Random Questions

[Randallw]

Ok, now I can't actually see what the problem is, so admittedly I'm just leaping on the question

Why do people have assumptions of meaning other than what was said in normal conversation?

Without going into great, great detail (well greater ), I believe it is because people approach problems from different directions and despite their best efforts they do not have access to the motivation or information behind a statement and so they can make assumptions which may make sense from the statement they reply to, however the person who wrote the original may have meant something else, but no person can consider every possible interpretation of something so they fail to realise how what they said may appear.

I know I have in the past come away from something with the wrong message, and to my shame responded wrongly. With improved communication the basis of things can become clear and common agreement can develop.

One recent incident I can use as an example, and I choose this one mostly because it's the most recent I can recall, was that someone told me my roleplaying was a failure because my empire was on the verge of being defeated. I attempted to explain to this other player that on the contrary my roleplaying had been going great, but there is a difference between staying in character and winning the game. I believe he missed the point for he pointed out how my previous success was only due to such things as my neighbour quiting, thus basically giving me free colonies. So my point is, we have a conversation but I hope it is clear that we are approaching it from opposite directions. My argument was based on the fact that I am trying to have a fun game, playing the game as the race I chose would be in real life, whereas it appears to me that he can only see the problem in the form of "does my approach have a chance of emerging victorious?".

Please excuse me if I have myself missed the point and gone off on a diverging tagent. I just hope I can show how two people can disagree because they are in fact having two different conversations.

For the record, and I do hope this is apparent, I try to come across as eloquent because knowing that people can get the wrong idea I try to phrase my comments as accurately as the limitations of english, and my own ability, allow.

or it could be my OCD

[Fyron]

Sardia said:
How do mines work in tactical combat?

They don't. Mines are encountered before combat. The total minesweeping ability of your fleet or ship is used to destroy 1 mine per ability point. Next, if there are any mines remaining, a detonation loop occurs. If there is a surviving ship, one mine detonates and damages a random ship, continue the loop. If there is no surviving ship, the loop breaks. After the detonation loop, if there are still any surviving ships, combat occurs.

Edit:
Btw, this thread is starting to grow unwieldy. Its better to make new threads for new questions. Better search results down the road, easier to track discussions, etc.

[Captain Kwok]

In addition to Fryon's answer, mines are also launched in tactical combat if they are in cargo. In stock they are not visible on the combat map, but can cause damage. In the Balance Mod they are visible and can damage ships in combat, but they can also be targeted by point-defense.

[Fyron]

How do mines cause damage in combat? Do ships run into them? Or do they "fire" their weapons?

[Captain Kwok]

They can be hit by ships.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Well, there's a few things I didn't know. Thanks, Capnq and Randallw

(And some things I did )

[Sardia]

Captain Kwok said:
They can be hit by ships.

How far do I have to stay away from them? Will point defense cannons be sufficient or do I need to flak cannon range?

[Randallw]

My most recent experience was with BM14b. An enemy fleet made it through a minefield (using the "soak up damage with plenty of armour" tactic). this left my minelayer fleeing while dropping one or two mines every once and a while. The enemy followed destroying the mines with PD. DUC fire too perhaps. Think of them as helpless units that just sit there. I've done tests where the enemy doesn't have weapons capable of targeting them. It'll chase after the minelayer, directly through mines. If they practically touch they'll go off. Anything further than basically on top of them and they don't do anything.

I'll also mention the mines in the B5W test can use weapons it seems, but we haven't gotten far enoguh for me to test them yet.

[Sardia]

Is there anyway to deal with a large number of mines piecemeal? I have a 160 mines and my minesweeper only sweeps for 60. Do I really have to wait for 3 mine sweepers just to deal with them?

[Fyron]

You want to wait until you get enough sweepers together. Entering a minefield with fewer sweepers will result in the remaining mines blowing your fleet up.