Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

Not me. I use colony ship hulls only through the first part of the game. Once I get to light cruisers though, I upgrade my colonizers and make them faster, longer range, and higher capacity colonizers. Can even mount defensive stuff if needed.
But this does not necessarily mean CLs are the most used. I put most warship production into battle cruisers, but my support, stellar manipulation, and pretty much any other miscellaneous ships are primarily standard cruisers.
So for me, I use the 3 cruiser hulls the most.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

Warships - Battle Cruisers without a doubt.

Civilian - Small Transports. I am always moving things about.

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I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

Out of curiosity. My stellar manipulation ships tend to be frigates, just engines, crew, and one component each. How many other people try to minimize ship size like that?

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Compete in the Space Empires IV World Championship at www.twingalaxies.com.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

Nyx - I used to do the minimum size thing on Warp ships, Planet makers, etc. But got tired of having to return to a shipyard to make repairs so I upped the ship size to hold a repair unit & fill any extra space w/supply units. The extra cost is offset by the extra freedom. - I think I use a Lt. Cruiser design...

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Character is best defined as that which you do when you believe nobody is watching.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

I have created 2 additional ship classes I use within my own games. The first is a science ship..I use the medium size transport hull minus the cargo requirements. This allows me to build construction ships, deep space science ships, medical ships, just a large variety of different types without using my warship classes. I use the star trek ship sets..so I dont like using warships as transports. The other ship class is bigger than a dreadnought, (Battlestar) up to 1500 Kt. I schedule it to become available at tech level 10. I have found that all AI races use both designs quite extensively. I hope eventually we will be able to create ship designs available to only a specific race, same thing with facilities and components.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

My early colonizers are colony ship hulls, and my late colonizers are light cruisers (with solar sails, either supply storage/solar panel or a quantum reactor, and the rest being cargo storage).

My warships are almost all dreadnoughts. I try to play purely defensively until I have dreadnoughts and combat sensor 3s (it's amazing how often I can get away with this, and I don't even use mines). I'd use baseships if it weren't for the fact that they are allowed 2 fewer engines (which costs them a point of movement in tactical combat).

Lately, my troop transports have been BASESHIPS. Let me explain. I decided I wanted my troop transports to be able to handle lots and lots of planets by themselves, at least the ones that didn't have warships in orbit. So I wanted my troop transports to have: the usual stuff (bridge, crew quarters, life support, engines, solar sail, supply storage/solar panel or quantum reactor), tons of point-defense cannons (to deal with satellites and fighters), tons of shielding (to take fire from weapons platforms on the way in), a repair bay and at least eight emergency propulsion 5s (to take as many planets as possible in a turn), and enough cargo storage to hold enough troops to take out the militias created by several billion people. Baseships are the only thing that can hold all that, but it works like a charm--taking every planet and moon of an entire system in 1 turn is not unheard of.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

Here's an odd bit -- in my most recent game (finished Last night when the Praetorians collapsed -- they couldn't handle 10 CIs a turn combined with numerous raiders...) -- my first few recon/warships were DNs, but the latter warships were BBs.

DNs -- because they were recon (full sensor/scanner) package, with boarding stuff (in case somebody filled a tech hole -- I'd been going mostly-infrastructure research-wise), repair component and so forth. Normal weaponry was minimal.

Later warships were BBs for the extra engine -- for shipyards (just one design, capable of coming along reasonably safely during an invasion), bombers (a few wandering around, doing lots of damage), and the main anti-ship ships.

The BC hull was used purely for Aegis ships (never used), and biowarfare ships (used early on before the first few bombers were constructed).

LTs were used for a few cloaked minelayers (few; actually, very very few mines built, fewer deployed, and none actually detonated), population transport (including a medical bay once that was researched), and troop transports (but the Troop minister appears to be largely idle; it doesn't do squat, say, to put down riots. Incidentally, filling a planet's 400kt cargo space with heavily-armed Large Troops -- manual control of TT -- with 5 DNs in orbit, did nothing about a riot. Bizarre).

