their mothership would attempt to ram
4.) Fixed bug that prevented lagrange points being used in cycled orders

[Capt. Kiwi]

I think the site recommends not starting long campaigns with it yet, because with the amount of changes made Steve is expecting a few bugs that will need to be caught and fixed. Based on that, I'd go with holding off a little longer.

[blue emu]

I think the site recommends not starting long campaigns with it yet, because with the amount of changes made Steve is expecting a few bugs that will need to be caught and fixed. Based on that, I'd go with holding off a little longer.

Yeah, we'll continue this one for a while longer... I wish the Swarm would show up.

The "alien autopsies" and "black holes" sound cool.

[Capt. Kiwi]

Yeah, we'll continue this one for a while longer... I wish the Swarm would show up.

The "alien autopsies" and "black holes" sound cool.

Yeah, they're nice little features. The black holes sound rather scary if you come across one exploring in the early years, because it wouldn't need to be that big to overpower your engines. That'd be enough to cut off that branch of the galaxy for maybe a decade, depending how big it is. You just have to hope that the civilian shipping companies don't decide to start one-way tours.

[Jos de trol]

I think the site recommends not starting long campaigns with it yet, because with the amount of changes made Steve is expecting a few bugs that will need to be caught and fixed. Based on that, I'd go with holding off a little longer.

maybe you should turn on those other invaders for teh lulz?

[Capt. Kiwi]

maybe you should turn on those other invaders for teh lulz?

I think that would be a good option for when we're pretty sure a stable patch is pending, yes. Or for when blue emu decides he needs a break whether the next patch is ready or not

[blue emu]

maybe you should turn on those other invaders for teh lulz?

All three bad guys... Precursors, Swarm and Invaders... are on. No sign of the latter two yet.

Our Xeno team has finished characterizing the ruined colony on Gliese 250 A-II. It was a TL-4 colony of the People's Republic of Las Cruses, containing 47 xenoarcheological sites. Our engineers are beginning their digs now.

EDIT:

We have completed the research project for our new 12,000-ton jump drive. Here's the new Attitude refit:

Attitude IV class Cruiser 11,850 tons 1164 Crew 4112 BP TCS 237 TH 805 EM 630
9704 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 7-46 Shields 21-225 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 30
Annual Failure Rate: 112% IFR: 1.6% Maint Capacity 2169 MSP Max Repair 270 MSP Est Time: 3.29 Years
Magazine 384

J12000(3-50) 2058 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 12000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Drive E7.8 (16) Power 143.75 Fuel Use 78% Signature 50.3125 Armour 0 Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 825,000 Litres Range 160.7 billion km (191 days at full power)
Epsilon R225/18 Shields (7) Total Fuel Cost 126 Litres per day

Size 6 Missile Launcher R6 (4) Missile Size 6 Rate of Fire 30
Size 1 Missile Launcher R6 (6) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control 2059 FC181-R100 (50%) (1) Range 181.4m km Resolution 100
Missile PD Fire Control 2053 FC24-R1 (50%) (2) Range 24.2m km Resolution 1
Size 1-G 2053 AAM (72) Speed: 66,500 km/s End: 2.2m Range: 9m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 487 / 292 / 146
Size 6-G 2053 ASM (52) Speed: 44,700 km/s End: 22.5m Range: 60.3m km WH: 9 Size: 6 TH: 313 / 187 / 93

Active Search Sensor 2053 MR189-R100 (50%) (1) GPS 13500 Range 189.0m km Resolution 100
Active PD Search Sensor 2055 MR25-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 180 Range 25.2m km Resolution 1

ECM 10

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Thicker armor, improved shields, much higher speed and longer endurance, faster-firing missile launchers, bigger magazine, ECM and greatly improved sensors and fire controls computers.

For comparison, the current version:

Attitude III class Light Cruiser 11,750 tons 1152 Crew 3455 BP TCS 235 TH 603.75 EM 540
7340 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 5-46 Shields 18-250 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 30
Annual Failure Rate: 110% IFR: 1.5% Maint Capacity 1838 MSP Max Repair 400 MSP Est Time: 2.39 Years
Magazine 336

J12000(3-50) 2045 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 12000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E7.8 (15) Power 115 Fuel Use 78% Signature 40.25 Armour 0 Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 525,000 Litres Range 103.1 billion km (162 days at full power)
Delta R250/17.5 Shields (7) Total Fuel Cost 123 Litres per day

