Matrix Games Forums

Have played this a ton since getting it yesterday, really enjoying it. I have a bunch of questions though I'm wondering if people can help with. Here's what I've compiled so far:

some questions:

What is the relationship between troops and troop modules on troop carriers. Is it 1 to 1?

# of docking bays == # of ships that can dock simultaneously regardless of size?

on miners, is there a benefit to adding more mining components? Is there a point where it no longer helps?

What about passenger liners. How many passenger modules should they have?

Ship crews don’t gain experience right, only captains? Would be cool if they did.

Why do fleets set to a range of system sometimes launch way outside the system?

Your military rating seems to directly relate to ‘firepower’. Since Fighters don’t reflect firepower (or assault pods) does this make you look unrealistically weak to enemies? Would be nice if the rating included these so I can better compare my strength to others.

If a carrier has only fighters and no weapons and is set to stand off, what does it do?

Is there a way to see weapon range on the game screen? Hard to tell how far ships can actually shoot.

How important is it to micromanage fighters? I have researched torpedo bombers and interceptors at 2+ levels. Will the carriers automatically build a mix? When I go to ‘upgrade’ the fighters they always seem to be the latest versions.

I had an AI race invade one of my planets without declaring war or damaging our relations (which were good between myself and them). I had to declare on them hurting my reputation. Is this a bug?

Is there ever any benefit for going for many small ships over fewer large ones?

If I have multiple build operations going on competing for resources is there a way to prioritize them (for example so that mining bases of a needed resource get the needed construction resources first)

re: troops, I believe infantry units are size 100 and armored units are size 200. I'm unsure about special troops and planetary defense troops, but I assume the same as infantry. The capacity of a troop module is listed on the component. I believe the normal one starts at 100 in size, and the massive one starts at 200. I.e. you would need two normal troop modules to fit an armored unit in a ship, or a single massive one.

re: docking bays, yes.

re: miners, yes, more mining modules make them mine faster. I generally let them be as they are or, at most, put one additional mining unit on them along with another cargo bay.

re: passenger liners, I usually just go with 5 or so.

re: ship crews, they don't really 'exist', so no xp gain.

re: fleets, I'm not sure. Sometimes individual ships will try to escape from a more powerful enemy though(or when shields reach a critical level), which could cause them to jump out of system.

re: firepower, that goes both ways. The enemy could have carriers too.

re: small vs large ships, the only conceivable advantage is being able to be at more places at the same time. Larger is usually preferred though.

re: prioritizing, no, this is not possible. I believe it's first come first served.

Glad to hear you like the game a lot

re: leaving system, it could be the fleet in question was given orders to attack a target in system and pursued it out of system when it fled. They may also be going to refuel if fuel levels in system dropped too low to refuel the fleet.

re: carriers not sure, but at a minimum you'd want some kind of point defense and perhaps some short range beam weapons. Fighters can leave a carrier way behind in a running battle and an unarmed carrier would be a sitting duck.

re: range, no way I know to see it, but you'll learn to judge it soon enough after playing the game for a while.

re: micro-managing fighters, they are set to automatically upgrade by default, so no need to worry about it unless you turn off that setting yourself.

re: invasion, was the race a pirate race? If so it was probably a raid and not an invasion. But no matter what two races cannot exist on one planet so even if neutral your troops will destroy enemy troops. No need to go to war first.

re: small ships, they are generally much faster than heavy ships, so are very good at engaging creatures and staying out of harms way. Also a swarm of small ships vs. large heavy damage beam weapons mitigates all the damage the large weapons can do as only one ship gets shot by the weapon at a time. But of course area weapons can ruin a swarm of small ships day, so it is all on a case by case basis and you need to study your enemy and design a fleet to best combat his strengths and take advantage of his weaknesses.

Jim

small fights are possible in this game without declaring war.

When an enemy fleet is blockading one of your mining stations or planets (trade sanctions), you could just destroy them and hope this doesn't lead to war.

When I want to conquer specific planets of an opponent, I move troop transports nears these systems, and send them to attack planets all at once, without declaring war.

When the other Empire gets pissed and declares war, your defence alliance kicks in and you have some friends on your side. [:D]
Another time Ive invaded 3 planets of the Sluken and they didn't even declare war after that.
For them this is just nice chatting, it seems.

Just like in Crimea... [;)]