Aurora v1.13.0 Patch Notes - April 21st 2021

Patch Notes
1

Major Changes

Fire At Will

Fire Delays for Point Defence

Component Development Cost Changes

Single Weapon Fire Controls

Reduced Shot Railguns

NPR Generation of Spoilers

Random Second Stage Targeting

Constellation Names

Repair Yards

Import and Export Event Colours

Import and Export Medals

Ordinal Numbers for Ground Formation Templates

Fleet Window UI Additions

Miscellaneous Components

Bug Fixes

  • Sector governors and academy commandants are now protected from auto-assignment to a colony.

  • Clearing the colony importance field will no longer cause an error.

  • Copying an obsolete class without Show Obsolete checked will no longer cause an error.

  • Fixed the error caused by grouping contacts with short names (less than 5 characters).

  • Buoys launched while in orbit will now remain in orbit.

  • Fixed error caused by active mass driver and no mining production.

  • Clicking on ‘Set Specific Threat’ without a target selected will no longer throw an error.

  • Low gravity habitable worlds will be shown correctly on the galactic map.

  • Fixed an error caused by the refuel, resupply and overhaul standing order when destination in a different system.

  • Percentage of system body survey completed is now shown correctly on the system view window.

  • Fixed bug allowing multiple spinal weapons.

  • Fixed bug that allowed cloak size 25 before research completed.

  • Missile launchers will now check for ammo before checking weapon failure.

  • Fixed a bug that caused the ship designer to treat boat bays like hangar bays when considering flight berth requirements.

  • Tractor links to ships that are deleted or destroyed will now be broken.

  • Fixed bug that named Minerva Trojans as moons.

  • Fixed bug that prevented creation of new ground unit series.

  • Fixed bug that meant that strength required to force populations to surrender strength was 100x more than intended.

  • Fixed bug that allowed STO units to fire at fighters on ground support missions.

  • Fixed bug that prevented fighters on search and destroy missions from attacking planets without friendly populations.

  • Fixed bug in STO Targeting tab of Ground Forces window that caused text in target type dropdown to have no spaces.

  • Fixed error popup when firing STO weapons against populations, shipyards or ground forces.

  • Civilian harvesters will no longer use banned bodies.

  • Fixed a bug that meant populations with very tracking station strengths would not display range circles.

  • Fixed the bug that caused Rendezvous Waypoint names to be obfuscated.

  • Trojan asteroids will now change location when their parent body orbital distance is changed.

  • Deleting a ground unit series now works correctly.

  • Fixed a problem with the beam fire control option of “1.25 Size 1.25 Range”

  • Sector governors will now apply their population growth bonus to pop growth, rather than their terraforming bonus.

  • Fixed a problem with systems being assigned to a sector and then set to no sector.

  • Jump drive costs are no longer affected by squadron size if the drive is self-jump only.

  • Removed spinal railgun option as it was included in error.

  • The standing order for Move to Gas Giant With Sorium will now only consider gas giants that have been surveyed.

  • Fixed some issues around disassembly of command and control components.

  • Commercial vessels in a fleet that abandons an overhaul will no longer suffer abandon overhaul penalties.

  • Fixed a bug in Ship Measurement for parasites that resulted in many records of the same type, instead of one.

  • Shipyards can no longer repair ships larger than their capacity.

  • Commercial shipyards can no longer repair military ships.

  • Fighters can now load colonists without the requirement for cargo shuttles.

  • Orbital habitats no longer apply capacity to multiple populations.

  • Boarding a ship is now treated as a hostile act.

  • Building a ship in a shipyard will lock the parent class, even if the shipyard is not tooled for that class.

  • Events will now be displayed for the assignment of colony governors

  • Luna is updated and destroyed correctly in Death Spiral scenario

  • Commanders who were created on a subsequently destroyed colony are displayed correctly.

  • Scrapped carriers no longer destroy their parasites.

  • The class of captured ships will be locked.

  • Fleets created away from the capital will remain in orbit of the body at which their parent admin command is located.


