Ok, I'm trying to design a component. I'm in the Create Research Project trying to design a new engine. I pick Enginres in the Research Project Type. I then leave all else default, Engine Technology is Nuclear Thermal Engine. I then click the Create button and nother happens. I look on the Research screen and dont see anything there, nor do I see anything on the Technology Report screen for the new Engine. How do I know if it is being worked on or how long it will take
On version 6.2.1
Thanks.
Try looking for it in the research screen (to be researched) for example, if you design a missle, you then have to go to the research screen, find it and "research it" kind of like prototyping.
you have to create the tech from your available level and then combine the various bits into a complete unit and then research that.
Here is what you do.... go down the first corridor on your right. Then take a left, go straight then take another left. You will come to an emergency hatch, don't take that one, take the one to the lower right. Climb down 4 flights and then exit on the left-hand side. Take the door in front of you then left and right and then another right by the test labs... you should be at the research section......
My experience with the Aurora UI. :-P
PE
I wouldn't call the UI intuitive, but once you get it, it's Not bad at all. You have to do the tutorials
ok it may seem confusing.
but here goes.
What you create in the Design window is only a blueprint or early prototype if you like. Once you created the blueprint go back to the research screen. Pick "power and propulsion" and your new engine blueprint should be there ready to be researched properly. Now pick it and research. once its done you can now use the new engine to make little pretty starships with.
That was it, I needed to go into Research and set it up as a research project.
BTW, how do I get more scientists.
Quote from: mikeck on February 25, 2013, 05:06:46 PM
I wouldn't call the UI intuitive, but once you get it, it's Not bad at all. You have to do the tutorials
Have not come across any good in-depth tutorials.... are there some out there?
PE
Yes, I don't have the link but if you go to the Aurora pentarch forums, there is a sub forum called "tutorials". It has about 13 and is enough to get going. They are fairly straightforward. There is also an Aurora wiki that has even more info. There are also a few YouTube videos but I have a hard time following these as the game is so text heavy. If you do Steve's tutorials mentioned above on the forum, you will know enough to get yourself in trouble.
Unfortunately, there is so much you can do in the game that the tutorials only cover about 20%. Lucky for me, one of the sub forums is "academy" where people can ask questions like " what gases can be used to cool a planet" or " how come my missiles won't fire at the target" and "why do my ships run out of gas so quickly" (answer: because I forgot to add fuel tanks why I designed it.)
Quote from: OJsDad on February 25, 2013, 07:02:46 PM
That was it, I needed to go into Research and set it up as a research project.
BTW, how do I get more scientists.
build academies.
The thing with the tutorials is that 1. You have to go through both the ones in the Forum and the Wiki. Even if they cover the same subject matter, they may have different tidbits. 2. They are all way of date. I'm playing version 6.2.1, and the tutorials are from version 4.x and 5.x.
Wiki Page
http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Main_Page (http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Main_Page)
Quote from: OJsDad on February 26, 2013, 12:28:19 PM
The thing with the tutorials is that 1. You have to go through both the ones in the Forum and the Wiki. Even if they cover the same subject matter, they may have different tidbits. 2. They are all way of date. I'm playing version 6.2.1, and the tutorials are from version 4.x and 5.x.
Wiki Page
http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Main_Page (http://aurorawiki.pentarch.org/index.php?title=Main_Page)
Just to echo above... I found the tutorials lacking and not very comprehensive and in order. I was hoping someone would put together a guide or do a series of tutorial or LP videos as I did like playing it, however did not want to wrestle with learning the ui and mechanics.
PE
Panzer, post questions here, I'm really just now getting into, and misery loves company.
Who the hell would want to write and organize tutorials for this game? My office would look like Russel Crowe's garage in "Beautiful Mind"
One thing that seems to be helping is that I have dual monitors.
There is really only one way to learn the game:
Step 1: tutorials
Step 2: begin playing until you get stuck
Step 3: find answer on forum/wiki or ask
Step 4: repeat steps 2 and 3 as needed
Hint: once you design a warship with a fire control and a weapon (beam, railgun, missiles, etc) make sure you go to the "ships" screen, select that ship, go to the fire control/combat tab and assign each weapon to a specific fire control (you can assign more than one of the same weapon to a fire control but both will fire on the same target). Without doing this, your weapons won't fire.
If its a missle system, you also need to load your magazines with the appropriate missle and connect it to the missle launcher
Ok, I have one shipped designed, the Armstrong class, Geological Survey type ship. There are six in the class, Armstong, Aldrin, Collins, Glenn, Sheperd, and Gagarin. They are divided into three Survey Groups with two ships each surveying the Sol system.
QuoteArmstrong class Geological Survey Vessel 4,300 tons 81 Crew 508.75 BP TCS 86 TH 125 EM 0
1453 km/s Armour 1-23 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/3 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 0
Maint Life 3.17 Years MSP 148 AFR 73% IFR 1% 1YR 22 5YR 333 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
62.5 EP Commercial Nuclear Thermal Engine (2) Power 62.5 Fuel Use 13.26% Signature 62.5 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres Range 63.1 billion km (502 days at full power)
Active Search Sensor MR15-R100 (2) GPS 3000 Range 15.0m km Resolution 100
Geological Survey Sensors (3) 3 Survey Points Per Hour
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
I'm working on tech right now to build beam fighters to station on my planet. I'll also be working on a my first freighter to start hauling mass drivers and auto miners to start harvesting the various sources in the system. I'll also be working on a Gravitational Survey ship before too much longer.
Oh, in 6.21, where do I go to design missiles?
Nevermind, found it.
Go to the Economies screen (F2) on the the bottom there is a button for Missiles. That takes you to the design screen.
One thing I learned about Aurora, and it might not be obvious to others trying to get through the learning curve, is that on ships it's all about missiles. A good example to compare and wrap your brain around are the ships in the Honorverse. You have to get your envelope of engagement farther out than your opponent and missiles are the most practical way to do that.
