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

[blue emu]

7200 RP towards inertial confinement isn't as great as it sounds, it's three levels ahead of us and will require much more research than that.

But "Compressed Fuel Storage System" is something completely new to me. I think we just found our first unique component.

What is a crap-load here?

Whatever it is, we've got 29 of them.

I would actually suggest holding off the upgrade until you have fusion engines. Once you do you could upgrade your entire force to speeds of around 10,000 I'm/s, equal to the Prix. That will give you massive tactical/strategic advantage, and save you from performing two lengthy overhauls.

It does mean waiting slightly longer, but it allows you to focus on your economy so you can run all those research labs you found.

That would mean holding off on further Prix-hunting. We could probably reach Fusion Drives a lot faster if we had another El Dorado to exploit.

The Seals just gave us a Thrust Reduction tech. Interestingly enough, I've been studying the opposite tech branch: Thrust Augmentation.

EDIT:

Our TKFS Geology field team is getting outrageously skillful... they've got a Survey bonus of +281%, only twenty years into the game.

 

[Calantyr]

I think I'm going to dedicate the rest of the day to playing Aurora. Reading your thread, and the Aurora forums, has really enthused me. I've been wanting Paradox to make a similar game for years, I think this is the closest I'll get for a long time to come. Not even Sword of the Stars 2 will be so in-depth.

 

[blue emu]

I think I'm going to dedicate the rest of the day to playing Aurora.

A day is barely long enough to scratch the surface of the game. Consider dedicating the rest of your LIFE to playing Aurora...

 

[Quift]

If we assume that each and every scientist could use several labs at the same time at maximum efficiency. How many labs would that be before we start getting diminishing returns on our research?

And how much would this cost us? How much would this affect our current budget surplus (would this level of research bankrupt us in a matter of days?).

I as well propose postponing a Fleet upgrade til we have hit some sort of plateau in terms of tech development. Probably from excavating further on eldorado. An extensive refit now would only create a less obsolete ship class in a very short span of years. During this time we would be better off focusing on our economy and research.

Our resource shortage seems to be gone, and our economy is liquid, but it would need to grow to include a growth in terms of production and research?
So our shipyards could either be increased in size so that we could build/refit ships faster, or build infrastructure ships. Mining vessels, tankers, colony ships etc.

We do not expect to be attacked from outside, and our current fleet has proved sufficient to handle our current threat level. Since then it has been expanded with pd as well as modernized fighters, ammo tenders and sensors.

 

[blue emu]

Found another Genetic Modification Center, and another free tech... giving us the ability to create a breed of mutant colonists who have a +10% higher Oxygen tolerance.

EDIT:

We have enough cash liquidity right now to support a considerably enlarged research establishment. We are approaching $300,000 in the bank... to put that into perspective, our total yearly tax income is about $65,000 so our bank balance represents nearly five years tax income, accumulated untouched. Even if we were overspending by $100 per day... which we never did, even when we were going in the red several years ago... our cash stash would keep us afloat for another eight years or so. And in fact, we`re still making money, about + $50 per day.

 

[Capt. Kiwi]

The question is whether refitting the fleet now will let us expand even faster, by taking over more Prix systems and letting us steal more of their tech. We probably don't have to upgrade to achieve that, but the sooner we make the switch over to size 6 tubes the less painful it will be, and there's no better time than when we're at peace, loaded with resources and have our engineers already busy. The result will be a stronger, more homogenous fleet capable of dealing to the Prix more easily.

 

[blue emu]

The question is whether refitting the fleet now will let us expand even faster, by taking over more Prix systems and letting us steal more of their tech. We probably don't have to upgrade to achieve that, but the sooner we make the switch over to size 6 tubes the less painful it will be, and there's no better time than when we're at peace, loaded with resources and have our engineers already busy. The result will be a stronger, more homogenous fleet capable of dealing to the Prix more easily.

This.

EDIT:

The Seals have just given us a tech that is more-or-less the reverse of the one we just found in the ruins... it allows us to create a race of mutant colonists who can thrive in low-Oxygen environments (-5% Oxygen).

