Freighters!

[Shark7]

Test:

Default vs Modded:

The modifications are as follows:

Small freighter: 1 cargo bay, 4 engines
Medium Freighter: 2 cargo bays, 5 engines
Large freighter: 3 cargo bays, 6 engines
Gas mining stations: 2 gas extractor, 3 luxury extractor, 20 cargo bay, 12 docks
Mining stations: 3 mining engine, 3 luxury extractor, 20 cargo bay, 12 docks
Gas Mining Ship: 2 gas extractor, 2 luxury, 4 cargo bay
Mining Ship: 2 mining engine, 2 luxury, 4 cargo bay

I would be willing to zip my templates up and attach them to this thread, IF I can get it to work, which hasn't happened lately.

They are quite simple designs, and could just be copy pasted into every design template folder (I've already done this to study the effects on the AI as best I can).

[Bebop Cola]

Do the design template files get re-loaded on game start or savegame re-load, or do we need to start a new game for the template changes to be seen in-game?

Edit: Obviously, I'm referring mostly to AI ship designs.

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: Bebop Cola

Do the design template files get re-loaded on game start or savegame re-load, or do we need to start a new game for the template changes to be seen in-game?

Edit: Obviously, I'm referring mostly to AI ship designs.

From what I can tell, no. You'd have to start a new game for the templates to go into effect.

[twinkypillow]

well finally got my freighters to do this atleast...

i noticed with my current designs of the freighters:

small - grab 500/1000 of resources.

medium - grab 1000/2000

large - grab 2000/3000


so you have to put enough cargo bays for that.. thats what mine seem to be doing..

[twinkypillow]

here is the real photo..

NOW, all my freighters are not doing this.. i just noticed some.. of course.. i still find large freighters taking 500.. etc..

[Shark7]

Well having played games with default designs and modded designs, I have come to a conclusion.

Freighters aren't the biggest problem, but having mining stations that are not designed optimally are.

Although I have found I do like the smaller faster freighters for the simple reason that they end up moving cargo more efficiently time-wise.

Overall, I think it best that you get the most efficient mining station designs.

Gas Mining Station suggestions:

3 luxury mining engine
2 Gas extractor
20 (minimum) cargo bays
12 docking components

Mining Station suggestions:

3 Luxury mining engine
3 Mining engine
20 (minimum) cargo bays
12 docking component

Using those designs I have seen far, far less resource shortages. The freighters didn't seem to matter as much, but the smaller ones did move the resources around faster due to the speed of the ships. I think on freighters it is more important to get full hyperspace speed out of them than to worry about max cargo capacity.

At any rate, I am happy with the set up I am currently using, and plan to leave it be.

[aaatoysandmore]

ORIGINAL: pumkinfacer22

i have yet to figure out freighter algorithms .. and the developer hasn't even figured it out either..

so when my pirate homebase spaceport was abandoned and i built a new home base space port in another system, all my 60 freighters barely moved to fill up my other new "home" base space port..

i think they just started to now though..


so, how does one transfer the original old large space port supplies to a new system? i abandoned the old large space port becuase it got over-run with enemies etc.. so now i have to start fresh with a new large space port on a gas planet and waiting for my 60+ freighters to fill it.. but alas.. they sit around the original large abandoned space port with 100,000 of caslon and silicon..etc.. ah the joy..

There's a distance limit between spaceports I believe you have to stay within to get them to transport goods from one to another. I forget the distance but I think it's like 700 something. If you're over that limit then the supplies in that one port will usually remain there. If you are within the limit they they should transfer.

[Deomrve]

Shark I'm curious, why do you put Luxury mining engines on Gas Mining Stations? I don't recall any Luxury Resources on Gas Planets. I could be wrong and would like to know what Luxury Resources there are on Gas Planets.

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: Deomrve

Shark I'm curious, why do you put Luxury mining engines on Gas Mining Stations? I don't recall any Luxury Resources on Gas Planets. I could be wrong and would like to know what Luxury Resources there are on Gas Planets.

