Re: Things in SEIV I never knew about....
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">But only if you have bigger ships ! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
That' not always an option.

Re: Things in SEIV I never knew about....
 

I was speaking about dreadnoughts. That's surely a BIG ship. O.K. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif There are Baseships, but those you can outmaneuver and save the space for weapons.

I did the experiment for 12 hours. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif I tried every logical combination and ship sizes BB-BS. For a long time I played with Shield- and Engine- and Weapon- damaging weapons(Including Null-space). Unfortunately it seems that the best weapon is Anti-proton beam alone. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif I don't like that result but it is what I have seen. (As I mentioned before I didn't count any special techs in.)

[ March 28, 2003, 13:30: Message edited by: Ward ]

Re: Things in SEIV I never knew about....
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The downside to retrofitting is that you lose precious time waiting for those ships to be repaired. This is the potential drawback to Fyron's suggestion of building without a couple of components, and then retrofitting them in after completion. If your tinkering only gets your ship built one turn faster, then your efforts have been wasted; you're going to have to wait another turn for the retrofitted ship to be repaired. You could have some other ship with repair facilities escort it to the front lines. But does anybody really want to micromanage this much? (you in the back: sit down... we all see you waving your hand http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif )

In my current game, I've been doing a lot of retrofitting... mostly retrofitting of ships that I captured through Intel (yeah, yeah, I know...). At your retrofitting sites, it helps a lot to have ships/bases bristling with repair bays. Otherwise, your retrofitting takes way too long to be of use, and it hampers repairs on battleworn ships returning from the front lines.

If you retrofit a lot, invest in Repair tech. Repair-intensive bases should be sufficient to assist planet-based shipyards, but if you want to go mobile, you'll need some Ship Construction tech to efficiently cart around multiple repair bays.

Of course, when you go mobile, you can't retrofit "one-timer" components, such as Emergency Propulsion, planet building/destroying items, etc. You need a planet-based facility for that.

--Raynfala

Re: Things in SEIV I never knew about....
 

raynfala:
You get more ships in a given time frame. It is not about the individual ship, but about overall production.

Also, the ships can save time training in the long run if they get built at a planet with training facilities.

Re: Things in SEIV I never knew about....
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">waves hand

This is absolutely essential, especially in a heated contest. You want to bring your latest designs to bear against a tough foe. Sitting in wait increases the effective strike time against your foe, and reduces the potential impact/advantage of imposing your new tech (i.e. by the time you get to combat your combat has caught up).

Always fly with repair ships and repair your retrofits on the fly. And don't waste time retrofitting engines, only upgrade critical components... unless you really have a lot of time and minerals on your hands.

Re: Things in SEIV I never knew about....
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Much as the others have said.
Using an example:
- Not using retrofits
Turn 2: One ship finished
Turn 4: Two ships finished
...
Turn 10: Five ships finished

- Using retrofits
Turn 1: One ship retrofitting
Turn 2: One ship finished, one ship retrofitting.
Turn 3: Two ships finished, one ship retrofitting.
...
Turn 10: Nine ships finished, one ship retrofitting.

You see the difference now? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: Things in SEIV I never knew about....
 

Ships with armour and no shields will have a hard time if enemy uses engine killers !