 

[Quift]

The question is whether refitting the fleet now will let us expand even faster, by taking over more Prix systems and letting us steal more of their tech. We probably don't have to upgrade to achieve that, but the sooner we make the switch over to size 6 tubes the less painful it will be, and there's no better time than when we're at peace, loaded with resources and have our engineers already busy. The result will be a stronger, more homogenous fleet capable of dealing to the Prix more easily.

I agree that the timing is excellent in that regard. But what are our bottlenecks? money, resources, to few planets to colonize? or population? I'm quite certain that we will soon lack the population to man our current infrastructure, as well as our colonies.

In regards to our research, is the botleneck number of built labs, money, or amount of scientists?
In regards to shipbuilding our bottlenecks are slipdrives, could we build more, and in that case, could we man them?
To increase our money supply we might need to build more financial centers, do we have people to man these as well?

This might neccissate switching our entire population from mining and industry, and automate all of these sectors. Might this be a better investment to start doing? Pop should be the resources that proves to be our main bottleneck at our current rate of expansion.

I do not play this game, hence why I raise the question. Is our population sufficient for any of this?

 

[blue emu]

Bottlenecks:

Labor is not yet a bottleneck. Neither is money at the moment, nor Scientists, nor Administrators.

Despite the progress made, minerals remain the main bottleneck in our economy, and continue to receive the bulk of my attention. We are very fortunate that only one jump from Earth is a non-colonizable planet with every single mineral on it, in concentrations ranging from 10% to 90% and in quantities ranging up to 37 million tons of ore (for comparison, Earth itself began the game with tens of thousands of tons of ore). The solution to our mineral shortage lies right next door... it just requires developing, which I am doing. We already have about 300 automated mines placed on that planet, with more being shipped in as Freighters become available.

Which brings us to: Freighters. I was sure that with only four colonies (including El Dorado, which has no population yet, but excluding Mars which is too close to Earth to be a problem), thirty-odd Freighters would be more than enough. They aren't. Not while we're excavating these ruins. If I had twice as many, they still wouldn't be idle... every one would be carrying something. I am building more Freighters, but it's a slow process.

EDIT:

Part of the long term plan is to develop the colonies to the point where we can ship all of Earth's mines (manual-labor mines, not automated mines) out to the colonies, while all of the labor force on Earth works in the service sector... Research Labs, Financial Centers, Factories, etc. Minerals will be shipped in to Earth in bulk, and manufactured goods will be shipped out. Much later on... when the colonies are fully developed class-0 worlds in their own right... the manufacturing sector will be moved off-world as well.

 

[Lord Strange]

Our subjec..... I mean allies are helping out I see. Can we see what sort of tech ships they have?

 

[blue emu]

Our subjec..... I mean allies are helping out I see. Can we see what sort of tech ships they have?

No, there's really no way to tell without dismantling a wreck.

 

[unmerged(105596)]

Part of the long term plan is to develop the colonies to the point where we can ship all of Earth's mines (manual-labor mines, not automated mines) out to the colonies, while all of the labor force on Earth works in the service sector... Research Labs, Financial Centers, Factories, etc. Minerals will be shipped in to Earth in bulk, and manufactured goods will be shipped out. Much later on... when the colonies are fully developed class-0 worlds in their own right... the manufacturing sector will be moved off-world as well.

Earth will become the new Tantor!

Edit: Though I do hope it won't have a similar fate.

 

[Dewirix]

Earth will become the new Tantor!

Edit: Though I do hope it won't have a similar fate.

Beats being the old Earth in the same setting. Earth's just evolving into a post-industrial service-based economy. Its high population will keep it the bedrock of the imperial economy for quite a time yet.

 

[blue emu]

Our terraforming efforts have finally turned Mars into a Class-0 world! It took 21 years.

Mars now has no population cap, and no need of any life-support infrastructure, which frees up the thousands of points of infrastructure already sitting on that planet to be used elsewhere. Wish I had a few dozen spare Freighters...

Now we can start shipping colonists and mines to Mars in bulk.

EDIT:

The number of active research labs on Earth has reached 70, with four more in transit and two more in our build-queue.

 

[blue emu]

Our recent advancs in technology have enabled us to design a much-improved Fast Attack Craft... with a speed of 11,000 kps and an armament of eight size-6 missiles (with strength-9 warheads) mounted in Box Launchers.

