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

[blue emu]

November 28th, 2031. We are now more than $1,200 in the hole. Fortunately, the tech to expand our Civilian economy should be finished in less than a month, and our Sector Command should be researched and built in about six months. It's going to be a very tight year... but perhaps, with luck, it might be the LAST tight year.

 

[TheLoneGunman]

 

[stamasd]

It's going to be a very tight year...

No presents for Christmas?

 

[blue emu]

With the first of our new 3rd-generation missiles now coming out of the factories, I have begun scrapping some of the obsolescent 2nd-generation missiles currently held in storage. This has allowed us to recover over $500 in salvage, reducing our negative balance by nearly half.

EDIT:

ESN Gould under Commander TheExecuter has been dispatched to the Gliese 686 system to take a closer look that the class 1.4 world recently discovered in that star system. Hopefully, both the planet and the system are unclaimed.

 

[stamasd]

What do out 3rd generation missiles look like? For reference here's what I use:

Missile Size: 1 MSP (0.05 HS) Warhead: 1 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 25
Speed: 34800 km/s Endurance: 2 minutes Range: 4.5m km
Cost Per Missile: 1.205
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 870% 3k km/s 275% 5k km/s 174% 10k km/s 87%
Materials Required: 0.25x Tritanium 0.698x Gallicite Fuel x50

Also, how do you scrap missiles? Haven't figured that one yet. /OOC

 

[blue emu]

What do out 3rd generation missiles look like? For reference here's what I use:

Missile Size: 1 MSP (0.05 HS) Warhead: 1 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 25
Speed: 34800 km/s Endurance: 2 minutes Range: 4.5m km
Cost Per Missile: 1.205
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 870% 3k km/s 275% 5k km/s 174% 10k km/s 87%
Materials Required: 0.25x Tritanium 0.698x Gallicite Fuel x50

Also, how do you scrap missiles? Haven't figured that one yet. /OOC

My techs are still quite a ways behind yours, so my missiles aren't as good.

Size 1b Anti-missile Missile Speed: 31,200 km/s End: 3.6m Range: 6.7m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 208 / 124 / 62
Size 2b Anti-ship Missile Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 6.2m Range: 11.2m km WH: 2 Size: 2 TH: 200 / 120 / 60
Size 4b Anti-ship Missile (32) Speed: 25,500 km/s End: 11m Range: 16.9m km WH: 4 Size: 4 TH: 187 / 112 / 56
Size 8b Anti-ship Missile (48) Speed: 22,500 km/s End: 36.4m Range: 49.2m km WH: 8 Size: 8 TH: 135 / 81 / 40

You scrap them on the stockpile page... there's a button on the Industry screen that opens that page.

 

[blue emu]

The first full squadron of new-model Fighters has been completed... four Hurricane II and six Spitfire II. I will not be scrapping the old ones until my Air Bases start filling up, having previously been emptied by the transfer of their original squadrons to the Carriers. More new Fighters are currently under construction.

EDIT:

The +20% Economy tech has finished... and we are now GAINING $10 per day instead of losing money! The economy tends to fluctuate, though, so I will wait a while before confirming this trend. If the current trend holds, we should be back in the black in another two or three months.

 

[unmerged(105596)]

Shouldn't you put the new fighters on the carriers, being that they are more probable to face an enemy, or do you prefer having the best possible defences on Earth?

 

[blue emu]

Shouldn't you put the new fighters on the carriers, being that they are more probable to face an enemy, or do you prefer having the best possible defences on Earth?

The Carriers are in drydock, refitting up to Mountain-II standard. They aren't likely to encounter enemies there... not if Earth's defenses hold. Therefore, the new Fighters go to reinforce Earth's defenses first.

 

[unmerged(105596)]

Ah yes, of course.

 

[calestos]

The first full squadron of new-model Fighters has been completed... four Hurricane II and six Spitfire II. I will not be scrapping the old ones until my Air Bases start filling up, having previously been emptied by the transfer of their original squadrons to the Carriers. More new Fighters are currently under construction.

EDIT:

The +20% Economy tech has finished... and we are now GAINING $10 per day instead of losing money! The economy tends to fluctuate, though, so I will wait a while before confirming this trend. If the current trend holds, we should be back in the black in another two or three months.

With this surplus, you can colonize a planet (and terraforming) near of Salamis.

 

[blue emu]

With this surplus, you can colonize a planet (and terraforming) near of Salamis.