I never did build any non-CS colonizers, 'tho; just two main variations of each (cargo versus solar power, the latter completely replacing the former).

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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nyx:
Out of curiosity. My stellar manipulation ships tend to be frigates, just engines, crew, and one component each. How many other people try to minimize ship size like that?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by WhiteHojo
Nyx - I used to do the minimum size thing on Warp ships, Planet makers, etc. But got tired of having to return to a shipyard to make repairs so I upped the ship size to hold a repair unit & fill any extra space w/supply units. The extra cost is offset by the extra freedom. - I think I use a Lt. Cruiser design...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My question to both of you: Are you using this design to exploit the bug where stellar manip devices do not consume the supplies they are suppose to? They are suppose to use 1000 - 4000 supplies each from the description. I emailed MM about this bug, but have not heard a reply yet.
WhiteHojo, I believe with the right supply storage level a lt. cruiser could work, my design is like yours, but since I've yet to research QR component, I include solar collectors to regain lost supplies. I can not recall if it fits on a lt. cruiser or if I use the next biggest size.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

I was not aware that there was a bug w/the supply usage of Stellar Manip... now I feel like I've been cheating. Thanks alot!!!!

Seriously, on a Lt Cruiser there is room for SM comp'nt, engines, essentials and 2 supply pods I think. If there is a bug w/the supply usage, fixing it would do away w/mine and Nyx's usage of small SM ships. oh well.

You guys seem to be on the board alot and in the know as much as anyone (except maybe Mephisto). I've got a problem - trying to build a disposable mine sweeper component to use on warships (kindof a one shot thing, sweep the mines and then be destroyed like an emergency propulsion pod or emer supply pod)... I've got the component to work, all except the destroyed after use part - it sweeps a zone but won't destroy itself after the sweep - not sure what I'm doin wrong - here's the text I'm using.

Name := Mini Sweeper I
Description := Beams for detecting and destroying mines in space and are then destroyed after use.
Pic Num := 16
Tonnage Space Taken := 10
Tonnage Structure := 10
Cost Minerals := 300
Cost Organics := 0
Cost Radioactives := 0
Vehicle Type := Ship
Supply Amount Used := 0
Restrictions := None
General Group := Unit Launch
Family := 22
Roman Numeral := 1
Custom Group := 0
Number of Tech Req := 1
Tech Area Req 1 := Mines
Tech Level Req 1 := 1
Number of Abilities := 2
Ability 1 Type := Mine Sweeping
Ability 1 Descr := Can sweep 10 mines per use.
Ability 1 Val 1 := 10
Ability 1 Val 2 := 0
Ability 2 Type := Component Destroyed On Use
Ability 2 Descr := Component is destroyed after use.
Ability 2 Val 1 := 0
Ability 2 Val 2 := 0
Weapon Type := None


any help would be appreciated.



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Character is best defined as that which you do when you believe nobody is watching.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

WhiteHojo:

Try one thing:

Instead of this line
Vehicle Type := Ship

Use this:
Vehicle Type := Ship\Base

I just went through the components file and couldn't find a vehicle type with just a ship option. I hope this helps.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

Sundevil - tried it w/Base added - no luck, still not destroying itself after sweeping the mines.

How exactly do you "use" a minesweeper component? I assumed it would be used by simply entering the sqr w/the mines and sweeping em (&surviving) - but apparently that's not the case.

Got to be something I'm missing...

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Character is best defined as that which you do when you believe nobody is watching.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

Maybe that field isn't checked except for the Stellar Manipulation items (which go through a specific menu) and components which go through the explicit Use Component button (Emergency foo, for instance). It might just be computing how many mines your fleet can sweep and using the number, w/o checking flags...

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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

WhiteHojo:

I can't play the game right now, I'm at work and actually have to work, but since the device is part of the unit launch group, maybe you have to hit the launch button. Maybe by doing this it will clear the mines and then destroy that component.

