jblades

Check your Appendix folder and look at FPGear. All the stats of the Marine types are listed. Page 69 also outlines their differences.

Yep, I have read and had usually practiced keeping all my marines on search and I even have 3 in each shuttle. I also turn off the launch control as soon as I am boarded, except this time they managed to steal the fighter inside 10 seconds. SC I reread the Tips PDF section about "Prevent intruders from stealing my support craft" and see that the answer must be yes to them stealing my Radine. So a fighter has a cargo hold? Along those same lines, the NPC had taken the fighter but just sat 1km from my carrier. I had attempted to tractor him (tractor lock worked) and then blow him up with main guns but cold not damage him. Perhaps I have not read somewhere about a minimum range on the main guns? In hind site I should have tried to tow him back to the ship but he was not disabled and I could not seem to disable him. As for the massive damage to my crew, it could not have been radiation as I had the cloak on for about 3 minutes, I am guessing that since Life Support was out that was the killer. As for the Radine usage, That 400 units has lasted me many hours before as I ahve relaoded from that point at least three times before and played for an hour or two with barely and Radine usage. Shingen, you are correct I don HJ very often while palying, only to get the base in system or jump gate. I will test further to see what my consumption is. At this point I believe the NPC stole the Radine and took it one the fighter (I will look to see if fighters have a cargo hold, never even looked before). Lastly, NPC ships have a transporter beam range of ?? As I mentioned the enemy carrier was 80kn from me whn I was boarded..unless another cloaked ship happend to be nearby. Remember I'm not complaining, just discussing the events in order to learn more about it. It's great that the AI does so many random things. I'm just trying to learn the capabilities from previous exeperience...and yes I will search the forums for more info.

Wow...frustrating 2 hour loss of a game time, NPC AI action I wonder (my fault for not saving at some point before the disaster). I was milling around the Alpha Centauri system burning time while mining drones go to work and trying to learn the ins and outs of what day ship ops are. A Firestorm class Raider jumps in and attacks..he is 150km out, so I kill my PTA, turn on the cloak, drop a crab mine, back up for about 50km, turn 90 degress and move away from the mine. The raider gets withing 80km, SAS goes off and enemy troops are onboard. I can see marines fighting on deck 2, fighter craft number one is stolen...all of a sudden...my reactor shuts off...I try to restart the reactor...I can hear that whirring sound of a dead warp engine in my head. I check my Radine count in Power settings...a big fat ZERO...I had 400 units on board not more than 2 sytems jumps (3 hours of game play ago)...I frantically check all cargo holds, nothing. All crew members taking an enormous amount of damage and fatigue...limping along at 50km in the dead of space....needless to say a reload was the next step. Did the NPC troops destroy my entire supply of Radine in one hit?

Actually SC I hadn't even seached the forums for a solution as it was the first time I did that and I had quit playing for the night, although I had seen a few a posts from other people regretting having pressed the key in my previous readings. You and Shingen just happened to respond before I had logged into the forums to look today and provided TWO solutions (thank you btw). This is what I love about about a forum, people helping people

Actually, originally patching was my problem and thanks to some helpful folks who pointed out the right way, I reinstalled and repatched and whatever problem I had was fixed. Ironically as I type this I had hit the MS Start Menu key instead of ALT and just lost an hour+ of play....ahh a galaxy for an autosave, or maybe just a sticky note on the monitor to "SAVE THE GAME EVERY 10 MINUTES"

I see now why some cargo can't be picked up right away...very sneaky SC......

Yes..Yes..I see the constant responses from both the veteran players and you (SC) about reading the manual. One can read the information but not fully digest it until they have spoken with some vets about what it actually does ingame in relation to how it's explained/written. As for the AI, the answers that were finally given by both Shingen and you (SC), that is what I was looking for. As I said/asked if the AI is designed with some randomness then great, that explains why things are not going the way the way the black and white print says in some cases. If a nOOb player can't get some evenhanded responses instead of backhanded acerbic feedback without having memorized the manuals and understanding every nuance and complexity of the game then what good are the discussion forums for? Perhaps a nOOb discussion section would alleviate any clutter for the elitest players and those that don't have the patience to help folks out don't have to read the posts. Frankly, I could care less if I alienate a few people on a game forum for asking questions and trying to learn. Some people can't handle being challenged in a discussion, not to say that's the case in this thread...but from reading some of the posts here there are some fragile egos for being gamers and talking about how to play a game. Lastly, I absorbed what you said about Defend vs Escort. I only asked for more definition of the what Defend does in terms of range the AI is willing to travel outside the Defend zone. I am not ignoring the responses I get and have even posted back that "Hey, I was wrong and you were right". I have followed the tutorial up to planet fall with troops, and the it is all very informative..some of us nOObs just like to ask and discuss more.

