Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

What is the difference between ancient ruins and advanced technology on a planet?

Would I be correct in assuming that ancient ruins are a source of "found" or "ancient" technology and that advanced technology is technology which we would normally research?

And can anyone give a "guestimate" of the probability of technology actually being found on the site?

What kinds of ancient technology is "findable"? And is any of the ancient technology actually useful and if so...why?

For example, Massive Engine Destroying Weapons are not very useful when compared with our normal ionic dispersers.

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

As far as I understand, ancient ruins is new and not researcheable technology like Massive shield depleaters and advanced technology is researcheable technology but of higher levels than the game start (sometimes it happened that I colonize a planet with adv.tech and get nothing because I have the technology already researched myself).

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

Most people reckon the special ruins techs (ie all the massive techs) aren't very good but there are a few ppl out there who really like the Neural Net thingummy.

This is unmodded, of course. most mods alter the ruins techs in some way to make them more useful. Proportions even exchanges the ruins techs for ruins tech areas, which give all kinds of goodies, but you have to invest research points as well as just colonising the planet.

As for frequency/ probability, I don't know but I do know it can be modded. Have a look in the game's data files and you'll find it sooner or later.

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ah, but if you find them before anyone else even has a chance to research that far -- aren't they at least cool, if not as useful.

Seriously, I thought the massive engine destoryer, and especially the Massive Shield Depleter were the greatest before I understood the tech tech tree and knew I could get something myself.

A massive shiled depleter on a boarding party destroyer is pretty good the early game. When no one has self destruct, and is only up to shield 2.

Yes, you get to research a shield depleter, and with a carefully assembled fleet of boarders and depleters in the correct number, with careful tactics for fleet and ships, avoiding the enemy that uses self destruct ... bah, I'm talking about have some fun early on.

Leaving space littered with engineless frigates of an enemy that only has a few planets to support maintenance -- and they don't even have repair researched yet -- bwah ha ha ha

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

The probabilities that ruins will be on a planet is located in StellarAbilityTypes.txt. The exact tech you get (according to Abilities.txt) is random.

[ October 03, 2002, 16:31: Message edited by: Slick ]

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Which begs the question about ability #2 or at least the one called: Unique. Is that for the tech that exists outside a tech tree or what?

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

Now I've come upon something new...

"Buried alien cities".

What tech would they normally hold. Ancient tech or advanced tech. Or both?

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That's interesting! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif I just thought there was no tech there!

So, we have an incentive to colonize these planets ASAP. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

The text descriptions on the planets are utterly irrelevant; they have no effect whatsoever on what's found there. The only thing that matters is the presence of the Ruins icon, and the planet appearing on (F4) Planets/Special.

The Ancient Ruins ability gives you one or more normal techs when you colonize the planet; Ancient Ruins Unique gives one of the (normally) unresearchable techs.

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ah...so. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

I felt kinda dumb when I started this thread. But it seems that I am not the only one who has some confusion in this area.

capnq...you mention "Ancient ruins Unique" Is that an icon or just your discription for unresearchable projects? If it is an icon, what does it look like?

[ October 03, 2002, 20:46: Message edited by: tbontob ]

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

It is a different ability in the game, but has the same icon.

The planets are predestined to give you one or the other type of technology when the map is created.

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">If you get the message "We have detected advanced technology present on this planet." then you will get one of the unique unresearchable technologies or nothing if you already have the one assigned to that planet. Originally, there was a "nothing" technology as one of the uniques so you could get nothing even as your first unique tech, but I don't know if this is still the case.

Any other message ("ruins", "devices", "cities", etc.) indicates that you will get one level in up to three researchable techs. These are not fixed ahead of time so you can "save file scum" if you don't get anything useful. The techs that you get are not totally random. There is some logic in picking what you get, but I have no idea what it is.

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

Also, a few mods will change the descriptions so that you cannot tell which are ancient tech ruins, which are normal tech ruins, and which will give you nothing.

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

Assuming we are to get technology, when do we get it? The next turn after colonization?

Is the time we get it, variable? That is maybe 1 turn, maybe 3 turns?

Maybe I should have been paying more attention, but I haven't http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You get it right away. So if you colonize the planet, once you push end turn you will have message in your log at the beginning of next turn saying you have new tech. Then you will see it either in your components list, or the research fields.

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

Ancient Ruins and Ancient Ruins Unique are what the planet's abilities are called in the Map Editor.

The techs appear in the (F10) Log at the same time as the message that you've established the new colony.

[ October 04, 2002, 18:42: Message edited by: capnq ]

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You get it even quicker than that.
In a sequential turn game, you will find that you get a message and can design with the new tech as soon as the colony lands... and before you hit end turn.

The message that you've discovered the tech remains in the log for your next turn as well.

[ October 04, 2002, 19:10: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

thanx guys.

One Last question...I hope http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

What determines the tech found? It would seem that the tech we are currently researching is a factor. Y/N?

Does it depend upon the number of research points? In other words, is there an upper limit in terms of research points that a tech will be given?

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Maybe. Probably.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">There doesn't seem to be since colony techs are popular.

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It may just be coincidence that you got what you were researching. It seems to prefer infrastructure improvements (basic facilty levels and colonization techs). I don't remember getting a weapon. Maybe it will help with basic research (like Military Science).

Upper Limit? I did recieve a 500K point colony tech.

Re: Ancient Ruins & Advanced Technology?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">No, I've gotten high level techs - stellar manipulation V, and all sorts of weapons. I've even gotten racial techs - organic and religious. Which only works if I took that trait. So, AFAIK, it's totally random.

Just remember if you get the message APB 1, that the game might have generated APB 1, APB 2 or APB 20.

It's just a joy when I get 3 techs from a ruin, I wish I could give my scientists a nice pay bonus when that happens. Trying to remember if I gottn more than 3, I think 5 happened a few patches ago, but not lately.