Hi, refueling

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds 1 Series >> The War Room >> Hi, refueling

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Hi, refueling - 12/3/2012 12:52:02 AM

jkile

Posts: 38
Joined: 8/6/2011
Status: offline

I have looked & looked on this forum, read guides, and advise about starting games; BUT I have missed something & I can't figure it out.

I am constantly having problems with getting Fleets to refuel in a timely and efficiant way. What do I need to put on spaceports or gasmines to make them able to distribute quickly, more cargo bays??? more gas extractors??? Is there a threshhold of the number that gets real efficiently??

Now, about ships. How does one increase fuel capacity?? More fuel cells?? Also, about refueling generally; I read about the icon(blue circle w/lines thru it) that suppose to signify refueling ability, But on plants without spaceports, nothing happens. I have had a troop ship fleet sitting at a planet with icon, and it's not refuled after 2-3 years of game time!!!

What gets me is the AI seems very able to attck, go refuel, attack, refuel, attack, etc. while my fleets are refueling the first time. So, I can't move and defend my planets, et all

So, as soon as wars start I get slammed and can't keep up.

Anyways, thanks in advance; if there are threads that explain "how" to do these things, fine.

JMK

< Message edited by jmkile -- 12/3/2012 12:58:14 AM >

Post #: 1

RE: Hi, refueling - 12/3/2012 9:15:16 AM

Bingeling

Posts: 5186
Joined: 8/12/2010
Status: offline

The blue-white circle icon shows spots where you can refuel. Typically your colonies (with fuel in store), and gas mines. However, there may be only a limited amount of fuel, and if your fleet is giant, there is not necessarily enough fuel for all. I think fleets in general avoids refueling at a station/base where there is not enough fuel to refuel all.

For large fleets, in addition to enough fuel, it help to have more docking bays so that more ships can refuel at once. Gas extractors are for getting the fuel from the source (gas planet) and into store, refueling happens from the cargo bay of the station/colony. The only thing docking bays helps with is refueling faster, though, not finding fuel in the first place.

For better fuel capacity (or at least range) you have: More fuel cells. More effective fuel cells (research), more efficient reactors. And probably more efficient engines, hyper drives, and weapons too.

A troop transport sitting outside a colony is probably doing just that. Sitting there. If it has no order it does nothing if not automated, and even if automated I think troop transports are prone to sitting around once full with troops.

I can't say what is the problem in your game, but I can hazard a guess that you either have way too large fleets, too few fuel sources (gas mines on fuel sources), or a mix of both. In war, the AI attacks mines which it seems as more valuable, and which is knows of. Gas mines are typically among the more valuable... Maybe your gas mines have been destroyed by your enemies, and no new ones are built because your constructors died too?

How do I manage fuel?

I refuel by the icon below the selection panel, or by right click "repair and refuel". If they pick a destination far away, I may click on my selected fuel source and choose "refuel" so that they head there, even if fuel is a bit short. If only a few ships are low, it is also possible to give refuel order to just those ships (but make sure you don't interrupt their refuel order by an fleet order before they have refueled).

I usually leave my constructors on auto and let them do their stuff. In addition I have a habit of always manually booking a fuel mine for each new colony. If not in the colony system, so in one nearby. I book the mines by locating the source and selecting it, choosing the button in below the selection panel that says "queue nearby constructor to build gas mine her" or something to that effect.

To prepare for war, I usually build and deploy a resupply ship or three in relevant areas. Relevant areas are in the staging grounds of the fleet (typically near the edge of the empire, not in the fuel rich central parts), and in quiet corners nearby to my targets for the war.

(in reply to jkile)

Post #: 2

RE: Hi, refueling - 12/3/2012 9:28:08 AM

feelotraveller

Posts: 1040
Joined: 9/12/2011
Status: offline

To enable the refueling of more ships at once at spaceports and gasmines you need more docking bays. Adding cargo bays will add storage space for gasmines but remember freighters will collect large amounts sometimes so this does not guarantee that large amounts of fuel will always be available. Extractors enable quicker mining of fuel but there is a hard limit per station of what can be mined; 2 is usually sufficient but you might want 3 very early game if your mining locations are limited or only 1 later game once your tech has progressed. See the tech tree under mining branch for numbers, the cap being 40.

For ships adding more fuel cells increases fuel capacity but so does reseaching better storage techs. Once again have a look at the tech tree for details. Sometime the upgrades expand existing fuel cells and sometimes you will need to refit ships with better components. Also the fuel efficiency of various components (drives and weapons for example) varies but on the whole tends to get better with higher tech.

The blue and white icon denotes places which have reasonable amounts of fuel available for refueling. Sometimes locations can have fuel for refueling without having the icon. If there is not much fuel you may not be able to refuel, specifically when the fuel capacity on your ship is bigger than the remaining supplies at the location, even if the two partial amounts would lead to your ship being fully refueled. (I regard this as a bug and hope that it will be addressed in the upcoming expansion.) Private sector ships do are not effected by this and can drain a supply completely dry.

More directly to your problem - is it the right fuel type which is available? There are two fuels, Caslon and Hydrogen. It could be possible that the type you need is not present, or not in sufficient quantities. Assuming that you have ordered your ship to refuel and it is not doing so check your ship for its fuel type and capacity and then check the colony/base to see how much of that fuel is available. Hopefully you have found your problem.

On the more general level don't try to refuel too many ships or ships with too much fuel capacity all at the one location. Split up your fleets and send them to different places (with sufficient fuel in stock) to refuel. They will return to the fleet leader once they have completed their refueling. Be aware that your private sector also has demands for fuel and will transport fuel away at times. A good thing to do once you have some tech discovered is to put your private and state ships on different fuel types. I usually go for Hydrogen on my military ships and leave the private sector on Caslon, although you could do it the other way around. Also putting energy collectors on your ships will cut down or eliminate their fuel needs while they are stationary. And you also have the option of building Resupply Ships after you have a couple of tech levels. They function as mobile refueling stations although you will need to deploy them to enable mining and refueling opertations. Building gas mines ahead of time in the areas you are going to need them is a good idea.

That said managing fuel is part of the game, as it should be, and you need to stay on top of it.

Hope some of that helps.

(in reply to jkile)

Post #: 3

RE: Hi, refueling - 12/3/2012 11:52:28 AM

Harrs

Posts: 64
Joined: 8/15/2012
Status: offline

See my guide easy ways to allways win..

Double the fuel cells on all ships,

and build big gas mining stations.. With double cargo double docking bays.. and so on..

Then you have a fleet that can travel double as long and the fleet will refuel very fast..

(in reply to feelotraveller)

Post #: 4

RE: Hi, refueling - 12/4/2012 2:37:08 PM

jkile

Posts: 38
Joined: 8/6/2011
Status: offline

Thanks to all who responded!!!

I sort-of thought these were the answers, but just wanted confermation.

I started a new game and things seem better, especially with fuel on ships. I probally need more docking I cargo bays on spaceports, et all, this is better but not where I want it. I am going to keep experimenting.

thanks again & good day,

JMK

(in reply to Harrs)

Post #: 5