Question about Ancient Ruins [Archive]

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sachmo

November 1st, 2002, 04:59 PM

If you find an ancient ruin, do you always get a new technology, or do you sometimes get facilities?

If you can get facilities, are they always of a type which you can produce, or can they be advanced? For example, if my technology is only at mineral miners I, can I find a mineral miners III facility?

Thanks!

dumbluck

November 1st, 2002, 05:05 PM

You gain technology levels. Furthermore, IIRC the techs each individual ruin gives is set at game start.

Arkcon

November 1st, 2002, 06:02 PM

The ruin is like an instant random research project. The level you acquire is always only one more level than you already have, just like research.

Once you get that level, if it includes facilities, you get facilities. If that level includes components, you get components. If it allows you to research new techs, then you can. If it requires a prerequisite, or is a racial tech, nothing happens

sachmo

November 1st, 2002, 06:22 PM

But can it ever give you just a facility?
Here is what happened...
In a PBW game, I colonized a planet with ancient ruins. I didn't get a new tech level message, but it seems that my bonus was a free radioactives miner. I could be wrong, of course, and it sounds like I was, but it was strange.

Suicide Junkie

November 1st, 2002, 06:31 PM

Are you sure the AI didn't build that facility for you as soon as the colony landed?

Baron Munchausen

November 1st, 2002, 07:15 PM

No, 'ruins' do not give you a free facility. However, it is not unheard of for a planet to be colonized, and then the colony wiped out by plague or just abandoned, and a new colony planted on the same planet getting 'free' facilities that were built by the previous colony. It is possible for the facilities to be 'left' on a planet when the colony is removed, in other words, and recovered by planting a new colony.

[ November 01, 2002, 17:16: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

sachmo

November 1st, 2002, 07:16 PM

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
Are you sure the AI didn't build that facility for you as soon as the colony landed?No, I cannot, but I can be sure that I did not get a tech. Which may be because it was either

1. a racial tech
2. a tech with a prerequisite
3. etc

I think I figured it out.

Suicide Junkie

November 1st, 2002, 08:26 PM

Other options include:
- A unique (ruins) tech that you already have.
- A tech level you're maxxed out in already

mottlee

November 1st, 2002, 09:02 PM

Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:
It is possible for the facilities to be 'left' on a planet when the colony is removed, in other words, and recovered by planting a new colony.I have not found this to be true...I have seen where there was a ruins and the AI beet me to it then left and it was gone http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Fyron

November 1st, 2002, 09:46 PM

Originally posted by Arkcon:
The ruin is like an instant random research project. The level you acquire is always only one more level than you already have, just like research.That is not true. The specific technology and level are determined when the map is created. If you already have that tech level when you colonize the ruin, you get nothing out of it. eg: The ruin gives you Ships 3, and you have already researched Ships 3. You do not get Ships 4, you get nothing from the ruin.

Krakenup

November 1st, 2002, 10:18 PM

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Arkcon:
The ruin is like an instant random research project. The level you acquire is always only one more level than you already have, just like research.That is not true. The specific technology and level are determined when the map is created. If you already have that tech level when you colonize the ruin, you get nothing out of it. eg: The ruin gives you Ships 3, and you have already researched Ships 3. You do not get Ships 4, you get nothing from the ruin.<hr /></blockquote>No, Arkcon is correct - for that type of ruins. There are two types. If you get the message "We have detected advanced technology present on this planet." you will get one of the unique technologies such as massive shields. They are the only ones determined when the map is created, and, if you already have that one, you get nothing.

If you get one of the other Messages involving "devices", "cities", "ruins", etc., you get one to three random one-level advances in a normal technology. In fact, if you do not like what you get (or if you want to prove that I'm right), you can reload a save game, recolonize, and you will get a different set. (Well, once. If you want to do that more than once, you have to change something such as the colony ship's path to the planet.)

Arkcon

November 2nd, 2002, 01:01 AM

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Arkcon:
The ruin is like an instant random research project. The level you acquire is always only one more level than you already have, just like research.That is not true. The specific technology and level are determined when the map is created. If you already have that tech level when you colonize the ruin, you get nothing out of it. eg: The ruin gives you Ships 3, and you have already researched Ships 3. You do not get Ships 4, you get nothing from the ruin.<hr /></blockquote>Yeah, I did over simplify. But the explanation does still hold. Look at it this way. You have Ships 3. You can build destroyers. You then:
A - research Ship Construction, spending the requisite points, or
B - colonize a ruins planet that randomly contains Ships 5, or
C - analyze a captured battle cruiser (Ships 6), or
D - receive the tech from someone who has battleship (Ships 7)

You get, in all cases, Ships 4. One more level than you had. You can build Light Cruisers. The result is the same. That's why I call it "instant random research" There is no way to skip a tech level when researching ships, so you only get the next level when you use the other methods.

If you colonize a ruin with ships 2, deconstruct an escort, or receive the destroyer tech -- then you get nothing. It is here where the research analogy breaks down.

There is no way to research backwards or your own level, is all. If you could, you would get nothing.

But we'd all be a whole lot more pissed off if that happened http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ November 01, 2002, 23:21: Message edited by: Arkcon ]

Fyron

November 2nd, 2002, 01:38 AM

Hmm... for non-unique ruins, that is kinda screwey. Never cheated before to try and get different techs from the ruins. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif