Should we build a component guide?

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Should we build a component guide?

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds 1 Series >> The War Room >> Should we build a component guide?

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Should we build a component guide? - 12/21/2013 4:42:06 AM

Spidey

Posts: 411
Joined: 12/8/2013
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I haven't seen a good guide for ship components just yet, but given the ramifications of ship design, it seems reasonable enough that there should be one. I'm very new to the game and as such not quite qualified to write such a guide just yet, but I'm hoping more experienced people will join in with their thoughts, ideas, experiences, and assorted anecdotes.

What I'm looking for is both the basics of what does and doesn't stack and I suppose a bonus would be hints and tips on how many to stack on ships before the marginal utility value becomes insignificant. I'll try to keep this first post updated with a condensed list of information, since I envision being around for a while, but I encourage anyone with the required experience to simply post a full guide on the topic.

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RE: Should we build a component guide? - 12/21/2013 4:42:22 AM

Spidey

Posts: 411
Joined: 12/8/2013
Status: offline

This is tentative, not tested, and mostly based on galactopedia information and personal speculation, but I'll wager some guesses, just to provide a starting point. Think of it as my personal notes.

Doesn't stack: Combat targetting modules, command centers, commerce centers, countermeasures, damage control components, proximity arrays, long range scanners, resource profile sensors, medical centers, recreation centers, and stealth gear.

Does stack: Weapons, armor, assault pods, all the storage modules (cargo bay, fighter bay, docking bay, fuel cells, and so forth), reactors, energy collectors, regular engines, vectoring engines, life support systems, labs, shields, and tractor beams.

Regarding the rest...

Colonization modules: I don't know why they wouldn't stack but I also don't see much point in doing it. By the time you can fit two size 360+ modules onto a ship, you're probably long past caring too much about the starting level population on your new colonies.

Construction yards: I'm pretty sure more is better on bases, since they can multitask, but only one is useful on construction ships.

Energy to fuel converter: I've never built one of these. Is there a production cap on them?

Gravity well projectors: Never tried them but I can't imagine that more than one has any increased effect, since it would make the ultimate version quite useless. The basic HyperDeny GW4000 has a range of 1020 and a size of 14. The ultimate vesion has a size of 52 and a range of 2800. If gravity wells stacked then it would be quite possible to fit three GW4000s and an energy collector into the same space and get a bigger range out it, making all that later research quite redundant.

Ion defense: It would make sense if these worked like specialized armor against ion weapons, and since they're tiny and don't require energy, I'm guessing they do stack, but I've never tried using them for anything.

Weapon, Energy, and High Tech Plants: Their effects technically stack but I'm not sure component production in itself is ever really the bottleneck. It's quite possible that while they stack, you really only gain a massive component production overkill by having more plants. The exception is when one plant tries to produce a part and gets snagged on a resource shortage. I *think* the remaining plants would keep working, but the stuck plant won't. If you've only got one of each plant and eight construction yards then seven ships might end up waiting for a component they can't get until the plant has managed to get unstuck, at which point a few more plants would likely help out. The Galactopedia suggestion of one of each plant per yard seems massively excessive, however.

Resource extractors: They stack well enough but there's a resource extraction cap that makes more than a certain number pointless.

Trace scanners and scanner jammers: I'm not sure how these work. In principle, I'd think they're non-stacking components, since as far as I know, you really don't penetrate a signal jam by having more signals but rather by having a stronger signal, and you don't jam a stronger signal by putting up more jammers but rather by sending out a stronger jamming signal.

(in reply to Spidey)

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RE: Should we build a component guide? - 12/21/2013 7:15:38 AM

Darkspire

Posts: 1986
Joined: 6/12/2003
From: My Own Private Hell
Status: offline

quote:

Gravity well projectors: Never tried them but I can't imagine that more than one has any increased effect, since it would make the ultimate version quite useless.

The AOE weapons were nerfed a few revisions ago because of naysayers on here due to there game inexperience and the damage it caused to friendly forces. Sad to say they are all now next to useless, they used to be great fun both in use and design. Best place for them used to be mines, they could hold off small fleets on there own, now any mine with them fitted just sits there getting shot at, they do fire but not very often and with nowhere near the damage radius they had, more often than not the mine is destroyed, what's easier to replace a mine on a much needed resource sitting in a system on its own or a few ships? As long as your ships are fairly well shielded and, even better, fitted with robotic repairs the casualties were minimum.

Darkspire

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RE: Should we build a component guide? - 12/21/2013 7:19:40 AM

Icemania