Low Gravity Infrastructure
Underground Infrastructure is replaced with Low Gravity Infrastructure (or LG-Infrastructure). This will be built and transported in the same way as regular infrastructure, except it will be twice as expensive - 4 BP instead of 2 BP.
Any low gravity bodies (below the minimum gravity of the colonising species) will now have a normal colony cost calculation (based on atmosphere, temperature, pressure, etc.) and an ‘LG’ suffix will be added. For any bodies with an LG suffix, the maximum supported population will be based on the available LG-Infrastructure.
For example, for a colony cost 2.00 world you need 200 infrastructure per 1m pop. For a colony cost 2.00(LG) world, you will need 200 LG-Infrastructure per 1m pop and normal infrastructure will have no effect.
Both normal infrastructure and LG-Infrastructure can be used on a world with gravity in the tolerable range. Worlds with gravity above max species gravity will not be colonizable.
Civilian infrastructure production on a low gravity world will be LG Infrastructure, produced at one third of the normal rate (same overall cost). Trade in infrastructure will be low gravity to low gravity or acceptable gravity to acceptable gravity .
I believe this change will maintain the concept of colonising low gravity bodies at a higher cost but will be a lot cleaner and easier.
Forced Labour Camps
As part of the ground combat overhaul, Forced Labour ground units will be removed. They will be replaced by two new installations; the Forced Labour Construction Camp and the Forced Labour Mining Camp. These each cost 40 BP to build and have the same output as a construction factory and a mine respectively. Transport size is 100,000 cargo points, or 4x that of a construction factory.
Forced Labour Camps can be built at any population, not just occupied ones. However, they consume 100,000 population and instantly cause 5 points of unrest. Once built they only require 5000 population to man them (serving as overseers), as the bulk of the workers, plus associated basic survival-level infrastructure, is provided during construction.
This installation has a few different uses. Making an conquered population productive is one, as you can build three of these for a single construction factory or mine cost, offsetting much of the production modifier penalty for occupation status. You can achieve more overall production in one of your own colonies for lower cost, if you are prepared to accept the unrest penalty, or you can build these in occupied populations and ship them to your own colonies.
Finally, because they have a minimal requirement for a supporting population, you can move them to a hostile world using only a small amount of infrastructure for the overseers. In effect, you can create the Dilithium mines of Rura Penthe if you wish. There are role-playing consequences, as you may not want to play the type of empire that convert its citizens into slaves and sends them to mine asteroids.
Labour Camps are affected by all the production modifiers that affect construction factories and mines (such as radiation, unrest, economic and political modifiers, etc.), although their cheap build cost allows you to offsets these modifiers with triple production. The transport requirement take into account the number of integral workers and supporting infrastructure. However, you could ship the potential workers as colonists (in a quarter of the tonnage) and create the Forced Labour Camp at the desired location.
While Labour Camps might seem low cost and tempting, they do have drawbacks. The large transport size means you could use the same freighter lift for 4x as many mines or construction factories. In addition, the 100,000 population cost is actually much higher in reality as you lose all the potential future growth & wealth provided by that population. They will be suitable in certain situations though; where you need to ramp up production and have excess population to support it, if you don’t want to wait for a conquered population to improve its political status or you need a fast way of producing an equivalent to automated mines.
The unrest penalty for creation might be a little low so I will see how that works in play-test.
Ground Forces Construction Complex
For C# Aurora, the Ground Force Training Facility becomes the Ground Force Construction Complex. They remain the same size as a research facility and now require one million population to operate.
The build rate for the complex starts at 250 BP per year and can be increased through research. For example, 500 BP per year is 8000 Research Points and 1000 BP per year is 60,000 Research points.
These changes reflects the amount of effort that will be required to construct, train and support the new ground forces.
Genetic Modification Centre
Genetic Modification Centres now produce one million conversions per year (250k in VB6). They also require 250,000 workers (zero in VB6).
Conventional Industry
In VB6 Aurora, Conventional Industry provides the same output as 0.1 construction factories, 0.05 refineries and 0.1 mines.
For C# Aurora, Conventional Industry provides the same output as 0.1 construction factories, 0.05 ordnance factories, 0.025 fighter factories, 0.05 refineries, 0.1 financial centres and 0.15 mines.
Worker Requirements
Workers are required to man a variety of facilities in C# Aurora. This is only required in game terms where there are sufficient workers to potentially require additional infrastructure in hostile conditions. For example, an ‘Automated Mine’ does not have a worker requirement even though in reality it may have a small workforce for maintenance. In these cases, it is assumed the installation itself provides sufficient accommodation for the small workforce. A secondary consideration here is micromanagement, in that it would not add to game play if every refuelling station or mass driver required the transportation and housing of a few hundred workers, but it would add additional micromanagement.
With that in mind, the following installations require workers.
5,000 workers. Forced Labour Construction Camp, Forced Labour Mining Camp.
50,000 workers: Construction Factory, Ordnance Factory, Fighter Factory, Fuel Refinery, Mine, Conventional Industry, Maintenance Facility, Financial Centre.
250,000 workers: Terraforming Installation, Ground Force Construction Facility, Genetic Modification Centre
1,000,000 workers: Research Facility, Spaceport.
The following installations do not require workers
Infrastructure, Deep Space Tracking Station, Automated Mine, Military Academy, Sector Command, Mass Driver, Civilian Mining Complex, Refuelling Station, Naval Headquarters, Ordnance Transfer Station, Cargo Shuttle Station.
Installations without Required Tech
Given the player starts with certain installations in a conventional start, it does not make sense to make additional construction of those installations dependent on Trans-Newtonian Theory. The full list of the installations that can be constructed before Trans-Newtonian Theory is researched is as follows:
Naval Shipyard Complex
Commercial Shipyard Complex
Research Facility
Spaceport
Ground Force Construction Complex
Military Academy
Naval Headquarters
Refuelling Station
Ordnance Transfer Station
Cargo Shuttle Station
Maintenance Facility
Financial Centre
Deep Space Tracking Station
Infrastructure
Removal of Planetary Defence Centres
Planetary Defence Centres (essentially a ground-based ship) will not exist in C# Aurora. They will be replaced by a much more detailed ground-combat system, including ground units capable of engaging ships within energy range of the planet.
Spacemaster Changes to Installations
When in Spacemaster Mode, the Civilian Economy tab gains an extra dropdown and three extra buttons. These allow the Spacemaster to change the number of installations at a colony, or add new types. This replaces part of the functionality from the VB6 SM Modification window.
Planetary Installations
There are a few additions and changes for planetary installations, including changes to mineral requirements. Here is a table of the current situation.