Minor Changes

  • Using Disassemble or Scrap Component buttons on the Economics window will refresh the events window and the tactical map events list.

  • New ‘Hide Fleets in Orbit’ option to declutter map.

  • Boat Bay has changed to 5.25 HS and 25 BP cost with the same 5 HS capacity.

  • Small Boat Bay has changed to size 1.05HS, 5 BP cost and 1 HS capacity.

  • The geosurvey sensor option for missile design will not appear if you do not have geological survey sensors.

  • NPRs will select names randomly from their class naming theme, rather than using alphabetical order.

  • Paused research projects are held at the Race level, rather than by population.

  • Beam weapons will not fire if they have zero chance to hit.

  • Fleet name added to the maintenance failure and deployment exceeded events.

  • On the ground forces window, the mothership name (if needed) has been added to the name of ships transporting ground formations.

  • Commanders windows show abbreviations as part of rank names.

  • Function of class for auto-assignment purposes will be shown in class summary.

  • The ‘Obso Comp’ button on the Class window is only visible for race-designed components. It will not appear for basic components such as Bridge, Engineering, etc..

  • The ‘insufficient power’ alert on the Class Design window will now show the reactor power and required power in the alert message.


Armour Repair in Hangars

Motherships will automatically repair the armour of ships in hangars. Armour is treated like any other component in terms of cost and the chance of repair, except that on successful repair a number of armour boxes equal to the armour strength will be repaired (within the scope of the rule below).

Armour will be repaired from the most damaged columns first. No more than one armour point in a single column will be repaired per increment.


Fractional Capacitors

In v1.13, when you research each level of capacitor technology, you will gain some automatic fractional or interpolated capacitor tech. For example, researching capacitor tech 2 will also add capacitor 1.25, 1.5 and 1.75.

The ‘quarter level’ techs will appear up to capacitor 4. Capacitor 4.5 and 5.5 have also been added, along with 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15.

This will allow more efficient beam weapons and, as beam weapon cost is mostly based on a combination of power requirement, range modifier and recharge rate, will make some beam weapons slightly cheaper.


Instant Build to Carriers

Instant Build on the Class window now has an option to build straight into a carrier hangar bay (and assign). This takes away the micro of creating fighters and manually setting the move orders to land on carriers.


Automated Hangar Resupply

Motherships will automatically resupply ships in hangars, in the same way as automated refueling.

A mothership is assumed to have a single cargo shuttle bay for the purposes of hangar resupply only. This shuttle bay can work on all parasites simultaneously. The base transfer rate is therefore 10 MSP per hour per ship with conventional technology and 20 MSP per hour with TN technology.

A mothership can set a minimum supply amount for itself and no parasite will resupply MSP below that point.


Carrier Operations Bonus

The Fighter Operations bonus for commanders has been renamed to the Carrier Operations bonus.

This bonus will apply to the rate at which fuel, supplies and ordnance are transferred to parasites in the ship’s hangar.


Population Ground Units

The Stockpiles tab of the Economics window is now the GU / Stockpiles tab.

A third section has been added that displays a treeview of all ground formations at the population, including the formation elements. This is a similar view to the Ground Forces window with the Show Elements option selected but without the elements expanded in the tree. This view is just for reference and does not have all the functionality of the Ground Forces Window


Distance Travelled

All ships will now keep track of their total distance travelled. Ships in hangars won’t increment distance, although towed ships will.

The total distance travelled is shown on the Ship Overview under Construction Date.


Removal of Ground Combat Command Bonus

The Ground Combat Command Bonus adds a restriction on the size of formation that a ground forces officer can command. However, this is a limitation that doesn’t add any meaningful decisions because most assignments are automated. I’ve removed it for v1.13.

This means that the restriction on which ground forces officers can command which formations is now based on rank alone.

2

Reduced Shot Railguns

In v1.13, Railguns have an extra design option that allow them to operate with a reduced number of shots (from 1 to 4). This has the following effects:

  • Power Requirements are reduced in line with the number of shots. So a 2-shot railgun needs only half power.

