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If I can pick a ship, it'll be a capital ship with huge (well, as good as possible anyway) firepower of its own. :nod:
 
After your description I would say that a fleet of yours would benefit greatly from a few small ships with very good sensors, as to act as scouts for the carriers and some ships with strong speed and armor to shield the carriers from damage should you find yourself in an ambush
 
If I can pick a ship, it'll be a capital ship with huge (well, as good as possible anyway) firepower of its own. :nod:

Do you want the Captain or the ship itself named after you?

Now I'll say a few words about Sensors.

There are several different types of sensors.

Grav Sensors are used only to detect and map the gravitational anomalies associated with Jump-links between stars. Only ships tasked with finding and mapping these jump-points require this type of sensor, and I always design a specific class of Grav-Survey ship for this job.

Geological Sensors are used only to search out and assay mineral concentrations on planets, moons, asteroids and comets. Again, only the ships used for that purpose will require this type of sensor, and I always build a specific class of Geo-Survey ship.

Passive sensors come in two varieties... Thermal Sensors (detecting Infra-Red emissions) and EM sensors. Both types are "sneaky" sensors... the opponent can't "hear" them operate, so they are good for stealthy detection. Unfortunately, they are NOT any good for targeting your weapons. That requires Active Sensors.

Active Sensors are like RADAR... you send out a "ping", and it gets reflected back from potential targets, giving you the range and bearing info needed by your targeting computers. The big drawback is that they are "noisy"... the enemy can see a ship that's using Active Sensors a long way away... much further than the sensor itself can see. So using an Active Sensor will give away your position... but unfortunately, you cannot target your weapons without one.

Fire Control Sensors come in several varieties. Missile Launchers use one type, Beam Weapons (such as Lasers) use a different type. The range and sensitivity of the Fire Control sensor depends on the job it was designed to do... Fire Control intended to direct large missiles against enemy ships will do a poor job of spotting and targeting incoming enemy missiles... you would want a Point Defense Fire Control for that job, calibrated for small, fast-moving targets. Fire Control Sensors are useless without a hard contact, so they are always used in conjunction with Active Sensors.

Any warship large enough to be able to afford the extra displacement will usually carry several different sensor arrays: a set of Passive Sensors (Thermal and/or EM) to enable it to spot contacts while remaining "stealthed", at least one set of Active Sensors to "paint" the targets for your Fire Control, and one (or more) set of Fire Control Sensors per weapons system... one (or more) for Anti-Ship Missiles, one (or more) for Point Defense Anti-Missile Missiles, one (or more) for Beam Weapons, etc.

The advantage to having two or more sensors of a specific type... two Point Defense sensors, for instance... is that it gives you the ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously. It's small comfort to know that you shot down three of those five incoming missiles...


Tactical information is shared between all ships in a star system, so you can have one ship with very powerful Active Sensors sit WAY, WAY back and paint the targets, while several other ships sneak up into range with their sensors OFF, and lock their fire controls onto the illuminated enemy... I may even decide to design a specific class of "Battle Management" ships for this very role.
 
that sounds slightly complicated, but fun. And if you do decide to make a command ship class, then could I be shipified as one?

Sure. I probably won't be building any right away, though, because it will take a few years to expand my shipyards to the point where I can build really USEFUL designs, and my early-game ships will have to be multi-role.

This game is just AMAZINGLY realistic... if that term means anything when applied to a non-graphics computer game.
 
Do you want the Captain or the ship itself named after you?

Captain. That way 1.) Nobody is gonna be tugging me :)p) and 2.) I can probably transfer to even more badass deathstars and whatnot as soon as they become available. :nod:

Assuming of course that all that talk about non-political promotions was just a load of hot air when it comes to the obviously naturally talented and competent paradoxians. ;)
 
Do scientists and captains age? Or do they still with you indefinitely?
 
Do scientists and captains age? Or do they still with you indefinitely?

They do age, and sometimes suffer medical problems which require a discharge from service. They also increase their skills with use.

Herbert West said:
Then why do they differentiate the EM spectrum at infrared-else?:p

Actually, it's just my theory that Thermal Sensors are IR... in-game, the Sensors are just labelled "Thermal" and "EM".

Having finalized our design for the 11,950-ton "Insect" class Escort Carrier, I have now designed a companion vessel... the 12,000-ton "Attitude" class Light Cruiser:

Setup_17.jpg


Now I'll work on some Destroyer and Frigate designs.
 
We should settle which class of ships will be the "Paradox" class, with individual ships named after Forum members.

I will initially be building Geo-Survey ships to search for resources (traditionally named after Geologists and Explorers), Grav-Survey ships to search for Jump-points to neighboring stars (traditionally named after Astronomers and Physicists), Destroyers, Light Cruisers, Fighters and Escort Carriers.

Naturally, each Forum member can claim whichever type of ship he is fond of. I probably won't be building more than a few of each during the first couple of game-years.

EDIT: good news... it is indeed possible to rename Leaders. Including the Planetary Governor!

Since I studied physics and all, could I be shipified as a Grav-Survey ship? :)
 
Since I studied physics and all, could I be shipified as a Grav-Survey ship? :)

Sure... you'll be seeing early action that way, since our limited combat forces will be on training manoevers for the first few years. I'm playing with "Crew Training" enabled, and untrained crews are next to useless. Our Survey ships (Grav and Geo) will be out hunting for Jump points and resources right from the start of the game.

Do you want the ship or the captain named after you?
 
How many fighters can each Insect-class hold?

Edit: Nevermind, I see from the previous update that each holds 5 fighters.

Are fighters effective at stopping other fighters?

Perhaps you should have some form of "Interceptor" as well as a "Bomber" class so you can specialize your Escort Carriers.
 
How many fighters can each Insect-class hold?

Edit: Nevermind, I see from the previous update that each holds 5 fighters.

Are fighters effective at stopping other fighters?

Perhaps you should have some form of "Interceptor" as well as a "Bomber" class so you can specialize your Escort Carriers.

Or give each Carrier a mixture of your choice, yes! Excellent! This game is getting better and better. There's even a boatload of possible and designable modules for each ship in sizes from deathstar to probe.
 
Since you refused to give me any tip I demand to have a governor named after me!