CIWS-200 (1x6) Range 1000 km TS: 20000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Size 6 Missile Launcher (4) Missile Size 6 Rate of Fire 45
Size 1 Missile Launcher (6) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control 2055 FC136-R100 (50%) (1) Range 136.1m km Resolution 100
Missile PD Fire Control 2053 FC24-R1 (50%) (2) Range 24.2m km Resolution 1
Size 6-G 2053 ASM (48) Speed: 44,700 km/s End: 22.5m Range: 60.3m km WH: 9 Size: 6 TH: 313 / 187 / 93
Size 1-G 2053 AAM (48) Speed: 66,500 km/s End: 2.2m Range: 9m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 487 / 292 / 146

Active Search Sensor 2053 MR113-R100 (50%) (1) GPS 8100 Range 113.4m km Resolution 100
Active PD Search Sensor 2055 MR25-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 180 Range 25.2m km Resolution 1

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

[Forgiven]

I have the problem of starting again and again myself too often, so I'd rather you keep going, but, ah well, fine either way.

[Belisarious]

Quick note on your beam BB. Turrets are only required if you need to track really fast things, like fighters or missiles. Non turreted beams track either at the ship speed or FC speed, whichever is higher. Turrets take up room and are enormous if you armour them to the same level as your ship. Better to place em under the armour of the ship itself.

[blue emu]

Quick note on your beam BB. Turrets are only required if you need to track really fast things, like fighters or missiles. Non turreted beams track either at the ship speed or FC speed, whichever is higher. Turrets take up room and are enormous if you armour them to the same level as your ship. Better to place em under the armour of the ship itself.

I thought it was:

The slower of ( fire control and the faster of (turret or ship's speed ) ).

... so for non-turreted beams, it's just the slower (not the faster) of fire control or ship's speed.

[Capt. Kiwi]

I thought it was:

The slower of ( fire control and the faster of (turret or ship's speed ) ).

... so for non-turreted beams, it's just the slower (not the faster) of fire control or ship's speed.

Theoretically, a small adjustment in ship's heading would equal a large adjustment in targeting, so a large ship speed isn't as necessary as a good targeting computer. That would make taking the larger value more reasonable. Not sure whether it actually works that way, though.

[blue emu]

From the Wiki:

When a fire control tries to direct a weapon, the lowest tracking speed of the fire control or the weapon is used to calculate the chance to hit the target. In other words, it is no use having a fast fire control tracking speed if the weapon can't point in the right direction quickly enough and it is no use having a fast weapon tracking speed if the fire control can't make use of it. You need to match weapons with appropriate fire control systems as part of your class design process.

A weapon mounted in a turret has a tracking speed equal to the tracking speed of the turret rather than the speed of the ship.

Which sounds like:

The slower of ( fire control and the faster of (turret or ship's speed ) )

[Capt. Kiwi]

It does sound like that. The key is whether that last line of the wiki is correct when it implies that a non-turretted weapon has a tracking speed equal to the ship's speed. In a perfect model it would depend on range, but I'm not sure what compromise Steve went with.

[blue emu]

It does sound like that. The key is whether that last line of the wiki is correct when it implies that a non-turretted weapon has a tracking speed equal to the ship's speed. In a perfect model it would depend on range, but I'm not sure what compromise Steve went with.

True... Steve did mention that there were some mistakes in the Wiki, but he wasn't any more specific than that.

[randakar]

True... Steve did mention that there were some mistakes in the Wiki, but he wasn't any more specific than that.

The tutorials explicitly states that an unturreted beam weapon has a tracking speed equal to the lower value of the ship speed and the fire control. It's one of the reasons to go for turrets - faster tracking speeds.

[Capt. Kiwi]

The tutorials explicitly states that an unturreted beam weapon has a tracking speed equal to the lower value of the ship speed and the fire control. It's one of the reasons to go for turrets - faster tracking speeds.

That'll be fairly clear cut then, since the tutorials come straight from Steve. It also makes beam armed gunboats a very interesting option, since their speed will make them very hard to hit with anything sizeable - assuming missiles can be dealt with.

[blue emu]

Our research scientists have completed their project for a new, more compact 14,000-ton military jump drive... thus enabling all of our fleet rebuilds, as soon as slipways become available. Not sure if I want to bother rebuilding our non-military ships, since the current civvie ships are sitting idle much of the time anyway.

[Velko]

The beam-armed battleship is a step in the right direction, but I want BIGGER ships! Absolutely mindblowingly enormous ships, firing full broadsides! It needs to happen!

[Lord Martin]

Do you have any plans for the new game that sooner or later will be inevitably to start Emu?

[calestos]

The beam-armed battleship is a step in the right direction, but I want BIGGER ships! Absolutely mindblowingly enormous ships, firing full broadsides! It needs to happen!

Bigger and bigger and bigger