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Robber Baron questions Sun, 28 March 2004 11:59 Go to next message
Raindancer is currently offline Raindancer

 
Officer Cadet 3rd Year

Messages: 261
Registered: February 2003
Location: Finger Lakes NY, USA

Despite having played SS several times before, and having done very well with it... I have never had the chance to use the Robber Baron scanner. I am entering a game as a replacement, and I have it now!

So my questions:

Does the Robber Baron's ability to steal minerals from planets effect only itself, or the fleet that contains it? (i.e. can I send along a bunch of cheap LFs with the fleet to get more minerals...)

Does a starbase need to be knocked down to steal minerals from a planet?

Can I upload minerals WP0, WP1, or both?

Can I upload minerals from a planet that is not owned?

RainDancer

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Re: Robber Baron questions Sun, 28 March 2004 13:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
overworked is currently offline overworked

 
Lt. Junior Grade

Messages: 403
Registered: November 2002
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Raindancer wrote on Sun, 28 March 2004 11:59

Despite having played SS several times before, and having done very well with it... I have never had the chance to use the Robber Baron scanner. I am entering a game as a replacement, and I have it now!

So my questions:



Ok. Here goes...


Quote:


Does the Robber Baron's ability to steal minerals from planets effect only itself, or the fleet that contains it? (i.e. can I send along a bunch of cheap LFs with the fleet to get more minerals...)



Fleet that contains it. Might actually not even require that - just having a RB-equipped ship in orbit giving access for any fleet you have there.

Quote:


Does a starbase need to be knocked down to steal minerals from a planet?



No.

Quote:


Can I upload minerals WP0, WP1, or both?



Best is to do it manually. WP0 and WP1 orders may or may not work correctly. This has been an issue affecting the last few Stars! patches.

Quote:


Can I upload minerals from a planet that is not owned?



No. Has to be an inhabited planet. (If you bring a remote miner along you can access uninhabited planets; like ones that recently experienced a heavy fall of cherry bombs.)

- Kurt
...

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Re: Robber Baron questions Sun, 28 March 2004 13:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
LEit is currently offline LEit

 
Lt. Commander

Messages: 879
Registered: April 2003
Location: CT
overworked wrote on Sun, 28 March 2004 13:14

Quote:

Does the Robber Baron's ability to steal minerals from planets effect only itself, or the fleet that contains it? (i.e. can I send along a bunch of cheap LFs with the fleet to get more minerals...)


Fleet that contains it. Might actually not even require that - just having a RB-equipped ship in orbit giving access for any fleet you have there.


Any fleet in orbit can lift minerals as long as there is also a Robber baron in orbit (same player of course). Note that the owner can also lift minerals, and if this happens, it is random as to who gets them.

overworked wrote on Sun, 28 March 2004 13:14

Quote:

Can I upload minerals WP0, WP1, or both?


Best is to do it manually. WP0 and WP1 orders may or may not work correctly. This has been an issue affecting the last few Stars! patches.


If you do it manually, the owner can lift too. I think it's best to do it as you arrive (waypoint 1). If that fails, try again manually.

overworked wrote on Sun, 28 March 2004 13:14

Quote:

Can I upload minerals from a planet that is not owned?


No. Has to be an inhabited planet. (If you bring a remote miner along you can access uninhabited planets; like ones that recently experienced a heavy fall of cherry bombs.)


Yes, you can. I've manually lifted minerals the turn (and several turns after) killing an AR base at a world (note to Kurt: We did this in AFON). Remote miners will also allow you to lift minerals from uninhabited worlds, wich means that it makes some sense for everyone to have a remote miner design, and have one or two along with an attacking fleet. I think they have to actually be remote mining, so it might take an extra turn over Robber Barons.
...




- LEit

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Re: Robber Baron questions Sun, 28 March 2004 18:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Staz is currently offline Staz

 
Lieutenant

Messages: 514
Registered: November 2003
Location: UK
Quote:

Any fleet in orbit can lift minerals as long as there is also a Robber baron in orbit (same player of course). Note that the owner can also lift minerals, and if this happens, it is random as to who gets them.


So...

I have a planet with some freighters in orbit. I manually load all the minerals from the planet to the freighters and send them to another planet with orders to drop the minerals.

At the same time, the SS in orbit manually steals my minerals.

Does this mean there is a chance my fleet will arrive empty ?