Quote from: Sparhawk on February 27, 2013, 09:00:18 PM
One thing I learned about Aurora, and it might not be obvious to others trying to get through the learning curve, is that on ships it's all about missiles. A good example to compare and wrap your brain around are the ships in the Honorverse. You have to get your envelope of engagement farther out than your opponent and missiles are the most practical way to do that.
QFT! and a great example. ECM and agility are key to your missiles. though Ive played a few campaigns going for nothing but energy weapons. with good enough batterins and armor you can bull through the missile envelops pretty well.
Deleted
Quote from: OJsDad on February 27, 2013, 07:31:59 PM
Ok, I have one shipped designed, the Armstrong class, Geological Survey type ship. There are six in the class, Armstong, Aldrin, Collins, Glenn, Sheperd, and Gagarin. They are divided into three Survey Groups with two ships each surveying the Sol system.
QuoteArmstrong class Geological Survey Vessel 4,300 tons 81 Crew 508.75 BP TCS 86 TH 125 EM 0
1453 km/s Armour 1-23 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/3 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 0
Maint Life 3.17 Years MSP 148 AFR 73% IFR 1% 1YR 22 5YR 333 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
62.5 EP Commercial Nuclear Thermal Engine (2) Power 62.5 Fuel Use 13.26% Signature 62.5 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres Range 63.1 billion km (502 days at full power)
Active Search Sensor MR15-R100 (2) GPS 3000 Range 15.0m km Resolution 100
Geological Survey Sensors (3) 3 Survey Points Per Hour
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
I'm working on tech right now to build beam fighters to station on my planet. I'll also be working on a my first freighter to start hauling mass drivers and auto miners to start harvesting the various sources in the system. I'll also be working on a Gravitational Survey ship before too much longer.
Just a hint, in the ship design, upper left, there is a box with deployment time. It defaults to 3 months but can be changed to anything. Increasing the time automatically adds crew compartments. I try to equalize fuel and deployment time. That way, crew morale doesn't start dropping (when you go I ER deployment time) while I still have 60% fuel
Quote from: Sparhawk on February 27, 2013, 09:00:18 PM
One thing I learned about Aurora, and it might not be obvious to others trying to get through the learning curve, is that on ships it's all about missiles. A good example to compare and wrap your brain around are the ships in the Honorverse. You have to get your envelope of engagement farther out than your opponent and missiles are the most practical way to do that.
From what little I've seen on
Aurora, the tech is very much inspired by modern naval tech. So the missile thing isn't surprising.
I've wanted to dive full-bore into the game, but the learning curve would probably suck up more time than I'm willing to put into it right now. Familiarization with the UI also looks to require some research too. Despite being something I'd really enjoy once over the hump, I've not jumped yet.
Quote from: mikeck on February 27, 2013, 10:56:40 PM
Just a hint, in the ship design, upper left, there is a box with deployment time. It defaults to 3 months but can be changed to anything. Increasing the time automatically adds crew compartments. I try to equalize fuel and deployment time. That way, crew morale doesn't start dropping (when you go I ER deployment time) while I still have 60% fuel
Thanks, I did not know that. FYI, I think I'm going to restart my game. A few small lessons learned, and I'm not very far into it, so not a big deal at this point.
dont worry you will restart a few times more before getting the hang of it :)
Don't be afraid to turn on SM to give yourself some tech and instant design components. That way, You can catch up quickly to where you were when you ended the last game
The restart put me in a better position than my previous game. I already got Ion Drives, Geological, and Gravitational Survey sensors. Along with some good sensors.
One question, I can build Deep Space Tracking Stations right away. Do I just need 1 or is there advantage to building more than one.
Ohh, and I have Jump Gate Construction 180 days. Just need a ship yard big enough to build a ship with one.
as with all stations its the more the merrier. your base sensor range for that planet will get larger and larger and larger.
Quote from: OJsDad on February 28, 2013, 08:18:18 PM
Ohh, and I have Jump Gate Construction 180 days. Just need a ship yard big enough to build a ship with one.
Be careful building a jump gate in your home system...aliens can use it too. You have too at early stages because jump drives are ginormous, just make sure you thoroughly scout the neighboring systems and consider building a Beam frigate to picket the gate in case something comes through until you populate the attached system
Is a beam frigate best or a base stationed outside of each JG.
I like beam frigates because I can move them around once I don't need to guard a gate anymore. If something does come through, it's right on top of my ship and beams deal a ton of damage at close range...
some excellent opinions for defensive layouts.
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/topic,5917.0.html
the whole thing about missiles centers on range. for jump gate defence you can build mines and bouys for defence freeing up your mobile units for other tasks. forts and stations can also be quite formidable because almost no weight goes to engines, fuel and other things. take another page out of HH and put 10 forts on disputed jump points and rack in the kills.
Well, I had my first big space battle and got my ass handed to me. I found the aliens and we seemed to be getting along swimmingly, so I created a diplomatic team, put them on a science vessel I. Earth orbit and sent them to Tau ceti to play "mock UN" with the aliens. When they got there and approached the alien planet, the aliens fired a beam and destroyed the ship quickly. WAR!!!!!
So basically, my fleet creation strategy was missile based. My "Portland" class cruisers sported 4 magazines carrying over 100 "long lance" anti ship missiles. The missiles and fire control could track and hit targets out to 35 million kilometers. It's best t specialize ships so for defense I created and stuck on a CIWS system. Fleet defense was handled by my "Ticonderoga" missle destroyers. They could hold 200 "interceptor" anti-missile missiles (original names...I know). Now, here is the rub....to keep sizes within reason, I also created a "Grant" class command ship. This ship had HUGE thermal and gravity passive sensors us the most important thing...a jump drive capable of jumping 5 ships of under 40,000 tons each. My fleet consisted of 3 Portlands, 1 Ticonderoga and 1 Command ship. Off to battle!!!