  • Size is reduced by 22.5% of original size for every shot less than 4. 4 = 100%, 3 = 77.5%, 2 = 55%, 1 = 32.5%.

  • The cost formula remains unchanged. As this is affected by power requirements and recharge rate, reduced shot railguns will be correspondingly cheaper.

Here are three different versions of a 20cm railgun (capacitor tech is 4).

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Here are some 10cm railgun examples. The reduced-shot 10cm railguns have a lower per-shot cost (due to minimal power requirements and the new capacitors) but a higher per-shot size requirement.

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3

Single Weapon Fire Controls

Beam Fire Controls can be designed for single weapon use only. This is done via an extra dropdown on the Create Project Window, allowing the selection of either multi-weapon or single-weapon.

As the name suggests, only a single beam weapon can be assigned to a fire control designed for single weapon use.

The size, cost and crew requirements of single weapon fire controls are reduced by 50% compared to the normal multi-weapon fire control.

STO weapons already use single weapon fire controls, so this change aligns the fire controls of ship and ground-based energy weapons.

4

Miscellaneous Components

v1.13 introduces a new category of ship modules, known as Miscellaneous Components. These have no game function and are entirely for roleplaying purposes (thanks to vorpal+5 for the idea).

You design the components on the Create Research Projects window by choosing a size (from 0.1 HS to 100) and giving the component a name. Cost is equal to size in HS and the mineral requirements are split between Duranium and Mercassium. The HTK is equal to the square root of the size.

There is a new component type on the ship design window that contains all miscellaneous components, which you can add to the design in the normal way. A new line on the class summary shows all miscellaneous components in the design. For example, here is a colony ship with three different miscellaneous components.

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This won’t be used by everyone, but for those who invest in roleplaying it can add a new dimension to ship design.

5

Fire Delay for Point Defence

Fire Delays are applied to ships in three situations, with the second and third delays only applying to inexperienced crews.

  • Jump Point Transit

  • Opening Fire

  • Changing Target

Because the fire delay is at the ship level, all fire controls are affected. This leads to a situation for larger ships where a single fire control changing target will cause fire delays for all fire controls, including those dedicated to point defence.

Therefore, for v1.13, fire delay will only apply to point defence fire if it is caused by jump point transit. This will allow ships to change offensive targets and suffer any associated delays, without compromising automated point defence fire (which is functioning in the same way throughout).

6

Constellation Names

When playing with Known Stars, many of the actual star names are from Star Catalogues, such as Gliese, Wolf, HIP, etc., or from sky surveys such as WISE. This results in some non-mnemonic and repetitive system names. Therefore, I have created an optional alternative naming system for the catalogue stars, which I am calling Constellation Names.

In 1603, the German astronomer Johann Bayer created the Bayer Designation in his star atlas Uranometria. A Bayer designation identifies a specific star using a Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation’s Latin name. For example, Alpha Centauri or Tau Ceti. The order was roughly based on the brightness of the stars within each constellation, with the brightest being Alpha, then Beta, etc.. After he ran out of Greek letters, he started using lower case Latin letters (k Aquarii).

A century later John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal, created his own designation using a number followed by the genitive Latin name for each constellation. The numbers were based on position in the sky. For example, 40 Eridani or 70 Ophiuchi. The Flamsteed designation tends to be in popular usage where Bayer used a Latin letter rather than Greek (3 Aquarii rather than k Aquarii)

For Aurora, I am going to add to those centuries old star catalogues. Firstly, for all 88 modern constellations, I’ve identified which Greek letters have not been used by Bayer (or removed when new constellations were added over time) and which numbers have not been used by Flamsteed. Then I’ve ordered the Known Stars by distance from Earth and I am working my way through them one by one. As I find each Gliese, NN, HIP etc. star, I look up the star’s celestial coordinates (right ascension and declination) and enter them into this handy tool I found, which will identify the constellation for a given set of celestial coordinates.

http://djm.cc/constellation.html

I then rename the star using the first unused Greek letter plus the genitive Latin name. If I run out of Greek letters for a constellation, I start using numbers above the maximum that Flamsteed used. Here are some examples within 20 LY of Sol with the alternative names:

DEN 1048-3956 = Beta Antliae
DEN 0255-4700 = Sigma Eridani
GJ 1061 = Epsilon Horologii
LHS 288 = Gamma Carinae
WISE 0350-5658 = Lambda Reticuli
WISE 0855?0714 = 61 Hydrae
WISE 1541-2250 = Rho Librae
2M1540 = Alpha Normae
LHS 1723 = 70 Eridani

This is optional in game settings, so you can use the existing names if you prefer.

