Aurora v3.0.0 Patch Notes - Unreleased

Patch Notes
10

Xenoarchaeology Update

Xenoarchaeology units gain some new abilities in v3.0. They are able to generate research points from ancient constructs and ancient artifacts.

As in v2.7.1, a Medium Vehicle with 2 XEN components (218 tons) has 1 Xenoarchaeology Point (XP). The cost for that vehicle is 8.72 Wealth and 8.72 Vendarite.

Constructs

  • Each XP in a ground unit formation will produce a baseline 1 Research Point (RP) per year. This output is modified by game research speed, (Race Research Rate / 200) and by any penalty due to radiation.

  • Each construction phase, the RP output from all the XEN units at a population on a body with an surveyed ancient construct is assigned to an accruing total.

  • After the accrual, there is a 10% chance that all accrued points will be assigned to a random background tech system from the same field as the construct that is currently available to the parent race. The accrued total is then reset to zero.

  • The maximum annual XP conversion into RP for any given construct is equal to: Race Research Rate * Construct Bonus * 20. So a construct with a 50% bonus combined with a 240 RP racial research rate would result in a maximum of 2400 RP.

  • The XEN units benefit from the Xenoarchaeology bonus of the formation commander, but not from the bonus of the construct. The construct bonus affects the maximum output instead.

  • The construct will have to be surveyed before it can used for XP to RP conversion.

  • XP from XEN units do not accumulate if unused.

  • The current and maximum XP conversion is shown on the Economics Summary tab just under the construct line.

The first table below shows the output of a single research facility, based on the bonus of the scientist and the bonus of the construct - assuming the research field of the scientist matches that of the construct. The base research rate is 200.

The second table shows the highlighted research point outputs, along with the build point (BP) and size (tons) of the XEN units required to match that RP output, based on 0%, 20% and 40% commander bonuses.

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In general, it is much more expensive to build the XEN than the research facility. Even so, there are situations where the XEN are a better option.

  • There are a few marginal cases (low bonus construct and low bonus scientist vs high bonus XEN) where the XEN formation is cheaper than the research facility.

  • The XEN are ideal for ‘No Background Research’ empires. Although in that case, it is harder to increase background research so they will become less effective in BP terms vs RF as the game progresses.

  • The XEN can be used on hostile worlds

  • The XEN can make use of constructs with duplicate research fields but lower bonuses, that are not ideal for Research Facilities.

  • The XEN do not require population, so they can be deployed earlier to gain some use from constructs while a colony is being established

  • The XEN are built with Vendarite, not Duranium and Mercassium, so they can be used as a more expensive alternative if those minerals are in short supply

  • On the downside, the XEN will have to built instead of other ground units, leading to a loss of capability in other areas, and they have a maintenance cost. More GFCC will help, but at some point Vendarite will become a problem.

Alien Artifacts

  • If XEN units do not use all of their XP (because there is no construct or they are limited in their conversion to RP), they may use that excess XP to convert alien artifacts at ruin sites into RP instead.

  • XEN units that are studying a dormant construct in an attempt to activate it cannot convert artifacts during the same increment.

  • Each population has a new checkbox on the Miscellaneous tab of the Economics window entitled ‘Construct is Xenoarchaeology Priority’. This is checked by default. Unchecking this box means that if artifacts are available, the Xenoarchaeology units will prioritise artifact conversion in preference to construct research, or activating the construct.

  • Each XP in a ground unit formation will produce a baseline 2 Research Point (RP) per year when converting artifacts. This output is modified by game research speed, (Race Research Rate / 200) and by any penalty due to radiation.

  • Each RP created by this conversion requires the consumption of 1 alien artifact.

  • Each construction phase, the RP output from all the XEN units at a population with available artifacts is assigned to an accruing total. This is separate to the construct accrual.

  • After the accrual, there is a 20% chance that all accrued points will be assigned to a random background tech system from any field that is currently available to the parent race and is within the development cost limitation of the original ruin race. The accrued total for artifacts is then reset to zero.

  • The development cost limitation has the following formula: (2 ^ (Ruin Level + 1)) * 1000

  • There is no maximum conversion amount as the artifacts are a limited resource.

  • The research production rate is higher for artifacts because they are physical examples of technology, they are a limited resource, the results are extremely random and engineer units are required to locate the artifacts.

  • The XEN units benefit from the Xenoarchaeology bonus of the formation commander.

Ultimately, the new XEN abilities will be useful for all Empires in certain situations, and vital for No Background Research Empires, but will remain less useful overall than research facilities due to their higher cost, deployment constraints and lack of directed research.

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