I had also developed a fast frigate ("JEB Stuart") loaded with sensors and a beam turret for scouting. The TFS JEB Stuart and TFS Imboden scouted Tau ahead of the fleet and picked up several ships...nothing around the jump point though. So in comes first fleet: TFS Portland, TFS Tampa, TFS Boston, TFS Ticonderoga and the TFCS Grant. Several days later while moving to the home planet, the command ship sensors pick up a huge enemy battle fleet moving towards first fleet at 3065 km/s. now, my fleet can move at 4000 km/s so my plan was to wait until the enemy fleet got within the 35 million km range of my Long Lance missiles and open fire while moving away from them at 3065 km/s. since I believed them to be armed with beam weapons, the enemy would never get close enough.
Initially, everything worked as planned. There were about 15 enemy ships and I released salvo after salvo of Long Lance missiles targeted at various ships. Each Portland had 2 fire controls with each connected to 3 launchers. I got concerned when only about 50% of my missiles hit. Many were reported destroyed by anti missile defense and many others simply missed. The Long Lance moves at about 12,000 km/S and has a sizeable warhead. One by one the enemy ships began falling back and. Bleeding atmosphere. Just as I was preparing to head home (ran out of ASMs) having heavily damaged about 6 enemy ships, Ticonderoga picks up enemy missiles closing fast at close range!!! Multiple salvos. I'm not sure why the low resolution radar didn't pick them up sooner but my guess is that the enemy had substantial EM capability.
Ticonderoga...engage!!!" Aye aye sir....uh sir....nothing's happening" yep, I forgot to hook the launchers up with the magazines wasting valuable seconds. About 30 missiles screamed at my fleet at 18,000km/SEC. Finally, Ticonderoga engaged but only had 2 missile launchers tied to each of the two fire controls...not enough...not close. Time and time again my 15,000km/s interceptors sailed past the enemy missiles at a combined speed of 33,000 km/s, several hit here and there but not enough. Ticonderoga is equipped with a turret housing 2 10cm beams ties to a seperate fire control. This is designed for close in AMM work. Unfortunately, with only a 4,000 km/s tracking speed , the turret could not rotate fast enough and could not intercept the missiles. I accelerated the fleet to max speed but there was no immediate response as the fleet had insufficient training time to get their shit together.
Missle after missile struck home as I continually tracked new salvoes. Problem was...every enemy missile was tracking the "Grant". Why is this a problem? Well, if destroyed, no remaining ships have a jump drive so they can't leave the system. Slowly, hit after hit, the Grant fell back until finally destroyed. With my fleet of of missiles and only a few beams for close in work, it was a done deal. The enemy fleet slowed to stay out of beam range and pummeled me with missiles as I could t escape. The whole fleet was lost.
Lessons learned:
1. I need to improve my anti missile detection. Those salvos were picked up much too late.
2. I need to improve my anti missile missiles...they were not fast enough to hit the on incoming missiles consistently.
3. I need to equip my ships with more missile launchers. My ASM salvoes were too small to overcome enemy ship defense and my Ticonderoga put out far too few missiles too slowly to be effective.
4. I need to equip more CIWS systems on all ships..1 each is too few and they are effective.
5. Larger magazines. I ran out of all missiles far to early. Although I had a resupply collier in the next system, it couldn't help me in battle.
6. Ships need more armor. That simple
So...back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, from the time I design a new ship to when it pulls out of dock is about 3 years. Add training time and I can't replace that fleet with a competent force for 4 years. I also lost several top commanders...irreplaceable.
Ouch Mikeck. Hopefully you can get a new fleet up and running before they come knocking on your door.
In my game, I've colonized Mercury and figured out how to move one Mass Driver and some Automatic Mines there. Even managed not to do serious damage to Earth with the Mass Drivers.
I've got my first Terraforming ship designed, and tooling up one of my ship yards ready to start building. There are three planets that have a Colonization Cost of 2, Luna, Mars, and one in a neighboring star system. I'm not ready to start colonizating them yet, but I will be soon.
I have not combat ships designed yet. I would like to design and build some fortresses to guard the Jump Points. To do that, do I build them at my military ship yards, then tow them to the jump points using a tug? Or is there another method, mobile construction ship? Oh, and if build and deploy them, how do I keep them there without crew morale going down do to deployment time.
Thanks.
I want to play this game. After spending a few hours at it yesterday, what I'm not so sure of is that I want to learn this game. I think I'd be more inclined if the tutorials and documentation weren't so horrible. A few examples of actually doing something versus walls of text discussing theory might help...
This game is clearly the digital implementation of Starfire that never was. That's a good thing, and so is the detail/complexity...but it sure would be nice if it was a bit more approachable.
If there was one other space combat/4X game that included ship design that dealt with sensors at even half the level of realism that Aurora does, I'd never look at this game a second time. This is probably my biggest pet peeve about space combat games - it's always way too easy to find the enemy, and way too hard to hide from them. I realize that game designers want to see all of their pretty art spitting lasers and explosions, but to me the unexpected missile out of the dark is far more appealing.
So, despite my griping I'm going to try and climb the learning cliff here. I'm just glad there are a couple of you guys who have already started so I can learn from you!
I will admit, I get more out of the game by cheating. For example, instead of delivering a ton of building and delivering a bunch auto mines, I just turn on SpaceMaster, to the f2 screen, select the colony and give it the automines. I do the same with terraforming...not all the way, but as a boost. I also give new colonies a handful of factories to start.
I have already modified my ships in design, retooled my shipyards for the new versions of the ships and am in the process of refitting.
As for jump gates, I think you are better off building a PDC around the closest colony to the jump gateand putting the biggest sensors you can on it. Build some long range missiles and arm the PDC with it. Then design a few frigates with some beam weapons. Picket the frigates at the jump gate so they can fry any ship entering off the bat. That way, you can move the ships around as needed with a large base in support. Much cheaper than building a base for each jump gate. When you do expand to the neighboring sectors, you can then move your picket ships.
Don't be afraid to use space master to give yourself tech, minerals, population, and even ships. This can make the game more enjoyable because you are not spending hours and hours waiting for things to happen.
