Requirements for a base to Refuel

[magogian]

So, for some of my colonies, it appears that my default small starports often can't handle the refueling of my fleets. What components or other factorss determine how well a starports is at refuelling? Is it just the number of docks? Also, will a starport have essentially an unlimited amount of fuel with which to refuel? Or is it limited by something?

Thanks

[Aures]

The better your docking bay tech the quicker things can transfer cargo like fuel. The more docking bays you have the more ships can be docked at once. The amount of fuel a space port has available to refuel is limited by the amount of fuel at the space port that is not already reserved for some other purpose, it is definitely not unlimited.

[magogian]

ORIGINAL: Aures

The better your docking bay tech the quicker things can transfer cargo like fuel. The more docking bays you have the more ships can be docked at once. The amount of fuel a space port has available to refuel is limited by the amount of fuel at the space port that is not already reserved for some other purpose, it is definitely not unlimited.

What determines how much fuel is available?

[forsaken1111]

ORIGINAL: magogian

ORIGINAL: Aures

The better your docking bay tech the quicker things can transfer cargo like fuel. The more docking bays you have the more ships can be docked at once. The amount of fuel a space port has available to refuel is limited by the amount of fuel at the space port that is not already reserved for some other purpose, it is definitely not unlimited.

What determines how much fuel is available?

Fuel is whichever gas your reactors use, so caslon for fission and hydrogen for fusion. More sources of these gasses would give you more total fuel available.

So build more gas mining rigs.

"We require more vespene gas!" /obligatory

[Kadrush]

About refuelling

It is only me or ships can not refuel on undeployed ressuply ships since RoTS?

[Shark7]

I have a refueling base design I use that I set up in gas clouds and gas giants. It is a starbase, rather than a mining station so that it stores more gas fuel in reserve.

Design:

armor, guns and shields to fit the current buildable size.
2 gas extractors
20 cargo pods
8 docking bays
LR scanner
2 construction yards
2 of each industrial plant
command center
commerce center

These work out well for fleet refueling, and my fleets make good use of them. Plus they usually store enough fuel as reserve to fuel an entire fleet.

[dazoline II]

A thing to note is most default starbases only come with about 8 or 10 cargo bays, putting on 10 or so more lessens the issue.

[magogian]

My concern is that my normal small starbases do not seem to be able to handle refueling fleets. 10 docking bays should be sufficient. Does a small starbase have essentially an infinite amount of fuel to use for refueling? Or is that limited somehow?

[Aures]

ORIGINAL: magogian
My concern is that my normal small starbases do not seem to be able to handle refueling fleets. 10 docking bays should be sufficient. Does a small starbase have essentially an infinite amount of fuel to use for refueling? Or is that limited somehow?

I'm sorry magogian, but an "infinite amount of fuel" is not a concept that exists in DW. At any given point in time there is a limited amount of fuel in the galaxy, some of which is is on your ships/bases or being transported to your bases (check the expansion planner). The amount of fuel to use for refueling is always limited. It cannot exceed the amount of fuel present at the base and there is only ever a finite amount of fuel present at any given base. If you open the ship and bases screen, select a base and go to the cargo tab you will see Hydrogen and/or Caslon listed there. The amount of fuel available is the amount of those goods (Hydrogen for reactors that use Hydrogen, Caslon for reactors that use Caslon) that are present and not reserved for some other purpose (check the reserved column eg if you are building a ship at the base and come of the components use Caslon then some amount will be reserved for construction and is not available for refueling). Otherwise there is no limit to how much of the available fuel can be used for refueling, though the rate ships are refueled at will depend on your docking bay tech and the number of docking bays present.

If that does not answer your question I'm afraid you will have to rephrase it as I do not know what you are trying to ask. If you are experiencing a problem trying to get your fleets to refuel at certain bases it sounds like there might not be enough fuel present to meet your needs.

[magogian]

ORIGINAL: Aures

ORIGINAL: magogian
My concern is that my normal small starbases do not seem to be able to handle refueling fleets. 10 docking bays should be sufficient. Does a small starbase have essentially an infinite amount of fuel to use for refueling? Or is that limited somehow?