It is just a suggestion. If you find out let me know.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

this is very upsetting - destroying the component was the only thing I could think of to counter balance the MiniSweeper's abilities... oh well, back to the drawing board.

Any further info would be verrrry welcome.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>My question to both of you: Are you using this design to exploit the bug where stellar manip devices do not consume the supplies they are suppose to? They are suppose to use 1000 - 4000 supplies each from the description. I emailed MM about this bug, but have not heard a reply yet.
WhiteHojo, I believe with the right supply storage level a lt. cruiser could work, my design is like yours, but since I've yet to research QR component, I include solar collectors to regain lost supplies. I can not recall if it fits on a lt. cruiser or if I use the next biggest size.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not really. I keep a few of them in a fleet together with a repair-facility-equipped cruiser to repair the consumed components. It also has four solar collector IIIs (or a quantum reactor and/or emergency resupply pods) so the fleet as a whole has more than enough supplies even though they don't get consumed. I just find that this way I get my stellar manipulation much faster than if I try to make a self-sufficient design. Back in SE3, I used to make a big ship with planet bombs, planet makers, and a repair facility all in one. I tried it in Se4 but it took too long to build. Having three diffferent shipyards working at the same time and then combining the ships into a fleet is much faster. I do, out of laziness, sometimes take advantage of the bug with my warp-gate ships. But by that point it doesn't really matter as I have about 4 times the combined power of all AIs and/or my human opponent's permission.

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Compete in the Space Empires IV World Championship at www.twingalaxies.com.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

I use a lot of transports

I am almost always tranporting something somewhare.

My Defense fleet is small compared to others. But I make up for that with a lot of size(nothing importand on the outer edge) and battle tactis(to be expain in anthor thread sometime)

For colony ships I don't wast time or resources trying to perfect a colony ship.

Gotta go now

Write more later

The Ship Class You Use Most
 

I have noticed as I play through my games that there is one ship class that I use more than others. Any one want to venture a guess as to what it is?

Ok, good guess, Colonizers.

I use them the most. I don't know about you all, but it seems the colonizers are the ships that get used in just about every turn of the game. Kinda odd when you think about it. Here you are trying to conqure the galaxy, and your primary ship is a colonizer. Actually, its ironic. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif Just a rant courticy of PCP. (No, not the drug. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif )

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"We've made too many compromises already, too many retreats! They invade our space and we fall back -- they assimilate entire worlds and we fall back! Not again! The line must be drawn here -- this far, no further! And I will make them pay for what they've done!" -- Patric Stewart as Captain Picard
UCP/TCO Ship Yards
http://www.angelfire.com/zine/cnchome/SE4/domBC_min.jpg

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

hehe, prolly same here or escorts.

Re: The Ship Class You Use Most
 

In the very early game I tend to use Escorts and pirate my ship construction tech from my first opponent.

After that I tend to go through a phase using LCs for most of my warships, then move on to BCs when I get the tech.

I've never really been too fond of BBs or DNs, since they have less engine capacity, and I try to keep my fleets as fast as possible. For the same reason, I generally don't use transport hulls, the small savings in minerals is more than made up for by the increase in speed. For a small transport you're effectively just spending an extra 150 for that Last engine when you change to a destroyer hull. I also like the extra flexibility, in case I want to fit an extra component or two too many for the 1/2 cargo spaces restriction.

In general I find smaller specialized ships to be more efficient than giant multipurpose ships. I'll typically build a tender to go along with my fleets with a repair bay, solar collectors and scanners. This frees up space on the warships for more weapons and I find it easier to customize a fleet for a particular situation by adding more/less tenders (and point-defense ships for that matter) than to design ships with a particular mission in mind.

While I'm on the subject of hull classes, has anyone else noticed that the Small Transport and Colony Ship hulls are identical - and that Colony components are treated as cargo? Doesn't seem to make a difference which you use in single-player, but it might be useful to use the transport in a multiplayer game to make your colonizers less obvious to you enemies.


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