I don't mind the time it takes to develop and build. I wish there was some less micro management though. Instead of having to send a freighter back and forth moving items, I would like to just tell it to move x Auto Mines and let the AI handle the details. Little things like that would make the game more enjoyable, in my opinion.
you can set that up in the ships orders.
fleet 1a goto Earth pick up 5 automines and drop off 5 automines on mars
you can just copy the order so that fleet does that job until there are no more mines to move or the order string stops.
as for terraforming use factories not ships. they work faster and a lot less expensive.
Bravo Mikeck...you see...its that kind of crap that reminds me why learning how to play Aurora is one of the few things I really want to do before I die.
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on March 04, 2013, 08:39:59 PM
you can set that up in the ships orders.
fleet 1a goto Earth pick up 5 automines and drop off 5 automines on mars
you can just copy the order so that fleet does that job until there are no more mines to move or the order string stops.
as for terraforming use factories not ships. they work faster and a lot less expensive.
I figured out the whole repeat orders thing a little bit ago.
I missed the Terraforming Installations. I'll get those building and transport them to some planets soon. I take it they are automated.
yes.
uhm no. they each require 250k of civilians. thats why I make ships with 5 terraformer modules each.
A group of 10 ships do the job fairly quickly especially as you research your terraforming rates :)
Ok...so I redesigned and refitted my combat fleet along with some new missles. I added more armor to all, added some additional missile launchers, fire controls and magazines. Most importantly, I identified a big problem with my pd plan; my anti-missle lasers were hull mounted. Oops. Kind of hard to target incoming missiles at 18000km/s when your whole ship has to move. So, I designed a turret with 2 beams and a tracking speed of 16,000km/s and mounted one on my Ticonderoga ships. I added gauss turrets to each ship with a fire control. I also added an additional Ticonderoga class ship to each fleet so long as jump gates were available. Finally, I redesigned my missles after researching increases agility and engine power. Bigger warheads with added speed on my anti ship missles and more speed and agility on my anti missile missiles.
I took my new fleet to battle and the first thing I noticed is a new type of enemy ship that travels at 6500km/s. this is a problem because my ships move at 3900km/s. Time for some trickeration.
I left my active sensors off and reduced fleet speed to 10% which made me invisible to enemy sensors at that range. I sent out the TFS Sheridan (frigate capable of 4900 km/a) towards the enemy fleet. When I got close I stopped the Sheridan and say motionless trying to watch the enemy and get some intel. Meanwhile, I dispatched 2nd fleet from Sol to reinforce me. They are 3 systems away so they may miss the fight.
Finally, I got all of the intel I thought I could get from my frigate to I pulled my pants down...I fired up the Sheridan's engines and turned on active sensors. Sheridan was directed to move towards 1st fleet lying in ambush near the jump gate. The enemy fleet of 8 ships took the bait and began moving towards the ambush. My fire control and ASM range is out to 35 million kms. At 45 million kms the enemy ships came to a screeching halt...I assume they detected my fleet. I turned on the engines and sensors and tried to accelerate into range but No Joy...the enemy moved away at high speed. The longer I followed them, the more I smelled a trap.
Now, I don't know if the AI intended to set a trap but 2 hours later, as my fleet came to a stop and prepared to move back to the gate, thermal sensors picked up an incoming fleet of 6 enemy cruisers moving at 3500 km/s. I decided not to run and see what happened. The enemy approached and at about 50 million kms out(the ships) I picked up I coming missiles at 2 million km moving at 18,500 km/s! Now, my resolution 1 anti missile active sensor has a range of 20 million km so I am at a loss as to why it takes so long to pick up the enemy missiles so I now believe the enemy has a substantial EM warfare capability. Damn...time to try out the new defenses.
I assigned targets to the AM fire control and began launching AMM (anti missle missiles) the enemy ships launched salvoes consisting of 3 packs containing 5 missiles each. One by one my 3 missle salvoes reached out...2 from each Ticonderoga for 12 per volley. Success! Most missed but in the end only 4 of the 15 enemy missiles got through. My new double laser turrets got the rest. Each turret can fire at two missiles in the same pack. Unfortunately, since then, the enemy has launched 4 more of the 15 missile salvoes with more likely behind. So far, no hits on my fleet as the Ticons do their job but AMM supplies are at 55-60%.
Finally, the enemy ships had entered my ASM range. I set speed to move back toward the jump gate at the same speed as the enemy while I launched salvos at the enemy fleet.
So, currently I am facing down multiple salvoes of incoming missiles with success but supplies are dwindling. My missiles are on the way but have at least 25 minutes until they reach their targets. Meanwhile I hope to land some hits and escape through the gate...the slip in 2nd fleet with full supplies. If timed right, I can catch the enemy fleet before they can resupply...but I doubt it, 2nd fleet is days away.
Stay tuned.
Three years back I was between jobs and learned of Aurora. I spent 3 months eating, playing Aurora, and sleeping a little bit. The experience mikeck is having parallels my own. There's absoluteley nothing like it. Fire control is the most frustrating aspect of the game for me, I suck at it. I lost many ships trying to figure it out. It is worth the time though. I would go back to the game if it was more user friendly and I didn't have to immerse myself so completely in it to be somewhat competent.
Mikeck, very cool. Keep us informed on your future battles.
On yeah...you guys will love this! Ok, so I am out of AMMs. Went through all 600 and between them and my gauss cannons, bad guys only scored a few hits. Enemy launched about 150 missiles so far and more keep coming. I only have my gauss pd left but all is Ok! Yes sir, my 300 Long lance 31 million km range missiles with high powered levitated nuclear implosion warheads are minutes away for hitting the enemy.
Just one thing though. I engaged at max range of my active sensors...about 39 million kms. Fine for the missiles as the enemy is moving towards them reducing the range. Problem is, the enemy is moving towards me at 3066 km/s and I am moving away at 3900 km/s. See the problem here? No? Yeah well I didn't either until minutes before my missiles hit my sensors station informed me that we lost all enemy ships on active sensors! Yes sir, because I was increasing distance at 834 km/s, I moved outside my active sensor range. So, of course, my missiles have nothing to guide them. Think of them like old AIM-7 sparrows. Need the aircraft to keep a lock. You can build them with their own individual sensors but at my tech level, that makes for heavy missiles.
