[PvK]

I'm keeping that in mind. However, even if you put two solar collectors on a drone, using 40 kT, that only covers the supply use from the per-turn expense - they'll still tend to burn their supplies up when they move or, if they have weapons, fight, or if they have to go in a system without a star. Even if this seems like a problem to some players, I don't think the answer would be to remove the move-to order option. I mean, as they are, drones can still be accumulated in thousands and given solar collectors. The lack of a move-to seems mostly like a separate issue, to me anyway. It seems like if you don't want to have long-lived solar collector drones, then mod a drone Version of solar collectors or something, or ask that to be changed in the standard set.

PvK

P.S.
Furthermore, no other units die when they run out of supplies, and only fighters even track supplies, and they can refuel at depots, while drones can't (I assume). Having a thousand move-to solar collector drones may be a nice no-maintenance asset and an interesting alternative to thousand escorts (which I can hardly imagine anyone building in the unmodded game set, anyway). However, the resource cost to build them doesn't seem like it would necessarily be better spent than on ships, or weapon platforms, or whatever. In fact, I'd be really surprised if it were not quite inefficient by comparison, except for its particular strengths. Most of the expense would be going into engines and other no-real-gain components, compared to a butch Gold-mount weapon platform, warship, etc.

PvK

[ 13 February 2002: Message edited by: PvK ]