Oh I wasn't complaining about hyperdrive going straight to my intended destination. I put that in there as I thought one of the original replies said he was in manual mode while in hyperspace and went off target for destination. No worries on my end.

Well the manual acceleration issue was that the power settings default at 5 and increasing the engine to 10 allows full manual acceleration. AP increases the power automatically to allow 100% acceleration. Thx for the feedback Shingen.

Good point. I actually do check my FC and SC for damage after every sortie having run across the damage levels in unloading cargo after previous sorties. These SC were at 100% repair levels. One thing I will try is to put a figher pilot in the shuttle with a marine or two..perhaps between the three of them they can figure out how to work the comms, fly and return with the cargo lol...seriously...I think the only the times they refuse to pick up cargo is when it's booby trapped. Everytime I see them circle one and not pick it up...the cargo blows up shortly after I RTB the SC.

Happens to me also. Seems to happen when jump points or wormholes are targets. Doesn't matter during jump whether on AP or manual as the ship will make a straight uninterrupted line to the original target. I can turn my ship manually in hyperspace and fly backwards and still arrive at the destination. It can be annoying but no biggie. USB Keyboard/USB Mouse, no JS attached.

*Waves truce flag*..Relax it's all good, I am listeninig to your input and comparing it with my findings at the same time. I am one of those older people who rarely takes what someone says at face value right off the bat. So the answer was/is that the AI do have randomized issues like disobeying orders and such since they are so young. I can sccept that, and will look for better results as they train up. As for the for the FTOL, I will check my engine power settings and assume that the AP must be changing them to attain full speed. The reason keep asking and dissecting this is because I can start a new game, press W and attain full speed with the default Logistix settings. It seems that a few hours into the game that ability is lost. So perhaps the figher launch is related to lack of inexperience of the pilots and they can only fly 2 of the 3 types of fighters on the carrier? No one said you weren't civil, but as soon as someone tells "or go do something else"...well that's just an attitude I don't appreciate when trying to discuss something. It's admirable that you have invested 7 years into playing the game..I'm new here and it's obvious the game has a steep learning curve and nOObs will ask questions and questions and questions, how else do they become seasoned (besides just playing all by their lonesome)?

I love those responses "or go do something else", how about I keep playing while bringing to light some valid questions or issues which is what a discussion forum is supposed to be for and hope to get some positive feedback with answers that have constructive results or workarounds? I have also noticed that the dedicated players seem to be on the defensive for the SC or the game itself whenever anyone asks a question, loyalty is great but misdirected sometimes. I am not trying to tear the game down, just get a feel for how it supposed to function from some of the more experienced players and developers. You are correct in that every piece of software written has bug and issues, as a result questions get asked about it's capability in relation to it's intended function. So if the program actually has code that will randomize events and process related to AI instruction, then that's another ball game and a lot can be explained away, otherwise it means the AI is not executing it's parameter's as the code dictates or it is and for example, fighters on Defend will travel say 3000km to defend their targets and I just don't know it. Instead of saying VTOL then I should say FTOL..my carrier has a max speed in the high 300 range but I am only able to attain 150 by pressing and holding W (which is the key used to increase speed from what I read and experienced in game), whereas the autopliot attains full speed...so unless the AP is adjusting my engine power.....something is misconfigured for manual speed acceleration or malfunctioning in relation to the same. In the meantime I keep playing and posting, and playing and posting. Eventually my questions will be answered or maybe not...

Ok Ok...I am beginning to see a pattern in the responses to questions about "bugs" or gameplay "issues" in this forum...it's either an "undocumented feature" as developers in some circles call these things, or it is documented in the orignal manual and the 7 accompanying PDF docs or it's a random act of the AI in the game.....so in others words, it's supposed to work as documented or undocumented and if for some reason it doesn't...well reread the manuals or tough crap, sh*t happens? Tell ya what, when my pilots fail to do as they are told, I am going to put them in the detention hold and starve them till their AI level increases..or I will shoot the shuttle down and perhaps the other pilots will pay attention. BTW, should I even ask why some fighters on a carrier will never ready for launch even though they are at 100% and two pilots are assigned to fly them and the Perscan lists them as sitting in the fighters? Or are the pilots to drunk to fly?