So, 2 minutes from impact it is announced that all 300 of my ASMs self destructed due to lack of target guidance. Nice
I left with heavy damage to the command ship, left it in a neighboring system to repair at the shipyard there while the rest of the fleet went home to rearm and refuel. Screw this, I merged 1st and 2nd fleets and am heading back in. 6 battle cruisers with 720 ASMs and 4 Ticonderoga cruisers with 1200 AMMs...and I plan on using everyone of the bitches!
nice move Mr Theisman.
Good news: I won't make that mistake again.
Bad news: there is a 100% chance I will make a different mistake which will be as bad at some point.
Like golf, this game is as frustrating as it is rewarding.
Mikeck that was very exciting. I have never done more than dink around with this one.
So many games, so little time.
Kewl!!! I had the economies screen open on one monitor and the system map on a second one, I then click the 30day increment button and it updated both screens.
If you ever wanted to fight Honor Harrington/Jack Campbell style space battles, this is the only game in town. For me, the colonization stuff is background for the fights. You really feel like you accomplished something when you win. In a previous game some time ago, I developed a stealthy frigate with microwave beams (they disable enemy electronics). I had three sneaking around an enemy fleet. Right before my missiles entered the enemy AMM range, I opened up with microwave attacks and ECM. Basically disabled a lot of the enemy tracking electronics and really did a number on the fleet. Followed up with a troop transport loaded with jump pods and highly trained assault infantry. Took a colony. C'mon ...you can't get that a anywhere else.
actually you can in Homeworld. ecm mines, marine frigates, mimics yada yada. there was a HH mod in the works but Webers lawyers got involved and it was shut down. >:(
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.wikia.com%2Fhonorverse%2Fimages%2Fe%2Fe7%2FTiger_Class.png&hash=30ec8a56e125248f7476c3f8684c69ca44dd7a07)
I love homeworld but the battles aren't realistic. Why would I wait until I was 10 ship lengths away to fire missiles? In all rts, the speeds are too low, ranges are too low and no sensors modeled. No colony manager, invasions, can't develope weapons, etc
I enjoy reading of your
misadventures experiences,
mickeck. Appreciate you sharing them with us!
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on March 06, 2013, 09:41:09 PM
actually you can in Homeworld. ecm mines, marine frigates, mimics yada yada. there was a HH mod in the works but Webers lawyers got involved and it was shut down. >:(
I'm guessing that's because some sort of HH MMO was being developed at one point, although I don't remember many details about it. No idea if it's still in the works or not, although I doubt it.
I do wish I could play homeworld 2 with the mods but I could never get it working on windows 7.
Anyway, you will be happy to know that I returned to Tau Ceti with my combined fleet of 6 battle cruisers holding 740 ASM missiles and my 4 Missle destroyers holding 1200 AMM. This time, I did it right. My redesigned point defense plan worked much better. My AMMs had about a 35-40 percent hit rate. Between those and my gauss point defense only 6 enemy missiles hit home.
My ASMs moved out at 22,000km/s with size 9 warheads...bigger and faster than the previous version . Enemy defenses weren't near as effective due to the speed of my missiles and most got through. The entire fleet of 9 ships was destroyed. I did burn through 400 ASMs and 800 AMMs in the process.
Next step, return home, rearm, refuel and return to attack the home world and prepare for the marines.
even in the future the Navy is the Marines taxi service.
Yep! But in my future, the Navy has to blast it's way in. I can only guess at the amount of ships and pixel jarheads I going to lose trying to figure out how to so a combat drop
training research for ground forces is quite important. also look at your generals and put them in the right slots. combat skill and diplomacy go a looooong way towards success. this goes back to military academies. its better to have to much and be selective then to have to little and struggle.
Quote from: mikeck on March 07, 2013, 04:52:26 PM
I do wish I could play homeworld 2 with the mods but I could never get it working on windows 7.
Anyway, you will be happy to know that I returned to Tau Ceti with my combined fleet of 6 battle cruisers holding 740 ASM missiles and my 4 Missle destroyers holding 1200 AMM. This time, I did it right. My redesigned point defense plan worked much better. My AMMs had about a 35-40 percent hit rate. Between those and my gauss point defense only 6 enemy missiles hit home.
My ASMs moved out at 22,000km/s with size 9 warheads...bigger and faster than the previous version . Enemy defenses weren't near as effective due to the speed of my missiles and most got through. The entire fleet of 9 ships was destroyed. I did burn through 400 ASMs and 800 AMMs in the process.
Next step, return home, rearm, refuel and return to attack the home world and prepare for the marines.
So it seems as if you've had ample time and opportunity to repeatedly send fleets into the enemy system without really worrying about something bad coming through the other end. Is the AI passive? Why does there seem to be no attempt by the AI to follow you back the way you came to search you out?
I can't tell at this point. Now, as far as I know, the only way between our home systems are using the jump points " sol" to "Ross 248" to "groombridge 61" to "tau Ceti". So I am not worried about an attack on earth while I was away since they would have to come past me.
Also, there is another alien race somewhere. At one point in the events I saw that two no player races were fighting so it's possible that they have other conflicts. They have sent scouts into groombridge.
Finally, I would t follow a fleet through a jump point either. Your sensors and electronics take minutes to reset while you get pounded by the enemy fleet. So strategically, I can't tell...a bit passive. But tactically, the AI is very competent and seems to build good ships. Kicked my ass first battle.
Short answer, I don't know yet
word to the wise.
if you see a pink spot in a system run away as fast as you can.
them wormholes are never good. I started a game once with 2 in the Sol system.
I of course restarted the game.
Gds starfury, what was your experience with the AI? Did u find it passive? Too early to tell for me.
the typical alien ai would be aggressive when I was in their systems but they didnt really chase me back through jump gates. the super alien races however will.
I've been out of town since Thursday and wont be home until late Monday. I need an update from someone for a fix!!!
Someone over on the Aurora forums is putting up a new beginners guide to 6.21. I'm just now starting to read it, so I don't have any feedback on it yet.
