Pirates & Nomads update

Suicide Junkie · #1 May 13th, 2001, 11:37 PM

Pirates & Nomads is still on V1.5, I've just made a small change in the comp. enhancement stuff.

The game was not targetting the really low hitpoint "Cheap" mount internals properly, so I have changed the cheap mount to "normal".
This will mean the AIs use normal components in their ships, and will not affect any other aspect of the game. If you have been abusively using the "cheap" mount, your ships will now be normal; the "budget" components are still OK to use, though.

Will · #2 May 14th, 2001, 03:18 AM

AY!!! My pirate economy is bad enough as it is... methinks I'll wait until this game is finished

Suicide Junkie · #3 May 14th, 2001, 04:07 AM

Actually, if you're trying to capture ships, this change should make it easier... The game was not hitting the cheap self-destructs & stuff as often as it should, and you'd finish off the Last 15 components with one shot. If the AIs aren't using cheap mounts, then don't worry about it

You do realize that skimping on component expenses reduces their hitpoints to 25%, right?

Will · #4 May 14th, 2001, 10:08 PM

Yeah, which is why I used them on my remote miners (get the most out of my "money")... my warships (all six of them until the endgame, right now) use normal components.

Suicide Junkie · #5 May 14th, 2001, 11:28 PM

quote:
my warships (all six of them until the endgame, right now) use normal components.

Even armor? I know 2x the price is quite harsh, but you do get a 40% stronger armor plate with Premium

If you skimp on the internals, you can spend the money on better armor for your ship, and still pay the same price overall.

Also, has the AI been using "cheap" mount internals?

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 14 May 2001).]

FrankyVas · #6 May 15th, 2001, 01:37 AM

How do you get the Hydroponics bay and similiar components to work. I've built ships with them but they make nothing?

Frank V.

Suicide Junkie · #7 May 15th, 2001, 04:29 AM

They only work on the Resource Ship/ Resource Base.

The description says something about them being a plug-in module.

The way it works is that the Resource ship/base hull has giant ramscoops to collect gas, which the plug-ins convert to minerals/organics/radioactives.

So, just put them on a resource ship, and you'll be all set.

Note that the resource production listed is affected by your maintenance trait, so it will not be totally accurate.

BTW, I highly suggest using resource ships as warships early on... They have about the same space (after required comps) as an escort, and they pay for themselves

.

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 15 May 2001).]

Will · #8 May 15th, 2001, 05:46 AM

quote:
Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
Even armor? I know 2x the price is quite harsh, but you do get a 40% stronger armor plate with Premium

If you skimp on the internals, you can spend the money on better armor for your ship, and still pay the same price overall.

Also, has the AI been using "cheap" mount internals?

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 14 May 2001).]

Yep, even armor... I had to use my resource converter every turn and run at least one Resource Procurement op every two turns to stay afloat with just three DS, one LC, two BB... and two ES SYSs that went back and forth, repairing the warships on the lines and retrofitting mining bases. But anyway, I am much better at research than the AI, especially when I can capture/analyze to get a lot of tech, so I got Heavy Shield Gens around turn 60, while the AI is still on PShield Vs (what's left of the AI, that is). That's one component on the warships that I make cheap mount, 160kT damage won't make too much difference once 2500+ is done

As for the AI designs, I think I have yet to see a non-weapon internal that was not cheap mount. I'm just glad the AI never got around to putting Self-Nukes on their ships

Suicide Junkie · #9 May 15th, 2001, 05:57 PM

quote:
while the AI is still on PShield Vs

The AIs aren't programmed to research shields past lev 10, so they will almost never get Heavy Shields.

In my story game, the Jreanar must have picked up heavy shields from an ancient ruins, and its really messed with their designs. They still try to fit 5 shield generators on their DNs, but end up with only 3, and skimp a bit on weapons & other defences

They're still tough to kill, though.

How many slave yards do you have operating? And how often do you manage to capture a ship?
What kind of maintenance rate are you paying?

I would suggest fighters & sats as a good investment, if you give a carrier a boarding party, the fighters can do the dirty work, and the carrier can capture the ships.

Will · #10 May 16th, 2001, 10:39 PM

Ah, so that's why they haven't gone to Heavy Shields... I might have to go in and tweak the AI files (I'll be sure to send them to you, to check/add in the mod), even if it won't matter since I'm about to plague the AIs Last remaining homeworld....

Well, for slave yards... I was planning to build enough value improvement plants so that when I scrapped the research facilities (one at a time) and built the slave yards I would have 250% in each resource when the Last one was finished. I then cursed for a long time when I discovered planet value doesn't affect them

So right now I have five or six slave yards, I was going to start scrapping research centers and building them on every world when I started to lose minerals faster than I could convert, then I captured an AI SYS. So I now have a BattleStation mineral miner over a planet/moon with 270% or so minerals, to be finished in two turns, and another to be built at a similar planet/moon 9 turns after that, solving my resource problem. I usually get about 1 DN/turn, a ~3000 mineral scrap on site, ~15000 if I take it in to the recycler (not often, since they're usually fairly damaged, with low supplies, and it's a 5 turn trip with an intact ship, and several "rogue" DNs along the way), it's getting fewer now as my ships are just blowing them up. I forget maintainance, but it won't be a problem soon

I already have fighters doing guard duty, mostly in home systems, with one group guarding a miner in hostile territory... 30 with 3xsDUC have taken out three DNs

I only have three satellites in my whole empire, both are 1xCompCore, 1xHyperOptics, 1xStealthArmor, one in home system, the other cloaked in the system with fighters/miner. I never bothered with full fleged production of fighters (I don't think I have more than 100), I had to focus on mines in the early part of the game, and then ships became faster/cheaper than fighters w/ carrier.