We can't invade the Nicaraguan Space Seals until we build a big army. In the mean-time, yes... it would be useful to colonize a planet in their system, although that sometimes triggers a declaration of war. I'd like to get the fleet upgraded and out of drydock before making any aggressive moves, though. That would also give us time for more Ground Unit construction, and time to build some Drop Ships.

I have designs for them now... we have finished researching the Drop Pods tech... but we can't afford to retool the yards yet, let alone build them.

The upward trend in our finances continues... now making $13 per day. Once we get a Sector Command Station built, we'll be in the money, and can start constructing Drop Ships.

 

[Lurken]

 

[GaiusC]

I don't think you have to build sector command. If I remember it - but it was late at night -, once you've researched it, it's done. You just go to your civilian administration list and pick an Admin 6 officer to take command.

 

[TheExecuter]

The Gould is on its way. History or Glory (or both), here we come!

 

[blue emu]

I don't think you have to build sector command. If I remember it - but it was late at night -, once you've researched it, it's done. You just go to your civilian administration list and pick an Admin 6 officer to take command.

I'll check. I know that a level-2 Sector Command allows you to add systems one jump away to your sector, a level-3 enables you to add systems two jumps away, etc.

Progress continues with balancing the budget. Thanks to scrapping some more obsolescent missiles (as new production rolls out of the factories) we are now only $250 in the hole... compared to over $1200 only a few months ago. Another shipyard finishes its expansion, further reducing the strain on our purse... further expansion will be deferred until I'm sure we can afford it.

I've suddenly realized that we have only a few hundred tons of Uridium left. Ouch... wasn't paying attention. We will need to address that matter pronto, beginning by cancelling our queued-up Financial Center builds. Financial Centers are big Uridium hogs.

 

[blue emu]

February 2nd, 2032. Our bank balance is once again in the black! The penalties for deficit financing have been removed.

Our two Fuel-Refining Space Stations (ie: ships built with no engines) have now finished building. I will use our Tugs to drag them out to the Gas Giants and park them in orbit, and then I'll wait a bit to see if this crazy idea actually works before I commit any resources to building more of them.

 

[TheLoneGunman]

February 2nd, 2032. Our bank balance is once again in the black! The penalties for deficit financing have been removed.

Our two Fuel-Refining Space Stations (ie: ships built with no engines) have now finished building. I will use our Tugs to drag them out to the Gas Giants and park them in orbit, and then I'll wait a bit to see if this crazy idea actually works before I commit any resources to building more of them.

Sounds like a plan.

 

[blue emu]

Sounds like a plan.

I think it's a brilliant idea... the only problem is that it might not actually work. If it does, we're rolling... I'll just build a crap-load of them (having no engines, these "ships" are quite quick and cheap to build) and park a bunch in orbit around each Gas Giant that has a decent concentration of Sorium. Send a Tanker once a year or so, to suck out all the refined fuel, and leave them to it.

... and it gets even better! If this works, why not Terraforming Space Stations? Build several "ships" with no engines, but with as many Terraforming modules as I can cram in... and use Tugs to drag them over to a nearly-habitable planet such as Mars. Park them in orbit and let them go to work. The really clever part is that Planetary Terraforming Installations... the ones that you build on the surface of a planet... require 250,000 colonists to run each installation. But the ship modules don't. That saves me 250,000 labor for each module, and I might be able to cram several modules into each Orbital Station. Those couple-of-million colonists that I save by using Space Stations instead of Planetary Terraforming Installations can be used to run mines or factories instead.

 

[ForzaA]

I think it's a brilliant idea... the only problem is that it might not actually work. If it does, we're rolling... I'll just build a crap-load of them (having no engines, these "ships" are quite quick and cheap to build) and park a bunch in orbit around each Gas Giant that has a decent concentration of Sorium. Send a Tanker once a year or so, to suck out all the refined fuel, and leave them to it.

... and it gets even better! If this works, why not Terraforming Space Stations? Build several "ships" with no engines, but with as many Terraforming modules as I can cram in... and use Tugs to drag them over to a nearly-habitable planet such as Mars. Park them in orbit and let them go to work. The really clever part is that Planetary Terraforming Installations... the ones that you build on the surface of a planet... require 250,000 colonists to run each installation. But the ship modules don't. That saves me 250,000 labor for each module, and I might be able to cram several modules into each Orbital Station. Those couple-of-million colonists that I save by using Space Stations instead of Planetary Terraforming Installations can be used to run mines or factories instead.

ooohh, me likes.

Would those designs be civilian or military by the way? If civilian..........