Help needed on various topics (Full Version)

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pcoud -> Help needed on various topics (9/7/2011 10:09:21 PM)

Still a beginner on this ( excellent ) game, and of course still having a lot of questions I would very much appreciate answers on:

1) I have discovered a Loros fruit source in my current game and have been mining it for quite some time (I have actually colonized the planet where the Loros fruit is). The source is far away from my main colony. After a while, some Loros fruit arrived at my main colony and I could enjoy the spectacular effect on my economy. But the stock was soon depleted, and there never was any other shipment of the Loros fruit from the source to any of my other colonies. So I now have a stock of 20K Loros at the source that is never shipped anywhere. Is there any way to influence this in the game? I can see freighters carrying steel or whatever at the other end of the galaxy but they never come to pick some Loros fruit to feed some other colonies of mine. ( I actually also own sources of Korrabian spice and Zentabia fluid, and couldn't even see the effects of them, for the same reason: they never moved from where they are mined).

2) A question closely related to the previous one: it has taken forever to build a medium space port at a colony a bit far away from my main colony. I understand that it is because the needed resources were missing. But again, why is it that I can see my freighters carrying all sort of goods to my trade partners and not providing my own colony with some much needed steel, gold, etc. to complete its space port construction? Is there any way to influence this? Is there some sort of priorities ingame? I mean: does the private sector first considers serving trade partners requests before your own needs? Maybe am I trying to build space ports too far away one from another (I still don't have a clue how I should manage space ports)?

3) I am having difficulties with military ships stances, especially in fleets. When I change the stance of the whole fleet, it does not work. If I individually check the stance of each of the fleet's ships, they have not taken the stance I ordered to the fleet. Is that known / normal? Am I missing something?

4) Is there any way to order an "engage system targets" stance to a fleet / ship, but NOT to chase any escaping target? Very often I'd like to station a strike force to protect a system, engage any ennemy within this system but not chase ennemies outside of the system ( I sometimes find fleets at very unexpected places in the open space, I guess it is because they chased fleeing targets).

5) Same for the patrol order, I don't understand how to use it properly. I order a ship to patrol a planet, but the order apparently does not last very long and I am very soon told that the ship has completed its mission. Is it because it needs refueling? Why doesn't it patrol until the order is cancelled?

6) Related to above: can a ship patrolling a planet rely on its energy collector alone and not consume any fuel?

7) From my observations it seems that if my private sector sells steel for example to another empire, one of my freighter will have to carry the goods to the buying empire ( you sell and you deliver ). It is NOT the buying empire that will send a freighter to pick up the goods. You can then see your freighter in the ships and bases screen, with its steel cargo, and the flag of the buying empire.
Are these observations correct?

Many thanks!








Spacecadet -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/7/2011 11:49:13 PM)

#1 - Do you have a Spaceport at the Loros planet?
I sometimes that planets without Spaceports don't transfer that many goods.

#2 - Couple of things here.
Depending on planet size/population/tech, you can only build so fast. Look at the Construction yard speed for the planet, most likely it's pretty lower (lower than you home planet) - that's one strike.
Personally, I build a small Spaceport first. For one it takes less time to build and you can start transferring supplies more quickly.
Another thing is that it cost less to maintain, and when you really do need the extra size/capacity you just retrofit it to the size you want and it'll stay in service the whole time it's upgrading.

#3 - Might be a fueling issue as they'll automatically run off to refuel when they reach a certain level.
They may also be jumping off to protect things in your System or engage targets if you're in another System.
If you are manually controlling the Fleet, make sure you go into the "Ship" menu and look at the ships that are in that Fleet - make sure they're not Automated (Blue Circle Arrow).

#4 - Currently I think you're going to be chasing ships leaving your System. This may be getting addressed soon in the Expansion or a Patch.

#5 - Basically the same as #4 I believe.

#6 - Collectors only work when you're not moving.

#7 - I've never really tracked this down, I usually have too many other things to take care of :)





Shark7 -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/8/2011 2:07:38 AM)

7. When you inspect a ship or stations cargo hold, the amount of stuff sold to another empire will appear as a separate entry with the flag of the buyer next to it IIRC.



MaxyGamer -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/8/2011 8:27:08 AM)

3, 4, 5: All these ships' missions such as patrolling, stance, etc. issues I am sure will be address soon enough. At the moments, utilizing some of those game elements are somewhat frustrating. Ships leaving systems chasing some silly pirate escort ship leaving the colony undefended. The worst part is they don't come back. Just sit and wait there dead in space, in the middle of nowhere. As mentioned above, patrol missions ending prematurely, circling/patrolling ports and mines and then just stopping.

I control everything manually. I don't leave anything on auto. So having to micromanage my fleets when those refuse to do what they are supposed to is indeed quite annoying. Especially, since military ships play such an important role. So just be patient with it. So far, the developers have been quite active with patching up the game by reading the fans' wishes, cries, pleas, demands, etc. I am sure these ship missions will be properly addressed.

Number 7 though, ...most of the time, the player's freighters will get the goods ordered/preordered by other empires to their respective destinations. However, if I recall correctly, at certain times, I have seen freighters of foreign empires picking up their own goods. Empires that I have major trade with usually have a greater number of my freighters moving things around. Lazy bast*&ds. The best way to learn more about the trade is just allocate some of your precious time and just watch the traffic between own and foreign space ports, mines, check cargo bays (flags and produce). Great way to really understand how the economy operates.