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Re: Robber Baron questions Sun, 28 March 2004 21:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
LEit is currently offline LEit

 
Lt. Commander

Messages: 879
Registered: April 2003
Location: CT
Correct. The testing that was done (not by me) showed that who actually got minerals was random. The odds didn't seem to be 50-50, but the testing was for FreeStars, so I didn't want the exact odds, but just the idea that it was random.


- LEit

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Re: Robber Baron questions Mon, 29 March 2004 00:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
iztok is currently offline iztok

 
Commander

Messages: 1202
Registered: April 2003
Location: Slovenia, Europe
Hi!
Quote:

Quote:

Can I upload minerals from a planet that is not owned?



No. Has to be an inhabited planet. (If you bring a remote miner along you can access uninhabited planets; like ones that recently experienced a heavy fall of cherry bombs.)

In Transwarp III (modded Stars! 2.6j RC4) I've been able to load minerals from ANY planet, inhabited or not. Works also in Battlesim with 2.7j RC3.
BR, Iztok
(Already answered, Embarassed I should have read posts until the last one.)


[Updated on: Mon, 29 March 2004 00:26]

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Re: Robber Baron questions Mon, 29 March 2004 20:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
overworked is currently offline overworked

 
Lt. Junior Grade

Messages: 403
Registered: November 2002
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Raindancer wrote on Sun, 28 March 2004 11:59

Despite having played SS several times before, and having done very well with it... I have never had the chance to use the Robber Baron scanner. I am entering a game as a replacement, and I have it now!

So my questions:

Does the Robber Baron's ability to steal minerals from planets effect only itself, or the fleet that contains it? (i.e. can I send along a bunch of cheap LFs with the fleet to get more minerals...)

Does a starbase need to be knocked down to steal minerals from a planet?

Can I upload minerals WP0, WP1, or both?

Can I upload minerals from a planet that is not owned?

RainDancer


Sigh. Crying When in doubt, testbed.

Apologies for the incorrect information I posted before. I should know better.

So, after running Robber Baron equipped ships about in *three versions* of Stars I can provide what I think is some more accurate data. Tests run using 2.6JRC3, 2.7JRC3, and 2.6JRC4.

The two JRC3 versions performed identically. (which is very good to know.)

1. Robber Baron in orbit allows any cargo capacity you have there to upload. [Note: I did not specifically test who grabs first as Leit pointed out...]

2. You can steal minerals (and pop in JRC3) when the Starbase is still there. UFO abduction

3. In all three versions you can upload minerals manually, WP0, or WP1.

*** Kicker *** In JRC4 you can not manually upload pop. And, if you specifiy uploading pop in a WP0 or WP1 order I'm pretty sure it ignores the entire order; ie. combining mineral upload and pop upload gets you nothing. [This might also explain the reported issue with someone being unable to do automatic pop-drops using a fleet containing one or more RB-equipped ships. And, if my brain was working I should have tested that while I had the opportunity.]

4. You *can* upload minerals from uninhabited planets in all three versions. Not sure where I got this wrong. Older version, or stupidly checking an uninhabited planet with zero surface minerals and thus assuming
...

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Re: Robber Baron questions Mon, 29 March 2004 21:51 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Raindancer is currently offline Raindancer

 
Officer Cadet 3rd Year

Messages: 261
Registered: February 2003
Location: Finger Lakes NY, USA

overworked wrote on Mon, 29 March 2004 20:15


Sigh. Crying When in doubt, testbed.

Apologies for the incorrect information I posted before. I should know better.



No problem. The day that I reach perfection I will complain. Smile

I did run some tests myself as well. Smile

Partially as I am trying to test combinations of the Robber Baron and the Jump Gate. Wink [The Jump Gate is also new to me... see post in the Academy section if you are interested in those test results.]

Quote:


1. Robber Baron in orbit allows any cargo capacity you have there to upload. [Note: I did not specifically test who grabs first as Leit pointed out...]

2. You can steal minerals (and pop in JRC3) when the Starbase is still there. UFO abduction

3. In all three versions you can upload minerals manually, WP0, or WP1.



I only tested ONE version, but confirmed #2 and #3. #1 is nice as I will not need to make sure the fleets are combined.