So far I have done the closest 1000 stars to Sol. I’ll add the other stars in batches, as there is quite a lot of repetitive effort involved :)

7

Repair Yards

v1.13 introduces a third type of shipyard, known as a Repair Yard.

  • A Repair Yard is constructed in the same way as a naval or commercial shipyard and has the same build cost.

  • A Repair Yard starts with 10,000 tons of capacity and is upgraded (including additional slipways) at the same rate and cost as a commercial shipyard.

  • A Repair Yard has the same population requirement as a commercial shipyard.

  • Repair Yards are listed after commercial shipyards and denoted with an ‘R’.

  • Repair Yards cannot be tooled for construction and therefore cannot conduct refits either.

  • They can repair or scrap any ship up to their capacity.

Note that as Repair Yards are upgraded like commercial shipyards, they are faster and cheaper to construct than a naval shipyard with the same capacity. They provide a much cheaper option for military repair capacity, allowing naval shipyards to focus on construction. The cost of a specific ship repair will remain the same in all types of shipyard.

8

Fire At Will

A new Fire At Will option allow ships to reduce fire delays by half, at the expense of targeting choice. This can be applied to a single fire control, a ship or a fleet.

When the order is given, each fire control is assigned a random target (based on the rules below). Each ship is then assigned a fire delay with a modifier of -50% vs normal. This fire delay will override any existing fire delay (even if the current delay is longer), except if the command is assigned to a specific fire control, rather than ship or fleet, in which case the new fire delay will only override any existing fire delay if the new delay is longer.

Normal fire delays only apply once in an increment, so if you assign one fire control and then another the delay is only set once. For ‘Fire-at-Will’ fire delays, this does not apply and it is reset each time. This is to prevent someone using fire-at-will to reduce delay and then overriding with a specific target.

For beam fire controls, the random target is selected using a weighting of average probable damage. Each weapon assigned to a fire control is checked against all potential targets, using chance to hit and damage at current range to determine average damage. The total average damage for those weapons is assigned to the target ship as a weighting for that fire control, then a target is randomly chosen.

For missile fire control, the same random, weighted selection process is followed. In this case though, the weight is equal to the target size in HS divided by the target range in km. Only targets in range, including ECM, are checked.

Fire at Will is intended for those situations where a fleet is ambushed and firing early is more important than coordinating fire with other ships. Each ship chooses its own targets regardless of the targets of other friendly ships.

9

Random Second Stage Targeting

If a missile releases its second stage and has no assigned parent fire control, the second stage missiles will select a target randomly using the following guidelines:

  • The target must be detectable by the sensors on the second stage missile.

  • The target must be hostile and not have friendly boarders.

  • The target must be within the second stage missile’s range, even if the target moved away at maximum speed.

  • The salvo will choose a target that meets all of the above criteria using the same selection process as Fire At Will (see above).

10

NPR Generation of Spoilers

In v1.12 there is a game-level option to allow NPRs to generate spoilers.

For v1.13, this has been split into three separate options

  • NPRs generate Precursors

  • NPRs generate Swarm

  • NPRs generate Aether Rifts

This change is to allow the option for NPRs to engage in some combat, with less of an overall impact on the campaign. For example, NPRs fighting precursors has minimal impact on the player, with the exception of weakening both. NPRs activating swarm, especially multiple swarms that grow before player contact, can have a major impact on a campaign.

11

Import Event Colours

You can import event colours on the Events Window by using the Import Colours button.