The resources on ice planets are luxury and gas, so you need both to extract them. If you look at the default designs, you will notice that both types of mines have luxury extractors on them.

[tmski]

ORIGINAL: Shark7

Pretty sure we have no control over whether or not a mining station will mine.

There is a trick (which I am not a fan of) to use military ships with cargo bays and mining engines to give you control over mining (you can order the ship to mine a planet). As I said, it works, I have done it myself, but it is a monster of micro-management, and not really keeping in the spirit of the game (just IMO).

Once I get done modding my ship templates and seeing how the AI handles having more efficient mining stations (more cargo bays and 3 x luxury with 3 x mining or 2 x gas extractor) and smaller cargo ships, I'll report some findings. Bear in mind, I do not work quickly, so it could be quite some time before I get there.

I am very curious as to how the trick actually works.
Which military ship do you use?
How do you order ship to mine resources on planet?
How do you order the ship to unload cargo at planet or space station?

Thanks

[Bebop Cola]

ORIGINAL: Shark7

Well having played games with default designs and modded designs, I have come to a conclusion.

Freighters aren't the biggest problem, but having mining stations that are not designed optimally are.

Although I have found I do like the smaller faster freighters for the simple reason that they end up moving cargo more efficiently time-wise.

Overall, I think it best that you get the most efficient mining station designs.

Gas Mining Station suggestions:

3 luxury mining engine
2 Gas extractor
20 (minimum) cargo bays
12 docking components

Mining Station suggestions:

3 Luxury mining engine
3 Mining engine
20 (minimum) cargo bays
12 docking component

Using those designs I have seen far, far less resource shortages. The freighters didn't seem to matter as much, but the smaller ones did move the resources around faster due to the speed of the ships. I think on freighters it is more important to get full hyperspace speed out of them than to worry about max cargo capacity.

At any rate, I am happy with the set up I am currently using, and plan to leave it be.

I've been using some similar designs in my most recent game.

One of the biggest issues I think this rectifies, at least in my experience, has been AI fleet refueling. It was fairly common for me to see larger AI fleets tied up trying to refuel at a gas cloud with a single gas mine that had too few docking components. It seemed like it took so long for each ship to get a turn that the entire fleet was re-queued for refueling. More docking bays on AI gas mines seems especially important for that alone.

[Sirian]

I am very curious as to how the trick actually works.

You can use any military ship type. I usually use destroyers, as I only use state controlled mining ships early in the game and I do not have destroyers then. Put mining engines (gas or normal) and cargo bays (I usually use 1 for mineral miners and 2-4 for gas miners) on it and build the ship. When its finished select it. If you mouse over a planet the cursor will change to the mining symbol. Right click and wait. The ship will travel to the planet and mine it until its cargo bays are full, which can take a while. Then it will go to a spaceport and unload after which it will ask for a new mission if you have that feature enabled. You can manually assign a new mining mission to it then.

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: Sirian

I am very curious as to how the trick actually works.

You can use any military ship type. I usually use destroyers, as I only use state controlled mining ships early in the game and I do not have destroyers then. Put mining engines (gas or normal) and cargo bays (I usually use 1 for mineral miners and 2-4 for gas miners) on it and build the ship. When its finished select it. If you mouse over a planet the cursor will change to the mining symbol. Right click and wait. The ship will travel to the planet and mine it until its cargo bays are full, which can take a while. Then it will go to a spaceport and unload after which it will ask for a new mission if you have that feature enabled. You can manually assign a new mining mission to it then.

I just personally find this system to be too micromanagement intensive to be worth it.

[Sirian]

ORIGINAL: Shark7
I just personally find this system to be too micromanagement intensive to be worth it.

I agree. I use 2 of these ships early in the game when I do not have minig bases for every resource I need. Usually I run out of krypton or silicon in that time. When everything is set up, the get refitted to military destroyers.