Home » Stars! 2.6/7 » The Academy » catching the MT is discouraging (is there any point?)
| Re: catching the MT is discouraging |
Thu, 24 April 2014 01:16   |
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 magic9mushroom |
 | Commander |
Messages: 1361
Registered: May 2008 | |
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iloverushandledzepp wrote on Thu, 24 April 2014 13:31i feel that there is no point. i have tried and caught once but without minerals.
what engine should i use?
also, in my current game which is tiny universe with one AI. i still have long ways before i get a engine better than ones from prop 7. also, by the time i can possibly catch him i could easily defeat the AI. and i tend to run out of fuel fast before i can catch him.
please guys, i would like some encouragement :'(
In a Tiny universe it is indeed rather hard to catch the MT, since Tiny games are over quickly (IIRC the first time an MT can show up is 2430) and empires/the universe are very small so you have little time/space to catch it (MT moves at Warp 8-12, Tiny universe is 400 ly wide, so it can leave in as few as 3 turns!).
In larger universes, however, it's very much worth it, since you can see it heading your way years in advance and thus send your fleet to the spot where it will be in that amount of time. The Mystery Trader can give access to one of several unique and very powerful components, or extra technology, both of which are well worth 5000 kT of Boranium (of which you will usually have absurd excesses).
As for cargo vessel engines, there are three main choices, depending on your race setup:
1) Take Improved Fuel Efficiency and No Ram Scoop Engines, and use the Fuel Miser. The Miser has a reasonably small fuel consumption at Warp 9, so when used alongside Fuel Pod Privateers (or Large Freighters, if they're not fully loaded) as well as the occasional Super Fuel Xport, it will suffice to move cargo.
2) Take neither Improved Fuel Efficiency nor No Ram Scoop Engines, and use the Trans-Galactic Fuel Scoop (this will require some intensive Propulsion research, but that's not too hard to pull off if your race is productive enough). The TGFS is an excellent engine, and when used on Large Freighters will usually have no trouble at all with heavy loads.
3) Take the Primary Racial Trait Hyper-Expansion, and No Ram Scoop Engines, and use the Settler's Delight engine. This choice means you are doing all your cargo shipping with Fuel Pod and Cargo Pod Mini-Colony Ships, but they're decent workhorses - due to the high fuel capacity of a Fuel Pod Mini-Colony Ship, you can just adjust the ratio of Fuel Pods and Cargo Pods to suit your needs, and the ships are very cheap.
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