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Author Topic: Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?  (Read 960 times)

Dantalion

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Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?
« on: November 30, 2024, 06:22:48 AM »

So I do not quite understand why a fleet orbiting my own planet uses the same supplies compared to flying around space.

My planet even has orbital works and a lot of supplies in storage. Also the fleet is not moving using engines and systems so in theory, less danger of malfunction or hitting some object in space, also less stress and tear on the hull or systems. Why does it still need the full amount of supplies and constant full maintenance?

I think in general fleets should use less supplies while orbiting any planet. And maybe even less when it is your own.
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Pizzarugi

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Re: Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2024, 08:38:21 AM »

That's unrealistic, as even drawing from your own planet's supplies still deducts credits at the end of the month.

That being said, it might be a cool idea if orbiting a planet that produces supplies will drain your credits over time instead as your crew purchase more.
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Killer of Fate

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Re: Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2024, 09:01:17 AM »

ships don't use supplies when travelling excessively. Maybe it's because there is little stress to the ship when travelling, with antimatter fuel being really simply in usage, not really causing ridiculous use to ship's internal structure. The general sources of supply usage come from combat when primary systems are engaged or when being damaged by space anomalies such as intense radiation or spacetime fabric ripples in hyperspace.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2024, 09:20:33 AM by Killer of Fate »
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PixiCode

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Re: Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2024, 11:40:48 AM »

I do think 'Going Dark' should make your ships use less supplies, though. Would help newer players save on supplies whenever trying to sneak around.
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Dantalion

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Re: Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2024, 12:16:25 PM »

That's unrealistic, as even drawing from your own planet's supplies still deducts credits at the end of the month.

That being said, it might be a cool idea if orbiting a planet that produces supplies will drain your credits over time instead as your crew purchase more.

Maybe but still orbiting a planet should reduce supply usage. Because it is also unrealistic that full speed travelling uses the same amount as a fleet literally not moving.
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Killer of Fate

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Re: Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2024, 12:18:33 PM »

That's unrealistic, as even drawing from your own planet's supplies still deducts credits at the end of the month.

That being said, it might be a cool idea if orbiting a planet that produces supplies will drain your credits over time instead as your crew purchase more.

Maybe but still orbiting a planet should reduce supply usage. Because it is also unrealistic that full speed travelling uses the same amount as a fleet literally not moving.
why? Space has no friction.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2024, 12:26:14 PM by Killer of Fate »
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Amoebka

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Re: Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?
« Reply #6 on: December 01, 2024, 10:55:44 PM »

Because Alex doesn't want you to sit in place and skip forward time generating income instead of playing the game. Realism has nothing to do with it, it's a game design decision.
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Wyvern

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Re: Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?
« Reply #7 on: December 02, 2024, 12:49:52 AM »

...Flat out, a player fleet orbiting a player-owned colony should not use supplies (except for repairs or regenerating CR). Nor should it charge the player for crew or marine upkeep costs.

Realism has nothing to do with it. This is a game design decision to remove the otherwise very present incentive for the player to just stuff 98% of their fleet into storage and idle in a single cheap frigate. This is something I've done, and it always annoys me to have to pull stuff back out and re-set officers.

Now, in general, I don't use this for a "skip time while waiting on passive income"; I use this for "I need to stick around in this area to deal with X incoming problem" or to wait until I can actually install a colony item (since you can't just drop those in storage and install them remotely later). And particularly if I set up a colony relatively early in the game, I may have cause to conserve supplies while I wait.

And even late game, if I'm waiting on something, the temptation is there to just drop down to that single frigate to save some credits. Not usually worth the fuss at that point, but proper game design should remove the temptation.

(I mean, the other way to remove the temptation would be to have ships/crew in storage still draw their full costs. But that doesn't sound like any fun at all.)
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Wyvern is 100% correct about the math.

Killer of Fate

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Re: Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?
« Reply #8 on: December 02, 2024, 07:03:07 AM »

Because Alex doesn't want you to sit in place and skip forward time generating income instead of playing the game. Realism has nothing to do with it, it's a game design decision.
just nerf income tbh... Even if we are not going to touch this.

Spyro

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Re: Why do ships orbiting a colony planet use full supplies?
« Reply #9 on: December 02, 2024, 11:05:04 AM »

...Flat out, a player fleet orbiting a player-owned colony should not use supplies (except for repairs or regenerating CR). Nor should it charge the player for crew or marine upkeep costs.

Realism has nothing to do with it. This is a game design decision to remove the otherwise very present incentive for the player to just stuff 98% of their fleet into storage and idle in a single cheap frigate. This is something I've done, and it always annoys me to have to pull stuff back out and re-set officers.

Now, in general, I don't use this for a "skip time while waiting on passive income"; I use this for "I need to stick around in this area to deal with X incoming problem" or to wait until I can actually install a colony item (since you can't just drop those in storage and install them remotely later). And particularly if I set up a colony relatively early in the game, I may have cause to conserve supplies while I wait.

And even late game, if I'm waiting on something, the temptation is there to just drop down to that single frigate to save some credits. Not usually worth the fuss at that point, but proper game design should remove the temptation.

(I mean, the other way to remove the temptation would be to have ships/crew in storage still draw their full costs. But that doesn't sound like any fun at all.)
Yup same thing here. It doesn't happen often but it's still a nuisance when I have to wait for a ship/weapon to be made at my colony, or waiting for something else to arrive (like a faction expedition, and you know there's not enough time to explore elsewhere so you just sit there with fast forward).

Storing everything and then taking everything + ordering the officers is just too annoying. No matter what changes elsewhere, players will keep using this "trick" to save up on supplies.
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