This requires a CSV file with three values per row.

  • Event ID

  • Background Colour

  • Text Colour

The Event ID can be found in DIM_EventType. The colours should be integers in the same format as FCT_EventColour

When the file is imported, only the colours of Event Types referenced in the file will be added or updated. Event Types that are not included in the imported file will retain any existing colours.


Export Event Colours

The new Export Colours button on the Events window allows you to export the event colours of the currently selected race. After clicking the button you will be prompted for a file name and save location.

The new file will be a CSV with three values per row:

  • Event ID

  • Background Colour

  • Text Colour

This file can be used for subsequent import to a different race, including races in other games.

12

Export Medals

A new Export Medals button on the Events window allows you to export the medals and associated medal conditions of the currently selected race. After clicking the button you will be prompted for a file name and save location.

The new file will be a CSV with the following six values for each medal:

  • Name

  • Description

  • Abbreviation

  • Points

  • Multiple Awards (Y/N)

  • File Name for Medal Image

In addition to the above, all IDs for conditions associated with the medal will be added to the same row. These IDs can be found in DIM_MedalCondition.

This file can be used for subsequent import to a different race, including races in other games.

13

Ordinal Numbers for Ground Formation Templates

Ordinal Numbers for ground formations will increment on a per-template basis rather than for all ground formations. For example, if you have an infantry regiment template and and an armoured regiment template and build one of each, they will be the 1st Infantry Regiment and the 1st Armoured Regiment.

A new checkbox entitled ‘Use Roman’ will use a Roman numeral suffix rather than an Arabic numeral prefix. So the infantry would be Infantry Regiment I, Infantry Regiment II, Infantry Regiment III, etc. and the armoured formation would be the same, starting at I.

The numbering for both Arabic and Roman will be used for multiple formations in Instant Build.

You can change between Arabic and Roman mid-game but this will not affect any existing formations.

As Roman Numerals do not work well with alphabetical order, there is a new ‘Sort Creation’ option on the Ground Design and Economics windows which will sort any units using the same abbreviation in order of creation rather than alphabetical order.

14

Component Development Cost Changes

The current formulae for component development costs have a couple of problems. Firstly, they are not always consistent between different component types. Secondly, because of the linear ratio between build cost and development cost for most components, very large components can be prohibitively expensive to research. The following changes are intended to address this problem.

For Missiles and non-STO Ground Units, the Development Cost has been changed to: SQRT(Cost * 25000)

For the following list of components, the Development Cost has been changed to: SQRT(Cost * 5000)

Active Sensors
Beam Fire Controls
CIWS
Cloaks
EM Sensors
Engines
Fighter Pods Bays
Gauss Cannon
Jump Engines
Lasers
Magazines
Meson Cannon
Microwaves
Missile Fire Controls
Missile Launchers
Particle Beams
Plasma Carronades
Power Plants
Railguns
Shield Generators
STO Ground Units
Thermal Sensors
Turrets

In general, this will mean that components (and STO ground units) with a build cost of 50 will have the same development cost as before, while more expensive components will be cheaper to develop and vice versa. For example, the development cost of a 10BP component will increase from 100 RP to 224 RP while the development cost of a 1000BP component will decrease from 10,000 RP to 2,236 RP.

For missiles, the breakeven point (at which development costs are the same) is a missile cost of 2.5 BP.

For ground units the breakeven point is a cost of 10 BP. For example, the development cost of a minimal armour static HQ with 250,000 capacity will reduce from 5,012 RP to 1,583 RP.

15

Fleet Window UI Additions

If you have a fleet selected in the treeview and double-click on the fleet commander in the fleet summary, the Commanders window will open with that officer selected.

If you have a ship selected in the treeview and double-click on one of the ship’s officers in the ship summary, the Commanders window will open with that officer selected.

If you have a fleet selected in the treeview and double-click on a ship in the Ship List tab, the selection on the treeview will change to that ship.

If you have a fleet selected in the treeview and double-click on a ship in the Ship List tab while holding down the Control key, the Commanders window will open with that commander of that ship selected.