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/topic,5954.0.html
I took both of my fleets into Tau Ceti to wipe the system out. Total of 10 battle cruisers and 7 missle AAM destroyers. I destroyed a lot of enemy ships but they have been busy while I was gone. Apparently, they have developed Anti ship missiles and fire control that out range me by about 75%. These missiles move a bit faster than mine. The only way I survived was the fact that in that fleet, I had 4 destroyers that can spit out salvos of 6 AAMs every 10 seconds. Each ship carries 310 of them. I burned through about 65%. Had a hell of a time due to the speed of the missiles. I had to slow my fleet to a stop or else the closing speed caused all AAM missiles to miss. As is, I only scored a out 25% hit probability. Lucky for me, I spat out a lot, all ships had gauss turrets mutually supporting the fleet for PD (best pd in the game by far) and the enemy ships could only fire salvos of 6.
My second fleet snuck in through a newly discovered connecting jump gate close to their homeworld while 1st fleet drew the combat ships. I found the ship yard with 6 ships there as well. They are stationary so they some may be under construction. Someone there has some NASTY point defense...swatting down my missiles like flies. My only success comes from targeting all my launchers of all 4 BCs at the same ship. That's 32 missiles hitting at the same time. Seems to overwhelm them. As we speak, I have destroyed 2 if them but am running low on missiles. I have a volley of 24 missiles headed for the shipyard. If that doesn't work, I'm closing to beam range. My concern is planetary defense.
Another nasty surprise were the enemy Fast Attack Craft. Move at 2x the speed of my ships and fire a mid range big missile. They fly in just to the edge of my missile range, release their missiles (2 each it seems) and haul ass out of the area. I can only hit with my AAms which don't do much damage. They are in range of my bigger ASMs but my 140 resolution fire control for those missiles can't pick up the 900 ton ships until they are on top of me. I may have to design a carrier with fighters
seem like you really kicked up a hornets nest there.
Dead hornets now
Quote from: OJsDad on March 12, 2013, 07:21:08 PM
Someone over on the Aurora forums is putting up a new beginners guide to 6.21. I'm just now starting to read it, so I don't have any feedback on it yet.
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/topic,5954.0.html
Thanks for pointing this out. I made more headway in understanding Aurora and the SM functions in a couple of hours tonight than I ever have in the past. This really is computerized
Imperial Starfire.
it sure is. theres even a starfire subforum. I also recommend reading some of Steve's campaign stories.
Oh brother did I just get spanked! AI doesn't seem to like leaving its system but nobody can claim that it can't fight or design ships. So I beat down the tau Ceti aliens and decided to turn my attention to the Eastern Alliance. This is a human NPR that I created on alpha centauri. Supposed to be the descendants of the Sino-Russian alliance that first discovered and claimed the world eventually colonizing and breaking contact...aaaannnnyyy hoooo
So I take my victorious fleet to alpha centauri and proceed to destroy 2 ships near the gate. So I'm thinking this is gonna be a turkey shoot. I see a pack of 10 1000 ton fast attack craft moving at 70% my speed so I begin to chase them down. When I get close they begin shooting missiles....but they are missing by 1000's of miles!!! I watch them sail by as my fleet sits motionless. Here the great part...as soon as I start moving, the remaining incoming missiles change direction and hit me. When i stop, they begin sailing off again. Here, the enemy has designed missiles with on board sensors...probably thermal sensors...this makes them fire and forget best seekers. When my ships stop, there is not enough heat.
So I let those missiles go and drive forward. I pick up a few more ships but I am concentrating on those FACs. Next thing I know I am seeing salvo after salvo of missiles coming at me. Each salvo has 4 packs of 8 missiles each...so 32 missiles a salvo. I lost track after 25 salvos in about 10 game minutes. They just kept coming. I couldn't fire AAMs fast enough and eventually ran out. I turned tail and ran for my life. Finally I got enough distance that I left range. They must have fired 1000 missiles all together. All my ships were damaged.
I have to develop a missile and firing system to deal with these FACs at a longer range. I may also build a few dedicated gauss frigates. Gauss turrets are great for PD. might try a ship with 6 turrets and put two in the fleet.
one of the great things about reading Steves stories is that he goes into the whole ship design process and what works against various threats.
Well 140 resolution fire control doesn't work well against fast attack craft armed with box launchers...that's for damn sure.
drop it down to 10 and get a big antenna.
Yep. I don't think I can deal with all those missiles so the only solution is to kill them before they get close
the one thing I would really like in this game is a formation editor. since there isnt one and the AI likes targeting your big ships first Id recommend a dedicated AAM platform with lots of stealth, massive sensors and deeeeep magazine wells. keep them as a seperate group and move them out along the threat axis.
Well, I've just started a new game. Learned a few things from playing around, though not how to build a combat ship yet. Currently I'm building a Geo Survey and Grav Survey ships. I'll then move on to some freighters so I can expand mining operations.
To start with, I'm designing a military engine
Quote
Engine Power: 60 Fuel Use Per Hour: 45.6 Litres
Fuel Consumption per Engine Power Hour: 0.76 Litres
Engine Size: 5 HS Engine HTK: 2
Thermal Signature: 60 Exp Chance: 10
Cost: 30 Crew: 5
Materials Required: 0x Duranium 30x Gallicite
Military Engine
Sorry, hit the post button to soon.
I want to build two combat ships, one offensive beam and one AM defensive. This is what a default CIWS design looks like
Quote
Rate of Fire: 4 shots every 5 seconds
Dual GC: 5HS Turret: 2 HS Fire Control: 1.25 HS Sensor 0.1875 HS ECCM: 0
Overall Size: 8.4 HTK: 2
Tracking Speed: 8000 km/s ECCM Level: 0
Cost: 27 Crew: 9
I need to design fire control for it, correct.
Yes..make sure it is a "beam fire control". You also need an active search sensor. I would highly recommend using missiles I stead of beams. At early research levels, beams have a real short range.