Beta FAC class Fast Attack Craft 800 tons 44 Crew 175.1 BP TCS 16 TH 88 EM 0
11000 km/s Armour 1-7 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 7.2
Annual Failure Rate: 5% IFR: 0.1% Maint Capacity 137 MSP Max Repair 66 MSP Est Time: 8.5 Years
Magazine 48

GB Magneto-plasma Drive E84 (1) Power 176 Fuel Use 840% Signature 88 Armour 0 Exp 30%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 13.4 billion km (14 days at full power)

Size 6 Box Launcher (8) Missile Size 6 Hangar Reload 45 minutes MF Reload 7.5 hours
Missile Fire Control 2045 FC45-R100 (70%) (1) Range 45.4m km Resolution 100
Size 6e 2043 ASM (8) Speed: 30,700 km/s End: 23.3m Range: 42.9m km WH: 9 Size: 6 TH: 204 / 122 / 61

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Five of these can fit in a Carrier, giving it an alpha-strike of 40 size-6 strength-9 missiles, instead of the current 20 missiles.

EDIT: We could even tweak the design a little, to make it go even faster:

Beta FAC class Fast Attack Craft 750 tons 38 Crew 166.6 BP TCS 15 TH 88 EM 0
11733 km/s Armour 1-7 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 7.2
Annual Failure Rate: 9% IFR: 0.1% Maint Capacity 69 MSP Max Repair 66 MSP Est Time: 4.32 Years
Magazine 48

GB Magneto-plasma Drive E84 (1) Power 176 Fuel Use 840% Signature 88 Armour 0 Exp 30%
Fuel Capacity 30,000 Litres Range 8.6 billion km (8 days at full power)

Size 6 Box Launcher (8) Missile Size 6 Hangar Reload 45 minutes MF Reload 7.5 hours
Missile Fire Control 2045 FC45-R100 (70%) (1) Range 45.4m km Resolution 100
Size 6e 2043 ASM (8) Speed: 30,700 km/s End: 23.3m Range: 42.9m km WH: 9 Size: 6 TH: 204 / 122 / 61

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

 

[Polar Mongoose]

Mercury next for terraforming efforts, or somewhere outside the Sol system?

 

[blue emu]

Mercury next for terraforming efforts, or somewhere outside the Sol system?

Mercury is way too hot. I was planning to terraform Dravar XV next, in the Procyon system only one jump from Earth.

EDIT: We now have the technology to produce 15,000+ kps Fighters:

Streak class Fighter 175 tons 4 Crew 52.8 BP TCS 3.5 TH 26.5 EM 0
15142 km/s Armour 1-2 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0.9
Annual Failure Rate: 2% IFR: 0% Maint Capacity 19 MSP Max Repair 24 MSP Est Time: 7.54 Years
Magazine 6

FTR Magneto-plasma Drive E840 (1) Power 52.8 Fuel Use 8400% Signature 26.4 Armour 0 Exp 50%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 1.2 billion km (22 hours at full power)

Size 6 Box Launcher (1) Missile Size 6 Hangar Reload 45 minutes MF Reload 7.5 hours
Missile Fire Control 2045 FC45-R100 (70%) (1) Range 45.4m km Resolution 100
Size 6e 2043 ASM (1) Speed: 30,700 km/s End: 23.3m Range: 42.9m km WH: 9 Size: 6 TH: 204 / 122 / 61

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 Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes

 

[Lurken]

Mercury next for terraforming efforts, or somewhere outside the Sol system?

Venus would be better I would guess...

 

[BwenGun]

EDIT: We now have the technology to produce 15,000+ kps Fighters:

Might now be the time to switch from using one missile to two? Given the engine tech and box launchers I imagine that such a design would retain its high speed and relatively small size, whilst doubling the Alpha strike of the fighters.

 

[Capt. Kiwi]

We're also striking from further out than we were, so survivability isn't as crucial as it was. Another Size 6 box would add about 50 tonnes once you account for the extra armour.

The thing to remember is with the way PD works, three CIWS will take out three one missile salvos or three two missile salvos just as easily. We're only doubling the amount getting through, not the amount fired, and we'll be launching less salvos with the bigger design.