AI's Warp Bubble Ship Designs

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds 1 Series >> Tech Support >> AI's Warp Bubble Ship Designs

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AI's Warp Bubble Ship Designs - 6/16/2013 1:29:17 PM

Fenrisfil

Posts: 216
Joined: 6/2/2013
Status: offline

Not really a bug, more an oversight. I've noticed the AI designs it's first warp bubble explorers. Usually I see it using just a single space reactor. To get the maximum (and still very low) speed out of the drive you actually need four. Three space reactors bring it almost up to maximum speed and is easy to put on to an exploration ship, but the AI doesn't seem to care and happily creates exploration ships that often can't even make the next nearest system.

I know this is a short period of the game as the AI always researches the next level warp drive right after the warp bubble, but it is a significant period as it is the AI's chance to actually do some exploring

The odd thing is with later warp drives the AI does seem to make sure there are enough reactors to power them, but not with the bubble.

Post #: 1

RE: AI's Warp Bubble Ship Designs - 6/16/2013 3:51:14 PM

necaradan666

Posts: 256
Joined: 5/28/2012
Status: offline

Wouldn't more reactors just give them more speed, rather than more distance?

As soon as you upgrade to a gerax hyperdrive from a warp bubble your range increases massively. Then you upgrade your fuel cells for more range.

Even ultra-dense fuel cells get you almost nowhere if you only have a warp bubble.

Just checked and in fact the extra weight of a couple reactors reduces a ships range.

Personally I just retire any explorers as soon as they have scanned the home system for resources, and I don't build more until I have a proper hyperdrive and a standard fuel cell.

For the most part of the early game stealing a pirates galaxy map makes explorers mostly useless apart from looking for abandoned ships and bases in already identified systems.

< Message edited by necaradan666 -- 6/16/2013 4:38:48 PM >

(in reply to Fenrisfil)

Post #: 2

RE: AI's Warp Bubble Ship Designs - 6/16/2013 5:57:02 PM

Fenrisfil

Posts: 216
Joined: 6/2/2013
Status: offline

Okay, good point about the range. I muddled things up a bit as I was also adding extra fuel tanks to custom explorers when I decided to interfere with what the AI was doing. Still though if the AI added a couple of extra reactors AND the extra fuel it could actually explore more systems before it's developed a full warp drive.

Bear in mind here that I am really only concerned with what the other races are doing at pre-warp. I would assume a human player would either design his own explorers or follow your example and scrap them until they have a proper warp drive (while buying system charts off pirates on the cheap).

I've been testing what the AI's decisions are in pre-warp recently and it's been interesting. For example the AI always goes for Colonisation early but neglects to research construction until much later and as a result designs itself a colony ship it can't build, thereby wasting it's speedy research in that field.

UPDATE: Okay, so messing about with an explorer design, according to it's stats: 1 Space Reactor = 0.41 Sectors range, 2 Space Reactors = 0.46, 3 = 0.47, 4= 0.47. So there isn't a lot in it between 2 and 3 and four is just a waste. However it does seem that you do go both faster AND further according to the stats I'm seeing anyway. I don't know why you had a different result adding a reactor.

< Message edited by Fenrisfil -- 6/17/2013 12:55:29 AM >

(in reply to necaradan666)

Post #: 3

RE: AI's Warp Bubble Ship Designs - 6/17/2013 1:57:28 AM

Erik Rutins

Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000
From: Vermont, USA
Status: offline

The automatic design priority is to fit the design within the maximum buildable size. Were the explorers below the maximum buildable size or close to it? The AI would remove reactors to make sure it could build a warp-capable ship if possible.

Regards,

- Erik

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Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC