A couple of Component questions...

[jfp3]

Thanks Alneyan...I was thinking if I wanted to have 2 species temporarily just for reproduction rates, while awaiting a large transport arrival with the proper final species from a long distance.

So if a planet has atmosphere "none"...and has 2 species, dominated by Oxygen breathers, it would TForm to Oxygen...and if I dropped Methane breathers on it Last second, before the actual "upgrade", the program would decide on Methane even though the species dominance was many turns less...is that the gist of it? (Hope that makes sense).

Another question: I've noticed a species creating new Planets (!) in his homeworld system. I'm assuming these are created from Asteroids...what tech level/family does this ability come from?

[jfp3]

And EaX...thanks so much for the component/weapon PDF...I can understand it just fine...very nice work and complete with Icon's no less!

I'm thinking about translating it so you can post it with proper honours for us Newbies.

I wonder if perhaps we could add a Last column that mentions a particularly good use or 2 for each (the ones that aren't obvious). I think a bunch of the Forum Groupees would love to throw in their 2 cents....hell there could probably be a forum link added for several facility/component/weapon 'families' on "Best usage" ie. "Don't bother building this past level III, you should have XYZ by then anyway" or "I put this level XYZ on these types of hulls" or "Don't bother putting these XYZ's on ANY ships till you've gotten at least level III", etc...

Any thoughts on this from others reading this thread?

[Alneyan]

You should usually not play much with reproduction, unless you have high numbers of settlers on that particular planet; population itself is only worth it when you reach fairly high numbers (a few hundred millions or one billion or two). You will get as many reproduction checks as there are populations on the planet though.

The dominant species should be determined on every turn the Atmosphere Converter is built, at least according to the newbie guide, regardless of upgrades and construction of the facility. So even if it were 100 turns after the Atmosphere Converter had been built, dropping a domining Methane population should transform that planet to a Methane atmosphere. I have never actually done so myself however, so I am just quoting the Newbie FAQ here (it makes sense given how the game works though).

Planet Shaping requires Stellar Manipulation 2 to 4, which itself requires Astrophysics 1. Stellar Manipulation has many very powerful technologies, including Warp Opening, Warp Closing, Creating and Destroying Storms, and even blowing up whole systems by destroying a star. To create a Planet, you will need asteroids and a star in the system, and a vessel equipped with a Matter Gravity Sphere.

[jfp3]

Thanks again Alneyan...I forgot to ask a critical question:

Once the atmosphere is TFormed, will it stay that way if I Scrap the facility or revert? It's questions like this that make me save every turn @ 5 times hahaha...

[Alneyan]

The atmosphere will remain the same if you scrap the facility after it has been converted.

[Fyron]

After the initial period is passed, if you leave the facility there, you can swap the current population for those of a different atmosphere and change the atmosphere of the planet every turn. It is funny, if quite useless overall. [img]/threads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[jfp3]

Ah good to know ...ok another question:

I've seen some posts saying that later in game, smaller ships are almost worthless...does that mean there is rarely a time when let's say 10 Frigates can successfully take on a Dreadnought, all techs being equal?

[Suicide Junkie]

Those frigates will waste 900 kt of space on engines and bridge/lifesupport/crew quarters, while the dread wastes only a little over 100.

The dread also gets heavy mounts, so it gets a bonus 70% more damage per kt of weapons.

The little ships will pop one by one, reducing the firepower coming back at the dread, while the dread only loses shields.

So, the dread will blow them away.

[Joachim]

One use they have is as boarding ships as you dont wont to lose big ships trying to board. So you have a DD with shield depleters, lots of BPs, and stealth and scatter armour to make them harder to hit.