Shark7 -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/8/2011 2:09:50 PM)

It works like a real economy. Sometimes the buyer is responsible for shipping costs, and sometimes its shipped at the cost of the seller. Newegg is a great example of this...free shipping on some items, you pay for shipping on others.



pcoud -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/8/2011 4:37:21 PM)

Thanks a lot to you all, that really helps.

@Spacecadet: no, I don't have a spaceport at the Loros planet, that's precisely where I am building one that takes forever [:)]. You are right, I checked the building speed, it is pretty low, but most importantly I have 0 silicon at this planet and that is why the space port construction is stopped (a bit frustrating). And yes, I made a mistake and built a medium space port (next time I'll start with a small one). And I realize also now that I probably made another huge mistake: I never even thought of upgrading any freighter design so far, and that's also maybe a reason why my transports ( and my whole trade ) are not very efficient ...

@ Maxigamer:
quote:

The best way to learn more about the trade is just allocate some of your precious time and just watch the traffic between own and foreign space ports, mines, check cargo bays (flags and produce). Great way to really understand how the economy operates.


This is exactly what I am doing [;)], but I have never seen so far freighters of foreign empires picking up their own goods, so good to know.


Thx again.



Data -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/8/2011 6:26:49 PM)

quote:

built a medium space port (next time I'll start with a small one).


That's a good practice but 0 silicon (or any other needed resource) will affect any construction project no matter how small. Since we can't control freighter routes (and using the editor to correct this is no fun) consider building a spaceport to another colony as near as possible to this one....this should improve the traffic in that particular area and maybe benefit this one as well. Loros really does deserve any effort [:)]



pcoud -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/8/2011 8:01:55 PM)

Will do, Data. Thx!



ehsumrell1 -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/9/2011 8:37:26 AM)

I agree with Data about building a spaceport in a system nearby the Loros
Planet system. Could be that the freighters are not going to the Loros
planet due to fuel range constrictions. [:)]



pcoud -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/9/2011 3:15:13 PM)

Well, I can see that my freighters are going much further away than where the Loros is, to perform trade to very distant partners ... I have continued my game in the meantime, I now have a space port where the Loros is mined, another midway between the Loros planet and my main colony, and still absolutely nothing happens. I am a bit frustrated as I have big stocks of the 3 very rare resources, and can't get any benefit from them ... There must be a reason though, and I am probably overlooking something but I don't see what [&:]



Spacecadet -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/9/2011 3:48:33 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: pcoud

Well, I can see that my freighters are going much further away than where the Loros is, to perform trade to very distant partners ... I have continued my game in the meantime, I now have a space port where the Loros is mined, another midway between the Loros planet and my main colony, and still absolutely nothing happens. I am a bit frustrated as I have big stocks of the 3 very rare resources, and can't get any benefit from them ... There must be a reason though, and I am probably overlooking something but I don't see what [&:]


Do you have a backlog in your shipbuilding?
Once you start getting a few Spaceports, your Civilian sector will start building ships like crazy - this will plug up your construction yards for quite some time.

If you have materials shortages (sounds like you do with Silicon), the Freighter routes are probably going to be concentrating on those.
If you don't have enough resources to build the ships, the Civilian sector will want to build more ships to get the supplies . . . you kind of get into a feedback loop for a while until things can sort themselves out.








Gargoil -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/9/2011 8:06:19 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Spacecadet


quote:

ORIGINAL: pcoud

Well, I can see that my freighters are going much further away than where the Loros is, to perform trade to very distant partners ... I have continued my game in the meantime, I now have a space port where the Loros is mined, another midway between the Loros planet and my main colony, and still absolutely nothing happens. I am a bit frustrated as I have big stocks of the 3 very rare resources, and can't get any benefit from them ... There must be a reason though, and I am probably overlooking something but I don't see what [&:]


Do you have a backlog in your shipbuilding?
Once you start getting a few Spaceports, your Civilian sector will start building ships like crazy - this will plug up your construction yards for quite some time.

If you have materials shortages (sounds like you do with Silicon), the Freighter routes are probably going to be concentrating on those.
If you don't have enough resources to build the ships, the Civilian sector will want to build more ships to get the supplies . . . you kind of get into a feedback loop for a while until things can sort themselves out.


This is a great game - with so much depth. But with the blessing comes the bain. One thing can lead to another, and sometimes you cannot see it coming, or even figure out what is causing a particular problem. It is part of the game. But it has lead to me quiting games (even ones that I still was the strongest empire, even with whatever problem there was). I am not a "win/loss" type. I like problem solving. If I cannot figure out what and why something isn't working, then the game becomes boring.



pcoud -> RE: Help needed on various topics (9/10/2011 3:13:03 PM)

@Spacecadet: thx for your answer. I have already experienced the feedback loop you mention, but now, no, I don't have any backlog in my ship building. You might however be right, it might very well be a resource issue. I am at war since some time now, and as I am very bad on the military side of things ( never ever played a 4X game before, and still uncomfortable on how to efficiently protect and attack ), a lot of my mines got destroyed and I am now short on a lot of resources: I don't even have the 10 luxury at each of my spaceports and even fuel is missing now... So, maybe all my private sector is busy trying to fulfill these needs first.

@Gargoil: yes you are right. I love when the AI is giving me a hard time as long as I can understand in the end what I did wrong. But being a big fan of paradox games since maybe 15 years now, I have been used to NOT understand everything in these complex games. As I am still a beginner on Distant Worlds, I am asking in this forum ( and thanks for all the replies ) because I still just don't know if I am missing obvious things or if I am just facing some unclear things, or even some bugs.



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