Also, for beams, you will need to install a powerplant
Yea, I figuredout the powerplant requirement already
One more question, my game keeps advancing in 10 sec increments. Is there combat going on somewhere else. Is there a way I can skip through it.
On the f3 screen (the one with the sextor view) there are two rows of time increments. There is a box to the right of the bottom one called "automatic" make sure that is checked. Then try to advance 1 hour and see what happens. Usually, of there is combat, it will go in 5 second increments. I suspect that instead of auto, you have it set to advance 10 seconds at a time?
Quote from: OJsDad on March 19, 2013, 05:16:59 PM
Sorry, hit the post button to soon.
I want to build two combat ships, one offensive beam and one AM defensive. This is what a default CIWS design looks like
Quote
Rate of Fire: 4 shots every 5 seconds
Dual GC: 5HS Turret: 2 HS Fire Control: 1.25 HS Sensor 0.1875 HS ECCM: 0
Overall Size: 8.4 HTK: 2
Tracking Speed: 8000 km/s ECCM Level: 0
Cost: 27 Crew: 9
I need to design fire control for it, correct.
you dont need fire control for CIWS. Those are fully integrated systems.
All other types of weapons need a fire control though.
That said you do need to design sensors so you can see whats out there. make sure you have both a sensor for bigger ships but also a sensor that can detect missiles. Learned that the hard way :)
Quote from: jejo68 on March 20, 2013, 02:01:19 AM
Quote from: OJsDad on March 19, 2013, 05:16:59 PM
Sorry, hit the post button to soon.
I want to build two combat ships, one offensive beam and one AM defensive. This is what a default CIWS design looks like
Quote
Rate of Fire: 4 shots every 5 seconds
Dual GC: 5HS Turret: 2 HS Fire Control: 1.25 HS Sensor 0.1875 HS ECCM: 0
Overall Size: 8.4 HTK: 2
Tracking Speed: 8000 km/s ECCM Level: 0
Cost: 27 Crew: 9
I need to design fire control for it, correct.
you dont need fire control for CIWS. Those are fully integrated systems.
All other types of weapons need a fire control though.
That said you do need to design sensors so you can see whats out there. make sure you have both a sensor for bigger ships but also a sensor that can detect missiles. Learned that the hard way :)
Ahhh, yes sorry...I thought you were asking a out a fire control for your beam weapons.
are any of you having problems with crew morale and the ability to extend it past the 3 month limit I seem to be stuck with?
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on March 20, 2013, 02:22:31 PM
are any of you having problems with crew morale and the ability to extend it past the 3 month limit I seem to be stuck with?
When you create a ship type you can set deployment time.
Look in the top left column, theres a field saying "deployment time" :)
To add...in that box, you can change deployment time to whatever you want...the game will automatically add the required crew quarters.
Yeh!!
My first warship design. It's a corvette designed for attacking other ships. I'll be designing a twin for the anti missile role. I hope to be able to play around with trying to figure out how to design missles this weekend. These ships are meant for the defense of the home system, and maybe a neighboring system with a good planet for colonizing.
Quote
Enterprise class Corvette 4,800 tons 105 Crew 651.4 BP TCS 96 TH 90 EM 0
1250 km/s Armour 4-25 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 16.56
Maint Life 8.22 Years MSP 1170 AFR 92% IFR 1.3% 1YR 31 5YR 462 Max Repair 43 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 8 months Spare Berths 0
60 EP Ion Drive (2) Power 60 Fuel Use 76% Signature 45 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 24.7 billion km (228 days at full power)
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2) Range 90,000km TS: 12000 km/s Power 6-6 RM 3 ROF 5 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
CIWS-120 (2x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Fire Control S04 96-3000 (2) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 3000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (3) Total Power Output 13.5 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR19-R100 (70%) (1) GPS 3200 Range 19.2m km Resolution 100
Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (70%) (1) GPS 16 Range 960k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The defense ship
Quote
Indianapolis class Corvette 4,100 tons 87 Crew 568.2 BP TCS 82 TH 90 EM 0
1463 km/s Armour 4-22 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 6
Maint Life 10.41 Years MSP 1173 AFR 67% IFR 0.9% 1YR 20 5YR 296 Max Repair 43 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 8 months Spare Berths 0
60 EP Ion Drive (2) Power 60 Fuel Use 76% Signature 45 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 28.9 billion km (228 days at full power)
10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (2) Range 48,000km TS: 3000 km/s Power 3-3 RM 3 ROF 5 3 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
CIWS-120 (2x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Fire Control S04 24-12000 (2) Max Range: 48,000 km TS: 12000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (2) Total Power Output 9 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR19-R100 (70%) (1) GPS 3200 Range 19.2m km Resolution 100
Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (70%) (1) GPS 16 Range 960k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
My attack missile frigate
Quote
North Carolina class Cruiser 5,700 tons 199 Crew 666.2 BP TCS 114 TH 90 EM 0
1052 km/s Armour 1-28 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 50
Maint Life 7.5 Years MSP 1146 AFR 129% IFR 1.8% 1YR 36 5YR 537 Max Repair 40 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
Magazine 275
60 EP Ion Drive (2) Power 60 Fuel Use 76% Signature 45 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 20.8 billion km (228 days at full power)
CIWS-120 (1x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Size 5 Missile Launcher (10) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 75
Missile Fire Control FC4-R60 (2) Range 4.4m km Resolution 60
Anti-ship Missile Exocet Mk1 (58) Speed: 2,500 km/s End: 7.2d Range: 1561.5m km WH: 3 Size: 4.767 TH: 14/8/4
Active Search Sensor MR19-R100 (70%) (1) GPS 3200 Range 19.2m km Resolution 100
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
Anti Missile Missile Frigate
Quote
Coontz class Frigate 5,600 tons 193 Crew 648.7 BP TCS 112 TH 45 EM 0
535 km/s Armour 1-28 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 50
Maint Life 5.07 Years MSP 1072 AFR 250% IFR 3.5% 1YR 69 5YR 1042 Max Repair 40 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 320
60 EP Ion Drive (1) Power 60 Fuel Use 76% Signature 45 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 21.1 billion km (456 days at full power)
CIWS-120 (1x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Size 5 Missile Launcher (10) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 75
Missile Fire Control FC4-R60 (1) Range 4.4m km Resolution 60
Anti-Missile Missile Mk1 (177) Speed: 6,700 km/s End: 1.4d Range: 837m km WH: 1 Size: 1.8 TH: 33/20/10
Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (70%) (1) GPS 16 Range 960k km Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR19-R100 (70%) (1) GPS 3200 Range 19.2m km Resolution 100
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
Looks good. I would remove the CIWS though and here is why:until you have a ship that can throw of a lot of anti missile missiles, you can't defend against a missle attack really. I'm not sure the CIWs is worth it's weight unless the ship is part of a larger fleet. I would ditch it and add a few more engines
The only other thing is speed. If you are using beams, you have to get close. At the speed your ships go, you won't have much luck catching enemy ships.