I'm sorry magogian, but an "infinite amount of fuel" is not a concept that exists in DW. At any given point in time there is a limited amount of fuel in the galaxy, some of which is is on your ships/bases or being transported to your bases (check the expansion planner). The amount of fuel to use for refueling is always limited. It cannot exceed the amount of fuel present at the base and there is only ever a finite amount of fuel present at any given base. If you open the ship and bases screen, select a base and go to the cargo tab you will see Hydrogen and/or Caslon listed there. The amount of fuel available is the amount of those goods (Hydrogen for reactors that use Hydrogen, Caslon for reactors that use Caslon) that are present and not reserved for some other purpose (check the reserved column eg if you are building a ship at the base and come of the components use Caslon then some amount will be reserved for construction and is not available for refueling). Otherwise there is no limit to how much of the available fuel can be used for refueling, though the rate ships are refueled at will depend on your docking bay tech and the number of docking bays present.

If that does not answer your question I'm afraid you will have to rephrase it as I do not know what you are trying to ask. If you are experiencing a problem trying to get your fleets to refuel at certain bases it sounds like there might not be enough fuel present to meet your needs.

Ah, ok. So the fuel amounts in a base are listed as cargo. I didn't get that before. Does the fuel at a starbase have to be brought in from a gas mining operation?

[Aures]

Exactly magogian, fuel gets mined at gas giants/gas clouds and is then transported to other bases. I love the resource physicality in this game.

[forsaken1111]

ORIGINAL: magogian
Ah, ok. So the fuel amounts in a base are listed as cargo. I didn't get that before. Does the fuel at a starbase have to be brought in from a gas mining operation?

Yep, fuel IS the gas. Ships with a fission reactor use Caslon gas, and ships with a fusion reactor use Hydrogen gas. The gas literally is the fuel for the ship, so it must be extracted and transported to the starbase (by your oh-so-helpful civilian sector!) to be used.

This is why I ensure I have 10 or so sources of whatever gas I am using as fuel, and why I am often reluctant to 'upgrade' to fusion reactors right away because my bases generally don't have a big stock of hydrogen since it isn't in demand. If you switch to fusion reactors and only have 2-3 sources for hydrogen, you will face a fuel crisis sooner than you think.

Don't fret though, those industrious civilian gas miners will get you enough. This is one of the major reasons I LOVE the inclusion of the civilian sector in the game. Once I was entirely out of polymer due to rampant AI construction which I didn't curtail in time, and had not yet found a source (very early game). Once I had found a source, I didn't even have enough polymer for a colony ship or mining base. The stuff is used in everything! Anyway, the civilian sector rallied to the need with dozens of mining ships breaking off and heading out to the newly discovered planet, gathering the polymer and bringing it back. In time I completed the mining base and a steady stream of freighters provided me with the means to continue.

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: magogian

My concern is that my normal small starbases do not seem to be able to handle refueling fleets. 10 docking bays should be sufficient. Does a small starbase have essentially an infinite amount of fuel to use for refueling? Or is that limited somehow?

the only way to get a starbase to refuel (other than waiting for a transport to bring the fuel to it) is to build the one I mentioned above over a gas giant or a gas cloud...so it can mine its own gas supply.

[forsaken1111]

ORIGINAL: Shark7

ORIGINAL: magogian

My concern is that my normal small starbases do not seem to be able to handle refueling fleets. 10 docking bays should be sufficient. Does a small starbase have essentially an infinite amount of fuel to use for refueling? Or is that limited somehow?

the only way to get a starbase to refuel (other than waiting for a transport to bring the fuel to it) is to build the one I mentioned above over a gas giant or a gas cloud...so it can mine its own gas supply.

The civilians WILL bring fuel to a starbase eventually if it is low. It just takes a while, and will probably never be frequent enough to keep it fueled.

[elmo3]

My ships are refueling at a colony with no starbase.  Is that how it's supposed to work?

[forsaken1111]

ORIGINAL: elmo3

My ships are refueling at a colony with no starbase.  Is that how it's supposed to work?

They can, yes. You don't need a starbase to refuel, they can get the fuel from the colony directly. Its a bit slower because only 2 ships can dock to a colony at a time iirc