Found this after posting the VTOL max speed located in the Manual Revision doc, does my solution/issue reside in understanding the power allocations here? If so how does the AP override the manual process of holding the W key to reach max velocity at the default power settings? "Section 6.0 (p54) CONTROL SCHEMES The 0-9 keys can be used to set the thrust of crafts and vehicles to preset values. You can still use the W and S keys, which effectively act like afterburner and retro rockets. e.g. if you set your max speed to 5, the craft will slowly ramp up to thrust factor 5. However, if you then press and hold the W key, you can exceed this thrust setting and go up to the max speed of the craft. When you let go of the W key, the craft will slowly reduce it's thrust back to factor 5. A thrust factor of 9 sets the max thrust of the craft, while 0 brings it to a halt. If you are using a joystick the speed value is modified by the joystick throttle if enabled. This means that if you have thrust factor 9 set, then setting the throttle to min level will effectively bring the craft to a halt. While setting it to the max level (pushing it all the way forward), will take the craft up to the max thrust speed set by the 1-9 thrust settings. e.g. if you have thrust factor 9 set, then moving the throttle all the way forward will ramp the craft all the way up to its max speed. In the Command Craft, this is dependent on the Logistix engine power setting as indicated below. In the case of the Command Craft, this is also dependent on the Logistix engine power settings. By default this is set to level 5 (which keeps the engines on) which means that the thrust value of 9 will take the craft up to near cruise speed. e.g. if the craft's max speed is 400 m/s, a thrust factor of 9 with a power setting of 5, will take the craft up to around 300 m/s. At higher engine power settings (6-10), the craft will ramp up accordingly and use more fuel. e.g. at engine power 10, the craft can go up to 400 m/s. Reducing the Logistix power level causes the craft speed to drop if it is higher than the limit set by the new power level. e.g. if Logistix power level 10 and thrust level 9 are set (causing the craft to attain its max speed) and Logistix power level is later reduced to level 5, the craft's thrust level will also start to drop. This means that the default power setting of level 5 now sets the craft's max speed to half the limit and level 10 gives the maximum speed"

OK, I re-read page 19 in the manual and read the waypoints doc: DEFEND Similar to the escort order but the craft will not leave the current region if the target being defended leaves the region. Also, the craft will only engage threats which are firing on the target they are defending. Requires a valid target. Using defend, ordered to defend my carrier, my fighters engaged a target over 1500km away. Is there is a definition in terms of range that the AI will engage based off waypoints and target? Or can/are the enemy targets actually firing on me from that distance, hence my ship fly that far to engage? Along the lines of AI and I see that people have discussed this and SC has responded to the questions of: 1. VTOL max speed seems to cap at 50% max capability for AE controlled ships. I use the mouse and keyboard to fly the ship and when I press W I can never reach max speed, however when I use the AP and Fly To a destinatio the AP will reach max VTOL. Now I have seen this question and response related joystick usage but not keyboard/mouse usage. 2. Shuttlcraft do not seem to respond to RTB, cargo retrieval and tow retrieval sometimes. Example, I order the SC to tow a disabled friendly figher sending and SOS. The SC will fly to and Tow the target, but when I command the SC to Deliver to a Starbase it just sits there. Along the same lines the SC will fly circle around cargo containers in space and not pick them up. Now the only thing I see in common to that sometimes is that the containers explode shortly after I tell the SC to RTB when it "refuses" to pick of the container, so perhaps the AI in th SC actaully detected that it was boobytrapped?

Test SP link

SC Smart, Nice to see and get an immediate response from the game designers Having finally broken the addiction to SWG and being used to developers ignore you and such. That is one doc I have not read and will read it. I will have to try Defend versus Escort again and triple check my results as I swear I have tried both and even under Defend they attack anything in the system, but since you made the game I will have to take your word and assume I am doing something incorrect in relation to the Defend command

Just bought the game in the last few days, patched with the two most recent available and ran through the tutorial and tried a Terran campaign and did about 50% of mission one so far, decide to try ROAM instead of taking the first mission to travel from one end of the universe to the other on escort duty. Games is very indepth and I have been reading various posts, read most of the manual page by page, and the tips, etc. I have to wonder about the AI for the subordinate ships to include my own fighters. Why, when they are ordered to Escort or Defend my carrier, do they warp 400,000km to attack a enemy starbase and die? Shouldn't the AI be set to stay within a certain range of the target they are ordered to Escort or Defend and not engage a target that is 20x stronger? I have been told about the Hold command and have yet to try that, but at the same time that just means I can never use the Escort or Defend command without have to make sure every ship is set to Hold after a close quarters engagement. I suspect this might happen no matter what unit is being used, air, sea, land, space... Can the AI aggressiveness be changed?