Quote:


*** Kicker *** In JRC4 you can not manually upload pop. And, if you specifiy uploading pop in a WP0 or WP1 order I'm pretty sure it ignores the entire order; ie. combining mineral upload and pop upload gets you nothing. [This might also explain the reported issue with someone being unable to do automatic pop-drops using a fleet containing one or more RB-equipped ships. And, if my brain was working I should have tested that while I had the opportunity.]



Not a problem for me. If I can steal minerals I will be happy.

Quote:


4. You *can* upload minerals from uninhabited planets in all three versions. Not sure where I got this wrong. Older version, or stupidly checking an uninhabited planet with zero surface minerals and thus assuming I couldn't see any that were there. Yuck



Yes, I found that too. I got lucky and one of the empty planets in the testbed had minerals there...

Thanks for your research Kurt.

The game where I am a replacement is NOT an AH game, and I just hope my opponent does not read this. Smile

RainDancer
...

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Re: Robber Baron questions Wed, 31 March 2004 16:27 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Micha

 

Messages: 2342
Registered: November 2002
Location: Belgium GMT +1
LEit wrote on Sun, 28 March 2004 20:22

Yes, you can. I've manually lifted minerals the turn (and several turns after) killing an AR base at a world (note to Kurt: We did this in AFON). Remote miners will also allow you to lift minerals from uninhabited worlds, wich means that it makes some sense for everyone to have a remote miner design, and have one or two along with an attacking fleet. I think they have to actually be remote mining, so it might take an extra turn over Robber Barons.

Yup, you lose one turn with remote miners. Robbers give you instant access, miners have to do one year of mining first ...
You can always crash a colony ship in the planet, that's also faster than remote mining ...

mch

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Re: Robber Baron questions Tue, 06 April 2004 03:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Dogthinkers is currently offline Dogthinkers

 
Commander

Messages: 1316
Registered: August 2003
Location: Hiding from Meklar
Quick question: Were you guys been test bedding with JRC3 or JRC4...

Quote from very OLD thread:
http://library.southern.edu/sahforum/index.php?t=msg&th= 42&start=0&rid=326&S=7e59f9068eeddb1b81e2c1180ce 249ae

Quote:

Re: I tried escaping from reality but they always catch me Wed, 20 November 2002 13:11

Quote:

jeffimix wrote on Tue, 19 November 2002 20:02

I think Pop hack doesnt work in Autohost becuase it uses... JRC4? IIRC, its a host patch really.




At the moment, AutoHost defaults to JRC3. Game hosts can request to use JRC4 to generate their turns.

JRC4 fixes the SS pop-steal problem, the free-pop memory hack, the NS/EW minefield travel bugs, and probably some others.

It introduces a small bug in the calculation of damage done by AR viral bombing, and, I *think*, a bug with SS mineral stealing (has to be manually, not by orders in advance).

Because the JRC4 patch was never officially released, I didn't make it publically available or set AutoHost to use it by default. I'm considering doing that now.

JRC4 is downloadable on the starsfaq.com site though.

Ron Miller
Stars! AutoHost


** added link **


[Updated on: Tue, 06 April 2004 03:57]

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Re: Robber Baron questions Tue, 27 January 2009 20:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Combat is currently offline Combat

 
Warrant Officer

Messages: 118
Registered: May 2008
I have some questions about the Pick Pocket and Robber Baron scanners. What is the range you can steal mins from enemy fleets? Do you need to be right on top of them or is it effected by the range of the scanner? (80 for the Pick Pocket 220 for the Robber Baron) Does this apply also to stealing from planets, do you need to be right on top of the planet of just within the Robber Baron's Pen scan range? If indeed stealing is based on the range of the scanner, does stacking the scanners increase the range of the steal ability? Could you use conventinal scanners and pen scans on the same ship to increase the steal range?


He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster...when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you.

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Re: Robber Baron questions Tue, 27 January 2009 20:55 Go to previous message
vonKreedon is currently offline vonKreedon

 
Lieutenant

Messages: 610
Registered: March 2003
Location: Seattle, WA USA
You have to be in the same location to steal minerals, it functions just like loading cargo from your own ships or planets. This means that your mineral raiders have to be able to escape from any armed ships that might also be at the location, and so mineral raiders tend to have a battle speed of two or greater. Rogues and Galleons, and perhaps Nubians in the end, are the preferred hulls.

[Updated on: Tue, 27 January 2009 20:59]

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