It's tough because at early tech, beams have short range. I would look at missiles and research gauss cannons for pd work...they are awesome
All that said, looks like you did a great job of matching stuff up.
Thanks Mikeck.
I plan on operating these in task groups of 8 ships, two of each type. I was really just trying out a design of each, while learning how to design the ship components.
One thing I see is the Missile Fire Control on the North Carolina class. The range is really too short for the missiles.
Two notes;
1. When designing components that are meant to work to gether, give them names that makes it easier to match up ie Exorcet MFC for controlling your Exorcet missiles, etc.
2. In my current base game, I'm running out of minerals. I've also found that I tried to build my freighters too large, too many holds and not enough engine and fuel.
Just for fun, I started a new game with a starting population of 7b, wow, what a difference!!
I would recommend making anti missile missiles size 1. The warheads can be very small unless you are going up against armored missiles. Also, do everything you can to make you missiles faster. That is the best way to improve hit probability.
Quote from: OJsDad on March 21, 2013, 09:48:02 PM
The defense ship
Quote
Indianapolis class Corvette 4,100 tons 87 Crew 568.2 BP TCS 82 TH 90 EM 0
1463 km/s Armour 4-22 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 6
Maint Life 10.41 Years MSP 1173 AFR 67% IFR 0.9% 1YR 20 5YR 296 Max Repair 43 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 8 months Spare Berths 0
60 EP Ion Drive (2) Power 60 Fuel Use 76% Signature 45 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 28.9 billion km (228 days at full power)
10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (2) Range 48,000km TS: 3000 km/s Power 3-3 RM 3 ROF 5 3 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
CIWS-120 (2x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Fire Control S04 24-12000 (2) Max Range: 48,000 km TS: 12000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (2) Total Power Output 9 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR19-R100 (70%) (1) GPS 3200 Range 19.2m km Resolution 100
Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (70%) (1) GPS 16 Range 960k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
your fire control is way overpowered. If you dont put lasers in a turret they can only at the speed of your ship. So tbh I would drop this class and go with the enterprise class.
Just need to make a few adjustments. Drop the CIWS and put on extra engines for more speed. Second if they are meant for home defense theres really no need for them to be able to deploy for more then 6 month so drop some weight there also.
You also really need to get some shields on this baby which again will make it lighter and thus faster.
Oh and in closing dont forget passive sensors, those are good for beam ships as you may be able to sneak up on him :)
You could also skip one fire control and link both turrets to same control.
Just to give all a fair warning, I'm starting a new game of Aurora. There should be more than enough good information to get me restarted, but I'm hopping to be posting new stuff soon.
I was hoping that a new update to Aurora would have been out my now, but that does not seem to be in the cards at this time.
One thing I just realized. When starting a new game, there is a option to Create ship systems and ship designs in the Starting Tech section. I'm not sure if they are good or not, but they should be useful to use as an example. I created one game with this option just to have the handy reference.
If you haven't looked at this for awhile, 6.42 was just released.
Link to an installer;
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/topic,5663.0.html
Link to the new features and changes for 6.4;
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/topic,6532.0.html
Bug fix for 6.42
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/topic,7054.0.html
This is one of those games like WitP. I dream of learning how to actually play it.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on May 06, 2014, 05:46:56 AM
This is one of those games like WitP. I dream of learning how to actually play it.
Dittos for me also.
As soon as I start to really learn the details, I get a situation where whenever I hit the go button on the time the turn takes 10 years to complete five seconds of the time I go eat dinner come back still going. They keep telling me there's ways around that but I can't find out how to do it so I stop playing... and then of course a year later I want to start playing again I have to start all over learning the game
stop starting with 1000 world universes during setup.
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on May 06, 2014, 07:50:24 AM
stop starting with 1000 world universes during setup.
Will that help limit the NPC v NPC battles that I have to slog through 5 seconds at a time?
oh yeah! when setting up the game you can also limit or remove worm hole aliens and swarms completely. that REALLY cuts down on npc battles that you dont even see. read some of the human march to the stars type of fan fiction and maybe try a human only game with you and 3 or 4 npc's.
Okay. I always removed the swarm but I usually created one or two and PCs on my own three or four wormholes away so I knew I was going to come in contact fairly soon. This time I'm thinking of having three Earth factions competing to stretch out into the solar system and nearby stars I don't mind if the AI creates an NPC but I'm going to limit the amount of stars I think
Edit: wasn't there also a way to put a "bubble" around the NPC versus NPC fight so that it doesn't bog down everything else
I havent played in a while but I kinda recall that there was some kind of hotfix for it. I kind of grew away from it when I felt I found a golden path with the tech tree, political type and game type.
for instance, when you set up the game select your culture type as meritocracy. it gives you more starting points and seems to give you better people to put into command slots. pump out 10 academies and you'll be swimming in excellent people for everything. as an example the real game effect for a survey ship with a high rated survey skill is that it takes half the time or less to scout a system.
There is a sample game included the 6.4x version. In the past, the sample game is kind of bland. This one has a lot of ship systems and ships designed. The human player also has a presence in multiple systems and it looks like they have encountered at least one hostile NPR. This should help in learning ship design.